Jimbokav1971

Jan 2055. Scottish Premiership. There was only 1 league game this month, but it was a biggy as we went head-to-head with Hibs and came out on top with an injury-time winner despite the fact that we missed a pen. UEFA Champions League. 2 draws mean that we're in the Playoffs rather than the Knockout stages. Debuts. Both our 1st choice and 2nd choice GK's had the flu at the same time so we had to play a 16 year old 5'10" GK in the Champions league. Transfers. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 69/89 from the spot at 77%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). (46e) Hunter (Res) 6'0" * is 1/1 from the spot at 100%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

I was a bit slack earlier in the season and although I've got better recently, the relationships I've been asking for have been with a view to getting foreign youngsters through our Academy. In any case, we currently only have 3, (which is pitiful). We've had a few more domestic links, but they have been promoted to the same level as us and the link is then obviously cancelled. I really need to do better in this area.

The clauses thing is a big deal for me because it has played a large part in getting us where we are. It always interests me and I suppose I just made that post because it was something I wanted to look at, so thought I would share. I completely appreciate that it's no longer needed with our income from Champions League, but it's just habit I suppose. If I sold a player tomorrow I would still add loads of clauses into it.

Domestic dominance has to be the 1st goal, but we absolutely haven;t got there yet. We've won just 1 Premiership title and haven't even finished Runners Up in any of the other years. 1st, 3rd, 3rd. 4th, 4th, 4th are our best finishes in the league. We've done better in the Scottish Cup, making 3 of the past 4 Finals, (winning 2 of them). I really don't care in the slightest about the League Cup. I really do just treat them as friendlies, (even the Finals), but despite that we've won 2 of the last 5 Finals, and made 4 Finals in total. In terms of Europe, we haven't made a Final, but in 2051/52 we played 20 games in Europe on the way to the Quarter-Finals. I think we might be capable of winning the Europa Conference or the Europa League, but we're still a way off being able to compete at the business end of the Champions league. 2055/56 Champions League. We've made the Playoffs already and are on course to qualify for the Knockout Stages automatically. 2054/55 Champions League. Knocked out in the Playoff stage, (by Villarreal), after the Group stage. 2053/54 Champions League. Knocked out in the Playoff stage, (by Hibs), after the Group stage. 2052/53 Europa League. Knocked out in the Playoff stage, (by Real Betis), after the Group stage. 2051/52 Europa league. Knocked out in the Quarter-Final, (by Marseille). 2050/51 Europa Conference. Knocked out in the Quarter-Final, (by FC Twente). 2049/50 Europa Conference. Knocked out in the 4th Qualifying Round (by Odense Boldklub). We're actually only playing our 7th season in Europe and this season is our 3rd in the Champions League. I don't think it's realistic to expect us to be challenging to win it yet. I really don't like the new format because once you go through the Group stage, you either progress to the Knockout Rounds, or you get knocked out. I much preferred having the option to finish 4th and drop down to the next tier of Cup competition. The only way we're going to get into the Europa League, (never mind about the Europa Conference), is by not finishing in the top 2 places in the league, and even then we would have to lose the Qualifier for the Champions League . I'm not sure how realistic that is at the moment because we appear to be just chasing Hibs and are at the very least on a par with everyone else. The position ahead of us in the Nation Club coefficients has a 4th Champions league spot, and the top 4 ranked nations each have 4 spots going straight into the Champions league Group Stage. With this new format I'm not sure how we qualify for anything other than the Champions League in future years, (which is often not my strategy at all at this stage of the save). It's great for money, (which we don't need), but in terms of winning a trophy we're still a million miles away. You could argue that the reason we keep getting beat in the Playoffs is because the 2nd Team are playing in Europe, but we need to do that at the moment because the 1st Team aren't yet dominant enough in the league to afford us a cushion and some breathing space. Don't get me wrong, I would love to win the Champions league, but I'm just not sure how realistic that is. When I have done these saves before, although I have won the Europa League/Europa Conference, I'm not sure I can remember winning the Champions League many times...... I would love to have more players in the Scottish squad. At the moment we have 7 of our Academy products in the squad and 4 of them are still with us. I would love to see us completely dominate it, with 10-12+ players in the squad. Something I'm keen to do is have a player in the Goal50 awards, and then eventually win it. There was 1 Scottish player in it last season, but he's not a product of our Academy and no longer plays in Scotland, (obviously). The new feature that was introduced in FM24 where the best Academies in the World are somehow ranked is something I would love to get onto. I think being ranked #1 on that list would probably be the ultimate achievement, but I don't know exactly how that works and whether reputation drives it in any way or if it's completely down to the CA of the Academy players produced. I want to get a GK to 100+ goals, (just on pens). I would like to get to the stage whereby our 2nd Team are good enough to win all domestic games, (currently they're not). An unbeaten league season is always something to aim for. Retaining the league title is always a big thing. The record goal-scorer for the Scottish National team has 77 goals from 86 Caps and that's a target to be aware of, (although I have no plans to manager Scotland at this time). Billy Gilmour got 166 Scottish Caps before retiring and I don't think there is much chance of anyone beating that. 30 year old Jack Ferry is the most Capped player in the Scottish squad at the moment and 30 year old (41c) Hogarth (Res) 5'9" * is just behind him on 111 Caps. The most goals by a player in a Premier League season is 30 by Promise Jibrin of Aberdeen. That would be a tough target to take aim at. The record I always like to beat in a save like this is the All Time most goals in a competition, (so the 283 goal Shearer record for the Premier league or the 357 goal Jimmy Greaves record for the English top flight). Celtic have the record for most points in a season (106 in 2016/17) and as there are only a possible 114 available, that would be a stretching target to aim for.

Dec 2055. Scottish Premiership. It's a really good month with 15 points from a possible 18, but we were still the better team away to Kilmarnock and should have won never mind about drawn. Champions League. Considering the injuries, we're actually doing ok. Astonishingly really. League Cup. Let's not get carried away. It's still just a group of friendlies. We win our 3rd game on the bounce on pens, but a wins a wins a win. Debuts. The fact that we had 2 young players make their debut last month and then 3 more players make their debuts in the same game this month shows just how much we have been stretched recently. That makes it 6 debuts in 6 months. (55c) Fahie (VGB) (Res) * has been mentioned recently and although he didn't score on his debut, he did provide an assist for the opener as we beat Steaua Bucharest comfortably. 4 shots, all on target is a pretty interesting debut. He then scored a brace on his 3rd appearance against Motherwell. Again, it's interesting to note that 9 of his 11 shots have been on target. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 68/87 from the spot at 78%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). (46e) Hunter (Res) 6'0" * is 1/1 from the spot at 100%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

I might have caused some of this confusion by swapping between calling them Airdrie and Airdrieonians when they are 1 and the same. Airdrie is the name of the Town, just to the East of Glasgow. They were formed as Airdrieonians FC in 1878. Airdrieonians FC finished Runners Up in the Scottish First Division in 2001/02 but went bankrupt with debts of £3M. In 2002 they were reformed under the name Airdrie FC. and the plan was for the new club to take the place of the old club in the Scottish pyramid, but English side Gretna were voted in by the members instead. This is where it starts to get really complicated. Clydebank FC were another club who were struggling financially in Scotland. They were based to the North West of Glasgow, (unsurprisingly on the banks of the River Clyde). Clydebank FC had been struggling throughout the 90's and there was an ambitious plan to relocate them to Ireland, and then the Borders area of Scotland and also to Carlisle in England. (I think) the suggestion is that there just wasn't the demand for another football club in/around Glasgow. When the relocation to Ireland/Borders/England failed, the owners of the new club Airdrie FC, who had now been rejected in their bid to be accepted back in the league, (in favour of English club Gretna), bought them out completely and relocated them from the North West of Glasgow to the East of Glasgow and called them Airdrie Utd. In June 2013 they reverted the club from Airdrie Utd to Airdrieonians and started again to use their club colours/crest. And that's where we find ourselves now in real life. In the save they started in the Championship and have gone through 7 relegations and 8 promotions and now find themselves in the Premiership for the 4th successive season. They have never played in Europe.

Their Senior Team play games, and they seem to have a problem scoring goals, which makes his absence even more surprising. They also have an U20's Team.

Nov 2055. Scottish Premiership. We were good against St Johnstone, but the Airdrie game was not really a surprise at all as we were absolutely smashed to bits with injuries and while we dominated the game, we just couldn't convert our chances. UEFA Champions League. We're doing ok in Europe with a really young 2nd Team. League Cup. We rely on pens for a 2nd time to progress to the Final of the friendly League Cup. Debuts. 2 debuts for the Airdrie game show just how threadbare our squad was. Internationals. Transfers. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 65/83 from the spot at 78%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). (46e) Hunter (Res) 6'0" * is 1/1 from the spot at 100%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

Young hotshot. Nov 2055. I tend to not pay much attention to U18 games. I look at the end of the season and of course it's great if they do well, but in the grand scheme of things it really doesn't matter either way. This bloke continues to catch my eye though. He's made 3 U21 appearances this season, (scoring 1 goal), but he's still only 16 so the bulk of his games will be for the U18's, and that's where he's absolutely excelling. He's scored 36 goals in 30 appearances so far this season, (but it's only November), and I'm concerned that he's playing too much football. He recently went 3 games without scoring for the U18's, but has still managed to score 28 goals in his last 20 games for them. He's been a regular contributor for the U21's too, with 8 goals in 9 appearances. His goal-scoring exploits in aged-group football have even prompted a call-up to the 1st Team, (although he didn't get on). I know he's not amazing and he also only has 4.0 PA, but the number of goals he is scoring is not something I have seen before in this save, so it's making me sit up and take notice. Someone, (I've just checked and it was @BML), asked earlier in the thread if he had been called up for (VGB) or if he had chosen to represent Scotland, and I'm surprised to report that he STILL hasn't been called up by (VGB), despite obviously being plenty good enough even at 16 years old. He's currently a League 2 level player, but I think I might loan him out in Jan because concerned that he's playing too much football for our U18's.

Clauses. Nov 2055. Because our finances are in such a good position, this is an area that I haven't really looked at much in recent seasons, but I need to keep an eye on things so we don't miss out. (45g) McCroary (Merc) 6'4"SELL is a 26 year old centre-half who is playing in the Championship for Falkirk. He's valued at £700k-£1.4M and has 2 years left on his contract. I think it makes sense to leave this clause in place, especially so considering Falkirk are doing well, (2nd in the Championship), and (45g) McCroary (Merc) 6'4"SELL is featuring regularly. (48b) Rodger (IRL) (Merc) * is a 23 year old left winger who is playing in the Bundesliga for Bayer Leverkusen. He's valued at £13M-£16.5M and interestingly has "popped from Merc to Perfect. He has 3+1 years left on his contract and is playing regularly so I think I will leave this clause in place. (50c) Sørensen (FRO) (Fickle) is a 21 year old Faroese International AMC at Ross County in the Premiership, (although he isn't playing). £52k makes no difference to us so I will just leave it there and if we get something out of it then great. (51i) Pascazio (IRL) (F.Pro) * is a 20 year old GK who is playing at Monza in Serie A, and is actually starting for them after his recent move. His valuation is only £150k - £1.5M, but with exposure to the 1st Team so early I wonder if this might change. He's started all their games this season and he is their best GK so that's unlikely to change unless they sign someone in Jan. £150k isn't much so I will hold onto the clause. (52c) Aly (IRL) (EGY) (Spirit) is a 19 year old GK at Torino in Serie A, (although he isn't playing). He's currently valued at £80k-£100k, so £91k for a 50% share would seem to be a very good deal, but he's still a teenager and is on a 4+1 deal so I think I will hang onto the clause and see how he develops. (52k) Weatherston (L.Det) is a 19 year old MC currently playing in North Macedonia on loan from Dundee. He doesn't have a 2nd Nationality so I have no idea what he's doing out there. I don't even recognise this player a little but. He's currently valued at £8k-£85k and is on a 2 year contract at Dundee. I think I'm going to cash in on this clause because he looks rubbish and I can't see anyone paying anything for him ever. I know it's only £33k, but it's £33k more than we had before. (53i) Ślęczka (Res) 6'5" is an 18 year old TM currently out on loan at Albion Rovers in the Lowland League from Kilmarnock. We sold him for just £7,500 (plus add-ons), and I don't think he's completely rubbish, (especially for a teenager). He's scored 3 times in 9 games this season and is a (POL) U21 International with 4+1 years on his Kilmarnock contract. I'm tempted to hang onto this clause but I think that will be a waste so I'm going to cash it in. Those are just the clauses that we have an offer for. We have so many clauses available. (40a) Brass4 (Pro) * SELL is valued at £31M so 25% of that is significant, and while an International cap is probably unlikely at 31 years old, it's also not completely impossible or ridiculous. (40b) Stewart (IRL)(F.Pro) * might have scored against us recently for Rangers, but they're still paying for him. (40o) Banner (F.Pro) * SELL isn't going to get capped, but he's valued at £4.9M by Rangers and is featuring regularly for them despite only being 5'11". I would sell the 25% clause for a decent offer though because he's 30 years old and is just contracted to the end of this season with a +1 available on top of that. 30 year old (41b) Gourley (NIR)(F.Sport)* is playing at West Ham in the Premier League, (and he is actually playing). A Scottish International with 21 Caps and 6 International goals, we're going to get quite a few of these clauses triggered I think. (42b) Potter (F.Pro) * is a 29 year old MC at Atlanta in the USA. He's playing regularly but also being tracked by 4 Middle East clubs. Currently valued at £13.5M, that should be a nice little earner and what the hell was I doing with the instalments here!!! (That's really cheeky). (42g) Niven (Bal) 5'11" * is a 29 year old GK at Livingston in the Premiership, (but he isn't playing). Their 1st choice GK is (41h) Cairney (M.Citizen)6'2"* (who is much better), and I think we will get nothing for the 25% clause because he will probably leave on a free at the end of the season. (45b) Dick (F.Pro) SELL is a 26 year old striker at Dundee Utd in the Championship. He's playing regularly and has scored 19 goals in 2 and a half seasons so not exactly setting the World alight. He's valued at £600k-£1.3M and has 4 years left on his contract so might still generate us some cash. He's a left-sided striker and I really liked him when he was with us. (45e) Brass6 (Fickle) MC * is a 26 year old MC at Stuttgart in the Bundesliga. He's playing regularly and I think there is a reasonable chance of him being capped at some point. Currently valued at £24M-£37M and with 4+1 years left on his whopping £145k pw contract, I think there is a decent chance of some of these clauses being triggered. (46e) Hunter (Res) 6'0" SELL is a 25 year old GK at Motherwell in the Premiership. He's actually playing after his £86k move and as a result is now valued at £300k. is on a 3+1 deal. (48g) Fowler (F.Sport) 6'0" * is a 22 year old GK at Airdrieonians in the Premiership, (but isn't playing). They have a +1 on him after this season and he's currently valued at £65k-£650k. Unfortunately I think it's likely he will be leaving on a free. (49b) Courts (Bal) * SELL is a 21 year old SC playing at Bournemouth in the Premier league. He's valued at £6.2M-£8.8M on a 4+1 deal. He's made 7 sub appearances for them in the Premier League and has started and scored in the Carabao Cup. I've never done a deal with so many clauses that I've had to scroll before. Most of them are for quite small amounts, but they all add up over time. FIngers crossed he can feature more regularly for Bournemouth in the future. (50d) McCulloch (Sport) is a 21 year old MC at Airdrie in the Premiership. he made 1 league appearance last season, but none so far this season. He's signed to a 2+1 deal and is valued at £85k-£275k. (51d) Montgomery(Bal)(NIR) WBR is a 20 year old utility player at Dunfermline Athletic in the Championship on loan from Rangers. HG Lloyd is a player who was poached from our Academy by Aberdeen. He's an 18 year old ML at Inverurie Locos in League 2 on loan from Aberdeen. He's valued at £40k-£425k and is on a 2 year deal at Aberdeen.

Oct 2055. Scottish Premiership. Our 2nd Team, (midweek), form in the league hasn't been great so far this season. We lost to Kilmarnock and Celtic and then Aberdeen this month, (although the Celtic loss was my fault for screwing up the squad rotation), with just 1 win against Hearts, but then they bounce back from that and go and smash Hibs 3-1 away!!!! The win over Hibs means that we're still in contention, (although they do have a game in hand), and the 3 teams at the top are now 7 points clear of 4th and a little gap appears to be developing. Land of the Giants. The Rangers game was interesting in so much that their 1st goal was scored by our ex player (40b) Stewart (IRL)(F.Pro) * and their winner was scored by Gritti 6'5" who is a left winger and obviously 6'5". It's interesting that they have a 3rd BIG player after I commented about Selfridge 6'5" who was the TM I would have built their team around to get out of the Championship, and more recently Edwards (ENG) 6'6" who is an ageing striker (33 years young), and obviously 6'6". They're not the only big lads at the club though. The suggestion here is that Rangers are playing a very direct style, (eventually), and are completely embracing direct, route 1 hoofball. This is further supported by the fact that they have won the 3rd most headers in the league, but also have the highest Headers won % at 54%. This gives me an idea for a save whereby I'm only able to sign players over a certain height, play a really direct game with a TM and concentrate enormously on set-pieces. I mean proper EXTREME TM stylee! You know, the more I think about that, the more I might really like it and it could be a really fun save. It also might allow me to really get to grips with the set-piece situation in FM25. Champions League. It's interesting that Benfica also employed a big 6'4" TM against us to good effect. We seem to be struggling in that area at the moment. That probably makes sense when our 1st Team DC's are 6'4", 6'2" and 6'0" and our 2nd Team DC's are 6'3, 5'11 & 6'2", so there is certainly some mismatches to exploit there for the opposition. At the same time though there is absolutely nothing we can do about it because I can't just go out and sign new centre-backs. Internationals. Transfers. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 65/82 from the spot at 79%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). (46e) Hunter (Res) 6'0" * is 1/1 from the spot at 100%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

Sep 2055. Scottish Premiership. It was almost a brilliant month and I'm afraid I have to take full responsibility for the Celtic loss. I played the 2nd Team in error, and this game was sandwiched in between the Frankfurt and Livingston games, (so they played 3 times in 8 days rather than having a whole weeks rest between games). The players obviously weren't hugely fatigued or I would have noticed, (I think), but at the same time they wouldn't have been as fresh as they would have been will a full weeks rest. Additionally, the Hibs & Celtic games are the toughest games in the league campaign and they're really games that our 1st Team need to play to win. Even our 1st Team aren't good enough to beat Hibs at the moment, but I think they would have had a better chance against Celtic. There's already a 6 point gap between us in 3rd and 4th placed Airdrie. UEFA Champions League. We've been able to register 16 players this season. Everyone else is either under the age that they require registration, or is out on loan. Still, it's a decent start. League Cup. The 2nd Team needed pens to sneak past Livingston. Neil Brock. He's a member of SI staff @Neil Brock, (quite senior), and is a player in my game who is causing me absolute nightmares. He used to play for Hibs and was a thorn in my side there, but now he's at Celtic and he has just torn us a new one in the league game this month. The only thing that gives me any satisfaction here is that I'm guessing Neil is a Man Utd fan in real life, and he spent 2 years at Liverpool in this save and scored more goals for Liverpool than he did for Man Utd. Internationals. We've had 4 players called up to the (SCO) Senior side. 7 of the 23 man (SCO) senior squad are now products of our Academy. The message says we have 5, but you can clearly see that we have 7. (41c) Hogarth (Res) 5'9" * was sold too quickly to be classed as HG at club I think. (51c) Mackie (F.Pro) (IRL) * got injured playing for Scotland against Wales and is no longer in the squad. Transfers. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 65/82 from the spot at 79%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). (46e) Hunter (Res) 6'0" * is 1/1 from the spot at 100%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

Aug 2055. Scottish Premiership. I'm relatively happy with how we've started this campaign. We were really unlucky against Kilmarnock and they won 1-0 courtesy of an OG and our 2nd Team strikers just just couldn't put the ball in the net. Ahead of the Hibs game, (who are the huge title favourites and ridiculously strong this season), I was buoyed by the news that their 20 year old Greek striker, (who scored 9 goals in their 1st 4 Premiership games this season), had been sold to Man City for just £24M(£32M) and was immediately worth £175M+ at Man City. We had 3 glorious chances in the opening 10 mins against Hibs, (but didn't take them), and they made us pay by weathering the storm and converting their chances when they came. Really frustrating game. Scottish League Cup. Who cares! They're friendlies in all but name. UEFA Champions League Fixtures. Transfers. Season Tickets. Our capacity is 16,154 so it's good to see a decent increase here. Our average attendance last season was 14, 762 and although we only had 4 sell-outs last season, our lowest attendance in the league was 12,913 so we're certainly moving in the right direction. It's probably time to start looking at a stadium expansion, (before we actually need it). The problem with that is that a stadium expansion usually reduced the stadium capacity while the work is going on. Even ignoring other income, season ticket income leaves us at an enormous disadvantage. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 64/80 from the spot at 80%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). (46e) Hunter (Res) 6'0" * is 1/1 from the spot at 100%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

Good spot. I absolutely DON'T need to sell the best players for financial reasons, but there is a problem with the best CA players clogging up the pathway for those with lower CA but seemingly better PA. Of course I could keep the top CA players and loan the higher PA players out, but I've done that, (to a degree), and now is just the time to make the switch. I generally only show you the 5.0 PA and 4.5 PA players, but we have loads with better PA than our best CA and at some point the swap needs to be made. On the other hand, if we keep swapping for higher PA players then we will forever be chasing CA and never actually getting there, so there is a balance to be had there too. This is what our 1st Team looks like now. And if I sort it by CA to make it easier to see then it looks like this. The CA there is reasonable now at best, with just 5x players with better than 3.0 CA. Now compare that to PA. 7x 5.0 PA players. 4x 4.5 PA players. 3x 4.0 PA players. 7x 3.5 Players. So while we only have 5x players with better than 3.0 CA..... We have 21x players with better than 3.0 PA..... My strategy was/is to keep a large bank balance so that El Chieftain does not become involved in incoming transfer bids, and now that we're comfortably over £100M I can complete relax about that. Money in the bank has another benefit though, (other than reputation), and that's because it allows us to be given a higher wage budget. Even 1 year ago I couldn't afford to offer our best players a new contract. We just couldn't afford it, so basically when our best players came to the end of their 5+3 initial deals, (or whatever I managed to sign them on), then they would be leaving on a free if I didn't manage to sell them 1st. Now because we have a much improved wage budget, (only happened in the 2nd half of last season), we can look to break our current wage model and offer significantly improved terms, (If we so wish). The problem with that is that it will affect the demands of everyone and our wages will soon soar. We currently have a wage budget of approx £50.8M per year, but we're only spending £7M per year, so while there is enormous scope for expansion of wages, we don't actually have the guaranteed income to fund these increased wages because the money we have generated has been driven by player sales, so on the 1 hand selling the high CA players means that we can now offer our better players better terms, but in doing so we're effectively committing to selling more high CA players. Does that make sense? At the moment I'm relatively happy with how things are developing and I don't really mind the 4 big player sales at all. 1 of them, (45e) Brass6 (Fickle) MC * was perhaps 12 months too soon, but it was a good deal so I took advantage of the interest. The other 4 deals I was completely happy with because of the replacements we had available.