[FM18] The Ultimate Journeyman Challenge - Second Leg
A Football Manager Career by jameo_94Team
Banaadir SC
Nation
Somalia
jameo_94
So I'm back after a long hiatus, to give this challenge the effort it deserves! Hopefully my laptop won't pack in this time so I can get a lot further through the challenge than I managed to in leg one! If this goes successfully, then I may see myself re-doing the first round, but I currently feel like a fresh challenge rather than going over old ground!
A quick reminder of the rules, as inspired by DNZY, and made possible with the excellent database provided by claassen!
So, the aim of the challenge is to complete the Jacob's Ladder challenge on every single continent, starting with the lowest ranked continent, and ending up with the highest ranked nations on the highest ranked continent.
The fairest way to decide the order of the continents is to analyse the only inter-continental club competition - the Club World Cup, and see how each continent performed in the previous edition (2016).
So I will take on Oceania, Africa, Asia, CONCACAF, South America and then Europe in that order - starting a new career for each in order to make each challenge more authentic.
The last thing to explain is What is the Jacob's Ladder challenge?
Basically speaking, I will start off unemployed, with the lowest qualifications etc, and load up the three leagues with the lowest ranking points in their confederation.
Once I have won two out of the three available top divisions, I can then load up the next three lowest ranked leagues and so on, until I have won two of the top three ranked leagues.
If I manage to do that successfully, then I will have completed the confederation and can move onto the next ranked continent.
The African Champions League is the most sensible place to see which leagues are the strongest, as each nation gains coefficient points according to how well they perform internationally.
The top 17 countries at the start of 2017 according to ranking points are as follows:
So these 17 nations will form my top tiers. The rest of the ordering will be down to league reputation on FM18, as I cannot see another way to decide.
Using all of this information, I have come up with the following logical order to climb the ladder:
Tier 1
1) Tunisia
2) Egypt
3) Democratic Republic of Congo
______________
Tier 2
4) Algeria
5) Sudan
6) South Africa
______________
Tier 3
7) Morocco
8) Congo
9) Ivory Coast
______________
Tier 4
10) Mali
11) Cameroon
12) Nigeria
______________
Tier 5
13) Angola
14) Zambia
15) Libya
______________
Tier 6
16) Ghana
17) Ethiopia
18) Senegal
______________
Tier 7
19) Zimbabwe
20) Guinea
21) Uganda
______________
Tier 8
22) Burkina Faso
23) Liberia
24) Kenya
______________
Tier 9
25) Botswana
26) Togo
27) Mozambique
______________
Tier 10
28) Tanzania
29) Burundi
30) Gabon
______________
Tier 11
31) Niger
32) Malawi
33) Cape Verde Islands (Cabo Verde)
______________
Tier 12
34) Rwanda
35) Namibia
36) Lesotho
______________
Tier 13
37) Swaziland
38) The Gambia
39) Mauritania
______________
Tier 14
40) Mauritius
41) Benin
42) Madagascar
______________
Tier 15
43) Reunion
44) Seychelles
45) Chad
______________
Tier 16
46) Guinea-Bissau
47) Sierra Leone
48) Sao Tome and Principe
______________
Tier 17
49) Central African Republic
50) Equatorial Guinea
51) Zanzibar
______________
Tier 18
52) Eritrea
53) Somalia
54) Comoros
______________
Tier 19
55) Djibouti - Guelleh Batal de la Garde Republicaine FC - Djibouti Premier League Winners 2019/20/ Djibouti Cup Winners 2019/20
56) South Sudan - Al-Salaam FC - South Sudan Football Championship Runners Up 2018/South Sudan Football National Cup Runners Up 2018
57) Mayotte - ASC Abeilles - Mayotte Division Honneur Winners 2017/Mayotte French Cup Winners 2017
______________
TinakoFM
jameo_94
As I start my second stage, once again completely unqualified and at the bottom of the pyramid, I have three choices of places to begin my journey:
Tier 19
55) Djibouti
56) South Sudan
57) Mayotte
Looking at the leagues, as both the Mayotte and South Sudan leagues run from February/March - September and the Djibouti league runs from October - May, it would make sense to start in one of the first two, in order to try and complete Tier 19 by the end of 2017! Because of this, I have started my career in January 2017.
After a quick glance, I applied for a couple of jobs and waited to see who would get back to me first.
The answer is ASC Abeilles, from M'tsamboro on the tropical island of Mayotte. Mayotte itself is a overseas region of France, so the majority of the 250,000 population speak at least some French. The country is largely split over two densely populated islands, Maore - main island, and Pamzani - small island, but there are other populated islands on the archipelago.
The region of M'tsamboro contains roughly 8,000 people, and is mainly known for a booming fishing trade and the production of oranges, in addition to the coral reef tourism. Our home games will be played at the Stade n'guizi ya gnochi, a 2,200 seater, so a pretty large stadium at this early stage if a quarter of the region could all attend at once. However with only 62 season ticket holders, even at a price of £0!, I can't imagine that we will ever get close to being full.
The pitch isn't bad for this standard of league, but is incredibly dry and cracked.
The Mayotte Division Honneur format is an incredibly simple one, with each of the twelve teams in the league playing each other both home and away once each until 22 games have been played. After 22 games have passed, the top side wins the league and qualifies for the following seasons Indian Ocean Champions Cup. The bottom two sides get relegated. There are no player restrictions and 3 of 5 substitutes are used in each game. The only slightly odd thing is that it's 4 points for a win, 2 for a draw, and 1 for a loss!
There are also three cup competitions, the Mayotte French Cup , the Mayotte Cupand the Mayotte League Cup
ASC Abeilles - literally translating as ASC Bees, or ASC Honey Bees, were founded in 1981, making them one of the oldest clubs on Mayotte. This is further proven by the fact that the league wasn't even formed until 1990. In terms of club history, they have had one golden spell in 2011, where their solitary league and Mayotte French Cup titles. The league, since its formation, has been dominated by AS Rosador and FC Mtsapere, who have won 11 and 8 of the 27 editions respectively, with no-one else winning more than 3. Having said that, Foudre 2000 won last seasons title, so will be a threat also.
Finally, in terms of personnel, the star players in my possession are Matteo Moulin AMR, Boniface Dikoumana AML, Hamza Monteiro DL/C and Romain Owoko DR who have all got 5 star quality, so I need to play a wide 4-2-3-1 to maximise the effectiveness of these players. I currently am in need of a GK, two CB's, two DM/MC's and at least one STC, and only have five days until the end of the window - wish me luck!!
jameo_94
With the transfer window finally closed (to be summarised momentarily), attention now turns to preparing for the season, as I need to decide on my best XI and formation, as well as getting my squad up to match fitness through a sequences of friendlies.
Out
As almost all players in the league are on non-contracts, inevitably some of the top players from each side are poached, as was the case here, with top GK Alex Houhou and first XI RB Franck Nahayo both leaving before I took charge, but the most upsetting part was fighting hard for and losing Hamza Monteiro on deadline day to the champions, despite managing to persuade him to stay twice. Could've been worse.
In
I know - 16 players in on deadline day, I promise I wasn't panicking.......... fine maybe I was.
Too long to go through them all, and they might not all play, but the key names are Danny Simon STC, Maxime Adan and Tariku Solomon, both AMC/MC, Abay Getahun Esayas GK and Alexandre Delanys CB, all of whom join Moulin, Dikoumana and Owoko as surefire starters. This leaves LB, one CB and one CM slot as my weak areas, but with plenty of players who can now play there, hopefully some competition will inspire excellent performances to nail down the last slots.
Since the league, and teams within it, have no money, no-one would accept a friendly against us, meaning we had to train against our U19's repeatedly for fitness and chemistry to build. Here are the results:
A decent enough set of results, just highlighting defensive frailty, which I was aware of. Expect a lot of goalfests this season!
With the season almost upon us, it is time to review our expectations for the upcoming season
So we are expected to come in the top-half, and reach the quarters of all three cups, with a wage budget of £110pw? Sounds fun - bearing in mind I earn exactly the same amount!
However, following our highly successful transfer window, the predictions for the league are as follows:
Which sees us become narrow favourites for the title, which is my ambition with this club this season anyway, so it should be a close-run thing!
March sees us start playing competitive football in the league, with three quickfire fixtures against FC Majicavo Koropa (a), Diables Noirs (h) and AS Rosador (a). I then get three weeks to rest players until April. A reasonably challenging start should see how realistic our title credentials really are, as both of our away games are against teams predicted to be challenging with me (4th and 3rd predicted respectively).
bigmattb28
jameo_94
Birhanu Pastor had the honour of getting my career underway towards the end of the first half, slotting home after a scrappy corner on his debut. Danny Simon was impotent in the first half, spurning multiple big chances, so was replaced at the break by Aman Kidane, who repaid my faith by curling in a free kick 20 minutes from time. Boniface Dikoumana sealed a dominant victory from the spot after Matteo Moulin got bundled over. Majicavo didn't even have a shot on target compared to our 9! I guess the media do know what they're talking about!
As Diables Noirs - "The Black Devils" in English, also won their opening fixture, this was a battle to see who could maintain a 100% start. We got off to a flyer in front of a crowd of 19 as both centre-backs combined, with Alexandre Delanys flicking a corner to the far post where Manaye Abadie smashed home the opener after just 2 and a half minutes. The Black Devils hit the bar shortly after, but it was Aman Kidane who doubled our advantage, repaying my faith for starting him. Boniface Dikoumana made it three after 20 minutes from a tight angle, before Sylvain Rousseau pulled one back from a corner moments later. The rapid start wasn't over however, as Birhanu Pastor's deflected shot from the edge of the box immediately restored our 3 goal cushion. Cedric Akanakimana and an Elliot Alemu screamer from 25 yards made it 4-3 just before the break. Then Akanakimana tied things up with another 30 yard blockbuster and completed his hat-trick following us giving away possession in a silly area yet again. Akanakimana wasn't done, and despite making defensive changes he immediately picked up from where he left off after the break, making it 6-4. He still wasn't finished, seemingly putting the game to bed with his 5th at 7-4. Boniface Dikoumana pulled a consolation goal back with 15 to play and Kidane's second made it a nervy final 5 minutes. And the Black Devils couldn't hold out! Kidane completed his hat-trick with only two minutes to play to tie the game up at 7-7! What a game, with football the true winner (and certainly not defending)!
Just before my final group game of the month, the board approve my request to take my National C Coaching License, which should come through in about July
We went into the break 1-0 down (a big change from the previous game), despite dominating. But it was Jean-Yves Ahmad Djama who broke the deadlock as the whistle sounded. The quality of this game was much lower, with both sides clearly affected by this being their third game in a week, but we deservedly equalised through substitute Danny Simon following good defensive work from Baptiste Otieno. We probably should've won had our finishing been clinical, but the major blow was losing Boniface Dikoumana to injury in the final minute of added time.
Dikoumana is out for 3 weeks, which is fortunately about the amount of time until our next fixture!
Two very good results in March, with a truly bizarre game in-between has seen us get off to a good start. April sees the crazy league scheduling continue, with 5 fixtures in the opening two weeks, and then another two weeks off. Next month we will play AS Neige (h), AS Jumeaux (a), before taking on current champions Foudre 2000 (h) and finishing the month against AS Sada (a) and Etincelles (h). A much easier month on paper, with Neige, Sada and Etincelles all predicted to finish towards the bottom, and most of them living up to that title. Jumeaux are also predicted to do poorly, but have started well, so that will be an interesting fixture.
jameo_94
As Dikoumana only just returned from fitness, I thought it'd be silly risking him against lowly opposition, so he only started on the bench. It was his replacement, Ludovic Charmake, who had been impressing for the U19's, who sent Danny Simon through on goal to collect his second in as many games. The two combined again shortly later, this time with Simon getting bundled over in the box, but he then saw his penalty saved by Yoann Otieno in the AS Neige (meaning snow in English) goal. This spurred the snowmen on, as Jean-Patrick Robin shortly equalised. We pummelled the goal until the break, with Moulin, Charmake and Simon x2 each hitting the woodwork. Otieno in the Neige goal pulled off world class saves to deny Simon, Collins and his namesake Baptiste Otieno in the second half, but it was Tariku Solomon who finally clinched it for us with just under 10 minutes to play.
This saw us take on the surprise early leaders, although they were only a point ahead of us at kickoff. My decision to rest Boniface Dikoumana in the previous game proved to be a good one, as he slotted home Matteo Moulin's cross after just 27 seconds! Gabriel Nyangweso equalised for Jumeaux (twins in English) after a swift counter-attack, but it was Aman Kidane who put us ahead going into the break following Dikoumane's assist. This turned out to be the deciding goal following a dull second half, but a win that sees us go 3rd!
The bad news from the game is that we have lost both top-scorer Aman Kidane, and regular MC/AMC Tariku Solomon for the rest of the month, however Kidane is only lost to a facial laceration, so can play if needed whilst wearing protective gear. Now we face an also unbeaten Foudre 2000 side who are only ahead of us on goal difference currently.
Foudre - meaning Lightning, certainly behaved how their name might suggest, striking down both Romain Owoko and Boniface Dikoumara inside 20 minutes forcing me into two early substitutions. However when Ludovic Charmake was hacked down illegally in the box, centre-back Alexandre Delanys made them pay for their physicality from the spot. When Danny Simon volleyed home Matteo Moulin's superb free kick against his old club, and Baptiste Otieno added a third before the break, the game was almost put out of reach of Foudre 2000. Maxime Adan completed the rout, following Moulin's third assist against his former employers. Ovella Jaffar pulled a consolation goal back as we looked to conserve energy in the second half, but it was Simon and Moulin who combined again for a second time to give a thoroughly comprehensive victory over one of the divisions best, which puts us momentarily top!
Fortunately both injuries shouldn't affect future games as both players were only out for 2-3 days.
You could tell this game was the 4th in the space of ten days for both sides, as the quality, especially of finishing was low throughout. Alexandre Delanys' header against the bar was the only action of the first half, and it took until Ludovic Charmake thundered in after an hour for the deadlock to be broken. Aman Kidane's 6th of the season put further gloss on the scoreline against the poorest side we have faced so far. They finished with 10 men after Jean Claude Bordas fouled Kidane when he was through on goal, and finally managed their first and only shot of the match after 84 minutes (off target).
Top played bottom in the final fixture of the month, but it was difficult to tell who was who in the first half, as our 13 shots only produced one on target due to some excellent blocking, and "Sparks" also had one shot on target. Matteo Moulin getting injured didn't help proceedings, but ultimately it was poor finishing and inspired defending, particularly from Honore Manishimwe that kept it goalless.
An excellent month all told, with victories over the big sides in the league, yet not a month of total wins as then bottom side Etincelles halt us in our tracks. That result saw us slip down to second on goal difference, despite being unbeaten.
May sees us reach the halfway point in the season, the summer break, and another transfer window. Before those things though, we need to face under performing FC Mtsapere (a), who were tipped to come second, then two easier games in ASC Kaweni (h) and ASJ Handrema (a), although Handrema just put 5 past AS Neige. May finishes with a rematch against Diables Noirs (a), our fourth fixture in 10 days, against the side we previously drew against 7-7! Can't see that one being goalless.
TinakoFM
jameo_94
Aman Kidane's 7th of the season took less than a minute following a swift counter attack, and his 8th followed just after the half hour mark. Sadly Matteo Moulin was stretchered off for the second game running before the break, but that didn't stop Kidane, who collected the match ball just after an hour had been played. Kidane still wasn't done however, as his lofted free-kick got finished off by substitute Manaye Abadie to make it 4-0.
The even better news is that AS Rosador lost 2-1 to Foudre 2000, leaving us top of the table and as the only undefeated side. Negatively Moulin is out until the July fixtures.
Jacques Charlet shocked the home crowd by drilling home a free kick to put Kaweni 1-0 up inside the first 15 minutes, and when Duncan Debebe doubled their advantage following a slick team move, you'd have thought that they were the ones at the top of the league. Our first loss of the season, to one of the minnows, and it couldn't be more deserved! Fortunately other results have been favourable, so we have only slipped to second.
Kidane got business back to usual with his 10th of the season, following up on Dikoumana's saved free-kick. It was a largely frustrating game, with Handrema's keeper making multiple excellent stops, but Dikoumana doubled the lead himself in the second half with a cool placed finish.
AS Rosador lost to lowly Etincelles, and Foudre 2000 almost drew with AS Jumeaux, but sneaked in a 90th minute winner, which is a shame as we stay second.
Even better news, the day before we are due to play, this happens!
Even though we are only just over halfway through the season, it creates a bit of a cushion between Foudre 2000 and ourselves and the rest of the league.
I fully expect to draw this 0-0 with no chances for either side, just because logic. I thought I was going to immediately be proved wrong when Cedric Bertrand was bundled over in the box after just three minutes, but Dikoumana slammed his spot kick into the crossbar. However it wasn't long before the deadlock was broken, Baptiste Otieno smashed home from 25 yards to give us an early lead. Alexandre Delanys doubled our lead just before the break, as he headed home Charmake's free-kick. A slightly different half-time to the 5-4 in the reverse fixture! We added a third after the break as Maxime Adan's excellent squared ball gave Kidane an easy tap-in for his 11th of the season. Cedric Akanakimana, fresh from scoring 5 past me last time, was kept largely quiet, but scored with the Black Devils' first shot on target after 74 minutes to set up a tense finale. 3-1, hardly another 7-7 is it? How disappointing, but the bees will take the 4 points!
Another good month, other than the odd slip-up against AS Kaweni, although they then did go and beat AS Rosador straight after. Just over halfway through the season and our fate lies in our own hands, so I can't complain, although I'd like to play Foudre 2000 again soon and end their 6 match winning run. I know three teams are just 6 points behind us both, but I think that's a big enough gap at this stage that no-one should catch us unless they get close to maximum points from here onwards.
Now we won't have any more fixtures for about 6 weeks, and when we do it will be against currently unknown opponents in the Mayotte French Cup 1st Round. We will also have two league fixtures to play at the end of the month, and they are highly significant, as we face AS Rosador (h), who will need a win in order to stay in contention for the title, and AS Neige (a), which should be easier as they have lost 5 on the spin. Before any of these fixtures get played however, the transfer window re-opens on the 9th of June, and runs all the way until August 31st, meaning any number of my top players could get poached! I won't be taking on any new players unless I lose some first, as otherwise I think it'd be unfair, and I believe that the squad I have can win the league. Finally, I will set up regular friendlies against my reserves during the off-season to keep players fit, and will post the results in my next update.
bigmattb28
Second in the league is good man, hopefully no one poaches any of the first teamers, am sure you;ll be able to keep your team int act during the window.
jameo_94
The first exciting news, is that three of our players have been rewarded for their fine form and have been called up internationally by Mayotte to make their debuts in June! They include top-scorer Aman Kidane, who turned 17 just 3 days ago.
Our opponents for the first round of the Mayotte French Cup will be ASJ Handrema at home, a favourable draw. In terms of transfers, we have already had to hold off the advances of Foudre 2000 for Moulin and Owoko, AS Kaweni for Baptiste Otieno , AS Neige for Israel Issa and Mtsapere for teenage sensation Charmake, all first team players. I have also let Adissu Diarra go on a free as he was kicking up a fuss and won't ever get in the team over Dikoumana and Charmake.
Not a good set of fixtures against our U19's, but at least fitness has been maintained, and Moulin has been performing well following his injury layoff.
We needed to win this game to meet competition expectations, and beat them 2-0 last time we faced them. Last time it was Kidane who put us 1-0 up in the first half, and he did so again, this time from the spot, as Cedric Betrand was fouled from a set play. Kidane himself got brought down in the box at the start of the second half, but tried blasting it down the middle again, this time only finding the keeper. Fortunately we did get those penalties, because if we hadn't I feel that both sides would still even now be looking for a goal. When only two players to score more than a 6.7 (RB Owoko 7.0 and GK Esayas 6.9), you know it is a game to forget, but we still did the job!
The footballing gods have been kind to us, and given us second tier FC Labbatoir at home in the Quarter Finals in a weeks time! Come on you bees!
The only thing that slightly worried me before the match was seeing Duncan Debebe lining up for Labbatoir after he inflicted my only defeat so far whilst playing for Kaweni. Tariku Solomon put us in control early with a bobbling shot from the edge of the box, and Aman Kidane once again doubled our advantage, before combining with Solomon to grab our third. Gier Gatkuoth pulled one back from the spot before the break, but we march on to the semis in September.
Shortly after the match I found out that I passed my National C coaching licence, and have been approved to get my National B licence!
I also found out our opponents in the Mayotte French Cup Semis....... - AS Rosador at home - what a tie that'll be! Talking of AS Rosador at home, here's a taster of what that Semi-Final might look like.
It wasn't a good start, as league top scorer Jean-Yves Ahmed Djama picked up his 16th of the campaign, and only got worse as Alexandre Delanys' penalty was saved following Kidane being brought down from behind by the last man. The rest of the game went by reasonably uneventfully, with Kidane hitting the bar from 3 yards out our only other clear cut chance. The only saving grace to our second defeat is that Foudre 2000 were held to a draw.
This one got off to a better start however, with Aman Kidane heading home his 12th league goal after just 3 minutes. Youth academy product Cedric Bertrand grabbed his first career goal to double our advantage, before Dikoumana added a third before the break to put the game out of the snowmen's reach. Even better news as Foudre were held once again, this time by Mtsapere.
Very fortunate that Foudre 2000 have slipped up as badly as we have, so despite only our second league loss, we are now only a point off the top, meaning our destiny is still in our own hands. The general quality of our play has slipped over the last month, so that needs to be addressed with some squad rotation, I have only used 18 players so far.
Although positive results in August won't win us the league, negative ones could lose us it, so the 4 league games we will play are going to be crucial with some real 8 pointers in there. The two biggest game are our first ones, with AS Jumeaux (h), who have just won back to back games 4-0 and 5-0 respectively and can overtake us with a victory, and then leaders Foudre 2000 (a) who I beat 5-1 in the reverse fixture, but I can't see it being that easy again with top spot on the line and them unbeaten in the 8 matches since we last played them. Then comes the league cup 1st round against the Black Devils (a) , which is always a fun fixture, before we finish the month off to AS Sada (h) and Etincelles (a) who I cannot afford to drop points to this time around.
TinakoFM
Grimnir
Things seem to be going pretty well too, keep it up!
bigmattb28
If it's Claasen's database then he does link the Mayotte cup with the French cup mate
jameo_94
I have two slight concerns, one of which is that I haven't loaded the french leagues as playable, so don't know whether that will affect the scheduling for the competition (as in whether it will actually run as it should), but I am playing with all of claassen's adjustments. If it doesn't work then it's poor planning on my part, as I would've liked to have seen how far I could get! My second concern, is that when looking at the rules for the final, it doesn't say that you qualify for anything else, and when compared to the real life version, the dates don't match up (its all about two months too early on FM), but we will have to see!
@Suffolk Seasider I'm glad you're enjoying it, you should see plenty of obscure countries with this save!
Kidane got our crucial month off to the best of starts as he rounded the keeper to score after just 72 seconds against his old club. Matteo Moulin doubled our advantage twenty minutes later with a cute placed finish to give us some breathing room. It was Kidane however who had the final word, as the two goalscorers combined to complete a dominant display which saw Jumeaux only manage one shot in total (which was off target).
Foudre had only conceded 12 in their first 15 games, including the 5 in one game against me, and we had only conceded 15 in 15, including the 7 in our 7-7 draw, so this was likely to be a tight, low scoring affair. Neither side could afford to lose, whilst a draw would let AS Rosador back in to the title race if they won their match. It was Boniface Dikoumana who kept his nerve to drill home a low 30 yard free-kick to give us an early advantage. However we then lost both Dikoumana and Solomon to injury as we had to make two early substitutions, before Elie Egueh Yacin headed home a free-kick on the stroke of half time with Foudre's first effort of note to equalise. Aman Kidane decided that one direct free-kick was not enough for one day, as his blasted shot from the edge of the D twenty minutes from time was enough to seal the victory thanks to the heroics of Esayas in our goal, making his only save of the game to deflect the ball onto the bar in the dying seconds.
We are now top of the league for the first time since mid-May
Fortunately we now have a break in our league fixtures for a few weeks to calm down from the euphoria. The only downside being Dikoumana's injury has taken him out until September.
The major disappointment going into the fixture, was that their best player Cedric Akinakimana was out injured, as was their other first team striker, so it ended up being a one-way affair. Matteo Moulin got us underway in the league cup, firing home from Charmake's cross. Then in the second half, Swedi Timonah scored a classic FM own goal, as his backpass missed his goalkeeper and trickled in. Birhanu Pastor finished off the rout as he headed home from a corner late on. It shows how much one player can affect a side, as the team that put 7 past us, failed to have a shot without Akinakimana.
Our opponents in the quarters of the League Cup are ASC Kaweni (a), which will be played at the end of the month and will be a chance for revenge as they beat us previously.
We also found out our opponents in the First Round of our final cup competition - the Mayotte Cup - Foudre 2000 away! As if we could've had a worse draw, but you have to beat the best at some point!
Moulin opened the scoring with his 3rd of the season - all left-footed, which is bizarre since that's his weak foot. The 4 points were all but sealed after just 4 minutes when Baptiste Otieno floated a shot into the top right corner and then immediately doubled his personal tally to make it 3-0. Kidane's 19th in all competitions made it 4-0 after just 8 minutes before Sylvain Njoroge pulled back a consolation goal that we were disappointed to needlessly concede. More poor defending from both centre-backs allowed Peter Ali to make it 4-2 just before the break. We increased our advantage after the break, when a Sada defender's clearance off the line rebounded in off the back of keeper Arthur Foucher, but Peter Ali made it 5-3 with their third shot of the match, and 5-4 with their fourth, Ali collecting his hat-trick. A final goal did go in, but fortunately for us, as Moulin collected his second of the day to make it 6-4, again with his left foot! Another truly crazy game.
Going into the final five leagues game of the season, the title run-in was analysed, and the results make good reading for us, as each of Foudre 2000, AS Rosador and AS Jumeaux, still have to play each other, so are more likely to drop points. The only thing going against us is that we are still in four different competitions so will have major fixture congestion.
After drawing 0-0 with them last time, we really couldn't afford to slip up against Etincelles again, but they continued to frustrate us. Charmake, on from the bench, had the ball in the net after 65 minutes, but it was disallowed for a push. Going into the final 15 minutes, I rolled the dice, sacrificing one of our centre-backs for a second striker in the form of Danny Simon, and it paid off, with Simon netting for the first time since April the 8th! He then acted like a British bus by scoring 10 minutes later and Kidane netted his 20th of the season in added time to put gloss on an important victory.
No surprises for guessing who scored our first - Kidane following some poor defensive play and he then doubled his tally after 15 minutes with a rasping shot from the edge of the box. Jackson Rey pulled one back from the spot after Solomon gave away a penalty. Jacques Charlet's looping header deservedly tied things up in the second half, so the game went to penalties. Each side scored their first, then Otieno saw his penalty saved for us, leaving Kaweni 2-1 up. However Cyprien Tesfaye smashed the very next penalty against the bar, and we scored, leaving it 2-2 after 3 penalties each. The next two players for each side scored, leaving it 4-4 and in sudden death. Goalscorer Charlet stepped up for Kaweni, but blazed his penalty over, leaving Pastor to place his penalty into the corner off the post to give us a 5-4 win on penalties after 6 spot kicks each!
Jumeaux also beat Rosador, which is excellent news as Jumeaux are probably too far away to challenge, but Rosador were on the charge with 6 victories in a row.
Now for some good news, and some bad news. Bad - we have been drawn away to Foudre 2000 in the semi finals, but if we win, we will face second tier opposition in the final, as both sides in the other semi are from the lower division - good.
The transfer window finally closed, and we retained all of our key players (somehow, I think I must've renegotiated deals for everyone in my first team). We lost some squad players, but I've never particularly mentioned them, so won't post an image as we haven't signed anyone and this is already a large post.
August very well may be the month that helps us clinch the title, as 4 back to back league wins has helped us reach the top of the table, clear of Foudre 2000 by 2 points. This means that if we can win our final 4 games, or realistically win 3 and draw 1 given our far superior goal difference, no-one can stop us from taking the title. If we better Foudre's results and pick up at least 2 wins of our 4 games, we will be league champions at the first time of asking!
September sees another congested month, with the big Mayotte French Cup semi-final against AS Rosador (a), the only side I haven't beaten so far, followed by huge league fixtures against FC Mtsapere (h) and bogey side ASC Kaweni (a). If I can get through those still top of the table, I feel we should win the league. We then face Foudre 2000 (a) in the first round of the Mayotte Cup (a tie I need to win in order to meet expectations), before finishing with our final two league fixtures, ASJ Handrema (h) and Majicavo Koropa (h). I'd be annoyed to not win the league from this position.
Grimnir
Potentially how many rounds are after the season ends in the Mayotte Cup?
jameo_94
Potentially three further rounds (QF, SF, F) as well as the SF and F of the Mayotte League Cup and potentially the final of the Mayotte French Cup, and then the potential games in the Coupe de France earned by winning the Mayotte French cup.
I have an inconsiderate partner who tries to clean up after me, and has inadvertently shut down my game before I had chance to save. Fortunately I auto-save once every two weeks, but have lost the AS Sada and Etincelles league games, as well as the ASC Kaweni League Cup Quarter Final.
I have replayed those games, ensuring that the same results happened for each side in the top 4 in the league, (the rest is slightly irrelevant) so each side has the same number of points after 18 games that they did before, and most have the same goal difference (myself and Foudre 2000). Obviously I didn't feel like replaying until all the results were the same and I beat AS Sada 6-4, so the result was 3-1 to me, and the Etincelles result ended up 3-1 again anyway. The only way it has slightly affected the league is the top scorer battle, as on the old file, Kidane was on 17, with the top scorer on 18, and now he is on 15, with the top scorer on 20, so it's unlikely he'll win that now.
I replayed the League Cup fixture and won 1-0, but as the draw is random every time, I will now play AS Jumeaux at home, with the other semi-final being between FC Labbatoir (who knocked out Foudre) and AS Neige. So I am still playing a top side, and will potentially play a weaker team in the final.
Hopefully this doesn't irritate anyone too much as I have tried to replicate it as similarly as is possible.
New table and results below.
jameo_94
With a place in our first final on the line, we started strongly, with the in-form Baptiste Otieno blasting home another scorcher from 22 yards to give us the advantage. Rosador were up for the fight, with Alex Perrier equalising on the counter following some slack defending. Aman Kidane's towering header was enough to give us our first victory over AS Rosador, and see us into the final, but he added a third in the dying seconds on the counter as Rosador were desperately pushing for an equaliser.
We will face AS Jumeaux in the final of the Mayotte French Cup in October at the 5,000 seater Stade Cavani after they won their semi-final 7-0!
Huge news from the AS Rosador vs Foudre 2000 game, Rosador won 3-2! This means that going into our game in hand, we are already 1 point ahead of Foudre, and 2 ahead of Jumeaux and Rosador, so could open up a 5 point gap at the top with victory (or even a 2 point gap with a loss).
With first choice centre-back Delanys suspended, we had to give a debut to untested CB Pierre Bucumi, who became the 20th player I have used this season. We were largely dominated throughout the match, and I began to see how this was the side tipped to finish second, but their wasteful finishing explained how they had so badly under-performed this season. This was highlighted further when Cedric Bernard swept home from a corner following up on a saved shot 10 minutes from time. We finished strongly, making the stats more palatable, but got the 4 points in a game we had no right to.
Birhanu Pastor, the go-to guy for big goals, picked up the opener against our bogey team. They continued to frustrate us and offered us up an even contest, but we held them off well. That was until the 92nd minute, when Bryan Geza headed home after a two man counter-attack to split the points. I suppose it had to come at some point after 9 wins in a row in all competitions, but with Foudre, Rosador and Jumeaux all winning, our margin for error has shrunk.
The Mayotte Cup was an unwelcome distraction to the title run-in, but if we could inflict defeat on Foudre, perhaps it would impact them psychologically. And it was that man Pastor who got the opener again following a slick team move. Shortly after he turned provider, sending through Ludovic Charmake on goal, and he kept his cool to make it 2-0 after 20 minutes. Goma Alebachew pulled one back as Owoko kept the ball for too long in defence, but Moulin increased the lead back to two goals just before the break, actually using his strong foot to score for the first time this season! We dominated the second half, but good defending and saves kept the score to 3-1.
Our quarter final opponents are FC Majicavo Koropa (h) in November - useful.
Going into our game against ASJ Handrema, we know that 6 points will guarantee us the title, but 5 points will be enough because of our superior goal difference. Since you get 1 point for a loss, a win here should seal the title. Foudre 2000 also play against AS Jumeaux, and if Foudre fail to win, we can even afford to lose this game.
ASJ Handrema typically keep games tight and never lose by much, so we would have to be at our best here if we wanted a victory. Aman Kidane going off on a stretcher after 3 minutes was a bad start to the match, but Mr.Clutch, Birhanu Pastor was on hand to give us the lead after Moulin had hit the post. It turned out to be the only goal of the game despite our constant pressure, with poor finishing to blame once again. It seems fitting that the player who scored the first goal of my managerial career, is also the first player to score what is essentially a title winning goal. Even though Foudre 2000 beat Jumeaux, they can only equal our points total if we lose and they win, and there is an 11 goal swing. Kidane is out for 3-4 weeks.
The other interesting point is the small matter of who will get relegated. AS Neige are already down, and it is now between AS Sada, and Etincelles, with Sada two points ahead currently. Sada play Jumeaux at home, whilst Etincelles host already relegated Neige. I would personally like to see Etincelles survive, as I think they are a stronger side, but they need to win, and hope that Sada don't. If they win by more than one and Sada draw, then they stay up.
The place where it all started, funny how our first league opponents, are also our last. When Charmake got tripped from behind in the box, captain Dikoumana stepped up to roll in his 8th goal of the season. Mohamed Aniley (yes, seriously, don't say it out loud) drilled home a free kick which took a massive deflection to equalise and ruin the party atmosphere. Those were the only two shots on target in a poor first 45 minutes from both sides. My "passionate" team-talk clearly worked, as Dikoumara came out firing in the second half, bagging his second in just under 5 minutes. We were slightly fortunate afterwards, as Majicavo Koropa saw two fine effort hit the woodwork, including one that then rolled along the line before it was hacked clear. But 8 minutes from time, Julien Diebold ensured that we split the points. Matteo Moulin (who I have just noticed is ginger, and therefore is Moulin Rouge) almost stole it at the end, but we will take the two points that see us crowned as champions!
Sadly Etincelles lost to Neige so will be relegated alongside them.
Well we just about managed to scrape over the line in the end, with Foudre 2000 and AS Rosador hot on our heels. A couple of huge results, and massive performances, particularly from Pastor from MC when our strikers goals dried up (I'm looking at you Kidane). One particular fact I'd like to highlight from the league is the success of Moulin as a goal provider, which can go unnoticed at times.
Yet the madness of this nation is nowhere near over, with October seeing us face AS Jumeaux in the Mayotte French Cup final (N) and then three days later in the Mayotte League Cup Semi Final (h). I'm going to stay on here until the competitive season finishes and then evaluate my position.
TinakoFM
bigmattb28
Grimnir
jameo_94
Thanks for the support @bigmattb28, I'd definitely like to add at least one more piece of silverware to the cabinet!
Cheers @Suffolk Seasider, hopefully at least one and then maybe a run in the Coupe de France if I've set the database up alright!
Funny how our pair of matches are against the side meaning "twins", was clearly always meant to be!
Now the Mayotte French Cup takes place whilst the Mayotte National Team are also playing, meaning that the grand final, played in front of a crowd of more than 2,000 at the Stade de Cavani, will be missing SIX of the league's best players (conveniently 5 from my side).
So they are missing their strongest player in Gabriel Nyangweso, whilst we are missing first teamers Esayas (GK), Delanys and Bertrand (both CB), assist king Moulin (AMR), and club captain Dikoumana (AMC/L). So missing the defensive core and attacking flair of my team, with Kidane only just back, but recommended not to play, I'm going to have to roll the dice and start him. Replacing the 5 players who have made 130 out of a possible 140 appearances between them, are Ibrahim Montorsi and Pierre Bucumi (CBs), Valentin Otieno (GK) and recent youth academy gradates Tuuryare Zinabu (AMC) and Behaile-haile Lecaze (STC/AMR).who have 3 starts and 20 total appearances between them (with Montorsi having 14 of them).
This is the least confident I have felt going into a game, let alone a cup final.
Zinabu got us off to a flying start on his full debut. arrowing a shot into the bottom corner after just 2 minutes. However Jumeaux came back into the game, and Gabin Berahino turned it on its head either side of the break, his second an excellent long range bobbling shot into the bottom right corner. Pastor blazed over from close range when 1 on 1, and Kidane hit the post, but we did finally get our equaliser when Kidane converted from the spot after Montorsi was fouled. Neither side could break the deadlock, so the game went to overtime, and when Solomon was held in the box at a set play, it was left to 16 year old Behaile-haile Lecaze to keep his cool and send the bees fans into raptures! Jumeaux never threatened after we went ahead, so we held on for a first cup win since 2011!!!
Business as usual for the Semi-Final, with all players back from international commitments.
We had the better of the first half, but 12 shots only yielded one on target, the same amount as Jumeaux managed from their one shot. Mulugeta Bigirimana broke the deadlock after an hour with only Jumeaux's second effort on target as they countered. However as time marched on we wouldn't just accept our fate, that man Pastor levelling from 25 yards with just 5 minutes to play. But it wasn't to be, with Michael Getu sealing victory for Jumeaux as added time was almost up. We probably deserved more, but wasteful finishing our downfall once again. It would've been harsh for Jumeaux to have come away with nothing from either game, so good luck to them!
One cup competition won, and now only one to go. We face FC Majicavo Koropa (a) in the Quarter Final of the Mayotte Cup, as well as the two potential following rounds. It will be interesting to see whether we will take part in the Coupe de France, as this should be drawn in early November to mirror real life. Regardless of our results from now, one cup won and the league is a highly successful season by anyone's standards!
Grimnir
Shame it can't be a clean sweep but for a first season it ain't all bad!
jameo_94
Only three shots on target over the whole match, one for them and two for us, but they made theirs count from the penalty spot. A very disappointing and meek way to exit the Mayotte Cup, compared with an excellent and exciting season.
No real surprises as to who the fans thought our best player was, with Aman Kidane carrying the side in terms of goals scored, with a decent contribution from Pastor and Dikoumana,
A lack of injuries in key positions, mainly MC and DC were key to our success, with Otieno, Pastor, Bertrand and Delanys all performing considerably better than their replacements (Abadie, Blanc and Montorsi).
Sadly, as I hadn't loaded up the French league, winning the Mayotte French Cup was for nothing, as the Coupe de France fixtures weren't scheduled which is a shame, but overall a massively successful first season with both league and cup won!
Should I stay or should I go? Whilst I'd love another season with a club I've become attached to, and feel like I could win the league and maybe multiple cups again, as well as having the Indian Ocean Champions Cup to look forward to, the purpose of this save is not to linger.
My options if I choose to leave now, are either in South Sudan or Djibouti. Now the South Sudan season is coming to a climax, with jobs only available at lesser sides who are already out, and if I am to leave now, I'd want it to be to a place with immediate football, else I might as well stay put until an opportunity arises.
So in Djibouti, there are 3 current jobs available, at the sides predicted to finish 7th, 8th and 10th (of 10)
FC Dikhil - Predicted finish: 8th. Currently: 6th (W1, L1). Expectations: Mid-table
Arta/SIHD - Predicted finish: 7th. Currently: 9th (L2). Expectations: Clear of Relegation
Arhiba - Predicted finish: 10th. Currently: 4th (W1, D1). Expectations: Clear of Relegation.
I am unsure what to do at the moment with these options, as I could either take one of these clubs on for a bit to build my reputation in Djiboutienne football, as realistically I'm not going to win the league with any of these sides next season, but could do well then take a better job (Djibouti Telecom have won each of the previous 5 titles) if it came about. Or I could sit with ASC Abeilles for a little longer and see if something better comes up either here or in South Sudan, but I'd then be risking losing time in the save until another job even comes up since I've already conquered Mayotte.
bigmattb28
ErRaptorz
jameo_94
Glad you enjoy it @ErRaptorz, continuing now, as and when I have time, but updates should be reasonably regular!
After applying for the FC Dikhil job in Djibouti, some really nice opportunities became available in South Sudan, ones which would give me a chance of making good progress more rapdily.
The two jobs that stuck out were at Aweli Star FC, a mid-table club with big ambitions, and Al-Salaam FC, a bigger side who massively under-performed this past season. I applied for both and waited to see what would happen. I was pretty sure I'd get the Aweli Star FC job, as it was at a similar level to where I was before, but the Al-Salaam FC job would be a step up, so I didn't know whether it would go to someone more qualified.
I thought about taking the Aweli Star FC job immediately, but decided it best to gamble and ask for a delay, and hold out for the better job, as the interview went well. Fortunately it paid off!
South Sudan, the newest country in the world, only coming into existence in 2011 following its separation from Sudan is the next stop on my footballing journey, and it's safe to say I haven't been here before! A widely different prospect to Mayotte, South Sudan is landlocked, has a population of 12 million people and is similar in size to both Ukraine and France, although it is bigger than both. The amazing thing about South Sudan, is that over half of the population is under 18, mainly due to the civil war that has been in place since 2013, making it statistically one of the worst places to live on Earth. Finally, unlike most of its neighbours, the people of South Sudan are largely Christian and speak English as a main language.
The city of Wau contains roughly 230,000 people, and the most famous son of Wau is basketball legend Luol Deng. One interesting fact is that the city has a long dry season, with temperatures averaging around 36C, from November-March, before the rainy season from April- August, where most of our matches are played, in temperatures around 32C. We will play home games at the Wau Stadium, a 5,000 seater in the heart of the city.
The South Sudan National Championship (called Sud Soudan Premier League on FM) has an incredibly strange league format. First the 30 teams in the league are split into two groups, A and B, where they play each of the other 14 teams in their group ONCE only (home or away not both). After these games are done (around September/October), the top 5 sides from each group qualify for the next round. In the next round, the ten sides are split into 2 groups of 5 teams. This time each side plays each of the other 4 teams in their group once, and the top team from each final stage group qualifies for the final, where the two group champions play a single leg final. This means that you are going to have to beat the best teams to be crowned champion, which seems fair, just annoying it's done from single fixtures.
The league champions qualify for the Kagame Interclub Cup, contested between select East-African nations, and someone qualifies for the African Champions League, but I'm not certain on who yet as it wasn't the previous year's champion on the current game. It may well be the side that finishes on the most points at the end of the first phase. There is no relegation, and only 3 foreign players are allowed in the playing XI. 3 of 7 substitutes can be used.
There is only one cup competition, the South Sudan National Cup, which follows a basic knockout format. The winners qualify for the African Confederation Cup (Europa League equivalent).
Al-Salaam FC, otherwise known as Al-Salam, Al-Salam Wau and Wau Salaam, were founded in 1968, making them one of South Sudan's oldest domestic sides. The have the nickname "White Dove", and are one of the most successful clubs in South Sudan. They won the inaugural league title in 2012, but the following three editions, including last season, were won by Atlabara, who are clearly our biggest threat for the title. (some seasons weren't played). Last season the side scraped through the first stage, finishing 4th, before ending up 4th again in the final stage, and going out of the competition here with only one victory.
They did end up as cup runners-up however, beating Atlabara in the semi-finals on the way, the only domestic side to do so all season.
Next update I will evaluate personnel, recruit a backroom team and look at a suitable formation to use and start looking at transfers to fit in with my system.
TinakoFM
Grimnir
Hopefully you can give some of South Sudan reason to cheer! Best of luck.
By the way, I may have missed it, but did you complete your coaching qualification?
ErRaptorz