The Ultimate Football Manager

jaysdailydose · August 27, 2015

Well I found my new job. Amazingly to me I have a job in the Chinese Super League with Renhe. They have just finished 12th in the last season so I have a full pre season and 1.1mil to spend. I am amazed to get this job, certainly a good start

I'm almost positive that Vikeologist also was in charge of Renhe very early in his career. It's definitely a good start!

Wheresmyspacebar! · August 28, 2015

Wheresmyspacebars Challenge, Take2.

Season 2024/25(Ish)

I seem to be updating quite a bit and i apologise

For some reason, my game has suddenly sped up rapidly and the seasons seem to be going quite fast.

Im unfortunately becoming Semi-Homeless for a week or 2 from Sunday so i 100% wont be finishing the challenge until mid september (Unless i push for it today and tomorrow but got a lot of stuff to get sorted.).

Anyway, without further ado. Whos my season (and 2 months) with the Kaizer Chiefs.

South African Premier Soccer League

So, the SAPSL has "4 periods" and i won 3 of them (With Orlando Pirates winning the 2nd period).

Anyway, it started off really close, i was within 1-2 points until midway in the season when i started to push ahead.

Anyway, i only had 1 really key signing when i joined.

That was Mouloud Yousfi a 26 year old Algerian who i signed from Monaco for 2.6Million.

Anyway, with 26 Apps, 8 goals, 19 assists and 8 POM, my Left mid carried my side at the end of the season hard.

Averaging 8.27, he was a stalwart and helped the Chiefs to lift the League.

South African KO Cup.

The SA KO Cup is basically what the League Cup is in the EPL.

Its only got 4 rounda and i smashed it easily into the finals vs Black Aces.

It was definitely a harder game than i was expecting but a 1-0 victory gave me the double.

South African Super Eight Cup

Im assuming this is classified as another "Domestic Cup" as its only the top 8 teams in the country allowed?

Let me know if it isnt.

Anyway, definitely harder than the KO Cup.

A 3-0 win against FS Stars in the QF, led me into a SF against the Orlando Pirates.

A decent 2 leg, gave me a 10-5 agg win and a final vs Ajax CT.

In the final, a back and forth match ended with a 3-3 draw when Ajax scored in the 91st minute to take it to extra time.

My star striker got his Hat trick on the 108th minute to win us a treble though.

Be The Coach Challenge

Another cup.

Not worth much, just a challenge shield i take it.

Anyway, against the Orlando Pirates (Actually my first game in charge)

Close game but i prevailed 2-1 and earnt a Quadruple of cups.

African Champions League

So, a very weird competition.

Starts and ends weirdly. So whilst i was knocked out in the "2nd round" that was actually for the previous years tournament.

So i entered the first round again, early in the year.

An easy 11-2 Agg win in the Prelims took me through to the next round against the reigning champs.

A very difficult tie but i went through 5-4 on agg.

A tricky 2nd round tie as i had a ton of injuries and lost the first game 2-1 as i had to use a lot of youth players.

Getting most of my team back for the 2nd leg though, i won 4-0 and prgressed to the group stages.

Put into the easiest group by far.

There was no tricky games minus 1, i went through to the semis with 5 wins and a draw though.

Semis came and i played the runners up from last years tournament.

I lost 2-1 at home amazingly but managed to turn it away and walked out 4-2 on agg into the finals.

The final was even trickier.

A 2-0 victory away put me in the drivers seat for the return leg.

The away leg was difficult and i lost 5-3 but with the 2-0 leg at home, i won on away goals to take hom the ACL and the QUINTUPLE of cups for the season.

Moving On?

So, gonna be resigning from Kaizer Chiefs now.

Im probably going to stay resigned until i get a decent asian team OR either Juve/Roma/AC Milan.

I dunno how long this could take.

I may get lucky but who knows.

Internationals

My last hurrah with Spain.

The Confederations Cup 2025.

Drawn into a group with New Zealand, Nigeria and Brazil, top 2 was pretty much assured but it just depended on the brazil game.

With 2 wins in 2 against NZ and Nigeria, the decider against Brazil ended 3-3 (God damn Neymer and his goals) but i went through in 1st place with one more GD.

With a Semi-Final against South Korea (Amazing that they got out of their group), i wasnt too fussed.

I sent out a weaker team, resting my star striker and midfielder and walked away 4-0 and a trip against England in a reply of the European Championships about to start.

Definitely a hard game.

England took an early lead on the 5th minute before the oldguard of spain drew it to 2-1 with Marco Asensio and Paco Alcacer playing pretty much their last tournaments.

England equalised to make it 2-2 on the 59th minute.

Come the 90 minute mark, i was figuring out who to sub for ET when the new star striker for spain (Only 24, 17 goals in 15 apps for spain already) scored in the 92nd minute to earn Spain the Cup.

Leaving spain was hard. With the WC, EC and Confederations, ive put them back at the top and with amazing new players coming in (Like Carlos Fernandez) the future is exciting but i need to move around for other cups now.

As i said in my club part.

Im not completely teamless.

So, now its just time to wait and see

Managerial career:

[u]Domestic[/u]

2014/15: Baronovici. Finished 8th in the Belarusian First League and reached the QFs of the Belarusian Cup.
2015/16: Baronovici. Finished 2nd in the Belarusian First League, Promoted and reached the 3rd round of the Belarusian Cup
2016/17: Baronovici. Finished 1st in the Belarusian Highest League, also won the Belarusian Cup and the Super Cup
2017/18: Southampton. Finished 3rd in the English Premier League. Reached the 3rd round of the FA cup and the QFs of the Capital One cup
2018/19: Southampton. Finished 1st in the English Premier League. Won the FA and Capital One Cup. Knocked out in the 1st round of the Champions League
2019: Corinthians. Finished 1st in the Brazilian First League. Won the Brazilian Cup and the Copa Libertadines, as well as the World Cup Championship
2019/20: Sparta Prague. Won the Czech First Division.
2020/21: Real Madrid. Finished 1st in the Spanish League. Won the Spanish Cup and the European Champions Cup.
2021/22: PSG Finished 1st in Ligue 1. Won the French Champions Trophy and the French Cup.
2022/23: Schalke Finished 1st in Germany First Division, Won the German Cup.
2023/24: NYCFC Finished 3rd in MLS East Conf, Won the MLS Cup. Won the NACL.
2024/25: Kaizer Chiefs Finished 1st in SA Premier. Won the "Be a coach" challenge, Won the South African KO Cup, Won the South African Super 8 Cup, Won the African Champions League.

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

[u]International[/u]

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:
2019/20: Cape Verde.
2020/21: Spain. 5th In World
2021/22: Spain. Up to 1st in World, won the World Cup.
2022/23: Spain. Down to 8th in World.
2023/23: Spain. Won the European Championship.
2025: Spain. Won the Confederations Cup, up to 2nd in world.

Challenges completed:

Club

9/10 top domestic leagues (Belarus, England, Brazil, Czech Republic, Spain, France, Germany, MLS, South Africa)

9/10 domestic cups (Belarusian Cup, FA Cup, Capital One Cup, Brazilian Cup, Spanish Cup, French Cup, Germany Cup, South African Super 8, South African KO Cup)

4/5 club continental championships (Copa Liber, European Champions Cup, NACL, ACL)

1/1 club world championship (Won as Corinthians)

International

1/5 continental tournaments (EC Won as Spain.)

2/2 world tournaments (WC won as Spain, Confederations Cup won as Spain)

Other Cups: Super Cup (Belarus/Baronovichi) / Carribean Cup (Haiti) / French Champions Trophy (PSG), Be The Coach Challenge (South Africa)

Okay.

I lied about being unemployed for ages. 2 weeks after resigning, the Chinese leagues had finished andf Guangzhou (The dominant force in Asia) had a terrible season. Knocked out in semis of cups, bottom of group in Asian Champions league and only 2nd in the league.

I got that job sharpish and am now looking to finish up the domestics today (The chinese leagues are quite fast).

The only issue is that i can see why they didnt come first last season. They have a poor goalkeeper, a poor LB and need some new blood in. With £20M+ transfer and 1Mil wage budget thoug, that will happen sooner, rahter than later.

TheEarl · August 28, 2015

Congrats on all the fast landmarks Spacebar, good luck in China.

My next update should come later tonight.

vikeologist · August 28, 2015

WMSB? The South African Super 8 cup doesn't count, because as you pointed out, it's not open to all top division teams. Also, you'll need to win the Italian league to complete the league part of the challenge. Hopefully you'll be able to get the Asian Champions league with Guangzhou. (5 of the leagues are specified in the original rules). It can be any 10 (eligible) cups. Sorry to be such a daisy downer on your progress.

TheEarl · August 28, 2015

WMSB? The South African Super 8 cup doesn't count, because as you pointed out, it's not open to all top division teams. Also, you'll need to win the Italian league to complete the league part of the challenge. Hopefully you'll be able to get the Asian Champions league with Guangzhou. (5 of the leagues are specified in the original rules). It can be any 10 (eligible) cups. Sorry to be such a daisy downer on your progress.

:thup: good we have the "referee" here in Vike, still good luck Spacebar

TheEarl · August 28, 2015

The Earls Ultimate Football Manager Challenge

Season 2026/27 – Dortmund / France

First after reading updates here I can just tell that I from now backup my saves every month with multiple version not to loose any progress.

After leaving Ajax and Paraguay, I quickly found France was up for grabs. Since I left France last time their squad was even better from when I won World Cup with them 4 years ago. Now I wanted to win Euro Championships and hopefully qualify for Confederations Cup and win that one swell. Key player was still Paul Pogba, but also Bruno Eiras, George Nguekam, Nicolas Janvier and America Laporte was important players. First up was however was Nations League. As for club both Real Madrid and Bayern Munchen had changed their manager before I left Ajax. Dortmund became available during the summer though and I jumped to take their job. Dortmund had just finished seventh in their last season, barely qualifying for Europa League. I got a transfer budget of just 1,7M and the same for wage budget. The club was really uneven balanced, and I had to rely heavily on loan players. The most important being Miguel a striker from Real Madrid. Only real signing was French international striker Bruno Eiras who was bought after I sold a few older players.

Board expectations Dortmund: Qualify for Champions League through league participation, semi final of the cup, reach semi final of Europa League.

With France I used the games in Nations League to settle into the new formation. We drew Scotland and Italy in the group stage of Nations League. We won 1-0 and 4-1 against Scotland, and a 3-1 win and 1-1 draw against Italy gave us the victory in the group. We also won a few friendlies against Israel and Croatia. Spain was the opponent in the semi final the toughest game but we came out 2-1 winners. Belgium in the final was beaten soundly 4-0. We won a trophy but not the one we are looking for. In the qualifying for Euro Championship we got a group with Albania, Wales, Slovenia and Azerbaijan. So far we have played 2 games, a 1-1 draw against Albania at home was very disappointing, but we made up a bit by beating Wales 3-0 away.

With Dortmund I was a bit worried that last time I was in Germany I was beaten to the league title by Schalke. Bayern Munchen was still the wealthiest club by far margin ahead of Schalke and then Dortmund in 3rd. Schalke however was reigning champion the last 4 years. After 8 games I had won against Bayern and Schalke, but only got 19 points. Schalke had 21 just loosing to us but winning all other games.

After a few seasons with low injury rate, Dortmund was hampered with a lot of injuries. This and the face that the squad wasn't really that good made us slip up from time to time. In the end we won all 4 games against Bayern and Schalke, but we lost and drew against other teams that we really should beat. After 17 games (halfway through the season), the table looked like this:

Schalke 17-13-2-2 52-17 41

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

Dortmund 17-11-5-1 46-19 38

Bayern M. 17-12-1-4 41-17 37

In the second part of the season we steadied our game a bit but still we lost a game early on. With 9 games left to play we beat Schalke and went 1 point behind them. Both teams won their next 5 games however and then we had some injury problems again and lost to Nurnberg. Schalke won again so I was 4 points behind. In the 32nd round Schalke dream against Bayern and we won, so the deficit was down to 2 points. In the penultimate round both clubs won, so it was down to the final round. We had increased our scoring quite a bit so we where ahead on goal difference and needed to win and Schalke to play a draw. Our game was won soundly 6-2 home to Hamburg. Schalke went down surprisingly 0-2 early on to Borussia MG, but fought back to 2-2. They could never close out the game so in the end we won the league on goal difference. 83 points to each clubs in 34 games, Dortmund with +75 and Schalke with +60 in goal difference.

Quick updates on German Cup and Europa League. In the German Cup we went to quarter final where we dissapointingly lost 1-2 to Hoffenheim away. Europa League was won by beating former club Ajax 5-2 in the final.

Star players:

Top goalscorer: Miguel - 35 goals

Top performer: Saul - 8,31 Av.rat

Top assists: Miguel - 24 assists

Next up I want to find a club in Spain, S.Africa,S.Korea, but I need an extra cup title so Portugal/Greece could also be an option.

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

Challenges completed:

Club

7/10 top domestic leagues (Brazil,Italy,England,France, Mexico (Apertura/Clausura), Holland, Germany)

6/10 domestic cups (Italy,English FA, English League Cup, French League Cup, Brazil, Holland)

3/5 club continental championships (Europe, S.America, N.America)

1/1 club world championship (Roma)

International

1/5 continental tournaments (Africa)

1/2 world tournaments (World Cup with France and Paraguay)

9 minor Trophies: FA Trophy (England), League Two (England), Johnstone Paint Trophy (England), Italian Super Cup, Euro Super Cup, European Nations League (France 2 times), French Champions Trophy, Europa League (both with Paris SG, Ajax and Dortmund), Sao Paulo State Championship

Competitions won more than once: UEFA Champions League won twice (Roma 2 times). Brazilian Serie A won twice (International and Corinthians), Mexican League won both Apertura and Clausura (America MEX), World Cup (France, Paraguay)

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

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.

2023 Corinthians Played in Brazilian Serie A, took over in 5th, won the league, won the cup (eleventh club landmark), lost in quarter finals of Copa Libertadores.

2024 Corinthians Played in Sao Paulo State Championship, won the State Championship, won Copa Libertadores (twelfth club landmark), left the club in Brazilian Serie A as virtual league leaders after 8 games.

2024/25 America (MEX), Played in Liga MX, took over in Apertura Stage with 5 games to go in 2nd position. Won the Apertura League and the Apertura Playoffs (thirteenth club landmark). Won the Clausura League and Clausura Playoffs. Won the North American Champions League (fourteenth club landmark). Left the club at end of season.

2025/26 Ajax, Played in Eresdivsie. Won the league (fifteenth club landmark), won the Dutch Cup (sixteenth club landmark), won Europa League. Left the club at the end of the season.

2026/27 Dortmund, Played in Bundesliga. Won the league on goal difference (seventeenth club landmark), lost in quarter final of DFB Pokal, won Europa League. Manager of the year in Bundesliga. Didn't leave club at end of season, but applied for other jobs.

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

2023 Brazil lost in quarter finals of Copa America, sacked.

2024 France joined but resigned without playing any games.

2025 Paraguay joined in 6th position of World Cup Qualifying, qualified in 3rd position. Joined at 62nd position of World Rankings.

2026 Paraguay, Won World Cup, left the nation as number 1 in the World Rankings.

2026 France, joined in 10th position on World Rankings, won group stage of Nations League

2027 France, won Nations League, played 2 games of Euro Championships Qualifiers so far. Currently 7th in World Rankings

ashton321 · August 29, 2015

Tianjin- Season Review 2015

Tianjin

So for my second go at this challenge (maybe 3rd if you count my time with Renhe which didn't really get going) I decided to go into Classic Mode as I do struggle a little for time so I think using Classic will allow me to go deep into this challenge.

I took over Tianjin just before the start of the new season after year where they finished 12th. They decided to go in a different direction and that direction was me a 20 year old manager from England, which was a surprise.

I began with a lose before stringing together a very good few wins. We looked good against the lower teams in the league but really struggled against the higher ranked teams. I suffered from a lack consistency and this shown in the league form. Injuries really were a big problem this year we had a good team but if someone got injured we didn't have the squad depth to cope with that.

I really struggled to add new players as I didn't really have the money to do it and no one was really available to join us.

In the end 3rd was a good place for us to finish but I was a little gutted that I didn't get the title as we were so very close to doing. A little more consistency and more luck with the injuries and I may have done it.

In terms of next season I am not sure. All of my Foreign players are leaving and they were the spine of my team so they will all need replacing, no one else seems to be out in China to really improve the team. I am not sure it may be a short stint here and then move but I am not sure yet.

League

Career Summary


Season     Team          League          	  Position         Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015     Tianjin            CSL                   3rd                       N/A

Trophy Cabinet

Wheresmyspacebar! · August 29, 2015

WMSB? The South African Super 8 cup doesn't count, because as you pointed out, it's not open to all top division teams. Also, you'll need to win the Italian league to complete the league part of the challenge. Hopefully you'll be able to get the Asian Champions league with Guangzhou. (5 of the leagues are specified in the original rules). It can be any 10 (eligible) cups. Sorry to be such a daisy downer on your progress.

Oh i knew about the Italian leagues, dont worry about that

I also thought that would be the case with the S8 Cup.

Im not worried about the italian league in the slightest, just the Asian Champions League haha

ashton321 · August 29, 2015

Tianjin- Season Review 2016

Tianjin

I made the decision to stay in China and I really enjoyed my off season trying to build a team capable of putting a challenge for the league.

We got knocked out of the Champions League in the 1st qualifying round by an Australian team. The league began well and after 10 games we were 2nd very much in with a chance of pushing further up the league. I then spotted that the Penarol job was open and I applied. What a mistake that was as I sacked and left to look for another job. I am not happy Tianjin will live to regret this decison

Sacked

Career Summary


Season     Team          League          	  Position         Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015     Tianjin            CSL                   3rd                       N/A
2016     Tianjin            CSL                  SACKED

Trophy Cabinet

jaysdailydose · August 29, 2015

As long as you only declare interest in the job, you are usually fine. Then, if the club wants you, they will come in for you for the interview.

Best way to try to be upwardly mobile without losing your job. Sorry you got the sack.

Wheresmyspacebar! · August 30, 2015

Ahhhhh, Ashton.

Rookie mistake

Hopefully you find a better team though following the sack haha.

Not so much an update on my game (Which im currently half way through the Chinese league, in first and SFs of the asian CL, i also became the manager of Brazil ) but on my life.

Due to monetary issues (Being a student sucks) and moving house/deposit issues, i will be dropping off the forums/challenge for a bit.

I wont have anywhere to store my PC (Which is a big homebuilt PC) and i need to put it into storage for a while.

It could be 2 weeks until im back or it could be 2 months.

Hopefully 1 or 2 of you will be able to finish this by then (Im sure you will) and i'll have some good material to read on my return

Anyway, catch you all in a bit

ashton321 · August 30, 2015

Yeah I did feel like it was a mistake. I am off to SA

sherwinriga · August 30, 2015

Ashton, what's your Plan B? Go with another Chinese team to manage and get revenge against Tianjin or find other teams that aren't good during the season?

ashton321 · August 30, 2015

Ashton, what's your Plan B? Go with another Chinese team to manage and get revenge against Tianjin or find other teams that aren't good during the season?

I will more than likely return to China at some stage but just before the start of the South African season I took over a decent team there

ashton321 · August 30, 2015

Moroka Swallows- Season Review 2017/18

Moroka Swallows

I was out of the game for much longer than I would have liked but I felt like the next job was going to be a big one as I felt it had to be at a club that I could do something with and with someone that I could enjoy playing with.

This is a team I believe a few have played with so that is always good fun to compare how everyone else gets on.

I began the season with not great form and for a short time it was looking that I may struggle to keep my job as we were really poor. I managed to bring in a couple of new names that would help the squad.

This seemed to have turned the squad round massively as we then began to pick up some cracking form. anyone who knows about playing in South Africa will know that the big teams do really take some beating and in this league Kaizer Chiefs, Supersport and the Orlando Pirates are the good sides and are tough to beat. The pirates seem to be struggling these last couple of years but they are still a tough proposition. I was never really in the league and knew that the title would be far to much to ask of this team in the end 5th was a great position and one that I could be pleased with.

Know for the cups we have done well this year. We got knocked out in both semi finals of the Super 8s and the KO cup by [bKaizer Chiefs[/b] this was a disappointment but we were miles away from them. Lucky enough in the FA Cup Kaizer got knocked out in the 2nd round and it was open for us to win it. Which we duly did.

As for next year I am keen to stay and chance my arm in Continental competition. I may consider leaving if the Chiefs or Pirates decide to sack their manager but even then I am not sure as I am building a good young hungry squad here.

League

Career Summary


Season     Team          League          	  Position         Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015     Tianjin            CSL                   3rd                       N/A
2016     Tianjin            CSL                  SACKED        
2017/18  Swallows           SA Premier            5th                       FA Cup Winners

Trophy Cabinet


2017/18 - South African FA Cup - Swallows

jaysdailydose · August 30, 2015

Well, there is much bad news for the American Werewolf.

Luckily, I'd been managing very well, and it looked like I'd be able to dig Bristol City off the scrap-heap.

Unluckily, my laptop, which was on its last legs after years of use, finally died last evening. My local computer shop that I love said there was essentially nothing I could do to salvage it as both the hard drive and motherboard got fried by a power failure in a storm last evening. I had just had the CPU plugged into the wall on the charger and didn't have it on a surge suppressor as I was not expecting to be gone as long as I was.

At least I had a little bit more luck, and I was able to afford to purchase a new machine, and I've been loading all my relevant software and such since this morning. My CPU shop gave me a very nice deal for repeat business, so I'm happy about that.

Unfortunately, I did not have any of my saves backed up to any alternative storage, so literally all of my FM15 saves are gone, except for some Dafuge starts that I had saved on a CD, but those aren't going to qualify for an Ultimate Manager save.

So I will be reloading a new world and hoping for some REAL luck this time around... and with a stronger machine to boot.

My biggest relief (other than being able to afford a new machine) is that I had not progressed in the challenge as far as someone like a NormandyWept or a Vikeologist and losing all my progress. But, unfortunately, you'll have to deal with one more restart from me, this one completely out of my control. I hope you will continue to support and follow my progress! I will be reviving my blog for the new game, but I will always post a seasonal update here as I know Vikeologist does not have access to Wordpress in his country.

mayihavecookie · August 30, 2015

I'm travelling at the moment and don't have much time to play or read the forum, so I missed about fifty posts and won't even try to comment on everything. Some of you seem to be progressing really well, and it's nice to see vikeologist back in the challenge. ashton, pity you didn't go to Renhe, they're a great team to start this challenge. The squad is a mess, but there's enough money to build something in two or three years.

I asked you guys if I should go for Kaiser Chiefs or Manchester United a while ago and I took the Kaizer Chiefs job, because I think it won't come up again so soon. I only finished the pre season so far and I won't play again until mid September when I get back home.

TheEarl · August 31, 2015

Sad to see all the people with problems/issues here, but good luck to all of you!

I am halfway into next season, so expect an update on wednesday/thursday.

ashton321 · August 31, 2015

I'm travelling at the moment and don't have much time to play or read the forum, so I missed about fifty posts and won't even try to comment on everything. Some of you seem to be progressing really well, and it's nice to see vikeologist back in the challenge. ashton, pity you didn't go to Renhe, they're a great team to start this challenge. The squad is a mess, but there's enough money to build something in two or three years.
I asked you guys if I should go for Kaiser Chiefs or Manchester United a while ago and I took the Kaizer Chiefs job, because I think it won't come up again so soon. I only finished the pre season so far and I won't play again until mid September when I get back home.

Good luck with the Chiefs mate they are great side in my save and one I am finding it hard to overturn. My Renhe save never really got going as I decided I wanted to give this a go using Classic as I don't have as much time free as I would like.

Sad to see all the people with problems/issues here, but good luck to all of you!
I am halfway into next season, so expect an update on wednesday/thursday.

Good stuff cant wait

The_Gato_In_Goal · August 31, 2015

Gato's Great Managerial Gamble

Racing Club - 2027

I'm baaaaaaack!

After rebooting the save I found that I was managing Sao Paulo in Brazil, but I left them for this job after the Racing Club boss left for Olympiacos in Greece. They were reigning Copa Libertadores champs, so it was a no-brainer to take them over. My goal is to win everything available in Argentina (CL, League, Cup) since for the first season in a while I didn't win anything.

Argentine Premier Division - When I took over we were 3rd and we kept winning, but unfortunately so did River Plate (we bet them in our only meeting 1-0).

Copa Argentina - Before I took over.

Copa Libertadores - Before i took over (unfortunately).

Transfers - I didn't bring anyone in or out.

Squad - We had a combined total of 1 fullback (and he was on loan), so that needs work. Also, we only had 2 center backs.

Key Player Profiles:

Coming next season since I didn't manage for that long:).

Progress

Club

2/10 top domestic leagues (England, Germany)

3/10 domestic cups (England, South Africa, Germany)

1/5 club continental championships (Europe)

1/1 club world championship

International

2/5 continental tournaments (Africa, Europe)

2/2 world tournaments (Confederations Cup, World Cup)

[b]CLUB

Season        Nation/Club          League                            Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/b]
2014/15       SPN/CD Tudelano       13th               Took over after 11 games, in 18th
2015/16       ENG/Dartford           -                   Sacked after 11 games, in 9th
2016          SWE/IFK Luleå         2nd                            Promotion
2016-17       ENG/Gateshead         5th                            Promotion
2017-18       ENG/Preston           21st                              N/A
2018-19       ENG/Preston           9th                   Resigned at end of season
2019-20       ENG/Fulham            16th                  Took over after 25 games, in 18th
2020-21       ENG/Swansea           17th               Took over with 11 games left, in 19th
2021-22       ENG/Swansea           8th                               N/A
2022-23       ENG/Swansea           10th                    Resigned at end of season
2023-24       ENG/Arsenal           1st                    BPL, Community Shield, UCL
2024-25       ENG/Arsenal           1st                      BPL, C1C, CWC, FA Cup
2025-26       RSA/Kaizer Chiefs     2nd                        SAFA Cup, SAK Cup
2026-27       GER/Bayern Munich     1st                      Bundesliga, DFB Pokal
2027          BRA/São Paulo         -                        In and out quickly
2027          ARG/Racing Club       2nd                              N/A

[b]
International

Season        Nation          Highest Ranking                            Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/b]
2014/15       
2015/16            
2016-17      
2017-18       
2018-19      Nigeria                15th                                  N/A
2019-20      Nigeria                13th                                  N/A
2020-21      Nigeria                13th                             AFCON winners
2021-22      Nigeria                10th                          Resigned in January
2022-23      Holland                17th                                  N/A
2023-24      Holland                22nd                                  N/A
2024-25      Holland                3rd                              Euro Winners
2025-26      Holland                1st                             Confed. Cup, WC
2026/27

jaysdailydose · August 31, 2015

Bah, I hate new CPU's...

Didn't have everything setup right with the competition names and all that, so I had to start over... no Burton, no how.

Spent most of the morning making sure everything was setup, and spinning the unemployed wheel one last time.

NormandyWept · August 31, 2015

Congratulations to you all on recent progress, but especially to vikeologist...

Gz on the Newcastle job though
Decent team to build over 2-3 years and win the stuff with.

No, not a decent team: the biggest and best club in the whole of English football. Surely destined for greatness. Make it happen vikeologist, I want to see a CL trophy for the mighty Magpies please!

The_Gato_In_Goal · September 1, 2015

The new season's looking good as I beat the 8th place team from last year with style in our first league game this season.

LPLQRjI.png?1

EDIT: Realized that you couldn't tell the score was 8-0.

BustaRaymes · September 1, 2015

Busta - How come you don't do the challenges completed thing?

I actually don't know why. Guess I couldn't be bothered as I'm not even close to finishing much. Next update, which will be in about 2 days, I'll include it.

jaysdailydose · September 2, 2015

No big fanfare, my brain can't take it after the new installation into the new CPU and all the drama.

I have been hired at Stevenage and I will be taking over to begin the 2015-16 season... Thanks for the support.

brettney1980 · September 2, 2015

The Ultimate Challenge: Brettney Edition;

Season 2027/28.

Dortmund

Where do you go after winning the Champions League with Barcelona!? ... Borussia Dortmund of course. Bayern Munich are dominating the German League 13 Titles in the last 16 Seasons says it all (for those keeping score Schalke and Dortmund (x2) have the other two). We started the season well not losing a game at all in our first 10 League games, but Munich just don't seem to lose at all. In 3 games against Bayern though we won 2 and drew the other which has to be a huge plus, even though they won the league pretty comfortably by 11 points winning 30 of the 34 matches.... This is going to be a tough league to crack!

In the German Cup we did much better and after beating Bayern in the Q-Final i knew we had a great chance. We beat Nurnburg 2-0 in the final to bring home a Trophy (another one that Bayern had won 13 in the last 16 Seasons, Dortmunds first German cup win in 18).

3 wins and a draw is enough to see us qualify from our Champions league group (with a couple of hiccups). But who do we draw in the next round!? None other than my previous club Man Utd, who proceed to dump us out, a 1-0 loss at Home followed by a 3-1 loss at Old Trafford...

The Squad|Bundesliga Table|Finances

Key Players;

Ronald Ferrari|Ryoo Jin-Sung|Hafizou Mingolo

Transfers;

Youth Candidates.

My Landmarks...

700 Games in management!

In other news, look whos finally won the Champions League!!!

International Neew: I have finally gotten myself another job after months of searching... I'll be taking over the team ranked 2nd in the FIFA Rankings in France!

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!!
2026/27 Barcelona 1st Liga,Cup,Champ Treble. Champs League won!!!
2027/28 Dortmund 2nd Won the German Cup!! German Cup, 2nd in League.

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 - German Cup - (Dortmund)

7 -

8 -

9 -

10 -

FIFA Club World Cup -

TheEarl · September 2, 2015

Does anyone know what the difference between the Challenge Cup and the Champions League in Africa? As I am soon planning a move there.

NormandyWept · September 2, 2015

Season 2067/68 - Valencia

League | Schedule Part 1 , Part 2 & Part 3

The summer of 2067 saw me return to another of my old hunting grounds, Neuva Mestella, as Valencia appointed me as manager for a second spell. It always felt that this was a club where I had particular unfinished business, so I was delighted to return, even if the club was in a financial mess which meant I had to rely on free transfers and loans for my first campaign.

Luckily the players already at the club were very solid, or in the case of 21-year-old Belgian winger Lander Verschueren, very special, and although we never threatened to challenge a dominant Real Madrid for the title, we were clearly the second club in Spain and finished as such in La Liga to secure a return to the Champions League.

Returning to the Champions League had always been the priority, but it was still disappointing to see Atletico stunningly turn our Copa del Rey Quarter-Final on its head in the second leg just when it seemed I was in with a chance of adding that to my challenge landmarks.

Hopefully a return to Europe's elite will allow me the money to bring Valencia a step closer to Madrid in short order, although there is takeover speculation in the meantime stopping me from making early signings. Hopefully that will resolve itself and we'll be able to strengthen ahead of the second season of my second spell.

Challenge Progress

Club

6/10 top domestic leagues (ARG, FRA, IND, ITA, KOR, USA)

7/10 domestic cups (AUS, BRA, FRA, IND, ITA, KOR, MEX)

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

1/1 club world championship

International

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

2/2 world tournaments (WC, Confed.)

Seasons

CLUB CAREER
                               Leagues        Cups
Season        Club           1st      2nd    1st  2nd   Cont.   CWC   Other & Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
2064/65  ITA  Lazio          10th             R1
2065/65  ITA  Lazio           9th             QF
2066/67  ITA  Juventus        1st             won       CL R1
2067/68  ESP  Valencia        2nd             QF        EL GS

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

                        Rank         Cups
Year  Nation           FIFA  NL   World  Cont. Conf. Other & Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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

jaysdailydose · September 2, 2015

Does anyone know what the difference between the Challenge Cup and the Champions League in Africa? As I am soon planning a move there.

Do you not have the correct competition names fix? Because I spent plenty of time in Africa, and my "patched" game with the competition names only has the Irish Senior Challenge Cup and the Scottish League Challenge Cup...

The_Gato_In_Goal · September 2, 2015

Gato's Great Managerial Gamble

Racing Club - 2028

We were able to retain the Copa Libertadores halfway through the season before I saw the Juventus manager retired, so I took over Juventus even though I didn't actually finish the domestic season in Argentina.

Argentine Premier Division - Makes me wish I won this last year, but we were 5 points behind the leaders halfway through the season when I resigned.

Copa Argentina - We might have been able to win it, but I resigned.

Copa Libertadores - As I said, we won this quite easily which ticks off my time in South America with their crazy league systems. I'm looking forward to go back to Europe .

Club World Cup - Almost won it actually, lost in extra time against my former Arsenal team.

Transfers - Brought in 2 good fullbacks and a backup center back.

Squad - Good enough for me to win the CL.

Key Player Profiles:

Leandro Mendoza - Got him on loan for 2 straight years and he hasn't disappointed.

Hector Acosta - Him and Mendoza were perfect raumdeuters for me.

Sergio Caceres - Solid as a rock in defense.

Progress

Club

2/10 top domestic leagues (England, Germany)

3/10 domestic cups (England, South Africa, Germany)

2/5 club continental championships (Europe, South America)

1/1 club world championship

International

2/5 continental tournaments (Africa, Europe)

2/2 world tournaments (Confederations Cup, World Cup)

[b]CLUB

Season        Nation/Club          League                            Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/b]
2014/15       SPN/CD Tudelano       13th               Took over after 11 games, in 18th
2015/16       ENG/Dartford           -                   Sacked after 11 games, in 9th
2016          SWE/IFK Luleå         2nd                            Promotion
2016-17       ENG/Gateshead         5th                            Promotion
2017-18       ENG/Preston           21st                              N/A
2018-19       ENG/Preston           9th                   Resigned at end of season
2019-20       ENG/Fulham            16th                  Took over after 25 games, in 18th
2020-21       ENG/Swansea           17th               Took over with 11 games left, in 19th
2021-22       ENG/Swansea           8th                               N/A
2022-23       ENG/Swansea           10th                    Resigned at end of season
2023-24       ENG/Arsenal           1st                    BPL, Community Shield, UCL
2024-25       ENG/Arsenal           1st                      BPL, C1C, CWC, FA Cup
2025-26       RSA/Kaizer Chiefs     2nd                        SAFA Cup, SAK Cup
2026-27       GER/Bayern Munich     1st                      Bundesliga, DFB Pokal
2027          BRA/São Paulo         -                        In and out quickly
2027          ARG/Racing Club       2nd                              N/A
2028          ARG/Racing Club         -                       Copa Libertadores

[b]
International

Season        Nation          Highest Ranking                            Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/b]
2014/15       
2015/16            
2016-17      
2017-18       
2018-19      Nigeria                15th                                  N/A
2019-20      Nigeria                13th                                  N/A
2020-21      Nigeria                13th                             AFCON winners
2021-22      Nigeria                10th                          Resigned in January
2022-23      Holland                17th                                  N/A
2023-24      Holland                22nd                                  N/A
2024-25      Holland                3rd                              Euro Winners
2025-26      Holland                1st                             Confed. Cup, WC
2026/27    
2027/28

BustaRaymes · September 2, 2015

SPORTING KANSAS CITY

2026 report

Competitions: http://imgur.com/vFjvNhT

We got knocked out of the NACL by Santos Laguna right away, and I was a little bummed out by that. They went on to win it all and we came pretty close in terms of possession and chances. However, I was able to keep the majority of the squad together, so I went for a cup run. Man, I suck at cups. This season was no different, so again no new achievements. We did however reach the final of the MLS again, so that's pretty cool. Other than that, nothing new. I played out the season on auto-pilot and I'm going for one last shot at the NACL before moving on and going for the bigger, challenge-mandatory leagues in Europe.

Squad: http://imgur.com/Whlb9V9

At the start, I sold the aging Phil Denny, and I also had to sell stronge centre back Kasper Kingo. With about three quarters of the season gone, I lost Belgian star defender Guy Arnaud to Celtic. No problem, as the NACL groups are easy and I had a decent backup in US youngster Mike Tyler. I was going to lose him after the season anyway. The problem that I'm facing now is that a lot of players attract interest from European clubs and they all want to move if there's an offer for them. Cropper just wants out because he needs a new challenge, Hernandez already signed at SC Heerenveen, and I can only hope clubs don't come in for Ryan, Lundh, Klasanovic, Zayat and Graham. I've already created an extensive list of replacements (and even signed one absolute beast), because I want to have a strong squad for the NACL QF. I wouldn't even mind if I can only register 11 good players due to restrictions, as long as they are top shelf. The youth squad is really talented so they can be my backups.

Star Players:

Michael McCormick http://imgur.com/hwSOiEX

Because of tough injuries for Klasanovic, Lundh and Ryan throughout the season he played in 3 different positions, but he rarely disappoints. Really happy he doesn't attract a lot of interest.

Sun Qiang http://imgur.com/SSxhczs

I was not really impressed with Klasanovic and Ressureiçao up front, so I had to get another striker. Call it a gamble (not even that) or a panic move (that's more what this was), the Chinese did way better than I expected.

Now what?

Finish the NACL, be happy or sad about it, then move to Europe.

Was that all?

Nope.

Please tell me more, Ray!

Ok. Well, after the WC ended, a few countries opened up. Since it's been a while and international manament is needed for the challenge, I applied for all. I expected Nigeria, hoped for Croatia, but then there was the fallen (yes. fallen. they're 15th now) nation of

BRAZIL

Nothing much has happened yet. We won the Superclasico in a really ugly way (Argentina was waaaaay better) so everyone's happy. Copa America coming up in June.

Challenge landmarks (blatantly copied from jaysdailydose):

Club:

Leagues (2/10): Hong Kong (Kitchee), USA (Kansas)

Cups (2/10): Hong Kong (Kitchee), China (Renhe)

Continental (0/5)

World (0/1)

International:

Continental (0/5)

World (0/2)

BustaRaymes · September 3, 2015

I need to rant for a bit here.

The board decided to do takeover talks in January. This meant that I couldn't sign any players without contracts in the Superdraft on the 8th. No problem, I thought, I can sign them when the takeover is done.

It is now the 27th. Still no transfers possible. The first NACL QF leg is in less than 2 weeks. Meanwhile, my ****** technical director decided to sell Qiang, Ressureiçao and Zayat, all for next to nothing, to other MLS clubs. My squad is being destroyed and I can't do **** about it. I need a goalie, 3 defenders and a striker to even stand a chance in the NACL, and by now the players are bitching that I have to strenghten the squad. **** that.

dllu · September 3, 2015

Getting so close - I'm beginning to think you will actually complete this before FM16 comes out... :thup:

TheEarl · September 3, 2015

Getting so close - I'm beginning to think you will actually complete this before FM16 comes out...

Who? All of us or just a certain manager?

TheEarl · September 3, 2015

The Earls Ultimate Football Manager Challenge

Season 2027/28 – Real Madrid / France

As mentioned last time I didn't leave Dortmund, but still applied for other jobs and quickly found Real Madrid as an opener. It suited me perfectly as I needed the Spanish La Liga title in my quest and atleast a domestic Cup title to close in on those landmarks. I was still with the France setup looking for a Euro Championship title that is missing in my trophy cabinet together with the chance to qualify for Confederations Cup.

Real Madrid was the most reputable club in the world, but not as wealthy as Paris SG or Man.City but still wealthier than Barcelona. Barcelona had won La Liga the last 2 seasons though, so I expected a close run for the title. I got a 4,2M pound wage budget but only a 2M pound transfer budget. So i closed to alter the budget quite heavily to put the money into transfer and not wages. That meant removing some deadwood in the squad and finding some players who didn't require too high wages.

Raphael Varane and James Rodriquez was just 2 of 15 players to leave the club, but I kept Isco and Martin Ødegård. Ødegård had been names World Player of The Year 2 of the last 3 years. I bought a goalkeeper from Paraguay who wasn't top notch but decent enough, Bruno Eiras came in from Dortmund and Luis Miguel Trejo from Ajax, then Brazilian midfielder Daniel from Sampdoria was my most expensive player and I used several years of budget to acquire him.

Board expectations Real Madrid: Win La Liga, reach Final of Champions League, Spanish Cup not important to the board.

In the league it was really one way traffic right from the start, we drew the second game of the season away to Valencia 2-2, which proved to be a bit annoying as we then won 36 straight league games after that. For me a record 112 points out of maximum 114 and unbeaten season was recorded. Barcelona had a miserable season finishing 44 points behind us in 3rd place. Athletic took second place 2 points ahead of Barcelona but still 42 points behind us. We where league champions already 10 games from home. Scoring 145 goals and letting in only 13 goals.

In Champions League we got a group with Juventus, Shakhtar and Hearts. We won 5 games and lost only away 1-0 to Juventus. In the First Knockout Round we got Liverpool, and won 2-0 away and followed up that with 4-1 at home for a total 6-1 aggregate win. In the quarter final however it was a total fluke. Schalke has a really good squad as described last season and it was even better this year. Away we got smashed by 5-1 in a highly entertaining game, at home we could only manage a 1-0 win and a total aggregate loss of 5-2.

Spanish Cup was far easier we won 16-0 on aggregate against Melilla in the 4th Round. In the 5th Round we beat Athletic 7-0 on aggregate. Quarter Final saw the toughest game against Real Betis loosing 1-2 away, but winning 3-0 at home for a total 4-2 aggregate win. Barcelona never stood a chance in the Semi Final 6-0 aggregate win after 5-0 at home. The finally Deportivo was crushed 6-0 in the Final. Double titles on the first try in Spain and I was happy with the club part of the season.

Star players:

Top goalscorer: Bruno Eiras - 63 goals

Top performer: Martin Ødegård - 8,66 Av.rat

Top assists: Angel Correa - 28 assists

With France we qualified easily for the Euro Championship, after the draw against Albania we won every game taking 22 out of 24 maximum points. The board expected minimum a Semi Final place in the Championship itself.

We drew a group against Holland, Serbia and Albania and had to be pleased with the group that could have been harder and easier.

In the first game we played 1-1 against Holland after a goal from Rachid Pierson. Then we beat Albania 3-1 after goals from Pierson, Kylian Gouano and Michel Gaillard.

In the final game we where ahead of Holland on goal difference but they where going to play Albania, so I expected a high scoring win was needed to win the group. Serbia was beaten 7-1 after goals from Eiras 4, Pogba, Laporte and Nicolas Janvier.

Maybe we where a bit cocky going into 2nd Round where we got Ukraine. We took the lead from an Eiras goal in the first half, but then Ukraine equalized early in the second half from the penalty spot. Abdelaziz Chakouri was then sent off and Ukraine scored a second goal. We could never come back with 10 men and was hugely disappointed to be knocked out in the 2nd Round. No Euro Championship trophy and no qualification for Confederations Cup.

I immediately resigned from both Real Madrid and France. Next season I will take over Kaizer Chiefs and Spain.

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

Challenges completed:

Club

8/10 top domestic leagues (Brazil,Italy,England,France, Mexico (Apertura/Clausura), Holland, Germany, Spain)

7/10 domestic cups (Italy,English FA, English League Cup, French League Cup, Brazil, Holland, Spain)

3/5 club continental championships (Europe, S.America, N.America)

1/1 club world championship (Roma)

International

1/5 continental tournaments (Africa)

1/2 world tournaments (World Cup with France and Paraguay)

9 minor Trophies: FA Trophy (England), League Two (England), Johnstone Paint Trophy (England), Italian Super Cup, Euro Super Cup, European Nations League (France 2 times), French Champions Trophy, Europa League (both with Paris SG, Ajax and Dortmund), Sao Paulo State Championship

Competitions won more than once: UEFA Champions League won twice (Roma 2 times). Brazilian Serie A won twice (International and Corinthians), Mexican League won both Apertura and Clausura (America MEX), World Cup (France, Paraguay)