The Ultimate Football Manager Challenge - Silver Age Archive

[jaysdailydose]

2 hours ago, darren1983 said:

 

Well the Copa Lib starts in Feb of next year so I'll stay for that, however I am on the lookout for a job in Brazil to a) try and add the domestic cup I missed in the USA and b) win the Copa Lib a little quicker. Am happy to stay here for now though and maybe more than 1 season at a club might be a good idea as it's been a while since I did that. It's also a world cup summer so should be some decent jobs up after that, hoping for one of the real big boys (or USA/Mexico) but not sure if my rep of 75% is enough for them yet. We shall see. 

Unless there were massive changes in reputation in regards to international jobs, you should be able to score the USA job with zero issue.  I've gotten the USA job before I won a top flight trophy in the past.  

[darren1983]

17 hours ago, jaysdailydose said:

Unless there were massive changes in reputation in regards to international jobs, you should be able to score the USA job with zero issue.  I've gotten the USA job before I won a top flight trophy in the past.  

USA job just doesn't come up for me. The manager has been "insecure" for about a year but never sacked. Got the Mexico job instead. 

[vikeologist]

I went a year and a half without a club job, and basically had to find a job before the Copa America / African CON finished and I applied for whatever new international jobs there were. (incidentally, I am now the manager of Ghana again, for the third time this career.)

I was offered the Schalke job, and if they'd offered me the job when i applied I might have been able to get them into Europe, but by the time they did offer me the job, they were in the relegation (playoff) position with one match to go, so I asked for a delay until I was sure that they would stay up; but they didn't. In retrospect I wish I'd taken the job, and run the risk of getting relegated after one match and sacked. Would have least been a little bit exciting, and I think the team would have suited my tactics.

Ended up taking a job at recently crowned French Cup winners, Bordeaux. Quite a bit of money, nobody good enough to spend it on wants to join.

@darren1983 Not even sure if your rep will be enough for a Brazilian club, although not having an international job should help. If you do return to international management after the WC, you might be stuck at Boca. I'm definitely going to try to win the Lib in Brazil, but I just couldn't get offered any job there while i had an international job. (My rep did go down from 75 - 70% when I quit Defensor Sporting though.

@blackdevil I had a bit more than 27 players to choose from, but as i say, absolutely zero right wingbacks. The embarrassing thing is that above i said

Quote

if you can't manage Japan (and it's perfectly ok to take out the relevant files and make Japan and Germany playable) then Iran, Australia and S Korea are your only real options for winning the Asian Cup; (sorry, China).

and of course, after knocking us out on penalties, China went on to win the thing. My quitting Ghana to manage S Korea was so close to being a good idea, but actually turned out to be a disaster.

@jaysdailydose I see that you're also doing the youth challenge. I must admit I was tempted to quit this challenge and do the youth, as with my tactics I think I would stand a good chance, but after holidaying for 2 years in Holland, i just didn't love my team; mostly because nobody had a determination above 9, and so there was no way of getting a good squad personality, which is one of my favourite parts of the game. I hope that you will reject the sins of youth and commit yourself to becoming Ultimate. I'm only looking out for your soul.

@MWE Congrats on your progress, especially the ACON  Be interesting to see how quickly you can work your way up the Spanish ranks, or if you even try or just build up Villanovense. I think that's who i started with in my first (short-lived) attempt at the challenge this year. I saved them from relegation, but realised that i hated FM18, and by the time I came back, starting somewhere else seemed like a sensible step.

Edited May 14, 2018 by vikeologist

[MWE]

2 hours ago, vikeologist said:

 

@MWE Congrats on your progress, especially the ACON  Be interesting to see how quickly you can work your way up the Spanish ranks, or if you even try or just build up Villanovense. I think that's who i started with in my first (short-lived) attempt at the challenge this year. I saved them from relegation, but realised that i hated FM18, and by the time I came back, starting somewhere else seemed like a sensible step.

This board wont let me do any badges either so I will be at this job until something better comes along

[jaysdailydose]

3 hours ago, vikeologist said:

 

@jaysdailydose I see that you're also doing the youth challenge. I must admit I was tempted to quit this challenge and do the youth, as with my tactics I think I would stand a good chance, but after holidaying for 2 years in Holland, i just didn't love my team; mostly because nobody had a determination above 9, and so there was no way of getting a good squad personality, which is one of my favourite parts of the game. I hope that you will reject the sins of youth and commit yourself to becoming Ultimate. I'm only looking out for your soul.

 

I've always kept two saves going just to break up monotony sometimes, but I got about 2/3 of my first season done in China yesterday.  I'm starting to get the feels that it will be two years in the second tier there... I can still get promoted, but I lost a massive promotion six-pointer last night.

I *hate* the Chinese transfer rules... but I got lucky.  As their "winter" window ended, I was worried that I hadn't strengthened enough, but luckily, buying back a foreign player was enough strengthening to where they aren't all pissed at me.  Not making them play any better, but I digress.

I don't want to take up too much space on it, but the biggest thing you hope for in a youth challenge is to get 1-2 players with an amazing personality that are key players, so that they can tutor without restriction.  Personality is so huge, so I totally get what you mean.  In most youth starts, your best tutor is a 38-year old who is somehow still scraping a living with a "Not Needed" squad status.

[darren1983]

10 hours ago, vikeologist said:

 

@darren1983 Not even sure if your rep will be enough for a Brazilian club, although not having an international job should help. If you do return to international management after the WC, you might be stuck at Boca. I'm definitely going to try to win the Lib in Brazil, but I just couldn't get offered any job there while i had an international job. (My rep did go down from 75 - 70% when I quit Defensor Sporting though.

Yeah my rep (75%) seem a bit low to go to Brazil, I tried to "Vike" the Copa Lib a little while ago as Sao Paulo sacked their manager but were semi-finalists but I didn't even get an interview. I'll stick it out with Boca, think we're good enough to win it (well first 11 is, back up maybe not yet) and got the Mexico job so got the Gold Cup to try and win too, Should keep me busy for next couple of seasons. 

[darren1983]

Season 2026/27 Review - Boca Juniors and Mexico

After the domestic double last year the challenge was to keep up near the top and challenge for the Copa Libertadores. With that in mind there was no need for any big transfers as we looked to refine what we had.

In the league we started like a house on fire, winning our first 10 games and not losing till game 14. In fact in the opening half of the season we won 16, drew 2 and only lost 1. 2nd half of the season we stumbled and nearly threw away the league. With 5 games to go we had a 3 point lead over River. Next game we lost and they won meaning things were all level, we needed them to blink as our form was ropey at best. With 2 games left they played before us for the first time in months and they conceded a 93rd minute goal to draw 3-3 (dropping us from top for the first time since the opening weekend) meaning we knew 2 wins would give us the title (if 1st and 2nd are level at end of the season there's a playoff for the title and our record against them is poor so I didn't want that) we responded with two 3-0 wins to win the title by a point. Was closer than it should have been.

As said the main target is the Copa Libertadores, like Africa is plays out 8 or so months after the league ends from Feb to November. Group stages we had defending champions Flamengo as main rivals, we beat the other 2 teams but couldn't beat them to end in 2nd and go through (the 6-4 game was a little harsh as we played with 10 men for 75 minutes after our striker was sent off) if we can avoid the Brazilian clubs for as long as possible we might have a chance to win this (and if I bring in the right players this summer)

Domestic cup we went out to River at the back end of last season This year we've won 1 round with another to come. We did retain the SuperCopa Argentina though we did out best to throw it away)

Mexico

Not much to say here just yet as have the Copa America and Gold cup to come (will do a separate  post for those) I won my first 4 games before a narrow 2-1 loss away to Argentina ended our run. Got a nice draw in the Gold Cup, not so much for our B team (that'll probably manage as well) for the Copa America.

Career Overview

Season		Team				Country			Position		Notes & Achievements

2017/18		Ubuntu Cape Town		South Africa		1st			Promotion
2018/19		Ubuntu Cape Town		South Africa		7th 
2019/20		Orlando Pirates			South Africa		4th 			Won, CAF Confederations Cup, CAF Super Cup & MTN8 cup	
2020/21		Orlando Pirate			South Africa		1st			League winners, Nedbank Cup Winners, Tolkom Cup Winners, CAF Confederations and Super Cup winners
2021/22		Orlando Pirates			South Africa		1st 			League winners, Nedbank Cup winners, Tolkom Cup winners	
2022/23		Orlando Pirates			South Africa		1st 			MTN8 winners and Champions League winners		
2023		Guangzhou EverGrande		China			1st 			League Winners, Champions League winners, Cup winners
2024		Atlanta United			USA			11th 			MLS winners
2025		Atlanta United			USA			4th 			NACL Winners
2025/26		Boca Juniors			Argentina		1st			League winners, Cup winners and super cup winners
2026/25		Boca Juniors			Argentina		1st 			League winners super cup winners

International

Year	Country			Notes & Achievements 

2017	Australia U23		Asian U23 Champions
2019	China			Asian Cup Winners
2019/20 Egypt 			African Nations Championship Winners
2020/21 Egypt			African Cup of Nations Winners
2026/27	Mexico			N/A

Challenge Progress

Club
4/10 top domestic leagues – South Africa 2021 (Orlando Pirates), China 2023 (Guangzhou), USA 2024 (Atlanta United), Argentina 2026 (Boca Juniors)
3/10 domestic cups – South Africa 2021 (Orlando Pirates), China 2023 (Guangzhou), Argentina 2026 (Boca Juniors)
3/5 club continental championships – Africa 2022 (Orlando Pirates), Asia 2023 (Guangzhou), North America 2025 (Atlanta United)
0/1 club world championship

International
2/5 continental tournaments - Asian Cup Winners 2019 (China), Cup of Nations 2021 (Egypt)
0/2 world tournaments ()

Next Season

Like I say, Copa Libertadores is the only target, win that and I can look to Europe. 

[darren1983]

2027 Copa America and Gold Cup Reports - Mexico

Figured I'd do a combined report to save time. With it being a 2 tournament summer I had to pick an A and B team. I wanted a shot at both but felt the Gold Cup was the more realistic option so my strongest 11 went there, the players I'd have usually had as back up squad members went to Uruguay for the Copa America with both squads being filled out with a mix of fringe players and exciting young players that did well in the U20 world cup (losing semi finalists)

We will start with the Copa America as that was first

Group Stages
 

Spoiler

Mexico 5-1 Ecuador - a fantastic start from us as we smashed 5 past Ecuador had me dreaming of a decent run

Uruguay 3-0 Mexico - we came crashing down to earth as the hosts played us off the park. 1-0 down at HT we went chasing and got picked off

Columbia 2-2 Mexico - went behind to an early OG but were 2-1 up by the 25th minute but our left back saw red for 2 bookable offences before HT. 10 minutes into the 2nd half we were down to 9 men as a ST was sent off for a reckless challenge. Pulled everyone back and went proper defensive and we held out till the 78th minute. The never got through again though and we snatched a point to finish group runners up somehow.

Quarter Finals (If applicable)

Spoiler

Argentina 1-1 Mexico AET (Mexico win 3-2 on pens) - how we got through this I'll never know. We grabbed the lead with our first shot on target just before HT. A Dybala goal just after the break made it 1-1 before another red card had us go defensive again. Somehow we kept them at bay despite them having 19 shots to our 3. We FM'd them, held on for a draw and won on pens.

Semi Finals (If applicable)

Spoiler

Chile 0-4 Mexico - we came flying out the blocks here with an early goal, grabbed another on the stroke of HT then went counter attacking and hit them twice in the final 5 mins on the break. Our first actual win since the opening group game put us in the final against world number 1's Brazil.

Final (If applicable)

Spoiler

Brazil 1-1 Mexico AET (Mexico win 4-3 on pens) - an awful game, despite there being 27 shots between the 2 sides there was only 1 clear chance (which was their goal) lots of fouls with no flow to the game, suited us perfectly. Was 0-0 after 90 mins but we broke and took the lead on 101 minutes before they made it 1-1 on the stroke of HT of ET. No more goals which meant another pen shootout. Both sides scored their first 2 then missed their next 3 before both scoring again, we made it 4-3 then Techeco hit the bar with his and we had won despite only winning 2 games int he whole tournament! My luck in these has to end sooner or later.

Gold Cup

Group stages 

Spoiler

Well after the B team win the pressure was on

Costa Rica 0-2 -  A comfortable win with goals either side of the break got us off to a solid start

Mexico 4-0 Curaco - our front 3 came to play and we were 3 up by the break. A late 4th sealed a comfortable win and with it qualification to the next round

Mexico 3-0 El Salvador - rested my entire first 11 for this one as a point was all we needed to top the group, the back ups did the job and saw us through with maximum points

Quarter Finals (If applicable)

Spoiler

Mexico 2-0 Honduras - 2 goals in the first half from Real Madrid winger Escobedo was enough to see us through to face Trinidad and Tobago 

Semi Finals (If applicable)

Spoiler

Trinidad & Tobago 0-5 Mexico - 1 up after 3 minutes, 4 up by 33rd minute, 5th goal right after the break meant we could relax and sub out player who looked tired ahead of a final with USA who had a days extra rest.

Final (If Applicable)

Spoiler

Mexico 2-1 USA - a nervy first half saw USA take the lead right on HT, a rollicking from me saw us get level ealry in the 2nd with a goal from Liverpool winger Lozano before Bayern's Martinez scored from a corner with 10 minutes to go. We saw the game out and won the Gold Cup for the first time in years. What a summer! 

Aftermath 

Spoiler

Like I said, what a summer. Honestly feels like I'm cheating with international football having won each tournament at the first try. I'm sure Vike hates me for this! I expected to win the Gold Cup but the luck we had in winning the Copa America is something I've never had before. I'm going to leave Mexico now as nothing more to win here really and focus my attention on Boca and the Copa Lib this season.

 

[jaysdailydose]

Well, that was something that hasn't happened in a long damned time.   

After dealing with major injuries to all three of my foreigners in China, I have been sacked by Beijing Beikong.   We had anticipated promotion, but with the injuries, fell to a mid-table 9th position, and that wasn't anywhere near good enough for our board.

As it was my first employer in the challenge, I am just going to start anew.  I'm only going to load England to L2, China to the Jia, and South Africa to the NPD.  That should make my next sacking even quicker!

I guess the bright side is that I know I *can* actually be sacked, and it'll actually **** me off enough to do a better job this time around!  I will post a new screenshot when I get to my new club, I am working through the application process as we speak.

[vikeologist]

@jaysdailydose In my successful attempt, i was sacked loads of times; not just by international FAs  but also by clubs. In fact @NormandyWept and I competed for the Vikeologist Challenge to see who could be sacked the most times. I think he won.

@darren1983 Congrats on the double. I knew it was very possible with Mexico, but I just couldn't manage it myself.

[jaysdailydose]

4 hours ago, vikeologist said:

@jaysdailydose In my successful attempt, i was sacked loads of times; not just by international FAs  but also by clubs. In fact @NormandyWept and I competed for the Vikeologist Challenge to see who could be sacked the most times. I think he won.

 

Yeah, I totally remember you busting @NormandyWept's balls over it.

I don't think I've been sacked since FM15, and that was the first and only other sacking of my career.  I never get sacked.  I win things.

Chinese transfer rules, though, it was impossible to deal with the injuries.  For one, it misread my domestic transfers (supposed to be a limit of five over-21 players, I'd only signed four and couldn't sign more) -- but when I had six-week+ injuries to all three of my foreign stars, it was a wrap.  I wouldn't have even been mid-table if not for a great start to the campaign, while I had my team in health.  

Other than the "bug" I did have a fun time in China.  Nice quick 30-game seasons, and I *do* understand the player transfer rules, it does make it harder to do what I do best -- get rid of deadwood and get worthy players in.  

I have no doubt I'd have walked the league in year two with a couple more signings, but it wasn't to be.  I'd have kept going if it wasn't the first job, but no reason to not just re-spin it and not take the rep hit.  I'm playing tonight before bed and will have my new club shortly.

PS: From memory, Normandy was sacked eleven times on his completion, if I remember correctly.

[darren1983]

Season 2027/28 Report - Boca Jrs

Copa Libertadores this was the main goal for the season (so much so it nearly cost us elsewhere) and I had wanted to avoid the Brazilian clubs in the knockout rounds, so of course in the 2nd round we had Santos. It was right at the start of our pre-season and the middle of theirs so fitness was my main worry, at the break it was level but a quick fire double right after was enough to give us a win. The away leg 4 weeks later was better for us as we had fitness and a 2-1 win saw us through. In the Quarter final we had another Brazilian side in Corinthians. Home in the 1st leg again and we flew out he blocks and were 3-0 up by HT, we added a 4th but then switched off and allowed them to pull one back. In the return we kept it tight and at HT it was 0-0, we took the lead but then quickly fell behind 2-1, as they pushed on to get the goal to take it to extra time we hit them on the break twice to win 3-2. In the semis we had defending champions Flamengo, the side that beat us 0-1 and 6-4 in the group stages. At home again first up we continued to attack from the off and blew them away, 4-0 up by HT and added a 5th right after the break. We held out for rest of the game and won 5-0. The return leg was fine as we drew 2-2. In the final we had Cruzerio, home again so we attacked and were 3 up after 23 minutes. 2nd half we were poor as they pulled it back to 3-2 before we found 2 more goals before giving away another goal to win 5-3. The return leg we went counter and just tried to pick them off, we did so with 2 second half goals to win 2-0 and win the Copa Libertadores! 

League was a real struggle at times this season as I focused on the Copa Lib, we actually started well winning our first 5 games but then lost our next 4 as the rotation for the Copa Lib took effect. After winning that though we went on an insane run. We won our next 13 league matches to rocket up the table, once we were back in contention it became a battle between us and Racing. With 2 games to go we were joint top and once again it became a game of who would blink first. For once though it was us as we went down 3-1 away to newell's. Later that day though Raving could only draw meaning they were 1 ahead. Last game of the season we were 5-0 up by HT knowing we had to win and hope Racing didn't. They were 0-0 away to Velez. No more goals in the 2nd half from us but also no goals at Velez and we had our 3rd straight title! We had to have an insane run of 23 wins from 19 games after the Copa Lib to win it but we did.

In the other cups we fell to River in both the Copa Argentina and the Supercopa Argentina but did win the Recopa Sudamericarana. We also had a shot at the Club World Cup and managed to beat Euro champs Man Utd in the final 2-1. Another trophy as I became the greatest English manager of all time  

Career Overview

Season	Team				League			Position		Notes & Achievements

2017/18	Ubuntu Cape Town		First Division		1st			Promotion
2018/19	Ubuntu Cape Town		Premiership		7th 
2019/20	Orlando Pirates			Premiership		4th 			Won, CAF Confederations Cup, CAF Super Cup & MTN8 cup	
2020/21	Orlando Pirate			Premiership		1st			League winners, Nedbank Cup Winners, Tolkom Cup Winners, CAF Confederations and Super Cup winners
2021/22	Orlando Pirates			Premiership		1st 			League winners, Nedbank Cup winners, Tolkom Cup winners	
2022/23	Orlando Pirates			Premiership		1st 			MTN8 winners and Champions League winners		
2023	Guangzhou EverGrande		Chinese Super League	1st 			League Winners, Champions League winners, Cup winners
2024	Atlanta United			MLS			11th 			MLS winners
2025	Atlanta United			MLS			4th 			NACL Winners
2025/26	Boca Juniors			Superliga		1st			League winners, Cup winners and super cup winners
2026/25	Boca Juniors			Superliga		1st 			League winners super cup winners
2027/28	Boca Juniors			Superliga		1st 			Won League, Copa Libertadores, Club World Cup & Recopda Sudamericana

International

Year	Country			Notes & Achievements 

2017	Australia U23		Asian U23 Champions
2019	China			Asian Cup Winners
2019/20 Egypt 			African Nations Championship Winners
2020/21 Egypt			African Cup of Nations Winners
2026/27	Mexico			N/A
2027	Mexico			Copa America winners and Gold Cup Winners


Challenge Progress

Club
4/10 top domestic leagues – South Africa 2021 (Orlando Pirates), China 2023 (Guangzhou), USA 2024 (Atlanta United), Argentina 2026 (Boca Juniors)
3/10 domestic cups – South Africa 2021 (Orlando Pirates), China 2023 (Guangzhou), Argentina 2026 (Boca Juniors)
4/5 club continental championships – Africa 2022 (Orlando Pirates), Asia 2023 (Guangzhou), North America 2025 (Atlanta United), South America 2027 (Boca Jrs)
1/1 club world championship – 2027 Boca Jrs 

International
4/5 continental tournaments - Asian Cup Winners 2019 (China), Cup of Nations 2021 (Egypt), Copa America 2027 (Mexico), Gold Cup 2027 (Mexico)
0/2 world tournaments ()

What's Next?

Well everything I can win outside of Europe has been won so it's time to head there. It's the Euro's this summer so hopefully that should free up some interesting jobs, it's going to be hard to leave this Boca side as we're just so good but needs must. Before I say goodbye though a shout out to a couple of players, mainly Inaki Guede my right winger, gave him his debut at 17 and he's now a full international. The other is Fernado Macarof, my 1st signing here. Got better each season and ended this season with over 50 goals. 32 in 38 in the league as well. Might see if I can take them with me...

[vikeologist]

Nothing says journeyman save like screaming abuse at the referee for a penalty he's awarded, and then realising that it's your team that it's been awarded to.

[blackdevil]

Or cheering a goal and bemoan the equaliser only to realise that it's us that have equalised...done that a few times or something similiar glad it's not just me.

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2027/8 Bordeaux End of Season Report

As previously mentioned, I almost took a job at Schalke with one match of the season remaining, but delayed my decision, and Schalke lost that one match and were relegated, so I needed to find alternate employment quickly before the summer when I hoped to gain an international job, and become unattractive to clubs once more.

So I took a job at Bordeaux, not one of the big 3 clubs, but since they’d just won the French Cup, they were in the Europa League group stage and had a bit of money.

 

 

 

This was an almost Brazilian-length season of 64 matches including the Supercup. In addition to our 38 league games, we also had 4 League Cup, 6 French Cup and 15 Europa League matches, (all of which we won), plus the league, which we didn’t, because, you know, PS Bloody G. Still, we finished second with a quite respectable 91 pts.

We held fairly steady with PSG in the second half of the season, so if I can improve the team a bit, now that we’re Champions League attractive, we might stand a chance next season, but it will be tough, because no matter how much we improve, PSG aren’t going to get any worse, unless I manage to poach some of their players.

Top Goalscorer – Felipe Vizeu– 44 One of my strikers

Top Average Rating – Denis Rousey – 7.94 Another of my strikers who’d probably have been top goalscorer if not for a bad injury in the middle of the season.

Man of the Match – My 3 main strikers – 10

MVPs – Vizeu and Rousey jointly. Vizeu for being ever-present, Rousey for being the most prolific.

 

 

 

 

 

Internationally, I’m back with Ghana for the third time. I plan to stick with them this time until the ACON in a year’s time, but the team is getting old, and we might not even finish top of our qualifying group. Still, I’ve invested so much time to the team over 3 spells, I might as well go to one ACON with them. You never know.

Domestic
Season	Team				Position	Notes										
17	Shanghai Shenxin (China)	9th		Took over with 5 matches left, and didn't win any of them. 
18	Shanghai Shenxin		2nd		Promoted
19	Shanghai Shenxin		9th	
20	Hebei China Fortune		3rd		Won FA Cup									
21	Hebei China Fortune		1st		League, Cup, Champions League treble						
21-2	Ajax CT (South Africa)		5th		Took over with 8 matches left, missed out on Confed Cup qual by 1 point.
22-3	Ajax CT				1st		Won African Champions League. League, KO Cup and FA Cup quadruple. Unbeaten in league.
23-4(O)	Chivas (Mexico)			1st		Lost in League final. Won the Mexican Cup.
23-4(C)	Chivas				1st		League / NACL double.
24	Defensor Sporting (Uruguay)	2nd		Took over half way through season. Won Closing Stage and First Division Playoff. Lost Championship Playoff.
25	Defensor Sporting		1st		Won Opening and Closing Stages and Intermedio (cup). Unbeaten domestically. 
27-8	Bordeaux (France)		2nd		Won Coupe de la Ligue, French Cup and Europa League.

International
Year	Team				Achievements
18	China U23			Won Asian Games.
19	Norway				Left after 4 matches of Euro Qualifying.
19-20	Ghana				Left after 2 matches of African Cup Qualifying
20	Belgium				Sacked after leading the #1 team in the world to 1 draw and 3 defeats
21-22	Ivory Coast			Qualified for World Cup and reached second round, won CHAN.
22-23	Mexico				Won Gold Cup, reached Copa America semi with B team.
24-25	Ivory Coast			ACON semifinals
25-26	Ghana				Failed to progress past World Cup group stage
26-27	South Korea			Lost in Q/F of Asian Cup
27-	Ghana


Challenge Progress 13/33

Club
 4/10 top domestic leagues 		(China, S Africa, Mexico, Uruguay)		
 5/10 domestic cups 			(China, S Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France)						
 3/5 club continental championships	(Asia, Africa, North America) 	
 0/1 club world championship

International
 1/5 continental tournaments 		(N America)	
 0/2 world tournaments 

 

 

 

[jbutton]

Damn wish I saw this challenge back when I was doing my pentagon challenge save on Fm15, although that kinda stalled after I spent 10 years at Torino dominating the Italian league, is it possible to come into this challenge already in 2037? My start was inline with the rules for this but was obviously for a different challenge, i've already won a few things such as the CL, Italian Cup and Serie A?

[Minuy600]

Decided to join this challenge as an alternative to my other save in Croatia. Loaded the weakest country of every continent, meaning I can land a job in Indonesia, South Africa, Wales, America (very unlikely) and Peru. I might not update often but it should be fun if my lacking patience allows me to.

EDIT: Somehow I almost instantly launched a job. Persibbanga Purbalingga, a club playing in the Premier League (2nd tier) of Indonesia. They didn't have a manager from the get go, which meant I could relatively easily jump in. The season has already been underway for 9 games, and we're currently sitting in 7th. Excellent, because our expectation is to not get outclassed. Looks like this club is ideal to get some reputation before making a step towards a top tier club.

Edited May 21, 2018 by Minuy600

[blackdevil]

Bayern Munich
Bundesliga
2030/2031

This has been one of the most dominant domestic campaigns I've ever done going unbeated in both the league and cup to claim an easy league and cup double.  We only failed to win in 4 league games, the first of which was the first game back after the winter break in a 2-2 draw away against Stuttgart.  The other draws were 1-1 at home against Wolfsburg, Hamburg and Bremen.
Our only defeats of the season came in the Champions League, the first in the group stage against Danish side Midtjylland which despite the loss we finished top of the group ahead of Benfica(2nd) and Real Madrid(3rd).  In the first knockout round we faced French side Monaco, we won the first leg away 4-2 giving us a good platform to progress.  However the 2nd leg at home was a disappointing 4-1 defeat in which I played a weakened side thinking we had it in the bag.

Internationally I've got a 100% record with Italy with eight wins.  We qualified from the Nations League group A beating Germany and Switzerland with the Semi-final to come.  We've started the Euro's qualifying with two comfortable win and really should wipe the floor with the group we're in.  I'll need to avoid complacancy but I expect us to qualify and I think we've a good shot of winning the Euro's next summer.

 

Challenge Progress:

Club
6/10 top domestic leagues (CHI, BRA, RSA, USA, FRA, GER)
5/10 domestic cups (CHI, BRA, RSA, FRA, GER)
5/5 club continental championships (ACL-Wuhan 2020, LIB-Sao Paulo 2022, CAFCL-Ajax CT 2025, NACL-New York RB 2027, UCL-Lyon 2029)
1/1 club world championship (Sao Paulo 2022)

International
2/5 continental tournaments (MAR 2023, KOR 2027)
0/2 world tournaments ()

Seasons:

CLUB CAREER
							Leagues		Cups
Season	NAT	Club			Division	1st	2nd	1st	2nd		Cont.		CWC	Other & Notes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017	CHI	Wuhan			CNFD		5th								Joined in 9th place after 13 games and out of cups
2018	CHI	Whuan			CNFD		1st		Qtr						Promoted as champions
2019	CHI	Wuhan			CSL		1st		Win						League & Cup double.
2020	CHI	Wuhan			CSL		1st		Win			Win			Trebble Winners (+domestic super cup)
2021	BRA	Sao Paulo		Serie A		3rd		Qtr						Joined in 17th after 11 games.
2022	BRA	Sao Paulo		Serie A		1st		Win			Win		Win	Quadruple
2022/23	RSA	Ajax CT			RSA PL		7th		n/a	Win					Nedbank Cup win
2023/24	RSA	Ajax CT			RSA PL		1st		2rnd	Final					League Champions
2024/25	RSA	Ajax CT			RSA PL		1st		Semi	Win		Win			CAF Confederation Cup, League Champions, MTN 8 Cup, Telkom Knockout Cup, CAF Super Cup
2025/26	RSA	Ajax CT			RSA PL		1st*					Win			CAF Champions League, *resigned after 7 league games in 1st place and a game in hand.
2026	USA	New York RB		MLS		1st								MLS Cup & MLS Supporters Shield winners
2027	USA	New York RB		MLS		12th					Win			NACL
2027/28	FRA	Olympique Lyonnais	L1		3rd		10rnd	Semi
2028/29	FRA	Olympique Lyonnais	L1		2nd		Semi	Win		Win			UEFA CL & League Cup winners
2029/30	FRA	Olympique Lyonnais	L1		1st		Win					Win	League & FA Cup & Club World Cup
2030/31	GER	Bayern Munich		BL		1st		Win						League & Cup double

INTERNATIONAL CAREER
			Rank		Cups
Year	Nation		FIFA	NL	World	Cont.	Conf.	Other & Notes
2020	Serbia		21st
2021	Serbia		33rd					Failed to Qualify for World Cup
2022	Morocco		15th					Won African Nations Championship
2023	Morocco		18th					Won African Cup of Nations
2024
2025	South Korea	50th					Won East Asia Cup
2026	South Korea	44th					3rd in World Cup group
2027	South Korea	31st			Win		Won the Asian Cup
2030/31	Germany		2nd					Semi-final of Nations League and some friendlies
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[vikeologist]

6 hours ago, jbutton said:

Damn wish I saw this challenge back when I was doing my pentagon challenge save on Fm15, although that kinda stalled after I spent 10 years at Torino dominating the Italian league, is it possible to come into this challenge already in 2037? My start was inline with the rules for this but was obviously for a different challenge, i've already won a few things such as the CL, Italian Cup and Serie A?

If it's in line with the rules, that's fine. Glad to have you on board. The main rules are 20 years old at start and no exp / quals. Will you be on the leader board? You're still doing the challenge on FM15? That's ok. 

@Minuy600  Welcome to the challenge. Hope you have a good season at PP.

@blackdevil Congrats on your season in Germany. Wonder if you'll be able to pick up each remaining club trophy in one season each.

[blackdevil]

@vikeologist Thanks, I think it'll depend on the timing of what jobs become available really.  The Real Madrid Job (finished 3rd) and Juventus job (finished 5th) are "very insecure".  AC Milan are the dominant team in Italy and looking miles better than the rest, whereas loosing Champions League finalist Barcelona are looking the part in Spain.  The English league and cup look as if it'll be difficult as Man Utd and City are appearing dominant this season with Utd winning the league for their first trophy in four years and City finishing 3rd and winning the Champions League.  

Congrats on your cup success with Bordeaux, hopefully you'll enjoy the battle with PSG.  They were a juggernaut that was difficult and enjoyable to overcome in the French league, they reclaimed their top spot after I left with Lyon dropping to 3rd some distance behind Monaco and PSG.

Edited May 22, 2018 by blackdevil

[Minuy600]

Would it sound too silly to say i'm dropping out already? As tempting as this challenge is, it's better for my mental health to stay out of it. I've become needlessly frustrated when I gave myself way too difficult challenges like this one. I'm going far too ahead of myself having only gotten a single piece of silverware. Sorry.

[vikeologist]

3 hours ago, Minuy600 said:

Would it sound too silly to say i'm dropping out already? As tempting as this challenge is, it's better for my mental health to stay out of it. I've become needlessly frustrated when I gave myself way too difficult challenges like this one. I'm going far too ahead of myself having only gotten a single piece of silverware. Sorry.

Completely understand. Maybe I should follow you. 

 

[darren1983]

Season 2028/29 Review - Ajax

So after finishing at Boca I headed to Europe, with a World Cup ending I expected there to be a few jobs flying around but in the end it came down to Porto or Ajax. Ajax came back to my first so it was them. Trouble with this job though was that in the interview process I clicked on the "will pull out of any other jobs" option by mistake which meant I then missed out on some potentially great international jobs.

League - This season went backwards to how most of my season's go as we started off well but then almost threw it away. At the winter break we were 4 points clear of PSV but then our form became a little rocky as we only won 1 game away from home in 2028 (most we drew) but in the end it was just about enough to see us hold off PSV and claim the league by 2 points.

Cup - PSV aside it was a comfortable route to the final where we dominated.

Europa League - missed out in the Champions League last season (probably why the old manager was sacked) so we were in this, despite it not counting for the challenge I wanted to try and win it and we did well till the quarter finals where and awful spell either side of HT saw us concede 3 goals in 6 minutes to lose. In the return we actually were 3-0 up and pushing for a 4th when we got hit in the break with around 15 to go. Knocked the stuffing out of us and we never looked like getting the 2 goals we needed.

Career Progress

Season	Team				League			Position		Notes & Achievements

2017/18	Ubuntu Cape Town		First Division		1st			Promotion
2018/19	Ubuntu Cape Town		Premiership		7th 
2019/20	Orlando Pirates			Premiership		4th 			Won, CAF Confederations Cup, CAF Super Cup & MTN8 cup	
2020/21	Orlando Pirate			Premiership		1st			League winners, Nedbank Cup Winners, Tolkom Cup Winners, CAF Confederations and Super Cup winners
2021/22	Orlando Pirates			Premiership		1st 			League winners, Nedbank Cup winners, Tolkom Cup winners	
2022/23	Orlando Pirates			Premiership		1st 			MTN8 winners and Champions League winners		
2023	Guangzhou EverGrande		Chinese Super League	1st 			League Winners, Champions League winners, Cup winners
2024	Atlanta United			MLS			11th 			MLS winners
2025	Atlanta United			MLS			4th 			NACL Winners
2025/26	Boca Juniors			Superliga		1st			League winners, Cup winners and super cup winners
2026/25	Boca Juniors			Superliga		1st 			League winners super cup winners
2027/28	Boca Juniors			Superliga		1st 			Won League, Copa Libertadores, Club World Cup & Recopda Sudamericana
2028/29	Ajax				Eredivisie		1st 			League and cup winners

International

Year	Country			Notes & Achievements 

2017	Australia U23		Asian U23 Champions
2019	China			Asian Cup Winners
2019/20 Egypt 			African Nations Championship Winners
2020/21 Egypt			African Cup of Nations Winners
2026/27	Mexico			N/A
2027	Mexico			Copa America winners and Gold Cup Winners


Challenge Progress

Club
5/10 top domestic leagues – South Africa 2021 (Orlando Pirates), China 2023 (Guangzhou), USA 2024 (Atlanta United), Argentina 2026 (Boca Juniors), Holland 2029 (Ajax)
4/10 domestic cups – South Africa 2021 (Orlando Pirates), China 2023 (Guangzhou), Argentina 2026 (Boca Juniors), Holland 2029 (Ajax)
4/5 club continental championships – Africa 2022 (Orlando Pirates), Asia 2023 (Guangzhou), North America 2025 (Atlanta United), South America 2027 (Boca Jrs)
1/1 club world championship – 2027 Boca Jrs 

International
4/5 continental tournaments - Asian Cup Winners 2019 (China), Cup of Nations 2021 (Egypt), Copa America 2027 (Mexico), Gold Cup 2027 (Mexico)
0/2 world tournaments ()

What's next?

Well another double so time to move on, couple interesting looking jobs might come up at Real Madrid and Arsenal, either way am likely to resign (again) and see what comes up. 

 

[MWE]

SEASON 8 - IVORY COAST & VILLANOVENSE, SPAIN

Promotion from second division B to the Second division with Villanovense although club massively in the red still no badges.

Qualified for ACON with Ivory Coast

 

Domestic
Season	Team	       Division			      Position Notes
2017/18 Sibenik        Croatian Second League         8th      Took over with the team in 8th
2018/19 Sibenik        Croatian Second League         1st      Promoted
2019/20 Sibenik        Croatian First League          5th      Qualified for the Europa League
2020/21 Sibenik        Croatian First League          4th      Croatian Cup Winners.
2021/22 Dinamo         Croatian First League          1st      League Winners, Croatian Cup Winners, Europa League runners-up
2022/23 Dinamo         Croatian First League          N/A      Sacked in November
2023/24 Villanovense   Spanish Second Division B4     8th      Joined January 2024
2024/25 Villanovense   Spanish Second Division B4     2nd      Promoted
2025/26 Villanovense   Spanish Second Division

International
Season  Team          Notes
2022    Ivory Coast   Hired July '22
2023    Ivory Coast   Won ACON
2024    Ivory Coast   Qualified for ACON
2025    Ivory Coast

[darren1983]

Am currently doing a Pep style year off as have got to March 2030 (after leaving Ajax in June 2029) and no job, mainly because I'm being really picky. Might have to become less picky I fear  

[darren1983]

Though with a little patience I end up with a new job. It's something of a step up  

[blackdevil]

1 hour ago, darren1983 said:

Though with a little patience I end up with a new job. It's something of a step up  

Spooky, that's who I'm managing next season too.  And as it seems to be with most of my appointment's there's no money to spend as they're in debt.

Edited May 24, 2018 by blackdevil

[darren1983]

19 minutes ago, blackdevil said:

Spooky, that's who I'm managing next season too.  And as it seems to be with most of my appointment's there's no money to spend as they're in debt.

Yeah I know what you mean  

[darren1983]

Season 2029/30 Review - Real Madrid

Not a great deal to update as I only had 9 games in charge. I took over with them in 2nd 12 points off of Barcelona and ended in 2nd 4 points off of Barcelona. Of the 9 games I had we won 8 which included a 3-0 win away to Barcelona which ended their 55 league game unbeaten run. 

We were out of all cups before I took over so nothing to see there. As seen above the finances are poor so my challenge (not that I've been asked to do it, I just can't stand being in such a poor financial position) is to move on some players to improve this. We have a fairly old squad so will be looking to reduce the average age. What will help is having 2 first teamers out of contract this summer, Neither fit into my plans and will be let go saving my over 500k a week in wages  

It's the World Cup this summer so with me in a job for a change I hope to pick up an international job afterwards.

Career Overview

Season	Team				League			Position		Notes & Achievements

2017/18	Ubuntu Cape Town		First Division		1st			Promotion
2018/19	Ubuntu Cape Town		Premiership		7th 
2019/20	Orlando Pirates			Premiership		4th 			Won, CAF Confederations Cup, CAF Super Cup & MTN8 cup	
2020/21	Orlando Pirate			Premiership		1st			League winners, Nedbank Cup Winners, Tolkom Cup Winners, CAF Confederations and Super Cup winners
2021/22	Orlando Pirates			Premiership		1st 			League winners, Nedbank Cup winners, Tolkom Cup winners	
2022/23	Orlando Pirates			Premiership		1st 			MTN8 winners and Champions League winners		
2023	Guangzhou EverGrande		Chinese Super League	1st 			League Winners, Champions League winners, Cup winners
2024	Atlanta United			MLS			11th 			MLS winners
2025	Atlanta United			MLS			4th 			NACL Winners
2025/26	Boca Juniors			Superliga		1st			League winners, Cup winners and super cup winners
2026/25	Boca Juniors			Superliga		1st 			League winners super cup winners
2027/28	Boca Juniors			Superliga		1st 			Won League, Copa Libertadores, Club World Cup & Recopda Sudamericana
2028/29	Ajax				Eredivisie		1st 			League and cup winners
2029/30	Real Madrid			La Liga			2nd 			Took over in April for final 9 games

International

Year	Country			Notes & Achievements 

2017	Australia U23		Asian U23 Champions
2019	China			Asian Cup Winners
2019/20 Egypt 			African Nations Championship Winners
2020/21 Egypt			African Cup of Nations Winners
2026/27	Mexico			N/A
2027	Mexico			Copa America winners and Gold Cup Winners


Challenge Progress

Club
5/10 top domestic leagues – South Africa 2021 (Orlando Pirates), China 2023 (Guangzhou), USA 2024 (Atlanta United), Argentina 2026 (Boca Juniors), Holland 2029 (Ajax)
4/10 domestic cups – South Africa 2021 (Orlando Pirates), China 2023 (Guangzhou), Argentina 2026 (Boca Juniors), Holland 2029 (Ajax)
4/5 club continental championships – Africa 2022 (Orlando Pirates), Asia 2023 (Guangzhou), North America 2025 (Atlanta United), South America 2027 (Boca Jrs)
1/1 club world championship – 2027 Boca Jrs 

International
4/5 continental tournaments - Asian Cup Winners 2019 (China), Cup of Nations 2021 (Egypt), Copa America 2027 (Mexico), Gold Cup 2027 (Mexico)
0/2 world tournaments ()

 

[blackdevil]

Not played for a few days but it seems my financial state is a little better in terms of bank balance...but I've got no transfer budget at the present time.

[MWE]

Season 9 - Villanovense, Spain - Ivory Coast - Walsall, England

Lost my job with the Ivory Coast after losing in the final of the ACON

Quit my job with Villanovense after picking up 4 points upto from the start of the season to Novemeber

Hired by Walsall in December with the team in 5th finished 2nd got promotion to League One

 

Domestic
Season	Team	       Division			      Position Notes
2017/18 Sibenik        Croatian Second League         8th      Took over with the team in 8th
2018/19 Sibenik        Croatian Second League         1st      Promoted
2019/20 Sibenik        Croatian First League          5th      Qualified for the Europa League
2020/21 Sibenik        Croatian First League          4th      Croatian Cup Winners.
2021/22 Dinamo         Croatian First League          1st      League Winners, Croatian Cup Winners, Europa League runners-up
2022/23 Dinamo         Croatian First League          N/A      Sacked in November
2023/24 Villanovense   Spanish Second Division B4     8th      Joined January 2024
2024/25 Villanovense   Spanish Second Division B4     2nd      Promoted
2025/26 Villanovense   Spanish Second Division        N/A      Quit in November
2025/26 Walsall        English League Two             2nd      Promoted
2026/27 Walsall        English League One

International
Season  Team          Notes
2022    Ivory Coast   Hired July '22
2023    Ivory Coast   Won ACON
2024    Ivory Coast   Qualified for ACON
2025    Ivory Coast   Sacked after being runner up in ACON

[Phelix]

Phelix joins the game.

Ok, I started this game a couple of days ago, I loaded up more leagues than I can remember, and with my managers age set to 20 and experience to nil, the first job I landed was at Nuneaton Town in the Vanarama Conference North.

We actually managed to have a very respectable season. Tipped by media to finish mid table at best, we actually reached the promotion playoff, setting a new league record for the number of draws in a single season (16).

I also had personal success, the board allowing me to gain not one, but two coaching badges through the season.

We went on to lose in the opening round of the playoffs, and rather than spend another year in the conference, I took a punt and left the club.

I applied for a number of vacancies and had a series of interviews with clubs throughout Europe, all unsuccessful. It was an application I didn't take at all seriously that actually came through.

I looked at Mexican jobs that were available and was actually succesful with two interviews, choosing Dorados Sinaloa as my new club. They have a significant jump in reputation from Nuneaton, and they have also agreed to let me take another coaching course right from the beginning.

With some clever recruitment, I think we can gain promotion from the Ascenso Bancomer MX (though the league structure confuses me).

That's it from me for now, I'll update again at the end of the season.

Career Progress

Season		Club			Country				League Position				Achievements							
2018/19		Nuneaton Town		England				Vanarama North 6th			Most draws in a league season (16), Two coaching badges attained
2019/20		Dorados Sinaloa		Mexico				

 

Edited May 25, 2018 by Phelix

[NixoN1994]

How do you guys manage the additions and removal of your  leagues?

Do you add new ones when you feel like moving to another club or are they permanently on playable?

 

Can I add African,Asian,... Leagues when I am already in 2028 and I didn't load them at the start ?

 

Thanks a lot for the help!

 

[vikeologist]

1 minute ago, NixoN1994 said:

How do you guys manage the additions and removal of your  leagues?

Do you add new ones when you feel like moving to another club or are they permanently on playable?

 

Can I add African,Asian,... Leagues when I am already in 2028 and I didn't load them at the start ?

 

Thanks a lot for the help!

 

You can add or remove leagues at any time. I try to only have 3 or 4 loaded at any time.

Maybe you have to try to have your next league already loaded. You don't want to finish in a country and have to wait 6 months for the next nation to start, and it's best to have more than 1 league loaded when you're looking for a job, because sometimes nobody gets sacked for ages.

The other side of the coin though is that some leagues (when they kick in) have job vacancies at the start, which makes getting a job easier.

The other factor is that you're managing international teams, and if you don't have the corresponding league(s) loaded, you don't have many players for some nations.

Anyway, I'd basically suggest having an idea of the route you plan to take in the challenge, so you know which leagues to add and when.

@Phelix Welcome to the challenge. Maybe a second tier Mexico club is a good job, but I've only managed in the top division. It looks like the top division. The league ends with playoffs for the top 8 clubs, which makes the league stage a bit boring if you're the best team, and makes the playoffs really stressful if you keep inexplicably losing the first legs by a huge margin as I did in my first Mexican league season this save. The tough thing is that only 1 club gets promoted each year. Also, if it reflects real life, not all the teams can be promoted, but Sinaloa should be ok.

Got to say, when you're choosing the name of your sports franchise, there are many suitable animals that encapsulate a passionate, competitive spirit; Lions, Tigers, Wolves, Eagles.

Goldfish are a bit from left field though.

[NixoN1994]

2 hours ago, vikeologist said:

You can add or remove leagues at any time. I try to only have 3 or 4 loaded at any time.

Maybe you have to try to have your next league already loaded. You don't want to finish in a country and have to wait 6 months for the next nation to start, and it's best to have more than 1 league loaded when you're looking for a job, because sometimes nobody gets sacked for ages.

The other side of the coin though is that some leagues (when they kick in) have job vacancies at the start, which makes getting a job easier.

The other factor is that you're managing international teams, and if you don't have the corresponding league(s) loaded, you don't have many players for some nations.

Anyway, I'd basically suggest having an idea of the route you plan to take in the challenge, so you know which leagues to add and when.

@Phelix Welcome to the challenge. Maybe a second tier Mexico club is a good job, but I've only managed in the top division. It looks like the top division. The league ends with playoffs for the top 8 clubs, which makes the league stage a bit boring if you're the best team, and makes the playoffs really stressful if you keep inexplicably losing the first legs by a huge margin as I did in my first Mexican league season this save. The tough thing is that only 1 club gets promoted each year. Also, if it reflects real life, not all the teams can be promoted, but Sinaloa should be ok.

Got to say, when you're choosing the name of your sports franchise, there are many suitable animals that encapsulate a passionate, competitive spirit; Lions, Tigers, Wolves, Eagles.

Goldfish are a bit from left field though.

This helps a lot already. Correct me if I am wrong but it is only possible to load or remove a new league at the end of the season, right ? 

 

Next to that do you recommend Claassen database for my current save ? I am currently in 2028 and close to winning a lot in Europe. I'd make my switch to Africa once I'm done here so id need more leagues.

[blackdevil]

The leagues add or remove around the time of the league reset date during the close season, so for example France and Germany leagues removed on the 20th June in 2031.

Which was handy for me as I was appointed Real Madrid manager on the 19th so I was able to remove the German league alongside the French one.  And it's made a huge difference to the speed of the game.  I think I've still got Spain, Italy, England, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil leagues loaded.

Edited May 26, 2018 by blackdevil

[vikeologist]

@NixoN1994 We're not allowed to use Claassens on this challenge. There's other challenges where you can use it; primarily Earl's challenge. The fact that you have no choice but to go to South Africa is part of the pain of this challenge.

[Crispypaul]

Afraid I will be dropping out - I moved to a Chinese team but I have sadly not the time to do this save.  Best of luck to all 

[NixoN1994]

13 hours ago, blackdevil said:

The leagues add or remove around the time of the league reset date during the close season, so for example France and Germany leagues removed on the 20th June in 2031.

Which was handy for me as I was appointed Real Madrid manager on the 19th so I was able to remove the German league alongside the French one.  And it's made a huge difference to the speed of the game.  I think I've still got Spain, Italy, England, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil leagues loaded.

Is there a way to look up the reset date of each league ?

 

8 hours ago, vikeologist said:

@NixoN1994 We're not allowed to use Claassens on this challenge. There's other challenges where you can use it; primarily Earl's challenge. The fact that you have no choice but to go to South Africa is part of the pain of this challenge.

Didn't know but that's perfect then. The harder the better ! 

[vikeologist]

@NixoN1994 When you add leagues, you can see when the league will start. You can add leagues, and cancel, until you find a league with a reset date you like.

[blackdevil]

@NixoN1994 And when you select to remove them it shows the date it'll be removed.  And to see the removal date for league you're in you can remove a lower division.

[NixoN1994]

Great! 

I'm going to do this challenge once FM 2019 gets out.

[MWE]

Season 10 - Walsall, England

Pomoted to the Championship at the first time of asking, no decent jobs about at the moment so will wait it out at Walsall until I get somethig I like.

Domestic
Season	Team	       Division			      Position Notes
2017/18 Sibenik        Croatian Second League         8th      Took over with the team in 8th
2018/19 Sibenik        Croatian Second League         1st      Promoted
2019/20 Sibenik        Croatian First League          5th      Qualified for the Europa League
2020/21 Sibenik        Croatian First League          4th      Croatian Cup Winners.
2021/22 Dinamo         Croatian First League          1st      League Winners, Croatian Cup Winners, Europa League runners-up
2022/23 Dinamo         Croatian First League          N/A      Sacked in November
2023/24 Villanovense   Spanish Second Division B4     8th      Joined January 2024
2024/25 Villanovense   Spanish Second Division B4     2nd      Promoted
2025/26 Villanovense   Spanish Second Division        N/A      Quit in November
2025/26 Walsall        English League Two             2nd      Promoted
2026/27 Walsall        English League One             1st      Promoted
2027/28 Walsall        English Championship

International
Season  Team          Notes
2022    Ivory Coast   Hired July '22
2023    Ivory Coast   Won ACON
2024    Ivory Coast   Qualified for ACON
2025    Ivory Coast   Sacked after being runner up in ACON

[numero uno gunner]

I've finally managed to find a little bit of time to get my game going again. I'm determined that I'll complete this challenge before FM19 comes out. That's the aim.

Glad to see that this thread is alive and well still though!

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2028/9 Bordeaux End of Season Report

I was worried that it would take a long time to overthrow PSG. They were not only by far the best French team last season; they also won the Champions League. When they won their first 10 league matches and we were already 4 points behind thanks to a couple of draws, I feared the worst.

For most of the season it looked as though it was going to be neck and neck. But we won our last 15 league matches, including thumping PSG and won the league with 3 matches to spare.

We also won both domestic cups, plus both the domestic and European supercups. Certainly won a lot of silverware with Bordeaux.

I thought we stood a really good shot at the Champions League, but we went out to Red Bull Leipzig in the quarter finals. An pity, but hopefully I can get that trophy in one of the 4 remaining European nations. I didn’t really want to have to stick around half a year for the World Club Cup anyway, as my squad is seriously old. 7 of my first choice players for most of the season are now 32 or over. I really have been spending my money on grandads with about 1 season left in them, and it paid off, though I suspect my team were declining slowly but surely throughout the season.

I really would like to go to Brazil next, because a Copa Libertadores bug has killed Ultimate Challenges 2 of the last 3 versions, and I’d prefer to get it out of the way in case it happens again. On the other hand, my reputation is sky high now, and going to Brazil might make it go backwards.

Top Goalscorer – Felipe Vizeu– 39 For the second year in the row, again because he was ever-present. Far from my most prolific striker.

Top Average Rating – Denis Rousey – 7.85 The best rating of those who played at least 10 matches. Another striker, but even less prolific than Vizeu

Man of the Match – Denis Rousey – 11

MVPs – Really there wasn’t one stand out player on the team, so I guess this would be the youth trainees whose blood we transfused into the old players to keep them going.

In any case, having reached the half way point of club trophies (though of course still nowhere near half-way internationally), I might take a break to tackle my white whale, the Youth Challenge. I haven’t decided whether to do the upcoming ACON with Ghana first.

Domestic
Season	Team				Position	Notes										
17	Shanghai Shenxin (China)	9th		Took over with 5 matches left, and didn't win any of them. 
18	Shanghai Shenxin		2nd		Promoted
19	Shanghai Shenxin		9th	
20	Hebei China Fortune		3rd		Won FA Cup									
21	Hebei China Fortune		1st		League, Cup, Champions League treble						
21-2	Ajax CT (South Africa)		5th		Took over with 8 matches left, missed out on Confed Cup qual by 1 point.
22-3	Ajax CT				1st		Won African Champions League. League, KO Cup and FA Cup quadruple. Unbeaten in league.
23/4(O)	Chivas (Mexico)			1st		Lost in League final. Won the Mexican Cup.
23/4(C)	Chivas				1st		League / NACL double.
24	Defensor Sporting (Uruguay)	2nd		Took over half way through season. Won Closing Stage and First Division Playoff. Lost Championship Playoff.
25	Defensor Sporting		1st		Won Opening and Closing Stages and Intermedio (cup). Unbeaten domestically. 
27/8	Bordeaux (France)		2nd		Won Coupe de la Ligue, French Cup and Europa League.
28/9	Bordeaux			1st		League and both domestic cups. Champions League Q/F

International
Year	Team				Achievements
18	China U23			Won Asian Games.
19	Norway				Left after 4 matches of Euro Qualifying.
19-20	Ghana				Left after 2 matches of African Cup Qualifying
20	Belgium				Sacked after leading the #1 team in the world to 1 draw and 3 defeats
21-22	Ivory Coast			Qualified for World Cup and reached second round, won CHAN.
22-23	Mexico				Won Gold Cup, reached Copa America semi with B team.
24-25	Ivory Coast			ACON semifinals
25-26	Ghana				Failed to progress past World Cup group stage
26-27	South Korea			Lost in Q/F of Asian Cup
27-	Ghana


Challenge Progress 14/33

Club
 4/10 top domestic leagues 		(China, S Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France)		
 5/10 domestic cups 			(China, S Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France)						
 3/5 club continental championships	(Asia, Africa, North America) 	
 0/1 club world championship

 

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2029 Ghana ACON Report

 

 

 

My streak of ACON losses stands at 9. Can I hit double digits here. I think that’s extremely likely.

In my third spell with Ghana, I’m finally going to take them to an ACON. The first time I left them to manage Mexico in the Gold Cup, which worked out. The second, to manage S Korea in the Asian Cup, which didn’t.

The trouble is that though Ghana had decent players, they’re a bit long in the tooth now. 14 of my 23 man squad are 30 or over. I’d like to think they have one last tournament left in them, but I’m not optimistic. We didn’t even win our ACON qualifying group.

 

Group Stage

Spoiler

 

Ghana 2-0 Nigeria

Ghana 2-0 Guinea-Bissau

Ghana 5-0 Chad

 

Nigeria are the second highest ranked African nation. (We’re 4^th), so this was a pleasing set of results.

Also pleasing in a way was that the other top 4 nations, Egypt and Ivory Coast didn’t qualify for the next round easily, though they’re both in our half of the draw for the rest of the competition. The team I’m scared of is Mali who topped our qualifying group for the competition, and who just thumped Egypt, but we won’t meet them until the final if we both get there. Next up is Senegal, who (famous last words) look easy pickings.

 

 

2^nd Round (if applicable)

Spoiler

Ghana 2-1 Senegal           A lot more one-sided than the score suggests as all they did was defend in numbers, keep possession and fall over for a penalty the one time they actually made it all the way to our penalty area. Next up is 3^rd ‘seeds’ Ivory Coast. My old team, who quite frankly I’d have gone back to rather than Ghana if I’d had the chance.

Quarter Final (if applicable)

Spoiler

Ghana 0-2 Ivory Coast

Semi Final (if applicable)

Spoiler

 

3^rd Place Playoff / Final (if applicable)

Spoiler

 

After The Tournament

 

Spoiler

 

So there we are; 10 failed ACONs in a row.  I never thought that I had the best horse in the race anyway.

As mentioned in my last club update, I’m now going to have a wee go at the Youth Challenge. I don’t know whether that will be for a palate cleansing season, or permanently. I was going to take a break regardless of the outcome of this tournament.

 

 

 

[MWE]

Season 11 Walsall, England

 

Stayed up with Walsall at the first attempt in the Championship added another badge just waiting on a decent job to come up

 

Domestic
Season	Team	       Division			      Position Notes
2017/18 Sibenik        Croatian Second League         8th      Took over with the team in 8th
2018/19 Sibenik        Croatian Second League         1st      Promoted
2019/20 Sibenik        Croatian First League          5th      Qualified for the Europa League
2020/21 Sibenik        Croatian First League          4th      Croatian Cup Winners.
2021/22 Dinamo         Croatian First League          1st      League Winners, Croatian Cup Winners, Europa League runners-up
2022/23 Dinamo         Croatian First League          N/A      Sacked in November
2023/24 Villanovense   Spanish Second Division B4     8th      Joined January 2024
2024/25 Villanovense   Spanish Second Division B4     2nd      Promoted
2025/26 Villanovense   Spanish Second Division        N/A      Quit in November
2025/26 Walsall        English League Two             2nd      Promoted
2026/27 Walsall        English League One             1st      Promoted
2027/28 Walsall        English Championship           13th     
2028/29 Walsall        English Championship

International
Season  Team          Notes
2022    Ivory Coast   Hired July '22
2023    Ivory Coast   Won ACON
2024    Ivory Coast   Qualified for ACON
2025    Ivory Coast   Sacked after being runner up in ACON

[darren1983]

On a similar note to @vikeologist my save has had to be put on hold. I'm using a very old laptop these days and frankly the save is killing it, it takes nearly 10 minutes to process a single match day (that's before I even play a game) even though I only have 5 leagues loaded. Am saving for a new laptop but prob won't get it till next month at earliest.

Either going to attempt the youth challenge again or maybe just have a little save with Brentford. I dunno. Gonna miss this challenge for the time being but I shall return soon(ish) good luck to those still doing it. 

[ashton321]

Fotbal Club Arges- 2018/19 - Romanian Liga II

 

So I am back again and I decided that Romania was the best place for me mainly as I have not really played there before. 

I took over the club in mid November with the club deep in a relegation battle, they were 17th and looking pretty much gone. The Club had also been knocked out of the cup prior to me taking over so it was just the league for us to focus on. The first thing I did was to try and make us really tough to beat and gain a few points as quickly as possible. We managed to get 2 wins out of our 3 games before the winter break which took us out of the drop zone. We continued our decent form throughout the end of the season and managed to get enough points to pull away from the drop zone, in the end we stayed up comfortably. 

Next year I will be adding a few more faces, I am not sure where we can finish as I am still not sure how the other teams stack up, top 8 would be nice though.

Season Review

 

Season     Team         Country     Position       Notes          

2018/19    FC Arges     Romania      11th          Took over in 17th

 

Season        Country     Notes

 

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 -

[ashton321]

Fotbal Club Arges- 2018/19 - Romanian Liga II

This new year was an interesting one. 

I managed to keep my squad in tact only loosing a couple of players who I had no interest in playing anyway in fairness. I brought in three new faces into the squad all of which will make waves in the first team. Firstly in the cup we were poor again, we did not do anything as we took a hiding from a team in our own league to go out in the first round we played in. In the League we had a much better time of it. We managed to stick in and around the top of the table most of the year and never really looked in danger of missing out on promotion. We managed to be in the interesting position of being miles ahead of the team in 3rd but miles behind the team in first. In the end we finished the season in 2nd and this was enough to promote us into the top tier of Romanian football. 

As for next year I may have a little look at some jobs out there and see if I can take on a team that maybe more suited to going for a title in their home nation, I am still going to be managing in a fairly small nation. 

Season Review

 

Season     Team         Country     Position       Notes          

2017/18    FC Arges     Romania      11th          Took over in 17th
2018/19    FC Arges     Romania      2nd           Promotion

 

Season        Country     Notes

 

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 -