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

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 7

Bobby Does Dallas (and the rest of the country)

Gold Cup Squad Announcement





A strong squad named, with Paul Phillips, Andrew Whitlow and Sean Shriver probably our most important players. Oh, sorry, we're in 'murica, so they be the real MVPs.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 7

Bobby Does Dallas (and the rest of the country)

CONCACAF Gold Cup

Tuesday 5th July



Wednesday 6th July

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 7

Bobby Does Dallas (and the rest of the country)

CONCACAF Gold Cup

Thursday 7th July



A comfortable way to start the tournament. One more win should see us through, then we just need to prepare for inevitably - hopefully - playing Mexico.

Team Line-ups

Player Ratings

Match Stats



Martinique and El Salvador played out an entertaining 2-2. Is that showing that El Salvador played way beneath themselves, or are non-FIFA members Martinique going to prove tough opposition?

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 7

Bobby Does Dallas (and the rest of the country)

CONCACAF Gold Cup

Friday 8th July



Saturday 9th July

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 7

Bobby Does Dallas (and the rest of the country)

CONCACAF Gold Cup

Sunday 10th July



Oh dear. Looks like El Salvador were playing beneath themselves in the opening game, because they produced a wonderful, workman-like performance to put us to the sword here. We struggled to put anything resembling fluid football together. They fully deserved their win, and now we face a must-win against Martinique. Should be easy, right?

Team Line-ups

Player Ratings

Match Stats



Guatamala are out thanks to that defeat, but it's the manner in which they were put to the sword that worries me. We now have to face an unbeaten side, who remain an unknown quantity, with a place in the next round at stake.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 7

Bobby Does Dallas (and the rest of the country)

CONCACAF Gold Cup

Monday 11th July



Tuesday 12th July

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 7

Bobby Does Dallas (and the rest of the country)

CONCACAF Gold Cup

Wednesday 13th July



Dour. Rubbish. Excruciating. Boring. ****.

Pick a word, this game was that. Not really much else to say, and a point leaves us sweating.

Team Line-ups

Player Ratings

Match Stats





We qualify. But only just, taking one of the two lucky loser spots. An absolutely woeful performance so far, and if we don't improve markedly, we're going out in the next game.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 6

Nicol in a China Shop

CONCACAF Gold Cup



Not the toughest draw, but at this stage anything would be tough for us.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 7

Bobby Does Dallas (and the rest of the country)

CONCACAF Gold Cup

Saturday 16th July



Where's the nearest airport?

Team Line-ups

Player Ratings

Match Stats

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 7

Bobby Does Dallas (and the rest of the country)

For those that care, Mexico ended up winning the tournament on penalties against Costa Rica. That's nice.



They really had no choice. Bobby went in to the office in Mount Rushmore knowing he was getting the chop. In fact, they did it with his blessing. An absolutely dreadful tournament, and to be honest, not that good a reign in general when including all the friendlies I lost.

My first sacking, but onwards and upwards.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 9

Persil Bad Dung and other mispronunciations





Start as I mean to go on really, so I went after a big dog. Brazil still had a man in the job, but decided to test the waters. They told me to **** off. Fair enough.

But to be honest, international football is a little old at the moment, and with a lot of trophies still to win there, I decided to cross off the one club competition I could before hitting Europe. The highly-lauded and sought-after AFC Cup.

Basically, it's a slightly different Europa League. That's if the Europa League only admitted sides from the diddy countries, like Scotland, Wales and San Marino. A lot of Asian countries qualify for the Champions League, but not all of them. And the split appears to be decided by a committee. Which means I'll be going somewhere I've never been before. I've only ever managed in South Korea, China and Australia when in Asia, never dipping into the group of nations below there.

First time for everything, and it's off to Indonesia I go.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 9

Persil Bad Dung and other mispronunciations

So here we go with what is hopefully just a one season shot in Indonesia. Luckily I've landed on my feet, and managed to walk into a job at arguably the best side in the country.



Big history here, having won the cup I'm aiming for twice, and the Indonesian title 35 times. Hopefully I can make it at least 3 and 36 in my time here, at least.



Squad fits the bill of being not too bad, but lacking depth. Will see about who we can bring in to fill those gaps, but unfortunately there's another foreign player limit, and I believe we're already at it.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 9

Persil Bad Dung and other mispronunciations



Here's where we stand when I arrive, and it turns out we're actually in an even better position than I'd hoped. The Confederations Cup straddles league seasons in Indonesia, and since we won the league the past two times, we are just five games away from securing the trophy even before I've played a single game. If we miss out, it'll just be a few months, then we can try again. Good position to be in.

As for the fixtures themselves, we've been pretty dominant. Early days in the league, but we do have a Singapore Cup final coming up. And the crucial second leg in the Confederations Cup.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 9

Persil Bad Dung and other mispronunciations



My first game in charge, and thrown straight in at the deep end. Still getting to know the squad, and although it wasn't the greatest win, it was a win nonetheless. Into the semi final we go.



Where we'll face Buriram United.

Nope, me neither.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 9

Persil Bad Dung and other mispronunciations



A disappointing result in the first leg of the semi final as we draw a blank against Buriram. Luckily they did the same, but I'm always wary not taking any away goals into the second leg of any competition. We'll need to be on top form back home.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 9

Persil Bad Dung and other mispronunciations



A round-up of the results up to the beginning of October, and we're doing pretty well. Granted it's only four games, but we've kept the unbeaten run up



Just thirty games to go.

God I hate long league seasons.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 9

Persil Bad Dung and other mispronunciations



Smash. Bash. Crash. Oof. And other percussive words to describe the way we went through our opposition this month. The key game, of course, was the 2-1 win against Buriram to put us into the Confederations Cup final. So close now to completing four of the five continents from a club perspective.



Could I go the whole season unbeaten before leaving? That'd be nice.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 9

Persil Bad Dung and other mispronunciations



In an unusual move, the final is only over one leg, so there shall be a winner tonight. Both sides have won the competition twice, but to see that we've only conceded three goals in eleven games in this tournament...well, we've had a blinder. And I'll be taking full credit for every single game, naturally.













Never in any doubt. Domination from minute one, and we have the trophy I craved. Now it's just a matter of finishing out the season and trying to mazimise our trophy haul.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 9

Persil Bad Dung and other mispronunciations

November



We add the Singapore Cup to the trophy cabinet to make it 3 for the season, and 2 personally.

December



Our first defeat of the season, after which Bobby flagellated himself without mercy in the away dugout. Pressure's off a little, and now it's all about just taking this team home to the title, rather than to an unbeaten season. We also progressed in the cup thanks to a comfortable win. Four trophies is the target.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 9

Persil Bad Dung and other mispronunciations



Interestingly, we've also managed to qualify for the Champions League. I thought some countries qualified for one competition and not the other, but maybe our Confederations Cup win has pushed in. Anyway, we start in the second preliminary round, and I expect we will do very badly indeed. Worth a go though.

January Results



Another league defeat. This team is complete dog pops. Progressing well in the cup though, and somehow we made it past our preliminary Champions League round after extra time. It would be nice to leave them with Champions League football once I'm gone.



Can't say I'm too excited at the extra games this will bring, especially when I won't be here come the business end.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 9

Persil Bad Dung and other mispronunciations

February Results



There goes the Champions League. A defiant performance, but we went down 3-2, and miss out on the Group Stage. No real issue for me, but would've been nice to make it there. Elsewhere, two more league wins, and a number of cup victories means it was a good month to be Persib.

March Results



Surely done enough to win the league, but we may have blown our chances in the Indonesian Cup. Still the second leg to play, but it'll be tough.

April Results



We're strolling to the end of the season here, turning around the poor performance in the Indonesian Cup to make it to the semis, and then on to the final.



Fourteen points of a difference, and we're Champions. Another trophy. Thanks.



Make that another. We saved probably our worst performance for my final game in charge with a dour 0-0 draw. We did win on penalties (even they were pretty poor) and that makes it five trophies for the team, and four for my reign. A great few months.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 9

Persil Bad Dung and other mispronunciations



After the debacle of the past few years in International Football, it's good to get back to winning ways. I can leave with my head held high, and dreams of chasing down those last few international trophies before we return to Europe.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 10

Have Managers coat, will travel

So, this is where we catch up, finally, to the screenshots I had taken. I actually stopped playing this save a few weeks ago, taking a break while I caught up. Well, that and one other very frustrating issue.

First though, here's the changes to the active leagues.



Basically, almost every league in Europe has been added (well, top leagues at least). My thinking here is that although there are a lot of leagues in there that I have no intention of managing in, adding them means that the Champions League and other competitions should be a little bit more competitive. I've also removed every league that isn't in Europe, as I'm well and truly done with them. That could affect our international prospects, but as you'll find out, this isn't too much of a worry.

After I left Indonesia, I waited (and waited) for available jobs in international football. First, Mexico came up.



Ok, disappointing, but maybe they remember me stinking the place out with the USA.



Ok, this is more worrying. I've won everything there is to win in Asia, but still I'm being rejected for the national team job.



Ok, this is getting silly now. I've been offered this job in the past, now I'm not making the shortlist?

I then went on holiday to try and cut down the distance between the current day and all the European leagues being activated, setting me to apply for any international roles going.



Something's really wrong with this. In every case, I was told that I hadn't made the shortlist, which - I'm going to get all General Discussion on this - is ridiculous. And this was just as many as I could get on a screenshot. There were lots, lots more.

So I now have a choice. Well, not even really a choice to be honest. It looks like International jobs are bugged. If they aren't, then I'm clearly not going to get one without taking on a club job first. Perhaps my rep has been nerfed after taking a big step down to manage Persib, or maybe it was my two previous jobs where I did nothing. But one thing's for sure, I'm not getting a job.

So what are my plans given that then? Well, here's the options...

- Wait until there's a top club available in one of the big leagues and go straight for the Champions League trophy. After that, keep an eye out for a side that can go straight for the Europa League. or do it the other way around, which would have more impact. Pros of this are that I'm sticking to the challenge, but cons are that it seems a bit of an anti-climax. Europe is supposed to be the final act, building up to that one Champions League final. When I completed this on FM14 (or was it 15? Can't remember) I was faced with a Champions League final while managing Juventus. I'd put all my eggs in one basket and ballsed up the league (sounds familiar) meaning that if I didn't win the CL in that game, I'd be waiting at least two years to try again. I won it, completed the challenge, and it was a wonderful moment. It would be a shame to kind of lessen that by completing Europe earlier than expected.

- Go completely back to basics. I've toyed with the idea of doing a youth-only save, or at least one that relies heavily on youth, so I could drop to a bottom division of a country and start from there, see how I get on. Pros of this are that I will be doing two big challenges in one (the Octadecagon AND a youth challenge), and that I can stand the chance of winning both European trophies with that club. That would make quite the ending to the challenge, certainly. The cons are my well-known aversion to things that take a long time. I've done Gibraltar, but handled that because for a long time we were absolutely dominant. If I do this, for a long time I'm going to be absolutely dreadful, and I don't think I'm a good enough manager to last it out while not being able to sign anyone.

- Take a little from column A and a little from column B. I don't need to start at a massive club, nor do I need to start at a tiny club. I could pick the next club available that has a mix of great facilities, a good squad, and in one of the top divisions. Pros are obvious - no long, long wait to be competitive in a youth challenge, and no sense that I've taken the easy way out. Cons, it'll probably still take a while.

- Try and engineer a few jobs that potentially boost my rep and standing to a point where international roles become available again. Perhaps manage until I win the Europa League, then resign. Pros would be that I can keep the Champions League sacred and win that last, but sons are that, to be honest, I don't know if these roles will become available, or whether they're bugged in my save. I would be as well managing a side that can challenge for the trophies I do need to win, rather than treating a side as a stopgap.

- Completely sack off the remaining International trophies. All options above keep in mind the possibility that I'll be able to get an international job at some point. Obviously I don't know that, and it'll take another few spells at club sides before I do, but one option is just to forget about them and concentrate on what would be more like a pentagon challenge. At the moment I've won 8 out of 18. If I did this, I could drop that target down to 11. That would leave me with just the Europa League, the Champions League and the Club World Cup to get. After that, I could go with any of the above plans to reach that total, and still think of it as a job well done.

Decisions, decisions. I have a few things in mind, and there's no way I'm going to just sack this save after all the time I've put in. I want to complete this challenge, then maybe have one more manager added to round it all off. We shall see.

[vossmaj]

THAT sounds like a tough decision indeed. Spontaneously I would go for the Europa League first - then take on a national side before the CL comes last. Seems to make most sense...

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 11

Take me down to Kingsley Town

Bobby's back!

And to be honest, you should have all known roughly where I'd end up.







Bobby may be a Killie fan, but when the Thistle job came up in November, I couldn't resist. It's quite a task too, as they've had a dreadful start to the season and lie dead last. I don't have a screenshot, but in the first 13 games of the season, we had won zero games, drawn seven and lost six. In other words, we're in deep trouble. Still plenty of time to turn it all around though.



Despite being around since 1876, we're still not a club with that much history achievements-wise. We've won a few cups in the FM-era, but never the top league. I was a few games away from the title as Archie Glengarrie, but ended up finishing 5th. Time to change that.



Another squad lacking depth, and probably lacking quality at the back. Nice to see that we have some good forward players though. Who needs a defence?



The cup expectations always seem quite weird in Scotland. We're already in the semi final of the League Cup, so that's satisfied, but to expect quarter finals in both is a bit much I think. One bad game can screw you up. Still, we're only expected to avoid relegation in the league, and I'd be amazed (and probably out of a job) if we don't have the quality to get that.



And finally, finances. They're not good. But I think there's enough money in the top flight in Scotland these days that if we stay there, we shouldn't have too much trouble. Our budgets are going to be pretty tiny, but I'm happy to work the loan system as well as the free agent market.

[Rikulec]

You just can't resist, can you?

[Carninho]

so you're not having a youth only stint at Partick?

For me the ultimate is to win the Champions League with a homegrown team & manage that nation to the world cup simultaneously with the same group of players. has that ever been done? i've not seen that in FM yet, but i bet Peter Dailly's sat somewhere in his retirement home giving that challenge a go

[forameuss]

You just can't resist, can you?

Nope! To be honest, before this edition I very, very rarely managed in Scotland for some reason. I've done it quite a lot in this edition and enjoying it. Also feel it's a nice level of challenge between going for a minnow and a giant.

so you're not having a youth only stint at Partick?

For me the ultimate is to win the Champions League with a homegrown team & manage that nation to the world cup simultaneously with the same group of players. has that ever been done? i've not seen that in FM yet, but i bet Peter Dailly's sat somewhere in his retirement home giving that challenge a go

Dailly died in his front room at the age of 65 after celebrating Scotland retaining the World Cup a little too exuberantly. He was given a Viking funeral, as per his last will and testament, while operatic metal played in the background. Archie was also a pall bearer. Well, I say pall bearer, Peter requested that Hamish Glengarrie ride his coffin ala Dr Strangelove. As he's shuffled off this mortal coil too, he had to make do with Glengarrie Junior.

I tell you, it was quite a funeral.

Not sure I'll do youth only. The main aim will be to win the EL and CL at any cost, but if that takes long enough that I'm starting to be able to improve facilities, and get to the point where that kind of thing is viable, then I might change my mind. Whatever's best for the story really. I'm not going to get too hung up on rules.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 11

Take me down to Kingsley Town

November and December 2097



Well, well, well.

We started off with some promise, but ultimately pretty badly. Forfar Athletic may not sound like a giant, but they're a common fixture in the top league these days. They were always ahead, but I saw enough in the performances of my players to believe that we could still make it. Then we played Dundee United and I started to worry. It was a much worse performance, and we were then 0 for 2 in the league as we moved into December. 0-7-8 in terms of form. Oh dear.

But then against Kilmarnock of all teams, we clicked. My assistant advised that we play a 4-4-2, and I decided to humour him, despite believing that we'd be left hopelessly exposed when compared to the 4-1-4-1 I initially used. I needn't have worried, because for the rest of the month we looked irresistible going forward. Can't say we were the same at the back, but you can't have everything. We closed out the month with victories over two top-half sides in East Stirling (yup, they're a top half premiership side now, somehow) and Queen of the South, and then got three massive points against new bottom side Aberdeen.



Even with our title-winning-esque form, we're still only 11th. But what we have done is build up a commanding 9 points lead over Aberdeen. If we keep up this form we'll have no problem lifting ourselves clear of the relegation playoff place. Could we even sneak into the top 6?



At the end of the year, top striker Glenn Kylling won Players' Player of the Year. He's probably too good for us, so will be interesting to see if we can keep him in the summer.





Featuring quite heavily in the monthly player awards too. Good to see two young players being rewarded - whether I go all-youth or not, I will always be concentrating on getting good young players into the team.



BOW DOWN TO YOUR KING.

[sherwinriga]

Welcome back to the house, Nicol! So, sad that you didn't find a nation to manage the Gold Cup. Things will be getting good riding back to Scotland!

To recap this:

1.) How's the former teams doing well and their names of the head coaches?

2.) Is the Scottish league currently on Top 5 European Leagues or in Top 20?

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 11

Take me down to Kingsley Town

January 2098

Transfers



It's affiliate raiding time as Torino parade a few possibles in front of us at the turn of the year. We've already got quite a few loan players in, but given there are no squad rules against it, what's the harm in adding another? Pietro D'Apice (Peter The Piece) joins us for the rest of the season, and should slot straight into the side nicely.



But we weren't done. Well, my Director of Football wasn't at least. As is my custom now, I let him go off and do some work in uncovering players for us to sign, before hitting him on the nose with a newspaper and telling him he's stupid and dreadful and no-one likes him. I decided to humour him here though, despite not really needing another striker. It'll give our forwards a chance to get a rest though, as I feel like I'm playing the same pair all the time from the start. Lorenzo Baldi is the man to join us.

Results



Ahhh...this is more like it. It looks terrible, but it was a very tough run of games for us. We started off with Rangers (a game I actually had to play twice, as my laptop is suffering from BSoD recently...I won the first one) and got brushed off easily. The worst performance I've seen since I arrived, and they were told as much. I'm not too upset about the cup (probably less so than the board will be), but it's always a little disappointing to go out in these games. We deserved better than a 2-0 defeat. Then it was on to Celtic Stadium where we got another shoeing. Celtic are the best side in the country by some distance now, so it was good we got away with just three. They're the target though - I'm not worried about The Rangers, or any of the other new clubs. Celtic are always going to be "it".

After those three games, it was back to action against sides around us, starting with Hibs. It was touch and go throughout, but a late goal smashed in by Phil Liddle decided it, getting us back to winning ways finally. Forfar unfortunately killed all our momentum in a baffling game afterwards. They went 3-0 up in 15 minutes, then 4-1 up at half time. We led a bit of a fight back, but just not enough time to get the equaliser. Could be a really damaging result that one.

Luckily we closed out the month by smashing through Dundee United. 3-2 looks close, but the match itself wasn't. We controlled for large spells of the game but handed out a few too many chances in the latter stages. Another three points, and we're going well.



A difficult month, but we've lifted ourselves out of the dangerous bottom two spots. Aberdeen look doomed now, with effectively the only question being who will face a playoff. It could easily still be us thanks to our absolutely terrible start to the season, but it would take a big swing in fortunes. We're still only 9 points off the top 6 though...

Awards



Board Confidence

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 11

Take me down to Kingsley Town

February 2098

Youth Intake





Martin Cadden and Robbie Bauld are the two stand-outs from the intake, but they've still got a long way to go to be contenders. I suspect I'll struggle to get really good youths in given where we are located.

Results



Another *****mare in the cup as Rangers make us their bitches once again. A little closer than our league game, but not by much. Elsewhere, it was one of everything as we drew one, lost one and won one. All the colours of the rainbow.



We've dropped a little, still well in the conversation around the playoff spot. Aberdeen look increasingly isolated now. With just 21 left to play for, they're still 16 adrift. I think top 6 is out of our reach now, but finishing 7th shouldn't be beyond us once the split happens.

Awards



Board Confidence

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 11

Take me down to Kingsley Town

March 2098

Results



After a couple of sticky months, we've really hit form as the main league season draws to a close. After these games, the league splits in two, and although we've probably left it too late to reach that top half, I'm proud of the changes we've made. Three top half sides, and two wins and a draw from those games. In fact, we helped punt East Stirlingshire down to the bottom six to join us with that win. We also absolutely pumped Rangers, which is just delicious.

In the other game, we further heaped misery on Aberdeen as we rolled through them comfortably. They equalised early on, and it looked as though we might have a poor afternoon. Nah. We banged another three in.



And there you have it, the table post-split. We ended up seven points adrift of the top half, which is tantalisingly close. When you consider that we dropped 32 points from a possible 39 before I arrived, and then also had a poor January and February, we really should have managed to reach that top 6 spot. Still, it's hardly the end of the world when the board initially wanted me just to avoid relegation. That's not totally out of the question. Aberdeen are dead and buried, but we could still finish in the playoff spots mathematically. One win should be enough, two would make sure. I'm looking up, not down.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 11

Take me down to Kingsley Town

Split Matchday 1





A great result for Aberdeen, but one that's probably far, far too late for them. It's a good one for us too, as we draw closer to 7th. We won comfortably against Motherwell, who look increasingly likely to finish in the play-off spot. Cowdenbeath and Hibs could get dragged down there, but they have a six point buffer with twelve to go.

At the top of the table, Kilmarnock are doing their best to keep things interesting. Celtic play tomorrow, and can re-open an 8 point gap. But if they lose, we could see a shock title win.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 11

Take me down to Kingsley Town

Split Matchday 2



Boo to TV games. Only three being played on this day, so a lot of open questions. Well, not that many I suppose, because three big questions were answered today.

1) We're safe. We got our two wins, and it's now impossible for us to drop down into 11th.

2) Kilmarnock's title challenge is over after losing to their "big team"

3) Celtic will win another league, pretty easily.



After the other games finished, the table looked like this. We're sitting pretty in 7th, but still need to play East Stirlingshire. Aberdeen won again, and Motherwell lost again. Hibs got a point, edging them closer to safety, but both them and Cowdenbeath could still drop. Amazingly, although they're guaranteed a playoff spot, Aberdeen could still survive automatic relegation. Five points difference and nine to play for. Let's do this!

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 11

Take me down to Kingsley Town

Split Matchday 3



Let's not. We turn up at the party in Aberdeen, drink all the booze, set fire to the house, then leave the host with the keys. Terrible guests.



Somehow, Aberdeen still aren't down thanks to Motherwell only drawing their game. Six points difference, six to play for. Hibernian are now safe, and Cowdenbeath are just about. At the top, Killie have fallen apart, Celtic are Champions, but it's still pretty tight amongst the other teams.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 11

Take me down to Kingsley Town

Split Matchday 4





Ah well, that's 7th gone. East Stirlingshire get a well-earned win in a game we just didn't turn up to. Elsewhere though, it's going to go down to the final game as Aberdeen pull it out of the fire with another win. Motherwell lost, so they're now just three ahead. They just need a point, but the form they're in, I wouldn't bet against them failing to get it.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 11

Take me down to Kingsley Town

Split Matchday 5



Disaster for Aberdeen. A home game and their destiny being decided elsewhere, you'd think they would have been able to lift themselves. Unfortunately they never really recovered from going behind early on, and even though Motherwell slumped to another defeat, it didn't matter. They gave it a good go, but they're down. We also finished in a lousy fashion, only managing a point against Hibernian.



Confirmation of our final position. Have to say I'm happy with it, despite the fact that it could've been a lot better.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 11

Take me down to Kingsley Town

End of Season Round-up



First, I want to cover just how far we've come in 6 months. When I joined, we were 0-7-6, languishing at the bottom of the table with just 7 points.

We finish the season 14-11-13, meaning that under Bobby's stewardship, they managed to go 14-4-7. That's amazing, especially since we haven't really changed a massive amount. Two signings came in in January, and they were hardly world-beaters. We just went simple, and reaped the benefits. When I joined we had a goal difference of -10 (12/22). We've since turned that around to +10 (69/59), meaning a 57/37 record since I arrived. Wonderful stuff.



Not much new information here, apart from our attendance. I was quite disappointed to find we'd moved away from Firhill (at least in an FM sense, as far as I'm concerned we just knocked the place down over the summer and built on top of it) but to see that we're packing over 20,000 into the new stadium each week, to a 94% capacity, the future's bright.



I think the cup exit dragged us down here, which is fair enough.



Effectively no change in budget. That's not the issue, that's going to be which players we can keep on and which we'll have to replace. The eternal Partick Thistle struggle. Can't wait.

[Nobby_McDonald]

That'll be the twice World Cup winners Scotland?

It was rather tongue in cheek.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Partick now... more air miles than a stewardess.

[sherwinriga]

forameuss, check the replies above. Good thing that you've a good job in making Patrick Thistle going back to the higher ranks once again like his predecessors.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 11

Take me down to Kingsley Town

End of Season Round-up





A double award for Kylling. He really was wonderful this season, and we'll have quite a struggle to keep him for next season I imagine. Every player has his price - if I get a good one for him, then he's welcome to leave.



I'll still miss him though.



News for league rep, and we're sitting at 8th in Europe. Not too bad, but to be honest I'm not too worried about it. I'm not in the business of building up Scotland as a nation - if it increases in the process of me building up Thistle, then great, otherwise I'm not too bothered.



85th best side in Europe, and yet I've not set foot in continental competition yet.



We're also 8th in the coefficients, so well placed to get a few teams into Europe. At the moment it's two into the Champions League, and three into the Europa League. Speaking of which...



(apologies that you can't see what I've selected here, it's an issue with the skin)

Our season expectations came in, and the board has gone a little crazy. After our admittedly decent season last time, they now believe that we should be challenging for a Europa League spot via the league. Now that's definitely possible, but I think it's a bit brave to set that as our minimum requirement. If I was them, I'd say we could reach the top 6 for definite, with Europe as a stretch. As it is, we have to aim for Europe now. Two quarter finals are expected in the cups - that's a mixed bag really, we could make it we could not. I'd love to add a trophy to the collection though, and one thing's for damn sure, it'll be a lot easier to win one of these cups than it will be the league.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 11

Take me down to Kingsley Town

Pre-season



It had to happen. I rejected a couple of offers, but at that point he started to get a bit pissy. They came back, and I negotiated the value upwards. They were happy with what I asked for, and Glenn is off to Nottingham. He'll go with my blessing - he's been unbelievable for us, but there's no way we could keep a player like that. With the money we receive, we can pick up a few more players who can perhaps be the next big thing. I'm fine with being a selling club at this stage.



Now this is quite interesting. I noticed that the Scotland job had come up, and decided to put in an application to see what happened. I was offered the job in the end. This clearly means that international jobs are not completely broken, and it was maybe just a rep quirk when I had issues before. Good news for the future. But for now, I'm not interested in dual managing, and certainly not interested in being an international manager in Europe.

You just know I'm going back to Scotland at some point though.



And there we have it. After raking in a record transfer income through the aforementioned selling of Glenn Kylling, and then Benjamin Osei, I was feeling a little flush. I also had to fill a lot of gaps with loan players going back to their clubs, and big players leaving. Eleven players joined in total.

Curtis Chapman

Jeff Semley

Frantisek Toman

Dimitrije Lukic

Jamie Benham

Adam Nugent

Darren Gilmour

Christopher Blake

Ian Thompson

Fabio Cantoni

Kris Strachan



Our pre-season results, and now the season begins...

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 11

Take me down to Kingsley Town

August

Transfers



We had a bit of money leftover, and I believe I've overpaid with this one. Dave Miller joins us from Cardiff City to shore up a few defensive holes. Still, we've spent close to double the largest amount I've paid out so far. Hope I don't regret it.

Results



Deary me.

An absolutely terrible start to the season as we lose four out of our six games. And when only five of those were in the league, and the other was a gimmie in the league cup, then it doesn't bode well at all for the season. We didn't even look that impressive against Queen's park in the cup. Luckily, the basement battle against Stranraer went our way, winning 4-2. Still though, we let them in with the two goals when we were dominating. Big problems for this side so far.



Shut up. Don't care. Never liked football anyway.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 11

Take me down to Kingsley Town

September

Results



Things went from bad to worse when we kicked off the month with a 4-0 reverse against Dundee United. At that point, it looked like I might be going back to the Archie Glengarrie school of getting sacked in Scotland. Luckily, another basement battle went our way against Forfar, then we edged through in the League Cup against Cowdenbeath. Finally, we grabbed a massive result at Ibrox to close out the month. How important could those points be? And how important could just the mental side be?





Green shoots of recovery - runner-up in manager of the month!

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 11

Take me down to Kingsley Town

October

Results



In the league, it was a case of almost perfect again. We had two great wins against a side around us (Dundee) and a side that will probably challenge at the top (Queen of the South). But then we threw away the points against a side that will probably find themselves near the bottom in Hibs. We did progress to the semi final of the League Cup though, which betters what the board set out for me. Job done.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 11

Take me down to Kingsley Town

November

Results



Our luck has run out. A terrible month with no wins and as we move into the busy festive season there are big question marks around a few areas of the side. It could have been worse I suppose, as both of those draws could easily have turned into defeats. The Celtic game was bitterly disappointing too, as I thought we deserved at least a point.



We're approaching the half-way point before the split, and we're already adrift of where we want to be. By no means over yet, but the signs aren't good.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 11

Take me down to Kingsley Town

December

Results



What can I say? We were great at times, terrible at others, and then just plain average the rest of the time. Three wins, three draws and a defeat doesn't sound too bad when you put it like that, but so many of those games hinged on points that should have seen us win.

I'm starting to think we're going to struggle to hit the top 6.



I may be a bit premature saying that, as we're only outside of that top 6 on goal difference. But we just don't have any sort of consistency on any kind of level. If January comes and goes without that changing, I could see us losing a lot of ground.



Confidence is slipping into the orange zone. At the moment it looks like last season - and our healthy finances - are keeping the wolf from the door.

[forameuss]

Chapter 3 - If I had a Nicol for every time I've scored, I'd have about six dollars

The Octadecagon Experiment





Chapter 3 Part 11

Take me down to Kingsley Town

January



We begin January with a shocking headline.

When I read it, my first thought was "Who the *** is Cuesta?". You see, I don't really pay attention to who I'm managing against (unless it's Eddie Howe). But this guy appears to have a strong opinion on me. Instead of being magnanimous, he's come out all guns blazing before our sides meet, talking about "my shortcomings".

Is what he is saying correct? Am I doing my job properly? Will the board exercise their "right" to replace me?







Trololol indeed.

Get it right up you Jairo.



I'll say it quietly, but I think that match has been the turning point in our season. We were electric as we dismantled Dundee, then followed it up by battering non-league Dalbeattie Star, then winning two more comfortably in the league. The Killie result brought us right back down to Earth though, well and truly a missed opportunity. Celtic, once again, battered us. I'm starting to wonder whether there's any hope against them. They're just that good at the moment.

But we didn't let that result get us down, and over a hard fought 90 minutes at Firhill (I refuse to call it Partick Thistle Stadium, and the match should be at Hampden anyway per the rules), we beat Dundee United 1-0 to go into the final of the League Cup. Brilliant result, and I'll be going for my first trophy in the Spring.



Europe is well and truly on now if we can keep up our good recent form. I can't see any clubs below us overhauling us through their own quality, so it's all about looking upwards and chasing them down.