Career The Augusta Challenge: Ian Vs Foxy - 18th Hole Results

[BatiGoal]

11 hours ago, samhardy said:

Can you pick a winner at this stage? What about you @BatiGoal? 🤔

@Ian is so caught up in the VPL mess atm that he's totally stressed out. If it wasn't for his inevitable upcoming loss vs Kane it's the prospect of facing ME at some later point. The man hasn't slept, eaten properly and showered for weeks.

Of course, whose idea was it to add his name the participants list and gain a vital advantage in this challenge. Yes, it is indeed @Foxy's. That cunning lil clever bastard for the win 👍 

[FuddledFox]

My turn to post first this hole so let’s see if I can put some pressure on @Ian with a good score.

This is a tricky hole as the squad is limited in size to 30 and 15 of them have to be American or Asian, then throw in that each month I need to demote my two highest AvR players and can’t replace them until by the end of the season I have a tiny squad.

I wasn’t so daunted by it though as I have done these types of challenges before in various community events so I know my way round them but there is only so my experience that can help when you get started.

The Squad

I heavy on the Americans as there was some real quality players to be had but I did get some Asians as well.

Spoiler

 

I realised when I posted those screenshots that isn’t the actual squad I went with as there is three goalkeepers in the squad and a striker missing.

The extra GK was Roscoe and the striker which should have been there is Cardle.

Roscoe never played as you can see.

The Season

Remember that the scoring of this challenge is based on how many trophies I win with a birdie only being achieved if I win the whole lot.

August

The first opportunity to blow a birdie chance came in August with both the Charity Shield and Super Cup. With a full squad available though I had two comfortable wins in both games.

The first two players to go were striker Nmecha and Mbappe. I could have kept Mbappe back I guess you not playing him but he is that good that as soon as I did play him he would go that month and he would have just got unhappy if he didn’t play.

September

It wasn’t a great start to the CL with a draw but we made a decent start to the League Cup with a comfortable win.

 

The League Cup game was handy as I was able to play a few 2nd choice players and still win and then lose two FBs this month instead of any of the attackers.

 

October

Last season I went unbeaten in the league but by October I had already lost twice which was a shame as I wanted to get a good lead and win the league early before the squad was really depleted later on.

 

Another couple of attackers went down to the reserves this month so it’s a good job I have plenty.

 

November

We progressed in the CL this month but it will be interesting to see if that 9-0 win makes a difference to which players were demoted this month.

 

Again it was attackers who were demoted although Dilrosun is getting on a bit now so despite his good AvR he wasn’t so much of a lose as someone like Haaland will be.

 

December

The wins just keep on coming as do the goals which is great but it means a good chance that I will lose more attacking players. One bonus is that I can promote two players back into the squad from my reserves at the end of the month though.

It was another striker going this month along with the versatile Dest who has played both up front and at left and right back so far. 

I decided I would keep Dest in my first team and the other player promoted was a striker called Saghafi.

January

January was a huge month and with the league form going well I put more emphasis on the cup games by resting players which lead to a loss and draw but also we won all three cup games so it was relatively successful.

 

Saghafi didn’t last long but then I never really expected him to but he protected Haaland for another month.

 

February 

The league was pretty much secured by this point as I had over a 10 point lead so the main focus is to make sure I keep progressing in the CL and FA Cup which I did.

 

Haaland did me and huge favour by having a shocker against Inter in the first half and was on a 5 at half time so I brought him off and it helped him keep out of trouble again this month along with a CB putting in some good performances which saw him go with just 4 games played.

 

March 

This is the month I can get another trophy won and forgotten about in the league cup and luckily we blitzed Arsenal to keep on course for a birdie along with wins in the CL and FA Cup.

 

After just missing out a few times Haaland finally got demoted at the end of this month along with Dest again.

 

April

A lot of games this month and some vital ones as well with CL matches that I must win and an FA Cup semi which again is must win.

We scraped past Arsenal in the FA Cup and with a 1-0 win over Liverpool in the semi first leg we have a chance in the CL as well.

I was lucky that my last striker made it to the final month of the season but the squad is small now and two midfielders leaving makes life tough.

 

May

The league was won by this stage and maybe not in the style I have been used to but still comfortable enough.

The squad was struggling for fitness towards the end of the month as shown by the final three league games but we did scrape through to the CL final as we grabbed a draw at Anfield although we left it quite late.

That means we had two finals to try and get a hard earned birdie.

Spoiler

Except only one of those finals were played in May and that was the FA Cup final. The squad was small but a weeks rest meant we went in fresh and despite a sending off we got a deserved win.

 

The CL final was played after the 30th May cut off when I needed to demote two players and so to be safe I did demote them as the rules state that all players should be demoted on the 30th of the month.

That meant I went into the final without Cardle or de Ligt.

So it was one final push with a win in this game meaning I would take a birdie and a loss would leave me with a par.

Spoiler

A strikerless formation was put into action and a player that has been with me the whole way through this save so far was the hero with two goals in the first half.

 

This means I somehow got a birdie out of this tough hole and put the pressure onto Ian to match me before we head into the next hole which I think as a defensive challenge suits him more with how well he did on hole 1 compared to myself.

 

 

[Ian]

Can't believe you beat Liverpool in the semi of the Champions League and the FA Cup final so for that you deserve credit. Well done, a nice Birdie that puts the pressure onto myself!

[Ian]

With @Foxy hitting a Birdie yesterday the pressure is on me to see if I can keep up the pace. A tricky hole this that requires a lot of thought when it comes to building the 30 man squad. My idea was just to go for plenty of decent attacking players as you’d expect those up gain high average ratings so that’s what I did.

Heres my 30 man squad with 16 being either Asian or American.

Spoiler

This is the order in which players were demoted and the two brought back in in January.

Spoiler

August

September

October

November

December

Two brought back in January were Moise Kean and Mark Raben. Now back to the dropouts.

January

February

March

April

May

The first trophy up for grabs was the Community Shield and we had no trouble winning that as ran out 5-0 winners over Man City.

Losing out on the Champions League last year meant we didn’t need to play the Super Cup so that one was chalked off from the start. Anyway, the league went well as we marched home to the title in quick fashion. There were a few poor results towards the end once the team got depleted but the league was over by then.

We also managed to win the League Cup and I’d say that the final was at the stage where things were starting to get a bit tricky but luckily our league lead was so great that we could prioritise the cup games.

The team was in a really poor way for the final but we got the job done thanks to our centre back who played up front and helped himself to a brace. I would’ve been rather annoyed if we’d lost this game as we dominated throughout.

The Champions League was fairly straight forward until we reached the semi where Bayern awaited us. We somehow managed to win the away which was important as two players were due to leave after the game so that result gave us a good chance of getting a favourable result in the return leg at home.

We were heavily depleted at this stage but still had a really good defence and midfield so a really good base which always gives you a chance. We managed to get the win over two legs thanks to a late penalty by Belo who I quite literally can’t wait to see the back of. I kept him for years to help us with this hole and he’s done nothing but moan practically every week.

So all that’s left is for me to reveal the all important Champions League final to where a win would give me a Birdie and a defeat a Par.

Spoiler

We weren’t in great shape going into this game with a fair few players playing out of position and although we did ok we just couldn’t get the result. 

So we could only manage a Par but I’m okay with it as it could easily have been worse.

So we move onto Hole 11 where we need to more or less completely rebuild our squads. Here’s a preview what awaits us.

Hole 11 - White Dogwood (Par 4)

Many golfers make the mistake of thinking this is a relatively straight-forward hole from the off, which is also one of the reasons why it's statistically one of the hardest on the course. Just like the course itself, this challenge looks simple, but the targets are very tough to hit, especially seen as the squad will need some serious work from the depleted bunch that finished season 12.

Challenge - Team must keep as many league clean sheets as possible in one season.

Birdie - 32+ clean sheets

Par - 21-31 clean sheets

Bogey - 10-20 clean sheets

Double Bogey - 9 or less clean sheets

Thanks for reading.
 

 

[Woody]

I know Foxy has that single shot lead but you can't predict where this is going. 

A great round from you both once again. 

[Kanegan]

A great performance from both and congrats Foxy on the win for this round.

[FuddledFox]

Great effort @Ian but really unlucky with the CL final.

After your performance on Hole 1 I fancy you to do well on the next hole though with all those clean sheets needed.

[samhardy]

Foxy struck one of his famous blows in the last challenge to re-take the lead. Is this a mid round surge from the Gloucestershire Gladiator, has he held off Ian or will the Seahouses Seahorse bite back immediately like earlier in the challenge? Either way the fox is now firm favourite for the overall win.

Overall Odds

@Foxy - 1/3

@Ian - 5/2

However the next challenge might well favour Ian as clean sheets are definitely one of his strong points. You can’t help but feel a surge from Foxy could be on the cards though which makes this one too tight to call, but a winner is expected.

Hole 11 Winner (White Dogwood)

@Ian - 6/4

Hole Halved - 5/2

@Foxy - 6/5

[FuddledFox]

6 hours ago, samhardy said:

Foxy struck one of his famous blows in the last challenge to re-take the lead. Is this a mid round surge from the Gloucestershire Gladiator, has he held off Ian or will the Seahouses Seahorse bite back immediately like earlier in the challenge? Either way the fox is now firm favourite for the overall win.

Overall Odds

@Foxy - 1/3

@Ian - 5/2

However the next challenge might well favour Ian as clean sheets are definitely one of his strong points. You can’t help but feel a surge from Foxy could be on the cards though which makes this one too tight to call, but a winner is expected.

Hole 11 Winner (White Dogwood)

@Ian - 6/4

Hole Halved - 5/2

@Foxy - 6/5

Only the 11th hole so I might be “surging” a bit prematurely.

[Ian]

After the last mammoth hole we faced the arduous task of having to more or less totally rebuild our squads and attempt to have our teams keep as many league clean sheets as possible. We needed 32 or more to claim the Birdie or 21 or more for a Par with below that being Bogey and Double Bogey territory.

I was confident of at least the Par but was hoping I could manage a Birdie with @Foxy being a shot in front so we’ll see how I got on.

The last hole required a great deal of thought and the way the squad was destroyed during the season meant that this one was equally as daunting. I tried to offload all of my demoted players and managed to get rid of the vast majority of them although a fair few were sold in January or even at the end of the season. I tried my best to put together a decent squad but couldn’t get the quality of players I’d of liked due to lack of resources mainly because a lot of the demoted players were older and of no real value.

Transfers

Spoiler

August and September

We had a decent enough start keeping a clean sheet in all of our first six league games but suffered our first slip up in the final game of September against local rivals Everton. The fact that it was a late goal after I’d made a few subs drained a bit of my confidence as I had doubts about some of my back up guys and this kind of confirmed those doubts but I still had hope that if I could get my first team out as much as possible we’d have a chance of the Birdie.

October and November

Things went ok during these two months with another six league clean sheets but our second slip up arrived away at Reading. I had much more confidence at this stage and I was hoping to get through the busy festive period relatively unscathed to give us a fighting chance.

December

Unfortunately we were hit twice in this month with Arsenal away and Wolves at home both scoring against us to really dent our hopes. My fears were being played out as we just struggled a bit when too much rotation was required but all hope was not gone as we still have a couple of slip ups left in the bank.

January

We had five league games this month and managed to keep a clean sheet in all of them to reignite my hopes. We suffered defeat to Man Utd in the League Cup semi final but I wasn’t overly bothered if I’m honest.

February and March

Goals were conceded against Newcastle and Burnley and it’s safe to say I had more or less given up on the Birdie at this stage as we had no margin for error with so many league games to go.

April

Unfortunately our Birdie chance had officially gone after conceding away to Leicester and with the Par being safe it was just a matter of playing out the rest of the season

May

We conceded again against Chelsea which would turn out to be the final goal we’d concede in all competitions as we went on to win both the FA Cup and Champions League. So that confirms that we managed 30 clean sheets to score a Par for the hole.  

Competitions

Just confirmation of the competitions we won with the League Cup being the only disappointment.

Spoiler

Manager

Score

I stay on -6 for my round with @Foxy being a shot ahead before he tees off and a Birdie for him with would put him in a rather commanding position. We’ll see how he got on later.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

[BatiGoal]

@Foxy you're ahead of the man who crushed my hopes of going unbeaten into the semi's. Good work, man!

@Ian do to him what you did to me. 👍 

[FuddledFox]

With @Ian getting a par I have a chance to win another hole and go two up but as Ian showed this hole isn’t that easy as he was so close to a birdie but it was fine margins.

Just as Ian did I had to sell all the demoted players from last season and I managed to get rid of most of them although some I had to just give away so I could get the wages back.

I spent over £400m on players so I was happy enough with the squad and it needed a rebuild anyway as many of the world class players I had were getting on a bit now.

Spoiler

So the squad was in place and I just had to make sure I didn’t concede in more than 6 Premier League matches.

August

I made the perfect start with 4 clean sheets in the first 4 PL matches and with a couple of tricky ones in there I was very happy with that.

 

September

Just the three games this month and it didn’t start well as we could only draw 1-1 with Burnley with them nicking a last minute equaliser in true FMM style. The other two games went to plan though.

October

This was another clean month and we went all the games without conceding once which kept me on track. With 10 games played in the league I had only conceded once and kept 9 clean sheets but there is a long way to go and I have 5 clean sheets in hand.

 

December

BOOM! Out of no where we loss a game to Leicester just to keep me on my toes.

 

January

We hit the half way stage of the season with 4 clean sheets in hand but by the end of the month we only had 3 as we had another disappointing draw this time against Southampton.

This is starting to look like it is going to be close.

 

February

Just three games this month and relatively simple ones although so far it has been mid table teams that have scored against me. We made no mistakes though and kept me in the hunt for that birdie.

March

Another blow to my hopes this month as the Arse beat me 2-1. The 0-0 with Spurs was a nervous game as well because we battered them but couldn’t score and I was expecting them to nick one at any moment.

 

April

This was exactly what I needed as the four games this month resulted in 4 more clean sheets. This meant I needed one more clean sheet in May to get 32 and scrape a birdie out of this hole.

Spoiler

It didn’t start the best this month as we conceded two against Wolves.

 

This meant I needed one more clean sheet in the final two games to get my birdie. We did just that as we finished the season with 33 clean sheets for the season.

My reserves had managed to get to the FA Cup final with a few hard fought wins in ET and then penalties against Spurs and WBA but there luck run out as we got beaten by Arsenal in the final. They had also got me to the CL final as well and the first team then got the job done in the final.

 

This really was a hole of fine margins as @Ian was so close to a birdie and I only just managed to get over the line. Looking at the stats I only had 3 clean sheets more than him and only conceded 2 goals less than him but it was just enough for me to take a two hole lead with

 

That puts me on 8 under for the round although the course record of -16 is looking like it will be tough to beat but then the course has been made harder this year. This is just the first hole of Amen Corner so it is going to stay tough for the next couple as well.

Next Hole Preview - Hole 12- Golden Bell (Par 3)

Here we go then - the hole which sees more meltdowns than the Stadium of Light sees every season. This nightmare of a hole is guarded by a lake and several bunkers around it, as well as a sloped green, and when the wind is howling most players are pleased to keep the damage down to a minimum. So as you'll now expect, the challenge that awaits you managers is not particularly pleasant, even if it is just for half a season.

Challenge - From the previous season you must sell your best GK, defender, midfielder and striker (Av.R wise) and replace them with a Chinese player. If there aren't enough Chinese players on the database then an Asian player will suffice but only if there aren't enough Chinese. Must not lose any game in all competitions until Jan.15.

Birdie - 0 lost

Par - 1 or 2 lost

Bogey - 3 lost

Double Bogey - 4 or more lost

[Ian]

Nice Birdie @Foxy. I’ll have to try and mount a comeback.

[Kanegan]

Nicely played @Foxy. @Ian would need a big comeback now. 

[Titjes]

Well played @Foxy, now close the gap again @Ian 😁

[Rob]

Great stuff Mr Fox

[FuddledFox]

@Ian @Kanegan @Titjes @Rob

Thanks guys.

Long way to go yet with 7 more holes to play and this hole was really close despite the difference in the number of strokes taken for the hole so I don’t think I will run away with anything.

[samhardy]

Foxy struck a hammer blow in the previous challenge, opening up a two hole lead for the first time in this H2H. It would be a surprise to see any other outcome than a win for the Double G from here but Ian is made of stern stuff and halving the deficit straight away would ensure Foxy starts squirming uncomfortably in hid “comfy” chair.

Overall Odds

@Foxy - 1/8

@Ian - 11/2

The next challenge is a tough one and slip ups can’t be afforded in any way shape or form. It favours a consistent player and Foxy has just had the edge on consistency so far, and that combined with the confidence he will take into it should give him the edge if there’s to be a winner. Any outcome is possible you’d think though and it should be an exciting one to follow.

Hole 12 Odds (Golden Bell)

@Foxy - 5/4

Hole Halved - 10/11

@Ian - 5/2

[FuddledFox]

 

This par 3 offers another decent birdie opportunity but there is no room for error in the half season challenge as just one single lost match in any competition will take that birdie down to a par and 3 lost matches would turn that par into a dreaded bogey.

As an example I lost my first game of the season on hole 11 to Leicester in December so that will cost me a birdie if I do similar this season.

The first part of this challenge is to replace my GK,Def,Mid and ST that had the best AvR last season. This is my AvR list at the end of that season which shows the 4 players that must go as Romano (ST), Allan dos Santos (Def), Gloster (GK), and Ferguson (Mid). Losing Romano was the biggest loss as he scored 27 goals last season and both Santos and Ferguson played big parts in the team as well by the GK was just my back up.

 

I then had to replace those four with Chinese players and this is who I got.

 

Obviously these players need to play every game if they can which they did for me except for two who had injuries during the challenge.

 

Spoiler

Other than that they all played every game up to and including the 15th Jan.

Transfers

Spoiler

They aren’t the worst bunch of players I have ever had to use in a challenge and I think I can work with them in the team and still get good results so here we go.

August

The three hardest games of the month came straight away and it was close in the Chelsea match as I could only draw 1-1 which is ok but draws can quickly become a loss late in games so I was much happier in the Arsenal and Sevilla games where I had a decent lead towards the end of the games.

September

The draws kept on coming in September with us blowing a 3-1 lead against Bournemouth to only get a point. Many of the results have been good so far but we really aren’t very convincing in matches and that could be down to the Chinese players or simply the squad isn’t as good as it has been and I need a rebuild but that can’t happen any time soon.

 

October

We scored a few goals this month with us smashing in 5 on three separate occasions but again there was a couple of unconvincing draws in amongst the goals.

I was glad not to lose to @Ian Liverpool though.

November 

More bloody draws but at least we go into the tough December period with a birdie chance.

 

December

This is a pivotal month with 8 games to play and the squad getting tired as well it could have been a chance to loss some matches...

Spoiler

The wins were starting to flow a bit more but what did I say about not wanting to lose to Liverpool 😬 right at the end of the month in the Xmas period they spanked three past us and my chance of a birdie was gone 😒

January

Spoiler

I now needed to make sure I secured a par and at least didn’t lose a stroke on my round and of course Ian might not get through his matches without defeat either so a par might just be enough to half the hole.

This wasn’t a full month of games as we only have to play up to the 15th but it was the first month that I won all my games.

That at least secured me a par and keeps me at -8 for the round after 12 holes.

It does give Ian a chance to gain a hole back in our H2H though.

 

Competition Results 

Spoiler

I missed out on the F.A. Cup but won the rest which sets me up well for an eagle or birdie attempt on hole 13 as I need to win then retain 6 trophies over 2 seasons for an eagle.

 

Thanks for reading and all comments are appreciated.

[Ian]

Unlucky with that defeat but can’t be helped and a nice Par. We’ll see how I got on shortly. 

[Ian]

A tricky hole this one where we had to replace some of our best players with Chinese players and try to go unbeaten in all competitions until January the 15th. My opponent @Foxy had a two shot lead going into this hole and only lost one game to claim a Par so  you’d think I’d at least have to match that but if I could go unbeaten and grab the Birdie I’d bring myself back into real contention.

I had to lose García, Zamudio, Maresca and Pasalic and there’s not much to say as they are all regens but decent players non the less.

We loaded the Chinese league on our saves to help us here and it did I think as there were a few decent options. My Chinese players are below and it’s only really the defender that I’m not overly happy with but my plan was to put him in a three at the back system so he hopefully wouldn’t hinder us too much. The striker in particular I was more than happy with. 

Spoiler

August

We got off to a great start with some decent wins although the Super Cup game against Man City got a bit out of hand.

September

We kept our good form up in this month too but there were a couple of games where scoring goals seemed a bit tough but we were defending well enough.

October

We kept going with all wins in October too but there a few close calls in the tricky away games.

November

We suffered a couple of uninspiring home draws this month as we were far from our best. Only one clean sheet and not convincing in front of goal but we got through it.

December

We didn’t start the month well but weathered that and had some convincing results to end the month strongly and within touching distance of a Birdie.

January

Spoiler

We drew against Nottingham Forest but managed to go unbeaten to take the Birdie.

The Chinese players played their part and I think a couple of them just missed one game each. The striker Zuo scored a decent 23 goals to help us on our way.

Spoiler

Competitions

Spoiler

We lost out in the FA Cup final where we had a stinker in front of goal but won all of the other trophies.

 

So that Birdie puts me on -7 for the round and back within one of Foxy.

Here’s a preview of what awaits us on Hole 13.

Spoiler

Hole 13 - Azalea (Par 5)

I already hear you all thinking "A nice pleasant two season challenge to repair the damage after season 14". Completely and utterly wrong (which you probably expect by now), in fact it's entirely the opposite.

Challenge - First season you have to win as many trophies you can, but they must be retained the second season to count at the end. Failure to win one in the first season means you can't go for it the second season.

Eagle - 6+ trophies

Birdie - 5 trophies

Par - 4 trophies

Bogey - 3 trophies

Double Bogey -  2 or less trophies

Thanks for reading.

[Rob]

Epic. Kind of like Lord of the Rings this.

[FuddledFox]

Nicely done @Ian

My team were a bit frustrating this season with all the draws and that hammering by Liverpool felt like it was coming for a month or two before it happened. Maybe the lads didn’t suit the tactic and I should have changed from my all out attacking style but it had worked well in other seasons and annoyingly the 2nd half of the season I won nearly every game!

[samhardy]

What a match this is. Turning in to a “vibe classic”!

[BatiGoal]

Great battle going on here. Really have no idea who's leaving the arena the victor and who's left behind the dead man. 

[samhardy]

Yet another twist in the tail in the last hole as Ian halved the deficit and it’s all to play for again in this classic H2H. Foxy still holds the advantage but is there a chance he could shit himself as the sight of Ian charging towards him appears in his rear view mirror.

Overall Odds

@Foxy - 2/5

@Ian - 3/1

Maybe there will be a period of respite for the Gloucestershire Gladiator on hole 13 though with a par 5. Winning trophies is the aim of the game and both competitors are very experienced in doing that so the half is favourite here. This will be an entertaining one though as one slip up from either could gift the hole to their opponent and if it’s Foxy who makes the mistake we could well be back to all square with just 5 holes to play.

Hole 13 Odds (Azalea)

@Ian - 2/1

Hole Halved - 10/11

@Foxy - 11/8

[Ian]

For this hole we had to win as many trophies as possible in the first season and then retain them in the second season for them to count. Winning 6 would mean we’d score an Eagle, 5 would mean a Birdie, 4 would mean a Par and so on until we get to 2 or less which would mean we’d score a dreaded Double Bogey.

Season One

In the first season we won all of the trophies we competed for except for the League Cup where we suffered defeat in the quarter final against Leicester City. We had a poor day in front of goal which resulted in a penalty shootout which we unfortunately lost.

As mentioned above we won all of the rest of the trophies available including the Club World Championship that won’t be held next season so we can forget about that one and the list League Cup and just concentrate on the rest and try to get a Birdie.

Spoiler

Season Two

I made a good few transfers this season and kind of felt like we’d finally gotten over the destruction to the squad that hole 11 caused and were in a good place with some nice younger players in key positions. Anyway, we won them all this season to claim the Birdie. We weren’t as prolific in the league but much more assured and I put most of my focus on the cup games anyway as it was highly unlikely we’d not win the league.

Spoiler

So I claim a Birdie here but leave the door open for @Foxy who if he could manage an Eagle would put himself into a commanding position.

Thanks for reading.

[BatiGoal]

Sometimes even the easy looking finals are tough and as we know they could go either way. So sitting on a birdie is a good position to be in. Well played @Ian. 

[Kanegan]

Well played mate. This is really going down the wire. 

[FuddledFox]

Really unlucky with that League Cup Quarter as if you had got through the shootout you would have probably walked the next two rounds.

A birdie is an excellent result for this hole though.