The Ultimate Football Manager Challenge

[The Regista]

So I've started my attempt and holidayed through to early January 2021 to get through the initial job selection, as I didn't feel any of the jobs were pretty appropriate.

Randomly, I was offered an interview in Scotland, and then offered the following job:

Spoiler

Is this normal? I can't help but feel that, given my manager not having any qualifications it seems a bit of a high profile job for a first one?!

My manager's profile again (I redid the league set up in my save)

 

Spoiler

Let me know what you think? Seems too good to be true and that I feel like I've done something wrong?

 

[MShing]

Season 2030/31 Review

 

After the shambles that was my brief stint at Newell's Old Boys I finally landed a job in the English Premier League with Leicester City. I took over in January halfway though the season. Pre-season the media predicted a 6th place finish for Leicester but their aging squad just did not play to expectations and were 16th when I took over.

I was surprised to be given the job after I have previous failed applications to much lesser teams in other leagues. It might have had something to do with the board asking to a mid table finish but I promised them Europa League qualification, which meant a 7th place finish. The pressure was on! In the Cups they wanted a semi final appearance in the FA Cup and in the Europa League. To upset my board and put even more pressure on my position I got knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round by Man City and I was later knocked out of the Europa League by Porto in the second round.

As the season was drawing to a close, I kept getting news items that a loss in the next game would cost me my job. I had been in the position 3 or 4 months and my job was insecure, damn my ambitious promise for Europa League qualification was it going to bite me on my ass?

TRANSFERS

I had a £35 million transfer kitty, I sold a few of the dead wood players and brought in a couple of much needed youngsters to join the likes of aging, Tammy Abraham (33), James Maddison (34), Ndidi (34), Soyuncu (35) and Tielemans (34). My signing of January was without a doubt Rodrigo Sole, a world class Argentinian CM an absolute steal at £23 mil.

 

LEAGUE

Spoiler

My first match was against Liverpool at the top of the list. Our old player were invigorated and I seemed to get the whole dressing room onside straight away, even though 4 or 5 of their 'top' players wanted to leave. Some had even already signed pre contract deals elsewhere but still performed. Our run was absolutely fantastic it looked like we would make the Europa League and save my job.

LEAGUE TABLE

Spoiler

Even with our great run of form we just missed out on Europa League Qualification I was gutted but knew we could not have done anymore. If I do keep my job I am excited to see how well we do next season.

 

TOP PLAYER

Would have to be our top scorer. Ernie Braithwaite. I had 3 strikers with all similar attributes, Ernie was on my bench to begin with, my first choice striker just missed too many chances and after a few super sub performances, he earned his chance and never looked back and finished with 19 goals from 19 starts

 

WHATS NEXT?

The board did ask me for a meeting at the end of the season to explain how we had failed so miserably in not achieving our goals this season, I didnt have an option to say we went on a 17 game unbeaten run to miss out on Europa League qualification on the last day of the season by 2 points, but they did accept my explanation about our form, which didnt really make sense with what actually happened but they seemed happy with my choice so I kept my job and now I can begin to plan for next season.

Also In January I was appointed South Korea Manager after they got knocked out the Asian Cup In Jan. No competitions of note coming up yet, qualification for the World Cup starts soon. Couple of friendlies so far so good

Season   Team   		Position  	Key Player		Notes and Achievements
21/22	 Supersport United	1st		Rodney Ramagalela	Won Telekom Knockout Cup
22/23	 Supersport United	1st		Oswin Appollis		Won CAF Champions league, MTN 8 Cup, Knockout Cup
2023	 Guangzhou Evergrande	2nd		Elkeson			Won Chinese FA Cup
2024	 Guangzhou Evergrande	1st		Anton Miranchuk		Won Chinese FA Cup, Won Asian Champions League
2026/27	 C.F. Monterrey		3rd		Duvan Vergara		Won Copa MX
2027/28	 C.F. Monterrey		6th		n/a			n/a
2028/29	 Newell's Old Boys	15th		n/a			n/a
2030/31	 Leicester City		8th		Ernie Braithwaite	missed out on Europa qualify 2 points

Challenge Progress

Club

2/10 top domestic leagues (South Africa, China)

3/10 domestic cups (South Africa, China, Mexico)

2/5 club continental championships (CAF Champions League, Asian Champions League)

0/1 club world championship

International

2026 	Nigeria		ACON		Knocked out in QF pens		Sacked
2029	Ivory Coast	ACON		Win				Resigned
2031	South Korea

1/5 continental tournaments (ACON - Ivory Coast 2029)

0/1 world tournaments ()

 

[vikeologist]

9 hours ago, The Regista said:

So I've started my attempt and holidayed through to early January 2021 to get through the initial job selection, as I didn't feel any of the jobs were pretty appropriate.

Randomly, I was offered an interview in Scotland, and then offered the following job:

  Hide contents

Is this normal? I can't help but feel that, given my manager not having any qualifications it seems a bit of a high profile job for a first one?!

My manager's profile again (I redid the league set up in my save)

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Let me know what you think? Seems too good to be true and that I feel like I've done something wrong?

 

The first jobs one can get are a bit unpredictable this year. I doubt there's anything wrong with your manager profile. What reputation are Dunfermline?

[libbyshuss]

11 hours ago, lukefox44 said:

Unfortunately with the league split the points on the board are halved, meaning our 8 point lead was no only a 4 point lead and having to play the other 3 teams in the top 4 twice each.

sucks doesn't it? i came second in my first season because of that - i was miles ahead in the first stage! 

[MShing]

On 21/11/2020 at 19:58, MShing said:

Check this lad out i signed in the summer. Look at those stats for 15 years old! He cost me 500k, he locked in  a 800k release clause in his contract  I'm going to keep tabs on him and try to sign him for as many of my future teams I can. He scored a beauty of a goal in his first start of the season too. I hope I can keep him until we win the Champions League and not lose him before then 

Remember this 15 year old beast I signed in 2022, I wanted to keep signing him throughout my career and develop him. This is him now.

Once I left Supersport I signed him for Guangzhou Evergrande, by the time the transfer completed and I could register him I had left so I didnt get chance to use him. After that he moved to PSG and now recently to Real Madrid. Maybe our paths will cross again sometime soon in the future.

[lukefox44]

58 minutes ago, libbyshuss said:

sucks doesn't it? i came second in my first season because of that - i was miles ahead in the first stage! 

I was over 12 points clear at one stage, a few bad results and the league split and my lead was only 4. Seems a little bit unfair, but kept it exciting I guess.

My first taste of slightly weird rules in this save and with both North and South America it wont be the last.

[lukefox44]

Luke Fox

Supersport Untied 

2027 / 2028

 

So after my time in Belgium I decided it was time to go back to South Africa and get that side of the challenge done. I had to wait six months for a decent job to pop up, Supersport were predicted to finish 4th but were sat in 9th at the time. They were not in trouble of relegation but were also pretty far removed from the teams above, they were in complete no mans land when I took over.

These are the results I managed with them in the league, 8 wins, 6 draws and 2 loses, nothing too special but you would of expected us to at least climb the table a little bit.

 

Spoiler

 

Her are the past positions since we took over against Orlando Pirates to the end of the season.

 

Spoiler

 

As you can see we didn't really make any great strides up the table but the form has been good enough to give me hope of a serious title push next year.

 

Challenge Progress

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

[The Regista]

6 hours ago, vikeologist said:

The first jobs one can get are a bit unpredictable this year. I doubt there's anything wrong with your manager profile. What reputation are Dunfermline?

Dunfermline have a 2.5 star reputation listed as National, and play in the Scottish Championship. The division is listed as 63rd in terms of reputation in Europe, just below the Finnish Premier League and 3. Bundesliga, and just above the Polish First Division, Israeli National League and Sky Bet League Two.

Here's the table at the point of being offered the job.

In 9th place but 15 games of the season to go. Even though they are on 10 points it's not like they are miles behind everyone else. They were 3rd favourites to win the Scottish Championship, but even just getting promoted would see me playing top flight football very quickly!

As I said, seems too good to be true?

[JamLUFC]

2026

Well that logo was bigger than I wanted. Fairly smooth sailing this was, appointed with the side 6 points clear after 17 games with 19 to play, and ended up as Champions with four games to go. We eventually won the league by 12 points to put us in the top division, and I actually back us to do well in the top division. We reached the fourth round of the cup but lost in extra time to Pohang Steelers who finished fourth in the top division. The cup will be my priority for next season to get my first domestic cup on the board. My undoubted star was Bruno Baio, a 6'5 striker with a 17 jumping reach - floated crosses and aiming corners in his direction saw him score 13 goals in the last 11 games of the season. 

 

In terms of Internationals I applied for every available job after the World Cup whilst remaining in post at Trinidad and Tobago, just to see what we attracted and I was surprised with the quality which came back - Senegal, Nigeria, Morocco, Uruguay and World number two Belgium! I ruled out Senegal who were bottom of their AFCON qualifiers, and Morocco and Uruguay as they were unlikely to win their tournament. Belgium was very tempting to raise my profile in Europe however with only 6 months to wait until the AFCON I opted to move to

 

It was very tough, and I'm still unsure if I made the right move. I have, however, qualified for the African Cup of Nations as group winners from Angola, Malawi and Equatorial Guinea as well as beating Senegal in a friendly. With Osimhen, Onyekuru, Eze, Ndidi and Iwobi I'm very optimistic of my chances to get my first International trophy on the board. There was a logic in that if I am successful then there will be a chance to pick up a team after the Asian Cup in February or Gold Cup in summer 2027 as well as securing me a future job with Kaiser Chiefs or Orlando Pirates in South Africa.

 

 

[The Regista]

@JamLUFC - Think I'd have picked Nigeria as well with AFCON just round the corner. You have some excellent attacking options there!! Do you see yourself there long term?

[The Regista]

 

Dunfermline Athletic Football Club - The Takeover

My first club in the save and, as I've mentioned before, this appears to be a pretty reasonable choice!! I'm shocked to take on a club in as prominent a division as the Scottish Championship (don't laugh!). One promotion and we're playing top flight football already, which could really open up the save for me faster than I could have imagined.

So yes - Dunfermline. The area of Fife is not exactly known for it's footballing pedigree, though The Pars can boast the likes of Jock Stein and George Farm as previous managers. Famous former players include Owen Coyle, "The Chosen One" David Moyes, and arguably the greatest manager of all time - Sir Alex Ferguson. Now, they can add the mighty Reg Ista to the illustrious men to be associated with Fife's premier club.

The club has experienced some success previously; Jock Stein won his first ever silverware at Dunfermline, bringing the Scottish Cup to The Pars in 1961. Dunfermline are no strangers to winning the Scottish Championship, with four title victories to their name.

I take over in mid January 2021. Things (as you will have seen) look bleak for us right now:

Not exactly sure what's happened here. Dunfermline were considered 3rd favourites to win promotion. Although there are 15 games left of the season, the playoffs aren't too far out of reach right now. That being said, the aim is to stay in the division, and reinforce in the summer for a proper promotion push in 2021/22. We do have some recognisable names in the squad - Owain fon Williams also provides goalkeeping coaching services, and veteran Steven Whittaker is also on the books. Whittaker will likely partner the highly rated Euan Murray in defence, and thus our core defensive unit is reasonably strong. Elsewhere, the squad is bare bones, with only two strikers on the books in Kevin O'Hara and Declan McManus.

To try and prevent the freefall, along with it being halfway through the January transfer window, I've had to act quickly. With the attribute masking on, along with having very little scouting knowledge, my attempts at immediate scouting have been very... how can we say... basic. I've opted to go the loan route, aiming to secure the services of the highest valued players interested in coming. To that end, we've secured the double loan signings of Southampton midfielder Callum Slattery and forward Dan N'Lundulu. We've also brought in wide forward Tanguy Coulibaly from Stuttgart. Additionally, we've got trials GALORE right now - but with £100k wage budget we've got funds to strengthen. 

We've played two matches so far - losing 1-0 to Morton but picked up a vital 3 points in a 2-0 win at home to Ayr. That win stopped a 7 game losing streak - I'm praying for a 7 game winning streak which would really turn the season around!

Typically I was also offered some international work (New Caledonia, American Samoa etc) - but this wouldn't be worth exploring at such an early stage.

I'll report back at the end of the season when we're hopefully, at least, still a Scottish Championship club.

[JamLUFC]

2027 African Cup of Nations

 

I'm completing this live as I go through the tournament

Group Stage

Spoiler

We've been drawn in a group with South Africa, Niger and Congo and the opening game is against South Africa - easily the toughest opponents in the group and we open with a 3-1 victory with a Victor Osimhen hat trick. I already think that the group stage is done, and a result against Congo in the second game will pretty much assure of that. 

Congo up next and a routine 4-0 win which featured two beautiful volley's from our right back Jasper to put us through to the last 16. Goals from Iwobi and an Osimhen penalty rounded up the win, as Congo received two red cards in the last five minutes of the game. With South Africa winning their game we're guaranteed top spot in the group and we're in the second round, and have a chance to rest players for the final group game. Teams that you'd expect to all look like topping their group so we should have a favourable game in the next round

Final group game against Niger gives the opportunity to make 10 changes to the line up. Uzoho retains his place in goal, as the second choice plays for Chester and I wanted Uzoho to get another clean sheet under his belt. Josh Onomah was the star of the show with a hat trick in a 5-0 win, with Moffi and Awaziem also getting on the scoresheet.

Second Round

Spoiler

Morocco in the second round which could have been kinder. They were a club which offered me a job in the summer so this could be painful. Worth noting that Cameroon play Egypt, Senegal take on South Africa and Tunisia go against Ghana so a couple of the better teams could go out.

So much for being tough as Osimhen was again the hero as he bagged a brace with defenders Jasper and Akpoguma also getting on the scoresheet in a 4-0 victory as we absolutely dominated the match

Quarter Final

Spoiler

So with just two days rest we are drawn against Cameroon in the Quarter Finals, who defeated hosts Egypt so this won't be an easy game.

1-0 down but Osimhen bags one back within two minutes. I then go through one of the most frustrating games I've had on FM, as we went to extra time and I was convinced I was about to be FM'ed (just check the stats below)! Fitness also began to kill us, however late goals for Etebo and Eze gave us a 3-1 win and put us into the semi finals.

Semi Final

Spoiler

I guess my moaning about less rest time balances out here, as we get an extra days break Ivory Coast who we play in the semis. With DRC or Senegal in the semis this is effectively our final as I see this as the toughest game we have.

Another edgy game where we led twice through Osimhen and Onyekuru but were pegged back twice, but a second from Osimhen from a worked corner gave us a 3-2 lead and put Nigeria - and more importantly me - into a final!

Final/3rd Place Game

Spoiler

So we made it to the final, six months after taking the job and we have a chance of getting our first of six International trophies!

And that was more like it! If only we were this clinical throughout, it would have been a much less nervy tournament! Tijani, Iwobi and an own goal gave us an early 3-0 lead before they pulled one back. Straight after the half time break Onyeka restored our three goal lead and a late second goal for Iwobi secured us a 5-1 win and brought Nigeria their fifth African Nations Cup and me my second of 32 trophies!

 

What's Next?

Spoiler

For me it's short and sweet in Nigeria as I resigned the following day. I don't see winning the World Cup as realistic with Nigeria so it's a case of wait and see what else comes up. The Asian Cup has been played at the same time however only the Japan job has come up, and as they don't have a tournament for four years I'm also sitting this one out. I think realistically I'll sit out until after the Gold Cup in the summer as I may have a chance with Mexico or USA before the 2029 cup, otherwise I'll wait until 2028 and hope to get a major nation following the Euros or Copa America as I may get a four year cycle with a World Cup and following continental competition. The focus on club trophies may actually be a benefit to me as well!

 

Progress

Spoiler

 

 

[vikeologist]

6 hours ago, JamLUFC said:

2027 African Cup of Nations

 

 

I'm completing this live as I go through the tournament

 

Always best, so we can read appalled as your hopes and dreams die before our eyes, although on this occasion I offer my congratulations.

[The Regista]

9 hours ago, JamLUFC said:

2027 African Cup of Nations

 

I'm completing this live as I go through the tournament

Group Stage

  Reveal hidden contents

We've been drawn in a group with South Africa, Niger and Congo and the opening game is against South Africa - easily the toughest opponents in the group and we open with a 3-1 victory with a Victor Osimhen hat trick. I already think that the group stage is done, and a result against Congo in the second game will pretty much assure of that. 

Congo up next and a routine 4-0 win which featured two beautiful volley's from our right back Jasper to put us through to the last 16. Goals from Iwobi and an Osimhen penalty rounded up the win, as Congo received two red cards in the last five minutes of the game. With South Africa winning their game we're guaranteed top spot in the group and we're in the second round, and have a chance to rest players for the final group game. Teams that you'd expect to all look like topping their group so we should have a favourable game in the next round

Final group game against Niger gives the opportunity to make 10 changes to the line up. Uzoho retains his place in goal, as the second choice plays for Chester and I wanted Uzoho to get another clean sheet under his belt. Josh Onomah was the star of the show with a hat trick in a 5-0 win, with Moffi and Awaziem also getting on the scoresheet.

Second Round

  Reveal hidden contents

Morocco in the second round which could have been kinder. They were a club which offered me a job in the summer so this could be painful. Worth noting that Cameroon play Egypt, Senegal take on South Africa and Tunisia go against Ghana so a couple of the better teams could go out.

So much for being tough as Osimhen was again the hero as he bagged a brace with defenders Jasper and Akpoguma also getting on the scoresheet in a 4-0 victory as we absolutely dominated the match

Quarter Final

  Reveal hidden contents

So with just two days rest we are drawn against Cameroon in the Quarter Finals, who defeated hosts Egypt so this won't be an easy game.

1-0 down but Osimhen bags one back within two minutes. I then go through one of the most frustrating games I've had on FM, as we went to extra time and I was convinced I was about to be FM'ed (just check the stats below)! Fitness also began to kill us, however late goals for Etebo and Eze gave us a 3-1 win and put us into the semi finals.

Semi Final

  Reveal hidden contents

I guess my moaning about less rest time balances out here, as we get an extra days break Ivory Coast who we play in the semis. With DRC or Senegal in the semis this is effectively our final as I see this as the toughest game we have.

Another edgy game where we led twice through Osimhen and Onyekuru but were pegged back twice, but a second from Osimhen from a worked corner gave us a 3-2 lead and put Nigeria - and more importantly me - into a final!

Final/3rd Place Game

  Reveal hidden contents

So we made it to the final, six months after taking the job and we have a chance of getting our first of six International trophies!

And that was more like it! If only we were this clinical throughout, it would have been a much less nervy tournament! Tijani, Iwobi and an own goal gave us an early 3-0 lead before they pulled one back. Straight after the half time break Onyeka restored our three goal lead and a late second goal for Iwobi secured us a 5-1 win and brought Nigeria their fifth African Nations Cup and me my second of 32 trophies!

 

What's Next?

  Reveal hidden contents

For me it's short and sweet in Nigeria as I resigned the following day. I don't see winning the World Cup as realistic with Nigeria so it's a case of wait and see what else comes up. The Asian Cup has been played at the same time however only the Japan job has come up, and as they don't have a tournament for four years I'm also sitting this one out. I think realistically I'll sit out until after the Gold Cup in the summer as I may have a chance with Mexico or USA before the 2029 cup, otherwise I'll wait until 2028 and hope to get a major nation following the Euros or Copa America as I may get a four year cycle with a World Cup and following continental competition. The focus on club trophies may actually be a benefit to me as well!

 

Progress

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Congrats @JamLUFC - smart decision to win the AFCON and move on.

[JamLUFC]

3 hours ago, vikeologist said:

Always best, so we can read appalled as your hopes and dreams die before our eyes, although on this occasion I offer my congratulations.

It took me long enough to get over that quarter final and how close I was to being FMed! Penalties would have been a nightmare

[Gregg88]

Season 2026/27 - Tottenham & Uruguay

Look who jumped ship again! Leaving the Coutryside of Wales for the Hustle and Bustle of London....with a dash of Uruguayan magic!

We started the season with the objective of qualifying for the Euro Cup, which was realistic for sure. I'd have been very annoyed if I couldn't manage that! A start to the season where we matched the results of those around us, kept the bus rolling. I had also set a target of winning a cup to aid the challenge. Rest a lot of players in one of the cups and focus on the other as I didn't have to worry about European football this season seemed like a solid plan going forward!

Fast forwarding to the end of the season with a minor pit stop in November where I took the Uruguay job. I couldn't say no with the youngsters they had coming through...

Ruben Lopez - I didn't hesitate to swoop in and secure his signing for Spurs. Get him focus training and play him enough, he will be something special on the right hand side for sure!

 

Santiago Leguisamo is another who I want to sign, but they want £11 million and I don't have that cash available currently. Get that tackling up to at least 10 and he's in!

 

Jorge Lemus is one I'm not sure about. All the stats are there, but it's the fitness that puts me off. Do you guys worry about the fitness stat for your new signings? Normally one that put's me off players alot! I can't say i've ever checked on how quickly it rises, if at all? 

 

Anyway, we got to the end of the season and I won the Premier League! Big tick! This one went down to the last game of the season....Away at City of all places! I actually set up to go for the win, but I went 1-0 down early thanks to Vinicius Junior. Just as half time started to peek it's head...Alvaro (Kane's replacement) scored and I immediately went into protection mode. We saw it out pretty easily in the end by just sitting deep and playing long balls over the top on the counter. I finished in the Semi Final of both cups too, so that's a target for next year too!

 

I'm releasing Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min shortly. Kane is 33yo and still wants £215k on a one year deal, no thanks. Son is 34yo and still wants £150k on a one year deal, no thank you again!

Dele Alli and Tanguy Ndombele "want a new challenge", so they are off too. £650k in wages about to be secured for new signings!

 

[The Regista]

Congratulations @Gregg88 on securing the Premier League title. Looked a pretty close run in with 3 other teams in the mix. Lopes and Santiago look great.

As  for Lemus - natural fitness shows how well your player stays fit when he's not playing or injured. Additionally it influences how well the player will keep their fitness attributes past their peak and fitness between games. I'd probably argue that an AMC it's probably one of the least relevant attributes - there are plenty of attacking playmakers that aren't the fittest but still great. Another factor to consider would be how you intend to fit him into your system, and what that system requires. If you're playing a high intensity style, he might not be of much use. But in a slower, more considered style of play he could thrive. 

I can't say I've ever noticed it rise or fall.

[lukefox44]

1 hour ago, Gregg88 said:

Do you guys worry about the fitness stat for your new signings?

Depends on the level of intensity in your tactic and what you are asking him to do. With him being ad advanced playmaker it wouldn't massively put me off but you might need to rest him a bit more than more naturally fit players.

[lukefox44]

Luke Fox

Supersport United 

2028 / 2029

I was really hopeful this season, I managed to perform well last year with a fairly unbalanced squad I was left with but this year I had filled the gaps and upgraded on what we already had elsewhere. With only being allowed to register 5 foreign players they are key, the season before we only had one and he wasn't really good enough to occupy one of those spots, so out he went.

The player I was most excited to bring in was Piyanat Sasomsap, a 19 year old Thai international at the time. I didn't really have much scouting knowledge on him but saw there was minor interest in him for Benfica, so I sent my scouts out quickly and offered him a contract just in case he turned out to be good enough, I could always cancel the transfer if not. Turns out, for our level he is very good, probably too good to be in our division.

This is his profile at the end of the season.

Spoiler

31 goals in 27 appearances at an average of a goal every 71 minutes, as when the game was won I normally took him off to protect him. He has also scored 28 in 33 games for the Thai national side.  So it's no surprise he won player's player of the year.

 

Spoiler

Anyway onto our team performances, as I'm sure you could guess by the amount of goals our forward scored we had a great season. We won the league and only lost twice, but that makes it seem easier than it was. The start of the season was poor, we drew way too many games, I decided to up the our mentality from positive to attacking and allowed our better players more freedom and it seemed to work well. However for long periods of the season we were 3rd, only going top in the latter third of the season. I think the other top teams still being in more competitions than us really helped.

 

Spoiler

 

In South Africa if you finish in the top 8 the season before you are entered in 3 domestic cup coemptions.

The MTN 8 cup, which is the top 8 teams from the season before, it feels like a pre season tournament but happens early on in the season, without it counting towards the challenge I wasn't that interested and choose to rest some key men. We lost in the semi final, which sounds more impressive than it actually is, when I reality the cup starts in the quarters. 

The Telkom Knockout, this is just involves all the top division teams, and with there only being 16 in the league it only has 4 rounds but counts for the challenge, I targeted this as I felt it was an easy way to tick another cup comp off the list. That proved to be the case and we won it fairly comfortably with Sasomsap scoring in all four rounds.

 

Spoiler

 

The Nedbank cup, this has all the top flight teams and the teams from the second tier, but as this takes place after the Telkom Knockout cup has already finished, I didn't really care and made 11 changes in order to keep us fit going into the back end of the season and our title charge. We went out in the second round, no big loss.

 

Spoiler

 

The African champions league only offer one spot to qualify from the league. However this season there were three South African teams in it, qualifying through winning it the year before and winning the confederations cup and this will be the same next year. The final was an all South African affair, so hopefully next year i will be able to have a good crack at it and get out of African and probably onto North America.

Challenge Progress

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2021 by lukefox44

[The Regista]

I wouldn't normally update until the season was done but by some miracle we've made the Scottish Cup final!!

The semi was one of the most nerve-wracking games I've ever had on Football Manager. Down 2-1, levelling 3 minutes before time, going ahead in ET before being pulled back almost instantly. Missing 3 spot kicks in a row in the shootout, yet somehow still won it...

I need to calm down.

[_JHTB_]

Santos Laguna 2027/2028

When I first took the reins at Santos Laguna there were 6 matches remaining in the Apertura season with us finding ourselves outside of the playoff spots and in spite of getting off to a winning start we proceeded to lose our next two giving us only an outside shot of reaching it (and potentially managing to get an unlikely league title off the bat. 3 wins on the bounce saw us propel ourselves into 8th place on the final day setting us up against the team who finished top (and had beaten us in one of my two losses) Pumas. We actually won the first leg, but they were too strong for us in the second as we lost at the first hurdle.

I wasn't too disheartened as it led directly into the January window where I could strengthen the side, and strengthen I did making 11 signings, though 1 was making a loanee permanent and a few were future prospects but I felt I strongly strengthened the side especially in improving the Mexican Contingent in the side (you need 9 in the match day squad so seemed a sensible thing to focus on) By the time the Clausura started I was very confident in my team esepically as we only needed to finish 8th at worst to be in with a shot of the title.

We actually got off to a bad start winning only 3 of our opening 9 games, which was an incredibly frustrating time all told as there was only 2 games in that run that we didn't outperform the other team on xG and only 1 of them did we outperform by less than 1 xG, I felt we were incredibly unlucky to be doing as mediocre as we were (we did find ourselves out of the playoffs all together. A slight tactical tweak and really probably the main factor, a bit of momentum did see us finally capitalise on our dominance in earlier fixtures as we won 9 of our remaining 10 fixtures which ultimately saw us finish 2nd in the Clausura to give us better draws in the playoffs. We pretty comfortably found our way through to the final where the first leg was a pretty boring 0-0 draw. Unfortunately, in the second leg we put in an absolute non-performance, including missing an early penalty and were in the end comfortably beaten 3-0.

As we weren't in continental football we were also in the Copa MX and for the most part had an easy time of it, the first hiccup came in the semi-final, where in what was an all too familiar fashion to me we lost the first leg 1-0 despite being comfortably the better team, and really the second leg seemed to be having a very similar story as it was 1-1 right up until we managed to score a second with the last kick of the game taking us to penalties which we progressed via, As frustrating as the first leg in that tie had been it was nothing compared to the final first leg where our opponents had 3 shots all game and came away with a 3-0 victory, a game which yet again we were superior in every aspect bar goals. The second leg really was just as bad as we yet again were the better team but contrived to draw the game 2-2 and lose the final. It was such a hard result to take as we outperformed them by 3.31 over the course of two legs yet had nothing to show for it.

Best Player - Jovan Ristic

One of the first players my scouts brought me when I arrived at the club and a steal for £1.1 million, 5 goals and 9 assists in the league was a great return, though his early form did contribute to 6 of his 9 assists so it could have been much more. A very good return nonetheless.

What Next?

We've got to aim to try and win it next time out, I'll be on the lookout for improving the squad over the summer to do just that. I am unsure if we're in the Champions League as the league rules are a little inconclusive for me as to who actually qualifies but I feel we may have done so by reaching the Clausura final so if that's the case then the main aim will actually be the Champions League as I'd much rather win that then the league. 

My hope is to get an international job this summer also with both the Copa America and the EUROs this year hopefully I can get a potential World Cup challenging side of the back of them.

Story So far

 

Challenge Progress

 

[_JHTB_]

2 hours ago, lukefox44 said:

The African champions league only offer one spot to qualify from the league

I don't actually think that is true, every year there is at least 2 or 3 South African sides, even if the league rules seem to indicate it is only the one

[lukefox44]

14 minutes ago, _JHTB_ said:

I don't actually think that is true, every year there is at least 2 or 3 South African sides, even if the league rules seem to indicate it is only the one

From what I can tell you qualify for the champions league the following year if you win it or the confederations cup and that tends to be a South African side. I might be wrong as I was under the impression winning the league gets me straight into the group stages but I'm in the prelim round.

[lukefox44]

54 minutes ago, The Regista said:

I wouldn't normally update until the season was done but by some miracle we've made the Scottish Cup final!!

The semi was one of the most nerve-wracking games I've ever had on Football Manager. Down 2-1, levelling 3 minutes before time, going ahead in ET before being pulled back almost instantly. Missing 3 spot kicks in a row in the shootout, yet somehow still won it...

I need to calm down.

What a game, congrats mate.

Who you got in the Final?

[Gregg88]

4 hours ago, The Regista said:

Congratulations @Gregg88 on securing the Premier League title. Looked a pretty close run in with 3 other teams in the mix. Lopes and Santiago look great.

As  for Lemus - natural fitness shows how well your player stays fit when he's not playing or injured. Additionally it influences how well the player will keep their fitness attributes past their peak and fitness between games. I'd probably argue that an AMC it's probably one of the least relevant attributes - there are plenty of attacking playmakers that aren't the fittest but still great. Another factor to consider would be how you intend to fit him into your system, and what that system requires. If you're playing a high intensity style, he might not be of much use. But in a slower, more considered style of play he could thrive. 

I can't say I've ever noticed it rise or fall.

Cheers! Even 4th & 5th only dropped out of it in the last few games. Made me sweat!

I play a pretty high intensity style, so he probably wouldn't be as effective for me then. I need to go and check over the others to make sure i'm not wasting anyone.

Have you managed to gather yourself together for the big final? If you haven't won it already, good luck!

 

3 hours ago, lukefox44 said:

Challenge Progress

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

 

Big fan of the variety of your teams so far! Congrats on nearly getting out of South Africa! Haha.

 

1 hour ago, _JHTB_ said:

 

Story So far

 

Challenge Progress

 

Same to you mate! I need to get out of Europe after this next season and tick off some more fun/frustrating/less than understandable leagues

[lukefox44]

1 hour ago, Gregg88 said:

Big fan of the variety of your teams so far! Congrats on nearly getting out of South Africa! Haha.

Yeah I've fell pretty lucky and managed some really fun teams. I've had roughly £100m budgets at both DL Pro and Anderlecht. 

To be honest I'm enjoying South Africa. Theres loads of really good youngsters and trying to keep the Portuguese teams away is a fun challenge.

The continent I'm least looking forward to is North America, that seems like it'll be a proper slog in either mexico or MLS.

[Gregg88]

2 minutes ago, lukefox44 said:

Yeah I've fell pretty lucky and managed some really fun teams. I've had roughly £100m budgets at both DL Pro and Anderlecht. 

To be honest I'm enjoying South Africa. Theres loads of really good youngsters and trying to keep the Portuguese teams away is a fun challenge.

The continent I'm least looking forward to is North America, that seems like it'll be a proper slog in either mexico or MLS.

 Even better with those budgets then!

MLS is certainly a slog with all the selection rules. The mexican league was one of the best for me personally in last years challenge. The league is stacked with some epic young players. I think you'll enjoy it, as it sounds similar to the South African part of your game.

[lukefox44]

18 minutes ago, Gregg88 said:

 Even better with those budgets then!

MLS is certainly a slog with all the selection rules. The mexican league was one of the best for me personally in last years challenge. The league is stacked with some epic young players. I think you'll enjoy it, as it sounds similar to the South African part of your game.

For some reason I was leaning more towards the MLS over Mexico but you might of just changed my mind haha.

How's the league structure in Mexico? I've never managed there but from a quick look it's not that straight forward.

What's the next plan in your save? Should have enough rep to cherry pick almost anyone you fancy.

[The Regista]

Cheers @lukefox44 and @Gregg88 - it's a pretty mad start to the save to be 90 mins from ticking off a major cup competition!

The FM gods must be smiling on us. We're due to play Kilmarnock in the final. They came from a goal down to beat Rangers 2-1 at Ibrox in the second semi final. Killie also had the pleasure of knocking Celtic out in the third round on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

 

They're the favourites for it. We're without three defenders for the final due to yellow card suspensions, but we've already despatched Premiership sides Livingston and Hamilton. It's a huge game so early on!!

Edited January 2, 2021 by The Regista

[thisisneeds]

Just won my first league title with Chennai City in my second season as manager 

[The Regista]

Dunfermline Athletic Football Club - End of Season 20/21

The end of the 20/21 season is here, and I have made my bow into the world of football management. After applying for lots of jobs, I find myself setting up office in Fife. Dunfermline were languishing in 9th place in the Championship after 12 games, but the potential for something special was there. A former Scottish Premiership team, the aim was to stay up, but could we potentially have an outside chance at the playoffs? And what happened in the Scottish Cup final? Read on...

Scottish Championship

Spoiler

All I can say is, after a false start against Morton, to end up a point off the playoffs is disappointing. Our form really picked up in February, rising out of the relegation positions and ending up on the right side of the table. But you can see that we really did run out of steam in mid-March. A draw with ICT was pleasing, and also holding Hearts showed our potential given the initial position I picked the club up from. By the end of March we were hovering around 5th place, rising to 4th and a playoff spot after beating Queen of the South 1-0. But we failed to beat relegated Ayr, and with dropping silly points against Arbroath and Alloa saw Dundee sneak ahead of us on the final day of the season. That being said, at the outset of taking the job the aim was to keep them in the Championship, and from that end I can say mission successful. I'll get a full transfer window with the club and be able to fully implement any tactics I wish to use (currently I'm using a 4-2-2-2 wide) along with the fun of wheeling and dealing and signing my own players.

The loan signings have performed very well and were key in transforming our position in the league. I did manage to pick up Ethan Galbraith on loan from Man Utd, and I hope to keep him for the next Championship season. If we do, our side is going to be built around the Northern Irishman. Fingers crossed we can do a deal with the Red Devils.

I think the cup run may have had an impact here. But as you can see - we're in the final....

 

Scottish Cup

Spoiler

Just unbelievable. I'm sat here half less than 5 months of management and I can already tick off one of the major cup competitions. I'm shocked that this has happened, but as I mentioned before the FM gods were kind with Celtic and Rangers both going out to runners up Kilmarnock. 

I can't say that we've not had our fair share of luck though. We narrowly beat Livingston 4-3 in the Third Round, squeezed past Championship winners Cally Thistle 1-0 in the quarter finals and needed penalties to beat Hamilton in the semis. Only our defeat of Airdrie was what you could call "comfortable". However in each of the other games the boys were really up for it, and our never-say-die attitude is something that I'll aim to carry on throughout the whole of the save, wherever I end up.

The final, remarkably, was one of the "easier" matches we played in the competition. Of course, Kilmarnock's quality showed, dominating both the shots taken and possession statistics. However, keeper Owain fon Williams decided to have his best game of the season, picking up an 8.2 rating whilst keeping Killie at bay. We scored at almost 15 mins both before and after the half time break. Most pleasingly, Liam Millar's goal was from a squared ball from Dan N'Lundulu - at last some intelligence shown on the field!! 

I've bought the Scottish Cup back to Dunfermline for the first time since 1968, Again, I need to go and calm down...

What's Next?

Spoiler

The cup win will see us Europa League Playoff round - hopefully this proves attractive for players and may help convincing them to come to East End Park next season. I'll be hanging around for the next campaign - with my own team this league is there for the taking. I like Scottish football - the seasons come quick and fast, every game means something and there's plenty of room for growth. I can't see us repeating the heroics in the Cup, but for now I'll enjoy our success. We've been very fortunate with how the draw has fallen, but next year our luck may run out if we don't perform. That being said, I'll enjoy this for now, continue focusing on the National C licence and hope that my scouts can source some fantastic talent to add to the team.

Now where's that beer...?

 

[jcricky]

2027 – Inter Miami

 

We joined half way through the season and managed to put together a good run. Despite the fixture congestion we got through the season. Unfortunately with no silverware. We lost the Leagues Cup Final, bottled a chance to win the supporters shield by losing our last game of the season. Then lost in the playoffs in the first round. We have a pretty tidy squad, I brought in a midfielder that I had at Supersport. I think we’re probably a good centre half and another midfielder away from challenging on all fronts. 

 

  

[libbyshuss]

19 hours ago, Gregg88 said:

Do you guys worry about the fitness stat for your new signings?

never! now you got me thinking i should be worried!

[The Regista]

@jricky well done on the 2nd placed finish. Definitely something to build upon next year!

[Gregg88]

12 hours ago, The Regista said:

 

Scottish Cup

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Just unbelievable. I'm sat here half less than 5 months of management and I can already tick off one of the major cup competitions. I'm shocked that this has happened, but as I mentioned before the FM gods were kind with Celtic and Rangers both going out to runners up Kilmarnock. 

I can't say that we've not had our fair share of luck though. We narrowly beat Livingston 4-3 in the Third Round, squeezed past Championship winners Cally Thistle 1-0 in the quarter finals and needed penalties to beat Hamilton in the semis. Only our defeat of Airdrie was what you could call "comfortable". However in each of the other games the boys were really up for it, and our never-say-die attitude is something that I'll aim to carry on throughout the whole of the save, wherever I end up.

The final, remarkably, was one of the "easier" matches we played in the competition. Of course, Kilmarnock's quality showed, dominating both the shots taken and possession statistics. However, keeper Owain fon Williams decided to have his best game of the season, picking up an 8.2 rating whilst keeping Killie at bay. We scored at almost 15 mins both before and after the half time break. Most pleasingly, Liam Millar's goal was from a squared ball from Dan N'Lundulu - at last some intelligence shown on the field!! 

I've bought the Scottish Cup back to Dunfermline for the first time since 1968, Again, I need to go and calm down...

 

Yes!! Congrats mate!

 

13 hours ago, lukefox44 said:

For some reason I was leaning more towards the MLS over Mexico but you might of just changed my mind haha.

How's the league structure in Mexico? I've never managed there but from a quick look it's not that straight forward.

What's the next plan in your save? Should have enough rep to cherry pick almost anyone you fancy.

I think i've talked myself into heading to Mexico next! I was having another look through the league and the youth structure is just brilliant!

As for the league structure, as long you finish in the top 12, you have a shot at the title! Odd. Seems like you don't have to worry about the league so much, as long as you can get that top 12 place kinda thing. I found out that they introudced the play off gig as a way to financially help teams in the league, but it just doesn't seem that competitive. Tigres finished 7th on my save, but won the knockout stage to take the title. Also, the bonus with Mexico is their teams are so much stronger in the North American Champs League.

Although i've just had this result against Man Utd. In the league, i've won my 4 home games convincingly, but i've lost my 3 away games 4-3, 4-2 & 3-1. Think I need a little tweak to shut up shop a bit more on the road!

[lukefox44]

3 hours ago, Gregg88 said:

I think i've talked myself into heading to Mexico next! I was having another look through the league and the youth structure is just brilliant!

As for the league structure, as long you finish in the top 12, you have a shot at the title! Odd. Seems like you don't have to worry about the league so much, as long as you can get that top 12 place kinda thing. I found out that they introudced the play off gig as a way to financially help teams in the league, but it just doesn't seem that competitive. Tigres finished 7th on my save, but won the knockout stage to take the title. Also, the bonus with Mexico is their teams are so much stronger in the North American Champs League.

My entire knowledge of Mexican football comes from the Maradona in Mexico series on Netflix, so there would be a bit to learn haha.

I think it's the average points relegation that would confuse me, but hopefully with my manager rep I can get a job where I dont have to worry about that too much.

I do like the idea of league with a young average age, similar to South Africa, seems more exciting.

3 hours ago, Gregg88 said:

Although i've just had this result against Man Utd. In the league, i've won my 4 home games convincingly, but i've lost my 3 away games 4-3, 4-2 & 3-1. Think I need a little tweak to shut up shop a bit more on the road!

That's a massive result. I've found my tactic is similar, I only lost 2 games with Supersport last season but they were 6-2 and 6-0 I think. At least it's never dull haha

[lukefox44]

@The Regista Congrats mate.

Big win early on that is.

Scottish champions and Europa league qualifiers should be an interesting combo.

[darren1983]

African Cup of Nations 2025

 

Group Stage

Spoiler

Ivory Coast 5-1 Uganda - an early comfortable win as we got off to a great start

Dr Congo 1-2 Ivory coast - a real battle this as we really struggled at times against their diamond, our class told in the end but this was tougher than I'd have liked

Liberia 0-5 Ivory Coast - back ups played in this as we rested our first team, couple players played themselves into the first team as a result

2nd Round (if applicable)

Spoiler

Ivory Coast 5-0 Cameron - expected a battle here but they were really poor, 3 up by the break meant we could rest players for the next round

Quarter Finals (if applicable)

Spoiler

Ivory Coast 2-1 Tunisia -  another tough game, they were a good side but we edged in front before HT and they missed chances saw us through

Semi Finals (if applicable)

Spoiler

Algeria 0-2 Ivory Coast - we were in the tough half of the draw and so it was another tough battle here. Took the lead just after HT but only kept it thanks to our keeper, a 93rd minute 2nd on the counter mad it look more comfortable than it was

Final/3rd place Playoff (if applicable)

Spoiler

Ivory Coast 3-2 Dr Congo - a side we had already beat I was confident, probably too so as I felt the fist game was me still finding the right 11, we had that here and were 1-0 before HT, 2nd half we didn't come out at all and found ourselves 2-1 down within 15 minutes. A real battle then as we tried and failed to get back, I threw people forward and we managed to draw level on 87 minutes, just as I prepared for ET we scored again in the 92nd minute to win it all. This was a real rollercoaster  

Aftermath

Spoiler

I left after winning here to focus on Kaizer Chiefs. Will be on look out for another job but think I've left then in a good place, tooke them from 35th in the world to 18th in 18 months, top of their world cup qualifying group and won the ACON

 

[_JHTB_]

On 02/01/2021 at 21:24, lukefox44 said:

How's the league structure in Mexico?

 

10 hours ago, Gregg88 said:

As for the league structure, as long you finish in the top 12, you have a shot at the title

It's actually top 8 rather than top 12, but there are two chances per year to win the title, it's basically a 38 game season broken up into two different 19 game segments, the top 8 for each 19 games goes into a playoff with the winners being champions of either Apertura (first half) or the Clausura (second half). 

6 hours ago, lukefox44 said:

I think it's the average points relegation that would confuse me, but hopefully with my manager rep I can get a job where I dont have to worry about that too much.

I would suggest that yeah, your manager rep will mean you don't need to worry about it, I've not looked at that table since joining, plus with only 1 relegation per season there's probably a large chunk of teams that you could take over at that would have no chance of being relegated even if you did terribly. 

This is my first time in Mexico, but there was no way I fancied managing in the MLS again - I managed about a month on my FM20 attempt (managed to secure a job with a team in the Champions League Semi-Final and won it), but that month was enough to scare me away from it for good on these style saves. Maybe in the future I'll revisit in a more long term save to give myself a chance to get to grips with the rules.

On 02/01/2021 at 19:26, Gregg88 said:

Same to you mate! I need to get out of Europe after this next season and tick off some more fun/frustrating/less than understandable leagues

I probably shouldn't have gone to Rotherham all told, got a promotion under my belt but not really anything to show from my year there, think I'm going to avoid going back to Europe till I've ticked off all the other continents. That said, I'd guess it would more likely depend on the jobs available.

[Gregg88]

13 minutes ago, _JHTB_ said:

 

It's actually top 8 rather than top 12, but there are two chances per year to win the title, it's basically a 38 game season broken up into two different 19 game segments, the top 8 for each 19 games goes into a playoff with the winners being champions of either Apertura (first half) or the Clausura (second half). 

 

Unsure if the rules have changed on mine with the year being 2028? Does that even happen? I'm not sure!

But here's what it is on mine currently....top 4 skip the prelims round. Still doesn't sit right with me mind 12th place made it to the QF.

[_JHTB_]

3 minutes ago, Gregg88 said:

Unsure if the rules have changed on mine with the year being 2028? Does that even happen? I'm not sure!

Weird, I'm also in 2028 and this is how the rules are on mine. My games was created on the Beta though so perhaps there was incorrect league rules set up initially that didn't follow into the full release? 

 

[Gregg88]

31 minutes ago, _JHTB_ said:

Weird, I'm also in 2028 and this is how the rules are on mine. My games was created on the Beta though so perhaps there was incorrect league rules set up initially that didn't follow into the full release? 

 

That is odd! I didn't play the beta, so I reckon you're right mate!

[Phelix]

 

Ok, it's been a while since a full career update, so here goes. It's currently June 2036 and I am in charge of the Orlando Pirates in South Africa. I have just finished my first season in charge and we swept all before us, winning every competition we were involved in, barring the pre-season "Be The Coach" friendly thing.

When I joined, after leaving AS Monaco, I was granted a 6million GBP transfer budget, which meant that I could literally just go and buy all the best talent in South Africa, and even some foreign players. This meant I went the season only losing a single competitive match in any competition. I just wish that we had been entered in the African Champions League, as now I have to stick around for another year to win that. Also there are two cup competitions in South Africa that involve all the top teams, do both of these count toward the 10? I'm not sure, so I'm just counting one for now.

 

I've also put together a little graphic showing the job's I've held throughout my career. Before joining Orlando, I spent two trophy-less years in France with AS Monaco, where I finished 2nd behind PSG both times. I'm just going to have to wait it out until either PSG come back to the field, or the manager leaves for a bigger job. After sneakily winning the ACON with Senegal I've joined Australia who failed in the Asian cup, but as the job rarely becomes available, I've decided to take it now and use the 4 years to get to know my squad, and hopefully develop some young players to go with the one world class player I have in the team already.

[lukefox44]

@_JHTB_ @Gregg88 Cheers guys, to be fair it doesn't look too complex. I think the idea of the two league campaigns in the same year sounded a lot worse than it actually is.

And with the alternative in North America is the MLS I think I'll give it a go. Hopefully I win the Africa champions league this year and get stuck into Mexico.

[lukefox44]

10 hours ago, Phelix said:

I was granted a 6million GBP

Wow I thought I was lucky to have £1m in transfer budget with Supersport. I can't imagine you having much trouble with the Champions league next year with all the best South African players, in my save it seems like its exclusively South African clubs that win it.

[Gregg88]

End of the 2027/28 season......

I will keep this brief! Domestic Cup has been achieved. Feel like I failed a bit in the league by coming 4th though. Hmm...

 

I want to head to Mexico next....but I've just signed these 3 players and I may take another stab at the Champions league first! With that long shot stat, Hector Yanez is going to score so many hoooowitzers!

 

I do however, have the Copa America to play now. Let's go La Celeste!!

 

[Phelix]

@Gregg88Mate those signings look mint. It's always hard to stay focused when you achieve one trophy but not another and don't get to move on to another team, but with these guys you really should stick it out another year at Spurs, you still have a second domestic cup, the UCL and the League you can realistically win with this club. If you move on, you'll normally need one season to build your team and another to win the comps you want anyway, unless you get Bayern, PSG, Juve, Real or Barca that is.

[treva]

Late to the party but congrats @vikeologist on completing the challenge once again. Hell of an effort.

 

I am still plugging away with my FM20 save, finding it hard getting used to instant resulting every game bar the Champions League matches.

 

Should finish what will be my final season (2036/37)  with Spurs regardless of the outcome within the next few days and then I’ll update properly.

[libbyshuss]

Season 2038/39

Borrussia Dortmund

 

After I left Manchester United I thought I'd have my pick of the jobs available. There was nothing really appealed until Man U appointed my sucessor - Juventus' manager! At the same time, Santos sacked their manager so I applied for both and would be happy with either. Both offered me an interview, both turned me down! But Juve did appoint the old Dortmund manager as their new manager so I applied for the Dortmund job and got it!

Reigning European Champions? Winners of the last two Bundesliga titles? With a 200m transfer budget??? yes please!

League

One of the nice things about journeyman saves is when you come across old players of yours in new situations. During my last season at Newell's I brought a lot of youngsters into the first team. The one who performed by far the best was a young 18 year old called Gaspar Saucedo. He was awesome on my left wing. When I left I kept an eye on him - he shortley left Newells for Spurs, made a first team spot his own and broke through to the Argentina national team. Soon as i took over Dortmund I went and had a look and noticed Spurs would let him go for 90m. So......

30 goals in 41 games for us and in truth, I was a little underwhlemed and disappointed in him!

When I took over we had already playerd 1 game of the new season - an away defeat and a newly promoted Holstein. But the Dortmund squad was unbelievable, it was surely a blip. 11 consecutive victories later and we were top of the table, a position we never surrendered. In the end we won the title with a 4 games left to play with only Schalke offering any resistance. Bayern are pretty bad at the moment, which helps

 

Domestic Cup

The league was wrapped up pretty early so it was the cup I turned my attention to. If I could win this as well then my stay in Germany could be nice and short. We got through to the final with 4-0, 3-0 and 5-0 victories to set up a final clash with our main rivals Schalke. 

We got totally FM'd in the final, losing 2-1 when we had a 2.0 Xg and they had 0.6.

Really annoying but what can you do?

Champions League

I'd already won this with Arsenal so wasn't too bothered. We got lucky a couple of times, particularly in the quarter final where we lost the first leg away at Juventus 2-0 only to the totally FM them in the return and win 3-0. The semi final pitched us against my old club Arsenal. We won the first leg 3-1 but were pretty atrocious in the second leg and they easily won 2-0 to knock us out on away goals

What's Next?

I really need that domestic cup! I'm really behind with the cups on this challenge. I seem to find winning the league a lot, lot easier than winning a cup. So I'll be around for another season, I got another 170m to spend and this time I might not let sentiment colour my judgement!

Career Record

 

Challenge Progress

 

[Crispypaul]

  

  

     

Crispypaul
AEK Athens
Greek Superleague
2023/24

League - Season Review 1 - Season Review 2 - retained the league title in style, undefeated and bar a draw a near perfect season

Greek Cup  - Fixtures - AEK's bad luck is broken as we finally lift the Greek Cup

Champions League - Fixtures | Table - got into the group stages where we faced a tough group of Man City, PSG and Athletic Bilbao - however we finished third thanks to two thumpings of Bilbao and a surprise defeat of PSG to give us post Christmas European football

Europa League - Fixtures - beat FC Kobenhavn in the 1st knockout round and Betis in the 2nd.  We had a narrow win at home to Monaco in the first leg of the quarter finals but then they smashed us at their place to knock us out

Finances - very healthy now

Transfers - cleared out a lot of overpaid rubbish and brought in largely young players

Key players:

Marc Olivier-Kempf - solid at the back again

Nelson Oliveira - another good season from the experienced striker

Stratos Svarnas - another good centre half

Dennis Cirkin - loaned the left back from Spurs and he had a great season

Theodoros Stergiotis - prolific striker from our youth team

Mohamed Gaye - loaned him from St Etienne and had a great season

Future - that's it for Greece with the cup secured so I resigned at the end of the season.  Now looking for other interesting jobs.

Domestic
Season	 Team			Division		Position			Notes						
2021    Levanger       		Norwegian 2nd  	 	 1st				Champions, Promoted
2022	Levanger		Norwegian 1st		 1st				Champions, Promoted
2023	Levanger		Eliteserien		n/a				Left in pre season
2022/23	AEK Athens		Greek Superleague	1st				Champions
2023/24	AEK Athens		Greek Superleague	1st				Champions, Cup Winners



International
Year	   Team					Achievements

Challenge Progress

Club
 1/10 top domestic leagues (AEK Athens, Greece, 22/23)
 1/10 domestic cups (AEK Athens, Greece, 23/24)
 0/5 club continental championships
 0/1 club world championship

International
 0/5 continental tournaments
 0/1 world tournaments