[FM16] John Johnson II Joins St Johnstone (reprise)

After months of trying, and failing to get into FM16 I realised that I had the most fun playing my John Johnson save from the start of the (FM) year - http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/437521-FM16-John-Johnson-joins-St-Johnstone. I managed to get St Johnstone relegated, and myself sacked. In real life, they finished 4th. I'm clearly ****.

So... The rules:

With the stars aligning in this way, John Johnson has one ambition: to create a team of Johns. What type of John doesn't matter, so long as there is a (tenuous) link to the name 'John' - this means that John, Jon, Jonny, Jonjo, Jean, Yohan, Jonathan, Sean, Giovanni, Juan, Jonas and Jens (and a million other names) are all acceptable as are surnames that utilise a 'John' form. This handy wikipedia page and this page too will not doubt come in very useful.

On top of this, any player coming through the youth setup (and kept) will become an honorary John, and be given a name befitting his honorary status. These 'honJohns' are purely because I always like bringing through youth.

I remain useless at FM, so might get fired. But I like the idea, and, as I said, I've struggled getting into this iteration since my firing as St. Johnstone manager, so...

Haha. Loved this before and I'm sure I will again.

ps. IN case you are interested, here is a list of places that are named after Pope JOHN Paul II. I personally think that anyone from anywhere near these places should also be available to sign.

2015/16 Season

Pre-Season

Season Expectations:

League: Top Half

Media: 4th

Bookies: 40-1

Scottish Cup: Semi Final

League Cup: Semi Final

Europa League: Third Qualifying

Starting Squad

Of my starting squad only Joe Shaugnessy and John Sutton canhold even a passing connection to the name John, Shaughnessy via the Shaugn in his surname. Slowly does it... The squad needs improvement, too - too many strikers, not enough midfielders and a very average bunch of centre backs. I'll be playing a 4-4-2 for the time being, to try and accomodate everybody.

Transfers

Little money, but one big signing – Sean Kelly at DL/DC. Out went Craig Thompson on loan to Dumbarton

Friendlies

Just the two friendlies - a thrashing of my youngsters, and a solid performance in a 4-2 loss to Reading

Europe

Home and away wins before I started over Tshkinvali of Georgia were followed by a thrashing - complete with dodgy penalty - by Bulgarians Litex away. A 2-0 lead was pulled back to 2-1 late on as I looked for a third, and we were out. Not even semi-respectable, really.

Fixtures

We started the season poorly, lucky to concede only twice at Hearts – who had 8 (!) CCCs. A tweak of tactics at half-time against Inverness saw us score twice more to win there, and we continued with these simple tweaks as August progressed. A draw against Ross County was deserved, but our loss to Dundee less so – but I have to say, we looked good. Another 0-0 against Motherwell showed our problems scoring and the less said about that Celtic game, the better – except that four goals for Leigh Griffiths put him on 12 goals in 6 games (!).

Unsurprisingly, Leigh Griffiths was August’s player of the month. More surprisingly, my centre midfielder, Chris Millar, was second.

Fixtures

Three goals in three minutes – two of them the wrong way – against Hamilton followed by a couple the right way against Kilmarnock started September. Steven Maclean’s goal was his first appearance since the start of the season, an injury having kept him out until then. And then a Tayside derby where we led 2-0 and threw it all away, losing 3-2 to Dundee United.

League Cup

Queen of the South put up a real fight, pulling level twice before late, late goals from Wotherspoon and Millar made it look much easier than it was.

Fixtures

Our form is incredibly patchy – wins against 2nd and 5th in Aberdeen and Inverness were interspersed by losses to 8th placed Partick and bottom of the table Hamilton. I’m finally settling on a front two, with Cummins and Kane, but they just aren’t getting the supply.

League Cup

4 days after the win against Invenress in the league, we go back up North in the cup and are thoroughly beaten.

Fixtures

Continually patchy form – a 3-0 win over Killy stopped a losing streak before two Tayside derbies in a row ended the month: a 1-0 loss (undeserved) and 1-1 draw (far more deserved) meant I sat in a mediocre midtable come December. There’s no consistency.

Fixtures

A good game with Ross County, but again we can’t convert it into a win. Celtic was an enormous disappointment. We led, were pulled back and then, with the last kick of the game, Celtic sodding won it. A loss to Hearts and the board threatened to sack me. 8 points, they said. A first half hattrick by Chris Kane put us 3-2 up against Partick. An assist by the man of the moment made it 4-2, before goals in the 87th and 91st minute made it 4-4. We just can’t hold on to a win. It’s awful. A change of tactics to a 4-5-1, focussing on retaining possession away at Motherwell brought me a much needed win – and got their manager sacked in the process. This one might just work, despite the lack of wingers in my squad.

After the Hearts loss, the board demanded 8 points from five to keep me in a job. There’s speculation about replacing me, but I’ve got 4 from two, which is a great start.

Despite everything, David Wotherspoon won player of the month.

Ballon D’or: Lionel Messi

World Team of the Year Johns: Juan Mata

Fixtures

A pretty spectacular win over Aberdeen kicked the New Year off with a bang – and dragged me to five of my required eight points. We hit eight points the next game – more subtle tweaks to the tactic, now playing a possession based 4-4-1-1 resulted in the best performance, and best result, of my career to date. Celtic are just so much better than me – Leigh Griffiths scored three more, to bring his tally to 7 in 3 games against me.

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Scottish Cup

A weak – but not that weak – second team were beaten by League One Brechin City. Brechin City. Our new possession-based tactic that produced two 3-0 wins in a row just couldn’t break down a defensive-minded opponent in Brechin.

JohnWatch

A biannual check up on how my Johns are doing (until there are more Johns than not…)

Sean Kelly has been playing mostly at DC as opposed to his more natural DL position, with Brian Easton dominating at left back. He’s played well, and is a surefire starter. 6.91

Joe Shaugnessy: Like Sean Kelly, a full back by trade who is second choice, this time to Darnell Fisher. Instead, he normally starts alongside Kelly through the centre. 6.92

John Sutton: Doesn’t fit my formation, which calls for an AF. As a targetman, he looks static and not playing well. 11(7) and 3 goals isn’t enough. 6.89

Fixtures

After a high-scoring January, a low-scoring February – draws against Inverness and Motherwell sandwiched a win against Dundee. An excellent win against Aberdeen – whom we have beaten 3 of 3 games rounded off an excellent February. Since my change of formation at the end of 2015, I’ve got 17 points from a possible 24.

It’s seriously tight, with five to play until the split. 3 points separate 2nd from 8th.

2016/17 Youth intake – the HonJohns

A pretty decent first honorary John intake, with three John’s chosen for naming, and a few not tagged but kept just in case.

Jamie ‘John’ Murray looks pretty great in goal, especially once those mentals are dragged up. 2 Determination is a worry.

Jamie ‘John’ McNiven is alright. Nothing special though.

Ciaran ‘John’ Young might make it as a jobbing midfielder. Good passing, which is nice.

hope this one works out. I really loved the idea of the Johns

Fixtures

A great month. Chris Kane looks fabulous up front, and Craig Thomson, who has just returned from loan, scored in the thrashing of Partick Thistle. A victory over Ross County and draw with Hearts rounded off an excellent month.

So tight at the top. 4 points between 2nd and 8th, 6 between 2nd and 10th. At least I’m at the right end of it, finally.

Fixtures

Fabulous first two games – a 3-0 thrashing of Dundee, with Sean Kelly and John Sutton both scoring. We went two down early to Kilmarnock but we fought back – and a score from Graham Cummins off the bench secured a fabulous win – and second at the split. When my job was in question in December, I’d never have thought that we could turn it around.

Oh, and Celtic won by a mile.

Fixtures

I’m not sure if it was that we were just playing good teams again, or complacency, or people getting used to our tactics, but after a3-1 victory over Celtic we failed to win again in the Champions Section – and, apart from our draw with Hamilton, deserved every result.

3rd Place is ASTONISHING considering we were 10th at Christmas. Europa League, too \o/

[

League Table.

League Graph:

Look at that post-Christmas rise…

Facilities. Our facilities have downgraded at the end of this season, due to technological advances. We did, however, request new Youth facilities, which were granted at a million pound cost.

Finances

Squad Looking good. We’re losing a lot of our defenders on a free, or back from loan, at the end of the season and will have to look at replacing them. A good AMC is a must, too. More Johns Needed!

End of Season Awards:

The centre back pairing is very odd. Scobbie only made 7 appearances all season, while Sean Kelly and Joe shaugnessy made upward of 30 and played better to boot. It’s a shame that Darnell Fisher will be going back to Celtic at the end of the season, but hopefully Shaugnessy will replace him at DR.

Stats

Fans Player of the Season: David Wotherspoon

John of the Season:

Played consistently well at DC.

Fans Young Player of the Season Darnell Fisher

Young John of the Season:

Also Joe Shaugnessy! He and Sean Kelly are 23 and 22, and will hopefully form the core of the Johns for many years.

Goal of the Season.

A fabulous long range goal from Chris Kane

Roll of Honour

SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Champions: Celtic

Europa League Qualifers: Hearts, St. Johnstone

Relegated: Kilmarnock, Dundee

SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP

Promoted: Rangers, Falkirk

Relegated: Greenock Morton

SCOTTISH LEAGUE 1

Promoted: Dunfermline Athletic

Relegated: Brechin City, Albion Rovers

SCOTTISH LEAGUE 2

Promoted: Annan Athletic, Stirling Albion

Relegated: East Stirlingshire

SCOTTISH JUNIORS: Brora Rangers

SCOTTISH CUP

Celtic 7-0 Raith Rovers (51,866)

SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP

Inverness 0p-0 Motherwell (17,098)

PREMIER LEAGUE

Champions: Manchester City

Champions League qualifiers: Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United

Relegated: Newcastle United, West Bromwich Albion, Sunderland

CHAMPIONSHIP

Champions: Burnley

Promoted: Brentford, Brighton & Hove Albion

Relegated: Birmingham City, Bolton Wanderers, Rotherham United

LEAGUE ONE

Champions: Wigan Athletic

Promoted: Barnsley, Peterborough United

Relegated: Shrewsbury Town, Crewe Alexandra, Blackpool, Oldham Athletic

LEAGUE TWO

Champions: AFC Wimbledon

Promoted: Carlisle United, Plymouth Argyle, Leyton Orient

Relegated: Hartlepool United, Accrington Stanley

CONFERENCE PREMIER

Champions: Cheltenham Town

Promoted: Grimsby Town

Relegated: Guiseley, Barrow, Lincoln City, Altrincham

CONFERENCE NORTH

Champions: Stockport County

Promoted: Telford United

Relegated: Brackley Town, Gainsborough Trinity, Gloucester City

CONFERENCE SOUTH

Champions: Bishop’s Stortford

Promoted: Bath City

Relegated: Chelmsford City, Weston-Super-Mare, Concord Rangers

TIER 7:

Dulwich Hamlet, Dorchester Town, Bognor Regis Town, Ashton United, Darlington 1883, Kettering Town

FA CUP

Arsenal 0-1 Manchester United (90,000)

LEAGUE CUP

Arsenal 2p-2 Chelsea (90,000)

COMMUNITY SHIELD

Arsenal 2-3 Chelsea

FOOTBALL LEAGUE TROPHY

Coventry 0-2 Port Vale (43,077)

FA TROPHY

Cheltenham Town 2-0 Barrow (19,421)

Elsewhere in Europe:

AUSTRIAN PREMIER: RB Leipzig

BELGIAN PRO LEAGUE: KAA Gent (x2)

CROATIAN FIRST LEAGUE: HNK Rijeka

CZECH SYNOT LIGA: Jablonec

DANISH SUPERLIGA: FC Midtjylland (x2)

DUTCH EREDIVISIE: Vitesse

ENGLISH PREMIERSHIP: Arsenal

FRENCH LIGUE 1: AS Monaco

GERMAN BUNDESLIGA: FC Bayern Munchen (x4)

GREEK SUPERLEAGUE: Olympiakos (x6)

ITALIAN SERIE A: Juventus (x5)

PORTUGUESE PREMIER LEAGUE: FC Porto

ROMANIAN FIRST LEAGUE: Steau Bucaresti (x3)

RUSSIAN PREMIER DIVISION: Zenit St. Petersburg (x2)

SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP: Celtic (x5)

SERBIAN FIRST LEAGUE: Cukaricki Stankom

SPANISH LIGA BBVA: Barcelona (x2)

SWEDISH ALLSVENSKAN: IFK Goteborg

SWISS SUPER LEAGUE: FC Basel (x7)

TURKISH SUPER LEAGUE: Fenerbahce

UKRAINIAN PREMIER LEAGUE: Shakhtar Donetsk

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Juventus 1e-0 Manchester City

San Siro, Milan (80,018)

EUROPA LEAGUE

Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Liverpool

St Jakobspark, Basel (36,000)

EURO 2016 – Holders: Spain, Hosts: France

Out in Groups: Denmark, Austria, Wales, Hungary, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, Poland

Last 16:

Ukraine 1p-1 Belgium

Czech republic 0-1 Serbia

Holland 2-1 Italy

Slovenia 1-2 France

Croatia 1-0 Portugal

Bosnia 0-3 Spain

Romania 2-3 Russia

England 2-2p Germany

Quarters:

Ukraine 0-2e Holland

Serbia 0-2 Spain

Croatia 2-2p Russia

France 0-1 Germany

Semis:

Holland 0p-0 Spain

Russia 1-0 Germany

Final:

Holland 0e-1 Russia

Stade de France, Paris (79,000)

I recognise that layout.

How did you qualify for the Champions League according to the roll of honour?

Best form of flattery!

I qualifed for the Europas. I put it in wrongly.

Good to see you try this again, it's an interesting idea.

Season Expectations:

League: Europa League Qualification

Media: 4th

Bookies: 10-1

Scottish Cup: Quarter Final

League Cup: Quarter Final

Europa League: Third Qualifying

Starting Squad

More Johns! We now number 5 Johns at the start of the season, following the free transfer of John Rankin and the big-money signing of Ian McShane.

John Sutton will be third-choice Striker behind Chris Kane and Steven Maclean, (Graham Cummins is out of contract and will almost certainly join Hearts) and also second choice at AMC behind either Wotherspoon or Swanson (depending on which is playing MR). Joe Shaugnessy will move to first choice DR with Darnell Fisher’s return to Celtic, and Sean Kelly is a first choice DC.

Transfers

The big signing was Ian McShane (so good, they named him ‘John’ twice!). John Rankin will be a solid backup midfielder, and was available on a free after his Dundee United contract came to an end. Johnny Burn is a good backup centre back – I needed one desperately, and he’s a good signing on loan from Middlesborough.

Out went a number of youth players, as well as 3rd choice ST Graham Cummins, Simon Lappin in the midfield, 3rd choice DC Steven Andersen and 2nd choice GK Zander Clark. Clearing out the nonJohns that aren’t needed.

Friendlies

Europe

Wins home and away against Cork City of Ireland weren’t especially convincing, but we were knackered to be fair. Our draw away and win at home to Istra of Croatia was better – and the draw with Ordabasy Shymkent of Kazakhstan was the most favourable it could be, They beat Nordsjaelland of Denmark in the 2nd round, a team I think we’d have struggled against. 2 penalties helped me on my in the first leg – though I deserved the win anyway.

Fixtures

Sodding Celtic. Our bogey team (and the best team in the league by far) defeated us 3-2. Understandable, but irritating. Chris Kane scored after just 24 seconds, giving us false hope, but they are just too good. We followed this by a good victory over Ross County. An 88th minute penalty meant we lost to Partick Thistle, and, in the 94th minute, we had our first ever red card after a two footed tackle by Murray Davidson. Falkirk were summarily dispatched for a good start to the season.

Europe

A 3-3 draw in Kazakhstan put us through to the playoffs (moolah!). Unfortunately we drew Werder Bremen. A frankly ridiculous 5-4 loss at Home – including a hattrick from Chris Kane – was, unfortunately, followed by

One of the pages you linked in your opening post says the Turkish equivalent of John is 'Yahya' but this strikes me as being an old Turkish name. In modern Turkish 'Can' (pronounced 'Jan') is often seen as linked to John. It's very popular as a first name and surname so you may have just had your pool of players increased considerably

Oh fab.

Emre Can for eg?

Fixtures

Average month, all in. Dundee United lost to two penalties, before a bore draw with Hearts. Aberdeen were simply better than us. I’m slightly worried we aren’t going to be as good as last year – but it can all turn, as we’ve seen.

League Cup

Hibernian were summarily dispatched in a great performance.

Fixtures

We’re really finding goals hard to come by. One in the 91st minute against Motherwell manages to get me the win, before being shut out twice in a row in poor losses to Inverness and Rangers. We were very average, to be frank, against Celtic and got lucky with an Ambrose own goal.

League Cup

We’re into the semis after a 4-1 penalty win against Hamilton. Hooray!

Oh fab.

Emre Can for eg?

Fixtures

It’s not like the end of last season. To be fair, we’re playing quite well, but can’t hold on to a lead – nor can we afford to lose Craig, Kane or Hurst who are keeping us afloat at the moment. I’m going for 4 points dropped here.

Fixtures

The very definition of mid table – 2 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses. Hearts and Aberdeen – outside of Celtic, rounding out last year’s top ten – have dropped enormously this season and sit in the bottom half, and yet both beat me by two goals. A 90th minute equaliser against Dundee was welcome, and wins against Hamilton and Inverness were excellent.

Liam Craig won Player of the Month for a second successive month. He’s looking brilliant.

Ballon d’Or: Lionel Messi (x2)

World Team of the Year Johns: N/a

Fixtures

We played – and lost – to the top three. Celtic and Rangers and streets above us in terms of quality, while Partick Thistle are having an excellent season – and we were poor. In between, We beat Ross County with goals from Johnny Burn and David Wotherspoon. Part of our issue this season is that we aren’t firing on all cylinders. Kane hasn’t scored in the league in 11 games.

Scottish Cup

A weakened team struggled but eventually overcame Stranraer. Brad McKay, Steven Maclean and John Rankin with the goals

League Cup

A goal from Chris Kane! His first in 10 hours, and we are through to the League Cup Final!!

JohnWatch

A biannual check up on how my Johns are doing (until there are more Johns than not…)

Sean Kelly Plays near enough every game at DC alongside Burns, but occasionally fills in at his preferred DL when Easton is out. You can tell he’s a DL6.91

Joe Shaugnessy: Has had a sublime season at Right Back since Darnell Thomas’ return to Celtic. Not much in the way of assists, but supports brilliantly 7.34

Johnny Burn is very much the first name on the teamsheet. I will be doing my utmost to sign him permanently in the Summer. 7.20

Ian McShane: Dominant in the midfield. Passes well, breaks up play nicely. 7.31

John Rankin: Getting on a bit and very much a backup midfielder. Hasn’t played much in the league, but looks good against weaker sides in the cup. 7/03

John Sutton: Plays rarely now, and when he does it is normally as an AMC – where he’s actually doing well. Score penalties for fun. 7.11 & 5 goals

Bugger.

God only know what happened to February there.... (I was pretty good - I won some games, including a fifth round Scottish cup match)

Fixtures

Not a fab couple of games… After a good (if invisible) February, I lost and drew in March. That said, I was essentially guaranteed a place in the top six.

Scottish Cup

An excellent win against Hearts puts me into a semi-final against Celtic. Can we make it two finals??

League Cup

Very sad. We had a chance… and against Dundee, of all people.

2016/17 Youth intake – the HonJohns

Fab honorary John intake- this time named ‘Ian’ - with five chosen for naming.

Tony ‘Ian’ Robertson looks like a pretty excellent ball winning midfielder. Great tackling.

Jamie ‘Ian’ Fotheringham: Passing? Teamwork? Determination? Well he’ll definitely do.

Gary ‘Ian’ Johnston: A trueJohn, and a very good one at that. I’ve two good young GKs now, alongside Jamie ‘John’ Murray…

Jack ‘Ian’ Gemell: Another trueJohn, and potentially a good striker to boot. Not the best physicals….

Willie ‘Ian’ Scott isn’t quite as good as the rest, but has the physicals, perhaps, to challenge.

Celtic really very very good

Fixtures

Well, that wasn’t a very good month. I’ve no idea where my form has gone. I’ve three games left of the season – I want to blood some youngsters.

Scottish Cup]

What a ridiculous match. I was 1-0 down after 48 minutes, when Johnny Burn got a second yellow. An attacking formation with 3 at the back spectacularly backfired as I went 5-0 down. And then, 3 goals in 4 minutes gave me some hope at 5-3 with 82 minutes gone but three more goals from Diogo Jota, to bring his total for the day to 5 (!) in 82,83 and 89 destroyed me. Cerci completed his hattrick on 91 to make it 9-3. Unbelievable. Unbelievable.

Fixtures

I changed the goalkeeper, after Mannus had conceded 27 goals in his last 8 games – at least two in every match. 17 year old Jamie ‘John’ Murray came in, and had 3 clean sheets in three. Yes, two of those were 0-0 draws, but I’m thrilled with the turnaround after 2 points in 7 prior to that.

Sixth isn’t a fab result, but I’ll take the top half, I guess.

[

League Table.

League Graph:

We never recovered from that post-League Cup Final slump…

Europa League: Lost vs Werder Bremen in the Playoffs

Scottish Cup: Thrashed 9-3 by Celtic in the Semi Final

League Cup: Lost 3-1 to Dundee United in the final

Facilities.

Finances - £1.45m

Squad A number of aging players (MacKay, Millar, Scobbie, Maclean) are going at the end of the season, and of course Johnny Burns will return to Middlesborough. We’re in desperate need of a 1st choice AMC, some DL/DRs and a backup DC.

Roll of Honour

SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Champions: Celtic

Europa League Qualifers: Rangers, Partick Thistle, Hamilton Athletic

Relegated: Ross County, Dundee United

SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP

Promoted: Dundee, Hibernian

Relegated: Alloa Athletic, Livingston

SCOTTISH LEAGUE 1

Promoted: Greenock Morton, Forfar

Relegated: Annan Athletic, Stirling Albion

SCOTTISH LEAGUE 2

Promoted: Clyde, Albion Rovers

Relegated: Brora Rangers

SCOTTISH JUNIORS: East Stirlingshire

SCOTTISH CUP

Celtic 4-0 Inverness Caledonia Thistle (51,866)

SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP

St Johnstone 1-3 Dundee (42,466)

PREMIER LEAGUE

Champions: Manchester United

Champions League qualifiers: Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham

Relegated: Aston Villa, Norwich City, Brentford

CHAMPIONSHIP

Champions: QPR

Promoted: Wolverhampton Wanderers, Brighton & Hove Albion, Hull City

Relegated: Sunderland (!), Leeds United , Barnsley

LEAGUE ONE

Champions: Millwall

Promoted: Birmingham City, Walsall

Relegated: Southend United, Bradford City, Plymouth Argyle, AFC Wimbledon

LEAGUE TWO

Champions: Portsmouth

Promoted: Luton Town, Notts County, Wycombe Wanderers

Relegated: York City, Northampton Town

CONFERENCE Hartlepool United

Promoted: Wrexham

Relegated: Telford United, Stockport County, Bath City, Bishop’s Stortford

CONFERENCE NORTH

Champions: Altrincham

Promoted: Fylde

Relegated: Alfreton Town, North Ferriby United, Ashton United

CONFERENCE SOUTH

Champions: Ebbsfleet United

Promoted: Dartford

Relegated: Wealdstone, Dorchester Town, Bognor Regis Town

TIER 7

FA CUP

Liverpool 0p-0 Manchester United (90,000)

LEAGUE CUP

Watford 2-3 Chelsea (90,000)

COMMUNITY SHIELD

Manchester United 1-3 Manchester City

FOOTBALL LEAGUE TROPHY

Millwall 2-0 Rotherham Utd(43,666)

FA TROPHY

Southport 2-2p Kidderminster Harries (19,356)

Elsewhere in Europe:

AUSTRIAN PREMIER: Rapid Wien

BELGIAN PRO LEAGUE: KAA Gent (x3)

CROATIAN FIRST LEAGUE: Hajduk Split

CZECH SYNOT LIGA: Sparta Praha

DANISH SUPERLIGA: FC Kobenhavn (x2)

DUTCH EREDIVISIE: AFC Ajax

ENGLISH PREMIERSHIP: Arsenal

FRENCH LIGUE 1: PSG

GERMAN BUNDESLIGA: FC Bayern Munchen (x5)

GREEK SUPERLEAGUE: Olympiakos (x7)

ITALIAN SERIE A: AS Roma

PORTUGUESE PREMIER LEAGUE: FC Porto (x2)

ROMANIAN FIRST LEAGUE: Steau Bucaresti (x4)

RUSSIAN PREMIER DIVISION: Zenit St. Petersburg (x2)

SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP: Celtic (x6)

SERBIAN FIRST LEAGUE: FK Partizan

SPANISH LIGA BBVA: Barcelona (x3)

SWEDISH ALLSVENSKAN: IFK Norrkoping

SWISS SUPER LEAGUE: FC Basel (x8)

TURKISH SUPER LEAGUE: Fenerbahce (x2)

UKRAINIAN PREMIER LEAGUE: Shakhtar Donetsk (x2)

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Manchester United 2-2p Atletico Madrid

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (72,500)

EUROPA LEAGUE

Olympique Lyonnais 1-0 Liverpool

Friends Arena, Stockholm (53,000)

Decent improvement on last season.

Season Expectations:

League: Top Half

Media: 4th

Bookies: 12-1

Scottish Cup: Quarter Final

League Cup: Quarter Final

Starting Squad

We can now field a full first eleven of Johns if we want. I might play 11 Johns in the first few rounds of the cup. Wotherspoon remains my best player, though, despite the new influx.

Transfers

Lots in. Lots out, too, to be fair, in particular aging nonJohns. First choice players in include: John Souttar, John O’Sullivan, John Swift on loan, Ro-Shaun Williams on loan, and possibly Jack Harper. Second choices are Ivan Novoselec, Jack Hamilton, Sean Kavanagh and Jan Luptak. Yan Dhanda is a youth prospect.

Friendlies

Nice and simple. Good draw against Bordeaux.

In my Dorchester Town save, Spurs have a regen called John Johnson. Pretty good too.

Here's hoping!!

Fixtures

After a poor first weekend, we were fabulous. A comfortable win against Motherwell was accompanied by wins over Aberdeen, Dundee and Celtic – and we top the table. Kane and Shaughnessy are looking spectacular.

League Cup]

We played our first ever full eleven of Johns, including all three of our subs. Yes, it was a mostly second team, but I’m thrilled I’ve got to this point. We thrashed Stirling, Jan Luptak looking excellent.

Fixtures

Four games, three wins, one draw. Three goals for ML Liam Craig. When he plays well, so does the team. Top of the table.

League Cup]

Dundee United may have been relegated last season, but they did beat me in the League Cup final - and the holders gave me a scare as I played 9 Johns, holding me to 1-1 at full-time, and pulling back an equalizer in extra time before the mighty David Wotherspoon rescued the match.

Fixtures

Three points from three away games would have been alright had it not been for the prelude to it. The loss to Partick was particularly poor, and we lost the lead twice before a late winner. A good win against Hearts keeps me second in the league though.

League Cup]

We got over our loss to Partick in the league by beating them in the cup. Goals from Chris Kane and John O’Sullivan put me through to face Aberdeen in the semis. 8 Johns in the starting 11.