[FM18] Around the World in 80 days. Phileas Fogg Plays Football Manager

[Northernpilgrim]

November

not looking good

 

[Northernpilgrim]

December wasn't great either

and we're getting further away from the top 4

[Northernpilgrim]

January was a better month , and we ended it on a three match winning run

and we're moving in the right direction in the table

 

[Northernpilgrim]

February wasn't brilliant, but we did at least manage one win

and the league table looks like this

[Northernpilgrim]

March was horrible

and any hopes of recording my best league finish in Egypt are gone, for this season at least

[Nildo]

Enjoying this so far, @Northernpilgrim. Keep your chin up, this was always going to be one of the toughest stops on the journey. 

[Northernpilgrim]

1 hour ago, Nildo said:

Enjoying this so far, @Northernpilgrim. Keep your chin up, this was always going to be one of the toughest stops on the journey. 

Thanks Nildo. It is starting to get me down as it seems that every time I get up a head of steam, I either run into Al-Ahly or Zamalek, or lose to a team I shouldn't and then face one of them, and suddenly I'm on a losing run. I need to find a way to win again, and fast!

[Northernpilgrim]

6 points from 9 in April, but it should have been 9 as we lost against 10 men AGAIN

and with 1 game to go, here's the table

[Northernpilgrim]

And unsurprisingly, given what I've said previously, we lost the last game too

meaning we finish the season in 10th place

[Timetxu]

Christ, why couldn't Phileas Fogg just take a boat from Lisbon to Singapore 

[Northernpilgrim]

I organised a tough preseason, with a couple of easier games to finish, and apart from the first game, we did pretty well in all of them, winning the last two

[Northernpilgrim]

There were quite a few transfers out, and four new signings

leaving our squad looking like this

[Northernpilgrim]

The biggest problem for me currently (aside from the fact our finances are screwed and we're miles behind the big two) is that despite there being no youth setup, I still get an annual youth intake, and they are 'promoted to the squad' on permanent contracts automatically, meaning my squad size is massively increasing every year. I have no way to prevent it, and can't afford to release the youngsters I don't want, as there isn't enough transfer budget to pay them off. This is preventing me from recruiting the better players I need for my first team. Any ideas?

[Northernpilgrim]

No league games in August, but we're off to a cracking start in the Cup

[Northernpilgrim]

September was very nearly a perfect month

and I'm still not sure how we didn't win this one

but I'm pretty happy with the league table at this early stage of the season

[Northernpilgrim]

October wasn't bad either

and we end the month in a continental qualification spot, as we're currently 4th

[Northernpilgrim]

We went unbeaten through November

and really should have won against ENPPI, but I've struggled to get anything against them, so will take the draw

as we go into December second in the table, but having missed the opportunity to finish the month on top

[andychar]

Things finally starting to look up!

[Northernpilgrim]

13 hours ago, andychar said:

Things finally starting to look up!

December was almost a perfect month, as we registered 5 wins and a defeat (OK, a hammering) from 6 matches

which, annoyingly, sees us drop out of the Champions League places (top two qualify)

although the defeat to Al Ahly seems a little harsh

[Northernpilgrim]

I was especially happy with December's results as my first-choice keeper Ayman Adel missed the entire month after a training injury. He was the latest to suffer an injury following a weights session. Is there a way to prevent players taking part in weights sessions?

[Northernpilgrim]

We were bound to have a wobble at some point, and in January we went two games without a win for the first time all season, but in keeping with the way this season has gone, we responded by winning the next two

which leaves us third, just two points off a Champions League place

[Northernpilgrim]

Two games in February, same opponent and result in both, but in the second we finished with 9 men (a second yellow card and then an injury after I'd used all three subs). The goal came after we were down to 9 in the second game, and my protests have cost me a touchline ban for March's first game.

and we're still third, but need to watch the gap to make sure of a top 4 spot

 

[Northernpilgrim]

The losing run stretched to 4, before we ended March with two wins

leaving us still on course for a top four finish

[Northernpilgrim]

Nearly a perfect month in April, but dropping two points from 3-1 up is probably going to come back to bite us

as we face Al Ahly in our next match. We will need favours if we're to hold on to the top 2 place that we currently hold

[andychar]

Massive strides in the league but that gap to the top still looks a chasm.

[Northernpilgrim]

We went through May unbeaten

but would the dropped points against Al Ahly allow El Masry in? No

we held them off to equal Petrojet's best ever league finish

and I've been offered and accepted an extension to my contract

 

[Northernpilgrim]

I set up what I thought was a challenging preseason, with a couple of games at the end to restore confidence if needed. It proved nowhere near as tough as I'd expected, and the lads certainly filled their boots in the last two games

[Northernpilgrim]

We didn't do any business at all in the transfer window (no transfer budget, and the board have cut the wage budget), but two players have joined on free transfers since January that I've not yet shown, so here they are

[Timetxu]

Holy cow, that's some impressive preseason.

[Northernpilgrim]

1 hour ago, Timetxu said:

Holy cow, that's some impressive preseason.

Decent results, but I'm clearly not Mourinho! #parkthebus

[Northernpilgrim]

Preseason may have been good, and we were impressive in the first round of the cup, the same can't be said of the league

and the usual suspects lead the way, so we've probably blown it already

[Northernpilgrim]

September looks a decent month, but that defeat was absolutely justified, and completely unexpected. If it was hard to imagine winning the league after August, it's an even more remote possibility now

as we sit just outside the top 4

[Northernpilgrim]

Only two games in October. One decent result, one truly awful

and we're well down the table, which is really frustrating. I'm close to calling it a day

[Timetxu]

Couldn't you resign and go to the next city and come back to Egypt later on? It'd be a shame to lose such a great concept...

[Northernpilgrim]

7 minutes ago, Timetxu said:

Couldn't you resign and go to the next city and come back to Egypt later on? It'd be a shame to lose such a great concept...

Even if I allowed that, Churchill Brothers have just been relegated from the top division in India (the only playable league). It's starting to look like this might actually be impossible

[Timetxu]

Isn't the Indian Super League in FM? With Mumbai FC? Or something else?

[Northernpilgrim]

4 hours ago, Timetxu said:

Isn't the Indian Super League in FM? With Mumbai FC? Or something else?

No, the I-League is the one included with FM, which I didn't realise before starting the save, so too late to download it now

[Northernpilgrim]

Won two, lost two in November, but if we hadn't lost to Al Nassr it would have been a good month

as again we utterly dominated them, only to be done over

which leaves the table looking a little worse than it actually is, as we have played a game less than most teams above us

[Northernpilgrim]

December started with a shaky, barely deserved win, and got worse from there

although we should have won the Tanta and El Dakhleya games

and if we had, we'd be in a much better place in the league. Top 4 looks impossible from here

[Northernpilgrim]

January was almost perfect

and we're now up to 5th in the table. Surely too late for an attack on the Continental qualification slots though?

and the Champions League draw has given us a game we should be winning

[Northernpilgrim]

We made a succesful Champions League debut in February, and suffered only 1 league defeat, but there were still frustrating dropped points

and the league table shows that if we're to compete in next seasons Champions League, we'll have to win it

[Northernpilgrim]

We went unbeaten through March, and got through to the group stage of the Champions League too

and remember what I said about it being too late for a top 4 challenge?

[Northernpilgrim]

April was nearly perfect, and I'm gutted about the defeat to Zamalek. A man down after 14 minutes, with the score 0-0, Zamalek go 2 up after 29 minutes. We cut the deficit on 30, before 2 quick goals on 33 and 34 give them a 4-1 lead. Goals on 40, 57 and 67 from us remarkably level the scores, and I decided to leave things alone as we were looking the more likely to score again, but a 91st minute winner was a tough one to take from Zamalek. We responded really well, winning the other two games

and we end the month still 4th, but with just two games to go we can still end up anywhere from 3rd to 7th

[Northernpilgrim]

We had a near perfect May, the only defeat being in the Cup Final, and we even beat the Champions League holders

meaning we finish fourth, and whatever happens we'll have Continental football next season

and we are top of our Champions League group

 

[Northernpilgrim]

June was all about the Champions League. We suffered a disappointing defeat in our first game, but bounced back

and sit top of our group with two games to play

[Northernpilgrim]

We thrashed Omdurman in the Champions League, but being robbed of 5 first teamers due to injury and international callups meant we were unable to complete a double over Mamelodi

which ended up costing us top spot in the group, and pitted us into a battle against another recent Champions League winner in the Quarter Final

[Northernpilgrim]

And here is the draw in full

[Northernpilgrim]

We finished off with a couple of friendlies ahead of the season, and beat one of the giants in the Egyptian Cup, before throwing a 3-1 lead in the last 15 minutes at Al Nassr

and here's the table

[Northernpilgrim]

September was almost perfect, and would have been if we hadn't blown a 2-0 lead to lose to Al Gaish

which leaves the table looking like this

and 10 years after a Champions League semi final in Europe, I've got one in Africa, but it's as tough a draw as we could have had

[Northernpilgrim]

October was pretty good. We began by demolishing Smouha, who have caused us problems before, then absolutely battered Al Ahly in the first leg of the Champions League. They scored a second goal in the dying minutes, which I thought might prove decisive (more about that in a minute). Then it was on to the leaders (at the time), ENPPI, who held us to a draw, despite us utterly dominating them. Ismaily were brushed aside as easily as the scoreline suggests, and it was then time for the second leg against Al Ahly. We were 4-0 down after 37 minutes, and I was fearing the worst, but we got one back to level the tie overall at 6-6, with us trailing on away goals. A second goal for Ahmed Hassan made it 4-2 on the night, putting us 7-6 ahead, and we managed to see the game out, taking us to my first African Champions League final. If I win the ACL, I will deem Egypt complete and move on (fair I think as it completes the continental element, and there is only one stop in Africa)

and the league table shows that, but for the two dropped points against ENPPI, we would also be top of the Premier League too.