[Retro DB - FM21] Back to The 90's: Save the Arsenal, Save the World - and bring Football Home!

[PaulHartman71]

 

We got the season off to a slightly limp start as Man United beat us on penalties to claim the charity shield.

[PaulHartman71]

 

United also knocked us out of the League Cup...

[PaulHartman71]

 

Thankfully where it really matters in the league United haven't had the best of us. In-fact, they haven't even had the best of Aston Villa or Everton who are both currently ahead of them. Everton, managed by Big Sam Allardyce gave us our first loss of the season away on Match Day 14, prior to that we'd won 13 and drawn 1 and were sitting very pretty indeed  Since then we also lost away at Villa and most surprisingly 1-0 at Sheffield United which was annoying. 

Elsewhere, Man City having a decent time of it under Rafa Benitez and are pushing hard for Top 4, with Newcastle also up there as just 7 points between 2nd and 7th. In 7th is Liverpool who it is fair to say haven't got off to the best start in the Roy Hodgson era. 

Tottenham having an absolute stinker, and Leicester, who lost manager Gary McAllister in the summer to Celtic, are rock bottom, after finishing 6th last season, worth noting they've also made the knockout round of the UEFA Cup too  

[PaulHartman71]

 

 

We did slip up in Moscow and only manage a draw at home to Sociedad, but other than that very comfortable in the end. 

 

 

Inter and Bayern get through Group A with Valencia the ones missing out, whilst another strong set of 3 sides in B sees Dortmund out at Real Madrid and Man United's expense. Meanwhile, Rangers fall out of a group with PSG and Juve. 

Further disaster for Roy Hodgson as Liverpool crash out of a group with Ajax, Lyon and Porto. He'll have a chance at the UEFA Cup though. 

 

 

A few shocks as AC Milan crash out of a group with Celtic and last year's UEFA Cup winners Blackburn, whilst Monaco go out of Group H to Roma and Jurgen Klopp's FC Koln side. 

 

 

Bayern Munich won the thing just 2 years ago so this isn't a great draw by any stretch of the imagination, about as tough as a 1st knockout round can get in this save. Ajax vs Villa in an interesting tie, Real Madrid and Roma, Sociedad play Inter, whilst Blackburn have their work cut out for them as they get a dream tie against Barcelona. PSG will play Klopp's Koln, whilst Celtic face Juve and Man United have Lyon.

[Sonic Youth]

Henry with 11 goals in Europe already? 

[PaulHartman71]

On 18/04/2022 at 19:42, Sonic Youth said:

Henry with 11 goals in Europe already? 

 

He's still got it  

[PaulHartman71]

 

The £50M barrier has been broken as Barcelona break the world record transfer fee to bring in Karim Benzema from PSG! Ronaldo is 34 now and obviously getting on a bit, and it seemed they didn't fancy Berbatov as they shipped him off to Napoli, so Benzema comes in to be his replacement and you have to think he's going to score a boat load of goals for them in the next decade to round off the save. 

Liverpool look to turn things around and back Hodgson who spends big to get in a young Jan Vertonghen from Ajax and Bafetimbi Gomis from AS Saint Ettiene. It has to be said Ajax didn't do half bad in replacing Vertonghen, as they spend £18M to land a young Virgil van Dijk from FC Groningen!

Juventus sign Etienne Capoue, whilst it's the end of the Drogba era at Chelsea as he leaves for PSG, a club he used to play for on loan for several years from us all those years ago. Chelsea replace him with a young Mario Balotelli which should be interesting  

Real Madrid sign Jeremy Menez, Man City bring in Dimitri Payet, whilst Barcelona who aren't short of midfielders have once again in this timeline let a young Thiago Alcantara fall through their grasp as he's snapped up by Jose Mourinho's Marseille. Werder Bremen pick up Nani from Real Madrid, Udinese sign Gabriel Milito and Real Sociedad sign Henrikh Mkhitaryan. 

Everton bring in Kevin Nolan from Chelsea, Miranda leaves Rangers for Valencia and a young Lewis Dunk joins Wimbledon. 

 

 

A few other moves as Real Madrid bring in Angelo Ogbonna, Winston Reid is another who joins Liverpool, Charlie Adam joins Celtic, Jonathan Woodgate goes to Rangers and Jamie Carragher leaves Liverpool for a move to Newcastle. 

 

[Sonic Youth]

Karin the dream! Is the one to break the 50! Let’s see what he’s like in Barcelona 

Ronaldo is 34? 

Thiago doesn’t strike me as a Mourinho player 

Lots of names moving around. Carragher is not a Liverpool legend then. Though I’ve always thought he was never as good in game as IRL.

What no Arsenal moves?

 

[PaulHartman71]

47 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Karin the dream! Is the one to break the 50! Let’s see what he’s like in Barcelona 

Ronaldo is 34? 

Thiago doesn’t strike me as a Mourinho player 

Lots of names moving around. Carragher is not a Liverpool legend then. Though I’ve always thought he was never as good in game as IRL.

What no Arsenal moves?

 

Alex Song was making noises about wanting to leave for lack of playing time but I couldn’t find anyone who wanted him at a fair price  

Would’ve just recalled Wilshere from Wimbledon instead of buying a replacement, but I’m glad he’s still there as his time at Wimbledon have seen him develop a fair bit. 

Hopefully find a buyer for Song in the summer (wasnt short of clubs wanting a loan, but seemed pointless and detrimental to Wilshere’s development) and then Wilshere will come in. 

This is likely Vieira’s last season with us as well. He has 6 months left on his contract and won’t renew unless I give him a 3 year deal on huge money, which for a 34 year old squad player is just not something I’m willing to do legend or not. If he’s willing to take 12 months I’ll renew it in the summer and give Ramsey another year on loan, if not, Vieira will be gone too and we have Wilshere and Rambo in the squad next season  

[PaulHartman71]

We’ve just had a last day in the league that was crazier than the AGUEROOOOO moment  

[PaulHartman71]

 

 

A fantastic run in the FA Cup is capped off by a North London derby decided on penalties  

We won the shoot-out to secure our 3rd FA Cup in a row!

Tottenham only scoring 1 of their 4 penalties...very Spursy...

[PaulHartman71]

 

Man United won the title in the original timeline in 2010/11 season, could Fergie wrestle the title back from Wenger in this one... 

 

Well.

 

It was very close.

 

It came down to the final day. 

We went into Match Day 38 like this: 

1. Arsenal - P37, W25, D5, L7, GD43, PTS80
2. Man Utd - P37, W25, D5, L7, GD41, PTS80 

If we both won our games the title would be decided by goal difference, however, given how close it was, if we both had the same goal difference, Man United would be champions on goals scored, as going into the last day they'd scored 89 and we had 76.

United were at home to 17th place Norwich, whilst we were away to 13th place West Ham. 

 

At half-time, the scores were: 

 

Man United 1-1 Norwich 

West Ham 0-0 Arsenal 

 

Meaning the table looked like: 

 

1. Arsenal - P38, W25, D6, L7, GD43, PTS81
2. Man Utd - P38, W25, D6, L7, GD41, PTS81

 

Very nervy, but we were still winning the title as things stood thanks to Kevin Doyle's equaliser for Norwich on the stroke of half-time. 

 

However, in the 75th minute, with half hour of the second half played and just 15 minutes left in regular time: 

 

Man United 3-1 Norwich

West Ham 0-0 Arsenal 

 

1. Man Utd - P38, W26, D5, L7, GD43, PTS83
2. Arsenal - P38, W25, D6, L7, GD43, PTS81

 

All we needed was a goal to win the game and win the title...

 

And we got it! 

 

In the 82nd minute we won a penalty and Lionel Messi stepped up to take it and blasted it home! 

 

1. Arsenal - P38, W26, D5, L7, GD44, PTS83
2. Man Utd - P38, W25, D6, L7, GD43, PTS83

 

Champions again! 

 

Or not...

 

As in the 85th minute Dat Guy Danny Welbeck popped up with a goal to make it 4-1 Man United against Norwich, and then to break Arsenal hearts even more, Wayne Rooney made it 5 in the 89th minute...

 

1. Man Utd - P38, W26, D5, L7, GD45, PTS83
2. Arsenal - P38, W25, D6, L7, GD44, PTS83

 

And that, was the end of that as we needed not 1 but 2 goals to turn the deficit around 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PaulHartman71]

But then David Silva scored in the 90th minute, meaning we were level on goal difference and had lost the title not even on goal difference, but purely on goals scored... 

Messi had a chance to score in the 93rd minute but it hit the post and was cleared out by former United player Phil Neville of all people.

 

 

But then....

 

Arsenal desperate for a late late goal. We're in the 5th minute of injury time. Full-time whistle has already gone at Old Trafford. Alex Ferguson and Man United think it's all over. It might just well be. David Silva getting one last chance to run at the West Ham defence, he's got quite a bit of space down this right hand side...West Ham looking very tired... Suarez in space in the box if Silva can find him... it's up for grabs now... IT'S LUIS SUAREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PaulHartman71]

 

An absolutely crazy end to decide the champions, but some real drama in the fight for Top 4 too as Big Sam Allardyce's Everton knock out Everton from a Top 4 spot on the final day to secure European Cup football next season. Man City also up there in 3rd and to be fair to Rafa Benitez his side really weren't that far off the title at all themselves, just 6 extra points and they'd have won it. 

A disaster for Roy Hodgson at Liverpool, the eagle eyed among you might look at that table and think in the end it wasn't so bad for Hodgson getting knocked out into the UEFA Cup, perhaps not for Liverpool, but Hodgson himself was actually sacked in March being replaced by former AC Milan boss Fabio Capello, who as you can see didn't have time to turn things around too much in the league, however as you will see later he may have had success elsewhere... 

Quite a few sackings elsewhere this season.

Forest, who only hired Chris Hughton this summer to replace the retiring Bobby Robson, sacked him in early January, bringing in Luton boss Gary Speed to try and turn things around.

Spurs sacked Alex McLeish in January, replacing him with former Everton, Norwich, Southampton and Middlesbrough boss Bryan Robson in what looks like fairly uninspiring appointment albeit he did manage to steer them well clear of the drop zone by the end. 

Charlton found themselves right in the mix and in early February sacked manager Lee Dixon, who was actually replaced by a former team mate and Swansea's manager Paul Merson. 

Sheffield United also tried to avoid going down by sacking Steve Bruce in February, but former Nottingham Forest boss Chris Hughton couldn't keep them up.

 

 

Some effort from Julio Baptista, who despite his and Olivier Giroud's goals still couldn't get Villa into the Top 4  

 

A look at the squads of United, City, Everton, Villa and Liverpool to give you an idea of where everyone is: 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 23, 2022 by PaulHartman71

[PaulHartman71]

 

Ashley Cole broke his leg in March which meant he missed the business end of the season and Kieran Gibbs got a lot more games than he might have expected. Ashley damaged his knee cap and missed a month in November too, two bad injuries to be getting at 30, hopefully he isn't too damaged following these set backs long-term. 

We couldn't agree a renewal with Patrick Vieira so he is leaving at the end of the season. Not too sure where he'll end up as doesn't seem to have had anyone coming in for him on a Bosman which makes it weirder he's so dead set on a 3 year renewal, but oh well, he's had a hell of a good run! 

 

 

Henry still in fine form, he'll start next season at 34, so in the twilight of his career, he's still looking very good and the stats are good, but who knows, if he does decline we have Luis Suarez ready and rearing to play up front. 

 

 

Only Pires, Adams and Henry have more Arsenal games in the save as things stand than Patrick Vieira, who leaves the club with some resume...

 

Edited April 23, 2022 by PaulHartman71

[PaulHartman71]

 

We of course won the FA Cup, securing a domestic double, you'll have to find out later if we managed any better than that... 

 

 

37 year old Ryan Giggs clearly still has it as a brace from him helped Alex Ferguson's side get one over on Martin O'Neil and secure the League Cup, no doubt helped by former United man Owen Hargreaves getting a red card in the second half.

[PaulHartman71]

 

Alan Pardew's Crystal Palace side win the Second Division and come back up first time, with Coventry, under Steve Coppell, also coming straight back up through the Playoffs. Ipswich have come back up after a 2 year absence, they were managed by Graham Turner but he actually seems to have retired now so they'll be looking for a new man to lead them into the top flight next season. 

West Brom, Rotherham and Tranmere are all relegated. 

 

 

 

[PaulHartman71]

 

Barnsley won the league under Gareth Southgate who gets his career in management off to a decent start. Swansea went up under a regen, but they were managed by Paul Merson until around March when he left for the big leagues and Charlton. Des Walker's Milwall joined them after winning in the Playoffs. 

Newport County, Cardiff, Lincoln and Exeter all dumped out. 

[PaulHartman71]

 

A fantastic first season at Milan for Jacques Santini, who leads Milan to their first title in 4 years, as Juve's 3 year run under Sounness is over, they drop to 3rd in what looked like a really close and competitive season in Italy with Napoli and Inter all up there too. 

 

 

Despite the competitive league a very dominant Milan Team of the Year  

[PaulHartman71]

 

Real Madrid and Barca continue to exchange titles, this time it's Real Madrid's turn, who just about do enough in a season where to be fair to them Real Sociedad really turned up too getting 90 points themselves which would've comfortably won the the title in England  

 

 

 

[PaulHartman71]

 

Monaco retain the Ligue 1 title, with Laurent Blanc coming in from Nantes as manager and immediately winning the big one. 

 

 

[PaulHartman71]

 

4 in a row for Bayern and nobody really getting anywhere near them in the end. 

 

[PaulHartman71]

 

A magic 5 in a row for Hiddink and Ajax.

 

[PaulHartman71]

 

Celtic back on top although Rangers don't even get 2nd, as an inspired Hibs side topple them to get in there instead. 

 

[PaulHartman71]

 

Willem II win the Conference League for the second time in 5 years, with Leeds loanee Alan Smith playing a big role in the final although he did miss in the shoot-out which they still won against Lazio. 

 

 

 

 

A nice win for Willem II who also have the likes of Sidney Govou and Harry Kewell among their ranks.

[PaulHartman71]

 

 

A heavyweight looking UEFA Cup knockout stage was ultimately won by new manager Fabio Capello who joined Liverpool in March, not a bad start for him as he helped them past Werder Bremen 6-1 on aggregate, then thrashed the side who sacked him last summer AC Milan 8-3 across two legs before securing a 2-0 win against Liverpool legend Kevin Keegan's Dortmund side 2-0 to take home the UEFA Cup at Celtic Park and make sure they have European Cup football next season in spite of their terrible league position. 

 

[PaulHartman71]

 

 

Small margins for Aston Villa who are knocked out in the Round of 16 on penalties to Ajax, whilst Peter Schmiechal's Roma pull off a huge upset as they dump Real Madrid out 4-3 on aggregate. 

 

 

 

A close set of games against Bayern, they went down to 10 men in the first leg and it still looked like we wouldn't get an away goal until we won a penalty late on which Henry converted to get a valuable goal that helped us see them off 1-1 at the Emirates in the return home leg.

Sociedad held Inter to a 0-0 draw at home, but a brace from Adriano and a header from Thiago Silva helped Inter to a 3-0 victory in Milan.

 

  

 

PSG comfortably beat Jurgen Klopp's Koln side, whilst Barcelona get past Blackburn who did at least get a respectable draw at Ewood Park. 

 

  

 

Juve comfortable winners over Celtic over the 2 legs, with United also getting through with a 3-0 margin on aggregate against Lyon.

[PaulHartman71]

 

 

An incredible comeback from Barcelona  

Louis van Gaal would've been humbled in his return to Amsterdam when heavy favourites Barca lost 3-0 to Ajax, yet at the return leg at the Nou Camp it was January world record transfer Karim Benzema who scores a fantastic hat-trick to help them win 5-0 and dump Ajax out, wow  

Meanwhile, we beat Juventus 6-3 on aggregate thanks largely to two very late goals in injury time at the Emirates in a 4-1 victory which did flatter us on the night to be fair. 

 

 

 

A crazy second leg in Milan saw Inter got through to the Semis 3-2 on aggregate with both sides ending the game with 10 men after red cards to Lavezzi and Sinama-Pongolle. 

Meanwhile, United are 5-2 winners on aggregate against Roma. 

[PaulHartman71]

 

 

A tight first leg in Milan saw us come away with a 1-1 draw, we went 2-1 down in the first half but were still well in the game, then they got a penalty which David Luiz of all people converted. He then scored a header late on from a corner to seal the deal. A 4-1 aggregate victory for Gerard Houllier's side, fair play to them. 

 

 

 

A 4-2 win at the Nou Camp for Barcelona didn't completely kill United's chances who had 2 away goals through Rooney, but a Pedro goal early on at Old Trafford did, and Louis van Gaal's army marches onto the final... 

[PaulHartman71]

 

I probably would've had Barcelona as the favourites still but having played them in two legs knew very well that Inter were no mugs and a very good side on their day. They almost won in normal time, but Benzema's goal kept his side in it, but it was 29 year old Adriano's big moment in the save as he scored in the 119th minute to give Inter Milan a famous victory. Their first European Cup of the save and a big moment for Gerard Houllier too. 

 

 

 

[PaulHartman71]

Wenger's Career Record

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Season      Club                  League                Position           Achievements/Other
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990/91     Arsenal FC            First Division          2nd              N/A
1991/92     Arsenal FC            First Division          1st              First Division & League Cup winners
1992/93     Arsenal FC            First Division          3rd              FA Cup & Charity Shield winners
1993/94     Arsenal FC            First Division          2nd              FA Cup & Charity Shield winners
1994/95     Arsenal FC            First Division          1st              First Division, FA Cup & League Cup winners
1995/96     Arsenal FC            First Division          1st              First Division & Charity Shield winners
1996/97     Arsenal FC            First Division          3rd              Charity Shield winners
1997/98     Arsenal FC            First Division          1st              First Division winners
1998/99     Arsenal FC            First Division          2nd              FA Cup & Charity Shield winners
1999/00     Arsenal FC            First Division          1st              First Division & League Cup winners
2000/01     Arsenal FC            First Division          3rd              N/A
2001/02     Arsenal FC            First Division          1st              First Division and European Cup winners
2002/03     Arsenal FC            First Division          2nd              N/A
2003/04     Arsenal FC            First Division          2nd              Club World Cup & League Cup winners
2004/05     Arsenal FC            First Division          1st              First Division winners 
2005/06     Arsenal FC            First Division          1st              First Division, Charity Shield & League Cup winners
2006/07     Arsenal FC            First Division          3rd              N/A
2007/08     Arsenal FC            First Division          2nd              European Cup winners
2008/09     Arsenal FC            First Division          2nd              FA Cup, UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup and Charity Shield winners
2009/10     Arsenal FC            First Division          1st              First Division, Charity Shield, UEFA Super Cup & FA Cup winners
2010/11     Arsenal FC            First Division          1st              First Division & FA Cup winners
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Arsenal's Trophy Cabinet in the Original Timeline

 

First Division/Premier League - x4 (1990/91, 1997/98, 2001/02 & 2003/04) 

FA Cup                        - x9 (1992-93, 1997/98, 2001/2, 2002/03, 2004/05, 2013/14, 2014/15, 2016/17 & 2019/20) 

League Cup                    - x1 (1992/93)

Charity/Community Shield      - x9 (1991/92, 1998/99, 1999/00, 2002/03, 2004/05, 2014/15, 2015/16, 2017/20 & 2020/21)

UEFA Cup Winners Cup          - x1 (1993/94)

 

 

Trophy Cabinet in the New Timeline

 

European Cup               - x2 (2001/02 & 2007/08)  

Club World Cup             - x1 (2003/04) 

European Super Cup         - x2 (2008/09 & 2009/10)

UEFA Cup                   - x1 (2008/09) 

First Division             - x10 (1991/92, 1994/95, 1995/96, 1997/98, 1999/00, 2001/02, 2004/05, 2005/06, 2009/10 & 2010/11) 

FA Cup                     - x7 (1992/93, 1993/94, 1994/95, 1998/99, 2008/09, 2009/10 & 2010/11)

League Cup                 - x5 (1991/92, 1994/95, 1995/96, 2003/04 & 2005/06)

Charity Shield             - x8 (1992/93, 1993/94, 1995/96, 1996/97, 1998/99, 2005/06, 2008/09 & 2009/10)

 

[PaulHartman71]

 

Yes, you're reading that right. 

He is obviously getting on a bit now and that last minute Suarez sickener to lose the title must have broken him, as Alex Ferguson has "gone upstairs" and is now DOF instead of the manager at Man United  

 

 

I was wondering who they'd actually get in to replace him. I didn't think they'd realistically be able to get Toshack or Van Gaal from Real or Barca, but I thought pretty much any of the other elite managers were a possibility. I thought maybe they'd take Jupp Heynkes from Bayern Munich, Guus Hiddink from Ajax (albeit he had an underwhelming season at West Ham) or possibly Henri Michel from PSG but to be fair Martin O'Neil is a pretty good shout from them given what he achieved at Aston Villa a few years back with two league titles. They did drop out of the Top 4 this season but still obviously would seem on the face of it to be a solid appointment, only time will tell. 

O'Neil leaving obviously meant a free job going at Aston Villa, really couldn't call who they'd get in for what would be a very critical moment, they've actually got in David Moyes from Rangers. 

Rangers themselves took Gary Lineker from Norwich to take over from him, with Norwich hiring Peter Beardsley to replace Lineker.

Ipswich who got promoted but needed a new manager through Graham Turner calling it a day have actually hired SM Caen manager Paolo Maldini which seems very random but at least he had a season or so in England with us so has some experience of the league  

Long time Blackburn manager and general legend of the save for his contributions to English clubs Bobby Ferguson retired this summer, which led to Carlo Ancelotti leaving Udinese for the vacant role at Ewood Park. Seemed a bit of a strange one given you'd think Udinese a slightly better side and Blackburn have no Europe, albeit Udinese were only in the Conference League this season.

Roy Hodgson, of course sacked by Liverpool in March after a shambles of a season at Anfield, has replaced him and takes over Udinese. 

Giovanni Trapatonni retired from management leaving a vacant role at Atletico Madrid that was filled by Stuttgart manager Gianluca Vialli. 

Meanwhile, Bilbao sacked David Ginola as manager, replacing him with Auxerre boss Pep Guardiola who so far in management has spend no more than 12 months in the same role, jumping ship from Real Betis to Auxerre to Athletic Bilbao. Not won anything yet but obviously ambitious and not worried about jumping ship to rise up the ranks of management.

[Sonic Youth]

So much happened in that last season!

Firstly, congrats on winning the league in iconic fashion plus a cup.

Last minute goals everywhere, crazy managerial carousel, Europe v’s league form, transfer records, retirements…

Oh, and a shirtless Arsenal Wenger popping up in a pic IRL in board shorts with a six pack?! 

Edited April 23, 2022 by Sonic Youth
Iconic

[Jtomsett11]

Superb title win there! Incredible drama!

[PaulHartman71]

 

A few departures this summer, Huntelaar was in the last year of his deal and leaves for Celtic, whilst Alex Song is snapped up by PSG, with Luke Freeman going to Coventry. Some loan deals as Fran Merida goes out to Espanyol, Barazite to West Brom, Ayling to Gillingham, Lansbury to Watford, Coquelin to Sheffield United and Afobe to Southend.

Woj actually broke his foot just days into going to Porto and was ruled out at least 6 months so I've cancelled his loan and he'll spend his recovery time with us. 

 

 

 

Just the one signing this summer.

Alex Song left but we have Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey to come in. 

I will need to get a new first team striker soon, but Henry is just at the end of his prime I think and can still easily start most games for us next season, so I've signed a sort of stop gap back-up striker in Ronaldo who was transfer listed by Barcelona after they replaced him with Benzema. He's not as good as he once was physically but still looks a handy player, worst case scenario he comes in and sells a few shirts  

[PaulHartman71]

 

United kicked off the Martin O'Neil era by bringing in Angel Di Maria from Udinese, they'll be hoping he does better in this timeline for them than he did in the last one. 

Charlton sign Aaron Lennon from Leeds, whilst Kieran Richardson moves to Nottingham Forest. Villa sign Balzaretti, whilst Papiss Cisse joins Blackburn and Jonny Evans signs for West Ham. 

 

 

Roma spend big to get in Sami Khedira from Marseille, whilst Man United add Pedro to their ranks after already signing Angel Di Maria.

Carlos Tevez leaves Blackburn for Barcelona, whilst Luka Modric is snapped up by Real Madrid for a good value looking deal that could rise to £27M. 

Newcastle bring in Shaun Wright-Phillips, Thomas Hitzlsperger joins Capello's Liverpool, whilst Laurent Koscielny is signed by AC Milan.

Niko Kranjcar leaves Spurs for Blackburn, Aston Villa sign Chris Eages and Wes Morgan joins Charlton. 

 

 

Scott Dann leaves Man United for Everton, as they bring in Nedum Onouha and Martin Caceres. Hatem Ben Arfa signs for Real Madrid as Chelsea fork out just over £8M to bring in Willian from Rangers. 

Dries Mertens signs for Everton, Andy Johnson joins Nottingham Forest and Fabrice Muamba swaps Rangers for Marseille.

 

 

Rangers with a shock of the window as they sign a teenage Neymar from Santos, Gokhan Inler leaves Villa for Feyenoord, Shane Long signs for Lyon and Andres Guardado joins Udinese.

 

 

Valencia snap up Fernando Llorente after selling Luis Fabiano to Chelsea. Jean II Makoun joins City, whilst Javier Hernandez signs for Barcelona after we only sold him last summer at a considerably lower price than that. 

Hulk leaves Juve for Sevilla, Eduardo joins Marseille, Miguel Veloso joins Lyon and Koke signs for Inter. Ciro Immobile joins Marseille, whilst Martin Demichelis is another who signs for Lyon and Cameron Jerome joins Blackburn. 

[PaulHartman71]

 

The season got off to a meh start as we lost the Charity Shield to Man United at Wembley quite comfortably. 

[PaulHartman71]

 

Another early exit in the League Cup this year as Blackburn see off our second string at Ewood Park without much issue. 

[PaulHartman71]

 

Halfway through the season and my oh my Fabio Capello has got Liverpool looking like an absolute danger this season  

A ridiculously good record sees us, Man United and Man City some way off and the title almost sewn up at Christmas. Of course it isn't over until it's over but my word a 12 point gap and goal difference at this stage as Liverpool have just been unplayable. 

Nearer the bottom of the table it's been a horror show from Ipswich who have picked up just 5 points all season under new manager Paolo Maldini. 

Newcastle have already sacked Sven and brought in former Bristol City manager Michael Thomas to try and turn things around. 

Whilst as you can see Aston Villa who for so long have been a Top 4/5 side under Martin O'Neil have dropped off massively under David Moyes, who has done so badly he has very recently been sacked (no replacement yet announced) as Villa are far closer to a shock relegation than getting back into the European Cup after finishing 5th last season. 

[PaulHartman71]

 

The story of the European Cup group stage was Cruyff's tricky Napoli side just not staying down. We drew both games and only finished ahead of them as we both beat Spartak and Brugge due to us having a better record across the two legs. 

 

 

[PaulHartman71]

 

Elsewhere, Man City did very well to top a group with Werder Bremen and the reigning champions Inter, who plunge into the UEFA Cup now. Monaco dropped down after United and Sociedad went through ahead of them, whilst Everton could only finish 3rd against Juve and Ajax. No surprises in Group D as Barca and Bayern progress. 

 

 

Fabio Capello won the UEFA Cup last season to get Liverpool into this competition, yet despite being unstoppable in the league they lost home and away to Terry Venables' Feyenoord side who pull off a huge upset to effectively knock them out back down to the UEFA Cup again.

Porto are impressive to get through ahead of Dortmund, whilst Celtic finish 3rd to AC Milan and PSG. 

 

 

We've got Ajax in what should be an interesting tie against Hiddink's side. Porto and Valencia, Real Sociedad and City are both fairly even looking ties, whilst Real Madrid face Bayern, Bremen and Milan, and Terry Venables Feyenoord have a chance to cause another upset against an English side as they take on Man United.

A mouth watering tie as Johan Cruyff's Napoli face his old side Barcelona, whilst PSG have Juve. 

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A fairly quiet January. 

 

Arouna Kone joins PSG, Man City sign Ivan Rakitic, Leeds bring in Troy Deeney and Werder Bremen sign Darren Bent. 

Steven Fletcher joins Nottingham Forest, Diego joins Liverpool, a young John Stones is snapped up by Southampton and Ilkay Gundogan joins Real Sociedad.

Casemiro leaves Hibs for Newcastle, whilst Danny Welbeck leaves Man United for FC Groningen. 

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A disappointing exit at the Semi Final stage against Martin O'Neil's Man United in the FA Cup.

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In the real timeline this was Man City's first ever Premier League title, but surely nobody could get back the 11 point gap on Liverpool? 

 

 

Nope  

Fabio Capello comes in and gives Liverpool their first title in 8 years, perhaps they will be a force to be reckoned with in the years to come. 

Terry Butcher came in at Aston Villa after Moyes was sacked and managed to get them up to 6th, with Man City finishing in the Top 4 for the second year in a row under Rafa Benitez. 

Luis Enrique came in at Chelsea, whilst David Moyes actually wound up at Tottenham to help them stay up after Bryan Robson got the sack. 

Paolo Maldini's Ipswich Town were relegated with the worst ever points total, with Palace and Wimbledon joining them in going down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thierry Henry not quite at the amazing level he's been at for the last 6-7 years but he's 34 now and obviously past his peak physically. He'll still be of use in the next few seasons I feel, but we need a new striker to be the main man. I initially planned to move Suarez to that role eventually but he's not impressed when I've played him up front, so I may keep him to play out wide and go big on a striker this summer. 

Ronaldo is fairly past it so he will be let go this summer, a decent stop gap for the time being and sold a few shirts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Peter Beardsley's Norwich side did well to reach the final, but Man United comfortably beat them 3-0 to get Martin O'Neil another FA Cup win. 

 

 

Carlo Ancelotti led his Blackburn side to a League Cup win, against Southampton who were under the management of Bizente Lizarazu. 

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Lee Dixon's Leicester win the Division 2 title and come straight back up, alongside Sheffield United and 2nd placed Luton. 

Gillingham, Swansea and Bristol City go down.

 

 

 

 

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Rotherham, managed by Gary Neville, win the 3rd division, with Tranmere and Preston also promoted from the 3rd tier, whilst Rochdale, Leyton Orient, Colchester and Fleetwood go down.

 

 

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Gerard Houllier's Inter side who won the European Cup last season pulled off an equally impressive feat this season as they bring Serie A home, with Juevntus now going 2 seasons without the title. Napoli and Roma finish in the Top 4, but as you'll see later AC Milan will be in the European Cup next season too. 

 

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A crazy looking La Liga season, which saw a 3 horse race as Valencia came so close to the first non Madrid/Barca title of the save. This is the first time that John Toshack's Real Madrid side have finished out of the Top 2 in 22 years, some effort from Emmanuel Petit's Valencia team. 

 

 

Real Madrid with just 2 players across the top 18 squad of the year