2nd In League And UEFA Cup Retained

The Challenge is now officially over for me and season 5 ended with me finishing 2nd in the league and retaining the UEFA Cup with a 4-0 demolition of Reading. As you can see from the league table Real Madrid went the whole season unbeaten which was very disappointing as from very early on in the season i knew i wasn't going to win the league.
Bogdan Stancu was the hero again for me scoring an amazing 64 goals in 52 appearances. Thats 110 goals in 2 seasons!
Andrey Arshavin had another amazing season aswell getting 29 assists and 16 goals.
The other 2 players that stood out for me were Nortdveit and Kodro although the latters chances were severly limited by Stancu.

One of the disappointments of the challenge was the fact i played Real Madrid 10 times and never beat them once. My record over Barcelona however is much better. I also never made it past the Quarter Final Stages of the Spanish Cup. The finances at the moment are looking ok and the wage structure is well under control.

I have now officially resigned from the club and checkout this screenshot to see the Board pay tribute to me. I am also happy at my staff because 3 of them have left in the wake of me resigning including my first signing for the club Ray Wilkins and legend Darko Kovacevic.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my 5 seasons but like i said in my previous post i am now going to shelve the game and wait for FM2009 to be released. Thanks for reading and for those still taking the challenge on please keep me updated with how you get on. Adios amigos. Till next time....

UPDATE 27/08/08 - Being the sad individual that i am i couldn't help but let the game run on for a season while i "went on holiday" to see how Real Sociedad would get on without me. Avram Grant the former Chelsea Manager took over my position and by all accounts had a nightmare. He only managed to finish 9th in the League, got knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage, sold Stancu to Valencia and replaced him with Lavezzi from Napoli and to top it off has allowed my prodigy Kenan Kodro to join Roma for free! Bloody hopeless!

The End Is Near....

No the world is not about to end but my challenge is (for me anyway) so apologies for the dramatic post title. After giving it some thought i have decided i won't be continuing with my game after this season and will in fact be having a break from the game in anticipation for FM2009 coming out. I currently have about 10 games of season 5 left to play and once completed i will update with the details.

I have decided however the Real Sociedad Challenge will be making a comeback for FM2009 as Real Sociedad will unfortunately still be in the 2nd division next season after finishing 4th in real life and with many players leaving and financial problems affecting the club it should be even harder next time. I am undecided whether i will continue with the current blog or revamp it. Stay tuned for details though.

I would like to say a massive thanks to all who have taken on the challenge and congradulations again to headshotbg for winning it. Also thanks to everyone who contributed by posting comments, especially you Vincent (i will continue to follow your FM career with interest). Adios for now.

Cameroon Stint Ends In Failure!

I said in my last post i would update if anything major happened and it did. After a hugely disappointing African Nations Cup campaign where i was defeated in the Semi-Final to Ivory Coast, i decided not to continue for the World Cup Qualifying campaign and quit the post. To make matters worse i got beat in the 3rd/4th place match against Ghana much to the disgust of the fans. Despite the disappointment, the Cameroonian Football Association were satified with the teams performance but my heart wasn't in it enough to continue and can now focus on finishing the challenge with Real Sociedad. I managed to satisfy my hunger for International management but probably should have waited for a European team. Oh well, cest la vie!

Stancu Blowing Opposition Away!

Well here i am with the mid-season update for the final season of the challenge. I am currently 2nd in the league behind Real Madrid which for me is a fantastic achievement but is tainted with some disappointment after the run of victories i have had. I find myself 11 points behind them as they run away with the league with no defeats so far. I am still in the UEFA Cup though and have Copenhagen in the first round knockout stage.

Two defeats that crushed my chances of winning La Liga came back to back from first Barcelona and then Real Madrid. On the plus side i am having the best season so far. This is largely down to one player - Bogdan Stancu! He is having an incredible season so far and is winning most games by himself. In one game against Gimnastic he scored 5 and to think i nearly kept Samaras instead of getting him. His current goal tally in all competitions so far is 37 goals in 22 games and is well on course to beat last seasons tally. Arshavin has also been great with 23 assists so far.

On the Cameroon front i am soon to play in the African Nations Cup so will be looking to do well in that although i won't be crying too much if i don't.

As usual i will update again at the end of the season unless something dramatic happens and i will update sooner. Adios amigos and thanks for reading.