My FM22 Story - By FMBlake

Introduction

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Hi Everyone,

My name is FMBlake, I have been playing FM since 2014, when a friend who I coached football with introduced me to it. Before then I was into FIFA and played it religiously. I wouldn’t say FM pulled me in straight away, but by about FM17, I was fully invested, and FIFA was in my rear view mirror. I have always loved football, I have played since I was five, and coached for a job in New Zealand for six years. I love football, and FM was the best game I could find. I am fascinated with the detail of the game, and every year I always get really invested in a save. At the beginning I would always pick the club I support, Manchester United, but I quickly realised that was somewhat frowned upon in the FM community. ‘Easy save’ has been thrown around a lot. So on FM20 I took a team from a lower league, with the objective of reaching the top of Europe. Some of you may have followed along that journey with me. I took Palermo, a former Italian giant, from Serie C all the way back into Serie A, and the cherry on the cake was beating Real Madrid in the Champions League Final. In FM21, I didn’t really get into a lower league save, yet I played 11 seasons at Sporting Lisbon, and dominated Portugal, winning 9 league titles, and I reached a Champions League Semi-Final. I think it's fair to say that I play a lot of FM, and each iteration I complete around ten seasons, at least.

This year, I wanted to take that one step further. On previous editions of the game I have flirted with a save like the one I am going to share with you today. I have started it multiple times, but never had the patience to see it through. This year will be different. What is the save I am talking about? You have probably guessed it by now. I am going to attempt to complete the Pentagon Challenge/GOAT Challenge.

For those of you who don’t know what those challenges are, I will lay out the rules for you.
The Pentagon Challenge is when you aim to win every single continents Champions League:


I can complete this challenge by winning all five of those trophies, and in any order. However, I will be doing a GOAT Challenge, inspired by FMDoop, who you can find streaming on Twitch, and on YouTube.

The GOAT Challenge is:

• Starting unemployed, with no coaching badges and Sunday league playing experience
• Completing the Pentagon Challenge
• Reaching the top of the manager hall of fame list
• Attribute masking on so I cannot see any player attributes unless I fully scout them or offer them a trial
• No holidaying
• Must play every game (no instant result)

I will aim to complete that too. However, I am not stopping there. I also want to win every national competition possible:

• FIFA World Cup
• EURO Championship
• Africa Cup of Nations
• AFC Asian Cup
• Copa America
• CONCACAF Gold Cup

I essentially want to have the most complete save I possibly can. Now I know this will take me a long long time, and all going well I intend to stick to this save for the next few year, and however long it takes to complete the challenge. The only thing that could end the save is god forbid the save file corrupts (as this has happened to me before).

I think it will be an enjoyable experience, I have a long way to go, but in setting so many challenges, I will always have motivation to play the save, and something else to try and achieve. If I do achieve all of these goals (I will be amazed), I can always set new challenges to continue. I would love your thoughts and feedback throughout the journey as I know it won’t be easy, and the more help I get, the more chance I have of completing this challenge.

So this is it, my name is FMBlake, and welcome to my FM story

Meet the Manager

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To begin the save I have loaded the following nations and all of the leagues from those nations:

-Australia
-Brazil
-Chile
-China
-Colombia
-Hong Kong
-India
-Indonesia
-Malaysia
-Peru
-Singapore
-South Africa
-South Korea
-Uruguay

Good luck on the challenge, definitely a tough one! I'll be following along

Season One Review

I began my search for my first managerial job, with no coaching badges and Sunday league playing experience, it was going to be difficult. As I mentioned in the last post, I was planning on starting my career in Asia, South Africa or South America. I applied for a number of jobs, then finally someone gave me a chance.

23 June 2021: Took over Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng (Guizhou) in the Chinese League One (second division). They had a current transfer ban embargo until 31st Dec 2021. When I took over they were 13th in the league with 15 games played (17 points). Top two get promoted to the Chinese Super League, 3rd and 4th playoff for the final promotion place. On this date we were 9 points below the top four.



27 June 2021: Lost my first game in charge against top of the table Zhejiang 2-1

4 July 2021: Won my first game, 4-2 against Meizhou. Serbian striker Stefan Mihajlović scored a hat-trick.

14 August 2021: Jahmir Hyka (star winger) out for 4 weeks with a damaged shoulder. At this point we were up to 10th in the league after 3 wins in a row, and without conceding a goal. Stefan Mihajlović had 12 goals in 6 games.

28 August 2021: Beat SY Urban 3-2, after being 2-0 down. Now on a 5 game unbeaten run in the league.

13 September 2021: Applied for a new job (the team 4th in the league) and the board sacked me! I thought I was clever and would be able to snag a job in the same league, but with a real shot of gaining promotion. But this plan backfired, and just three months into my first job it was over. The search now began for my second club of the save. In hindsight it was probably good I got sacked. One of the main issues I had in China was the unhappiness of the squad. They had a 33 year old center back who for whatever reason, the players really wanted to to play him all the time. But he was pants! Every time we played him we lost. It was a ticking time bomb. I was honestly happy to leave.



Fast forward two months and I finally landed another job. I was rejected numerous times as I had little to no experience, and was yet to win anything in my career.

17 November 2021: Got the PSM job in the Indonesian Premier League. The team was currently 4th in the league, 9 points behind the team in 1st place. We also have a domestic cup final to play over two leagues against Persebaya. I felt this was a job where I can have success quickly and get some trophies under my belt.



20 November 2021: Won my first game as PSM manager, 2-0 against Tira.

11 December 2021: Won the Indonesian Cup after a 1-1 draw away (0-0 at home) we won on away goals. Against fierce rivals Persebaya. In doing so we qualified for the AFC Cup (one tier below the Asian Champions League).



19 December 2021: We finished the first season in the Indonesian Premier League in 6th place. After a successful end to the year, we decided that we would stay at PSM for the next season. I was happy to win a trophy, and felt with the team we have we could build and become even better next season.

We also had a young player who stood out in our first season at PSM. Rizky Eka won the Best Young Player of the Year award with 8 goals and 2 assists in 22 games.




At the end of season one, there was nothing to check off in terms of the objectives of the save. However having managed two clubs in my first season, and ended with a trophy I was fairly happy.

Comments

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mrtepig - Thanks for your support bro!

Season Two Review

21 January 2022: We began season two by hiring two new staff members. A new HOYD - Alberto Toril joined, he was much better than the guy previously in his positions, and we also added a new Head Physio.


Spanish HOYD, Alberto Toril joined and looked like an incredible pickup considering the level of football in Indonesia.

1 February 2022: 13 new signings join the club as I had been approaching a lot of free agents prior to the end of season one. The two most notable additions were Cruz, a Colombian midfielder and Kim Jin-Sung a South Korean center back. They would take up two of our four foreign player positions in the squad.

20 February 2022: Signed 6’7” Kenny Athiu with 20 jumping reach! Remember the name...



12 March 2022: Lost Indonesian Super Cup against the league winners from last season, Persib 3-2. Cruz, our new ball winning midfielder, got sent off in the first half on debut, and Athiu scored on his debut with a powerful header.

2 April 2022: Started the Indonesian Premier League campaign with a 2-6 win against last season's champions. Athiu scored a double of headers and Beaza scored a hat-trick on debut. Cruz, who was sent off on his debut, scored a free kick. Baeza was a Chilean winger/striker who we signed on a free transfer. He made an instant impact after signing.

19 April 2022: Yeison Cruz (key CDM) injured for 5-6 weeks.

30 June 2022: We won all 3 AFC group stage games and qualified for the ASEAN Zone Semi Final against Malaysian side Selangor FC.

3 July 2022: Lost 1-0 against Persebaya. This was our first loss in 10 league games without defeat. Persebaya were one of our rivals, and they were let to lose a game this season. They appeared to be the team we would have to fight against this season as Persib appeared to have dopped off in quality from last season.

10 August 2022: Beat Malaysian side Selangor FC 3-1 to reach the ASEAN Zone Final, where we will play Hougang United from Singapore.

17 August 2022: Won the ASEAN Zone Final 3-0 against Hougang United. 16 year old striker Arbeta scored a hat-trick

1 September 2022: At this stage of the season things were going incredibly well in Indonesia. The board were very happy with my performance so far.


You don't often see an A+ board rating in FM, so I was delighted when I saw that beautiful neon green colour.

7 September 2022: Beat A-League side Sydney FC 3-2 to reach the AFC Cup Interzone Final. This was an incredible result. I really wasn't expected to do so well against an A-League side, that is clearly a much large club than PSM.

2 October 2022: I decided to throw my hat in the mix for a number of youth international team jobs, just to try and get some more experience and increase my global reputation. Luckily for me, one nation was willing to give me a chance. On this date I signed a contract and begun work as the Ghana Under-23 manager.



5 October 2022: Just three days after taking the Ghana role, PSM offered me a new 1 year contract. Without hesitation I signed on for another year, as I was enjoying life in Indonesia and wanted to continue to grow and see if we could win the league here with PSM.




We won the AFC Cup Interzone Playoff Final 7-1 against Istiqlol from Tajikistan. We will now play in the AFC Cup Grand Final against Uzbekistan side Lokomotiv Toshkent. This competition was quite confusing as I didn't know how many stages there were. But I learn that the game against Lokomotiv was actually the grand final. The winner of that match would qualify for the Asian Champions League.

15 October 2022: King Kenny Athiu (as we now call him) scored a hat-trick in the league, to reach 41 goals for the season in just 34 appearances!

22 October 2022: Lost first ever AFC Cup Final in the clubs history. 3-2 loss, but we did get 500k for reaching the final. Now we have to win the domestic league to qualify for the AFC Champions League. Lokomotiv proved to be too good for us, and the quality in their team saw them succeed.

29 October 2022: Loss 1-0 to the team top of the league, yes it was Persebaya again. They are now 5 points clear, but we have 2 games in hand which we must win. That was our first loss in 15 games in the league unbeaten which was tough to take, but we wouldn't give up until the league was over. Right now we still have a chance.


2 November 2022: Won the cup semi final 3-0 to progress 4-1 winners on aggregate, we will face Persik in the Final over two legs in December to try and regain our title from last season.

14 November 2022: The title race is heading down to the wire. Our rivals Persebaya are currently top, but we have three games in hand. We cannot afford to lose many more games if we want to win the league this season.



16 November 2022: Without our star striker Athiu, we struggled against 14th placed Borneo. We were 2-1 down and it looked like we were going to lose the game, but our midfielder Kambuaya rescued a point with a 92nd minute equaliser! Would that be the goal that potential keeps us in the title race?

18 November 2022: First game as Ghana U-23s boss. We played against Ivory Coast U-23s in the CAF U-23’s Championship Qualifier. We set up in a 4-2-4, similar to what I use at PSM. We lost the match 3-6, I quickly realised that tactic isn’t going to work for the players we have. We have terrible defenders, and we were far too open using that formation. Next game we will try a 4-3-3 DM.

We drew the next game 2-2, an improvement. Lots of work needed to be done with this young Ghana side.

23 November 2022: We just have 5 league games left to play. We are currently second in the league, but we have two games in hand. Win both and we go top. We just beat the current champions Persib 3-1, after they took a 1-0 lead. Athiu scored a brace and now has 33 league goals and 49 goals in all competitions this season.

The league table with just 5 games left to play - we still have a chance.

26 November 2022: Beat 4th placed Tira 4-1 to secure a top two finish. King Kenny scored all four goals and now has 53 goals this season!

30 November 2022: The next match was our final game in hand, we had the opportunity to go 1 point ahead of Persebaya and take the top spot in the league. The match was against 15th placed Persita, and we had a full strength side bar our suspended center back - Rifqi.

This season I was quite naive and only have two center backs in the squad. We have gotten away with it so far, but I think that was our undoing in this situation. I played Colombian midfielder Cruz at center back, and we were 1-0 down in the 15th minute. We pulled two goals back through Hariyadi and Beaza, but a later Persita free-kick meant we dropped points, and now we are 2nd in the league, 1 point behind Persebaya with 3 games left to play. We need them to drop points if we have any chance of winning the league now.

10 December 2022: After beating Persik 2-0 away in the first leg of the Indonesian Cup Final, we were confident facing them at home, especially as reigning champions of the competition. King Kenny Athiu made sure it was his name in the headlines as he scored a hat-trick to give us a 5-0 lead on aggregate. Persik fought back with two late goals, but it wasn’t enough and we were crowned Indonesian Cup winners for the second season in a row. Now we turned our focus to the final two league games of the season, desperate to claim a domestic double.


The players celebrated winning the Indonesian Cup for the second year in a row!



18 December 2022: It is the final day of the season and we are 2nd in the league, just one point behind Persebaya. The winner of the league qualifies for the AFC Champions League group stage. We play against 6th placed Bhayangkara at their ground and Persebaya play 15th placed Persita at their ground. It is unlikely we will win the league now, but it is still possible.

We set up with our strongest possible team (bar our injured left back), in our 4-2-4 formation that had been so successful this year. However, just five minutes into the game we were 1-0 down. Numberi scored a great strike. Just ten minutes later we were 2-0 down, and it felt like our whole season was over already. Although Persebaya were still drawing 0-0, so if we could put it back we had a chance. Our full back bombed forward and scored in the 19th minute to get us back in the match, and Kenny Athiu scored right before half-time to make the scores even 2-2, with his 59th goal of the season in all competitions. Going into the second half we just needed one goal, and we would be league champions (if Persebaya’s game stayed 0-0). But, we conceded just two minutes into the second half, and our hopes were shattered when Persebaya went 1-0 up. To make things worse we conceded again, and lost the final game of the season 4-2. Persebaya won 1-0 and were crowned Indonesian Premier League champions. Our goalkeeper Syah had performed so well all season, but in the final match he was terrible - he had a 5.9 rating. It was a gut wrenching way to end the season.


At the end of season two of my GOAT Challenge, we finished 2nd in the Indonesian Premier League, were Indonesian Cup winners, and runner up in the AFC Cup Final. Persabaya deserved the league title, losing only one league game the entire season. We finished on 81 points, four points behind Persebaya. However, a real positive from the season was our +54 goal differential, which was +14 better then Persebayas. If we are at PSM next season, I am confident that we can improve again, and go one step further to finally win the league title.

We had a number of standout performers this season. Rizky Eka was one of our best wingers and over the course of the season racked in an incredible 27 assists. He was awarded Young Player of the Season in our club, and at 22 I am sure he will continue to grow and do well for our side.



Febri Hariyadi came in half way through the season as a free transfer, and claimed the right wing position quickly as his own. In 27 appearances he scored 9 goals and assisted 12 goals in all contributions. A current Indonesian international with 24 caps, he will also be an important member of the side as we move forward.



Yeison Cruz was one of my foreign players that I signed on a free transfer at the beginning of the season. The 21 year old Colombian had a tough start in Indonesia, with 2 red cards in his first appearances. But once he had settled in and eased his obvious anxiety/excitement to be at PSM, he became one of our most consistent performers. He ended the season with 38 appearances, 6 goals and 16 assists. He is now rated 4 and a half stars and I believe he will get even better next season.



Kim Jin-Sung was without a doubt our best defender this season. The South Korean joined from Madura United and was a formidable force at the back. He started 46 games and was consistent throughout, averaging a 7.40 in the league, and a 7.43 across all competitions. Next season I will look to sign another center back to match his level, as at times he looked isolated at the back this season.



Arbeta Kruniangung was a young player who I backed right from the moment we signed him. £100k looked like a lot to be spending on a 16 year old at the time, but I think he more than exceeded expectations and his price tag. He scored 25 goals in all competitions this season (for some reason the AFC Cup games are not showing in the end of season stats). Not only has he been a bagsman but he created a lot of opportunities for others too, with 11 assists this season. At just 17 years of age now, he could go on to achieve great things for Indonesia. His 16 finishing is his key attribute, and I know that will only get better and he grows into a more mature player.



The star of our season, and there are no two ways about it, was Mr King Kenny Athiu. He would have been called Sir King Kenny Athiu, but we didn’t win the league title, so I think Mr is more appropriate. However, this South Sudinese monster absolutely tore the Indonesian League to shreds. He scored 40 goals in his 28 league appearances, setting a record in the competition. He scored 59 goals across all comps, and was called up to his international side numerous times scoring for them twice as well this season. He is 6 foot 7 inches tall, and with 19 jumping reach now, he was just unplayable for most of the Indonesian defenders. He was an absolute machine, and next season I intend on keeping my attacking partnership of King Kenny and Arbeta and looking to strengthen other areas of the team.



Four of our players were named in the Indonesian Premier League Team of the Year: Right Back - Maulana, Kim Jin-Sung, Cruz and Athiu.



Personally, I was delighted to win Best Coach of the Year for the 2022 season, as well as pick up a Coach of the Month Award in May. One disappointment this season has been the board's unwillingness to allow me to complete any coaching badges. They won’t let me do any as they are afraid I will move to another team. This could be their downfall. I am tempted to leave. I know we are building something special at PSM, but I wouldn’t say no if a bigger job came up, especially if they are allowing me to complete coaching badges.


In other news - the FIFA World Cup took place this season in December (Summer World Cup in Qatar). Much to my disbelief, it was USA against England in the Final. The game ended 0-0, England were the side who created far more chances, although USA kept the ball better. The game went to penalties, Phil Foden and Declan Rice missed for England, and De la Fuente scored the winner for the USA. So the United States of America are the 2022 FIFA World Cup winners! For the first time in the nation's history. An incredible day.




26 December 2022: I was approached by two different International teams. Both from Africa, and both with some really excited players that I could potentially work with.


The first job offer was from Ivory Coast. They are currently ranked 41st in the world and have players such as Zaha, Kessie, Eric Bailly and Nicolas Pepe, just to name a few.



The other job offer was from Nigeria. They are currently ranked 17th (much to my surprise!) They have players such as Osimhen, Ndidi, Onyeka and Ihaenacho, just to name some of their best players.



In the end it was quite an easy choice, I decided to go with the higher ranked nation, and so I signed terms with my first senior international team - Nigeria.



The Nigerian FA expects me to win the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in June 2022. I was delighted to see that expectation, as that is one of the trophies I am aiming to win in this challenge. I am really excited to manage this talented Nigerian team, and I am hopeful that we can win our first major international trophy. They had a perfect qualifying campaign winning all six of their games against Gabon, Sierra Leone and Botswana.


Until next time, thanks for reading!

Congrats on a great season! Looks like you'll start crossing out trophies from your bucket list in no time

20 jumping reach, 19 heading, and 6'7" tall... you don't need to know anything about football to know how to utilise that guy!

Season Three Review

31 December 2022: King Kenny Athiu has capped off his incredible season last year by being named the best African striker, the best! He was also named in the African XI of the Year alongside some stars such as: Mendy, Hakimi, Salah and Mane.



I decided after narrowly losing the league last season, I wanted to spend one more season in Indonesia, and finally claim the league title! Persebaya were my bitter rivals now, and so I had a cunning plan. It was time to go full shit house mode. Not only was I going to strengthen my squad, but I planned on signing as many of their players as possible, to dismantle their title winning team. If they weren’t so good we would have smashed the league. That was my plan. Would it pay off or would it be a complete failure, read along to find out...?


25 January 2023: This season we will play in the AFC Cup once more, last season we reached the final, and if we can take it one step further and win it this year, then we will qualify for the Asian Champions League. In the ASEAN zone group stage we have been drawn against Kedah from Malaysia, Tampines from Singapore and Magwe from Myanmar.



1 February 2023: The transfer window was open and I had done my business very early, therefore 15 players joined the club today. We signed 7 first team players from the title winners from last season Persebaya. Two of the most notable players who joined on a free transfer were: Marc Klok, midfielder with 12 Indonesian caps and Alexander Agyarkwa who will be one of our four foreign players this season and instantly becomes one of our best players.





After taking so many of Persebayas players and strengthening our squad through free transfers, we are now the favourites going into the 2023 season! Persebaya are now predicted to finish 10th, so I think my tactic worked!


13 February 2023: Signed a new central defender Walter Milano.He has slightly better attributes than our current South Korean center back, so I decided to bring him in and look to move on Kim Jin-Sung.



15 February 2023: Won our first game of the new campaign, a comfortable 4-0win against Magwe in the AFC Cup. Athiu scored his first of the new season, our now 17 year old striker Arbeta scored a double, and our new Ghanaian midfielder Agyarkwa scored on his full debut. A perfect start to the season. The one disappointment was Athiu picked up a knock and will be out for 2-3 weeks. Luckily there are roughly three weeks in games until our next match.

15 March 2023: Named my first ever Nigeria squad for two upcoming friendlies against Germany and Ecuador. I brought Victor Osimhen back into the squad after he returned from injury, and called up a couple of other players, notably a 16 year old center back from Porto called Saleh who looks like a real promising talent.




18 March 2023: We had our first opportunity to avenge last season's league defeat against our rivals Persebaya in the Indonesian Super Cup Final. The winners of the cup (us) against the winners of the league. We took a 2-0 lead in the game but Persebaya pulled one back with ten minutes left to play. Our 17 year old striker Arbeta, sealed the win with a penalty in the 88th minute and we won the match 3-1. The man of the match was undoubtedly the former Persebaya keeper who we pinched from them at the end of last season. Our new number one, Satria Tama made 12 saves in the game and scored an 8.00 match rating. I was delighted to win another piece of silverware, but it was even sweeter beating our bitter rivals.



25 March 2023: My first two matches as Nigeria boss were friendlies against Germany and Ecuador. The first match against 7th ranked Germany was a high scoring affair that unfortunately ended in a 5-3 defeat for us. Kelechi Ihaenacho made a statement with a double in the game, at the moment I have 4 good strikers competing for two spots so every game is important for the players leading up to the African Cup of Nations. The second match against Ecuador was an easier match, so I played a slightly rotated side. The lads got it done early with a 2-0 lead in the 21st minute thanks to Osimhen and Joe Aribo. It was a great result and my first ever win as manager of the Super Eagles.

9 April 2023: We began the league campaign with a match away from home against PSS. It was a comfortable 4-1 win with Cruz, our Colombian midfielder scoring a stunning long-range strike and King Kenny Athiu picking up where he left off last season, with an opening day hat-trick of headers. Kenny now has 43 league goals for PSM in just 29 appearances, making him the clubs all time top league goalscorer, in just 29 appearances! That is a crazy stat. Kenny also scored more goals last season, then he had scored in the past 5 seasons combined.
12 April 2023: With a 6-0 win against Tampines in the AFC Cup, we have now qualified for the ASEAN Zone Semi Final. Once we progress through the ASEAN Zone we have an opportunity to to qualify for the Asian Champions League if we win the whole AFC Cup.

The African Cup of Nations (AFCON) group stage has been drawn! We are the current holders of the competition, and if I can win it again this year it will be the first achievement ticked off in the save. In our group we will play against Burkina Faso, South Africa and The Gambia. The competition runs for a month, beginning on 23 June 2023.




1 May 2023: We have started the season really well, three wins and a draw in our opening four games. Kenny Athiu won player of the month for April with 6 goals and 3 assists in 4 appearances, and I was awarded manager of the month.



24 May 2023: After a 2-0 win in the first leg of the ASEAN Zone AFC Cup semi final, I was comfortable we would progress into the final. In the second leg we won 3-1, Kenny Athiu scored his 19th and 20th goals of the season and we will now face another Indonesian side in Persik in the final.

28 May 2023: 8 games into the season we are currently top of the league with 22 points, 5 points ahead of 2nd placed Persipura. We now go into the International break feeling comfortable in where we are at. We have now gone 17 games without defeat which is a new club record, and we unlocked the Irresistible Force achievement, scoring a goal in 30 consecutive matches. I was awarded Manager of the Month again for the month of May.

9 June 2023: The next match against Argentina will be my 100 games in the save. Unfortunately we couldn’t celebrate my 100th game with a win, as Argentina beat my Nigeria. 4-2.

25 June 2023: My HOYD Toril has been hired by Melbourne Victory as their new manager. So I swiftly replaced him with a Portuguese HOYD from Luneng FS. Simão Freitas is 42 years old with 16 working with youngsters, 15 judging player ability and 12 judging player ability. He was the best HOYD that showed interest in our vacant role.


The tournament took place during the Indonesian season. So I have decided to write this summary separate from the usual timeline updates. As I mentioned earlier, Nigeria won the last AFCON and this is a great opportunity for my first major trophy, and my first international achievement to tick off.

The opening match was against South Africa, who on paper looked the toughest team in our group. We opted for the 4-2-4 tactic I have been using at PSM the past two seasons. I was able to field my best eleven and felt very confident going into our first game of the tournament. It took just 2 minutes and 35 seconds to score our first AFCON goal. Kelechi Iheanacho broke through the SA defence and finished his chance with assertiveness.. 2 minutes later it was 2-0, as Kelechi doubled the lead from the penalty spot. In the 12th minute Ndidi made it 3-0! The ball fell to him from a corner and he rifled a stunning shot into the top left corner. Victor Osimhen got in on the action in the 20th minute, with a bullet header to put us 4-0 up in the first half. Osimhen scored his second goal of the game just 2 minutes later. We were making a real statement in the opening game, 5-0 up in just 22 minutes. Iheanacho scored his hat-trick in the 33rd minute, with arguably the best goal of the game. A stunning long range strike to put us 6-0 up! The half time whistle went and we were absolutely dominant, 6-0 at the break and SA hadn’t had a shot on target. I decided to rest Ndidi and Osimhen, our two star men at half time and bought in Moffi and Aribo. Kelechi Iheanacho continued the masacre just 4 minutes into the second half to put us 7-0 up and score his fourth goal of the match. Joe Aribo made it 8-0 in the 67th minute! But we weren’t done yet.. In the 84th minute our other substitute Moffi scored after the SA keeper parried a shot, we led 9-0! South Africa did pull a goal back, with a well worked move in the 89th minute, although it was disappointing to concede, I really can’t complain when the boys have scored 9 goals. In the 92nd minute, Kelechi Iheanacho scored again, to make the final score 10-1. An incredible opening game and hopefully a sign of things to come.


The next group match was against the Gambia, we set up the exact same as we did against SA. Villarael winger Chukwueze put us 1-0 up after 8 minutes with a great strike after cutting inside from the left wing. However, Gambia pulled a goal back after we gave away a penalty in the 15th minute. Ndidi struck the crossbar in the 27th minute, as we continued to push for the lead once more. After some great build up play, we worked the ball down the left wing with Chukwueze, Ndidi and Iheanacho. Kelechi was through on goal and scored to give us a 2-1 lead, 5 minutes before half-time. This was his 6th goal of the tournament already and we went in at the break with a one goal lead. Akpougoma pounced onto a Chukwueze corner to give us a 3-1 lead, and Iheanacho made it 4-1 shortly after. The match ended 4-1, meaning we have 6 points from two games.

Our final group game was against Burkina Faso. With two wins from two we had already secured a spot in the knockout stage. I decided to rotate the team and rest some of the key players. Nonetheless Iwobi gave us a 1-0 lead after 37 minutes. Victor Osimhen put us 2-0 up in the second half to seal the win. Onyeka made it 3-0 in the 92nd minute to cap off a brilliant display from the lads, and so we topped our group with 3 wins from 3 with a maximum 9 points. In the first knockout round we have a favourable draw, we will face Benin who are currently ranked 80th in the world without any real standout players that I am worried about.

Just 1 minute into the knockout round game against Benin we took the lead through Chukwueze, a stunning free kick! Iwobi put us 2-0 up just 7 minutes later. Right before halftime Victor Osimhen scored to give us a comfortable 3-0 lead with a strong header into the bottom corner. Chukwueze scored his second free kick of the game early in the second half to put us 4-0 up! The match ended 4-0, it was a comfortable win, we dominated Benin from start to finish and are growing in confidence as we approach the vital stage of the AFCON competition. In the quarter final we were drawn against Tunisia who are currently ranked 31st in the world.

Victor Osimhen is now the all time Nigeria top goalscorer. He has 38 goals in 41 caps, an incredible record, and he is only 24 years old, so has another 6 or more years at the top level to add to his tally.

The opening half of the quarter final against Tunisia was dull and neither team seemed to get a hold of the game. However, in the second half it was our new top goal scorer who gave us the lead! Osimhen doubled our lead shortly after when Ndidi played him through, he calmly finished the chance. Osimhen turned provider for Moses Simon 2 minutes after as we completely flipped the game on its head and took a 3-0 lead within 8 minutes. Ndidi scored in the 80th minute to give us a 4-0 lead, he always scores great goals, and this was no different, a stunning long distance strike into the top corner. The match ended 4-0, after a slow start we ended the game strong and progressed into the semi-final! In the semi-finals we will face Morocco who are currently ranked 20th in the world and have some real world class players such as Hakimi, Ziyech and En-Nesyri.

It’s now or never according to the press. Regardless of my good results in the AFCON, if I failed to win the semi-final I could lose my job as Nigeria boss. I was feeling the pressure, but also quietly confident in my team who seem to get better every match we play.

The match started in the worst way I could have imagined. Morocco kicked off the match, and without us touching the ball they worked the ball into our box, and Mazraoui finished their first chance to give them a 1-0 lead within a minute. It was a nightmare! Luckily it was disallowed for offside! We dodged a bullet for sure. In the 5th minute Iheanacho went down in the box and the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Kelechi Iheanacho stepped up and smashed the ball into the bottom right corner. We took a 1-0 lead early in the match! In the 21st minute we came close to doubling the lead. Chukwueze has already scored two free kicks in the AFCON and he hit the post on this occasion, showing his quality from set pieces. Munir had a chance in the 40th minute for Morocco, but our keeper Okoye made a great save to keep us in the lead with our one goal margin heading into half-time. In the 46th minute, just 40 seconds before half-time, Iheanacho scored a crucial goal to put us 2-0 up, a header at the keepers near post. We could taste the final already going into the second half. In the 51st minute Chukwueze whipped in a great corner, and Osimhen rose to head in our third goal of the match. I wasn’t expecting to do so well but it looked like the game was already over with 40 minutes left to play. Once we were 3-0 up we decided to lower our tempo, play even shorter passing than usual, and lower our defensive lines. We were happy to see out the game, and that we did. The match ended 3-0, and we progressed into the AFCON Final in our first attempt!



In the other AFCON semi-finals Ivory Coast played the Gambia, and Ivory Coast were the clear favourites. However Gambia took the lead after 33 minutes, but in the second half Ivory Coast levelled the match. After a scoreless extra time it went to penalties, Hamza missed Gambia's only penalty and the Ivory Coast players scored each of their penalties, meaning we will face 32nd ranked Ivory Coast in the final, a nation who offered me a job on the same day as Nigeria.



Going into the final we were the favourites, and I would be gutted if we stumbled now, so close to winning our first major international trophy. Much to my surprise Gambia claimed the bronze medal, beating Morocco 3-2 in the 3rd place playoff match.

Karamoko, Ivory Coast's manager fielded an interesting team for the final. I was shocked to see Nicolas Pepe, Wilfried Zaha, Franck Kessie and Gervinho all on the bench. They set up in a 5-3-2 formation, and we stuck with our more attacking 4-2-4. Chukwueze had the first real chance of the match, we struck a great free kick in the opening minutes but the Ivory Coast keeper Tape, showed alertness to make a top draw save early on. In the 24th minute Chukwueze picked up the ball in his own half, drove down the line and whipped in an inviting cross. Kelechi Iheanacho was on hand to meet the cross and headed in to give us a 1-0 lead! After a poor corner from Ivory Coast we broke on the counter attack. Osimhen was through on goal but he couldn’t convert as Tape made another big save for Ivory Coast. In the 44th minute our center back Omeruo launched one of his dangerous long throws into the box. Victor Osimhen leaped out of the air and made up for his earlier miss by heading in to give us a 2-0 lead right before half-time. We went in at the break with a comfortable lead, surely we couldn’t lose this final now? Ivory Coast started the second half really well with a number of chances, however our goalkeeper was up to the task and made some great saves. In the 69th minute Ivory Coast continued to push, and their persistence paid off. They pulled a goal back through Kouame, it was a good volley after a nice move down the right hand side. Just as I thought the game was going to be over, with 5 minutes left to play Kouame scored again to level the match, he scored an incredible goal from outside the box that flew into the top corner. The unthinkable happened. They scored again. Meite scored off a deep free kick and with 3 minutes left to play we had thrown away a two goal lead..

That was it. I couldn’t believe it. We lost the match 3-2 and Ivory Coast were the AFCON 2023 winners.



I felt a bit hard done by but I also knew that if we failed to win the AFCON I would probably be sacked, and that is what happened. Although I’m disappointed, I will apply for another international job as soon as one is available and learn from this first experience in international management.



1 July 2023: In the league we had a match against Persebaya, it was time for revenge. They did my head in last season, piping us to the league title. However, we had the last laugh. We went to their ground and smashed them 1-6! It was so sweet to see them lose. Our winger Eka scored a hat-trick, Athiu scored a brace and Hariyadi our other winger got the final goal.

5 July 2023: The PSM board was delighted with the progress at the club, and my unbeaten start to the season prompted them to offer me a new contract. I happily signed on for another year as I pursue the Indonesian league title.



20 July 2023: A number of players became discontent with their lack of playing time and handed in transfer requests. Since we have been on such a good run I haven’t changed the team much. Therefore the first player to leave was Klok who signed at the beginning of the season on a free transfer but just couldn’t break into the team. He was sold for £32k to Korean team FC Anyang.

23 July 2023: Our next league match was against Arema who were predicted to finish 2nd in the league at the beginning of the season. We absolutely blew them away 4-1 to assert our dominance in the league. 12 games in, we are top of the league with 34 points, 7 points ahead of 2nd placed Persik, we also have a +33 goal difference, the next best goal difference in the league is Persipura +15. We are doing so well.

29 July 2023: We played Dewa Utd in the league away from home and put in one of our best performances of the season. King Kenny Athiu scored five goals in the match and our other striker Arbeta scored a brace. Arbeta’s first goal was one of the best I have seen on FM22 so far, a lovely backheel goal. We won the match 7-1. Our two strikers are both in unreal form right now. Athiu now has 30 goals in 22 games this season, and Arbeta has 13 goals in 19 games, he is still just 17 years old.

9 August 2023: In the AFC Cup ASEAN Zone Final we faced another Indonesian side Persik. The first leg at home ended 1-1, but we went to their ground and comfortably won 3-0. Athiu scored two early goals and Eka scored in the second half. We now progress into the Interzone Playoff Semi Final, we will face Eastern Salon from Hong Kong.

12 August 2023: We lost our first game of the league campaign against PSIS 2-0.Their Brazilian striker has caused us problems in the past, and it was him again who scored a double.

30 August 2023: In the AFC Cup Interzone Semi-Final we faced the side that were top of the Hong Kong Premier League, Eastern SC. In the first leg at their ground we dominated them 3-0, thanks to goals from Kenny Athiu and Hariyadi. We then went into the second leg full of confidence, and performed even better, winning 4-0. Athiu scored a brace, Arbeta scored and our other young striker Erliandry scored late to seal the win. In the Interzone Playoff Final we will play MHDN FC from India.

16 September 2023: Arbeta’s penalty was enough to see us progress into the fourth round of the Piala Indonesian Cup, we beat Persija 0-1 away from home after a 0-0 draw in the first leg at home.

20 September 2023: We progressed into the AFC Cup Grand Final after sweeping aside MHDN FC easily - a 6-1 win away, and a 3-1 win at home, meant we won 9-2 on aggregate. Last season we made the final, and narrowly missed out on the trophy, this season we have a chance to make amends, against Al-Arabi from Kuwait. Winning that game would also secure a spot in the Asian Champions League next season - if we stay at PSM, this would be a massive step forward in our overall goal of winning every continental competition.

28 September 2023: In the Piala Indonesian Cup 4th round we played Persis Solo, a comfortable 5-0 win almost guaranteed our spot in the next round. Arbeta scored a brace, as did King Kenny Athiu - who now has 42 goals this season! We still have 3 months left to play, will he beat his record of 59 goals in all competitions he set last season?

30 September 2023: King Kenny Athiu missed a penalty against the team currently second in the league - but we still battled out a 2-1 win against Persipura. This win meant we were top of the league by 5 points more than the team in second (PSIS) - with two games in hand.

20 October 2023: The AFC Cup Final is the biggest game of our season so far. After losing in the final last year, and with a spot in the Asian Champions League as the reward - it is a massive moment. We are facing a team from Kuwait, that on paper are the favourites. However, we have only lost two games all season, and are in red hot form. Athiu is banging in goals, and I think he will be the difference between the two sides. This is a huge game in regards to the progress of the save.



21 October 2023: Our nerves going into the final were quickly settled as our right winger Hariyadi cut in and blasted a shot into the top corner, a lead after 10 minutes was the perfect start. Arbeta made it a 2-0 lead, as Kenny Athiu squared it to his strike partner for a tap-in. Kenny Athiu then scored yet another headed goal from a corner. Athiu doubled his goal tally in the final in the 32nd minute, which meant we led 4-0 at half-time! We played incredibly well in the first half. At half time I changed to a more defensive tactic. Al-Arabi scored a late consolation goal, but we won the match 4-1! This was our second trophy of the season, the first AFC Cup win in PSM’s history - and we have now secured a spot in the Asian Champions League next season. This victory may tempt me to stay another year in Indonesia, although I don’t think we could compete with the top Chinese or Korean sides, and our board is still denying my progress and requests to gain coaching badges. I may have no choice but to leave at the end of this season, unless there isn’t a suitable job available. Kenny Athiu claimed the MVP award of the AFC Cup with 21 goals in 15 games.




25 October 2023: Just before we played in the AFC Cup Final, we beat PSS in the Piala Indonesian Cup quarter-final 1-0, that was the first of two legs. In the second leg we played at home and comfortably won 3-1. That means we are still in the running for 4 trophies this season. We have won two, we are looking like big favourites to win the league, and we now progress into the semi-final of the cup.

1 November 2023: PSIS are one of the top teams in Indonesia this season. Their Brazilian striker - Darlan, has caused us some problems. But we managed to contain him this time out and won in a professional performance, 2-0. With 14 games still left to play in the league, we are flying and looking ever closer to our first league title in the save.

8 November 2023: In the Piala Indonesian Cup, we played against Persipura in the semi-final. The first leg was away from home, at their ground. We managed to win 3-0, with King Kenny Athiu scoring his 50th goal of the season! We are just one win away from reaching the final, and with an opportunity to regain our title from last season.

15 November 2023: In the second leg of the Piala Indonesian Cup semi final, we were extremely defensive. I had numerous key players away on international duty, and so I decided to just park the bus and see out the game, as we had a 3-0 lead from the first leg. The match ended 0-0, and so we have qualified for the final.We will face Borneo over two legs - they are currently 12th in our league, so we are strong favourites to win the competition for the 5th time in a row.

30 November 2023: We had a very busy November, with a game almost every two days, but we came out the other side unscaved - winning every game bar two. With just one month left to play of the season, we are top of the league with 72 points, PSIS are second with 56 points, we also have two games in hand, so could move to 22 points clear of the second placed team, securing the title. If PSIS drop points, and we win, the title will also be ours. It is only a matter of time now.



3 December 2023: The next match against Arema was massive - a win and we claim the title. Our 18 year old striker Arbeta has been incredible this season, and after a cagey 0-0 opening half, Arbeta scored to give us the lead, and we had one hand on the trophy. Just three minutes later in the 60th minute, we were awarded a penalty. Arbeta stepped up… and smashed it home! We won the match 2-0, and for the first time in the club’s history, we had won the Liga 1 (Indonesian Premier League). This meant we had now won a treble this season, and could make it a quadruple if we win the Piala Cup. Not only have we secured the league title, but with 6 games still left to play. That means we can turn our attention to the cup, and try to secure every possible trophy this season.






9 December 2023: Arbeta was the hero again - in the Piala Indonesian Cup Final he scored a brace to seal a 2-0 win in the first leg. It was an amazing victory as we were reduced to ten men when our South Korean center back was sent off in the first half. Now just a draw is needed (or even a loss by one goal), to win the Piala Indonesian Cup. There are now just 5 league games left to play this season as well.

16 December 2023: Prior to the second leg of the Piala Cup Final, I strategically played my weakest squad possible in the league, so we were at full strength for the cup final. I lost the league match 3-2, funnily against Borneo who we would play in the final just three days later. Having won the first leg 2-0, I was confident we were going to secure our fourth trophy of the season. Agyarkwa, my beast of an African midfielder, opened the scoring with a screamer in the 4th minute. King Kenny Athiu made it 2-0 in the 28th minute. Borneo pulled a goal back, but right after half time we took a 3-1 lead. But Borneo wouldn’t give up, they scored in the 78th minute and the 94th minute to pull back a tie in the second leg - it wasn’t enough, we won 5-3 on aggregate and secured the Piala Indonesian Cup, a great way to end the perfect season. We have just three league games left and then I think I have no choice but to look for another job, as the board just rejected me AGAIN - so I still only have my National C License.

24 December 2023: We ended the season with a 2-1 win, a 0-0 draw and a 6-1 win. The league season ended with us at the top of the ladder. After 34 games played - we won 38, drew 4 and lost just 2. We scored 104 goals which was a league record, and finished with 88 points, another league record. We were 21 points ahead of the second best team PSIS which shows just how dominant we were this season. Kenny Athiu won the Golden Boot with 28 goals this season. He also had the highest average rating in the league with an 8.16 - our Colombian midfielder Cruz finished with the most assists in the league, 21. This season we signed a new goalkeeper from Persebaya, and he had the second most clean sheets in the league with 15, just 1 less than the best goalkeeper Hwang Byung-Keun.



Last season I said that if we won the league, Kenny Athiu would be renamed. Now I give to you - Sir King Kenny Athiu! He has been an animal for me. This season he scored 55 goals in 51 games and assisted 19 goals. In the league alone he now has 68 goals in 56 appearances, and over the course of the past two seasons he has scored 114 goals.




18 year old Arbeta was our second top goal scorer this season with a total of 36 goals in all competitions. He scored 10 more goals in the league this season compared to last, and he seemed to always score when we needed him most. At just 18 years old he has a bright future ahead of him, albeit maybe just in Indonesia.



Alexander Agyarkwa was my key signing this season, joining on a free but taking one of my foreign player spots. As a mezzala he performed consistently well this season, scoring some amazing goals and some brilliant free kicks. His 17 technique was his standout attribute, and he had some real eye-catching moments this season. He ended the season with 17 goals and 16 assists, a great return for a free transfer.



The final player I want to highlight this season is Yeison Cruz. The Colombian midfielder excelled in his second season at PSM, with 31 assists in all competitions as well as 9 goals. He was a real standout, and like Agyarkwa - scored some world class goals.



We were by far the best team in Indonesia this year, and surprisingly this was shown in the Team of the Year - 11 PSM players named in the Team of the Year! Don’t think I have ever seen this before in FM, not in my saves anyway.



With the season coming to an end, I will now search for a new job. I need to get coaching badges, and hopefully now - with four more trophies under my belt, I can get a job with a club that is willing to allow me to develop. I will obviously ask for coaching badges in interviews, and I am open to going almost anywhere as long as I can get these done. If no opportunities come up, then I will reluctantly still be at PSM next season.



Until then, thanks for reading - next season update may be at a new club - Hopefully!

Great work and some excellent shithousing. Interested to see where you end up next

Not gonna lie, i kinda like the cheeky shithousery and IT seemed to have worked out! A real shame the board wont let you take no coaching courses leaving you with no other option than leaving if you want to progress. I hope you can find a suitable club quickly. Surely everybody wants a quadrouple winning manager right?!

Season Four Review

14 January 2024: After applying for numerous jobs I had to make a tough decision. Was it worth potentially taking a step down to complete my coaching badges? In the end - I decided it was. A club offered me the opportunity to complete badges, so I took a leap of faith.



So now I am in Hong Kong. This may turn out to be a mistake, but I was sick of the PSM board. I have now taken charge of Lee Man. This club is in an interesting position. Last season they won the league, but this season they are bottom of the league, with just 8 points from 10 games. However, one win could put them up to 6th, as there are only 8 teams in the league. They already won the Hong Kong Community Cup this year, and they are in the AFC Cup which begins in 10 days.





Finally - I begin my National B License



20 January 2024: In my first game in charge of Lee Man, I used an alteration of the 4-2-4 I used at PSM. Lee Man doesn't even have one good striker, so I moved one of the strikers down into the attacking midfield position. We played South China in our first league match. We took a very early lead from the penalty spot, as one of our Brazilians - Maktom converted the spot kick. South China equalised, but we then took the lead in the second half through our South Korean winger - Garim Kim. We sealed the win in our first game in charge as Lee Ka Yiu, one of our Hong Kong wingers scored the winner. A great start to life in Hong Kong!

2 February 2024: The next match was a real test, against the team currently top of the league - Eastern SC. We started brilliantly as our Brazilian striker Wesley scored after 7 minutes. Eastern SC replied with a goal a minute later, and their striker Everton quickly gave them the lead with his second goal in just 2 minutes. Everton scored his hat-trick to put Eastern 3-1 up. Wesley scored his second of the match to pull the game back to 3-2. They scored again in the 44th minute and Everton scored right on half-time, which meant we were down 5-2 at the break. In the second half I thought the game was done, but Wesley scored his hat-trick and his fourth of the match quickly, the game was now 5-4. Lee Ka Yiu scored the equaliser for us in the 55th minute. Jean Pablo went on to give us the lead in the 71st minute, and Wesley scored his fifth goal in extra time, so we won the game 7-5! An incredible match, and we have jumped from bottom of the league, to 4th in just two matches.


10 February 2024: Resources Capital were 2nd in the league and we smashed them 3-0! I don’t know what the last manager was doing, but in my short time at Lee Man, it appears we have a good enough squad to compete at the top of this league. We are now 3rd, but still 13 points from the first placed team - Eastern SC.

29 February 2024: The AFC Cup draw for the 2024 season pitted us against a fellow Hong Kong team in Eastern SC. We will also face Kigwancha and Ryomyong from DPR Korea. My last club PSM are the previous holders - so it would be amazing to win the AFC Cup and steal it off my old club.



2 March 2024: We ended the Hong Kong Premier League regular season with a 1-0 win against North District thanks to another Wesley goal. We have now qualified for the Championship Group - against the top four teams in Hong Kong. We will play one game against each team. So far in Hong Kong we have played 5 games and won 5 games.

10 March 2024: With a 1-1 draw against Northern District, we have qualified for the semi-final of the Hong Kong FA Cup.

16 March 2024: We drew 1-1 again against Reserves Capital, and Eastern SC won their match which meant they were crowned as the 2024 Hong Kong Premier League Champions. With two games remaining in the league, we can turn our focus to the Hong Kong FA Cup semi and the Hong Kong Sapling Cup semi.

26 April 2024: Our first youth intake in Hong Kong came through, and it was a decent one! We have one ‘elite talent’ with five star potential. Cheung Wai Fai is a 15 year old striker with 15 finishing already, I will put him straight into the first team. We also have four other players that are considered ‘top talents’.





28 April 2024: The Hong Kong Premier League season has come to an end, and we finished 3rd in the league. Eastern SC were the champions and they were awarded with ten players in the Premier League Best Eleven. However our star striker, Wesley made the team. He was the second top scorer in the league, and continues to be our best player in the club at this moment.





4 May 2024: In the FA Cup semi-final we played the Premier League champs Eastern SC. After a boring 0-0 and 120 minutes of football, the game went to penalties. Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be as we lost on pens 5-3.

20 May 2024: After 4 months of study, I have finally completed my National B License. Straight away I asked the board if I could do my next badge and they accepted! So now I am studying for my National A License.



25 May 2024: The season really didn’t end as I expected. I took over Lee Man, bottom of the league, but in two cup semi-finals. We lost the first semi on penalties, and just now we lost the Sapling Cup semi final, 1-0 - we played really well and deserved more but it wasn’t to be. We now have one more game, in the AFC Cup, and we need to win to secure a place in the next phase. We will play Eastern SC again!

29 May 2024: We ended the season on a positive note after securing qualification for the Interzone Playoff Final in the AFC Cup. We beat Eastern SC 1-0, thanks for a goal from our Brazilian midfielder Maktom.


The AFC cup actually plays over and through two Hong Kong seasons. So season 4 was very brief at Lee Man. Next season the board expects us to finish in the top half. But, with my own signings and building on our positive short time at the club, I am hoping I can win the league in Hong Kong, and then move on with a couple more coaching badges.





Until next time, thanks for reading!

2021-11-13 00:37#285261

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Were you really born in August this year?!? I do love reading a good pentagon challenge though, good write up so far mate keep it up