Off the Deep End

[TheStat]

Almost got promoted.

[Tecmo]

Around the world...

Linfield won the DBP easily again although they weren't quite as invincible as usual. They were quickly knocked out of the Champions League 3-0 on aggregate by Sarajevo. This actually knocked the DBP lower in Champions League standing as we'll enter in the first round now instead of the second.

Shamrock just edged out Sligo to win their second consecutive Irish Premier Division championship. Rangers edged out Celtic in Scotland to continue their alternating titles. TNS wins in Wales yet again, only by 6 points this time over Bangor City though.

Manchester United beat City by 4 points to win the EPL for the second time in 3 seasons. QPR, Southampton and Norwich were relegated with West Brom, Swansea and Stoke all coming back up.

PSG won in France for the seventh straight season, 11 points ahead of 2nd place Lyon. Stuttgart won the always competitive Bundesliga, edging out Schalke and Bayern Munich by 2 points. Juventus reclaimed Italy, just beating out Roma. Sporting won in Portugal for the first time since 2017, by 2 points over FCP and 3 over Benfica. And Real Madrid won their 4th straight Spanish title, beating Barcelona by 4 points.

Real Madrid also claimed their first Champions League title since 2002, crushing surprise finalist Blackburn 4-0. Blackburn went through Gladbach, Man City and PSG to get there, as well as winning their group that included Barcelona, Zenit and FCP. They're on a good run in England having finished 6th or better 6 straight years.

Bayern Munich defeated Cagliari 1-0 to win Europa for the first time since 1996.

[Tecmo]

This is how the team is looking going into the new season...

Pretty similar to my lineup for much of last season with the notable absence of Dermot Armstrong. He chose to leave at the end of the season and ended up signing with H&W Welders. Rather stupid considering we finished higher than them last year and I would have happily given him the same money. But hopefully Stefan McMahon can step in and Hylton can move into a more attacking role than last season. If McMahon struggles, 24 year old David Murphy will probably be his replacement. He played for Distillery last year and has experience in the Premier League. Maybe a slightly lesser version of Armstrong.

Scott is back, still without a contract. Makes me nervous that someone will poach him but I have three strikes I like behind him in the depth charts. Carville and O'Neill were both strong on the wings last year so hopefully they can stay healthy, which was a problem for Carville. Gareth Davidson is moving into a backup role behind them and I also have a youngster in my reserves who I like, Lee Doyle, a 16 year old with some strong passing abilities.

Kenny McCain is solid in his anchorman role but I'm not sure he's a long term answer there. Out of contract and getting paid 150/wk, he's a candidate to cut if I find a cheaper option. I like his backup, Eamonn Brown, quite a bit. More of a playmaker from the defensive midfield than McCain is, I think the two will be competing for the starting spot.

Defense should be a strength. O'Hare and Rice may be the two best centerbacks in the First Division. As good as O'Hare is, Rice may be better. Jonny Craig was a signing during last season with some great defensive attributes as well as strong passing ability and acceleration. Jonathan McCoy on the left side is probably the weakest link but he's only 19 and had some good games last season. Mostly a defensive player. I also brought in two player/coach veteran backups in Richard Vauls and Craig Ramsey.

Conor Cassidy is very solid in goal, still only 22 and he'll be my captain this season. 7 shutouts last season. Really don't like Hugh Beattie as my backup, he has pretty much sucked every time I've played him and he keeps bitching about playing time. I've brought in a potential new backup, 19 year old Graeme O'Hanlon from Distillery. Although if Cassidy were injured, I'm pretty sure I'd go find a veteran.

I'm going to be disappointed if we don't win promotion this season and I'll probably see a mass exodus of my best players as I've made a lot of promises that we will be promoted.

[Tecmo]

A couple notes from my staff, Scott Hutchinson officially retired and took a full time job with us as coach. He's replacing our former coach, Ian McGrath. McGrath left toward the end of last season to take the head job in 2nd Division Banbridge.

We're off to a great start with 6 straight wins, 4 in the league and 2 League Cup. Was a bit worried by my offense as we only scored three goals in the first three games but we've erupted since then with 13 goals in our last three games. Charlie Scott has 7 goals and 2 assists so far while Hylton has 4 goals and an assist.

[Tecmo]

We are just flying along this season, I think it's safe to say we'll be going back to the Premier League.

The only real blemish thus far was our loss to Crewe Utd in the Mid Ulster Cup, but that was our lowest priority this year. With the lead we've built up in league play we can fully focus on advancing in the other cups.

We're getting goals from all over the field with 5 different players netting at least 7 in all competitions. AMR Chris O'Neill has been particularly impressive with 10 goals and 16 assists.

I'm having trouble getting players locked in for next season, they're either too expensive, as is the case with Hylton, Rice and O'Hare, or just unwilling to talk. But that's a worry for later.

[deltablue]

Fantastic, I agree you'll probably be going up, though hopefully you'll get to keep most of your squad when you get there.

[Tecmo]

Fantastic, I agree you'll probably be going up, though hopefully you'll get to keep most of your squad when you get there.

I'm going to lose Jonny Craig, my right fullback, to Premier side Coleraine, which is disappointing, but I was able to lock up Cassidy, Rice, O'Hare, O'Neill and Hylton so that makes me pretty happy. Charlie Scott is the big one I just can't get locked in at this point.

Still cruising along, 7 games to go in the season and we're up 8 points and 27 GD on second place. Knocked out of the League Cup, but it was a 1-0 loss to Linfield in which we didn't look overwhelmed, so I can't complain about that result.

[Tecmo]

Back to the top...

Outstanding season for us, dominating the First Division. Scored the most goals, gave up the fewest. We ended up getting knocked out in the semi final of the Irish and League Cups, both times 1-0 to Linfield. Playing that well against the dominant team in Northern Ireland is quite encouraging though. We did manage a double though, winning our first Intermediate Cup, knocking off Linfield's B team along the way.

Conor Cassidy had an outstanding season in goal with 13 shutouts in 38 games, only allowing 30 goals. Charlie Scott was our leading goal scorer with 20, along with 10 assists. And we finally managed to sign him to a contract for next season. AMR Chris O'Neill added 16, Leon Hylton 12 and ST John Paul White, who we added at the end of the previous season, added 10. O'Neill also racked up 18 assists, AML Scott Carville had 16, Hylton 14.

We're looking good heading into next year, should have most of my starters back. AML is looking like our biggest hole as Carville doesn't look cut out for the next level. Might need another left fullback too as my starter there, Jonathan McCoy, is out of contract and a bit questionable ability wise.

[Tecmo]

Now that we're in the Premier League again, my best players are already grumbling about moving to a bigger team even before the new season has started. Promising them all Europa League qualification within 2 seasons, so we'll see how this goes. I have a ton of salary space available but not finding much to spend it on thus far. But on the bright side, by giving me two years, I've been able to wrap up what I consider my 'core', Cassidy, Rice, O'Hare and Hylton, to contracts through next season.

[Tecmo]

Linfield was absolutely dominating this season in the Danske Premier League. Only 1 loss and 1 draw and a +78 GD. 10 goals allowed in 38 league games. They were knocked out of the Champions League in the first round again though, 3-1 on aggregate to Buducnost. Their only other loss on the season was to St Patrick's Athletic in the All-Ireland Cup. So three cup wins to go with their league title. Makes our pair of 1-0 losses look all the more impressive.

Shamrock won their third straight Ireland title over second place Cork City. It was Celtics turn to win in Scotland as they continue alternating with Rangers. TNS won Wales again, but Bangor may be closing the gap.

Man U won their second straight EPL title, far outdistancing second place Tottenham. Man City fell all the way to 5th. Watford, Stoke and West Brom were relegated to be replaced by Southampton, Norwich and QPR.

PSG edged out Monaco by one point for their 8th straight French title. Schalke beat Bayern by 1 point to win their second German title in 3 years. Cagliari won their first Italian title since 1970. Benfica reclaimed their Portugese title after failing the previous two seasons. And Real Madrid won in Spain again for their fifth straight season, with Valencia second and Barcelona third.

Italy won the European Championship this year, defeating France 2-1 in extra time. Spain and Turkey were knocked out in the semi finals. Northern Ireland failed to reach the group stages.

Man U completed their dominant season by winning the Champions League as well, 3-0 over Roma. They didn't lose a single CL game and only drew 2. Chelsea defeated AZ Alkmaar 1-0 in Europa League.

[Deisler26]

Good luck, back in the DBP!

[Tecmo]

This is how we're lining up to start the season...

We ended up not spending any real money on new players but we brought in a lot of promising youngsters on amateur contracts. The only new player we will have starting is 20 year old AML Gavin Champman, signed from Crusaders. He has some good acceleration and passing skills with a lot of room to get better. I also added 18 year old striker Roy Martin from Glenavon, 19 year old MC Colm Meharg from Dungannon, 17 year old DC Iain Nesbitt, a 6'6" youngster from Loughgall and 17 year old goalkeeper Conall Redpath from Armagh. Most exciting of all, Redpath is my first international player on the Northern Ireland U19 team. All of these should be good backups this season with the potential of being even better than the players they're behind eventually.

Charlie Scott is going to start the year at AMR as O'Neill is hurt. I think White is probably a better striker anyway although my coaches seem to think Donal Coughlan is our best striker, despite his repeated failed attempts at showing it.

We've only used 2,431 of our 3,787 payroll budget so that should make the board happy, assuming we don't get relegated. Our staff is very cheap as well, no one making more than 80/wk. To be fair, my new board has been extremely generous, pumping in more cash regularly to keep us out of the red despite continued heavy losses.

Pretty confident we'll survive this season, best case we'll finish in the upper half of the league and win a cup.

[Tecmo]

Off to a good start as we dominated fellow promoted team Ballyclare. Only won 2-1 but we had 18 shots to 5 and their only goal came on a penalty. We then went to Cliftonville to face a team that usually finishes 2nd or 3rd and nearly pulled off a win. Had them tied 1-1 and then missed a 93rd minute penalty kick that would have won it.

[Tecmo]

We stumbled a bit after our good start, losing 3 and drawing 3. Not coincidentally, Gavin Rice and Chris O'Neill were injured during that time. But once we got him back, we fought back brilliantly and this is where we stand...

We can't handle Linfield, have lost 4 games to them by a combined 15-2 but we're handling everyone else in league play. We have a shot at third place and a Europa League berth, but we're also missing Leon Hylton for a couple months. There really isn't much separation between the bottom 10 teams, so right now I'm just concentrating on staying in the top half of the table.

We absolutely bombed in Cup games this year. Got unlucky drawing Linfield in our first league cup game and got knocked out. Played a poor game against First Division side Dungannon and got knocked out in our first game there. Lost in the second round of the Mid Ulster Cup, basically punting the game as I decided I'd rather focus on the league. So no distractions the rest of the way.

I'm actually kind of surprised we're doing so well as I'm really struggling to find a good goal scoring threat. Chapman, Scott, Hylton and Murphy are tied for my goal scoring lead with 5 each. I went out and signed a new striker, 21 year old Andrew McGowan, but his results have been a bit mixed, only 3 goals through 11 games. We also have another U19 player now as Roy Martin was called up. Lots of youth on this team, so even if we don't qualify for Europe this year I think we'll be in great shape next year.

[Tecmo]

One major transfer window signing for us, 26 year old midfielder Steven Baird, to fill in for Hylton. He's good enough that he may end up playing alongside Hylton once he returns with Baird working as a box to box or ball winner while Hylton becomes a playmaker.

[Tecmo]

Not a good run as we approached the league split but we pulled out a vital win in Loughgall that allowed us to stay in the top 6.

So this is where we stand with 5 games left. We have a chance at making it into Europa, but we need a good run. Might have to make the top 3 as Loughgall and Cliftonville are two of the four semi finalists for a spot via the Irish Cup. The return of Leon Hylton should help us.

[Fond Foat]

Good work. Northern Ireland can really get a hold on you

[Tecmo]

Good work. Northern Ireland can really get a hold on you

Yeah, I'm pretty obsessed with the idea of taking down Linfield at this point. Options are a bit limited in Northern Ireland compared to bigger nations as there's minimal ability to do loans or get players from outside the country, but it's definitely keeping me entertained. Which is good, it's suppressing my desire to try FM 14 at this point.

[Tecmo]

Well, we went out and won our first two games after the split both by 1-0 scores to move into a three way tie for third by points. But then we dropped a disappointing game at Portadown 2-1, got beat pretty convincingly at Loughgall and then crushed by Linfield to finish in 5th. Still a good result for the season, but unfortunately short of Europe play and we'll miss the All Ireland Cup as well as the League and Irish Cups went to teams lower than us on the table.

Looking forward, I think we need to strengthen the offensive attack some, primarily we need to get more out of our strikers. I'm thinking I want to keep Roy Martin as my second striker and go out and find an upgrade to start for us. McGowan never really clicked for us and Charlie Scott just isn't quite good enough to take us to the next level. I'm debating whether I want to keep Daniel Murphy in the middle, will probably let him go as I have Baird and Hylton already signed. I'm set at centerback and goalkeeper, my fullbacks are not great but young with a lot of potential. If I replace anyone there it will be Jonathan McCoy, he's been playing for a couple seasons without a contract.

It's Europe or bust next season, the core of my team demands it.

[Tecmo]

Around Europe...

Shamrock won their fourth straight Ireland title over second place Cork City.

TNS goes down! After 13 straight Welsh titles, Bangor finally overtook them, winning the title by 5 points.

And it was Rangers turn to win the Scottish title as the alternating with Celtic continues. Dundee actually took second and Celtic fell to fourth.

Chelsea made a splash in England, winning the EPL for the first time since 2010. Tottenham took second and Blackburn third in a close race with the two Manchesters finishing 4th and 5th. The first time neither of them has finished in the top 3 since 1991. Norwich, Fulham and West Ham were all relegated to be replaced by Watford, West Brom and Leeds.

PSG won France yet again. Bayern Munich reclaimed the German title after a three year absence. Roma and Fiorentina tied at the top of Italy with 77 points but Roma won the head to head. Juventus crashed all the way to 7th and Inter Milan to 15th. Benfica won Portugal for the second year in a row. And Real Madrid won their 6th straight Spanish title by 2 points over Sevilla.

Chelsea also won the Champions League, defeating Roma 2-0. PSG won Europa 3-2 over Manchester City.

[Tecmo]

My offseason didn't go quite as expected. I really wanted an upgrade at striker, ended up with a loanee from Loughgall. 16 year old Ally Keenan should become a great player, I'm going to try to use him to backup Roy Martin. I also still have Charlie Scott and Donal Coughlan as options. I cut Andrew McGowan loose, we'll see if that comes back to haunt me.

I ended up going a bit nuts with midfielders. I brought in a replacement for David Martin in 23 year old Colin Power. I've had my eye on him for a couple seasons, he played for Crusaders last year. Really should be ideal as an attacking midfielder and he can handle corners and free kicks.

I also added not 1 but 2 new defensive midfielders to go along with Kenny McCain. I added another player I've been eyeing for awhile, 22 year old Graeme Young, signed from PSNI. Excellent passing skills to go with his defense. And then I found 18 year old Nathan McPherson from the Northern Ireland trialist game and I couldn't resist signing him. I think with both of them as well as McCain, I'm probably going to start playing with two defensive midfielders quite often, particularly against Linfield.

We'll see how my strikers do, if they can't produce I'm going to be scrambling hard. But if nothing else I should be able to put up one hell of a defense.

[Deisler26]

Congrats on staying up!

[Tecmo]

Not quite where we want to be after 13 games but we're solidly in the middle and 4th place is within striking distance.

We got off to another bad start, even worse this year as we were just unable to find the net. But we broke out of that, remarkably against Linfield, and we're on a decent roll now.

We didn't get any goals out of our strikers for the first 6 games. It didn't help that Roy Martin was injured in the second game for 3+ months. But after drawing Linfield in the first round of the League Cup for the second straight year, we actually managed to get the win behind 2 goals by 16 year old Ally Keenan and he's been productive since with a total of 6 goals and 3 assists.

[Tecmo]

We lost our next two games after the screenshot above but then went on a 13 game unbeaten run that helped get us into the top 6 at the split, 5th specifically.

We have a shot at Europa but we have a lot of work to do. Keenan has really helped to carry the offense while Martin struggled in return and I decided to loan him out to Coleraine as I tired of him bitching about playing time. But I found a strong replacement for him in 19 year old Stephen Duff. Excellent finisher and playing for Northern Ireland's U19 team, I have him signed for next season as well so that will give me some stability up front if I'm unable to bring Keenan to the club permanently.

We bombed out of the Mid Ulster Cup quickly as my mostly backup squad was beaten by 2nd Division side Armagh and Loughgall knocked us out of the Irish Cup in the quarter finals. I'm not sure what will happen with my squad if we don't reach Europa. I'm starting to see some cracks in the teams cohesion. Some complaints about Cassidy and Hylton as my captains and some frankly poor performances by Cassidy.

[Tecmo]

Well, didn't get it done unfortunately. Started out with a listless loss to Loughgall, then managed three draws against Linfield, Portadown and Cliftonville before losing our meaningless last game to Glenavon. No Europe but at least we'll get to participate in the All-Ireland for the second time.

Should be an interesting offseason. No idea how my stars will react to missing out on Europe again. Don't think I'll be able to bring back Keenan and his 15 goals and 12 assists unfortunately. My board actually agreed to the necessary 45K transfer fee, but they're not willing to pay him 475/wk. Think I'm going to let Chris O'Neill, Gavin Chapman and Kenny McCain walk as well. I have better young replacements in place for Chapman and McCain but I need a goal scorer in O'Neill's place.

[Tecmo]

Around the world...

Shamrock won their fifth straight Irish title comfortably over St. Pat's. Ranger broke the alternating pattern of Scottish winners with their 2nd straight title, edging out Dundee Utd by 1 on goal difference. And Bangor City won in Wales for the second straight year.

Manchester United bounced back from a disappointing season to win their 3rd EPL in 4 years over second place Man City and third place Chelsea. Reading, West Brom and Leeds were all relegated to be replaced by Fulham, Norwich and West Ham.

PSG wins in France easily as usual. Dortmund won their first German title since 2020, finishing comfortably ahead of Schalke. Juventus reclaimed the Italian title over second place Roma. Sporting took the Portugese title. And Real Madrid won their 7th straight Spanish title over second place Barcelona.

France won the World Cup with a 2-1 victory over Poland. Portugal defeated Ukraine for 3rd place. Wales actually made it out of the group stages before falling to France.

After their continued dominance in France, PSG finally won their first Champions League title, defeating Bayern 3-2. Blackburn and Man U both reached the semifinals.

Man City won Europa League with a 5-1 thrashing of Espanyol.

[Tecmo]

Offseason done, I think I brought in more players than I need. Good time for me to do a bit of a depth chart here so I have a better idea what I have.

Goalkeepers:

Conor Cassidy, 25, 4 stars - My captain, in his 11th season with the club. Rumbling hard about moving to a bigger club and not willing to sign a new deal. I think this is his last season with the club.

Conall Redpath, 19, 5 stars - I think he'll be my starter next year so I'm going to get him as many starts as possible.

Timmy Gillespie, 18, 3 stars - Prospect I picked up this year from Annagh Utd. Could become a decent backup.

Fullbacks:

Jonathan McCoy, 22, 4 stars - His fifth season starting for our club, a good defensive player who doesn't contribute much on the offensive side.

Charlie Byrne, 22, 4.5 stars - Probably my best signing this offseason, poached from Crusaders. A slightly better version of McCoy I think, should be a good upgrade at right fullback.

Niall Marshall, 20, 3 stars - Has been my starter on the right side for a couple seasons, a bit better on the offensive side than McCoy but not as good a defender.

Stefan Lawless, 18, 3 stars - Good young prospect who should be a future starter, thinking I'll start training him to take over for McCoy after this season. Should be a more complete player eventually.

Steven Willis, 22, 4 stars - He's been McCoy's primary backup on the left side the past couple seasons, decent ratings but my coaches really don't think much of him.

Centerbacks:

Gavin Rice, 27, 4.5 stars - Probably my best player and also my most expensive. Wants 625/wk to sign a new contract, which is way out of my range.

Brian O'Hare, 29, 3.5 stars - Been with us forever, not quite as good as Rice but still very solid, he's made 311 appearances for us.

Iain Nesbitt, 19, 5 stars - Probably going to let him take over for Rice or O'Hare after this season, a 6'6" monster header. He makes me inclined to play my 5-3-2 formation just so I can get him in the lineup. Should have a great future with us.

Niall Vennard, 18, 4.5 stars - Another nice young defender I signed this offseason from Loughgall. Good defensive ratings, elite bravery and determination, he and Nesbitt may be my future.

Defensive Midfielder:

Nathan McPherson, 19, 5 stars - Strong defender with passing skills, good decision making and teamwork, should be a nice deep playmaker for me for years to come.

Graeme Young, 23, 3 stars - Might actually be better than McPherson right now, he'll have to settle for being the backup. I'll try to play them at the same time some though.

Bertie Thompson, 21, 3 stars - Depth but should have the skills to step in if McPherson or Young are injured.

Center Midfielders:

Leon Hylton, 26, 2.5 stars - Love his speed but I think I'll let him go after this year. Just not sure he's worth how much I'll have to pay to keep him. Currently my vice captain.

Colin Power, 24, 3.5 stars - I was fairly disappointed with him last season, was hoping he'd help the offense more. Should be a nice sniper from deep but only scored 1 goal with 2 assists.

Colm Mehard, 21, 3.5 stars - Could actually be a nice replacement for Hylton, a very similar player with great speed and technique. Didn't play much last year but could be our primary backup.

Jamie Glackin, 31, 2 stars - Great passer with some defensive skill, also a scout for us.

James Hassan, 21, 4.5 stars - A brave and determined midfielder who can also play DM.

Gerard Curran, 18, 2.5 stars - Probably an excessive signing but great flair, can maybe turn into a playmaker.

Attacking Midfielders:

Chris O'Neill, 26, 3 stars - Ended up bring him back after all. Hits some good crosses and added 7 goals last year. My primary corner taker.

Graeme Beckett, 20, 4.5 stars - Scored 8 goals in 23 appearances last year, extremely talented youngster who can hopefully hold down the position for several seasons.

Nigel McGovern, 19, 3.5 stars - Will be O'Neill's backup this season and a potential replacement afterward. Should become an an excellent passer but he needs to learn the AMR position as he's primarily a right midfielder.

Scott Herron, 17, 1.5 stars - A product of my system (which isn't producing anything without a youth academy) about all he has is crossing ability. But several of my strikers can play AML so he likely won't get much time.

Strikers:

Roy Martin, 20, 4.5 stars - Out of contract and unwilling to sign a new deal but he has good passing, dribbling and acceleration. He'll get first crack at starter. can also play AML.

Shea McEvoy, 22, 4 stars - Scored 5 goals in 20 appearances for Lurgan Celtic last year, versatile as he can play both AML and AMR as well.

Stephen Duff, 19, 4 stars - Strong finishing skills, concerned about how slow he is though and he lacks passing and long shot ability.

Ian Wilson, 18, 3 stars - Actually more excited for him than Duff, Wilson has some aggression and heading ability, so he might be able to mix things up in front of the net.

Raymond Connolly, 15, 1.5 stars - My most interesting youth player, his ratings make him look like a good future Trequartista. He'll be one to keep an eye, will be playing for our U18 team this season.

Should be an interesting season. I need to figure out who my top striker is quickly, in the meantime hopefully our defense can keep us in games. We need to get off to a better start this season than we have in past years. The early hole we've dug that last two seasons has been our downfall at the end.

[Tecmo]

It's just been a major struggle this season. 20 games in, the defense has been stellar, giving up the 2nd fewest goals with 18. Unfortunately, we've only been able to score 16, the fewest in the league. We're just not getting any production anywhere except from out strikers, McAvoy and Martin, they've scored 11 of our 16. I've pretty much been forced into sitting back on defense and then hoping to pop a goal in on a counter for a 1-0 win. On the bright side, we're coming off a 3-0 win over Glenavon and a 4-2 win over Warrenpoint in the Mid Ulster, so maybe we're finding something. Think the main issue is with my midfielders, Hylton and Power. They're just not producing or having any luck controlling the ball. I think that will be our focus in the coming offseason. At least I think we're pretty safe to stay up but a top 6 finish might be tough.

[Tecmo]

Never did find an offensive spark this year and we ended up in the bottom half but in no danger of relegation.

I have my defense in place for next season, might even sell Brian O'Hare as I really like my young backups. Cassidy and Redpath are both signed and I intend to sell Cassidy. Been playing both and haven't seen a drop off when Redpath plays.

Roy Martin at striker and Shea McAvoy at AML has shown some potential, hoping I can keep Martin with him currently unwilling to sign a contract. I loaned out McGovern to Knockbreda but he should be a good starter at AMR.

Midfield is the problem. Leon Hylton and Colin Power and re not coming back I'm very done with them. Need some offensive threat, thinking I may try using an AMC next year with more of a ball controller behind him.

One bright spot, we just took down Portadown to win our second Mid Ulster Cup. Crazy game, we were up 2-0 after 80 minutes, then Portadown scored two to tie. We scored a goal in injury time and they tied us again on a corner on the last play in regulation. Then we came out and scored 3 in extra time for a 6-3 win.

[Tecmo]

We finished at the top of the bottom anyway...

Limerick pretty much took us apart in the All-Ireland Cup, beating us 3-0 in the first game and 1-0 in the second, neither game was as close as the score.

[Tecmo]

Around the world...

Linfield actually managed to win their first round Champions League match, defeating Santa Coloma from Andorra 3-0 on aggregate before losing in the next round to CSKA Sofia 1-6. Our league is playing in the first qualifying round now instead of the second, so not really a gain there. Portadown, Loughgall and Cliftonville were all knocked out of the first round of Europa as well.

Shamrock won their 6th straight Irish Premier Division title. Rangers won their third straight Scottish title. And Bangor City edged out TNS for their third straight Welsh title.

Manchester United won their second straight EPL and 4th in 5 seasons, easily beating Liverpool and Man City. Swansea finished 5th, their highest finish ever. Newcastle, Sunderland and Watford were all relegated to be replaced by Leeds, West Brom and Stoke. PSG won France again (yawn). Bayern Munich won Germany. Fiorentina won in Italy for the first time since 2016. Sporting won Portugal for the second season in a row. Spartak Moscow won in Europe. And Barcelona won in Spain, breaking Real Madrid's 7 year run on top.

Manchester City won in Champions League play, defeating Juventus 2-1. Barcelona and Chelsea lost in the semifinals. Sevilla won Europa, defeating Arsenal 3-2.

[Tecmo]

This is how we're lining up for the first game of the new season...

Trying a new formation with one of my midfielders moved up to AMC and then staggering my center midfielder and defensive mid to provide some width. No really big signings this offseason, mostly because the board wouldn't let me. I tried bringing back Ally Keenan after he refused to sign a new deal with Loughgall but the board wouldn't pay his requested 425/wk. He ended up signing for 925/wk with Ebbsfleet in the Blue Square Bet Premier in England. I'm still after another striker, Ciaran Webb, a 23 year old who has been playing for Glentoran. If I get him I may dump Roy Martin since he still refuses to sign a new contract.

My other signings were all on amateur contracts. 22 year old Liam Morris will be starting as my new AMC. Seems to be fairly injury prone but has some nice passing skills and good all around attributes. He'll be backed up by 19 year old Joe Cunning, another skilled passer with a lot of flair. In the mid center we brought in 24 year old Adam McCabe, also from Glentoran. A good ball winner with great passing skills, he can also handle the free kicks and penalties and hopefully can provide some control in the middle. We also brought in an interesting young defender in 17 year old Simon Hunter. Not sure if he'll be a centerback or a defensive midfielder but has everything I want in a defender, tackling, marking, heading, determination, bravery and work rate with a little passing skill. We'll find playing time for him.

Conor Cassidy is still with the team, offered him up on transfer but got no takers. I'll likely split time between him and Redpath and let him go when the season is done. The same is true with Brian O'Hare. Love him, but I have cheaper, maybe better options behind him.

No idea what to expect this season, hoping to get back in the top half again and from there, who knows. Defense will be fine, just have to see what if we can improve on offense.

[Tecmo]

Pretty happy with our start so far. Played well in our first few games, had a bit of a rough patch and then won our last 3 to sit in 6th but only 2 points out of 3rd after 11 games.

The offense has been much improved, somewhat at the expense of our defense. Getting some goals from surprising sources thus far as Brian O'Hare has 5 off corners already, Gareth Davidson (still with the team despite rarely playing and being out of contract since we were in the 2nd Division) has 3 and Liam Morris has been a major spark plug with 7 goals and 5 assists including 4 goals in our last game. Just resigned Morris and O'Hare through next season. Not getting a lot out of my strikers although I feel like they've been making contributions with their passes near the box. Might look for some help there during the transfer window. Declan Boyle has taken over as my starting AMR, scoring 3 goals in 4 games. Charlie Byrne has been fairly disappointing at right fullback, I might try moving him at the window. And Redpath is pretty much my starting goalkeeper at this point as he has outplayed Cassidy.

[Tecmo]

We've kept our good form in the second pass through the league and in our last 14 league games, we have 11 wins, 2 draws and only 1 loss. We've drawn Linfield in both of our matchups thus far. The defense has really tightened up and we've found another productive striker in 21 year old Gareth Quinn, signed on a free from Crusaders. He's already netted 5 goals in 4 games. We were knocked out of the League Cup in our second game by Portodown but that was a very low priority for us. Despite how well we're playing I still have some players grumbling about a move, the most puzzling being Gavin Rice. I've transfer listed him at his request, but hopefully he'll calm down.

[deltablue]

Looking very good this year.

[Tecmo]

Still flying high at the split, we're 10 points clear of 5th and a potential Europa spot. No significant injuries to speak of and a three game league win streak. Linfield knocked us out of the Irish Cup and Glenavon knocked us out of the Mid Ulster, so it's total focus on league play.

We also signed 16 year old midfielder Williard Dunlop away from Tobermore Utd. It's the first time we've paid another team for a player since Marc Harkness and I'm quite excited about him.

[Tecmo]

Linfield 3-0 Blackers Mill

Bad start as Linfield pretty well stomped on us. The game was about as close as the score as we were outshot 16-5 and Linfield had 60% possession. Loughgall defeated Cliftonville to move ahead of us by one point and Portadown defeated Ballinamallard to move within 3 points of us.

Good news in the Irish Cup though as Portadown and Linfield both advance to the finals, pretty much ensuring that the top 4 in the league will play in Europe. With 4 games to go we're 10 points up on 5th.

Blackers Mill 2-0 Portadown

Another disappointing game. We missed a chance for an early lead as a penalty kick by Nathan McPherson was saved, Portadown responded with a goal and a second one later for the win. We dropped to 4th, 1 goal difference behind Portadown, but 10 clear of 5th place Ballinamallard as they lost to Loughgall.

Blackers Mill 1-1 Cliftonville

Rough game as O'Hare was sent off in the 29th minute after his second yellow card, Cliftonville followed up quickly with a goal but Declan Boyle saved the game just after halftime with the equalizer and Gareth Quinn just missed giving us the win with a header just over the net in the 90th minute. Portadown lost to Loughgall, pushing us back into third, one point ahead of them.

Blackers Mill 0-1 Loughgall

Boring match that was settled on a 90th minute corner. And, unfortunately, Portadown pulled off the upset, beating Linfield and pushing us back to 4th. So we're 2 points behind going into the last game. We're at Ballinamallard, Portadown is at Cliftonville.

Ballinamallard 3-1 Blackers Mill

Got off to a nice start with a 34th minute Davidson goal but Ballinamallard answered quickly, then took the lead on a corner and finished it off with a late clincher.

Terribly disappointing way to end the season, only getting one point in the final five games, but we still finished 4th, well enough for our best finish and a Europa spot.

[Tecmo]

A look at our final league table...

I took home Coach of the Year so a nice little honor there. Striker Roy Martin finished 2nd for the Young Player of the Year award. That seemed kind of odd as I felt like I had other, better youngsters on the team. And Liam Morris finished 3rd for the Player of the Year award.

Morris led the team with 13 goals and 12 assists. Shea McEvoy also had 12 assists while Martin was third with 7 assists. Gareth Quinn was second on the team in goals scored with 8 in only 14 appearances. Martin, McEvoy, Declan Boyle and Gareth Davidson all had 7 goals as well.

Going into next season, most of my defense is signed and returning. Gavin Rice, Brian O'Hare and Iain Nesbitt are all returning, I think O'Hare is going to be moved to a backup role behind Nesbitt, he can also backup my fullbacks. Nathan McPherson and Adam McCabe are all signed in the midfield although I could potentially upgrade McCabe's spot. My attacking midfielders, McEvoy, Morris and Boyle will all return. And Quinn returns as striker although Martin is still unwilling to sign a new contract. I also have a good decent striker prospect in 17 year old Raymond Connolly although I'm hoping to loan him out.

Conall Redpath returns as our starting goalkeeper while Conor Cassidy's 11 year run with the team is coming to an end. I brought in a good young backup, 18 year old Stuart Magill, who started for 14 games for Portadown last season, allowing only 13 goals. Might actually give Redpath some competition for the starting spot.

[Tecmo]

Time for a new challenge. Ready to have more options for signing and selling players. FM 2014 is installed, just need to figure out where to play. Debating between Netherlands, Croatia and Germany.