Sir Alex Ferguson Challenge

[leckuno]

Sir Alex Ferguson Challenge

So after catching covid a couple of weeks ago I've really struggled to get into the game so I am going to try my hand at the Sir Alex Ferguson challenge after seeing @TheNotSoSpecialOne starting it the other day which the below has come from as well.

For anyone unfamiliar with the challenge, the idea is to emulate arguably the world's greatest ever manager. Love or hate him or Manchester United, you can't deny that the guy was phenomenal! So here's the rules...

1. Sim the game to November 6th and take over the team currently sitting in 19th position in the Premier League. Sir Alex took over United on this date with them languishing second from bottom in the top tier.

2. Stay at this one single club for the entire save (getting sacked means game over, no reloads adding yourself in the game again).

3. Alex Ferguson had a strong reputation for bringing youngsters through the club's youth system and nurturing them into star players for the club (David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville to name a few). As a rule in the save, I must promote one youth player to the first team squad every season to establish the same reputation.

4. Sir Alex didn't make a habit of selling or buying players from his biggest rivals throughout his career. Therefore, whichever club I take over, I will not be allowed to do any transfer business with that club's main rival throughout my career. I can, however, sign players that have previously played for that club.

5. Sir Alex liked to bring his best players through into his coaching team when they hung up their playing boots with the likes of Paul Scholes, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, Roy Keane, Paul Ince, Bryan Robson and Mark Hughes all becoming part of his backroom setup. I should be looking to do the same at whichever club I take over, as I look to build my own legacy.

So after simming my game to November 6th, the team I have got is....

Got to be happy with this as I've managed to avoid the newly promoted teams.

The table below demonstrates what Sir Alex achieved with Manchester United and within what timeframes and I will be updating this as and when my save progresses and hopefully I tick some of these off the list...​

GOAL​	ACHIEVED?​	SIR ALEX FERGUSON​	Euan Leck​
November 6th​	Yes​	Took over Manchester United, in 19th place on November 6th, 1986​	Took over Aston Villa, in 19th place on November 6th, 2021​
Win a domestic cup within 4 seasons​	N/A​	1990, FA Cup against Crystal Palace​	2023, League Cup against Everton​
Win Premier League within 7 seasons​	N/A​	1992/93​	TBC​
Win a domestic double within 8 seasons​	N/A​	1993/94, Premier League & FA Cup​	TBC​
Win treble within 13 seasons (must include Champions League)​	N/A​	1998/99, Premier League, Champions League & FA Cup​	TBC​
English Premier League Titles​	N/A​	Total 13: 1992/93, 1993/94, 1995/96, 1996/97, 1998/99, 1999/2000, 2000/01, 2002/03, 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09, 2010/11, 2012/12​	TBC​
FA Cup​	N/A​	Total 5: 1989/90, 1993/94, 1995/96, 1998/99, 2003/04​	TBC​
League Cup​	N/A​	Total 4: 1991/92, 2005/06, 2008/09, 2009/10​	2023​
Community Shield​	N/A​	Total 10: 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011​	TBC​
UEFA Champions League​	N/A​	Total 2: 1998/99, 2007/08​	TBC​
Europa League​	N/A​	Total 1: 1990/91​	TBC​
UEFA Super Cup​	N/A​	Total 1: 1991​	TBC​
FIFA World Club Cup​	N/A​	Total 2: 1999, 2008​	TBC​

 

[Tongey]

Best of luck with this one mate! Enjoy the SAF Challenges!

Like @TheNotSoSpecialOne, you've got yourself a cracker of a team!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Again, a great team to get!! No reason why you shouldn't be shooting up the table pretty sharpish. I'll be following!

 

[leckuno]

The Current Situation

Well Gerrard clearly hasn't been able to work his magic this time and was surely not far from the sack anyway as Villa find themselves 2 points from safety after only picking up 1 win and 3 draws out of their opening 10 games. Amazingly Arsenal are just above the relegation zone by a point as well

The only league win this year came against Brentford who currently sit bottom of the table but the good thing is we've already played 5 of the big clubs in the league as well. We are somehow still in the cub though and being lucky with the draw after beating Arsenal in the 2nd round. We will face Leeds United in the quarter final.

Now with the squad available, the club should simply be doing a lot better, especially after the amount of money that was spent during the summer. We have some great players in the team especially in the attacking 3rd. We will be making full use of Coutinho while he is on loan but when paying £245,000 towards his wages then we won't be making it permanent at the end of the season. The other key players that we will be looking to utilise are John McGinn, Emiliano Buendia, Leon Bailey, Jacob Ramsay and of course Danny Ings up front

Aston Villa have a rich history with already winning the league a total of 7 times, 7 FA Cups, 5 League cups and the Champions League so the club has a rich history that we can hopefully live up to by managing to win it all again over the next few years.

The Start

Probably the best start we could hope for here as we start with a run of games that we should be able to get points from starting against Leeds on my first day at the club.



​

 

[leckuno]

Again, a great team to get!! No reason why you shouldn't be shooting up the table pretty sharpish. I'll be following!

Fingers crossed it goes the way I want it to

 

[leckuno]

November

Leeds United v Aston Villa

I held a team meeting before the match to try and rally the players and it seemed to work as Leon Bailey ran absolute riot over Leeds from the very first minute as he scored an excellent hat-trick to show he'll be key down the wing

Aston Villa v Burnley

What a first half performance here as we even manage to keep a clean sheet this time as well to show that we can be defensively sound

Aston Villa v Wolves

Buendia has come in for the injured Bailey down the right and made the position his own as he cut in twice to score to excellent solo goals.

Leicester v Aston Villa

Well we had to fight back twice from losing but we manage to salvage a draw and it was great to see Coutinho get on the score sheet as well instead of being involved in the assists. Ings also gets his first under me and hopefully it will be the first of many.

League

We came close to a dream month of winning all 4 games but the 10 points out of 12 is more than enough to fire us up the table and we are now 6 points clear of the relegation zone

December

Its going to be a busy month and the early games will be key as I don't fancy much from our final 2 games of the month.​

 

[leckuno]

December

Aston Villa v Crystal Palace

A disappointing result as this was a game I was expecting an easy 3 points from with our current form but we're undone by 2 quick goals and struggle to get back into the game after them.

Aston Villa v Everton

We bounce back with a win against Everton thanks to Watkins but we should of done better here and made it more comfortable.

West Ham v Aston Villa

We were so close to a win before a clumsy challenge just inside the area to give West Ham and Noble just doesn't miss them as we walk away with a disappointing point.

Carabao Cup Quarter Final
Leeds United v Aston Villa

A horrible loss after taking the lead but Leeds were the better team and I'm also quite happy just now not to have the extra 2 games next month.

Watford v Aston Villa

This game had a draw written all over it going into the final 5 minutes and Watford were unlucky in giving us the penalty but Ings took his chance to get the 3 points.

Arsenal v Aston Villa

Arsenal have been poor this season and we were able to take full advantage of that through an early corner with Konsa scoring a lovely header.

Aston Villa v Liverpool

We played a lovely game of park the bus here and it paid off as we took the lead through a lovely counter attacking move using Bailey's pace.

League

Well its safe to say we're safe from relegation now as we seem to be fighting it out for a European spot now

Youth Preview

Hopefully we can get a decent player out of this but we'll wait and see

January

Well its safe to say its a horrible end to the month.

With January it also brings the transfer window and I don't have any plans on signing anybody unless somebody leaves the club and we need to replace them. This is because the club is actually in a horrible amount of debt thanks to how transfers have been done over the years with instalments and its going to cost us over the next few seasons as we have a transfer debt of £87 million

 

[leckuno]

January

Transfers

So as expected no players joined or left the club this month from the first team as we look to continue with who we have but we did manage to sign one player on a pre-contract this month but that will all be revealed once they join in the summer.

Norwich v Aston Villa

A fine start to the month with a very dominant win against Norwich and Danny Ings even managed to find the goal which he's been having real problems with this season.

FA Cup 3rd Round
Aston Villa v Sheffield United

We did well in the opening 25 minutes here then Sheffield United kept everybody behind the ball which made them very difficult to play against but we managed to hold on to progress to the next round.

Aston Villa v Chelsea

Chelsea totally controlled this game and we were lucky to only lose it 1-0

Manchester City v Aston Villa

This was tough to take as we were on for a huge upset in getting a draw here but it all went to **** when a defensive error cost us the penalty.

Aston Villa v Arsenal

An even tougher loss to take here as we fully deserved a point at least but it was horrible to lose the game by conceding with the final touch of the ball before the whistle was blown.

League

Not a great month for us here as we take 3 points from 12 but we have still managed to move up to 8th and still in with a chance of a European spot come the end of the season

February

A much easier month this month along with a decent tie in the 4th round of the FA Cup against Norwich​

 

[leckuno]

February

FA Cup 4th Round
Aston Villa v Norwich

It wasn't as easy as the last time we played them but thanks to Ings popping up with another rare goal we progress to the 5th round. One downside to this is Coutinho got injured and will now miss the next 2-4 months.

Aston Villa v Newcastle

What a performance from Ollie Watkins as he puts in an excellent performance when given the chance as a striker rather than the wing as he single handily wins us the game.

Southampton v Aston Villa

We came very close here to blowing a 3 goal lead as Broja had a goal ruled out for offside with 5 minutes to go so we got very lucky to get the win here.

Aston Villa v Watford

We seem to be struggling against the teams sitting near the bottom of the table but I hope its because their fighting for survival but Bailey gets the important goal.

League

We're still in the fight for Europe as we sit just a point off 7th and only 7 points off 4th as well.

March

Another short month with the FA Cup but hopefully with 3 of the games being played away from home we'll be ok​

 

[leckuno]

March

FA Cup 5th Round
Arsenal v Aston Villa

Well our run comes to an end in the FA Cup as we really struggled against a poor Arsenal team.

Wolves v Aston Villa

We just never got going here and never deserved anything other than the loss.

Aston Villa v West Ham

Finally a better performance here and it certainly helped that we were playing against 10 men for over an hour but the early goal made a difference as well.

League

Its a race for 7th now so lets see what we can do as its looking like a 4 horse race.

Youth Intake

The youth intake has come and gone and it looks like we have at least one player who is going to make the first team over the next couple of seasons.

Paul Holmes is a great prospect and can be the future of the club at right back and doesn't look like he's too far away from reaching the first team.

Tiago Graca is an AM that will need to hit the weights if he wants to make it but we'll work with him and see what we can do with him.

April

The tail end of the season has come and we have a good run of games for us to pick up some points.​

 

[leckuno]

April

Aston Villa v Leicester

Watkins has been key for us down the left wing as he has contributed so much from both scoring and assists and he was the main difference here

Burnley v Aston Villa

It was a tale of 2 halves here as we should really have built on our lead from the first half but sadly our heads went down and it cost us in the 90th minute.

Everton v Aston Villa

Watkins again is the one who saves us here getting us a valuable point but we should really have won this game as Everton have been really poor.

Aston Villa v Leeds United

We seem to be in a bit of a slump as Leeds get revenge on us for us hammering them in my first game in charge as they show why they are above us in the table.

Crystal Palace v Aston Villa

We're finally back with a win to get the heads up and its safe to say we took full advantage of Gallagher's red card to get a confidence boosting win

Brentford v Aston Villa

Brentford made it really difficult here with a great defensive game but it was the one and only Ollie Watkins who pops up with the game winning goal.

League

We currently occupy 7th spot which is a long way from where the club was when I took over and we could still go higher.

May

We have 3 games left that could define our season. Can we hang on to the final European spot?​

 

[leckuno]

May

Aston Villa v Tottenham

Danny Ings seems to be finding his scoring boots right at the end of the season which is better than not scoring I guess.

Brighton v Aston Villa

A poor result against the team below us in the league as Mac Allister tears us to pieces.

Aston Villa v Manchester United

After going behind in the 1st minute I thought the game was over but Danny Ings pops up with 3 minutes to go to tap in from close range to get us a point.

League

Well the season is over and we managed to nab 7th place meaning we will be playing in the European Conference League next season which I fancy going after.

Budget

A decent budget to use for next season considering we also get 100% of all player sales as well and there are a good few players that will be moving on. The wage budget has been increased by £200,000 from last season and we can look to another £250,000 being added to the budget since Coutinho won't be back next season

Plans for Next Season

Well we want to be aiming for the minimum again next season but we will be looking to add to the squad as I will be looking for a new RB, CB, CM and ST as we need some more quality in all of these positions while also looking to move some players on​

 

[leckuno]

Season 2 Preseason

Transfers Out

Well only a few players left the club with a total of 19 players leaving the club over the summer.

We had some big names leave the club but they were either getting on and we brought a younger player in who is just as good or they really didn't perform well for example Ings left the club for Arsenal but he only scored 8 goals in the league all season so I didn't have the faith in him that was required for somebody on £100,000 a week.

Transfers In

We bring in 10 players to replace everybody that has left but add some serious quality to the team to help us stay in the European spots.

First through the door was Arsen Zakharyan who joins from Dynamo Moscow for £12million and he looks like he should develop into a **** of a player for us

Karim Adeyemi is next through the door and again is an absolute steal at only £16million from Red Bull Salzburg and will be our key striker this season.

We return to Salzburg and this time take centre back Oumar Solet for £15million. At only 22 he should be at the centre of our defence for years to come

Next is the player who signed a pre-contract in January who is an amazing free signing for any team as we welcome Andre Onana from Ajax who will compete for the starting spot in goal.

Another free transfer this time from Marseille is another young defender in Boubacar Kamara who again should be with us for years or net us a nice profit in a season or two if needed.

We then broke the bank to sing Conor Gallagher from Chelsea in a deal for £36.5million rising to £45million with instalments but I see it as a wise investment as he is the future of our midfield.

Owen Wijdal then comes in to replace Lucas Digne for £30million from AZ. With him being transfer listen he even picked us over Bayern which was nice to happen since he'll be straight into the 1st team.

With Crystal Palace relegated being relegated last season then it would have been rude not to have raided them for one of their best players in Michael Olise who cost us £17million

I realised that I really needed a quality right back as Matty Cash just wasn't as good as I wanted so again we raid recently relegated Norwich for Max Aarons for a whopping £45million

Finally we signed one last player on a free transfer as Christian Eriksen joins the club as at the worst we should be able to make a fair bit of cash from selling him come at the end of the season.

Squad

I feel that we now have a really strong squad for the season ahead and not many positions should need strengthened over the next season or 2.

Expectations

Nothing too much to worry about for the league as a top half finish should be easy enough for us to achieve with this squad but they might be asking a bit much on the cups as it all depends on who we draw in the earlier rounds.

Youth Player Promoted

The youth player I've decided to promote this season is Louie Barry who will play in the cups hopefully and be on the bench as back up for the season ahead.

Friendlies

We had a busy July taking in a total of 9 friendlies over the month to try and get everybody playing well together. We did well with just the 1 loss so hopefully that carries through into the season ahead.

August

Not the easiest start in the league and then we have the joy of having to go through a qualifying round for the Conference League as well
​

 

[leckuno]

August

Aston Villa v Manchester City

This was always going to be a tough game to start with but Adeyemi has a dream debut as he secures us a vital point.

Southampton v Aston Villa

Watkins picks up where he left off last season with 2 excellent goals from cutting in from the left wing.

Aston Villa v St. Gallen

A nice easy win with Bailey being the stand out performer with an excellent hat-trick all starting off with a 2nd minute penalty. The big moment came though when Louie Barry scored on his debut within 2 minutes of coming onto the park as a sub.

Arsenal v Aston Villa

We really struggled in this game and it looked like we were going to lose it and probably deserved to as well but its Watkins who appears again to salvage us a point in the dying moments of the game

St Gallen v Aston Villa

With the game all but one we were able to rotate most the starting XI here and it nearly cost us as we conceded twice but still make the main draw as expected.

Aston Villa v Burnley

A nice win for us against Burnley as Watkins just can't stop scoring at the moment. It was also great to see Olise get on the scoresheet as well after coming off the bench.

League

We managed an undefeated month and that leaves us in 5th spot 4 points behind 1st at the moment.

Europa Conference League

It should be straight forward to finish in the top 2 and even allow us to rotate the squad as well to give other players a chance.

September

Some tough games in the league this month as we will also look to compete in Europe as well.​

 

[StormToChampion]

Great first season. Nice to see u finishing 7th and qualifying for the ECL.

 

[leckuno]

September

Carabao Cup 3rd Round
Leeds United v Aston Villa

What a game for Adeyemi as he nets an excellent hat-trick before Barry comes on for him and manages to bag a goal for himself as well.

Liverpool v Aston Villa

The gulf in class was shown here as Liverpool were just far too good for us today.

Europa Conference League
Shakhtyor Soligorsk v Aston Villa

What a game for us as we manage to score 8 goals and safe to say I was disappointed that we didn't keep a clean sheet.. Buendia had the game of his life scoring 5 goals.

Aston Villa v Leeds United

What a start as we raced to a 2-0 lead in the opening 6 minutes. Scoring goals is not an issue for this team now it seems and Adeyemi is much better than Ings last season.

Europa Conference League
Aston Villa v Lille

One of our toughest games in the conference league this season and even Lille don't cause us a problem.

Aston Villa v Manchester United

What a final 5 minutes for us. I'd written our changes off with 15 minutes to go but what a comeback to salvage a big point for us.

Europa Conference League
Aston Villa v AEK Larnacas

Barry is given a starting spot for this game and shoes that we were right to promote him for this season as he gets a brace to increase his goal tally.

October

Only the 9 games to get through this month so squad rotation will be key for us to stay in the hunt for everything.​

 

[leckuno]

October

Chelsea v Aston Villa

Again the gulf in class is shown here but it really didn't help that we were playing with 10 men for 89 minutes.

Carabao Cup 4th Round
Tottenham v Aston Villa

A much better performance as we progress in the cup and it was made all the easier with the very early goal from Eriksen against his former club.

Brighton v Aston Villa

Its safe to say we struggled here as we just couldn't break Brighton down at all but got very lucky in the 90th minute with a well placed shot from Olise.

Brentford v Aston Villa

Not alot to say here apart from that it was a really poor game from us

West Ham v Aston Villa

We bounce back again quickly thanks to a big first half as Olise is showing he can make the step up to playing for a team fighting for European spots.

Europa League
AEK Larnacas v Aston Villa

Great to see young getting on the score sheet when he's given a rare chance at 37 as who knows how long it will be before we can get him to join the coaching staff

West Brom v Aston Villa

Eriksen the key man here with 2 great free kicks and setting up the goal for Bailey as well.

Europa League
Lille v Aston Villa

Lille really made us work for it here and we had to fight back from an early goal as well but we were strong enough to win and have won 5 out of 5 games so far.

Aston Villa v Leicester

A bit of a European hangover it seems as we have to fight back from behind twice but manage to secure the point thanks to Louie Barry who came on with half an hour to go.

League

Well it looks like Liverpool have already won the league after winning all their games so far but for us to be sitting 6th is still great as we look to build on last season.

November

A nice short month thanks to the World Cup and its even better with all the games being at home as well.​

 

[leckuno]

November

Europa Conference
Aston Villa v Shakhtyor Soligorsk

We finish with 6 wins out of 6 and Barry takes his rare chance again with yet another brace in Europe for us.

Aston Villa v Fulham

A routine win against Fulham as we took a 2-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes then didn't really need to worry after that.

Aston Villa v Everton

Watkins and Adeyemi have formed a great partnership this season as they both keep scoring and setting each other up. Long may it continue.

League

Liverpool are still yet to lose a game but we do climb up to 4th which would be huge for us to get.

January

We have a nice tie in the Caraboa Cup but we might need to worry as Blackpool did manage to knock out Manchester city. The FA cup could of been kinder to us as well but we'll give it our best.​

 

[leckuno]

January

Wolves v Aston Villa

We get very lucky today as we get an early goal through Zakharyan and then hold on for another 80 minutes.

Aston Villa v Sheffield United

Adeyemi is showing he was well worth the £15 million that we spent on him in the summer.

FA Cup 3rd Round
Tottenham v Aston Villa

This was poor as we should of won it in the 90 minutes then struggled against 10 men in extra time so I guess we deserve to fall at the first hurdle.

Carabao Cup Quarter Final
Aston Villa v Blackpool

Well we march on in one cup at least as we make the Semi Final after Bailey had his game of the season.

Newcastle United v Aston Villa

We should of done enough here to win it but conceding in the final 5 minutes was tough to take

Tottenham v Aston Villa

This was a drab game after the opening 21 minutes as neither team had another shot on target after the 2 goals.

Carabao Cup Semi Final
Liverpool v Aston Villa

We cam so close to doing it in normal time to concede with the final kick of the ball but we managed to hold on through extra time and then local lad Ramsay scored the winning penalty.

Manchester United v Aston Villa

We only had a couple of days between games and we'd thrown everything at Liverpool so struggled here as United were able to run us off the park but at least we put up a fight.

Aston Villa v Brighton

A really poor game from us and there isn't much more to say on this.

League

Despite a poor final 4 games last month we manage to hold onto 4th by a point.

Transfers Out

We had 2 big transfers out this month bringing a lot of cash into the club

Cash was 2nd fiddle so to get £30million for him I wasn't able to turn it down. Leon Bailey also left for Liverpool for £46.5million which again was just too good to turn down which we could reinvest in the squad. Wesley Moraes came back from his loan spell to be sold straight away as he was never going to get first team football.

Transfers In

We made two transfers this month.

Anel Ahmedhodzic joins from Malmo for the low low fee of £2.5million and we all know how good he can turn out so why not take the punt

The 2nd transfer we signed Reiss Nelson from Arsenal for £53million. I've decided I wanted to bring in a few more English players in the squad even if I need to pay a premium but he will be a great replacement for Bailey.

February

Some tough games in the league but our big match with be our first Final come the end of the month

​

 

[leckuno]

February

Everton v Aston Villa

Our first of two games against Everton this month and our two central midfielders run riot and give us a big boost for the end of the month

Aston Villa v Chelsea

We got off to a flying start thanks to Watkins as we race into a 3-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes. I did get the fear though when Chelsea started to pull it back but thank god they ran out of time

Aston Villa v Tottenham

Olise came on as a sub at half time and makes a quick impact as he scores and gets us the 3 points.

Southampton v Aston Villa

We came close to throwing it all away as Southampton also had a goal chopped off either side of half time for offside.

Carabao Cup Final
Everton v Aston Villa

Well we've gone and won our first trophy as Adeyemi came to the rescue with half an hour to go as it looked like it could of gone either way up until that point but we lift the League Cup and hopefully the first of many

League

We hold on to 4th spot and will be looking to make it our own going forward

March

We're back in Europe and then its a nice short month thanks to the internationals.​