The Ultimate Football Manager Challenge

[goonergez]

Kaizer Chiefs: 2023/24 Review

After winning a treble in my first season at the helm of this club we came into the new campaign full of hope for another season jam packed full of success. In the end I found the season frustrating and I was left full of a lot of disappointment in how it went. Things started well enough, bringing in six new players and spending around £1,500,000 on building a squad capable of competing on all the different fronts we faced. We hit the ground running, winning the Be The Coach match on penalties after  1-1 draw with Orlando Pirates. We breezed through the qualification rounds for the Champions League and then made our way to the final of the Super-8 Cup as well. A 4-0 thumping of rivals Orlando Pirates in the semi-final first leg saw us on our way to a 7-2 aggregate win and a spot in the final against Amazulu. A confident performance gave us a 3-0 victory and another trophy for the cabinet.

The league campaign began well, and despite being a few games behind everyone else we quickly found ourselves competing near the top of the table. The SA Knockout Cup was a breeze all the way to the final before we suffered a shock defeat to Chippa United. After falling 0-2 behind early on we did fantastically to fight back to level with just a few minutes remaining.  nfortunately we conceded a sloppy goal late in the final minute of injury time to lose out 2-3. Despite of that the league and Champions League were going well and that stayed like that until the latter stages of the season. A difficult month saw us suffer three league defeats late on, and our title hopes slipped away. We did well to end the season strongly, but the damage was done and our fightback only managed to secure a 2nd placed finish. A real disappointment after such a positive start.

In the Champions League we breezed all the way to the semi-finals before losing out to perennial winners ES Tunis. A 0-4 defeat in the first leg was erased by a solid 2-1 win in the second, but it wasn't enough to win the one trophy I need to clinch with this club. ES Tunis went on to win the competition again. The only gloss in the latter stages was the SA Cup, as we went all the way through it again. A comfortable 3-0 victory over Cape Town City clinching back to back victories in this competition. We didn't get the league or the Champions League, but we did at least clinch another two winners medals this season.

A slightly disappointing campaign for us although we did add another two winners medals to our collection. It was gutting to throw away such a solid position in the league campaign though, even though we recovered pretty well to finish in 2nd. I'd like to win another league title though just to reaffirm my kind of legacy with this club. In regards to the Champions League my only fear is ES Tunis. We seem to be able to beat literally anybody else but they are just too strong for us. Hopefully we can have another pop and they can be eliminated before we get anywhere near to playing them. I've added the Chinese Super League into the game now, and I am pretty set that I will be heading there next. I did sign a new contract to stay with the Chiefs though, and will definitely give it at least one more season here to try and pick up the Champions League trophy. Financially this club is one of the best in the country, so my plan is to go and buy some real big players to try and pick up as many trophies as I can again next season. Hopefully this campaign was just a blip, and we will return to a more dominant state next time around. I was gutted to see my former side Royal AM relegated back to the First Division as well this season. Hopefully they will bounce straight back at the first time of asking.

Season	Team		League		Position	Notes & Achievements

2020/21 Real Kings FC	SA 1st Div	2nd (P)		Won promotion play-off
2021/22 Real Kings FC	SA Premier	5th		Qualified for Confederations Cup
2022/23 Kaizer Chiefs	SA Premier	1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Cup Winners, Super-8 Cup Winners
2023/24 Kaizer Chiefs	SA Premier	2nd		SA Cup Winners, Super-8 Cup Winners

1/10 Domestic Leagues (2022/23 SA Premier Division)
1/10 Domestic Cups (2022/23 SA Cup Winners)
0/5 Club Continental Championships
0/1 Club World Championship

0/5 International Continental Tournaments
0/1 World Tournaments

 

[The Regista]

FRANCE WORLD CUP 2026

It's taken 6 season for me to see a full international tournament in the save, but here we are.

Managing France, one of the pre-tournament favourites and ranked number 1 in the world, could we go and make it 3 successive World Cup victories?

Squad

Spoiler

The following 23 men were charged with two missions - defending the World Cup, and completing a treble of World Cup victories:

The goalkeeping department was fairly straight forward to pick. Meslier has been first choice for the country since Lloris retired. Areola has had a solid season with Monaco and warranted a call up, and Burnley's Mike Maignan also had a  fine season in the Premier League. 

Picking defenders was arguably the hardest part of the job. Upamencano, Nianzou. Pavard, both Hernandez's and Todibo were all definitely going to be in the squad. Ait-Nouri was a fine choice as backup to Theo Hernandez, whilst I knew of Alphonse having signed him for Wolfsbug last summer after extensive scouting. Dumont was an interesting one - a newgen currently at Arsenal, his best role actually a Mezzala, and thus his versatility filled out one of the final spots in the squad. So many other great players missed out though - Kimpembe, Varane, Badiashille, Kounde, Fofana, Zouma, Zagadou, Lenglet, Mendy - France really are blessed with depth here.

Turning to the midfield, and the first selection here was Camavinga, quickly followed by Tolisso. Pogba's experience and quality, along with a good season for United, warranted his selection. Somehow, some way, Aouar is still at Lyon. He picked up a 7.43 average rating for Lyon with 10 goals and 12 assists. I also did a bit of an Eriksson - selecting the uncapped Yoann Besse as backup to Aouar. Besse, currently at PSG and in his second full season for the club obtained an average rating of 7.23 with 11 goals and 4 assists in 38 games. Should we need more goalscoring prowess from midfield, perhaps he could be the man.

Out wide and going forward, the obvious name is Mbappe. Having moved to Real Madrid for £195m, Mbappe proved why he is the best in the world for Los Blancos, with a 7.88 rating and 20 league goals. His role was to play out wide, with the 30-year old Anthony Martial to play up top on his own. Rayan Cherki, normally out wide left for Chelsea, had to switch to the right flank for this tournament. Bizarrely in retrospect, I was very light in terms of rotational options out wide, choosing to fill the rest of the squad out with Edouard and Demebele, the only out and out striker in the team. Sadly, that meant leaving out Thomas Lemar and Oussmane Dembele - both whom played during the qualifying campaign

We were going in to the tournament with two tactics in mind - a 4-2-3-1 Gegenpress with a 4-3-3 VTT in reserve.

Our first choice for each game was as follows : Meslier, Pavard, Upamecano, Nianozu, Theo, Camavinga, Tolisso, Cherki, Aouar, Mbappe, Martial

Group Stage

Spoiler

A relatively straight forward group. Despite a slow start, we were victorious over Chile 3-0, following up with a 5-0 win against DR Congo. Anthony Martial was the star of the group stage, notching 4 goals up within the two matches.

Second Round (if applicable)

Spoiler

A routine victory in the second round. Senegal did not pose too much of a threat and a quick double-salvo in 7 minutes from a Nianzou header and an Mbappe curler put is in pole position for the win.

Third Round (if applicable)

Spoiler

The third round saw a repeat of the 2018 World Cup Final teams, though the result remained the same. Again, we took some time to get going, but again Nianzou and Mbappe proved the difference makers as the Gegenpress proved too strong for the Croatians.

Quarter Final (if applicable)

Spoiler

The toughest test so far. Fortunately, Martial found his scoring boots after going without a goal in the previous two matches. We rotated slightly here, as Upamecano was suspended due to yellow cards. Todibo deputised at the back and provided to be a great rotation, with Dumont replacing Aouar due to fatigue. Martial picked up the first goal after a nice bit of interplace between Tolisso, Mbappe and the Chelsea striker. Mbappe made it two just after a long ball over the top of the Dutch defense from Camavinga, reaching the ball before keeper Biljow. Martial then scored his second from the spot, only for Donny van de Beek to beat the poor Benjamin Pavard twice to cross for Chong to head in to begin a possible fight back. However, Dumont scored one of the goals of the tournament - a left footed first time strike after a cut back from Mbappe. Into the semis we went.

Semi Final (if applicable)

Spoiler

Over 90,000 people came to the Rose Bowl to watch France and Mexico play out one of the more memorable World Cup semi finals. It was also a chance for me to come up against Juan Mendez, the winner of 2023 NxGn series that I signed for Wolfsburg that summer.

Again, strangely in retrospect, we rotated heavily. All yellow cards were wiped out at this stage, but Todibo retained his place in the team as we rested Nianzou for a possible Final. Pogba, making his only start of the tournament, replaced the rested Camavinga. Aouar returned for Mbappe, with the Lyon midfielder playing out wide with Dumont remaining in the centre behind Martial. Edouard also started the game on the right for Cherki.

Aouar opened the scoring inside 10 minutes, picking up a flick on from Martial in the inside left position. Martial then turned goalscorer, latching on to an aerial through ball from Theo before rifling home his 7th goal of the tournament. His 8th goal was created by Aouar, with a curled ball in behind the Mexican defence with TM placing a well aimed left footed near post finish beyond the Mexican keeper Acevedo. His 9th goal then came from the spot, as we headed in a half time 4-0 up with almost two feet in the World Cup Final.

After the restarted, Mexico were reinvigorated. A well placed pass between Pavard and Upamecano in the inside left found Lainez, with a good finish beyond Meslier in goal. Martial restored the four goal lead, this time from the right side. Dumont and Edouard, both quiet so far, combined neatly, with Edouard placing a low cross in to the six-yard box for Martial to poke home. Mexico then struck back - Lainez finding himself behind Pavard to cross to an umarked Hernandez for a header. Two minutes later, Edouard, making his only appearance of the tournament and having just come alive in the second half, found himself with a few yards of space to fire home in the top left corner. Into the Final we went to face Italy, whom beat Norway 3-2.

Final (if applicable)

Spoiler

A third successive and fourth overall World Cup was ours.

The team for the final was the same as our first choice - Meslier, Pavard, Upamecano, Nianzou, Theo, Camavinga, Tolisso, Cherki, Aouar, Mbappe, Martial. The Italians, staying faithful to their roots and aiming to dominate possession, played a 5-3-2 system.

In truth, the final was one of the least memorable games of the tournament as a footballing contest, but easily the biggest of the save so far. The Italians came close by hitting the post from a corner, along with Upamecano making a goaline block to prevent us going  1-0 down. However, Cherki stepped up to take a direct free kick on the left hand side of the penalty box, putting it beyond Donnarumma in the top left corner of the Italian net.

Our task was made slightly easier as Castrovilli was sent off just before half time for a horror tackle on Theo. The Italians carried on with the 5 at the back system as we looked to double our lead. Sadly our forwards were quite poor - most notably Mbappe whom hadn't scored since the Third Round. Despite this, it was the Real Madrid man's cross that lead to our second, resulting in a goalmouth scramble with Martial notching his 11th goal of the tournament (but still finished behind Erling Haaland's total of 12).

The World Cup was heading back to Paris!

What's Next?

Spoiler

This is an easy one to say - I'm hanging around for the Euros after which I'm off as there is nothing left for me to accomplish in the European international scene!

The victory should also hopefully open up the bigger jobs around Europe now when they come calling. Before the win I had an interview offered from Sevilla, plus the Guangzhou job was offered to me too. But I'm in to the knockouts of the Libertadores with Nacional, so I can't justify leaving the Uruguayans until the Copa has concluded for us.

 

Edited February 28, 2021 by The Regista
Screenshot

[_JHTB_]

Real Madrid and Argentina

I've played maybe an hour of Football Manager since the end of my season at Tottenham around 3 weeks ago, but got back the urge to play again, so thought I'd get back into it with a little update of what happened in said hour. I secured myself the Real Madrid job after their manager was poached by Manchester City, they finished 2nd last season so hopefully it won't be too much of a challenge to be able to try and get them top of the pile this time round. 

The World Cup was also this summer, I was hoping for the Spain job as their manager was already moving on to the Chelsea job, but they didn't deem me the correct person for the job, but Argentina is still a good job for me, will give me a pretty solid chance at the Copa America in a couple of years, especially as they are the current holders.

[Safe Hands]

My idea entering this challenge was to do europe last. I've not even had any of the leagues selected but I'm regretting this massively now. Reason being managing in the other continents I'm not familiar with the players so it makes zero difference doing the challenge there in 30 years or from the off. However the thought of signing 39 year old Jamie Vardy for some Greek 2nd division team would be excellent. I'm serious considering deselect every league apart from Africa where I am and loading Europe up.

[Safe Hands]

1 hour ago, The Regista said:

FRANCE WORLD CUP 2026

It's taken 6 season for me to see a full international tournament in the save, but here we are.

Managing France, one of the pre-tournament favourites and ranked number 1 in the world, could we go and make it 3 successive World Cup victories?

Squad

  Reveal hidden contents

The following 23 men were charged with two missions - defending the World Cup, and completing a treble of World Cup victories:

The goalkeeping department was fairly straight forward to pick. Meslier has been first choice for the country since Lloris retired. Areola has had a solid season with Monaco and warranted a call up, and Burnley's Mike Maignan also had a  fine season in the Premier League. 

Picking defenders was arguably the hardest part of the job. Upamencano, Nianzou. Pavard, both Hernandez's and Todibo were all definitely going to be in the squad. Ait-Nouri was a fine choice as backup to Theo Hernandez, whilst I knew of Alphonse having signed him for Wolfsbug last summer after extensive scouting. Dumont was an interesting one - a newgen currently at Arsenal, his best role actually a Mezzala, and thus his versatility filled out one of the final spots in the squad. So many other great players missed out though - Kimpembe, Varane, Badiashille, Kounde, Fofana, Zouma, Zagadou, Lenglet, Mendy - France really are blessed with depth here.

Turning to the midfield, and the first selection here was Camavinga, quickly followed by Tolisso. Pogba's experience and quality, along with a good season for United, warranted his selection. Somehow, some way, Aouar is still at Lyon. He picked up a 7.43 average rating for Lyon with 10 goals and 12 assists. I also did a bit of an Eriksson - selecting the uncapped Yoann Besse as backup to Aouar. Besse, currently at PSG and in his second full season for the club obtained an average rating of 7.23 with 11 goals and 4 assists in 38 games. Should we need more goalscoring prowess from midfield, perhaps he could be the man.

Out wide and going forward, the obvious name is Mbappe. Having moved to Real Madrid for £195m, Mbappe proved why he is the best in the world for Los Blancos, with a 7.88 rating and 20 league goals. His role was to play out wide, with the 30-year old Anthony Martial to play up top on his own. Rayan Cherki, normally out wide left for Chelsea, had to switch to the right flank for this tournament. Bizarrely in retrospect, I was very light in terms of rotational options out wide, choosing to fill the rest of the squad out with Edouard and Demebele, the only out and out striker in the team. Sadly, that meant leaving out Thomas Lemar and Oussmane Dembele - both whom played during the qualifying campaign

We were going in to the tournament with two tactics in mind - a 4-2-3-1 Gegenpress with a 4-3-3 VTT in reserve.

Our first choice for each game was as follows : Meslier, Pavard, Upamecano, Nianozu, Theo, Camavinga, Tolisso, Cherki, Aouar, Mbappe, Martial

Group Stage

  Reveal hidden contents

A relatively straight forward group. Despite a slow start, we were victorious over Chile 3-0, following up with a 5-0 win against DR Congo. Anthony Martial was the star of the group stage, notching 4 goals up within the two matches.

Second Round (if applicable)

  Reveal hidden contents

A routine victory in the second round. Senegal did not pose too much of a threat and a quick double-salvo in 7 minutes from a Nianzou header and an Mbappe curler put is in pole position for the win.

Third Round (if applicable)

  Reveal hidden contents

The third round saw a repeat of the 2018 World Cup Final teams, though the result remained the same. Again, we took some time to get going, but again Nianzou and Mbappe proved the difference makers as the Gegenpress proved too strong for the Croatians.

Quarter Final (if applicable)

  Reveal hidden contents

The toughest test so far. Fortunately, Martial found his scoring boots after going without a goal in the previous two matches. We rotated slightly here, as Upamecano was suspended due to yellow cards. Todibo deputised at the back and provided to be a great rotation, with Dumont replacing Aouar due to fatigue. Martial picked up the first goal after a nice bit of interplace between Tolisso, Mbappe and the Chelsea striker. Mbappe made it two just after a long ball over the top of the Dutch defense from Camavinga, reaching the ball before keeper Biljow. Martial then scored his second from the spot, only for Donny van de Beek to beat the poor Benjamin Pavard twice to cross for Chong to head in to begin a possible fight back. However, Dumont scored one of the goals of the tournament - a left footed first time strike after a cut back from Mbappe. Into the semis we went.

Semi Final (if applicable)

  Reveal hidden contents

Over 90,000 people came to the Rose Bowl to watch France and Mexico play out one of the more memorable World Cup semi finals. It was also a chance for me to come up against Juan Mendez, the winner of 2023 NxGn series that I signed for Wolfsburg that summer.

Again, strangely in retrospect, we rotated heavily. All yellow cards were wiped out at this stage, but Todibo retained his place in the team as we rested Nianzou for a possible Final. Pogba, making his only start of the tournament, replaced the rested Camavinga. Aouar returned for Mbappe, with the Lyon midfielder playing out wide with Dumont remaining in the centre behind Martial. Edouard also started the game on the right for Cherki.

Aouar opened the scoring inside 10 minutes, picking up a flick on from Martial in the inside left position. Martial then turned goalscorer, latching on to an aerial through ball from Theo before rifling home his 7th goal of the tournament. His 8th goal was created by Aouar, with a curled ball in behind the Mexican defence with TM placing a well aimed left footed near post finish beyond the Mexican keeper Acevedo. His 9th goal then came from the spot, as we headed in a half time 4-0 up with almost two feet in the World Cup Final.

After the restarted, Mexico were reinvigorated. A well placed pass between Pavard and Upamecano in the inside left found Lainez, with a good finish beyond Meslier in goal. Martial restored the four goal lead, this time from the right side. Dumont and Edouard, both quiet so far, combined neatly, with Edouard placing a low cross in to the six-yard box for Martial to poke home. Mexico then struck back - Lainez finding himself behind Pavard to cross to an umarked Hernandez for a header. Two minutes later, Edouard, making his only appearance of the tournament and having just come alive in the second half, found himself with a few yards of space to fire home in the top left corner. Into the Final we went to face Italy, whom beat Norway 3-2.

Final (if applicable)

  Reveal hidden contents

A third successive and fourth overall World Cup was ours.

The team for the final was the same as our first choice - Meslier, Pavard, Upamecano, Nianzou, Theo, Camavinga, Tolisso, Cherki, Aouar, Mbappe, Martial. The Italians, staying faithful to their roots and aiming to dominate possession, played a 5-3-2 system.

In truth, the final was one of the least memorable games of the tournament as a footballing contest, but easily the biggest of the save so far. The Italians came close by hitting the post from a corner, along with Upamecano making a goaline block to prevent us going  1-0 down. However, Cherki stepped up to take a direct free kick on the left hand side of the penalty box, putting it beyond Donnarumma in the top left corner of the Italian net.

Our task was made slightly easier as Castrovilli was sent off just before half time for a horror tackle on Theo. The Italians carried on with the 5 at the back system as we looked to double our lead. Sadly our forwards were quite poor - most notably Mbappe whom hadn't scored since the Third Round. Despite this, it was the Real Madrid man's cross that lead to our second, resulting in a goalmouth scramble with Martial notching his 11th goal of the tournament (but still finished behind Erling Haaland's total of 12).

The World Cup was heading back to Paris!

What's Next?

  Reveal hidden contents

This is an easy one to say - I'm hanging around for the Euros after which I'm off as there is nothing left for me to accomplish in the European international scene!

The victory should also hopefully open up the bigger jobs around Europe now when they come calling. Before the win I had an interview offered from Sevilla, plus the Guangzhou job was offered to me too. But I'm in to the knockouts of the Libertadores with Nacional, so I can't justify leaving the Uruguayans until the Copa has concluded for us.

 

Top work mate

[Muggert]

Season Review 2025 - FC Anyang

Competitions - Squad - Transfers - Finances

CHAMPIONS!

A rough start to the season but we took over in 1st halfway through the season and held it the rest of the way.

The best 6 players in the division belonged to us. We dominated!

Key players:

DC Tae-Min - DC Kyung-Soo - AMRL Lopes

Outlook:

We have a bunch of young prospects who are ready to take the next step. Our squad is dangerously thin.

Interesting challenge. A couple of strengthenings and we might be able to stay up.

Season Review 2025 - Nigeria

After ending as runners-up at the African Cup of Nations we qualified for the World Cup next year from a pretty solid group

World Cup fever in the air!

History:

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited February 28, 2021 by Muggert

[SatournFan]

Well, after a whole year without a club I finally got my first job - in Hong Kong! Without further ado, here's a recap of the season.

2021-22

The newly promoted amateur Hong Kong FC hired me with the hopes of avoiding relegation, but as soon as I realized what predicament I'm in exactly I thought it would be impossible. For you see, HKFC would be the only amateur club in Hong Kong Premier League, surrounded by professional sides who can actually pay their players. Meanwhile I had to settle for mediocre free agents while also taking into account the foreign player rule - the match squad can't have more than 4 foreign players. But our amateur status also turned out to be a blessing in disguise - I could sign whoever I wanted, look at their attributes and release them if necessary without paying out any compensation.

So that was the plan - try to find decent enough players for this league and pray to the FM gods that we succeed in our task of avoiding relegation. And you know what? We did it!

The Hong Kong Premier League works like this - teams play each other twice, top 4 qualify for championship group while the bottom 4 fight for survival. We did well throughout the season and could've actually finished in top 4, but were eclipsed after a horrid run of form towards the end of the season and had to settle for 6th after 14 games.

In the end we won 2 of our 3 relegation group games and finished 1st, or technically 5th, which is an amazing result considering that our squad was by far the worst in the entire league. Here's our run of form:

Спойлер

We tried our best to compete in cup competitions, of which there are 3 in Hong Kong, but unfortunately crashed out of all of them.

I also oversaw the first youth intake of this save, and oh boy

Спойлер

This is a genuine golden generation! Scott Marr is one of the best FM newgens I've seen in my 4 years of playing the game, and he already scored a brace for the senior squad in the last game of the season.

Lastly I'd like to talk about my favorite players of this season. Marcus McMillan carried us on his back the entire length, and without his contributions in the final third we would've been in a world of pain. He was repaid with the golden boot and a place in Team of the Year. But he wasn't the only hero - Jacoqes Pakoa was one of the many free agents I signed in the summer and he quickly formed a healthy partnership with Michael Fray at the back, even though we conceded the most out of all the teams.

So what's the plan now? Well I'm currently trying to get a job elsewhere because, let's face it, I won't achieve anything of note with an amateur squad in a professional league, and we'll be lucky to repeat or especially do better next year. However, it looks like even teams with low reputation don't want to even interview me, so as of June 2022 I'm still at Hong Kong FC. I am getting my National B badge in July though, so maybe I'll have better chances at a better club once that is done.

I'll make this one quick - Turkmenistan didn't qualify to the Asian Cup of Nations, and overall it was quite a bad run for us. Here are our results:

Спойлер

I've already resigned from Turkmenistan and my next goal is to find a better national job in Asia before the Cup of Nations in 2023.

[Diego D10S]

                                                                                                                                                                                        2020/ 2021

Been struggling with motivation in youth academy challenge so decided to give this challenge a try. Got my first job in December 2020 in Chilean First Division B at Deportes Melipilla.

My first impression of the club is very good and without any knowledge about my opponents I will aim for promotion in my first season. Media Prediction is 11th.

GL ALL !!!  

[numero uno gunner]

Silly question time - how did you all move jobs? I'm back to not getting interviewed for anything, despite having a couple of trophies to my name. It's worse than trying to land the first job! Am I better off resigning and looking for a job, or staying in my current post and applying?

[The Regista]

@goonergez Fingers crossed next season for you. What's the alternative if it doesn't come off?

@_JHTB_ Good to see you back. Nice combo to get you back in to the swing of things too!

@Muggert Excellent season from you there. Can Anyang do the business in the K League 1?

@SatournFanGotta love Hong Kong. Can you build on your first season do you think?

@Diego D10S Welcome to the thread!

@numero uno gunner How long a contract do you have? Sometimes other clubs won't want to pay the compensation to get you, so that will sometimes cause you to not get an interview in the first place. I would say if you can't see yourself gaining anything worthwhile from where you are, resign. At least then you're more flexible and a more attractive proposition for a future club.

 

 

[Muggert]

Let's get it on!!

[numero uno gunner]

Ok, so I'd forgotten to do any coaching badges. Schoolboy error. So, looks like I'm probably staying put until I've got some coaching badges done. I'll keep applying for jobs, and would love to grab an international job somewhere (Uzbekistan is the only one available currently...), but ultimately this is a situation entirely of my own making, simply because I forgot one of the crucial elements of the challenge. Hopefully this will remind any of you just starting out not to make the same mistake!

[SatournFan]

9 часов назад, The Regista сказал:

@SatournFanGotta love Hong Kong. Can you build on your first season do you think?

Well I certainly won't be building on anything at HKFC as I've already moved to a different club in Hong Kong, another newly promoted side but this one is professional, so hopefully I'll be able to grab a couple more badges and do well in the league and cups before landing a better job elsewhere.

[Siepe1990]

Season 13 (2032/2033) & Season 13 1/2 (2033)

After having won all that was needed in England, I was on the lookout for a new club. Of the 'big five' in Europe, only France remained, and lucky for me, a spot opened up at...

They finished only 6th in the previous year, which lead them to sacking Gerardo Martino. I took over right at the start of the Transfer Period on the 1st of July. The squad wasn't even in that bad shape, only the defense needed some strengthening and the offense needed a technical player. For the last position, I managed to land one of the gems I was currently working with at Mexico. The season started of nicely, we managed to score some good results and only PSG was able to keep up. They were close contenders until late in the year, and on the 5th of May we faced them in a title stand-off. We were almost tied, and a loss would mean me dropping off the top of the table. Thanks to two late penalties however we managed to take the win with 3-2 and after winning our last 3 matches as well, we were Champions! 

The national cup saw us reach the Semi Final, where we lost to AS Saint-Etienne - whom have become a really big club in the game over the years. After completing the season, I had to make a choice: stay and go for the cup next year, or try to get another job. I decided to stay for the time being, but kept an open eye for any opportunities, especially in Asia and Africa. So when I saw this job opening up, I jumped at the chance...

I took over at Shanghai SIPG whilst they were someway down the table around place 13 (out of 16), which was a bit disappointing as they finished 4th in the previous year. However, they were still in the AFC Champions League, so that was my main goal. Lucky for me, the Transfer Window opened up quickly so I could buy the most needed asset: a talented Chinese GK. I really don't know why any of the clubs let good GKs leave, as you are only allowed to have Chinese Goalkeepers... I managed to land a 22-year old from local rivals Shenhua for a staggering 60M... But with over 400M on the balance, money is never an issue at these clubs...

I played a total of 24 matches with SIPG in 2033, and I lost 0... The quality in that league is quite bad, so if you manage to set up a system that works, you'll score a lot of goals in no time and win most of your matches. Seeing however as they lost a lot of points in the first half of the year, the title was just out of reach - I did manage to pass Guangzhou, but Jiangsu surprised me by grabbing win after win and grabbing the title with 5 points more than us. As stated however, I lost 0 games... which indeed means I managed to win the AFC Champions League! Really, not much of an effort this one ; the final saw us facing Al-Rayyan, whom we beat 8-0 over 2 matches... Never had such an easy CL-win in my life to be honest.

I have to say I really don't like playing in China ; they have quite strict foreign regulations and a lot of players don't want to come anyway. However, the team I have right now is sufficiently strong to grab an easy title and probably a cup as well, so I guess I'm gonna have to sit another season out.

International

2033 finally saw the Gold Cup come to town, the goal I joined Mexico for in the first place. The group was pretty straightforward with Costa Rica, Cuba and Curacao not posing much of a threat (a double 7-1 against the first two... did I already mention I play seriously offensive soccer with Mexico?). The QF brought on Suriname ; expected more from them really, but we managed to get another insane 7-1 victory. Finally, some challenge in the SF when we faced Canada. Down 1-0 early on, but we managed to get in front before half time and managed to hang on to that slim lead in the second half. In the Final, surprise, surprise, the U.S.A. awaited. We wanted to get back at them for kicking us out of the Copa America in the SF last year on penalties, and we did! We managed to scrape a 1-0 victory, which meant we had won the Gold Cup!

Summary

 

[goonergez]

Kaizer Chiefs: 2024/25 Review

I've just completed my third season in charge of Kaizer Chiefs, and as with the first two it was about trying to pick up as much silverware as possible. A treble and a double were our totals for my first couple of seasons, but the hunger was still there to try and win even more. I wanted us to regain the league title after a second placed finish last season, and as always the Champions League was our priority.  As with last season we spent a chunk of money over the summer, including £750,000 on 18-year old striker John Morton. He was top scorer in the league last season, and helped SuperSport United win the league title. I was hoping his arrival would bring us plenty of goals and help us push on even more.

We started the season well enough, wining the Be The Coach match again with a 2-0 victory over Orlando Pirates. A disappointing 0-1 defeat at home to Sundowns ensured we did however suffer an early exit in the Super-8 Cup competition. In the league we really did hit the ground running though, stringing together a quite phenomenal nine matches before we conceded a goal. Despite of that we still only sat in second place, behind the 100% record of surprise package Cape Town City. The Champions League saw us breeze through to the Group Stage, where we were to be joined by our nemesis, ES Tunis. They would beat us 0-4 at their place, although we did grab an impressive 0-0 draw at home to them. Four other victories ensured we finished in 2nd spot in the group and qualified for the Quarter Final stage.

We took place in a cup final shortly before Christmas, having beating Orlando Pirates 2-0 in the semi-finals of the SA Knockout Cup. Our performance in the final was a joy to behold, and a 6-0 demolition of fellow top flight side Amazulu gave us a trophy I hadn't won before. The SA Knockout Cup entering our trophy cabinet. We lost out in a poor final last year, but it was nice to pick up a different winners medal during a tough first half of the campaign.

The mid-season break really came at the wrong time for us, and we disappointingly lost a couple of real key players. Chinese clubs came in and stole the central midfield pairing of Asanele Velebhayi and more importantly Teboho Pitso. The only bonus was the £1,400,000 we picked up in their departures. To appease the fans we moved quickly to sign impressive winger Tomas Blanco from rivals Sundowns. He set us back £220,000 but joined with an impressive goal scoring record from the wide areas. On the pitch we returned with a 7-0 thumping of Black Leopards before losing back to back league matches. This hurt us, but we regained composure to eventually take top spot with ten league matches remaining. A battle with Sundowns would take place.

We returned to Champions League action in the worst way possible, losing out 1-2 at home to fellow South African side SuperSport United. A much better effort took place in the second leg, but a 1-1 draw wasn't enough to see us avoid elimination. Yet again we fall short in the one that matters most. Our fellow South Africans would frustratingly go on to beat ES Tunis in the final to win the competition. In the league we were stumbling along, but somehow just about keeping ourselves ahead of Sundowns at the summit of the table. At the same time we progressed through in the SA Cup as well, keeping together my incredible record of remaining unbeaten in that competition as manager of this club. Our run culminated in a delightful and comfortable 3-0 victory over Sundowns in the semi-finals, booking us a third straight final in this competition. This time we would compete for the trophy against bitter rivals Orlando Pirates.

Three days after booking the cup final berth we gained another boost. Our victory over bottom side Swallows was met with Sundowns dropping points, giving us a four point lead with five matches remaining. Next up was a home match against our closest challengers, knowing that a win would near enough clinch us the title. The match was far from a classic, as our opposition seemed to prioritise avoiding defeat over chasing the victory. We gave it everything we could, but a late goal prevented us from the win as we had to settle for a 1-1 draw. That still left us firmly in the driving seat though with just four matches remaining.

With two league matches remaining and a title firmly within sight, attentions turned to the SA Cup final, and an opportunity for a third straight crown. Bitter rivals Orlando Pirates stood in our way, and it looked like they were to spoil the party when they raced into an early 0-2 lead. We fought back before half time, but were pegged back again just seven minutes into the second half.
At this stage something clicked though, and we produced one of the great cup final comebacks. Goals in the 54th, 62nd and 65th minute turned the tie on its head, and we held on for a sensational trophy lift. A stunning fightback giving us a 4-3 victory in one of the most memorable cup finals.

A defeat in our penultimate league match could've made for a nervy final day, but thankfully for us our closest challengers also lost. This meant that we needed a point on the final day, although goal difference wasn't really an issue. We went into the game calm, and clinched a victory anyways before celebrating a title win in front of our home fans. Three league titles in four seasons for this club now, and two for myself.

When I arrived at this club I said I wanted to pick up as many winners medals as possible, and it's fair to say I have achieved exactly what I set out to do. Winning the Champions League with this side is beginning to become an obsession for me now though, and that's growing hard to accept. We came so close during my first season, and its fair to say that our efforts this year were a real disappointment. I almost feel at this stage like I can't walk away from this club until we take home the biggest prize in African football.  I did keep my eyes open during the summer though, keeping a look out on what other jobs may become available. A few different opportunities came up in Brazil, but for now I've held out. I think I want to move on to China for my next move, but no decent opportunities there came up. I'll keep looking, but for now I am focused on returning for another year with this club. That may change, but for now I see no point in walking away from the position I am already in. A few key players are leaving over the summer, which does mean a kind of mini rebuild will take place. We don't need very much, but I will be looking to improve our side for another campaign. For me I am making next season my last with this football club, and then I will definitely be looking to move on. As said previously I want to go to China next, but hopefully will do so with a Champions League winners medal from here. That really is the only jewel missing from my crown. I'll have one more go at it, whilst also looking to win as many competitions as possible to wave goodbye to this club. 

Season	Team		League		Position	Notes & Achievements

2020/21 Real Kings FC	SA 1st Div	2nd (P)		Won promotion play-off
2021/22 Real Kings FC	SA Premier	5th		Qualified for Confederations Cup
2022/23 Kaizer Chiefs	SA Premier	1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Cup Winners, Super-8 Cup Winners
2023/24 Kaizer Chiefs	SA Premier	2nd		SA Cup Winners, Super-8 Cup Winners
2024/25 Kaizer Chiefs	SA Premier	1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Cup Winners, SA KO Cup Winners 

1/10 Domestic Leagues (2022/23 SA Premier Division)
1/10 Domestic Cups (2022/23 SA Cup Winners)
0/5 Club Continental Championships
0/1 Club World Championship

0/5 International Continental Tournaments
0/1 World Tournaments

 

[dkouv]

@numero uno gunner Are you considering the Uzbekinstan gig? When I managed them it felt like we had an outside chance for the Asian cup since they have this striker who plays for Genoa and a couple of good youngsters. So it might be worth spinning the wheel with them, but it will probably make it harder to get a club job.  I don't have many good tips on the job front, what I started to suspect is that when you resign too many times the teams may start giving you a pass (think this happened to me once), but from the sounds of it that's not what is happening to you, so maybe it's a matter of compensation as @vikeologist said.

[vikeologist]

Wasn't me that spoke about compensation, though that cab certainly trip you up with small clubs.

I think it's better to resign rather than stay at a club for no reason.

Obviously clubs do (or used to. I don't have FM21 job interviews) ask you why you've resigned from so many jobs, but I think if you answer that question correctly the problem disappears. Fact is, you're going to resign from a lot of jobs. A couple extra aren't going to make any difference.

[The Regista]

CLUB NACIONAL DE FOOTBALL SEASON 2026 REVIEW

First full year in Uruguay, and we had already added the Uruguayan First Division title to my resume last season. However, this year we had my first shot at the Copa Libertadores to deal with, along with defending our domestic crown. European teams were swarming around my squad like vultures too, so what happened?

FIRST DIVISION

Spoiler

We've successfully defended our title again. No need for the Playoff as we won both the Opening and Closing stages, along with the Intermedio.

This season was just as seamless as the prior, although we did have to contend with the riches of the European football to deal with. As my main focus this year has been the Copa Libertadores, I've denied every single transfer offer where possible. This has lead to some anger amongst the younger players that want to make that next step, but I have a career to manage too and I'll be dammed if I'm not going to give the Libertadores a good go. To do that, I need all the players I can get.

What I will say is that Nacional produce probably the most consistent Uruguayan newgens around. Here are a few of the current crop that have made it to the first team:

Spoiler

This title win takes me to 5 league wins in total, though only 3 count towards the challenge. I am now the 10th most successful English manager of all time according to the game - you love to see it.

 

COPA LIBERTADORES

Spoiler

South America - completed it mate.

This was a turnup for the books.

We started off with a group of Deportivo Tachira, Palmeiras and Universidad San Martin. I must have underestimated the squad, because we picked up wins in 5 of 6 games, only drawing with the Brazilians at home. Kuki Zalazar - one of the star players of the team - notched 3 goals in the first three games, with winger Matias Fonseca pitching in with 4 in the last four. We finished top - surprising as Palmeiras are one of the stronger teams in the competition.

Independiente were up next n the second round. The first leg was a dull affair - a 0-0 draw in Brazil. However when it came to playing in Uruguay, we were rampant. Fonseca picked up 5 in one match as we piled on the misery for Independiente - final score 9-1.

Brazilian side Santos were our opponents in the quarters. Buoyed by our win in the previous round, our defence held firm and kept a clean sheet in both games. Two competent wins of 1-0 and 3-0 saw us through to the semi finals.

We faced a member of our group next - Palmeiras were looking for vengeance after our matches in March and April. We travelled to Brazil again and came away with another draw, 1-1 this time. But the home leg again was something else. The Reggenpress (patent pending) was too strong, as we ran our 4-0 winners.

ANOTHER Brazilian team met us in the final - Botafogo. In a tense match, a quick salvo from Fonseca and Zalazar bought home the Copa Libertadores to Nacional for the first time since 1988 and my first continental competition.

Still shocked about this. Genuinely did not think we'd get close. Do you think I underestimated Uruguayan football? Has anyone else had any similar stories?

Spoiler

 

THE FUTURE

Spoiler

With the Libertadores out of the way, there is nothing left to conquer in South America, and with my contract with Nacional expiring at the end of 2026, it's time to find a new job.

We're heading to North America now...

ATLANTA UNITED FC

I've never managed in the MLS so very much looking forward to this. Atlanta are one of the stronger sides in the MLS currently, winning the MLS as recently as 2025. This year they found themselves way out of the conference playoffs and manager Guillermo Schelotto left to take another job on at Boca Juniors (a job I applied for in backup in the event that the Copa Libertadores didn't go well). 

Nothing else has come up on the market - I'm waiting for a top, top European job before I head back there. So it's time to knock off the other continents and this is a fantastic opportunity to do that. We'll need to play at least one season without continental competition with Atlanta, but that should give me plenty of time to assess and implement the Regenpress in the team.

PROGRESS

Spoiler

 

[goonergez]

Top stuff again @The Regista. Dominance across the globe so far! In regards to your question on mine you can see we had a good campaign. Now I’m going in for one last season here desperately hoping to finally clinch the champions league. We’ve not had a very good start at all though, and I’m starting to think I made a mistake staying for this extra season. As it stands I’ll be keeping an eye out throughout this season for any openings in China. I have Brazil and Argentina loaded too so if any opportunity comes up that looks positive I think I’m now ready to jump on.

[dkouv]

21 hours ago, vikeologist said:

Wasn't me that spoke about compensation, though that cab certainly trip you up with small clubs.

Yes sorry, it was @The Regista - not sure if this means I'm spending too much or too little time on this thread )))) Good to know about the resigning stuff, I've kind-of been avoiding it so that it doesn't get in the way of getting new jobs, but think now I'll get back to it, otherwise it just becomes super boring once you've completed a country and you're staying at the club just waiting for a good job to come up

[goonergez]

Kaizer Chiefs: 2025/26 Review

My fourth season in charge of this football club was a big one and would be defined by our performance in the Champions League. After three trophy filled seasons this one was all about trying to pick up that elusive continental trophy to try and end a spell here on a high. We actually started the season really badly, perhaps feeling the effects of losing Itemelung Khune and Eric Mathoho to retirement. The experience they brought seemed sorely missed as we suffered heavy defeats to Bayern Munich (0-5) and Santos (1-4) in the pre-season Club World Championship. I wasn't sure how we got into the competition in the first place, but we took a really pounding in both matches. Those performances persuaded me to bring in reinforcements, although we didn't spend as much money as we had in previous years. Six new players were picked up, with a total outlay of just under £600,000. The pre-season Be The Coach match saw us defeat Orlando Pirates on penalties to win a third straight edition, and set us up well for the start of the league season.

In the early stages that was about as good as it got though. We lost two of our first five league matches, as well as suffering exits in both the Super-8 Cup and the SA Knockout Cup. The Super-8 was especially disappointing as we failed to overturn a shocking 0-4 first leg defeat to Amazulu despite a brilliant 3-0 victory in the second leg. Those early cup exits definitely damaged my belief in the team, and left me somewhat disappointed. Although the Champions League trophy was the main priority, I had hoped to grab a few more honours as well. Crashing out of those competitions took two potential victories away from us, and limited our options for success.

As the season moved on we seemed to grow in confidence, and began to climb back towards the top of the league table. We progressed through two Champions League rounds as well, before finishing second in our group to reach the Quarter Finals. A good showing in the group stage culminated in an impressive 2-0 victory over our problem side ES Tunis on the final match day. The winter break saw us shift a couple of players on loan, as well as moving to sign somebody to score regular goals. We parted with £210,000 to Maritzburg United for the signature of 19-year old Robin Shangase who had bagged 10 goals in his 12 league appearances for them. His arrival seemed to spark a revival, and we returned from the winter break in fine form. His tally of 12 goals in 14 appearances was very impressive as he hit the ground running. We climbed to the summit of the league table, before progressing comfortably past Egyptians Al-Ahly in the quarter finals of the Champions League. A 4-0 demolition of rivals Orlando Pirates put us into the semi-finals of the SA Cup, and we had a Champions League tie with SuperSport United to look forward to as well.

A disappointing loss in the league away at SuperSport United saw us slip off of top spot, before a SA Cup semi-final against Jomo Cosmos. We dominated the match, but looked to be suffering a shock exit after conceding in the 86th minute to go 0-1 behind. What followed was the most breath taking period of my entire reign. Three goals in the last moments saw us turn the game and book a fourth straight final. No surprises that we would be facing SuperSport United of all teams in that cup final. In the Champions League we dominated the first leg at home, but were beaten 0-1 to a late goal. A poor second half performance saw us lose 0-2 and crash out at the semi-final stage. Absolutely gutting, clearly we are just not meant to get over the finish line in this competition. In a complete replication of last season, our fellow South Africans went on to defeat ES Tunis in the final to compound our misery.

At this stage I began to fear the worst. We were stuttering along in the league, and had exited the one competition we really wanted to win. An upcoming SA Cup Final was exciting, but we would face SuperSport United who just seemed to have our number. In fact they were unbeaten against us in the last seven meetings of the side. My worry was that a potential treble winning campaign would turn into a trophy less campaign. That would be a gutting way to end the season. Losing three times to SuperSport in six matches had dented the confidence amongst the players, and it showed as we dropped points in a 0-0 draw against bottom side Cape Town Spurs. We did return to winning ways next up though, completing a late turnaround to beat Sundowns 2-1. We followed that up with further victories to climb back to top spot, before suffering a really disappointing setback against Orlando Pirates. Despite taking an early lead we lost out 1-2 to yet again slip off of the top spot. Three league matches in seven days was tough for us, especially with our SA Cup final taking place just three days after that. My team showed some character though, winning all three matches and climbing four points clear at the top with just two league matches remaining. At this stage attention shifted to the SA Cup final, and an opportunity to snatch a measure of revenge on SuperSport United.

Hunting a fourth straight SA Cup, it was probably fitting that what will be my last appearance in this competition as Kaizer Chiefs manager resulted in my very first loss in it. The game was decided by a truly pathetic penalty, but to be honest we were second best in the entirety of the match. SuperSport deserved the win, and although it was gutting it did seem somewhat fitting considering their domination over us in the last twelve months or so. Thankfully we did manage to clinch one trophy though, winning the league title in our very next game and with a game to spare. I had wanted a whole lot more, but at least we put another trophy in the cabinet.

A fourth title in five years for this club, and a third with me at the helm. I'm ecstatic to win it, especially having started the season fairly poorly. We were never completely in control of the league, but managed to find our form during the closing stages to see it out.

After four seasons with the club, I am very much exploring options at moving on and advancing my career somewhere new. Four seasons full of trophies has been exciting and pleasing, but it feels like now is the time to bid farewell to this club and head to pastures new. I'm delighted with what I have achieved in this country, although leaving without that elusive Champions League trophy is a real bitter blow. South Africa has been brilliant though, and I feel like I have done a really good job here. From an unexpected promotion with Royal AM, right through to the very end of this season and a third league title. Over five and a half seasons I've managed to grab nine major trophies, and formed one hell of a legacy with Kaizer Chiefs. On top of that we've lost three cup finals as well, which would've seen us pick up ridiculous numbers of honours had we won them.

I'm not going to be resigning from my position just yet though, and my contract with this club does have a year left to run. I'm actively looking for new roles though, and will be leaving as soon as the right opportunity arises. I'm currently actively seeking a job in China, although Mexico and Brazil are both loaded as well. As soon as the right position becomes available, I will be departing this football club though. Hopefully it won't take me too long to find my next challenge.

Season	Team		League		Position	Notes & Achievements

2020/21 Real Kings FC	SA 1st Div	2nd (P)		Won promotion play-off
2021/22 Real Kings FC	SA Premier	5th		Qualified for Confederations Cup
2022/23 Kaizer Chiefs	SA Premier	1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Cup Winners, Super-8 Cup Winners
2023/24 Kaizer Chiefs	SA Premier	2nd		SA Cup Winners, Super-8 Cup Winners
2024/25 Kaizer Chiefs	SA Premier	1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Cup Winners, SA KO Cup Winners
2025/26 Kaizer Chiefs	SA Premier	1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners

1/10 Domestic Leagues (2022/23 SA Premier Division)
1/10 Domestic Cups (2022/23 SA Cup Winners)
0/5 Club Continental Championships
0/1 Club World Championship

0/5 International Continental Tournaments
0/1 World Tournaments

 

[Muggert]

Izo - Nigeria - World Cup 2026 Review

Group Stage:

Paired with Portugal and Honduras we started off beating Honduras 5-0. Then we had a much tougher opponent in the second game, but we trashed Portugal 4-1 and escaped the group stage in first.

Second Round:

Mali awaited in the second round. They knocked out South Korea by finishing second to Italy. Osimhen scored twice like his first two games and has reached 6 goals in 3 games. We destroy Mali 6-0

3rd Round:

Spain had a cake-walk through the tournament beating Canada, New Zealand and Jamaica. In their first real challenge they responded well though and after 120 minutes the score was still 0-0. Unfortunately Spain held their cool better than us and won 4-1 in the shootout.

Review:

I'm pretty satisfied with the tournament especially as our star player Ndidi got injured a week before the tournament. We played some great football through the tournament and played well against Spain. Maybe next time.

[timpy00]

African Cup of Nations 2029

So our second tournament with a national squad, after winning the Asian Cup of Nations we now start our tournament with Cameroon one of the favorites to win the tournament this year.

Group Stage

Spoiler

Besides a draw in the opening game, we went quite easily through the group stage, this was expected but looking at how easily we outplayed our opponents it gave us confidence for the rest of the tournament. Also we were able to give some rest to the important players for later in the tournament.

Second Round (If applicavble)

Spoiler

A very easy win, also because of the red card Senegal got. But at that point we were 2-0 in front and were dominating them. But a nice victory, but the real tournament starts now for us.

Quarterfinal (If applicable)

Spoiler

I guess the stats say enough, a lot of changes, a lot of Xg. But this was one of those games were we couldn't find the goal. Unfortunately our tournament ends here, too bad knowing we were playing this well and practically outplayed our opponents.

Semifinal (If applicable)

Spoiler

The run of Mali ended the next round against Gambia, also a opponent which we could beat if we went through. This makes things even harder for us after losing

Also Angola we ended third in our group couldn't reach the final.

Final (If applicable)

Spoiler

Morocco easily won the final against Gambia and crowned themselves champions of Africa.

After the tournament we were sacked by the Cameroon Football Association

So for the future we will look for a new national team to lead, for now our focus will be at Mamelodi Sundows in the South African league

 

[Safe Hands]

Is starting again from scratch frowned on. I'm currently in season 26/27 I'm enjoying it but took my 1st international job and noticed some glaring problems,  as players retire there isnt the regens coming through so lots of teams now are just grey guys. 

 

I've been reading about the optimal set up for long saves and realised I really messed my start up with my datebase choices. Thinking of starting again and just keeping my current game as a South Africa save as it's a really great league. 

[goonergez]

So after a thoroughly enjoyable spell of just under six years, I have departed South Africa for my new position. Nine winners medals were draped over my neck during my time with Kaizer Chiefs, although we did miss out on the ultimate prize of the Champions League. For that reason I do feel that I have unfinished business in the country, but for now it is time to try something different.

I had no intentions of resigning from my position, hunting a new job whilst still employed by Kaizer Chiefs. I didn't want a situation whereby I could end up spending a considerable amount of time unemployed. I much prefer to be involved, plus the South African setup has early cup competitions which would've given me an opportunity for further glory. Soon after the end of the season the job at Dalian Pro came up in China. I went for it, but the Chinese strugglers were unable to agree a compensation package for my services. Mainly due to there still being a year remaining on my managerial contract. I begged the club to lower there demands, and they did which resulted in me being offered the position as manager. Having assessed the squad and the predicament they were in (sat 15th out of 16 teams) I decided that actually it would be too brave of a decision for me to make. I declined the job offer and was all set on seeing out the remainder of my contract before leaving when it expired. Then a job came up that I decided I was desperate to land. Yet again the club couldn't agree a compensation package though. This time I decided i would take the plunge, and resigned from my position to make myself easier to attain. After interviewing the job was offered, and I signed my new contract with a brand new team.

Spoiler

I said I wanted to go to China next, and I have well and truly fallen on my feet here. I join a team who was won two Asian Champions Leagues, two Chinese FA Cups as well as an impressive nine Chinese Super League titles. They are the most successful team in Chinese league history, although haven't managed to win a title in four years now. 

Spoiler

With just six league matches remaining we find ourselves sitting four points off of a position required to qualify for the Champions League. Five of our matches are against teams in the top half of the league, including both Beijing and Shandong. Qualifying looks extremely unlikely, but certainly isn't impossible. The board aren't judging me on these six games though which does give me a bit of a free pass. The squad is horribly unbalanced, with around ten central midfielders but only three recognised defenders. There is a lack of real quality in front of goal, and I will have a lot of work to do to improve this squad. The end of this season is sure to see a flurry of transfer activity as I try to return this club to successful times. There hasn't been a trophy put into the cabinet here since 2022, and they haven't won a Champions League crown since 2015. I'm aiming for that and more as I look to build a new legacy here in China. For now I can just enjoy the first six games of my era without pressure, but the hard work will start almost immediately with a tough game against fourth placed Beijing.

Season	Team		League			Position	Notes & Achievements

2020/21 Real Kings FC	SA 1st Div		2nd (P)		Won promotion play-off
2021/22 Real Kings FC	SA Premier		5th		Qualified for Confederations Cup
2022/23 Kaizer Chiefs	SA Premier		1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Cup Winners, Super-8 Cup Winners
2023/24 Kaizer Chiefs	SA Premier		2nd		SA Cup Winners, Super-8 Cup Winners
2024/25 Kaizer Chiefs	SA Premier		1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Cup Winners, SA KO Cup Winners
2025/26 Kaizer Chiefs	SA Premier		1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners
2026	Guangzhou	Chinese Super League

1/10 Domestic Leagues (2022/23 SA Premier Division)
1/10 Domestic Cups (2022/23 SA Cup Winners)
0/5 Club Continental Championships
0/1 Club World Championship

0/5 International Continental Tournaments
0/1 World Tournaments

 

[vikeologist]

28 minutes ago, Safe Hands said:

Is starting again from scratch frowned on. I'm currently in season 26/27 I'm enjoying it but took my 1st international job and noticed some glaring problems,  as players retire there isnt the regens coming through so lots of teams now are just grey guys. 

 

I've been reading about the optimal set up for long saves and realised I really messed my start up with my datebase choices. Thinking of starting again and just keeping my current game as a South Africa save as it's a really great league. 

I certainly don't frown on it.

It's a tricky enough challenge without trying to dig yourself out of holes.

Also, bad database choices can make the challenge unachievable.

If you started again with the exact same side, well, that would still be sort of ok, but I don't think that's what you meant anyway.

Worth noting that I was the second person to ever start this challenge, and I soon started again from scratch, having discovered one such self dug hole. (Look at a club / team before you take the first job offered you). I've done this challenge a few times, and I think that first Ultimate Challenge job might still be the worst one I've ever accepted. An utter black hole of inevitable failure. 

I suffered for you.

 

Very briefly.

Edited March 5, 2021 by vikeologist

[Safe Hands]

7 minutes ago, vikeologist said:

I certainly don't frown on it.

It's a tricky enough challenge without trying to dig yourself out of holes.

Also, bad database choices can make the challenge unachievable.

If you started again with the exact same side, well, that would still be sort of ok, but I don't think that's what you meant anyway.

Worth noting that I was the second person to ever start this challenge, and I soon started again from scratch, having discovered one such self dug hole. (Look at a club / team before you take the first job offered you). I've done this challenge a few times, and I think that first Ultimate Challenge job might still be the worst one I've ever accepted. An utter black hole of inevitable failure. 

I suffered for you.

 

Very briefly.

Cheers mate. I've actually really enjoyed it but took Japan job, I've got literally 40 players that's it. There isnt any regens. In final of Asia cup and except South Korea and china the rest have 2 or 3 players. I've not even loaded a European league yet but played Norway, Bosnia , Hungary and another european who escapes me now in friendlies. Not the biggest nation but each had half a squad. This is just 6 years in so can only imagine how bad it will be in another 5 years.

[vikeologist]

11 minutes ago, Safe Hands said:

Cheers mate. I've actually really enjoyed it but took Japan job, I've got literally 40 players that's it. There isnt any regens. In final of Asia cup and except South Korea and china the rest have 2 or 3 players. I've not even loaded a European league yet but played Norway, Bosnia , Hungary and another european who escapes me now in friendlies. Not the biggest nation but each had half a squad. This is just 6 years in so can only imagine how bad it will be in another 5 years.

Yes. Sounds as though you wouldn't have been able to complete the challenge. Nations usually become unplayable as the save goes on, so if it was that bad at the start...

 

Suggest you look at the guidance on adding Asian things to the database on page 1.

[Safe Hands]

24 minutes ago, vikeologist said:

Yes. Sounds as though you wouldn't have been able to complete the challenge. Nations usually become unplayable as the save goes on, so if it was that bad at the start...

 

Suggest you look at the guidance on adding Asian things to the database on page 1.

Cheers mate will have a read. Also come across another thread on here about optimal set up. My laptop brand new gaming one so should be able to handle a lot more than I was throwing at it. Wont be managing in South Africa until the very end this time. 6 seasons is more than enough. Will play my Asia cup final tonight though. 

[goonergez]

Where will I find this part about loading up for Asia? I’ve been in China for three matches and already the lack of players is killing my save

[vikeologist]

7 minutes ago, goonergez said:

Where will I find this part about loading up for Asia? I’ve been in China for three matches and already the lack of players is killing my save

Quote

A Very Small Piece of Advice

I recommend using the advanced option when setting up the game to add current international players from Asia. This should increase the number of nations available to manage in Asia, and make it easier to win the Asian Cup.

The issue isn't really the lack of players. It's that by 2040 or later, there might only be 2 nations in Asia manageable (because when there aren't enough players they become unmanageable) and if you've been sacked by both those nations, you're up the creek. They might not give you another chance.

Nations in Africa can disappear as well. It's just not as bad as Asia.

It might be different in FM21 of course, but the fact remains, adding current international players makes a lot more nations manageable. Just because you can become the national manager of an island in the Pacific with 20 people though doesn't mean you should.

Edited March 5, 2021 by vikeologist

[goonergez]

I'm guessing it's because I added China in after I started but the lack of players is horrific. With the foreign player limits too its a real save killer. My squad is full of players under the age of like 18 and they're absolutely useless. Going through the division everybody has the same issue so I can't even look to sign anybody to improve the squad.  There are no decent Chinese players basically and I can't bring in foreigners because of the squad limits.

[vikeologist]

5 minutes ago, goonergez said:

I'm guessing it's because I added China in after I started but the lack of players is horrific. With the foreign player limits too its a real save killer. My squad is full of players under the age of like 18 and they're absolutely useless. Going through the division everybody has the same issue so I can't even look to sign anybody to improve the squad.  There are no decent Chinese players basically and I can't bring in foreigners because of the squad limits.

Oh well, that might just be a database size problem, although I've never come across it in previous versions. I guess I usually go for a medium size (then customised as above).

Obviously there have been problems with intakes this year.

[goonergez]

6 minutes ago, vikeologist said:

Oh well, that might just be a database size problem, although I've never come across it in previous versions. I guess I usually go for a medium size (then customised as above).

Obviously there have been problems with intakes this year.

There is just no talent available. The league restrictions don’t help but it’s ridiculous. Added Brazil too and that doesn’t seem to have had the same problem. It’s killing my save already. I can’t look to progress the team because there are no players. Every team in China has a useless under 21 gk who I imagine is a regen from when I loaded China into my save.

I’m going to have to restart!

Edited March 5, 2021 by goonergez

[vikeologist]

4 minutes ago, goonergez said:

There is just no talent available. The league restrictions don’t help but it’s ridiculous. Added Brazil too and that doesn’t seem to have had the same problem. It’s killing my save already. I can’t look to progress the team because there are no players. Every team in China has a useless under 21 gk who I imagine is a regen from when I loaded China into my save.

I’m going to have to restart!

i mean, you do realise that Chinese players are rubbish. do u mean no players or no decent players?

[goonergez]

3 minutes ago, vikeologist said:

i mean, you do realise that Chinese players are rubbish. do u mean no players or no decent players?

😂😂😂 I’m aware they aren’t any good but honestly these players are unplayable.

[vikeologist]

4 minutes ago, goonergez said:

😂😂😂 I’m aware they aren’t any good but honestly these players are unplayable.

If you're managing Evergrande, they should have some good  Chinese players, (sort of English League 1 or 2 standard), but there's probably about 5-10 Chinese players at that level in the entire world.

From your description, it does sound as though the game should have given you plenty of older rubbish players, but make no mistake. There are virtually no good Chinese players. China is 1 place higher in the world rankings than Curacao.

[Diego D10S]

                                                                                                                                                                              Season 2020 / 2021 

 

 

Off to a great start. My next post will probably be me taking over another club. Looking for a club in South America that will be able to win Copa Liberatores in the near future.

 

GL ALL !!  

[numero uno gunner]

Right, coaching badges have made an impact on ability to get interviews. I'm now at National B, and a reputation boost up to 25%, and finally clubs have started letting me through the door for interviews. In the space of a week, I've been offered jobs in Belarus, China and Norway. I've delayed all three offers to give me enough time to figure out which role to take. I'm erring towards China, but it's a rebuilding job. That said, the club in Norway are sat in mid table as well, so that's not likely to be a particularly quick turnaround.

Internationally, I didn't go for the Uzbekistan job, but I do have a role managing a country now. Positive steps. 

[Diego D10S]

Resigned in December and have been hard finding a new job that wouldnt be a step down. 

Very happy happy to get a team in the Argentine Premier Division. At first look it seem to be a club with potential so this will probably be long term project for me.

 

GL ALL !!  

[Gregg88]

2044 / 45

After 2 seasons with Velez and ticking off the important milestones of another league, a cup and the Copa Libertadores, I spotted the Celtic job come up after the previous manager left for Leicester! The fact that Rangers had just won the Scottish Premiership made it even more of a mission to topple them and bring back the glory to Celtic! (Trying to spruce it up here).

The Challenge was accompanied by a Champions League tilt. Could I take them further than the group stage? Knowing we had to qualify first would ensure the group I would be drawn in, was going to be a horrible one!

Beating Groningen & FC Porto to earn qualification for the group stages meant transfer funds were raised by the board and I could strengthten even more.

In came a new Striker, CM & RB. (I won't bore you with their stats as they weren't wonderkids).

 

Champions League Group Stage

Barcelona, Ajax & Milan.....chuffed as you can imagine.

But.....

Can we just admire 3 away wins? 4-0 & 3-0 @ Barcelona and Milan respectively. Mental!

 

A suspect draw saw myself get drawn against Man Utd in the KO round.

To be fair....I got smashed all over the park in the first leg. But the 2nd leg was so much better, just couldn't get that 3rd goal! Tease.

Honestly think I could have got further, but I was happy with the performance either way.......and I didn't need it for the challenge.

 

An unbeaten league campaign and a cup ticked off!

 

Heading towards that finish line now! Just need the Gold Cup and some cups ticked off! The Gold cup is happening at the end of this season, so hopefully I can pick up a job after some failures!

 

 

 

 

[pug 407]

27 minutes ago, Gregg88 said:

2044 / 45

After 2 seasons with Velez and ticking off the important milestones of another league, a cup and the Copa Libertadores, I spotted the Celtic job come up after the previous manager left for Leicester! The fact that Rangers had just won the Scottish Premiership made it even more of a mission to topple them and bring back the glory to Celtic! (Trying to spruce it up here).

The Challenge was accompanied by a Champions League tilt. Could I take them further than the group stage? Knowing we had to qualify first would ensure the group I would be drawn in, was going to be a horrible one!

Beating Groningen & FC Porto to earn qualification for the group stages meant transfer funds were raised by the board and I could strengthten even more.

In came a new Striker, CM & RB. (I won't bore you with their stats as they weren't wonderkids).

 

Champions League Group Stage

Barcelona, Ajax & Milan.....chuffed as you can imagine.

But.....

Can we just admire 3 away wins? 4-0 & 3-0 @ Barcelona and Milan respectively. Mental!

 

A suspect draw saw myself get drawn against Man Utd in the KO round.

To be fair....I got smashed all over the park in the first leg. But the 2nd leg was so much better, just couldn't get that 3rd goal! Tease.

Honestly think I could have got further, but I was happy with the performance either way.......and I didn't need it for the challenge.

 

An unbeaten league campaign and a cup ticked off!

 

Heading towards that finish line now! Just need the Gold Cup and some cups ticked off! The Gold cup is happening at the end of this season, so hopefully I can pick up a job after some failures!

 

 

 

 

Good Luck On That Last Cup sorry cups

 

 

Edited March 6, 2021 by pug 407
Update

[vikeologist]

@Gregg88I was going to tell you about the nations with 2 domestic cups, but I see I've already done that. 

 

Have you already managed either Mexico or USA?

 

 

[goonergez]

I’m gutted to say that my most enjoyable save on this years edition will have to be restarted. I made a huge error in setting up my game and realised that I disabled attribute masking. I didn’t realise whilst in South Africa because I just thought my scouts knew all the players because they were only showing me South Africans. When I went to China it became clear it was wrong as I was being presented with all sorts of South American wonder kids I wouldn’t know anything about. I’m gutted. Absolutely shell shocked!

Edited March 6, 2021 by goonergez

[The Regista]

34 minutes ago, goonergez said:

I’m gutted to say that my most enjoyable save on this years edition will have to be restarted. I made a huge error in setting up my game and realised that I disabled attribute masking. I didn’t realise whilst in South Africa because I just thought my scouts knew all the players because they were only showing me South Africans. When I went to China it became clear it was wrong as I was being presented with all sorts of South American wonder kids I wouldn’t know anything about. I’m gutted. Absolutely shell shocked!

Shame to hear - fresh start, fresh mind, fresh African Champions League  

[Safe Hands]

Starting again after messing up my database on last save. I've got 20 leagues loaded and everything else as view only plus added lots of players from Asia and Africa so hopefully gives enough negens in future. Laptop seems fine with the detail now but might have to start again if the load time because too much and scale it back. Looking to start in Europe first with eye on Eastern Europe but will see what comes up. Been offered one job in 2nd division China so far but turned it down, club were in Administration with no wage budge and a squad of Chinese players

 

 

 

[numero uno gunner]

Ok, advice needed, as I think I've possibly come across a bug.

Decided to go to China, and I'm very glad I saved before I did, simply because I can't progress the game. I've taken over a club who have somehow registered 4 foreign players in the same window, despite the limit being 2. This means I can't register the squad at the end of the transfer window (literally 2 days after I joined the club). Any ideas? If I can't figure out how to sort it, I'm going to go back to the save point and take the job in Norway (I was offered both in the same week, so don't feel like it's going against the spirit of the challenge at this point). I've never come across something like this, other than being hit by the Copa Libertadores and Dutch cup bugs in the same save.

[goonergez]

After the issues I found within my first attempt at this challenge I have decided to jump immediately back in. Hoping to follow a similar path I loaded South Africa into the game as well as the top divisions in South Korea, Brazil, Mexico and China too.

I've picked up my first position as a manager, and as I had hoped it did indeed come in South Africa.

The season is still young really, so I have high hopes for improvement. In pre-season my side were predicted by the media to finish in 3rd place, so it's fair to say there has been quite an underperformance so far. The table is pretty compact though, so hopefully I can jump straight in and start to improve the fortunes. The board merely ask for a top half finish this season, so I get a bit of a free pass really. Hopefully I can solve the goal scoring problems and shuffle this team up the league table a bit. I can't see any reason why we shouldn't be aiming to finish fairly strongly.

[vikeologist]

8 hours ago, numero uno gunner said:

Ok, advice needed, as I think I've possibly come across a bug.

Decided to go to China, and I'm very glad I saved before I did, simply because I can't progress the game. I've taken over a club who have somehow registered 4 foreign players in the same window, despite the limit being 2. This means I can't register the squad at the end of the transfer window (literally 2 days after I joined the club). Any ideas? If I can't figure out how to sort it, I'm going to go back to the save point and take the job in Norway (I was offered both in the same week, so don't feel like it's going against the spirit of the challenge at this point). I've never come across something like this, other than being hit by the Copa Libertadores and Dutch cup bugs in the same save.

Don't know the bug obviously, but if you can't holiday your way out of it (go on holiday for one day over the registration window) then I guess Norway it is.

[goonergez]

Uthongathi FC: 2020/21 Review

My first job in management took me to Uthongathi of the South African First Division at the midway point of the season. The club had already exited the SA Cup too, meaning I literally had fifteen league matches to kick off my managerial career. The club I inherited looked pretty decent to be honest and had clearly been underperforming so far. Pre-season predictions were for a 3rd placed finish, but upon arrival the side was sat way below that down in 10th. Only six points sat between the current predicament and the promotion play-off spots though, as the league table was extremely compact. The board merely wanted me to get the side into the top half, but I was confident that if I could solve the issue regarding scoring goals that we were perhaps capable of a little more than that. My arrival came two weeks before the second half of the season began, so it enabled me to make some changes to the club. In came a couple of new staff members as well as two loan signings. To solve the goal scoring issues I moved to sign striker Taahir Goedeman on loan from Cape Town City, and Golden Arrows defender Sfundo Nzama also arrived. Having set up my style and sorted out the staffing and holes in the squad we got ready to kick off what I had hoped would be a sort of revival.

My arrival seemed to spark something incredible. Defensively we were simply superb and at the same time we started to put the ball in the net on a much more regular basis. At times we looked unstoppable, and my spell in charge saw us climb up the league table at some speed. The arrival of Taahir Goedeman seemed to be the catalyst, with him bagging 6 goals and helping us win games. At times we played some sublime football, and in the end we can consider ourselves unlucky not to pip Tuks FC to the league crown.

An unbelievable run of form immediately after my arrival really sent us on our way as we climbed up the league table with real haste. We looked almost unplayable at times and fully deserved the march we put together. The 3-0 victory over Tuks FC probably the main stand out performance as it very briefly saw us climb to the summit of the league. Our league finish ensured we entered the promotion mini-league, where we would play against TTM of the Premier and Free State Stars. I felt confident in my team, although a slightly stuttered end to the season had left me worried.

Unfortunately the promotion play-offs were a disaster for us. Defeat to TTM in the opening match set the tone, and we didn't win until a 6-2 on the final match day against an already promoted Free State Stars. In the end it was an extremely disappointing end to a really good start to my career.

I'm gutted to have fallen short in the play-offs, but there are a lot of positives to take from the start of my career here. When I joined this team had nothing to play for, and in the end we improved so much that promotion was a realistic possibility. That can definitely give some hope to my first full season in charge. A couple of intriguing top flight jobs became available as the competitive season drew to a close, but I figured it was too early to look at leaving just yet. I'm going to stay here to try and build a side capable of winning promotion next time around. That would be a really good success story and surely set my career up well from the off. Financially this club isn't in a bad way at all, and if I can keep hold our best players and add some more quality around the squad then we should be able to compete really high up the league table. It's exciting times, and I can't wait to see how we can get on in the summer market.

Season	Club		Competition		Position	Notes & Achievements

2020/21 Uthongathi FC	SA First Division	2nd		Lost in promotion mini-league