Mahalajr2000

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I've decided to switch gears and start a new challenge. I've been watching several YouTube feeds of people doing the Pentagon Challenge, and thought I'd give it a go. I'm a little behind the times playing a game that's been around for almost 4 years, but I enjoy it nonetheless.

So, after starting a new save I thought N. America and Africa would be a good point of origin to begin the challenge. So I loaded all leagues from Mexico, USA, and S. Africa (5 total), and made myself a 25-year old unemployed Sunday League Footballer. I was expecting to start in the lower leagues of Mexico and SA, and build my reputation, so you can imagine my surprise when New England Revolution offered me a job!

Still using the 'Diablo' tactic (courtesy of SparksMasters; see my previous Honved thread), we won the MLS in the first season with an amazing 90+2nd minute goal in the final against Seattle! The following year we lost to Philly in the Eastern Conference final (they went on to win it all); but we did manage to add the U.S. Cup to our trophy case. But the biggest shock was we won the NACL beating Cruz Azul on penalties. They won the first leg 2-0, and the amazing thing was we didn't score our goals until the 71st and 77th minute in the second leg. The penalty shootout was quite the comedy of errors (lots of misses) and we scraped by 2-1 on pks.

It it is now August 2013, and the next NACL campaign is underway. It's not looking good so far as Chivas beat us 2-0 in the Groups game 1.

Because I've finished the N. American part of the pentagon I've turned off the Mexican leagues and the S. African lower league. Now that I've become a Continental manager by Reputation, and I've been successful with NE, I don't see the need to start at lower leagues. Also, I plan to add China and S. Korea, once I take Revolution to the CWC in Japan.

So, thanks for reading such a long post. I will post the videos for the NACL win over CA, and mention a few signings and key players over the last 3 seasons. Thanks for reading. I'll be back soon.
 
The videos will have to wait, I'm afraid. My YouTube accounts been finicky...

So I'll fill you in on the latest. We've finished the 2013 season, and we are champions again! Also, we played in the CWC and finished 3rd. We lost to Real Madrid 3-0 in the semis (a brace from Kaka and a goal from Ronaldo; what can you do?) I was surprised at the amount of prize money from that tournament! We took home £2 million total; not bad.

As as far as key players go, I've got this Nigerian striker named Odafe Onyeka Okolie who has scored 85 goals in 81 apps for me. He has 18 finishing, and scores more hat-tricks and braces than I've ever seen. Limiting him to one goal is quite rare. My GK is another African, an Egyptian named Mahmoud Aboul Saoud, who has won the African CL with Al-Ahly before. As far as domestic players go, A.J. Soares has been solid at the back. Club icon Shalrie Joseph is still with us, but at 35 is not what he used to be. He has broken the apps record with 269, however. I'm hoping he retires as a Rev player, and doesn't sign for anyone else. It wouldn't feel right...

It it is now Jan 2014, and we did make it to the NACL qtr finals where we will face Philly in another crucial tie. But at least we stand a good chance of defending our crown.

In other news, it has been heartbreak for the USA as they finished last in WC qualifying and will not make it to Brazil!! Klinsmann has been sacked and Bob Bradley is back as Manager.

Also, defending Champions Spain lost to Russia in the playoffs and will not make it to Brazil, either (shocking!!). I was offered the Peru manager's job, but declined because I want to focus on clubs more. Later in the challenge I will consider international management, but not this time.

Anyway, thanks for reading. More to follow...
 
New Club: Kaizer Chiefs sacked their manager and I declared interest and got the job! Unlike the Media I don't see it as a step down. I knew New England wouldn't last too much longer, and we lost in the NACL qtrs to Philly anyway. So if New England are to win more trophies it will have to be with someone else at the helm.

Anyway, KC look like a great team; awesome facilities and great youth prospects. Plus, they are the best supported club in SA. I've been given a £4.4m budget, which is miles ahead of Revolution, so I'll keep you updated on transfers. The season is almost over, and luckily the Board won't judge me on league position yet, so I've got time to mold the squad for next season.

Thanks for reading this far; more to follow. Plus, I'll give updates on WC Brazil!
 
Mini-update. I'll give a more detailed one over the weekend.

Well, the season's over. Of the 8 games I played, we won 4, lost 3 and drew 1. Some impressive road wins in the league, and a good result to reach the semis of the SA Cup. I feel this team has potential; there are a lot of good, young regents in the squad. Youngster Nkululeko Mbambo is 16 and has 16 finishing, and scored 5 goals in those 8 matches. He will be one to watch next season. I've brought in several new faces, and will be offloading the 'deadwood.'

Brazil went on to win the WC; it was a reversal of 1998, as they beat France this time in the final 2-0.
 
The new season is underway. We are in 3rd having won 8, lost 3, and drawn 1 after 12 games. Board expectations were to reach a safe mid-table position. I think we have a good chance of making a run for the title. I believe in this version of FM, the SA Premeir League only has 1 position in the African Champions League, so we might make it, or more likely we may qualify for the Confederation.
 
14-15 is done. We finished 3rd, and Runner's up in the SA Cup; so there will be no Champions League or any type of Continental competitions next season. We were the Season's "Overachievers" (media prediction was 11th), so I can't be too disappointed with the overall performance. I did spend a lot in the Transfer market (around £6m), but I'm happy with the squad I've made. I'm looking forward to next season already!

Hopefully, I'll get some screenshots up so I can share them with you. Thanks for reading! More to follow...
 
Just finished Season 15-16, and it was quite an amazing one. We won every competition we entered! An amazing 4 trophies: The League, FA Cup, Knockout Cup, and the Super 8 Cup! We also broke our own record of league goals scored (78). It's been a great run; I'm looking forward to the Champion's League next year. My only concern is several of my top players are in the last year of their contract and they won't to move to 'bigger clubs' and they won't accept what I can give them. Hopefully, our success keeps attracting good players to fill.

Thanks for reading; more to follow.
 
Well, we've wrapped up another League win for the 16-17 Season; this time with 5 games to spare! We beat FAR Rabat and ASEC in the Prelim and 1st rd of the CL respectively. We've got Vita Club standing in the way of a Group Stage place, so it's been an amazing run! We didnt win the KO Cup or the FA Cup, so our trophy haul won't match last season's. But we did retain the Super 8, and if we win the CL, then nothing else matters, right!

Prince Arko has continued to set new goal scorer records each year. He has 49 total goals, and still several games left. He is also KC's record scorer with 86 league goals. Also, he scored 4 in the first half against Bidvest Wits! He is now worth £1.7m; not bad for a chap I picked up for £9k!!

Anyway, thanks for reading. More to follow...
 
We've done it! Another piece of the Pentagon in the bag! I'll explain how it came to be.

Our Group was with Primeiro de Agosto, ASO Chlef, and TP Mazembe. We won the group rather comfortably, 5 wins and 1 draw (at home against Agosto), who came in 2nd. The other Group teams were Asante Kotoko, Coton Sport, Enyimba, and Al-Ahli (Libya). Asante and Coton Sport were winner and runner up respectively.

Our Semi-final opponent was Asante, and we beat them 3-1 in each leg! Agosto beat Coton Sport, setting up a re-match with them in the final. We won the first leg 4-0, and lost the 2nd, 1-0, but we are Champions League winners!!!

I'll stay around for the CWC and the African Super Cup, then: It's on to Asia!

By the way, there's an interesting story about my former GK from New England, Mahmoud Aboul Saoud. I earlier mentioned he won the African CL with Al-Ahly, then the NACL with me. Well, he's now won the Asian CL with Al-Sadd! I know it's just a game, but winning three different CLs is quite an accomplishment!

Anyway, I'll be back with updates on my next club, and how I ended my time at Kaizer Chiefs. More to follow.
 
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We've overachieved again! This time in the Club World Cup, beating Wydad Casablanca, then Palmeiras in the semis, oy to lose to Chelsea in the final. I would have been happy with third place, but to be the runner's up with Kaizer is brilliant!
 
I've got family in town, so playing time's been curtailed. What I've done is uploaded the highlights (goals only), for both legs of the African Champion's League, and the CWC loss to Chelsea. Just search 'mahalajr2000' in YouTube, and you'll see the videos. There's a few from other saves.

I'll periodically add more videos over the next few days. Thanks for reading!
 
Well, Season 17-18 is done, and we are Champions for the 3rd time in a row! This time we did it in style, staying unbeaten in all 30 games. Prince Arko once again was our leader in scoring, bagging 69 goals in all competitions! A Double would have been nice, but we lost 1-2 to Sundowns in the FA Cup Final. We are still looking good in the CL. We've made it to the Groups again. I would love to end my time at KC on a high!

The Board offered me an extension, but I refused. My current deal runs until May 2019, so I've decided that will be the time I set my sights on Asia! My next club will be a top club, not one that I will have to build into becoming Champions. Now that my reputation is World Class I can afford to be picky, ha! I may have to wait a bit longer but I'd rather go to clubs like Guangzhou or Beijing in China, or Seoul or Seongnam in Korea.

Anyway, WC 2018 is here, so I'll be keeping you updated on the latest. Thanks for reading!
 
WC 2018 is over. Nigeria are champions, after beating defending champions Brazil in the Final! England beat Belgium to claim 3rd place.

I was offered the Santos job, but I refused. I would at least like to win the African CL with Kaizer again if I can. We've won our first 3 group games, against ES Tunis, ASEC, and Stade Malien.

Other than that, my goal for my last season in charge of KC is to build up the finances to where the new incoming manager can have a sizable budget and wage bill to work with. This team should definitely keep winning trophies after I'm gone...
 
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My last season in charge of KC is proving to be quite the "Jekyll and Hyde" display. Our league form has been terrible; only 2 points from 3 games. I know it's still early, but it's best to start accumulating points now, so we can ease off later in the season. We have been drawn against SuperSport in the CL semis, so we are looking good in Continental competitions. We also lost in the S8 Cup, which we had won the last 3 years in a row.
 
I'm now manager of Guangzhou! I'll tell you how I got there. It's still late 2018. KC did make it to the African CL final, but we lost to ES Tunis 3-2 agg. Also, I knew the Asian leagues would be ending at about the halfway point of the SA Season, so if the right job came along that would make me end my time at KC before the end of my contract, I would take it!
Guangzhou's manager retired and I couldn't let the opportunity pass. Another Brazilian club, this time mighty Corinthians wanted me too! Maybe I should have gone to Brazil, but I'm sure it wont be the last time a big club wants me.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to my time in China! Guangzhou's budget is over £6m, and we'll be playing in the CL right away, so that's another bonus!

Anyway, I'll be back with more.
 
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It's now June 2019, and things are going well with Guangzhou. We're currently 2nd in the league, behind Shandong by a point, though we are still undefeated after 9 games played. Also, we've made it to the CL quarterfinals, after winning our group and beating Brisbane Roar in the 2nd round.

I I really like the generosity of Guangzhou's chairman. He is a Sugar Daddy who puts extra money into the club quite regularly. As far as players go, I've spent over £10m and it's been worth it. Latif Salifu, Ma Minglei (regen), and Zhou Longda (regen), are my goal scorers. Longda has 22 already, while Latif and Ma have 10 apiece.

The squad is young, but experienced; the avg. age is 24, and the avg. # of Caps is 13, compared to league averages of 25-2 respectively.
 
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Season 2019 is over and it can only be described as HEART-BREAKING!! There were some positives, however; we did win the Super League by a massive 20 points over Shandong. We stayed unbeaten, winning 25 and drawing 5, scoring 100 goals and conceding 25. We also did the Double by winning the FA Cup. We even picked up another trophy by beating the All Stars team. Sounds good, right?

Now for the heart-breaker. We made it to the CL Final, only to lose to Al-Hilal(KSA) 1-0. We should have won! We each had 8 shots, we had 5 on target, they only had 1 and it happened to be the only goal...very sad! So close to having a third piece of the Challenge.

Oh well. Here's hoping 2020 is our season!
 
Season '20 is underway. We are currently 2nd in the League, with 4 wins and 1 draw in 5 games. Also, we've won our CL group again. It's been quite the goal-fest; I've had 2 players, Zhou Longda and Gao Zhilin, who have scored 6 goals so far this season, and there's still plenty of games left!

If you've followed this thread before you'll remember I had a striker, Prince Arko, who scored 6 with my Kaizer Chiefs team. That makes 3 players who have scored 6 goals in a game on THIS SAVE!

That's significant for me, because prior to this Pentagon Challenge I've played:

FM 2012-alot
FM 2011-sporadically
FM 2007-alot (the most I've ever played an FM game)
CM 03/04-often (my intro into the addictive world of CM/FM)

Now, in all those games I've only had one player score 6 goals in a match, and that was all the way back in CM 03/04 during my Forest Green Rovers save when Steve Cowe bagged 6 against Accrington Stanley! So, you can imagine my surprise now that it's happened three more times...

Anyway, thanks for following this thread. I'll have more information in another day or two, hopefully a successful Chamions League run!
 
We finally won the Asian Champions League! We squeaked by 3-1 against Shandong in the Final. The annoying thing was most of my star players were on International duty, including all my GKs; I had to use a computer-generated one for the game!

It was a bit nervy in the semis; we won the first leg 3-2 at home against Persepolis, and against all odds we held them scoreless in the 2nd leg! They did outplay us in that game, so I'm glad Lady Luck was on our side.

Also, we have already won the Super League again, and we could ****** a Treble if we retain the FA Cup!

For now, I'll stick around for the CWC and maybe the Chinese Super Cup, then...

South America! Thanks for reading.
 
I've moved on to another club. I only managed to win the All Star Game and the Super Cup with Guangzhou; we missed out on a Treble by losing in the FA Cup semis... So I resigned from Guangzhou in March 2021.

I turned on the Argentine Premier League, and essentially waited for over a year for a good job to come along. Boca Juniors are my new team.

i took over with 9 League games left; they were lying in 10th in the Closing Stage; they were the Opening Winners before me. We finished in 5th place, which was enough for 3rd overall.

More re importantly we are in the Semis of the Copa Libertadores; so even if we don't win, we'll get another shot next year!
 
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