[FM12] Now You Do Not Punish Someone, English Or Otherwise, For Being Rubbish At FM...

[crouchaldinho]

I also approve!

[SnakeXe]

I also approve!

That's one for the album.

Well done! (even though i support united!)

I approve .

Cheers guys

[Flamers]

When you can go half a season in the RPL conceding 2 goals I will be impressed

[SnakeXe]

When you can go half a season in the RPL conceding 2 goals I will be impressed

With Newcastle?

[Flamers]

With any team other than CSKA or Anji

[SnakeXe]

SnakeXe's Career - Season 23 - 2034/35

Story of the Season:

Premier League - 1st

We led for pretty much the whole rest of the season, and had the title all but sewn up with 3 games to go, took the foot off the gas and let Arsenal close up, but still a good season.

FA Cup - Winners

Ridiculously easy, apart from needing a replay against MK Dons. Scored 23 without reply, including 4 in the final against last year's conquerors Blackburn.

League Cup - Fourth Round (lost v Man City)

Incredibly spawny win for Man City ended our defence of the trophy.

Community Shield - Winners

Revenge was sweet over Blackburn - the only side to eliminate us from any competition last season - although not as sweet as beating them in the FA Cup final later in the season.

Champions League - Winners

Sevilla nearly ended our challenge far earlier than I'd have hoped for, beating us 2-0 at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, against the run of play as usual, but we produced an incredibly professional performance at Fortress St. James', pegging them back 2-0 in normal time before smashing 3 past them in extra time for a 5-2 aggregate win. Liverpool provided far less resistance in the QF, as we smashed them 4-1 at home before producing a much better away performance on Merseyside, nicking a 2-1 win.

AC Milan edged out Werder Bremen on away goals to ruin my dream semi-final, and things got off to a terrible start in the San Siro, as Fred got himself sent off inside a minute. He's not played since and I'm considering binning him in the summer. Fortunately Wakefield plundered a goal on the counter, and despite conceding twice, 1-2 wasn't a bad result to take back home considering how it started. Once again, we went goal-crazy at home, smashing them 4-0 to set up a final with city rivals Inter. Despite a shakey start we took control of the game, and won 2-0 for my fourth continental triumph with my third different team!

Results 1 - Results 2 - Squad

Transfers - £18m recouped

God knows how we got £25m for the decent-but-unspectacular pair of Skowronski and Mathebula, but it helped us on the way to a massive profit. The ex-Crvena Zvezda pair of Jeftic and Martac were utterly bargainous on the ins, as was ex-Liverpool-reserve now Newcastle-record-breaker Andy Wakefield.

Finances

Looking very very healthy now.

5 Most Important Players:

5. Mario Méndez - AML/ST - Like Júnior before him, had a slightly difficult second season in the inside left position, but was still one of our most dangerous players - 14 goals and 20 assists aren't to be sniffed at. I'm expecting better next season though.

4. Gil Reis - D/MR - Another unbelievably good and consistent season for the right-fullback.

3. Blazo Jeftic - DC - Spectacular debut season for the "Beast of Belgrade". A towering presence in both boxes.

2. Andy Wakefield - ST - Snapped up from Liverpool's reserves, he scored well in easier games whilst Maciulevicius was fit, and then stepped up very nicely to fill the void when the Lithuanian got a serious injury. Sometimes went missing in the big games, but you can't argue with a club-record 37 goals in 31 starts.

1. José Manuel Ocles - DM/M/AMRC - Another record-breaker, smashing his own record number of assists, with a whopping 26 in 28 starts. We just aren't the same team without him.

History:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Season  | Team            | League/Competition    | Country      | Position | Notes                                                 |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2012/13 | Weymouth        | Blue Square South     | England      | 2nd      | Playoff Semi-finalists                                |
| 2013/14 | Weymouth        | Blue Square South     | England      | 3rd      | Resigned in October                                   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2013/14 | Darlington      | Blue Square Premier   | England      | 14th     | 15th on arrival in October                            |
| 2014/15 | Darlington      | Blue Square Premier   | England      | 2nd      | Playoff Winners                                       |
| 2015/16 | Darlington      | League Two            | England      | 16th     | Resigned in January                                   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2015/16 | Southend United | League One            | England      | 21st     | Relegated, 24th on arrival in March                   |
| 2016/17 | Southend United | League Two            | England      | 1st      | League Two Champions                                  |
| 2017/18 | Southend United | League One            | England      | 2nd      | Promoted                                              |
| 2018/19 | Southend United | Championship          | England      | 17th     | Resigned in October                                   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2018/19 | Wigan Athletic  | Championship          | England      | 4th      | 13th on arrival in October, Playoff Winners           |
| 2019/20 | Wigan Athletic  | Premier League        | England      | 15th     | Left in December                                      |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2019/20 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 8th      | 14th on arrival in December, DFB-Pokal Winners        |
| 2020/21 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 1st      | B'liga Champions, Supercup Winners, EL Semi-Finalists |
| 2021/22 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 2nd      | Supercup Winners, CL & DFB-Pokal Semi-Finalists       |
| 2022/23 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 1st      | B'liga Champions, Champions League Winners            |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2023/24 | Arsenal         | Premier League        | England      | 2nd      | Champ's League Semi-Finalists, League Cup Finalists   |
| 2024/25 | Arsenal         | Premier League        | England      | 1st      | Premier League Winners, League Cup Finalists          |
| 2025/26 | Arsenal         | Premier League        | England      | 1st      | Premier League Winners                                |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2027    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 1st      | Brasileirao & Paulista Winners, Libertadores SF       |
| 2028    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 2nd      | Paulista & Copa Libertadores Semi-Finalists           |
| 2029    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 1st      | Brasileirao & L'dores Winners, CWC RU, Paulista SF    |
| 2030    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 1st      | B'leirao, L'dores, Paulista, Recopa Winners, CWC RU   |
| 2031    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 1st      | Brasileirao, Paulista, Recopa Sudamericana Winners    |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2030    | Brazil          | Friendlies            | Various      | N/A      | Appointed in July, P5 W2 D2 L1                        |
| 2031    | Brazil          | Copa América          | S. America   | R-Up     | Copa América Runners Up, Resigned in July             |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2031/32 | Vélez           | Clausura              | Argentina    | 1st      | Clausura Winners, Joined in February                  |
| 2032/33 | Vélez           | Apertura              | Argentina    | 1st      | Apertura Winners, Left in December                    |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2032/33 | Newcastle       | Premier League        | England      | 7th      | FA Cup Runners Up, Joined in December                 |
| 2033/34 | Newcastle       | Premier League        | England      | 1st      | Premier League & League Cup Winners                   |
| 2034/35 | Newcastle       | Premier League        | England      | 1st      | Premier League, FA Cup, & Champions League Winners    |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next Season:

How do you follow that? By winning it all again I guess! I'd be happy with retaining the league and not embarassing ourselves in the others, though.

[deltablue]

And adding the league cup. Not massively important though beyond giving you a better sweep for the season.

[SnakeXe]

XML error on my save after the CL final so I have to replay the last league game of the season and the CL final.

I rarely swear on here, but for ****s ****ing sake.

[SnakeXe]

Replayed it and got pretty similar results - 0-4 against Chelsea and 3-0 win over Inter. Let's hope it doesn't crash again.

[AK22]

Whereabouts are you playing Ocles? I'm assuming right-wing, due to his pace, but he could quite easily play in 'the hole'. You've done well to get so many assists out of him, considering he does lack a bit technically.

[SnakeXe]

And adding the league cup. Not massively important though beyond giving you a better sweep for the season.

Indeed! On a side-note I find it quite funny that I've won both the FA Cup and League Cup with Newcastle having played just one decent side in both of the campaigns, haha.

Whereabouts are you playing Ocles? I'm assuming right-wing, due to his pace, but he could quite easily play in 'the hole'. You've done well to get so many assists out of him, considering he does lack a bit technically.

Yeah AMR as an orthodox winger with attack duty. To be honest he was a player I was looking at improving on even from when I first joined the club, but his performances have been absolutely top notch. His good Decisions stat helps I think, he's just very intelligent with his movement. A typical goal for us would be the MCR playing an early ball into Ocles' feet him drawing the fullback out before turning him and charging to the by-line before cutting it back for one of the other front 4.

[SnakeXe]

Former Club Watch:

Weymouth F.C.:

Boo.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13*  Blue Square South       2nd       Playoff Semi-finalists
2013/14*  Blue Square South       9th       I left in October (resigned)
2014/15   Blue Square South       10th      -
2015/16   Blue Square South       19th      -
2016/17   Blue Square South       9th       FA Cup 2nd Round
2017/18   Blue Square South       3rd       Playoff Winners
2018/19   Blue Square Premier     21st      Relegated
2019/20   Blue Square South       14th      -
2020/21   Blue Square South       14th      -
2021/22   Blue Square South       19th      -
2022/23   Blue Square South       18th      -
2023/24   Blue Square South       22nd      Relegated
2024/25   N/A                     N/A       FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round
2025/26   N/A                     N/A       -
2026/27   N/A                     N/A       FA Cup 3rd Round
2027/28   N/A                     N/A       -
2028/29   N/A                     N/A       -
2029/30   N/A                     N/A       -
2030/31   N/A                     N/A       FA Cup 1st Round
2031/32   N/A                     N/A       -
2032/33   N/A                     N/A       -
2033/34   N/A                     N/A       -
2034/35   N/A                     N/A       -

NB * indicates that I was in charge for at least part of the season.

Darlington F.C.:

Amazing season for the Quakers, unfortunately ending in heartbreak at the hands of Leeds in extra time in the playoff final. That is, until my game crashed and they won it the second time, so at least someone benefitted from it!

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013/14*  Blue Square Premier     14th      I joined in October
2014/15*  Blue Square Premier     2nd       Playoff Winners
2015/16*  League Two              18th      I left in January (resigned)
2016/17   League Two              17th      JPT North Quarter Final
2017/18   League Two              15th      FA Cup 3rd Round
2018/19   League Two              3rd       Promoted
2019/20   League One              22nd      Relegated, FA Cup 4th Round
2020/21   League Two              20th      -
2021/22   League Two              6th       FA Cup 4th Round, Playoff Semi-finalists
2022/23   League Two              9th       JPT North Quarter Final
2023/24   League Two              16th      JPT North Semi Final
2024/25   League Two              11th      -
2025/26   League Two              19th      -
2026/27   League Two              19th      -
2027/28   League Two              18th      -
2028/29   League Two              20th      -
2029/30   League Two              1st       League Two Winners
2030/31   League One              12th      FA Cup 4th Round
2031/32   League One              22nd      Relegated, FA Cup 5th Round
2032/33   League Two              2nd       Promoted, FA Cup 3rd Round
2033/34   League One              18th      FA Cup 3rd Round
2034/35   League One              4th       JPT N SF, FA Cup R3, Playoff Winners

Southend United:

Similarly to Darlington, their fantastic season ended disappointingly - this time to the Quakers themselves on penalties in the playoff semi-final.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16*  League One              21st      Relegated, I joined in March
2016/17*  League Two              1st       League Two Winners
2017/18*  League One              2nd       Promoted
2018/19*  Championship            15th      I left in October (resigned)
2019/20   Championship            20th      -
2020/21   Championship            12th      FA Cup 5th Round
2021/22   Championship            9th       -
2022/23   Championship            15th      -
2023/24   Championship            16th      FA Cup Semi Final
2024/25   Championship            21st      -
2025/26   Championship            19th      -
2026/27   Championship            16th      League Cup Runners up
2027/28   Championship            21st      -
2028/29   Championship            22nd      Relegated
2029/30   League One              3rd       Playoff Semi-finalists
2030/31   League One              7th       FA Cup 4th Round, JPT Finalists
2031/32   League One              17th      JPT South Quarter-finalists
2032/33   League One              11th      -
2033/34   League One              11th      JPT South Semi-finalists
2034/35   League One              5th       FA Cup 3rd Round, Playoff Semi-finalists

Wigan Athletic:

Four seasons of rock-solid mid-table is about as good as it's going to get league-wise for Wigan.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/19*  Championship            4th       I joined in October, Playoff Winners
2019/20*  Premier League          11th      I left in December (job offer)
2020/21   Premier League          18th      League Cup Winners, Relegated
2021/22   Championship            2nd       Promoted, League Cup Quarter-finalists
2022/23   Premier League          17th      FA Cup 6th Round
2023/24   Premier League          19th      Relegated
2024/25   Championship            5th       Playoff Semi-finalists
2025/26   Championship            4th       Playoff Winners, FA Cup 6th Round
2026/27   Premier League          5th       FA Cup 6th Round, EL Qualification
2027/28   Premier League          19th      League Cup Quarter-finalists
2028/29   Championship            6th       FA Cup 5th Round, Playoff Semi-finalists
2029/30   Championship            4th       Playoff Runners Up
2030/31   Championship            2nd       Promoted
2031/32   Premier League          11th      FA Cup 5th Round
2032/33   Premier League          14th      -
2033/34   Premier League          12th      -
2034/35   Premier League          10th       -

Werder Bremen:

Die Werderaner finally look like a club on the up again - successive Champions League qualifications secured along with a deep run into the competition.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2019/20*  1. Bundesliga           8th       I joined in December, DFB-Pokal Winners
2020/21*  1. Bundesliga           1st       B'liga, S'cup Winners; EL Semi-finalists
2021/22*  1. Bundesliga           2nd       S'cup Winners; EL, DFB-P Semi-finalists
2022/23*  1. Bundesliga           1st       B'liga, Champs League Winners
2023/24   1. Bundesliga           2nd       CWC, DFB-Pokal Winners
2024/25   1. Bundesliga           4th       Champs League, DFB-Pokal Semi-finalists
2025/26   1. Bundesliga           4th       -
2026/27   1. Bundesliga           3rd       DFB-Pokal Winners
2027/28   1. Bundesliga           5th       Europa League Semi-finalists
2028/29   1. Bundesliga           4th       Europa League QF, DFB-Pokal RU
2029/30   1. Bundesliga           3rd       Europa League Quarter-finalists
2030/31   1. Bundesliga           4th       -
2031/32   1. Bundesliga           4th       DFB-Pokal Semi-finalists
2032/33   1. Bundesliga           4th       DFB-Pokal Quarter-finalists
2033/34   1. Bundesliga           2nd       DFB-Pokal Runners Up
2034/35   1. Bundesliga           3rd       DFB-Pokal & Champions League QF

Arsenal:

Ran us close in the Premier League, but surely should have done better than the first knockout round of the Europa League.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24*  Premier League          2nd       CL Semi-finalists, LC Runners up
2024/25*  Premier League          1st       Premier League Winners, LC Runners Up
2025/26*  Premier League          1st       Premier League Winners
2026/27   Premier League          1st       PL & CL Winners, FA Cup Semi-finalists
2027/28   Premier League          1st       PL, CL, CWC & LC Winners, FA Cup Final
2028/29   Premier League          3rd       League Cup Runners Up, Champ's Lg SF
2029/30   Premier League          1st       Premier League Winners, Champ's Lg RU
2030/31   Premier League          1st       PL & LC Winners, CL Runners Up
2031/32   Premier League          1st       Prem League Winners, FA Cup Runners Up
2032/33   Premier League          2nd       Champions League Semi-finalists
2033/34   Premier League          6th       Champions League Runners Up
2034/35   Premier League          2nd       FA Cup 6th Round

Santos:

A very poor season by their high standards, finishing with a meagre total of 70 points in the Brasileirao and chucking away both the Paulista final and the Copa Libertadores semi-final from commanding positions. Bizarrely were still entered into the Recopa Sudamericana, which they at least won.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2027*     Brasileirao             1st       B'leirao, Paulista Winners, L'dores SF
2028*     Brasileirao             2nd       Paulista, Libertadores Semi-finalists
2029*     Brasileirao             1st       B'leirao & L'dores W, P'lista SF, CWC RU
2030*     Brasileirao             1st       B'leirao, CL, P'lista & Recopa W, CWC RU
2031*     Brasileirao             1st       Brasileirao, Paulista & Recopa Winners
2032      Brasileirao             1st       B'leirao, CL, & Paulista Winners, CWC RU
2033      Brasileirao             2nd       CL, Recopa & Paulista Winners, CWC RU
2034      Brasileirao             2nd       Paulista RU, CL SF, Recopa Winners

Brazil:

Realised I should probably include these guys as well. Absolute debacle of a World Cup, drawing with Greece and losing to Congo and Iran to finish bottom of the group. Decision to leave vindicated.

Season    Competition             Position  Notes
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2030*     Friendlies              -         Appointed in July, P5 W2 D2 L1
2031*     Copa América            R-Up      Copa América R-Up, Resigned in July
2032      Friendlies              -         P3 W2 D0 L1
2033      Confederations Cup      3rd       Confederations Cup 3rd Placed Team
2031-33   CONMEBOL WC Qualifiers  2nd       Qualified for World Cup
2034      World Cup               Grp Stage Eliminated at Group Stage of WC

Vélez:

Esmerado and Esteche have gone as well now, and the manager seems to be playing rubbish players ahead of youngsters who performed excellently for me. Such a disappointment.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2031/32*  Clausura                1st       Clausura Winners, Joined in February
2032/33*  Apertura                1st       Apertura Winners, Left in December
2032/33   Clausura                1st       Clausura Winners, CA 7th Rnd, CL SF
2033/34   Apertura                2nd       Copa Sudamericana Semi-finalists
2033/34   Clausura                5th       -
2034/35   Apertura                5th       Copa Sudamericana Quarter-finalists
2034/35   Clausura                3rd       Copa Libertadores 2nd Round

[SnakeXe]

600% payrise? Don't mind if I do!

[SRL88]

Would be silly if you didnt take it.

Cracking season with Newcastle & also a great season for Darlo .

[Nobby_McDonald]

Give me some of that payrise!

[SnakeXe]

SnakeXe's Career - Season 24 Preseason Update - Newcastle United

Board Expectations:

Premier League - Champions League qualification (minimum of Champions League qualification, predicted 3rd out of 20)

FA Cup - Semi Final

Carling Cup - Unimportant

Community Shield - Unimportant

Champions League - Quarter Final

European Super Cup - Learn from experience

My Expectations:

Premier League - A title challenge, whether successful or not, is surely expected

FA Cup - Not losing to anyone rubbish will do me

Carling Cup - I'd hope to do better than last season's poor 4th Round exit

Community Shield - I'll never turn down the chance to beat Arsenal, but it's not a priority

Champions League - Quarter Final sounds about right, but if we got a decent draw I'd hope to go further

European Super Cup - It's against Barcelona, so it'd be a great scalp

Budgets:

Transfer: £51,050,000 (£50,610,000 remaining)

Wages: £1,146,897/week (£957,285/week currently)

Balance: £45,602,866 (+£16,651,442 since last season)

Squad:

We don't really have any weaknesses now apart from a lack of players home-grown at the club. Jones plugs the hole opened by Lomas retiring, we have loads of options going forwards, and confident, strong defenders in depth at the back.

Transfers:

Sold off a few guys who were on loan last season but weren't going to crack the first team squad, as well as Makweni, who had never really performed consistently enough for us. Coming in were Mitchell Heath, a young English right-footed left winger who Arsenal were surprisingly keen to get rid of, and promising right back Greg Jones from Southampton.

Key Men:

Goalkeeper/Defence

Gil Reis - D/MR - Even with Jones signed to give him some competition he's our key man at the back.

Midfield

Michel Bellucci - DM/MC - Added goals to his excellent all-round game last season.

Mario Méndez - AML/ST - Was very productive last season despite not playing exceptionally well - I'm hoping for a bit more this year.

Strikers

Marius Maciulevicius - AMC/ST - I'm hoping for one or two more big seasons from him - after his bad injury at the end of last season it's key to our chances that he gets back into the swing of things.

[SnakeXe]

Here's to the next 1,300

[SRL88]

Nice landmark there Snake and good luck with the season ahead .

[SnakeXe]

Cheers man

[crouchaldinho]

I'd be interested to hear some tactical insight into how you set up your Newcastle United team, SnakeXe!

Loving the goals to games ratio from Wakefield. You know that I love a goal scorer!

Do you set up with a playmaker?

Good luck for next season btw!

[SnakeXe]

Just for you, Crouchy

Newcastle Tactics Breakdown

The overarching idea behind the system is to create the maximum amount of space for the front four to exploit with intelligent movement. Each fullback is told to hug the touchline, which naturally enlarges the effective playing area whilst the inside left is told to move into channels, rather than the default "cut inside" for an inside forward. This lends itself to the player attacking the space rather than blindly cutting inside every time. Obviously him being a right-footed converted striker, he does still tend to cut inside more often (as Fergie himself says, a player is far more dangerous coming inside from outside rather than out from in), but it just adds a bit more variation to the play.

On the opposite flank, Ocles is an orthodox pacy winger, who is often fed by any one of the other members of the front four, as well as the deep lying playmaker (who we'll come to in a bit). His remit is to turn the opposing defence and either hit an early ball into the striker or inside left, or hit the byline and pull it back. The AMC's role I haven't really specialised too much as of yet, I haven't quite decided exactly what I want him to do. At the moment he's just there as another passing option, and often finds himself on the end of knockdowns or rebounds. Of course, he does occasionally knock a decent through ball in for one of the other three forwards. The guy I generally use there, Delando Moke, is a hell of a physical specimen - he has pace, strength, height and a great leap - as well as being technically sound. This results in a lot of turnovers high up the pitch where he'll win the ball through being faster, stronger, or bigger than the defenders.

The striker's role is pretty straightforward tactically, if not in execution technically - think Torres at Liverpool when he was at his best. Pick up the ball in space and run towards goal, or with his back to goal and lay it off for a midfielder. I think we play best overall with Maciulevicius in this role, as he's better with his back to goal than Wakefield. The Englishman beats Marius for sheer pace, however, which is how he plundered so many goals himself.

The central midfield pair is almost exactly the same as I had at Werder - a double pivot that plays fairly high up the pitch in comparison to the likes of Alonso/Mascherano or Schweinsteiger/Khedira. The idea is to contain the ball high up the pitch, always being available for a pass from any one of the front four, as well as being straight on top of the opposition as soon as they get a chance to break. The deep-lying playmaker is more of a Xavi style than a Pirlo style - short, intelligent passes to keep things ticking over, with the occasional subtle through ball, rather than frequent raking passes. The defensive central midfielder ends up playing a very similar role to be honest, but just playing maybe 5 yards deeper, and even less frequent through balls.

This high double pivot means the defence has to be strong and able to cut out attacks effectively if they develop beyond the midfield pair, and there's none better at this than Blazo Jeftic, who usually plays in the position Nestor Brenes occupies in the image. His interventions are usually decisive, and very early, allowing the team scope to recover the defensive shape whilst the opposition recycles the ball through a throw in or collecting it again further towards their own goal. Of course, we often win it back high up the pitch and create a chance ourselves! The other defender is ideally a bit more mobile and positionally sound. I don't think any of the other guys I have (Fred, Kroulik and Selemani) are perfect for the role, but they all do a good enough job. I have hopes Kroulik will develop into the ideal player for the role as he's still quite young.

The fullbacks cover more ground than anyone else in the team, and are hence very fit and quick. I'm lucky to have four excellent examples at the club, meaning even when I rotate players we're always strong in that position, one which is absolutely fundamentally important in top level football. The left back tends to get involved more high up the pitch as the inside left's movement generally gives him the room to move forward, although their instructions are exactly the same.

[crouchaldinho]

Very nice write up, SnakeXe!

How does the DLP perform for you? Does he get many assists? Or perhaps not as he is in a deeper role. What's his pass ratio like?

Interesting that your orthodox winger, Ocles, is the one with the most assists from last season.

The AMC position is interesting. He seems to be doing well but isn't contributing half as much as the winger and inside forward. I've always found it hard to get good performances from AMCs without having them as playmakers on FM.

[SnakeXe]

If you take a look at my squad screenshot from last season, the two players I used in the DLP position mostly were Dusan Krivokuca and Tochukwu Daniel. Looking at their stats, they have a small number of assists each, but a decent enough AvR. I'd have to look at it more closely to confirm, but my feeling would be that they get a high proportion of "key" passes per game, i.e. they'll assist the assister. A typical sort of play for us is a ball cleared from the back, won in the air by Moke for the DLP, who then hits a pass in behind the opposition left back for Ocles, who drives forward then pulls it back for the inside left or striker to score an easy finish. I'll check their pass ratios next time I load the game up.

With regards to the AMC, again looking at the squad screenshot, Delando Moke has 15 goals, 12 assists and a 7.39 AvR - he's behind the winger and inside left, but not massively. A slight contributing factor would be that I had four great candidates for the position in Moke, Fresnel Makweni, Ramon and Sedat Yucel, so they were rotated a lot more frequently than the other two positions. For this season Moke is a more established first choice pick with Makweni leaving and no room for Yucel in the Champions League squad so it'll be interesting to see the contrast in how he performs this time.

[SnakeXe]

Passing stats from last season:

Dusan Krivokuca - 92%

Tochukwu Daniel - 92%

Doesn't seem to retain data on key passes though unfortunately.

[MattSpurs94]

Go to the league table, and click Stats. Go to PLayer stats and from the drop-down menu, choose Key Passes. It'll tell you how many key passes they've played that season.

[SnakeXe]

Can't believe I almost didn't bother signing him! £2.5m well spent.

Neither of my DLPs place on the "Key Passes" rankings, which surprises me. I thought a key pass was one which sets up a move for a chance or something like that? From observing the ME they make loads of them. Delando Moke is equal top with 22 so far this season, Mario Méndez equal third on 20.

[deltablue]

Very well spent it seems.

[SnakeXe]

Season 24: Halfway House Update

The Community Shield opened the season as it usually does, and we faced league runners up Arsenal having claimed both the Premier League and FA Cup ourselves last season. Despite it finishing 3-2, there was only really ever one winner, a Moke brace helping us start the season in style.

The European Super Cup was a first for us, the competition not having been in existence for our last European trophy - the 1969 Fairs Cup. Our greenness didn't shine through though, as Barcelona were sent home with their tails between their legs - a 5-1 thumping! One of my most career's most satisfying results, despite it being in a pointless cup.

We were hoping to do better in the League Cup this year, having been knocked out slightly unfortunately quite early last year. We took Crewe to bits away in the 3rd Round with a 6-0 win, before edging Spurs 3-2 in North London. Cardiff were next up in the quarter final - our first home tie of the competition. We eased them aside 4-2 to set up a semi final against West Ham. Wrexham and Fulham make up the other semi so we're heavy favourites to come away with the trophy.

After an opening day 3-0 win at the Liberty Stadium, league matters took a downturn as Arsenal inexplicably came away with a 2-1 win from St. James' Park. Three successive wins eased the worries, but then we threw away another game we dominated against Chelsea away from home. We just couldn't get the ball in the net despite a plethora of chances, before Blazo Jeftic had a completely out-of-character 5 minutes as he first scored an own goal and then got himself sent off for throwing an elbow in the other box trying to make amends. 0-1 it stayed for another disappointing defeat. Just one game later Man City repeated Arsenal's trick in coming away with an inexplicable 2-1 win from St. James', and I was getting a bit concerned about our non-performances against the bigger teams. This was somewhat mitigated as we won every other game in the league, as part of a record-breaking 20-game winning streak in all competitions, to take top spot at the halfway point.

Champions League matters were simple enough, we were drawn with Atletico Madrid, Zenit, and Sturm Graz, and we won every match with room to spare. Portuguese side Braga are up next in the knockouts. Surprisingly the other teams that have progressed look quite weak by the names, but then you can't judge a book by its cover - Newcastle aren't exactly a European powerhouse name (yet).

That just leaves the Club World Cup - a competition I'd yet to win in FM12. I suspected that unwanted record wouldn't last much longer, and a 4-1 spanking of Sepahan in the semi final seemed to confirm my suspicions. I played an even stronger team in the final just to make sure, and was rewarded with a 5-1 thumping of Mexican side Tigres.

The Good

• Three trophies already, and on for a clean sweep
  
• Awesome winning streak
  
• Méndez, Maciulevicius, Moke and Wakefield are all firing on all cylinders
  

The Bad

• Ocles looks like he has been found out, or has just lost form
  
• Poor defeats against Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea in the league
  
• Anything else would just be nitpicking
  

Results - Premier League Table - Squad

[SRL88]

Cracking first half to the season .

[Nobby_McDonald]

Definately so.

[deltablue]

Almost perfect.

[SnakeXe]

Thanks guys, of course the forum curse got me as we scored not one goal from a good 60-odd attempts in the next three matches, but we've overcome the blip now (knock on wood, throw salt over my shoulder, turn around three times, etc).

[Nobby_McDonald]

Lucky rabbit's foot?

[SnakeXe]

I must have forgotten it, Nobby, as I've not had a moment to play FM in the last couple of weeks! The weekend before last was the Diablo III beta so I was all up in that, then this weekend I had a cumulative total of 12 hours of band practice. Not to mention I've actually been doing a bit of work towards my PhD for once, so a little casual gaming has been off the cards during the week.

Today, however, I'm allowing myself the day off as I'm utterly shattered, so I'm watching some of Crouchy's Minecraft videos and getting down to some quality FM time .

[iHeadHunta x]

Brilliant season so far!

[crouchaldinho]

Today, however, I'm allowing myself the day off as I'm utterly shattered, so I'm watching some of Crouchy's Minecraft videos and getting down to some quality FM time .

I approve!

A good way to spend your time for sure.

[SnakeXe]

Not the worst way to start your Champions League semi!

Jeftic increased his goal tally for the season by 50%, haha.

[crouchaldinho]

Wow!

[deltablue]

That's just...!!!

[arinceo]

Super victory, shame it wasn't the final though

[SnakeXe]

Super victory, shame it wasn't the final though

Yeah, I played the final last night - think I used up all my good luck in that game, cause I had the worst! I'll write up the report sometime soon.

[SRL88]

Great win over Lyon .

[Nobby_McDonald]

I was going to say don't lose the away leg 9-0 but you wrote you have played the final.

[SnakeXe]

SnakeXe's Career - Season 24 - 2035/36

Story of the Season:

Premier League - 1st

After a tight race for the majority of the season, the other teams just seemed to give up and decide we should have the title.

FA Cup - Fifth Round (lost v Aston Villa)

Easy enough wins over Colwyn Bay - who are doing a great job rising up the leagues incidentally, they'll be in League One next season - and York City were for naught as Aston Villa did enough to knock out a slightly weakened team at Villa Park.

League Cup - Runners Up (lost v Fulham)

Really annoying to lose the final after doing all the hard work to get there. Fulham just turned up on the day and we didn't.

Community Shield - Winners

Arsenal were dispatched in an entertaining game.

European Super Cup - Winners

An amazing 5-1 destruction of Barcelona.

Club World Cup - Winners

It just shows the gap in quality that this competition is a gimme for us, yet for Santos is was the holy grail.

Champions League - Runners Up (lost v Marseille)

The knockout phase was surprisingly easy - a 9-0 aggregate thumping of Braga in the first knockout round wasn't even our most impressive result.

Juventus away in the quarter-final first leg was the only difficult match we faced really. We took the lead twice but ended up 3-2 down at the break. Whilst we were doing damage against their defence, ours just wasn't coping with their 3-5-2 system, and I wasn't so sure we could outscore them if it continued on this path. I took the drastic step of taking our striker - who wasn't faring well against the 3 Juve centre-backs - off for another centreback, going 5-2-3-0. The ploy worked, as we scored two unanswered goals in the second half to win 4-3!

An easy 2-0 win in the home leg finished the job, before that spectacular 10-1 annihilation of Lyon you saw earlier. A second-string put in a solid performance to take a 0-0 from the away leg, setting up a final against their great rivals, Marseille.

The final was an absolute traversty. We dominated the game until left-back Busao was sent off for a needlessly reckless challenge - and were the better side even after that. Zagnon finally scored for them from a corner against the run of play, and Mikic got himself another straight red as we chased the game. The ridiculous thing is we still could have taken it to extra time - Maciulevicius blazing over in injury time from a great position.

Results 1 - Results 2 - Squad

Transfers - £750k spent

Makweni was the only real first teamer who left - Knight and van der Belt were both talented but not quite good enough to break into our squad. On the ins came Breach, who will probably leave this summer (very much a flatters-to-deceive flashy-but-no-end-product sort of winger) after failing to break into the team, and Greg Jones, a highly promising (and crucially English) right full-back.

Finances

Not much longer til we've paid that loan off now, then we'll be in cracking shape.

5 Most Important Players:

5. Samson Nworuh - DLC/ML - Struggled for the honour with Busao for a couple of seasons, but has become our number one left-back now.

4. Blazo Jeftic - DC - Would be higher on this list but for a couple of stupid sendings-off that cost us points in the league. He and Nworuh missing the Champions League final probably contributed to our implosion.

3. Marius Maciulevicius - AMC/ST - The Lithuanian legend was bang in form this year.

2. Delando Moke - M/AMC - The guy was a wonderkid at the club when I joined, but never really found his feet until now. So glad he has.

1. Mario Méndez - AML/ST - Difficult second season out of the way, a ridiculous 7.93 average rating, 22 goals and 21 assists. Wow.

History:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Season  | Team            | League/Competition    | Country      | Position | Notes                                                 |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2012/13 | Weymouth        | Blue Square South     | England      | 2nd      | Playoff Semi-finalists                                |
| 2013/14 | Weymouth        | Blue Square South     | England      | 3rd      | Resigned in October                                   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2013/14 | Darlington      | Blue Square Premier   | England      | 14th     | 15th on arrival in October                            |
| 2014/15 | Darlington      | Blue Square Premier   | England      | 2nd      | Playoff Winners                                       |
| 2015/16 | Darlington      | League Two            | England      | 16th     | Resigned in January                                   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2015/16 | Southend United | League One            | England      | 21st     | Relegated, 24th on arrival in March                   |
| 2016/17 | Southend United | League Two            | England      | 1st      | League Two Champions                                  |
| 2017/18 | Southend United | League One            | England      | 2nd      | Promoted                                              |
| 2018/19 | Southend United | Championship          | England      | 17th     | Resigned in October                                   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2018/19 | Wigan Athletic  | Championship          | England      | 4th      | 13th on arrival in October, Playoff Winners           |
| 2019/20 | Wigan Athletic  | Premier League        | England      | 15th     | Left in December                                      |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2019/20 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 8th      | 14th on arrival in December, DFB-Pokal Winners        |
| 2020/21 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 1st      | B'liga Champions, Supercup Winners, EL Semi-Finalists |
| 2021/22 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 2nd      | Supercup Winners, CL & DFB-Pokal Semi-Finalists       |
| 2022/23 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 1st      | B'liga Champions, Champions League Winners            |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2023/24 | Arsenal         | Premier League        | England      | 2nd      | Champ's League Semi-Finalists, League Cup Finalists   |
| 2024/25 | Arsenal         | Premier League        | England      | 1st      | Premier League Winners, League Cup Finalists          |
| 2025/26 | Arsenal         | Premier League        | England      | 1st      | Premier League Winners                                |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2027    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 1st      | Brasileirao & Paulista Winners, Libertadores SF       |
| 2028    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 2nd      | Paulista & Copa Libertadores Semi-Finalists           |
| 2029    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 1st      | Brasileirao & L'dores Winners, CWC RU, Paulista SF    |
| 2030    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 1st      | B'leirao, L'dores, Paulista, Recopa Winners, CWC RU   |
| 2031    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 1st      | Brasileirao, Paulista, Recopa Sudamericana Winners    |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2030    | Brazil          | Friendlies            | Various      | N/A      | Appointed in July, P5 W2 D2 L1                        |
| 2031    | Brazil          | Copa América          | S. America   | R-Up     | Copa América Runners Up, Resigned in July             |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2031/32 | Vélez           | Clausura              | Argentina    | 1st      | Clausura Winners, Joined in February                  |
| 2032/33 | Vélez           | Apertura              | Argentina    | 1st      | Apertura Winners, Left in December                    |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2032/33 | Newcastle       | Premier League        | England      | 7th      | FA Cup Runners Up, Joined in December                 |
| 2033/34 | Newcastle       | Premier League        | England      | 1st      | Premier League & League Cup Winners                   |
| 2034/35 | Newcastle       | Premier League        | England      | 1st      | Premier League, FA Cup, & Champions League Winners    |
| 2035/36 | Newcastle       | Premier League        | England      | 1st      | Premier League & CWC Winners, League Cup & CL R-Up    |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next Season:

Actually very close to a clean sweep this year - arguably we were better than we were last season when we ended up winning more. I'd like to reclaim the Champions League really, and obviously retaining the league is important. Anything else is gravy.

[SnakeXe]

I was going to say don't lose the away leg 9-0 but you wrote you have played the final.

Yeah we managed that bit ok - the next part was where it went pear-shaped!

[SnakeXe]

Former Club Watch:

Weymouth F.C.:

Boo.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13*  Blue Square South       2nd       Playoff Semi-finalists
2013/14*  Blue Square South       9th       I left in October (resigned)
2014/15   Blue Square South       10th      -
2015/16   Blue Square South       19th      -
2016/17   Blue Square South       9th       FA Cup 2nd Round
2017/18   Blue Square South       3rd       Playoff Winners
2018/19   Blue Square Premier     21st      Relegated
2019/20   Blue Square South       14th      -
2020/21   Blue Square South       14th      -
2021/22   Blue Square South       19th      -
2022/23   Blue Square South       18th      -
2023/24   Blue Square South       22nd      Relegated
2024/25   N/A                     N/A       FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round
2025/26   N/A                     N/A       -
2026/27   N/A                     N/A       FA Cup 3rd Round
2027/28   N/A                     N/A       -
2028/29   N/A                     N/A       -
2029/30   N/A                     N/A       -
2030/31   N/A                     N/A       FA Cup 1st Round
2031/32   N/A                     N/A       -
2032/33   N/A                     N/A       -
2033/34   N/A                     N/A       -
2034/35   N/A                     N/A       -
2035/36   N/A                     N/A       -

NB * indicates that I was in charge for at least part of the season.

Darlington F.C.:

Promotion probably came too soon.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013/14*  Blue Square Premier     14th      I joined in October
2014/15*  Blue Square Premier     2nd       Playoff Winners
2015/16*  League Two              18th      I left in January (resigned)
2016/17   League Two              17th      JPT North Quarter Final
2017/18   League Two              15th      FA Cup 3rd Round
2018/19   League Two              3rd       Promoted
2019/20   League One              22nd      Relegated, FA Cup 4th Round
2020/21   League Two              20th      -
2021/22   League Two              6th       FA Cup 4th Round, Playoff Semi-finalists
2022/23   League Two              9th       JPT North Quarter Final
2023/24   League Two              16th      JPT North Semi Final
2024/25   League Two              11th      -
2025/26   League Two              19th      -
2026/27   League Two              19th      -
2027/28   League Two              18th      -
2028/29   League Two              20th      -
2029/30   League Two              1st       League Two Winners
2030/31   League One              12th      FA Cup 4th Round
2031/32   League One              22nd      Relegated, FA Cup 5th Round
2032/33   League Two              2nd       Promoted, FA Cup 3rd Round
2033/34   League One              18th      FA Cup 3rd Round
2034/35   League One              4th       JPT N SF, FA Cup R3, Playoff Winners
2035/36   Championship            24th      Relegated

Southend United:

A real disappointment after the near-miss last season. At least they had a good run in the JPT.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16*  League One              21st      Relegated, I joined in March
2016/17*  League Two              1st       League Two Winners
2017/18*  League One              2nd       Promoted
2018/19*  Championship            15th      I left in October (resigned)
2019/20   Championship            20th      -
2020/21   Championship            12th      FA Cup 5th Round
2021/22   Championship            9th       -
2022/23   Championship            15th      -
2023/24   Championship            16th      FA Cup Semi Final
2024/25   Championship            21st      -
2025/26   Championship            19th      -
2026/27   Championship            16th      League Cup Runners up
2027/28   Championship            21st      -
2028/29   Championship            22nd      Relegated
2029/30   League One              3rd       Playoff Semi-finalists
2030/31   League One              7th       FA Cup 4th Round, JPT Finalists
2031/32   League One              17th      JPT South Quarter-finalists
2032/33   League One              11th      -
2033/34   League One              11th      JPT South Semi-finalists
2034/35   League One              5th       FA Cup 3rd Round, Playoff Semi-finalists
2035/36   League One              15th      JPT South Runners-Up

Wigan Athletic:

Slow, steady, solid. Will they hit a glass ceiling or can they continue the progress?

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/19*  Championship            4th       I joined in October, Playoff Winners
2019/20*  Premier League          11th      I left in December (job offer)
2020/21   Premier League          18th      League Cup Winners, Relegated
2021/22   Championship            2nd       Promoted, League Cup Quarter-finalists
2022/23   Premier League          17th      FA Cup 6th Round
2023/24   Premier League          19th      Relegated
2024/25   Championship            5th       Playoff Semi-finalists
2025/26   Championship            4th       Playoff Winners, FA Cup 6th Round
2026/27   Premier League          5th       FA Cup 6th Round, EL Qualification
2027/28   Premier League          19th      League Cup Quarter-finalists
2028/29   Championship            6th       FA Cup 5th Round, Playoff Semi-finalists
2029/30   Championship            4th       Playoff Runners Up
2030/31   Championship            2nd       Promoted
2031/32   Premier League          11th      FA Cup 5th Round
2032/33   Premier League          14th      -
2033/34   Premier League          12th      -
2034/35   Premier League          10th      -
2035/36   Premier League          9th       -

Werder Bremen:

A disastrous season after the progress made recently. A loss in the Champions League qualifying round in a tough draw with Juventus set the scene for a highly disappointing year.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2019/20*  1. Bundesliga           8th       I joined in December, DFB-Pokal Winners
2020/21*  1. Bundesliga           1st       B'liga, S'cup Winners; EL Semi-finalists
2021/22*  1. Bundesliga           2nd       S'cup Winners; EL, DFB-P Semi-finalists
2022/23*  1. Bundesliga           1st       B'liga, Champs League Winners
2023/24   1. Bundesliga           2nd       CWC, DFB-Pokal Winners
2024/25   1. Bundesliga           4th       Champs League, DFB-Pokal Semi-finalists
2025/26   1. Bundesliga           4th       -
2026/27   1. Bundesliga           3rd       DFB-Pokal Winners
2027/28   1. Bundesliga           5th       Europa League Semi-finalists
2028/29   1. Bundesliga           4th       Europa League QF, DFB-Pokal RU
2029/30   1. Bundesliga           3rd       Europa League Quarter-finalists
2030/31   1. Bundesliga           4th       -
2031/32   1. Bundesliga           4th       DFB-Pokal Semi-finalists
2032/33   1. Bundesliga           4th       DFB-Pokal Quarter-finalists
2033/34   1. Bundesliga           2nd       DFB-Pokal Runners Up
2034/35   1. Bundesliga           3rd       DFB-Pokal & Champions League QF
2035/36   1. Bundesliga           6th       Europa League 2nd Knockout Round

Arsenal:

Disappeared in the league, and will be disappointed with losing 4-0 in the Stade Vélodrome in the Champions League semi-final second leg, even if Marseille were the eventual winners.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24*  Premier League          2nd       CL Semi-finalists, LC Runners up
2024/25*  Premier League          1st       Premier League Winners, LC Runners Up
2025/26*  Premier League          1st       Premier League Winners
2026/27   Premier League          1st       PL & CL Winners, FA Cup Semi-finalists
2027/28   Premier League          1st       PL, CL, CWC & LC Winners, FA Cup Final
2028/29   Premier League          3rd       League Cup Runners Up, Champ's Lg SF
2029/30   Premier League          1st       Premier League Winners, Champ's Lg RU
2030/31   Premier League          1st       PL & LC Winners, CL Runners Up
2031/32   Premier League          1st       Prem League Winners, FA Cup Runners Up
2032/33   Premier League          2nd       Champions League Semi-finalists
2033/34   Premier League          6th       Champions League Runners Up
2034/35   Premier League          2nd       FA Cup 6th Round
2035/36   Premier League          3rd       Champions League Semi-finalists

Santos:

Back on top domestically, they'll be disappointed with a Libertadores quarter-final exit, however.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2027*     Brasileirao             1st       B'leirao, Paulista Winners, L'dores SF
2028*     Brasileirao             2nd       Paulista, Libertadores Semi-finalists
2029*     Brasileirao             1st       B'leirao & L'dores W, P'lista SF, CWC RU
2030*     Brasileirao             1st       B'leirao, CL, P'lista & Recopa W, CWC RU
2031*     Brasileirao             1st       Brasileirao, Paulista & Recopa Winners
2032      Brasileirao             1st       B'leirao, CL, & Paulista Winners, CWC RU
2033      Brasileirao             2nd       CL, Recopa & Paulista Winners, CWC RU
2034      Brasileirao             2nd       Paulista RU, CL SF, Recopa Winners
2035      Brasileirao             1st       B'leirao & Paulista Winners, L'dores QF

Brazil:

I think this is starting to show what a good job I actually did in charge. They are, however, flying high in 2nd in the World Cup qualifying group at the moment, so it's not all bad.

Season    Competition             Position  Notes
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2030*     Friendlies              -         Appointed in July, P5 W2 D2 L1
2031*     Copa América            R-Up      Copa América R-Up, Resigned in July
2032      Friendlies              -         P3 W2 D0 L1
2033      Confederations Cup      3rd       Confederations Cup 3rd Placed Team
2031-33   CONMEBOL WC Qualifiers  2nd       Qualified for World Cup
2034      World Cup               Grp Stage Eliminated at Group Stage of WC
2035      Copa América            Grp Stage Eliminated at Group Stage of C. América

Vélez:

The wheels are really coming off now, such a shame. The Clausura is going worse currently.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2031/32*  Clausura                1st       Clausura Winners, Joined in February
2032/33*  Apertura                1st       Apertura Winners, Left in December
2032/33   Clausura                1st       Clausura Winners, CA 7th Rnd, CL SF
2033/34   Apertura                2nd       Copa Sudamericana Semi-finalists
2033/34   Clausura                5th       -
2034/35   Apertura                5th       Copa Sudamericana Quarter-finalists
2034/35   Clausura                3rd       Copa Libertadores 2nd Round
2035/36   Apertura                9th       Copa Sudamericana Quarter-finalists

[Nobby_McDonald]

Excellent season again Snake.

[deltablue]

Great season, so close in the CL.

[SnakeXe]

Thanks chaps!

Pretty tempting, and I'd like to go to Italy at some point - but my experience at Arsenal means I don't think I'm that interested in dealing with another big-budget high-expectation high-pressure job. It's not like I'm short of cash at Newcastle anyway, and besides, I've not quite established the Toon as Europe's top club yet - which is my aim.

[SnakeXe]

2036 UEFA European Championship

Hosts: Belgium

Holders: Netherlands

Group Stage:

Group A:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team    |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Italy   |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 3     | 2     | +1    | 6     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | England |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 4     | 3     | +1    | 4     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   | Q     | Wales   |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 3     | 4     | -1    | 4     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Spain   |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 3     | 4     | -1    | 3     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group B:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team           |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Serbia         |       | 3     | 1     | 2     | 0     | 5     | 2     | +3    | 5     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Czech Republic |       | 3     | 1     | 2     | 0     | 2     | 1     | +1    | 5     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   | Q     | Sweden         |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 4     | 6     | -2    | 3     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Norway         |       | 3     | 0     | 2     | 1     | 3     | 5     | -2    | 2     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group C:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team    |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Poland  |       | 3     | 2     | 1     | 0     | 9     | 3     | +6    | 7     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Croatia |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 5     | 6     | -1    | 6     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   | Q     | Belgium |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 3     | 4     | -1    | 4     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Turkey  |       | 3     | 0     | 0     | 3     | 1     | 5     | -4    | 0     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group D:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team        |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Germany     |       | 3     | 3     | 0     | 0     | 7     | 1     | +6    | 9     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Russia      |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 6     | 5     | +1    | 6     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Switzerland |       | 3     | 0     | 1     | 2     | 5     | 8     | -3    | 1     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Montenegro  |       | 3     | 0     | 1     | 2     | 3     | 7     | -4    | 1     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group E:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team                 |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | France               |       | 3     | 2     | 1     | 0     | 5     | 1     | +4    | 7     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Austria              |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 2     | 2     | 0     | 4     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Bosnia & Herzegovina |       | 3     | 0     | 2     | 1     | 3     | 5     | -2    | 2     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Denmark              |       | 3     | 0     | 2     | 1     | 2     | 4     | -2    | 2     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group F:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team             |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Ukraine          |       | 3     | 2     | 1     | 0     | 8     | 5     | +3    | 7     | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Netherlands      |       | 3     | 2     | 1     | 0     | 3     | 1     | +2    | 7     | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   | Q     | Portugal         |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 5     | 5     | 0     | 3     | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Northern Ireland |       | 3     | 0     | 0     | 3     | 1     | 6     | -5    | 0     | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Knockout Stage:

Second Round:

Italy 3 v 0 Czech Republic

Netherlands 1 v 0 France

Serbia 0 v 2 Wales

Sweden 2 v 1 Ukraine

England 2 v 0 Austria

Poland p1 v 1 Belgium

Germany 2 v 3 Portugal

Russia 2 v 1 Croatia

Quarter Final:

Italy 0 v 2 Netherlands

Wales e2 v 1 Sweden

England 1 v 1p Poland

Russia 2 v 0 Portugal

Semi Final:

Netherlands 2 v 1 Russia

Wales 3 v 0 Poland

Final:

Netherlands 3 v 1 Wales

An absolutely incredible effort from Wales, only to fall at the last hurdle to a Netherlands team who will go down as one of the all-time greats, having sandwiched a World Cup 2034 win with triumphs at the Euros in 2032 and 2036.