JoeLapira Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 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!! 2021/22 Swallows(RSA) 6th n/a R.2 n/a Left after 10 games to join Vancouver Whitecaps. 2022 Vancouver(USA) 1st n/a n/a Q.F MLS CHAMPIONS!!! Won Canadian Championship. 22/23 NACL still ongoing. 2023 Vancouver(USA) 3rd n/a n/a WIN NACL CHAMPIONS!!! Left for Busan. 2023 Busan(KOR) 1st n/a n/a n/a Took over with 22 Games gone in 5th. League Champions!!! 2024 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!! Secured 2022 World Cup Qualification. 2022 Tunisia 3rd n/a n/a CHAN WINNERS!! Finsihed 3rd in World Cup. Left Tunisia for Costa Rica after World Cup. 2022 Costa Rica n/a n/a n/a CAM WINNERS!! 2023 Costa Rica n/a WON n/a GOLD CUP WINNERS!!! Left Costa Rica. 2024 Club 2/10 top domestic leagues (USA,KOR) 1/10 domestic cups (S.Africa) 1/5 club continental championships (N.America) 0/1 club world championship International 2/5 continental tournaments (Africa, N.America) 0/2 world tournaments () That's my progress so far and just about to start my first full season as Busan manager. With a strong squad in place my goal for this season is to add the Korean Cup and the ACL to my trophy cabinet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collzy Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 @Fadedaf Thanks bud - I was quite happy with it too, even if that was my expectation! Not 100% set on SA, but I like to get the two "harder" continents out of the way in these sort of things, I call them harder as I know literally nothing about Asian and African football, once I go onto North America, South America and Europe it'll get easier for me as my knowledge is a lot better of these regions (in real life) - though obviously as the years go on it'll be more and more regens and the real-life knowledge becomes null and void. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collzy Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 Orlando Pirates & Japan 2020/2021 So I was out of work for a whole season in South Africa - all of the bigger sides did well and were not in need of a manager so I waited. I managed to complete my Continental C Licence however. The next season started and still not much on the job front until December, when Japan approached me offering me the job of manager. I thought this was a good opportunity to attempt to win the International Cup in Asia, with one of the strongest Asian sides, landing straight on my lap! Then in April, Orlando Pirates sacked their manager and I immediately applied. They were "flattered" by my interest, had an interview and I took the job with 6 games remiaining with the team in 5th place, but mathematically impossible to get into the continental competition, but were in the Semi-Final of the "Nedbank Cup" (I have a real name change and there's 4 other cups you can win, I presume this is the top one as its at the end of the season and offers qualification to the Continental Competition (Confederation Cup)? If not, someone tell me and I'll edit this post.) League Can't really say much here, I took over with 6 games left with the highest place I could finish being 4th. I won 5 games and lost 1, managing to finish 4th. This did give me a good indication though that this squad is very very strong and I'm not sure I'll need to make many changes for the new season. League Table Cup When I took over, the team was already in the semi-final against Sundowns. 2 wins and I would've won my first trophy here and secured qualifcation to the Confederation Cup. We put on a great performance and beat Sundowns 6-1 before securing the trophy with a 2-0 win over Jomo Cosmos in the final. First trophy and Confederation Cup secured. Nedbank Cup Victory Next Season My aim is to win everything and get Africa done quickly and move on to USA. I don't think I need much improvement to my squad - and I get a full pre-season for them to get used to my methods, hopefully I can work my magic like with Shenxin and secured the Domestic and Continental Title within 2 seasons. Meanwhile with Japan, qualification shouldn't be an issue for the Asia Cup; and we are in the Confederations Cup - I don't have any hope of winning this, but it'll be some good experience. Season Team Position Cup Champions League Additional Notes and Achievements 2016/2017 Shanghai Shenxin 1st - - Took over after 12 games with the team in 12th place. 2017/2018 Shanghai Shenxin 1st Winners - - 2018/2019 Shanghai Shenxin 1st Winners Winners Resigned after all competitions finished. Awaiting job in South Africa. 2019/2020 - - - - Unemployed. 2020/2021 Orlando Pirates 4th Winners Out before my arrival. Took over after 24 games into the season. Hired by Japan late 2020. Challenge Progress: Club 1/10 top domestic leagues - China 2/10 domestic cups - China, South Africa (again, someone tell me if this isn't right and I'll edit it.) 1/5 club continental championships - Asia 0/1 club world championship International 0/5 continental tournaments 0/2 world Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherwinriga Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 On 8/18/2016 at 03:04, threelions1goal said: Juventus - End of Season 37/38 Well, a season to forget after it started so well, when we won the Italian Super Cup - although it doesn't count to the challenge, it's always nice to win a pot!! We'd qualified for the Champions League and were handed a tough group with PSG, Porto and Borussia Moenchengladbach (I'll be amazed if I've spelt that correctly!!) We beat PSG at home 2-1, which was a huge win, followed up with a 3-0 away win at Porto then a 1-1 draw with BMG saw us top of the group at the halfway stage. The biggest downside to the whole campaign was that my board were dead tight and only gave me a transfer kitty of £8m - which for a Champions League team is pretty poor, I think. I couldn't even generate money by selling players as they would only allow me to retain 20% and despite repeated plea's, they wouldn't change their mind. So, it all started to go wrong - as you can see by this screenshot of my results we went on a run that I've never experienced in all my years of playing FM. I tried tweaking tactics, a couple of different formations, team meetings, but nothing could get us out of the slump. The board gave me an ultimatum of 11 points from 5 matches, but 2 draws either side of a win in the cup and then a defeat to Bologna, sealed my fate and for the umpteenth time in my career, I was SACKED again!! As I said, I've never encountered a run of form so bad - that many results going against us was unbelievable, especially as I thought we could build on last years success. So, the job search starts again - I've no idea where to ply my trade next, whether to have another crack in Italy, or move elsewhere.........all I do know is that I'm not looking forward to managing in France as how can anybody topple PSG, who have won the league 26 times in a row!! Onwards and upwards.......... Season Team Country Pos Notes 15/16 Linfield N. Ireland 6th Took over in December, sacked before the end of the season 16/17 Cliftonville N. Ireland 3rd Took over in January, Euro Qualification 17/18 Cliftonville N. Ireland 4th League Cup Winners 18/19 Cliftonville N. Ireland 1st Champions, Manager Of The Year 19/20 Shanggang China 1st Champions, Cup Winners, Manager Of The Year 20/21 Shanggang China N/A Resigned after being knocked out of Champs League 20/21 Jeonbuk S. Korea 4th Cup Winners, Knocked Out 2nd Round Champs League 21/22 Jeonbuk S. Korea N/A SACKED 4th in league, QF of Champs League, SF of FA Cup 22/23 Pohang S. Korea 6th Cup Winners, knocked out in SF of Asian Champs League 23/24 Pohang S. Korea N/A SACKED after first match of the new season!! 24/25 Seoul S. Korea 3rd Took over with 14 games played, qualified for Champs League 25/26 Seoul S. Korea N/A SACKED - Team finished 2nd & won FA Cup 26/27 Kaizer Chiefs S. Africa 1st Champions 27/28 Kaizer Chiefs S. Africa 1st Champions, KO Cup Winner, S/F Champs League - Resigned 28/29 Houston USA 2nd 1st in West Conference, Lost in MLS Shield Final, SF of NACL 29/30 Tigres Mexico 4th Closing Stage, SF of Champions League 30/31 Tigres Mexico 3rd Opening Stage - Lost in Final to Pumas - reached SF of Cup 30/31 Tigres Mexico 1st Closing Stage - Won in Final - Champions!! 2nd Rnd Copa Libertadores 31/32 Tigres Mexico 1st Opening Stage - Lost in Final to Pumas, Qualified for KO stage of NACL 31/32 Tigres Mexico 7th Closing Stage - Lost in SF of Play Offs, Lost in SF of NACL.....SACKED!! 32/33 Pumas Mexico 1st Closing Stage, Won in Final - Champions!!, NACL Winners 33/34 Inter Milan Italy 6th Qualified for Euro Cup - Boardroom disagreement - SACKED!! 34/35 Lazio Italy 7th Took over in December, team in 14th Position 35/36 Lazio Italy N/A Was 14th in December, players all unhappy.....SACKED!! 36/37 Juventus Italy 2nd Qualified for Champions League, Italian Cup Winners 37/38 Juventus Italy N/A Won Super Cup, Went 12 matches without a win....SACKED!! International 2026 Camaroon Africa Resigned after 2 matches 2026 Morocco Africa Eliminated in Group Stage at World Cup, qualified for ACON 2027 Morocco Africa ACON Winners - resigned straight after 2029 Australia Asia Qualified for World Cup 2030 Australia Asia Knocked Out In Group Stages, lost every match - SACKED!! 2033 Jamaica N. America Lost in Final of Gold Cup - Resigned 2034 Iran Asia Lost in QF of Asian Cup - SACKED!! Challenge Progress Club 4/10 top domestic leagues (N. Ireland, China, S. Africa, Mexico) 5/10 domestic cups (N. Ireland, China, S. Korea, S. Africa, Italy) 1/5 club continental championships (NACL - Pumas) 0/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments (ACON - Morocco 2027) 0/2 world tournaments () I'm very unhappy again with the sack in Italy because that sack sucks! I hope you get another Italian team going better than the three. I hope you got a better job in international comeptitions. Who are the new managers of Tigres, Inter Milan, Lazio and Juventus for clubs and Australia and Iran for nations? Let me know if you want to make better in Italy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 Around a month ago I was playing this challenge (was in Africa after 5 seasons) when my laptop broke, finally managed to get it fixed but I lost the save (thought I'd saved it to the cloud but it appears not) and haven't been able to face loading up FM since but have got the itch again so am going to settle in this afternoon and get back involved. Gonna have a read through of how everyone has been doing since I've been away as now while I reinstall FM (I deleted it after I lost my save) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siepe1990 Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 I've been reading up a little, was a little behind on that one, so here goes: @Fadedaf: too bad you didn't win the league play-off with LA Galaxy, better luck there next year I hope. I don't think Espanyol will win me any silverware soon, but who knows what happens in the cup (currently 8th or so in the league after 12 matches, not to disappointing so far). @threelions1goal: your incredible sackings continue, hopefully you'll find a nice club to manage again! @numero uno gunner: congrats on the title with Chelsea (& the FA Cup), am curious to see where you'll end up for your next club! @jcricky: great copa libertadores win with Corinthians, hope you'll win the league the next time around! @vikeologist: shame you just missed out on europe with Southend, would've been a great achievement! 8th place is not too bad though! You set on staying there or are you on the look-out for other job openings as well? @Collzy: one of the most amazing things I've seen so far, winning China with a 2nd flight team and the CL as wel, incredible! Good luck with Orlando Pirates, they should at least be able to win the league I think! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
numero uno gunner Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Season Review 2031 South Korea So, after resigning from Chelsea and Italy, I failed to secure a club job (I've just reached March 2031). I am seriously regretting turning down the Leverkusen job, especially after not even getting an interview for the vacancies at Dortmund and Schalke. My reputation is at 90%, so I can only put it down to the fact that they weren't impressed with me resigning from two jobs in quick succession. I could probably have got a club job by now, but I'm being picky about who and where I want to manage at this stage of my career. I've taken on the South Korea job, and after a couple of decent showings in friendlies, I went into the Asian Nations Cup thinking I'd have a chance of landing another trophy. Routine wins over Iraq (5-0) and Jordan (3-0) set up a group decider against Saudi Arabia, with the winner topping the group. We went behind in the 2nd minute, before coming back to take a 2-1 lead. However, it was short lived, as the Saudis came back and hit me with a double, and we lost 3-2, finishing runners-up in the group. Our last 16 tie saw us taking on Thailand, but it was an utterly one-sided game, as we were 4-0 up by half time. I took a few players off, and the scoreline remained the same, and we went through to face Australia in the last 8. I felt that this was going to be the game that defined our tournament, and it was a classic. We were 2-0 down at half time, before I decided to go for it. A Hwang-Tae Young hat-trick put us 3-2 up with 20 minutes to go, and I decided to go into defensive mode to try and see the game out. Unfortunately, Australia had other plans, and with 4 minutes to go they levelled the tie. Extra time saw nerves a plenty, but neither side could grab a winner, and penalties were upon us. Only one of my five penalty takers had a penalty stat over 10, which didn't exactly fill me with confidence. We missed our first, and they scored, before we scored and they missed. The same pattern occurred with penalties 3 and 4, which set up sudden death. We scored, and they missed, sending us into a last four tie with holders Iran. We went 1-0 up before half time, before Hwang-Tae Young netted his 5th of the tournament to double our lead. We went into defensive mode again, and Iran pulled one back with 12 minutes to go. However, we hung on and went into the final, where our group rivals Saudi Arabia awaited. Lee Young-Oh put is in front, but a penalty for Saudi Arabia levelled the final. We both had chances, before our right back Choi Kyoo-Shik scored what is, hands down the scrappiest goal I have ever seen. Do I care? Absolutely not! As they pushed forward looking for an equaliser, Hwang-Tae Young sealed the trophy with a sublime finish! South Korea were Asian champions for the first time in SEVENTY ONE years! I should be treated as royalty there now! I've now just got the North American Gold Cup to go internationally, which is coming up in the summer. I was half hoping to get a job in time for it, but it was always an outside chance. Realistically, I'm targeting 2033 for that one. For now, I need a club job! Club Season Team Position Notes and Achievements 2015/16 Dungannon 10th Won Northern Irish FA Cup and kept Dungannon up after taking over with 3 games to go 2016/17 Dungannon 8th A solid but unspectacular season 2017/18 Yiteng 8th A settling season in China 2019 Jiangsu 1st Won Chinese Super League and FA Cup, as well as claiming MOTY. 2020 Jiangsu 1st Won Chinese Super League and Asian Champions League 2020/21 Aberdeen 9th Won Scottish League Cup 2021/22 Monterrey 5th/5th Won Opening Stage, knocked out in semis of closing stage. Won NACL. 2021/22 Salzburg 1st Won league and cup double 2022 Corinthians 1st Won league 2023 Corinthians 8th Won Copa Libertadores 2024/25 Juventus 1st Won Serie A and Italian Cup 2025/26 Juventus 2nd Won Italian Cup 2026/27 Real Madrid 1st Won La Liga and Spanish Cup 2027/28 Real Madrid 1st Won La Liga and Spanish Cup 2028/29 Everton 10th Knocked out of both cups and Europa League. Left them in 10th with 10 games to go. 2028/29 Chelsea 4th Took over with 10 games to go and club in 8th. Won FA Cup and Champions League! 2029/30 Chelsea 1st Won the title on the last day of the season! Season Team Notes and Achievements 2016/17 Congo Resigned without playing a game 2016/17 Cameroon One win away from WC qualification 2017/18 Cameroon 2nd round of 2018 World Cup 2019 Cameroon African Cup of Nations winner! 2021 Poland An abject failure! 2022 Ireland 4 wins, 2 draws and promotion to European International League Division B 2023 Ireland 2 wins, 2 defeats from 4 qualifiers before taking Colombia job 2024/25 Colombia Currently top of WC qualifying and ranked 4th in the world 2026 Colombia World Cup winners! 2027 Colombia Copa America winners! 2028 Italy European Championship winners! 2029 Italy Confederations Cup winners! 2030 Italy Knocked out of World Cup in group stage! 2031 South Korea Asian Cup winners! Challenge Progress Club 7/10 top domestic leagues - China (Jiangsu), Mexico (Monterrey), Austria (Salzburg), Brazil (Corinthians), Italy (Juventus), Spain (Real Madrid), England (Chelsea) 7/10 domestic cups - Northern Ireland (Dungannon), China (Jiangsu), Scotland (Aberdeen), Austria (Salzburg), Italy (Juventus x 2), Spain (Real Madrid), England (Chelsea) 4/5 club continental championships - ACL (Jiangsu), NACL (Monterrey), Copa Libertadores (Corinthians), Uefa Champions League (Chelsea) 1/1 club world championship - Chelsea 2029 International 4/5 continental tournaments - ACON (Cameroon 2019), Copa America (Colombia 2027), European Championships (Italy 2028), Asian Nations Cup (South Korea 2031) 2/2 world tournaments - World Cup (Colombia 2026), Confederations Cup (Italy 2029) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikolast86 Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 Had left the challenge for ages and started playing again last week. Finally got the first trophy: Asian Nations Cup with Japan in 2018/19 (Japan seems a great team to manage during the first seasons, as they have many top class players. The problem is that there are almost no players in the national league). In the club side, still at the Korean League with Anyang, securing Champions League qualification for the first time. The team is not particularly wealthy, so I decided to give it a try for one more year to see if we can get at least one title, where the cup seems to be the one we have reasonable chances for. CLUB CAREER Season Club League Position Cup 1 Cup 2 Cont. Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015 KOR Gyeongnam K Challenge (2nd) - Took over after 13 games, sacked after 8 games 2015 KOR Anyang K Challenge (2nd) 5th Took over with 10 games left 7th, ended up 5th 2016 KOR Anyang K Challenge (2nd) 1st 5th rou. Champions! Promotion to K Classic 2017 KOR Anyang K Classic (1st) 5th Final 2018 KOR Anyang K Classic (1st) 4th Semis Champions League qualification playoff. INTERNATIONAL CAREER Season Nation Competition 1 Position ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018/19 Japan Asian Cup Champions Challenge Progress Club 0/10 top domestic leagues 0/10 domestic cups 0/5 club continental championships 0/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments (Asian Cup 2018/19 - Japan) 0/2 world tournaments Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collzy Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 @nikolast86 I've had a similar issue with Japan. My Japan side has a lot of great players (playing in Europe) and a very strong core of newgens (even though I'm not that far in). But there is literally, no goalkeepers. I'll go onto the National Pool and Scouting, and there is 1 Japanese goalkeeper I can call up in the whole game, and well.. I think I'd probably do a better job tbh. So my whole time in charge of Japan I've had a "greyed out" goalkeeper Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siepe1990 Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 Well @numero uno gunner, you've got about 6 seasons left to win 3 leagues - France, Germany and 1 other, probably some African Nation as you have to win the African CL as well - 3 cups, the Gold Cup and (as mentioned) the African CL if you want to equal the fastest completion... You reckon you've still got a chance? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
numero uno gunner Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 @Siepe1990 - For some reason, I thought Pug had finished in 2033, so had written off being the fastest finisher anyway! As it goes, I've just landed a job in a nation I need to win, so I'm not ruling it out, but I don't think it'll happen. Essentially, I'll need 2 seasons in South Africa (and that's assuming that I pick up a team already in the CL), which would mean I need to tick off France and Germany inside 3 seasons. As Antonio Conte is point blank refusing to leave PSG (they've won the title 18 times in the last 19 seasons!) I'm going to have to build a side to take them on, which is easier said than done when French teams seem to be lacking in funds! Ultimately, I'll be happy just finishing the challenge. I haven't had this much fun playing FM for ages. @vikeologist - As lots of people taking on the challenge end up managing PSG, would it be worth considering swapping the French league for a different one for next year's challenge? Maybe Portugal, where there are three decent sides? Just a thought that occurred when I've been waiting for a club job! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikolast86 Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 5 hours ago, Collzy said: @nikolast86 I've had a similar issue with Japan. My Japan side has a lot of great players (playing in Europe) and a very strong core of newgens (even though I'm not that far in). But there is literally, no goalkeepers. I'll go onto the National Pool and Scouting, and there is 1 Japanese goalkeeper I can call up in the whole game, and well.. I think I'd probably do a better job tbh. So my whole time in charge of Japan I've had a "greyed out" goalkeeper @Collzy It's true. I had exactly two goalkeepers in the national pool. Both of them much worse than the level of the rest of the team. There were also very few competent central defenders. Overall, they have a great team though. Highly suggested option for the challenge. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 On 8/21/2016 at 13:30, darren1983 said: Around a month ago I was playing this challenge (was in Africa after 5 seasons) when my laptop broke, finally managed to get it fixed but I lost the save (thought I'd saved it to the cloud but it appears not) and haven't been able to face loading up FM since but have got the itch again so am going to settle in this afternoon and get back involved. Gonna have a read through of how everyone has been doing since I've been away as now while I reinstall FM (I deleted it after I lost my save) Gone a different route to last time, starting in China this time Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEarl Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 @numero uno gunner great to see your progress. I think the required leagues should stay the same, but I encourage people to play the Portuguese league as one of the other 5 leagues to complete. But after all the thought was the BIG 5 in Europe from the author (or so I guess at least) and France have always been considered to be in the BIG 5. Others have completed this challenge without managing PSG (even though I did manage them myself) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted August 25, 2016 Author Share Posted August 25, 2016 I don't think the league's should be changed as long as they are the 5 with the highest rep in Europe. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLapira Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Just coming up to the halfway point in my first full season with Busa and i'm right on track to meet my goals for this year. Comfortably qualified from my ACL group with a game to spare, got through the opening 2 rounds of the cup and sitting a point clear at the top of the table. I know there's alot of football to be played yet but i am very confident in my team, this is the best group of players i've had at club level. Euro 2024 is coming up soon and im hoping some of the bigger nations to under-perform, so that they sack their manager and hopefully allow me a crack at European international management. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 (edited) On 8/23/2016 at 22:48, darren1983 said: Gone a different route to last time, starting in China this time So I wasn't really feeling playing in China so started again with the idea of being more "realistic" (or as realistic as this game can be) to my nationality (Half English and half Irish) so thought I'd start in the UK, I holidayed without applying for jobs till the end of October then started applying, finally got a job in January with....Accrington Stanley League Table - I took over and we were 20th in the table, my usual 4231 formation wasn't working too well so went to a basic 442 and we found form and shot up the table JPT - out before I arrived League Cup - out before I arrived FA Cup - guess what? Out before I arrived Transfers - just a handful of loans really Squad - not bad, losing our 3 best players in the summer will hurt though Finances - really bad Key Players Matt Crooks - our box to box guy, scored and made goals, off to Rangers so will be a big loss Josh Windass - top scorer and also off to Rangers Piero Mingoia - wide man, refuses to sign a new deal Kealan Steeson - was away on loan when I took over but gave him a run when he returned as was fantastic Tom Davies - became my rock in defence after I gave him a chance Career Overview Season Club League Position Achievements 2015/16 Accrington Stanley Sky Bet League 2 14th Took Over 6/01/16 Edited August 26, 2016 by darren1983 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted August 27, 2016 Share Posted August 27, 2016 League Table | Graph | Transfers | Squad | Finances At the end of last season my board at Accrington cut my budget to such an extent that I couldn't even afford to discuss new deals with my staff so I stepped down, took 9 moths but finally landed a new job with struggling Stevenage, we were 20th when I took over but 3 straight losses saw us drop to 23rd and had me fearing for our survival, however after once again replacing my favourite 4231 formation (may have to leave this formation till I'm in the bigger leagues) with a more simple 442 we went on a 10 match unbeaten run (9 of those wins) which meant we managed to pull clear of the relegation battle and finished 15th. With a year left on my deal I'll stay here as don't really want a reputation for walking out on clubs. Also be nice to finally try and build a team. Career Overview Season Club League Position Achievements 2015/16 Accrington Stanley Sky Bet League 2 14th Took Over 6/01/16 2016/17 Stevenage Sky Bet League 2 15th Took Over 1/03/17 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted August 28, 2016 Author Share Posted August 28, 2016 d1983 - Congrats on your start. May not seem a great start, but establishing yourself in the division is a good first step. I think you're right that quitting a second club would be a bad idea. It seems like some of us are getting a reputation as quitters, even when we're quitting because we've accomplished everything that we need to at our present club. When I say we of course, I mean all of you. I've won nothing that counts. Actually taking a break from this save. I'm so ready for FM17. collzy / nik86 - You think having only 1or 2 goalies is a problem. By the end of my save last year, I only had one Asian nation South Korea), and had to load the Australian and Chinese leagues and wait for the extra players to kick in. Making sure that you add enough players at the start of the save, especially in Asia, seems to be quite important. However I don't know when it would be too many extra players. Making sure that you will have access to managing the likes of Japan is pretty important though I think. n1g - I think the France / PSG problem is quite a fun part of the challenge. Do you wait for decades of the PSG manager to leave, or try to depose them with another club? Not fun for you though if you're holding out hope of the fastest finish. Yours will still be one of the great completions. As pretty much the slowest, I'd like to suggest that all completions are great, but you get my meaning. I think it unlikely that pug's completion will be beaten anytime soon, other than by obvious cheats. Of course, maybe in FM17, reputation and job acquisition will be easier, but I think it's more likely to be harder. On the other hand, FM17 might have new features or leagues will will dramatically alter the challenge. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siepe1990 Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 (edited) RCD Espanyol (2020/2021) So, my first season at Espanyol started of with matches against Valencia, Barcelona and Real Madrid... Ain't that nice huh? I managed to get a draw against Valencia (1-1), before getting completely thrashed by Real Madrid (4-0). The city derby was up next and after getting beaten by Real, my players were hungry for some sort of revenge. We managed to beat Barcelona 3-1 (in what must have been the match of the century for Espanyol fans), with a great display of Serge Gnabry. This lad, a cheap signing from Arsenal where he barely made the first team squad, turned out to be the signing of the season, creating loads of chances and scoring some himself in the progress. Up front, Gerad Moreno turned out to be a striker who needed a lot (and I mean: a lot!) of chances to score. Luckily for him, I had a very, very creative squad and matches with (close to) 10 shots on goals were frequent, so he managed to score 22 goals during the season (only CR7 managed to score more). My goal for the season was a top-half finish and half way through the season, that was exactly where we were (8th). I managed to keep my squad together through the transfer period, which was a good thing since I still didn't have any money to spend for replacements anyway. I did manage to get one great additional signing: Sergio Canalas on free... The lad's a magician! I started playing him as a False Nine, a role in which he wasn't natural, but he did just great, creating even more chances for my striker Moreno. The second half of the season brought even better performances from the lads and with 6 matches to go in the season I found myself in 4th place, which would give me a CL Qualifying Round Ticket. Only 2 points behind were Barcelona, with 5 points behind them Villarreal. The gap to 3rd was around 10 points, so no need to look forward. Barcelona was our next opponent, and they took revenge for the loss in the first half of the season, beating us 2-0 and passing us in the league table. We didn't recover from that and failed to pass them again to secure a CL-ticket, finishing 5th eventually, grabbing an EL-ticket instead. Looking back, this was a season to be proud of. We finished 5th, qualifying for Europe, beating our expected top-half finish. I've been doubting what to do next. I've applied for several jobs during the summer, however none went for me eventually (Fenerbahce, Napoli and Everton were 3 where I managed to get an interview). The reason for wanting to leave Espanyol is pure financial: they don't have any money. I can offer my top players not more than 50/55 k per week salary, which just won't be enough to attract top players to compete for prizes. I ended up having to sell Gnabry for his set fee of 12.5 mio (worth at the time: 18.75...), simply because I wasn't able to offer him a better deal... I'm at the start of the new season and managed to keep my squad together (with the execption of Gnabry) and expand with some free transfers (mainly a striker and some midfielders), so we'll see how it goes. I'm hoping for a repeat of previous season and some good performances in the EL to top it off... Portugal After winning the EC, the 2nd European League started pretty soon. I managed to get to another final, only to get beaten by Spain (ouch...). Everyone was pleased though that we reached the final, so you won't hear me complaining. Qualification for the WC saw me handed a group with the only noteworthy opposition being Wales, so I'm not expecting any big problems there. Currently topping the group, tied with Wales after winning everything and drawing against them in Cardiff. Just have to beat them in Portugal to seal qualification... The big tournament of course was the Confederations Cup. We got handed a pretty straightforward group with Iran, New Zealand and Mexico. I topped the group easily and got Argentina in the semi final (the finished 2nd in the group behind Italy). We took a 2-0 lead within 25 minutes, only to let it slip away in the last 10 minutes of the match, with Messi signing for the equaliser in the 89th minute. In the extra time, Andre Gomes turned into our savior, scoring the winner in the 118th minute. Italy (current World Champions) awaited in the final. I expected a struggle, but it turned out to be a walk in the park. We were 3-0 up by half time, parking the bus in the second half meant that was the final score as well. Another trophy for my cabinet, and one that counts for the challange as well!!! The squad is a real force and I'm really, really looking forward to the World Cup, I think we might have a real chance of becoming champions (or at least be very close). Club Level Season Team Competition Position Notes and Achievements 2015/2016 - - - - 2016/2017 Bury F.C. League One (ENG) 16th Took over when 24th in Dec. 2016 2017/2018 West Brom Championship (ENG) 1st League Champions, promotion to Premier League! 2018/2019 West Brom Premier League (ENG) - Quit after 13 games with only 7 points - disappointing! 2019/2020 - - - Job search - more difficult than I thought! 2020/2021 RCD Espanyol Liga BBVA (ESP) 5th Qualified for Europa League, great season, money's tight though! International Season Team Competition Position Notes and Achievements 2015/2016 Argentina U23 Olympics 2016 1st Quit after winning Olympics 2017/2018 Nigeria World Cup 2018 1st round Failed miserably in the 1st round, quit to join Portugal 2018/2019 Portugal European League 2019 1st Won this one, started qualifying for the EC 2020 2019/2020 Portugal Europ. Champ. 2020 1st Won it! My first prize after beating England in the final! 2020/2021 Portugal Confed. Cup 1st Won it! Incredible performance against Italy in the final (3-0)! Challenge Progress: Club 0/10 top domestic leagues 0/10 domestic cups 0/5 club continental championships 0/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments (EC 2020-Portugal) 1/2 world tournaments (Confed. Cup 2021-Portugal) Edited August 29, 2016 by Siepe1990 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
numero uno gunner Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 @darren1983 - Nice to see you finally feel a bit more settled at a club. Fingers crossed you manage to get them moving up the leagues soon enough, and that you can then get moving onto better things as well. @TheEarl - As it goes, I agree with you, was just interested in hearing the opinions of others. I chose Portugal as an example because their club sides have done so, so well in my save. Interestingly, I think Ligue Un is going to be saved by the performance of the French national team in reaching the final of the Euros, because if you have a look on the UEFA website they were in serious danger of losing their fifth place in terms of coefficient. @vikeologist - That was my dilemma, pretty much. I've chosen to take on the beast, with some success, it has to be said. Fingers crossed, I'll finish my season tomorrow, and an update will follow. I'm so glad that I didn't wait around for the PSG job, but my mood might change shortly (I'm due to play them in my next game!). @Siepe1990 - Excellent result with Portugal! Good luck with the World Cup. What you might find is a host of top jobs coming up after the World Cup, so a good showing with Portugal might make you seem more appealing to those clubs currently turning you down. It might also provide you with a host of nations to pick from for your next international side as well. If you are staying with Espanyol, it sounds like you've got a decent side but lacking depth. If that's the case, would it be worth prioritising the cup competitions to see if you can get a trophy ticked off the list? I'm thinking once I've finished my save of doing a post with my all-time 11, best / worst moments, random pieces of advice etc. Would anyone be interested in reading that or shall I not bother? Is there anything that anyone wants to know in particular? If anything, it'll give me an opportunity to look back over my career myself! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siepe1990 Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 (edited) @numero uno gunner: what you say about Espanyol sound about right: decent squad, no depth. Any injuries to key players and I'm gone. I'm 12 matches in season atm, really strugling to find the net. Have won 1, lost 5 and drawn 6. Barely conceding goals, so defense is great, but offense is crazy... Tons of chances, no goals, every match the same story... I'm gonna change tactics tonight, play much quicker & direct football instead of my patient possession game, let's see if that helps... I'm indeed hoping for a nice club after the WC, am currently at 65% reputation already, so a good showing should see me get a good club. Your idea of a summary once you've finished sounds like fun, I would read it for sure! Edited August 30, 2016 by Siepe1990 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted August 30, 2016 Author Share Posted August 30, 2016 8 hours ago, numero uno gunner said: I'm thinking once I've finished my save of doing a post with my all-time 11, best / worst moments, random pieces of advice etc. Would anyone be interested in reading that or shall I not bother? Is there anything that anyone wants to know in particular? If anything, it'll give me an opportunity to look back over my career myself! Ooo, confident he will finish he is, although actually he said when he finishes his save, so that would encompass rage quit. I'm definitely interested in a summary. Honestly when most people finish the challenge they're so relieved / so mentally exhausted / so promising their wife that they're going to stop playing FM, that they don't do a very good final report. Check out the links on the page 1 hall of fame for evidence. (I think at least one of the links to the old thread doesn't work so well anymore). When you finish, even if you just post a short message saying that you've completed, your line in the hall of fame can link to a later post with a fuller overview of your journey. When / If I complete again which will be on FM17) I intend to have a challenge XI, but I'd love to see the things you've mentioned. I always think it's interesting to know the turning points in the challenge for better or worse. My FM16 challenge that started in China (Dalian) was completely derailed by quitting Dalian once I got them promoted. It's such a long challenge, but I feel as though success can be down to individual matches, especially in the early seasons. With the new forum format, I hope that if people offer helpful advice we will upvote it, though I'm really unsure what difference that makes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
numero uno gunner Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 Season Review 2031-32 Marseille and Mexico So, two new jobs... Internationally, I was pleased as punch to land the Mexico job. As I've only got the North American Gold Cup left to win now in terms of international tournaments, I had decided that I wanted one of three jobs, and Mexico was my number one destination (USA and Costa Rica were my other options). I was actually offered all three jobs, and chose Mexico. So far World Cup qualification has been par for the course, but as we know the big one for me is next summer. For now, I'm using as many games as I can to try different personnel, and to prepare the squad using my tactics. Interestingly, 2032 is an Olympics year, so I'm tempted to take control of the under-23s and see if I can add a gold medal to my trophy cabinet. We shall see. Domestically, I waited for a whole year until I took on another club job after leaving Chelsea (who are actually on their third manager of the season already!). I've spoken previously about my regret at not taking the Leverkusen job, but I'm glad I waited in the end. Marseille and I seem to be quite a good fit. They finished 6 points adrift of PSG last season, and I believed that I could certainly get closer, even if I couldn't necessarily overhaul them this season. As a minimum, I'd set myself the goal of finishing second, and winning a cup. Due to the third place finish last season, we were in the Champions League this season. We finished runners-up to Arsenal in the group (finishing above Olympiakos and Club Brugge), and were drawn against Man City in the last 16. Normal service in Europe was resumed, as we went out 4-2 on aggregate. No shame in losing to them, but we had chances in the first leg, which we ended up losing 3-1. If we had gone back to Manchester with a draw, I think we might have gone through, but it wasn't to be, and the European adventure was over for another year. We crashed out of the French Cup, and I can have absolutely no complaints. After a couple of routine wins in the earlier rounds, we were found severely wanting in round 11 away at Toulouse. We lost 1-0, and Toulouse kept up a little record against us (more on that in a moment). It was possibly our worst performance of the season, and I let the players know in no uncertain terms. However, we had more luck in the Coupe de la Ligue. A revenge win over St. Etienne (2-0), we were paired with PSG in the last 8. They rested a few players, and we took full advantage, beating them 2-0 and setting up a last 4 game with Lille. Another fine performance, another 2-0 win saw us through to the final to face Toulouse. Revenge was sweet, and we raced into a 2-0 lead, before they grabbed one back. However, our excellent defence stood firm, and we brought the trophy back to the South of France with us! And so we come to the league campaign. My god, PSG are phenomenal. But, so is my Marseille side. We struggled a little at the start of the campaign, mainly in the front third, which is rather unusual for my sides. By my own admission, defending has always taken a back seat to attacking, but this side was different. A series of early 1-1 draws put us behind PSG from the start, but we slowly made ground over the course of the season. Between December and February, we went on a ridiculous run defensively. After injury to our number one, Oscar Cinque stepped up between the sticks, and was utterly magnificent. 12 (yes, twelve!) clean sheets in 13 games. We were outstanding. The goal he conceded? The one that knocked us out of the cup at the hands of Toulouse. We gradually chipped away at PSG's lead, helped in no small part by beating them twice in the league. In Gabin Mercier, I had found a striker who knew how to score, and suddenly I was smashing teams by 4 and 5 regularly. But PSG were still ahead of me. It was looking like I was going to end up with a points total that would have won the league in 9 of the previous 10 seasons, and yet it wasn't going to be enough. With three games to go, I was sat on 90 points, with PSG two points behind but with a game in hand, at home to Monaco. Ah, Monaco. You of billionaires' yachts and expensive cocktails, of glitzy F1 races and sunshine far too frequently. You utter, utter beauties. They went to PSG, won 2-0, and put the title back in my own hands. And the best bit? They only had 2 shots on target in the whole match. Beautiful. So, three games to go. Our goal difference was 11 better than theirs, so I knew 7 points from my last 3 games would bring the title back to the Stade Velodrome. Lille at home, St. Etienne away, and Nice at home. A chance to become heroes. In the week running up to my game against Lille, I lost Mercier to injury for the rest of the season. With my backup striker already out for the rest of the season, I was down to my third choice, Fermin Gutierrez. He had a solid game, but it was right winger Ramon Vizcarra who decided the game, scoring its only goal. Four more points needed. Next was a trip to St. Etienne, the only team to have beaten us in the league all season. I was determined that they weren't going to do the double over us. I knew a point would be enough to leave the title in our hands, and would have been happy with a draw. And a gutsy, gritty 0-0 draw was what we got. However, PSG raced into a two goal lead, only to see Troyes get two late goals to claim an unlikely point. All of this meant that, barring PSG winning by ten goals, a point at home to Nice would be enough to bring the title back to Marseille for the first time in twenty-two years. PSG scored in the first half, but we went in at 0-0. PSG went on to win 1-0, but a point was still enough for us to win the title. The clock ticks over into the 90th minute, and Nice win a corner. Its swung in, and their centre back thumps in a header, cruelly denying us the title in the most dramatic of fashion. Or so I thought. The referee blew his whistle! He's seen an infringement, and the goal was disallowed! Two minutes later, and I was celebrating a 0-0 draw like a madman. There's something utterly fitting about the fact that the title was won thanks to our ability to keep yet another clean sheet. 29 wins, 8 draws, and a single defeat. What a season. As you may have read, I was bemoaning the fact that you had to wait to get the PSG job to realistically have a chance of completing this challenge. I'll gladly hold my hands up and admit that I was utterly wrong. And the fact I've won Ligue Un with someone other than PSG makes it that little bit sweeter, too. Our key performers, other than the previously mentioned Oscar Cinque, have to be Gabin Mercier (34 goals in 35 games) and Ivo Comte, our commanding centre back, who was integral to our fantastic defensive run. An average rating of 7.53 doesn't do justice to how influential he was this season. Possibly one of the best signings I have made in this career. I also have to mention my loanee Ramon Vizcarra, who has scored 19 goals from his AMR position this season. Unfortunately, Lyon wont sell him to me. And now? I've got the Bundesliga left to win in terms of the required leagues, 1 other league, plus 2 domestic cups. Oh yes, and the African Champions League. And the North American Gold Cup internationally. I'm getting there. There's about to be a European Championships, so I'm hoping Germany go out early and take one of the managers from their leading clubs so I can go there! Club Season Team Position Notes and Achievements 2015/16 Dungannon 10th Won Northern Irish FA Cup and kept Dungannon up after taking over with 3 games to go 2016/17 Dungannon 8th A solid but unspectacular season 2017/18 Yiteng 8th A settling season in China 2019 Jiangsu 1st Won Chinese Super League and FA Cup, as well as claiming MOTY. 2020 Jiangsu 1st Won Chinese Super League and Asian Champions League 2020/21 Aberdeen 9th Won Scottish League Cup 2021/22 Monterrey 5th/5th Won Opening Stage, knocked out in semis of closing stage. Won NACL. 2021/22 Salzburg 1st Won league and cup double 2022 Corinthians 1st Won league 2023 Corinthians 8th Won Copa Libertadores 2024/25 Juventus 1st Won Serie A and Italian Cup 2025/26 Juventus 2nd Won Italian Cup 2026/27 Real Madrid 1st Won La Liga and Spanish Cup 2027/28 Real Madrid 1st Won La Liga and Spanish Cup 2028/29 Everton 10th Knocked out of both cups and Europa League. Left them in 10th with 10 games to go. 2028/29 Chelsea 4th Took over with 10 games to go and club in 8th. Won FA Cup and Champions League! 2029/30 Chelsea 1st Won the title on the last day of the season! 2030/31 Unemployed 2031/32 Marseille 1st Won Ligue Un and Coupe de la Ligue Season Team Notes and Achievements 2016/17 Congo Resigned without playing a game 2016/17 Cameroon One win away from WC qualification 2017/18 Cameroon 2nd round of 2018 World Cup 2019 Cameroon African Cup of Nations winner! 2021 Poland An abject failure! 2022 Ireland 4 wins, 2 draws and promotion to European International League Division B 2023 Ireland 2 wins, 2 defeats from 4 qualifiers before taking Colombia job 2024/25 Colombia Currently top of WC qualifying and ranked 4th in the world 2026 Colombia World Cup winners! 2027 Colombia Copa America winners! 2028 Italy European Championship winners! 2029 Italy Confederations Cup winners! 2030 Italy Knocked out of World Cup in group stage! 2031 South Korea Asian Cup winners! 2032 Mexico World Cup qualification is going well Challenge Progress Club 8/10 top domestic leagues - China (Jiangsu), Mexico (Monterrey), Austria (Salzburg), Brazil (Corinthians), Italy (Juventus), Spain (Real Madrid), England (Chelsea), France (Marseille) 8/10 domestic cups - Northern Ireland (Dungannon), China (Jiangsu), Scotland (Aberdeen), Austria (Salzburg), Italy (Juventus x 2), Spain (Real Madrid), England (Chelsea), France (Marseille) 4/5 club continental championships - ACL (Jiangsu), NACL (Monterrey), Copa Libertadores (Corinthians), Uefa Champions League (Chelsea) 1/1 club world championship - Chelsea 2029 International 4/5 continental tournaments - ACON (Cameroon 2019), Copa America (Colombia 2027), European Championships (Italy 2028), Asian Nations Cup (South Korea 2031) 2/2 world tournaments - World Cup (Colombia 2026), Confederations Cup (Italy 2029) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fadedaf Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 @numero uno gunner great work! what a finish to the season. Also i'd definitely be keen to read a summary/best XI thing for when you finish. also i agree with you and @vikeologist, the french league presents a pretty unique challenge of PSG vs the rest which none of the other required leagues quite have so i'm all for keeping it in the challenge. i don't think i'll be finishing this challenge before FM17 so i'm probably gonna hold off on my current game until then. Incredibly keen for 17 though and i fully intend on completing it then! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikolast86 Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 (edited) Great job @numero uno gunner Seems like finishing even before 2037 might be possible for you...Keep it up... As for me, this one was a really crazy season. Started at Anyang again, where I realized that after four seasons in the team it was about time either to leave or to be more aggressive pushing for some title in this year. So, I increased the budget by about 50% (was underspending before) and decided to offer contracts way higher than previously. This ended up quite terribly in terms of squad harmony. On top of that, I had problems to adjust in playing twice a week, as my starters were getting exhausted and when trying to rotate properly the results were like a roller coaster. Yet, I did not want to leave the team as I had reached the quarters of Asian Champions League, so I could at least focus on that. The problem with this was that the quarters were planned for October, although round of 16 was finished in May, so I could not move to another team during the summer. Anyway, I started looking for jobs and saw that Ulsan (3 times in a row champions) were looking for a manager. They were in the 4th position, but very close to the top, and in the quarters of both ACL and the Korean Cup. The opportunity was great as they also had about 8-9 times the salary budget I had at Anyang. The striker had a contract as big as the whole team of Anyang. It turned out that the choice was correct. I only made a few quality moves, brought the two wing backs from Anyang, who each season had more than 10 assists and about 7.5 average rating, plus a kind of expensive foreign winger. Also the team had great depth, as well as better physical condition of players, so it was much easier to play consecutive matches. This allowed to secure the league very easily, as well as the cup. The most amazing moment was at the semis of the Champions League, were we lost the first match at home 0-2 against Shandong from China. Started ultra attacking the second leg away and manage to score two goals before half time. Kept pressing for the third and conceded a goal from a set piece in minute 85. When trying not to break my laptop, knowing that I would have to spend at least one year more only to get the ACL, we scored the winner in minute 92 and reached the final. As you can imagine, after that it was impossible not to win this and secured it easily with two wins. So, now I am at the moment of deciding which continent will be the next one to host me...Asia has been a wonderful journey. In the International part, I decided to leave Japan, as I would have to wait until 2022 for World Cup and 2021 for Confederations, which meant two lost years. I started looking for challenge contenders in the job center and got hired by Ghana, which has an AMAZING team. At least a couple of great players in each position. It's really a luxury. Haven't played any major competition with them yet. First one is in a month or so, the CHAN and the rest is still to follow. That's all for now...Will keep you posted.. CLUB CAREER Season Club League Position Cup 1 Cup 2 Cont. Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015 KOR Gyeongnam K Challenge (2nd) - Took over after 13 games, sacked after 8 games 2015 KOR Anyang K Challenge (2nd) 5th Took over with 10 games left 7th, ended up 5th 2016 KOR Anyang K Challenge (2nd) 1st 5th rou. Champions! Promotion to K Classic 2017 KOR Anyang K Classic (1st) 5th Final 2018 KOR Anyang K Classic (1st) 4th Semis Champions League qualification playoff. 2019 KOR Anyang K Classic (1st) 9th (18 games) 5th rou. Quarters Left mid-season to join Ulsan. 2019 KOR Ulsan K Classic (1st) 1st Winners Winners Arrived with the team in 4th position, 1/8 ACL and Cup INTERNATIONAL CAREER Season Nation Competition 1 Position ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018/19 Japan Asian Cup Champions 2019/20 Ghana Qualified for CHAN (not played yet), still in qualification for ACON and WC. Challenge Progress Club 1/10 top domestic leagues (Korea 2019 - Ulsan) 1/10 domestic cups (Korea 2019 - Ulsan) 1/5 club continental championships (Asian Champions League 2019 - Ulsan) 0/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments (Asian Cup 2018/19 - Japan) 0/2 world tournaments Edited August 31, 2016 by nikolast86 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted September 1, 2016 Share Posted September 1, 2016 @vikeologist - yeah am starting to think jumping around a lot in your first few seasons can hurt (no proof to back this up other than being asked about it in interviews) @numero_uno_gunner - yeah has been nice to be settled at Stevenage, being able to have a whole transfer window to ship players in and out has been great as we've started the new season really well with 6 wins and 4 draws meaning we're 19 unbeaten going back to last season. Hoping to have this season done tomorrow as not had time to play much this week sadly FWIW - I'd be very interested in seeing your stats and players etc when you finish the save @Siepe1990 - congrats on the season with Espanyol, shame you couldn't nab that 4th spot with all the money it brings, hopefully a bit more luck this season. @nikolast86 - congrats on your first domestic trophies Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 League Table|Graph|Transfers|Squad|Finances|League Cup|JPT|FA Cup A fantastic season that saw us walk the league title, there was maybe only a couple of game weeks we weren't top for. Our 9 match unbeaten run at the end of the previous season gave us momentum that carried us till boxing day, the 23rd game of the season, which meant we set a new record for the league by going 32 games unbeaten. The 2nd half of the season wasn't as comfortable as suspensions and injuries caught up with us but promotion was secured pretty early and the title was won with 5 or 6 games to spare. In the league cup we didn't do much and were outclassed by Championship side Brighton. I was annoyed at not going as far in the JPT as was being greedy and dreaming of a double! We had a great FA Cup run and even beat Premier League side Watford before falling to Championship leader Forest. The cup run really helped our finances and my reputation (went from half a star to 1 and a half despite not yet getting a badge) Ultimately what helped us this year was being able to bring in my own players for the first time, most were free transfers of players deemed not good enough higher up but my keeper and left back were on loan from parent club Southampton so I'll look to replace those guys this summer. I'm already on the lookout for a new job (some fairly decent sized clubs like Birmingham and Charlton have been relegated to league one next season) but if I can't get one I'll sign a new deal for a year and see about staying up and maybe going better and getting that JPT I really want (no idea why I want to win it so much, it doesn't count for anything ) Season Club League Position Achievements 2015/16 Accrington Stanley Sky Bet League 2 14th Took Over 6/01/16 2016/17 Stevenage Sky Bet League 2 16th Took Over 1/03/17 2017/18 Stevenage Sky Bet League 2 1st Promotion and league winners Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLapira Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 (edited) Just a quick update from myself, I'll post up a proper season review with screenshots when I'm back at my laptop. Anyway i completed my goals for the season with Busan, winning both the Korean Cup and the Asian Champions League. I placed very little focus on the league, something which I done before with Vancouver. This showed as we finished a very disappointing 7th. It actually got so bad, in a league game before both Cup semi finals, i was threatened with dismissal. Fortunately the board saw sense and kept me on allowing me to win both Cup competitions, I resigned from Busan after the ACL final having won everything I needed to with them. During the season I was keeping an eye out for International jobs and while nothing at senior level was available, the Brazil U-23's were looking for a manager for the 2024 Olympics. I decided to give this a go and i was able to assemble a very strong squad, 5 of my starting 11 had 20+ caps at senior level. Anyway after easing through the group stage, we went on to beat a strong German side in final and win Olympic Gold. Although it means nothing towards the Challenge, it's a nice accolade to add to the collection, I resigned from Brazil U-23's a couple of days after the final. After leaving S.Korea I now find myself in Italy with AS Roma. I took over with the Romans lying in 4th position, in the last 16 of the Italian Cup and the 1st knockout round of the Champions League. Since my arrival we have moved up to second in the league but we're still 14 points behind Juventus, we've progressed to the semis of the Italian cup and unfortunately were knocked out of the CL by the mighty Real Madrid. Not got any aims for this season, but overall i'm looking to build a side at Roma which can perhaps overthrow Juventus' domination of the Italian League. Club 2/10 top domestic leagues (USA,KOR) 2/10 domestic cups (S.Africa,KOR) 2/5 club continental championships (N.America, Asia) 0/1 club world championship International 2/5 continental tournaments (Africa, N.America) 0/2 world tournaments () Edited September 6, 2016 by JoeLapira Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted September 9, 2016 Share Posted September 9, 2016 League Table| Graph| League Cup| JPT| FA Cup| Transfers| Squad| Finances| Aster promotion last season the hope was a for a good mid table finish as I felt our summer transfers were pretty good and put us above relegation fodder, turned out we were a bit better than that! A solid start went a bit wrong when we went 5 games without a win (4 losses) we suddenly hit form and won game after game and after the turn of the year we started to pull away from the others. We were slightly distracted by our run in the JPT where we got the area final before losing 1-0 at home to Burton and could only manage a 0-0 draw in the return game. Meaning we missed it on the trophy. Other cup runs were nothing to really speak about. After that we ended up cruising to promotion and the title. My contract was up so I delayed a new deal and in the 2nd half of the season applied for a few jobs in the Championship, had interviews at both Millwall and Middlesborough but neither went with me, after promotion was sealed some other jobs came up and had MK Dons and Peterborough offer me interviews without applying, I turned both down as they had been relegated to league one and I din't fancy another season there, Aston Villa and Norwich were relegated from the Premier League and sacked their managers so I applied to both as well as mid table (Championship) Stoke,Villa and Stoke both offered me the job so am the new manager of.........Aston Villa. Villa feels like a club I could really settle at, if I can get them back up they could be a team that helps me push for challenges and more. Season Club League Position Achievements 2015/16 Accrington Stanley Sky Bet League 2 14th Took Over 6/01/16 2016/17 Stevenage Sky Bet League 2 16th Took Over 1/03/17 2017/18 Stevenage Sky Bet League 2 1st Promotion and league winners 2018/19 Stevenage Sky Bet League 1 1st Promotion as League winners Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted September 9, 2016 Share Posted September 9, 2016 My first league game as Villa manager? Stevenage away of course Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted September 9, 2016 Author Share Posted September 9, 2016 (edited) Darren1983 - Making awesome progress. Do you intend to carry on this save when FM17 comes out. You should start winning eligible trophies any time soon. JoeL - Just 2 more trophies and you're on the leader board, which they can never take away from you. Looking forward to your next update. nikolast86 - Congrats on your success, especially the ACL. Do you have enough decent players for the CHAN. I'm usually tempted to use grey players rather than terrible real ones. That competition can be a real slap in the face. fadefaf - Hope that we will see you back for FM17. sidenote - We're all assuming of course that there won't be any challenge altering or destroying changes to FM17. Actually I'd like to see some major changes to the game, but I don't they'll change the way that the manager is 'created' or include any new leagues, which are the 2 obvious things that would reconfigure the challenge. n1g - Haven't heard from you for a while. Hope things are going ok, both in and out of game. You're so close now, but those final couple of laps can be agonising. Edited September 9, 2016 by vikeologist Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLapira Posted September 10, 2016 Share Posted September 10, 2016 Haven't much time to post a full update but i can post screenshots, so here's some from the 2024 season with Busan: League Cup ACL I finished the 2024/25 season with Roma, finishing in 3rd place but secured the Italian Cup(so that's one more VIKE). Italy sacked their manager after failing to win the Confed. Cup and have now hired me to help them reach the 2026 World Cup. Italy have already played 4 games in Qualifying and have secured 10 out of 12 points. So my chances of getting them to Mexico are looking good. One thing I am worried about though is the fact that Italy have won the last 2 World Cups, so no pressure. 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!! 2021/22 Swallows(RSA) 6th n/a R.2 n/a Left after 10 games to join Vancouver Whitecaps. 2022 Vancouver(USA) 1st n/a n/a Q.F MLS CHAMPIONS!!! Won Canadian Championship. 22/23 NACL still ongoing. 2023 Vancouver(USA) 3rd n/a n/a WIN NACL CHAMPIONS!!! Left for Busan. 2023 Busan(KOR) 1st n/a n/a n/a Took over with 22 Games gone in 5th. League Champions!!! 2024 Busan(KOR) 7th WIN n/a WIN Very poor league performance. Korean Cup Champions!!! ACL Champions!!! Resigned from Busan. 2024/25 Roma(ITA) 3rd WIN n/a R.1 Took over with Roma in 4th position, 22 games gone. Italian Cup Champions!! 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!! Secured 2022 World Cup Qualification. 2022 Tunisia 3rd n/a n/a CHAN WINNERS!! Finsihed 3rd in World Cup. Left Tunisia for Costa Rica after World Cup. 2022 Costa Rica n/a n/a n/a CAM WINNERS!! 2023 Costa Rica n/a WON n/a GOLD CUP WINNERS!!! Left Costa Rica. 2024 Brazil u23 n/a n/a n/a Olympics WINNERS!!! Resigned from Brazil u23s. 2025 Italy Club 2/10 top domestic leagues (USA,KOR) 3/10 domestic cups (S.Africa, KOR, ITA) 2/5 club continental championships (N.America, Asia) 0/1 club world championship International 2/5 continental tournaments (Africa, N.America) 0/2 world tournaments () Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted September 10, 2016 Share Posted September 10, 2016 12 hours ago, vikeologist said: Darren1983 - Making awesome progress. Do you intend to carry on this save when FM17 comes out. You should start winning eligible trophies any time soon. Yeah has gone much better than I thought it would so far, bound to hit a roadblock soon though but for now just gonna enjoy these good times Yeah the plan is to keep going when 17 comes out as probably won't get that till around Christmas time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
threelions1goal Posted September 11, 2016 Share Posted September 11, 2016 Jeonkuk - End of Season 2039/40 Not done an update for a while, but still been playing. So what's happened.....?? Of course, one more sacking in Italy!! Not certain why - just not good enough I reckon!! So unemployed again, looking around for jobs and I noticed Jeonbuk were in the quarter finals of the Asian Champions league, but the manager got sacked as they were stuck in mid table. So decided to go back to one of my former clubs as I still need the ACL as part of the challenge Beat Brisbane of Australia 2-1 on aggregate in the quarter final, but after getting a 1-1 draw away to Suwon in the first leg of the semi final, I lost the second leg 3-2, despite being in front twice. So, close season I really set about strengthening the squad and as I'd inherited a mid-table side, there'd be no continental football.....and the board set the expectation of qualifying for the ACL. The season was a huge success, as we won the FA Cup and also won the league with two games to spare. Review So, now if I can strengthen the squad with a couple of (better) players, we can mount a challenge and try to win the Asian Champions League. After all my sackings, my reputation needs boosting so I took charge of France U23's in the Olympic Games. In the group we lost to Begium, beat South Korea and had a draw with Uruguay, so we qualified in second place. In the quarter final we lost in extra time against Italy........so no gold medal for me!! Season Team Country Pos Notes 15/16 Linfield N. Ireland 6th Took over in December, sacked before the end of the season 16/17 Cliftonville N. Ireland 3rd Took over in January, Euro Qualification 17/18 Cliftonville N. Ireland 4th League Cup Winners 18/19 Cliftonville N. Ireland 1st Champions, Manager Of The Year 19/20 Shanggang China 1st Champions, Cup Winners, Manager Of The Year 20/21 Shanggang China N/A Resigned after being knocked out of Champs League 20/21 Jeonbuk S. Korea 4th Cup Winners, Knocked Out 2nd Round Champs League 21/22 Jeonbuk S. Korea N/A SACKED 4th in league, QF of Champs League, SF of FA Cup 22/23 Pohang S. Korea 6th Cup Winners, knocked out in SF of Asian Champs League 23/24 Pohang S. Korea N/A SACKED after first match of the new season!! 24/25 Seoul S. Korea 3rd Took over with 14 games played, qualified for Champs League 25/26 Seoul S. Korea N/A SACKED - Team finished 2nd & won FA Cup 26/27 Kaizer Chiefs S. Africa 1st Champions 27/28 Kaizer Chiefs S. Africa 1st Champions, KO Cup Winner, S/F Champs League - Resigned 28/29 Houston USA 2nd 1st in West Conference, Lost in MLS Shield Final, SF of NACL 29/30 Tigres Mexico 4th Closing Stage, SF of Champions League 30/31 Tigres Mexico 3rd Opening Stage - Lost in Final to Pumas - reached SF of Cup 30/31 Tigres Mexico 1st Closing Stage - Won in Final - Champions!! 2nd Rnd Copa Libertadores 31/32 Tigres Mexico 1st Opening Stage - Lost in Final to Pumas, Qualified for KO stage of NACL 31/32 Tigres Mexico 7th Closing Stage - Lost in SF of Play Offs, Lost in SF of NACL.....SACKED!! 32/33 Pumas Mexico 1st Closing Stage, Won in Final - Champions!!, NACL Winners 33/34 Inter Milan Italy 6th Qualified for Euro Cup - Boardroom disagreement - SACKED!! 34/35 Lazio Italy 7th Took over in December, team in 14th Position 35/36 Lazio Italy N/A Was 14th in December, players all unhappy.....SACKED!! 36/37 Juventus Italy 2nd Qualified for Champions League, Italian Cup Winners 37/38 Juventus Italy N/A Won Super Cup, Went 12 matches without a win....SACKED!! 38/39 Napoli Italy N/A SACKED!! 39/40 Jeonbuk S. Korea 1st Champions, FA Cup Winners, Manager of the Year International 2026 Cameroon Africa Resigned after 2 matches 2026 Morocco Africa Eliminated in Group Stage at World Cup, qualified for ACON 2027 Morocco Africa ACON Winners - resigned straight after 2029 Australia Asia Qualified for World Cup 2030 Australia Asia Knocked Out In Group Stages, lost every match - SACKED!! 2033 Jamaica N. America Lost in Final of Gold Cup - Resigned 2034 Iran Asia Lost in QF of Asian Cup - SACKED!! 2040 France U23 Europe Olympic Games lost to Italy in Quarter Finals Challenge Progress Club 5/10 top domestic leagues (N. Ireland, China, S. Africa, Mexico, S. Korea) 5/10 domestic cups (N. Ireland, China, S. Korea, S. Africa, Italy) 1/5 club continental championships (NACL - Pumas) 0/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments (ACON - Morocco 2027) 0/2 world tournaments () Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
numero uno gunner Posted September 11, 2016 Share Posted September 11, 2016 @vikeologist - I'm well thanks, but back at work which is limiting my game time somewhat, especially with busy weekend plans. Fear not, though, I'm going to complete this challenge. Interestingly, I've been looking at some of my stats. Before this summer (2032), my most expensive transfer buy was only £13m. Thinking about it, with some of the clubs I've managed, that's a ridiculous statistic. I then went and broke that three times in a week in charge of my new club. Trust me, I'm going all out for the Bundesliga this season... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siepe1990 Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 (edited) RCD Espanyol (2021/2022) After playing some very decent friendlies, I was quite confident I could make this team work for an entire season. Oh how wrong was I. I don’t know how, I don’t know why, but nothing went according to plan from the very first game. We started against some of the tougher opponents, which didn’t work well for my squad’s motivation, and never quite picked up the pace after that in the league. After 11 games, I found myself just two places above the relegation zone, so I knew that there were no prizes to be gained there. The Europa League did work out well, topping my group after 4 of 6 games. I decided to focus on the EL and the Spanish Cup, hoping to get at least one prize. After losing my first Spanish Cup match again Gimnastic, however, I started looking around at job openings a bit. My intention was to wait until after the World Cup (as suggested by some, since jobs always open up after that), but 3 weeks before the start of the winter transfer period came an opening I couldn’t refuse… Hoffenheim (2021/2022) Somehow, the manager of Hoffenheim managed to get the squad just above the relegation zone almost midway season. After looking at the squad (Milik, Rolan, Arias, to name a few) and looking at the finances (Rich!), it was a no-brainer for me. I accepted and got thrown straight into battle: only 3 days after my appointment we played Stuttgart in the Quarter Finals of the German Cup. I decided to take a risk and immediately implement my own strategy which I thought suited the team best (a 5-3-2, with 2 real wing backs and 1 attacking midfielder). My luck was the team was already used to playing with wing backs, so they were at least a little familiar, which showed on the pitch as well. We beat Stuttgart 3-2 after a real thriller. The winter period gave me a little time to improve the squad. My focus would be on getting 2 good central defender for my back 3 (only Schär was near the quality I demanded) and a good midfielder (either all-round or very attacking). I managed to buy Jóse Giménez for only a fraction of his value and snapped up a young Brazilian regen. For my midfield position, I ended up splashing some cash on Youri Tielemans. Still playing at Anderlecht at that point, I was quite surprised honestly, because I know the lad has great quality. After these 3, I decided on something I rarely do: I bought a young goalkeeper, with almost the same quality as my oldie Baumann already, and rotated them throughout the remainder of the season, thus giving the young goalie time go get used to my playing style. Well, we started with only 16 points from the first 17 matches and ended the season with 50 points in 7th position. Bayern won the title with 72 points, which would have placed me only 4 points behind them if the 1st half would have been as good as the second. I’m very curious to see where the first full season will bring me… Oh yeah, did I mention we won the German Cup? (PARTY!) When I saw who the semi-finalists were, I noticed we were favorites by far to win this thing, with only Köln representing the Bundesliga. I ended up facing them in the final, which we won quite easily (3-0), thus adding another prize to my cabinet! Portugal (2022 World Cup) Somehow, even after winning the EC, CC and being 1st in the FIFA Rankings, the media predicted ‘a very difficult tournament’ for us, which we should really not expect anything from. Well, time to prove them wrong J. The group was pretty straightforward (Mexico, Japan and Morocco), which only saw me lose against Japan, sending out a B-team which still should have thrashed them, but which did see us finishing 2nd in the group (behind Japan). No hard feelings there though, since they faced England, whilst I got Sweden, who incredibly topped that group. We beat them 2-0 in a decent match, which saw me facing my old team Nigeria in the quarter finals. They had to cope without the suspended key player Musa, which made my job a lot easier. I took a little risk by sending out half of the B-team, but we scraped it 1-0 into the semifinals. There my home country Holland awaited. My heart was torn, but they hád to fall. They proved quite the test, with a score of 1-1 after ninety minutes bringing on the extra time. There, Ivan Cavailero turned himself into my savior, netting two goals on 5 minutes, creating a lead which we managed to hold on to the end. In the final, the amazing Germany awaited. Their squad was massive, with players like Muller, Goretzka and Ter Stegen, so it was a fitting opponent for the final. We started strong, with Zé Gomes netting the 1-0 in the 15th minute, only to be followed by an equalizer in the 22nd minute by Muller. The remainder of the 90 minutes both sides created chances, but neither managed to score. Extra time gave no winner either, so it was on to the dreaded penalties. Well, we all know that Germans always win anyway, so I was not to optimistic. My mood changed after Rui Patricio managed to stop Goretzka’s penalty, giving us the 2-1 lead. Both sides scored twice, bringing the score up to 4-3 and putting the pressure on my 5th penalty taker. Lucky for me, Cavailero was my 5th, and he had been on fire the entire tournament. He scored, I went mad, my wife looked at me in disbelief… We had won the World Cup!!! Club Level Season Team Competition Position Cup Notes and Achievements 2015/2016 - - - - - 2016/2017 Bury F.C. League One (ENG) 16th - Took over when 24th in Dec. 2016 2017/2018 West Brom Championship (ENG) 1st 2nd round League Champions, promotion to Premier League! 2018/2019 West Brom Premier League (ENG) - 3rd round Quit after 13 games with only 7 points - disappointing! 2019/2020 - - - - Job search - more difficult than I thought! 2020/2021 RCD Espanyol Liga BBVA (ESP) 5th 2nd round Qualified for Europa League, great season, money's tight though! 2021/2022 RCD Espanyol Liga BBVA (ESP) - 1st round Quit for Hoffenheim early december after a really bad first half... 2021/2022 Hoffenheim Bundesliga (GER) 7th 1st (!) Finsihed 7th after an amazing second half, German Cup Winners!! International Season Team Competition Position Notes and Achievements 2015/2016 Argentina U23 Olympics 2016 1st Quit after winning Olympics 2017/2018 Nigeria World Cup 2018 1st round Failed miserably in the 1st round, quit to join Portugal 2018/2019 Portugal European League 2019 1st Won this one, started qualifying for the EC 2020 2019/2020 Portugal Europ. Champ. 2020 1st Won it! My first prize after beating England in the final! 2020/2021 Portugal Confed. Cup 1st Won it! Incredible performance against Italy in the final (3-0)! 2021/2022 Porugal World Cup 1st Won it! No-one stops Portugal, not even Germany (1-1 ; 5-3 after penalties)! Challenge Progress: Club 0/10 top domestic leagues 1/10 domestic cups (GER – Hoffenheim) 0/5 club continental championships 0/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments (EC 2020-Portugal) 2/2 world tournaments (Confed. Cup 2021-Portugal / World Cup 2022-Portugal) Edited September 13, 2016 by Siepe1990 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairyflump Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 Do you play each individual game or holiday? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted September 14, 2016 Author Share Posted September 14, 2016 If you mean, would it be against the rules to go on holiday, then no, it wouldn't be. I'd say that it would be in the spirit of the challenge to accept whatever results holidaying brought you, and not reload. I suspect that most if not all of us (currently doing the challenge) play every game, though at the end of the challenge when I was waiting for certain international jobs to crop up because I'd completed the club side of things, I think we had one manager who got through several seasons a day who claimed that he holidayed between matches and used a 'skin' that allowed instant results. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEarl Posted September 15, 2016 Share Posted September 15, 2016 I would say play it in the spirit you like yourself. Only you can determine how tough this challenge should be, and your own feelings of success if you manage to complete the challenge. As for myself when I completed this in FM15 I holidayed for the first time when I had finished all club landmarks and all but 1 international landmark. Then I was only international manager for a while, and holidayed between international periods to speed up things, but I played every single game as manager no matter what (except club friendlies as I use the option to let assistant manager control those games.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
numero uno gunner Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 I'm hoping to have finished my season in the next couple of days, but as a taster, my team has just blown an 11 point lead in the league, and been knocked out of the Champions League. Anyone care to guess at which stage? I hate this competition. I'm so glad I managed to get very lucky and win it with Chelsea! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted September 19, 2016 Author Share Posted September 19, 2016 Given the teaser for FM17, it looks as though there won't be any changes which will hugely affect the challenge. It does look though as though there will be more options for designing your manager at the start of the game. With that in mind, there's a change to the rules I'd like to suggest. At the moment Quote Stats must start in the middle. You can adjust each side of the stats, but the initial points must be balanced evenly across the two sides. I'd like to suggest that we're allowed to allocate the stats wherever we like, and in FM17 have any kind of manager personality / approach, or whatever options there will be. When the challenge started, the rules stated that every manager had to be identical, but I think it will be more fun to allow challengers to 'design' their manager. At the moment we have a sort of Solomon cutting the baby in half compromise allowing limited distribution of points, but abandoning this restriction completely will make the challenge more interesting, though I confess I have no idea what distribution of attributes would make the challenge easier. It might prompt interesting debate and decisions. The argument against might be that if we make the wrong initial choice, it could hamper us throughout the challenge, but I don't think it would. Focussing on coaching stats might help us in the initial stages with smaller teams; the mental stats might help us get new jobs. I suspect that adaptability might be a useful thing. Any opinions? n1g - Last 16 again? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEarl Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 @vikeologist I agree with these changes completely. The profile would still have to be without badges and lowest experience, so those few points I would very much welcome to distribute at your own preference. I wish I could have "realistic" language settings as well. But I guess that causes more for speculation as to what is realistic... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLapira Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 Wouldn't have any issues with the suggested change, although I don't intend on purchasing FM17 as I want to finish this Challenge first and at the rate I'm going it will be sometime next year before I complete it. In terms of the Challenge itself, I'm halfway through my first full season with AS Roma, sitting 3rd in Serie A, 4 points behind Atalanta who are 1st, still in the Italian Cup and through to the 1st Knockout Round of the Champions league with a game to spare. Also qualified for the World Cup with Italy, so still have 3 potential avenues to secure my 10th Challenge trophy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
numero uno gunner Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 @vikeologist - Like most people, I don't see an issue with those changes. In terms of bigger changes (I'm already thinking ahead to FM18 now I guess) what do we think the chances are that we could push to get another playable African league? At the moment, having only SA feels a little restrictive. I'm sure if leagues in places like Malaysia and Peru can be created that maybe they could consider doing maybe Egypt or Tunisia perhaps? And yes, bang on about the last 16! It was done in the most ridiculous of fashions as well, which makes it even worse. I'm still on for completing this season by the end of the week, so I'll update properly then. @TheEarl - would adding a second nationality allow you to get round the language issue? I guess being able to speak different languages would be helpful for this challenge! @JoeLapira - Looks like your season is going well in Italy. Hope you manage to claw back Atalanta and add the cup as well! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEarl Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 @numero uno gunner adding a second nationality would help the language at some point, but not necessarily all. I dont think either should be allowed in the spirit of the challenge, just dont know how much it would actually help you to get further jobs? Just for me it would make sense to have a manager starting with the languages I actually know in real life. Then again this is a game not real life, hehe. Actually going back to my savegame in the next week or two, as I had lost a bit of motivaton here, would be fun to see at the end of my career what languages I speak, as that would be far more than in real life. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted September 20, 2016 Author Share Posted September 20, 2016 1 hour ago, numero uno gunner said: @vikeologist - Like most people, I don't see an issue with those changes. In terms of bigger changes (I'm already thinking ahead to FM18 now I guess) what do we think the chances are that we could push to get another playable African league? At the moment, having only SA feels a little restrictive. I'm sure if leagues in places like Malaysia and Peru can be created that maybe they could consider doing maybe Egypt or Tunisia perhaps? @TheEarl - would adding a second nationality allow you to get round the language issue? I guess being able to speak different languages would be helpful for this challenge! My interpretation of what Neil Brock has said is that there won't be any leagues added. It's based on the popularity of leagues, average attendances etc, and though I've made a case for some African nations for exactly the reason you've said, I think that SI feel that the add-ons available have that side of things covered. On the other hand, if they were going to add leagues, they wouldn't announce it in the forum. It will be part of the marketing push for the new version of the game. Do we think there's a danger that there will actually be one less league? Might they have to exclude Brazil because of licensing problems? As someone who hates the 4,375 match seasons in Brazil, I personally wouldn't miss it that much in the challenge. Anyway, no-one else has raised the possibility. Just my imagination. @TheEarl What realistic language settings do you want? The nationality thing is tricky because I think people will often want their manager to reflect their reality; as do I with my 2 nationalities. @JoeLapira Glad you're going to carry on with the challenge. Fact is that it can take a while. Took me about 15 months, and I play a lot. I plan to start the challenge on FM17 as soon as the beta comes out in the hopes of doing it before FM18, but the danger is always that the beta will have challenge-killing bugs, It has to be said that there were absolutely no challenge-killing bugs in FM16, just the fact that the challenge was a lot more difficult to complete than on FM15. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
threelions1goal Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 (edited) On 19/09/2016 at 23:26, vikeologist said: I'd like to suggest that we're allowed to allocate the stats wherever we like, and in FM17 have any kind of manager personality / approach, or whatever options there will be. When the challenge started, the rules stated that every manager had to be identical, but I think it will be more fun to allow challengers to 'design' their manager. I like this idea!! It would be interesting to see how much of an impact (if any) that this would have on peoples careers. As has been stated, I think the 20 years of age, no badges etc. should still apply as it's served us well over the past two challenges, but tweaking the actual stats is a good idea. I'll probably get FM17 sometime in November, I won't bother with the beta version..........it'll give me extra time to "fail" this challenge!!! Edited September 21, 2016 by threelions1goal Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLapira Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 @numero uno gunner: I thought it would be Juventus not Atalanta I'd be chasing but after wining the league comfortably last season they've had an atrocious first half of the season and look to be out of the running. The top 5 are currently only separated by 5 points so it's not going to be easy. I won the Italian Cup last year so I'm not too focused on that and as for the Champions League; we've drawn Barcelona in the 1st Knockout Round so it's gonna tough to progress. As for the Italian National Team; we're one of the favorites for the World Cup so that's probably my best chance at a trophy this year. @vikeologist: It's definitely gonna take me longer than 15 months but then again, I did take a break from this save for a couple of months. I've started a couple of Challenges on previous versions of FM only not to complete them due to the release of a new version but this time I intend on finally completing a Challenge, well hopefully anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
numero uno gunner Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 Season Review 2032-33 Schalke and Mexico I decided to take control of the under 23s going into the Olympics. Its a competition I've not won, and even though it doesn't count towards the challenge, I love the idea of winning Olympic gold before the end of my career. However, its not going to happen with Mexico. A 2-0 win over New Zealand was followed up with a 2-1 defeat to Czech Republic. We went into the last game with Nigeria needing a win to make the knockout stages. The pressure got to us, and we were smashed 4-1, and on our way back to Mexico. An awful performance, and we deserved to go home. Being brutally honest, we were utterly atrocious, and I'm going to try and land a job at one of the better nations to attempt to win the Olympics in 2036. After a successful season in the south of France with Marseille, I headed for pastures new, and ended up at Schalke. They finished 4th last season, but a whopping 20 points behind champions Bayern. The squad wasn't bad, but clearly needed some work in order to challenge for the title. One of the huge positives was that they had a world-class striker in Ljubisa Babovic, and an outstanding winger in Mosquito. Fast forward two weeks, and Babovic has been sold for £57m to PSG, and Mosquito for £38.5m to Arsenal, both against my will. So, back to the drawing board, and the transfer market. £100m later, and I'd brought in 8 new players, but more importantly, a new spine to the team. I raided Marseille for goalkeeper Oscar Cinque and centre back Ivo Comte, two new wingers in Sebastian (from PSG) and my new record transfer signing, Anthony Weston from Crystal Palace for £25m. Fabricio Oya, a key midfielder from my time at Corinthians, came in on a free from Dortmund. Despite his aging years (he's 33), he still utterly oozes class. He's one of my favourite players from this career, and will definitely make my all time 11. I brought in Oya's Dortmund teammate, striker Ziya Aktan, who settled in quickly. As I've already alluded to previously, my European challenge didn't exactly go particularly well. After a 7-0 aggregate win over Dynamo Kiev in the playoffs, we were drawn in a group with Man City, Genk, and Celtic. 2 wins and 4 draws were enough to see us finish behind Man City, and face Arsenal in the last 16. We lost the first leg 1-0, and we were lucky to keep it to 1, to be honest. We went 1-0 down at the Emirates, but 2 goals put us in a position to go through on away goals. However, as only we can, we conceded 2 quick goals, before scoring a 91st minute equaliser, making it 3-3 on the night, but leaving us a goal behind on aggregate. We flooded forward, and had the chance to win it. The ball hit the post, and then we hit the bar with the rebound. Typical of my luck in Europe, but I can't have too many complaints after the first leg. But Europe isn't what I was focused on, as you all know. I went all out for the Bundesliga, and that was why I allowed myself to change the habit of a lifetime when remodelling the squad in the summer. We went out like a train, smashing teams left, right and centre, including beating all of the other teams who ended up finishing around us in the top 5. By the time the winter break came, we found ourselves 11 points clear, and looking like the title was going to be a cakewalk. However, by the time there were 6 games to go, Bayern had pulled us right back, and had edged a point ahead, with them having a better goal difference as well. Bayern drew, and we nicked a 2-1 win over Mainz to go a point ahead. We each won our next 4 games, leaving it down to the final game for the title to be decided. Bayern beat Paderborn 2-1, but it didn't matter. We thumped Bremen 5-0, Atkan getting a brace and Weston a hat trick, to seal the title! To be fair, we definitely deserved it based on our form in the first half of the season. Our German Cup campaign was fairly straightforward for the first two rounds, beating Oberachern and Hannover, before meeting Munchengladbach in the last 16. 3-1 up with 4 minutes to go, we let in two late goals and headed into extra time. We grabbed a goal to go back in front, before an own goal from our centre back took the game to penalties. Five penalties scored by us, and then Oscar Cinque was the hero once again, saving their last penalty and taking us into the last 8. Successive 4-1 wins over Mainz and Hoffenheim took us into the final, where Bayern awaited. A slow first half, with neither side creating much. Not long after the break, flying winger Sebastian put us one up, after great work from Weston on the other flank to set him up for a tap in. A few tactical changes, and our defence managed to hold out and we added the cup to our league win the week before. So many players had excellent seasons. Ziya Atkan scored 31 goals in 36 games, Weston got 17 goals and 12 assists in 27 games, and my centre back Felice Cherubini averaged 7.59 for the season. Oscar Cinque kept a clean sheet in every other game on average, but Sebastian was my player of the season. 16 goals and 16 assists in 33 appearances meant it was £10.5m well spent. He's definitely a contender for my all time team after that season. So what next? Well, I'm about to go into a busy international summer, with the Confederations Cup and, more importantly, the North America Gold Cup, coming up. Its the last international trophy I need, and my Mexico team have to be considered one of the favourites going into the tournament. I'm excited, we're playing good football, as we currently sit top of our World Cup Qualifying group. I imagine I'll have another update soon enough (possibly even tomorrow if I can). Domestically, I'm three trophies short of finishing. Evidently, I am now waiting for a job in South Africa to some up. However, if I see an opportunity to grab an easy title or cup win, I'll grab it with both hands, but I expect my next job will be in South Africa somewhere. Club Season Team Position Notes and Achievements 2015/16 Dungannon 10th Won Northern Irish FA Cup and kept Dungannon up after taking over with 3 games to go 2016/17 Dungannon 8th A solid but unspectacular season 2017/18 Yiteng 8th A settling season in China 2019 Jiangsu 1st Won Chinese Super League and FA Cup, as well as claiming MOTY. 2020 Jiangsu 1st Won Chinese Super League and Asian Champions League 2020/21 Aberdeen 9th Won Scottish League Cup 2021/22 Monterrey 5th/5th Won Opening Stage, knocked out in semis of closing stage. Won NACL. 2021/22 Salzburg 1st Won league and cup double 2022 Corinthians 1st Won league 2023 Corinthians 8th Won Copa Libertadores 2024/25 Juventus 1st Won Serie A and Italian Cup 2025/26 Juventus 2nd Won Italian Cup 2026/27 Real Madrid 1st Won La Liga and Spanish Cup 2027/28 Real Madrid 1st Won La Liga and Spanish Cup 2028/29 Everton 10th Knocked out of both cups and Europa League. Left them in 10th with 10 games to go. 2028/29 Chelsea 4th Took over with 10 games to go and club in 8th. Won FA Cup and Champions League! 2029/30 Chelsea 1st Won the title on the last day of the season! 2030/31 Unemployed 2031/32 Marseille 1st Won Ligue Un and Coupe de la Ligue 2032/33 Schalke 1st Won Bundesliga and German Cup Season Team Notes and Achievements 2016/17 Congo Resigned without playing a game 2016/17 Cameroon One win away from WC qualification 2017/18 Cameroon 2nd round of 2018 World Cup 2019 Cameroon African Cup of Nations winner! 2021 Poland An abject failure! 2022 Ireland 4 wins, 2 draws and promotion to European International League Division B 2023 Ireland 2 wins, 2 defeats from 4 qualifiers before taking Colombia job 2024/25 Colombia Currently top of WC qualifying and ranked 4th in the world 2026 Colombia World Cup winners! 2027 Colombia Copa America winners! 2028 Italy European Championship winners! 2029 Italy Confederations Cup winners! 2030 Italy Knocked out of World Cup in group stage! 2031 South Korea Asian Cup winners! 2032 Mexico World Cup qualification is going well 2033 Mexico World Cup qualification is still going well, and I'm gearing up for the Gold Cup Challenge Progress Club 9/10 top domestic leagues - China (Jiangsu), Mexico (Monterrey), Austria (Salzburg), Brazil (Corinthians), Italy (Juventus), Spain (Real Madrid), England (Chelsea), France (Marseille), Germany (Schalke) 9/10 domestic cups - Northern Ireland (Dungannon), China (Jiangsu), Scotland (Aberdeen), Austria (Salzburg), Italy (Juventus x 2), Spain (Real Madrid), England (Chelsea), France (Marseille), Germany (Schalke) 4/5 club continental championships - ACL (Jiangsu), NACL (Monterrey), Copa Libertadores (Corinthians), Uefa Champions League (Chelsea) 1/1 club world championship - Chelsea 2029 International 4/5 continental tournaments - ACON (Cameroon 2019), Copa America (Colombia 2027), European Championships (Italy 2028), Asian Nations Cup (South Korea 2031) 2/2 world tournaments - World Cup (Colombia 2026), Confederations Cup (Italy 2029) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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