fabreth Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 All right... is this true? Since we'll be playing in our home Russia, maybe it's the right year? And also because of how we won in the 1st knockout round, against Man City (again!)...with a lucky match and a decisive goal on the last minute, like this Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabreth Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 Indeed... it's CHALLENGE COMPLETE!!! It was a great final, a perfect way to end the journey. All of our 4 goals have a meaning: 2 by Rodionov, you already know his story(the academy product injury prone in his formative years which I waited, the boy who refused Rubin when we still were a mid-table team), the goal by Bennett(years of loan, the return to Liverpool, and years later the definitive return here), and, when with the 3-3 draw this match seemed the match against Man City in reverse, came the decisive goal of 20yo wonderkid Gomaa(acquired in summer for just 1 million), Tomorrow(or in the next days) I will post a conclusive recap, I don't have the time now but I wanted to share my joy! (To make it brief, I won everything :D) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Buck Plays FM Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 Looks like you have indeed completed the challenge!!! well done!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabreth Posted September 23, 2017 Share Posted September 23, 2017 Dinamo St. Petersburg 2031/32 Season - aka The (almost)Perfect Season Review - Competitions League: This is the reason of the title. Could've been a perfect season if I didn't lose the match against Anji... I would have won the league unbeaten! Cup: Yeah, this time we manage to won also the national cup. A lucky draw, with only Rubin and CSKA as dangerous opponents made this easier. And the supercup too, just to icing the cake. Champions League: This, you already know of! Group stage was hard, we ended 2nd place, behiind Atletico Madrid but above Roma, which we beated 3-0 home. Then Man City, with a 0--0 home and a miracolous 3-3 in Manchester, with a last minute penalty. Quarterfinals saw us against Lyon, the easiest opponent (1-2, 3-1). Another miracle was needed for the semifinal against Barcelona, and it did happen, with an 1-0 victory in St.Petersburg, and a 1-1 draw in Barcelona. And then, 3 days after the cup final, the final. The incredible, full of meaning final (I link again the report here). Rodionov, Bennett, Tottenham recovery and the last minute header by a young wonderkid! Pure bliss! I'm about to end this with a presentation of my team. A slowly built team, year after year, with a few returning players and a few academy players. Our first Champions League participation some seasons ago gave us the monetary boost to step up and clinch the league title, which never slipped away in the succcessive years. Here we go, I'll put them in the most used 4-2-3-1,even if I quite often used a 4-3-1-2 in the last seasons, and i'll often put two players. GK - Minoru Hirayama - Billel Hosni - our couple of GK for many seasons already. I also have a russian 3rd to help with foreigner limit DR - Vyacheslav isakov - Alexey Yudin - a "russian slot", the two divided in half the presences on field, with the young about to surpass the "old". DC - Chris Bennett - Khaled Gomaa - the english symbol and the former wonderkid who in one season became already a great defender and brought us a Champions League, for only 1M fee. DC - Marko Rajcic - arrived young, one season on loan to Hertha, and then he gained first team and became invaluable. The second slot here is a loan from Atlètico, and occasionally a very promising russian from our academy, after the selling of Erdogan for 13.5 millions. DL - Dmitry Leonov - russian slot and in theory weakness of the team, but Leonov surprised me with his performances. Second slot is for another young russian. MC - Diogo Fonseca - Alexandr Novikov - Fonseca acquisition of russian passport was a great thing. Our shield in the midfield. Novikov is a (almost former)young) who deserves mention, brought from Akademia Togliatti, made u18, many loans and then was integrated in the team. MC - Nail Savchenko - Juan Carlos Olivares - a young but strong couple, quite dissimilar, as Olivares is more technical and less defending(even if that bravery helps in that) AMR - Diego Urteaga - I let him alone because it was a great coup, a very strong free transfer. Was about to sell him for 30M on summer, but in the end retained him, and, despite an injury, he helped us greatly. His young reserve, the japanese Morioka, didn't do bad either, but for now it's not comparable AMC - Mikhail Bystrov - 950k for a 19 years old six seasons ago, for a guy who is now a world class midfielder. Every season I had to resist to the offers, and to promise silverware to avoid unhappiness, but in the end I was repayed. AML - Carlos Marchesini - another great player, brought from Argentina just in time before the big teams noticed him. But this was his worst season, also due to a 3 month injury. ST - Savely Rodionov - St.Petersburg golden boy. One of those players in which performances surpass his stats. Another St.Pete Golden boy, Oleg Klimovich, gained his spaces this season, after many loans(which netted us a good money). JOLLY - Martin Roberts - came here very young, goes to PSG, a couple of loans, then transfer listed and returns here. Plays in three roles equally well, and this season was one of his best. As you can see, with the age of the current key players, next season I would have had to rebuild a little, and maybe I would'nt have found another Urteaga or another Roberts. But I already found in Gomaa a Bennett 2.0, so who knows! Nonetheless, I don't think I will continue.. maybe I'll just try to win the Club World Championship, and then resign and see if the team I built would last without me. For now, thanks for reading and to the next adventure! --------- The End -------- Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted September 23, 2017 Share Posted September 23, 2017 Wow, congrats @fabreth! Really impressive! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 Season Summary - XaW - Villa Santa Brígida - 2020/21 Table | Squad | Transfers | Finances After the solid season we had last time, I was hopeful that we could climb a bit and maybe fight for a playoff spot this season, at least with the right players in. A lot of players went out during the summer, and we managed to get in some very talented players to add to the quality of the team. The season started good as we won the first 4 matches, but then we got down to earth again when we lost the next 5. Some tactical tweaks later we were back on the horse again and had a rather solid early part of the season. In January we were solidly placed in the playoff spots competing for a possible promotion. It was about that time I bought in Leo Suárez from Huesca to give us some more offensive quality. This player slotted perfectly into the team and the rest of the team clicked together. We won 7 of the next 9 matches and placed ourselves in the promotion spots. The rest of the season we played great and had matches like this, this and this. With games like that we held on to our second place, a bit behind Elche, but still promoted! I think this promotion might be a bit early for us, but I won't complain. A season in La Liga should give us a boost in all kinds of ways. In the Copa del Rey we lost in the second round to Elche. The best player this season have been Matthias Boyer, 22 goals and 20 assists are just amazing for an attacking midfielder. Other notable players are Leo Suárez, Fran Pastor and Kaan Baysal. Season | League | Position | Europe | Top scorer | Achievements ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017/18 | Segunda División B1 | 9th | N/A | Pedro (17) | Mid table 2018/19 | Segunda División B1 | 3rd | N/A | Ángel Portillo (14) | Promoted through playoff 2019/20 | La Liga 123 | 10th | N/A | Loren (17) | Mid table 2019/20 | La Liga 123 | 2nd | N/A | Matthias Boyer (17) | Promoted Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlipscombe Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 fantastic @fabreth and congratulations on promotion @XaW Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 Thanks! We had our first try at the top now, and I'm not at all horrified. We lost big, but we hit the post 2 times in addition to scoring a goal. With this squad, I'll call that good enough. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlipscombe Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 certainly could have been worse... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gb2003 Posted September 26, 2017 Share Posted September 26, 2017 @fabreth congrats. Perfect time to finish the challenge. Hope, I can update my save this week. Want to finish the challenge before FM 18 starts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liverbird93 Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 Is there going to be a FM18 version of this? I'd be interested in startign using the Beta if there is? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlipscombe Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 On 30/10/2017 at 18:27, Liverbird93 said: Is there going to be a FM18 version of this? I'd be interested in startign using the Beta if there is? I am hopeful of their being one yes. If @Lower Leagues Rule doesn't do the thread for this year then I am happy to do it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
duccio Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 Hopefully there will be an FM18 challenge. I was going to take part in this thread's challenge, bt in the end there were no eligible clubs I was interested in - I have become increasingly picky! In FM18 there should be several fascinating clubs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 I always thought there were lots of people out there desperate to prop up their crumbling sense of self-worth by being in charge of a challenge. Just me, I guess. While you're all waiting for someone to start a FM18 version, why not just post in this thread? It is a pity though because @Lower Leagues Rule made this one of the most attractive looking threads. May I make a suggestion. If somebody's going to start a new thread, why not have a Global (apart from England) Small Club to Big Club one, as some have suggested. I just don't think there's any real need for separate ones, and it does seem that there are far fewer people invested in challenges at the moment. @duccio There are indeed several interesting clubs, some of which have been identified by @Muttley84 here Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lower Leagues Rule Posted November 1, 2017 Author Share Posted November 1, 2017 I'm still around, I just don't have any time, life comes at you fast. If anyone needs any help setting up a anew thread I can help out though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlipscombe Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 12 hours ago, Lower Leagues Rule said: I'm still around, I just don't have any time, life comes at you fast. If anyone needs any help setting up a anew thread I can help out though I am happy to post the original thread, no problems. If it is ok with you I would do a version of yours for FM17 and tweak it from there, assuming that it is ok? As for it being a 'global (less England) thread like @vikeologist suggested, I suggested this in another thread recently. I would be ok with this, if everyone else was? I know there wasn't a Gundo thread for FM17 so we could do this for those that prefer a 'more challenging' challenge... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttley84 Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 I agree to widening the challenge to other countries. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
duccio Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 On 01/11/2017 at 02:22, vikeologist said: @duccio There are indeed several interesting clubs, some of which have been identified by @Muttley84 here I have been looking at some small Italian clubs, but it seems it might be difficult to get them promoted. Xerez in Spain are now in Tercera, so perhaps they have high enough reputation. Or maybe Lok Leipzig in Germany are this time around more likely to come up. @rlipscombe Including more countries is fine by me. It appears you posted the new thread already. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lower Leagues Rule Posted November 2, 2017 Author Share Posted November 2, 2017 22 hours ago, rlipscombe said: I am happy to post the original thread, no problems. If it is ok with you I would do a version of yours for FM17 and tweak it from there, assuming that it is ok? As for it being a 'global (less England) thread like @vikeologist suggested, I suggested this in another thread recently. I would be ok with this, if everyone else was? I know there wasn't a Gundo thread for FM17 so we could do this for those that prefer a 'more challenging' challenge... Definitely no issue with a version of mine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlipscombe Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 4 hours ago, Lower Leagues Rule said: Definitely no issue with a version of mine. that's good because the new thread layout and introduction might look slightly familiar to you.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lower Leagues Rule Posted November 2, 2017 Author Share Posted November 2, 2017 WHAT?! How could it?!? </sarcasm> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoalieManPat121 Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 @fabreth congrats on finishing! After no completions last year we had two this year! Looking forward to the next thread Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigmatic Posted May 6, 2018 Share Posted May 6, 2018 I rediscovered my old save on a dead computer and forgot just how much fun this was. Unterhaching Season III After back to back promotions and a desperate struggle to find Bundesliga calibre players, I was aiming for little more than survival. A series of amazing victories in the first part of the season meant that despite a winless streak in mid-season and a dodgy defence, I was destined for much more. Sixth place was secured in the last ten minutes of the final day as Mainz bottled a two goal lead against bottom of the table Hannover. Bottling leads was something I knew a fair bit about myself… I was nothing if not entertaining to watch, scoring 71 and conceding 56. High points were beating Dortmund 3-0 before a crazy 7-3 win at Freiburg in the following game. And as in every other season, I went out of the cup early. Bayern won the double, which meant that sixth place spot would give Unterhaching their first ever taste of European football (the qualifiers at least) next season. (Arguably Bayern owe Unterhaching the favour. In Unterhaching's only previous venture into the Bundesliga back in the early 2000s, they won the title for their neighbours by beating Neverkusen on the final day) Players It was the quality of a new look midfield which did the job. The loan market provided the creative spark of Man Utd’s Jack Massey “the next Gascoigne” and pass mastery of Bilbao’s Gaizka Alonso (who should have been “the next Alonso”…). They were such a good partnership I agonised over whether to break it up with permanent signing Garza in the winter break, but he was far too good to turn down on a free. Up front, new signing Caglar Demirglan top scored with 17 goals. Bought as a freebie punt on his pace and potential, he defied his rubbish finishing attribute and one footedness to end up as Bundesliga signing of the season. Similarly, I hadn’t expected club icon Palacios Martinez - with me since I was in the third tier - to be quite up to the Bundesliga, but he delivered 14 goals too. On the other hand, I knew Barco was a special player, though it took being without a club until November for him to talk to me. Shame he was injured for much of the rest of the season, but 9 goals and 3 assists in 14 starts certainly helped. The defence was less trustworthy, not helped by everyone overloading and outpacing my wingbacks to bombard them with crosses. Giving away 7 penalties underlined their weaknesses as individuals as well as a unit. Joe Hart (Guardiola benched him…) came in on a free transfer to bail them out with saves, but he wasn't immune to errors either. Teenage South African international Phiri had the honour of becoming the first player I paid a transfer fee (£500k) for, but certainly made his share of the mistakes. Rook and Kober were outstanding in 2.Bundesliga but I only extended their loans because I couldn’t buy better, and it showed, especially Kober. I also added another loanee Dona, who improved rapidly enough (he was nowhere near as good at the beginning of the season) to suggest he’ll become one of the great Italian defenders, but he had a few iffy moments too. My wingbacks got good ratings and Klunter, one of my very first signings, actually got the fan's player of the year after plenty of assists, but they let a lot of wingers past them. Youth The youth intake was the one real downside. Terrible players, terrible personalities. I only signed three, and two of them based more on personality than scout assessments. The only highly rated player, Wolf, is a winger which I don’t actually use, and not one who will obviously convert into a decent shadow striker or wingback. My staff’s opinion of Ahn improved after I signed him, so he might be a squad player one day. I also picked up a bargain young keeper from Cameroon as a possible long term Hart replacement On the plus side, the other youngsters are developing nicely, and my coaches think some of them from earlier intakes have good or even very good Bundesliga potential. Summary A great season and now I actually have a Bundesliga-sized wage budget, and probably a need to fill the squad out for the Euro Cup as well as build for a future where I'm not quite so dependent on loans. Another interesting consideration would be going flat 4-3-3, a better fit for my midfield strength and the tendency of Bundesliga sides to hammer my wingbacks. But above all I need pace in defence, and a proper left back. But above all, I'm now established as a proper Bundesliga side and people I've scouted actually want to sign for me, and so emulating the achievements of @GoalieManPat121 and @fabreth doesn't seem like quite such a distant dream. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigmatic Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 Unterhaching Season IV Once again I went into the final day hoping for someone to do me a favour. This time, I was hoping for a Champions League spot, and I was left disappointed. Fifth place is an advance on last season, and actually round about where I’d been most of the season, but a few games from the end I was favourites for a Champions League spot, and blew it. I went the difficult route in the Europa League with 82nd and 83rd minute goals by Chelsea killing off a fine quarter final comeback, and despite my players’ morale appearing unaffected the league performances weren’t as good in the remaining games. The DFB Pokal was an early penalty shootout defeat to a rotated side. My side is genuinely awful at penalties, especially considering it’s German. Overall the season felt very different. Last season was a lot of defeats and hardly any draws; this season it was reversed. Last season I dropped points from winning positions; this season I came back from a couple of goals down more than once. Last season I relied on catching teams on the break as they bullied my defence, this season my new look defence was one of the best in the division, but an also-improved attack actually scored fewer goals. Teams respected me more. Even Bayern played on the counter. 18 goals fewer conceded and nine more points in the league is progress. But doesn’t feel as much like progress because this was a much better side. Players The first choice defence had an entirely new look, and a higher line so no more target man bombardments. Diallo for 2.3 m was a ridiculous bargain, Akpoguma for free was a great deal too and the sheer pace of Colombi on loan means I'm considering exercising the option to buy even though I'm not sure he'll improve. Even January deadline day signing Bicakcic bought purely for German-trained backup would have walked into last season’s team. At wingback, the pace of Nico Schulz was a revelation, Becker improved remarkably when played on his natural side, and somehow I beat half of Europe to land high class utility man Franklin on a freebie. Up front free transfer signing Matheusinho was player of the year and had a hand in a lot of goals as well as being fun to watch, Barco had a full season and top scored and Caglar was still a better goalscorer than he has any right to be, though I don’t share my coaches belief he’ll still improve. I still miss too many clear cut chances though. I liked the idea of Deronjic offering a physical presence so much I built in an optional future fee when renewing his loan, but after I while I started to notice most of his goals came against weaker sides. I picked up some young talent here too The midfield was the same players, playing similarly well but without improving. I think they’re close to maxing out on their potential, which might actually be a good thing if Man Utd aren’t interested in renewing Massey’s contract. He’s homegrown if he stays for the whole of next season too. Youth Yet again a disappointing set of players and personalities, yet again my scouts revise upwards their opinion of the best couple of players after I sign them. Altwasser has a lot of work to do but I can imagine getting there and Sirch could be good at right back, though I’d much rather have a left back prospect. My coaches still think Ivanov, from the original intake, could be a leading Bundesliga star and he needs game time next season. They also think Mpong is the future of my midfield. A number of high potential players picked up cheap could leave me with a lot of other attacking options Future The big near term dilemma is Barco, whose contract I dithered over renewing because he wanted a lot of money for it. Now it’s an Alexis Sanchez situation where his head has been turned by Valencia, I’ve rashly promised him Champions League football, and I’ve got to decide whether I’d rather force through a sale of my star player and top goalscorer or risk losing him for nothing at the end of next season. Long term, the forward line is very well covered, there are plenty of options in the transfer market and I've already set up a deal which will smash my wage budget for an even better Argentine, who could replace his fellow countryman. But he'd be even better partnering with him to challenge for titles. I have a similar dilemma with Joe Hart, who has some interest in moving back to England. The backups were rubbish when he was injured, but I might just be able to spend most of my transfer budget on the best young keeper in the world. Or I could get Karius on a free (no joke) Overall the squad is strong, but the quality gap to Bayern, Dortmund and Leverkusen is still quite big, and none of the senior players are likely to improve any further. No excuses for missing out on a Champions League place to a side like Stuttgart next season though… Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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