The Ultimate Football Manager Challenge

[Phelix]

BAUER GETS FIRST RUNS ON THE BOARD

This is my third attempt at this challenge, having tried previously in FM19 and FM20, and this is the first time I have actually collected a trophy! It finished comfortably enough, despite a rocky start that had us as much as 11 points behind the league leaders after just 9 matches.

The stars of my side were clearly my youth players, but without the acquisitions of experienced heads Giovanni Simeone and Juan Foyth, I don't think we would have had the mentality to come from behind and win the title with 3 games to spare.

In addition, the club has been rewarded with a golden generation, no less than 3 players all rated as the most gifted players of recent years.

 

The plan from here is to stick around at Boca for a bit, I was knocked out of the cup, so I've still got that, and for some reason despite the club finishing 6th last season, we only qualified for the Copa Sudamericana, which isn't a top tier continental competition. So unless a Brazilian team already in the Copa Libertadores comes a'knocking I'll be here for another season or even 2.

Edited December 3, 2020 by Phelix

[Crispypaul]

  

     

Crispypaul
AEK Athens
Greek Superleague
2022/23

League - Season Review 1 - Season Review 2 - we scabbed it!  Winning the league title on the last day

Greek Cup  - Fixtures - out before I joined.  Prior to this AEK had lost 6 cup finals in a row so my aim next season is to finally win it

Europa Conference League - Fixtures - out before I joined

Finances - an absolute mess but once the sponsorship has come in and I've cleaned the squad up this should be better

Key players:

Marc Olivier-Kempf - really good centre back

Nelson Oliveira - experienced centre forward

Guilherme Vincenti - a great Brazilian keeper bought for a song from Corinthians

Arthur Zagre - ex PSG and Monaco left back signed on a free, but won't extend his contract so off in the summer

Future - with the league title already secured that's already something to tick off, however I'll stay for one more season to see if we can get the Greek Cup finally.  I now have a Continental C licence and 60% rep so should find a good job next season.

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



International
Year	   Team					Achievements

Challenge Progress

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

International
 0/5 continental tournaments
 0/1 world tournaments 

[_JHTB_]

Golden Arrows 2024/2025

 

Coming into this season I didn't really plan on making too many alterations to the squad though had agreed some free transfers early on, many of whom were better than our starters from the season prior so actually meant we did sell some regular players of the season before. Extra reinforcements were made as well to make the squad much stronger than the season before though areas where I had hoped to improve more, namely centre midfield and right back.

Our season got off to a frustrating start with us losing our opening game, albeit against holders Cape Town City, though the balance of the match suggested we should have at least drawn, before we did draw our following fixture against the team predicted to finish bottom (and ultimately finished bottom) despite heavily outperforming them on xG metrics. From then however, we were nothing short of sensational, we were just winning games. In fact, after our draw on the second game of the season we won every game until March where we drew again. March was perhaps the period of the season where we were at our worst, but our worst was still enough to win pretty much all our fixtures. In spite of our ridiculous form, going into the last month we were still in a 3 horse race for the title with us facing Kaizer Chiefs twice in our last 6 games, thankfully in the first of our encounters saw them reduced to 10 men in the 11th minute which allowed us an easier game and a 2-0 victory before the return game saw us convincingly win 4-0 in a match that I felt was good enough to see us as champions, though it wasn't until the penultimate match of the season that we did secure the title which is crazy given our form.

A lot of different cups this season starting out with the Super 8 Cup which we relatively easily found our way to the final before losing out to Cape Town City though we did knock them out of the South African KO cup on the way to a victory over Kaizer Chiefs in the final. We were looking at making our 3rd FA Cup final in a row, however an injury saw us reduced to 10 men with the game at 2-2 and heading to extra time before collecting a red card in extra time as Sundowns won 4-3. Incidentally, the story was fairly similar in the African Confederations Cup semi-final first leg as we were controlling the game 2-1 against Kaizer Chiefs in the first leg away from home before a red card saw them storm to a 4-2 victory following 3 late goals. Though we could have overturned that in the second leg it wasn't to be as we drew 1-1. Really I think getting knocked out of both the latter cups was a blessing in disguise as prevented any more fixture congestion and inidentally both losses occurred just prior to our first meeting of Kaizer Chiefs in the league so we could get immediate revenge so to speak.

I am also back in International Management having taken over at Senegal though we haven't actually played any competitive football yet and there's two years until the AFCON - in my previous seasons write up I got confused on the mid season break attributing it to the AFCON which wasn't actually the case for last season. My only real action with Senegal was to pursuade Saido Mane out of international retirement as we look towards potentially qualifying for the world cup. 

Best Player: Cameron Da Silva

A player I brought in on a free transfer last season, this season burst to life, especially early in the season. He managed to contribute 19 goals and 26 assists in all competitions for us with his early season form meaning we were fielding bids for him in January with offers of up to £1.5 million rejected (he has a £2 million release fee). I am actually very surprised that he ended up with our highest average rating as Patrick Tarentaal, the striker I brought in to be our back up decided that first choice was the one for him scoring an incredible 60 (yes Sixty) goals over the season with 37 from 25 in the league. That said, he did take a lot of penalties for us, with us somehow managing to win 21 penalties in a 30 game season which is crazy high. (we did have another 10 in all other competitions)

What Next? 

Well, my ultimate aims for this season was to qualify for the Champions League and win the league which were both achieved, so next season our only real focus will be on trying to win the Champions League. Whilst I did think so last season, I'm pretty happy with most of the squad so won't be making too many signings, though I will probably break the clubs transfer record (incidentally I did actually set the record last season but forgot to document it with a £110k purchase) in bringing in a player in a key area.

We have World Cup Qualifiers with Senegal - and presumably AFCON qualifiers too, and really my aim is to progress in both of them as the AFCON is my main goal with Senegal as our World Cup Chances are admittedly slim.

Story So Far

 

Challenge Progress

 

Edited December 9, 2020 by _JHTB_
Put wrong season date

[Danny_H22]

2023-2024 Season Review

Anyone who has ever attempted this challenge will know that the holy grail is taking over as the manager of a club mid-way through the season whilst they are still in the cup and doing well in the league and in December of 2023, that is exactly what happened to me after Martin Petrov left his role at CSKA-Sofia for a trip to Turkey with Trabzonspor.

He left me a team who were second in the league and in the semi-final of the cup. Despite this, they were lacking any semblance of depth and the starting 11 were exhausted from being run into the ground.

efbet League: Sofia were second in the league when I took over, with Ludogorets leading the pack and in good form. If I was going to win the league, I would have to perform as well as we could and hope that results elsewhere would go my way. Of the remaining 11 games in the Preliminary Phase, I won 9, drew one and lost only once whilst Ludogorets won just 4 of their remaining 11. With form on our side, we entered the Championship phase top of the league. But that form wouldn’t last long…

We managed just one win from the next phase, in the opening game against PFK Montana, giving us a one point lead going into the final game against rivals Ludogorets. It was a nervy affair, made even worse after 16 minutes when we went a goal down. A goal either side of half time gave us a short lasting lead as they pulled one back 10 minutes later to once again tie the score. Another goal for each of us before the 90^th minute mark and the game looked like it would end a draw and secure us the title – until we gave away a 94^th minute penalty. A penalty that Ludogorets would miss as the game ended 3-3!

Kupa na Bulgaria: Taking over a club whilst they have already booked their place in the semi-final is really helpful in this game! I had to wait 4 months before playing said semi-final, but opponents Pirin Blagoevgrad couldn’t keep up with us and we put 5 past them over two games for the 5-1 win to set up a final against constant thorn in my side Ludogorets.

This game would be played three days before the aforementioned final league game and the winner would surely have the upper hand going into that game! There wasn’t a lot between us, but our ability to keep possession (64%) was the deciding factor and we stole the tie with an extra time winner to make it 2-1 and give me my first trophy in Bulgaria.

Superkupa na Bylgarija: The guys won 2-0 before I took over

UEFA Champions League: Knocked out to Qarabag FK before I took over

UEFA Europa League: Knocked out to Rosenborg before I took over

UEFA Europa Conference League: The guys had already played 7 games before I took charge and I managed to get them to the 2^nd knockout round, beating PAOK in the first round, before losing to Nice.

 

Top Goalscorer: The squad I inherited was pretty poor in terms of depth but one of the first moves I made was to put 19 year old striker Nikola Iliev straight into my starting 11. He repaid me with 21 goals in 43 games

Most Assists: Wingers have always done well for me and this season was no different with winger Martin Smolenski contributing 14 assists

Highest Ave. Rating: We were really solid at the back for the first 11 games of my run and that surely helped defender Mateusz Wieteska on his way to the highest average rating

Most POTM: Those performances didn’t go unnoticed and he also picked up 7 player of the match awards

 

International: Not a lot has happened on this front; still at Australia and we have won all 7 of our World Cup qualifiers

 

Next Season Plan: Seems a shame to leave after only 5 months in charge, but not much point sticking around when we have ticked off both the league and the cup. There is quite a few interesting jobs around at the moment so it will be interesting to see where I end up

 

Season	    Team              Position    Continental                                Notes and Achievements     
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020	    FC Edmonton       1st         Won Scotiabank CONCACAF League             Won Manager of the Year
2021	    FC Edmonton       1st         Lost Scotiabank CONCACAF League Final      Won Manager of the Year
2022        FC Edmonton       1st         Won Scotiabank CONCACAF League             Won Amway Championship. Won Manager of the Year
2023	    HJK               1st         Europa Conference League 4th Qual.         Won Suomen Cup
2023-24     CSKA Sofia        1st         Europa Conference League 2nd Round         Won Kupa na Bulgaria

Challenge Progress

Club
3/10 top domestic leagues: Canadian Premier League Island Games (FC Edmonton, 2020); Veikkausliga (HJK, 2023); efbet League (CSKA Sofia, 2024)
3/10 domestic cups: Amway Canadian Championship (FC Edmonton, 2022); Suomen Cup (HJK, 2023); Kupa na Bulgaria (CSKA Sofia, 2024)
0/5 club continental championships:
0/1 club world championship:

International
0/5 continental tournaments:
0/2 world tournaments:

International:
Season     Team              Notes and Achievements     
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020       Russia U19s
2020       Israel
2021       Israel
2022       UAE
2023       UAE                Asian Cup Semi-final
2023       Australia

 

Edited December 3, 2020 by Danny_H22

[libbyshuss]

 and 

 

Season 8 (2027/28)

Arsenal and Morocco

League

We made a poor start - our first 4 matches returned only one victory so immediately we were playing catch up to Chelsea and Liverpool. Our form settled through October/November and it quickly became a three horse race, with Liverpool just keeping ahead of us and Chelsea. Chelsea beat us in January to open up a little bit of gap but with 7 matches to go Liverpool's lead was down to only 3 points, and we were due to visit Anfield. I knew a defeat would effectively end any title challenge and was hopeful we could get a result. And did we.....

Suddenly we were on top - but Chelsea had 2 games in hand on us and were only 5 points behind. Manchester City then beat Liverpool to widen our lead, but the next week they beat us to narrow it again. An injury hit team struggled to a draw against Leicester and suddenly Liverpool were ahead again, with only 1 game to go

 

We did our bit, beating Brentford 3-1 but Burnley couldn't do us a favour, going down 2-0 meaning that the final table looked like this:-

 

So close yet so far! 

Cups

The first cup final we played this season was our second game proper. As current Europa League champions we were playing Barcelona in the European Supercup. And we were brilliant, winning 3-1! sadly it doesn't count for the challenge, but it's another trophy for the collection

the Caraboa Cup wnet well, a really good run took us all the way to the final, where Manchester United beat us 2-1

THe FA Cup saw us draw Spurs in the 3rd round. We drew at home then won 3-2 in the replay. Two easy draws then sent us to the quarter final where we drew Liverpool away. We won 1-0 and suddenly it felt like omentum was with us. The semi-final saw Chelsea spank us 3-0, the second time in three years we lost at the semi-final stage

The Champions League was fun. The group stage gave us a 6-0 win against Celtic and 2-1 away win at Bayern. We topped the group with maximum points. Our reward? A first knockout round draw against Barcelona. We'd already beat them once so I knew we had a chance. The first leg saw us lose 3-1 at the Nou Camp, but a late goalgace us half a chance. We scored 2 in the return, but they scored 3 and we were out

Internationals

Two qualifying games with Morocco. We won them easily, but this squad is nowhere near as good as Nigeria's.

Players

My Belgian superstar! 50 goals from 54 starts!

 

Spoiler

 

The Future...

We finished 3rd and 2nd - do I stay for another season and see if I can go one further? I might see what jobs come available this summer, although we did well the squad is annoying me a little bit. Too many older player whining about not playing and their cliquey little mates whining at me to play them as well. So I did, and dropped the ringleader to mak space. That'll learn him.

I'm fully qualified now with 75% rep so I might have a chance at some top draw jobs if some come available

 

 

 

[danielclouston1]

 

I couldn´t wait until the end of the season to share this with you but the AML I signed not long after taking over at Pumas just won the FIFA Best U21 Men´s player (is this the FM Golden Boy equivalent?) award. I only signed him for 525k!

[MoonMonster]

I've decided to restart this challenge. I was thinking today that starting with only North/South America loaded, leagues I've never managed in before, would only make this challenge even more difficult for myself in the long run and instead I've decided to start in Europe before I go elsewhere. I hope that's okay to do!

 

 

I had a few interviews, most unsuccessful, but was eventually hired by FC Hebar Pazardzhik in the Bulgarian second division. They were 5 games into the season already and sit third place. The board expects top three and so does the media so hopefully we can push for promotion this first season!

 

 

 

 

[to_madeira]

Tiago Afonso is having a run at this again! Hopefully no bug get in the way this time.

Spoiler

Loaded all leagues from North America, South America, Asia and Africa and also top 2 leagues from England, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Running on FMTouch so hopefully got a nice processing speed despite loading 45 leagues.

[lukefox44]

14 hours ago, danielclouston1 said:

 

I couldn´t wait until the end of the season to share this with you but the AML I signed not long after taking over at Pumas just won the FIFA Best U21 Men´s player (is this the FM Golden Boy equivalent?) award. I only signed him for 525k!

That's impressive.

You got a screenshot of him?

[danielclouston1]

3 minutes ago, lukefox44 said:

That's impressive.

You got a screenshot of him?

In 37 games this season he´s scored 21 and has 27 assists with an average rating of 7.68. Turned down a 35million offer for him from Barcelona, I´m leaving Pumas at the end of the season and I needed him for the rest of my season haha.

[lukefox44]

4 hours ago, danielclouston1 said:

In 37 games this season he´s scored 21 and has 27 assists with an average rating of 7.68. Turned down a 35million offer for him from Barcelona, I´m leaving Pumas at the end of the season and I needed him for the rest of my season haha.

He looks very good. What role did you play him to get those sort of goal contributions?

Something I've done a few times is if a bid comes in and I know I'm leaving, just arrange the transfer for the end of the season, that why they don't get upset about you blocking a move. 

[danielclouston1]

Just now, lukefox44 said:

He looks very good. What role did you play him to get those sort of goal contributions?

Something I've done a few times is if a bid comes in and I know I'm leaving, just arrange the transfer for the end of the season, that why they don't get upset about you blocking a move. 

He's playing as W (A) on the left but he ends up on the corner of the 6 yard box when the ball comes down our right wing.

 

I thought about doing that but in the 18 months I've been managing Pumas I've built a very very good team (easily the strongest in North America) and I'm quite attached to them. I've made the finances very healthy too with currently having 50mil balance when it was 12mil when I took over. The u20's and affiliate 2nd team are dominating in everything too with both of them littered with 5* potential youngsters, so I think we could dominate North America for years to come. I don't actually want to leave them so when the end of the season comes I'm going to save the file and continue with Pumas once I'm done with the challenge. When Barca submitted their offer I gave him a new contract with a 20k pw wage rise and no release clause and he didn't get unset about me rejecting the bid.

[joehelsing1]

I'd like to do my first season review. Please could someone advise me on how to lay it out and include my pictures/screenshots? Do I upload them to a website first?

 

Thanks in advance!

[vikeologist]

Just now, joehelsing1 said:

I'd like to do my first season review. Please could someone advise me on how to lay it out and include my pictures/screenshots? Do I upload them to a website first?

 

Thanks in advance!

The first thing I'd say is think about what you really want in your report, and what would make people read the report. What part of our reports do you enjoy reading, or even read at all. 

There are lots of things about your season that are obviously really important to you, but

a) Will we be interested?

b) Can you explain it?

I should do a better job of 'liking' the reports I like (and indeed read).

Obviously you are also writing them for yourself. They're a nice memento. I write mine in a word document, and copy them onto the site, so they're all in one place. also ensures you don't lose your whole report if your internet is dodgy at the point you submit it.

Back up your reports, and even more importantly, back up your saves. Regularly.

 

You can lay it out however you want. If you get 10 competitions and want me to add you to the leader board, I'd strongly suggest making your number very obvious to me if you want me to add you. There's a sample table in one of the first posts, although people have improved upon it.

I would say that this challenge and the Youth Challenge have shaped the way people present reports with constant innovations, so feel free to copy what others do, or maybe even improve upon it.

As for screenshots, I just press F12 to do screenshots and then drag them on to my posts. So no need to put them on a website, though there is an option on steam to load your screenshots on there, and then link to them. You'd still need to press F12, and you still need to find where FM is putting your screenshots on your computer. I think loading the screenshots even on to steam is pointless, but it is possible that there is a reason for doing so that has eluded me.

My FM21 screenshots are here; "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata\57742474\760\remote\1263850\screenshots"

I presume it would be identical on all Windows systems, but maybe not.

[lukefox44]

3 hours ago, danielclouston1 said:

He's playing as W (A) on the left but he ends up on the corner of the 6 yard box when the ball comes down our right wing.

 

I thought about doing that but in the 18 months I've been managing Pumas I've built a very very good team (easily the strongest in North America) and I'm quite attached to them. I've made the finances very healthy too with currently having 50mil balance when it was 12mil when I took over. The u20's and affiliate 2nd team are dominating in everything too with both of them littered with 5* potential youngsters, so I think we could dominate North America for years to come. I don't actually want to leave them so when the end of the season comes I'm going to save the file and continue with Pumas once I'm done with the challenge. When Barca submitted their offer I gave him a new contract with a 20k pw wage rise and no release clause and he didn't get unset about me rejecting the bid.

Oh wow those numbers from a winger make it even more impressive, crazy amount of goals.

 

Yeah I know how you feel, I get attached to teams very easily. That's probably the second biggest threat to completing this challenge for me. The first obviously is me not being very good haha

[joehelsing1]

                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Season 1 - FC Edmonton 

Canadian Premier League Champions!

The League

Like many others, I started out my career at FC Edmonton due to their high reputation and the lower amount of games played to make it through a season. The idea is to get some trophies on the board early on before tackling the tougher league like to EPL. For a team that doesn't expect to win the league I could see right away they had quality players in most positions so I only brought in a few players to bulk my team out a bit. After winning my first 8 games without conceding a single goal I was confident I was going to dominate and win the league however come the Fall season I think a few teams had me pegged and games became much more challenging. To actually win the league coming 1st isn't quite enough as it only guarantees you a position in the 2 Leg Final. Panic really set in as the 1st leg played at home was drawn 2-2. Leg 2 played out the same resulting in a penalty shootout which took 10 penalties each to finally declare me the winner (much to my relief) of the Canadian Premier League. 

The Domestic Cup

Unfortunately I was unable to bring the Canadian Championship cup home this year after losing out on the second leg to Montreal Impact on aggregate. This was gutting as I won the 1st (home) leg 3-1 so I went into the 2nd leg perhaps a little too confident.

Transfers

I wasn't massively active in the transfer market as I already had a great squad to work with. Brian Lopez and Patrick Metcalfe added some quality depth to our midfield.

Finances

Nothing special here, started out with just under £1m and finished with £800k after league winnings.

Myself

After starting out with no coaching qualification I now have my Nation B licence working towards my National A Licence. My repuation is now at 25% so my players are starting to take me a little more seriously, as will other clubs when I decide to move on. You may notice Tonga on my management history however I quit the job the day after I got it due to how it was affecting my club application. I will likely look towards getting involved in the International scene next season if I can. I plan to stay at FC Edmonton for at least another season to grab the Canadian Championship cup and also see where the North American League takes me.

Attributes Pre-Season

Profile Pre-Season

Attributes Post-Season

Characteristics Post-Season

Challenge Progression

Season      Team      Position     Notes and Achievements
20-21    FC Edmonton     1st     Won Canadian Premier League

 

1/10 top domestic leagues (Canada)

0/10 domestic cups ()

0/5 club continental championships ()

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments ()

0/1 world tournaments ()

 

 

Edited December 4, 2020 by joehelsing1

[vikeologist]

21 minutes ago, lukefox44 said:

Oh wow those numbers from a winger make it even more impressive, crazy amount of goals.

 

Yeah I know how you feel, I get attached to teams very easily. That's probably the second biggest threat to completing this challenge for me. The first obviously is me not being very good haha

I suppose the good news is that if you really aren't very good, you'll get to stay at the clubs for longer.

[joehelsing1]

3 hours ago, vikeologist said:

The first thing I'd say is think about what you really want in your report, and what would make people read the report. What part of our reports do you enjoy reading, or even read at all. 

There are lots of things about your season that are obviously really important to you, but

a) Will we be interested?

b) Can you explain it?

I should do a better job of 'liking' the reports I like (and indeed read).

Obviously you are also writing them for yourself. They're a nice memento. I write mine in a word document, and copy them onto the site, so they're all in one place. also ensures you don't lose your whole report if your internet is dodgy at the point you submit it.

Back up your reports, and even more importantly, back up your saves. Regularly.

 

You can lay it out however you want. If you get 10 competitions and want me to add you to the leader board, I'd strongly suggest making your number very obvious to me if you want me to add you. There's a sample table in one of the first posts, although people have improved upon it.

I would say that this challenge and the Youth Challenge have shaped the way people present reports with constant innovations, so feel free to copy what others do, or maybe even improve upon it.

As for screenshots, I just press F12 to do screenshots and then drag them on to my posts. So no need to put them on a website, though there is an option on steam to load your screenshots on there, and then link to them. You'd still need to press F12, and you still need to find where FM is putting your screenshots on your computer. I think loading the screenshots even on to steam is pointless, but it is possible that there is a reason for doing so that has eluded me.

My FM21 screenshots are here; "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata\57742474\760\remote\1263850\screenshots"

I presume it would be identical on all Windows systems, but maybe not.

Thanks for the info! I think I have it figured now

[_JHTB_]

3 hours ago, joehelsing1 said:

I'd like to do my first season review. Please could someone advise me on how to lay it out and include my pictures/screenshots? Do I upload them to a website first?

 

Thanks in advance!

I know you've already sorted it and @vikeologist did give a good overview, but I thought I'd add my own opinion to it as well. I'll just touch upon screenshots, as really I don't have as much experience with the whole functionality of the system here so I do opt for uploading them on a website, I use gyazo which does mean I can select as much or as little of the screen to show in my screenshots when I do take the screenshots, though that does mean I don't actually have any of my screenshots saved on my computer as they're automatically uploaded.

On report writing I will pretty much echo Vike in that for the most part think about what you'd read in a season report yourself whilst also ensuring that you're happy with how it depicts your season. I also wouldn't shirk away from taking things that you think are good in others reports and incorporating into your own. For example the base format of my updates this challenge was actually taken from someone in the Youth Academy Challenge with my best player section taking a bit of inspiration from Vike's MVP section which I though was a good thing to add. 

Though, my report writing pretty much changes every challenge, when I did dafuge last year I wrote ridiculously long reports even with a section on each individual player in my team, whereas on this challenge last year I broke it down into segments of the season (which was actually again quite long reports). I would agree with writing them in Word even if this season I've just been winging them and typing it all up on here 

3 hours ago, vikeologist said:

As for screenshots, I just press F12 to do screenshots and then drag them on to my posts. So no need to put them on a website, though there is an option on steam to load your screenshots on there, and then link to them. You'd still need to press F12, and you still need to find where FM is putting your screenshots on your computer

I think you can also press alt+s and it saves in a designated screenshot folder within a folder in Docs>Sports Interactive > Football Manager 2021 > Screenshots, just seems a little less janky in terms of where the screenshot folder is located - though once you've got it the first time I guess that doesn't make much difference.

 

On 03/12/2020 at 20:25, libbyshuss said:

We finished 3rd and 2nd - do I stay for another season and see if I can go one further?

Given that the Premier League is one of 5 that you must win, personally I'd be inclined to stick it out at Arsenal till I won it as you could be further down the line not having won it and find yourself with a similar rebuilding job

 

2 hours ago, joehelsing1 said:

I plan to stay at FC Edmonton for at least another season to grab the Canadian Championship cup and also see where the North American League takes me.

You probably will be challenging towards the North American League as I don't think I was alone in quite easily reaching the final (and indeed winning it). The Canadian Championship is the obvious tough one, but certainly winnable, good luck!

[lukefox44]

2 hours ago, vikeologist said:

I suppose the good news is that if you really aren't very good, you'll get to stay at the clubs for longer.

Haha very true, that puts a positive spin on me managing to bottle the AFC Champions League semi final in such spectacular fashion, I suppose.

[MShing]

Guangzhou Evergrande Season 2024

 

After finishing 2nd last season, I was determined to go one better this season. We made a few transfers but I could not shape the squad the way I wanted after failing FFP last season, so our registration numbers were cut  I hoped we could win the league, we were made the favourites but after failing last season I was a bit dubious. I wanted to win the league and the champions league as soon as possible then get out of China, I dont mind a league with crazy registration rules as long as I can shape the squad the way I want.

Here are my transfers I made during the summer

Pick of the transfers would be George Puscas

34 goals on 37 games was a good return for the Romanian in his first season.

League

We led the league early on, and we were neck and neck with Bejing Guoan we were top by goal difference. When we dropped point so did they. 11 games to go and both teams were neck and neck, we played each other in our next match, this was a real must win game. Then this happened.

Spoiler

I was gutted. I thought that the league was over

But we did not let this defeat ruin our season, we rallied and won all of our remaining games, Beijing had the upper hand but they did not take advantage, they started dropping points and we claimed the title ending up 8 points clear. STEP 1 complete, we just needed the champions league and I could get out of here.

 

AFC Champions League

We made it all the way to the final without really being challenged. I had my bags packed ready to leave the country whatever happened in this final. We were about to fail FFP again for the second season running and I had enough, if we did not win, I was hoping for a move to South Korea. In the final we faced our old foes Beijing Guoan. After beating them to the league they would be out for revenge, and we have always struggled against them. The final was easier than I thought, we battered them in the first leg beating them 1-0 they didnt even register a shot on our goal. The second leg we played a bit more cautiously and were satisfied with a 1-1 draw. STEP 2 complete and I was so glad I could get out of China.

STAR PLAYER

Our best player was a tough one with a few candidates, our right back Browning Tyias just pipped the Avr rating and helped out with 16 assists. Our striker George Puscas was our top scorer he would have been an obvious choice but I will go for our Russian Wing Wizard, Anton Miranchuck, 28 goals and 8 assists from the AML position. The team felt it when he did not play.

 

What Next?

As I said earlier, whatever happened after the Champions League final, I was out of China. Luckily I did what was needed and I can move on without regret. I am just about to resign, there are no appealing jobs vacant at present, with South Korea, Australia, Mexico and Argentina leagues loaded I would probably prefer Mexico or Argentina but I will wait to see what jobs come up. I may need to add a couple of leagues if nothing comes up soon. I have not stepped into international management yet so it would be nice to get my first job and have a crack at a tournament. The African Nations starts next month, hopefully there are a few shock exits and I can land a good African national job.

I never did get to see my 15 year old potential superstar I signed from my old club Supersport UTD, he doesn't join until July next year  

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

Challenge Progress

Club

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

2/10 domestic cups (South Africa, China)

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

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments ()

0/1 world tournaments ()

 

Edited December 4, 2020 by MShing

[MShing]

On 03/12/2020 at 06:13, Phelix said:

BAUER GETS FIRST RUNS ON THE BOARD

This is my third attempt at this challenge, having tried previously in FM19 and FM20, and this is the first time I have actually collected a trophy! It finished comfortably enough, despite a rocky start that had us as much as 11 points behind the league leaders after just 9 matches.

The stars of my side were clearly my youth players, but without the acquisitions of experienced heads Giovanni Simeone and Juan Foyth, I don't think we would have had the mentality to come from behind and win the title with 3 games to spare.

In addition, the club has been rewarded with a golden generation, no less than 3 players all rated as the most gifted players of recent years.

 

The plan from here is to stick around at Boca for a bit, I was knocked out of the cup, so I've still got that, and for some reason despite the club finishing 6th last season, we only qualified for the Copa Sudamericana, which isn't a top tier continental competition. So unless a Brazilian team already in the Copa Libertadores comes a'knocking I'll be here for another season or even 2.

Good luck third time round with this challenge, I dont think I've ever had 3 youth players at once rated that highly.

I enjoyed a spell with Boca on my attempt at this challenge on fm20. Would you leave for a Brazilian team? I couldn't bear managing there how long the seasons are

On 03/12/2020 at 19:55, Danny_H22 said:

2023-2024 Season Review

Anyone who has ever attempted this challenge will know that the holy grail is taking over as the manager of a club mid-way through the season whilst they are still in the cup and doing well in the league and in December of 2023, that is exactly what happened to me after Martin Petrov left his role at CSKA-Sofia for a trip to Turkey with Trabzonspor.

He left me a team who were second in the league and in the semi-final of the cup. Despite this, they were lacking any semblance of depth and the starting 11 were exhausted from being run into the ground.

efbet League: Sofia were second in the league when I took over, with Ludogorets leading the pack and in good form. If I was going to win the league, I would have to perform as well as we could and hope that results elsewhere would go my way. Of the remaining 11 games in the Preliminary Phase, I won 9, drew one and lost only once whilst Ludogorets won just 4 of their remaining 11. With form on our side, we entered the Championship phase top of the league. But that form wouldn’t last long…

We managed just one win from the next phase, in the opening game against PFK Montana, giving us a one point lead going into the final game against rivals Ludogorets. It was a nervy affair, made even worse after 16 minutes when we went a goal down. A goal either side of half time gave us a short lasting lead as they pulled one back 10 minutes later to once again tie the score. Another goal for each of us before the 90^th minute mark and the game looked like it would end a draw and secure us the title – until we gave away a 94^th minute penalty. A penalty that Ludogorets would miss as the game ended 3-3!

Kupa na Bulgaria: Taking over a club whilst they have already booked their place in the semi-final is really helpful in this game! I had to wait 4 months before playing said semi-final, but opponents Pirin Blagoevgrad couldn’t keep up with us and we put 5 past them over two games for the 5-1 win to set up a final against constant thorn in my side Ludogorets.

This game would be played three days before the aforementioned final league game and the winner would surely have the upper hand going into that game! There wasn’t a lot between us, but our ability to keep possession (64%) was the deciding factor and we stole the tie with an extra time winner to make it 2-1 and give me my first trophy in Bulgaria.

Superkupa na Bylgarija: The guys won 2-0 before I took over

UEFA Champions League: Knocked out to Qarabag FK before I took over

UEFA Europa League: Knocked out to Rosenborg before I took over

UEFA Europa Conference League: The guys had already played 7 games before I took charge and I managed to get them to the 2^nd knockout round, beating PAOK in the first round, before losing to Nice.

 

Top Goalscorer: The squad I inherited was pretty poor in terms of depth but one of the first moves I made was to put 19 year old striker Nikola Iliev straight into my starting 11. He repaid me with 21 goals in 43 games

Most Assists: Wingers have always done well for me and this season was no different with winger Martin Smolenski contributing 14 assists

Highest Ave. Rating: We were really solid at the back for the first 11 games of my run and that surely helped defender Mateusz Wieteska on his way to the highest average rating

Most POTM: Those performances didn’t go unnoticed and he also picked up 7 player of the match awards

 

International: Not a lot has happened on this front; still at Australia and we have won all 7 of our World Cup qualifiers

 

Next Season Plan: Seems a shame to leave after only 5 months in charge, but not much point sticking around when we have ticked off both the league and the cup. There is quite a few interesting jobs around at the moment so it will be interesting to see where I end up

 

Season	    Team              Position    Continental                                Notes and Achievements     
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020	    FC Edmonton       1st         Won Scotiabank CONCACAF League             Won Manager of the Year
2021	    FC Edmonton       1st         Lost Scotiabank CONCACAF League Final      Won Manager of the Year
2022        FC Edmonton       1st         Won Scotiabank CONCACAF League             Won Amway Championship. Won Manager of the Year
2023	    HJK               1st         Europa Conference League 4th Qual.         Won Suomen Cup
2023-24     CSKA Sofia        1st         Europa Conference League 2nd Round         Won Kupa na Bulgaria

Challenge Progress

Club
3/10 top domestic leagues: Canadian Premier League Island Games (FC Edmonton, 2020); Veikkausliga (HJK, 2023); efbet League (CSKA Sofia, 2024)
3/10 domestic cups: Amway Canadian Championship (FC Edmonton, 2022); Suomen Cup (HJK, 2023); Kupa na Bulgaria (CSKA Sofia, 2024)
0/5 club continental championships:
0/1 club world championship:

International
0/5 continental tournaments:
0/2 world tournaments:

International:
Season     Team              Notes and Achievements     
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020       Russia U19s
2020       Israel
2021       Israel
2022       UAE
2023       UAE                Asian Cup Semi-final
2023       Australia

 

Congrats winning the league and cup in such short time. 

On my attempt last year, I was manager of Boca we were in the semi final of the Libatadores(sp) we were up against or biggest rivals for the league, we always struggled against them. A couple of weeks before our Semi final i noticed their manager had left. So I applied, got the job beat my old club Boca and won the final 🤣🤣🤣 imagine if that was real life I'd be hunted down and killed by the Boca Ultras 🤣

[Phelix]

59 minutes ago, MShing said:

I enjoyed a spell with Boca on my attempt at this challenge on fm20. Would you leave for a Brazilian team? I couldn't bear managing there how long the seasons are

I would leave for Santos or Sao Paulo, if they were still in the Copa Libertadores and Copa Do Brasil. Right now I am sticking it out at Boca to have another chance at the Copa Argentina and the Libertadores. If I could swap teams and have a chance at 3 trophies instead of 2, I would.

It's getting really annoying at Boca with fielding 15 offers per day for my players during transfer windows, and I've won the league already which enhances the 'waste of time' feeling I get.

Update

Well, I've locked up the league title again, which has seen my reputation increase to 80%. I had an interview with Dortmund, but they selected Gennaro Gattuso over me. I don't know if I'd have taken the job, Dortmund were out of title and cup contention, but were into the QF of the UCL and offerred me a budget north of 250m GPB.

The Chelsea job is coming up soon, but I've only got to stick it out at Boca for another 6 months to complete my Libertadores and Copa Argentina campaigns, so I don't know if I'll apply.

I've also got the Copa America with Uruguay to look forward to. I have already beaten Brazil in the WCQ and gave favourites Argentina a run for their money. A few good results and I might be able to tick off my first international trophy.

Edited December 5, 2020 by Phelix

[MShing]

5 hours ago, Phelix said:

It's getting really annoying at Boca with fielding 15 offers per day for my players during transfer windows,

Yes I used to hate that too. So annoying. 

Good luck on getting the cups you need

[libbyshuss]

8 hours ago, _JHTB_ said:

Given that the Premier League is one of 5 that you must win, personally I'd be inclined to stick it out at Arsenal till I won it as you could be further down the line not having won it and find yourself with a similar rebuilding job

that's the sensible thing to do! I did it in the end, there was nothing really tempting that came up at the end of the season plus I'm so close with this Arsenal team it would be silly to quit now i think

[libbyshuss]

8 hours ago, MShing said:

STEP 2 complete and I was so glad I could get out of China.

congratulations! That CL win must be a huge relief

My favourite thing about this challenge is having no idea where I'll end up next, so I'm kinda feeling some vicarious excitement to find out your next move!

[Danny_H22]

10 hours ago, MShing said:

Congrats winning the league and cup in such short time. 

On my attempt last year, I was manager of Boca we were in the semi final of the Libatadores(sp) we were up against or biggest rivals for the league, we always struggled against them. A couple of weeks before our Semi final i noticed their manager had left. So I applied, got the job beat my old club Boca and won the final 🤣🤣🤣 imagine if that was real life I'd be hunted down and killed by the Boca Ultras 🤣

Thank you! I am pretty selective whenever attempting this challenge and will definitely stick around a club longer than I should jue to wait for the "right" job to turn up and that's what happened with CSKA. I was offered a similar role in Poland at the same time but Sofia were a lot closer to challenging for the double. I must admit, in my 20+ years of playing FM/CM, 5 months is definitely my shortest time at a club. 

That's brilliant and I'd have absolutely done the same! But those aren't the fans you wanna get on the bad side of!

[vikeologist]

50 minutes ago, Danny_H22 said:

Thank you! I am pretty selective whenever attempting this challenge and will definitely stick around a club longer than I should jue to wait for the "right" job to turn up and that's what happened with CSKA. I was offered a similar role in Poland at the same time but Sofia were a lot closer to challenging for the double. I must admit, in my 20+ years of playing FM/CM, 5 months is definitely my shortest time at a club. 

That's brilliant and I'd have absolutely done the same! But those aren't the fans you wanna get on the bad side of!

I've been at a couple of clubs for less than a month I reckon.

[danielclouston1]

Season 22-23 Liga Mx Clausura

During the Clausura league stage we were unbeaten but our number of wins dropped to 12 and we drew 5, still finishing top but only 1 point ahead of 2nd placed Tigres. The QF and SF stage were much of the same same, wins in both first legs were enough to see us through after a second leg defeat in QF and second leg draw in SF. A huge improvement in the final though as we ran out 4-1 winners overall. Despite a very closely fought 1st leg against Monterrey, they couldn´t lay a glove on us in the second leg. Finally, one Liga Mx finals goes our way!

CONCACAF Champions League

The CONCACAF Champions League was a walk in the park. The quality of the MLS teams is horrendous. Nobody looked like challenging us all the way through it. First continental tournament for the challenge complete.

Mexico 2023 Gold Cup

After the 2022 World Cup, Mexico sacked their manager and I applied for the job immediately with the 2023 Gold Cup in mind.

Group Stage

Spoiler

As you can see, we were handed a very easy group. We ran out 10-0 winners v Guatemala, 10-1 winners v Grenada and 5-1 winners v El Salvador. I´d say we were superb but the quality of opposition could make the Faroe Islands look like Spain.

Quarter Final

Spoiler

We were handed what I thought was going to an easy tie however we were losing 3-2 up until 91st minute when we equalised. I thought we were crashing out at this stage, relieved to get the late goal and go on to win the tie.

Semi Final

Spoiler

After the difficulties in the last round I was apprehensive as to how we get on here however we were superb. We dominated from the get go and had a massive 29 shots on target. 

Final

Spoiler

Another game where we dominated throughout, only 13 shots on target this time but against the USA I was happy with the performance and we run out 2023 Gold Cup winners. Special mention to Raul Jiminez who notched a whopping 18 goals in the tournament.

Moving On

After a successful spell in North America I feel like it is time to find pastures new in a different continent. I have handed in my resignation for Pumas and Mexico. I have no real interest in international management out with the challenge and with no World Cup for 3 and a half years I felt my time was up. I´ve removed Canada, USA and Mexico from my playable leagues and added Australia, South Korea and China. With a Continental A badge and a 3 star reputation, I shouldn´t find it too difficult to get a fairly decent new jobs.

Domestic Career Overview

International Career Overview

Domestic League Challenge

Domestic Cup Challenge

Champions League Challenge

International Challenge

Trophy Cabinet

Career Record

Edited December 5, 2020 by danielclouston1

[MShing]

1 hour ago, vikeologist said:

I've been at a couple of clubs for less than a month I reckon.

I stayed at a club for 1 game, a cup final. Won it then bugged off on fm 20 🤣🤣🤣 

[MShing]

41 minutes ago, danielclouston1 said:

Season 22-23 Liga Mx Clausura

During the Clausura league stage we were unbeaten but our number of wins dropped to 12 and we drew 5, still finishing top but only 1 point ahead of 2nd placed Tigres. The QF and SF stage were much of the same same, wins in both first legs were enough to see us through after a second leg defeat in QF and second leg draw in SF. A huge improvement in the final though as we ran out 4-1 winners overall. Despite a very closely fought 1st leg against Monterrey, they couldn´t lay a glove on us in the second leg. Finally, one Liga Mx finals goes our way!

CONCACAF Champions League

The CONCACAF Champions League was a walk in the park. The quality of the MLS teams is horrendous. Nobody looked like challenging us all the way through it. First continental tournament for the challenge complete.

Mexico 2023 Gold Cup

After the 2022 World Cup, Mexico sacked their manager and I applied for the job immediately with the 2023 Gold Cup in mind.

Group Stage

  Hide contents

As you can see, we were handed a very easy group. We ran out 10-0 winners v Guatemala, 10-1 winners v Grenada and 5-1 winners v El Salvador. I´d say we were superb but the quality of opposition could make the Faroe Islands look like Spain.

Quarter Final

  Hide contents

We were handed what I thought was going to an easy tie however we were losing 3-2 up until 91st minute when we equalised. I thought we were crashing out at this stage, relieved to get the late goal and go on to win the tie.

Semi Final

  Hide contents

After the difficulties in the last round I was apprehensive as to how we get on here however we were superb. We dominated from the get go and had a massive 29 shots on target. 

Final

  Hide contents

Another game where we dominated throughout, only 13 shots on target this time but against the USA I was happy with the performance and we run out 2023 Gold Cup winners. Special mention to Raul Jiminez who notched a whopping 18 goals in the tournament.

Moving On

After a successful spell in North America I feel like it is time to find pastures new in a different continent. I have handed in my resignation for Pumas and Mexico. I have no real interest in international management out with the challenge and with no World Cup for 3 and a half years I felt my time was up. I´ve removed Canada, USA and Mexico from my playable leagues and added Australia, South Korea and China. With a Continental A badge and a 3 star reputation, I shouldn´t find it too difficult to get a fairly decent new jobs.

Domestic Career Overview

International Career Overview

Domestic League Challenge

Domestic Cup Challenge

Champions League Challenge

International Challenge

Trophy Cabinet

Career Record

A very successful season there congratulations 

[vikeologist]

9 minutes ago, MShing said:

I stayed at a club for 1 game, a cup final. Won it then bugged off on fm 20 🤣🤣🤣 

Living the (Ultimate Challenge) dream.

[danielclouston1]

17 minutes ago, MShing said:

A very successful season there congratulations 

I think my two tactics seem to work very well. We've blown most teams away be it with Pumas or Mexico, I've tried to develop them over the few seasons since I started but feel they're doing they're job well. I'll look to take them over to the next job and hope they works just as well.

[MShing]

1 hour ago, vikeologist said:

Living the (Ultimate Challenge) dream.

Yes a proper Vike that was 

[Siepe1990]

Season 7 (2026/2027)

My first full season in charge of Napoli. After finishing 6th in my first season, I was aiming for Champions League qualification, meaning a top 4 finish. I broke the club transfer record bringing in a 19-year old wonderkid very offensive right back for 58 million. We started of great, topping the league after 10 matches with a 5 point lead on Juventus. However, Juventus then went on a winning streak, not dropping a point between the 1st of December and the 10th of April... I managed to keep up, dropping 'only' 12 points, which meant I trailed them 7 points when their winning streak ended, with just 6 matches to go. I had already given up hopes of a miracle title, when they lost to Milan, only to drop more points to Benevento and Parma. Suddenly, we were tied, and the second-to-last match of the season was against Juventus. WE managed to pull a 3-2 finish over the line, Juventus scoring in the 91st and the 95th minute. After nailing my last 2 games, we were Champions!

Along the way we played the Domestic Cup and the UEFA Europa League. In the Domestic Cup, we played almost perfect football, annihilation opponents with scores like 4-0 and 3-1. We managed to get to the final, where – surprise surprise – Juventus waited. It was a tough final, where we managed to score an equalizer in the 92^nd minute the gain extra time… in which we score 3 in quick succession, claiming the trophy with a 5-2 victory! In the Continental Cup – the UEFA Europa League – we eased through the group stage, finished off AS Monaco, Hertha BSC and Borussia Dortmund on our way to the final, only to be defeated by another German club, TSG Hoffenheim (1-2).

So, I’ve collected the 2 trophies I need in Italy, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for a nice opportunity abroad for sure – if nothing comes along, I’ll see what next season brings.

International

After the deception with England in the World Cup, I was gearing up for the European Qualification. However… I was approached by another nation, one I just couldn’t turn down…

Holland, my home nation. A talented squad, with de Jong, de Ligt, Ihattaren, Unuvar and Gravenberch. After a difficult Nations League qualification I managed to top the group on goals scored – no, not even goal difference was enough to separate me and Scotland. I got Germany in the semi-final, whom I demolished 4-0 – the best feeling ever! The final pitted me against Spain ; Ihattaren became the hero of the nation, scoring the winner in the 111^th minute. My second Nations League ; sadly, another useless trophy 😉. However, I’m impressed with the squad and am very curious about the European Championships next summer.

Career Summary

Edited December 5, 2020 by Siepe1990

[lukefox44]

Luke Fox

DL Pro

2023/2034

Another successful season on the whole for me in China. We won the league very easily with 4 games to go, we even rotated heavily to focus on the domestic cup and the AFC Champions League. the domestic cup turned out to be very easy, we didn't play a team that finished in the top half of the league and were never really troubled at all. We played a team who finished rock bottom of the league in the final, they only won 5 games all year in the league but somehow managed to win 4 in a row in the cup. They really were no match for us in the final as we beat them 10-1 on aggregate, our forward scored a 9 minute hattrick and after 10 mins of leg one it was over really.

 

The Champions League provided to be rather annoying. We started well and won 5 of 6 group games, the one we lost we had already won the group and made 11 changes. The next two rounds were again simple enough and we went through to the semi-finals with no dramas. However this is when the drama came against Ulsan Hyundai, a team relatively similar to us, but I fancied us to win. We won the first leg at home 2-1, we dominated the game and should of won by more than one. With 10 mins left and no real danger our main Centre half two footed a player in the midfield and was sent off. In the second leg we went 2-0 up early on, giving us a 4-1 aggregate lead and more away goals as well. We conceded a quick fire double just before half time, 2-2 on the day, still 4-3 up on aggregate.  They took a 3-2 lead on the night in the 74th minute, meaning its 4-4 but us still ahead on away goals. We make it look even more certain with another goal ourselves, leaving Ulsan needing two goals in the last 9 minutes to knock us out. We somehow managed to concede in the 84th, the 90th and the 95th minute, we had thrown it away big time. Also look at the XG, concede 6 to an 1.23 XG, not that XG is the defining factor but still.

 

 

This is the first real set back in the whole save, but it was still super disappointing. The final would of been against Suwon Bluewings, who we beat twice in the group stages already and I thought we could of beat again, we could of been finished with Asia and onto the next part of the challenge, frustrating, but I'm sort of enjoying china so another year here isn't the end of the world.

 

 

Just a quick mention of Ryan Kent, voted player of the year in the league, the cup and the champions league. His £32m release clause is starting to look small now as a few decently sized European clubs are starting to take a look at him. Should he leave I've already agreed to sign a replacement, his former Rangers teammate Hagi, a very similar player who even if Kent doesn't move on will be starter on the other flank.

Club Update

 

National Update

My time with Albania was short lived, 4 competitive matches, 1 draw and 3 loses, that was enough for me to call it a day. Was hoping to have a decent Nations League, improve my rep and then move on, but it wasn't to be. I was happy without a National job for a while but after both the AFCON and Gold cup had finished loads of jobs appeared. I got offered the  job who were ranked 13th in the world. Its 2 years until the next AFCON but we should have a good chance of winning it, our attacking players are exceptional.

Challenge Update

[MShing]

So after I left China, the African Nations arrived shortly after. A number of jobs came up and I decided to go for Nigeria. Other than this news I have nothing to report, There have not been any attractive club jobs become available yet and I have been unemployed for 8 or 9 months now.

I have found a bug where I cannot progress past the team selection for a match for Nigeria, first time this happened was a friendly and I just holidayed past it, but now its happened again for a World Cup qualifier. So this is where my save ends for now  

I have reported it in the bugs forum, wasnt sure if it was a known issue. Gutted

[lukefox44]

4 minutes ago, MShing said:

I have found a bug where I cannot progress past the team selection for a match for Nigeria, first time this happened was a friendly and I just holidayed past it, but now its happened again for a World Cup qualifier. So this is where my save ends for now  

I have reported it in the bugs forum, wasnt sure if it was a known issue. Gutted

I had this a few times, I think it's when you're on the team selection screen and click on a player profile or just click away from the selection screen.

If it's the same issue I've been having, I just save the game to a new save slot (just incase it goes wrong so you have your original back up) and then reload the new save and dont click out of the team selection screen. 

It does sound similar to the issue I've been having, hopefully this works.

Just as a side note our saves have been extremely similar, very similar teams haha

[MShing]

40 minutes ago, lukefox44 said:

I had this a few times, I think it's when you're on the team selection screen and click on a player profile or just click away from the selection screen.

If it's the same issue I've been having, I just save the game to a new save slot (just incase it goes wrong so you have your original back up) and then reload the new save and dont click out of the team selection screen. 

It does sound similar to the issue I've been having, hopefully this works.

Just as a side note our saves have been extremely similar, very similar teams haha

Thanks for the work around. I'll give that a try next time I am playing. 

Yes our saves have had similar teams so far. Good luck in the champions League next season.  Do you have any idea what leagues you want to manage in next?

[Phelix]

Uruguay Copa America 2028 Update

Having secured the league title with Boca, my stocks were high. I had been on a comfortable run with Uruguay in the WCQ matches, beating Brazil at home and narrowly losing to Argentina 2-1 away. I had dispatched Ecuador, Chile, Boliva and Venezuela already and was second in the group leading into the Copa America.

We were gifted a kind draw, with both Argentina and Brazil in the other group, and China and Australia being the foreign invitees this time around. I topped the group, not dropping a single point and only conceding 2 goals in 5 matches. This lead to a quarter final match against Venezuela who we cruised past 3-0, to once again be favoured in the draw with Chile in the semi-finals, meaning Brazil and Argentina would face each other.

We ease past Chile 2-0 while Argentina put 4 past Brazil without reply, meaning we play the only SAM nation that has beaten me so far in my run as manager of Uruguay.

The final starts and we take an early lead, Darwin Nunez scoring yet another goal. Half time approaches and we are dominating, but the world-class reincarnation of Peter Schmeichel is in goal for Argentina, and we just can't score a second. We are punished for it as Lautaro Martinez dashes free of my defense and slots home past my own reincarnation, only my keeper was Paul Robinson in a previous life.

After half-time it's more of the same, we dominate, but cannot score, until the 20 minutes, when from absolutley nothing, my own Boca Juniors key player pops up on the edge of the area and rifles home a 25 yard screamer for Argentina to take the lead. This knocks the wind out of our sails and Argentina get a third shortly after, ending my dream of completing the first international trophy of this save.

The only positive to come out of the Copa America though is that Brazil sacked their manager, I applied and was immediately offered the job and jumped at it. The quality of the playing squad is immense, and the chance to have a real crack at the 2030 world cup was too big to ignore. 4 Years as Brazil manager should see me get my at least 1 international trophy, either the WC or the Copa America in 2032.

Boca Juniors 2028/29 Update

Having won the league back to back, I now had to focus on the Copa Libertadores, which I am getting my first chance in, due to the delayed qualification which meant even though I won the league last season I was only in the Copa Sudamericana which I won easily. I also had unfinished business in the Copa Argentina. Both these tournaments span the end of one domestic season and the beginning of the next, meaning I am going for what is now a third year with Boca. I've currently booked a semi-final appearance with Flamengo in the Libertadores, while I am in the Quarter Final of the Copa. Fingers crossed I can win both, I don't want to spend another season in Argentina and I had to turn down both the Benfica and PSG jobs because I didn't want to have to come back later and re-build for a chance at the required Libertadores trophy.

 

[libbyshuss]

10 hours ago, MShing said:

I have found a bug where I cannot progress past the team selection for a match for Nigeria, first time this happened was a friendly and I just holidayed past it, but now its happened again for a World Cup qualifier. So this is where my save ends for now

i found the same thing. Weirdly, if I saved to menu and reload it it seemed to fix it. Not sure if it's same bug or a simiar bug but it's happened a few times now, only with international teams, and that fix worked every time

[libbyshuss]

10 hours ago, lukefox44 said:

I had this a few times, I think it's when you're on the team selection screen and click on a player profile or just click away from the selection screen.

If it's the same issue I've been having, I just save the game to a new save slot (just incase it goes wrong so you have your original back up) and then reload the new save and dont click out of the team selection screen. 

It does sound similar to the issue I've been having, hopefully this works.

Just as a side note our saves have been extremely similar, very similar teams haha

lol, that teaches me for not reading replies first!

sounds like a common bug then - this is exactly what happens to me, always when i click away from the selection screen with exactly the same fix

[Patrick69]

SEASON 1 (2020/2021)

 Linfield, Danske Bank Premiership

 

It has been a great Christmas for me this year, as I was given a 1-year contract at Linfield, worth € 6,500 a month. Linfield is seen as the team to beat and favourite to win the title every year. After having played 11 matches, Linfield were found 7^th spot at the table and that was the reason for the board to send away the manager. As we were only 6 points behind first place, so still had every chance to turn things around.

We still to play 22 matches in the Danske Bank Premiership befor the Legaue would be split in 2 halves. The top 6 teams will play for the title and the bottom 6 teams are fighting against relegation. So my goal in the remaining matches was to make sure we were in the top of the table. We had an excellent run as we managed to stay unbeaten in these 22 matches. We won 17 matches and the other 5 matches ended in a draw. As a result we were first spot in the Danske Bank Premiership with a 14 point lead over second placed Larne. So after the League was split in 2 halves, we only needed 1 win to secure this years title.

The first match in this last stage of the competition ended in a disappoining 2-1 defeat in a home match against Glentoran. My first lost match as a manager. Still we got some good news as Larne also lost their match. Only Larne still has a very small chance to win the title, but only if they would win every match and we would lose every match. So as they did lose their match against Crusaders, we still won the Danske Bank Premiership. We ended the season with a total ot 82 points and a goaldifference of 51 (96-45).

Also in the Northern Irish Cup, Linfield was seen as possible winner. As we play in the Danske Bank Premiership, we start this competition in the 5^th round. So to win this Cup we only had to win 5 matches. In the 5^th Round we won 3-1 against Lisburn Distillery. In the 6^th Round we faced PSNI and won by 4-1. The Quarter Final ended in a 3-0 victory against Harland & Wolff Welders. In the Semi Finals we won against Partadown by 2-1 in extra time. In the Northern Irish Cup Final we played against Carrick Rangers. We were the stronger team as was expected but only won by a 1-0 score. But still we did win the Northern Irish Cup this season.

A good start of my career as a manager as I was able to win double in Northern Ireland.

 

[libbyshuss]

Africa Cup Of Nations 2029

Morocco

 

After a really straightforward qualifying group we were drawn in a group with Cape Verde, Ethipia and Guinea. On paper, it looked nice and easy.

Group Stage
 

Spoiler

 

I was a little worried after being 2-0 down at half time in our first game against Cape Verde but we came through in the end. Some free scoring stuff but the amount of goals conceded was a little worrying

 

Second Round

Spoiler

 

It looked a fairly kind draw against DR Congo but they ran us a lot closer than it probably should have been

 

Quarter Final

Spoiler

 

Our first really tough game of the competition against Ivory Coast, only two days after the second round match. Our boys were exhausted but I didn't really have the strength in depth to make too many changes. In the end I went with three, keeping the big guns in. It was the big guns that saw us through in the end

 

Semi Final

Spoiler

 

So it was Ghana in the semi. We had a nice few days recovery so we were full strength and fully fit when the game came around. We were simply brilliant as well, by far the best performance since I became manager

The best thing about it was it meant morale was sky high for the final

 

The Final

Spoiler

 

We were strong favourites. Angola had shocked Nigeria in the other semi to make the final but they weren't as strong as us. |It would be a major shock for us to lose it at this stage

it was closer than I'd have liked but the winner was scored by Nabil Chadli, one of my Arsenal players who's currently on loan at Sporting. what a lad!

 

 

 

What's Next?

Spoiler

 

I think I may hand my resignation in. 15 games, 15 victories is not a bad record. I think I may be an honoury Moroccan for life now. I'd like to try and take them to a World Cup but with the next available one 5 years away it's not worth hanging around for. I'll see what comes up after the 2030 World Cup plays out.

Career Summary

Challenge Progress

 

 

Edited December 6, 2020 by libbyshuss

[Solsol]

I have just spent an hour going through this thread and you guys just pushed me over the fence. This is my third FM and I am not amazing at the game but I want to take a shot at it, what are the rules on Regen face packs? And what are the rules for loading up leagues, no custom databases but thats it right?

[lukefox44]

12 hours ago, MShing said:

Thanks for the work around. I'll give that a try next time I am playing. 

Yes our saves have had similar teams so far. Good luck in the champions League next season.  Do you have any idea what leagues you want to manage in next?

Hopefully that should work, @libbyshuss seems to have the same problem/fix, so it should.

It's a strange one to come across first time, I was like you and thought this might be the end of the save haha.

Yeah hopefully will not bottle the Champions League next year and then the plan is to move on to the Northern American version or African depending on what jobs pop up. What's your next club plans?

Its 2 years until the AFCON as well and should have a good crack at that with this Nigeria side. How good of an attacking side are Nigeria by the way, pace and dribbling is nuts for everyone. Good luck with them.

[vikeologist]

48 minutes ago, Solsol said:

I have just spent an hour going through this thread and you guys just pushed me over the fence. This is my third FM and I am not amazing at the game but I want to take a shot at it, what are the rules on Regen face packs? And what are the rules for loading up leagues, no custom databases but thats it right?

Face packs are fine. Any cosmetic things basically are ok.

No custom databases unless they're official SI ones, like Canada was last year.

[darren1983]

Season 2021/22 - FS Stars - South African Championship

League - Domination, we ran away with it, won our first 10 games and never looked back. Had a mini wobble just before the winter break where we lost back to back games, but came roaring back, set all kinds of records along the way as well. CT All Stars were as bad as we were good this season, not sure I've ever seen a side finish with 0 points before.

Cup - made it to the quarter finals again. This defeat hurt. Cape Town won the Premier League last season (and this) but we should have won. 1-0 up after 95 mins we gave away a pen and they scored, the got a 2nd after the break in ET and a late third as we pushed forward, a really harsh defeat here.

Transfers - not the numbers I expected to bring in at the end of last season but the players we brought in were quality. Used the loan market really well as I just couldn't fins a couple of key roles to sign for us

Squad - younger than the one I took over and room to grow for a few, need to find replacements for the loanees though

Finances - really bad, club have made 2 or 3 cash injections this season, I've kept within the wage budget but not sure what else I can do

A few times during the season top flight jobs came up but couldn't even get an interview as I hadn't won anything, hoping promotion and my 3rd coaching badge (by August) might help next season

Career Progress

Season		Club		Country		League		Position	Notes/Achievements 
2020/21		FS Stars	South Africa	NDF		5th 		Took over in 8th. Started 1st coaching badge
2021/21		FS Stars	South Africa	NDF		1st 		Completed 2 coaching badges & started a 3rd

Challenge Progress

Club

0/10 top domestic leagues (Insert nations)
0/10 domestic cups ()
0/5 club continental championships ()
0/1 club world championship

International
0/5 continental tournaments ()
0/1 world tournaments ()

 

[libbyshuss]

Season 2028/29

 

League

After finishing 3rd and 2nd in the previous 2 seasons the pressure was on to go one better. I upgraded a couple of key positions in the summer and felt confident going into the new season. we won our first three, inckuding a 4-1 win against Liverpool, but then we drew 5 in a row. After 13 games we were unbeaten but had drawn 6, giving Man City and Chelsea a head start we could never catch. A little frustrating in the end as we should and could have done a lot better

Domestic Cups

Part of the reason we suffered in the league was because of how well we did in the Cups. We made the Caroboa cup final where we hammered Chelsea 4-1 and made the FA Cup semi-final, where we were beaten 1-0 AET by Spurs. But the Caraboa Cup counts for the challenge!

Continental Cup

The group stage saw us win a game 11-0, which was nice, and qualify quite easily. Sporting Lisbon were dispatched in the first qualifying round to set up a quarter final clash againt Manchester United. We were away in the first leg so I was hopeful of a good result to set us up for the home leg. I got it with a 4-1 win. THe semi-fina gave us a chance of revenge against Barcelona. Our striker managed to get himself sent off in the first minute so it was backs against the wall for 89 minutes. Somewhat improbably we only lost 2-1, and that away goal made it feel almsot like a win. To the home leg and.....

Spoiler

 

what a game!!!! We turned down a 73m bid from Barca in January and he showed them what they missed! So into the final against Real Madrid......

Spoiler

 

so there we go!!!

What Next?

I might not have won the league but i think it might be time to move on to pastures new. I'll have to come back to England but 3 and a half years is a long time. Hopefully an interesting job pops up

Career Summary

 

Challenge Progress

Edited December 6, 2020 by libbyshuss

[libbyshuss]

well...... which way should i Jump?

 

   or  

 

Toss a coin?