[FM11]Deltablue Rising II: Delta's Darlings.

[SRL88]

Some solid signings .

[deltablue]

OK, it's been a while by my standards. Started the season then a mix of being out and about a lot, being tired, and not being too motivated to do shorter-than-usual sessions (and by that I mean up to a few hours) sort of got in the way. However I have got back some motivation to stick it out with Dunfermline for a bit, at least for now...

July/Aug 2056

Ross County 2-0 Dunfermline (SLC)

We started in the League cup at Ross County. We had never won our first game of the season (though usually it was the Challenge cup), and this time we had pressure but no efficiency as they took their fewer chances and won 2-0.

St Mirren 1-2 Dunfermline (SD1)

We went to St Mirren for the first league game, finding it tough going in the first half, and eventually going behind in stoppage time. We were a little better after the break, Marsh equalizing in the 72nd minute, and Blyth snatched a winner in the 88th minute.

Alloa 0-2 Dunfermline (SCC)

We went to Alloa in the Challenge cup, a competition we had never won a game in. We looked very good in the first half, but didn’t get a goal. Green delivered the goods in the 53rd minute. They really applied the pressure afterwards, but Evans headed in a free-kick to give us a 2nd goal in the 80th minute and put it beyond them.

Dunfermline 2-2 Clyde (SD1)

Clyde had also won their opening league game, and proved superior, easily taking us apart early on and scoring in the 14th and 37th minutes, though Blyth got a goal back just before half-time. We pushed them very hard in the second half, and Blyth equalized in the 78th minute, shortly before they had a winner disallowed, but again we were perhaps a little lucky to get what we did. No one winning both games left things very open early on.

Greenock Morton 3-1 Dunfermline (SD1)

We worryingly went 2-0 behind (in the first 20 minutes) against Morton as well. They kept going, getting another after 32 minutes. McNeil got one back at the start of the second half but there was no sign of a potential comeback.

Dunfermline 4-0 Dumbarton (SD1)

I hoped for better against Dumbarton, who had succeeded in avoiding relegation via the playoffs last year. Green and Philips have us a 2-0 lead after 23 minutes. Blyth gave us a 3rd in the 56th minute and a Philips penalty in the 77th minute finished off a 4-0 win.

St Johnstone 1-0 Dunfermline (SD1)

We had a tight game at St Johnstone. For a while it looked like a win would put us top, but that ship sailed by the time they got an annoying late winner.

League Table

Sept 2056

Dunfermline 1-0 Berwick (SD1)

We had to face Berwick, the relegated side from the SPL last year. It wasn’t a good match, but importantly for us Blyth gave us a win in the 72nd minute.

Dunfermline 2-1 Stirling (SCC)

We played Stirling in the Challenge cup, and were comfortably on top throughout. We had to wait until the second half for goals, from McNeil in the 64th minute, then Hulse, while they got a late consolation.

Dunfermline 1-1 Ayr (SD1)

Things were disappointing against bottom club Ayr. They had a goal disallowed in the second half before Wallis own goal gave them the lead but Hulse gave us a point with a couple of minutes left.

Annan 1-1 Dunfermline (SD1)

We went to Annan and struggled to gain the upper hand we should have. They eventually grabbed a goal in the 83rd minute, but Philips bagged another point 5 minutes later, however as we were still slipping behind it wasn’t much consolation.

Clyde 1-2 Dunfermline (SD1)

We were heading for a bad day at Clyde when we went behind in the 18th minute, but McNeil levelled it 10 minutes later. I was worried when Massey’s injury left us with 10 men in the second half, but McNeil gave us a win (despite a close finish) in the 72nd minute. From looking like even challenging was a distant dream, we were suddenly 2nd, 2 points off top, a quarter of the way through.

League Table

Oct 2056

Dunfermline 3-0 Livingston (SSC SF)

We had 2 home games in a row against Livingston, starting in the Challenge cup semi final. After an even first half, McNeil gave us a double in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Green have us a 3rd for good measure in stoppage time. League leaders St Johnstone would be tough final opponents though.

Dunfermline 2-0 Livingston (SD1)

In the league, a Philips penalty gave us the lead after 20 minutes. It was controversial, but the win was deserved and Green finally gave us a second with a minute left.

Dunfermline 1-1 St Mirren (SD1)

It was a month of home games, with St Mirren next. For most of the game we were the only team that threatened, but didn’t get anywhere until they took a late lead. We had rescued points many times before and did so again from Green in the nick of time.

Dunfermline 0-5 Greenock Morton (SD1)

The brief spell of promise was very much over as we went behind against Morton in the 13th minute, conceding 2 more in the last 10 minutes of the half. The defence would be sent on the naughty step as some good attempts to come back were spoilt by a couple more Morton goals.

League Table

Nov 2056

Dumbarton 1-1 Dunfermline (SD1)

We hoped to return to winning ways at Dumbarton when Green gave us the lead in the 65th minute, but they quickly equalized to spoil the day.

Dunfermline 4-0 St Johnstone (SD1)

We played St Johnstone in the league just before our cup final. It would still be useful to try and close the 7 point gap, and we certainly managed that easily. Philips gave us the upper hand with a 41st minute penalty and suddenly the floodgates opened. McNeil and Hulse made it 3-0 midway through the second half, and Philips got a second penalty in the 80th minute.

Dunfermline 1-0 (aet) St Johnstone (SCC Final)

We were under a lot more pressure in the cup final. We evened things up in the second half, and turned up the heat in extra time, getting a winner from Cross’ first goal for the club with a few minutes left, giving us a win in a cup competition that we’d lost every game in before this season.

Challenge Cup Final

Berwick 2-1 Dunfermline (SD1)

It took time to get going back in the league at Berwick, and when we started doing so we suddenly faltered again as they took a 2-0 lead early in the second half. Cross’ 78th minute goal not being enough to give us anything.

Ayr 0-1 Dunfermline (SC)

We didn’t do too well at Ayr in the cup either, at least early on when they had a goal disallowed. McNeil sent us through with a 55th minute goal, but even then they had a penalty claim turned down just afterwards as we weren’t that convincing.

League Table

Not confident about doing anything in the league for some time, but still going to wait and see.

[ron6632]

Congrats on the cup win.

Patchy league form, but you're well placed if you hit form at the right time

[cerud]

Congrats on the Cup. League could go either way. Still time left.

[deltablue]

Congrats on the cup win.

Patchy league form, but you're well placed if you hit form at the right time

Congrats on the Cup. League could go either way. Still time left.

It's been very up and down, could still get reasonably close but we've still got a way to go.

Dec 2056

Ayr 1-1 Dunfermline (SD1)

We went to Ayr again in the league, pounding them early on. McNeil gave us the lead in the 22nd minute, and as we could have had another, it was disappointing to concede an equalizer late in the half, and we failed to do much to grab a winner in the second half.

Livingston 0-3 Dunfermline (SD1)

We had another good start at Livingston and this time made it stick. Evans headed us into the lead in the 28th minute, and a Philips penalty made it 2-0 5 minutes later. McNeil finished off a 3-0 win just a couple of minutes after that, and they never really threatened.

Dunfermline 1-0 Annan (SD1)

We expected to beat bottom side Annan at home after that. We eventually took the lead from Philips just before half-time. McNeil gave us a deserved second goal and win in the 57th minute. In a rollercoaster season we were back to being just a point from top at the halfway stage, as things were very open.

St Mirren 1-0 Dunfermline (SD1)

We then had to go to St Mirren who weren’t far behind. We went for them in the first half, but failed to score which really cost us when they snatched an undeserved winner in the 74th minute. However we only dropped one point further behind as the top half were covered by just 2 points.

Dunfermline 2-0 Clyde (SD1)

We were lucky against Clyde on boxing day, having been a mess in the first half and with Clyde having a goal disallowed. We took control after the break however , with Marsh giving us the lead in the 50th minute, and McNeil getting a second later on.

Greenock Morton 3-3 Dunfermline (SD1)

Greenock Morton away was a tough last game of the year, but a key one if we could get something. They took the lead in the 6th minute, and I was worried about another heavy defeat like the 5-0 last time we played. However McNeil equalized in the 17th minute, and 15 minutes later Philips headed in a corner to give us the lead. They fought well in the second half, but we had a goal disallowed just before Marsh made it 3-1 in the 72th minute, but they got a goal back with a few minutes left, and got an equalizer in stoppage time, admittedly well deserved, and I’d have taken a point before the match.

Meanwhile, Clement won his 6th World Player of the Year award in 7 years, and in the 8th in a row for one of my Milan players (Eweka and Richter being the others)

League Table

Jan 2057

Dunfermline 0-2 Dumbarton (SD1)

Tshabalala finally arrived and made his debut against Dumbarton. Unfortunately while he wasn’t a major culprit, it didn’t go well. Wallis own-goaled in the 3rd minute, they had another disallowed before extending the lead in the 33rd minute. We were only partly better in the second half, and surprisingly remained just 3 points off top.

Clyde 1-1 Dunfermline (SC)

We went to Clyde in the cup, and were hindered by a couple of knocks sustained during the match. One of those was Philips who scored a penalty in the 84th minute, but a stoppage time equalizer meant we’d face a replay.

Dunfermline 5-2 (aet) Clyde (SC)

The first half wasn’t much to write home about, but then McNeil’s diving header gave us the lead in the 58th minute. They woke up, equalizing in the 75th minute, and quickly taking the lead, however among a revival from us, McNeil took it to extra time with an 85th minute equalizer. Nothing happened in the first half of extra-time, which seemed to be mirroring normal time, until we had a first chance at the end, but we kept going in the second half, Birch giving us the lead in the 108th minute, scoring another 5 minutes later, and there was even time for Wylie got make it 5-2 in the last minute.

St Johnstone 2-0 Dunfermline (SD1) 200th Dunfermline game!

St Johnstone away was my 200th game at the club. There was little to celebrate on the pitch however, we made do the best we could (especially with a reserve keeper) but they hit us either side of half time to see us off, injuries to Birch and Philips (who had just come on) adding to a bad day.

Dunfermline 2-3 Berwick (SD1)

A weak defence let us down against Berwick. They were also chasing promotion but McNeil gave is a 7th minute lead. They equalized before the break but Birch restored it in the 57th minute. A win would see us close to 2 points of top, which made their 67th minute equalizer (from an own goal) disappointing enough, without having to see them get a late winner as well, as a win was just thrown away.

Dunfermline 1-1 Ayr (SD1)

We slept our way through a first-half with Ayr, waking up when they took a 53rd minute lead, and only got an own-goal equalizer right at the end

League Table

[cerud]

Still looking like movement could happen either way. How many matches in a season?

[Northernpilgrim]

Still looking like movement could happen either way. How many matches in a season?

36 matches in a season, play each team 4 times!

[Raware]

Well done on the cup win delta, still enough games to catch St Mirren .

[B.W.G]

Congrats on the win.Hopefully you can continue to make steady progress.

[deltablue]

Still looking like movement could happen either way. How many matches in a season?

Yep, as Northernpilgrim said, it's 36 games, plus we've faced 6 of the other 9 teams in cups (Clyde twice as that took a replay). It is something that gets a little annoying after a while.

Well done on the cup win delta, still enough games to catch St Mirren .

Congrats on the win.Hopefully you can continue to make steady progress.

It was a bit of a surprise winning a cup, it's no CL but still a nice triumph. Anyway there's better news to come a little later.

[SRL88]

Made massive strides since you took over.

[deltablue]

Made massive strides since you took over.

And now we're striding into Europe!

Feb 2057

Dunfermline 1-0 Dumbarton (SC)

Dumbarton was a favourable last 16 cup tie. An own-goal got us off to a good start in the 4th minute. We were the better side (though not by much) so while it was not a comfortable ride (especially with McNeil missing a late penalty) it was just about deserved.

Annan 2-0 Dunfermline (SD1)

We were confident going to botton side Annan but were 2-0 down after 28 minutes, and were perhaps a little lucky not to concede a 3rd.

Dunfermline 1-0 Livingston (SD1)

We hadn’t won for 6 games in the league, but that changed against Livingston. Cross gave us the only goal in the 6th minute but we were definitely good value for another.

Dunfermline 2-1 St Mirren (SD1)

It didn’t look like we’d build on it when we went behind against St Mirren in the 4th minute, but we fought back and Thomas headed an equalizer just before half-time. They battered us in the second half, and were unlucky to have a goal disallowed, even more so when Birch snatched a stoppage time winner. However we were still 7 points behind with 8 games to go so it wasn’t likely to get us anywhere.

League Table

Mar 2057

Greenock Morton 0-1 Dunfermline (SC QF)

We had fellow Division 1 sides in every round of the cup this year (and 2 more in the Chellenge cup), which included Morton away in the quarter-finals. I wasn’t too confident but we were pretty good throughout, and Green took us through with 15 minutes left, setting up a semi-final with Celtic.

Clyde 1-1 Dunfermline (SD1)

We dropped off badly at Clyde, going behind in the 2nd minute at the start of a very poor half, but being just a goal down allowed us to fight for a point, and after having a goal disallowed, Thomas gave us an 88th minute equalizer.

Dunfermline 2-2 Greenock Morton (SD1)

We lost our keeper for up to 6 months before we played Greenock Morton. They took the lead in the 14th minute, but a couple of minutes later McNeil ended a very long drought with a penalty, with Thomas giving us the lead in just before the break, converting a Hulse volley, however they grabbed a share of the points with a 77th minute equalizer.

Dumbarton 3-0 Dunfermline (SD1)

We had a nightmare at Dumbarton, going behind in the 29th minute, and instead of coming back, conceding a couple more in the second half.

Dunfermline 4-2 St Johnstone (SD1)

Like last year we hoped to hang on to the top half, and Thomas gave us the lead in the 15th minute against St Johnstone. They equalized in the 28th minute but Green restored the lead on the stroke of half-time. Green scored again early in the second half, but they got a goal back with 20 minutes left, and we had to rely on Birch to make it safe.

League Table

Apr/May 2057

Berwick 1-0 Dunfermline (SD1)

3 of our last 4 league games were away, starting at Berwick, who looked like making an immediate return to the SPL (just as Dundee were likely to come straight back down). We held out in the first half, but not only was that as well as we were doing, they took the lead in the 1st minute of the second half, our only defensive blip of the game as we otherwise held up well.

Ayr 4-0 Dunfermline (SD1)

We had a couple of injuries before we went to Ayr. Half the team had clearly given up on the season, and a mediocre first half was us go down in the 9th minute, and they had little trouble, getting a second in the 67th minute. We had looked better for a bit, but two goals in the last few minutes brought that to an end.

Dunfermline 2-1 Celtic (SC SF)

It was poor preparation for our cup semi final with Celtic, not that we had much chance anyway. We kept them quiet in the first half, and might have snatched a goal if we had been any good up front. They took the lead in the 52nd minute, and I thought ‘well, at least we haven’t disgraced ourselves’. However Birch equalized in the 68th minute, and as both sides went for it (admittedly them more than us) Phillips gave us a win 20 minutes later, though unsurprisingly they threw everything at us in the final few minutes. As if that wasn’t enough, we were facing Inverness Caledonian Thistle, who were already qualified for the CL (and about to take the title) so we’d be in Europe even if we lost.

Dunfermline 2-1 Annan (SD1)

The final home league game was against Annan, and they were reasonably comfortable compared to Celtic. Hulse gave us a 4th minute lead, Birch extending it in the 21st. We sustained a couple of injuries up front but though they got a goal back in the 82nd minute, we were worth a bigger win.

Livingston 0-2 Dunfermline (SD1)

A trip to Livingston ended the league season. They put up resistance for a while but Blyth (in his first appearance for a while, not helped by injury) gave us the lead in the 52nd minute, later having another disallowed. Cross gave us another in the 76th minute, giving us 4th (though with 1 less point than last year) and condemning Livingston to the relegation playoff (which they lost) just 2 seasons after dropping down from the SPL.

Final League Table

Dunfermline 1-0 Inverness (SC Final) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That left the cup final. Inverness would be far tougher than Celtic, as they had retained their title with a 25 point margin over Aberdeen, Celtic being a further 2 points behind in 3rd. Their squad reflected that quality. Most of their team was on at least as much as our entire squad (including two on 70k), and they had a bunch of players who were good enough to play for a lot of sides even in the top leagues. The gulf was just that massive. Men against boys didn’t really cover it, my Milan side would only have been a certain amount harder. It’s fair to say that the pressure was very much off, especially as we’d be in Europe anyway. A corner was deflected into the Inverness net to give us the lead, which at least gave us a chance. Surprisingly we still had the freedom to try for another in the first half. Even without being dominant, they were still quite a threat, but it was nothing we couldn’t handle, even without our excellent first choice keeper Anderson. We even had a late surge to try and get another, as we won our first Scottish cup for 89 years.

Cup Final

What!!!! I wasn’t kidding about how strong Inverness were, losing 5-0 (or even more) would have been a fair reflection of how how many times better they were on paper. This has to be one of the biggest if not the biggest shock competition wins I’ve ever done. The prematch odds were 12-1 for us compared to 1-8 for them and it was even described as ‘facing the impossible’, like back to back, promotions, something other people could managed but not me. Even such a good cup run with a lower division team was something I’d hardly ever done, let alone winning the thing. Our mediocrity in the league for so long had really dulled my spirits but after the Celtic win I had really perked up again.

However there was still the disappointment of the league. If there’s one thing worse than frustrating lack of progress, it’s there being a repeat pattern to it, we weren’t quite as good in the first half of the season as last time (though a more open season meant we were in a similarly good challenging position) and not quite as bad in the second half (but only just). Even the strong cup performances didn’t provide much relief, at least until Celtic. Even if the cup win hadn’t happened, I still just about felt it was worth another shot, but if we couldn’t get close I’d probably leave at the end of next season, maybe even during, as plenty of interesting things from a range of leagues had been in my inbox in the past year or two.

I had seen how quickly things could change in Scotland, in my first three seasons (in the Division 2 season, we were something like 7th over halfway into the season yet comfortably finished 2nd and went up thought the playoffs, though we were some way behind champions Ayr) at the club, plus this year was a remarkably open one, so didn’t want to feel like I was giving up too easily, but after a couple of weeks I still felt a change soon would do me good. Obviously the cup had given me more enthusiasm for the job but that was the way I was heading.

Squad Stats

Star player: A very good all round contributer of goals (admitedly a lot from penalties) and assists, though not quite highest in ratings.

Phillips

[ron6632]

Brilliant win in the Scottish Cup Sounds like you have a group of players who dig in for the big cup games - if only they would do it in the league. Europe should give your team some good experience going into the next season.

4th is a good placing - looks like you might be able to kick on and win it next season

[cerud]

Great job in the cup! The league is a tough battle and there's a few quality teams that need to knock off for you to get into the higher places. You're close though.

[Raware]

Two cups in a season! . Have you made it on to their favoured personell list yet?

[deltablue]

Brilliant win in the Scottish Cup Sounds like you have a group of players who dig in for the big cup games - if only they would do it in the league. Europe should give your team some good experience going into the next season.

4th is a good placing - looks like you might be able to kick on and win it next season

At least this season we have, having not won a Challenge cup game in the 4 years before our triumph this time, and only having won 1 League cup game in 5 seasons, the Scottish Cup had been better but a routine (win a game or two and go out to a team in the same or higher league) stuff.

Great job in the cup! The league is a tough battle and there's a few quality teams that need to knock off for you to get into the higher places. You're close though.

Was going to only slightly change things in the summer, but now going all out and getting a bunch of players to improve the side (though only by so much), so might stay more than a year to see if they gel, though it will indeed be tough getting to the top.

Two cups in a season! . Have you made it on to their favoured personell list yet?

Funnily enough at the end of the season I decided to check that and I am. Not entirely surprising really given my record (first season aside)

[B.W.G]

May not have won the league but the Scottish cup is a damn good consolation prize

[SRL88]

Great work lifting the Scottish Cup .

[deltablue]

May not have won the league but the Scottish cup is a damn good consolation prize

Great work lifting the Scottish Cup .

It was quite a surprise, when we scored I wrote that it gave us a slight chance, and felt I'd stirred them into action, but not quite. I was sitting there thinking 'is this really happening?'. Think Ipswich (or another middling Championship side) beating Man City (if they ran away with the title) for an idea of just what a shock result it was.

Summer 2057

The summer started of quietly, we had a bit over 1.5M in the bank again and I was spending it on a few players. However one of my best moves at Dunfermline was waiting until the English contracts were expired before scouting free agents, and it had yielded a lot of my better players recently. Some of the players weren’t that much of an improvement beyond squad depth, but there were still a few that hopefully would make a strong difference among the 9 I signed (including the 3rd player I’ve signed for the club called ‘Evans’, the second one still being here).

It was a bit of a risk getting in a lot of players, pushing some regulars from the last few years out of the door, Wallis and Bradshaw had been the last survivors of the Div 3 team, along with Morrison and Wylie from the Div 2 team, but now all the squad had been brought in since promotion. Having decided to give it ‘one more year’ I’d probably stay another to see if we could do it when this team gelled, but I felt that with European football being a minor boost to our attractiveness I wanted to do what I could to match the top sides in the division, and hopefully if it didn’t pay off immediately it soon would.

If nothing else we’d have a bit of Europe, as we’d be in the 4th Qualifying round I expected a near-impossible tie compared to being able to maybe win one or two had we entered earlier. However I’d enjoy the experience of facing whoever we played. It would be the club’s first European campaign for 50 years, and surprisingly they had a bit more European history than I expected, being regulars (mostly in the Fairs cup) in the 60’s, even reaching the Cup Winners Cup semis in 1968-69, though since 1970 only had a couple of brief appearances in the Uefa Cup in the mid 2000’s, losing to Icelandic and Swedish teams respectively. We got as unglamourous a tie as it was possible to get... Grimsby. They were newly promoted to the Premier League (having gotten into Europe by being the FA Cup runners up) but would probably still be much too strong

Al-Balawi

Evans

Kelly

Lambert

Thorley

Webber

Transfers

[Mikal]

Busy transfer period, but looks like you've brought some good youngsters in.

[deltablue]

Busy transfer period, but looks like you've brought some good youngsters in.

Unfortunately it's worked out very badly.

July/Aug 2057

Partick Thistle 1-0 Dunfermline (SCC)

We started our season defending the Challenge Cup at Partick Thistle. It was an even game where they took the lead after an hour, having a late second disallowed, but it wasn’t a big priority.

Dunfermline 4-5 Greenock Morton (SD1)

We had a bit of a gap before the first league game at home to Morton. We got off to a great start, with Cross giving us the lead in the 4th minute, and Higgs making it 2-0 after 18. However wihin 20 minutes they had got it back to 2-2, followed by a red card for Thorley. We still put up a good fight with 10 men but they eventually took the lead in the 65th minute, then made it 4-2. However in the last 10 minutes, Massey and Al-Balawi gave us our own 2-goal comeback, but it wasn’t enough as they got a stoppage time winner. It was a waste of a great opportunity to get off to a good start. I didn’t so much throw the book at the idiotic Thorley as the whole library.

Elgin 1-1 Dunfermline (SD1)

We were also frustrated at Elgin, who took the lead in the 9th minute despite us having the chances. Cross equalized in the 52nd minute, but Al-Balawi made it 2 red cards already in the league this season. They missed a penalty with a couple of minutes left but otherwise I felt it was another game we should have won.

Dunfermline 1-0 Grimsby (EL)

I had even less expectation than before for Grimsby. Due to my habit of grabbing alot of English free agents we actually had more English players than they had (though a score of 18-17 meant they were hardly neglecting the English). The first leg was pretty dull. We were able to hold them despite not being that good, and Evans II actually headed us a win after 10 minutes.

Grimsby 3-0 (3-1) Dunfermline (EL)

The away leg was unsurprisingly Grimsby traffic. They levelled the tie in the 11th minute, but we had a good late spell. Massey had a goal disallowed that might have done it for us in the 77th minute. 5 minutes later they got a second goal and finished us off with a 3rd, which was a pity as I had hoped we could sneak through after the first leg. It was my second consecutive defeat in Europe to an English team, though obviously it was a world away from Milan-Liverpool in a CL semi.

Sept 2057

Berwick 4-2 Dunfermline (SD1)

Unlike the first two league games, we could have no complaints about a bad trip to Berwick. They took the lead in the 17th minute, and extended it 15 minutes later after we wasted some chances to equalize. They then made it 3-0 just before half-time. They scored a late 4th before we got a goal back in the 80th minute from Crouch, who had earlier missed a penalty, and another from McNeil.

Dunfermline 3-0 Hamilton (SD1)

We had managed to get this far without having ever played Hamilton (I think), but we did so now. Lambert gave us the lead in the 26th minute, after we had a goal disallowed in the 15th. McNeil quickly gave us another. McNeil had only made his first appearance of the season coming on as a sub against Berwick, and made up for lost time with his 3rd goal in 1 ½ games in the 57th minute, giving us a deserved easy win.

Dunfermline 2-0 Dumbarton (SD1)

We had a game in hand (having not played in between the Grimsby legs) which was played against Dumbarton. Webber starred to give us the lead in the 5th minute, then made it safe in the first minute of the second half.

Ayr 3-0 Dunfermline (SD1)

Our improvement faltered very badly at Ayr. It was just a general awful performance by most of the team, except for Phelan who was brought on in goal after they took the lead in the 15th minute, though he couldn’t stop them getting another in the 27th minute. Even with his man of the match performance (getting a rating of 9.0, when only a few of his teammates reached the mid 6’s) they finished us off with a 3rd early in the second half. I’d hate to think what it would have been like without him.

St Johnstone 4-2 Dunfermline (SD1)

Webber gave us the lead in the 2nd minute at St Johnstone, but we failed to keep it as they equalized in the 15th minute, and Thorley followed up his opening day red card with an own-goal to give them the lead a minute before the break. McNeil equalized in the 74th minute but they went on to win 4-2.

Dunfermline 2-1 Motherwell (SLC)

We played Motherwell in the League Cup, and again we went out immediately, going 2 goals behind in the first half a hour. Cross gave us a goal back in the 47th minute but later McNeil went off injured, reducing us to 10 men.

Dunfermline 0-1 Dundee (SD1)

Relegated Dundee were the current pace-setters. We somehow held them off in the first half but they got a winner a few minutes after the break.

League Table

Oct 2057

Dunfermline 0-1 Clyde (SD1)

Disappointment reigned at the moment. We were at least decent against Clyde but still ended up losing to a 39th minute penalty.

Greenock Morton 4-0 Dunfermline (SD1) 1,900th career game!

A trip to Greenock Morton was my 1,900th career match but I wasn’t really in the mood for it right now. While we were alright against Clyde, we were anything but when going 2-0 down in the first half, with everyone doing poorly. They got a 3rd in the second half and even a 4th in stoppage time, in what was our 5th defeat in a row.

Dunfermline 0-1 Elgin (SD1)

I hoped a home game with bottom club Elgin (with just 2 points from 10 games, compared to our 7) would provide some relief. Even here we went behind in the second minute, and while it may seem odd that that attack was more of a let-down than the defence, it happened surprisingly often so far this year. When Cross got sent off a few minutes from time it was barely noticeable.

League Table

Oh dear. Lots of signings is no reason to be doing anywhere near this badly. Still intend to see out the season (despite a Benfica vacancy very nearly tempting me just now), even with expectations now 'top half' the board are still generally happy so probably no pressure there, however while not confirmed I probably will go afterwards.

[SRL88]

Ouch tough start!!!

[cerud]

Hmmm...not the season you were expecting I bet. How that the second half goes better.

[deltablue]

Ouch tough start!!!

Indeed, we were unlucky in the first couple of games where we perhaps should have had all 6 points instead of just 1, but then we became genuinely poor.

Hmmm...not the season you were expecting I bet. How that the second half goes better.

Thankfully after reaching 8 defeats in a row we started improving considerably and are now 8 unbeaten.

Nov 2057

Dumbarton 2-1 Dunfermline (SD1)

We went behind again at Dumbarton, the other team below us. Al-Balawi had been furious at his fine at being sent off in the second game of the season, and moaned to the press about it which caused more friction (and adding to the troubles this season), but finally reappearing after his suspension, he equalized in the 58th minute, but it wasn’t enough to save the game as they got an 82nd minute winner.

Dunfermline 1-3 Berwick (SD1)

The first half against Berwick was dull, but not being behind was an improvement. They eventually took the lead in the 48th minute, and while McNeil equalized 6 minutes later it was very short-lived as they ran up a 3-1 win.

Hamilton 1-3 Dunfermline (SD1)

We went behind after 17 minutes at Hamilton, however Phillips scored a penalty in the 24th minute, and Marsh put us ahead at the start of the second half. They had plenty of pressure to equalize but an own-goal from a corner gave us a 3-1 win, ending a run of 8 defeats in a row!

Dunfermline 0-0 Ayr (SD1)

Playing Ayr, we were a little lucky they had a first half goal disallowed. Much like England, we were solid in this game rather than much good, and grabbed a deserved point.

Clyde 3-1 Dunfermline (SD1)

Clyde were now table-toppers, and they were predictably too good, scoring in the 10th minute, and again after half an hour. Al-Balawi came on pulled one back in the 50th minute but we never looked like getting anything even before their 3rd goal.

League Table

Dec 2057

Dunfermline 1-1 St Johnstone (SD1)

St Johnstone were the latest team to take the lead against us, in the 6th minute. Despite looking shaky, we worked hard to stop it getting worse, and were rewarded with a Marsh equalizer in the 49th minute. We were a lot better in the second half to the point where we might have felt we should have won.

Dundee 0-2 Dunfermline (SD1)

We got rather lucky at Dundee. They were the better side in the first half, but a penalty from Irvine (again on loan from Hearts) gave us the lead in the 52nd minute. Lambert gave us another in the 65th minute.

Dunfermline 1-0 Greenock Morton (SD1)

We edged another win against Greenock Morton, thanks to Thomas in the 30th minute, though they came close to equalizing in the end. While it took us to 7th, 5 points clear of the relegation play off place, Morton were a full 11 points ahead in 6th, so this was the best we’d be able to do for a while.

Elgin 0-4 Dunfermline (SD1)

McNeil gave us the lead in the 5th minute at Elgin on Boxing Day. He got another goal in the 27th minute, and an own-goal made it 3-0 in the 35th. The second half saw Marsh giving us a 4th just before the hour mark.

Dunfermline 1-1 Dumbarton (SD1)

We went behind in the 22nd minute against Dumbarton, but Aussie midfielder Hooper equalized in the 29th minute. Irvine thought he had given us the lead soon after, only to see his goal disallowed and we had to settle for a point.

League Table

Jan 2058

Berwick 1-1 Dunfermline (SD1)

We went behind again at Berwick in the 13th minute. Marsh had a goal disallowed in the 77th minute, but McNeil was able to give us a point in the 84th.

Dumbarton 1-0 Dunfermline (SC)

We went to Dumbarton in the cup. Counting the Europa League, we had been knocked out first time in every cup competition this year, and completed an unenviable quartet due to a 60th minute goal, though we looked like we might get an equalizer later on.

Ayr 2-4 Dunfermline (SD1)

McNeil was the star in the first half at Ayr, getting two goals in the space of a few minutes around the 35 minute mark. They pulled a goal back in the 51st minute but two more McNeil goals put it beyond them despite a second Ayr goal later on.

Dunfermline 3-0 Clyde (SD1)

Even table-topping Clyde couldn’t hold him off, though admittedly his 21st minute goal was a penalty. Hooper got another in the 30th minute, continuing a tradition of ‘useful Aussie midfielders’ started by Matthews at Milan. They had a goal disallowed 5 minutes later. Webber (who despite the name isn’t Aussie) gave us a 3rd in the 70th minute.

League Table

[SRL88]

Safe from relegation by the looks of things. Mid-table finish the aim?

[Mikal]

Better in the league, but too little too late?

[deltablue]

Safe from relegation by the looks of things. Mid-table finish the aim?

No real aim, just damage limitation, wouldn't have been worried about relegation unless we were in trouble a lot later on.

Better in the league, but too little too late?

If I was actually aiming for anything maybe, just wanted to do save as much of the season as possible.

Feb/Mar 2058

Dunfermline 2-2 Hamilton (SD1)

Having beaten Hamilton in both league games so far, they were tougher to break down this time, though Thomas broke through to score in the 59th minute, Evans III giving us another 9 minutes later. However they roused themselves to get 2 goals in the final few minutes and grab a very sneaky point.

St Johnstone 1-1 Dunfermline (SD1)

Our revival seemed to be slipping as we went behind in the 39th minute at St Johnstone. We had limited success but did manage an own-goal equalizer in the 79th minute, extending our unbeaten run to 10.

Dunfermline 2-2 Dundee (SD1)

That run appeared to come to an end against Dundee when they took a 2-0 lead in the 6th and 16th minutes. Hooper got a goal back in stoppage time, and McNeil roused himself from what looked to be another poor patch (he’s that sort of player) to equalize in the 65th minute. Hooper got sent off shortly afterwards but we didn’t have too much to worry about afterwards.

Greenock Morton 0-2 Dunfermline (SD1)

After drawing all 3 games in February we returned to winning ways in March at Greenock Morton. Marsh gave us the lead in the 44th minute, and admittedly we were a little fortunate to still have it when Marsh scored his second goal in the 68th minute, which made things more comfortable.

Dunfermline 2-0 Elgin (SD1)

McNeil gave us the lead in the 19th minute agains no-hopers Elgin, though soon went off injured. It wasn’t as convincing as we might have expected, but Hulse gave us another in the 73rd minute.

Dumbarton 1-1 Dunfermline (SD1)

Webber gave us the lead at Dumbarton in the 8th minute, but it looked shaky, especially in the second half, and a stoppage time equalizer was accepted with weary resignation as something that seemed fair enough.

Hamilton 2-2 Dunfermline (SD1)

We struggled early on at Hamilton, going behind in the 18th minute. Philips’ equalizing penalty 6 minutes later vitalized us and Irvine eventually gave us the lead in the 75th minute. However there was a sense of luck about it so again their equalizer in the 80th minute seemed reasonable.

League Table

Apr/May 2058

Dunfermline 2-4 Ayr (SD1)

Our 15 match unbeaten run came to an end in an eventful game against Ayr. Cross gave us the lead in the 2nd minute, but they equalized in the 4th. Cross restored the lead in the 15th minute, but we fell away in the first half and they took a 3-2 lead just before half time. Hooper equalized in the 59th minute, and despite heavy Ayr pressure it looked like we’d survive another scare, but it wasn’t to be as they got a winner deep in injury time.

Dunfermline 3-1 Berwick (SD1)

Berwick were surprisingly more comfortable, Cross again giving us the lead in the 4th minute, and Marsh adding another shortly before half-time. Marsh struck again with a couple of minute left, though they got a stoppage time consolation.

Clyde 0-2 Dunfermline (SD1)

We were winding down the season on a positive note, with Marsh giving us the lead in the 36th minute at Clyde, and an otherwise uninteresting game was wrapped up by Cross in the 51st minute.

Dunfermline 3-1 St Johnstone (SD1)

Things didn’t look so good in the last home game against St Johnstone when they took the lead after 10 minutes, but Marsh and Cross each scored in the last 5 minutes of the half to give us a 2-1 lead. Cross got another in the 67th minute as we cruised to a 3-1 win.

Dundee 2-1 Dunfermline (SD1)

The final game was at Dundee, aready crowned champions and making an immediate return to the SPL. We hoped to crash their party but they were too strong, grabbing a quick pair of goals before the break. We had looked good in spells and Marsh at least gave us a goal in the 78th minute.

Final League Table

Having started well and fallen off the pace in the past two seasons, this year an awful first half was followed by a far better second, however we were only ever trying to rescue as much as could. It was back to the usual disappointment in cups as well after last year. It was a shame to leave Dunfermline like this, but while again we looked good for half a year, after a few years of this I was just frustrated, and knew that if I stayed on just in case on that basis I’d be waiting a long time and not really getting anywhere. In the final month or so of the season I just couldn’t wait for it all to be over.

I’m still happy about what I did, after beating almost everyone easily at home and abroad at Milan, a longer-term journey was needed and after a bad start I had a good one, with back to back promotions to Division 1, plus a surprising pair of cups last season. I did feel a little impatient having expected slow progress at this level and had good finishes after promotion, but that was in a way far more frustrating that the very slow progress I was expecting. I always knew reaching the SPL was a tall order, and would have easily taken ‘comfortable Division 1’ at the start, so could still be very happy even without the ‘cup’ and ‘back to back promotion’ bonuses.

Like at Frigg, I was frustrated by having to chase a single promotion place that never seemed to get any closer, like at Sportist I had taken them a reasonable way but appeared to have done as much as I could, and like at BATE I was stuck with a consistently inconsistent side that every year kept changing their minds about whether they would play like title-challengers or a team struggling to avoid relegation. I just hoped this wouldn’t be followed by something like the triple disaster of Coventry, Ferrol and Brighton.

So what would be next? I fancied a return to something a lot bigger, though that didn’t necessarily mean one of the big few leagues, I had been very close to joining both Benfica and Panathanaikos this season for example. ‘Big-ish but not boringly successful’ would be the main thing this time, however with a World Cup coming up and the top-level managerial changes that follow there were two jobs that I would definitely take if either became available, whatever their circumstances.

Squad Stats

Star player: Not the most consistent player in the world, but still gets a respectable rate.

McNeil

As it happened I had a very short wait before getting another club. They were in a big league, but not doing very well (having moved regularly between the top 2 divisions not just in the game but recently in real life as well), had just 1.5M in the bank and were just over a 200kpw wage budget, but they did have a stadium with a capacity over 50,000, and have won their national title (albeit a long time ago). An interesting place to turn up to indeed, but who are they?

[cerud]

A move! no idea.....West Ham? for a stab in the dark

[jackyb1989]

Blackburn?

[PaulHartman71]

Hertha Berlin - 3/2

West Brom - 2/1

Portsmouth - 5/2

Deportivo La Coruna - 3/1

Lens- 7/2

FC Koln - 4/1

Wolves - 9/2

Blackburn - 5/1

1860 Munich- 11/2

Torino - 6/1

[B.W.G]

If it's in England then I am taking a guess with Newcastle

[deltablue]

A move! no idea.....West Ham? for a stab in the dark

Not bad, though they've never on the league.

Blackburn?

Another reasonable guess, though a long way away geographically.

Hertha Berlin - 3/2

West Brom - 2/1

Portsmouth - 5/2

Deportivo La Coruna - 3/1

Lens- 7/2

FC Koln - 4/1

Wolves - 9/2

Blackburn - 5/1

1860 Munich- 11/2

Torino - 6/1

Oh dear, aside from a few of those not fitting the 'one league title' clue, I clearly hadn't narrowed it down as much as I thought I did, as I'm slightly surprised my actual club wasn't on the list. Clearly I'm not as good as you at playing this game. Anyway without further ado I can reveal I'm now at...

Real Betis

Aside from giving you budget info, I based my clues on real life (it would have been unfair otherwise). Their 1 league title was in 1935 (I told you it was a long time ago, especially as the game date is 2058!). They were relegated for 2 years in 2009, and depending on how you define 'recent', their 2000 relegation (having also gone down for a few years 10 years previously) may count. Oddly their real life and in-game stadia have slightly different names and capacities, but both are over 50,000, and that could be seen as a detail rather than a clue anyway. Anyway to business...

Summer 2058

Within a couple of weeks I had rocked up at Betis. It was a very good mix of challenge and potential, but it was just as well I had a long summer to prepare as there was a lot to do. I had a bit of a task on my hands, as they had lost half their games the previous season, finishing 15th, and the budgets were small, 2M transfers (more than the club actually had) and a full up 200kpw wage budget. They had spend as much time in the game in the Adelante (and even once in Div 2B) as they had in La Liga, never having been in the top half. There were some good players to build a team around, but getting rid of the rest to raise money was far from easy, and even if I did I’d have to delve pretty deep for cheap gems.

There were a few early successes, even as late as mid-June there were a few reasonably good players available on expiring contracts, and if there were more available each year in January when I could exploit that market properly then it would be very important. I couldn’t raise much from sales (one guy I couldn’t even give away), and along with a small cash injection it was pretty much to help us keep our heads above water rather than giving us any spending power.

The board only wanted survival, which was just as well, as the free players I brought in were ‘survival’players at best, simply to give us some decent players in case I found little when it was time to spend some money. When I was able to spend (up to 5M) I was glad to see some strong players available but the lack of money meant that I simply had to go for good players who were affordable rather than the best I could attract even as one of the smaller Liga teams. They were at least a better ‘mid-table’ level (or could be) but otherwise unless the lower reaches of La Liga was worse than the equivalent in the Premier League I wasn’t expecting an easy ride, and in the longer term (especially with only 3 non-eu players allowed) getting the players to enable us to progress up the mid-table wouldn’t be easy. I was simply doing what I could this summer rather than being able to properly build for the future.

Later on things got a little better both with selling players and getting a bit more quality in. We also ended up with almost 10M in the bank, and while I had no experience (and only with Barcelona) of a full Liga season for a very long time, hence not being sure of the 'survival' standard, I imagined that we would be alright financially for the year now, especially with a 177kpw wage bill. We had good squad depth, which is one of the less obvious Deltablue trademarks (at the cost of a lot of transfers which might cause problems early on) and a few genuinely good players (especially in midfield, though we were still weak on the wings), but I just had to hope those players would be enough.

A very large influx of players wasn’t helped by the fact that a lot of early frees, signed as a precaution, were mostly obsolete at the end of the summer (though a couple were still important squad players), but if that wasn’t an issue then we would probably be fine. A lot of changes needed to be made in the short term, but now that was done we had far better foundations to push on if we survived the early pains of a much changed squad and relatively undeveloped players.

Benamar

Ferreirinha

Gauchinho

Islas

Pereyra

Roux

Russo

Voigt

Transfers

[deltablue]

If it's in England then I am taking a guess with Newcastle

Got in just as I was posting. Again aside from the 'more than 1 title' thing I was expecting someone to guess that. As mentioned above the 'recently relegated' thing didn't narrow it down anywhere near as much as I thought it would, otherwise I might have given another clue. Anyway aside from geographically thats a close guess.

[noikeee]

Excellent job in Scotland, too bad things stalled a little in the last season, but I think you can be proud of the back-to-back promotions and the Scottish Cup whilst playing in the 2nd tier, great achievements to add to a stellar career. I would say that's as impressive as the total domination years with Milan.

Good luck in Spain, I like Betis and have tried to manage them a few years back in FM but without any success.

[B.W.G]

Best of luck with Betis

Have any other teams outside Barca,both Madrids or Valencia made a name for themselves?

[deltablue]

Excellent job in Scotland, too bad things stalled a little in the last season, but I think you can be proud of the back-to-back promotions and the Scottish Cup whilst playing in the 2nd tier, great achievements to add to a stellar career. I would say that's as impressive as the total domination years with Milan.

Good luck in Spain, I like Betis and have tried to manage them a few years back in FM but without any success.

Oddly enough aside from a few early Barca saves (before I got the hang of long term careers) I haven't been in Spain much (or France, but their clubs keep rejecting me), compared to regularly going to England and Italy (and Germany to a lesser extent). Did have that short poor stint at Ferrol earlier in the career, and spent a few years at Cordoba in an earlier FM11 career (taking them up to La Liga but leaving after a terrible start to the season) but that's pretty much it in recent years, so will be interesting getting to spend a lot more time there (hopefully).

Best of luck with Betis

Have any other teams outside Barca,both Madrids or Valencia made a name for themselves?

Not really. Atletico (who are the reigning champions) and Barca have the lions share of the titles, split pretty evenly though each side has had a fairly dominant period. Real have a handful but are a distant 3rd in that regard. Valencia haven't done much aside from a couple of titles spaced pretty far apart (2030 and 2053) barely even being in the top 3 the rest of the time. Being FM11 Malaga aren't super-rich yet, though along with Sevilla have been in the top 3 recently. The one thing that really qualifies is Numancia winning the title 15 years ago (though hardly ever having been close otherwise) and the very occasional 3rd for Xerez.

Interestingly enough compared to how I felt late on at Dunfermline, I felt really excited and motivated when playing my first Betis match. If we can survive this could end up being a good move.

[SRL88]

Very nice move to Betis .

[PaulHartman71]

Oh I read it as "won the league at least once" Good luck at Betis regardless!

[Mikal]

Nice move to Betis, they were my Achilles heel in my Spanish save. Had a solid youth system as well.

[deltablue]

Very nice move to Betis .

Thanks, great place to be, even if results haven't been great so far.

Oh I read it as "won the league at least once" Good luck at Betis regardless!

Good point, I messed up a bit as while I was definitely thinking 'just once' I've now seen that I simply put that they won the league a long time ago without saying it. Still Betis qualifies as a potential guess, and Cerud was still wrong with a title-less West Ham

Nice move to Betis, they were my Achilles heel in my Spanish save. Had a solid youth system as well.

Hopefully I can become a bit of an achilles heel myself. Youth system is decent but nothing special, at least right now in the save.

Unfortunately only have 2 points from the first 5 matches, but do have the away games with Atletico and Barca (theoretically the two toughest) out of the way. This isn't going to be a comfortable season.

[noikeee]

Nice move to Betis, they were my Achilles heel in my Spanish save. Had a solid youth system as well.

On mine I beat them 8-0 (with Real). Pro tip to Deltablue: don't do that.

[deltablue]

On mine I beat them 8-0 (with Real). Pro tip to Deltablue: don't do that.

Thankfully we've never had a result like that, no real positives aside from that though.

Sept 2058

Betis 1-1 Mallorca (L1)

The first game was at home to Mallorca, one we had a good chance of getting a win from. Both team showed plenty of ambition, and Russian forward Alimov finally gave us the lead after an hour. They equalized in the 74th minute, and nearly snatched a winner, but on paper this was one of the easier games so I was worried about not getting a win with tougher challenges to come.

Barcelona 4-1 Betis (L1)

One of those challenges came early on when we went to Barcelona. They had my former Milan midfielder Matthews in their team. You wouldn’t have known we were facing Barcelona away as we still went for it early on and Alimov gave us the lead in the 11th minute. Unsurprisingly they had plenty of pressure afterwards, and just before half-time equalized from my former Spain starlet Badia, heading in a free-kick. They kept the pressure up, taking the lead in the 69th minute, then Badia got two late goals. While they were deserved winners, 4-1 was a bit harsh.

Betis 1-1 Hercules (L1)

Hercules was in between the first 2 games in terms of difficulty, having established themselves as a pretty strong mid-table side, but having lost both opening games. They were on top of us from the start, and eventually took the lead in the 33rd minute. Another looked like coming, but we had a good late spell and Voigt gave us a lucky draw with his first goal for the club in the 85th minute.

Atletico 4-0 Betis (L1)

We then had another tough trip to champions Atletico. Unlike at Barca we never stood a chance, going 2-0 down in 9 minutes, and 3-0 10 minutes later. They got a 4th after half an hour, and spared us a greater thumping. I was wondering if this was what facing my Milan team was like for the lesser Serie A and European sides. I was just glad we had that and Barca way over with already.

Oviedo 4-1 Betis (L1)

We then had to go to Oviedo, who were also too good, taking the lead in the 7th minute, and getting another before half time as we were reduced to only a couple of brief attacks. Things got worse in the second half as they got a third goal, then an injury reduced us to 10 men and allowed them to get another. Cypriot defender Georgiou headed in a late consolation, but while Atletico was expected, this was far less forgivable. Elche were keeping us off bottom but we needed a couple of wins soon. At least we already had double the points I got at Hogaborg.

League Table

Oct 2058

Betis 0-0 Recreativo (L1)

Recreativo was a ‘could win’ which under the circumstances was a ‘should win’. There were a lot of nervy times as we exchanged chances, though admittedly they were a little better and were unlucky to have a 29th minute goal disallowed. They were clearly superior in the second half and it was very much a point of luck, though we needed rather more than that.

Numancia 5-1 Betis (L1)

A trip to Numancia was expected to be painful, but it took a while for them to get back in the game after Georgiou headed in a free kick in the 4th minute. However they equalized in the 30th minute, and took the lead at the start of the second half, getting another 10 minutes later, and after Georgiou got sent off they got 2 more in the last 20 minutes.

Betis 1-3 Xerez (L1)

Xerez were having another of their regular good seasons, and when they took the lead in the 12th minute I thought the game was partly over. Spanish defender Rivas equalized after half an hour and for a lot of the second half there was plenty of hope, but we were sunk after a quick double after 72 minutes. Alimov gave us a last minute consolation.

Espanyol 5-1 Betis (SC)

We had to go to Espanyol in the first leg of a cup tie, and were easy for them to handle. They struck in the 1st minute, were 2-0 up after 15 minutes, and soon made it 3-0. Voigt got a goal before the break, and

while we looked good value for more in the second half, they got 2 more late goals and thankfully it was soon over.

League Table

Nov 2058

Malaga 3-1 Betis (L1)

We expected another disaster at Malaga, but despite plenty of pressure it took half an hour for them to break through, and Alimov equalized before the break. Again there was hope for a while but like with Xerez a double late in the second half ended those.

Betis 2-2 Villarreal (L1)

Villarreal were down with us, and when Colombian defender Londono gave us the lead in the 5th minute, and we weren’t on the back foot afterwards, I thought we’d do it this time. They equalized in the 30th minute, and took the lead midway through the second half, but Rivas salvaged a point in stoppage time. Still if we couldn’t win this one (or Mallorca) our chances weren’t good for winning most other games.

Betis 2-2 (3-7) Villarreal (SC)

There was almost no point playing the second leg against Espanyol. Rivas gave us the lead in the 8th minute. They equalized after 20 minutes, and went ahead in the 70th, but Voigt salvaged some pride (not much though) with a 76th minute equalizer and we nearly had a meaningless winner.

Almeria 2-0 Betis (L1)

We had a very good early spell at Almeria, including a disallowed goal in the 9th minute. They admittedly took control before their pair of goals before half-time (which was still cruel), as wins were mythical creatures in these parts.

Betis 1-2 Espanyol (L1)

We played Espanyol again in the league. We again started well before going behind after half an hour. Alimov equalized in the 67th minute but they immediately got a winner. Islas got set off in stoppage time, too late to make things worse. This was not my year. Elche were keeping us off bottom with 2 points (compared to our 4), and just 2 goals but we were now slipping to 6 points from safety.

League Table

Dec 2058

Elche 0-0 Betis (L1)

We went to Elche next, and hoped not even we could mess that one up. I was their rare chance for points as well and we had to hang on for a point, even then only due to Elche having a goal disallowed in stoppage time.

Betis 0-4 Sevilla (L1)

No wins after 13 games wasn’t a great way to go into a Seville derby. Going behind after 5 minutes wasn’t ideal either, but we did have an equalizer disallowed a few minutes before half-time, followed by a second Sevilla goal. We had a few almost-chances but they hit us for a couple more goals later on.

Sociedad 3-0 Betis (L1)

When we went behind in the 28th minute at Sociedad it was seen as just another day at the office. They extended it in the 35th minute, and secured a 3-0 win in the 63rd, however it did mean we were now bottom.

Betis 1-1 Celta (L1)

Our last chance to get anything positive before Christmas came against Celta. They took the lead in the 21st minute, and that seemed to be that, but Londono’s header gave us a point with 10 minutes left.

League Table

Oh dear, I've had better half-seasons (or near enough). Previously I might have given up or left just before relegation was secured, but that was a bit cowardly so I'd definitely be staying on, as I've still found it more enjoyable than the past season or to at Dunfermline (though not so much recently obviously), plus if nothing else I'd have some material for the hall of shame.

Usually relegation = failure = resignation (or 'self-firing' as I see it) but the potential was very much there, just that there were far too many new players and they were nowhere near ready, both combining for a disasterous start, so I might even ignore that personal tradition, and with a fairly low wage bill (under 180kpw as things stand, and that was far more likely to decrease for now) I felt it might be worth sticking it out, as I really want to make a success of Betis. Not that we're doomed yet but it's not great at the moment.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Tough start for you at Betis deltablue, have you got much further in? At least looking at it there is enough games there and a manageable gap to turn things round

[Mikal]

Not the best of starts, but plenty of games left to scrape your way back out of relegation. Could be an interesting relegation battle at the end of the season.

[deltablue]

Tough start for you at Betis deltablue, have you got much further in? At least looking at it there is enough games there and a manageable gap to turn things round

Had stuff to do early today so just started playing a short time ago, and just played the first match.

Not the best of starts, but plenty of games left to scrape your way back out of relegation. Could be an interesting relegation battle at the end of the season.

Was very unlucky to lose the first game of January, and would amazingly been just 3 points from safety had we won (given it would have been our first win, so far into the season), so could still be an interesting fight, especially as on the evidence of that game a couple of wins probably aren't too far away.

[ron6632]

Tough start in Spain! I'm sure it will turn for you (fingers crossed)

Congrats on the progress with the Pars. The closed shop of the SPL always makes it difficult to get to the top division, but job done in getting them from 3rd to 1st.

[deltablue]

Tough start in Spain! I'm sure it will turn for you (fingers crossed)

Congrats on the progress with the Pars. The closed shop of the SPL always makes it difficult to get to the top division, but job done in getting them from 3rd to 1st.

Well we beat someone, but it wasn't enough...

Jan 2059

Zaragoza 2-1 Betis (L1)

Over Christmas I scoured the expiring contracts list to bolster the squad for next year while I could still attract better players as a La Liga club, and Russo finally arrived from Argentina. We looked better at Zaragoza, looking positive and taking the lead from Benamar after half an hour. They equalized at the start of the second half and cruelly a penalty gave them the win with a few minutes left, as we definitely deserved a point, maybe even all three, which would have left us just 3 points from safety.

Betis 2-0 Real Madrid (L1)

We still looked like we would probably win soon, though I didn’t expect that to come against Real Madrid. A harshly awarded penalty gave them the lead in the 15th minute, and the same player scored another 20 minutes later. However we actually went above Elche after that.

Valencia 3-2 Betis (L1)

Valencia (who had my former Milan star Brighenti on their side) away was another game we couldn’t expect much from. They duly took the lead in the 4th minute, but midfielder Bunzenthal equalized in the 18th to give us a chance. Unsurprisingly they soon retook the lead, getting a 3rd after an hour, though Nigerian forward Onyenekwe made it close in the 75th minute.

Mallorca 2-2 Betis (L1)

Mallorca were also down in the relegation zone (though nowhere near as bad as ourselves and Elche). Onyenekwe gave us the lead after 10 minutes. They fought back hard, eventually equalizing in the 49th minute, and we struggled to hold on to a single point. Just as it looked bleak, Alimov made it 2-1 in the 79th minute, but when their second goal eventually came with a few minutes left it still deprived us of a win that would have allowed us to close to 6 points of safety (which was still double what it would have been after the first game of the month had we won that).

League Table

Feb 2059

Betis 3-1 Barcelona (L1)

We weren’t going to get anything from Barcelona, and indeed they struck in the 5th minute, again after 20, and made it 3-0 in the 50th minute. Onyenekwe’s penalty gave us a goal in the 65th minute but that was never going to turn it around, not in a month of Sundays (as my driving instructor is fond of saying).

Hercules 2-3 Betis (L1)

We went behind in the 7th minute at Hercules, and had a goal disallowed 5 minutes later. Roux scored a penalty in the 25th minute, followed by Onyenekwe giving us the lead a few minutes after that, making it 3-1 just before half-time. We looked like we might get another early in the second half before they fought back and got a second goal with 5 minutes left, but couldn’t stop us finally beating someone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Betis 0-6 Atletico (L1)

The club’s first win in 27 games was unlikely to be followed against Atletico, the champions who were again top. They scored in the 5th minute, and pushed on to be 5-0 up at half-time, and there was a 6th in the second half for by far my worse defeat at Betis.

Recreativo 3-1 Betis (L1)

Recreativo failed to be another Hercules. They scored in the 27th minute, then missed a penalty, and scored a quick double just before the hour mark, with Benamar getting a consolation in stoppage time.

League Table

Mar 2059

Betis 2-2 Oviedo (L1)

Alimov gave us the lead in the 17th minute against Oviedo. They equalized in the 36th minute, but then a miracle happened. Madagascan forward Rakotoson, having been a regular in the autumn (due to those coming on and replacing him also being rubbish) actually scored, in his 17th game of the season! Roux own-goaled at the start of the second half, which was pity as that might otherwise been a win.

Betis 2-5 Numancia (L1)

Numancia was a bit of a disaster, as we went 3-0 down in the first half an hour with another disallowed. They got a 4th in the 50th minute. It as 5-0 20 minutes later. In the next few minutes Islas and Alimov gave us a couple of goals which was surprising as I thought everyone had given up.

Xerez 5-0 Betis (L1)

Going to Xerez was a bit of a disaster as well. They scored in the 11th minute. It was 2-0 after half an hour and 3-0 a few minutes later, 4-0 early in the second half, and 5-0 right at the end. After that I was fired, which was fair enough.

Final Betis League Table

Well that was rather rubbish, it was at least fun to a point, and the potential was there despite the disasterous start post-revolution, which meant that we failed to improve when we might have later on. Still don't regret leaving Scotland to go there and hope things pick up somewhere else. At least I got a single win which I'll treasure, showing the value of things like these like Dunfermline gave me promotions and stuff after Milan was too easy, so still don't regret that either, variety being the spice of FM life.

[ron6632]

Ouch! Tough old season. Are the board backing you into next years campaign?

[Dexter_Morgan]

What a shame deltablue Hopefully you will keep your job and rebuild, Betis has a lot of potential and if you get a proper pre season to do things your way then I am sure things will turn around

[deltablue]

Ouch! Tough old season. Are the board backing you into next years campaign?

What a shame deltablue Hopefully you will keep your job and rebuild, Betis has a lot of potential and if you get a proper pre season to do things your way then I am sure things will turn around

Well as they sacked me in March they didn't even back me until the end of that season. Not unreasonable being bottom with just a single win. It has dealt my reputation a bit of a blow, being rejected by a strong Sparta Rotterdam side, then after declaring interest in insecure jobs again, Huddersfield (admitedly a pretty good Premier League side now), Leverkusen and Toulouse (stuck in the National!) laughed me off, with interest coming from the likes of Aberdeen, Hamburg (In the Second Division but still promising if it hadn't been for insecure finances), and the club I'm now at...

AEK Athens (who finished 9th last year having only been predicted one position higher, so hardly the nation's '3rd club' right now)

Judging by early interest from similar clubs this appears to be my level for now after the massive reputation blow of the Betis sacking, compared to being linked to bigger (and only mildly underachieving) names like Chelsea and Man Utd from the second Dunfermline promotion, and even was lined up as a replacement for the Barca manager at the end of this season. I must admit that I'm longing for another Milan before too long, though will probably need trophies to be able to get the better jobs again, and after the first year, I might be more willing than normal to leave Athens if I end up being the favourite for something much better.