git2thachoppa Posted January 14, 2023 Share Posted January 14, 2023 (edited) Part 1 - Starting At The Top (Reporting On The Game World) - Man Utd Part 2 - Starting At The Bottom (And Taking Them To Europe) - TBC Obscure Non-League Club (probably Bognor Regis!) February 20th, 2020 - my epic fully loaded FM 07 story ended (or put on hiatus?) nice in 2030... and due to Windows 10 being Windows 10. I said my next story would be CM 93/94... And here we are! I'll be playing this on my recently-built Windows 98 PC, and will make sure to backup my save on a floppy disk. Even taking screenshots would be a hassle, so I'll literally take pictures with my phone mostly.* I discovered this game and series thanks to a little sale during a school break around the year 2000, when I was just about to become a teenager. Someone was selling a 'World Cup Year 94' PC compilation disc. I still have it to this day, and gave it a little whirl just now. But here we will not be indulging in playing on a snowy Scarborough pitch in 'Sensible Soccer: European Champions' (the very first Sensi), nor 'Striker' with Tony Daley up front for England, nor 'Goal' from the legendary Dino Dini. It will be the one on this disc I played most. The one with the pointy bloke everywhere. I played through it so many times. Titles can be won, but some seasons you'll just sink to midtable while Howard Kendall's Stoke City or a boosted Aston Villa now led by Steve Coppell race ahead. You question whether to spend your money domestically on a Chris Bart-Williams or a Nigel Clough, or maybe you're rich enough and have the several million pounds to look at the superior foreign leagues and hope to tempt away talents like Josep Guardiola or Roberto Mancini, or bring back home Englishmen like Paul Gascoigne and David Platt. Back when you had 3 substitutes, not substitutions, and the European Cup was truly for the few elite - literally the champions league (with a final), where you didn't just have to worry about Milan and Madrid, but would probably get beaten by the mysterious CSKAs and Red Stars of the game too. (I don't think I ever won the European Cup.) A game with features such as your best players often wanting to leave for the moneybags superior league in Italy, and scouting players not by going through a sea of attributes and report, but just looking at a striker and seeing if he's scored a lot. Where seasons are completed in minutes, not days and weeks. It is installed, now we play. First we're greeted with something even sexier than CM 93/94: A CM but for Serie A (and below), the best league in the world. Only £17, which is about £34 today. We start a new game, and we're introduced to the range of teams we can select. Even in 2023, this list would make FM players salivate. Marine! Bangor! Bath City, Windsor, Whitley Bay, Fisher, Marthyr, even South Liverpool and of course Halifax. Fans of Aylesbury won't be disappointed either. All these classic names and more are all valid choices for the ol' start-from-the-bottom route, but for our first run we'll start at the top, so that we can really delve into the nostalgia of the Premier League with each opponent, the top names of the time who are now more known for hosting TV shows about antiques, being harrassed as radio pundits and getting sacked in the lower leagues. And especially the ones that never made it and those #2 goalkeepers we all forgot. So I'll start with my team, Manchester United. No wait, come back, hear me out. This is the top after all, and we can come back and play in the lower leagues. CM 93/94 is a real fast pick-up-and-play game. Brighton is my hometown team, and they would be another option in future. I've only actually played as them once, but recall Kurt Nogan being a Brighton legend that fired me up the leagues. But for now, it's Cantona and co. facing off against Seaman, Cottee, Ruel Fox and John Fashanu. The last choice is to create myself and decide my personality. All players and staff have personalities. I think I always chose 'unselfish', but I'm older and wiser now. I am often seen as thoughful more than the rest, so let's go with that. Next, we'll go through every screen in the menu and discover some long-forgotten names, competitions, formats, squads and even clubs. See you there. * Spoiler EDIT: Oh wait I just remembered Dosbox exists and this does work on Windows 10, never mind I'll play it on this PC instead Edited October 22, 2023 by git2thachoppa 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted January 18, 2023 Author Share Posted January 18, 2023 Let's delve into my squad of players at Manchester United, in the year 1993! Goalkeepers Peter Schmeichel - 31 - £2m - GK - Danish - Arrogant The 1992 European Championship winner has spent a few years at the club and had a great 8.05 average rating season last season apparently, and my first act is to renew his contract for 3 years, though no pay rise as he's our highest-paid player at £9k per week! Gary Walsh - 25 - £350k - GK - English - Withdrawn Has spent his whole career at United, bar a loan spell in Scotland, but has only played a handful of games. A short run as #1 at 19 years old was halted by injury and the arrival of Schmeichel. Les Sealey - 35 - £60k - GK - English - Arrogant Chronologically, he has just started his second spell at United, but his contract ends in a few weeks. He's also 35 and spent the last few years being mediocre in the midlands. I transfer list him. Defenders Gary Pallister - 28 - £1.9m - D C - English - Confident A record defensive signing, the Harry Maguire of the late 80s, but he proved excellent alongside Bruce. And with those stats, looks to remain so. Paul Parker - 29 - £1.6m - D RC - English - Passive 20 Tackling, 20 Pace, 20 Stamina. But injury prone, and last season was disappointing at 6.1 average rating. Den(n)is Irwin - 28 - £1.5m - D L - R.o.Irish - Unselfish Mr Reliable could really play on both sides, but he's stuck on the left in this universe. Steve Bruce - 33 - £900k - D C - English - Confident Solid for several years for United, but the captain could retire any time now. Lee Martin - 25 - £700k - D L - English - Passive After a run in the first-team, his United career has wound down and looks to be over. Especially because I just listed him in the last year of his contract! Midfielders Bryan Robson - 37 - £100k - M C - English - Responsible The legendary captain struggles with injuries and is being phased out the team, but he still has high quality. He demanded a 2-year contract when I suggested 1 year, but with a pay cut. Will he play into his 40s?! Paul Ince - 26 - £3.5m - M C - English - Rebellious I breathe a sigh of relief as Ince is happy to not only renew his contract, but for the maximum 5 years. Imagine if that type of player ended up at Liverpool or something! Brian McClair - 30 - £1.6m - MA C - Scottish - Selfish Choccy has had a successful United run so far, but was shifted into midfield to allow the 2 star strikers to stay up front. Still got 9 goals last season. Clayton Blackmore - 29 - £1.3m - M RLC - Welsh - Confident The one-club-man was really a full back primarily, but here can play anywhere in midfield. So he's not a goalscorer. With a 8.14 average rating and £1m value though, I renew his contract until the end of this season. Darren Ferguson - 21 - £900k - M C - Scottish - Rebellious Sir Ale... sorry, Alex Ferguson dumps his rebellious kid on me. But he does have 18 Tackling and 19 Flair. Ryan Giggs - 20 - £5.1m - M A RL - Welsh - Confident The wonderkid of 1993. Andrei Kanchelskis - 24 - £1.6m - M A R - 'Latvian' - Withdrawn The RUSSIAN'S stats and history say he can't pass, he can't score, and he can't tackle. But I bet there'd be uproar if someone sold him! Lee Sharpe - 22 - £2.8m - MA L - English - Thoughful A promising start was followed by a couple of bumps, and has been losing his place to Giggs. Nicky Butt - 17 - £100k - M C - English - Arrogant Made a good debut last season, I sign him up for 4 more years. But he needs to develop, so I list him for a loan. Keith Gillespie - 18 - £300k - M A R - Scottish - Unselfish People are expecting him and Giggs to be rampaging down both wings in a few years. He too has the pace, flair and creativity, just needs to develop his passing a bit. Roy Keane - 22 - £3.3m - M C - R.o.Irish - Arrogant Newly signed from Forest, he would in real life spend his first season or two often as a makeshift right-back, before becoming a legendary captain in midfield. Mike Phelan - 31 - £950k - M LC - English - Unselfish After 2 full seasons, has seen his games reduced in the last couple of years. I'll see how he does before listing him though, can be a good backup. Craig Lawton - 20 - £150k - M R - English - Rash Yet to play a game, no standout attributes, and a poor personality... there's no reason to renew his contract. He's listed and will be released in a couple of months. Attackers Eric Cantona - 27 - £7.3m - A C - French - Thoughtful Joined from Leeds partway through last season and scored 9 in 22, turning United's season around and winning their first title in decades. Usually he wants to leave the country, but for now he's happy to stay. There's no visible goalscoring stat, but his passing is 20/20. Mark Hughes - 30 - £2.4m - A C - Welsh - Passive After leaving United to try out Barcelona and Bayern, Hughes returned years ago and continues to bang in a dozen or so goals a season. Dion Dublin - 25 - £800k - A C - English - Confident Unable to sign Shearer, Alex Ferguson signed Dublin. He scored 1 in 7 after joining from Cambridge last season. He has a very dodgy moustache. Doesn't shut up. Colin McKee - 19 - £200k - A C - Scottish - Rebellious Yet to play for United, and played 2 games on loan to Bury last season. He has some pace, but can he score? Loan listed. Youth No. There's no Beckham, Scholes or either Neville. This is a randomly-generated squad. You can't promote them or give them a new contract. The only info you get on players is their name, age, general position and their rating - with only the ones that are 'promising' rather than 'fair' being worth a look. All you can do is pick them in your team when you're desperate and leave enough spaces in your squad by the end of the season to see who gets promoted next season and if they're any good. We have 'promising' players in every position but attack, but we have to wait a year to see what this means... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carambau Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 (edited) Loving this! One of my all-time favorites! I remember Ray Wilkins and Nigel Clough being fantastic signings if you can get them for Man United in the first season! Oh and of course Chris Bart-Williams! Looking forward to this Edited January 19, 2023 by Carambau 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Looking forward to seeing this unfold 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ales Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 (edited) "My next story, whenever that is, will be Championship Manager 93/94" - 20 February 2020. I think I've read your FM 2007 story at least twice, especially the last part with Man Utd and England. You gave promise and here it is. Will follow. Edited January 20, 2023 by Ales 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted January 22, 2023 Author Share Posted January 22, 2023 (edited) Now let's look at info from all the other menus. Competitions League There are 4 tiers in professional English football - Premier League, Division 1, Division 2 and Division 3. There are strange faces in the Premier League, but also familiar ones who were very different back then. In real life, these leagues had 22 or 24 teams, but in this game they all have 20 teams. Last season (92/93), Man Utd won the inaugural Premier League title by 10 points over 2nd place Aston Villa, after a slow start. Norwich had been the early leaders but ended up 3rd. Defending champions Leeds nearly got relegated, but Brian Clough's Forest finished bottom. Man City are more likely to suffer 3 relegations in a row than win 3 titles. Blackburn are the moneybags Man City of this day, signing Alan Shearer in the first season back in the league, but yet to win the title as they finished 4th. QPR are a tricky midtable side. Newcastle, West Ham and Swindon have just been promoted but, due to there being 20 teams, Swindon are still in Division 1 in this game and Oldham have been booted down too. And there is also the original Wimbledon, punching well above their weight despite miniscule attendances. There's still 3 relegation places, but IIRC European spots are simply the champions naturally entering the Champions League / European Cup, a few UEFA Cup spots, and the FA Cup winners getting in the Cup Winners' Cup. FA Cup and League Cup The League Cup has yet to become the 'reserve XI until the semis' cup and holds some lustre (and a UEFA Cup spot), but it's the FA Cup that is the pinnacle of the English game. We all want to win the league, but an FA Cup trophy puts you in the history books arguably moreso. When the Final comes, the whole day of the BBC is dedicated to what is the season finale. It's no consolation trophy. European Cup, UEFA Cup, Cup Winners' Cup It's rare to see an English team in the top seeds, so even that would be an achievement. Red Star and Dynamo Moscow could be European champions by the end of the season. Or defending champs Marseille, who absolutely are not cheating. And we see Partizan and Dinamo Dresden. Teams of such calibre should expect to lose 6-0 in the groups today, but back then they could beat anyone, especially at home. Anglo-Italian Cup This obscure cup still existed back then. Serie B and Division 1 (i.e. second-tier) clubs faced off and, given the strength of Italy, most often it's a Serie B team that wins it. Managers Ready for a big hit of nostalgia? Here are the manager rankings: And as far as salary goes, I'm joint-19th in the country with £100k, alongside Phil Neal of Coventry and Billy Bonds of West Ham. The highest-paid managers are making £220k - Ron Atkinson, George Graham, Howard Wilkinson and Howard Kendall. Board Confidence is '50%: We are not concerned'. Unlike today, where a run of form gets the sack, you can afford a bad season and still have the board's patience. Players Transfer List Liverpool and Arsenal see no future in the young Robbie Fowler and Ray Parlour; Liverpool's Stig Inge Bjornebye has fallen out with manager Graeme Souness; while Swansea, Plymouth and Brighton want to give Crystal Palace's left-back Gareth Southgate some loan experience. Foreign Players The first name on the list is a young Josep Guardiola, who only managed a 5.32 average rating last season and is valued at 200K. Foreign average ratings are wacky though and unreliable.Antonio Conte and Dider Deschamps are also there, even a 21-year-old Duncan Ferguson in Scotland, but the most expensive players by value are Gascoigne and Platt, who would cost a whopping £6.5m and £6m. And this legend - Nii Lamptey: There are many ways to search and buy players in the game. But, with no transfer windows, there's no rush. Squad rotation isn't really a thing so players were often bought as and when they were needed. No need to buy another left-back when Irwin is still fit! There's also a 'national squads' screen for when there are callups. I'm not sure of its use other than as a sort of elite shortlist if you're looking for a top player. Finances, Info and Other Screens I can't see the accounts until I progress a week, but the info screen says we have a huge £12m in the bank, and the transfer budget is a whopping £10.8m. So I could buy Gazza with some to spare, if he ever wanted to come. Old Trafford's capacity is 45,000, with 42 standing (I think that's what the brackets mean). In the save game section, Intelek (the Sports Interactive of 3 decades ago) have a couple of messages, and an address for you to write feedback of this topic to: We can see all sorts of tables, fixtures and snoop at info on other clubs, view histories of myself and competitions, and change the background picture. But next update, I'll actually start playing the thing by arranging some friendlies, sacking some staff, maybe even have some matches! On 20/01/2023 at 16:34, Ales said: "My next story, whenever that is, will be Championship Manager 93/94" - 20 February 2020. I think I've read your FM 2007 story at least twice, especially the last part with Man Utd and England. You gave promise and here it is. Will follow. Wow, twice! Thank you. I remember you! Edited January 22, 2023 by git2thachoppa Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted January 25, 2023 Author Share Posted January 25, 2023 (edited) Pre Season 1993/94 Time to go through the squad and make a shortlist of players, change the staff, and play some friendlies! Staff Of the staff I've inherited, I have a 'good' team coach, a 'superb' physio, a 'good' youth scout. Of my 3 league scouts, 1 is 'v good' and 2 are 'good'. So I'm sacking all the non-superb ones and bringing in some superb (and unemployed) replacements. I'm also being very ageist and hiring the youngest candidates. It's just a game! You can ask the board to hire someone or just look yourself, and a notable feature here is the ability to move one of your own staff to this new vacant role. It may be that your 'poor' physio is actually a 'v good' team coach! And now I have a completely 'superb' staff. Though IIRC their ability / reputation can go up and down with age, so worth keeping an eye on. Squad and Shortlist Let's be honest: as with any 90s management game, you can just sell everyone and buy all the best players and you win most of the time. There's no chemistry, no adaptability stat (I think) and no management of personalities. So I could sell half the team, buy Chris Bart-Williams and Gazza and win a load of titles. But let's try and have some order to things. I'll have a look at each position and check everything's covered - this is 1993 so not a lot of squad rotation going on anyway. I'll try to give most of my players a chance to prove themselves. You can also only shortlist 15 players. IIRC, if a shortlisted player gets bid on, you can join in. It hurts, but I have to narrow it down to 1 or 2 targets per position. Another trick is to see which clubs have shortlisted the player. A midfielder could have 20s in passing, flair and creativity... but maybe that low stamina, bad personality or a hidden attribute is why they're being targeted by Barnsley rather than Bayern... Many a time when I first started, I'd buy an immense-looking player only for him to end up with a value of £50,000 because he was actually a Divison 2 player. GK 1) Schmeichel 2) Walsh There are no goalkeeping attributes, so if I want to buy / loan one, I have to go by what the scouts suggest and the average ratings. But we're fine at the moment. If I was to shortlist a couple, I'd look at Aston Villa's Mark Bosnich and Tottenham's Ian Walker. DR 1) Parker DL 1) Irwin Lee Martin is listed and out of contract soon, so it's just Irwin really. I shortlist Scunthorpe's Paul McCullagh. But I also fill it with Tottenham's 19-year-old Sol Campbell, who can play left or central defence and midfield. He'll look to break into Spurs' first team, and even my main scouts say he's good enough now, let alone in future. DC 1) Pallister 2) Bruce 3) Parker Sheffield Wednesday's Des Walker has immense stats of 20 tackling, 20 pace and 17 heading. He is targeted by Villa and Spurs so I have to add him. Man City's Keith Curle and Arsenal's Martin Keown are of the same calibre. I also add Norwich's Andy Johnson and Rangers' Richard Gough. MR 1) Giggs 2) Blackmore 3) Kanchelskis The only player I like the look of on the right is Giggs, the rest are cover, with Gillespie a future prospect. Of course, Sheffield Wednesday's Chris Bart-Williams is added. All the scouts recommend him and he's 19. Leeds' David Rocastle is shortlisted - now there's a name. He's been transfer listed and it was a toss-up between him, Waddle and Le Tissier. ML 1) Giggs 2) Sharpe 3) Blackmore 4) Phelan Sharpe is almost comparable to Giggs, so hopefully they do the job on the wings. Phelan is no winger. I add Liverpool's John Barnes to the shortlist. Could you imagine? MC - Attacking 1) Ince 2) McClair 3) Robson 4) Blackmore 5) Ferguson 6) Keane 7) Phelan MC - Defensive 1) Robson 2) Keane 3) Ferguson 4) Phelan 5) Ince 6) Blackmore 7) McClair With Butt as well, we're full of central midfielders. Robson - Keane - Ince, yes please. Blackmore and Phelan need to make an impact when they get the chance or they're out. Liverpool's Jamie Redknapp could be England's next Robson and Leicester's Julian Joachim is progressing well so far, they're added to the shortlist. Of course, I also have to add the most expensive player in the game: Lazio's Paul Gascoigne And not forgetting Anderlecht's Nii Lamptey! Attackers 1) Cantona 2) Hughes 3) Giggs 4) McClair 5) Dublin 6) Sharpe 7) Kanchelskis The goalscoring attribute is invisible, so we only have record to go by. Dublin will hope for a run in the team, and he'll need to score regularly. Like with goalkeepers, this is a position where you just have to wait and see before knowing who's delivering, for your club and as potential transfers in. Looking up strikers with 'goalscoring' and 'flair', it comes up with Barnes again and also Sheffield Wednesday's David Hirst, who is at peak age and scored 11 in 22 last season. My top target XI ======== GK (Bosnich) ======== Curle = Walker = Keown = Campbell = Gascoigne = Redknapp = Lamptey = = Bart-Williams = Joachim = Barnes = Friendlies I picked to start with an away game against Brighton, helps them out a bit too financially. Then a glamorous home game against Juventus. And while tempted to play Wiener SC or FC Nitro, we finish with a classic friendly: Rangers at Old Trafford (Celtic sent a fax saying they weren't available). My first line-up. (Note that #12 is a youth player, I haven't signed anyone yet.) You can set a win bonus to encourage the players some more. Obviously no need for that with friendlies. I like to wait until the last couple of months of the season, or a knockout game, then I start giving win bonuses if we need to improve. (Div 3) Brighton 1 - 2 Man Utd (PL)18 McCarthy - 30 Giggs, 64 Bruce Schmeichel saves a late penalty. (PL) Man Utd 0 - 2 Juventus (Italy)14 Torricelli, 18 R. Baggio There are no names in the game for non-English / non-league sides, but this Juventus side in real life included Angelo Peruzzi in goal with a midfield and attack of Antonio Conte, Roberto Baggio, Dino Baggio, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Angelo Di Livio, Gianluca Vialli and a young Alessandro Del Piero. (PL) Man Utd 1 - 0 Rangers (Scotland)60 Robson Again no names, but back then Rangers had Andy Goram and Ally McCoist alongside a newly signed Duncan Ferguson. The Season Begins The season starts with Leeds beating Blackburn 1-0 in the Charity Shield, thanks to a Brian Deane goal. Our season starts against Aston Villa. Notable Transfers Jim Magilton from Oxford to Ipswich for £400k Lawrie Sanchez from Wimbledon to Aston Villa for £150k Alain Goma from Auxerre to Bournemouth for £100k Craig Shakespeare from Grimsby to Southend for £70k Simon Grayson from Leicester to Chester for £60k Gareth Southgate from Crystal Palace to Swansea on loan Edited January 25, 2023 by git2thachoppa 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oche balboa Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 Looks really interesting this. Keep up the good work 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted February 3, 2023 Author Share Posted February 3, 2023 (edited) Man Utd 93/94 - Month 1 H v Aston Villa (PL Match 1) Stadium: Villa Park92/93 Average Attendance: 29.59492/93 Performance: 2ndReal life 93/94: 10th, League Cup winnersChairman: Doug EllisManager: Ron Atkinson European champions a decade ago, relegated half a decade ago, Villa have generally been a tricky midtable side. Is a surprise runner-up finish a sign of things to come, or just an outlier? They are led by former Man Utd manager Big Ron Atkinson. Players: Including Mark Bosnich, Nigel Spink, Dean Saunders, Ugo Ehiogu, Steve Staunton, Paul McGrath, Andy Townsend and Dwight Yorke. Lawrie Sanchez is a new in-game signing from Wimbledon. Man Utd XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Giggs, Ince, Robson (c), Sharpe; Hughes, Cantona My full-strength XI on paper starts the game: Man Utd 1 - 0 Villa45 Sharpe No real scare, Hughes missed a couple of chances. One goal was enough. ============================================================== A v Sheffield United (PL Match 2) Stadium: Bramall Lane92/93 Average Attendance: 18,80192/93 Performance: 14th, FA Cup semiReal life 93/94: 20th, relegatedChairman: Reg BrealeyManager: Dave Bassett After taking Wimbledon from the bottom league to established in the top league, Bassett helped Sheffield United do the same. Players: Chris Kamara is the most recognisable name, but I remember Adrian Littlejohn being a problem in my games. Form: They only lost 1-0 away to Liverpool a few days ago. My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Giggs, Ince, Robson (c), Sharpe; Hughes, Cantona No changes. Sheff Utd 2 - 1 Man Utd2, 62 Hodges - 65 Ince We lose despite player performances of 9s, 8s and 7s. ============================================= H v Ipswich (PL Match 3) Stadium: Portman Road92/93 Average Attendance: 18,22392/93 Performance: 16thReal life 93/94: 19th (not relegated)Chairman: John KerrManager: John Lyall Another club that suffered relegation a few years after winning a European trophy, they survived their first season back last year. Players: Chris Kiwomya and John Wark's glorious moustache are joined by in-game signing Jim Magilton. Form: They opened with a 1-0 loss at Spurs, but then beat Arsenal 1-0 at home. My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Giggs, Ince, Robson (c), Sharpe; Hughes, Cantona Fatigue is starting to slightly show, but no need for changes performance-wise. Man Utd 0 - 0 Ipswich We are lacking goals. Only Cantona stood out with a 7. ============================================== A v Wimbledon (PL Match 4) Stadium: Selhurst Park92/93 Average Attendance: 8,40592/93 Performance: 12thReal life 93/94: 6thChairman: Sam HammamManager: Joe Kinnear A Cinderella story, winning the FA Cup a few years ago after being in the bottom division. Now an established top-half Premier League side. Players: Neil Ardley, Warren Barton, Robbie Earle, John Fashanu, Dean Holdsworth, Vinnie Jones, and the many more recognisable names of these nutters. In-game, Lawrie Sanchez was sold and Iffy Onuora brought in. Form: Won away to West Ham, walloped at home to Spurs, then got a 0-0 away to Liverpool. My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Ince, Robson (c), Keane; Kanchelskis, Cantona, Giggs Sharpe is injured for 2 months and I put him on a 'hi-tec' rehabilitation program to get him back ASAP, and Hughes is dropped after so-so performances and 0 goals. I'm going to change things to a 4-3-3, with Cantona supported by Giggs and Kanchelskis and a midfield 3 of Robson - Ince - Keane. Phwoar. Wimbledon 1 - 0 Man Utd17 Fitzgerald Sent off: 42 Jones Vinnie Jones was sent off for injuring our captain Robson, who handed the armband to Keane. But again no sign of a goal despite 8s and 9s in performance, and again the team with the lower average ratings wins. ====================================================== H v Newcastle (PL Match 5) Stadium: St James' Park92/93 Average Attendance: 26,51192/93 Performance: 1st in Division One, promotedReal life 93/94: 3rdChairman: Sir John HallManager: Kevin Keegan Newly promoted, will the sleeping giant of Newcastle United ever wake up? Players: Peter Beardsley and Andy Cole lead a squad full of familiar Newcastle mainstays. Form: Newcastle are unbeaten and have scored 1 or 2 goals every game so far. My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Ince, Robson (c), Keane; Kanchelskis, Cantona, Giggs No changes, let's try it again. Man Utd 1 - 0 Newcatle23 Irwin An action-packed game saw diving, a disallowed Man Utd goal and Giggs' penalty saved. We dominated though. Which reminds me - you can set penalty taker order... I should do that now... ===================================== News Cantona wins Player of the Month, Tottenham's Darren Anderton wins Young Player of the Month. International call-ups England: Pallister and Ince. Republic of Ireland: Irwin Wales: Giggs and Hughes Scotland Under-21s: Gillespie and McKee Notable Transfers Neil Lennon from Crewe to Hull for £20k Edited February 3, 2023 by git2thachoppa Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted February 5, 2023 Author Share Posted February 5, 2023 (edited) Man Utd 93/94 - Month 2 A v Queens Park Rangers (PL Match 6) Stadium: Loftus Road92/93 Average Attendance: 15,01592/93 Performance: 5thReal life 93/94: 9thChairman: Richard ThompsonManager: Gerry Francis A consistent midtable side. Tricky. Players: Les Ferdinand scored 20 last season, and plays alongside Ian Holloway, Andy Impey, Trevor Sinclair, Darren Peacock and former United player Ray Wilkins. As well as buying Division 3's Brighton's star striker Kurt Nogan. Form: A typically midtable season so far, but unbeaten at home. My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; McClair, Keane (c), Ince; Kanchelskis, Cantona, Giggs Robson is hovering under 7 for average rating and 94% condition, so I put McClair in his place. QPR 0 - 0 Man Utd Not a bad result. In the end, Cantona was MOTM again. =================================================== H v Liverpool (PL Match 7) Stadium: Anfield92/93 Average Attendance: 34,74192/93 Performance: 6thReal life 93/94: 8thChairman: David MooresManager: Graeme Souness The dominant club of the 70s and 80s have finished 6th twice in a row under Souness, and he needs to bring them back to the top this season. Players: The whole squad is full of well-known names past, present and future. Form: Liverpool are top of the table and unbeaten. My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Ince, Robson (c), Keane; Kanchelskis, Cantona, Giggs I bring back Robson's calming presence for McClair. Given the importance of the game, I offer the maximum win bonus of £10k per player. Man Utd 2 - 1 Liverpool14, 63 Giggs - 82 Hutchison Hutchison scored as soon as he came on, but it wasn't enough to completely spoil the Giggs show. We hand Liverpool their first loss. ===================================== A v Tottenham (PL Match 8) Stadium: White Hart Lane92/93 Average Attendance: 27,74092/93 Performance: 8th, FA Cup semiReal life 93/94: 15thChairman: Alan SugarManager: Ossie Ardiles Spurs go up and down the table, but are consistently in the final stages of the cups. Players: The experience of Gary Mabbutt is mixed with the high potential of Darren Anderton, Nicky Barmby and Sol Campbell. Maybe Teddy Sheringham could be a good Man Utd signing one day. Form: Inconsistent so far - They just enjoyed a 3-0 win over Blackburn, after a 5-0 loss to Leeds. My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Kanchelskis, Ince, Keane, Blackmore; Dublin, Cantona Giggs picked up a knock so, with no left-forwards to pick, I go back to 4-4-2 replacing Giggs with Blackmore. Dublin makes his first appearance. Spurs 4 - 0 Man Utd1, 70 Mabbutt 18 Sheringam 90 Anderton Despite 5 chances in the first few minutes, we end up being destroyed. Again, Cantona's the only one that performed. I'm going to have to start offering win bonuses for away games. =========================================== H v Cardiff City (Coca-Cola Cup - 2nd Round, Leg 1) Cardiff are midtable of Division 2 (3rd tier) and managed by Eddie May. Recognisable names are Nathan Blake and newly signed Leroy Rosenior My XI: Walsh; Parker, Bruce, Pallister (c), Martin; Blackmore, Ferguson, Phelan; Dublin, Hughes, McClair Time to go full Fergie and change most of the team. This will go a little way in deciding if anyone's getting sold soon. (PL) Man Utd 2 - 0 Cardiff (D2)44 Dublin 78 Pallister It took 11 chances to score, 18 to score twice. McClair was one of the only few that performed a '7' rather than 8, which is notable... The big result in this round was Division 1 West Bromwich Albion getting a 1-0 win at home to Liverpool. =============================== H v Southampton (PL Match 9) Stadium: The Dell92/93 Average Attendance: 15,14892/93 Performance: 18th (not relegated)Real life 93/94: 18th (not relegated)Chairman: Guy AskhamManager: Ian Branfoot A bottom-half side that always manages to avoid relegation. Players: All the managers played for them! Peter Reid, Micky Adams, Iain Dowie, and of course there's the club legends Matthew Le-Tissier, Francis Benali and Ken Monkou, with Tim Flowers in goal. Form: Improving but have only scored 1 goal away this season. My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister (c), Irwin; Kanchelskis, Ince, Giggs; Cantona, Dublin, Hughes I really change things up now. I play 3 strikers in the hope of goals. If Kanchelskis and Hughes fail here, it may be time to list them. Man Utd 1 - 1 Southampton83 Giggs - 63 Gray Giggs scores again, saving us from disaster. Hughes had another decent game but still hasn't scored. Then again, neither has Cantona. Hughes will have one more chance in the coming games, but his contract expires soon. Kanchelskis was one of the worst performers. He has an average rating of 6.33 after 6 games, 0 goals. He got 6.81 and 3 goals last season, so I transfer list him for £1.2m. ============== Player Bought Now I'm looking for a goalscorer, but also a right winger. So the shortlisted Chris Bart-Williams and Nii Lamptey are prime candidates. Or do I look at the league's top goalscorers and future United players Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole? Or perhaps the young Darren Anderton, who is impressing? I decide Lamptey is too much of an unknown, while Chris Bart-Williams has 4 goals in 10 games and can improve his 6.9 average rating. He is signed for £1.1m, on a 4-year £3.2k p/w contract. A whopping £665,000 deal! We now have a full squad - I need players to leave if I want some youth to be promoted next season, or to sign anyone else. ============== H v Blackburn Rovers (PL Match 10) Stadium: Ewood Park92/93 Average Attendance: 16,24892/93 Performance: 4th, FA Cup QF, League cup SFReal life 93/94: 2ndChairman: Jack WalkerManager: Kenny Dalglish After 2 decades in the lower leagues, millionaire Jack Walker took over with the aim of making Blackburn the best club in football, bring in Dalglish as manager. After inevitable promotion, they immediately finished 4th and in the business end of the cups while the likes of Shearer came in. Players: Batty, Berg, Gallacher, Hendry, Le-Saux, May, Shearer, Sherwood... an avalanche of 90s names. Form: Floundering in the bottom half with 5 losses in 9 games. My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister (c), Irwin; Ince, Robson (c), Keane; Bart-Williams, Cantona, Giggs It's back to the 4-3-3 with the Ince-Robson-Keane triumvirate and a wide front 3. New signing CBW starts on the right. Man Utd 1 - 0 Blackburn59 Cantona Cantona finally scores! The tactics didn't work so we switched to 4-4-2. CBW had an ok game but was lucky not to get sent off. At half-time, I realised I didn't check if I picked the right subs, but I stuck with it. (The goal helped.) It was another unspectacular game for Robson. Even though I renewed his contract at the start of the season, it looks like it's time for him to move on. We need the space and have so many central midfielders. He is listed for nearly half price: £57k. ===================================== The board's confidence is unmoved at a safe 50%. They send a message saying it was a good derby win, but that the league position is unacceptable. ========================================= News Spurs' Darren Anderton wins Young Player of the Month again, Leeds' Gary Speed takes Player of the Month. ========================================= Notable transfers John Hendrie from Middlesbrough to Chelsea for £1.3m Chris Bart-Williams from Sheff Wed to Man Utd for £1.1m Mark Wright from Liverpool to Huddersfield for £100k Steve Lomas from Man City to Middlesbrough for £100k Leroy Rosenior from Bristol City to Cardiff for £90k Edited February 5, 2023 by git2thachoppa 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted February 7, 2023 Author Share Posted February 7, 2023 Man Utd 93/94 - Month 3 A v Cardiff (Coca-Cola Cup - 2nd Round, 2nd Leg) We take a 2-0 lead to Division 2 Cardiff, who lost 3-0 and 1-0 in their last 2 games. My XI: Walsh; Parker, Bruce, Pallister (c), Martin; Gillespie, Ferguson, Blackmore, Phelan; Hughes, Dublin (D2) Cardiff 1 - 1 Man Utd (PL)70 Gavin - 36 pen DublinAggregate: Cardiff 1 -3 Man Utd Hughes was Man of the Match, but again didn't score... I decide I should at least extend his contract so he doesn't become a 'free transfer' (this is before Bosman), so he offers a wage reduction for 1 more year. =========== Division 2 Watford knocked out Premier League Newcastle 2-1. Division 1 WBA knocked out Premier League Liverpool 1-0. ========= A v Arsenal (PL Match 11) Stadium: Highbury92/93 Average Attendance: 24,40392/93 Performance: 10th, FA & League Cup double winnersReal life 93/94: 4th, Cup Winners' Cup winnersChairman: Peter Hill-WoodManager: George Graham In the top league since 1904, Arsenal won 2 titles in the past 5 years and, despite a disappointing 10th last season, continue to rack up trophies. Players: The obvious names stand out, but let's not forget Kevin Campbell, John Jensen, Anders Limpar, Andy Linighan or Paul Dickov either! Form: A hugely disappointing season so far, with the team in 16th and poor home form, including losses to Man City, QPR and Leeds. My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Bart-Williams, Ince, Keane (c), Giggs; Dublin, Cantona Win Bonus: £5k With Robson no longer wanted, it's just Ince and Keane in central midfield. Dublin is getting a run - I don't need him to play well like Cantona or even Hughes, just to give us goals. Or he'll have to go. With our bad away form and Arsenal's quality, I offer the 2nd-highest win bonus: £5k per player. Arsenal 1 - 2 Man Utd4 Campbell - 2 Cantona - 88 Keane Cantona gets a rare 10/10 rating. The board says it's a good result. =============== A v West Ham United (PL Match 12) Stadium: Boleyn Ground (Upton Park)92/93 Average Attendance: 16,60192/93 Performance: 2nd in Division 1, promotedReal life 93/94: 13thChairman: Terry BrownManager: Billy Bonds A club that gets relegated and promoted every few years and not doing much of anything else. Players: No world famous names, but let's never forget Ludek Miklosko and the Allen cousins. Form: In the relegation zone and just knocked out the League Cup by Division 1's Nottingham Forest with a 3-0 loss at home. They've lost their last 5 home games and haven't scored in their last 4. My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Bart-Williams, Ince, Keane (c), Giggs; Dublin, Cantona Win bonus: £1k No need to change after that impressive win and all-round 8+ performance. West Ham 0 - 2 Man Utd65 pen Dublin 79 Giggs Dublin dives to win a penalty that he then scores. I guess that does the job though... He has 3 goals in 6 games, 2 of them penalties. ================ A v Arsenal (Coca-Cola Cup - 3rd Round) Arsenal got walloped 3-1 away to Sheffield Wednesday since we beat them 2-1. We're on the up, they're on the down. My XI: Walsh; Parker, Bruce, Pallister (c), Martin; Gillespie, Ferguson, Phelan, Blackmore; McClair, Hughes Win bonus: £500 United won the League Cup just 2 years ago, so this competition isn't as important. So I rotate some players, but offer a little win bonus if this weakened team can pull off a big win. (PL) Arsenal 0 - 2 Man Utd (PL)17 McClair 37 pen Irwin Wow, Arsenal are really doing badly. ============ Div 2 Brentford beat PL Coventry 4-3 ============ International Call-ups England: Parker, InceScotland: McClairÉire: Irwin, KeaneWales: Giggs, Blackmore, HughesEngland U21s: Bart-WilliamsScotland U21s: Ferguson, Gillespie, McKee ================ H v Sheffield Wednesday (PL Match 13) Stadium: Hillsborough92/93 Average Attendance: 27,26392/93 Performance: 7th, runner-up in FA Cup and League CupReal life 93/94: 7th, League Cup semiChairman: Dave RichardsManager: Trevor Francis You never know where Wednesday will finish. Sometimes they finish as high as 3rd, sometimes they get relegated. Players: It's basically the 1992 England squad: Chris Woods in goal, Des Walker in front of him, Carlton Palmer in midfield, and Andy Sinton and Chris Waddle attacking. Nigel Worthington and future legend Kevin Pressman are there, but no more Chris Bart-Williams. Form: Flying high in 4th, they recently beat Arsenal and Liverpool and their last away game was a 3-0 win at Blackburn. Scary. My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Bart-Williams, Ince, Keane (c), Giggs; Dublin, Cantona Win bonus: £1k Man Utd 2 - 1 Sheff Wed61 Dublin - 38 Hirst 74 Giggs Changing the 4-4-2 to a 4-2-4 turned things around. ======== Mike Phelan hands in a transfer request. He's actually done decent in his 4 games, but with so many central midfielders and an age of 31, I accept at £950k. ========= A v Everton (PL Match 14) Stadium: Goodison Park92/93 Average Attendance: 20,45792/93 Performance: 13thReal life 93/94: 17thChairman: David MarshManager: Howard Kendall Twice won the title in the 80s, but the historically top-half side have placed midtable the past 2 seasons. Players: Neville Southall in goal, Tony Cottee up front. Fans hope David Unsworth turns out good. Form: Midtable again. Everton have only won a couple of home games, but look a bit tricky. My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Bart-Williams, Ince, Keane (c), Giggs; Dublin, Cantona Win bonus: £250 Sharpe is on the bench as he gradually regains fitness. Everton 2 - 1 Man Utd63 Unsworth - 66 Dublin 77 Rideout The board says it's a disappointing result. Yes, it is. ============================ H v Leeds United (PL Match 15) Stadium: Elland Road92/93 Average Attendance: 27,58592/93 Performance: 17thReal life 93/94: 5thChairman: Leslie SilverManager: Howard Wilkinson Leeds did a Leicester in 1992: winning the title 2 years after promotion, then narrowly avoiding relegation back. Players: Future managers David O'Leary, Gary Speed and Gordon Strachan are having great seasons in a squad also including the Wallace twins and newly signed Kerry Dixon. Form: Battling for the title in 2nd place. My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Giggs, Bart-Williams, Keane (c), Sharpe; Dublin, Cantona Win bonus: £5k My original plan for Sharpe's long-awaited return was for him to go right wing and to move CBW up front. But Dublin's form means I instead drop Ince and move CBW central. Man Utd 2 - 1 Leeds33 Keane - 73 Deane 71 Irwin Leeds dominated, but we scored with our only 2 attempts. ===================== Awards Wednesday's Waddle is Player of the Month, Spurs get 3 Young Player of the Months in a row thanks to Barmby this month. Notable Transfers Chris Wilder from Rotheram to Sheffield Wednesday for £250k Kerry Dixon from Luton to Leeds for £100k Dave Beasant from Chelsea to Tottenham for £40k Mark Kinsella from Colchester to Tranmere for £30k Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted February 10, 2023 Author Share Posted February 10, 2023 Man Utd 93/94 - Month 4 A v Manchester City (PL Match 16) Stadium: Maine Road92/93 Average Attendance: 24,69892/93 Performance: 9thReal life 93/94: 16thChairman: Peter SwalesManager: Brian Horton The yo-yo club may have finally established themselves after 3 top-half finishes. Players: A surprising amount of clubs have family members (including Man Utd's Fergusons and Nevilles!). City have the Brightwell brothers. Big Niall Quinn stands out up front while Steve McMahon and Lomas have been sold. Form: Settled in midtable with a nearly equal record of wins, draws, losses, goals scored and goals conceded. My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Giggs, Bart-Williams, Keane (c), Sharpe; Dublin, Cantona Win bonus: £10k No chances with the win bonus - a win away to our rivals is worth a huge 5-figure reward. Man City 2 - 2 Man Utd41 Simpson 31 Cantona 50 Curle 68 Bart-Williams A classic derby. The board say it's a good result. ========================================= A v Coventry (PL Match 17) Stadium: Highfield Road92/93 Average Attendance: 14,95192/93 Performance: 15thReal life 93/94: 11thChairman: Bryan RichardsonManager: Phil Neal Another one of those bottom-half sides that has managed to avoid relegation for decades. Players: Peter Ndlovu and Steve Ogrizovic play alongside Lee Hirst and Lee Hurst. Form: Rooted bottom of the table, leaking goals and knocked out the cup by Brentford, Coventry suddenly moved up the table with 3 wins in a row, though just lost to Wednesday. Yet to keep a clean sheet in the league. My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Giggs, Bart-Williams, Keane (c), Sharpe; Dublin, Cantona Win bonus: £5k The only change is in formation, moving CBW up into a support role. Coventry 1 - 3 Man Utd74 Robson 22 Bart-Williams 29, 78 Dublin ========================================= H v Chelsea (PL Match 18) Stadium: Stamford Bridge92/93 Average Attendance: 18,78792/93 Performance: 11thReal life 93/94: 14th, FA Cup Runner-upChairman: Ken BatesManager: Glenn Hoddle Chelsea are an erratic club that can finish anywhere. Sometimes they even get relegated, but always bounce right back. Players: Manager Hoddle is still performing and even made it back into the England squad at 36. Dimitri Kharine suffers the same fate as Russian compatriot Kanchelskis, being dubbed 'Latvian'. Dave Beasant was sold a while ago. Form: Battling relegation after only 3 wins in 17 matches, but have only conceded 14. They just need a goalscorer. My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Giggs, Bart-Williams, Keane (c), Sharpe; Dublin, Cantona Win bonus: £0 Man Utd 0 - 1 Chelsea66 pen Hendrie Wow, I'm really going to have to put a win bonus for every game. ============ A v Sheffield Wednesday (Coca-Cola Cup - 4th Round) My XI: Walsh; Parker, Bruce, Pallister (c), Irwin; Gillespie, Ince, Ferguson, Blackmore; McClair, Hughes Win bonus: £5k We beat them at home 2-1 after changing to 4-2-4, with mixed results since. But with a weakened side away from home, a £5k reward is on offer. Sheff Wed 2 - 1 Man Utd48 Bright 75 Hughes 85 Waddle Disappointing late punishment. ============================ I'm gonna include match 19 even though it's a new month, so that we reach the halfway point. ============================ Man Utd 93/94 - Month 5 H v Norwich (PL Match 19) Stadium: Carrow Road92/93 Average Attendance: 16,15492/93 Performance: 3rdReal life 93/94: 12thChairman: Robert ChaseManager: Mike Walker Formerly a yo-yo club, now an established midtable side, they had their best ever finish in history last season. Players: 18-year-old Ade Akinbiyi barely started his career before going to his favourite place - the transfer list. There's also Mark Robins, whose goals for Man Utd weren't enough to save Alex Ferguson's job. The most well-known name though is Chris Sutton. Form: A typical midtable season so far. My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Giggs, Keane (c), Sharpe; Bart-Williams; Dublin, Cantona Win bonus: £1k Man Utd 3 - 0 Norwich5 Dublin 9 Sharpe 85 Bruce ================================ Halfway point Spurs are having a stellar season, but they can be caught. I shortlisted Hirst at the start of the season. Luckily we already had Dublin! A shocking stat: Newcastle's Peter Beardsley has literally 19 MOTM awards from 25 games! Awards Tottenham dominating as Barmby follows Anderton in winning 2 Young Player of the Month awards in a row, while Sheringham picks up Player of the Month and leading the goalscoring charts. International Callups England: Parker, Ince Scotland: McClair Éire: Irwin, Keane Wales: Giggs, Blackmore, Hughes England U21: Bart-Williams Scotland U21: Ferguson, Gillespie, McKee Notable Transfers Mark Stein from Chelsea to West Ham for £1m Kevin Campbell from Arsenal to West Ham for £900k 'Vinny' Jones from Wimbledon to Derby for £700k Richard Shaw from Crystal Palace to Chelsea for £400k Steve Cotterill from Bournemouth to Charlton for £300k Kasey Keller from Milwall to West Ham for £250k Graham Potter from Birmingham to Hull for £140k Cyrille Regis from Wolves to Birmingham for £100k Phil Parkinson from Reading to Southend for £60k Mark Robins from Norwich to Burnley on loan =================================== You've finally been introduced to every Premier League club. Now for the second half and a title charge! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carambau Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 lovin´this! keep up the good form - although Tottenham seems to run away with the league its still only half time! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted February 17, 2023 Author Share Posted February 17, 2023 (edited) Man Utd 93/94 - Months 5 & 6 A v Villa (PL Match 20) Previous meeting: W1-0 My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Giggs, Keane (c), Sharpe; Bart-Williams; Dublin, Cantona Win bonus: £5k (6th) Villa 0 - 1 Man Utd (3rd)10 Dublin Board: "A good result" =============================== H v Sheff Utd (PL Match 21) Previous meeting: L2-1 My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Giggs, Ince, Keane (c), Sharpe; Bart-Williams, Cantona Win bonus: £500 An injury to Dublin means CBW moves forward and Ince comes into midfield. (2nd) Man Utd 0 - 0 Sheff Utd (16th) =============================== A v Ipswich (PL Match 22) Previous meeting: D0-0 My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Giggs, Ince, Keane (c), Sharpe; Bart-Williams, Cantona Win bonus: £10k (5th) Ipswich 3 - 1 Man Utd (2nd)5 Clarke 64 Giggs 37 pen Kiwomya 87 Whitton =============================== A v Peterborough (FA Cup 3rd Round) My XI: Walsh; Parker, Bruce, Pallister (c), Martin; Gillespie, Ferguson, Blackmore, Phelan; McClair; Hughes Win bonus: £0 (5th, D2) Peterborough 2 - 1 Man Utd (3rd, PL)12 Adcock 81 McClair 90 pen Grant Board: "A disgraceful result." With the game seemingly saved, someone hacked an opponent down in the penalty and gave them their biggest ever win. It's of course the giantkilling of the day, despite Division 3 Brighton getting a 0-0 at Liverpool. Brighton would win the replay 1-0 though. This is the last straw, heads must roll, and it won't be mine. Clayton Blackmore, our lowest performer with a 6, is transfer listed. His average rating of 6.8 isn't good enough. =============================== Graeme Souness resigns as Liverpool manager after several poor seasons and a shock loss to bottom-tier Brighton. He's replaced with Tranmere manager John King. =============================== Speed and Barmby pick up Player and Young Player of the Month once more. =============================== Month 6 H v Wimbledon (PL Match 23) Previous meeting: L1-0 My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Giggs, Keane (c), Sharpe; Bart-Williams; Dublin, Cantona Win bonus: £10k (3rd) Man Utd 1 - 0 Wimbledon (9th)35 Dublin =============================== A v Newcastle (PL Match 24) Previous meeting: W1-0 My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Giggs, Keane (c), Sharpe; Bart-Williams; Dublin, Cantona Win bonus: £10k (2nd) Newcastle 3 - 0 Man Utd (3rd)24, 27 Clark 74 Lee Awful. We went down to 10 men at 2-0, due to both subs being used and an injury to Sharpe, who is out for 11 weeks. Mark Hughes is transfer listed. His average rating is still good (7.07) but his contract expires next season, he's 30 and, most importantly he's got 1 solitary goal in 15 matches. =============================== H v QPR (PL Match 25) Previous meeting: D0-0 My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Bart-Williams, Ferguson, Keane (c), Giggs; Dublin, Cantona Win bonus: £10k With Sharpe injured, CBW is put back on the right-wing, Giggs on the left, and Darren Ferguson is given a chance in midfield, as Ince is one of the players suffering poor recent form. (3rd) Man Utd 2 - 1 QPR (8th)56 Dublin 68 pen Ferdinand 86 Giggs =============================== A v Liverpool (PL Match 26) Previous Meeting: W2-1 My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Bart-Williams, Ferguson, Keane (c), Giggs; Dublin, Cantona Win bonus: £10k (14th) Liverpool 1 - 0 Man Utd (3rd)18 Hutchinson In the 90th minute, Dublin won a penalty but had it saved by Grobbelaar. Another disappointing game from Bart-Williams. =============================== Beardsley wins Player of the Month. Young Player of the Month goes to Man City's Mike Sheron. =============================== International Call-ups Éire: Irwin, Keane Wales: Giggs, Blackmore, Hughes England U21: Bart-Williams Scotland U21: Ferguson, Gillespie, McKee Parker and Ince dropped from England, McClair dropped from Scotland. Notable Transfers Matt Le-Tissier from Southampton to Arsenal for £3.4m Jamie Pollock from Middlesbrough to Leicester for £1.1m Rick Holden from Oldham to Everton for £1m Mark Crossley from Nottingham Forest to Barnsley for £550k Andy Liddell from Barnsley to Stockport for £340k Ade Akinbiyi from Norwich to Doncaster for £70k Edited February 17, 2023 by git2thachoppa Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted February 21, 2023 Author Share Posted February 21, 2023 (edited) Man Utd 93/94 - Month 7 & Transfer Deadline Day H v Tottenham (PL Match 27) Previous Meeting: L4-0 My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Gillespie, Ferguson, Keane (c), Giggs; Dublin, Cantona Win bonus: £10k (4th) Man Utd 2 - 1 Spurs (1st) 60, 62 Cantona 1 Turner Going instantly behind and missing chances, it looked like another depressing loss. Then King Eric arrived and the title race was on. =========================================== 3 clubs wanted transfer-listed Mark Hughes, but only Liverpool would bid 7 figures. I was left with a choice: Keep Hughes, who has a good average rating but hasn't scored in the league and is 30 years old, or sell him to our rivals for a cut price, with the risk he performs for them. I bite the bullet, and shockwaves are sent as Man Utd's iconic striker leaves for Liverpool for £2.2m Lee Martin is finally sold, going to Stoke. I'm offered the chance to bid for Gary Mabbutt, who has had a stellar season with 8.12 average rating and is cheap... But is 32 and only being chased by Southampton. Bruce and Pallister are a little underperforming, but they can do a job still. So I pass. Deadline Day Shocks Alan Shearer from Blackburn to Newcastle for £4.3m (British Record) Mark Hughes from Man Utd to Liverpool for £2.2m Dalian Atkinson from Aston Villa to Derby County for £2.2m Anders Limpar from Arsenal to Stoke for £1.225m Dwight Yorke from Aston Villa to Manchester... City for £1.1m John Salako from Crystal Palace to Wimbledon for £900k Francis Benali from Southampton to Birmingham for £800k Lee Martin from Man Utd to Stoke for £436k Gary Mabbutt from Tottenham to Southampton for £400k ====================================================== A v Southampton (PL Match 28) Previous Meeting: D1-1 My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Giggs, Keane (c), Ferguson, Phelan; Dublin, Cantona Win Bonus: £10k With no one performing on the right-wing, I move Giggs there and give Phelan a go on the left. (20th) Southampton 3 - 0 Man Utd (4th)7, 53 Dowie 13 pen Banger Sent off 15 Dodd Board: A very poor result. This team are a disaster away from home. So many bad individual performances. As often is the case, Cantona was the only one to have a decent 7. Pallister gets a week's fine for another 4-rated performance. He and the other defenders are 6.9 to 7, but he's been poorest most often. =========================================================== Awards Player of the Month: Leeds' Gary McAllister Young Player of the Month: Ipswich's Gary Thompson Edited February 21, 2023 by git2thachoppa Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmattb28 Posted February 24, 2023 Share Posted February 24, 2023 Your other thread brought me here. Unreal read that one and this is incredible to far. Love old game threads like this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted February 28, 2023 Author Share Posted February 28, 2023 Man Utd 93/94 - The Final 10 Matches Month 8 A v Blackburn (PL Match 29) Previous Meeting: W1-0 My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Giggs, Keane (c), Ferguson, Phelan; Dublin, Cantona Win Bonus: £10k After losing 3-0 away to the bottom side, we theoretically should fail to get any more away points. (10th) Blackburn 1 - 0 Man Utd (4th) 40 Ripley We dominated most of the game, everyone got 8s (Cantona got 9). But still lose away. =========================== H v Arsenal (PL Match 30) Previous Meeting: W2-1 My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Giggs, Keane (c), Ferguson, Phelan; Dublin, Cantona Win Bonus: £1k We met them away in the league and with a rotated side in the Coca-Cola Cup, and won both times. (5th) Man Utd 0 - 1 Arsenal (13th) 33 pen Wright We completely dominated. Once again Keane and Cantona get chances and don't put them away. They fall in the area and get a penalty, Cantona gets fouled and the ref waves play on. =========================== H v West Ham (PL Match 31) Previous Meeting: W2-1 My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Giggs, Keane (c), Ferguson, Phelan; Dublin, Cantona Win Bonus: £5k (7th) Man Utd 0 - 0 West Ham (19th) Why do refs keep handing our opponents penalties?? Giggs and Dublin, who we used to rely on to perform and score goals, are going through poor form. =========================== A v Sheff Wed (PL Match 32) Previous Meeting: W2-1 My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Giggs, Keane (c), Phelan; McClair, Dublin, Cantona Win Bonus: £10k I switch to 4-3-3 just to freshen things up. (4th) Sheff Wed 2 - 1 Man Utd (7th) 19 Waddle 38 Irwin 73 Worthington Our first goal in 5 games. Dublin missed a penalty. But it was a really good performance. =========================== International Callups Éire: Irwin, Keane Wales: Giggs England U21: Bart-Williams Scotland U21: Ferguson, Gillespie, McKee =========================== H v Everton (PL Match 33) Previous Meeting: L2-1 My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Giggs, Keane (c), Phelan; McClair, Dublin, Cantona Win Bonus: £10k Sharpe is on the bench, but Phelan is doing well enough to keep his place. (7th) Man Utd 1 - 3 Everton (12th) 67 Cantona 77, 79 Rideout 86 Kenny This game is on a huge amount of drugs. =========================== Newcastle duo Beardsley and Andrew Cole get Player and Young Player of the Month Sheffield Wednesday beat Division 1 Derby Country 2-0 to win the Coca Cola Cup. =========================== Month 9 A v Leeds (PL Match 34) Previous Meeting: W2-1 My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Keane (c), Phelan; Giggs, Dublin, Cantona, Sharpe Win Bonus: £10k A change to 4-2-4 now. (4th) Leeds 1 - 1 Man Utd (8th) 66 Deane 45 Bruce The board say it's a good result. =========================== H v Man City (PL Match 35) Previous Meeting: D2-2 My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Keane (c), Phelan; Giggs, Dublin, Cantona, Sharpe Win Bonus: £10k A change to 4-2-4 now. (8th) Man Utd 2 - 2 Man City (7th) 4 Own Goal by Curle 24 pen, 30 pen Griffiths 13 Cantona The board say it's a good derby result, but that's an absolute scandal and this game hates me right now for some reason. =========================== Wolves beat Pisa 1-0 in the Anglo-Italian Cup Final =========================== H v Coventry (PL Match 36) Previous Meeting: W3-1 My XI: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Keane, Robson (c); Giggs, Bart-Williams, Cantona, Sharpe Win Bonus: £10k It's the last home game of the season. I bring in Robson just to have an inspirational leader on the pitch. Dublin has stopped scoring, so I give Bart-Williams a chance to save his debut season. (8th) Man Utd 2 - 0 Coventry (13th)20 Irwin, 76 Bart-Williams Board: A good result We were helped by a lot of missed chances by Coventry, and the ref ignoring a stonewall Coventry penalty. We deserved some luck. Our first win in 9 games. ============================== A v Chelsea (PL Match 37) Previous Meeting: L1-0 My XI: Walsh; Parker, Bruce, Pallister (c); Kanchelskis, Ince, Butt, Phelan, Blackmore; McClair, McKee Win Bonus: £1k There's nothing left to play for really, other than fleeting local pride (as City are 2 points ahead of us). So I pick all the players who are 100% fitness (rather than 96%, 97% etc.) leading to a 3-5-2 formation. McKee, making his debut, and Butt play their first games under me. (11th) Chelsea 0 - 2 Man Utd (8th) 70 McClair 83 Ferguson Board: A good result We dominated that game. Go figure! Board: We find your current team selection somewhat questionable. But we won! =========================== Player of the Month: Paul Rideout (Everton) Young Player of the Month: Nick Barmby (Spurs) =========================== A v Norwich (PL Match 38) Previous Meeting: W3-0 My XI: Walsh; Parker, Bruce, Pallister; Giggs, Ferguson, Keane (c), Phelan, Blackmore; McClair, Cantona Win Bonus: £1k This time I picked based on morale: No one with low or very low morale makes the squad. (13th) Norwich 2 - 3 Man Utd (7th) 20 Ekoku 22, 41 Cantona 90 Robins 83 Irwin Easier than the scoreline suggested, a United 4th was disallowed. =========================== NEXT: 93/94 English season and Man Utd Reviews 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted March 2, 2023 Author Share Posted March 2, 2023 (edited) 93/94 - End of Season Sorry. I mean... World Review Premier League In their first season back in the Premier League, Leicest... I mean Newcastle United shocked the world by winning thier first major trophy in several decades, also their first top division title in almost 70 years. Time was finally up for Southampton, as the bottom 3 were relegated early in the season together. Liverpool and Arsenal had an awful season. Kevin Keegan will go down in history, as will Peter Beardsley after an incredible league-high 8.22 average rating and 27 MOTM awards in 46 games. Spurs' Teddy Sheringham was top scorer with 24 goals Aston Villa's Guy Whittingham was the dirtiest player with 35 disciplinary points. Lower League Charity Shield: Blackburn 0 - 1 Leeds FA Cup Final: (PL) Blackburn 0 - 2 Ipswich (PL) AET League Cup Final: (D1) Derby 0 - 2 Sheff Wed (PL) Anglo-Italian Cup Final: Pisa 0 - 1 Wolves AET Sackings: Peter Shilton resigned as Plymouth manager after their relegation into non-league. Europe European Cup Final: (Bulg) CSKA Sofia 1 - 2 Porto (Por) Porto's 2nd European Cup in 7 years! Cup Winners Cup Final: (Por) Benfica 0 - 1 Inter Milan (Ita) UEFA Cup Final: (Ita) AC Milan 2 - 1 Dynamo Dresden (Ger) (agg.) If England were at the 1994 World Cup, here's the squad they'd be bringing: For some reason, there are a couple of Soviet moles in the Scotland squads... Man Utd Season Review League: 7th, W17, D8, L13, F43, A42, 59PTS FA Cup: 3rd Round League Cup: 4th Round Average Attendance: 37,993 Top Scorer: Dublin - 11 Supporters' Player of the Season (Best Average Rating): Cantona - 7.62 Dirtiest Player: Cantona / Giggs (15 disciplinary points) Most Man of the Match Awards: Cantona (12) Board Confidence: 59% - We are not concerned. The first season is a bit of a free pass and, if you completely tank, you hope you turn it around next season. But my confidence rised 9% this season. So far so good. A dodgy start turned into a title charge, and then a total collapse at the end. While there were some awful performances (including being knocked out of the FA Cup by bottom-tier Peterborough), there were some standout results too - beating last season's runner-up on the opening day and going on to beat Liverpool, Arsenal, ending champions Newcastle's unbeaten start, and beating in-form table toppers Spurs. We conceded the joint-most away goals in the league: 29 in 19 games. Hopefully with a couple of squad spaces there's a chance to keep improving. As a team continuously improves, they reach the next step on the route ot the top: Season 1-4: Win the title Season 5-7: Reach the European Cup group stage Season 10: Top a European Cup group to reach knockouts Season 10-13: Reach the European Cup Final Nintendo Hard objective: Win European Cup. The one time I reached the final was in my one long-term Man Utd save long ago. We were actually completing a treble in 1999 with a final against Bayern where we went 1-0 down early... but we lost and never made it that far again. You need everyone in every position performing, to be in good form, and then a bit of luck. Squad Review Transfers In Chris Bart-Williams from Sheffield Wednesday for £1.1m On deadline day, I had the chance to buy Spurs' Gary Mabbutt, which could've improved the team but filled a space with a 32-year-old. Southampton signed him for £400k and he got a 7.36 average rating and 3 MOTM awards. But in the long-term, probably the right choice. Out Mark Hughes to Liverpool for £2.2m Lee Martin to Stoke City for £436k Post-Season Contract Terminations McClair, Robson, Sealey Profit: £1.536m Main XI ------------------------- Cantona --- Dublin --------Sharpe / Giggs --- Keane (c) --- Ince --- Giggs / Bart-WilliamsIrwin ---------------- Pallister --- Bruce --- Parker ----------------------------- Schmeichel -------------- Goalkeepers Peter Schmeichel - 31 - £1.5mAppearances 36, Conceded 40, Average Rating 6.75, Minimum Rating 5, Maximum Rating 8 GKs don't get high ratings (only a few in the PL have 7 or above), so this rating is ok. Gary Walsh - 25 - £350kA 7, C 7, AvR 6.86, Min 5, Max 8 Got some games and proved a very able #2 and future #1, some would argue he should be #1 now! Les Sealey - 35 - £90k / Free AgentA 0 We only need 2 GKs, so he'll leave for non-league in the summer. Defenders With only 4 defenders in the squad now, they all had similar seasons - played every or nearly every game, hovering below 7-rating, consistently ok, but getting older and needing refreshing. Paul Parker - 29 - D RC - £1mA 43, AvR 6.93, Min 4, Max 9 The defender I was most concerned by ended up being the most reliable. Steve Bruce - 33 - D C - £650kApp 43, Goals 2, AvR 6.84, Min 5, Max 8 Consistent, but could be better. Gary Pallister - 28 - D C - £1.4mA 43, G 1, AvR 6.79, Min 4, Max 8 Had a few nightmares. He should be a rock. Denis Irwin - 28 - D L - £2.2mA 39, G 6, Man Of The Match Awards 1, AvR 6.95, Min 4, Max 9 Quiet and consistent, chips in with the odd goal! Lee Martin - 25 - D L - £500kA 3, AvR 7.33 Dropped down a league, getting 6.45, which is unspectacular at that level but is Stoke's 2nd-best rating. Midfielders and Attackers Ryan Giggs - 20 - MA RL - £5.7mA 38, G 7, MOTM 3, AvR 6.97, Min 4, Max 9 Saved the club from being a total disaster in the first half of the season, but his rating shot down from 7.4 to 7 as United's form dropped. Roy Keane - 22 - M C - £3.6mA 33, G 2, AvR 6.85, Min 5, Max 9 Earned the captaincy this season and has a bright future. Paul Ince - 26 - M C - £2.1mA 29, G 1, AvR 6.72, Min 4, Max 8 A good start, but he faded with the team and lost his place as we tried to find a win. Chris Bart-Williams - 19 - MA RC - £900kA 20, G 3, AvR 6.5, Min 5, Max 9 I had only one squad place left and needed a goalscorer and right-winger. But CBW's first season was disappointing. He's only 19 though. Lee Sharpe - 22 - MA L - £2.1mA 17, G 2, AvR 6.76, Min 4, Max 8 I hoped for Giggs and Sharpe to be rampaging down the wings, but injuries disrupted his season. I get him insured. Mike Phelan - 31 - M LC - £600kA 16, AvR 7, Min 5, Max 8 Was transfer-listed after a few mediocre performances, but returned to the team at the end of the season and provided stability when everyone was losing their heads. Clayton Blackmore - 29 - M RLC - £1.3mA 14, AvR 7, Min 6, Max 8 He was put on the transfer list to make space, but evidently he's a good utility player. Darren Ferguson - 21 - M C - £900kA 14, G 1, MOTM 1, AvR 6.86, Min 6, Max 8 Earned a run in the team and showing good potential. Brian McClair - 30 - MA C - £1mA 14, G 3, AvR 6.79, Min 5, Max 8 Didn't make a mark. With age not on his side, a large pool of central midfielders and goalscoring strikers, he leaves for non-league football at the end of the season. Bryan Robson - 37 - M C - £100kA 9, AvR 6.33, Min 5, Max 8 I had hoped for a midfield trio of Robson, Ince and Keane to dominate, but the inspirational Robson just couldn't keep up and I nudge him into non-league. Andrei Kanchelskis - 24 - MA R - £1.6mA 7, AvR 6.57, Min 5, Max 8 Transfer listed after a string of poor performances and my needing space in my squad to sign more players, but no one came in for him. So he gets another chance next season. Keith Gillespie - 18 - MA R - £250kA 7, AvR 6.43, Min 4, Max 8 After a few good performances, he got a brief run in the first team, which ended after a few awful games. Nicky Butt - 17 - M C - £100kA 1, AvR 6 Still a potential prospect. Craig Lawton - 20 - M R - £200k / Free AgentA 0 No sign he's any good. Strikers Eric Cantona - 27 - A C - £4.8mA 37, G 9, MOTM 12, AvR 7.62, Min 5, Max 10 Hoping for more goals. But with a passing of 20, you have to assume he's getting assists. Always performs, even when he doesn't score and we lose 3-0. Dion Dublin - 25 - A C - £1.1mA 29, G 11, MOTM 3, AvR 7.14, Min 5, Max 9 Took his chance by banging in the goals after replacing Hughes. Had a dry spell, but overall a good first full season. Mark Hughes - 30 - A C - £3mA 15, G 1, AvR 7.07 Didn't score in the league at all, getting old and we already had Cantona filling the 'good ratings but not scoring' role. Liverpool were the only club willing to bid 7 figures, so he was sold to our major rivals. He scored 3 in 11 for them, but with a rating of 6.73, and was transfer-listed post-season. Colin McKee - 19 - A C - £200kA 1, AvR 7 It's hard enough to judge potential, never mind strikers with no visible goalscoring attribute. How This Thread Will Go This is Part 1 - starting at the top and enjoying all the famous names and trying to win the big one. But CM 93/94 isn't conducive to realism or caring about the world like with FM 07. Teams go up and down randomly (see Arsenal's and Liverpool's relegation battles) and players are also bought and sold seemingly at random, to and from fierce rivals. So rather than going a few decades again, I figure I'll keep playing until (if) I win the European Cup, or all the players retire, or I get bored. Then it's onto Part 2 - starting at the bottom with one club and aiming for that European Cup trophy. I've already played as my hometown side before (lowly Division 3 Brighton) and got them yo-yoing in the Premier League before I stopped. So I'll try something I've never tried before: starting as one of the tiny non-league sides, like Bognor Regis. Now that's the ultimate CM 93/94 challenge. Edited March 2, 2023 by git2thachoppa Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted March 10, 2023 Author Share Posted March 10, 2023 (edited) 94/95 Season & Man Utd Review Game World It only took 1 year for the game to lose its mind. The table looked a bit upside-down - all the promoted teams stayed up while Arsenal suffered a shock relegation. Joining them were Wednesday and Ipswich, who finished 2nd and 4th last season. Just avoiding relegation were Liverpool and former table-toppers Spurs. Man City topped the table for the entire first half of the season, but we couldn't allow that. Top Goalscorer: Paul Warhurst (Blackburn) - 20Player of the Year (Highest Average Rating): Teddy Sheringham (Tottenham / Man Utd) - 7.95Young Player of the Year: Nick Barmby (Tottenham)Most MOTM Awards: Lee Clark (Newcastle) - 20Dirtiest Player: Iain Jenkins - 40 pointsManager of the Year: Kevin Keegan (Newcastle) In the lower leagues, Bristol Rovers were relegated to non-league. Charity Shield: (PL) Newcastle 0 - 0 Ipswich (FA)FA Cup Final: (PL) Newcastle 2 - 0 Sheff Utd (D1) Liverpool were held 0-0 at home by non-league Hereford, and two Division 1 sides reached the semis (Burnley being the other). Coca-Cola Cup Final: (D1) Crystal Palace 0 - 1 Sheff Utd (D1) Division 1 Sheffield United nearly won a Cup Double! They knocked out a slew of Premier League teams - including Man Utd, Newcastle, Blackburn and Spurs - on the way to both finals. No Premier League sides reached the semis - it was Division 2 Bristol City and Div 1 Palace, Derby and Sheff Utd. Anglo-Italian Cup Final: Derby 2 - 0 Cremonese European Cup Final: (Por) Benfica 1 - 2 Napoli (Ita) A few years after winning their first UEFA Cup, Napoli are the champions of Europe! Newcastle reached the hallowed group stages, but finished bottom. Cup Winners Cup Final: (Ita) Sampdoria 1 - 2 Inter (Ita) On aggregate, Northern Irish side Glenavon knocked out Ipswich 2-1 before being edged out 1-0 by Sampdoria. UEFA Cup Final: (Rus) Spartak Moscow 1 - 2 Univert C (Rom) What? Leeds lost to some Romanians, the eventual winners. Meanwhile Aberdeen beat Feyenoord and Sheff Wednesday beat Roma. Sackings Aston Villa manager Ron Atkinson retired aged 61 and was replaced with Cardiff assistant manager Kevin Ratcliffe Arsenal sacked George Graham as they bizarrely battled relegation again, replacing him with a regen. Swansea sacked Frank Burrows and brought in Peter Shilton. Ipswich sacked John Lyall and chose Bristol City's Russell Osman after offering me the job. Bristol Rovers sacked John Ward after relegation into non-league. Notable Transfers Teddy Sheringham from Spurs to Man Utd for £4.9m Ian Brightwell from Man City to Man Utd for £3.3m Alan Shearer from Newcastle to Genoa (Italy) for £3.2m Graeme Le-Saux from Blackburn to Chelsea for £2.8m Derek Whyte from Middlesbrough to Man Utd for £1.9m Dean Holdsworth from Wimbledon to Wovles for £1m Paul Kitson from Derby to N. Forest for £500k Neil Redfearn from Barnsley to Grimsby for £450k George Ndah from Crystal Palace to Leicester for £450k Kasey Keller from West Ham to Spurs for £250k Frank Sinclair from Chelsea to Derby for £250k Neil Sullivan from Wimbledon to Milwall for £200k Pat Nevin from Tranmere to Bolton for £150k Steve Claridge from Cambridge to Sheffield Wednesday for £150k Steve Clarke from Chelsea to Wolves for £100k Paul Jewell from Bradford to Oxford for £60k John Aldridge from Tranmere to Peterborough for £30k Carl Hoddle from Barnet to Exter for £30k Peter Reid from Southampton to Sheffield United for £20k Dean Windass (right-back??) from Hull to Oldham for £10k Chris Kamara from Sheffield United to Birmingham for £10k Steve McMahon from Scarborough to Exter for free ================================================================ Man Utd 94/95 Season & Squad League: 1st, W19, D11, L8, F39, A27, 68PTS We only won 2 more games and got 9 more points, but that made all the difference. We actually scored fewer goals, though it didn't feel like it. Everyone chipped in. I'm sure the miniscule 39 goals scored by a league champion is some kind of record. FA Cup 3rd Round: W1-0 H v Oldham (D1) 4R: W4-2 H v Middlesbrough (PL) 5R Round L3-0 A v West Ham (D1) League Cup 2R: L2-0 agg. v Sheff Utd (D1) Friendlies I am now enforcing a policy of only playing friendlies against teams with funny names. L2-1 H v Grasshoppers (Swi) Average Attendance: 43,128Top Scorer: Cantona - 14Supporter's Player of the Year (best average rating): Cantona - 7.93Dirtiest Player: Whyte - 25 pointsMost Man of the Match: Cantona, Sheringham - 14Board Confidence: 90% - We are very pleased The league wasn't as close as it looks, and we won it with a game in hand. We kept within distance, a 0-0 draw with 10 men at Anfield was a sign the team were ready, and we closed the gap in the second half of the season. We went top again after 33 games, gaining 4 points in back-to-back games against title rivals Newcastle and Chelsea, and stayed there. After losing in Middlesbrough, a home game against Coventry was a chance to gain the point we needed. We went 2-0 down, but Cantona scored a penalty... then had a second saved. But Chelsea lost on the day and the title was lifted at Old Trafford again. Cups were disappointing again. We came back from 2-0 down to beat Middlesbrough 4-2, only to then lose to Division 1 West Ham 3-0 in the first 20 minutes. Old Trafford's attendance was increased by 1,000 to 46,000 I got a pay rise to £140k a year, making me joint 11th highest paid alongside Chelsea's Glenn Hoddle and Derby Country's Roy McFarland. Squad Review Transfers In Keith Curle from Man City on loan Derek Whyte from Middlesbrough for £1.9m Teddy Sheringham from Tottenham for £4.9m (British record) Ian Brightwell from Man City for £3.3m Total spend: £10.1m A monstrous spend but in all the right places. We needed a goalscorer and our centre-back pairing was slipping in goals, and I only looked for players that performed last season and were doing it again this season. Took a punt on Curle but he made no impact. Post-season contract terminations: Bruce, Blackmore, Phelan Main XI ------ Cantona - Sheringham ------ Sharpe - Keane (c) - Ince - Bart-Williams / Giggs Irwin - Whyte - Brightwell - Parker ----------- Schmeichel ----------- Goalkeepers Peter Schmeichel - 32 - £750kAppearance 39, Conceded 28, Minimum Rating 5, Maximum Rating 8, Average Rating 7 A stellar season and the best-performing keeper in the country. Gary Walsh - 26 - £600kA 4, C 5, Min 6, Max 7, AvR 6.25 Now there are question marks on if he can eventually replace Schmeichel. Defenders Denis Irwin - 29 - D L - £1.6mA 42, Goals 1, Min 4, Max 9, AvR 7.05 Mr Reliable again. Paul Parker - 30 - D RC - £1mA 42, G 2, Min 4, Max 9, AvR 7.00 Still doing the job, but looking like he won't keep up quality-wise with this new defence. Steve Bruce - 34 - D C - £100kA 11, G 1, Min 5, Max 7, AvR 6.27 Weak early in the season, was replaced, transfer-listed and leaves in the summer. LOAN: Keith Curle - 31 - D C - Listed for £300kA 3, AvR 5.33 With those performances, it was no surprise I terminated his loan early and bought Whyte instead. Derek Whyte - 26 - D RLC - £1.9mA 29, G 2, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7.24 Wanting someone I can play on the left if Irwin has a bad game, Whyte didn't disappoint. Gary Pallister - 29 - D C - £550kA 31, Min 4, Max 8, AvR 6.94 With Bruce ousted, Pallister was the next defender to get lower ratings than the rest in a match, which is a sign. Hopefully better next season, or at least a good backup. Ian Brightwell - 26 - DM RC - £3.6mA 14, Man Of The Match 1, Min 4, Max 9, AvR 7.36 Bought in the middle of a 7.69 season for City, one half of the new centre-back pairing that brought United the title. Midfielders and Attackers Paul Ince - 27 - M C - £3.6mA 40, G 4, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7.12 Better and more consistent, forming a parnership with Keane. Roy Keane - 23 - M C - £5.3mA 39, G 3, Min 4, Max 9, AvR 6.82 Would've been dropped if he wasn't the captain. Had a few bad games, which hopefully will be eradicated as he matures. Lee Sharpe - 23 - MA L - £3.9mA 38, G 3, MOTM 3, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7.34 Made the left his own, earning a couple England callups. Now let's see some goals. Chris Bart-Williams - 20 - MA RC - £1.7mA 35, G 2, MOTM 1, Min 5, Max 8, AvR 6.8 A slightly improved season. Hopefully takes another step forward next year. Ryan Giggs - 21 - MA RL - £5.3mA 29, G 2, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 6.97 A far more disappointing season with only 2 goals. He and Bart-Williams fought for the right-wing spot. Clayton Blackmore - 30 - M RLC - £950kA 7, Min 5, Max 7, AvR 6.43 I renewed his contract, but he didn't get much game time, so his contract is mutually terminated and he moves into non-league football. Andrei Kanchelskis - 25 - MA R - £1.3mA 6, Min 5, Max 7, AvR 6.5 Again didn't establish himself, but clings on for next season. Darren Ferguson - 22 - M C - £1mA 4, G 1, Min 5, Max 8, AvR 6.5 Still making good use of his time, hopefully can improve a little more and earn a spot. Mike Phelan - 32 - M LC - £200kA 4, Min 6, Max 7, AvR 6.5 With Ince and Keane in the middle and Sharpe injury-free on the left, there was little time for Phelan. Keith Gillespie - 19 - MA R - £450kA 3, Min 5, Max 7, AvR 6 Hopefully will continue to improve. Nicky Butt - 18 - M C - £200kA 1, AvR 7 Still growing. Craig Lawton - 21 - M R - £250k / Free AgentA 1, Avr 6 Been a free agent for 2 years, but no one has been in for him. Strikers Eric Cantona - 28 - A C - £2.5mA 40, G 14, MOTM 14, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.92 Added a few more goals to something more respectable for a star striker. Teddy Sheringham - 28 - A C - £5mA 26, G 4, MOTM 14, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.77 We needed a goalscorer after being knocked out the Coca-Cola cup by recently-relegated Sheffield United, so it made sense to buy the man who in-game scored 30 goals in 60 matches, with an average rating of 8.1. The 4 goals are disappointing, but he did at least win a LOT of penalties and had the highest average rating in the league along with Cantona. Dion Dublin - 26 - A C - £2mA 20, G 2, MOTM 2, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 6.75 From 11 goals a season to 2, lost his place to Sheringham and even Bart-Williams. Colin McKee - 20 - A C - £500kA 4, G 2, Min 5, Max 7, AvR 5.75 Not good enough yet, but he did score 2 in the final Premier League game. But Some Things Will Never Change Edited March 10, 2023 by git2thachoppa Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted March 15, 2023 Author Share Posted March 15, 2023 95/96 Season & Man Utd Review Game World Man Utd defended their league title with ease with no other challenger, as everyone else were taking points off each other. They were 10-12 points ahead by March. Liverpool managed to drag themselves out the relegation zone after another managerial change, but are doing awful post-Dalglish. In Division 1, West Ham suffered their 2nd relegation in 3 seasons and will be in the third tier. Bradford City were relegated into non-league football. Top Goalscorers: Eric Cantona (Man Utd) and Mike Newell (Blackburn) - 25 Manager of the Year: Me! Player of the Year: Eric Cantona (Man Utd) - 8.25 Young Player of the Year: Nick Barmby (Tottenham) - 7.59 Most MotM awards: Mike Newell (Blackburn) and Lee Clark (Newcastle) - 23 Dirtiest Player: Paul Cook (Wolves) - 60 points!! Highest Average Attendance: Aston Villa - 48,546 Charity Shield: (PL) Man Utd 2 - 2 Newcastle (FA) FA Cup Final: (PL) Newcastle 4 - 2 Southampton (D1) Division 2 Grimsby beat Aston Villa, West Ham and Liverpool on the way to the semis. Dvision 3 Swansea knocked out Premier League Spurs and non-League Weymouth beat Premier League Norwich. Coca-Cola Cup Final: (PL) Man Utd 5 - 1 Coventry (PL) Anglo-Italian Cup Final: Pisa 0 - 1 Milwall European Cup: (Ger) Bayern Munich 2 - 0 Red Star (Yug) Cup Winners Cup Final: (Por) Benfica 0 - 1 Juventus (Ita) UEFA Cup Final: (Ita) AC Milan 1 - 0 Cologne (Ger) Leeds got revenge on defending champions Univert by knocking them out in the preliminaries. Glenavon do it again with a huge 1-0 win over Valencia. Dinamo Minsk reached the semis. Sackings Liverpool sacked John King with the club in the relegation zone and knocked out the FA Cup by Division 2 Grimsby, and replaced him with Brentford's David Webb. Because that sort of left-field hiring worked well last time... Port Vale sacked John Rudge and hire ex-Bristol Rovers' John Ward Lil Fucillo resigned from Peterborough Frank Stapleton was sacked by Bradford after relegation to non-league. Notable Transfers Paul Warhurst from Blackburn to Man Utd for £4.1m Lee Clark from Newcastle to Juventus (Italy) for £3.9m John Williams from Coventry to Blackburn for £2.8m Craig Hignett from Middlesbrough to Liverpool for £2.7m Josten Flo from Sheffield United to Chelsea for £1.5m Phil Babb from Coventry to Luton for £1.3m John Salako from Wimbledon to Sunderland for £1.2m Des Walker from Sheffield Wednesday to WBA for £950k Martin 'Judas' Keown from Arsenal to Spurs for £750k Warren Barton from Wimbledon to Tranmere for £750k Kasey Keller from Tottenham to Bolton for £650k Iain Dowie from Southampton to Middlesbrough for £550k Ian Wright from Arsenal to Blackburn for £450k Steve Guppy from Wycombe to Barnsley for £300k Dele Adebola from Crewe to Wolves for £200k Ludek Miklosko from West Ham to Man City for £150k John Fashanu from Wimbledon to Southend for £100k Steve Bould from Arsenal to Doncaster for £40k Gary Megson from Norwich to Bradford for £30k Paul McGrath from Aston Villa to Wolves for £30k David O'Leary from Leeds to Hull for £10k Steve Ogrizovic from Coventry to Exeter for £5k ============================= Man Utd Review Friendlies I continued my policy of only playing friendlies against teams with funny names. W3-0 H v Brest (Fra) W2-1 H v Limerick (Éire) Charity Shield: Man Utd 2 - 2 Newcastle League: 1st, W20, D14, L4, F52, A21, 74PTS It was very 99/00 - A few surprise teams keeping close around Christmas, but soon falling far away, making it obvious we were winning with a third of the season still to go. I was able to play around with the line-up in the final 5 games and still got 5 draws. FA Cup R3: W6-1 (H) v Luton (D1) R4: W1-0 (H) v Oldham (D1) R5: L1-2 (A) v Liverpool Coca-Cola Cup R2: W9-1 v Scarborough on agg. (D3) R3: W2-1 (H) v Notts County (D2) 4R: W5-0 (H) v Blackpool (D2) QF: W1-0 (H) v Nottingham Forest SF: W3-0 v Middlesbrough on agg. F: W5-1 v Coventry European Cup 1R: W2-1 v Besa Kavaja (Alb) on agg. 2R: L1-0 v Napoli (Ita) on agg. For a short while, we were chasing the first ever English treble. We were blessed with cup draws, getting mostly lower-league opposition at home. With a hodge-podge line-up of backup players shoehorned into wacky formations, we made it to the League Cup final and won it 5-1. The only time I played a proper line-up of regulars in the 2 domestic cups was the away game against Liverpool and the first leg of the semi-final at home to Middlesbrough. But our European draw was cursed, drawn against the defending European champions Napoli. It was still a good performance, but we were denied the hallowed land of the group stage. Our only loss at home all season was against Napoli. Average attendance: 42,119 Old Trafford's attendance was increased by 1,000 to 47,000 Board Confidence: 100% - We are delighted Squad Review Transfers In Paul Warhurst from Blackburn for £4.1m Out Colin McKee to Birmingham on loan Keith Gillespie to West Bromwich Albion on loan Parker (terminated, non-league) Top goalscorer: Cantona - 25 Supporters' Player of the Year: Cantona - 8.25 Most MotM: Cantona - 16 Dirtiest Player: Keane - 25 points Main XI --------- Cantona - Sheringham ------ Sharpe - Ince - Ferguson / Warhurst / Bart-Williams - Giggs Irwin - Whyte - Pallister (c) - Brightwell ------------ Schmeichel -------------------- Our run in the League Cup, with our backups playing at home to lower league side, means the average ratings got a bit skewed. Goalkeepers Peter Schmeichel - 33 - £550kA 42, Conceded 22, Min 6, Max 9, AvR 7.38 Conceded even fewer goals per game this year, with an average rating that goalkeepers don't usually reach. Gary Walsh - 27 - £500kA 13, C 6, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7 Our Cudicini / Harper, could be a #1 for us or elsewhere, but had no chance of ousting Schmeichel this season. Still had a good season and played every game in the League Cup. Defenders Gary Pallister - 30 - D C - £1.9mA 50, G 3, MOTM 1, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.78 The captain answered the questions about him with a solid season. Derek Whyte - 27 - D RLC - £4.2mA 49, G 2, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.65 Denis Irwin - 30 - D L - £2mA 49, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7.47 He's still going strong. Ian Brightwell - 27 - DM RC - £4.6mA 37, Goals 4, MOTM 2, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7.65 An even better season than last year. Paul Parker - 31 - D RC - £300kA 32, G 1, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 6.81 Once our best defender, a poor season after last season's OK one suggests he has aged too far. Midfielders and Attackers Paul Ince - 28 - M C - £3.3mA 44, G 1, Min 4, Max 9, AvR 7.57 Reliable presence in the middle. Lee Sharpe - 24 - MA L - £5.2mA 42, G 3, MOTM 11, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7.9 Best left-winger in the country. Ryan Giggs - 22 - MA RL - £4.7mA 41, G 4, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7.51 Is performing, but would love him to get goals again. Chris Bart-Williams - 21 - MA RC - £1.3mA 39, G 5, MOTM 1, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7.31 Starting to reach his potential, earning an England promotion from the U21s, but lacking in goals. Paul Warhurst - 26 - DMA C - £5.2mA 32, G 3, MOTM 4, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7.62 Once again I signed a new striker for the goals as no one but Eric was scoring. It was between Warhurst, Chelsea's Gavin Peacock, Blackburn's Mike Newell, and Man City's Carl Griffiths. Warhurst was the only one with a consistent roughly 1-in-2-and-a-bit strike rate (45 goals in 112 games) up front for Rovers. But once more, a new striker performed well yet didn't score. Roy Keane - 24 - M C - £5mA 25, G 5, Min 3, Max 10, AvR 7.32 Lost his place as the standards of the team improved. He is a good player, but can Keane make it at Man Utd? He won't want to be a backup. Darren Ferguson - 23 - M C - £1.3mA 19, G 6, MOTM 1, Min 4, Max 10, AvR 7.16 Has shown quality as a goalscoring rampaging midfielder, earning a Scotland debut. But needs to be consistent. Andrei Kanchelskis - 26 - MA R - £1.8mA 13, G 4, MOTM 1, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.31 With Giggs, Bart-Williams, Brightwell and potentially Gillespie, the way for Kanchelskis is blocked. As he's a foreigner, and Europe has a foreigner limit, there's no use for him as backup either. Transfer listed. Nicky Butt - 19 - M C - £400kA 12, G 1, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7 Got a few league games at the end of the season, with only 1 bad performance. Craig Lawton - 22 - M R - £300kA 6, Min 6, Max 9, Avr 6.67 Still here because no one else wants him. His only value is that he's English. Keith Gillespie - 20 - MA R - £750kA 4, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7.50 Loan - WBA - A 12, G 3, AvR 6.42 Yet to show he can break into the team. Strikers Eric Cantona - 29 - A C - £3.6mA 44, G 25, MOTM 16, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.25 An unfathomable average rating and literally not one bad rating in 44 games. Our only regular goalscorer again (thanks to 10 penalties in 13 attempts). Now entering his 30s, the question is how long will it last, or will he want to leave for Europe? Teddy Sheringham - 29 - A C - £4.2mA 29, G 12, MOTM 7, Min 4, Max 10, AvR 7.97 Finally hit a goalscoring spell, but can he do it next season? Dion Dublin - 27 - A C - £1.8mA 18, G 5, MOTM 2, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.72 Not as good as it looks, as all his goals came against lower-league opposition. After bursting onto the scene in my first season, he hit a dry spell that has lasted 2 years. Listed. Colin McKee - 21 - A C - £700kA 4, G 1, MOTM 1, Min 4, Max 9, AvR 7Loan - Birmingham - A 21, G 4, AvR 6.38 With the best goalkeeper and goalscorer, it's no surprise we did well this season. Will Schmeichel continue to be the best, or can Walsh finally become United's #1 a decade after his first run? Can captain Pallister keep it up? To go alongside the best wingers in the league, who will be the midfield pairing out of Ince, Keane, Ferguson, Bart-Williams and Warhurst? Will Warhurst, Bart-Williams or Dublin start scoring goals and become Cantona's successor? I've learned that I need to sign Englishmen when possible if I want to make European progress, due to the '4 foreigners restriction'. British is still 'foreign'. Also to check the tactics of the opposition and play the same tactic, since man-for-man we usually have the better side. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted March 24, 2023 Author Share Posted March 24, 2023 96/97 Season & Man Utd Review Game World It was a closer battle, with Tottenham topping the table most of the season and Everton having a late charge, but Man Utd eventually held on and won with a game in hand. Recently promoted Maidstone won the Division 3 title on 3 goals' goal difference. Wycombe Wanderers were relegated to non-league. Top Goalscorers: Eric Cantona (Man Utd) and Tony Cottee (Everton) - 25Player of the Year: Cantona - 8.35 Young Player of the Year: Noel Whelan (Leeds) - 7.36Most MotM: Stuart Burlow (Leeds) - 19Dirtiest Players: Chris Bart-Williams (Man Utd) and Eddie Newton (Chelsea) - 35 pointsManager of the Year: Me! Charity Shield: (PL) Man Utd 2 - 0 Newcastle (FA) FA Cup Final: (PL) Man Utd 2 - 1 Sheff Wed (D1) Division 3 Barnet won away to West Ham, home to Wimbledon and away to Forest on the way to the 5th round. Coca-Cola Cup Final: (PL) Liverpool 1 - 1 FT Blackburn (PL), 2 - 1 AET Anglo-Italia Cup Final: Coventry 2 - 0 Verona European Cup Final: (Yug) Red Star 0 - 1 Benfica (Por) Red Star are runner-up for the 2nd season in a row, while Portugal have won 2 of their 3 European Cup finals of the past 4 years. Cup Winners Cup Final: (Spa) Real Madrid 0 - 0 Juventus (Ita) FT, 1 - 3 pens Italy's 4th CWC champion in a row - Inter and Juventus both won 2 in a row. Rangers beat Ajax 3-2 agg. and thrashed Honved 5-1 on the way to the semis. UEFA Cup Final: (Swe) AIK 0 - 2 Milan (Ita) AC Milan's 3rd UEFA Cup trophy in 4 years! Hearts knocked out Galatasaray on away goals, before only being knocked out themselves on away goals by former European champions Napoli. Manager Sackings, Resignations and Retirements Martin O'Neill was sacked following Wycombe's relegation to non-league. Bill Ayre resigned from Blackpool Frank Clark was harshly sacked by Forest with the team near midtable still, and replaced with Wimbledon assistant Terry Burton Graham Turner was sacked by Wolves and replaced with Lil Fucillo Notable Transfers Stuart Barlow from Everton to Leeds for £4.2m Sol Campbell from Tottenham to Man Utd for £3.7m Jeff Kenna from Southampton to Everton for £1.9m Dwight Yorke from Man City to Everton for £1.8m Andy Awford from Sheff Wed to Juventus for £1.7m Niall Quinn from Man City to Wolves for £1.5m Richard Hall from Southampton to Man Utd for £1m Tim Flowers from Southampton to Derby for £950k Andy Sinton from Sheff Wed to Aston Villa for £900k Trevor Sinclair from QPR to Crystal Palace for £800k Mike Newell from Blackburn to Wolves for £600k Dennis Irwin from Man Utd to Ipswich for £520k Neil Ardley from Wimbledon to Everton for £500k Gary Pallister from Man Utd to Leeds to £450k Nigel Martyn from Crystal Palace to Charlton for £400k Neil Shipperley from Chelsea to Newcastle for £400k Gordon Durie from Spurs to Ipswich for £300k Dean Saunders from Aston Villa to Charlton for £150k Craig Lawton from Man Utd to Wolves for £120k Stuart Pearce from N. Forest to Luton for £40k Steve Nicol from Liverpool to West Ham for £30k Colin Calderwood from Spurs to Notts Country for £10k Bruce Grobbelaar from Liverpool to Exeter for free Neville Southall from Everton to Southend for free Stan Collymore from N. Forest to Bolton on loan Man Utd Review Friendlies Another year, another friendly exhibition of funny club names and wonderfully pink kits. (Eng) Man Utd 0 - 0 Beerschot (Bel) (Eng) Man Utd 0 - 2 FC Nitro (Cze) (Eng) Man Utd 3 - 0 Pecs (Hun) Charity Shield: W2-0 v Newcastle Premier League: 1st, W22, D10, L6, F84, A37, 76PTS We've now reached 80s-Liverpool levels with 3 league titles in a row and 80+ goals. With the title won in the penultimate game and an FA Cup final to win, I make the suicidal move of playing 5 youths in the first team, plus all 3 subs, so that none of my first team or subs are risked. Youths generally get a 3-5 rating, compared to a first-teamer's 6-10. They still managed to get a 1-1 draw at home to Newcastle, conceding in the final minutes. We are in fact fined for bringing the game into disrepute. Coca-Cola Cup 2R: D4-4 v Blackburn on agg., L3-2 on away goals A disallowed goal AND a turned-down penalty appeal both in the 90th minute of the 2nd leg meant we were knocked out on away goals early in the League Cup. FA Cup 3R: W2-0 (H) v Newcastle 4R: W4-1 (H) v Blackburn 5R: W2-1 (A) v Liverpool QF: W1-0 (A) v Ipswich SF: W5-0 (N) v Portsmouth (D1) F: W2-1 (N) v Sheff Wed (D1) Wednesday only took the lead in the final because I put the wrong formation, which made the game dead and even. Once I realised in the 60th minute and changed it to my usual formation, Bart-Williams instantly came to life and scored 2. Perhaps if I hadn't derped, it would've been a CBW hat-trick and a clean sheet. European Cup 1R: W4-1 v Ya Berne on agg. 2R: D2-2 v Red Star on agg, L2-1 on away goals After getting the European champions last year, we got the runner-up this year. So close. The indisciplined Bart-Williams got himself sent off early in the first leg and the 2 away goals knocked us out. The board are ecstatic with the away win on the day though. Top Goalscorer: Cantona - 25Supporter's Player of the Year: Cantona - 8.35 average ratingMost MotM Awards: Cantona - 14Dirtiest Player: Bart-Williams - 35 points Old Trafford's attendance was increased by 3,000 to 50,000, and we topped the attendance league with an average attendance of 47,624 My salary was increased to £170k per year, making me 7th-highest paid manager alongside Newcastle's Kevin Keegan. Transfers In Sol Campbell from Spurs for £3.7m Richard Hall from Southampton for £1m Out Dennis Irwin to Ipswich for £520k Craig Lawton to Wolves for £120k Gary Pallister to Leeds for £450k Colin McKee to Charlton on loan Squad Review Main XI: --- Cantona - Sheringham - Giggs --- --------------- Bart-Williams --------------- --------------- Keane - Ince ----------------- Whyte - Campbell (c) - Hall - Brightwell ---------------- Schmeichel ---------------- Goalkeepers Peter Schmeichel - 34 - £450kA 48, Conceded 39, AvR 7.46, Min 5, Max 9 Reaching unprecedented heights in average rating for a goalkeeper. Gary Walsh - 28 - £850kA 3, C 3, AvR 5.33, Min 5, Max 6 With no League Cup run or early title win to pick up games, Walsh had to stay on the bench. Defenders Derek Whyte - 28 - D RLC - £3.8mA 49, G 1, AvR 7.94, Min 7, Max 10 Playing 49 games and never getting a rating lower than 7 is astonishing. Could be the best defender in Europe. Ian Brightwell - 28 - DM RC - £4.1mA 41, Goals 2, AvR 7.68, Min 5, Max 9 Gary Pallister - 31 - D C - £500kA 7, AvR 6.43 I was ruthless as last season's captain was sold as soon as he showed signs of aging. Denis Irwin - 31 - D L - £750kA 7, AvR 6.71 Similarly, there was no reason for a now underperforming 'foriegner' who was only going to age further to stay any longer. Sol Campbell - 22 - DM LC - £5.2mA 39, G 3, AvR 7.85 With both 31-year-olds Pallister and Irwin underperforming, I was finally able to sign long-term target Sol Campbell for a bargain £3.7m. An English defender / midfielder with a career average rating of 7.2 at only 22 years old. With an influence of 20 and a confident personality, he is our only choice for captain. Richard Hall - 24 - D C - £2mA 30, G 3, AvR 7.5 I experimented with 3 at the back, since we arguably only had 3 good defenders, but we were leaking goals. So I looked for another centre-back who was 1) performing in the past few seasons, 2) young, 3) English. It was a choice between Spurs' Jason Cundy (the best defender in the league at that moment), Sheffield Wednesday's Andy Awford or Southampton's Richard Hall. I went for the cheaper option, but who was consistent and with good attributes. He scored in his first 2 games. Campbell and Hall for Pallister and Irwin turned out to be a good transfer strategy. Midfielders and Attackers Paul Ince - 29 - M C - £1.8mA 49, G 8, MotM 1, AvR 7.96, Min 5, Max 10 Roy Keane - 25 - M C - £6.2mA 45, G 7, MotM 1, AvR 7.71, Min 4, Max 10 Gained his place back. He and Ince were an immovable partnership. Chris Bart-Williams - 22 - MA RC - £2.5mA 45, G 21, MOTM 6, AvR 7.76, Min 4, Max 10 He has arrived. He started banging in the goals when I tried him in the 'hole' support role. Ryan Giggs - 23 - MA RL - £8.5mA 40, G 16, MotM 4, AvR 8.12, Min 5, Max 10 Like Bart-Williams, re-found his goalscoring form on the right-wing with CBW in the hole. Paul Warhurst - 27 - DMA C - £4.8mA 38, G 6, MOTM 2, AvR 7.87, Min 5, Max 10 Played in defence, the hole and up front covering for injuries and suspension dutifully. Lee Sharpe - 25 - MA L - £7.2mA 36, G 2, MOTM 5, AvR 7.97, Min 5, Max 10 Not the same stand-out season as last time, but a top talent nonetheless. Nicky Butt - 20 - M C - £700kA 8, AvR 7.62, Min 6, Max 9 Did well enough in a handful of appearances. Looks like we have a good prospect here. Darren Ferguson - 24 - M C - £2mA 6, AvR 6.17, Min 5, Max 7 Disappointing after breaking into the first team. Keith Gillespie - 21 - MA R - £750kA 5, AvR 6.20, Min 5, Max 7 Yet to show the potential the likes of Ferguson and Butt have shown. Andrei Kanchelskis - 27 - MA R - £2.2mA 2, G 1, AvR 6, Min 6 A few years have passed and still no one has bought him. Craig Lawton - 23 - M R - £200kA 5, Avr 6.8 Has been available for sale since day 1, and finally moved this season. Strikers Eric Cantona - 30 - A C - £2.9mA 48, G 25, MOTM 14, AvR 8.35, Min 6, Max 10 An immense season where he somehow improved even further. The only downside is wondering when he'll start to wind down now he's in his 30s... Teddy Sheringham - 30 - A C - £3.3mA 38, G 11, MOTM 6, AvR 8.11, Min 5, Max 10 Eric & Teddy - United's latest iconic strike partnership. Colin McKee - 22 - A C - £1mA 12, G 3, AvR 7.5Loan - Charlton - A 11, G 6, AvR 6.73 Got a run in the first team, and 9 goals in the Premier League overall ain't bad for a 22-year-old. Dion Dublin - 28 - A C - £2.2mA 8, G 1, AvR 7.38, Min 6, Max 8 Only still here because no one bought him. ================== I've learned that the like-for-like tactical plans (playing the same style as the opposition) doesn't work for 'long ball' (e.g. Wimbledon) or 'continental' (e.g. European opponents) sometimes, but 'continental' seems good against 'long ball', and 'counter attack' is good against 'continental'. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oche balboa Posted March 28, 2023 Share Posted March 28, 2023 This is very interesting. Hopefully you can win the European Cup 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted April 5, 2023 Author Share Posted April 5, 2023 (edited) 97/98 Season and Man Utd Review Game World A dominant Man Utd easily won a 4th league title in a row and a Double Double, thanks to 89 goals, which is probably a record despite only 20 teams being in the league now. Everton were the latest big club to suffer relegation. Burnley won the Division 1 title and promotion to the Premier League Top Goalscorer: Leeds' Stuart Barlow - 26 Player of the Year: Man Utd's Cantona (8.47) Young Player of the Year: Coventry's Willie Boland (6.91) Most MotM: Newcastle's Shaun Murphy (24) Dirtiest Player: Bolton's Steve Fulton - 35 points Manager of the Year: Still me! Highest Average Attendance: Man City - 44,666 Charity Shield: (PL/FA) Man Utd 1 - 2 Tottenham (PLRU) FA Cup Final: (PL) Man Utd 2 - 0 Wimbledon (D1) Non-League Kettering made it to the 4th round. Div 3 Stockport reached the 5th round. Coca-Cola Cup Final: Burnley 0 - 1 Man City (PL) Anglo-Italian Cup Final: Torquay 1 - 2 Lecce Surprisingly, this is Italy's first cup win in the game. European Cup Final: (Spa) Real Madrid 0 - 0 Bayern Munich (Ger) AET, 3-1 pens Cup Winners Cup Final: (Ita) Juventus 0 - 1 Gladbach (Ger) UEFA Cup Final: (Ita) Napoli 2 - 2 Zurich (Swi) on agg., 0-1 away goals The underdog Swiss beat the seeds! Sackings Howard Kendall was sacked by Everton as they were bottom. George Graham did not improve them. Luton sacked David Pleat after only collecting 9 points and 15 goals before relegation from Division 1 was confirmed after just 31 games, and appoint Notts County manager Mick Walker. Notts County hire Bill Ayre to replace him. John Gorman sacked by Swindon. Alan Buckley sacked by Grimsby. Mick Reid sacked by Darlington after relegation into non-league. Notable Transfers Chris Sutton from Norwich to Inter (Italy) for £4.6m (dangit I wanted him) Scott Fitzgerald from Tottenham to Norwich for £4.1m Gary Speed from Leeds to Juventus (Italy) for £3.8m Shaun Murphy from Tranmere to Newcastle for £3.4m Don Hutchinson from Liverpool to AC Milan (Italy) for £2.8m (wanted him too!) Jason Wilcox from Blackburn to Aston Villa for £2.5m Peter Ndlovu from Coventry to Man City for £2.4m Craig Burley from Chelsea to Newcastle for £2.4m Rudolf Matta from Bolton to Newcastle for £2.2m Mark Robins from Norwich to Liverpool for £2.1m Scot Gemmill from N. Forest to Everton for £2.1m Steve Froggatt from Aston Villa to Leeds for £1.3m Dion Dublin from Man Utd to Everton for £1.275m Les Ferdinand from QPR to Chelsea for £450k Paul Peschisolido from Birmingham to Wimbledon for £350k Dennis Wise from Chelsea to Leicester for £300k Dean Kiely from York to Wimbledon for £200k Kevin Pressman from Sheff Wed to Bolton for £100k Matthew Elliott from Scunthorpe to Burnley for £100k Colin Hendry from Blackburn to Bolton for £60k Gudni Bergsson from Spurs to Middlesbrough for £60k Hans Segers from Wimbledon to Luton for free Micky Adams from Southampton to Barnet for free Man Utd 97/98 Friendlies I continue my best policy for pre-season preparation: friendlies against clubs with funny names (Eng) Man Utd 1 - 1 Wiener SC (Austria) (Eng) Man Utd 1 - 0 Start (Nor) (Eng) Man Utd 0 - 2 Hearts (Sco) (Eng) Man Utd 6 - 0 Frickley (Eng) Charity Shield: L2-1 (N) v Tottenham League: 1st W27, D6, L5, F89, A46, 87PTS We scored 4 goals in each of our first 4 league matches, and 6 at home to Charlton, on a run of 8 wins in a row and 18 undefeated, including a 7-3 win away to Spurs, before losing our first game (2-1 away to Leeds). We won the title with 5 games in hand. Even when I played a mostly youth team in the final game, we still got a point at home to Chelsea (and a fine). I'm dominating the domestic game, but I have been given a huge leg-up by having Schmeichel, Giggs and Cantona ready-made and the best in the game in their positions. Though even when I was resting players, we were still walloping teams and scoring goals freely. This squad is performing at a Euro-winning standard, but the luck of the knockouts are stopping us seeing how we do in the groups. FA Cup 3R: W6-0 (H) v Walsall (D2) 4R: W4-2 (A) v Norwich 5R: W4-0 (A) v Coventry QF: W6-1 (A) v Newcastle SF: W5-1 (N) v Tottenham F: W2-0 (N) v Wimbledon (D1) These scores show you how much we were cruising this season. 11 goals in the QF and SF of the FA Cup, against title challengers too. Coca-Cola Cup 2R: W2-1 v Wimbledon (agg.) 3R: W3-0 (H) v Leicester 4R: W2-0 (H) v Cardiff (D2) QF: L3-0 (A) v Man City European Cup 1R: D2-2 v CSKA Sofia (Bul) on agg., L1-0 away goals In the group stage we could pick up a few points, but these knockout games are stopping us getting there. In the first leg, Sol Campbell got sent off, so again we're knocked out on away goals. Despite dominating England completely, you're seeing why the European Cup is Nintendo Hard. It's a 5-year challenge just trying to get into the groups. Top Goalscorer: Cantona - 25 Cantona missed out on finishing league top goalscorer only because of all the games he was rested, otherwise he would've had a 30+ season. He got 4 goals in one match at home to Southampton, and that wasn't the only time a United player scored 4 in a game this season. Supporters' Player of the Year: Cantona - 8.47 Most MotM: Cantona - 12 Dirtiest Player: Campbell - 20 Average Attendance: 44,465 The board converted part of Old Trafford's small standing area into seating, which reduces capacity by 1000 to 49,000 My salary was increased to £200k per year, making me the 4th-highest paid manager in the country. Transfers Out Dion Dublin to Everton for £1.275m Graham Ball to Walsall on loan Nicky Butt to Charlton on loan Colin McKee to Middlesbrough on loan Squad Review Main XI Sharpe -- Cantona -- Sheringham -- Giggs -------------------- Keane ---- Ferguson ---------- Campbell (c) - Warhurst - Hall - Brightwell ------------------------ Schmeichel ----------------- Goalkeepers Peter Schmeichel - 35 - £150kAppearances 40, Conceded 39, Minimum Match Rating 4, Maximum Rating 9, Average Rating 6.97 Had Walsh been to his usual standard, Schmeichel may have gradually lost his place. Can he go for 1 more season? Gary Walsh - 29 - £650kA 10, C 10, Min 4, Max 7, AvR 6.2 Next season may be judgment day. At 30, will he show his previous form and take Schmeichel's jersey? Or will he wind down at the same time as the Dane and be replaced by someone else? Graham Ball - 22 - £100kA 7, AvR 5.71Loan - Walsall (D2): A 16, AvR 4.5Conceded (season total): 22 Promoted from the youth team. Hard to judge goalkeeper potential with no attributes, but he doesn't look anything special yet. Defenders Ian Brightwell - 29 - DM RC - £4.7mA 39, Goals 1, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 7.82, Regularly injured, but our best defender. Sol Campbell - 23 - DM LC - £3.2mA 46, G 2, Min 6, Max 9, AvR 7.59 Richard Hall - 25 - D C - £1.8mA 51, G 2, Man of the Match Awards 1, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.65, Our newest defender is our worst defender, which is like being the poorest millionaire. Paul Warhurst - 28 - DMA C - £6.5mA 48, G 4, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.46 Primarily a defender this season. Looking like a jack of all trades and master of none. Derek Whyte - 29 - D RLC - £4.2mA 39, G 1, Min 4, Max 10, AvR 7.54 A disappointing season by our high standards. His age, relatively 'bad' form and 'foreign' designation raises question marks about his future. Midfielders and Attackers Ryan Giggs - 24 - MA RL - £10.4mA 37, G 21, MotM 7, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.35 I don't think I've ever seen a player valued at 8 figures before. The Welsh Wizard is rampaging down that lef-... er, I mean, RIGHT wing. May be United's top scorer next season. Or could be tempted by foreign shores. Roy Keane - 26 - M C - £5.6mA 35, G 3, MotM 5, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.03 Broke into the world class '8 average rating' territory. Lee Sharpe - 26 - MA L - £8.6mA 37, G 13, MOTM 7, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 8.05 Contributing goals now as part of a 4-2-4. The prediction of Giggs and Sharpe terrorising defensive flanks has come to pass. Darren Ferguson - 25 - M C - £2.7mA 39, G 13, MotM 2, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.44 Put last season behind him by pushing Ince out of the team with his goals Chris Bart-Williams - 23 - MA RC - £8mA 42, G 12, MOTM 6, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.9 Paul Ince - 30 - M C - £1.9mA 25, G 2, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7.48 Lost his place in the team to Scot Ferguson, though still important for European days as an English player. But with Englishman Butt also on the scene, and Ince 31 next season, is his time up? Nicky Butt - 21 - M C - £1.3mA 14, G 2, AvR 7.5Loan - Charlton: A 16, G 1, AvR 6.44 Another bright season. Keith Gillespie - 22 - MA R - £650kA 17, Min 6, Max 8, AvR 6.88 Still waiting for that breakthrough season. Andrei Kanchelskis - 28 - MA R - £1.9mA 17, G 2, AvR 7.24, Min 6, Max 9 With no one wanting to buy this guy, we've been stuck with him. But he's been better than Gillespie, so got some games. Strikers Eric Cantona - 31 - A C - £1.2A 38, G 25, MOTM 12, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.47 How is he getting better with age? Teddy Sheringham - 31 - A C - £850kA 46, G 15, MOTM 2, AvR 7.87, Min 6, Max 10 His best season for goals. Colin McKee - 23 - A C - £1.3mA 12, G 3, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 8Loan - Middlesbrough (PL): A 14, G 1, AvR 6.64 Loan stats are lies. For us, he proved an able backup and earned a Scotland callup. Is he a future United striker though? Our 'foreign' stars need to be the very best to stay. Dion Dublin - 29 - A C - £2mA 3, AvR 6.67 Had a few games to prove he has his goals back, didn't score, sold to Everton after 20 goals in 85 games. Got injured by our defender in his first game against us and only scored 4 in 19 for Everton as they finished bottom, yet still their 2nd-highest scorer. England World Cup Squad I didn't think to show the Euro 96 squad, so here's the France 98 squad: Cundy, Banger, Butters. Names to strike fear into Romanians and Argentines. Edited April 21, 2023 by git2thachoppa Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted April 11, 2023 Author Share Posted April 11, 2023 98/99 Season and Man Utd Review Game World With Arsenal relegated, Liverpool battling relegation more than for the title, and Spurs and Newcastle dropping too many points, Man Utd have no challengers. They once again went straight to the top of the table and stayed there all season. Burnley's players were on fire last season to get promoted, and continued that form to reach a surprise 5th! Everton will return to the Premier League, joined by surprise underdogs Cardiff and Stoke. Sheffield United were relegated down to Division 2. As were Watford, who only picked up 1 win, 10 points and 3 away goals. Oxford were relegated out of the football league. Top Goalscorer: Leeds United's Stuart Barlow - 27Player of the Season: Newcastle United's Shaun Murphy - 8.28Most MotM: Leeds' Barlow - 21Dirtiest Player: Coventry's Paul Hall - 40Manager of the Year: Leeds' Howard Wilkinson thanks to their UEFA Cup runYoung Player of the Year: Norwich's Jason Cousins - 6.8Highest Average Attendance: Man City - 46,920 Charity Shield: (PL/FA) Man Utd 2 - 0 Leeds (PLRU) FA Cup Final: (PL) Wimbledon 0 - 1 Cardiff (D1) Non-League Northampton knocked out Division 2 Huddersfield on the way to the 4th Round League Cup Final: (PL) Bolton 0 - 0 Norwich (PL), Replay: 1-1 AET, 6-7 pens Division 2 Scunthorpe beat Charlton and Blackburn on the way to the Coca-Cola Cup QF. Anglo-Italian Cup Final: Everton 2 - 0 AscoliEuropean Cup Final: (Spa) Real Madrid 2 - 1 Bayern M (Ger) Cup Winners Cup Final: (Bel) Anderlecht 0 - 1 Porto (Por) Linfield beat Aydinspor in an upset. Uefa Cup Final: (Ita) Sampdoria 2 - 3 Inter (Ita) on agg. Spurs knocked out CSKA Moscow, only to be knocked out by Tatabanya of Hungary Leeds beat Nantes 4-3 then AC Milan 2-0 over two legs on the way to the semis. Superb-rated Managers: Me (Man Utd), Jimmy Mullen (Burnley), Trevor Francis (Sheff Wed) Sackings Dave Bassett was sacked after a great run with Sheffield United, as the club were in the relegation zone of Division 1. Alan Smith at Crystal Palace was replaced with Martin O'Neill Barry Lloyd of Brighton and John Beck of Preston were replaced with 2 blokes called Barry. Don Mackay of Fulham was also sacked. Southamptons Ian Branfoot retires at 62 and is replaced with Wrexham assistant Joey Jones. Gary Phillips of Barnet retires at 61, Barnet hire a Newcastle scout to replace him. Dave Sutton of Rochdale retires at 64. Notable Transfers Graham Stuart from Everton to Tottenham for £4m Robbie Fowler from Bolton to Man Utd for £3.9m Jamie Redknapp from Liverpool to Sampdoria (Italy) for £3.5m Darren Anderton from Tottenham to Napoli (Italy) for £3.1m Simon Osborn from Wolves to Liverpool for £3m Iain Jenkins from Ipswich to Man Utd for £2.5m Robert Ullathorne from Norwich to Newcastle for £2.4m Jason Cundy from Tottenham to Sampdoria (Italy) for £1.8m Andy Cole from Newcastle to Derby for £1.5m Dion Dublin from Everton to Tottenham for £1.3m Ivan Dobrevski from (Bulgaria) to Aston Villa for £1.2m Gary Flitcroft from Man City to Leicester for £1.1m David James from Liverpool to Man Utd for £1.1m Steve Morrow from Arsenal to Chelsea for £850k Matthew Le-Tissier from Arsenal to Tottenham for £650k Keith Gillespie from Man Utd to Liverpool for £450k Tim Sherwood from Blackburn to Southampton for £150k Nigel Clough from Liverpool to N. Forest for £100k Andrey Telesnenko from (Ukraine) to Charlton for £80k Tony Dorigo from Leeds to Sunderland for £70k Sandy Stewart from (Scotland) to Bristol City for £60k Denis Irwin from Ipswich to Peterborough for £50k Peter Schmeichel from Man Utd to Bolton for £50k Gary Ablett from Everton to Oldham for £30k Man Utd Review League: 1st W28, D5, L5, F86, A33, 89PTS Nuff said. Funny Name Friendlies W3-1 (H) v Videoton L1-0 (H) v Gijon Charity Shield: W2-0 v Leeds FA Cup R3: W2-0 (A) v Charlton R4: W3-1 (H) v Blackburn R5: W6-2 (H) v Crewe (D2) QF: L2-1 (A) v Burnley Coca-Cola Cup R2: W4-1 v Derby (D1) on agg. R3: W2-1 (H) v Blackpool (D2) R4: W2-0 (A) v Sunderland (D1) QF: W2-0 (H) v Scunthorpe (D2) SF: L2-1 AET v Norwich on agg. European Cup R1: L5-1 on agg. v Napoli Being thrashed 5-1 on aggregate by Napoli triggered an overhaul. A turning point in this story. Top Goalscorer: Cantona - 19 Supporters' Player of the Year: Keane - 8.17 The first time someone other than Cantona (who was our 4th-best player) won the award. Most MotM: Bart-Williams - 12 Dirtiest Player: Campbell - 20 Average Attendance - 45,874 Stadium capacity was increased back to 50,000 My salary was increased to £220k per year, making me joint-highest paid in the country alongside Leeds' Howard Wilkinson and Liverpool's David Webb Squad Review We're dominating domestically. We won the league on cruise control with 6 games in hand, and only haven't won a treble because I rotate in the League Cup. My United legends have passed their peak - Schmeichel, Cantona, Ince. Some of my signings are reaching age too - Sheringham, Brightwell, Whyte. And there's money in the bank. It's time to go full steam ahead with the next stage: reaching the group stages of Europe, even the knockouts, even the final, even winning it. I must assemble an all-star side of young Englishmen and go for it. It comes at a bit of a bad time, as many top English players have moved abroad or are about to. So no Redknapp, Anderton, Awford or Sutton. Still, Englishman James came in for Schemeichel in goal (because Ian Walker was unavailable). In defence, 2 defenders are over 30, so I'll need 2 more at least to join Campbell and Hall. One joined this season. In midfield, Giggs and Sharpe have the wings for the next couple of years at least, and Keane is the best midfielder around. But his partner? Ince is over-30, Ferguson is 'foreign', Butt is still developing. Gazza and Platt are too old to buy now. That ship has sailed. Up front, Cantona and Sheringham are over-30, McKee is Scottish, and Bart-Williams isn't quite there yet. We need an English striker or 2. One would've been Chris Sutton if he hadn't gone abroad. But I did get Fowler. Half of my shortlist is Spurs players. Anderton, Barmby, Walker, Cundy, Dozzell... Had it not been for my United side, they'd be the big new team of the 90s, gracing magazine covers around the world and lifting trophies. I transfer listed several Scots: Ferguson, McKee and Gillespie. I've really enjoyed watching them grow and their good seasons, but we need elite level, and especially only elite foreigners. The money gained can be spent on a Sutton or Walker. Ince is also listed after a bad season at 31 years old. Transfers In David James from Liverpool for £1.1m Robbie Fowler from Bolton for £3.9m Tony Thomas from Leicester on loan Iain Jenkins from Ipswich for £2.5m Total: £7.5m Out Jim Cross to Swansea on loan Graham Ball to Stockport on loan Peter Schmeichel to Bolton for £50k Keith Gillespie to Liverpool for £450k Total: £500k Total expenditure: £7m Main XI Sharpe - Cantona - Fowler (c) - Giggs -------------- Bart-Williams -------------- ----------------- Keane ----------------- Jenkins - Whyte - Warhurst - Brightwell ------------------ James ------------------ A fearsome front five. Shades of the real 98/99: The Beckham, Giggs, Keane and Scholes diamond = Giggs, Sharpe, Keane and Bart-Williams diamond. Goalkeepers Peter Schmeichel - 36 - £50kAppearances 14, Conceded 10, Minimum Match Rating 4, Maximum Match Rating 9, Average Rating 6.86 Schmeichel was not having a stellar season, and his 'foreign' allocation was a problem in Europe. It was time for a new #1. Peter requested a transfer and joined Bolton as backup for Mark Bosnich, in place of Kevin Pressman. David James - 28 - £1.8mA 24, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7.33 An English GK was needed. With Spurs' Ian Walker unavailable, I went for the keeper who had conceded very few goals the past couple of seasons. Gary Walsh - 30 - £500kA 9, C 3, Min 5, Max 7, AvR 6.11 Walsh peaked too early in his career and even now Schmeichel is better. His time at United is surely over. Graham Ball - 23 - £100kA 8, C 7, Min 5, Max 7, AvR 5.62 We only need 2 keepers, but we have 4 due to youth promotions. Ball will go if someone will have him. Jim Cross - 18 - £40kA 4, AvR 6Loan - Swansea (D3): A 11, AvR 5.55 10 clean sheets in 11 games on loan, and a decent performance or 2 for us. Maybe he has a bright future. Defenders Derek Whyte - 30 - D RLC - £2.4mA 50, Goals 3, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.7 Our best defender this season as the others faltered. Paul Warhurst - 29 - DMA C - £3.9mA 49, G 6, Man of the Match Awards 2, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.78 Not a rock, not a goal machine, not a midfield lynchpin. But will play where you need him to and do alright. Sol Campbell - 24 - DM LC - £3.2mA 49, G 2, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.47 A poor season actually, with too many 6-rated performances meaning the captain lost his place. Ian Brightwell - 30 - DM RC - £3.7mA 47, MotM 1, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.68 Not a standout season but not a terrible one. Will become backup or cashed in on with age. Richard Hall - 26 - D C - £1.2mA 33, G 2, Min 4, Max 9, AvR 7.45 Hoping to see him raise his game next season. Iain Jenkins - 26 - D L - £2.9mA 10, MotM 4, Min 4, Max 9, AvR 7.8 The best English defender that was available and under 28 years old. He's had a good couple of seasons in the Premier League. Tony Thomas - 27 - DM L - £2.5mA 3, AvR 6 Joined on loan, but was recalled before he could impress and potentially earn a move. Midfielders and Attackers Lee Sharpe - 27 - MA L - £5.4mA 43, G 15, MOTM 11, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 8.12 England's left-sided problem never existed with a world class Sharpe playing! Ryan Giggs - 25 - MA RL - £9.4mA 46, G 13, MotM 3, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 7.89 If the middle 3 don't score, then Giggs and Sharpe will instead. Chris Bart-Williams - 24 - MA RC - £7.4mA 41, G 16, MOTM 12, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.98 Will be world class at this rate. Loving the support role in the hole. Roy Keane - 27 - M C - £6.8mA 41, G 8, MotM 2, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.17 At his peak. Darren Ferguson - 26 - M C - £2.3mA 25, G 4, MotM 1, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.36 He performs for us domestically, but his 'foreign' allocation in Europe means, unless he's nearing an '8' average, his future is always at risk. Nicky Butt - 22 - M C - £1.1mA 19, G 1, Min 6, Max 9, AvR 7.26 Overtook Ince in the midfield order, but will find Keane and CBW hard to move. Paul Ince - 31 - M C - £700kA 14, G 1, Min 4, Max 8, AvR 6.79 After a decade of service, his time is up. Andrei Kanchelskis - 29 - MA R - £1.5mA 8, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7.12 He's been here 8 years. Unwanted for most of them. Keith Gillespie - 23 - MA R - £500kA 4, AvR 7.25 Never broke through and wasn't English, so was sold. Scored on his Liverpool debut in the last game of the season. Strikers Eric Cantona - 32 - A C - £800kA 41, G 19, MOTM 3, AvR 7.93, Min 6, Max 10 Hasn't had lower than a 6 rating in a match for 4 YEARS! Teddy Sheringham - 32 - A C - £450kA 27, G 6, MOTM 1, Min 4, Max 9, AvR 7.07 The Eric & Teddy partnership is over Robbie Fowler - 23 - A C - £6.9mA 20, G 9, MotM 11, AvR 7.9, Min 5, Max 10 Never given a chance at Liverpool, he scored 19 goals in his debut Bolton season, and another 23 goals in 57 Premier League + cup games after. It looks like we have Eric's successor. The fans are already chanting "Robbie is a Manc"! Colin McKee - 24 - A C - £2.6mA 12, G 2, MotM 1, AvR 7.58, Min 6, Max 9 He's had a decent run, but he's not at the United level. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted April 19, 2023 Author Share Posted April 19, 2023 (edited) 99/00 Season & Man Utd Recap Game World After a barren 90s dominated by Man Utd's 5 titles in a row, Liverpool were back on top, conceding only 13 goals. It looks like the Big 3 of Man Utd, Newcastle and Spurs could become a Big 5 with Liverpool and Burnley. Big names were relegated, with Blackburn's 40 points and Leeds' 41 not enough to save them from relegation. Torquay (average attendance 3,996) won promotion to the Premier League on the final day. Barnsley have dropped to the bottom tier. Hull were relegated into non-league. Top Goalscorer: Stephen Torpey (Burnley) - 25 Player of the Year: Simon Osborn (Liverpool) - 8.37Young Player of the Year: G. Burrows (Burnley) - 6.26Most MotM: David Kerr (Aston Villa) - 22Dirtiest Player: John Moran (Everton) - 45 Highest Average Attendance: Everton - 48,858 Manager of the Year: Me?! Superb-rated managers: David Webb (Liverpool), Lil Fucillo (Wolves), Me (Man Utd), Jimmy Mullen (Burnley), George Graham (Everton) FA Cup Final: (PL) Man City 1 - 1 Everton (PL), Replay: 0-1 WBA reached the semis, beating Norwich and Man Utd on the way. Coca-Cola Cup Final: (PL) Man Utd 2 - 1 Newcastle (PL) Division 1 Torquay reached the semis. Charity Shield: (PL) Man Utd 1 - 1 Cardiff (FA) Anglo-Italian Cup: Milwall 1-1 Cremonese AET, 4-3 Pens European Cup Final: (Ger) Bayern Munich 0 - 0 Red Star (Yug), 1-1 AET, 13-12 Pens Rangers knocked out Marseille on away goals and then got a win and 3 draws in a group containing Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Zurich. Cup Winners Cup Final: (Spa) Atheltic Bilbao 1 - 0 Dynamo Moscow (Rus) AET UEFA Cup Final: (Bel) FC Bruges 0 - 2 Napoli (Ita) on agg. Northern Irish side Coleraine knocked out Hamburg and Utrecht on away goals Sackings Howard Wilkinson was sacked by Leeds barely a year after winning Manager of the Year as the club were relegated. Terry Dolan sacked by Hull after relegation into non-league. Sheff Wed' Trevor Francis and Reading's Mark Mcghee retire at 62, Southend's Barry Fry at 64. Notable Transfers Eddie Newton from Chelsea to Tottenham for £7.9m (British Record) Shaun Murphy from Newcastle to Man Utd for £6m Graham Stuart from Tottenham to Inter (Italy) for £3.9m Craig Burley from Newcastle to Fiorentina (Italy) for £3.7m David Kerr from Charlton to Aston Villa for £3.2m Rob Jones from Liverpool to Man Utd for £3m Colin McKee from Man Utd to Chelsea for £3m Fitzroy Simpson from Man City to Sheff Wed for £2.8m Nick Barmby from Tottenham to Man Utd for £2.6m Scot Gemmill from Everton to Celtic (Scotland) for £2.4m Mark Pembridge from Derby to Tottenham for £2.4m Andy Cole from Derby back to Newcastle for £1.9m Chris Kiwomya from Ipswich to Cardiff for £1.5m Spencer Prior from Norwich to Liverpool for £1.5m Richard Edghill from Man City to Middlesbrough for £1.4m Simon Ireland from Blackburn to Leicester for £1.2m Andrei Kanchelskis from Man Utd to Leicester for £1.2m Vinny Samways from Tottenham to Man City for £900k Chris Coleman from Crystal Palace to Newcastle for £600k Andrey Chernyshov from (Russia) to N. Forest for £600k Brian Deane from Leeds to Aston Villa for £550k Keith Gillespie from Liverpool to Sheffield Wednesday for £550k Krister Nordin from (Sweden) to Arsenal for £400k Gareth Southgate from Crystal Palace to WBA for £300k Liam Daish from Cambridge to Tottenham for £200k Tony Daley from Aston Villa to Barnsley for £100k Lothar Sippel from (Germany) to West Ham for £90k Carlton Palmer from Sheff Wed to Huddersfield for £40k Ian Woan from N. Forest to Chelsea for £40k Steve Tilson from Southend to QPR for 30k Alan Aouf from Bradford to Colchester for free (Bradford player since 1976??) Man Utd Review League: 4th W22, D2, L14, F60, A37, 68PTS At home we won 11 and lost 8, and that was how we lost the title. It was going fine, then suddenly players weren't performing, and new signings stopped delivering. Charity Shield: D1-1 v Cardiff FA Cup R3: W4-0 (A) v South Liverpool (NL) R4: W2-1 (A) v Coventry R5: W4-2 (H) v Scunthorpe (D1) QF: L3-2 (A) v WBA (D1) Coca-Cola Cup R2: W10-3 v Maidstone (D3) on agg. R3: W2-1 (A) v Liverpool R4: W2-2 AET, 4-2 Pens (A) v Leeds QF: W2-2 FT, 4-2 AET (H) v Sheff Wed SF: W5-2 v Burnley on agg. F: W2-1 (N) v Newcastle Our drop in form 'helped' our Coca-Cola cup run, as everyone was getting game time, so I wasn't really picking backups, just whoever was most fit. Our backups beat champions Liverpool at Anfield though. European Cup R1: L3-1 v AC Milan on agg. FFS again. Sending offs and injuries always screw us over in one of the legs. Top Goalscorer: Barmby - 14Player of the Season: Barmby - 7.51 (maybe a bug that's considering his performance for Spurs this season too)Most MotM: Murphy - 21 (including previous club), Sharpe - 7 (Man Utd only)Dirtiest Player: Bart-Williams, Brightwell - 15 Average Attendance: 46,298 Old Trafford's remaining standing areas were converted into seating, making the 50,000 capacity stadium an all-seater. Board Confidence: 71% - We are pleased Squad Review Transfers In Nick Barmby from Tottenham for £2.6m Rob Jones from Liverpool for £3m Graeme Le-Saux from Chelsea on loan Alan Moore from Middlesbrough on loan Shaun Murphy from Newcastle for £6m Dane Whitehouse from Tottenham on loan Mark Robins from Liverpool on loan Out Paul Ince to Newcastle for £120k Andrei Kanchelskis to Leicester for £1.2m Jim Cross to Plymouth and Swansea on loan Colin McKee to Chelsea for £3m Graham Ball to Brighton for £110k Main XI Sharpe and Giggs + 9. Everyone else lost their places. So instead let's do... Future XI ---------- Barmby - Fowler - Murphy ---------- Sharpe - Keane / Butt / Bart-Williams - Giggs --- Jenkins - Campbell (c) - Hall - Jones --- --------------- James / Another GK --------------- Goalkeepers David James - 29 - £1.5mAppearances 35, Conceded 36, Minimum Match Rating 4, Maximum Match Rating 9, Average Rating 6.77 So disappointing after a great debut season. He was the prime reason we lost form, even losing his place to Walsh. Made me wish I'd managed to sign Ian Walker. Gary Walsh - 31 - £450kA 16, C 14, Min 5, Max 8, AvR 6.62 Surprising everyone, Walsh finally achieved his career-long aim of getting back to Man Utd #1, over a decade later. He performed when James faltered. Whether that will happen again next season is another story. Jim Cross - 19 - £80kA 5, Min 5, Max 8, AvR 6Loan - Swansea: A 2, AvR 5.5 Total Conceded: 4 Graham Ball - 24 - £200kA 1, AvR 6 Ball is not the answer and Cross has a brighter future, so he drops down to Division 2. Defenders Paul Warhurst - 30 - DMA C - £3.1mA 51, Goals 6, Man of the Match 2, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.67 Sol Campbell - 25 - DM LC - £2.9mA 49, G 1, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7.55 Another season dropping in and out the team, but so was everyone. Richard Hall - 27 - D C - £1.5mA 40, G 4, MOTM 1, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7.5 Derek Whyte - 31 - D RLC - £1.9mA 35, Min 4, Max 10, AvR 7.54 Ian Brightwell - 31 - DM RC - £1.3A 34, G 2, AvR 7.44, Min 6, Max 10 Still consistently reliable and, unlike most of the squad, never embarrassed himself while everyone lost their heads. Rob Jones - 28 - D R - £4.7mA 25, G 1, MOTM 2, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.8 With both right-backs over 30, I needed a new one. I really wanted Andy Awford, but he wasn't for sale, so it was a choice between Liverpool's Rob Jones and Newcastle's Steve Watson. Both were similarly hovering above 7 average rating, but Jones was having a brilliant 8.3 season so far. However he was 28 and £3m, compared to Watson being 2 years younger and half the price. But Watson may not have improved, while Jones was showing he can deliver, so I signed Jones. It proved a good (if fruitless) choice. Iain Jenkins - 27 - D L - £1.8mA 22, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.55 Midfielders and Attackers Chris Bart-Williams - 25 - MA RC - £6.8mA 47, G 10, MOTM 6, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.55 Ryan Giggs - 26 - MA RL - £6.4mA 45, G 10, MotM 4, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.76 Nick Barmby - 25 - MA C - £2.2mA 39, G 14, MOTM 3, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.51 FINALLY I manage to sign Barmby. He and Anderton have been superstars at Spurs, but he was inexplicably left out of their first team, after his 2 best seasons getting 17 goals each and nearing 8 average rating. He scored 2 goals on his debut to bring us from 1-0 down to win 2-1, and both goals in the League Cup final. Lee Sharpe - 28 - MA L - £7.3mA 33, G 6, MOTM 7, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.97 He may only have 1 or 2 seasons left. A scary thought. Roy Keane - 28 - M C - £4.8mA 28, G 3, MOTM 1, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.25 After 2 world class-level seasons, I was disappointed to see Keane had announced he intended to leave for Europe at the end of the season. But he changed my mind, then failed to deliver, making me wonder if he should've gone and got us a nice fee at 28/29 years old. Darren Ferguson - 27 - M C - £2.1mA 28, G 10, MotM 2, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.18 His average rating is lacking, though he did get a few goals. Granted, 6 of those were penalties. Several clubs wanted him and I rejected some low bids. Nicky Butt - 23 - M C - £1.6mA 18, G 1, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.28 One of the few players to (slightly) improve overall this season. LOAN (Chelsea): Graeme Le-Saux - 31 - MA L - £1mA 5, AvR 6.8 Sharpe, our best player, got injured for our European games. In search of a replacement left-winger, I loaned one of the best around, with a 7.7 average since joining Chelsea in 94/95. But it was a disappointing loan and we were knocked out in 1 round of Europe. LOAN (Middlesbrough): Alan Moore - 24 - MA C - £8mA 8, G 2, AvR 8.1 Everyone was missing chances and getting goals disallowed, so I needed a short-term goalscorer. But they aren't cheap. Rather than splash out on a risky 28 or 29-year-old, I found a player who got 10+ goals in the last 3 seasons, and 2 in 5 this season. But he only got a couple of goals. LOAN (Tottenham): Dane Whitehouse - 29 - M LC - £1.5mA 3, AvR 6.67 One of my panic loans to try and force us to the title, but was recalled after only 3 games and making no impression. Strikers Robbie Fowler - 24 - A C - £5mA 37, G 12, MotM 5, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 7.97 At least he got double figures. It looks like he has a couple of high-scoring seasons in him in future. Eric Cantona - 33 - A C - £200kA 19, G 6, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7.00 The year 2000 finally saw the end of Eric as the best player in the game. But he did find his way back in the team and got a few goals this season with everyone else shooting blanks. Shaun Murphy - 27 - A C - £6.4mA 11, G 4, MOTM 21, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.09 Things got desperate as we dropped down the league, losing at home to small teams. All the regular goalscorers around were 28/29, including Shearer in Italy. So I had to use up nearly all my budget to get the best and most long-term and short-term option - Murphy joined Newcastle in 97/98 from lower-league Tranmere and scored 36 goals in 94 games, but also has had average ratings of 7.87, 8.28 and now 8.25. Costing £6m, let's hope he fires us into the European Cup group stages at last. Teddy Sheringham - 33 - A C - £100kA 5, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 6.6 LOAN (Liverpool): Mark Robins 30 - A C - £1.5mA 3, G 2, AvR 7.67 The most bizarre loan you'll ever see. The man who saved Alex Ferguson's job moved to Liverpool from Norwich and was a thorn in our side. Having his best season ever, Liverpool bizarrely dropped him and happily loaned him to title rivals and bitter enemy Man Utd for 3 games. Colin McKee - 25 - A C - £3.5mA 11, G 4, AvR 7.82 Misleading stats. His 4 goals in 23 games and rating of 6.83 for Chelsea is a bit more accurate. ============================================ I've been getting a bit bored and frustrated with not getting into the European Cup groups, and now having to wait another season to do so. I'm tempted to now start from scratch with Part 2 of this thread, with a non-league side, but I also want to see how my young crop do. So I'm sticking around to see if Fowler, Barmby and co. can do it. ============================================ Edited April 19, 2023 by git2thachoppa 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted April 28, 2023 Author Share Posted April 28, 2023 00/01 Season & Man Utd Recap Game World The tightest and most exciting title race since 1989 was won by 1 goal of goal difference on the final day. It was a 4-way race between defending champions Liverpool, always-bridesmaids Tottenham, surprise package Middlesbrough and late-chargers Man Utd. In the end, Adam Locke's goal at Anfield decided it. Torquay, with an average attendance 17,000 lower than the 19th-highest attendance, gave it a go but surprised no one by finishing dead last. Tranmere will hope to do better - they are the latest underdog to win promotion to the Premier League. Exeter were relegated into non-league. Top Goalscorer: Jonathan Hunt (Tottenham) - 26Player of the Year: Michael Johnson (Liverpool) - 8.44Most MotM Awards: Andy Hunt (Leicester) - 24Dirtiest Player: Steve Watson (Newcastle) & Gordon Gough (Stoke) - 35Highest Average Attendance: Everton - 47,641 Manager of the Year: Ossie Ardiles (Tottenham)Young Player of the Year: K. Carter (WBA / Man Utd)Superb-Rated Managers: David Webb (Liverpool), Lil Fucillo (Wolves) Charity Shield: (PL) Liverpool 2 - 0 Everton (FA) FA Cup Final: (PL) Man Utd 0 - 0 Tottenham (PL) AET, Replay: 1-1 FT, 3-3 AET, 2-3 pens Coca-Cola Cup Final: (PL) Sheff Wed 0 - 0 Everton (PL) AET, Replay: 0-2 Division 3 Colchester reached the 4th round, Division 1 Sunderland made the semis. Anglo-Italian Cup Final: Charlton 1 - 0 Ascoli European Cup Final: (Italy) Napoli 0 - 1 Benfica (Por) Liverpool were knocked out 4-2 by Ya Berne. Cup Winners Cup: (Bel) Mechelen 1 - 1 Sampdoria (Ita) FT, 1-1 AET, 3-4 Pens Dundee United knocked out Fenerbahce and Athletic Bilbao on the way to the QFs. Ajax lost 5-0 on agg. to Dinamo Prague. UEFA Cup Final: (Swe) Malmo 1-3 Juventus (Ita) on agg. Celtic knocked out FC Bruges while Hearts beat Genoa 5-0 away to knock them out Sackings Spurs' FA Cup-winning Manager of the Year Ossie Ardiles retired at 62, replaced with Scunthorpe manager Richard Money. Alan Ball was sacked by Exeter after relegation to non-league. Norwich Mike Walker retired at 62. Notable Transfers Ryan Giggs from Man Utd to Bordeaux (France) for £5.8m Lee Sharpe from Man Utd to Fiorentina (Italy) for £5.8m Roy Keane from Man Utd to Sampdoria (Italy) for £4m Steve Watkin from Chelsea to Bolton for £3.2m Aiden Newhouse from Wimbledon to Liverpool for £2.5m Graham Potter from Burnley to Arsenal for £2.3m Ian Walker from Tottenham to Man Utd for £2m Frank Strandli from Leeds to Wolves for £1.6m Chris Armstrong from Southampton to Tottenham for £1.3m Andrew Impey from QPR to Coventry for £900k Andy Hinchcliffe from Everton to Stoke for £500k David Barnhouse from Swansea to Bournemouth for £310k Ray Parlour from Arsenal to Sheff Wed for £250k Julian Joachim from Leicester to Man City for £200k Stig Bjornbye from Liverpool to Bolton for £150k Gary Owers from Sunderland to Newcastle for £100k Robbie Mustoe from Middlesbrough to Norwich for £100k Francis Severeyns from (Belgium) to Portsmouth for £100k Nayim from (Spain) to Sheffield United for £90k Teddy Sheringham from Man Utd to Bristol Rovers for £65k Efan Ekoku from Norwich to Luton for £50k Tommy Boyd from (Scotland) to Brighton for £40k Darren Peacock from QPR to Man City for £30k John Harkes from Derby to Wolves for £30k Mark Prudhoe from Stoke to Blackpool for £10k Mike Forsyth from Derby to Plymouth for free Man Utd League: 4th W19, D8, L11, F69, A44, 65PTS A season of two halves: bottom-half form and then title-winning form. We also saw perhaps the most exciting first half of football ever: FA Cup R3: W6-0 (H) v Sunderland (D1) R4: D1-1 (H) v Derby (D1) R4R: W3-0 (A) v Derby R5: W3-1 (H) v Liverpool (PL) QF: W2-1 (H) v Southampton (D1) SF: W3-0 (N) v Chelsea F: D0-0 AET (N) v Tottenham FR: L1-1 FT, 3-3 AET, 3-2 Pens (N) v Tottenham Coca-Cola Cup R2: W7-0 v Scarborough (D2) on agg. R3: W1-1 FT, 3-3 AET, 3-1 Pens (A) v Coventry (PL) R4: W2-1 (A) v Southampton (D1) QF: L1-1 FT, 1-1 AET, 4-3 pens (A) v Sunderland UEFA Cup Prelim: W3-2 v Burnley (Eng) on agg. R1: L3-2 v Sporting (Por) on agg. After a start that made me question continuing, we suddenly hit form and had a title charge. Even when I played backups against Premier League opposition in the FA Cup semi-final, the team won 3-0. Now I'm interested in what next season will bring, with money to spend and players reaching peak age. Albeit without world class midfield trio Giggs, Keane and Sharpe. Average Attendance: 44,595 Top Scorer: Bart-Williams - 16 Player of the Season: Murphy - 8.21 Most MotM: Sharpe - 13 Dirtiest Player: Giggs, Keane - 15 points Board Confidence: 65% - We are pleased. Squad Review Transfers In Walker from Tottenham for £2m Redmond from WBA for £900k Turner from Tottenham on loan Carter from WBA for £650k Total: £3.55m Out James to Norwich for £1.47m Cross to York on loan Sheringham to Bristol R for £65k Sharpe to Fiorentina (Italy) for £5.8m Giggs to Bordeaux (France) for £5.8m Keane to Sampdoria (Italy) for £4m Total: £17.135m Total income: £13.585m Main XI: ------------ Murphy - Bart-Williams ------------ Sharpe ---- Keane ---- Carter ---- Giggs Jenkins - Campbell - Hall / Redmond - Jones ---------------------- Walker ---------------------- Goalkeepers David James - 30 - £1mAppearances 4, Average Rating 5.25 After only a few games, it became clear James had gone completely off the rails. I sold him to Norwich, and the PL regulars were thus relegated. Ian Walker - 29 - £1.8mA 43, Minimum Match Rating 5, Maximum Match Rating 9, AvR 7.23 Finally I was able to buy Ian Walker, though I'll only get 1 or 2 good seasons out of him at most. But we needed him now. Gary Walsh - 32 - £300kA 10, Conceded 9, Min 6, Max 9, AvR 7 After good and bad seasons, the 1-club man has at least proven himself as a usually able backup. Jim Cross - 20 - £150kA 2, Min 5, Max 8, AvR 6Loan - York (D2): A 13, AvR 6.54Total Conceded: 8 The England U21 can definitely perform in the lower leagues already, so the question is: will he become Man Utd level? Defenders Rob Jones - 29 - D R - £2.5mA 53, Goals 1, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.64 30 next year, so maybe time to cash in. Sol Campbell - 26 - DM LC - £2.1mA 48, G 4, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 7.77 Iain Jenkins - 28 - D L - £3.3mA 48, G 2, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.54 Paul Warhurst - 31 - DMA C - £1mA 30, G 3, Man of the Match 1, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7.37 Never blew anyone's minds, but mostly did his job. Will be transfer-listed next season. Terry Redmond - 23 - D C - £1.8mA 27, MOTM 4, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 7.7 With my defence needing young blood and a slight improvement, I made my first lower-league signing: A regen who got a 7.38 and now a 7.91 season for WBA in Division 1. Looked a dud when he debuted, but has proven himself valuable. Derek Whyte - 32 - D RLC - £450kA 25, G 2, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7.32 No one's come to buy Whyte yet, so he was our defensive sub, coming on for any poorly-performing defender. Richard Hall - 28 - D C - £1.6mA 23, MOTM 1, Min 6, Max 9, AvR 7.57 Consistent and quiet. Maybe a little too quiet. Ian Brightwell - 32 - DM RC - £350kA 6, Min 6, Max 8, AvR 7.17 Transfer-listed after a poor start. Midfielders and Attackers Chris Bart-Williams - 26 - MA RC - £6.1mA 50, G 16, MOTM 4, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.9 We were struggling for goals from our strikers, so CBW went up front and delivered. Lee Sharpe - 29 - MA L - £7.7mA 48, G 6, MOTM 13, Min 4, Max 10, AvR 8.17 6 seasons in a row at 7.9+ rating, he sadly leaves for Europe. Ryan Giggs - 27 - MA RL - £7.7mA 47, G 13, MotM 2, Min 4, Max 10, AvR 7.53 Some iffy performances as his head was turned by Europe and Italy, but still a top goalscorer. I would rather he didn't go. Over a decade at the club, becoming the world's best right-winger and a goal machine, with Sharpe on the other flank. Roy Keane - 29 - M C - £5.4mA 35, G 11, MOTM 2, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.80 He changed his mind about leaving last season and stayed for 1 more year, but it proved a bit pointless. Definitely leaving for Europe this time, and it may be the right time too. 8 years of service. Nick Barmby - 26 - MA C - £1.9mA 31, G 6, MOTM 1, Min 6, Max 9, AvR 7.19 Yet to replicate his world class Spurs form. Kevin Carter - 20 - M C - £1.3mA 11, G 3, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.73 He had been on my shortlist for a few years, as he was already performing 7+ seasons at such a young age. If there are any wonderkids in this game, he is one. Darren Ferguson - 28 - M C - £1.4mA 11, G 1, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7.18 He's not had a season higher than 7.44 average rating, which is just not quite good enough. At 29 next season, we're just waiting for a club with the right price. Nicky Butt - 24 - M C - £1.4mA 10, G 1, Min 6, Max 9, AvR 7.10 With Keane and a couple others leaving, Butt will hopefully take his chance. Steve Rankine - 23 - M C - £100kA 7, Min 4, Max 8, AvR 5.71 Promoted from the youth team, will get another chance next season, but likely to be sold. LOAN (Tottenham): Andy Turner - 25 - M LC - £1.5mA 2, AvR 9 Turner had a 7.73 season last year, but was closer to 7.1. Looking for a central midfielder, and a future replacement for Sharp, Giggs and Keane, I gave him a loan first. Unfortunately, when I terminated the loan on deadline day to bid for him, he didn't want to join. Strikers Shaun Murphy - 28 - A C - £5.8mA 47, G 13, MOTM 10, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 8.21 Proved his large fee, but he'll be 30 by the time we're potentially in the European Cup again, when we really want him to make an impact. Robbie Fowler - 25 - A C - £3.9mA 37, G 9, MotM 4, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.81 Disappointing season really. Can do better. Eric Cantona - 34 - A C - £60kA 12, G 5, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 6.83 Don't count him out yet! Eric again scored his way back into the team by the end of the season, scoring the final league goal. Though he failed to perform in either of the FA Cup final games. Teddy Sheringham - 34 - A C - £50kA 5, G 4, AvR 7.6 TBH it was Cantona I preferred to sell, as Sheringham still got some goals in the Coca-Cola Cup and against Premier League opposition. I had cold/flu though and just fog-headedly(?) accepted the transfer offer from Division 3 Bristol R. ====================================================== We lose our legendary midfield, though Keane and Sharpe would be winding down into their 30s anyway. The combined sales of £15.6m means we could buy anyone who wants to come... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted May 7, 2023 Author Share Posted May 7, 2023 01/02 Season & Man Utd Recap Game World Spurs lost only 3 games, took it to the final day, but didn't top the table after only 13 games. Will they ever win the league title? Preston were relegated to non-league. Top Goalscorer: Chris Bart-Williams (Man Utd) - 32Player of the Year: Shaun Murphy (Man Utd) - 9.02Young Player of the Year: K. Carter (Man Utd) - 8.43Manager of the Year: Me! I have NEVER seen a player get a 9 average rating. The league's top 10 average ratings were the entire Man Utd first-team (goalkeepers don't get that high). Most MOTM: Steve Stone (Liverpool / Forest) - 29Dirtiest Player: Colin McKee (Chelsea) and regen Graham Snodin (Tranmere) - 40Highest Average Attendance: Liverpool - 48793Superb-Rated Managers: Me (Man Utd), David Webb (Liverpool), Adrian Stewart (Leeds) Charity Shield: (PL) Liverpool 0 - 1 Tottenham (FA) FA Cup Final: (PL) Man Utd 5 - 0 Liverpool (FA) Non-league Hull beat Premier League Aston Villa away 2-0 and Division 1 Portsmouth away 1-0 to reach the 5th Round. Coca-Cola Cup Final: Chelsea 0 - 1 Wimbledon Div 3 Bristol City knocked out PL Sheff Wed over 2 legs. Anglo-Italian Cup Final: Pisa 1 - 0 N. Forest European Cup Final: (Spa) Real Madrid 0 - 0 Marseille (FRA) AET, 4-3 Pens Cup Winners Cup Final: (Spa) Barcelona 0 - 1 Sampdoria (Ita) AET UEFA Cup Final: (Ger) Dinamo Dresden 0 - 4 Man Utd (Eng) on agg. Hearts knocked out Everton. Also, takeovers started happening: Sackings / Retirements Preston were also rescued by 490k takeover deal, and the new ownership replaced manager Barry Lloyd with Alan Buckley, who was then sacked when the club were relegated to non-league and joined Peterborough. Bolton's Bruce Rioch retires at 63 and is replaced with QPR manager Gerry Francis. Eddie May was sacked by Cardiff. Rochdale replaced their retiring manager with David Pleat. Notable Transfers Chris Bart-Williams from Man Utd to Sampdoria (Italy) for £5.5m Neil Mitchell from Burnley to Man Utd for £5.4m Regen Ray Sainty from Burnley to Man Utd for £5.35m Simon Osborn from Liverpool to Inter (Italy) for £4.9m Regen Eddie Digweed from Bolton to Everton for £3.6m Paul Dickov from Sheff Wed to Man City for £2.8m Karl Ready from Tottenham to Espanyol (Spain) for £2.7m Kevin Watson from Tottenham to Sampdoria (Italy) for £2.7m Steven Stone from N. Forest to Liverpool for £1.5m Peter Ndlovu from Man City to Inter (Italy) for £1.5m Steve McManaman from Liverpool to Wolves for £1.4m Graham Stuart from (Italy) to Aston Villa for £1.3m Regen Jonas Ohlsson from (Sweden) to Sheff Wed for £150k Graeme Le-Saux from Chelsea to Burnley for £100k Regen Francis Severeyns from (Belgium) to Birmingham for £100k Man Utd Review League: 1st W29, D4, L5, F91, A29, 91PTS Our front 3, never mind our other players, couldn't stop scoring. Not even counting the crazy amount of disallowed goals. Yet we still nearly lost the title to Spurs. Near the end, we came from 1-0 down to Spurs to win 2-1 after ex-Spurs #1 Walker saved a penalty. Many will say that decided the title (and bemoan their transfer policy)! A win at Villa Park would have won the title on the final day, and luckily they played a youth goalkeeper, so we won 6-0! FA Cup R3: W4-0 (A) v Bournemouth (D2) R4: W4-1 (H) v Man City R5: W2-0 (H) v Sheff Utd (D1) QF: W2-1 (H) v Torquay (D1) SF: W2-0 (N) v Chelsea F: W5-0 (N) v Liverpool Man Utd's greatest ever FA Cup final saw us 5-0 up against Liverpool just at half time, thanks to a promoted-youth goalkeeper this time! Coca-Cola Cup R2: W2-1 v N. Forest (D1) on agg. R3: W3-1 (H) v Milwall (D1) R4: L1-0 (A) v Arsenal (D1) UEFA Cup Prelim: W6-1 v Orgryte (Swe) on agg. R1: W1-0 v Feyenoord (Hol) on agg. R2: W5-1 v Nantes (Fra) on agg. QF: W6-1 v Borussia Dortmund (Ger) on agg. SF: W4-1 v AC Milan (Ita) on agg. F: W4-0 v Dynamo Dresden (Ger) on agg. We were one of the seeded teams in the UEFA Cup this season and delivered! Top Scorer: Bart-Williams - 32Dirtiest Player: Barmby, Bart-williams, Campbell - 15 pointsPlayer of the Season: Murphy - 9.02Most MotM: Bart-Williams - 15 Average Attendance: 44,644 Board Confidence: 100% - We are delighted An unprecedented treble! The first ever treble by an English team! Squad Review Transfers In Sainty from Burnley for £5.35m Mitchell from Burnley for £5.4m Foster from Spurs on loan Ndah from Spurs for £3.9m Total: £14.65m Out Hodge to Reading and Walsall on loan Brightwell to Bolton for £120k Cross to Chester on loan Bates to Scunthorpe on loan Hall to Burnley for £1.4m Bart-Williams to Sampdoria (Italy) for £5.5m Total: £7.02m Total spend: £7.63m Post-season terminations: Cantona, Whyte Main XI - Fowler - Murphy (c) - Bart-Williams - ---- Mitchell - Carter - Barmby --- Jenkins - Campbell - Sainty ------ --------------- Redmond --------------- ----------------- Walker ----------------- I simply picked out 4 best defenders and, if there were too many CBs, put the lowest-rated one as a sweeper, hence the gap at right-back. Goalkeepers Ian Walker - 30 - £2.3mAppearances 54, Conceded 28, Minimum Match Rating 5, Maximum Match Rating 10, Average Rating 7.72 At 30, the clock begins ticking on how long he can keep it up, but he just got an average rating usually reserved for attackers. Insane. Gary Walsh - 33 - £350kA 8, C 5, Min 6, Max 8, AvR 7.25 Hard to overtake one of the greatest season-long goalkeeping performances in history, but he got another League Cup run and crazy ratings himself. Jim Cross - 21 - £150kA 1, AvR 6 Loan - Chester (D3): A 17, AvR 5.18 Total Conceded: 12 Defenders Sol Campbell - 27 - DM LC - £4mA 56, Goals 2, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.38 Ray Sainty - 25 - D C - £3.7mA 52, G 5, Man Of The Match 2, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 8.31 One hell of a debut season from the Burnley guys. Terry Redmond - 24 - D C - £1.6mA 52, G 5, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 8.04 The 'weakest' of my regular defenders, yet finished with an 8.04 average rating. Iain Jenkins - 29 - D L - £1.2mA 50, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.3 Rob Jones - 30 - D R - £3.1mA 32, G 1, MotM 2, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.81 Last season, 7.81 would be amazing. This season, it leaves question marks. George Ndah - 27 - DA C - £8.2mA 29, G 14, MOTM 8, Min 4, Max 10, AvR 8.83 I wanted Chris Sutton, and I kinda got a version of him. The way the game is, I can play him in defence and he will still have chances to score. Scored 8 penalties. Lee Bates - 18 - D C - £30kA 4, AvR 4.5 Loan - Scunthorpe: A2, AvR 5 When a player gets a 4 rating or below, it means they're not at Premier League level yet and are just too young. Neil Hodge - 18 - D L - £60kA 2, G 2, AvR 6Loan - Reading (D3): A 16, G1, AvR 4.81 Loan - Walsall (D3): A 5, AvR 6 2 goals in 2 games. Interesting. Paul Warhurst - 32 - DMA C - £350kA 6, Min 6, Max 8, AvR 6.83 This was not a season for aging, consistently quiet players. Derek Whyte - 33 - D RLC - £100kA 6, Min 5, Max 8, AvR 6.5 Richard Hall - 29 - D C - £1mA 12, AvR 7.08 At 29 with such quality in front of him, I sold him to our regular business partners Burnley after 189 games in 6 seasons. He got a 7.92 season for them. Midfielders and Attackers Chris Bart-Williams - 27 - MA RC - £7.3mA 59, G 32, MOTM 15, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.63 Doubled last season's goal tally, but is leaving the club for Europe right at his peak. We'll miss him. Nick Barmby - 27 - MA C - £1.7mA 58, G 8, MOTM 2, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.19 I'd like him to get the goals he got for Spurs, but it's a minor complaint! Kevin Carter - 21 - M C - £3.9mA 56, G 6, MOTM 1, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 8.43 8.43 rating at 21 years old and a treble winner already. Neil Mitchell - 27 - MC - £7.1mA 46, G 14, MotM 6, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 8.46 The Blackpool graduate has improved every season with Burnley, and chipped in with a lot of goals in his debut year for us. Nicky Butt - 25 - M C - £1.2mA 44, G 6, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 8 We're a decade into the game and still seeing youngsters come good. There's a question of how much his ratings were boosted by the team performance - maybe he's one of those players who'll never replicate his Man Utd form if he left. Darren Ferguson - 29 - M C - £1.7mA 7, G 1, MotM 1, Min 7, Max 9, AvR 7.71 A top season for anyone else's team, but for Man Utd a 7.71 was 'backup' territory. Steve Rankine - 24 - M C - £100kA 2, Min 3, Max 5, AvR 4 As I said above, getting a 4 or below means you're not at this level. Strikers Shaun Murphy - 29 - A C - £4.6mA 54, G 19, MOTM 14, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 9.02 I've never seen this high an average rating ever in this game. Our performances dropped noticeably when he was injured. Definitely worth the £6m fee. Robbie Fowler - 26 - A C - £7mA 44, G 24, MotM 10, Min 7, Max 10, AvR 8.82 The Maradona to Bart-Williams' Pele. Not the best in the world, but one of the best. Scored against Liverpool in the FA Cup Final demolition. Eric Cantona - 35 - A C - £20kA 5, Min 6, Max 7, AvR 6.2 Ok, this time it's really over. He lasted until 2002, scoring 137 goals in 306 games. LOAN (Tottenham): Adrian Foster - 29 - A C - £1.5mA 4, AvR 7.50 Another loan that got cut short before we could really get to know him. So we bought Ndah. ====================== This was also the first time I had a match where all our players got a 10 rating, and it wasn't the last. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonic Youth Posted May 10, 2023 Share Posted May 10, 2023 That’s an amazing season. And a European Cup (albeit the UEFA) to boot! Will there be many more seasons? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted June 4, 2023 Author Share Posted June 4, 2023 (edited) 02/03 Season & Man Utd Review Game World With Tottenham and Liverpool underperforming, Man Utd were allowed to run away with the title, finishing 19 points ahead while playing much of the season with youth players. Burnley were the closest challengers, and continue to improve despite Man Utd buying all their best players. The fall of Blackburn continues. They suffered their 2nd relegation in 4 seasons and the former champions will now play in Division 2. Barnet were relegated into non-league. Top Goalscorer: David Farrell (Burnley) - 24 goalsPlayer of the Year: Robbie Fowler (Man Utd) - 8.73Young Player of the Year: N. Ward (Leicester) - 7.27Manager of the Year: Me!Most MOTM Awards: Regen Steven Short (Sheff Wed) - 18Dirtiest Player: Steve Lomas (Middlesbrough) and Phil Whelan (WBA) - 30 pointsHighest Average Attendance: Leeds - 48,279Superb-Rated Managers: Me (Man Utd), Jimmy Mullen (Burnley), David Webb (Liverpool) Charity Shield: (PL/FA) Man Utd 3 - 1 Tottenham (PLRU) FA Cup Final: Tottenham 4 - 0 Coventry Division 3 Bradford reached the QF, including wins over Premier League Derby and Sheff Wed. Division 1 Norwich reached the semis. Coca-Cola Cup Final: Middlesbrough 1 - 2 Tottenham Battling relegation from the football league, Division 3 Maidstone reached the QF Anglo-Italian Cup Final: Norwich 1 - 1 Bologna FT, 4 - 5 Pens European Cup: Scroll down... CWC Final: (Por) Benfica 0 - 2 AIK (Swe) AIK Solna knocked out Inter and Ajax on the way to a shock trophy. UEFA Cup Final: (Por) Sporting 1 - 4 Juventus (Ita) on agg. Aberdeen reached the semis, knocking out Napoli on away goals on the way. Plymouth and Scarborough were rescued by £500k takeover deals. Sackings Billy Bonds was sacked by West Ham early, with the club in the relegation zone of Division 2. Assistant manager Harry Redknapp took temporary charge before Shaun King took over. Neil Warnock was sacked by Huddersfield, replaced with Terry Cooper. Peter Shilton was sacked by Swansea and replaced with Barry Lloyd. Terry Butcher resigned at Sunderland. Terry Cooper was sacked by Birmingham, who appoint York manager Alan Little. Retirements Charlton boss Alan Curbishley, Oldham manager Joe Royle and Hartlepool manager Viv Busby retired at 62/63 Notable Transfers Jonathan Hunt from Tottenham to Man Utd for £3.3m Regen F. Garner from Bolton to N. Forest for £3.1m Steve McManaman from Wolves back to Liverpool for £2.8m Graham Kavanagh from Middlesbrough to Stuttgart (Germany) for £2.8m Steve Froggatt from Leeds to Lazio (Italy) for £2.5m Paul Gilchrist from Wolves to Juventus (Italy) for £2.3m Kevin Sharp from Chelsea to WBA for £2.3m Lee Jones from Coventry to WBA for £2.3m Neville Baddeley from (Wales) to Stoke for £1.8m Darren Ferguson from Man Utd to Newcastle for £1.3m Don Hutchinson from (Italy) to Everton for £750k Grant Leitch from (South Africa) to Leicester for £250k Roger Nilsen from (Norway) to Stoke for £100k Ronny Van-Geneugden from (Belgium) to Blackburn for £100k Craig Ramage from Derby to Swansea for £50k Dimitri Kharine from Chelsea to Derby for £30k Man Utd Season Review, Euro Run & Squad Review League: 1st W28, D6, L4, F100, A30, 90PTS 100 goals scored, including an 8-0 win over Cardiff and plenty of 6, 5, 4 and 3-goal wins. We were so comfortable in the league after a few months that I played youngsters and still got points. Charity Shield: W3-1 (N) v Tottenham FA Cup R3: W3-1 (A) v Crewe (D2) R4: W3-0 (H) v Peterborough (D2) R5: W3-0 (H) v Cardiff QF: W3-0 (A) v Bolton SF: L3-2 (N) v Tottenham Tottenham have shown themselves to be our equals on the pitch. But over a season, not quite so much. Coca-Cola Cup R2: W5-1 v Bristol R (D3) on agg. R3: W2-0 (A) v Southampton (D1) R4: W1-1 FT, 2-1 AET (A) v Reading (D3) QF: W2-0 (H) v Derby (D1) SF: L2-2 v Middlesbrough on agg, 2-1 away goals As I was heavily rotating in the league anyway, I put more effort in winning all the domestic cups, but Middlesbrough just squeaked through. European Cup Run Round 1 v PSV We faced one of the seeds and a major European name. First Leg - Home --- Fowler - Murphy (c) - Barmby --- --- Carter - Mitchell - Butt --- Jenkins - Campbell - Ndah - Jones ------------------- Walker ------------------- The best keeper in the game, the ex-Spurs keeper Ian Walker, was in goal. In defence was Everton product Iain Jenkins, Liverpool Stalwart Rob Jones and ex-Spurs man Sol Campbell. Palace product and ex-Spurs player George Ndah was in defence, but he's an attacking goalscoring threat. In midfield, we still had one of the original Man Utd players - Nicky Butt was still only 26. Alongside him was Blackpool product Neil Mitchell and 22-year-old regen wonderkid Kevin Carter. Up front is scouser Robbie Fowler, ex-Spurs legend Nicky Barmby, and Notts County product and best player in the whole game Shaun Murphy. Though it would be nice to still have Chris Bart-Williams here, or even trio Keane, Giggs and Sharpe. Man Utd 1 - 0 PSV40 Butt It was an ok performance with mostly 7s. I'm happy to avoid conceding an away goal. Now we just need to get one away ourselves. Away Leg --- Fowler - Murphy (c) - Ndah --- --- Carter - Mitchell - Campbell --- Jenkins - Redmond - Sainty - Jones ------------------- Walker ------------------- Subs: GK Davies, Butt, Burrows I focus on putting my highest average-rated players into an XI. The lowest average rating (excluding goalkeepers) on the pitch is Jones' 8.3. Sol Campbell moves into midfield and Ndah into attack, allowing regens Redmond and Sainty to come in. Butt has had a great season but even he can't make such a first team today. Barmby doesn't make the bench after a 6-rated performance in the first leg. PSV 1 - 2 Man Utd78 #9 54 Campbell 80 RedmondRed card: 33 #5 Man Utd win 3-1 on aggregate. For once, it's the other team that suffers a sending off and / or injury. Though maybe we would've won it regardless. It was all 8s and 9s in the player match ratings. Round 2 v Bayern Munich To rub it in, we're drawn against arguably the 2nd-best team in Europe after Real Madrid. Bayern won it in 1996 and 2000 as well as lost the 1998 and 1999 finals to Real Madrid. If we reach the group stage, we will have earned it. 1st Leg - Away --- Fowler - Murphy (c) - Ward --- --- Carter - Mitchell - Campbell --- Jenkins - Ndah - Sainty -------------- ---------------- Redmond ---------------- ------------------ Davies ------------------ Subs: GK Walker, Jones, Groves Walker had a couple of poor performances, reminiscent of David James' sudden drop-off a while ago, so new signing Davies comes in after 8 games, 2 goals conceded and 8.12 average rating for us alone. Attacker Ward, another new signing, starts for his 2nd debut in 3 games, after a loan spell of just 2 games being enough to prove his worth to us. Meaning Ndah moves into defence and Rob Jones is out. Bayern 3 - 1 Man Utd22 #2 4 Carter 53 #7 77 #4 We absolutely dominated. The goalkeepers (who I substituted) got a 6 rating, Carter was MOTM with a 9. Everyone else got an 8. I didn't realise I had left the #11 position on the left, significantly lowering centre-forward Ward's rating. He still got a 7. What would the score have been if this hadn't happened? Do I need to reload? Should I face the prospect of needing to keep a clean sheet at home or score 3 or more to right this wrong. I decide to wait and see what happens in the 2nd leg. If we lose 3-0 then it won't exactly matter. 2nd Leg - Home Our top scorer by far and best player, Ndah, who has 20 goals in 21 games, then gets a 22-week injury... we're screwed. SO I need to sign an emergency attacker for right now. The best available even if he'll be too old next season. Jonathan Hunt is the only player in the top 12 highest average-rated in the game world that doesn't play for Man Utd yet. He's also the 3rd-highest scorer after Ndah himself and Andy Cole. More importantly, since joining Spurs, his average ratings have been 8.2, 8.2, 8.02 and 8.53, with 60 goals in his last 81 games. He scores 7 minutes into his league debut and has a hat-trick by half-time. He starts. --- Murphy (c) - Fowler - Hunt --- --- Mitchell - Carter - Groves - Jenkins - Campbell - Sainty --- ---------------- Redmond --------- ----------------- Davies ----------------- Subs: GK Walker, Jones, Ward Campbell moves back and Regen Groves plays in midfield. Man Utd 3 - 1 Bayern6 Fowler 90 #7 9 Hunt 31 Groves 2 disallowed goals and a final-minute equaliser... Extra Time: We go into extra time with not much happening, so I make 2 late penalty subs: Ward and a change of goalkeepers - Ian Walker has saved a third of penalties he's faced (and I forgot that I used to check the record of goalkeepers after I signed them, so I didn't know Davies' penalty record). Mitchell took United's first penalty. It was saved. Bayern scored, but so did our new signing Hunt. Both subs do their job as Walker saved Bayern's penalty then Ward scored his. Then Walker saved again. Groves scored his, and Bayern's scored theirs. Centre-back Sainty would win the game if he scored his. He did. Finally. I wouldn't call it a panic buy, but the tactical short-term transfer of Hunt paid off! Group Stage We're drawn against seeds Real Madrid and Red Star, as well as Czech underdogs Banik Ostrava. We can test ourselves against the defending champions, as well as another big European name. It's worth nothing that it's 2 points for a win. Home v Real Madrid I use the same team that beat Bayern 3-1 at home in the 2nd leg. Can they do the same to the European champions? Man Utd 2 - 3 Real Madrid7 Fowler 23 #7 80 Sainty 34 #8 42 pen #10 Mitchell and Groves didn't perform well. Close. Other Result: Banik O 1 - 3 Red Star Table Red Star - 2 Pts (+2 GD) Real Madrid - 2 (+1) Man Utd - 0 (-1) Banik O - 0 (-2) Away v Red Star No changes. Red Star 0 - 0 Man Utd We dominated, but can't be mad at a point in Yugoslavia. Result: Real Madrid 1 - 1 Banik O Red Star - 3 Pts (+2 GD) Real Madrid - 3 (+1) Man Utd - 1 (-1) Banik O - 1 (-2) Home v Banik O No changes in the first team. Man Utd 2 - 0 Banik O37 Murphy 63 Own Goal #4 GK Davies and DL Jenkins got a 9, everyone else got a 10. Result: Real Madrid 0 - 0 Red Star Red Star - 4 Pts (+2 GD) Real Madrid - 4 (+1) Man Utd - 3 (+1) Banik O - 1 (-4) Away v Real No changes. Real Madrid 0 - 0 Man Utd Again we had control for most of the game. A goal would've put us in charge of the group. Result: Red Star 1 - 1 Banik O Red Star - 5 Pts (+2 GD) Real Madrid - 5 (+1) Man Utd - 4 (+1) Banik O - 2 (-4) Home v Red Star No changes. Man Utd 1 - 1 Red Star37 Groves 56 #9 MU Disallowed Goal 72 Result: Banik O 1 - 2 Real Madrid Real Madrid - 7 (+2) Red Star - 6 (+2) Man Utd - 5 (+1) Banik O - 2 (-5) It's impossible to qualify now. In our final match we drew 1-1 in the Czech Republic, while Real finished an unbeaten group stage with a 1-0 win in Belgrade. We've beaten Bayern and Red Star, and controlled Real Madrid but only got 1 point. We can win the European Cup, it will just be hard and take time. European Cup Final: (Spa) Real Madrid 0 - 1 Porto (Por) Man Utd Results R1: W3-1 v PSV on agg. R2: W4-4 AET v Bayern on agg, 4-2 pens Group Stage: 3rd L2-3 (H) v Real Madrid D0-0 (A) v Red Star W2-0 (H) v Banik O D0-0 (A) v Real Madrid D1-1 (H) v Red Star D1-1 (A) v Banik O ================ Top Scorer: Ndah - 20Player of the Season: Barmby - 8.00Highest Average Rating: Fowler - 8.73 I don't know why Fowler (or indeed a dozen other players) didn't get the PotS award instead of Barmby. Most MotM: Hunt - 13Dirtiest Player: Campbell - 15Average Attendance: 44,746Board Confidence: 100% - We are delighted Squad Review Transfers In Groves from Burnley for £2m Burrows from Burnley for £1.9m Davies from Burnley for £780k Ward from Everton on loan and then £1.3m Hunt from Tottenham for £3.3m Out Cross to Plymouth and Bournemouth on loan Beardsmore to Wycombe and Blackburn on loan Bates to Bradford on loan Ferguson to Newcastle for £1.3m Chamberlain to Fulham on loan Hodge to Port Vale on loan Total Spend: £7.98m Post-season terminations: Jones, Walsh, Warhurst Main XI ---- Murphy (c) - Fowler - Ndah --- ----- Carter - Mitchell - Groves --- Jenkins - Campbell - Sainty ------- ----------------- Redmond ----------- ------------------ Davies ------------------- Our season was so ridiculous, that a rating around 8.2 (usually reserved for one of the best players in the game) or below was disappointing! The high ratings seem to raise many younger players' games, so they were getting 6s and 7s rather than 3s and 4s, despite being too weak for the Premier League in reality. Goalkeepers Martin Davies - 27 - £1.3mAppearances 27, Conceded 9, Minimum Match Rating 6, Maximum Match Rating 9, Average Rating 7.85 Wow, 9 goals conceded in 27 games. And this guy was backup at Burnley. With money to spend, I signed the best keeper available, and he clearly did the job for us. Ian Walker - 31 - £1.6mA 26, C 18, Min 5, Max 9, AvR 7.35 Lost his place after David James-calibre form, but didn't do so bad when he got more games. Gary Walsh - 34 - £250kA 8, C 5, Min 5, Max 8, AvR 7.12 In normal times, this is the performance of the best goalkeeper in the game. But we have 4 keepers and he's only going to get worse. His 3 decades of United service are over. Jim Cross - 22 - £150kA 6, Min 3, Max 8, AvR 7Loan - Plymouth (D3): A 3, AvR 4.67Loan - Bournemouth (D2): A 10, AvR 4.6Total Conceded: 27 Did ok in our first team. But in Europe, we really need 2 top class goalkeepers, in case one gets injured. Defenders Ray Sainty - 26 - D C - £5.1mA 46, Goals 5, Man of the Match 2, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.24 Sol Campbell - 28 - DM LC - £5.9mA 43, G 4, MOTM 2, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.44 Terry Redmond - 25 - D C - £3.2mA 51, G 8, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.14 Continues to be our 'weakest' starting defender but continues to improve. Iain Jenkins - 30 - D L - £2.2mA 44, MOTM 1, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 8.2 A great season. Does he have one more? Rob Jones - 31 - D R - £750kA 41, G 1, Min 4, Max 10, AvR 7.66 A clear divide between a group of defenders headed by Jones at 7.7, and the first team at 8.2+. His value also suggests he's going to be rubbish next season, so it's time for a release after 152 games for United Paul Warhurst - 33 - DMA C - £100kA 19, G 1, Min 6, Max 9, AvR 7.21 Got game time as I rested the entire team, but clearly not good enough and will be released. Lee Bates - 19 - D C - £100kA 14, AvR 6.15 Loan: Bradford (D3) - A 19, AvR 5.32 Master Bates began to settle in with ok performances, but still far too weak at the moment. Des Chamberlain - 20 - D C - £100kA 12, AvR 4.75 Loan - Fulham (D3): A 17, AvR 4.82 Youth players take up squad space. So if I list them all, he is a prime candidate to go. Neil Hodge - 19 - D L - £250kA 16, G 1, AvR 7.25 Loan - Port Vale (D2): A 17, AvR 6 A Wales international already, showing all the signs that he has a future at the top. Midfielders Kevin Carter - 22 - M C - £7mA 39, G 6, MOTM 5, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.56 Our best midfielder at only 22 years old. Neil Mitchell - 28 - MC - £4.3mA 37, G 5, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 8.32 A quiet season after his goalscoring explots last year Lee Groves - 26 - M C - £4.1mA 37, G 5, MOTM 1, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 8.11 Signed from my shortlist as Everton bid for him, after a 7.76-rated season for Burnley aged 25 last season, following a 7.24 season the year before. Another buy from Burnley. Groves represented the 'best of the rest' in midfielders in our squad. Can he raise it to the crazy heights we need? Nick Barmby - 28 - MA C - £2mA 40, G 9, MOTM 3, Min 4, Max 10, AvR 8 Disappointing and lacking goals. I didn't list him because he's shown for Spurs that he can be one of the best. Being 29 next season, he has one last chance to do it. Nicky Butt - 26 - M C - £2mA 35, G 9, MOTM 1, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.74 A nice player, but with our standards so high, can he match them? Matthew Beardsmore - 18 - MA L - £60kA 22, AvR 6.05 Loan - Blackburn (D1): A 2, AvR: 5 Our new promoted youngster looked rubbish, but also grew into the team. Still rubbish though. Steve Rankine - 25 - M C - £150kA 22, G 2, Min 4, Max 8, AvR 6.27 The only reason he played so many games is because I was keeping my first team injury free for the group games. Still needs to go. Darren Ferguson - 30 - M C - £2.5mA 1, AvR 7 After 13 years and 181 games, Fergie moved on to Newcastle and did well (7.41). Attackers George Ndah - 28 - DA C - £7.5mA 22, G 20, MOTM 8, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 8.68 Our best player until injury meant he couldn't take part in the group stages. Next season... Robbie Fowler - 27 - A C - £6.5mA 41, G 16, MotM 6, Min 7, Max 10, AvR 8.73 Actually had a worse season than last season, but was arguably our best striker. Shaun Murphy - 30 - A C - £7.7mA 37, G 13, MOTM 10, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.65 In normal circumstances, it would be Murphy's time to go, despite another great season. But Cantona kept going for years into his 30s, so let's see if Murphy does the same. Jonathan Hunt - 30 - A C - £3.5mA 18, G 9, MOTM 13, Min 7, Max 10, AvR 8.61 An emergency signing after our best striker Ndah got injured for the rest of the season. He did the job and helped United to the group stages. Alex Ward - 25 - A C - £2.3mA 27, G 9, MOTM 13, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 8.33 An impressive 2 goals in 2 games on loan was followed by 7 in 25. Can do better! Graeme Burrows - 22 - A C - £1.8mA 27, G 13, MotM 5, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 7.89 On loan initially, he scored on his debut against his own club! I'm ruining Burnley's team as I buy yet another player from them - a 22-year-old who scored 26 in 46 last year and already got 8 in his first 5 Burnley games this season! If I didn't exist in this game, Spurs and Burnley would be league champions. Big potential. On 10/05/2023 at 03:05, Sonic Youth said: That’s an amazing season. And a European Cup (albeit the UEFA) to boot! Will there be many more seasons? Just a few more for this Man Utd save. Then I'll start again as Bognor Regis or something in a few months or so! Edited June 4, 2023 by git2thachoppa 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonic Youth Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 Group stage! One draw becoming a win and you’re through. The league form was stellar too. Pity about Ndah’s injury. Next season you look like building on a strong team 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted July 1, 2023 Author Share Posted July 1, 2023 (edited) 03/04 Season & Man Utd Review Game World Liverpool chased United down all season, and it was an exciting race with both teams winning nearly every week, but in the end United didn't drop enough, and a demoralised Liverpool went from 6 points behind to 17 points behind. Milwall won the Division 1 title by an even bigger margin and are promoted to the Premier League. West Ham have been relegated again and are one more relegation away from becoming a non-league club. Top Goalscorer: Alex Ward (Man Utd) - 23Player of the Year: Kevin Carter (Man Utd) - 8.62Young Player of the Year: N. Ward (Forest) - 7.95Most MOTM: Ward (Leicester / N. Forest) - 24Dirtiest Player: Michael Johnson (Liverpool) and Shaw (Middlesbrough) - 40 Newcastle United were fined £55k for excessive foul play. Manager of the Year: Me (Man Utd)Superb-Rated Managers: Me (Man Utd), David Webb (Liverpool), Martyn Thompson (Norwich), Jimmy Mullen (Burnley)Highest Average Attendance: Man Utd - 47,349 Charity Shield: (PL) Man Utd 1 - 1 Tottenham (FA) FA Cup Final: Man Utd 2 - 0 Chelsea Non-League Exeter reached the 4th round. Division 1 Coventry reached the semis. Coca-Cola Cup Final: Bolton 0 - 1 Burnley Burnley finally win their first major trophy since 1960! Anglo-Italian Cup Final: Venezia 1 - 0 Cambridge European Cup Final: (Fra) Marseille 0 - 1 Benfica (Por) Portugal have produced 3 of the last 4 European champions. Cup Winners Cup Final: (Tur) Fenerbahce 1-1 Dinamo Moscow (Rus) FT, 1-1 AET, 3-1 Pens Hajdur reached the semis. Rangers have become good enough to be considered seeds for a European trophy. UEFA Cup Final: (Ita) Inter 5 - 2 Standard (Bel) LKS Lodz knock out Liverpool on way to semis Burnley knocked out Napoli 5-3 on agg. Managers Neil Warnock u-turned on his resignation to be appointed West Ham manager Martin O'Neill resigned from Crystal Palace Luton's Terry Butcher retired at 65 Bolton's Gerry Francis retired at 62 Notable Transfers Regen Andy Wilson from Cardiff to N. Forest for £3.9m Regen Graham Butterworth from Tottenham to Man Utd for £3.9m Eddie Digweed from Everton to Napoli (Ita) for £3.1m Graham Potter from Arsenal to Tottenham for £2.6m Regen Keith Gouck from Derby to Aston Villa for £2.6m Nick Barmby from Man Utd to Sheff Wed for £2.4m Regen Neil Ward from Leicester to N. Forest for £2.1m Regen Gary Gannon from Middlesbrough to Man Utd for £2m Juergen Sommer from (USA) to Cardiff for £550k Ross Kerr from (Scotland) to Middlesbrough for £500k Mikael Andersson from (Sweden) to Maidstone for £100k Stan Collymore from N. Forest to Cambridge for £70k Pavel Srnicek from Newcastle to Tottenham for £60k Man Utd Review League: 1st W29, D4, L5, F78, A25, 91PTS Charity Shield: D1-1 (N) v Tottenham FA Cup R3: W2-1 (A) v QPR (D1) R4: W1-0 (A) v Plymouth (D3) R5: W3-0 (H) v Leicester QF: D0-0 (A) v Leeds QFR: W3-0 (H) v Leeds SF: W4-1 (N) v Coventry (D1) F: W2-0 (N) v Chelsea Coca-Cola Cup R2: W9-1 v Hereford (D3) on agg. R3: W2-0 (H) v Man City R4: W1-0 (A) v Liverpool QF: L2-1 (A) v WBA SF: L2-2 v Middlesbrough on agg, 2-1 away goals European Cup R1: D4-4 v Bayern Munich, L1-0 on away goals We won the first leg 4-1... Being knocked out early on away goals again led to an overhaul of the squad, as I felt it was weaker. 7 players were brought in and 5 sold, many older players, with more sales to come if anyone will buy. Average Attendance: 47,349 Top Goalscorer: Ward - 23Supporters' Player of the Year: Butt - 8.26 (again I don't know why)Highest Average Rating: Dyer - 8.83Most MOTM: Fowler - 11Dirtiest Player: Gannon - 15 Transfers In Gannon from Middlesbrough for £2m Butterworth from Tottenham for £3.9m Farrington from Tottenham for £1m Jackson from N. Forest for £1.9m Johnson from Burnley for £2.5m Dyer from Everton for £2m Flowers from Liverpool for £1.4m Total: £14.7m Out Hodge to Walsall on loan Beardsmore to Colchester on loan Chamberlain to Rotheram on loan Murphy to Everton for £1.475m Rankine to Birmingham for £120k Jenkins to Tottenham for £520k Cross to Derby for £92k Barmby to Sheff Wed for £2.4m Hunt to Leicester for £740k Total: £5.347m Total spend: £7.353m Squad Review Main XI ---- Fowler - Dyer - Ward (c) --- --- Carter - Mitchell - Jackson --- -- Campbell - Johnson - Ndah -- ----------------- Sainty ----------------- ---------------- Davies ----------------- Goalkeepers Martin Davies - 28 - £1.9mAppearances 29, Conceded 12, Minimum Match Rating 6, Maximum Match Rating 9, Average Rating 7.83 It always feels like we concede more than we actually do, but the stats say only 12 goals conceded! Gerry Farrington - 26 - £1.4mA 11, AvR 7.82 I want the 2 best goalkeepers in the game at all times, so I signed Spurs' keeper again. Despite the sub-7 rated season this year, he has had around 7.4 in the last 2 seasons. He replaced Davies well. Out for some of next season with a broken leg. Ian Walker - 32 - £1mA 12, C 8, Min 6, Max 9, AvR 7.42 Could probably still do a job as #1. Jim Cross - 23 - £100kA 3, AvR 6.67 Sold and moved down to Division 1 Defenders Ray Sainty - 27 - D C - £6.4mA 46, Goals 4, Man Of The Match 4, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.43 Our best defender. Completely reliable. Sol Campbell - 29 - DM LC - £4.9mA 46, G 2, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.26 George Ndah - 29 - DA C - £6.2mA 44, G 6, MOTM 3, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.32 Disappointingly quiet after 2 incredible seasons. I will look to cash in at 30. Gary Gannon - 25 - D C - £3mA 38, G 1, AvR 8.13 My defence needed numbers, so I added Gannon, who got average ratings of 7.41 and 7.60 in the Premier League despite being 23/24 years old. Didn't make a big impact in his debut season though.Iain Jenkins - 31 - D L - £500kA 24, G 1, AvR 7.83 Sold Terry Redmond - 26 - D C - £2.3mA 23, G 1, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.83 After a couple of season on the edge of the first team, he has left it entirely. Looks like it's time to sell. Andy Johnson - 28 - DM C - £4.1mA 12, G 2, AvR 8.33 After 8 games without a clean sheet, I went to Burnley again to boost the defence (and midfield) with a player rated 8.03 this season. Paul Flowers - 29 - D C - £1.8mA 9, AvR 8.33 A short-term buy just to strengthen our defence... and weaken Liverpool's. A tactical buy - our only title rival was Liverpool, and I bought their best player, who is average-rated 8.11. He may only be good for this season, but I can always sell him again. Des Chamberlain - 21 - D C - £150kA 4, AvR 5.25 Loan - Rotheram (D3): A 23, AvR 4.78 Nowhere near good enough, even at his young age. Neil Hodge - 20 - D L - £500kA 8, AvR 7.25 Loan - Walsall (D3): A 18, G 2, AvR 5.22 Good ratings, a Welsh international already and 20s in passing, pace and flair. Is this Gareth Bale? Lee Bates - 20 - D C - £150kA 7, AvR 6 Midfielders Kevin Carter - 23 - M C - £6.4mA 45, G 7, MOTM 6, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 8.62 Our best midfielder again. Neil Mitchell - 29 - MC - £5.2mA 30, G 2, Min 7, Max 10, AvR 8.33 Injury-prone, so didn't see too much of him. Did fine, but fine isn't enough at Man Utd now. Lee Groves - 27 - M C - £3.8mA 28, G 3, MOTM 1, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 8.18 A slight improvement, but still on the edge of the first team level. Nicky Butt - 27 - M C - £2.4mA 27, G 13, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.26 An ok but unspectacular first half of the season led to him being transfer-listed, but he did better in the second half. Graham Butterworth - 26 - M LC - £2.6mA 23, G 4, AvR 8.17 After a few games, I listed Nicky Butt and signed 26-year-old replacement Butterworth from Tottenham. At 23 years old he already had an 8.06-rated season and has been keeping close to that ever since. An awful Jonathan Woodgate-calibre start made him look a flop, but he got better. But needs to be even better still. Jason Jackson - 22 - M C - £1.3mA 21, G 2, AvR 8.38 WIth money and squad spots to spare, I signed another young performer. Nick Barmby - 29 - MA C - £2mA 18, G 2, AvR 7.83 Only 39 goals in 186 games is very disappointing. He wasn't quite a flop, but nowhere near what he should've been. Sold to Wednesday. Matthew Beardsmore - 19 - MA L - £300kA 7, G 1, AvR 7.14 Loan - Colchester (D3): A 18, AvR: 5.72 Got his first goal in the final league game and is already an R.o.Ireland international. Steve Rankine - 26 - M C - £200kA 4, AvR 6.5 Attackers Alex Ward - 26 - A C - £2.7mA 43, G 23, MOTM 15, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.51 Our best striker. Robbie Fowler - 28 - A C - £6.1mA 33, G 13, MotM 11, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.39 Another season where he did worse then last season, but that's still a high bar. Graeme Burrows - 23 - A C - £1.6mA 23, G 4, Min 4, Max 10, AvR 7.65 A poor season but a bright future. Jonathan Hunt - 31 - A C - £1mA 18, G 8, AvR 8.17 Sold on deadline day. Risky, as he was still rated high, but his skill and value will crash next season. So only stayed for 2 half-seasons, and is now scoring for Leicester alongside another player called Hunt. (Leicester are doing ok with a couple of right Hunts in their team, and big Wood bringing up the rear.) Shaun Murphy - 31 - A C - £2.5mA 12, G 3, AvR 8.5 I cashed in as the goals seemed to dry up. Bruce Dyer - 27 - A C - £2.9mA 12, G 5, AvR 8.83 On deadline day I moved for Everton's striker, who regularly scores 12 a season but gets the high end of the 7s average rating per season. While playing for Everton, I should add. Was our best player this season. Edited July 1, 2023 by git2thachoppa Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
git2thachoppa Posted July 6, 2023 Author Share Posted July 6, 2023 (edited) 04/05 Season & United Team Review - The Final Season Game World Leagues No team could get close to Man Utd as they won their 9th title in 11 years. Had they played their first team in more of their matches, it may well have been a 100-point season. Top Goalscorer: Paul Ellender (Burnley), S. Short (Sheff Wed), D. Ablett (Man Utd) - 24 Most MOTM: M. Flitcroft (Liverpool) - 23 Dirtiest Player: F. Garner (N. Forest), M. Howard (Wolves) - 40 points Player of the Year: A. Ward (Man Utd) - 9.17 Young Player of the Year: N. Hodge (Man Utd) - 7.60 Current and former Man Utd players make up 15 of the top 16 players. Manager of the Year: Me Superb-Rated Managers: Me, David Webb (Liverpool), Terry Burton (N. Forest) Highest Average Attendance: Man City - 45,568 Arsenal finally won promotion after a decade away. Southampton, who were in the Premier League 3 years ago, are now in Division 2. A non-league side 9 years ago, Maidstone had earned double promotion into Division 2 and became a yo-yo club. They've now achieved another double promotion to reach Divison 1 for the first time, after beating champions Hartlepool 4-1 on the final day while Fulham choked. Former Premier League sides Oldham and Crystal Palace are now all the way down in Division 3. Stockport are the latest football league regulars to be relegated into non-league. Charity Shield: (PL/FA) Man Utd 0 - 1 Liverpool (PLRU) FA Cup Final: Man Utd 3 - 1 Burnley D2 Fulham reached the semis, knocking out Liverpool on the way. Coca-Cola Cup Final: Man Utd 6 - 0 Torquay Bristol Rovers knocked out Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday on the way to the QF. Anglo-Italian Cup Final: Southampton 0 - 3 Cremonese European Cup Final: (Fra) Marseille 0 - 1 Barcelona (Spa) Cup Winners Cup Final: (Fra) Bordeaux 1 - 1 Ajax (Ned) FT, AET, 3-4 Pens UEFA Cup Final: (Eng) Liverpool 1 - 1 Cologne (Ger) FT on agg., AET, 3-4 Pens Northern Irish side Glentoran knocked out Fiorentina 4-3 on aggregate. Aberdeen knocked out AC Milan 3-2 and PSG on away goals. Sackings Wimbledon's Joe Kinnear, Crewe's Dario Gradi and Colchester's Roy McDonagh all retired after over a decade in charge. The equally longevitous (?) Danny Bergara was sacked after relegation to non-league. Meanwhile, Sheffield Wednesday appointed Southampton's PHYSIO as their new manager. Notable Transfers N. Ward from N. Forest to Man Utd for £6m C. Dolby from Liverpool to Man Utd for £4.3m Neil Mitchell from Man Utd to Leeds for £4.1m Sol Campbell from Man Utd to Burnley for £3.6m George Ndah from Man Utd to Leeds for £3.55m David Kerr from Aston Villa to N. Forest for £3m Steve Watson from Newcastle to Sheff Wed for £550k C. Aldridge from (Eire) to Leeds for £200k Jason Dodd from Southampton to Sunderland for £10k Man Utd - The Domestic Treble! League: 1st W28, D4, L6, F86, A25, 88PTS Charity Shield: L1-0 v Liverpool FA Cup R3: W2-0 (A) v Birmingham (D1) R4: W1-0 (H) v Middlesbrough R5: W4-1 (H) v Milwall QF: W6-1 (A) v Sheff Wed SF: W5-1 (N) v Fulham (D2) F: W3-1 (N) v Burnley Coca-Cola Cup R2: W5-0 v Brentford (D2) on agg. R3: W3-1 (H) v Tottenham R4: W2-0 (A) v Ipswich (D1) QF: W2-0 (H) v Bristol Rovers (D3) SF: W7-0 v Leicester on agg. F: W 6-0 (N) v Torquay European Cup R1: W5-1 v Aris B (Gre) on agg. R2: W1-1 v Red Star (Yug) on agg FT, AET, W 4-2 Pens Group Stage W2-1 (H) v D Prague (Cze) L2-0 (A) v Marseille (Fra) L2-1 (H) v Porto (Por) W4-1 (A) v D Prague W1-0 (H) v Marseille W1-0 (A) v Porto We missed out on goal difference. But what this shows for sure is that the European Cup is winnable, even inevitable. In the past few seasons we've beaten former champions like Bayern, Red Star and Porto, and been 1 goal away from a final. So this is where it ends. All future seasons now will just be me hoovering up the best players during the season, my squad being a slew of generic regen names coming in, and generic regens going out, and shoving them in line-ups in only a few meaningful matches per season. Example: on the match of deadline day, with our 2 new signings, we thrashed the 2nd-placed team away from home 4-0, with every player rated 10. It's a bit boring slogging through that just to tick the 'Won CL' box. Since I'll next be restarting as a non-league side, and aim to go all the way to the top, it'll be the same process in the end, if I reach it! At least we can say I finished by accomplishing the Domestic Treble, to go with my first 'treble' a few years ago. Top Goalscorer: Ward - 23 Supporters' Player of the Year: Ablett Highest Average Rating: Ward - 9.17 Most MOTM: Ward - 15 Dirtiest Player: Hodge - 25 Average Attendance: 44,694 Transfers In N. Ward from N. Forest for £6m Ablett from Aston Villa for £2.6m Wilson 2.9m from N. Forest for £2.9m Henderson from N. Forest for 2.5m Dolby from Liverpool for £4.3m Atkinson from WBA for £2m Total: £20.3m Out Ndah to Leeds for £3.55m Johnson to Tottenham for £2.9m Chamberlain to Tranmere for £85k Campbell to Burnley for £3.6m Bates to Exeter for £130k Burrows to WBA for £1.7m Redmond to Stoke for £2.5m Mitchell to Leeds for £4.1m Total: £18.565m Total Spend: £1.435m Post-Season Terminations: Flowers Squad Review Main XI ---- Fowler - A. Ward (c) - Ablett -- ---------------- N. Ward ------------------ --- Butterworth - Jackson - Carter - --- Wilson / Henderson - Sainty - Gannon --- --------------- Davies --------------- I experimented with 3 at the back, and it seemed to be fine. With an abundance of goals and quality up front, we ended up playing 3-3-4, or 3-2-1-4 with a striker in the hole too. Goalkeepers Martin Davies - 29 - £1m Appearances 34, Conceded 12, Minimum Match Rating 5, Maximum Match Rating 10, AvR 7.91 12 conceded in 34 games is hugely impressive. Then you see Walker's record... Ian Walker - 33 - £1.1m A 17, C 4, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 7.65 I nearly sold him, but I decided to keep 3 keepers just in case. Both our other keepers got injured, so it was the right choice. He ended up doing better than last season. Gerry Farrington - 27 - £1.3m A 15, Conceded 15, AvR 7.53 Defenders Ray Sainty - 28 - D C - £5.8m A 44, Goals 5, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 8.7 Our best defender. Completely reliable. Gary Gannon - 26 - D C - £3.6m A 43, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.93 Paul Flowers - 30 - D C - £1.4m A 40, G 3, MOTM 1, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.2 Damien Henderson - 29 - D C - £2.6m A 28, G 1, AvR 8.36 I sold so many players that I ended up short of defenders that could do a job, so I had to reinvest some of that money into a short-term buy. Neil Hodge - 21 - D L - £750k A 25, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.60 Continuing his rise to Bale levels. Terry Redmond - 27 - D C - £2m A 21, G 1, AvR 7.86 Below 8 is just not good enough, so was sold for a good price. Andy Wilson - 28 - D L - £3.2m A 20, AvR 8.5 The clear standout defender in the league this season, so I signed him. Sol Campbell - 30 - DM LC - £3.5m A 14, AvR 8.36 Andy Johnson - 29 - DM C - £3.5m A 9, AvR 8.11 Lee Bates - 21 - D C - £100k A 8, AvR 6.5 Des Chamberlain - 22 - D C - £200k A 2, AvR 5.5 Midfielders Graham Butterworth - 27 - M LC - £11.2m A 37, G 10, MOTM 5, Min 7, Max 10, AvR 9.11 A value of £11.2m breaks Giggs' record of 'highest-valued player I've ever seen'. After a flop of a debut season, he has become one of the best. Jason Jackson - 23 - M C - £6.2m A 37, G 11, MOTM 1, Min 7, Max 10, AvR 9.05 The cause of me having Janet stuck in my head. Doesn't Really Matter though as he didn't have a Nasty season. Let's Wait Awhile and see him get even better with time. Kevin Carter - 24 - M C - £8.5m A 37, G 8, MOTM 3, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 9.05 Lee Groves - 28 - M C - £2.4m A 42, G 7, MOTM 2, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.31 Nicky Butt - 28 - M C - £1.6m A 27, G 3, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 7.81 Butt has had a great United career but, regardless of age, he's now been surpassed by an elite squad of 9-rated players. Charlie Dolby - 27 - M C - £4.8m A 13, G 1, AvR 7.85 Neil Mitchell - 30 - MC - £4.5m A 12, G 1, AvR 8 Attackers Alex Ward - 27 - A C - £3.4m A 46, G 23, MOTM 15, Min 7, Max 10, AvR 9.17 Robbie Fowler - 29 - A C - £6.6m A 38, G 19, MotM 11, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 9.05 Dave Ablett - 27 - A C - £5.7m A 29, G 13, AvR 9.03 A bit of an accidental signing. He was on my shortlist and Stoke wanted him, so I joined the bidding and snatched him. I'd forgotten his club (Villa) were in Division 1 now, so when he'd got 11 goals and 8 MOTM awards in 13 games this season, I was quick to sign. Turned out to be one of our best strikers though. Neil Ward - 22 - A C - £3.4m A 31, G 14, AvR 8.71 A painful transfer. I spotted him when he was scoring 20 goals a season for York and was only £1m or £2m. After huge ratings and goals at a couple of Premier League clubs, I finally bought him for £6m instead. Can play in the hole. Matthew Beardsmore - 20 - MA L - £450k A 27, G 5, Min 5, Max 10, AvR 7.07 Bruce Dyer - 28 - A C - £2.6m A 25, G 13, MOTM 5, Min 6, Max 10, AvR 8.76 Graeme Burrows - 24 - A C - £2m A 14, G 2, AvR 8.29 Kevin Atkinson - 23 - A RLC - £2.4m A 7, AvR 8.86 A new young signing that can play on the flanks, opening up the option of having 4, 5 or even 6 strikers on the field to overwhelm opponents. Conclusion I resign. The board responds: Club Records What CM 93/94 Predicted - Shearer will join Newcastle United for a British record fee on deadline day, help them lift the title months later, then sodd off to Italy next year. - Arsenal will be relegated and struggle to come back - Liverpool will also have a relegation scare, but eventually win the title again - Spurs will rise as the new star-studded megapower, led by top English youngsters like Anderton, Barmby, Walker, Sheringham, Campbell and Sir Jason Cundy. - Burnley will be the next to rise to the top and challenge for the title and Europe - West Ham's league existence will come into jeopardy as they fall down the leagues - Portugal will become a major European force, winning several titles. Things I Learned - Pull the trigger on signing a player. If you wait too long to sign a star player because you didn't need him, he'll move to Europe and you might never get him at his peak when you DO need him - It's better to sign and play strikers with ~8.0 average ratings that don't score than to play lower-rated strikers that score some goals. Ratings > goals. - Always have someone ready to replace your 29-year-old. This is the age where it might be time to cash in on all but the very best performers and reinvest in a replacement. - The win bonus doesn't seem to simply make players perform better, but make them more likely to make a comeback after half-time. - Someone performing at a '6' rating in a match doesn't have to be subbed off. If you're 2-0 up and going along fine, leave him be. - Sign Englishmen where possible if you want to make European progress, due to the '4 foreigners restriction' (Scottish, Welsh and Irish is still 'foreign') - Check the tactics of the opposition and play the same tactic, since man-for-man we usually have the better side, and go from there. - Insure everyone, as the maths means you save money overall - Player match ratings are relative to the players around them. So a rubbish 5-rated player will get an 8 when everyone else is a 9 or 10. - All the regen names for managers tend to come up with criminals in a Google search My Personal XI Sheringham - Cantona - Fowler Sharpe ---------- Ince ---------- Giggs Irwin - Campbell (c) - Ndah - Parker ---------------- Schmeichel -------------- Schmeichel, Irwin and Parker provided consistency in the early days. Sol Campbell stayed through the entire game. Ndah was a defender-striker, so could could both stop and score goals simultaneously. Sharpe and Giggs became world class wingers as predicted, and stayed most of their career before inevitably moving abroad. Ince goes above Keane due to his consistency. Cantona and Sheringham was a beloved partnership, and what could've been in real life. And of course I have to add Mancunian legend Robbie Fowler in there! He was our first big young striker signing that delivered. That's the end of this save. But next I'll start as a non-league side, like Bognor Regis, and see how far I can go, maybe even win the European Cup this time. " "Goodnight." EDIT UPDATE Part 2 - Starting at the bottom with the worst club (Barnet) is here: Edited October 17, 2023 by git2thachoppa 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carambau Posted July 13, 2023 Share Posted July 13, 2023 Thank you for this wonderful trip into a better past 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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