Dans Journey Around The World [FM15]

Thanks Johno, it should be straight forward once again, but that should of been the case at Shakthar!

My return to Ukraine hasn't been bad, however its not been a brilliant start as we hit the halfway stage of the season. We have three trophies to try and grab here in Ukraine and all can be done this season. We need to try and beat Metalist in the super cup as well as try to claim the league and domestic cup, could the Ukrainian domestic treble go on to be ours...


We had two shots at European football this year and went on to fail at both attempts. Crashing out the Champions League on our first attempt, losing to Galatasaray in a one nil defeat over the two legs. We then headed into the Europa League but eventually fell short down in the group stage of the competition, a tough group we were drawn!


Here is one ticked off. My first competitive game in charge was a head to head against Metalist in the Superkubok which we went on to win one nil. A penalty from Vik Algoet guided me to a trophy in charge of Chornomorets.


The Kubok Ukraini is in swing and we are lucky to be surviving in the competition! We narrowly hold our spot and head into the Quarter Finals. We beat Tytan Donetsk to kick off in the second round. A penalty win then secured us our spot in the Quarter Finals as we beat Obolon-Brewer, winning two nil at home and two nil away from home. Girnyk Kryvyi Rih await us in the Quarter Finals.


Our league form has been a little stuttering this season but I'm hoping we can now pick it up. Too many draws are slipping into our schedule, we've played seventeen league games and managed to draw six of them as well as losing just three. Our eight wins have not quite been enough this season. However finishing this half of the season with a massive win over Goverla and then Metalist puts us in good shape for our return to competitive action in the New Year.


Metalist lead the way, looking to keep their league title away from us. However we have come back strongly and are fighting in fourth place. Olimpic D will be our next game after the winter break, and a victory against them could really boost us up. We are in contention for the top spot still and hopefully we'll now press on being out of Europe!

Next Post: Chornomorets - End Of Season Update 2068/2069

Got to love the unpredictability on the Ukrainian league! Good stuff Dan, South Africa looked like a breeze.

Definitely been unpredictable over the years Cymro! Shakthar have been relegated a couple times, most recently Dynamo Kyiv were relegated last season! I was hoping this would be a short stint but it'll be tough! South Africa was a complete walk over!

Here it is, the second and final update of the 2068/2069 season is here, would we be able to go on and turn over the early gap in the league title race to go on to win the league title. We trailed early on but had improved with our last two wins, we remained in the league and cup race, would there be two more trophies for us this season...


Our cup run went on and eventually was secured, but we made it difficult for ourselves thats for sure. We were into the Quarter Finals the last time I updated. We lost the first leg against Girnyk Kryvyi Rih but came back to win three two on aggregate with a three nil second leg win. It was the same story against Goverla in the Semi Final, losing two nil first leg away from home but winning three nil second leg to put us into the final against Metalist. We were home for some reason and won it one nil, Porkop netting after just six minutes.


Here are our final nine games and look at the superb run of form we hit for the remainder of the league season! We went on to win eight of our final nine games, drawing the remaining one which was against Shakhtar. It was a close run in. Our league form saw us keep six clean sheets from our final nine games and only concede one goal in each of the three games we failed to keep a clean sheet. Surely this would prove to be enough to earn us the league title back from Metalist...


Dammit! The four points Metalist led us by at the halfway stage was enough to win them the title! Metalist matched our form in the final nine games with eight wins and a draw to take them to retain their league title by four points over us in second place. We finished nine points ahead of third placed side Karpaty whilst mid season high flyers Goverla finished down in fifth.

So I'll remain in charge of Chornomorets for a second season and aim for the league title only, I will put young players out in the cup and probably the European competitions in order to keep our players fresh and fit for the league title!

Next Post: Chornomorets - Mid Of Season Update 2069/2070

I came to comment, "predictable that you done the double", but I was surprised to see you failed in the league and that was a pleasant surprise. I see Shakhtar are still struggling in your save, just like they are in mine as well and I'm like twenty years behind you...

KIU and good luck next season, we expect the league title.

Few games have cost you the titles Hopefully you can come back better next season and win the league.

We did Shedender, I can't quite keep up with your pace it seems sometimes! However I'm hoping to get the title this season!

We did Johno! Hopefully this year!

So it was to be a second season here in Ukraine after we narrowly missed out on the league title last season. However this season I'm hoping we can go on to clinch the league title. We know Metalist would put up a challenge but how would it be looking come the middle of the league season, the cups aren't too much of an issue for us this year.


Next to no European football for us this season, we crashed straight out the Champions League in our first appearance this year, losing the second leg big against Hajduk to crash out and then Lierse knocked us out the Europa League seeing us not even make the group stage this year, but


The Superkubok isn't ours this year. We couldn't retain the trophy as we slipped to a two one defeat against Metalist to lose the first competitive trophy of the year. Datcu netted for us which put us ahead but we went on to blow the lead.


Our Kubok Ukraini hopes are still alive narrowly. I haven't been playing the strongest of squads this season in the cup but we continue to advance and now sit in the Quarter Finals, I wouldn't mind retaining the competition but the league title is our main success. Goverla is the team who await us in the Quarter Finals.


We've battled through the first half of the season and been relatively successful to date. A couple of defeats have snuck into our league results but we've been pretty solid. Eleven wins from our eighteen league games to date whilst we've also drawn five, losing just twice and one of those defeats were against Metalist hitting us hard.


Metalist lead the way after eighteen games, we have ten games to play in the second half of the season and after the winter break I need us to come out flying, including securing a victory against Metalist and we could go on to secure the league title this time around.

Next Post: Chornomorets - End Of Season Update 2069/2070

You'll probably end up winning the league... Good luck.

Hopefully Shedender, it'll be tight though!

Here we go, could we go on and finish the season as champions this time around, we missed out last season by four points and at the halfway stage this year we trailed by a point as well as having played a game more as well. We remained in contention for the league title as well as competing for the cup still as well. We had already won the cup so it wasn't too important...


Well it wasn't to be our season to retain the Kubok Ukraini thats for sure. We got all the way to the Semi Final before we fell out the competition and it was against the side we beat in last years Final. We came back from behind against Goverla after losing the first leg of the Quarter Finals to win comfortably away from home and send us to Metalist in the Semi Final where we fell a goal short.


We ended up as league champions!! But how when you see Metalist scored more than us and had a much greater goal difference than us yet we finished above them on the same points!? I'm not complaining as we now have the league title I needed to wrap up Ukraine, but there is a clear answer to this. Us and Metalist actually played twenty seven league games each this season...


Because we were tied on points it ended up with a Premyer-Liha playoff and we went on to triumph late on. Our form this second half of the season was identical to it last season with eight games, seven wins and one draw as well as conceding just two, keeping clean sheets in six games. But all in all it came down to that playoff game where we beat Metalist in extra time securing the title!


Nothing else to do here in Ukraine apart from hang up my managers coat at Chornomorets. I lasted six hundred and ninety five days here in charge of Chornomorets, almost two full years and it was a relatively successful stint. A little annoying we couldn't do it in the first season but its good to have it now rapped up. Eighty four gams played, forty nine wins, eighteen draws and seventeen defeats. We scored one hundred and thirty one whilst conceding seventy five. Two cup wins, one league win! Job Done.

Finally my overall stats haven't been shown for a while so I thought its time to post it up. I've now taken charge of one thousand nine hundred and seventy two games, winning one thousand three hundred and six (sixty six percent) whilst drawing three hundred and one and losing three hundred and sixty five. We've seen four thousand seven hundred and twenty eight goals for my sides whilst conceding two thousand four hundred and fifteen (+ two thousand three hundred and thirty one goal difference) whilst picking up thirty two cup wins, thirty league titles and eighteen promotions as well as those two relegations.


And so this will be the new set up. With all other countries now completed bar England they've all be fizzled out and will leave me with the English Premier League as well as having Iceland and Italy reloaded back in. I spent brief encounters in both countries but failed to pick up a trophy in either so now I'm hoping to tick them off whilst waiting for that 'perfect' job back in England.

Next Post: The Next Stop...2070

Congrats on securing the league title with Chornomorets and good luck on your next journey.

Thanks Shedender, second time lucky!

So Italy has just come back into play and there has been one big job that caught my eye straight away. Unfortunately nothing decent and worthwhile has come about in England over the last couple of years so I'll put off my return there just yet. However I don't mind heading to Italy to try and conqour it, we still need every trophy there though so it'll be a long stint yet.


AC Milan! A top top job and with money to spend! Juventus have claimed the league title the last five seasons running but its time to try and put a change to things around here. AC Milan have been there or there abouts the last few seasons but I'm hoping I can take them a little further and win he title back. A massive transfer budget offered as well as wages. Lets buy this title!


Finances, solid! Sixty million pound balance and a sixty million pound transfer budget which I'll probably go ahead and look to spend! I need to strengthen in the right areas to really compete for the top spot over a strong Juventus side and we have money spare in the wages to spend as well


Here is the team I've acquired, I'm sure there will be many changes before the season starts but hopefully we can keep hold of our main players and keep them happy. Theres a few players on high wages already who Ill try and tame down a little bit, the players I'm not impressed with will find themselves heading for the door.


And here is AC Milan' competition history which is absolutely gleaming to date, just need to add some trophies of my own. Just one Champions League title since the start of the save which is very surprising! I wouldn't mind claiming one here! Three Europa League wins as well as three Super Cup wins. Just four Serie A titles, the latest one coming eight years ago.

Next Post: AC Milan - Pre Season Round Up 2070

Good luck with AC Milan Alot of players on silly wages

Congrats on sorting the Ukraine out. Milan looks fun!

Thanks Johno

Cheers Cymro, it should be a good stint

A return to Italy was complete and it was a big move this time, joining up with AC Milan was always going to be a smart move and when I saw their title ambitions as well as their transfer budget they were throwing at me I couldn't turn it down, anyway heres a little look at what happened in the transfer window as well as the Supercoppa tie with fierce rivals Juventus.


It was a busy transfer window as I said it would be, we done a couple of trades with Manchester United and Liverpool and I definitely feel we came off as trumps up! We brought in Roman Shestakov and Jon Hogg from the English sides, boosting our midfield, whilst Roberto Armendariz comes in suring up our back line.


Boom! One trophy here in Italy done and first time of asking we've beat Juventus! The Supercoppa is ours after a narrow two one victor. Ashong sent us ahead on the eighth minute before Juventus levelled. But it was to be our star striker Michiel Hermans to seal the win with a goal four minutes after the restart.

Next Post: AC Milan - Mid Season Update 2070/2071

Life at AC Milan hasn't been too bad so far, I started life back in Italy very well, getting that all important win over Juventus to claim the Supercoppa and my first trophy from Italy, only six more to go! If all goes well we can secure two more this season but it'll be tough against the rest of the pack. Here is how things have progressed so far this season as we are about to enter the New Year.


No Champions League football for AC Milan this year, instead we headed for the Europa League where I look to try and take the competition by storm. We qualified top of our group but played some poor games thats for sure. We claimed two wins and a draw at home and then one win, one draw and one defeat on the road.


Here is the First and Second Knockout Round draw. I'm more than confident we'll head on through to the second round to beat Club Brugge. However the Second Knockout Round will be a lot harder with us facing the winners of the Trabzonspor and Chelsea tie, it'll be hard if its Chelsea but we can beat anyone at our best!


Sixteen league games in and we are doing very well in fairness. We started perfectly as we went on to win our opening six games on the bounce, our form has dropped a little lately but we are still being competitive. We've picked up superb four nil victories over both Inter Milan and Juventus to show we are in the title fight. How does this leave the league looking...?


Heres the league standings heading into the calender New Year. Juventus look set to defend the seven titles they've currently won on the bounce as they sit top of the pile and five points clear of us in second place. Inter Milan sit in third place and just a single point behind us, keeping up the pressure whilst Chievo then leave us some breathing space.

Next Post: AC Milan - End Of Season Update 2070/2071

Brilliant win over Juventus in cup and Serie A, but no surprise to see Juventus, sitting top. they're ridiculously good on this FM

They are incredible on here Johno, running away with titles left right and centre!

Here we go then, back to the updates after I've faced a busy couple of weeks I haven't played too much. I have now finished the season here in Italy and with us still in the league running, the TIM Cup as well as the Europa League, it was time to try and put our good form into action and try to seal a trophy this season...


The Europa League wasn't for us this season as I still fail to have a major European trophy (bar the Super Cup) to tick off. Club brugge gave us a scare first leg before we came back and hit them four nil. But Chelsea proved to be too strong for us beating us three nil in England and then two nil in Italy.


An awful showing in the TIM Cup, we failed to get past the first round as Parma showed us their strength and knocked us out on penalties.


Our league form wasn't too bad only losing four games since the New Year but it was against the fellow title rivals which have ended up costing us quite a bit. We've not been in bad form Only keeping five clean sheets has also seen us knocked back a peg.


So we finished third place, the board were happy enough with that but I've got a job to do here in this career and thats win trophies so next season we really need to press on and try to claim is next season. We finished three points behind fierce city rivals Inter Milan whilst Juventus won another league title beating us by seven points.

Next Post: AC Milan - Mid Season Update 2071/20712

Credit where credit's due. I'm amazed you have managed to keep this going for so many years. KUTGW mate.

Thanks Jonoas, it was about time I had a save I stuck with this year around and I've surprised myself its still going! Got no plans to end it anytime soon either!

Look at the date, then look at the fixture list, its the end of August and the league hasn't reset itself and no new League fixtures have been produced, the TIM Cup is running but that is it. The league, as attached here also shows the same date and the league not being reset so it is unplayable!


And so I've had to resign and then move on to the next part of the journey! Annoying as I thought I had a good job here in Italy. I will now take out Italy and then re add it in a year or twos time. I still have Iceland and England playable with both league running fine!

I'm always open to loading new countries if anyone has any suggestions, wouldn't mind an Asian country soon I think. However I'm still yet to visit America too!

Next Post: Next Move...2071/20712

What the hell, be interesting to see what happens later this season with no fixtures.

Very bizarre to see that, such a shame it ruined your AC Milan career

Pretty strange that no fixtures have been announced for the new campaign, hope that's sorted in the future when you re-load the country (providing it's been removed) but the same happened for me in Northern Ireland, although no league fixtures were harmed, I lost the Mid Ulster Cup.

I'd love to see you head to Northern Ireland next.... 'mon. Or China.

Shame about that Serie A thing. I would like to see you take your talents to Sweden. The Swedish second division (4:th tier) can be a true night mare...

An all around impressive career, Dan.

Think it is an issue that happens when you Add / Remove leagues. Such a shame. I am sure you will be back in Italy.

It was a shame Bmg033 however hopefully next time I load it in its all fixed!

Just means its time to move on Johno

I know Shedender, hopefully only a minor issue and all will be fixed when its added in over the years. I've been tempted to head to China for a while!

Itchycoo, it seems I'm always against going to Sweden, however when I next return to Europe I'll make sure i add it in!

I think that is the reason Cymro, hopefully a short term effect and not long term!

After life at AC Milan fell abruptly short and for once not due to my own mistake, I took the rest of the season as holiday and we are now here in September 2072. It was about time I left Europe and wanted to head to Asia, theres plenty of variety here thats for sure and will keep me occupied for a while. I've left England playable as I enjoy seeing whats going on there, to add to that we've now got China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea to visit, I'd love to tick all these off before returning to Europe some will be easy with three of the new countries having just one league.


I had found a perfect job to jump straight in to winning trophies at. Kitchee didn't have a manager as the league came in to play and it took absolutely ages for me to eventually be offered the job and I had no hesitation in accepting the offer and heading to Hong Kong. One of the countries with just a single league title to win along with a couple cup opportunities.


Here is the squad I've got at my disposal, hopefully its as strong as it looks on paper, we've just got to hit the ground running. Kitchee have a strong competition history as seen here, especially over the recent years. Its just time to be hopeful that the competitions now continue to come in.


As I said, it took ages for a contract to be offered to me and so the season has already began but its started fine without a manager at the helm. Its been a good start with a one nil league win and I'm more than delighted to see the squad are in the AFC Cup which I believe is the equivalent to the Europa League.

Next Post: Kitchee - Mid Season Update 2072/073

Interesting choice Dan! Good Luck

I believe the AFC Cup is sort of like the Europa League though. However, a lot of the bigger nations don't earn any qualification spots for it so there's a reasonable chance for small nation clubs to win it and earn a spot in the AFC Champions League.

Thanks Pippadoc, I've been wanting to get to Asia for a while now and thought it'd be nice to try conqour it all together rather than the odd one here and there. You are correct it seems the AFC Cup is the equivalent of the Europa League.

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Kitchee - Mid Season Update 2072/073

Well its nice to be back in management and with fixtures actually playable here in Asia. Kitchee was a very strong starting point for me with them favorites for both cup competitions and the league title this year however we'd still need to be at our best to make it happen. How has the first half of the season here in Hong Kong gone...


The AFC Cup was already well in full swing when I took charge at Kitchee and I managed to keep the run going to get us into the final of the Europa League equivalent. We beat Al-Jazira three two in the second leg and then beat Chinese side Shandong over two legs to head to the Final against Al-Zawra'a...


Stats wise we battered Al-Zawra'a in the AFC Cup Final however the scoreline didn't represent such a stroll in the park. We should of had plenty more but in the end took the competition with a one nil win. The goal coming from defender Kim Jung-Hwan in the one hundredth and seventh minute, two minutes into the First Half injury time.


The first of two domestic cup competitions have come and gone and its been another successful one for us just about this year. The Senior Shield saw us draw tough challenging opponents South China in the First Round, luckily we eased through with a two one win. Wong Tai Sin held us after ninety minutes in the Quarter Finals but Extra time saw us prevail as Fung Ka Wai struck a late brace. We then beat Easter SC in the Semi Final after a second minute penalty sealed the win. Then onto the Final...


Well thats one way to welcome in the New Year! We scooped the Senior Shield with this Final win as well as it securing the double. Two goals in four minutes throughout the first half was more than enough to secure us the title as we took a two nil victory.


The second of two domestic cup competitions here in Hong Kong has also started and we've done enough to reach the Quarter Final to date. We put out Biu Chun in the First Round as we drew the first leg one a piece and then battered them three nil at home. We now await the challenge of Eastern SC over two legs.


Unbeaten in the first half of the league season, we've not really been challenged, a few careless draws have thrown the results a little but I'm pleased with what I've seen so far. Four clean sheets from our opening nine league games, six wins and three draws it all seems to be going okay to date.


We are top of the table, unbeaten you'd assume we were, however we are only one point clear of second placed side Biu Chun who are keeping up the pressure on us. They have a goal difference just one better than ours as they've scored a goal more, conceding exactly the same. South China surprisingly the holders, down in seventh.

Next Post: Kitchee - End Of Season Update 2072/073

I reckon you will get at least a treble this year.

Understandable... Good luck in Asia!

I've just come across this after looking for a new FM story to read I remembered this website used to have good ones when I was a frequent visitor years ago. I now have an impossible decision... I want to read this but... 46 pages? Shhhitttt this is gonna take a while I'm on page 3 so far

I hope so bmg033, landed on my feet here in Hong Kong though!

I will be in Sweden at some point itchycoo

Well thank you chrissBurns1993, if you manage to read through all the pages then fair play to you man!

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Kitchee - End of Season Update 2072/073

Hong Kong proved to be a breeze in the opening couple of months, with everything going my way and two early trophies here including a continental trophy as we scooped the AFC Cup at the start of the calender year. Now I had just two trophies left to wrap up and it would be a sweet come and go victory over Hong Kong...


Well our league form stayed pretty solid, we did eventually fall to a league defeat but its been a very successful season thats for sure! The second half of the league season saw us play nine, win seven whilst drawing one and losing once, now this should surely be enough to wrap up trophy number three for me in Asia and the second of three domestic trophies here in Hong Kong...


It sure was, we ran away with the title in an easy season. We won the title of Biu Chun by nine points in the end whilst at the other end, last seasons title winners, South China, finished all the way down in eighth Avoiding relegation by just four points in the end! Two down, one to go...


Well, we walked our way to the Hong Kong FA Cup Final too. We were already into the Quarter Finals on the last update. We went on to easily dispatch Eastern SC over the two legs claiming a five two aggregate win. We then beat Sun Pegasus five one on aggregate after a one all home draw. Finally we met Wong Tai Sin in the Cup Final...


That right there, is the clean sweep! Hong Kong hasn't even put up a fight against me. The Final we dominated, running out three nil winners in the end, we could of had many more once again as well! A vital clean sheet to end the season and my fourth trophy in the last year.


And so my job here in Hong Kong is gone and will soon be removed completely from the database and won't need to be loaded up again. I'm annoyed I wasn't really tested here, I've enjoyed my stint in Hong Kong, I don't often go out of Europe. However we have plenty of Asian leagues to run around just yet and after two hundred and fifty days I've stepped down from my spot here. The stats speak for themselves!

Next Post: The Next Asian Club...2072/073