thehazeofspades Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Yes, it's back. (Talking as if I had a huge following last year, but you must always expect dry humour from me as if it's my thing.) Last year I posted my adventures with Glentoran and taking them to the Champions League group stages until my laptop decided to be completely unable to handle FM anymore, so I've bought a new laptop now and FM17 with it. A quick introduction, on everything I'll do: Why Glentoran: Why not? Glentoran were one of the few teams where the game wouldn't be too easy to start off with (a-la Linfield/Cliftonville) and also one of the teams where I couldn't put an absolutely horrible pun in the title (a-la Crusaders in The Great Crusade, or Portadown in Porta-up). Also, for those who followed me last year, Curtis Allen is my love child (even though he's older than me.) What are your goals: Why anything a manager being hired in Northern Ireland dreams off: Winning the Champions League and eventually getting the Northern Ireland job to win the World Cup with a team that has a core made from the youth system of the club. Simple. NOT a youth save, as this is the first time I'm touching FM, so I'll probably be sacked and other shenanigans. Anything else of note: I like to make about three updates or such per year, and I tag youth players. If it seems that I'm 'copying' other users, it's probably me just using their posts as inspiration, as there are some layouts on here that I really like. So without further ado, let's do this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted January 30, 2017 Author Share Posted January 30, 2017 Glentoran 2016/2017 Introduction So a new save and a new team, led by Victor Goncalves, a Northern Irish-born Brazilian manager. Again I know this isn't the hardest way I could've begun the save, but I feel this is the point that would make this comfortable but not impossible for me, as I like to play my saves with my own tactics and not plug n play and such. Information No Wikipedia copy paste, but Glentoran were known as one of the big three of Northern Ireland with Linfield and Cliftonville (to my knowledge that is..) The first step is to return Glentoran to their glory and win the league that has some big hitters such as Cliftonville, record title holders Linfield and reigning champions Crusaders. If Portadown can survive this season and stay up (they have a 12 point deduction), they also usually turn to a formidable foe. Porta-up. (Last time I make that joke) Spoiler (No guarantees though) Squad A good base to start off with. As we can see, I'm quite sure we won't be depending on Nacho Novo, former Rangers and Sporting Gijon man. I've added many of the prospects from the reserve and youth teams to the first team to filter out who will be in my squad come the start of the season. Key Players Naco Novo happens to be the best player in the club, and (although I haven't looked) I'd say one of the top 5 players in the league. Although he's a striker, he'll be playing as right winger for us. Hopefully won't retire at the end of the season, although at 37 it's more likely that he will. Still, will try to tutor some players especially with his good personality. Curtis Allen. I honestly recommend anyone who doesn't understand my relationship with him to read bits of my posts from last year, as this man was amazing. Never complained, scored goals and broke the team record, always pulled us out of sticky situations, would take paycuts. A consumate professional by all means, hopefully I'll be as successful with him here. Calum Birney has some great starting attributes and is just 23, so he could be here for a loooong time. A great personality as well, which is something i look for, coupled with great physicals, so he is definitely great tutoring material. Marcus Kane will probably start as left back for us, even though he's more suited to being a midfielder in my opinion. Again, I seem to have inherited a team with great personalities, and all these players are being sent to tutor right away. Elliot Morris is our starting keeper, with great attributes but as with Nacho Novo he's old and hopefully we'll try to talk him out of retirement if it comes to that. Finances Not good, as that will drain out over the coruse of the season. European qualification is a must in my first season to avoid financial difficulties. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 Glentoran FC 2016/2017 Preseason Recap Friendlies Very mediocre. The win against Leicester was a pleasant surprise, the draw to the reserves and Dundela were unpleasant ones. Transfers I couldn't find anyone who could considerably improve the team so settled for two players only. The loans were all for youngsters that I'm interested in but doubt I could have afforded them the proper game time. Ivan Sproule, journeyman winger. (Sounds like an old western movie dunnit?) He comes in to provide competition for the attacking midfielder spots, both centrally and on the right hand side. Stuart Hutchinson is a weird case. He isn't rated by my assistant, nor my scouts, and not even himself, as he only wanted a backup role. Yet his technical attributes are better than all my other central midfielders. I have the intention of starting him. Miscellaneous Nacho Novo was toutted to win best player of the league and ranked second to win top goalscorer. So naturally he goes on to get injured for a month. In our last friendly. That was a testimonial. Never change FM. Never change. On slightly brighter news, we managed to sign an incredibly HoYD for this level. Yes his personality isn't exactly amazing and his formation isn't the one I use, but for now this is a great coup and I'll be paying very close attention to his intakes annually. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 Some people question my love for Curtis Allen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 Glentoran FC 2016/2017 Mid Season Update Schedule and League Position Blimey this managing malarkey isn't easy. It's almost like you have to change tactics for each team and adapt to them and not depend on your players (who I found out are sub-par to our division) to win you the game each time. Darn. Our form is very patchy, but it's not all doom and gloom as a small run of form can put us firmly into European spots which was my goal for this season as I adapt to tactics and such. Apart from the last loss to surprise league leaders Ballymena United, we've had a decent few matches. I choose not to comment on the cups. Squad and Key Players Not too great here. Everyone has had such patchy form (which leads to our patchy form as a team. I double as a detective lads) and there aren't any key players, but I will try to find some to put up. I cannot wait to get rid of Nacho Novo and his wages, as well as many underperformers clogging up the wage bill in this team. Curtis Allen: Did you expect me to have anyone else up here? League leader in goals, second in average rating and a great character yo have. Signed a new conrtract which expires next season so hopefully we'll keep him with us for a long time (he unfortunately has made me promise him that he'll treat the club as a stepping stone. Sure thing.) Calum Birney: Top average rating in the league, and a really really good defender. He wants out though, but he stays here till the end of next season. Hopefully he'll calm down a bit and we'll be able to renew his contract. Transfers No transfers of note have been made, just some useless loans out to complaining players. Finances Well feck. Kinda expected, but we are haemorrhaging a lot of money. European qualification is a must. Or a sugar daddy. Please? But it's ok lads, we're on course to pass CL FFP regulations. Cheers FM. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 For the sake of integration, if anyone would like more common updates please do tell. I think I'll try to increase the number of updates until we get to (if we get to?) a point where we have a grip on this league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 Glentoran FC 2016/2017 Youth Intake On first view this looks good. About 7 players with good potential sounds dandy. But on closer inspection, not all of them are worth the contract or accurate to what my assistant thinks they are. I've signed and not signed some players according to my opinion. (Apparently that's what managers do) John Gray YP1A: Our best player potential and ability wise apparently. A physical freak for his age, still not sure if I'll retrain him as a winger or keep him as a right midfielder. (We alternate between a 3-5-2 and a 4-2-3-1) Jason Hamilton YP1B: Not too sure what he's good at, but he's rated 1 star current ability and 5 stars current ability. Here's hoping he develops into an animal. Jason McCord YP1C: I think he has the foundation to be a good deep lying playmaker, it's great we don't play with one. John McCarthy YP1D: Ignore the fact that he has 3 determination, or the fact that I have absolutely no idea what role to play/train him in, and look at the beauty of that 12 finishing. Seamus Young YP1E: My thought process was that if I would give Jason Hamilton a contract, it wouldn't be fair to not give young Seamus (who has better physicals and mentals) a chance. Roy Willis YP1F: My personal favourite of the intake, I really really hope his potential is wrongly judged and it's higher, as he looks to be a rotation option from now with his attributes. On the field, things have been patchier than your grandma's clothes. We're running out of chances of getting into the European spots, as other teams can't keep dropping points forever. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 So a 6-2 win over rivals Cliftonville, with Curtis Allen scoring 4 goals, and Mya Kane and Bobby Addis aren't pleased. **** off. (On a side note I really enjoy this feature but it gets slightly annoying at how the game tries to give you reasonable and unreasonable fans. No one would ever slag off a player getting a 9.9 rating and 4 goals or say their team weren't good enough in a 6-2 win.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
K Sherlock Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Good luck!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 3 minutes ago, K Sherlock said: Good luck!! Cheers mate! Big boy money right here.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 So the start of squeaky bum time. As with San Marino saves, your finish if not first or second means nothing unless you can win all these matches. Ok so not too much like San Marino but you get what I mean. (Also if anyone knows how to put bigger pictures I would be eternally gratfeul) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 And breathe. Absolutely exciliriatinfg stuff, and I thought we won it when Nacho popped up in extra time. Not to be as it lasted 5 minutes only, and it went to penalties where we were very clinical and Finlay (our reserve/youth keeper, who I picked by accident...whoops) saved 2 penalties. Tactical genius. And this is bothersome. I finally found a formation that gets the best out of Nacho Novo. At the end of the season. Where he won't sign a new contract unless we shell out 1k a week for him. And our max wage is 600 pounds a week. **** on a stick. But his form should get us to the Europa League, and who knows what happens in the offseason. And we'll face Portadown in the final. Started off with a 12 point deduction, they gained 55 points, which would have put them in second spot in the league. They're also on a fine run of form, so this should be a well contested final. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 Well that was underwhelming for a final. Utter domination shots and chances wise, and Portadown just didn't turn up. End of season update coming up next. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 Glentoran FC 2016/2017 End of Season Update Schedule and League Position A satisfying first season. Third place is not to be laughed at (technically fourth place if not for Portadown's point deduction), especially as I was faffing about for a long period till I finally settled on a tactical system that works, which I began after the Linfield cup loss. (We don't talk about cup competitions round these parts). If we count matches from that period, that's 6 matches won, 3 drawn and one loss. I can live with that. Ballymena really came out of nowhere, and I'm not too sure they can be trusted to repeat this level of form next season. Carrick won the cup, and will join ourselves and Glenavon in the Europa League. Squad and Key Players Better than at the halfway point obviously. More players picked their game up, and we finally settled on an 11 that works for us even in different roles. Curtis Allen: DID YOU REALLY EXPECT ANYONE ELSE?! Curtis was insane this season and won our best player (as I expected him to), was league top scorer by an insane 12 goals difference between him and 2nd place (as I expected him to), and won league best player (this was a pleasant surprise). The only player I could depend on to always play well, he had maybe two below 6.3 matches in about 40 appearances. Calum Birney: I really want to like him, but I can't if he keeps on kicking a fuss about leaving. His form also dipped slightly at the end of the season, so that's something to watch for next season as we have many young defenders. Stuart Hutchinson: I didn't expect him to be this good. Stuart was our N'golo Kante in his box-to-box role, but is now complaining that he isn't playing as a central midfielder on attack. This game baffles me. Transfers Hutchinson was a success. Sproule was not. Michael Murray was really good for Ards, so I'm looking forward for him to come back and giving him some opportunities. Finances Not horrible as we were under 200k at some point, and European money should come in to help this. Northern Ireland in Europe Crusaders lost in the ECC 2nd Qual. Round 0-5 to Red Bull Salzburg (AUS) Glenavon lost in the Europa League 1st Qual. Round 1-5 to Brondby (DEN) Cliftonville lost in the Europa League 1st Qual. Round 2-5 to Midtjylland (DEN) Linfield actually beat Fola Esch (LUX) 5-1 before losing to Hearts (SCO) 0-4 in the Europa League 2nd Qual. Round. Final Thoughts Goals next season have to be to compete for the league, which I think we can after the mini tactical revamp. Our finances have hampered us in being able to improve any of our facilities, so that's also something to look forward to next season hopefully. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 2, 2017 Author Share Posted February 2, 2017 Glentoran FC 2017/2018 Pre-Season Expected. With us winning only two matches in Europe last year, the league was definitely going to tale a hit. I don't see this improving this season either as Carrick in the Europa League and Ballymena in the Champions League don't exactly strike fear into the hearts' of opponents. Curtis Allen is good/god. Oof. I don't see us having a chance in this, as the Slovenian league runner ups are worth much more than us and consist of greyed out players. Once you see the transfers we made (spoiler: nothing exciting) it'll make this a really difficult task. And that's confirmation that even if we do get through Olimpija, we won't be going past the second round. Wait. What? This wasn't in the script, but the boys played admirably. The defence was good (albeit their goal was from a penalty) and we matched them play for play almost away from home. One foot in the second round? Too early to say. They definitely woke up for this game, as we were dominated. But an early goal and soaking up of pressure kind of domination, the current Liverpool type of domination that doesn't lead to anything but disappointment. Oh, and we're through to the next round to lose to...I mean face Aberdeen. Really? Sorry Glentoran? Their player was sent off in the 89th minute and their club value is 26 million in comparison to our 928k. Not sorry at all, and I'm proud of the boys. Let's keep it respectable in the second leg. Very respectable and I'm proud of this run. And the money helps as well! Transfers After finally getting Nacho Novo to come good and lowering his wages and sorting out his promises....he goes on to retire. Bollocks. Also interesting to see Ballymena talking our youth keeper on loan to be a starter for them. Paul McElroy: Signed on a free as his contract was running out. Competition for both the left midfielder spot and the left winger spot. Curtis Dempster: Signed on a free on a non-contract. Backup for the striker spot for when Curtis Allen needs a rest, or sometimes when we play a two striker formation. Finances Saved by Europe here, one more season of savings and I'll start asking to improve our horrible facilities. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 3, 2017 Author Share Posted February 3, 2017 Glentoran FC 2017/2018 Mid-season Update Schedule and League Position You'd think with form like that, we'd be in top position. You'd think wrong. Linfield have been just as good as we have if not better, and we've turned this season to a two horse race for the title. Cups have been slightly better, but I was mainly playing youngsters and fringe players. Squad and Key Players More rotation, more youth players involved, smaller team. Curtis Dempster: Has been an incredible signing. When paired with Curtis Allen up front, they've reeked havoc on the rest of the league, combining for 37 goals so far. I quickly signed him to a proper contract. Curtis Allen: And his partner in crime, Curtbae has been good but I feel like something is off this season. Maybe my standards for him are too high, maybe he's sharing the workload with Dempy. But he already has more assists than last year and so far his average rating is better, so he's being more than just a goalscorer this season. Calum Birney: Remains our best defender. Came to me at the start of the season apologising for his antics and I signed him to a new contract. Stuart Hutchinson: Utility man Stuart. Has played all types of roles in the central midfield and as a winger, and is our third highest goalscorer and an all round great player. Raymond Heaney: I know these are a lot of key players but I just had to share him with you. Raymond was part of the youth team when I joined Glentoran, and although he was touted to have good potential I never expected him to be this good. Between him and Birney, we have a central defensive partnership that could last for a long time. Transfers No transfer ins or outs beyond the ones done in summer. Finances Jesus, I forgot how much money we lose across the course of a season. Might need more than a season's worth of savings to do anything. Champions League football sure would help. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 3, 2017 Author Share Posted February 3, 2017 Glentoran FC 2017/2018 Youth Intake Again, looks can be deceiving. I only signed the top 5 players from this lot, as the others either were overrated or had shitty personalities. John Wilson YP2A: Look at that finishing. The best player from the intake in my opinion, he has lots of time to be nurtured by Curtis Allen. Gary Purcell YP2B: Not too shabby himself, we seem to have a knack of producing good centre halves. Good personality on him also. Michael McClurg YP2C: A mix of good mentals, monster physicals and an awesome name have me hoping McClurg's technical aspect can be improved drastically. Mervyn Ward YP2D: Standard goalkeeper signed to be a backup/be loaned out. Mark Taggart YP2E: Needs work on his heading, but he might ruin his hair. League is tight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 3, 2017 Author Share Posted February 3, 2017 Glentoran FC 2017/2018 End of Season Update Schedule and League Position Our form was brilliant this year all things considering (barring cups that were for youngsters once again, though inexcusable to lose to Coagh), but Linfield were always right on our tracks. Was this enough to win the league? Yes it was. Linfield faltered a bit at the end, and struggled to keep up their form after the league split, giving us our first (of many) league titles under my reign. Squad and Key Players More consistency and the average rating is spread across the board. Goals and assists are shared out between players, and no one kicked a fuss this season. The real meaning of a squad. Curtis Allen: 30 years old and still going on about his business. Best player of the league once more, and only barely pipped to the top goalscorer title. Played better in the second half of the season in my opinion. Not far off from being the team's record goalscorer now. Curtis Dempster: The Curtis and Curtis connection was in full effect this season. Best young player, second in average rating behind Allen, second in assists and third in player of the year. I'd say he's a decent signing. Paul McElroy: Really picked up his play in the second half of the season, and was third in assists in our team behind the two Curtis'. After the screenshot I signed him to a new contract. Calum Birney: Remains our best defender and is very consistent. Also only picked up 8 yellow cards and no sending offs, which in my eyes is a great achievement. Transfers I'd call this a success. Northern Ireland in Europe Ballymena United lost in the Champions League Qual. 2nd Round 0-5 to Celtic (SCO) We lost to Aberdeen (SCO) in the Europa League Qual. 2nd Round 1-4 but not after beating Olimpija (SLO) 3-1 Carrick lost in the Europa League Qual. 1st Round 1-5 to Sonderjysk (DEN) Glenavon lost in the same round to Hearts (SCO) 2-4 Encouraging that the teams are scoring against some bigger teams, Scotland really pooped on our party this year. Finances Champions League should help this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 4, 2017 Author Share Posted February 4, 2017 Glentoran FC 2018/2019 Pre-Season Update A couple of good results that we had last year meant that Northern Ireland shot right up the table overtaking powerhouses Lithuania and Latvia. The worst team we could have drawn in the first round, but we should win this. And we did. Should have done better in the second leg, but progressing is all we're looking for. We got the Slovakian champions, which is considered a decent team. I feel if we could beat Olimpija we could give Zilina a run for their money. But not by beating them away 3-0! Blooming heck what a performance that was. You'll notice there's a lot of Curtis Allen. He really carried us during this period. Ouch. Journey ends here. A brilliant win away from home helps with the coefficient! No easy draws here. It was all difficult teams. No shame at all here in our European performances. The money was great as well. Transfers We apparently "smashed" our transfer record with an 825 pound transfer. Brilliant. McMahon was signed on a bosman. Peter McMahon: A personal favourite of mine in Northern Ireland saves, he doesn't actually fit us that well. He's more suited to be a winger which we no longer use, but will provide healthy competition in the centre and left of midfield. Dylan Smith: Our transfer record, Dylan looks very exciting. Will be given opportunities to impress off the bench and cup games. Andrew Anderson: Another prospect picked up, Andrew isn't first team ready like Dylan is but I'll monitor his progress. (Apologies as screenshot was taken after the season started) Nicky Boyd: I thought he would be good. I thought wrong. Rhys Marshall: The crown jewel of this transfer window, Rhys is immense. He already comes in as our highest earner and highest valued player, and hopefully stays for a long time. Finances That's what CL football does to you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 4, 2017 Author Share Posted February 4, 2017 Brought a tear to my eye. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 On 2/1/2017 at 07:52, thehazeofspades said: So a 6-2 win over rivals Cliftonville, with Curtis Allen scoring 4 goals, and Mya Kane and Bobby Addis aren't pleased. **** off. (On a side note I really enjoy this feature but it gets slightly annoying at how the game tries to give you reasonable and unreasonable fans. No one would ever slag off a player getting a 9.9 rating and 4 goals or say their team weren't good enough in a 6-2 win.) I unfollow and manage the social feed heavily, for this exact reason! (I'm also not on social media, anywhere except for LinkedIn, for the same reasons!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 4, 2017 Author Share Posted February 4, 2017 2 hours ago, ManUtd1 said: I unfollow and manage the social feed heavily, for this exact reason! (I'm also not on social media, anywhere except for LinkedIn, for the same reasons!) If only FM had social feeds like those in your stories Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 4, 2017 Author Share Posted February 4, 2017 Glentoran FC 2018/2019 Mid-Season Update Schedule and League Position Title is definitely ours to lose. Performances have been good when I play the starters, but our early season form and cup curse is due to me rotating. Our youngsters just aren't that good yet. Squad and Key Players Yeah so much for the spreading out of goals and assists I was preaching about last year. Curtis Allen: Curtgod has somehow upped his game this season. Has been directly involved in 44 goals for us, our new record goalscorer is in fine form. Martin O'Neill has been coming to watch him all season long, but at 30 I doubt he'll get a cap. Curtis Dempster: Curtdemigod hasn't kept up the standard of play from last season, but that's just because our expectations were so high of him to start off with. 16 goals and 8 assists in 37 matches is nothing to scoff at. Paul McElroy: Paul has made that left midfielder spot his own, and has convinced me that he was a worthwhile signing as he's kept Paul McMahon out of the team. Transfers No transfer ins or outs have happened since preseason. Finances That's more like it. I've asked to increase our junior coaching budget (now at excellent with established youth recruitment) and asked to improve our youth facilities which are currently at poor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 28 minutes ago, thehazeofspades said: If only FM had social feeds like those in your stories Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 5, 2017 Author Share Posted February 5, 2017 Glentoran FC 2018/2019 Youth Intake A reeaeeaally good prospect at left back, and an all round decent intake as we'll sign the five highlighted players. I feel we need a new HoYD as we have too many payers rubbing off of him and getting a balanced personality. Grant Marks YP3A: Boy do I like this kid. He's going straight to the first team to be a backup to Marcus Kane, and I'll get him tutored right away. Ryan McNally YP3B: Not to be undone on the right hand side, Ryan also looks like a good player. Will go into the first team next season as I get him tutored for a while now. Gerard Mullen YP3C: Not sure why I signed him, as we don't have wingers or attacking midfielders and his stats don't look translatable into the centre of midfield. Paddy Bell YP3D: Becoming customary for us to get a good youth centreback in our intakes annually. Youth team and then tutoring to see how he develops. Darren Munster YP3E: Isn't the best striker, but I was seduced by his finishing and first touch. On the filed our form hasn't been amazing but everyone else is dropping points also so we still have one hand firmly on the league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 14, 2017 Author Share Posted February 14, 2017 Hey everyone, sorry for the long disappearance. Was off on a holiday for a couple of days then came back home to some personal issues. I should be back for good now, but with uni starting updates might be a bit slower than we're used to. (Damn you dentistry). But as a teaser for now... League won in April exactly before the league split. Mince that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 Nice job! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 14, 2017 Author Share Posted February 14, 2017 28 minutes ago, mjaferrie said: Nice job! Cheers mate, season update coming up soon! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 14, 2017 Author Share Posted February 14, 2017 Glentoran FC 2018/2019 End of Season Update Schedule and League Position Wrapped up easily in the end. Cups remain an issue, and it was a real disappointment to go out to Armagh, but advanced well in the Challenge Cup (which I have no idea why we participated in). Europe was good and the prize money was decent, but I still think our quality and/or coefficient points won't make our journey easier next season, so it might be a couple of seasons before we get to the Europa League group stages, which in turn will allow us to go pro. Overthinking at its finest. Edit: Coleraine won the final European spot, and Portadown actually managed to get relegated. Bollocks. Squad and Key Players It's not that we still rely on Curtis Allen, it's just that we rely on Curtis Allen because he's really really good. Curtis Allen: Sigh. He's just brilliant. Directly involved in 55 goals in 49 games is ridiculous, but the little voice in my head is reminding me that his attributes are decreasing as he's getting older. We've only got about 3 more seasons before he retires if that, at which point I'm not sure how I'll replace the top goalscorer, best player in the league and the best Northern Irish player for this year. John Gray YP1A: Our very first youth player has evolved to become a key first team player. Johnny was second in assists after Curtis and had a bit of a breakout season making that right midfielder spot his own. Came second in best young player in the league. Paul McElroy: And on the other side of midfield, Paul continued his good performances and continued keeping out many players from taking his position (more on that later). Raymond Heaney: The good: He's our best defender with a good personality who's still only 19. The bad: He's requested a transfer and Dundee are interested and I couldn't convince him to change his mind. Transfers Peter McMahon: Would probably be classified as a failure. Couldn't steal the left midfield spot from McElroy and didn't work well as a central midfielder. Not sure what to do with him. Dylan Smith: 800 pounds well spent. Dylan should be the person that Curtis passes the torch to, as he had a decent scoring rate (considering he came off the bench for a lot of his appearances). Rhys Marshall: I like him but I did honestly expect better, seeing as he's probably the best fullback in the league. Hopefully a full preseason and getting used to the tactic will do him good. I won't even show the other two as they aren't worth the screenshots. Northern Ireland in Europe We lost to Sporting (POR) 2-7 in the Europa League playoff after succumbing to a 1-3 defeat to Olympiakos (GRE) in the CL 3rd Qual. Round but not before beating TNS (WAL) and Zilina (SLO). Linfield lost in the EL 1st Qual. Round 2-7 to Shakhter Karaganda (KAZ). Portadown were defeated in the same round by Stjarnan (ISL) 1-4. Cliftonville actually beat Mladost (MON) 3-1 before losing 0-4 to Atromitos (GRE) in the EL 2nd Qual. Round. I can get on board with us getting as team advancing to the second round for the time being till the league gets a higher reputation. Finances Thank you European money. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolanthustrel Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 On 2/1/2017 at 12:41, thehazeofspades said: Jason Hamilton YP1B: Not too sure what he's good at, but he's rated 1 star current ability and 5 stars current ability. Here's hoping he develops into an animal. Holy cow, that's a mo I'd have kill for to grow as a 16 year old. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkehwbu Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 Just read through, nice progress so far. I can offer advice on how to have large images. I upload to imgur (make an account it's free) and then right click the picture and 'Copy Image' and literally just paste. That's the best way I've found. Also you some of the images in your post have disappeared, not sure why though? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 15, 2017 Author Share Posted February 15, 2017 5 hours ago, clarkehwbu said: Just read through, nice progress so far. I can offer advice on how to have large images. I upload to imgur (make an account it's free) and then right click the picture and 'Copy Image' and literally just paste. That's the best way I've found. Also you some of the images in your post have disappeared, not sure why though? Images look fine for me, care to tell me which ones are missing? And yes last year I used to use imgur but it would take more time than gyazo, but it seems that for those smaller screenshots imgur is the way to go. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkehwbu Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 Everything is showing now, so maybe my page didn't load correctly! The way I do it is, screenshot in game as usual 'Alt + F9' for me, then I crop the photo and save in a folder and upload to imgur. Yes it's long winded but looks much better with the bigger pictures. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 15, 2017 Author Share Posted February 15, 2017 17 hours ago, Jolanthustrel said: Holy cow, that's a mo I'd have kill for to grow as a 16 year old. As an Arab, I'd tell you Arab genes help, but I guess Northern Irish ones do the trick... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheriff7 Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 Nice work with league and Europe.Olympiakos and Sporting Lisbon was too difficult opponents....Keep up the good work...;-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 Glentoran FC 2019/2020 Pre-Season Update Decent improvement for the club, not so much for the country. The worst possible draw, my heart sank when I saw Dinamo. FFS. Well that wasn't in the script. Bloody hell a win that'll have them dancing in the streets of Belfast, and we move on to the next round. SHOULD be easier than Dinamo, but nothing is guaranteed at this point. As expected, easier than Dinamo, and we're in the CL playoffs, so we're guaranteed European group stages! Hallelujah! Sheeesh. Seeing as we could have drawn Molde or Anorthosi or Maccabi Tel Aviv, Ludogorets is definitely on the higher scale of difficulty. Huffed ands puffed but we couldn't get that goal. But still incredibly proud of the boys for a great result that they walked hard for. Last team drawn is Konyaspor. Maybe we can get something off Molde, that'a our only shot. Yaaaaaaaay. Transfers Raymond Heaney didn't stop kicking up his fuss, so Celtic came in for an offer of 80k that I managed to push up to 100k with a 10% of next sale clause. Horrible that our best player (according to my assistant) was valued at 30k. Sean Millar: Signed from Larne on youth intake day, I rate him much higher than my assistant does, and he'll get his chance in cup games. Robbie Garret: Stephen McAlorum decided to **** off, so needed somebody new in the get sent off every three matches role. Player Watch Old readers will know I made this section to detail youth players or important who left us and see where their career takes them. Everybody Loves Raymond: Surprised to see he has played, but 4 appearances in the Champions League with a respectable average rating should bode well for Heaney. Screenshot when he left. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 1 hour ago, Sheriff7 said: Nice work with league and Europe.Olympiakos and Sporting Lisbon was too difficult opponents....Keep up the good work...;-) Wait till you see the new update... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 Good news: Bad news: So just as we were turning pro and getting ready to sign players, this happens. For ****'s sake. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkehwbu Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 Brexit could have been worse but not by too much, I had this when doing my Bournemouth save but didn't affect me too much Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 Caught up on this! You've got a strong hold on the league now and good luck in the group stage! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 Glentoran FC 2019/2020 Mid-Season Update Schedule and League Position Our inconsistent form at the start of the season where I was too busy worrying about Europe coupled with Glenavon's surprise performances this year have us in second place. No worries though as I'm sure either they'll slip up or we'll get back on track. Winning two cups is a huge surprise, and we remain in the two other cups, so a quintuple might still be possible. Aim high kids. Well, our games sure are packed with goals. We actually managed to outscore 33 of the 47 other teams in the group stages, shame that we conceded more than every one of them...Still, a win in a European group match this early on is definitely something to be raving about. Squad and Key Players It's actually quite annoying now how much we depend on Curtis Allen. I would've really hoped by now we would have another star emerging to be the team leader, but Curtis tops both goal and assist (to be fair tied with John Wilson YP1A) charts. Curtis Allen: I won't say anything here. But he did do this halfway through the season. John Wilson YP1A: Probably the second best player on the team, Johnny continues his good form from last year. He broke the Glentoran assists record that was later tied by Curtis Allen so fun to see that little competition between them. Calum Birney: With Raymond Heaney gone, Calum has re-taken his spot as top dog in defence. His average rating would be much higher bar from all the high score matches in Europe. Player Watch Everybody Loves Raymond: No games played in the league, but a few cup matches here and there mixed with the youth league. Doesn't make sense then as to why they were so confident in him in their CL Qualifiers, but what do I know about managing. Still, has had a slight improvement in his attributed due to the better standard of facilities, so it's not all doom ands gloom. Screenshot when he left. edit: I am a huge ****ing knob. The 4 matches played in the CL in his stats section are the four matches he played when he was with us. Thinking is difficult guys and I am a dumb. Transfers No important transfers of note, just released a few whingey players. Finances And this is what has allowed us to go pro. Thank you Europe. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 2 hours ago, clarkehwbu said: Brexit could have been worse but not by too much, I had this when doing my Bournemouth save but didn't affect me too much Hope so, I still haven't even experienced being rejected by League one standard players! 2 hours ago, Keano16 said: Caught up on this! You've got a strong hold on the league now and good luck in the group stage! Cheers for the jinx mate! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 Glentoran FC 2019/2020 Youth Intake A good 4-5 players in there, and there's good personalities in there as well so that isn't too bad, but intakes always depend on how players develop. Gerard Smyth YP4A: Boxhead over here is the best player from the intake according to my assistant. He does actually look like a good player (even if he doesn't look like a good human being) and I needed a backup left midfielder anyway. Alan McCann YP4B: Another one in the line of good defenders that we produce, I wonder if coaching has anything to do with this? Since the start of the save, our best coaching attribute has always been defence, so does that affect the type of players produced in an intake? Johnny Cromie YP4C: See above. Michael Moore YP4D: A very all around player. As in I all around have no clue what to do with him. Gareth McHugh YP4E: I feel like there's a good ball winning midfielder in there somewhere. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 Glentoran 2019/2020 End of Season Update Schedule and League Position So only a quadruple in the end...All jokes aside, a great season as our league form picked up and we actually overtook last season's points total. Won every domestic cup we were in, and did incredibly well in Europe. Time to dominate Northern Ireland? Only time will tell. Squad and Key Players I like that John Gray is actually starting to appear as someone to play at the level of Curtis Allen, but it's still quite clear we depend on Curtis ridiculously. Curtis Allen: I'll let the screenshots do the talking. Jesus. John Gray YP1A: The first youth player to be someone who is a mainstay in the team with good appearances, John pipped Curtis to the assists chart eventually, and is very reliable and still has room to grow. Came 2nd in best young player. Calum Birney: He returned to his form from two seasons ago, and he has a great personality so is a good tutor. Transfers We didn't really do too much transfers, so can't really evaluate if it was a failure or not. Sean Millar: He improved and played in a few matches, but he's still young and will get his time. Robbie Garret: Got sent off at an average of once every 8 matches. And that's without counting all the suspensions due to yellow cards. ****ing hell. Player Watch Everybody Loves Raymond: He actually played a match for them in the league (very poorly but a match nonetheless) so hopefully that'll kickstart his stay with them. Northern Ireland in Europe We went out in the Europa League Group Stage with 3 points. Linfield lost to Videoton (HUN) 1-2 in the EL 1st Qual. Round. Coleraine lost in the same round to SJK (FIN) 0-4. And Dungannon Swifts bowed out to Odd (NOR) at the same stage but on penalties after drawing 2-2. No wins is bad, but the teams are keeping up with some of the big boys, as Linfield drew a match and lost the other while Dungannon beat Odd 2-0 away from home. We need a team to be a mainstay and compete annually in Europe as Coleraine is the only team out of these 3 to compete in Europe next season. Finances Watch me burn it all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 Overachievers of the year. I can get with that again this year please. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 18, 2017 Author Share Posted February 18, 2017 Glentoran FC 2020/2021 Pre-Season Update Baby steps for the league, although we make a huge leap. A big team, but I wasn't worried as we've beaten bigger teams last year. And I was right, but the win came at an expense of John Wilson YP2A's injury and drawing RB Salzburg. Yikes. Did you expect anything else? A great comeback in Austria and a solid display in Belfast put us through to the playoff round... ...where we were drawn againt FC Copenhagen. The end of the road? I had hope it wasn't. My hope was misplaced. They were too strong for us, but the first leg was horrible horrible play from us. Europa League once more and I'm not complaining. (Bosnian club Zirinjski were the last team) **** off with that. Chelsea and Marseille? That's worse than last year! Hopefully we can steal points from Austria Wien. I'm not good with money fam. Peter Arkinson: A ridiculously good player to be on a part time contract in Northern Ireland, we did Peter a favour and signed him. Immediately becomes the best player in the club. Angus Beith: Although he isn't rated too highly, I think he's an excellent ball winning midfielder. Will he be sent off 342 times this season? Jordan Stewart: My favourite signing. Jordan returns to us as our record transfer fee after leaving for 50k. Sort of already love him. Rhys McCabe: This was probably an unneeded signing. Not saying that he's bad, but he isn't incredible, and I'm going to be adding payers over the next few seasons so mediocre players shouldn't be on the list. KBN: Nicknaming him KBN. After John Wilson YP2A's injury, we were short on strikers, so KBN was signed and has started his career off well here. Player Watch Everybody Loves Raymond: Sent off on loan to Hibernian and has played 2 matches for them, I think this is a good move for him. Played a match for N. Ireland, hopefully he kicks on from here. Screenshot when he left. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 Glentoran FC 2020/2021 Mid-Season Update Schedule and League Position Not so good this year in my opinion. Noticeable in the cups, and with the players at our disposal we should be running away with the league and have enough depth for the cups. But in my team's defence we have had our fair share of injuries and the scheduling is always hectic with European matches. Hopefully we'll run away with it now that we have nothing else to distract us. Squad and Key Players When I said I want us to stop relying on Curtis Allen I meant that I wanted someone else to step up...not for Curtis to have his worse season with us since the start of the save! The team has been incredibly inconsistent, with great performances one day and very disappointing ones the other. Maybe a consistent 11 is the answer. Rhys McCabe: How ironic that I said he wouldn't be a great player, and he goes on to be our best player in the first half of the season. Rhys over here making me swallow my words. John Gray YP1A: John has kept his role as second best player on the team, even if the best player has changed hands. He does still top our assists chart though. KBN: If the team could be summed up in one player, it would be KBN. I have not have a player on this game who's ratings fluctuate as much as this guy, yet he is still our top scorer I guess. I have no clue if he is good or not. Transfers Peter Arkinson, Angus Beith and Jordan Stewart have all been good, as Peter is solid, Angus doesn't get sent off every two matches, and Jordan is adapting to his central midfield role when he isn't injured. Which is far too often. Only one player in this window. Ciaran McNally: Another great young defender hiding in the our league, he's been signed to be a starter as we play a 3 defender formation. Player Watch https://i.gyazo.com/a49e616a677204e09308469e5ce0de83.png Everybody Loves Raymond: He's improving and playing matches. Can't ask for more than that. Screenshot when he left. Finances Much healthier, slowly but surely the facilities will improve. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 Glentoran FC 2020/2021 Youth Intake *sigh* Two goalkeepers of which only one will be signed and an unambitious rightback (a position we don't use) give this intake a false sense of being good, when in reality only 4 players will be signed. Gavin McCrea YP5A: But to be fair to this intake this is a great player to have. Gavin looks ready to take our starting goalkeeper spot already, and barring we find a really good goalkeeper in the summer, I'm ready to hand it to him. Peter Collins YP5B: Not sure how things will work out for him since our starting left midfielder spot is already taken by a youth player, but I couldn't say no to good attributes and a professional personality. Paul Anderson YP5C: Looking back now I'm not sure why I signed him. Sean Miskimmin YP5D: My personal favourite, I think my assistant might be insane for rating him so low. Work on his physicals and he'll be the best defender in the club. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 Oh how we've missed a goalscorer like John Wilson YP2A this season. Comes off the bench in his first match since July/August and scores a brace for us. I love him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 A pretty good way to clinch the league if you ask me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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