psychonaut Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 Good season, got into Europe. Well done. Cheers mate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 2017-2018 Ups & Downs Northern Ireland League Premier Division Winners: Linfield (x9). Champs Lg Q: Linfield. Europa Lg Q: PORTADOWN (N Irish Cup winners), Ballymena Utd (2nd), Glentoran (3rd) Relegated: Dundela, Ards. First Division Winners: Newry. Promoted: Glenavon. Relegated: Killymoon, Bangor. Second Division Winners: Ballinamallard Utd. Promoted: Coagh Utd. Relegated: Knockbreda, H & W Welders. Cups Northern Irish Cup: PORTADOWN. Northern Irish League Cup: Distillery. Mid Ulster Cup: PORTADOWN. All-Ireland Cup: PORTADOWN. England League Premier Division Winners: Chelsea. Champs Lg Q: Chelsea, Manchester United (2nd), Tottenham Hotspur (3rd), Liverpool (4th) Europa Lg Q: Arsenal (5th), Manchester City (6th), Newcastle United (League Cup winners). Relegated: Swansea City, Watford, QPR. npower Championship Winners: Wolverhampton Wanderers. Promoted: Leicester City, West Ham United. Relegated: Blackpool, Cardiff City, Preston North End. npower League 1 Winners: Nottingham Forest. Promoted: Oxford United, Chesterfield. Relegated: Accrington Stanley, Yeovil Town, Exeter City, Bristol Rovers. npower League 2 Winners: Southend United. Promoted: Lincoln City, Stevenage, Mansfield Town. Relegated: Grimsby Town, Tranmere Rovers. Blue Square Premier Winners: Newport County. Promoted: AFC Wimbledon. Relegated: Port Vale, Tamworth, Alfreton, Bath City. Blue Square North Winners: Histon. Promoted: Gateshead. Relegated: Hyde, Workington, Lowestoft. Blue Square South Winners: Eastleigh. Promoted: Truro City. Relegated: Maidenhead, Kingstonian, Tonbridge Angels. Promoted from Regional Prems: Chelmsford, Bury Town, Canvey Island, Altrincham, Dorchester, Chasetown. Cups FA Cup: Chelsea 3-0 Manchester United. League Cup: Newcastle United p2-2 Manchester United. JPT: Southend United 3-2 Bolton Wanderers. FA Trophy: Oldham Athletic 2-1 York City. === Champions League === Atletico Madrid 0-1 Chelsea @ Swedbank Arena, Stockholm. Att: 50000. === Europa League === Besiktas 0-1 Juventus @ Rasunda, Stockholm. Att: 36608. Other European League Winners Belgium: Standard Liege. France: Olympique de Marseille. Germany: FC Bayern (x4). Holland: Vitesse. Italy: Juventus. Portugal: Porto. Scotland: Rangers. Spain: Real Madrid (x3). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 WORLD CUP 2018 Hosts: Russia. Holders: Germany. Group Stage Group A Qualified:Russia, Wales. Out: Paraguay, Tunisia. Group B Qualified: Peru, Italy. Out: Mexico, Germany. Group C Qualified: Slovenia, England. Out: Ivory Coast, Bahrain. Group D Qualified: Brazil, Portugal. Out: USA, China. Group E Qualified: Argentina, Ukraine. Out: Japan, Guatemala. Group F Qualified: France, Croatia. Out: South Korea, Cameroon. Group G Qualified: Belgium, Uruguay. Out: Egypt, Holland. Group H Qualified: Spain, Czech Republic. Out: Mali, Canada. Second Round Russia 0-1 Italy Wales 0-2 Peru Portugal 1-2 Slovenia England 2-0 Brazil Argentina 3-2 Croatia Ukraine 1-3 France Belgium 1-0 Czech Republic Uruguay 0-3 Spain Quarter Final Italy 3-2 England Peru 2-1 Slovenia Argentina 3-2 Spain France 0-1 Belgium Semi Final Italy 1-0 Belgium Peru 0-2 Argentina Third Place Belgium 3-0 Peru THE FINAL Italy 1-1 Argentina. Argentina win 3-2 on pens. @ Gazprom-Arena, St. Petersburg. Att: 69501 What a Final it was too. A stalemate for 90 minutes. Italy finally went ahead on 114 minutes, but Sergio Aguero levelled on 120+2 to send the match to penalties. Lots of misses, including Aguero, but Argentina won 3-2. After the World Cup, England relieved Steve Bruce of his duties, and have placed ex-Newcastle United manager Mark Beeney in charge. When I say ex-, he was there from 2014-18. To be honest, England were terrible, and scraped through the group stage after 0-0 v Slovenia, 1-1 v Ivory Coast, and a 1-0 win v Bahrain. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK22 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Well done on the Euro qualification. Up one place, that's an improvement Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 2018-2019 === Portadown === Northern Irish Premier Division SEASON SUMMARY League Board & Fans: Continental Qualification. Well, this is only half a season summary, for reasons soon to be revealed. We made a bright start to the campaign, bobbling around positions 1-4 in the table. By match 9, we made 4th place our home for the rest of the season. However, I wouldn't be there until the end. I was starting to think I wouldn't ever break the top 2, and with only 1 Champions League spot up for grabs I knew I wouldn't reach Europe's top table with Portadown. A run of 4 bad results made my decision easier. Cups Never really got going in any of the competitions before my departure. Europe Had my first taste of Europe in the Europa League 2nd Qualifying Round. We were drawn against Otelul of Romania. Went down 2-1 away from home, but held them to 0-0 at Shamrock Park. Anyway, we were out. So, my feet were getting itchy, and I felt it was getting close to the right time to move on from Portadown. The club was in a bit of a financial mess anyway. My name was linked to a couple jobs: SC Cambuur (Holland), Real Union (Spain), and Landskrona BoIS (Sweden). Landskrona came in with a contract offer in late November, but I turned them down because the wages were too low (only £525 p/w). However, a couple of weeks later: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Looks a good move. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted December 22, 2011 Author Share Posted December 22, 2011 Looks a good move. It did look good on paper. Gordon Strachan had made a real mess of things, but I thought I had enough time to turn things around. Let's just say, I've never shouted at the screen so much in all my FM years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted December 22, 2011 Author Share Posted December 22, 2011 2018-2019 === Falkirk === Scottish Premier League So, I cleared out my desk at Portadown on 12 December 2018, and headed back over the Irish Channel to Scotland... Falkirk Scottish Premier League A Background Founded in 1876, Falkirk are a professional Scottish football club, currently playing in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League. The club play their home games at The Falkirk Stadium and possess good training facilities, and adequate youth facilities. The club also has average junior coaching and an above average youth recruitment network. The club is affectionately known as The Bairns. As a club which enjoyed its best spell of success during the 1990s and their last competition win in 2013, The Bairns are a club with a growing history. Falkirk finished runners-up in Scotland's top division in 1908 and 1910, and won the Scottish Cup in 1913 and 1957 and finished runners-up on 2 occasions. They also finished runners-up in the League Cup in 1948, and won the Scottish 2nd tier on 8 occasiona, and finished runners-up 8 times. SEASON SUMMARY League Board: Achieve a safe mid-table position. Media: 8th. So, Gordon Strachan had made a right old hash to the league campaign, and Falkirk were sitting in 11th place when I took the helm. I felt we had the quality to achieve what was expected of us, it was just a case of getting the players to believe in themselves a bit more. I put my tactics and training in place, and we got off at a blistering pace with a 3-0 win away at Motherwell. We only dropped 2 points in my first 6 games in charge, and scalped high-flying Inverness 6-2 in the process. Our next two matches away at Hibs and Hearts were disappointing -two defeats - but we bounced back in style with a 4-1 thrashing of Rangers. League results in February and March were in our favour, with only Celtic and Aberdeen taking points off us. By April, we'd hauled ourselves up into 4th place - good enough for Europe. However, a rot was about to set in. We lost our last 2 league matches before the division split, and I held a team meeting to tell the players not to blow it. Some took exception, thinking I was asking too much of them. In our first Championship Group match, we went down 6-2 to Celtic. My defence were asleep for most of the match, and my back 4 and the keeper were handed a fine of 1 weeks wages. They weren't much better in the next game. In fact, I was so incensed by the first half performance of one of my defenders, I kicked him out of the club at Half Time. He'd been consistently poor all season, and his wages will be better spent elsewhere. Team morale hit rock bottom, and we lost all 5 Championship Group games, and finished in 6th. Mid-table, but I had my heart set on Europe. Hopefully we can all pick ourselves up in time for the new season, or my stay here might be a short one. Cups Scottish Cup Had a glimmer of hope as we beat Elgin, Breching, and Kilmarnock on our way to a Semi Final. Lost 2-1 to St. Mirren. League Cup Out before I joined the club. Losing on penalties to Inverness CT after a 2-2 draw. THE SQUAD A decent enough group of players, who just needed to believe in themselves a bit more. Not sure what Strachan had done wrong, but I managed to turn things around. The squad is too big - lots of moaning from players who weren't getting enough games, and other players earning too much and doing too little on the pitch. There will be a cull in the summer, and I'll see who I can get in. I'd like to sign Bouffy from Portadown, he scored 27 this season, but Ports have upped his asking price to a ridiculous amount. I only brought in 1 player this season, and he was a bit of a bargain: Mory Antrope -signed him from Belgium Second League club Waasland-Beveren for £7k, and he's now worth £70k. Not a bad player. He'd played all of his football in Belgium before joining us. Returned 7 goals in 18 games. Best Players Top Scorer: Leigh Anderson - 12. Top scorer with 12 says it all, he fluffed his lines time and again, and I may have to look at replacing him. I lost count of the number of times he put the ball wide or over the bar, even when faced with an open goal. Highest Avg: Clement Herbin - 7.31. A really good young player, who mainly plays on the left wing. Scored 10 this season, and has great pace. Arrived at the club on a Free Transfer in 2017-18 season, after French side AS Beauvais Oise had released him. Club Finances Balance as of 5th June 2019: £1,157, 252. Looking ok, although we have a bank loan of £160k which we're still paying off at £1.6k per month until 2024. Club coffers were really helped out by our £1.72M prize money for finishing 6th in the SPL, otherwise we'd have ended the season in the red. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DazRTaylor Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 You have the worst defence in the league...and the second best attack. Brilliantly entertaining for the neutral Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK22 Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Good recovery job with Falkirk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Nice improvement. Inverness second. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pangaea Posted December 23, 2011 Share Posted December 23, 2011 Good progress so far on the Isles. Maybe you can make it into Europe next season? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted December 29, 2011 Author Share Posted December 29, 2011 Preseason 2019, and an interesting job offer. The position had become available, and I applied. As a Scotsman, I really shouldn't touch this team with a bargepole after our scintillating performance against them in the 1990 World Cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted December 29, 2011 Author Share Posted December 29, 2011 2018-19 Ups & Downs SCOTLAND Premier League Winners: Celtic. ECC Q: Celtic, Inverness CT(2nd). Europa Lg Q: St Mirren (Scottish Cup winners), Rangers (3rd), Hibernian (5th). Relegated: St. Johnstone. First Division Winners: Livingston. Relegated: Airdrie United, Montrose. Second Division Winners: Brechin City. Promoted: Dundee. Relegated: Forfar Athletic, Cowdenbeath. Third Division Winners: Dumbarton. Promoted: Elgin City. Bottom: Stranraer (x2). Scottish Cup: St. Mirren 1-0 Aberdeen. League Cup: St. Mirren 1-0 Celtic. ALBA Challenge Cup: Brechin City 0-1 Dunfermline Athletic. ENGLAND Premier League Winners: Chelsea (x2). ECC Q: Chelsea, Manchester United (2nd), Stoke City (3rd), Liverpool (4th). Europa Lg Q: Manchester City (Holders), Norwich City (FA Cup winners), Arsenal (6th), Southampton (7th). Relegated: Leeds United, Leicester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers. npower Championship Winners: Q.P.R. Promoted: Birmingham City, Hull City. Relegated: Barnsley, Doncaster Rovers, Oxford United. npower League 1 Winners: Sheffield United. Promoted: Charlton Athletic, Blackpool. Relegated: Hartlepool United, Millwall, Torquay United, Notts County. npower League 2 Winners: Newport County. Promoted: Yeovil Town, Exeter City, Hereford United. Relegated: Burton Albion, Brentford. Blue Square Premier Winners: Kidderminster Harriers. Promoted: York City. Relegated: Hayes & Yeading, Kettering Town, Fleetwood Town, Grimsby Town. Blue Square North Winners: Tamworth. Promoted: Blyth Spartans. Relegated: Barrow, Harrogate, Chasetown. Blue Square South Winners: Lewes. Promoted: Chelmsford City. Relegated: Hitchin, Bury Town, Braintree. Promoted from Regional Prems: Bradford PA, St. Albans, Wingate & Finchley, Cambridge City, Corby, Billericay. FA Cup: Manchester United 2-3 Norwich City. League Cup: Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool. JPT: Bolton Wanderers 2-0 Charlton Athletic. FA Trophy: Boston United e3-2 Dagenham & Redbridge. ===CHAMPIONS LEAGUE=== A.C. Milan e2-1 Chelsea @Turk Telekom Arena, Istanbul. Att: 52695. ===EUROPA LEAGUE=== Manchester City 0-0 Barcelona (Man City win 3-2 on pens). @ Man City Stadium, Manchester. Att: 63788. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 Stoke in the Champions League. Only five teams promoted to Conference North/South Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 Only five teams promoted to Conference North/South Oops. Missed one out. Cheers for spotting that. Ironically, it's Billericay. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 How could you miss them? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted December 31, 2011 Author Share Posted December 31, 2011 2019-2020 === Falkirk === Scottish Premier League SEASON SUMMARY League Board: Continental Qualification. Media: 6th. A great season for us this year. Didn't start too hot, with 1 win in 3, but we did have a Rangers and Celtic double-header. Got back on track in week 4 with a scrappy win against Aberdeen, but it was enough to set us on the right road, and we started our rise up the table. Only Inverness, Rangers, and Celtic seemed to pose a threat for us this season, although a 3-1 win at Celtic on November 10th was pivotal to the rest of our season. Annoyingly, there were slip ups - with the quality of players we have, there's no way we should have dropped points at Livingston, Motherwell, and Kilmarnock. These clashes always came at important moments of the season, and I think over-confidence and complacency played a part - especially when we went down 4-0 at home to Motherwell in March. We were in 4th place when that happened, and it came off the back of a 2-2 with Dundee United. I rewarded the lack of effort by fining 7 of my first XI a week's wages. That seemed to do the trick, as we bounced back with a 4-2 win away at Inverness. When the SPL split in two, we were still bouncing around 3rd and 4th place, with Rangers chasing our tail. Losing our first two Championship Group matches really turned the screw, and I feared that we would blow it and drop into 5th. But my lads responded well to the task in hand. A 4-2 win at 3rd placed Hibs set us up nicely for a penultimate match showdown with Rangers. We romped to a 3-1 win, which secured a 3rd place finish (Falkirk's highest since 1910), and qualification for the Europa League. A 4-0 win in the dead rubber at St. Mirren in our final match sent the fans away for a happy Summer. As the Summer break began, IFK Gothenburg tried to offer me a contract, but it was for a paltry 1k p/w. I turned it down. In any case, my present employers offered me a 3 year contract extension, and doubled my wage to £4,400 p/w. Cups Scottish Cup We were lucky to reach the Semi Final, after our dreadful 4-4 against Motherwell in the 5th round, and a lacklustre performance against Hearts in the Quarter Final. Celtic were too strong for us, and we lost 2-0. Scottish League Cup Quarter Finalists this year. Livingston presented us with a banana skin in the 3rd round. Our defending was shocking, but we got through somehow. We really should have beaten Dundee United in the QF, but were awful and got what we deserved. THE SQUAD Worked together well as a unit, but is slowly becoming more like the League of Balkan Nations, rather than a Scottish team. This was mainly due to Sasa Papac, my assistant manager (now ex-ass man), using his scouting knowledge of that part of Europe. On the whole, he found us some quality players. Three big talking points amongst Bairns fans this season was the departure of favourites Byron Chub(AMRL, ST), Duran Gorkem (GK), and Florian Kainz (M/AM RC). The fans were especially annoyed that I let Chub go, but we'd had two months of arguing with each other. I tried to convince him that Falkirk would grow to meet his needs, but he refused to listen. Well, he's got his come uppance, his new club Amkar were relegated from the Russian Premier Division this season. Brought in a few new faces, and they seem to be settling in well. I've had to let Airam (ST) go after a season - I fined him for a terrible performance against Motherwell in March and he said he could no longer work with me as a result. I lured Bouffy away from Portadown in January, thinking he could help with fire-power upfront, but he hasn't been too hot. Next season, I'll be looking to strengthen the squad and mount a good Europa League campaign. Best Eleven Best Players Top Scorer: Luka Vusurovic - 17. I know, a defender being our top scorer! It could have been Byron Chub, if he hadn't left. Anyway, Luka is a great player, signed from Mogren in 2018/19 season for £75k. Hitting his peak around now. Highest Avg Rating: Clément Herbin - 7.33 (26 apps) Another solid season for the French winger, as he retains his mantle of highest rated player for a second season in a row. All Transfer Activity. CLUB FINANCES Balance as of June 20th 2020: £2,685,228. Club finances received a welcome boost this year, thanks to our 3rd placed finish in the SPL which netted us a cool £2.15M. Hopefully we can do something similar next season, and also have a good run in the Europa League. For next season The Board have set the following initial budgets: Wages: £45,500 p/w. Transfers: £2,160,000. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 3rd is excellent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted December 31, 2011 Author Share Posted December 31, 2011 3rd is excellent. Cheers. I'm quite chuffed with 3rd. I think it might take a couple of seasons to crack the top two though. Inverness were looking unstoppable in the first 1/3 of the season, and Celtic recovered from a disappointing start. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 I was wondering, what's that red mark that I keep seeing by Falkirk's name (and Livingston in the last one)? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted December 31, 2011 Author Share Posted December 31, 2011 2019-20 === INTERNATIONAL CAREER === Costa Rica World Ranking (as of 4 Jul 2020): 79th. The Costa Rican FA are quite demanding with their expectations. The minimum expectation is for us to qualify easily from the Fourth Phase of the World Cup Quals (NAM). We're in Third Phase Group 1 with Cuba, Haiti, and U.S.A, so there's a chance we can get to the Fourth Phase, but it might be tough when we get there. Anyway, I had a couple of friendlies to take charge of. The squad are reasonably talented, but quite a number of players are hitting retirement age in the next year or two. So, the matches: Friendly 7.9.2019 St. Martin 0-2 Costa Rica. 11.9.2019 Peru 4-3 Costa Rica. 20.11.2019 Martinique 1-4. 4.3.2020 Costa Rica 4-0 Dominican Republic. 6.6.2020 French Guiana 1-3 Costa Rica. Started well, with our win against St. Martin. The press fell over themselves with that one, proclaiming that we had "comprehensively outplayed" our "illustrious counterparts to register a stunning 2-0 victory". On the whole, I'm happy. The loss against Martinique was a bad day at the office, and hopefully a one-off. Next season, our World Cup Qualifying campaign begins. First up - U.S.A. at Columbus Crew Stadium. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted December 31, 2011 Author Share Posted December 31, 2011 I was wondering, what's that red mark that I keep seeing by Falkirk's name (and Livingston in the last one)? It's something FM does whenever you create a Notebook entry for a team or a player. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted December 31, 2011 Author Share Posted December 31, 2011 2019-20 Ups & Downs SCOTLAND League Premier League Winners: Celtic (x2). ECC Q: Celtic, Inverness CT (2nd). Europa Lg Q: FALKIRK (3rd), Rangers (4th & Scottish Cup winners), Hibernian (5th). Relegated: Livingston. First Division Winners: St. Johnstone. Relegated: Queen of the South, Berwick Rangers. Second Division Winners: Stirling Albion. Promoted: Dumbarton. Relegated: Airdrie United. Third Division Winners: Cowdenbeath. Bottom: Stranraer (x3). Cups Scottish Cup: Celtic 1-1p Rangers (Rangers win 3-1 on pens). Scottish League Cup: Celtic 5-1 Dundee United. ALBA Challenge Cup: Partick Thistle 1-4 Dundee. ENGLAND League Premier Division Winners: Chelsea (x3). ECC Q: Chelsea, Manchester City (2nd), Liverpool (3rd), Manchester United (4th). Europa Lg Q: Blackburn Rovers (FA Cup runners up), Arsenal (5th), Newcastle United (6th). Relegated: Birmingham City, Fulham, QPR. npower Championship Winners: Sheffield United. Promoted: Peterborough United, Bristol City. Relegated: Charlton Athletic, Coventry City, Chesterfield. npower League 1 Winners: Doncaster Rovers. Promoted: Newport County, Cardiff City. Relegated: Hereford United, Southend United, Mansfield Town, Cambridge United. npower League 2 Winners: MK Dons. Promoted: Crewe Alexandra, Notts County, Millwall. Relegated: Carlisle United, Bournemouth. Blue Square Premier Winners: Oldham Athletic. Promoted: Woking. Relegated: Tamworth, Morecambe, Chelmsford City, Burton Albion. Blue Square North Winners: Bury. Promoted: Port Vale. Relegated: Droylsden, Altrincham, Hinckley. Blue Square South Winners: Dartford. Promoted: Worcester City. Relegated: Staines Town, Wingate & Finchley, Cambridge City. Promoted from Regional Prems: Harrogate Town, Braintree Town, Barrow, Lowestoft Town, Wealdstone, Gloucester City. Cups FA Cup: Blackburn Rovers 1-2e Chelsea. League Cup: Ipswich Town 3-3p Liverpool (Liverpool win 5-4 on pens). JPT: Wycombe Wanderers 1-2 Notts County. FA Trophy: Dagenham & Redbridge 3-1 AFC Telford United. === CHAMPIONS LEAGUE === At. Madrid 0-2 Internazionale. @ Stadion Slaski, Chorzow, Poland. Att: 55211. === EUROPA LEAGUE === Valencia 1-2 Manchester City @ Old Trafford, Manchester. Att: 94746. Manchester City retain the trophy. === Other European League Winners === Belgium: Standard Liege (x3). France: Paris Saint-Germain (x2). Germany: Wolfsburg. Holland: PSV (x2). Italy: Internazionale. N. Ireland: Balleymoney Utd. Russia: CSKA Moscow (x7). Spain: Barcelona. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted December 31, 2011 Author Share Posted December 31, 2011 EURO 2020 Hosts: Belgium Group Stage Group A Qualified: England, Switzerland. Out: Russia, Serbia. Group B Qualified: Belgium, Holland, Czech Republic. Out: Norway. Group C Qualified: Turkey, Portugal, Israel. Out: Germany. Group D Qualified: Slovenia, Denmark, Romania. Out: France. Group E Qualified: Spain, Sweden. Out: Wales, Bosnia & Herz. Group F Qualified: Italy, Croatia, Ukraine. Out: Slovakia. Second Round England 0-2 Holland. Spain 2-1 Croatia. Belgium 0-1e Czech Republic. Israel 0-2 Italy. Sweden 1-0 Switzerland. Turkey 2-0 Romania. Ukraine 1-0 Slovenia. Portugal 1-0 Denmark. Quarter Final Spain 0-2 Holland. Italy 4-0 Czech Republic. Sweden 0-1 Turkey. Ukraine 0-3 Portugal. Semi Final Holland 1-3 Portugal. Italy 3-1 Turkey. FINAL PORTUGAL e1-0 Italy @ Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels. Att: 50000. Paulo Mantos scored for Portugal on 120 minutes. Cruel, so cruel.... England sacked manager Mark Beeney, and install another Swede - Roland Nilsson. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted December 31, 2011 Author Share Posted December 31, 2011 Losing 4-1 to Martinique in a friendly obviously did more harm than good...We were 76th in Feb 2020. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK22 Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Excellent season with Falkirk; although Rangers had a shocker, finishing above them is still a great achievement Pretty decent start with the Costa Ricans too, have you discovered the new Paulo Wanchope yet?! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted December 31, 2011 Author Share Posted December 31, 2011 Excellent season with Falkirk; although Rangers had a shocker, finishing above them is still a great achievement Pretty decent start with the Costa Ricans too, have you discovered the new Paulo Wanchope yet?! Cheers, season was better than expected. We might have a new Wanchope in a few years. Could be either Wan of two Chopes... OR Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted December 31, 2011 Author Share Posted December 31, 2011 A new decade, so I'll experiment with a new update format: 2020 ==== FALKIRK === Scottish Premier League PRE SEASON Board:Qualify for Europe. I agree with the board, and think we have the ability to do what is asked. Bookies:14-1 to win the title. About right. I think it will be a couple of years before we can match Celtic. Our financial status is ok, but we just can't bring in big signings and pay huge wages yet. Season Tickets sold:2089. Transfer Activity Players In Armin Ivankovic - Signed from Lokomotiva (Croatia) for £500k. Greg Kiely - Free (Released by Shamrock Rovers). Goran Juric - Signed from Sheffield Wednesday for £55k. Players Out Andrew McCluskey & Mory Antrope (Free). Kallum Higginbotham (Free to Swindon Town). Airam (£35k to Albacete). Friendly Fixtures Overview Pleased with pre-season preparation. Ok, we played a few minnows, but the 1-0 vs FC Basel has given us hope of a good little run in the Europa League. On to the main event! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Decent season Psycho. Inverness ran Celtic close. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted January 1, 2012 Author Share Posted January 1, 2012 Had to laugh at this guy's name: If he has people round to his house, I wonder if it's a surprise party? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 What he's like is a surprise, maybe a nasty one at Brann. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pangaea Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Maybe it's his attributes that is a surprise. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Is Cilla Black his agent? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Is Cilla Black his agent? I used to love that show. Mind you, I'd always have to leave the room when the "long lost relative" story was done at the end - mainly to be sick. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 2020-2021 === FALKIRK === SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE SEASON SUMMARY League Board: Continental Qualification. Media: 6th. With a good preseason behind us, we were raring to go in the league campaign, and an opening day 3-0 thrashing of Rangers was a good way to get going. However, we were brought right back down to Earth the following week when Celtic stuck 5 past us. Inverness CT held us to 2-2 to complete a tricky opening three matches. But good morale and well chosen team talks kept spirits up. During the run up to mid season, we did have one or two slip ups - losing points against teams like Motherwell and Kilmarnock. However, from mid-November until the end of January, we racked up enough points to keep ourselves in 2nd place. Then a little period of rot set in. We couldn't buy a win in February, and picked up 2 points in 5 matches. We found ourselves back in 4th - and thoughts of even a Eurpoa League spot were starting to fade. The division was tight this year, and slip-ups could be very costly. Fortunately, we found good form when it was needed. A string of wins set us up in 3rd place when the division split. Celtic were gone like the wind, but there was a chance that we could snatch 2nd place from Hibernian. Our form in the Premier League Championship Group was pretty good, 2 wins, 1 loss (to Celtic) and a draw against Hibs meant that we went into the final game needing a miracle. Hibs were on 61 points, we were on 59. We would have to win, and Hibs would have to draw or lose... Inverness stood in our way. Hibs were taking on the weaker St. Mirren. When Hibs went 1 up on 13 minutes, I started to think they would run away with the game. As half time whistles sounded, St. Mirren grabbed an equaliser. We had a glimmer of hope, but Inverness seemed unbreakable, holding us at 0-0. Into the second half and St. Mirren took the lead against Hibs on 55 minutes, and then made it 3-1 on 63 minutes. Hibs were caving in. My team must have heard rumours of the scoreline in the Hibs match. On 68 minutes, we went on the counter-attack, the Inverness back line was split open, and loanee Gauthier Varez stuck the ball in the net. 1-0! A very nervy 22 minutes stood between us and the Champions League. Hibs went 4-1 down. Inverness pounded our goal with long shots. My defence ruled like an iron curtain, letting nothing through. The 4th assistant signalled 3 minutes of stoppage time. The longest 3 minutes of my career. Inverness almost had us on the canvas, but my defenders cleared the ball away time and again. 90+4 minutes - the referee blew for time. WE HAD DONE IT. FALKIRK qualify for the Champions League for the first time. \o/ Just prior to our final league match, a couple of teams tried to lure me away with salaries of £5000+ p/w. All Boys and Banfield of the Argentine Premier (I added the Argies league 2 seasons ago) made approaches. I asked both for a week's delay, with my decision resting on Champions League qualification. Both offers were turned down, and Falkirk have me for a while logner. Cups Scottish Cup Scraped a 4-3 win vs Partick Thistle (Div 1) in the 4th Rnd. Lost on pens to Rangers after 0-0 in a 5th Rnd replay. Scottish League Cup A disaster. Lost 1-0 a.e.t. to Dundee (SD1) in the 3rd Rnd. EUROPA LEAGUE A fantastic adventure this season. We were written off against AZ Alkmaar, and got a hard fought 1-1. AZ were shocking at home, and we went through on agg. 4-2. Zaragoza were a different proposition. Again the press gave us no chance. In the first leg we battled like mad, going 2-0 up in the first half. Zaragoza pegged us back to 2-2 just before Half Time, and when they scored a 2nd half leveller, I thought that was it. But somehow we found a higher gear, and snatched a winner. That set us up for a showdown at La Romareda in the second leg. We found ourselves 3-0 down at Half Time, and the dressing room was very quiet. I told the players to believe in themselves, and get their heads down. But it was a double substitution on 61 minutes that was the catalyst for an amazing comeback. As we were almost certainly out, I thought I'd let our most promising young player Willie Johnston have a taste of European football. He'd been doing well in the league, and he was inspirational - banging in goals on 66 and 75 minutes. New belief was found, and we scored again on 80 and 87 minutes to complete an outstanding turnaround. Zaragoza levelled things on 90 minutes, but we were a goal up on agg, and had 4 away goals. Zaragoza needed to score twice, but they couldn't. Shell-shocked - they were out. Shell-shocked - Falkirk marched into group stage for the very first time. (7-6 agg). Group E Well, it was just an honour to be in the group stage. We knew this would be as far as we'd go in the competition, and we gave it our best shot. Napoli were just streets ahead of us. Our win against Trabzonspor was great, but the highlight was the 1-1 against The Magpies in our Battle of Britain encounter. We finished bottom of the group with 4 points, Trabzonspor crashed out on 4 points too but with a better goal difference. THE SQUAD A number of changes this year, due to the challenge of the Europa League, and the SPL too. It was difficult for the fans to say goodbye to one or two familiar faces, but those players were burning money and not of sufficient calibre. Most left on a free. With signings coming in, I noticed that their wage demands have gone up a bit compared to players arriving last season. Inflation? I don't know, but I had to readjust budgets more than once to get my man. On the whole, I wsa pretty impressed by the showing from my squad this season. It's quite a large squad now - about 37 players, and I'll need to address that. There's depth for rotation - maybe too much, as some players blabbed to the press if they didn't get a game every fortnight. Others are beginning to show a decline in their abilities, and will probably only last 1 more season with us. 10 players arrived at the club this season - 90% of them performed very well, but 2 will have their contract reviewed over the summer - turning in ratings of 4.9-6.1 on a regular basis isn't what we're after here. One capture I am happy with though is Gauthier Varez. We'd loaned him out from Celtic for the whole season, and he really impressed. When he left at the end of the season, he said he hoped he could sign for Falkirk. When Celtic released him on June 1st, we were in like a shot. Next season, we'll continue to build. We've got the Champions League coming soon. Best Players Top Goalscorer: Gauthier Varez - 22. Highest Avg Rating: Clévid Dikamona - 7.23 (46 apps). Falkirk Best XI All Club Transfer Activity. CLUB FINANCES Balance as of 18th June 2021: £2,756,596. Club coffers were kept firmly in the black by Europa League revenue, and £3.14M prize money for finishing 2nd in the SPL. I think the Chairman is hoping we can reach the Champions League group stage next season. No news from him yet about budgets for next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
City2000 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Real nice career so far and a fantastic effort to get in the Champions League! Good call turning down those job offers aswell. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Real nice career so far and a fantastic effort to get in the Champions League! Good call turning down those job offers aswell. Cheers. I think if we hadn't qualified for the Champions League then I might have left - or stayed with Falkirk until we went out of the Europa League. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Still got a big gap to overcome. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK22 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 A top season; you did well to fight off Hibs for second place Enjoy the Champions League dream, I fear it may end almost as soon as it started though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Excellent Psycho. Good luck in the Greedy League, er, I mean Champions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 A top season; you did well to fight off Hibs for second place Enjoy the Champions League dream, I fear it may end almost as soon as it started though Excellent Psycho. Good luck in the Greedy League, er, I mean Champions. Cheers guys. Looking forward to all the CL revenue. The board might give me more money for transfers next season. They only gave me £930k for our first assualt on the Champions League. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 2020-2021 Ups & Downs Scotland League Premier League Winners: Celtic (x3). ECC Q: Celtic, FALKIRK. Europa Lg Q: Hibernian (3rd), Inverness CT (4th), St. Mirren (Scottish Cup runners up). Relegated: Kilmarnock. First Division Winners: Greenock Morton. Relegated: Brechin City. Second Division Winners: Berwick Rangers. Relegated: Queen's Park , Montrose. Third Division Winners: Airdrie United. Promoted: Forfar Athletic. Bottom Club: Stenhousemuir. Cups/U] Scottish Cup: St Mirren 1-2 Celtic. League Cup: Celtic 2-0 Dundee. ALBA Challenge Cup: Greenock Morton 0-2 Stirling Albion. England League Premier Division Winners: Chelsea (x4). ECC Q: Chelsea, Arsenal (2nd), Manchester City (3rd), Liverpool (4th). Europa Lg Q: Stoke City (FA Cup winners), Manchester United (5th), Blackburn Rovers (6th). Relegated: Peterborough United, Sheffield United, Wigan Athletic. npower Championship Winners: Leicester City. Promoted: Watford, Birmingham City. Relegated: Colchester, Middlesbrough, Newport County. npower League 1 Winners: Chesterfield. Promoted: Charlton Athletic, Oxford United. Relegated: Gillingham, Yeovil Town, Swindon Town, Rotherham United. npower League 2 Winners: Cambridge United. Promoted: Southend United, Mansfield Town, Northampton Town. Relegated: Hartlepool United, Bradford City. Blue Square Premier Winners: Macclesfield Town. Promoted: Bournemouth. Relegated: Stockport County, Ebbsfleet United, Dover Athletic, Brentford. Blue Square North Winners: Eastwood Town. Promoted: FC Halifax Town. Relegated: Morecambe, Hednesford, Harrogate. Blue Square South Winners: Braintree Town. Promoted: Kettering Town. Relegated: Chelmsford, Canvey Island, Wealdstone. Promoted From Regional Divs: Kingstonian, Hinckley, Bishop's Stortford, Hyde, Altrincham, Weymouth. CUPS FA Cup: Swansea City 2-2p Stoke City (Stoke win 6-5 on pens). League Cup: Arsenal 2-0 QPR. JPT: Plymouth Argyle p1-1 Lincoln City. FA Trophy: Port Vale 0-1 Ebsfleet United. ===CHAMPIONS LEAGUE=== Liverpool 1-4 At. Madrid @ Ataturk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul. Att: 80597. ===Europa League=== FC Twente 1-0 Ajax @ Parc des Princes, Paris. Att: 30014. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Stoke win the Cup. If only that happened back in May! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pangaea Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Good performance in the league and good luck in the CL next season. The money will be great for a club your size. Rangers did well Not quite as shocking as when they got relegated in my previous save and didn't get back up, but still. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 Good performance in the league and good luck in the CL next season. The money will be great for a club your size. Rangers did well Not quite as shocking as when they got relegated in my previous save and didn't get back up, but still. Rangers are really poor so far in the latest season. Not sure what's happening to them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 2020-2021 === INTERNATIONAL CAREER === Costa Rica Well, it turned into Costa Goodbye. The Costa Rican FA are liars. They said they expected me to qualify for World Cup 2022, not win some pointless cup. I didn't even get to manage 1 match in the WCQ 4th phase! But it's so good to see my successor doing so well in the 4th Phase - 5 defeats out of 5. Well done, Munoz! Ok, I may not have set the heather on fire in the Central American Nations Tin Pot competition, but I'm a darn sight better than the man in charge now. Anyway, fixtures... Friendlies 19.08.20 Bermuda 0-3 Costa Rica. 14.11.20 Panama 2-2 Costa Rica. World Cup Qualifiers (NAM), 3rd Phase 12.08.2020 USA 1-0 Costa Rica. 05.09.2020 Costa Rica 3-0 Cuba. 09.09.2020 Costa Rica 1-1 Haiti. 10.10.2020 Costa Rica 1-3 USA. 14.10.2020 Cuba 1-1 Costa Rica. 18.11.2020 Haiti 1-3 Costa Rica. *Qualified in 2nd place*. - New manager Dipstick Munoz led them to a 5-2 defeat vs Canada in their first 4th phase match. Central American Nations Cup Group A 08.01.2021 Nicaragua 2-4 Costa Rica. 10.01.2021 Costa Rica 7-0 Belize. 12.01.2021 Costa Rica 2-2 El Salvador. Semi Final 15.01.2021 Costa Rica 1-2 Honduras. 3rd Place Playoff 17.01.2021 Guatemala 3-1 Costa Rica. - Not winning a pointless cup = sacked. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pangaea Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Argh! FM can be so stupid at times. Hope you find a nation with a more sensible FA next. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 Best result of my career so far: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 No kidding. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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