Taking On The Pentagon Challenge

[Sam91]

The Pentagon Challenge

What is The Pentagon?

Well its this, you start unemployed with a Sunday League reputation and you try to win all five continental Champions Leagues(European Champions League, South American Champions League, Asian Champions League, African Champions League and North American Champions League) in one save game. Simple.

Its basically the Ultimate Challenge. If completed you are an FM God.



So here I go lads, wish me luck. I'll probably do 3 monthly updates as monthly updates will drag it out even longer than its going to take me!!



Manager Profile

As you can see Sunday League reputation and no coaching badges as well.



League's Loaded

So gonna concentrate on the Asian Champions League and African one as they're the ones with the lowest reputation. Then move on to the North American, then South American and finally ending up with the European one



Available Jobs

Quite a few jobs out there!! Gonna just apply for them all, hoping for one in the South African Premiership


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[Sam91]

Jomo Cosmos

So after getting offered 3 jobs in the South African National Division and one job in China I settled with Jomo Cosmos!! They were the best team to be honest, the other two South African teams didn't have as good facilities or expectations. The Chinese team were rock bottom already and having money problems.


History

Not bad at all really!! Average youth facilities, junior coaching and above average youth recruitment. Good training facilities. An 8000 all seater stadium built back in 2013. They finished 6th last year but I'm expected to win promotion this year with them!



Squad


Now here we have a slight problem. I'm gonna play my trusted 4-3-3 with wingers and 3 in the middle with one of them holding. But the squad has no first team full backs!! I've promoted a few reserve team full backs though so we'll see how we get on with them.

I play with one up front so obviously some of these strikers shall be moved on.
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[coolmcool]

good luck mate!

 

[Safc-mad-scotty]

Good luck mate, squad doesn't look too shabby so hopefully you can get off to a solid start in South Africa!

 

[Sam91]

Good luck mate, squad doesn't look too shabby so hopefully you can get off to a solid start in South Africa!

Yeah just gonna use Jomo as a platform till Orlando Pirates, Sundowns or Kaizer Chiefs job comes up really!! Shame FM ony has South Africa available

good luck mate!

Thanks man

 

[Sam91]

August 2014 - November 2014

Cracking start to the league campaign
Star striker poached
Should be in the title race this season



Results

What a start hey!!! To be honest most of my squad are head and shoulders above the rest of this league. We had some decent players in our reserves who I promoted and some tidy young players as well. Madoda Motha has been immense but sadly attracted interest from Europe and was sold for a measly £14k as he was in the last year of his contract, refusing to sign a new one and threatened to start a dressing room revolt against me!! Not what I want at my first job!!

Anyway if we continue like this hopefully we can win promotion if not then I should start attracting interest from teams in the Premier Division.


Table

So with everyone having played 10 games out of a 30 game season the table is starting to take shape. We're leading the pack but by just 3 points as we have Baroka FC chasing us down. African Warriors aren't too far behind either. But we should still finish in the top 3. Second and Third in our league join second from bottom in the Premier League in a mini group at the end of the season to determine who plays in the top division the following season.



Our Top Performers

Here's all our players who are averaging over a 7.00 rating. As you can see a number of Under 23 players involved for us this season including 18 year old keeper Ramkgasha who was attracting interest from Ajax CT in the summer with bids nearing £100k but I rejected them all. Motha is off now to Djurgarden but Peter Chukwudi will come in to replace him.



Player of the Period

Madoda Motha

Its been a short, crazy but goal filled few months with the lad and I wish him all the best in Sweden.



Next 10 Games

Couple of tough games coming up, Milano were predicted to finish top but are struggling somewhat. Also we enter the SA Cup which could be a bit of money and a reputation boost for us if we do well.​

 

[Sam91]

November 2014 - February 2015

Promotion all but secured barring an almighty collapse
Do finally lose a league match
Injury crisis at centre back and up front



Results

Not a bad set of results at all considering we lost our best striker and hit something of an injury crisis around the Baroka match. I was having to play a left back at centre back and was down to my last, pretty ****, striker too!! We pulled through though and even though we did finally lose our first match to mid-table side Highlands Park we're still sitting pretty in the league.

In the cup we've won our preliminary round against Milano United thanks to a last minute penalty. What I do like about the South African leagues is that its just one cup competition and its played pretty late in the season so we dont have to worry about squad rotation and fixture congestion.



Table

A whopping 11 points clear now with 10 games remaining. Priority is securing that promotion for next season everything else can wait till then.



Our Top Performers

Shane Thompson has been an absolute beast at right back all season. The Sono brothers have also impressed in the middle of the park but Matsilele is attracting interest from Viking and I've agreed to sell him if we get a decent offer. Our keeper Ramkgasha might not be on this list anymore buts its hard for a keeper to maintain a 7.00 average rating if he's not kept too busy. Our defence has been rock solid and he's kept a whopping 14 clean sheets from 20 games!!



Player of the Period

Shane Thompson

Been stunning for us at right back and even chipped in with a couple of goals as well.



Next Ten Games

I say our final ten games, its our final 10 league games plus whatever SA Cup matches we play depending on how far we get.



And on a personal note...

My first coaching course
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[Safc-mad-scotty]

Cracking start mate! The title should be won pretty easily from here and nice to see you getting them coaching badges in early, good luck for the rest of the season.

 

[Sam91]

Cracking start mate! The title should be won pretty easily from here and nice to see you getting them coaching badges in early, good luck for the rest of the season.

Thanks mate, just finished the season so will post the update tomorrow after work

 

[Sam91]

February 2015 - May 2015

Poor end of season form threatens our title chances
No jobs available in the South African Premiership
Knocked out of the SA Cup by Swallows



Results

So as you can see our end of season form was somewhat patchy. I have no idea why but it always seem to happen to me!! We struggled to score goals and started leaking them way too much. Injuries played their part but still its not okay. Anyway we ended up getting knocked out by Premiership side Swallows who finished a respectable 7th and had the leagues top goalscorer too so it was nice to gauge ourselves against a side we will be up against next year.



Table

CHAMPIONS!! Only by three points in the end but still we will be playing in the Premiership next season.



The Magic Sevens

Three other players ended with an average of 6.98 so thats not too bad. Shane Thompson was my stand out player this season. Matsiele Sono ended up being sold for £70k but would have been on this list too. Mototo has announced his retirement.



Player of the Season

Shane Thompson

When I came here he was sat in the reserves but I promoted him and he was brilliant.



Available Jobs

None that interest me at all. I could easily go to England to try and boost my reputation but I don't want to do this save like that. I'll bide my time and wait for a job in the South African Premiership with one of the big boys.



South African Premiership Final League Table

Wits won the league!!! Amazing stuff really. But bodes well for us that the three big boys finished third, fourth and fifth. Hopefully one of their managers will be sacked next season and I can get a job with them. Until then I stay with the Jomo Cosmos!!
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[Sam91]

Nervous Times For Birch

News reports in South Africa are reporting that Jomo Cosmos are close to completing a takeover with Khewzi Masondo set to purchase the club for £375k to take charge of the club.

Manager Sam Birch is said to be under threat with the potential new chairman wanting to bring in his own man. Birch managed to get Jomo Cosmos promoted last season and has made a solid start to this season in the Premiership but only time will tell if he can hang on to his first job in management.

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[dllu]

What?? What happened to Jomo Sono? Did he retire? :O

 

[Sam91]

What?? What happened to Jomo Sono? Did he retire? :O

I guess so, he wasn't Chairman when I joined so i'm guessing he's packed it in!!

 

[Sam91]

Birch To Keep Job After Jomo Cosmos Takeover

Khwezi Masondo has successfully completed his takeover of Jomo Cosmos, replacing former Chairman Lucas Mkhize.

According to The South African Football Chronicle, the former director is said to be relishing the prospect of taking the club forward.

There were rumours that he may want to replace current manager Sam Birch with a native South African manager but he has since dismissed these claims.

''Sometimes when a new owner comes in they want to bring in a new manager, but I see no need to do this considering Mr Birch has managed to get us promoted and has made a good start to the current season.''

Sam Birch's contract is up at the end of the current season and he's said to be disappointed that the new owner took so long to public declare that he wanted him to remain as manager.
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[Sam91]

August 2015 - January 2016

Solid enough start to the league
Sign a new contract until June 2017
Scoring goals becoming a problem



League Results

So we've had an okay start to life in the Premiership, we had a tough start facing the Champions but managing to get a decent draw. Then we faced Chippa United who finished third last year, alas we managed to get a very solid win. After that a three game spell where we failed to net had me fearing the worst. Alas we turned it around with a tidy 2 wins a 2 draws. Finished the period poorly until that win over Black Aces.

Anyway those results mean we shouldn't be struggling too much should we..



Table

Seventh!! Not too bad at all!! All those teams above us are decent teams who I'd love a crack at managing. Orlando Pirates are obviously a well known South African side but they're struggling this year so if they sack their manager we'll see!! Chippa United have gone from third to fourteenth just shows how crazy this league is!!



The Magic Sevens

Hmmm not many in this club this season with us playing so dodgy!! Makhanya is refusing to sign a new contract too so will probably be off at the end of the season.



Player of the Period

Thato Sithole

The young centre back has done well and become a regular at the back



Remaining Games

Chippa up next and with them struggling I'll be hoping to pick up 3 points again. I'm hoping for a top 8 finish to build off for next season, if I remain here.
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[Sam91]

What?? What happened to Jomo Sono? Did he retire? :O

Just came up in my emails, guess he left to become a manager!!

 

[Sam91]

Jomo Cosmos Sign Topio Coulibaly

Jomo Cosmos have announced the signing of defensive midfielder Coulibaly on a free transfer after his contract ran out with previous club AFAD Djekanou. He joins after an impressive 2015 season of 5 goals and 9 assists.

Manager Sam Birch had this to say:

''I'm delighted to sign Topio. I think it really shows how much progress we're making as a club signing someone of his quality. Hopefully he can make an impact here and help this club reach the next level''

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[dllu]

Just came up in my emails, guess he left to become a manager!!

OK, something is not quite right here. The age is correct, but "picked up a handful of caps for South Africa"?? JS obviously played during the apartheid era, so what did he do? Field himself when he later became NT coach? XD

 

[Sam91]

OK, something is not quite right here. The age is correct, but "picked up a handful of caps for South Africa"?? JS obviously played during the apartheid era, so what did he do? Field himself when he later became NT coach? XD

I literally have no idea mate here's a screenie anyway, has a decent record for the national team too!!

 

[dllu]

I literally have no idea mate here's a screenie anyway, has a decent record for the national team too!!

Hmm - that is clearly the right guy. I guess we discovered an error in the FM database then! (H)

Sorry, I'll let you get back to business and stop hijacking your thread now...