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As you should know by now, FMV celebrated it's 4th Birthday at the start of this month. The celebrations continued long into the night and we awoke with two things we hadn't had the night before - a vicious headache and a plane ticket from Qantas! We therefore decided not to let this opportunity pass us by and we'll continue the party down under in the Australian sunshine.
So grab your passports, get out the budgie smugglers, and slap on the sunscreen as the Tour marches on!
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The Club
Melbourne Victory FC (nicknamed the Blues or the Victory) are an Australian football team formed in 2004, and plying their trade in the Hyundai A-League. The Victory have led the A-League in attendances every year since the 2006-07 season and is also considered the most successful club domestically in the A-League, having won two A-League Championships and two Premiers Plates.
Their colours (navy blue and white) are traditional Victoria state colours, yet they are known as an open and friendly club with many fans of all nationalities. Their main rivals are Sydney FC and Adelaide United FC, whilst their local rivals Melbourne Heart FC (recently formed in 2009) are quickly becoming a major rival in their own right. As all these clubs compete in the Hyundai A-League, there is a lot of pride to play for in the years ahead.
The League
The A-League is the top Australasian professional football league. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia (FFA), it was founded in 2004 following the folding of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is officially known as the Hyundai A-League. The league is contested by ten teams: ten located across Australia and one from New Zealand.
There are minimum and maximum squad sizes of 15 and 39 players respectively, which offers a good ammount of cover and flexibility. 23 of these may be over the age of 21, the rest at or under that age. This squad must come in at or under the wage cap of £20.08k per week (excluding Marquee Players). Up to two Marquee Players may be signed and registered - at least one of which must be and Australian national. A maximum of five foreign players can be registered as part of the squad, and one may be signed as a Marquee Player to avoid the wage cap.
The eleven teams play each other three times each for a total of thirty matches, the top side being crowned Premiers of the division. Once the regular season has finished there is a secondary stage for the top six sides, this series is called the Finals. In the Minor Semi Finals the teams that finished 6th-3rd in the regular season are drawn against each other, with the two victors going into the Major Semi Finals. The winners of the Major Semi Finals battle are drawn against the top two teams from the regular season to decide the finalists. The winners of the Grand Final are crowned as Champions and together with the Premiers (or the losers of the Grand final if one team wins both) qualify for the Asian Champions League.
The Job
Chairman Geoff Lord is waiting to hand the reins over to Anthony Di Pietro as as such has chosen you to replace the departing Ernie Merrick as head coach of the Melbourne Victory for the coming season. Nothing less than trophies will apease them as they look to build upon last seasons second placed finish and become one of the major players in the Asian Federation for decades to come.
Thier link with Tianjin means the pathway is open for Chinese stars of the future to showcase their talents in this well publicised league if the manager wishes to take advantage of this fact.
The Staff
Aaron Healey is happy to stay on as your assistant and the rest of the staff are looking forward to seeing what you can do. However it must be noted that a foreign face or two might be just what's needed to improve quality in this emerging team.
Both the Physio and Scouting departments might need an overhaul to ensure the best possible future for the club.
The Players
Known for their creative 352 formations, the Blues need a good playmaker to open up defences and give you the best possible chance. Luckily Carlos Hernandez fit's this role well and the dead-ball specialist offers a threat at set-pieces too!
Young strikers Robbie Kruse and Mate Dugandzic are showing a ton of promise, whilst experienced keeper Michael Petkovic provides leadership and quality at the back. There is work to be done at the team however with most pundits highlighting a lack of real quality in the defence.
One possible worry is the fact that Kevin Muscat is showing signs of ageing and the legendary captain must be replaced sooner rather than later. The question of how to replace such an icon is one the new manager must provide an answer for.
KEY HISTORY
Premiers: 2006-07, 2008-09
Champions: 2006-07, 2008-09
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AAMI Stadium
The AAMI Stadium (also known as Melbourne Rectangular Stadium) is a 30,500 all-seater capacity stadium that was opened in May 2010. It is home to the Melbourne Storm (Rugby League), Melbourne Rebels (Rugby Union), Melbourne Heart (Football), and of course the Melbourne Victory.
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The exterior of the stadium is also covered in thousands of LED lights, which can be programmed to display a variety of patterns and images. The stadium features a "Bioframe" design, with a geodesic dome roof covering much of the seating area, while still allowing light through to the pitch. The northern and southern sides of the stadiums are called the Olympic Side and Yarra Side respectively.
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CHALLENGE DYNAMICS
This challenge will last for three years, upon completing your third season in Australia (1st July 2013), you can no longer collect points for this destination.
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You must start set your manager experience as "Automatic" and be playing in a new save from June 2010.
You have until the midnight of 30th September 2011 to submit your screenshots in this thread, and accumulate as many points as you can within the confines of a maximum of 3 seasons in the game.
You must use the Official 11.3.0 database.
You may not manage any other teams, or use other programs to aid you in this challenge
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HOW TO SCORE POINTS
Submit screenshots via reply within this thread of your progress.
Unclear or doctored screenshots will not be rewarded with points.
A-League Regular Season
10th-7th: 0 points
6th: 2 points
5th: 5 points
4th: 8 points
3rd: 10 points
2nd: 15 points
Premiers: 25 points
A-League Finals
Losing Minor Semi Finalist: 0 points
Losing Major Semi Finalist: 2 points
Losing Grand Finalist: 5 points
Champions: 10 points
ASIAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Group Stage Losers: 0 points
Lost at in Second Round: 5 points
Losing Quarter Finalists: 10 points
Losing Semi Finalists: 25 points
Losing Finalist: 30 points
Winner: 50 points
RIVALRIES
(Competitive Fixtures Only)
Beat Sydney FC: 5 points
Beat Adelade United: 3 points
Beat Melbourne Heart: 3 points
POINT DEDUCTIONS
Sacked: -25 points (and the challenge is over)
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