Ozza1996

Hello and welcome to the international journeyman on my own blogging site as I try and win every single major international tournament, and attempt to become the first manager to do it. I start with Australia, and this is the start of our World Cup qualifying journey, as we also attempt to finalise our squad for the Asian Cup. https://owenplaysfm.wordpress.com/2024/03/20/international-journeyman-fm24-australia-2023-fixtures/

I have started a brand new save on my own brand new website which I would love feedback on and for people to take a look at. I try and take my team Coventry City, back to the Premier League after the club missed out on penalties last season in the play off final losing to Luton Town. Come and meet the team, as most of this will be done twice daily. Please also leave feedback and let me know what signings you would make to improve the squad. https://owenplaysfm.wordpress.com/2024/02/21/play-up-sky-blues-a-coventry-city-story-fm24-part-1-welcome-to-the-club/

I'm actually from Desborough bud, I remember my first game going to see them as a lad was a 1-1 draw against Cogenhoe United

Thank you Blarney, I'm very excited to seeing what the response to this is. First update will be tomorrow, on a 2-month cycle, as I will aim to go through at least a couple of rounds in the FA Cup, and try and make a good start to the league. It'll be more interesting than the glory hunter my laptop didn't like haha.

Level 10 to the Prem - Desborough Town - Background Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is the start of a brand new long term save which will be similar to something I include on my brand new Twitch and YouTube channels next year. But we are going to take a team that plays in the county leagues on Football Manager, and make them one of the biggest clubs in the country, maybe even Europe or the World. That does seem a long way off, so let's take a look at the club I've decided to pick for this one club save. You can see the name of the team at the top, but I'm going to tell you more about Desborough Town Football Club. Desborough Town FC are a team based in the town of Desborough in Northamptonshire. Founded in 1896, Ar Tarn, as they are affectionately known, they joined Division One of the Northamptonshire League, now known as the United Counties League, a league they have never left. They have been champions of the league 9 times, but have never been able to be promoted. In recent years, they have struggled to stay away from the middle to the bottom of the table, and are struggling this season also. The club have also made the First Round of the FA Cup once in their history, as they were drawn at home to Doncaster Rovers in the 1926-27 season. The match was abandoned at home, but the FA decided to play the tie at Doncaster's ground, a move which would never have been made now. Ar Tarn went on to lose 3-0. The club play at the Waterworks Field on Braybrooke Road, so named as there is a water tower on the site, which you can see on a matchday. There is a clubhouse, which can be accessed during the match. In recent years, they've had to rebuild the clubhouse after a devastating fire in 2009 burned down the original one, including their trophy room and changing rooms. On a matchday, it's your traditional non league football club, with raffles, draws and a really well made matchday programme. Can we move Desborough Town from where they are at level 9, finally move the club away from this league, and take them all the way up to the top? The home town boy has taken over the football club that he's been to several times in his youth, aiming to make a difference and shoot the team up the leagues. The club play in what is now called the United Counties League Premier South, after a northern section was added a few years ago. Desborough are one of the few Northamptonshire based sides left in the league. Having taken off the key staff option to help me out, and making every club have decent backroom staff, it does mean Desborough Town has a director of football which is brilliant to see at the 9th tier of English football. As well as the UCL Premier South, we will play in the FA Cup from the Extra Preliminary Round, and play in the FA Vase, which is a competition for teams at step 5 of the non-league system and lower. One worrying sign for me is the fact the club cannot complete a best XI, despite me adding players based in nation, and add players to playable teams options. We will have to build a brand new team at the start of this save then, but at least this low down in England, you don't have a transfer window, so you can at least take in players whenever. But you also have to be wary of who you're letting go. The players you have now, may not necessarily stay around. The board's expectations for this season at least is to finish mid-table in the league, and be competitive in both cup competitions, so they're not expecting too much of us this season. As this is a one club save, and this is the one I aim to take me through FM24, I've got a long time to be getting through it, but I don't want to be in this team for far too long. The supporters are also expecting a mid table finish this season. Final Word: So this is the team I will be aiming to take from Level 9 to the top. I hope this grasps the interest, and I hope you continue sticking around like you did for the Glory Hunter finish that had an abrupt ending. I will properly start the save on Monday as I introduce you guys to the squad, the club and everything about it. I'm really excited to see what's coming up. I will try and make my updates shorter as well during this save, so I will see what I can do with that. Thank you, and I'll see you on Monday.

Glory Hunter Update Unfortunately, I'm not entirely sure what has happened, but my laptop has decided to ditch the save for me which isn't good at all. Unfortunately, that does mean I will have to end the career mode here but I will be starting a brand new save from this afternoon, where I'm going to attempt something different and new, and hopefully you'll follow me onto that save. I do apologise for it, and maybe it means I'll start updating it onto the cloud as well haha. But I hope to see you on my brand new save.

Glory Hunter - RB Leipzig and Spain - 2026-27 Season - November We have entered another month of high-stakes, highly competitive football as we take both RB Leipzig and Spain, and try to set some objectives for this month. I want to open up the gap at the top of the Bundesliga, before we head into a month where we have a match against Bayern Munich, a team that I think have the ability to close the gap on us. We also have two matches in the Conference League, and realising how many teams are in this competition, if we can at least confirm the minimum of a play off place, that'll make December and January relaxing in that competition at the very least. Don't forget, we don't have to win the Bundesliga this season as I have already done it in this save, but it would be a nice way to extend and make myself bigger for the teams around Europe who may be after Champions League titles. As for Spain, we have two away matches this month, including one against Germany. We should have beaten them at home, but in that one, it could be winner takes all, if we end up beating them away from home, we could make the semi-finals of the Nations League next Summer. Let's take a look at our club fixtures coming up. RB Leipzig November Fixtures: We travel away to relegation playoff-threaten Bochum, as we aim to extend the gap at the top to a potential 7 points depending on how Union Berlin do in their next game. We travel to Azerbaijan in the first midweek to face Neftci Baku in the Europa Conference League. After that match, we face Werder Bremen at home who are struggling at the bottom of the Bundesliga, and could be in danger of relegation. After the international break, we have a big match away at defending Champions, Bayern Munich, who have had a difficult time of it this season so far, and currently find themselves in 3rd place, but five points off us. Our final game of the month is away at Slovakian side, Spartak Trnava, where we will try and confirm a play off place. I'm proud of how far this team has come this season. Spain November Fixtures: As I said, we have two games this international break coming up as we travel to Hampden Park to play Scotland, who are in danger of being relegated, and finally we face a game that could be winner takes all in terms of qualifying for the semi-finals, as we face Germany away. Sunday 1st November 2026: Bochum 0-1 RB Leipzig (Bundesliga) It wasn't a classic performance by us in this game unfortunately, but if you can get a result when not playing well, we saw that in our title winning season at Dortmund, that we can absolutely win a title with not the best performance. We defeated a charged up Bochum side 1-0, the only goal coming from a corner from the left by Raum, and Dragusin headed in at the near post, with the ball hitting the post before going in. It takes us 7 points clear now at the top of the Bundesliga, but everyone else has a game in hand. A good start to the month. After the game, Lois Openda, who was wanting to leave the club in the Summer, has signed a brand new 4-year contract, running until 2030. Spain Squad Announcement: I've only made one change from the last squad, Yeremy Pino of Manchester City replaces Marco Asensio of PSG. Thursday 5th November 2026: Neftci Baku 0-3 RB Leipzig (UEFA Europa Conference League League Phase) We made it three wins from three in the League Phase in Europe this season, with a ruthless 3-0 victory away at Azeri side Neftci Baku. The first goal came from a passing move after a throw-in on the left, Jashari received the ball and found Openda with a lofted ball with him running in from the right, and with a first time volley, found the top left corner expertly to give us the lead. Jashari set up the second goal as well, his corner from the left finding Benjamin Sesko's header at the near post. Sesko was dispossessed in the final minute, but that found Raum on the left, and his cross was deflected into his own goal by Yuri, as we took a win that took on top of the league phase. Sunday 8th November 2026: RB Leipzig 0-0 Werder Bremen (Bundesliga) Our first blank of the season as we drew 0-0 at home to Werder Bremen who clear themselves of danger for now. We had the chances to win this match, but unfortunately they had all the answers at the back, which also means that they had chances to win the match as well. Their best chances came from corners, with headers saved by Tobiasz throughout the game. We move 6 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, and we will take that lead into the final international break of the calendar year. We get through these matches, and we return with a big game against Bayern Munich. Thursday 12th November 2026: Scotland 1-1 Spain (UEFA Nations League A Group 2) We were fortunate to grab a point against Scotland, we were not hitting the target for most of the match. But as Germany also drew 1-1 with Poland, it will be a winner takes all match in Germany as we try and qualify for the group stage. If we beat Germany, we will go through on a head to head record. Billy Gilmour took a free-kick which went too far through the box. Ryan Christie picked it up, played it back to McKenna, who fired home into the corner to give a well-organised Scotland the lead. We didn't get our equaliser until the 96th minute. Ferran Torres made a run down the left, turned his man inside out, swung the ball back into the box, and Lamine Yamal met it at the far post to level the game up and save us from being eliminated from qualifying. As for Scotland and Poland, they play a match where the loser drops into League B. Sunday 15th November 2026: Germany 3-0 Spain (UEFA Nations League A Group 2) We've been knocked out of the Nations League as I decided to really go for it by turning to 4-2-4 during the game, but it backfired as Germany thrashed us all over the pitch, and we have to get better against the bigger nations. Ter Stegen played the ball forward for the first goal, Werner nodded back to Musiala, who played a through ball to Adeyemi, who fired into the top right corner to give the Germans the early advantage. Timo Werner made a run down the left, and he sent in a cross towards Beier, and he nodded home at the far post for 2-0. Kimmich took a corner from the left for the final goal, and Rudiger won the header at the far post, and the ball went in off the post to confound our misery. Final Nations League Table: Germany have qualified for the semi finals unbeaten, and they ended 6 points clear of us in second place as we end on 8 points after a disappointing performance in the group. Scotland survived relegation on the final day after winning in Poland, and Poland drop into League B. We will return with Spanish news, when we find out who we're playing in the European Championship qualifying, later in this update. Brahim Diaz Injured: One of our regulars, Brahim Diaz, will be out injured until after the Winter break as he has sprained knee ligaments and will be out of the team for 5-6 weeks after getting injured on international duty. We could have needed him to stay top heading into Christmas, despite the lead we currently have. Saturday 21st November 2026: Bayern Munich 3-0 RB Leipzig (Bundesliga) Only our second defeat in 20 matches in charge in all competitions of RB Leipzig, and this was one I was sort of half expecting. We gave away a penalty early on in this game, but Tobiasz was up to the task of keeping it out, sending Mathys Tel's penalty wide for a corner. They took the lead after 9 minutes, Tobiasz punching a corner away only as far as the edge of the box. Sooner rather than later, the ball was back in the area, he saved Tel's shot at point blank range, but Musiala fired the ball into an empty net to give Bayern the lead. We held it at 1-0 until after half time, when they started to turn it up. Bayern Munich were keeping the ball around the centre circle, but then Goretzka played the ball down the right to Luiz Henrique, who ran into the box, and fired into the bottom left corner for 2-0. Mathys Tel ran the ball down the right for their third, the ball into the box finding Musiala's head perfectly, and he flew it into the top right hand corner to make it 3-0. We still hold a 3 point lead at the moment. Thursday 26th November 2026: Spartak Trnava 1-4 RB Leipzig (UEFA Europa Conference League League Phase) We booked our place in at least the play offs, and continued our 100% record at the top of the League Phase, as we thrashed Slovakian side Spartak Trnava 4-1. We played the ball down the right before finding Benjamin Sesko. He got dispossessed but Openda was there to tap in inside the six-yard box and give us the early lead. They equalised in the 14th minute. Mustafa had the ball on the right hand side, but no one was really defending that side of the area, so he played the ball into Duris, and he ran through on goal and fired inside the near post for 1-1. In the second half, we penetrated the left hand side again, and the ball fell to Openda in the box. His shot was blocked, and Seiwald fired a deflected shot from the edge of the box, which wrongfooted the keeper and we retook the lead. Simakan made a run down the right on 64 minutes, before playing it across the edge of the box, and Sesko turned and shot from the edge of the box for 3-1. Sesko then semi turned provider as his ball down the right found Facundo Torres, he rolled it along the box and Openda tapped home to round the victory off and we won the game 4-1. UEFA European Championship Qualifying Group Stage Draw: We have been drawn into Group D of the qualifying programme for UEFA Euro 2028, being held in Italy. We will face Hungary, Iceland, Moldova and Slovenia en route to the Euros, and we should be aiming to win the group fairly easily. Hungary would probably be up there with us. RB Leipzig November Results: We started our month with a well fought 1-0 away win over Bochum, before following that up with a convincing 3-0 away win at Neftci Baku in Europe. We then failed to score for the first time this season with a 0-0 draw against Werder Bremen, before following that one up after the international break with a 3-0 away defeat at Bayern Munich, making it our first defeat in 12 games. We finished off the month thrashing Spartak Trnava 4-1, although we didn't play in the final weekend of the month as everyone caught up. This is now the table. Bundesliga Table Update: Both RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich are locked on 29 points, but we're leading on goal difference. A further two points back on 27 are Borussia Dortmund, as this now threatens to become a three horse race this season. Eintracht Frankfurt sit 4th on 23 points. The good thing now, is that we only face the rest of the current top 4 at home. Union Berlin are fifth on 22, with FC Koln and Bayer Leverkusen locked on 21 points. Stuttgart are challenging for Europe in 8th on 20 points. The relegation battle looks tasty at the moment, Hertha Berlin and Bochum both sit on 8 points, but Hertha have a game in hand. Schalke and Werder Bremen both have 9 points at the moment, but once again Werder Bremen have a game in hand coming up. UEFA Europa Conference League Update: With only two matches remaining of this league phase, three teams have already confirmed at least a play off place, with RB Leipzig, Brighton & Hove Albion, and Aberdeen at least into the knockout playoff round. The teams completing the top 8 at the moment are Napoli, Samsunspor, Rapid Wien, Basel and Charleroi fighting to hold onto their place in the last 16 places in the table. It's very tight for the teams wanting to qualify for the top 24, with Rheindorf Altach, Shamrock Rovers, Spartak Trnava and Rakow all level on 4 points at the moment. Final Word: It's been a weird month in this save. Yes RB Leipzig are still top of the table, and still playing well in general, but now I'm not feeling as comfortable and confident as I once did, now teams have played their games in hand. It's now got to mustn't lose territory if we're seriously going to hold off both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund this season. In terms of Europe, we picked up 6 points this month, and will be the top ranked team in the competition if we're to win our final two matches in December. As for Spain, it wasn't the best two matches, with a final minute equaliser in Scotland, and then a humbling in Germany, but we do at least have a very winnable group in qualifying, which will begin in March. Thank you for joining me for this one, and next time, we head towards the Christmas period with a lead to protect in two competitions.

Glory Hunter - RB Leipzig and Spain - 2026-27 Season - October Welcome back to the Glory Hunter challenge, and we are going superbly well this season with RB Leipzig, sitting on top of the Bundesliga by a point ahead of Bayern Munich, but we are starting out with Spain this month, as the international break continues. I've never known such a long international break. I'm wondering with longer World Cups if it will be a thing of the future from 2026 onwards? I don't normally do international football, mainly because of the problems with no resting, and that is going to come into play unfortunately as we have two home games against Germany and Poland in the next two matches, only a few days apart. When we come back from the international break, I will show off the RB Leipzig fixtures coming up. It just helps me keep on top of everything. But for now, we've got two games as I said against both Germany and Poland at home, I'm changing the tactic for both of these games, and let's go into these Nations League matches. Saturday 3rd October 2026: Spain 2-2 Germany (UEFA Nations League A Group 2) Another game we arguably should have won as we had the chances and the xG, but unfortunately again, we dropped points, but this time, we held the group leaders to a 2-2 draw. Ansu Fati helped set up the first goal, he plays it in the middle to Ferran Torres, and he held off challenges to find an onrushing Nico Williams on the right, unmarked, and he fired across the goalkeeper into the bottom left corner for 1-0. Germany equalised 9 minutes later, Joshua Kimmich chipped a free-kick over the wall and found Wirtz in the box, and he hit it first time on the left foot volley to level it up for 1-1. Nico Williams had a second goal ruled out for offside, before we did take the lead on the stroke of half time. Asensio brought the ball forward from the half way line, with Ferran Torres running through the middle ahead of him, and he fired home into the top right corner for 2-1. Germany equalised about 10 minutes after half time. Jamal Musiala played the ball out to the left, and when they couldn't find a route through that way, Henrichs played it back to an unmarked Musiala on the edge of the box, and he swept home first time into the corner to share the spoils in this battle of giants. Tuesday 6th October 2026: Spain 5-0 Poland (UEFA Nations League A Group 2) We secured our revenge against Poland, as we were massively on top, didn't allow them to have a shot, and thrashed them 5-0 as they went down to ten men. Gumny was sent off for a second bookable offence in the first half as he handballed in the area as it resulted in a second yellow card. Oyarzabal fired home the subsequent penalty. We then went more attacking as we vowed to punish Poland. A ball aimed towards the box led to a second goal, as Fati laid off to Oyarzabal, who ran into the area to connect home into the bottom right corner for 2-0. A scramble in the area led to the third as Fati hit the post, then Yamal hit the post, before a scramble and a toe by Pedri rolled the ball over the line for 3-0. Asensio ran the ball from the middle to the left side of the box, near the byline, and he cut back for Guerra to fire high into the net for 4-0. We rounded off the victory in stoppage time, Pedro Porro's narrow angle shot being parried onto the head of Guerra as he nodded into an empty net for 5-0. UEFA Nations League A Group 2 Update: Germany lead the way at the end of this international break with only 2 games to go, sitting top on 10 points, their only dropped points being against us. We sit second and 3 points behind them on 7 points. We've broken away from both Scotland and Poland, who both sit on 3 points, Scotland ahead of Poland on head to head as they won 2-1 at Hampden Park. RB Leipzig October Fixtures: Heading back to club football, and we've got a busy month coming up with RB Leipzig, in the hope we can keep and extend our lead at some point, if someone does us a favour with Bayern Munich. We start at home to Freiburg who currently sit mid-table. A trip to Mainz follows, before we go to Stuttgart in 3 games we need to pick up 3 wins from. We then continue our European campaign at home to Finnish side, FC Haka, a game we ought to get a huge victory in, and we shouldn't need our first team for that one. We return from that European game with a home match against a decent Wolfsburg side. We then face Freiburg for the second time in the same month, this one being away from home in the DFB-Pokal, a competition we must win this season. We then finish the month away at Bochum. Sunday 11th October 2026: RB Leipzig 4-0 Freiburg (Bundesliga) Timo Werner led the way for the team as he scored all four goals in an absolute thrashing of Freiburg. Dragusin took the ball on the halfway line and he lofted the ball down the right for Brahim Diaz, who crossed the ball into the area and Timo Werner fired home from close range to open the scoring. Dani Olmo played the perfect through ball for the second goal, Timo Werner meeting the ball effortlessly, and Werner fired home to be on a hat trick inside 12 minutes for 2-0. Timo Werner completed his hat-trick on 64 minutes, firing home a penalty, sending the keeper the wrong way, coolly and calmly into the bottom right hand corner. Torres set up the fourth, his ball coming in from the left across the byline, and Werner was able to sweep it home for his and the team's fourth goal in this game. It's allowed us to open a three point gap as Bayern Munich lost to FC Koln. Cristoph Baumgartner Injured: Christoph Baumgartner has entered the physio's room just as it was emptying, as he has picked up a groin strain after jumping during training. It's less stressful as we did have 7 in there before the long international break, but he's been one of my regular starters this season, and he makes the team stronger. I really hope he comes back sooner rather than later. At the moment, it's for 3-4 weeks. Wednesday 14th October 2026: Mainz 05 1-5 RB Leipzig (Bundesliga) The goals were shared around a little bit, as we hit 5 away at Mainz, as Benjamin Sesko got his first goals since coming back from injury. It took us 20 minutes to open the scoring, Benjamin Sesko converting from the penalty spot. Mainz did equalise shortly before half time. Volpato played the ball out left to Bakker, who went for the cross across the six-yard box, and Widmer was there at the back post to tap it over the line for 1-1. In the second half, we took control of this match. Olmo played the ball to Openda who ran towards the penalty area with the ball, and saw Ouedraogo making the run into the area down the left, and he fired into the far corner to make it 2-1 to us. 2 minutes later, when Openda played the ball to Dani Olmo on the right, he ran into the area and played it across the six yard box to Benjamin Sesko who got his second of the game to make it 3-1. They were reduced to 10 men on 76 minutes when Bakker got a second yellow card, and it made the job harder for the home side. Raum took a short corner to Olmo, he found Ouedraogo on the left side of the box, and he played it across to Jashari, and he swept it into the bottom right corner for 4-1. And then finally, Sesko played the ball to an unmarked Openda on the right side of the box, and he slid it past the keeper for 5-1. We open up a six-point lead at the top. Julian Aude Injury: Julian Aude twisted his ankle at one point during the game we've just played, and he will be out for the next 3-4 weeks, and I just hope it doesn't start stacking up. He was about to start playing more games as they became more congested, especially this month. Saturday 17th October 2026: Stuttgart 1-1 RB Leipzig (Bundesliga) We dropped points for the first time since the opening day of the season, as we could only manage a 1-1 draw away at Stuttgart. Timo Werner won a header from a long kick away and that moved onto Sesko. After a couple of one-twos between them both, Werner was in the perfect position, and he fired it in at the near post to give us the lead inside the first minute. Stuttgart equalised from a delivery from the left, Fuhrich whipping the ball into the box from a free kick, and Atakan Karazor nodded it in at the back post to make it 1-1. Both teams had further chances, and Stuttgart were denied two penalties by VAR from clear cut decent tackles. But in the end, it's not a defeat, and our unbeaten league run is now at 8 matches. Thursday 22nd October 2026: RB Leipzig 6-1 FC Haka (UEFA Europa Conference League League Phase) An 11-minute hat-trick for Timo Werner started us on the way to a 6-1 win over Finnish side, FC Haka. Brahim Diaz won the ball at the back in the build up to the first goal, and set off Facundo Torres down the left, and he kept on running with the ball, finding Timo Werner in the box, and he lashed home from 2 yards out for 1-0. Timo Werner then doubled the advantage two minutes later with a powerful penalty into the top right corner for 2-0. A defensive calamity for FC Haka made it 3-0, as they failed to clear Ouedraogo's through ball, one defender fired it against the other, and it bounced favourably for Werner and he fired home for his hat trick. Wolf's throw in came back to him from Jashari, and he whipped a cross into the box, finding Ouedraogo at the far post to make it 4-0 after 26 minutes. We got a fifth on the stroke of half time. Torres's cross was blocked, as was Dragusin's shot, and the ball bundled it's way through to Ouedraogo who only had to steer it over the line for 5-0, and a very comfortable lead at half time. Haka got their consolation 6 minutes into the second half. Whyte's corner was eventually cleared away back to him. He played a pass along the floor into the area for Friberg, who swivelled and shot into the bottom left corner for 5-1. The final goal was set up by Brahim Diaz on the right, and he played it into the six-yard box for Torres to lash home to make it 6-1. Two wins from two in Europe and a great thumping result. Sunday 25th October 2026: RB Leipzig 2-0 Wolfsburg (Bundesliga) We picked up a routine 2-0 win over Wolfsburg as we moved on to 25 points after 10 games, only dropping 5 points so far this season. Raum received the ball from the middle on the left hand side, and he played it down the line for Facundo Torres to send a low cross into the box, and Benjamin Sesko fired home to give us the lead 6 minutes before half time. In the second half, Jashari received the ball in the middle, and found the run of Brahim Diaz from the right, one on one with the keeper, and he fired into the far corner to go 2-0 up and secure another three points, as we stamp our authority on the league. Wednesday 28th October 2026: Freiburg 1-3 RB Leipzig (DFB-Pokal Second Round) We booked our place in the third round of this year's DFB-Pokal, winning 3-1 away at fellow Bundesliga side Freiburg, in a game where in the second half, we just started to take it to them. We took the lead midway through the first half, a ball in the box from the right was cleared away to the left for Raum to swing a ball in and he found Sesko in the six-yard box to make it 1-0. Freiburg equalised in the 56th minute. A free kick forward from Gunter was played down the right to Amdouni, who swung it into the box for Gregoritsch to fire home from close range to make it 1-1. We took the game away from Freiburg in the last half an hour. Seiwald had the ball in the middle of the park, and played it forward to Dani Olmo, who found a running Lois Openda from the right, and he converted in the box to score his 8th goal in two games in this competition. Openda turned provider for the third, playing a low cross into Sesko who scored his second goal of the game with a half volley to finish off this game, and send us into the next round. DFB-Pokal Third Round Draw: We will play St. Pauli away in the third round of the DFB-Pokal, thankfully we managed to avoid the big guns left in the competition in Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, so we have chances to move forward in this competition thankfully. RB Leipzig October Results: We've gone another month without losing at all, and it started with a 4-0 thrashing of Freiburg, and then a 5-1 away thrashing of Mainz 05. We then stuttered to only a 1-1 draw away at Stuttgart, before thrashing Finnish side, FC Haka 6-1 in the Europa Conference League. We defeated Wolfsburg 2-0, and then we rounded out the month with a 3-1 win away at Freiburg in the DFB-Pokal Second Round. Bundesliga Table Update: This table looks nice and lovely. RB Leipzig have 25 points at this stage, 4 points clear of Eintracht Frankfurt, in second place, while Bayern Munich are third on 20 points. Union Berlin sit 4th on 19 points with a game in hand on everyone else around them, and both Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen sat on 18 points, just outside the Champions League positions. Stuttgart and FC Koln are just behind them, but neither of them are anywhere near their best form at the moment. Schalke sit bottom on 5 points, with Werder Bremen sat on 7 points, and Hertha Berlin and Bochum, who we play next, are currently sat on 8 points apiece. UEFA Europa Conference League Update: After everyone only playing one more game this month, 8 teams have maximum points from their opening 2 matches in Brighton & Hove Albion, FC Basel, RB Leipzig, Braga, FC Midtjylland, Neftci Baku, Charleroi and Aberdeen. There's still 4 matches to go though, and anything can change from this point onwards. Final Word: Another unbeaten month in both club and international football, as in the Nations League, my Spanish team sit second, just three points off Germany, which means November will be a huge month to see if we can make it to the finals tournament. With RB Leipzig, we have now opened up a 4 point lead at the top of the Bundesliga, to try and secure the club's second league title in 4 seasons, and we are currently unscathed in the Conference League and in the DFB-Pokal as this becomes as close to a perfect season as possible. To say I've found something unexpected that works for this team is amazing. Hopefully in the next month, we can book our last 16 spot in the Conference League and try and extend the points gap in the Bundesliga. It's been a good start to the season, let's hope it continues.

Glory Hunter - RB Leipzig and Spain - 2026-27 Season - September Welcome back to the Glory Hunter save, and we are in season 4 now, as we will head into our first international break this month, as we have to juggle managing both RB Leipzig and Spain. We start the month as we always start September, with transfer deadline day in Germany. We have a nice amount of money to kick things off on this day, as we currently have £32,000,000 in the transfer budget, and just under £3,000,000 a week on wage budget, and well over £500,000 to play with in that wage budget, so we definitely could make a couple of signings today, which I am looking forward to. If anything, it'll be just to bolster the squad. These are the fixtures heading into September with RB Leipzig. The Spain ones will be around when we go into the international break. RB Leipzig September Fixtures: We start this month with a home game against second-placed Union Berlin, who if we beat, we could climb into the top 2 at this early stage of the league season. We then have the return of Owen Coe to Signal Iduna Park as we play our old club, Borussia Dortmund, the team we made Bundesliga champions just two seasons ago. Our first Europa Conference League game in the proper competition is away in Croatia, as we take on Dinamo Zagreb, which I've already said is probably our toughest game out of the league phase. We end the month at home to Hertha Berlin, which we need to be aiming for three points from. Transfer Window Round-Up: It was a very quiet transfer deadline day, all of the players leaving are players that haven't appeared for me this season, or players that were in the Under 19 side. The biggest sales of the transfer window were Taylor Booth moving to Feyenoord, and Elias Jelert making the move to English Champions, Manchester City. We signed three players for decent money to be fair, Ardon Jashari, Julian Aude, and Kacper Tobiasz will all get decent playing time this season in the first team. I did almost forget to mention Xaver Schlager going to Real Madrid, and Maarten Vandevoordt going off to Wolfsburg over the Summer as well, but all in all, I'm happy with my squad, and let's see how we do as we move on. Christian Kouame to FC Porto: Christian Kouame has moved to Porto on transfer deadline day for £15,500,000. It was a last minute bid by the Portuguese giants, and I thought about it, but it is a good idea as when Benjamin Sesko comes back into the team, someone has to be dropped as Timo Werner will be in the team automatically alongside him, and that means one of the three that has started the season would have to sit out, and I'm sure he would be disappointed. Also, he's a nomadic striker so made a lot of moves, and it does seem like he doesn't stay at a club too long, but good luck to him this season. Amadou Haidara Injured: I have a third player out with a twisted ankle which is rather concerning at the moment. This time it's Amadou Haidara who has been starting in that central midfield triangle, so it's not great for us. He would have started against Union Berlin this weekend, and he will now be out for 3-4 weeks. Friday 4th September 2026: RB Leipzig 3-0 Union Berlin (Bundesliga) Our first game this month was a flawless 3-0 win at home to Union Berlin, which for the time being puts us top of the table on goals scored. We circled the Union penalty area early on to try and find the first goal, and via Torres, Werner, Raum and Zalazar, Brahim Diaz picked up the ball on the right, cut inside and fired into the roof of the net to give us the lead after 10 minutes. It was a smart move for 2-0, Zalazar with a free kick just outside the box, played it to his right for Brahim Diaz to take a touch and fire under the keeper from the edge of the box to double the advantage. Brahim Diaz had a couple of chances to complete his hat trick before he actually did. Timo Werner took the ball down the left touchline, before he curled the ball into the box, and up jumped Brahim Diaz to nod it home and complete his hat trick, and a clinical win. Great result here. Saturday 12th September 2026: Borussia Dortmund 0-1 RB Leipzig (Bundesliga) Christoph Baumgartner celebrated his new 4-year contract at RB Leipzig by scoring the winner at my old stomping ground, as we beat Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park, by a goal in the 3rd minute before holding on for the rest of the game. Brahim Diaz took the ball down the right, he rolled it back to Holmgren Pedersen, and when he played it into the box from the corner of the area, Baumgartner hit it first time into the bottom left corner about 15 yards out, as we take home the win, and with Bayern Munich failing to win for the first time this season, we've now closed the gap at the top to one point off the champions. 4 wins in a row in the league now. Thursday 17th September 2026: Dinamo Zagreb 1-2 RB Leipzig (UEFA Europa Conference League League Phase) Our first game in the Conference League provided us with our first win of the League Phase, as we came from behind against Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb. We had several chances to take the lead in the first half, including hitting the bar, but Dinamo Zagreb took the lead on a counter attack. They went straight through the team with direct forward passes, and Petkovic released Vidovic, and he was one-on-one with Tobiasz, and he hit it just outside the box into the roof of the net to give them the lead against the run of play. It took until the hour mark to level it up. Dani Olmo received the ball on the left after Baumgartner was dispossessed, and he played it into the six-yard box, where Yuri Alberto slid it under the keeper for 1-1. We went very attacking late on, and it resulted in picking up a late winner. Brahim Diaz went down the right and cut inside the box, where he played it across to Jashari, and he found Dani Olmo unmarked at the left hand post, and he slotted it home first time into the bottom right hand corner, and we take our first win in this competition. Timo Werner Injured: Unfortunately, Timo Werner picked up a pulled hamstring during this game, and he's going to be out for the next 2 weeks after pulling up against Dinamo Zagreb unfortunately. Sunday 20th September 2026: RB Leipzig 5-1 Hertha Berlin (Bundesliga) We concluded our club action this month with a massive 5-1 hammering of bottom club Hertha Berlin. We did lose two decent players during this game with both Zalazar and Facundo Torres being stricken through this game, and we'll see how bad it will be after this match update. Brahim Diaz received the ball on the right and played it into the area for Yuri Alberto, who fired the shot across the keeper into the bottom left hand corner to give us the lead. Facundo Torres doubled the advantage from the penalty spot to make it 2-0. Seiwald helped set up the third by rolling it forward to Dani Olmo, and he saw Yuri Alberto making a run into the box through the middle, and the latter fired into the net to make it game over before half time. Tabakovic started the move for Hertha's consolation, playing it to Koch, moving it on to Samassekou, and Tabakovic had continued his run through the middle, and connected with a lovely through ball, and he fired home for 3-1. We went up the other end and got our fourth straightaway. Facundo Torres' attempted cross from the left was deflected into his own goal by Jonjoe Kenny for 4-1. Schuldes, a 19 year old making his debut for the side at centre-back, played it through to Dani Olmo, and he found Brahim Diaz on the right. He cut inside the area, ran through on goal and slotted it across the keeper into the corner to put a cherry on top of the icing of the cake. Uruguayan Duo Injured: Both Facundo Torres and Rodrigo Zalazar picked up injuries in this match unfortunately and will be out for a period of time each. Torres pulled a calf muscle and will be out for the next 3 weeks, so he will be back just after the international break. As will Zalazar, as he picked up pulled ankle ligaments during the game as well, and he will be out for about 2 weeks while recovering. Jamie Schuldes Debut: Jamie Schuldes made his debut against Hertha Berlin in our 5-1 win as he came on basically to see what it's like in the first team. He's quite a pacy youngster which is strange for a centre-back for me, but at least he can recover quite quickly when caught out of position. We'll see how good he becomes, but he has at least made his debut. RB Leipzig September Results: We had a perfect month, and a month of green is always great to see. We comfortably won 3-0 at home against Union Berlin, which really continued a run of form we didn't know was going to make us this strong. We picked up a win away at my former club, Borussia Dortmund, which is always a great result when you go back to your former team, and the team you made champions the first time around. We followed that up with a 2-1 win away at Dinamo Zagreb, coming from behind and scoring an 87th minute winner. Then finally, we thrashed Hertha Berlin 5-1, when we just played them off the park and made them look amateur. Here's the table. Bundesliga Table Update: We've been here before guys and girls haven't we? RB Leipzig lead the way after 5 wins in a row following the first defeat of the season, and we're a point clear of Bayern Munich, who have dropped points in their last two matches. Eintracht Frankfurt are still unbeaten on 12 points in third, with FC Koln, Borussia Dortmund and Stuttgart on 11 points. Union Berlin sit seventh on 10. Hertha Berlin are bottom on 2 points, alongside Schalke, who are ahead of them on goal difference. Werder Bremen sit 3rd bottom on 3 points, with Hoffenheim just above them on 4 points. UEFA Europa Conference League Table Update: There's only been one game for everyone so far and we currently sit 9th, with Brighton top after a 6-0 win in their opening match. Spain Squad: My first international squad as Spain manager ahead of this extended international break, of which in this update, I'll be covering the opening two matches against Scotland and Poland. We've gone without a recognised centre-forward although we do have the great wonderkid Lamine Yamal in the squad who I will stick up front in most games. We've also got the likes of Ferran Torres who can play that role. Let's go ahead and start our Nations League campaign. Saturday 26th September 2026: Spain 3-0 Scotland (UEFA Nations League A Group 2) And we started that Nations League campaign with a thumping 3-0 defeat of Scotland at home, as we aim to at least get into the final stage of this competition just to get the appetite going. Balde ran the ball down the left midway through the first half, going round the Scottish back line, he swung the ball in, and there was Ferran Torres at the far post to get our campaign off to a flyer. We doubled the advantage four minutes later. Ansu Fati won the ball from Billy Gilmour after he gave away possession, and he ran through the defence which parted like the Red Sea, he was one-on-one with the keeper and converted easily to make it 2-0. Rodri rounded off the victory, receiving the ball from Balde on the edge of the box, and hitting it home with a first time shot deflected by Billy Gilmour. All in all, a good debut in international football. Tuesday 29th September 2026: Poland 1-0 Spain (UEFA Nations League A Group 2) Poland profited from our profligacy and poor checking down the line as we missed chance after chance, and then had two goals ruled out for offside as we lost to a Robert Lewandowski penalty in Poland. Both teams had goals ruled out for offside in the first 11 minutes, before Robert Lewandowski provided the killer blow after 20 minutes, firing the ball high into the middle of the net from the penalty spot. The first game I've lost all month for either club or country. It's a tournament the FA don't care about, but I care if I lose. I've changed up the narrow formation for the visit of Germany in the next few days. Spain September Results: So in our first two games as Spanish manager, we demolished Scotland 3-0 at home, and then lost a game we dominated against Poland 1-0. UEFA Nations League A Group B Update: Those results put us third after two matches, with Germany beating both Poland and Scotland handsomely, but we are only behind Poland on the head to head record, and they've got Scotland next and to be honest, I reckon they could lose to them as I think they may be the only team capable in this group of losing to Scotland. Final Word: Starting with RB Leipzig, we've had a flawless month this month and find ourselves on top of the Bundesliga at this early stage after a five match winning run which is incredible at this early stage in the season. I think we've found a system that works at the moment, something that will allow us to score goals, and to score those goals at the right time as we saw in Europe, and what we've seen with getting those goals in the last minutes of games in general. With Spain, it may take a little bit of time, but obviously being in League A of the Nations League, we've been thrown right in with top ranked teams, and it won't be like that when we're qualifying for the Euros in the second half of the season. This is going to be a good indicator of how we do against the bigger nations in Europe when it does come to 2028, and to be honest, apart from not scoring against Poland, we weren't that far off. I'm quite pleased with both my teams this month, and we're going to take both these runs of form going forward, and seeing how we do in October. We'll return with the second two matches of this extended international break. I'll see you then.

Glory Hunter - RB Leipzig and Spain - 2026-27 Season - August We are back for season 4 of this save, and this time we have two jobs!!!! The Spain job will become relevant as we get closer to September, but for now, we are back in the Bundesliga as a manager with our second club in Germany. RB Leipzig are probably the most hated club in Germany due to how they've risen up the leagues in real life, never mind now in game they have won the Bundesliga a couple of seasons ago. They made the Europa League final last season as we all know, and were a couple of penalty kicks away from being a Champions League club this season, and us not being interested. But, we do now have a Conference League to play for, which Napoli and Athletic Bilbao are both in. It will be tougher to win than what we may have thought, but we will have a look at this month's fixtures, without yet knowing who we will play in the Conference League qualifying round. August Fixtures: We begin our season away at Eintracht Stadtallendorf of the fifth-tier in the First Round of the DFB-Pokal, a match we really ought to win. Our first game back in the Bundesliga is away at Eintracht Frankfurt, a team I hate playing away from home. We then face our first leg in the Qualifying Round of the Conference League away from home, as we will face the winner of HJK Helsinki vs Slovan Bratislava. Then we're at home to newly-promoted FC Koln, followed by the second leg in Europe at home. Last but not least, we are away at the other promoted club, Schalke 04, in what is a reasonably nice start to the season. New First Team Player: I've decided to use our DFB-Pokal First Round match to give a debut to someone who we bought from the Indiana Fire in America, Patrick Villegas makes his senior debut for RB Leipzig in this match. We're not expected to be tested so I thought I'd give him the chance. His greens are impressive, as he has 18 aggression, 17 for determination and 16 for leadership, teamwork and stamina. Good tackling and technique is what you need from a defender just starting out. His acceleration and pace are also acceptable as well. It'll be interesting to see how he does. Saturday 8th August 2026: Eintracht Stadtallendorf 0-8 RB Leipzig (DFB-Pokal First Round) My first game in charge of RB Leipzig was as easy as I thought it would be, thrashing our fifth tier opposition 8-0 to book our place in the second round. We opened the scoring inside 8 minutes. Villegas had the ball in the left back position and lumped it clear for Openda to get onto on the left side of the area, and he lobbed it over the keeper to give us the early advantage. Openda then made it 2-0 from the penalty spot 10 minutes later. We made it 3-0 on the half hour. Perea played it to Booth in front of him, who found Holmgren Pedersen overlapping him on the right, and he played it into the six-yard box, for Openda to complete his hat trick after 30 minutes. Seiwald took a short corner to debutant Jashari, and they played it back and forth between each other, before Jashari played it left to Dani Olmo in the box, and he powered home at the keeper's near post for 4-0 before half time. The fifth was another passing play which found it's way to Olmo on the right side of the box, he squared it across the six yard box for Openda to grab his fourth. Stadtallendorf tried to clear the ball ahead of our sixth, but Villegas won a header finding Baumgartner, and he found Openda in the area, and he fired into the right hand corner for our sixth just after the hour. Seiwald had a corner from the right which the opposition failed to clear, and Baumgartner headed on to Openda, who completed his double hat-trick virtually on the line for 7-0. Dragusin had a goal ruled out for offside from a corner, but we would get our eighth through who else? Openda. Perea's long ball forward was misjudged by their keeper, the ball went past him, and Openda had the easiest tap in from 18 yards out for 8-0. Lois Openda wants to leave, but with scoring displays like that against lower teams, hopefully his happiness and confidence is up. Taylor Booth moves to Feyenoord: Taylor Booth has played his last match for RB Leipzig, the 25 year old American winger is moving to the Netherlands and to Feyenoord for £26,500,000. He's only spent one full season at the club after moving from PSG to RB Leipzig for £25,000,000 so we have made a little bit of profit on him. He only scored 5 goals and made 2 assists in 35 appearances, but 22 of those were off the bench. I thought with Feyenoord flirting around him, it'd be good for him to get that guaranteed first team football at the age he is, because with the talent we have, that wasn't necessarily going to happen. He was fantastic during pre-season though, and I wish him all the luck, and hoping this doesn't come back to bite me. UEFA Europa Conference League League Path Fourth Qualifying Round Draw: We now know who we will start our European campaign against this season, and we will face Finnish league leaders HJK Helsinki, with the first leg being away from home as we are the seeded team. We should be able to get through this tie fairly easily, and we should aim to start to prepare for life in the League Phase for this season. But, we can't get carried away. This team have already shown me they can be professional in simple games, and hopefully they can prove it again in this tie. The first leg will be after the first league match with Eintracht Frankfurt. DFB-Pokal Second Round Draw: Our second round tie in the DFB-Pokal is an all Bundesliga clash as we travel to Freiburg in what is a repeat of the 2022 final, and hopefully, we can get a similar result to that final, as RB Leipzig won it back then. The game will be played at the end of October. Saturday 15th August 2026: Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 RB Leipzig (Bundesliga) Our first game back in the Bundesliga was the same old story back at Eintracht Frankfurt, as we lost 2-1 in what was a dismal second half performance, after an inspiring performance in the first half. Guerreiro took a corner from the right inswinging for Frankfurt, and the good ball was rewarded with a decent header from Gila as he put the home side 1-0 up after 15 minutes. We equalised less than ten minutes later, Facundo Torres had the ball down the left by the byline, and he played it into the area where Timo Werner managed to flick it beyond the keeper for 1-1 and his first of the season. A poor defensive mistake allowed Frankfurt to score what would prove to be the winner. Zirkzee had the ball in the middle of the park, and Baldanzi managed to break the offside trap, going off like a steam engine ahead of the defence, and he slotted home to give Frankfurt the lead after 53 minutes. They had the chance to make it more comfortable late on, but Cordano saved the spot kick from Karabec in added time. A poor start to the Bundesliga, but now the chance to take a bit of a breather, and maybe try something new. Thursday 20th August 2026: HJK Helsinki 1-4 RB Leipzig (UEFA Europa Conference League League Path Fourth Qualifying Round First Leg) We started our European season earlier than all the other German sides, as you have to actually go through qualifying in the Conference League to book your place in the League Phase, and we didn't waste time in this game, winning away at the Finnish leaders 4-1. Timo Werner opened the scoring from the penalty spot inside 6 minutes. From a Simakan throw-in, both he and Kouame played a couple of one-twos, before the latter made a run into the area from the right wing, advanced on goal, and fired the ball into the left hand corner for 2-0. Lois Openda picked up a serious looking injury before half time, which meant we had to bring Dani Olmo on, and he played a part in the third goal. His outswinging corner from the right, came off a HJK head, and Dragusin steered it home to give us a 3-0 lead, and breathing space. HJK got a goal back just 4 minutes later, Ollila had the ball on the left and swung it into the box, which Tanko brought down, and fired home past Cordano who had no chance for 3-1. We secured the first leg win once and for all in the 77th minute. Haidara had the ball down the right before playing forward to Seiwald in the area. He played a square ball into the box, and Dani Olmo fired home to pick up his second goal of the season, and ensure we come back to Germany with a handsome advantage. Lois Openda Injured: Lois Openda is now out for up to 4 weeks, which could result in him staying at the club for now, after he injured it sprinting during the game. If he does stick around, I really hope this doesn't lead to him causing trouble in the squad. That'll be something I keep an eye on. Oscar Perea to Werder Bremen on Loan: Obviously, I don't show off too many loans now as it is mainly to do with the youngsters, but I felt like I had to show this one as I want him to get match time in the Bundesliga, and unfortunately, Oscar Perea is a little way behind the others in his position, especially the way the wingers have started the season. He's going to Werder Bremen on loan, and they have also got an option to buy as well, in case he impresses them during the season. Julian Aude in from Red Bull Salzburg: The good thing about being part of a franchise when you're managing a team like RB Leipzig, is you can sign some decent youngsters like this from the other clubs. We've signed young Argentinian left-back Julian Aude from Red Bull Salzburg for £9,000,000. His determination is outstanding with a rating of 18. His agility is up at 16. He's also got a strong first touch at 15. He's got yellows across the board, he does seem to be a player with an even spread of attributes. Now it's time to see if we can ease him into the squad. Kacper Tobiasz from PSG: Kacper Tobiasz could be about to become our new number 1 here at RB Leipzig, we've signed the young Polish stopper from PSG for an initial £5,500,000. He made 5 appearances in Ligue 1 last season for the French champions, but is a little down the pecking order in the French capital, Gianluigi Donnarumma will be their keeper for a little while. A player like this can't go unnoticed. Just look at his stats. First of all, he can play the ball from the back and is your typical sweeper keeper. His kicking and passing stand out when you look at him, and his tendency to rush out can be scary, but I believe he can stand up to opposition strikers and be effective in those situations. His jumping reach is in the green, and so is his work rate, which is an 18 in his stats. I'm buzzing with this new signing. Sunday 23rd August 2026: RB Leipzig 1-0 FC Koln (Bundesliga) We took our first win in the Bundesliga this season, a 1-0 home win against newly-promoted FC Koln. The only goal came on the stroke of half time, Raum received the ball back from Baumgartner from his throw in, before releasing Facundo Torres in the box from the left, and Torres slotted home across the goalkeeper to make it 1-0, and to take our first win at home this season. We didn't really look like throwing it away, and we do now have a way of making the 4-3-3 work at the moment. Mario Wolf to make his debut: We've got another youth team player making the team today, as we have a 4-1 lead over HJK Helsinki and are very unlikely to lose it today. Mario Wolf is a young left back, who plays for the under 19s at the moment, but I've brought him up to the first team to try him out. He's strong with his tackling with a rating of 15. He's got a few 13s across the board as well. This is a good use of easier matches in European competition. As you don't have to register Under-21 players, you can use as many as you want, so if you have a problem with maybe home grown players or anything like that, you can use your youngsters to complete the team, or just to give them a chance. Thursday 27th August 2026: RB Leipzig 3-3 HJK Helsinki (RB Leipzig win 7-4 on aggregate) (UEFA Europa Conference League League Path Fourth Qualifying Round Second Leg) We made it through despite a topsy turvy game in the second leg, where I think we just became complacent. They took the lead after 22 minutes, Keskinen's shot in hit Dragusin as it was going wide and that diverted it in for 1-0. We equalised a few minutes later. A neat, sharp passing move meant Olmo could play it right to Torres, who cut inside and fired into the top left corner for 1-1. We took the lead after half-time, as a Holmgren Pedersen cross from the right was met on the head by Timo Werner at the far post for 2-1. A goal kick for them led to Kodes winning the ball in the air, and Tanko got his head to the ball about 20 yards out, but Cordano was miles off his line and the ball went rolling in for 2-2. Timo Werner then put us back in front from the penalty spot, before they equalised with five minutes to go. Ollila's cross from the left was nodded in at the far post by Kouassivi-Benissan, and we were pegged back once again. We did put the ball in the net in the 93rd minute, but Werner was denied his hat trick by running offside in the build up. Either way, we're through, and we're now going to see who we're playing in the league phase. UEFA Europa Conference League League Phase Draw: So in the Europa Conference League, you play 6 matches rather than 8, so they're all done by Christmas which is great to see. Our hardest game in my opinion, comes first, travelling to Dinamo Zagreb, who are normally in the other two competitions. We then have a home game against Finnish side FC Haka. In November, we'll play Neftci Baku of Azerbaijan, and Spartak Trnava or Slovakia both away from home. And finally in December, we finish with two home matches, against Royal Antwerp of Belgium, and Samsunspor of Turkey. Sunday 30th August 2026: Schalke 04 2-3 RB Leipzig (Bundesliga) This game was unbelievable. We dominated the entire game, but 5 minutes of madness before half time left us 2-0 down to Schalke. Kevin Volland gave Schalke the lead after 37 minutes with his first goal for the club, putting us 1-0 down. As we had dominated the game up to this point, I thought we would have taken it in our stride and gone on to equalise. But to my surprise, the Gelsenkirchen based side went 2-0 up, five minutes later. Coulibaly ran the ball down the left hand side, sprinting to the byline, near the corner flag. He swung the ball into the area, and there was Pieringer at the back post to double the home side's advantage, and to put us in turmoil. Ouedraogo then got injured right at the start of the second half, which meant we brought Dani Olmo on later in the game. Thank the lord I did. Dani Olmo had a free-kick on the right wing, he swung it in and found Yuri Alberto at the far post, who nodded over the keeper to make it 2-1. We equalised just a minute later, Simakan ran down the right with Holmgren Pedersen on the underlap. He played it to him, and the right-back played the ball across the box, and it evaded everyone to fall to Kouame who fired home on the line to make it 2-2. We won the game with a minute of normal time to go. Timo Werner came on with 6 minutes to go, and received the ball on the halfway line from Olmo. He ran past 3 defenders, evading challenges until he ran into the area, and fired home into the top left hand corner to send our fans wild. What an important goal, and a great comeback this early in the season. Assan Ouedraogo injured: As for Assan Ouedraogo, unfortunately he is out for 3-4 weeks after twisting his ankle during the game, but he's been a real smart player so far at this club, and I'm sure he will be back stronger and fitter. Benjamin Sesko has signed a brand new contract, worth £135,000 a week for the next five years. He is currently out injured with a damaged achilles tendon, but he should be back for the middle of October, and I can't wait to start putting him in that side, for me he's probably better than Timo Werner and he's years younger as well. Being 23 years old, I'm hoping that he doesn't keep on getting injured and ruining his chances of a decent career. August Results: We've scored in every game this month as we've made a fairly decent start to the season. We thumped Eintracht Stadtallendorf 8-0, the fifth tier side being nowhere near us in this game. Openda scored 7 goals in this one. We lost our first Bundesliga game of the season to Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1, where we just weren't good enough. I made the system slightly more attacking, and the following game, we thrashed HJK Helsinki 4-1 in the Conference League. We defeated FC Koln 1-0, but dominated the game throughout, and then we drew against HJK Helsinki 3-3, to put us into the league phase. In the final game this month, we came from 2-0 down to defeat Schalke 3-2 away from home. Bundesliga Table Update: Our first look at the table this season, after the opening matches in August, and the champions Bayern Munich are the only team with a 100% record after three matches. Union Berlin sit second on 7 points, with Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig both starting really well, on 6 points apiece. There's a whole host of teams on 5 points, with Borussia Dortmund, Mainz, Wolfsburg, Stuttgart and Eintracht Frankfurt all having a win and 2 draws. At the bottom, Hamburg and Hoffenheim have both lost their opening 3 matches at the start of this season, with Hertha Berlin sat on 1 point, Schalke on 2, and Augsburg, Freiburg and Werder Bremen all on 3 points. Final Word: It's been a satisfying start to the season in my time as RB Leipzig manager, 4th in the table after three games, not much oomph needed in the DFB-Pokal and we confirmed our place in the Conference League fairly easily as well. I can't complain with any results this month, apart from when we were 2-0 down to Schalke and I wondered what was going on, so I changed the personnel up slightly. I know we're not in it to win the Bundesliga, as we've already done it with Dortmund, but we've got to get that winning mentality going this season otherwise we could be in trouble. Our first games as an international manager comes up soon as we kick off our Nations League campaign. Obviously it's not very important, but if we can do well in a group of Germany, Poland and Scotland, I'll be buzzing. We've got to aim to get second at least in that one. That brings us to the end of August, I hope you're enjoying the save. I'll see you soon.

Glory Hunter - RB Leipzig - 2026-27 Season - Pre-Season Here we are then, our fourth pre-season in Germany, as we only spent half a season over in England to pick up the UEFA Europa League. Now I'm hoping the fans and the players have forgiven me this season, as I try and revive RB Leipzig after what was a dreadful season last season for the club. A couple of changes. I will announce new signings, but only when I know they will be first team players for the new season. I won't be providing full details of pre-season friendlies as well. Before the season starts, I will post the results and just give a brief account of what we did, like we do when we do the round-up at the end of every month. Here we go then. Season 4. Let's take a look at the season preview ahead of the new Bundesliga season. Season Preview: Bayern Munich won the title last season after a long barren spell, and they are the favourites obviously this season, at 4-9. Our former club, Borussia Dortmund are second favourites with us being third favourites for the title. Both the promoted clubs are actually expected to survive comfortably this season, with Schalke 04 being 15th, and FC Koln being 13th. The favourites to go down are Hertha Berlin, and Bochum automatically, with Hamburg favourites to be in the relegation play-off. We have two players in the dream XI which is great to see. Nicolas Seiwald is a tenacious defensive midfielder, which when you use that word, always sounds epic and hopefully he can be. And Dani Olmo is sat on the left hand side in that attacking position, but unfortunately, we haven't got the best striker. Apparently he's some joker from England called Henry Kane.... Oh sorry, Harry Kane. Friendly Fixtures: Right, someone in my backroom team are having a laugh. They've obviously said that they want to go to England. They couldn't have given us a game we're guaranteed to win though could they? We face four Premier League teams starting against the team we lost the Europa League final to, Aston Villa. We also have friendlies at Arsenal, Everton and Liverpool. I'm looking forward to playing these and I'll provide the updates later on. Xaver Schlager moves to Real Madrid: My first piece of business as RB Leipzig manager was to try and work out which first team players I could make some money on, just to boost up my transfer budget. Real Madrid had been circling around Austrian midfielder, Xaver Schlager, who's reaching the prime of his career, and had already spent four seasons at RB Leipzig, since moving from Wolfsburg in 2022. He had a strong season last season, averaging a 6.97 overall, with a 7.02 in the league. Real Madrid paid us £52,000,000 for him, with £30,000,000 of that going into our transfer budget. Willi Orban moves to Al-Qadsiah: Willi Orban has become the latest first team player to move on from RB Leipzig. I'm not the kind of person to move older players on all the time, like most other content creators, but I would say Willi Orban will be on the way down now after what has been a great career at RB Leipzig, as we do want to try and put a younger outlook on this squad. He's moved to his new club for £5,000,000, and he's been a wonderful servant to this football club. New International Job: We have managed to grab the Spain job after the World Cup, as they got knocked out in the quarter-final by Colombia which wasn't deemed acceptable. I feel like out of the offers I was given, this is the one that I feel we can win the international tournaments with. It's a great international job to kick my international career off with, and we will take a proper look at the team when the international break comes about. But we've now got our foot in when it comes to international experience. DFB-Pokal First Round Draw: Our first round tie in the DFB-Pokal this season should be a fairly easy task, against fifth-tier Eintracht Stadtallendorf. It's always difficult at a smaller stadium, but personally, we couldn't have hoped for a better start to the DFB-Pokal this season. Maarten Vandevoordt to Wolfsburg: I'm a little bit disappointed in the end this has happened, as I did try to keep Maarten around, purely for the fact I do now need to get a new number one goalkeeper. But he came from Genk in 2024, and properly had his first season last season in the league it looks like, as he only made 5 appearances in his first season. We've made over five times the amount on him than when the club bought him, earning us £24,000,000 from this sale, more than enough to buy a decent replacement for him. Ardon Jashiri in from Marseille: My first signing as RB Leipzig manager for the first team is 23-year-old Swiss midfielder, Ardon Jashiri, who has joined for £16,500,000 from Marseille after one season with the French club. He had a fairly decent season in France last season, averaging just short of 7.00. His determination, balance and strength are his strongest attributes at 16. His stamina is at a 15, but he's got several at 14 including crossing, dribbling, first touch and passing, all the stuff you need for a central midfielder. He's definitely someone I'm delighted to have around the squad, and we'll see what he's made of in the league this season. El Chadaille Bitshiabu to AZ Alkmaar: One player I was confused by when I arrived, El Chadaille Bitshiabu has left for AZ Alkmaar in Netherlands. He has played a handful of games for the first team, but I took a closer look at him and he struggled at Darmstadt on loan last season. It was better for us to sell up, and he's gone to AZ for £8,000,000. Justin Diehl Injured: One player who will be in and around the first team squad this season, Justin Diehl is the first player out with a serious injury, as he's twisted his ankle while turning, and will be out for about a month. It does look like he's been a squad player in recent years, but he is still only young, and I could bring him off the bench in several games this season. I hope it's not too detrimental to him. Elias Jelert Injured: Elias Jelert pulled his calf muscle in the pre-season match against Liverpool, which isn't great for him for the next 3 weeks, as Manchester City are keen on signing him and he's waiting for a work permit. Assuming that he's yet to have his medical with City, will that stop him from leaving immediately? We'll wait and see. Elias Jelert to Manchester City: It turns out it doesn't effect him at all, and Elias Jelert has moved to Manchester City for £20,500,000. At only 23 years old, he could morph into a decent quality right-back, and he can also play at left-back. I'm quite happy to let him go to City for that money, and also he could be useful to me down the line as he matures as well. We never know. UEFA Europa Conference League League Path Fourth Qualifying Round Draw: This is the only European competition where we would have to qualify for the tournament through the final qualifying round, and we will face a fairly straightforward tie against either HJK Helsinki or Slovan Bratislava. New Contracts Through The Summer: Mohamed Simakan was the first player to sign a new contract under my watch, as he signed a brand new five-year contract, earning £215,000 a week. Ever since the save started, his average rating hasn't gone below a 7.00 every season, and has grown into a strong centre-back in the league, giving the best a run for their money, and he's only 26. A few days later, Nicolas Seiwald signed a new contract lasting until 2031. He will earn £115,000 a week, and like Simakan above, he has grown into a consistent performer since arriving from sister club Red Bull Salzburg in 2023. Friendly Results: Our first match of pre-season was a repeat of the Europa League final against Aston Villa, and this time, I was on the other side of the dugout. We took the lead through Lois Openda in the 55th minute, but Saelemaekers equalised 7 minutes from time, for it to be another stalemate between the two sides. I added another friendly to the schedule as we hosted Espanyol, and we thrashed them 4-1, including a fantastic hat-trick from Taylor Booth. Oscar Perea added a fourth, and Espanyol got one back in added time at the end of the game. We followed that up with a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal. All the goals came in the first half of this one, Arsenal taking the early lead through Gabriel Jesus, but we levelled up a minute later through Oscar Perea. The Gunners won the match through Jesus, but we put in a top performance, and no shame in this defeat. In our penultimate friendly, we came back twice to beat Everton 3-2. Onana and James Garner from the penalty spot, sandwiched by a goal from Dragusin made it 2-1 to the Premier League side at half time. But in the second half, Facundo Torres and Baumgartner managed to get us over the line. Our final friendly of the Summer was at Anfield, as we travelled to Liverpool to lose 3-1. Goals in the first half from Diogo Jota and Trincao put Liverpool in the ascendancy before half time. Brahim Diaz then scored an own goal seconds into the second half in this one. We got one back from a mazy run and a great finish by Christian Kouame, but that's not the result we wanted to end proceedings in the Summer. Final Word: Pre-season is now officially over, and across the friendlies, we've had mixed results, and we've not had the most entertaining transfer window either. Ardon Jashiri is the only first team player we've brought in, but he does look like he will be a good fit in the squad. We've not lost players that will break the squad I suppose, obviously losing our first choice keeper wasn't great and we also lost Xaver Schlager to Real Madrid who I would have preferred to have kept around. But I'm not going to stop players from achieving their dreams. The start of the season will be shown tomorrow, as we attempt to win two trophies this season with RB Leipzig. Thank you for the support.

Glory Hunter - New Team - 2025-26 Season - June You join me this time as I look for a brand new club that I can take to Europa Conference League glory to try and get through this challenge. I'm hoping RB Leipzig will accept my application, and I will also apply for Lens. If we go to RB Leipzig, we can also complete Germany by potentially winning the DFB-Pokal which I have yet to win. There won't be too many updates on this one, as we shall fast forward before I get an interview. Let's see where we go to. Lens Interview: It's taken a little over two weeks, but our first interview is with the team that in game a couple of seasons ago, won the Ligue 1 title above PSG so they're a good side, but will be spending next season playing in the Conference League. Hopefully it's a good interview. You'll find out soon. RB Leipzig Interview: And the one that I really want so I can actually complete Germany, RB Leipzig will be the ones I reckon I can pick the Cup up with. Let's see how this one goes. As it stands Lens have come in for me so I am definitely getting a job, but let's see if I can get the one I want. We're Back in Germany!!!!! That's right. A month after beating them in the UEFA Europa League final, we are the brand new manager of RB Leipzig as we attempt to go and get the DFB-Pokal, and the UEFA Europa Conference League. They took my Aston Villa team close and I'm absolutely buzzing to be given the chance to put RB Leipzig back into the Champions League spots, and get our name on a couple of trophies, especially the one that keeps evading me, the DFB-Pokal. I am expecting this to be my only season in charge of RB Leipzig, as I intend to win the Cup and the Conference League this season, just to make sure they're both done early on, and so we can go all out for the bigger clubs, the giants so to speak, so we can win every league that's left. The next job now will be to try and get an international job. History: As you can see, during this save, RB Leipzig have won the Bundesliga, which was in our first season as Borussia Dortmund manager, they've twice won the DFB-Pokal in their history, and obviously narrowly missed out on the Europa League last season, losing out to Aston Villa on penalties at the end of last season. Best XI: As we join the club, this is my strongest XI and my strongest formation is apparently a 4-2-3-1, a formation we used at Aston Villa. The players should be familiar to us, as we have obviously been in this league already. Benjamin Sesko will be the man that we lean on to make sure we get the goals going this season, Dani Olmo is the main playmaker to be setting up those chances and goals. I will show you the full squad planner as we get into the club, and we can then see where we need to possibly make upgrades. Board Expectation: The board want us to play attacking, high-press football, which I have been accustomed to at both the clubs I've managed so far. Signing players under the age of 23 for the first team is also something I've really succeeded on at both Villa and Dortmund. They want us to challenge for the UEFA Europa Conference League, which I think we should be aiming to win. They want us to make the later stages of the DFB-Pokal and finally, they want us to qualify for the Champions League through the Bundesliga. Supporter Expectations: They're very much the same when it comes to the type of football they want the team to play, which is that high-tempo, attacking style. They also want us to play possession football, and if you look back, we're very good at clocking up the possession stats, win, lose or draw. Making the most of set pieces is a good one as well, I'd like to see us score more corners than what we already have done previously, which sounds crazy but it's very much true. Financial Update: We start off with just over £10,000,000 in the transfer budget so I can assure you now, we may have to make some moves on the out side of things. We also have just over £2,500,000 in the weekly wage budget as well, but the one thing that could happen is we get more in the next few weeks as contracts end, and that is what's going to happen. There will obviously be some loans coming back, but let's wait and see what happens with that. Squad Planner: This is a look at the squad planner and this is how the control possession looks. For me, we're going for a 4-2-4 anyway, so for now, I hope Sesko and Openda can help each other out up top, but failing that, we're going to need to look at more strikers. I wouldn't say we're struggling in numbers anywhere really, and it'll be the case to see where we can improve, and how we can improve the side. Does anyone need selling? If someone does need selling, who do I get rid of? Let's wait and see. Final Word: So that is my new team. We're back in the Bundesliga this season, with RB Leipzig, but this for me is my strongest case in winning the Europa Conference League. I'm not sure who's qualified from England, if anyone at all because no one did last season. I'm confident I can do something special this season with RB Leipzig. We maybe haven't got a completely household name side, and that may be something we work on. But I don't personally think they're a seventh place side from last season, and I think we can break back into the top 4, and potentially do something special in something. Thank you for the support, and join us in pre-season for season 4, as we attempt to do something incredible at RB Leipzig.

Glory Hunter - Aston Villa - 2025-26 Season - May Ladies and gentlemen, we have made it to the end of Season 3 in the Glory Hunter Challenge and we have one trophy still to play for this season in the UEFA Europa League. We lead Benfica 4-3 on aggregate after an enthralling first leg in which both sides didn't hold up and they weren't backwards in going forwards. The second leg will be already one of the most important matches in this save as we try to take this side through to a second European final in 2 seasons, after winning the Conference League last season. We also have to wrap up the Premier League season, and it will be interesting to see where we end up as the season reaches a conclusion. May Fixtures: Our final matches of the season are almost an exact replica of my first few matches in this job. We travel to Newcastle United in the first of these matches, followed by our second leg of the Europa League semi final against Benfica, a match where we are leading 4-3 on aggregate, and this time, we will have home advantage. Brighton & Hove Albion is our next match after that, before we face West Ham United at the London Stadium. If we make the Europa League final, it will be the game between West Ham and Bournemouth, before we end up playing against Bournemouth on the final day of the season. Sunday 3rd May 2026: Newcastle United 2-0 Aston Villa (Premier League) Never revert to the three at the back after you're so used to playing four at the back. I learned that quickly in this game as we were nowhere near playing well in this one, and we lost 2-0 to Zinedine Zidane's Newcastle United. Chalobah had the ball in the middle of the park, before he found Brais Mendez on the right hand side of the box. His ball in found Alexander Isak and he nodded in at the near post for 1-0. Sandro Tonali was instrumental in the second goal, as we were put to the sword. His original corner went back to him, played a one-two with Isak, ran into the area, found Bruno Guimaraes on the edge of the box, and he fired in off the bar just outside the area for the second goal of the game. We're going back to four at the back after this one, which we just didn't show up in. Thursday 7th May 2026: Aston Villa 3-3 Benfica (after extra time) (Aston Villa win 7-6 on aggregate) (UEFA Europa League Semi Final Second Leg) That one goal from the first leg that proved to be the difference in Lisbon, proved the difference here as we drew the game on the night, and won on aggregate 7-6 to set up a final date with RB Leipzig at Celtic Park. A Mings throw in to Kamara found Saelemaekers on the left side of the area. He turned and shot from 20 yards out into the top corner to give us the lead on the night. The equaliser came just before half time when David Neres played the ball into the box from the right, and Musa tapped in inside the six-yard box for 1-1. They then levelled the tie up on aggregate, Bah running down the right again, the ball being partially cleared to Neymar who slammed home inside the box to make it 2-1 to Benfica. We thought we'd won the tie on 78 minutes. Douglas Luiz's corner was headed home by Ezri Konsa at the near post for 2-2 on the night. But Benfica had different ideas, and took it to extra time. Neymar's corner found Silva at the far post to make it 3-2 to the Portuguese giants on the night, and making it 6-6 on aggregate. The final twist in this game came just before half time in extra time. Leon Bailey made a run down the right with the ball, running into the box, where he squared it to Diop, who from 8 yards out, slotted home into the corner, to give Aston Villa a second consecutive European final, and gave me my first in this save. UEFA Europa League Final: Confirmation that we will face a familiar foe in Glasgow on the 20th May, as we face RB Leipzig in the Europa League final, both teams looking for their first ever title in this competition. Leo Saca Making his Debut! I've decided to change up the team as obviously we went through extra-time against Benfica and it would have taken a toll on all the men out there. We've got a home game against Brighton, and young Moldovan international, Leo Saca, who we signed from Barcelona, is due to make his debut against Brighton & Hove Albion. Let's see how he does. Sunday 10th May 2026: Aston Villa 2-3 Brighton & Hove Albion (Premier League) Another defeat in the league makes it back to back this month after our second team mainly played this game, losing 3-2 at home to Brighton. After it ended 0-0 in the first half, we took the lead not long after half time. Philippe Coutinho set up the first goal, playing the ball through the defence, where Boniface beat the offside trap and fired into the top right corner for 1-0. Brighton scored a clever equaliser from a Christian Eriksen corner. He played the ball to the edge of the area where Joao Pedro was unmarked, and he fired home from the edge of the box to level it up. They took the lead just moments later, as Tete's cross was only partially cleared, Eriksen took it down, turned and shot into the top right corner to give the Seagulls the lead. We equalised with 20 minutes to go. Diop's ball from the left was played into Coutinho. His shot clattered into Ollie Watkins, and the ball bounced in off the latter to get us a fortunate equaliser. Brighton won it in the 79th minute. Julio Enciso ran with the ball down the right, and his ball into the box was saved by Scherpen, but it bounced in off Joao Pedro and they made it a double against us this season. Tyrone Mings has signed a new contract before we take on West Ham United this weekend, as he will stay for a further two years. Saturday 16th May 2026: West Ham United 3-0 Aston Villa (Premier League) This was an awful performance from start to finish, as West Ham United ripped us apart in the first 37 minutes, in our final game before the Europa League final. The first goal was an unfortunate own goal, as Jarrod Bowen's volley from the edge of the area, caught Ezri Konsa on the way through and the keeper was left stranded as it bounced off the bar and went in. Jarrod Bowen set up the second from a corner on the left, as Mavropanos rose highest for his first goal of the season. Samuel Edozie sent the ball out left to Zehnter, who's cross into the box was perfectly hit for Stamenic to run in and secure West Ham the three points before half time. We had our moments, hitting the post twice, but I'm worried ahead of Wednesday's Europa League final. We're going to be nowhere near RB Leipzig at this rate. Wednesday 20th May 2026: RB Leipzig 0-0 Aston Villa (after extra time) (Aston Villa win 5-3 on penalties) (UEFA Europa League Final) We picked up our first piece of European silverware in this save as we have won the UEFA Europa League with Aston Villa, winning on penalties after a hard fought 0-0 draw with RB Leipzig. We worked the subs and the penalty takers to our advantage, and both teams had great chances to win the game in 120 minutes. Martinez saved Yuri Alberto's penalty after every penalty was perfect, before up stepped the nervous Leon Bailey. He didn't seem very nervous as he converted, which means Aston Villa complete the set, and I get my first European trophy of the save. Finances for Transfer Window: After doing my job here, Aston Villa now have £64,000,000 in the transfer budget, and nearly £3,000,000 in wage budget. I don't like Aston Villa in real life, and this win may come back to bite me when I face them further down the line, but we absolutely deserved this. UEFA Europa League Player of the Season: A clean sweep of Aston Villa players in the player of the season for the Europa League. Jacob Ramsey won it with 6 goals and 6 assists in 13 matches, and he's joined by Alexis Saelemaekers in 2nd place, and Douglas Luiz in third place. UEFA Europa League Team of the Season: 7 players make the Europa League team of the season as well, with Emiliano Martinez, Ezri Konsa, Juan David Mosquera, Douglas Luiz, Boubacar Kamara, Alexis Saelemaekers, and Jacob Ramsey making it for Aston Villa. We absolutely dominated it this season, and I couldn't be happier. Sunday 24th May 2026: Aston Villa 3-1 AFC Bournemouth (Premier League) The final game of the season, and the final game for me as Aston Villa manager was a thumping 3-1 win over Bournemouth. Diop set up the first goal by bombing down the left and finding Boniface in the middle of the box for him to sweep home and to make it 1-0. Boniface scored the second with a thumping finish inside the box as he received the through ball from Tielemans perfectly, which left their keeper with no chance. Philippe Coutinho got his final goal before retirement as we made it 3-0. Mosquera, on the right, found Coutinho just outside the box, and he ran through the defence onto the left hand side of the box, before thumping it into the top corner at the near post to make it 3-0. In a game of great goals, Bournemouth got one right at the end. Kluivert, on the left side of the box, played it to the edge to Dasilva, and he played it across to Alex Scott, who took a touch into the area, and then fired it into the top right corner to get Bournemouth a consolation. May Results: We had a poor month until right at the very end, when we got two wins in a row technically. We lost 2-0 to Newcastle United at the start of the month, before we managed to get through Benfica after a 3-3 draw after extra time, which led us to win 7-6 on aggregate. We lost at home to Brighton 3-2, before losing 3-0 to West Ham the week of the Europa League final. But what a game for us that was. We drew 0-0 after extra time against RB Leipzig, and then won the final on a penalty shoot out, scoring all our penalties to win the Europa League. In our last game as the manager of this club, we beat Bournemouth 3-1 at Villa Park. Premier League Final Table: Manchester City won their sixth Premier League title in a row, beating out Liverpool by 5 points. Arsenal and Newcastle United ended up in the top 4 after brilliant seasons for them both. Tottenham Hotspur also won the FA Cup this season, although it looks like they'll be in the Champions League next season anyway. Manchester United were 6th this season, and Chelsea ended up 7th this season. Brighton may still get European football when all is said and done. And Europa League champions Aston Villa ended 9th, and they will be in the Champions League next season. All three teams that came up last season went straight back down, as Luton Town, Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion had dismal seasons, and they return to the Championship. Wolverhampton Wanderers, Fulham and Southampton replace them for next season. Final Word: First of all, what a crazy season that was as we won the Europa League after a pretty average season across Borussia Dortmund and Aston Villa. The plan now is that I've resigned as Aston Villa manager, and I'm looking for a team that are currently in the Europa Conference League ahead of next season. RB Leipzig and Lens are the two teams looking for managers who are definitely in that competition at the moment, though if I find out they've been promoted up, I will leave them alone. But the aim now is to win the Europa Conference League and to get an international job so I can start that as soon as I possibly can. I'm absolutely buzzing to have won the Europa League, and now we go again with someone new next season. Who will that be? You'll find out in the next update, as we move onto Season 4.

I'm brand new to this so absolutely I will take this into account. I'm trying to iron out the problems before I start my own website for FM25, which I hope people will follow. Thank you for the feedback.

Glory Hunter - Aston Villa - 2025-26 Season - April We're now at the point in the season where we know roughly where everyone is going to finish this season, with us annoyingly enough being in 9th place, only a few points off a confirmed European spot. We have a tough start to this month, facing the top two in the Premier League, and obviously we will have both legs of our Europa League Quarter Final match-up. We know we need to have a better month than last month in the league although it will be a tough ask. Let's take a look at those fixtures. April Fixtures: We start things off this month with an away game at league leaders Manchester City, who are on their way to winning their sixth consecutive Premier League title. Any way to try and make the league not a farmer's league would be much appreciated, but it will be tough to grab a victory at the Etihad unfortunately. We go to Florence after that for the first leg of our tie in the Europa League at Fiorentina, before following that up with a home match against second-placed Liverpool, so it doesn't get any easier. We then will have a rocking Villa Park for that second leg against Fiorentina, before ending the month with a Monday night match across the Midlands to Nottingham Forest, and a home game against Brentford as we attempt to get a winning end to the month. Saturday 4th April 2026: Manchester City 2-1 Aston Villa (Premier League) After a similar match in the FA Cup Third Round, we lost in the very last stages of the match at the Etihad in another 2-1 defeat to the league leaders. Mosquera's throw in on the right was given back to him by Leon Bailey, but his pass into the box was poor, but so was the attempted clearance, as the players worked themselves into a passing move that ended with Boniface in the box, and he lashed into the top right corner to give us the lead. City equalised after 19 minutes, the poorest of passes and moves fell to Rodri in midfield, and his ball through the middle found Erling Haaland, who obviously fired home for 1-1. We lost the game in the 93rd minute. A Bernardo Silva run down the right ended up in a crossing position, and he played it across goal for Erling Haaland to fire home on the goal line, and cruelly steal a point away from us. Let's clear our minds, and hopefully go into the game with Fiorentina with some form of confidence for our performance. Boubacar Kamara Injured: Boubacar Kamara will miss the first leg against Fiorentina, and maybe also the Liverpool game next weekend as he picked up a twisted knee away at Manchester City. I'm glad it's not too long out at least. Thursday 9th April 2026: Fiorentina 0-0 Aston Villa (UEFA Europa League Quarter Final First Leg) Fiorentina were the better team on the night, but a fantastic defensive performance means we come back to Villa Park next week with a 0-0 draw. Fiorentina hit the post twice in this one, and did find the net through Beltran, but it was ruled out for offside. We held on despite loads of pressure from the Italian side, and Leon Bailey nearly won it at the death, but their keeper produced a stunning save to keep the scores level. Winner takes all in the second leg then, as we aim to make a first European semi final of the save. Sunday 12th April 2026: Aston Villa 3-2 Liverpool (Premier League) We came from behind to shock Liverpool here at Villa Park, beating the title challengers 3-2. A loose pass back from Diop found Darwin Nunez running through, rounding Martinez and rolling it home from the edge of the box for 1-0. To my surprise though, we equalised. Jacob Ramsey cleared the ball to the right to find McGinn on a counter attack, and he released Watkins who beat Liverpool's high line, and he didn't fluff the one-on-one, slotting it home to level the game up. Two minutes later, we took the lead. Ramsey again had the ball down the right, went to the byline where he played it back to Mosquera. His ball in the box found McGinn, who played it across to Diop and his deflected effort found the bottom right corner. McGinn effectively set up the third as well. He ran down the right, before playing it back to Douglas Luiz. I'm yet to make my mind up if it was a lofted pass or a shot, but Watkins got his head on it on the line for his second, and our third goal of the game. Mo Salah had a goal ruled out for offside, before Florian Wirtz got a late goal back for Liverpool. Darwin Nunez rolled it alongside him to Salah, who's deflected pass found Wirtz, and he fired it into the near post for 3-2. We held on though, and both McGinn and Watkins were incredible in this game. Premier League Team of the Week: 14th April 2026: Personally, I would have included John McGinn in the team of the week, but Ollie Watkins deserves his place after picking up two goals against Liverpool. Thursday 16th April 2026: Aston Villa 3-0 Fiorentina (Aston Villa win 3-0 on aggregate) (UEFA Europa League Quarter Final Second Leg) We booked our place in the UEFA Europa League Semi Final as we defeated Fiorentina 3-0 in the second leg. Ezri Konsa got the ball for Villa for the first, before playing it ahead of him to the right flank for Mosquera. He ran into the area, and his cross was saved, but the keeper's touch deflected onto Jacob Ramsey's shin and the ball rolled in to give us the lead for the first time in the tie. Pobega was sent off with a rash and dangerous foul from behind on Tyrone Mings, which made it almost impossible for the Italian side to get back into it. Diego Carlos had the ball in the middle of the Fiorentina half, before playing it out wide for Matty Cash. His cross was scrambled in the area, where Saelemaekers stuck out a leg to push it beyond the keeper, and to put the tie beyond all doubt for 2-0. Jacob Ramsey won a tackle in the middle for the final goal, and Ollie Watkins was just given clear space like he was against Liverpool, and for the second time in two games, he converted comfortably from that situation to move us into the semi final and make my first European semi final in game. UEFA Europa League Semi Final Draw: Our last game of the month will now be the first leg of our Europa League semi final, where we will travel to the Estadio de Luz in Lisbon, to face Benfica in what will be a tough tie. Coefficient Rankings: We could take advantage of this if we don't win the Europa League this season, as England is top of the coefficient ranking for the third season in a row. Spain replace Italy in the top two this season. Filip Marschall Injured: Our back-up goalkeeper is now out with a twisted ankle and will miss most of the rest of the season, after turning sharply in training. He was fairly decent while Martinez was out, and here's hoping he'll be back soon enough to potentially run in goal should we need him. Monday 20th April 2026: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Aston Villa (Premier League) We were only able to take a point away from the City Ground as we drew with Nottingham Forest 1-1 after being reduced to ten men towards the start of the second half. John McGinn played a ball into the box from the right at the start of the second half, but the keeper only parried it away as far as Kamara, who took a couple of touches to the left, and then struck it with his left foot into the top right corner, leaving their keeper grasping at thin air. John McGinn was sent off for a second yellow card, after I think handling the ball in the attacking penalty area. Unfortunately, we couldn't hold on until the end despite us having numerous chances to get the second. Their goal came from one of our corners which they managed to clear. Barcola ran down the left, got to the left flank near the area, played it into the box, and Awoniyi struck it home first time to level the game for Forest. Annoyed about the result and the red card, but we carry on. Saturday 25th April 2026: Aston Villa 0-0 Brentford (Premier League) This was just a boring game. We did go attacking in this one, but Brentford went defensive and the only time the ball hit the net was when Ollie Watkins struck in the first half, but he was about two yards offside. Unfortunately nothing much happened, and we only took a point for this one. We're dropping points here and there now, we've got to see what happens after the Europa League for me. If we win it, do I get a bigger job? Matty Cash Injured: Matty Cash has suffered a pulled groin during training unfortunately, which rules him out of the Semi Final First Leg away at Benfica, a vital player who we may have needed to get a result. We've got to hope the team aren't suffering so much as we head into this game. Thursday 30th April 2026: Benfica 3-4 Aston Villa (UEFA Europa League Semi Final First Leg) There was an absolute goal fest in Lisbon this evening, as both sides forgot about defending as we won this game 4-3. We took the lead early on. They had a throw in at the back but basically tossed it away, as a clearance fell to Douglas Luiz, who found Watkins in the box. He turned and shot into the right hand corner to give us the lead inside 6 minutes. 12 minutes later, Jacob Ramsey went on a run towards the area, before laying it off to Douglas Luiz, who played it into John McGinn. He turned his man, and shot into the left hand corner this time for 2-0. After 26 minutes, Benfica took a foot hold in this game. Neymar took a corner from the left, and Silva nodded home at the near post for 2-1. In the second half, the goalscoring didn't let up. We restored the two goal gap a few minutes after the restart. Saelemaekers went on a run down the left, and he played it back to Diego Carlos who had run into the area, took a touch, and fired into the right side of the goal superbly to make it 3-1. Douglas Luiz played a free-kick from the right into Jacob Ramsey, who saw Ollie Watkins running towards the area, and he slid it into the bottom right hand corner to make it 4-1. Then Benfica had a resurgence in the last half an hour. Angelino's cross from the left found Musa in the middle of the box, and he rose highest to make it 4-2. Bah then had the ball on the right with 6 minutes to go, he played it across to Musa, who found Angelino unmarked on the left side of the box, and he fired it home for 4-3. Musa did put the ball in the net late on to try and equalise for Benfica, but it was ruled offside, and we held on despite the late onslaught. John McGinn Injured: Unfortunately, John McGinn picked up an injury during the game in Portugal, and will be out for a month, and miss the second leg and most of the run in this season after twisting his ankle while sprinting. April Results: Here's a round up of this month's results then. We nearly took something from the Etihad after taking the lead there, but unfortunately ended up losing to an Erling Haaland brace, losing 2-1 away from home, but that was our only defeat of the month. We drew 0-0 with Fiorentina away from home in the Europa League Quarter Final. We then came back from behind against Liverpool to beat City's closest challengers 3-2 and pick up what should have been a massive league victory. We carried the form on into the next match with a 3-0 home win against Fiorentina to book our ticket to the semi final. Then followed a couple of annoying draws. We drew 1-1 with Nottingham Forest away from home after being reduced to 10 men, and then we drew 0-0 at home to Brentford in what was a nothing match. But the best game of the month was undoubtedly that 4-3 victory away at Benfica, to bring us a step closer to the Europa League final in Glasgow. Premier League Table Update: The gap at the top heading into the final month of the season is still one point, Manchester City on 77 to Liverpool's 76. Both Arsenal and Newcastle United are sitting on 71 points in those Champions League spots, with Manchester United only 3 points behind on 68 points. Chelsea sit sixth on 65 points, ahead of Tottenham on goal difference. We're 9th on 54 points. At the bottom, all three teams have gone down to the Championship, in what were the weakest three teams ever in Premier League football. Luton Town are on 10 points, Middlesbrough on 16 points, and West Brom on 17. The closest team to the drop zone, Leeds United, are a full 15 points above 18th. Final Word: Again, a bit of an indifferent month in the league season, as we have probably chucked away a decent chance of Europa League football through the league. We are one match away from the Europa League final, and you can see if we can do that in the next update as Benfica were properly coming back into it. When it comes to the Summer, it'll be a case of seeing if anyone comes in for us, maybe a bigger team perhaps, especially if we win the Europa League this season, as that will boost my profile up an unspeakable amount. Losing John McGinn for the last bit of the season is rather annoying, but he could be back for the Europa League final should we get there. It's been a dream European run though, and let's see what happens in May as we end the Premier League season, and see if we can get our first European trophy on the board. Thanks for joining me, and I'll see you next time.