corinthiano

September/October 2073 As easy as you like this year and we will have Champions League Group Stage games for another season.

Was hoping to have a Champions League to Kojo's name, but without it still just sneaked into the Ghanaian Hall of Fame. 20th place in Africa has 427 points so Kojo is some way off that...

2072/73 West African Review CAF Champions League Strong showing from West Africa again with 7 teams at this stage and 5 going through to the Quarter-Final We all know how this one ended, but a proud moment for Ivorian football and 4th title for ASEC Mimosas. CAF Confederation Cup 7 teams here too, but only 3 progress further. Not a great showing from West Africa as Asante Kotoko are the only Semi-Finalist. An all-North African final sees Wydad Casablanca win their 5th title. West African League Rankings We have the typical yoyo between Nigeria and Ghana again and in the lower rep leagues Guinea Bissau is now ahead of The Gambia, League Champions No big surprises as most big teams continue to dominate. Former Champions MC Breweries: Decent first season back in the 2nd tier as they finished 3rd but missed out on promotion due to losing the playoff. Also did well to get to the Semi-Final of the LFA Cup. Kamboi Eagles: Another season spent in the unplayable leagues. Nô Pintcha da Brava: Retain the Liga Brava and finish 3rd in their Group in the Cape Verdean Competition, but are knocked out early in the Taça Brava. AFC Nhacra: Terrible defence of their title as they finish in 6th and are knocked out early in the cup again. Ayéma FC: Slightly better as they finish 7th in the Championship Group. CNEPS Excellence: Look to be fading away with another 3rd finish and a poor Confederation Cup Group Stage campaign. Did at least win the League Cup. Banjul Utd: Up one position from last season as they finish in 4th. ASN NIGELEC: A very strong 4th place in the Superligue, but an early exit in the Coupe du Niger. Unisport: Did make it to the Championship Group this year but finished rock bottom there. CFFEB: Manage a 2nd place finish in the league, but exit the Coupe du Faso in the last 16 stage. Flamme Olympique: Improve from last season and finish in mid table at 6th. Avenir AC: 3rd place in Ligue 1 and a Quarter Final exit in the Coupe du Mali. Will be disappointed with their continental campaign again as they lose to Zamalek in the First Round of the Champions League, which is fine, but then lose to Al-Shat SC from Libya to miss out on a place in the Confederation Cup Group Stage.

2072/73 Season Review A painful end to a season of second bests. We accumulated the most points by a team in the history of Ligue 1 without winning a title, behind an ASEC Mimosas side that beat the record of points in a season. The same ASEC Mimosas beat us in the final of an excellent Champions League campaign, we went ahead in the first half but couldnt hold on and to be fair they were deserved winners. Squad by Appearances With the amount of games we had this season, there was bound to be a lot of rotation, but we also had some healthy competition for places in defence and midfield which helped us keep a strong campaign on the domestic and con fronts. Awards We sneak a couple of players in the Champions League Dream Team. In Ligue 1 Coulibaly is Goalkeeper of the Season for a second time and Aristide Ouattara becomes the player with the most goals in a single season in the story of the league, scoring an impressive goal per game. We actually have more players in the Team of the Season than ASEC Mimosas too. Top Performers Keeps getting better and better in front of goal. Had a really good goalscoring season and continues to improve. With continued interest from Europe and only a year left on his contract I do believe we will have to sell him in the off season though. Surprisingly consistent player. Moving back home after the end of his contract, but at 32 I dont think that is necessarily a bad thing. Finances A huge windfall from the Champions League campaign, debating whether to wait on the stadium plans from the board before making requests for Facility improvements or just going for it. Progress Another year, another 2nd place. We were somewhat unfortunate in the league as our first encounter with ASEC Mimosas we had half the first team of in the AFCON. It is small margins now and we are close. Other than Abdalas I believe we can hold on to our key players and Aboubakar Coulibaly could well fill that gap in midfield anyway, so hopefully we can come back strong again next season and keep challenging ASEC Mimosas.

May 2073 I hate ASEC Mimosas...

It's happening

Those would be really challenging on a continental level, would be very interesting to follow!

I was going to reply once I played again to give you some screenshots but seems like I wont get game time until the weekend, so I'll upload them later I have loved this save so far, probably my most enjoyable in CM/FM ever, I am at the stage where I am getting itchy to do something different but I am so close to the end that I am determined to finish it! Catching ASEC Mimosas will be impossible this season I think, but if we can get some Champions League success that would be great, I think Kojo deserves a Champions League title and I was going to do it in the end once he got to Ghana, but if we win it earlier than that I can skip that part Kojo has actually only made a small mark in the Hall of Fame, primarily because he is only winning one title every 3-4 years and at lower rep leagues. He has sneaked into the Ghanaian Top 10 but dont think he is near the African one, will check it out at the weekend and post the screen shots

Yes it makes me wish we had taken our opportunity a few seasons ago when they were not as consistent. At least having multiple champions league campaigns has been fun whilst we wait for them to have a bad season

April 2073 Whilst it was a formality, coming from behind to beat Al-Ahly in Cairo is always a sweet moment. When it then really mattered we had a very tight tie against Ebedei. I was feeling pessimistic when they nullified all our threats at home and walked away with an away win. Then when they converted a penalty in the first 5 minutes of the second leg I thought we would struggle to overturn the deficit, but Georges Codjo was clinical and turned the tie around still in the first half. We just held on in the second 45 minutes to win the tie and book a place in the Semi-Final! Next Fixtures The Champions League games will be given full priority as we look to beat Tunisian giants ES Tunis. Interestingly the other Semi-Final has ASEC Mimosas playing Al-Ahly, so there is a (unlikely) chance of an all-Ivorian Final.

Interesting draw that puts two unfancied teams up against each other. Both games will be played in April and it pushes our clash against ASEC Mimosas back to May.

March 2073 In Ligue 1 we lose further ground to ASEC Mimosas as we were unable to overcome a stubborn Séwé FC side. In the Champions League an excellent away win in DR Congo sees us qualify for the Quarter Finals before Al-Ahly edge a tight game we should have really gotten at least a point from. Next Fixtures The game against Al-Ahly is a formality and we could have extra games in April due to the Quarter Finals. Ligue 1 is also a formality at this point although I would really like to take points off ASEC Mimosas.

February 2073 We have a perfect month in Ligue 1 but that doesnt matter as ASEC Mimosas are stupidly good this season and still have a 100% record after 17 games. In the Champions League we have a couple of great results against Raja Casablanca and a red card prevented us from giving a home win a real shot against TP Mazembe. We do sit in second place though which is great at the halfway stage. Next Fixtures We'll keep plugging away in Ligue 1 in the hope ASEC Mimosas slip up and in the Champions League we will do well to avoid defeat in both games this month.

This is what we are competing with...$2.3M spent in the mid-season transfer window, all of it on 3 players by ASEC Mimosas

January 2073 The AFCON really did us over this season...we had 9 players out, 7 first team players and they missed the game against ASEC Mimosas and all our re-arranged games at the end of January. Surprisingly ASEC Mimosas had no players called up so despite our best efforts they were too strong for us. We also dropped points against ES Bafing and now have a huge uphill battle to catch an ASEC Mimosas side who are just out of this league. Transfers Out Very quiet transfer window. Only outgoing is Prince Samson who never really broke into the first team, so making a return of at least $150k on a player we got for free seemed like a good deal. Next Fixtures We'll still have players out in the AFCON for the first couple of games, so will do well to win those. We also start our Champions League Group Stage campaign this month with a tough trip to Morocco.

There are no easy draws and we certainly didnt get one again. We know we can beat TP Mazembe and we will need to also get results out of one of the big boys of North Africa to get through the group stage. As predicted it means we come back from the mid-season break a bit earlier to play re-arranged fixtures.

December 2072 It looked like we were going to drop frustrating points at the beginning of the month again, but Aristide Ouattara saved us from dropping points late on against ES Bafing. From there we have been unstoppable and won every single game comfortably. The only problem is that ASEC Mimosas also dont stop winning so we only lead on goal difference so far... Next Fixtures Two very tough games before the mid-season break as we have our first game against ASEC Mimosas. We could see more games added depending on how fixtures are re-arranged after the Champions League draw.

November 2072 No bad start to the season this year as we win all three games comfortably. ASEC Mimosas naturally also start really well so looks like it will be another strong year for them. Next Fixtures A couple more challenging fixtures in December as we look to keep up with ASEC Mimosas.

2072/73 Season Preview The pressure and expectation is building for us to win the title as we have now been made favorites for it. I think that is unrealistic considering ASEC Mimosas had a $1.8M net spend and we have not made any significant addition to our First XI. Our board this year still only expects us to qualify for the Confederation Cup, but they do want us to win the title in 3 years time, lets hope we get a lucky break until then. Transfers In Out Another season with no major transfers as our key players still have a few years left on their contracts and I managed to keep them all happy at the club despite bids. I did look for future replacements for them, but there was no one decent within price range for us. The only two players that will fight for a First Team place actually came in on a free from ASEC Mimosas. Strong experienced defender, should start at the back for us. Only signed him because it was on a free, he will provide competition for Mindelis at RB and also defensive midfield coverage. Assistant XI A relatively unchanged side for this season, not sure if this is a good thing or not. Initial Fixtures This should in theory be a straightforward start to the campaign, but we have begun poorly in the last two season so will need to remain focused.

September/October 2072 A campaign of familiar faces so far. We played MangaSport again in the preliminary round and made easy work of it as we did last year. We then had a tougher draw in the First Round this year as we played Stade Malien, who had knocked us out at this stage 3 years ago. We took a slender 1-0 lead into the second leg and looked to be going away with a 0-0 in Bamako before they scored a winner in stoppage time. Luckily we were composed during penalties to get Cosmos into the Group Stage of the Champions League for a third year in a row.

2071/72 West African Review CAF Champions League We are down to 6 teams making this stage and only half of them progressing to the Quarter Final. Enyimba Aba take the title back to Nigeria and win their 5th trophy. CAF Confederation Cup 7 teams make it through this stage, with all but one going to the Quarter Final. Dominant from West Africa as Asante Kotoko beat ASEC Mimosas in the final to claim their 3rd title. West African League Rankings The pendulum swings again and Ghana now have the top league in the continent. Cosmos campaigns in Africa are seemingly he;ping as Ivory Coast move a couple of places up to 8th in the continent. League Champions After two new champions last season we dont have any this one, but Akokana did retain the title in Niger. Former Champions MC Breweries: Spent the season in an unplayable league but will be back in the second tier for next season. Kamboi Eagles: Another season spent in the unplayable leagues. Nô Pintcha da Brava: Reclaim the Liga Brava and finish 3rd in their Group in the Cape Verdean Competition, but are knocked out early in the Taça Brava. AFC Nhacra: Step it up this year to win their 8th title, but are knocked out early in the cup again. Ayéma FC: 8th again in the Championship Group for them. CNEPS Excellence: Poor season by their standards as they finish 3rd, are humiliated in the Group Stages of the Champions League and knocked out early in the domestic cups. This all lead to their legendary manager Ibrahima Mendy, who took over from Kojo and made CNEPS Excellence a dominant force, resigning and retiring after 30+ years at the club. Banjul Utd: Dropped down a little again to 5th this season. ASN NIGELEC: Back in the Superligue and they avoided relegation by finishing 11th. Unisport: Terrible year as they finish 4th in the Northern Group and miss out on the Championship Group. CFFEB: A decent season as they finish 3rd in the league and runners-up in the Coupe du Faso. Flamme Olympique: Continue the bad form as they finish 10th in the league. Avenir AC: Push Stade Malien all the way but finish 2nd again. Stade Malien also beats them in the Semi-Final of the Coupe du Mali and continentally it was a disappointing season as the lose to Tanzania's Simba in the Preliminary Round of the Champions League.

2071/72 Season Review We end this season exactly like the last, on 64 points and 6 behind ASEC Mimosas. Disappointingly though this time we were never in contention for the title. In the Champions League we did well to qualify for the Group Stage again and gave a good account of ourselves against Hearts of Oak and ES Tunis. Squad by Appearances Not a lot of changes to the squad this year and little rotation as we avoided big injuries. Awards Coulibaly wins Goalkeeper of the Season but somehow misses out on a place in the Team of the Season, which is dominated by ASEC Mimosas. Top Performers Another season with plenty of goals, he has been attracting interest from Nigeria and Senegal. Another great season by Hicham, who amazingly is still improving. Played a lot better than I expected him to and made left back his spot for the season. Finances We made less money than last season but are now finally in the black, further highlighting how crucial it is to get to the Champions League Group Stage. Progress Cosmos is now the club where Kojo has spent the longest time as we struggle to break the ASEC Mimosas dominance. I am fearful for next season as interest in our key players has picked up and we might need to go through a squad rebuild next season, which will make things harder for us.

May 2072 Our winning run comes to an end in the final match of the season as we miss out on the chance to achieve a points total record.

April 2072 We didnt have enough to beat Hearts of Oak in the last game but can be proud of our performance in the group stage. In Ligue 1 we are absolutely on fire right now, but unfortunately ASEC Mimosas are not dropping points either and look like they will win yet another title. Next Fixtures Not much to play for in our last 3 games.

March 2072 Another excellent month in Ligue 1, which included an impressive away win against ASEC Mimosas. With that win and their loss to Africa Sports we have a glimmer of hope going into the last couple of months of the season. In the Champions League we did amazing to beat the reigning champions at their place but then somehow managed to let two goals in added time to drop points at home to Golden Arrows, which means instead of playing for a draw in the next match we will have to beat Hearts of Oak in Ghana in the last match. Transfers Out Aliou was now a fringe player and with him being unhappy it made sense to let him go back to Senegal. Next Fixtures A crucial game against Hearts of Oak to start the month before we hope to continue the good form in Ligue 1.