[FM15] Glentoran - Let Me Take You On A Journey....

[thehazeofspades]

Glentoran 2018/2019 Half Season Update

League Position and Fixtures

The league is honestly no longer something that needs to be mentioned. I'm thinking of turning into season updates, but we'll see how next season goes towards that. Also we finally won a cup! Two in fact. On the European front, we actually did manage to secure a point, so baby steps being made there.


Squad and Key Players' Profiles

Curtis Allen - Honestly do I need to say anything here?
Wayne Tohill - Yes he hasn't played in Europe, but Wayne has been immense domestically and has already been nominated as a front runner for best player in the league.
Tommy - I told you he'd come good.


Transfers

Mikko - Another good Finnish prospect. Another cheap pickup. Another player who will be nicknamed.


Finances

I'm slightly wary of pumping money into facilities as we aren't exactly sitting on a huge pile of cash.

[thehazeofspades]

Glentoran 2018/2019 Youth Intake

Just one player worth signing. My HoYD is on thin ice as that's ridiculous.


Colin McCormick - But he isn't half bad. A good personality and decent stats for a deep lying playmaker, shame we have about 32 central midfielders.

[thehazeofspades]

Glentoran 2018/2019 End of Season Update

League Position and Fixtures

Absolutely ran away with the league, securing a record points total. The season also culminated with us winning the All Ireland Cup, so we actually won a quadruple this season. (Though I'm not sure why the game is calling it a treble. Did you forget that we won the league game?). Really disappointing to see Cliftonville, Portadown and Crusaders so low, I really hoped they would be the teams fighting for second spot in the league and helping out the coefficient slightly. I'm not too sure how newcomers Dungannon and Ballymena United will do.


Squad and Key Players' Profiles

Curtis Allen - I wish Curtis Allen was my dad.
Wayne Tohill - Yes we didn't play him in Europe (so his average rating is very high), but Wayne was incredible in the league and it culminated in him winning the young player of the year award.
Tommy - I feel Tommy really hit top form this season. I mean look at all those tackles in Europe! He provides good defensive solidarity from the wing back position.


Transfers

Michael Duffy - I really like him, but suffered a torn hamstring (or calf muscle?) and was out for three months, so I'm assuimg that's why he didn't play as well as I expect him too.
Dan Hanford - It's difficult judging a goalkeeper at this stage, as domestically it's easy for them as they don't face much, but in Europe they're conceding a lot of goals. Dan did alright, but I'll be looking if for a long term upgrade on him.
Ross Weaver - Ross did very well. I was actually surprised by his high continental average rating, but that shows how good of a manager I am. There's a nice triangle going on between him, Seamus Dunne and Calum Birney.
Calvin Helm - I wouldn't call him a waste of money, but he hasn't really done much has he? I always give my signings two season before fully judging them, so we'll see if he imporves next season before calling him a flop.
Craig Storey - Did very well. Rotated with Sammy McCaw and I find them a very good pairing to choose from. Re-signed on loan for another season.
Jahmali Williamson - Also re-signed for another season as I really ennjoyed him being a goalscoring/assist threat form the wing.
Mikko - Tried playing him more and more as the season went. We'll see how he develops.


Northern Irish Teams in Europe

Linfield lost to Hajduk (CRO) 6-0 in the EL 1st Qual. Round, Coleraine lost to CSKA Sofia (BUL) 4-0 in the EL 1st Qual. Round, and Cliftonville beat NSI (FAR) 1-0 before losing to Rangers (SCO) 5-0 in the EL 2nd Qual Round. The cycle repeats itself, of two teams losing and one team winning before losing. I don't see this getting any better (especially this season as there is no Cliftonville) until one team turns professional or gets two easy draws in a row.


Finances

A bit of a loss from improving facilities, the annual issue nothing to worry about.


Plans For Next Season

Well we've gotten to the point where we're in limbo, too good for the league but not good enough for Europe, and we need to get to the CL to raise the coefficient and improve our finances to improve facilities. Maybe loan some more youngsters to other teams, who knows.

[thehazeofspades]

Glentoran 2019/2020 European Qualification

Good improvements on our front, but the league still needs a lot of work. If only we had another team to depend on to help us...


So TNS was up first, and I expected us to go through comfortably.

And we did just that. We also managed to steal a player from them in between the two legs but more on that later. We drew Partizan of Serbia next.

Sorry Jimbo We held our breath to see who we'll face in the next round, and got possibly the weakest team of the bunch.. Petrolul once more. Seeing as we could have had Anderlecht and Basel and Celtic and Dinamo, I was really happy with this and was confident going in.

I honestly wasn't that worried. After beating Partizan (who are a much stronger team), I knew we had a really good shot at it. We've finally made it!

Bloody group C...


Transfers

Andre Atah - I got him in about October of last season when Carl Long was refusing to sing a contract, and the Carl Long signed a contract.... Still, he has good potential and I loaned him out so he can get some match time.
Angus Vahid - I really like his attributes distribution, especially with such good mentals at a young age. Will be retrained to be completely comfortable with playing as a defensive central midfielder.
Gary Meade - Don't you love it when your scout who has 16 judging potential finds a player who has 4 stars potential and when you sign him you find that it's only two? Because I sure do.
Michael Anderson - Was offered to me by his agent and I'm glad that he was. Excellent personality, really good stats, and potential for days? Starting job given to him already.
Jordan Williams - And this is who we got off TNS. I was a bit skeptical at first, because he has stats everywhere, a bit of jack of all trades master of none sorts, but he has performed really well in the opening parts of the season and I can't complain.

[thehazeofspades]

 

 

Glentoran 2019/2020 Youth Intake

 

(No half season update as the forums were down and I played through it)

 

 

 

A decent intake, and good to see so many positive personalities. No keeper also!

 

Mark McGreevy - The player with the highest potential happens to be another central midfielder.. That means he probably won't reach his potential because I am stacked in that position.

Richard Logan - The player with the most ability in my opinion (flashbacks of Wayne Tohill). Another position which we are deep in so I'll probably be loaned as soon as I can loan him.

Kevin Burns - I like his mentals and I feel he has room to grow.

Mark Campbell - Good personality, good physicals and decent attribute spread technically. Why not?

 

 

And here's a teaser...

 

 

But our youth team did better than us

 

[thehazeofspades]

 

 

Glentoran 2019/2020 End of Season Update

 

 

League Position and Fixtures

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another quadruple, still waiting on that quintuple. Results are good, but honestly even better is that the three other 'big' teams got the European spots which will help us out in the coefficient hopefully.

 

Squad and Key Players' Profiles

 

 

 

Something horrible has happened. I think it's time to replace Curtis Allen. His from deteriorated horribly this season (the inflated average rating and goals were due to me playing him as a backup in our cup games and weaker league games) and to top it off he got knee tendinitis which set him back 5 months so that, coupled with the fact that he's 32 now probably means he won't be someone we can depend on like we used to. Still, I've signed him onto a new contract as I want hime to retire with us as he's a legend to me.

Michael Duffy - Much better. Started the season off slow and I was thinking of maybe letting him go when his contract runs out, but he picked up form immensely and I'll enter contract talks with him this off-season.

Carl Long - I'm glad he re-signed with us.

Seamus Dunne - Honestly just look at that European rating. He's a stalwart of our defense.

 

Transfers

 

 

Andre Atah did exceptionally well with Crusaders, but I'm not sure if he'll get playing time with me so I'll try to loan him next season as well. Angus did well but our formation never really rewards ball winning midfielders with high average ratings, but I still think he did a good job. Gary Meade is someone I still have hope will come good somehow. It's the hope that kills you. Michael Anderson enters my darlings list and will definitely reach icon status with the club. (Please don't mark my words though I'm very trigger happy with transfers). Jordan Williams was also a success but is slightly injury prone, maybe due to being involved in more important matches and Europe this season. (#ShotsFired TNS)

 

Northern Irish Teams in Europe

An absolutely garbage season in Europe as all of the teams involved lost in the EL 1st Qual. Round; Ballymena United to Zeljeznicar (BIH) 8-0, Linfield to Levski (BUL) 4-0 and Portadown to Molde (NOR) 4-0. Hopefully with better teams in Europe this season we'll get better results.

 

Finances

 

 

Much healthier now due to Europe, and now we can improve our facilities.

 

Plans for Next Season

Rinse and repeat this season. Our goal is now to raise the coefficient. We're about 10 points away from improving our qualification spots, so the grind begins now.

[thehazeofspades]

 

Glentoran 2020/2021 European Qualification

 

 

We're doing well, the country not so much. FK Sutjeska of Montenegro were up first.

 

 

Easy. The Gods blessed us and we somehow got Partizan again this year.

 

 

Expecting to win? Yes. Expecting to win by this much? Hell no. Our luck of the draw ran out, as we were matched with Copenhagen, the second best seeded team we could have faced.

 

 

It was over when we didn't win it at home, but definitely not a disgraceful result. Back to the Europa League we go.

 

 

Not horrible. Can we possibly snatch some points off Steaua? We shall see.

 

Transfers

 

 

Gary McDonald - Comes in as a long term solution for our striking position, hopefully he can start banging them in and not take too long of a settling period.

Levi Ives - And another long term solution for our left back issue. Homegrown in the nation as well? Oh wait he isn't. Ok. Still good.

Steven Teggart - I constantly do stupid stuff like this where I sign youngsters who I think will be good but they're not.

Juanjo Rodriguez - I had my eyes on him a couple of years ago, but him being at Valencia and becoming a better player has actually been good for us (since their facilities are better and he wouldn't have improved the same)

(Ben Donaldson was a loan I cancelled)

[thehazeofspades]

 

Glentoran 2020/2021 Half Season Update

 

League Position and Fixtures

 

 

League and cups are good. We also got a win in Europe! All in the greater good of the coefficient. Other teams in the league really need more consistency. I wish that Crusaders, Cliftonville, Linfield and Portadwon start putting a stronghold on those other European spots so we can see some improvement from them.

 

Squad and Key Players' Profiles

 

 

Ok so the eagle eyed viewers of you will see that Curtis Allen has been performing up to his normal standards even though I said some hurtful things to him in the preseason. He has shut me up. He just keeps on performing. Many goals have been against lesser opponents, but he still performs even against some bigger teams.

Michael Duffy - He's starting to grow on me as a favourite. Performs really well in all the matches he's played in.

Jordan Williams - Our best defender by a long shot. Just look at those ratings!

Carl Long - Much better in the league than he is in Europe, but honestly his performance in the league is insane.

 

Transfers

 

 

Mikko was sold for the sole reason of me wanting to feel what it was like to sell a player. I've missed the feeling. But we sold him for almost what he got him in for and also added a 20% of profit clause to the fee.

Chris O'Neill - Now I'm happy with the transfer as we get one of the young N. Irish superstars of the league, but I feel stupid as I should have given Glenavon more money. I have to pump money into the other clubs to speeden up their change into pro clubs.

[thehazeofspades]

 

Glentoran 2020/2021 Youth Intake

 

 

Only one player? Sigh...

 

Derek Buckley - But what's this? He's absolutely brilliant? I'll take one of these every intake please. I really like the looks of him and he will play in the first team next season.

[thehazeofspades]

 

Glentoran 2020/2021 End of Season Update

 

League Position and Fixtures

 

New record points total and a quintuple. First win in Europe. Pretty good season if you ask me. Shame that we'll have a weak team in Europe in Dungannon, so here's hoping Crusaders and Coleraine can do something.

 

Squad and Key Players' Profiles

 

 

Michael Duffy - Yup, definitely grown on me. Northern Irish, plus a great personality for tutoring, and he doesn't demand that much money? Brilliant.

Carl Long - He shouldn't be this good. He shouldn't perform the way he does. But he finds a way to score goals from the winger position which is key to my formation, which is why he won't be replaced soon. (I'll edit this part later once the inevitable summer recruits end up having a winger).

Jordan Williams - An absolute steal for 40k, and he has become a leader from the back. (Also the name of my first porno movie).

 

Transfers

 

 

Gary McDonald - Kicked on late in the season, but still not playing to his full capabilities in my opinion. Still, we give our players two seasons to prove themselves, and we'll see what he does next season.

Levi Ives - Good defensively, but not too much assists wise. Still, I can't argue with that rating.

Steven Teggart - Shhhh....

Juanjo Rodriguez - Really good. Led the team in assists and was a passing monster. The only way is up for this lad.

Chris O'Neill - Got injured almost right after he signed with us and was sidelined for three months, but I think he'll do well next season. More than a gaol every two games ratio and he's taking number two spot next season. (Sorry Curtis bby i luv u)

 

Northern Irish Clubs in Europe

Garbage again as all teams lost at the first hurdle. Linfield to Anorthosi (CYP) 4-0, Cliftonville to Grbalj (MON) 4-1 and Crusaders to Viking (NOR) 6-2. Remember when I said last season I was glad that all these 'good' teams made it to Europe? Boy was I wrong. Honestly I don't know what to expect from this bunch anymore.

 

Finances

I may have gone a bit overload with the facilities improvement...but still we have European money coming in and I'll ease off a bit on the improvements (unless they get scrapped which is a possibility).

 

Plans For Next Season

Try and get that elusive unbeaten season, and heal our financial hemorrhage with Champions League football.

[thehazeofspades]

Hey guys, I want your input on something here. Seeing as this save isn't as challenging as some other saves on this site, I wanted to know if you guys want me to continue this, or maybe try something different. I was thinking of the dafuge save but in Wales seeing as there's less money and it'll be a challenge dethroning TNS as they're the only professional team in the league, and it would be more challenging than this save. Thoughts?

[Number seven]

Keep going make the Ulsters great in Europe!

[thehazeofspades]

3 hours ago, Number seven said:

Keep going make the Ulsters great in Europe!

Honestly, you're comment has kept me going and spurred me on. Cheers man!

[Makoto Nakamura]

Agreed, keep going and take Glentoran as far as you can and if you get bored of managing Glentoran? Then take over another club in the league and topple Glentorans domination

[thehazeofspades]

 

Glentoran 2021/2022 European Qualification

 

 

Not quite sure what we've done to make the league increase, but I'm not complaining. Shamrock Rovers up first.

 

Don't let the scoreline fool you, this was routine if not for some sloppiness here and there. Unfortunately our luck of the draw ran out here, and we got drawn with Celtic. Yikes.

 

What.

The.

****.

 

Honestly, after our first match, I had my hopes up. A 1 goal difference with an away goal meant that we had to shut up shop and only score once. I said sod that and went with my attacking formation, because I knew we wouldn't be able to keep them at bay for 90 minutes. But this, 4 goals scored and none conceded, I did not expect. Guaranteed European football is good, but once you black, you don't go back, which is why the aim is CL.

(Black being our finances. It's funny guys)

So as expected we were drawn against the strongest possible team in Olympiakos. Yay.

 

 

It was written in the stars lads. Absolutely pooped on for the two matches, with 55 shots for them over the two legs, yet we keep them to two goals, and then win the match 7-6 on penalties? You couldn't make this up (which is why I'm copyrighting the script to it). Absolutely immense, from Angus Vahid our rock in the park, to Juanjo Rodrigues our creative outlet, to Gary McDonald our goalscorer (who still hasn't hit top form in my opinion).

 

 

Barcelona are coming to Northern Ireland!

(This is me trying to ignore how horrible this group is)

And here's how everything has been going so far

And our finances are healthy again! Time to spend it all away!

[thehazeofspades]

18 minutes ago, Makoto Nakamura said:

Agreed, keep going and take Glentoran as far as you can and if you get bored of managing Glentoran? Then take over another club in the league and topple Glentorans domination

Honestly, I was reading Dafuge's Welsh story and this idea occurred to me. Need to get Glentoran to the top first!

Also, love all your projects on here Makoto, you're a genius

[Number seven]

5 hours ago, thehazeofspades said:

Honestly, you're comment has kept me going and spurred me on. Cheers man!

You're welcome!

[thehazeofspades]

 

Honestly, this is just silly.

[thehazeofspades]

wut.

[thehazeofspades]

 

Glentoran 2021/2022 Half Season Update

 

League Position and Fixtures

 

 

No quintuple this season as we lost the County Antrim Shield Final, but it was alright as it was due to all the international call ups and our youth team still isn't deep enough to cover for us. Really disappointed to see Cliftonville and Crusaders so down low in the league, but honestly the league is so tight anything could happen from now till the end of the season.

Oh and we beat Barcelona. Our first win in the Europe, and it's against ****ing Barcelona.

 

Squad and Key Players' Profiles

 

 

Juanjo Rodriguez - A personal favourite of mine, and signed a new deal to keep him with us long term, he has been a bastion of creativity, whether that be through his goals or assists.

Andre Atah - Yes his rating has been mainly due to his domestic play, but he has been absolutely immense domestically and has matured greatly. Look at all those assists!

Stevie McConkey - A youth product from four seasons ago (which has made think of now starting to tag my youth players beginning from this intake), Stevie has been my favourite player of the season so far.

 

Transfers

 

So we signed no one in the summer, and two players in the winter window. We sold two players for very cheap fees, but they wouldn't sign contracts and I made sure to add 10% future sale clauses in both so that should help a bit.

Will Grigg - I mean, he's Will Grigg. I couldn't not sign him. He'd torch me.

Lewis Rhys Thomas - With Calum Birney leaving a the end of the season due to his desire for a new challenge, we needed a centreback, and I wasn't too happy with Seamus Dunne's performances this season so Lewis comes in as our new partner for Jordan Williams.

 

Finances

So I improved our youth and training facilities, and we're in the process of improving our training facilities once again. It's almost like I didn't learn from last season.

[Number seven]

Congrats with the CL win!

[thehazeofspades]

7 hours ago, Number seven said:

Congrats with the CL win!

Thanks seven! Honestly I was so shocked I couldn't believe my eyes. Proof that Barcelona can't do it on a cold wet rainy night in Belfast  

[thehazeofspades]

 

Glentoran 2021/2022 Youth Intake

 

 

If I can get one really good player and maybe a depth player here and there annually I wouldn't be disappointed.

 

Conor Ferris (YP22A) - He looks absolutely brilliant. Might give him a few matches before the season ends just to up his potential quickly.

Tom Wells (YP22B) - Aaaaaand we're back to goalkeepers again.

Gavin Spillane (YP22C) - Depth for the youth team and to see if with tutoring he can improve.

[thehazeofspades]

 

Glentoran 2021/2022 End of Season Update

 

League Position and Fixtures

 

 

Records points total and goals scored. Not bad. 'Only' a quadruple, but not too worried about that. A real shame that we have 2 new teams going into Europe as it's unlikely they'll gather wins, here's hoping Linfield turn pro or a tycoon comes or anything. I'm doing the rain dance at this point.

 

Squad and Key Players' Profiles

 

 

Andre Atah - A new assists record in the league, and will keep this starting spot for one or two more years till we get a significant upgrade.

Juanjo Rodriguez - Another injury cut down his playing time, but the rating speaks for itself.

Chris O'Neill - Not the best average rating, but our starting striker scored an immense amount of goals, and won N. Irish PoTY, but Will Grigg is just too hot for him.

 

Transfers

 

 

Will Grigg - Blistering hot form, and others in the league couldn't extinguish him. will be our starting striker next season, looking forward for him to scorch defenders. Fire.

Lewis Rhys Thomas - Performed really, really well, but we'll need to see in Europe next season if that was due to the league or due to him being a brilliant player.

 

Northern Irish Teams in Europe

All teams lost in the 1st EL Qual. Round. Coleraine lost to AIK (SWE) 8-0, Dungannon lost to Shakhter Soligorsk (BEL) 5-2 and Crusadrers lost to IFK Goteborg (SWE) 5-1. Every season all the teams lose in the 1st round I'll write #Garbage without giving my comment on the subject.

 

Finances

 

Hehehe whoops.

 

Plans for Next Season

CL groups, raise coefficient. We are 8 spots and and 8 points behind Bulgaria (who get 2 teams in the EL 1st Qual. Round, but then one in the 2nd), and that is our goal for now. Maybe a bit of a break on facilities just to build up our finances.

 

[thehazeofspades]

 

Glentoran 2022/2023 European Qualification

 

 

Just confirming what was said earlier about the league moving up, but we'll probably need 3-4 seasons to move up to where we want to, or get help from another team in the league. 3-4 seasons it is then. Saint Julia of Andorra were up first.

 

 

Easy. And we're off to Finland.

 

 

That was easier than the scoreline suggests. We had some difficult potential opponents, but lucked out with Malmo.

 

 

Rather comfortable in the end, surprising how well a team can do when the striker starts scoring.

 

 

Maybe a point off CSKA Moscow? I don't know, we could go without a win here.

And here's how everything else has gone.

 

Squad

 

 

Andre Atah has been ridiculously good. Like check this man's urine for performance enhancers good. Him and Juanjo Rodriguez make a formidable attacking pair. And the surprise is Sammy McCaw, who has been extremely solid in the time when Craig Storey has been injured.

 

Transfers

 

Billy Dillon - A good little free transfer, I rate him much higher than my assistant does.

Peter Coulson - I found last season that Michael Anderson was struggling slightly in the bigger games, so I've bought in Peter to be a reliever. "You could've brought someone in on loan though right?" Shut up I'm the manager here.

Craig Storey - He joins us after 4 seasons on loan, proceeds to get injured. #JustGlentoranThings

Niklas Hult - We needed a left winger as Michael Duffy is too injury prone as is our only natural left winger in the squad. "If it's such an important position why did you loan someone here but buy a goalkeeper earlier?" Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

Finances

 

 

I swear I'll try to take care of it. Promise.

[thehazeofspades]

International Management

 

 

The eagle eyed of you would have noticed that I am now co-managing Mexico with Glentoran. Truth is I love me some international management, but the Norhtern Ireland job does not look like it'll free up anytime soon. So Mexico came calling for me after their abysmal world cup, where they came last in a group with England, Nigeria and Australia. Oh dear. After taking the job, I realise why. The national pool is incredibly unbalanced, with far too many ageing oldies, and far too many unproven youngsters. FM legend Carlos Fierro and Zhane Uscanga stand out. Our first match was hopefully an indicator of things to come.

The plan is to stick it out with Mexico for two or four years (no longer than one world cup) and hope the N. Ireland job frees up. I'll be giving Mexico separate updates.

[thehazeofspades]

 

Glentoran 2022/2023 Half Season Update

 

League Position and Fixtures

 

 

Well the unbeaten season is off. Cliftonville made a ridiculous start to the season, but have tailed off since disappointingly. We got a respectable 4 points from the group, due to a late, late draw against CSKA away. Post winter European football!

So who did we get? A weak Europa League team? One of the many struggling Champions League teams? Oh....only Atletico Madrid, who have gotten to at least the CL quarter final every year since the save has started. Brilliant.

 

Squad and Key Players' Profiles

 

 

Andre Atah - He just keeps on going. Domestically and in Europe, he has been a very good player for us and a huge threat on the wing as he leads the team in assists (again), and is on the way to a new record hopefully. I just hope Cameroon loses in the African Cup of Nations as we need him back for Europe to have a shot at Atletico Madrid.

Juanjo Rodriguez - Again really good, again gets injured; Juanjo Rodriguez, our passing mastermind. Bit of a worry as he has been kicking up a fuss about leaving to Real Zaragoza, but we have him on a long term deal and we'll wait till he calms down to renew.

Michael Duffy - What's this? Michael arises from the dead, as he's been having a terrific season, leading the goalscoring charts and second in assists. He may have earned himself a new contract with his play this season. The Adebayor of Northern Ireland?

 

Transfers

 

 

So I'll address the elephant in the room. Dereck Buckley leaves to Arsenal. A good deal in my opinion, as he wanted to better himself and Arsenal would give him that opportunity. We sold him for 350k, and we get another 150k if he plays in 1 international match, which is surefire because he has been called up to the team a couple of times now, and it's only a matter of time till he plays for one of Ireland or Northern Ireland. 600k for a player valued at 66k is decent in my opinion. His value has also shot up, and I stupidly forgot to put in a percentage of next deal clause, but we did manage to loan him back till the end of the season, so swings and roundabouts really. This indicates the begin of Bang for Your Buckley, a series where we document Buckley's development.

Heldon - Brought in for cover, in case Andre Atah stays too long in the African Championships.

Stuart Mahon - Will Grigg got a nasty injury that will keep him out for 2 months, so Stuart comes in as backup for Chris O'Neill.

 

Finances

 

Still in the black. For now.

[thehazeofspades]

 

Glentoran 2022/2023 Youth Intake

 

 

A repeat of one good player and depth players elsewhere.

John Waters - How you can be 196cm and have 6 heading is beyond me, but Johnny boy has very good physicals and mentals for his age, and needs a little work on his tackling and heading, which shouldn't be an issue seeing his good personality.

Michael Long - I like his stats and I think he has the potential to be more than just depth, maybe a future rotational player.

Sean Curtis - Yeah, this is just a depth player.

 

 

So, so close to a historic win. But I cannot fault the lads at all. To keep it at 3-2 is immense and deserves a lot of respect.

[thehazeofspades]

 

Glentoran 2022/2023 End of Season Update

 

League Position and Fixtures

 

 

Not as good as last season (although we did get a quntiuple), but Linfield and Cliftonville in the European places is very encouraging. PLEASE TURN PRO I BEG. Also Ballinamallard are the only team not us to win a match in Europe last season, so I'd like to see what they'd do this season.

 

Squad and Key Players' Profiles

 

 

Andre Atah - He's brilliant. Reliable domestically and in Europe, has really made that right winger spot his own

Michael Duffy - Ok, so maybe he isn't the best player we have (as seen with his European average rating), but he did really well to come back from a long term injury to perform wonderfully in the league, winning an award. Also, I'll probably not sell him cuz he humble and loyal.

Sammy McCaw - He shouldn't be this good. But he is a bastion of defensive solidity and chips in with assists.

Bang for Your Buckley

Didn't play as much as Juanjo Rodriguez surprisingly didn't get injured long term, but obviously I will try to get him on loan next season as well hopefully.

 

Transfers

 

 

Billy Dillon - A solid season. Dependable and reliable but no more. If he follows the trend, will be a great player next season.

Paul Coulson - Hmmm. I'm not 100% set on him, but it's more of the case of I can't seem to find anyone better that I can afford.

Craig Storey - That awkward moment when you're signed from Man. United and the player you're competing against gets mentioned as a key player...

Niklas Hult - Very dependable. Came in to compete for that left winger spot, and did a decent job.

Stuart Mahon - Lucky for us, he did a job. Unlucky for him, Will Grigg wasn't out for too long.

Heldon - Read above, but replace Will Grigg with Andre Atah.

 

Northern Irish Team in Europe

Ballymena United lost in the EL 1st Qual. Round to Dila (GEO) 2-1 and 1-4, 3-5 on aggregate, Linfield lost in the same round to Dundalk (IRE) 1-1 and 1-2, 1-3 on aggregate. But Ballinamallard United beat Avenir Beggen (LUX, sorry @Ceching You Out ) 3-0 and 1-0, 4-0 on aggregate, before losing in the second round to Hearts (SCO) 1-3 and 0-4, 1-7 on aggregate. Not bad, three wins and a draw will help the coefficient.

 

Finances

 

 

 

I have a problem.

[thehazeofspades]

 

Mexico Watch

 

So I started off (the real matches, not the friendlies) finding out we've been invited to the Copa America, but only with the U23 team. (To my knowledge in the last Copa America Mexico took the B side?) But it wasn't a problem, as many of our players were below 23 anyway, so we could take a strong team to the tournament. I was wrong. We had only 1 central midfielder that was rated in gold stars, and only three centre backs in total, one of was a defensive midfielder who could play there. My high expectations of the tournament were crushed as soon as I pressed confirm squad. And then we were drawn in a group with Brazil, Bolivia and Venezuela. Brazil first, so the hard match out the way.

 

Well...at least we scored? I don't know, trying to find any positives here. Literally anything. Whatever, next match.

 

 

There we go, that's better. A good performance and result, and puts us in a good position to qualify from our group.

 

 

Ummmm, ignore the result and look at the statistics. Not good, and definitely does not breed confidence to us going into the knockout rounds. Of which we drew Chile, who came second in their group with Argentina. Blimey.

 

 

Double blimey. Trashed. Not as bad as the Brazil game, but still. Can't fault a country with no youth players being produced.

 

So more importantly, we got off to the Gold Cup. Hosted in the US, this was a great chance to rain on their parade and celebrate a win in their home country. BUT the stupid Copa America meant that a lot of our players were in that tournament, and even though it ended before the Gold Cup, the registration period was during it. So we were without A LOT of key players (including our two main goalkeepers) so again, all optimism I had was quickly shut down. But the group wasn't bad as we avoided the likes of Canada and Jamaica.

 

 

Well that's all the optimism gone. For ****'s sake. Absolutely dominated them but couldn't find a win. I guess that's what happens when you only have 3 of your starting front 6. Bollocks.

 

 

Better. The performance is very similar to the Trinidad match, but the finishing was better here, and that was the difference. 

 

 

A sold defensive display, nullifying them to two shots and none on target, and we qualify to the next round, where we face Honduras.

 

 

Even better than the El Salvador match. The team has really started to gel and take to my tactics, and yes even though we should be beating these teams, the performance is pleasing. I feel up again.

 

 

Five star indeed. We absolutely trashed one of the North American 'B' sides (no offence Jamaicans) and could possibly be the best performance in my short Mexican reign. Shock horror, the final would be played against USA. Let's do this boys.

 

 

Haha. Hahahahaha. I wouldn't say we didn't deserve this, but we were slightly second best on the day. But still, history remembers the winners, so America who? Missing my two main keepers, lots of attacking midfielders, a few fullbacks and we still managed to win this. Manager of the year please.

 

So I wasn't planning to stay on with Mexico beyond this, especially after the whole registration fiasco, but with the Gold Cup win, and the Northern Ireland job being stable, there's no need for me to quit the Mexico job yet, and I'd like to go through the World Cup Qualifiers.

[thehazeofspades]

 

Glentoran 2023/2024 European Qualification

 

 

So before anything, I'd like to dedicate this paragraph to Curtis Allen. He decided to retire at the end of last season, due to injuries and ability deterioration, but that shouldn't bring down his accomplishments. Record league goal scorer for us, most goals in a season and an all round incredible record for us. What is worse is that his preferred staff role is a head of youth development, and he's a pretty bad one as well. I tried offering him a coaching job and giving him all the money I can but he just wouldn't accept. My hopes are that maybe he takes a manager role somewhere, and I wouldn't mind hiring him as my assistant. But for now, goodnight sweet prince.

 

 

 

 

So progress is being made here. 6 spots away from Bulgaria, and that is the short term goal for now, with the hopes that the money gained from making the second round of the Europa League will turn one of the teams in the league pro. With that in mind, we drew the Latvian champions Skonto first.

 

 

Stinking Skonto. FM dad puns. Brilliant. Aktobe of Kazakhstan next.

 

 

Yes we won, but a disappointing first leg. Every win we throw away is coefficient points thrown away, and when you're the only club gaining these points, a draw is a big missed opportunity. Especially against a weaker opponent and in a match we played so well in. Regardless, we were drawn against Olympiakos. Again.

 

 

So that's twice we've faced Olympiakos, and twice we've beat them on away goals. They might be sick to death of us by now.

 

 

Possibly a point or two off PSV, but I don't see anything else but that. Unlikely to have post-Christmas football with this group.

And our fixtures to this point.

 

Squad

 

 

Chris O'Neill taking the goalscoring torch, Andre Atah leading the assists charts, Lewis Rhys Thomas and Jordan Williams being a solid pair. All is well in Belfast.

 

Transfers

 

 

Will Grigg asked to leave, and when he returned from his injury last season, he just wasn't the same player. We didn't sign any players from the first team, as all the players we have are rotational players. A very tough window for me as I couldn't find/afford any first team players.

Jahmali Williamson - We managed to finally sign him permanently after his contract ran out, and he will play his fair share of games whether that be at right einger or left.

Ricardo Flores - Left winger depth was needed.

Tony Malcolm - Central midfielder depth was needed.

Nathan Nicol - Can play as a centre back or as a ball winning midfielder, but I had the next few years in mind with this deal, and hopefully he improves as well as I think he will.

Bertrand Alloum - Right winger depth was needed.

 

Finances

 

 

Okay, so I will be taking a break from improving our facilities for at least a season, as our yearly cycle of getting European money and hen spending it all way isn't sustainable, as we end up with no transfer or wage budget. A season to build up our war chest will do us good.

[pheelf]

A fellow Northern Irish challenger....you've done great so far and have really locked down that yearly Champions League group stage appearance which is going to become very important in trying to progress further.

I have a couple of questions to ask

Firstly, what are your attendances like after nearly a decade?

Secondly, how are you posting the images as I want to look at them properly but they are appearing a bit blurry for some reason.

This is a very good read so far though...am a bit surprised that neither Linfield nor Cliftonville haven't turned pro yet though

[thehazeofspades]

17 minutes ago, pheelf said:

A fellow Northern Irish challenger....you've done great so far and have really locked down that yearly Champions League group stage appearance which is going to become very important in trying to progress further.

I have a couple of questions to ask

Firstly, what are your attendances like after nearly a decade?

Secondly, how are you posting the images as I want to look at them properly but they are appearing a bit blurry for some reason.

This is a very good read so far though...am a bit surprised that neither Linfield nor Cliftonville haven't turned pro yet though

I've been doing Northern Ireland for a few of the past FM's now, but you and Dafuge are what motivated me to write up a career update on here!

Attendance in the league averages between 4500-5500, which is about 55-60% of our stadium's capacity, and we have 1500 season ticket holders this season. In Europe we play in Linfield's Windsor Park, and we sell that out from every game bar the second and third qualifying round of the Champions league. So 11,862 there.

Images I post on to Imgur, and then when you click on a picture on the bottom right there are options saying small thumbnail, medium thumbnail etc. I pick large thumbnail as that suited me the most.

The pro status is disappointing to be honest, as that's when the league really starts kicking on reputation wise and European coefficients wise.

[pheelf]

1 hour ago, thehazeofspades said:

I've been doing Northern Ireland for a few of the past FM's now, but you and Dafuge are what motivated me to write up a career update on here!

Attendance in the league averages between 4500-5500, which is about 55-60% of our stadium's capacity, and we have 1500 season ticket holders this season. In Europe we play in Linfield's Windsor Park, and we sell that out from every game bar the second and third qualifying round of the Champions league. So 11,862 there.

Images I post on to Imgur, and then when you click on a picture on the bottom right there are options saying small thumbnail, medium thumbnail etc. I pick large thumbnail as that suited me the most.

The pro status is disappointing to be honest, as that's when the league really starts kicking on reputation wise and European coefficients wise.

Same here, ever since I saw a team with the name Chimney Corner in N. Ireland I've had my long term saves there but this is the first time I've written a career update also. I find it difficult to get into a save game when I already have an established club in a top league. I prefer to build and it gives more of a sense of satisfaction for me as I know that the only reason why the club is successful is down to me as opposed to managing a team which more than likely would be successful whether I was there or not.

That's pretty good growth for the attendances and season tickets, if you continue as you are it wouldn't surprise me if in 5 years or so you might be selling out the stadium regularly and need an expansion (or maybe even a new stadium named after you...that is if you are listed as legend).

As for the images, I'm not really sure what it is but when I click on the images to view them full size the size doesn't change. Do you resize the images when uploading?

Anyhow...good luck in the Champions League...maybe with a bit of luck you might be able to squeeze into 2nd...as you say much will depend on how you get on against PSV though

[thehazeofspades]

Yeah I think to really get to a stadium expansion or new stadium (odds on Goncalves Arena?), we need the reputation boost from getting to the European knockouts to fill up our attendance.

As for images, take a look at this:

 

I upload the picture normally, and then go to my uploaded pictures and click on a picture and this comes up. I then select large thumbnail, and then copy it from the direct link tab.

[pheelf]

18 minutes ago, thehazeofspades said:

Yeah I think to really get to a stadium expansion or new stadium (odds on Goncalves Arena?), we need the reputation boost from getting to the European knockouts to fill up our attendance.

As for images, take a look at this:

 

I upload the picture normally, and then go to my uploaded pictures and click on a picture and this comes up. I then select large thumbnail, and then copy it from the direct link tab.

I think the images are being distorted by resizing them which is strange because resizing shouldn't cause the images to blur like that (looks like a problem with imgur). Personally, I use postimg.org to upload images, if I want to resize I'd do that before I upload in Paint or some other photo editing software.

[thehazeofspades]

 

Quote

I think the images are being distorted by resizing them which is strange because resizing shouldn't cause the images to blur like that (looks like a problem with imgur). Personally, I use postimg.org to upload images, if I want to resize I'd do that before I upload in Paint or some other photo editing software.

 

 

 

 

I just use imgur due to its simplicity. Screenshot, upload, copy, paste. Voila.

[Ceching You Out]

On 8/13/2016 at 07:52, thehazeofspades said:

Northern Irish Team in Europe

Ballymena United lost in the EL 1st Qual. Round to Dila (GEO) 2-1 and 1-4, 3-5 on aggregate, Linfield lost in the same round to Dundalk (IRE) 1-1 and 1-2, 1-3 on aggregate. But Ballinamallard United beat Avenir Beggen (LUX, sorry @Ceching You Out ) 3-0 and 1-0, 4-0 on aggregate, before losing in the second round to Hearts (SCO) 1-3 and 0-4, 1-7 on aggregate. Not bad, three wins and a draw will help the coefficient.

 

Boooooooo! 

[thehazeofspades]

14 hours ago, Ceching You Out said:

Boooooooo! 

And if you read farther back, they seem to be the only team the other Northern Irish teams beat  

[thehazeofspades]

 

Glentoran 2023/2024 Half Season Update

 

League Position and Fixtures

 

 

No unbeaten season, but I do have my hopes for a new points record total. Good to see "big" teams occupying the spots below us from 2nd to 5th. Quintuple is still on the cards. Europe was disappointing, but it was a difficult group and we came close in a few matches. Hopefully we can do better with an easier draw next year (doubt that will happen...)

 

Squad and Key Players' Profiles

 

 

Andre Atah - Nothing new needs to be said here.

Chris O'Neill - Now he doesn't get goals in European matches (to be fair I played him in the group stages where the team performed badly), and he scores his goals in bunches, but he sure does score a lot of goals. 32 goals in 26(17) appearances is no small feat, and I will be keeping him as a backup/domestic striker for the long run as I feel he could definitely destroy the clubs goalscoring record.

Billy Dillon - Consistent, and I like his contribution from the deep lying playmaker spot.

 

Transfers

 

 

Paul Coulson was moaning and wanted ridiculous money for someone who isn't that good, so I thought to cash in on him instead of waiting for his contract to run out. (6k isn't cashing in I know).

John Waters was different. Celtic came in with a 6k bid, so I decided to multiply it by 10 and they said they were fine with 66k, so I added a 10% profit of future sale clause, as I doubt he'll be any good, but just in case he does we'll get a fee from it. This adds the What's in the Murky Waters segment of Player Watch.

 

Player Watch

Bang for Your Buckley - I've been playing him a lot for a loanee because he has a special spot in my heart. He's performed well, but I don't thin I'll be getting him in next year as he's been slowing down the development of other youth prospects.

What's in the Murky Waters? - I just don't see the fuss over him. He's had a year of training and his heading is still at 6 (even though I put him on a special heading training regime), which is something I value very much for my defenders. Still, maybe it was our facilities that were stalling him, and I'll keep an eye out for him to see if he improves.

 

Finances

 

Ridiculous. This much of a loss across a half of a season without me improving any facilities. We weren't able to sign any players this summer, struggled to do anything for pre contract arrangements in the winter, and I doubt we'll be able to play around with money next summer. We might need an off year from transfers and loans, and trim down the squad a little bit and depend more on youth players.

[thehazeofspades]

 

Glentoran 2023/2024 Youth Intake

 

 

Only 3 players signed from this bunch, it might be time for a change of HoYD.

 

Chris Craig (YP24A) - The best player from this intake and it's clear to see why. I still don't know what it is with us and defenders with bad heading.

Paulao (YP24B) - Did I sign him just because he's Brazilian? Pfftt, what no...

Mark Rice (YP24C) - I actually like his attributes and I rate him higher than my assistant does.

[thehazeofspades]

 

Glentoran 2023/2024 End of Season Update

 

League Position and Fixtures

 

 

Quntiuple and record points and goals scored. Good to see Portadown and Linfield in Europe, but I would have rather had Cliftonville than Crusaders.

 

Squad and Key Players' Profiles

 

 

Andre Atah - He's ridiculous and a record breaker.

Chris O'Neill - He was very close to beating Curtis Allen's 53 goals in a season record, but he got an injury in the last period of the season and ended up 2 goals short. Not a bad season for him though.

Lewis Rhys Thomas - A solid defender who adds 10 gals and 10 assists? Please and thank you.

 

Transfers

 

 

Jahmali Williamson - Very solid as a backup, and I can trust him as a backup for both winger spots in case of an injury crisis.

Ricardo Flores - Not much playing time but he did do well. If we can get him next season then very well but I doubt it as both him and his manager (who is Zinedine Zidane by the way...) are both unhappy with me.

Tony Malcolm - He's a very good player, but we didn't get too many injuries and I was more interested in playing our youngsters.

Nathan Nicol - I started playing him more halfway through the season as a centreback or as the defensive central midfielder and he did well.

Bertrand Alioum - Same as Tony Malcolm, a brilliant player but I was more involved in playing Atah and youngsters.

 

Player Watch

Bang for Your Buckley - A good season, but possibly his last season with us. Goodnight sweet prince, I'll miss you. Before he left.

What's in the Murky Waters? - His heading went up! A miracle! Before he left.

 

Northern Irish Clubs in Europe

Cliftonville lost in the EL 1st Qual. Round to Debrecen (HUN) 1-4 and 0-1, 1-5 on aggregate and so did Ballinamallard United to Stromsgodset (NOR) 0-4 and 0-3, 0-7 on aggregate. But Linfield beat the only team we seem to be able to beat in Avenir Beggen (LUX) 4-0 and 1-0, 5-0 on aggregate, before losing 0-1 twice to Brondby (DEN) in the 2nd round.

 

Finances

 

 

[thehazeofspades]

 

Mexico Watch

 

So starting off with the Olympics, that I decided to take control of, we had to go through qualifying first. We pooped on everyone bar a hiccup against Costa Rica to secure a spot in the Olympics. Encouraging.

 We were drawn in a group with Nigeria, Belgium and Iran, so I expected to qualify either as group winners or runners up. 

 

Not bad at all. We destroyed Nigeria (presumably because there isn't a fake birth certificates option), before gaining a respectable draw against Belgium by the skin of our teeth, and our backups (or whatever backups you can have with an 18 man squad) did well against Iran.

 

Past Cameroon, who had Atah playing, so this was a double win as I got him back sooner.

 

And we got absolutely shat on here. The players were exhausted, and I remembered why I hate playing Olympic football on this game. How my opponents manage to have players at around 90% conditioning and my players are barely getting to 80% is ridiculous. Third place match up next.

 

 

**** off.

 

Back to the main squad, and I don't understand why we randomly and spontaneously struggle against some teams, as evident by our loss to Jamaica in qualifying. Obviously I still back us to go on and qualify, but this is silly.

[thehazeofspades]

 

Glentoran European Qualification 2024/2025

 

So close to that Bulgaria place which would give us a team in the 2nd EL Qualifying Round. That would be bad for the coefficient as I'm sure that team would lose horrifically in the round, but maybe the money would help the team turn pro. Fingers crossed. 

To us, we drew TNS of Wales first.

 

 

I mean, a win is a win, but I feel that we really should be beating TNS by more than 2 goals. Oh well, Hungarian champs Videoton up next.

 

 

If someone could explain how we can score more goals against the Hungarian champions than we can against the Welsh champions, that would be great. We did get a nightmare draw though, against Celtic, the strongest team we could have faced, a team who has defeated us comfortably in the past 4 meetings. Great.

 

 

I have no clue how we did this, as we absolutely robbed that second leg. Helped by Edson Guerra, someone in my Mexican team, who I definitely did not bribe at all by promising him more Mexican gametime. Nope, not me.

 

Ridiculous.

Here's how everything else has been going.

 

Squad

 

 

Transfers

 

 

Craig Storey was complaining about game time, and for some reason all of my players' values has shot up crazily. He was valued at 300k, and for someone who is no longer young at 25, there was no need to hold on to him and we cashed in on him.

 

John Burns - And the search for a goalkeeper who can hold the position for a good amount of years continues.

Mark Millar - Bought in on loan to provide competition/rotation with Sammy McCaw at that right back position.

 

Finances

 

 

PLEASE CAN WE ****ING HOLD ON TO THIS FOR AT LEAST ONE SEASON.

[thehazeofspades]

Hey guys, I just started an internship thing at a clinic, and I;m working loads of hours, so updates will be very slow for a long while. Sorry about that.

[thehazeofspades]

 

Glentoran 2024/2025 Half Season Update

 

League Position and Fixtures

 

 

Trying for the undefeated season once more. I like Portadown as a club, but it's disheartening to find Linfield and Cliftonville so low down. Crusaders were taken over by a consortium, so there's a chance they turn professional. Europe was a heartbreak, as we were so close to a Europa League berth, but lost on the final day to Dortmund. 

 

Squad and Key Players' Profiles

 

 

Juanjo Rodriguez - Remains a great player for us, and our leader in assists. Will look to renew his contract at the end of the season.

Chris O'Neill - Has been involved in 59 goals (39 goals and 20 assists) in 44 games. That's stupid ridiculous.

Billy Dillon - A jack of all trades, master of none role for Billy boy. Good goals, assists, dribbles, passing percentage and tackles, but is not the leader in any of them. I'll take that gladly.

 

Transfers

 

 

Angus Vahid came to me wanting to move on to bigger things (also what my ex said), and seeing as he was in the way of other younger prospects who could do a good job, I offered him out and West Brom came in with a non-negotiable 550k which I accepted, but regretted it as his value shot up to 5 million. Bollocks.

John Burns - My assistant doesn't rate him, but I really like him, and his rating doesn't lie. Won't upgrade this position unless I find an absolute star.

Mark Millar - He's done very well, and seeing as I can't find any right backs I can afford. He'll probably be here next year.

 

Player Watch

Bang For Your Buckley - Surprise surprise, hasn't played for Arsenal (bar one sub appearance), but his attributes have improved, especially his mentals. Derek Buckley at leave.

What's in the Murky Waters? - Unlike Derek, John has actually played (although he's been very average). But his attributes have also improved, with the most notable improvement in the mental side of his game. I feel that says a lot about the schools in Northern Ireland. John Waters at leave.

 

Finances

 

 

I haven't spent anything on upgrades, in the hope that we'll have some ****ing money in the summer and I can offer players more than 5k a week.

[thehazeofspades]

 

Glentoran 2024/2025 Youth Intake

 

 

I was trying to find a new HoYD, but there weren't any out there that we coudl afford/looked better than what we have, and at first view, this intake looked disappointing. But after reading @Jimbokav1971's posts about youth (my go to source for youth development knowledge), I decided to take matters in my own hand, and judge the players myself. With that, I ended up signing 6 players.

Gareth Boyd YP25A - Allegedly best of the bunch, and a gorgeous double chin to go with it.

Stephen Gallagher YP25B - Horrible personality, but I do like his base starting attributes so we'll tutor him and work on it.

Ryan Youle YP25C - He can't do much, but he can tackle for sure. Odds on him injuring someone in the candidate game?

Tony Patterson YP25D - We have a history with producing attacking midfielders, and Tony isn't our best to come in the position, but I like his attributes and he can possibly do a job.

Peter Farmer YP25E - My personal favourite player from the intake, I feel he has god base technical attributes that we can work on and central defense is the role we have the best tutors in.

Graeme Murray YP25F  - Another defender and I also like the looks of him ands will work with him extensively. I straight up favour defenders because I like them more.

[thehazeofspades]

 

Glentoran 2024/2025 End Of Season Update

 

League Position and Fixtures

 

 

Unbeaten season again, with a new record points and record goals total. I actually don't want this to happen, as I want other teams to strengthen. The domestic season itself was a disaster, as we have anew team in Europe next year (Knockbreda), and a team from the second division who got to the final also getting to Europe after getting to the cup final (Newington Youth). Balls.

 

Squad and Key Players' Profiles

 

 

Chris O'Neill - A new contender for the "Curtis Allen" award. Two awards for Chris, top goalscorer, and a broken record (yes I played him a lot for it). He'll remain as my striker for domestic competitions and my backup player for a long time. Somehow is still only favoured personnel. Bought for 625 pounds, he scored 65 goals this year.

Juanjo Rodriguez - And a broken record in assists as well, as Juanjo was very deadly with his passing this year (also aided by the fact he didn't get injured as much). It irks me that he isn't even considered favoured personnel, after being here for 5 seasons and being one of our best players each of those seasons.

Billy Dillon - There were awards all round for our golden trio, as Billy was being an everything player, mixing goals, assists and defending all into one.

 

Transfers

 

 

John Burns - I like him, but wouldn't be opposed to an upgrade in this position.

Mark Millar - There's a very high chance I'm signing him again next season.

 

Player Watch

Bang For Your Buckley - Derek played one league match for Arsenal, but his attributes have been on a very steady rise since departing us. Hopefully we'll be in a healthy financial position to sing him up when he inevitably runs out his contract due to Arsenal not playing him often. Derek Buckley at leave.

What's in the Murky Waters? - John actually played 13 games for Celtic, posting a respectable 6.90 AR for an 18 year old. His attributes have also been improving significantly, I HOPE THESE TWO DON'T FORGET THEIR ORIGINS. John Waters at leave.

 

Northern Irish Clubs in Europe

Portadown lost in the 1st EL Qual. Round to Split (CRO) 2-3 and 0-4, 2-7 on aggregate, and Crusaders lost in the same round to Apollon (CYP) 0-4 and 2-3, 2-7 on aggregate. Linfield got to the 2nd round after dispatching Avennir Beggen (LUX) 3-0 and 2-0, 5-0 on aggregate, but lost to AA Gent of Belgium 0-4 and 0-4, 0-8 on aggregate.

 

Finances

 

 

Now I'm not too sure, but I think this is the first time we've had this much money at the end of the season. Hopefully I'll be able to sign some bloody players and we can finally be a financially healthy club that doesn't go into the red at the end of each season.

[thehazeofspades]

 

Glentoran 2025/2026 European Qualification

 

 

Ever so close to an extra spot, I'd really like a good European run with maybe a couple of wins in the group stages. If we were in a better financial state, I'd 'tank' the season and go for the Europa League group stage where we'd have a better shot at winning I think. But we had a new team to face, Shkendija from Macedonia.

 

 

Easy. Skonto next.

 

 

Never really had to get out of first gear for either of these matches. Drawn against Dinamo, I'll get revenge for all the Sanmarinese/Luxemburger youth challenges out there.

 

 

Wow. A dominating performance, and this should give us a chance if we get a good third seed in or group.

 

 

..Which is exactly what we got. I really really want to get a double against Anderlecht. Like REALLY bad.

And the usual roundup of our fixtures.

 

Squad

 

 

Transfers

 

 

So I'll address the elephant sized transfer in the room. Lewis Rhys Thomas asked for a transfer, and I said bollocks I'll put him up for big money and lo and behold, QPR came in for the amount. Add to that that I also put in a 10% future transfer fee clause, and I'd call this a good deal.

 

Mitchell Cathalina - A class striker, and I have a good problem on my hands in seeing who to play between him and Chris O'Neill.

Gabrielle Mongrevo - I rate him better than my assistant does, but what do I know. Will be backup to Andre Atah.

Steve Sims - Needed for centreback depth.

Max Carroll - Needed for left wing depth.

 

Finances

 

 

It'll do for now.

 

[thehazeofspades]

 

As soon as I finished the previous update and pressed continue, Celtic came in with this offer. As well as a 20% profit of future transfer, and he's loaned back to us till the end of the season, this will do his development wonders.