“Football, bloody hell.” – Sir Alex Ferguson (Me in my bathroom mirror).

Well, as promised we are continuing our challenges for Football Manager 2022, and this time we will be focussing on perhaps less traditional, more short-term challenges, with many of these taking between 1-3 seasons to ‘complete’, perfect for the upcoming Christmas period, where many of us will be desperate to escape the usual family ‘get-togethers’.

We will be putting together several of these lists through the year, so as always, let us know if you have any challenges you’re trying out this year (@NextGoalWinBlog on Twitter) or let us know if you’ve taken on any of our suggestions, we’d love to hear from you.

So, let’s get going with these challenges, grab your suit and tie, iron your shirt, and do a bit of media training for those bathroom mirror interviews on cup final day, and most importantly, good luck out there!

Bolton Wanderers

Bolton have fallen on hard times in recent years, and although things are slowly steadying at the club, their is still huge disarray financially and on-field. Currently sitting mid-table in League 1, things are better than they have been in the past 5 years, however this challenge is still a huge undertaking for anyone looking to revive a side that realistically should never have fallen on the hard times that they have.

With an inability to splash the cash and having to balance the books first and foremost, this challenge is one for the savvy transfer specialists as opposed to the big spenders (looking at you Harry Redknapp). With the potential to complete this challenge in between 3-10 seasons, it would be the perfect task to undertake for those looking for a fairly short-term task and without the need to drop into the lower leagues which many are less familiar with. My advice for this one is to expect lots of loan-signings and focus on youth prospects to ensure financial stability and will develop as you move through the leagues. If all else fails, just go all Big Sam on them.

Welcome To Miami

“Bienvenidos a Miami” as I believe the song goes.

Anyways, back to the Football Manager, this challenge is another that I thought about, despite not knowing too much about the MLS itself, however I am well-aware that founder David Beckham has created and marketed a new football club in America which could possibly dominate the American league for years to come. Particularly, with Phil Neville joining their ranks, and signing huge names such as Higuaín, Blaise Matuidi and even Kieran Gibbs and Ryan Shawcross. It’s a great project which looks determined to succeed, however with their early years trying to build up the squad and foundations, you could be the person to lead them to their first glory in Football Manager 22.

I don’t think this one will take too much time to complete, as I assume they will be financially secure enough to allow for some big signings, and the MLS setup means it shouldn’t take too long to conquer the league, however it’s certainly an interesting challenge to take on, as you are entering in the very early stages of a new major footballing side, so you could be their legendary manager to build and develop a legacy.

Nottingham Forest

This one might not quite be a ‘sleeping giants’ style challenge, however Nottingham Forest must still be recognised as one of England’s most decorated European sides after their back-to-back European Cup trophies in the late 70s under the great Brian Clough.

Because of this great history, this challenge of recapturing European success will be a tough one, particularly as this current Forest side are sitting fairly mid-table in the Championship standings. As a result, first you will need domestic success before taking on the top sides in Europe. It’s another one of the challenges that will take up some time, but it by no means impossible. Perhaps looking at a 6-10 season challenge, your successes and management could speed things up or continue the challenge for longer. The challenge is complete when you have won the Champions League with Forest, and possibly you could set a further target of domestic trophies. If you can eclipse the great legacy of Clough and Taylor, you’ve done a top job.

As Clough himself once said… “Rome wasn’t built in a day, but I wasn’t on that particular job.”

AC Milan

While AC Milan are improving under their coach Pioli and with the star man Zlatan Ibrahimović, there is still much work to be done to return the legendary club to the level they were at in the mid 2000s and for decades prior. Currently sitting in 2nd in Serie A, and having returned to the Champions League this season, they are clearly stepping up and returning to their former successes, however they are still struggling to break past merely competing, with their City rivals taking titles domestically and finishing 4th in their admittedly tough Champions League group. Therefore, your challenge is to take them past this barrier and claim domestic silverware and European success. Taking anywhere between 1-5 years, this could be the shortest challenge of the lot so far, however it will involve a lot of tweaking to their current squad and management of star man Zlatan. Certainly not an easy one, but a fun challenge for the festive period.

Must Destroy

Finally, in a very alternative approach than our previous challenge, this one is a more unusual challenge to take on. It’s also one that I think only those with a lot of time on their hands will be able to undertake. In it, you take charge of your rival club, or a club you have a dislike towards, and must destroy the club from within, without getting sacked.

Even as I’m thinking of this, I already think it goes against everything good about football, however I think it would be a real challenge to see if you can bring down a major club without being sacked. It won’t be easy, as you must manage how you will drop down the table, or mismanage the finances or dressing room, without going too hard as to get immediately sacked as a result.

With this challenge, the game is up when you are sacked, and your success comes from how far you have made the team fall. It may be that you make Manchester City financially unstable, get one of the Premier League top sides dropping into the relegation zone, or completely ruin the staffing of a side by sacking anyone with a shred of talent. It’s not the most entertaining or difficult, and it’s probably one for those with an evil, sadistic mind-set, but it’s a unique challenge that I know for sure I’ve never seen attempted before.

Whatever challenge you take on, enjoy and good luck out there!