[FM22] A Journey From Balikpapan

Season 7 of the save and season 1 with Shanghai Port. Here's a recap of how 2027 went:

As already noted, the season ended with expected disappointment as Al Gharafa defeated us in the AFC Champions League final. Our season still went well in that competition, but how did our season in the Super Cup, FA Cup and Super League go?

note: I got a way too talky below, my apologies!

Super Cup:

By virtue of Shanghai Port winning the 2026 FA Cup before I arrived, my manager's first domestic match in charge was the 2027 Super Cup against two-time reigning league champions Guangzhou. It was a nice debut as we ran out 2-0 winners, as I claimed the second trophy of the save; first since season 1 of it with Indonesian (then second tier) club Persiba. New signing Tyrese Campbell scored in that match, the season would only get better for him… and far worse for Guangzhou.

FA Cup:

Erm… less said about this, the better. We randomly got dumped out the FA Cup at the first hurdle by second tier (!) Kunshan, who ran out 3-0 (yes, 3-0!) victors. Barring two full-backs, I played a very strong team too. We'll be seeing more of them next campaign, as they won promotion from the First Division along with Beijing Sport University.

Super League:

The Super League was… an absolute cakewalk, to be honest. As noted in a previous post, reigning champs Guangzhou had a diabolical season as they went on to finish fourth bottom! As such, we had no true rival throughout the campaign and ended up clinching the title with 89 points after winning 28. drawing 5 and losing just 1; I don't think I've ever gone unbeaten on Football Manager before, as mid-table Zhejiang (back in May) stopped me from doing so this year. We scored 91 goals and conceded just 13 - domination.

It's Shanghai Port's first title since 2024. Our closest ‘challengers’ were Beijing Guoan, who finished 21 points behind us.

AFC Champions League:

Thankfully we pulled through, despite losing twice to group winners Macarthur; we advanced as one of the best second place teams after beating BG Pathum United and Suwon Samsung Bluewings twice each. In the knockouts, we knocked out reigning champions Incheon United before getting revenge on Macarthur in the quarter-finals. The semi-finals saw us take out a second A-League team in Brisbane Roar, though unfortunately that was followed by the aforementioned loss to the Qataris.

Recap:

So, all in all, a great season. It actually started relatively roughly, though. We only had one friendly match (two in total) before our early start in the AFC Champions League group stages. So no prep was possible and that wasn't even the worst thing, as 4 of my 8 signings were not signed in time so were unable to be registered for the CL groups - so missed all 6 GS fixtures. The squad I inherited was severely lacking too, which didn't help in challenging Macarthur initially; they tore us a new one both times in the groups, though we returned that favour later on; which shows how much our signings changed us.

Transfers:

Speaking of signings, every signing turned out nicely. I did kinda spend £109m…

Memphis: Yep, he of PSV/Manchester United/Barcelona fame. Not going to lie, I gave that guy a disgusting contract with every pound and every clause used to get him in; which I had to do due to the club/league(?) limiting how much wage I could offer a player, so had to make up the difference in clauses etc. Memphis, signed for £19.5m initally, had a good if underwhelming season, not helped by some injuries and his postional rivals smashing it (see below). He only got 5 goals and 5 assists, though only started 12 games with a 7.35 average rating.

Sada Thioub & Li Haoran: Memphis' main problem was these two legends. Captured for a combined £10.1m from Sochaux-Montbéliard and Hebei China Fortune, the pair clocked up 29 goals and 27 assists between them. Sada Thioub netted 13 goals and got 19 assists, while Li Haoran netted 16 goals and got 8 assists. Even when Memphis was fit, I was selecting those two in his positions ahead of him; most of Memphis' games, in fact, came as a CAM - given I wasn't dropping sole striker gargantuan Tyrese Campbell.

Tyrese Campbell: What a guy. Tyrese Campbell, My hero, my mate. This man turned into an absolutely goalscoring machine, the sort I've personally not had the pleasure of managing for years. He cost £39m from Stoke City, but he was worth every single penny as he concluded the season with a ridiculous 47 goals in 45 games! A madness from the 27-year-old Englishman. Time to give him a cap, Gabriele Milano Massimiliano Allegri! 35 in the league, 11 in the Champions League and 1 in the Super Cup.

Xu Jizu, Cui Lin, John Hou Sæter & Guo Tianyu: Less ‘sexy’ signings but four players I like, even if forward Guo Tianyu didn't actually do much. We signed him for £17m but he only started a grand total of once; with 19 sub appearances. He did get 3 goals though. Xu Jizu was a great find for centre-back, I needed a native (Chinese) defender as I had used up all four foreigner spots on other positions. He came in for £7m and played 46 times with an average rating of 7.19. Elsewhere, Cui Lin made for good full-back (can play both) cover, while defensive midfielder John Hou Sæter ended up featuring heavily towards the end of the season when I switched from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-1-2-2-1.

Of the original bunch of players, Oscar (retiring asap) and Paulinho (not the ex-Tottenham Hotspur one) were excellent. Wang Jingui was our goalkeeper all season long, despite starting the campaign at just 18-years-old! I wanted a new ‘keeper but no-one good was available, so I thought I’d give this kid from the youth team a go and it was arguably my greatest decision. He has been called up by the national team but remains uncapped, with Jean-Pierre Papin seemingly choosing two goalkeepers based in Europe ahead of him.

FFP:

Honestly, I don't have a clue how FFP works on Football Manager but the game has noted we are set to fail the CSL's 2028 FFP. The game mentions how we are at fault, though I haven't seen any exact context as to what the punishment will/might be so I guess I'll find out in the off-season. Transfer ban? Points deduction? Continental ban? Slap on the wrist? Who knows! Anyone do? Lemme know! Likely my fault either way given my spending spree… what can I say, I guess I'm a regen of Harry Redknapp…

Let's see what 2028 brings…

In entirely, utterly, unequivocally, most definitely unrelated news…

Well. I can't say I was expecting my reign at Shanghai Port to end quite so suddenly, though I decided to resign as manager following that brutal points deduction. Part of me wanted to continue to see how much of a hamper that would've been, but I didn't want to risk a sacking or anything of the such. Presumably it was my fault, I'm not used to having big money to spend on FM, but then again the board should not have let me spend the £. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This really is a journeyman, eh? 4 clubs in 7 years.

Where next? I'm aiming for Europe; fortunately, when I joined Shanghai Port I proactively changed the lesser Asian leagues (Malaysia etc.) to ‘view only’ and added some European leagues for the future - evidently, I need 'em now. I added Croatia, Greece, Israel, Romania and Turkey so my next job shall be in one of those leagues; ideally at one of the top dogs.

Slight plot twist.

It seems Shanghai Port didn't actually get the points deduction in the end - I've been swindled!

No idea what happened, I only went to check in the succeeding April and they're sitting top.

I assume it got overturned on appeal or suspended or something like that? Would've been nice if the game let me know that was a possibility, but hey-ho.

At least my conscience is clear that I didn't screw the club up financially!

Hello, Haifa!

Job 5 of the save sees my manager head into UEFA for the very time as I take on the job at Israeli Premier League side Maccabi Haifa. I actually had my eyes on the Maccabi Tel Aviv job which was stated as ‘insecure/very insecure’ throughout the end of 2027-28, but that never came about and the Maccabi Haifa one did instead - and that's actually worked out better. This is, I believe, the first time I've managed in Israel.

Maccabi Haifa are 19-time Premier League champions, having most recently won the 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26 and 2026-27 titles. However, in 2027-28 they fell short to Hapoel Be'er Sheva by 11pts; hence how I was able to get the job. Last season they reached the UEFA Europa Conference League knockouts, losing to Braga (POR), and we'll be in that same competition again this year; Sloboda Tuzla (BIH) await in the second qualifying round.

Let's get it!

A quick recap of the save so far:

2020-2021: Persiba (Indonesia/2+1) | Trophies: 1 | Promotion/Relegations: 1 | Awards: 3

2022-2024: Madura United (Indonesia/1) | Trophies: 0 | Promotion/Relegations: 0 | Awards: 4

2025-2026: Newcastle Jets (Australia/1) | Trophies: 0 | Promotion/Relegations: 0 | Awards: 0

2027: Shanghai Port (China/1) | Trophies: 2 | Promotion/Relegations: 0 | Awards: 4

2028-: Maccabi Haifa (Israel/1) | Trophies: 0 | Promotion/Relegations: 0 | Awards: 0

O Where Art Thou Now?

Persiba: After I got them promoted into the promised land, I left. In the top-flight, whilst I was with Madura United, they managed back-to-back seasons up there, initially finishing an outstanding 4th before falling down to 16th in campaign two and suffering relegation back to League Two. In the second tier, they placed 2nd consecutively and eventually got promoted back in 2025 for 2026 - though would go back down immediately. After 4th in 2027, they sit 5th in the early stages of 2028.

Madura United: After I guided them to 2nd, 4th and 2nd between 2022 and 2024, Madura United would finish 16th in their first season without me so were therefore relegated (!) to League Two. They got back at the first attempt as champions, though in 2027 dropped back down to the second tier. Quite the fall from grace!

Newcastle Jets: I got Newcastle Jets 7th in my only full season with them, could they manage any better in the one season that they've had without me? No, they placed 8th in 2026-27. Not easy to break into that top six, it seems.

It has been an absolute slog of a season with Maccabi Haifa, definitely the longest-feeling campaign of the save thus far, so that probably gives you an indication of how it has gone.

To say I've barely ‘played’ the game from just after the season's midway point would be an understatement, by that point I was literally spamming the continue button and giving matches the bare minimum amount of attention whilst doing non-FM things on a different monitor just to get to the season's end and hopefully a cup final - did that happen? See below!

I'd usually save/quit and return to the save at a later point if I lose interest but such was my near boredom of the game here, I decided it was best to just get through the season and start afresh at a different club next season; otherwise I may have lost the hunger for the save as a whole, which I don't want as I like posting on here. The feeling has nothing to do with Maccabi Haifa at all, just a change of scenery will help peak my interest again… and it is a journeyman after all. So, we go again at club number six!

 Anyway, here's a recap of 2028-29 in Israel's top division.

Premier League:

The Prem season actually started brilliantly with 5 straight wins, though Maccabi Tel Aviv quickly turned into prime Barcelona to usurp us and they never let up once - hence why I effectively gave up on the season at near enough the midway point. I've played the game long enough that it becomes clear when the AI is on a mad one, already seen the same scenario in this save in fact with Persib whilst with Madura United. By the season's end, we finished 3rd which is actually one better than where they finished before I arrived. The next boss will, like me, have third tier Euro footy with Maccabi Haifa. The media predicted us 1st, though board only wanted UECL.

Toto Cup:

We coulda had a trophy right near the season's start, as we completed the (admittedly short) run to the Toto Cup final but lost out predictably to mid-table Maccabi Petah Tikva. So, no trophy there unfortunately.

UEFA Europa Conference League:

In Europe's third tier, we actually did well - though could only effectively repeat what the club have achieved last season - elimination at the first knockout hurdle (admittedly second knockout round rather than first, as we won the group unlike last year's team). As for this season, we started in the second qualifying round and reached the groups after defeating Sloboda Tuzla (BIH), Nordsjælland (DEN) and Malmö (SWE). In the GS, we finished atop ahead of Legia Warsaw (POL), Asteras Tripolis (GRE) ad Sheriff (MDA) with W4 D2 L0. In the knockouts, we lost 5-2 on aggregate to Dinamo Zagreb (CRO).

State Cup:

The pride and joy of the season? Our final chance for silverware. Did we reach the final? Yes. Did we win it?

Incredibly, we actually did! i'm leaving here with something!

We defeated mid-table rivals Hapoel Haifa. That's something, at least. A trophy added to the cabinet from this forgettable first stint in UEFA.

The only other major thing I'll remember from this spell will be striker Ben Malango. I picked the DR Congo international up on a free as soon as I joined and he ended the season with a tremendous 35 goals. Not quite Tyrese Campbell levels, but good enough!😆

My reign at Maccabi Haifa in a GIF:

Let's see where the save takes my manager next!

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The Save So Far:

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2020-2021: Persiba (Indonesia/2+1) | Trophies: 1 | Promotion/Relegations: 1 | Awards: 3

2022-2024: Madura United (Indonesia/1) | Trophies: 0 | Promotion/Relegations: 0 | Awards: 4

2025-2026: Newcastle Jets (Australia/1) | Trophies: 0 | Promotion/Relegations: 0 | Awards: 0

2027: Shanghai Port (China/1) | Trophies: 2 | Promotion/Relegations: 0 | Awards: 4

2028-2029: Maccabi Haifa (Israel/1) | Trophies: 1 | Promotion/Relegations: 0 | Awards: 0

 

'tis now May 2030. Effectively 1 year on from leaving Maccabi Haifa in Israel, my manager has found himself a new job - but where?

We're off to Romania! U Craiova (1948 CS, not to be confused with U Craiova 1948 SA - it's complicated!) are my manager's sixth club of the save.

It took a long while to find a new job, initially there were some interesting jobs available. Panathinaikos, although struggling in recent years in the save, was one I wanted but they rejected my manager after an interview. Dinamo Zagreb was also open, though they didn't even allow us an interview. Those two were within a month or two of leaving Israeli football, in the many months since there's been a real lack of good jobs - with only relegation-threatened clubs giving interviews. I turned them all down as I felt I could end up getting a higher up club - and U Craiova are certainly that.

I'd recommend reading up on the situation between this club and their namesake on Wikipedia, though in short: An original U Craiova went away decades ago and two newer clubs claim to be the official rebirth of the first club. The LPF, Romania's governing body, support our club as the official successor, though the other club continue to claim that they are the rightful heir, so to speak. In real life, the two are in Liga 1 together - though in-game, the other club are in Liga 2… but do sit top with a few games left, so we could be meeting them next season.

Talking of this season, I join with just 3 matches left to play. U Craiova sit 4th in the post-season split in the Champions section, though are 7pts off of European football qualification via the league. However, I believe 4th place will get a UEFA Europa Conference League spot for 2030-31 as the Romanian Cup final is set to be FCSB vs. Sepsi - both of whom are already in the top three. The battle for 4th should be between us and Voluntari, who are currently 3pts off us but we play each other in my manager's first match in charge. Baptism of fire and all that.

U Craiova have had good times in this save. They won the Liga 1 title in 2021-22, 2025-26 and 2027-28 and have finished inside the top three in every other season. That streak will end, unless FCSB collapse above us, this campaign so it'll be my manager's job to raise them back to the top table of Romanian football.

The Save So Far:

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2020-2021: Persiba (Indonesia/2+1) | Trophies: 1 | Promotion/Relegations: 1 | Awards: 3

2022-2024: Madura United (Indonesia/1) | Trophies: 0 | Promotion/Relegations: 0 | Awards: 4

2025-2026: Newcastle Jets (Australia/1) | Trophies: 0 | Promotion/Relegations: 0 | Awards: 0

2027: Shanghai Port (China/1) | Trophies: 2 | Promotion/Relegations: 0 | Awards: 4

2028-2029: Maccabi Haifa (Israel/1) | Trophies: 1 | Promotion/Relegations: 0 | Awards: 0

2030-: U Craiova (Romania/1) | Trophies: 0 | Promotion/Relegations: 0 | Awards: 0

 

Season's end has been reached, as my manager's three (or four, as it was) game start with U Craiova has been completed.

Based on league rules I thought we had a continental football spot secured after W1 D1 L1 and 3rd place, but the game found a way to take it out of our grasps (à la back in Indonesia with Madura United…) as we had to face a play-off with mid-table Rapid București and, to no-one's shock, we went and lost. So no Euro footy for our supporters next season, we always wanted to concentrate on the league anyway… 

Let's see what 2030-31 brings!

The Save So Far:

Show Spoiler

2020-2021: Persiba (Indonesia/2+1) | Trophies: 1 | Promotion/Relegations: 1 | Awards: 3

2022-2024: Madura United (Indonesia/1) | Trophies: 0 | Promotion/Relegations: 0 | Awards: 4

2025-2026: Newcastle Jets (Australia/1) | Trophies: 0 | Promotion/Relegations: 0 | Awards: 0

2027: Shanghai Port (China/1) | Trophies: 2 | Promotion/Relegations: 0 | Awards: 4

2028-2029: Maccabi Haifa (Israel/1) | Trophies: 1 | Promotion/Relegations: 0 | Awards: 0

2030-: U Craiova (Romania/1) | Trophies: 0 | Promotion/Relegations: 0 | Awards: 0