Where Can Football Take Me?

Continental

Asian Champions League
Runner Up: 2019


Malaysia

Super League
Winner: 2015, 2016

Premier League
Winner: 2014

FA Cup
Runner Up: 2016

Malaysian Cup
Winner: 2016

Charity Shield
Winner: 2016


China

Super League
Winner: 2020
Runner Up: 2019

FA Cup
Runner Up: 2019, 2020

Super Cup
Winner: 2021
Runner Up: 2020

All Star Game
Winner: 2021


Brazil

Bahia State Championship
Winner: 2022

Northeast Regional Championship
Runner Up: 2022

Second Division
Runner Up: 2022

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FM14 has been one of the toughest in the series for me in terms of getting stuck into a save, i've tried so many teams from many different countries and continents but never made one stick. So I naturally assumed when attempting a Pentagon Challenge for the very first time that I would be bored and give up 2 months in to the game, however to my surprise it's been probably the most enjoyable FM save i've ever had on any version of the game.

To bring you up to speed I am currently in my 7th season in Asia at my 2nd club building towards the chance to win the Asian Champions League and allow me to jump continent. The updates over these first 6 and a half seasons i've played will be vague as I never expected to get this far so they will be yearly summaries. Advancing beyond this the updates will be more detailed and interesting (hopefully).

I began the game unemployed with Sunday League reputation scouring Asia for a chance to venture into management. I loaded China, South Korea, Australia & Malaysia and began my search knowing that Malaysia was my most likely destination.

I applied for the role at Kuala Lumpur SPA in the lower regions of Malaysia's second tier and was turned away which had me fearing the worst and thinking i'll never got a chance. To my surprise I was offered an interview at Sime Darby, playing in the same league but one of the better clubs in the league having ended the season in 4th place, having impressed in the interview I was offered my first managerial chance and it was time for my adventures to begin.

More to follow ...

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EDIT - As per the post in the story the aim of my career has changed from the Pentagon Challenge to a career where I will be looking to be the best I can be whilst managing in many different continents and countries, the Pentagon's restrictions were taking the enjoyment out of one of the best saves I have ever had on any FM game.

My first task at Sime Darby was to overhaul the playing squad with a lot of the players at the club ageing and on the decline I released 90% of the playing staff allowing me to start bringing in my own team. Most of the signings were young players and focused around the national setup, given the lack of foreign players you can have I saw the national setup as the key to my scouting potential.

My lack of knowledge of the country and it's footballing schedule left me incredibly short for the Malaysian Cup campaign that runs completely separate from the regular season, it begins with a group stage with 4 teams per group. I started with a win and 2 draws and looking good but with 3 straight defeats following them I was dumped out of the cup early doors. Time to concentrate on my first league campaign.

Surprised you started out at Malaysia, considering they have no ACL spots.

But at least you've moved to somewhere where it's possible to qualify, so as a stepping stone it probably worked out for you there.

KUTGW

2014



A very successful first campaign for me, Wisdom & Shaari were both in good form notching 12 goals each while Jaafar playing just in behind scored 9 times to add to his 13 assists over the course of the season. Unfortunately the league is no longer playable on my save so i'm not able to get a screenshot of the league table, it was a tense ending to the season but we managed to cling on and claim the title on goal difference over Johor MBJB! A fantastic achievement and I was on my way!! Next stop ... Super League!!

The cup campaign was something of a let down, we were knocked out at the first hurdle!


2015



Another incredible league campaign, our first season in the Super League and we have only gone and won it!! Dropping just 15 points over the season we ran out comfortable winners and can look forward to a shot at the AFC Confederation Cup next season!! The signing of Jusoh on the right wing was inspired as his pace and crossing ability was too much for the league to handle. Wisdom was once again a force in front of goal and Jaafar probably the catalyst behind the whole success with another fantastic campaign.



The FA Cup was another wash out this season once again going out at the first hurdle. The Malaysian Cup was rather more successful, as you can see we comfortably made it all the way to the final where we would meet Darul Takzim, however strangely in Malaysia the final is classified as being the next season so it doesn't show on the fixtures screen.



We done the double!!! An early second half goal from our main man Jaafar was enough to see us lift the cup along with a solid defensive display!!

With an extra competition thrown in to the mix for next season I set about strengthening the squad, hoping for a decent run in the Conf Cup to help enhance my reputation, I need to get out of Malaysia as they don't get any Champions League places.

Sorry this is so brief but I am way ahead of this in the game and can't really get you much detail at this point.

Malaysia wasn't ideal but as you say it was a stepping stone. I wasn;t actually aware of the no ACL spots at the start but it turned out alright in the end. Thanks for reading.

Great season that one mate!

Two great years there mate! Such a good start!

Cheers bud.

Thanks mate, really landed on my feet at Sime Darby.

2016



The final game of the season was all that got cut off the bottom of the screen so i've selected it meaning it's the game in the right panel. Yet again a fantastic campaign and incredibly we retained the title!! Three years running we have won our league now, Kamarudin Shahrom at the tender age of 16 when I started the season made the jump to the first team and managed to notch an impressive 12 league goals! The usual suspects Wisdom & Jaafar were again instrumental in our charge to another title, Wisdom managed to notch 13 goals. This couldn't be going any better!!



We started the season by lifting the Charity Shield with a 2-1 win over Singapore Lions thanks to a brace from young Shahrom. For some unknown reason there was no Malaysian Cup to follow the league this season which I found strange. The FA Cup went much more successfully getting all the way to the Final but losing out by a goal to Singapore Lions, despite a poor performance by our standards we were unlucky to get beaten, this was particularly disappointing being the only Malaysian Trophy that I haven't won and knowing that my Sime Darby days were most likely coming to an end!

The Confederation Cup was an excellent competition to test our abilities, for some weird reason we were made huge favorites for every game but it was something that I learnt to ignore, 2 wins over Ha Noi and another over Churchill Bros was enough to see us through to the knockout rounds but we were narrowly eased out of the competition by Hong Kong's Yokohama FC.

All in all another fantastic season and no doubt that my reputation has been built enough to move on to a nation where I can qualify for the Champions League with China, Australia & South Korea available.

So where to next ...

2017

I spent 6 months out of the game searching for the right opportunity and once again I feel I have landed myself a great chance, in May 2017 I was appointed as the new manager of Chinese 'sleeping giant' Shandong Luneng, languishing in 12th place after 8 games and not far from safety I had 22 games in which to turn it around and try to break the top 4, that would be an incredible feat!



It took a while to get the team playing the way I wanted but as the season went on the team started responding and eventually we got going into an excellent run of form eventually winning 10 of our final 14 games, This was unfortunately only enough to lift us to 6th meaning that we wouldn't be playing in the AFC Champions League just yet but I had been able to assess the current playing squad and start scouting the right talent to come in to the club. I was certainly feeling positive for the next campaign given how well we ended this season and have let the squad know that we were coming back next season to challenge for Continental Qualification.

Thanks for reading, more to follow soon ...

2018



My first full Super League campaign with Shandong, and a successful one as far as i'm concerned having set my self a points target of 50 points minimum which should have been enough to challenge for continental qualification and we ended the season on 56. The 1-1 draw at home to Guangzhou who ran away with the league title and the 4-1 victory over Beijing are particular highlights from our league campaign.



The final league table, and the 4th placed finish I had hoped for which gave us a chance of qualifying for the Champions League depending on the winner of the FA Cup which would be contested against league winners Guangzhou and 7th placed Liaoning. Predictably Guangzhou demolished Liaoning over 2 legs which secured my first shot at winning the Champions League, not that we're anywhere near ready for that yet, but it's good progress!

As for the FA Cup I won't post a screenie but we got past Shenxin with a 2-1 win before somehow being knocked out by beaten finalists Liaoning 2-1 in the 4th round, so nothing to shout about there.

As far as player performances are concerned one of my first signings at Shandong was Huang Quan, a 19 year old attacking midfielder from Jiangsu who set me back £160k really forced himself into the first team squad and was by far and away my best player over the season being involved in 31 goals over the league campaign scoring 17 and creating 14. Mario Garcia was the other player to catch the eye this season having joined almost half way through the season on a free transfer from Deportes Savio the Honduran striker at the age of just 20 managed 10 league goals in the remaining 17 games and looks like he has the potential to be the catalyst of any future success for the club alongside Huang Quan, 2 truly exceptional signings.

So there you have it, no trophies lifted this season but a success without doubt, I was looking forward to having a shot at the Champions League, the next update will bring me up to speed with where i'm at in the game and things can start becoming more detailed. Hope your all enjoying following my journey.

2019 (So Far)





18 games into the league and as you can see things are going well, currently joint top and keeping pace with the countries big fish Guangzhou but with Jiangsu not too far behind it's still a 3 horse race with 12 games to go. Performances against our direct challengers aren't great and are hindering our title chances with our 3 defeats all at the hands of Guangzhou and Jiangsu.



The Champions League has so far been a success, we were given no chance of getting out of our group with Ulsan of South Korea & Melbourne Heart both favorites to get the better of us but having picked up wins against each of the sides in the group and an impressive draw away at Ulsan we managed to sneak through at the expense of Melbourne Heart in the final game. A surprise 3-2 win away at Chunnum gave us the platform for success in the first knockout round of the Champions League and although it could have been more comfortable it was still a huge result, we put out the barricades for the return and despite falling behind early on we managed to shut out the favorites for the remainder of the game to sneak through on away goals. A tie with Qatari giants Lekhwiya awaits us, this will be incredibly tricky but it's a tie i'm looking forward too.

The FA Cup is going well too with a thumping 5-1 win at home to Fuli before sneaking through on penalties against an A'erbin side we really should have despatched in 90 minutes. A two legged semi-final awaits against Riziqhuan with a potential final against the mighty Guangzhou on offer.



An overview of the squad as it stands, the undoubted stars at the moment are once again Huang Quan and Mario Garcia.





A final note, Guangzhou have announced that they are searching for a replacement for their retiring manager at the end of the season and my name is in the hat, I will most definitely be applying unless we manage to win the Champions League, despite how well Shandong are progressing at the moment.

Another good couple of seasons mate, looking good this year round for the title!

Cheers, not expecting to go all the way in the title race, top 2 would be fantastic realistically, will take a lot to overhaul Guangzhou they are too strong.

Not surprising, Guangzhou consistently outspend most Asian sides, not to mention their CSL rivals.

August 2019



Guangzhou also opened the month by taking 3 points off of us again putting the title race in their hands, other than that a near perfect month for us but the defeat at Qingdao on the final day was a complete mood killer, injuries to both my natural right wingers meant I had to call on a 17 year old to make his debut (and not a good one!) along with a huge blow with an injury to Huang Quan. Mario Garcia continued his sensational season so far with 11 goals in 7 games!

A 2-1 win at home to Rizhiquan in the FA Cup semi final first leg gives us an advantage but it should have been so much better with a catalogue of missed chances before we conceded near the end out of absolutely nowhere.



With 8 games left to play we remain in 2nd but with Guangzhou not dropping a single point this month the defeat to Qingdao gives us a lot of work to do if we are going to stand any chance of beating the dominant Guangzhou who have 6 of the last 7 Super League titles! Jiangsu are also hanging on to our coat tails and keeping the 3 horse race going, it's set to be a very very tense end to the season but our involvement in the FA Cup and being the only Chinese side left in the Champions League may hinder our run in severely.

Pretty close up the top! But all still to play for!

Been given the task of managing China U23's for the Asian Games which will be a nice little change of emphasis briefly however I have a squad consisting of 3 players and with a game the next seemingly no time to call up players, pretty weird. Was hoping to use it as a kind of scouting mission at the same time.

Maybe not, got carried away, was able to call up a full squad.

September 2019



Not so many games this month with an international break at the start, the squad is looking a bit bare at the moment so being in 3 competitions is getting tough but we're powering through as best as we can. On the back of last month's defeat at Qingdao we were held 0-0 at home to lowly Changchun which was another frustrating and disappointing result that leaves Guangzhou a clear advantage as the season draws to a close. We managed to follow it up with league wins against Fuli & Dongya respectively but the attacking talent just hasn't been up to their usual high standards this month.

In the Champions League Quarter Final we battled back away at huge favorites Lekhwiya to draw level at 1-1 through right winger Yang Chengbin only to be left heartbroken by a late strike from the hosts, however the away goal is a massive boost for us and gives us something to dream about ahead of the return leg.

In the other game this month we rode out the FA Cup Semi Final fairly easily with a 1-1 draw to go with our 2-1 advantage from our home win in the first leg, Huang Quan scored the all important goal for us but in truth we should have won it comfortably. A two legged final with Chinese giants Guangzhou awaits, looking forward to that!



Guangzhou have had a far worse campaign this season and thanks to that we are still in with a shout of the title, if we can win our game in hand then the gap closes to 1 point, all we can do is keeping picking up points and hope for a slip up.



To be honest both sides have a similarly difficult run in with a trip to A'erbin who are currently 7th and both hosting Liaoning who are 8th. We face Jiangsu (who are 3rd) at home while Guangzhou have a trip to last years runner up Beijing. We would expect to see off Xiangtoo & Shenxin as comfortably as Guangzhou will expect to see of Chengdu. It could be tight this!



The China U23 escapade was enjoyable although I don't think it will enhance my rep at all, we were understandably knocked out in the Quarter Final by a superior Japan side despite creating more chances, the main thing i've learnt from this experience is that Guangzhou have some fantastic young talent, especially Wang Ming who's been banging goals in for fun this season. Nice to see my young striker Zhong Qi picking up a few goals in the limited playing time he got too.

October 2019



So October's league form was a complete shambles but after the loss to Shenxin the title had basically gone, one more slip up from us or a Guangzhou win in the remaining 3 games would have been the end so I gave up on that, allowing me to completely rotate the squad before the Jiangsu game where we found ourselves 3 goals behind at half time despite being at least a match for them, we managed to get one goal back but the defeat put us under pressure to keep 2nd place. We managed 3 points against Liaoning with another fully rotated xi but with Jiangsu breathing down our necks I played a stronger side against A'erbin on the final day so a 2-0 defeat is a huge disappointment, to my surprise Jiangsu got smashed 5-0 at home to Shenua!

The Champions League run was amazing, a 2-0 home win over Lekhwiya turned around the first leg deficit and saw us advance to the Semi Final where we would face Al Hilal who had advanced at the expense of the impressive Jeonbuk. Once again we were written off by the bookies but a fantastic first leg performance put us in a good position managing to get not just the vital away goal we went for but also picking up a win! Into the second leg and an early Yang Chengbin strike put us ahead but we were instantly pegged back giving them an away goal, one more would have put them through. We continued to hit them on the break with chances being created every time we went forward, the impressive Mario Garcia put us back in front and 3-1 up in the tie after just 23 minutes. Mario Garcia's second goal just before HT was a fantastic strike powered into the top corner from a tight angle. Al Hilal pulled it back to 4-2 with 15 minutes remaining but the mountain was already too high for them. Shandong are in the Champions League Final!!!



So we managed to cling on to 2nd place in what was no doubt an improvement on last season, it was frustrating for me to see our hopes of the title fade away so early but that gave me a chance to focus all our attention on the Champions League. My targets before the season were a top 3 finish and to pick up a better points total than last season so definitely a successful campaign for us. Guangzhou still ran away with the title for the 8th time in 9 seasons but signs this season that they aren't untouchable, however I don't fancy our chances over 2 legs in the FA Cup Final against them!

Super League Player Stats









As you can see from them screens our key players again were Mario Garcia with 18 goals and Huang Quan who bagged 9 goals and setup 13. The rest of the squad were solid but certainly haven't set the world alight and how much we relied on these 2 guys really shone through at the end of the season when they were being rested for the Champions League. Huang Quan was the only Shandong player mentioned at the league awards ceremony with a rightful place in the team of the year.

Champions League Final 2019



It just wasn;t to be, I can;t complain too much as we got a lot further than I ever imagined, it's gut wrenching to lose it at this stage but we just have to pick ourselves up and look forward to the FA Cup final. The match itself was very even, Ulsan took the lead when Park Hyo-Joon was given acres of space 6 yards out Daniel Hofstetter misjudged an interception, Hofstetter atoned for his error just 4 minutes later when he went up and scored just his 2nd goal of the season from a corner. Both sides had chances to make the next breakthrough but in the end it was a gift from our goalkeeper Wang Dalei that handed Ulsan the trophy, he dropped a tame 25 yard shot on the goal line and the quick reflexes of Park Hyo-Joon allowed him to head it in before the keeper could re-adjust himself. An absolutely awful way to lose the Champions League final, we done everything we could to get back ending up playing a 3-3-2-2 and throwing bodies but ultimately we were left to imagine what could have been. Our key 2 players just didn't really do it for us, especially Mario Garcia who had an awful game!

Gutted.

Oh big game chokers, don't we all know them.

With your standing in the Chinese game now you'll get another chance in no time

FA Cup Final 2019





Lost for words, I really am! How we have ended this season empty handed i've no idea, the first leg performance from Wu Lei destroyed us, no matter what I did I couldn't stop him from running the show, we made a game in it in the second leg but lost out to a scrappy last minute goal, all I can say is it just isn't meant to be.

I should be positive about this season but to be runners up in all 3 competitions is tough to take.

Thanks mate, the Guangzhou manager is set to retire at the end of the season, i'd be an idiot not to go for that!

End of season confidence review, and not as good as I thought it would be given how well we have done this season, far exceeded expectations in all competitions! What baffles me the most is that the board wanted us to be more competitive in the FA Cup ... we lost the final through a 90th minute goal ffs!!



Money being pumped in to the facilities is great to see, got some great young players coming through.



This little gem came through our youth setup in my first season, he's become a first team regular at the age of 18 and looks set for a big future!



The most promising of the new youth intakes, with the right development he will be involved in the first team in no time.

After the Guangzhou manager's retirement I saved the game before applying and then saved a new file to apply for the Guangzhou job and was successful, however I have decided to continue with Shandong instead as I feel i'm making good progress and fancy my chances of breaking Guangzhou's domination, lets hope I don't regret that!

Most of my transfer activity has been completed early so here's a summary:



8 players were released at the end of their contracts with the most notable being Daniel Hofstetter, he was a decent player for us and was even captain of the club but already on £62k a week and wanting more than that I felt I can bring in better quality defenders for less wage so made the big decision to let him move on, he made a total of 102 league appearances over 4 years at the club. Josur Xasanov was one of my early signings for Shandong but due to his age he is starting to decline and I feel I can get a better player in. Zhong Qi despite being just 21 and having great potential has been let go as he just simply hasn't progressed as he should have and I can't see him getting close to fulfilling his potential.



This outstanding 18 year old centre back arrives from Korea's Busan I'Park, already good enough to feature in my first team and potentially could be the best centre back the club has ever had!



Velazquez arrives from 3rd placed Jiangsu on a free, i'm really impressed with this signing and feel he is a great replacement for the released Hofstetter, played 83 games for Jiangsu over 3 seasons with an average rating of 7.00. His low concentration stat is my only real concern.



By far my favorite signing this, Charles Aranguiz arrives on a free transfer after Udinese failed to negotiate a new contract for him, this is an incredible signing for us and if he adapts without issue he will be a major part of any future success we could have, he is 30 years old but should still have a good 3 years in him before any major decline.



This is the squad as it stands, plenty of cover in all positions should stand me in good stead to challenge on all 3 fronts again, only position i'm looking to add to is Left Midfield with only Jin Hu naturally able to play there following Xasanov's release, and Jin Hu is still only young.

Good work fella, would have personally moved. Guangzhou are a different kettle of fish in Asia.

Was such a tough choice, think i'll regret but the Guangzhou squad currently looks a bit thin and like it needs a lot of work. However they were offering over £6m budget!

Thanks for following.

Unlucky in the CL final! That 18 year old CB looks immense too