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Thanks. You too. These thread help keep the motivation against the grind sometimes. Good luck at Lyon. You're not far away. I got the Argentina job so currently holidaying to the World Cup.

I'm thinking of starting this challenge in Egypt. As per the instructions thread, I'd like to check if that's okay with the rules. Anything I should consider? I would have to use an Egypt database from the workshop (I'm also using FM20).

Season 2042/43 - Mamelodi Sundowns - South Africa The Sundowns were the perfect team to take over. A good established team with money, but their expectations were top 4, so nothing too unrealistic. As we joined in May, our first game game was the CAF Confederations Cup Final against Coton Sports, which we managed the win 2 - 0 in extra time. My fastest trophy ever in a job! We were given 6.5m million to spend which, looking back, was incredibly generous. We stretched this as thinly as we could and brought in almost a new starting eleven. There's a 5 foreign player limit so I focused on South African players and brought in some good quality, alongside a Slovenian Striker, Bostjan Rostik, who go on to score almost a goal a game. We started very strongly and continue in this vein all season and didn't lose a game all season other than the Super Cup before we'd signed a lot of the players. In total we won the MTN Super 8, the Telkom Knockout, the Nedbank Cup, the CAF Confederations Cup again and the Absa Premiership. One of my best seasons ever in FM. Season 2043/44 - Mamelodi Sundowns - South Africa One thing I noticed in our first year was the fixture congestion and the crazy scheduling. At one point, I played 5 games in 9 days including a league game two days before a Cup final. So I was intent on signing a backup squad in order to compete on all fronts. Ultimately, the Champions League was the priority, but I also wanted backup due to the higher number of injuries from the fixture congestion. We did a lot of transfer activity, including a number of loans from South America. One other thing I noticed in the first season was that foreign players under the age of 21 don't count towards the 5 foreigner limit, which freed up a number of spaces. As I bought I sold, and unbeliveably I was able to sign an actual wonderkid - a 19 year old Romanian goalkeeper, Alexandru Barbulescu for 5 million. Although not as dominant as the first season, we still won every cup in front of us, including the Super Cup and the biggest prize - the CAF Champions League. The only hiccup along the way was the quarter final of the Champions League against Kaizer Chiefs. They won the first leg at their place 1 - 0, then took the lead in the 3rd minute in the return leg. We now needed 3 goals to progress. The team then gave the best performance I've had from any team in this save to win the second leg 3 - 1, and 3 - 2 on aggregate. I was so nervous in the last 10 minutes. I have now completed al the club based challenges - 10 league titles, 10 cups and the 5 champion leagues. It's also the first time I've completed the Pentagon challenge, though it's a not a pure completion as I think the Pentagon challenge doesn't allow international management (I think). 2042 - Brazil - World Cup After joining the Sundowns, we went to the 2042 World Cup with Brazil. This wasn't the best Brazil team I've ever managed - it had arguably the best striker in the world, but no quality wingers. Still, I was confident of challenging, and I'd have another go in 4 years anyway. We won both group games and then the Second Round classh against Turkey. We were playing well, but not good enough to win it. Then, we drew Germany in the Third Round, who are always good in FM20. We edged a tight game stat-wise, but they grabbed the only goal. We hit the post in the 85th minutes. At this point, I think I made a mistake. The board said they were disappointed but that they understand we had a tough fixture, so I thought I would be okay. But then they sacked me at the end. This ended up being disastrous. We'd just joined the Sundowns and my reputation dropped to 3.5 stars. I applied for all the top international jobs after the World Cup but didn't get any. Also, I believe we can never get the Brazil job again as we were sacked (I think). Challenge Update So we've just resigned from the Sundowns, still with 3.5 reputation and the Euros coming up next month, after which we need a big international job. Challenge wise I still need to win the Euros, the Copa America and the World Cup. My plan is to try and join a high reputation club to try and get my reputation up quickly and then apply after the Euro sackings. But I'm not sure I'll get a 4.5 reputation club. I'm going to see what happens, and depending on the result, I might take a break from this challenge. I'm facing another 6 years minimum, and I'm not sure I can do that. i also want to have a go at the Youth Academy challenge. I'll definitely be back to try and finish this but not sure when. Good luck all!

Brazil - World Cup - 2042 Well that didn't go very well. Not an amazing Brazil team but good enough to challenge. We looked good in the group stage, but then drew Germany in the 3rd round. We edged the game but lost 1 - 0. Sacked and then because we moved to South Africa our reputation had dropped, so we couldn't pick up any other international jobs. Oh dear.

Actually I'm playing FM20, so you're still there to be first for FM23. I was tempted to start in South Africa with a 2nd division team and build my way up there, as South Africa is my last required country, and I'm bheind internationally. But might do that with the other challenge in the forum. Bayern next for you maybe.

Totally understand the take a break thing. This is such a tough and long challenge. I've been meaning to take a break for a while, but then think just one more team/trophy and then I will. Then you get near the end and think I might as well finish it.

Nice tip. Scotland is nice as the league cup is done by December, then you can join a summer league or wherever.

Great idea. I would definitely target these if/when I do the challenge again. I may even be tempted to start in Malaysia, and target the cups first rather than Champions Leagues.

Season 2038/2039 - Benfica - Portugal We joined a Benfica side who were already dominant in their league. I sold off the excess squad members and made a few signings, but nothing major. The goal was to win either of the two cups, preferably the Taca da Liga League cup in February. The side was unstoppable in the league from the side, winning 31 out of 34 games and giving me my first unbeaten season in the save so far. Once again, the cup (why we're at Benfica) should have been a formality, especialy as there are two of them. But we found a new nemesis in FC Porto. Porto are not as strong as usual, but they were decent. First they knocked us out of the PT cup 5th in December. Then, in January they beat us 2 - 0 in the Taca da Liga final. Domestically, we lost 2 games all season and it was those two. Season 2039/2040 - Benfica - Portugal We didn't do too many transfer over the summer. The team was dominant, and I thought we couldn't keep getting unlucky in the cup. Also, it was hard to attract anyone who would improve the team, as the elite players weren't interested. This time we weren't so dominant in the league. We dropped a few points early on, and Porto were much stronger, so that at Xmas we were level on points. In the cups, we progressed once again to face Porto in the Taca da Liga final. They'd beaten us in the league and I was nervous. They'd caught us on the break each time before, so we played much more defensively. An awful game of football resulted and it went to penalties. After missing the first penalty, I thought FM just didn't want us to win another trophy. But then Porto missed two penalties and we'd won. Lucky we did as we then lost in the semi-finals of the PT Cup to a bottom of the side table. Across two legs we amassed 64 shots on goal but couldn't score and then lost of penalties. As we'd achieved the goal of winning a cup, and were in danger of losing our lead in the league, I resigned as I saw an interesting job available. Season 2039/2040 - Coleraine - Northen Ireland It was mid-season in Northen Ireland and I saw the Coleraine job was available. They were a decent team and were still in the cup, so I thought it could be another 6 month stint like in Denmark. Also, I think it's easier to build a team to dominate in the lower leagues. We got through to the final of the Tennent's Irish Cup, and were 2 - 0 in the final, but lost 6 - 2 in the end. Coleraine's main keeper had 2.5 silver stars.... Season 2041/42 - Coleraine - Northern Ireland We brought in a lot of loans over the summer, and made some good domestic signings and went from 4th favourites to favourites for the league. We won the first 9 games, and I then knew we had a good team. It was also smooth progress in the cups, and we booked our place in the Bet McClean League Cup final in February by beating Linfield in the semis. Waiting until February for the final was a bit annoying, but a 4 - 0 victory over Cliftonville meant we were now up to 9 cups. We stayed a few more weeks to win the league and then resigned. The Final Leg We have one more country left - South Africa. The Ajax CT job was available but didn't appeal to me and I saw another interesting job might be available soon. In April Mamelodi Sundowns sacked their manager and off I went to them. I've never managed in South Africa before and am looking forward to it. On the club side, we "just" have one more domestic cup and the African Champions League left, so this might be our last club. Though, I may need to join a big European club in a couple of years to keep my repuation high enough to get a big Euro nation job. I also became the Brazil manager in 2038 and our first World Cup with them is appoaching. Interestingly, our first game with the Sundowns is the final of CAF Confederations Cup. Unfortunately, this doesn't qualify us from the African Champions League. Forgot to take screenshots of the wins, so team name isn't highlighted. Have included manager milestones as proof.

Thanks. It's a good idea. I've actually just won two more cups by following that strategy - going to countries with two cups. So far I know of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales (I think), Portugal.

Season 2036/37 - Borussia Dortmund - Germany After leaving Cruz Azul, we had a choice of Dortmund or Hertha in Germany. We went for Dortmund as they had a much larger wage budget and it's a team I've always wanted to manage. I bought in 4 players from Cruz Azul and a few others and I thought we had a decent team. The board wanted CL qualification but I thought we might challenge for the title or win the cup. We started well and were 4 points behind Bayern at Xmas. Then Bayern won game after game and walked away with it. Hard to be upset when an AI team runs away with it. Towards the end of the season I started rotating a lot for the cups, so lost some games. Bayern seemed to do the same. Then we lost in the final of Pokal to Monchengladbach. Totally dominated the final but couldn't score. As we're so far far behind on the challenge internationally, I see us staying at Dortmund for 5 seasons. We need to win the Asian Cup with South Korea in 2 seasons. but we need to keep the reputation up, so that we can get the Brazil/Euro job afterwards. So plenty of opportunities to win the cup, but a wasted opportunity. We need to bring in some quality this summer. Season 2037/38 - Borussia Dortmund - Germany We strengthened again over the summer, focusing on a bit of quality in defence and some young back up with potential. We were 4 points clear at Xmas and then went on to dominate the second half of the season, winning the league easily. Unfortunately we got knocked out early in the cup, again an undeserved loss. We also go to the Champions League final, but lost toBayern. We've already won it so not a big issue, but would've been nice to win it. Need to win the cup next year, and cups haven't been our friend in this save. Season 2037/38 - Borussia Dortmund - Germany The squad didn't need much strengthening, but I brought in more quality depth. I've been trying to bring in a world class keeper, but there's not many options (always found the game doesn't produce enough world class keepers). We've been after Bayern's keeper, but they won't budge, unless I bit over 200m, which I don't have. We had a shocking start and were languishing in 8th after 6 matches. We started getting some form together and were 4 points behind Bayern a Xmas. A league win wasn't necessary but my board wanted me to win the league so, in order to keep my job and win the cup, I needed to stay near the top at least. Then in the 3rd round of the cup, I got FMed again by a bottom of the table team. I considered rage resigning and almost did. Instead I stayed and waited to see if a good job came up. It did. Schalke appointed the FC Kobenhavn manager, who were top of the table and still in the cup. So off we went, hoping to get a quick cup win. Season 2037/38 - FC Kobenhavn -Denmark The transfer window had passed so no chance to do any transfers. They were 10 points top of the league and still in the cup. They were still in the Champions League quarter finals as well. They had a number of quality loans in from English teams. We kept a similar team and just managed morale, and managed to win the league and cup fairly easily. We then resigned again and waited for another job. We've completed the 10 league wins and need 3 more cups, so would ideally like to take a top team in a country with two cups. And then the Benfica job became available after Manchester United took their manager, so off we go. The first cup in Portugal is over by December, so if we win that we might be off again. South Korea - 2035 - 2038 Two East Asian Cup wins were encouraging. Then, after 7 years in the job, we faced the 2038 Asian Cup. We've been waiting for this for so long now, we have to win it. Australia were our main competitors, and they had a number of decent players playing in Europe. They beat us in the 2034 final. We drew them in our group, but beat them 3 - 1 and eased through to the next round. In the Second Round Australia were surprisingly beaten by Syria. Surely, this was our chance. We eased past Malaysia and North Korea, then faced a decent China in the semi-finals. After dominating the game, China shocked us by equalizing in the 75th minute. Luckily, we scored two more and made the final against Syria. Syria knocked out Australia and Japan on the way, and had a decent team. But we destroyed them in the finals. Finally, the Asian Cup is won. We resigned, and probably have to wait a year to pick up Brazil or a good Euro nation. Staying at Benfica will help keep our reputation up for that.

Season 2034/35 - Cruz Azul - Mexico After losing in the Clausura Playoff Final, we had to be aggressive in the transfer market to win the CONCACAF Champions League which we'd qualified for. We focused on Mexican born talent because of the restrictions and any foreign signings had to be significantly better than what we had as we were at our foreigner max. The first half of the season went smoothly, winning the Apertura Playoff final against Tigres. We were knocked out in the first round of the Leagues cup but I played the reserves in that as it doesn't count towards the challlenge. We continued strong into the second half of the season, winning 16 out of 19 games. Going into the playoffs we also had the final of the CONCACAF Champions League against Atlas. Going into the second league 1 - 0 up, I thought i would be a formality. I even applied for a few jobs that came up. Unfortunately, it all went wrong again. Atlas somehow won the second league 3 - 0, and we were facing another season in Mexico. To rub salt into the wound, Atlas then beat us on penalities of the Clausura Playoff final. Season 2035/36 - Cruz Azul - Mexico Enough was enough. We were aggressive in the transfer market again, bringing in a superstar Uruguyuan striker from league rivals Monterrey (see below). I decided to give more importance to the first half of the season. As the Champions League doesn't start until February, last season I did give the Apertura and Leagues cup much importance. After losing the Campeon de Campeones (again to Atlas) we won the Apertura again and also the Leagues cup. Fast forward to April and it's the CONCACAF Champions League again. And once again, it's up against the bogey team Atlas. They've now managed to beat us in four finals over the last three seasons, and I was nervous. But we had an all-star team, surely it couldn't happen again. Well, after 23 minutes of the first leg we were 2 - 0 down and being battered. I'd actually really started to like my team, and I was already rationalizing another year wouldn't be so bad. But we pulled a goal back, then struck the winning goal in the 81st minute of the second leg. North America done I've enjoyed my 3 years in Mexico. I'd never managed here before but it was fun. It had a similar feel to being in Colombia and Brazil. I'm not sure why it feels different to the Euro leagues, but FM does a good job there. I really like this team, possibly me favourite of the save. But we resigned and it looks like we're going to Dortmund. South Korea It's been an interesting few years with South Korea. After losing the East Asian Cup, we managed to reach the quarter finals of the world cup, knocking out England on the way, We then lost in the final of the Asian Cup to Australia. Absolutely gutted. Somehow we didn't lose our job again, so it's a four year wait until the next one. With the Euros, World Cup and Copa America still to win, we're behind compared to Club Management. It's probabl another 10 years minimum to win those. So at least we can take our time club wise. 1,000 goal challenge? I bought this guy in my final year at Cruzl Azul, and he ripped up the league, socring 53 across all competitions. I've actually made an additional save at this point. I'm tempted to come back and try 1,000 with this guy, though he's probably too old. Let's say he has another 15 seasons, so 16 in total. Going at his current rate would mean around 800 in total. Also, he's wanted by big clubs, he I probably wouldn't be able to keep him.

Interesting challenge. I guess it works well with Build a Nation in a smalle league.

Season 2032/33 - Rangers After finishing with PSG, there were a few jobs available in the smaller leagues I'd loaded. I need to win a few more cups, so was hoping to do a one season cup win. Kaizer Chiefs came up, but they rejected me for some reason. So I was left with Rangers. Soon after joining them, I realised Celtic were dominant in Scotland. A legacy of my youth was that Rangers and Celtic were at similar levels, but in the 2020 game they weren't. I brought in a couple of Colombian wonderkids who I'd scouted at PSG but weren't good enough for them, and a few free transfers. Then I brought in a load of loans from Premier League teams. We started badly and were knocked out the firstc up competition in Scotland. Quite annoying, as Celtic entered at the quarter final (as they were in Europe), then we were drawn away to them before we could bring in any players. They battered us. Then we brought in some players, which was enough to keep up in the race for the title with Celtic, and we were a point clear at the top at Xmas. We strengthened again in January and it was enough to win the title with 3 games to spare, ending Celtic's 21 year streak of winning the league. We also won the cup, knocking out Celtic in the quarter final. Scotland doesn't have any limits on loans and we were able to bring in some real quality (because of my reputation I guess). Season 2033/34 I was looking to move to another small league to win another cup, but then the Cruz Azul job in Mexico came up. No brainer. They had the equal top wage budget and were predicted to finish 4th. A healthy transfer budget of 25m was also attractive. After reading the introduction to this thread again, I also realized they were in the Copa Corona, as they hadn't qualified for the Champions League. Perfect, I thought. One season to build a team and win the domestic cup, then 1 (maybe 2) seasons to win the CONCACAF Champions League. The team already looked pretty decent but was lacking in any quality outside the first XI. With Mexican born limits, I therefore needed to bring in some quality foreigners and some Mexican born backups. Starting the season, we were predicted to finish 2nd and had 4 players in the dream eleven. We started extremely well, winning out first 8 games, and almost securing qualification for the play offs already. We continued like this and finished 1st in the Apertura League. All looked good. Up to this point in the challenge, I felt I'd ridden my luck a few times - winning cup competitions without deserving it and jobs coming up at the right time. I'd not really struggled yet, other than with Egypt early on. FM and luck came back to bite us, as we went through a torid 3 month period either side of Xmas. First we lost on penalties in the Apertura Play off finals. We were coasting in the second league of the final, in control and 2 goals up going into injury time. I'd stopped watching, and was watching some cycling instead. Then I looked at the screen and the opposition had equalized - two goals in injury time out of nowhere. No problem I though - we win on away goals. But no, the rules for the final change (away goals count in the quarters and semis, but not the final). We then went on to lose on penalties, even though they had a man sent off. Disbelief. Not the end of the world at least. I don't like the play off system in the Apertura/Clausura, but at least you get two chances to win the league each season. On the same day we were FMed again in a South Korea macth (see below). On to February and the cup. We knew we only had one shot at the cup, as we'd already qualified for the Champions League. The top teams weren't playing, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem (hmm). We were 5 - 1 up on aggregate in the second leg of the quarter finals with 30 minutes to play. This time I was focused, but it wasn't enough. Again, out of nowhere they scored goal after goal, levelling it in injury time to 5 - 5. Extra-time, and then we lost of penalties. We did at least win the Clausura playoff final, meaning a league title. We did our best ot throw it away again, needing a 80th minutes goal to win the semi finals on away goals. It sounds strange, but this league win doesn't help us much in the challenge. We now have 9 league wins, and we have to win the Bundesliga, so at least we don't need to win another league in the meantime. However, we're only on 6 cup competitions. If we win the cup in South Africa and Germany (the only two required stages left), then we still need to do 2 other clubs on the way. With the lottery of the cups, we're not guaranteed to win it in the first year. For this save, one of the challenges I'm finding is the grind, especially in Europe. When I do this challenge again, I may look to stay at a club if I don't win the cup in the first year. South Korea We've been in the job for 2 years now, without much happenning as we're waiting for the Asian Cup. However, we had to play in the East Asian Cup, with China, Japan and Chinese Taipei. Tough competition this as you're only allowed to play players playing domestically (or in Asia it seems), but the expectations are based on ranking. Still, with plenty of talent it wouldn't be a problem, surely? Well, a 9 - 0 win over Chinese Taipei and two FMs later, we finished 3rd in the group. The last manager got fired for finishing 3rd in this competition, so I assumed I'd be fired. However, we weren't, not sure why. We need to qualify from our World Cup group, and then it's the Asian Cup next January.

Out of interest what is the 1000 goal challenge? Obviously it's to score 1,000 goals, but is it just league goals (seems tough), or all league cup and international?

Season 2031/32 Pretty easy year in the end. I wanted PSG as they are by far the best in the league. Walked the league and cup with not much in the way of competition. The squad didn't actually need much work, but seems I can't help but do a squad rebuild wherever I go. Nothing much else to say here really. France done. I also managed to finally get the South Korea job. The manager won the Asian Cup last year, so I wasn't hopeful. However, they managed to come 3rd in the East Asian Cup, and the job was available. One thing I've noticed is that some international jobs get advertised one day and then a new manager is appointed the next day. Which might be why I never seem to be able to get the job. This time I was following them in the East Asian Cup, and then saw the job. i was offered the job the next day. It's a three year wait until the next Asian Cup, and I've turned down Brazil in the mean time. I really need to win it. I resigned from PSG in June, and for the first time in the save struggled for the next job. I've loaded some smaller league, but nothing looked attractive. There was a job in South Korea available, with the team already in the Semi-finals of the cup, but decided not to take the risk. I've never managed there before, and if I didn't win the cup then it might be a 2year rebuild. I chose instead to take over Rangers. Having two cups in Scotland seemed worth it, with one of the finals being in December, so the possiblity of a 6 month in and out was there. In terms of the save, I know I need to go to North America and Asia and then Germany, but I've only won 5 cups, so I know I'll need to stop off a couple of places on the way. With two cups in Scotland and NI, they seemed worthwhile. I don't need to win the league in Scotland but it would take the pressure off a bit. One other strange thing was that the Kaizer Chiefs job came up, and I thought it's time to go and do Africa. But they turned me down.

Okay thanks. Makes sense. Otherwise could do Scotland then Northern Island and pick off 4 cups.

Quick questions. 1) Firstly, for the big 5 European Leagues, the only requirement is that you need to win the league? Not the cup? That's how I've read the rules. 2) Secondly, the rules say "Domestic Cups from 10 separate nations ". So does that mean if I go to Scotland and win both domestic cups, I cannot count it as 2 cups? Just 1 cup?

Season 2030/31 I joined a Real Madrid team who were short of success but high on expectations. I've never quite seen a squad like it. So many high profile but average quality players over 30 on >200k per week. A massive clear out left a few hundred million to spend, and spend it we did. We brought in two ex-wingers, one of them who we signed for the third time. A successful season at the end, winning La Liga. Unfortunately we go knocked out of the Copa del Rey in the 3rd round. At the end of the season, there weren't many jobs around, but I saw Kaizer Chiefs available, so I resigned. Then the next day the Bayern job was available which would've been perfect. But then, Real appointed the PSG manager meaning that job was available. Even more perfect, so off we go to PSG, On the international side, we managed to win the African Cup of Nations with Senegal. We weren't the best team in the competition but got an easy draw - Congo in the semis and South Africa in the Finals. They had a man sent off after 9 minutes in the final, but we still needed extra time to win it. Reflections on the challenge after 12 seasons We're now officially halfway, having won 16 out of the 32 trophies required. It certainly feels like we're over halfway but the stats don't lie. I've really enjoyed the challenge so far. I really like starting unemployed with no badges and building your way up. Definitely makes it more fun, and also means you're dealing with regens when you get to a big fan. That suits me as I actually don't like managing real life players, I prefer the regens. The trophies that I was most concerned about were the Club World Cup, Gold Cup and Asian Cup as those were the ones I'd never won before. The Continental Champions Leagues as well as I find them a matter of luck. The only one of those left is the Asian Cup, which is already the one I'm now most concerned about. Realistically, I need to get the South Korea or Australia job, but those managers have been in the job for 7 years. Also the Asian Cup is only every 4 years, compared to the African Cup of Nations and Copa America being every 2 years. I also realize I only have 4 cup competitions so far, as I've tended to leave a club once I've won what I needed there. My plan going forward is firstly to complete France, just need Ligue 1, but I really need to win the Cup as well. Then I will do African and North America in any order. Following that I'll will do a bit of a journeyman to pick up 2 or 3 more national cups. Then the plan is to finish in Germany. Signed this guy 3 times now.

Season 2029/30 Juventus already had a team which was already far above anyone else in Serie A. I made a couple of purchases but they weren't really needed. Serie A and Coppa Italia were won quite easily, other than being 1 - 0 down at half time in the cup. We lost in the quarter finals of the Champions League to the Chelsea team I built - they won the quintruple this year. Lucky I don't need to win the champions league again! At the end of the season the Real Madrid job was available so off I go to them. The only issue is that they want me to win La Liga after finishing 6th last season. It might be possible but could be a first sacking if not.

It's been a while, but I think I'm coming back to this save. My last update was when I left Vasco de Game to go to Chelsea mid-Premier League season. With Chelsea mid-table, I thought it would be a 3.5 season job, but it only took 1.5 seasons in the end. Easily the most success I've ever had with a club in such a short period of time. Season 2027/28 - Joined in January I joined Chelsea in January 2028, with them in 9th in the Premier and got knocked out the cup in my first game. However, we were still in the Europa League and with 4th in the Premier League most likely out of the question, that seemed to be the best route to the Champions League, We beat Hertha, Anderlecht and Barcalona along the way and then beat Leverkusen in the final. We also managed to sneak up to 5th in the league. Despite not having the best squad in January, they did have quite a bit of money. I went and plundered a lot of the players from Brazilian clubs that I'd played with and against in my time with Vasco de Gama, including my career striker Santiago Soto, who just fits my formation perfectly. We also sold on a lot of the deadweight, making almost 200m that way. Season 2028/29 We were aggressive again in the summer and spent >450m and sold >400m. My aim was to build a champions league winning team, with this season giving them a year to adjust and then another 2 seasons to win it. I don't know why but I've always struggled to win the champions league, even with mega teams. However, this team managed to almost win everything, 5 trophies, in its first season - Super Cup, Charity Shield, Premier League, Carabao Cup, Champions League and Club World Cup. I've never seen anything like it in one of my saves. The squad wasn't even the best. A lot of luck along the way. In particular, it's the first time I've ever won the Club World Cup in any save since Championship Manager 97/98 days. I've always struggled with the lack of fitness/shape. We then took Mexico to an incredible lucky Gold Cup win against Canada in the finals. We therefore managed to tick off 5 of the challenges for this list. After that we moved on to Juventus who have by the far the strongest team in Italy. Hopefully, a year then and then move on to another European team. I've taken the creenshots whilst at Juventus hence Chelsea aren't highlighted, but have included my career milestones as proof.

Season 14 - Atletico CP - Liga NOS - 6th Well, a much better season than last. We finished 6th in the league, following a great run of form in the second half of the season. We also won the Europa Conference League, and had a nice draw along the way - the hardest team we played as Hamburg in the final. We looked like we might compete for the top 4 places and CL qualification but our Oct - Dec form was awful. I still feel we're a few seasons away from challenging for the league, but the squad feels better and is young enough that it has more progression. We also got more upgrades to Youth and Training, meaning we're maxed out in Youth Recruitment and Academy Coaching, and Great Youth Facilities. All looking good, we just need to push on next season and break the top 4. A much better youth intake than last season, with 3 good talents. We now have 3 really good stiker prospects, as opposed to none two season back. Conversely after being overloading with talent in midfield two seasons ago, we're a bit short, after the board sold our second best centre mid. I still don't feel we're getting any super talents, winning champions league talents, but hoefully with the facilities upgrades and European football, they aren't too far off.

Season 12 - Atletico CP - Liga NOS - 7th In some ways this was a really good season. We finished a solid 7th in the league, backing uo our 6th from last season. We've given enough game time to our youth and some are stepping up to be key players. And we reached the final of Europa Conference League, where we outplayed but lost to Leicester. However, before the season began the sold our best player and only striker, Pedro Trindade, who was top scorer in Liga NOS the year before. He only had a year left on his contract and wanted double in wages to we could afford pay him to resign. Inter offered 17 million, and it was probably a good decision to sell him anyway. The problem was (still is), we didn't have anyone ready to replace him. We experimented with a couple of players, then settled on our best prospect with was only 1.5 stars. He's dubbed the next Eusebio so I thought I would give him the game time to progress. At only 4 finishing, he played as a False 9 in an already defensive formation, but top scored for our team with.....7 goals all season - which says a lot about our team. We've had a lot of talented players come through our youth ranks, but not many in the AMC/ST role. Still, we finish the season in better shape than we started in, and there's a young core of a potentially title winning team here. We need to push for top 4 and champions league qualification next season, as some of are better players are asking for release clauses for teams in the Champions League. Our first official wonderkid Very disappointing intake.

Season 11 - Atletico CP - Liga NOS - 12th Season 12 - Atletico CP - Liga NOS - 6th - Qualified for Europa League Two seaon update this time. The first season in the top flight we started relatively well and put some early points on the board. This meant relegation was never really an option. For the second season, as I didn't see us getting relegated, for most of the season I played the team with the highest potential - this included some established players in their position as well. We had an excellent second half of the seaosn and finished 6th, qualifying for the Europa League. For the first time, out odds dropped from 1000 - 1, and now sit at 400 - 1, with 13th predicted. We're still a long way off challenging for the league, but if we can keep this team together, it might only be 2 - 3 seasons away. Champions League is another thing altogether, with only 2 or 3 of the current squad good enough for that level. Still, I feel like I can see light at the end of the tunnel. Finance wise, we're doing really well. We sold off our third best midefielder for 10m. Unfortunately, a week before that bid came I sold out best player for 4 million. I sold him to make money for improvements, not knowing a 10m bid would come in a week later for a squad player. Still he's got a 30% sell-on and Man Utd are interested in signing him (from Juventus). We've managed to use the money to get double upgrades in Training and Youth, meaning they should be Good by October. I'll keep selling players to get those to State of the Art. The one squad issue is our star striker only has a year left on his contract and will only sign a new contract with a 14.5m release clause in it. We have absolutely no back up at striker so him leaving would be a disaster. We did get a 5 star striker through this year youth intake, but he's another pressing forward.

Season 10 - Atletico CP - Ledman Liga Pro - 2nd - Promoted A nail-biting season throughout, but we did it on the penultimate day, finishing 2nd against a media prediction of 6th at 11 - 1. We changed our formation this season to a 4141, and it worked well. In previous seasons (and all of FM saves), Ihave played an ultra positive 4231 wing. However, we lacked a top quality finisher and, without the option of buying one, we had to play to our strengths - a lot of quality in midfield. quick wingers and tall centre backs. We played defensively solid football with a focus on counter-attack and set pieces. We also have an aggressive and determined squad and even managed to break the ill discipline record. Love it. We ended the season with a lower goal difference than the year before but 11 points more, and 16 clean sheets out of 34 (and a number of 1 - 0s). This excludes the game against Farense, where they scored 4 goals in the last ten minutes to win 5 - 4. We also sold our best player. I saw Chelsea interested in Marcos Guilherme, and sold him to them for 800k. Not great but I was hoping being there would see his value increase and then be sold for around 10m. However, after three months I cashed in his sell-on for 3.7m, and finally managed to get another Youth facilities upgrade. I will probably look to sell one player a season going forward to finance more upgrades, though being in Liga NOS on a small budget might be enough for this season. The squad is starting to take shape with depth in all positions and talent coming through where necessary. The only position needing an upgrade is striker. Trindade is good but he doesn’t score enough, and only has 10 finishing. Our two best players. Vitor Roque will be a go on to be a club legend and Cezar Augusto might be a wonderkid - he’s dubbed the next Branco. After last year’s disappointing youth intake, this one was much better. Ferreira looks fantastic, though his personality needs mentoring. He’s dubbed the next Ricardo Queresma. Daniel Annan also later went up to 5 star potential and looks really good. I've been looking through the players with the most appearances. The youth intake from 2024 was spectacular with 5 players that have regularly played for us, and 4 who will hopefully help us win the league. Honrado was also in that youth intake but he sold very quickly. He’s just averaged 7.71 in Serie A with Milan.