PaulHartman71 Posted December 12, 2019 Author Share Posted December 12, 2019 Mid-Season Update League Cup Ramsay picked up a second yellow card just before half-time, mere minutes after he made it 2-1 after what had been a bad start to the game. It went downhill from there, briefly looked like we could rescue something when Delgado made it 4-2, but they picked us off on the break after I tried to get back in the game by attacking like mad. Premier League A fairly poor start to the season with a loss at Killie, a good win against a poor Ross County side, before two draws and a loss to Dundee United at home. The point against Rangers was pretty good, but we were fortunate that our keeper made some good saves as they should've won that 3 or 4-1 really. We picked up a much needed win at Hamilton, before a 4 game winless run, as we scraped a draw at Hibs, could only get a point at home to newly promoted Queen of the South and then lost to Celtic. Aberdeen away is a tough game so to win there was always going to be a big ask. A win against Dundee, before two draws against Ross County and Killie. Rangers smashed us at their place, before another much needed win against Hamilton. A brace of Ramsay penalties gave us a win against Hibs, before we incredibly went on a 3 game winning run by beating Dundee United and Queen of the South on the road. We were taken back to earth by Celtic who smashed us up at Celtic Park, before we drew with Aberdeen and ended the year by beating Dundee away. It's fairly tight for Top 6 and we have a game in hand, but not a brilliant start so far. I suppose we have lots of new players so it may take a while to get them all playing well together, hopefully we can get better as we go into the season. I have a reasonable amount of money left so I may well dip into the January market. Europa League An exciting journey in Europe. RB Salzburg away was a game and a half. They were 3-0 up at half-time and we were on the ropes, but we came back to make it 3-2 and had them up against it. They snatched another to make it 4-2, but we weren't done there and Farquhar popped up to make it 4-3 late on and we looked a threat. We picked up a good win at home to Malmo, before losing home and away to Ludogorets. Surprisingly we then went and beat Salzburg 2-0 at home, before we could only draw in Sweden. Irritatingly I think we would've been through if we managed to beat Malmo on the final day, but it wasn't to be. Picked up a decent amount of prize money for a club of our size though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 12, 2019 Author Share Posted December 12, 2019 January Transfers Just the one signing in January as we spend pretty big money for us on Marcel Mars, a young English midfielder who was somehow playing in League 1 for Sunderland, although it looks like he was just there after they got relegated last year. Pretty surprised nobody from the Championship came in for him when they first went down as he'll slot right into our first team and be one of our best players. Great pick up and looking forward to seeing what he has to offer. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 15, 2019 Author Share Posted December 15, 2019 End of Season Update Scottish Cup A good win against Peterhead, but Aberdeen see us off in the 5th round. Premier League We kicked off the new year in very good form, with 4 wins from 5, including a huge win at home to Rangers in what was a closely fought battle. St Johnstone very nearly denied us in two straight games, but a last gasp goal from Isakov gave us the 3 points at home. Our form went a bit inconsistent again as we picked up 2 wins, 2 draws and a loss to Celtic in our next 5 games, with Alex Delgado in pretty decent form. A ding-dong battle with Aberdeen, before two draws against Dundee and Rangers. We ended the season in good form, with a 3-2 win against Killie, a loss to Celtic and then a huge 1-0 win against Aberdeen in the battle for Europa League football. That win against Aberdeen secured us 3rd place which brings us the guarantee of the group stage in the Europa League next season. Happy days! Celtic win their first title for 11 years after pipping Rangers quite comfortably in the end. John Ramsay once again the absolute stand out player. The winger was brilliant. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 15, 2019 Author Share Posted December 15, 2019 Paul Hart's Career History This covers the first 40 seasons of the save, from 2018-2058 Spoiler --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season Club League Position Achievements/Other --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018/19 Arsenal Premier League 4th Europa League winners 2019/20 Arsenal Premier League 2nd Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 Paris SG Ligue 1 1st Ligue 1 & Coupe de la Ligue winners 2021/22 Paris SG Ligue 1 1st Ligue 1, Champions League & Trophee Des Champions winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2022/23 AS Roma Serie A 3rd Italian Cup runners-up 2023/24 AS Roma Serie A 2nd Italian Cup winners 2024/25 AS Roma Serie A 1st Serie A winners 2025/26 AS Roma Serie A 2nd Italian Super Cup winners & Champions League runners-up 2026/27 AS Roma Serie A 1st Serie A, Italian Cup & Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2027/28 Atletico Madrid La Liga 3rd N/A 2028/29 Atletico Madrid La Liga 2nd N/A 2029/30 Altetico Madrid La Liga 2nd Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2030/31 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 6th N/A 2031/32 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 5th Europa League winners 2032/33 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 3rd European Super Cup winners 2033/34 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 2nd N/A 2034/35 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 1st Bundesliga winners 2035/36 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 2nd German Super Cup & Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2036/37 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League, Russian Cup & Super Cup winners 2037/38 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League, Russian Cup & Super Cup winners 2038/39 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League & Super Cup winners 2039/40 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League, Russian Cup & Super Cup winners 2040/41 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Champions League & Domestic Treble winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2041/42 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 3rd N/A 2042/43 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 4th Taca de Portugal runners-up 2043/44 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 6th N/A 2044/45 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 6th Europa League winners 2045/46 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 3rd European Super Cup winners 2046/47 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 4th N/A 2047/48 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 4th Portuguese League Cup winners 2048/49 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 1st Primiera Liga & Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2049/50 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 2nd N/A 2050/51 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 2nd N/A 2051/52 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 2nd Dutch Cup winners 2052/53 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 2nd Dutch Cup & Super Cup winners 2053/54 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 2nd Dutch Cup winners 2054/55 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 2nd Dutch Cup winners 2055/56 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 1st Eredivisie, Dutch Cup & Super Cup winners 2056/57 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 1st Eredivisie, Champions League & Super Cup winners 2057/58 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 1st Eredivisie, Club World Cup, Euro Super Cup & Super Cup winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paul Hart's Trophy Cabinet Spoiler Champions League x8 - 2019/20 (Arsenal), 2021/22 (Paris SG), 2026/27 (AS Roma), 2029/30 (Atletico Madrid), 2035/36 (VFL Wolfsburg), 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg), 2048/49 (Portimonense SC), 2056/57 (Vitesse Arnhem) Europa League x3 - 2018/19 (Arsenal), 2031/32 (VFL Wolfsburg), 2044/45 (Portimonense SC) Club World Cup x1 - 2057/58 (Vitesse Arnhem) European Super Cup x3 - 2032/33 (VFL Wolfsburg), 2045/46 (Portimonense SC), 2057/58 (Vitesse Arnhem) Bundesliga x1 - 2034/35 (VFL Wolfsburg) German Super Cup x1 - 2035/36 (VFL Wolfsburg) Serie A x2 - 2024/25, 2026/27 (AS Roma) Italian Cup x2 - 2023/24, 2026/27 (AS Roma) Italian Super Cup x1 - 2025/26 (AS Roma) Ligue 1 x2 - 2020/21, 2021/22 (Paris SG) Coupe de la Ligue x1 - 2020/21 (Paris SG) Trophee Des Champions x1 - 2021/22 (Paris SG) Primeira Liga x1 - 2048/49 (Portimonense SC) Portuguese League Cup x1 - 2047/48 (Portimonense SC) Russian Premier League x5 - 2036/37, 2037/38, 2038/39, 2039/40, 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Russian Cup x4 - 2036/37, 2037/38, 2039/40, 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Russian Super Cup x5 - 2036/37, 2037/38, 2038/39, 2039/40, 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Eredivisie x3 - 2055/56, 2056/57, 2057/58 (Vitesse Arnhem) Dutch Cup x5 - 2051/52, 2052/53, 2053/54, 2054/55, 2055/56 (Vitesse Arnhem) Dutch Super Cup x4 - 2052/53, 2055/56, 2056/57, 2057/58 (Vitesse Arnhem) Thierry's Career History --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season Club League Position Achievements/Other --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2058/59 Genclerbirligi SK Turkish Super Lig 5th Turkish Super Cup runners up. Sacked. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2059/60 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 5th N/A 2060/61 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 3rd N/A --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thierry's Trophy Cabinet Nations Completed Nations completed as Paul Hart: 1. England - Arsenal 2. France - Paris SG 3. Italy - AS Roma 4. Spain - Atletico Madrid 5. Germany - VFL Wolfsburg 6. Russia - Zenit St Petersburg 7. Portugal - Portimonense SC 8. Holland - Vitesse Arnhem Nations completed by the AI: 1. England - Manchester City 2. Germany - RB Leipzig 3. Spain - Valencia CF 4. Portugal - Sporting Lisbon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 15, 2019 Author Share Posted December 15, 2019 Nations Remaining (based on Nation coefficient ranking) Turkey Scotland Belgium Serbia (+1) Czech Republic (-1) Ukraine (+4) Switzerland Croatia (+3) Poland (-1) Austria (-1) Greece (+5) Romania Denmark (-7) Sweden (-1) Republic of Ireland (-1) Bulgaria (-1) Iceland Norway Israel Slovakia Slovenia Hungary Belarus Finland Wales Northern Ireland Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 15, 2019 Author Share Posted December 15, 2019 Man City finally win it again, as they make their 4th final in a row, having lost the previous 3 to Chelsea, Porto and Atletico in a repeat of this one. The red side of Manchester win the Europa League. My old side doing well to reach the Quarter Final, with Ludogorets and Aberdeen in the knockout stages, as well as the two Belgian sides KRC Genk and Oud-Heverlee Leeuven doing well to get where they did. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 15, 2019 Author Share Posted December 15, 2019 My former side once again come very close to winning the title, as this year they came about as close as is physically possible to win it without winning it. They lost it on goal difference in the end, well done Galatasaray, you love to see it. Boluspor a surprise name in 5th, although miss out on Europa to the more experienced Kayserispor, who had a terrible season but bailed themselves out by winning the cup. Oud-Heverlee Leeuven are back on top and win their second ever title, with nobody really near them in the end. Sint-Truidense VV and Antwerp find themselves in Europe despite relatively poor league campaigns, such as is the Belgian system. Shakhtar with their 4th straight title, although they were bizarrely almost pipped to it by Chornomorets, which would've been some turn up for the books. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 15, 2019 Author Share Posted December 15, 2019 Oh, bother. Aberdeen won the Scottish Cup, which means they get the automatic group stage slot and we're back to the 3rd Best Place Qualifying Round... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 16, 2019 Author Share Posted December 16, 2019 We've only gone and got Liverpool ffs They're not the side they once were (to be fair in this game they never really got good again anyway) and can't have finished that high in the Premier League to be starting out in the 2nd Qualifying Round, but they haven't gone into Administration for like 5 years which must be a record for them given their financial turmoil in the game. All that being said a European night at Anfield is still a European night at Anfield... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 16, 2019 Author Share Posted December 16, 2019 Europa League Best Placed 3rd Round We set out to defend well and break on the counter at Anfield and it worked pretty well, as we kept it 0-0 at half-time then grabbed a goal early in the second half. Isakov got another to get 2 away goals and put us in dreamland. Johnston got a late goal for the hosts to save their blushes, but I was very happy with the result on the night as I thought we would lose or draw at best. Johnston was on hand to score again in-front of a capacity crowd at The Simply Digital Arena, but they could not get that 2nd goal despite pushing us hard in the second half, meaning against the odds we make the Best Placed 4th Qualifying Round. We've got another mountain to climb in the final round before the Group Stage though, as we face a trip to the San Siro to play Inter Milan. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 16, 2019 Author Share Posted December 16, 2019 Europa League Best Placed 4th Round Qualifying Inter doing us a huge favour at the San Siro as they have a man sent off for a horrendous tackle after just 20 minutes. John Ramsay popped up with a big goal 10 minutes later and then late in the second half we managed to force them into a 2nd away goal! We lost the return leg when they had 11 men for the 90, but a Louis Gilani goal in the second half ensured that we sneaked past them and against the odds into the Group Stage! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 16, 2019 Author Share Posted December 16, 2019 A reasonable window. We got rid of some deadwood and managed to raise just under 1 and a half million. We didn't have a huge budget, but did manage to get Alex Delgado on a permanent deal with Real Madrid selling at cut price due to his contract expiring. We also picked up a promising young English left back David Johnson from the Championship side Bristol City. We couldn't afford to sign anyone else, so I had to make do with some loans and we got some good players into the club with Juan Merida from Liege, Matias Perez from Porto and Louis Gilani from Bayern Munich. Delgado incidentally broke his leg in the first league game of the season and will probably miss the entire season... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 16, 2019 Author Share Posted December 16, 2019 We've been handed a belter of a Europa League group. Dundalk of Ireland, Maribor of Slovenia and... Thierry's former side who became the first team to ever sack me... Genclerbirligi... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted December 16, 2019 Share Posted December 16, 2019 So you beat Liverpool and Inter Milan to get that group? Quality. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 16, 2019 Author Share Posted December 16, 2019 53 minutes ago, Nobby_McDonald said: So you beat Liverpool and Inter Milan to get that group? Quality. What's really funny is that we were 4th seeds as well 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andychar Posted December 17, 2019 Share Posted December 17, 2019 Jesus that was a brutal qualification campaign. Probably for the best because theres no way Aberdeen would have gotten through which means the coeffient is going to be stronger! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 17, 2019 Author Share Posted December 17, 2019 Mid-Season Update League Cup A decent win against Inverness, before going out to Aberdeen in the Quarter Final. It was a close run thing and Aberdeen are a good side, a shame to go out again in a competition we could win. Scottish Premiership A pretty disappointing start to the season to say the least, as we lose 3 of our first 4 games after the fantastic performances in Europe, perhaps a slight hangover from those. We did at least record a win against Dundee United to end losing streak. We beat Hamilton before registering another loss, but then won at home to Queen of the South before drawing twice in a row against Rangers and Aberdeen. We finally went on a real good run, with loanee Matias Perez's late goal against Dundee kick-starting a 3 game winning streak, which ended with a bore-draw against St. Johnstone and then a loss to champions Celtic. Reasonable form to end the calendar year, with 3 wins, including a hugely impressive win at Ibrox, as well as 2 draws and 1 loss at home to Aberdeen. A fairly inconsistent start to the season, but that win at Rangers puts us within 4 points of them should we win our game in hand. Even Celtic on top are only 9 points ahead of us, although it is quite tight and we're only 6 points ahead of 7th place Dundee United, with Killie, Hibs and Aberdeen all hot on our tail ready for us to slip up. Europa League A nervy start to the Group Stages, but thanks to a Ramsay penalty and second half Perez goal we put Maribor down 2-1 in our first game. 758 loyal Mirren fans travelled to Ireland to witness us pick up our second win of the campaign against Dundalk, with a brace from experienced Croatian playmaker Nikica Polic gifting us 3 very important points. My first game against Genclerbirligi since they sacked me resulted in a tie, but what a feeling it was when Ramsay put us in-front in the first half! Onder Arslan was a good player when I was there, so it was bitter-sweet to see he was still going strong and it was him who got them their equaliser in the second half. The Turkish fans were in dreamland as their side raced to a 3-0 first-half lead against their old manager, which included goals from the Chilean midfielder Felipe Figueroa, decent winger Cihan Arslan and, most strange of all, Necdet Ozturk. Ozturk is a Dutch/Turkish centre back who came through the youth ranks at Vitesse. I never quite gave him a real shot in the team, so he must've been absolutely buzzing to head home and help them defeat us. Nikica Polic got a goal back for us in the second half, but the game was already done unfortunately. We could only manage draws against Maribor and Dundalk in the return fixtures, but luckily they could only manage draws against each other in their matches together, so with no clear 3rd option to progress we easily qualified anyway. RB Leipzig await in the 1st Knockout Round and unfortunately I think the side who have dropped down from the Champions League really will be a step too far, as they're still a good team who regularly pop up in Champions League knockout stages and Europa League Quarter and Semi Finals. We will give it our best shot though and have nothing to lose either way! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 18, 2019 Author Share Posted December 18, 2019 I let a back-up striker go on loan to Ligue 2 Auxerre, but other than that no activity in the January transfer market. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 19, 2019 Author Share Posted December 19, 2019 Pre-Split Update I think such is the nature of the Scottish league it makes more sense to do an update before the split, to give a better insight as to where we are before it happens. So from now on I will do that. Scottish Cup We didn't have the most difficult of runs to the final, but Hamilton did take us to a replay. We beat Ross County convincingly to set up a final show-down with champions Celtic in the final. Europa League We were a bit unlucky to get Leipzig as they were one of the best, if not the outright best side in the draw. We did alright and got 2 goals against them home and away, but their attacking talent was unbelievably good and they outclassed us in both matches. A great adventure to get this far though. Premiership We kicked off 2062 in a big way, as we recorded 3 wins in a row, including a huge win against Celtic and a late late win at home to Killie. We then drew with St Johnstone before losing away to Hamilton. We picked up another loss on the road to Hibs, but then won 3 in a row again to secure a Top half finish. We hit form at exactly the right time, so even though we lost 2 of our lost games and could only draw with Dundee it didn't matter all that much in getting 6th or higher. Celtic and Rangers are some way off, but along with Hibs we're fighting for 3rd place, as due to it being us and Celtic in the final, Hibs have to both finish 3rd and hope Celtic beat us in the final to get Group Stage in the Europa League. Kilmarnock are some way off in 6th place so it would take something truly special for them to make the European spots over us at this point. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 20, 2019 Author Share Posted December 20, 2019 End of Season Update Scottish Premiership We lost our first game of the post-split run-in to Kilmarnock, but bounced back incredibly to smash champions Celtic 3-0, then beat Dundee United. We drew at home to Rangers in another good performance, before beating Hibs on the last day. 3rd place was decided on an almost playoff basis as we had to beat Hibs on the last day to secure it, thankfully we did. It was another win for Celtic, as they make it 2 in a row, leaving Rangers perhaps questioning where it all went wrong. Scottish Cup A brilliant performance lead to Thierry's first ever trophy as a manager. John Ramsay the standout again on the right wing. Karsten Laursen very impressive in defence, with Marcel Mars doing really well in his first full season in central midfield. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 20, 2019 Author Share Posted December 20, 2019 Paul Hart's Career History This covers the first 40 seasons of the save, from 2018-2058 Spoiler --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season Club League Position Achievements/Other --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018/19 Arsenal Premier League 4th Europa League winners 2019/20 Arsenal Premier League 2nd Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 Paris SG Ligue 1 1st Ligue 1 & Coupe de la Ligue winners 2021/22 Paris SG Ligue 1 1st Ligue 1, Champions League & Trophee Des Champions winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2022/23 AS Roma Serie A 3rd Italian Cup runners-up 2023/24 AS Roma Serie A 2nd Italian Cup winners 2024/25 AS Roma Serie A 1st Serie A winners 2025/26 AS Roma Serie A 2nd Italian Super Cup winners & Champions League runners-up 2026/27 AS Roma Serie A 1st Serie A, Italian Cup & Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2027/28 Atletico Madrid La Liga 3rd N/A 2028/29 Atletico Madrid La Liga 2nd N/A 2029/30 Altetico Madrid La Liga 2nd Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2030/31 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 6th N/A 2031/32 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 5th Europa League winners 2032/33 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 3rd European Super Cup winners 2033/34 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 2nd N/A 2034/35 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 1st Bundesliga winners 2035/36 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 2nd German Super Cup & Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2036/37 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League, Russian Cup & Super Cup winners 2037/38 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League, Russian Cup & Super Cup winners 2038/39 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League & Super Cup winners 2039/40 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League, Russian Cup & Super Cup winners 2040/41 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Champions League & Domestic Treble winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2041/42 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 3rd N/A 2042/43 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 4th Taca de Portugal runners-up 2043/44 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 6th N/A 2044/45 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 6th Europa League winners 2045/46 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 3rd European Super Cup winners 2046/47 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 4th N/A 2047/48 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 4th Portuguese League Cup winners 2048/49 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 1st Primiera Liga & Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2049/50 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 2nd N/A 2050/51 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 2nd N/A 2051/52 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 2nd Dutch Cup winners 2052/53 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 2nd Dutch Cup & Super Cup winners 2053/54 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 2nd Dutch Cup winners 2054/55 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 2nd Dutch Cup winners 2055/56 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 1st Eredivisie, Dutch Cup & Super Cup winners 2056/57 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 1st Eredivisie, Champions League & Super Cup winners 2057/58 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 1st Eredivisie, Club World Cup, Euro Super Cup & Super Cup winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paul Hart's Trophy Cabinet Spoiler Champions League x8 - 2019/20 (Arsenal), 2021/22 (Paris SG), 2026/27 (AS Roma), 2029/30 (Atletico Madrid), 2035/36 (VFL Wolfsburg), 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg), 2048/49 (Portimonense SC), 2056/57 (Vitesse Arnhem) Europa League x3 - 2018/19 (Arsenal), 2031/32 (VFL Wolfsburg), 2044/45 (Portimonense SC) Club World Cup x1 - 2057/58 (Vitesse Arnhem) European Super Cup x3 - 2032/33 (VFL Wolfsburg), 2045/46 (Portimonense SC), 2057/58 (Vitesse Arnhem) Bundesliga x1 - 2034/35 (VFL Wolfsburg) German Super Cup x1 - 2035/36 (VFL Wolfsburg) Serie A x2 - 2024/25, 2026/27 (AS Roma) Italian Cup x2 - 2023/24, 2026/27 (AS Roma) Italian Super Cup x1 - 2025/26 (AS Roma) Ligue 1 x2 - 2020/21, 2021/22 (Paris SG) Coupe de la Ligue x1 - 2020/21 (Paris SG) Trophee Des Champions x1 - 2021/22 (Paris SG) Primeira Liga x1 - 2048/49 (Portimonense SC) Portuguese League Cup x1 - 2047/48 (Portimonense SC) Russian Premier League x5 - 2036/37, 2037/38, 2038/39, 2039/40, 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Russian Cup x4 - 2036/37, 2037/38, 2039/40, 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Russian Super Cup x5 - 2036/37, 2037/38, 2038/39, 2039/40, 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Eredivisie x3 - 2055/56, 2056/57, 2057/58 (Vitesse Arnhem) Dutch Cup x5 - 2051/52, 2052/53, 2053/54, 2054/55, 2055/56 (Vitesse Arnhem) Dutch Super Cup x4 - 2052/53, 2055/56, 2056/57, 2057/58 (Vitesse Arnhem) Thierry's Career History --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season Club League Position Achievements/Other --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2058/59 Genclerbirligi SK Turkish Super Lig 5th Turkish Super Cup runners up. Sacked. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2059/60 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 5th N/A 2060/61 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 3rd N/A 2061/62 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 3rd Scottish Cup winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thierry's Trophy Cabinet Scottish Cup x1 - 2061/62 (St. Mirren) Nations Completed Nations completed as Paul Hart: 1. England - Arsenal 2. France - Paris SG 3. Italy - AS Roma 4. Spain - Atletico Madrid 5. Germany - VFL Wolfsburg 6. Russia - Zenit St Petersburg 7. Portugal - Portimonense SC 8. Holland - Vitesse Arnhem Nations completed by the AI: 1. England - Manchester City 2. Germany - RB Leipzig 3. Spain - Valencia CF 4. Portugal - Sporting Lisbon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 20, 2019 Author Share Posted December 20, 2019 Nations Remaining (based on nation coefficient ranking) Turkey Scotland Belgium Ukraine (+2) Croatia (+3) Serbia (-2) Poland (+2) Czech Republic (-3) Romania (+3) Switzerland (-3) Denmark (+2) Austria (-2) Greece (-2) Bulgaria (+2) Norway (+3) Republic of Ireland (-1) Sweden (-3) Slovenia (+3) Iceland (-2) Israel (-1) Slovakia (-1) Belarus (+1) Hungary (-1) Finland Northern Ireland (+1) Wales (-1) A hell of a lot of movement this year. Ukraine rising up to 4th actually means I've got the 4th best ranked leagues all loaded for the first time in a very long while. Good to see. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 20, 2019 Author Share Posted December 20, 2019 My old side Wolfsburg win the final on penalties under the management of Ben Woodburn. Marseille sunk in the final, which is their first for just over 20 years when they were at the height of their power under Thierry Henry. Portugal still doing well with an incredible 4 quarter finalists - and look at Rangers in the Quarter Final! I mean, sure, they got absolutely smashed to pieces by Wolfsburg, but what a feat for a Scottish side to get that far, especially after what looks like a goal fest against PSG in the 1st knockout round. Valencia beat Braga in the final, after an interesting tournament which saw Genclerbirligi eventually reach the Semi Final and come only goal difference away from the fina themselves. Aberdeen were away goals from the Semi Final, which is very impressive and will have helped the Scottish coefficient, although it didn't help them as they ended up like 7th in the league. Kilmarnock joined them in the Round of 16, with Standard Liege and Slavia Prague also interesting names in there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 20, 2019 Author Share Posted December 20, 2019 Fenerbache win the title with nobody getting anywhere near them, interestingly enough the two sides that did get nearest to them were two you wouldn't have expected in Antalyaspor and Buraspor. Genclerbirligi finished in 4th, whilst it was embarrassment for Galatasaray, as their 5th place finish was not good enough for a place in Europe after Kayserispor won the Turkish Cup. Standard Liege had a good season in Europe and so it appears a good season domestically too, as they round out the title winners, which is their first in 35 years! Club Brugge end up a close second, with new big club on the scene Oud-Heverlee Leuven some way back in 3rd. Westerlo manage to get through the playoff system to get into the Europa League, despite ending up just 8 points above the drop-zone. The Ukrainian league went a bit back to normal this season, whilst Shakhtar picked up their 6th title in a row it also saw Dynamo Kyiv pick up their first top 2 finish in 7 seasons. As they have gone up the coefficient table it also means 4 European spots for the other sides at the top half of the table. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 20, 2019 Author Share Posted December 20, 2019 I forgot to take a screenshot of it but the board were talking about how they wanted to build a new ground to capitalise on the extra interest in the club, although there was no timescale given for when this would materialise due to the trouble with locating somewhere to built it and getting planning permission. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 23, 2019 Author Share Posted December 23, 2019 As good a season for Scottish football as you could possibly wish for. Celtic finished bottom of their group, but it did have Marseille, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in it, so you can probably let them off. It will take some doing and consistency to get above Turkey and to be fair there's no real reward for getting to 7th anyway. We need to ensure we stay above Russia and Italy and to be fair we will most likely do that for at least the next few seasons. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 Well done winning the Scottish Cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 24, 2019 Author Share Posted December 24, 2019 The big moment of the summer sees Leicester swoop in and take Marcel Mars. I would've possibly liked to have got a bit more for him but a decent profit and it helped actually give us some kind of transfer budget. Some other squad players were sold to round it up to just under £5M in sales. Olteanu joins on the cheap from Romania and should slot in nicely into our midfield. He's unsporting and that's just the way we like it. Martic is a decent Croatian defender who will be a back-up player. Lauridsen was a good value Danish player who will serve as back-up on the left flank. Flying Bryan Dyer joins from Championship side Watford and will be a bright spark in midfield to replace the departing Marcel Mars. Rok Jug is a Slovenian international who joins from Olimpija and I'm hoping he'll bring the goals! Orlando Kwasi was a youth player I had come through at Vitesse. He was available on a bosman so I've taken a chance on him to be a rotation right wing option behind Ramsay. Banim joins from relegated Championship side Bolton and will be our new first choice keeper. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 24, 2019 Author Share Posted December 24, 2019 A Europa League group of Athletic Bilbao, Krasnodar and FC Koln awaits us. Should be an interesting set of games to test the level we're at. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tacchi Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 The squad depth and quality is slowly increasing, which should be the key factor of your success at Scotland in the near future. I love your thread and wishing all the best to get revenge as soon as you can in Turkey! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 24, 2019 Author Share Posted December 24, 2019 Mid-Season Update League Cup A good run to the Semi Final, where we narrowly lost in extra-time to the champions. Premiership We stumbled out of the blocks with two 2-1 losses to start the season against Aberdeen and Queen of the South, but we recovered to pull of three 1-0 wins in a row, including away to Rangers in what was a big win and gave us some confidence. It was then our turn to take a 1-0 loss as Killie beat us at home, before we beat a poor Dundee United side 2-0 away from home. We could only draw to newly promoted Ayr, before beating St Johnstone and then losing 2-1 at Celtic Park after taking an early lead through Rok Jug. A late late Orlando Kwasie goal gifted us a win at home to Quen of the South, before two draws on the spin against Aberden and Hibs, with the former being quite fortunate after being 2-0 down in Aberdeen. We then beat Hamilton and Motherwell in back to back wins, with Ramsay getting the late goal to seal the win at home to Hamilton. We then lost at home to a caretaker managed Rangers side 2-0, before failing to beat relegation battling Dundee United and Ayr at home, but did at least beat Hamilton again. Celtic are unbeaten and pretty much have the title in the bag already. We're in 3rd place and well in the mix for 2nd and the 2nd CL spot that comes with it, but we're only 6 points above Motherwell in 7th and a bad run of form could see us in trouble. Rangers are 6th, although with their games in hand could rise as high as 2nd, but after 2 seasons of falling behind Celtic after a decade of dominance their board have had enough of their manager: This actually came through just as they beat us 2-0 which was quite funny. I did strongly consider their offer and they were in a worse position in the table when they offered it to me, but ultimately I turned it down. They have a much better squad and resources/finances than we do, but I think it's a very open league this year and I could easily go to Rangers, do quite well and still end up finishing behind St Mirren anyway. If they'd offered me the job in the summer I would've had to think about it a lot harder, but I think I've come far enough with St Mirren that I might as well keep going with them. Europa League Krasnodar were much the better side for much of the game, but following a second half red card we got back in the game and ended up grabbing a late point through Nikica Polic. 415 away fans were in Germany to see us pull off a memorable away win, with Rok Jug getting the only goal in our 1-0 win. We set out to defend in front of a capacity crowd at home to Bilbao and we can't complain with the result. We couldn't keep Bilbao out in their native Spain though, as David Martin's goal was enough to sink us. Another decent goalless draw, this time in Russia, as we went into the final group game with Koln with the chance to qualify. Who else but John Ramsay to pop up with the goal to secure us a huge win at the sold-out Simply Digital Arena to secure passage to the knockout stages for the second season in a row... We go back to where it all started in the 1st Knockout Round, as we're drawn up against the first side I managed, Arsenal, who are somehow still managed by Lucas Torreira, who at 23 years at the club has actually now out-done Arsene Wenger in terms of longevity. Arsenal have won just 1 Europa League in that time frame, with absolutely nothing else to show for it. In unrelated news, Robbie from ArsenalFanTV is listed in Forbes richest 100 people in the world for 2062... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 25, 2019 Author Share Posted December 25, 2019 We let the ageing Neil Farquhar go to Hearts for around £500K after add-ons, with Domagoj Martic who signed in the summer being sold at a slight loss for £100K or so. He didn't settle well and wanted out, so off he went. We spent our winnings on Sam Walker, a good young defender signed from troubled Championship side Sunderland. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 26, 2019 Author Share Posted December 26, 2019 Pre-Split Update Scottish Cup It wasn't the easiest of routes to the Semi Final, as both Ross County and Hibs took us to replays, with Hibs only being bested after penalties. We eventually did make the Semi Final though where we unfortunately lost to Rangers. Europa League # Arsenal took an early first half lead in the home leg, but a quick-fire brace from Rok Jug meant we went into half-time 2-1 up. Arsenal levelled quickly in the second half through Ali Kaplan, but Isakov replied just minutes later to give us a 3-2 lead that we managed to hold onto. I was nervous going to the Emirates especially as they got two away goals against us, but John Ramsay scored in the first half to make it 4-2 on aggregate and we were actually fairly comfortable. Lucas Torreira's side comitted too many man forward late on and Isakov was able to head in after a nice counter attack, making it 5-2 on aggregate, which I never would've expected. A very sold defensive display in the home leg of our Round of 16 match, with Monaco much the better side but unable to take advantage of their possession. Monaco grabbed and early goal in the return leg and we just couldn't break down their defence. Frustrating especially as a 1-1 draw on the night would've taken us through on away goals and we did have a few half chances to do it. a We got 2063 off to a decent start with a 0-0 draw against the champions, before two wins on the bounce against St Johnstone and then Aberdeen. Hibs managed to grab a point against us at home, before we bested Motherwell. A bore-draw at Rangers, before we grabbed a late point at home to Killie who very nearly beat us. Late goals became something of a speciality in March as after a second half winner against Dundee United we grabbed a win and rescued a late point through two 88th minute goals from Orlando Kwasie in back to back matches. We picked up a comfortable win, before a slight slump with a draw and loss against St Johnstone and Queen of the South, before an incredible victory against what has been a rampant Celtic side this season. That win against Celtic may well be all that prevents them from going unbeaten this season. We're in a great position going into the split, with 5 points between us and Rangers, if we get 2nd we get the Best Placed 3rd Round of the Champions League which would be pretty great. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 26, 2019 Author Share Posted December 26, 2019 End of Season Update Scottish Cup Rangers got the better of us at Hampden Park as we lose 2-0 in the Semi. Scottish Premiership Safe to say we absolutely smashed the post-split championship table, as we took an incredible 15 points from 15, even giving champions Celtic their only other defeat of the season after we ended their invincibility not long back Rangers some way back in 3rd place as we secure Champions League football for St Mirren for the very first time. Dundee United go down and they deserved to go down given how far behind they were. Celtic romp home to 3 in a row, with our two wins being the only thing preventing them from doing it unbeaten. Nikica Polic, Kartsen Laursen and John Ramsay probably the standouts: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 26, 2019 Author Share Posted December 26, 2019 Paul Hart's Career History This covers the first 40 seasons of the save, from 2018-2058 Spoiler --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season Club League Position Achievements/Other --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018/19 Arsenal Premier League 4th Europa League winners 2019/20 Arsenal Premier League 2nd Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 Paris SG Ligue 1 1st Ligue 1 & Coupe de la Ligue winners 2021/22 Paris SG Ligue 1 1st Ligue 1, Champions League & Trophee Des Champions winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2022/23 AS Roma Serie A 3rd Italian Cup runners-up 2023/24 AS Roma Serie A 2nd Italian Cup winners 2024/25 AS Roma Serie A 1st Serie A winners 2025/26 AS Roma Serie A 2nd Italian Super Cup winners & Champions League runners-up 2026/27 AS Roma Serie A 1st Serie A, Italian Cup & Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2027/28 Atletico Madrid La Liga 3rd N/A 2028/29 Atletico Madrid La Liga 2nd N/A 2029/30 Altetico Madrid La Liga 2nd Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2030/31 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 6th N/A 2031/32 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 5th Europa League winners 2032/33 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 3rd European Super Cup winners 2033/34 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 2nd N/A 2034/35 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 1st Bundesliga winners 2035/36 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 2nd German Super Cup & Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2036/37 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League, Russian Cup & Super Cup winners 2037/38 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League, Russian Cup & Super Cup winners 2038/39 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League & Super Cup winners 2039/40 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League, Russian Cup & Super Cup winners 2040/41 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Champions League & Domestic Treble winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2041/42 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 3rd N/A 2042/43 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 4th Taca de Portugal runners-up 2043/44 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 6th N/A 2044/45 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 6th Europa League winners 2045/46 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 3rd European Super Cup winners 2046/47 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 4th N/A 2047/48 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 4th Portuguese League Cup winners 2048/49 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 1st Primiera Liga & Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2049/50 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 2nd N/A 2050/51 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 2nd N/A 2051/52 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 2nd Dutch Cup winners 2052/53 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 2nd Dutch Cup & Super Cup winners 2053/54 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 2nd Dutch Cup winners 2054/55 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 2nd Dutch Cup winners 2055/56 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 1st Eredivisie, Dutch Cup & Super Cup winners 2056/57 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 1st Eredivisie, Champions League & Super Cup winners 2057/58 Vitesse Arnhem Eredivisie 1st Eredivisie, Club World Cup, Euro Super Cup & Super Cup winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paul Hart's Trophy Cabinet Spoiler Champions League x8 - 2019/20 (Arsenal), 2021/22 (Paris SG), 2026/27 (AS Roma), 2029/30 (Atletico Madrid), 2035/36 (VFL Wolfsburg), 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg), 2048/49 (Portimonense SC), 2056/57 (Vitesse Arnhem) Europa League x3 - 2018/19 (Arsenal), 2031/32 (VFL Wolfsburg), 2044/45 (Portimonense SC) Club World Cup x1 - 2057/58 (Vitesse Arnhem) European Super Cup x3 - 2032/33 (VFL Wolfsburg), 2045/46 (Portimonense SC), 2057/58 (Vitesse Arnhem) Bundesliga x1 - 2034/35 (VFL Wolfsburg) German Super Cup x1 - 2035/36 (VFL Wolfsburg) Serie A x2 - 2024/25, 2026/27 (AS Roma) Italian Cup x2 - 2023/24, 2026/27 (AS Roma) Italian Super Cup x1 - 2025/26 (AS Roma) Ligue 1 x2 - 2020/21, 2021/22 (Paris SG) Coupe de la Ligue x1 - 2020/21 (Paris SG) Trophee Des Champions x1 - 2021/22 (Paris SG) Primeira Liga x1 - 2048/49 (Portimonense SC) Portuguese League Cup x1 - 2047/48 (Portimonense SC) Russian Premier League x5 - 2036/37, 2037/38, 2038/39, 2039/40, 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Russian Cup x4 - 2036/37, 2037/38, 2039/40, 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Russian Super Cup x5 - 2036/37, 2037/38, 2038/39, 2039/40, 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Eredivisie x3 - 2055/56, 2056/57, 2057/58 (Vitesse Arnhem) Dutch Cup x5 - 2051/52, 2052/53, 2053/54, 2054/55, 2055/56 (Vitesse Arnhem) Dutch Super Cup x4 - 2052/53, 2055/56, 2056/57, 2057/58 (Vitesse Arnhem) Thierry's Career History --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season Club League Position Achievements/Other --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2058/59 Genclerbirligi SK Turkish Super Lig 5th Turkish Super Cup runners up. Sacked. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2059/60 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 5th N/A 2060/61 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 3rd N/A 2061/62 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 3rd Scottish Cup winners 2062/63 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 2nd N/A --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thierry's Trophy Cabinet Scottish Cup x1 - 2061/62 (St. Mirren) Nations Completed Nations completed as Paul Hart: 1. England - Arsenal 2. France - Paris SG 3. Italy - AS Roma 4. Spain - Atletico Madrid 5. Germany - VFL Wolfsburg 6. Russia - Zenit St Petersburg 7. Portugal - Portimonense SC 8. Holland - Vitesse Arnhem Nations completed by the AI: 1. England - Manchester City 2. Germany - RB Leipzig 3. Spain - Valencia CF 4. Portugal - Sporting Lisbon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 26, 2019 Author Share Posted December 26, 2019 Nations Remaining (based on nation coefficient ranking) Turkey Scotland Belgium Ukraine Croatia Romania (+3) Serbia (-1) Bulgaria (+6) Poland (-2) Denmark (+1) Austria (+1) Norway (+3) Czech Republic (-5) Slovenia (+4) Sweden (+1) Greece (-3) Republic of Ireland (-1) Switzerland (-8) Israel (+1) Iceland (-1) Slovakia Belarus Hungary Finland Northern Ireland Wales Bulgaria going up big time as they rise a massive 6 places, whilst the Czech Republic fall 5 places down. Slovenia also big risers, but the most interesting story is probably Switzerland, who you'd always consider a decent country with a big side like Basel who have fallen massively to 26 on the rankings, 18th out of the sides remaining. They'll no longer get 2 sides in the Champions League which should be a huge blow to the Swiss league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 26, 2019 Author Share Posted December 26, 2019 It was a fairly traditional Champions League last 8 with no real surprises this season. A final of Man United vs PSG, which saw Ben Woodburn, who won the Champions League last year with Wolfsburg, win it once more this time for the red side in Manchester. PSG are actually funnily enough managed by my former Zenit player Carlos Escobedo, who I actually think was an option when I gave you guys the choice on who to be. Valencia won the Europa League for the second season in a row, beating the side who knocked us out in the final. I felt a bit vindicated in going out to Monaco when I saw they reached the final, as I don't really recall them being much of a force in Europe in this save for the most part. Standard Liege reaching the Quarter Final in another decent showing for the Belgian league, with Oud-Huverlee also making the Last 16. Genclerbirligi went out at the same stage as we did, which is always good to see, well played to PSV who ended up making the Semi after an all Dutch Quarter final. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 26, 2019 Author Share Posted December 26, 2019 Galatasaray win the title after a year without Europe possibly benefits them, at least in terms of winning the league with Fenerbache having to settle for 2nd. It was very close this year after a 13 point gap between 1st and 2nd last season, with Genclerbirligi in 3rd just 2 points away from top spot. They actually lost away to Besiktas on the last day of the season, which if they had won, they would've got the title. A poor year for Kayserispor who were some way off the European spots. Antalyaspor fail to build on their surprise 2nd place finish last year and end up 7th with no Europe next year. They did alright this year to be fair, getting knocked out by Lyon in the qualifiers, before getting through the Europa League group stage and getting dumped out in the 1st knockout round by the more experienced Feyenoord. Club Brugge end up pipping Standard Liege to the title, but a good season for Belgium overall as possibly for the first time the top 5 sides all get into Europe. Liege have shown they're a threat this season so will be a difficult side to whoever they face in the Champions League qualifiers, which could even be us to be fair. 7 in a row for Shakhtar, with Karpaty Lviv a surprise second place and such is the Ukraine's placing now that it means they're reward is Champions League football. Another poor year for Dynamo Kyiv. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 26, 2019 Author Share Posted December 26, 2019 Seems hardly worth it for an extra 5,481 seats, but fair play to the board showing some ambition and the new stadium will be done by the end of next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 26, 2019 Author Share Posted December 26, 2019 Rangers would perhaps be disappointed to go out to Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League, but did well in the Europa to get to 2nd Knockout Round, especially given their awful league form before Christmas. Hibs going out to Brondby isn't great, but Dundee United got past Levski Sofia, Beiter Jerusalem and Westerlo to make it to the Europa League group stage, where they went out from a group of Monaco, Real Sociedad and Oud-Heverlee Leuven. Celtic reach the Champions League knockout stages after getting through a group of Bayern Munich, Valencia and Inter Milan, to go out to eventual winners Man United. Overall a good year for Scotland and we have to be happy with that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigshow1 Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 Got yourself some cracking young players there. Love that keeper, could be your number 1 for the rest of his career. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 27, 2019 Author Share Posted December 27, 2019 Billy Scott had been rendered 3rd choice keeper following the new guy coming in so he wanted out and Queen of the South were happy to cough up the cash for him. The bigger departure was of course club legend John Ramsay, who has been brilliant since I arrived at St Mirren. I didn't particularly want to sell, but he wouldn't renew his contract and wanted to move to a bigger club, so he was sold to the highest bidder, which happened to be Bournemouth. At 30 years old it was perhaps the best move for both parties. The money was mainly spent on improving the overall squad and depth. Tunnicluff won't see any real minutes, but is decent back-up that fills up a HG spot after he was released on a free by Hibs. Jamie Adams, again not great, but serves a purpose in the squad as a decent HG back-up for the defence. Skott was available at a bargain bin price, as many of our Danish signings have been and he should be a great addition to our midfield. Shane Walker is a talented young right back snapped up from Championship QPR and he'll slot in as a starter right away. McLoughlin joins from Cork City of the Irish league as our most expensive signing. He's a talented attacking midfielder who has been good enough to play for his country any times, with a good record. I hope he can slot in and do well as he adapts to a more competitive league. Tom White joins from League 1 side Preston to add some depth to the left back position. He looks another good young talent poached from the Football League. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 27, 2019 Author Share Posted December 27, 2019 Champions League Qualifiers We actually did end up drawing Standard Liege in the Champions League qualifiers. The away leg in Belgium was very tight and it was only a late late goal from the home side which put a downer on what was a fairly decent performance from us. We managed to get the win at home after going behind early on, but ultimately it was away goals that cost us and we went out. Small margins in the end. Liege are obviously a decent side though as they beat Fenerbache 3-0 on aggregate to make the Group Stage in the end. We've got what appears to be a kinder draw in the Europa League group stage this year though, as we face Krasnodar (again), Slovan Bratislava and Fimleikafelag Hafnarfjardar (FH) of Iceland. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 (edited) Skott was bought for 60,000 and in the same window is now worth 9.5 million. That is insane Edited December 27, 2019 by kidthekid Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 27, 2019 Author Share Posted December 27, 2019 (edited) 5 hours ago, kidthekid said: Skott was bought for 60,000 and in the same window is now worth 9.5 million. That is insane It’s technically 6 months later in December as I don’t keep a save from the end of August, but he does look decent value. The Danish league seems to be great value in picking up people on the cheap, especially guys whose contracts are running out in the summer. The Dutch or Portueguese leagues for example are horrendous. I’m assuming it’s partly as a result of me boosting the leagues, but at the start of the game you could usually pick up decent players from those leagues for decent prices, but now a player under 25 valued at £1-2M gets quoted at like £25M if you ever put a bid in I don’t get too excited by the value of my players as I very rarely get any decent offers for them regardless of their value. John Ramsay was valued at like £13M but I could only get half of that. Billy Scott was £2.5M or so and nobody was coughing up anywhere near that. Not really sure how value is calculated tbf but I think most of the team are inflated based on club reputation or something I’m guessing. Edited December 27, 2019 by PaulHartman71 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 29, 2019 Author Share Posted December 29, 2019 Mid-Season League Cup Celtic away was a step too far in the Quarter Final. Premiership We took two 3-0 losses in our first 3 games which I thought was a real shame following a decent transfer window. Celtic you can maybe understand but away to Hibs we shouldn't be getting turned over like that really. We beat Motherwell and Hamilton though before dropping some points in Aberdeen. A couple of wins on the bounce against Queen of the South and a spanking of Killie, before losing at Rangers, then smashing Dundee and drawing at home to Ayr who always seem to do well against us. We then lost at St Johnstone before two draws in a row against Motherwell and Hibs, before a surprise win at home to Celtic and then a big win against Hamilton. We extended that to 3 wins in a row by b eating Aberdeen and Queen of the South, before two bore draws in a row against Killie and Dundee, before good wins against Rangers and finally a win against the plucky Ayr. Rangers who I of course turned down are now storming the title, typical. Celtic having a poor year to be below us at this stage, but it is all still to play for. We're currently 2nd but it's going to be very hard to hold off Celtic until the end of the season and St Johnstone are having a strong year too. Europa League Krasnodar much the better side in our first game of the group in Russia and they were good value for their win. FH of Iceland didn't put up a huge fight until we went 2-0 up in the second half, which was when they started to show a bit of fight. They got a goal back and had a chance or two to make it 2-2 but thankfully we held on. A last gasp goal from the Romanian Rares Olteanu gave us all 3 points against Slovan Bratislava, which put us in a nice position in the group having beat both the other sides we were competing for that 2nd spot with. The Slovakian side put up more of a fight at home and we could only come away with a point unfortunately. We got a good point against Krasnodar at home to confirm our place in the next round. FH were solid in Iceland and only a penalty got us the win. We wind up second in the group and the 1st Knockout Round draw is an extremely tasty one as I'm once again drawn up against the old enemy Genclerbirligi! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 30, 2019 Author Share Posted December 30, 2019 No transfers in January in or out Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 30, 2019 Author Share Posted December 30, 2019 Pre-Split update Scottish Cup A great cup run sees us back in the final once more, with our Semi Final victory coming after penalties following a hard fought match with Rangers. We will play Celtic in the final. Premiership A fairly inconsistent start to 2064, as we win twice, draw once and lose twice. A load of draws followed, with 4 draws from 5 and a sole win against Dundee. We then beat St Johnstone and Ayr to end the pre-split season. The title/2nd place are more than likely done with just 5 games to go. I think defensively we're in a good position and are arguably as good as The Old Firm, but scoring goals seems to be our problem and if we could just turn some of those draws into wins we'd have been in the conversation for the Champions League places. Ayr look certain to finally go back down. Europa League A solid result in the home leg of the big grudge match with Genclerbirligi. We were in the driver seat at 1-0 and I thought we'd hold them off with our solid defence, but unfortunately it wasn't to be. Our lack of goals came back to haunt us once more in the return leg to my old stomping ground, as for the second time as St Mirren manager I'm ultimately bested by my old employers from Turkey. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted December 30, 2019 Author Share Posted December 30, 2019 Shambles etc. I did think 12 months was a really quick turnaround to be fair. It's only 4 months behind schedule so not the end of the world, but should we be in the Europa League group stage it will mean I think that we would only get 1 group stage with the extra capacity rather than all 3. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 Very well done qualifying for the Champions League the previous season. Shame you went out early. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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