Now You Do Not Punish Someone, English Or Otherwise, For Being Rubbish At FM...

[MeLikeFM]

And an England international playing for Shamrock Rovers

I dream of that day

[SnakeXe]

Good luck with England

Some tiny keepers you have there...

Thanks! They are a bit small yeah. And not great to be honest.

Do you miss Newcastle.

Not yet, although I'm sure when things start going pearshaped I'll yearn for players who do what you ask them to 99% of the time.

And an England international playing for Shamrock Rovers

Indeed! He's off to Huddersfield in January 2039 so he'll be in a proper league soon. Very tidy technical player, no idea how he ended up there.

[SnakeXe]

England 3 Delando Moke (17, 26) Oscar Hall (50) Friendly International Wembley, 73,976		Albania 2 Jurgen Mertiri (39, 90+1)
Lineup (4-4-2)		Lineup (3-5-2)
1. Tristan Smith 2. Tom Cruse (c) (sub 76) 4. Boubacar Compaoré 5. Danny Oakley 3. Karl Joseph 7. Branko Eric 6. Delando Moke* (sub 76) 8. Dan Vigurs 11. Mike Preston (sub 76) 9. John Holland (sub 76) 10. Oscar Hall ------------------------------------ 12. Mbala Mbuta N'Shole (on 76) 14. Mitchell Breach (on 76) 15. Andrew Steward 16. Reece Norman (on 76) 17. Jed Smith 18. Jake Mapes 19. Greg Jones (on 76) 20. Craig Evans 21. David Seasman		1. Enis Dalipi (sub 73) 2. Burim Seferi (sub 73) 3. Astrit Dervishi 4. Fitim Muca (sub 61) 7. Liridon Dervishi (sub 61) 6. Marcus Svardman 5. Elton Dzoni 8. Arber Kabashi (c) (sub 51) 11. Aldo Astani 9. Alban Jaha 10. Jurgen Mertiri -------------------------------------- 12. Altin Dervishi (on 73) 14. Bledar Aliaj (on 61) 15. Burim Cela (on 51) 16. Eduart Cela 17. Julian Gjika 18. Liridon Mile (on 73) 19. Ismet Hashani 20. Bledar Muca (on 61) 21. Klevis Bushati (on 61)

[SnakeXe]

Another good performance let down by some slack defending - Albania scored from their only two attacks. I gave Oscar Hall a shot in Wakefield's absence (N'Shole is suspended for the Moldova game) to reward his 6 goals in 3 appearances so far for Cardiff this season and he didn't let me down, grabbing a great goal. Moke was the obvious star man, two great goals from midfield.

[TheGreatTraveler]

Need to wok on your defense......

[SnakeXe]

Mitchell Breach picked up an injury in training so will be replaced by Graham Ellams, who is terrible, but literally the next best option that is uninjured.

[SnakeXe]

I dream of that day

Haha it'd be great!

Need to wok on your defense......

Yeah just a bit! I'll put it down to lack of teamwork for the moment, we're still quite low in our understanding of the tactics I'm using.

[SnakeXe]

Moldova 0 Euro 2040 Qualifier (Group E) Republican, 13,300		England 4 Oscar Hall (4) Mike Preston (39) Boubacar Compaoré (52) Danny Oakley (63)
Lineup (4-5-1)		Lineup (4-4-2)
1. Nikolay Sadirov 2. Mihnea Calin 5. Sergey Grigorenko 4. Gennady Averjanov 3. Alexandr Spirin 7. Azamat Mednikov (sub 53) 10. Gabriel Radut 6. Christian Tutunaru (c) 8. Vadim Galin 11. Sergey Djakov (sub 45) 9. Artem Yashin (sub 61) -------------------------------------- 12. Oleg Ciuico 14. Vakhtang Cherkasov (on 53) 15. Vladimir Kornev 16. Rustem Feoktistov 17. Ioan Mihaltan (on 61) 18. Yury Korchagin (on 45, inj 90) 19. Dmitry Logvinov		1. Tristan Smith 2. Tom Cruse (c) 4. Boubacar Compaoré 5. Danny Oakley 3. Karl Joseph 7. Branko Eric* (sub 72) 6. Delando Moke (sub 72) 8. Dan Vigurs 11. Mike Preston 9. John Holland 10. Oscar Hall ------------------------------ 12. Lewis Thomson 14. Graham Ellams 15. Andrew Stewart (on 72) 16. Reece Norman 17. Jed Smith (on 72) 18. Jake Mapes 19. David Seasman

[SnakeXe]

A professional display that could have been a rout but for the profligacy of Oscar Hall. Fair enough he did his job in opening the scoreline, but he missed at least 4 or 5 chances he really should have put away thereafter. Thanks, Mr. Hall, but I don't think Wakefield or N'Shole have much to worry about in the long run.

[TheGreatTraveler]

Much better there. Atleast your defence can stop Moldova.

[SnakeXe]

England Squad v Ukraine (h) 09.10.38 and Georgia (a) 13.10.38 (Euro Qualifiers)

In	Out
Karl Smith - DM/MC - Man Utd James Sykes - GK - Swansea Mitchell Breach - M/AML - Newcastle Alan Hardwick - DLC - Liverpool	Jed Smith - DM/MC - Everton (not selected) Tristan Smith - GK - Wigan (injured) Graham Ellams - WB/ML - Swansea (not selected) Craig Evans - DL - Chelsea (not selected)

The assistant came in with a few interesting recommendations of players in form, so I made an unforced change in Hardwick replacing Evans. Karl Smith and Breach come back in for Jed Smith and Ellams after recovering from injuries, whilst the one enforced change was Tristan Smith out for Lloyd Clarke in goal, who then got injured too so Sykes came in. Wakefield is still yet to recover.

[SnakeXe]

England 1 Oscar Hall (80) Euro 2040 Qualifier (Group E) Wembley, 88,904		Ukraine 0
Lineup (4-4-2)		Lineup (4-5-1)
1. Chris Leigh 2. Tom Cruse 4. Boubacar Compaoré 5. Danny Oakley 3. Karl Joseph 7. Branko Eric 6. Delando Moke 8. Karl Smith (c) (sub 45) 11. Mike Preston (sub 68) 9. John Holland (sub 68) 10. Mbala Mbuta N'Shole ------------------------------------ 12. Oscar Hall (on 68) 14. Mitchell Breach (on 68) 15. Andrew Stewart 16. Reece Norman 17. Dan Vigurs (on 45) 18. Jake Mapes 19. David Seasman		1. Anton Saenko* 2. Olexandr Grankovskyi 4. Alexandr Karimov 5. Anton Ivaschenko 3. Yaroslav Didyk (c) 7. Artem Kolesnyk (sub 45) 6. Pavlo Apalko 10. Dmytro Zhabchenko 8. Bogdan Chaban 11. Nikita Yusupov 9. Roman Yuzhanin -------------------------------------- 12. Igor Stepanov 14. Denys Sotskyi 15. Yuriy Kravchuk 16. Vadim Guschin (on 45) 17. Murat Savenkov 18. Roman Chopyk 19. Olexandr Tkach

[SnakeXe]

Not the best performance, and we struggled to break through - Oscar Hall saved us again with his third goal in 3 games for England. That Ukraine's keeper won MOTM says it all really.

[SnakeXe]

Georgia 2 Lasha Samkharadze (37, 46) Euro 2040 Qualifier (Group E) Mikheil Meshki, 24,453		England 0
Lineup (4-2-3-1)		Lineup (4-4-2)
1. Tariel Sepiashvili (c) 2. Beka Archvadze 4. Mamuka Khachidze 5. Lasha Toronjadze 3. Aramais Khachatryan 6. Artem Alexanyan 7. Giorgi Kapanadze 10. Irakli Merechko 8. Guram Giorgadze 11. Merab Todua (inj 90) 9. Lasha Samkharadze* ------------------------------------ 12. David Khachidze 14. Irakli Metreveli 15. Irakli Loria 16. Levan Narsia 17. David Tskipurishvili 18. Vakhtang Chankotadze 19. Irakli Giorgadze		1. Chris Leigh 2. Tom Cruse 4. Boubacar Compaoré 5. Danny Oakley 3. Alan Hardwick (sub 64) 7. Branko Eric 6. Delando Moke (sub 64) 8. Karl Smith (c) (sub 64) 11. Mike Preston 9. John Holland 10. Mbala Mbuta N'Shole ------------------------------------ 12. Oscar Hall (on 64) 14. Mitchell Breach 15. Andrew Stewart 16. Reece Norman (on 64) 17. Dan Vigurs (on 64) 18. Jake Mapes 19. David Seasman

[SnakeXe]

Terrible performance. I take some responsibility for underestimating them, but the players have no excuse for the abject display of finishing and lapses of concentration in defence that led to this result.

[crouchaldinho]

How is team gelling SnakeXe? I've always found it a problem to get team gelling up when managing an international team. Maybe a bit of 'teamwork' in the match preparation would help?

Some good options up front. How are you setting up your strikers, out of interest?

Love that you've got David Seasman as one of your keepers as well!

[SRL88]

Some cracking updates for England . Very detailed.

[Nobby_McDonald]

And an England international playing for Shamrock Rovers

More surprising is there is one from Wigan.

[TheGreatTraveler]

Loss to Georgia....ouch....it hurts from here

[Motherlover]

Love that you've got David Seasman as one of your keepers as well!

Made me crack up too!

[SnakeXe]

How is team gelling SnakeXe? I've always found it a problem to get team gelling up when managing an international team. Maybe a bit of 'teamwork' in the match preparation would help?

Some good options up front. How are you setting up your strikers, out of interest?

Love that you've got David Seasman as one of your keepers as well!

Well as you could guess from the Georgia result, they're not especially gelled yet! It's weird, I'd have thought that using a really standard formation such as 4-4-2 (which was the default tactic when I got the job) would mean they'd already have a good level of understanding of the shape at least.

At the moment I've got John Holland as the deep-lying forward, with Andy Wakefield (ideally although I've only managed a couple of games from him due to injury) as an advanced forward. I don't think this is optimal though. I'd like to do a 4-4-1-1 variant as well to improve the link-up with the midfield but only Delando Moke is of the requisite class in the AMC position, so I don't want to put in the effort developing it only to have to scrap it if he's unfit, out of form or injured.

I also love David Seasman did a double-take when I first saw him playing against me for Man Utd!

Some cracking updates for England . Very detailed.

Thanks!

More surprising is there is one from Wigan.

Not to be facetious about it but haven't Chris Kirkland, Leighton Baines and Emile Heskey played for England (or at least been called up) recently whilst at Wigan?

Loss to Georgia....ouch....it hurts from here

D'oh the pain, the pain of it all!

Made me crack up too!

[JackJCFC]

Not going badly so far, shame about the Georgia result though. There looks to be a massive lack of talent with England compared to the start of the game!

[AK22]

Excellent final season with Newcastle- very nearly a clean sweep!

Bit shaky with England, but I imagine you'll still qualify comfortably.

[SnakeXe]

Not going badly so far, shame about the Georgia result though. There looks to be a massive lack of talent with England compared to the start of the game!

Thanks! Yeah it's weird. There's a few players who were fantastic that are just about to retire, hopefully that means we'll get a few more talents coming through. Emeka Cole at Newcastle should be top-class if he's managed well, so I have high hopes for him. In fact I might cap him soon in a friendly to give him a rep boost to ensure he gets some game time.

Excellent final season with Newcastle- very nearly a clean sweep!

Bit shaky with England, but I imagine you'll still qualify comfortably.

Thanks, yeah it was almost the perfect second-half of a season, storming back to win the league, taking both domestic cups, just couldn't quite manage the last bit. We really suffered from an injury to Andy Wakefield with a couple of months left, Maciulevicius just doesn't have the legs to cope with 3 games per week any more and Cole was too raw to contribute much. Left us struggling against the very best teams really.

I hope so indeed! I might start watching games a bit more closely to tweak the tactics around and get more out of the players. If I can sort out a way to get Preston regularly feeding Wakefield/N'Shole/Holland we should have no problems.

[SnakeXe]

England Squad v Peru (h) 13.11.38 and Tunisia (h) 17.11.38 (Friendlies)

In	Out
Tristan Smith - GK - Wigan Lloyd Clarke - GK - Southampton Jed Smith - DM/MC - Man Utd Andy Wakefield - ST - Newcastle	James Sykes - GK - Swansea (not selected) David Seasman - GK - Man Utd (injured) Reece Norman - DM/MC - Fulham (not selected) Lewis Thomson - ST - Blackburn (not selected)

Wakefield and Smith return to the fold in place of Sykes and Thomson, whilst Lloyd Clarke get another chance with David Seasman's bad injury. Jed Smith comes in for Norman as I haven't been impressed by the Fulham man and wanted to see an alternative.

[SnakeXe]

Just been flicking through my Inbox quickly to see what's going on in the football world whilst I'm on holiday most of the time - Newcastle have already sacked my replacement and are languishing in 16th

[SnakeXe]

England 4 Mbala Mbuta N'Shole (22) Héctor Ramirez y de Montenego o.g. (24) Boubacar Compaoré (38) Andrew Stewart (70) Friendly International Wembley, 73,971		Peru 1 Diego Villavicencio (53)
Lineup (4-4-2)		Lineup (4-3-3)

[SnakeXe]

A really great performance, the tweaks to my tactics worked very nicely. To begin with we went 4-4-2, but with attacks funnelled through our top-class left side of Joseph and Preston. This was effective, and surprisingly N'Shole and Wakefield combined well as a pairing in Holland's absence. In the second half I tried a 4-2-3-1 based on my system with Newcastle, based on the fact I had the combination of Breach, Moke and Wakefield who would all be familiar with their roles. Again, it worked well, and I will experiment with it again.

P.S. Does it look ok screenshotted in the match report? It saves me a lot of time.

[SnakeXe]

Branko Eric breaks a foot and he's out for 3 months - a severe blow with our lack of quality down the right. I decided to bring in young Anthony O'Hara in from Arsenal's reserves - he could be good given some game time, so hopefully this will draw some attention to him and either get him a move or some game time for the Gunners.

[SnakeXe]

Tristan Smith picks up another injury, James Sykes back in to replace him.

[SnakeXe]

England 3 Mike Preston (13) Anthony O'Hara (22) Makram Arfaoui o.g. (44) Friendly International Wembley, 73,981		Tunisia 1 Mohamed Ali Chetali (69)
Lineup (4-4-2)		Lineup (4-3-3)

[SnakeXe]

Another good result, this time the second-half switch to 4-2-3-1 wasn't so successful, although we still created chances and were unlucky to concede the goal we did. Still a valid back-up plan I think.

[SnakeXe]

England Squad v Russia (h) 09.02.39 (Friendly)

In	Out
Tristan Smith - GK - Wigan David Seasman - GK - Man Utd Ed Brooks - DC - Fulham Peter Lynch - D/WBL - Man City Phil Bond - M/AMC/ST - Hull	Chris Leigh - GK - Fulham (not selected) James Sykes - GK - Swansea (not selected) Fred - DC - Newcastle (injured) Karl Joseph - DL - Man City (injured) Karl Smith - DM/MC - Everton (injured)

Lloyd Clarke retains his squad place over Leigh and Sykes as first and second choices Smith and Seasman return, whilst the injuries of Joseph and Karl Smith are big blows. Joseph is replaced by his understudy at Man City, Peter Lynch, whilst Phil Bond is an exciting option with his versatility. Or at least I thought so - the FA were straight up undermining me saying he wasn't good enough. How many Champions League winners' medals do you have, again?

[SnakeXe]

England 2 Andy Wakefield (45+2) Mbala Mbuta N'Shole (66) Friendly International Wembley, 73,986		Russia 0
Lineup (4-4-2)		Lineup (4-4-2 Diamond)

[SnakeXe]

Definitely the best result of my reign so far, Russia started very well but then a couple of tactical tweaks to crowd out their centrally-focussed attacks changed it in our favour. Wakefield finally got his first goal of my reign in a good break-away goal, after which we hit the woodwork a couple of times before Phil Bond produced a lovely pass on his debut () to set up N'Shole for the clincher.

[TheGreatTraveler]

Good recent results!

[SnakeXe]

England Squad v Iceland (h) 26.03.39 (Euro Qualifier)

In	Out
Chris Leigh - GK - Fulham Fred - DC - Newcastle Karl Joseph - DL - Man City Karl Smith - DM/MC - Everton Branco Eric - M/AMR/ST - Liverpool	Tristan Smith - GK - Wigan (injured) Ed Brooks - DC - Fulham (injured) Peter Lynch - D/WBL - Man City (not selected) Anthony O'Hara - MR - Arsenal (not selected) Oscar Hall - ST - Cardiff (injured)

A bit of a reshuffle as Karl Smith comes back whilst Hall is injured - effectively Smith replaces Phil Bond whilst Bond himself replaces Hall. Eric comes back in for O'Hara, Joseph back for Lynch, whilst Brooks' injury gives Fred another chance and yet another injury for Tristan Smith means Leigh is recalled.

[SnakeXe]

Literally on the next continue Fred picks up an injury, so Tottenham's Adrian McKenzie replaces him.

[crouchaldinho]

Is his name really just Fred?

Spanish or something as a second nationality?

Awesome name. I'd call him up just for that, tbh.

Fred and David Seasman should be guaranteed starters.

[SnakeXe]

And of course Andy Wakefield goes for another Shamrock Rovers player, Daniel Nwaogu. This must be what Roy felt like before the Euros when calling up Jordan Henderson.

[SnakeXe]

Is his name really just Fred?

Spanish or something as a second nationality?

Awesome name. I'd call him up just for that, tbh.

Fred and David Seasman should be guaranteed starters.

Yep! He's English-born Brazilian, I had him at Newcastle

I really want to start with David Seasman but he's not quite good enough

[SnakeXe]

England 3 Mbala Mbuta N'Shole (1) Andrew Stewart (21) Jed Smith (45) Euro 2040 Qualifier (Group E) Wembley, 88,453		Iceland 1 Arnar Agustsson (57)
Lineup (4-4-2)		Lineup (4-4-2)

[SnakeXe]

First half good, second half not so good. Overall encouraging though, and we got the job done, which is more than could be said for our previous competitive match! Holland played very well grabbing 2 assists, however our wingers were both poor - goal for Stewart aside. We completed just 3% of crosses, which is abysmal which ever way you look at it.

[SnakeXe]

England Squad v Moldova (h) 08.06.39 (Euro Qualifier)

In	Out
Tristan Smith - GK - Wigan Tamer Chorley - DC - Huddersfield Graham Ellams - WB/ML - Swansea Andy Wakefield - ST - Newcastle	Chris Leigh - GK - Fulham (not selected) Danny Oakley - DC - Fulham (injured) Mitchell Breach - M/AML - Newcastle (injured) John Holland - ST - Man Utd (injured)

Smith comes back in for Leigh, whilst the rest were enforced changes - obviously Wakefield would have come back in anyway, but for someone else.

[SnakeXe]

Well if I stay in international management the next 1500 will take a lot longer!

[SnakeXe]

England 3 Branko Eric (3, 44) Adrian McKenzie (28) Euro 2040 Qualifier (Group E) Wembley, 90,000		Moldova 0
Lineup (4-4-2)		Lineup (4-5-1)

[SnakeXe]

I'd love to tell you about the game but I couldn't watch it - a weird graphical bug made the screen quite seriously painful to look at. Weirdly, FM was the only thing affected. Nevertheless, a win is a win, and obviously Branko Eric had a good game.

[SnakeXe]

Former Club Watch:

Weymouth F.C.:

Wahey!!!

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13*  Blue Square South       2nd       Playoff Semi-finalists
2013/14*  Blue Square South       9th       I left in October (resigned)
2014/15   Blue Square South       10th      -
2015/16   Blue Square South       19th      -
2016/17   Blue Square South       9th       FA Cup 2nd Round
2017/18   Blue Square South       3rd       Playoff Winners
2018/19   Blue Square Premier     21st      Relegated
2019/20   Blue Square South       14th      -
2020/21   Blue Square South       14th      -
2021/22   Blue Square South       19th      -
2022/23   Blue Square South       18th      -
2023/24   Blue Square South       22nd      Relegated
2024/25   N/A                     N/A       FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round
2025/26   N/A                     N/A       -
2026/27   N/A                     N/A       FA Cup 3rd Round
2027/28   N/A                     N/A       -
2028/29   N/A                     N/A       -
2029/30   N/A                     N/A       -
2030/31   N/A                     N/A       FA Cup 1st Round
2031/32   N/A                     N/A       -
2032/33   N/A                     N/A       -
2033/34   N/A                     N/A       -
2034/35   N/A                     N/A       -
2035/36   N/A                     N/A       -
2036/37   N/A                     N/A       FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round
2037/38   N/A                     N/A       -
2038/39   Blue Square South       13th      -

NB * indicates that I was in charge for at least part of the season.

Darlington F.C.:

At least they didn't get relegated again I suppose?

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013/14*  Blue Square Premier     14th      I joined in October
2014/15*  Blue Square Premier     2nd       Playoff Winners
2015/16*  League Two              18th      I left in January (resigned)
2016/17   League Two              17th      JPT North Quarter Final
2017/18   League Two              15th      FA Cup 3rd Round
2018/19   League Two              3rd       Promoted
2019/20   League One              22nd      Relegated, FA Cup 4th Round
2020/21   League Two              20th      -
2021/22   League Two              6th       FA Cup 4th Round, Playoff Semi-finalists
2022/23   League Two              9th       JPT North Quarter Final
2023/24   League Two              16th      JPT North Semi Final
2024/25   League Two              11th      -
2025/26   League Two              19th      -
2026/27   League Two              19th      -
2027/28   League Two              18th      -
2028/29   League Two              20th      -
2029/30   League Two              1st       League Two Winners
2030/31   League One              12th      FA Cup 4th Round
2031/32   League One              22nd      Relegated, FA Cup 5th Round
2032/33   League Two              2nd       Promoted, FA Cup 3rd Round
2033/34   League One              18th      FA Cup 3rd Round
2034/35   League One              4th       JPT N SF, FA Cup R3, Playoff Winners
2035/36   Championship            24th      Relegated
2036/37   League One              18th      JPT North Quarter-finalists
2037/38   League One              22nd      Relegated
2038/39   League Two              13th      JPT North Semi-finalists

Southend United:

Only 3 points from safety is a good effort I'd say.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16*  League One              21st      Relegated, I joined in March
2016/17*  League Two              1st       League Two Winners
2017/18*  League One              2nd       Promoted
2018/19*  Championship            15th      I left in October (resigned)
2019/20   Championship            20th      -
2020/21   Championship            12th      FA Cup 5th Round
2021/22   Championship            9th       -
2022/23   Championship            15th      -
2023/24   Championship            16th      FA Cup Semi Final
2024/25   Championship            21st      -
2025/26   Championship            19th      -
2026/27   Championship            16th      League Cup Runners up
2027/28   Championship            21st      -
2028/29   Championship            22nd      Relegated
2029/30   League One              3rd       Playoff Semi-finalists
2030/31   League One              7th       FA Cup 4th Round, JPT Finalists
2031/32   League One              17th      JPT South Quarter-finalists
2032/33   League One              11th      -
2033/34   League One              11th      JPT South Semi-finalists
2034/35   League One              5th       FA Cup 3rd Round, Playoff Semi-finalists
2035/36   League One              15th      JPT South Runners-Up
2036/37   League One              20th      FA Cup 3rd Round
2037/38   League One              5th       Playoff Winners, Promoted
2038/39   Championship            23rd      Relegated

Wigan Athletic:

A shame as the Latics finally drop. Hopefully Tristan Smith can move on to another top-division club as he's England number one!

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/19*  Championship            4th       I joined in October, Playoff Winners
2019/20*  Premier League          11th      I left in December (job offer)
2020/21   Premier League          18th      League Cup Winners, Relegated
2021/22   Championship            2nd       Promoted, League Cup Quarter-finalists
2022/23   Premier League          17th      FA Cup 6th Round
2023/24   Premier League          19th      Relegated
2024/25   Championship            5th       Playoff Semi-finalists
2025/26   Championship            4th       Playoff Winners, FA Cup 6th Round
2026/27   Premier League          5th       FA Cup 6th Round, EL Qualification
2027/28   Premier League          19th      League Cup Quarter-finalists
2028/29   Championship            6th       FA Cup 5th Round, Playoff Semi-finalists
2029/30   Championship            4th       Playoff Runners Up
2030/31   Championship            2nd       Promoted
2031/32   Premier League          11th      FA Cup 5th Round
2032/33   Premier League          14th      -
2033/34   Premier League          12th      -
2034/35   Premier League          10th      -
2035/36   Premier League          9th       -
2036/37   Premier League          16th      -
2037/38   Premier League          16th      -
2038/39   Premier League          18th      League Cup Semi-finalists, Relegated

Werder Bremen:

Sustained improvement, but they could do with going the one step further to get back into the Champions League.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2019/20*  1. Bundesliga           8th       I joined in December, DFB-Pokal Winners
2020/21*  1. Bundesliga           1st       B'liga, S'cup Winners; EL Semi-finalists
2021/22*  1. Bundesliga           2nd       S'cup Winners; EL, DFB-P Semi-finalists
2022/23*  1. Bundesliga           1st       B'liga, Champs League Winners
2023/24   1. Bundesliga           2nd       CWC, DFB-Pokal Winners
2024/25   1. Bundesliga           4th       Champs League, DFB-Pokal Semi-finalists
2025/26   1. Bundesliga           4th       -
2026/27   1. Bundesliga           3rd       DFB-Pokal Winners
2027/28   1. Bundesliga           5th       Europa League Semi-finalists
2028/29   1. Bundesliga           4th       Europa League QF, DFB-Pokal RU
2029/30   1. Bundesliga           3rd       Europa League Quarter-finalists
2030/31   1. Bundesliga           4th       -
2031/32   1. Bundesliga           4th       DFB-Pokal Semi-finalists
2032/33   1. Bundesliga           4th       DFB-Pokal Quarter-finalists
2033/34   1. Bundesliga           2nd       DFB-Pokal Runners Up
2034/35   1. Bundesliga           3rd       DFB-Pokal & Champions League QF
2035/36   1. Bundesliga           6th       Europa League 2nd Knockout Round
2036/37   1. Bundesliga           12th      -
2037/38   1. Bundesliga           5th       -
2038/39   1. Bundesliga           5th       -

Arsenal:

Took advantage of the disarray at Newcastle to win the league for the first time in 7 years.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24*  Premier League          2nd       CL Semi-finalists, LC Runners up
2024/25*  Premier League          1st       Premier League Winners, LC Runners Up
2025/26*  Premier League          1st       Premier League Winners
2026/27   Premier League          1st       PL & CL Winners, FA Cup Semi-finalists
2027/28   Premier League          1st       PL, CL, CWC & LC Winners, FA Cup Final
2028/29   Premier League          3rd       League Cup Runners Up, Champ's Lg SF
2029/30   Premier League          1st       Premier League Winners, Champ's Lg RU
2030/31   Premier League          1st       PL & LC Winners, CL Runners Up
2031/32   Premier League          1st       Prem League Winners, FA Cup Runners Up
2032/33   Premier League          2nd       Champions League Semi-finalists
2033/34   Premier League          6th       Champions League Runners Up
2034/35   Premier League          2nd       FA Cup 6th Round
2035/36   Premier League          3rd       Champions League Semi-finalists
2036/37   Premier League          3rd       FA Cup 6th Round, CL Runners Up
2037/38   Premier League          4th       -
2038/39   Premier League          1st       PL Winners, CL Quarter-finalists

Santos:

We'll let them off the poor league season for reclaiming the Libertadores, 5 years after the last one.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2027*     Brasileirao             1st       B'leirao, Paulista Winners, L'dores SF
2028*     Brasileirao             2nd       Paulista, Libertadores Semi-finalists
2029*     Brasileirao             1st       B'leirao & L'dores W, P'lista SF, CWC RU
2030*     Brasileirao             1st       B'leirao, CL, P'lista & Recopa W, CWC RU
2031*     Brasileirao             1st       Brasileirao, Paulista & Recopa Winners
2032      Brasileirao             1st       B'leirao, CL, & Paulista Winners, CWC RU
2033      Brasileirao             2nd       CL, Recopa & Paulista Winners, CWC RU
2034      Brasileirao             2nd       Paulista RU, CL SF, Recopa Winners
2035      Brasileirao             1st       B'leirao & Paulista Winners, L'dores QF
2036      Brasileirao             1st       Brasileirao Winners, Paulista Runners Up
2037      Brasileirao             1st       Brasileirao Winners, Paulista SF
2038      Brasileirao             4th       Paulista & CL Winners, CWC Runners Up

Brazil:

A much better World Cup for Brazil, although they'll be thinking "what if?" after the disappointing loss to Cameroon in the final.

Season    Competition             Position  Notes
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2030*     Friendlies              -         Appointed in July, P5 W2 D2 L1
2031*     Copa América            R-Up      Copa América R-Up, Resigned in July
2032      Friendlies              -         P3 W2 D0 L1
2033      Confederations Cup      3rd       Confederations Cup 3rd Placed Team
2031-33   CONMEBOL WC Qualifiers  2nd       Qualified for World Cup
2034      World Cup               Grp Stage Eliminated at Group Stage of WC
2035      Copa América            Grp Stage Eliminated at Group Stage of C. América    
2036      Friendlies              -         P3 W0 D2 L1
2037      Friendlies              -         P2 W0 D2 L0
2035-37   CONMEBOL WC Qualifiers  2nd       Qualified for World Cup  
2038      World Cup               R-Up      World Cup Runners Up

Vélez:

A first trophy since the season I left the club - finally!

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2031/32*  Clausura                1st       Clausura Winners, Joined in February
2032/33*  Apertura                1st       Apertura Winners, Left in December
2032/33   Clausura                1st       Clausura Winners, CA 7th Rnd, CL SF
2033/34   Apertura                2nd       Copa Sudamericana Semi-finalists
2033/34   Clausura                5th       -
2034/35   Apertura                5th       Copa Sudamericana Quarter-finalists
2034/35   Clausura                3rd       Copa Libertadores 2nd Round
2035/36   Apertura                9th       Copa Sudamericana Quarter-finalists
2035/36   Clausura                7th       -
2036/37   Apertura                3rd       Copa Sudamericana Quarter-finalists
2036/37   Clausura                3rd       -
2037/38   Apertura                3rd       Copa Sudamericana Quarter-finalists
2037/38   Clausura                9th       Copa Libertadores Quarter-finalists
2038/39   Apertura                1st       Apertura Winners

Newcastle:

A definite transitional season, despite coming 2nd in the league we were miles back from Arsenal. Fortunately the board seemed to get it right with their second go at replacing me, after the first guy had us languishing in 16th earlier in the season. Painful to see my squad broken up as well - Krivokuca, Vujadinovic and Cardinal have gone with Moke, Sedat Yucel, Busao and Breach pretty certain to follow. Maciulevicius was only given 9 appearances - just 2 starts. A shoddy way to treat a club legend.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2032/33*  Premier League          7th       FA Cup Runners Up, Joined in December
2033/34*  Premier League          1st       Premier League & League Cup Winners
2034/35*  Premier League          1st       Prem, FA Cup, & Champions League Winners
2035/36*  Premier League          1st       Prem & CWC Winners, League Cup & CL R-Up
2036/37*  Premier League          1st       Prem, Lg Cup, & Champ's League Winners
2037/38*  Premier League          1st       Prem, FA Cup, LC & CWC Winners, CL R-Up
2038/39   Premier League          2nd       Champions League Quarter-finalists

[Nobby_McDonald]

Not to be facetious about it but haven't Chris Kirkland, Leighton Baines and Emile Heskey played for England (or at least been called up) recently whilst at Wigan?

Erm... yes

[SnakeXe]

Not ancitipating many issues with this group.

[MattSpurs94]

Weymouth!

[SRL88]

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooo thats a 'stinker' of a group .

[SnakeXe]

Weymouth!

I know thought I'd never see them back!

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooo thats a 'stinker' of a group .

Plenty of trips east, so I guess it's a stinker for the WAGs if they fancied fun in the sun...

[cswalk08]

Weymouth is back! Huzzah!

[deltablue]

Plenty of news to warm the heart among old clubs.

[DBurns]

Just read through this from the very start. Great career you’ve had.

First thing I noticed was the Euro 2012 semi-finals, had England beat Italy IRL the semi finals would have been spot on!

Also, thoroughly enjoyed the resignation from Arsenal and landing at Santos! A lot of league titles won!

[SnakeXe]

Weymouth is back! Huzzah!

Plenty of news to warm the heart among old clubs.

Indeed! Mostly very good, only Wigan had a really bad season.

Just read through this from the very start. Great career you’ve had.

First thing I noticed was the Euro 2012 semi-finals, had England beat Italy IRL the semi finals would have been spot on!

Also, thoroughly enjoyed the resignation from Arsenal and landing at Santos! A lot of league titles won!

Thanks!

I hadn't noticed that - it's quite spooky really! Considering that was played out on my save back in October 2011, anyway... perhaps I should put some bets on for semi-finalists at the 2014 World Cup?

Haha I'm glad you enjoyed that! I was considering doing something similarly role-play-ish for my exit from Newcastle but I'm quite busy at the moment so just wanted to get on with it really. I'll come up with something for when I finish with England, definitely!

[DBurns]

Thanks!

I hadn't noticed that - it's quite spooky really! Considering that was played out on my save back in October 2011, anyway... perhaps I should put some bets on for semi-finalists at the 2014 World Cup?

Haha I'm glad you enjoyed that! I was considering doing something similarly role-play-ish for my exit from Newcastle but I'm quite busy at the moment so just wanted to get on with it really. I'll come up with something for when I finish with England, definitely!

Very spooky indeed! Should Germany win tomorrow night IRL, I think I'll put a bet on Spain winning the final 2-0! Haha.

In good form at the minute with England, should be able to keep it going considering the draw for the World Cup Qualifying Group.

This career along with SRL88 and tomtuck's careers have inspired me into starting my own journeyman save!

[deltablue]

Indeed! Mostly very good, only Wigan had a really bad season.

For me that was a bonus

[SnakeXe]

Very spooky indeed! Should Germany win tomorrow night IRL, I think I'll put a bet on Spain winning the final 2-0! Haha.

In good form at the minute with England, should be able to keep it going considering the draw for the World Cup Qualifying Group.

This career along with SRL88 and tomtuck's careers have inspired me into starting my own journeyman save!

Haha! Yeah probably a good shout to be honest, Spain just seem to have an aura of invincibility despite not really playing well. Germany have almost been too impressive to win it - it almost never happens that a team look amazing for the whole tournament and win. Although I kind of hope they do, they're much more entertaining, and I absolutely love Ozil.

Glad we've inspired you, I'll make sure to take a look at your thread

For me that was a bonus

Oh leave them alone

[SnakeXe]

England Squad v Belgium (h) 10.08.39 (Friendly)

In	Out
Stanley Okoro - DRC - Arsenal Mitchell Breach - M/AML - Newcastle John Holland - ST - Man Utd Oscar Hall - ST - Cardiff	Tom Cruse - DRC - Huddersfield (injured) Karl Smith - DM/MC - Everton (injured) Graham Ellams - WB/ML - Swansea (not selected) Daniel Nwaogu - ST - Shamrock Rovers (not selected)

Cruse misses his first squad since I took over with an injury, with Okoro set to make his debut after impressing for the U21s. Smith again misses out with an injury, with Bond switching back to midfield as his replacement, allowing Holland and Hall to complete our first-choice forward line with Wakefield and N'Shole. Nwaogu is the other to make way, whilst Breach's return from injury means Ellams stays at home.

[SnakeXe]

England 2 John Holland (15) Mbala Mbuta N'Shole (90+3) Friendly International Wembley, 73,977		Belgium 3 Nathan Callens (6) Benjamin Leroux (34, 72)
Lineup (4-4-2)		Lineup (4-2-3-1 Narrow)

[SnakeXe]

This game makes it pretty clear to me that we can't expect to compete against decent sides with a sub-second-choice backline. McKenzie was hauled off after half-time as Leroux ran him ragged time and time again. We were better in the second half, but it'd be hard to be worse than we were in the first, Holland's smart finish aside. A bad result it might be, but I've learned a lot.

[SnakeXe]

England Squad v Ukraine (a) 03.09.39 and Georgia (h) 07.09.39 (Euro Qualifiers)

In	Out
Tom Cruse - DRC - Huddersfield Danny Oakley - DC - Liverpool	Stanley Okoro - DRC - Arsenal (not selected) Adrian McKenzie - DC - Tottenham (not selected)

Unsurprisingly after the previous result the major changes were in defence, with Cruse and Oakley coming back in following injuries.

[SnakeXe]

Tamer Chorley suffers an injury in training so Fred rejoins the squad after a move to Man Utd.

[SnakeXe]

Oscar Hall likewise (who has moved to Newcastle in a big-money transfer - he's not very good guys ) gets injured so I bring in a midfielder to replace him, Rob Hodges of Middlesbrough, so Bond covers the last striker position again.

[SnakeXe]

Ukraine 1 Roman Yuzhanin (37) Euro 2040 Qualifier (Group E) Donbas-Arena, 51,504		England 0
Lineup (4-5-1)		Lineup (4-4-1-1)

[SnakeXe]

Unbelievably frustrating game. We dominated but nothing would go in. They, of course, scored with their only chance of the game (until the 80th minute when we had to start throwing numbers forward). Still, we're still top and if we win our last 2 games, against Georgia at home and Iceland away, we'll definitely win the group.

[SnakeXe]

England 4 Fred (15) Mbala Mbuta N'Shole (24, 26) Jed Smith (43) Euro 2040 Qualifier (Group E) Wembley, 90,000		Georgia 0
Lineup (4-2-3-1)		Lineup (4-2-3-1)

[deltablue]

One down, just Iceland left.

[SnakeXe]

A much better performance, the performance we should have put in in Tbilisi and Donetsk. We matched their system and our individual quality shone through. I'm strongly considering starting this way in Rejkjavik - although we only need a draw now, we saw against Ukraine what can happen if you play too cautiously.

[SnakeXe]

One down, just Iceland left.

Feeling confident now, we're going to go and smash them.

[SnakeXe]

England Squad v Iceland (a) 08.10.39 (Euro Qualifiers)

In	Out
Chris Leigh - GK - Fulham Tamer Chorley - DC - Huddersfield Karl Smith - DM/MC - Everton Joe Chamberlain - M/AMLC - Burnley	Tristan Smith - GK - Wigan (injured) Danny Oakley - DC - Liverpool (injured) Rob Hodges - DM/MC - Middlesbrough (not selected) Mike Preston - ML - Paris Saint-Germain (injured)

Tristan Smith, Oakley and Preston all suffer injuries, so Leigh and Chorley come back in, whilst I select young Joe Chamberlain as Preston's replacement since Ellams is just completely uninspiring. The Burnley winger may be raw but he's at least got a bit about him. Hodges drops out as vice-captain Karl Smith returns.

[SnakeXe]

Iceland 3 Karl Joseph o.g. (11, 52) Arnar Hannesson Euro 2040 Qualifier (Group E) Laugardalsvollur, 9,800		England 1 Mitchell Breach (17)
Lineup (4-4-2)		Lineup (4-2-3-1)

[SnakeXe]

Another horrific performance away from home. What on earth is wrong with us?! Two (TWO!!) own goals from the previously unflappable Karl Joseph, the Ashley Cole of his era, and a completely toothless display going forward. What a joke. And yet we're through because Georgia and Moldova drew. Iceland can top the group by beating Moldova away in the final round of games, and they probably deserve to, because we really haven't performed like group winners. I need to undertake a serious review before the finals.

[SnakeXe]

Well, we got the break we didn't deserve, Iceland failing to beat Moldova. I suppose we have beaten every team in the group at least, but losing - and losing badly in two cases - away to Georgia, Iceland and Ukraine is embarassing and unacceptable under my management. Things will change.

[deltablue]

Sneaked through there. Was shocked when I saw the result.

[SRL88]

A few to many defeats really. Do you find the level of talent coming through for England when you are as far into the game as you are to be quite poor?

[SnakeXe]

Sneaked through there. Was shocked when I saw the result.

I couldn't believe what was happening in front of my eyes. Just a ridiculous performance. Iceland passed the ball well though, they are quite a good side. Although I have to wonder how much was us letting them look good.

A few to many defeats really. Do you find the level of talent coming through for England when you are as far into the game as you are to be quite poor?

There's the odd top class player and then a lot of uninspiring rubbish. Kind of like real life.

[SnakeXe]

England Squad v Norway (h) 12.11.39 and Israel (a) 16.11.39 (Friendlies)

In	Out
Tristan Smith - GK - Wigan Stanley Okoro - DRC - Arsenal Danny Oakley - DC - Liverpool Peter Lynch - DRL - Man City	Chris Leigh - GK - Fulham (not selected) Tom Cruse - DRC - Huddersfield (injured) Fred - DC - Man Utd (not selected) Greg Jones - D/MR - Newcastle (injured)

Massive injury crisis at right back as both our two usual choices are injured. Really wanted to have a massive squad clearout but there's just noone to come in, except in the positions where we're already strong. A real headache. It might have to be a tactical revolution perhaps.

[SnakeXe]

England 2 Phil Bond (28) Mbala Mbuta N'Shole (90+1) Friendly International Wembley, 73,986		Norway 1 Kenneth Evjen (42)
Lineup (4-2-3-1)		Lineup (4-5-1)

[SnakeXe]

Another poor performance which shouldn't be masked by the scoreline, I think this spells the end of 4-2-3-1 for this England side.

[SRL88]

Sneaking a 2-1 win there.

[SnakeXe]

Israel 1 Mazen Amar (68) Friendly International Bloomfield, 18,752		England 1 Mbala Mbuta N'Shole (72)
Lineup (3-5-1-1)		Lineup (4-4-1-1)

[crouchaldinho]

4-4-1-1 huh? Mixing it up!

Playmaker behind the striker?

[SnakeXe]

A solid performance, just lacking a bit of imagination going forward.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Finally no more Boo

[SnakeXe]

4-4-1-1 huh? Mixing it up!

Playmaker behind the striker?

Yeah that's what I tried. We were a lot more solid which I liked, but lacking penetration. It's bizarre, we have an absolute surfeit of top-class pacy strikers, but nothing else beyond Oakley, Joseph, Moke and Preston. How do you fit more than one off-the-shoulder player into one side? You can't. Can you?

Finally no more Boo

Indeed I think I was more happy about that than qualifying for the Euros!

[SnakeXe]

Armenia should be a gimme, but it could be tricky against Italy, whilst we won't relish a reaquaintance with Belgium - who gave us a right shoeing at Wembley recently.

[SnakeXe]

England Squad v France (a) 29.02.40 (Friendly)

In	Out
Marcus Clark - GK - Newcastle Chris Leigh - GK - Fulham James Sykes - GK - Swansea Greg Jones - D/MR - Newcastle Tom Cruse - DRC - Huddersfield Nick Dixon - DM/MC - Arsenal Mike Preston - ML - Paris Saint-Germain Oscar Hall - ST - Newcastle Damon Crawford - ST - Man Utd	David Seasman - GK - Man Utd (injured) Lloyd Clarke - GK - Southampton (injured) Tristan Smith - GK - Wigan (injured) Stanley Okoro - DRC - Arsenal (not picked) Peter Lynch - DRL - Man City (not picked) Karl Smith - DM/MC - Everton (injured) Mitchell Breach - M/AML - Newcastle (injured) John Holland - ST - Man Utd (injured) Andy Wakefield - ST - Newcastle (injured)

Absolutely ridiculous injury problems for this squad - at least the previously injured right-back duo of Jones and Cruse are back. My first 3 choice keepers are all injured, so we're down to Marcus Clark - Newcastle's third choice keeper - getting into the squad. I'm glad to see Preston back as well, although less pleased to have him replace Breach rather than the inexperienced Chamberlain, whilst I'm looking forward to giving Damon Crawford a shot up top - the wonderkid has been banging them in for the U21s. Dixon is perhaps a bit young, but I wanted him to have a call-up to reward his good performances for the U21s, and to earmark him as a player for the future.

[SnakeXe]

France 0 Friendly International Stade de France, 47,980		England 0
Lineup (4-4-2 Diamond)		Lineup (4-4-1-1)

[SnakeXe]

A far better performance than either of the Norway or Israel games, we almost completely snuffed out arguably the most potent attack in international football, and created a couple of excellent chances to win it. That we couldn't is a slight cause for concern, however I think with a few tactical tweaks it can be rectified - the fact that neither N'Shole or Crawford did well probably implies it is a tactical problem rather than just poor individual displays. I'll try and tweak it to focus more on getting the ball in behind the defence and getting the ball in early from the flanks.

[SnakeXe]

England Squad - 30-man Preliminary for Euro 2040

| Pkd     | Inf     | Name                | Position         | Club                | Height  | Weight       | Age     | Value   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Tristan Smith       | GK               | Wigan               | 5'11"   | 12 st 6 lbs  | 32      | £3.8M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       | IPR     | David Seasman       | GK               | Man Utd             | 6'0"    | 12 st 12 lbs | 30      | £4.2M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Chris Leigh         | GK               | Fulham              | 6'0"    | 12 st 10 lbs | 26      | £4.2M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       | IPR     | Carl Yambasu        | D (R)            | Stoke               | 5'7"    | 10 st 1 lbs  | 26      | £1.7M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Boubacar Compaoré   | D (RC)           | Liverpool           | 6'4"    | 13 st 9 lbs  | 22      | £9M     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Jed Smith           | D (R), DM, M (C) | Man Utd             | 5'9"    | 11 st 2 lbs  | 27      | £6M     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Craig Evans         | D (L)            | Chelsea             | 5'10"   | 11 st 6 lbs  | 32      | £950K   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Fred                | D (LC)           | Man Utd             | 6'2"    | 13 st 5 lbs  | 30      | £2.7M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Danny Oakley        | D (C)            | Liverpool           | 6'4"    | 13 st 9 lbs  | 33      | £3.9M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Jake Mapes          | D (C)            | Arsenal             | 6'7"    | 14 st 13 lbs | 30      | £3.3M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Tamer Chorley       | D (C)            | Huddersfield        | 6'3"    | 13 st 5 lbs  | 26      | £3.7M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Greg Jones          | D/M (R)          | Newcastle           | 5'11"   | 11 st 13 lbs | 24      | £6.25M  | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Karl Joseph         | D/M (L)          | Man City            | 6'0"    | 12 st 3 lbs  | 32      | £6.75M  | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Karl Smith          | DM, M (C)        | Everton             | 6'0"    | 12 st 8 lbs  | 32      | £3.7M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Dan Vigurs          | DM, M (C)        | Juventus            | 6'3"    | 13 st 5 lbs  | 32      | £5.25M  | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       | IPR     | Rob Hodges          | DM, M (C)        | Middlesbrough       | 5'11"   | 12 st 3 lbs  | 30      | £2.4M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       | Wnt     | Nick Dixon          | DM, M (C)        | Arsenal             | 5'10"   | 12 st 1 lbs  | 18      | £2.8M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Andrew Stewart      | M (R), AM (RC)   | Cardiff             | 5'10"   | 11 st 13 lbs | 24      | £8.75M  | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Mike Preston        | M (L)            | Paris Saint-Germain | 5'11"   | 11 st 9 lbs  | 28      | £26.5M  | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Mbala Mbuta N'Shole | M (C), ST        | Man City            | 5'10"   | 11 st 4 lbs  | 24      | £23M    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Branko Eric         | M/AM (R), ST     | Liverpool           | 6'5"    | 13 st 12 lbs | 29      | £3.8M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       | IPR     | Sean Brown          | M/AM (R), ST     | Blackburn           | 6'0"    | 12 st 8 lbs  | 27      | £4.5M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Mitchell Breach     | M/AM (L)         | Newcastle           | 5'8"    | 11 st 4 lbs  | 27      | £1.7M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Joe Chamberlain     | M/AM (LC)        | Burnley             | 5'10"   | 11 st 11 lbs | 21      | £1.9M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Delando Moke        | M/AM (C)         | Valencia            | 6'4"    | 13 st 3 lbs  | 26      | £19.75M | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Phil Bond           | M/AM (C), ST     | Hull                | 5'10"   | 11 st 9 lbs  | 25      | £4M     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | John Holland        | ST               | Man Utd             | 5'11"   | 11 st 9 lbs  | 26      | £11.5M  | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       | Inj     | Andy Wakefield      | ST               | Newcastle           | 5'11"   | 12 st 3 lbs  | 26      | £23.5M  | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Oscar Hall          | ST               | Newcastle           | 5'11"   | 12 st 1 lbs  | 25      | £22.5M  | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Damon Crawford      | ST               | Man Utd             | 6'0"    | 12 st 3 lbs  | 20      | £4.5M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Fairly predictable for the most part. The only major problem at this stage is that Tom Cruse, first choice right-back, will miss out. Hopefully we'll have no further injuries in the three pre-tournament friendlies we have scheduled. The likes of Brown, Crawford, and Hall will all get a chance to play themselves into contention. Established players that are in danger of missing out include Wakefield, who has been frozen out at Newcastle and is carrying a knock at the moment, and Branko Eric, who similarly hasn't featured much for Liverpool.

[SnakeXe]

Spain 3 Víctor Franco Zumeta (11) Domingo López (41) Mateo (86) Friendly International Santiago Bernabéu, 55,608		England 3 Oscar Hall (3, 43, 49)
Lineup (4-4-1-1)		Lineup (4-4-1-1)

[SnakeXe]

Well, Oscar Hall has booked his place on the plane anyway. Tristan Smith may have played his way out of the starting lineup with a poor display, whilst Danny Oakley definitely will come under pressure from Tamer Chorley, Jack Mapes and Fred for a starting slot. Overall though it was an excellent performance, we threatened Spain's defence constantly, and only good finishing, poor goalkeeping, and lax marking prevented an emphatic win for us. Very encouraging.

[SnakeXe]

England 1 Boubacar Compaoré (83) Friendly International Wembley, 73,980		Slovenia 0
Lineup (4-4-2)		Lineup (4-5-1)

[SnakeXe]

Another example of how we just lack the technical ability to cut teams apart who come to defend. I think that's it for Crawford's chances really, it'll likely be Hall, N'Shole and one of Holland and Wakefield at the moment. I'm leaning towards Wakefield simply because he's the captain, but it could swing on a performance in the final warm-up against the Czech Republic. Chorley and Leigh were decent enough so they're their shirts to lose now.

[bjoggi33]

What!? Iceland qualifying for a Major Championship! Any chance of a screenshot of their best player?

[SnakeXe]

England 2 Andrew Stewart (75) Andy Wakefield (90+2) Friendly International Wembley, 73,965		Czech Republic 2 Tomas Zavadil (41) Miroslav Silny (62)
Lineup (4-4-2)		Lineup (4-3-2-1)

[SnakeXe]

Well on the negative side, not the best of performances to see us off - we were swamped in midfield and retained the ball poorly - but on the positive side it definitely solves my final selection quandries. Branco Eric will miss out for Steward and Brown, Chamberlain misses out, and Wakefield goes instead of Holland. Oh, and 4-4-1-1 all the way in the competition.