SAF Challenge

[Gigaset]

SAF Challenge

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Here I am starting a new challenge as I have become tired of the latest games I have been playing, I needed something to spice things up and I believe this challenge could be the one to get me stuck into a long term save.

Sir Alex Ferguson took over Manchester United when they were second bottom of the Premiership, now what I am going to be doing is holiday the start of the game until the 6th​ November 2014, which was when SAF took over at United, and become manager of the club who are in 19th​ position.

Some requirements of the challenge include:
- Focusing on youth, SAF focused on bringing youth through the ranks, as everyone knows the ‘Class of 92’, I will try to recreate something similar to this.
- SAF never signed more than 11 players in a single season, and maximum spending in a single season was £62million, so I am not allowed to exceed that limit either.
- Holiday until November 6th​ – SAF took over at Manchester United on November 6th​ 1986.
- Stay at this one club – SAF stayed at United until 2013.
- Persuade long term players to become part of the backroom staff and / or managers – i.e. Steve Bruce, Roy Keane, Paul Ince, Laurent Blanc, Paul Scholes, and Ryan Giggs.

Goals:
- Win a domestic cup within 4 seasons – SAF won his first cup vs. Crystal Palace in 1989 / 90.
- Win a league title within 7 seasons – SAF won his first league title in 1992 / 93.
- Win a league and cup double within 8 seasons – SAF won his first double with United in 1993 / 94.
- Win a league, cup and Champions League within 13 seasons – SAF won the infamous treble in 1998 / 99.

All of these goals above were successfully achieved by Sir Alex Ferguson during his reign as Manchester United manager.

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"I can't believe it. I can't believe it. Football. ****** ****." - Sir Alex Ferguson, 1999​

I have just loaded up the database and currently holidaying the season until 6th​ November and I will take over the team who are in 19th​ position on that date.

 

[Gigaset]

SAF Challenge - 6th November 2014

So the holidaying is done, I am now fully aware which squad I will be attempting to carry on this massive challenge with. But first of all it is time to introduce the manager who will be rivaling Sir Alex Ferguson. Everyone will know his name, former Ballon d'Or winner and previous FIFA World Player of the Year.

He is renowned for his creativity and having the ability to get past defenders, he is also regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation. After growing up in the working-class district of Cova de Piedade, Almada, Lisbon, he began his career as a street footballer at U.F.C. Os Pastilhas before joining Sporting Lisbon at the age of 11.

He is one of the very few players to have played for both Spanish rival clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona. His controversial transfer in 2000 saw him go from Barcelona to bitter rivals Real Madrid for a then world record fee of £37million.

He had an extremely successful career highlighted by several trophy wins, including the Portuguese Cup, four La Liga titles, two Spanish Cups, three Spanish Super Cups, one UEFA Champions League title, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, two UEFA Super Cups, one Intercontinental Cup, four Serie A titles, one Italian Cup and three Italian Super Cups.

But he is now wanting to try prove himself in footballing management.

He is non other than, Luis Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo...

Otherwise known as Luis Figo.

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[Jedd95]

I like the idea of this game. Good luck with it

 

[Gigaset]

I like the idea of this game. Good luck with it

Thanks mate just about to post another update hope you enjoy the journey.

 

[Gigaset]

SAF Challenge - 6th November 2014 (Part 2)

With the holiday having been done, I was wary of which club I was going to be given to carry this challenge forward and I was praying that it wasn't Sunderland, as an avid Newcastle fan I would not be able to do it, but luckily it was not Sunderland that I had, although it was not the nicest looking at the league table seeing the Mackems in 3rd position. I was also skeptical of the fact that it could be minnows Burnley as I believe the challenge of taking Burnley to the top would be extremely difficult. It turns out that I was quite lucky.

So the simulation until 6th November is now over and with Luis Figo looking to take over at the club who is positioned 19th currently in the table, the club that he will be delving into club management first with is none other than...

West Ham United. A very exciting club, and actually a club I like a lot. I am optimistic about my chances of taking them very far, hopefully emulate what Sir Alex Ferguson achieved at Manchester United, although I don't think we should get ahead of ourselves just yet.

Now West Ham United are currently based at the Boleyn Ground, which holds 35,000 people. They have a great record of bringing through extremely talented youngsters, to name but a few Jermain Defoe, Frank Lampard and Michael Carrick. Hopefully over the years I will be able to bring through a few youngsters of this calibre, and keep a hold of them being the key point.

The current squad is of a fairly decent side, the first thing I looked into was the transfers that had been made during the summer transfer window and was disappointed to see that Winston Reid had left the club for Borussia Dortmund for £4.4million as I believe he is a key player for us. Antolin Alcaraz & Maynor Figueroa had been brought in by Big Sam previously for a combined fee of £1.3million. We are definitely going to have to strengthen in January, but with a budget of £6million I will have to be extremely careful.

I am also using the most recent update from LFCMarshall with Doneil Henry at the club and Ravel Morrison leaving to head to Lazio in the summer, which I am disappointed at as I thought he could of become an extremely important part of my plans.

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[elyybourgess]

Good Luck

 

[Gigaset]

Good Luck

Cheers, hopefully have another update for people tonight, can't update as much as I would like to at the moment with work

 

[steveorobbo]

I like the idea of this, being a Man Utd fan myself. One thing I dont understand though is how this works with Figo as manager? Have you placed Figo in charge via editor and your acting as a chairman buying and selling players? I would have thought you would be the manager yourself. How does this work?

 

[Gigaset]

SAF Challenge - West Ham United Squad Update

Now that everybody is aware of who Luis Figo is taking control of in his first and hopefully only delve into club management, it is time to introduce the squad, with a first team in mind, showing who the club is going to face in the upcoming games, and hopefully a little look at the youth prospects at the Boleyn Ground.

So the key players who I will be looking at to initially help us out of this rut in 19th position are the likes of Alex Song, a player who is currently on loan to us from Barcelona, he will be vital in ensuring we stay in the top flight, hopefully if I can keep him longer than this season, he will become an extremely important player for the club. An absolute beast of a defensive midfielder, I am hoping he can repeat for us what he did at Arsenal in the Premier League, which made Barcelona so keen to sign the Cameroonian.

Kevin Nolan is definitely a key figure at the club, current club captain, he will be vital in me achieving top flight success over the coming seasons, although he is nearing the end of his career, he is still an extremely integral part of my plans.

Squad - Goalkeepers

The depth of goalkeepers is looking extremely bare, with Jaaskelainen on his last legs at the age of 39, Adrian will have to do an extremely good job for me not to pursue my first transfer target in the January transfer window to be a goalkeeper. The only other goalkeepers in the squad are youngsters who do not yet have the ability to play at this level.

Squad - Defenders

I am happy with the defenders that we have available at the club, Tomkins and Collins will most likely be my first choice central defenders, with Cresswell and Jenkinson on either flanks. The backup also seems fairly reasonable too with Figueroa, O'Brien, Alcaraz, Henry (who is going to be an important part of the future at the club) and Kouyate.

Squad - Midfielders

The strongest part of the squad is the midfielders, Mark Noble, Alex Song, Kevin Nolan & Stewart Downing are the obvious choices. Ravel Morrison would of been if he was not leaving to head to Lazio but unfortunately as I am playing the most recent update he won't be with us past the Summer of 2015. Diego Poyet looks like he could become a great player so I will be paying close attention to his development.

Squad - Strikers

Although we have extremely decent strikers at the club, it does lack depth, Enner Valencia is out for 5 to 6 months with a broken leg so it does not look like he will be contributing much this season. Carroll and Sakho will be fighting for the place up top as I usually use a 4-5-1 formation or 4-1-2-2-1 formation as others like to call it. It is definitely either a striker or goalkeeper that I will need to purchase in the January transfer window.

November Fixtures

November could be an interesting month, with my first game in charge of West Ham United away against rivals Tottenham Hotspur, a home clash with Liverpool who currently sit in 4th position. Then the final game of the month heading to St. James Park to face my favourite club, Newcastle United.​

 

[Gigaset]

I like the idea of this, being a Man Utd fan myself. One thing I dont understand though is how this works with Figo as manager? Have you placed Figo in charge via editor and your acting as a chairman buying and selling players? I would have thought you would be the manager yourself. How does this work?

Hey pal, thanks for the comments. No I have just created Luis Figo as a manager that is all, I am playing as him myself trying to make him the best manager ever.

 

[Tracz]

Looking forward to this story, good luck for the fight against relegation this season,
Will you stay with westham if you get relegated?

 

[Cbarber871]

gd luck hope you stay up

 

[Gigaset]

Looking forward to this story, good luck for the fight against relegation this season,
Will you stay with westham if you get relegated?

gd luck hope you stay up

Thanks people, hopefully I won't get them relegated! Who know's I will cross that bridge when I come to it if it becomes a likely scenario.

 

[Gigaset]

SAF Challenge - November 2014 Update

What a fantastic start to Luis Figo's managerial career, unbeaten in the first month at the club is always a great start at a new club and starts to get the players and fans alike behind you. We started off with a 4-3 win against rivals Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, before drawing 1-1 with Liverpool and Newcastle too.

As stated I started at the club on the 6th November so the Chelsea game was none of my doing, but I am extremely happy with how the first month has panned out as the manager of West Ham United. Hopefully we will be able to carry this form onto the next month and start 2015 in good shape, although I am not getting ahead of myself just yet, as I know there is a lot of football to be played, and in football, things can instantly change.

So to start off at White Hart Lane, my first managerial game, and what a game it was, we made it tense at the end with Danny Rose scoring with 10 minutes remaining so it was nail biting stuff, but we held on and I am thankful of the team to give us our first win. Incredibly important to our morale, we just need to push on from here.

Another fantastic result considering our league position at the time, was hoping we would be able to keep the lead but Sturridge denied that from us after a fantastic through ball from Raheem Sterling. Sterling was unplayable in this game. Kevin Nolan was leading by example, having to start upfront in the False 9 role as we had no other fit strikers due to injuries and tiredness, annoying when Sakho was taken away on international duty and returned with a minor injury.

Carroll's first start after injury disrupted his pre-season, I was very pleased to see him on the score-sheet against his former club, would of been much better if it was the winner, but again it just wasn't to be. I cannot complain too much though as they really did dominate the game and we were lucky to get a point. If we can keep this kind of form and results up I am confident we can avoid the drop this season.

Pleased with the performance this season, having lifted up one place in the table as a result, being on an equal 10 points with West Brom, as I said before if we can keep up this kind of form I will be really really pleased, and if we can, I am extremely confident we can avoid relegation this year, and hopefully look to push on in the future. At the other end of the table there are still two teams who are unbeaten going into December, both Arsenal and Manchester City with the Gunners 6 points clear at the top at this stage of the season.

Here are the teams that I will be facing in the final month of 2014. Hopefully we can kick on and get out of the relegation zone by 2015, that is my main aim of the following month. A very action packed month, looking to take all 3 points against Swansea, Burnley and QPR, with a draw against Southampton and Villa as Villa are in good form so far this season sitting in 8th position. A draw would be an excellent result against an extremely strong Manchester United side.

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[Gigaset]

SAF Challenge - December 2014 Update
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Things are going from good to better, still unbeaten as West Ham United manager, Luis Figo is the catalyst behind a fantastic turn of fortune for the London club. 9 games into his managerial reign and still not losing a single game, mind you first game of the new year is against Arsenal who are sat joint top with Man City so I am a little bit pessimistic about our chances, although it is at the Boleyn Ground. Having converted Stewart Downing to the key player in the centre of our midfield, instead of playing out wide like he was under Big Sam at the start of the season, has definitely been the stand-out player since Figo has taken over. An incredible effort and has not gone unnoticed with England manager Roy Hodgson taking notice and considering recalling the England player to the squad.

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The month has gone extremely well taking 14 points from a maximum 18 in the Premier League I cannot complain one bit. Still stunned at the Man United result considering the strength of their team, they always seem to be my bogey team on FM15 for me, first time I haven't actually lost to them in any of my games.​

Starting off at the Boleyn Ground, a resounding 3-0 victory over Swansea City. Downing, Figueroa and Jarvis getting on the score sheet in the process. We didn't actually play that much better than Swansea, we just managed to take our chances when the opportunities presented themselves. They managed more possession with a total of 53% and the same amount of shots in total.

Now I was panicking at this stage, after our recent performances I thought we would have dominated the game entirely, but boy was I wrong, we were extremely lucky to get the win in this game. We gained a penalty from a mistake by Tom Heaton, which doesn't happen that often, then Amalfitano came off the bench to score two within 3 minutes of each other. I was doubting our chances after we came back out from half time and Grealish scored to make it 2-1, it is clear to see from his performance that one day that he will be a force to be wreckened with in the future.

A brilliant performance from the whole squad, Downing helped us take the lead early doors after a brilliant through ball from Alex Song in the defensive midfield role. Song played Southampton off the park, he is a very strange player on FM, he seems to either have an absolutely terrific game or a total shocker. Amalfitano helped us put the 3 points in the bag with an 89th minute goal. Good news is that Morgan Amalfitano has now signed a new contract until 2019, he is a fantastic player in the right wing role.

I cannot complain after our recent results, again I underestimated our opponents, same as I did in the Burnley game, I went all out attack at half time and it backfired with Lee Dong-Gook scored just before the hour mark. Sakho saved us in the 80th minute to keep Figo's unbeaten streak alive, nearly adding the winner in the 88th minute, but unfortunately it wasn't to happen today. A good performance from the squad, we just lacked the firepower initially as Sakho came on from the bench because he wasn't completely fit at the start of the game. It was also the best time to play them as Harry was sacked 2 days prior to match day.

I feared the worst when we went behind at Villa Park, of all ****** people Tom Cleverley scored the goal to take them infront. Our current in form player Stewart Downing then scored a goal to bring the game back on level terms. Then when I just thought our luck was out, Sakho stole the ball in the 92nd minute from Ciaran Clark and punished the Villa defender, by drilling a powerful shot past goalkeeper Brad Guzan from outside the area, absolute peach of a goal, a goal that Figo himself would of been proud of.

What a brilliant result against what was a fantastic Manchester United squad, I genuinely feared we were in for the long haul when Falcao put them 2-1 up after half an hour, but that guy again Stewart Downing brought us level. I was very surprised to see us manage to hang on until the end as Fellaini was actually Man United's key man that game. I thought we had lost it in the 88th minute as Falcao broke forward after a mistake from Alcaraz gifted Di Maria a chance to take home all 3 points, unselfishly he passed the ball to Falcao but he blasted the shot into the crowd, my heart was in my mouth but, we just about held on for the draw.

An excellent end to 2014 for Luis Figo, coming from 19th place to finish 2014 in 11th. Here's hoping we can keep climbing the table into the top half, my goal for the end of the season is to get a top ten finish and we aren't too far away now, I am just hoping we can keep this momentum going. One loss can break the squad, hopefully that won't happen and we will keep on fighting until the end of the season. I will be showing some January transfer activity next month too, as I have some plans on strengthening the squad, maybe not the first 11, but who knows by the end of January anything can happen.

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January starts off with a dreaded game against 2nd in the league Arsenal, they have looked unbeatable in the early stage of the season, but have lost 3 of their last 5 matches, which has got the be the perfect time to play them. An FA Cup 3rd Round tie against Swansea should allow me to play some youth and see how they perform, hopefully a few will grab my attention and challenge for a first team place.

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