vikeologist

Vikeologist's 2024/5 Kaizer Chiefs Report Took over with 6 matches to go, in very vague relegation trouble, but more importantly in the South African Cup semi-final. We had 2 easy matches and won the cup easily, the Vikeing ™ of which not only sees me pick up my first eligible trophy of the challenge, but also qualify for the next Confederations Cup. I’ll have to be careful with any new signings that they can be registered for that competition, and the Champions League beyond that. I've already decided not to try to sign one player in this situation, (played for another club in a continental comp) until I see what happens at registration for the Confed Cup. After Black Leopards where I had about 22 players total, this club had about 60 or 70 and despite its vast resources was over the wage budget, so I’m releasing lots of players over the summer. My wage bill is down about 40% so far. Top Goalscorer - Kamohelo Mahlatsi – 9 An attacking midfielder, although I think he was utilised as a striker before me. The club don’t have a proper senior striker. My starter is 17 years old, and scored 7 goals in 6 starts with me. His backup is only 15 years old, and sets a new CSE record for me as my youngest scorer ever, or at least the 4 years or so of the Records thread. Honestly they’re the same ability so the 15 year old might start next season if I don’t bring in somebody new, but promising as the kids are, it’s the most obvious position to improve upon. Highest Average Rating (minimum 10 matches played) – Elijah Masinga – 7.21 This would have been the 15 year old striker, Kyle Molefe, if not for the 10 match requirement. A goal every 50 minutes, 4 goals in 2 starts. As it is, it’s the 17 year old striker, Masinga, instead, even though he only started his 7 matches under me. Man of The Match – Brandon Petersen - 4 Our goalie. These awards tell the tale of how bad the team was before me. Peterson’s 14 for eccentricity showed its head a few times in my matches, so I wouldn’t say I’m fully committed to him. He is a bit loco and unpredictable. Most Valuable Player– Reeve Frosler I think he’s my best player. His ratings were dreadful before I came, but he showed me enough to be sure that he can be my key player. Ostensibly a right back, but he’s very adaptable. I’ve offered him a new 2 year contract. Domestic Season Team Division Position MVP Notes 22/23 Black Leopards S African L1 5th Took over with 8 matches to go.Edge of relegation to edge of promotion. 23/24 Black Leopards S African L1 1st Kiyaam Bull SA Cup Q/F 24/25 Kaizer Chiefs S African Prem 10th Took over with 6 matches to go. Won SA Cup. International Year Team Achievements 23-24 Fiji Oceania Cup S/F 24 Morocco U23 Olympics Losing Finalists Challenge Progress 1/32 Club 0/10 top domestic leagues 1/10 domestic cups (S Africa) 0/5 club continental championships 0/1 club world championship International 0/5 continental tournaments 0/1 World Cup

Somewhat appropriate that my first fining for poor performance is;

Mini-update After gaining promotion with Black Leopards, I had 2 international tournaments in the summer in an attempt to boost my reputation. (I'm not sure it works if you resign afterwards, but I fancied doing the tournies anyway). First up was the Oceania Nations Cup with Fiji. That was horrible. The players are so bad. I managed to scrape my way to the semifinal where we were beaten by New Zealand. No interest in ever doing that competition again. I resigned and almost immediately took over Morocco U23s for the Olympic Games. We went all the way to the final, beating France and Argentina along the way, before losing to Italy in the final. I then saw @goonergez's update, and decided to take a leaf out of his book by resigning from Leopards and waiting for a good job to come along. I thought I'd made a terrible mistake, as no good club jobs came along until the following April, but finally Kaizer Chiefs sacked their manager and I've been given the job with 6 league games to go. We're in 11th, so no chance of doing anything this season in the league other than ensuring we don't get relegated. Even better, I've realised cranking up the save this morning, that my first match is a SA Cup semi-final. This kind of cheeky parachuting in at the last moment to win a trophy is what I used to equally cheekily call doing a Vike. In my first completion, I actually took over a club on the afternoon of the second leg of a final, although I didn't actually manage to Vike the trophy on that occasion. Regarding the African continental registration bug, I have a theory that it's caused by having players that have (ever) played in that competition for another club, so I will be taking that into account with who I sign for Chiefs. Domestic Season Team Division Position MVP Notes 22/23 Black Leopards S African L1 5th Took over with 8 matches to go.Edge of relegation to edge of promotion. 23/24 Black Leopards S African L1 1st Kiyaam Bull SA Cup Q/F 24/25 Kaizer Chiefs S African Prem Took over with 6 matches to go. International Year Team Achievements 23-24 Fiji Oceania Cup S/F 24 Morocco U23 Olympics Losing Finalists Challenge Progress 0/32 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 Cup

I've managed to somewhat recreate this problem. In my test save there was only 1 player I couldn't register, (Leb Manyama) but I'm not sure why. He was signed more than 365 days before the registration date. He's not the only player to have played continental matches for another team during the scope of the save, but he may be the only one who has played in the same competition (Champions League) for another club. That's the only thing I can think of. Can't be bothered to investigate it any more. I'll just hope it gets sorted out before I manage to qualify for the Champions League myself. Please hurry. Save game loaded ACL Test 2.fm

Before I play the Oceania Nations Cup, I should say that I'm not adding it to the challenge. Nobody wants it, including me to be honest. So even if I win it, it won't count.

Vikeologist's 2023/4 Black Leopards Report I couldn’t get a better job. Maybe because I wouldn’t commit to staying at other clubs for a long time. I’m a manager in a hurry. Despite having no money, and therefore very few players, we won the league fairly comfortably with a couple of matches to spare. Once again, almost all my players want to leave, but I’m not sure this is a bug. We just don’t have much money. I really, really plan to escape for sure this summer. I might have to wait until after the Oceania Cup with Fiji though. After that competition I’ll quit, hopefully with a tournament win to make me more attractive to employers. Top Goalscorer - Mahlatse Leso - 19 I play with one striker, and rotated quite a lot between 2 because of needing to have 3 U23s in my starting eleven. Leso is the young backup in that scenario, but his scoring rate (per 84 mins) was much better than my supposed best striker, so perhaps I should have played him every match. Highest Average Rating (minimum 10 matches played) – Kiyaam Bull – 7.52 One of only about first teamers to stay from my first season, Bull was a key central defender. Man of The Match – Talent Chawapiwa – 5 This was my other striker. To be fair, he’s better as an attacking midfielder, and I did play him there a lot, so maybe that’s why he didn’t score as often as Leso. Most Valuable Player– Kiyaam Bull As I say next up is the Oceania Nations Cup with Fiji. We’re both the holders and host nation, so we didn’t have to play the first round a few months ago. Domestic Season Team Division Position MVP Notes 22/23 Black Leopards S African L1 5th Took over with 8 matches to go.Edge of relegation to edge of promotion. 23/24 Black Leopards S African L1 1st Kiyaam Bull SA Cup Q/F International Year Team Achievements 23- Fiji Challenge Progress 0/32 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 Cup

They won't regret it immediately. And how come everybody else can get a job with Polokwane, except me. Actually, and I don't think this is a spoiler. Something to watch out for in South Africa is the having to start 3 under 23s in your team. You can take them off in the first minute if you want, but it caught me out a bit in my second season.

I don't fully understand the bug. If I understand it correctly, are there players you can't register? Is it because of something in the rules for the competition? Are the players you can't register recent signings. I know the game doesn't detail any of the rules for registration, but there are a lot in reality, and maybe the game reflects that without explaining why you can't register the extra players. Here is just part of the actual registration rules. I think your report (and the reply) is the only one, and it's in the wrong place. It's strange that only the 2 of you have reported it. It should go here. [Africa] (Official) League Specific Issues - Bug Tracker - Sports Interactive Community (sigames.com) SI might need a save game file to be able to look at it properly. Also, I'm worried that SI won't look at your bug report because it's in the wrong place. Is the reason you can't register all the players because you're trying to change who is registered?

Before I, or anyone else, get too invested in our saves, is this bug a challenge killer, or is it still possible to win the Champions League and domestic trophies? There's no guarantee that SI will implement a save compatible fix, or even any fix at all based on last year. I do recognise though that tis is the beta. It's not fair to complain if there's a challenge killer at this point. I started my save just to test to see if my tactics from the last 2 year still work (and boy, do they!).

Having given it some thought, I probably don't particularly want to add the Oceania Cup myself, although that is mostly because I want to complete the challenge quickly, and that extra cup could add 20 or 30 seasons. That said, I have become manager of Fiji, so I might win it anyway. There's something neat about 5 Champions Leagues and 5 continental international cups, and honestly, how many of us start this challenge because we're desperate to manage New Zealand. I'm not saying I won't add the trophy to the challenge if people want. Just that I'm a vote against as well.

OK. Now I wish I hadn't started in South Africa / Agora eu gostaria de não ter começado na África do Sul.

I'm not sure whether it's new for FM23, but the Oceania Nations Cup is very playable on this version. I think it's because of the added Asian international players. (I don't see why it would be. It's a separate continent in the game setup, I think). I know that @Surd won the OFC Cup, with Vanuatu. So it was possible before. I still don't think we can reasonably add the domestic Oceania Champions League, or whatever it is. Surd, do you remember whether there were a lot of Oceanic nations playable? Do you think we should add the competition to those you need to win? (Obviously that wouldn't apply to anyone who starts the challenge before the rule change, or anyone starting after to be honest if they want to stick to the old 32 competitions). I know people have suggested adding this before, but I think in previous versions you'd have had to add databases to be able to win it. I've certainly never seen all these Oceanic nations as playable in FM before. (There's 11 on them on my save). So 2 issues. 1. Because it seems to be because of adding Asian international players, we'd need to make it mandatory to do that in the game setup. It should be mandatory anyway, because as discussed, I think if you don't, winning the Asian Cup becomes very unlikely unless you win it in one attempt with Australia, or keep other Asian leagues playable until you win it). 2. Regardless of 1, do people want to add the Oceania Cup to those we have to win? Is Oceania really equivalent to the other 5 continents? Is this equivalent to the Asian Cup, or to the West Asian Championship, or European or North American Nations Leagues for instance? Again, any rule stage at this point would only apply to the future. I would however probably start a new thread, because the 2 things, (mandatory adding of Asian internationals and the Oceania Cup) change the challenge a bit. Everybody would need to post on the new thread, which wouldn't have FM23 in the title anyway. Until playing FM23, I didn't appreciate how much the new game affects the challenge.

Why did you start so late? (March '23) It's not as though it matters, but I'm worried that you thought you had to holiday for a season or something before starting the challenge.

Vikeologist's 2022/3 Start of Challenge and Black Leopards Report With just the Australian and top 2 South African divisions loaded, it looked for a while like I might not be able to even get a job, but eventually I was offered one by Black Leopards. I know that others have managed this club in this challenge. Oh boy, were they in a mess. Not just in relegation danger but in debt and about 50% over budget. This meant that I couldn’t bring anybody new in, because any decent player’s wage demands where way more than we could pay. Also, all our existing players wouldn’t re-up. Eventually 2 did, for increased wages we can’t afford, but essentially next season we’re starting from scratch. But how did we fare on the pitch? Well, that was much better. I took over with just 8 matches to go. We won 6 and drew 1 of our first 7 matches which meant that unbelievably we went into the final match of the season in the playoffs and just needing a win. Unfortunately, despite dominating, it finished 0-0. The club’s finances are awful, so if I can, I’ll get another job, but at least I know that the tactics I’ve used for the last 2 FMs work on this version. Top Goalscorer - Promise Mkhuma - 16 Scored 8 goals in my first 3 matches in charge, and then just 1 in the remaining 5. My best player, but he’s determined to leave. Highest Average Rating (minimum 10 matches played) – Rafiq Namwera – 7.84 Was the first to ask to leave, because he’s Malawian and the previous manager didn’t play him, meaning he wouldn’t get a new visa. Man of The Match – Promise Mkhuma - 3 Most Valuable Player– Does it matter? They’re all leaving. To be fair, me too, if I can. Domestic Season Team Division Position MVP Notes 22/23 Black Leopards S African L1 5th Took over with 8 matches to go and took them from edge of relegation to edge of promotion. International Year Team Achievements Challenge Progress 0/32 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 Cup

When the beta came out, I started an Ultimate save to see what jobs one could get, and this morning finally had time to play FM23, and my ultimate save is dead in the water straight away. (A pity because I spent enough time sorting out the responsibilities etc to be slightly invested in it) It's not a bug, exactly. I started the save quickly because it was just a test (with a medium database) without adding in all the Asian players etc, as suggested in my opening post. With England loaded, the only Manageable Asian nation is Australia. I wouldn't say the number of African and S American nations is great either. 7 African, 5 South American. I think this is very important. Generally speaking, the number of manageable nations goes down over a long save. It's possible SI have fixed this, but I doubt it, because I'm not sure anybody has even ever registered it as a bug. As it takes about 50 seasons to become a big problem, not many encounter it. So, I would say that for anybody starting this challenge it is absolutely critical that you do this; I would be interested in others' experiences of the number of playable nations, whether or not you added the Asian international players or not. The number of S American and African nations should be ok, as long as they don't become unmanageable during the course of the save. Sorry it's taken me so long to realise this. Super busy for the rest of this year.

Congrats to @remix951 and @SK 7 completions in FM22, which is a lot. Anybody planning to start this challenge with FM23? I was / am planning to once my current deluge of work ends in a week's time, but I honestly can't say I'm enthusiastic about the new game. I'm in a weird situation where I'm enjoying my FM22 save, but it's so easy it's almost boring, while FM23 will require a lot of work setting things up and figuring out a new tactic etc. If anybody does start with the beta, please do tell us about any bugs or things that might affect the challenge.

I'd presume it was still there, although without IGE can't say for sure, but I'd be surprised if anything one did in this challenge in early seasons did anything to it, and even once you're at the top domestically, not sure it can be moved faster than about 1 point a season.

Sorry. No non official databases. I won't be upset if people start a similar challenge thread with databases.

Looks harder than ever to get that first job without qualifications or experience. But possible. Won't have much time in next few weeks to play FM23, so please lt me know if you encounter any problems which will affect challenge.

I think it's bad that she deliberately screwed up just so she would have time to play the beta.

@Anners That's fine. As long as you're in charge when a club actually wins the competition.

Welcome to the leader board. I think this is the most crowded the board has ever been.

I do think maybe it was deliberate. I think he's just taking the mickey out of the way Tories throw out meaningless slogans, and like people say, it's a common gaming phrasal verb. SI are not some kind of Tory stalking horse. You're working way too hard at being offended.

Vikeologist's 2040 Euros Report I think this must be my 10th straight major international tournament, and we’re the defending champs, but it’s still nerve-wracking. One bad result with Hibs can ruin my season, (and this season did) but one bad result at this tournament and I could be sacked and my challenge effectively over. To be honest though, I only need to reach the Quarterfinals, which is just one dangerous match, and as long as we top our easy group, it shouldn’t even be dangerous, but we nearly crashed out at the group stage losing 2 of our 3 matches 4 years ago. Mind you, this is a much easier group. Group Stage 2nd Round (if applicable) Quarter Final (if applicable) Semi Final (if applicable) 3rd Place Playoff / Final (if applicable) After The Tournament

Pleased you won't feel the need to quit the challenge (yet). Reckon you're going quick enough to finish it before the new game comes out?