[FM24] Hexagon Hijinks: Victor Oanase's Global Champions League Quest - Halfway House - Three Done, Three Left

[KibworthBull]

December 2042

Thabo Notse is a class act. Unfortunately. He's banging in the goals and getting all the awards.

12 games, 11 goals, 5 MoTM awards.

On the pitch results continue to build in our favour, and our threadbare squad is proving a match for the level. The only fly in the ointment remains it's the wrong players getting the awards. STILL!

Special mention to the Lioli game - we were 1-3 at 85 minutes. Won it with the last kick.

We are on course to finish well

 

[KibworthBull]

January 2043

Cometh the hour, cometh the Saint Pierre & Miquelon man. Loic Dubuc has scored fairly well this season. And he's finally done enough. A double at Bantu.

The extra year in Lesotho has almost become worth it. 

Rethabile Ketsekile has come in on loan from Bantu (2nd in the table) and scored a double on his debut.

Nations are sometimes like buses. They are big and red and have a couple of levels.. Anguilla is ticked off through Ronaldo Rennie against LMS.

Matlama was 2nd vs 1st and a draw is a good result.

There is a decent gap ahead of the chasing pack

Saint Pierre & Miquelon

Anguilla

[KibworthBull]

February 2043

In the last hours of the transfer window, we managed to find a Cambodian and a Belizean - both of them have over 100 caps for their countries.

Heng Rithy is 32 but on his debut, smashes home a penalty and does a fine job of giving me another bonus nation. 

I can also look past the fact we let in two late goals away at Manonyane as Carlton Cruz managed to get me Saint Barthelemy.  

20 games unbeaten. 5 league games left.

We've also got a job in Puerto Rico from next season

They are in the process of getting relegated from the top flight

Cambodia

Saint Barthelemy

 

[corinthiano]

Nice, look forward to see how you do in Puerto Rico! Do you think you’ll be able to win the NACL from there or will you need to move again at some point?

[KibworthBull]

21 hours ago, corinthiano said:

Nice, look forward to see how you do in Puerto Rico! Do you think you’ll be able to win the NACL from there or will you need to move again at some point?

There one of the higher leagues according to rep that have never won it before - it's either them or Canada. So I certainly hope so!

[KibworthBull]

March 2043

Victory in the league and a penalty victory in the Cup set up the month nicely.

3 games left and things are looking very good

There's also an international break, albeit against two of the weaker nations.

But we have qualified for the competition

[KibworthBull]

April 2043

As winning statements go, winning 8-0 away from home is one way to pretty much wrap up the title - we sit 6 points clear with two games left, and the goal difference is 20 better.

Ironically the defeat was enough.

[KibworthBull]

May 2043

A nice 30-day break before the Cup final.

We lost in the Final last year, but we got the winning medal thanks to our Cambodian penalty king, 4 out of 4 in 8 games.

We also know what AfCON 2043 looks like for us

BUT we leave Africa for our next challenge.

And we step straight into a relegation battle.

Two games left to stay up

Away at Caguas FC in the first one, before we play the champions in June.

Gabor Dias is a random Hungarian loanee who has ticked off the nation in the first game.

I've decided that June is May domestically, so finished that season off as it's AFCON next month.

We finished 9th overall

Hungary:

 

Edited December 9, 2023 by KibworthBull

[KibworthBull]

African Cup of Nations - 2043 - June, maybe July

It's time for The Cranes, to do something that cranes do. Lift stuff. Move stuff. Do stuff to stuff. I don't know.

We are pretty much at full strength. Ibrahim Kakooza plays in the MLS with Charlotte FC and James Sentamu is the man who ticked off the nation for me in Angola (he's still there), the rest are Ugandan based.

Kakooza is the wrong side of 30 so this might be his last tournament. I'm trying to blood Mustafa Kigonya as his replacement, he's only 20 and has a couple of caps. He really needs some domestic first team football.

We start with a couple of friendlies before we get into the good stuff.

Libya - Richard Mukisa puts on a wing masterclass to help seal the win, he's 31 so another that's closer to the end than the start. 

The Gambia - full rotation with the intention to get some minutes into the legs of the squad. James Sentamu slams a hat-trick and we feel ready.

Group Stages

It wont get much harder than Egypt, they are 14th in the whole world. We went toe to toe and led for a glorious 3 minutes in the 2nd half, but sadly they had a bit too much.

Victory over Ghana will be key if we are to qualify now. 

I managed Daniel Asante in Angola, he ticked off Ghana, but I didn't really give him a fair crack of the whip. He has more than reminded me of that today.

The battle with Tanzania for the wooden spoon.

We got some pride back

The top 4 best 3rd place finishers get into the Second Round.

DR Congo - I've seen a fair few of their players in this save so far. They are 39th in the world. This will be tough. Left Back Henry Sentamu is suspended, so Yakubu Watambala plays, he played against Ghana.

We didn't have Henry, but Davis and Frank were there and did the "stuff"

Right Back Edrisa Wadada and Left Winger Shafik Ssemujju both will sit out the tie against Morocco (20th in the World)

Alas, we ran out of steam. We led twice but couldn't stand up to the barrage at the end

Tunisia won the Final

One of the 6 achievements for International Football has been completed and steady progress made in the rest

[KibworthBull]

September 2043

Internationally we now know our AFCON 2044 Qualifying Group

Domestically still finding our feet with Academia Quintana

A few signings have been made. All free transfers.

• Right Winger Jonathan Coates is a Jamaican/English/Puerto Rican who currently represents Jamaica so my hope is he can tick the Reggae Boyz off
• We've finally found an Egyptian, Mohamed Kassem, who can play in the full-back area, Central Defence or Central Midfield. He is extremely versatile, but at 34, his best days are beyond him.
• We've also got a few Peurto Ricans in - Michael Sheridan (Central Defender), Bruce Carey and Fernando Montoya (both Left Wingers) have good experience in the top flight. Sheridan is a full international and part of the current set up.

The league action starts next month!

The bookies consider us an outside shot at 33-1

[KibworthBull]

October 2043

A very testing international friendly. Ivory Coast, is the best nation in Africa. We just about matched them. A positive test for us.

We also (finally) got the league and cup campaigns in Puerto Rico started. July feels like a long time ago when we started pre-season.

I can only have a squad of 25 players and only 5 of these can be foreigners, so very deliberately not looking for obscure nations just yet. I want to see how good we are compared to the league first.

We did bring in a Grenadan, who ticked it off with a hat-trick on debut in one of the most bonkers games of FM I've had in a while. 

The easy one - Puerto Rico ticked off thanks to a goal and 2 assists by Bruce Carey. It is a touch concerning how easy we are finding it to score goals.

Grenada:

Puerto Rico

[KibworthBull]

November 2043

The board have agreed to improve both the Youth and the Training Facilities - we've got £1m burning a hole in our pockets and this outlay is a combined £135k.

We continue the unbeaten start in the league.

Bayamon FC are the ones to beat. Clear favourites.

World Cup Qualifying has reared it's head again. A double header against Malwai.

Rather frustrated that we conceded as many goals as we did but we should have done enough from the first leg. And it proved that we had. Malawi are 162nd so this is routine rather than resounding. 

The draw offers a bit more of a challenge. Angola are old friends domestically and Tunisia are the one nation that hasn't played for me yet.

[KibworthBull]

December 2043

We are at the stage of the season where all the regular players who aren't featuring are getting angry. It's a trife repetative. 

It's also repetative (but in a nice way) that we continue to win. Domestically this is not a strong league.

Korincancha become the first team to stop us winning, and then EFBR manage to sneak 2 goals against us late and we throw away more points. 

A recovery and back to winning ways in the Cup - i really want to win the cup this year. The double would be great but the cup is the target.

Bayamon are the big ones here. Unbeaten and 1 point behind, we host them next in the league, and also in the Cup in Feb.

[KibworthBull]

January 2044

Quite a challenge at the start of the year. 3rd place Bayamon and they are unbeaten.

Jamaican Jonathan Coates is a lazy trainer - always in the bottom 3 -  but he is doing alright on the pitch, his winner secured him and the man of the match and ensured that Jamaica is ticked off. He's a dual national so isn't included in our foreign quota.

In fact Coates was the star man in all the league matches in January. It's taken him some time to come to the party...

We now sit 4pts clear at the top at the midway point of the season.

Jamaica

[KibworthBull]

February 2044

The transfer window is OPEN!

In come a Dominican, a Bermudan and a St Kittian and Nevitain

To make space, out go 3 Puerto Ricans.

On the pitch, it's two league games and a cup tie.

I shouldn't have made a big deal about the cup - we lose in the Quarters.

We also managed to turn 1 point from 3 points against PR Sol - 2 up and cruising becomes 2-2 and hanging on.

The league now has gotten tighter. Our match in March is home to 2nd.

[KibworthBull]

March 2044

Just 1 football match this month for the club side. It's a win that puts us 6 clear with 8 to go.

And two for the international side. We are expected to qualify from the group so these are nice and routine. Some good rotation for the Chad game. 

So let me talk about the facilities.

We are cash-rich so I have improved everything in my short stint in the country. It's not going to give me any wonderkids but hopefully, the best of the country can come through - according to the news, we've poached a couple of players from other countries which could be interesting. I don't think it'll take long before we are the domestic dominant force, but Continentally it should be a few seasons before we can compete with the Mexicans and Americans.

Edited December 15, 2023 by KibworthBull
Got the wrong year...

[KibworthBull]

April 2044

 

Games come... whatever the opposite to thick and fast is - slow and thin during the back end of the season. Just two this month

But we did pick off our 88th nation. Jalen Talbot scores against Puerto Rico United and get's the MoTM award.

6 more games left, over the next 3 months. Lots of teams waiting for us to slip up.

We now have basic youth facilities.

Bermuda

[KibworthBull]

May 2044

It doesn't matter when you score, as long as you do. 1st v 2nd, heading for a draw, step forward Bruce Carey in the 95th minute, slams it home and we take a huge 3 points.

Both chasing teams lost

Our Azerbaijani scored but didn't do enough for MoTm, and we didn't do enough to win

6 point lead, 4 games left. We go to Sevilla on the final day. A good April and that could be a party. A bad one, it could be a wake.

The money invested into the youth team has paid off. We have a new No.1 keeper for next season in Bob Croft. A few other potential players but none in Bob's league.

They are classed as Top Talents. Monaghan is half Irish so could be a nation in the future.

[KibworthBull]

June 2044

It's Brian Bell's world and we just live in it. 4 goals against EFBR (Escuela de Fútbol Beca Ramos). He was a free transfer in the summer. Full international too.

Victory over Bayamon would have given us the title, but a point moves us the cliched one step closer.

As it stands we need 1 point from the last two games of the season to secure it

It was an international window where we rested anyone over 30 and tried some younger players who hadn't got near a squad yet. 

3 debutants started against Eritrea. Muzamiru Kakeeto got a debut goal. He's 29 so unlikely to be a long-term option, but he is a right winger and we don't have many options.

We have also qualified for the North American Champions League - I have no idea if this is a good draw or not

[KibworthBull]

July 2044

It's go time.

Let's unshackle the monkey.

Key the piano

Whatever nonsensical phrase you need. Let's use it now.

We were 2 up inside 6 minutes

An absolute bonus in the last game of the season. Robinson Viola scores two and ticks off the Dominican Republic. It was against his former club as well!

The final league table.

Dominican Republic

[KibworthBull]

August 2044

The boys have enjoyed a 7-day summer break. And back before you know it with the North American Champions League Group A - Carribbean. 

7 players were told not to return, so they have had longer

The transfer window not opening until the end of August means we are a little light for the opening game.

Bob Croft makes his debut between the sticks and we get a late winner.

We will now have to wait nearly 2 months before the next game at the domestic level - end of September, but we do have an international window too. And a number of new signings.

 

[KibworthBull]

September 2044

After what seems like a lifetime, we have some games again.

Internationals. African Nations Qualifiers.

Guinea, like ourselves, are unbeaten to this point. 2 from 2.

Someone's unbeaten run is going to end. It was ours. However, we did score the only goal of the game.

A response was needed, and a response was gained, as we defeated Chad in a rather one-sided game.

We've qualified with two games to go

The transfer window opened before the one game this month. We've been fairly busy. A Cameroonian Right Back (Ndongo) who we didn't need but looked too good to turn away, An Egyptian Striker (El Saadawy) so hopefully that gets ticked off soon, and then a British Virgin Islands Striker (Middleton) are the overseas lot. The rest are Puerto Rican and all decent youngish prospects. 

The new recruits can't play in the Champions League as they were signed after the first game. Which means we are a little weaker than we should be.

For the first time in the save, we've looked a bit out of depth in the Champions League

[KibworthBull]

October 2044

It's like seeing old friends. A trip to Angola for my Ugandan side.

We got a bit of a kicking. There a good side. I trained most of them.

Namibia who got a Tunisian shalacking proved a closer match. They've now conceded 12 in 2 games.

We will need to get something from Angola next year to progress, assuming we both beat Namibia and lose to Tunisia.

Finally, the domestic season starts. But first, we can put to bed the Continental Adventure for this year.

We really should have won the game.

Sweet progress in the cup, and we ticked off Saint Kitts and Nevis to boot. Fab.

Bayamon will be up at and around the top of the table at the end the season, we managed to miss two penalties but still that's a marker laid down, and Egypt ticked off. Osama El Saadawy will score plenty at this standard.

 

St Kitts and Nevis

Egypt

[KibworthBull]

November 2044

Another good league victory. Sevilla (no, not that one) were in the top 4 last year. This result leaves them bottom of the table, after 2 matches. A frustrating time at PR Sol but a recovery against Fajardo. We top the early table.

At the international level, we played a friendly in Mauritania. It was fairly routine as you would expect. It'll be March before we pick up this particular thread again.

[KibworthBull]

December 2044

Often a big month. Lots of football is happening.

A fair amount of squad rotation with some good results, mixed in with a frustrating draw. The only positive of the draw was that we've ticked off the British Virgin Islands, thanks to an assist from Frankie Middleton. He scored his goal in a previous round of the Cup.

The cup was against a 3rd tier side so our reserves did the business there.

Christian Davis came in on a free transfer right at the end of the first window. The AMC has 5 in 9.

We sit top by 3 points.

British Virgin Islands

[KibworthBull]

January 2045

A new year, and with the transfer window opening at the end of the month, a chance to bring in another foreigner from somewhere.

Yoelbi Delgado is a Cuban Striker who has 4 in 5 in the North American Champions League so they should have zero problems at our level.

As ever I am slightly over the legal limit.

Also, Héctor Collazo is a Puerto Rican U20 striker who has done well at the 3rd tier but is untried in this one. He's got 15 finishing and 12 composure so feels like a poacher.

In the out column, Bruce Carey (back-up left whinger - not a typo...) has gone to Metropolitan. He complained a lot that he was back up to a much better player.

On the pitch, we are starting to draw winnable games.

We are still on course to achieve the objective - top 3, but we did have a slight lead at the top at the turn of the year

[KibworthBull]

February 2045

February starts with a massive game, away at 4th placed Bayamon.

The draws continue, Our 4th 1-1 in a row.

A very timely cup victory - brings in £16k, which is much needed.

Bell and Davies - If we are champions at the end, then these two are the ones dragging us over the line. Both score to beat PR Sol.

The one game in March is against CA Fajardo. Winner takes all? Maybe not yet, but not far off it.

 

[KibworthBull]

March 2045

One league game this month. And it's a biggie

We had the decency to go 1-0 down as well. Bell, El Saadawy and our new American Centre Back Salvador Cabrera turned it around in the first half. We now have a 4-point lead at the top.

It's an international month. AfCon Qualifiers. We've already qualified. A couple of new names, Vitalis Sserunkuma is a 21-year-old AMC who is about to join FC Edmonson in the Canadian Premier League, and Alexis Bonseu is a 16-year-old Striker who is not ready but is the closest we have to a wonderkid - he's got 3-star potential ability.

Both newcomers make their bows against the Central African Republic, Bonseu scoring. He becomes the youngest person to play AND score in the AfCON.

I doubt Guinea cared too much.

We topped the group as our 4-1 win was better than their 1-0 win.

We get back together in June.

 

[KibworthBull]

April 2045

We are starting to cook now. 4 goals against Puerto Rico United - okay they are relegation threatened, but we looked so strong.

EFBR, the perfect chance to tick off a nation? Yep, indeed, Cuba has fallen. Yoelbi Delgado grabs two and the Man of the match award, and we move on to 93.

Results go our way as well and we now lead by 6.

We topped the month off with a fantastic cup win - the Semi is done, and we await the final.

Christian Davis with 7 goals this month, 

The next three months won't have a lot of games, but they are all important, we are closing on the double.

Cuba

[KibworthBull]

May 2045

Operation Double starts now.

It's a 3 month operation so feet up. Rest easy.

I heart Christian Davis. What a man. A treble and we are off and running in the first 50% of this month's games.

13 goals in 2 games. We are almost at trophy time.

The Fraigcomar result is our biggest win.

One point is needed from the last three games. Although with the goal difference as good as it is - we may not need it.

Intake Day - we've ploughed a lot of cash into our youth development since we arrived, which has come good with this intake. Levi Lewin looks good enough to slot into the first-team squad at 15, he is only 5'11 so a tad on the short side but might still grow. Lucas Reyas and Juan Toledo can provide the backup slots in the full-back areas, and Christian Hamilton and Cole Rodriguez will get some cup football.

In the AFCON.. well we've had easier draws. 3rd place can qualify so we've still got a good sniff.

[KibworthBull]

June 2045

Lots going on.

Firstly we've named the AFCON Squad:

No new names, it's about as strong as we can be. I think we can get 3rd and then maybe qualify through that route. Both Ghana and Ivory Coast should be too good for us.

Before we get to that, we've got a league title to retain.

And it's done in absolute style. Rob Lucas getting the honours with a double from AMC.

There was heavy rotation before the final league game of the month.

Domestic eyes went onto the cup final. A lovely £80k came our way for the victory. Christian Davis the difference maker, as he often is.

With Uganda, the friendlies were terrible. We lost Mustafa Aheebwa to injury in the Burkino Faso defeat  - he'll miss the whole month, he's our best centre-back.

His replacement scored our opening goal of the competition against Zambia, and at 4-0 at halftime, everything looked rosy, they came back strong and we hung on.

No chance of hanging on against Ivory Coast, and Ghana. ARGH! 1-0 after 80 minutes, lost 3-1. Steam gone, and we couldn't hang on.

We qualify from 3rd... and face Nigeria.

[KibworthBull]

July 2045

A two game month.

The final league game of the season, and then knock out football.

A Cuban hat-trick ends the domestic campaign nicely.

Sometimes FM just kicks you in the teeth. So close to a MASSIVE upset. We leave with nothing.

As an overall challenge, we sit at 22% complete... it's only taken 24 seasons to reach this point. 

We ticked off the North American Cup this season.

I'm still looking for a Tunisian to complete Africa. Everything else is miles away.

[KibworthBull]

August 2045

The North American Champions League doesn't do us any favours. The boys get 7 days' of holiday between seasons and we have to register players AFTER we release players but BEFORE any new players arrive. We go into it undercooked.

On the pitch... start fast, stay fast. Before we get carried away - we won the first game last year, and never won again.

Departures..

Abdiel Marrero was a leader in the dressing room but had fallen to 3rd choice Left Back so won't really get registered anymore. Tobi Wynne was the backup keeper but we got a half decent one in the intake and he was complaining a bit. Both these boys will get clubs at this level. The rest are kids or foreigners who have done their bit.

Mohammed Kassem has retired. A fabulous player in year one, couldn't be registered in year two. I wanted to keep him as a staff member but he's upset with me and leaves. Frankie Middleton moving on eases a foreign slot. 

Incoming

Duhaney Miller is a Jamaican centre-back/Midfielder and Kenny Edom-Annette, a Defensive Midfielder from Guadeloupe, both fit the requirement of improving the side and exposing a couple of nations we are yet to tick off. Sadly it puts us above our foreign limit but we have time to rectify that.

Elimagdiel Guerra is a left-back and Domestic. Will go into the mix for a first-team spot and the reason Marrero was let go. Frankie Parker is a declared American who has Puerto Rican nationality and will walk into our first team and provide some real competition for Christian Davis.

Finally... we also picked our squad for the World Cup Qualifiers in September.

Enock Anaku is a new name, an 18-year-old keeper. He's only there because of injury and won't feature.

 

[KibworthBull]

September 2045

First things first, let's get the drubbing from Tunisia over with...

Namibia is a much better game for us. Vitalis Sserunkuma gets a hat-trick.

It's in the balance

Balls...

Thankfully Cuba is ticked off. It means I don't need to register him until January's window.

Plenty of goals were scored in friendlies, before we returned to the North American Champions League

The Defense Force had an impressive defence. As you might expect. Villa Clara got well and truly beat up.

We've done better than last time already.

We have to beat Arnott Gardens next month to stand a chance. Defence Force face Villa Clare so they should win that one.

[KibworthBull]

October 2045

A more than medium-sized month.

Potentially qualification for a World Cup and a Champions League. Or failure times two.

It's very much a similar squad to normal. 

Angola first.

Victory or bust.

Bust. Destroyed.

Pride restored against Tunisia. James Sentamu with a last-gasp winner.

Happy

On a domestic front...

The board have done this behind my back. It's a record transfer fee but I'm less than impressed by it.

A point gained from the Champions League, but again we have been knocked out. Improvement year on year so no complaints.

We signed a St Vincent nation just before the domestic season started, on debut, he scores and gets MoTM. So that's nice - well done Kendale Matthias

And we've also gotten the league campaign off to a good start.

Saint Vincent

[KibworthBull]

November 2045

Tis the season to score lots of goals. 7 in the Metropolitan. Levi Lewin scores before his 16th birthday, setting a league and club record.

Not so one-sided at Mayaguez, 3-1 up in the 92nd minute and somehow we only come out with a point.

But normal service resumed against EFBR.

It puts us on top of the tree.

[KibworthBull]

December 2045

6 games of football. What a festive treat.

Sevilla (PUR) sat 2nd so the opening game of the month was a top-of-the-table classic. Neither side is too happy with a point.

When we win, it's in some considerable style. Our third occasion was when we score 5 or more in the first 6 games.

Osama El Saadawy is very much enjoying his season. 14 already, he got 19 last season.

Brian Bell celebrates a new deal with a hat trick. 

We've opened up a nice lead at the top. As you expect, our GD is looking lovely and strong.

[KibworthBull]

January 2046

New Year. Same old free-scoring team.

6 goals for our Egyptian.

One departure. He came from Azerbaijan and has gone back there. He didn't tick the nation off.

6 points clear and an extremely good goal difference.  9 more matches in the league.

[KibworthBull]

February 2046

Most of the existing foreigners want to leave - for some reason, they think that the standard is beneath them. They are correct, but it still hurts to be told.

3 league victories mean that the league is almost sown up. The annoyance of the fixture computer mean the remaining 6 matches will take 4 months.

We bring in a Haitian AMC on a free transfer just before the window closes.

He scores on his debut but we have a shocker from the spot. We can't retain the cup.

It's a financial pain in the bum and means it'll take a bit longer to become a legend.

The league looks very nice

The finances less so. We've put nearly £1m into the facilities since I arrived.

[KibworthBull]

March 2046

1 league match and a chance for revenge for our cup defeat.

Whatever code they have is working. We lose our first league game of the season.

At the international level, we have a fixture against Mozambique. Just a friendly

We flew into a 2 goal lead and ultimately we ended up hanging on for a draw

As it stands this is our only game of the calendar year. That will change I imagine, but does give me time to update on achievement progress:

So much red

[KibworthBull]

April 2046

Goals for America, Jamaica, and Guadeloupe but nothing is ticked off.

3 more points will give us our 3rd title on the spin.

[KibworthBull]

May 2046

Last in, first to achieve. Daniel Marcelin has ticked off Haiti, bringing us up to 95 nations. Other nations still ongoing, a weird and wonderful approach to team selection to give them maximum opportunities to score and achieve the best average rating in the match.

It also gave us the league title, so that's 3 on the spin.

Finally... I've entered at 10th

Haiti

[KibworthBull]

June 2046

Youth Day - lots of high-potential players but none quite ready for the first team. Most will become Non-Contracts as soon as they turn 17. Bruce Bynoe is the most exciting, for me, as he is Dutch. A nation not ticked off currently.

And then on the pitch, just the one game.

A routine victory.

One game left, and that's in July.

We also know what our NACL Group draw looks like

[KibworthBull]

July 2046

The standard 1 game month...

We win.

Bob Croft wins Keeper of the Year

[KibworthBull]

August 2046

It's still the old season but players have left, and we kick-start our NACL campaign.

Michael Sheridan has retired and becomes a Scout, Osama El Saadawy has gone back to Egypt, but we have found a Tunisian.

On the pitch, a comfy victory in the opening group stage

Puerto Rico is starting to drain my enthusiasm for the save. Time to think and see what the plan next is. Stick or Twist, or something different?

 

[corinthiano]

I have really enjoyed the save so far so would encourage you to pivot instead of giving up, but understand if you want to try something new.

Have you thought about Central America instead of the Caribbean? Don’t think a team from Panama has won  the NACL and I think you’ll have much more structured calendar there, as well as teams that are more competitive vs US and Mexico from the off.

[KibworthBull]

11 hours ago, corinthiano said:

I have really enjoyed the save so far so would encourage you to pivot instead of giving up, but understand if you want to try something new.

Have you thought about Central America instead of the Caribbean? Don’t think a team from Panama has won  the NACL and I think you’ll have much more structured calendar there, as well as teams that are more competitive vs US and Mexico from the off.

I've set Cuba and Panama to go live during the season so will give it 1 more year in Puerto Rico and see what happens. Canada has been loaded for 5 years and only 1 manager job has come up, and I wasn't allowed to apply for that, no idea why.

I'm in that lull where it feels like nothing is really happening - the draw back of such a long challenge.

[KibworthBull]

August 2046

In my annoyance last night - missed a game in August. Yeah, it happens!

A 1-1 draw in Haiti. Feels like it could be 2 dropped points.

New Signings:

Carlos Álvarez is possibly the best Defender I've seen (in this country), and has come in on a free from Metropolitan FA. 

Edited December 29, 2023 by KibworthBull

[KibworthBull]

September 2046

It's time for some African Nations Qualifiers - we are expected to qualify from the group. No new names in the 23 man squad.

The Sentamu's in the squad combined to get us the win against Madagascar. Zambia won their opening game over South Sudan. Our victory in Zambia - our toughest match of the group - puts us top of that tree.

New Additions domestically

• Gérard Ottavi is a Martinique International striker
• Shaquille Arias is a Curocao International striker

Both should complete their respective nations quickly, but neither will play until November.

We lead twice but can't get more than a draw against Cibao

We have 1 game left. Away at TLH Rangers. A draw probably wont be enough, so it's win or bust.

[KibworthBull]

October 2046

South Sudan and Zambia in the qualifiers - two victories and we are in the next AFCON.

No surprises, the same names as normal.

South Sudan was disposed of with minimal fuss, and Zambia was home. It went well before we fell apart just before halftime.

We don't need much from our final couple of games.

On the domestic front - we needed a victory in the Champions League, and boy did we get one

We've qualified for the Play-Off - Mount Pleasant over two legs.