The Ultimate Football Manager Challenge - Silver Age Archive

[TheEarl]

vike good luck! You can do it

[pug 407]

Pug's Update Season 2020/21

This Season Hopefully Only One Trophy I Want With Newcastle. The Club World Cup Semi-Final Had Us Drawn Against Pohang From Korea.

We Beat Them Very Convincingly 4-0 .Then Up Next In The Final We Played Palmeiras From Brazil With Another 4-0 Win. With That I Resign

And Put In For The Dortmund Job.

When I Took Over They Were Sitting In 12th Place. I Managed To Get Them Back Up To 4th And A Euro League Spot. Also Won The DFB-Pokal

Unai Emery Had Just Resigned From Spain. So An Application Form Went In, To My Amazement I Was Now Manager Of Spain. Algeria Never

Played A Game With Me As Their Manager.

                                                                       CLUB CAREER                      
                                                                      -----------
Season     Club                Leagues        Cups                                     Other & Notes
                              1st  2nd       1st  2nd    Cont   CWC ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16    Cambridge Utd                                                               Promoted To Div 1.Won JPT                     
2016/17    Cambridge Utd                           Won                                 Promoted To Championship.
2017/18    Cambridge Utd                      Won                                      Promoted To Premier League,Won FA Cup
2018/19    Newcastle Utd       Won                                                     Won The Premier League
2019/20    Newcastle Utd       Won                 Won     Won                         Premier league/C1C/Champions League
2020/21    Newcastle Utd                                         Won                   Won Club World Cup
2020/21    Dortmund                             Won                                      Resigned NUFC Took Over Dortmund In 12th




----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  INTERNATIONAL CAREER
                                                                  --------------------

Season    Nation         Cups                                                                         Other & Notes
                        World Cup    Confed Cup    Euro's    AFC    ACON    Gold Cup   Copa America
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16   Iran U23                                                                                    Won AFC U23 Championship
2016/17   France U21                                                                                  Won U21 Championship
2018/19   England U21
2019/20   Algeria                                                                                     Never Played A Game
2020/21   Spain

  Challenge Progress

Club

1/10 Top Domestic Leagues (England)
2/10 Domestic Cup (England-Germany)
1/5  Continentals Cups (European)
1/1  Club World Cup

International

0/5 Continental Tournaments
0/2 World Tournaments

[JumboCamp]

Think I'm gonna do this challenge too

[vikeologist]

JCamp - Welcome to the challenge. Can't see your screenshot, so no idea whether you've got your first job yet.

Incidentally, if anybody ever does include a screenshot showing that they've done their inital manager against the rules, please someone speak up, don't rely on me to police it. I can see very few of your screenshots. It think it doesn't matter if the manager is 19 at the start though. I suppose I should add that to the instructions.

pug - Congrats on the world club cup. Always nice to get that out of the way, and good luck at dortmund (another of my old clubs) and Spain.

South Korea crashed out of the asian Cup in the quarterfinals throwing away a 2 goal lead over Iran. Gutting because we had an easy semi-final ahead, and in the final we would have met Australia (who beat Iran on penalties, I think). I of course was sacked.

So, with only 3 playable nations; South Korea, China and Australia (and australia comes and goes despite my having the league loaded) I guess i have to go on holiday for two and a half years in case the South korea manager gets fired after the next East Asia Cup. That's pretty unlikely. I'll probably be unemployed for either 4 or 8 years until he gets fired after an Asian Cup, and then have another 4 years after that until the following Asian Cup. This could take a while.

I had more than 50 matches as manager of South Korea, and admittedly a lot of those were friendlies which i needed to try to settle on a workable tactic and get the team used to it, but that's a lot when you have to make a completely new team selection every couple of matches.

[JoeLapira]

Welcome to the Challenge JumboCamp. The screenshot looks okay to me, although it doesn't show your past experience or coaching badges, any chance you could post one with that info on it?

Pug; Congrats on another trophy, your making great progress. Best of luck with Dortmund, can you topple the mighty Bayern?

Vike; Hard luck with the Asia Cup, it will come to ya, don't worry.

I'm nearly halfway through another season with Suwon FC and it's almost identical to the last one, basically another relegation battle. I've applied for a lot more jobs this time around and was called for an interview with Perth Glory. This would have been an ideal move for me, they had just missed out on the A-League title but were still in the Asian CL. Unfortunately the Newcastle Jets manager was given the job but then they wouldn't even have me for an interview. Just before I finished up last night the job at Suwon Bluewings came up. This is a club who'd normally be challenging for the title but are currently only 2 points clear of us, their city rivals. They have a very good setup and are obviously just having a bad season, but I'm in 2 minds whether or not to go for it. What would ye guys do? Of course there is no guarantee i would get the job anyway.

I must also add, just before i finished up last night, a takeover started of my club. This could mean that I might be booted out by the new board if it goes through.

[TheEarl]

Welcome to the Challenge JumboCamp. The screenshot looks okay to me, although it doesn't show your past experience or coaching badges, any chance you could post one with that info on it?

Pug; Congrats on another trophy, your making great progress. Best of luck with Dortmund, can you topple the mighty Bayern?

Vike; Hard luck with the Asia Cup, it will come to ya, don't worry.

I'm nearly halfway through another season with Suwon FC and it's almost identical to the last one, basically another relegation battle. I've applied for a lot more jobs this time around and was called for an interview with Perth Glory. This would have been an ideal move for me, they had just missed out on the A-League title but were still in the Asian CL. Unfortunately the Newcastle Jets manager was given the job but then they wouldn't even have me for an interview. Just before I finished up last night the job at Suwon Bluewings came up. This is a club who'd normally be challenging for the title but are currently only 2 points clear of us, their city rivals. They have a very good setup and are obviously just having a bad season, but I'm in 2 minds whether or not to go for it. What would ye guys do? Of course there is no guarantee i would get the job anyway.

I must also add, just before i finished up last night, a takeover started of my club. This could mean that I might be booted out by the new board if it goes through.

I would say go for it JL this challenge is never one for sentimentality.

[JoeLapira]

Your right Earl, i'd say a bit of ruthlessness is needed to complete this Challenge. Suwon Bluewings are a bigger club after all. I'll apply for it, sure as i said, there's a chance I might not get anyway.

[TheEarl]

Your right Earl, i'd say a bit of ruthlessness is needed to complete this Challenge. Suwon Bluewings are a bigger club after all. I'll apply for it, sure as i said, there's a chance I might not get anyway.

I never understood until your last post why you didnt perform better with Suwon, but now I understand cause there are 2 Suwon teams. Guess I didnt have the right name update in FM15 cause I did very well with Suwon, but for sure that was with Suwon Bluewings. (At least their logo was blue hehe)

[JoeLapira]

I never understood until your last post why you didnt perform better with Suwon, but now I understand cause there are 2 Suwon teams. Guess I didnt have the right name update in FM15 cause I did very well with Suwon, but for sure that was with Suwon Bluewings. (At least their logo was blue hehe)

Ya Suwon FC are the smaller of the 2 clubs. Their finances and facilities are very poor and as I said Suwon Bluewings are normally challenging for the title. If i dont get the Bluewings job and i survive the takeover, hopefully the new board can put some money into the club.

[to_madeira]

Just a quick update: I spend the whole year of 2020 trying to get a job in China or South Korea, I went to 4 interviews, 3 of them in good teams of S Korea but didn't get any job. Finally by the end of August, Daejeon hired me. We are predicted last but after the first 11 games we're sitting 4th in a close league (1st, 2nd - 20 points, 3rd, 4th - 19, 3 teams with 17).

The foreign rules just annoy me, I've got some good regens on free but had to let go a few nice players due to being foreign.

[JumboCamp]

Welcome to the Challenge JumboCamp. The screenshot looks okay to me, although it doesn't show your past experience or coaching badges, any chance you could post one with that info on it?

Pug; Congrats on another trophy, your making great progress. Best of luck with Dortmund, can you topple the mighty Bayern?

Vike; Hard luck with the Asia Cup, it will come to ya, don't worry.

I'm nearly halfway through another season with Suwon FC and it's almost identical to the last one, basically another relegation battle. I've applied for a lot more jobs this time around and was called for an interview with Perth Glory. This would have been an ideal move for me, they had just missed out on the A-League title but were still in the Asian CL. Unfortunately the Newcastle Jets manager was given the job but then they wouldn't even have me for an interview. Just before I finished up last night the job at Suwon Bluewings came up. This is a club who'd normally be challenging for the title but are currently only 2 points clear of us, their city rivals. They have a very good setup and are obviously just having a bad season, but I'm in 2 minds whether or not to go for it. What would ye guys do? Of course there is no guarantee i would get the job anyway.

I must also add, just before i finished up last night, a takeover started of my club. This could mean that I might be booted out by the new board if it goes through.

I do it just like the rules, the coaching badges is none and experince sunday league players

[JumboCamp]

Welcome to the Challenge JumboCamp. The screenshot looks okay to me, although it doesn't show your past experience or coaching badges, any chance you could post one with that info on it?

Pug; Congrats on another trophy, your making great progress. Best of luck with Dortmund, can you topple the mighty Bayern?

Vike; Hard luck with the Asia Cup, it will come to ya, don't worry.

I'm nearly halfway through another season with Suwon FC and it's almost identical to the last one, basically another relegation battle. I've applied for a lot more jobs this time around and was called for an interview with Perth Glory. This would have been an ideal move for me, they had just missed out on the A-League title but were still in the Asian CL. Unfortunately the Newcastle Jets manager was given the job but then they wouldn't even have me for an interview. Just before I finished up last night the job at Suwon Bluewings came up. This is a club who'd normally be challenging for the title but are currently only 2 points clear of us, their city rivals. They have a very good setup and are obviously just having a bad season, but I'm in 2 minds whether or not to go for it. What would ye guys do? Of course there is no guarantee i would get the job anyway.

I must also add, just before i finished up last night, a takeover started of my club. This could mean that I might be booted out by the new board if it goes through.

I do it just like the rules, the coaching badges is none and experince sunday league players

[TheEarl]

I do it just like the rules, the coaching badges is none and experince sunday league players

No problem JC we always tend to believe in people here, just vike as he said usually dont see screenshots that we post here, so a brieft text update of what we can see in the screenshots is appreciated.

[JumboCamp]

Jumbo Camp Reports

ATM FA 2016 Review



League Table | Result 1 | Result 2 | Result 3

My first season as coach. Try to apply everywhere and applied by ATM FA, team that just got relegated from 1st tiero of Malaysia.

Media expectating us to finish 4th and we finish in 3rd. Well, it's kinda sad because actually we have been in 1st from a few weeks and because the bad result, we dropped to 3rd.

In Malaysia FA Cup, we lost against the Singapore Teams, LionsXII in Second Round. Beside that, we acctually make a surprise in Malaysia Cup. We proceed to Semi Final before got beaten by Johor Darul Tazim. Actually, I got a suprise because we manage to beat Selangor in Quarter Final.

Highest Average Rating :

Mario Korlavic (7.48)

Top Scorer : Jerry Palacios (14 Goals)

Most Assist : Wan Zahrul Nizam Wan Zakaria (13 Assists)

Transfer History

[b]CLUB CAREER

Season	Nations		Club             Divisions	Pos      Cup 1    Cup 2     Cont       Notes & Achievements[/b]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016	Malaysia      	ATM FA           2nd          	3rd      2R       SF       n/a        Took over at pre-seasons


[b]INTERNATIONAL CAREER

Year   Nation        NL     WC     Cont.  Conf.  Notes & Achievements[/b]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Challenge Progress

Club
0/10 top domestic leagues 
0/10 domestic cups 
0/5  club continental championships 
0/1  club world championship 

International
0/5  continental tournaments  
0/2  world tournaments 

[JoeLapira]

I do it just like the rules, the coaching badges is none and experince sunday league players

Fair enough, I wasnt doubting that you weren't following the rules, its just that a screenshot confirms it. As Earl said whats posted in here is believed, which makes a change from other places like this.

Welcome to South Korea to_madeira, hopefully you enjoy more success than me. You seem off to a great start. My highest position in the season and a half I've spent in Korea has only been 8th.

[JumboCamp]

Fair enough, I wasnt doubting that you weren't following the rules, its just that a screenshot confirms it. As Earl said whats posted in here is believed, which makes a change from other places like this.

Welcome to South Korea to_madeira, hopefully you enjoy more success than me. You seem off to a great start. My highest position in the season and a half I've spent in Korea has only been 8th.

Well just hope all of us can achieve success

[JumboCamp]

I want to ask something

Does domestic cup like Capital One Cup count as domestic cups?

[vikeologist]

Sorry. I didn't mean to suggest that I didn't believe you. It was just that not being able to see your (or indeed pug's) screenshots (or whatever pivture you'd linked to) made me think about asking people to say something if they spot someone accidentally making a mistake with the intial manager.

People don't have to post screenshots. You may have noticed that i don't.

People don't have to prove anything. I just wouldn't want someone to veer away from the rules of the challenge without realising.

It's my guess that most of you can see everybody else's linked images, and its just me that can't (because I'm in China). It's a little bit frustrating when people say something like

and then this happened

and I'm like what? What just happened?

Yes, the Capital One Cup counts, because all the top division sides can enter it. I've put guidance at the start of the thread about cups which there may be question marks about, like in USA, Australia or mexico. (They all count). The only cup that anyone is likely to wrongly count would be the South Africa Super8 Cup, or whatever its called now, if it still exists in FM16. The one that only 8 teams enter.

[JoeLapira]

Well just hope all of us can achieve success

I agree with that.

What's managing in Malaysia like? Is there any particular rules regarding foreigners etc. When i left Berwick in this save, there was a few oppurtunities there but I chose S.Korea instead.

[JumboCamp]

I agree with that.

What's managing in Malaysia like? Is there any particular rules regarding foreigners etc. When i left Berwick in this save, there was a few oppurtunities there but I chose S.Korea instead.

They have rule Max 4 foreigner and 3 for those who from outside Asia

[JoeLapira]

They have rule Max 4 foreigner and 3 for those who from outside Asia

Same as S.Korea so. I have 2 Irishmen(I always try and have Irish staff/players wherever I go), a Haitian and a Saudi Arabian. It does make managing in these leagues a little trickier but it wouldnt be a proper challenge then.

[TheEarl]

The Earls Ultimate Football Manager Challenge

2020/21 - Glasgow Rangers / Romania - Scottish Premiership (Tier 1)

In the summer after getting promoted with Rangers I was excited about two things. First the fact that our budget was raised quite a bit, even though we where miles behind Celtic. And that I got my first international job as manager of Romania.

Target with Rangers was a safe mid-table position, while target with Romania was not to be outclassed in Nations League B.

With Rangers the most important thing was to keep Frank Mulheron which I did, and get a few new players. Dani Iglesias joined from CD Lugo for 300K. And right-back Ben Allingham was signed on loan from Man.City. In midfield former Arsenal player Nacer Barite was signed on a free transfer. Another important signing in midfield was Charlie Teller from Falkirk for 400K. In defence I signed Chumi from Barcelona-B and Josip Elez from Pescara, both for less than 200K.

In the league we started with 1 win and 1 loss in the first two games. But after loosing 1-4 to Hearts away we went on an amazing 16 games without loosing in the league. That was 13 wins and 3 draws before we finally lost again to Celtic in the second of the Old Firm derbies for the season 2-4 away. (We won the first Old Firm 2-1 at home). As Celtic endured an awful start to the season we opened a huge gap in the league table ahead of Dundee Utd. who was second with Celtic only in fourth.

In the League Cup we went to the Quarter Finals after beating Queens Park 1-0 in the first round, Brechin City 3-1 in the second round and Patrick Thistle 1-0 in the third round. But we lost 2-3 to Hamilton Academicals a.e.t. in the Quarter Finals.

After the loss to Celtic we won a game before loosing 3 out of 5 games and our advantage slipped a bit, but we where still top of the table. In the final 13 games we won 7 and lost 4. Not the very best of finish to the season, but our big advantage from the start of the season still gave us the victory. An almost unlikely achievement given that Celtic had a budget 8 times as high as us. We finished on 75 points with Celtic on 69 and Dundee Utd on 67.

In the FA-Cup we started our run in the 4th round against Gala Fairydean Rovers with a sound 4-0 win away. In the 5th round we needed 2 games against Dunfermline Athletic after 1-1 at home we won 5-1 away. The same happened in the Quarter Final against Patrick Thistle 1-1 at home was followed by 3-2 win away. In the Semi Finals we met Airdronians and we won 3-1 at Hamden Park. Heart of Midlothian was the opponent in the Final and Frank Mulheron scored twice as we won 2-1 for a Scottish Double.

Top goalscorer Frank Mulhern - 33 goals (in 47 games)

Top performer Ben Allingham - 7,57 Av.rat (right back, on loan from Man.City)

Amazing season that brought my reputation up to 55%. Now it was the choice to play Champions League or move to another club.

Romania had a few decent players, Vlad Dragomir was the star in midfield and a regen Andrei Crete the star striker. The first game in Nations League B ended 1-1 at home to Turkey. We won 5-3 away to Montenegro and 3-1 away to Turkey. Then we actually lost 0-1 at home to Montenegro but we had already won the group.

We lost heavily in a friendly to Mexico 0-4, but beat Moldova 3-2. In the qualifying to World Cup we got a group with Bosnia, Faroe Islands, Greece and Ukraine. A tough group and we needed 2nd place with good points or to win the group to advance. We started very well with 3-0 win at home to Bosnia, and 3-0 win away to Faroe Islands. But then we lost heavily 2-7 away to Ukraine, before taking revenge and winning 4-1 at home to the same team. We have 4 games left and a pretty good chance to progress but we can't afford to many mistakes.

Season        Club            League             Pos.   Cup               Info.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16  HOL  Den Bosch     Jupiler League       11th   2nd round     Joined 19th, already out of Cup
2016/17  HOL  Den Bosch     Jupiler League        1st   4th round      Won the league and promoted!
2017/18  HOL  Den Bosch     Eresdivisie           14th   2nd round     Survived in a bad season.
2018/19  SCO  Falkirk       Championship          2nd  Quarter fin.   Promoted after playoffs, 3rd r. of leag. cup
2019/20  SCO  Rangers      Championship           1st  Quarter fin.   Promoted, 3rd r. of leag. cup
2020/21  SCO  Rangers      Premiership              1st   Winners        Double champion, QF of league cup

Season        Nation             World Cup      Cont. Cup            Other
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020/21     Romania           In qualif.         NA                      Won Nations League B, Promoted to A

Challenge Progress

Club

------------------------------------------

1/10 top domestic leagues (Scotland)

1/10 domestic cups (Scottish FA Cup)

0/5 club continental championships

0/1 club world championship

International

-------------------------------------------

0/5 continental tournaments

0/2 world tournaments

[pug 407]

Welcome to the Challenge JumboCamp. The screenshot looks okay to me, although it doesn't show your past experience or coaching badges, any chance you could post one with that info on it?

Pug; Congrats on another trophy, your making great progress. Best of luck with Dortmund, can you topple the mighty Bayern?

Vike; Hard luck with the Asia Cup, it will come to ya, don't worry.

I'm nearly halfway through another season with Suwon FC and it's almost identical to the last one, basically another relegation battle. I've applied for a lot more jobs this time around and was called for an interview with Perth Glory. This would have been an ideal move for me, they had just missed out on the A-League title but were still in the Asian CL. Unfortunately the Newcastle Jets manager was given the job but then they wouldn't even have me for an interview. Just before I finished up last night the job at Suwon Bluewings came up. This is a club who'd normally be challenging for the title but are currently only 2 points clear of us, their city rivals. They have a very good setup and are obviously just having a bad season, but I'm in 2 minds whether or not to go for it. What would ye guys do? Of course there is no guarantee i would get the job anyway.

I must also add, just before i finished up last night, a takeover started of my club. This could mean that I might be booted out by the new board if it goes through.

I'm To Late For Toppling Bayern. Schalke And Leverkusen Have Done That On My Save

[pug 407]

Sorry Vike Didn't Know You Can't Get Pictures.

[djdavecee]

Just recently started this challenge, although i never took screenshots from beginning of my career, I've adhered to all rules.

I opened up way more leagues etc than i normally would for a save due to the obvious nature of the challenge. I took up my first job as Bremen II manager, but decided it be best to resign and look for something else as managing what i would call a "feeder" club, would not be beneficial to the overall challenge.

I applied for numerous jobs since resigning, and had to wait till the end of 1st season till i got another interview and job offer, which to my annoyance, was at Valencia Mestalla(another feeder club) in Spain's b3 division. Now, although the players and set up seems more decent, i'm unsure whether this is the right route to take starting off this challenge.

Any advice on this please? first time I've ever tried a challenge, especially one of this nature.

Cheers

Dave

[vikeologist]

It might be a genius strategy, if it enabled you to get a job in the top flight of Germany or Spain in your first 2 or 3 seasoms. Nobody has ever tried it.

[djdavecee]

Will keep updated then and give a whirl if no one tried it that way Going well up to now, 1st in league, with some down points that some youth players aren't progressing how the board would like, finances aren't great, and players come and go quite often from main squad and under 19s, and the injuries!, let's just not go there haha

[JumboCamp]

Jumbo Camp Reports

ATM FA 2017 Review



League Table | Result 1 | Result 2 | Result 3

Second season. It got better because we got promoted. Luckily, the winner of 2nd division is the B team of Johor, so we got promoted because we on 3rd

Well, in the result, I'm satisfied because in the league, we just lose in 2 matches and that's good

In Malaysia FA Cup, AGAIN, we got beaten agains Lions in Quarter Final. WHY????? In Malaysia Cup, we knocked out in Group Stage

Highest Average Rating :

S. Veenod (7.53)

Top Scorer : Jerry Palacios (13 Goals)

Most Assist : S. Veenod (7 Assists)

Transfer History

[b]CLUB CAREER

Season	Nations		Club            Divisions	Pos     Cup 1   Cup 2	Cont	Notes & Achievements[/b]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016	Malaysia      	ATM FA          2nd          	3rd     2R      QR	n/a	Took over at pre-seasons
2017	Malaysia	ATM FA		2nd		3rd	QF	GS	n/a	Promoted 


[b]INTERNATIONAL CAREER

Year   Nation        NL     WC     Cont.  Conf.  Notes & Achievements[/b]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Challenge Progress

Club
0/10 top domestic leagues 
0/10 domestic cups 
0/5  club continental championships 
0/1  club world championship 

International
0/5  continental tournaments  
0/2  world tournaments 

[djdavecee]

First full season complete with Spanish 2nd Division(B3) Valencia Mestalla, taking 1st in League, a solid win through play offs to get promoted to Liga Adalante and winning the Spanish Federation Cup.

Although i'm still unsure this is the way to go, and yet to be offered a new contract(currently on a rolling month to month one), i'll be considering my options elsewhere if no contract is offered in a short while.

CLUB CAREER
                                      Leagues         Cups
Season     NAT      Club               1st    2nd      1st    2nd    Cont.    CWC    Other & Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16    GER      Bremen II          n/a                                           Left unsure about position
2016/17    SPN      Valencia Mestalla  1st             Won                           Promoted to Adelante, Spanish Fed Cup Winners





INTERNATIONAL CAREER
       Rank        Cups
Year    Nation    FIFA    NL    World    Cont.    Conf.    Other & Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[TheEarl]

First full season complete with Spanish 2nd Division(B3) Valencia Mestalla, taking 1st in League, a solid win through play offs to get promoted to Liga Adalante and winning the Spanish Federation Cup.

Although i'm still unsure this is the way to go, and yet to be offered a new contract(currently on a rolling month to month one), i'll be considering my options elsewhere if no contract is offered in a short while.

CLUB CAREER

Leagues Cups

Season NAT Club 1st 2nd 1st 2nd Cont. CWC Other & Notes

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2015/16 GER Bremen II n/a Left unsure about position

2016/17 SPN Val.Mestalla 1st Won Promoted to Adelante, Spanish Fed Cup Winners

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

Rank Cups

Year Nation FIFA NL World Cont. Conf. Other & Notes

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nice start dj exciting to see where this start can bring you and what clubs you can attract. Maybe a 1st team squad in Liga Adalante can upon up over time?

[vikeologist]

mayihavecookie - How many international Asian nations can be managed in your save at this point? (As in how many of them appear in the job security screen)?

Given what's happened in my save, i'd really recommend getting the Asian Cup as early as you can, before all the nations start disappearing.

What about everybody else? Are the Asian nations still appearing in your saves. (I know South Korea will probably never disappear).

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2071-3 Australia Frustration Report

I took over Australia afterthe 2071 Asian Cup, and was sacked after 2 and a half years when we failed to qualify for the World Cup.

This last trophy is proving to be very tough. I feel as though I am fighting against the game. There are only 4 Asian nations available to manage. China and Indonesia simply aren’t very good, and Australia is very thin with regard to players. Injuries to our best players, and we had a lot of injuries, really sabotaged us.

Before the last 2 qualifying matches, I added some other leagues from Europe, and that produced some good Australian players, but I didn’t spot them until I went to replace an injured player, and could only bring one of them into the squad.

Even if I can get the HongKong, India, Malaysia etc nations to appear, none of the nations with playable leagues are realistic Asian Cup winners.

So that leaves South Korea as by far the best bet for achieving this challenge, and the only time there are managerial vacancies with them is when they fail to win the Asian Cup,which could be every 8 or 12 years.

This is becoming problematic.

I would strongly recommend you all to get the Asian Cup as early as possible in the challenge while there are still a variety of nations available, in case the same thing happens in FM16.

It’s been 18, no now 19 years (and counting rapidly) since I left my last club job, and I know almost none of the players in the game, which makes me feel very disconnected.

And then, a lifeline. The South Korea manager was unexpectedly fired after the 2074 World Cup, and they gave me the job again. I might not win the upcoming Asian Cup, but at least I'll get the chance to have a go at it. I still don't think they have any wingers.

No doubt the competition will be won by Australia and all the superstars I 'created' at the last moment before being fired. It doesn't look as though adding the top European leagues generated even one good South Korean player. I'm my own worst enemy.

[TheEarl]

tough luck vike hope you can still manage to win with South Korea this time.

[JoeLapira]

DJDave; Welcome to the Challenge, congrats on getting to Liga Adelante at the first attempt.

Jumbo; Well done on promotion, what are the expectations for the season ahead?

Vike; Unlucky with the injuries, they can be a real killer. As you said, at least your getting another go at the Asian Cup so quickly and hopefully you can go all the way this time.

As for myself, I've left Suwon FC. I went there to use it as a stepping stone to one of the big clubs in S.Korea and during my time there several such positions opened up but I wasn't even called for an interview. So I had to look elsewhere, and so I've ended up in S.Africa with the Swallows in the top tier. Expectation is a mid table finish which hopefully I can better, the finances are in a much better state than Suwon's, as are the training and youth facilities. I was hired 1 game into the season, so that meant no preseason but hopefully I can achieve my goals without it and then really look at the squad going in to next season. So the opening game was a 0-0 draw and since my arrival we have won 1 and drawn 2, so we're off to an okay start. I'm actually going to focus on the cups this season, so i might finally get a trophy on the board that actually counts.

[JumboCamp]

JoeLapira Maybe avoid relegation

[JoeLapira]

JoeLapira Maybe avoid relegation

How many relegation spots are there, 2?

[JumboCamp]

How many relegation spots are there, 2?

Yap there are 2 spots

[djdavecee]

OK, started the season off in Liga Adelante quite poorly, with the board wanting me to off load players to ease debt, and the fact i had no control over that decision as it was always left to David Moyes(Valencia manager) to sign and sell players at any club level, and players coming and going through the Club system(i.e. i have a striker who on my recent pick up of form, had scored 6 goals in 3 games, then moved up to Valencia main squad leaving me my main striker short).

The club refused after many tries to offer me a proper contract, and whilst trying to do a job on a month to month basis with no real backing from the board, they eventually let me go.

I'm now seeking employment once again, without really gaining much of a reputation to get myself a job making progression on my career. But we must plod on!

For the record, i wouldn't advise anyone going the way of feeder teams as a first job, not enough control over team and so many disruptions.

Dave

[mayihavecookie]

vike It's only South Korea in my save. Never really thought about this but you're right that this could become a problem. Thanks for the advice. I already had one unsuccesful spell with South Korea in my career.

Are you sure that there were more Asian nations available in your save at the beginning? Did you add all the leagues? I see that there are eight Asian leagues that can be added.

I really hope you can do it this time with South Korea. Just try to create a tactic that plays to your strengths. You say there are no good wingers, maybe try a 4-4-2 diamond narrow. I've had some success with that in an older FM15 save. Or a 3-5-2 with wing backs? Maybe you could take a club job again so you have more games to test your tactics?

[vikeologist]

mihc - I do now have other national teams that can be managed; China, Australia and the other nationas with playable leagues.

If you have more leagues added, that can help. For instance having the top 2 English divisions running seems to add some more players.

One thing I noticed as manager of Australia is that I had two first choice players retire at an early age, because they had no club for a long time. My assistant manager, when they suggested the squad, would consistently suggest a squad of about 11 players, and in the Asian cup I've just started, australia only have about 13 players in their squad, so, as the only nation other than S Korea, capable of winning the asian cup, Australia presents a lot of problems.

I'm sure that at least one person has won the asian cup with (or at least managed) saudi arabia, but I have no idea how it would be possible to make them managable in the game by adding leagues.

So, on FM15 at least, Asia is tough as (without other leagues added) you're only going to have Australia and / or south korea to choose from, and it is more than possible for those nations to have no job vacancy for 8 or 12 years. I've been unbelievably lucky that south korea sacked the manager in between my two spells after only 3 years.

The, when you do get the chance, you're constrained by the players you have. Australia had one decent goalkeeper; the rest you really wouldn't want to have in goal at international level. In my previous spell at south korea they had no decent wide midfielders or strikers. It's pretty difficult to win games with 7 central midfielders.

Tactically speaking, my second spell at S Korea is much more workable (though I still have 5 (best position) central or attacking central midfielders in my first team, including 2 in central defence. It seems as though we should be the favourites for the Asian Cup, but it's a cup. Stuff happens, and if we don't win, I'm back to square 1 waiting for Australia or SK to fire their managers.

Morale of the story - get the asian Cup as soon as you can. if you can get a job with S Korea, I'd suggest considering quitting any other international job to obtain it. Ther'll always be lots of African, european and S american nations to manage.

[JoeLapira]

Vike have you tried the 4-3-2-1 Xmas Tree formation. A bit like yourself, I have no good or even decent wingers at Swallows and seeing as my midfield is my strongest area, i decided to use it and its working well so far. Defensively you have a solid base of 4 at the back and then the 3 sitting across in front of it with the front 3 doing the pressing. Going forward, the full backs can provide the width and the lone striker can link up with the 2 AMCs and maybe 1 or 2 of the CMs also supporting from deep. Its only a suggestion but it might help.

Dave hard luck with the sacking, im sure something will come up soon, how many countries have you loaded up?

[NormandyWept]

I'm sure that at least one person has won the asian cup with (or at least managed) saudi arabia, but I have no idea how it would be possible to make them managable in the game by adding leagues.

This was me, and although I never noticed whether their job was available late in the save, I certainly noticed that they still had some star players: I managed a world class Saudi striker at Barcelona much later, for example.

It does sound a very frustrating situation that you're in, not just having to fast-forward to the Asian Cup each time you get knocked out of it, but also only having one realistic job you can take to have a go at it. Let's hope you get it done this time!

[fiz]

Ryan Gordon

Real Sporting Season 2023/2024 Review

I spent two years looking for my next club job after Ajax CT. In the mean time I went through three international jobs. First up, Ghana.

Qualified for the African Cup of Nations with Ghana but saw that the Egypt post was open. Jumped ship to Egypt where I had the most disappointing campaign and was quickly outed from the group stage of the ACON. Ghana made it to the semifinals no surprise there.

Moved myself to Uruguay since there was nothing to look forward to in the immediate schedule with Egypt. Uruguay was already qualified for the Copa America coming up in the summer, figured it was a chance for a trophy so why not? Made it past the group stages and beat Mexico's B squad to get to the semis. Unfortunately we were played out the park by Chile's B team for a quick and uneventful Copa America.

Resigned immediately. In July 2023 my big break came in the form of newly promoted Sporting. They had gone down a year before and came right back up. True warrior spirits I thought. Got an interview and it went well, off to Spain.

The first team was lacking up front, and we found the perfect combo from Valencia's B squad. Two loanees later I now had a pretty good pair up front. No doubt the Valencia boss would be pleased that two of his young stars would be playing in La Liga together. Also found two center backs, one English, one Brazilian. And top it off with an Englishman keeper. This young group of loanees would go on to do good for Sporting.

Copa del Rey - We finished in the semifinals losing to Deportivo 4-3 aggregate. We lost away and won at home but it wasn't enough.

La Liga - My boys were just insane. Media picked us to be bottom feeders. We finished in 7th. Got a spot in the Europa League! Barcelona won the double I think is how we got a spot. We were 5th place up until the very last matchday where we were up against champions Barcelona. They beat us 2-0 and we fell to 7th behind Athletico and Real Sociedad. Point total was 61. Biggest result was winning 2-1 in Madrid. Gleison, one of my loanee strikers, finished with 30 goals - good for 2nd in the league. We will look to improve next year definitely.

Best Rating & Most Goals - Gleison - 7.5 & 30

Most Assists - Vincenzo Grifo - 13

Season  Country  Team                          League    Position     Notes                                                           Challenge Landmarks
16/17    RSA	 Golden Arrows			        NFD      12th         Promotion candidates, left after 8 games with 4 losses                        
17/18    ENG    Southend United                L2       13th         Sacked                                                                    
17/18    ENG    Port Vale                      L2	     5th	      Took over in 12th position in January - won playoffs
18/19    ENG    Port Vale                      L1       23rd         Sacked
18/19    RSA    Ajax CT                        Prem     14th         Took over in January
19/20    RSA    Ajax CT                        Prem     2nd          Won the Nedbank Cup                                             +1 Cup
20/21    RSA    Ajax CT                        Prem     1st          Champions of the league and Africa, left Ajax, joined Ghana     +1 League, +1 Continental Championship
21/22    EGY    Egypt                                                Crap
22/23    URU    Uruguay                                              Semifinals of Copa America
23/24    SPA    Sporting                       La Liga  7th          Europa League spot

Challenge Progress

Club
1/10 top domestic leagues (South Africa)
1/10 domestic cups (South Africa)
1/5 club continental championships (Africa)
0/1 club world championship

International
0/5 continental tournaments
0/2 world tournaments

[mayihavecookie]

mayihavecookie's 2032 Season Report



New York City FC - Major League Soccer

League Table | Schedule 1 | Schedule 2 | Schedule 3 | Manager Profile

After leaving Juve I have been without a club job for half a year, then I joined New York City FC in the MLS. I took over in November and had my first game, the quarter final of the North American Champions League, in February. Even though the club was deep in debt I was allowed a big enough budget to build a strong team. We beat Chivas 4-0 and 1-1 in the quarter final. Then we met LA Galaxy and we beat them on away goals after drawing 1-1 at home and 2-2 away. In the final we met Tigres from Mexico and we beat them 1-0 at home and 5-1 away and won the NACL.

With no suitable job coming up I decided to stay at NYCFC and try to win my last cup competition. We were beaten in the semi final by Portland though. I still stayed for the whole season and we won the MLS. We finished first in the Eastern Conference by a big margin and won the MLS Supporter's Shield with 77 points from 34 games. In the playoffs we then beat Orlando City (3-2 and 5-1) and LA Galaxy (2-0 and 4-1) before we beat Vancouver 3-0 in the final.

I resigned and am now waiting for the right job to become available for me to win my last three remaining club titles. The French Ligue 1, the European Champions League and one national cup competition.

Mexico

2031 | 2032

I wasn't sacked after losing two international competitions on penalties in 20 days. I guess the FA was afraid I would go mad and they would have to pay for my therapy or something like that. So with the next Gold Cup already coming up in 2033, I decided it's best to stay and try my luck a second time.

We did well since then. Only lost one friendly against Holland and won all the other games. We easily finished first in our group in the 3rd round of the World Cup Qualifiers. Now we are in another group of six teams. We won our first two games and it shouldn't be a problem to qualify for the World Cup.

[b]CLUB CAREER

Season     Club             Pos   DC1   DC2    Cont    Notes & Achievements[/b]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014  CHN Renhe             11th  QF    n/a    n/a     Took over after 13 games in 16th 
2015  CHN Renhe             2nd   QF    n/a    n/a     Chinese Manager of the Year
2016  CHN Renhe             1st   Won   n/a    R2      Won Chinese Super League & FA Cup
2017  KOR Chunnam           2nd   R4    n/a    Won     Won Asian Champions League
2018  KOR Jeonbuk           1st   Won   n/a    Won     Won Asian Champions League, K-League Classic & FA Cup
19/20 RSA Kaizer Chiefs     2nd   Won   QF     n/a     Won SA Cup
20/21 RSA Kaizer Chiefs     1st   Won   R1     open    Won SA Cup, Be The Coach and Premier Soccer League
21/22 RSA Kaizer Chiefs     1st   R1    QF     won     Won African Champions League, left after 13 games in 1st
21/22 GER Borussia Dortmund 3rd   F     n/a    n/a     Took over after 26 games in 9th
22/23 GER Borussia Dortmund 1st   F     n/a    EL won  Won Bundesliga and Europa League
23/24 ESP Real Madrid       1st   Won   n/a    R2      Won La Liga and Spanish Cup
24/25 HOL Ajax              1st   Won   n/a    R2      Won Eredivisie and Dutch Cup
2025  ARG Boca Juniors      1st   n/a   n/a    Won     Took over after 15 games in 2nd. Won League & Copa Libertadores
2026  ARG Boca Juniors      1st   Won   n/a    Won     Won Copa Argentina, Club World Cup and everything else
27/28 ENG Arsenal           1st   Won   Won    EL R2   Won Premier League, FA Cup and Capital One Cup
28/29 ENG Arsenal           2nd   R4    Won    QF      Left 2nd after 33 games, they went on the win League, won C.O.C.
29/30 ITA Juve              2nd   Won   n/a    R2      Won Italian Cup   
30/31 ITA Juve              1st   Won   n/a    SF      Won League & Cup double
2032  USA New York City FC  1st   SF    n/a    Won     Won MLS and NACL

[b]INTERNATIONAL CAREER

Year   Nation        NL     WC     Cont.  Conf.  Notes & Achievements[/b]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014   -
2015   -
2016   -
2017   - 
2018   South Korea                               Joined 22.7.18
2019   South Korea                 QF            Sacked 6.2.19
2019   Cameroon                                  Joined 17.2.19 World Ranking 29th
2020   Cameroon      
2021   Cameroon                    Won           Won African Cup of Nations
2022   Cameroon             3rd                  Resigned 10.7.22 World Ranking 4th
2023   France        SF                          Joined 17.7.22 World Ranking 7th
2024   France                      QF            Sacked 14.7.24 World Ranking 4th
2025   -
2026   -
2027   Uruguay                     Final         Joined 10.1.17, Resigned 3.7.17
2028   Brazil                                    Joined 12.9.17 World Ranking 1st
2029   Brazil                             Won    Won Confederations Cup
2030   Mexico                                    Joined 21.7.30 World Ranking 18th
2031   Mexico                      Final         Lost both Gold Cup & Copa America final
2032   Mexico

Challenge Progress

Club

10/10 top domestic leagues (China, South Korea, South Africa, Germany, Spain, Holland, Argentina, England, Italy, USA)

9/10 domestic cups (China, South Korea, South Africa, Spain, Holland, Argentina, England (FAC), England (COC), Italy)

4/5 club continental championships (Asia, Africa, South America, North America)

1/1 club world championship (Boca Juniors) COMPLETED

International

1/5 continental tournaments (African Cup of Nations with Cameroon)

1/2 world tournaments (Confederations Cup with Brazil)

[vikeologist]

Thank you everybody for your tactical advice, but my current South Korea team is fine tactically. I play 2 defensive midfielders in central defence because they're slightly better than the specialist central defenders in that position. Things have changed from 8 years ago when i lost in the quarter finals. I now have a much more balanced team, and a much better team.

mihc - Glad to see that you have continued with the challenge. I know there were times when I felt like giving up. The lows in the challenge can be real kicks in the guts.

It looks as though you're going to finish the club side of things with a lot of international trophies still to get. I can't honestly say that part of the challenge was much fun for me. Recent visitors to the thread may wonder why I'm doing the challenge if I don't enjoy it, but its only the latter stages when it's ceased to be much fun. I've just wanted it to be over. I haven't stepped outside the door in about 3 weeks. Just let it be over, dear God, grant me deliverance.

Anyway, (for when it applies) some advice about the international side of things which i've picked up from the last 20 seasosns of exclusively international management (including international unemployment). This is FM15, not 16.

Go on holiday as much as possible. You have an option to go on holiday until the next international squad selection. This is much better than just sitting there pressing continue.

Look at the international sides usually sack managers and holiday until those competitions. There's a possibility of missing a job vacancy. If you have lots of international trophies left you can go on holiday but choose to apply for international jobs. I didn't do this at the end of my game because applying for, being offered and turning down lots of European etc jobs might have affected my ability to get the S Korea job.

As i've mentioned, try to get the S Korea job next, after Mexico. If you go for Australia make sure you have the top 2 English divisions loaded.

When you get an international job, you may find that some of your better players have retired from international football, and you can persuade them to change their mind. My latest stint with S Korea I persuaded 3 players (including a 29 year old) to give it one more swing, and they were definitely 3 of my better players. It's important to search for nationality, as they will be filtered out if you just look at eligible players.

I guess the obvious thing if you are just managing internationally is to have an assistant manager, or at least a coach, with good ability and potential judging.

Anyway, good luck in France. hopefully having managed the international team will stand you in good stead. Are you tempted to wait for the PSG job, or are you going to go for the first big club that comes up? I guess with so many international trophies to win, you could wait patiently for the PSG job if you wanted.

fiz - excellent progress. Well done getting the Sporting job. My guess would be that its international management that's enabled you to get it rather than your domestic accomplishments, although that really is just a guess. The mysteries of being offered jobs in this game doth pass my understanding.

dj - Sorry the feeder team thing didn't work out. You could have transformed the whole challenge, but your canary in a coalmine efforts are appreciated.

Jumbocamp - Congrats on promotion. Sticking with ATM, or are you going to try to make a withdrawl? (Sorry).

Earl - Congrats on winning the title in your first season with Rangers. I think you're the first challenger to win the title in scotland, (important to me because i'm Scottish). Looks like your target of achieving the challenge again is going well. As I've intimated, at this point, trying to do the whole challenge again is the last thing on my mind. I feel like I've been in labour for the last few weeks, trying to squeeze that last cup out of my managerial whatnot.

And with that image.......

[mayihavecookie]

Thanks for your advice vikeologist. Seeing you struggle to finish really doesn't make me optimistic I can finish this soon with 4 continental trophies and the world cup to go.

Yes, I decided that I will wait for the PSG job to come up. Last summer I could have taken over Lyon (who had just won the league then) but declined. PSG is managed by Antonio Conte who is now 63. I've been waiting for him to be sacked for a while now, but even though they haven't won the league two times in a row his job still is secure. But I'm sure he will retire soon and I hope I can take over.

I've actually just joined Manchester City in March 2033 as they are still in the Champions League but had a disappointing season in the league. Maybe I'm lucky.

[djdavecee]

Season 2017/18

After a poor Start to Liga Adelante and several failed attempts to get some stability with Valencia Mestalla and a new contract, they eventually let me go.(eventually relegated back to Div 2 B3 as well)

This left me waiting for a decent opportunity in the job market, which i wasn't going to rush. I ended up waiting till April 2018 before taking my new management role, which would be back to my roots in the UK, with Swindon Town.

A decent structure, with a decent side, i joined with 2 games remaining of the season, winning both, but missing out on a play off spot(which wasn't likely when i took over) and finishing 9th.

The upcoming season, for which i'm feeling quite positive(for the first time since starting this wild adventure), i'm 12-1 for the league, predicted to finish 6th, which i hope should be quite achievable.

CLUB CAREER
                                      Leagues         Cups
Season     NAT      Club               1st    2nd      1st    2nd    Cont.    CWC    Other & Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16    GER      Bremen II          n/a                                           Left unsure about position
2016/17    SPN      Valencia Mestalla  1st             Won                           Promoted to Adelante, Spanish Fed Cup Winners
2017/18    SPN      Valencia Mestalla  n/a                                           No new contract offered, let go
2017/18    ENG      Swindon Town       9th                                           Joined with 2 games remaining




INTERNATIONAL CAREER
       Rank        Cups
Year    Nation    FIFA    NL    World    Cont.    Conf.    Other & Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[vikeologist]

dj - what division are swindon in?

[djdavecee]

dj - what division are swindon in?

League 1 mate

[vikeologist]

Well, league 1 jobs are difficult (although not impossible) to get as a first job, so I'm not sure that feeder club time was entirely wasted. I'm fairly certain you wouldn't have got the Swindon job without it.