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1 hour ago, streety said:

Yeah i hear you, Here in Spain im regretting my decision to join Bilbao

are bilbao still restricted to signing only basque players? makes breaking the top 3's hold on the division alot harder. 

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On 02/03/2018 at 13:55, Lewis89 said:
9 hours ago, Lewis89 said:

are bilbao still restricted to signing only basque players? makes breaking the top 3's hold on the division alot harder. 

Yes they are, theres not alot of options to for me to improve the team, Im thinking of leaving but trying to stay in Spain and call Bilbao a rescue mission

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5 minutes ago, GloryFan2002 said:

Got my first Madagascan youth player. Looks really good as well. Best one I've had since moving to West Ham (so best one yet.). Great name as well.

20180306203227_1.thumb.jpg.2484e0eb2bd1f44e93c50e10286ca293.jpg

 

 

You're not going to fit that name on my wee bairn's replica shirt. 

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4 hours ago, yugular said:

All right folks! Wish me luck! Im about to enter to the Club World Champs tonight with Liverpool. If I manage to win it I will make it to the leaderboards :brock:

Good luck, being a liverpool fan, Don't disappoint me...

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2024 – Shijiazhuang Yongchang

Logo_yongchang.png 

Manager ProfileFixtures 1Fixtures 2Fixtures 3
TransfersCompetitionsPlayer Stats

Haven't had a lot of time lately, but finally finished a new season here. We struggled a bit more this year, and had big goal scoring problems from the start. Towards the end Johnson luckily finds his form again, and become our top scorer with approximately the same amount of goals scored this year as the previous. Our main problem is that we lose too many games, as we might have won the league now if we just could hang on to one point in some of our defeats. Anyways, finishing 3rd again is not bad for this team.. If I do one more season here, there has to be a chance for us to bring a trophy home.
Looking at the cups for this season, the CFA Cup was a disaster, and our run ended in 4th round. This gave us a chance to focus on the other competitions, and I think we were good in the Champions League. Managed to end 2nd in a tough group, and got all the way to the quarter finals before we got knocked out. Would have liked to actually go further, but in the end it wasn't meant to be. 

CLUB MANAGEMENT
Season    Team                     League                     Position   Domestic Cups            Continental Cup   Notes
2017/18   Hong Kong Rangers        Hong Kong Premier League   6th        1st/1st/2nd/Qtr. final   N/A               National C-license, 2 domestic cups
2018      Geylang International    Singaporean League         6th        1st/3rd                  N/A               Took over 7th with 8 games to go, 1 domestic cup
2019      Geylang International    Singaporean League         1st        1st/2nd                  N/A               National B-license, 1 domestic cup
2020      N/A                      N/A                        N/A        N/A                      N/A               Unemployed
2021      N/A                      N/A                        N/A        N/A                      N/A               No club job
2022      Shijiazhuang Yongchang   Chinese Super League       10th       3rd round                N/A               Continental C-license, expected last in league, 3rd best in 2nd half of the season
2023      Shijiazhuang Yongchang   Chinese Super League       3rd        4th round                N/A               Continental B-license, expected last in league, qualified for ACL
2024	  Shijiazhuang Yongchang   Chinese Super League       3rd        4th round                Qtr. Final        Continental A-license, qualified for ACL


INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT
Season   Nation        FIFA Ranking   Continental Tournament   World Tournament   Notes
2020     Iraq          66th           N/A                      N/A                Took over just before new year, no games
2021     Iraq          74th           N/A                      N/A                Resigned when I didn't qualify to WC, fell 8 places on FIFA ranking during my stay
2022     New Zealand   85th           N/A                      N/A                Played well in friendlies, 9 places up on FIFA ranking, starting to figure out how this works..
2023     Mexico        26th           1st                      N/A                Won Gold Cup, went up 2 places on FIFA ranking before I resigned

Challenge Progress
Club
1/10 top domestic leagues (Geylang, SIN;)
2/10 domestic cups (Rangers, HKG; Geylang, SIN;)
0/5 club continental championships ()
0/1 club world championship ()

International
1/5 continental tournaments (Gold Cup, MEX; )
0/2 world tournaments ()

Edited by Skogmus
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6683__1925__logo-125-splash-new-padded.p

 

FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP CHAMPIONS!

Finally the competition I was looking forward to! This was my second shot at the title (tho to be realistic I didn't really have a chance with Orlando Pirates). Easy 4-0 win in the semis against ES Tunis and a tight battle in the finals against FLA (Flamengo?) which I managed to win 1-0. After the tournament I pushed a new contract for myself and leaked the refusal to the press, well that got me sacked :D Hopefully my sacking leads to some movement in the manager market...

15JuxNy.jpg

 

 

 

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


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 10/33

Club
 2/10 top domestic leagues (ABSA Premiership 22/23/Orlando Pirates, Premier League 29/30/Liverpool)
 2/10 domestic cups (Telkom Knockout 24/25/Orlando Pirates, FA CUP 28/29/Liverpool)
 2/5 club continental championships (CAF CL 23/24/Orlando Pirates, Champions League 29/30/Liverpool)
 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)
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@yugular - Congrats on winning the Club World Trophy, making it to the leader board, and on getting sacked as well, I suppose. First edit I've had to make to the hall of fame / LD since January.

@Skogmus All your players, of all ethnicities, look exactly the same apart from the hair. is this because of something you've added, or is FM18 really that rubbish? I'm in the weird position of not really wanting to complete my FM17 Dafuge challenge, as then I may find myself dragged into the wading through the FM18 experience. On the other hand, it will be nice to do this challenge again, as then people will read my updates, and I will once again feel validated as a human being.

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2 minutes ago, vikeologist said:

@yugular - Congrats on winning the Club World Trophy, making it to the leader board, and on getting sacked as well, I suppose. First edit I've had to make to the hall of fame / LD since January.

Thanks. Now to tackle some other top tier leagues! And Im also still in Croatia as I won the world cup so I have a chance to enter the Confederations Cup 2033...

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Ok so Libertadores is the "Champions League" and Sudamerica is "Europa League" in a sense.. Well we are in Libertadores this season and next season we will be on Sudamerica. So if I don't win Libertadores now it will take me few seasons at least...

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2023/24 West Ham/Switzerland

logo_westham.png2000px-Flag_of_Switzerland_(Pantone).svg

A bit of a stalling for the challenge. I started off very well with West Ham going 12 games undefeated from the start of the season to only coming in 7th. In the 2nd chance of the season, I saw some very good  games from youngsters Boyko Harizanov and Bryan Tarone. Not much happened in the cups or the Europa League. I had some quality signings such as Tiemoue Bakayoko (8.75m from PSG) as well as Regilio Neeskens (14.75m from Ajax).

Competitions- As I said earlier we finished 7th after starting off really well, cups and Europa League didn't end well. For Switzerland, we qualified for the Euopean Championships beating out teams like Slovenia, Russia and Kosovo

Best Player- Raheem Sterling- The ex Man City man beat out American regen Thomas Kerner for this award, Sterling was incredible during our win getting 15 goals and 12 assists throughout the season, getting a 7.21 rating throughout the entire season. He was incredible teaming up with Thomas Kerner and Matheus Pereira as they powered us through that undefeated stretch, before it all went astray

Future Plans- The European Championships with Switzerland is my first priority, but I also have a new season coming up with a new team, Juventus. Juventus have a very good team with players such as Paulo Dybala and Walace

|Year|Club|League|League Position|Cup Finish|Notes|POTS
|2016/17|Airbus UK Broughton|Welsh Premier League|7th|3rd Round|Joined after 23 games in 9th|Ryan Edwards
|2017/18|Airbus UK Broughton|Welsh Premier League|5th|Runners-Up|Left at end of season|James Owen
|2018|Guizhou Zhicheng|Chinese Jia League|1st|4th Round|Joined after 22 games in 1st|Tjaronn Chery
|2019|Guizhou Zhicheng|Chinese Super League|13th|4th Round|Survived first season in Super League|Tjaronn Chery
|2020|Guizhou Zhicheng|Chinese Super League|11th|N/A|Left after 4 games into the season|N/A
|2019/20|Brisbane Roar|Australian A-League|3rd|Semi-Final|Joined after 25 games. Won A-League|Erik Paartalu
|2020/21|Brisbane Roar|Australian A-League|7th|2nd Round|Won ACL left mid-season|Tommy Oar
|2021/22|West Ham|English Premier League|12th|3rd Round|Joined after 21 games in 15th|James Ward-Prowse
|2022/23|West Ham|English Premier League|10th|Winners|Won FA Cup|Wesley Hoedt
|2023/24|West Ham|English Premier League|7th|4th Round|Left end of season|Raheem Sterling


1/10 Domestic Leagues (Australia (Brisbane Roar 2019/20))
1/10 Domestic Cups (England (West Ham 2022/23))
1/5 Continential Competitions (Asia (Brisbane Roar 2020))
0/1 Club World Cup

|Year|Nation|Ranking|Notes
|2018|Ivory Coast U23|N/A|No games played so far
|2019|Ivory Coast U23|N/A|Won the U23 African Cup of Nations
|2021|Ivory Coast|49|Missed out on WC Qualification and resigned from role in October
|2022|Switzerland|28|Only friendlies played
|2023|Switzerland|46|Won European Nations League Division 2
|2024|Switzerland|18|Qualified for European Championships

0/5 Continential Competitions
0/2 International Competitions

3/33 Total Completion

 

 

 

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2023/24 West Ham/Switzerland

logo_westham.png2000px-Flag_of_Switzerland_(Pantone).svg

A bit of a stalling for the challenge. I started off very well with West Ham going 12 games undefeated from the start of the season to only coming in 7th. In the 2nd chance of the season, I saw some very good  games from youngsters Boyko Harizanov and Bryan Tarone. Not much happened in the cups or the Europa League. I had some quality signings such as Tiemoue Bakayoko (8.75m from PSG) as well as Regilio Neeskens (14.75m from Ajax).

Competitions- As I said earlier we finished 7th after starting off really well, cups and Europa League didn't end well. For Switzerland, we qualified for the Euopean Championships beating out teams like Slovenia, Russia and Kosovo

Best Player- Raheem Sterling- The ex Man City man beat out American regen Thomas Kerner for this award, Sterling was incredible during our win getting 15 goals and 12 assists throughout the season, getting a 7.21 rating throughout the entire season. He was incredible teaming up with Thomas Kerner and Matheus Pereira as they powered us through that undefeated stretch, before it all went astray

Future Plans- The European Championships with Switzerland is my first priority, but I also have a new season coming up with a new team, Juventus. Juventus have a very good team with players such as Paulo Dybala and Walace

|Year|Club|League|League Position|Cup Finish|Notes|POTS
|2016/17|Airbus UK Broughton|Welsh Premier League|7th|3rd Round|Joined after 23 games in 9th|Ryan Edwards
|2017/18|Airbus UK Broughton|Welsh Premier League|5th|Runners-Up|Left at end of season|James Owen
|2018|Guizhou Zhicheng|Chinese Jia League|1st|4th Round|Joined after 22 games in 1st|Tjaronn Chery
|2019|Guizhou Zhicheng|Chinese Super League|13th|4th Round|Survived first season in Super League|Tjaronn Chery
|2020|Guizhou Zhicheng|Chinese Super League|11th|N/A|Left after 4 games into the season|N/A
|2019/20|Brisbane Roar|Australian A-League|3rd|Semi-Final|Joined after 25 games. Won A-League|Erik Paartalu
|2020/21|Brisbane Roar|Australian A-League|7th|2nd Round|Won ACL left mid-season|Tommy Oar
|2021/22|West Ham|English Premier League|12th|3rd Round|Joined after 21 games in 15th|James Ward-Prowse
|2022/23|West Ham|English Premier League|10th|Winners|Won FA Cup|Wesley Hoedt
|2023/24|West Ham|English Premier League|7th|4th Round|Left end of season|Raheem Sterling


1/10 Domestic Leagues (Australia (Brisbane Roar 2019/20))
1/10 Domestic Cups (England (West Ham 2022/23))
1/5 Continential Competitions (Asia (Brisbane Roar 2020))
0/1 Club World Cup

|Year|Nation|Ranking|Notes
|2018|Ivory Coast U23|N/A|No games played so far
|2019|Ivory Coast U23|N/A|Won the U23 African Cup of Nations
|2021|Ivory Coast|49|Missed out on WC Qualification and resigned from role in October
|2022|Switzerland|28|Only friendlies played
|2023|Switzerland|46|Won European Nations League Division 2
|2024|Switzerland|18|Qualified for European Championships

0/5 Continential Competitions
0/2 International Competitions

3/33 Total Completion

 

 

 

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senegal.thumb.png.11fff988a8ae1e23c1e7344eb88891ed.pngAtlanta.jpg.e5a9f7caeb9f869617145cc5002d1182.jpg

Season 4 2021

Atlanta

Season Preview   Season Review   Squad    Transfers   Results 1    Results 2    Manager Profile

League/MLS Cup - Champions. Don't ask how we did it, in the supporters shield of the season, we finished 3rd, behind 2 teams who's squads are both stronger than ours. Yes we have 2 ageing worldies in Meertens and Dembele, and quite a few decent others, but NY Red bulls young American talent is very strong. If i was in charge there, I would have walked this league. Anyway onto the MLS Cup section and we drew NY City and progressed with a hard fought 5-4 Aggregate victory. Two tight games ending 3-3 and 2-1. Onto the Eastern Conference final, where we faced our nemesis NY red bulls. They had beaten us 3 times already this season but we pulled off our best performance of the season recording an amazing 6-1 home victory, even then we almost threw it away with a very poor 5-2 away leg loss. Onto the final and in what was a very tight affair, we beat Dallas 3-2 giving me my 2nd top division title of the challenge.

Lamar Hunt US Open Cup - Drew the NY red bulls in the 4th round (our 1st game in the cup)  and lost 2-1

CONCACAF Champions League - For me the surprise of the season. Having taken over with the club already qualified, the format is different to elsewhere, with no group stages and straight into the knockout rounds involving 16 teams. Tournament tree. I was honestly expecting to go out early here as the player registration date had passed before my appointment so couldn't play any of my own signings. The squad was pretty average but somehow pulled through, and ended up lifting Atlanta's first continental crown. Ticking of our 2nd continental club title. Champions League Review

FIFA CWC - Expectations were low for this. so to end up winning the 3rd place play off was satisfying. We dispatched Vancouver 3-0 in the quarter finals. In the semis we faced Barcelona of all teams, having faced Real last season with Beijing. We bravely took the game to extra time, but the extra quality shone through as they nicked a winner in the 121st min to seal the tie 4-3. In the 3rd placed play off we faced Copa Libertadores champions San Lorenzo and managed to seal a win on penalties after drawing 2-2.

  Senegal

Appointment     AFCON Tree    Results

My first year as on the international scene couldn't have gone any better. I took over ahead of the 2021 AFCON, and even though we lost our first game in charge, a friendly against Togo. With Senegal's current squad, I had quite an easy task in steering them to the glory. Winning the AFCON at the very first attempt. I also managed to seal Qualification for next summers World cup in Australia. We were drawn in Group E, alongside France, Japan and Jamaica. With the likes of Mane, keita, Gueye etc, I feel its a good chance to at least get out the group stages and then who knows. maybe even a good run to the latter stages and a boost to  my rep. Does anyone know the qualification criteria for the confederations cup? 

Next season

After a successful season in the U.S.A I will be leaving after the CWC in December, having kept an eye on Africa as I really want to go there next and try get that out the way before heading to Brazil and then onto Europe. However nobody is sacking there manager, so It may have to be Brazil and then onto Africa. I have applied and had interviews with Internacional and Flamengo, who finished 5th last season so managing them is my preferred choice as 5th place in Brazil means champions league football. I know leaving here without a domestic cup means ill be chasing one later on in the challenge but id much rather that be in a league with less transfer rules and regulations. Despite this seasons success I haven't really enjoyed it too much, I am going to stay at Senegal for the time being as the world cup is near, and I'm hoping for a shot at the Confederations cup.

UPDATE: Having clicked on for a while, I failed to get both jobs I had applied for. I remember reading earlier on in the thread that resigning can harm your rep and even some hidden attributes. So having second thoughts about resigning and then this happens Golden Generation. This has swayed me to hang on with Atlanta, even if not for the full season, but just until a job comes up that's appealing. I could do with winning the US Open Cup anyway. 

CLUB CAREER	
						Leagues		Cups
Season	Nation	League		Club		1st	2nd	1st	2nd	Cont	CWC	Other Notes and Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------	
2018	CHI	CJL		Beijing Renhe	1st		SF				Appointed DEC 2017, Gained C & B License, Manager of the Season
2019	CHI	CSL		Beijing Renhe	1st		WON				Gained National A, CON C License, Manager of the season, Double Winners
2020	CHI	CSL		Beijing Renhe	1st		R.U		WON	3RD	Gained CON B License, Manager of the year, CSL & ACL Winners, Resigned on 22/12/2020
2021	USA	MLS		Atlanta United	3rd	WON	RD4		WON	3RD	Gained CON A License, MLS CUP and NACL Winners, Coach of the year.





INTERNATIONAL CAREER
									Competitions

Season	Nation	World Cup	Confed Cup	Euro Cup	Asian Cup	Afcon	Gold Cup	Copa A		Other Notes and Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021	SENEGAL									WON					Appointed on 21/03/2021, Qualified for World Cup.










CHALLENGE PROGRESS

	CLUB

	2/10 Top Domestic Leagues		CSL-Beijing Renhe 2019,2020. MLS-Atlanta 2021. 
	1/10 Domestic Cups			CFA-Beijing Renhe 2019.
	2/5 Club Continental Championships	Asia-Beijing Renhe 2020. CONCACAF-Atlanta 2021. 
	0/1 Club World Cups


	International

	1/5 Continental Tournaments		AFCON-Senegal 2021.
	0/2 World Tournaments


	All Achievements

	Beijing Renhe - Chinese Jia League 2018. Chinese Super League 2019, 2020. Asian Champions League 2020. Chinese FA Cup 2019. Chinese Super Cup 2020. Manager of the season 2018, 2019, 2020.
	Atlanta United - MLS Cup 2021. CONCACAF 2021. MLS coach of the year 2021.
	  

 

 

 

Edited by Lewis89
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2024 European Championship (Switzerland)

2000px-Flag_of_Switzerland_(Pantone).svg

Squad

Spoiler

Goalkeepers- Roman Burki (Celta Vigo), Yvon Mvogo (West Brom), Fabian Stutz (FC Basel)

Defenders-  Nico Elvedi (Bordeaux), Mario Herve (Leicester), Jan Bamert (FC Basel), Marco Kunz (FC Basel), Andre Bieri (Southampton), Ricardo Rodriguez (Arsenal),  Philipp Eisman (Roma), Luigi Baldin (Tottenham), Silvan Widmer (West Ham)

Midfielders- Admir Mehmedi (Chicago Fire), Granit Xhaka (Lille), Vincent Sierro (West Ham), Bryan Tarone (West Ham), Miguel Castroman (FC Basel), David Haberthur (Inter), Gregory Karlen (FC Basel), Joao Oliveria (FC Sion)

Attackers- Breel Embolo (Atletico Madrid), Shani Tarashaj (Watford), Celien Wicht (Grasshoppers)

Group Stage

Spoiler

Switzerland 1-1 Greece (Joao Oliveria)- poor performance ending in a draw against probably the easiest team in our group

Switzerland 1-4 Belgium (Shani Tarashaj) Another poor performance

Switzerland 2-3 Portugal (Celien Wicht x2) Ending a torrid group stage with another really poor performance

Round of 16 (if applicable)

Spoiler

:(

Quarterfinal (if applicable)

Spoiler

:(

Semifinal (if applicable)

Spoiler

:(

Final (if applicable

Spoiler

:(

Aftermath

Spoiler

Very Bad tournament and probably my last games for Switzerland, hoping a top nation job will come available, very dissapointed.

 

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Dafuge challenge completed, so I'm going to continue my Ultimate Challenge save at Villanovense. Last played it in November, so it was started on a fairly old build of FM18. Would probably be better to start on the latest update, and indeed I'll probably do that, but I might as well continue to get used to FM18, if that's even possible, and then start afresh if appropriate.

I actually plan to leave Villanovense once my 6 month promise to stay is up, so if i can't get a new job, I may re-start sooner rather than later.

@GloryFan2002 So you've moved to Juventus? I didn't spot that at first reading. You sort of buried the lead. Probably a good idea. If you're not with a team that can immediately win landmarks, it can prolong the challenge. Of course, we don't have much choice in the early seasons, but once you can manage a contender, it's probably a good idea. And you did get a cup at West Ham, so you're making good progress. Hard luck with Switzerland. One puts in a lot of hard work with a nation, so it sucks to see it all go down the toilet. Of course, maybe you didn't invest a lot of time into Switzerland, in which case, maybe you should have.:)

@Lewis89 Congrats on getting something out of the MLS. I feel your pain. I had a nightmare there myself in a challenge attempt. Partly because the game at the time had so many challenge-killing bugs, but mostly because the MLS itself seemed to be a bug. Never going back there, that's for sure. Anyway, you're starting to rack up the trophies. 

Oh, hold on, you're staying! That must be an update to your post. Good luck with the cup, but I myself, tend not to sweat missing out on the odd cup too much. Chances are at some point you're going to do what GF2002 did, and win the cup but not the league in a nation. I'm not sure we've ever been certain that quitting a club is worse than applying for other jobs while employed. They're both bad. Who knows, maybe @yugular has the right idea, and we should be a jerk until the board sacks us.

Anyway, you should be in the next Confederations Cup, whenever that is. Definitely worth considering staying for it if it's in the next couple of years, as chances to participate don't come around very often.

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Morning people, well after disappearing for what seems an eternity I'm back and giving this challenge a second shot.

I've decided to start the conventional way, loading South Africa and all the Asian nations and see what jobs come up that interests me

Below is the manager stats and manager profile, I forgot to take a screenshot of the nations loaded, etc but it's all setup as expected for this challenge.

fm_2018-03-10_00-12-52.thumb.png.b53a3a10722d0e1856e7698e8e2eeedc.pngfm_2018-03-10_00-14-04.thumb.png.bc3a093e2ffcb9f61529a96420632a29.png

It didn't take long to get a few interviews and offers and I found a job that looks really interesting.

Image result for indian arrows fc

So I've taken charge of the worst ranked team in India, but there is some good news, we are exempt from relegation (I'm not sure if this is just for the first season or indefinitely as it doesn't say!)

The best thing about this club is all my players are regens, so every player is under 18!

We have some belters and some shockers, this should be a fun little challenge to start the save.

fm_2018-03-10_05-38-05.thumb.png.a7f9a76f277ee9e2dbec80b738d31051.png

Below is our squad, its bloody massive! Mainly because we have no youth or reserve team so every player is in the first team.

fm_2018-03-10_05-39-32.thumb.png.f386da9a3112afa488225742f7020f91.pngfm_2018-03-10_05-39-35.thumb.png.07cafaf56b5921a1a04f8cecf919cf5e.pngfm_2018-03-10_05-40-28.thumb.png.627bc99a87d6251582ddfd4712daa204.png

Yes there are 2 and a bit pages of players!

So wish me luck, I think I'm going to need it

 

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14 hours ago, vikeologist said:

Dafuge challenge completed, so I'm going to continue my Ultimate Challenge save at Villanovense. Last played it in November, so it was started on a fairly old build of FM18. Would probably be better to start on the latest update, and indeed I'll probably do that, but I might as well continue to get used to FM18, if that's even possible, and then start afresh if appropriate.

I actually plan to leave Villanovense once my 6 month promise to stay is up, so if i can't get a new job, I may re-start sooner rather than later.

@GloryFan2002 So you've moved to Juventus? I didn't spot that at first reading. You sort of buried the lead. Probably a good idea. If you're not with a team that can immediately win landmarks, it can prolong the challenge. Of course, we don't have much choice in the early seasons, but once you can manage a contender, it's probably a good idea. And you did get a cup at West Ham, so you're making good progress. Hard luck with Switzerland. One puts in a lot of hard work with a nation, so it sucks to see it all go down the toilet. Of course, maybe you didn't invest a lot of time into Switzerland, in which case, maybe you should have.:)

@Lewis89 Congrats on getting something out of the MLS. I feel your pain. I had a nightmare there myself in a challenge attempt. Partly because the game at the time had so many challenge-killing bugs, but mostly because the MLS itself seemed to be a bug. Never going back there, that's for sure. Anyway, you're starting to rack up the trophies. 

Oh, hold on, you're staying! That must be an update to your post. Good luck with the cup, but I myself, tend not to sweat missing out on the odd cup too much. Chances are at some point you're going to do what GF2002 did, and win the cup but not the league in a nation. I'm not sure we've ever been certain that quitting a club is worse than applying for other jobs while employed. They're both bad. Who knows, maybe @yugular has the right idea, and we should be a jerk until the board sacks us.

Anyway, you should be in the next Confederations Cup, whenever that is. Definitely worth considering staying for it if it's in the next couple of years, as chances to participate don't come around very often.

Cheers. Its a weird league, the standard isnt great and the transfer system is awful. But i dont really want to leave and end up without a job for 6 months or so. I am actively going to look and apply for jobs when they come up so hopefully wont even be here for a full season. Who knows maybe ill do the famous "vike"and steal a cup later on in the challenge. Thanks for awnsering my confed cup question aswel. 

Good to hear youre back on this challenge aswel, the more the merrier as they say.

Edited by Lewis89
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@vikeologistI did put a lot of work into Switzerland, especially with a couple of youngsters but I think I overestimated the teams abilities, as well as star player Xherdan Shaqiri being forced to sit out through injury, I have managed to get the Belgium job, who won the Euros 4 years ago, although their golden generation has now passed their prime they still have some very good players, including Jerome Vandamme, a regen who plays for Monaco who is one of the best players in the world now, and yes I have moved to Juventus as West Ham don't have the resources to build a team strong enough and have enough depth to win the Premier League. I will have to return to England though at some point.

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Decided to start completely fresh. Couldn't get back into a save that i last played briefly 4 months ago, when I was going to change to probably only a slightly better rubbish team.

I felt a craving to start in China. I've played there in lots of ultimate challenges, but because I live in China, and am interested in domestic football, I wanted to see what it's like in FM.

Took me a long time to get a job. Lots of Jia division jobs came up that were best avoided, but eventually got a position at Image result for shanghai shenxinShanghai Shenxin.

The one thing I didn't check was how many domestic U23 footballers I have. You have to have 1 on the pitch at all times, plus 2 in the matchday squad, and I have no good U23s at all. Can't add one either, because I took over with just 5 matches remaining in the season, and mid-table already guaranteed. Just checked, and even if we lose all our matches, we can't be relegated, which is lucky because based on our first match, we may lose all 5 matches. 

Bit annoying that the relegation rules for the league are not correct, but that's understandable since (true story) the Chinese FA revealed the rules for the new season last Tuesday, 4 days before the start of the Jia league campaign. Anyway, I'm still in the 2017 season, so technically they're correct. Lots of work to do, but at least I can give my FM17 tactics a proper run out without pressure to see if they're ever going to work. (I think i know the answer already).

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World cup 2022 and career update

WORLD CUP - Not going to go into to much detail here as we flopped in mine and the F.A's opinion. Drew in what I thought was an easy group, we beat Japan in the opening game 2-1. And then suffered an expected loss to France. Only losing 1-0 was decent as I thought they would spank us. So onto the last game vs Jamaica in what was a straight shoot out for second place in the group and we melted. Losing the game 3-1 and deservedly too. After this I resigned instantly, as impressive as Senegal's front line is, the back line minus Koulibaly is pretty average and so are the GKs. Admittedly I may have to change my tactics for the international scene as at club level I play very attacking, and in the lesser nations this has so far worked wonders. Maybe when I get to the big leagues I will have to change my approach. 

In club news I have moved on from Atlanta, after our disastrous Champions League final loss to Club America I remained in charge until 25/06/2022, when Orlando Pirates manager resigned, I knew they wouldn't be able to afford my compensation package so immediately resigned from Atlanta and applied for the Pirates role. This backfired as after an interview they hired Benni McCarthy, i mean who is he? hes no South African or Pirates legend :idiot:. So stuck unemployed I applied for the only other available role open. Also in South Africa, Bloemfontein Celtic, recently promoted last season they finished 3rd in the National First Division. I know this could add a year or 2 onto my challenge but having won the 2 champions league is Asia and N America with teams with no previous wins, I'm hoping to make it a third team.

Appointment    Bloemfontein - A Background

 

CLUB CAREER	
						Leagues		Cups
Season	Nation	League		Club		1st	2nd	1st	2nd	Cont	CWC	Other Notes and Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------	
2018	CHI	CJL		Beijing Renhe	1st		SF				Appointed DEC 2017, Gained C & B License, Manager of the Season
2019	CHI	CSL		Beijing Renhe	1st		WON				Gained National A, CON C License, Manager of the season, Double Winners
2020	CHI	CSL		Beijing Renhe	1st		R.U		WON	3RD	Gained CON B License, Manager of the year, CSL & ACL Winners, Resigned on 22/12/2020
2021	USA	MLS		Atlanta United	3rd	WON	RD4		WON	3RD	Gained CON A License, MLS CUP and NACL Winners, Coach of the year.
2022	USA	MLS		Atlanta United					R.U		Gained Pro License, Lost in NACL FINAL, Resigned on 25/05/22.
22/23	RSA	ABSA		Bloemfontein							Appointed on 31/07/22





INTERNATIONAL CAREER
									Competitions

Season	Nation		World Cup	Confed Cup	Euro Cup	Asian Cup	Afcon	Gold Cup	Copa A		Other Notes and Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021	SENEGAL										WON					Appointed on 21/03/2021, Qualified for World Cup.
2022	Senegal		Group Stage												Resigned on 25/06/22








CHALLENGE PROGRESS

	CLUB

	2/10 Top Domestic Leagues		CSL-Beijing Renhe 2019,2020. MLS-Atlanta 2021. 
	1/10 Domestic Cups			CFA-Beijing Renhe 2019.
	2/5 Club Continental Championships	Asia-Beijing Renhe 2020. CONCACAF-Atlanta 2021. 
	0/1 Club World Cups


	International

	1/5 Continental Tournaments		AFCON-Senegal 2021.
	0/2 World Tournaments


	All Achievements

	Beijing Renhe - Chinese Jia League 2018. Chinese Super League 2019, 2020. Asian Champions League 2020. Chinese FA Cup 2019. Chinese Super Cup 2020. Manager of the season 2018, 2019, 2020.
	Atlanta United - MLS Cup 2021. CONCACAF 2021. MLS coach of the year 2021.
	  

 

Edited by Lewis89
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Season 5 2022/23

Season Preview    Season Review    Transfers    Squad    End of season Awards    Manager Profile

ABSA Premiership - Predicted to finish in 8th place. But as a newly promoted side I wasn't quite sure what to judge us on. Was abit ambitious in my interview and told the board we could challenge around the top end of the league so to finish where we did is kinda in between right?  With some good young prospects, matched with some pretty poor older players, i went into the transfer market straight away and over the season signed 14 players, with a few more joining in the summer. We had no foreign players when I joined , so have filled the 5 allowed with some really talented Nigerian youngsters. Anyway, we managed to exceed expectations and ended up in 6th. It was an up and down season, we had some great wins and some rubbish losses, a 7 game winless run from February to April ruined any hopes we had of breaking into the top 4. With a young yet high potential squad I am hoping we can be more consistent next season. Mamelodi Sundowns were just too strong for anyone this season, finishing 16 points clear of 2nd placed, and 19 points of us. We need to improve massively next season to somehow close that gap. 

Telekom Knockout Cup - Our first trophy in South Africa.  Had our fair share of luck in winning this one, avoiding the top 2 sides in the country in Witz and Mamelodi, Still had to beat the other 3 strongest sides in Orlando Pirates 2-1, Ajax Cape Town 2-0 and Kaiser Chiefs 3-1. 

Nedbank Cup - Disappointing, after our Knockout cup success I thought this could be another decent chance at a trophy, especially after we beat Witz n the 1st round 3-2, only to make that win mean nothing, losing to first division side Maritzburg 3-2.

Having taken over with the side freshly in the top league, I cant be too sad with how the seasons gone, I have over the season improved all aspects of the club, and with another training and youth facilities upgrade scheduled to be completed a couple of months into the new season, the club is on the up. I'm looking to bring in a few more signings over the summer as we really need an improvement in the middle of the park. I am also looking to get a striker in as we have no real height up top and i'm a big fan of playing a target man up front. 

UPDATE - After a poor showing at the 2023 Asian Cup China sacked there manager, I applied and was almost instantly got the job. Then realised its another 4 years until the Asian games :seagull:. Guess i'm here for the long run (If i last that long of course)

 

CLUB CAREER	
						Leagues		Cups
Season	Nation	League		Club		1st	2nd	1st	2nd	Cont	CWC	Other Notes and Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------	
2018	CHI	CJL		Beijing Renhe	1st		SF				Appointed DEC 2017, Gained C & B License, Manager of the Season
2019	CHI	CSL		Beijing Renhe	1st		WON				Gained National A, CON C License, Manager of the season, Double Winners
2020	CHI	CSL		Beijing Renhe	1st		R.U		WON	3RD	Gained CON B License, Manager of the year, CSL & ACL Winners, Resigned on 22/12/2020
2021	USA	MLS		Atlanta United	3rd	WON	RD4		WON	3RD	Gained CON A License, MLS CUP and NACL Winners, Coach of the year.
2022	USA	MLS		Atlanta United					R.U		Gained Pro License, Lost in NACL FINAL, Resigned on 25/05/22.
22/23	RSA	ABSA		Bloemfontein	6th		R2	WON			Appointed on 31/07/22, Won Telekom Knockout Cup.
23/24	RS	ABSA		Bloemfontein





INTERNATIONAL CAREER
									Competitions

Season	Nation	World Cup	Confed Cup	Euro Cup	Asian Cup	Afcon	Gold Cup	Copa A		Other Notes and Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021	SENEGAL									WON					Appointed on 21/03/2021, Qualified for World Cup.
2022	Senegal	Group Stage												Resigned on 25/06/22








CHALLENGE PROGRESS

	CLUB

	2/10 Top Domestic Leagues		CSL-Beijing Renhe 2019,2020. MLS-Atlanta 2021. 
	2/10 Domestic Cups			CFA-Beijing Renhe 2019. RSAKO-Bloemfontein 2023.  
	2/5 Club Continental Championships	Asia-Beijing Renhe 2020. CONCACAF-Atlanta 2021. 
	0/1 Club World Cups


	International

	1/5 Continental Tournaments		AFCON-Senegal 2021.
	0/2 World Tournaments

	Total Challenge Progress 7/33


	All Achievements

	Beijing Renhe - Chinese Jia League 2018. Chinese Super League 2019, 2020. Asian Champions League 2020. Chinese FA Cup 2019. Chinese Super Cup 2020. Manager of the season 2018, 2019, 2020.
	Atlanta United - MLS Cup 2021. CONCACAF 2021. MLS coach of the year 2021.
	  

 

Edited by Lewis89
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I really enjoyed this challenge last year and was really looking forward to starting it again this year. I bought the game on release day but I haven't even started a game yet. I guess I will just jump right in and give this challenge another go

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2017/18 Season - Indian Arrows

Well what a strange season! 

Maybe I have the quickest ever trophy win on this challenge? It took until game 7 for me to win the Durand Cup (I'm presuming this counts as the top division teams are in it?)

fm_2018-03-13_06-22-43.png.e24e52f9d8d49b05ed40be5c3a96fd56.pngfm_2018-03-13_06-23-09.thumb.png.f6fdd84003e17c89d34e26f0dbf51263.png

After that it went severely downhill. We ended 9th in the league (out of 10 teams) and won only 3 games, clearly having so many youngsters is bloody hard!

fm_2018-03-13_15-10-02.thumb.png.b3a10ded80e987c65a9bed8f0ac02e11.png

 

In other news I have started and completed my National C Licence and have just agreed to start my National B License.

I'm not sure how long I'll stay here, 1 trophy is 1 more than I expected to get but it's a nice start and the board seem happy to help me do my badges which can only be a good thing.

 

Season   Team    Position  Notes and Achievements
17/18	Indian Arrows	9th	Durand Cup Winners

Challenge Progress

Club

0/10 top domestic leagues (Insert nations)

1/10 domestic cups (India - Indian Arrow)

0/5 club continental championships ()

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments ()

0/2 world tournaments ()

 

Edited by BitesizeFM
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Season 6 2023/24 

Season Preview    Season Review    Squad    Transfers    End of season Awards    Manager Profile

ASBA Premiership - Results - A brilliant season, predicted to come 6th, we managed to record the clubs first ever Top League title. After a big rebuild of the squad from last season, and bringing in super talented foreigners like Daniel Emmanuel  and Moussa Senghor the squad was ready for a title push. After losing our first league game to Supersport i did wonder, but after that we went on a 22 game unbeaten run before losing to Kaiser chiefs. We won the title by just 2 points despite this good run which surprised me as everytime we won a game, Kaiser chiefs would never drop points. Anyway that is another title tucked of the challenge, But still need the ACL which as we all know doesn't start til midway through the upcoming season, and ends halfway through the season after :idiot:, so I at least have another 18 months in Africa. With the average age of the squad just 22, I think my squad is strong enough to have a good push at another league title. I will look for a couple of new signings but they will need to be very good, and since I will be here for the foreseeable future, I will be trying to win everything next season. It can only help with my rep and the moving up the hall of fame. 

Nedbank Cup - Another failure here, after losing to first division side last season, we managed to repeat that unwanted achievement again. this time getting to the semi finals and after drawing 3-3, we lost on penalties. 

Telekom Knockout Cup - Our second Knockout success in a row. 3 games we were expected to win and we seam to make light work of Witz whenever we played them this season and the final was no different.

MTN8 Cup - Starts the season off and we just wasnt ready for it. New players were still gelling etc. Will try again next season.

 

 

Flag_of_China.thumb.png.69443d5ae6d8ccdad19f7e73b2bf42c7.png

2023/24

Results 1    Results 2    Squad    

 With China we have a decent looking team, plenty of young prospects coming through and with the Chinese league loaded, they should be getting plenty of game time. The Asian Games are not until 2027 so there is plenty of time to build a squad towards that target. And also with a World Cup coming up in 2026 we have qualifiers galore. We manged to top our Group in the World cup qualifiers 2nd round, winning 7 and drawing 1. And we have been drawn in what looks a quite generous Final Qualification Round group. With Iran being the only side ranked above us. We are ranked 54th, Iran are ranked 39th. Winning the 2nd round group sealed our Qualification for the 2027 Asian games also. Along the way this season I also reached 300 games in management

 

 

CLUB CAREER	
						Leagues		Cups
Season	Nation	League		Club		1st	2nd	1st	2nd	Cont	CWC	Other Notes and Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------	
2018	CHI	CJL		Beijing Renhe	1st		SF				Appointed DEC 2017, Gained C & B License, Manager of the Season
2019	CHI	CSL		Beijing Renhe	1st		WON				Gained National A, CON C License, Manager of the season, Double Winners
2020	CHI	CSL		Beijing Renhe	1st		R.U		WON	3RD	Gained CON B License, Manager of the year, CSL & ACL Winners, Resigned on 22/12/2020
2021	USA	MLS		Atlanta United	3rd	WON	RD4		WON	3RD	Gained CON A License, MLS CUP and NACL Winners, Coach of the year.
2022	USA	MLS		Atlanta United					R.U		Gained Pro License, Lost in NACL FINAL, Resigned on 25/05/22.
22/23	RSA	ABSA		Bloemfontein	6th		R2	WON			Appointed on 31/07/22, Won Telekom Knockout Cup.
23/24	RSA	ABSA		Bloemfontein	1st		SF	WON			Double Winners. 


INTERNATIONAL CAREER
									Competitions

Season		Nation		World Cup	Confed Cup	Euro Cup	Asian Cup	Afcon	Gold Cup	Copa A		Other Notes and Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22		SENEGAL										WON					Appointed on 21/03/2021, Qualified for World Cup, ranked 13th.
2022/23		Senegal		Group Stage												Resigned on 25/06/22, ranked 15th
2023/24		China															Appointed on 02/07/2023, Qualified for Asian Games, Ranked 54th. 	


CHALLENGE PROGRESS

	CLUB

	3/10 Top Domestic Leagues		CSL-Beijing Renhe 2019,2020. MLS-Atlanta 2021. ASBA-Bloemfontein 2024 
	2/10 Domestic Cups			CFA-Beijing Renhe 2019. RSAKO-Bloemfontein 2023,2024.
	2/5 Club Continental Championships	Asia-Beijing Renhe 2020. CONCACAF-Atlanta 2021. 
	0/1 Club World Cups


	International

	1/5 Continental Tournaments		AFCON-Senegal 2021.
	0/2 World Tournaments

	Total Challenge Progress 8/33


	All Achievements

	Beijing Renhe - Chinese Jia League 2018. Chinese Super League 2019, 2020. Asian Champions League 2020. Chinese FA Cup 2019. Chinese Super Cup 2020. Manager of the season 2018, 2019, 2020.
	Atlanta United - MLS Cup 2021. CONCACAF 2021. MLS coach of the year 2021.
	Bloemfontein Celtics - Telkom Knockout Cup 2023,2024. ASBA Premiership-2024. 

 

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Season 7 2024/25

Season Preview    Season Review    Squad    Transfers    End of season Awards    Manager Profile

ASBA Premiership - Results - Another strong season, we won the title by 7 points losing just 2 out of the 30 games. A little wobble in may where we dropped 4 points meant Kaiser Chiefs closed the gap to 2 points with just 2 games remaining. We won both whilst they dropped points handing us our 2nd title in a row. 

Nedbank Cup - Having not won this cup in our first 2 seasons I really wanted this one, yet to fail again at the semi final stage. 

Telekom Knockout Cup - Our third successive win. We seem to really love this cup.

MTN8 Cup - Another cup win in S Africa. Got the season off to the perfect start.

CAF Champions League - Group D - The competition I need to complete the club side of Africa is finally here. In the Prelim we faced an amateur side called Djabal from Comoras, winning easily 9-0 over 2 legs. In the 1st we got a very unlucky draw against last years runners up, Egyptian giants Zamalek, I worried if my Champions League adventure was over before it had begun, but we sealed a great 3-1 win at home before a 4-3 away loss meant we progressed onto the group stage. Looking at the 4 groups, both last years finalists, winners ES Tunis and Zamalek are out at the 1st round. Should make for an interesting competition. We have played 3 group games so far winning all 3 quite comfortably. If i do manage to win this at the first attempt I will be looking to move onto South America. Is Brazil as much of a nightmare as it sounds? I would like to manage there but from reading the thread it sounds like it can be a right slog. 

Flag_of_China.thumb.png.3d17d15b48f3cfe853c9978e59ec7257.png

Season 2024/25

Results 1    Results 2    

East Asian Cup Qualifiers - Really straightforward here, win comfortable and expected wins. Having only picked up 1 point from 3 games at the 2023 East Asian Cup it will be a good measure of progress at the 2025 Finals ahead of the 2026 World Cup (if we qualify) and the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. 

World Cup Qualifiers. - Suprised at how much talent we have at our disposal, I have started to settle on a strongest team finally, and results are starting to improve. 2 wins in big games against Iraq and current group leaders Iran have put us in a great position to top the group. I would still be happy with second as that means qualifying, but 1st would be even nicer. After the wins our ranking jumped to 46th. China's highest ever ranking in game is 35th. Some really good regens coming through, with the u20s currently in the 2nd round of world cup.

CLUB CAREER	
							Leagues		Cups
Season		Nation	League		Club		1st	2nd	1st	2nd	Cont	CWC	Other Notes and Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------	
2018		CHI	CJL		Beijing Renhe	1st		SF				Appointed DEC 2017, Gained C & B License, Manager of the Season
2019		CHI	CSL		Beijing Renhe	1st		WON				Gained National A, CON C License, Manager of the season, Double Winners
2020		CHI	CSL		Beijing Renhe	1st		R.U		WON	3RD	Gained CON B License, Manager of the year, CSL & ACL Winners, Resigned on 22/12/2020
2021		USA	MLS		Atlanta United	3rd	WON	RD4		WON	3RD	Gained CON A License, MLS CUP and NACL Winners, Coach of the year.
2022		USA	MLS		Atlanta United					R.U		Gained Pro License, Lost in NACL FINAL, Resigned on 25/05/22.
2022/23		RSA	ABSA		Bloemfontein	6th		R2	WON			Appointed on 31/07/22, Won Telekom Knockout Cup.
2023/24		RSA	ABSA		Bloemfontein	1st		SF	WON			Double Winners. League and Telekom Knockout Cup.
2024/25		RSA	ABSA		Bloemfontein	1st		SF	WON			Treble winners. League, MTN8 and Telekom Cup. Still in AFC Champs League Group Stage






INTERNATIONAL CAREER
									Competitions

Season		Nation		World Cup	Confed Cup	Euro Cup	Asian Cup	Afcon	Gold Cup	Copa A		Other Notes and Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22		SENEGAL										WON					Appointed on 21/03/2021, Qualified for World Cup, ranked 13th.
2022/23		Senegal		Group Stage												Resigned on 25/06/22, ranked 15th
2023/24		China															Appointed on 02/07/2023, Qualified for Asian Games, Ranked 54th. 
2024/25		China															Qualified for East Asian Games. Ranked 46th	








CHALLENGE PROGRESS

	CLUB

	3/10 Top Domestic Leagues		CSL-Beijing Renhe 2019,2020. MLS-Atlanta 2021. ASBA-Bloemfontein 2024,2025.
	2/10 Domestic Cups			CFA-Beijing Renhe 2019. RSAKO-Bloemfontein 2023,2024.
	2/5 Club Continental Championships	Asia-Beijing Renhe 2020. CONCACAF-Atlanta 2021. 
	0/1 Club World Cups


	International

	1/5 Continental Tournaments		AFCON-Senegal 2021.
	0/2 World Tournaments

	Total Challenge Progress 8/33


	All Achievements

	Beijing Renhe - Chinese Jia League 2018. Chinese Super League 2019, 2020. Asian Champions League 2020. Chinese FA Cup 2019. Chinese Super Cup 2020. Manager of the season 2018, 2019, 2020.
	Atlanta United - MLS Cup 2021. CONCACAF 2021. MLS coach of the year 2021.
	Bloemfontein Celtics - Telkom Knockout Cup 2023,2024,2025. ASBA Premiership-2024,2025. MTN8-2025. Manager of the season 2024. 

 

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Season 8 Update

CAF Champions League

Finals Tree

Group Stages - Pretty straightforward. Won our first 3 games but then due to the scheduling we was without 9 first team players for 2 of our last 3 games, drawing both. 

Quarter Finals - What looked a tough tie against Egyptian giants Al-Ahly, we managed to grab a 2-2 away draw in the 1st leg, before a 4-1 win at home put us through.

Semi Finals - Our easiest game of the competition, a easy 5-1 win away in the 1st leg meant I could rest a few for the return fixture, which we still won 2-0.

Final - An all South African tie against Kaiser Chiefs. A 3-1 first leg away win gave us great hope, and we sealed the title with comfortable 5-2 home win. 

We really lit up the tournament and broke the Record for goals scored.

World Club Cup

In what was my third attempt at this competition with a third different club, we lost at the first hurdle. in what was a tight, end to end game we lost 3-2  to Asian Champs Guangzhou Evergrande. I didn't expect us to do much here to be honest and we were always likely to be outclassed. We drew Auckland City in the 5th place play off, and best them easily with a 3-0 win. 

With everything now won in Africa i shall be stepping down from my role as Bloemfontein Celtics manager. Its been some ride, we took over with the club newly promoted to the ASBA Premiership, and in the space of 3 and a half years have turned them into the best side in Africa. I have also improved the club on a whole, training and youth facilities, aswel as getting the club to purchase the stadium and increase the capacity to 24000. I will be leaving behind a squad capable of dominating the league for a the next few seasons with the squad being so young. I leave with the team currently top of the league after 11 games. 

Bloemfontein Best 11

GK  - Nathan Mamba

RB - Moses Adesima    CB -  Tunde Ukechukwu   CBSiyabulela Ngema    LB Thabiso Nkoana

CM - Daniel Emmanuel         CM - Umar Sadiq

 AML -  Jude Mohammed                                                                                       AMR - Sbusiso Mkhize

     ST - Moussa Senghor           ST - Rodney Phale

So having stepped down from Bloemfontein  at the start of the winter break (December) I have my eyes on South America. I have the Brazilian, Chilean and Colombian top divisions loaded and will be looking to get as good a job as possible, although i am tempted to try and lead a south American club to their first top division and Libertadores. With not many appealing roles open at the moment I could be waiting a few months before I return to club management. 

 

 

Flag_of_China.thumb.png.5b4c69942c3e3f6b28b2c0885ae21ba7.png

China Update 2025

Results   Squad    Manager's Profile

In what has been a perfect year for the national side, we won every single game we have played, and to finish the year, we had the East Asian Cup. Really starting to improve now with China, 2 years ago we went into the East Asian Cup with no hope, lost 2 and drew 1 of our 3 games. This year, I had a sneaky feeling we could give winning it a serious go and that we did. 3 wins outta 3 meant we topped the Table. I know this doesn't count towards the challenge but its a nice chance of measuring the teams healthy progress and gave my manager's profile a 5% rep boost, so i'm now at 65%. With the World Cup Finals coming up this summer and the AFC Asian Cup in 12 months time I have high hopes for a strong showing at both. I wont win the world cup, but we have been put in a generous Group A alongside host nation U.S.A, Poland and Paraguay. With Poland being the only side ranked higher than us I fancy our chances of at least making the last 16. The Asian Cup is the main aim though, and that I would like to win.

 

CLUB CAREER	
							Leagues		Cups
Season		Nation	League		Club		1st	2nd	1st	2nd	Cont	CWC	Other Notes and Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------	
2018		CHI	CJL		Beijing Renhe	1st		SF				Appointed DEC 2017, Gained C & B License, Manager of the Season
2019		CHI	CSL		Beijing Renhe	1st		WON				Gained National A, CON C License, Manager of the season, Double Winners
2020		CHI	CSL		Beijing Renhe	1st		R.U		WON	3rd	Gained CON B License, Manager of the year, CSL & ACL Winners, Resigned on 22/12/2020
2021		USA	MLS		Atlanta United	3rd	WON	RD4		WON	3rd	Gained CON A License, MLS CUP and NACL Winners, Coach of the year.
2022		USA	MLS		Atlanta United					R.U		Gained Pro License, Lost in NACL FINAL, Resigned on 25/05/22.
2022/23		RSA	ABSA		Bloemfontein	6th		R2	WON			Appointed on 31/07/22, Won Telekom Knockout Cup.
2023/24		RSA	ABSA		Bloemfontein	1st		SF	WON			Double Winners. League and Telekom Knockout Cup.
2024/25		RSA	ABSA		Bloemfontein	1st		SF	WON			Treble winners. League, MTN8 and Telekom Cup. Still in AFC Champs League Group Stage
2025/26		RSA	ABSA		Bloemfontein					WON	5th	Won CAF Champions League, Lost in CWC QF's. Resigned on 24/12/2025







INTERNATIONAL CAREER
									Competitions

Season		Nation		World Cup	Confed Cup	Euro Cup	Asian Cup	Afcon	Gold Cup	Copa A		Other Notes and Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22		SENEGAL										WON					Appointed on 21/03/2021, Qualified for World Cup, ranked 13th.
2022/23		Senegal		Group Stage												Resigned on 25/06/22, ranked 15th
2023/24		China															Appointed on 02/07/2023, Qualified for Asian Games, Ranked 54th. 
2024/25		China															Qualified for East Asian Games. Ranked 46th
2025/26		China															Won East Asian Cup. Ranked 46th







CHALLENGE PROGRESS

	CLUB

	3/10 Top Domestic Leagues		CSL-Beijing Renhe 2019,2020. MLS-Atlanta 2021. ASBA-Bloemfontein 2024,2025.
	2/10 Domestic Cups			CFA-Beijing Renhe 2019. RSAKO-Bloemfontein 2023,2024.
	3/5 Club Continental Championships	Asia-Beijing Renhe 2020. CONCACAF-Atlanta 2021. CAFCL-Bloemfontein 2025.
	0/1 Club World Cups


	International

	1/5 Continental Tournaments		AFCON-Senegal 2021.
	0/2 World Tournaments

	Total Challenge Progress 9/33


	All Achievements
	
	Club Football.

	Beijing Renhe - Chinese Jia League 2018. Chinese Super League 2019, 2020. Asian Champions League 2020. Chinese FA Cup 2019. Chinese Super Cup 2020. Manager of the season 2018, 2019, 2020.
	Atlanta United - MLS Cup 2021. CONCACAF 2021. MLS coach of the year 2021.
	Bloemfontein Celtics - Telkom Knockout Cup 2023,2024,2025. ASBA Premiership-2024,2025. MTN8-2025. CAFCL-Bloemfontein 2025. Manager of the season 2024. 
	
	International Football.

	Senegal - AFCON-Senegal 2021.
	China 	- East Asian Cup 2025. 

 

 

Edited by Lewis89
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Season 8 continued 2026

Appointment     Background    

Having left Bloemfontein in December, the Fluminense job became available in February, I applied and on 26/03/2026 I was offered the job. I takeover at this point so the season has barely started. The boards has asked me to achieve a top half finish which I am happy with as I will need a year to get to know the league anyway. Taking this job has also somehow boosted my profile as I am now at 70%, and when leaving my last job was 65%. This is my first time ever managing in Brazil, and with only this continent remaining before I head over to Europe, I hope its as enjoyable as Africa was. 

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Danny_H22 2017-18 Season Review

Glenavon-Crest.jpg.403524193de4b78df64f6a427e37c5f3.jpg

I attempted this challenge last year and it was the most fun I’ve had on an FM game for a very long time. I didn’t complete the challenge, but I knew I wanted to give it another go when FM18 arrived.

It took me a long time to find my first club job this time, as I wanted to hold off until the right job came around. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much luck with any of the jobs I initially eyed up and ended up applying for and being offered the Glenavon job in Northern Ireland at the start of February. What I inherited was a pretty weak side who were closed to the drop than challenging for the title. It wasn’t the type of job I actually wanted, but I also didn’t want to keep waiting. I had success with Linfield on last year’s game, so it was at least a league I had experience in.

Danske Bank Premiership- So when I took over at Glenavon, we were sitting in 8th place after a really underwhelming start to the season, with 11 games left. We ended up losing just 2 of those 9 games – a 0-1 to Coleraine in our first league game of my reign and a disappoint 4-1 to league winners Linfield – and ended the season in 5th spot. A very good performance considering the lack of depth in our squad. Linfield won the league, leading second place Coleraine by 24 points!

Northern Irish Cup- When I was offered the Glenavon job, the fact that they were still in a cup was a big selling point to me. I took over with them in the 6th round and faced Distillery in that game  for my first match in charge. Our run to the final saw us beat the aforementioned Distillery (1-0), Limavady Utd (2-0) and Donegal Celtic (1-0) before facing off against Ards in the final. A 44th minute goal saw us take the lead into half time and we cemented victory in the second half by making it 2-0

Bet McLean League Cup- Lost in Third Round to Donegal Celtic before I took charge

Northern Irish Mid Ulster Cup- Lost in First Round to Newry City AFC before I took charge

 

Top Goalscorer- Andrew Mitchell. The forward finished on 26 goals with 17 of them coming after I took over. This was enough for him to scoop the Top Goalscorer award 

Most Assists- Sammy Clingan with 10 assists

Highest Avg. Rating- Andrew Mitchell with 7.24

Most POM- James Singleton with 7

 

International- Whilst awaiting a suitable club offer, I put my name out there for any international role that became available and was rewarded with an offer of employment from Australia U23s. A run of 12 wins in 13 games saw us storm to the U23 Asian Nations Cup final where we would beat South Korea to lift the trophy. A nice start to my managerial career

 

Next Season Plan- The Danske Prem is a tough league to win for all teams not named Linfield. There is no point jumping ship this early into my career – and no club worth their weight will give me a chance – so I will hold on for a year and see what we can do here. Winning the cup grants us European football, so that’ll be an experience. It is also a World Cup year so I might be able to wrangle a step up on an international level

 

Season       Team             Position         Continental       Notes and Achievements     
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18      Glenavon          5th                  -            Took over in February. Won Northern Irish Cup

Challenge Progress

Club
0/10 top domestic leagues
1/10 domestic cups - Northern Irish Cup (Glenavon 2018)
0/5 club continental championships
0/1 club world championship

International
0/5 continental tournaments
0/2 world tournaments 

International:
Season       Team                 Notes and Achievements     
----------------------------------------------------------
2017/18      Australia U23s       U23s Asian Nations Cup

 

Edited by Danny_H22
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World Cup 2026 Update

Heading into the competition with no real expectations from the nations F.A, however I really want to go at least one better than four years ago with Senegal (Group stage exit).  Drawn in Group A

Group Stage.

Spoiler

Quite a generous draw here really judging on the Fifa World Rankings. Poland being the only side ranked higher than us, but I also know from my time with Atlanta that the USA do have some really good players. Our first game was against Poland, and we ground out a hard earned point with a 1-1 draw. In all honesty Poland deserved the win here so was happy with a point. Our second game was against Paraguay and we pulled off a late comeback with a 2-1 win. This left us and the USA needing a point from our last game to both go through, I did try a bribe but it didn't work, they thumped us 3-1, luckily Paraguay and Poland could only draw leaving us in 2nd place and into the last 16. Final Group Standings

Last 16.

Spoiler

We drew France, not the kindest of draws and basically a guaranteed loss. And as expected they beat us 3-0 in what was a really one sided game, they had 27 shots, we had 3. Need I say anymore?

Having still exceeded expectations I will continue on with China until the AFC Asian Cup this coming January, we were never going to compete for the latter stages at the world cup, and looking at the other Asian side's, we should be able to compete at the upcoming tournament.

Edited by Lewis89
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@Lewis89 Well done for getting China into the second round. It's heartening to know there's at least one imaginary universe where the national team doesn't suck. Hope you enjoy Brazil.

@dannyh_22 Welcome back to the challenge. You got stuck in Chile last time, like me, didn't you. I guess this time I'm going to resign myself to the long haul and manage in Brazil. Good luck getting back to the leader board, and congrats on the Asian U23 cup.

@BitesizeFM Welcome to the challenge and congrats on the Durand Cup. As long as all the top division sides were in the cup, then it does indeed count. Did you take over at the start of the cup campaign, or in the middle. If you just played the last couple of cup matches to lift the trophy, then that's called 'vikeing' the cup. Not that you should be ashamed of that if that's what you did. Indeed, you should wear it as a badge of honour.

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7 hours ago, vikeologist said:

@Lewis89 Well done for getting China into the second round. It's heartening to know there's at least one imaginary universe where the national team doesn't suck. Hope you enjoy Brazil.

@dannyh_22 Welcome back to the challenge. You got stuck in Chile last time, like me, didn't you. I guess this time I'm going to resign myself to the long haul and manage in Brazil. Good luck getting back to the leader board, and congrats on the Asian U23 cup.

@BitesizeFM Welcome to the challenge and congrats on the Durand Cup. As long as all the top division sides were in the cup, then it does indeed count. Did you take over at the start of the cup campaign, or in the middle. If you just played the last couple of cup matches to lift the trophy, then that's called 'vikeing' the cup. Not that you should be ashamed of that if that's what you did. Indeed, you should wear it as a badge of honour.

Cheers, its been quite enoyable but at the same time i will be glad to move on after the Asian cup, even if I dont win it. With the money being pumped into Chinese football, surely its only a matter of time before they produce a half decent batch of players (in real life). In game they have produced a alot of 3.5 star players, thats based on what my club scouts say but yet to produce any real stars still. 

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8 hours ago, vikeologist said:

@dannyh_22 Welcome back to the challenge. You got stuck in Chile last time, like me, didn't you. I guess this time I'm going to resign myself to the long haul and manage in Brazil. Good luck getting back to the leader board, and congrats on the Asian U23 cup.

I have a feeling I moved on to South Africa but it couldn’t keep my interest and I stopped playing and I never got around to writing about it. 

Thanks. Was nice to get off to a good start, even if it was a nothing cup really 

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Season 2026

 

Season Preview    Season Review    Squad 1    Squad 2    Transfers    Manager Profile    End of season awards

Brasil Serie A - Results 1 - Results 2 - Predicted to finish 6th, the board asked me to finish in the top half. I thought this was abit generous and had my eyes on the top 5. Taking over a side with a lot of dead wood and ageing players, we had a big turnover player wise. Managed to bring in £54m from unwanted players which let me spend quite freely. Even though i never spent half what we made. Achieving the boards expectations was done pretty easily and we ended up in 2nd place. Corinthians were just too strong this season and had the title wrapped up in November with 4 games remaining. Even though we started the season on fire with a 13 game unbeaten run, juggling the cup and the Copa Libertadores proved too much. I cant believe you can play 6 games in 12 days :herman:. Over the course of the season we had some really strong runs of games but ultimately, drawing 6 and losing 7 games, meant we didn't deserve the title. Corinthians lost just once. Even so our cup successes meant I received the Manager of the year award in my 4th different country. 

Copa Perdigao do Brazil - The Brasilian F.A Cup proved to be pretty straight forward for us, Seeing off Palmeiras, Flamengo, Sao Paulo and Santos. Luckily we avoided Corinthians otherwise I don't think we would have succeeded if we had.

Rio State Championships - The first leg of this two tier Cup/League had already been played out, my first game in charge being the 1-1 draw with Botafogo in late March. Winning the first stage meant we qualified for the Final where we beat Vasco De Game 5-4 on aggregate after two very close games.

Copa Libertadores - Group GTree -  Pretty straight forward, I joined with 1 win from 1 game on the board and we went on to top our group with 5 wins and 1 draw. Onto the 2nd round where we faced Argentine side Lanus, we dispatched of them comfortably with a Aggregate win. In the quarter finals we faced another Argentine side in River Plate, we beat them 7-0 on aggregate. The gulf in class surprised me as I had expected a tough game. In the Semi finals we faced an all Brazilian tie against Athletico Mineiro, who were languishing in mid table domestically. An easy win I thought but they gave us our toughest test on the knock out stages and we ended up winning  6-4 on aggregate. Knowing corinthians were in the other semi final I kept my eye on the game and was delighted to see they lost on away goals to Atletico Nacional. So onto the final, a tie between the 2nd placed side in Brasil and the 5th placed side in Columbia. Drawn as the home side in the first leg, we romped to a resounding 4-1 win. The 2nd leg is a whole month later which I find strange. In the 2nd leg we won 3-1, sealing a 7-2 aggregate victory and Fluminense's first Libertadores :hammer:.

FIFA Club World Cup - Tree - Attempt number 4 with club number 4 :seagull:. This time though I have a team who maybe could win this, usually decided between the South American and European team, and with 3 of the past 4 winners being Brazilian, history says I had a chance. Entering at the semi final stage we faced Japanese side Sanfrecce Hiroshima, In what was being predicted as an easy win, it proved to be just that. We won 6-0 and it could have been a rugby score. Onto the final where we faced Spanish giants Barcelona. In 2001 when in charge of Atlanta we took them to extra time before losing to a 120th min goal. Could we upset the odds this time? In what was my 500th game in management, it was meant to be. In a tense 1-1 draw after 120 mins, we beat them on penalties, converting all 5. 

Next Season

Its been a long but very rewarding year in Brasil, having won 3 trophies towards the challenge its been worth the slog. I am really tempted to hang on another year and give dethroning Corinthians a good attempt but the amount of games in Brasil do for some reason make it less enjoyable. With 7 leagues and 7 Domestic cups to win, I want to head over to Europe and make a start. I have the Asia Cup coming up next month and can hopefully tick that off the list. I still have a fair bit too do both club and internationally but its nice to be into double figures. I have a plan for Europe where i end up in England, needing my final 2 trophies and win them with Charlton Athletic (don't all laugh), whether its possible to do we shall see. 

CLUB CAREER	
							Leagues		Cups
Season		Nation	League		Club		1st	2nd	1st	2nd	Cont	CWC	Other Notes and Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------	
2018		CHI	CJL		Beijing Renhe	1st		SF				Appointed DEC 2017, Gained C & B License, Manager of the Season
2019		CHI	CSL		Beijing Renhe	1st		WON				Gained National A, CON C License, Manager of the season, Double Winners
2020		CHI	CSL		Beijing Renhe	1st		R.U		WON	3rd	Gained CON B License, Manager of the year, CSL & ACL Winners, Resigned on 22/12/2020
2021		USA	MLS		Atlanta United	3rd	WON	RD4		WON	3rd	Gained CON A License, MLS CUP and NACL Winners, Coach of the year.
2022		USA	MLS		Atlanta United					R.U		Gained Pro License, Lost in NACL FINAL, Resigned on 25/05/22.
2022/23		RSA	ABSA		Bloemfontein	6th		R2	WON			Appointed on 31/07/22, Won Telekom Knockout Cup.
2023/24		RSA	ABSA		Bloemfontein	1st		SF	WON			Double Winners. League and Telekom Knockout Cup.
2024/25		RSA	ABSA		Bloemfontein	1st		SF	WON			Treble winners. League, MTN8 and Telekom Cup. Still in AFC Champs League Group Stage
2025/26		RSA	ABSA		Bloemfontein					WON	5th	Won CAF Champions League, Lost in CWC QF's. Resigned on 24/12/2025
2026		BRA	SERIE A		Fluminense	2nd		WON		WON	WON	Appointed on 26/03/2026. Quad Winners. State Champs, FA Cup, Copa Libertadores and CWC. Manager of the season.


INTERNATIONAL CAREER
									Competitions

Season		Nation		World Cup	Confed Cup	Euro Cup	Asian Cup	Afcon	Gold Cup	Copa A		Other Notes and Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22		SENEGAL										WON					Appointed on 21/03/2021, Qualified for World Cup, ranked 13th.
2022/23		Senegal		Group Stage												Resigned on 25/06/22, ranked 15th
2023/24		China															Appointed on 02/07/2023, Qualified for Asian Games, Ranked 54th. 
2024/25		China															Qualified for East Asian Games. Ranked 46th
2025/26		China		2nd Round												Won East Asian Cup. Ranked 45th. 
2026/27		China								



CHALLENGE PROGRESS

	CLUB

	3/10 Top Domestic Leagues		CSL-Beijing Renhe 2019. MLS-Atlanta 2021. ASBA-Bloemfontein 2024.
	3/10 Domestic Cups			CFA-Beijing Renhe 2019. RSAKO-Bloemfontein 2023. BFA-Fluminense 2026.
	4/5 Club Continental Championships	Asia-Beijing Renhe 2020. CONCACAF-Atlanta 2021. CAFCL-Bloemfontein 2025. COPA LIB-Fluminense 2026.
	1/1 Club World Cups			Fluminense 2026


	International

	1/5 Continental Tournaments		AFCON-Senegal 2021.
	0/2 World Tournaments

	Total Challenge Progress 12/33


	All Achievements
	
	Club Football.

	Beijing Renhe - Chinese Jia League 2018. Chinese Super League 2019, 2020. Asian Champions League 2020. Chinese FA Cup 2019. Chinese Super Cup 2020. Manager of the season 2018, 2019, 2020.
	Atlanta United - MLS Cup 2021. CONCACAF 2021. MLS coach of the year 2021.
	Bloemfontein Celtics - Telkom Knockout Cup 2023,2024,2025. ASBA Premiership-2024,2025. MTN8-2025. CAFCL-Bloemfontein 2025. Manager of the season 2024. 
	Fluminense - Rio State Championships 2026, Copa Perdigao do Brazil 2026, Copa Libertadores 2026, FIFA Club World Cup 2026, Manager of the season 2026.
	
	International Football.

	Senegal - AFCON-Senegal 2021.
	China - East Asian Cup 2025. 

 

 

 

 

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Asian Games 2027 Update

Its finally here, after 4 years in charge of the Chinese national team with the goal of building a team to challenge we have finally reached the tournament. Drawn in Group C alongside hosts Australia, Qatar and The Philippines. 

Group Stage.

Spoiler

Drawn in a pretty easy group with only Australia as a threat we started the group stages with a 2-0 win over Qatar. Our next game was against the minnows of the group Philippines and we recorded a comfortable 4-1 victory. Our final group game was against Australia, both on 6 points after 2 games they manged to seal first place with a tight 1-0 win. Final Group Standings

2nd Round.

Spoiler

In the 2nd round we drew Jordan, I expected an easy game and it was just  that. A 2-0 win seeing us into the last eight. Looking at the draw, seeing Japan and Australia face off in this round delighted me as it meant 1 of the potential winners was definitely going home.

Quarter Finals.

Spoiler

In the Quarter Finals we faced Thailand. Another game where I expected an easy win, but it ended up being a really tight game. We managed to squeeze through 2-1 AET, winning it in the 117th minute.  Onto the Semi's and in more good news elsewhere, Japan had managed to lose to Syria, meaning just South Korea remained from the usual favorites.

Semi Finals.

Spoiler

In the Semi's we faced Japan's conquerors Syria, I expected this to be a tight game as them beating Japan was unexpected, I was wrong. We thumped them  7-0. Another game that could have been a cricket score.

Final.

Spoiler

Onto the final and we faced Iran. Yep Iran, not South Korea. Iran beat them 1-0 in the other semi final. This had me delighted as I couldn't have asked for a better Asian Cup or more luck with the run to the final. 2-1 down with 10 minutes to go, I thought that was it, 4 years down the drain. Then in the 81st minute we got an equalizer...game on. In the 91st minute we nicked it. 3-2. China are Asian Cup champions for the first time in history. Finals Tree

Aftermath

Spoiler

My time with China is over. My 4 year spell has been a long run but was really worth it in the end. Going out on a high with the Asian Cup meant it couldn't get any better. With no appealing international jobs open atm, and not in a club role since I left Fluminense a month ago, I have just focused on this tournament. Having also resigned from China after the final, I will look to get a new job in Europe asap.

CLUB CAREER	
							Leagues		Cups
Season		Nation	League		Club		1st	2nd	1st	2nd	Cont	CWC	Other Notes and Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------	
2018		CHI	CJL		Beijing Renhe	1st		SF				Appointed DEC 2017, Gained C & B License, Manager of the Season
2019		CHI	CSL		Beijing Renhe	1st		WON				Gained National A, CON C License, Manager of the season, Double Winners
2020		CHI	CSL		Beijing Renhe	1st		R.U		WON	3rd	Gained CON B License, Manager of the year, CSL & ACL Winners, Resigned on 22/12/2020
2021		USA	MLS		Atlanta United	3rd	WON	RD4		WON	3rd	Gained CON A License, MLS CUP and NACL Winners, Coach of the year.
2022		USA	MLS		Atlanta United					R.U		Gained Pro License, Lost in NACL FINAL, Resigned on 25/05/22.
2022/23		RSA	ABSA		Bloemfontein	6th		R2	WON			Appointed on 31/07/22, Won Telekom Knockout Cup.
2023/24		RSA	ABSA		Bloemfontein	1st		SF	WON			Double Winners. League and Telekom Knockout Cup.
2024/25		RSA	ABSA		Bloemfontein	1st		SF	WON			Treble winners. League, MTN8 and Telekom Cup. Still in AFC Champs League Group Stage
2025/26		RSA	ABSA		Bloemfontein					WON	5th	Won CAF Champions League, Lost in CWC QF's. Resigned on 24/12/2025
2026		BRA	SERIE A		Fluminense	2nd		WON		WON	WON	Appointed on 26/03/2026. Quad Winners. State Champs, FA Cup, Copa Libertadores and CWC. Manager of the season. Resigned on 21/12/2026.








INTERNATIONAL CAREER
									Competitions

Season		Nation		World Cup	Confed Cup	Euro Cup	Asian Cup	Afcon	Gold Cup	Copa A		Other Notes and Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22		SENEGAL										WON					Appointed on 21/03/2021, Qualified for World Cup, ranked 13th.
2022/23		Senegal		Group Stage												Resigned on 25/06/22, ranked 15th
2023/24		China															Appointed on 02/07/2023, Qualified for Asian Games, Ranked 54th. 
2024/25		China															Qualified for East Asian Games. Ranked 46th
2025/26		China		2nd Round												Won East Asian Cup. Ranked 45th. 
2026/27		China								WON							Won AFC Asian Cup. Ranked 42nd. Resigned on 07/02/2027		







CHALLENGE PROGRESS

	CLUB

	3/10 Top Domestic Leagues		CSL-Beijing Renhe 2019. MLS-Atlanta 2021. ASBA-Bloemfontein 2024.
	3/10 Domestic Cups			CFA-Beijing Renhe 2019. RSAKO-Bloemfontein 2023. BFA-Fluminense 2026.
	4/5 Club Continental Championships	Asia-Beijing Renhe 2020. CONCACAF-Atlanta 2021. CAFCL-Bloemfontein 2025. COPA LIB-Fluminense 2026.
	1/1 Club World Cups			Fluminense 2026


	International

	2/5 Continental Tournaments		AFCON-Senegal 2021. Asian Cup-China 2027. 
	0/2 World Tournaments

	Total Challenge Progress 13/33


	All Achievements
	
	Club Football.

	Beijing Renhe - Chinese Jia League 2018. Chinese Super League 2019, 2020. Asian Champions League 2020. Chinese FA Cup 2019. Chinese Super Cup 2020. Manager of the season 2018, 2019, 2020.
	Atlanta United - MLS Cup 2021. CONCACAF 2021. MLS coach of the year 2021.
	Bloemfontein Celtics - Telkom Knockout Cup 2023,2024,2025. ASBA Premiership-2024,2025. MTN8-2025. CAFCL-Bloemfontein 2025. Manager of the season 2024. 
	Fluminense - Rio State Championships 2026, Copa Perdigao do Brazil 2026, Copa Libertadores 2026, FIFA Club World Cup 2026, Manager of the season 2026.
	
	International Football.

	Senegal - AFCON-Senegal 2021.
	China - East Asian Cup 2025. AFC Asian Cup 2027.

 

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2027/28

Appointment    Squad

So having left Fluminense in December and China in February, I found myself on the job hunt. Having won the 4/5 continental crowns, my eyes were firmly set on Europe. 3 jobs open appealed to me. Inter Milan, AC Milan and Benfica. I applied and had interviews with all 3. Benfica came back almost instantly with an offer, I did wonder whether to wait to see what the Milan clubs did but I don't really want to go to the big 5 just yet and Brazil to Portugal is quite a well trodden path in football. So I accepted the offer and was appointed the new Benfica Manager. Already possessing a super strong first team, some talented youngsters, I shouldn't need to do too much. Although they are overloaded with central midfielders. 

 

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Good to see people still continuing with this challenge and enjoying reading the updates, I've had a break from football manager for a while but now back playing and picking up where I left off with Ajax CT.

With 12 league games left to play we're sitting pretty at the of the table on 50 points having not lost a game and drawing only 2 but only 4 points clear of 2nd placed Kaizer Chiefs.  We're still in the CAF Confederations Cup (I think it's the Europa League/Sudamerica equivalent) having won in the preliminary round.

Hopefully have an end of season update around the weekend time.

Edited by blackdevil
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Vikeologist's 2017 and 2018 Shanghai Shenxin and China U23 Season Report

Image result for shanghai shenxinImage result for china football national team

So I took over  Shanghai Shenxin (in the Chinese second tier) with 5 matches left of the 2017 season. I didn’t win any of those matches, so the less said the better.

The 2018 season was much better though.

I spent big on a 32 year-old foreign striker, André Senghor, half way through the season, (and sold one of my existing laowais) only for him to break his ankle before joining us. He eventually made his debut before picking up what looked to be a season ending concussion after 8 extremely expensive minutes of first team football. I started him, blinding headache with blurred vision be damned, for the final match of the season, and he scored a hat trick. Small sample size or not, it suggests that promotion would have come a lot more easily without his injury.

 

With only the top two teams being promoted, we were just below those slots for nearly all the season, but finally broke into it in the last ten matches.

With 3 matches to go, we were one of 3 teams on 51 points. Because results between teams count before goal difference, we really were all neck and neck, although we were actually on top at that point. 3 into 2 doesn’t go, but as the other 2 teams were playing each other, 3 wins would definitely gain us promotion.

It only took 2 wins, and we had promotion sown up with a match in hand, with just the division title on the line in the last match. Which we lost, despite Senghor’s hat-trick.

 

I didn’t really care about the FA Cup, until we knocked out 2 top league sides, and then beat a fellow Jia league side to reach the semi finals.

We won the first leg against Jiangsu 5-2, and I thought we were in the final. Literally. When I saw that we had a cup game coming up, I thought it was the first leg of the final. It was annoying to realise that we weren’t actually there yet, and in fact, we weren’t there at all, as we managed to grasp defeat from the jaws of victory by sticking to our normal attacking tactics and losing the second leg 6-2. I really should have gone ultra-defensive for the whole second match, or called up Jiangsu’s best U23 player for the Asian Games, of which more later. A bit annoying, because who knows, we might have won the final and been in the Champions League next season.

 

 

I mentioned the Asian Games. I took over the China U23 side because I thought it would help my reputation. I hope it did, because I only went and won the thing. We started off with a convincing 5-2 win over S Korea, and ended with a far less convincing win over them in the final where were outclasses but managed to snatch the trophy in injury time after an own goal by the 10-man Koreans. I’m staying for the moment, because I’m not sure whether quitting would be a good idea, job obtainment-wise.

Top Goalscorer – Zhang Wentao – 17 I used a one striker formation, and had to make do with Wentao for the whole season thanks to Senghor’s injury. He did ok.

 

Top Average Rating – Biro-Biro 7.62 Obviously this would be Senghor’s one match mark of 9.5, but I use a 10 match minimum for these awards. Biro is the star of the side, but has been unsettled from the start and still shows no sign of wanting to stay once his contract ends at the end of the season.

 

Man of the Match – Biro-Biro - 8

 

MVP – Biro-Biro, I suppose.

 

Domestic
Season	Team					Position	Notes										Challenge Landmarks
2017	Shanghai Shenxin (China)		9th		Took over with 5 matches left, and didn't win any of them. 
2018	Shanghai Shenxin			2nd		Promoted


International
Year	Team					Achievements
2018-	China U23				Won Asian Games.

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 

 

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I've had my eyes on this challenge for a long time now, and I think I'm finally ready to give it a go. I've started with the Nordic leagues loaded (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Finland), since I am Norwegian after all, and it would be natural to start out in my home region. I'll apply to every team possible and see where I end up. I'm often a one team-manager so the though of swapping teams quite often is something I'm not very familiar with, but that's also something I look forward to. For the whole game I'll try to be as realistic as possible, though should I overachieve somewhere I will accept joining a poorer club to fulfill the challenge.

My profile:

P3flj9Q.png

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XaW - Ultimate Football Manager Challenge - 2017

I applied to every job available from the get go and got a couple of interviews from teams all over the Nordics, but in the end I got two offers. One from Finnsnes and one from a Swedish team. The Swedish team were in a pickle financially, so I went for the team from northern Norway.

OPGrC3L.png

Way, way up north I went. And I took over just as the transfer window had closed. So I was left with 16 players and no youths. We did play well and were in the fight for the top when the new transfer windows was about to open, then the board surprised me by teaming up with top tier team Molde and they sent me a lot of good players. This helped us clinch the title and promotion to the 2nd tier. Should hopefully help out my reputation as well.

Domestic
Season	Team			Division		Position	Notes										Challenge Landmarks
2017	Finnsnes IL		PostNord-ligaen 1       1st		Promoted as champions, got National C licence 


International
Year	Team					Achievements
-

Challenge Progress

Club
 0/10 top domestic leagues 			
 0/10 domestic cups 							
 0/5 club continental championships 	
 0/1 club world championship

International
 0/5 continental tournaments 		
 0/2 world tournaments 
Edited by XaW
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@XaW 

6 hours ago, XaW said:

For the whole game I'll try to be as realistic as possible, though should I overachieve somewhere I will accept joining a poorer club to fulfil the challenge.

Great to have you join the challenge.  I think quite often the challenge is more like a bell curve than an incline in terms of the clubs you manage. When I completed the challenge I reached my peak club in the middle with Juventus, who were probably the best team i managed in the challenge, and it was a gradual decline in quality from there on. I actually got my next job when I quit, and took the job of the manager who replaced me at Juventus. 

Ha, I've just checked, and I never managed Juventus. The peak club was Barcelona. So, don't trust anything I ever say on this thread.

Anyway my last club was tiny little Bangor in Wales scrabbling around for that last cup. There's usually a point where as one of the biggest managers on the planet, we phone the chairman of some club with a combined 400 fans and local currency units, and say, is your job still going?

@blackdevil Looking forward to your update. If you win the league, you're on the leader board, right?

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2 minutes ago, vikeologist said:

@XaW 

Great to have you join the challenge.  I think quite often the challenge is more like a bell curve than an incline in terms of the clubs you manage. When I completed the challenge I reached my peak club in the middle with Juventus, who were probably the best team i managed in the challenge, and it was a gradual decline in quality from there on. I actually got my next job when I quit, and took the job of the manager who replaced me at Juventus. 

Ha, I've just checked, and I never managed Juventus. The peak club was Barcelona. So, don't trust anything I ever say on this thread.

Anyway my last club was tiny little Bangor in Wales scrabbling around for that last cup. There's usually a point where as one of the biggest managers on the planet, we phone the chairman of some club with a combined 400 fans and local currency units, and say, is your job still going?

Yeah, I assume it could turn out like that should the reputation skyrocket. Though, it could be argued that going to smaller clubs could be a natural decline. Take a look at Avram Grant as an example. His highlight is probably managing Chelsea and then went on to much smaller clubs as the years went on. I had to google him to find out he is managing in India at the moment...

Anyway, I'll at least try to strive for something resembling realistic in my choice of clubs. If I do well in Norway or any other Nordic country, I'll go for Asia or Africa next, then the Americas before going back to Europe to finish it of. Internationals I'll do at any time it's possible. At least, that's my plan, but it can change should something happen.

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@XaW I suppose if we saved China for last, that might at least be realistic; managing a rubbish club in our seventies for a fortune. It's always amusing watching the highlights of CSL matches and seeing the soul draining out of Pellegrini and Capello as they wonder what they are doing there.

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@vikeologist no, I'm some distance away at present.  My issue is that I get bored easily and drift off to play other games so it takes longer than it should.

Current Challenge Progress:

Club
2/10 top domestic leagues (CHI, BRA)
3/10 domestic cups (CHI, BRA, RSA)
2/5 club continental championships (ACL-Wuhan 2020, LIB-Sao Paulo 2022)
1/1 club world championship (Sao Paulo 2022)

International
1/5 continental tournaments (MAR 2023)
0/2 world tournaments ()

Edited by blackdevil
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@blackdevil But we have a leader board on the first page for current saves where managers have at least 10 of the landmarks. usually when people get to ten, they're all like, 'I'm on the leader board! I'm on the leader board!'

@XaW Just got my first senior international job; and it's Norway. (I admit I double-checked in case it turned out to be Denmark or something and you'd never speak to me again once my mistake came to light). We have just been drawn in the same Euro qualifiers group as Denmark, but Norway are ranked 11th in the world, so I was a bit disappointed to be in the 3rd seeding group, (because though Norway won every Nations League match, they were in division C). Our competition is Denmark and Switzerland though, and we only have to finish in the top 2. Plus my squad looks quite nifty; and young. I might have an outside chance of actually winning something with them, as long as my over-achievement with China U23 wasn't a fluke.

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