In Honor of Sir Alex Ferguson -- Reviving the Sir Alex Ferguson Challenge!

[warlock]

Give yourself a break and do what you need to do, man. Anyone who doesn't understand isn't worth worrying about. You've done a great job marshalling the challenge so far, and I'm sure we're all grateful. So don't beat yourself up over this.

Hope things pick up for you soon.

[wynter]

Sorry that I completely missed that message, definitely take all the time you need we'll keep it going 

[smp20]

15 hours ago, jaysdailydose said:

I still need a little more time guys.  We are dealing with dementia in our family, and it's been a rough weekend.  

Just wanted to touch base, I know I was *on it* up until this point, but I think you all will understand completely.  

Going to the hospital for a few hours, will try to bring us up to date tonight.  Thanks for understanding.

Don't worry @jaysdailydose - you've done a cracking job with this thread and there's no expectation for you to update every day. I hope things get better soon.

 

Congrat @wynter on an outstanding first full season with Bournemouth - nearly winning the league and bagging the FA Cup is one hell of an achievement.

 

After a long weekend I've played quite a lot and I'm a couple of seasons on (currently March 2027) - I haven't been screenshotting though. I will put up the ''Hall of Fame'' page which breaks down which trophies, though we're super dominant now. Having said that, I've just lost on Pens in the FA Cup QF vs Liverpool...

[smp20]

This is where I'm up to. Bar the penalty loss vs Liverpool in the FA Cup (which was won by Crystal Palace ) it was a near perfect season. We've got the squad rotation down to a tee now, with 65 games played this season and max anyone started was 41. 

[m0nk3y-b0y]

Carabao Cup Retained:

So we managed to retain the Carabao Cup after comfortably dispatching Liverpool 3-0.

Even more points whenever you're ready @jaysdailydose (look after yourself and those closest to you first)

Challenge Progress:

Domestic Titles:

1/13 Premier League Titles: (2018/19)

1/5 The Emirates FA Cup Titles: (2017/18)

2/4 Carabao Cup (League Cup) Titles: (2018/19), (2019/20)

2/10 English Community Shield: (2018/19), (2019/20)

European Titles:

0/2 UEFA Champions League

0/1 UEFA Europa League 

0/1 UEFA Super Cup

0/2 FIFA Club World Championship

Challenge Milestones:

Win the FA Cup within 4 seasons

Win the Premier League within 7 seasons

Win a Premier League/FA Cup double within 8 seasons

Win Three Premier League/FA Cup Doubles within 13 seasons

Win the Premier League/FA Cup/Champions League Treble within 13 seasons

Edited June 5, 2018 by m0nk3y-b0y

[smp20]

Annoyingly the new stadium has been in the planning permission stage for 4 seasons now  I've got my fingers crossed it will be called Ferguson Park

[m0nk3y-b0y]

6 minutes ago, smp20 said:

Annoyingly the new stadium has been in the planning permission stage for 4 seasons now  I've got my fingers crossed it will be called Ferguson Park

Not St. Fergie's Park ?

[smp20]

31 minutes ago, m0nk3y-b0y said:

Not St. Fergie's Park ?

Here's hoping

[jaysdailydose]

Thanks to everyone for understanding, and for the genuine concern for our family!

Honestly, this thread has been a real reprieve for me, as it (and FM) give me a way to break away.  I am disabled myself (I am still able-bodied, don't worry, I have three auto-immune diseases and have had four back surgeries) -- and having that much time on your hands is a blessing AND a curse, especially with something like this.  

I am going to go through and bring our updates up to date.  I don't think I'll be able to jump back into playing until tomorrow, but I am going to be here most of the day.

Thank you again, everyone -- and also for the extremely nice compliments about how I've administrated the challenge so far.  It was extremely nice to read, and I am glad so many are enjoying themselves here.  

It is nice to know that if I miss a day, you guys aren't going to lose your minds with me.    I'll ALWAYS be back, so if I miss a day or two, just assume something happened with her grandfather, and I will get back as soon as I can!

Off to do the updates!  Thanks again to all!

[jaysdailydose]

All the updates are complete.

We have our first "Yellow Card" -- but obviously, @smp20 is still active, and I expect him to be our first "Sir Alex" in short order.  He is now up to 16,500 points with 45 trophies, and is only through 26/27 -- and all milestones are complete.  He only needs to seal the Premier Leagues and Shields needed to complete,   Seven more Premier Leagues and Four Shields.  Fair bit of progress, here... but he bottles a lot, no?  Just kidding, freaking amazing.

Great job on the first FA Cup to @wynter, and for retaining the Carabao Cup to @m0nk3y-b0y! 

Keep up the great work everyone, and welcome to our new challengers, @superbowl145 as well!  Best of luck to you and Brighton!

(EDIT: If I missed anything, just let me know.)

Edited June 5, 2018 by jaysdailydose

[kozmik]

What a bizarre, frustrating, beautiful season.

Struggled to make anything work in the league, constantly dropping points from winning positions, conceding stupid goals, shooting blanks up front, the works. Two separate runs of eight league games without a win, and in the end could've so easily been relegated on the last day with Burnley and Sunderland (although the latter played United away) drawing their respective games. And then in Europe it was all smooth sailing throughout. Beat Schalke away in the group stage 4-0, knocked both Shakhtar and Monaco out 5-1 on aggregate and comfortably beat Inter in the final. The 3-2 aggregate win over Braga was the only close call in Europa all season. Credit where it's due though, Southampton knocked United out in the second knockout round, had we met United somewhere along the way we would've surely lost.

Transfers:

Managed to get rid of Carroll which is brilliant. Reid and Antonio were desperate to join Pool so had to let them leave. Managed to replace them well with M'bemba and Lozano.

The champions league qualification definitely makes next summer interesting. Keen to see what kind of players we might lure to join us. The player search screen with "realistic transfers" ticked looks a lot more promising than it did before.

[superbowl145]

Reached the end of season with brighton but my pc got wrecked, i'll have fixed in 2-2 and a half months, so if the challnege continues i'll come back (and im expectingthis si on fm19)

[themonk9223]

had along break from FM but im back.

just finished my first season (can see my original post on page 2)

Well... i never thought i'd see the day where i would be happy for spurs to win a cup. but hey that day is today. thanks to them i qualify for the euro quals. thats a bit of extra moneyi could do with after a £46m loss this year. 

scout suggested sanabria and he really unimpressed may look to sell on if he doesnt improve.

de ligt was my first signing and well also a dissapiontment. agrred to buy him with in days of joining the club and even gave him a good contract to join what at the time was a relagtion battle side. just for him to break a lower leg in december and not be able to cancel the transfer. so didnt even play a game for me yet.

managed almiron before on a mls save and he was super so decided to bring him in as a cheap option for a playmaker aswell as arthur who has been amazing. 

martinez was an accident as he had no wp and i accidentilly confirmed so he will be in poland fot the next 3 years getting a wp.

and smalling was a panic buy but has been decent when playing.

finally, this guy came through the intake and looks to have a decent future. with sanabria getting 3 goals in 13 and this lad with 1 in 6 im hoping they can motivate each other next season to get a few goals.

 

[superbowl145]

hace 1 hora, superbowl145 dijo:

Reached the end of season with brighton but my pc got wrecked, i'll have fixed in 2-2 and a half months, so if the challnege continues i'll come back (and im expectingthis si on fm19)

Good news, just founded an old laptop so i can continue on this challenge, but with another team...

[superbowl145]

 A new era starts...

[TheEarl]

I feel really slow regarding all others progress here, but finally got some sort of update for the 3rd season. Sorry its not much writing, just a bunch of screenshots. The Double again, but still couldn't win Champions League.

 

 

Challenge Progress

Domestic Titles

2/13 Premier League Titles

2/5 The Emirates FA Cup Titles

0/4 Carabao Cup (League Cup) Titles

1/10 English Community Shield

European Titles

0/2 UEFA Champions League

1/1 UEFA Europa League 

1/1 UEFA Super Cup

0/2 FIFA Club World Championship

[m0nk3y-b0y]

Veni,Vidi,Vici:

So a fantastic season draws to a close and we have only gone and won the lot ! We followed up retaining the Carabao Cup by retaining the League on the final day with a 1-1 draw against Arsenal, while Man Utd bottled their chance by losing 1-0 to West Ham. We then beat the Hammers to win the FA Cup 2-1 at Wembley and followed that up with a fantastic 4-0 win over Man City in the Champions League final to complete the set at the San Siro. On top of this we managed to tick off the FA/EPL double and EPL/FA/UCL treble milestones in one fell swoop. Olivier Giroud turned out to be exactly the signing I expected leading the line and scoring some important goals when needed and giving the strike force some much needed experience we were lacking in previous seasons.

Challenge Progress:

Domestic Titles:

2/13 Premier League Titles: (2018/19), (2019/20)

2/5 The Emirates FA Cup Titles: (2017/18), (2019/20)

2/4 Carabao Cup (League Cup) Titles: (2018/19), (2019/20)

2/10 English Community Shield: (2018/19), (2019/20)

European Titles:

1/2 UEFA Champions League: (2019/20)

0/1 UEFA Europa League 

0/1 UEFA Super Cup

0/2 FIFA Club World Championship

Challenge Milestones:

Win the FA Cup within 4 seasons

Win the Premier League within 7 seasons

Win a Premier League/FA Cup double within 8 seasons

Win Three Premier League/FA Cup Doubles within 13 seasons

Win the Premier League/FA Cup/Champions League Treble within 13 seasons

[m0nk3y-b0y]

More Points Please:

So we kicked off the new season in the same way as we left the last one #winning (there's one for Charlie Sheen) beating Man Utd 3-1 in the Community Shield and Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the Uefa Super Cup.

Challenge Progress:

Domestic Titles:

2/13 Premier League Titles: (2018/19), (2019/20)

2/5 The Emirates FA Cup Titles: (2017/18), (2019/20)

2/4 Carabao Cup (League Cup) Titles: (2018/19), (2019/20)

3/10 English Community Shield: (2018/19), (2019/20), (2020/21)

European Titles:

1/2 UEFA Champions League: (2019/20)

0/1 UEFA Europa League 

1/1 UEFA Super Cup: (2020/21)

0/2 FIFA Club World Championship

Challenge Milestones:

Win the FA Cup within 4 seasons

Win the Premier League within 7 seasons

Win a Premier League/FA Cup double within 8 seasons

Win Three Premier League/FA Cup Doubles within 13 seasons

Win the Premier League/FA Cup/Champions League Treble within 13 seasons

[superbowl145]

Due to family problems (they are hard) i will not play FM until the 19 releases (like november) so i will be continuing seeing this thread and if in FM19 This challenge continues i'll play it  

¡Good luck to all!

[m0nk3y-b0y]

Transfer Window Update:

As you can see the new Brexit rule had a definite effect on my transfer dealings with four of the six players being English or in the case of Bellerin, holding an English passport. To be honest I think signing Kristoffer Ajer was as mistake but he was a free transfer that I agreed before bringing in Emre Can last season, had I known he was going to become available at the time I would of never agreed the deal but he is valued at £10.25 Million so if he doesn't impress its pure profit to move him on.

[theonets]

Midway through this season, I was so, so excited to post this season, but towards the end, I had a horrific run. And by horrific run, I played Bayern, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, City, United, Spurs and in some cases, twice.....

So to it, then. It's probably been my best season in some ways, and in some ways, my worst.

Massive, massive improvement in the league. We are easily the best club outside the top 6, and we actually spent most of the season in the top 4 until that final stretch. Even though it doesn't show up till the FA Cup final is complete, since Tottenham and United are in it, and Liverpool won the League Cup, we've qualified for the Europa League, which I think we have a better chance of winning than we had the CL.

In the CL, we did well to get out of our group that included Real Madrid, Benfica and PSV. We then drew Barcelona in the Round of 16. My contention is that the CL is rigged that anyone who is connected to Arsenal gets Barcelona and Bayern.

We thrillingly managed to get past the Round of 16.... and drew Bayern. Knocked out by a late, late goal, and suffice to say, I hate Bayern and Barcelona as an Arsenal fan.

I pretty much binned off the FA Cup to get past one of Barca or Bayern, can't remember now, playing a youth team and getting whacked 4-1. In the league Cup though, we were genuinely unlucky against Liverpool.

Now to the transfers.....

Some very good and some very bad transfers. Pereyra is gone, finally, the fee was too good as I've changed my system and he's not as good as a CM. You might notice some familiar names.

City (Very weirdly) sold me Ottamendi. Now it doesn't matter now, but Ottamendi was my 2nd best defender instantaneously, and while old, selling a player for such a low value to a team in top 4 when you're trying to break into top 4 is mind boggling.

We got TAA on loan, and I thought @jaysdailydose would be interested in how the Liverpool player did.

Solid player, and I'm regretting loaning him, because he's on his way to be a very good player for Klopp. He came in as a player who was supposedly not good enough for the PL, but he's leaving as a good player for most PL sides.....

I talked about him previously, wonderkid out on loan. I idiotically called him back without realising he'd already played for a club in the summer.... so he's been sitting on the sidelines since the end of Jan.

Cheap signing with potential. I decided to buy him because, after all, it's not like a 100k is a lot to Watford.

I know I bought Alisson, but come on, look at this guy. For 17 million (Rising to 31 mill on conditions that would make him amazing anyway). Why wouldn't you get him. Far, far better than Alisson already, and was class in the Champions League against Barcelona and Bayern. 

And now to the signing I'm most proud of....

9 million. For this beast, who's been my best CB in every way, and so, so young. My coaches don't think he'll develop more, but he's so, so solid, and my best CB already. 

 

On the youth front, we've had a breakout season of sorts for Dylan Beale, who I mentioned last time. He capped it off with an AMAZING solo goal against Liverpool after er..... Lovren was caught on the ball.... again, and he managed to go from the halfway line, and made Mignolet look like a fool. I think next season will be his season

I gave him quite a lot of game time for someone who's obviously not good enough yet, but I trust in him, and honestly, I was leading 2-0, 3-0 in most of those sub games. The starts were funnily enough, against top 6 sides after my strikers broke down. 

 

So in some ways, a poor season, no trophy, but I'm seeing progress, and I've got my eye on a few signings. My biggest issue is still CB. Ottamendi on 1 year deal has temporarily dealt with it, but I'd like a more permanent solution. My next issue is striker, as Deeney is no longer good enough for what I'm looking at.

Still, far way from 19th in 3 seasons.

Edited June 7, 2018 by theonets

[Muttley84]

@theonets - loved your update man. I just find it more realistical when you dont win a perfect treble in your 3rd season with a mid-lower table side. Keep up improving season by season and you'll get there.

[Muttley84]

Joining in the challenge with Sir Fergie. Out of the three sides relegated IRL we got Stoke, although I have no idea if that is a good or bad thing.  We do seem to have a pretty large amount of money to spend in the winter, and hopefully we can attract some good prospects as we are lacking a bit in depth. Also, not a lot of youth prospects at the club now the second team doesn't offer a lot of options for improving the squad.

[jaysdailydose]

It's been a hell of a few days guys, but I will make time tomorrow to get on and bring our updates up to date.

He hasn't had a good week at all, but I do apologize.  Just know that I haven't forgotten about you all.  

[fmgrandtourer]

Good evening one and all, FM Grand Tourer here and I've decided to take on this interesting challenge.

 

Hopefully I've set up everything correct and here are the screenshots requested:

And as you can see I have managed to acquire the Newcastle job, I'm coming for you Fergie and as the legend Kevin Keegan would say:

I'd love it if we beat them, love it!

Edited June 10, 2018 by fmgrandtourer

[warlock]

On 09/06/2018 at 21:40, fmgrandtourer said:

I've decided to take on this interesting challenge.

Welcome to the madness!

I've been away for a week's rest and recreation, and got back last night for a good session of FM. I've also ended up with Newcastle (again!) but this time... the takeover is complete, Ashley is gone, and hopefully things are more settled at the club.

Faced a tough start with games against Chelsea and Man City among the first three fixtures; despite taking an early lead against Chelsea we eventually succumbed to a 2-1 defeat, but a battling display against City gave us our first point of my reign. Losses against West Ham, Burnley and Bournemouth were disappointing, but we also recorded wins against Watford, West Brom, Southampton and Everton. Highlight so far has been a 3-1 away win against Spurs in the Carabao Cup quarter final.

So, on New Years Day we sit (precariously) in 13th place with only one point separating us from the relegation zone, and 8 points behind mid-table Bournemouth. Our FA Cup campaign is likely to be short-lived - we drew Man Utd - but I've settled on a solid 4231dm tactic that is starting to deliver results. I have £24m available to strengthen the squad, and could probably parley that up to around £30m since we're way under budget on wages - the difficulty will be attracting anyone of sufficient quality.

'Marvellous Matt' Ritchie is carrying the team - he has the most goals, most assists, most PoM awards and highest average rating but could do with some help in the goalscoring department - Joselu is a waste of oxygen and Slimani not much better. Worst news as the transfer window opens is that Arsenal are sniffing for Ritchie and he wants to go .

[Muttley84]

End of first season. When we took over at Stoke, we only had two wins till November 6th, somehow we managed to really turn things around. We only suffered defeats against the big boys from top 6 (Liverpool, Manchester Utd and City, Chelasea) but somehow managed to survive in the rest of matches. We were already out of the Carabo Cup, but somehow managed after a replay with QPR to pass over West Ham, Boro, Man Utd and Burnley to reach the FA Cup final. Unfortunately no milestone for us as Chelsea proved to be to strong in the final. But, in the same time, we finished the season in 7th and therefore qualified for Europa League next season.  We were 25 points behind the champions - Tottenham, but I feel that we lack the quality in challenging for a Champions League spot next season. Overall a more than satisfying season and @jaysdailydose can be happy cause he doesn't need to calculate any points for us.

The season awards go to Shaqiri for both goals and assists, and he has begun to draw a lot of interested (including of Real Madrid) but I am not willing to sell. We had a pretty small core of players which played this season. Transfer-wise we offloaded a lot of players which weren't good enough for the team, and we brought 5 players and a loan in the winter period (Jese was already loaned to us). After the qualification to Europa League we received 50 million in transfer funds, which we gladly spent mainly on Lamela, Barkley, Sessegnon and Worall. The Youth Intake was not very rewarding this season, but we will try to promote this season young players back from loans such as Josh Tymon, Harry Souttar, Thibaud Verlinden or Julien Ngoy. On to the next season, 0 points for us at the moment.

 

[JaytheGreat]

Hello everyone. I've been lurking on the forums for a little while now, but I came across this challenge yesterday and it really sparked my interest so I decided to make an account and join the challenge.

 

                                                       Manager

 

                                   This season's goals and league table

 

Tough way to start my career with Everton having to play 5 of the big 6 in my first 6 games. If I'm able to survive that, January looks like it will be easier, and I have $32 mil to bring in transfers. 

[warlock]

My Newcastle experience came to a sad and bitter end. Relegated!

As I feared, I couldn't attract anyone of quality in the January window and for every step forward there were multiple steps back. The fixture computer wasn't kind to us, and every winnable game was followed by an away match against Top 10 opposition. When we put up a brilliant 5-1 win against fellow relegation candidates Swansea, we then had to play league leaders Man Utd and lost. A good away win at Crystal Palace was followed by a visit to Chelsea who nicked the win with a 73rd minute penalty. And so it went - it was impossible to put together a string of positive results, morale plummeted, and previously solid players began turning in truly abysmal performances. The final nail in the coffin was long-term injuries to Mbemba, Ritchie and Atsu that saw them miss most of the last two months. We finished where I started, in 19th position.

I might give this another try later, but for now I need a better quality of football! Good luck to those of you still pressing on.

[JaytheGreat]

Started off about as good as I could have hoped for, stealing home wins vs Tottenham and Chelsea, drawing at Middlesbrough, and losing to Manchester United. Then of course we follow that up with 3 straight losses to Manchester City, Arsenal, and Watford. The good news is I think we woke up a little after the Watford game because we have gone on to win 4 out of our last 7. Currently we have 26 points which is good enough for 14th place, and 6 points out of relegation. Fun fact it took Lukaku half through the 9th game to score his 1st goal with me as manager.

Random Milestones:

1st win: 1-0 vs Tottenham

1st loss: 3-1 vs Manchester United 

1st goal: Enner Valencia

1st hat-trick: Kevin Mirallas (4) vs Bournemouth 

[themonk9223]

Unexpected clean sweep!

but who am i to complain.

had some really good early season form which just didnt seem to end, lots of possesion and plenty of goals.and the perfect way to cap 100 games in management.

9 in and countless out. complete overhaul of the sqaud by selling as much dead wood as possible and loaning out those that would sell. as well as getting rid of all the youngsters that have no poteintal futere at the club.

on the ins... well rajkovic went straight to poland to gain a WP and wonty be seen for a few years as will martinez from last year.

lazano was a bargain at £20m and club record £65m malcom  have both been fantastic on the wings as well as campbell when called upon.

rulli was solid in goal and looks to be a main stay for years to come. sanchez was decent and will look to extend his loan. while de sciglio was impressive but already want to move to a bigger club  as does star man Arthur.

and diego reyes was also good when called upon. not bad for a free transfer.

and finally £20m striker Druissi.. well this screen shot tells the story.

41 goals in 42 games.

also a mention for young Ross Birch from last years intake. decided to take a punt on him and use him as my back up player for the year with amazing results. 

i decided to do a comparision to the benchmark teenage superstar and while skills are way of the game stats speak for themselves. mostly shocked at 14 assists as a poacher! as well as 5 goals in 3 games for england u19s.

 if he keeps up like this and keeps improving this kid will be going to the very top of the game. valued at £10m at 17 yo is ridiculous.

 

talking of intakes this guy is the only prospect from this year and what a player he looks like. just like Birch i will be givivng him game time, not to mention he's 16 and has a carabo cup and euro cup medal already.

 

 

 

Edited June 14, 2018 by themonk9223

[JaytheGreat]

@themonk9223 wow, that's very impressive, not only did you win the Premier League but you won it by 12 points. 

[themonk9223]

1 hour ago, JaytheGreat said:

@themonk9223 wow, that's very impressive, not only did you win the Premier League but you won it by 12 points. 

haha it looks more impressive than it was, united were right behind me and slipped up in the final few 8 games or so.  made some key upgrades this season and replacements of unexpected losses. apparently winning it all isn't enough for some  players and wanted moves to bigger teams. on the good side blew most of my budget on a player to replace Arthur as he wanted a bigger move but no one came in for him so now i have a real top quality midfield for the 1st team. well until January at least lol. signed another Argentine striker nearly identical to druissi for the poacher role with the hope they both score 20-30 goals this season. and unfortunately that hasn't happened so far but im only at the end of september so plenty of time yet for the to  bond. times look promising at least. 

[jaysdailydose]

Hey guys, I've just returned to the forums.  Unfortunately, Grandpa was forced to be hospitalized this week, and was just released yesterday to go home.  

I see there isn't much to update anyway, but I will get to it.  I apologize that I haven't been able to be around and pumping up the challenge, but it is what it is, and I know that everyone already understands.  

Just getting to watch my first minutes of the World Cup, that is how on-the-go we've been.  

I may actually get some play in today, but don't think I've forgotten about the updates or the save... just matters far beyond our control.

[TheEarl]

9 hours ago, jaysdailydose said:

Hey guys, I've just returned to the forums.  Unfortunately, Grandpa was forced to be hospitalized this week, and was just released yesterday to go home.  

I see there isn't much to update anyway, but I will get to it.  I apologize that I haven't been able to be around and pumping up the challenge, but it is what it is, and I know that everyone already understands.  

Just getting to watch my first minutes of the World Cup, that is how on-the-go we've been.  

I may actually get some play in today, but don't think I've forgotten about the updates or the save... just matters far beyond our control.

My points should be 2950 by my recogning now

[dllu]

13 hours ago, jaysdailydose said:

Hey guys, I've just returned to the forums.  Unfortunately, Grandpa was forced to be hospitalized this week, and was just released yesterday to go home.  

I see there isn't much to update anyway, but I will get to it.  I apologize that I haven't been able to be around and pumping up the challenge, but it is what it is, and I know that everyone already understands.  

Just getting to watch my first minutes of the World Cup, that is how on-the-go we've been.  

I may actually get some play in today, but don't think I've forgotten about the updates or the save... just matters far beyond our control.

We all know that even the best-laid plans can go awry when that annoying thing called "real life" gets in the way. Take your time, remember to enjoy the World Cup, and all the best to your Grandpa.  

[themonk9223]

ah well was doing so well and then realised i failed  signed 2 players in january and only after i saved the game did i realise that i had now signed a total of 13 players lol. 

i may try again soon but i don't know when lol.

Edited June 18, 2018 by themonk9223

[JaytheGreat]

The 1st season full of up and downs has come to an end. The good was we stayed above relegation and finished in 15th, we proved we can beat top level competition by beating Tottenham, Chelsea, and smashing arch rivals Liverpool (all at home), and we finished strong by winning our last 2 games. The bad including getting knocked out of the FA Cup in the 5th round by Hull, losing 5 straight games towards the end of the season, having a pretty mediocre 1st youth intake, and having key injuries to James McCarthy, and Ross Barkley that cost us winning a couple of games. Also out of the 5 straight losses we had to 5 of the big 6 I felt that we only got dominated by the 4-2 loss to Man City, and the 2-0 loss to Arsenal. 

 

Now that it's the off season I'm ready to retool the team, and fill out the rest of the coaching staff. We are pretty weak defensively, starting RB Seamus Coleman was probably our most consistent defender, and even though he only finished with 2 assists he was solid when attacking as well. CB's Phil Jagielka, Ashley Williams, and Ramiro Funes Mori are good enough for possible a top 10 team but not good enough for what I want to achieve. Plus both Jagielka and Williams are in the mid 30's and will only be getting worse. Starting LB Leighton Baines is 32 and struggled on defense from time to time. At GK Joel Robles is good enough for the time being although like seemingly everyone on the team he had a few frustrating games. The midfield is pretty good, starters Schneiderlin, Barkley, and McCarthy play pretty well together, although Barkley wants to leave if I receive an offer from Chelsea. The back ups are ok, we have Idrissa Gueye, Muhamed Besic, and Tom Davies who is pretty good for an 18 year old. I would like the strengthen the back ups a little bit. Finally come the attackers, up front is Lukaku who after a very slow started to turn it up, I would like to build around him but he wants to leave for Man City, next is Enner Valencia who surprised and did a good job scoring where ever I played him (lone striker up front, paired with Lukaku, or on the right wing) he's on loan from West Ham but I might to try to make that a permanent signing. On the wings we have Kevin Mirallas and Yannick Bolasie, neither of them started a game before I took over, but they ended with a very solid seasons, and 19 year old Ademola Lookman had 5 goals and 1 assist in limited time this season so I think he's earned himself more playing time next season. 

As for transfer targets currently I'm looking at Youri Tielemans from Anderlecht, Orzan Tufan from Fenerbahce, Andrew Robinson from Hull, Jairo Riedewald and Joel Veltman from Ajax, Harry McGuire from Hull, and Lucas Alario from River Plate. Also Wayne Rooney is transfer listed at Man Utd so that could be interesting as well.  

[themonk9223]

blessing in disguise?

 

@jaysdailydose you'll like this..  

i know i know! and yes i know what you may be thinking!

here is me! and staff history of Liverpool before and after i added my manger just in case anyone thinks the was any tampering. because lets face it whats likelihood anyone would believe that this was possible.

 as you can see no manager activity until 6 of November. 

this is the transfers that klopp made aswell as the future deal for kieta.  so`as far as january goes i will pretty much be trying to offload all the dead wood and youngsters that wont make it here, while bringing in a top quality prospect of my own.

 

[themonk9223]

was to be expected

 

in fact we could of even got 2nd if we could of performed on a cold and windy night in Stoke. route to the champions cup was a little dramatic with big wins in each first leg helping us though all the knock out stages. in particular a 8-1 win over Madrid followed by a 4-1 loss away lol.

end of season stats and a special mention to woody for his ridiculous premier league form. 72 mins per goal! 16 from 13 starts and 3 subs!

transfer history and as you may notice some familiar names. after madrid took away mane (he requested to leave) i replaced him with my go to left winger lozano, besides he is a natural fit for the left side. arthur comes in to be my out and out playmaker. and rulli is one of my favourite gk to sign as he has amazing shot stopping and is really cheap compared to other top keepers. after i sold both back up CBs i decided to bring in 1 elite CB to partner virgil. 

and finally..

these are the 2 prospects from this years intake actually quite excited to see you the gk gets on. will be tutored by rulli this year and hopefully get his shot stopping up to the level of rulli to.

[JaytheGreat]

My 1st off season came and went, and I ended up making more transfers then I thought I would. I got the board to improve our youth intake, and I filled out the rest of my coaching staff. I don't have the best staff in the Premier League but it will do for now. 

My 1st transfer of the summer and my career was 24 year old striker Lucas Alario. He struggles with pace, but has very good stats besides that. I was going to buy Enner Valencia but Alario happened to be 10 mil cheaper and 4 years younger. He also enjoys big matches, so I have high expectations from him this year. Next transfer was CB Michael Keane form Burnley, he was an instant upgrade over the CB's we had. I was surprised to get him so cheap, and I hope he will be the rock for my back 4 for years yo come. In the 1st game of the season he made a key tackle and pass to set up the at the time game tying goal against Chelsea. Next was Alisson who was transfer listed at Roma. I wasn't originally going to buy a GK but Robles wanted to leave for Sevilla, and I didn't  stop him. He's got very solid abilities and enjoys big matches as well. I got Mbappe on loan from Monaco because why not. He brings good speed and creativity off the bench for us. Lastly is Jairo Riedewald from Ajax. Originally I targeted him at CB but wasn't going to buy him after I bought Keane, but late in the off season I saw West Ham make an offer for him, and I saw it was lower then what they wanted at the start of the window, so decided to take a chance, and we got him. He's only 20 so he's got room for improvement, plus he's versatile and can play at CB or DM if needed. I tried to go after Youri Tielemans but I got beat out by Real Madrid. It should be interesting as I have never used any of these players in any save before.

Most of the transfers out were dead weight, like Lennon, Barry, Pennington, and Besic. I would have liked to have kept Deulofeu but Milan had an option to buy after his loan, but atleast it was higher then Barcelona's buy back clause. I use wingers on my counter formation but not my attacking formation so not a huge loss, the 19.5 mil was nice. I wasn't planning on selling Jagielka but Sunderland randomly made an offer, and after getting Keane I didn't need him. 

A look at the transfers around the Premier League. Man City with the biggest purchase grabbing Griezmann for just over 100 mil and buy the 20 year old DM Amadou Diawara from Napoli. Man United splashed the cash for Laporte, Felipe Anderson, Piotr Zielinski and Grzegorz Krychowiak. League winners Arsenal brought in Paulo Dybala, and LB Sead Kolasinac. Chelsea signed Joao Mario (who had a goal and an assist in their 2-1 win over me) and Dani Carvajal. Tottenham grabbed wingers Suso from Milan and Samu Castillejo from Villarreal. Liverpool has yet to spend all of that oil money they got from PSG for Coutinho. 

 

Edited June 24, 2018 by JaytheGreat

[JaytheGreat]

Congrats @themonk9223 on getting Liverpool and winning the Champions Cup in your 1st season. Looks like you and Liverpool have a bright future ahead of you. 

[jaysdailydose]

Doing the updates now everyone.   Sorry for the intense delays, but I've actually wanted to get some gaming in for the short amount of downtime I've actually had with the family situation.

Getting everything brought up to date, and actually hoping I don't get sacked in my save, that will tell you how off my mind has been.   

I'll leave a summary post when I've got everything completed!

[jaysdailydose]

Believe everything is up to date, with a 6 trophy haul from m0nk3y-b0y, two more from TheEarl, a first quick Champions League from themonk9223 -- along with new challengers like JayTheGreat and Muttley84!

If I missed anything, please let me know.  @m0nk3y-b0y thanks very much for using the achievement tracker on your post, it made things a lot quicker!  

I'll try to be on and available more than I've been, but it has been really touch and go, and wanted to get some playtime in as well in the chances I've had.  

Keep up the great work everyone, I'll always be back to post the scores.

(EDIT: Absolute worst-case scenario, I will make Friday afternoons "Update Day" and I should be able to guarantee I'll be here to add updates.  Things are starting to get easier now.)

Edited June 29, 2018 by jaysdailydose

[themonk9223]

win win win win win win

 

a clean sweep as well as setting various records. pretty much did a city IRL. overall very happy with the performance with salah even getting goal of the season.

 

even after winning the prem like we did and our LB an RB was 2nd and 3rd in the ratings city still manged to take most of the team of the season. slightly baffled myself. also Liverpool cleaned up at the world award in January too.

 

slowly weeding out the dead wood, got rid of milner on a free as his wages were 160k and no one was offering cash for him and he was getting near the team after keita came in. £114 m on dybala yes a lot of money but he was well worth every penny.

 

this was the only good prospect from intake day and he already has some outstanding stats, he is gonna be a world beater for sure.

also had brexit this year.

Edited June 29, 2018 by themonk9223

[NixoN1994]

Quick question : How do you holiday until november and take over a club then ?

 

Do I start unemployed ? Can I join the club without having to apply ? 

[Muttley84]

1 hour ago, NixoN1994 said:

Quick question : How do you holiday until november and take over a club then ?

 

Do I start unemployed ? Can I join the club without having to apply ? 

You just make a fake manager, go unemployed and simulate to the date without aplying to any jobs. When you reach the date, you just retire your fake manager and add the real one with the specifics described in the challenge intro, and then pick to manage the team 19th in the table. Cheers.

[NixoN1994]

7 hours ago, Muttley84 said:

You just make a fake manager, go unemployed and simulate to the date without aplying to any jobs. When you reach the date, you just retire your fake manager and add the real one with the specifics described in the challenge intro, and then pick to manage the team 19th in the table. Cheers.

Should I start with 2 managers or can I make one when I retire my original manager ?

[jaysdailydose]

On 07/07/2018 at 10:57, NixoN1994 said:

Should I start with 2 managers or can I make one when I retire my original manager ?

Either or.  You will have the option of creating or using a previously created when you retire "Holiday Man."

[jaysdailydose]

Things have certainly slowed down with the World Cup.  

I am still here for updates, but imagining things will pick back up when the World Cup is over, and then especially when FM19 drops.  I am very close to being sacked in my save, so I've taken a break... but will always come back to the thread.

As previously stated, I'll make sure I check in AT LEAST on Friday afternoons for potential updates.