Career The Impossible Challenge *Completed* (S30) •Bonus round•

[DoneHisCruciate]

The Impossible Challenge was last posted by @Rich. The general idea is to win everything in England, Italy, Spain, +1 other country, as well as winning Continental and International competitions. 

The reason I decided to attempt this challenge is because it’s been a long time since I’ve completed a 30 season career. And, if I’m going to do a save that long I’m going to need a lot to keep me busy! I doubt I’ll win everything but it should be fun as I’ll have to move clubs and be flexible with tactics.

For the extra nation I’ve gone with France. (I also added Germany but I’ll forget about that for now. It just seemed silly not to add a 5th)

I’m starting unemployed and for this career I’m going to be Roy Hodgson:

Roy has managed 17 clubs and 4 nations in a career spanning over 47 years and 8 countries! He also looks cool in sunglasses. 😎 So, definitely looking to emulate that *Hodgson* magic.

I won’t be doing big write-ups but will post each season’s progress.

This post I’m going to use as an overall events page as I will not be doing this is any sort of order. The only requirement is to start in the VNN or VNS:

Season 1:

Spoiler

28th July 2022

Offered the job at Leicester - Prem (must be the sunglasses) *Declined*

8th Sep 2022

Offered the job at Bromley - VNL *Declined*
 

24th Oct 2022

Hired as Manager of St Albans - VNS

(I like the way Roy looks shocked when he gets hired 😁)

10th Apr 2023

Won the VNS (🏆#1)

10th Apr 2023

Took the coaching exam after winning the league. It went from Bronze to Gold 🙄

11th Apr 2023

Hired as manager of Southend - VNL

Season 2:

Spoiler

16th Mar 2024

Knocked out of the FA Trophy in the quarterfinal 🫣

15th Apr 2024

Won the VNL (🏆#2)

Season 3

Spoiler

27th Dec 2024

Offered the job at Gillingham - L2 *Declined*

26th Feb 2025

Promoted with 10 games to go!

11th Mar 2025

Won League Two with 6 games to go! (🏆#3)

25th June 2025

Won Manager of the Year

Season 4

Spoiler

5th Apr 2026

Lost in the final of the Papa Johns Trophy

1st June 2026

Won Manager of the Year

Season 5

Spoiler

20th Mar 2027

Promoted to the Championship with 5 games to go.

26th Mar 2027

Won League One with 4 games to go! (🏆#4)

4th Apr 2027

Won the Papa Johns Trophy! (🏆#5)

13th Apr 2027

Expanded Stadium to 15,203 through a board “owe you one”

 

23rd May 2027

Won Manager of the Year

Season 6

Spoiler

28th May 2028

Promoted to the Premier League.

29th May 2028

Won Manager of the Year

Season 7

We managed to stay in the Prem.

Season 8

Spoiler

30 May 2030

Won Manager of the Year

Finished 3rd in the Premier League and qualified for the Champions League.

Season 9

Spoiler

10th Aug 2030

Moved to new 30,000 seat Stadium at Fossetts Park.

 

8th May 2031

Won the Premier League (🏆#6)

30 May 2031

Won Manager of the Year

Season 10

Spoiler

9th Aug 2031

Won the Community Shield (🏆#7)

13th March 2032

Won the Carabao Cup (🏆#8)

3rd May 2032

Won the Premier League

29th May 2032

Won the Champions League (🏆#9)

Season 11

Spoiler

Stadium is now up to 55,000

 

9th July 2032

Roy gets the England job

 

11th August 2032

Won the Super Cup (🏆#10)

Season 12

Spoiler

3rd July 2033

Won Club World Championship (🏆#11)

13th Nov 2033

England qualified for the World Cup 

3rd Dec 2033

Stadium expanded to 60,000

26th Apr 2034

Won the Premier League with 5 games to go

13th May 2034

Won the FA Cup!  (🏆#12)

27th May 2034

Won the Champions League

15th June 2034

Roy is sacked from Southend!!

15th June 2034

Roy takes the Aston Villa job in the Championship

Season 13

Spoiler

16th July 2034

Won the World Cup with England! (🏆#13)

23rd Sep 2034

Roy resigns from Aston Villa!

21st Oct 2034

Roy takes over at Bayer 04

 

19th May 2034

Won the Bundesliga  (🏆#14)

30th Dec 2034

Roy wins World Coach of the Year!!

Season 14

Spoiler

24 Jun 2035

England win the Nations League (🏆#15)

5 Aug 2035

Won the German Supercup (🏆#16)

30th Dec 2035

Roy wins World Coach of the Year

4th May 2036

Won the Bundesliga with 3 games to go

24th May 2036

Won the DFB-Pokal Cup  (🏆#17)

31st May 2036

Roy resigns from Bayer 04 Leverkusen

Season 15

Spoiler

8th July 2036

Roy takes over at Inter Milan

13 Jul 2036

England win the European Championship  (🏆#18)

19th July 2036

Roy resigns as England manager

 

18th Apr 2037

Won Serie A (🏆#19)

13th May 2037

Won the Italian Cup (🏆#20)

25th May 2037

Roy wins Manager of the Year 

Season 16

Spoiler

14th Aug 2037

Roy takes the Ivory Coast job

 

8th Sep 2037

Ivory Coast qualifies for the World Cup

13th Jan 2038

Won the Italian Supercup  (🏆#21)

12th May 2038

Won the Italian Cup

22nd May 2038

Qualified for the Champions League (not sure how)

29th June 2038

Ivory Coast knocked out of the second round of the World Cup

Season 17

Spoiler

5th July 2038

Roy resigns from Inter

15th July 2038

Roy takes the Valencia job

 

2nd Feb 2039

Ivory Coast lose in the African Cup of Nations semi-final.
 

5th Feb 2039

Roy resigns from the Ivory Coast

7th Feb 2039

Roy takes the Algeria job

 

17th Apr 2039

Won the Spanish Cup (🏆#22)
 

8th May 2039

Won La Liga with 3 games to go (🏆#23)

28th May 2039

Won the Europa League (🏆#24)

Season 18

Spoiler

10 Aug 2039

Won the UEFA Supercup

30th Dec 2039

Roy wins World Coach of the Year

8th Jan 2040

Won the Spanish Supercup  (🏆#25)

8th Jan 2040

Roy resigns from Valencia

 

14th Jan 2040

Roy takes over at Grimsby!

10th Mar 2040

Grimsby lose in the quarter-finals of the FA Trophy

10th Mar 2040

Roy leaves Grimsby

16th Mar 2040

Roy takes the Roma job

28th May 2040

Roma finish 11th in Serie A

28th May 2040

Roy resigns from Roma

28th May 2040

Roy joins Atalanta

Season 19 

Spoiler

20th Nov 2040

Algeria qualify for the African Nations

31st Jan 2040

Algeria knocked out of the African Nations in the quarter final. 

31st Jan 2041

Roy sacked by the Algerian FA. 

15th May 2041

Atalanta win the Italian cup.

29th May 2041

Won the Europa Conference League! (🏆#26)

29th May 2041

Roy resigns from Atalanta

10th June 2041

Hired as interim manager of Birmingham. (Interim manager— the cheek of it!)

Season 20

Spoiler

19th April 2042

Won the Championship with 3 games to go (🏆#27)

30th May 2042

Roy resigns from Birmingham 

17th June 2042

Roy takes the Notts Co job

Season 21

Spoiler

30th Mar 2043

Won the VNL with 6 games to go.

24th May 2043

Won the FA Trophy (🏆#28)

25th May 2043

Roy takes the Monaco job. (Monaco finished last place in Ligue 1 so Roy will pick up a relegation even though the fixtures were done before he got there..Booooooo!)

 

Season 22

Spoiler

23rd Dec 2043

Roy wins Ligue 2 Manager of the Year.

19th Mar 2044

Monaco are promoted to Ligue 1

9th Apr 2044

Won Ligue 2 (🏆#29)

Season 23

Spoiler

10 July 2044

Roy leaves Monaco to take over at Reims

8th Sep 2044

Ivory Coast qualify for the African Nations

4th Feb 2044

Ivory Coast lose in the African Nations final

10th May 2044

Riems lose in the French Cup final

20th May 2044

Reims finish 3rd in Ligue 1

 

Season 24

Spoiler

10 Oct 2045

Ivory Coast fail to qualify for the World Cup

21st Apr 2046

Won Ligue 1 (🏆#30)

9th May 2046

Won the French Cup (🏆#31)

26th May 2046

Reims lose in the Champions League final.

Season 25

Spoiler

5th Aug 2046

Lost in the Trophee des Champions

9th Feb 2047

Won the African Nations (🏆#32)

9th Feb 2047

Roy resigns from the Ivory Coast

16th Feb 2047

Roy gets his 1000th win!!

15th May 2047

Reims win the French Cup

1st June 2047

Reims lose in Champions League final

Season 26

Spoiler

4th August 2047

Lost in the Trophee des Champions (on penalties 🙄)

15th Apr 2048

Reims win Ligue 1 with 6 games to go

13th May 2048

Reims win the French Cup

30th May 2048

Reims win the Champions League

Season 27

Spoiler

2nd Aug 2048

Won the Trophee des Champions (🏆#33)

12th Aug 2048

Reims win the UEFA Supercup

12th Aug 2048

Roy resigns from Reims

19th Nov 2048

Roy takes the job at Real Irún in the Spanish 2 Gr 5 league.

15th Jan 2049

Roy takes the Uruguay job

24th Mar 2049

Uruguay qualify for the World Cup

16th May 2049

Won the Spanish Federation 2 Group 5 League (🏆#34)

29th May 2049

Roy resigns as manager of Real Irún

9th June 2049

Roy takes over at Sevilla who have just been relegated to the Spanish Second Division

Season 28

Spoiler

2nd Apr 2050

Won the Spanish Second Division (🏆#35)—with 8 games to go

16th May 2050

Sevilla win the Spanish Cup!

5th June 2050

Roy resigns from Sevilla

23rd June 2050

Roy takes the A. Bilbao job

2nd July 2050

Uruguay are knocked out in the quarter-finals of the World Cup

Season 29

Spoiler

10th July 2050

Roy resigns as manager of A. Bilbao

17th July 2050

Roy takes over at Oviedo

28th May 2051

Won the Spanish Federation First Division A (🏆#36)

Season 30

Spoiler

12th July 2051

Roy takes over at Alessandria in in C/A league

7th Apr 2052

Won the Italian Serie C/A league (🏆#37) with 3 games to go

26th May 2052

Won the Italian C Super Cup (🏆#38)

24th Jun 2052

Roy wins his 1200th game!

28th Jun 2052

Roy retires..

Jobs:

Jobs Offered: 4

Clubs Managed: 18

• St Albans (2022 - 2023)
• Southend (2023 - 2034)
• Aston Villa (2034 - 2034)
• Bayer 04 (2034 - 2036)
• Inter (2036 - 2038)
• Valencia (2038 - 2040)
• Grimsby (2040 - 2040)
• Roma (2040 - 2040)
• Atalanta (2040 - 2041)
• Birmingham (2041 - 2042)
• Notts Co (2042 - 2043)
• Monaco (2043 - 2044)
• Reims (2044 - 2048)
• Real Irún (2048 - 2049)
• Sevilla (2049 - 2050)
• A. Bilbao (2050 - 2050)
• Oviedo (2050 - 2051)
• Alessandria (2051 - 2052)

Nations Managed: 4

• England (2032 - 2036)
• Ivory Coast (2037 - 2039)
• Algeria (2039 - 2041)
• Ivory Coast (2043 - 2047)
• Uruguay (2048 - 2052)

 

    Challenge Trophy Count:

                          28/28

              Bonus Trophies

                             10

         Total Unique Trophies: 38

 

Edited June 16, 2023 by DoneHisCruciate

[DoneHisCruciate]

Trophy Cabinet:

International

• World Cup ✅
• European Championship ✅
• European International League ✅
• African Nations** ✅

Continental

• Champions League (x3) ✅
• Europa League ✅
• Europa Conference League* ✅
• European Super Cup (x3) ✅
• Club World Championship ✅

England

• Premier League (x4) ✅
• Championship ✅
• League One ✅
• League Two ✅
• National League (x2) ✅
• National League North or South ✅
• FA Cup ✅
• League Cup ✅
• Community Shield ✅
• Papa Johns Trophy ✅
• FA Trophy ✅

Spain

• La Liga ✅
• Spanish Second Division ** ✅
• Spanish Federation First Division A** ✅
• Spanish Federation 2 Group 5** ✅
• Spanish Cup (x2) ✅
• Spanish Supercup ✅

Italy

• Serie A ✅
• Italian Serie C/A** ✅
• Italian Cup (x3) ✅
• Supercoppa
• Italian Super C Cup** ✅

Germany (+1 nation)

• Bundesliga (x2) ✅
• German Supercup ✅
• DFB-Pokal ✅

Bonus Round**

France

• Ligue 1 (x2) ✅
• French Cup (x3) ✅
• Trophée des Champions ✅
• Ligue 2 ✅

*Not listed in the original challenge but it makes sense to include it.
**Not in original challenge

Edited June 16, 2023 by DoneHisCruciate

[Kun Aguero]

Love the picture 😂

[StuartM]

Yes, looking forward to this!

[DoneHisCruciate]

Season 1 (2022/2023)

I got the St Albans job after they had played 13 games already (so a short season for me!):

Spoiler

After some Hodgson magic we won the league with three games to go:

Spoiler

As the squad was filled with ageing stars and propped up with loans I immediately ran down to the job centre.

Shamelessly I jumped ship the day after we won the league. Southend (VNL) have 4 times the budget of St Albans🤩🤑.

Spoiler

I took charge of the final three games. (Won 2 Lost 1) The team finished 11th:

Spoiler

Manager:

Spoiler

I took the coaching exam after we won the league expecting it to go silver. But instead it went all the way to gold 🤷‍♂️

1st Trophy

Vanarama National League South!

Edited December 5, 2022 by DoneHisCruciate

[StuartM]

Great start, I don't think you could have picked a better photo for the manager appointment page! 

[DoneHisCruciate]

Yeah! Roy’s picture definitely adds to the save 🤣

I was a bit surprised  how well St Alban’s picked up. The next season might be tricky unless I completely dominate the league and cup. I don’t want to get promoted without picking up the FA Trophy. But I suspect I’ll be sacked from Southend if we don’t go up and there’s a real possibility of needing to deliberately loose if we only make the playoffs. Fun times ahead!

[DoneHisCruciate]

Season 2 (2023/24)

Southend did a bait and switch— as soon as the new season started they took away a quarter of the wage budget! 😳

Then they sent a message saying “Go win the league”. 🫣 So, they were grumpy unless we were sitting in the top spot. (Quite a bit of grumpiness as it turned out in the beginning.)

So, there was a lot of wheeling and dealing throughout the season..

Anyway, we won the league:

Spoiler

**St Albans got relegated in last place. (Sorry guys 😬)

FA Trophy

My focus this season was to win this cup and of course we mucked it up in the quarterfinal. We lost to Notts Co. with one the worst performances of the season. True to form we beat them in the exact same league fixture a couple of weeks later. 🤦‍♂️

Manager

Spoiler

 

2nd Trophy

Vanarama National League!

I’m going to stay with Southend for now as they’re not out of place in League 2. (But, I’ll look out for any opportunities to jump on to an FA Trophy bandwagon...)

[DoneHisCruciate]

Season 3 (2024/25)

A superb season and it all came about because of one transfer. On the last day of the first transfer window I got a 4.3m offer for my best LB. That was over 4 times our initial transfer budget!

That meant I could upgrade the facilities to 4 stars over the season and gold plate a couple of staff members. I think that took us from title hopefuls to title favourites.

We won the season (with 6 games to go):

Spoiler

Manager

Spoiler

3rd Trophy

League Two!

I’m undecided about whether to stay with Southend or look for a new opportunity.

[StuartM]

Finally, Roy getting the silverware his talent truly deserves!

I'd say to keep an eye out for a good opportunity but I imagine that you'd be able to add L1 next season fairly easily.

Great work mate 👏

[DoneHisCruciate]

Thanks!

West Ham almost got relegated to the championship so that would have been a lock with that 60k stadium! But they stayed up on the last day of the season 🙄 They still sacked Moyes though 😁

[DoneHisCruciate]

Season 4 (2025/26)

Back to the day job after taking a break to do the World Cup badges.

(Unfortunately it did mean I lost a couple of friendly results at the start of this season when I accidentally let the current save be overwritten. But seeing as the games didn’t mean anything and it didn’t affect transfers, I just started again with the start of Season 4’s save. I wish FMM had an option to automatically save to a slot..)

Talking of transfers I struggled to attract outstanding players pre-season and soon became worried that we might not take top spot. Burnley were relegated from the championship for the start of this season and once they won their first 6 games I figured I should change strategy. The last thing I wanted was to get promoted but not win the league. The Southend facilities have become too good to waste just on promotion.

So, I decided to concentrate on the Papa Johns Trophy. I figured I could give myself a couple of seasons to try and win it with Southend. I also decided to play my youth team youngsters in the league as much as possible. My plan being to develop them through regular football to supplement a strong squad for the start of next season.

All was going to plan as we made it to Papa Johns Final. Unfortunately my rubbish cup luck continued as we lost despite dominating the game:

Burnley dominated the league as expected and we deliberately tanked in the promotion playoffs:

 

So the pressure is on to do the double next year and finally stop this cup curse.
 

(Although I’ve been lucky as the teams coming down for next season are Crewe, Peterborough and Preston—not too much to worry about there.) 

Manager:

Spoiler

 

[Cockers2505]

8 hours ago, DoneHisCruciate said:

Season 4 (2025/26)

Back to the day job after taking a break to do the World Cup badges.

(Unfortunately it did mean I lost a couple of friendly results at the start of this season when I accidentally let the current save be overwritten. But seeing as the games didn’t mean anything and it didn’t affect transfers, I just started again with the start of Season 4’s save. I wish FMM had an option to automatically save to a slot..)

Why don't you Save your main Challenge to the Cloud Slot, that way you will never over write it as the Auto save saves to the normal save slots, this way you should never lose anything, because you will have to physically choose 'Cloud' when saving (Unless someone tells me I am talking rubbish)

[DoneHisCruciate]

Are you saying the cloud slots automatically save? It would be cool if they do.

Normally I just let the autosaves do their thing when doing a career.

Every so often I save a career to a slot. For example, when I want to look at another save or search the database in its beginning state.

But this time I opened the app and did a new game when I should have loaded the auto save and saved it to a slot before doing a new game. 
 

 

Edited December 21, 2022 by DoneHisCruciate

[DoneHisCruciate]

Season 5 (2026/27)

Things worked out well this season. We won the league (with 4 games to go:)

Spoiler

Which meant we could focus on the Papa Johns final:

Spoiler

 

I really thought I was going to get FMM’d in the final again! Especially once my left-back got sent off in extra time. Instead the game made me sweat it out on penalties.. I did a jig around the living room when that final penalty went over the bar…🤪 

Manager:

Spoiler

4th and 5th Trophies:

Won League One and Papa Johns Trophy:

 

 

Edited December 21, 2022 by DoneHisCruciate

[DoneHisCruciate]

Season 6 (2027/28)

I kind of wanted to blitz through this season. I think the combination of the low reputations of Roy and Southend made getting in quality players difficult.

I also had to fend off bids for my best players—in the end I still had to sell one for 18m. So money in the bank but nobody worth spending it on.

I decided early on I’d jump ship if a good opportunity arose. Unfortunately my manager rep was too low to be noticed by any overseas clubs and even the Prem weren’t interested. 

So in the end I decided to try for promotion. I knew we couldn’t win the league. West Ham were there and they were paying one player 89k a week and our entire budget was 128k a week 😂

But we sneaked into the playoffs and hit form at the right time:

 

 

I figure that has to help my reputation!

Manager

Spoiler

 

[DoneHisCruciate]

Season 7 (2028/29)

I love how relaxing the Prem feels with no European competition. Only 38 games? Sure, no problem.

I did try for the Wolves job pre-season but Roy is still deemed not good enough. So it looks like I’ll be turning Southend into a Prem powerhouse.

The one advantage I do have is I’ve already managed to max out all the facilities and all the staff are gold plated. Just missing a decent stadium.

A solid first season in the Prem:

Manager

Spoiler

 

[StuartM]

You're racing through this (or should that be wacing?) and smashing it too.

[Migraz]

Very nice career... 👏🏻The Roy image you chose is fantastic! 😂 I have got inspired by that for a new adventure... 

[DoneHisCruciate]

Thanks guys. Yes! I’m romping along in this save. I really like this version of FMM—it reminds me of CM01/02. It feels like it hits the right balance of success/frustration 🤪

Season 8 (2029/30)

The goal this season was a European spot and getting that manager rep up. As it turned out we almost won the league—we pushed Chelsea the whole way but got a bit Spursy in the last few games:

The board also had the same thought as me as we’re getting a shiny new stadium next season 😁

Manager

Spoiler

Need to start adding to the trophy cabinet again!

Edited December 26, 2022 by DoneHisCruciate

[StuartM]

Thats got to be up there among best first seasons in the Prem! 👏

[DoneHisCruciate]

 ..second season in the Prem there  @StuartM 🤪 

[StuartM]

Crikey, I hadn't even been drinking! It has been a long week 😂

[DoneHisCruciate]

Season 9 (2030/31)

So we moved to a new 30,000 seater stadium. I didn’t get the benefits this year in the transfer kitty but it’s still nice to be getting bigger. 

The goal was to win the league this year and not worry too much about the cups. Still, having said that we managed to hang around in the Champions League and got served up my usual dose of cup heartbreak in the final:

Yep we dominated and threw it away on penalties (how very British! 🤪) My first guy to miss was my top goal scorer who normally slots it away. At least their keeper didn’t make any rude gestures into the cup..

We won the league with three games to go:

Manager

Spoiler

Roy is now known around the continent but it doesn’t make sense to move anymore until we finish our business in England.

6th Trophy

Won the Premier League

Edited December 26, 2022 by DoneHisCruciate

[DoneHisCruciate]

Season 10 (2031/32)

The board has not put any pressure on me to win the league so all the focus is on the cups.

Bit of a dodgy win in the Community Shield but we’ll take it:

Met Liverpool again in the Carabao Cup final and won handsomely this time:

More cup heartbreak in the FA Cup. Dominated but lost on pens (I’m sure i’ve heard that story before somewhere..):

But we got our revenge on Man City in the Champions League:

And although the league was mainly a second string affair we won it with three games to go:

Manager

Spoiler

Roy is now World Class and I’m probably ready to leave Southend but it makes sense to stick around for one more season. We have the Super Cup and the World Club Championship scheduled for next year and gives me another shot at the FA Cup.

7th, 8th and 9th Trophies

Won the Community Shield, Carabao Cup, and the Champions League.

Edited December 26, 2022 by DoneHisCruciate

[DoneHisCruciate]

Season 11 (2032/33)

The first bit of news is Roy got the England job:

 

I figure this works well seeing as a lot of the England squad came through Southend’s academy or benefited  from our coaching expertise. One of the knock-on effects of Brexit methinks.

As for Southend, the board turned on super greedy mode and demanded we win everything this year—so I can’t be as blasé in the league.

First up was the super cup:

A little bit closer than I had expected but another trophy checked off.

The season was all about the FA Cup and when it finally came, we made a right mess of it. We got drawn against Man City who we normally beat—this time for some reason we went to pieces 🙄:

 

Still, we won the league:

 

The Champions League final turned into a nightmare as we had one player sent off and two injuries—we finished with only 9 on the pitch. We made it to penalties and lost:

 

England:

Then came a bit of a dilemma. Remember me being happy that most of my team can make it into the England team?

Well that’s great unless they schedule the European International League Final at the same time as the Club World Cup. 🤦‍♂️

So I got Roy to put the club first—we sent about 5 players to play with England and kept the rest for the CWC. (I figured the CWC only comes around every 4 years so I should try and tick it off as quickly as possible.)

The European International League finals couldn’t have gone much worse. Two of England’s strikers and a right-back picked up injuries and Holland took us to Extra Time / Penalties. We actually won the shootout but the best players were too knackered to face Italy in the final. Having a weakened squad really bit hard as we lost the final.

It’s a good job nobody in the world cares about this competition. The FA were all “who cares?” which was nice.

CWC

The Club World Championship is a real test of squad depth as the games come thick and fast. They also cross over seasons so we’re due to meet PSG in the quarter-finals at the start of next season…

Manager

Spoiler

10th Trophy

Won the Super Cup

Edited January 1, 2023 by DoneHisCruciate

[StuartM]

Good work again and congratulations on the England job... you should get an extra 'trophy' if you can beat Iceland! 😂

[DoneHisCruciate]

23 hours ago, StuartM said:

Good work again and congratulations on the England job... you should get an extra 'trophy' if you can beat Iceland! 😂

The way the game is treating me at the beginning of this season it might be on the cards to lose to them.. Roy does seem to like a bit of international drama. 🤪

[DoneHisCruciate]

Season 12 (2033/34)

We had unfinished business in the Club World Championship and got the job done with a fine win against FC Bayern:

I figure this could be a tricky one if you have some bad luck and have to wait another four years for another chance. So pleased to get it out of the way.

Once the season started properly the game went into a ferociously bad mood. Pretty much most of the first team inexplicably took turns to lose form. My goalkeepers joined in and would mishit clearances to opposing strikers. I think perhaps the game was telling me Southend had been too successful 😬

Anyway I finally got the squad to remember how to play football but by that stage the Community Shield and the Carabao Cup were distant memories. 

Still, we did a 4-peat in the league:

And we bagged the FA Cup:

 

It was stupidly hard to win this one. Arsenal took us to a replay and then Extra Time / Penalties in the fourth round. Then Liverpool took us to Extra Time / Penalties in the semi-final. Both teams we dominated so I thought we were about to be FMM’d both times.
 

Then we met our bogey cup team Man City in the final and again went to penalties. My first guy missed so I thought we were well and truly stuffed—but then they missed two and we finally won the 🏆. Phew! 
 

We also won the Champions League:

England:

Pretty comfortable qualification to the World Cup.  And once it started we progressed from our tiny three team group by the time the season ended. 🤞

Manager

A bit of drama for Roy. I’ve been tracking the top overseas clubs for a couple of seasons and there doesn’t seem to be much turnover in managers. I guess I might need to resign in order to get some clubs to think about making a change.
 

But in the end I decided to declare an interest in Aston Villa who are languishing in the Championship. Their manager was in an insecure position so I made it a whole lot worse 😂

And after all the success I’d given Southend: 🥾

Roy’s first sacking 😜 Anyway, later that day:

Spoiler

 

So, time to see if Roy can win the World Cup and chalk the Championship off the trophy list.

11th and 12th Trophies

Won the Club World Championship and the FA Cup 

 

Edited January 1, 2023 by DoneHisCruciate

[DoneHisCruciate]

Season 13 (2034/35)

I’d better start with the World Cup—we had qualified from the group at the end of the last season. We then monstered the knockout stage:

 

We didn’t even concede a goal! I can’t remember doing that before at the World Cup. 
 

What pleased me most (even though I was no longer their manager) is that the squad had 16 players from Southend. Ten of them came from the Southend Academy 😁

Aston Villa

Wow, was this a mistake. I didn’t realise just how much of a mess their squad was in. I brought in a whole host of players but it quickly became apparent that we were unlikely to come 1st in the Championship. I figured we’d probably win promotion but that’s a waste of a season for this challenge. Time for a Plan B!

So I jumped ship. Bayer 04 Leverkusen had an insecure manager so I once again got someone the sack. 😬

They were still in the DFB-Pokal cup so I figured I had an outside shot at winning a cup or maybe even the league.

This means Germany takes over from France as the +1 nation for this challenge. 

(Incidentally I don’t feel too bad about Villa. They finished 4th and got promoted through the playoffs. At least the work I did with the squad did some good.)

Bayer 04 Leverkusen

I took over when they were struggling quite badly:

 
 

The squad was pretty poor in a lot of areas but I figured I could limp to the transfer window and then push up the league.

We got knocked out of the cup quite quickly. And, with only the league to worry about we pushed hard to take top spot:

 

I figure I should stick around and try and pick up the German Super Cup and the DFB-Pokal next year.

England

No rest for the England squad as we went straight into the European International League and of course the Euro qualifiers.

One thing that became apparent when the injuries started flooding in—England have little depth beyond the Southend boys. 😬 

Still we made to the European International League Semi and are due to met Italy at the start of next season. 🤞

Manager

Roy finally got recognised for his greatness with the World Coach of the Year: 

Spoiler

 

13th and 14th Trophies

Won the World Cup and the Bundesliga.

Edited January 4, 2023 by DoneHisCruciate