Jimbokav1971

yep, Rangers won it with a bit to spare in the end. They should be comfortably capable of staying up with a squad like this. They've been buying 1 player per season from us, Finances are fine. I would expect them to comfortably stay up this season and maybe even challenge for the top half of the table.

Jun 2053. New Average Attendance. Premiership TV rights. Reputation. Internationals. European Competition rankings. European Club rankings. Transfers. Records. Finances.

Awards. May 2053. Scottish League 1 Golden Boot. Writers Manager of the Year. Players Manager of the Year. Scottish Premiership Manager of the Season. Scottish Championship Golden Boot. Scottish Players Young Player of the Year. Scottish Football Writers Young Player of the Year. Scottish Premiership Team of the Season.

May 2053. Scottish Premiership. When we beat Celtic I thought, (just for a brief moment), that we were going to win the league, but we were brought crashing back down to Earth when Hibs smashed the life out of us, and then Aberdeen finished the job off a few days later. 3rd is still great, but I did think for a minute about lifting the trophy. Scottish Cup. A piece of cake. Records. Internationals. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 49/61 from the spot at 80%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

Apr 2053. Scottish Premiership. Frustrated not to take all 3 points at Airdrie, but we're doing ok and hoping to sneak 2nd. Scottish Cup. On paper this should be a walk in the park, (because St Mirren are 4th in the Championship). Records. He can't make progressive passes, so he's just scoring himself! U18's. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 48/60 from the spot at 80%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

(53a) Brownlie (Dri) 5'11" does indeed look good. I'm just trying to not get too carried away. In the back of my mind I know we only have him on a 2+3 deal, (when he turns 16), so I really need to tie him down to a longer contract on the off-chance that he's as good as his initial PA suggests. I like (52a) Fraher (IRL) (F.Det) * and he's already made league & European appearances this season, to go with the 2 leagues and 1 European appearances that I have him last season after he came through the intake. He's actually ranked the 6th MC by CA at the moment which is pretty decent. At this stage I'm not sure if I'm going to.... (1). Loan him out somewhere next season, (2). Sell someone ahead of him and force him into the 2nd Team, (3). Select him as a permanent sub for both 1st Team and 2nd Team, (seems a rubbish idea for player development as I say it out loud), (4). Keep him in the U18's and make him available for U21 games. (5). Promote him to U21's squad and then loan him out in 2nd half of the season. I quite like that he's a little more workmanlike than some of the out and out "playmakers" we've been using.

Mar 2053. Scottish Premiership. Celtic completely took us to the cleaners but we bounced back well with a good win over Kilmarnock. It does mean however that we've dropped to 3rd in the league as both teams above us have hit a real purple-patch of form. Scottish Cup. (The Big One). We will play Dundee, (bottom of the Premiership), in the Semi-Final, and I would hope to get past them to face one of St Mirren, (3rd in Championship) or Aberdeen, (4th in Premiership). Debuts. Records. Not only is he the youngest player ever to play in the Scottish Premiership, but he's also the youngest player to ever play for us. Internationals. U21's. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 46/58 from the spot at 79%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

NxGn 2053.

He could be, but considering our reputation and facilities that's probably unlikely and instead he's just heavily CA weighted. I think I've mentioned before that I tend to not pay too much notice of what they look like on Day 1. Instead I just go with the flow and see how good they become. He's already made his debut, but the biggest barrier to him playing well at the moment is that rubbish PPM.

Yeah, 5'11" is fine and 12 jumping is decent so I think there is definite home of some improvement there.

I've just noticed his PPM though. Don't like that at all.

Yeah he looks really good. I was only able to offer him a 2+3 contract so will have to keep and eye on him and see if I can renegotiate quite quickly.

Not in terms of stars, but in reality, probably yes, especially by the start of next season. Our current 1st choice Back 3 is as follows. DLC. (44e) Henry (F.Pro) 6'0" * DC. (44h) Lemetti (F.Pro) 6'3" * DRC. (50b) Wilson (Unamb) 6'4" * This is (44h) Lemetti (F.Pro) 6'3" *. The comparison shows that (44h) Lemetti (F.Pro) 6'3" * probably still has the edge right now, (but not for long). As soon as (53a) Brownlie (Dri) 5'11" *** develops physically I think that will change though.

Youth Intake Day. Mar 2053. I released (53n) and (53p) from this intake who were both (Unamb) + (L.Det).

Well their finances weren't too bad the last time they looked. They had about £22M in the bank and were doing ok. They're top of the table and look like they are coming back up this season. Last season they brought in £1M more in sales than they spent on transfers in. This season they've splashed the cash on our lad, but not really anyone else, and he probably is worth the money to them because between our 2 ex players they have just about guaranteed promotion. They've still got £10M in the bank now. If we ignore the loan player, their top valued 2 players at the club are the 2x 28 year olds that we sold them. I think I might have sold (40b) Stewart (IRL)(F.Pro) * on the cheap. All in all I think they're being run much better now because the 2 deals they did with us, (and the old centre-half they signed on the cheap the season before), all look like being excellent value for money.

Feb 2053. Scottish Premiership. 3 really good results this month. 2 ENORMOUS wins at home to Livingston and Motherwell, (where we scored a combined 13 goals), and then a brilliant 0-0 at home to Celtic. sees us remain at the top of the table by 2 points, but Celtic still have a game in hand. Hibs are 5 points back but have 2 games in hand, so it's still a 3-way fight for the title. Europa League. We were ok against Real Betis in the away leg and our xG was better than theirs and had more shots and more shots on target, but despite that they scored 4 goals and we scored 0 goals. We were even better in the 2nd leg and scored 4 goals while again dominating the game, but unfortunately they scored 1 and we crashed out by the odd goal in 9. Scottish Cup. (The Big One). Beating Celtic is a big deal at any time. After drawing with them 0-0 in the league we then take them to Extra-Time and our fitness levels, (as a result of our rotation), pays dividends and we basically run riot late on. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 45/56 from the spot at 80%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

Jan 2053. Europa League. We were poor against Rapid Wien and rightly got nothing from the game, but we bounced back well and spanked Malmö. Scottish Cup. This big scoreline is sort of to be expected because Buckie are in League 2, but it's still nice to smash 8 goals. Transfers. I love that features like this are in the game. (44c) Antonazi (AUS)(Res)6'0 * was the 1st proper Libero I have had in ages, despite using a Libero for large numbers of seasons without a proper Libero. We made money on him when we sold him to Milan, (and got him loaned back), and then we made money on him again when Milan sold him to Ajax. When Ajax then sold him to Everton we just received the consolidation payment, (as we have received here), but it's these solidarity payments that really add up and are key to long-term Youth Only saves. Once you have sold enough players they just keep rolling in and it feels like free money every time an Academy product is sold, (by anyone). That's over and above all the regular transfers and clauses that get triggered. These payments, (in sufficient quantity), really do add up to a significant amount. Records. I like the fact that the game tracks all transfer income, but at the same time I'm frustrated that it's not shown accurately on the income screen. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 42/53 from the spot at 79%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

Dec 2052. Scottish Premiership. That's good form, but it's just typical that the only game we lose is against Aberdeen and they're the side who are actively targeting to take points off. Despite the loss to Aberdeen, we're still top, 4 points clear of Celtic, (who have 2 games in hand), and 9 points clear of Hibs, (who have 3 games in hand). Aberdeen are 11 points behind, (and we actually have a game in hand on them), so I'm quietly confidant that they will be finishing ahead of us. Europa League. Another win sends us in the right direction, up the table. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 41/52 from the spot at 79%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

Nov 2052. Scottish Premiership. Hibs absolutely smashed us, but we were 2-0 up against Ross County and frustratingly conceded an 89th min leveller. Europa League. A couple of wins, (at last), moves us up into contention. Internationals. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 38/49 from the spot at 76%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

Oct 2052. Scottish Premiership. The dropped points were both in mid-week games and the flippin Aberdeen game had me shouting at my laptop with them scoring a 98th min leveller when our xG was double theirs. On the 1 hand we're actually targeting finishing above Aberdeen so to lose points from a winning position against them so late in the game was a real body-blow. Despite that, we're still top of the table by 3 points and we have a game in hand on both Celtic and Aberdeen. We don't have a game in hand on Hibs, and they're 4 points behind. Europa League. We won the 2 xG battles in the games we lost, so but for poor finishing, (young players playing up front), we would have had 7 points rather than just 1. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 37/47 from the spot at 79%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

Sep 2052. Scottish Premiership. While losing games is never good, it's certainly better to win 3 and lose 1 rather than win 1, draw 2 and lose 1, so I'm not too unhappy with how things are going. Even if I wasn't happy about it, Hibs absolutely smashed us and there is absolutely nothing I could do about it. Europa League. Not the best start to our European campaign, but also not the easiest of fixtures, and both away. Really not too bothered this year though. Our focus is very much on the league and Europe is really just exposure for our 2nd Team. League Cup. We won this last season and even in winning it, it's STILL just a collection of friendlies, so losing in it now against Celtic bothers me not even a tiny bit. New contract. 5 years. Transfers. Internationals. Facilities. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 35/44 from the spot at 80%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

That's a really good spot. Yeah he had something in his personal life/off field, (I'm guessing), that made him change from (Unamb) to (M.Citizen). I think that played a part in how much football he got, but in the end he still had to go. I didn't mention it in the thread because I missed the message itself and only noticed it afterwards, (and then changed his nickname). There are quite a few changes like that, but rarely one as good as that from so bad to so good.

Aug 2052. Scottish Premiership. It's been a really good start to the month, but we let ourselves down by losing to St Johnstone at the end of the month. It's not a disaster in so much as Celtic, (who are top), have also dropped 3 points, but it's still a little frustrating and next month has some much tougher fixtures. League Cup. This was less comfortable than it should have been. Debuts. Season Tickets. Transfers. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 34/42 from the spot at 81%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

Very good question. I forgot to even look at them never mind about post, so lets have a look now. I can't remember where they were in my last update so let me go back and remind myself. When @Thebakerasked about their Finances it was Feb 2052 and they were in the relegation playoff spot with 11 games to play. And that's exactly where they finished. When I made the reply to @Thebakerabout Rangers' finances, I think I also commented that they were being managed reasonably well off the pitch., (keeping spending down quite low in anticipation of a further reduction of wages for this coming season), but I also commented that they were being managed appallingly ON the field and that I think I could win the Championship quite comfortably with that group of players. I even went so far as plugging in a basic 442 default tactic with "play down wings" style, changed the role of the 2 strikers to AF (left) and TM (right), set both full backs and winger to deliver to TM and then started to play the rest of the season with a big bloke called Selfridges or Selfridge or something playing as my TM and it didn't hugely matter who played elsewhere. In fact for the 1st game I made the mistake of playing the TM as and AF and the AF as a TM, but they still won, and we won the next 3 games too. After that though, Selfridge or whatever his name is broke his leg and I just cancelled the mini-experiment, deleted the post I was going to make about it and cracked on, (peeved that I had wasted about 1.5 hours on it). It would seem that Rangers stumbled across this tactic themselves, because without changing manager, they went unbeaten in the last 9 games of the season, and only lost 2 of 13 from that 1st Feb date I was looking at. More than that though, Selfridge, who had previously only scored 2 goals in the league all season, scored 8 goals in 13 games, (but never more than 1 in a single game). Selfridge isn't amazing don't get me wrong, but he is one of those who is you use him correctly is sort of a cheat player at a lower level. Heading 16. Jumping 16. Strength 15. Determination 15. I would honestly destroy teams with him, (even at this level actually), and it appears that they started to at least do something similar with him too. He's contracted for another 2 years, (with a +1 on top of that), and I would expect him to fire them to promotion this season. He's just too effective when used correctly and it appears that they've started doing that now, (he scored 2 goals in the 1st league game this season). He should be scoring 25+ goals for them this season, (even managed by the AI). I would score 40+ with him in that team, (using a bog-standard tactic just tweaked to deliver to TM and playing with an AF). So while they were appalling last season and weren't far off being relegated, I expect them to do much better this season.

I think you're completely right. It was just hard to take winning only 2 of our last 11 games at the end of the season, (1 of them being a Semi-Final against a team in the league below). I honestly think that the 1st time we finish REALLY strongly we have a chance to win the league. In terms of why we drop off so much, (often coincides with the Youth Intake period), I'm honestly not sure. It could just be that the players are fatigued after a long hard season with lots of Cup/European games, but I would have thought that would have been reduced/diminished by our rotation policy in so much as it means that the players effectively only play half the games. The problem with that is that they're on the bench for the other half of games, (so not exactly resting), and I think it worked MUCH better when I rotated the players AND had a 3rd group that always sat on the bench. (This was before we had U21 games). The problem with this is that it was really hard to keep the bench players fit because they were never playing enough football. So yeah, in hindsight finishing in Europe again is great, and in a Europa League rather than a Europa Conference is what we wanted to, (although the rep and money in the Champions league is the ultimate goal). When you think about the money by the way, you might be thinking, "well he has £34M in the bank and has no debts and a really low wage budget so why does he need the money?"..... well the answer is that it's as much about taking the money away from one of our competitors as us needing the money ourselves. There was a 14 point gap between us and the 3 Champions League teams above us and we need to try and eke away at the size of that gap. It will be of little surprise that the 3 Champions league sides also sell the most Season Tickets, (although it should be pointed out that our income from Season Tickets is more than that of Airdrie, despite them selling more tickets, because we're obviously able to charge more). The same 3 sides are at the top of the list when it comes to Sponsorship, and I would expect that to be loosely related to reputation. In terms of wage spend, the difference is even more stark, with the same 3 clubs sitting atop the pile. Aberdeen, (3rd on the list), spend almost double the 4th placed team and Celtic & Hibs both spend more than 50% more than Aberdeen. Ideally my strategy would be to finish above Aberdeen this season and cause them to miss out on the Champions league money and see if we can get their wage budget dropped a litte/(lot) more. Hibs are classed as Rich so they're going to be a tougher nut to crack and Celtic seem to be encountering something of a resurgence since the demise of their rivals Rangers. Something that caught my eye though is the "Net Transfer Spend", and although I would have expected the Scottish Premiership to be largely a selling league, I'm surprised by quite how much of a selling league they are. Only 3 clubs made a loss, (in terms of transfers), and even then their combines losses were only approx £2.2M, (which is obviously tiny). My comparison, the other 9 clubs, (including us), all made a profit, and when you combine this together it's somewhere in the region of £129M. Now these figures are just for the current new season, (which has just started and we haven't got to the close of the Summer Window yet so it may change..... but still. St Johnstone and Hibs are both classed as "Rich", but presumably only because they have just sold players to the tune of £41M & £36M respectively. It's interesting to note that Kilmarnock are still listed as "Insecure", despite them selling £3.8M worth of players. It obviously never even touched the sides. So yeah I think we're doing ok, (and Aberdeen are very much in our sights), but there is still a LONG way to go.