Down By Christmas?

The Challenge

It's simple really, you load up Football Manager (any version), create a manager (preferably a Holiday Manager) and holiday to the 25th December of that year. Once you are on the 25th of December, retire your holiday manager and create your manager profile and take over the team bottom of the league, your aim is simple: Save them from relegation. At the end of the season you resign/retire and go on to the next season doing the same with the aim of becoming a 'master' at saving the bottom team.

Possible Countries

Any country really and any division, lower the league the tougher the challenge.

The Rules - Playing

1) Load as many leagues as you like.
2) Database size is optional from Small, Medium and Large. No custom. Large is recommended.
3) You are not allowed an Edited database of any kind. Default database only.
4) Advanced Options (Optional Ticks):
Use Real Players
Use Real Fixtures When Available
Add Key Staff
Add Players To Playable Teams
Allow First Window Transfer Budgets
Enable Attribute Masking


Step By Step Guide

1) Create a Holiday Manager you will not be using this manager to manage a club.
2) Holiday to the 25th of December that year.
3) Retire your Holiday Manager.
4) Add a new manager, Sunday League reputation is a must and no coaching experience. However if you don't fancy it then make it a challenge and go one or two above the bottom level.
5) Take over the team at the bottom of the league.
6) Manage them to the end of the season.
7) Celebrate or commiserate your success or failure.
8) Retire your manager and do it all over again (same save)

Other Rules

1) You are not allowed to move club at any point (apart from when taking over on the 25th December)
2) If you are sacked before the end of the season then move onto to the next season.
3) Transfers, Staff, Training etc all optional.


Posting Rules

1) Discussion of any sort is welcome

Posting Updates

Please follow these guidelines for what posts you should do.

First Post
Personal Page of the Manager once taken over the club.
Overview Screen of the Club.
Current League Table.
Current Squad.
Fixture List

End of Season Update
Personal Page of the Manager.
Overview Screen of the Club.
League Table.
Squad.
Transfers.
Results

Anything else is optional, the more screenshots the better as we get involved more with your game and it creates more information. So will you be the Santa Claus and deliver safety?

After finishing the first SUSIE challenge for this year, I thought I'd give this a go just because it sounds pretty fun. I was thinking about incorporating specific achievements to the seasons, but then I realized that most leagues run in all shapes and sizes, and putting in a hard number for any one thing would be difficult. Also, was there an intended length of time to have this run?

Expect a starting for me real soon.

I've decided to manage somewhere I haven't touched yet: Poland and the Ekstraklasa. And within that I've found a team that could give me a good start at testing this challenge out: Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała





Last place, yes, but not that far out that climbing out of relegation isn't improbable. There are only two relegation spots in the top league, so 4 points under isn't bad with 11 matches left to play.



Here's the match report up until the winter break. A lot of suck, but I see a lot of potential in most of these losses and draws.



Not a bad squad to have, rally. I'm surprised they haven't gelled together to garner the results. Oh well, I guess that's why I'm taking on the job.

You can run for it as long as possible. If you fancy you can after saving that club, retire your man and then go off and sim to Christmas again and take over another bottom side.

OK then, I'll go on this until I get sacked or relegated from one of the taken jobs.

It's already looking like I'll be sacked first go.

The Podbeskidzie Problem

So as you saw from the opening post, we Podbeskidzie were dead last in the table. Fortunately for me, the Polish leagues split into a Championship and Relegation group stage at the end, so even if I did come in last, I'd have a little better chance to redeem myself if I hadn't soiled the bed against the other relegation group mates. Here's how the second half of the season went:



Good strong start right out of the gate with two victories over Piast and Gornik, but after that, the wheels came off the train, as we managed only two more league wins out of 9 matches, guaranteeing us last place in the league and a spot in the relegation group.

Once we were in the relegation group, however, the difference of play was night and day. We came out firing shots left and right at these teams, Gornik being the only one to prevent us from netting anything. Those 9 points in 5 matches singlehandedly saved the season for the club, as we skirted over the relegation bar and the club remains in the Ekstraklasa, at least for one more season.

Season table before the split


Relegation table




I'm outta here! No more Poland, let's try a different nation this time.

Christmas Miracles: Season 2

Let's go have fun in Poland's neighbor, Ukraine, at the top flight league Premyer Liha:





The one and only team in the relegation zone is Illichivets Mariupol, a team that, for the last 6-7 season in the top flight league, have come near the bottom every single time. I'll try and turn that around by not only getting out of the the relegation zone, but make a run for a mid-table finish.



Matches up to this point look rather dismal, even if they are advancing fine in the cup. Cup isn't my priority here.



Squad look a bit rubbish up front and in the middle, I'll look to strengthen those areas during the winter break.