[FM21] Return of the Phoe Nix - Rise of the Raven. FC Isle of Man Youth Save.

[Punch]

1 hour ago, TelcontarTargaryen said:

Congratulations. What a road. You are really inspiring me to try a youth only from very low league challenge, if not even with the same team. 

Thank you!

21 seasons is the longest save I have ever done, and while I keep mucking around with other saves to break up the monotony, it keeps drawing me back in to see what happens next.

[Punch]

MAY 2041 - Match Day 37 - At Chelsea FC

 

Match Report

Spoiler

A Title winning hangover as we appeared to be asleep for the first 20 minutes of this game trailing 0-2.

Youngster Luca Pache got us on on the board before half time, rising above a scrum of players to smash home a header.

In the second half, it was all one way traffic as our attacking instinct kicked in.

Gary Gowdy scored either side of an embarrassing Chelsea own goal. Incredibly, his 48th, and 49th League goals of the season.

Another youngster, Simon Johnson completed the rout in injury time, completing a 5-2 win, and becoming the second of the class of 39 to score in this match.

Aled Harden completed is 19th assist for the season, breaking the Premier League record for an individual player.

 

 

Table

Spoiler

With one game left in the season, there are still places available in all three European competitions, Chelsea have a battle on their hands to even make it to Europe, while Tottenham will not be playing in Europe.

At the other end of the table, there are still 4 teams that can be relegated on the final day.

The only things that are certain is that we are Champions, and Everton will have the biggest stadium in The Championship next season

 

With a game to go we have broken a more than 110 year old record for most team goals.

Villa set this record way back in 1928-29.

 

 

Up next...final day of the season and it will be party time at The Isle as we welcome Manchester City.

[TelcontarTargaryen]

15 hours ago, Punch said:

Thank you!

21 seasons is the longest save I have ever done, and while I keep mucking around with other saves to break up the monotony, it keeps drawing me back in to see what happens next.

Last time I played past two seasons was some twelve, fifteen years ago on CM01/02 ... my problem is that I am a fan of few teams, mostly Manchester United, but few others, and I almost always play with them... on CM I used to even manage 4-5 teams in the same save (had some in-house rules to prevent cheating).. but it gets boring because be it Celtic, Manchester United, Ajax, Parma or Athletic Bilbao, more or less they are always in the top tier, well aside for Parma right now, and in a matter of season or two I just start steamrolling all over the place. Right now I'm in my first season with Manchester United on FM21... and basically I cheat and force myself to lose certain matches, to make it more interesting and not win the Premiership in the first season.

So, you can see why I am considering youth only very low league save, the only thing that prevents me from doing it right away, is lack of time... but I will get to it sooner or later.

I digress and ramble a bit here, but just wanted to point out and thank you for giving me ideas and making me realize what could potentially be challenging but very fun save at the same time.

[TelcontarTargaryen]

In other news, Gary Gowdy could end up with 50 goals a season, what an achievement.

[Punch]

5 hours ago, TelcontarTargaryen said:

I digress and ramble a bit here, but just wanted to point out and thank you for giving me ideas and making me realize what could potentially be challenging but very fun save at the same time.

I have always found that to be the beauty of FM, that you can put down and pick up a save as many times as you want, and you can even change what you want to do in a particular save just as many times. There is no real right or wrong way to play, as long as you are having fun. And if you're not, you can always restart and try another team.

 

5 hours ago, TelcontarTargaryen said:

In other news, Gary Gowdy could end up with 50 goals a season, what an achievement.

Complete insanity

I knew he was a special player, but I didn't expect this. So glad I turned down Manchester City and their £181 million offer a few seasons ago.

[Punch]

MAY 2041 - Match Day 38 - Vs Manchester City

 

Match Report

Spoiler

A final day celebration as we dominate City in a dead rubber, to really add an exclamation mark to our Title winning season.

A second half double to Gary Gowdy, taking him past the half century of League goals, before Craig Hoston put the cherry on top in injury time.

A brilliant way to end an amazing season.

 

 

Table

Spoiler

We take the title by 10 points, obliterating the goal scoring record, finishing with the second best defence, and just missing out on Manchester City's record of 100 points and 32 wins.

Liverpool lost to West Ham on the final day, and Fulham won crashing Liverpool out of European qualification. Along with Chelsea and Tottenham, that's three big clubs missing out on Europe next season.

At the bottom end, not much changed so Villa and Wolves join Everton in The Championship next season.

 

 

Up next...end of season reviews, and what a season it was.

[Sonic Youth]

Nice way to finish the league 

Gowdy hitting 50+ is amazing  

Could we get a screenie of Gowdy?

[Cheez3y]

3 hours ago, Punch said:

MAY 2041 - Match Day 38 - Vs Manchester City

 

Match Report

  Reveal hidden contents

A final day celebration as we dominate City in a dead rubber, to really add an exclamation mark to our Title winning season.

A second half double to Gary Gowdy, taking him past the half century of League goals, before Craig Hoston put the cherry on top in injury time.

A brilliant way to end an amazing season.

 

 

Table

  Reveal hidden contents

We take the title by 10 points, obliterating the goal scoring record, finishing with the second best defence, and just missing out on Manchester City's record of 100 points and 32 wins.

Liverpool lost to West Ham on the final day, and Fulham won crashing Liverpool out of European qualification. Along with Chelsea and Tottenham, that's three big clubs missing out on Europe next season.

At the bottom end, not much changed so Villa and Wolves join Everton in The Championship next season.

 

 

Up next...end of season reviews, and what a season it was.

And a nice W at the last day of the season against City.

Perfect.

[Punch]

1 hour ago, Sonic Youth said:

Nice way to finish the league 

Gowdy hitting 50+ is amazing  

Could we get a screenie of Gowdy?

He absolutely monstered the League this season.

 

He doesn't have the greatest finishing, but he has decent pace, and is lightning quick off the mark.

 

Just gets better and better year by year.

Also only just noticed that he chipped in with 13 assists this season...64 goal involvements of the 133 we scored in the League this season.

 

Still cracks me up that of everything he has achieved, they still love to point out the he scored the winning goal in the FA Youth Cup many years ago

[Punch]

53 minutes ago, Cheez3y said:

And a nice W at the last day of the season against City.

Perfect.

It was a nothing game for them, like us last season, couldn't finish higher or lower than 2nd, but yes, always good to get a win against them.

[Punch]

MAY 2041

With no Cups to worry about, we could concentrate on our League title charge, and with City's stumbles, we wrapped it up after the win over Arsenal.

But we finished the season in some style anyway, winning all three games to march away with the title.

 

We take the title from City by 10 points, slamming in a top flight record 133 goals along the way. The defence was pretty impressive as well.

 

Villa's record had stood since 1928-1929.

 

Gowdy took out the player of month. He just keeps scoring.

 

He wasn't playing for us, but one of our youngsters took out the Young Player of the Month, playing for Sheffield United on loan, although Craig Hoston did take out 3rd.

 

Our run to the title lead me to another Manager of the Month award.

 

A monster month as prize money and sponsorship payments come in.

 

Big money for winning the League.

 

We were the most profitable club in terms of transfers this season, obviously spending none, but raking in over £86 million in player sales.

 

Only Sheffield United have a lower turnover to wage spend comparison.

[Sonic Youth]

13 minutes ago, Punch said:

He absolutely monstered the League this season.

 

He doesn't have the greatest finishing, but he has decent pace, and is lightning quick off the mark.

 

Just gets better and better year by year.

Also only just noticed that he chipped in with 13 assists this season...64 goal involvements of the 133 we scored in the League this season.

 

Still cracks me up that of everything he has achieved, they still love to point out the he scored the winning goal in the FA Youth Cup many years ago

Thanks 

Looks great! He’s nicely rounded around the 15 mark with most key skills with some excellent ones thrown in (pace as you mentioned). Definitely suits your tactics 

 

[Sonic Youth]

I love that Liverpool qualified for ECC while finishing 8th 

Edited September 7, 2022 by Sonic Youth
8

[Punch]

11 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Thanks 

Looks great! He’s nicely rounded around the 15 mark with most key skills with some excellent ones thrown in (pace as you mentioned). Definitely suits your tactics 

 

Yep, but you just have to hit him in the head and hope he doesn't have to jump...because a sack of potatoes could out jump him

 

5 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

I love that Liverpool qualified for ECC while finishing 8th 

I didn't even notice that, so I had to check. They qualified by winning the Euro Cup this season.

[Punch]

2040-2041 Season Review - Part 1

 

[Punch]

2040-2041 Season Review - Part 2

[Punch]

2040-2041 Season Review - Part 3

Stats

 

Goalkeepers

Both keepers put in brilliant performances, but Hodgson continued to do enough to stay number 1.

A chance of racking up 500 games next season.

 

Defenders

Some great numbers put up by the defensive unit this season.

 

Midfield

Obinna Tamara doesn't appear to put up huge numbers, other than attempting and completing more passes than anyone in the team, but we are such a better side when he is in the XI.

 

Forwards

Gary Gowdy, the numbers are just insane, but 70 goal involvements is just off the charts.

Craig Hoston collected 42 goal involvements, while Aled Harden broke the EPL record for assists.

 

Gary Gowdy broke the Player Rating record for the second year in a row.

I thought Jordan Williams League Two record of 39 goal would be tough to break, Then Andrew Earl bettered it with 43 in the year we won The Championship, and I thought that would never be broken.

Gary Gowdy has now beaten it two years in a row, after nearly beating it two years ago. He just continues putting up crazy numbers.

Aled Harden broke the assists record which has stood since our very first season.

 

John Hodgson extends his all time appearances record, while Gary Gowdy has now taken the all time goal scoring record from Jordan Williams.

[Punch]

2040-2041 Season Review - Part 4

 

Attribute Review

 

That fun time of year again where I review how the players are developing.

 

Goalkeepers

Not a lot separates Hodgson and Cusato, and a monster improvement from Scott Green.

 

Defenders

 

Center

Forrest and Keogh form the mainstays of a solid center of defence, with plenty of decent options for rotation.

There are some good prospects coming up as well.

 

Right

Kearney the number one on this side, Mathew Gregory has come along nicely on loan, and Kazalac still a very capable back up.

The prospects get a bit light on after that.

 

Left

Crosby is the main guy on this side, with Reid his back up.

We've always been a little light on this side, and the prospects are not setting the world on fire.

 

Midfield

 

Ball Winning Midfielders

Jay Lee is still coming along nicely, and has been used in the rotation sharing with Tamara and Hoey.

There are a few prospects coming up the line which is a bonus.

 

Advanced Play Makers

Tamra has crossed the 95 point mark, and Hoey is pushing 90.

Plenty of rotation capable players, and Kearney is also useful in the defensive line.

A couple of useful looking prospects coming up as well.

 

Attacking Right

Aled Harden just had the season of his life, and there is plenty of players in the rotation.

An exciting IoM prospect in Simon Johnson coming up the line and has made a few League games this season.

 

Attacking Left

Plenty of options here as well, Heys has been on loan as he has struggled to make the starting line up, but we do have plenty of options.

A few exciting prospects coming up the line as well.

 

Strikers

Plenty of options available, and some exciting prospects coming along.

 

Best XI

 

 

The squad is still developing very nicely, and I expect us to be competing for the title again this season.

Continued improvements, and we can be pushing for higher honours in Europe in the next few seasons.

[TelcontarTargaryen]

With Scott Green incoming, might be time to sell Cusato. Looking forward to seeing few of the other prospects as well, some players might sadly leave in search for more minutes.

On a side-note, do you create your own training schedules and calendar? Since you are pretty good at maximizing your players potential and their strengths. 

[Punch]

5 hours ago, TelcontarTargaryen said:

With Scott Green incoming, might be time to sell Cusato. Looking forward to seeing few of the other prospects as well, some players might sadly leave in search for more minutes

I have been considering which of the keepers might get moved on. Tough to sell Cusato though as he is an IoM native, not that it's part of the save, but I always like to see them involved.

But it's not just the GK position, there are a few slots where I have players who have performed well in the rotation, but are being overtaken by the new kids coming through.

Mark Walsh in the striker slot is the perfect example. He has been a brilliant partner up front to Gowdy, but now finds himself as the 6th ranked striker, and plays most of his minutes on the wing. He is another that I am looking at if it's time to move on.

 

5 hours ago, TelcontarTargaryen said:

On a side-note, do you create your own training schedules and calendar? Since you are pretty good at maximizing your players potential and their strengths.

When I first started playing FM21, I found these:

https://footballmanagerstory.com/football-manager-2021-training-guide-best-fm-2021-training-schedules/

 

It covers pre-season, one and two match week schedules, big match and rest schedules.

I run two overalls, one attack, and one defence each month, and just adjust which one I use to suit the matches we have.

I've used it in every save with a professional team, and it seems to work a treat.

Not sure if they work in FM22, or would be as effective, but I am sure there are schedules that can be downloaded that would work too.

[Punch]

JUN 2041 - Off-Season things

 

Internationals

 

We had over 35 players representing at various levels this month:

 

Gary Gowdy just can't stop scoring.

Kyle Christian became our 31st Senior International. After initially representing Cyprus at Youth level, he played 11 internationals between 2033 and 2035, before switching allegiances to England in 2036, where he has played a further 17 youth internationals, before earning his first senior cap.

 

Season Preview

 

Newcastle, Southampton and Sunderland will join us in the Premier League this Season.

 

We kick off the season at home against newly promoted Southampton.

 

The highest we have ever been rated by the bookies, but we are still a very distant 3rd to the two from Manchester.

 

We will kick off the season with a chance to defend the Community Shield, against FA Cup Champions Man U.

 

A long history with a pretty poor record, but we are unbeaten against them in our last 5 meetings.

 

 

We have risen to be ranked as the second best team in Europe, based on our Champions League record in the last 5 seasons.

 

The top 20 ranked clubs for next season.

 

We start the season in a brilliant place financially...maybe it's time to ask the Board for a bigger stadium and see what they say

 

The TV money is huge.

 

A monster early season offer for Johnson, but he is going nowhere.

 

Barcelona have been linked to Tamara for some time now, and their first offer is a massive one, but considering I rejected over £100 million for him last season, and he then signed a new 5 year contract, there is no way he is going that cheap. I expect they will be back though.

 

A short pre-season, with a Camp in the U.S, as Friendly season kicks off.

[TelcontarTargaryen]

16 hours ago, Punch said:

When I first started playing FM21, I found these:

https://footballmanagerstory.com/football-manager-2021-training-guide-best-fm-2021-training-schedules/

Ah, I know about them. I use my own, but it is more or less copied that schedule with some additional advice from you-tubers like Zealand. And I am still on FM21 actually, so it's perfect.

Out of curiosity, what are your manager stats by now? I expect they hada a huge improvement over the two decades as you rose through the leagues.

[Punch]

1 hour ago, TelcontarTargaryen said:

Ah, I know about them. I use my own, but it is more or less copied that schedule with some additional advice from you-tubers like Zealand. And I am still on FM21 actually, so it's perfect.

Yeah, I make the odd adjustment here and there as required, but those schedules are pretty good for getting the best out of players, especially if they have the right attitude.

 

1 hour ago, TelcontarTargaryen said:

what are your manager stats by now? I expect they hada a huge improvement over the two decades as you rose through the leagues

Yeah, they have come up a lot, most are in the 15+ range, with the exception of goalkeeping and fitness, from memory.

[Punch]

JUL 2041 - Pre-season things

Some quality minutes in legs through the friendlies, and decent performances as well. The backroom even found time to throw an extra match in there.

 

I can't see us moving any further up this list in our current stadium.

 

A good month financially.

 

 Transfers

Hamilton was the top of the tree from the class of 33, but never really found his spot in the squad.

Having spent most of his time out on loan, it was time for him to move on, and for a decent fee.

 

We have plenty of keepers in the pipeline and Hughes was one of our lower ranked, and was already nearly at his maximum potential.

Another decent fee for someone who was never going to make our first team.

 

And if you thought the Gary Gowdy - Manchester City chase was crazy...

 

I expected Barcelona to come back for Tamara...

 

Offer number two - they broke the £100 million barrier

 

Offer number 3 clears £116 million...and on it goes

 

Offer number 4 pushes towards £130 million

 

...and on it goes - offer number 5

 

Offer number 6 clears the £150 million mark

 

And up we go, offer 7  reaches £170 million

 

And offer 8 beats the £181 million we were offered for Gary Gowdy.

 

For his part, Tamara hasn't seemed to react badly to me turning them down, like he did last season with the Chelsea offers, and again, the Board seems to be currently not interested in getting involved.

Might be interesting to see what happens if that offer should go north of £200 million.

 

We get to defend our Community Shield against Man U, before kicking off the season proper at The Isle against Southampton.

Our title defence chances then face a huge early test as we get three tough games back-to-back-to-back to kick off the first month of the new season.

Edited September 10, 2022 by Punch

[Sonic Youth]

Wow! And here I thought Gary Gowdy’s transfer saga wouldn’t be topped! In one way I want to see it hit £200 million, but I also don’t as Tamara is so important to IoM.

Looks a quiet offseason otherwise 

[Punch]

28 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Wow! And here I thought Gary Gowdy’s transfer saga wouldn’t be topped! In one way I want to see it hit £200 million, but I also don’t as Tamara is so important to IoM.

Looks a quiet offseason otherwise 

While has is happy for me to keep rejecting, I am going to as I don't want to sell him. Too important to our midfield stability.

[Punch]

AUG 2041 - Community Shield - Vs Manchester United

 

We lift back -to-back Community Shields with a come fro behind victory against Man U.

A tough battle in the first half, with Gary Gowdy cancelling out their lead just before half time with a cracked of a free kick.

The tough battle continued in the second half before Craig Hoston scored to give us the lead.

Both teams struck the woodwork in the final 10 minutes, before we scored two injury time goals to run away with the win.

 

 

Another shiny trophy, or plate, for our collection, and a brilliant start to the season.

Here's to hoping we take this good form into a tough start to the season.

 

Up next...the season proper kicks off as we welcome newly promoted Southampton to The Isle.

[Sonic Youth]

Noice 

Is that the first time you’ve won the Community Shield?

What trophies/comps left for the set?

Haden is great 

Possible to get a screenie?

Almost forgot to ask, has something changed with Man Utd in the last year?

[Punch]

24 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Is that the first time you’ve won the Community Shield?

Second - two years in a row.

 

25 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

What trophies/comps left for the set?

Champions League (although we haven't won the Europa Conference)

 

26 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Haden is great 

Possible to get a screenie?

So many assists and key passes. He has great striker stats, but he plays so much better on the wing.

 

Had his ups and downs, but he was brilliant last season.

 

31 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Almost forgot to ask, has something changed with Man Utd in the last year?

United won 3 titles in a row before City, then us. They've still been hanging around the top 3 or 4 the last two seasons.

But from their hat-trick of titles, in the last two seasons, they have been scoring less, and conceding more.

[Sonic Youth]

Harden looks ace, and great to have as a foil for Gowdy.

Twice, yes, lots happened last season.

Just the big club trophies to go while maintaining title challenging/luck of youth intakes/top four to challenge for those missing European trophies 

Looking forward to this season 

[Punch]

AUG 2041 - Match Day 1 - Vs Southampton FC

 

Match Report

Spoiler

A cracking start to the season as we put in a brilliant performance at both ends of the field.

We made a positive start, and played attacking football, but it took us until nearly half time to get on the board.

Two quick goals after the break and we had raced away to a 3-0 lead.

A solid defensive performance, and a sting of saves from Hodgson, meant we kept a clean sheet as well.

 

Spoiler

Not much to report yet, the usual suspects won, although Norwich and Liverpool getting into a 7 goal shootout was a highlight.

 

 

Up next...a tougher challenge as we travel to Tottenham.

[Punch]

1 hour ago, Sonic Youth said:

Harden looks ace, and great to have as a foil for Gowdy.

Twice, yes, lots happened last season.

Just the big club trophies to go while maintaining title challenging/luck of youth intakes/top four to challenge for those missing European trophies 

Looking forward to this season 

Harden really is a brilliant foil for Gowdy. So many of Gowdy's goals were from Harden Crosses or passes.

Win everything, have an invincible season, see how many goals Gowdy can score, how many Hodgson can save, see how many of the two brilliant intakes from 38 and 39 can make it to the first team, see if we can sell someone for £200 million

Still plenty of life left in this save yet.

[Punch]

AUG 2041 - Match Day 2 - At Tottenham Hotspur

 

Match Report

Spoiler

 

We got the three points, but boy we made hard work of it.

We out played Spurs all over the park, not allowing them a shot on target.

We created plenty of chances, but the final touch was missing and we ended up 0-0 at the break.

Just after the break, we finally too the lead as Lewis Hoey threaded the needle to find Craig Hoston who buried his chance.

10 minutes later, Hoston was brought down in the box, giving Gowdy a chance to secure the win, only to see his shot parried away by the Spurs keeper.

The hosts never really mounted a serious challenge on goal, and seemed happy to foul their way through the game.

Not a great game to watch, but we take the win.

 

 

Table

Spoiler

City make a statement of intent with a 7-0 win over Leicester flying them to the top of the table.

We are one of two clubs yet to concede a goal in the first two games of the season.

 

 

Up next...a monster clash at The Isle as we host Man City. A clash with potential title implications, just three games into the season?

[Punch]

AUG 2041 - Match Day 3 - Vs Manchester City

 

Match Report

Spoiler

A tough loss as we collapse in the last 5 minutes, conceding two goals to give up the points at home.

City were probably the better team overall, but we went to the break at 0-0.

Our two midfielders combined as Hoey provided the pass and Tamara the finish to put us 1-0 up just after the break.

City kept attacking, but we held firm, until back to back mistakes seen us cough up the lead, and the points.

We were clearly the second best team, but it was still disappointing to give up the lead like that.

 

 

Table

Spoiler

The loss sees us slip to our lowest point on the table for several years.

Four perfect, and five undefeated teams - this is already looking like a crazy season.

 

 

Up next...We need to dust ourselves off and go again as we face another tough challenge in a trip to Chelsea, who have made a brighter start to the season after a few disappointing years.

[Punch]

AUG 2041 - League Cup 3rd Round Draw

We're off to Turf Moor for the 3rd Round, sending the rotated squad out in this competition again this season.

 

We have an undefeated record against them, but it will be a tougher test for the kids.

[Punch]

AUG 2041 - Champions League Group Stage Draw

The press think it's a tough Group, with Schalke and Monaco predicted as the toughest opposition.

[Punch]

AUG 2041 - Match Day 4 - At Chelsea FC

 

Match Report

Spoiler

A brilliant bounce back after the late collapse against City.

We may have unearthed a new star in one of the class of 38 kids, Khaled Hussein making his first League start, scoring with a cracking header.

Tamara scored a cracker to give us a 2-0 lead at the break.

A tight second half, before Craig Hoston scored in injury time to round out a 3-0 victory.

Another great defensive effort to keep a clean sheet.

 

 

Table

Spoiler

The win jumps us back to 5th place.

 

 

Up next...an international break before we travel to Sunderland.

[Punch]

AUG 2041

We started the month winning the Community Shield, before keeping three clean sheets in winning three of our first four League games.

Just the loss to City to blemish our start to the season.

 

A good start defensively, and the Analyst thinks there is plenty of improvement left in our attacking area.

 

Three wins and a loss puts us in 5th place.

 

Craig Hoston takes out the Young Player of the Month.

 

It's been a while, but I had two job interviews within a few days, although both were ultimately unsuccessful.

 

Another great month financially.

 

We all but sold out out Season Ticket allotment.

 

We sold three more players this month.

Amazing money for the first two players, who were never regular first team players, and have spent most of their time on loan lately.

 

Money for qualifying for the Group Stage adds to the big month.

 

Another busy month as we kick off our Champions League and League Cup campaigns.

[Punch]

SEP 2041 - Transfers

 

The transfer window ran over to September 2nd, so we had a few last minute exits.

 

Heys played a huge part in our coming up through The Championship, and our early days in the Premier League.

But even though he has good attributes, he has fallen way down the pecking order, and found himself out on loan for the last few seasons.

He wanted to move on for a new challenge, and it was only fair to let him go.

 

Then came the huge one.

Mark Walsh made a great partnership with Gary Gowdy for several years, but with the rise of Craig Hoston, he had founded himself relegated to the wing.

With the rise of new up and comers, Walsh had found himself down as low as our 6th ranked striker, and had barely been involved this season.

Chelsea came in with an original offer below £20 million, we countered at £40 million, and after a bit of back and forth we settled on a big fee, and snuck in an additional fee to boot.

He goes on his way with our best wishes, but lets just hope he doesn't come back to bite us

 

We smash our transfer record with this deal, and it might not be the last time we do that.

 

With the average age of our team getting older, and registration considerations coming into play, I will be having to be a lot more brutal on transfers and choosing which players to let go.

[Punch]

SEP 2041 - Match Day 5 - At Sunderland AFC

 

Match Report

Spoiler

We made really tough work of it against the struggling Sunderland.

Took us until first half injury time to take the lead.

After some wasted chances, it came back to bite us as the Hosts leveled just after the hour.

We continued to create plenty of chances, but couldn't hit the target and it looked like it was going to be one of those days.

In the shadows of full time, one last raid into the area resulted in Obinna Tamara being brought down in the box.

Gary Gowdy, who missed his last penalty, made no mistake, burying his spot kick to send us to the lead, and secure the three points.

A poor game, but we got the result.

 

 

Table

Spoiler

We stay 5th.

 

 

Up next...Champions League kicks off as we travel to Switzerland to take on Basel.

[Punch]

SEP 2041 - Group Stage 1st Match - At FC Basel 1893

 

Match Report

Spoiler

We got back on track with a solid defensive and attacking performance against Basel.

It took until the second half, but a brace from Hoston, and another successful penalty from Gowdy lead us to a 3-0 win to kick off the campaign.

 

Winning keeps the bank balance rolling.

 

 

Table

Spoiler

A scoreless draw was played out in the other match.

 

We shoot to the top of the table.

 

This match caught my eye in another group

 

 

Up next...a short turn around until we host Sheffield United.

[TelcontarTargaryen]

Interesting to see a club from my town, Red Star, signing one of your players. With all the transfer fees coming in, and having nothing to spend them on... new stadium perhaps?

[Punch]

1 hour ago, TelcontarTargaryen said:

Interesting to see a club from my town, Red Star, signing one of your players. With all the transfer fees coming in, and having nothing to spend them on... new stadium perhaps?

Yeah, I have been thinking about asking for that. We have sold out every League game since we opened this stadium, but it's also not very old, so I am not sure they'd come to the party...might be worth asking though.

[Punch]

SEP 2041 - Match Day 6 - Vs Sheffield United FC

 

Match Report

Spoiler

Just two days after our trip to Switzerland, we had to rest some legs against The Blades.

Solid performances right up and down the field, as Wright scored early, and Hoston scored late to send us to the break 2-0 to the good.

We continued our attacking intent in the second half, but the visitors held firm until one of their players was marched for two yellow cards in 12 minutes.

Lewis Hoey rounded out a complete performance late in the piece to complete the 3-0 victory.

 

 

Table

Spoiler

We move into the top 4, while Norwich are off to a flyer.

After getting thumped 8-0 a few days ago, United turned it around to win the Manchester Derby, handing City their first loss.

 

 

Up next...the rotated squad will be sent to Burnley for the League Cup 3rd Round match up.

[Punch]

SEP 2041 - League Cup 3rd Round - At Burnley FC

 

Match Report

Spoiler

The rotated squad put in a tough performance against a spirited Burnley side.

A quick exchange of goals just after the break, before a late winner from Simon Johnson sent us through to the 4th Round.

 

 

4th Round draw is a few days away.

 

Up next...a monster clash with the unbeaten Norwich at The Isle.

[Punch]

SEP 2041 - League Cup 4th Round Draw

We will host Barnsley at The Isle in the 4th Round.

 

A good record against them, and the rotated squad will be out again.

[Punch]

SEP 2041

Our match up with Norwich sees me rack up 1,200 games. 9 League wins, 19 Cups, and 800 wins.

[Sonic Youth]

After that early loss, results have been good. Time to bloody Norwich’s nose!

Real Madrid v Man Utd 

[Punch]

3 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

After that early loss, results have been good. Time to bloody Norwich’s nose!

Real Madrid v Man Utd 

It's been a decent start.

 

I had to read it three times and it still didn't make sense

[Punch]

SEP 2041 - Match Day 7 - Vs Norwich City

 

Match Report

Spoiler

After a quiet start to the League season, the Gary Gowdy show finally made an appearance to hand The Canaries their first loss.

Youngster Hussein continued to make an early season impression, getting us on the board, before a Gowdy free kick special doubled the lead.

Gowdy completed his brace with a long distance screamer just before the break, but we switched off allowing the visitors to pull one back.

The second half was much tighter, but it was Norwich who brought the lead back to one goal just after the hour.

We woke up again and start to put more pressure on them, but it took until the 80th minute before Martin Challinor finally killed off the game and secured the points for us.

 

 

Table

Spoiler

We jump to 3rd on goal difference after handing Norwich their first loss.

Man United jump to first, remaining the only undefeated team.

 

 

Up next...Champions League as we welcome Monaco to The Isle.