[retired_TigressTrista]

Oky I will try to get this started sometime today.

[retired_DonnyLFC]

I remember a challenge I found on one of the smaller sites on either 06 or 07, can't remember, but he put up a save game that started on January 1st. You were to become manager of Real Madrid whose new eccentric manager had sold all of the 'Galacticos' before being placed under a transfer embargo. The Real Madrid reserves took them to a healthy bottom place (obviously). You take over with a sum of money, around £125million I think it was, and have to buy a side that has to save them from relegation.

The problem that cropped up was that even though you took over in January you'd get sacked for the teams performance from July to January.

I loved this challenge! I just can't seem to sell all the players to set it up though..

[retired_ironmaden]

Two ideas are popping to my mind:

Challenge: Fly the Nordic Cross

I first thought of this during my FM07 save in Sweden. I found some clubs, former champions/cup winners of their respective country (Sweden, Denmark, Norway) rotting in the bottom playable league (that means SWE 4th, NOR/DEN 3rd tier).

- B93 (Denmark, champions 9 times between 1916-46)
- Fässbergs IF (Sweden, champions in 1924)
- IFK Eskilstuna (Sweden, champions in 1921)
- IK Sleipner (Sweden, champions in 1938)
- SK Gjovik-Lyn (Norway, cup winners in 1962)

If anyone knows more former champions in the lowest playable league, just give a shout. I excluded BK from Denmark, as they seem to be the reserves of FC Copenhagen now.

The Challenge

Take control of one of these teams. Please set your past experience realistically. Load up the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish leagues (all the way down). No additional nations can be retained. Database size is up to you (and your PC's abilities)

The aim: to take one of these clubs back to their former glory, with using players and staff ONLY from Nordic countries. These are: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Faroe Islands. To put it short: the flag must contain the Nordic cross in it

The steps:

1. To get the chosen team through to the top tier of the given country.
2. To repeat their long-gone success: win the local top division's title
3. To collect the local cup, too. It doesn't have to be in the same season as the championship title. Neither has priority over the other, just win them.
4. Take the team to at least the semi-final of a European Cup. Winning, of course, is a bonus.
5. To take over the national team of the country you selected, and win a major international trophy (WC or EC) with them.

Guidelines:

- Only players that were scouted, recommended by staff/players at the club or trialled can be signed
- Staff must be all-Nordic too. Staff have to be searched via the job center, if needed.
- No external utilies should be used. DB must be unedited.
- Parent/feeder clubs are allowed
- If a player has dual nationality, he may stay at your club as long as his flag shows the Nordic cross. So if a guy has Swedish/Macedonian nationality, as long as his flag stays Swedish, he can stay. If he gets called up to the Macedonian national team, and accepts, he may stay as long as he has a contract, but no further.
- Same with foreign players already at the clubs when starting. I'm aware of the fact that (especially in lower leagues) releasing players is a financial burden, so they can stay until their contract runs out, should it put you in a bad financial position.

That's it about the challenge. Any comments?

---

Holiday AI Experiment - How far can the perfect staff take a team?

Of course this was partly inspired by kipfizh's classic AI experiment, and Jimbokav's Ass. man experiment, too.

We've seen how a team consisting of the perfect young players did. I've always felt that The Bandits' progress was slowed down by managers not up to the task, and an unambitious chairman.

I've thought about the following, to tes how much effect can the backroom staff have over the club's fortunes.

- "The perfect staff" will be added to the seemingly weakest sides in the English Conference N/S, with maximum attributes in their relevant fields+determination, list the club as a favourite, and have the same way of thinking about the game: same preferrd formation/mentality etc. Their reputation will be as low as it can be. In order not to get poached, they will have very long contracts (I'm thinking about 10 years, if it can be set) and quite high wages. Of course the club's financial state has to be altered a bit, in order to cope with the staff wages.

- The player squad will be as it is at the moment. No changes.

- I'm not sure if it can be done by an outside editor, but if the answer is yes, that could add another aspect. My thought is to set up two different chairmen for the clubs. One like Jesus Gil: the highly ambitious, high-spending, glory hungry chairman, with high interference and very short patience. The other the opposite: not interfering, likes to be hands off and just watch the team evolve - like the board of Auxerre, who left Guy Roux in the manager's seat for something like 40 years.

The questions:

- Given the perfect staff, how much of an advantage can it be for the two team over their divisional rivals? Can the perfect staff take such a lowly team to the Premiership glory and beyond?

- How much superiority does having the perfect manager mean in matches? Is he outsmarting lower league managers with his tactics? Or firing up the squad with well-made team-talks?

- How much of a difference can two differing chairmen mean? Will the highly ambitious chairman give everything he could (players, money, etc.) for the team, and how soon will he lose patience with the perfect staff, if things do not go their way? On the other hand: having a laid-back chairman is ideal for building the team and progressing slowly. But can he hinder the club's progress due to the lack of ambition?

Any comments and suggestions are welcome.

[retired_amberly0ne]

just an idea .

start an unemployed career , repuatation of proffesional footballer , and try to work your way to premierleague glory.

similair to dafuges challenge , but easier

[retired_macca1875]

Originally posted by smithers08:
just an idea .

start an unemployed career , repuatation of proffesional footballer , and try to work your way to premierleague glory.

similair to dafuges challenge , but easier

I think it would be better to set your reputation to the lowest possible, so you have to work your way up from the very bottom.

[retired_amberly0ne]

yeh i agree , like i say . the challenge is very similair to dafuge small to big club challenge , but wih this one you will be able to change teams throughout , in order for you to have a bit of variation

[prof101]

Challenge: Fly the Nordic Cross

Fantastic Idea! :thup: I would give that a go!

[retired_charytine]

Very interesting idea there WW. :thup:

[retired_jasminens]

"Stealing" your idea, with the Italian leagues WW. Testing it in "beta" stage. I didn't just flip the leagues, basically turned the whole country on its head.

Sorted the Italian clubs from lowest reputation to highest, starting with clubs at 50 reps. And swapped the first 20 to Serie A. So Serie A looks something like this..

Serie A table

Only changed A so far, if I get into, I'll start a new topic.

[retired_0PETE1]

dafuge - Any more news on the one-season challenge ideas?