CFuller

Pre-tournament Bonuses: How many goals will be scored in the tournament? 168 Who will be top scorer for the whole tournament? Lautaro Martinez How many hat-tricks will be scored in the tournament? 5 How many own goals will be scored in the tournament? 6 Who will win the tournament? Argentina Who will be runner up? Spain Group Stages Bonuses Which player will score the first goal in the tournament? Akram Afif Who will score England's first goal? Phil Foden How many goals will be scored in the Group stages in total? 127 How many goals will England score in the Group stages? 3 Who will be the top scorer for the Group stages? Serge Gnabry How many yellow cards will there be in the Group stages? 121 How many red cards will there be in the Group stages? 5 Group Stages Sunday 20th November Group A 16.00 Qatar 1-0 Ecuador Monday 21st November Group A 16.00 Senegal 2-3 Netherlands Group B 13.00 England 1-0 Iran 19.00 USA 2-1 Wales Tuesday 22nd November Group C 10.00 Argentina 4-0 Saudi Arabia 16.00 Mexico 2-1 Poland Group D 13.00 Denmark 2-1 Tunisia 19.00 France 3-0 Australia Wednesday 23rd November Group E 13.00 Germany 3-0 Japan 16.00 Spain 3-1 Costa Rica Group F 10:00 Morocco 1-0 Croatia 19:00 Belgium 4-1 Canada Thursday 24th November Group G 10:00 Switzerland 0-0 Cameroon 19:00 Brazil 1-0 Serbia Group H 13:00 Uruguay 3-1 South Korea 16:00 Portugal 3-0 Ghana Friday 25th November Group A 13:00 Qatar 0-2 Senegal 16:00 Netherlands 2-1 Ecuador Group B 10:00 Wales 2-1 Iran 19:00 England 1-2 USA Saturday 26th November Group C 13:00 Poland 1-0 Saudi Arabia 19:00 Argentina 1-1 Mexico Group D 10:00 Tunisia 1-2 Australia 16:00 France 1-2 Denmark Sunday 27th November Group E 10:00 Japan 1-1 Costa Rica 19:00 Spain 1-4 Germany Group F 13:00 Belgium 3-0 Morocco 16:00 Croatia 2-2 Canada Monday 28th November Group G 10:00 Cameroon 1-1 Serbia 16:00 Brazil 1-1 Switzerland Group H 13:00 South Korea 2-0 Ghana 19:00 Portugal 1-2 Uruguay Tuesday 29th November Group A 15:00 Ecuador 2-1 Senegal 15:00 Netherlands 5-0 Qatar Group B 19:00 Iran 0-0 USA 19:00 Wales 1-1 England Wednesday 30th November Group C 19:00 Poland 0-2 Argentina 19:00 Saudi Arabia 0-3 Mexico Group D 15:00 Australia 0-0 Denmark 15:00 Tunisia 0-3 France Thursday 1st December Group E 19:00 Costa Rica 0-2 Germany 19:00 Japan 1-3 Spain Group F 15:00 Canada 2-1 Morocco 15:00 Croatia 2-1 Belgium Friday 2nd December Group G 19:00 Cameroon 0-3 Brazil 19:00 Serbia 2-0 Switzerland Group H 15:00 Ghana 1-3 Uruguay 15:00 South Korea 0-1 Portugal

Of course. Villarreal v Betis.pkm

DIVISION 2 TABLE (End of March 2006) Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Norwich 38 13 3 2 38 16 10 4 6 34 29 76 2nd Port Vale 39 11 6 3 45 25 9 4 6 23 20 70 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Wrexham 38 11 3 5 43 33 7 6 6 36 30 63 4th Dag & Red 38 9 6 3 45 27 7 7 6 30 33 61 5th Shrewsbury 39 12 3 5 37 23 6 3 10 28 32 60 6th Swindon 39 10 4 6 30 25 6 7 6 42 38 59 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Cardiff 39 8 8 3 39 27 8 3 9 39 44 59 8th Peterborough 39 9 7 4 34 28 5 8 6 32 37 57 9th Carlisle 39 8 3 8 35 32 7 7 6 38 37 55 10th Northampton 38 12 3 3 39 22 4 3 13 29 48 54 11th Huddersfield 39 8 7 5 43 37 6 4 9 31 37 53 12th Rochdale 38 11 6 2 42 29 4 2 13 22 41 53 13th Reading 39 9 6 5 31 23 5 5 9 27 41 53 14th Bristol City 38 9 3 8 41 39 6 4 8 36 43 52 15th Portsmouth 39 9 5 5 38 28 5 4 11 32 42 51 16th Cambridge Utd 39 9 5 5 35 23 4 6 10 24 33 50 17th Bristol Rovers 39 8 8 3 43 33 4 4 12 26 45 48 18th Oxford 39 9 2 9 40 34 5 3 11 31 40 47 19th Watford 39 9 8 3 30 22 2 6 11 24 36 47 20th Hull 39 6 6 7 33 39 4 9 7 33 39 45 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21st Bournemouth 39 8 6 6 28 25 2 8 9 13 24 44 22nd Tranmere 39 9 7 3 27 24 2 4 14 16 37 44 23rd Barnsley 39 8 3 9 34 36 2 6 11 12 32 39 24th Wigan 39 7 1 12 30 34 4 2 13 26 42 36 ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL... After five months out with torn ankle ligaments, Lazio captain Alessandro Nesta makes his long-awaited return in a Champions League group game at Benfica. He lasts just seven minutes before tearing his knee ligaments again, ending his season. Biancocelesti coach Alberto Zaccheroni tears out what little hair he has left. Panathinaikos almost join their Greek rivals Olympiakos in the Champions League Quarter Finals... but are cruelly denied when Sporting's Ricardo Quaresma scores a last-minute equaliser in their final group game in Athens. Holders Valencia and last year's runners-up Real Madrid both fall in the second group phase, though Barcelona saunter through without conceding a single goal in their pool. After serving a six-month ban for violent conduct last year, Leeds midfielder Lee Bowyer redeems himself by scoring twice in a UEFA Cup Quarter Final win over VfB Stuttgart. David O'Leary's Whites also reach the Semi Finals of the FA Cup, thrashing Arsenal 5-1 after a first-half hat-trick from Irish goal machine... er, Ian Harte. Despite an impressive 3-0 win over Bayern München, Schalke 04 suffer a couple of away defeats that see them concede top spot in the Bundesliga to 1.FC Köln. The impressive strike partnership of Alexandr Kerzhakov and Ilan looks set to deliver the Billy-Goats their first German league championship since 1978. With Inter mounting a serious Serie A scudetto challenge for the first time in years, fans claim that Ariel Ortega has finally put his attitude problems behind him. On the eve of the Nerazzurri's title showdown at Roma, Ortega announces that he will join Bayern in the summer after just one season at the San Siro. Roma win 3-2. IN OTHER NEWS... Slobodan Milošević - the former President of Serbia - suffers a fatal heart attack while on trial in The Hague. The 64-year-old had been accused of several crimes against humanity during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, including the genocide of over 8,000 Bosniaks in Srebrenica. Tony Blair’s premiership is under scrutiny once again, amid widespread allegations that the Labour Party gave out peerages to businessmen in exchange for loans. The Metropolitan Police say they will launch an ‘investigation’, which presumably means they will sweep it under the carpet and pretend nothing happened. New York University student Jack Dorsey posts the first message on his new social networking website Twitter. Soon, people from around the world will be able to discuss what they had for breakfast. “No Tomorrow” by American pop-rock band Orson hits Number 1 in the UK Singles Chart, despite selling 17,694 copies - a record low for a chart-topper. Which iconic song did it replace at Number 1? “It’s Chico Time”.

MARCH 2006 With 13 matches to go, Dagenham & Redbridge's dream of consecutive promotions from Division 3 to Division 1 was still alive. As things stood, we were three points inside the Division 2 play-off places, and seven off the automatic promotion spots. Our first match in March was at home to an Oxford team who looked rather less likely to make the play-offs. Neil Cooper's visitors were in 14th place - eight points off the top six - and their top scorer James Newell was ruled out with a sprained ankle. 4 MARCH 2006: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Oxford United Despite some early resistance from Oxford goalkeeper Alan Fettis, we managed to break through after 25 minutes. Nick Weekes chipped the ball into their penalty area, where Julian Alsop's flick-on was weighted perfect for Craig Winter to run onto it and score! United's day got worse in the 33rd minute, when teenage left-back Michael Harford was forced to come off with a shin injury. Ten minutes later, the weakened U's defence was cut open again. Alsop once again turned provider for Winter, who blasted his second goal of the afternoon right into the top corner. Oxford did up their game after the break, and by the 59th minute, when the experienced Tommy Curtis unleashed an unstoppable volley from just inside the area. The visitors' respite was short-lived, though, as Alsop and Winter combined for a third Daggers goal. This time, it was Jules who finished off Craig's through-ball to restore our two-goal cushion! When another injury befell Oxford's other starting full-back Richard Edghill midway through the second half, the contest looked to be over. But Neil Cooper's side were a resilient bunch, and they once again narrowed the gap in the 70th minute. Robert Green's save from a Lee Trundle free-kick only went as far as rookie striker Sam Williams, whose 10th goal of the season made it only 3-2 to the Daggers. However, that was where the United fightback would end. Their defenders were still not picking up Winter's runs from attacking midfield, even after his two goals in the first half. The Scotsman's predatory instinct was on display again in the 73rd minute, when he was first to the loose ball after compatriot David Graham's strike was parried by Fettis. A tidy finish completed Craig's hat-trick - and a 4-2 home win! Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Winter 25,43,73, Alsop 61) Oxford United - 2 (Curtis 59, Williams 70) Division 2, Attendance 5,985 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Oxford 15th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Green; Hawkins, Maher, Matthews, Mayo (Ryan); Weekes, Hamilton, Carter (P Graham); Winter (Prior); Alsop, D Graham. I don't think we've ever had a player quite like Craig Winter. That's 18 goals in 36 matches - from attacking midfield! One man who hadn't been such a big hit with the Daggers was left-back Ian Sharps. After 28 games in barely a year at Victoria Road, I agreed to let the 25-year-old sign for Rotherham in a free transfer. Sharps was happy to drop back down to Division 3 to move closer to his family on Merseyside. We also made our way to the north-west for our next game - in wet and windy Cumbria against fellow play-off challengers Carlisle. Right-back Michael Walsh returned from a brief injury lay-off, but striker Benjani Mwaruwari had only just resumed light training and wasn't ready to play again. 11 MARCH 2006: Carlisle United vs Dagenham & Redbridge In a repeat of the previous week's game, a Scottish Dagger broke the deadlock after 25 minutes. David Graham delighted those Daggers fans who'd travelled all the way up to Brunton Park when he controlled Kerry Mayo's long ball, and then thundered it home from outside the area. Carlisle quickly pushed for an equaliser, with Richie Foran forcing a tricky save out of Robert Green in the 28th minute. One-time England midfielder Gavin McCann then missed a great chance just before half-time. Graham almost doubled our lead on the hour mark, but his strike cannoned off the crossbar. The Cumbrians then brought on the prolific Jimmy Davis, whose fierce effort was well saved by Green before Daggers captain Lee Matthews cleared the danger. Davis could have been Carlisle's hero, but it was he who cost them their last chance of salvation in the 85th minute. A clumsy foul on Graham earned us a free-kick, which our left-back Kerry Mayo curled around the wall and into the top corner for a 2-0 win. The long trek up north had been worth it for our fans! Carlisle United - 0 Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (D Graham 25, Mayo 85) Division 2, Attendance 12,993 - POSITIONS: Carlisle 7th, Dag & Red 3rd DAG & RED LINE-UP (3-5-2): Green; Maher, Rose, Matthews; Walsh (McQuade), Mayo; Winter, Hamilton, Carter (McLean); Alsop, D Graham (Griffiths). A rare clean-sheet win on the road moved us just four points behind 2nd-placed Port Vale, on whom we had two games in hand. Surely we couldn't pull it off? By pure coincidence, our next match just three days later was at home to Port... smouth. 14 MARCH 2006: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Portsmouth Both sides wasted chances in the early stages of what would be a very even contest. Portsmouth had the first shot on target after 19 minutes, when midfielder Darryl Powell's fierce shot was stopped by goalkeeper Robert Green. Four minutes later, though, Craig Winter fared even better for the Daggers, driving a low effort beyond goalkeeper Lee Baxter to open the scoring! Pompey might have been just two points above the relegation spots in 19th place, but Lawrie Sanchez's boys were well up for a fight. They gradually cranked up the pressure late in the first half, and when Daggers defender Shaun Maher made a weak clearance just before the break, they sensed blood. Attacking midfielder David Nielsen took control of the loose ball, ran through unmarked, and then drove home the equaliser. Portsmouth's great Dane turned us into bacon again in the 63rd minute. As Gary O'Neil swung a corner delivery into our box, nobody picked Nielsen up, leaving him free to head in the goal that turned the game on its head. 2-1 to the visitors. Nielsen wasn't Pompey's only Nordic star to shine at Victoria Road. Daggers midfielder Paul Graham showed his lack of experience with a mistimed tackle on Danny Morgan in the 75th minute, conceding a free-kick 25 yards from our penalty area. That was a prime position for Finland forward Antti Sumiala, who drove it in off the crossbar for a 3-1 away lead. Just before Sumiala's goal, I'd taken the gamble of bringing Benjani Mwaruwari back into action, nearly two months after he'd been sidelined with a groin muscle injury. Though it was now too late for Benjani to turn the match around, he did score a last-minute consolation penalty after Winter was upended in the Pompey area by defender Shaun Barker. Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Winter 23, Mwaruwari pen90) Portsmouth - 3 (Nielsen 45,63, Sumiala 75) Division 2, Attendance 5,954 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Portsmouth 16th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Green; Walsh (McQuade), Maher, Matthews, Ryan; McLean (P Graham), Hamilton, Weekes; Winter; Alsop (Mwaruwari), Graham. With our third league defeat at Victoria Road this season, the gap to Port Vale was now seven points again. But let's face it... if you're conceding three goals at home to a team just above the relegation zone, you really shouldn't be hoping for automatic promotion. Another concern came when one of our hottest prospects - midfielder Paul Graham - turned up late for training one day and looked worse for wear. I fined Paul a week's wages and demoted him to the reserves until he sorted out his attitude. Next up, we hosted another team that sat just above the drop zone. While we were looking at consecutive promotions, Steve Bruce's Hull were battling to avoid the ignominy of suffering back-to-back relegations. 22 MARCH 2006: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Hull City Our wing-backs made a flying start after just two minutes. Peter Hawkins' hard and low delivery from the right flank was finished by his left-sided colleague Kerry Mayo, as we immediately took the lead. As if that wasn't bad enough for Hull, their star striker Marc Libbra broke his toe in the 11th minute, bringing his match to a halt. Ten minutes, a savage strike from midfielder Alan McLean had put us in firm control at 2-0 up. By the 36th minute, though, the Tigers roared back through a similarly vicious effort by Tuomas Haapala - the second Finn to score against us in nine days. I was now hoping that our next opponents Wrexham hadn't signed Jari Litmanen. All the momentum was with Hull as the second half kicked off. Substitute Peter MacDonald was off target in the 51st minute, and veteran Andy Booth had an effort saved by Robert Green in the 55th. Attacking midfielder Paul McKnight had two attempts back-to-back in the 59th, scoring the second of them after Green's initial parry. 2-2. As I despaired at us letting another two-goal lead slip, Benjani Mwaruwari tried his best to redeem the situation in the final half-hour. The Zimbabwe striker had a couple of great efforts, but one was saved by Ashley Bayes and the other just clipped the woodwork. David Graham also gave Bayes a scare after coming off the bench, but our efforts weren't enough. As far as I was concerned, was two points lost rather than one gained. Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Mayo 2, McLean 21) Hull City - 2 (Haapala 36, McKnight 59) Division 2, Attendance 5,974 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Hull 18th DAG & RED LINE-UP (3-5-2): Green; Maher, Rose (Walsh), Matthews; Hawkins, Mayo; McLean, Hamilton, Carter (Winter); Alsop (D Graham), Mwaruwari. BOOKED: McLean. One point from two home games against weaker teams was a pitiful return. Somehow we remained in 3rd place - but Wrexham would barge ahead of us if they won our next match at the Racecourse Ground. 29 MARCH 2006: Wrexham vs Dagenham & Redbridge Wrexham's boss Gary Speed liked a 5-3-2 wide counter-attacking formation. That left a gaping hole in the midfield, which I hoped our narrow 4-3-1-2 would exploit... or at least that was my plan on paper. After just two minutes, former Crewe and Burnley forward Kevin Street picked the paper up, ripped it up, and headed in Scott Huckerby's cross to give the hosts a very early lead. Despite his impressive finish, Street was actually the foil to one of the most-feared strikers in lower-league football. David Collins doubled Wrexham's lead from a 20th-minute Huckerby free-kick after Street was shoved by Alan McLean. Collins then made it 3-0 to the Red Dragons nine minutes from half-time, outjumping Shaun Maher to head in a cross from right-back Lee Roche. While Wrexham's front two were tormenting our defence, our strike force did produce an impressive move to give just hope just before the break. Julian Alsop nodded McLean's lob on to David Graham, who dribbled through that huge midfield gap and struck from the edge of the area. To try and nullify the Street-Collins tandem, I switched to a more defensive 3-5-2 formation at half-time and made two substitutions. I might as well have brought on Janet Street-Porter too, because Wrexham's terrible twosome managed to mug our defence again two minutes after the restart! Collins slipped the ball ahead of Street, who skipped past substitute defender Michael Walsh and then matched his team-mate's brace! A furious Graham responded - albeit a good half-hour later - by scoring a second goal of his own, pulling us back to 4-2. However, it was Street who had the last laugh for Wrexham in the 85th minute. The 28-year-old skipped past our young midfielder Ryan Carter and then beat a hopeless Robert Green for the THIRD time! Wrexham - 5 (Street 2,47,85, Collins 20,36) Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (D Graham 44,79) Division 2, Attendance 7,623 - POSITIONS: Wrexham 3rd, Dag & Red 4th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Green; Hawkins (McQuade), Maher, Matthews, Mayo; Weekes (Walsh), Hamilton, McLean; Winter (Carter); Alsop, Graham. BOOKED: Matthews. While Street took home the match ball, we went back home with our tails between our legs. We hadn't just been soundly beaten by a much stronger team; we had conceded FIVE goals in a match for the first time since I took over as manager! And just like that, any hopes of automatic promotion are dead in the water. We've just been too careless and clumsy at the back, and our defence has just been ripped to ribbons. We need to tighten up, else there's a strong chance we won't even make the play-offs.

I've watched all the BBC/ITV titles from every World Cup since my first one in 1998, and sorted them from my favourites to my worst. ITV 2014: Everything about this is top-notch - the imagery, the colour, the childhood enthusiasm, the music. Brasil, Braseeeeeeel. ITV 1998: This is probably 8-year-old me talking, but even now, this is one of my favourites. 90s-tastic, with a brilliant Jean-Michel Jarre soundtrack. ITV 2002: Really like this one too - great presentation and music. Feel like it emphasises Japan too much and South Korea nowhere near enough. BBC 1998: Classy, nostalgic, quite stirring, like most BBC tournament intros around this period. Perhaps a little too pompous. BBC 2002: Not quite as stunning as ITV's effort, but a very lively, high-tempo effort. Feels like a World Cup, and puts both co-hosts in the spotlight. ITV 2010: A joyful celebration of the first African World Cup. Unfortunately pales in comparison to a similar but better ITV intro for 2014. ITV 2018: Theatrical, Swan Lake-themed intro that pulls out all the stops. I like this, though it doesn't feel terribly World Cup-py. BBC 2014: Some cool CGI, but the eye movement animations creep me out. And Stevie Wonder's great, but what's he got to do with Brazil? BBC 2010: Not terrible by any means, but there's far, FAR, FARRRRR much going on. My head still hurts thinking about it. BBC 2006: Similar to their excellent Euro 2004 intro, only with less Basement Jaxx and more Handel. But it just doesn't hit the spot for me. BBC 2018: There's a young girl in a blue dress has a balloon that looks like a football. That's as interesting as it gets. ITV 2006: I feel like this is bland, forgettable, more like an intro to a "World Cup's Best Moments" show on ITV4. And Kasabian, please never cover Bowie again. I think it's fair to say I like ITV's intros much more than the BBC's.

The FFT wallchart looks great, but there are no tables to fill in (if that's what you are looking for). The preview magazine is always good reading, but not as in depth as something like World Soccer. The Guardian or The Observer usually put out a little booklet just before a tournament. The Guardian did one just before the women's Euros (still have mine), and I'd imagine they'll do the same for this. Worth keeping a look-out for over the weekend.

DIVISION 2 TABLE (End of February 2006) Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Norwich 33 12 3 2 35 15 7 4 5 26 25 64 2nd Port Vale 34 10 4 3 37 19 8 3 6 20 19 61 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Wrexham 34 9 2 5 33 27 7 5 6 36 30 55 4th Dag & Red 33 8 5 2 37 20 6 7 5 26 28 54 5th Cardiff 34 8 6 3 33 21 7 3 7 32 36 54 6th Swindon 34 8 4 6 26 24 6 6 4 36 30 52 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Northampton 33 11 3 3 37 22 4 3 9 25 36 51 8th Shrewsbury 34 9 3 5 31 20 6 2 9 26 28 50 9th Carlisle 34 7 3 6 29 25 6 7 5 33 32 49 10th Peterborough 33 7 6 3 25 19 5 7 5 32 34 49 11th Rochdale 33 10 5 0 32 17 4 1 13 19 38 48 12th Bristol City 34 7 3 7 33 34 6 4 7 35 40 46 13th Reading 32 8 5 4 27 20 4 4 7 21 33 45 14th Oxford 33 9 2 6 34 25 4 3 9 26 32 44 15th Huddersfield 34 7 7 4 41 34 4 4 8 23 31 44 16th Watford 34 9 6 3 29 21 2 4 10 20 31 43 17th Cambridge Utd 33 8 4 4 30 19 3 5 9 19 28 42 18th Portsmouth 32 7 5 3 31 22 3 4 10 25 37 39 19th Hull 32 5 5 6 31 36 4 7 5 27 30 39 20th Bristol Rovers 34 6 8 3 36 33 3 4 10 23 39 39 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21st Bournemouth 33 8 5 5 26 20 0 7 8 6 19 36 22nd Barnsley 33 6 3 7 27 29 2 6 9 11 26 33 23rd Tranmere 34 6 7 3 21 21 2 2 14 13 34 33 24th Wigan 33 6 0 12 26 31 2 2 11 14 31 26 ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL... Manchester United win all their games in February and extend their Premiership lead to 16 points after a 1-0 win over 2nd-placed Leeds. Right-back Gary Neville celebrates scoring his 77th-minute winner by running the full length of the Old Trafford pitch and celebrating in front of the visiting Leeds fans. Whites defender Rio Ferdinand shakes his head in disgust. Bayern München's Bundesliga title hopes appear to be over after they squander a lead in four straight matches, including a 2-1 defeat to Dortmund and a 2-2 draw against Hertha BSC. Bayern's new first-choice keeper Vitaliy Reva has not been the best replacement for Oliver Kahn, who joined Nürnberg in August. There are bizarre scenes at the Parc des Princes, where Ligue 1 leaders Lille record a 5-0 win over strugglers Paris Saint-Germain, whose use FOUR goalkeepers! Captain Alexandr Filimonov is sent off for a professional foul, and things get worse when replacement Marcelo Boeck also sees red for violent conduct. Brazilian forward Lucas then goes in goal for a while, but gives up and hands the gloves to Steve Marlet for the final 20 minutes! 18-year-old Lionel Messi scores 11 goals in 7 games - including a hat-trick at Olympiacos - as Barcelona set their sights on a La Liga and Champions League double. Despite being 23 points behind the leaders, Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez insists that coach Vicente Del Bosque doesn't need to worry about his job. Despite losing 3-0 at Rangers, Celtic build an eight-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premier League. All is well at Celtic Park... until John Hartson kicks Enrico Chiesa in the face and is given the strongest punishment possible: being sold to Aberdeen. IN OTHER NEWS... The Winter Olympics take place in Turin, with Great Britain claiming one silver medal. The legendary Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti delivers his final performance of "Nessun Dorma" at the opening ceremony. Also in Italy, a 76-year-old atheist tries to sue a Catholic priest for saying that Jesus Christ existed. To the surprise of nobody, Luigi Cascioli’s case is laughed out of court. A few days later, Italy’s shy and retiring Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi compares himself to Jesus. American vice-president Dick Cheney accidentally shoots an attorney while out quail-hunting in Texas. To quote David Letterman, "Good news, ladies and gentlemen, we have finally located weapons of mass destruction..." There is a new chat show host on the BBC, following in the footsteps of Terry Wogan, David Frost and Michael Parkinson... and it’s Davina McCall. What could possibly go wrong?

FEBRUARY 2006 2006 was already looking like a big year to be a Scotsman in Dagenham. Craig Winter was our second-top scorer (with 14 goals and 6 assists), while his fellow midfielder Alan McLean had established himself in the first-team at just 20 years of age. Meanwhile, big things were being expected of new loan signing David Graham, who'd just arrived from Bradford for the rest of the season. In our reserve team, Dave's namesake Paul Graham looked like being the next youngster to make a senior breakthrough at Victoria Road. The brave and selfless defensive midfielder was racking up plenty of goals and assists in reserve games, and a couple of my coaches were already saying that the 19-year-old deserved some chances in the league. It surely wouldn't be long before I had to listen to those calls. I'm also looking forward to following another young Scot who is the newest addition to our reserve squad. 17-year-old Paul Ferry was a big centre-forward with plenty of energy and a tidy finish, though he had some rather clumsy technique on the ball. Once he sharpens that up, his future looks bright. Anyway, let's get back to the story... and to the next five matches of our Division 2 campaign. We kicked off the month at Sixfields against mid-table entertainers Northampton, who had scored in every match they'd played so far this season! That said, the Cobblers had also not kept any clean sheets since mid-August! So, what odds on this match finishing 0-0, then? 4 FEBRUARY 2006: Northampton Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge Northampton winger Ben Muirhead hurt his leg in the fourth minute, and although he tried to run it off, the pain eventually became too much. When Muirhead went down hurt and signalled to the bench in the 14th minute, our right-back Michael Walsh put the ball out of play so he could be substituted. As soon as the sub was made, the Cobblers caught us on the hop with a very quick throw from left-back Bryan Small to left-winger Ty Gooden. Before we knew it, Gooden had crossed into our box, and striker Sam Parkin had fired it home to break the deadlock. Those same three players combined again in the 16th minute, as Small's long ball was crossed by Gooden for Parkin to double the Northampton lead. Then, three minutes later, the Cobblers produced a breathtaking passing move that ended with the ball being volleyed home by ex-Chelsea youngster Rhys Evans - the man who had just come on for the injured Muirhead. (Hold on, isn't Rhys Evans a goalkeeper?) We were all over the place, and it was frankly a miracle that we were 'only' 3-0 behind at half-time. With the match as good as done, I made sweeping changes and resorted to damage limitation for the second half. Though our defence tightened up a little more after the break, they still couldn't deal with Parkin or Gooden, who completed their respective goal and assist hat-tricks in the 74th minute. Northampton Town - 4 (Parkin 14,16,74, Evans 19) Dagenham & Redbridge - 0 Division 2, Attendance 4,960 - POSITIONS: Northampton 10th, Dag & Red 5th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-4-2): Green; Walsh, Maher, Matthews, Sharps (Prior); McQuade (Weekes), Winter, McLean, Mayo; Devine (Alsop), D Graham. BOOKED: Matthews. It probably won't surprise you that I was absolutely furious at full-time. Goalkeeper Robert Green, left-back Ian Sharps and striker Sean Devine that I fined each of them a week's wages. Green to his credit apologised, but Sharps and Devine both complained of being singled out. Don't expect to see them again any time soon. With Sharps out of favour, and Kerry Mayo struggling to find consistency, a new left-back was now a priority. After chatting with Hull's new manager Steve Bruce, I persuade him to sell Robbie Ryan to us for £120,000. Formerly of Huddersfield and Millwall, the 29-year-old Irishman is an aggressive man-marker who can also deliver a sweet cross. I rang the changes for our next home game against Cardiff, who were just three points behind us in 8th. Ryan made his debut from the start, with Paul Graham also set to get his first taste of competitive action from the bench. 11 FEBRUARY 2006: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Cardiff City After such a disastrous outing at Northampton, we needed to make a quick start to this match - and that was exactly what happened. Set-piece specialist Nick Weekes swung in a couple of dangerous corners, the second of which was driven home by Des Hamilton to give us the lead after only four minutes! Our new left-back Robbie Ryan almost headed us 2-0 up a couple of minutes later, but his effort was awkwardly pushed off the line by Cardiff keeper Tony Williams. After that scare, the Bluebirds countered in the 14th minute, with left-winger Paul Powell restoring parity from a square ball by forward Keigan Parker. We pushed to regain the lead for nearly half an hour before another Weekes corner in the 42nd minute did just that. Nick's delivery was blasted in by Irish centre-half Shaun Maher... but he was not the only Dagenham defender to score on the stroke of half-time. Right-back Michael Walsh popped his Daggers cherry from a Ryan assist to send us into the break leading 3-1! Things got even better in the second half. After 65 minutes, the magnificent Craig Winter bent in his 15th goal of the season, drawing him level with our injured top scorer Benjani Mwaruwari. Our Grahams put the icing on the cake in the 68th minute, with debutant sub Paul playing the ball through for David to bang in his first Daggers strike. Five goals at a packed Victoria Road - it doesn't get much better than that! Dagenham & Redbridge - 5 (Hamilton 4, Maher 42, Walsh 45, Winter 65, D Graham 68) Cardiff City - 1 (Powell 14) Division 2, Attendance 5,978 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 4th, Cardiff 10th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Green; Walsh, Matthews, Maher (Prior), Ryan; Weekes, Hamilton, McLean (P Graham); Winter; Alsop, D Graham (Griffiths). What a difference a week makes! From our heaviest defeat of the season to our biggest victory! Next up was a trip to Carrow Road to play Norwich - one of only two teams who had beaten us in a league game at Victoria Road this season. The Canaries had bounced back from a slow start and flown to the top of the Division 2 tree, with new manager John Toshack keeping up David Jeffrey's good work after his defection to Brentford. This was likely to be a real struggle... 18 FEBRUARY 2006: Norwich City vs Dagenham & Redbridge ...and I wasn't wrong, as Norwich powered into the lead after just 14 minutes. Robbie Ryan's slide tackle on Canaries right-back Matt Carragher couldn't quite divert the ball away from danger, and a thunderous strike from veteran midfielder Neil Murray set the tone for a one-sided contest. Norwich could and perhaps should have gone further ahead early in the second half. John Sutton wasted a couple of good chances, and ex-City keeper Robert Green needed to bail us out a few times. Green's best save came just before the hour mark, when he somehow tipped behind a Kevin Betsy free-kick that looked almost certain to be finding the top corner. Though midfielders Craig Winter and Alan McLean managed a shot on target apiece, we rarely looked like countering the Norwich threat before they put us out of our misery. Eight minutes from full-time, Murray rounded off a midfield masterclass with an impressive assist for the young former Oldham striker James Davis. The hosts were 2-0 winners, and comfortably so. Norwich City - 2 (Murray 14, Davis 82) Dagenham & Redbridge - 0 Division 2, Attendance 15,004 - POSITIONS: Norwich 1st, Dag & Red 4th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Green; Walsh, Matthews, Maher, Ryan (Hawkins); Carter (P Graham), Hamilton, McLean; Winter; Alsop (Griffiths), D Graham. BOOKED: Hamilton, P Graham. Our last match of the month was at mid-table Cambridge, where I decided to try out a 3-5-2 again. I also gave another chance in defence to 21-year-old Richard Rose, who had been in good form for the reserve team. Richard had been on the fringes of the first-team for a few years, so it really was now or never for him. 25 FEBRUARY 2006: Cambridge United vs Dagenham & Redbridge This match saw us reunited with our former goalkeeper Ian Bennett and captain John Anderson - but we had no intention of helping out old friends. Not even three minutes had elapsed before Nick Weekes headed the ball into Bennett's net, taking advantage of a superb delivery from Des Hamilton. In the 29th minute, it was Anderson's turn to suffer. Daggers left-back Kerry Mayo lofted the ball up to striker David Graham, who flew past his fellow Scotsman and then rounded Bennett before tapping into an empty net! 2-0 to the Daggers! Worryingly, Cambridge almost hit back at the start of the second half. Left-winger Scott Bannerman found the net, only for play to be called back because of a handball from Demba Traore in the build-up. Apart from that, we had looked solid at the back and we saw the victory out with some ease. I was also quite impressed with how composed young Richard Rose in his first appearance of the season... ...but come stoppage time, I wasn't so sure. Rose lost track of Cambridge frontman Dave Kitson, who had a late shot saved by Robert Green. Kitson then got to the loose ball and fed it to his Swedish strike partner Traore, whose goal ruined our hopes of a clean sheet. It wasn't enough to deny us maximum points, but it did leave a sour taste. Cambridge United - 1 (Traore 90) Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Weekes 3, D Graham 29) Division 2, Attendance 3,755 - POSITIONS: Cambridge Utd 17th, Dag & Red 4th DAG & RED LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Green; Maher, Rose, Matthews; Walsh (McQuade), Mayo (Ryan); Weekes, Hamilton, McLean (Winter); Alsop, D Graham. BOOKED: Hamilton. Two wins, two defeats. Not a bad month, but we conceded more goals than we scored, which is a bit concerning.

To be fair, "one year" in this case does not mean "365 days". Again, my bug report for FM22 was posted just six months ago. I can't remember if there were any substantial reports before then. Feel free to correct me if there were. Also, I hope you're not expecting video game developers to constantly test their games for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Even Blizzard would say that's a bit extreme.

1998 was my first World Cup. Scotland scaring Brazil in the opener, Beckham's free-kick, Beckham's red card, my first experience of hating penalties, DENNIS BERGKAMP! When Des asked "Shouldn't you be at work?" before the Tunisia game, I was watching the game at school, and everybody went crazy when Shearer scored. 2002 was my favourite World Cup. Particularly remember Papa Bouba Diop's opener against France (RIP), and watching England's Quarter Final defeat against Brazil in the morning before lessons. That was the proudest I'd ever been as an England fan until 2018. 2006 had its moments too. It was my last World Cup at school, and remember my teacher (who was half-Italian) becoming more enthusiastic about Italy (and Fabio Grosso in particular) as the knockout stages went on. Also, there was probably my favourite World Cup goal ever. 2010 was a miserable tournament. Got Slovakia in a sweepstake, and they arguably performed better than England (who had an unlikeable team and an unlikeable manager). The lowlight was probably the Final, where the Dutch played kung-fu for 110 minutes and Spain played football for 10. 2014. "Brasil, Braseeeeeeel." They were really good, until Neymar got injured and Germany destroyed his team-mates. Joel Campbell was briefly the most exciting player in the world, and Tim Howard turned into Prime Neuer against the Belgians. 2018 was great - not as great as 2002 in my opinion, but probably my favourite World Cup as an adult. And not just because England were good and likeable again either. I had a lot of fun following the tournament on these forums with you guys (even that Mike fella who hated England with every fibre of his being ), and the France vs Argentina game was truly nuts. As was Neymar.

I think England will fall apart in the group stage. Beat Iran, lose to the USA, then draw a must-win final game against Wales.