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

[Punch]

 

MAY 2042 - FA Cup Final - Vs West Ham United

 

 

Match Report

Spoiler

Four days later, same teams, different stadium, but same result, as we hammer West Ham to lift the FA Cup for the fourth time..

An early Aled Harden goal set us on our way, and we were two up on 20 minutes when Khaled Hussein headed home our second.

West Ham pulled one back, but a Gary Gowdy penalty before half time sent us to the break 3-1 to the good, and we had one hand on the trophy.

Gowdy slotted home his second after the break to seal the win, before completing his hat-trick, his second in four days also, to ice the cake and start the party.

A massive season continues to bubble along nicely.

 

 

 

Our 4th FA Cup, and second trophy in 4 days.

 

 

Up next...a party at The Isle for our final League game of the season, with two new shiny pieces of silverware to show off to the fans as we welcome Watford.

 

Edited October 31, 2022 by Punch

[TelcontarTargaryen]

I see the treble incoming.

[Punch]

6 hours ago, TelcontarTargaryen said:

I see the treble incoming.

Going to be tough against Atletico in Spain, but this squad fears no one, so should be a good, but hard match.

[Sonic Youth]

That’s going to be remembered as the Gowdy FA Cup. Nice win and Congrats 

[Punch]

35 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

That’s going to be remembered as the Gowdy FA Cup. Nice win and Congrats 

Thank you!

He will want to play West Ham every week after the last two games

[Punch]

MAY 2042 - Match Day 38 - Vs Watford

 

Match Report

Spoiler

It was a party atmosphere at The Isle as we finished off a successful League season in some style, and got to show off two shiny trophies to our fans.

A rotated squad that seen as many as 7 Isle of Man natives in the starting line up, and while some of them are young, they showed no fear.

Ryan Mitchell scored his first League goal, and even though Watford hit back quickly, two more youngsters, Pache and Browne had as 3-1 up at the break.

The second half turned into a 45 minute victory lap as both sides seemed happy to play out the season, without any risk.

A massively successful League season draws to a close.

 

A massive pay day for taking out the title.

 

 

Table

Spoiler

Outsiders to defend our title at the start of the season, we held of a stuttering United, and a faltering City, Arsenal were consistent without ever really challenging for the top spot, while the bookies other mention, Chelsea, failed to even make Europe.

While at the other end, a final day win was not enough for Fulham, as SHeffield United also won, surviving on goal difference. Burnley the other team relegated, along with the long ago relegated Sunderland.

 

 

Up next...the biggest match in our history, as our little club from the Irish Sea, heads to Sevilla, Spain, to take on Atletico Madrid in the Champions League Final.

[Jimbokav1971]

Hey @PunchI haven't read your thread but I just noticed it was 42 pages long and you're still playing FM21 and it's 2042. 

Just want to give you a 👏 and post something to recognise your staying power. 

Isle of Man in the Premier League. Sounds like a hell of a save. 👍

 

[TelcontarTargaryen]

7 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Hey @PunchI haven't read your thread but I just noticed it was 42 pages long and you're still playing FM21 and it's 2042. 

Just want to give you a 👏 and post something to recognise your staying power. 

Isle of Man in the Premier League. Sounds like a hell of a save. 👍

 

It is, quite an inspirational ride. I got hold of it sometime in the middle, but have re-read the entire thread from the first post. It took some time.. but it inspires me to make my save last that long. @Punch really made one of the best careers I have seen around here.

[Punch]

7 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Hey @PunchI haven't read your thread but I just noticed it was 42 pages long and you're still playing FM21 and it's 2042. 

Just want to give you a 👏 and post something to recognise your staying power. 

Isle of Man in the Premier League. Sounds like a hell of a save. 👍

 

 

28 minutes ago, TelcontarTargaryen said:

It is, quite an inspirational ride. I got hold of it sometime in the middle, but have re-read the entire thread from the first post. It took some time.. but it inspires me to make my save last that long. @Punch really made one of the best careers I have seen around here.

 

Thank you both!

It's been a hell of a ride from level 10 to the Premier League, and now to the Champions League Final.

I am pretty sure it's the longest save I have ever managed on any of the FM games I have played, but I am still having fun with it, which is why I haven't yet been tempted to upgrade to the next FM. We'll see how long that lasts.

[Punch]

MAY 2042 - Champions League Final - Vs Atletico Madrid

 

 

FC Isle of Man - Champions of Europe

 

Match Report

Spoiler

A come from behind win, as we take the biggest prize in European Football, with our club from a little island in the Irish Sea taking out the Champions League.

Even though we were in Atletico's back yard, we started as favourites in what was billed as an attacking encounter.

And so it proved to be, although we fell behind early, as we got off to maybe a slow start, maybe some nerves, but we were behind after just 2 minutes.

From there it was pretty much one way traffic as Madrid struggled to cope with our attacking game that just kept coming at them.

It took longer than expected to equalise, but it was an impressive thumping header fro Aled Harden that got us on the board.

In first half injury time, Craig Hoston spun some tired looking defence into a daze before smashing home his first of the game, to give us a deserved lead at the break.

Gary Gowdy killed off any chance of a Spanish comeback, guiding home our third of the game.

The party could begin on 66 minutes when Hoston completed his brace, guiding home to give us a 4-1 lead.

Gowdy completed his own brace in injury time, to put the icing on the cake.

Even though Madrid scored another deep into injury time, it was all over, and the party mood was in high gear.

Tamara was immense in the middle, getting us going forward, while the front four were just relentless in their attacking pressure.

 

A monster pay day as become the best club in Europe.

 

 

Another shiny edition to our bulging trophy room.

 

 

Up next...reviews of a magical season.

Edited November 5, 2022 by Punch

[Punch]

MAY 2042

A pretty special way to finish the season as we complete an amazing treble.

 

We end up taking the title by 8 points from United, who stumbled in the final month.

 

Awards

Gary Gowdy cleans up, taking out the three main awards, and while it wasn't quite the 51 goals of last season, he still racks up and impressive 30 goal season.

 

I was awarded Manager of the Year for our performances.

 

We had 7 players make the Premier League Team of the Year.

 

Craig Hoston won the Champions League Golden Boot.

 

Seven players make the Champions League Dream Team.

 

John Hodgson didn't make the Dream Team, but was named Champions League Goalkeeper of the year.

We took out the top two places in every other position, and all three in defence.

 

We top the table in transfer profit this season.

 

For the first time I can remember we have moved up the wage to turnover percentage table.

 

We have 11 players called up for the World Cup, and none of them will face each other in the Group stage.

 

Up next...Season reviews.

[Sonic Youth]

Was wondering when the post for the ECL Final was going to drop! Kinda started to wonder if the game had been less than expected. Far from it, Congrats on winning and in such style  

Gowdy tried his best to get another hattrick I see too  

[Sonic Youth]

Pretty comprehensive awards won by IoM players 

Is England not at the WC?

[Punch]

52 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Was wondering when the post for the ECL Final was going to drop! Kinda started to wonder if the game had been less than expected. Far from it, Congrats on winning and in such style  

Gowdy tried his best to get another hattrick I see too  

Haha yeah, had been a busy week and had not had a chance to play a lot, so took me a while to get around to it.

Started the year slow, but ended up white hot at the right end of the season.

 

45 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Pretty comprehensive awards won by IoM players 

Is England not at the WC?

An amazing season, so probably well deserved.

England failed to qualify, Australia are there, and so is Equatorial Guinea

[Punch]

2041-2042 Season Review

 

[Punch]

2041-2042 Season Review - Best XI

 

All Time

 

Best XI - Season

 

 Best XI - Where are they now? - 2026

[Punch]

2041-2042 Season Review - Player Stats

 

Goalkeepers

John Hodgson passes 400 League games, and 500 all time appearances this season, and what a season it was. 23 clean sheets in 44 games, and conceding only 29.

Andy Cusato continues to be a brilliant back up, but I am not sure if both will still be at the club next season though.

 

Defenders

Dave Keogh is close to reaching 350 career games for the club.

 

Midfielders

Tamara and Hoey are the best midfield combination in the League, but are well supported by a solid cast of players when rotation is required.

 

Forwards

Gary Gowdy had a slow start to the season, but still hit 42 goals across all competitions. He also reached 400 all time appearances, and 300 goals across all competitions, while appearing in 300 League games, scoring 229 goals. He had 9 goals in The Championship, so he has 220 Premier League goals, which would put him second all time on the list of Premier League scorers, behind Alan Shearer's 260.

It shows how much we rely on Gowdy, when Craig Hoston, who scored 26 goals this season, and Aled Harden have 38 League goals each, with John Wright unable to secure a regular place in the team, there is not a lot of goals elsewhere.

 

No records broken this season, but plenty of great performances from the regular cast.

 

Hodgson and Gowdy extend their respective all time club records.

Edited November 5, 2022 by Punch

[Sonic Youth]

Key passes looks to have its record broken this season.

Aled Harden with another double figure season in goals and assists

Who is the record Prem goalscorer of all time in game currently? 

[Jtomsett11]

So pleased to see you win the champions league! I've been struggling to play any FM recently and therefore lacking time to keep up with the forum, but I have dropped in at the perfect time! Are you still motivated for more success?

[Punch]

9 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Key passes looks to have its record broken this season.

Aled Harden with another double figure season in goals and assists

Who is the record Prem goalscorer of all time in game currently? 

Good catch on the key passes, I missed that one.

Yeah, he is a solid performer and a key part of that front 4. Scores a bucket load at international level as well.

In the Premier League era, Alan Shearer has 260, Wayne Rooney is next with 208. If you go back to all 1st division records, it’s been a while since I looked it up but from memory it was lot more.

Edit - just had a look and it’s north of 350.

Edited November 6, 2022 by Punch

[Punch]

1 hour ago, Jtomsett11 said:

So pleased to see you win the champions league! I've been struggling to play any FM recently and therefore lacking time to keep up with the forum, but I have dropped in at the perfect time! Are you still motivated for more success?

Thank you! As one of the inspirations for this save, glad to see you still around, and dropping in at the right time lol

I understand the lack of playing as my own time has been up and down lately.

I am still enjoying it, and have seen nothing from FM23 yet that makes me want to upgrade, so this save will live on for a while yet.

I am also breaking it up with some other saves that I muck around with for fun and don’t report on, but do different things like sell the best player each season, or move on to a new club after each promotion/title, etc, which helps stop this save from getting stale.

[Punch]

2041-2042 Season Review - Attributes

 

It's everyone's favourite time of the year when we get to review the players attribute scores, and changes.

 

Goalkeepers

While Cusato shows the best attribute rating, the CA rating of our top 4 keepers is almost the same.

Scott Green has been out on loan and has improved immensely, to the point where he will soon be pushing for time in the first team. As the highest rated PA keeper, I do expect him to eventually become the regular number 1.

 

Defenders

 

Center

Forrest and Keogh are are clear best combination here, and while there is a few solid options for rotation, the defence has become an area of concern as there is not a huge amount of prospects coming through.

 

Right

Kearney the clear choice, and while Kazalac has been the rotation option, Gregory has shown constant improvement, and will see game time next season.

Again, not many other prospects coming through.

 

Left

A real concern on this side, with Crosby the only real option, as Reid shows signs of decline.

And this side is even worse for prospects.

 

Even though we had the best defence in the Premier League this season, this is an area where we will need to keep an eye on, as a few injuries and/or suspensions, and we start looking a little thin on talent.

 

Midfielders

 

BWMs

Some decent prospects building up here, who are able to provide some help in the rotation to support Hoey and Tamara.

 

Advanced Playmakers

Obinna and Tamara are the best central pairing in the League.

Even though they both appear to be best in the same positions, Tamara generally plays the BWM role, while Hoey, who is also an option as a striker, plays the AP role.

Plenty of options are available for rotation, and there are a few decent prospects coming through as well.

 

Attacking Right

Plenty of genuine talent in this area. Aled Harden has been a constant solid performer, but IoM native Simon Johnson has improved out of sight, and could soon be looking for more first team time.

There are a few good young prospects coming through as well.

 

Attacking Left

Hussein has made the left side his own, but faces good competition from Pache, who also can play striker.

Plenty of rotation options and also a few decent looking prospects.

 

Strikers

Gowdy and Hoston make a brilliant forward pairing.

Pilkington provides great back up, and Browne is developing nicely.

 

Best XI

The squad continues to develop nicely, although the defence appears to be the weakest area.

 

I have been tracking CA/PA and comparing it to the development of the attribute scores (thanks to @shaunvamos's formula).

It's been interesting to see that the developing players attribute scores raise with the CA. Once a player nears or reaches their PA, the attribute score changes also slow down. However, they can still go up and down, even when their CA reaches the max PA, depending on things like playing time and injuries.

It's certainly been fun to follow the growth and changes of the squad over the course of the save.

[Sonic Youth]

Defense is good but the place that has the least depth. Fingers crossed you get some through the next intake 

[Punch]

32 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Defense is good but the place that has the least depth. Fingers crossed you get some through the next intake 

Yep, a few players suspended or injured and the depth will be tested.

[Punch]

JUN 2042 - Off season things

We are now the highest Reputation team in England, and third highest in Europe.

 

We maintain our 2nd place Ranking in Europe.

 

The top 20 list, we are just 4 points behind Inter for top place.

 

We get a chance at a 2nd European Super Cup.

 

We face Manchester United in the season opening Community Shield.

 

We kick off the season at The Isle against Spurs.

 

The Bookies have us in a fight with the Manchester sides again.

 

We have plenty of money in the bank.

The Board want me to increase commercial revenue, so I hit them up for a new stadium, but they didn't want to know about it. Not surprising really, as our current stadium is only 7 years old.

 

The bread and butter of the Premier League. The TV Rights are just crazy.

 

Friendly season begins with a pre-season camp in Hong Kong.

[Sonic Youth]

1 hour ago, Punch said:

The Board want me to increase commercial revenue, so I hit them up for a new stadium, but they didn't want to know about it. Not surprising really, as our current stadium is only 7 years old.

How else is this possible to achieve? 

Finally hit £900m!

[TelcontarTargaryen]

16 hours ago, Punch said:

Good catch on the key passes, I missed that one.

Yeah, he is a solid performer and a key part of that front 4. Scores a bucket load at international level as well.

In the Premier League era, Alan Shearer has 260, Wayne Rooney is next with 208. If you go back to all 1st division records, it’s been a while since I looked it up but from memory it was lot more.

Edit - just had a look and it’s north of 350.

I always hate it when they only count records from the Premier League era. I mean basically it is just a bit of re-branding of top flight. Yes football back then was much different, but still it was the elite league of a major country.

Anyway, congratulations on the treble, amazing feat.

And how the **** did England not qualify, with half of your team being english?

Edited November 6, 2022 by TelcontarTargaryen

[Punch]

7 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

How else is this possible to achieve? 

Finally hit £900m!

Not a clue, but as there would only be so many sponsorship opportunities on an island as well, there seems to be not much chance that I am achieving that goal at the moment.

Yeah, a big month of prizemoney, certainly helps the balance.

 

1 hour ago, TelcontarTargaryen said:

I always hate it when they only count records from the Premier League era. I mean basically it is just a bit of re-branding of top flight. Yes football back then was much different, but still it was the elite league of a major country.

Anyway, congratulations on the treble, amazing feat.

And how the **** did England not qualify, with half of your team being english?

I kind of see both sides of this argument. While I agree that it's just the top division in England, it's was also at one point a complete break away competition, separate from the FA. That is also why I added the 'Premier League era' part of the record, as I recognise that there are also records dating a lot further back, that paint a much different picture.

Thank you! It was a truly amazing season.

That's an easy one, even though 8 of our players were in the squad, a lot of them were not in the final teams, or were on the bench. John Hodgson, our keeper, barely played any of the qualifiers, but they won when he did. I made the comment some time ago, that Hodgson had been left out of the International Group matches, and they were losing, as soon as he was back in the team, they were winning again. The national coach has some serious questions to answer there.

But the World Cup is about to finish, so I guess I will be bombed with job offers soon

[TelcontarTargaryen]

Can you accept national job, without leaving FC Isle of Man? It could be fun to take England, or some other national team, while simultaneously leading a club.

[Punch]

1 hour ago, TelcontarTargaryen said:

Can you accept national job, without leaving FC Isle of Man? It could be fun to take England, or some other national team, while simultaneously leading a club.

I can, have been offered quite a few, but it didn't really interest me in this save, as I was just concentrating on IoM.

Might make an interesting addition to the save down the track if England offered me the role.

[Sonic Youth]

World Cup coming up you say? I predict 7 job proposals around that time 

[Punch]

2042 World Cup

 

As there seems to be some interest in the World Cup, England's failure to qualify, and how our players went, I though I would do a separate post about it.

 

The calamity that was England's failure to qualify

England failed to get out of their qualification group, beaten to the only spot by Poland.

 

The away loss to Finland, and away draw to Belarus hurt them, but what really turned the tables was giving up a 3 goal lead to to draw away to eventual qualifiers Poland.

I am certain that somewhere the words 'I hope this result doesn't come back to bite us' would have been used.

Giving up one less goal in that match would have sent them to the World Cup on goal difference.

 

In my biased view, John Hodgson wasn't selected as the first choice keeper enough. When he played, they won. He was not in the starting line up for the loss or two draws.

 

FC IoM players at the World Cup

 

We had 11 players on duty at the World Cup, obviously a lower number than it could have been with no England.

 

We had players from Wales and Scotland make it all the way to the Quarter Finals.

Our Welsh players eliminated their team mates from Nigeria (Obinna Tamara) and Ireland (Martin Challinor) along the way.

 

Gary Gowdy edging closer to 100 caps.

 

World Cup Result

Turkey, ranked 12th prior to the World Cup, caused a huge upset, and took some enormous scalps along the way, eliminating France (10th) in the Round of 16, Austria (35th) in the Quarter Final, Spain (7th) in the Semi Final, and the highly fancied Brazil (2nd) in the Final.

 

World Rankings - after World Cup

I can neither confirm nor deny that I went to 25th just because I seen Australia there

 

So that's the World Cup done for another 4 years.

Back to my day job, we have a pre-season underway.

Edited November 7, 2022 by Punch

[Sonic Youth]

Turkey? That’s a surprise. Looks like they earnt it during the knockout stages 

[Punch]

JUL 2042 - Friendly Season

A close win over Zenit before we put together three massive wins on our Hong Kong training camp, and then finished with a thumping of Rangers.

Plenty of rotation, and getting a lot of running in the legs, along with plenty of great performances, Fernando Browne was the big stand out, and will be banging on the door of the first team this season.

 

Three straight Golden Boots is not enough to make Gowdy favourite this season.

 

Three of our players find themselves in the odds for the Young Player of the Year.

 

Interestingly, none of our players are rated a chance of the Player of the Year.

 

Job offers

I said that the job offers might start after the World Cup finished, and so they did:

 

Holland were first, followed by Portugal.

 

On 07/11/2022 at 16:42, Sonic Youth said:

I predict 7 job proposals around that time

Just the two so far, but there is still time

 

I think this is pretty similar to last season, and it won't grow in out current stadium.

 

Transfers

Anybody would think there is a fire sale on The Isle, as we send some big names on their way.

Player Registration considerations meant I had to get a bit ruthless and think in a business sense, instead of emotional attachments to players.

Pierce was a handy youngster, but would never have been good enough to be a first team regular, so he was sent on his way.

Senkoomi is a solid left winger, but it's the only position he can play, and he was 4th in line, with some better, and younger options coming through. He would also have needed a registration slot this season, and I could not justify using up one for a player that would not feature too often. He goes on his way to Germany for a pretty decent fee.

Smith was a solid keeper, but again, would have needed a registration slot, and in reality would have been 4th or 5th in line of a number of decent keepers we have, so there was no point holding him back when he wanted to try his hand in the UAE. A decent fee for a player who had never appeared in the 1st team.

Gakou is a good striker, come winger, and would probably be a walk up 1st team starter at most other clubs, but with the options we have available, and the prospects coming through, he didn't feature for us at all last season, and went out on loan in the January window. So when Mainz came in with a huge offer, he wanted to move on, so we agreed and sent him on his way to find first team football.

In the process we smashed our transfer fee received record, but it would last less than 24 hours.

 

El Arabi is a decent defender, but never could find his way into the 1st team. He spent most of his 9 years at the club out on loan, and in the last year of his contract, we decided to send him on his way, as he was not going to make it into the first team here.

Wright was the hardest of them all. Villarreal have been sniffing around for a while. Wright formed a major partnership with Gowdy that anchored our first few years in the Premier League, they were a lethal partnership. But with the Rise of Craig Hoston, Wright found himself forced out to the left wing, and then with the rise of Khaled Hussein, he was forced into a back up role. But we now have Luca Pache and Fernando Browne, he last season found himself relegated to the role of back up, and only appeared in 8 games across all competitions all season. Again, hard to justify spending a registration slot on a person playing so few games. So when Villarreal reach the £50 million mark, and he wanted to move on for a new challenge, I pulled the trigger and sent him on his way. After over 250 appearances, and over 100 goals, he will be fondly remembered for his efforts in helping get us established as a Premier League force.

Just one day after breaking our record, it falls again.

 

With some monster transfers we also break our single season total transfer income record.

With another month of the transfer window remaining, who knows if this doesn't get pushed higher.

 

So all those sales send us over the £1 billion dollar mark for the first time.

The club as a whole is now valued north of £2 billion.

 

We begin the season with the traditional Community Shield fixture against Man U, before kicking of the League at home to Spurs.

We then head to Kazakhstan to play for the European Super Cup, before some tricky League games, including meeting Man U again.

[Punch]

26 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Turkey? That’s a surprise. Looks like they earnt it during the knockout stages 

Now ranked 8th in the world.

They took out some big names along the way.

[RoguPL]

Congrats on winning CL ! 

That balance 

What is transfer and wage budget like ? 

[Punch]

5 hours ago, RoguPL said:

Congrats on winning CL ! 

That balance 

What is transfer and wage budget like ? 

Thank you!

The advantages of not spending it on transfers, a low wage spend, and the board not letting me build a new stadium

A massive transfer budget, that we never use, and plenty of space under the wage budget.

[Sonic Youth]

And there is the billion!

A new stadium should be what the board investigates investing in.

Solid preseason as usual 

[Punch]

2 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

And there is the billion!

A new stadium should be what the board investigates investing in.

Solid preseason as usual 

All that money and nothing to spend it on...other than wages

They want me to increase commercial revenue, but won't budge on the new stadium. Seems counterproductive at the moment. But I will keep working on them.

Lots of different goal scorers which was encouraging, it would be nice not to rely on Gary Gowdy scoring a boat full to get us home.

[Draktor]

@Punchjust wanted to congratulate you on all your success here.

This is one of (if not the best) youth save thread I have read on the forums.

Brings back memories of IK Tord on this forum way back when.

[Punch]

52 minutes ago, Draktor said:

@Punchjust wanted to congratulate you on all your success here.

This is one of (if not the best) youth save thread I have read on the forums.

Brings back memories of IK Tord on this forum way back when.

Thank you!

Glad you enjoyed the read.

The journey isn't over yet, I am also interested to see where the journey goes now, especially as some of the best players start to get older, and now we seem to have less 1st team potential coming through the intakes. It will be interesting to see if we can maintain the rage, replacing just one or two players here and there, or if we see a decline, or even if we can take it to a whole new level.

[Sonic Youth]

5 hours ago, Punch said:

I am also interested to see where the journey goes now, especially as some of the best players start to get older

Gary Gordy in his 30’s 

[Punch]

AUG 2042 - Community Shield - Vs Manchester United

 

Match Report

Spoiler

The Red Devils, who are the Bookies favourites for the League Title this season, will still be stinging from their late season capitulation which handed us the title last season, extracted the first blow of revenge, coming from behind to take out the season curtain raising Community Shield.

In what was a pretty tough, even match, both sides had rested players coming back from the World Cup, so it was a bit of a surprise when early goals to Keogh and Hoston had us 2-0 up just after the half hour mark.

It remained a tough battle in the second half, before Man U pulled one back on 75 minutes, to breathe new life into the contest.

Just when it looked like we'd done enough to claim the Shield, Man U struck an injury time equaliser, sending the game to a shoot out.

We started well, going goal for goal, but we blinked first, and then second, missing our last two shots to hand over the Shield we had held for two years.

A tough way to lose a game, but it also showed this might be a pretty tough season between these two teams.

 

 

Up next...the League season proper kicks off as we welcome Tottenham to The Isle.

[Punch]

4 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Gary Gordy in his 30’s 

He seems to have been around forever, but is only 27 at the moment.

[Sonic Youth]

2 hours ago, Punch said:

He seems to have been around forever, but is only 27 at the moment.

Yes, I know. But Gowdy in his 30’s sounds unpossible 

[Punch]

AUG 2042 - Match Day 1 - Vs Tottenham Hotspur

 

Match Report

Spoiler

Well I hope this doesn't become a habit, giving up injury time goals to concede a lead.

Youngster Hussein scored the first goal of season near the half hour, before Spurs hit back on the hour.

Another youngster, Browne, came off the bench to put us in the lead, but in the shadows of full time, we couldn't hold the lead, giving up a deep injury time goal to share the points.

A tough game, with both teams having their chances to win, but neither side could get over the line.

 

 

Table

Spoiler

What a strange start to the season, as none of the Bookies top three teams manage to win.

Man U lost at Newcastle, while Man City were beaten at home by West Ham.

Wednesday on top of the table, Man City just above the drop zone.

Only 37 games to go

 

 

Up next...we are off to Kazakhstan to take on Borussia M'gladbach in the European Super Cup.

[Punch]

15 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Yes, I know. But Gowdy in his 30’s sounds unpossible 

I know what you mean.

John Hodgson is the oldest player at the club, he's been around for 11 years, and still isn't our record oldest player...he's only 28

[Punch]

AUG 2042 - European Super Cup - Vs Borussia Monchengladbach

 

 

Match Report

Spoiler

Our front four ran riot as we pressured The Foals out of the game, to claim our second European Super Cup.

Aled Harden is facing pressure for his position from Simon Johnson, but he was the best player on the pitch providing and assist, and scoring the opening goal.

Craig Hoston and Gary Gowdy each scored goals in the second half to seal the victory, while the final piece of the fab four, Khaled Hussein provided two assists.

The defence was also brilliant, suffocating Borussia's offence out of the game.

 

An early season boost to the bank balance.

 

We claim our second Cup, after having won it 5 years ago, when we won the Europa League.

 

Another shiny trophy to add to our trophy room.

 

We are going to need a bigger stadium soon just to have a bigger place to keep all these trophies

 

 

Up next...not much time to celebrate as we are straight back to work in the League, away to the United side of Sheffield.

[Punch]

AUG 2042 - Match Day 2 - At Sheffield United FC

 

Match Report

Spoiler

Our spluttering start to the season continued as we were held at Bramall Lane.

Khaled Hussein continued his good form, volleying home a Craig Hoston cross to give us an early lead.

We created plenty of chances, but couldn't put them away, and it was the hosts who scored next, leveling just before the half hour.

We continued to pressure in the second half, but we just couldn't get the ball in the net.

Simon Johnson almost pinched the points heading against the bar late in the game, but it wasn't to be, and we share the points.

 

 

Table

Spoiler

We find ourselves in the bottom half, even though we are undefeated.

Both Manchester sides had 4-0 wins, while Newcastle are the only perfect team after 2 games.

 

 

Up next...we have a monster clash against Manchester United at The Isle.

Given our slow start, I am not sure we have faced a more important game in the third week of the season.

[Sonic Youth]

Sleepy start, with a trophy in the mix. Will be good to win against Man Utd.