Jimbokav1971

I do love these quirky little Cups, (The Royal Cup in Scandiland was a short-lived thing of absolute beauty), but they are often forced to take a back seat in a save. In my save a non-Scottish club has never won this competition and we have to go back to 2027/28 to find Linfield making a FInal. That does seem to mirror real life though. We won it back in 2043/44 when we also won the Championship.

Aug 2053. Scottish Premiership. Our 1st 2 opposition were the toughest we could have had, so although it was a blow to start with 2 "L's" on the bounce, it's actually good to get them out of the way and hopefully now we can go on a little run. We might be down in the bottom half of the table, but I'm not worried about that at this stage. We've only played 4 games, (some have played 6), and as mentioned we've got 2 of our toughest games out of the way early. UEFA Champions League. 2 away draws and 2 home wins are just what we needed to progress to the Group Stage of the Champions League, (although it should be said that we needed 2 goals in the last 2 mins against Porto. League Cup. I think I liked this competition more when it was a Group Stage and we could just bin it off as a group of friendlies. Now you go and win 1 game and are into the Quarters and there is some semblance of grandiose significance. They're not significant games at all and they're still just a smaller bunch of friendlies. Debuts. Although (52b) Hastings (Det) 5'9" ** is a 5'9", 17 year old, wet behind the ears, midfielder, he actually played Libero for us in both European games against Servette when we were struggling with a few injuries. He wasn't amazing but he did ok, (obviously didn't win any headers), but moved the ball well and we're unbeaten when he starts! Season Tickets. TV Rights. Records. 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 52/65 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.

Jul 2053. Transfers. (48b) Rodger (IRL) (Merc) * did really well for us and selling him might be a mistake, but we have so many good front players that it just seemed sensible to let him go when Leverkusen offered me decent money for him. We got some good clauses in the deal so at the moment I'm happy with things. When you consider that he's now getting paid £85k per week and we're spending just under £103k per week for the whole squad, (including U21's and U8's), then it perhaps puts things into perspective. Finances. Having £60M in the bank means that El Chieftain will be much less likely to become involved in transfer offers for our non-attacking players, (fingers crossed).

Ross County. Jul 2053. Rangers are playing Ross County live on Sky (irl) right now, and it made me think about the history of Ross County because I'm almost positive that they weren't a Scottish League club when I was a kid. I was right. The game only goes back as far as 1980/81, but they were in the Highland League, and stayed there until 1993/94. They didn't actually win the league the last year they spent in the Highland League, (although they did win it in 90/91 & 91/92. They didn't actually "win" promotion on the pitch, but were "elected" to be 1 of 2 new teams in the Scottish structure when the league were restructured/expanded. After that they made pretty steady progress, rising in the leagues and although they were relegated once, (in 2006/07), they bounced back at the 1st attempt and were eventually promoted to the Scottish Premiership in 2011/12. They did pretty well after promotion to the premiership, with just 1 relegation in 2017/18, and they managed to bounce straight back again. They've also been pretty decent since the save started, with just 2 relegations and spending only 3 seasons in total in the Championship. They've finished Runners Up in the Scottish Cup twice. Once in real life and once in the game. Their 1st season in Europe came in 2030/31, (but didn't last long). Since then though, they've done a little better. Their biggest success though came just last season when they were crowned UEFA Europa Conference Champions. As if that wasn't special enough, they beat Hearts in the Final. I don't really have a specific reason for this other than the fact that in real life they are a team that have shown continued progression in real life, and now in the save that same progression is continuing.

Squad Depth. Jul 2053. GK. This is a strong area but I'm still going to go without a 2nd GK and just rely on U 1st Team. (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * 2nd Team. Loan. (44f) Gordon (F.Pro) 6'1" * Loan. (46e) Hunter (Res) 6'0" * Loan. (45c) Paskowski(POL)(Bal)6'0 * Loan. (49h) Broughton (USA)(F.Det) * U21's. (51i) Pascazio (IRL) (F.Pro) * U18's. (52c) Aly (IRL) (EGY) (Spirit) U18's. (52j) Brass. (Pro) U18's. (53l) King (F.Pro) 6'3" WBL. 1st Team. (46d) Bentley (AUS)(F.Pro) * 2nd Team. (51b) Kirkwood (F.Det) * Loan. (51f) McGrandles (L.Det) Loan. (50f) Knudsen (FRO) (DEN) *PPM U21's. (49f) Clark (Res) * U18's. (53b) Cowie (Unamb) 5'3" Sell/Release. (50h) Kennedy. (Bal) SELL Sell/Release. (51g) Stuart. (Temp) SELL Sell/Release. (51m) Paudice.(Bal) 5'10" SELL Sell/Release. (52p) Grady. (L.Det) WBR. This area has been a strength for a while, but it's actually a weakness now. Our 1st choice is decent, but our 2nd choice is actually a DC. We're desperate for a couple of decent WBR's to come through the intake. 1st Team. (43a) Quinn (F.Pro) * 2nd Team. (47i) Anthony (Unamb) 6'0" WBR U21's. (50e) Taylor (Unamb) U18's. (51h) Smith (Sport) WBR * U18's. (52g) Duncan. (F.Pro) U18's. (53f) Stewart. (F.Det) WBR U18's. (53h) Tosh. (Unamb) U18's. (52n) Reid. (SCO)(AUS) (Unamb) Sell/Release. (50l) Tomaszewski.(F.Pro) SELL DC. 15 year old (53a) Brownlie (Dri) 5'11" * will go straight into the 1st Team at Libero for next season. No point mucking about. While the 1st Team and 2nd Team are ok, we're really struggling to fill the U21 slots and I think what I will end up doing is just letting them pick from the U18's pool. 1st Team DLC. (44e) Henry (F.Pro) 6'0" * 1st Team DC. (53a) Brownlie (Dri) 5'11" * 1st Team DRC. (50b) Wilson (Unamb) 6'4" * 2nd Team DLC. (46p) Weir (Driven) 6'1" * 2nd Team DC. (46a) Savoury (Real) * DC 2nd Team DRC. (44h) Lemetti (F.Pro) 6'3" * U21's DLC. U21's DC. U21's DRC. Loan. (45g) McCroary (Merc) 6'4" U18's DLC. (52f) Dorrans (Pro) 5'11" U18's DC. (53e) Rossiter (Spirit) DC 6'1 U18's DRC. (53k) Dunne (F.Pro) 6'0" * U18's. (52e) Davidson (F.Sport) U18's. (53o) Moffat (F.Pro) U18's. (51n) Mealor. (Bal) DC Sell/Release. (50g) Turner. (Temp) Sell/Release. (51m) Paudice.(Bal) 5'10" SELL Sell/Release. (45l) O'Hara (F.Pro) 6'2" * MC. 1st Team MLC. (42b) Potter (F.Pro) * SELL 1st Team MRC. (45e) Brass6 (Fickle) MC * Sub 1. (45j) Marshall (F.Pro) * Sub 2. (43b) Bradley (F.Det) * 2nd Team MLC. (48c) McKee (L-Heart) * 2nd Team MRC. (44b) Harvey (Spirit) * U21's MLC. (51d) Montgomery(Bal)(NIR) WBR U21's MRC. (49d) Sutherland (Merc) * Loan. (52a) Fraher (IRL) (F.Det) * Loan. (51a) Maley (F.Det) (IRL) * Loan. (50c) Sørensen (FRO) (Fickle) Loan. (50d) McCulloch (Sport) U18's MLC. (53d) Romanis (F.Pro) * U18's MRC. (52b) Hastings (Det) 5'9" * Backup. (53c) Robertson (L.Heart) Backup. (52h) Burke. (IRL) (Driven) Sell/Release. (50p) Grady. (Bal) SELL SC. 1st Team SLC. (51c) Mackie (F.Pro) (IRL) * 1st Team SC. (41b) Gourley (NIR)(F.Sport)* 1st Team SRC. (47b) Smith (Det) * 2nd Team SLC. (48a) Edwards (F.Det) 5'5" * 2nd Team SC. (50a) Donald (F.Det) 6'0" * 2nd Team SRC. (47a) Currie (Bal) 6'1" * U21's SLC. (49b) Courts (Bal) * U21's SC. (50j) McMullan (Unamb) * U21's SRC. (52d) Porojan (ROU)(Spirit) * Loan. (47d) Warnock (IRL) (Temp) * Loan. (46f) Weir (F.Sport) * Loan. (47k) Bonar (L.Heart) * U18's SLC. (52o) Stapley (ENG) (Resil) U18's SC. (52h) Burke. (IRL) (Driven) U18's SRC. (52i) Glass (F.Det) U18's Backup. (53m) Koloušek (CZE) (Merc) U18's Backup. (51l) Hillcoat. (Bal) U18's Backup. (53i) Ślęczka (Res) 6'5" Sell/Release. (44a) Neill (F.Pro) SELL Sell/Release. (50h) Kennedy. (Bal) SELL

@leicester33& @jrobertgordon13Great to see you enjoying this challenge. I don't post as often as I used to but I'm still plugging away scoring goals with my GK's. Feel free to show us what your GK's look like by the way. These are my current GK's in Scotland, (although only 1 of them has scored a goal). Last season he scored 10 goals in the league, but 15 goals in all competitions. That's really decent but now I'm no longer rotating my GK's I would hope to get him somewhere up near 20 over the next couple of seasons, (fingers crossed).

So close to double figure goals for the season.

41 career goals s is really decent.

I use IR the whole time, (or 99.99% of the time and it works fine with me).

That's brilliant. Thanks very much. You know I don't recognise some of the names on that list even though they played for me! When you've had so many GK's score 100+ career goals it become less of an accomplishment, (but shouldn't). In my current save I've had pens taken by 12 different GK's, but nobody has managed to get to 50 career goals yet, (although current GK is on 49 and not going anywhere anytime soon so fingers crossed). (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).

You could be right, but of course the competitions the U21's play in are not just your generic U21 leagues, so it might be a little different in this case. They play in the following 3 competitions. Challenge Cup, (which is also called the SPFL Trust Trophy). It's the 65th highest ranked Cup competition in Europe, (right behind the EFL Trophy to give that some context). The EFL Trophy by the way is called the Bristol Street Motors Trophy this season and saw Peterborough beat Wycombe in the Final last weekend. So while the BSM Trophy is only open to English League 1 and League 2 sides, it's still a decent rep trophy and that's where the Challenge Cup/SPFL Trust Trophy sits in the pecking order. Having said that, the Scottish Non-League Cup is ranked 55th on the list so...... maybe not so much. Hearts B are the only non-1st Team side to have won it in this save, and in real life no non-1st Team have ever won it. Championship clubs can enter their 1st Teams, but not Premiership clubs. Rangers B and Hibs U21's have been Runners Up before though. SPFL Reserve Cup. This has been won by Rangers B on 13 of 31 seasons in this save, but we've won it for the last 3, (managed by the AI), and it really is a generic aged group competition that holds little value. Reserve Challenge Cup. This is pretty much the same as the previous competition, except that Rangers B have won it less often. There aren't any league games for the U21's so it really is just these 3 competitions which only give a maximum of... (Challenge Cup 5 games) + (Reserve Cup 6 games) + (Reserve Challenge Cup 6 games) = 17 games, and I think 13 of those 17 games get played in the 1st half of the season.... so there is some sense in keeping a player in the U21's for the 1st half of the season and letting them play 13 games, but very little sense in them being kept for the 2nd half of the season when they only play a maximum of 4 games, (and only then if they get to all 3 Finals). I suppose the smart move is just to use the U18's, but they do have a league campaign to play (27 games), and a Youth Cup competition, (8 games) and I think this season they will also play in the Youth version of the Champions league because we're playing in the Senior version, (but we possibly have to qualify for the Group stage 1st for that to happen). So to summarise, yeah, I think loaning out, (to the right team at the right level), is the best course of action. A Championship winning campaign, (in the Championship), is ideally what I would like for some of my hot prospect youngsters.

I haven't started the Squad Depth post yet, but that will determine what I do with him. I think it likely that he will be loaned out, but until I allocate roles I'm not 100% positive. Highly unlikely that he will stay in the U21's though. You make a really good point about the Ass Man when using IR. That just about rules that option out. The only way to do it would be to reverse engineer it so that he would start and I would rely on the Ass Man to take him off at 45 mins. A season on the Championship could be just what he needs.

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.