lukefox44

@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.

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?

Luke Fox Dandong Tengyue 2026 Going into the first season in the Chinese Super League we were initially predicted to finish rock bottom by a comfortable margin, but with another 3 foreign player slots now available to us I was pretty confident i could at least keep us up this year, get a coaching badge and move on. Coaching Badges I wasn't sure they'd let me do any more courses as at the end of last season they turned me down saying I'd only use my rep increase to leave, I mean they were correct, but still annoying. After a decent start in the league they eventually let me do the National A licence and then even my Continental C licence towards the end of the season. How The Season Went Last season I was worried the finances of the club were beyond repair, but I managed to shift on a lot of dead wood, replace similar level players on lower wages, sold some of my players that were actually worth something and even took some punts on players from the division below to maybe help the finances. This did help a little bit, but the board were pretty good with investing cash when needed and still allowing me some room in the market to make some moves. We started the season incredibly well, way beyond what I was expecting for this team. I was happy I had improved the squad enough to survive but we were still 150-1 to win the league and predicted to finish 12th, comfortable but nothing to get excited about pre season. This changed massively after we won 2 of the first 3 games and looked good doing so, I was now hopeful of pushing a top half finish, but after 13 games it looked like we could achieve a lot more. We would stay top of the table until game week 23, only 7 games to go, we were a point behind top, but being chased closely behind us. Unfortunately we went on some awful form, really faded away, won a few towards to the end to still scrape a Top 4 finish. At the start of the season I would of bitten your hand off for a top 4 finish, but after the way the season went I couldn't help but feel like this was a missed opportunity. Just look at the post positions, we were top for a third of the league season, the team that won it were top for only one day. Cup was nothing to shout about, we went out in the QF, rested a lot of players because at the time we looked like we were in a title battle. What's Next? This was a very good season, but it does feel like a bit of a one off. players are attracting interest from the bigger boys in china and we cant even slightly compete with wages. With such strict limits on foreigners its really hard to find Chinese players up to standard at all and the ones that are don't want to join, combine this with the fact I felt like we got figured out towards the end of the season and the squad I had built I couldn't easily transition away from the 4312 shape, Not a single wide player at the club. My rep is up to 2.5 stars / 45%, so I think I'll resign, holiday through to the winter league sacking start and see what is available. Also wouldn't mind a J League job, as from what I've seen it'll be the best chance at the ACL. Challenge Progress

Luke Fox Dandong Tengyue 2025 After a successful season with Lee Man I was happy to be patient and wait for an opportunity that looked promising, after a while DD Tengyue offered me the job. They had finished 5th the year before and the team looked decent and with no Foreign players contracted, with only being allowed 2 playing and one on the bench into the Chinese second level, I felt like I was a good opportunity to make some smart signings and hopefully finish in the top 2 and gain promotion. Coaching Badges Another reason I took the job was they were doing OK financially and even if I failed to gain promotion I should be able to squeeze a badge or two in before I move on. They initially blocked a course because my rep was already half a star bigger than the club and they were scared of losing me. They would eventually allow me to attend the course and gain my National A license. How The Season Went Once I joined I had a deeper look at the squad, we had 15 players contracted and 3 set to leave in a month or so. When started looking into transfers there was a massive amount of Chinese players who were free agents what would massively improve our team, because of this we were very active in the market bringing in a total of 20 players. With the new squad I was confident of at least being able to challenge for promotion, that was until we went 1-0 down in the opening game in under 20 seconds. After spending about 6 hours on pre season this was a real worry that it could all be for nothing. This turned out to be a false alarm as other than a blip towards the end of the season we were flying, eventually getting promoted by 5 points. I would of liked to win the league and for a while it looked like we were going to, but realistically it doesn't make much difference and we are off to the top flight of Chinese football. The cup was nothing to talk about, We easily won in the first round against a lower league side, but then the real challenge, we were drawn agent Shanghai Shenhua who were 5th in the top flight. We played very well, even had the lead until the last 15 minutes when they equalised, we fought hard and the boys were tired, I decided to try and hang on the last 10 minutes and get it to the lottery of penalties. This seemed to be working until they scored a 95th minute winning, way after the additional 3+ minutes we were promised. Hurt a bit but we weren't really targeting the cup as a winnable comp, but it did give me confidence that if I stayed beyond this season that i could probably have a fair stab at keeping them up. What's Next ? After securing promotion and our very encouraging performance against Shanghai Shenhua, I decided to give DD Tengyue at least one season in the top division, so i signed a new contract and starting planning for next season. DD Tengyue are a tiny club in terms of reputation, facilities and finances, our lowest home attendance in the league was 136 and a highest attendance of 830, this wouldn't really worry me normally =, but the Chinese top league requires a minimum of a 30,000 seater stadiums. As a result we have had to rent a new massive stadium for now reason and the finances are in the toilet. The board have starting selling off all the facilities and taking out loans to try and cover the sudden £16m hole in the pockets. This could prove to be a disaster of a season if I cant make any signings, our current squad would be absolute whipping boys as we are now. Hopefully I can find some cash in the budget somewhere, if not this could be the end of my time here. I'm willing to give a go to try and survive but it could be fighting the impossible, let's see. Challenge Progress

Luke Fox Lee Man 2023 / 2024 Decided to give this challenge another go after a few years, here is my starting profile and first job. Decided to go with Lee Man as i saw @Danny_H22 do very well with them. Didn't go quite as well as winning all twenty league games, did go unbeaten with 2 draws though, won both the HK FA Cup and senior challenge cup as well. Did lose to Kitchee in the Sapling cup semi final in extra time though. The AFC champions league wasn't much to shout about, out in the group stages, getting only 2 draws against April.25 of North Korea. Wanted to give a special mention to my 6'7, 20 jumping reach striker, Kenny Aithu, scored an unreal amount of goals, not a defender in the country could match him aerially. Lee Man were also kind enough to fund two coaching badges for me before we parted ways at the end of the season. what's Next ? I resigned at the end of the season as there was nothing more I could realistically do in Hong Kong. I think I want to stay in Asia for now, seems like a natural progression, Hopefully something interesting pops up there soon, if not I'm not fully against moving continent completely. Challenge Progress