I'm playing FM for the first time in 7 years after getting a new computer, and decided to start a game unemployed as most of my best FM memories are for those saves. I didn't put attribute masking on as I really wasn't aware of this challenge until a friend mentioned it to me this week, and I'm already 5 seasons in, but otherwise I think I'm following the rules.
First job was at EIF, in the 2nd level of Finnish football. I put together a decent side that I thought was playing entertaining football, but it all started to go wrong when one of my players weirdly started to complain I'd not fulfilled a promise to challenge for promotion, when we were top of the league at the time. More and more players started to get annoyed at my treatment of him, results took a turn for the worse and I was very surprised to get the sack.
It was a lot tougher to get a 2nd job after that, and I ended up in the 3rd level of Denmark with Kolding Boldklub, a side that had just come up from a non-playable league and seemed certain to get relegated. It was a struggle, with almost no money, and anyone half-decent was poached away as everyone was on amateur contracts. We finished 3 places above our predicted finish, but still went down. I've never struggled like this before in FM, but a lot has changed since 2013 and I'm questioning whether I can do this.
The next job is again in the 3rd level of Denmark, with the team that came up to take my place, Vanlose IF. They seem to have a little more about them than my previous club in terms of playing talent, but the financial situation is just as terrible. I picked up a couple of players from my previous team, along with a few more key signings, and much to my surprise we have a really, really good season and won the league on the final day of the season. I'm really not sure what I did differently to have such a drastic change in fortune. The board tells me they want a top half finish the following year which seems ridiculous. I manage to get a couple of youngsters in on loan from the top flight, and again blow my own expectations away. For much of the second half of the season, we're in 2nd place (although miles behind the leaders, who had just come down), but fall away quite badly and finish a distant 3rd in the end. Despite the two fairly successful seasons, we have no money, and my best players are getting poached away. The media prediction has put us in line for a 2nd place finish, but I just can't see it with how many players are leaving, so when I see that a club just relegated for the top flight is looking for a manager... I jump ship.
Esbjerg FB are the media's favourites to win the league. Despite losing a few top players, the squad is clearly much, much better than the one I managed to finish 3rd with. I add to it by signing the left back from my old club, as well as a young striker we'd had on loan. It quickly becomes clear the team is too good for this level, and even though a couple more players are sold against my wishes by the board, we finish comfortably top of the league. The big surprise this season is we also win the Danish Cup. In the quarters, semis and final we play teams from the top flight, and weirdly for the quarters and semis, we're said to be the favourite? Both were tight games, with the semi going to extra time. For the final, we're not the favourite at all, but the opposition went down to 10 men after just 13 minutes, leaving them with a 3 defender formation. They still looked good in attack, so took the risk of going for it, trying to play the game in the area they were weakened in, and pulled it off by winning 2-1. It brings back memories of one of my favourite saves, where I won the Dutch cup as a 2nd division side with Den Bosch, although in that save, 2nd division sides seemed to frequently reach the final. In this save, FC Kobenhavn had won the cup the previous 5 seasons, yet were knocked out before the quarters this year.
The Danish top flight is the 12th best league in Europe by this point, and I know playing there would be huge for my reputation. After the way we beat the top flight sides in the cup, I felt like we'd probably have a decent season too, but by this point I was aware of this challenge, and I'd added in leagues from the other continents after starting out with just Europe. I start to check the job center pages and I can see the Orlando Pirates have just sacked their manager after finishing 5th in the league. The league seems a definite step down from the one I'd be going into if I stayed, but the Pirates have far more chance of winning it than I would if I stayed. Far closer too, to the continent's Champions League. I can't resist, so make the switch, and I feel like this where the pentagon challenge really begins for me. For the first time in the save I feel like I'm going to be at a club for several seasons, enough to plan more longterm, try to focus on bringing in some youth prospects and develop them. I'll return to Europe one day, but that will likely be the final step in the journey.
FM20 - The Pentagon Challenge
in Challenges, Sign-Ups & Experiments
Posted
I'm playing FM for the first time in 7 years after getting a new computer, and decided to start a game unemployed as most of my best FM memories are for those saves. I didn't put attribute masking on as I really wasn't aware of this challenge until a friend mentioned it to me this week, and I'm already 5 seasons in, but otherwise I think I'm following the rules.
First job was at EIF, in the 2nd level of Finnish football. I put together a decent side that I thought was playing entertaining football, but it all started to go wrong when one of my players weirdly started to complain I'd not fulfilled a promise to challenge for promotion, when we were top of the league at the time. More and more players started to get annoyed at my treatment of him, results took a turn for the worse and I was very surprised to get the sack.
It was a lot tougher to get a 2nd job after that, and I ended up in the 3rd level of Denmark with Kolding Boldklub, a side that had just come up from a non-playable league and seemed certain to get relegated. It was a struggle, with almost no money, and anyone half-decent was poached away as everyone was on amateur contracts. We finished 3 places above our predicted finish, but still went down. I've never struggled like this before in FM, but a lot has changed since 2013 and I'm questioning whether I can do this.
The next job is again in the 3rd level of Denmark, with the team that came up to take my place, Vanlose IF. They seem to have a little more about them than my previous club in terms of playing talent, but the financial situation is just as terrible. I picked up a couple of players from my previous team, along with a few more key signings, and much to my surprise we have a really, really good season and won the league on the final day of the season. I'm really not sure what I did differently to have such a drastic change in fortune. The board tells me they want a top half finish the following year which seems ridiculous. I manage to get a couple of youngsters in on loan from the top flight, and again blow my own expectations away. For much of the second half of the season, we're in 2nd place (although miles behind the leaders, who had just come down), but fall away quite badly and finish a distant 3rd in the end. Despite the two fairly successful seasons, we have no money, and my best players are getting poached away. The media prediction has put us in line for a 2nd place finish, but I just can't see it with how many players are leaving, so when I see that a club just relegated for the top flight is looking for a manager... I jump ship.
Esbjerg FB are the media's favourites to win the league. Despite losing a few top players, the squad is clearly much, much better than the one I managed to finish 3rd with. I add to it by signing the left back from my old club, as well as a young striker we'd had on loan. It quickly becomes clear the team is too good for this level, and even though a couple more players are sold against my wishes by the board, we finish comfortably top of the league. The big surprise this season is we also win the Danish Cup. In the quarters, semis and final we play teams from the top flight, and weirdly for the quarters and semis, we're said to be the favourite? Both were tight games, with the semi going to extra time. For the final, we're not the favourite at all, but the opposition went down to 10 men after just 13 minutes, leaving them with a 3 defender formation. They still looked good in attack, so took the risk of going for it, trying to play the game in the area they were weakened in, and pulled it off by winning 2-1. It brings back memories of one of my favourite saves, where I won the Dutch cup as a 2nd division side with Den Bosch, although in that save, 2nd division sides seemed to frequently reach the final. In this save, FC Kobenhavn had won the cup the previous 5 seasons, yet were knocked out before the quarters this year.
The Danish top flight is the 12th best league in Europe by this point, and I know playing there would be huge for my reputation. After the way we beat the top flight sides in the cup, I felt like we'd probably have a decent season too, but by this point I was aware of this challenge, and I'd added in leagues from the other continents after starting out with just Europe. I start to check the job center pages and I can see the Orlando Pirates have just sacked their manager after finishing 5th in the league. The league seems a definite step down from the one I'd be going into if I stayed, but the Pirates have far more chance of winning it than I would if I stayed. Far closer too, to the continent's Champions League. I can't resist, so make the switch, and I feel like this where the pentagon challenge really begins for me. For the first time in the save I feel like I'm going to be at a club for several seasons, enough to plan more longterm, try to focus on bringing in some youth prospects and develop them. I'll return to Europe one day, but that will likely be the final step in the journey.