JoeLapira Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Thanks mate. Hopefully it will last because the board want me to get promotion via winning the league, which I'm not sure about given my situation at all! Tried a parent club and came back with nothing. Managed to assemble a small squad but any injuries and I'm done for so I'm going to look for a few non contract players for squad fillers. Hopefully crack on when I'm home from work tonight. I dont mean to add any pressure but something that might work in your favour is that alot of the time the team that gets promoted to the top tier is the team that got relegated the year before. There is alot a poor sides in the Irish First Division that never come close to promotion. In my own save, my local team Limerick FC have gone down, then straight back up, back down again and then straight back up. I'd say you'd have a strong chance of topping that league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwnnll Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 I dont mean to add any pressure but something that might work in your favour is that alot of the time the team that gets promoted to the top tier is the team that got relegated the year before. There is alot a poor sides in the Irish First Division that never come close to promotion. In my own save, my local team Limerick FC have gone down, then straight back up, back down again and then straight back up. I'd say you'd have a strong chance of topping that league. That's reassuring then, I noticed some teams in this division are very weak. I guess we'll see, I'll be getting a couple of games done tonight. My biggest worry is squad morale right now, everyone wants to leave! If all goes well I'd like to spend a few years in Ireland to the point where I can dominate domestically. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
djdavecee Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Dave Tough luck with Swindon, hopefully you can enjoy a bit more success with Gillingham, by the looks of it you've a very good start. What were the board expectations for this season? Play offs are my target in the league, already out of Capital One Cup and Johnstone's Paint Trophy Competitions, so straight forward league priorities for me Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLapira Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 That's reassuring then, I noticed some teams in this division are very weak. I guess we'll see, I'll be getting a couple of games done tonight. My biggest worry is squad morale right now, everyone wants to leave! If all goes well I'd like to spend a few years in Ireland to the point where I can dominate domestically. A couple of wins early on could really boost morale and get players on your side. Best of luck with your aim of domestic domination, it would be some job if you can achieve it with Bray. But if you are looking to change clubs, Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers are very good clubs with St.Pats and Derry City being good options aswell. Bohemians, Shelbourne and Cork City are clubs that used to be at the top but have fallen away in recent years. I look forward to seeing how you get on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwnnll Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 A couple of wins early on could really boost morale and get players on your side. Best of luck with your aim of domestic domination, it would be some job if you can achieve it with Bray. But if you are looking to change clubs, Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers are very good clubs with St.Pats and Derry City being good options aswell. Bohemians, Shelbourne and Cork City are clubs that used to be at the top but have fallen away in recent years. I look forward to seeing how you get on. Yeah for sure but I'm not sure if the players that have demanded to leave will improve and stop bitching? I'm really looking forward to the challenge. Ideally I'd want to stay here and topple the bigger boys, having said that I'd be open to a move as long as it was in Ireland because I want to do a few years here. I guess we'll see what happens. What's going on with your save? Only signed up yesterday so haven't seen anything. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLapira Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Yeah for sure but I'm not sure if the players that have demanded to leave will improve and stop bitching? I'm really looking forward to the challenge. Ideally I'd want to stay here and topple the bigger boys, having said that I'd be open to a move as long as it was in Ireland because I want to do a few years here. I guess we'll see what happens. What's going on with your save? Only signed up yesterday so haven't seen anything. I'm currently managing Swallows in S.Africa and just recently won my first Challenge Trophy, the S.African Knockout Cup. I started at Berwick in Scotland, where i got back to back promotions and a cup, i then moved on to Suwon FC in S.Korea where i got them promoted to the top tier. I'm also currently managing Tunisia where I won the CHAN and i'm very optimistic of our chances in the upcoming ACON. I have to say this Challenge is definitely one of my favourite saves ever. Dave, I tend prefer getting knocked out of the cups early if im managing in the lower leagues of England and aiming for promotion. Yes a good cup run or 2 can be financially beneficial but they can take alot out of your players. The season is long enough, a cup run could mean having to play 50+ games and that would hit the legs of any squad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwnnll Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 I'm currently managing Swallows in S.Africa and just recently won my first Challenge Trophy, the S.African Knockout Cup. I started at Berwick in Scotland, where i got back to back promotions and a cup, i then moved on to Suwon FC in S.Korea where i got them promoted to the top tier. I'm also currently managing Tunisia where I won the CHAN and i'm very optimistic of our chances in the upcoming ACON. I have to say this Challenge is definitely one of my favourite saves ever. That's impressive. I looked into the Berwick job and didn't take it, it looked next to impossible with the situation they're in! Yeah I'm really looking forward to getting a few years in myself. My most long term game this year was Bolton for 4 seasons so this is quite the difference. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLapira Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 That's impressive. I looked into the Berwick job and didn't take it, it looked next to impossible with the situation they're in! Yeah I'm really looking forward to getting a few years in myself. My most long term game this year was Bolton for 4 seasons so this is quite the difference. Berwick was the easiest job out of the 3 so far for me. I got Rangers as a parent club in my first season and took on some impressive youngsters on loan from them and they were key players for me. I won League 2 quite easily in the end. I then went onto finish 2nd in league 1 and achieved promotion via playoffs and then finished 3rd in the Chamionship but lost in the playoffs for a chance to go to the Premiership. I found it a bit difficuly to leave them but I had to for the sake of the Challenge. I was able to sign some very good players for free and on loan during my time there and quite easily too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiz Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Ryan Gordon Real Sporting Season 2024/2025 Review At work right now but this season was so boring and uneventful I can just do a quick recap. We made it to Europa League but were quickly sent home by Viktoria Pizen in the playoff round. Copa del Rey was ended when we drew against Real Madrid in the quarter finals. And we were really bad in La Liga, in 17th at the halfway point - my team were upset with my management, so we had a meeting about changing tactics. Switched from a 442 to a really boring 451 and starting getting some results. By the end of the season we occupied 14th in the table. A really drab year. Took the Nigeria job but haven't played a game yet. World Cup qualification is pretty much a given so we'll have that to look forward to. 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 24/25 SPA Sporting La Liga 14th Started in Nigeria 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 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwnnll Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Berwick was the easiest job out of the 3 so far for me. I got Rangers as a parent club in my first season and took on some impressive youngsters on loan from them and they were key players for me. I won League 2 quite easily in the end. I then went onto finish 2nd in league 1 and achieved promotion via playoffs and then finished 3rd in the Chamionship but lost in the playoffs for a chance to go to the Premiership. I found it a bit difficuly to leave them but I had to for the sake of the Challenge. I was able to sign some very good players for free and on loan during my time there and quite easily too. Oh I see, yeah I'm going about the challenge slightly differently to suit me really. Really determined to dominate Ireland before I move on. But obviously you never know what jobs can pop up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLapira Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Oh I see, yeah I'm going about the challenge slightly differently to suit me really. Really determined to dominate Ireland before I move on. But obviously you never know what jobs can pop up. Thats the beauty of this Challenge, everyone will have a different approach and take a different path. But the fact you have to spend time on each continent, at club and country level really adds to it, as well as having to do the "Top 5" in Europe. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
djdavecee Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Time for another update, season 2019/20 turned out to be successful, winning League 2, performing to expectations in cups, a new contract and a new challenge to look forward to in League 1! Had a decision to make in about Feb 2020 as Bolton Wanderers approached for my services, a team with a larger reputation and they were in League 1. I looked into the clubs information, and astonishingly found them £534million in debt. Not taking them up on their offer, for me was a no brainer, and as it turned out, they stayed in League 1, but before a ball has even been kicked for the 2020/21 season, they've gone into administration, and are starting the campaign with 12 points deducted! Let's see what League 1 brings! http://i.imgur.com/mJt496G.png 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 2018/19 ENG Swindon Town n/a Sacked after a poor season 2018/19 ENG Gillingham 8th Joined after they offered me job without me applying with 6 games left 2019/20 ENG Gillingham 1st Enjoyable season, looking to progress next year INTERNATIONAL CAREER Rank Cups Year Nation FIFA NL World Cont. Conf. Other & Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwnnll Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 So I'm six games into the league as Bray Wanderers in the Irish second tier. It was a difficult transfer window as there was a HUGE lack of talent and pretty much every decent player left. I was favourites to go up as they'd just been relegated. Really not happy with how I played at the start of the season but I've changed the tactic up and it's going okay for now, some worrying signs though. The Shamrock Rovers game was disappointing but they are one of the top teams in Ireland so I never really stood a chance. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLapira Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Dave; Congrats on promotion, hopefully you can enjoy the same success in League 1. dwnnll; Fair play, unbeaten in the league after 7 games is a good start. I've no doubt you'll be top of that league come the end of the season. Not much to report from myself, havent played much since the cup final. We're sitting 8th in the league at the minute, which i'm happy enough with. The draw for the ACON took place and we got a tough draw. We got Togo, Congo(the only team to be beat us since i took over) and DR Congo(the defending ACON champions). Its tough but we have to beat the top teams if we wanna win this, hopefully we can stay injury free. Although my first choice AMC refused my call up for this. I dont know why though, he's played nearly every game for me and is vital as he has 18 corners and 17 free kicks, so his set pieces can make a huge difference and have done in the past. But hopefully we can get by without him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwnnll Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 dwnnll; Fair play, unbeaten in the league after 7 games is a good start. I've no doubt you'll be top of that league come the end of the season. Not much to report from myself, havent played much since the cup final. We're sitting 8th in the league at the minute, which i'm happy enough with. The draw for the ACON took place and we got a tough draw. We got Togo, Congo(the only team to be beat us since i took over) and DR Congo(the defending ACON champions). Its tough but we have to beat the top teams if we wanna win this, hopefully we can stay injury free. Although my first choice AMC refused my call up for this. I dont know why though, he's played nearly every game for me and is vital as he has 18 corners and 17 free kicks, so his set pieces can make a huge difference and have done in the past. But hopefully we can get by without him. Oh believe me it's not been convincing at all though! 9 games in now won the following 2, will play a few more tonight. Hopefully can carry on doing just about enough to go up but I don't fancy my chances much in the first tier, would all depend on my wage budget how well I'd do. Not going too bad for you then, that's bs about that player that refused a call up?! Who the hell would do that! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLapira Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 South African Knockout Cup Report http://i64.tinypic.com/2iiiepv.jpg The first round saw us pitted against Milano Utd, a team who found themselves bottom of the league with no wins, so I expected an easy win. It wasn't to be as they took us all the way to extra time, but fortunately we were able to come through 3-2. Next up was Bloem Celtic, when we met a couple weeks earlier we cruised to victory 3-0, but this was a different matter. Thanks to the heroics of our captain and keeper, we managed to survive an onslaught and get to penalties. Here my keeper was at it again saving 3 penalties and we were through to the semi final. Orlando Pirates were up next and we managed to score within 20 minutes. Again thanks to another amazing performance from our keeper we held on to the narrow lead and we were through to the final. The final saw us come against Kaizer Chiefs, but we managed to survive an early barrage of shots, only to win a penalty in the 83rd minute and thanks to our left back's composure we were 1-0 up with minutes remaining. It felt like forever but finally the full time whistle came and we were the South African Knockout Cup Champions, my first Challenge trophy. 2021 ACON Report Having been handed a tricky group I knew we would have to be at our best to get through. An opening 2-0 win against Togo followed up by a 3-2 win against DR Congo(the defending champs) meant we were through to the quarter finals with a game to spare. I took the opportunity to rest some players and we came away with a 1-1 draw against Congo. We were drawn against the Ivory Coast, the hosts, in the quarters and after a really exciting game we came through with a 3-2 win. Up next was the first of the surprise packages Guinea, after going 1-0 dowm I made some changes and we cruised to a 4-1 win, onto the final we went. The final saw us up against the second surprise team of the tournament, Angola. In the end it was a comfortable 2-0 and we were ACON Champions!!!, my second Challenge trophy was secured. http://i66.tinypic.com/in8vhe.jpg CLUB CAREER Season Club Pos DC1 DC2 Cont Notes & Achievements ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015/16 Berwick Rangers(SCO) 1st R.4 R.1 n/a Champions and promoted to League 1. 2016/17 Berwick Rangers(SCO) 2nd R.4 R.2 n/a Promoted to Championship via playoffs. 2017/18 Berwick Rangers(SCO) 3rd R.5 R.3 n/a Reached playoffs but lost out on chance to go the Premiership. Challenge Cup WINNERS!! Resigned from Berwick. 2018 Suwon FC(KOR) 3rd n/a n/a n/a Took over with 12 league games remaining. Promoted to K-League Classic via Playoffs. 2019 Suwon FC(KOR) 9th R.5 n/a n/a Favourites for relegation but survived. 2020 Suwon FC(KOR) 11th R.5 n/a n/a Left Suwon for Swallows(RSA) with 9 games to go. 2020/21 Swallows(RSA) 7th R.2 WIN n/a Took over with one game played. KO Cup WINNERS!! Season still ongoing. INTERNATIONAL CAREER Year Nation WC Cont. Conf. Notes & Achievements ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015 2016 Scotland u19 n/a n/a n/a Qualified for European U19 Championship 2017 Scotland u19 Resigned as Scotland u19 Manager 2018 2019 China u23 n/a n/a n/a Resigned as China u23 Manager without playing a match to take over Tunisia 2019 Tunisia n/a n/a n/a Qualified for 2020 CHAN 2020 Tunisia n/a n/a n/a CHAN WINNERS!! Qualified for 2021 ACON. 2021 Tunisia n/a WON n/a ACON WINNERS!! Club 0/10 top domestic leagues () 1/10 domestic cups (S.Africa) 0/5 club continental championships () 0/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments (Africa) 0/2 world tournaments () Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayihavecookie Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Congratulations to your first two challenge achievements JoeLapira Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted January 28, 2016 Author Share Posted January 28, 2016 JoeL - Great double. Nice to see success for Swallows, and good to get the ACOn out of the way. Somebosy said on the thread that the ACON was easy, but it took me quite a few goes. There's so many good african nations, and frankly i wouldn't expect to have to count Angola and Guinea as contenders. What a strange tournament. Did the AMC give a reason for refusing the call up? dj - Congrats on promotion. There's a thread on GD, http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/450590-Bolton-Wanderers basically saying that Bolton are hard-coded for disaster, so it looks as though you dodged a bullet there. No going after bad jobs is definitely a vital part of this challenge. fiz - Oh, you managed Southend as well. Perhaps their board has a thing about 21 year old managers. Good luck next season and with nigeria. dwnnll - Hope things are continuing to go well in ireland. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted January 28, 2016 Author Share Posted January 28, 2016 Vikeologist's 2016/17 Southend Report First, can I say how long this season seemed after banging through a couple of seasons a day on average at the end of my last save. At one point I thought the season must be nearly over, and realised that it was still before Xmas and less than half-way through. A fairly disappointing first season at League 1 Southend. The board’s expectations may have been low, but mine were high. I expected to challenge for promotion at our first attempt. However we were always nearer to the relegation places than playoffs and with 12 games to go actually slid into the relegation places. I gave up on my strikers and brought 2 new ones in on loan. My top goal scorer for the season bagged 11 goals.It’s not as though the 2 new guys scored many either, but their arrival coincided with a tweaking on the tactics, and we ended the season well, finishing 13 points clear of trouble. This would bode well for next season except that I used a lot of loan players, and I’m going to be letting a lot of players leave over the summer. I reckon I have 3 or 4 players good enough for the team. I may have to rethink bringing in so many loan players. Hardly any of them performed up to their supposed ability, so I’ll try to use loanees just to plug gaps, though lord knows there’s plenty of those. Near the end of the season I expressed interest in a couple of jobs; about to be relegated to L1 Middlesbrough and league 1 top-spenders Bristol City. I was laughed off on both occasions, as I sort of expected. So I’ve signed a new contract. The job I’d really like is with my favourite side Bradford City, but they didn’t sack their manager, or even seem likely to. I survived a board takeover. It really was a pretty dull season. When doing the old challenge, I wished I’d nominated a player of each season, so that I could remember those who helped make me the legend that I was, and decided that I would do just that when I restarted. The problem is that my whole team was pretty mediocre. Nonetheless, the first inductee into my own save’s Hall of Fame is Ryan Leonard. If I get far enough into the save to be nominating regens as players of the season, I’ll make up some stories,but of course Ryan is a real person, so I’ll just say that the fact he was indisputably my best player even though as a midfielder he had 2 goals, 3 assists and absolutely zero players of the match really says it all about my season. Not only will I not remember him at the end of the challenge. I didn’t even know his name now without looking at the game. Season Team Position Notes Challenge Landmarks 15/16 Unemployed. I have my standards and I'm sticking to them. 16/17 Southend 13th Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEarl Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 vike great to see you back in contention so soon. JL congrats on both a club and nation trophy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLapira Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Cheers Vike, Earl, and MIHC, it feels good to finally get on the board. I know there's a long way to go but the earlier I start making progress the sooner my rep goes up, which is currently at 40%. Vike; I was shocked and delighted to see Guinea as my semi-final opponents and even more so about meeting Angola in the final. I don't know why the AMC refused the call up, it was only later that I realised that I could have spoke to him about it but who cares, he missed out big time. I finished up the season with Swallows in 7th place, only 3 points off of 4th, which would have qualified me for the lesser of the 2 continental competitions. Our KO Cup heroics weren't matched in the FA Cup as we crashed out in Round 2. But all in all, I'm delighted with how the season went. I had an interview with Sundowns just as the season ended, which would have been a step in the right direction but unfortunately I missed out. If i gave it a right good go at Swallows I could probably win the league and maybe the African Champions League with them but it would take quite a number of seasons and I would prefer to get it out of the way much quicker than that. So we'll see what happens in the close season. My time in Tunisia has been amazing, winning back to back tournaments, breaking a couple of records and now one win away from World Cup qualification. I sincerely doubt I'm going to win the WC with Tunisia but they've never gotten out of the groups there so that will be my aim. After the WC there should be plenty of jobs available and I'll be hoping for one that can give me a chance to win another continental tournament, hopefully I can get an Asian one based on Vike's experiences. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwnnll Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Not a bad season overall Vike, in League 1 in just your second year? Didn't think that was possible! I played a bit last night then had a crash dump, got annoyed and just didn't play any more. So now I have to holiday until I get the same bloody results, was a poor run of form too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted January 28, 2016 Author Share Posted January 28, 2016 Not a bad season overall Vike, in League 1 in just your second year? Didn't think that was possible! Yep. I've got a first job in league 1 twice (full-fat version - FM16), so L1 job possible. It did take a year though. The first job is important, because of the difficulty in getting a second job. if you start off in league 2, your only chance of becoming a L1 manager any time soon it seems is to get your sorry ass promoted. I've been lucky in that the Southend job is quite a good one, in that the baord expectations are so low. Even when we slipped into the relegation zone they didn't freak out, depsite the fact that Southend had finished 2 places higher in a comfortable 11th the season before. My new baord seem even more chilled out, and though the club has some loans its paying back, its not ridiculously poor. Clearly they're too busy using the club as a front for their narcotics business to worry too much about results on the pitch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwnnll Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Yep. I've got a first job in league 1 twice (full-fat version - FM16), so L1 job possible. It did take a year though. The first job is important, because of the difficulty in getting a second job. if you start off in league 2, your only chance of becoming a L1 manager any time soon it seems is to get your sorry ass promoted. I've been lucky in that the Southend job is quite a good one, in that the baord expectations are so low. Even when we slipped into the relegation zone they didn't freak out, depsite the fact that Southend had finished 2 places higher in a comfortable 11th the season before. My new baord seem even more chilled out, and though the club has some loans its paying back, its not ridiculously poor. Clearly they're too busy using the club as a front for their narcotics business to worry too much about results on the pitch. Sounds pretty nice, I normally love managing in England but for this challenge Ireland really appealed to me, it will mean slower progress but it's something different for me. Maybe next time I'll wait it out for a L1 job if I ever start over. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLapira Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Vike do you holiday for the full year straight through to the end of the season or do you do it stages, like holiday for a few months, come back, check whats available and then do another couple of months if theres nothing suitable. Getting an English League 1 job off the bat is some going. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted January 28, 2016 Author Share Posted January 28, 2016 Vike do you holiday for the full year straight through to the end of the season or do you do it stages, like holiday for a few months, come back, check whats available and then do another couple of months if theres nothing suitable. Getting an English League 1 job off the bat is some going. No. I don't think you can do it by holidaying. That said, you can cut down times by not having too many subscriptions. At the start the game should go relatively quickly, but still, it was a bit of a task, constantly checking the job pages. If one only had the leagues loaded that you wanted to manage in; for instance the top Chinese and South African leagues which i started off the challenge with in FM15, you could holiday and instruct the 'game' to apply for all job vacancies. I guess there's a danger you'd apply for international jobs that you stand no chance on, but that could cut down on time. With england though, i didin't want to apply for jobs i the premiership, championship or the bigger L1 clubs, because I knew I wouldn't get them and thought it might affect my reputation and ability to get jobs. (Not sure it would). I think i probably still applied for about 10-15 L1 jobs. Out of those only 2 even offered an interview, and the first one turned me down, which was a blessing in disguise because they were probably about to be relegated. (Not sure if they were in the end). I think maybe some people get turned down by the first 5-10 clubs they apply for and think (logically but wrongly) that its impossible to get a job. On the other hand, the main object of the challenge is to have fun, not to achieve it, so any club, any country is a good place to start if it's where you want to be. Since I really don't intend to even try to achieve the whole challenge again for FM16, I was thinking of quitting to try to manage FC Oslo in Norway (if they'd got promoted) because their intake is supposedly all-African. It would have been a masive step backwards, but my season at Southend did seem to drag on. Nearly started the youth challenge as well, which i probably will do soon. So not trying to dictate what people should do, but I wanted to put it out there what level of first job you can get, if that's your objective. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwnnll Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 A question, as mentioned earlier I had a crash dump. Do you guys just holiday until you get the same results? I was in poor form and am one of the better teams in this league so it's going to take a while! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLapira Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 I had a crash dump in my first season aswell, i had to replay 5 games. I holidayed all 5 and on the first go came out one point worse off, so i just went with it. So if you can get it within a point or 2 of the original, you'll be grand. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLapira Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 On the other hand, the main object of the challenge is to have fun, not to achieve it, so any club, any country is a good place to start if it's where you want to be. This is why i undertook this Challenge, its a long term challenge but you get the experience of different leagues and countries. Yes it will be great to complete the challenge but for me it was about starting a save i would enjoy, and this has been one of my favourtite saves in ages. The targets set by the Challenge give you a sense of purpose and direction but the process of getting there is the most enjoyable part. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwnnll Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Taking a few days out of FM due to work unfortunately :-( really looking forward to finishing my first season though hopefully have that done early next week. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
threelions1goal Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 Vike - welcome back, glad you couldn't keep away!! I've a question for everyone - has anybody got disillusioned with a club and quit even though they need to win something as part of the challenge?? What I'm getting at is I'm getting bored managing in South Africa and I'm tempted to move on elsewhere. Obviously I need to win The African Champions League at some point and unless I hang around hoping the Supersport or Kaiser Chiefs job become available, I cannot see myself breaking their dominance. The Ajax CT squad I'm building is getting better, but I'm beginning to get itchy feet!! I can always come back in twenty seasons time when I'm in my mid 40's!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayihavecookie Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 3L1G You're right about coming back some years later when Kaizer Chiefs or Pirates become available. The question I would ask myself is, did my reputation grow enough since you took that job to now get a job at a better club? If not, it could feel like you've wasted your time there. So if your team is getting stronger and stronger, it might be worth to stay until you can get the titles you need. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEarl Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 3L1G as for myself I always jumped around to benefit my career. I quit Internacional on FM15 without winning Copa Libertadores as I got a better job at Roma, only to return to Corinthians later to win with them. Guess I have other examples also, just cant remember them at them moment, hehe.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLapira Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 I'm sort of in the same position as 3LIG, although i was happy with how my first season went in S.Africa the close season has been terrible for me. I had already come to terms with the fact that my 2 first choice full backs were leaving for free because they wouldnt sign new deals. But over the last few weeks, bids have been coming in for some of my best players and when i refused they all got upset saying they wanted to leave and that i should accept the offers. Then other players started saying how they were unhappy at how i was treating their teamates and the squad morale is in a terrible state. If i lose these players then my whole plan for the upcoming season will have to be scrapped and if i cant replace them i fear next season will be a waste in terms of progression. Three big jobs have been on offer during my time here(Bloem Celtic, Orlando Pirates and Sundowns) and i've had a interview with one which was unsuccessful, which kinda shows that none of the big clubs are at the minute ready to give me a shot. So I'm tempted to jump ship and head somewhere new and try and progress further there. I'm caught in 2 minds though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayihavecookie Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 mayihavecookie's 2033/34 Season ReportParis Saint-Germain - Ligue 1League Table | Games 1 | Games 2 | Games 3 | Games 4 | Quintuple | Hall Of Fame | Profile I took over the best team in Europe and did what I had to do: Win everything. I only had to do some minor changes in the summer transfer window. I brought in two young players who came through Arsenals youth team back when I managed them. An AML and a DL. I also bought a DR. That seems to be the first thing I do at any new club, buy new fullbacks. We really dominated the league and soon had a comfortable lead. We drew one game at home against Nancy-Lorraine, then won everything else just until the 30th game, when we had the chance to win the league in Monaco. That was when we lost our first game, so we only secured the title one week later, with 7 games to go. We actually started to lose some games after that, which made me a bit nervous about the Champions League. Monaco beat us again in the Semi Final of the French Cup, when they scored the 2-1 in extra time. We won the league without any problems with 104 points from 38 games, scoring 92 goals and conceding 14. We also won the Coupe de la Ligue with a 3-0 against Lyon in the final . In the Champions League, we finished first with 16 points in our group with Zenit, Barcelona and Red Bull Salzburg. In the first knockout round we beat Sevilla 3-0 away and then 8-0 at home. In the quarter final we beat Manchester United 4-0 at home and lost 2-3 away. Next was Arsenal, and this was a really close match, because my two strikers were injured. Without my star player and his backup, we needed some luck. And somehow we managed to steal a 1-1 draw in the away game and then beat them 3-0 at home. So for the first time in my career, I made it to the final of the Champions League! We met Real Madrid in a reissue of last years final (Conte's PSG won 3-1 last year). We started better, but missed all our chances in the first half. But right after half time we went up 1-0 and then raised the score to 2-0 after a corner kick. Real managed to come back and score the 2-1 with a free kick after 80 minutes, but while I was trying my best not to have a heart attack, my team kept cool and won the game deservedly. This quintuple (European Super Cup, Club World Cup, Coupe de la Ligue, Ligue 1 and Champions League) means I have now finished the club part of the challenge! If I get a chance to take over a team that is going to win a domestic cup in a 10th country, I might do it. But following the rules from when I started the challenge, I am now finished. [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 32/33 ENG Manchester City 9th n/a n/a SF Took over after 30 games in 12th 33/34 FRA PSG 1st Won Won Won Won League, League Cup, Champions League, Finished Club Part! [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 2033 Mexico Won Left 25.7.33 World Ranking 10th Challenge Progress 11/10 top domestic leagues [China (Renhe 2016), South Korea (Jeonbuk 2018), South Africa (Kaizer Chiefs 20/21), Germany (Dortmund 22/23), Spain (Real Madrid 23/24), Holland (Ajax 24/25), Argentina (Boca 2025), England (Arsenal 27/28), Italy (Juve 30/31), USA (NYCFC 2032), France (PSG 33/34)] COMPLETED! 10/10 domestic cups [China (Renhe 2016) , South Korea (Jeonbuk 2018), South Africa (Kaizer Chiefs 19/20), Spain (Real Madrid 23/24), Holland (Ajax 24/25), Argentina (Boca 2026), England FAC (Arsenal 27/28), England C1C (Arsenal 27/28), Italy (Juve 29/30), France (PSG 33/34)] COMPLETED! 5/5 club continental championships [Asia (Chunnam 2017 and Jeonbuk 2018), Africa (Kaizer Chiefs 21/22), South America (Boca 2025 and 2026), North America (NYCFC 2032), Europe (PSG 33/34)] COMPLETED! 1/1 club world championship (Boca 2026 and PSG 2033) COMPLETED! 2/5 continental tournaments [African Cup of Nations (Cameroon), Gold Cup (Mexico)] 1/2 world tournaments (Confederations Cup with Brazil) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
djdavecee Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Gillingham Season 2020/21 What a crazy and unexpected year in League 1 after gaining promotion from League 2 the previous season! Season started ok, after losing a few key players over the summer, i had to rely on Loanees to get my squad to a decent number. Fortunately, managed to get Premier League Norwich as an affiliate and pinged off a good Left Full Back Centre Mid. Went on a couple of very good unbeaten runs from around december time and the run in to May, and losing finalists in the JPT against Blackpool(runners up in league) Overall, im overjoyed at this, but know alot of work is gonna need to be done if i am to cut it in the Championship with the Gills! http://i.imgur.com/PgzSQ85.png http://i.imgur.com/1osdNZC.png http://i.imgur.com/v2BxIQV.png 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 2018/19 ENG Swindon Town n/a Sacked after a poor season 2018/19 ENG Gillingham 8th Joined after they offered me job without me applying with 6 games left 2019/20 ENG Gillingham 1st Enjoyable season, looking to progress next year 2020/21 ENG Gillingham 1st R/U Media predicted 19th, steamrolled from xmas, runner up in JPT INTERNATIONAL CAREER Rank Cups Year Nation FIFA NL World Cont. Conf. Other & Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 mihc - Fantastic season. Congrats on completing the club side of things. You've done that quicker than anyone else. Now you just have to win the final 3 trophies in the next 51 seasons to beat NW and myself. I hope that you enjoy this last part of the challenge. I read books, caught up on TV programmes, worked out on my cross-trainer, and occasionally looked to see what season I'd holidayed up to. dj- Looks like you're rolling along nicely. Good luck in the Championship. JoeL - I only got my job with Kaiser Chiefs after quitting Swallows. Mind you that was FM15. It may well be that FM16 is actually quite different. I guess its these kind of decisions that make or break your challenge. 3L1G - Same situation. I remember that I really didn't think I could take Swallows any further. the questions is, if you leave South Africa, how good a job are you going to be able to get at this point? Casn't remember if you've won the SA league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLapira Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 MIHC; Congrats on a super season with PSG and well done on completing the club side of things. Dave; Congrats to you aswell on getting back to back promotions, thats some achievement. Might i ask, what's your reputation at the minute? Vike; You right its a big decision in terms of the Challenge. When I quit Berwick, I felt it was the right decision but then going to Suwon was probably the wrong call as I didnt really achieve much there. Leaving Suwon was again, I feel, the right call and joining Swallows in terms of trophies was the right call as I won a Cup with them. But now i find myself in a situation where I could knuckle down with Swallows and look to build a successful side or move to a club where i cam achieve more immediate success and improve my rep. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sankalan Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Are players still allowed to take this challenge on fm15? And is it okay if I finish this in say 2020(real life) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 Are players still allowed to take this challenge on fm15? And is it okay if I finish this in say 2020(real life) yes, either FM15 or 16 is fine, and at least one person (MIHC) is still doing the challenge on FM15. It's the sort of challenge that's difficult to do in one year (though both Earl and NW did just that). If nothing significant changes for FM17, we'll just keep this thread going. I feel a bit sorry for the people who finish off a challenge on an old thread, and they can't be sure that anyone is actually still reading their updates. So, looking forward to hearing about the start of your journey. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwnnll Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 My first season of this challenge with Bray Wanderers is coming to an end, overall an acceptable season. I've won second tier league with four games to go and got to a cup final which I lost to Shamrock Rovers (they've knocked me out of almost every cup!) Problem is, all my good players will not sign any contracts with me and most have already signed pre-contracts with other clubs. So my first year in the top flight next year could be horrendous. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLapira Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Congrats on promotion dwnnll, don't lose faith on next season yet though. Things were looking fairly bleak for me going into my next season aswell but having scoured all of S.Africa, I'm beginning to get some good players in and the optimism is beginning to creep back in. That said if a better opportunity arises I'll be taking it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sankalan Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 AMAZULU 2014/15 UPDATE Started off with top two divisions of South Africa Loaded, but somehow, could not tolerate the fact that any work done in to first(actually second) division would be useless. However, I missed out on all of the initial job opportunities and loaded Peruvian top division, just in case. The job opportunity came from SA none the less, and the team is, well, in the only relegation spot. 7 games remain, we must prevent ourselves from being relegated. The FA cup was easy in the R16, but we met the Chiefs in the Quarters, and they politely showed us our way out. The league too started with a single point of our first two matches, but were fortunate to beat 2nd placed Sundowns. This was followed by a win against Maritzburg, placed 16(we were 15th now), so the automatic relegation spot was 4 points below us.After this we lost 2-1 to Black Aces, won 3-2 to Ajax and won 3-4 to Celtic. In all, we finished just a point clear of relegation league at 14th So there is my first step towards the impossible [table="width: 500"] [tr] [size=4][td]Year[/td] [td]Nation[/td] [td]League[/td] [td]Position[/td] [td]Cup-1[/td] [td]Cup-2[/td] [td]Continental[/td] [td]Comments[/td] [/size] [/tr] [tr] [td]2014/15[/td] [td]South Africa[/td] [td]Premier league(1)[/td] [td]14[/td] [td]Quarter final[/td] [td]N/A[/td] [td]N/A[/td] [td]Always good for a first job...[/td] [/tr] [/table] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLapira Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Welcome to the Challenge Sankalan, best of luck in S.Africa, you've done well to get a job in the top tier already. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwnnll Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Congrats on promotion dwnnll, don't lose faith on next season yet though. Things were looking fairly bleak for me going into my next season aswell but having scoured all of S.Africa, I'm beginning to get some good players in and the optimism is beginning to creep back in. That said if a better opportunity arises I'll be taking it. It's going to be a long transfer windows that's for sure! I think I can improve enough to stay up and then build on it. We'll see. Yeah I'm the same in regards to better opportunities but I do want to stay in Ireland for a few years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
djdavecee Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Dave; Congrats to you aswell on getting back to back promotions, thats some achievement. Might i ask, what's your reputation at the minute? Current reputation is 40%(decent), never tried a challenge before, so not sure how good or bad that is for where i'm at lol, know this isn't a race though, so i'm probably doing ok. Only thing i'm worried about is the travelling aspect and where to go to achieve what i need to when it comes to it, sure i'll figure it out though at some point, or just read read read Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLapira Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Current reputation is 40%(decent), never tried a challenge before, so not sure how good or bad that is for where i'm at lol, know this isn't a race though, so i'm probably doing ok. Only thing i'm worried about is the travelling aspect and where to go to achieve what i need to when it comes to it, sure i'll figure it out though at some point, or just read read read I'm at 40% myself, my aim is to get my rep as high as i can as quickly as i can, that way it should be easier to get jobs at the bigger clubs. This is also my first attempt at a Challenge, it really adds to the game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwnnll Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Gillingham Season 2020/21What a crazy and unexpected year in League 1 after gaining promotion from League 2 the previous season! Season started ok, after losing a few key players over the summer, i had to rely on Loanees to get my squad to a decent number. Fortunately, managed to get Premier League Norwich as an affiliate and pinged off a good Left Full Back Centre Mid. Went on a couple of very good unbeaten runs from around december time and the run in to May, and losing finalists in the JPT against Blackpool(runners up in league) Overall, im overjoyed at this, but know alot of work is gonna need to be done if i am to cut it in the Championship with the Gills! http://i.imgur.com/PgzSQ85.png http://i.imgur.com/1osdNZC.png http://i.imgur.com/v2BxIQV.png 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 2018/19 ENG Swindon Town n/a Sacked after a poor season 2018/19 ENG Gillingham 8th Joined after they offered me job without me applying with 6 games left 2019/20 ENG Gillingham 1st Enjoyable season, looking to progress next year 2020/21 ENG Gillingham 1st R/U Media predicted 19th, steamrolled from xmas, runner up in JPT INTERNATIONAL CAREER Rank Cups Year Nation FIFA NL World Cont. Conf. Other & Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crazy mate two first place finish promotions B2B! Nice one. How did you find managing B teams? Do you feel attached to Gillingham at all now or would you leave them given a good chance? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
djdavecee Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Crazy mate two first place finish promotions B2B! Nice one. How did you find managing B teams? Do you feel attached to Gillingham at all now or would you leave them given a good chance? The B teams are different! You don't have control of who you sell, though you have a budget to bring players in(not a high one), the manager of the Main team has the reigns over most of the player dealings, including moving players in and out of squads, just like i and others would do now managing a side like in my case, Gillingham. The one thing that annoyed me at Valencia Mestalla, was the fact that the board wanted me to offload players to help with finances, yet i couldn't actually sell anyone, and it affected my finances rating in my board confidence with them. Overall, i don't regret taking the positions, was a "different" experience, but if i was to start this challenge again, i wouldn't start out this way And as for Gillingham, i'm gonna give it a go in Championship, it's almost certain it's gonna be tough, but i've bought in some decent loanees from the Premier League, or at least i'm hoping their decent lol, and board expectations are to try and survive, so even if it's 1 place above relegation zone come the end of the season, they'll be overjoyed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sankalan Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Someone clarify on the status of SA KO cup for the challenge? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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