The Ultimate Football Manager Challenge - Silver Age Archive

SkiIIs · December 4, 2019

Nothing to see here...

Edited December 9, 2019 by SkiIIs
Duplication

SkiIIs · December 4, 2019

Nor here...

Edited December 9, 2019 by SkiIIs
Duplication

SkiIIs · December 4, 2019

Oops

Edited December 9, 2019 by SkiIIs
Duplication

SkiIIs · December 4, 2019

Oops, had issues submitting the comment but looks like they all went through... apologies

Edited December 9, 2019 by SkiIIs
Duplication

bjwphneb · December 4, 2019

Scott Williams

Russia's Road to the 2026 World Cup Finals

Russia.png.a1327a9275372443881c3500c961a3bd.png

Results | Qual Grp | 2nd Place Grp | WC Grp

Scott and Russia have booked their place at next years World Cup Finals, it was by no means an easy group to qualify from relying heavily on other results going their way. Scott's opponents were England, Denmark, Moldova and Lithuania. Russia finished the group in second place behind England and ahead of Denamrk by 1 goal difference. After Wales, Turkey and Norway all lost their final group game, Russia just had to avoid a 6 goal swing in GD vs Denmark. England were dominant at wembley and set the record straight with a 3-0 victory after only managing a 1-1 draw in Russia. Denmark on the other hand could only beat Moldova 1-0 after a 0-0 draw away to Lithuania. All of this meant Russia qualified as the 5th best second placed team.

At next summers WC finals Russia have been handed a relatively easy group and will be hoping to top it. The teams to beat are Mexico and Syria, if they can make it through the group then one of Argentina, Switzerland or Uganda will await in the second round.

vikeologist · December 4, 2019

23 hours ago, SkiIIs said:

Season 6

VFL Wolfsburg

League Table - board expectation was to qualify for the champions league however the team I took on was an ageing one. Really had to start from scratch as I had only recently loaded up the league (something I will try not to do again, start with a new loaded up league). With no coaches or backroom staff it was all about bringing in quality people. The next step was to lower the age of the squad with an almost overhaul of the squad required. This in turn affected the start of the season and after round 7 we found ourselves in 14th position with 2 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses. From here we improved and went on some good runs but in the end we drew too many games we should have easily won and finished 6th meaning we'll be playing in Europa again. Board are absolutely flithy with me and have me at an E rating so we'll see if I hold on to my job for next season. I think the nucleus of the squad is there and with a few signings we could definitely challenge for top 4 especially if Bayern and Dortmund have poor seasons again.

Was knocked out of the second round of the DFB Pokal and also bowed out of the Europa in the second knockout phase to eventual finalists Torino.

International

After losing in penalties in the Euro Champs against England, the French job became available amongst others. Ended up applying for many international gigs and was offered the Argentina head coach role before accepting the French opportunity. The rank number 1 country have a strong team and should give me a great opportunity to win trophies. Playing in European league and World Cup qualifiers right now with the world Cup next year.

I know I've been doing this thread for too long when all the posts start looking the same.

@Skills

this comment is only because you posted the same update about 5 times, not because there was anything wrong with the update itself).

Edited December 5, 2019 by vikeologist

Novafluff · December 4, 2019

I am jumping into this challenge! loading as we speak. Will also stream this save so if anyone want to join the progress it will be on https://www.twitch.tv/novafluff

Edited December 4, 2019 by Novafluff

bjwphneb · December 5, 2019

Scott Williams 2025/26

End of Season Review

1801664725_KCbadge.png.b66576101f66eb5da66f956a17481870.png

Kaizer Chiefs

ASBA Prem

Preview | Table | Results 1 2

Any other year and Kaizer Chiefs would have won the league, 69 points for the season. But as we've seen before you have to compete well, not just play well. Sundowns won the league for the fourth straight year. Scott had chances but unfortunately dropped too many points along the way. Still not bad for a first season.

Telkom Knockout

The first cup competition was the Telkom Knockout, this was by no means an easy run playing Orlando Pirates in R1 and FS Stars in the semis, but with Sundown going out in the quarters, Scott would have been dissapointed if he didn't bring home the trophy.

Nedbank Cup

The Nedbank Cup proved to be a much tougher test as The Chiefs drew Sundowns in the quarter finals. A 1-0 away victory after being on the back foot for much of the match meant they would face Orlando Pirates in the Semis.

Kaizer Chiefs took an early lead through an Ayanda Gopane penalty but The Buccaneers managed to equalise just before half time from a corner. Cele had a shot tipped onto the post after 67 minutes and they seemed to be the most likely to break the deadlock, but then just 5 minutes later Orlando Pirates socred another header this time coming from a deep FK. All out attack mode was on and that man Gopane got the equaliser with 8 minutes left to find a winner. It wasn't to be and ET loomed, both sides socred in the first half and Kaizer Chiefs had the better chances to win it in the second half but it was going to have to be decided on penalties. Cometh the hour cometh the man; Gopane, the 18 y/o hero, stepped up to take the 5th penalty and take his side to the final, 3-3 ET, 4-2 on pens.

Having just lost to Supersports in the previous league match, Scott had to make sure the same thing didn't happen in the final. His side got off to a great start hitting the woodwork before eventually taking the lead through Isaac Ntombela. Supersport equalised straight away and from then on it was an even contest. ET once again, could Scott's men dig deep once more? No, they could not. A poor clearance from the CB and then missing the resulting header meant Supersports ST was trough one on one and dispatched it calmly. 3 defeats against the 6th best team in the country this season for Scott, costing him the league and the fa cup.

Kaizer Chiefs Squad

The club finished 11th last year and so clearly the side Scott inherited were well off competing for silverware, without a recognised striker Scott brought in Ntombela and Gopane, the latter of the two was expected to be just a back up this season, but after Ntombela's form started to dip, after a strong start, Gopane got his chance to shine. A run of 5 games which saw him socre 9 goals (5 in one and a hat-trick in another) it was clear who the star striker really was.

The Key men were:

Gopane ST (65K from Ajax CT) Not much more to say about this kid, Unbelievable talent. 17 goals from 17 games.

Mashiane CAM (100k from Sundowns) Surplus to requirements at Sundowns he showed them who was boss, scoring a first half Hatty against them in the first of many meetings this season.

Honorable mention to Riyad Mahrez (FT) was very good at the start of the season before his body got the better of him.

Next Season

Manager Profile

Scott always knew that this would be a project spanning at least two season and hopefully it won't last any more than that. With 3 trophies still to win in South Africa the main focus will be on the Champions League. If he can win any of the others that will be a bonus, but if he win's the CL without the league or fa cup, he may still look to leave South Africa come the end of next season.

Sundowns have won the Champions League 3 years in a row and clearly will be Scott's biggest rival for the competition. The midfield is definitely the area that needs to be improved the most but with most of the best players being tied down on long conttracts to other rivals it won't be easy bringing in the right men.

Personnel Career

Clubs Managed: 4
Nations Managed: 2
Trophies Won: 3
Manager of the Year: 1
2022 (Winner), 2020, 2025/26 (Runner up)

Career Earnings: £1.1 Million
---------------------------------------------------

Club Career
																	
Season	NAT	Club		Division	Pos	Cup 1	Cup 2	Cont	CWC	Things to Note
2019		Unemployed					
2020	CHI	Nublense	Primera Div B	6th	R2	-	-	-	Playoff Winners, U19s Runners up in Div 1
2021	CHI	Curico Unido	Primera Div	7th	R2	-	R1	-
2022	CHI	Curico Unido	Primera Div	1st	Won	-	R1	-	Domestic Double
2022/23	ARG	CA Union	Superliga	17th	R5	-	-	-	Avoided Relegation
2023/24	ARG	CA Union	Superliga	15th	R5	-	-	-	Avoided Relegation
2024/25	ARG	CA Union	Superliga						Resigned End of Phase 1
2025/26	RSA	Kaizer Chiefs	Asba Prem	2nd	RU	Won	-	-	KO Cup Winners RU in other Comps	
----------------------------------------------------

International Career

Season	Nation		Rank	Continental	World Cup	Things to Note
2023	Honduras	67th	-		-		Relegated from Nations League
2024	Honduras	72rd	-		-		Qualified for Gold Cup 2025
2024	Russia		42nd	-		-		2nd in NL Div B	
2025	Russia		39th					Qualified for WC Finals 2026	
------------------------------
Challenge Progress
1/10 Leagues 	(Chile 2022)
2/10 Cups	(Chile 2022), (South Africa KO 2025/26)
0/5 Continental
0/1 Worlds

0/5 Continental 
0/1 Worlds

Total 
3/32

Edited December 5, 2019 by bjwphneb

bjwphneb · December 5, 2019

Scott Williams

2026 World Cup Finals

Russia

Squad | Group | Results | Review

Group Stage

Things got off to a shakey start with Syria up first. Russia went 1-0 down and conceded a penalty in the first 20 minutes. Fortunately it was saved and Russia were able to come from behind to win 2-1. Next up was Mexico, in order to avoid Argentina in the next round this was a must win match. 0-0 at HT. Russia's LB score a thunderous volley after 70 minutes and then Nail Umyarov ran through the mexico defense before NAILing home his first international goal on 73 minutes to confirm the victory.

Second Round

Topping the group gave Russia a very favourable run of games, if they could get past Switzerland then either Scotland or Turkey awaited them. Alas it was not to be, Breel Embolo broke down the right wing and beet Selinkhov at the near post. Alot of the players who were good in qualifiers went missing including Golovin.

Rest of the Tournament

The rest of the tournament went without too many upsets. Congo topped a group made up of Spain and Japan. Switzerland went on to the QF beating Turkey but lost to France. Top ranked Brazil were knocked out by Netherlands in the QF and then went on to beat, holders England in the semis. The final was played between France and Netherlands which France won 3-2 after ET

As with any major tournament plenty of jobs become available afterwards and Scott will be hoping to make the next step on the International ladder

Personnel Career

Clubs Managed: 4
Nations Managed: 2
Trophies Won: 3
Manager of the Year: 1
2022 (Winner), 2020, 2025/26 (Runner up)

Career Earnings: £1.1 Million
---------------------------------------------------
International Career

Season	Nation		Rank	Continental	World Cup	Things to Note
2023	Honduras	67th	-		-		Relegated from Nations League
2024	Honduras	72rd	-		-		Qualified for Gold Cup 2025
2024	Russia		42nd	-		-		2nd in NL Div B	
2025	Russia		39th					Qualified for WC Finals 2026
2026	Russia		30th	-		2nd Rnd v SUI	Topped Group, Lost to Switzerland	
------------------------------
Challenge Progress
1/10 Leagues 	(Chile 2022)
2/10 Cups	(Chile 2022), (South Africa KO 2025/26)
0/5 Continental
0/1 Worlds

0/5 Continental 
0/1 Worlds

Total 
3/32

TheEarl · December 6, 2019

I might give it another go at this challenge, after long time away.

I play FM 2019. Its been so long time away, so I have to ask for some advice. Which leagues can I expect to give me a start? I know of Vanarama North/South in England, but I rather start in a different country (or maybe even different Confederation).

Can anyone who made a reasonable good start at FM 2019 give me some hints/tips?

TheEarl · December 6, 2019

7 hours ago, TheEarl said:

I might give it another go at this challenge, after long time away.

I play FM 2019. Its been so long time away, so I have to ask for some advice. Which leagues can I expect to give me a start? I know of Vanarama North/South in England, but I rather start in a different country (or maybe even different Confederation).

Can anyone who made a reasonable good start at FM 2019 give me some hints/tips?

I think I found a decent start, but I will come back to that later.

XuluBak · December 6, 2019

On 19/11/2019 at 11:14, XuluBak said:

Oh, almost forgot! I have a set of 'mini challenges' that I've set for myself. I won't consider it a failure to complete the larger challenge, if I fail one of them, but they'll serve as a guideline for how I will try to complete it.

1) Promotion or trophy (club) - Pretty straightforward. I want to win, everywhere I go, without just using any club as a stepping stone to something else. That's not to say I won't move on from clubs when the right opportunity comes along, but I won't actively go looking for a new club until I've achieved something with my current one. That will, of course, greatly influence my job search along the way, and has already to an extent.

2) Liverpool - Ideally, I'll be able to save EPL until last, and finish my career with Liverpool, striving for a 'perfect' season. Generally, I won't manage anyone else in England, unless I've completed everything else. (I thought about trying to start in Uruguay, with the aim of starting my trophy collection with one Liverpool and ending with the other, but decided that might require spending too many early years of my save in South America)

3) No (other) "giants" - Earlier in the thread, I saw that someone that had already completed the challenge once, was starting anew, with the aim of winning the big leagues with only promoted teams. I don't want to go quite that far, although, there are a couple teams I'd like to try to achieve that with along the way, but I have no interest in winning with PSG, Bayern, Juve, Real Madrid, etc.

4) "Invader" - The idea here is fairly simple. Win a country's top flight with a team from another country. Admittedly, I was originally planning to include more leagues where this would be possible, and could always add them back in, depending how things progress.

5) "Club & country" (mini) - Self explanatory.

6) 1st Star - I only want to win the WC with a first-time champion.

7) There was definitely at least one more, but I didn't seem to write it down, and cannot remember it at the moment.

I remembered #7. I'm aiming to use different formation/tactics everywhere I go. Obviously, that's limited by the squads in place when I take over at new clubs, and some formations and tactics will overlap, but not wanting to just find a tactic that 'works' and recreate it over and over.

XuluBak · December 7, 2019

RC Celta de Vigo

2023-24 End-of-Season Review

My only real aim in my first season in charge of Celta were to keep my job and identify players that I wanted to build around. I liked my depth and quality at centerback, but otherwise, there was work to be done. I had decent quality in my front three, with Sisto, Mina, and Raphinha, but didn't like how they fit together, and virtually no depth behind them ready to play in the senior squad. There was decent depth in the midfield, but they were all virtually the same player, without anyone that would qualify as a true holder or ball-winning enforcer. Okay starting FBs, but almost no depth. My CBs served as my defensive midfielder and/or backup fullbacks when needed. My formation, lineup, and tactics were...fluid, especially until after the winter window. There was talent, this was a side that drew against each of the big three (two of those being on the road) before I took over, it just wasn't put together right.

Results were predictable. Good defense, erratic offense. We either scored in bunches or not at all. That was good enough to finish 2023 in the top ten and within reasonable striking distance of qualifying for the Europa League. The only question of the top three is what order they'd finish. Valencia looked good for the fourth and final CL spot. We were up against Sevilla, Granada, Real Betis, and Real Sociedad for Europe.

My winter window couldn't have gone much better. A Chinese giant triggered Raphinha's release clause early in the winter window, which was huge because I wanted to unload him and desperately needed money. Made an offer to sign Reiss Nelson on a free, then waited for Raphinha's deal to go through. Tried finding suitable FBs, RW and DM via loan, without much luck. Ended up paying Arsenal 3.9M € to bring Nelson in early. Best 3.9M I ever spent. Also added a DM (Belmonte) from Boca Juniors and a young striker/winger (mostly to appease the board).

Copa del

We were expected to get to the fifth round. Despite lucky draws, I'm not sure we deserved to get passed the 2nd (unconvincing 1-0 vs a third tier side), or 3rd round, let alone get anywhere near a trophy, except, Reiss Nelson. He could never touch a football in Spain again and be a Celta legend.

Spoiler

3rd Round: SD Eibar (2nd tier). We go down a man about halfway through the 1st half and don't create much by way of chances after. Looked to be holding on for penalties until conceding at '114. Surely that's it. At least it wasn't high priority for the board...Long ball to Nelson, not much happening, maybe a desperation cross or...GOAL! Caught absolutely everyone by surprise with a blast near post, upper corner. We escaped on penalties.

4th Round: Levante (1st tier, looked like a lock for relegation). 3-0. More like it.

5th round: Real Sporting (2nd tier). Not so fast. Another unconvincing performance. Defense shuts off, down 1-0 inside 8 minutes. Not creating much of anything, until Nelson finds himself in the channel again...drives all the way to byline, perfectly floated pull back to a late arriving midfielder: 1-1. Again extra time. Again we win on penalties.

Semis: Atleti (top). Road first: 0-0. Not ideal, but we'll take it. We played our home league match in between the two legs. Good opportunity to go for it and see how things play out. Nelson was MotM in a dominant 1-0 display. Sure enough, in the buildup to the second leg, Mina goes down hurt in training. Big loss, but we're playing with house money. They're getting more shots, but we're creating far better chances. Oblak has been the difference. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a long-ranger into the bottom corner changes everything: 0-1 on '64. It's one thing to find a late, desperation goal against a 2nd-tier side we should have been beating easily in the first place, quite another to find two, in under 30 minutes, against the top club in Spain. Maybe they'll let up once, but twice? Ten minutes later, their back three does just that, and Nelson finds an inch back post: 1-1. We're back in it, and aside from a brief moment, been far the better side in the second half. More chances, more Oblak. Approaching the last minute of stoppage time, Nelson played in wide, nothing there, byline, hard driven cross to...Söyüncü, OWN GOAL!

Final: Nelson didn't wait quite so long in this one. He scored the winner on '3. Sisto added a couple insurance goals. Anticlimactic. We'll take it!

La Liga

Absolutely dominant in February, going 4-0-0 in league, with a combined 14-3 scoreline, and Mina collecting PotM. Of course, we followed that up by scoring three goals, and winning one of four matches in March, against Sevilla (0-0 at home) and three relegation contenders. Bounced back in April, only allowing two league goals, across five matches, to go 4-0-1, and 'satisfied' the board's ambitions with key wins against Sociodad, Granada, and Betis. Nothing sums up our season better than the last week (8 days) though...

Against the odds, we found ourselves with a chance to sneak into the fourth CL spot. We were tied with Valencia on points, but they won both head-to-head matches. Our schedule closed out with: Real Madrid (A), Villarreal(A), Barca (H). Theirs closed out: Malaga (H), Granada (H), Atleti (A). Not likely, but with a chance I didn't expect in January, let alone when I took over. Not sure which was more improbable, us taking a point at the Bernabéu, likely costing Real Madrid a shot at the title, or Valencia dropping points at home to the worst side in the division (already relegated), but both managed to happen. So all we needed to do was beat Villarreal then get a better result at home against Barca (with nothing to play for) than Valencia at Atleti (with everything to play for). So, of course, we were terrible against Villarreal. We took the lead on slop following a corner midway through the first, but never looked threatening, and it only looked a matter of time before they put one in the back of the net. They would on '62, then again on '73. In hindsight, maybe I should have tried sitting on the 1-0, once it became clear we weren't on our game, but thought we needed to win. Of course, we'd go on to beat Barca 2-1 and Alteti would destroy Valencia 4-0. Tied on 68 points. 5th place.

2024-25 and beyond

Great first season, on and off the pitch. We're obviously not far off the top 4, which has to be our next target, but almost certainly going to lose our top CB (release clause), and given the age and interest in some of our other top players, might have to take a step back before we can move forward. Unless I get a huge, unexpected, cash infusion over the summer, we simply don't have the resources to replace those pieces, make necessary upgrades, and build depth, with developed talent. Unless something too good pass up on comes my way, I plan to see it through with Celta though.

Club Career

Season		Nation		Team			League		Cup(1)	Cup(2)	Cont.	Notes
2019-20 	RSA(2)		Tuks FC			2nd		N/A	N/A	N/A	Promotion via playoff
2020-21 	RSA(1)		Tuks FC			1st		Final	Champs	N/A	Won league and league cup
2021		China(1)	Dalian Yifang		3rd		Final	N/A	N/A	Qualified AFC CL
2022		China(1)	Dalian Yifang		1st		Champ	N/A	Champ	League, cup, continental treble
2023-24		Spain(1)	Celta Vigo		5th		Champ	N/A	N/A	Won cup, Qualified EL

International Career

Season		Nation		Continental		World		Notes
2023		USA		Champs			N/A		Beat Jamaica 3-0 to win Gold Cup

Challenge

Club
2/10 Top Domestic Leagues ('20-21 ABSA Premiership - Tuks FC; '22 CSL - Dalian Yifang)
3/10 Top Domestic Cups	('20 Telkom Knockout - Tuks FC; '22 China FA Cup - Dalian Yifang; '24 Spanish Copa Del Rey - Celta Vigo)
1/5 Continental Championshsips	('22 AFC Champions League - Dalian Yifang)
0/1 Club World Cups

International
1/5 Continental Championships	(2023 Gold Cup - USA)
0/1  World Tournaments

Edited December 7, 2019 by XuluBak

XuluBak · December 7, 2019

On 05/12/2019 at 11:45, bjwphneb said:

Any other year and Kaizer Chiefs would have won the league, 69 points for the season. But as we've seen before you have to compete well, not just play well. Sundowns won the league for the fourth straight year. Scott had chances but unfortunately dropped too many points along the way. Still not bad for a first season.

Ouch. That's brutal. The league has been won by a team in the 50s, more than a team in the 60s has come up short. Think it's only happened twice, with Chiefs being the most recent previously as well.

XuluBak · December 7, 2019

Random housekeeping: Added Brazil's top flight to my save. Will continue gradually adding South American leagues. I'm torn on removing 'completed' leagues, because I like checking in on my old clubs. Speaking of which...

Tuks FC struggled a little after my departure. The switched to a 442 (rendering Julies largely worthless) and Lepasa (my golden boot winner) was hurt much of the season. For much of that first season it looked like they might be headed for relegation, but they finally got going near the end and ended up midtable. Seems like they've solidified themselves there, although, not really progressed. They did, however, just win the FA cup, beating Mamelodi in the final.

Dalian FC won the league easily the year after I left, and could have repeated the treble, but fell in both cup finals. Off to another great start. Not surprising, considering all the Chinese talent I acquired. Might have been overkill, but also meant the competition didn't have it

bjwphneb · December 7, 2019

1 hour ago, XuluBak said:

Ouch. That's brutal. The league has been won by a team in the 50s, more than a team in the 60s has come up short. Think it's only happened twice, with Chiefs being the most recent previously as well.

First few seasons in RSA seemed quite competetive, nobody got more than 58 points for 3 years but last four years sundowns seem to have most of the national team (that aren't playing abroad) and so have quite rightly run away with it. This was the first year they've actually been challenged.

58 minutes ago, XuluBak said:

I'm torn on removing 'completed' leagues, because I like checking in on my old clubs. Speaking of which...

I keep the top leagues of teams I've managed. I removed second tier of Chile so can't keep track of Nublense but I enjoy seeing how the old boys are doing.

TheEarl · December 9, 2019

The Earl's Ultimate challenge FM2019

So finally I have decided to come back to this challenge. Its been a long time. I don't know how fast I will play, but it will surely be slower than before.

I loaded up the game with these settings:

After holidaying for quite some time, I found myself as manager of Glentoran in Premier League of Northern Ireland. Sitting in 9th, but with quite a lot of matches to go in the first season.

To make the story of the first season short, we managed to finish 5th and loose the final of the FA-Cup. I also lost play-offs to Europa League (which really made me happy to have less games in the next season.) We got some talented players in the youth intake, that makes me optimistic for the new season. I also got started on the National C-Licensce badge right at the end of the season.

Lets see where season 2 brings us.

SkiIIs · December 9, 2019

On 05/12/2019 at 02:43, vikeologist said:

I know I've been doing this thread for too long when all the posts start looking the same.

@Skills

this comment is only because you posted the same update about 5 times, not because there was anything wrong with the update itself).

Sorry about that, I had what I thought were issues submitting a comment but doesn’t look like I did lol

bjwphneb · December 11, 2019

Scott Williams 2026/27

End of Season Review

924648366_KCbadge.png.426643b6635c0a949de62615004291fa.png

Kaizer Chiefs

ASBA Prem

Preview | Table | Results 1 2

Another season in the books for Scott. Off the back of last season and with Kaizer Chiefs strengthening in the summer and Sundowns seeing a lot of their players leave without too much movement in the other direction. The Chiefs were arguably favourites for the league. The board also saw this with the club vision being "win the league" every year from now until the end of time. The side got off to a great start and were sat top after 8 games with a near perfect record. From their it went downhill fast. Winning just two of the next 8 games the title was already Sundowns before the January transfer window opened. In the end Kaizer Chiefs had to settle for 3rd place and Scott had to hope the board would let him have until his contract run out to try and win other competitions.

Cup Competitions

The Chiefs got off to an okay start in the cups, reaching the semis of the MTN 8 trohpy but got knocked out in the first round of the Telkom Knokcout.

Their showing in the Nedbank Cup was much better, once again reaching the final of the competition. After summer signing Skosana put them ahead after 2 minutes it looked as though Scott could check this trophy off his list. Unfortunately, Kaizer Chiefs couldn't get that all important second and Wits equalised in the 87th minute. In ET the fixture congestion took it's toll and with the players legs all but fallen off, Wits substitute capitalised and scored to give his side the trophy. An all too familiar feeling for Scott. Back to back FA Cup final defeats. Ouch!

Champions League

This was it. This is what Scott had dreamed of as a little lad playing football on the streets of Cape Town. The CAF Champions League. Things couldn't have started better, Kaizer Chiefs scored 36 goals in the first 4 games which saw them easily qualify for the group stage. The group was just as comfortable as Scott oversaw six wins out of six, topping a group which included eventual semi-finalists Vita Club from DR Congo. Next up came Power Dynamos of Zambia. An aggregate score of 8-1 meant Kaizer Chiefs were through to the semi final.

The semi final was to be played against Ivorian Champions ASEC Mimosas. They didn't have the best of times in the gorup, qualifying in second but they had knocked out the favourites, Sundowns, in the quarters. Mimosa took the lead when their CB struck a peach of a volley from 25 yards which flew into the top corner. 1-0 at half time at home. Needless to say a few players got the hairdryer treatment at half time, which had a great effect as both strikers scored in quick succession to turn it around to 2-1. In the away leg Mimosa once again went 1-0 up but once again Skasona scored to put the Chiefs through to the final.

The final was against Wits. Which meant that in 7 days the two sides would play the CL final and the FA cup final against eachother. The CL final was dominated by Kaizer Chiefs, 4 clear cut chances but none of them found the back of the net. It went all the way to penalties and thankfully Wits were poor missing all 3 whilst Kaizer Chiefs scored all of theirs. Champions! 0-0ET, 3-0P.

Kaizer Chiefs

Squad | Tactics

I think the age of the squad had a real effect on their perfromance. A lot of Chiefs players are 22 or younger and so without much experience some of them went missing, especially during matchweeks 9-16. This also wouldn't have been helped by the number of faces that came in. Scott had a lot of money to spend, which isn't always the best thing. He brought in too many players, not all of whom performed to their price tage. Nevertheless the squad looks to be in great shape for the future and will be challenging at the top of South Africa for years to come.

Key Players:

Last years top performers Mashiane and Gopane were once again excellent right up until they wanted to leave. January saw Kaizer Chiefs lose 3 of their bets players with the Zambian Mbappe (Moses Mwape) leaving for Leeds (£250K), Mashiane going to China (£650K) and Gopane heading to Benfica (£600K). So time for a new player to step up.

Daniel Ngwenya CM (£60k from Wits) Took a couple games to settle but when he did he was Scotts best player by a mile, no doubt will want to leave South Africa soon, but at 19 he is already Scott's frist name on the teamsheet

Next Season/Summer

Manager Profile

Scott had set out with one clear goal this season and achieved it. Yes the board wanted the league but over 30 games Sundowns were always going to be better than Kaizer Chiefs. With that being said the side have a real chance of winning it next season, as long as they don't sell half their players, but it may be time for Scott to leave. His contract is up in the summer and now would be a good time to head East to Asia or North into Europe. Being South African their will always be chances in the furute for Scott to return home and win the league (hopefully with Kaizer Chiefs)

After last years World Cup, Scott was offered the job as the manager of Nigeria. They have won the AFCON twice in a row and Scott will be looking to make it 3 in a row in this summer.

Personnel Career

Clubs Managed: 4
Nations Managed: 3
Trophies Won: 4
Manager of the Year: 1
2022 (Winner), 2020, 2025/26 (Runner up)

Career Earnings: £1.6 Million
---------------------------------------------------

Club Career
																	
Season	NAT	Club		Division	Pos	Cup 1	Cup 2	Cont	CWC	Things to Note
2019		Unemployed					
2020	CHI	Nublense	Primera Div B	6th	R2	-	-	-	Playoff Winners, U19s Runners up in Div 1
2021	CHI	Curico Unido	Primera Div	7th	R2	-	R1	-
2022	CHI	Curico Unido	Primera Div	1st	Won	-	R1	-	Domestic Double
2022/23	ARG	CA Union	Superliga	17th	R5	-	-	-	Avoided Relegation
2023/24	ARG	CA Union	Superliga	15th	R5	-	-	-	Avoided Relegation
2024/25	ARG	CA Union	Superliga						Resigned End of Phase 1
2025/26	RSA	Kaizer Chiefs	Asba Prem	2nd	RU	Won	-	-	KO Cup Winners RU in other Comps
2026/27	RSA	Kaizer Chiefs	Asba Prem	3rd	RU	R1	Won	-	Champions League Winners
----------------------------------------------------

International Career

Season	Nation		Rank	Continental	World Cup	Things to Note
2023	Honduras	67th	-		-		Relegated from Nations League
2024	Honduras	72rd	-		-		Qualified for Gold Cup 2025
2024	Russia		42nd	-		-		2nd in NL Div B	
2025	Russia		39th					Qualified for WC Finals 2026
2026	Russia		30th	-		2nd Rnd v SUI	Topped Group, Lost to Switzerland
2027	Nigeria		14th	TBC		-		
------------------------------
Challenge Progress
1/10 Leagues 	(Chile; Curico Unido 2022)
2/10 Cups	(Chile Cup; Curico Unido 2022), (South Africa KO; Kaizer Chiefs 2025/26)
1/5 Continental	(Africa; Kaizer Chiefs 2026/27)
0/1 Worlds

0/5 Continental 
0/1 Worlds

Total 
4/32

bjwphneb · December 11, 2019

Scott Williams 2027 AFCON Review

506323736_NigeriaBadge.png.25f77b86ee93b4a1243f82aea46d0075.png

Nigeria

Results | Group | Squad | Tactic

"Nigeria fail to get the job done"

Ah. That didn't go to plan now did it Scott? Nigeria were less than convincing throuhgout the tournament. In a group where the highest ranked side was Tunisia (51st), they should have comfortably won all 3 games. They struggled to beat Tunisia, could only draw with Guinea-BIssau (78th) and beat Tanzania (146th) late on. The second round was much better, Scott's side came in with a comfortable 3-0 win over Zimbabwe (94th).

Into the quarters and atmitadely there's usually no bad teams left in the competition at this stage but nonetheless the path to the final was a hard one. Nigeria could only manage a 1-0 victory over Cameroon (22nd) after a 72nd minute strike. With it being 0-0 so late on it meant Scott had to keep on an number of key players , meaning fitness wasn't great for the semi. The semi was against Mali (23rd). Two first half goals meant the game finished 1-1 at FT which again really didn't do any favours for the players fitness. 3-1 in ET after two brilliant goals from central midfielder Azubuike.

Into the final and unsurprisingly the opposition were Ivory Coast (14th). The Ivorians took the lead after 7 minutes, but the powerehouse in midfield scored straight after the kick off. 8 minutes gone, 1-1 and that's how it stayed until ET. Nigeria had the chances but just couldn't hit the target. In ET Ivory Coast went ahead through Nicolas Pepe only to be pegged back once again by Azubuike. So it was to be decided on penalties. Two finals for Scott in the space of 2 months going right down to the wire. Up first was Samuel Kalu for Nigeria; straight down the middle and saved by the keepers feet. Nobody else missed a penalty and as such Ivory Coast were crowned Champions.

Scott's Player of the Tournament: Okechukwu Azubuike CM; Unsurprisingly Scott has chosen this powerhouse as his player of the tournament. Without his cruicial goals, Nigeria would have been out a long time before the final.

Scott's Fraud of the Tournament: Victor Osimhen ST; This man has 76 goals in 89 Apps for Nigeria and scored 26 in the BPL for Chelsea this season. Osimhen managed to get 4 goals, 2 of which were penalties, but didn't score past the second round. As such he has rightly earned the title of 'Fraus of the Tournament'

This was Scott's only real chance of silverware with Nigeria, the squad has an average age of 28 at the tournament and the next crop of players aged 20-27 are horrendous. So Scott has decided to resign from his post as Nigeria manager and attempt to gain success in the AFCON at a later date.

Club Update

In the space of 3 weeks, Scott was offered a new 2 year deal at Kaizer Chiefs. Fired from his job as Kaizer Chiefs managaer. Named as ASBA Premiership manger of the year. In that order! A pretty mad 3 weeks for the lad.

The Chairman wanted Scott to sign a two year deal, but Scott didn't want to stay for longer than another year and wanted more money. With neither of them being able to come to an agreement Scott was then called into the Chairman's office and with just a week left on his contract, was given his marching orders. 5 days later Scott was anounces as MOTY despite finishing 3rd in the league.

Note: I've loaded Scotland, Portugal and Netherlands now but I always think it's a bit unrealistic going for a job when you've just loaded a league as nearly every club has a vacancy therefore I'll most likely be going over to China or Korea unleass a Premier League club wants Scott

Personnel Career

Clubs Managed: 4
Nations Managed: 3
Trophies Won: 4
Runner Up Medals: 4
Manager of the Year: 2
2022, 2026/27 (Winner) | 2020, 2025/26 (Runner up)

Career Earnings: £1.7 Million
---------------------------------------------------
International Career

Season	Nation		Rank	Continental	World Cup	Things to Note
2023	Honduras	67th	-		-		Relegated from Nations League
2024	Honduras	72rd	-		-		Qualified for Gold Cup 2025
2024	Russia		42nd	-		-		2nd in NL Div B	
2025	Russia		39th					Qualified for WC Finals 2026
2026	Russia		30th	-		2nd Rnd v SUI	Topped Group, Lost to Switzerland
2027	Nigeria		12th	RU		-		AFCON Runners Up, Resigned as manager
------------------------------
Challenge Progress
1/10 Leagues 	(Chile; Curico Unido 2022)
2/10 Cups	(Chile Cup; Curico Unido 2022), (South Africa KO; Kaizer Chiefs 2025/26)
1/5 Continental	(Africa; Kaizer Chiefs 2026/27)
0/1 Worlds

0/5 Continental 
0/1 Worlds

Total 
4/32

Lewis89 · December 12, 2019

Season 8 2026 - Fluminense

Competitions

Overview

State Championships - Results

The domestic season in Brazil is ridiculously long and starts with a local competition featuring sides from all different divisions, but as it is a region based competition it doesn't count towards the challenge, and is a good chance to experiment before the real stuff gets underway. We started on fire, and managed to pick up the title over dominant domestic side and rivals Flamengo.

Serie A - League Table Results 1 Results 2

Our brilliant showings against Flamengo in the state championships had me believing we was in with a real shot of the title, and at times we did look capable, but a horror run of results in August and a poor return in October put paid to any hopes of a title challenge, and we ended up languishing in 8th place. This was the medias prediction and the board seemed happy enough with our showing. We need to improve next season, Flamengo and Santos had shared the previous 7 titles, but this year saw Corinthians crowned as champions so winning the title is going to be some task.

FA Cup - Results

We played 4 teams and 3 of them finished below us in the league, this was a very lucky run of games and had we played a bigger side, I highly doubt we would have been victorious. Still, you cant complain with a cup win and with it a place in next years Libertadores.

Copa Libertadores - Results

Having been so convincing in the earlier stages, we had real confidence going into the ties against River Plate, and boy was we knocked back down to earth. Thumped 4-1 in the away leg, a 1-1 home result did nothing for us. Santos were crowned champions after beating River Plate 1-0 in the final.

Playing Squad

Squad Transfers

We have some amazing players, and although I thought we had enough depth, I didnt rotate as much as I maybe should have. We had some bad luck injury wise, but even so we should have finished higher than 8th. I have already sealed 2 deals to improve our first choice GK and added another option at CB. Three key men this season were :

Claudio (AMR) - This man is some player, playing on the right wing he notched 32 goals and 17 assists in 63 games. Now wanted by clubs in China, I am hoping he doesn't want to go chasing the money.

Clayton Cunha (ST) - We have very 2 talented strikers at the club, but Cunha has been brilliant. 39 goals and 4 assists in 58 games shows he means goals.

Joaquim Moyses (AML) - The man who completes are front 3. 23 goals and 15 assists in 67 games.

Noticing how many games the players have played here and I 100% need to rotate more next season.

Next Season

Manager Profile National Appointment Coaching Badge

We will be sticking around here for another season at least, I left after one season last time I did this challenge due to the length of the seasons but with the Copa Libertadores being a mandatory achievement I dont plan on leaving until that has been achieved, even if we are some way off at the moment. I have also landed a second international role although this looks to be a mistake at the moment. Australia who are ranked 61st in the FIFA rankings have appointed me, but the talent pool is rather small and having won only 1 of 6 friendlies since taking charge, its not looking good. The friendlies have been against sides ranked above us, but results could have been better. Going into the 2027 Asian Cup in early January as defending champions in such a bad run of form is not ideal. Also we have finished our coaching badges, having completed the Pro License.

Progress Report

Club Career

					Leagues		Cups	
Season	Nation	  Division  Club	1st	2nd	1st	2nd	Cont.	CWC	Other Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2019/20	S Africa  NFD	  TS Galaxy	3rd	n/a	2nd Rnd	n/a	n/a	n/a	Lost in Play Offs.
2020/21	S Africa  NFD	  TS Galaxy	1st	n/a	Win	n/a	n/a	n/a	League Winners, NedBank Cup Winners.
2021/22	S Africa  APL	  M Sundowns	1st	n/a	Win	QF	SF	n/a	League and Cup Winners. Lost in CL SF.
2022/23	S Africa  APL	  M Sundowns	4th	n/a	2nd Rnd	QF	Win	n/a	Champions League Winners
2023	China	  CSL	  Wuhan Zull	10th	n/a	QF	n/a	n/a	n/a	Appointed 08/06/2023
2024	China	  CSL	  Wuhan Zull	1st	n/a	Win	n/a	n/a	n/a	League and Cup Double. 
2025	China	  CSL	  Wuhan Zull	4th	n/a	L in final	n/a	Win	n/a	Champions League Winners. 
2026	Brazil	  S.A	  Fluminense	8th	n/a	Win	Win	QF	n.a	Fa Cup Winners.




International Career

		  Rank		Competitions
Year	Nation	  Fifa	NL	World	Cont.	Other Achivements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2022	Nigeria	  24th				Appointed on 25/15/2022
2023	Nigeria	  11th	n/a	n/a	win	AFCON Winners
2026	Australia 61st	n/a	n/a	n/a	Appointed 19/07/2026


Challenge Progress

Club
2/10 Top Domestic Leagues		(S.Africa-ASBA Prem 21/22, China - CSL 2024)
3/10 Top Domestic Cups		(S.Africa-NedBank Cup 20/21, China - CFA Cup 2024, Brazil - Copa Perdigao 2026)
2/5 Continental Championshsips	(Africa 2023, Asia 2025)
0/1 Club World Cups

International
1/5 Continental Championships	(AFCON 2023- NIgeria)
0/1  World Tournaments 

8/32

Edited December 12, 2019 by Lewis89

Homicidal_Jesus · December 12, 2019

Gonna give this challenge a whirl hopefully have my first season update in a few days

bjwphneb · December 12, 2019

Scott Williams 2027 Club Update

1428738150_SuwonBadge.png.f61772be792fc27ee0165ce6b4ab6ace.png

Suwon Bluewings

After the dissapointment of how his position at Kaizer Chiefs finished and Nigeria's AFCON final heartbreak, Scott was hoping his next position would be a success. He applied for the job at Suwon in South Korea and was also approached by Sundowns. Clearly he accepted the offer from Suwon as it was a different league and they offered him more money. The club were expected to finish 2nd but were down in 5th when Scott tookover. They were out of the FA Cup and in the quarters of the AFC Champions League up against two time winners Beijing Sinobo.

Matches

With 11 matches before the league split into two, Scott needed to turn things around quickly if Suwon were to meet the targets set by the board. A 1-0 defeat to start things off after dominating the game was less than ideal. Suwon won 3 of their next 4 albeit the wins were against poor sides and the loss was against a side challenging for top 4 with Suwon. Next up was the Champions League against a Beijing side which were superior both in financial backing and ability. Suwon got off to a great start 2-0 up at half time but where pegged back immediately after the break. They managed to get a winner and the game ended 3-2 to Suwon. In between the two legs Scott's boys had very tough fixtures against 3rd placed Ulsan, and an undefeated Jeonbuk. Two unsurprising defeats.

The second leg of the champions league, and Suwon had to avoid defeat to progress. 1-0 down at HT, not the worst but Beijing weren't finished there getting 2 more in the second half. A late goal in stoppage time wasn't enough for Suwon who went out 5-4 on aggregate, a very respectable performance.

So to recap, 9 games played. 4 wins, 5 defeats, 4 very winnable game left to finish in the top 6 and hunt down a top 4 finish after the split.

At this point Scott's phone started to ring, Scott looked down at his phone and saw the chairman's face. "Hi Mr Williams, we'd like you to come into the board room for a meeting. We're very dissapointed that the club have failed to challenge for silverware and want to know what you intend to do about it". Scott, in his very limited korean, managed to string a few words together to the effect of he'd do better next season, you know when he wasn't 30 points behind the league leaders, out of the FA Cup or against the best side in ASIA in the CL. Sadly that wasn't enough "Goodbye Mr. Williams, best of luck in the future"

54 Days at Suwon had come to an end! Speechless.

Potentially two of the harshest sackings in just under 4 months of eachother.

Personnel Career

Clubs Managed: 5 
Number of Sackings: 2 (Kaizer Chiefs 31/05/2027, Suwon Bluwings 15/09/2027)
----------------------------------
Club Career
Season	NAT	Club		Division	Pos	Cup 1	Cup 2	Cont	CWC	Things to Note
.
.
.
2027	KOR	Suwon		K League 1	7th		-	QF	-	Joined July 5th, Sacked September 15th

Edit: I'm not sure if this is a bug as clearly I couldn't win the league or the FA cup as neither were actually possible and winning the champions league was very unlikely, either way more than happy to move on and add Suwon to the teams I hate in real life because of my experience with them on FM

Edited December 12, 2019 by bjwphneb

XuluBak · December 13, 2019

RC Celta de Vigo

2024-2025 Winter Break

I've finally reached the (much needed) winter break of my first full season in LaLiga. To say things have not exactly gone as expected since the end of the 2013-14 campaign would be an understatement. I had prepared myself for a summer filled with battles to hold onto key players, and shopping for young talent to replace those losses. I was so convinced, I kick started the process, selling a top midfielder entering his prime and turned down an extremely high bid for one of our most promising midfield prospects shortly after the season ended. We also sold off a couple experienced, solid contributors entering the final year of their contract and reinvested some of those funds in talent for the future. Then we waited. And waited. And waited. Nothing. No bids came. We shifted our approach. We signed Todibo to a new contract with a drastically increased release clause. We brought in two young fullbacks to provide quality and depth (one from PSV, one from Bayern). We signed Ianis Hagi, still with Genk, to serve as our #10, and fill in on the wing as needed. Under the radar, we signed an aging midfielder on a free from Levante, to add experienced depth. I thought we were done for the summer. Then Reiss Nelson and Santi Mini got hurt within a couple of days of each other, and I realized we needed at least one more attacking player. After mulling over scouting reports, I decided to break the bank, and sign a Brazilian striker, David, that we couldn't quite afford, then spent the rest of summer scrambling to make the money work.

Preseason was terrible. One injury after another. Only managing to score two goals and win one match out of five. No silver lining, nothing to instill confidence.

La Liga

Our season and the first match couldn't have started much better. Nelson to Sisto inside 20 seconds. Not dominant, but solid 2-0 home victory against a mid-table side (or so we thought; they're currently 4th). Next up, Real Betis on the road. Nelson waited until about 55 seconds before setting up Hagi for a curler from the edge of the box. Unexpectedly dominant display on the road against a club with European aspirations. Interesting. Rolled a relegation contender before the first real test of the season: Real Madrid. Back and forth, 2-2. About right. Huh. With Atleti and Barca off to slow starts, we found ourselves in a back and forth with Los Blancos for first place. Neither creating much separation. It looked like we had a chance to open a six point margin entering the break, with them, somehow, playing El Classico to a 0-0 draw, only for us to drop points against newly promoted, last-placed, SD Eibar. Brutal. Four points clear, but that could really come back to haunt us. As it turns out, we somehow managed to play every top team at home in the first half, so the home stretch is going to be a lot tougher, and of course, it concludes at the Bernabéu.

Europa League

Group H: Liverpool, AZ, some Slovakian club. Straight forward enough. Somehow, both legs against Liverpool ended 0-0, and tied atop group H with 14 points, 11 GD. We won the group on goal scored. Suffice to say, AZ and the Slovakian side were not very competitive. Not playing in this competition again until March will be informative and instructive, as to how seriously we take it.

The Squad

Undefeated through 24 competitive matches. At times, David has looked unstoppable and Blanco has looked unbeatable. Sisto leads in chances created again. Vassi, the young backup striker/winger we added in January, is our second leading scorer, largely standing in for Nelson, who's had his moments when healthy. 17 players have started 10+ matches. 13 of them have been MotM at least once, but none more than three times. Of the four that haven't, one is our highest rated player, two are his defensive partners, and the fourth, leads the team in assists, despite playing less than half the time. That's all to say, this is almost certainly the most balanced side I've ever had. Everyone contributes, but no one is greater than the whole. Despite heavy rotation, egos have yet to be a problem. We've had injuries, suspensions, and stretches of poor form, but at every turn, someone else steps up.

Edited December 13, 2019 by XuluBak

vikeologist · December 13, 2019

8 hours ago, bjwphneb said:

Edit: I'm not sure if this is a bug as clearly I couldn't win the league or the FA cup as neither were actually possible and winning the champions league was very unlikely, either way more than happy to move on and add Suwon to the teams I hate in real life because of my experience with them on FM

Surely you agreed to the targets when you took over.

Anyway, I've had a S Korea experience like that. Something like I lost the league by 1 point on the last day of the season. Was sacked, and took a job with another team that had sacked their manager for finishing a point behind me.

Mind you, people tend not to get sacked in the challenge, so good to see that you're bringing back the ignominy that NormandyWept and myself competed for in the early days of the challenge to see who would be sacked the most times. (It was a lot).

bjwphneb · December 13, 2019

1 hour ago, vikeologist said:

Surely you agreed to the targets when you took over.

Anyway, I've had a S Korea experience like that. Something like I lost the league by 1 point on the last day of the season. Was sacked, and took a job with another team that had sacked their manager for finishing a point behind me.

Mind you, people tend not to get sacked in the challenge, so good to see that you're bringing back the ignominy that NormandyWept and myself competed for in the early days of the challenge to see who would be sacked the most times. (It was a lot).

Yeah I went back and looked. Said be competitive for CL with 2 bars of importance. And then not judging for league and cup. But then silverware was 4 bars.
I think there are a few minor issues with the club, will see what si say.

Getting sacked is all part of the fun (he says behind the tears)

vikeologist · December 13, 2019

51 minutes ago, bjwphneb said:

Yeah I went back and looked. Said be competitive for CL with 2 bars of importance. And then not judging for league and cup. But then silverware was 4 bars.
I think there are a few minor issues with the club, will see what si say.

Getting sacked is all part of the fun (he says behind the tears)

It's true. Winning everything is boring.

Except when you get near the end of the challenge and just want to get it over.

I'm doing the youth challenge with an 'easy' team at the moment, and I kind of envy all those futilely hurling themselves at the rocks of English non-league. Still, I've earned my easy ride with my own futile saves in the past.

bjwphneb · December 13, 2019

15 hours ago, XuluBak said:

2014-2015 Winter Break

Is time travel in Football Manager possible?

Stevelcfc · December 13, 2019

Here we go! It's my turn to start this save

XuluBak · December 13, 2019

Nevermind. Figured out my gaffe. In the interest of this post having some content...

Dalian Yafang won CSL, and had another chance at the treble, once again losing in both finals.

Edited December 13, 2019 by XuluBak

Stevelcfc · December 13, 2019

After a few offers I've finally got an interesting one. I didn't think I'd have a chance of starting in China but I've managed it, albeit with a pretty rubbish team

5 games of the current season left and they are nicely in midtable

Homicidal_Jesus · December 13, 2019

Season 1 2019/2020 PSPS Pekanbaru

The Club

Wasting no time I threw my hat in the ring for a few jobs straight off that bat receiving interviews from Cobh Ramblers in Ireland which is near my home town, Hapoel Umm el-Fahm in Israel and PSPS in Indonesia. Receiving offers from all 3 after some stellar interviews i decided to ditch my local club and jet off to Indonesia drawn in by their good facilities for a club of their standing. A whopping 25,000 capacity stadium awaited me in Indonesia and a surprisingly healthy bank balance of about £600,000. And room to maneuver in terms of recruitment too with the club only spending 10,000 a week of their limit of 32,000.Coming in after just two games into the season with one win and one loss under their belt things looked promising albeit with a mish mash of players in my 25 man squad. As I glance through the names i notice the club seemingly only having one out and out fullback and no real wingers i could be in for a rough ride in my first year.The club vision was straight forward a mid table finish in the league and be competitive in the cup would keep the board off my back for the year with the goal of earning a promotion in the next 2 years.

The League

I shoehorn my players into my preferred 4-2-3-1 formation and take the gamble that if i can get morale up with a few cheeky wins we may snowball and end up having a decent year.Unfortunately the transfer window was closed and unable to reinforce now i set out to find some good value staff and get scouting some fullbacks and wingers as we await the next window.

We had a mixed bag of results through out the year with my main focus being settling on an 11 getting my good performers tied down to another 12 month contract and getting them familiar with the tactics as the Indonesian 2nd Division splits into 2 stages the aim was too hopefully hit a peak around then with the transfer window opening at the same time and try and push on for promotion. Thankfully we scrap into the second stage with a 5th place finish spot enough to earn ourselves a spot into stage 2.Stage 2 involves the top 4 from the two lower divisions East and West facing off in a mini and knockout competition for three promotion spots.

Just before the start of stage 2 im able to reinforce with some players ive identified during the year so finally we have some full backs and wingers to support what has been a solid cb partnership and dynamite number 10 up till now, these signings are key for what then unfolded.

We went on a very strong run topping our Stage 2 group qualifying outselves for the knockouts against the top 2 in the 2nd stage 2 group as well as the runners up in our group unfortunately we lose your semi final match narrowly 3-2 on aggregate but all is not lost to my delight the winner of the 3rd place play off also gets a promotion spot. We have a tricky match against someone who had beat us in the regular season but we had since got the better of in a Stage 2 match up and unbelievable we come out top and clinch promotion to the top division. Absolute scenes.

Cup

Of course while all the above excitement is going on we have the national cup running also which annoyingly is double legged through all of the later stages from Round 4 onwards so it adds a lot of fixtures in a deep run. Thi splayed a big part in the team adjust to tactics and picking up form throughou the year and well i cant say much else but that we somehow managed to win this taking down 2 teams from the top division along the way getting a bit of favour with the finalists being one of the teams being relegated to the lower league next year our only suprise victory coming in the semi finals against 8th place in the top tier everyone elsei felt was a winnable game and so we got som enice luck in the draw for that and that qualifys us for the Asian Confederations Cup which should be a nice financial boost going into next year. Cup Run Part 2

Season in Review

Probably the best start ive ever had to a unemployed save so quite excited to continue with the team although offers from the top league may be tempting while interest in me will be high as i didnt get a chance to earn any badge this season due to coaching demands.

Our fantastic number 10 got player of the year while i scooped manager of the year.Awards

The man himself Number 10

						Leagues		Cups	
Season	Nation	  Division  	Club		1st	2nd	1st	2nd	Cont.	CWC	Other Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2019/20	Indonesia DU		PSPS Pekanbaru	5th	3rd	Winner	n/a	n/a	n/a	Won promtion in 2nd stage on league finishing 3rd + Cup win, MOTY, POTY





Challenge Progress

Club

0/10 Top domestic leagues (Insert nations)

1/10 Top Domestic cups (Piala Indonesia 19/20)

0/5 Continental championships ()

0/1 Club World Cups

International

0/5 Continental tournaments ()

0/1 World tournaments ()

1/32

Edited December 14, 2019 by Homicidal_Jesus

Steve Cobble · December 13, 2019

IT'S DONE!!! Celebration music can be found here...

Ahem... Anyway, having started this save on the 5th March, 2019, on the final part of my travels, this game began as a way to kill time in airports, and on long flights/bus trips/trains etc. 20 days, 23 hours, and 49 minutes of game play later, and the challenge is complete! (I can finally move onto FM20 now 😂)

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

It's been 4 seasons since my last update as I won the world cup with England, and then I took over Brazil and over two seasons was searching for a club team to start a project with. I tried Liverpool, but got fired after applying for the job at tycoon driven Reading, who I then left the following season to take over at a no longer tycoon-owned Man City after lifting the Copa America with Brazil. After winning the League with Man City, I was just one trophy away from completion but also 7 hall of fame points behind Thomas Tuchel in the leaderboard, as I managed to lose the Fa Cup Final, Carabao Cup Finals and the Confederations Cup final all in one season....

I took over at the Ivory Coast, and decided to quit club football and focus on completing the challenge because, as mentioned before, I've not started FM20 yet! This was my second attempt at the AFCON, and with a 60mil rated Barcelona striker leading the way, it was a breeze through the final, at which point I came up against Libya who had pegged me back to 1-1, until a 93rd minute winner secured the title, the number one spot on the HOF board, and completion of the Ultimate SI Challenge. Hallelujah!

This has been an absolute blast, and I've loved reading the other careers/stories that people have undertaken 🥳🥳🥳

(I've found my facebook post for what I was doing the day I started this challenge....)

Favourite Club: Probably Sporting Lisbon or Wolves, I had a young team of players at Lisbon and half of them became some of the best in the world in their position. Wolves was a great journey of realising a clubs potential with a bit of tycoon backing competing against the ludicrous money within the Premier League. Special mention for Jeju - my first time in Korea and it was great fun.

Least Favourite Club: Orlando City. I still don't understand the MLS.

Favourite National Team: Got to be wining the World Cup with England!

Favourite Regen: Mirko Esposito - I signed him as a 20 year old for Sporting, and then paid £105mil for him when I got to Real Madrid. Phenomenal striker.

Hardest Competition to Win: The Korean FA Cup took me 4 seasons to win it!

Challenge Progress

Club

10/10 top domestic leagues - Singapore S-League 19/20 (Home Utd), K-League 2023,2024,2025 (Jeju), Portugal Liga NOS 26/27, 27/28 (Sporting Lisbon), Bundesliga 2029/30 (Bayern Munich), La Liga 2030/31 (Real Madrid), Argentinian Primera Division 2031/32 (River Plate), ABSA Premiership 2033/34 (Kaizer Chiefs), English Premier League 2036/37, 2038/39, 2039/40 (Wolves), 2048/49 (Man City) Ligue 1 2041/42 (AS Monaco), Serie A 2042/43 (Juventus)

10/10 domestic cups - RHB Singapore Cup 18/19 (Home Utd), KFA Cup 2025 (Jeju), Taca de Portugal Placard 27/28 (Sporting), DFB-Pokal 28/29 (Bayern Munich), Copa Del Rey 2030/31 (Real Madrid), Nedbank Cup (SA) 2033/34 (Kaizer Chiefs), Toto KNVB Beker 2034/35 (Ajax), English FA Cup 2038/39 (Wolves), Coupe de France 2040/41 (AS Monaco), TIM Cup 2042/43 (Juventus)

5/5 club continental championships - AFC Champions League 2025 (Jeju), European Champions League 2028/29 (Bayern Munich) 2039/40 (Wolves) 2040/41, 2041/42 (AS Monaco), Copa Libertadores 2031/32 (River Plate), Orange CAF Champions League 2033/34 (Kaizer Chiefs), CONCACAF Champions League 2044/45 (Deportivo Toluca)

1/1 club world championship – 2029/2030 (Bayern Munich), 2031/32 (River Plate), 2041/42 (AS Monaco)

International

5/5 continental tournaments – Euro 2028 (France), AFC Asian Cup 2034/35 (South Korea), CONCACAF Gold Cup 2039 (USA), Copa America 2048 (Brazil), African Cup of Nations 2051 (Ivory Coast)

2/2 world tournaments – Confederations Cup 2029 (France), World Cup 2030 (France), 2046 (England)

Other titles

New Paper League Cup 18/19, 19/20 (Home United), AFC Cup 19/20 (Home United), Hyundai A-League (Regular Season) 2020/21 (Melbourne Victory), U23 Asian Games w/ South Korea 2022, U23 Pacific Games w/ New Zealand 2023, Taca de Liga Portugal 2027/28 (Sporting), Supertaca Candido de Oliveira 27/28 (Sporting), DFL Supercup 28/29 (Bayern Munich), Supercopa de Espana 30/31 (Real Madrid), Supercopa Argentina 2031/32 (River Plate), Recopa Santander Sudamericana 2031/32 (River Plate), Telkom Knockout 2033/34 (Kaizer Chiefs), Orange CAF Super Cup 2033/34 (Kaizer Chiefs), Be The Coach Challenge Cup 2033/34 (Kaizer Chiefs), Johan Cruijff Schaal 2034/35 (Ajax), English Charity Shield 2039/40 (Wolves), English Carabao Cup 2039/40 (Wolves), Trophee des Champions 2041/42 (AS Monaco), UEFA Super Cup 2041/42 (AS Monaco), Supercopa TIM 2042/43 (Juventus)

Edited December 13, 2019 by Steve Cobble
Adding data

vikeologist · December 14, 2019

@Steve Cobble Congratulations. I guess you'll probably be the only person to ever achieve this challenge on FM19. (Skogmus may still be going).

Bet you're relieved to have got it over and done with.

Hope you enjoy FM20. Are you going to do another challenge?

Steve Cobble · December 14, 2019

31 minutes ago, vikeologist said:

@Steve Cobble Congratulations. I guess you'll probably be the only person to ever achieve this challenge on FM19. (Skogmus may still be going).

Bet you're relieved to have got it over and done with.

Hope you enjoy FM20. Are you going to do another challenge?

Very pleased to have finally finished 🥳 I think I'm going to look at something opposite like the Dafuge challenge for FM20 to have a game building a team

bjwphneb · December 14, 2019

After the two sackings last summer this is a glorious sight to see. (all will be revealed at the end of the season)

SkiIIs · December 15, 2019

Wolfsburg.jpg.71544269b1e50948469c235a3c8ae2b7.jpg

Season 7 - 2025/26

Overview DFB Pokal

Season started with a couple of tough games against last years winners and Schalke with two successive defeats. Thought that I wouldn't last long before the Board decide to pull the pin on me especially after giving me an E performance last season for missing out on Champions League qualification. For there the season really took off winning games with big scorelines which in the end counted for everything! We found ourselves in top spot for majority of the season however never able to shake off both Schalke and then Bayern who made a strong charge in the second half of the season. With 4 games to go we were on top by a point to Bayern but had a difficult fixture needing to play 3 away with Bayern away in the next game and Dortmund away in the last. We ended up losing to Bayern and top spot. 2 points behind our next game was at home which we won but Bayern also won keeping their 2 point gap. They had Schalke up next away and we had Mainz who were 6th away. We dominated but needed an 85th minute to win 2-1. Bayern were held 0-0 so we were on top by goal difference. Last game of the season meant we won the Bundesliga by 4 goals! I thought it would take the third season before we could seriously call ourselves title contenders so to win it especially in this fashion im absolutely over the moon. Its only the second time Wolfsburg have one the Bundesliga which was 16 years ago.

DFB Cup we didn't really look like losing any games conceding only 1 goal along the way. Had some easy games at the start we used a rotational squad, then played Schalke and dispatched them easily. Both us and Bayern were on the other side of the draw when it came to the semis with both our opponents being from the 2nd division. After winning the league on goal difference, we added some salt to the wound winning the Cup final. Like the league, this was the second time winning the domestic cup with the first being in 2015.

Key players:

Behrend crucial up top winning the top goalscorer with 26 league goals and winning the European Golden Shoe

Poulsen Danish left back was brilliant and won the player of the season for us. 20m pound purchase two years ago was an absolute bargain buy

We loaned 3 players in who were also great, will try to turn them permanent but we don't have the buying power unfortunately as we hemorrhage about 10m pounds a month. Our stadium only seats 30k and the Board have announced they are looking to build a new stadium so see what happens there. Not sure what to do next season whether to go for the Euro Cup or move on, don't think we have the financial power to compete (we were knocked out convincingly by Lazio in the Europa Cup this season).

Top Domestic Leagues 1 / 10 - Bundesliga (Wolfsburg 2026)

Cups 2 / 10 - Betfred Cup (Arbroath 2023), DFB Pokal (Wolfsburg 2026)

Continental 0 / 6

International 1 / 5 - AFCON (Senegal 2023)

Stevelcfc · December 15, 2019

2020 Season - Liaoning - China Division One

Well we sat in the top 2 for nearly all season and then collapsed! So close to getting promoted

XuluBak · December 15, 2019

RC Celta de Vigo

2024-25 Season Review

Copa del Rey

Not atop our priority list, we were still hoping to compete. A heavily rotated squad pushed us past 3^rd-tier Ponteverda, before needing penalties to get by a 2^nd-tier, relegation-bound SD Huesca. With injuries and match congestion taking their toll we couldn’t afford to go beyond 90 minutes against surprise relegation contender, Sevilla, so with it 0-0 late, we went all-in to win in regulation, and got caught out. It was a little disappointing to not make a deeper run, but we had too much to play for to jeopardize our season here.

Europa League

Winning our group was vital, as playing in the first knockout round could have proved devastating for our squad given the timing. We drew Napoli. Took a conservative approach, hoping to keep them out, and maybe catch them on the counter during the away leg. It went almost perfectly. They never looked dangerous and we created good chances off the counter. It looked like Mina was going to be the hero off the bench, earning, then taking a late penalty, except he kicked it right at the keeper. 0-0. We largely controlled the home leg, but an away goal right before the break, and our wastefulness in the final third, meant 1-1 wasn’t good enough. Out of the competition on away goals without losing a match. Very disappointing. The silver lining was that meant we were playing one competition, Real Madrid were playing three.

LaLiga

We entered 2025 with a four-point cushion, and got the results we needed in January, even stealing a point at Camp Nou to extend our lead to five; however, injuries, match congestion, and yellow cards were piling up. February was not pretty. Even with loan-ins, reserves, and prospects, we struggled to dress a full match squad at times. Our attacking options were extremely limited and largely in poor form. Fortunately, our backline held up, and Blanco was almost otherworldly during that stretch. Six straight clean sheets and a couple late winners likely saved our season. Not often you take 13 points, in five games, with four goals. Our lead was 3.

It looked like a two-horse race from early in the season, and Real Madrid made that official by taking El Classico 5-1. Barca not sending Tuchel packing might be the shock of the season (or not, guess they went on to win the CL final, at Camp Nou). Then, Sevilla surprised me with a birthday gift, taking all three points to our benefit, which we nearly threw away shortly thereafter, against relegation contending Alavés, before Santi Mini won it with his second 93rd-minute winner in less than a month. Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time, as we’d close out the month dropping two points to last-placed Real Oviedo. The margin was four.

As it turns out, both sides would face four of the top six down the stretch, with three being on the road. Obviously, I didn’t want to leave it until the finale, at the Bernabeu. Maybe, we could steal a draw, but I firmly believed we’d either be lifting the trophy at home, matchday 37, against Osasuna, or not at all.

We’d drop points first, losing at Valencia. Lead is one. Not too worried, but we needed to bounce back strong against an in-form Sociedad. Thankfully, we got off to a strong start, and capitalized early, easing the nerves. Next up, a horribly disappointing Atleti, but before we’d step on the pitch, Sociedad would take it to Los Blancos, 4-1. Huge relief. It was nervy at times, but we’ve had Alteti’s number. Back up to four. We kicked off May with a dominant 5-0 against Girona, fueled by a 2-goal, 2-assist showing from Reiss Nelson. Perhaps feeling the pressure, or worn down from a busy April, Madrid would fall again, this time to Valencia. We’d get two chances to lock up the title before the finale, so of course, we played to an uninspired 0-0 at RCD Espanyol. They’d take care of Atleti, so we knew we had to win, and frankly, if we couldn’t beat the last placed team for a third time, we didn’t deserve to be champs. Oddly, because of match order, Osasuna were in last, but not yet relegated, even though the 18^th and 19^th placed teams had been, so they still had something to play for.

After an early scare, we became increasingly dominant, creating chance after chance, which of course, we squandered. Graciously, they gifted us a penalty by pushing Reiss Nelson on a free kick. Ruslan Malinovskyi, our fans’ player of the year, blasted it past the keeper. 1-0. Huge relief. Sisto would make it 2 right before the break. Ideally, we’d have come out inspired, and put it away 3-0 after the break. Instead, we shut off on a cross from no man’s land and let them back in it, then let our fan’s sweat it out for 40+ minutes. In the end, we managed to hold on, finally beating a last placed club to become…

Spoiler

LaLiga CHAMPS!

That's the good news. Unfortunately, despite being slightly positive on the transfers and below wage budget, we are hemorrhaging money. Losing ~50M/year. Playing in the Champions league should help, but at a time when I'd like to be adding to compete in that competition, I'll almost certainly be forced to sell. I like my squad, just not sure how much of it I'll be able to keep intact, so may explore options elsewhere for 2025-26. I don't see a path back into international management until after the '26 World Cup, but I've been keeping my eyes open.

Club Career

Season		Nation		Team			League		Cup(1)	Cup(2)	Cont.	Notes
2019-20 	RSA(2)		Tuks FC			2nd		N/A	N/A	N/A	Promotion via playoff
2020-21 	RSA(1)		Tuks FC			1st		Final	Champs	N/A	Won league and league cup
2021		China(1)	Dalian Yifang		3rd		Final	N/A	N/A	Qualified AFC CL
2022		China(1)	Dalian Yifang		1st		Champ	N/A	Champ	League, cup, continental treble
2023-24		Spain(1)	Celta Vigo		5th		Champ	N/A	N/A	Won cup, Qualified EL
2024-25		Spain(1)	Celta Vigo		1st		5th rd	N/A	EL 2KO	Won league, qualified CL

International Career

Season		Nation		Continental		World		Notes
2023		USA		Champs			N/A		Beat Jamaica 3-0 to win Gold Cup

Challenge

Club
3/10 Top Domestic Leagues ('20-21 ABSA Premiership - Tuks FC; '22 CSL - Dalian Yifang; '25 LaLiga - Celta Vigo)
3/10 Top Domestic Cups	('20 Telkom Knockout - Tuks FC; '22 China FA Cup - Dalian Yifang; '24 Spanish Copa Del Rey - Celta Vigo)
1/5 Continental Championshsips	('22 AFC Champions League - Dalian Yifang)
0/1 Club World Cups

International
1/5 Continental Championships	(2023 Gold Cup - USA)
0/1  World Tournaments

Edited December 16, 2019 by XuluBak

bjwphneb · December 16, 2019

Scott Williams 2027/28

End of Season Review

769590039_VelezBadge.png.70121be45eaa850283e4dd16effd9f83.png

Club Atletico Velez Sarsfield

After what can only be described as a disasrous time in South America, Scott took some time to plan his next managerial venture. There were options to stay in Asia and some possibilities in Portugal and Netherlands, after a couple of unsuccessful interviews the manager at Velez was sacked. Velez were a massive step up from any club Scott had managed before but nevertheless he applied, and to the dissmay of some of the players was offered a two year deal on £9Kp/w.

Superliga

Table| Phase 2 | Graph | Results

Predicted to win the Superliga, Velez finished the first phase in 8th place with Scott taking charge a week after the final game. This gave him a lot of time to assess the squad and make the appropriate signings. Velez got off to a fantastic start winning their first 6 games conceding just two goals. The form continued, dropping points only in two away draws. Scott took over with Velez 12 points behind River Plate and managed to close the gap to 7 points before they met, a win would shift momentum with Velez and give them a great chance at the title. Sadly, it ended in a draw and just two games later Scott got his first league defeat in charge against a team battling relegation meaning the title was River's. Considering the league was already wrapped up, the end of season form can be somewhat forgiven. I was a valiant effort most of the players, but not enought to overturn the gap left by the previous manager.

Cups and Libertadores

Unlike the rest of South American football, the league runs July to May with the Libertadores and Cup competition spaning the end of one season and the start of the next. Velez will face San Lorenzo in the next round of the cup and are awaiting the draw for the Libertadores second round. Will update in the winter break of next season.

Velez

Squad | Tactic

As with a lot of South American clubs, the top players get poached before they hit their peak. That was definitely the case for Velez last summer hence why they finished the first phase so low. The key areas that needed strengthening were the left side of the pitch and another CM. With £48million to spend there was certainly the resources to create the foundations of a title winning side.

Scott's Player of the Season: Santiago Aguero LM (£9m from Independiente). Some would say he's the best player with that surname to ever play football. Scott wanted to play a 4-4-2 / 4-4-1-1 so a LM was cruicial. Santiago soon became the first name on the team sheet notching up 9 goals and 5 assists in 18 league games, even collecting a few goal of the month awards along the way.

Scott's Fraud of the Season: Nazareno Varvano CM: This bloke kicked up such a fuss from day one saying he wanted to move to a bigger club. With a £5.25million release clause, Scott was powerless to the bids that came in. He ended up rejecting 5 contracts from other clubs deciding in the end, now that Velez were doing well, he'd stay. Considering the fuss he made you'd have been forgiven for expecting him to be getting 7.5s regularly. The best he managed in 6 months was a 7.3.

Next Season

Manager Profile

Scott's return to Argentina could not have started much better, the baord and fans love him and the players are slowly starting to come around. If he is able to continue his success in the second phase then the league will be his wihtout too much of a challenge. Velez should be a good project for Scott, there aren't many better teams in Argentina and with the length of the season in Brazil, this seems as good a club as any to check of three of his targets. One player who can leave is Varvano, if anyone wants him that is. Scott's already arranged a few transfers for next seaosn. CB Felipe Hidalgo will be joining the ranks from Deportes Antofagasta for a mere £1.3million

Personnel Career

Clubs Managed: 6
Nations Managed: 3
Trophies Won: 4
Runner Up Medals: 4
Manager of the Year: 2
2022, 2026/27 (Winner) | 2020, 2025/26 (Runner up)
Number of Sackings: 2 (Kaizer Chiefs, Suwon)

Career Earnings: £2 Million
---------------------------------------------------

Club Career
																	
Season	NAT	Club		Division	Pos	Cup 1	Cup 2	Cont	CWC	Things to Note					
2020	CHI	Nublense	Primera Div B	6th	R2	-	-	-	Playoff Winners, U19s Runners up in Div 1
2021	CHI	Curico Unido	Primera Div	7th	R2	-	R1	-
2022	CHI	Curico Unido	Primera Div	1st	Won	-	R1	-	Domestic Double, MOTY
2022/23	ARG	CA Union	Superliga	17th	R5	-	-	-	Avoided Relegation
2023/24	ARG	CA Union	Superliga	15th	R5	-	-	-	Avoided Relegation
2024/25	ARG	CA Union	Superliga						Resigned End of Phase 1
2025/26	RSA	Kaizer Chiefs	Asba Prem	2nd	RU	Won	-	-	KO Cup Winners RU in other Comps
2026/27	RSA	Kaizer Chiefs	Asba Prem	3rd	RU	R1	Won	-	Champions League Winners, MOTY
2027	KOR	Suwon		K League 1	7th		-	QF	-	Joined July in 5th, Sakced September 15th
2027/28	ARG	Velez		Superliga	2nd	TBC	TBC	TBC	-	Joined December in 8th, cup comps to be completed next year
----------------------------------------------------

International Career

Season	Nation		Rank	Continental	World Cup	Things to Note
2023	Honduras	67th	-		-		Relegated from Nations League
2024	Honduras	72rd	-		-		Qualified for Gold Cup 2025
2024	Russia		42nd	-		-		2nd in NL Div B	
2025	Russia		39th					Qualified for WC Finals 2026
2026	Russia		30th	-		2nd Rnd v SUI	Topped Group, Lost to Switzerland
2027	Nigeria		12th	RU		-		AFCON Runners Up, Resigned as manager
------------------------------
Challenge Progress
1/10 Leagues 	(Chile; Curico Unido 2022)
2/10 Cups	(Chile Cup; Curico Unido 2022), (South Africa KO; Kaizer Chiefs 2025/26)
1/5 Continental	(Africa; Kaizer Chiefs 2026/27)
0/1 Worlds

0/5 Continental 
0/1 Worlds

Total 
4/32

LeoFM · December 16, 2019

Attempting this challenge for the first time, been playing FM since 17 and I think I'm ready now. Looking forward to it!

And a question, can I add/remove leagues as I go along? (My computer isn't the best)

vikeologist · December 16, 2019

21 minutes ago, LeoFM said:

Attempting this challenge for the first time, been playing FM since 17 and I think I'm ready now. Looking forward to it!

And a question, can I add/remove leagues as I go along? (My computer isn't the best)

Yes. It would be crazy not to.

Since you've raised the topic, a couple of things to look out for.

When you add a league, sometimes lots of jobs become available straight away, so it may be more realistic to add leagues before you actually need them, rather than when you're unemployed and looking for the next job . Often you know that your work somewhere is almost complete.

It may be worth adding extra Asian players at the start of the challenge to ensure there's more than 3 or 4 Asian international jobs later in the game.

Generally, because I'm not doing this challenge, it's always worth checking that all the leagues and competitions are working properly if you will need to go there in the future.

Lewis89 · December 16, 2019

oz.jpg.9f014e89ad0924a19cc536ca13b2456d.jpg

AFC ASIAN CUP 2027

We went into the competition as one of the favourites, magnified by us being the host nation. The expectations from the FA were to get to the semi final stage and I thought this would be easily achieved.

Squad Results

A poor 3-2 defeat in our first game against Uzbekistan left us with work to do, but we followed this with a 4-1 win against Kyrgyzstan and a 8-1 thumping of Palestine which meant we managed to qualify for the 2nd round. Here we faced Syria and a clinical performance saw us win 5-0. In the QF we faced easily our toughest game yet against Japan. A Luongo red card just after a goalless first half put us on the back foot, and they took advantage taking the lead just 4 mins later. In the end, a 1-0 win for Japan was a fair result.

So out earlier than expected, I will more than likely be sacked now which is a shame as I would be willing to stay on for the next four years as jobs is Asia seem to be the toughest to get on the international stage.

vikeologist · December 16, 2019

1 minute ago, Lewis89 said:

AFC ASIAN CUP 2027

We went into the competition as one of the favourites, magnified by us being the host nation. The expectations from the FA were to get to the semi final stage and I thought this would be easily achieved.

Squad Results

A poor 3-2 defeat in our first game against Uzbekistan left us with work to do, but we followed this with a 4-1 win against Kyrgyzstan and a 8-1 thumping of Palestine which meant we managed to qualify for the 2nd round. Here we faced Syria and a clinical performance saw us win 5-0. In the QF we faced easily our toughest game yet against Japan. A Luongo red card just after a goalless first half put us on the back foot, and they took advantage taking the lead just 4 mins later. In the end, a 1-0 win for Japan was a fair result.

So out earlier than expected, I will more than likely be sacked now which is a shame as I would be willing to stay on for the next four years as jobs is Asia seem to be the toughest to get on the international stage.

Never, ever quit an Asian international job if you still need the Asian Cup.

Generally you get 3 chances; S Korea, Australia and China. You probably won't get offered the job again, and after a while (unless you added players at the start) there'll be at most those 3 nations you'll be able to manage.

Lewis89 · December 16, 2019

7 minutes ago, vikeologist said:

Never, ever quit an Asian international job if you still need the Asian Cup.

Generally you get 3 chances; S Korea, Australia and China. You probably won't get offered the job again, and after a while (unless you added players at the start) there'll be at most those 3 nations you'll be able to manage.

Yeah I have read a few of you veterans say this a few times so it is ingrained in my head now. I did add the Asian internationals as recommended at the start of the game but I will definitely not be quitting. Expecting the sack to be honest though, under achieving as a host nation is never a good sign.

Edited December 16, 2019 by Lewis89

SkiIIs · December 16, 2019

France.jpg.59458e4bd5bb5b1b8df0ae52923e86dc.jpg

2026 World Cup

Hosted in sunny USA the world number 1 team had high hopes of winning the World Cup after losing out in the final 4 years ago. We suffered a shock 4 - 2 friendly loss to Australia which was the only the second time France had lost under my management. This gave me doubts we could be champions even with a strong lineup off Mbappe, Pogba and a couple world class wingers in Charles and Mage. We breezed through the group games 3 - 0 and 8 - 0 against Honduras and Egypt respectively. That put us against host nation the US of A. Complete domination however a 1 - 0 scoreline until 86th minute where Charles scored his debut goal had me nervous. Up next in the Third round was Italy, the rank no. 3 in the world, very stiff to be playing them this early. It was a very even encounter with both teams creating chances. Italy took an early lead scoring in the 10th min however 2 goals before half time gave us the lead. Mancini (tried signing him for Wolfsburg with no luck) levelled for the Italians in the 60th min. Italy took the game to us from here but we held on to penalties. Italy prevailed 5 - 4.

Absolutely shattered as im not a huge fan of international management. I expect to be sacked but both England and Brazil performed poorly so hopefully I get a decent country to continue the challenge.

LeoFM · December 16, 2019

Magni - 2019 report

This is my first time attempting this challenge, and I’m looking forward to the ride. My biggest achievement on FM so far was winning the Champions League with my local team Hudiksvalls FF (Swedish 4th tier) last year.

I decided that Iceland would be a fun nation to start in, and there is something about the name Magni I quite like. I had some offers in Asia and the UK but I went with this team because of their 1.5 star reputation, I could probably have waited for a better club but I'm impatient. I saw that they were expected to finish bottom but they were in 5th, so I thought it would be an easy first job. Just keeping them up had the board very pleased. I don't want to be here for long, because they don't have money, and I need to complete coaching courses. I may stay another season but I'm already looking for jobs.

I do like their stadium. Love a nordic mountain view.

Here is the tactic I'm using. I've found success with a diamond recently on FM20, and this tactic resulted to be solid for me this season. Not great, but remember we were expected to finish bottom.

Here is my manager profile at the end of the first season. Some of my attributes went up when I got my job, which I find a bit weird.

League table

Season review

							CLUB CAREER
                                                        -----------

Season       Team             Country            League           Position           FA Cup          League Cup         Champs League       Others & Notes       
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2019         Magni            Iceland            1. delid karla   5th                -               -                  -                   Joined with 11/22 games to go, was in 5th finished in 5th.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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

Season       Country         Tournament         Finished         Others & Notes             
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                    CHALLENGE PROGRESS
                                                    ------------------

Club

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

International

 0/5   Continental Tournaments
 0/2   World Tournaments

Am I doing this right?

Edited December 16, 2019 by LeoFM

Lewis89 · December 16, 2019

Despite the poor showing at the 2027 Asian Cup I have been allowed to continue as Australia manager. With 3 years until the next world cup and 4 until the next Asian Cup, we have plenty of time to build a side capable of winning the next continental competition.

Edited December 16, 2019 by Lewis89

XuluBak · December 17, 2019

SL Benfica

It was a summer of uncertainty. I'd grown quite fond of Celta and many of my players. It was a fantastic, hard-working, and unselfish squad. When we were rotating heavily, no one complained. When we stopped for the home stretch, no one complained. When I asked players to hold off on transfers for the good of the team, they did, even if their roles had diminished, and the new opportunities could have been quite lucrative. Everyone sacrificed for the good of the team and we were rewarded tremendously for it. I knew the time had come for a few to move on, but I was looking forward to bringing in some youngsters to replace them. My heart wanted me to stay, but my brain couldn't help wondering what other opportunities might be out there. After a short break, and much contemplation, my intention was to stay at Celta for 2025-26, but not beyond; however, I'd keep my eyes and mind open to other opportunities that might present themselves along the way.

The open positions entering the summer seemed to confirm my decision was the right one. However, an interesting chain reaction began when Pep moved from PSG (right...) to Alteti at the end of the season. A few weeks later, Sarri moved from Juve to PSG. Then, Zidane moved to Juve. Bayern, looking to replace him immediately offered me an interview. Not even remotely interested. I was, however, intrigued by the "leading candidate" for the position: Bruno Lage. Sure enough, a few weeks later, Bayern made it official. Generally, I'm more drawn to the prospect of bringing glory to clubs and fan bases that have yet to taste it, but this was different. I want to win trophies. Lots of trophies. Not just domestically, but continentally, and if everything goes according to plan, internationally. Lisbon seems like a perfect base of operations for these ambitions. Here's to hoping I don't screw this one up. I think I'd like to stay a while.

Edited December 17, 2019 by XuluBak

TheEarl · December 17, 2019

On 14/12/2019 at 09:39, vikeologist said:

@Steve Cobble Congratulations. I guess you'll probably be the only person to ever achieve this challenge on FM19. (Skogmus may still be going).

Bet you're relieved to have got it over and done with.

Hope you enjoy FM20. Are you going to do another challenge?

He might be the only one to achieve it, because I play very slow. So slow am not sure I can finish due to time, but I will at least give it a try :P lol

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The Ultimate Football Manager Challenge - Silver Age Archive

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