Career Mr.Manager Tries the Best League In The World Challenge

[Mr.Manager]

Mr.Manager Tries the Best League In The World Challenge

Hey guys! Welcome to my new career, where I will be taking on my very own challenge, posted yesterday:

The basic gist of the challenge is to start a career in one of the "lesser" leagues, and to improve the standard such that it is eventually ranked the best league in the world.

Currently Spain are the best

It's going to be a long hard slog, but I hope I'll be able to get the job done and keep you entertained on the way.

The League

Well, there's not a lot of difference between the worst handful of playable leagues. League of Ireland is poor (aside from Dundalk) and the Northern Irish league is equally bad. The standard in Australia is also very weak, but I have discovered that you can't improve the ranking there no matter how many times you win the Club World Championship...

 

Australia during season 1

Success with Melbourne

Australia after 5 seasons

 What a waste of time that was!

If I'm going to do this challenge though, I figure I better do it properly. And for that reason, I'm going to do it with the Dafabet Welsh Premier League.

 

Welsh League Rank

This, my friends, is a real stinker of a league. It's ranked below the likes of the Faroese league, and is just marginally higher than the Maltese league. Seriously, I think I could have a decent playing career there.

The Club

There was less choice here. That's because, even before the game has started, three out of the four Welsh teams that qualified for Europe had already been knocked out...

Connah's Quay out

 

Llandudno out

 

TNS out

So, hello Bala Town!

 

Bala Town victory

The Aim

I figure a longer term challenge like this needs a set of targets. I'm obviously not going to be challenging for any of the top honours for a while, so I need to acknowledge the baby step progress I make early on to keep it interesting.

The general plan is as follows:

Seasons 1 - 5: build Bala Town FC

Seasons 6 - 10: qualify for Champions League group stages regularly

Seasons 11 - 15: Win the Champions League

Seasons 16 - 20: Take over other Welsh clubs and compete in latter stages of Champions League with them

At that point, I should be in the upper reaches of the League Standards rankings. That gives me a good 10 seasons to clinch the top spot.

I think that's a fairly ambitious set of targets. Winning the Champions League with a Welsh club within 15 seasons is extremely tough. But it wouldn't be any fun if it was easy would it?!

So what do you think guys? Can it be done? Any advice for the early seasons?

Next update: Season 1

[BatiGoal]

Holy Kapowski, this will take forever  goodluck mate, you'll need it. 

[Mr.Manager]

55 minutes ago, BatiGoal said:

Holy Kapowski, this will take forever  goodluck mate, you'll need it.

Holy Kapowski - I signed him on a free transfer I think!

[Brenty92]

Looking forward to another of your wonderful careers! Good luck pal

[Mr.Manager]

3 hours ago, Brenty92 said:

Looking forward to another of your wonderful careers! Good luck pal

Ah thanks for the support mate! Hopefully I won't let you down...

[Luisma]

Sounds interesting, good luck!

[Mr.Manager]

Season 1

 

Preseason

 

So, my attempt to conquer the world kicks off at Bala Town in North Wales.

 

 

The club is tiny; a semi-professional outfit with a 3000 seater stadium, poor training facilities and basic youth facilities. This is not going to be easy.

 

Worse, I can't even improve the squad much as there is no budget to work with…

 

 

But, as Bala are already the last man standing out of the Welsh clubs in Europe, this is where we've got to start.

 

Europe

 

We might not last long in Europe though, as the bookies don't fancy our chances in the next round…

 

 

Torpedo are a middling Belarussian team but they're still a lot more fancied than we are.

 

However…

 

 

Oh yeah, progress is made! Nice to see a goal from Francis too - he was one of six free transfers I did manage to pick up…

 

On to the third qualifying round, and we're massive underdogs again.

 

 

 

But another Francis goal gives us a slender lead to take to Ukraine!

 

Unfortunately they quickly smashed three past us at the beginning of the second leg, and, despite pulling one back late on, we couldn't find that second away goal to see us to the playoffs.

 

 

So that's all the Welsh teams out by early August. But, if I'm honest, we equipped ourselves far better than I thought we would, and I have high hopes for the coming seasons.

 

At Home

 

We enjoyed a solid season in Wales, winning the Nathaniel MG Cup (I think that's basically the league cup):

 

 

And the Dafabet Welsh Premier League (equivalent of the Premier League)

 

 

The only blemish was defeat in the JD Welsh Cup (the FA Cup)

 

 

All in all, I'm happy with that for a first season with next to no resources to work with.

 

Things may get a bit tougher though, as Brexit looms…

 

 

Summary

 

Stage: Season 1

Aim: Build the Club

 

It's only season 1, so we're not expecting much. Still, I think that that's a fairly successful opener, and a good preseason before season 2 should see us do better next year.

 

ECC - TNS (Q1)

EURO - Bala Town (Q3)

EURO - Connah's Quay (Q1)

EURO - Llandudno (Q1)

 

See you again for season 2!

[Jens]

Not a bad start. That's what I like about these small leagues: any team can become champion in the very first season. They're soooo easy to dominate. The real challenge is to switch teams and then best your ex-team.

[Mr.Manager]

31 minutes ago, Jens said:

Not a bad start. That's what I like about these small leagues: any team can become champion in the very first season. They're soooo easy to dominate. The real challenge is to switch teams and then best your ex-team.

Thanks mate. Yeah, i'm expecting to win pretty much everything for the next few seasons. Once I've built Bala into a Champions League winning force, it's going to be pretty difficult to go somewhere else and compete against them. That's probably a little while away yet though!

[BatiGoal]

It's so tough to start with a team like Bala and have your hands tied behind your back budget-wise. Tough, but a decent Europa debut nonetheless. 

Foundations are cemented, bring on next season.

[Taff]

Good first season dude, but this is going to be one hell of an uphill battle, hope your in it for the long haul

[mcandrew003]

A great start, gonna be a long one but I have faith!

[Mr.Manager]

3 hours ago, BatiGoal said:

It's so tough to start with a team like Bala and have your hands tied behind your back budget-wise. Tough, but a decent Europa debut nonetheless. 

Foundations are cemented, bring on next season.

Absolutely mate. I know it's only minor progress so far but every little helps. Luckily I'm a big fan of team building careers so this one is right up my street. 

[Mr.Manager]

3 hours ago, Taff said:

Good first season dude, but this is going to be one hell of an uphill battle, hope your in it for the long haul

Haha do I detect a hint of doubt there?? Don't worry man, I know it's a mammoth job, but I think I can pull it off...

added 0 minutes later

10 minutes ago, mcandrew003 said:

A great start, gonna be a long one but I have faith!

Cheers man! I can always rely on you for encouraging words. Bring it on!

[Taff]

1 hour ago, Mr.Manager said:

Haha do I detect a hint of doubt there?? Don't worry man, I know it's a mammoth job, but I think I can pull it off...

added 0 minutes later

Cheers man! I can always rely on you for encouraging words. Bring it on!

You hold the Glory of my home land in your hands and I don't think there are safer ones out there so Bring on the Glory!!!!!

[Mr.Manager]

Season 2

 

New Rankings

 

So, how did our exploits last season effect the rankings?

 

 

A healthy climb of 4 places to no.46, jumping ahead of mighty countries such as Macedonia, Lithuania and the Faroe Islands.

 

Preseason

 

We made a decent start in season 1, but I was hoping to use the preseason to really strengthen my squad. Unfortunately, it proved very difficult to convince any decent players to join us, and in the end we had to settle for only 4 new recruits, including one youth graduate and one lad i released and then re-signed as i couldn't find anyone better!

 

 

Lloyd Isgrove is a tidy little player though, so hopefully he'll be able to help us take it up another level.

 

Europe

 

For the first time in this career, we went into a European tie as the favourites…

 

 

I'm not sure I like that.

 

We did beat them, but god it was close!

 

 

Yep, it took a 93rd minute goal in the second leg to see off the San Marinese team. That is shocking.

 

The next round returned us to underdog status, and that is where we like to be. We hung on to beat Ludogorets…

 

 

Squeezed past Sheriff after extra time…

 

 

And we defied the odds to beat Brondby IF in the Champions League playoffs.

 

 

Crikey, we've beaten three European teams that I've actually heard of! Even better, we're into the group stages.

 

Before we get started with the competition proper though, let's have a little look at how the rest of the Welsh teams got on.

 

Rhyl were the first to fall, succumbing to Odd in a tricky first qualifying round.

 

 

Connah's Quay and Camarthen Town both went one better, going out in the second qualifying round. It's not much, but it's progress.

 

 

Europe - Group Stages

 

And so we're in to Champions League group stages. Quite frankly, I'm shocked. It could have been so different though, we were literally seconds away from being knocked out in the first qualifier by a team from San Marino.

 

Things are really going to step up a gear now. Just check out the group we’ve been drawn in:

 

 

Maybe not the toughest draw out there but all three teams are miles ahead of lowly Bala Town.

 

I'm aware that this post is already quite long, so I think I'll return with part 2 tomorrow. What do you think guys? Do I have any chance of getting out of this group? Or am I in line for a kicking from three European veterans?

 

Season 2 (Part 2) to follow tomorrow

[mcandrew003]

Huge congrats in reaching the Champions League, massive achievement in just season 2. I think if you hold out, qualification could well be on the cards....

Good luck!

[Brenty92]

Progress is key mate, I'd be happy with just getting to the group stages in season 2 with the squad at your disposal' keep it up and who knows, you may just sneak through

[Taff]

great job reaching the group stages mate, maybe a few upsets and you could squeak into the Euro cup

[BatiGoal]

Great job getting into the group stages. Tough match ups but that was expected. Kiu!

[Mr.Manager]

@mcandrew003 @Brenty92 @Taff @mcandrew003

Thanks for all the encouragement guys. Second update up in a minute

[Mr.Manager]

Season 2 (Part 2)

 

Europe - Group Stages

 

Here we are, in the Champions League proper. We're only in mid-September, but we've already bested four European clubs to get this far. Can we get any further? Not likely!

 

Our first game was against Zenit, who boast the likes of Dzyuba, Shatov and Javi Garcia in their squad. We are at home though…

 

 

And we pick up our first point! Brilliant. Next up, Anderlecht away:

 

 

We were beaten, but only by a goal in extra time - and that's despite us being a man down for half the game. Hey, maybe it's not so difficult this European football business. Bring on Manchester United!

 

 

Oh dear. Absolutely humiliated. I thought their defence looked weak so I tried to attack them, and, boy, did I pay for it.

 

 

The return leg was a lot better, but we were still fairly easily beaten in the end. With that, we can't qualify for the next round of the Champions League. But decent results against Zenit and Anderlecht could still see us finish third and qualify for the EURO Cup.

 

 

Ah, beaten by an own goal. Nightmare. I think that's it then. We trail Anderlecht by three points but, thanks to that mauling by United, we have a vastly inferior goal difference. By my calculations, we would need to beat them 4-0 to qualify for the EURO Cup.

 

 

We finish on a high with a nice 2-0 victory, but it's not enough to overtake them on goal difference.

 

But wait, what's this?

 

 

We've finished third! Oh... The tables are ranked by head-to-head rather than goal difference. Excellent!

 

So, our European adventure continues in to the new year, where we will face Lyon in the Euro Cup knockout rounds.

 

It's a good job I no longer pay attention to the odds

 

 

 

And for good reason, as we beat them 1-0 in the first leg. We got a bit lucky with their sending off, but it's still a fantastic result.

 

 

We were finally beaten after extra time. We're knocked out, but I think we can hold our heads high.

 

At Home

 

Things were a little more sedate back in Wales, where we enjoyed a nice clean sweep of trophies.

 

 

That'll do pig.

 

I was also offered the Nigeria job, which was weird as my reputation was still only "local" at the time. Did they just offer it to everybody?

 

 

Summary

 

Stage: Season 2

Aim: Build the Club

 

Season 2 far exceeded my expectations as Bala Town fought their way through 16 European ties in total, only getting hammered once.

 

Although I still need to do some serious building to make this club a force, I can set my sights a little higher now and aim to qualify for the Champions League group stage on a regular basis.

 

ECC - Bala Town (GS)

EURO - Bala Town (1KO)

EURO - Connah's Quay (Q2)

EURO - Camarthen Town (Q2)

EURO - Rhyl (Q1)

 

Roll on season 3!

[mcandrew003]

Awesome season! Battered the league and went far in Europe, keep up the fantastic work!

[Taff]

Great season dude (apart from the 1 hiccup with United) and you made it further than most would have believed you could

KIU

[Brenty92]

Fantastic season mate, the mighty Bala Town for champions league winners next year? ?

Some very respectable performance against 'big sides' (United away aside)

Keep it up!

[BatiGoal]

3 hours ago, Mr.Manager said:

@mcandrew003 @Brenty92 @Taff @mcandrew003

Thanks for all the encouragement guys. Second update up in a minute

@mcandrew003 twice? Guess we know who your favorite is 

Wales are definitely on the map now. Going awesome!

[Mr.Manager]

17 minutes ago, BatiGoal said:

@mcandrew003 twice? Guess we know who your favorite is 

Wales are definitely on the map now. Going awesome!

Haha well he is very encouraging! That second one was supposed to be you of course.

Cheers dude! I'm amazed at how well it's going. I'm sure it'll all come crashing down next season...

added 0 minutes later

1 hour ago, Brenty92 said:

Fantastic season mate, the mighty Bala Town for champions league winners next year? ?

Some very respectable performance against 'big sides' (United away aside)

Keep it up!

Thanks man! Haha you never know...

Yeah, that United result doesn't look pretty next to all the others!

[Mr.Manager]

1 hour ago, Taff said:

Great season dude (apart from the 1 hiccup with United) and you made it further than most would have believed you could

KIU

Further than I would have believed too! Cheers mate

added 0 minutes later

3 hours ago, mcandrew003 said:

Awesome season! Battered the league and went far in Europe, keep up the fantastic work!

Cheers mate, I'll just keep plugging away and hopefully keep making steady progress

[Mr.Manager]

Season 3

 

New Rankings

 

So a season of success in Europe for Welsh sides, but how did it effect the rankings?

 

 

A lovely jump of 10 places to number 36. Albanian and Moldovan teams ain't got nothing on us!

 

The higher ranking gives the Welsh champions the privilege of starting in the second qualifying round of the Champions League, rather than the first. So that's nice.

 

Preseason

 

We are still short of cash and so I have to be creative with my recruiting.

 

 

Signing Tom Lawrence is a massive coup for us, but perhaps more important in the long run are those African loanees. It's pretty difficult to convince anyone that isn't Welsh to join us, so I was really pleased to discover that for some reason African clubs love to send their youngsters to Wales. I will be exploiting that as much as I can going forward.

 

Europe

 

After a cracking little run last season - and with some key new signings in tow - my hopes were high to go even further in Season 3.

 

 

A tough but not impossible draw against Celtic. They're much better than us, but I would think they're about the same level as Anderlecht, who we beat over two games last year.

 

 

Damn, defeat in the first leg at home. We conceded an away goal and looking at the stats, it could have been even worse.

 

Can we turn it round in Scotland? 

 

 

Nope. A dull stalemate sees us knocked out at the first hurdle. What a disappointment.

 

Could the other Welsh clubs save our blushes and do anything to help boost our rank?

 

 

Not even nearly. All three were knocked out in first qualifying round of the EURO cup.

 

At Home

 

We won everything on the domestic front last season, and we've got to aim really to do that every season from now on.

 

Buuuutttt we couldn't even do that, failing in the JD Welsh Cup. In fairness, we did go undefeated in the league and we picked up the Nathaniel cup again, so it wasn't all bad.

 

Last season the Nigerian FA approached me to be their manager, and this season Cameroon came a-calling:

 

 

And again…

 

 

In fact, they offered me the job ten times. Ten times! Take a hint guys!

 

That was pretty annoying, but worse things were to come. Alongside Tom Lawrence, Lloyd Isgrove is my best player. Unfortunately, his contract was due to expire at the end of the season, and he was refusing to sign a new one.

 

 

Apparently he wants to move to a bigger club. Here, "move to a bigger club" = leave Champions League regulars and join a Vanarama National side.

 

I stubbornly rejected a bid for him January 

 

 

But I just couldn't convince him to stay. In March he agreed a deal to join Accrington and he left us for nothing.

 

 

Bummer.

 

And the bad news kept on coming, as Brexit was finalised at the end of the season.

 

 

Summary

 

Stage: Season 3

Aim: Qualify for the Champions League group stage

 

After the brilliant performance last season, I raised my targets a little higher. In the end, I finished nowhere near them.

 

What a horrible season - all Welsh clubs knocked out straight away, one of our best players left on a free, and Brexit coming into effect means we basically need work permits for any foreign signings.

 

ECC - Bala Town (Q2)

EURO - Connah's Quay (Q1)

EURO - TNS (Q1)

EURO - Rhyl (Q1)

 

I don't even want to think about what season 4 might do to me…

[BatiGoal]

Try having a worse run next season I kinda mean to say things can only get better from here on. Disappointing Europe run and it feels like there was no progress made on that front. Let's hope all the Welsh teams have a little more experience now and are strong enough to progress to the group stages at least.

Losing a player on a free sucks. Nothing we can do, other than looking for freebies yourself to soften the pain. Hope next season brings a brighter story.