ManUtd1

Another bump in television rights for 2042 -- $1.91M for Erovnuli Liga teams, $307k for Erovnuli Liga 2 teams:

December 2041 - Award Season. The biggest award season in Gareji's history, as we claim numerous prestigious awards and honors for the very first time: Bruno claims the FIFA U21 POTY; Ngongang claims the World Golden Glove and FIFA Best Goalkeeper; Awoa wins African Footballer of the Year and the Broadcasters' African Footballer of the Year; Ngongang, Awoa and Kameni are named to the African XI; Ngongang and Awoa are named to the FIFPro XI; and, Fernandez wins the Golden Boy. Meanwhile, Anibal is left empty-handed, wondering what a man has to do to get an award 'round here...

I'm actually not sure that I ever included GoT references -- not for the lack of appreciation, just haven't re-read it in a while! WoT books are at the top of my list... The show. Oof... Solid television, but I didn't like the adaptation, personally. I ranted to @wynter about it when it came out

There are a lot of things like that sprinkled throughout from WOT and beyond, so I'm glad you caught it! I'm sure most of the references are too oblique. Even Mat's full name was a hint as to the non-WOT aspects of nature (as was the fact that he shared Rezo's birthdate and didn't have a face in-game: screenshot from his intro post), in addition to me always planning on him holding a very particular knife - one I've never described, but as a WoT reader you know exactly what it looks like. I actually have a 20+ page, single-spaced document outlining what's going on in the broader world beyond the club, the different forces arrayed and what they're doing/planning, and how this save fits into the multiverse of saves I've documented on here and the blog. It entertains me to no end Edit: Frankly, the references and allusions to the broader story have slowed down significantly, since I've thought they're too oblique and there wasn't an interest.

Thanks, fellas! I agree, these are excellent draws. Like anyone else we will need a little luck to make a true run in either competition... But I can't help but be optimistic...

December 2041 - World Cup & Champions League Draws. The moment of truth. Twice in a matter of days, I sit nervously. Waiting for someone to pull our name out of the hopper. For the trip to Russia, we fear no one in the draw, and are selected to face Nuno Espirito Santo's Czech Republic and the United Arab Emirates. For the Champions League, my hope is to avoid the likes of Roberto Martinez's Liverpool, Jeremy Menez's PS-****ing-G, and Julie Stephan's Real Madrid. Big sides who will each have something to prove after a poor showing in the Group Stage...and we draw Dylan Levitt's Marseille. I slowly exhale, at which point I realize I've been holding my breath. This is promising. Not as promising as the Portuguese would have been, but promising nevertheless.

Seriously! The campaigns boil down to a handful of games at this stage! Thank you for the well-wishes! I've vowed not to brush my teeth until we win the CL, though. So my wife is certainly hoping we put the pieces of the puzzle together this year.

Achille Awoa, Danny Roberts Challenge - 2041 Overview For the first time in 4 years, Achille Awoa cedes his POTY crown to Anibal. And, let's face it, the Uruguayan deserved it, having claimed 39 goals and 29 assists over the course of the calendar year. An utterly absurd tally by any measure. It isn't like Awoa's 26 goals for Gareji are anything to shake a stick at, especially since only 11 were from penalties. regardless, he is nearly one third of the way to the appearances number. Meanwhile, Thierry Kameni and Franck Ngongang continue to inch ever closer towards the 1,000 club. The funny thing about our system being that -- even as our team goals skyrocket, Kameni's have stayed relatively flat. While that is arguably a frustration for the purposes of the Danny Roberts Challenge, it is exactly what I always envisioned for PM Draugrson and its FM21 predecessor PM Draugr -- players contributing from across the breadth and depth of the pitch. If you focus on one player, we'll strike through another. Heads I win, tails you lose. Lacking a natural focal point for the attack, we excel when our various and sundry parts raise their levels. Having a bat**** crazy IWB on the left (Iljo Jakimovski, yet another retrained striker) has proven to be a revelation in that regard, though I'm far from the first person to utilize an IWB on attack duty. And now that our defense seems to be both: (1) more stable, tactically; and (2) more competent, in sheer footballing talent, it is time for the system to prove itself on the grandest stage.

The Pursuit Of Greatness Must Embrace The Ridiculous November/December 2041 - Run-In & Season Review The calendar year ends on a high. Rampant, dominating football with both the Indomitable Lions and Gareji. Clutch moments to secure key wins, like a 91st minute winner in Madrid. Pillaging the Georgian countryside. From Madrid to Yaounde, our football is setting the standards to which all others aspire. But the real tests lie ahead. The siren song of the Champions League. And that of the World Cup. After the year we have had -- in which we found the back of the net an absurd 223 times in the Erovnuli Liga -- failure will only demonstrate the fragility at the heart of our systems. Our "project." We have come too far -- accomplished so much -- to fail. So why is it that when I look in the mirror, I see the doubt in my eyes? When I talk to the lads, I can hear his voice in my ears -- Mat's voice. I wonder if they hear it, too. Though I know he is with me, he maintains his distance. This...separation between us. The only place I can see him these days -- truly see him -- is in my father's painting. Lurking. Holding his knife... Only, now... I see the silhouette of a man inside the house. His back to the window. And, that man? That man does not see Mat. Part of me wishes I could see that man's face -- to know if it is me, or someone else. In my heart, I know. But still I want to see it with my own eyes. See what is coming. What Mat is planning. Goals for 2042: Win the lot, domestically. Make a run in the 2041/42 Champions League knockout rounds. Make a run at the 2042 World Cup.

October 2041. With 4 matches to play in the Erovnuli Liga, we are on the verge of breaking our own records for goals scored and goal difference -- 206 and +194, from last year. We are also sitting atop our Champions League Group, having slapped the French -- it was nothing less than they deserved. Now, we simply need to close out the campaign in style -- readying ourselves for post-holiday football in the New Year.

I get it - affiliates just don't cut it. Being able to set the XIs for my reserves is huge, separate and apart from the fact that the reserves are playing our tactics, I'm controlling training, etc.

October 2041 - World Cup Qualifying. Having already secured our spot at the World Cup, perhaps it is inevitable that our form will suffer. After all, what's the point? We labor to 1-nil wins over Algeria and Ghana -- both extremely competent sides, mind. I realize that there is something to be said for grinding out wins, but this was...not saucy football. By any definition.

Couldn't agree more on both counts -- I hand out new contracts with some frequency to keep everyone happy, but we haven't had to bump wages to an insane level just yet. It's coming... (Having a reserve team in the pyramid was critical for this exact reason. Planned from day 1, and it has worked spectacularly. We don't have enough domestic games to ensure those minutes for everyone.

It's really hard, frankly -- since we were out of Europe for ~6 months, my 1st XI and the bench (1st XVIII?) took most of the games over the Spring/Summer, with the 2nd XI filling in on occasion and playing extensively with the reserves, in the 2nd tier. Now that the Group Stage is upon us, however, we'll be rotating far more heavily -- generally swapping between the 1st and 2nd XIs, to ensure that the 1st XI plays all Champions League matches and does so on ~6 days' rest. Dongou is a great example of how this has played out over the year-to-date. He isn't good enough to break into the 18-man "first team," so he's made 10 appearances for the senior squad (6 league, 4 cup), and 12 for the reserves. Lots of competitive minutes. Our wage bill is only $400k/week, which is a little more than $20M/year -- more than 2x Dinamo Tbilisi's, and more than 5x that of Dila Gori.

October 2041 - Champions League, Group Stage (Matchday 2). It takes a few minutes to get the motor running in Amsterdam, but once we turn it on, it's on. 3 big points on a night when Atletico fall in Madrid to the French. We will have a chance to seize control of the Group over the next 2 matches.

Sadly, I think you are right. The exception that proves the rule? Mchedlishvili, who my coaches think is going to be an absolute beast. They seemed to have soured a bit on Gabunia, who was from the same academy class (2038), but that may just be my disappointment at Gabunia's failure to develop. Regardless, Mchedlishvili is -- hands down -- the best player we've had come through Fabrika. He's in our 2nd XI right now, and was the reason I was willing to let Abega leave...only for Abega to have his #SeQueda moment.

September 2041 - Youth Intake. When the best player coming out of Fabrika is Ahmed, something is amiss. Seriously. His decision-making is so poor he listens to the Dave Matthews Band. Unironically. And you know how it is. Once you let one of them in the door, the next thing you know you're playing Frisbee golf and taking it way too seriously. No, thank you. **** off, Ahmed. It's not you. Well...it is you. If we're being honest.

September 2041 - Champions League, Group Stage (Matchday 1). We've been waiting for this night for 6 months. 6 long months. Awoa gets us started, firing a free kick off the post from 35 yards in the 2nd minute. A shot across the bow. But is it another moment of "close, but not close enough?" When the Spaniards take the upper hand, my heart sinks. The pain, while existential, feels quite real. When the referee walks over to the VAR screen in the 59th after Bruno finally draws us level, I can hardly watch. Only...VAR confirms the goal. Have we finally arrived? I'm too confused to celebrate...when Anibal rifles a shot off the post moments later, I realize that this is, in fact, happening. We're mere inches away from being up 2 on the Spanish champions...and then, Awoa -- who else -- heads home from a Kameni corner in the 78th minute. We've only gone and done it. Back in Europe, where we belong.

September 2041 - World Cup Qualifying. The Indomitable Lions can't match Gareji's exploits in terms of the sheer data. Yet, we have not lost a match since the 2038 World Cup quarterfinal against ze Germans -- a run of 48 games, 44 wins, 4 draws. And we continue to cut through an ostensibly difficult qualifying group with wins away to Algeria and over Angola in Yaounde. With 12 points from 4 matches, we book our tickets to Russia, where a quarterfinal finish will not suffice.

Lyon has pipped them 3x! But that's it. It's so frustrating.

July/August 2041. Records continue to fall domestically -- we're scoring goals for fun, with nary a challenge in sight. Fortunately, the Champions League has returned just in time. We draw Nahuel "Vroom Vroom" Ferraresi's Atletico, the Spanish champions, Ajax and Carlos Pintado's Lorient (who sit 11th in the Ligue Agricole). A chance to prove that we belong with the big boys. And to go in two-footed on some radish-breathed Frenchmen. It's all we could dream of. Literally.

Love the IWB/Mezz/IF dynamic you have going here -- if it's anything like what I see with my setup (IW instead of IF), it's going to be saucy in all the right ways.

The papers are full of rumors. Abega is on the verge of signing for Nagelsmann's Bayern. Or perhaps Jeremy Menez's PS-****ing-G. The press huddle at Fabrika awaiting word on his seemingly imminent transfer. A prime time press conference is finally called. At which point we can only laugh as the ITK knobs make fools of themselves with their baseless predictions.

There were no questions at the press conference after the top-of-the-table clash on Matchday 22.