The Ultimate Football Manager Challenge

Gammonds · December 9, 2023

I had an incomplete attempt at this challenge a couple of years ago, but decided I’d like to take another shot at it as my FM 24 save. So, allow me to introduce Dunning Krueger:

Spoiler

I got a few seasons deep in the save before I sat down to write anything up, so I’ll post a couple of 2 season rollups to get caught up.

The game started in summer of 2023, and I waited a few months to start applying for jobs. In the fall, I got my first head coaching job at Tochigi, who were at the time sitting just clear of the relegation zone in the J2 League. I saw keeping them up as an easy win, a chance to get a bit of experience, and hoped the team would be an opportunity to build a bit of actual success. I guess 2 out of 3 isn’t bad. I in fact kept Tochigi up – just a bit clear from serious threat of relegation, exactly how I found them. The players however were not convinced by my leadership, and the playing squad clearly needed a major overhaul in the offseason to avoid relegation the next year. I was hesitant to take on that particular project, and when the board denied my request to go get my first coaching badge during the Japanese offseason in December I resigned.

My next stop was Flint Town, a semi-pro side in the Welsh second tier. In early spring of 24, late in the Welsh league season Flint Town was just clear of the relegation fight and looking for a manager. I jumped on the job, seeing the Welsh leagues as perhaps a better place for an experienced at best manager to make his mark. The Flint Town team I took over was an interesting one. I had precisely 11 players good enough for the league by my count, and one of them was my backup goalkeeper. We did just enough to stay up without too much concern.

Moving into the 24/25 season I knew I needed to improve the team and absolutely had to build a usable bench, so off to the free agent market I went. A total of 7 free agents both improved the quality of the first 11 and gave me just enough depth to allow for minimal rotation. Equally important in my view was that I now had the players to shift into a formation and system I didn’t hate rather than a 5-2-3 that was barely held together. Oddly to me, the board’s expectations had become more pessimistic during the offseason – the previous year they had wanted to be mid-table, but this year seemed to expect us to be relegated. The media predictions had us mid-table, and I thought that was very achievable. We finished 2^nd, which does not earn promotion to the top flight, but that was just fine with me. It was a bit of an overperformance measured against any reasonable expectations, and was also enough to earn me the Head Coach of the Year award.

corinthiano · December 9, 2023

2023 Season Report

I decided to give this challenge a go and waited a season to see if it would stick, which I believe it has! First let me introduce the manager, Kojo Danquah who is the Ghanaian manager I used for my long term career in FM22.

I loaded all Nations in Asia that I think have a realistic chance of winning the Champions League, Australia, China, Japan and South Korea, as well as South Africa. I want to win the two Champions Leagues here before moving on to the Americas, leaving Europe to last. I didnt want to start in South Africa since I spent more than 60 seasons in African in my previous save and wanted to see what Japan was like, so ended up getting a job a few of us got in this challenge.

I made the mistake of promising the board I wouldnt bring in any staff with me, which meant no scouts ahead of the season start, which made recruitment tricky. Added to that, the team took a while to get used to my tactics which meant we were hovering in and out of the promotion places for the first half of the season. However once the mid-season transfer window opened and we signed some quality players we just went on a ramp and absolutely dominated the division, setting a record for most points, win and goals. In the Emperor's Cup we did OK, getting to the Second Round before being knocked out by J2 opposition on penalties.

Star Player - Kensei Ukita: A player that was already at the club and played really well as a DLF for us, scoring a lot more goals than usually a player in that position scores for me.

Spoiler

As for next steps, others have shown FC Gifu are a team that can get promoted to J1, so I will stick around unless I get a decent job in a top division in one of the other countries. I will also see if an international job pops up after the Africa Cup of Nations or Asian Cup, although I am not sure if my rep will be good enough to get a decent job.

Progress

corinthiano · December 9, 2023

I said I would only join a top division side and this is borderline a gamble as I sign for Kumamoto who surprised everyone by getting promoted to J1 last season. They are odds on to be relegated but I figured it would be a way to skip a division. Plan for the season is just to survive the drop and see where we go from there.

CertFM · December 10, 2023

Season 2 Review

The 2024/25 proved to be a monumental chapter in Venda FC's history as we embarked on our maiden campaign in the highly competitive South African Premiership. Against all odds, and despite being labelled heavy relegation favourites with daunting 1000-1 odds, we defied expectations and secured a commendable 11th position. The gegenpressing system continued to serve us well, and our resilience and determination kept us clear of any real danger of relegation.

However, personally, the challenges behind the scenes have started to wear on me. The financial constraints and limited budgets have become a recurring obstacle, hindering our ability to make the necessary signings to propel the team further. The frustrations are compounded by the club's reluctance to invest in coaching courses for my professional development.

While staying with Venda FC has been a rewarding journey, the prospect of reaching new heights with the club is becoming increasingly uncertain. The question of how much further I can take this team with the current limitations looms large.

As the season concludes, reflections on the highs and lows become integral to shaping the future. While my commitment to Venda FC remains steadfast, the pursuit of professional development and the desire to take on new challenges may ultimately lead to a crossroads in my managerial journey. The next step will require careful consideration, weighing the current frustrations against the potential opportunities that lie beyond. Whatever the future holds, the experiences and achievements at Venda FC will undoubtedly shape the trajectory of my managerial career.

Season     Team       Position  Notes and Achievements
2023/24  Venda FC     2nd       Promotion to South African Premiership
2024/25  Venda FC     11th

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 ()

corinthiano · December 10, 2023

13 minutes ago, CertFM said:
Season 2 Review

The 2024/25 proved to be a monumental chapter in Venda FC's history as we embarked on our maiden campaign in the highly competitive South African Premiership. Against all odds, and despite being labelled heavy relegation favourites with daunting 1000-1 odds, we defied expectations and secured a commendable 11th position. The gegenpressing system continued to serve us well, and our resilience and determination kept us clear of any real danger of relegation.

However, personally, the challenges behind the scenes have started to wear on me. The financial constraints and limited budgets have become a recurring obstacle, hindering our ability to make the necessary signings to propel the team further. The frustrations are compounded by the club's reluctance to invest in coaching courses for my professional development.

While staying with Venda FC has been a rewarding journey, the prospect of reaching new heights with the club is becoming increasingly uncertain. The question of how much further I can take this team with the current limitations looms large.

As the season concludes, reflections on the highs and lows become integral to shaping the future. While my commitment to Venda FC remains steadfast, the pursuit of professional development and the desire to take on new challenges may ultimately lead to a crossroads in my managerial journey. The next step will require careful consideration, weighing the current frustrations against the potential opportunities that lie beyond. Whatever the future holds, the experiences and achievements at Venda FC will undoubtedly shape the trajectory of my managerial career.
Season     Team       Position  Notes and Achievements
2023/24  Venda FC     2nd       Promotion to South African Premiership
2024/25  Venda FC     11th

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 ()

Congrats on staying up, do you think you would move outside of South Africa or prefer to stay there?

CertFM · December 10, 2023

5 hours ago, corinthiano said:

Congrats on staying up, do you think you would move outside of South Africa or prefer to stay there?

I've applied for loads of jobs, mainly looking at the larger teams in South Africa. Problem is my reputation is still low and no coaching licences isn't going to help either

Gammonds · December 11, 2023

25/26 Season

After finishing 2^nd in the league the year prior, I thought a few more additions to the squad and the growth I hoped my players would experience would be enough to at least mount a serious title challenge, and probably win promotion. I also expected this to be my last year at Flint Town – looking further forward I expected keeping a newly promoted side up to be quite the struggle with no short term hope of trophies, and thought I’d come away from a promotion campaign with the chops to secure a better job. But that was all for the future – in the short term, I had a league I hoped to win.

Things started very well for Flint Town. The team had ended the previous season on a good run of form, and simply continued it into the new campaign. We went unbeaten for almost the entire first half of the season, and had opened up a 9 point gap to second place at the midpoint. That was a bit of an over-performance, but despite regressing toward the mean in the second half of the season we won the league fairly comfortably.

Spoiler

Our performances in the domestic cups was fine, but nothing to write home (or you all) about. Overall, this was a very successful year. The combination of promotion and a second consecutive coach of the year award should have left me a reasonably desirable candidate for a position with a better team, but I was planning on being patient – the campaign to keep Flint Town up was more appealing than a bad move, but it was time to start a job hunt.

26/27 Season

As we moved into the offseason, I started my job hunt as planned, while continuing to prepare Flint Town for life in the Welsh top flight. My preferred next job was either in Australia or South America, and I was willing to consider South Korea or Japan, but those leagues seemed a bit beyond my reach at this juncture. I applied for a couple of jobs in Australia at different points with no luck even getting an interview, and as the beginning of the season approached accepted I was going to have one more year at Flint Town.

The media had us as overwhelming favorites for relegation, the board fully expected it, and I was hoping to just steer clear of the worst of the dogfight. The season started just slightly better than I’d hoped – we weren’t going to put together a run of wins, but were able to build a small cushion – something like a game and team – between us and the relegation spots. A couple of injuries to important players in that opening run gave me cause for concern, but we coped well enough. As the squad got healthy and this year’s version gelled, we actually improved, enough that in the second half of the first stage of the season we were sitting between 7^th and 9^th (of 12 teams mind) in the table.

From this point, we got some serious help while we hit what might have been our best form of the season – or at least the most important. We climbed to 6^th, which put us in the top half of the table when the league split, and meant it was impossible for us to be relegated. That was the season’s objectives secured right there, and goals really exceeded with where we were in the table.

While this was going on I hadn’t stopped my low key job hunting. I probably applied for a job about once every 6 weeks, most or all in Australia – with absolutely no success, not even an interview. However, the 2 teams in the relegation spots offered me interviews in fairly close succession. I’m not sure what they thought the appeal of moving to a team that was far worse off could have been, but I had no qualms about telling them no.

I expected the final 10 games, all played against the better teams in the league to be a struggle, and they were. What I forgot was that everyone had that problem, and The New Saints pretty much own the league, with one or two other stronger teams right behind relative to the rest of us. I didn’t exactly take a lot of points, but did just enough to finish 5^th. It was a shocking over-achievement for this squad, good enough to earn my 3^rd consecutive coach of the year award - and Flint Town doesn’t pay enough for me to be able to afford a trophy case. Our finish also meant we played 2 extra matches at the end of the campaign for a spot in the UECL play-ins. We won, the second of those 2 on penalties, and not only stayed up but would be in Europe the next year.

Spoiler

No sooner had the season ended than my 2 best defenders decided they no longer wanted to play for me, and would be leaving at the end of the season – the perils of short contracts that. I wasn’t thrilled, but had no plans of sticking around at this point. Not wanting to get stuck in a mid-table grind with a team favored to go down yet again, I’m going to widen the aperture on my job search a bit. I’m still not resigning from Flint Town, but have no intention of managing them through another season.

Challenge Progress: None, as yet.

CertFM · December 11, 2023

2025/26 Season Review

Going to try and race through these pretty quickly as I am a couple of seasons ahead now:

The third season unfolded with a sense of déjà vu for Venda FC, as once again, the odds were stacked against us with 1000-1 relegation predictions. Prior to the season kickoff, my pursuit of new challenges led me to apply for international jobs, and I secured the role of the Kenyan national team manager. The experience, although not extensively detailed, provided a boost to my managerial reputation.

Despite the increased reputation, Venda FC's season got off to a rocky start. The struggles on the pitch mirrored the uncertainties off it, with my eyes constantly scanning for opportunities at larger South African teams. Regrettably, interview offers remained elusive, but a silver lining emerged as Venda FC finally acceded to my request for coaching badges. The newfound opportunity for professional development injected a fresh sense of optimism.

However, as the season progressed, our performances failed to meet expectations, and after 11 games, we found ourselves languishing in the relegation playoff spot with only two wins to our name. The time had come for a difficult decision. The realisation that a change was needed prompted me to explore new horizons. It was time to bid farewell to Venda FC, a club that had been both a challenge and a source of growth.

Enter Maritzburg United, a team facing its own struggles. The offer to become their manager was not a monumental leap, but the prospect of steering them clear of relegation presented an immediate challenge. Accepting the position at Maritzburg United was a pragmatic decision, driven by the belief that I could contribute to the team's survival in the division – a goal that seemed uncertain with Venda FC.

The move to Maritzburg United proved to be a resounding success as we navigated through the challenges and secured Premier League safety in 13th place, a feat that brought a sense of accomplishment and vindication for the decision to part ways with Venda FC. Unfortunately, Venda faced a more challenging fate, finishing at the bottom of the table, highlighting the difficulties they continued to grapple with. (Apologies as I had forgotten to screenshot)

In the new environment at Maritzburg, a promising horizon awaited. The club's stronger financial standing provided an opportunity for a substantial squad overhaul, allowing for strategic signings that aligned with the vision for the team. The prospect of building a squad tailored to my managerial philosophy and aspirations was an exciting prospect, and the immediate acceptance of completing the National B Licence signaled a commitment to both personal and professional development.

Season     Team             Position  Notes and Achievements
2023/24  Venda FC           2nd       Promotion to South African Premiership
2024/25  Venda FC           11th
2025/26  Maritzburg Utd     13th      National B Licence

Challenge Progress

Club

0/10 top domestic leagues ()

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 11, 2023 by CertFM
formatting

AndreV1313 · December 11, 2023

Since I always have difficulty in finding the right save, I decided to give this challenge a try, here is my manager profile

Here is my first team: i'll start in South Africa with Black Leopards

Edited December 11, 2023 by AndreV1313

CertFM · December 12, 2023

Season 4: 2026/27 Review

Entering into my fourth season, the first with Maritzburg United, optimism abounds as we embark on our first full campaign with a squad that has undergone a significant overhaul. The busy transfer window allowed for strategic signings that not only aligned with the vision for the team but also injected a fresh dynamic into the squad. The media's prediction of a comfortable mid-table finish in 7th place, coupled with 50-1 odds of winning the title, reflected the positive strides we have taken in reshaping the team.

I could not have predicted this though as we win 7 of our first 8 games in the league to put us in the lead of the title race at the end of September. Patchier form soon hit though as we were eliminated from the KO Cup and went on a run with only 2 wins out of our last 6 games before the mid-season break leaving us still within a shout of the title but now with ground to make up.

When the season resumed we really found our groove as we won 7 out of 8 league games plus advancing through to the quarter-finals of the SA Cup where we would be knocked out disappointingly to AmaZulu. At this point of the season, I resigned from the Kenya job after less than 2 years in charge. I didn't see any benefit as they were miles off ever coming close to winning the AFCON and I wanted to focus my attention on Maritzburg's late title push.

That decision turned out to be a great one as we won our last 4 games of the season, and with a bit of luck, as Sundowns drew on the last day, we were announced as champions.

Spoiler

If any of my neighbours read this, I apologise for the screaming that came from my house that day as I could never have believed we would win the league in my first full season. Something about this game that makes you feel a sense of euphoria when you pull something like this off. I am glad that my decision to switch clubs has paid off, and I am now looking forward to guiding this team in the African Champions League next year.

Season     Team             Position  Notes and Achievements
2023/24  Venda FC           2nd       Promotion to South African Premiership
2024/25  Venda FC           11th
2025/26  Maritzburg Utd     13th      National B Licence
2026/27  Maritzburg Utd     1st      South African Premiership Winners, National A Licence

Challenge Progress

Club

1/10 top domestic leagues (South African Premiership)

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 12, 2023 by CertFM

goonergez · December 12, 2023

That’s a great title win there @CertFM. I’ve come close on both this years and last seasons editions to managing Maritzburg but never quite taken the plunge. They seem to become fairly steady stalwarts of the top flight top half under the AI though. Maybe next year I’d bite the bullet and have a go with them.

AndreV1313 · December 12, 2023

2023/24

My save for this challenge began in South Africa, leading the Black Leopards. The team was very unusual because it was oddly constructed: I had five attacking midfielders and five strickers but just one winger per role and one fullback per role. Adding that the budget was almost zero, I had to intervene, within the limits of the budget, with several zero parameters, thus acquiring winger Mashaba and midfielder Mekoa. Unfortunately, although I made attempts for other players, I received a long series of rejections, from players who decided to accept offers from direct competitors.

MOSTEPE FOUNDATION CHAMPIONSHIP

The season in the league went beyond my wildest expectations. Starting with the goal of avoiding relegation, we were able to win the title and earn promotion to the top league. The deciding factor was mainly the excellent start to the season, with 13 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in the first 15 games, with only the Hungry Lions able to maintain a pace similar to ours. Towards the end of 2023 came an understandable downturn, with several consecutive negative results, but fortunately the rivals did not take advantage and we kept the top spot until the 27th day, when we celebrated winning the title. In the last few matches i gave space to the youngsters who, although they did not bring great results, still had the chance to show off.

NEDBANCK CUP

If we had a great season in the league, the same cannot be said for the cup, where we were eliminated in the preliminary round, against the Casric Stars. The defeat was definitely disappointing, especially since a few weeks earlier we had beaten them 3-0 away, the same stadium where we later lost the cup match 3-1. We still would not have been able to win the cup, of course, but still not fulfilling the club's goal slightly disappointed me. The cup winner was Amazulu, who finished 13th in the league.

Season     Team             Position  Notes and Achievements
2023/24    Black Leopards   1st       Motsepe Foundation Championship winner, promotion to DStv Premiership

Challenge Progress

Club

0/10 top domestic leagues ()

0/10 domestic cups ()

0/5 club continental championships ()

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments ()

0/1 world tournaments ()

corinthiano · December 12, 2023

3 hours ago, AndreV1313 said:
2023/24

My save for this challenge began in South Africa, leading the Black Leopards. The team was very unusual because it was oddly constructed: I had five attacking midfielders and five strickers but just one winger per role and one fullback per role. Adding that the budget was almost zero, I had to intervene, within the limits of the budget, with several zero parameters, thus acquiring winger Mashaba and midfielder Mekoa. Unfortunately, although I made attempts for other players, I received a long series of rejections, from players who decided to accept offers from direct competitors.

MOSTEPE FOUNDATION CHAMPIONSHIP

The season in the league went beyond my wildest expectations. Starting with the goal of avoiding relegation, we were able to win the title and earn promotion to the top league. The deciding factor was mainly the excellent start to the season, with 13 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in the first 15 games, with only the Hungry Lions able to maintain a pace similar to ours. Towards the end of 2023 came an understandable downturn, with several consecutive negative results, but fortunately the rivals did not take advantage and we kept the top spot until the 27th day, when we celebrated winning the title. In the last few matches i gave space to the youngsters who, although they did not bring great results, still had the chance to show off.

NEDBANCK CUP

If we had a great season in the league, the same cannot be said for the cup, where we were eliminated in the preliminary round, against the Casric Stars. The defeat was definitely disappointing, especially since a few weeks earlier we had beaten them 3-0 away, the same stadium where we later lost the cup match 3-1. We still would not have been able to win the cup, of course, but still not fulfilling the club's goal slightly disappointed me. The cup winner was Amazulu, who finished 13th in the league.
Season     Team             Position  Notes and Achievements
2023/24    Black Leopards   1st       Motsepe Foundation Championship winner, promotion to DStv Premiership

Challenge Progress

Club

0/10 top domestic leagues ()

0/10 domestic cups ()

0/5 club continental championships ()

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments ()

0/1 world tournaments ()

Great first season! You looking to stay with the Black Leopards or will you try to find a more high profile job?

AndreV1313 · December 12, 2023

1 ora fa, corinthiano ha scritto:

Great first season! You looking to stay with the Black Leopards or will you try to find a more high profile job?

I had originally planned to stay, but then an interesting opportunity came up to try to fight for the top of the DStv Premiership and I took advantage of it

goonergez · December 12, 2023

Ulsan Hyundai: 2030 Review

I said I wanted my time in South Korea to be short, and it certainly ended up going that way. My reign started fantastically, as we won fifteen of our opening sixteen league matches whilst also making the final of the Asian Champions League. We wouldn’t suffer a defeat until our eighteenth league match, but that would spark a frenzy of negativity.

We would throw away our lead at the top in a horrific second half to the season as we dropped points regularly. What had looked like a promising campaign fell apart and I handed in my resignation with three league matches remaining and us sat in 3rd spot, ten points off of the leaders. We’d also failed in the Korean Cup, losing in our first match to FC Seoul.

Thankfully I did pick up some silverware with the club as we breezed through to win the Asian Champions League. The final was as tense as it comes but we followed a 1-1 away draw with a goalless home tie to win the trophy on away goals.

Winning the continental competition of Asia means I can leave having achieved what was needed. In truth we should have added more trophies to the tally but our form just fell off a cliff in the second half of the season. In truth I’m glad to be gone. In other news I have now picked up my first international role.

The African Cup of Nations is at the back end of next year and so it’s a good opportunity to try and get off the mark on the international side of things. We’re ranked 14th in the world, with only Morocco from Africa ahead of us. If we qualify we will enter that tournament as one of the favourites to win it. I’m excited to get stuck in. In the mean time I’ll await an exciting new challenge at club level as well.

Season	Team			Position	Notes & Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24 Pretoria Callies	5th		(hired in 10th place)
2024/25 Pretoria Callies	1st(C)
2025/26 Cape Town City		12th		(hired in 11th place)
2026/27 Cape Town City		1st (C)		SA Premiership winners
2027/28 Cape Town City		3rd		SA Knockout Cup & African Champions League winners	
2028/29 Cape Town City		12th		(resigned in october)
2030	Ulsan Hyundai		3rd		Asian Champions League winners


Challenge Progress

Club

1/10 Domestic Leagues (26/27 SA Premiership)
1/10 Domestic Cups (27/28 SA Knockout Cup)
2/5 Continental Championships (27/28 African Champions League, 2031 Asian Champions League)
0/1 Club World Championship

International

0/5 Continental Tournaments
0/1 World Tournament

TOTAL: 4/32

SkiIIs · December 12, 2023

2035 Asian Cup - South Korea

Only being in the position for half a year, it was the perfect opportunity to snatch a quick international title with South Korea. We were given a tough group having to compete with Japan who in my opinion were the favourites to win it. The other two countries in Oman and Jordan didnt put up a challenge as we beat them 6 - 1 and 3 - 0 respectively. Our third game would be Japan to decide who heads the group, a draw would keep us first on goal difference. We got trounced 3 - 0 and really could have been more as we didnt have any shots on target at all. In the second round we're up against the Aussies.

Second Round

Spoiler

A tight 1 - 0 win. We scored in the 3rd minute and managed to hang on for the rest of the game. Up next is China

QF (if applicable)

Spoiler

Another 1 - 0 win. IT was a dull game until their centre back got a second yellow card ten minutes after the break. We only managed to score the winner with 8 minutes left of normal time before they were reduced to 9 men in injury time. Up next is Japan who unfortunately were drawn on our side of the draw for some reason!

SF (if applicable)

Spoiler

Massive 3 - 2 win. A truly amazing game that got me off my chair! We couldnt have had a better start notching in the first few minutes of the game. I was content on holding the result as Japan were controlling possession. That plan took a turn for the worst as we copped 2 goals in the space of 4 minutes in the 62nd and 66th minutes. I had been resigned to losing until we managed to score 2 goals in the space of 4 minutes ourselves with the winner coming in the 92nd minute! We play Iran in the final

Final (if applicable)

Spoiler

Edited December 12, 2023 by SkiIIs

SkiIIs · December 13, 2023

Season 2034/35 - Inter Milan

Third attempt with Inter Milan to win the scudetto was my best one yet. We broke many records along the way including most wins, most goals in a season and most goals from set pieces but the unfortunate record we also broke was the highest amount of points for not winning the title. Napoli were simply amazing and just did not want to drop points until it was just about over. Their first lost of the season was the 3rd last game when they already had an 8 point lead and of course they lost their last game as well to make it really hurt!

Finances are really strained, i mustered up some transfer cash to hopefully spend in Jan for the run home, but the board quickly snatched it away from me and reduced our wage bill budget as well as we hit over 300m in debt. Im still enjoying the challenge with Inter and the 96 points we got would have won the title every single year of this save, so will try again next season but that might be my last attempt as the teams is only getting older.

Napoli again was our reason for failure in the Coppa Italia as they knocked us out over two legs in the semis losing twice to them with one of the loses being 5 - 0.

Champions League we were knocked out of the round of 16 by Barcelona 4 - 3 on aggregate.

Edited December 13, 2023 by SkiIIs

Gammonds · December 13, 2023

Season 27-28

My job hunt in the truncated Welsh offseason was entirely unsuccessful, so come mid-July I was still employed by Flint Town. This was not the worst of fates yet, as I could at least take charge of the UECL play in games and hope for some unexpected success. Unfortunately, those games came so early it was near impossible to bring together a new squad, so the unit I took to them had some serious holes. We ultimately did OK, drawing 3-3 at home (after going up 3-0….) and losing by a goal on the road. No one was too upset by the aggregate defeat, and the prize money just for showing up was more than all of last season’s income in total.

I stayed with Flint Town into the regular season mostly out of a desire not to be unemployed, and with a bit of hope that continued success would make me more likely to get the jobs I was after. It was an odd spot not to be fully invested in the team, and with a squad that I hadn’t quite managed to tweak following last year’s departures. Most notably, I did not have a right back who was fit for purpose. Last season’s 3^rd choice and a new player brought in for versatile cover were my options.

First, the domestic cups – we crashed out of both in mildly disappointing fashion, in both cases losing to teams we really should have beaten. That, and the fact that those cups were the only realistic hope of silverware for the season were the causes of disappointment – but expectations weren’t high either.

We opened the regular season in the Cyrmu strong, and ultimately pulled ourselves to 5^th before the league split. Despite the negative predictions around the team, we were never in any real danger of dropping into the relegation fight, but also had no realistic path to the top 4. I continued the hunt for a better job, but only collected a nice series of polite rejection letters. By this point I’d started to think already having a job is hurting my job search rather than helping it, and had decided to resign from Flint Town at the end of the season if I couldn’t move on prior.

And so for a second straight year, my Flint Town side finished 5^th. Unlike last season, there was no real sense we were in any danger of falling down to the 6^th position (not that it matters at all), but there was also no real chance of climbing any higher. The league’s second stage was, for us, an exercise in futility – nothing changed at all. The European Places Playoffs did offer a bit of drama – and success, as we won the final with a 92^nd minute goal. That means Flint Town will get another shot at the UECL play ins in the summer, and the financial rewards that brings. That however is a problem for the next Flint Town manager – I resigned a couple of days later in the hopes of getting a bit better luck with getting higher quality job.

Spoiler

As a bit of a post-script to this season’s report, resigning worked. For a bit of context, I’m on a 2-star reputation and a Continental C license. That was true for the entirety of the above writeup. Something like 3 days after I resigned, 4 teams in the EFL Leagues 1 and 2 offered me interviews – I hadn’t applied to any. My recommended jobs were things I thought were a bit much for me at the moment, but I tossed my name in the hat for Argentina’s Racing Club because why not. Before they got through their process to give me an answer, SuperSport Utd in South Africa offered me the interview I’d asked for not long before I resigned Flint Town. They asked me to withdraw my other application, so I did. While I waited on their final decision, NYCFC in MLS offered me an interview out of the blue. I turned them down as well, and the next day was hired at SuperSport. So, I’ll go into the 28/29 campaign at a well funded club with ambitions – very much what I was looking for.

Spoiler

corinthiano · December 13, 2023

@goonergez - 2 Champions League already is a great effort, looking anywhere in particular for your next club job?

@SkiIIs - what a frustrating season at club and international level, assuming you’ll stay at both Inter and South Korea?

@Gammonds - great job you landed in South Africa! Should be adding some trophies to your cabinet in the next couple of seasons.

goonergez · December 13, 2023

40 minutes ago, corinthiano said:

@goonergez - 2 Champions League already is a great effort, looking anywhere in particular for your next club job?

I am about a season ahead of my updates so I am already nice and cosy in my next managerial chair. Update in due course, but yes I did definitely have an idea where I wanted to go. I won’t spoil but my plan is to head to Europe at the end of my challenge so there’s a tiny little clue.

OldManGravz · December 13, 2023

On 10/11/2023 at 23:50, OldManGravz said:

A great run of form in the second half of the season ended with me lifting my first trophy in my initial season. Although it doesn't count towards the challenge as it is not a top league, winning the First National Championship has landed me in the DStv Premiership with the plucky Black Leopards. I was also able to secure my National C coaching licence within the first season and began my course for the National B Licence in the off season.

Due to 90% of the team's contracts expiring at the end of the season, I've had my pick of who to keep and who to lose, and I've been able to balance the squad better for next season. A stellar youth intake in my first season means I have a few decent prospects I can use as cover in this second season also.

In other news, my chairman resigned after giving me a new contract. His replacement has stated there will be no money invested in the club, and has now taken the rather rash decision of reducing the ticket price from £16 a ticket to £1 - vastly reducing my income despite the upward trajectory the club is on. I feel this may end in disaster as the club was already struggling in the First National Championship.

I'm hoping this guy is much smarter than I am giving him credit for, but I doubt it.

Season by Season:

Season Team     Position   Notes and Achievements
23/24   Black Leopards 1st       Promotion to the DStv Premiership, National C Licence achieved
24/25   Black Leopards         National B Licence achieved

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 ()

Been a while since I posted on here but a lot has gone on!

On the club side of things:

I managed to avoid relegation in the Black Leopards first season in the DStv Premiership, but I was unceremoniously fired at the end of the 24/25 season for not giving youngsters enough opportunities (I'm calling b**locks on that one). I watched with glee as my turncoat AssMan took over my position before being sacked for poor performance in November. Unfortunately, his replacement kept them up - Hope I don't sound too bitter.

After a season out of the domestic game, I got a job at JDR Stars, back in the National First Division, at the beginning of the 26/27 season. I had the team up in 9th place with 5 games to go when an opportunity came up. Royal AM were struggling to survive in the DStv Premiership but had a decent squad and with 5 games to go were only a point below the playoff place and 3 points below survival. I figured worst case, I would go down and have a chance at immediate promotion with a stronger squad and more money to play with. Following a swift interview process I moved across South Africa to my new home and, though I only made the relegation playoff, I managed to keep the club up in the end.

Due to the playoffs I only had a week before pre-season began again and, with a short break, my players tired easy in my second season. However, with a full season at the helm and a few moves in the transfer window, I was able to improve the first team and guide the team into tenth position at the end of the 27/28 season (present day). Unfortunately, the board still won't allow me to take my coaching badges at risk of losing me, which is halting my progress on that front as I still only have a National B Licence despite being 5 seasons into the challenge.

On the international side:

My time with Fiji was going well but I knew I had no real chance at any sort of trophy while I was with them. During the 25/26 season when I was unable to get a domestic role, a job with the Reggae Boyz of Jamaica came available which I threw my hat into the ring for. Jamaica sat 48th in the world rankings when I took over despite a plethora of championship and premiership level talents. After some tinkering with the tactics, I was able to settle on a positive 4231 formation with attacking wingbacks which proved successful.

After qualifying from a group which contained Portugal, Paraguay and Iran at the 2026 World Cup, I lost 4-3 in the second round to a star studded Moroccan team in a real humdinger of a game. My performances were able to raise Jamaica's ranking into the mid 20's, where it remains. A fourth place finish in the NA Nations league in March 2027 was followed by a Gold Cup victory later that year, earning me my first trophy which qualifies towards this challenge. We broke the record for goals in the tournament finals as we walked the competition, even beating Curacao 8-0 in the final. Weirdly, the USA, Canada and Mexico all failed to qualify for the Gold Cup, but I won't let that diminish our victory.

2028 has so far been eventful. We managed to improve in the Nations League, narrowly losing to Mexico in the semi finals on penalties after beating them in almost every important metric during the game but finishing 3rd in the tournament after beating Suriname 6-2 in the playoff. World cup qualifiers are about to begin and we sit in the same qualification group as the USA, although thankfully two teams go through. We have also been invited into the Copa America this summer, which is about to start, drawn in a group with Chile, Colombia and Argentina. I'm not holding out much hope.

Next steps are to hopefully improve again with Royal AM or move to one of the big teams in this division. As I don't think I will be able to improve the Reggae Boyz much further I'll be on the lookout for a new international team this year also. With the Copa America, European Championship and Oceania Nations Cup all taking place this summer I am hoping for a couple of job openings.

#Season by Season:

Season  Team    	Position	Notes and Achievements
23/24	Black Leopards  1st		Promotion to the DStv Premiership. National C Licence achieved
24/25	Black Leopards  14th		National B Licence achieved. Became manager of Fiji. Fired after season ended  
25/26	Jamaica				Left Fiji. Took job as manager of Jamaica. Did not get a club job. Jamaica's highest ever ranking (26th) after second round exit in WC
26/27   JDR Stars       9th		Left JDR Stars in April with the team in 9th and 5 games to go (JDR Stars finished 8th)
26/27   Royal AM	15th		Joined when 16th in DStv Premiership with 5 games left. Avoided relegation through the playoff league. Won Gold Cup with Jamaica



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

1/5 continental tournaments (Jamaica - Gold Cup - 2027)

0/1 world tournaments ()

Edited December 13, 2023 by OldManGravz

AndreV1313 · December 13, 2023

SEASON 2024/2025

After my promotion with the Black Leopards, my adventure continued in South Africa, but this time with Supersport United, a club in South Africa's top league. This team represented a leap up the ladder since they had finished third in the previous season, qualifying for the CAF Confederations Cup.

The initial goal was clear: to get the first trophy to be counted in our 'challenge progress', and to lay the foundation for winning the other trophies in the following season. Will we have achieved our goal?

DStv Premiership

The season in the league, from my point of view, was quite disappointing. Both defensively and offensively we encountered problems, struggling to score at certain times and conceding too many goals at others. Specifically, our worst moment was between late August and late October, with only one win in two months. Regardless probably the Sundowns and Orlando Pirates were better equipped to win, but to be below Stellenbosch is definitely disappointing. We still finished in the top five, surpassing the company's goal of finishing in the middle of the standings.

MTN8

This was the competition that had least sparked my interest, since it was against the best teams in the league and therefore the most difficult to win, as well as not valid for the challenge goal :). After easily beating Cape Town City 4-0, we faced the Orlando Pirates in the semifinals. Unfortunately, hitting three posts between the first leg and the second leg, we lost in total 5-3, losing 2-3 at home and 2-1 away from home. In the final, the Orlando Pirates beat the Sundowns 1-0, clinching the title.

TOTALENERGIES CAF CONFEDERATION CUP & TELKOM KNOCKOUT

Two competitions combined since there is little to say about these two competitions. In both of them we went out in the preliminary round, respectively in the CAF Confederation Cup against RS Berkane, being rematched twice: first in the first leg, in the last ten minutes, going from 2-0 for us to 2-2 and then in the return leg, going from 0-2 to 3-2, equalizing in the 89th minute and finally losing in the 91st minute.
As for the Telkom Knockout Cup, the defeat is even more disappointing since we went down 3-0 against TS Galaxy, and then we managed to find just a useless goal, losing 3-1.

NEDBANK CUP

The only joy, which saves an otherwise disappointing season, comes in the second national cup, the Nedbank Cup. In the first round we easily beat a team from the third division, Hannover Park, winning 4-1 even without the starters. In the same round, the Sundowns, the defending league champions, went out against Stellenbosch, losing 5-4 in extra time. In the second round, the opponent was from a higher division, but still a team from a lower division than the ours and the victory was even wider, with the starters allowing us to overcome the opponent 7-2. This round also saw a high-prestige elimination, with the Orlando Pirates beaten on penalties by the Green Arrows. The next two rounds, the quarter-finals and the semi-finals, saw us face the very two teams that eliminated our best rivals: in the quarter-finals we overcame Stellenbosch, winning narrowly 2-1. The semi-final against the Green Arrows was easier, won 2-0, although our opponents missed a penalty at 2-0, which could have reopened the match. The most difficult was undoubtedly the final, where we faced Royal AM, winners a few weeks before the South African second division. Margeman's goal at the start of the game was enough to lift the trophy to the sky, but it was far from easy to bring home the cup.

Season     Team             Position  Notes and Achievements
2023/24    Black Leopards   1st       Motsepe Foundation Championship winner, promotion to DStv Premiership
2024/25   Supersport United 4th       Nedbank Cup winner

Challenge Progress

Club

0/10 top domestic leagues ()

1/10 domestic cups (Nedbank Cup)

0/5 club continental championships ()

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments ()

0/1 world tournaments ()

Edited December 18, 2023 by AndreV1313

CertFM · December 13, 2023

On 12/12/2023 at 10:11, goonergez said:

That’s a great title win there @CertFM. I’ve come close on both this years and last seasons editions to managing Maritzburg but never quite taken the plunge. They seem to become fairly steady stalwarts of the top flight top half under the AI though. Maybe next year I’d bite the bullet and have a go with them.

Thanks man! Yeah they've surprised me a lot since I took over. Very solid foundation

SkiIIs · December 13, 2023

16 hours ago, corinthiano said:

@goonergez - 2 Champions League already is a great effort, looking anywhere in particular for your next club job?

@SkiIIs - what a frustrating season at club and international level, assuming you’ll stay at both Inter and South Korea?

@Gammonds - great job you landed in South Africa! Should be adding some trophies to your cabinet in the next couple of seasons.

Im sticking around with Inter as this team should be able to contend again but right after the Asian Cup the Japanese job became vacant (no thanks to me) and so I jumped over. After managing in Japan, I think the Japanese regens will be significantly better in FM24 then what they were in FM23. Just forgot to update in my earlier post

CertFM · December 13, 2023

Season 5: 2027/28 Review

I've been guilty of racing ahead in this save (been having way too much fun) so I'll have to provide more frequent updates to catch up.

After the miracle of winning the league last season, I was looking forward to seeing what this squad could do in the Champions League for the first time. The board just wanted us to ne competitive but for the challenge's sake I was hoping of winning at the first attempt.

We started off in the preliminary rounds taking on Gambian outfit Abuko Falcons. They provided no real test for us as we beat them 17-3 over two legs. Guinean side Horoya Athletique were then between us and the group stage but like Falcons, they were easily swept aside with a comfortable score of 9-2 on aggregate. The group stage would provide our biggest tests as in our group were African giants Al-Ahly, as well as Nigerian side Rivers United and Al-Hilal Omdurman of Sudan.

Before we got to that though, we were still performing admirably in the league as well as getting to the final of the Super 9 Cup which we would lose in a 3-2 game to SuperSport. In all honesty, I wasn't really bothered by that competition as it doesn't contribute to the challenge. We did however pick up a piece of silverware that counts as we beat Sundowns in the KO Cup Final 2-1 after extra time. I'm very happy at this point with this team as we are able to pick up trophies despite not being one of the big 4 clubs in the country (Orlando Pirates, Mamelodi Sundowns, Kaiser Chiefs, and SuperSport Utd).

Spoiler

Our attentions then turned back towards the Champions League as we looked to get through the group stage. Our results to begin were as follows:

3-3 away @ Rivers United

1-1 @ home vs Al-Ahly

3-4 loss away @ Al Hilal Omdurman

I was very disappointed as we only took 2 points from 3 games but also noting that our only home game came against the best team in the group.

We turned it around eventually with the second round of fixtures resulting as follows:

2-5 loss away @ Al-Ahly

4-3 win @ home vs Rivers United

4-1 win @ home vs Al-Hilal Omdurman.

Those last two wins were vital as we scraped through the group in second place and a Quarter Final tie awaits

Spoiler

Our reward for making it through the group was an all South African tie against Mamelodi Sundowns. If we could get through this then we have a decent chance of going the whole way. Unfortunately it didn't get off to a great start as we would lose 3-1 at home in the first leg.

Needing a big (but not impossible) result in the second leg we got off to a flyer, scoring within 7 minutes before being pegged back immediately. We then went on to score two goals in the second half to win the game 3-1 taking the tie to extra time. Nothing happened during the nervy 30 additional minutes and elimination from the competition came down to a penalty shootout.

Unfortunately it was not meant to be as Sundowns scored all their penalties winning the shootout 5-4 and advancing to the semi finals.

We were embarrassingly knocked out in the first round of the SA Cup but fixture congestion and rotation definitely had a part to play. Back in the league we only lost 1 game after the mid-season break but way too many draws cost us from winning the title but as that's already ticked off, I was just glad we qualified for the Champions League again after finishing in 2nd Place.

Season     Team                       League                          Position  Notes and Achievements
2023/24  Venda FC        South African First Division                 2nd       Promotion to South African Premiership
2024/25  Venda FC        South African Premiership                    11th
2025/26  Maritzburg Utd  South African Premiership                    13th      National B Licence
2026/27  Maritzburg Utd  South African Premiership                    1st       South African Premiership Winners, National A Licence
2027/28  Maritzburg Utd  South African Premiership                    2nd       South African KO Cup

Challenge Progress

Club

1/10 top domestic leagues (South African Premiership)

1/10 domestic cups (South Africa KO Cup)

0/5 club continental championships ()

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments ()

0/1 world tournaments ()

Edited December 13, 2023 by CertFM

lukefox44 · December 14, 2023

Just curious how most people here approach tactics when joining new clubs.

Do most of you have a set tactic you just use constantly and force the team to fit or is it bespoke tactics for each team?

corinthiano · December 14, 2023

20 minutes ago, lukefox44 said:

Just curious how most people here approach tactics when joining new clubs.

Do most of you have a set tactic you just use constantly and force the team to fit or is it bespoke tactics for each team?

I don’t like messing around with tactics, I have a narrow 4-1-2-1-2 that works well and I just fit players to that. Means wingers either get retrained or sold, which can cause a bit of an upset short term but if you get results all is forgotten a few games in. My best player at Roassi Kumamoto was a winger and I had no hesitation shipping him off first thing when I joined the club .

OldManGravz · December 14, 2023

57 minutes ago, lukefox44 said:

Just curious how most people here approach tactics when joining new clubs.

Do most of you have a set tactic you just use constantly and force the team to fit or is it bespoke tactics for each team?

I like to change depending on the players at the club and enjoy the challenge of creating multiple tactics, although I will reuse a tactic if the players fit and I am in a pinch

lukefox44 · December 14, 2023

@corinthiano

Yeah I used to do that a lot, retrain the wingers into Mezzala's or just move them on. I just found that every club I went to needed a major rebuild that way.

@OldManGravz

Are the tactics completely different from each other, like some possessions based, some defensive, etc ? I've really been enjoying trying to implement a style of play but changing the shape to suit the squad I have.

OldManGravz · December 14, 2023

14 hours ago, lukefox44 said:

@corinthiano

Yeah I used to do that a lot, retrain the wingers into Mezzala's or just move them on. I just found that every club I went to needed a major rebuild that way.

@OldManGravz

Are the tactics completely different from each other, like some possessions based, some defensive, etc ? I've really been enjoying trying to implement a style of play but changing the shape to suit the squad I have.

Usually they switch between a couple of styles - Pacey counter-attacking, slower possession based control and a wide, pacey wing attacking formation depending on where the team is in the league. I'll then work the shape, roles and player instructions around the available squad

corinthiano · December 14, 2023

Debated this one as we only have an outside chance of winning the Africa Cup of Nations, but there won't be any jobs we can take internationally with a realistic chance to win a cup until the next Africa Cup of Nations so this gives me a good opportunity to get into international management as I havent done that since FM13 I think.

CertFM · December 15, 2023

Season 6: 2028/29 Review

Shorter review as there are less competitions that are meaningful to us in South Africa and I really want to get you guys up to speed with where I am currently at in the game. With the league and domestic cups ticked off during our stay in South Africa, we are now only focused on winning the African Champions League before jetting off to another continent. To start the season off there was a decision to be made that may shock some of you and have you questioning.

Spoiler

Welcome to Mamelodi Sundowns.

This may seem like a sideways, even backwards move as I had Maritzburg finishing 2nd last year qualifying for the Champions League, and Sundowns finishing 3rd meaning they only qualified for the African Condeferation Cup (essentially Africa's Europa League) but here's my thinking.

1. Maritzburg have been massively overachieving during my stay there

2. Sundowns have been drastically underachieving

3. Sundowns have the best squad and the largest transfer and wage budget in the division

4. Sundowns were runners-up in the Champions League last year.

5. Personal opinion but I was not going to win the Champions League with Maritzburg and although it may seem like a year wasted, Sundowns have a far higher chance to win the Champions League in the near future.

Spoiler

So with the move, nothing mattered but qualifying for the Champions League for me as I look to execute my 2 year plan of qualifying and then winning the Champions League. I believe my decision was the correct one as we dominated during the season. The already established squad plus a couple new additions meant we dominated domestically and on the continent as we won the quadruple including the Premier League, Super 8 Cup, KO Cup, and Confederation Cup.

There were also some other cool moments during the season as my centre-back won Africa's Young Player of the Year award and I was also entered into the African Hall of Fame.

Also on a personal note, I have now received my Continental A Licence and have been accepted on to my Pro Licence, which will hopefully be a benefactor for me when applying for other jobs in the future.

Next season, I try and execute the second part of my plan and win that coveted African Champions League.

Season     Team                       League                 Position  Notes and Achievements
2023/24  Venda FC            South African First Division    2nd       Promotion to South African Premiership
2024/25  Venda FC            South African Premiership       11th
2025/26  Maritzburg Utd      South African Premiership       13th      National B Licence
2026/27  Maritzburg Utd      South African Premiership       1st       South African Premiership Winners, National A Licence
2027/28  Maritzburg Utd      South African Premiership       2nd       South African KO Cup, Continental B Licence
2028/29  Mamelodi Sundowns   South African Premiership       1st       Super 8 Cup, KO Cup, SA Premiership, Confederation Cup,                                                                                      Continental A Licence

Challenge Progress

Club

1/10 top domestic leagues (South African Premiership)

1/10 domestic cups (South Africa KO Cup)

0/5 club continental championships ()

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments ()

0/1 world tournaments ()

Edited December 15, 2023 by CertFM

corinthiano · December 15, 2023

Kojo Danquah - 2024 Season Review

The aim was to fight bravely against relegation and we certainly overachieved on that. It took us 5 games to get our first win, but after that we looked really comfortable in the league, hovering around mid-table for most of the season, until a really strong push at the end saw us finish in 3rd place and secure Champions League football for next season! With us doing well in the league I hoped we could go on a good cup run but a Last 16 in the League Cup was the best we could get. I am now in a similar dilemma as @CertFM was at Martizburg Utd - realistically we are not going to win the J1-League with Kumamoto, let alone the Champions League, but would need to take a step back to get to a stronger side. We at least have got a healthy bank balance so I am not desperate to leave and will only do so for the right opportunity.

Star Player - Christy Mazinga: Picked up the DR Congo striker on a free after he was released by K League 2 side Seongnam and he was on fire all season, netting an impressive 31 goals in 39 games. FC Tokyo are sniffing around so lets see if his head gets turned.

Spoiler

We started our qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations and we'll likely qualify as we easily beat Malawi and Libya, but lsong twice to Mali does not feel me with confidence for the tournament proper. We haven't played any World Cup Qualifiers since I joined but I dont care as we will not be around for those.

Progress

Club

Nation

Challenge Summary

Edited December 21, 2023 by corinthiano

CertFM · December 15, 2023

Great first season in the J1 @corinthiano. I'm eagerly awaiting your decision of what to do next and I know that the trophies will start to flood in for you during your career.

goonergez · December 16, 2023

Job Update: Autumn 2031

I would wait until may before picking up a new club job, but it’s one I really wanted, having been overlooked for a number of sides in America I started to panic as the MLS is where I wanted to head next. In the end I need not have worried as I was offered the role at one of the biggest clubs in the nation.

As we’re all aware, the MLS is a tricky place to manage but I’m keen to get stuck in. The squad I inherited is small, but there is some quality within it. I’m not planning on making major changes until the end of the season but may have to pick up one or two new faces to fill some holes within the squad.

The club are already out of the US Open Cup and are not in the North American Champions League meaning I can focus all of my efforts on the league. We are sat way down in 12th of the eastern conference though, so it’s my job to try and get us climbing up the table. Should be achievable but certainly won’t be an easy task.

Season	Team			Position	Notes & Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24 Pretoria Callies	5th		(hired in 10th place)
2024/25 Pretoria Callies	1st(C)
2025/26 Cape Town City		12th		(hired in 11th place)
2026/27 Cape Town City		1st (C)		SA Premiership winners
2027/28 Cape Town City		3rd		SA Knockout Cup & African Champions League winners	
2028/29 Cape Town City		12th		(resigned in october)
2030	Ulsan Hyundai		3rd		Asian Champions League winners
2031	New York City FC	tbc


Challenge Progress

Club

1/10 Domestic Leagues (26/27 SA Premiership)
1/10 Domestic Cups (27/28 SA Knockout Cup)
2/5 Continental Championships (27/28 African Champions League, 2031 Asian Champions League)
0/1 Club World Championship

International

0/5 Continental Tournaments
0/1 World Tournament

TOTAL: 4/32

goonergez · December 16, 2023

New York City FC: 2031 Review

After picking up continental crowns in both Africa and Asia, I found myself at the helm of New York City FC in the MLS. This was a really exciting opportunity for me as I got to lead a top side with genuine opportunities to pick up some more silverware. I signed a two year deal midway through the 2031 season with the club languishing near the foot of the Eastern Conference.

My reign didn’t really take off as I had hoped although we did pick up consistently on what I had inherited. In the end we would finish in 10th spot, just a point away from making the end of season play offs. I wasn’t too disheartened as despite a couple of new arrivals I hadn’t really had the opportunity to put my stamp on the team. I decided to wait for the end of the campaign before trying to turn the squad into my own and pushing on for my first full season at the helm.

My first role in international football had started as expected really as I comfortably navigated us into the African Cup of Nations with an unbeaten qualification campaign. The world cup qualifiers have also been drawn and so far we are unbeaten with four wins from four. The close of the MLS season has brought with it my first major tournament in international football though with the upcoming African Cup of Nations. We’re ranked 16th in the world and will enter that tournament as one of the favourites to go all the way and win it. Regardless of what happens I’ll be handing in my resignation and leaving when said tournament is over. Hopefully with the first international honour of my career secured.

Season	Team			Position	Notes & Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24 Pretoria Callies	5th		(hired in 10th place)
2024/25 Pretoria Callies	1st(C)
2025/26 Cape Town City		12th		(hired in 11th place)
2026/27 Cape Town City		1st (C)		SA Premiership winners
2027/28 Cape Town City		3rd		SA Knockout Cup & African Champions League winners	
2028/29 Cape Town City		12th		(resigned in october)
2030	Ulsan Hyundai		3rd		Asian Champions League winners
2031	New York City FC	10th
2032	New York City FC	tbc


Challenge Progress

Club

1/10 Domestic Leagues (26/27 SA Premiership)
1/10 Domestic Cups (27/28 SA Knockout Cup)
2/5 Continental Championships (27/28 African Champions League, 2031 Asian Champions League)
0/1 Club World Championship

International

0/5 Continental Tournaments
0/1 World Tournament

TOTAL: 4/32

goonergez · December 17, 2023

Ivory Coast: 2031 African Cup of Nations

The first major tournament for me as an international manager would come at the right time as I aimed to take Ivory Coast to glory in the African Cup of Nations 2031, hosted by Cameroon. The tournament would arrive just after the end of the MLS season meaning I could put all my focus into trying to grab some more silverware.

Unsurprisingly we entered the tournament as one of the bookmakers favourites, not a surprise with our world ranking of 14th. In fact only the 7th ranked Morocco would enter ahead of us. I named an unsurprising squad that would be led by striker Karim Konate of Barcelona and winger Amad Diallo of Manchester United.

We opened our account with a 7-1 demolition of Zambia before being found out by Ghana. A 1-3 defeat meant we had to get a result against Benin to qualify, and we did in a comfortable 4-1 victory. The only disappointment of that performance being that we conceded with our oppositions only attempt on goal.

The first knockout round saw us play Angola, and a 4-1 win saw us comfortably progress to the quarter final stage. At this stage I dared to believe, more so after we saw off Senegal 2-0 and hot favourites Morocco were eliminated.

A tense 1-0 victory over Mali saw us into the final where we would play hosts Cameroon for the opportunity to lift the trophy.

We controlled the game but we were beaten. We fell behind against the run of play and when we equalised I fully expected us to go on and win the game. We conceded a sucker punch goal to fall behind again and this time we just didn’t have enough to grab a second leveller. A disappointing end to such an impressive performance.

With that my first international tournament was over and so was my reign. I decided to hand in my resignation with the hopes of perhaps returning again at some point to grab this trophy. I’m hoping that by resigning rather than being sacked that will potentially be an option. For now I’m just going to stick with New York City and wait for another international opportunity. I’m not planning on grabbing another role until one pops up with a side capable of winning one of the major tournaments needed.

For now my focus shifts back to the MLS and working towards building on the start we made under my management. We’ve finalised some transfer business already, and the draft is only just around the corner. Hopefully when I next update it’ll be with good news from my time across the pond.

Season	Team			Position	Notes & Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24 Pretoria Callies	5th		(hired in 10th place)
2024/25 Pretoria Callies	1st(C)
2025/26 Cape Town City		12th		(hired in 11th place)
2026/27 Cape Town City		1st (C)		SA Premiership winners
2027/28 Cape Town City		3rd		SA Knockout Cup & African Champions League winners	
2028/29 Cape Town City		12th		(resigned in october)
2030	Ulsan Hyundai		3rd		Asian Champions League winners
2031	New York City FC	10th
2032	New York City FC	tbc


Challenge Progress

Club

1/10 Domestic Leagues (26/27 SA Premiership)
1/10 Domestic Cups (27/28 SA Knockout Cup)
2/5 Continental Championships (27/28 African Champions League, 2031 Asian Champions League)
0/1 Club World Championship

International

0/5 Continental Tournaments
0/1 World Tournament

TOTAL: 4/32

Gregg88 · December 17, 2023

Here we go again......Trying for that third spot on the HoF!

Soroksar FC in the Hungarian second division is where i've landed for my first job. 16th in the league....in the need for a managerial genius! They've settled with me for now.

Started off alright to be fair! Got no money...wages are in minus. Bring it on!

SkiIIs · December 18, 2023

Season 2035/36 - Inter Milan

My fourth season with Inter with no achievements in my previous three years, going into the season i was planning for this to be my last here, no matter what happens. In dire financial stress and with a few key players hitting the age of no return, it was now or never! Midway through the season, the board reduced our weekly wage bill from 4.7m to 3.9m which put me way over, and also zeroed out my transfer budget too.

Spoiler

we also got taken over towards the end of the season and the new board wiped out the 300m debt, but all from loans

We started off the league a little sluggish losing to Roma away in the third game and then drawing to Juve away 2 games later. The surprise outfit was Lazio who popped up out of nowhere to win their first 8 games and by then we were already 7 points behind them. At that point i was having Napoli flashbacks from last season. It's at that point we made our charge winning the next 15 games including a 4 - 0 demolition of Lazio at their own ground. We had a comfortable lead up top and would power home the last third of the season usually resting players in the league for other competitions. Finally, we were announced champions of Italy which is the only second time of this save (the only other time was the first season. Milan have only lost the scudetto 3 times this save).

Spoiler

In all my time here at Inter, we had never made the final of the Coppa Italia having been knocked out in the semis the past two seasons. This year we did make the final after beating Sampdoria in the third round 4 - 1, Napoli 3 - 2 after extra time in the quarters and then beating Roma over two legs in the semi 6 - 3. In the final we faced our neighbours AC Milan and thanks to a Carboni double we were crowned champions! It's been 11 long years between drinks for this trophy!

Spoiler

The Champions League wasnt ever a realistic trophy to achieve and was always one that I would consider going for when Id move to one of the bigger leagues. However, there was something about this team this year that just clicked and came together. In the league phase i usually rotate teams to focus on the league and hence we finished in the play off spots. We overcame our rivals AC Milan 3 - 1 on aggregate in the play off round in a bittersweet moment! That gave us Barcelona who knocked us out last year in the same point last season in a tight contest. A 2 - 0 win at home was flattering of our opponents and after scoring first away we were safe despite two late Barca goals which made it a nervy finish. Newcastle was next in the quarters and we smashed them 7 - 2 on aggregate. Into the semis we went to face RB which i gave us a real shot to make the final. A 2 - 0 away win first up was backed up by a 1 - 1 draw at home to make the final. Our opponents looked like it was going to be Real Madrid after they beat PSG away 1 - 0. However PSG went to the Bernabau and beat them 2 - 0. The final was hosted at Old Trafford, the theatre of dreams. And after conceding first in the 28th minute, my dreams were looking like a nightmare. That was until we completely changed the game after half time scoring 4 in the second half to end up 4 - 1 winners and conquerors of Europe and winning an unimaginable treble!

Spoiler

Edited December 18, 2023 by SkiIIs

SkiIIs · December 18, 2023

and so after winning the treble with Inter, i resigned and find myself at Man Utd. Kind of regret coming here after joining, they finished 8th last season and will be playing Conference League and dont really have any funds to play with. After joining, the Chelsea and Real Madrid jobs came up but will give this team a year and see what happens

AndreV1313 · December 18, 2023

SEASON 2025/2026

After last season, which brought the first major trophy in my palmares, I remained at the helm of Supersport United, with the aim of trying to qualify for the next CAF Champions League. The squad was changed quite a bit, with the farewell of our best player, Campbell, who moved to Fiorentina, and several signings, which strengthened the team at our disposal.

DStv Premiership

As you can see from the league table, we didn't achieve our objective. The only competition in which we were supposed to do well is exactly the one in which we did badly: after an excellent start, in fact, the greater strength of the Orlando Pirates came out, and we progressively dropped, going from a stable second place to this disappointing fourth place finish. What hurt most of all was the final period, with the various injuries that hit us, forcing several youngsters to replace the injured. Title winners were, of course, the Orlando Pirates, who almost never stopped during the course of the season, except in the two challenges against us, with a win from us in the first leg and a draw in the return leg on the road.

MTN 8

There is little to say about this competition. We went out in the quarter-finals, against Cape Town City, on penalty kicks. Despite a very good game, with 2.63 xG against our opponents' 0.89, we drew 2-2, with a goal each in extra time, and then lost on the seventh penalty kick, with the error by Dlamini who followed Mabongo's goal.

TELKOM KNOCKOUT CUP

The first of our successes this season came in the Telkom Knockout Cup, a competition that had seen us go straight out last season. In the first round we beat Chippa United with ease, thanks to a brace from one of our best players, Ryan Manning. In the quarter-finals the match was even smoother, with a resounding 5-1 victory over Marumo Gallants, with Moralo's hat-trick and goals from Rapoo and Mwamnyeto. Things got tougher in the semi-finals, with a 2-2 draw against Sekhukhune United, which meant we had to play our way into the final on penalties. This time, however, we came out on top, thanks to Magidigidi's decisive penalty kick. In the final came the Pretoria derby, against Sundowns, won 1-0 in extra time thanks to the goal of our centre forward, Mouad Issa.

NEDBANK CUP

The second national competition brings us just as much joy. We arrived at this competition as defending champions and confirmed our strength right from the first round, with a narrow victory against Marumo Gallants, signed in the final by midfielder Mlambo. The matches are all complicated in this competition and in the second round Cape Town Spurs await us, who take the lead with Cupid but who we manage to come back thanks to Mwamnyeto, Issa and Arribas. In the quarter-finals, the big surprise: another Pretoria derby and this time there was no history, with a 4-0 victory that knocked out the rivals. In the semi-final, despite many absences, we managed to win 2-1, led by the few big names on the pitch, such as Issa and Adebayor, who scored on a penalty kick. 2-1 that was repeated in the final, with Adebayor's brace that knocked out the Kaizer Chiefs and gave us our second cup.

CAF CONFEDERATION CUP

There is also room for continental joys. In the CAF Confederation Cup, we easily overcame the group with RS Berkane (the same team that had eliminated us in the preliminaries last year), US Monastir and Primeiro de Agosto, scoring four wins, one draw and one defeat and a total of 13 points. In the quarter-finals, a South African derby against Amazulu awaited us, which we only managed to overcome on penalties in the return leg after two 2-1 wins, one each, in the two challenges. Much easier was the semi-final, against CS Sfax, a Tunisian team, which we beat in the first leg, winning 4-1 and allowing us to manage the advantage in their home game, where we drew 2-2. In the final, finally, the Egyptians of Future await us, who in the first leg give us a bit of a scare, deservedly stopping us at 2-2. In the return leg, however, there was no story, 4-1 outright and the third competition won in the season.

Season     Team             Position  Notes and Achievements
2023/24    Black Leopards   1st       Motsepe Foundation Championship winner, promotion to DStv Premiership
2024/25   Supersport United 4th       Nedbank Cup winner
2025/26   Supersport United 4th       Telkom Knockout Cup, Nedbank Cup and CAF Confederation Cup winner 

Challenge Progress

Club

0/10 top domestic leagues ()

1/10 domestic cups (Nedbank Cup)

0/5 club continental championships ()

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments ()

0/1 world tournaments ()

Gammonds · December 18, 2023

Season 28/29 – The Kids Are All Right

My predecessor at SuperSport had been fired for not meeting the board’s expectations – 6^th place in the league was not good enough. The board expected me to take us to at least 4^th, the media predictions were similar, and my assessment of the squad led me to believe we could very likely do a bit better. I hoped to take us into the African Champion’s League for the next season.

As I implied, the squad was good, perhaps very good. If anything, it was maybe a bit bloated, although conversely missing just a bit of quality depth. I had enough payroll space for one or two good signings, a transfer budget I didn’t expect to spend much of, and my secret weapon – SuperSport’s absolutely stacked academy and reserve squads. There were a couple of recent academy products who were already important players for me before the age of 20, and a couple more primed to break through. Over the course of the offseason I let a couple of rotational quality players go on free transfers, and sold one very talented young AMC who had his head turned by a Portuguese team. I didn’t want to lose him, but had plenty of depth in the role. There was also one young D(L, C) who got excited about an offer but I managed to hold on to him for the time being and had hopes of convincing him to stay in the longer term. I brought in two players – a good center back on a free to give me options in defense, and a young attacker I planned to use as my backup striker for about $38k. He started the season as my starting striker.

My absolute priority for the season was the league, so I planned to prioritize that over any of the cups. We opened the season with 2 league matches and the Super 8 quarterfinals in a span of 8 days. The squad hadn’t reached peak match fitness in the preseason, so winning the first 2 matches in the league left my first-choice players a bit tired. I rotated heavily for the Super 8 and lost to Cape Town Spurs in extra time. That defeat was a bit of an outlier. At the midpoint of the regular season in early November we had 13 wins, 2 draws, and were 8 points clear of 2^nd.

Spoiler

The academy graduates were also doing quite well. My left winger who had just broken into the team when I took over was quickly turning into one of the league’s star players, and a right winger and a midfielder from the recent academy classes had established themselves as regular starters. I needed to get the same kind of results with my defenders. There were 4 in the U21/U19’s who were nearly ready, and with a bit of luck will be my depth options for the next season.

In mid-December I won my first trophy with SuperSport – the SA KO Cup. The draws were a bit kind, and we faced 3 consecutive sides in the bottom half of the table. We got through the first couple of those teams with a heavily rotated side, then I played my starters in the semi-final because it was such a good opportunity for a first trophy. I probably could have rotated for that one as well – we won 7-1. In the final we faced Sundowns but had little trouble beating them 3-1.

Spoiler

The January transfer window presented more risk than opportunity. While there were areas I could improve the squad I had no planned targets, and a handful of my players had begun attracting serious attention. Fortunately, almost all of them were content to stay so all I had to do was repeatedly reject poor offers. My best centerback (not the one who thought he wanted to leave in the summer) was the exception. He had a pretty reasonable release clause but got upset at me for rejecting an offer that was nowhere near it. No one else bid for him, but he still managed to spread his unhappiness to a small group of players in the first team. It hurt the club atmosphere, but the level of cohesion was still very high, and I was pretty confident as we entered the final stretch of the season. On the opportunity side, I found a high-quality CM at Cape Town City with an even higher ceiling and snapped him up for his $225k release clause. I expected to ease him into the squad as a rotational player over the last few months of the season, but he projects as a regular starter next year.

That minor bout of unhappiness was short-lived and didn’t really affect the squad’s performance. We were still unbeaten in the league when we secured the title with 4 matches left to play in early March.

Spoiler

Our invincibles run ended on matchday 28 when my shiny new CM got himself sent off in the 27^th minute for an unnecessarily aggressive sliding tackle in the middle of the pitch. We held on to the draw until the 83^rd minute, had a disallowed equalizer, then conceded a fluky goal in stoppage time to seal the defeat.

Spoiler

While it had almost no consolation value, my player’s red card suspension was overturned on appeal.

Spoiler

In the SA Cup, we won a potentially tricky first round draw against Sundowns, then had consecutive matchups with lower division teams to take us into the semifinals. Golden Arrows didn’t put up much of a fight, and neither did AmaZulu in the final. Winning the SA Cup was our last competitive match of the year, and completed a treble that wildly exceeded my expectations.

Spoiler

Heading into the offseason, I don’t feel like there are any areas where I absolutely have to improve the quality of my starters, but I will need to add quality in depth to the midfield and defense at least. My squad ran a bit tired at points this year, and the Champion’s League will add quite a few matches to the calendar if I have any success. I had a bit of joy bringing in players from my youth team in the closing stages of the campaign, but will need to accelerate that process, and still need to buy a bit. This also assumes I can hold on to most or all my starters, but several of them are attracting attention from overseas again. Losing any of those to the transfer market will require a top-quality purchase to replace them, but I’ve built up a decent shortlist to work from if that becomes necessary.

In terms of my manager’s development, this year’s trophies did wonders for my reputation – it went from 2 stars to 3 in the spring. I also finished my Continental B License at the end of the season and went right into working on my A. I’m obviously staying at SuperSport next year, and think the squad I’ve got right now has a decent shot in the Champion’s League as long as I can keep them healthy and fit. That competition will be my first priority next season, but board was so pleased with my success in the SAPSL they expect a repeat performance.

Challenge Progress:

Spoiler

Edited December 18, 2023 by Gammonds
Edited to add challenge progress table

leyrtj · December 19, 2023

So I'm coming back to try and finish this challenge. Here's a link to my last update a few months back. Just need the World Cup to finish the challenge. I'm now with Spain in 2057, so World Cup next year.

vikeologist · December 19, 2023

10 minutes ago, leyrtj said:

So I'm coming back to try and finish this challenge. Here's a link to my last update a few months back. Just need the World Cup to finish the challenge. I'm now with Spain in 2057, so World Cup next year.

Which nations have you already managed?

Remember not to let them sack you if you don't win a competition. If you quit, they might offer you the job again.

Obviously hope you just win and don't need to think about it.

leyrtj · December 19, 2023

That's a good question. So far the big nations I've managed are only Belgium (who i won the Euros with), Argentina and Brazil. Looking back I've had 2 stints with Belgium and Argentina, so must have quite before I was fired. So hopefully all countries are still open.

Currently in December, holidaying to the next world cup.

ANGL · December 19, 2023

KAIZER CHIEFS 2025/26

Objective made! I take out the list my first continental competition after winning African CL! Being out of both cups in early stages (quarter finals, I don't know why round name stays in spanish, I suppose it's because of the name fix) was key to success, as match accumulation would have been a killer for us. Made it to the final against Al-Ahly, the winner of the last 3 editions, and beat them with a goal in the 90+5 minute. Also, was able to retain the league title in the last match.

Club competition in Africa is already done - so I've already resigned and moved to Asia: Japan and Australia are my first choices, as I played last year in both Korea and China. I want to keep on club competitions, so won't join a NT unless it's a good oportunity.

goonergez · December 19, 2023

New York City FC: 2032 Review

After a lacklustre end to last season I was determined that my first full season in the MLS would go much better. I spent the off season shaping the squad more to my liking and we managed to bring in a few really good players, sure to play a key role. I also managed to keep all the players I wanted to, ensuring we entered the season as one of the favourites to do well.

In truth things didn’t go as well as I had hoped as a poor end to the season saw us slip from Eastern Conference contenders to mid table obscurity. We weren’t helped by injuries but in truth we spent the majority of the season far too wasteful in front of goal and eventually it caught up with us. Thankfully we did enough to make the end of season play offs though and entered as one of the outsiders to win the MLS Cup.

We dominated our way through Toronto FC in a bit of a shock before also navigating through our semi final match relatively straightforwardly. That set us into the Eastern Conference final and unfortunately that would be it. We produced a fantastic performance but as with the majority of the season we were just too wasteful in front of goal. A 1-2 defeat to Montreal left us empty handed and one game short of the MLS Cup match.

Outside of the league we did nothing of note as we crashed out of the US Open Cup at the quarter final stage and lost in the semi finals of the Leagues Cup. The former bothered me, the latter did not.

It was a fairly decent season although in truth it should’ve been a lot better. For the first half of the season my new recruits made a huge difference and we were fighting it out at the top end of the table. The second half of the season was a disaster and although we found some form in the play offs we never deserved the opportunity to compete for the MLS Cup. I’ll be back next season though and I’m confident that with some shrewd business we can be more competitive next time around.

In the wake of the Copa America I’ve also moved into my second international management position, with Mexico. The Gold Cup comes next year and I have confidence that I can compete for that tournament and pick up a first international honour. Mexico have a great depth of players too so I may stick around for the World Cup and the Copa America if I can keep hold of my position. My first matches are in the NA Nations League and to be fair I won’t be judged until that Gold Cup rolls around.

Season	Team			Position	Notes & Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24 Pretoria Callies	5th		(hired in 10th place)
2024/25 Pretoria Callies	1st(C)
2025/26 Cape Town City		12th		(hired in 11th place)
2026/27 Cape Town City		1st (C)		SA Premiership winners
2027/28 Cape Town City		3rd		SA Knockout Cup & African Champions League winners	
2028/29 Cape Town City		12th		(resigned in october)
2030	Ulsan Hyundai		3rd		Asian Champions League winners
2031	New York City FC	10th
2032	New York City FC	7th


Challenge Progress

Club

1/10 Domestic Leagues (26/27 SA Premiership)
1/10 Domestic Cups (27/28 SA Knockout Cup)
2/5 Continental Championships (27/28 African Champions League, 2031 Asian Champions League)
0/1 Club World Championship

International

0/5 Continental Tournaments
0/1 World Tournament

TOTAL: 4/32

goonergez · December 19, 2023

Mexico: Gold Cup 2033 Review

The midway point of the MLS season would see me lead my Mexico side into my second major tournament as an international manager, in the North American Gold Cup. Ironically the tournament was hosted in the USA making my job as a club manager during the tournament easier to undertake. My Mexico side entered the tournament off the back of two big qualifying wins for the World Cup and would enter as one of the favourites to lift the trophy. After my AFCON final heartbreak with the Ivory Coast I was determined to win this trophy and get my first international honour.

We were drawn into a friendly group, facing off with Martinique, Suriname and the biggest threats in El Salvador. We opened up with a comfortable enough performance, beating Martinique 4-1 before smashing through Suriname 6-0. That set up a tie against El Salvador to win the group and we did it with ease. We won the group with three wins from three, a bucket load of goals scored and just the one conceded.

It took us an age to make the breakthrough in the quarter final with Guatemala, but once we got the first the floodgates opened and we breezed into the final four. The semi final was kind of more of the same. We took an early lead and wouldn’t add a second until late in the second half after a red card was handed out to one of our opposition. We grabbed a late third to book a final against hosts the USA.

My second international final and my second defeat. We were completely blown away and in truth the score line actually flattered us. Having got that far it was devastating to take a beating in the final but I guess it is what it is.

With that I handed in my resignation with Mexico to await a new international challenge. For now I’m going to focus on my New York side but when a new exciting opportunity comes up I won’t hesitate to take it. I’m gutted to have lost in two international finals already and it doesn’t bode well for me on the international side of the challenge. Hopefully wherever I end up next will give me another opportunity to win an international trophy. For now I’ll stick to club level management.

Season	Team			Position	Notes & Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24 Pretoria Callies	5th		(hired in 10th place)
2024/25 Pretoria Callies	1st(C)
2025/26 Cape Town City		12th		(hired in 11th place)
2026/27 Cape Town City		1st (C)		SA Premiership winners
2027/28 Cape Town City		3rd		SA Knockout Cup & African Champions League winners	
2028/29 Cape Town City		12th		(resigned in october)
2030	Ulsan Hyundai		3rd		Asian Champions League winners
2031	New York City FC	10th
2032	New York City FC	7th


Challenge Progress

Club

1/10 Domestic Leagues (26/27 SA Premiership)
1/10 Domestic Cups (27/28 SA Knockout Cup)
2/5 Continental Championships (27/28 African Champions League, 2031 Asian Champions League)
0/1 Club World Championship

International

0/5 Continental Tournaments
0/1 World Tournament

TOTAL: 4/32

Edited December 19, 2023 by goonergez

leyrtj · December 19, 2023

Challenge Complete!

World Cup 2058 - Spain - Winners

This challenge has been hanging over my head for the last six months. Back in July I won the 31st out of the 32nd trophy required. I only had one trophy left to win - The World Cup. I lost in the final in both 2050 and 2054 with Belgium and I just couldn't go on, I ran out of steam. But it's been sitting in my mind for these 6 months, so I thought I'd have one more go.

After losing in the final in 2054 to Spain, I stayed with Belgium and managed to win the Euros again in 2056. They also had a number of talented youngsters coming through. However, Spain did poorly and, after looking at their team I thought they were the better chance. Their team was stacked. Their 4th best striker would have gotten into most teams in the world.

We got through an easy group beating Ecuador and China 6 - 0 and 3 - 0, then battered Switzerland in the Round of 32, 5 - 0. Then the draw gave us Belgium, our old team, in the Round of 16. Of course it did....

In the first half we completely dominated but couldn't score - missing a penatly, hitting the woodwork twice. Then Belgium could us on the break at the start of the second half to go one up. We piled on the pressure but just couldn't score. Going into injury, I was thinking to myself whether to have one more go or just give up on the challenge. Then a goalkeeper howler gave us a late equalizer. Going into penalities they missed early, but we missed the winning kick. Then they missed their 7th kick and we were through.

From here, it was relatively straight-forward as the draw opened up. USA beat France and we easily beat them in the Quarters. Turkey beat Portugal and we won 2 - 1, though they gave us a scare by taking the lead. Then we beat Italy 4 - 0 in the final to finish the challenge.

Honestly, one of most funs I've ever had on a computer game. The highs and lows that this save gave me were unbeliveable. I've almost given up on this challenge mutliple times. I'll write a longer post tomorrow with some of the memories and lessons learned along the way. For now, I'm going to make one final save game and then retire my manager gracefully at 79 years old.

Edited December 20, 2023 by leyrtj

_JHTB_ · December 19, 2023

Urawa Red Diamonds

J1 League – 2027 & 2028

Following my week holiday in Colombia I was back on the job hunt and I didn’t take too long to decide to return to where I started – Japan. Urawa Red Diamonds were struggling in the league, down in 18^th, but had a strong squad and importantly, were due to start in the Asian Champions League which I thought would be a good chance to try and get this checked off.

The 2027 season went very well for us, the first couple of games were in the Cup where we won one and lost one, but from their we didn’t look back. We flew up the league as we were really in a false position. Ultimately, I managed to salvage us all the way back to 4^th spot and a Champions League spot for a year and a halfs time.

Speaking of the Champions League, in the group stage we dominated our group winning all 6 games scoring 27 in the process whilst conceding just 5. I actually think we had a relatively tough group draw to what we could have had with both an Australian team, a South Korean team drawn alongside us.

In the knockout stages for the Champions League we had no real trouble navigating the first few rounds before the Semi-Final drew us against familiar opposition in an Ulsan Hyundai team that we beat with an aggregate scoreline of 14-4 in the group stage. With that, I was fairly confident that we would be able to get passed them and into the final but they were a much tougher prospect in this tie with us scraping an undeserved draw in the first leg. Thankfully, we showed a little bit more of the dominant side we had been in the group stage in the second eventually securing a victory on the night to see us into the final.

So far in the save Saudi clubs had won all but last seasons Champions League so we knew it was going to be a tough affair, but the first leg should have given us an opportunity to put some breathing room between us and them as two of their key players in Bruno Fernandes and Leon Goretzka were both suspended. Unfortunately we couldn’t really assert ourselves and the tie ended in a 2-2 draw. The second leg, I had decided to tweak our regular formation by dropping a striker into midfield, this was partially to try and crowd the middle, but also because 2 of our 4 registered strikers were injured so we wouldn’t have any back up for them. An early goal for us settled the nerves and whilst it was still a close game mostly after we went 2 goals up on the night there was only one winner. We did manage a couple extra goals later in the game to make it look more comprehensive than it was, but we don’t mind as we won the Asian Champions League.

In the league this season we are again doing well and are currently in a 3 horse race at the top for the title which we’re probably in with a good chance at winning however, following our continental success I did apply for a few jobs in Brazil a couple of whom have offered me their job which I will be taking once I have chosen between the two.

Progress

Whilst we did have a good chance at another league win here in Japan I’m looking forward to taking over at a Brazilian club and get some chance at the Copa Libertores. The Euros and Copa America are currently taking place so I will try to see if there are any National Jobs that will be available soon as well.

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