My Greatest Challenge: Knocking Fergie Right Off His ****ing Perch. And You Can Print That

[AK22]

What do you think caused the 2 draws? Bayern I guess is kind of understandable but home i'd have put you down to beat them. Hamburg considering you looked like you was going to win the league is a big shock. The Gladbach game was obviously a big problem too but you still had the slight advantage at that time.

99 times out of 100, we would have beaten HSV; it was just one of those moments where we switched off, allowing them an opportunity to equalise. Even though they're not the team they were, playing Bayern can still be a tough ask- think Liverpool in real life (can't beat teams at the bottom, but still a match for the top six)!

It's just extremely frustrating to see us bottle it when we were in such a convincing position; having won so many trophies recently, I didn't expect it at all. Perhaps we were a tad complacent, so I'll be cracking the whip next season to keep them focused.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Only a temporary disappearance I'm sure.

[Animosama]

So close

[noikeee]

Bit of a season of chokes, oh well, you can't win everything every year that'd be boring, at least you got the cup (although I'd be annoyed anyway at needing extra-time to beat that lot).

[AK22]

Dortmund - Pre-Season 2035/36

It will all be about the league this season. Of course, a long run in Europe would be good, but the priority has to be getting our hands back on the Bundesliga trophy again. This is, pretty much, the Board's thoughts too, with expectations being that we win the league (handing a £36m transfer budget); this is certainly achievable, although I do predict it being another very close run thing with Gladbach again, backed up by the title odds where we're both 6-1 joint favourites (Leverkusen and Bayern come next at 16-1). The media are tipping us for first too.

In what was a gripping curtain-raiser, we held our nerve to beat Gladbach on penalties in the German Super Cup! Perhaps this will give us the early momentum once we start our Bundesliga campaign?

Having wanted to strengthen the squad over the summer, I anticipated spending more than the £15.75m I eventually shelled out on new players. Despite having a extensive scouting network, and sound knowledge of even the most obscure territories across the world, I was unable to target enough players that fill my philosophy of being good value for money, as well as being of a young enough age to spend several seasons at the club at the peak of their abilities. That said, the three players joining certainly tick these boxes, with Swinkels in particular looking a tremendous piece of business; I'm certainly looking forward to him linking up with Alex Fernando and Hendrik Engel! You will also notice that last season's topscorer, Mahamadi Ouedraogo, has departed the club to join Wolfsburg. Whilst letting him go to a club in the same division may be a bit of a risk, I believe that he may have overachieved last year, and will unlikely hit the 20+ goals mark consistently in the future; I hope I'm proven right here, as I definitely don't need Wolfsburg challenging near the top of the table!

Patrick Tambwe - Homegrown German talent, released by Bayern. If he fulfils his potential, he'll be a great signing.

Emiliano Rodríguez - Despite his young age, he's technical skills are well developed and should challenge the first team straight-away.

Marvin Swinkels - This should be £10m well spent. A two-footed striker, who can also play inside-forward on either wing; I'm drooling with excitement!

[AK22]

Only a temporary disappearance I'm sure.

Hopefully so. Another trophy or two, and I'll be back up amongst them

So close

Tell me about it!

Bit of a season of chokes, oh well, you can't win everything every year that'd be boring, at least you got the cup (although I'd be annoyed anyway at needing extra-time to beat that lot).

Yeah, it was a big choke. I think we just ran out of steam a bit, which is surprising considering the previous season where we managed to win three trophies in May. Never mind, though, there's always next season!

[AK22]

Borussia Dortmund - August/September 2035

What. A. Start. True, we're yet to face a team of a high pedigree, but we've still had to beat those put in front of us. And pretty convincingly so too. Naturally, it's the result against Spartak Moscow that stands out the most, a game that saw all eight goals scored by half time! After coming in with such an advantage, I was expecting to see double figures by full time, which it probably would have been if our Russian opposition hadn't moved their tank in front of the goal during the break.

It's been the perfect start in the league, with one-sided victories in all but one of our opening fixtures. As expected, Alex Fernando and Marvin Swinkels are already forming a scintillating strike partnership, with us averaging over three goals per game from those played so far. It is very early days, but it's a pleasing start, which has seen us already open up a small margin over Gladbach; we just need to keep it going! It was also great to break the 1000 game mark with such a strong showing over Frankfurt

​Next Time

There's more testing fixtures coming up, including trips to Juventus and Sturm Graz in the Champions League; the Italian champions will most likely be the sterner test, but I'd be foolish to think we'll have an easy ride of it in Austria either. There's also an unappealing run of Bundesliga games approaching, with fixtures against Gladbach (H), Bayern (A), Schalke (H) and Wolfsburg (A) dotted around our European commitments; this run will certainly sort the wheat out from the chaff!

[noikeee]

Wow, brilliant start. Spartak don't know what hit them yet. Think on this form you have a very good shot at getting your Champions League trophy back. Keep it up.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Superb start to the season, lets hope you keep it up

[B.W.G]

That is a brilliant start to the season

[Animosama]

Whats happening to bayern, why are they being so poor ?

[Rikulec]

Great start.

[AK22]

Borussia Dortmund - October/November 2035

Four defeats, two draws, what on earth is going on?! Of course, I didn't expect the 100% record to continue forever, as I predicted a difficult month or two ahead, but I was certainly not expecting to drop quite so many points as we have. Our European form has been sketchy at best, with maximum points taken from the more difficult matches against Juventus, but nothing more than a solitary draw from the visits to Austria and Moscow. Despite this, we've still qualified for the knockout rounds, although it's been hardly convincing, and gives me cause for concern about how far we'll actually go this season.

Rejected.

Just like our continental exploits, our domestic results have also left a lot to be desired, with the defeat to third tier side Duisburg in the cup being the lowest of the low. It was a terrible day for us, a game where I fielded a strong starting eleven, who put in a disgusting performance; if any of them play like that again, that will be the last day they wear the famous yellow shirts. In the league, we've not really done the business either, with defeats to Stuttgart and Gladbach costing us dear. The latter are now back on level terms at the top of the table, and it's only our slightly significant goal difference that is keeping us ahead.

​Next Time

After such a tricky period of games, we've got a more favourable run of league fixtures ahead and should be confident of racking up a decent amount of points. We'll also face Sturm Graz in our remaining Champions League Group Stage match, needing to equal or better Juventus result to ensure we top the group.

[cerud]

A brilliant start to the season! Surprising that Bayern let go that that youngster, Tambwe. He has great potential for his age.

[AK22]

Wow, brilliant start. Spartak don't know what hit them yet. Think on this form you have a very good shot at getting your Champions League trophy back. Keep it up.

Superb start to the season, lets hope you keep it up

That is a brilliant start to the season

Great start.

Thanks all, it was a really pleasing start to the year. We've had a bit of wobble recently, but as it was a tough run of games, I'm hopeful of returning to our early season form soon.

Whats happening to bayern, why are they being so poor ?

I'm not really sure, but they've really fallen off the pace. They're still the richest club in the land, and can still attract top quality players too, so they should be doing a lot better than they are.

They're going through managers like nobody's business too, having just appointed their fourth in two years. Probably could do with some stability then!

[AK22]

A brilliant start to the season! Surprising that Bayern let go that that youngster, Tambwe. He has great potential for his age.

They're in total free-fall and disarray at the moment, so nothing's surprising me at the moment. I've got my eye on another couple of their youngsters too

[DazRTaylor]

You should have enough to see it through this time!

I would of been tempted by Barcelona, just for the youth academy.

[noikeee]

Swinkels has been quite the signing, hasn't he...

Not sure what happened there in Europe as after smashing Spartak 8-0 you've been unconvincing, cup defeat to 3rd level Duisburg alarming as well (even if I suspect you'd have rotated players in that match). Hard to figure out whether it's just a period of temporary bad form or deeper worries should ensue.

[hamilton162]

Swinkles looks like an inspired signing, £10m seems extroadinarily cheap for someone with his record this year! Without him, you'd be struggling and possibly looking at falling back into the chasing pack, much like Bayern have done over the past few seasons. That offer from Barca must've been tempting, I personally probably would've taken it, but I presume you feel like you have unfinished business in trying to wrestle the Bundesliga title back from Gladbach?

[AK22]

Borussia Dortmund - December/January 2035/36

That's better! Helped by four successive home fixtures, we're now back on track and looking much like the side that started the season in such good form. Indeed, we didn't concede a goal throughout the month of December, consolidating our place at the top of our Champions League group with a solid victory over Sturm Graz, in addition to convincing wins over Mainz and Leverkusen in the league. I'm also delighted to see Alex Fernando pick up the European Golden Boy award, after such a brilliant calendar year with the club; at the age of twenty, there's plenty of time for him to improve even further and become one of the best in the world.

I think it's safe to say that this season's title will be going to either Dortmund or Gladbach, as we've opened up a huge gap at the top of the table; I really can't see anyone in the chasing pack catching either of us now. However, it closer than a close thing on close day between us and our rivals, so we'll need to keep plugging away well into the Spring.

​Next Time

Man City will be our opposition in the Champions League First Knockout Round, and without us having the distraction of any other cup competition, we should be able to keep the team refreshed for both this and our league commitments. We travel to Gladbach on my birthday (22nd March) for a potentially season defining game; I'd be more than satisfied with three points for a present, although I don't expect our rivals to be that generous!

[Rikulec]

Is it me or have you forgotten to post a screenie of the fixture list?

[noikeee]

Better form now, building nicely into the defining stages of the season.

[AK22]

You should have enough to see it through this time!

I would of been tempted by Barcelona, just for the youth academy.

I'm a bit anti-Barcelona at the moment, so definitely not interested in the job. It's a good offer though!

Swinkels has been quite the signing, hasn't he...

Not sure what happened there in Europe as after smashing Spartak 8-0 you've been unconvincing, cup defeat to 3rd level Duisburg alarming as well (even if I suspect you'd have rotated players in that match). Hard to figure out whether it's just a period of temporary bad form or deeper worries should ensue.

Well, we're back on top form again now, so I'm just going to write it off as a small blip. Losing to Duisburg was utter embarrassment, though

Swinkels is up to 18 goals now; not a bad debut season so far

Swinkles looks like an inspired signing, £10m seems extroadinarily cheap for someone with his record this year! Without him, you'd be struggling and possibly looking at falling back into the chasing pack, much like Bayern have done over the past few seasons. That offer from Barca must've been tempting, I personally probably would've taken it, but I presume you feel like you have unfinished business in trying to wrestle the Bundesliga title back from Gladbach?

Yeah, I want to stay at Dortmund until we've won at least one more Bundesliga trophy. I'm still not convinced we're the best team in the country yet, with Gladbach able to match us stride for stride, and that just won't do; I want to be the undisputed best!

[AK22]

In other news, Philip Schmitt has won another Ballon d'Or award. That's three times in the past four years.

And, this happened in the Club World Cup. It was pretty close...

Here's some of the signings made in January:

Alexis Ligüera - This youngster has great potential, but will need to show his worth in the reserves before being considered for first team action.

Ederson Ortega - He's going to be a brilliant midfielder. Five star potential, signed for £600k.

Marco Haushahn - Born in Portugal, with German second nationality, this young prospect cost £1k! Bargain!

[AK22]

Is it me or have you forgotten to post a screenie of the fixture list?

Er, I can see it. Anybody else who can't? :confused:

Better form now, building nicely into the defining stages of the season.

Much better now. Thankfully! Could do with Gladbach suffering a blip now

[denzil85]

In other news, Philip Schmitt has won another Ballon d'Or award. That's three times in the past four years.

And, this happened in the Club World Cup. It was pretty close...

Ouch - that's a bit of a hammering!

[DazRTaylor]

I'm a bit anti-Barcelona at the moment, so definitely not interested in the job. It's a good offer though!

In real life I cannot stand the dirty, cheating, diving, ref conning bunch of *****.

[JackJCFC]

Blimey 17-0 . Must be a bit annoying storming the league as you are with Gladbach managing to follow you every step of the way!

[deltablue]

Loving the Pachuca win.

[AK22]

Borussia Dortmund - February/March 2036

Even with the couple of defeats on the road, I feel I have every right to be happy with how this period has gone, especially after scraping past Man City with a late headed winner in the Champions League. Defensively, we're still looking incredibly tight, which is providing a great base for the rest of the team to go forward in an offensive manner. Most notable has been the continued excellent début season of Marvin Swinkels; he's now up to 29 goals, and could quite easily get close to the 40 goals barrier if he continues in this manner for the remaining games.

It was frustrating losing to Gladbach, especially as we went into the game as the form team, and thus were expected to win. They've had a pretty dismal time of things recently, having lost league fixtures to Wolfsburg, Leverkusen and Werder Bremen, in addition to being knocked out of the DFB-Pokal by Köln; at this rate, they are in serious dangers of having the wheels fall off their campaign. Not that I'm complaining, a seven point lead is a very handy thing to have at this stage of the season!

​Next Time

If we have a good April, we can almost guarantee the title; we've got Schalke (A), Wolfsburg (H) and Mainz (A), and should be confident of some decent points there. In Europe, we've drawn Shakhtar in the Quarter Final, with the trip to Ukraine up first. They're not a bad side, having made the final in 2030, so we'll need to be wary of the threat they pose and do a professional job.

[AK22]

In real life I cannot stand the dirty, cheating, diving, ref conning bunch of *****.

I'm glad I'm not the only one! I really hope Bayern don't balls it up on Wednesday!

Blimey 17-0 . Must be a bit annoying storming the league as you are with Gladbach managing to follow you every step of the way!

They were like a turd that just wouldn't flush away. Not so much now

Loving the Pachuca win.

I can't recollect seeing a more one-sided game of football

[cerud]

Swinkels has been amazing for you! Very consistent player.

[DazRTaylor]

I'm glad I'm not the only one! I really hope Bayern don't balls it up on Wednesday!

I regularly have a good rant about Barcelona & the commentators who get excited every time they complete a pass. Bayern shouldn't **** it up from here but expect plenty of dives, play acting and the surrounding of the referee by Busquets et al. Busquets especially is a vile individual. With Barcelona it annoys me more than any other team because they are so talented, they really don't need to do it.

[DazRTaylor]

Now that I have got that rant out of the way (apologies it was on your thread!), you look set for the league title this time. Please don't blow it this year!

[hamilton162]

Hopefully that good run of form has given you enough of a gap to win the title now, although after last season complacency could be a real threat. Almost knocked out of the CL on away goals for two consecutive years by British clubs, if that'd happened it would've been a very bitter pill to swallow! Hopefully you can make ammends for last season in both competitions, providing that Swinkels doesn't get injured then I'd be confident of you winning the league and at least making the Final of the CL, good luck

[Dexter_Morgan]

Almost there in the league, would have been all but done if it wasn't for the Gladbach defeat.

[Lenzar]

Looking good for another title.

What on earth has happened to Bayern? Seems they are no longer a threat.

[JackJCFC]

They were like a turd that just wouldn't flush away. Not so much now

Brilliant analogy

[AK22]

Borussia Dortmund - April 2036

April was a bit mental, then. I suppose I'd better start with the Shakhtar games, which saw us return from Ukraine with a seriously uphill task ahead. We were abysmal in Donetsk, a game that Shakhtar completely dominated from the off, had our 'keeper stretchered off after seven minutes, and finished the match with ten men (after Edin Muratovic was sent off). It was complete self-destruction, of the highest calibre, and I was certain we were out. The second leg was just as ridiculous, although it was Shakhtar's turn to put in a rotten performance, also finding themselves down to ten men (after 36 minutes); in contrast, everything we did turned to gold, with the deficit eradicated after 51 minutes, we then put on a real show for the remaining minutes to secure our passage into the last four.

After the Shakhtar games, I didn't think we could match the levels of craziness in our Semi Final against Real Madrid; I was wrong! Once again, we had a shocker in the first leg, with Real Madrid going two up within eight minutes, before going into the break leading by four goals. How we kept it at four I'll never know, as Madrid were all over us in the second half and could have easily doubled their advantage. We were as good as out, as without an away goal to take back to Germany, we would probably have to score five if we were progress; in the end, we scored six! The second leg was another thriller, as Madrid came to Dortmund happy to sit deep and protect their sizeable lead in the tie, we pummelled them from the off. After Alex Fernando's 75th minute goal, we had chalked off their advantage, and with momentum completely in our favour, I was starting to think that it would be our day once again. Extra time followed, which saw Unai Fuentes find the net for the second time in the match; we were then actually ahead in the tie! However, Faustino Fentanes 109th minute goal put a right spanner in the works, and meant we would need to score again, otherwise we would go out on away goals; cue super-sub, Hendrik Engel, to do the magic, and book our place in another Champions League final! Miracles do happen after all

In amongst the chaos of Europe, we actually played three Bundesliga matches too, taking seven points from a possible nine. Gladbach won all their games, meaning that the gap has now been reduced to five points, but with just three to play, we should just about have enough to get over the finish line first.

​Next Time

I'm not sure how May can top April, but we'll play our third Champions League final in four seasons. This time against Juventus, at Old Trafford. Back in Germany, we'll finish our Bundesliga campaign against Fürth (H), Kaiserslautern (A) and Leverkusen (A); not quite the fixtures I would have picked, so I wouldn't start engraving our name on the trophy quite yet.

[DazRTaylor]

I think that is possibly the most ridiculous Champions League scorelines I have ever seen.

[AK22]

Swinkels has been amazing for you! Very consistent player.

He's been great, but now we're into the nitty gritty at the end of the season, he's not starting quite as much. Going for experience over youth this time around.

I regularly have a good rant about Barcelona & the commentators who get excited every time they complete a pass. Bayern shouldn't **** it up from here but expect plenty of dives, play acting and the surrounding of the referee by Busquets et al. Busquets especially is a vile individual. With Barcelona it annoys me more than any other team because they are so talented, they really don't need to do it.

Totally agree, although they are a completely different prospect without Messi. Wouldn't go quite as far to say they're a one-man team, but they're not too far off it!

Now that I have got that rant out of the way (apologies it was on your thread!), you look set for the league title this time. Please don't blow it this year!

I'm trying not too!

Hopefully that good run of form has given you enough of a gap to win the title now, although after last season complacency could be a real threat. Almost knocked out of the CL on away goals for two consecutive years by British clubs, if that'd happened it would've been a very bitter pill to swallow! Hopefully you can make ammends for last season in both competitions, providing that Swinkels doesn't get injured then I'd be confident of you winning the league and at least making the Final of the CL, good luck

We've got a great chance of winning both. We should be favourites against Juventus, a side we've beaten twice already in the Group Stages this season.

Almost there in the league, would have been all but done if it wasn't for the Gladbach defeat.

Yeah, near enough. They are a really good team, though, so I'm not too disappointed we lost.

Looking good for another title.

What on earth has happened to Bayern? Seems they are no longer a threat.

They've not been great, have they?! Seemed to recovered a bit over the last few weeks, though, and could still sneak a Champions League place. That may be the catalyst they need to get back in the title hunt.

Brilliant analogy

Cheers. I try

[AK22]

I think that is possibly the most ridiculous Champions League scorelines I have ever seen.

Indeed they are. Mind you, if you can remember, I experienced quite a few similar ties when I was with Betis. I do love a drama

[DazRTaylor]

Indeed they are. Mind you, if you can remember, I experienced quite a few similar ties when I was with Betis. I do love a drama

You have no fans above the age of 55.

Everyone over that age has heart attacks.

[AK22]

You have no fans above the age of 55.

Everyone over that age has heart attacks.

Will have to start placing health warnings on the tickets for our European knockout ties

[Animosama]

Man makes me wonder, if this was scripted.

[Raware]

Wow. What a come back in the CL semi final! I wonder what odds you'd get on that IRL? Good to see you still doing well both domestically and continentally.

[B.W.G]

What an incredible comeback against Madrid,hopefully you can hold off Gladbach in your race for the title!

[deltablue]

That was incredible, against Real Madrid as well, which made it extra amusing for me.

[Rikulec]

That was incredible, against Real Madrid as well, which made it extra amusing for me.

I'll just second that.

[AK22]

Borussia Dortmund - May 2036

Chokers. Again. Similarly to last year, we threw away all our season of good work in the final couple of games; what have I got to do to win the league again?! Having beaten Fürth so comfortably, we just needed two points from our last two games to end the season as champions, and that was if Gladbach managed to win all three of their remaining fixtures; I was feeling pretty confident. This confidence, however, was very seriously misplaced, as we severely lost our way against Kaiserslautern and Leverkusen, handing the title to Gladbach on goal difference on the final day of the season. You really cannot write scripts like these!

I don't know what I'm more furious at, losing out on goal difference, or being knocked off the top of table on the final day, having led the way for the majority of the season. I suppose it's a combination of both, as both are quite sickening facts; I've included the 'Past Positions' graph below just to highlight how dominant we've been.

Champions League Final 2036 (Manchester) - Juventus vs Dortmund

Lucky, lucky, lucky! After the shambolic ending to our Bundesliga campaign, I suppose we were due our share of luck, and boy did we get against Juventus. For some reason, we were not really at the races at any point throughout the game, despite being comfortable favourites against a team we've beaten twice this year already. Despite this, we managed to sneak an early first half goal, and then shut up shop; Juventus may have dominated in every sense of the word, but still found it difficult to register any decent attempts at goal. That's three Champions League victories in four seasons!