[FM16] If I had a Nicol for every goal, I'd have just over six dollars

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2054/55 - March



News





Dean McCallum is the best prospect, and if my coaches are to be believed he'll turn out pretty good. Expect a million pound deal in the Summer with an unnamed Premier League side then.

Results



A quiet month, which is probably good given how dreadful we've been. Kilmarnock continue to have a spell over us, and handed out an absolute drubbing in the Cup Quarter Final. Not much to say other than dreadful, dreadful, dreadful.

We picked it up a little by grabbing a point in the league later in the month, against Aberdeen no less. Another of my ex sides. Although we meet one of them every few days it seems, there's so many of them.



Not much has changed as a result of only one game being played, but we're another point ahead of Motherwell. Straight fight between them and Queen of the South now by the looks of it.

Board Confidence

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2054/55 - Early April



Results



Not really sure what to say about these ones. They weren't games that we had a divine right to win, but after scoring five goals in two games, you expect to leave with something. Instead, we lost 4-3 and 4-2. The 4-3 at Celtic Park was particularly galling, and I'm not quite sure how we managed it. The only positive is the continuing good form of Pat Grant, proving to be an absolutely wonderful signing.



Which brings us to the split. Our two poor results have pushed us down to 10th, but we still have a significant buffer between us and 11th. With 11 points separating us and 15 to play for, two wins from five will see us mathematically secure. Given we should be beating Motherwell and Queen of the South, I'd say we're good. However, it's up I'm looking, with Kilmarnock just three tantalising points away. However, given what Kilmarnock have done to us this season already, I expect them to finish ahead of us having cuffed us 10-0.



And we'll begin at home to Kilmarnock, and then away to Dunfermline. Two home games follow against the doomed sides before we finish off in a probably unwinnable game against St Mirren.

Board Confidence



Unbelievably, the board saw enough in my performance so far this season to offer me a new deal. That gave me the opportunity to address some of the philosophies I'd been failing to meet. I definitely wanted rid of the set pieces one, and possibly the young players one. Unfortunately...



I think I overshot. Had I only asked for set pieces to be removed, I may have gotten away with it. But them's the breaks. I happily agreed following that.

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2054/55 - The Split



Split Match 1



The focus - for the bottom half at least - will be the games in Motherwell and Paisley. The former side and Queen of the South started the split on the same points, so it's a five game shootout for them to see who goes into the playoff and who gets sent down automatically. My money is on Queen of the South to escape, as they've had a better second half of the season (marginally). The other games aren't of any real consequence. St Mirren are unlikely to be caught in 7th, and the three sides below are just fighting it out for position.



First blood Queen of the South. Perhaps St Mirren aren't as safe in 7th as believed, as Queen of the South fight back from 2-0 down to get a priceless point. Even more priceless as Dunfermline very narrowly beat Motherwell. In the other match, we finally got some revenge over Kilmarnock by winning fairly easily at Firhill.



The top half results - mostly Celtic's defeat - saw Rangers crowned Champions, although they'd looked likely for a while now. Motherwell are now rock bottom, and we shoot up to 9th with Dunfermline in our sights. They're up next.

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2054/55 - The Split



Split Match 2



Big, big game in the relegation fight as Queen of the South face Motherwell at home. St Mirren can come close to securing 7th at home to Kilmarnock while we travel to Dunfermline.



Motherwell may well be waving the white flag after an insipid performance in Dumfries. They actually took the lead, and even went in at half time 1-0 up. But a wonderful second half performance saw them go four points clear with three to go. Big moment.

What wasn't so big was our capitulation against Dunfermline. They pegged us back three times and then finally took the lead to pretty much end our hopes of finishing any higher in the table. Luckily for us, Kilmarnock also lost at home to St Mirren.



Would be very surprised if the league didn't end like this in the bottom half. Not much to play for in the final games for 6th-10th, but Motherwell now have three cup finals.

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2054/55 - The Split



Split Match 3



Our first match against either of the bottom two after the split, and a chance for Motherwell to claw some ground back. They've got a very tough match in Paisley though. In the top half, it's time for the ugly sisters to battle it out in the first match since Rangers won back the title. Expect fireworks, sectarian singing and a whole lotta hate.



A tempestuous Old Firm game threatened to overshadow the drama in the bottom half, but despite us getting a good result against Queen of the South, Motherwell couldn't capitalise, only managing a draw against St Mirren.



Motherwell now three points behind with two games to go. If we beat them at home in the next match, it's surely all over. 8th is now out of our grasp, so we'll be trying to keep our hands on 9th. I think that'd represent a good finish for us. Of course the board won't though.

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2054/55 - The Split



Split Match 4



Queen of the South face a tough away trip to Kilmarnock, while Motherwell travel to Firhill. From our perspective, we want a Kilmarnock defeat and a Thistle win. Always nice to relegate a side on your own pitch too.



Well, well, well.

We were absolutely awful in this game. It's clear that some of the players are already on the beach as we surrendered three points to a Motherwell team that just wanted it more. Kilmarnock got a point against Queen of the South, which now leaves the bottom two separated by just a single point.



We hold on to 9th by two points, but another bad result in our final game agianst St Mirren could see us drop and lose out on a bit of prize-money. All eyes will be on the other two games though.

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2054/55 - The Split



Split Match 5



Queen of the South are at home, Motherwell are away. The permutations are simple. If Queen of the South win, they're in the playoff but safe from automatic relegation. If they draw, a Motherwell win would see them safe for now. A Queen of the South defeat would mean that Motherwell could be safe with a draw - providing it's a very heavy defeat.



Queen of the South did their job in a thriller at home, in front of their absolutely delighted fans. Motherwell could only draw after an early flurry of goals. They must have heard about the events in Dumfries though, rendering what they were doing pointless.

Oh yeah, and in Paisley we ran riot and won 5-0. Who saw that coming? Not Archie.



And that is that. We finish in 9th (sooooort of mid-table), just three points behind Dunfermline. Queen of the South will face whoever the Championship throws up as Challengers, but Motherwell will be playing their football against the diddy clubs of Scottish football next season.

[Jason the Yank]

Decent season of consolidation at least.

[dllu]

Good to see you finally got things going in the league (even without Mr. Mitchell). And only 12 points behind Celtic...

[forameuss]

Decent season of consolidation at least.

The board may disagree, but the absolute must was survival. That means more money next season, and we can hopefully establish more.

Good to see you finally got things going in the league (even without Mr. Mitchell). And only 12 points behind Celtic...

That was after the split though, which kind of skews points totals. We went up against the five bottom sides, they went up against the top five. I'd take the totals before the split as how far we were actually behind. In this case it's...*drumroll*...15 points. Not too bad actually.

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2054/55 - Post-season





Our financial issues clearly can't be too bad, as no sooner had we finished the season, we were told we'd be given a decent bump in wages and a fairly decent transfer budget. Not huge, but certainly better than the nothing we got last year!



But of course, that'll help the total.

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2055/56 - Pre-season





After contract renewals, run-outs and loan players heading back to their parent clubs, here's the squad we're left with for the upcoming season. Fairly happy with what we have, but obviously we badly need some depth added. Center backs and wingers are the main areas we need to invest in. And strikers. I love buying strikers.



Youth-wise, there isn't really much to shout about yet. I will promote Scott Donnelly and Paul Higgins for now, but expect that they'll benefit far more from loan spells rather than on the bench for us. I'll be looking to let a lot of these players go on loan, take advantage of our feeder clubs.



Before I go to the transfers, here's how the bookies believe we'll do. ***** in other words. 150-1 for the title, and it's hard to argue with them.

Transfers

Decided to do things a little differently this time and cover the signings prior to the kick-off of the season. I'll then cover anyone that joins in the month after. This'll hopefully force me to get the squad ready earlier, as I'm often guilty of filling up to the end of August.



Colin Jefferies

Michael Kenneth

Terrell Hammond

Aaron Welch

Francisco Hugo

Tommy Gough

Anthony Debayo

Liam Lewis

Bradley Morris

Richard Lee

Ryan Ross

Mike Kenny

Expectations



Fairly happy with these - we should be able to reach mid-table with the signings we've managed, and the cup expectations are not too bad.

[forameuss]

If anyone's interested, I'm considering starting up a side project based on this save on the FM Stories section. It'll be kind-of present-day, but will involve a lot of going back to previous events and filling in a lot of (completely fictional) gaps in the back story. Should also hopefully help make these updates a little more detailed too.

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2055/56 - August



News

One more signing as Oscar Cadarso joins us to give a bit more depth on the left.

Results



A bit of an odd month really. I thought that a match against Kilmarnock would have been a brilliant way to kick off the season, especially away from home in front of the fans that waved me goodbye. Then we got pumped 4-2, having twice been ahead. Not the most auspicious start, but it got better. Four more league wins in August, alongside only one defeat against Hamilton (which was another horrorshow). We also progressed in the cup against old rivals Clyde.

Oh yeah, and we also got a 91st minute winner against Celtic in a wonderful game at Firhill. We missed a penalty in the first half into the North Stand, then Celtic missed another at the same end. Almost a carbon copy the two penalties as well. But then we bundled home a winner, and it was bedlam. Hopefully it's an omen for next week when we play Celtic in real life...

All in all, a good month.



What's this? Top three! We'll probably struggle to keep up this pace, but it's good to be here.

Awards





Board Confidence

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2055/56 - September



Results



Another month, another game against a side I used to manage. We came out on the positive side this time, getting a wonderful 2-1 win against Aberdeen at Firhill. But we then faced two very tough games against unlikely top side St Mirren and perennial contenders Dundee United. We lost both, which was par for the course really. But, we did progress to the Quarter Final in the League Cup with a great performance against Dunfermline, who we've built up a pretty decent rivalry with these days.

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2055/56 - October



Results



We couldn't make it a Firhill Glasgow double as Rangers won narrowly, but we did pick up four points from the remaining two games, including a revenge win against Kilmarnock. That 1-0 win against Dundee United in the cup was so hard fought, and now we're going to Hampden for a semi-final. There's no European place for the league cup winners, but it would still be great to get a bit of silverware.



Still in touch at the top...surely we're going to blow it soon.

Board Confidence

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2055/56 - November



News



Terrible news early in the month as loan star Gieljan Meerdink gets an injury that will see him out for most of the remainder of his time with us. Hopefully he can get back closer to the 4 month mark, he'll be badly missed.

Results



Newly promoted Cowdenbeath (wonderful Scottish name that) should have been an easier encounter than they proved to be, but we still escaped with the three points. Unfortunately, we couldn't do the double over Celtic as they turned us over fairly easily in front of a massive Parkhead crowd.



A tale of two clubs this table. St Mirren are absolutely flying, and seem to have come out of nowhere. They hobbled their way to 7th last season, and got absolutely pumped on the final day by Thistle. Now they're top and looking good for it. Can they hold on and break the Old Firm dominance? The second club is Queen of the South. Oh dear, dear me. 2 points so far, and I would be absolutely amazed if they were anywhere near the team that eventually finishes in 11th. They've finally run out of luck.

Board Confidence

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2055/56 - December



News



Another very tempting offer, but for now it's all about Thistle. These offers are making me really want to do some International journeyman save, but not yet.

Results



If there were any lingering possibilities of us shooting up the table to the top to take advantage of the Old Firm sides struggling, I think they've been exterminated now. Three defeats in a row, including one to the team with one of the worst records ever in the top league Queen of the South. After that, Dundee - another side we've beaten easily this season - absolutely thumped us. St Mirren beating us next just rubbed salt in the wounds, and although we've since picked up another two wins, I think any chance of an unlikely title is gone.



This really is a funny old league. Despite those three defeats, we're still on the fringes of the European places, and only ten points from the top. St Mirren dropped seven points this month, Celtic dropped eleven, and Dundee United gave away twelve. We dropped eleven too, so really we've not lost too much ground. Despite that being good news, it just shows what could have been - had we won those two games against Dundee and Queen of the South, we'd be third. Add the St Mirren one to that, we'd be top. Gah.

Conversely, Queen of the South picked up 8 points in the month. All aboard the survival train - choo choo.

Board Confidence

[dllu]

If anyone's interested, I'm considering starting up a side project based on this save on the FM Stories section. It'll be kind-of present-day, but will involve a lot of going back to previous events and filling in a lot of (completely fictional) gaps in the back story. Should also hopefully help make these updates a little more detailed too.

Absolutely I'm interested!

[deltablue]

Sounds good.

[forameuss]

Absolutely I'm interested!

Sounds good.

Yeah, think I'll do that then. I intend it to "start" around six months from my last update, and have chapters going back to some of the key moments of the save so far. Hopefully it'll be light on the libel in the case of any real players from earlier in the career. Except Roy Keane. But he'll be raging anyway, so it shouldn't be too much of a difference.

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2055/56 - January



News



Not good news at all. Rumours of the club being close to receivership have led to a ridiculous amount of money being pumped in. If this keeps up, we'll need to hope for a title and Champions League berth to get us out of the financial hole.



It's like being back at Linfield! He came back a week or so later saying he wanted to play for the club again, which is ironic, as his original complaint was that he wasn't playing. I can't keep up with the kids these days.

Results



A very mixed month, which I'll take from the top. We started out well enough, grabbing a hard-fought 1-0 win over Dunfermline and keeping the charge going. Then it all fell apart. Livingston put up a great fight against us in the Scottish Cup, and took us to a replay after a 1-1 draw at the wonderfully titled Tony Macaroni Arena. We then lost three on the bounce, including the replay with Livingston. So much for a nice run in the Scottish Cup.

A classic with Dundee came out in our favour late in the month before probably one of the best results of my Thistle career so far as we beat the mob from the East End of town on penalties after a pulsating match. The shootout swung several ways before it finally fell in our favour, and we'll now contest the League Cup final against Dundee in March.



Despite that wobble in the middle of the month, we're still somehow in touch with the teams at the top. Just seven points to the top of the league, and St Mirren look like they're wobbling. It could be anyone's title at this stage.

Board Confidence

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2055/56 - February



News





Donald Mackie and Tom Urquhart are definitely ones to watch.

Results



Well, well, well. If we're going to challenge, then results like beating Celtic 4-1 in front of our own fans, and then long-standing table toppers St Mirren 3-2 will go some way to achieving that. Unfortunately, dropping points to Hamilton Accies and - again - Queen of the South will not. Seriously, that's six points dropped against them now. Absolutely ridiculous that we've lost two games against a side that have looked relegated since the first few games.



Dundee United take a stranglehold on the league, and now lead by five points. The sides behind them are backing up though, with only three points separating us and 2nd. Had we just won those two games against Queen of the South, we'd be clear second, and just two behind. Funny old game. And by funny, I really mean excruciatingly frustrating.

Board Confidence

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2055/56 - March



Results



Another month of very differing emotions. First up, the League Cup. We were absolute dog toss. We started well, but Dundee grew into the game, and in the end even a 4-1 scoreline didn't flatter them. We didn't turn up, which is obviously immensely frustrating, but when you weren't expected to make it this far, you have to put it in perspective.

The league on the other hand...well, the fairy tale continues. Two wins out of two, and two hat-tricks for Pat Grant. Aberdeen and Rangers both brutally put to the sword, and we're now looking very much upwards heading into the final few games before the split.



Believe it or not, we're actually in 2nd. Mathematically we're not secure in the top 6, such is the baffling nature of the season, but we're surely just about there mentally. We're also just three points behind the leaders, and we have to play them once more before the split, and then presumably once after.

I think we could actually do this.

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2055/56 - Pre-split



Results

I think we could actually do this.

Nope.

The Dunfermline result was bad, but after Dundee United dropped points too, a win in the game up North would have set us up nicely. Unfortunately, we absolutely **** the bed. Two defeats, and an unlikely title bid surely up in smoke.



Dundee United may be viewing that last result as the one that put them within touching distance. Still 15 to play for, but a 7 point lead at this stage is massive. We now have to focus on at least securing second - that would mean Champions League football at least for a couple of games. 3rd or 4th means Europa League, which would still be good. But I can't help feeling that we're on the slide.

At the other end of the table, Queen of the South aren't quite mathematically down. Yet.

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2055/56 - The Split



Split Game 1



Best place to start I guess - away to Dundee United for the second time this month. If we don't win this, then any hope of the title is gone. To be honest, win it and I doubt there's any chance anyway.



The day we actually show some fight, and it's probably all too late. A wonderful 3-3 draw against the Champions' Elect. Home wins for Rangers and St Mirren rounded out the top half results.

In the bottom half, it's just about over for Queen of the South. With twelve to play for, they're twelve behind. They also need to overturn a 22 goal swing in goal difference in those four. It's...unlikely.



Seven points away from Dundee United, but I'm calling our chances now. Rangers move up into 2nd as Celtic fall. The worrying part for us - and for every side I imagine - is that there's only 2 points between 2nd and 6th. European money will make a huge difference to us, so this is massive.

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2055/56 - The Split



Split Game 2



The plot thickens. We face Rangers, with the winner taking a huge step towards Champions League football. Celtic face Dundee United, hoping to close some ground, but again the latter can cement their presence - and probably a title - with a win. In the other game, St Mirren and Kilmarnock can sidle closer to the teams above them, and make a late charge.



Dundee United's resolve is wobbling, and the two loud sides of Glasgow are rejoicing. Celtic narrowly beat United, while Rangers absolutely pummeled a tired looking Thistle side to take huge strides to the top. Kilmarnock also got a creditable result, putting St Mirren to the sword with consumate ease.

In the bottom half it was almost fitting for how Queen of the South have played, but despite getting a creditable draw with Aberdeen, the failure to win sends them down.



Still very tight at the top, but I think we've blown it. Momentum is with the Blue and Green sides of the city. The bottom half of the table is sewn up - Cowdenbeath are guaranteed a playoff spot now, with the other four sides above them finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2055/56 - The Split



Split Game 3



Not the game I wanted as we limp to a finish as we face my old side Kilmarnock at Firhill. There's also the small matter of an Old Firm game at Parkhead that will go a long way to deciding who will finish in the 2nd Champions League spot. Or could it be more than that? If St Mirren can spring a surprise, Dundee United may be left sweating hard over their title ambitions.



Two huge results in the top half, and one that just proves what I thought already. Celtic are now surely out of the race after being beaten 2-1 by their oldest rivals. But Dundee United dug in when they had to and beat St Mirren comfortably to move four points clear at the top. A win in their next game will secure them the title. Kilmarnock beat us. Because of course they did.



We've yet to face Celtic and St Mirren, and we'lll probably need to beat both to reach the European spots. It's sad how much our season has effectively been shot down in the space of five games. Prior to the Dunfermline game at the start of the month, we had our eyes on the title, and now we're struggling to reach the European spots.

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2055/56 - The Split



Split Game 4



Not really sure why the games are split like this, but it probably has something to do with the huge match between Dundee United and Rangers. That's tomorrow, where no doubt there'll be ritual sacrifices to the Gods of football on Edminston Drive and Tannadice Street.

For us, this one is non-negotiable. We absolutely have to win.



And that'll do nicely. We're still in it after a dominant win over St Mirren. Celtic dropped points too, so...



We go into the final game level on points with Celtic, so it's a winner take all match. However, the other sides above us can potentially get even more. Kilmarnock have snuck up on everyone to stand a realistic chance of Champions League football should Rangers slip up. Celtic also have the bit between their teeth - if the mob from Govan lose, a win against ourselves could see them into 2nd instead. And believe it or not, we could reach second! We just need Kilmarnock to lose, and Rangers to lose by a landslide, and an unlikely goal fest against Celtic! And if you believe that...

And you'll also notice that Dundee United managed to close out their title, winning 3-1 against Rangers. They're now over the hill and gone, and can take it easy in the final game.

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2055/56 - The Split



Split Game 5



First it was the turn of the bottom sides. To be honest, I'm struggling to say much about any of these games.



Not so for the top half. First up, Celtic battered us. It was coming, and despite our good display against St Mirren, the side has completely chucked it. Seven games of absolute nightmare fuel. The form for those games sits at 1-1-5, which says it all really. The result on its own isn't much, but when taking into account events around Scotland, it took on greater significance.

Dundee United clearly got one right up Glasgow by lieing down against Kilmarnock. Not that their fans will care, but it wasn't a good performance, and pretty much hands Kilmarnock a huge win. Even more so as Rangers completely implode against St Mirren. The only thing that could have topped the drama here would have been more goals and twists. As it was, Celtic, St Mirren and Kilmarnock all won fairly comfortably. But how did that leave everything?



Kilmarnock will be playing in the Champions League qualifiers next season. Crazy. Celtic got their wish from St Mirren, but Dundee United's shameful capitulation means they're knocked down to 3rd. No-one will be more sick than Rangers though - had they beaten Dundee United in the previous game, they'd have gone into today's game with the chance of the title. Now they're 4th. We hang onto 5th, but no European football next season...or so I thought.



After a side above us won the Scottish Cup (I was still too sad to notice who), we were handed their Europa League spot by default. It's not gallant, but I'll take it.

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Partick Thistle - Scottish Premiership

Season 2055/56 - Post-season







A good season, but it could have been so much better. We bottled it in the last seven games of the season in the end. In fact, if you count from the League Cup Final defeat, we went 2-1-5. Terrible.

But despite all that, it's still a creditable finish given how we performed last season.





Next season's budgets are in, and they're...interesting. We got a decent load of money for our league finish, but the budgets seem high for the perilous state we're in. Do we use that money to strengthen to the point where we can hopefully go on a one-season tear, qualify for the Champions League and recoup what we lost, then we should be alright. But if we get it wrong, it could be receivership.





Two international jobs offered, and two rejects. There aren't too many jobs I'd currently leave for.

Speaking of which...



Just as I was preparing for pre-season, this came in. I didn't apply, and I hadn't even noticed that the previous manager had left. I was approached, and it left me with a huge decision. So huge that I spent a good couple of days real time thinking it over. Thistle are my team in real life, as you'll know, but this isn't real life. This is Archie. He's a Thistle fan too, but he's also a turncoat.



I went to the interview, but with the sort of lack of pressure that can only come from someone who isn't that fussed about the job. But after all the questions were answered, and a few days had passed...



I was offered what can only be described as a King's Ransom compared to what I got at Thistle, and again I had a long think.



I'm heading to Dundee. God help me.

[dllu]

At the risk of jinxing it big time: Anything but a succesful title defence next season will be a failure...

[forameuss]

At the risk of jinxing it big time: Anything but a succesful title defence next season will be a failure...

The board seem to agree with you, and you know that so far, Archie absolutely loves failure.

[forameuss]

I also appear to have missed a trick with a possible save on this version. I was looking at Scotland's records to see if any had been broken since I left, but Peter Dailly still sits atop everything. I then noticed that the great man didn't move into coaching and just retired directly. I also then kicked myself for missing the opportunity to create him as a manager. If my calculations are correct (don't have the game on at the moment) then he'd be 54 right now, so I guess he's not wildly out of reach in terms of age for a job. Who knows what the future holds...

[deltablue]

Well done getting an opportunity with the champions.

[Nobby_McDonald]

A good season with Partick ends in Champions League football for you.

[forameuss]

Just a note that if anyone's interested, I've started a more story-based...story, I guess over on the FM Stories (I'm getting paid a tenner each time I type a variation on story. Story story story.) section. It's right here if anyone would like a look. There will be no spoilers for this thread, at least not for a long, long time, as I'm moving forward from day one through Hamish's story first. I may well diverge at some point too, depends whether I can think of a good way to do it. But the main plan is just to add some more colour and detail around the two careers, and probably stop just short of massive libel against Eddie Howe.

[dllu]

Awesome! I'm not very good at them stories with no pretty pictures to look at but will definitely check it out...

[Rikulec]

I'll definitely give it a shot soon.

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Dundee United - Scottish Premiership

Season 2056/57 - The Whole Sorry Tale



A little departure from how I usually write these updates, for reasons that will soon become clear.

Transfers



The story was mostly about reducing the size of the bloated squad. I'm not the sort of person that likes to constantly rotate as players bleat about not getting enough football, so having a few players leave the club for some decent money can only help us.

Josh Johnson

Iago Rey

Anderson Franco

Mathieu Leroy

Peter Bell

Allan Hardie

Richard Beattie

Ryan Moore

Alan Millar

My focus was to bring in a great keeper, then some strength through the middle of the pitch front to back. I think I've done that.

August Results



Well this wasn't how it was supposed to go.

We started well, but then had to suffer through an extremely damaging 4-0 defeat at Ibrox. We recovered to batter through Hamilton 6-2 (although defending still seems to be an issue), but then we managed to somehow lose 4-1 away to Cowdenbeath, and then draw 1-1 against Dunfermline. That's two sides we really, really should be beating, and the storm clouds are already amassing on the horizon.



Champions League Draw



Just what we need when we can't string together two results in the league - meetings with two European giants and a daunting trip to Turkey. Dundee isn't exactly the nicest place, but I doubt any of those three sides are terrified at the prospect.

September Results



To analyse September, you have to split the games up into competitions. In the Champions League, we predictably lost in Barcelona, but looked their equals for long spells of the game. We then managed to grab a point against Galatasaray, although we really need to be grabbing three points in our home games.

In the League Cup, job pretty much done for now as we easily beat Annan Athletic. But then we absolutely should have done that - had we not, I may as well have resigned on the spot.

Which brings me to the league. Four games, one win, one draw and two losses. That is absolutely dreadful form, especially when we manage to beat Celtic, but then struggle against other sides. I fully admit that I'm at fault here, but I'm really struggling to work out how. The only question that remains is whether I'll still be in charge at the point where I work it out.



October Results



I was going to use a metaphor to describe how we've been this season, but I feel that would just be window-dressing, and perhaps take away from exactly how bad we've been. I've had some pretty terrible spells at clubs, but I'd say this is the worst. After a poor September, a home win against Kilmarnock was exactly what we needed. I tried a few new things tactically and it seemed as though we might turn a corner. Then Milan visited our great city and absolutely ragdolled us. 5-1 going on 10. Any momentum we had was now gone, and we went on to only manage a point against Partick Thistle, go out of the League Cup to little fanfare against Celtic, and then lose in the league again to Motherwell.

In the middle of the month, the board asked for a meeting, and I managed to duck and dive my way out of it with my job intact. As October ends, I know there's only one more chance realistically for me. If the results don't change, I'm gone after only a few months in the job.



November Results





An unbelievable night in Milan looked like it would give us the impetus to go on and save my job, but let's face it, we've been here before. We returned to league duty with the vultures circling, and a 2-1 defeat caused the board to request my presence again.



In my experience so far in this save, you can survive one, but you won't survive another. I debated trying, but in the end I'm just not good enough - Kevin Keegan style - for this job. I refused to attend, and was sacked immediately.



The Worst Manager to ever be employed in Scotland continues his reign of terror...

[tastaiwan]

Rough...

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Unemployed - November 2056



After packing my things and finding the first train out of Dundee, it was time to take stock. My career hasn't been particularly long, but I've managed to fit in an impressive amount of failure in that. I've now managed sides at every level of the Scottish pyramid, and you could argue that I've only been successful at two of them - Partick Thistle and Airdrieonians. I should have been able to have been successful at Dundee United, given they were champions last season, but for some reason I was just dreadful, and now there's a big decision to be made about the future.

Part of me wants to hit the continent, get out of Scotland for a while, but then the other part of me thinks that sounds awful. But the only way I'll get a job - at least a successful one - will be to drop down divisions. Do I want to return to the bearpit of the Scottish lower leagues?

Well, in the end the decision was kind of made for me, just the day after I left Dundee.





It's back to International football for me as Poland come calling.

[Rikulec]

Oh yeah.

[sherwinriga]

Well, from the more hating Scottish team Dundee United into a new leaf Poland! I hope you would be re-hired by the Dundee United if you made it!

[dllu]

Told you so...

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Poland National Team - November 2056



So this one came out of the blue!

After losing the plot completely in Dundee, I actually expected to go on holiday for a while and have to wait for my next job opportunity. Not sure if I mentioned, but I did have quite a few of Europe's top leagues loaded (and the MLS for some reason). After realising that I had little interest in ever going anywhere else, I've removed all of them except the UK-based leagues and the full Italian pyramid (due to a potential destination had things worked out differently). This will come into effect at the end of the season, and should mean I can fly through time a lot quicker, which will become very useful now I'm an International Manager again (10 games a year...love it).

But yeah, literally the day after I was sacked, Poland offered me the job, and I gladly took it. They're an interesting case, and something quite similar to the Ireland job I took on a few years back.



At present, there's no expectations, but that's due to the World Cup Qualifying groups not being drawn yet. We're currently involved in the Nations League, but I'm finding it hard to care much about them at this stage with just a couple of games to go. The real work will start in March.



Once again, I join with no-one to support me. The youth age group sides have managers, but I'll be looking to bring in an assistant of good quality to provide early indications of squads before I either pat him on the head approvingly, or strike him for wasting my time. I'm a Glengarrie dammit.



Because I don't have an assistant, the view of the current squad will mean nothing really. No determination of overall quality of the squad. The one perhaps interesting part is the second nationality of players. I used a couple when I managed Scotland, but check out all those pseudo-Germans! Usually it happens the other way around, although I guess these are the ones that Germany didn't fancy. A couple of French and one Canadian too make up a cosmopolitan squad.



The media cover my first game by outlining exactly where I've failed in my career so far. Although to be fair, they gloss over them by saying "had spells with". That's nice of them. Strange that it's only really been 12 years for this save so far - seems a lot longer. I imagine if I stick to International football, those numbers will rise.

My first game ends up being the final one in our Nations League campaign, and with no assistant, I decided to "leave it to the caretaker". And by that, I mean I holidayed for a day, as it ended up being just a couple of days after I took charge. I was faced with a legion of unpronouncable names, so decided to "take the match in from the stands".



It didn't go well. I got an idea from the highlights about what sort of team we can be though. We were missing a few players from the national pool that I'd really like to get a look at, so not too worried about this.



We remain on top of our group, but Wales will secure promotion to the top tier should they beat Austria in the final match. That's something I would be totally OK with, leaving me with an easier campaign next time around once I'm in charge for good.

(given I didn't cover it with screenshots, I'll say now that Austria did us a favour and beat Wales, so we'll be playing in the top tier in two years time)



We finish the year in 27th place in the rankings, which is not too bad. As you'll see in the next few years though, our ranking is going to bomb considerably. Not exactly for the reason you might expect though...



I finally found an assistant that wanted to join us, and would you believe it, he's Polish. Which is of course not because he was the only guy that wanted the job. I asked what seemed like hundreds of high rep candidates, but all rejected. Tomasz will do, and to be fair he looks like the cheery sort. Nice to have around.



And finally, before we move into the new year, here's a run-down of how the nation performed in the preceding one. A pretty dreadful European Championships performance really, and that will be something I'll need to improve on when the next rolls around. They've picked things up over the Autumn, and hopefully we can take that form into a World Cup campaign that will be very tough.

Speaking of which...

[forameuss]

Living up to a Legend is a Pain in the Archie

A Scottish (or something) Career

Poland National Team - November 2056







(Final side to draw is Spain)



This is actually not too bad. Still though, this is the World Cup, so there's effectively 1 spot for each group. 3 second placed sides will qualify, so I guess it's 1.3 slots per group. What that means is that if Portugal run away with it - which they should do - then we have to have a pretty spotless record against the other sides. I'd say we can drop six points maximum in the group, or we'll likely not qualify. It's going to be tough.

Norway are our closest rivals for second, with Albania being that unknown quantity. Faroe Islands and San Marino should get absolutely smashed by everyone, no exceptions.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Dundee to Poland is a path not often trodden.

[sherwinriga]

Will you back to Dundee United or go to another team? I guess that coaching Poland will be a better run soon.

[forameuss]

Dundee to Poland is a path not often trodden.

There's a Daily Mail-esque headline about going the other way, but Archie's more of a Guardian reader really. Daily Sport once a week for a bit of light relief, then the People's Friend for the rest of it.

Will you back to Dundee United or go to another team? I guess that coaching Poland will be a better run soon.

No way I'll be returning to Dundee United, although if previous history is anything to go by, they'll probably offer me the job again at some point.

Club management would need to throw up a very appealing offer for me to return there. I just seem much better at International management on this version.