[FM15] Annan Athletic FC - European champions? We will see

[chestermike]

I have played 2 seasons since my last update, gonna update both asap. Would appreciate some comments if people are still reading this.

[chestermike]

Apologies for no screenshots here, something has gone wrong on steam and they aren't working. I will post some when I can resolve the issue.

[chestermike]

Season 8 - 2021/22

Premiership - 8th

Scottish Cup - semi final

League Cup - Quarter final

So my first foray into the top flight, and I need extra quality in the squad. However I'm back to struggling to sign anyone, as they all want £6k PW plus, and I just cannot pay that. Loans from Inter help, in comes striker Soave, GK Novello and LB Ghidini. Another couple of loans come in too, winger Saidi from Madrid and striker Ivanov from Botev (Plovdiv). I also keep Getachew from Helsingborg. Dunlop would not resign as he is needed for Partick Thistles first team. On the permanent signings front, wingers Prieto, Andzouna and Padaruth come in along with CM Kekezovic, all adding depth and quality. However the star signing, the marquee player, a young 18 year old CB called Gilbert Sterckx who has 4*PA (star prem player) and 5*CA, all for £700PW too!!!! This lad has it all, and I am seriously excited, this is the kind of gem that makes it worth scouring through thousands of trialists every summer.

Of the existing squad, left back Camara looks amazing, he has improved massively and will be a key player, I have a look around the league and cannot find a better left back, Zungu being the only equal to him. H'Maidat leaves the club for £10k, he just wasn't going to play with Saidi coming in and was on big bucks.

Overall the season starts very brightly, a 4-0 win over league 2 Ayr sets the tone, although Dundee United did give me a thrashing away, I was lucky it was only 2-4 as it could have been 0-10 very easily. I draw against Partick, and beat Aberdeen, St Mirren, Dundee and Hearts to sit 2nd, before Celtic thump me 5-0, and I was lucky to get 0 that day!!! The rot set in then and I only won 2 and drawn 1 of the next 8 games, the highlight being a win away at Hibs, my ex affiliates. Dumbarton beat me in the league cup at the end of October but still sitting strong in 8th.

Mid season seen a little upturn in results. Celtic are still far too good, so taking the lead against them before the latest thrashing was great, and I also took the lead away at Rangers before losing 2-1 with 2 goals in the last 10 minutes. Good wins over Dumbarton 4-1 and Hibs 3-1 put me 7th for the new year. Also a good cup run was starting, beating Peterhead 3-1 after going 1-0 down.

January started with Rangers thumping me 4-0 at my gaff, but the rest of Jan was stunning, winning 4 league games on the bounce, the best being 6-4 against Aberdeen, and also beat Dumfermiline in the cup 4-2. This was after signing the very high quality CM Orlandi from Napoli on loan, bravery of 18, tackling of 19, passing technique etc all in the 13+ range, unbelievable that this guy is available. Teqja wasn't playing so moved to Celtic for a paltry £3.5k, and Mioc was released in Jan too, just not playing.

After January the wheels fell off again, I seriously don't know why this happens most years, there must be something I am doing wrong but I cannot put my finger on it. I didn't happen at Chester FC this often, only a couple of times. I lose 7 league games in a row in Feb and March, leaving me in 10th when the league splits in 2, and in the relegation group, a 3-3 draw with Rangers just before the split stopping the rot, and I did beat Championship Morton 3-1 in the Cup QF in the middle of that. The worst defeat was a 7-1 loss away to Hearts, for some reason sometimes my team just folds, and this is something I must address if I want to progress. I feel the midfield is weak now, and when the chips are down and I get battered my possession stats are always very low. I will also look at tactics again since I am playing better teams.

It was tight in the relegation group, only a few points between most of the teams, so I could still finish 7th or be relegated, all or nothing on the final 5 games. A 3-0 loss to Dumbarton was not how I wanted to start, but a 3-3 draw with Aberdeen seen an improvement. Then the Cup SF against Dundee. I was 2-0 up, but somehow contrived to lose this one 2-3 after extra time, not a happy bunny and I laid into my players afterwards, and chucked in a team meeting for good measure. Seemed to do the trick, as after not winning in 11 league games I beat Dundee 5-1 (sic) and Partick Thistle 3-2. Final game against bottom team St Mirren, with me safe and in fact a win could put me 7th if results went my way. Well safe to say St Mirren beat me 3-1 for me to finish a creditable 8th. That result also put St Mirren in the playoffs at the expense of Dundee, who are relegated. St Mirren win the play off to stay up.

Celtic win the league again their 11th straight title, and at a canter too, 20 points ahead of 2nd place St Johnstone and 21 ahead of Rangers and Hearts. TNS win the wesh league at a canter again, and in England Southampton are champions of the Prem again!!! Click on their team and they have some amazing regens, guess their youth academy is realistically simulated (or maybe overpowered???) on this go. Linfield win in NI and Dundalk are Irish champions. Porto win the champions league and Valencia win the euro cup.

Player front, Steryckx is as good as he looks, as is Camara. Lloris played ok but spent a lot of time injured again. Orlandi was brilliant, scoring 5 goals from holding midfield for the bargain, although the rest of the midfield needs some serious work. Soave scored a shed load for me, but Inter have him on the transfer list and he is off to Sampdoria for £1.1million. Saidi was top class but inconsistent, and my youth prospect CBs have had some game time and look to be improving.

Thanks for reading, hope you like despite no screenshots. Comments, questions, advice etc are more than welcome. Thanks.

[chestermike]

Season 9 - 2022/23

Premiership - 6th

Scottish Cup - 5th Round

League Cup - Semi final

Well season 9 was certainly an improvement. I was massively disappointed the board still refused to improve the infrastructure of the club, so I am stuck with a very poor and small ground, and poor training and youth facilities. If the board do not increase the ground capacity soon I will stagnate as it really limits my available income. They keep saying the club cannot afford it, which I cannot understand now as I have over £2million in the bank for the first time, mainly thanks to a huge increase in sponsorship income (less than £100k to over £700k PA) and a large payout for final league placement (around £1.4million). One strange thing is the projected balance, its never worked properly in this game for me and I hope it isn't holding the board back from investing in the infrastructure. Apparently by the end of the year I will have minus £40 million, how the hell do they work this out when I have £2million in the bank and I spent just over £4million last year in total? Are they assuming I will spend most of this huge transfer budget I have? hmmmmmmmm.

Anyway, signings have looked very optimistic. I decided to make a big effort to strengthen the midfield, I was concerned that my team had 42% possession or less when I got battered, but had over 50% when I won, so I decided I needed midfielders with more technique and passing, but more importantly for me, work rate, determination and teamwork. Aggression and bravery wouldn't go amiss either, and some physicality would be nice so I could retain possession in the areal duals. As mentioned, I also decided to evolve the tactics side of things, I have higher quality players now and my tactics should reflect this. I thought I would leave the general team set up as is, but add some specific player roles that better suit who is going to play on the day.

So....signings.....I keep Orlandi from Napoli, that kind of quality is hard to come by, and I am only paying £1.9k PW wages, bargain (highest earner last year). I bring in GK Novello, and midfielder Belucci and CB Cosimi from Inter on loan, as well as loan deals for RW Tchimanga from Lierse, CM Calderon from Altetico and LW Duhamel from Cercle Brugge.

On the permanent signings front, I find another marquee signing amongst my trialists, an 18 year old Turk striker called Ergoden Ismail Baykale. Released from a team I never heard of, this lad has finishing and dribbling of 16, OTB of 17, Pace and Acceleration of 18, and most other things on 12+, he really is a beast. I agree a £2.2k PW deal and await the work permit nervously....

I also sign more quality up front in the form of Jovi Munter, released from Twente somehow, along with a young Danish LW with plenty of potential called Tommy Bjerring. Cameroon international Guy Boumal adds everything I want in midfield, 6ft7, strong as an ox, and quality. Jochen Moens comes in for more options in midfield, as well as Romanian international CM Triain Ciaora. Baykale gets his work permit after an appeal, and just before I start the season RB Neil Jofille joins after being released from Charlton.

Outwards, I release practically all my midfield from the year before, including Bergsson who had amassed a lot of appearances. I start the season with a big squad full of quality, but I'm still only spending £40k PW of my budget (£26k PW before bonuses), and still have not spent a penny in transfer fees.

I started the season with a class 90th minute winner against last seasons 2nd placed St Johnstone, before taking the lead away at Rangers before going down 3-1. Results stayed solid, mostly wins and draws with only 3 losses by the end of December, including a 2-2 draw away to Celtic and a 4-1 win over Rangers!!!! A great league cup run was also had, beating Dumfermiline, Partick Thistle and Hamilton to get a SF vs Celtic in the new year. God knows why they have such a huge gap between the QF and SF.

January arrives, and disaster happens, my 2nd big mistake on this save! I see that teams are interested in Sterckx, my quality CB I mentioned last time. You can guess what happened. I see Juventus, PSG, Inter, Southampton and Marseille have a major interest, with a huge list of others minor. I notice he has a value of £875k, which I feel is low, so click on his contract and he has minimum fee release clause of £875k!!!! Oh poo poo!!! I immediately offer him a new contract but before he accepts a load of bids come in and he eventually agrees a £6k PW deal at Marseille. I am nearly as livid as my mistake with McKinnion.

As a replacement for Steryckx, although no where near the same quality, I bring in CB Matty Woods (good name for us Chester fans eh Al???) who has 1.5*CA and 5*PA.

Results in the 2nd half of the season suffered, the attack was amazing with Munter and Baykale scoring tonnes of goals, and my wingers Tshimanga and Duhamel are both in double figures, however the defence fell apart with no Sterckx. Lloris was struggling for fitness again, and my young CB's Maxwell and Doherty were not quite ready. Didn't help that Camara and Tchimanga went to the African Nations Cup Finals.

I won 7, drew 1 and lost 10 of my league games after Sterckx left, a class 6-1 win over Hibs the highlight. However I just about held on to 6th at the split thanks to 3-0 win over Alloa and a 2-1 win over Aberdeen in the last 2 regulation league games. Celtic have ran away with things yet again, but St Johnstone still have an outside chance, Rangers, St Mirren and Partick Thistle make up the most surprising championship group ever. I start with my best result ever, a 6-3 win away at Celtic. I was 5-0 up within 20 minutes, never seen Annan do anything like it. Even after then made chance after chance after chance, only my awful defence lead to me not winning by a cricket score. A few disappointing results against the saints seemed to have consigned me to 6th, however an unexpected 2-1 win over Rangers gave me an outside chance of 5th. Last game vs Partick Thistle who were 3 points ahead but I had a far superior GD. Safe to say I got battered and finish the season 6th.

I realise I have neglected to mention the cups. Well the league cup semi final vs Celtic was a complete bust, got absolutely battered and ended up losing 1-3. The match stats tell the true story, 2 shots vs 41 for them, and 38% possession for me. In the Scottish cup I beat Prem whipping boys Alloa 4-0 in round 4, and I thought I liked the round 5 draw away to championship strugglers Inverness. Ended up losing that one 1-2, and not playing very well. Still I am proud of the season, I do have quite a few unhappy players, and I need to strengthen my defence, but progress has been made and there is money in the bank.

Around the world, Arsenal win the prem, Southampton finish 6th. Man City and Chelsea are 2nd and 3rd, and somehow Reading are 4th!!!! TNS win the welsh league by 20 points again, Shamrock win in Ireland and Glenavon win in NI in a close battle with Cliftonville. Arsenal finish a class year by beating Gelsenkerchen in the champions cup final, and Ajax win the Euro Cup.

[withnail316]

Great challenge here. Congrats on breaking into the top 6 in the SPL.

[chestermike]

Ok, screenshots are still broken, I haven't got a clue why. I can take them, but when I go to upload them to photobucket the photo icon has a big question mark over it, and when I click nothing happens whatsoever, not even a little error box. Grrrrrrrr

[chestermike]

Premiership - 4th

Scottish Cup - WINNERS

League Cup - Semi-Final

So no screenshot again. Sorry guys. I hope your all still reading this and enjoying sharing my journey to hopefully European Champions.

So, as you can see from the top of the thread I have kicked on nicely. Things are coming together really well, I have good players, a great starting tactic and 2 backup tactics that work really well when needed too. Still not spent a single penny on transfer fees, wages have been kept low, and the squad and team is well blanced.

I m very happy with the transfer dealings over the summer. GK Novello stays on for another season, and I sign another 7 players on loan to fill the squad up. In Scotland there in no limit to the loans who can play, and even though only Inter will give me players for no wages I search for players on under £2k PW and there is plenty of quality there. CB Dyballa joins from Real Madrid, and left back Jiri Perina adds cover and competition, although he isn't as good as Camara, he isn't far off. Midfielders Ahmed Yilmaz (Anderlecht), Ricky Keehan (Arsenal), Ozan Yuksel (Genk) and Umberto Peluzzo (Inter) give me plenty of options in the middle, and Kjell Haymans (Anderlecht) who can play anywhere across the frontline really strengthens things up top, good back up for Baykale and an option on the left wing. All these loan signings are costing me about £5k PW, not an insignificant amount, but for 8 players I feel I am getting value for money.

Permanent signings in are great too, CM Marvin Mols joins after his release from Ajax, and Nigerian RB Jimboh gives me good options there. nice to finally have 2 natural right backs. It is a position I feel I can strengthen in the future with additional quality however, but no one is available for my budget this pre season. The true marquee signing is a young Belgian keeper called Jens Bergmans who I signed on a pre contract from Heerenveen. Reflexes of 18, handling of 16 and most other things 13+ apart from tendency to punch of 5 and eccentricity of 8. Good agility and decisions too. The truly amazing thing though is the value for money I am getting, he is on £220PW wages!!! Mols is also awesome value, on £350 PW. I paid this in league 1 for much worse players, so very happy.

Departures wise I bring in some good cash. Euan Young will not play so happy to get the £17.5k from Hamilton for him. Ciaora is unhappy and well down the pecking order now, so to get £450k from Valladolid is amazing. Jovi Munter wants to leave, and although he scored loads as a 2nd choice striker, I cannot refuse the £850k bids I get in for him and he chooses Caen as his next team. Guy Boumal gave me everything I wanted in CM, but he was on £3.6k PW, the most I could pay, and now I had 4 players equally as good as him, so I decided to offload. Very happy to pull in an additional £950k from Rangers for him, it frees up over £5k per week from my budget, and even though I know he is a good quality player I have equals to him in the squad. Jochen Moens is the last cash transfer, joining Alloa for £28.5k.

The season starts with 3 straight wins over Hearts, Aberdeen and Hamilton, although I immediately lose the next 3 to Celtic, St Mirren and Hibs. As a response I look again at the players I wanted to sign in the summer but who wanted too much money, and bring in centre mid Kim Kristensen on £2k PW and forward Larraniga after his release from PSG as he can also cover RW and I am a little short.

Results pick up and a 7 match unbeaten run (5 wins and 2 draws) puts me in 3rd as the transfer window opens. My team is playing expansive attacking football, swamping teams and moving the ball nicely. I haven't got the balance right tactically as I am still poor defensively, despite good players in the squad, and that is something I will look to address over the summer, as I feel for now results are good enough and I don't want to rock the boat. Baykale is as amazing as I thought, not seen a more powerful shot in FM, he absolutely rips the net up when he scores.

I am determined not to have my post January slump this year, so I am going to make some signings if it kills me, freshen things up and keep the squad motivated. I throw a team meeting in saying they are doing well and get a good reply, and I loan out 6 of my younger players. It frees up some more budget for me, and it gives them experience to help them develop so win win in my eyes. I bring in summer target Cerwinski, a german under 21 international released from Bayern. He costs a bit in wages, £1.5k PW, but has more quality than my current options, and fills a role I had no one for, the holding midfieder role. I also sign the brilliantly names Jeff Kok on loan from Feyenoord. He can play AMC or RW naturally, has the quality required, and is only costing me £100PW.

Results in the 2nd half of the season pretty much mirror the first half, the alarming slump has done one. In fact in February I win 5 games in a row, including a 2-1 win over Celtic, before losing the next 3 which makes me think the bad run is about to happen again, but good wins over Hearts 3-0, Celtic 2-1 again and Hamilton 5-1, coupled with a 2-2 draw with Dundee United put me in with a shot at the title, only 1 point separating Celtic, me, St Johnstone and Rangers. Just before the league split a mini slump put me out of contention though, losing 1-2 to St Johnstone, 1-3 to Rangers and the worst of the lot 1-4 to Hamilton. This did happen when Lloris got injured again so maybe no coincidence. I sit in 5th as the league splits, so in the championship group again, but now I am 10 points behind Celtic with 5 games left. The unlikely title dreams end with a 1-4 loss away to Celtic, but I win the last 4 league games, including the final game 2-1 away to Rangers, to finish 4th. Good progress, I am very happy with the league season, and in fact my finishing position is good enough that I qualify for the Euro Cup next season, a vital stage on my journey.

I have neglected to mention the cups, but as you can see from the header I had a very very good year, and in fact brought in my first major silverware. The league cup seen me defeat Ayr 7-2, Dundee 2-1 and Celtic on pens after a 2-2 draw before losing to eventual winners Rangers in the semi final. Got a good battering in that one, the plus point being that I made nearly £600k thanks to gate receipts and TV money.

The Scottish Cup was a different story though. I have too much quality and I am too attacking for lower division sides now, starting with a 7-1 win over league 1 Stranraer. Ross County hold me 0-0 in the 5th round, however I win the replay 4-0 and in the QF I defeat St Mirren 4-1, setting up a huge SF with Hearts. An amazing performance seen me run out 5-0 winners, and the final vs Rangers will pull the curtain down on the season. I win the final 2-0 for my first major silverware, those 2 goals also breaking the goalscoring record for the Scottish cup with 22 goals in 6 matches. It also cements my Euro Cup place, and after checking it appears I will enter the 2nd qualifying round, as the Scottish league rep has dropped to 16th place.

On the player front, Baykale finished top scorer with 24 goals. Bergmann is top quality and my first GK to average over 7 on this save, and Shoofs has had an amazing year in AMC. Keenan looks amazing and I will be on Arsenals case to let me keep him, and Heymanns did very well as back up striker scoring 15 goals mostly off the bench on playing down the left.

Around the comps, Celtic win the prem yet again (boring me now, I'm after them!!!). TNS win in Wales yet again by an absolute street, Chelsea win the prem with Spurs, Southampton and Man City rounding off the top 4. Linfield and Shamrock are the best in the Irish leagues. Gelsenkirken finally win the champions league beating Barcelona in the final, and Monaco win the Euro Cup defeating Marseille in the final.

Thanks for reading, hope you are enjoying the story.

[chestermike]

Season 11 - 2024/25

Premiership - WINNERS

League Cup - RUNNER UP

Scottish Cup - Semi Final

Euro Cup - Group stage

I knew I was on the edge of an amazing team, had to tweak things around a little, both in terms of personnel and tactics. I changed the midfield to shorter passing, made my tactic fluid, and given specific roles to the full backs. I felt I needed more control, more possession, especially against the bigger teams. I still wanted to swamp teams when going forward, so a combination of ball winning midfielder on defend with an advanced playmaker should give me the possession for my 2 wingers on attack, AMC on attack and I changed my advanced forward to complete forward on attack.

Transfers in were very pleasing, although on the outward side I was not happy to lose my star forward Baykale, my 3rd big mistake on this save. I seen club were interested, and he had a min fee release clause of £4.5million, and that was his value too!!! So I offer him a new contract, and he accepts before a bid can come in, however his agent insists on a min fee release clause of £15million. The week after, St Johnstone come in with a £15million bid and off he went.

Baykale's transfer gave me over £20million in the bank, and finally the board agree to spend money on the infrastructure of the club. The capacity of the ground is to be doubled to 5028, and training and youth improvements will be made next summer. Excellent news I can really kick on now.

Transfers in are very pleasing. As mentioned I wanted to strengthen the right back area, so Corrado Mastroianni (Juventus) and Jermaine Langford (Leicester) join on loan. CM Aldo Malizia joins from Inter on loan, as does LW Jose Louis Jiminez from Atletico, and I keep Kok, Yuksal and Haymanns from last season. The only permanent signing I make is right winger Thomas Jarsale who looks amazing, not coming cheap though at £4k PW wages. Still not spent a penny on transfer fees ever.

Outwards, Penchev and Paraduth leave, as do some youngsters, and Larraniga goes out on loan as he is unhappy. Baykale is the only money transfer though.

I actually start the Euro Cup in the 3rd qualifying round, and am drawn against Mitdjylland of Denmark. A 2-1 win at the home leg sets up the second leg, and an amazing performance in the away leg 5-1. Absolutely swamped them, could have scored 20 on a different day. The league starts equally as well, although drawing the opening game 4-4 at home to Aberdeen after being 4-2 up with a minute left didn't impess me. Won the next 4 league games including beating Celtic 4-0, before losing to St Mirren 1-2. Also won the Euro Cup playoff round against Dynamo Kyiv, 3-0 in leg 1 and 2-1 in leg 2. League form remained steady, with Celtic, Dumbarton and Rangers joining me in a 4 way tassle for the title. I get to the transfer window only losing 2 games, and top by a point from the other 3, with Hearts now closing in too.

Rubin, Olympiakos and Trabsonspor are far too strong for me in Europe, I end the group having drawn 2 and lost 4 of my 6 games. Didn't disgrace myself in any match, and in fact would have won 2 if not for last minute equalisers.

I have 4 right backs on the books, so Jimoh goes out on loan to Livingston and and Jarsaille leaves for £30k. Mols isn't playing so leaves for £20k too. CB Rogeaux is my only signing in January after his release from Lyon. Decent enough player, slightly better than my youth players who have been doing well enough, however I still do concede far too many goals, hence this signing.

Results in the 2nd half get stronger, and I end up winning 11 league games in a row, 14 in total when you include the cups, all that after a disgraceful performance in losing 1-4 at home to new bogey side St Mirren. I can only think their tactic works well against mine, and I alter too late. Dundee United beat me 1-2 to end my winning run, but a 4-0 win over Alloa and 3-1 over Celtic put me back on course. A couple of draws with Rangers and St Mirren, along with a loss to Hearts and a win over Hibs leaves me 7 points above Celtic, Hearts and Dumbarton as the league splits. I start the championship group with a 3-0 win over Rangers, a 2-2 draw with Hibs and a 4-0 win over Hearts (nice revenge for me after the cup final, read on) to put me 6 points clear with 2 games remaining. Dumbarton beat me 2-4 after I lead 2-1 after 50 minutes, but Celtic draw and as the only team that can catch me I am champions!!! Celtic beat me in the final game, so just as well.

In the cups, a great run was had in both, beat Alloa 3-0, Hibs 4-0 and Dumbarton 3-1 before losing to Hearts in the League Cup final. Battered too, easy 0-2 win for them. In the Scottish Cup, beat Dumbarton 3-2, Dundee United 4-2 and Celtic 3-0 before losing to damned St Mirren in the semi final 1-3. Still a good year all round.

Around my FM world, Chelsea win the prem with Arsenal 2nd, Southampton 3rd and Man United 4th. TNS win the welsh prem by 27 points, and Glenavon and Shamrock are the best in Ireland, Barcelona win the champions league and Sporting win the Euro Cup.

Thanks for reading, hope someone still is.

[glynnbob]

Season 11 - 2024/25

Premiership - WINNERS

League Cup - RUNNER UP

Scottish Cup - Semi Final

Euro Cup - Group stage

I knew I was on the edge of an amazing team, had to tweak things around a little, both in terms of personnel and tactics. I changed the midfield to shorter passing, made my tactic fluid, and given specific roles to the full backs. I felt I needed more control, more possession, especially against the bigger teams. I still wanted to swamp teams when going forward, so a combination of ball winning midfielder on defend with an advanced playmaker should give me the possession for my 2 wingers on attack, AMC on attack and I changed my advanced forward to complete forward on attack.

Transfers in were very pleasing, although on the outward side I was not happy to lose my star forward Baykale, my 3rd big mistake on this save. I seen club were interested, and he had a min fee release clause of £4.5million, and that was his value too!!! So I offer him a new contract, and he accepts before a bid can come in, however his agent insists on a min fee release clause of £15million. The week after, St Johnstone come in with a £15million bid and off he went.

Baykale's transfer gave me over £20million in the bank, and finally the board agree to spend money on the infrastructure of the club. The capacity of the ground is to be doubled to 5028, and training and youth improvements will be made next summer. Excellent news I can really kick on now.

Transfers in are very pleasing. As mentioned I wanted to strengthen the right back area, so Corrado Mastroianni (Juventus) and Jermaine Langford (Leicester) join on loan. CM Aldo Malizia joins from Inter on loan, as does LW Jose Louis Jiminez from Atletico, and I keep Kok, Yuksal and Haymanns from last season. The only permanent signing I make is right winger Thomas Jarsale who looks amazing, not coming cheap though at £4k PW wages. Still not spent a penny on transfer fees ever.

Outwards, Penchev and Paraduth leave, as do some youngsters, and Larraniga goes out on loan as he is unhappy. Baykale is the only money transfer though.

I actually start the Euro Cup in the 3rd qualifying round, and am drawn against Mitdjylland of Denmark. A 2-1 win at the home leg sets up the second leg, and an amazing performance in the away leg 5-1. Absolutely swamped them, could have scored 20 on a different day. The league starts equally as well, although drawing the opening game 4-4 at home to Aberdeen after being 4-2 up with a minute left didn't impess me. Won the next 4 league games including beating Celtic 4-0, before losing to St Mirren 1-2. Also won the Euro Cup playoff round against Dynamo Kyiv, 3-0 in leg 1 and 2-1 in leg 2. League form remained steady, with Celtic, Dumbarton and Rangers joining me in a 4 way tassle for the title. I get to the transfer window only losing 2 games, and top by a point from the other 3, with Hearts now closing in too.

Rubin, Olympiakos and Trabsonspor are far too strong for me in Europe, I end the group having drawn 2 and lost 4 of my 6 games. Didn't disgrace myself in any match, and in fact would have won 2 if not for last minute equalisers.

I have 4 right backs on the books, so Jimoh goes out on loan to Livingston and and Jarsaille leaves for £30k. Mols isn't playing so leaves for £20k too. CB Rogeaux is my only signing in January after his release from Lyon. Decent enough player, slightly better than my youth players who have been doing well enough, however I still do concede far too many goals, hence this signing.

Results in the 2nd half get stronger, and I end up winning 11 league games in a row, 14 in total when you include the cups, all that after a disgraceful performance in losing 1-4 at home to new bogey side St Mirren. I can only think their tactic works well against mine, and I alter too late. Dundee United beat me 1-2 to end my winning run, but a 4-0 win over Alloa and 3-1 over Celtic put me back on course. A couple of draws with Rangers and St Mirren, along with a loss to Hearts and a win over Hibs leaves me 7 points above Celtic, Hearts and Dumbarton as the league splits. I start the championship group with a 3-0 win over Rangers, a 2-2 draw with Hibs and a 4-0 win over Hearts (nice revenge for me after the cup final, read on) to put me 6 points clear with 2 games remaining. Dumbarton beat me 2-4 after I lead 2-1 after 50 minutes, but Celtic draw and as the only team that can catch me I am champions!!! Celtic beat me in the final game, so just as well.

In the cups, a great run was had in both, beat Alloa 3-0, Hibs 4-0 and Dumbarton 3-1 before losing to Hearts in the League Cup final. Battered too, easy 0-2 win for them. In the Scottish Cup, beat Dumbarton 3-2, Dundee United 4-2 and Celtic 3-0 before losing to damned St Mirren in the semi final 1-3. Still a good year all round.

Around my FM world, Chelsea win the prem with Arsenal 2nd, Southampton 3rd and Man United 4th. TNS win the welsh prem by 27 points, and Glenavon and Shamrock are the best in Ireland, Barcelona win the champions league and Sporting win the Euro Cup.

Thanks for reading, hope someone still is.

I am mate brilliant story, you've inspired me to start my first ever Scottish campaign. Team I've chosen is Arbroath playing a direct 442. I've got through the ten friendliest today and we're playing some good football, loving my poacher jack smith he looks quality.might even go and watch them in real life if I can convince the Mrs!! Although with the ground being the closest to the sea in Europe I might have to pack the thermals!! Hopefully I can be as successful as you mike

[chestermike]

Excellent Glyn, thanks for reading and good luck at Arbroath pal. Keep us updated

[glynnbob]

Excellent Glyn, thanks for reading and good luck at Arbroath pal. Keep us updated

Yeah will do mate any tips on signing players initially? I'm about 5-6 players short of quality would you just let youth come through to start with as I'm trying to keep an overall squad of about 25 at the most.

[chestermike]

Yeah youth intake will give you a few for the lower leagues like McKinnion. Your best bet is players released from clubs. Click on world, transfers, released players.

[chestermike]

Season 12 - 2025/26

Premiership - WINNERS

Scottish Cup - WINNERS

League Cup - WINNERS

Champions League - Quali 3

Euro Cup - Playoff Round

As you can see, what a season it turned out to be. The summary above is only part of the story in what has been my most amazing and enjoyable season so far.

I'll start with summer activity. The board agreed to extend the ground again, but its being delayed a year so I am stuck with my 5028 capacity ground for this season. Also, the board has been taken over by Irish businessman John Heary, and because of this the training and youth facilities improvement has been cancelled. I ask the new board and they agree, but both are delayed until next season.

Transfers have been very very hard during pre season, which again makes this season so satisfying. The main reason was the transfer imbargo which went on after the release date for players, so I couldn't even offer trials which was very frustrating. I used the time to scout as many players as I could, but this takes a lot longer than trial offers so its tough. After the imbargo was lifted I signed ST Christian Chiozzi (Inter), CB Juan Manuel (Real Madrid), CB Anthony Harper (Stoke) and LB Jean-Paul van der Ploeg (AZ) on loan, as well as freebies CB Jordan McGhee, LW Michael Kabondo, RW Vasilis Doublatsis and AMC Gareth Bancroft. Non of them are that good, Juan Manuel looks the best of the bunch, Chiozzi looks ok but I had him on loan last season and he was back up, which shows how far my squad has gone down over the summer.

Outwards was a disaster too, my quality LB Camara and my quality AMC Robin Shoofs would not sign new contracts so leave on frees. I release Bjerring and Jimoh as well as some youngsters, and Larraniga leaves to Malaga for £300k. The squad is very imbalanced at the minute, I only have youth midfielders and strikers on the bench, and 18 year old Bancroft has to start.

The season starts very disappointingly with a champions league 3rd round quli exit at the hands of Viktoria Pizen, a team I feel I could take if Shoofs and Camara has of stayed. I won the home leg 3-2, but a 1-0 loss away put me out on away goals. I won the first 2 league games to sit top, but I also lose in the Euro Cup playoff round to Lech Poznan, another winnable game so very unhappy. Lost the home leg 0-2, and away went 0-2 down again before a 2nd half consolation. This also led to me going on a horrible run in the league, drawing 3 and losing 3 of the next 6 games, with me languishing in 10th on GD.

I have to do something, so I once again delve into a big player search. I sign LB Jiri Perina (Prague), RB Ivan Ostijic (Leicester), AMC Fabrizzio Bainciesi (Inter) and CM Raphael Diamani (Forest) on loan. I am paying over the odds on wages for these, but they fill a big void in my squad. On frees I resign Jimoh for cheap backup, and add CM Samual Sanchez and ST/W Thomas Trioris to give me options off the bench.

Results continue to be bad and I go 10 games without a win in all comps, before a 3-1 win over Hamilton and a 5-0 win over East Fife (LC) get me back on track. A few draws solidify things in the league before I go on a great and well needed long winning run, winning 6 games in a row inclusing 4-1 wins over Celtic and a 5-1 win over Dundee United. Hearts are running away at the top, with closest challengers St Johnstone ending my run when I lose 1-2. I win the next game before Hearts put me back in my place. January comes with me in 5th, I did beat Hearts 4-2 in the league cup quarter final to set up a semi in the new year. I am 17 points behind Hearts, and I do feel at this point my only chance is the cups.

I search for players in Jan but no one is available for my self imposed budgets, so I bring no one in. In fact I decide to save money and send back Harper, Diamini and Ostijic as they are on huge wages, reducing my wage bill from £80k to £62k PW.

As you can probably see from the top, results absolutely take off. I usually slump in the new year so this is a welcome change. I did add more specific roles to my midfield players, and have decided to give my 2 biggest prospects CB Megennis and AMC Young game time to aid their development, both have 5* PA on their coach reports and I want them to be first team regulars because I have so many foreigners, it will really help me in Europe.

Up until the league split I win 11, draw 1 and lose 2 of my league games. Hearts are struggling, even though they beat me again, and I am now only 4 points behind them, but St Johnstone, Celtic and Rangers are also in the mix and I am 4th at the split. Dumbarton will definitely finish 6th, they only just scraped into the champions group at the expense of Dundee United and Aberdeen. I win the first 4 games of the champions group, particularly impressive since I was away to Celtic, Dumbarton and Rangers, to leave me 3 points ahead of St Johnstone with 1 game left, vs Hearts, and we both have identical GD. I shoot into a 2-0 lead early on, good job as I check the scores and St Johnstone are 3-0 up at Ibrox. The league is in the bag, lovely...........until Hearts decide they can play football. They equalise at 2-2, miss a penalty and should have had another penalty and I am bricking it now, getting battered. I put Czerwinski on for Sanchez and change Dialakis to marking their rampant RB, and click continue, and within 3 minutes Chiozzi is played through down the left and fires it in the far post for the waiting Jarsale, only for their CB to intercept and put it in his own goal. The league is mine again.......a quick check of other scores as St Johnstone are 3-1 up.....however in the 88th minute Hearts equalise to send my nerves going again. I hold out for another league title, but only just.

In the cups, I win the LC semi vs Dundee United 3-1, and finish off the only domestic trophy still to win by overcoming Hibs in the final 2-0. In the Scottish cup I beat Albion rovers 4-1, Alloa 2-0 and Celtic 3-2 to set up another SF vs Dundee United. I scrape through that one 2-1, and the final game of the season is the final against 2nd placed St Johnstone. Their loan star RW Bautista gives them a 4th minute lead, however a goal from Chiozzi, his 41st of the season, along with a pen and a quality strike from RW Jarsale, his 25th and 26th goals of the season, give me a 3-1 win for the domestic treble!!!

I have performed exceptionally well in the face of adversity over the summer, and cant wait for next season with a bigger ground and better facilities, and hopefully higher reputation. I have already signed 5 players for next season on pre contract deals, and I want to re-sign the loan players I had from this year. I will pay some more attention towards the defence over the summer as again its not where I want, I finished the league campaign having scored 90 but conceded 60, the 3rd highest in the league.

In my FM world, a very very tight premier league sees Arsenal crowned champions by 1 goal scored over Man Utd, with Southampton 1 point behind the top 2 and Chelsea and Man City 2 points back. TNS, Glenavon and Sligo win the other leagues, TNS by 27 points again. Spurs win the Euro Cup, and the champions league final is yet to be played between Chelsea and Benfica. I will update you on who wins that next update.

Thanks for reading, Adios.

[chestermike]

Played a few more seasons, is anyone still reading this? Dont wanna waste an hour of my time updating if no one is interested.

[Murrayzoster]

I am reading and fairly enjoying as I'm an avid player of the Scottish leagues!

[chestermike]

Anyone know why the first 7 seasons of this have been deleted? Major bump i know.