The Ultimate Football Manager

Wheresmyspacebar! · August 6, 2015

Its not as if you starting the challenge again Jay makes it any easier for you haha.

Yeah, joining half way into a season can be so annoying in terms of trying to change tactics

Hopefully, even if you dont get promoted, you can survive until next season when you can change stuff around and push on

But yeah, i tend to save every 2 weeks

Makes sure my save is there if anything goes wrong haha.

Wheresmyspacebar! · August 7, 2015

Wheresmyspacebars Challenge, Take2.

Season 2018/19

So, after finishing 3rd last season, i now had the ECC to deal with as well as everything else so i knew i needed to get some decent signings in, especially if i wanted to compete.

Transfers -

http://i.imgur.com/MtFLojl.jpg

So as i said in my previous post, Man City had come shoppiong for my Player of the Season last year in James Ward-Prowse and offering £65Mil plus 40% of the next sale, i couldnt refuse.

This was an issue, as i needed more Midfield cover but with that money, i basically raided Bayern Munich and bought Gianluca Gaudino and Mario Gotze for some youth and experienced cover in midfield, with both being able to play in pretty much every midfield role, for a combined £31M this gave me 2 great midfielders for a young midfielder leaving. (I kinda realised that this challenge involves a lot of journeyman and theres no point me holding onto a 22YO that will be useful for the next 8 years when i have better options for cheaper for the next 1-2)

On top of this, i realised i really needed a better CB, so i brought in Toby Alderweireld from Barca for £16.5M and Marc-Olvier Kempf from Bayern for a massive £26.5M, once again, thanks to the money gained from Ward-Prowse.

I had a big 2 month injury to Fraser Forsford (AGAIN ¬¬) and had to get a young keeper in on loan very quickly to cover.

During the January transfer window, i realised i was lagging behind again in the league due to the amount of goals being conceded and had to get a better keeper in, poached Navas from R.Madrid for £13M (Plus £8Mil in 12 months).

During this time, Chelsea came looking for Marco Asensio (Who only had 6 months left and refused to sign a contract), i managed to get £46.5M for him and instantly get Christian Eriksen from Spurs for £39.5M the same day.

All in all, i brought in £128M from transfers and paid £126M for the new signings.

Capital One Cup -

Not a fantastic start to the CC, i drew against Man City in the 3rd round.

Expecting a difficult game, went out there and wrecked (Thank you Dzeko for 2 goals and an assist) them 4-1 at home to go into the next game.

4th round, came up against Wolves, currently mid-table in the Championship and another easy home 3-0 victory that set up another interesting home draw against Manchester United (Who had literally just sacked their manager and werent doing amazing in league)

Dunno what it is with me and the manchester teams. Another 4-0 and i was into the Semis of the cup, nothing much to say, they had a defender sent off in the 3rd minute and we wrecked.

Semi finals, away TO BRENTFORD. Wait, Brentford? In League 2? Who had just somehow beat Chelsea and Crystal palace to get this far.

Well, it wasnt even a game. I walked ouit with my biggest win in my managment so far, 8-0 and a final trip to Arsenal.

Final came around, 3-0 victory to Southampton and i had my first "big" trophy in England to add to my total and was able to focus on the league.

FA Cup -

Had a really easy draw all the way to the Semi-Finals.

A 4-2 win against Sheffield United (Who went 2-0 up early and gave me a heart attack until i chucked on my A-Team of Dzeko, Rodriguez and Acenssio at half time.

Then an easy 5-0 win against Exeter, a 5-2 against Leicester and i was suddenly up again Holders Chelsea in the Quarter-Finals. I walked away with a 3-1 victory (And my 3rd i think of the season) and was into the Semis with Huddersfield still somehow in, Man City and Man United.

Ofc, i drew Man City. Remember when i said about the manchester clubs? 4-2 win and i was through to the final against HUDDERSFIELD.

Yes, somehow, the Field had beat Man United, albeit by penalties.

I went into the final with a full team, pretty much no injuries and being the last game, i could afford it, walked away with an easy enough 3-0 victory and a Domestic Double.

ECC -

I was 4th seeded into a group with PSG, SLB and Lazio.

An early 0-3 loss against PSG had me at the bottom, then losing 0-2 against SLB next wasnt the best.

I then beat Lazio 4-0 to put myself in with a chance, before losing 2-3 against PSG again, before i went on to beat both SLG and Lazio and qualify in 2nd place.

Ofc, i would get placed vs Real Madrid in the 1st KO round (Literally just after i bought their keeper though).

With the first tie at home and an early injury to Ronaldo, i surprisingly cruised to a 3-0 win, before R.Madrid beat me 3-0 away (With a R.Madrid 4th ruled out for offside in minute 118)

I would then win 5-4 on Penalties and meet Bayern in the QFs with them beating me 1-0 both games

So ended my ECC challenge.

EPL -

It was a poor start.

A very poor start.

It started off well with 3Ws and sitting in 2nd, before i somehow i only W1 in 5G (Including losing 4-1 against Man City in the EPL a game after i beat them 4-1 in the Capital one cup...)

Before christmas i had bounced between 5th-7th and rumors of my sacking were on the cards.

I realised i needed to get a better keeper and made a couple of transfers in the Xmas period.

After buying Eriksen i took a risk and changed tactics up to a 4-2-3-1 from my normal 4-4-2 to utilize my 3 AMs in Gotze, Eriksen and Rodriguez to support Dzeko.

From Christmas, i only lost 1 game in the league vs Ipswich away 1-2 and drew vs ManU 2-2.

The rest were all wins, including a 4-2 victory vs Chelsea away when i was ONE point behind them in 2nd place, which pushed me 2 points ahead with ONLY THE FINAL GAME REMAINING. I managed to win 3-1 vs Liverpool at home though, which got the celebrations started as i had done what id said i would do at the start and win the league.

That gives me a Domestic Treble and elevated my already great status as a manager.

http://i.imgur.com/vidlpPU.jpg

I have since quit as S'Hampton Manager. I could stay on and try to win the CL but as i still need to win the Spanish/German/French leagues, im assuming i'll be playing with a Barca/R.Madrid and i can win with them.

I dont know where i'll be going. Funnily enough, Barca were looking for a new manager which unforunately i didnt manage to get an interview for BUT I WASNT LAUGHED OFF WHEN I APPLIED

That means my stock as manager is high enough to get a decent club in the future i feel.

Star Players -

Im gonna start doing this every season because some of my players deserve it.

Edin Dzeko...

http://i.imgur.com/3wI8aMh.jpg

My ****ing god, for a £3M bargain the previous season, he lit up the damn PL (Walking away with player of the season.)

An Incredible 47 goals, over the course of 51 games, including 30 in the PL.

On top of this, he managed a 22 Assists.

Jay Rodriguez.

http://i.imgur.com/kLTVYPf.jpg

Another striker, that switched to the AML role for me after Xmas.

Injured quite early on, he still managed 22 goals in the PL and helped my team lift the trophy.

International Career

Still unemployed...

The WC came and went, England/Spain/Holland among others were hiring but none would hire me.

England hired a manager that had only managed in the 2nd dutch leagues without winning anything before one season at Celtic.

Bit peeved at that but with my current standing after my S'Hampton stint, im confident on getting a decent International job wheno one comes up now.

Managerial career:


Season   Club                    League           Pos   DC1   DC2     Cont     Other
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014/15  Baronovici  Belarusian First League      8th   QF    n/a     n/a      n/a
2015/16  Baronovici  Belarusian First League      2nd  Rd3    n/a      n/a    n/a
2016/17  Baronovici  Belarusian Highest League    1st  won    n/a    n/a     won
2017/18  Southampton English Premier League      3rd   Rd3  QF  n/a
2018/19  Southampton English Premier League     1st   won   won   1st KO

Season   Nation                  Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014/15 Malaysia U23         Reached the QFs of the Asian Games
2015/16 Haiti                Reached the 3rd round qualifications for WC
2016/17 Haiti                Reached the 4th round Quals for WC, Won the Carribean Cup, ranking up to 89th from 105th
2017/18
2018/19

Challenges completed:

Club

2/10 top domestic leagues (Belarus, England)

3/10 domestic cups (Belarusian Cup, FA Cup, Capital One Cup )

0/5 club continental championships

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments

0/2 world tournaments

Other Cups: Super Cup (Belarus/Baronovichi) / Carribean Cup (Haiti)

UPDATE FOR MY JOB HUNT <3

So, i basically started looking for jobs, got turned down by Barca and OM.

Then noticed Corinthians were looking for a new manager, they were sitting just above relegation, after finishing 3rd last season and 1st season before.

What took my interest, was they are in the Semi-Finals of the Copa-Liberatadis, which gives me a brilliant oppotunity. By the time i had got through interviews and accepted the job, they are sitting 5 points behind 1st place after moving 10 places in 2 games (2 wins) and with my board expecting double cup wins and 1st place, im hoping for a rapid procession throughout this season.

brettney1980 · August 7, 2015

I know i have not been massively active lately but it's great to still see so many people playing. Great work on completing the International side of the challenge NormandyWept, just the bigger leagues to go now aswell... Great stuff!

brettney1980 · August 7, 2015

The Ultimate Challenge: Brettney Edition;

World Cup Canada 2026'

Mexico Squad

Belgium, New Zealand and South Africa is a group i felt confident we could get out of, NZ and S. Africa are games we target as wins with the Belgium game being the Group winners decider (barring any surprises...)

South Africa are up first and lining up with my usual 4-4-2 Diamond we manage to dominate the game and come out 4-1 winners. Quiljano scored an HatTrick and Avila completed the scoring. Belgium beat New Zealand in the other match.

Next up was New Zealand and i decided to make a few changes to keep players fresh but keeping the same formation, we won 2-0 Briseno and Saavedra scored the goals. Belgium and South Africa drew in the other game putting us clear at the top on 6 pts, with Belgium on 4, S.Africa 1 and NZ 0.

Final group game and once again the same 4-4-2 Diamond with a couple of changes again, a 0-0 bore draw was the result. South Africa won putting them on 4 pts, but Belgium finish 2nd with 5 (with us top of course with 7).

With the Group stage over a few surprises the biggest being Brazil going out after 3 draws!!!

We get South Korea in the 2nd rd after beating them 2-1 in the Confederations cup last year i was confident of making the last 8... A tough game with a couple of my players going off injured (added to the already 2 man injury list), but Man City CF Carlos Fierro stepped up with 2 goals to put us through 2-0.

The Q-Final should probably be the furthest we can get, especially with Germany being our opponants, i decide to drop our attacking philosophy for a more cautious approach, also dropping the 4-4-2 Diamond for a 4-1-3-1-1 pack the midfield and hit on the break...

.. It works and we beat the mighty Germans 3-1 in the biggest shock of my Mexico run (if we ignore the Friendly victory we had over World Champions Argentina). Fierro scored a couple again (1 a 3rd minute Pen) with Silva scoring the 3rd.

The same more defensive lineup and tactics were employed against our Semi Final opponants The Netherlands and after a 1-1 draw we still cannot be seperated in extra time, but we win 5-4 on Pens after a save from Everton GK Meija.

The World Cup Final;

Mexico vs Argentina

(We beat them after their World Cup victory 4 years ago, they beat us last year in the confederations cup semi final - This is the decider)

I decide to add a little more width with them playing pretty narrow - This is a huge risk because i have never done this before as Mexico boss, Quiljano goes wide left with Pedro Flores on the right, Fierro plays up top but sits dee, with Rubalcava sitting in front of the Defence we try to hold them and get the ball wide. They go 1 up with Fulham CF Paulo Dybala opening the scoring in the 33' minute. Esteban Rubalcava scores a rare goal in the 43' minute to equalize before into stoppage time of the first half i send everyone forward and the risk pays off with Tinajero heading in a corner.

Half Time: 2-1 Mexico.

Just after the Hour mark Argentina take off a CB and bring on another attacker but with Rubalcava in the form of his life they cannot get past him to get into the box and are relaying on long shots, the possession is equal and we are actually getting more on target...

The 66' minute and Man Utd Full Back Nicolas Lara bursts through our back line and lobs Adrian Mejia to put things back on equal footing.

2-2.

We hang on till full time and extra time looms.

I start to think Pens are our best bet and sit on only attacking on the counter and just as i think things are coming to a close with 3 minutes to go we have a free kick 25 yards or so out... Up steps Roberto Carlos Avila - I panic because i thought i'd set da la Torre to take our free kicsk but i'm stunned as Avila hits the back of the net!!!

Just 3 minutes to hold on and we are declared the World Champions!!! - 3-2 aet Victory!

The special 23...

Goalkeeper's;

Adrian Mejia

Armando Nunez

Jose Antonio Rodriguez

Defenders;

Eduardo Misael Alonso

Midfield;

Forwards;

World Cup Dream Team! - World Cup Best Player!

I'll be stepping down now as Mexico manager since thats the Gold Cup and World Cup won with them...

What's next for my career....

jaysdailydose · August 7, 2015

Very glad to see another update from the Queen of the UMC, as well! Welcome back, Brettney, glad all is well with you!

Actually, I guess "well" doesn't quite cut it as far as FM, goes.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! Yet another World Cup Champion in the thread! :D

NormandyWept · August 7, 2015

CONGRATULATIONS on being the first to finish the International side of the challenge. Top-notch accomplishment!

Thanks jaysdailydose; I'm really proud of the achievement - if somewhat worried about my ability to reproduce on the club side of the challenge! I just do not understand why, when I'm able to sign my own players, I'm not able to achieve as highly as I am when I'm limited by a national pool. It just makes no sense!

Gratz wheresmyspacebar and brettney on your latest achievements

NormandyWept · August 7, 2015

Season 2063/64 - Roma

League | Schedule Part 1 , Part 2 & Part 3

The ultimate international hangover, my triumphs on one stage of the challenge soon followed by a disaster on another as four years at Roma ended in spectacular style.

Five defeats in the opening eleven games in Serie A made it clear that this wasn't to be the much-awaited year when we would deliver on our promise in the league, but after we turned around our form somewhat and powered our way to an Italian Cup Quarter-Final against Juventus and finally out of a Champions League group at least, I was hopeful that I'd turned things around and would get another good finish to set up at least another attempt at turning the club around altogether.

Unfortunately Juve duly ended another Cup attempt, and when we suffered a 1-0 extra time exit to Dortmund, it was all back on the league: and the slim chance of victory in six consecutive games to end the season turning things around.

Empoli duly condemned us to a 2-0 defeat that made the battle just seem finally out of our reach. So unlikely was recovery and so uncomfortable was I to read the headline "Poor finishing costs Roma in surprise defeat" yet another time, that I decided to jump before I was pushed.

It's absolutely gutting and bewildering to have failed at Roma. Our squad is so superb that even 2.5-star players are described as "leading Serie A players", and we have so much talent coming through. But somehow I had lost the dressing room this year: too many performances were way below the required standard and saw us stunned having dominated the game. A rethink is needed, and it'll come at a different club.

Challenge Progress

Club

5/10 top domestic leagues (ARG, FRA, IND, KOR, USA)

6/10 domestic cups (AUS, BRA, FRA, IND, KOR, MEX)

4/5 club continental championships (Africa, Asia, N.Am., S.Am.)

1/1 club world championship

International

4/5 continental tournaments (Africa, Asia, Europe, N.Am.)

2/2 world tournaments (WC, Confed.)

Seasons

[b]CLUB CAREER
                               Leagues        Cups
Season        Club           1st      2nd    1st  2nd   Cont.   CWC   Other & Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/b]
2014/15  RSA  Ajax CT        12th                                     Took over with 3 games remaining, in 15th
2015/16  RSA  Ajax CT                         R2   R1                 Sacked after 16 games, in 16th
2016/17  AUS  Wanderers       6th             QF
2017/18  AUS  Wanderers                       won                     Sacked after 22 games, in 10th
2018/19  IND  Dempo                           GS                      Sacked after 19 games, in 11th
2019/20  IND  Bengaluru       6th             SF   F
2020/21  IND  Bengaluru       2nd             won  F
2021/22  IND  Bengaluru       1st             GS   won  CC R2
2022/23  IND  Bengaluru       2nd             won  F    CL Q3E
2023/24  IND  Bengaluru                                 CC QF         Resigned after CC QF defeat/before league season
2024     KOR  Jeju            5th             SF
2025     KOR  Jeju            8th             SF
2026     KOR  Jeju            8th             QF
2027     KOR  Jeju                            QF                      Left for Pohang after 32 games, in 7th
2027     KOR  Pohang          5th             won                     Took over with 6 games remaining, in 5th
2028     KOR  Pohang                                    CL GS         Sacked after 16 games, in 5th
2028     KOR  Jeonbuk         5th             SF                      Took over with 20 games remaining, in 7th
2029     KOR  Jeonbuk                         R4                      Sacked after 35 games, in 7th
2030     KOR  Jeju                                                    Left for Wellington after 16 games, in 4th
2030/31  AUS  Wellington     10th
2031/32  AUS  Wellington     10th
2032/33  AUS  Wellington      7th
2033/34  AUS  Wellington                                              Left for Perth after 4 games, in 6th
2033/34  AUS  Perth           9th                                     Took over with 23 games remaining, in 10th
2034/35  AUS  Perth           7th
2035/36  AUS  Perth           5th/SF
2036/37  AUS  Perth                                                   Left for Seoul after 12 games, in 2nd
2037     KOR  Seoul           1st             SF        CL won  3rd
2038/39  MEX  Chivas          6th/SF  3rd/ F  QF  won
2039/40  MEX  Chivas         11th     2nd/QF            CL won
2041     USA  New York        1st/won         R4
2042     BRA  Internacional   5th     1st/won won                     Reached 1,000 games in management
2043     BRA  Internacional           1st/won SF        CL QF         Left for Lanus after 34 national games, in 7th
2044     ARG  Lanus           6th             R5        CS P2E
2045     ARG  Lanus                           R5                      Left for Velez after 15 games, in 11th
2045     ARG  Velez           4th/1st                   CS QF    F    Took over with 14 games remaining, in 1st
2046     ARG  Velez           5th/4th         R7        CL won   won
2047     ARG  Velez           1st             R7        CL QF
2049/50  FRA  Monaco          4th             F   R4    EL GS         Sacked after final game of season
2050/51  ITA  Inter           4th             F         EL KR2
2051/52  ITA  Inter                                                   Sacked after 16 games, in 14th
2051/52  ITA  Lazio           8th                                     Took over with 21 games remaining, in 12th
2052/53  ITA  Lazio                                                   Sacked after 5 games, in 17th
2054/55  RSA  Wits           10th                 R1                  Took over with 12 games remaining, in 13th
2055/56  RSA  Wits                            R1  R1    CL won   5th  Left for Valencia after 29 games, in 8th
2056/57  ESP  Valencia        7th             R5        EL GS         Sacked after final game of season
2057/58  FRA  Monaco          3rd             SF  F     EL won
2058/59  FRA  Monaco          2nd             SF  R4    EL F
2059/60  FRA  Monaco          1st             won QF    CL R1
2060/61  ITA  Roma            3rd             R1        CL QF
2061/62  ITA  Roma            3rd             R1        CL GS
2062/63  ITA  Roma            3rd             F         EL F          Reached 2,000 games in management
2063/64  ITA  Roma                            QF        CL QF         Resigned after 33 games, in 8th

[b]INTERNATIONAL CAREER

                        Rank         Cups
Year  Nation           FIFA  NL   World  Cont. Conf. Other & Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/b]
2032  Saudi Arabia      12                           Joined 11th Jul, 29th in FIFA Rankings
2033  Saudi Arabia      25
2034  Saudi Arabia      49         GS
2035  Saudi Arabia                        won        Resigned 4th Feb, 38th in FIFA Rankings
2036  Norway            61   C                       Joined 27th Jul, 54th in FIFA Rankings
2037  Norway            57
2038  Norway            44   B
2039  Norway            39                           Resigned 14th Nov, 39th in FIFA Rankings
2042  Tunisia           36                           Joined 20th Jul, 42nd in FIFA Rankings
2043  Tunisia                             GS         Resigned 27th Jan, 37th in FIFA Rankings
2047  South Africa      22                           Joined 17th Feb, 10th in FIFA Rankings
2048  South Africa      19
2049  South Africa                        won        Resigned 7th Feb, 19th in FIFA Rankings
2049  USA               14                           Joined 1st Aug, 9th in FIFA Rankings
2050  USA               19         GS
2051  USA                                 won        Resigned 30th Jul, 31st in FIFA Rankings
2052  Spain              9                           Joined 21st Jul, 7th in FIFA Rankings
2053  Spain             10  won                      Reached 1,500 games in management
2054  Spain              1         won               Left for Brazil 2nd Aug, 1st in FIFA Rankings
2054  Brazil            14                           Joined 3rd Aug, 13th in FIFA Rankings
2055  Brazil            15                GS
2056  Brazil             2
2057  Brazil             6
2058  Brazil                       R1                Sacked 15th Jul, 6th in FIFA Rankings
2058  Spain              8   A                       Joined 21st Jul, 8th in FIFA Rankings
2059  Spain             18
2060  Spain              2                won
2061  Spain                 won                 won  Resigned 9th Jul, 2nd in FIFA Rankings
2062  Brazil             6                           Joined 23rd Jul, 6th in FIFA Rankings
2063  Brazil                              won        Resigned 7th Jul, 8th in FIFA Rankings

Wheresmyspacebar! · August 7, 2015

Wheresmyspacebars Challenge, Take2.

Season 2019 and "a bit"

Couple of questions just before i go into the details of my "Half Season".

1. How do you get international jobs? Like, i never see them advertised on the job center (Except outside of the WC finishing times) but i see a turnover of manager jobs in internationals a huge amount.

Do you need to manage in that certain league for a length of time before being considered or do you just have to keep up your club teams and do well?

2. How comes clubs you leave, suddenly become really bad overnight? Like, the Belarusian team i left, they did well for the last few times and have finished mid-high in the league.

S'Hampton are half way through their season without me after i left them in a stupidly good place, they still have world class players (Eriksen picking up world player of the year) but they are now 17th. I really dont get it xD

ANYWAY.

Onto this weird half season.

764219d1422989287-my-futsal-team-wrexham-corinthians-futsal.png

I managed to get appointed to Corinthians in the brazilian league almost as soon as i left S'Hampton.

After a 3rd place finish last season (Champions season before) they were 15th after 5 games and without a manager. I looked at their team, great team, really good players and still in the Copa Libertadores (At the Semi-Final stage which was a bonus)

My personal experience with Brazilian football, i know that they are by far one of the most powerful (Alongside Santos, so this was a great chance).

Brazilian Cup -

So, i started off with a nice easy draw in the 4th round against lower league opposition. In the first leg, i used my reserve/youth team and won 6-4, in the 2nd leg i went on to win 4-1 to go through to the QFs.

I once again, drew another lower league team, after winning 3-0 away, i had an incredible next game, winning 10-3, even with a man sent off.

This put me through to the semis against rivals Santos. Over the 2 legs, i won 9-3 and was through to the final vs Goias.

I sent out my strongest team in the final. They had a man sent off in the 18th minute and i went on to trounce them 7-0 in the first leg at home before running out a youth team away, which won 2-1 after they had 2 men sent off.

Overall a 9-1 Victory which gave me the first cup for my Corinithians team.

Copa Libertadores -

As i said, when i joined, they were in the SFs, against rivals Santos.

The first game away, i scraped a 2-1 victory, with a penalty for and against.

The 2nd leg at home was a bloodbath. 10 goals scored to give a 5-5 draw but send me through by virtue of the 2-1 win away.

I would then go on to meet the mighty Boca in the final, who were current holders.

In the 1st leg away, i left with a 3-4 loss after having a player sent off, in the home leg though, i went on to demolish Boca 7-0, with thanks to my Argentinan striker Chavez scoring 4 goals.

This game me my double and an entry into the Club World Championship.

Club World Championship -

I got the easiest draw in the SFs to face off against FC Hiroshima, a miracle they had progressed so far already.

It was a nice easy 7-0 victory to set up a final against the mighty Chelsea (Bane of my existance at S'Hampton). I was worried that my free-flowing attack would be countered by chelsea so i went into a nice and relaxed 4-4-2 formation.

An early 5 minute goal put me one up, before Chavez scored a 47th minute goal to put me 2-0 up before half time.

Costa got one back on the 76th minute to set up an interesting 15 minutes before Dede, a free signing, scored in the 83rd minute and let me walk away with the championship, 3-1.

Brazilian National First Division -

http://i.imgur.com/wcCssjE.jpg

I joined with Corinthians only 5 points behind first place after 7 games (After i applied they jumped from 15th in 5 games).

Looking at the squad, my tactics were going to be the same as they were at S'Hampton.

A free flowing, possession based game with 3 Attacking Midfielders supporting a prolific striker with fast WBs darting into space.

And my god was it free flowing and goals galore.

From start to finish, i only lost 2 games with Corinthians, including cup games and walked away with the title with 5 games remaining.

http://i.imgur.com/Eb8Mosd.jpg

An Incredible 120 goals scored and only 41 against with my AMs and ST (All of which keep getting attention from Barca/RMadrid/ManC/Inter so im gonna be looking to pick up some of this team when i move on) on point, left me walking away with the tital and an incredible FOUR TROPHIES in under 6 months.

Transfers/Squad -

http://i.imgur.com/77fFUXE.jpg

I didnt do much transfers this season for the sheer fact that i didnt really need to.

I brought in a couple of players to just use as backup and brought in a big signing to replace a leaving one but other than that, the team stayed as i joined them. How they were 15th when i did, i will have no idea.

My 2 strikers were an absolute amazing pair, especially when i was using a 1 upfront formation and could keep them fresh all the time.

http://i.imgur.com/3AL58gr.jpg

My star player was for sure my argentinian forward Lucas Albertengo, who put away an incredible 45 goals this season.

http://i.imgur.com/FFhksQy.jpg

Thus ends my illustrious but short career in South America, i may never return, except internationally but it has been a great 6 months before i resign to look elsewhere (There is NOWHERE hiring ATM :/)

International Career

I AM NO LONGER UNEMPLOYED!!!!

I got bored and decided to sign for Cape Verde in the upcoming WCQs. Definitely a better team than Haiti, so it is a step up, albeit small step up to 66th in the world.

Not much to say, had a couple of friendlies, held Ghana to a 2-1 loss (They are ranked 6th currently) and just gearing up for the qualifiers next year.

Im probably going to be looking to hop ship if anywhere better comes along but we'll see.

Managerial career:


Season   Club                    League           Pos   DC1   DC2     Cont     Other
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014/15  Baronovici  Belarusian First League      8th   QF    n/a     n/a      n/a
2015/16  Baronovici  Belarusian First League      2nd  Rd3    n/a      n/a    n/a
2016/17  Baronovici  Belarusian Highest League    1st  won    n/a    n/a     won
2017/18  Southampton English Premier League      3rd   Rd3  QF  n/a
2018/19  Southampton English Premier League     1st   won   won   1st KO
2019      Corinthians  Brazilian National League    1st   won          won      won World Cup Championship

Season   Nation                  Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014/15 Malaysia U23         Reached the QFs of the Asian Games
2015/16 Haiti                Reached the 3rd round qualifications for WC
2016/17 Haiti                Reached the 4th round Quals for WC, Won the Carribean Cup, ranking up to 89th from 105th
2017/18
2018/19
2019     Cape Verde

Challenges completed:

Club

3/10 top domestic leagues (Belarus, England, Brazil)

4/10 domestic cups (Belarusian Cup, FA Cup, Capital One Cup, Brazilian Cup )

1/5 club continental championships (Copa Liber)

1/1 club world championship (Won as Corinthians)

International

0/5 continental tournaments

0/2 world tournaments

Other Cups: Super Cup (Belarus/Baronovichi) / Carribean Cup (Haiti)

Job Hunt Update

So, i sped up a week and looked at job signings. Saw Celtic and Sparta Prague (Bit surprised at both).

Even more surprising, i saw Sparta Prague were... 1st? Yep. 1st.

Apparently the club was recently taken over and the manager was sacked. Which is fine by me.

Hopefully i can just keep the run up and i'll have another easy league win haha.

LetsGetReadyTo · August 7, 2015

I'm really starting to regret updating to Windows 10 now. 3 times I've tried to start one and 3 times it's crashed! Just gonna give up trying to attempt it now until FM16... Which hopefully will have functioning Windows 10 support! (YAY!)

Loving reading all the stories guys :3

Wheresmyspacebar! · August 8, 2015

Wheresmyspacebars Challenge, Take2.

Season 2019/2020 (The last part)

So as i said before.

I left Corinthians after i won everything with them and didnt have any more reason to stay.

Whilst browsing jobs, i noticed Sparta Prague had just been taken over and had no manager.

Sitting in 1st already, it was an easy decision to join them as they had won the league 7 times in the last 8 years.

The downside being that they had already exited the FA cup and the ECC so with just the league to focus on, i managed to extend my run of winning and walked off into the sunset at the end of the season with the title.

http://i.imgur.com/knNhb5i.jpg

I wish there was more to say but it was a really dull 5 months and well, i didnt buy anyone, i just changed up tactics, kept the squad anyway and walked the title.

Anyway, i was tempted to start another season staying with Prague to go for the FA cup but i was offered a job role i just couldnt pass up.

After they finished 2nd last year and being knocked out in the 1st round of the ECC they were after a new manager and i gladly accepted.

http://i.imgur.com/onE8Ofz.jpg

My main goal with them is the ECC. I think that will be the hardest part, so i will be gunning for that.

I obviously will be after the title as well but i'll be using the domestic cups as rest time for my stars.

With a 4.7Mil wade budget and a transfer budget of £105M, im hopeful to say the least

Managerial career:


Season   Club                    League              Pos   DC1   DC2     Cont     Other
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014/15  Baronovici      Belarusian First League     8th   QF    n/a     n/a      n/a
2015/16  Baronovici      Belarusian First League     2nd  Rd3    n/a      n/a    n/a
2016/17  Baronovici      Belarusian Highest League   1st  won    n/a    n/a     won
2017/18  Southampton     English Premier League      3rd   Rd3  QF  n/a
2018/19  Southampton     English Premier League      1st   won   won   1st KO
2019     Corinthians     Brazilian National League   1st   won          won      won World Cup Championship
2019/20  Sparta Prague   Czech First Division        1st   n/a    n/a    n/a    n/a

Season   Nation                  Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014/15 Malaysia U23         Reached the QFs of the Asian Games
2015/16 Haiti                Reached the 3rd round qualifications for WC
2016/17 Haiti                Reached the 4th round Quals for WC, Won the Carribean Cup, ranking up to 89th from 105th
2017/18
2018/19
2019     Cape Verde

Challenges completed:

Club

4/10 top domestic leagues (Belarus, England, Brazil, Czech Republic)

4/10 domestic cups (Belarusian Cup, FA Cup, Capital One Cup, Brazilian Cup )

1/5 club continental championships (Copa Liber)

1/1 club world championship (Won as Corinthians)

International

0/5 continental tournaments

0/2 world tournaments

Other Cups: Super Cup (Belarus/Baronovichi) / Carribean Cup (Haiti)

jaysdailydose · August 8, 2015

Thanks jaysdailydose; I'm really proud of the achievement - if somewhat worried about my ability to reproduce on the club side of the challenge! I just do not understand why, when I'm able to sign my own players, I'm not able to achieve as highly as I am when I'm limited by a national pool. It just makes no sense!
Gratz wheresmyspacebar and brettney on your latest achievements

I wouldn't be worried at all, you've definitely shown you are able to win trophies on both sides of the "aisle."

If I was a betting man, I'd lay odds that you have fully completed the challenge by 2080 in your universe. That's my prediction. Best of luck to you on accomplishing it!

jaysdailydose · August 8, 2015

Wheresmyspacebar!, congratulations on your conquest of both South America and the Czech Republic.

Best of luck at Real Madrid. I can't wait to get my new save moving along and hopefully get to some of these amazing clubs myself. I actually changed up my save, but I'm waiting for my first update to spring the "surprise."

mayihavecookie · August 8, 2015

Wheresmyspacebar Great progress in the last two days You'll have finished the challenge by the end of august if you're going on like that!

brettney1980 · August 8, 2015

Sad to see things not work out at Roma NormandyWept...Where next!? South Africa yet??

Well done on the quick completion in South America Wheresmyspacebar!

1. I'm pretty sure they do show up in 'Staff - Job Security'

2. The clubs i have done really well with (We'll just ignore San Lorenzo) have continued to do well in their respective leagues... I suppose if you really overachieved the club will drop back down a level or two...

LetsGetReadyTo - So is Windows 10 a bad idea?? I'm glad i've put it off for a bit then.

NormandyWept · August 8, 2015

I wouldn't be worried at all, you've definitely shown you are able to win trophies on both sides of the "aisle."

Thanks for the support! I'm definitely not as good as leagues as I am at cups, having only won five in this massive career! But I can get it sorted, I'm hoping. Time to get back on the horse this morning after being on a bit of a downer when Roma went wrong last night!

Sad to see things not work out at Roma NormandyWept...Where next!? South Africa yet??

Absolutely no chance am I going back to Africa, I've nicked the Champions League from that continent already. Will just do a non-top-5 league in Europe to get up to 10 total. Portugal or the Netherlands maybe, with one of the big clubs that traditionally dominate. On the other hand, I hear Sweden has wonderfully short seasons?

brettney1980 · August 8, 2015

Absolutely no chance am I going back to Africa, I've nicked the Champions League from that continent already. Will just do a non-top-5 league in Europe to get up to 10 total. Portugal or the Netherlands maybe, with one of the big clubs that traditionally dominate. On the other hand, I hear Sweden has wonderfully short seasons?

Oh yeah it's just the League you missed aint it!? For some reason i forgot you'd got that Champs League already...

jaysdailydose · August 10, 2015

An American Werewolf in Football!

Cambridge United 2014-15

Profile

You're probably saying to yourself, "Where's Bury?"

Well, I have an answer. I was reading about Football Manager online, and I came across an excellent blog by a man named Alex Stewart. I was on his personal blog, but I found out he writes for another site called "The Set Pieces" which you can check out at that link. Anyway, the piece that caught my eye was about using a "Moneyball" approach to football management, with some great research and such done from the excellent book "Soccernomics" by Stefan Szymanski.

Anyways, I had really just started on the Bury save and decided I really wanted to approach this challenge in a way similar to how he presents, and get my blog back running as well. So I restarted and I wound up with Cambridge United.

I took over the club on the 18th of November in 2014, with the club languishing in 22nd place, having only taken 16 of 51 points on offer through 17 matches. The board expected me to pull together a mid-table finish, with 12th place only 7 points off when I took over the club. I call them a club, but more honestly, they resembled a MASH unit. I didn't have money to spend on anything but free transfers for the most part, as I was given a £3,900 transfer budget and we had a wage budget of £19.5k a week, which was almost fully taken on my arrival. The club wasn't in horrific shape financially, though, with a net debt of only £343k and their main loan is a gift loan that is only paid in profit. That enabled the board to comply with my request to immediately start my National C License.

I actually retained more of the staff than I usually do, but we needed a new assistant and a goalkeeping coach. The board allowed me to add two scouts to an already fantastic department as the season went on, but I started with two fantastic scouts for this level in Chief Scout Ian Storey-Moore and his partner Paul Montgomery. (Storey-Moore started as a 16/16 JPA/JPP, with Montgomery as a 17/16.)

We wound up finishing 18th on the season, and you could really see we were improving at the end of the year, but that did not stop my chairman, Dave Doggett, from putting me on a points requirement for the first five games on the next season. He and the board required me to take seven points for my next five fixtures. (Spoiler: I made it. )

There were no major sales to make note of, and I actually forgot to take my initial profile shot, so the profile above is about 9 games into the 2015-16 season. But we're off to a very solid start at rebuilding Cambridge United, and I am 100% fully invested and ready to take this save the distance. (Finally!)

Progress

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

0/2 world tournaments

[b]CLUB

Season        Nation/Club          League                            Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/b]
[b]2014/15       ENG/Cambridge         18th              Took over after 17 matches in 22nd place[/b]


[b]
International

Season        Nation          Highest Ranking                            Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/b]
[b]2014/15 [/b]

vikeologist · August 11, 2015

Before I make a feeble attempt to catch up on comments onall your progress, an update about me. I've lost all my recent saves because Ihad my hard disk replaced. Steam cloud hasn't worked and when I backed up myfiles last week it didn't backup the FM game saves.

So the most recent point I can get back to is immediately after Holland won theEuropean Championship in 2040.

So the last 2 or 3 years never happened. Holland neverlost in the Confederations Cup Final, or crashed out in the 2042 world cup. Inever managed at Bahia or St Etienne, or indeed Brazil who looked really gooddestroying Argentina in the one match under me.

All the challenge landmarks I’ve achieved are ‘intact’.

I will quit Holland now. I haven’t decided whether toimpose a 2 year international embargo on myself. I suppose this might put ahuge asterisk against any future achievement of the challenge. On the otherhand, it will be a large, but invisible asterisk.

JDD - Good luck on your latest save at Cambridge. I hope that you'll give us some hints about your moneyball approach.

WMSB? I think it was you asking about how to know about international job vacancies. If you subscribe to a nation that you think may have a job vacancy soon, or that you want to manage, then you'll be informed about the vacancies. Congratulations on Brazil.

Brettney - I'm using Windows 10 now, and everything is fine for me, but then again I haven't been playing the game much because I'm on vacation in Blighty. Getting the world cup with Mexico is very impressive.

NW - I thought there was a chance that nobody would ever achieve all the international landmarks, so well done.

Floydrix - Welcome to the challenge.

TheEarl · August 11, 2015

The Earls Ultimate Football Manager Challenge

Season 2022/23 – Paris SG / Brazil

It comes as no surprise that I left Man.City after winning what was needed with them (everything except Champions League, that is already won with Roma). But it might come as a bigger shock that I left France (who are qualified for Confederations Cup) for Brazil. But I figured if I could win Copa America with Brazil and add that to my landmarks I could qualify for Confederations Cup with them instead, and their squad looked better for the years to come than the France squad.

As for Paris SG, I got a hefty budget once again of 5M pound wage, and 165M pound transfer budget.

I bought midfielder Lars van Dijk from Man.City for 35M pounds, and Flavio Gorocito from Roma for 50M pound as players I knew from before. I tried to get hold of Zakaria El Amrani or Lionel Messi but couldn't snap them from City. Patrick (Brazilian striker) was bought from Schalke 04 for 40M pounds, as I let a total of 8 players leave the club for anything between 500K pounds and 15M pounds. I then found out I had miscalculated the french rules for players outside EU, and I had a problem upfront. Patrick would have to spend half a season on loan until one of my non-EU players could get a french passport. The solution to this was a 37 year old striker, but not anyone Cristiano Ronaldo signed from Man.Utd. for 10M pounds.

Board expectations Paris SG: Win the league, win the French Cup and reach final of Champions League. French Super Cup, and French League Cup was not a target.

Board expectations Brazil: Win Superclassico de Americas, win Copa America.

We started the season with Paris by beating Bordeaux in Champions Trophy (Super Cup), by 3-1. Then we went into an amazing streak in the league winning 21 of our first 22 games, and playing a 3-3 draw against Auxerre.

In the Champions League, my expectations where not so important as I had won that trophy already, so I rotated the team against Maritimo after beating Juventus in the first game. This was a major blunder as we lost 1-3 away in Portugal. Then we met PSV away and I fielded a stronger team, but still lost 1-2 due to 2 goals by Gareth Bale. We bounced back and smashed PSV 4-0 at home, but our faith was sealed as we lost away to Juventus 1-2. 2-0 victory at home to Maritime was not enough, as 9 points was 1 point short of PSV who grabbed 10. Juventus won the group with 13 points. We where knocked out and my job slightly unstable.

New board expectation: Win Europa League.

In the meantime we beat Marseille 3-1 in the 4th round of League Cup, and smashed Saint Genevieve 6-0 in the 9th round of the French Cup. Monaco was also smashed 6-0 in the quarter final of the League Cup.

In France most games comes in a good schedule with proper rest between matches, but in the end of january/early february we had to play 3 games in 5 days. First a league game against Bastia, where I tried to rotate the squad but lost 2-4. We beat Metz in the semi-final of the League Cup 4-0. I was then devasted to loose on penalties after 1-1 away to Bordeaux in the 10th round of the French Cup. My job was now hanging in there, and a win in the league and Europa League was a must to not get sacked.

We raced away in the league however and won 8 games from the end. Finished with a 103 points and goals 139-39. We won some 24 points ahead of Lille after loosing to Lille in the final game. One thing that kept my job was the task to play attacking football which I did in fine style.

League Cup was wrapped up also with 6-0 against second division team Troyes in the final.

Europa League was mostly a walkthrough also, AFC Astra in 1st Knockout Round was beaten 8-2 on aggregate. Red Bull Salzburg 9-3 on aggregate in the 2nd Knockout Round. Everton 6-1 on aggregate in the quarter final. Most difficult task was Schalke 04 in the semis. 6-5 on aggregate after loosing our only game in the competition 3-4 away. Audience was the soundly beaten 4-0 in the final.

Striker Malcom became top goalscorer of Europa League even though we entered in the knockout stages with 17 goals.

Star players:

Top goalscorer: Malcolm - 86 goals

Top performer: Lars van Dijk - 7,96 Av.r.

Top assists: Cristiano Ronaldo - 32 assists

Even with an injury Ronaldo snapped up most assists after a really good season playing to 7,95 Av.rat.

With Brazil I was really gutted that I couldn't arrange any friendlies. The only game I got to play was the highly important game against Argentina in the Superclassico de Americas. We got 2 red cards, playing a formation the team was not used to. Even though Malcolm from Paris SG scored twice, it was not enough as we lost 2-3. The board was heavily disappointed but I survived and looked forward to Copa America at the end of the season/start of next season where I at least could get 1 or 2 friendlies to test my tactics before the tournament.

--------------------------------------------

Challenges completed:

Club

4/10 top domestic leagues (Brazil,Italy,England,France)

4/10 domestic cups (Italy,English FA, English League Cup, French League Cup)

1/5 club continental championships (Europe)

1/1 club world championship (with Roma)

International

1/5 continental tournaments (Africa)

1/2 world tournaments (World Cup with France)

8 minor Trophies: FA Trophy (England), League Two (England), Johnstone Paint Trophy (England), Italian Super Cup, Euro Super Cup, European Nations League, French Champions Trophy, Europa League

Competitions won more than once: UEFA Champions League won twice.

---------------------------------------------

Managerial career clubs:

2014/15 Bristol Rovers Played in Vanarama Conference, took over at 18th position, won FA Trophy, quarter final of Johnstone PT, reach 1st round proper of FA Cup. Finished 2nd in Vanarama Conference and got promoted. Manager of the month in Vanarama Conference 3 times.

2015/16 Bristol Rovers Played in League two, league winners, promoted (obviously), won Johnstone PT, reached 3rd round proper of FA Cup, and 1st round of League Cup. Left club at end of season. Manager of the year in League Two, Manager of the month in League Two 4 times.

2016/17 Brighton Played in Championship for the whole season, finished 2nd, reached 6th round of FA-Cup and 2nd round of League Cup, promoted. Manager of the year in Championship.

2017/18 Brighton Played in Premier League, left the club in march sitting in 11th position and knocked out of FA-Cup in 4th round and League Cup in 4th round, club finished 8th in Premier League with new manager.

2017/18 Wolfsburg Played in Bundesliga, took over club in march at 8th position and already out of DFB Pokal, finished 6th but was banned from Europa League due to failing FFP.

2018/19 Wolfsburg Played in Bundesliga, finished 2nd in the league to Schalke 04, but lost in the 3rd round of DFB Pokal to Dortmund. Left the club at the end of the season.

2019 Internacional Played in Brazilian Serie A. Took over after 7 games in 12th position, won the league (first club landmark), was already out of the cup, and lost in 2nd Preliminary round of Copa Sudamericana. Manager of the year in Brazilian Serie A.

2019/20 Roma Played in Serie A, took over in 13th and finished 2nd to Juventus, lost the TIM Cup final to Juventus, won UEFA Champions League. (second club landmark)

2020/21 Roma Played in Serie A, won the league (third club landmark), TIM Cup (fourth club landmark), Italian Super Cup, UEFA Champions League and Club World Championship (fifth club landmark), but lost Euro Super Cup to Arsenal. Manager of the year Serie A.

2021/22 Man.City Played in Premier League, won the league (sixth club landmark), FA-Cup (seventh club landmark), League Cup (eight club landmark), Euro Sup Cup, but lost the Champions League final on penalties to Chelsea. Manager of the year in Premier League, manager of the month 6 times.

2022/23 Paris SG Played in French Ligue 1, won the league (ninth club landmark), won French League Cup (tenth club landmark), lost 10th round of French Cup, knocked out in group stage of Champions League, but won Europa League, won Champions Trophy in France.

Managerial career national teams:

2017 Ivory Coast Took over in march after nation had being knocked out at group stage of African Nations. Qualified easily for World Cup.

2018 Ivory Coast Took just 1 point in group stage of World Cup. Qualified easily for African Nations.

2019 Ivory Coast Won African Nations (first national landmark) then resigned from the job.

2020 France Took over in july after nation had being knocked out in 2nd round of UEFA Euro Nations. Won group stage of Nations League.

2021 France Won Nations League, qualified for World Cup with maximum points.

2022 France Won World Cup (second national landmark)

2022 Brazil lost Superclassico de Americas

mayihavecookie · August 11, 2015

mayihavecookie's Challenge, Season 5

Season 2018

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC - K League Classic

It was a long but successful season with 61 competitive games. My performance with Chunnam last season got me the job at league champions Jeonbuk, and the expectations were high. The board wanted me to win the double and qualify for the final of the Champions League. I took over a good squad with a weakness on the fullback positions, and there even was some money around to buy the players I needed. I signed 37 year old Steven Gerrard for free (he scored 17 goals in 50 games (13 penalties...), but didn't really impress me) and also some great youngsters, for example Lee Bong-Hyun who might be the best 20 year old centre back I've ever seen in FM (I've so far never managed one of the really big teams though).

Since I've already won the Champions League last season with Chunnam, I was focusing on the league and FA Cup, but that didn't stop us from going all the way in the ACL. We started the campaign with a draw against Melbourne City FC, but then won four of the six group games and finished 1st. We had some problems with Guangzhou in second round, but thanks to a late goal in the home game we won 3-2 on aggregate. Next was Funabashi Bandits from Japan, and I had the chance to take revenge for my second round out two years ago with Renhe. We drew 1-1 at home but won the away game 4-1, which saw us through to the semi final. There we met Shandong, wo didn't stand a chance against us. 3-0 win at home and 5-1 away. In the final, I met the same opponent as last year with Chunnam: Teraktor-Sazi from Iran. 1-1 at home, then in the away game we were 1-0 behind until we equalised with a corner in the 90th minute! After that my team went crazy and scored five more goals in extra time. So with a 6-1 win in extra time, I've won the Champions League for a second time with a different team.

The league wasn't too much of a problem for most of the time. We took over 1st place after 10 games and stayed there until the end. We finished the league with 80 points from 38 games. Second was my old team Chunnam with 69 points. We were far from perfect, drew 5 games and lost 8 with a goal difference of 85-32. But with 3 tournaments plus international games for many of my players, and since no other team was strong enough to take advantage of our mistakes, it was okay. We won the FA Cup too, with a 3-0 win against Ulsan in the final.

In the Club World Championship, we beat Orlando Pirates 2-0 in extra time in the quarter final, but lost 3-7 against Paris St. Germain in the semi final. We finished 3rd with a 3-2 win against Colon thanks to two late goals.

2018 was a World Cup year too! Spain won the final 4-3 against Italy. South Korea manager Uli Stielike retired after a second round out against Germany and I was offered the job, just like I hoped. We played some friendlies this season, but I don't really know where we stand yet. The Asian Cup starts in January 2019, and the board expects us to win it. Let's see how that turns out...

So I've finished my first continent having won the Chinese Super League and FA Cup, the Korean K League Classic and FA Cup, as well as the Asian Champions League. It's time to move on, I hope there will be some good opportunities, I'm open for everything at the moment. I decided to resign as manager of Jeonbuk immediately after the Club World Cup, and I won't take another club job before february so I can really focus on the Asian Cup first. Maybe I'll have to wait until summer before the right manager gets sacked, but we'll see. I will write an update on the Asian Cup soon.

Season     Club       Pos   DC1   DC2    Cont    Notes & Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014  CHN  Renhe      11th  QF    n/a    n/a     Took over after 13 games in 16th 
2015  CHN  Renhe      2nd   QF    n/a    n/a     Chinese Manager of the Year
2016  CHN  Renhe      1st   Won   n/a    R2      Won Chinese Super League & FA Cup
2017  KOR  Chunnam    2nd   R4    n/a    Won     Won Asian Champions League
2018  KOR  Jeonbuk    1st   Won   n/a    Won     Won Asian Champions League, K-League Classic & FA Cup

Challenge Progress

Club
2/10 top domestic leagues (China, South Korea)
2/10 domestic cups (China, South Korea)
1/5  club continental championships (Asia)
0/1  club world championship

International
0/5  continental tournaments
0/2  world tournaments

mayihavecookie · August 11, 2015

mayihavecookie's Challenge, International Update

South Korea - Asian Nations Cup 2019

Okay, not much to say about that... We started with a 5-0 win against Maldives, then 3-2 against Japan, and we were already through the group. Played a B-Team against Oman and lost 1-2, still 1st of the group. We played against Iran in the second round and needed extra time to get past them. Next was Kuwait, and I took the risk and rested most of my key players. It didn't go well, we lost 2-1. The board wanted us to win the tournament, we went out in quarter finals.

The inevitable happened: I was sacked.

brettney1980 · August 12, 2015

Good luck with Cambridge jaysdailydose, or with catching the eye of a chairman higher up the league...

Sorry to read about the Computer troubles vikeologist. at least you didn't lose any Challenge landmarks - Saves any tears!

Wow your blitzing through this Challenge TheEarl, keep it up!

Well done with the Asian Champions League mayihavecookie. Where to next?? Unlucky in the Asian cup... Always sucks being sacked!

TheEarl · August 12, 2015

Good luck with Cambridge jaysdailydose, or with catching the eye of a chairman higher up the league...
Sorry to read about the Computer troubles vikeologist. at least you didn't lose any Challenge landmarks - Saves any tears!

Wow your blitzing through this Challenge TheEarl, keep it up!

Well done with the Asian Champions League mayihavecookie. Where to next?? Unlucky in the Asian cup... Always sucks being sacked!

Thanks for encouragement. Next update is not that far away (its played, just need time to write it), but its been a more troublesome season....

Also to NW I BOW!!! Amazing how many seasons you have completed and finishing the international landmarks, I cant see how I will ever complete that...

jaysdailydose · August 12, 2015

Good luck with Cambridge jaysdailydose, or with catching the eye of a chairman higher up the league...

TYVM! I'm happy at the club right now, we're doing well in our second season, hoping to contend for promotion. I think the conventional wisdom in the thread says that pretty much no one will come in for you until you've won something. Everytime I see a job in L1/L2 open, I'm checking to see if I've entered the odds to be their next manager yet -- but at this point I haven't turned any heads.

We're getting there, though. I just wish someone would come in for a few of the free transfers that I've already built into £150k+ assets. My pitch is absolutely terrible to where I spent a LOT of time in the second season getting two tactics to full fluidity... one that completely bypasses the slog of my pitch that we try to call "midfield" -- and one possession/tempo oriented tactic that I can use on actual football fields.

jaysdailydose · August 12, 2015

Thanks for encouragement. Next update is not that far away (its played, just need time to write it), but its been a more troublesome season....
Also to NW I BOW!!! Amazing how many seasons you have completed and finishing the international landmarks, I cant see how I will ever complete that...

Not that its less of an accomplishment, obviously -- but the reason NW gets through seasons so fast is that he plays "Classic" FM. So, he moves a touch speedier than us.

TheEarl · August 12, 2015

Not that its less of an accomplishment, obviously -- but the reason NW gets through seasons so fast is that he plays "Classic" FM. So, he moves a touch speedier than us.

I know, I have read more or less every post in this 10 pages thread, but still playing until 2063 is an achievement of its own. But my bow was to completing all international tasks, which I guess is just as hard in Classic mode as in Normal mode.

jaysdailydose · August 12, 2015

I know, I have read more or less every post in this 10 pages thread, but still playing until 2063 is an achievement of its own. But my bow was to completing all international tasks, which I guess is just as hard in Classic mode as in Normal mode.

I'm thinking it might almost be harder, to be honest. I have a hard time implementing some of the stuff I try to do in Classic games...

NormandyWept · August 12, 2015

I've slowed down a lot in recent seasons definitely: if you look back, I was playing loads of hours when I was getting through my Asia section in particular. This combined with Classic mode really racked up the seasons!

I'm thinking it might almost be harder, to be honest. I have a hard time implementing some of the stuff I try to do in Classic games...

Interestingly, I've found it easier to set up a team to "not lose" - hence the greater cup and international success - than I have trying to push for a win. Pushing for a win in many games has resulted in a lot of disappointing league seasons! But I know all of this is down to my tactics: there's no gelling and a lot of other things in FMC, in many ways it's a more "pure" game and therefore pretty punishing. Hopefully I can finish the club section in shorter order than my form so far in the big leagues suggests!

FloydRix · August 12, 2015

Welp the tycoon didn't go through but the chairman is still looking to sell the club so hopefully we get more money in that way.

Just qualified for the Champions League!! Stopping Valencia winning the league was definitely a bonus. We went out in the Europa League group stages this season so not sure what I can expect from the Champions League other then a lot of money

jaysdailydose · August 13, 2015

I've slowed down a lot in recent seasons definitely: if you look back, I was playing loads of hours when I was getting through my Asia section in particular. This combined with Classic mode really racked up the seasons!
Interestingly, I've found it easier to set up a team to "not lose" - hence the greater cup and international success - than I have trying to push for a win. Pushing for a win in many games has resulted in a lot of disappointing league seasons! But I know all of this is down to my tactics: there's no gelling and a lot of other things in FMC, in many ways it's a more "pure" game and therefore pretty punishing. Hopefully I can finish the club section in shorter order than my form so far in the big leagues suggests!

I totally feel where you are coming from on setting up "not to lose."

What I mean more or less is, for instance, when I want to find a new job, I always do extremely well in the interviews, not that I want to toot my own horn. Again, not trying to toot my horn, but I think I really excel at getting a team to gel and raising morale -- which means I tend to do fairly well with clubs that are really at rock bottom and get them back to respectability fairly fast just through attempts to build morale both through conversations at the club and also praising/criticizing through the press and such.

I'll be honest, I haven't messed much with the Classic version this year just because I *love* all the stuff in Full Fat. I totally get why it works for so many, though -- and like you said, it can be extremely punishing if you aren't in top gaffer form.

I have nothing but extreme confidence that you will have the entire thing wrapped by game year 2080. I'd bet it if there was odds at any reputable sportsbook.

TheEarl · August 13, 2015

I totally feel where you are coming from on setting up "not to lose."
What I mean more or less is, for instance, when I want to find a new job, I always do extremely well in the interviews, not that I want to toot my own horn. Again, not trying to toot my horn, but I think I really excel at getting a team to gel and raising morale -- which means I tend to do fairly well with clubs that are really at rock bottom and get them back to respectability fairly fast just through attempts to build morale both through conversations at the club and also praising/criticizing through the press and such.

I'll be honest, I haven't messed much with the Classic version this year just because I *love* all the stuff in Full Fat. I totally get why it works for so many, though -- and like you said, it can be extremely punishing if you aren't in top gaffer form.

I have nothing but extreme confidence that you will have the entire thing wrapped by game year 2080. I'd bet it if there was odds at any reputable sportsbook.

If and when I finish this save, I will definately try Classic mode. Is it the same if you play on PC or Ipad? I would love to try it on Ipad.

brettney1980 · August 13, 2015

The Ultimate Challenge: Brettney Edition;

Season 2026/27.

Barcelona

When the Barcelona job came up i decided to call time on my Manchester Utd career and head over to Spain. At first glance the team didn't look all that great and with very little to spend i wasn't able to bring in many players, but as the season progressed i slowly realised that this team was (along with Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid) amoungst the best in the league by a clear distance. Real Madrid pulled clear as they went the first 20 games unbeaten and we slipped up a couple of times in our first few games but as soon as we beat Atletico and took their 2nd spot we never looked back, going unbeaten for almost the rest of the season. Real Madrid hit a bad patch in March losing twice and drawing one and we took them, then beat them and went 4 points clear and that was that. Real Madrid never really recovered and we were even able to play weakened teams in the last 3 games resting our best players for the Cup Final and Champions League.

The Champions League draw saw us in a group with Basel, Monaco and Gothenburg. We didn't exactly make things easy for us with Monaco topping the group but get the result we needed match day 6 to go through. Zenit were our opponants for the 1st K.O round and after a 3-1 Home win we went to Russia and struggled to a 5-3 loss which was just enough to put us through on Away Goals... Man City in the Quarters and i really thought they were going to cost me the Champions League again, but we beat them 4-1 at Home (it helped that they were down to 10 men for most of the second half). Man City beat us 2-1 at their place, but we go through 5-3 on agg. The Semi Final sees another English team come to the Nou Camp and like City we get a 4-1 victory first leg, they beat us 2-0 at White Hart Lane and we are into the Champions League final after a 4-3 agg win.

The Final; - Lineup!

Just like last years final (Man Utd vs Man City) is was an all same league match, Barcelona versus Real Madrid, i must admit to being a little worried that they would get their revenge after we stole the League from them ... We managed to control the game getting 56% possession and being 2-0 up by the 60' minute.

But 6 terrible minutes at the end of the 90 and they score twice and force Extra Time. The first few minutes of extra time see Real start where they ended the 90 controlling the game but after De Gea makes a cracking save the ball goes up their end and Federico Bonazzoli helps us to a 3-2 victory and the Champions League is ours!!!

Spanish Cup - Beating Real 3-2 in the Quarters was the biggest test, Grenada was the team for the final and we won 3-0.

The Squad|LA Liga Table|Finances

Key Players;

Pacoca|Francisco Manuel|Federico Bonazzoli|Jon Bacaicoa

Transfers;

Youth Candidates.

Worldwide Hall of Fame!

Season Team Position Notes Challenge Landmarks
2014 Woodlands (Singapore) 7th Took over 17 games in (8th) Cup Double (League Cup and S-Cup)
2015 Woodlands (Singapore) 4th Too many injuries! League Cup won.
2016 Woodlands (Simgapore) 1st Champions! S-League Title + Singapore Cup.
2017 Woodlands (Singapore) 1st Won Confed. Cup. League and Confed Cup Double.
2018 Woodlands (Singapore) 1st when left. Sacked!
2017/18 Wanderers FC 5th Took over 26th March Final of Hyandai Finals Series
2018/19 Wanderers FC 1st Champions + Grand Final 2nd League won.
2019/20 Wanderers FC 1st Champs + Grand Final Q-Final of Champs League (So far)
2020/21 Wanderers FC 1st when left. Asian Champs League Moved on 31st December.
2020/21 San Lorenzo 3rd Copa Libertadores win! Another Regional Cup tourney won!
2021/22 Man Utd 3rd Took over in January. Qualified for Champs League.
2022/23 Man Utd 2nd Champs League Semi's... Won FA Cup!
2023/24 Man Utd 1st League and League Cup. Double. Champs League Q-Final.
2024/25 Man Utd 1st League + League Cup Double Champs League K.O rd.
2025/26 Man Utd 4th Champs League+FA Cup Finals Won FA Cup!!
2016/27 Barcelona 1st Liga,Cup,Champ Treble. Champs League won!!!

The Trophy's.

Leagues;

La Liga - (Barcelona)

Premier League - (Man Utd)

Bundesliga -

Ligue 1 -

Serie A -

And 5 Others...

1 - Singapore (Woodlands)!

2 - Australia (Wanderers)!

3 -

4 -

5 -

Regional Champions Leagues;

European Champions League - (Barcelona)

Asian Champions League - (Woodlands).

Copa Libertadores - (San Lorenzo).

North American Champions League -

Africa Champions League -

International Tournemants;

UEFA Euros -

Asian Cup Of Nations -

Copa America -

Gold Cup - Mexico!

African Cup Of Nations -

FIFA World Cup - Mexico!

Confederations Cup -

Others:

10 Domestic Cups required (Where Top Level Teams can Enter)

1 - Singapore Cup - (Woodlands).

2 - Singapore League Cup - (Woodlands).

3 - English FA Cup - (Man Utd).

4 - English League Cup - (Man Utd).

5 - Spanish Cup - (Barcelona)

6 -

7 -

8 -

9 -

10 -

FIFA Club World Cup -

mayihavecookie · August 13, 2015

bretteney Congratulations on your treble!

Yeah, it sucked. South Korea had some big talents and I would've liked to finish my time in Asia with my first international trophy. But I immediately took over a big African national team that sacked their manager because they "only" finished 3rd in the African Cup of Nations. Now it's summer and I have two club job offers: Kaiser Chiefs and Manchester United. I'm really not sure which one to choose, any advice anyone?

TheEarl · August 13, 2015

bretteney Congratulations on your treble!
Yeah, it sucked. South Korea had some big talents and I would've liked to finish my time in Asia with my first international trophy. But I immediately took over a big African national team that sacked their manager because they "only" finished 3rd in the African Cup of Nations. Now it's summer and I have two club job offers: Kaiser Chiefs and Manchester United. I'm really not sure which one to choose, any advice anyone?

I would take a look at your reputation to answer that one. If you are World Class already, I would go for Kaiser Chiefs as their job will probably not be avaiable as often as a top Premier League team. If your reputation is "only" Continental I might would go for Man.Utd. as you could up your reputation and then be free to choose your team for ever in the future. (That is given if you could get the Man.Utd. job that is).

TheEarl · August 13, 2015

The Earls Ultimate Football Manager Challenge

Season 2023 – Corinthians / Brazil

if choosing Brazil after France was a bit of a surprise, choosing Corinthians in the summer of 2023 after leaving Paris SG must be an even bigger surprise. I had already won the Brazilian Serie A with International, but I missed Brazilian Cup and Copa Libertadores. That was one reason for choosing them, another the fact that as a manager of Brazil I would like to manage the best club in that country aswell. But the third reason is that unlike a lot others here, I enjoy managing in Brazil You play a lot of games and can develop a lot of players, and they can set some magnificent scoring records.

Board expectations Corinthians: Win everything, the league, state league, cup and Copa Libertadores.

Board expectations Brazil: Win Copa America.

Brazil first. We got a group in Copa America with Colombia, Bolivia and Costa Rica U23. Before the tournament we beat USA in a friendly 2-1. Then in the tournament itself we started off against reigning champions Colombia who have a lot of quality players, but we won 4-3. Malcolm from PSG scored 2 of the goals. In the second game we met Costa Rica U23 and smashed them 9-0. Top performer in this game was Carlos from Bayern Munich with 3 goals. In the final group game we won 4-0 against Bolivia with 4 different goalscoreres.

Quarter final we met Mexico U23 in the quarter final, and I expected an easy route to a potensial semifinal clash with Argentina. I rotated a bit on the squad but not too much, and we pressed on from the start. In the end the stats showed 29-10 in shots on goal for us but we lacked the finishing touch. Oscar scored in the 63rd minute to give us the lead. But Javier Robles equalized in the 74th minute. In the end the game went all the way until penalty shoot-out. Gabriel Barbosa missed our first penalty, the next 9 penalties where all converted and we lost 5-4 on penalties and where OUT of the tournament. A real shocker...

Needless to say much more about the Brazil job, immediately after the tournament I was sacked for the first time in my career. I tried to look for other jobs but was too slow so I will be out of national team to manage for quite some time.

With Corinthians it proved I took over just too late, the interim manager had lost the first leg of Copa Libertadores 4-1 to Estudiantes. We won the second leg with ..... just 4-1 and lost on penalties. This was only the second game with me as a manager, and the first chance to win Copa Libertadores was over. I took over the team after just 5 rounds in Serie A and we where 5th 2 points behind Santos but with a game in hand so virtual league leaders. The season was a peace of cake finishing with 96 points, 19 points ahead of Santos.

In the Brazilian Cup we got International in the 4th round and won 11-1 on aggregate. In the quarter finals we got Fortaleza and won 6-0 on aggregate. Semi final against Santos was the toughest one and we drew 2-2 away, winning 4-1 at home. In the final we smashed Gremio 8-0 on aggregate. Another landmark to add to my belt at least but a quite disappointing season.

Star players:

Top goalscorer: Ferreira - 53 goals

Top performer: Ferreira - 8,09 Av.r.

Top assists: Ferreira - 24 assists

Now I will play at least another half season with Corinthians to try to wrap up the Copa Libertadores.

--------------------------------------------

Challenges completed:

Club

4/10 top domestic leagues (Brazil,Italy,England,France)

5/10 domestic cups (Italy,English FA, English League Cup, French League Cup, Brazil)

1/5 club continental championships (Europe)

1/1 club world championship (with Roma)

International

1/5 continental tournaments (Africa)

1/2 world tournaments (World Cup with France)

8 minor Trophies: FA Trophy (England), League Two (England), Johnstone Paint Trophy (England), Italian Super Cup, Euro Super Cup, European Nations League, French Champions Trophy, Europa League

Competitions won more than once: UEFA Champions League won twice (Roma 2 times). Brazilian Serie A won twice (International and Corinthians)

---------------------------------------------

Managerial career clubs: