Britain and Ireland Steel Challenge

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2041/2 PSNI Report

 

 

A massive step down the managerial ladder as I left Middlesbrough in the English Premier League to take over PSNI in the bottom Northern Irish Division; at 247^th the lowest ranked division by far that I’ll take part in for this challenge, and the first time I’ve ever managed in the nation.

 

All my players are non-contract, but luckily none of them opted to leave when other teams approached them.

 

There’s only 27 league matches a season, but we also had 4 cups to take part in.

 

Half way through the season we reached a Cup Final, the Steel and Sons Cup. It was a huge match, not just because I wanted to achieve a landmark, but also because the £50k prize money would clear off our debt, while losing carried a prize fund of zero. It went to penalties, with both teams reduced to 10 men because of sendings off but our luck was in, and we won the shootout 5-4.

 

We led the league basically all season, but went into the last match in 1^st only on goal difference. We lost, our rivals won, and we’d thrown it away at the last moment. With only one win from our last 5 matches, my team clearly lacked bottle.

 

That still left us with the possibility of promotion against the team who’d finished 2^nd from bottom of the league above. Useless to me for the challenge of course. Nonetheless, we won the 2-legged playoff quite easily. In a way, it’s a frustrating part of the challenge to gain promotion, but know you’re going to have to go through the whole division shebang again. Then again, I doubt I’m going to actually complete the entire challenge anyway. Might as well just enjoy success when it comes.

 

The season wasn’t finished yet. We’d reached the final of another competition; the Northern Irish Intermediate Cup. However this is a much tougher cup to win from our division because you’re up against teams from the division above and we were facing the Championship Champions, and much bigger club than us, Portadown, whose wage bill is something like 160 times ours. To be fair, our entire wage bill is spent on staff. All our players are non-contract.

 

Anyway, we nearly pulled off the upset. In a ding-dong battle we lost 5-4 late in extra time.

 

So, kind of a successful season, but in the end, just one landmark to show for it.

 

I might stay on at PSNI, but it depends what else becomes available close season.

 

29/30	Newcastle	Ch		1st		Cakewalk.
30/31	Bradford PA	Van North	15th
31/32	Bradford PA	Van North	7th		Knocked out in 1st round of playoffs.
32/33	Bradford PA	Van North			Left at end of January with team in 5th place. 
32/33	Hibernian	Scottish PL	3rd		Took team from 6th to 3rd. Europa League Q/F, Scottish Cup Losing Finalists
33/34	Hibernian	SPL		2nd		Finished 2nd on inferior goal difference. Qualified for CL.
34/35	Hibernian	SPL		1st		League, Betfred Cup, Scottish Cup
35/36	Man City	EPL		4th		FA Cup and Champions League
36/37	Man City	EPL		1st		League and Champions League
37/38	Man City	EPL		1st		Community Shield, European SuperCup, Club World Cup, Checkatrade Trophy, FA Cup
38/39	Man City	EPL				Left after matches 18 matches in 3rd place.
38/39	Watford		EPL		7th		Took over after 18 matches in 17th place. Failed to win either Carabao or Europa League.
39/40	Middlesbrough	EPL		6th		Carabao Cup, Europa League S/F
40/41	Middlesbrough	EPL				Lost in EL Q/F. Left in 5th place with 4 matches to go.
41/42	PSNI		PIL		2nd		Steel & Sons Cup, lost league on last day of season. Promoted through playoffs. Intermediate Cup losing finalists


International
Year	Team				Achievements
23-24	Ireland				7 months, 2 matches, 2 defeats.
24-28	Scotland			Promotion from Nations League C. 
					2026 World Cup 2nd round.
					Promotion from Nations League B
					2028 Euros - 1 point from group stage and sacked.
28-35	Wales				Failed to win promotion from Nations League B or qualify for the 2030 World Cup
					Promotion from Nations League B.
					Qualified for 2032 Euros and knocked out in group stage
					Relegated from Nations League A.
					Qualified for 2034 World Cup


Challenge Progress 20/42

Club
 England 9/12 		(VNL, L2, L1, Ch, EPL, FA Cup, CS, CT, Carabao)			
 Scotland 4/7		(Irn Bru Cup, Betfred Cup, SPL, Scottish Cup)
 Ireland 0/7
 N Ireland 1/9		(Steel&Sons Cup)
 Wales 3/3		(WPL, WC, NMGC)
 European & World 3/4 	(CL, ESC, CWC)

Promotion Count: 9

 

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2019 by vikeologist

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2042/3 PSNI Report

I stayed at PSNI, because no more attractive job became available; at least not one I could get. I applied for jobs at Bradford and Arsenal, but wasn’t offered an interview.

 

I hoped that having won promotion, I’d at least be able to improve the team, but absolutely no one better than who I already had wanted to join. Nonetheless, we made a good push for promotion, and winning the league seemed feasible until the last couple of matches.

 

We went into the final match of the season needing to win to make sure of getting into the playoffs. We came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 to finish third. We then beat the team who’d finished 2^nd in the first round of playoffs to earn a tie against a Premier League club, but were absolutely hammered.

 

 

Vikeologist's 2043/4 Cheltenham Report

 

 

I left PSNI because I couldn’t seemyself taking them forward. There was a big gap before I got another job, both in real life where I played a few seasons of the Youth Challenge, and in the game where I wasn’t even offered an interview for the few jobs I was interested in.

 

Just before Christmas though, things came together and I was offered the job at Cheltenham whose manager had left for another job despite them being top of the table.

 

When I took over, after 20 matches, they were still top of the table, albeit only on goal difference. That was the good news. The bad was that the club was horribly in debt, and I had to try to stay on top with a threadbare squad.

 

There followed an almighty tussle between 3 sides for the title and only automatic promotion place. For the second half of the season I don’t think there was ever more than 2 points between the top and third placed club, and much of the time, all 3 of us were level on points. We played very well, but so did the other 2 sides. Blackpool are managed by a guy who as a youth player with Derby spent 2 seasons with me as a manager without getting a sniff of a game. I don’t remember him, but obviously he remembers me, and perhaps not affectionately.

 

Right at the end of the season, we finally eked out a bit of a lead, and it came down to the penultimate match of the season at home to 2^nd placed Blackpool. We were 3 points ahead with a +5 goal difference. We won 1-0 and the title was ours.

 

Cruelly, both Blackpool and Alfreton, who had pushed me so hard, lost on penalties in the playoffs

 

 

 

 

I had another piece of unfinished business. Although I won the Conference National title with Tranmere a mere 24 years ago, we were knocked out of the FA Trophy on penalties in the semi-final. Although I’ve long resigned myself to the fact that I may need to manage a VNL National side to win this trophy, it would be sweet if I could do it en route to winning the North or South Division.

 

We made it to the final where we the Conference North Champions faced off against the Conference National Champions. Frankly I wasn’t optimistic, and expected to be hammered, but at least take away some money to clear our debt. Unbelievably however we won 3-1. And the club is back in the black.

 

This was huge. Honestly I wasn’t going to stay on another year just to try to win the FA Trophy.

 

But now I don’t have to. Definitely one of the greatest seasons I’ve had in this challenge.

 

My next stop will be Barnet in the Conference South. That is the only English trophy I have left to win, although were I committed to completing the challenge, England would be the natural nation from which to mount more bids for the Europa League.

Domestic
Season	Team		Division	Position	Notes										
18	Shelbourne 	Ire 1st		2nd		Promoted through playoffs.
19	Shelbourne	Ire Prem			Left midway through season with club mid-table (5th).
19/20	Tranmere	Van NL 		1st		Lost in FA Trophy S/F on penalties.
20/21	Tranmere	L2		1st
21/22	Bradford	L1		2nd		Automatic promotion as best losers. Good for Bradford. Bad for my challenge.
22/23	Bradford	Ch		2nd		Runners up (and promoted) again
23/24	Derby		L1		1st
24/25	Derby		Ch		2nd
25/26	Carmarthen	Welsh PL	1st		League/Welsh Cup Double
26/7	Carmarthen	Welsh PL	2nd		Welsh Cup
27/8	Carmarthen	Welsh PL	1st		League /Irn Bru Cup
28/9	Carmarthen	Welsh PL	1st		NMG Cup, league and reached group stage of Europa League.
29/30	Newcastle	Ch		1st		Cakewalk.
30/31	Bradford PA	Van North	15th
31/32	Bradford PA	Van North	7th		Knocked out in 1st round of playoffs.
32/33	Bradford PA	Van North			Left at end of January with team in 5th place. 
32/33	Hibernian	Scottish PL	3rd		Took team from 6th to 3rd. Europa League Q/F, Scottish Cup Losing Finalists
33/34	Hibernian	SPL		2nd		Finished 2nd on inferior goal difference. Qualified for CL.
34/35	Hibernian	SPL		1st		League, Betfred Cup, Scottish Cup
35/36	Man City	EPL		4th		FA Cup and Champions League
36/37	Man City	EPL		1st		League and Champions League
37/38	Man City	EPL		1st		Community Shield, European SuperCup, Club World Cup, Checkatrade Trophy, FA Cup
38/39	Man City	EPL				Left after matches 18 matches in 3rd place.
38/39	Watford		EPL		7th		Took over after 18 matches in 17th place. Failed to win either Carabao or Europa League.
39/40	Middlesbrough	EPL		6th		Carabao Cup, Europa League S/F
40/41	Middlesbrough	EPL				Lost in EL Q/F. Left in 5th place with 4 matches to go.
41/42	PSNI		PIL		2nd		Steel & Sons Cup, lost league on last day of season. Promoted through playoffs. Intermediate Cup losing finalists
42/43	PSNI		Ch		3rd		Lost PR/CH promotion playoff, Steel/Sons Cup losing finalists.
43/44	Cheltenham	Van North	1st		Took over after 20 matches in 1st place on goal difference. League / FA Trophy double.
44/45	Barnet		Van South


International
Year	Team				Achievements
23-24	Ireland				7 months, 2 matches, 2 defeats.
24-28	Scotland			Promotion from Nations League C. 
					2026 World Cup 2nd round.
					Promotion from Nations League B
					2028 Euros - 1 point from group stage and sacked.
28-35	Wales				Failed to win promotion from Nations League B or qualify for the 2030 World Cup
					Promotion from Nations League B.
					Qualified for 2032 Euros and knocked out in group stage
					Relegated from Nations League A.
					Qualified for 2034 World Cup


Challenge Progress 22/42

Club
 England 11/12 		(VNN, VNL, L2, L1, Ch, EPL, FA Cup, CS, CT, Carabao, FAT)			
 Scotland 4/7		(Irn Bru Cup, Betfred Cup, SPL, Scottish Cup)
 Ireland 0/7
 N Ireland 1/9		(Steel&Sons Cup)
 Wales 3/3		(WPL, WC, NMGC)
 European & World 3/4 	(CL, ESC, CWC)

Promotion Count: 10

 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2019 by vikeologist

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2044/5 Barnet Report

 

 

 

 

 

After last(half) season’s tension in the North, this season in the South was less exciting. We won the league very easily.

There’s not even tension about what my next job will be. The week before we won the division with 8 matches to go, I accepted a job to takeover at Larne in the Northern Ireland Premiership. They’re the biggest club in Northern Ireland.

But my work in England is done. I will need to keep the Premier League active in case I ever need to have another stab at the Europa League, but it’s very unlikely that I would ever be able to get a job at that level again.

 

Domestic
Season	Team		Division	Position	Notes										
18	Shelbourne 	Ire 1st		2nd		Promoted through playoffs.
19	Shelbourne	Ire Prem			Left midway through season with club mid-table (5th).
19/20	Tranmere	Van NL 		1st		Lost in FA Trophy S/F on penalties.
20/21	Tranmere	L2		1st
21/22	Bradford	L1		2nd		Automatic promotion as best losers. Good for Bradford. Bad for my challenge.
22/23	Bradford	Ch		2nd		Runners up (and promoted) again
23/24	Derby		L1		1st
24/25	Derby		Ch		2nd
25/26	Carmarthen	Welsh PL	1st		League/Welsh Cup Double
26/7	Carmarthen	Welsh PL	2nd		Welsh Cup
27/8	Carmarthen	Welsh PL	1st		League /Irn Bru Cup
28/9	Carmarthen	Welsh PL	1st		NMG Cup, league and reached group stage of Europa League.
29/30	Newcastle	Ch		1st		Cakewalk.
30/31	Bradford PA	Van North	15th
31/32	Bradford PA	Van North	7th		Knocked out in 1st round of playoffs.
32/33	Bradford PA	Van North			Left at end of January with team in 5th place. 
32/33	Hibernian	Scottish PL	3rd		Took team from 6th to 3rd. Europa League Q/F, Scottish Cup Losing Finalists
33/34	Hibernian	SPL		2nd		Finished 2nd on inferior goal difference. Qualified for CL.
34/35	Hibernian	SPL		1st		League, Betfred Cup, Scottish Cup
35/36	Man City	EPL		4th		FA Cup and Champions League
36/37	Man City	EPL		1st		League and Champions League
37/38	Man City	EPL		1st		Community Shield, European SuperCup, Club World Cup, Checkatrade Trophy, FA Cup
38/39	Man City	EPL				Left after matches 18 matches in 3rd place.
38/39	Watford		EPL		7th		Took over after 18 matches in 17th place. Failed to win either Carabao or Europa League.
39/40	Middlesbrough	EPL		6th		Carabao Cup, Europa League S/F
40/41	Middlesbrough	EPL				Lost in EL Q/F. Left in 5th place with 4 matches to go.
41/42	PSNI		PIL		2nd		Steel & Sons Cup, lost league on last day of season. Promoted through playoffs. Intermediate Cup losing finalists
42/43	PSNI		Ch		3rd		Lost PR/CH promotion playoff, Steel/Sons Cup losing finalists.
43/44	Cheltenham	Van North	1st		Took over after 20 matches in 1st place on goal difference. League / FA Trophy double.
44/45	Barnet		Van South	1st		Cakewalk
45/46	Larne		NI Premiership


International
Year	Team				Achievements
23-24	Ireland				7 months, 2 matches, 2 defeats.
24-28	Scotland			Promotion from Nations League C. 
					2026 World Cup 2nd round.
					Promotion from Nations League B
					2028 Euros - 1 point from group stage and sacked.
28-35	Wales				Failed to win promotion from Nations League B or qualify for the 2030 World Cup
					Promotion from Nations League B.
					Qualified for 2032 Euros and knocked out in group stage
					Relegated from Nations League A.
					Qualified for 2034 World Cup


Challenge Progress 23/42

Club
 England 12/12 		(VNN, VNS, VNL, L2, L1, Ch, EPL, FA Cup, CS, CT, Carabao, FAT)			
 Scotland 4/7		(Irn Bru Cup, Betfred Cup, SPL, Scottish Cup)
 Ireland 0/7
 N Ireland 1/9		(Steel&Sons Cup)
 Wales 3/3		(WPL, WC, NMGC)
 European & World 3/4 	(CL, ESC, CWC)

Promotion Count: 11


 

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2045/6 Larne Report

 

 

 

Back in Northern Ireland, I picked up my 3^rd league title in a row. Even though Larne are arguably the biggest side in Northern Ireland, they hadn’t won the league for the last 4 seasons. The club was struggling a little bit financially, and I essentially had no transfer budget, and had to rebuild the side with free transfers.

 

It wasn’t easy. 3 teams in the Premiership are a country mile better than the rest, and we lost a couple of matches early leaving us 6 points off top spot, but we pegged the top 2 back, and then established a lead at the top.

 

In fact the only thing that went wrong for the rest of the season was in the final match, having already secured the title with 2 matches to spare, we had 2 players sent off. Why does this matter? Because our next match would be the Irish Cup Final, and including an extra suspension for yellow cards, we’d be short 3 players. However the 2 players sent off were both normally substitutes that I was giving a first team workout to, so it shouldn’t have been the end of the world.

 

And it wasn’t. We won the final 2-0, in a closer match than I had anticipated. (Our opponents weren’t one of the ‘Big 3’). Larne’s first Irish Cup for 8 seasons.

 

There was still one more piece of business to take care of though. Our Reserves were in the final of the Intermediate Cup. 4 years ago my PSNI side lost in extra time of the final. I’d managed the Reserve side at every stage of the competition, which is my prerequisite for counting competitions as wins for me. Some rounds I’d had to play the drags of my squad. For the final I made almost my entire First Team available. My challenge attempt, my rules. Hey, I played a youth goalie and full-back. I wasnlt going to take any chances of another final defeat and have to manage the Reserves in the competition again next season. As you may expect we won fairly comfortably 5-1.

 

So, I won 3 competitions that I needed this season.  I still need to win the Charity Shield, League Cup and one of the regional cups, the County Antrim Shield with Larne though. I’ll also need the other regional cup, the Mid Ulster Cup with another side, probably another Premiership side. So, it seems there’s 10 cups to win, not the 9 as suggested in the initial rules, so 3 steps forward, 1 step back.

 

Hey, who knows. I might win the Europa League with Larne. That would be nice. In any case, I’ll have a bit more money to play with next season.

 

Incidentally, despite my 31 Hall of Fame eligible trophies, I’m still just outside it. So many of my trophies have been piddly little ones, other managers keep ahead of me.

 

Domestic
Season	Team		Division	Position	Notes										
18	Shelbourne 	Ire 1st		2nd		Promoted through playoffs.
19	Shelbourne	Ire Prem			Left midway through season with club mid-table (5th).
19/20	Tranmere	Van NL 		1st		Lost in FA Trophy S/F on penalties.
20/21	Tranmere	L2		1st
21/22	Bradford	L1		2nd		Automatic promotion as best losers. Good for Bradford. Bad for my challenge.
22/23	Bradford	Ch		2nd		Runners up (and promoted) again
23/24	Derby		L1		1st
24/25	Derby		Ch		2nd
25/26	Carmarthen	Welsh PL	1st		League/Welsh Cup Double
26/7	Carmarthen	Welsh PL	2nd		Welsh Cup
27/8	Carmarthen	Welsh PL	1st		League /Irn Bru Cup
28/9	Carmarthen	Welsh PL	1st		NMG Cup, league and reached group stage of Europa League.
29/30	Newcastle	Ch		1st		Cakewalk.
30/31	Bradford PA	Van North	15th
31/32	Bradford PA	Van North	7th		Knocked out in 1st round of playoffs.
32/33	Bradford PA	Van North			Left at end of January with team in 5th place. 
32/33	Hibernian	Scottish PL	3rd		Took team from 6th to 3rd. Europa League Q/F, Scottish Cup Losing Finalists
33/34	Hibernian	SPL		2nd		Finished 2nd on inferior goal difference. Qualified for CL.
34/35	Hibernian	SPL		1st		League, Betfred Cup, Scottish Cup
35/36	Man City	EPL		4th		FA Cup and Champions League
36/37	Man City	EPL		1st		League and Champions League
37/38	Man City	EPL		1st		Community Shield, European SuperCup, Club World Cup, Checkatrade Trophy, FA Cup
38/39	Man City	EPL				Left after matches 18 matches in 3rd place.
38/39	Watford		EPL		7th		Took over after 18 matches in 17th place. Failed to win either Carabao or Europa League.
39/40	Middlesbrough	EPL		6th		Carabao Cup, Europa League S/F
40/41	Middlesbrough	EPL				Lost in EL Q/F. Left in 5th place with 4 matches to go.
41/42	PSNI		PIL		2nd		Steel & Sons Cup, lost league on last day of season. Promoted through playoffs. Intermediate Cup losing finalists
42/43	PSNI		Ch		3rd		Lost PR/CH promotion playoff, Steel/Sons Cup losing finalists.
43/44	Cheltenham	Van North	1st		Took over after 20 matches in 1st place on goal difference. League / FA Trophy double.
44/45	Barnet		Van South	1st		Cakewalk
45/46	Larne		NI Premiership	1st		League, Irish Cup,Intermediate Cup


International
Year	Team				Achievements
23-24	Ireland				7 months, 2 matches, 2 defeats.
24-28	Scotland			Promotion from Nations League C. 
					2026 World Cup 2nd round.
					Promotion from Nations League B
					2028 Euros - 1 point from group stage and sacked.
28-35	Wales				Failed to win promotion from Nations League B or qualify for the 2030 World Cup
					Promotion from Nations League B.
					Qualified for 2032 Euros and knocked out in group stage
					Relegated from Nations League A.
					Qualified for 2034 World Cup


Challenge Progress 26/43

Club
 England 12/12 		(VNN, VNS, VNL, L2, L1, Ch, EPL, FA Cup, CS, CT, Carabao, FAT)			
 Scotland 4/7		(Irn Bru Cup, Betfred Cup, SPL, Scottish Cup)
 Ireland 0/7
 N Ireland 4/10		(Steel&Sons Cup, Premiership, Irish Cup, Intermediate Cup
 Wales 3/3		(WPL, WC, NMGC)
 European & World 3/4 	(CL, ESC, CWC)

Promotion Count: 11


 

 

 

Edited September 27, 2019 by vikeologist

[Zilla Blitz]

Quick question on the rules...

How does dual citizenship work? As long one of the player's nationalities (first or second) is either British or Irish, it's good? 

[vikeologist]

Someone has started a FM20 thread for this, and thus is the authority, but yes, duel nationality is fine.