The Ultimate Football Manager Challenge - Silver Age Archive

[jaysdailydose]

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I've gotta say, I've got a pretty kick-ass wife, and she got me FM16 for Christmas. I hadn't anticipated being able to get the game for a few months, but since I am able to, I'm going to suspend my FM15 save. While I did well in getting to the Premier League and into the Champions League (the last play on the save saw me end my 2nd Premier League season on seven straight wins to pip Arsenal to the Top 4 to make the Playoff) I don't have any achievement trophies for the challenge.

While I do love my Stevenage save, this will give me almost a full year until FM17, so I'm going to be starting my new save here over Christmas. Can't wait to share my start with you all!

I *will* always remember Stevenage because of this challenge, and that is really saying something! Off to load up my game for the first time, Merry Christmas once again to all of you and your families!

[vikeologist]

I'm quite keen to give the new game a go as well, since it did receive some good reviews.

But I am quite close to completing, although in a challenge like this close is relative, so I'll keep soldiering on.

Looking forward to seeing how you get on with '16.

[jaysdailydose]

I'm quite keen to give the new game a go as well, since it did receive some good reviews.

But I am quite close to completing, although in a challenge like this close is relative, so I'll keep soldiering on.

Looking forward to seeing how you get on with '16.

Yeah, even though I'd been successful up to that point in the save, it just doesn't make sense to continue. Had I been anywhere close, absolutely.

I'm just getting everything setup now downloaded a skin and such. I'll probably have an idea of my first club tomorrow, but odds are I'll stay in England to start.

[mayihavecookie]

mayihavecookie's Confederations Cup 2029 Report



Brazil

Games | News

Group Stage

We started with a 8-0 win against New Zealand while Germany drew 1-1 against Oman. In the second game we beat Oman 1-0, so a draw against Germany would be enough to win the group. And we did exactly that with a 1-1 against Germany. The group win was especially valuable because in Group A France was absolutely destroying everyone else. They beat Spain 6-1, Mexico 5-2 and South Africa 4-0. Our 1st place would mean we would play against Mexico in the semi final and wouldn't meet France before the final.

Semi Final (Brazil - Mexico)

Felipe scored the 1-0 after 10 minutes, and in the other semi final Germany was 1-0 in front against France. Mexico equalised right before half time. But two goals by Gabriel Barbosa after 57 and 61 minutes secured the 3-1 win for us. Germany wasn't able to hold on to their lead and France won 4-2 in the end. Xavier Thery, the striker I brought to Arsenal for 50 millions, scored a hattrick. It's going to be very difficult to beat France, but at least we reached the final and I will not be sacked after the tournament.

Final (Brazil - France)

I set up my team a bit more defensively than normal to counter the huge threat from the French attackers. We started OK. Thery had a chance to score with a header but missed. We had two big chances after corners and one after a mistake by a French defender. Shortly before half time Tobias Marcelo finally scored with a long shot from 20 meters and we were up 1-0.

We were faster off the mark in the second half as well. Alex tried his luck from distance, the French goalkeeper let it rebound and Marcelo scored his second goal of the match. Then after 53 minutes, Felipe made it all clear with a header, 3-0. In injury time we even scored the 4-0 after a nice counter attack.

We are Confederations Cup Champions! To beat France 4-0, the European Champions and maybe the best team in the world at the moment, is a huge achievement. I'm very happy to cross the Confederations Cup off my list, I was always worried about that one. Hopefully this is the starting point for some international success. In the next two years I will take Brazil to the World Cup and the Copa América and I really need to win some international trophies.

[b]INTERNATIONAL CAREER

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

Challenge Progress

Club
8/10 top domestic leagues (China, South Korea, South Africa, Germany, Spain, Holland, Argentina, England)
8/10 domestic cups (China, South Korea, South Africa, Spain, Holland, Argentina, England (FAC), England (COC))
3/5  club continental championships (Asia, Africa, South America)
1/1  club world championship (Boca Juniors)

International
1/5  continental tournaments (African Cup of Nations with Cameroon)
1/2  world tournaments (Confederations Cup with Brazil)

[jaysdailydose]

Finishing up installing faces and such, but I noticed one thing in a test save I opened last night just to check things out that is relevant to the challenge. (Kind of.)

Last year, as an American manager, I was given fluency in both English AND Spanish. Someone in the know must have been reading the previous thread when I mentioned it, because now American managers only start with fluency in English! It's a small thing, but its definitely a thing.

Anyway, I should have some news into my new save for the new game shortly! Just wanted to make sure I have all the competition names and faces and all that good stuff setup right. I was tired last night.

Hope everyone is having a good Christmas!

[vikeologist]

MIHC - Congrats on the Confed Cup. As you suggest, it's really good to get it out of the way. It would be an absolute nightmare if it was the last trophy for any of us to attain. The prospect gave me nightmares.

I'm still a little worried about international trophies. After the world cup I wasn't offered either of the jobs I applied for; Argentina or South Africa. In the immediate term it doesn't bother me. I usually find international management annoying, frustrating etc. I'm just worried that I'll struggle to get these jobs after I achieve the club landmarks.

[jaysdailydose]

I get a chance to replicate my bit of glory in FM 2016, as Stevenage FC have again appointed me manager after sacking Teddy Sheringham. It was the 3rd English job to become available after Cambridge and Millwall. I did not apply for Cambridge, and Millwall in League 1 disregarded my application. Excited to hopefully get back to where I ended my 2015 save and go all the way in the challenge!

LETS GO BORO!!

[threelions1goal]

How do you guys cope (both in this thread and the original one) when you take over a team and just cannot forge an affinity with them??

I'm halfway through my second season with Cliftonville in Northern Ireland, but I'm just not getting the feel for them.

We've all had clubs and even players within the game that we have grown to love.

So, I'm in a dilemma whether to resign, but my issue is they are in the top flight of Northern Ireland so I'm at an advantage of winning a league - if the team ever decide to be consistent!!

[vikeologist]

3L1G- I know how you feel. You like long build up play. Your team just wants to just hurridly thrust it into the box, again and again and again.

After the match you want to talk to them, but they just fall asleep on the team bus. Your players are selfish and unlikely to improve in future. You like ball-playing, but your defenders are simply too limited.

I suggest that you broach your concerns gently. 'I would love it if we...' or, 'Could we try this?' You don't want to make them feel bad about what they've done or haven't done.

Try some aids. Lend them books with pictures (such as The Joy of Football), or watch an educational video together. Not Match of the Day, but explicit videos in which a voice-over explains what's happening in the matches.

But if it's not working, then maybe the best thing is to leave. Don't stay at a club just because of the youth intake. You deserve to be happy.

[American FMer]

Wow, I needed a new challenge on FM and I think I have come to the right place. I'm going to put down my Barrow save on FM15 in 2032 and get started at this, which will probably take me well into FM17, but this is a great challenge. I've really enjoyed reading through everyone's updates .

[jaysdailydose]

Look at it this way, 3L1G -- at least you're having SOMETHING decent happen. I'm already restarting my first save of the year... not that there's a TON different but some of the changes have definitely affected the way I manage so I'm going to give myself another go. My tactics that worked so well last year are definitely not as productive this year, so I'm giving myself a fresh start!

[American FMer]

2015/16 Season Preview - Vasco da Gama Cape Town

Well that was quick, I've just landed my first job in football! I think every season I'm just going to do a pre and post season update, pre update just being an intro and post season covering everything (transfers, results, etc). Anyways, Vasco da Gama Cape Town are a club in the South African National First Division, the second tier of South Africa. Here is the info for the following season:

Predicted Finish: 5th

Managerial Profile

Leagues Loaded

Personal Objectives

National First Division | Get Promotion

South African FA Cup | Second Round

Board Objectives

National First Division | Top Half

South African FA Cup | Second Round

Although it will be tough, it would be ideal to get into the South African Premier League as soon as possible, and I think our squad is strong enough to challenge for promotion. The top team in the league will earn promotion, and top 4 teams go into a "mini league playoff" so I don't know exactly how that works. Wish me luck guys, this is going to be the first of many updates hopefully .

[vikeologist]

AFMer- Really happy to see some new blood. Hope you enjoy the challenge.

JDD- I tinkered with FM16 a bit, and (along with comments on GD) I do believe that '16 is tougher, at least in the lower leagues. I played a few matches as gillinghma, and let's say that the immediate results were, well, uninspiring. When I complete on '15, will i need to do it on '16, just to prove I can.

Hopefully that decision won't be too long in the future. getting close now.

[jaysdailydose]

JDD- I tinkered with FM16 a bit, and (along with comments on GD) I do believe that '16 is tougher, at least in the lower leagues. I played a few matches as gillinghma, and let's say that the immediate results were, well, uninspiring. When I complete on '15, will i need to do it on '16, just to prove I can.

Hopefully that decision won't be too long in the future. getting close now.

One of the main things is I think players took to new tactics a lot better in '15. I have never leaked goals like that at any level for years now... I may not have always gotten results, but never gotten crushed like that. But, that's OK -- I didn't really do any trial run with the game, so I'll just treat that as one. I'm not guessing I'll get Stevenage again, but I may start in one of the other Big 5 leagues or somewhere else entirely. I'm thinking it over right now.

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2050/51 Monaco End of Season Report

As expected, with only the addition of a few depth players, Monaco won the league (with 4 games to spare). We also won the Coupe de la Ligue, and against the other top side in France PSG.

The big question was though, could I annoy Normandy Wept and Mayihavecookie by winning the European Champions league for a third time with a third different team; not because I need to, just because I can.

Except I couldn’t. We suffered a surprise 4-3 defeat to Ajax in the final.

I doubt that South American clubs will be able to afford the compensation they’d have to pay Monaco, so I will resign and hope my third resignation in about 3 years doesn’t affect my reputation too much.

So now, on the club side of things I just need 1 more league and cup from another country, and the Copa Libertadores. Ideally I’ll be able to do that with one more club, but the biggest club in Peru are bottom of the table, and that job piques my interest.

I still have 3 more international trophies to win, but although that will involve a lot of boring multi-tasking while I’m waiting for the game to advance to my next fixture, it will hopefully be relatively quick once I’ve completed the club side of things, although it may well take 20-30 save seasons.

I’ve returned to Egypt for a third time, like a dog returning to the vomit of my first 2 spells there. To be fair, in my second spell I won all 4 games and then quit to take the Colombia job (which didn’t work out well). My record with Egypt is P22, W17, D0, L5.

Season	Team			Position	Notes										Challenge Landmarks
14/15	Swallows(South Africa)	14th		Took over after 14 (of 30)games in 16th bottom position. Dodged relegation.
15/16	Swallows		12th		South African FA Cup winner. Continental qualification.				1 domestic cup
16/17	Swallows		3rd		Champions League qualification
17/18	Swallows		3rd	
18/19 	Swallows & Kaizer Chiefs2nd		Quit Swallows mid-season. Took over Kaiser Chiefs with 9 games of the season left
19/20	Kaizer Chiefs/ChU23	2nd		Won 2 domestic cups.
20/21	Kaizer Chiefs / China	2nd		Lost in Champions League Final on away goals
21/22	Kaizer Chiefs/China	1st		Lost in Champions league semi-final. Won 36 straight matches and East Asia Cup	1 domestic league
22/23	Kaizer Chiefs/ China	n/a		Won African Champions League. Humiliated nation of China.			African Champions League
2023	Seoul			1st		Won South Korean League								2nd domestic league
2024	Seoul / Brazil U23	3rd		Won FA Cup									2nd domestic cup
2025	Cruz Azul		9th		Won FA Cup (Opening Stage). Then I was sacked.					3rd domestic cup
2026	Chivas			2nd		Manager for one match. Lost title in extra time of 2nd leg of league final.
26/27	Chivas /Ivory Coast	6th/1st		Won NACL. Lost Closing stage final of Mexican 1st Div (again)			NACL
27	Chivas / Ivory Coast	5th		Lost in Opening Stage semi-final and resigned after CWC Q/F
28	Dalian / Ivory Coast	11th		Lost in FA Cup Final / Lost in 2029 ACON Q/F
29	Guangzhou / Egypt	1st		League / Cup double. Qualified for World Cup					4th cup, 3rd league
30	Guangzhou/Egypt/USA	1st		League / Champions League double						Asian Champions League
31/2	Hertha Berlin		6th		German Cup losing finalists. Qualified for UEFA Cup
32/33	Hertha Berlin/S Korea	6th		UEFA Cup losing finalists. 
33/34	HB/ SK/ Dortmund	6th		Moved team after 12 games. Won East Asia Cup again, this time with Korea.
34/35	Dortmund / SK / Egypt	1st		League and cup double. Quit South Korea after AC Q/F ignomy			5th cup, Bundesliga
35/36	Dortmund / Colombia	2nd		German cup winners.
36/37	Barcelona / Colombia	2nd		CL Q/F. 	Confederations Cup Finalists 					CWC
37/38	Barcelona / Holland	1st		League, Cup, Champions league treble. World Cup with Holland.			Euro Champions League, 6th cup, Spanish league. World Cup.
38/39	AC Milan / Holland	1st		League and Italian Cup winners. 						7th cup, Serie A
39/40	Holland			n/a		Won European Championship							European Championship
40/41	Sochaux	/ South Africa	7th		Took over Newcastle at end of season.
41/42	Newcastle/South Africa	5th		FA Cup Semi-Finals. World Cup disaster.
42/43	Newcastle / Brazil	6th		CO Cup Q/F, Euro Cup 2nd K/O Round
43/44	Newcastle / Brazil	7th		FA Cup Finalists
44/45	Newcastle / Brazil	4th		Euro Cup winners
45/46	Newcastle / Brazil	2nd		League runners-up. FA Cup winners.						8th cup
46/47	Newcastle / Mexico	4th												Gold Cup
47/48	Newcastle / Mexico	1st		League, Cup and Champions League treble						English league
2048	Monterray / Mexico	1st		Won the league, and about flaming time.						8th domestic league
48/49	OL / Mexico		14th		Took over OL for last 9 games.Third Confederations Cup Final.Third time lucky.	Confederations Cup
49/50	OL			3rd		Lost Coupe de la Ligue final on penalties
50/51	Monaco/Egypt		1st												French league & 9th cup

Challenge Progress

Club
9/10 top domestic leagues (South Africa, S Korea, China, Germany, Spain, Italy, England, Mexico, France)
8/10 domestic cups (South Africa, S Korea, Mexico, China, Germany, Spain, Italy, England, France)
4/5 club continental championships (Africa, North America, Asia, Europe)
1/1 club world championship

International
2/5 continental tournaments (European Championship, Gold Cup)
2/2 world tournaments (World Cup, Conferations Cup)

[vikeologist]

So, some of you may not like this.

I've taken over as manager of Corinthians, in Brazil. It's the middle of the season. But my first match with them isn't going to be in the league.

As a matteer of fact it's going to be the second leg of the copa libertadores. We (or I think in the interests of accuracy) they, drew the first leg 1-1 away aginst Sao Paulo, so all i have to do is win the second leg at home, and presto the Lib is mine.

It's not my fault they're in the final and sacked the manager for the poor league performance.

I would have wanted this job under any circumstances (as long as i only had to play the league 1 half of the season).

Cheeky, but there you are. It's not like I don't have form at pulling this kind of stunt.

[mayihavecookie]

vike Congratulations on the last remaining european league title. Strange, I was pretty sure you already had won the Copa Libertadores (exactly like that, taking over before the second leg of the final). Was that someone else or is my memory playing tricks on me?

[vikeologist]

I took over a mexican side before the second leg of the mexican playoff final (ie the league), but i lost. I also took over a side before the last game of the regular season, and we then won the playoff / league.

I'm surprised nobody else has ever done something likle that. I mean, you're probably not going to get the chance to take over a club on the verge of winning a straightforward league, but I don't think it would be that usuaual to inherit a club who are still in the latter stages of a cup. Corinthians are my 17th club job, and although I'm aware of the chutzpah factor, I identifed tham ages ago as one of the 5 or 6 jobs I wanted in South America, because they're a big club. Uni Catolica (Chile) were also in the latter stages of the Lib, but I didn't apply to them.

Anyway, I might lose. It might take me ages to win the Lib. On the other hand, if i win, there's no actual need to get my 10th league and cup in South America. I could go anywhere. I mean, win or lose, i will stay with Corinthians until the end of the season, but I'm not sure I'll want to stay and go through a typical full 2,000 match brazilian season.

[mayihavecookie]

I did something similar when I won the Copa Libertadores with Boca for the first time. I took over before the semi final and only had to play four games to win it. This summer I hoped for a chance to take over Real Madrid or Manchester United just before the final of the CL because both their managers were listed as insecure. But they both waited until after the final to sack them and I went for Juve instead. Nothing wrong with choosing the job that makes it easiest for you to progress in the challenge.

[JoeLapira]

Progess has been very slow over the last week or 2 but once things get back to normal after the holiday season I should be able to start spending more time on my save. Speaking of my save, i mentioned the last time about how close the league was. Well a pack of 5 have started to pull away and fortunately I am part of that pack. There's only 3 points now seperating 1st to ourselves in 5th with an 8 point gap between us and 6th. Next up for myself is the Scottish Challenge Cup Final which would be great to win. I've said this before but regardless of what happens come the end of this season, I will be looking to leave Berwick Rangers and hopefully this time the right job comes up.

[vikeologist]

Well, we did it. I won the Libertadores after a grand 2 games in charge of Corinthians. (There was in fact a league game first at home to the club bottom of the table).

We won 0-0 in extra time, and given the stress levels i feel that I've paid my dues. It was 0-0 after 90 minutes and according to the rules in the game, we should have been the winners at that point on away goals, but it went into extra time where we grabbed the winner.

We were a bit lucky. i think Sao Paulo were the better side, and they had more players missing because of Brazil's continued involvement in the Copa America than us.

I'm glad to be sitting out the Copa America because otherwise my stress levels would have been in the roof.

I know that there would probably have been other Copa Libertadores, but let's be honest. the final league title and cp will be a lot easier than winning the continental trophy.

I will be staying at Corinthains for the rest of the season. The poor league position owes more than a little to having played less games than most other clubs, but we are a few points behind Sao Paulo in real terms. I will almost certainly leave Corinthians at the end of the season.

If Corinthains don't win the league i will probably take a job at any other club that's the biggest in the nation, though as recompense for my libertadores taking, I very much doubt that i will take over a club in mid season close to winning the league (not that I've ever known a job like that to come up other than my Mexico smash and grab).

On the other hand I have loaded the Icelandic and Norweigan leagues as it might be fun given my alias to wrap up the domestic challenge with Viking or Vikingur. I may well soon have about 7 or 8 nations loaded. Unfortunately I left it a bit late to load the Welsh league this season, as finishing with carmarthen may have been nice.

So, who knows where I will end up. If i can do the double in Brazil, none of this will be necessary, but I don't even know when the Brazilian cup is, or if we're still in it.

I'm getting so close, I can taste it.

of course we're still to have the tragic comedy of my trying to win the last 3 international trophies.

[mouth123]

Hey lads read through most of this in the past few days and you have all inspired me to give this a shot, first time doing one of these challenges so will see how I get on.

My question is whats the best league and database set up to put in the game? really have no idea

[threelions1goal]

Cliftonville End of Season 16/17

I posted a few days ago that I really wasn't "feeling the love" for Cliftonville, but decided to finish the season and see how I felt.

My issues are my chairman is a nobhead of the highest order and won't allow anything - the club can't go full time, I cannot have any extra coaches (I've got four!!) He won't let me start a coaching course (I still have no qualifications) and most frustratingly, he will not allow me to increase the scouting range despite many, many requests and even ultimatums

The thing that's keeping me in Northern Ireland at the moment is I'm managing one of the better clubs in the top flight, so I've a chance of winning a League, so I'll probably give them one more year - (in the game) I'm only 22, the worlds my proverbial oyster!!

The start of the season,I was expected to finish second - that didn't happen

And to reach the cup final - that did happen

Season Review one

Season Review two

Cup Winners

So, European Qualification into the preliminary of the Euro Cup, it'd be nice to win the first match and get a bit of cash, but I'm not holding my breath.

Also, winning the Northern Irish cup counts as my first trophy in my ultimate pursuit!!

Maybe not the most glamorous competition, but as they say......"the longest journey starts with just one step"

Season	 Team 	 	Country		 Position	 Notes          
15/16	Cliftonville	N.Ireland	     2nd		Achieved Euro Cup Qualification
16/17	Cliftonville	N.Ireland	     4th		Won Cup, Euro Qualification

[NormandyWept]

Hey lads read through most of this in the past few days and you have all inspired me to give this a shot, first time doing one of these challenges so will see how I get on.

My question is whats the best league and database set up to put in the game? really have no idea

The below from vikeologist a few pages is pretty good on general approaches. Work out how you want to start your effort, and then set up leagues accordingly: I find it best not to have a massive database (as the save can be very long), and I've found I only need a few leagues active at a time now you're allowed to switch them around. But equally you can very specifically load all the leagues you'll be targeting, if that's what you'd like to do.

Yes. You can add and subtract as you go. FM16 certainly seems to be stable enough to handle that.

Historically (as much as you can use that word for something with a history of 1 year and half a week) there are 2 key approaches.

The people who did this challenge at the start like me (old school) started in Asia or South African top division, and planned to finish in Europe.

Then some people (new school) started in European lower divisions. This enabled them to have a higher reputation earlier in the game, and get international jobs (and major trophies) much earlier. (but only because they were very good at the game and were promoted often and early).

There are other approaches, but I don't think they worked too well. OK, I'll tell you. Don't start in a tiny little place like Hong Kong or Indonesia, because you can win the league and still not be able to get a job worth a can of beans in nations such as China or South Korea.

However, the best thing about this challenge is that there are different ways of going about it, and maybe someone will find a new way. For instance I don't think anybody has ever started in South America. I don't even have any idea what level jobs one could attain there.

[NormandyWept]

I've still got festive visitors staying and it has killed my FM playing time, but next week I'm looking forward to getting stuck back into the challenge of winning my final trophy, the UEFA Champions League...

[JoeLapira]

Won the Scottish Challenge Cup last night and with 3 games left we're 2 points off top spot but our playoff spot is guarunteed which is great seeing as we were outright favourites to go straight back down. My 4-4-2 diamond formation has worked an absolute treat this season and in recent games i started to once again use my 4-1-2-3 formation(which i used most of last season) to great effect. If i cant get a decent job in the close season at this stage i dont think i'll ever get away from Berwick.

[vikeologist]

JoeL - I presume you're in the Championship. Good luck in the playoffs and congrats on the cup win. Hope a big bump in club is on the way. Quitting a club is always an option. I had to quit my first job (with Swallows) before getting my second. A few of the big clubs in South Africa turned me down, even though I had an FA Cup win to my name. There's no reason to necessarily always have a job.

NW- I hope you get time (and a last spurt of enthusiasm) to finish the challenge. It must be frustrating having to play so many sort of pointless matches, just hunting for the Champions league win which can be blown away with just one bad result, or more likely two mediocre ones. I hope that i can win my last cup either before my last cup win or in the same season. I don't fancy managing a club purely for a domestic cup.

The Copa libertadores win has dramatically altered my league setup. As well as Brazil, I have Peru and Uraguay on the way out (because they don't have domestic cups) and Australia, Holland, Iceland, Norway, Scotland and ukraine on the add-league backburner. Keeping Argentina, Chile and Colombia, so i could have a lot of leagues loaded, but it depends when i get a new job. It could be quite a while. i will be quite fussy.

I'm still at Corinthians, and close to the end of the season, but don't enjoy managing in Brazil. Have never wavered in my decision to quit at the end of the season and wait for low hanging fruit.

[JoeLapira]

Vike; Ya we're in the Championship, unfortunately the Cup win doesnt match the challenge criteria but its a trophy nonetheless. I think I might have to quit alright and will probably do so once the season is over. It would be great to take Berwick to the top tier of Scottish football and see how we'd get on but it would be another season gone with no progress towards the challenge. I'll focus my search in either South Africa and Asia and try and get those Continental Cups first but if a good job comes up elsewhere I wouldn't turn it down.

[vikeologist]

I wouldn't worry too much about challenge landmarks to start with. I'm only obsessed with them because I'm near the end of the challenge and want to get it over with. At the start it's probably better to focus on the journey rather than the destination.

Are you enjoying your save at Berwick? If so, I'm sorry for encouraging you to quit.

When the challenge started i thought it was probably impossible. I didn't realise that there were far better managers than me. Apparantly its not impossible, but one of the reasons its difficult is because it can cease to be fun hopping from club to club. That was why i stayed at newcastle so long (though longer than i hoped for) because I wanted the achievement of developing a club.

Its probably wise not to even try to get a landmark in the first few seasosns, because the ones you can get aren't worth a tin of beans.

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2051 Corinthians End of Season Report

Not much to say about the season. After winning the Libertadores (in my second match in charge) we continued to win our first 9 or 10 games and edged top of the table. I though we were going to run away with the league.

then it all fell apart. Injuries, suspensions, international call ups (in Brazil the matches don't stop for international fixtures which affected us heavily). We lost 3 league games in a row and never caught up. In fact our form at the end of the season was pretty bad.

One reason for staying until the end of the season was the chance to take part in the club world championship and try to take revenge on Ajax for our (Monaco's) Champions League final defeat. Unfortunately we couldn't do it and lost on penalties.

I quit and it looked as though the Boca manager wanted the job, which would have created a nice vacancy for me, but the Huracan manager was given the job instead, so my search for hopefully my final club jon goes on.

Season	Team			Position	Notes										Challenge Landmarks
14/15	Swallows(South Africa)	14th		Took over after 14 (of 30)games in 16th bottom position. Dodged relegation.
15/16	Swallows		12th		South African FA Cup winner. Continental qualification.				1 domestic cup
16/17	Swallows		3rd		Champions League qualification
17/18	Swallows		3rd	
18/19 	Swallows & Kaizer Chiefs2nd		Quit Swallows mid-season. Took over Kaiser Chiefs with 9 games of the season left
19/20	Kaizer Chiefs/ChU23	2nd		Won 2 domestic cups.
20/21	Kaizer Chiefs / China	2nd		Lost in Champions League Final on away goals
21/22	Kaizer Chiefs/China	1st		Lost in Champions league semi-final. Won 36 straight matches and East Asia Cup	1 domestic league
22/23	Kaizer Chiefs/ China	n/a		Won African Champions League. Humiliated nation of China.			African Champions League
2023	Seoul			1st		Won South Korean League								2nd domestic league
2024	Seoul / Brazil U23	3rd		Won FA Cup									2nd domestic cup
2025	Cruz Azul		9th		Won FA Cup (Opening Stage). Then I was sacked.					3rd domestic cup
2026	Chivas			2nd		Manager for one match. Lost title in extra time of 2nd leg of league final.
26/27	Chivas /Ivory Coast	6th/1st		Won NACL. Lost Closing stage final of Mexican 1st Div (again)			NACL
27	Chivas / Ivory Coast	5th		Lost in Opening Stage semi-final and resigned after CWC Q/F
28	Dalian / Ivory Coast	11th		Lost in FA Cup Final / Lost in 2029 ACON Q/F
29	Guangzhou / Egypt	1st		League / Cup double. Qualified for World Cup					4th cup, 3rd league
30	Guangzhou/Egypt/USA	1st		League / Champions League double						Asian Champions League
31/2	Hertha Berlin		6th		German Cup losing finalists. Qualified for UEFA Cup
32/33	Hertha Berlin/S Korea	6th		UEFA Cup losing finalists. 
33/34	HB/ SK/ Dortmund	6th		Moved team after 12 games. Won East Asia Cup again, this time with Korea.
34/35	Dortmund / SK / Egypt	1st		League and cup double. Quit South Korea after AC Q/F ignomy			5th cup, Bundesliga
35/36	Dortmund / Colombia	2nd		German cup winners.
36/37	Barcelona / Colombia	2nd		CL Q/F. 	Confederations Cup Finalists 					CWC
37/38	Barcelona / Holland	1st		League, Cup, Champions league treble. World Cup with Holland.			Euro Champions League, 6th cup, Spanish league. World Cup.
38/39	AC Milan / Holland	1st		League and Italian Cup winners. 						7th cup, Serie A
39/40	Holland			n/a		Won European Championship							European Championship
40/41	Sochaux	/ South Africa	7th		Took over Newcastle at end of season.
41/42	Newcastle/South Africa	5th		FA Cup Semi-Finals. World Cup disaster.
42/43	Newcastle / Brazil	6th		CO Cup Q/F, Euro Cup 2nd K/O Round
43/44	Newcastle / Brazil	7th		FA Cup Finalists
44/45	Newcastle / Brazil	4th		Euro Cup winners
45/46	Newcastle / Brazil	2nd		League runners-up. FA Cup winners.						8th cup
46/47	Newcastle / Mexico	4th												Gold Cup
47/48	Newcastle / Mexico	1st		League, Cup and Champions League treble						English league
2048	Monterray / Mexico	1st		Won the league, and about flaming time.						8th domestic league
48/49	OL / Mexico		14th		Took over OL for last 9 games.Third Confederations Cup Final.Third time lucky.	Confederations Cup
49/50	OL			3rd		Lost Coupe de la Ligue final on penalties
50/51	Monaco/Egypt		1st												French league & 9th cup
2051	Corinthians / Egypt	3rd												Copa Libertadores

Challenge Progress

Club
9/10 top domestic leagues (South Africa, S Korea, China, Germany, Spain, Italy, England, Mexico, France)
9/10 domestic cups (South Africa, S Korea, Mexico, China, Germany, Spain, Italy, England, France)
5/5 club continental championships (Africa, North America, Asia, Europe, South America)
1/1 club world championship

International
2/5 continental tournaments (European Championship, Gold Cup)
2/2 world tournaments (World Cup, Conferations Cup)

[JoeLapira]

Vike; Ya im really enjoying the save with Berwick but probably because things are going so well. And no need to apologise, you were only offering some advice. I finished the season in 3rd and won the first round of the playoffs but unfortunately lost the second round to St.Mirren, the only side i failed to beat during the league. They eventually lost to Aberdeen, a team i would also have struggled against. So the dream of 3 back to back promotions is over but it was a very successful season nonetheless.

[JoeLapira]

So I quit Berwick after two clubs, Incheon in the top division of South Korea and Adelelaide Utd in Oz, couldnt afford to pay the compensation needed to sign me. After i asked to board to lower it they refused, so i resigned. Unfortunately i missed out both of the two previouslly mentioned jobs but there were plenty of jobs available all over the world. 2 clubs got back to me almost instantly. Dundalk, playing in the top league of my home country Ireland were sitting in 4th place, with 8 games left there was no real chance of catching the top 2 but 3rd and Europa League qualification was just 2 points ahead. The other job was in South Korea but this time it was with a club in the K-League Challenge, Suwon. Also in 4th which is just inside the playoffs and with 12 games left 1st and automatic qualification was a long way off, 16 points to be exact. I decided to go to South Korea, although Dundalk are quite a good side who would have given me a strong oppurtunity of winning trophies which would go towards the Challenge, i felt managing Suwon would be more of a test.

So after a review of the squad it seemed this side should have been challenging for top spot with the quality of players they had, maybe this is why my predecessor was sacked. A quick look at the season preview confirmed this as we were odds on favourites alongside Ansan for the league. With no expectations from the board I had a free shot this campaign and rather then trying to develop new tactics i just used my 2 most successful ones from my Berwick days and picked the best 11 to suit those tactics. And they have worked a charm. I've played 6 games as Suwon boss, won 4 and drawn 2, conceding only 2, beating both 1st and 2nd at home. This gives me great optimism for the playoffs and hopefully i can get Suwon up to the K-League Classic.

[mayihavecookie]

Congratulations Joe to your new job and hopefully you'll get that promotion. I think Korea is the perfect place to start winning titles. Is it Suwon FC or Suwon Samsung you are managing? Suwon Samsung was pretty big in FM15, so I would be surprised to see them relegated to the K-League Challenge.

[JoeLapira]

Cheers mayihavecookie, its Suwon FC. Gonna try and stay in S.Korea now and see if i can win the Asian Champions League before I move on. Hopefully I can build up my rep here and get a job with one of the bigger clubs soon.

[jaysdailydose]

I've taken a short break from the challenge to mess around with a San Marino save, but I'll still be following progress and I will again be taking it on, I just think I needed a break from it and to do some new things before I really throw myself into it.

Congratulations to all those who made further progress (Lib for vike, and progress for JoeLapira, especially!)

[threelions1goal]

Okay.....

It's just gone 1:00 in the morning and I've just secured my first league title!!

I'll post screenshots and whatnot tomorrow, just wanted to come here for advice!!

I'm managing Cliftonville In Northern Ireland.

Last season I secured the Domestic cup (which counts towards the challenge) and I've just now won the league.....with one match to spare!!

So, basically I've taken this team as far as I can as we're never in a million years gonna win the Champions league (and this isn't Gundo's challenge after all....!!)

What I'm after is advice - I want to enhance my reputation as much as possible, so is it best to leave straight away while my stock is possibly high and more jobs will be available through the summer??

Or...

Wait and have a couple of games in the Champions League qualifiers (we won't get past the qualifiers)

What would you guys do and where would you go next?? (I've English, Scottish, Belgian and Dutch leagues loaded)

I'm gonna bin Northern Ireland leagues as soon as I leave - any recommendations of where to load next??

This challenge is the best on this forum by a mile!!

[vikeologist]

I'd leave asap. The question is whether to quit Cliftonville (so that your next club don't have to pay compensation). My advice is to do that. I don't think it damages your reputation.

I'm not sure hwo much your success in ireland will improve your job prospects. I wouldn't bother with Scotland, Belgium or Holland. Apart from the 5 prescribed leagues, you only have another 5. South Africa will be one. Australia / Korea / China will be the 2nd. Mexico / USA 3rd. A South Americam nation 4th and Northern Ireland your 5th.

Of course you won't necessarily win all these leagues. I have never won a South American league, but odds are you don't need another european title, so I'd either go to Asia or Africa if you're hungry for another league title, or work your way up in England or one of the other big 5.

if you go to England it will be interesting to see if you can get a Championship job. You can get league 1 jobs at the start of the challenge, if you're patient, and watching the film Titanic makes you want to be a ship captain.

I really am interested to see what your first title will present in the way of job opportunties, so don't just take the first one you can get.

In this challenge, there really is no downside to being out of a job, other than tne boredom of just pressing continue and waiting for jobs to come up.

I planned to just manage a national side until i'd won at least one more international trophy, but boredom got the best of me after 18 months. Should only take 1 season to get the last league and a cup. Then I can take everyone off my shortlist, have only 1 league leaded (I presume we must have 1 loaded) and hopefully the game will move a little faster.

It's taken me nearly 40 years to get 4/7, but that was attained with 2 nations. I might have to play another 40 seasons to get the last 3.

[JoeLapira]

ThreeLions; Firstly congrats on the trophies it must be nice to get something on the board. As for the rest of your post, I'd reccomend moving on. You could spend another season there, probably win the league and maybe another cup but you could miss out on some really good job oppurtunities. Like Vike said, clubs might not be able to cover the cost of the compensation so it would be easier to get a new job if you resigned. Its up to yourself where you go, i decided to head to Asia and focus on that continental competiton and then move on once its done. Id imagine Europe would be one of the trickest Continents to conqeur with the amount of quality teams in it so I'll try and leave that till last but the beauty of this challenge is that you'd never know where you could end up.

Cheers JDD; hopefully you can get back into soon. Things are back to normal at work so I should be progressing alot faster now.

[threelions1goal]

Cheers Vikeologist & JoeLapira for your advice

What I've chosen to do is bin the leagues from Scotland, Holland and Belgium.

I've added Australia, Germany and South Africa for now and I'm now going to resign from Cliftonville at the end of June - the new leagues come into play end of June, beginning of July.

Vike I'm intrigued too as to what level job I can get in England, should I choose to manage there - I did apply for the Nottingham Forest job who finished mid-table in the Championship, but got turned down.

Now gonna do my end of season report and crack on!!

[threelions1goal]

Cliftonville End of Season 2017/18

Competitions

So, start of season expectations were to qualify for the Europa League (again), retain the Northern Irish cup, don't get outclassed in the Europa League and the League Cup and County Shield weren't important.

As I'd previously stated, I was finding hard to feel the love for Cliftonville, but I really enjoyed the season as it got off to a good start - chairman was still being a daft lad, not letting me expand the scouting range, but I picked up a couple of good signings as freebies and they made the difference.

The Europa League - beat St. Pats in the first qualifying round, but got hammered 8-1 on aggregate in the second qualifying round to Esbjerg

In Northern Ireland, Linfield are the dominant force by a mile,so basically it's better their results and you'll win!!

Managed to win the County Cup (against Linfield!!)

Knocked out of the League Cup in the Quarter Finals (by Linfield)

Knocked out of the Irish Cup in the Semi Finals........by Linfield!!

By this time I was second in the League, three points behind Crusaders, but we were in good form - Linfield were behind us in 3rd place.

Then, Linfield's manager left for a job in Scotland, so I applied for the job and was granted an interview........but after a lot of debate (in my own head!!) I chose not to attend the interview after all.

As the competitions link shows at the top of the page, (I really should upload more screenshots) it all paid dividends and we were crowned Champions of all of Northern Ireland.

To be fair to my chairman, he did allow me on a coaching course this year, so I now have my "C" licence....and this to my name

So, I've taken Cliftonville as far as I can - I've hung around until the end of June just to see who we would get in the Champions League (we got BATE) and I'm now going back to resign and move onto pastures new.

Did I mention I found it hard to "feel the Cliftonville Love"??

Well now I feel a bit sad that I'm leaving!!

"No room for sentiment in football" they say.........so lets see where I get employed next!!!

Edit - I forgot the code thing!!

Season	 Team 	 	Country		 Position	              Notes          
15/16	Cliftonville	N.Ireland	     2nd		Achieved Euro Cup Qualification
16/17	Cliftonville	N.Ireland	     4th		Won Cup, Euro Qualification
17/18	Cliftonville	N.Ireland	     1st		Manager of the Year,Won County Shield, Qualified for Champions League






Challenge Progress


Club
1/10 top domestic leagues (N. Ireland)
1/10 domestic cups (N. Ireland)
0/5 club continental championships ()
0/1 club world championship


International
0/5 continental tournaments ()
0/2 world tournaments ()

[mayihavecookie]

mayihavecookie's Challenge, Season 16

Season 2029/30



Juventus F.C. - Serie A

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

I took over Juventus with great enthusiasm to try a new kind of football. Cleon's thread "The Art of Counter Attacking" inspired me to play a 3-5-2 with counter mentality that's really tight at the back and goes forward fast. Juventus had the players I needed for that and the the Serie A seemed to be the perfect league to try this. It didn't work too bad, we had the best defence by far in the league (only conceded 21, my first goalkeeper had 24 clean sheets in 36 games) but still scored 81 and we played some nice football most of the time.

Still we didn't manage to win the league. We finished 2nd behind Sampdoria on goal difference which is not satisfactory for a team like Juventus (though our 88 points would have been enough to win the title in any season since 2017). We also didn't have any success in the Champions League. We went out in the first Knockout Round against Dortmund That competition just seems to be impossible to win for me.

The board wasn't too happy I missed their goals in both competitions. We won the Italian Cup, but that was classed as "Not important" by the board. It was not enough to get me sacked, but with my contract expiring in June I was a bit worried I might not get another one. However, they seemed to believe I'm able to do better next year and so I was offered a one year extension (even with better wages).

Brazil

Games 2029

After our Confederations Cup win we went on to beat Argentina in the Superclasico. Later we suffered our first defeat in the World Cup Qualifiers against Uruguay and lost our 1st place to Argentina. Doesn't matter, we qualified. Now we're preparing for the World Cup where we are in group H with Cyprus, Serbia and Iraq. Should be easy. The board wants me reach the semi final and I want to win the thing.

[b]CLUB CAREER

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


[b]INTERNATIONAL CAREER

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

Challenge Progress

Club
8/10 top domestic leagues (China, South Korea, South Africa, Germany, Spain, Holland, Argentina, England)
9/10 domestic cups (China, South Korea, South Africa, Spain, Holland, Argentina, England (FAC), England (COC), Italy)
3/5  club continental championships (Asia, Africa, South America)
1/1  club world championship (Boca Juniors)

International
1/5  continental tournaments (African Cup of Nations with Cameroon)
1/2  world tournaments (Confederations Cup with Brazil)

[jaysdailydose]

Cheers JDD; hopefully you can get back into soon. Things are back to normal at work so I should be progressing alot faster now.

Yeah, I just need to mix it up for a bit. I was having trouble getting into a new save. If there's one new feature that I literally could not wait to see, it would be the ability to import a previous save into the new version. I'm just too happy with FM16 to go back to my Stevenage save, though.

[JoeLapira]

Yeah, I just need to mix it up for a bit. I was having trouble getting into a new save. If there's one new feature that I literally could not wait to see, it would be the ability to import a previous save into the new version. I'm just too happy with FM16 to go back to my Stevenage save, though.

I thought it would be a struggle stepping away from my fm14 save with Portsmouth but this challenge was very appealling. It can be tough starting a new fm save particularly if you cant get into to the club you start off with. But hopefully you can soon take up the challenge again.

[pug 407]

Pug's Update Season 2018/19

Steve McClaren Retired From Newcastle. So I Applied For The Managers Job. The Fat Controller Give It To Me And Paid Cambridge 100 Grand Comp.

When He Give Me The Transfer Money It Was an Unbelievable 144 Million Pound's. I Only Had To Finish In A Euro Spot.

The Squad Looked Fairly Good, Just Needed A Few Back Ups In Case Of Injuries. First Game Was Against Man City, Which I Won 4-0.

After That Me And Chelsea Pulled Away From The Rest. Coming To The Last Games Of The Season Chelsea Hit A Bad Patch. So The Title Was Mine

With A Game To Spare. I Made It To The Semi's In The Cap 1 Cup, Knocked Out Of The FA Cup In The 5th Round.

                                                                       CLUB CAREER                      
                                                                      -----------
Season     Club                Leagues        Cups                                     Other & Notes
                              1st  2nd       1st  2nd    Cont   CWC ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16    Cambridge Utd                                                               Promoted To Div 1.Won JPT                     
2016/17    Cambridge Utd                           Won                                 Promoted To Championship.
2017/18    Cambridge Utd                      Won                                      Promoted To Premier League,Won FA Cup
2018/19    Newcastle Utd       Won                                                     Won The Premier League
2019/20    Newcastle Utd





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

Season    Nation         Cups                                                                         Other & Notes
                        World Cup    Confed Cup    Euro's    AFC    ACON    Gold Cup   Copa America
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16   Iran U23                                                                                    Won AFC U23 Championship
2016/17   France U21                                                                                  Won U21 Championship
2018/19   England U21
2019/20   Algeria

   Challenge Progress

Club

1/10 Top Domestic Leagues (England)
1/10 Domestic Cup (England)
0/5  Continentals Cups
0/1  Club World Cup

International

0/5 Continental Tournaments
0/2 World Tournaments

[mayihavecookie]

Nice one, congratulations pug. vike U mad?

Also 3L1G well done on your first title

[vikeologist]

Well done, pug.

JDD - I don't think there will ever be the option of carrying on a save from one version to the next.

I was considering the other day whether we should allow people (in FM17) to carry forward their achievements from one version to the next. For instance3 pug achieved 11 (I think) trophies on FM15, so could we say that as long as you start again as a 20 year-old you can carry forward those trophies you've already won. Maybe it would encourage people to keep going on the challenge.

i don't think that's a good idea though. This challenge is very difficult and almost nobody will ever achieve it. I think that's just the way it should be. I was only thinking about it because I want to try out FM16, but once I get used to it I won't go back. Have to keep going. Must finish.

Another thing I was considering, and indeed still am, is putting a leaderbaord under the hall of fame for those who have achieved 10 or more landmarks; (which would be a bit hard on SuperGord who it seems stopped on 9).

As far as I know, this would only encompass 4 people;

Bearing in mind that there are 33 landmarks (and that we wouldn't count any extra competitions such as an 11th league title) the leaderbaord would be as follows I think

NormandyWept - 32

Vikeologist -28

mayihavecookie-23

Pug407 - 11 (FM15)

There may be people who had more than 10 further back in the challenge. I'd have to check, but they'd all be lapsed saves.

I wouldn't put people on the leaderboard who suddenly crop up from nowhere after not posting anything and say 'Still doing this challenge and now I have 24 of the trophies'.

The thing is that a leaderbaord would probably just put more focus on the landmarks and the possibility of achieving the challenge, whereas I think the only sane approach is to just enjoy yourself and not worry too much about it until you're within sight of the finishing line. If you have a leaderboard it's going to bring the liars out of the woodwork.

Still, there you have it. 3 of us with a real possibility of admittance to the hall of fame in the relatively near future.

[NormandyWept]

Season 2082/83 - Man City

League | Schedule Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3

From the moment I ran out of other leagues to add to keep the challenge landmarks ticking, I'd kept La Liga and especially the Premier League as active leagues: if I failed in winning a European Cup with Hamburg, a jump to a big club with bigger TV money was surely the perfect tonic. And when the Manchester City job came up in 2082, it proved too much of a temptation and I returned to the City of Manchester Stadium and the vast wealth backing it in a heartbeat.

A frustrating season ensued: we finished 2nd in the Premier League, one slip up in the run-in ultimately too much as even Liverpool's utter capitulation to us on the final day didn't help us past our mutual rivals Manchester United, and also not only crashed out of the Champions League but then ended up runners-up in the Europa League, losing my fourth Final of that competition (I've won two too, for a miraculous six appearances in that particular final!) - to Bayern, my long-term rivals.

With the vast wealth of English football at my disposal, I'm sure we will improve markedly for next year. Some of this year's signings were stop-gaps, and in the summer we'll be able to do more sustainable purchasing to try and claim the one elusive landmark that I've not yet collected.

Challenge Progress

Club

10/10 top domestic leagues (ARG, DEU, ENG, ESP, FRA, IND, ITA, KOR, POR, USA)

11/10 domestic cups (AUS, BRA, DEU, ENG, ESP, FRA, IND, ITA, KOR, MEX, POR)

4/5 club continental championships (Africa, Asia, N.Am., S.Am.)

1/1 club world championship

International

5/5 continental tournaments (Africa, Asia, Europe, N.Am., S.Am.)

2/2 world tournaments (WC, Confed.)

Seasons

CLUB CAREER
                               Leagues        Cups
Season        Club           1st      2nd    1st  2nd   Cont.   CWC   Other & Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014/15  RSA  Ajax CT        12th                                     Took over with 3 games remaining, in 15th
2015/16  RSA  Ajax CT                         R2   R1                 Sacked after 16 games, in 16th
2016/17  AUS  Wanderers       6th             QF
2017/18  AUS  Wanderers                       won                     Sacked after 22 games, in 10th
2018/19  IND  Dempo                           GS                      Sacked after 19 games, in 11th
2019/20  IND  Bengaluru       6th             SF   F
2020/21  IND  Bengaluru       2nd             won  F
2021/22  IND  Bengaluru       1st             GS   won  CC R2
2022/23  IND  Bengaluru       2nd             won  F    CL Q3E
2023/24  IND  Bengaluru                                 CC QF         Resigned after CC QF defeat/before league season
2024     KOR  Jeju            5th             SF
2025     KOR  Jeju            8th             SF
2026     KOR  Jeju            8th             QF
2027     KOR  Jeju                            QF                      Left for Pohang after 32 games, in 7th
2027     KOR  Pohang          5th             won                     Took over with 6 games remaining, in 5th
2028     KOR  Pohang                                    CL GS         Sacked after 16 games, in 5th
2028     KOR  Jeonbuk         5th             SF                      Took over with 20 games remaining, in 7th
2029     KOR  Jeonbuk                         R4                      Sacked after 35 games, in 7th
2030     KOR  Jeju                                                    Left for Wellington after 16 games, in 4th
2030/31  AUS  Wellington     10th
2031/32  AUS  Wellington     10th
2032/33  AUS  Wellington      7th
2033/34  AUS  Wellington                                              Left for Perth after 4 games, in 6th
2033/34  AUS  Perth           9th                                     Took over with 23 games remaining, in 10th
2034/35  AUS  Perth           7th
2035/36  AUS  Perth           5th/SF
2036/37  AUS  Perth                                                   Left for Seoul after 12 games, in 2nd
2037     KOR  Seoul           1st             SF        CL won  3rd
2038/39  MEX  Chivas          6th/SF  3rd/ F  QF  won
2039/40  MEX  Chivas         11th     2nd/QF            CL won
2041     USA  New York        1st/won         R4
2042     BRA  Internacional   5th     1st/won won                     Reached 1,000 games in management
2043     BRA  Internacional           1st/won SF        CL QF         Left for Lanus after 34 national games, in 7th
2044     ARG  Lanus           6th             R5        CS P2E
2045     ARG  Lanus                           R5                      Left for Velez after 15 games, in 11th
2045     ARG  Velez           4th/1st                   CS QF    F    Took over with 14 games remaining, in 1st
2046     ARG  Velez           5th/4th         R7        CL won   won
2047     ARG  Velez           1st             R7        CL QF
2049/50  FRA  Monaco          4th             F   R4    EL GS         Sacked after final game of season
2050/51  ITA  Inter           4th             F         EL R2
2051/52  ITA  Inter                                                   Sacked after 16 games, in 14th
2051/52  ITA  Lazio           8th                                     Took over with 21 games remaining, in 12th
2052/53  ITA  Lazio                                                   Sacked after 5 games, in 17th
2054/55  RSA  Wits           10th                 R1                  Took over with 12 games remaining, in 13th
2055/56  RSA  Wits                            R1  R1    CL won   5th  Left for Valencia after 29 games, in 8th
2056/57  ESP  Valencia        7th             R5        EL GS         Sacked after final game of season
2057/58  FRA  Monaco          3rd             SF  F     EL won
2058/59  FRA  Monaco          2nd             SF  R4    EL F
2059/60  FRA  Monaco          1st             won QF    CL R1
2060/61  ITA  Roma            3rd             R1        CL QF
2061/62  ITA  Roma            3rd             R1        CL GS
2062/63  ITA  Roma            3rd             F         EL F          Reached 2,000 games in management
2063/64  ITA  Roma                            QF        CL QF         Resigned after 33 games, in 8th
2064/65  ITA  Lazio          10th             R1
2065/65  ITA  Lazio           9th             QF
2066/67  ITA  Juventus        1st             won       CL R1
2067/68  ESP  Valencia        2nd             QF        EL GS
2068/69  ESP  Barcelona       1st             won       EL R1
2069/70  ENG  Man City        7th             R3        EL won        Took over with 23 games remaining, in 10th
2070/71  ENG  Man City        3rd             R4  R3    CL R1
2071/72  ENG  Man City        1st             won R4    EL SF
2072/73  POR  FCP             1st             won won   EL QF         Reached 2,500 games in management
2073/74  ENG  Fulham         11th             R4                      Took over with 18 games remaining, in 17th
2074/75  DEU  Hamburg         8th             F
2075/76  DEU  Hamburg         6th             R3
2076/77  DEU  Hamburg         4th             R3        EL GS
2077/78  DEU  Hamburg         7th             R3        EL F
2078/79  DEU  Hamburg         3rd             won
2079/80  DEU  Hamburg         2nd             QF        EL QF
2080/81  DEU  Hamburg         2nd             R2        CL SF
2081/82  DEU  Hamburg         1st             R2        CL QF
2082/83  ENG  Man City        2nd             R6  SF    EL F

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

                        Rank         Cups
Year  Nation           FIFA  NL   World  Cont. Conf. Other & Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2032  Saudi Arabia      12                           Joined 11th Jul, 29th in FIFA Rankings
2033  Saudi Arabia      25
2034  Saudi Arabia      49         GS
2035  Saudi Arabia                        won        Resigned 4th Feb, 38th in FIFA Rankings
2036  Norway            61   C                       Joined 27th Jul, 54th in FIFA Rankings
2037  Norway            57
2038  Norway            44   B
2039  Norway            39                           Resigned 14th Nov, 39th in FIFA Rankings
2042  Tunisia           36                           Joined 20th Jul, 42nd in FIFA Rankings
2043  Tunisia                             GS         Resigned 27th Jan, 37th in FIFA Rankings
2047  South Africa      22                           Joined 17th Feb, 10th in FIFA Rankings
2048  South Africa      19
2049  South Africa                        won        Resigned 7th Feb, 19th in FIFA Rankings
2049  USA               14                           Joined 1st Aug, 9th in FIFA Rankings
2050  USA               19         GS
2051  USA                                 won        Resigned 30th Jul, 31st in FIFA Rankings
2052  Spain              9                           Joined 21st Jul, 7th in FIFA Rankings
2053  Spain             10  won                      Reached 1,500 games in management
2054  Spain              1         won               Left for Brazil 2nd Aug, 1st in FIFA Rankings
2054  Brazil            14                           Joined 3rd Aug, 13th in FIFA Rankings
2055  Brazil            15                GS
2056  Brazil             2
2057  Brazil             6
2058  Brazil                       R1                Sacked 15th Jul, 6th in FIFA Rankings
2058  Spain              8   A                       Joined 21st Jul, 8th in FIFA Rankings
2059  Spain             18
2060  Spain              2                won
2061  Spain                 won                 won  Resigned 9th Jul, 2nd in FIFA Rankings
2062  Brazil             6                           Joined 23rd Jul, 6th in FIFA Rankings
2063  Brazil                              won        Resigned 7th Jul, 8th in FIFA Rankings

 

Edited March 29, 2017 by NormandyWept

[vikeologist]

NW- Hard luck on the season, but I think you made the right choice. Always a bit exciting to see that you've posted an update. I keep expecting this to be the one. I'm like a bride who keeps expecting to receive a proposal, only to find that you're on one knee to tie up your shoelaces.

So, out of 10, how much is your frustration with this CL quest? Are you enjoying the challenge so much that you don't want it to end and are subconsciously sending out your youth team in Europe, or are you becoming slightly bonkers and being slowed down by taking a baseball bat to your computer every time someone scores against you in the CL?

God, 8 seasons at Hamburg. That's longer than I stayed at Newcastle. You're not only challenging me for the Vikeologist Sacking Challenge © (which i will win easily as I will probably be sacked at least 3 or 4 more times by international sides after winning every match for 2 years and then losing in the knockout rounds of the continental championship) but also for the Vikeologist Flogging a Dead Horse Challenge ©

[NormandyWept]

NW- Hard luck on the season, but I think you made the right choice. Always a bit exciting to see that you've posted an update. I keep expecting this to be the one. I'm like a bride who keeps expecting to receive a proposal, only to find that you're on one knee to tie up your shoelaces.

So, out of 10, how much is your frustration with this CL quest?

Playing yesterday I just enjoyed being back on FM! I'm not too frustrated yet. Looking forward to spending some of City's money and hopefully going deep in the CL...

[pug 407]

Well done, pug.

JDD - I don't think there will ever be the option of carrying on a save from one version to the next.

I was considering the other day whether we should allow people (in FM17) to carry forward their achievements from one version to the next. For instance3 pug achieved 11 (I think) trophies on FM15, so could we say that as long as you start again as a 20 year-old you can carry forward those trophies you've already won. Maybe it would encourage people to keep going on the challenge.

i don't think that's a good idea though. This challenge is very difficult and almost nobody will ever achieve it. I think that's just the way it should be. I was only thinking about it because I want to try out FM16, but once I get used to it I won't go back. Have to keep going. Must finish.

Another thing I was considering, and indeed still am, is putting a leaderbaord under the hall of fame for those who have achieved 10 or more landmarks; (which would be a bit hard on SuperGord who it seems stopped on 9).

As far as I know, this would only encompass 4 people;

Bearing in mind that there are 33 landmarks (and that we wouldn't count any extra competitions such as an 11th league title) the leaderbaord would be as follows I think

NormandyWept - 32

Vikeologist -28

mayihavecookie-23

Pug407 - 11 (FM15)

There may be people who had more than 10 further back in the challenge. I'd have to check, but they'd all be lapsed saves.

I wouldn't put people on the leaderboard who suddenly crop up from nowhere after not posting anything and say 'Still doing this challenge and now I have 24 of the trophies'.

The thing is that a leaderbaord would probably just put more focus on the landmarks and the possibility of achieving the challenge, whereas I think the only sane approach is to just enjoy yourself and not worry too much about it until you're within sight of the finishing line. If you have a leaderboard it's going to bring the liars out of the woodwork.

Still, there you have it. 3 of us with a real possibility of admittance to the hall of fame in the relatively near future.

To Be Honest Was Going To Finish FM2015 But Wife Got FM2016 For Me. Will Go Back To 2015 One Day