changingman Posted April 27, 2021 Share Posted April 27, 2021 (edited) Long time lurker and finally bit the bullet - been attempting this challenge for the last couple of months (precis version below). Loaded most European second/third leagues, eventually getting the Saarbrucken job (languishing at the bottom of the German third tier at the time). Managed to get them competitive at the top of that league the following season but left in hope of getting a new job. Here's where I had a massive stroke of luck... Hired by Hertha Berlin, relegation candidates at the time but with incredible funds to build a new team. Won Budesliga (on last day of season no less) and EURO Cup in a couple of season but Pokal proved elusive. Resigned after Bundesliga win and immediately hired by PSG - what followed was a fairly straightforward few seasons winning everything in sight (including eventually CL having been beaten finalists year before). After which attention turned to England. Landed Spurs job around Xmas - from 8th to 5th by end of season and defeated in CL final (by Arsenal!) Second season got the quadruple - winning EPL with a game to spare, League cup, FA cup and EURO cup again. Left after that season to try for a job in Italy - it's currently 2030 and I've taken over a Milan side languishing in the bottom five. Internationally it's been a struggle however. Got the England job whilst with PSG - blitzed qualifying but eliminated in the group stages of the Euros. Also had a tilt at the World Cup with Brazil (again blitzed qualifying but out in the quarters against Germany on penalties and subsequently sacked). Currently taken over France (ranked 5th in World) for an attempt at Euro 2032 Edited April 27, 2021 by changingman Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
goonergez Posted April 27, 2021 Share Posted April 27, 2021 Career Update: January 2045 My efforts at the European Championships with France had ended with disappointment, but my head was still head high. I remained unemployed from the club scene for several months, before the winter break stage in various countries had drawn to a close. Some jobs were becoming increasingly likely to become free, with a few springing into my interest. A job became available that I had been after several times before, and this time I was the favourite to gain the position. I interviewed and they liked me so I put pen to paper on the next exciting chapter of my career as I looked to crack Europe. Last seasons Bundesliga runners-up really haven't enjoyed a very good campaign this time around. Having won the league title two seasons back, they came second to the ridiculously good Dortmund last time around. They headed into this campaign full of hope and belief, but fair to say it hasn't gone well. As you can see, this season has proven a struggle so far. My arrival was presented with a transfer budget just shy of £350,000,000 and the target of reaching a Europa League spot. Climbing that high up the table may prove difficult, but I want to give it my best shot. Outside of the league we're in the first knockout round of the Europa League after elimination from the Champions League, and will face off against Galatasaray. There is also a DFB Pokal third round tie against FC Augsburg coming up. Hopefully I can hit the ground running and start to pick up some trophies here. I'm a huge fan of the red bull drink, so immediately feel an attachment to this great club. Season Club Competition Position Notes & Achievements 2020/21 Uthongathi FC SA First Division 2nd 2021/22 Uthongathi FC SA First Division 1st (C) SA First Division Winners 2022/23 SuperSport United SA Premier 2nd SA Knockout Cup Winners 2023/24 SuperSport United SA Premier 3rd 2024/25 SuperSport United SA Premier 2nd Confederations Cup Winners, SA Cup Winners 2025/26 SuperSport United SA Premier 1st (C) SA Premier League Winners, SA Cup Winners, CAF Super Cup Winners, Super-8 Cup Winners, 2026/27 SuperSport United SA Premier 3rd SA Knockout Cup Winners, CAF Champions League Winners 2027 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 6th 2028 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 2nd Chinese FA Cup Winners 2029 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 2nd Asian Champions League Winners, Chinese FA Cup Winners 2030 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 1st (C) Chinese Super League Winners, Chinese Super Cup Winners 2031 DC United MLS East Conference 6th 2032/33 River Plate Argentinian Premier 5th Copa Argentinos Winners 2033/34 River Plate Argentinian Premier 2nd Copa Sudamericana Winners, Copa Argentinos Winners, Argentinian Super Cup Winners, Sudamericana Super Cup Winners 2034/35 River Plate Argentinian Premier 2nd Copa Libertadores Winners, Sudamericana Super Cup Winners 2035 Seattle Sounders MLS Western Conference 5th MLS Western Conference Winners 2036 Seattle Sounders MLS Western Conference 1st (C) MLS Cup Winners, Supporters Shield Winners, MLS Western Conference Winners, Leagues Cup Winners 2037 Seattle Sounders MLS Western Conference 1st MLS Western Conference Winners, Supporters Shield Winners, Campeones Cup Winners 2038/39 Mainz FC/ Schalke 04 Bundesliga - 2039 LA Galaxy MLS Western Conference 5th 2040 LA Galaxy MLS Western Conference 1st Supporters Shield Winners 2041 LA Galaxy MLS Western Conference - CONCACAF Champions League Winners 2041/42 Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga 4th 2042/43 Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga 4th 2043/44 Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga 6th 2044/45 RB Leipzig Bundesliga TBC Year Nation Honours 2042-present France Nations League Winners (2043), 3/10 top domestic leagues (2025/26 SA Premier League, 2030 Chinese Super League Winners, 2037 MLS Cup Winners) 3/10 top domestic cups (2022/23 SA Knockout Cup, 2024/25 SA Cup Winners, 2028 Chinese FA Cup Winners, 2032/33 Copa Argentinos Winners) 4/5 club continental championships (2026/27 CAF Champions League Winners, 2029 Asian Champions League Winners, 2034/35 Copa Libertadores Winners, 2041 CONCACAF Champions League Winners) 0/1 club world championship 0/5 continental competitions 0/1 world tournaments Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
berrers Posted April 27, 2021 Share Posted April 27, 2021 (edited) SEASON 9 2030 MINNESOTA UTD ..... Been a while since I updated, hopefully back in the groove with it now PRE SEASON/TRANSFERS Cengiz Under was about the biggest draw I could attract to fill my last Designated player slot. Physicals all but gone but plenty of technical quality to still hold his own in the MLS for at least a season. LAMAR HUNT TROPHY (USA FA CUP) Having won the comp in my first full season this year it wasn't a priority and I fielded weakened sides in most games falling to Nashville in the quarters. CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE No groups in this comp just straight knock out and what a way to be knocked out, having held a 5-1 first leg lead in the semi v club america we were stunned as the Mexicans battered us and we melted 4-0 going out on away goals...... probably the most painful loss of this challenge so far (more to come in this thread)😒 MLS LEAGUE Best performing team in the MLS for the second year running and a 2nd supporters shield in a row MLS PLAYOFFS Conference Semi & Final taken care of no problems... now on to the second MLS cup final in consecutive years Another huge bottle job moment, 2 up at half time at home in the final and we folded and collapsed again! GUTTED...AGAIN INTERNATIONAL ENGLAND WORLD CUP 30' ENGLAND Managing the home nation in its first world cup on these shores since 1966!...England expects. Expectations were high after the European Championship success at Spain 28' The squad was now ageing slightly but I still expected a strong showing. Sancho & Greenwood were late withdrawls due to injury which weakened the side significantly. We done it we had made the final where we would meet Spain who had overcome Brazil on pens in the other semi final It was hello darkness my old friend again unfortunately as despite bossing the game in possession and chances we fell to an Ansu Fati goal. Defeat in the world cup final on home soil 🤦♂️ I resigned after the tournament as having already won the euro's it would have been a long wait for the next world cup WHAT'S NEXT More pain, suffering and defeat in cup finals I would imagine! This has been the first full season where I haven't been able to tick anything off the list at all and it's been very frustrating. Defeat in the concacaf semi's when 5-1 up from the first leg, bottling the mls cup final when 2 up at HT and the world cup final loss, its been a snowball of disappointment.... I will continue with Minnesota for the time being and I don't plan to leave the MLS until I have ticked off the concacaf CL. Following on from resigning from England after the world cup the Brazil & Argentina jobs were available (had an eye on the copa america) but I didn't even manage to get an interview for either! So international management could be on the shelf for a while Edited April 27, 2021 by berrers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Regista Posted April 28, 2021 Share Posted April 28, 2021 (edited) UEFA EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2028 Following on from our World Cup win two years ago, it's now time to take on the very best in Europe. As the defending champions following on from Rudi Garcia's reign, could we retain the trophy? Squad. The 23 man squad includes many names that were present in the World Cup win 2 years ago. Some new blood has come through though - the likes of Hannibal, Bonneau, Belhaoua, Sugira and Aouchiche make their tournament debut for Les Bleus. Jonathan Ikone also returns to tournament action for France after missing out on the previous two tournaments following an impressive campaign for Lille. My first signing at Man Utd can also be seen here. See if you can spot who it is... Spoiler Group Stage The draw presented us with a tricky group of Turkey, Northern Ireland and Spain. Spoiler The first game was against the Turks. We had played Turkey in a friendly three months prior to the Euros and won 3-1. I felt suitably prepared for the game, but Turkey set up very well defensively. A single goal from Yoann Besse was the difference early on in the game. Next up were Northern Ireland. Camavinga, a new signing at Old Trafford, picked up a first half hattrick to see us through to the next round. Finally, we played Spain. Not sure what happened here but we drew 0-0 against Pep Guardiola's side. Although there was some rotation of players, the performance wasn't amazing, but the draw was enough to see us into the Second Round. Second Round (if applicable) Spoiler England were our opponents in the round of 16 having come through in 2nd place in a group that also consisted of Germany and Croatia. England went gung-ho for this one and fielded Rashford, Greenwood, Musiala, Sancho and Foden but could not break down the blue wall. Mbappe had his best game of the tournament so far and scored an early brace. Despite the pleasing win, we were to lose both starting centre backs Upamecano and Nianzou due to suspensions for accumulated yellow cards. Quarter Final (if applicable) Spoiler These blooming Spaniards are fast becoming the bane of my FM existence as they've suddenly worked out how to play against my French side. We were fortunate that Camavinga scored one of the goals of the tournament - a 30 yard wonder strike midway through the first half. Impressively we kept a clean sheet with Pavard and Todibo at centre back (not that they aren't great players, but losing both first choice centre backs was tough). We soldiered on to the semis. Semi Final (if applicable) Spoiler The Dutch were all that stood between us and a place in the final. This one took a while to get going. Nianzou notched in a header early on, but the 2nd half is where it really came alive. 3 goals in 11 minutes between both sides certainly gave the fans some excitement! The Dutch side has some impressive newgens including 2027 Ballon d'Or winner Jeffrey van Amersfoort. However JvA was kept quiet in this game. Final (if applicable) Spoiler In a repeat of the Euro 2000 final, we faced home side Italy. And again the French were victorious though not after a Golden Goal this time. An early penalty from Mbappe was enough to set the scene, and the ever reliable Rayan Cherki cut inside from the right wing to fire home another one 23 minutes later. With that, we won Euro 2028 and retained the trophy. I can also add this to my trophy haul for the save which I believe takes my haul to 11. What's Next? Spoiler Having now won all international competitions possible with France, it's time to take my leave. My time with Les Bleus couldn't have gone any better or been more productive. I've chalked off the World Cup and Euros on the challenge and, with a heavy heart, I handed my notice in. However, as one door closes, another one opens as they say, and I've got a shiny new international job to go with my new club position. MEXICO The Gold Cup starts in 2029, and the position became available. The Mexican side is really strong, currently ranked 7th in the world. The squad includes my former Wolfsburg player Juan Mendez, winner of the 2023 NxGn series, amongst many other exciting young players. This could hopefully be another quick win on my CV. Edited April 28, 2021 by The Regista 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted April 28, 2021 Author Share Posted April 28, 2021 @The Regista You're belatedly on the leader board. Congrats. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
goonergez Posted April 28, 2021 Share Posted April 28, 2021 44 minutes ago, vikeologist said: @The Regista You're belatedly on the leader board. Congrats. I love these little things 😂 How do we get more? Some great reads going on in this thread guys. Really enjoying reading through them! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted April 28, 2021 Author Share Posted April 28, 2021 19 minutes ago, goonergez said: I love these little things 😂 How do we get more? Some great reads going on in this thread guys. Really enjoying reading through them! Actually I think memes are not allowed on the forum, so maybe I have to limit them to just getting on the leader board, and hope that the mods don't mind. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapsik7 Posted April 28, 2021 Share Posted April 28, 2021 SEASON 8 (2027-2028) CA Vélez Sarsfield I started the 2027-2028 season after some interesting transfers from and to the club. In my opinion the team was ready to fight for the Argentine championship. In the meantime, I also played in the Argentine Cup and the Copa Libertadores. We were eliminated from Copa Argentina in Round 7 against Banfield, while in the Copa Libertadores we managed to win after a tough final with the Brazilian Flamengo winning 1-0. In the league, after 21 games, I was 2nd, 7 points behind River. One of the best clubs in Asia, Ulsan Hyundai, came to me during the winter break. SEASON 8 (2028) Ulsan Hyundai FC When Ulsan came to see me, I had no doubts for a moment that I would try to get this job. In fact, nothing held me in Velez, I have already won the most important club cup on the continent. Ulsan has won the Champions League twice in the last 4 years and I hope to repeat it again with them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkouv Posted April 28, 2021 Share Posted April 28, 2021 Season 16 (2035/36) - Rostov After I quit Nantes, the Russian league was the only one with jobs available, with the CSKA Moscow and Rostov posts both vacant. I fancied taking over another underdog / sleeping giant so went for Rostov instead of CSKA. They finished 4th the season before and 10th this year which led to their old manager getting the sack. I thought I could quickly improve an underperforming team, but it turned out that they really just over performed last season and the quality of the side was very much Russian mid-table, quite a step down from the Champions League winners Nantes and my Brazil side. The usual AI squad building quirks were there although not too bad - I had no right backs, one left back and only one center back who was not very good (who on earth did they play in defence all season?), but at least no ageing players on super high wages. However my best players wanted out after the poor league finish so I had to do a lot of wheeling and dealing in the summer. Luckily I saved the best cheap youngsters from my Nantes scout reports, so could bolster the squad with some quality players, mainly from the smaller South American nations. I sold my star midfielder to CSKA but managed to hold onto my star attacker Paramonov - despite him wanting out and having a £3m release clause for continental comp clubs - and this turned out to be key as he went on to have an amazing season. League We won our first game, lost our second game to Krasnodar and then started hitting some good form. In the end it was us and Krasnodar toughing it out for the title, but they had a bad second half of season slump so we won the league comfortably, unbeaten in the last 28 games and winning most of them. Cup I didn’t have to register under-20 players for the league which meant that I maxed out the squad on promising foreign youngsters, but for the cup we were restricted to 8 foreign players total so I was far less certain of winning it. The biggest stumbling block came against CSKA in the quarters, with the match scheduled in the middle of the internationals so both us and them lost about a third of the starting 11. Still, we edged the game 2-1 and then had fairly straightforward wins in the semi and in the final against Arsenal Tula, who turned out to have a penchant for messing up big games in a similar way to their London namesakes, with us winning the final 4-0. Players Our midfield was not the best but the attack and defence really carried the day. Sergey Paramonov was key, scoring pretty much a goal a game and averaging over 8 throughout the season, and Oscar Ocampo - one of the players I scouted at Nantes - was a reliable partner for him upfront. In defense, the young Serb Sinisa Radeka was very solid, more than justifying his £550k transfer fee. Next The Leipzig job is available so I’ll go for that, and then there’s the Copa Libertadores with Brazil to look forward to. CLUB CAREER ----------- Season Club Division League Cups Notes 1st 2nd Cont CWC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 TS Sporting RSA Div. 1 5 Took over in 9th, finished 5th 2021/22 TS Sporting RSA Div. 1 1 2022/23 Orlando Pirates RSA Premier 1 Won Won A quintuple of league, MTN 8, Knockout cup, Nedbank cup and CAF confed cup 2023/24 Orlando Pirates RSA Premier 1 Won Won Won A clean sweep domestically + champions league 2024/25 Cruz Azul Mex Liga BBVA 1 Won Won both apertura and clasura 2025/26 Cruz Azul Mex Liga BBVA 1 Won 2026/27 Jeonbuk K League 1 1 Won Won A quickly completed treble 2027/28 San Lorenzo Argentine Premier 2 2028/29 San Lorenzo Argentine Premier 1 Won A domestic double + Copa Sudamericana 2029/30 San Lorenzo Argentine Premier n/a Won Won Copa Libertadores in November 2029/30 Fiorentina Serie A 5 Took over in 18th but just missed out on CL 2030/31 Fiorentina Serie A 1 Won 2031/32 Barcelona La Liga 1 Won Runners up in the CL 2032/33 Barcelona La Liga 1 Won Won Won 2033/34 Nantes Ligue 1 4 Won Won the Europa league 2034/35 Nantes Ligue 1 1 Won Won 2035/36 Rostov Russian PL 1 Won ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTERNATIONAL CAREER -------------------- Season Nation Cups Notes World Cup Euros Asian Cup ACON Gold Cup Copa America ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 Turkmenistan 2021/22 Uzbekistan Qualified for World Cup through playoffs 2022/23 Uzbekistan World Cup Group Stage; Asian cup Q/F 2023/24 Ivory Coast 2024/25 Ivory Coast Won 2025/26 Ivory Coast Lost in World Cup third round 2026/27 Australia Won 2028/29 Mexico Won 2029/30 Mexico Lost in World Cup third round 2030/31 France Won the Nations League 2031/32 France Won 2032/33 France Won the Nations League 2033/34 France Won 2034/35 Brazil ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Challenge Progress: Club 8/10 top domestic leagues: South Africa (Orlando Pirates); Mexico (Cruz Azul); South Korea (Jeonbuk); Argentina (San Lorenzo); Italy (Fiorentina); Spain (Barcelona); France (Nantes); Russia (Rostov) 8/10 domestic cups: South Africa (Orlando Pirates); Mexico (Cruz Azul); South Korea (Jeonbuk); Argentina (San Lorenzo); Italy (Fiorentina); Spain (Barcelona); France (Nantes); Russia (Rostov) 5/5 club continental championships: CAF Champions League (Orlando Pirates), CONCACAF CL (Cruz Azul); Asian CL (Jeonbuk); Copa Libertadores (San Lorenzo); Champions League (Barcelona) 1/1 club world championship: Barcelona International 4/5 continental tournaments: ACON (Ivory Coast); Asian Cup (Australia); Gold Cup (Mexico); Euros (France) 1/1 world tournaments: WC (France) Overall: 27/32 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkouv Posted April 28, 2021 Share Posted April 28, 2021 @berrers That is some tough luck right there, part of what this challenge is about but it's super annoying to get those results - hope your luck turns soon! @The RegistaCongrats on ticking off the two big international trophies, the Gold Cup will be a walk in the park for you since Spain are not in it ))) 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
remix951 Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 2025 Season Right off the bat, I shot my shot at a bunch of African national teams who were fresh off the ACON tournament. Ghana turned me down, ranked 27th, but both Senegal and Nigeria offered me a job ranked 15th and 16th in the world respectively. With the next season starting to arrive, I had to make haste with my scouting and team building. With just six scouts, I started scouring the Earth for Chinese nationals to come play. The Chinese Super League has fairly strict rules on how many foreigners can be registered (6) let alone play in the lineup (3). You get a maximum of one Chinese naturalized players (not naturally born), one from a Chinese territory (HK, Macau, Taipei), the GK needs to be a Chinese National, and the rest of the team does as well. While there aren't many great Chinese players, a transfer budget of $150M and a payroll of $150M more than helps me in this quest. The name of the game was essentially to buy every good Chinese-born player in the game. All my scouts are solely focused on that. This led to having a deep, talented roster that could probably be a Top 5 team even without our foreign players. The results spoke for themselves: On top of all that, the board must have liked my strategy, they gave me even more money for the next year: But I was soon met by a new board... On the international front, I led Nigeria to a World Cup qualification in USA/Canada/Mexico, a homecoming for my young manager going back to the States. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
goonergez Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 Red Bull Leipzig: 2044/45 Review My return to club management saw me return to Germany with a fourth new club, but this time I was confident. Leipzig had endured a difficult campaign prior to my appointment, but were a successful team in recent years. Two years ago they ended Dortmund’s run of straight Bundesliga titles, and also picked up a DFB Pokal too. My hopes were to win trophies with the side, but my initial plans were to improve on the fortunes I inherited. Sat in 11th upon arrival it was down to me to try and climb the table and at least ensure continental football for next season. I joined with just a couple of days of the January transfer window remaining and so completed just the one deal. Defensive midfielder Paulo Neri joined on loan from my former side Bayer Leverkusen on loan for the rest of the season as we simply didn’t have anyone to play in that position of my system. On the field my reign got off and going straight away. A cup win away at FC Augsburg was followed by further wins in the league and the Europa League. An early highlight was a superb 2-1 turnaround victory against the dominant Dortmund in the DFB Pokal quarter finals. In the league we quickly climbed up the league table, and we also dispatched my former side Bayer Leverkusen in the quarter finals of the Europa League. We suffered a couple of defeats, but progress was clear for all to see. It set up a tense finale as we chased two potential trophies and a European spot in the league table. In the end we couldn’t quite achieve what we set out for, falling just short of qualification for the Europa League. In the end juggling the league with latter stages of the Europa League and the DFB Pokal proved too much. Too much rotation exposed a lack of depth in my squad and ended in disappointment. Next season we will have to settle for a spot in the Europa Conference instead. Outside of the league things didn’t end much better. Our run in the Europa League came to an end at the semi final stage against Benfica. A 0-2 defeat in Portugal was followed with a much better 2-2 draw at home, but we were denied a spot in the final. In the DFB Pokal we did manage to reach the final, where we would face off against a resurgent Bayern Munich. A devastating way to lose a cup final, as a penalty shoot out brought to an end our hopes of a trophy. We were very much second best in the contest, although looked to be heading home when we took a shock extra time lead. Conceding a sloppy penalty just minutes later summed up our evening, and the shoot out saw us miss two whilst Munich scored all of theirs. A promising spell at the helm so far, although it ended with more negatives than positives. The players have responded pretty well to my style and ideas, but there is a real lack of quality. With the two cup semi-finals and chasing a Europa league spot we really had to rotate, and the disappointing end sums up how it went for us. I’ve got a job on my hands to build a squad over the summer that’s for sure. On the plus side I will be armed with a huge sum of money. I’ve already confirmed a £66,000,000 deal for a striker from Real Madrid, but there is still over £200,000,000 in the bank. I don’t plan on going crazy, but I’m definitely looking to bring some players in. This is the first time in the last twelve years that Leipzig have failed to finish in the top three positions, and I intend on making sure that it is very much a one off. I feel like I’m at the club I need to be at, now I’m just excited to start building a team that can challenge for honours. Season Club Competition Position Notes & Achievements 2020/21 Uthongathi FC SA First Division 2nd 2021/22 Uthongathi FC SA First Division 1st (C) SA First Division Winners 2022/23 SuperSport United SA Premier 2nd SA Knockout Cup Winners 2023/24 SuperSport United SA Premier 3rd 2024/25 SuperSport United SA Premier 2nd Confederations Cup Winners, SA Cup Winners 2025/26 SuperSport United SA Premier 1st (C) SA Premier League Winners, SA Cup Winners, CAF Super Cup Winners, Super-8 Cup Winners, 2026/27 SuperSport United SA Premier 3rd SA Knockout Cup Winners, CAF Champions League Winners 2027 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 6th 2028 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 2nd Chinese FA Cup Winners 2029 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 2nd Asian Champions League Winners, Chinese FA Cup Winners 2030 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 1st (C) Chinese Super League Winners, Chinese Super Cup Winners 2031 DC United MLS East Conference 6th 2032/33 River Plate Argentinian Premier 5th Copa Argentinos Winners 2033/34 River Plate Argentinian Premier 2nd Copa Sudamericana Winners, Copa Argentinos Winners, Argentinian Super Cup Winners, Sudamericana Super Cup Winners 2034/35 River Plate Argentinian Premier 2nd Copa Libertadores Winners, Sudamericana Super Cup Winners 2035 Seattle Sounders MLS Western Conference 5th MLS Western Conference Winners 2036 Seattle Sounders MLS Western Conference 1st (C) MLS Cup Winners, Supporters Shield Winners, MLS Western Conference Winners, Leagues Cup Winners 2037 Seattle Sounders MLS Western Conference 1st MLS Western Conference Winners, Supporters Shield Winners, Campeones Cup Winners 2038/39 Mainz FC/ Schalke 04 Bundesliga - 2039 LA Galaxy MLS Western Conference 5th 2040 LA Galaxy MLS Western Conference 1st Supporters Shield Winners 2041 LA Galaxy MLS Western Conference - CONCACAF Champions League Winners 2041/42 Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga 4th 2042/43 Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga 4th 2043/44 Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga 6th 2044/45 RB Leipzig Bundesliga 7th Year Nation Honours 2042-present France Nations League Winners (2043), 3/10 top domestic leagues (2025/26 SA Premier League, 2030 Chinese Super League Winners, 2037 MLS Cup Winners) 3/10 top domestic cups (2022/23 SA Knockout Cup, 2024/25 SA Cup Winners, 2028 Chinese FA Cup Winners, 2032/33 Copa Argentinos Winners) 4/5 club continental championships (2026/27 CAF Champions League Winners, 2029 Asian Champions League Winners, 2034/35 Copa Libertadores Winners, 2041 CONCACAF Champions League Winners) 0/1 club world championship 0/5 continental competitions 0/1 world tournaments Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 Season 2022/23 Review - Kaizer Chiefs League - After taking over last season my aim was top 2 for Champions League but we found ourselves in a 3 way battle for the title before finally becoming a 2 horse race between us and main rivals (and 2 time champs) Orlando Pirates. We swaped top spot with them a lot in the 2nd half of the season as fixture congestion played a real part thanks to both our cup runs and the winter world cup (we played 1 league game between November and Feb) but in the final week of the season (where we both played 4 games in 8 days) they faltered and we won the title by 3 points and win a treble Nedbank Cup - we won this last season in one of my 4 games in charge and made it to the final again this time, I did kind of throw this final though as we played on the Sat and had a league game on the Monday but the mix of backups and players coming back from injury did us proud as we went down to an injury time goal Telkom Cup - had a good run with the backups in this and ended up winners MTN8 Cup - went out of this really early CAF Confederation Cup - doesn't count for this challenge but I wanted to win and so did my board, we cruised through really till me met fellow South African sides but we were able to find a way past them and end up winners of this as well Black Label - Always nice to beat Pirates even in pre season Squad - It's a bit old for my liking so am slowly bringing in good young South Africans to secure the future Key Players Haashim Domingo - a free transfer that was arranged by the previous manager, turned out to be a star even if he did develop a bad habit of missing penalties in the run inReeve Frosler - flying right back, played nearly every game in a mental season but he's classNkosingiphile Ngcobo - wide man that started the season on fire but the goals dried up in the run in but was still class. Career Overview Season Club League Position Notes/Achievements 2020/21 Cape Town Spurs Championship 3rd Promoted via the promotion mini league 2021/22 Cape Town Spurs Premiership 3rd 3rd when leaving with 3 games to go. National C coaching badge 2021/22 Kaizer Chiefs Premiership 7th Took over for final 3 games. Won Nedbank Cup. 2022/23 Kaizer Chiefs Premiership 1st Won Telkom Cup. National A & B badges done Challenge Progress Club 1/10 top domestic leagues – South Africa (2023 - Kaizer Chiefs) 1/10 domestic cups – South Africa (2022 – Kaizer Chiefs) 0/5 club continental championships 0/1 club world championship International 0/5 continental tournaments 0/1 world tournaments Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SK Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 3 hours ago, darren1983 said: Season 2022/23 Review - Kaizer Chiefs League - After taking over last season my aim was top 2 for Champions League but we found ourselves in a 3 way battle for the title before finally becoming a 2 horse race between us and main rivals (and 2 time champs) Orlando Pirates. We swaped top spot with them a lot in the 2nd half of the season as fixture congestion played a real part thanks to both our cup runs and the winter world cup (we played 1 league game between November and Feb) but in the final week of the season (where we both played 4 games in 8 days) they faltered and we won the title by 3 points and win a treble Nedbank Cup - we won this last season in one of my 4 games in charge and made it to the final again this time, I did kind of throw this final though as we played on the Sat and had a league game on the Monday but the mix of backups and players coming back from injury did us proud as we went down to an injury time goal Telkom Cup - had a good run with the backups in this and ended up winners MTN8 Cup - went out of this really early CAF Confederation Cup - doesn't count for this challenge but I wanted to win and so did my board, we cruised through really till me met fellow South African sides but we were able to find a way past them and end up winners of this as well Black Label - Always nice to beat Pirates even in pre season Squad - It's a bit old for my liking so am slowly bringing in good young South Africans to secure the future Key Players Haashim Domingo - a free transfer that was arranged by the previous manager, turned out to be a star even if he did develop a bad habit of missing penalties in the run inReeve Frosler - flying right back, played nearly every game in a mental season but he's classNkosingiphile Ngcobo - wide man that started the season on fire but the goals dried up in the run in but was still class. Career Overview Season Club League Position Notes/Achievements 2020/21 Cape Town Spurs Championship 3rd Promoted via the promotion mini league 2021/22 Cape Town Spurs Premiership 3rd 3rd when leaving with 3 games to go. National C coaching badge 2021/22 Kaizer Chiefs Premiership 7th Took over for final 3 games. Won Nedbank Cup. 2022/23 Kaizer Chiefs Premiership 1st Won Telkom Cup. National A & B badges done Challenge Progress Club 1/10 top domestic leagues – South Africa (2023 - Kaizer Chiefs) 1/10 domestic cups – South Africa (2022 – Kaizer Chiefs) 0/5 club continental championships 0/1 club world championship International 0/5 continental tournaments 0/1 world tournaments I signed Dominigo with Uthongathi. Was absolutely quality for me too. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SK Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 (edited) Season 2023/2024 After dominating the league last year I really put a focus on strengthening with South African players. Added some top quality to the squad which has given me the luxury of rotating a bit. League- This was an absolute cake walk. My team is clearly too good for the league now and spent the vast majority of the time resting players or managing fatigue throughout the game. League table below. Won the first 14 games in a row (also won the last 10 last season) so broke the league record for most wins in a row. Nice to win another trophy and was good to have CL qualification locked up early which is all that really matters to me now. Cups: Be The Cup- Won this on penalties against Orlando Pirates. Doesn't really mean anything. Super 8- Managed to win this. Wasn't as straightforward as I had hoped but nice to win another trophy. Had to overturn a 1-0 deficit in the semi's against Sundown. Beat Bloem Celtic 3-2 in the final. Doesn't help me in this challenge as I have already won a domestic trophy but it is nice to win nonetheless. SA Knockout- lost in the quarters throwing away a 2-0 lead. I rotated heavily for it and it cost me. Not too concerned as my priorities lied elsewhere. SA FA Cup- This one hurt. Won my first two games against Barako and Black Leopards. Played out a bore 0-0 draw against Supersport but won on pens. Drew Bloem Celtic in the semis. It was sandwiched between the CL semis against the same team. Raced out to a 4-0 lead which i then blew to make it 4-4. Scored in ET and then conceded in the 120th minute and lost on pens. Absolute shambles and its the last domestic trophy for me to win so would've been nice to. Champions League- This was my main focus. Drew a pretty tough group with ES Tunis in it. Despite losing my first game away from home to them, I cruised the rest of the group and won it with a game to spare. Won the QF 5-1 on aggregate against Wydad Casbalance. In the SF against Bloem Celtic; I lost the first leg 2-1 away from home, my GK kicked the ball straight to their player in the 90th minute to cost me. Luckily I beat them 3-1 in the home leg and that was that. Drew the powerhouse Al-Alhy who were last years winners. Their team looked pretty stacked but I had the better of the game (see below). A late goal from them undid me and that was that. I had a goal disallowed in the 93rd minute which hurt even more. So from here; I have locked to the core of my squad and they are at good ages so I feel I will be within a good shout next season. Really hoping I can tick of the CL next season and leave for Asia. Got plenty of depth at cm now so I am thinking of moving one of my foreign players on there and also move on my backup striker who is also foreign. Hoping to bring 2 quality foreign players in supplement. Looking at bringing in Mablohonka permanently who has been on loan last 2 seasons from Braga and Malhambi from Sundowns for RW to improve more. I have taken over Ghana as well. Will post more but so far I am 2/2 from in my AFCON qualifiers and won my first play off leg in the world cup qualifiers. Season Club Competition Position Notes & Achievements 2020/21 Uthongathi FC SA First Division 3rd (promoted via playoffs) 2021/22 Uthongathi FC SA Premier League 4th 2022/23 Kaiser Chiefs SA Premier League 1st. Won Knockout Cup and Be the Coach. 2022/23 Kaiser Chiefs SA Premier League 1st. Won Super 8 and Be the Coach. CL Finalists. International 2021-2023. Nigeria. Lost in QF of AFCON. Sacked. 2023- present- Ghana 1/10 top domestic leagues (2022/23, 23/24 SA Premier League) 1/10 top domestic cups (2022/23 SA Knockout Cup, 23/24 Super 8 winners) 0/5 club continental championships 0/1 club world championship 0/5 continental competitions 0/1 world tournaments Edited April 29, 2021 by SK Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 This summer we had the Asian Cup and the ACON so some jobs were open in the summer. Applied for a few and had the choice of Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Japan and well I had to... 4 years till the Asian cup is a bit long so we'll see what happens. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gammonds Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 I may be a bit late to the party this year, but I thought this challenge looked like a lot of fun so I'll give it a go. Allow me to introduce Dunning Kreuger. I've actually already been playing him for a bit and keeping some notes, so I'll post catch up updates later. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkouv Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 Spoiler 2036 Copa America - Brazil This is my first tournament with Brazil, but will it also be my last? I hope that it is for the right reason - that if I win the Copa, the international side of the challenge is done. On the other hand, there are also plenty of opportunities to mess things up and end with a sack. But my Brazil side are ridiculously strong, so I’m cautiously expecting to lift the trophy, even though Colombia and Argentina should provide stiff opposition. We start things off with a group containing Colombia, Japan and Uruguay among others. Group Stage Spoiler We absolutely dominated a group that included some strong teams like Colombia and Uruguay, winning all 5 games while rotating the squad and only conceding 1 goal in the process. Surprisingly, hosts Uruguay are already out but other than that most of our main rivals are still in, so it’s all about carrying those performances into the knockout stages. Paraguay await in the quarters. Quarter Final (if applicable) Spoiler Brazil 6 - 0 Paraguay. Paraguay are no match for us but still, the margin of victory was impressive, with Chelsea forward Marcio Marcelo - probably the most expensive signing in the world at £236m - netting a hat trick. Colombia, ranked 6th in the world, are our semi final opponents. Semi Final (if applicable) Spoiler Brazil 4 - 0 Colombia. My club team were playing a friendly on the same day so I pressed instant result on the wrong match and had to play the pointless friendly while waiting for the instant-result of this one… Luckily the lads didn’t disappoint, Marcio Marcelo the star of the show again with us running out easy 4-0 winners. We’ll play Argentina in the final, a fitting end to the Copa. Final/3rd place playoff (if applicable) Spoiler Brazil p0 - 0 Argentina. Phew. Well, I guess it’s not surprising that in what turned out to be my last international game of this challenge, the game managed to churn out a bit of drama. But luckily for me, it all ended well in the end. Argentina set up to shut up shop and the first half was quite even if a bit dull. In the second half, we absolutely battered them but just could not score, with our world class strikers missing several sitters in classic UC fashion. I had to sub off some players because the instant-resulted semi final did not conserve their energy well, and by extra time we were pretty knackered and did not create too much. So onto penalties, and with some relief Argentina missed their second and fourth strikes, we scored the first three, missed the fourth, adding some tension, but then our keeper saved Argentina’s fifth penalty to clinch the trophy! After the tournament Spoiler It’s hard to pick the best players because everyone played superbly up until the most important game, where the player that shone the most was Argentina’s keeper. So I’d probably go for our own keeper Paulo Renato - who saved three penalties in the shootout - as our man of the tournament, followed by the star forward Marcio Marcelo, and centre back turned defensive midfielder Anibio who was key to our solid defence. As for me, I got the RB Leipzig job - they finished in the Conference league spot last season and sacked their manager. The team is good, they haven't won the Bundesliga yet but have been around the CL spots more often than not; the main problem is that they have about 40 players in the first team squad - probably due to some bug of them having no B team, and the usual AI squad building wonders. So I'm trying to clear quite a few out so that I can actually tell who the first team players are; wish me luck CLUB CAREER ----------- Season Club Division League Cups Notes 1st 2nd Cont CWC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 TS Sporting RSA Div. 1 5 Took over in 9th, finished 5th 2021/22 TS Sporting RSA Div. 1 1 2022/23 Orlando Pirates RSA Premier 1 Won Won A quintuple of league, MTN 8, Knockout cup, Nedbank cup and CAF confed cup 2023/24 Orlando Pirates RSA Premier 1 Won Won Won A clean sweep domestically + champions league 2024/25 Cruz Azul Mex Liga BBVA 1 Won Won both apertura and clasura 2025/26 Cruz Azul Mex Liga BBVA 1 Won 2026/27 Jeonbuk K League 1 1 Won Won A quickly completed treble 2027/28 San Lorenzo Argentine Premier 2 2028/29 San Lorenzo Argentine Premier 1 Won A domestic double + Copa Sudamericana 2029/30 San Lorenzo Argentine Premier n/a Won Won Copa Libertadores in November 2029/30 Fiorentina Serie A 5 Took over in 18th but just missed out on CL 2030/31 Fiorentina Serie A 1 Won 2031/32 Barcelona La Liga 1 Won Runners up in the CL 2032/33 Barcelona La Liga 1 Won Won Won 2033/34 Nantes Ligue 1 4 Won Won the Europa league 2034/35 Nantes Ligue 1 1 Won Won 2035/36 Rostov Russian PL 1 Won ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTERNATIONAL CAREER -------------------- Season Nation Cups Notes World Cup Euros Asian Cup ACON Gold Cup Copa America ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 Turkmenistan 2021/22 Uzbekistan Qualified for World Cup through playoffs 2022/23 Uzbekistan World Cup Group Stage; Asian cup Q/F 2023/24 Ivory Coast 2024/25 Ivory Coast Won 2025/26 Ivory Coast Lost in World Cup third round 2026/27 Australia Won 2028/29 Mexico Won 2029/30 Mexico Lost in World Cup third round 2030/31 France Won the Nations League 2031/32 France Won 2032/33 France Won the Nations League 2033/34 France Won 2034/35 Brazil 2035/36 Brazil Won ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Challenge Progress: Club 8/10 top domestic leagues: South Africa (Orlando Pirates); Mexico (Cruz Azul); South Korea (Jeonbuk); Argentina (San Lorenzo); Italy (Fiorentina); Spain (Barcelona); France (Nantes); Russia (Rostov) 8/10 domestic cups: South Africa (Orlando Pirates); Mexico (Cruz Azul); South Korea (Jeonbuk); Argentina (San Lorenzo); Italy (Fiorentina); Spain (Barcelona); France (Nantes); Russia (Rostov) 5/5 club continental championships: CAF Champions League (Orlando Pirates), CONCACAF CL (Cruz Azul); Asian CL (Jeonbuk); Copa Libertadores (San Lorenzo); Champions League (Barcelona) 1/1 club world championship: Barcelona International 5/5 continental tournaments: ACON (Ivory Coast); Asian Cup (Australia); Gold Cup (Mexico); Euros (France); Copa America (Brazil) 1/1 world tournaments: WC (France) Overall: 28/32 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted May 1, 2021 Author Share Posted May 1, 2021 @dkouv Spoiler Congrats on finishing the international side. Impressive to finish it before the domestic side. (Checked the year, because actually if you were in the 2080s, it would be the complete opposite of impressive). Shouldn't take long to get the last 4 trophies, although the fact that you don;t have a choice on the leagues makes it tougher. It will be interesting to see what you do if you win a league but not a cup in England or Germany, because although you do have to win those leagues, you're not obliged to pick up those 2 cups in those nations). Good that you've managed topick up a viable German job straight away. @Gammonds Welcome to the challenge. Looking forward to your updates, and where you start. -------------------- @Everybody Incidentally, there does seem to be a nation where getting a first job is much easier than any other nation. I'm not 100% sure, but I did a test, and it does indeed seem to be a bug, or maybe SI's research has discovered that clubs in that nation are just that much more prepared to give first time managers great jobs. I'm not going to tell you all which nation it is though. I do not remember anybody ever starting in that nation though, like ever in this challenge. Probably someone has. This challenge has been going for nearly 7 years now. I'm not going to tell you which nation it is though. That would be a spoiler. But if someone knows what it is or guesses it (1 guess each) I'll confirm. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted May 1, 2021 Author Share Posted May 1, 2021 @dkouv Spoiler Congrats on finishing the international side. Impressive to finish it before the domestic side. (Checked the year, because actually if you were in the 2080s, it would be the complete opposite of impressive). Shouldn't take long to get the last 4 trophies, although the fact that you don;t have a choice on the leagues makes it tougher. It will be interesting to see what you do if you win a league but not a cup in England or Germany, because although you do have to win those leagues, you're not obliged to pick up those 2 cups in those nations). Good that you've managed topick up a viable German job straight away. @Gammonds Welcome to the challenge. Looking forward to your updates, and where you start. -------------------- @Everybody Incidentally, there does seem to be a nation where getting a first job is much easier than any other nation. I'm not 100% sure, but I did a test, and it does indeed seem to be a bug, or maybe SI's research has discovered that clubs in that nation are just that much more prepared to give first time managers great jobs. I'm not going to tell you all which nation it is though. I do not remember anybody ever starting in that nation though, like ever in this challenge. Probably someone has. This challenge has been going for nearly 7 years now. I'm not going to tell you which nation it is though. That would be a spoiler. But if someone knows what it is or guesses it (1 guess each) I'll confirm. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gammonds Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 Dunning Kreuger's first job: After several less successful interviews, Chrobry Golgow, in the Polish First Division, took a chance on an inexperienced young manager. They also probably didn't have many better options - at the time Chrobry were mired in a relegation struggle. Unsurprisingly, this was a bit more of a challenge than our intrepid young protagonist realized. Chrobry were bottom of the Polish First Division (second level of the actual pyramid), and stayed there until finally mustering enough form to climb off bottom and secure survival with one week remaining. The board had been reluctant to support their unproven manager throughout the campaign, but with survival assured finally agreed to support his pursuing coaching qualifications. With few other realistic options, several young prospects showing encouraging signs, and an off season to work with, Kreuger decided to give Chrobry at least one more year. Season 2 didn't start truly well, but still showed signs of significant improvement. Chrobry brought in free agent reinforcements, and as the squad gelled, climbed into the playoff picture after the first 2 months. From there, a run of good form saw the team climb all the way to first in the division at the winter break - slightly more than half way through the league year. Unfortunately, injuries and the long winter layoff did Chrobry no favors, and additional free agent acquisitions needed time to integrate. Chrobry never recaptured their best form, and struggled to stay in the playoff positions as the year came to a close. A win on the final week secured the team's best ever finish in 5th place, and a trip to the playoffs. The unfortunate realities of the seeding system saw Chrobry face the same team they'd beaten the previous week, Miedz, who had finished 4th in the league. Chrobry put in a good effort, but fell to a (questionable) stoppage time penalty. It was a successful year, but also one that highlighted the limited potential and resource constraints Chrobry face. With his national B coaching badge, and 2 successful years under his belt, Kreuger began exploring other options over the short Polish off season. Season 3: Hope springs eternal - and good jobs are hard to find. Fortunately, Kreuger's job search had been out of the public eye, which meant the board had not looked at him too askance. It was to be a third and (planned) final season at Chrobry. The board expects a mid table finish and the players are on board, but Kreuger has greater ambitions - it's the playoffs at least, and should be promotion. The league is if anything even more competitive this year, and Chrobry aren't that improved. At the winter break, Chrobry are in the playoff spots, but would need a run of good form and a bit of luck to climb into the automatic promotion places. Ultimately, Chrobry lacked the quality to handle a string of matches against top half teams in the final month of the regular season, and were eliminated from automatic promotion contention with 2 weeks to go. While Chrobry had under-performed in the closing weeks of the regular season to finish 6th, they managed a 2-1 win in the playoff semi-final. The playoff final was a tense affair, and scoreless at the end of extra time; but Chrobry won the penalty shootout 5-3. It wasn't always a pretty journey, but Kreuger had achieved what he set out to at Chroby and it was time to move on - he resigned later that week. This is Kreuger after his 3 seasons in Poland: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted May 2, 2021 Author Share Posted May 2, 2021 @Gammonds Congrats on the promotion. Be interesting to see whether resigning was the right move regarding your next job. (An obvious advantage is that if you're not feeling it where you are, it's a lot quicker to get your next job if you're unemployed). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
goonergez Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 France: 2045 Update Due to getting married on Friday I haven't had much time to play FM, so I have made very little progress since finishing my first few months back in club management with RB Leipzig. I will admit to racking up a couple of hours on the morning of however. Internationally I didn't update you at the end of my last review, so now seems a good time to do so. My France team haven't dropped off the top spot in the world rankings since my arrival at the helm, and that goes a long way to show how my spell in charge has gone. My last national team update was as we narrowly missed out in the 2044 European Championships, being beaten in the final by the impressive England. Soon after that we entered the Nations League, looking to defend the crown we won shortly after my arrival. Our group contained Serbia, England and Russia and there was a real air of excitement. We failed to qualify though, losing out to England at the top due to an apparent inferior record to them. I'm not sure how though, as we drew 2-2 at home to them and beat them 3-2 away in the opener. A disappointing 1-2 away defeat to Serbia being the real costly results. The year 2045 was all about World Cup qualification though, a tournament I am very keen to do well in. Our qualification group looked simple enough, as we were joined in Group A by Israel, Ukraine, Latvia, Kosovo and Gibraltar. We were comfortable favourites to progress, and I was confident that we could. We managed qualification, although the group table makes the whole campaign look a lot simpler than it was. We failed to score in our first two matches, losing the opener 0-2 in Israel before a drab 0-0 draw at home to Ukraine. We bounced back well during the second International break though, beating Latvia 4-0 and then thumping Gibraltar 13-0. We won the remaining six qualifiers comfortable, scoring for fun and only conceding in one of the matches. We will enter the World Cup as one of the favourites to lift the trophy and I cannot ait to get going. We've been drawn in a simple looking group, with Syria and Honduras joining us. Before the tournament we face a friendly away to Croatia in March, before warming up for the tournament with games against Columbia and Romania. I'm really excited to lead a team out on the biggest stage of them all at the end of the current cub campaign. I'll save any Leipzig updates until the end of the season, but I am enjoying my time with them very much so far. Season Club Competition Position Notes & Achievements 2020/21 Uthongathi FC SA First Division 2nd 2021/22 Uthongathi FC SA First Division 1st (C) SA First Division Winners 2022/23 SuperSport United SA Premier 2nd SA Knockout Cup Winners 2023/24 SuperSport United SA Premier 3rd 2024/25 SuperSport United SA Premier 2nd Confederations Cup Winners, SA Cup Winners 2025/26 SuperSport United SA Premier 1st (C) SA Premier League Winners, SA Cup Winners, CAF Super Cup Winners, Super-8 Cup Winners, 2026/27 SuperSport United SA Premier 3rd SA Knockout Cup Winners, CAF Champions League Winners 2027 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 6th 2028 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 2nd Chinese FA Cup Winners 2029 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 2nd Asian Champions League Winners, Chinese FA Cup Winners 2030 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 1st (C) Chinese Super League Winners, Chinese Super Cup Winners 2031 DC United MLS East Conference 6th 2032/33 River Plate Argentinian Premier 5th Copa Argentinos Winners 2033/34 River Plate Argentinian Premier 2nd Copa Sudamericana Winners, Copa Argentinos Winners, Argentinian Super Cup Winners, Sudamericana Super Cup Winners 2034/35 River Plate Argentinian Premier 2nd Copa Libertadores Winners, Sudamericana Super Cup Winners 2035 Seattle Sounders MLS Western Conference 5th MLS Western Conference Winners 2036 Seattle Sounders MLS Western Conference 1st (C) MLS Cup Winners, Supporters Shield Winners, MLS Western Conference Winners, Leagues Cup Winners 2037 Seattle Sounders MLS Western Conference 1st MLS Western Conference Winners, Supporters Shield Winners, Campeones Cup Winners 2038/39 Mainz FC/ Schalke 04 Bundesliga - 2039 LA Galaxy MLS Western Conference 5th 2040 LA Galaxy MLS Western Conference 1st Supporters Shield Winners 2041 LA Galaxy MLS Western Conference - CONCACAF Champions League Winners 2041/42 Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga 4th 2042/43 Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga 4th 2043/44 Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga 6th 2044/45 RB Leipzig Bundesliga 7th 2045/46 RB Leipzig Bundesliga TBC Year Nation Honours 2042-present France Nations League Winners (2043), 3/10 top domestic leagues (2025/26 SA Premier League, 2030 Chinese Super League Winners, 2037 MLS Cup Winners) 3/10 top domestic cups (2022/23 SA Knockout Cup, 2024/25 SA Cup Winners, 2028 Chinese FA Cup Winners, 2032/33 Copa Argentinos Winners) 4/5 club continental championships (2026/27 CAF Champions League Winners, 2029 Asian Champions League Winners, 2034/35 Copa Libertadores Winners, 2041 CONCACAF Champions League Winners) 0/1 club world championship 0/5 continental competitions 0/1 world tournaments Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surd Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 Quick question, how do y'all get those indented, lineless tables with the typewriter font? I've just finished my first season and like that format. Cheers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted May 2, 2021 Author Share Posted May 2, 2021 (edited) 19 minutes ago, Surd said: Quick question, how do y'all get those indented, lineless tables with the typewriter font? I've just finished my first season and like that format. Cheers! Use Notepad (or your text programme equivalent). If you use tabs and just cut and paste it into this thread using the code option above (The icon that looks like <>) it should all match up ok. Use tabs, not the spacebar to get everything to line up. If on the other hand you try to type directly into the code function or edit it directly on here, it can turn into a bit of a mess). Edited May 2, 2021 by vikeologist 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkouv Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 @vikeologist thanks! Yes, I was definitely not expecting to be done with the international side so soon. Guess not having to win the confed cup helps, but still, the international side of the game is so random I'm very relieved to get it out of the way. Think getting both the France and Brazil jobs helped, as these seem to be the best two sides in the world over the past 10 seasons or so - but even with them I had some dodgy moments... Think I'll probably stick to England and Germany for the cups, nice not to jump ship too often (took me forever to clear out the Leipzig squad over the summer...) and I only have these two leagues plus Spain loaded at the moment. But maybe I should load up another one just in case there is a chance to do a vike on the cup Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapsik7 Posted May 3, 2021 Share Posted May 3, 2021 SEASON 8 (2028) Ulsan Hyundai FC I don't think I will miss the truth if I say that I created a monster in Ulsan. The table speaks for itself, some point losses resulted mainly from the game of reserve players. Victory in the Korean League, victory in the Korean Cup, victory in the Champions League - the first triple crown in my career. We managed to get a few players from the Korean national team to the team, we also managed to buy some players from other Korean teams. In fact, the only problems I had this season were in the group stage of the Champions League, as I was unable to submit new players. After leaving the group, I won all the matches until the end of the tournament, and the final tie ended with Ulsan 6-0 Al-Gharafa. After the season I made the decision to leave the team and I am now looking for an African direction. SEASON 9 (2028-2029) Kaizer Chiefs F.C. After leaving Ulsan, I was unemployed for less than 2 weeks. Kaizer Chiefs was looking for a coach to push the team towards victories, so they contacted me. After the interview, they quickly decided to hire me. The team is currently in 12th place after 15 games of the season, 16 points behind the leader, so this season is likely to be a preparation for possible future successes. I am counting on a maximum of 2-3 seasons in Africa. 3/10 Leagues won (Welsh League - 2023, I-League - 2024, K-League - 2028) 3/10 Cups won (Welsh Cup - 2021, Durand Cup - 2024, KFA Cup - 2028) 2/5 Continental Tournaments won (Copa Libertadores - 2027, AFC Champions League - 2028) 0/1 Club World Cups won 1/5 International Tournaments won (African Cup of Nations - 2027) 0/1 World Cups won Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gammonds Posted May 3, 2021 Share Posted May 3, 2021 Dunning Kreuger heads south: After several months of job searching, Kreuger was hired by Konyaspor, who had made a terrible start to their Turkish Super League season. Turkey wouldn't have been Kreuger's first choice, but Konyaspor are a much bigger club than he would have expected, so the opportunity was too good to pass up. As we saw with Chrobry, Konyaspor chose such an inexperienced manager for a reason - they just weren't in a great spot. When Kreuger took over, Konyaspor had 1 point from their first 6 or so matches. Fortunately, the other teams at the bottom of the league were nearly equally bad. Kreuger's first month was merely a continuation of the brutal losing streak, but a few points taken in November fed a very strong run in December and January which lifted Konyaspor well clear of the relegation fight and closer to mid-table. In February, a wave a player discontent struck the team, and Konysaspor's form suffered to the point Kreuger's job was in jeopardy. The team spent the rest of the season struggling for consistency, and ultimately ended the season in 14th place. That result was in line with preseason predictions, but far below the board's intended top half result. Kreuger's standing with the board was shaky going into the off season, but Konysaspor had resources to work with and the squad had potential, so it was time for Kreuger to buckle down and make some progress with his team. Kreuger's first priority for the off season was to clear out the squad's under performing veterans and the malcontents. By the end of the transfer window the squad had unloaded 7 senior players, most of whom had either made minor contributions over the last year or were in sharp decline. The sales also freed up around a quarter of the payroll budget, which allowed Kreuger to recruit 3 free agents expected to fill important roles and buy one very bright young player who should be ready for a starting role later in the year. The board still has reservations, but the squad looks improved from the previous year, if not quite ready to challenge for silverware. The season started decently with 7 points from the first 5 games, which included matches against 2 of the league's stronger teams. Unfortunately for Kreuger, the board had insisted on 8 points, and fired him immediately after the 5th match. Kreuger is convinced his now former board are idiots, but is quite happy to leave the Turkish press behind. @vikeologistI don't think resigning from Chrobry was a bad decision, but I'm not sure it was the best one either. At the time I thought I had at best a 50/50 chance of even keeping them up - any sort of trophy was several years away at best. So, I went looking for a club that I thought I could win something with fairly quickly. In retrospect, Konyaspor was a terrible decision at that point in Kreuger's career. The squad wasn't bad, the money was there to work with, but the board had little patience and the players never really got behind Kreuger. Sorry, not a ton of detail for that job - I didn't keep very good notes I'm afraid. I have much better notes (and screenshots) for the next bit of this. I'll have one more update to catch up to the season I'm on right now unless I get so long winded I need to break it up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Safe Hands Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 Good to see so many still doing this. I am myself just not been posting any updates. Might do tonight if my profile still shows Sunday league. My current club been good to me so nearly done all my badges so wont post if doesnt show Sunday league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
goonergez Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 Red Bull Leipzig: 2045/46 Review Having returned to club management midway through last season, the 2045/46 season would certainly be a huge one for my managerial career. I had laid a platform at the back end of the season with Leipzig, and we also had the World Cup with France arriving at the end of this current campaign. My club presented me with a quite ridiculous £250,000,000 transfer kitty to improve the squad, and we did manage to bring in some real quality. As I have always done, we focused more on the future though as we brought in a number of really promising younger players to build the future of the club. A little over £200,000,000 was spent on new faces, although we did recoup over £100,000,000 on departures as well. The season started well enough, and by the time the winter break hit we were sat top of the league and five points ahead of Borussia Monchengladbach. Slightly further back were Dortmund, although they had improved dramatically after a really slow start to their season. We’d navigated through the group stage of the Europa Conference League as expected, winning all six of our games despite using mainly fringe players throughout. Our DFB Pokal run did extend past the winter break, although shortly after the return to action we were eliminated after a lacklustre 0-1 defeat at home to Bayern Munich. The season was well set up though, and we had a realistic chance of a league title as well as a continental crown. We stuttered our way through the last few months of the season though, and soon found ourselves in a big three way battle for the league title. Borussia Monchengladbach seemed to pounce every time we dropped any points, and Dortmund had strung together some fantastic form to be up there with us. We finally relinquished top spot on the penultimate match day, suffering a shock 1-2 defeat at Fortuna Düsseldorf. We went into the final day level on points with both Dortmund and Monchengladbach and needing a miracle. We sat behind Dortmund on goal difference, and relying on Schalke to help us better their result to lift the league title for only the second time in the clubs history. Unbelievable scenes for us as we snatched the title we were fully worthy of on the final day. We comfortably saw off Werder Bremen 3-0 at home as Dortmund shockingly suffered defeat to Schalke by a 2-0 score line. We snatched the title on goal difference from Borussia Monchengladbach who jumped above Dortmund courtesy of their final day victory. It was no more than we deserved though, as we led the league basically from start to finish. The third tier of continental competition gave us the opportunity to realistically compete for some silverware. We faced a relatively straight forward run all the way to the semi-final stage where we would face the toughest remaining team in Napoli. The first leg was at home, and we did well to fight back and earn a 1-1 draw. Scoring an equaliser gave us a genuine chance, although I was very fearful because of the away goal that they had scored. In the end the second leg was possibly the biggest disappointment of my managerial career. We managed just a single attempt on goal in a really lacklustre display. A first half penalty gave our opposition a 0-1 victory and we crashed out of a winnable competition. Truly gutting, although losing to Napoli certainly isn’t anything to be ashamed about. I’m pleased with the season at Leipzig, although it could’ve been better. Winning the Bundesliga feels amazing though, and I finally add another league title to my managerial roll of honour. It was disappointing to lose out on another trophy in the form of the Europa Conference League even though it doesn’t count towards the challenge. Our efforts in the FDB Pokal were more frustrating though as we lost out to a very mediocre Bayern Munich. I can’t see myself leaving the club now though, as we return next season to Champions League action. I’m sure to get quite a hefty transfer budget over the summer, and see no reason why we can’t improve the squad well and compete across all fronts next time out. Adding the DFB Pokal would be a real bonus. I’m planning on giving it one more season here before moving on for pastures new. Now my focus shifts though, as my France side get ready to try and win my first major honour as an international manager. We’ve got a couple of friendly matches lined up before we go into a simple looking World Cup group with Syria and Honduras. We’re amongst the favourites to lift the trophy, so there are equal measures of excitement and expectation within me. I’ll return at the end of the tournament to update you all on how we got on. Season Club Competition Position Notes & Achievements 2020/21 Uthongathi FC SA First Division 2nd 2021/22 Uthongathi FC SA First Division 1st (C) SA First Division Winners 2022/23 SuperSport United SA Premier 2nd SA Knockout Cup Winners 2023/24 SuperSport United SA Premier 3rd 2024/25 SuperSport United SA Premier 2nd Confederations Cup Winners, SA Cup Winners 2025/26 SuperSport United SA Premier 1st (C) SA Premier League Winners, SA Cup Winners, CAF Super Cup Winners, Super-8 Cup Winners, 2026/27 SuperSport United SA Premier 3rd SA Knockout Cup Winners, CAF Champions League Winners 2027 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 6th 2028 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 2nd Chinese FA Cup Winners 2029 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 2nd Asian Champions League Winners, Chinese FA Cup Winners 2030 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 1st (C) Chinese Super League Winners, Chinese Super Cup Winners 2031 DC United MLS East Conference 6th 2032/33 River Plate Argentinian Premier 5th Copa Argentinos Winners 2033/34 River Plate Argentinian Premier 2nd Copa Sudamericana Winners, Copa Argentinos Winners, Argentinian Super Cup Winners, Sudamericana Super Cup Winners 2034/35 River Plate Argentinian Premier 2nd Copa Libertadores Winners, Sudamericana Super Cup Winners 2035 Seattle Sounders MLS Western Conference 5th MLS Western Conference Winners 2036 Seattle Sounders MLS Western Conference 1st (C) MLS Cup Winners, Supporters Shield Winners, MLS Western Conference Winners, Leagues Cup Winners 2037 Seattle Sounders MLS Western Conference 1st MLS Western Conference Winners, Supporters Shield Winners, Campeones Cup Winners 2038/39 Mainz FC/ Schalke 04 Bundesliga - 2039 LA Galaxy MLS Western Conference 5th 2040 LA Galaxy MLS Western Conference 1st Supporters Shield Winners 2041 LA Galaxy MLS Western Conference - CONCACAF Champions League Winners 2041/42 Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga 4th 2042/43 Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga 4th 2043/44 Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga 6th 2044/45 RB Leipzig Bundesliga 7th 2045/46 RB Leipzig Bundesliga 1st (C) Bundesliga Winners Year Nation Honours 2042-present France Nations League Winners (2043), 4/10 top domestic leagues (2025/26 SA Premier League, 2030 Chinese Super League Winners, 2037 MLS Cup Winners, 2045/46 Bundesliga Winners) 3/10 top domestic cups (2022/23 SA Knockout Cup, 2024/25 SA Cup Winners, 2028 Chinese FA Cup Winners, 2032/33 Copa Argentinos Winners) 4/5 club continental championships (2026/27 CAF Champions League Winners, 2029 Asian Champions League Winners, 2034/35 Copa Libertadores Winners, 2041 CONCACAF Champions League Winners) 0/1 club world championship 0/5 continental competitions 0/1 world tournaments Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted May 4, 2021 Author Share Posted May 4, 2021 51 minutes ago, Safe Hands said: Good to see so many still doing this. I am myself just not been posting any updates. Might do tonight if my profile still shows Sunday league. My current club been good to me so nearly done all my badges so wont post if doesn't show Sunday league. Your manager will always have just Sunday League experience. I'm sorry if it seems that I look at screen shots to police that people are following the rules. It's more that I check they had the game set up correctly at the start. Honestly, the only thing I really concern myself with are potential challenge ending bugs, which there haven't been for a while. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
goonergez Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 France: World Cup 2046 I last updated you having clinched a final day Bundesliga title, pipping Borussia Monchengladbach on goal difference. There was a sense of excitement for me though, as we looked towards a World Cup campaign with my France team. Ranked number one in the world, we got ready for a tournament in which we were amongst the favourites to win. Prior to the tournament I had organised two friendlies in order to get my squad ready. Firstly we played host to 7th in the world Columbia, and put in a really poor performance. A 0-2 defeat was followed with a comfortable 3-1 victory over a much weaker Romania side to finish our preparations. We opened our World Cup campaign against Syria, and although we won it was far from convincing. We took the lead just before the half time break before adding another late in the second half. That meant that a point against Honduras would be enough, although we were fully expected to add another victory to our collection. We fell behind to our opponents only attempt on goal during the whole 90 minutes of the game. Although we equalised in the second period we couldn't find a winner and had to settle for a shocking 1-1 draw. Progression from the Group stage meant we would face Nigeria in the Second Round. A truly shocking display saw us fail to take our chances as we squandered a host of opportunities to progress. The lottery of a penalty shoot out wasn't kind, and just like that we were eliminated. Immediately I chose to hand in my resignation and look for a different international role. I just couldn't see how I could continue with France after such a disappointing showing, especially with the majority of the squad on the wrong side of 30 and beginning to decline. There was one hell of a rebuilding job required and I felt I was not the man to lead it. I've already taken on a new challenge though, and it's an exciting one. Ranked 8th in the World Columbia find themselves 3rd of the South American sides, behind only Argentina and World Cup winners Brazil. I'm excited to get stuck in, and reckon this is the perfect nation at the right time for me and my career. Season Club Competition Position Notes & Achievements 2020/21 Uthongathi FC SA First Division 2nd 2021/22 Uthongathi FC SA First Division 1st (C) SA First Division Winners 2022/23 SuperSport United SA Premier 2nd SA Knockout Cup Winners 2023/24 SuperSport United SA Premier 3rd 2024/25 SuperSport United SA Premier 2nd Confederations Cup Winners, SA Cup Winners 2025/26 SuperSport United SA Premier 1st (C) SA Premier League Winners, SA Cup Winners, CAF Super Cup Winners, Super-8 Cup Winners, 2026/27 SuperSport United SA Premier 3rd SA Knockout Cup Winners, CAF Champions League Winners 2027 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 6th 2028 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 2nd Chinese FA Cup Winners 2029 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 2nd Asian Champions League Winners, Chinese FA Cup Winners 2030 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 1st (C) Chinese Super League Winners, Chinese Super Cup Winners 2031 DC United MLS East Conference 6th 2032/33 River Plate Argentinian Premier 5th Copa Argentinos Winners 2033/34 River Plate Argentinian Premier 2nd Copa Sudamericana Winners, Copa Argentinos Winners, Argentinian Super Cup Winners, Sudamericana Super Cup Winners 2034/35 River Plate Argentinian Premier 2nd Copa Libertadores Winners, Sudamericana Super Cup Winners 2035 Seattle Sounders MLS Western Conference 5th MLS Western Conference Winners 2036 Seattle Sounders MLS Western Conference 1st (C) MLS Cup Winners, Supporters Shield Winners, MLS Western Conference Winners, Leagues Cup Winners 2037 Seattle Sounders MLS Western Conference 1st MLS Western Conference Winners, Supporters Shield Winners, Campeones Cup Winners 2038/39 Mainz FC/ Schalke 04 Bundesliga - 2039 LA Galaxy MLS Western Conference 5th 2040 LA Galaxy MLS Western Conference 1st Supporters Shield Winners 2041 LA Galaxy MLS Western Conference - CONCACAF Champions League Winners 2041/42 Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga 4th 2042/43 Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga 4th 2043/44 Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga 6th 2044/45 RB Leipzig Bundesliga 7th 2045/46 RB Leipzig Bundesliga 1st (C) Bundesliga Winners Year Nation Honours 2042-2046 France Nations League Winners (2043) 2046- Columbia 4/10 top domestic leagues (2025/26 SA Premier League, 2030 Chinese Super League Winners, 2037 MLS Cup Winners, 2045/46 Bundesliga Winners) 3/10 top domestic cups (2022/23 SA Knockout Cup, 2024/25 SA Cup Winners, 2028 Chinese FA Cup Winners, 2032/33 Copa Argentinos Winners) 4/5 club continental championships (2026/27 CAF Champions League Winners, 2029 Asian Champions League Winners, 2034/35 Copa Libertadores Winners, 2041 CONCACAF Champions League Winners) 0/1 club world championship 0/5 continental competitions 0/1 world tournaments Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 Season 2023/24 Review - Kaizer Chiefs and Japan League - A bit of a strange season really, we started very slowly as after 9 (which is nearly a third of the season) games we were 7th with 2 wins and 5 draws, we then won 11 of the next 12 games to claw our way to the top and never looked back from there, so close to an unbeaten season too but we lost our 26th game of the season which was a rotated side before the Champions League which ended a run of 37 leagues without a loss. In the end our squad depth was too much for anyone to handle and the title was comfortable especially after a couple big moves in Jan window. Champions League - very comfortable as well as we won all but 1 game in this run. We beat Orlando Pirates on route and had Cape Town in the final. We were 4 up with 2o mins to go and were cruising but then they scored twice in a few mins and I started to panic but we saw it out and were winners Telkom Cup - Used this for back up players but the board were not happy with us going out so early Nedbank Cup - Same as above really MTN8 - Once again fall at first hurdle in this, probably shouldn't use this as a pre season thing Black label - comfortable despite the scoreline CAF Super Cup - smashed Champions League winners Orlando to set the tone for the season Squad - Real quality now, slowly getting younger as I sign more young players and promote a few of the best youth products Transfers - the 3 Jan signings probably won us the double to be fair Finances - Good, only this low because we spent 3.8m on training upgrades at the end of the season Key Players Hasshim Domingo - 20 goals and 30 assists - what more could you ask for?Joel Beya - his arrival in Jan gave us a very good striker and 15 goals in 18 games isn't a bad returnMpho Khabane - Beya's arrival meant I could use Khabane in cups as that's where he shins, ended the season with 24 goals and only 7 of them in the league (from only 7 starts and 12 subs to be fair)Lebogang Mngui - been after this guy since he was 17 but wouldn't even talk to me due to the rivalry between us and Sundowns, he went to Bayern in Jan and was listed for loan so thought why not try it, turned out great and is here next season too Japan World Cup Qualifying - Really comfortable as we won all 8 games as the team get used to my tactics. We now have the 2nd qualifying to get through to get to the World Cup Career Overview Season Club League Position Notes/Achievements 2020/21 Cape Town Spurs Championship 3rd Promoted via the promotion mini league 2021/22 Cape Town Spurs Premiership 3rd 3rd when leaving with 3 games to go. National C coaching badge 2021/22 Kaizer Chiefs Premiership 7th Took over for final 3 games. Won Nedbank Cup. 2022/23 Kaizer Chiefs Premiership 1st Won Telkom Cup. National A & B badges done 2023/24 Kaizer Chiefs Premiership 1st Won Champions League. Continental C Badge International Year Country Notes 2024 Japan Qualified for final round of World Cup Qualifiers Challenge Progress Club 1/10 top domestic leagues – South Africa (2023 - Kaizer Chiefs) 1/10 domestic cups – South Africa (2022 – Kaizer Chiefs) 1/5 club continental championships – Africa (2024 Champions league – Kaizer Chiefs) 0/1 club world championship International 0/5 continental tournaments 0/1 world tournaments 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
goonergez Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 @darren1983seeing Domingo tearing it up is giving me real nostalgia from the early days of my challenge. He was already at SuperSport United before I arrived but he was literally my star man for all five seasons there. He’s a real top player in SA. Pretty sure there’s a few others in here who have had him perform wonders for them too. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 1 hour ago, goonergez said: @darren1983seeing Domingo tearing it up is giving me real nostalgia from the early days of my challenge. He was already at SuperSport United before I arrived but he was literally my star man for all five seasons there. He’s a real top player in SA. Pretty sure there’s a few others in here who have had him perform wonders for them too. Yeah he's class, so many times he's come up with a goal or assist when we've needed something Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapsik7 Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 SEASON 9 (2028-2029) Kaizer Chiefs F.C. After taking the team 12th in the table this season, my goal was the Nedbank Cup and the best preparation for the next season. I managed to buy some nice players and rent 2 South African representatives from European teams. In the league, I played 15 games, won 11 and tied 4, managed to win the Nedbank Cup and the CAF Confederation Cup. It is a pity that this second cup does not entitle to play in the Champions League. The goal for the next season is one - the national championship and promotion to the champions league, then victory in the champions league. 3/10 Leagues won (Welsh League - 2023, I-League - 2024, K-League - 2028) 4/10 Cups won (Welsh Cup - 2021, Durand Cup - 2024, KFA Cup - 2028 Nedbank Cup - 2029) 2/5 Continental Tournaments won (Copa Libertadores - 2027, AFC Champions League - 2028) 0/1 Club World Cups won 1/5 International Tournaments won (African Cup of Nations - 2027) 0/1 World Cups won Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gammonds Posted May 5, 2021 Share Posted May 5, 2021 (edited) Dunning Kreuger heads (further) south: Kreuger had been fired by Konyaspor in late September 2024, and decided to take his time looking for his next position. He didn't start applying for jobs until January 2025, and when the Cameroon international position came open in February he decided to take a wild swing. Much to his surprise, Cameroon offered him the job almost immediately. Here's to hoping that Youssoufa Moukoko is as much of a cheat code as he looks like. Spoiler Kreuger continued searching for a club job, and eventually agreed to terms with the Newcastle Jets at the end of March. Spoiler Jets were sitting 11th of 12 in the A League, but with no relegation possible in the division that wasn't a concern. The board simply expects to salvage some pride this year by not finishing last, and following season should present opportunities for growth. These Jets weren't a bad team by A League standards, but they weren't a good one either. The team lacked depth in almost every area of the field, and had several players with weak personalities. Flaws aside, with a bit of encouragement the team found enough confidence to put together an excellent run to close out the year, winning 6 and drawing 2 of their final 9 matches, and climbing from 12th (last) to 8th. The board's injured pride was salved, and now Kreuger had a full off season to bring in new faces and ensure his tactics were fully implemented. Jets were one of the weaker teams in the league in terms of financial resources, but still had some payroll space available if a very limited transfer budget. Immediately after the end of the 2024/25 season Kreuger signed 4 free agents to add depth and a bit of quality, but realistically only 1 of them was likely to start more than the occasional match. Still, this version of Jets should have the quality to challenge for a playoff spot with a bit of luck. Meanwhile, 9 months after his hiring as the Cameroon manager, Kreuger took charge of his first international matches in World Cup qualifying. This version of Cameroon are a fascinating team, with world class players at both ends of the pitch and strong central mids but lacking depth on the wings and without good fullbacks. Cameroon did not disappoint, winning their 2 matches in this international break 9-0 and 5-0. Spoiler An early qualifying loss under the previous manager left them second in their group, but with every reason to believe they could win both remaining games and qualify directly for the next world cup by topping the group. A month later in mid-October 2025, Cameroon did exactly that. A 3-1 win away to Mali put them back in control, and a 3-0 over CAR in the final match secured qualification to the World Cup. The A League off season dragged on. The regular season ended 1 June 2025, the next campaign didn't begin until late December. Inconveniently, the FFA Cup first round was held in late July / early August, so the players had to report back in time to prepare but had very few competitive matches on offer for several months. Jets found the draw unkind. They eliminated the previous year's A League champions on penalties in the first round, but fell to the A League runners up in the second, also on penalties. The regular season started well. Jets climbed as high as 2nd in the league, but were never likely to stay there. 10 games as the table took shape Jets were firmly in the playoff spots, but form began to slip. A 5 game winless run in Feb/Mar 2026 led Kreuger to reshuffle his defense, and the team responded with a 5-0 demolition of Sydney FC, then in 2nd place. While different starting CBs rarely have much to do with scoring goals, the result was cathartic. That was Jet's last match before an international break, somewhat extended for them by the oddities of A League scheduling. Over the break Kreuger's Cameroon side won their 2 opening matches in AFCON qualifying - no less than expected given the relative gap in quality between them and their opponents. Back in the A League, the Jets faced Western United - 11th of 12 at the time. In frustratingly typical fashion, the Jets conceded the opener in the first minute, and struggled to a draw. In hindsight, that was the result which made it clear what the Jets were this season - 4th in the league, and unable to string together more than 2 wins in a row, plagued by inconsistency. However, 4th is not a bad result for this team and this season - it's a playoff spot, a marked improvement from the previous year, and in fact their best result in a decade. Spoiler One of the Jet's bright spots over the season was the emergence of GK Fabian Fritsch as a clear first choice. Bozinoski, Jets regular starter was very good for the A League, if a bit inconsistent. Fritsch started the year as an Australian U23 international and quality backup, and ended as the Jets clear starter and a member of the Australian squad for the World Cup. That's where the trouble started - Fritsch went on international duty the day after the regular season, then Bozinoski was injured in training in the week leading up to the first playoff matches. It was a steep drop off from the 2 first team goalkeepers to the best of the youth ranks. The youngster tried, but didn't exactly cover himself with glory. The defense also didn't do him to many favors. Jets fell to a 2-4 defeat in the first round of the playoffs. While the defeat itself was disappointing, the overall season was something resembling successful. A trophy of any sort had always been out of reach, but a year of development for several younger players should help, and the Jets were qualified for the preliminary stages of the Asian Champion's League. Cameroon was drawn against Paraguay and Belgium in the 2026 World Cup, with the match against Paraguay the first played in the group. Cameroon conceded an unfortunate early goal at the end of the first half, which apparently motivated them to perform much better in the second. The game ended 4-1 in Cameroon's favor on the strength of a Youssoufa Moukoko hat trick. Belgium then also beat Paraguay as expected, meaning Cameroon qualified out of the group round before the final match against Belgium. That was fortunate, given that Belgium were a very good team, and promptly dismantled Cameroon 1-3. Cameroon was drawn against Italy in the Second Round. Italy were favored, but Cameroon were far from hopeless. The game remained scoreless until Italy opened the scoring in the 45th minute. Cameroon pressured early in the 2nd half, but failed to capitalize on 3 or so good chances. Italy then scored a late goal that flattered their performance, and Cameroon went home following a 0-2 loss. While disappointing, the overall result was not shocking - Cameroon were outsiders to make a deep run in the World Cup. Kreuger's next task was rebuilding his Newcastle Jets squad for the 2026/27 season. While still possessing a very small transfer budget, the board did offer a substantial payroll increase, despite a relatively weak balance sheet. Jets received a decent offer for Bosinoski, their now second choice keeper, and promptly cashed in. His replacement was an easy find - a recently released young Argentine who was nearly good enough to start. Even before that was settled, Jets signed 2 very good young central attacking midfielder free agents - one Aussie from Borussia Dortmund and another who was inexplicably not retained by fellow A League team Western United. This left Kreuger with was appeared to be a wonderful selection challenge, but one of the new additions looked likely to play as a #8 quite a bit. By early August it looked like the priority for the roster was now to move on a few veteran players who no longer had a major role, but Kreuger continued to keep an eye out for hidden gems. Jets opened their season in the FFA cup against semi-pro side Toowong FC with a 13-1 win - the new signings already looked good. September saw Cameroon return to action in AFCON qualifying. Both players and manager were still a bit disappointed following their World Cup exit, but channeled those frustrations into fast starts. While the defense struggled a bit late in both matches, Cameroon also won both. With 4 wins from 4 played, they were already qualified for AFCON 2027 and able to treat the final matches in November as a tune up. After their demolition of Toowong, Jets faced much tougher opposition in the FFA Cup. The second round saw a 2-0 win over Perth Glory. In the quarter final, Jets needed extra time to get past Western Sydney Wanderers 2-1. After a 2-0 win over Adelaide in the semis, Jets faced Melbourne City in the FFA Cup final. Jets conceded the opener in the 44th minute, but responded with 3 unanswered goals in first 17 minutes of the second half. With the trophy in sight, Jets right back Todd Murray collected his second yellow card on 71 minutes. Jets bunker-ed in, but not well enough - they conceded 10 minutes later, and again in the 90th minute. Yet another goal given up in extra time saw Jets fall to a 3-4 defeat. Jets began their A League season with administrative nightmares. One of their new attacking mids, Steven Short, formerly of BvB, signed a Scholarship Contract, but for some reason the League office would not allow him to register. (In reality I'm not sure I understand the A League scholarship player rules. Up to this point players I'd had on those contracts could play without registration - and in fact scholarship contracts seem to be ineligible for registration. The contract type also seemed to prohibit me from registering players for the Asian Champion's League when we got to that point - once I realized that I reserved scholarship contracts for long term reserve / development projects.) Both 1st choice and backup goalkeepers were called up for national team duty expected to extend from the beginning of January to 8 February - both missing up to 10 games. If that wasn't enough, the Jets 2 best wingers were injured, one of whom will miss 5-8 weeks. Spoiler January 2027 was a busy month for Dunning Kreuger, with multiple midweek matches in the A League and AFCON starting. He's not yet paid well enough to have his own private jet, but did find access to a little known supersonic charter service. He needed it badly, at one point managing 3 matches in as many days - AFCON, A League and AFCON again. Kreuger also is developing a serious grudge against schedule makers. Cameroon entered AFCON as the 3rd ranked African team, and saw themselves as one of the serious contenders in the tournament. First up was Mauritania, nominally the weakest team in Group E with Cameroon. With only a day between the first and second matches, Kreuger played nearly his entire second team in the opener. While Mauritania never really threatened, Cameroon also generated little in the attack, and only won 1-0 on the strength of a Mauritania own goal. With their first choice attackers starting, Cameroon were much better against Burkina Faso, winning 3-0. A 4-0 victory over Tunisia secured first place in the group. The second round saw Cameroon face Egypt. While Cameroon missed some good early chances, Egypt never really threatened, only generating a single shot. Cameroon won a comfortable 4-0. Cameroon's match in the quarter finals was a mere 2 days later. The squad was tired, and it showed as Cameroon again struggled to generate decent chances for much of the game. Fortunately, Morocco also didn't generate much, and Cameroon got their breakthrough in the 74th minute. A Moroccan own goal in an 84th minute scramble secured the 2-0 win and a semi-final berth for Cameroon. The semi-final match against Ghana was frustrating to say the least. Cameroon's defenders fell asleep to allow an easy counter for Ghana's first chance and first goal. Cameroon leveled the score, then conceded a second to poor marking on a set piece. Cameroon had more and better chances, but failed to finish, striking the post twice and missing an open net after beating the goaltender in a separate opportunity. Spoiler Cameroon met Nigeria in the 3rd place playoff for a chance to salvage wounded pride. The match wasn't Cameroon's best performance, but a 3-2 win was at least satisfying. Kreuger's Newcastle Jets escaped a chaotic January with their ambitions intact. Jets won the games they absolutely had to, securing a berth in the Group Stage of the Asian Champion's League with 2 excellent performances in the qualifying and playoff stages. In the A League, Jets were less successful but held their own. Youth prospect goalkeeper John Hughes had put in some good performances, but also demonstrated he was not ready for the first team on a full time basis. After the first week on February, Jets were 7th in the A League, but with anywhere from 1 to 3 games in hand on the teams ahead of them while sitting 6 points behind the 3 way tie in first. With both first a second choice goalkeepers back from national team commitments and planned starting winger Peter Gwargis returning from a broken toe Jets entered the middle part of the season in a decent place. Kreuger believed that getting his goaltenders back would make a positive difference in Jets form. He was wrong. If anything, Jets performances in the A League declined across March and April. The group stage of the Asian Champion's League was a rousing success, with 4 wins in the first four matches all but securing Jet's place in the knockout rounds. The additional income from the ACL was important to the team's balance sheet, and left the club in its best financial position in years. All positives aside however, the board was focused on A League success. Jets entered May, approaching the end of the regular season in the bottom half of the league and with a rash of injures. Kreuger's position with the board had become a bit uncertain. By the end of April, Kreuger had lost confidence in Fabian Fritsch, who was expected to be the star goaltender for Jets. Free agent signing Fabian Flores had been good in his chances up to this point, so Fabian #1 was quietly relegated to the bench and Fabian #2 took over in goal full time. Jets improved a bit defensively, but not quite enough. The final match of the regular season was against Macarthur FC, one point ahead of the Jets and in 6th place, the final spot in the playoffs. Jets drew, concluding a disappointing season in the A League just out of the playoffs. Spoiler The ongoing ACL was the bright spot - Jets had won their group, and triumphed 3-1 aggregate over Okayama FC in the second round. With the Quarter Finals not scheduled until late August, Jets went into the A League off season clearly needing to do a better job of strengthening the squad than last year. A high quality striker is the biggest need, another good winger is desirable, and there's room to improve in the attacking midfield, at right back, and at reserve center back. While Kreuger had clearly come under some pressure from the board, the Jets strong run in the Asian Champion's League and the narrow margin of failure in the A League seemed to weigh in his favor. The board expressed a bit of concern late in the year, but then went back to their quietly supportive norm shortly after. Edited May 5, 2021 by Gammonds Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SK Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 @darren1983 Did you have Al-Ahly in your African Champions League? They are stacked in mine and look to be the only team I am genuinely concerned about in the CL. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 10 minutes ago, SK said: @darren1983 Did you have Al-Ahly in your African Champions League? They are stacked in mine and look to be the only team I am genuinely concerned about in the CL. Nah they were in the Confederation Cup last season. They do look good with a few players I wouldn't mind. I'm still at Kaizer Chiefs while I wait for a interesting job to appear (got turned down for a interview by Chivas and Suwon turned me down after an interview over the summer) as got a year left on my deal and in no real rush just yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SK Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 2 hours ago, darren1983 said: Nah they were in the Confederation Cup last season. They do look good with a few players I wouldn't mind. I'm still at Kaizer Chiefs while I wait for a interesting job to appear (got turned down for a interview by Chivas and Suwon turned me down after an interview over the summer) as got a year left on my deal and in no real rush just yet. Ah how good. Tbh I did dominate them so I’m still confident I can beat them if I do face them again. True true. Any focus on where you go next? If I win the CL I’m definitely moving on. Been in South Africa long enough. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
goonergez Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 @SK whilst in South Africa it was only really ES Tunis who seemed to be way better. Al-Ahly weren’t bad but I remember beating them with SuperSport. On my save ES Tunis are regularly winning the Champions League. In fact they have won like 9 of the last 12 or so. And lost in the final on at least one of the missing years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 6 hours ago, SK said: Ah how good. Tbh I did dominate them so I’m still confident I can beat them if I do face them again. True true. Any focus on where you go next? If I win the CL I’m definitely moving on. Been in South Africa long enough. Asia or North America next I think. In an ideal world it'll be South Korea as never really managed there before. Done China a few times and Australia is a bit too much like the US and not sure I fancy doing MLS and A League in same save Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SK Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, darren1983 said: Asia or North America next I think. In an ideal world it'll be South Korea as never really managed there before. Done China a few times and Australia is a bit too much like the US and not sure I fancy doing MLS and A League in same save Yeah nice nice. I am from Australia; it is proper annoying with Salary Cap etc. I am trying to avoid it I think. Wouldn't want to do it with MLS for sure; too much thinking involved haha. South Korea would be good 3 hours ago, goonergez said: @SK whilst in South Africa it was only really ES Tunis who seemed to be way better. Al-Ahly weren’t bad but I remember beating them with SuperSport. On my save ES Tunis are regularly winning the Champions League. In fact they have won like 9 of the last 12 or so. And lost in the final on at least one of the missing years. Yeah right. I had ES Tunis in my group in my first season and they were not anything special. Got knocked out at the group stage first year then I think QF/SF the next. Anyways I have a big update now. Edited May 6, 2021 by SK 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SK Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 (edited) Season 2024/2025 So I started the season with some high hopes after my successes last year. It was a fairly frustrating off season as I struggled to find players to improve my squad. I bought one cb for depth and to experiment with and managed to sign Malahabi from Sundowns for my RW spot which was a great addition. I got very lucky though; I signed a bunch of players on a free transfers without too much thought. Three of them ended up working my way in to my starting 18 or so, one leading star striker (Palace), one leading star LW (Modiba) and one star CM (Sibiya). All 18 years old so that gave me a huge boost in depth and quality. Two contributed massively in the CL (see below). Cups Be the Cup- lost this on penalties after a 93rd minute equaliser by Orlando Pirates. No real loss here. Super 8- Knew it would be a long season so didn't have a massive pre season. Unfortunately I was well underdone by the time this came around and I lost in the QF. I had already won it in the past so no biggie but would've been nice to add more trophies to my collection. Knockout Cup- Had a relatively difficult draw as I had SuperSport first up which needed an ET win. Sundowns in the semi was a 1-0 win but it was a very cagey affair, they only had 1 off target shot. I won the final 4-2 against Cape Town Spurs and was nice to win this again. FA Cup- The only domestic trophy to allude me here. Unfortunately it was to continue to do so; I cruised through the early rounds but drew Supersport in the SF which was sandwiched between the CL SF. I rested my whole team, dominated the game but lost 1-0. Champions League This is the one I wanted. Last trophy so I could leave. Group stage was easy as; 6/6 wins left me top. I drew Wydad Casablanca who I beat 5-1 on aggregate in the QF. In the Semi-Final, I faced Al-Alhy who in my opinion were the next best team in the comp and previous two winners. First leg I lost 1-0, one of my players got himself off for a horrid tackle 30 mins in. Held on defiantly but eventually conceded late. I was all ready for a slog in the second leg but it turned out to be anything but. I absolutely dominated from start to finish and won 5-0 to book myself in the final. in someway I was glad to draw them in the SF to give me two games against them. The final was against Club Africain who I beat twice in the group. It took me awhile to break the deadlock but once I did it was all over and won 4-0. It was off great relief as I knew I could move on. League- This was a formality and I was 12 points clear with 9 to go. Ended up winning it with 5 to spare to give me a treble and to become the top Australian Manager in the Hall of Fame. I resigned before the season was out. Rodrigao was my star man with 42 goals in 36 (6) I had the AFCON with Ghana. Was feeling good leading into it but unfortunately it was a disaster of a tournament. I got the group with 2 wins and a loss to finish top. I then had Zimbabwe in what should've been an easy game, another reckless red by one of my players and a worldie later I was 1-0 down and a man down. I peppered the goal but that was that and I was out. I resigned straight away as the sack was surely coming. After finishing up in Africa I wanted to go to CSL to tick Asian Champions League off. I've never managed there before so I figured it would be something a bit different. Guangzhao who were the favourites had their manager under pressure for a solid 2 month. Declared interest twice, they finally sacked their manager and I was appointed. Sitting in 3rd so I should qualify for the CL next season. I will keep an eye out for some international jobs before the World Cup. Most likely; I will try pick one off after the WC. Season Club Competition Position Notes & Achievements 2020/21 Uthongathi FC SA First Division 3rd (promoted via playoffs) 2021/22 Uthongathi FC SA Premier League 4th 2022/23 Kaiser Chiefs SA Premier League 1st. Won Knockout Cup and Be the Coach. 2023/2024 Kaiser Chiefs SA Premier League 1st. Won Super 8 and Be the Coach. CL Finalists. 2024/25 Kaiser Chiefs SA Premier League 1st. Won Knockout Cup and Champions League. International 2021-2023. Nigeria. Lost in QF of AFCON. Sacked. 2023- present- Ghana. Lost in R of 16 AFCON. Resigned before being sacked. 1/10 top domestic leagues (2022/23, 23/24, 24/25 SA Premier League) 1/10 top domestic cups (2022/23, 24/25 SA Knockout Cup, 23/24 Super 8 winners) 1/5 club continental championships (2024/25 African Champions League) 0/1 club world championship 0/5 continental competitions 0/1 world tournaments Edited May 6, 2021 by SK 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
goonergez Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 Red Bull Leipzig: 2046/47 Review My first full season at the helm of RB Leipzig ended in the best possible way, as we snapped the league title on the final day of the league season. Another trophy to my personal collection, and another one counting towards this challenge. Soon afterwards I took my number one in the world France team into the World Cup in South Korea, but we flopped and crashed out in the Second Round. I departed France, but soon took up a new international position as manager of Columbia. Going into this season I was more than confident in my RB Leipzig side performing well again, and chasing trophies was a real target of mine. Alongside that it was about finding a good squad for Columbia, with a host of friendly matches over the course of the campaign. Having clinched the Bundesliga title last season it was all about trying to build a squad that was capable of winning it again. Granted we deserved to win it last time around, but Borussia Dortmund are still the biggest club in Europe and we were significantly helped by the fact they enjoyed a disappointing campaign last time around. We also had the rigours of a Champions League return meaning the squad needed some more work. We spent about £220,000,000 in the summer, including a huge £75,000,000 deal to sign central midfielder Oktay Oz from Paris. We did rake in more though, selling plyers for a total value of just under £240,000,000. I was pleased with the business we had done and was confident we could hit the ground running. We did indeed manage to hit the ground running, picking up silverware in the first game of the new season. A 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich in the DFL Super Cup really flattered our opponents as we could've scored a bucket load in a dominant performance. Winning the season curtain raiser seemed to give us real momentum, as we strung together a superb run of form to kick off the league campaign. Six straight wins started the season, with another one over Bayern Munich as well as a last gap one over Borussia Dortmund setting us up nicely. We made progress in the DFB Pokal too, as well as starting off well in the Champions League. In fact the first half of the season went very well indeed. We hit the winter break second to Dortmund, although there were only a couple of points in it. On top of that we had reached the Third Round of the DFB Pokal, and progressed to the first knockout round of the Champions League. Confidence was high, and results were flowing nicely. Unfortunately for us the winter break seemed to really derail us. A shock defeat to Hertha Berlin in the domestic cup was hard to accept, and a run of four defeats in five league matches saw us drop well off of the pace. Dortmund cruised to a 12 point lead at the top, and in all honesty our hopes of a second consecutive title were over by the end of February. The last few months of the season basically came down to trying to win the Champions League, far from an easy task. With the final to be played at our own RB Leipzig stadium there was a real incentive to put a run together. As mentioned previously we really started the season off strongly, and we won a group containing Manchester United, Roma and Red Bull Salzburg. In fact we went unbeaten with a 4-2-0 record and conceding just the three goals within it. A sensational effort that booked us a spot in the first knockout round, and a tie against Atletico Madrid. In a low scoring affair we managed to navigate through Atletico Madrid, winning 1-0 on aggregate after an away win and a goal less draw at home. It was tense and nerve racking, but we defended really well across both matches. The Quarter Final was even worse really. We travelled away to Marseille in the first leg, suffering a disappointing 0-1 defeat in which we mustered just the solitary attempt on goal. Going into the second leg I was unexpectant, but we scored three goals in the opening half hour to race into a 3-0 lead. The scoring stopped there and we held on to progress to the semi-finals. A two legged semi-final against a European power house was a superb opportunity, although we were aware of the challenge we were to face. The first leg was away and it was all about trying to grab an away goal and keep ourselves in the tie. The first leg was a goal fest, although it didn't end the way we would have liked. At half time we trailed 2-4, still in the tie and valuable away goals in our favour. The second half was dominant, but not from ourselves. We had to dig really deep to keep ourselves in the tie, and we managed it. There were no further goals, meaning we would go into the second leg 2-4 behind but with two away goals. It would be a big ask, but I was still hopeful. In the end it was heart break for us as we crashed out one match before a dream final at our own home. We actually performed superbly, but chasing that vital second goal we conceded the tie killing strike. It was devastating, but we performed really well to draw 1-1 and only narrowly miss out on the final. The big question now comes down to what I see for my managerial future. I've definitely enjoyed my time with this football club, but I am seriously considering the possibility of moving on to somewhere new. I've grabbed another league title, but the DFB Pokal keeps evading me and I am not sure if I ever see myself managing to turn this side into the powerhouse of German football. Dortmund are just too strong, and I cannot see myself building a team to topple them consistently quickly enough. Although it is tempting to stay here an try, I don't want my career to stutter. For that reason I am definitely going to be keeping my options open. I feel that I have done enough here to make myself a candidate for any of the top jobs in Europe now, and that is exactly what I am going to do. Hopefully I can use this enhancement in my reputation to jump around Europe grabbing trophies and totting up my trophy count. I am not going to resign from my position, but I am definitely going to throw my name in the hat for any big and exciting opportunities that pop up. For now it is about trying to strengthen the squad some more and focusing on a couple of friendly matches with my Columbia side. Columbia: 2046/47 Season After four years as manager of France, I departed after a far from impressive World Cup campaign last summer. A shock loss to Nigeria saw us exit at the Second Round stage, and with a large number of older players in the squad I felt that the rebuild just wasn't worth my time. Having resigned from my position it didn't take me long to sign a deal to become the new manager of Columbia. Ranked 8th in the World they too had suffered a disappointing time at the World Cup, also suffering elimination at the Second Round stage. The squad with Columbia looked strong though, and it was certainly an exciting opportunity for me. Only Brazil and Argentina are ranked higher in the world, and I see no reason why I can't put together a squad that can compete for the major international honours, especially the Copa America. Despite the fact the squad looked strong, there was still a slight rebuild needed with my new nation. There was definitely some significant quality there, but a few of the more fringe players were the wrong side of 30, and new faces were definitely needed. With a lack of any major competitions or qualifiers we had a number of friendly matches, which meant I could try and bring some new faces into the squad and look towards the future a little. Initially it didn't really work out too well for us though. My reign started with a drab 0-0 draw at home to Canada, before we dominated at home to South Korea but suffered a disappointing 1-2 defeat. Next up we finally showed some positive signs though, smashing Egypt 5-0 (also at home) in a game which saw a young 17-year old striker bag a goal on debut. Several months passed before another double header, as we travelled to play both Australia and China in a couple more friendly matches. Away in Australia we put in a lacklustre display, affected by club manager requests to restrict a number of key men to just 45 minute performances. We defended well enough, but up top we lacked a real cutting edge. Disappointingly we conceded a stoppage time goal to lose out 0-1. We would suffer similar restriction three days later as we got ready to face off against China. A really poor first half saw us fall behind, before a stronger second half at least ensured we would gain a 1-1 draw. Hopefully with a full quota of players and no managerial restrictions we should be more competitive. The biggest worry so far is that Columbian legend and Barcelona striker Ruben Polo has yet to add to his 66 international goals under my management. We've struggled to find the net, but hopefully if we can get him contributing then that issue will be a thing of the past. My spell with Columbia has started fairly strongly, although obviously slightly inconsistently. Results haven't been good (1-2-2 record) but I have seen enough to feel I can be successful here though, that's for sure. The players seem to have responded to my tactical style and I have a lot of hope going forwards. I honestly believe we can challenge for major honours and am very excited to be here. Hopefully we can continue to improve and develop, and I can gradually turn some of the younger options into real key components in our side. Season Club Competition Position Notes & Achievements 2020/21 Uthongathi FC SA First Division 2nd 2021/22 Uthongathi FC SA First Division 1st (C) SA First Division Winners 2022/23 SuperSport United SA Premier 2nd SA Knockout Cup Winners 2023/24 SuperSport United SA Premier 3rd 2024/25 SuperSport United SA Premier 2nd Confederations Cup Winners, SA Cup Winners 2025/26 SuperSport United SA Premier 1st (C) SA Premier League Winners, SA Cup Winners, CAF Super Cup Winners, Super-8 Cup Winners, 2026/27 SuperSport United SA Premier 3rd SA Knockout Cup Winners, CAF Champions League Winners 2027 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 6th 2028 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 2nd Chinese FA Cup Winners 2029 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 2nd Asian Champions League Winners, Chinese FA Cup Winners 2030 Beijing Gouan Chinese Super League 1st (C) Chinese Super League Winners, Chinese Super Cup Winners 2031 DC United MLS East Conference 6th 2032/33 River Plate Argentinian Premier 5th Copa Argentinos Winners 2033/34 River Plate Argentinian Premier 2nd Copa Sudamericana Winners, Copa Argentinos Winners, Argentinian Super Cup Winners, Sudamericana Super Cup Winners 2034/35 River Plate Argentinian Premier 2nd Copa Libertadores Winners, Sudamericana Super Cup Winners 2035 Seattle Sounders MLS Western Conference 5th MLS Western Conference Winners 2036 Seattle Sounders MLS Western Conference 1st (C) MLS Cup Winners, Supporters Shield Winners, MLS Western Conference Winners, Leagues Cup Winners 2037 Seattle Sounders MLS Western Conference 1st MLS Western Conference Winners, Supporters Shield Winners, Campeones Cup Winners 2038/39 Mainz FC/ Schalke 04 Bundesliga - 2039 LA Galaxy MLS Western Conference 5th 2040 LA Galaxy MLS Western Conference 1st Supporters Shield Winners 2041 LA Galaxy MLS Western Conference - CONCACAF Champions League Winners 2041/42 Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga 4th 2042/43 Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga 4th 2043/44 Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga 6th 2044/45 RB Leipzig Bundesliga 7th 2045/46 RB Leipzig Bundesliga 1st (C) Bundesliga Winners 2046/47 RB Leipzig Bundesliga 2nd DFL Super Cup Winners, Year Nation Honours 2042-2046 France Nations League Winners (2043) 2046- Columbia 4/10 top domestic leagues (2025/26 SA Premier League, 2030 Chinese Super League Winners, 2037 MLS Cup Winners, 2045/46 Bundesliga Winners) 3/10 top domestic cups (2022/23 SA Knockout Cup, 2024/25 SA Cup Winners, 2028 Chinese FA Cup Winners, 2032/33 Copa Argentinos Winners) 4/5 club continental championships (2026/27 CAF Champions League Winners, 2029 Asian Champions League Winners, 2034/35 Copa Libertadores Winners, 2041 CONCACAF Champions League Winners) 0/1 club world championship 0/5 continental competitions 0/1 world tournaments Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surd Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 Anyone else have trouble controlling the U23's side for the Olympics in FM20? I've selected Take Control when given the option and I've manually gone in and switched the settings to me having all the responsibilities, but it doesn't work, the best I can do is control the Friendlies, then it automates the Olympics. Any advice? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkouv Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 Season 17 (2036/37) - RB Leipzig I was somewhat lucky with the RB Leipzig job coming up as soon as I quit Rostov, and after winning the Copa with Brazil I could fully concentrate on the remaining club trophies. The squad was a bit of a mess, they had way too many players, maybe something happened to the II team and they all got integrated into the first team squad or something like that. So I spent the summer trying to get rid of close to 30 players, and got a bit carried away with new signings as usual, spending north of £200m throughout the season, albeit much of that was recouped through sales. Most of the players on my Rostov shortlist were not good enough for Leipzig, so I signed a few players from my Brazil team and a Chilean forward Poblete who I’ve been eying up since I was at Nantes but somehow was still playing in Chile, even though I had to fight off Arsenal and PSG for his signature. The signings were a bit hit and miss to be honest, and the team took some time to gel, but the squad is much leaner and better than when I took over. League The German league has a lot more depth than France and Russia, and there were no easy games here, e.g. lowly Augsburg beat us both home and away during the season. But luckily for us Bayern, who won the last 5 titles, really messed things up this season so it was down to us, Hertha and Dortmund fighting it out at the top. Dortmund started brightly but faded away in the second half as I edged into first place. Hertha pushed us all the way, and with 2 games to go I had to play them and Dortmund, needing to get at least a point from both games. We drew with Dortmund and Hertha lost, so the title was ours with a game to spare. Cup I had a tough draw away to Hertha in the third round and we really imploded. My newly signed Brazilian defensive midfielder gave away a penalty in the 7th minute, we conceded from a set piece and then got ripped apart on the counter as we chased an equaliser. A well deserved 4-1 loss, and no cup for us this year. We won the Europa Conference though, for whatever that’s worth (not much I know...) Players Even though we won the league, the players were a bit inconsistent. Midfielder Hernan Camacho was probably the most consistent of the lot, providing 10 goals and 16 assists from left wing. Center back Eckard Ehreiser who we signed in January quickly became our best defender, and the Chilean Paul Poblete, who I finally managed to sign after failed attempts with Nantes and Rostov, is probably our best player attributes-wise but had a bit of a poor second half of the season, so I hope he kicks on properly next year. Next I’ll stay on for now but might jump ship if a good job in England becomes available, and have loaded the Scottish league with an eye on Viking a cup. There’s a fair bit of squad rebuilding still to do at Leipzig, I got some promising youngsters coming back from loan and I finally managed to scout two left backs after playing a centre back there all season, so things are looking promising for that elusive cup campaign. CLUB CAREER ----------- Season Club Division League Cups Notes 1st 2nd Cont CWC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 TS Sporting RSA Div. 1 5 Took over in 9th, finished 5th 2021/22 TS Sporting RSA Div. 1 1 2022/23 Orlando Pirates RSA Premier 1 Won Won A quintuple of league, MTN 8, Knockout cup, Nedbank cup and CAF confed cup 2023/24 Orlando Pirates RSA Premier 1 Won Won Won A clean sweep domestically + champions league 2024/25 Cruz Azul Mex Liga BBVA 1 Won Won both apertura and clasura 2025/26 Cruz Azul Mex Liga BBVA 1 Won 2026/27 Jeonbuk K League 1 1 Won Won A quickly completed treble 2027/28 San Lorenzo Argentine Premier 2 2028/29 San Lorenzo Argentine Premier 1 Won A domestic double + Copa Sudamericana 2029/30 San Lorenzo Argentine Premier n/a Won Won Copa Libertadores in November 2029/30 Fiorentina Serie A 5 Took over in 18th but just missed out on CL 2030/31 Fiorentina Serie A 1 Won 2031/32 Barcelona La Liga 1 Won Runners up in the CL 2032/33 Barcelona La Liga 1 Won Won Won 2033/34 Nantes Ligue 1 4 Won Won the Europa league 2034/35 Nantes Ligue 1 1 Won Won 2035/36 Rostov Russian PL 1 Won 2036/37 RB Leipzig Bundesliga 1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTERNATIONAL CAREER -------------------- Season Nation Cups Notes World Cup Euros Asian Cup ACON Gold Cup Copa America ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 Turkmenistan 2021/22 Uzbekistan Qualified for World Cup through playoffs 2022/23 Uzbekistan World Cup Group Stage; Asian cup Q/F 2023/24 Ivory Coast 2024/25 Ivory Coast Won 2025/26 Ivory Coast Lost in World Cup third round 2026/27 Australia Won 2028/29 Mexico Won 2029/30 Mexico Lost in World Cup third round 2030/31 France Won the Nations League 2031/32 France Won 2032/33 France Won the Nations League 2033/34 France Won 2034/35 Brazil 2035/36 Brazil Won ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Challenge Progress: Club 9/10 top domestic leagues: South Africa (Orlando Pirates); Mexico (Cruz Azul); South Korea (Jeonbuk); Argentina (San Lorenzo); Italy (Fiorentina); Spain (Barcelona); France (Nantes); Russia (Rostov); Germany (Leipzig) 8/10 domestic cups: South Africa (Orlando Pirates); Mexico (Cruz Azul); South Korea (Jeonbuk); Argentina (San Lorenzo); Italy (Fiorentina); Spain (Barcelona); France (Nantes); Russia (Rostov) 5/5 club continental championships: CAF Champions League (Orlando Pirates), CONCACAF CL (Cruz Azul); Asian CL (Jeonbuk); Copa Libertadores (San Lorenzo); Champions League (Barcelona) 1/1 club world championship: Barcelona International 5/5 continental tournaments: ACON (Ivory Coast); Asian Cup (Australia); Gold Cup (Mexico); Euros (France); Copa America (Brazil) 1/1 world tournaments: WC (France) Overall: 29/32 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pug 407 Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 (edited) Pug's Update So After Winning The ACON I Applied For And Got The Mexican Job. Up First Was The CONCACAF Nations League Semi's Against Honduras And A Resounding 9-0 Win. In The Final Was A Match Against USA And A 2-0 Win To Claim The Nations League. Nations League . Also Going On Was The Copa America And A Group Consistent Of Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay And Bolivia With 5 Out Of 5 Wins To Top The Group. Copa America Group . In The Quarter's We We're Drawn Against Peru And Last Minute 3-2 Win. Up Next Was A Semi's Was A Hard 2-1 Win Over Argentina. The Final was Against Brazil And A 1-3 Defeat Which Could Have Been A lot More If They Put Most Of There Chance's Away. Copa America . On The Club Side I Applied For And Got The Orlando Pirates Job. Edited May 7, 2021 by pug 407 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted May 7, 2021 Author Share Posted May 7, 2021 16 hours ago, Surd said: Anyone else have trouble controlling the U23's side for the Olympics in FM20? I've selected Take Control when given the option and I've manually gone in and switched the settings to me having all the responsibilities, but it doesn't work, the best I can do is control the Friendlies, then it automates the Olympics. Any advice? Do you have a U23 manager? If you do, perhaps you need to sack him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 I got my new job and it's in South Koera like I had hoped. Never managed here before so we'll see how it goes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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