The Ultimate Football Manager Challenge - Silver Age Archive

[blackdevil]

11 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

ACON - African Cup Of Nations

I think @vikeologist was bemoaning the number of times it's slipped through his fingers  

Good news about the African Champions League though.  Was a pain in the rear with it as it is in this version.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Oh ok I thought he didn't know what it was.

Yeah it took me ages to win the African Champions League.

Small Update

I have took over as Palmerias manager, currently top of my group in South American Champions League, hoping to complete the challenge by this week as I really haven't got much left to do.

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2052 Spain Euros Report

5 years since my last tournament.

For the first time I won the Nations League in 2051, which is a good sign, but then again all my players were in their mid-30s. Really, all of them, and half my squad retired immediately before the Nations League semi-finals.

There are only 5 of them in my squad for his tournament, or even the 30 man preliminary, so it’s a completely different team. However all the other teams are still full of old guys.

Group Stage

Spoiler

 

Spain            0-0     Germany

Spain            1-1     Sweden

I didn’t mind the draw with Germany too much, but it was a shocker to go in 1-0 down at the break against a Sweden team that we’ve beaten 4 times in the last couple of years in the Nations League and Qualifying tournaments. Now the pressure is on in the last group match, because maybe only two teams will get through from this group. Anything less than a win would almost certainly send us out.

It’s not just us, Holland, Italy, France, Belgium, England. We’re all in danger of going out.

Spain            3-0     Wales

We made it through, but all three performances were really bad. I let my assistant manager choose the team for the Wales match, because clearly I can’t be trusted.

Of the teams mentioned above, Holland and Italy scraped through. England, Belgium and France all finished bottom of their groups, so this is anybody’s cup now.

 

 

 

2^nd Round (if applicable)

Spoiler

 

Spain           3-1               Scotland

We had a man sent off at 1-0 up, and played most of the match with 10 men, but still built up a 3-0 lead. Scotland pulled a goal back, but then got their own red card with half an hour left, and we held on.

All the best teams are in our half of the draw. Not the first time that has happened to me, but Serbia have maybe done us a huge favour by eliminating a strong Czech republic side on penalties. That’s who we meet next.

 

Quarter Final (if applicable)

Spoiler

 

Spain            p0-0             Serbia

Serbia almost made it to the semi-finals on penalties. I don’t just mean in this match. They scored a penalty against France in the 8^th minute of their first match, and not a single goal in the following 502 minutes up to the penalty shootout against us. I guess they’re good at defending. It’s clear however that we’re not all that good at scoring, and I’m starting to think that might be a problem. Next up is Portugal who have conceded 2 goals in their last 15 competitive matches.

 

Semi Final (if applicable)

Spoiler

 

Spain            3-1               Portugal

Portugal went ahead with the only shot they hadon goal in the entire match, and I feared that we just wouldn’t be able to break them down, but our class told in the end.

 

It’s crazy that we’ve reached the final even though we’ve played so badly. Don’t get me wrong. We’ve had most of the chances in every match, but our wastefulness is appalling.

Russia in the final.

 

 

3^rd Place Playoff / Final (if applicable)

Spoiler

 

Spain            0-0p             Russia

Flaming penalties, and not just in the shootout. We had a penalty near the end of extra time, but a player with 16 penalties and 18 composure missed it. Russia had a chance to win it in the shootout but missed. We had a chance to win it, but missed, and then finally Russia broke my heart when their 8^th penalty taker scored, and ours missed.

 

After The Tournament

Spoiler

 

I haven’t been sacked, but I honestly don’t know whether to carry on with Spain for 4 years. Since finishing the club side of things, I’ve only won 1 of the 5 international tournaments I’ve taken part in. I’m haunted by the fact that the striker I dropped from my 30 man squad has 8 goals in 4 appearances.

In the end, I’ve decided to stay at Spain, and try to win in another 4 years. I’m letting my staff pick the squads and instant resulting everything.

So far we’ve won the Nations League again (this time we beat Russia on penalties in the final). Lost the Confederations Cup final.

As long as I can get through the World Cup without getting sacked, hopefully I’ve earned myself another shot at the Euros.

Domestic
Season	Team				Position	Notes										
17	Shanghai Shenxin (China)	9th		Took over with 5 matches left, and didn't win any of them. 
18	Shanghai Shenxin		2nd		Promoted
19	Shanghai Shenxin		9th	
20	Hebei China Fortune		3rd		Won FA Cup									
21	Hebei China Fortune		1st		League, Cup, Champions League treble						
21/2	Ajax CT (South Africa)		5th		Took over with 8 matches left, missed out on Confed Cup qual by 1 point.
22/3	Ajax CT				1st		Won African Champions League. League, KO Cup and FA Cup quadruple. Unbeaten in league.
23/4(O)	Chivas (Mexico)			1st		Lost in League final. Won the Mexican Cup.
23/4(C)	Chivas				1st		League / NACL double.
24	Defensor Sporting (Uruguay)	2nd		Took over half way through season. Won Closing Stage and First Division Playoff. Lost Championship Playoff.
25	Defensor Sporting		1st		Won Opening and Closing Stages and Intermedio (cup). Unbeaten domestically. 
27/8	Bordeaux (France)		2nd		Won Coupe de la Ligue, French Cup and Europa League.
28/9	Bordeaux			1st		League and both domestic cups. Champions League Q/F
29/30	Juventus (Italy)		1st		Took over with 15 matches remaining. Made up 9 points to win league in last day of season title decider.
30	Flamengo (Brazil)		1st		Took over 9 matches into the season. League, Libertadores double. Lost CWC in extra time.
31/2	Red Bull Leipzig (Germany)	1st		League / Champions League final. Yet another cup final defeat.
32/3	Red Bull Leipzig		1st		Won Club World Cup 3-2 from 2-0 down at halftime. Finally won another domestic (German) cup.
33/4	Chelsea	(England)		3rd		Won FA Cup. Lost in Champions League final for second season in a row.
34/5	Chelsea				1st		League, FA Cup and Champions League treble.
35/6	Barcelona (Spain)		1st		League / Cup / Champions League treble.
36/7	Rangers (Scotland)		n/a		114 days. 1 League Cup.
38/9	FC Porto (Portugal)		n/a		Another League Cup. End of the club side of the challenge.

International
Year	Team				Achievements
18	China U23			Won Asian Games.
19	Norway				Left after 4 matches of Euro Qualifying.
19-20	Ghana				Left after 2 matches of African Cup Qualifying
20	Belgium				Sacked after leading the #1 team in the world to 1 draw and 3 defeats
21-22	Ivory Coast			Qualified for World Cup and reached second round, won CHAN.
22-23	Mexico				Won Gold Cup, reached Copa America semi with B team.
24-25	Ivory Coast			ACON semifinals
25-26	Ghana				Failed to progress past World Cup group stage
26-27	South Korea			Lost in Q/F of Asian Cup
27-29	Ghana				ACON quarter finals.
30-31	Argentina			Copa America Q/F
31-32	Colombia			Left them on top of WC Qualifying group
32-34	Italy				Confederations Cup winners. Lost in World Cup S/F and sacked.
34-38	Brazil				2035 Copa America, 2037 Confederations Cup, 2038 World Cup
38-39	Ghana				ACON S/F
39-41	Nigeria				ChAN and (at the 12th time of asking) ACON
42-44	Holland				Euro Q/F Sacked
46-47	China				Asian Cup S/F Sacked
50-	Spain				Lost on penalties in Euro final. 2 Nations Leagues. Confederations Cup R/U


Challenge Progress 31/33

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

International
 3/5 continental tournaments 		(N America, S America, Africa)	
 2/2 world tournaments 			(World Cup, Confederations Cup)

 

 

[blackdevil]

Porto
Liga NOS
2034/2035

Upon the activation of the Portugese league it seemed most of the teams needed a new manager with the only Benfica not needing one from the big three.  I opted for Porto over Sporting as they seemed a little better.  Once the league campaign got underway it was Sporting and ourselves setting the pace going unbeaten until we met each other and we inflicted their first defeat of the season.  At the time of my resignation we were two points clear of Benfica and four ahead of Sporting and I was tempted to stick with them to finish off the leagues.
The league cup was fairly straightforward until the final where we faced Benfica and after a 3-3 draw with a late goal each it went to penalties which we edged to grab the much needed cup win.  It was a relief to win this as I'd been knocked out of the Portugese Cup in the 5th round so glad to have saved off another season trying to get a cup win.
The reason for resigning when in a good position to finish off the leagues?  A vacancy at a club in the Argentine league that's in 2nd place two points behind the leaders and the cup hasn't started yet...hopefully they'll appoint me.
 

Challenge Progress:

Spoiler

Club
9/10 top domestic leagues (CHI, BRA, RSA, USA, FRA, GER, ESP, ITA, ENG)
9/10 domestic cups (CHI, BRA, RSA, FRA, GER, ESP, ITA, ENG, POR)
5/5 club continental championships (ACL-Wuhan 2020, LIB-Sao Paulo 2022, CAFCL-Ajax CT 2025, NACL-New York RB 2027, UCL-Lyon 2029, UCL-Real Madrid 2032, UCL-Arsenal 2034)
1/1 club world championship (Sao Paulo 2022, Lyon 2029, Arsenal 2034)

International
4/5 continental tournaments (MAR 2023, KOR 2027, ITA 2032, MEX 2033)
1/2 world tournaments (ITA-CONF-2033)

Seasons:

Spoiler

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.
2026	USA	New York RB		MLS		1st								MLS Cup & MLS Supporters Shield winners
2027	USA	New York RB		MLS		12th					Win			NACL
2027/28	FRA	Olympique Lyonnais	L1		3rd		10rnd	Semi
2028/29	FRA	Olympique Lyonnais	L1		2nd		Semi	Win		Win			UEFA CL & League Cup winners
2029/30	FRA	Olympique Lyonnais	L1		1st		Win					Win	League & FA Cup & Club World Cup
2030/31	GER	Bayern Munich		BL		1st		Win						League & Cup double
2031/32	ESP	Real Madrid		L1		1st		Win			Win			League, Cup & ECL treble
2032/33	ITA	AC Milan		SA		1st		Win			Win			League, Cup & EL trebble
2033/34	ENG	Arsenal			EPL		1st		Win	Win		Win		Win	Clean sweep bar the Euro Super Cup
2034/35	POR	Porto			PL		1st*			Win					Won league cup, left in 1st place after 19 games

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, 2nd round of World Cup
2023	Morocco		18th			Win		Won African Cup of Nations
2024
2025	South Korea	50th					Won East Asia Cup
2026	South Korea	44th					3rd in World Cup group
2027	South Korea	31st			Win		Won the Asian Cup
2030/31	Italy		2nd					Semi-final of Nations League and some friendlies
2031/32	Italy		1st			Win		Won European Championships
2032/33	Italy		1st	Win			Win	Won Confederations Cup and Nations League
2033	Mexico		15th			Win		Won Gold Cup
2034	Argentina	12th
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

So I managed to win the Brazilian Cup and also the Copa Libertarodes in my first season with Palmerias

I am so close now, I am currently playing the Club World Cup, I really think my team is strong enough to win it. I then just need 2 domestic cups.

EDIT - I just realized I forgot to put the South African Cup as one of my achievements so just need one more domestic cup.

Challenge Progress

Club

10/10 top domestic leagues - MLS Cup, Chinese Super League, Italian Seria A, Dutch League, Spanish BBVA,  English Prem, French Ligue 1, German Bundesliga,  Portuguese League,  Croatian League.
8/10 domestic cups - German Cup,  Chinese FA Cup, Spanish Cup, English League Cup, Portugal League Cup, Croatian Cup, Betfred Cup, Brazilian FA Cup,
5/5 club continental championships - North American Champions League, Asian Champions League, UEFA Champions League, African Champions League,  Copa Libertarodes
0/1 club world championship - 

International

5/5 continental tournaments - Copa America, Euros, African Cup Of Nations, Gold Cup, Asian Nations Cup,
2/2 world tournaments - World Cup, Confederations Cup,

Edited September 5, 2018 by Ronaldo Beckham

[Ronaldo Beckham]

It wouldn't let me edit in the previous post so just putting it on here.

Challenge Progress

Club

10/10 top domestic leagues - MLS Cup, Chinese Super League, Italian Seria A, Dutch League, Spanish BBVA,  English Prem, French Ligue 1, German Bundesliga,  Portuguese League,  Croatian League.
9/10 domestic cups - German Cup,  Chinese FA Cup, Spanish Cup, English League Cup, Portugal League Cup, Croatian Cup, Betfred Cup, Brazilian FA Cup, South African Cup
5/5 club continental championships - North American Champions League, Asian Champions League, UEFA Champions League, African Champions League,  Copa Libertarodes
0/1 club world championship - 

International

5/5 continental tournaments - Copa America, Euros, African Cup Of Nations, Gold Cup, Asian Nations Cup,
2/2 world tournaments - World Cup, Confederations Cup,

[blackdevil]

Congrats @Ronaldo Beckham the finishing line is almost in sight.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Yeah I am just trying to think what leagues to add for my last domestic cup.

Any leagues that have short seasons or quick cup competitions ?

[blackdevil]

Mexico has a cup during each stage of the league.  ie. opening stage cup and closing stage cup.  But not all teams are in it.  A small league might worth a look, possibly Serbia or Ukraine.  Scotland also has two cups to aim for.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Yeah I already have won a Scottish Cup but I will load up Mexican, Serbian and Ukrainian leagues.

I just won the Club World Cup.

[blackdevil]

oh, the Scottish cup isn't listed on the progress table.  Congrats on the CWC.

*edt* unless that's the Betfred cup

Edited September 5, 2018 by blackdevil

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Yeah sorry the Betfred Cup is the Scottish Cup, sorry mate I should of put Scottish (Betfred) Cup.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Small Update

I picked Pumas from Mexican League for my last part of the Challenge hopefully, just working my way through the season.

Will update very soon hopefully with good news.

[bigmattb28]

This is the challenge I'm going to be doing on 19. Gonna use it alongside my career updates too. Great read guys!

[Ronaldo Beckham]

END OF CAREER POST

Well I won that final cup I needed by winning the Mexican Cup Opening Stage.

I am finally free from this lol, nah I have actually really enjoyed it, it got a bit frustrating at the end as I was so close and I was just eager to start a new save with a different team but I stuck to the challenge and finally completed it.

I am determined to get this challenge done in less seasons for FM2019.

Anyway thanks for everyone for the encouragement on here, I do appreciate it and good luck to everyone else to finish their challenge.

Challenge Progress

Club

10/10 top domestic leagues - MLS Cup, Chinese Super League, Italian Seria A, Dutch League, Spanish BBVA,  English Prem, French Ligue 1, German Bundesliga,  Portuguese League,  Croatian League.
10/10 domestic cups - German Cup,  Chinese FA Cup, Spanish Cup, English League Cup, Portugal League Cup, Croatian Cup, Betfred Cup, Brazilian FA Cup, South African Cup, Mexican Cup Opening Stage
5/5 club continental championships - North American Champions League, Asian Champions League, UEFA Champions League, African Champions League,  Copa Libertarodes
1/1 club world championship - Club World Cup

International

5/5 continental tournaments - Copa America, Euros, African Cup Of Nations, Gold Cup, Asian Nations Cup,
2/2 world tournaments - World Cup, Confederations Cup,

[blackdevil]

Congrats @Ronaldo Beckham always good to see someone finish the challenge.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Thank you @blackdevil and I hope you finish the challenge as well.

[blackdevil]

There's at least three more game years till the next world cup and I'll need to find the next generation of Argentine stars as the current crop are aging.  The Copa America is this year so fingers crossed these aging stars can sign off with the trophy.

Domestically I got the job at the team in 2ND place and after 5 games things are looking promising so I'm hopeful I can wrap up the club side of things this year.

[yugular]

 

After a short visit in South Africa I have been looking for good job opportunities but nothing much has happened. Then I noticed Celtic, they were out of Premiership contention but still in top4 of the Scottish Cup with Rangers already out. That's an easy trophy I thought and it was! https://imgur.com/a/3fVjTnZ

Next up Confederations Cup 2033 with Croatia!

 

 

 

Season       Team             Position         Champs League       Notes and Achievements     
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16/17	Carlisle              7th Sky Bet League 2	           Lost in playoffs rnd 1
17/18   Carlisle              1st Sky Bet League 2                 Promotion 
18/19   Middlesbrough         2nd Championship                     Promotion
19/20   Middlesbrough         5th Premier League                   EC slot
21/22   New England Revolution MLS                                 resigned
22/23   Orlando Pirates       1st ABSA Premiership                 runner-up in CAF Confederations Cup
23/24   Orlando Pirates       1st ASBA Premiership Won CAF CL      Won MTN8Cup
24/25   Orlando Pirates       resigned in January                  Won Telkom Knockout
25/26   Real Betis            1st Liga Adelante                    Won promotion
26/27   Real Betis            13th Liga BBVA
27/28   Liverpool             6th Premier League                   EC slot
28/29   Liverpool             2nd Premier League                   Won FA CUP & EUROPA LEAGUE
29/30   Liverpool             1st Premier League   Won CL          Won Capital One Cup & Community Shield
30/31   Liverpool             Got sacked in January                Won Club World Cup, Community Shield & UEFA Super Cup
30/31   River Plate           6th Primera Div                      Appointed as a manager in April
31/32   River Plate           1st Primera Div      Won CL
32/33   Celtic                3rd Premierhsip                      Won Scottish Club


International:
Season      Team             Notes and Achievements:
---------------------------------------------------------
2020        Croatia          Won European Championship
2022        Spain            Won World Cup
2024        Spain            Top4 in European Championship, got sacked
2026        Ivory Coast      Group stage 3rd in World Cup
2027        Ivory Coast      Won Africa Cup of Nations
2030        Croatia          Won World Cup

Challenge Progress 13/33

Club
 3/10 top domestic leagues (ABSA Premiership 22/23/Orlando Pirates, Premier League 29/30/Liverpool, Primera Division 31/32/River Plate)
 3/10 domestic cups (Telkom Knockout 24/25/Orlando Pirates, FA CUP 28/29/Liverpool, Scottish Cup 32/33/Celtic)
 3/5 club continental championships (CAF CL 23/24/Orlando Pirates, Champions League 29/30/Liverpool, Copa Libertadores 2031/River Plate)
 1/1 club world championship (2030/2031/Liverpool)

International
 2/5 continental tournaments (European Championship 2020/Croatia, Africa Cup of Nations 2027/Ivory Coast)
 1/2 world tournaments (World Cup 2022/Spain)

[yugular]

IT JUST WAS NOT MEANT TO BE!

I lost to Ivory Coast and Mexico in Confederations Cup and that does it. I waited for this opportunity for so long with the national team that kickstarted my career back in 2020 when I lead Croatia to win the Euro and later on won my second World Cup in 2030 with them. But we failed in the Confederations Cup

BUT! I have some good news also. My gig at Celtic was short. On July 2033 I am appointed as manager of PSG. Nice! Though I managed to build a team that could have gone unbeaten in Scotland...

 

Season       Team             Position         Champs League       Notes and Achievements     
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16/17	Carlisle              7th Sky Bet League 2	           Lost in playoffs rnd 1
17/18   Carlisle              1st Sky Bet League 2                 Promotion 
18/19   Middlesbrough         2nd Championship                     Promotion
19/20   Middlesbrough         5th Premier League                   EC slot
21/22   New England Revolution MLS                                 resigned
22/23   Orlando Pirates       1st ABSA Premiership                 runner-up in CAF Confederations Cup
23/24   Orlando Pirates       1st ASBA Premiership Won CAF CL      Won MTN8Cup
24/25   Orlando Pirates       resigned in January                  Won Telkom Knockout
25/26   Real Betis            1st Liga Adelante                    Won promotion
26/27   Real Betis            13th Liga BBVA
27/28   Liverpool             6th Premier League                   EC slot
28/29   Liverpool             2nd Premier League                   Won FA CUP & EUROPA LEAGUE
29/30   Liverpool             1st Premier League   Won CL          Won Capital One Cup & Community Shield
30/31   Liverpool             Got sacked in January                Won Club World Cup, Community Shield & UEFA Super Cup
30/31   River Plate           6th Primera Div                      Appointed as a manager in April
31/32   River Plate           1st Primera Div      Won CL
32/33   Celtic                3rd Premiership                      Won Scottish Cup


International:
Season      Team             Notes and Achievements:
---------------------------------------------------------
2020        Croatia          Won European Championship
2022        Spain            Won World Cup
2024        Spain            Top4 in European Championship, got sacked
2026        Ivory Coast      Group stage 3rd in World Cup
2027        Ivory Coast      Won Africa Cup of Nations
2030        Croatia          Won World Cup
2033        Croatia          Failed in Confederations Cup -> resigned

Challenge Progress 12/33

Club
 3/10 top domestic leagues (ABSA Premiership 22/23/Orlando Pirates, Premier League 29/30/Liverpool, Primera Division 31/32/River Plate)
 2/10 domestic cups (Telkom Knockout 24/25/Orlando Pirates, FA CUP 28/29/Liverpool)
 3/5 club continental championships (CAF CL 23/24/Orlando Pirates, Champions League 29/30/Liverpool, Copa Libertadores 2031/River Plate)
 1/1 club world championship (2030/2031/Liverpool)

International
 2/5 continental tournaments (European Championship 2020/Croatia, Africa Cup of Nations 2027/Ivory Coast)
 1/2 world tournaments (World Cup 2022/Spain)

Edited September 7, 2018 by yugular

[blackdevil]

Newell's Old Boys
Superliga
2034/2035

I took over with NOB in 2nd place behind River with 14 games to go.  I can't see why they sacked the previous manager who had been with them 13 years.
I won my first nine league games on the bounce and during that time River had lost two games so I'd moved four points clear.  After drawing my tenth league game aganist Huracan we beat Velez and then drew with bottom of the table Estudiantes to drag the title race to the penultimate game of the season.  A 2-0 win over Lanus sealed the title and win on the final day meant we finished nine points clear.
Whilst the Argentine league season runs from September to May, the Cup seems to run from February to November.  So far we've played two games in the cup winning 2-0 and 4-1.  The next tie is in August so will update in next seasons update.
The Libertadores follows a similar calendar and we've progressed through the group stage and the 2nd round is in August.

 

Argentina
Copa America
2035

The group stage was fairly straightforward beating Costa Rica B side 2-0 and then Peru 4-2 and finishing with a 0-0 draw against Bolivia with the squad players getting a run out.
The quarter-final saw us defeat Ecuador 3-1 to set up a semi-final against Brazil with neither team able to break the deadlock it went to penalties.  I think it's the first time in a very long time that I've made substitutions with penalty takers in mind and it payed off as two of my subs scored in a 4-1 shootout victory.  The other two were scored by my awesome forwards one of which is Argentina's all time goalscorer.
The final was against my former national team Mexico B and normal service was resumed as we ran out 3-0 winners.
 

Challenge Progress:

Spoiler

Club
10/10 top domestic leagues (CHI, BRA, RSA, USA, FRA, GER, ESP, ITA, ENG, ARG)
9/10 domestic cups (CHI, BRA, RSA, FRA, GER, ESP, ITA, ENG, POR)
5/5 club continental championships (ACL-Wuhan 2020, LIB-Sao Paulo 2022, CAFCL-Ajax CT 2025, NACL-New York RB 2027, UCL-Lyon 2029, UCL-Real Madrid 2032, UCL-Arsenal 2034)
1/1 club world championship (Sao Paulo 2022, Lyon 2029, Arsenal 2034)

International
5/5 continental tournaments (MAR 2023, KOR 2027, ITA 2032, MEX 2033, ARG 2035)
1/2 world tournaments (ITA-CONF-2033)

Seasons:

Spoiler

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.
2026	USA	New York RB		MLS		1st								MLS Cup & MLS Supporters Shield winners
2027	USA	New York RB		MLS		12th					Win			NACL
2027/28	FRA	Olympique Lyonnais	L1		3rd		10rnd	Semi
2028/29	FRA	Olympique Lyonnais	L1		2nd		Semi	Win		Win			UEFA CL & League Cup winners
2029/30	FRA	Olympique Lyonnais	L1		1st		Win					Win	League & FA Cup & Club World Cup
2030/31	GER	Bayern Munich		BL		1st		Win						League & Cup double
2031/32	ESP	Real Madrid		L1		1st		Win			Win			League, Cup & ECL treble
2032/33	ITA	AC Milan		SA		1st		Win			Win			League, Cup & EL trebble
2033/34	ENG	Arsenal			EPL		1st		Win	Win		Win		Win	Clean sweep bar the Euro Super Cup
2034/35	POR	Porto			PL		1st*			Win					Won league cup, left in 1st place after 19 games
2034/35	ARG	Newell's		SL		1st								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, 2nd round of World Cup
2023	Morocco		18th			Win		Won African Cup of Nations
2024
2025	South Korea	50th					Won East Asia Cup
2026	South Korea	44th					3rd in World Cup group
2027	South Korea	31st			Win		Won the Asian Cup
2030/31	Italy		2nd					Semi-final of Nations League and some friendlies
2031/32	Italy		1st			Win		Won European Championships
2032/33	Italy		1st	Win			Win	Won Confederations Cup and Nations League
2033	Mexico		15th			Win		Won Gold Cup
2034	Argentina	12th
2035	Argentina	14th			Win		Won Copa America
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Edited September 8, 2018 by blackdevil

[pug 407]

@blackdevil Good Luck On The Last Domestic Cup With NOB And Also The World Cup With Argentina.

[pug 407]

Congrats @Ronaldo Beckham On Your Win

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Cheers @pug 407 and good luck on the rest of the challenge.

[vikeologist]

@Ronaldo Beckham Congrats on your completion.

 

Sorry it took me a while to congratulate you. I going to step away from this challenge for a bit, although I'll update the leader board and hall of fame as required.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Cheers @vikeologist I hope you are ok buddy.

[Abdiel_rivera10]

Been reading through here for a bit and thinking of starting this save because I'm pretty bored from FM now. What leagues should I load up first? 

[yugular]

4 hours ago, Abdiel_rivera10 said:

Been reading through here for a bit and thinking of starting this save because I'm pretty bored from FM now. What leagues should I load up first? 

Whatever you feel like! There are few ways to tackle this challenge. One option is to load only one league to maximize your chances to get a job in a top flight as soon as possible. For example just load the South African premier league. Or then just build your career from lower leagues (the more realistic way). Personally i loaded a bunch of leagues and my first job was with Carlisle.

[vikeologist]

3 hours ago, yugular said:

Whatever you feel like! There are few ways to tackle this challenge. One option is to load only one league to maximize your chances to get a job in a top flight as soon as possible. For example just load the South African premier league. Or then just build your career from lower leagues (the more realistic way). Personally i loaded a bunch of leagues and my first job was with Carlisle.

But you can't only load an unrealistic league (eg English Championship) and 'force' the game to give you a job. The only advantage of your suggestion is that you wouldn't be distracted by rubbish jobs that are beneath you. The more leagues and divisions you load, the more jobs you'll be able to get.

AFAIK, it's now unlikely that one would get a first job in the S African premier league, though it used to be possible. 

 

[Dalbeider]

2023 - Changchun Yatai

After the modest successes of the previous year we wanted to challenge for bigger things, but realistically speaking we were looking at a transition season, what with our two big stars starting to show serious signs of being past their prime and there being little wage space to bring in replacements until they left or retired.

Competitions -- Fixtures

And that's exactly what we got. Granted, we gained one position in the league, but that was mostly due to all the favorites failing terribly hard this season for whatever reason. Shanghai SIPG, coming from five league titles in a row, started the year with eight defeats in nine games, for example. It was quite crazy, and we actually were at the top or nearby for most of the first half of the year. Then we had our usual dip around July and everything went to hell, to the point that we had to wait until the final day to secure our ACL place.

The cups were another story, and we stole the Super Cup from Shanghai SIPG themselves to start the season in a high note. And the FA Cup gave us the second title of the year, this time with a more difficult road to the final, but ending in a complete destruction of Yifang over two legs. Meanwhile, the ACL was probably the biggest disappointment of the season, although considering the group we were handed it was to be expected. It still hurt to see Melbourny City go ahead instead of us, though. All in all, two new trophies and a decent reputation boost (up to 65% now), but no actual challenge progress. Oh well. One year of contract left, hopefully I can improve the squad enough to actually challenge for league and ACL.

Also, finally some news regarding international management! Landed the Japan job after the Asian Cup, but after realizing that they have no keepers worth that name and a serious lack of depth in defensive positions, I jumped ship as soon as I could. Which was five months later when Cameroon had an early ACoN exit. I'd rather get the ACoN out of the way before the lack of quality regens in nations without active leagues becomes a problem, so this works just fine. The ANC (aka the irrelevant one) is about to start, and I'm expected to make the final, so we'll see if I can actually survive until the next Cup of Nations...

Roster

The dip in form for both Ighalo and Marinho is obvious from their stats, although both still managed some decent games here and there throughout the year, particularly Marinho in the cup final with three goals over both games, and being both the best player and the top goalscorer of the competition. Ighalo will retire at the end of the season, while Marinho will leave on a free, probably back to Brazil. Two legends leave, and I already have one replacement in the squad: Lucas Brochero, who came on a free from Boca in the summer window and has already shown that he's more than capable of shining bright in this league. We'll have space for at least two more foreigners as soon as the winter transfer window opens, so interesting times.

It was a good season for the secondary characters in the squad, though, and I want to bring attention to two of them in particular. First, Sun Xuelong, who with his 9 passing and not even being a natural MC has been our best midfielder for two seasons straight, even ahead of Zouzoua. Second, Zhenao Wang, backup striker who somehow always manages to grab a bunch of goals off the bench, to the point that he became our top league scorer for this season. Granted, Ighalo's bad form and Marinho's injuries helped, but still.

 

	Season   Team                         League               Cup1           Cup2          Continental    Other                Notes
======================================================================================================================================================================
2018     Selangor                     2nd                  3rd round      Group Stg.    N/A            N/A                  Joined in the offseason. National C license.
2019     Selangor                     1st                  Winners        Winners       East Playoff   N/A                  Domestic treble! Manager of the Year. National B and A licenses.
2020/21  Melbourne City               1st/Winners          2nd round      N/A           Group Stage    N/A                  Joined in the offseason. Manager of the Year. Continental C and B licenses.
2021     Changchun                    7th                  QF             N/A           N/A            N/A                  Joined in July, 7th, 11 games remaining.
2022     Changchun                    4th                  Winners        N/A           N/A            N/A                  Continental A license. Qualified to ACL through cup win.
2023     Changchun                    3rd                  Winners        N/A           Group Stage    Super Cup Winners    Continental Pro license. Entered Asian HoF.

Season   Nation                       Continental           World              Final ranking    Notes
======================================================================================================================================================================
2023     Japan/Cameroon               N/A                   N/A                74th/27th        Qualified for ANC.

Challenge Progress

Club

2/10 top domestic leagues (Liga Super Malaysia 2019, Hyundai A-League 2020/21)
2/10 domestic cups (Piala FA (Malaysia) 2019, Chinese FA Cup 2022-2023)
0/5 club continental championships ()
0/1 club world championship

International

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

Other titles

Piala Malaysia (2019)
Chinese FA Super Cup (2023)

Edited September 15, 2018 by Dalbeider

[numero uno gunner]

        

Season 2038

Italy

After departing the Ukraine with a couple of trophies in the bag (getting through customs was interesting...) I couldn't manage to get another club job. This, strictly speaking, probably isn't accurate. I could've opted to join a plethora of clubs, but I'm being picky. I want a top French or Spanish team really.

Back with Italy, and World Cup qualification was an absolute breeze. Eight wins from eight, and then it was time for our next crack at a trophy. Qualification meant I believed we had a great chance to go deep into this competition, and we headed to the USA with hopes high.

We had been drawn with Argentina (the number one ranked team in the world, Egypt and Canada. Evidently, our game against La Abliceleste was going to decide who won the group, and that was up first. Things couldn't have started in worse fashion for us, as we were 1-0 down within 20 seconds. However, Pio Barone equalised before the break, before Denerval and Armando Su Sbenso found the net after half time to seal a 3-1 win. A 2-0 win over Egypt was followed up by a 4-0 win over Canada, and this put us through to face Sweden in the last 16.

A second 4-0 win followed, with the three scorers from our opening game being joined by Francesco Carbone on the score sheet. Unfortunately, we lost Denerval to an injury for the rest of the tournament. Its hard when you lose your star striker, so we had to pray Carbone would hit the ground running. Pio Barone settled a tense quarter final win over Portugal, with our defence taking centre stage as we won 1-0.

The semi final game against Holland was an absolute epic. 1-0 up at half time, courtesy of a Michele Pavan goal, we were 2-1 down ten minutes after the restart. Carbone levelled the game a minute later, before chance after chance went begging, for both sides. That man Barone stepped up again, and his goal was enough to see us through to the final, where Germany awaited. Carbone scored after fifteen seconds, a weird counterbalance to the way our World Cup campaign started. From then on, we never looked like losing. The defence weren't stretched, and Carbone added a second after 52 minutes, and we held on to lift the title!

Now what? I'm staying on as Italy manager, with two more potential trophies to be won. I've now got two years to phase out those players who will be too old for the next championships, and bring through the new generation. Club-wise, I've finally landed a new job. But more on that in my next update...

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!

2035/36   Leverkusen             1st     League winners! FA Cup winners!

2036/37   Shakhtar Donestsk  1st   League winners! FA Cup winners!

2037/38   Unemployed

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!

2036         Unemployed

2037         Italy                    Failed to get out of UEFA Nations League group. About to start qualification for World Cup.

2038         Italy                    World Cup winners!

Challenge Progress

Club

8*/10 top domestic leagues - Republic of Ireland (Sligo), China (Tianjin), USA (Montreal), Netherlands (Ajax), South Africa (Orlando Pirates), England (West Ham), Italy (Juventus), Germany (Leverkusen), Ukraine ((Shakhtar Donetsk) - doesn't count towards the challenge)

8/10 domestic cups - Northern Ireland (Dungannon), China (Tianjin), Brazil (Palmeiras), South Africa (Orlando Pirates), England (West Ham), Italy (Juventus), Germany (Leverkusen), Ukraine (Shakhtar Donetsk)

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)

1/2 world tournaments - World Cup (Italy 2038)

[blackdevil]

@Numero Uno Congrats on the world cup win. 

I didn't think the Europa League (West Ham) counts towards the continental club competitions, just the Champions League.

[blackdevil]

Newell's Old Boys
Superliga
203/203

The Argentine Cup carried over into the new season as it still follows the calendar year and not the league year.  In the 7th round we had an easy 3-1 victory against Atlético Tucumán followed by a thumping 3-0 win over league rivals River in the quarter-finals.  The semi-final saw us overcome Godoy Cruz 2-0 to setup a final against Vélez Sarsfield.  Heading into this I was tense and nervous with it being the last domestic trophy I needed and it didn't help that I was 1-0 down after two mins.  With my head still in my hands I missed the equaliser on the 24th min, we took the lead in the 64th min from a corner but threw it away late on when Vélez equalised in the 82nd min.  This is one of the few matches I've ever made subs just to cover penalties and it payed off with one of them scoring.  However the hero of the shootout was our goalkeeper who made 4 saves to allow us to win 2-0 on penalties and allow me to breathe a very long sigh of relief.
The league was a secondary concern whilst I was concentrating on the cup and I was tempted to quit after I'd won it.  It took some time but I decided to carry on and it was an enjoyable three way fight for the title with Boca, River and ourselves.  We didn't take top spot until the turn of the year and we thankfully held onto it despite stuttering and staggering over the finish line to win the leage by two points from both Boca and River.  It was equally frustrating and enjoyable to be in a close run title chase and I wouldn't have been bothered if we'd won it or not.

Internationally we're in the middle of the world cup qualifying and looking good with 5 wins and 1 draw so far leaving us top of the qualification table by a point from Chile.  Unfortunately the World Cup isn't until 2038 so a couple of years to wait for that.

I'm not sure what to do now with regards to club management, I'm not convinced I can maintain the domestic sucess with Newell's given the finances and reputation of Boca & River so may resign.  That would allow time to pass a lot quicker to the World Cup but I do prefer to manage club sides to international sides and I'm thinking of carrying this save on after the challenge is complete...until the new version is released anyway.

 

Challenge Progress:

Spoiler

Club
10/10 top domestic leagues (CHI, BRA, RSA, USA, FRA, GER, ESP, ITA, ENG, ARG)
10/10 domestic cups (CHI, BRA, RSA, FRA, GER, ESP, ITA, ENG, POR, ARG)
5/5 club continental championships (ACL-Wuhan 2020, LIB-Sao Paulo 2022, CAFCL-Ajax CT 2025, NACL-New York RB 2027, UCL-Lyon 2029, UCL-Real Madrid 2032, UCL-Arsenal 2034)
1/1 club world championship (Sao Paulo 2022, Lyon 2029, Arsenal 2034)

International
5/5 continental tournaments (MAR 2023, KOR 2027, ITA 2032, MEX 2033, ARG 2035)
1/2 world tournaments (ITA-CONF-2033)

Seasons:

Spoiler

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.
2026	USA	New York RB		MLS		1st								MLS Cup & MLS Supporters Shield winners
2027	USA	New York RB		MLS		12th					Win			NACL
2027/28	FRA	Olympique Lyonnais	L1		3rd		10rnd	Semi
2028/29	FRA	Olympique Lyonnais	L1		2nd		Semi	Win		Win			UEFA CL & League Cup winners
2029/30	FRA	Olympique Lyonnais	L1		1st		Win					Win	League & FA Cup & Club World Cup
2030/31	GER	Bayern Munich		BL		1st		Win						League & Cup double
2031/32	ESP	Real Madrid		L1		1st		Win			Win			League, Cup & ECL treble
2032/33	ITA	AC Milan		SA		1st		Win			Win			League, Cup & EL trebble
2033/34	ENG	Arsenal			EPL		1st		Win	Win		Win		Win	Clean sweep bar the Euro Super Cup
2034/35	POR	Porto			PL		1st*			Win					Won league cup, left in 1st place after 19 games
2034/35	ARG	Newell's		SL		1st								League champions
2035/36	ARG	Newell's		SL		1st		Win						League and Cup double

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, 2nd round of World Cup
2023	Morocco		18th			Win		Won African Cup of Nations
2024
2025	South Korea	50th					Won East Asia Cup
2026	South Korea	44th					3rd in World Cup group
2027	South Korea	31st			Win		Won the Asian Cup
2030/31	Italy		2nd					Semi-final of Nations League and some friendlies
2031/32	Italy		1st			Win		Won European Championships
2032/33	Italy		1st	Win			Win	Won Confederations Cup and Nations League
2033	Mexico		15th			Win		Won Gold Cup
2034	Argentina	12th
2035	Argentina	14th			Win		Won Copa America
2036	Argentina	9th
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

[numero uno gunner]

@blackdevil - It does for me! To cut a long story short, I was a fair way into this challenge (for the second time - clearly glutton for punishment) when I got hit by the Copa Libertadores bug. It just stopped working. We had a big discussion about it at the time, and I said that I felt winning the Europa League and Champions League (in Europe) with different clubs was a fair compromise. I had to state what I was going to do before going any further.

[blackdevil]

@numero uno gunner Ah right, no worries that clears it up.  Must have missed that discussion but it's a reasonable compromise.  Can imagine it's a bit gutting to not be able to ticket off the Libertadores though.

 

Minor update:

Argentina
Confederations Cup
2037

I resigned from Newell's, who incidentally went on to win the league again in my absence, to focus on the one remaining objective for this challenge and that's the World Cup.  We've qualified without any problems with four games to spare and the Confederations Cup in a World Cup warm up.
It was a tough group with China, Mexico and the number one team in the world, Germany.  We started off with a 5-2 win over China and 1-1 draws with Mexico and Germany to qualify with Mexico.  In the semi-final we faced world number two Netherlands and comfortably won 3-1 to setup a final against Mexico which we won 3-2 thanks to a late goal.
Following the tournament and just a year before the World cup my two star forwards have announced their retirement from international football and that throws a serious spanner in the works as they're far superior to anyone else available even though they're in their 30's.
 

Challenge Progress:

Spoiler

Club
10/10 top domestic leagues (CHI, BRA, RSA, USA, FRA, GER, ESP, ITA, ENG, ARG)
10/10 domestic cups (CHI, BRA, RSA, FRA, GER, ESP, ITA, ENG, POR, ARG)
5/5 club continental championships (ACL-Wuhan 2020, LIB-Sao Paulo 2022, CAFCL-Ajax CT 2025, NACL-New York RB 2027, UCL-Lyon 2029, UCL-Real Madrid 2032, UCL-Arsenal 2034)
1/1 club world championship (Sao Paulo 2022, Lyon 2029, Arsenal 2034)

International
5/5 continental tournaments (MAR 2023, KOR 2027, ITA 2032, MEX 2033, ARG 2035)
1/2 world tournaments (ITA-CONF-2033, ARG-CONF-2037)

Seasons:

Spoiler

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.
2026	USA	New York RB		MLS		1st								MLS Cup & MLS Supporters Shield winners
2027	USA	New York RB		MLS		12th					Win			NACL
2027/28	FRA	Olympique Lyonnais	L1		3rd		10rnd	Semi
2028/29	FRA	Olympique Lyonnais	L1		2nd		Semi	Win		Win			UEFA CL & League Cup winners
2029/30	FRA	Olympique Lyonnais	L1		1st		Win					Win	League & FA Cup & Club World Cup
2030/31	GER	Bayern Munich		BL		1st		Win						League & Cup double
2031/32	ESP	Real Madrid		L1		1st		Win			Win			League, Cup & ECL treble
2032/33	ITA	AC Milan		SA		1st		Win			Win			League, Cup & EL trebble
2033/34	ENG	Arsenal			EPL		1st		Win	Win		Win		Win	Clean sweep bar the Euro Super Cup
2034/35	POR	Porto			PL		1st*			Win					Won league cup, left in 1st place after 19 games
2034/35	ARG	Newell's		SL		1st								League champions
2035/36	ARG	Newell's		SL		1st		Win						League and Cup double
2036/37

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, 2nd round of World Cup
2023	Morocco		18th			Win		Won African Cup of Nations
2024
2025	South Korea	50th					Won East Asia Cup
2026	South Korea	44th					3rd in World Cup group
2027	South Korea	31st			Win		Won the Asian Cup
2028
2029
2030/31	Italy		2nd					Semi-final of Nations League and some friendlies
2031/32	Italy		1st			Win		Won European Championships
2032/33	Italy		1st	Win			Win	Won Confederations Cup and Nations League
2033	Mexico		15th			Win		Won Gold Cup
2034	Argentina	12th
2035	Argentina	14th			Win		Won Copa America
2036	Argentina	9th
2037	Argentina	2nd				Win	Won Confederations Cup
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Edited September 19, 2018 by blackdevil

[pug 407]

@blackdevil Good Luck On Your Last Cup

[blackdevil]

Thanks @pug 407 things are looking up since my last update as the below news article points out so wonderfully

And those two players for reference are:

[blackdevil]

Argentina
World Cup
2038

When it came to announcing the squad for the World Cup I was filled with renewed optimism thanks to talking the two legendary forwards out of retirement.  However that optimism was tempered with the pre-tournament friendlies against Senegal which we won 1-0 thanks to a 91st min winner from Magnani and then a 2-2 draw with Bosnia & Herzegovina where we came from 1-0 down to be leading 2-1 and then throw it away by conceding a 92nd min goal.  On a positive though Magnani got another two goals.

In the group stage we were drawn with El Salvador, Nigeria and Belgium.  We started off with a comfortable 4-1 win with Magnani getting two goals and De Hoyos also getting on the score sheet.  Next up was Nigeria where we were kicked off the park by an overly aggresive side reminicent of Cameroon's game against Argentina in the '90 World Cup with four of our players picking up minor injuries.  We thankfully saw them off 1-0 with a late goal from a corner and a delightful volley from the edge of the box by our defensive midfielder.  With Belgium and ourselves already qualified I rotated the squad against them and squeezed out a 1-0 win in a fairly drab game thanks to a first international goal for a young left winger who'd only made his debut in the friendly against Senegal.

The second round saw us face Japan and after 32 mins we were 2-0 down until first half injury time when we pulled one back through an own goal.  After loosing my rag at them with the half time team talk it took only 5 mins of the 2nd half before we were level thanks to Argentina's all time leading goal scorer De Hoyos and after the hour mark Magnani smashed in two goals to see the game out with a 4-2 win.

Italy awaited in the quarter-final, a tight cagy afair in the first half came to life in the second and the deadlock was broken on 52nd min with a goal from our young left winger.  Italy equalised in the 56th min thanks to a lad I introduced to the international team during my spell with Italy.  We secured the win in 73rd min with a goal from our substitue forward.

The semi-final saw us take on France...how we didn't win the game is beyond me, we hit the woodwork at least 4 or 5 times.  At least twice it was cleared off the line by a defender and their goalkeeper made numerous saves.  It was one of those games where you throw everything inluding the kitchen sink at them and it just doesn't go in and you're left waiting for the inevitable sucker puch counter attack.   Thankfully that sucker punch didn't come and the game went to penalties, Magnani and De Hoyos missed our first two penalties as France scored their first 3.  We went on to score our next three as France missed theirs for us to go through 4-3 shootout winners.  After missing the first two penalties I was resigned to defeat so when France's final penalty was blazed over the bar ala Chris Waddle I may have annoyed my neighbours by shouting a little loud for the early hours.

This is it, the one we've all been waiting for, they beat us in 1990, they beat us in 2014, for the thousands in attendance, the millions watching around the world it's time to conquor the Germans!  Eight mins after my nebulous inspiration team talk (not counting the pre-match rubbish) we were 1-0 down and the German's were looking comfortable like a Rolls Royce.  They were stronger, quicker and  better in the air.  We weren't getting anywhere near them for the first 20 mins then we started getting a foothold in the game and equalised on the 25th min through our star forward Magnani.  The game then turned into a back and forth encounter with chances for both teams with Germany having the better of them until the 64th min when De Hoyos smashed in a low cross from the left not even close to one of our players and the defender knocked it into his own net.  The German's responded putting us under pressure however we were threatening to hit them on the counter and we sealed the win with a first international goal for a young midfielder who ran from within his own half to support Magnani who fed him into space just outside the box and he finished with a solid drive across goal into the top corner to secure Argentina's 3rd World Cup title.  Whilst Magnani was our leading star in terms of goals, assists and average rating my choice for star was the young midfielder as he reminded me of Gazza's 1990 World Cup heroics and the goal just rounded it off nicely.

Relief is the word that best decribes the feeling of finally getting across the finish line.  At times it's been a bit of a slog to get through seasons, sometimes due to the team I'm managing and others due to life interfering.  But on the whole it's been an enjoyable journey and I think I'll carry on this save until the new version comes out.

 

Challenge Progress:

Spoiler

Club
10/10 top domestic leagues (CHI, BRA, RSA, USA, FRA, GER, ESP, ITA, ENG, ARG)
10/10 domestic cups (CHI, BRA, RSA, FRA, GER, ESP, ITA, ENG, POR, ARG)
5/5 club continental championships (ACL-Wuhan 2020, LIB-Sao Paulo 2022, CAFCL-Ajax CT 2025, NACL-New York RB 2027, UCL-Lyon 2029, UCL-Real Madrid 2032, UCL-Arsenal 2034)
1/1 club world championship (Sao Paulo 2022, Lyon 2029, Arsenal 2034)

International
5/5 continental tournaments (MAR 2023, KOR 2027, ITA 2032, MEX 2033, ARG 2035)
2/2 world tournaments (ITA-CONF-2033, ARG-CONF-2037, ARG-WC-2038)

Seasons:

Spoiler

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.
2026	USA	New York RB		MLS		1st								MLS Cup & MLS Supporters Shield winners
2027	USA	New York RB		MLS		12th					Win			NACL
2027/28	FRA	Olympique Lyonnais	L1		3rd		10rnd	Semi
2028/29	FRA	Olympique Lyonnais	L1		2nd		Semi	Win		Win			UEFA CL & League Cup winners
2029/30	FRA	Olympique Lyonnais	L1		1st		Win					Win	League & FA Cup & Club World Cup
2030/31	GER	Bayern Munich		BL		1st		Win						League & Cup double
2031/32	ESP	Real Madrid		L1		1st		Win			Win			League, Cup & ECL treble
2032/33	ITA	AC Milan		SA		1st		Win			Win			League, Cup & EL trebble
2033/34	ENG	Arsenal			EPL		1st		Win	Win		Win		Win	Clean sweep bar the Euro Super Cup
2034/35	POR	Porto			PL		1st*			Win					Won league cup, left in 1st place after 19 games
2034/35	ARG	Newell's		SL		1st								League champions
2035/36	ARG	Newell's		SL		1st		Win						League and Cup double
2036/37
2037/38

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, 2nd round of World Cup
2023	Morocco		18th			Win		Won African Cup of Nations
2024
2025	South Korea	50th					Won East Asia Cup
2026	South Korea	44th					3rd in World Cup group
2027	South Korea	31st			Win		Won the Asian Cup
2028
2029
2030/31	Italy		2nd					Semi-final of Nations League and some friendlies
2031/32	Italy		1st			Win		Won European Championships
2032/33	Italy		1st	Win			Win	Won Confederations Cup and Nations League
2033	Mexico		15th			Win		Won Gold Cup
2034	Argentina	12th
2035	Argentina	14th			Win		Won Copa America
2036	Argentina	9th
2037	Argentina	2nd				Win	Won Confederations Cup
2038	Argentina	3rd		Win			Won World Cup
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Screenshots:

Spoiler

 

Edited September 21, 2018 by blackdevil

[pug 407]

Congrats @blackdevil

[pug 407]

Pug's Update Season 2023-24

After Win The League Last Year The Board Give Me These Expectations . With That I Got The Players Needed In To Accomplish The Task.

With A Record Of 34 Wins And 4 Draws 0 Losses We Won The League By 33 Points. League Table. Results 1 . Results 2 .

In The KFA Cup Up First Was Konkuk Univ And A Easy 12-0 Win. Next Up Was A End To End 3-3 Draw Against Jeonbuk And A 3-2 Penalty Win.

In The Quarters We Face Seongnam and a 9-2 Win. In The Semis We Came Up Against  Seoul And A Flattering 2-0 Win. In The Final Jeonnam

And A 6-2 Aggregate Win Saw Us Lift The Trophy. Results . 

In The AFC Champions League Apart From A Draw Against Shanghai SIPG. We Won All The Other To Give Us The Trophy We Wanted

The Most. Results .

I Was Going To Resign But I Got Asked To Pick My Squad For The Club World Cup. So With That I Went On To See How Well I Could Do.

Up First Was My Old Club Puebla And Not Many Of My Old Players Left We Won 3-0. Next Was Palmeiras From Brazil And A 5-0 Thrashing

Who Went On To Beat Man City 1-0 In The Final. In The 3rd Place Play-Off A 4-0 Win To Finish 3rd. Results .

                                                                       CLUB CAREER                      
                                                                       -----------
Season     Club                Leagues        Cups                                     Other & Notes
                               1st  2nd       1st  2nd    Cont    CWC  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18    Soihull Moors       Won                                                     Won Vanarama League
2018/19    Mthatha Bucks       Won                 Won                                 Won ABSA Premiership/Telkom
2019/20    Kaizer Chiefs       Won            Won  Won                                 Won All Domestic Trophies
2020/21    Kaizer Chiefs                                  Won                          Left After Champions League Win 
2021/22    Puebla              Won            Won                                      Won Cup And League                  
2022/23    Puebla              Won  Won                   Won                          Won Apertura/Clausura/Champ League  
2022/23    Pohang Steelers     Won                                                     Won The League
2023/24    Pohang Steelers     Won            Won         Won                          Won The Treble
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   INTERNATIONAL CAREER
                                                                   --------------------

Season    Nation         Cups                                                                         Other & Notes
                         World Cup    Confed Cup    Euro's    AFC    ACON    Gold Cup   Copa America
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020/21   Nigeria
2021/22   Nigeria                                                    Won
2021/22   Chile                                                                                       Sacked After 4 Games
2022/23   Australia

  Challenge Progress.
  -------------------

Club
----
3/10 Top Domestic Leagues(South Africa-Mexico-South Korea)
3/10 Top Domestic Cups   (South Africa-Mexico-South Korea)
3/5  Continental Cups    (Kaizer Chiefs-Puebla-Pohang)
0/1  Club World Cup      ()

International
-------------
1/5  Continental Tournaments (Nigeria/ACON)
0/2  World Tournaments       ()

  

[blackdevil]

Congrats @pug 407 on success in Korea and AFC Champions League.

[pug 407]

Cheers @blackdevil

[pug 407]

Pug's Update Season 2023-24

After Leaving Pohang I Applied For And Got The AC Milan Job. Contract Offer . They Were Sitting In 7th Place Having Played 18 Games. League . Results .

After A Bit Of Wheeling And Dealing With Not Much Money, I Had The Squad I Was Hoping Was Going To Get Me Up The League. We Were Already Out Of

The TM Cup, But Still In The Europa League. First Game Was Up Against Crotone Who Were In The Bottom 3 And A Easy 4-1 Win. With That I Went On To

Win 15 Draw 1 And Lose 3 To Finish 3rd. Results . League . In The Europa  League Our Next Game's Was A 10-2 Aggerate Win Over Clermont.

Next Up Was Newcastle And A Lucky 1-0 Win At Home. Away From Home At Newcastle's Ground They Hammered My Team, We Were Lucky To Get Beat

Only 3-0. Results .

Pug's Update Season 2024-25

. Season Expectations . Title Odds .So On To The Next Season And With A Bit Of A Overall Off The Squad. Transfers . We Set About The Task Of Winning

The League. With No Other Team Able To Keep Up We Won The League, With 35 Wins 3 Draws And 0 Losses And A Record Number Of Points And Goals.

Also 30 Points Above Our Nearest Rival Napoli. In The TM Cup Apart From Resting Some Players In The Semi Final 2 Leg Against Juventus, We Made

It The Double. TM Cup Results .

In The Champions League We Were Drawn In A Group Of Feyenoord Porto And Tottenham. With 3 Wins 2 losses And A Draw We Come 3rd In The

Group. Results . Table . With That We Had To Play In The Europa League. Which We Got To The Semi's Before Getting Beat By Man City. Results .

End Of Season Awards  Job History

With Australia It Was AFC World Cup Qualifiers 2nd Round. With Some Good Results We Made It To The Next Round. Results . Table.

                                                                       CLUB CAREER                      
                                                                       -----------
Season     Club                Leagues        Cups                                     Other & Notes
                               1st  2nd       1st  2nd    Cont    CWC  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18    Soihull Moors       Won                                                     Won Vanarama League
2018/19    Mthatha Bucks       Won                 Won                                 Won ABSA Premiership/Telkom
2019/20    Kaizer Chiefs       Won            Won  Won                                 Won All Domestic Trophies
2020/21    Kaizer Chiefs                                  Won                          Left After Champions League Win 
2021/22    Puebla              Won            Won                                      Won Cup And League                  
2022/23    Puebla              Won  Won                   Won                          Won Apertura/Clausura/Champ League  
2022/23    Pohang Steelers     Won                                                     Won The League
2023/24    Pohang Steelers     Won            Won         Won                          Won The Treble
2023/24    AC Milan
2024/25    AC Milan            Won            Won                                      Won The Double
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   INTERNATIONAL CAREER
                                                                   --------------------

Season    Nation         Cups                                                                         Other & Notes
                         World Cup    Confed Cup    Euro's    AFC    ACON    Gold Cup   Copa America
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020/21   Nigeria
2021/22   Nigeria                                                    Won
2021/22   Chile                                                                                       Sacked After 4 Games
2022/23   Australia

  Challenge Progress.
  -------------------

Club
----
4/10 Top Domestic Leagues(South Africa-Mexico-South Korea-Italy)
4/10 Top Domestic Cups   (South Africa-Mexico-South Korea-Italy)
3/5  Continental Cups    (Kaizer Chiefs-Puebla-Pohang)
0/1  Club World Cup      ()

International
-------------
1/5  Continental Tournaments (Nigeria/ACON)
0/2  World Tournaments       ()

 

 

[Dalbeider]

@blackdevil late-ish, but congrats on completing the challenge! Gives me hope to sometime get there. Somehow. Eventually. Maybe.

---

2024 - Changchun Yatai / Hebei China Fortune FC / Cameroon

Yep, exactly what it looks like: I jumped ship in the middle of the season. The reasons were simple: the first third of the season for Changchun looked like an exact copy of the previous one, including a second Super Cup win in a row, a league form that was solid but still steadily losing ground to the runaway leaders du jour (Quanjian in this case) and, most importantly, out of the Champions League in the group stage after some rotten luck in our away games. It was like we'd hit a wall, and Changchun didn't seem to have the resources needed to jump over that final hurdle, at least not in the short term.

Changchun fixtures

And then Hebei sacked Li Tie, and heaven opened for me. Hebei's fortunes (heh) hadn't been particularly bright in the last few years, at most managing to squeeze into the ACL places at the last second, but finding themselves 15th on the table with 14 matches played was a new low. They did have the resources, though, what with over €90M in the transfer kitty and an available wage budget bigger than Changchun's total wage budget. I applied, one-upping the board's expectations and promising a top half finish in order to secure the job. For a second I wondered if I hadn't shot a bit too high, given the team's situation...

Competitions -- Hebei fixtures

Nope. I actually fell short. Hebei went 16-2-2 in the league since I took over, were unbeaten in the last 11 fixtures, and rocketed up all the way to the final second place, securing a place in the 2025 Champions League and looking like we could've pressed the leaders for the title if the season had gone for a bit longer. Fun fact: Quanjian only lost three games throughout the season, and two of those were to me, one with each team. Another fun fact: both Changchun and Hebei were kicked out by Jeju in the ACL, the first in the group stage and the second in the second round, right before I made the jump.

Oh, and I also won the FA Cup again. Just Hebei's first silverware in six years or so, nothing big.

Roster -- Young Player of the Year -- Team of the Year

Honestly, the only reason this squad was suffering was because the previous managers were idiots, and somehow thought that a team without any half-competent left backs nor ball-winning midfielders could work. A couple of summer purchases later to reinforce the defensive half of the roster, things were ticking much better. Of course the stand-out names in this team are the foreign stars (Andone, Corona, friggin' Marcelo Brozovic), but there's also a pretty nice amount of quality-looking youngsters like Hou Jianzhong, Chen Dongsheng, and Gong Wei (whom I stole back from Yifang one year after they stole him from Changchun, and who won the Young Player of the Year award). If we can get rid of Léo Duarte (not bad, but not good enough for a foreigner in this league) and replace him with a quality Asian center-back, and maybe add some depth in both full backs and the DMC position, we'll be set for big things next year.

Cameroon fixtures

Internationally, things didn't exactly go to plan in the African Nations Cup. A flawless group stage was followed by armed robbery in the quarterfinals, losing to Mali in a match in which we outshot them eighteen to four, and in which the deciding 0-1 was an own goal. Somehow I managed to hold onto my seat after that, and now we're already qualified for next year's ACoN, and drawn into a pretty manageable group with South Africa, Cape Verde, and Congo. The World Cup Qualifiers are looking tougher, though, with Tunisia, Ghana, and Togo in our group, but we'll see how that goes.

 

	Season   Team                         League               Cup1           Cup2          Continental    Other                Notes
======================================================================================================================================================================
2018     Selangor                     2nd                  3rd round      Group Stg.    N/A            N/A                  Joined in the offseason. National C license.
2019     Selangor                     1st                  Winners        Winners       East Playoff   N/A                  Domestic treble! Manager of the Year. National B and A licenses.
2020/21  Melbourne City               1st/Winners          2nd round      N/A           Group Stage    N/A                  Joined in the offseason. Manager of the Year. Continental C and B licenses.
2021     Changchun                    7th                  QF             N/A           N/A            N/A                  Joined in July, 7th, 11 games remaining.
2022     Changchun                    4th                  Winners        N/A           N/A            N/A                  Continental A license. Qualified to ACL through cup win.
2023     Changchun                    3rd                  Winners        N/A           Group Stage    Super Cup Winners    Continental Pro license. Entered Asian HoF.
2024     Changchun                    ---                  ---            N/A           Group Stage    Super Cup Winners    Left in June for Hebei with the team 3rd in the league.
         Hebei CFFC                   2nd                  Winners        N/A           N/A            N/A                  Joined with team 15th, expected top half.

Season   Nation                       Continental           World              Final ranking    Notes
======================================================================================================================================================================
2023     Japan/Cameroon               N/A                   N/A                74th/27th        Qualified for ANC.
2024     Cameroon                     QF                    N/A                32nd             Qualified for ACoN.

 

Challenge Progress

Club

2/10 top domestic leagues (Liga Super Malaysia 2019, Hyundai A-League 2020/21)
2/10 domestic cups (Piala FA (Malaysia) 2019, Chinese FA Cup 2022-2023-2024)
0/5 club continental championships ()
0/1 club world championship

International

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

Other titles

Piala Malaysia (2019)
Chinese FA Super Cup (2023-2024)

[blackdevil]

Thanks @Dalbeider, good luck in China.

[womble248]

I have a terrible habit of cheating when playing FM like restarting games and all that so after months of debating I've decided to try starting this on FM17...

That, and I also needed an FM save that will actually keep me interested past like, 2022. So...here goes nothing. Haha.

[bigmattb28]

47 minutes ago, womble248 said:

I have a terrible habit of cheating when playing FM like restarting games and all that so after months of debating I've decided to try starting this on FM17...

That, and I also needed an FM save that will actually keep me interested past like, 2022. So...here goes nothing. Haha.

We've all done it mate, the old add manager against the team you're just about to play is a classic. I don't cheat now tho I'd rather just play it as intended. Each to their own though. Good luck with the challenge. I'll be doing this on 19.

[womble248]

5 hours ago, bigmattb28 said:

We've all done it mate, the old add manager against the team you're just about to play is a classic. I don't cheat now tho I'd rather just play it as intended. Each to their own though. Good luck with the challenge. I'll be doing this on 19.

I keep trying to play it as intended and then somewhere along the line I get angry at a 5-1 thrashing and decide I deserve better. Then I disappear down the rabbit hole. Whoops. Hopefully this challenge will keep me on the straight and arrow.

 

In other news, after a good 4 months of holidaying, I had a choice between the Eastleigh job, FC Chiasso in the Swiss Challenge League (Switzerland's Second Division) or Braga B in the Portugese Second League. I ended up choosing Braga B because of the team's higher reputation (3 versus 2.5 stars) and easier job remit ('battle bravely against relegation' against 'avoid relegation') but I feel like I should've chosen the Swiss team instead just to try to progress the challenge. I just thought I'd get into a job till the end of the season and hopefully get a coaching badge and then move on.  Oh well. Gotta sleep in the bed I just made I guess.

[Dalbeider]

Yeah, you're not alone in that. I sure have felt tempted to replay certain matches lately, grumble mumble...

 

2025 - Hebei China Fortune FC / Cameroon / Nigeria

Cameroon fixtures -- Nigeria fixtures

Let's start with international management this time, because it's kinda obvious from the double African badge up there that things didn't go quite as planned in the ACoN with Cameroon... We'd looked good in the friendlies, but an unlucky defeat against South Africa in the first match that mattered put us in a difficult position. We managed to recover and win the other two group matches, and even managed to beat Nigeria against the odds in the second round, but former (and future) champions Egypt were too much for us, although once again a bit more luck would've been enough to push us through. We were expected to reach the final, so I was obviously sacked immediately after the tournament.

Afterwards I had the option of going back to Asia (the Iran job had become available after a bad performance in the Confederations Cup, and they're one of the strongest Asian nations in this save, so it wasn't a bad option at all), or stay in Africa with one of the many jobs available after the Cup of Nations. In the end I went to the strongest nation available, which was none other than my second round victims Nigeria. Since then we've done fantastically well in the World Cup qualifying section, easily making it to the big tourney and with Iheanacho leading the African section in both goals, assists, and average rating. We even got an easy-ish draw for the actual World Cup, with hosts Canada, Poland, and Uruguay. Funny that the toughest of the bunch is gonna be the fourth seed...

Hebei competitions -- Fixtures

Back to club level, and boy, what a season. So many highs and lows. We were fantastic throughout the year, yet somehow seemed intent on throwing all that good work into the nearest trashcan in the last third. First we did our best impression of Barça against Roma and almost squandered a 4-1 lead in the cup semis. Then we did throw away a 4-1 aggregate lead against Jeju in the ACL semis, only to manage a 90+5th minute winner to make it to the final. Third time was the charm, though, and we finally managed to lose a title we had in our hands by losing the final fixture in the league. Shameful, but the league wasn't the priority anyway.

Our main focus all year was the Champions League, and for that reason we basically gifted the cup away to Shandong by playing reserves in both legs, saving our first teamers for the actually important matches. Al-Ittihad were the defending champions and had been impressive throughout the competition, yet we somehow managed to steal a 3-3 draw from the first leg in their stadium. Then, back home, we went back to our usual trophy-burning form by going 0-2 down in the first twenty minutes. Some screaming in the dressing room later, the players finally seemed to remember that this game is won by scoring goals, not by conceding them, and managed to turn it around and win the second leg to give me the all-important first continental trophy in the challenge. Yay!

That also gave us a surprise last tournament to take part in before my contract ran out at the end of the year: the Club World Cup. With five players gone with China to play in the East Asia Cup, we did quite well to get past Orlando Pirates in the quarterfinals, but Corinthians in semis was too tall a wall for us to climb, despite taking an early lead. Winning the 3rd place playoff against Pachuca on penalties marked the end of my time in China. Even if it happened in South Korea. It still counts.

Roster -- Team of the Year

These are the guys who made that possible, with too many stand-out names to mention them all. Let's just namedrop the Most Popular Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year, Gong Wei, the hero of that ACL final comeback with one goal and two assists and our best creative midfielder, Xiang Shuai, our latest signing to replace homebound Corona and who scored three key goals in the ACL final and five in the CWC, Brenner, and the midfielder that held our team together throughout the season, Marcelo Brozovic.

With the club branch of Asia already done with (I could stay and win the league next year but eh, no real reason to do so at this point of the challenge), it's time to move elsewhere. Top priority would be a good team in South Africa, to hopefully get the African Champions League ticked off the list as soon as possible. North America is another alternative, if a MLS or Mexican job becomes available, or even South America if one of the big teams in either Brazil or Argentina decides to pick me. Options open.

 

Season   Team                     League               Cup1           Cup2          Continental    World         Other                Notes
=================================================================================================================================================================================
2018     Selangor                 2nd                  3rd round      Group Stg.    N/A            N/A           N/A                  Joined in the offseason. National C license.
2019     Selangor                 1st                  Winners        Winners       East Playoff   N/A           N/A                  Domestic treble! Manager of the Year. National B and A licenses.
2020/21  Melbourne City           1st/Winners          2nd round      N/A           Group Stage    N/A           N/A                  Joined in the offseason. Manager of the Year. Continental C and B licenses.
2021     Changchun                7th                  QF             N/A           N/A            N/A           N/A                  Joined in July, 7th, 11 games remaining.
2022     Changchun                4th                  Winners        N/A           N/A            N/A           N/A                  Continental A license. Qualified to ACL through cup win.
2023     Changchun                3rd                  Winners        N/A           Group Stage    N/A           Super Cup Winners    Continental Pro license. Entered Asian HoF.
2024     Changchun                ---                  ---            N/A           Group Stage    N/A           Super Cup Winners    Left in June for Hebei with the team 3rd in the league.
         Hebei CFFC               2nd                  Winners        N/A           N/A            N/A           N/A                  Joined with team 15th, expected top half.
2025     Hebei CFFC               2nd                  Finalists      N/A           Winners        3rd           Super Cup Winners    ACL champions!

Season   Nation                       Continental           World              Final ranking    Notes
======================================================================================================================================================================
2023     Japan/Cameroon               N/A                   N/A                74th/27th        Qualified for ANC.
2024     Cameroon                     QF                    N/A                32nd             Qualified for ACoN.
2025     Cameroon                     QF                    N/A                41st             Sacked after ACoN.
         Nigeria                      N/A                   N/A                26th             Joined after ACoN. Qualified for ANC and WC.

Challenge Progress

Club

2/10 top domestic leagues (Liga Super Malaysia 2019, Hyundai A-League 2020/21)
2/10 domestic cups (Piala FA (Malaysia) 2019, Chinese FA Cup 2022-2023-2024)
1/5 club continental championships (Asian Champions League 2025)
0/1 club world championship

International

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

Other titles

Piala Malaysia (2019)
Chinese FA Super Cup (2023-2024-2025)

Edited October 9, 2018 by Dalbeider

[womble248]

2017 - End of Season

So like I said, I took on Braga B because I got supremely restless of constantly holidaying, but I've resigned at the end of the season despite taking the team from the brink of relegation to near the top of the table because, being a B team, there was no way I could get promoted to the top league so I was essentially wasting my time, except for gaining a badge. 

I also quit out of frustration at the nature of managing a B team, which was players constantly getting shuttled back and forth between the main team and the B team, meaning that, for example, loan signings I made with the intention of improving my own squad depth got swallowed up by the main team leaving me back at square one. Or, I'd get a winger with a great coach report for one game and then he's whisked away and I never see him again. I can't manage like this!!!

So...now I'm waiting for jobs to open up and hopefully now I can take this challenge seriously. Sigh.

Season   Team                     League               Cup1           Cup2          Continental    World         Other                Notes
=================================================================================================================================================================================
2017     Braga B .                4th                  N/A .          N/A .         N/A            N/A           N/A                  Joined in December 2016. National C license.

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 October 11, 2018 by womble248