blackdevil Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 (edited) oh, not seen that or I've forgotten about it thought the leaderboard was for people that have finished the challenge. Edited March 24, 2018 by blackdevil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 8 hours ago, vikeologist said: @XaW Just got my first senior international job; and it's Norway. (I admit I double-checked in case it turned out to be Denmark or something and you'd never speak to me again once my mistake came to light). We have just been drawn in the same Euro qualifiers group as Denmark, but Norway are ranked 11th in the world, so I was a bit disappointed to be in the 3rd seeding group, (because though Norway won every Nations League match, they were in division C). Our competition is Denmark and Switzerland though, and we only have to finish in the top 2. Plus my squad looks quite nifty; and young. I might have an outside chance of actually winning something with them, as long as my over-achievement with China U23 wasn't a fluke. Wow, ranked 11? Norway must have done something good. Fair enough we beat Australia 4-1 (in real life) yesterday, but I don't think we are that good. I'm also glad you know that mistaking the Scandinavian countries is a deadly sin up here! Good luck in beating the Danes. Just tell them they are choking on a potato and they will go into a rage (Scandinavian humor on it's best there...). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 I usually start this really late in the FM cycle but with the youth challenge not gripping me this year I'm gonna give this a proper go this year. Starting profile. As usual I'm starting in South Africa, but for once not at Black Leopards, who turned me down after an interview, but at Ubuntu Cape Town (me neither) but I take over with them in 6th, only 6 points off the top and with 24 games to go. Plus I like the kits. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 XaW - Ultimate Football Manager Challenge - 2018 A good promotion last season, but I expected a bit more opposition this year. Being a semi-pro team in a league of a mix of semi-pro and professional teams isn't the easiest. I'm also struggling to bring in good enough players because my scouts are quite frankly horribly poor. A quick report only show me one or two stats, so knowing if players are good enough is hard. We did quite well, however, and finished only 4 points of the playoffs. I'm being rumored to leave Finnsnes and join top tier team Tromsø and are favorites among the bookies. I might be joining a new team next season, but only time will tell. Domestic Season Team Division Position Notes Challenge Landmarks 2017 Finnsnes IL PostNord-ligaen 1 1st Promoted as champions, got National C licence 2018 Finnsnes IL OBOS-ligaen 9th Mid-table, got National B and A licences International Year Team Achievements - Challenge Progress Club 0/10 top domestic leagues 0/10 domestic cups 0/5 club continental championships 0/1 club world championship International 0/5 continental tournaments 0/2 world tournaments Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny_H22 Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 (edited) Danny_H22 2018-19 Season Review Going into this season my plan was a simple one; push for a top four finish and wait until a bigger job came calling, that wouldn’t be necessary as we had an unbelievable season and stormed to the league title and lifted every domestic cup we played in. Our success was enough for me to convince the board to grant us professional status as of next season Along the way, I completed my first coaching badge, raised my reputation to 30% and entered the Northern Irish Hall of Fame Danske Bank Premiership- We started strong and it continued right up to the last kick of the season. Ballymena Utd had a fantastic season, leading us and Crusaders for a long time before we stepped it up a gear during the final third of the season. In the end, we won the league by a clear 11 points over second placed Ballymena, losing only 3 games all season. Linfield, arguably the top club in Northern Ireland and the club I was hoping to jump to next, only managed to finish 4th Northern Irish Cup- We entered the Irish Cup as holders and had high hopes of reclaiming the title. Despite being drawn against teams such as Linfield, Ballymena and Crusaders, we managed to claim a historic back to back victory Bet McLean League Cup- Our first cup final of the season saw us play an ever dangerous Linfield at The Oval in front of 8000 fans. What followed was a routine win as we beat them 3-1 to lift our first cup on the season Northern Irish Mid Ulster Cup- The Mid Ulster Cup wasn’t a priority to use, but a trophy is a trophy and it was nice to beat Armagh 4-1 in the final to claim another cup NIFL Charity Shield- Due to our cup win last season, we were set to play league champions Linfield in the traditional curtain raiser. Starting as we meant to go on, we beat them 1-0 with a goal from Andrew Mitchell EURO Cup- The less said about my first foray into Continental football the better. We drew FH of Iceland in the First Qualifying Round and they proved far too strong, beating us 2-8 over the two legs Top Goalscorer- Andrew Mitchell. An unbelievable season for last seasons top scorer as he finished with 43 goals in 48 games. He would have had more but I dropped him in all the cup matches against weaker teams Most Assists- Somehow, Mitchell claimed this too! He claimed 18 assists to his teammates, to add to his 43 goals. Summer signing Louis Rooney finished on 17 assists and 29 goals in 36 games Highest Avg. Rating- One that Mitchell didn’t win as centre midfielder Eric Foley finished with an average of 7.63 from 48 games. He contributed 20 goals and 8 assists in a fantastic season Most POTM- Surprise, surprise, but Andrew Mitchell and his 12 POTM awards wins this International- After a relevantly successful as the manager of the Australia U23s team, I was offered the chance to take over as the boss of the USA main team who found themselves managerless after a less than impressive World Cup. I accepted the role, turning down Uruguay and Ivory Coast, because I knew they were due to host and defend the Gold Cup in 12 months time. I admit that I had a hard time bedding in there. I wasn’t overly impressed with the players I had available and I couldn’t find a tactic that suited, but the Gold Cup awaited us so I did my best to work with what I got. In the end, we got lucky and ended up in the semi-final against a strong Costa Rica team. A change of tactics was on the agenda as we had looked really poor in the previous games and it paid off as we smashed them 5-0, taking us to the final where we would face Honduras. The final wasn’t even close as we put 6 goals past Honduras in an unbelievable 6-1 victory to claim the Gold Cup! Next Season Plan- I have decided to step down from my position as Glenavon manager to focus on my next move. I made sure to tie up all the important contracts and saw them turn professional before stepping down, giving them a great platform to grow. I foresee a few months of unemployment before finding my next move. I will continue my national team commitments for now Season Team Position Continental Notes and Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017/18 Glenavon 5th - Took over in February. Won Northern Irish Cup 2018/19 Glenavon 1st First Qual. Round Manager of the Year. Won Northern Irish Cup, League Cup, Mid Ulster Cup & Charity Shield Challenge Progress Club 1/10 top domestic leagues - Danske Bank Premiership (Glenavon 2019) 1/10 domestic cups - Northern Irish Cup (Glenavon 2018) 0/5 club continental championships 0/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments - Gold Cup (USA 2019) 0/2 world tournaments International: Season Team Notes and Achievements ---------------------------------------------------------- 2017/18 Australia U23s U23s Asian Nations Cup 2018/19 USA Won Gold Cup Edited March 24, 2018 by Danny_H22 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 (edited) XaW - Ultimate Football Manager Challenge - 2019 Tromsø were after me at the end of last season, and during the winter they offered me the job. So not far for me to move, only a couple of hours from Finnsnes to Tromsø. Tromsø had managed to get themselves relegated from the top tier and down to my current level, so at least I were familiar with the league. The difference in player quality between Finnsnes and Tromsø was just amazing and I really cannot understand how anyone could get relegated with that squad. However, it turned out to be a tougher start than I had hoped for when most of the influential (and best) players were very unhappy playing in OBOS-ligaen instead of Eliteserien. I had to let a couple of the best players go, but I did manage to bring in a couple of good one to compliment the already good squad. Including a Nigerian striker who scored 26 goals in 22 matches before the board sold him for pocket change just before the season ended. In the league we just dominated and scored an outrageous amount of goals, setting records here and there. We didn't defend quite well though, but that was partly down to all my best defenders leaving before the season had started properly. In the end we won the league by quite a margin. Looking forward to getting a run in the top tier, however I'll gladly change to an even better team next season should anything become available. I think I might have to take over Molde or Rosenborg to have a chance for a title. Seeing Tromsø in almost £2M debt doesn't quite convince me to stay either, but I signed another contract to stay out the next season. Should I do poorly or the board continue to sell my good players I might leave early. Edit: Oh, I completely forgot to show this amazing friendly match. Never had a result like that before... Domestic Season Team Division Position Notes Challenge Landmarks 2017 Finnsnes IL PostNord-ligaen 1 1st Promoted as champions, got National C licence 2018 Finnsnes IL OBOS-ligaen 9th Mid-table, got National B and A licences 2019 Tromsø IL OBOS-ligaen 1st Promoted as champions International Year Team Achievements - Challenge Progress Club 0/10 top domestic leagues 0/10 domestic cups 0/5 club continental championships 0/1 club world championship International 0/5 continental tournaments 0/2 world tournaments Edited March 24, 2018 by XaW Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdevil Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 (edited) Ajax Cape Town ABSA Premiership 2023/2024 Unfortunately I took a break from playing football manager after winning the African Cup of nations so can't remember the early season. With 12 games remaining we stubbled over the line to clinch the title by one point ahead of Kaizer Chiefs. The domestic cups were a disappointment. Going out in the 2nd round of the FA Cup, loosing in the final of the MTN 8 Cup and loosing in the semi-final of the Telkom cup. The CAF Confederation Cup is still ongoing through the close season so will see how that goes and there's the Champions League to look forward to next year. I've been keeping an eye out for another international job but nothing but the forever vacant African posts are available. Challenge Progress: Club 3/10 top domestic leagues (CHI, BRA, RSA) 3/10 domestic cups (CHI, BRA, RSA) 2/5 club continental championships (ACL-Wuhan 2020, LIB-Sao Paulo 2022) 1/1 club world championship (Sao Paulo 2022) International 1/5 continental tournaments (MAR 2023) 0/2 world tournaments () Seasons: CLUB CAREER Leagues Cups Season NAT Club Division 1st 2nd 1st 2nd Cont. CWC Other & Notes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017 CHI Wuhan CNFD 5th Joined in 9th place after 13 games and out of cups 2018 CHI Whuan CNFD 1st Qtr Promoted as champions 2019 CHI Wuhan CSL 1st Win League & Cup double. 2020 CHI Wuhan CSL 1st Win Win Trebble Winners (+domestic super cup) 2021 BRA Sao Paulo Serie A 3rd Qtr Joined in 17th after 11 games. 2022 BRA Sao Paulo Serie A 1st Win Win Win Quadruple 2022/23 RSA Ajax CT RSA PL 7th n/a Win Nedbank Cup win 2023/24 RSA Ajax CT RSA PL 1st 2rnd Final League Champions INTERNATIONAL CAREER Rank Cups Year Nation FIFA NL World Cont. Conf. Other & Notes 2020 Serbia 21st 2021 Serbia 33rd Failed to Qualify for World Cup 2022 Morocco 15th Won African Nations Championship 2023 Morocco 18th Won African Cup of Nations 2024 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- edt: almost forgot @vikeologist: 'I'm on the leader board! I'm on the leader board!' Edited March 25, 2018 by blackdevil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 (edited) Season 1 Review - Ubuntu Cape Town I took over after just 6 games of the season had been played, with the team in 6th. We started well, winning our first 3 games without conceding before a 5-3 loss after being 3-0 up (a somewhat recurring theme) but overall we were playing well and winning games, in January I made loan moves for 3 players to help see us over the line, all 3 did well as we got near the end of the season. With 8 games to go we hit top spot, with 5 games to go we had an 8 point lead and it looked like it would be a comfortable title win. We then lost our first game in 12, we then narrowly beat Cape Town rivals All Stars 2-1 meaning we needed 2 points from 3 games to win the title. We then lost again as we just didn't turn up, it was the only game all season we had less than 50% of the ball. In our last home game we needed a win to win the league. So of course we drew 0-0. Last game of the season we had a 3 point lead and a +7 GD, a point was all we needed. A loss would be bad providing Richards Bay didn't beat 10th placed side by a big margin. We lost. Again. Richards Bay could only draw and we won the league! 2 points was much closer than it should have been. In the cups there was not much to write home about as we were knocked out in the 3rd round. When I first started the save I applied for every job I could before I got the Ubuntu job, one of which was the Australia U23 job, a month after being at Ubuntu they offered me the role, with the Asian U23 championships a month or so away I thought why not? Might be a nice boost to the rep if we do alright. We topped our group by beating Lebanon and Syria before coming from 2 goals down to draw with Japan. In the next round we beat Uzbekistan before the fun started. In the Semi Finals against South Korea we raced into an early 2 goal lead, by HT it was 2-2. No more goals meant extra time and with 9 minutes left (as injuries and fatigue, I've never been great at rotating in international tournaments, set in) South Korea took the lead. In the final seconds we bundled in a goal to send it to penalties. We won 6-5. In the final we had Qatar, a poor fist half ended 0-0, within 15 mins of the restart we were 2-0 up. With 15 to go we still had a 2 goal. 5 minutes later it was 2-2. It stayed that way and extra time would be needed. on 97 minutes a half dead Liam Rose had a shot from 30 yards that flew in the top corner. We hang on to win 3-2! All that boosted my rep from 5% to 10%. Career Overview Season Team Country Position Notes & Achievements 2017/18 Ubuntu Cape Town South Africa 1st Promotion International Year Country Notes & Achievements 2017 Australia U23 Asian U23 Champions Challenge Progress Club 0/10 top domestic leagues (Insert nations) 0/10 domestic cups () 0/5 club continental championships () 0/1 club world championship International 0/5 continental tournaments () 0/2 world tournaments () Next season Already looking to move on as the finances are so bad here I can't even get them to fund a coaching course for me. Doesn't look like any top clubs will be changing manager so I'll stick around for the season, try and stay up and hope some changes happen. Also World Cup this summer so will be on the lookout for an international job. Edited March 25, 2018 by darren1983 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 XaW - Ultimate Football Manager Challenge - 2020 So as newly promoted into Eliteserien I were unsure how to rate us, but the media had high hopes for us and though we were an outsider to the title at 5th. I thought it was a bit ambitious at first, but when we started I noticed we had no issues winning against most teams in the league, so we stormed away early on. We actually held the top spot for just about every round throughout the season and clinched the title with a couple of games to spare. We almost made it a double, but we lost in the final in the cup to Brann, so almost, but no sigar. However, I think this is my final season in Norway. I have the league title I were after and I doubt I can get much more from my home country. In addition I'm losing my best talents to the bigger clubs in Europe and I doubt I can follow up this season. I think I'll head to either Australia, China or South Africa and aim to win the Champions League there before moving to the Americas. Domestic Season Team Division Position Notes Challenge Landmarks 2017 Finnsnes IL PostNord-ligaen 1 1st Promoted as champions, got National C licence 2018 Finnsnes IL OBOS-ligaen 9th Mid-table, got National B and A licences 2019 Tromsø IL OBOS-ligaen 1st Promoted as champions 2020 Tromsø IL Eliteserien 1st Champions First league title International Year Team Achievements - Challenge Progress Club 1/10 top domestic leagues (Norway 2020) 0/10 domestic cups 0/5 club continental championships 0/1 club world championship International 0/5 continental tournaments 0/2 world tournaments Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis89 Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 (edited) 2027/28 Season Update Season Preview Season Review Squad Transfers Manager Profile End of season Awards Primeira Liga - Results 1 - Results 2 - In what was our most straight forward domestic season yet so far i this challenge, we romped home to the title as expected. played 34, won 30, drew 3 and lost 1. we scored 105 goals and conceded just 11. We started the season on fire, going 18 games unbeaten before suffering our first defeat. Games like this 5-1 win over league runners up Porto showing just how big the gulf between us was. We clinched the title with 4 games remaining, a easy 6-0 home win. I didnt really enjoy the season that much as it felt more just like a click and go, the players are so good compared to any other team in the league that i couldn't fail. Before champions league games id play 11 back ups and still win 3 or 4 nil. The only downside is literally the whole first team want to leave with Europe's bigger clubs all interested. UEFA Champions League - Group F - Drawn in a very competitive group alongside Sevilla, Leverkusen and Basel we did brilliantly to top the group. We won 4 and lost 2. The last loss, 5-1 to Basel was irrelevant as we had secured 1st and fielded the kids. In the 2nd round we was unfortunate to be paired against Barcelona. we lost the 1st leg 2-0 away, and even though we managed a 3-1 win at home, it wasn't enough as we crashed out on away goals. I was really disappointed with this as Benfica possess a ridiculously strong squad and I really thought we could get to the later stages. Taca De Portugal - Cant dress this up as anything but a failure. Cruising in the league at this point, feeling unstoppable. Then we faced Braga who were also going really strong at that point, and they beat us. 2-1 away, we were expected to win the whole thing so to crash out this early was just poor. Taca De Liga - Much better here. Cruised until the semi finals where we faced Porto, saw them off easily with a 3-0 win. In the final we faced Braga, hell bent on revenge after they beat us in the other cup, we got our revenge with a 2-1 win. Supertaca - The season opener. Not considered important but always good to get the season going with a trophy, we faced Sporting Lisbon ending in a dominating 2-0 win. Next Season I will be moving on from Benfica with a league and cup win in the bag. Half the squad want to leave, and if I am going to do a rebuild, it may as well be in a different country. I still have the " big 5" to tackle, so need to venture there very soon. I have them all loaded anyway so will be job hunting from this summer, I havent had a International role since leaving China but with the Euros this summer, am hoping some interesting roles come up ahead of the World cup in 2 years time. My rep is at 85% now and over 4 stars so there shouldn't be many roles that i'm not considered for. CLUB CAREER Leagues Cups Season Nation League Club 1st 2nd 1st 2nd Cont CWC Other Notes and Achievements -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018 CHI CJL Beijing Renhe 1st SF Appointed DEC 2017, Gained C & B License, Manager of the Season 2019 CHI CSL Beijing Renhe 1st WON Gained National A, CON C License, Manager of the season, Double Winners 2020 CHI CSL Beijing Renhe 1st R.U WON 3rd Gained CON B License, Manager of the year, CSL & ACL Winners, Resigned on 22/12/2020 2021 USA MLS Atlanta United 3rd WON RD4 WON 3rd Gained CON A License, MLS CUP and NACL Winners, Coach of the year. 2022 USA MLS Atlanta United R.U Gained Pro License, Lost in NACL FINAL, Resigned on 25/05/22. 2022/23 RSA ABSA Bloemfontein 6th R2 WON Appointed on 31/07/22, Won Telekom Knockout Cup. 2023/24 RSA ABSA Bloemfontein 1st SF WON Double Winners. League and Telekom Knockout Cup. 2024/25 RSA ABSA Bloemfontein 1st SF WON Treble winners. League, MTN8 and Telekom Cup. Still in AFC Champs League Group Stage 2025/26 RSA ABSA Bloemfontein WON 5th Won CAF Champions League, Lost in CWC QF's. Resigned on 24/12/2025 2026 BRA SERIE A Fluminense 2nd WON WON WON Appointed on 26/03/2026. Quad Winners. State Champs, FA Cup, Copa Libertadores and CWC. Manager of the season. Resigned on 21/12/2026. 2027/28 POR Primeira Benfica 1st R5 WON L16 Appointed on 15/07/2027. Double Winners Primiera Liga and Liga De Taca. Manager of the Season. Resigned on 27/05/2028 INTERNATIONAL CAREER Competitions Season Nation World Cup Confed Cup Euro Cup Asian Cup Afcon Gold Cup Copa A Other Notes and Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2021/22 SENEGAL WON Appointed on 21/03/2021, Qualified for World Cup, ranked 13th. 2022/23 Senegal Group Stage Resigned on 25/06/22, ranked 15th 2023/24 China Appointed on 02/07/2023, Qualified for Asian Games, Ranked 54th. 2024/25 China Qualified for East Asian Games. Ranked 46th 2025/26 China 2nd Round Won East Asian Cup. Ranked 45th. 2026/27 China WON Won AFC Asian Cup. Ranked 42nd. Resigned on 07/02/2027 CHALLENGE PROGRESS CLUB 4/10 Top Domestic Leagues CSL-Beijing Renhe 2019. MLS-Atlanta 2021. ASBA-Bloemfontein 2024. POR-Benfica 2028. 4/10 Domestic Cups CFA-Beijing Renhe 2019. RSAKO-Bloemfontein 2023. BFA-Fluminense 2026. POR-Benfica 2028 4/5 Club Continental Championships Asia-Beijing Renhe 2020. CONCACAF-Atlanta 2021. CAFCL-Bloemfontein 2025. COPA LIB-Fluminense 2026. 1/1 Club World Cups Fluminense 2026 International 2/5 Continental Tournaments AFCON-Senegal 2021. Asian Cup-China 2027. 0/2 World Tournaments Total Challenge Progress 15/33 All Achievements Club Football. Beijing Renhe - Chinese Jia League 2018. Chinese Super League 2019, 2020. Asian Champions League 2020. Chinese FA Cup 2019. Chinese Super Cup 2020. Manager of the season 2018, 2019, 2020. Atlanta United - MLS Cup 2021. CONCACAF 2021. MLS coach of the year 2021. Bloemfontein Celtics - Telkom Knockout Cup 2023,2024,2025. ASBA Premiership-2024,2025. MTN8-2025. CAFCL-Bloemfontein 2025. Manager of the season 2024. Fluminense - Rio State Championships 2026, Copa Perdigao do Brazil 2026, Copa Libertadores 2026, FIFA Club World Cup 2026, Manager of the season 2026. Benfica - Primeira Liga 2028, Liga De Taca 2028, Supertaca 2028, Manager of the season 2028. International Football. Senegal - AFCON-Senegal 2021. China - East Asian Cup 2025. AFC Asian Cup 2027. Edited March 27, 2018 by Lewis89 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis89 Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 (edited) Appointment Having left Benfica in may, I only had to wait a month for my next opportunity. Ajax Amsterdam League and Cup winners last season, this should give me another good shot at a league and cup double, which would leave me just the big 5 to tackle league and cup wise. In what turned out to be a triangle of job swaps, Benfica hired Paulo Fonseca from Monaco, who in turn hired Marcel Keizer from Ajax who..... you know the rest. I join at the end of the current season so have the whole summer to shape a squad ready for the new season. UPDATE: I have also been appointed boss of the Spanish national side after a very poor European Championships. With the world cup in 2 years time, I will use the nations league and the qualifiers to try build a team capable of succeeding. Edited March 27, 2018 by Lewis89 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 Season 2 Review - Unbuntu Cape Town After winning promotion last season the goal was to stay up. Poor finances left me with a transfer budget of zero so that meant loans, and free transfers were all we could bring in. Was a good season in the end, finishing 7th. The lowest we dropped all season was 8th. Was very happy with this, while we struggled against the bigger sides (bar a late season win over Ajax) we beat pretty much all the others. Local rivals Cape Town pipped us right at the end of a 6th place finish which was slightly annoying. In the cups we had decent runs to the 1/4 finals in both. Before losing to bigger sides. All in all a decent season. Last summer while I was thinking of leaving due to the finances the China job popped up, I applied and took it. With the Asian Cup coming up I thought I give it a go. In the friendlies before hand we beat Oman, Philippines, Chinese Taipei and Lebanon but lost away to Vietnam due to a 90th minute goal in a game we dominated but couldn't score in. Asian Cup First Round Spoiler China 4-0 Thailand (Wu Lei x2, Zhang Xizhe, Yang Xu) A comfortable opening group game, we dominated from the off and never looked like anything but easy winners. Oman 0-1 China (Wu Xi) A really poor game, we never really got going but Oman never really got at us, winner came from a 35 yarder in the 95th minute! It also meant we were through to the 2nd round and a point in our final game would see us top the group China 1-0 Iran (Gao Lin) another scrappy game from us as I rotated some players to keep others fresh. Another later winner (88th minute this time) and we were group winners 2nd Round (If applicable) Spoiler China 0-0 Vietnam (China win 4-2 on penalties) just like the friendly against them we dominated but couldn't score (65% of the ball, 25 shots to 5) but unlike the friendly nor could they, We scored all 4 of our pens while they missed their first 2. Qtr Final (If applicable) Spoiler China 2-1 UAE (Huang Bowen, Zhang Chengdong) here we played the hosts, and for once we scored an early (ish, was the 12th minute) goal, leading at HT and looking good, 20 minutes to go I make some changes to rest people and UAE score. With 8 minutes to go sub Chengdong pops up with a winner to see us to the semi finals Semi Final (If applicable) Spoiler Jordan 0-3 China (Zhang Xizhe, Gao Lin, OG) this was very comfortable (I thought we'd have payed Australia here but Jordan knocked them out thankfully) all 3 goals came in the opening half and from there we cruised to the final. We would play either South Korea or Iraq. Final (If applicable) Spoiler Iraq 3-4 China (Wu Lei, Wang Shenchao, Cai Huikang, Zhang Xizhe) what a final! a 5th minute penalty for us was tucked away, then after 23 minutes Shenchao pounces on a loose ball in the box after a corner (for his first ever goal for China) to double our lead. Iraq pull one back right on HT. 2 minutes into the 2nd half and Huikang (also his first goal - what a game to get them in) scores from another corner to restore our 3 goal lead. In the 60th minute we get another penalty, this one hits the bar though and 5 minutes later Iraq pull another back. 7 minutes later and Xizhe cracks one in from 25 yards and it looks like we can't be caught. 3 mins later and it's 4-3, when then lose our LB and with all subs mad ewe go ultra defensive to hold and claim the cup! Aftermath Spoiler An unexpected win here for sure, we were lucky in missing the big boys and having them eliminated early, after the win I took the rep boost (up to 15% now) and left Career Overview Season Team Country Position Notes & Achievements 2017/18 Ubuntu Cape Town South Africa 1st Promotion 2018/19 Ubuntu Cape Town South Africa 7th International Year Country Notes & Achievements 2017 Australia U23 Asian U23 Champions 2019 China Asian Cup Winners Challenge Progress Club 0/10 top domestic leagues (Insert nations) 0/10 domestic cups () 0/5 club continental championships () 0/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments (Asian Cup Winners 2019 - China) 0/2 world tournaments () What's Next? I've spent most the 2nd half of the season looking to leave Ubuntu as finances are still bad (better but still not good) and they still can't afford for me to do coaching badges which I need to move up. However the eagle eyed among you will see that Orlando Pirates finished in 8th this year, when the season ended they sacked their manager, I applied, had the interview and the offered it to me! One of the bigger boys, hopefully this means some progress now (they let do a coaching badge right away) Also Cup of Nations this summer so should be some African jobs popping up to go for. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 (edited) XaW - Ultimate Football Manager Challenge - 2021 After winning the Norwegian top tier last season with Tromsø, I decided to leave, since I doubt I could achieve much more there. I applied for a couple of jobs and the first who approached be was a national side! So I became the manager of Nigeria! The goal were to compete in the African Cup of Nations in the summer. While I tried to get a hold of managing a national side I also got approached by a club I had applied for earlier, Shenzhen from China. Don't try to get me to pronounce the team name, but they were a mid-table side who had sacked their former manager in pre-season and wanted me to lead them to better things. I though, why not and took the jop. Shenzhen plays in the top tier in China, but aren't one of the most known clubs in China, but we still had some great players. However, and this is something that quite surprised me since I haven't played in China before, you are only allowed 5 foreign players in the squad. For me that means I need to focus on Chinese players, not foreign talent. So I set out trying to get in the best players with Chinese nationality, but they are as scarce as hen's teeth it seems. Still, we had a good spring season and were fighting for the Champions League spots the whole way. About half way into the Chinese season my Nigerian side started with the ACON and we played in a group containing Zambia, Angola and Egypt. We beat them all to win the group before beating Libya in the 2nd round. In the quarter final we beat Guinea and in the semis we knocked out Ghana. The final was against Senegal and we beat them comfortably 2-0 to win the tournament. I resigned shortly after since the team was quite old and we were far off qualifying for the world cup. Back in China we continued our good form and in the end we finished in a very good 3rd place and thus qualified for the Champions League next season. We also won the Chinese FA Cup to get another trophy in our locker. I think I'll stay here for a little while and try to win the league and maybe the Asian CL. Domestic Season Team Division Position Notes Challenge Landmarks 2017 Finnsnes IL PostNord-ligaen 1 1st Promoted as champions, got National C licence 2018 Finnsnes IL OBOS-ligaen 9th Mid-table, got National B and A licences 2019 Tromsø IL OBOS-ligaen 1st Promoted as champions 2020 Tromsø IL Eliteserien 1st Champions First league title 2021 Shenzhen Chinese Super League 3rd Cup winner, got Continental C and B licences First cup title International Year Team Achievements 2021 Nigeria Won ACON Challenge Progress Club 1/10 top domestic leagues (Norway 2020) 1/10 domestic cups (Chinese FA Cup 2021) 0/5 club continental championships 0/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments (ACON - Nigeria 2021) 0/2 world tournaments Edited March 28, 2018 by XaW Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdevil Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 I'm just over half way through the next season and I've won the all the South African cups I'd not won yet as well as the CAF Confederations cup and the CAF Super Cup.....Just the African Champions League to finish off the collection. Apparently I'm annoying the other managers in South Africa if the below news article is to be believed though not sure what I did to get him riled up. On a side note has anyone else had some African national jobs be vacant for a long period of time? The Morocco job has been vacant since I resigned after winning the ACN and the Ivory Coast and Nigeria jobs have been vacant just as long if not longer. I'm thinking of taking the Ivory Coast job to fill in while I wait for another suitable international job. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis89 Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, blackdevil said: I'm just over half way through the next season and I've won the all the South African cups I'd not won yet as well as the CAF Confederations cup and the CAF Super Cup.....Just the African Champions League to finish off the collection. Apparently I'm annoying the other managers in South Africa if the below news article is to be believed though not sure what I did to get him riled up. On a side note has anyone else had some African national jobs be vacant for a long period of time? The Morocco job has been vacant since I resigned after winning the ACN and the Ivory Coast and Nigeria jobs have been vacant just as long if not longer. I'm thinking of taking the Ivory Coast job to fill in while I wait for another suitable international job. Yeah I had that with Nigeria and one other African team. Think it was Ghana. Also had it with the Australia job. They all were eventually filled though. Edited March 28, 2018 by Lewis89 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted March 28, 2018 Author Share Posted March 28, 2018 (edited) @XaW I was going to tell you how to pronounce Shenzhen properly, but I suppose it hard to explain how to say it completely correctly unless you can read phonetics [ʃɛnˈʒɛn]- Sort of sounds like Shen Jen, with the 2 syllables said closely together and both stressed (sort of, though the second syllable is falling), but the jen is kind of a j and z sound together. Shen-jen would be close enough though. I've certainly managed a few clubs I couldn't pronounce at first, including an English one, Hednesford. Anyway, hardly anybody is going to pronounce Chinese names 100% correctly, so you may as well all just come up with your own sounds. Edited March 28, 2018 by vikeologist Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 (edited) 4 hours ago, vikeologist said: @XaW I was going to tell you how to pronounce Shenzhen properly, but I suppose it hard to explain how to say it completely correctly unless you can read phonetics [ʃɛnˈʒɛn]- Sort of sounds like Shen Jen, with the 2 syllables said closely together and both stressed (sort of, though the second syllable is falling), but the jen is kind of a j and z sound together. Shen-jen would be close enough though. I've certainly managed a few clubs I couldn't pronounce at first, including an English one, Hednesford. Anyway, hardly anybody is going to pronounce Chinese names 100% correctly, so you may as well all just come up with your own sounds. Yeah, I kind of pronounce it as I guess it would sound and I bet it's nowhere near correct. One of my issues is remembering names for my Chinese players, because they are so unfamiliar for me. Short names like "Bo", "Yi", "Xu" and "Da" is hard to remember. This is further complicating since I have 4 players called Wang. I'm considering giving them all nicknames so I remember who they are. I actually played with a central defender called Wang on the right back for a couple of matches since I though he were the full back called Wang. I might call them "Wang RB" and "Wang DC" or something... Oh, and the horrible, horrible rule I just noticed of only being able to sign 8 players every calendar year really screwed me... Yes, it's my fault for not reading the rules, but why, oh why, would anyone implement a rule such as this. I just had to show this young Chinese player I got in this season: He has scored an amazing 26 goals in 13 games so far this season. I had to pay £2M for him, but it's worth it I think. Edited March 28, 2018 by XaW Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis89 Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 (edited) Season 2028/29 Update Season Preview Season Review Squad Transfers End of season Awards Manager Profile Eredivisie - Results 1 - Results 2 - In what looks a straight forward season, it really was not. We started quite slowly, only winning 2 of our first 5 games, and although we romped home to the title in the end, 2nd placed Feyenoord pushed us close until the last 6 games. I expected this to be easier than it was, almost similar to the domination we experienced with Benfica last season. The squad didnt need much work and the majority of the transfers were back up options or talented youngsters. Finishing on 87 points in still impressive though. Dutch Cup - Couldn't have asked for a more straightforward run. Avoided all the big teams, but this seasons surprise package PEC Zwolle took us to penalties in the semi's before we faced mid table Heerenveen in the final. We secured the cup with a 1-0 win in a game that was nowhere near as tight as the scoreline suggests. Super Cup - The season opener, always good to get an early trophy on board at any club, we saw of Feyenoord 2-0. UEFA Champions League - Group E - Drawn in what looked a tightly contested group with Arsenal, Dynamo Kiev and Dinamo Zagreb, I had high hopes of at least a 2nd placed finish. In the end we topped the group with 4 wins 1 draw and 1 loss. The highlight being spanking Arsenal at home. Onto the Knockout rounds and we faced FC Porto in the last 16. Having lost the away leg 3-2, we managed to squeeze through 4-3 on aggregate after a well deserved 2-0 win i the home tie. In the last 8 we drew thew mighty Juventus, and after an impressive 3-1 home win, I thought we could progress. However, a 2-0 home win for Juve saw them knock us out on away goals after a 3-3 aggregate scoreline. Next Season With the double secured here I do want to move on, but am worried im getting the reputation of a one season man, My last 3 jobs have all only lasted a season each so I may not resign from here and see what jobs are on offer, I can only work in the big 5 leagues now so am actively on the lookout for a new role. Over the season I managed to hit 600 games in football management, and got onto the worldwide hall of fame. With quite abit left to win, I can see me climbing higher up the rankings. Results 1 Results 2 In the summer we was appointed Spain manager. I was delighted to get this role and even more so when I learned we will be competing in the Confederations Cup this coming summer. With a Euro's next summer , this is a real chance at winning some more International silverware. The team is ridiculosly strong, and I have about 3 excellent players to choose from in each position, not to mention the numerous amount of young talent floating around the leagues. Our first game was in the International League. We was placed in Group 2 alongside France and Turkey which we topped to progress onto the semi finals where we will face Belgium. Our first game in charge was the 4-1 win over Turkey. In the Semi FInals of the International League we faced Belgium, ranked 6th, a team with players of a similar standard to ourselves, we cruised home with a 3-1 win. In the final we faced Germany, always a strong opponent, and it proved to be a super tight game, with us pulling off a 1-0 win, nicking the winning goal in the 86th minute. CLUB CAREER Leagues Cups Season Nation League Club 1st 2nd 1st 2nd Cont CWC Other Notes and Achievements -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018 CHI CJL Beijing Renhe 1st SF Appointed DEC 2017, Gained C & B License, Manager of the Season 2019 CHI CSL Beijing Renhe 1st WON Gained National A, CON C License, Manager of the season, Double Winners 2020 CHI CSL Beijing Renhe 1st R.U WON 3rd Gained CON B License, Manager of the year, CSL & ACL Winners, Resigned on 22/12/2020 2021 USA MLS Atlanta United 3rd WON RD4 WON 3rd Gained CON A License, MLS CUP and NACL Winners, Coach of the year. 2022 USA MLS Atlanta United R.U Gained Pro License, Lost in NACL FINAL, Resigned on 25/05/22. 2022/23 RSA ABSA Bloemfontein 6th R2 WON Appointed on 31/07/22, Won Telekom Knockout Cup. 2023/24 RSA ABSA Bloemfontein 1st SF WON Double Winners. League and Telekom Knockout Cup. 2024/25 RSA ABSA Bloemfontein 1st SF WON Treble winners. League, MTN8 and Telekom Cup. Still in AFC Champs League Group Stage 2025/26 RSA ABSA Bloemfontein WON 5th Won CAF Champions League, Lost in CWC QF's. Resigned on 24/12/2025 2026 BRA SERIE A Fluminense 2nd WON WON WON Appointed on 26/03/2026. Quad Winners. State Champs, FA Cup, Copa Libertadores and CWC. Manager of the season. Resigned on 21/12/2026. 2027/28 POR Primeira Benfica 1st R5 WON L16 Appointed on 15/07/2027. Double Winners Primiera Liga and Liga De Taca. Manager of the Season. Resigned on 27/05/2028 2028/29 HOL Eredivisie Ajax 1st WON QF Appointed on 23/06/2028. Treble Winners Eredivisie, Dutch Cup and Super Cup. INTERNATIONAL CAREER Competitions Season Nation World Cup Confed Cup Euro Cup Asian Cup Afcon Gold Cup Copa A Other Notes and Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2021/22 SENEGAL WON Appointed on 21/03/2021, Qualified for World Cup, ranked 13th. 2022/23 Senegal Group Stage Resigned on 25/06/2022, ranked 15th 2023/24 China Appointed on 02/07/2023, Qualified for Asian Games, Ranked 54th. 2024/25 China Qualified for East Asian Games. Ranked 46th 2025/26 China 2nd Round Won East Asian Cup. Ranked 45th. 2026/27 China WON Won AFC Asian Cup. Ranked 42nd. Resigned on 07/02/2027 2028/29 Spain Appointed on 16/07/2028. Won International League. Ranked 12th CHALLENGE PROGRESS CLUB 5/10 Top Domestic Leagues CSL-Beijing Renhe 2019. MLS-Atlanta 2021. ASBA-Bloemfontein 2024. POR-Benfica 2028. HOL- Ajax 2029. 5/10 Domestic Cups CFA-Beijing Renhe 2019. RSAKO-Bloemfontein 2023. BFA-Fluminense 2026. POR-Benfica 2028. HOL- Ajax 2029. 4/5 Club Continental Championships Asia-Beijing Renhe 2020. CONCACAF-Atlanta 2021. CAFCL-Bloemfontein 2025. COPA LIB-Fluminense 2026. 1/1 Club World Cups Fluminense 2026 International 2/5 Continental Tournaments AFCON-Senegal 2021. Asian Cup-China 2027. 0/2 World Tournaments Total Challenge Progress 17/33 All Achievements Club Football. Beijing Renhe - Chinese Jia League 2018. Chinese Super League 2019, 2020. Asian Champions League 2020. Chinese FA Cup 2019. Chinese Super Cup 2020. Manager of the season 2018, 2019, 2020. Atlanta United - MLS Cup 2021. CONCACAF 2021. MLS coach of the year 2021. Bloemfontein Celtics - Telkom Knockout Cup 2023,2024,2025. ASBA Premiership-2024,2025. MTN8-2025. CAFCL-Bloemfontein 2025. Manager of the season 2024. Fluminense - Rio State Championships 2026, Copa Perdigao do Brazil 2026, Copa Libertadores 2026, FIFA Club World Cup 2026, Manager of the season 2026. Benfica - Primeira Liga 2028, Liga De Taca 2028, Supertaca 2028, Manager of the season 2028. Ajax Amsterdam - Eredivisie 2029, Dutch Cup 2029, Super Cup 2029. International Football. Senegal - AFCON-Senegal 2021. China - East Asian Cup 2025, AFC Asian Cup 2027. Spain - International League 2029. Edited March 28, 2018 by Lewis89 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted March 28, 2018 Author Share Posted March 28, 2018 It's fun where as my reputation increases, so does my ego and the level of jobs I think I deserve, so I stay at my little club waiting for a really big job to come up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 (edited) XaW - Ultimate Football Manager Challenge - 2022 With 3rd place and a cup win last season I hoped I could take the next step with Shenzhen this season and fighting for the top spot in China should see us fighting for the Asian CL as well. And when I managed to get in some very good players things were looking good for us. We also went out swinging and just kept on winning and got a rather big gap down to Guangzhou Evergrande and Tianjin Yili who were the closest ones. As the season went on, we kept on winning and in the end we won the title quite comfortably. We also won the Chinese FA cup again without much issue. In the Asian Champions League we got draw into a group stage with Suwon Bluewings of South Korea, Brisbane Roar of Australia and Chonburi of Thailand. We won all matches except the home match against Bluewings were we got FM'ed hard. In the 2nd round we knocked out Melbourne City of Australia and in the quarter final we got past fellow Chinese outfit Jiangsu Suning. Then we beat Jeonnam Dragons of South Korea before finally beating Iranians Teraktor-Sazi. Small rant here; Final over two legs? Madness! And to top it all, the second leg was played while all my best Chinese players were in international duty! Who in their right mind would schedule something like that. I've posted it as a possible bug, though having played in China, who knows... At least we managed to win the whole thing even though I had to play with a bunch of youths in the second leg. I think I'll leave China now, and head for Africa. I need that African CL, but I'll hold my eyes open for a team who might be able to win the Asian Cup of Nations, to scratch that of the list as well. Oh, and this Chinese striker have been amazing! 61 goals this season is simply amazing! Domestic Season Team Division Position Notes Challenge Landmarks 2017 Finnsnes IL PostNord-ligaen 1 1st Promoted as champions, got National C licence 2018 Finnsnes IL OBOS-ligaen 9th Mid-table, got National B and A licences 2019 Tromsø IL OBOS-ligaen 1st Promoted as champions 2020 Tromsø IL Eliteserien 1st Champions First league title 2021 Shenzhen Chinese Super League 3rd Cup winner, got Continental C and B licences First cup title 2022 Shenzhen Chinese Super League 1st Chapmions, Cup winner, ACL winner, got Continental A League title and ACL International Year Team Achievements 2021 Nigeria Won ACON Challenge Progress Club 2/10 top domestic leagues (Norway 2020, China 2022) 1/10 domestic cups (Chinese FA Cup 2021 and 2022) 1/5 club continental championships (Asia 2022) 0/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments (ACON - Nigeria 2021) 0/2 world tournaments Edited March 29, 2018 by XaW Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 (edited) XaW - Ultimate Football Manager Challenge - 2022/23 After resigning I were looking at South Africa and maybe a national side should a promising one be available. However, there were no suitable South African clubs available, so I just waited and hoped that someone would get the boot. The first team possible were Cape Town City, but they where in a financial mess and looking like they would be relegated from the top tier, so I didn't fancy joining them. After waiting a bit Supersports United became available and I applied for the job since they were an upper half club in a bit of a mess. However, before anything happened another club fired their manager and I applied. This is how I became the manager of Orlando Pirates. There were not much to do before the season ended, since I took over with 2 games left and a big gap both up and down. So the club finished 3rd much without my input. Domestic Season Team Division Position Notes Challenge Landmarks 2017 Finnsnes IL PostNord-ligaen 1 1st Promoted as champions, got National C licence 2018 Finnsnes IL OBOS-ligaen 9th Mid-table, got National B and A licences 2019 Tromsø IL OBOS-ligaen 1st Promoted as champions 2020 Tromsø IL Eliteserien 1st Champions First league title 2021 Shenzhen Chinese Super League 3rd Cup winner, got Continental C and B licences First cup title 2022 Shenzhen Chinese Super League 1st Chapmions, Cup winner, ACL winner, got Continental A League title and ACL 2022/23 Orlando Pirates ABSA Premiership 3rd Took over with 2 games left International Year Team Achievements 2021 Nigeria Won ACON Challenge Progress Club 2/10 top domestic leagues (Norway 2020, China 2022) 1/10 domestic cups (Chinese FA Cup 2021 and 2022) 1/5 club continental championships (Asia 2022) 0/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments (ACON - Nigeria 2021) 0/2 world tournaments Edited March 29, 2018 by XaW Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdevil Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 Well done in China @XaW and you've picked up a nice club in South Africa, they seem to be one of the bigger clubs there along with Kaizer Chiefs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 4 minutes ago, blackdevil said: Well done in China @XaW and you've picked up a nice club in South Africa, they seem to be one of the bigger clubs there along with Kaizer Chiefs. Thanks, I've never managed in China before, so a couple of the transfer and player rules took me by surprise, but it was still fun. Though, I really felt I had done all I wanted in China at the moment. I've actually managed in South Africa before, but never one of the big clubs. That's why I were thrilled when the Orlando Pirates job became available. Kaizer Chiefs have won the league two of the three last season, Bidvest Wits taking the last one. So I have a big of a job of taking back the title, but the club have a couple of really talented players, but a lot of them are also quite a bit old so I'm looking to revamp the club quite a bit in the summer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdevil Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 (edited) Looking at the history on my save it's been Orlando Pirates have been the dominant side winning 4 of he last 6 titles with me winning last season with Ajax and the other was won by Wits. Kaizer Chiefs have been close runners up the previous two seasons. I should finish my current season later today and then hopefully round off with the CAF Champions league at the beginning of next season. One annoying thing is that while I've been looking out for an international job I've seen some nice club jobs like psg become available but I've had to give them a miss as I don't want to end up having to come back to South Africa later when I can hopefully finish it off while I'm here. Edited March 29, 2018 by blackdevil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdevil Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 Ajax Cape Town ABSA Premiership 2024/2025 We started the season in stop start form loosing 2 games out of the first 5. One was in the semi final first leg of the MTN 8 Cup which we managed to turn around in the second leg and the second defeat came in our second league game against last season's runners up Kaizer Chiefs. After that it was fairly plain sailing in the league and other domestic minor cups and we won the league with 5 games to spare. In the early part of the season there was the conclusion of the CAF Confederation Cup which was started the previous season and in all seemed rarther easy as we cantered through the rounds without being troubled. We've started the CAF Champions League well progressing to the group stage and winning our opening three matches to put us in a good position for the start of next season. I hope I can keep most of my team together as last summer I lost my goalkeeper to a £1m bid from Man City and it looks like I'll loose my right midfielder this summer to Chelsea for £500k. I don't think either are good enough for those clubs thought and the goalkeeper has only made five appearances so far for Man City and I can't imagine my right midfielder being of any use to Chelsea. I've been keeping an eye out for another international job but nothing but the forever vacant African posts are available. And I've also been keeping an eye on the club jobs available and it's a bit frustrating that the African continental competitions carry over to the next season as the Atletico Madrid job is available. Challenge Progress: Club 3/10 top domestic leagues (CHI, BRA, RSA) 3/10 domestic cups (CHI, BRA, RSA) 2/5 club continental championships (ACL-Wuhan 2020, LIB-Sao Paulo 2022) 1/1 club world championship (Sao Paulo 2022) International 1/5 continental tournaments (MAR 2023) 0/2 world tournaments () Seasons: CLUB CAREER Leagues Cups Season NAT Club Division 1st 2nd 1st 2nd Cont. CWC Other & Notes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017 CHI Wuhan CNFD 5th Joined in 9th place after 13 games and out of cups 2018 CHI Whuan CNFD 1st Qtr Promoted as champions 2019 CHI Wuhan CSL 1st Win League & Cup double. 2020 CHI Wuhan CSL 1st Win Win Trebble Winners (+domestic super cup) 2021 BRA Sao Paulo Serie A 3rd Qtr Joined in 17th after 11 games. 2022 BRA Sao Paulo Serie A 1st Win Win Win Quadruple 2022/23 RSA Ajax CT RSA PL 7th n/a Win Nedbank Cup win 2023/24 RSA Ajax CT RSA PL 1st 2rnd Final League Champions 2024/25 RSA Ajax CT RSA PL 1st Semi Win Win CAF Confederation Cup, League Champions, MTN 8 Cup, Telkom Knockout Cup, CAF Super Cup INTERNATIONAL CAREER Rank Cups Year Nation FIFA NL World Cont. Conf. Other & Notes 2020 Serbia 21st 2021 Serbia 33rd Failed to Qualify for World Cup 2022 Morocco 15th Won African Nations Championship 2023 Morocco 18th Won African Cup of Nations 2024 2025 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 Man @XaW is really going to show me up by being at Orlando Pirates as well Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 9 hours ago, darren1983 said: Man @XaW is really going to show me up by being at Orlando Pirates as well Well, I'll try at least! Orlando Pirates does have a great squad, so I really cannot understand why they are not running away with the league. One issue though, they have way too many players with below average skills. I'm currently revamping the squad quite a bit and trying to get rid of all the old poorer players while bringing in some new talent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis89 Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 2029 Confederations Cup Group Stages. Spoiler Drawn in Group A alongside Italy, Mexico and Nigeria B? (surprised they could not send the first team), I knew Italy and Mexico could be tough games. First up was Mexico and we saw them off 3-1. Up next was Nigeria B, rested a few of the first 11 and we still beat them 4-0. Our last group game was Italy, always going to be the toughest game and we pulled off a 1-0 to seal top spot on maximum points. Final Group Standings Semi Final. Spoiler In the semi final we faced the mighty Brazil. The game proved to be as tight as it looked but we scraped through with a 1-0 win. Final. Spoiler In the final we faced my country of birth England. Having rejected me at the start of this season I had to show them they was wrong, and so it proved. As we pulled of our third successive 1-0 win to seal the crown. Aftermath. Spoiler With the 2030 World Cup next year, being held in Spain, I am certainly going to stay on for that at least. We have a brilliant squad, huge depth and will no doubt have a breakthrough star or 2 by this summers finals. If we do well there I will stay on for the Euros in 2032 as that's still on my to win list and as mentioned above, we have the squad to do well at both. On the club side of things I have left Ajax Amsterdam and have been appointed manager of Bayer Leverkusen. It was a choice between Marseille or Leverkusen and due to PSG's brute strength I decided on here. To my amazement I have learned they have never won a Bundesliga title? and that has continued on my save's history, its going to be tough to overthrow Germany's big 2 but after my last 3 jobs, I am looking forward to having more than one season at the same club, well that's if i last that long and don't fail horrendously. CLUB CAREER Leagues Cups Season Nation League Club 1st 2nd 1st 2nd Cont CWC Other Notes and Achievements -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018 CHI CJL Beijing Renhe 1st SF Appointed DEC 2017, Gained C & B License, Manager of the Season 2019 CHI CSL Beijing Renhe 1st WON Gained National A, CON C License, Manager of the season, Double Winners 2020 CHI CSL Beijing Renhe 1st R.U WON 3rd Gained CON B License, Manager of the year, CSL & ACL Winners, Resigned on 22/12/2020 2021 USA MLS Atlanta United 3rd WON RD4 WON 3rd Gained CON A License, MLS CUP and NACL Winners, Coach of the year. 2022 USA MLS Atlanta United R.U Gained Pro License, Lost in NACL FINAL, Resigned on 25/05/22. 2022/23 RSA ABSA Bloemfontein 6th R2 WON Appointed on 31/07/22, Won Telekom Knockout Cup. 2023/24 RSA ABSA Bloemfontein 1st SF WON Double Winners. League and Telekom Knockout Cup. 2024/25 RSA ABSA Bloemfontein 1st SF WON Treble winners. League, MTN8 and Telekom Cup. Still in AFC Champs League Group Stage 2025/26 RSA ABSA Bloemfontein WON 5th Won CAF Champions League, Lost in CWC QF's. Resigned on 24/12/2025 2026 BRA SERIE A Fluminense 2nd WON WON WON Appointed on 26/03/2026. Quad Winners. State Champs, FA Cup, Copa Libertadores and CWC. Manager of the season. Resigned on 21/12/2026. 2027/28 POR Primeira Benfica 1st R5 WON L16 Appointed on 15/07/2027. Double Winners Primiera Liga and Liga De Taca. Manager of the Season. Resigned on 27/05/2028 2028/29 HOL Eredivisie Ajax 1st WON QF Appointed on 23/06/2028. Treble Winners Eredivisie, Dutch Cup and Super Cup. Left on 05/07/2029 INTERNATIONAL CAREER Competitions Season Nation World Cup Confed Cup Euro Cup Asian Cup Afcon Gold Cup Copa A Other Notes and Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2021/22 SENEGAL WON Appointed on 21/03/2021, Qualified for World Cup, ranked 13th. 2022/23 Senegal Group Stage Resigned on 25/06/2022, ranked 15th 2023/24 China Appointed on 02/07/2023, Qualified for Asian Games, Ranked 54th. 2024/25 China Qualified for East Asian Games. Ranked 46th 2025/26 China 2nd Round Won East Asian Cup. Ranked 45th. 2026/27 China WON Won AFC Asian Cup. Ranked 42nd. Resigned on 07/02/2027 2028/29 Spain WON Appointed on 16/07/2028. Won Confederations Cup. CHALLENGE PROGRESS CLUB 5/10 Top Domestic Leagues CSL-Beijing Renhe 2019. MLS-Atlanta 2021. ASBA-Bloemfontein 2024. POR-Benfica 2028. HOL- Ajax 2029. 5/10 Domestic Cups CFA-Beijing Renhe 2019. RSAKO-Bloemfontein 2023. BFA-Fluminense 2026. POR-Benfica 2028. HOL- Ajax 2029. 4/5 Club Continental Championships Asia-Beijing Renhe 2020. CONCACAF-Atlanta 2021. CAFCL-Bloemfontein 2025. COPA LIB-Fluminense 2026. 1/1 Club World Cups Fluminense 2026 International 2/5 Continental Tournaments AFCON-Senegal 2021. Asian Cup-China 2027. 1/2 World Tournaments Confederations Cup-Spain 2029. Total Challenge Progress 18/33 All Achievements Club Football. Beijing Renhe - Chinese Jia League 2018. Chinese Super League 2019, 2020. Asian Champions League 2020. Chinese FA Cup 2019. Chinese Super Cup 2020. Manager of the season 2018, 2019, 2020. Atlanta United - MLS Cup 2021. CONCACAF 2021. MLS coach of the year 2021. Bloemfontein Celtics - Telkom Knockout Cup 2023,2024,2025. ASBA Premiership-2024,2025. MTN8-2025. CAFCL-Bloemfontein 2025. Manager of the season 2024. Fluminense - Rio State Championships 2026, Copa Perdigao do Brazil 2026, Copa Libertadores 2026, FIFA Club World Cup 2026, Manager of the season 2026. Benfica - Primeira Liga 2028, Liga De Taca 2028, Supertaca 2028, Manager of the season 2028. Ajax Amsterdam - Eredivisie 2029, Dutch Cup 2029, Super Cup 2029. International Football. Senegal - AFCON-Senegal 2021. China - East Asian Cup 2025. AFC Asian Cup 2027. Spain - International League 2029, Confederations Cup 2029. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 2 hours ago, XaW said: Well, I'll try at least! Orlando Pirates does have a great squad, so I really cannot understand why they are not running away with the league. One issue though, they have way too many players with below average skills. I'm currently revamping the squad quite a bit and trying to get rid of all the old poorer players while bringing in some new talent. Yeah I think there's where I went a bit wrong, I was a bit conservative in my squad building in the summer, mainly because we were in the CAF Confederations Cup and I didn't want to lose too many players that were registered for it as new signings wouldn't be. As a result we had a slow start to the season, now in 2nd half I've really been able to strengthen the squad we're flying but it's come too late to push for the title I think, hopefully enough to finish 2nd though and get in the Champions League. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 6 hours ago, darren1983 said: Yeah I think there's where I went a bit wrong, I was a bit conservative in my squad building in the summer, mainly because we were in the CAF Confederations Cup and I didn't want to lose too many players that were registered for it as new signings wouldn't be. As a result we had a slow start to the season, now in 2nd half I've really been able to strengthen the squad we're flying but it's come too late to push for the title I think, hopefully enough to finish 2nd though and get in the Champions League. I might have overdone it though... In addition to this more than 10 players left when their contract expired. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdevil Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 (edited) Ajax Cape Town ABSA Premiership 2025/2026 The Champions League quarter-final saw us face Zamalek and our unconvincing league form continued as we struggled to 1-0 and 2-0 wins to setup a semi-final tie with Asante Kotoko. Away in the first leg with we threw away a one goal lead to loose 2-1. We struggled again in the home leg and managed to scrape a 1-0 thanks to a first half penalty and see us through to the final on away goals. The final was against ES Tunis and again away in the first leg we struggled to get any momentum and lost 3-2. The home leg saw us benefit from another first half penalty and we managed to keep them pegged back and went on to win comfortably 3-0 and win the Champions League 5-3 on aggregate. The start to the season was sloppy as crashed out of the MTN 8 Cup in the semi-final to Maritzburg Utd. The league form whilst continuing the winning ways was less convincing than last season as my focus had waned with just the Champions League on my check list. However I leave them currently in 1st place after seven league games, level on points with 2nd placed Wits with a game in hand. They're also in a good place with a young squad with good potential and a healthy financial state with £7.7m in the bank. Internationally I've taken over the South Korea post with an eye on the Asian Cup in 2027. Challenge Progress: Club 3/10 top domestic leagues (CHI, BRA, RSA) 3/10 domestic cups (CHI, BRA, RSA) 3/5 club continental championships (ACL-Wuhan 2020, LIB-Sao Paulo 2022, CAFCL-Ajax CT 2025) 1/1 club world championship (Sao Paulo 2022) International 1/5 continental tournaments (MAR 2023) 0/2 world tournaments () Seasons: CLUB CAREER Leagues Cups Season NAT Club Division 1st 2nd 1st 2nd Cont. CWC Other & Notes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017 CHI Wuhan CNFD 5th Joined in 9th place after 13 games and out of cups 2018 CHI Whuan CNFD 1st Qtr Promoted as champions 2019 CHI Wuhan CSL 1st Win League & Cup double. 2020 CHI Wuhan CSL 1st Win Win Trebble Winners (+domestic super cup) 2021 BRA Sao Paulo Serie A 3rd Qtr Joined in 17th after 11 games. 2022 BRA Sao Paulo Serie A 1st Win Win Win Quadruple 2022/23 RSA Ajax CT RSA PL 7th n/a Win Nedbank Cup win 2023/24 RSA Ajax CT RSA PL 1st 2rnd Final League Champions 2024/25 RSA Ajax CT RSA PL 1st Semi Win Win CAF Confederation Cup, League Champions, MTN 8 Cup, Telkom Knockout Cup, CAF Super Cup 2025/26 RSA Ajax CT RSA PL 1st* Win CAF Champions League, *resigned after 7 league games in 1st place and a game in hand. INTERNATIONAL CAREER Rank Cups Year Nation FIFA NL World Cont. Conf. Other & Notes 2020 Serbia 21st 2021 Serbia 33rd Failed to Qualify for World Cup 2022 Morocco 15th Won African Nations Championship 2023 Morocco 18th Won African Cup of Nations 2024 2025 South Korea 50th Won Eas Asian Cup -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Edited April 2, 2018 by blackdevil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny_H22 Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 Danny_H22 2020 Season Review After a successful 2 years at Glenavon, I decided it was best to step down and give the new guy the chance to build his own team prior to the start of the next season. I had left them in a great position so I am sure the future will be bright for them. I didn’t remain unemployed for long as reigning Irish Premier League champions Cork City came calling and I jumped at what should be a relatively easy chance. I inherited a squad that lacked depth but that could definitely challenge for a top 3 finish, unfortunately I forgot to check their financial situation prior to accepting my contract and discovered they were over a million pounds in debt, which would make improving the squad difficult. 2 solid loan signings and a series of frees were enough to set us up for the long season ahead of us Irish Premier Division- We weren’t favorurites to win the league, but we were expected to finish in the top 3 so we stood a chance. 29 games later, we proved the doubters wrong and lifted the trophy with 7 games to spare. St. Pats and Shamrock challenged us for a while, but in the end we won the league by 27 points and broke all the records going. We remained unbeaten all season (31 wins, 5 draws), scored 81 goals and only conceded 19. An outstanding league season Irish League Cup- Three easy victories over Cobh Ramblers, UCD and Longford set up a final against Shamrock Rovers. We dominated the match, but could only manage a draw at full time. Eventually it was settled on penalties and despite slotting away the first four, Shamrock came back from an early miss to lift the League Cup. The match came at a terrible time for us as we were playing a match every other day due to being in so many competitions. We really didn’t have the legs to go longer than 90 minutes, but we did ourselves proud. 60% possession and 31 shots in our favour – but our forwards just couldn’t find the net frequently enough Irish Senior Challenge Cup- Easy wins over UCD and St. Pat’s Athletic set up what should have been an easy match against Galway Utd. Unfortunately, we somehow slipped up, only managing a 1-1 at home. This meant that we had to play another match at a time where matches were coming thick and fast. We played Galway at theirs two days after losing to Shamrock in the League Cup final and the guys were just too tired to keep up their usual pace for 90 minutes, resulting in a rare 1-0 loss Irish Munster Senior Cup- 3 games, 9 goals for and 0 goals against saw us add an easy cup to the cabinet Irish President’s Cup- Our first chance to add to the trophy cabinet saw us lock horns with Derry City. The match was pretty routine, seeing us going 4-0 up before they scored two late consolation goals. Trophy number one in the bag European Champions Cup- Naturally, we weren’t expected to do much of anything in this competition, but a nice draw against Kairat of Kazakhstan at least gave us a chance of progressing a round. And progress we did, as we beat them 3-0 over the two legs. This was followed up by a 6-3 victory over Qarabag before losing to Basel on away goals in the third qualifying round. A fantastic run, if I do say so myself EURO Cup- Falling so late in the Champions League qualifiers granted us a second stab at European football and we grabbed that with both hands by storming past Rosenborg 3-2 over both games. This impressive victory was followed up by a tough group stage involving Konyaspor, Gent and Leverkusen. 3 wins (Gent & Konyaspor x2) and 3 losses was enough for us to get out of the group stages where a tie against FC Midtjylland awaited us. Sadly, due to the fact that the Northern Irish league is played at an unusual time of the year, it is unlikely that I will be able to play this group as I am looking to move on Top Goalscorer- Graham Cummins. The defensive forward finished the year on 41 goals Most Assists- Shane Griffin. 19 assists from the wing back Highest Avg. Rating- Graham Cummins. No surprise that my top scorer finished with a 7.31 Most POTM- Graham Cummins with 9 International- After winning the Gold Cup, our next focus was on qualifying for the World Cup, which we are currently on track to do. I also had a stab at the Olympic games but sadly lost to Argentina in the quarter finals. I will stick around in the States until a new opportunity arises Next Season Plan- Winning the league with Cork was my number one priority, but I am very disappointed that we couldn’t also win one of the top cups. However, it would be silly for me to spend another year here just to chase that goal so I am likely to hand in my notice in the next couple weeks. It is a shame that I might not get to see out our current European run which has been quite impressive Season Team Position Continental Notes and Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017/18 Glenavon 5th - Took over in February. Won Northern Irish Cup 2018/19 Glenavon 1st First Qual. Round Manager of the Year. Won Northern Irish Cup, League Cup, Mid Ulster Cup & Charity Shield 2020 Cork City 1st First KO Round (ongoing) Won Irish Presidents Cup Challenge Progress Club 2/10 top domestic leagues - Danske Bank Premiership (Glenavon 2019) Irish Premier Division (Cork City 2020) 1/10 domestic cups - Northern Irish Cup (Glenavon 2018) 0/5 club continental championships 0/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments - Gold Cup (USA 2019) 0/2 world tournaments International: Season Team Notes and Achievements ---------------------------------------------------------- 2017/18 Australia U23s U23s Asian Nations Cup 2018/19 USA Won Gold Cup 2020 USA Lost in Olympic Games QF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny_H22 Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 Just loaded up the Brazilian league and I have never managed there before. Anyone have any tips should I decide to head down there? How does the league system work? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skogmus Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 (edited) 2025 – Shijiazhuang Yongchang Manager Profile – Fixtures 1 – Fixtures 2 – Fixtures 3Transfers – Competitions – Player Stats A new season completed , and we finally we can make something happen here. Up one spot in the league from the two previous seasons, but Guangzhou was impossible to deal with this year. Think we had a good grip on them despite losing twice to them in the FA cup, but from the 6(!) matches we met this year I think I got the better deal. Should be possible to win the league title with this team, but I don't think I'll spend any more time here now. Looking at what we did last year and how the games in the league went from the start, I wouldn't dream of such a great achievement in the Champions League. We got a tough group, only barely finishing above Australian champions Perth Glory. From there we just fought ourself all the way to the finals, after an intense string of games. But when we finally got to the finals there was really no question, the title was ours! Thanks to this I got to play the Club World Cup. Not at all happy on how we played defensively, but I think we showed great offensive quality throughout the tournament. The highlight must be the thrilling 3-7 game against AS Monaco. CLUB MANAGEMENT Season Team League Position Domestic Cups Continental Cup Notes 2017/18 Hong Kong Rangers Hong Kong Premier League 6th 1st/1st/2nd/Qtr. final N/A National C-license, 2 domestic cups 2018 Geylang International Singaporean League 6th 1st/3rd N/A Took over 7th with 8 games to go, 1 domestic cup 2019 Geylang International Singaporean League 1st 1st/2nd N/A National B-license, 1 domestic cup 2020 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Unemployed 2021 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A No club job 2022 Shijiazhuang Yongchang Chinese Super League 10th 3rd round N/A Continental C-license, expected last in league, 3rd best in 2nd half of the season 2023 Shijiazhuang Yongchang Chinese Super League 3rd 4th round N/A Continental B-license, expected last in league, qualified for ACL 2024 Shijiazhuang Yongchang Chinese Super League 3rd 4th round Qtr. Final Continental A-license, qualified for ACL 2025 Shijiazhuang Yongchang Chinese Super League 2nd 2nd 1st 4th in CWC, won Chinese Super League Fair Play award INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT Season Nation FIFA Ranking Continental Tournament World Tournament Notes 2020 Iraq 66th N/A N/A Took over just before new year, no games 2021 Iraq 74th N/A N/A Resigned when I didn't qualify to WC, fell 8 places on FIFA ranking during my stay 2022 New Zealand 85th N/A N/A Played well in friendlies, 9 places up on FIFA ranking, starting to figure out how this works.. 2023 Mexico 26th 1st N/A Won Gold Cup, went up 2 places on FIFA ranking before I resigned Challenge ProgressClub 1/10 top domestic leagues (Geylang International, SIN;) 2/10 domestic cups (HK Rangers, HKG; Geylang, SIN;) 1/5 club continental championships (Shijiazhuang Yongchang, CHN;) 0/1 club world championship () International 1/5 continental tournaments (Gold Cup, MEX; ) 0/2 world tournaments () Edited March 30, 2018 by Skogmus Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis89 Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 21 minutes ago, Danny_H22 said: Just loaded up the Brazilian league and I have never managed there before. Anyone have any tips should I decide to head down there? How does the league system work? The set up is pretty straight forward, 5 foreign players allowed. Only difference is youll play around 80 games in a calender year. The amount of talent around means plenty of choices transfer wise. Good luck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdevil Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 (edited) 52 minutes ago, Danny_H22 said: Just loaded up the Brazilian league and I have never managed there before. Anyone have any tips should I decide to head down there? How does the league system work? It's fairly straightforward in Brazil. There is a regional league in the early part of the year followed by the Serie A. The regional leagues are all different however so some variety there. *edt* It's also worth noting that most of the regional leagues are of a low standard so you can give the youngsters game time to aid their development. Edited March 30, 2018 by blackdevil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 Season 3 Review - Orlando Pirates and Egypt League - On paper a decent season, after the club finished 8th and 22 points the champions last season, a move to 4th and just 6 points is certainly progress. I can't help but feel frustrated though, as a slow start while they team got used my tactics and I struggled to find my best 11 meant we were always chasing, however a superb 18 match unbeaten run in the middle of the season had us just 4 points off the top with 8 games to go. Our next 5 games would shape the season as we faced Supersport (5th) & Maritzburg (6th) at home before Kaizer Chiefs (1st), Wilts (2nd) and Ajax (3rd) we beat Maritzburg and Ajax but lost to Supersport, Chiefs and Wilts and the title (as well as top 2) was gone. Cups - On the plus side we won a treble, on the down side none of the cups we won count for the challenge! Won the CAF Confederations Cup (as you can see we're in it again and still pretty dominant) as a result we were in the CAF Super Cup and won that over Sundowns, domestically we won the MTN8 Cup but fell in the Telkom Cup and the Nedbank cup. Also lost the season opener the Black Label Cup to Chiefs. While the cups wins don't count they did boost my reputation (along with finally getting some coaching badges) up to 30% Transfers - In the summer I was a little reluctant to make major moves while the squad didn't really know who I was I felt I needed to keep players that could play in the CAF Confed Cup. In Jan though I brought in 4 players who all became part of the first 11 as well as a couple of youngsters. Finances - They're fine really. International After the cup of Nations in the summer I applied for Egypt and Cameroon, both offered the job but Egypt won out. It's ageing squad but think there's enough about them to try win the Cup of Nations nest summer. We did win the African Nations Championship in January but once again this is a trophy I've won that doesn't count In total we played 19 games this season and only lost twice (1-0 to USA and a loss in the last friendly 2-0 away to Iran) otherwise we've been great. Looks good for next summer. Career Overview Season Team Country Position Notes & Achievements 2017/18 Ubuntu Cape Town South Africa 1st Promotion 2018/19 Ubuntu Cape Town South Africa 7th 2019/20 Orlando Pirates South Africa 4th Won, CAF Confederations Cup, CAF Super Cup & MTN8 cup International Year Country Notes & Achievements 2017 Australia U23 Asian U23 Champions 2019 China Asian Cup Winners 2019/20 Egypt African Nations Championship Winners Challenge Progress Club 0/10 top domestic leagues (Insert nations) 0/10 domestic cups () 0/5 club continental championships () 0/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments (Asian Cup Winners 2019 - China) 0/2 world tournaments () Next season Have to push for top 2 at least. I'm already here for at least another 2.5 seasons as it is and anything other than qualification to the champions league will add another 1.5 seasons on at least. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skogmus Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 (edited) Got myself a new job now, away from Asia. Had a couple of unsuccessful interviews at higher rated clubs before landing the one I got, but when Bahia (Esporte Clube Bahia) offered the job I accepted. Before leaving Shijiazhuang Yongchang I managed to do this, which I feel is a great result to leave on. Not sure if it counts on the domestic cup progress, but I'm delighted to give them a trophy in my last match. Now to Brazil where new challenges awaits! Edited March 31, 2018 by Skogmus Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted April 1, 2018 Author Share Posted April 1, 2018 (edited) Vikeologist's 2019 Shanghai Shenxin and Norway and Ghana Season Report Frankly a fairly boring domestic season. I guess there’s lots of minutiae that’s interesting to me, but probably all you would want or need to know is that we finished in mid-table (thanks to a late season slump), and I picked up some qualifications and a rep increase to 40%. Chongqing managed to finish the season with a perfect 30 league losses, 31 if you include their cup exit to a lower league team. Sucks to be them. I’m on the lookout for another job. Actually the last match of the season was a bit interesting, because if we’d beaten China Fortune, they’d almost certainly have sacked their manager, (and I may well have applied for the job), but they equalised thanks to a late penalty. I’ve also loaded up South Africa in case a top 3 club job (Pirates, Sundowns, Chiefs) comes up there. Shenxin should be better next season, but I'm hoping that, even if Pellegrini holds on at China Fortune, the Evergrande job will open up. Top Goalscorer – André Senghor – 22 This was actually quite a good tally by the old geezer I signed last season who was injured for all but 1.04 matches. He only played 23 matches. Senghor is going to be 34 by the start of the new season, so in the summer I bought a new, younger and supposedly better striker, Leke James, who was mostly useless or injured for the 6 matches he played in, only picking up 3 goals. Top Average Rating – André Senghor 7.62 Man of the Match – Marco Pappa – 8 A winger, so he picked up as many assists as goals. MVP – Marco Pappa (when he can be bothered). Anyway, I don't have any candidates for my Challenge XI yet. Internationally, I’m afraid I left Norway after 4 competitive matches. The European Championship group is crazy with 5 nations fighting for the 2 qualifying spaces. After 2 wins (against Switzerland and Moldova) and 2 losses (Denmark and Israel), I figured the other teams couldn’t all be really good, so we were probably really bad, and even if we qualified, I wasn’t going to be able to achieve anything there. However, after I left they picked up 16 points from their remaining 6 matches and topped the group, so clearly the problem was me, not them. So after the African Cup I applied for and took the job at Ghana. As some of you may remember, I am on an incredible run of failure (stretching over multiple Ultimate saves) in the African Cup. I’ve not managed to win it in my last 8 attempts. My last 2 attempts in FM17 I lost in the final, the most recent one 8-7 on penalties. I think @Fadedaf lost 9 in a row, so in 2 years I’ll either equal his record or break the hex. If I get that far. Our only competitive matches were a World Cup playoff against Madagascar. We got past them 6-3 on aggregate, but believe me, it wasn’t good. I think my tactics are a bit too simple. I was trying simple tactics internationally, so they could pick them up sooner, but I might have to make it a bit more sophisticated. We’re in a final qualifying group with DR Congo and South Africa, who though they’re currently ranked very lowly, are traditionally top nations, so if I don’t start doing better internationally, I’m in trouble. Updates - Weirdly, I've been drawn with DR Congo and South Africa in the CHAN as well. Also more importantly, Hebei China Fortune did indeed sack Pellegrini, and very sensibly have offered me the job. For a pittance of a wage incidentally, but I guess that doesn't matter. China Fortune by name, China Fortune by nature. Ka-ching! Further update because even though it's just a game, and not real money, I just can't let it go - Pellegrini was on 135k a week. Their opening offer to me was 1.7! Domestic Season Team Position Notes Challenge Landmarks 2017 Shanghai Shenxin (China) 9th Took over with 5 matches left, and didn't win any of them. 2018 Shanghai Shenxin 2nd Promoted 2019 Shanghai Shenxin 9th International Year Team Achievements 2018 China U23 Won Asian Games. 2019 Norway Left after 4 matches of Euro Qualifying. 2019- Ghana Challenge Progress Club 0/10 top domestic leagues 0/10 domestic cups 0/5 club continental championships 0/1 club world championship International 0/5 continental tournaments 0/2 world tournaments Edited April 1, 2018 by vikeologist Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted April 1, 2018 Share Posted April 1, 2018 (edited) XaW - Ultimate Football Manager Challenge - 2023/24 When I looked at my team during the offseason, I noticed that the previous manager seems to have hoarded below average players for some reason. So my main goal for the summer were to get rid of as many as possible. I sold a whole bunch, but most went out on loan to at least get rid of some wages. I also got in some much needed quality in the defense and midfield. When the season started we should be the best team in the league and it showed. We ran away, with only Kaizer Chiefs being somewhat close to us. In the end we won the whole thing without much problems. I can actually see myself staying here for a few more years, the team is doing great and hopefully we can fight in the continental competitions as well. I have loaded in the American leagues, both south and north, but I won't go there until I'm done in Africa. We also made a clean sweep of the domestic cups this season as we won "Be the coach", MTN8, Telkom Knockout and Nedbank Cup. I'm not sure which of these count towards the challenge, but I guess it's Nedbank so I'll add that to the summary below, let me know if this is incorrect, @vikeologist. We are also still in the CAF Confederation Cup (The Europa League of Africa I assume), but it seems to go into next season. I'm in the group stage, and looking likely to progress. Domestic Season Team Division Position Notes Challenge Landmarks 2017 Finnsnes IL PostNord-ligaen 1 1st Promoted as champions, got National C licence 2018 Finnsnes IL OBOS-ligaen 9th Mid-table, got National B and A licences 2019 Tromsø IL OBOS-ligaen 1st Promoted as champions 2020 Tromsø IL Eliteserien 1st Champions First league title 2021 Shenzhen Chinese Super League 3rd Cup winner, got Continental C and B licences First cup title 2022 Shenzhen Chinese Super League 1st Chapmions, Cup winner, ACL winner, got Continental A League title and ACL 2022/23 Orlando Pirates ABSA Premiership 3rd Took over with 2 games left 2023/24 Orlando Pirates ABSA Premiership 1st Domestic clean sweep, got Continental Pro licence League title and cup winner International Year Team Achievements 2021 Nigeria Won ACON Challenge Progress Club 3/10 top domestic leagues (Norway 2020, China 2022, South Africa 2023/24) 2/10 domestic cups (Chinese FA Cup 2021 and 2022, South Africa 2023/24) 1/5 club continental championships (Asia 2022) 0/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments (ACON - Nigeria 2021) 0/2 world tournaments Edited April 1, 2018 by XaW Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted April 1, 2018 Share Posted April 1, 2018 13 hours ago, vikeologist said: Internationally, I’m afraid I left Norway after 4 competitive matches. The European Championship group is crazy with 5 nations fighting for the 2 qualifying spaces. After 2 wins (against Switzerland and Moldova) and 2 losses (Denmark and Israel), I figured the other teams couldn’t all be really good, so we were probably really bad, and even if we qualified, I wasn’t going to be able to achieve anything there. However, after I left they picked up 16 points from their remaining 6 matches and topped the group, so clearly the problem was me, not them. Leaving Norway.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdevil Posted April 1, 2018 Share Posted April 1, 2018 The rule on the cups from the first page is: Domestic Cups from 10 separate nations required (where top level teams can enter) So the Nedbank Cup counts as I presume do one or two of the others. I think The Nedbank Cup is the equivalent of The FA Cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted April 1, 2018 Share Posted April 1, 2018 5 minutes ago, blackdevil said: The rule on the cups from the first page is: Domestic Cups from 10 separate nations required (where top level teams can enter) So the Nedbank Cup counts as I presume do one or two of the others. I think The Nedbank Cup is the equivalent of The FA Cup. Yeah, that was my reasoning as well, so I'll keep it like that unless the big boss says otherwise. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted April 1, 2018 Share Posted April 1, 2018 No pressure eh? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
numero uno gunner Posted April 1, 2018 Share Posted April 1, 2018 Season 2034/35 Juventus and South Korea And so I returned to the Old Lady. In my first challenge, I ended up at Juventus for a while. This time around, I genuinely thought I'd try to manage different clubs as much as possible. This is now the second club I managed last time (Dungannon Swifts being the other), but it wasn't for want of trying. I applied to a few others, but only Juventus wanted me. Its been a strange season, really. My tactics normally see me scoring lots of goals, but defences not exactly being watertight, shall we say. That seemed to shift a little at West Ham, but at Juve its been incredible. We won the league at a canter, Roma being our closest rivals, but they finished 9 points adrift of us. We were phenomenal at both ends. Top scorers in the league with 74 is pretty good, but only conceding 18 along the way is fantastic (and 7 of those came in the last 6 games when the league had practically already been won). We had 27 clean sheets in the league, which has to be a first for me. We added the Italian Cup to our league title as well, with Quique Caamano netting the winner in a typical 1-0 final win over Palermo in the final. He was actually responsible for sending us to the final as well, scoring the goal which sent us through 4-3 on aggregate against AC Milan. However, it hadn't exactly been plain sailing up until that point, as we needed extra time to see off both Udinese and Fiorentina in the preceding rounds. Still, a domestic double is an excellent return for my first season in Turin! In terms of stand out players, its really difficult this season. Samuel Albersdorfer, our keeper, has to be mentioned, with 24 clean sheets in the league. However, the defence in front of him also deserve massive credit. All 8 defenders in my squad averaged over 7 for the season, and my four centre backs all averaged over 7.3. Hichem Yousfi was probably the best of an excellent bunch, with the centre back averaging 7.44. His main partner was Baba Taiwah, and both of them have made a strong case for inclusion in my all-time challenge XI. Quique Caamano also has to be discussed, with 33 goals in 35 appearances this season. An utterly clinical striker, and much needed, as no one else in the squad even got to double figures in terms of goals. As long-time readers will be aware, I've spent almost four years with South Korea, building up to taking them to this tournament. A group consisting of Singapore, Yemen and Qatar was easily navigated, as was the tie in the last 16 against Hong Kong, with a 5-0 win. Jordan were dispatched by the same scoreline in the quarter final to set up a semi final against holders Iran. A thoroughly professional job saw us take a 3-0 lead, and whilst they managed to pull one back, we were never in danger and went on to the final to face Saudi Arabia, who had somehow overcome Australia 2-0 in the other semi, after being smashed 6-1 in the group stages by the Aussies. Go figure. We took the lead in the final from a set piece, centre back Yool Young-Yul nodding home. Whilst we failed to add to our lead, we were in complete control until left back Shin Kyung-Il got a straight red, turning the tide of the game. The inevitable equaliser came 8 minutes from time, and it looked as if we were going into extra time. However, star striker Bang Hyun-Jin had other ideas, as he smashed in to finish off a quick counter attack, and finish off Saudi Arabia in the process. Its been a long four years, but for South Korea this was a first Asian Cup of Nations win since 1960, so I shouldn't moan too much! What's next? Well, internationally its time to say goodbye to South Korea, and look for a new challenge. It needs to be either a South American or European nation next. With the Copa America currently going on this summer, I'm hoping for some managerial casualties to give me some opportunities to move on. Domestically, I'm in a bit of a quandary. I think I'm probably only a couple of players short of being able to win the Champions League with Juventus, and the board have handed me £70m to spend. However, in a perfect world one of the top jobs in Spain, France or Germany would come up just now. The Barcelona job did, but I was turned down. If something comes up, I think I'll go, otherwise I'll be tinkering with the squad and going hell for leather for European glory. Club Season Team Position Notes and Achievements 2016/17 Dungannon 9th Irish Cup winners, Mid-Ulster Cup winners 2018 Sligo Rovers 1st League winners! 2019 Tianjin 1st League winners! 2020 Tianjin 8th FA Cup winners! Champions League winners! 2021 Montreal 4th League (MLS Cup) winners! 2022 Montreal 1st Won MLS Supporters' Shield, currently in last 8 of NACL 2023 Montreal N/A NACL winners! 2023 Palmeiras 9th Brazilian Cup winners! 2024/25 Ajax 1st League winners! 2025/26 Unemployed 2026/27 Orlando Pirates 8th Took over with 10 games to go. 2027/28 Orlando Pirates 4th SA Knockout Cup winners! 2028/29 Orlando Pirates 2nd SA FA Cup winners! 2029/30 Orlando Pirates 1st League Winners! SA FA Cup winners! 2030 Orlando Pirates 1st Champions League winners! 2031 Unemployed 2031/32 Stoke 17th Left after two months five points clear of the drop zone 2031/32 West Ham 9th FA Cup winners! 2032/33 West Ham 5th Europa League winners! 2033/34 West Ham 1st League winners! 2034/35 Juventus 1st League winners! FA Cup winners! Country 2021 Ivory Coast Qualified for the World Cup 2022 Ivory Coast World Cup quarter finalists. Quarter finalists in CHAN. Qualified for African Cup of Nations 2023 Ivory Coast African Cup of Nations winners! 2024 Unemployed 2025 USA Qualified for World Cup 2026 USA Lost in World Cup Semi Final (finished 3rd). Upto 5th in the world 2027 USA North American Gold Cup winners! 2028 USA World Cup qualification is going well 2029 USA Lost in Confederations Cup Semi Final (finished 4th) 2030 Unemployed 2031 South Korea East Asia Cup winners! 2032 South Korea Qualification for the World Cup is going well 2033 South Korea Qualification for the World Cup is going well 2034 South Korea Knocked out of the group stage of the World Cup 2035 South Korea Asian Cup of Nations winners! Challenge Progress Club 7/10 top domestic leagues - Republic of Ireland (Sligo), China (Tianjin), USA (Montreal), Netherlands (Ajax), South Africa (Orlando Pirates), England (West Ham), Italy (Juventus) 6/10 domestic cups - Northern Ireland (Dungannon), China (Tianjin), Brazil (Palmeiras), South Africa (Orlando Pirates), England (West Ham), Italy (Juventus) 4/5 club continental championships - Asian Champions League (Tianjin), NACL (Montreal Impact), African Champions League (Orlando Pirates), Europa League (West Ham) 0/1 club world championship - International 3/5 continental tournaments - African Cup of Nations (Ivory Coast 2023), North American Gold Cup (USA 2027), Asian Cup of Nations (South Korea 2035) 0/2 world tournaments - Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted April 1, 2018 Author Share Posted April 1, 2018 4 hours ago, XaW said: Yeah, that was my reasoning as well, so I'll keep it like that unless the big boss says otherwise. From what you've said, either the Nedbank or Telcom Knockout can count. Interesting fact, or from everybody else's point of view, a fact. When this challenge started up originally, the guy who started it, came up with the original rules, but then quickly abandoned it, and some of the rules were open to interpretation, such as whether it had to be 10 cups from 10 different nations. So we spent a year analysing the original post like it was scripture trying to discern what 'God' had intended. Then I started a new thread, and now I'm God, so happy ending. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted April 2, 2018 Share Posted April 2, 2018 15 hours ago, vikeologist said: From what you've said, either the Nedbank or Telcom Knockout can count. Interesting fact, or from everybody else's point of view, a fact. When this challenge started up originally, the guy who started it, came up with the original rules, but then quickly abandoned it, and some of the rules were open to interpretation, such as whether it had to be 10 cups from 10 different nations. So we spent a year analysing the original post like it was scripture trying to discern what 'God' had intended. Then I started a new thread, and now I'm God, so happy ending. Great, good to have the almighty confirm our beliefs! You better stay here and clear out any and all misunderstandings and such, unless we have to dig up all your old posts and do the same! In other news, I think I'm looking good for another league title.... I'm the PSG of South Africa... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted April 2, 2018 Author Share Posted April 2, 2018 1 minute ago, XaW said: ... I'm the PSG of South Africa... My new team, China fortune, were the PSG of China, and indeed all of Asia, until last season. Now they're the OAPs of China. Our new club nickname is the Terracotta Army. I swear I saw some of these guys on the training ground yesterday. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted April 2, 2018 Share Posted April 2, 2018 Just now, vikeologist said: My new team, China fortune, were the PSG of China, and indeed all of Asia, until last season. Now they're the OAPs of China. Our new club nickname is the Terracotta Army. I swear I saw some of these guys on the training ground yesterday. Haha, well, I just another evidence... Playing against amateur teams in the CL qualification is plain stupid... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted April 2, 2018 Share Posted April 2, 2018 XaW - Ultimate Football Manager Challenge - 2024/25 After we had a quite remarkable season last year, I expected us to continue the trend this season and we really delivered. I managed to get rid of just about the last of the dead weights, and I tried to get in a couple of better players before the season started. When it started we went off with a bang. We won the first 17 matches and pretty much had the league title in a bag at the half way. In the end we won it, but not flawless as we drew and lost 1 match each. In the domestic cups we won "Be the coach", MTN 8 and Telkom Knockout. We lost the final in the Nedbank cup to Bidvest Wits to stop us from another clean sweep. In the continenal cups we first of all continued on our journey in the CAF Confederation Cup were we got past 3 qualifying round were we beat Police XI of Botswana, fellow South Africans Uthukela FC and Power Dynamos of Zambia. Then we got past the group stage ahead of TP Mazembe of DR Congo, AS Tanda of Ivory Coast and Enyimba of Nigeria. In the knockout rounds we beat Ismaily of Egypt in the quarter final and CS Sfax of Tunisia in the semi final to reach the final. Played over two legs (why of why is this a thing?!) we beat Club Africain of Tunisia to win it. We are still in the CAF Champions League and I'll update when it's done. If we win it, I'll leave South Africa and head to somewhere in the Americas. I've also taken over Belgium U21s to get some more international experience, but we have only played a single game and there is another year before any tournaments. I might resign from it if another national side get available. Domestic Season Team Division Position Notes Challenge Landmarks 2017 Finnsnes IL PostNord-ligaen 1 1st Promoted as champions, got National C licence 2018 Finnsnes IL OBOS-ligaen 9th Mid-table, got National B and A licences 2019 Tromsø IL OBOS-ligaen 1st Promoted as champions 2020 Tromsø IL Eliteserien 1st Champions First league title 2021 Shenzhen Chinese Super League 3rd Cup winner, got Continental C and B licences First cup title 2022 Shenzhen Chinese Super League 1st Chapmions, Cup winner, ACL winner, got Continental A League title and ACL 2022/23 Orlando Pirates ABSA Premiership 3rd Took over with 2 games left 2023/24 Orlando Pirates ABSA Premiership 1st Domestic clean sweep, got Continental Pro licence League title and cup winner 2024/25 Orlando Pirates ABSA Premiership 1st Won league and some cups International Year Team Achievements 2021 Nigeria Won ACON 2024/25 Belgium U21 Challenge Progress Club 3/10 top domestic leagues (Norway 2020, China 2022, South Africa 2023/24) 2/10 domestic cups (Chinese FA Cup 2021 and 2022, South Africa 2023/24) 1/5 club continental championships (Asia 2022) 0/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments (ACON - Nigeria 2021) 0/2 world tournaments Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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