[FM 20] Turtle Race Journeyman (COMPLETE)

[TerminalPortugal]

Portuguese National Team vs England (Nations League Final)

We played the hosts in the final of Nations League at the Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough, and we got a thoroughly deserved win despite some fightback from the English. Serpa was the man of the moment as he bagged himself a hat trick in the final to give us the 2nd Nations League in a row.

[TerminalPortugal]

We will play Valencia in the UEFA Super Cup

[TerminalPortugal]

Hibernian FC (Pre-Season 2047)

Pre-Season is over in our 8th season at the club and it all went to play with wins across the board.

We are now 47 years old

Not much activity this window. Paul Wilson long term backup keeper leaves for Aston Villa for £850k, as we have prospects now ready to take his place. Kasper Hansen goes out on loan, there may be more as the window closes. Jared Wallace was the big money signing. He is a prospect left back who the scouts really liked, and we have one of the best youth setups in the world so we should be able to make him a first teamer in a few years. Jacob Rye is also a prospect that one of our scouts spotted in Denmark. Shamar Miller was the last of the experiments when it came to bringing in Model Citizens to pass on their personalities as youth players, it really has not worked so we will likely not keep bringing them in.

This is the squad now. The average age is going down and thanks to 3 year qualification homegrown eligibility now passing we can bring up quite a few of the key youngsters this year who were in the Reserves.

[TerminalPortugal]

Portuguese National Team vs Lithuania (European Championship Qualifying 2048 France)

We were in Vilnius for a qualifier against Lithuania and it was never really a contest as we completed a demolition job on the Lithuanians running out 8-0 winners.

The Nations League meant that we have games in hand over the other teams in our group. Serbia lead the group at the moment but we have already beaten them and have two games in hand on them and sit 1 point behind on 9 points.

[TerminalPortugal]

Portuguese National Team vs Poland (European Championship Qualifying 2048 France)

We welcomed the Polish to Portugal and again we gave them nothing to take home, they barely had a shot as we were completely in control and eventual winners 3-0 as we look to take control of this group.

We coast into top spot on 12 points.

[TerminalPortugal]

Portuguese National Team vs Albania (European Championship 2048 Qualifying Group A)

We were not at our fluent best, but we were good enough to get the win over Albania who offered little.

We are now 5 points clear at the top and qualification for the European Championships is looking assured.

[TerminalPortugal]

Portuguese National Team vs Serbia (European Championships 2048 France Qualifying)

We travelled to Belgrade to play Serbia and what was meant to be a keenly fought affair turned into a very sided result. The Serbs were up to their old tricks of trying to kick lumps out of us, but all it got them was a sending off and we ran out 5-0.

We qualify for the Euros in France with just 6 games so far played and two still to go.

[TerminalPortugal]

Portuguese National Team vs Lithuania (European Championships 2048 France Qualifying)

We welcomed the Lithuanians to Portugal, and I bet they wish they had not made the trip, as we smashed them 9-0 to go with the 8-0 drubbing in Vilnius. We were already through but pride is on the line and starting places of course in this top top side.

We have already qualified for the tournament. Looks like it will be a shoot out between Serbia and Poland for 2nd spot, but Poland still have to play us.

[TerminalPortugal]

Portuguese National Team vs Poland (European Championships 2048 France Qualifying)

The Poles fought hard, but alas to no avail as we got 2 goals up and never relinquished our lead on the game. They did get one back to make the final score 2-1.

A perfect record in qualifying for Euro 2048.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hibernian FC (August, September, October & November 2047)

The start to the season has been very good as we look to build on last seasons successes. The first opportunity to win silverware however we fluffed as Valencia took the win in the UEFA Super Cup. We were also dumped out of the League Cup by Celtic, rather predictably by this point. The only other loss was a complete robbery of a game where we hammered Zenit all game, and yet they had one shot in the whole game and scored with it, having said that we profligate on the night. In the league we have been superb, following an opening day draw it has been only wins in the league, and the gap has already grown to something that Rangers will feel uncomfortable about.

We have a ten point cushion in the league, we look to be cruising to our 7th title in a row, only a collapse from here you would think, would deny us.

In the Champions League we have already qualified although the deciding game as to who wins the group will come down to a home tie against Atletico Madrid. We already beat them 2-0 away. They will need to win 3-0 in the return game to win the group, so we look good value to take top spot in the group.

[deez0r]

Great read so far! 

[TerminalPortugal]

I asked the board to consider further expansion of the stadium and they are agreeable to it.

[TerminalPortugal]

33 minutes ago, deez0r said:

Great read so far! 

Thanks.

[TerminalPortugal]

I got the club to agree to start looking at merchandising affiliations, and they agree to set up a deal with Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hibernian FC (December, January, February & Early March)

I was meant to come back with an update at the end of February, but I got a bit carried away and went into March. Well the form speaks for itself, we seems unassailable and almost unstoppable. In the league it has been wins across the board apart from a defeat to Celtic away and draw in the same month to Kilmarnock. In the Scottish Cup we already knocked out Celtic and then Partick Thistle to make it to the semi finals where we will play Hearts. In the Champions League, we travelled to the Nou Camp to play Barcelona and won 1-0 there, on a famous night for the club. The tie is certainly not over, we know that Barcelona can come to Edinburgh and beat us so we need to guard against complacency.

The awards keep coming for the boys. Petersen adds a second European Golden Boy crown and Best Player Under 21. He is turning into absolute world class striker there can be no doubt about that. He actually is well down on scoring but his all around play is sensational.

The league title is coming back to Edinburgh this year, just like it has for the last 6 years. We have an 18 point lead on Rangers, although they have a game in hand that could cut it to 15 points. The gap to Celtic is approaching 30 points.

[TerminalPortugal]

Portuguese National Team vs USA (Friendly)

We were in New Jersey, USA for a friendly against the United States, and we got off to a flyer, 3-0 up before the clock struck 15 minutes. We added a fourth in the 2nd half to make sure. This is a two match friendly series, next up we are south of the border facing Mexico.

[TerminalPortugal]

Portuguese National Team vs Mexico (Friendly)

The Mexicans showed they are a really good side, with some fantastic talent. They gave us a real game and equalised late on, in what I would say was a fair result. It ends in Mexico City; Mexico 1-1 Portugal.

[TerminalPortugal]

The Euro 2048 draw has been made and we get Austria, Bulgaria and Switzerland in our Group, which is Group E

[TerminalPortugal]

Hibernian FC (March, April & May 2048)

Well I must say we finished the season off rather tamely and out of sorts to be perfectly honest. In the Champions League we had warned about Barcelona's potential to come back and they did in Edinburgh winning 2-0 to dump us out of that. In the Scottish Cup we made it to the final but could not put Falkirk away and had to rely on penalties, which we lost, to end the season disappointingly. However we did capture the league very early on. Rangers went through a bad patch as well and we clinched the title in April. That's 7 in a row now for Hibernian, quite the feat for us.

The final league table saw us win the title by an enormous 17 points from Rangers. Celtic are a diminishing force at the moment, and Partick Thistle have taken their place as the 3rd place team and grab a Champions League spot.

[TerminalPortugal]

Final plans for the Stadium expansion are drawn up. Taking us up to close to 50,000.

[TerminalPortugal]

Got this rather strange bug, we sold Ebara about 8 years ago to Young Boys, he is still there, so strange that he has won goal of the season. I checked the others guys and they also don't play for those clubs. So I decided to view the goals and it was actually a goal scored by Belec this season. So have no idea what went wrong with this. Not sure if this has been reported before.

[TerminalPortugal]

Portuguese National Team vs Romania (Friendly)

We were in Bucharest for a pre-Euros friendly against Romania, and it was a good workout for the boys, as we eventually came through 1-0 winners.

[TerminalPortugal]

Portuguese National Team vs Belgium (Friendly)

We hosted Belgium in our final preparation game before the European Championships in France, and we shocked them early in the 1st half with 3 goals, and it was a cakewalk after that as we ran out 3-0 winners.

[TerminalPortugal]

The final game against Belgium did have a major casualty. Minos Minic, our best players and a player who is always in the conversation for the best player in the world, having won the Balon D'or 3 times and notably last season's one is out of the tournament. Andre Silva is also an established player so we will need to get some replacements sorted, but this weakens us considerably.

[TerminalPortugal]

Portuguese National Team vs Bulgaria (Euro 2048 France Group E)

We were in Marseille for our opening game against Bulgaria and despite the injuries that had hit the team, you would not have noticed any difference watching us, as we smashed Bulgaria 6-0, with Madeira getting himself a hat trick to start the tournament.

Austria beat Switzerland 1-0 in the other game of the group as wed both sit on 3 points in Group E

Edited August 8, 2020 by TerminalPortugal

[TerminalPortugal]

Portuguese National Team vs Austria (Euro 2048 France)

We were in Metz for our second game and we superbly shocked by the Austrians. They took a two goal lead and we could only get one back and also suffered a red card. Questions will need to asked about what happened here. But we lose and there is nothing clearer than that.

We should still qualify, if we can beat Switzerland. Even a loss may still be enough to advance to the next round, but we then face tougher opposition.

[TerminalPortugal]

Portuguese National Team vs Switzerland (Euro 2048 France)

We make amends for the disaster that was the last game and beat Switzerland in Nantes; comfortably 2-0 to book our place in the knockout stages.

Austria beat Bulgaria, to make sure they win the group and we finish 2nd, which probably means a tougher opponent for us.

[TerminalPortugal]

While we are the Euros we get a call from our agent saying that Man City want to chat...unfortunately we still have two seasons to complete at Hibernian.

[TerminalPortugal]

We will play Slovenia in the 2nd Round of Euro 2048 in Lens. They drew all their group games, and came through a group with Spain, Norway and Holland. I expect they are pretty difficult to break down.

[TerminalPortugal]

Portuguese National Team vs Slovenia (Euro 2048 France 2nd Round)

The Slovenians showed why they had let to lose in the tournament but also why they had yet to win. They are very comfortable in defence but are pretty cautious, eventually Barros found the winner in extra time to send us through.

[TerminalPortugal]

It will be a rematch of the World Cup Final in the Euros Quarter Finals in Lyon. It would be nice to get some revenge on them, but this is a very tough match for us to have to negotiate.

[TerminalPortugal]

Portuguese National Team vs Germany (Euro 2048 France)

Well, it was the nemesis that was Germany that killed us again. We led through an early penalty, but they found their way back into the game, and then led at half time. We tried what we could to get equaliser but it just didn't happen and we are out at the Quarter Final stage.

[TerminalPortugal]

With that Euros defeat the time was right to let someone else have a go at one of biggest jobs in international management at the moment, and so we resign our role as manager of Portugal.

[TerminalPortugal]

Young Petersen continues to impress winning the Best Young Player Award at European Championships.

[OldManGravz]

1 hour ago, TerminalPortugal said:

With that Euros defeat the time was right to let someone else have a go at one of biggest jobs in international management at the moment, and so we resign our role as manager of Portugal.

Has VVD got a decent managerial resume? Seems an odd name to be linked to such a big job

[TerminalPortugal]

1 hour ago, OldManGravz said:

Has VVD got a decent managerial resume? Seems an odd name to be linked to such a big job

Big Virg has had a decent career. The Swedish league is a far more powerful league in this world than the current modern world. He probably hasn't won a huge amount of trophies compared to some of the best. Think his time at Porto would probably make him a suitable candidate.

But there are probably better candidates out there for the number 1 ranked country in the world.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hibernian (Pre-Season 2048)

It is our penultimate season at Hibernian and we are looking for an 8th league title in a row. A Champions League would be nice but I don't think that is realistic. I would take a League Cup this season since we have yet to win that tournament. In terms of the results they were pretty good, but it was a short set of fixtures as I was at the Euros with Portugal.

We are 48 now, and are rocking the grey hair now.

Not really any transfer activity, no youth prospects look worthwhile at the moment. On a few youngsters leave the club either on loan or permenantly.

That is our squad for the coming season. Notable new faces for this season are Luis Castro, the Honduran winger whom is now a home grown talent and ready for a few games, and Jacob Rye is very ready to provide some backup to Belec on the left hand side.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hibernian FC (August, September, October & November 2048)

The first few months of our penultimate season at Hibernian have seen us continue undefeated this season. We have absolutely demolished some sides in some games, 9-1 against Hearts, 7-0 against St Johnstone, 5-0 against Ross County and Partick Thistle. We look very good so far this season. In the League Cup, which have yet to win as Hibernian manager we managed to reach the final where we will play Celtic, having beaten St Mirren, Dundee United and Hearts to get there. In the Champions League we have already booked passage to the Knockout Rounds although it is still to be decided whether that is in 1st place or 2nd place. Our group has not thrown up many issues for us, with CSKA Moscow, Atletico and Napoli in it, only Atletico have presented much of a threat.

We sit 6 points clear at the top of the league from Rangers.

Confirmation that we currently sit top of the group with a game to play in the Champions League.

In terms of transfers, there is a biggish one with long term right back Hasan Darwisho leaving for Al-Ain of Saudi Arabia for £5.25m. He had reached 30 years old and was now third choice at right back. He played 142 league games for us since we picked him up from the MLS and was a great player for us for many years.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hibernian FC (December, January, February 2049)

We remain unbeaten in the league, and finally got our hands on the League Cup trophy after all these years. We can at least now say we have won it all in Scottish football. We did lose in the Scottish Cup to Dunfermline. It was a weird performance, not too sure what exactly went wrong. When it comes to the league we are very much on course for another title, we are well ahead of Rangers and Celtic at this stage and they won't be stopping us. In the Champions League we drew Leicester City, and have already played out a draw in the away leg. I think we should be able to get the job done in Edinburgh. Injuries are a problem, young Petersen is out for 5-6 weeks, and he will be missed as well as some of the other first teams so we are having to dig deep into the depth of the team.

We sit in first place, 16 points ahead of Rangers. It looks like we will be taking another Premiership to Edinburgh this year.

Edited August 9, 2020 by TerminalPortugal

[TerminalPortugal]

Hibernian (March, April & May 2049)

The end of the season brought a few surprises as we smashed our way through Leicester, Inter and Tottenham to make the Champions League Final, to play Atletico Madrid in the Olimpico in Rome. Last time we won the Champions League against Inter in Spain, now we were looking to beat Atletico in Italy, but it was a step too far, as Atletico got the 1-0 win on the night. In the league well we were brilliant. We finish the season undefeated, it's an 8th league title in a row for us and Hibernian.

We win the league by 21 points from Rangers.

Edited August 9, 2020 by TerminalPortugal

[TerminalPortugal]

ALRIK ALRIKSSON RETIRES FROM FOOTBALL

With that I think it is as good a place as any to finish off this career, with Hibernian having just lost out on their 2nd Champions League, and an 8th league title in a row, our man Alrik Alriksson has decided to quit while he is relatively young and retire early back to Sweden.

He finishes as a legend of Hudiksvalls, Lillestrom and Hibernian, below is summary of what he won.

Clubs Managed

 Hudiksvalls FF (March 2019 - November 2028)

 Swedish National Team (July 2024 - June 2028)

 Lillestrom (July 2029 - December 2039)

 Hibernian (January 2040 - May 2049)

 Portuguese National Team (January 2044 - July 2048)

Trophies Won

  1 x Division 2 Norra Svealand (Sweden) - Hudiksvalls FF (2019)

  1 x Division 1 Norra (Sweden) - Hudiksvalls FF (2020)

  2 x Allsvenskan (Sweden) - Hudiksvalls FF (2026, 2027)

  5 x Eliteserien (Norway) -  Lillestrom (2030, 2034, 2035, 2038, 2039)

  4 x NM SAS Braathens Cup (Norway) -  Lillestrom (2030, 2034, 2037, 2039)

  4 x Norweigan Super Cup (Norway) -  Lillestrom (2031, 2035, 2036, 2039)

  8 x Ladbrokes Premiership (Scotland) -  Hibernian (2042, 2043, 2044, 2045, 2046, 2047, 2048, 2049)

  3 x William Hill Scottish Cup (Scotland) -  Hibernian (2042, 2045, 2046)

  2 x Nations League (Europe) -  Portugal (2045, 2047)

  1 x Champions League (Europe) -  Hibernian (2047)

  1 x Betfred League Cup (Scotland) -  Hibernian (2048)

 

Thanks to everyone who enjoyed and commented on the story, it was quite a ride. I will be back with something new probably rather soon.

Edited August 9, 2020 by TerminalPortugal

[bigmattb28]

Why retire? I'd carry on myself.

[TerminalPortugal]

40 minutes ago, bigmattb28 said:

Why retire? I'd carry on myself.

One of the main reasons that was annoying me was how powerful the teams in Sweden, Norway and Scotland had begun, plus almost every single staff member I had was Norwegian as the game. So there was a huge weighting toward Norway specifically because they were the only country which has been loaded for the full 30 years. I did also dabble with the idea of potentially continuing, next would have been the English Premier League. I still a save just before he retired so could always bring him out of retirement.