Saved Game Challenge - The Italian Job
With the December competition finished, it's time for the first challenge of 2007. So, we're off to Italy as the season is moving towards the grand finale at the end of February.
(View the winning story for December)
Last year Italian football was hit by controversy, which involved the most successful clubs in the country. Juventus were dealt the toughest sentence with relegation to Serie B, but Milan and other clubs didn't escape completely with varying points deductions dished out by the Italian Football authorities.
So this month we're giving you four choices of varying difficulty involving those clubs punished before the start of this campaign.
(DOWNLOAD THE SAVED GAME FILE)
AC MILAN - (Difficulty - *****)
Eight points deducted meant that Milan's title aspirations took a serious dent before the campaign had even started. As expected a Milan side that had lost very few of its stars started their assault on catching the pack immediately, investing a heavy £33.5m in new talent.
However as we reach 25 games Inter have actually gained an extra point over their rivals to stand nine points clear at the top.
Your mission - The mission is to overturn this deficit and claim the Scudetto in the remaining 13 matches, while also reaching at least the Final of the Champions Cup where you face a last-16 second- leg clash against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu stadium having drawn 2-2 at the San Siro in the first match.
Added info - Youth has arrived at the club in the form of Vanden Borre, Schaludraff, Mavuba and Bodmer so the squad is strong. Alberto Gilardinho has been filling Shevchenko's boots brilliantly, but Kaka is having a poor season. You'll need all your motivational nous to get your little superstar performing, as you can't afford to drop any more points in the league.
LAZIO - (Difficulty - ****)
Originally relegated to Serie B, Lazio were reinstated into the top flight following an appeal. With a deduction of just three points, and having had a fairly solid start to the season, the Rome club are still in with a shout of qualifying for the Champions Cup.
League form is definitely helped by a lack of distractions from other competition, so a big push is required from a team who were expected to finish in the top four this term.
Your mission - Simple, finish in the top four and secure that lucrative Champions Cup spot. Although it looks easy, it's unlikely you'll catch Milan who are currently lying in fourth spot. So your eye should turn to Atalanta and Palermo, seven and eight points ahead of you respectively. Roma, who are fifth, could prove potential killjoys too.
Added info - No massive names have joined the club, though the squad has been strengthened. This strength, along with your managerial abilities, will be put immediately to the test with matches against Parma, Atalanta, Roma, Siena and then Milan kicking off your reign.
REGGINA - (Difficulty - ***)
A 15-point deduction in points has hit Reggina hard, and not many from the media gave them a chance in hell of staying up. However, a run of form that would under normal circumstances have left them in a mid-table spot has given the Reggina faithful some hope. Despite lying bottom of the table the gap to safety is a mere six points
Your mission - Simple; save Reggina's Serie A status. You have 13 games to climb out of the bottom three.
Added Info - With few injury problems and a squad better than those around you this should be do-able. However, the team are not on a great run having failed to win any of their last four games and Milan are up next. Wins against relegation rivals Ascoli, Messina and Cagliari (on the final day of the season) are essential.
JUVENTUS - (Difficulty - **)
The 'Old Lady' of Italian football have fallen on hard times. Relegation to Serie B for match fixing, along with a nine-point deduction, has led to the loss of most of the Turin-based club's superstars. Mssrs Cannavaro, Vieira, Zambrotta and Thuram have all flown the nest, and those remaining needed to see immediate promotion to be persuaded to stay.
Your mission - A strong start to the campaign has seen them fizz into 2nd spot in the table with Genoa heading them by seven points. The club needs to send out a message to their rivals in Serie A, and mere promotion simply won't do - the fans and board demand the title. Just to make the exciting battle with Genoa even more exciting, you also face them in the Italian Cup Final, which you need to win too to alleviate the pain of the previous season.
Added info - You have by far the best squad in the league so this challenge is one for beginners really. Be warned, four games against Genoa will make or break you.
Once you've picked your challenge here's a quick run-through of downloading and storage instructions for the file itself (it's very simple).
1. Download the file.
2. Save it to your Sports Interactive games file (usually C:My Documents/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2007/games).
3. Load up FM 2007 and 'load game'.
4. Load up the 'SavedGame2' file.
5. Go to the manager named 'Ron Manager' and retire him from the game.
6. Add yourself as a new manager and take over the club of your choice.
7. Then you're ready to rock.
8. This is optional, but why not write a 1,000 word report on how the challenge went and send it in to us at: myquestion@footballmanager.net
Remember - there's nothing to stop you taking over another team if you spy a challenge that tickles your fancy more, and good luck!
Final entry date for your stories is 9th March 2007.Discuss this story in the SI Forums
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