PaulHartman71 Posted June 20, 2020 Author Share Posted June 20, 2020 122nd minute: The drone has signalled for the end of proceedings...it will be penalties!!! City have weathered the storm, thanks in part to their keeper Kopbe, the former Besiktas boy, and he's got a chance to be the hero from the spot now especially when you would think he may well know the way some of those Besiktas lads will go from the spot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 20, 2020 Author Share Posted June 20, 2020 Besiktas to take the first penalty. The German midfielder Starke to take it, their record signing in the summer, of course that means Kopke his compatriot in the City goal at the Stretford End may not have taken a penalty from him in his club days, but he could well have in training for the German national team... Starke standing over it. It's Maximilian Starke... And Starke scores! A calm finish in the bottom right corner, Kopke sent the other way. It's a great penalty from the German. MAN CITY 0-1 BESIKTAS Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 20, 2020 Author Share Posted June 20, 2020 Brian Dehais to take the first penalty for Man City. Interesting that Baba Soumah doesn't appear to be taking the first one, of course some strikers like to take the 4th or 5th in a shoot out to be the hero, unclear if that was his choice or a tactical one from the manager, but it's Brian Dehais who is coming up either way. Juan Bayon in the Besiktas goal has now kept 37 clean sheets this season when you include tonight, as of course a penalty goal in a shoot-out does not tarnish that record. All the same Bayon will be looking to be the hero here. Brian Dehais to hit it... OHHH AND BAYON'S SAVED IT!!! THE SPANIARD WITH A GREAT SAVE HAS PUT IT PAST THE POST AND BESIKTAS ARE IN THE DRIVING SEAT AFTER THE FIRST SET OF PENALTIES! MAN CITY 0-1 BESIKTAS Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 20, 2020 Author Share Posted June 20, 2020 Santiago Pastrana stepping up for Besiktas. 33 goals for them this seaon in all competitions, of course he couldn't score tonight, but he has scored two of those goals from the spot, a 100 percent record with Besiktas, although not the biggest pool of data to analyse. Kopke staring him down. Looking to match Bayon with a save here to get City back in it. Pastrana to take it... GREAT PENALTY! Fired into the top left hand corner. Kopke went the right way, but it was too high and too powerful for him to get to it. Pastrana celebrates with the Besiktas fans who are at this side by the goal. They're very happy. MAN CITY 0-2 BESIKTAS Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 20, 2020 Author Share Posted June 20, 2020 Kenan Deganovic to go next for City. He really needs to pot this one in for them to stay in this shoot-out. Bayon has already made one save. Thierry of course his manager no stranger to penalty shoot-outs as a keeper, won a few important ones for Zenit and Paul Hart over the years. Bayon could go down in similar folk lore here tonight. Deganovic to strike it... IT'S STRAIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE AND STRAIGHT IN THE NET! Bayon dove to his right, fooled by the Serbian there and City looking quite relieved now, although they still trail. MAN CITY 1-2 BESIKTAS Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 20, 2020 Author Share Posted June 20, 2020 Besiktas with 2 out of 2 so far, now on their third penalty they have Derrick 'Del Boy' Winder stepping up. Coincidentally all 3 so far never played with Kopke at Besiktas, interesting if that played a part in the choosing of the takers or not. All the same, the Englishman, Winder to take this one... OH IT'S PLACED CALMLY IN THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE GOAL! Sweet strike from Del Boy, who has conned the Kopke there and sent him the wrong way. Pressure back on City once more. MAN CITY 1-3 BESIKTAS Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 20, 2020 Author Share Posted June 20, 2020 It's Ousmane Bangoura to take City's next penalty. Again, we're almost getting to the kind of territory where a miss can lose you the game. If Bangoura doesn't score this one and Besiktas score their next one they will be European champions... Juan Bayon in the Besiktas goal eyeing up Bangoura menacingly here. Bangoura to try his luck... BUT IT'S ANOTHER HUGE SAVE FROM JUAN BAYON IN THE BESIKTAS GOAL! THE SPANIARD FROM THE CANARY ISLANDS HAS MADE TWO HUGE SAVES TO PUT BESIKTAS, THIERRY AND TURKISH FOOTBALL ON THE EDGE OF GLORY! MAN CITY 1-3 BESIKTAS Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 20, 2020 Author Share Posted June 20, 2020 A huge moment now for Thierry, Besiktas and Turkish football. Thierry looking to get a win tonight for his late manager Paul Hart who sadly died a few weeks ago. Besiktas looking to right the wrongs of their tragic failure to win the Champions League for the first time last season. On three occasions a Turkish side has reached a Champions League final and three times out of three they've failed to win it for their nation. Besiktas with their 2nd attempt tonight... And it's Deniz Merdin, the 21 year old Turkish attacking midfielder who gets his chance to put himself and his side in the history books. Merdin, only really playing tonight as a result of Fabio Luiz being out injured. Rodney of course coming off with cramp, so it falls to young Deniz here to take a penalty. A bit part player really in Besiktas' campaign so far this season. Tonight just his 9th appearance in all competitions, primarily a cup player, although he has played in a couple of Super Lig games towards the end of the season due to Luiz's injury. Deniz looks nervous here. The weight of a nation on his shoulders. Kopke to beat in the City goal. It's Deniz Merdin..... AND HE'S DONE IT!!!!!!!!!!! THE YOUNG LAD SENDS THE TURKISH NATION AND CONTINGENT AT OLD TRAFFORD HERE TONIGHT INTO ABSOLUTE DREAM LAND!!! MAN CITY 1-4 BESIKTAS THIERRY RUNNING ONTO THE PITCH AS FAST AS A MAN OF HIS AGE CAN MANAGE! THE REST OF THE BESIKTAS PLAYERS ARE SWARMING ROUND TO MERDIN, IT'S HIS GOAL, AND OF COURSE MORE IMPORTANTLY JUAN BAYON'S SAVES WHICH HAVE WON THEM IT TONIGHT! KOPKE WITH HIS HEAD IN HIS HANDS AT THE SIDE OF THE PITCH. HE LEFT BESIKTAS AFTER LAST SUMMER WITH HOPES OF GLORY WITH CITY, BUT THOSE HOPES HAVE BEEN DASHED BY HIS FORMER SIDE TONIGHT! BESIKTAS ARE THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THEIR HISTORY! AND THE TURKISH FLAG FLYING PROUDLY BOTH ON THE PITCH AND ALL ABOUT OLD TRAFFORD! 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rikulec Posted June 20, 2020 Share Posted June 20, 2020 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
olliep Posted June 20, 2020 Share Posted June 20, 2020 Brilliant work! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 21, 2020 Author Share Posted June 21, 2020 End of Season Update A lot of players worthy of mention this season. Rodney excellent in midfield once more, becoming much more of an attacking threat. Crausaz always a threat on the right, improved upon his good year last season. Starke great alongside Rodney in central midfield, a great signing in the summer and did all that was asked of him. Pastrana came in and after a shaky start scored a hell of a lot of goals on our way to the title and European glory. Fabio Luiz very good at CAM once again and unfortunate to miss the final with his small injury. Bayon excellent in goal keeping a crazy number of clean sheets, including the CL final itself and only letting in 10 goals in 34 games in the league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 21, 2020 Author Share Posted June 21, 2020 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 2063/64 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 3rd Scottish Cup runners-up 2064/65 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 3rd Scottish League Cup runners-up 2065/66 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 2nd Scottish League Cup runners-up 2066/67 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 2nd N/A 2067/68 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 1st Scottish Premiership, Cup & League Cup winners 2068/69 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 2nd N/A 2069/70 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 3rd Champions League runners-up & League Cup winners 2070/71 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 2nd Champions League & Scottish Cup winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2071/72 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Belgian Pro League winners 2072/73 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Belgian Pro League & Super Cup winners 2073/74 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Belgian Pro League & Super Cup winners 2074/75 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Belgian Pro League & Belgian Cup & Super Cup winners 2075/76 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Belgian Pro League & Super Cup winners 2076/77 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Champions League runners-up & League & Super Cup winners 2077/78 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Belgian Pro League, Belgian Cup & Super Cup winners 2078/79 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Champions League, Pro League, Cup & Super Cup winners ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2079/80 Antalyaspor Turkish Super Lig 7th N/A. Resigned. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2080/81 Besiktas Turkish Super Lig 1st Turkish Super Lig & Super Cup winners. EL runners-up. 2081/82 Besiktas Turkish Super Lig 1st Turkish Super Lig, Cup & Super Cup winners 2082/83 Besiktas Turkish Super Lig 1st Turkish Super Lig & Super Cup winners 2083/84 Besiktas Turkish Super Lig 1st Turkish Super Lig & Super Cup winners 2084/85 Besiktas Turkish Super Lig 1st Turkish Super Lig & Super Cup winners. CL runners-up. 2085/86 Besiktas Turkish Super Lig 1st Champions League, Super Lig and Super Cup winners ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thierry's Trophy Cabinet Champions League x3 - 2070/71 (St. Mirren), 2078/79 (Anderlecht), 2085/86 (Besiktas) Scottish Premiership x1 - 2067/68 (St. Mirren) Scottish Cup x3 - 2061/62, 2067/68, 2070/71 (St. Mirren) Scottish League Cup x2 - 2067/67, 2069/70 (St. Mirren) Turkish Super Lig x6 - 2080/81, 2081/82, 2082/83, 2083/84, 2084/85, 2085/86 (Besiktas) Turkish Cup x1 - 2081/82 (Besiktas) Turkish Super Cup x6 - 2080/81, 2081/82, 2082/83, 2083/84, 2084/85, 2085/86 (Besiktas) Belgian Pro League x8 - 2071/72, 2072/73, 2073/74, 2074/75, 2075/76, 2076/77, 2077/78, 2078/79 (Anderlecht) Belgian Cup x3 - 2074/75, 2077/78, 2078/79 (Anderlecht) Belgian Super Cup x7 - 2072/73, 2073/74, 2074/75, 2075/76, 2076/77, 2077/78, 2078/79 (Anderlecht) 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 as Thierry: 9. Scotland - St. Mirren 10. Belgium - Anderlecht 11. Turkey - Besiktas 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 June 21, 2020 Author Share Posted June 21, 2020 Nations Remaining (based on nation coefficient ranking) Austria Switzerland Croatia Norway Ukraine Czech Republic Romania Israel Denmark Serbia Iceland Bulgaria Sweden Greece Poland Republic of Ireland Slovakia Slovenia Hungary Finland Wales Belarus Northern Ireland Croatia are the league that has been loaded in the absence of the Turkish one. Dinamo Zagreb have emerged as a pretty strong side in recent years, regularly reaching the last 16 of the Europa League. They must have a good scouting network too and some money now as I know just from signing players myself like Crasauz and Pastrana they've got some real talent in that side. Not too sure how the Croatian league works, but we'll have a look at that more at the end of next season once it is active. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 21, 2020 Author Share Posted June 21, 2020 A good campaign from Basel who got into the Quarter Final. Bursaspor did well to reach the last 16 before bowing out to City. A huge moment for Red Bull and Austria as RB Salzburg become the first Austrian side to win the Europa League/UEFA Cup. A tough run to get to the final as well but they did very well after going out of the CL Group Stage, interestingly there was even an all Austrian classic in the Round of 16. Big moment for them. Two Turkish sides in the last 8 as Trabzonspor and Boluspor both get through. SKN St Polten of Austria also reaching the last 16 making it 3 Austrian sides which is pretty mad. Kobenhavn doing well for Denmark. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 21, 2020 Author Share Posted June 21, 2020 Basel make it 5 in a row, with Servette FC the surprise 2nd place Champions League qualifiers as they're more used to fighting against going down. Vadus almost came 2nd themselves although of course wouldn't have got the CL spot anyway. A bad year for Young Boys as they get no European football next season. Salzburg's long European campaign didn't distract them domestically, with Rapid Vienna second as per usual. SKN St Polten won't get a chance in Europe again next season after missing out, following from their impressive last 16 finish in the Europa. 5 in 5 titles for Shakhtar, with nobody really putting any pressure on them. Olimpk and Desna to compete in Europe next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 21, 2020 Author Share Posted June 21, 2020 I haven't done a HOF update in a while, so 29 years into Thierry's career as he leaves Besiktas for pastures new let's see where we're at: Of the new names on there: Sercan Aytekin has now retired, I did mention him before, but he was a Turkish manager with 3 Champions League trophies to his name, one with PSG, two with Roma, as well as a whole host of other trophies, including the Bundesliga, Serie A, Premier League, Ligue 1 and pretty much all the domestic trophies you can hope to win in Italy, France, England and Germany. What probably has boosted him quite high up as well is that he has 3 World Club Cup wins, which I think count pretty high in the rankings points. Ismail Yilmaz is a German manager, who is currently 65 and at RB Leipzig. He's won one Champions League each with Wolfsburg and Porto, as well as two club World Cups, the Europa League with RB Leipzig and a whole host of domestic trophies in Germany, Portugal, France, Scotland, Holland, England and Spain. Ruud Hesp is a 60 year old Dutch manager who currently manages Vitesse. He's won a Champions League for Vitesse and Porto, the Europa League with Fenerbache, a few Euro Super Cups and Club World Cups, as well as domestic trophies in Portugal, Turkey, Belgium, England, Italy, Germany and Holland. Thierry, after 29 years, is just 1000 points shy of John Terry in 20th place. I think it's certainly possible that by the end of his career he could have sneaked up to 4,500 points and possibly get towards the bottom of the table, but it would be unlikely to see him wind up much higher than Ancelotti in 18th, although it depends how successful his last 11 years or so as a manager are. I think I will retire him around that time, although we will see depending on how long it takes to complete the next country More on that soon... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 Redemption. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 23, 2020 Author Share Posted June 23, 2020 So I didn't really have a great amount of options. As I predicted despite turning it down around 3 times in the last 5-6 seasons, the RB Salzburg job, which was the ultimate dream, was not available this summer. They just won the Europa League so I hoped maybe it would be at some point as they never sack their managers, they just get poached by bigger sides in bigger leagues, but it looks like he's staying this summer. You may see that graphic and think "ooh" Sturm Graz came 2nd in the Austrian Prem, get on that one. Well, they didn't. That actually refers to the Relegation Playoff position Obolon-Brewer I think came 3rd or 4th last season in the Ukraine, but only narrowly avoided a relegation playoff this season just to stay up. That left Young Boys, who despite their 7th place finish putting them close to relegation in a 10 team league, as the obvious choice to go for. A brand new stadium built 10 years ago, as well as some pretty banging facilities made them actually a pretty appealing choice. It would seem the board are even further upgrading the facilities, with the Training and Youth facilities set to become State of the Art very soon. This did mean I had a very small budget, possibly due to them spending money on them, but I don't mind that and if we have to sell to buy this summer so be it. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 23, 2020 Author Share Posted June 23, 2020 A few highlights upon arrival. A Swiss heavy squad, with only 3 non-Swiss players in the entire squad. Regulations in Switzerland seem pretty cushty. No more than 5 non-EU players in the Starting 11 Squad registration rules let you have 10 Non-EU players, with minimum 8 trained in Switzerland in a 25 man squad. Doesn't appear to be any rules on EU players in starting 11. Switzerland itself is in a pretty good place, finishing runners-up at the World Cup this summer (these screenshots from beforehand) although in fairness they did have a pretty lucky run to the final Senegal and Honduras in the group stage, then Australia in the first round, before narrowly beating Croatia on a shoot-out, before 1-0 wins against Ecuador and Serbia to make the final, before they finally played a serious team and got turned over. Brazil now have 6 wins, just behind Germany for the overall record with 7. Although the game counts Germany and West Germany as separate, so has Brazil as the record holders. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 24, 2020 Author Share Posted June 24, 2020 Summer Transfers As I said before we very much had to sell to buy this window. Managed to get a decent budget out of letting two lads go. Zivkovic was a pretty solid CB, but he was in the last year of his deal and didn't really want to renew so I let him go to the highest bidder. Sion made the Europa League and were an attractive option for him, so he left for £8M which I thought was a pretty decent deal with 1 year left on his contract. Vito Martin was another in the last year of his contract. He was quite good, but a DM who couldn't really play CM so didn't massively fit into my preferred system, plus he wanted outrageous wages for a Swiss side who's only aim for the season is to not go down. I couldn't justify paying him the £40K he was asking for, luckily for him Wolves in the Premier League were, so off he went. We conducted somewhat of a raid on Atletico Madrid's leftovers, who seemed to be having a summer clear-out of their B team We signed a left back, central defender and central midfielder for a combined figure of just over £2M, not too shabby! There was a few caveats to these deals, aside from them wanting reasonably high wages, they also only agreed to join with relatively small release clauses. Hontoria for example demanded a release clause for clubs in Europe of just £925K, with Latorre wanting a somewhat more reasonable figure of £4M, whilst Barroso is on £5.25M Not ideal but we weren't exactly in a position to be too selective given our limited finances and even with Hontoria, if even got 1 good season out of him and make a £700K profit next summer then we can't complain all that much. I inadvertently signed two right backs, which I'm not too sure I needed to. Daniel Aehlig, plucked out of the German 2nd tier for £2.5M was the best value deal I could find, although I failed to notice that the club had already agreed a bosman deal to sign yet another player from Madrid. This time of the Real variety. This guy was actually much the better player, couldn't get into the Real team obviously, but for a club of our size a pretty good take on a freebie. He doesn't even have a release clause either which is even better. I need to find out who negotiated this deal/contract and get him more involved Wolfgang Beltau is a young German winger, another lad plucked from the 2nd tier, this time from Karlsruhe. He looks a good talent and a decent pick up for under £5M. The final deal saw us pick up Slovenian international striker from Slovenian PL runners-up, Olimpija, for £2.5M, seemingly available at a cheaper price due to being in the last year of his contract. He looks pretty good and was much better than the striker we had when I joined. He had a 1 in 2 record in the Slovenian PL last season, if he can manage that we might be alright. The board only care about not going down, so there's no pressure even to qualify for Europe, which given the lack of budget may be good for a transitional season to have no pressure. We've picked up some decent players though so if we hit good form we could well qualify for Europa I think. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Number seven Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 Quality signings! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 25, 2020 Author Share Posted June 25, 2020 A bit of a weird one. Basel came in for our starting at CAM, Maxence Madec, as they are in Europe and they matched his release clause to continental side we had no choice. I assumed he would go in January and we could just replace him, no massive harm done. Instead he went straight away at the end of November. I thought at first maybe Switzerland had one of those joker type windows you get in France with domestic based players, but they don't. I managed to get a deal for an Austrian lad in who looks quite good and he came straight away. However, whatever possible bug this is in the game it doesn't actually do too much as the squad registration rules still mean they can't be registered until January anyway. So all a bit weird. Looks like the window will close in April?! Possibly been open since the start of the season. A bit weird but something to keep an eye on. Basel came in for my goalkeeper but where he doesn't have a release clause I could reject it, I would've been happy to make it so their offer went in January and he went then instead, but it didn't let me do that so I just rejected it and wound him up a bit as I couldn't afford to lose him with some games still left before Christmas. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 25, 2020 Author Share Posted June 25, 2020 Mid-Season Update Swiss Cup We've not played anyone good yet, but we made it to the Quarter Final relatively comfortably. FC Thun await. Super League A reasonably decent start to the season with 3 wins from our opening two, with two losses to St Gallen and Luzern. Slipped up a bit although we did have some harder matches. 1 win and 3 draws from our next 5, with a 2-0 loss in Liechtenstein. 2 wins, 2 losses as we came closer to the end of the calendar year, with some good performances from Mark Prasnikar up-front. A bad November/December, with 1 win but 3 straight losses, albeit in a hard run of games. Aim of the game is to not go down in this transitional season. We seem to be doing enough to do that, although I would like us to have a nice run and push for the European places and we could possibly do that if our form improves going into the new year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 25, 2020 Author Share Posted June 25, 2020 No transfers in or out in the January window Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crackers786 Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 Great career Paul 😃 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 28, 2020 Author Share Posted June 28, 2020 End of Season Update Swiss Cup A fantastic run in the cup, including a massive win against Basel in the Semi Final saw us reach the final in my first season. We got a dream draw in the final as we got drawn up against relegation battling Xamax. However, this actually cost us big time. As Xamax were in a relegation playoff against a 2nd tier side it meant the Swiss Cup got rearranged by a fortnight, not kicking off until the 7th June. This caused us all kinds of problems because the European WC qualifiers, as well as the U21 games took place just days later, meaning we lost 5 of our starters, including Austrian attacking midfielder Hendrik Thomas, Slovenian striker Mark Prasnikar, German U21 international left winger Wolfgang Beltau and Swiss midfielder Alberto Ibanez. We had all of our Spanish contingent since none of them were good enough to play for Spain, but we essentially lost every good midfielder and attacking threat. A 3-0 loss at the Wankdorf, in what was a wanky performance, which even saw Hugo Vernay sent off after we went 2-0 down. Super League A relatively poor start to the new year, with 4 points from the first 15 available, including 3 losses in a row. We took a big beating to Basel, but then we beat Xamax in a big relegation 6 pointer, before drawing against Sion and picking up two wins on the bounce against Servette and Vaduz. We lost to Luzern, before another two wins in a row to really get us out of the relegation zone and into the European places fight, before a good draw against a strong Lugano side. A huge end to the season, as we hit form at the right time, sinking Basel 2-0, before 2 wins from our last 3 got us right up there among the fight for Europe. That fine finish meant irrespective of the Swiss Cup loss we will play Europa League football next season, which is brilliant. A huge achievement given the lack of budget and poor start to the season. Lugano with their first win for 6 years, as Basel are finally beaten after 5 straight titles. Luzern even pipped them to 2nd and we actually only finished 4 points behind them which is pretty crazy. Mark Prasnikar came in from the Slovenian league and had a good year, with 24 goals and 5 assists in 41 games helping us get to the heights we reached. Hendrik Thomas only joined from Austria in January but his performances in the second half of the season were instrumental in us reaching the Cup final and getting into Europe. Enrique Latorre a good pick-up and always solid at CB. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 28, 2020 Author Share Posted June 28, 2020 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 2063/64 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 3rd Scottish Cup runners-up 2064/65 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 3rd Scottish League Cup runners-up 2065/66 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 2nd Scottish League Cup runners-up 2066/67 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 2nd N/A 2067/68 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 1st Scottish Premiership, Cup & League Cup winners 2068/69 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 2nd N/A 2069/70 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 3rd Champions League runners-up & League Cup winners 2070/71 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 2nd Champions League & Scottish Cup winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2071/72 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Belgian Pro League winners 2072/73 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Belgian Pro League & Super Cup winners 2073/74 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Belgian Pro League & Super Cup winners 2074/75 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Belgian Pro League & Belgian Cup & Super Cup winners 2075/76 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Belgian Pro League & Super Cup winners 2076/77 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Champions League runners-up & League & Super Cup winners 2077/78 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Belgian Pro League, Belgian Cup & Super Cup winners 2078/79 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Champions League, Pro League, Cup & Super Cup winners ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2079/80 Antalyaspor Turkish Super Lig 7th N/A. Resigned. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2080/81 Besiktas Turkish Super Lig 1st Turkish Super Lig & Super Cup winners. EL runners-up. 2081/82 Besiktas Turkish Super Lig 1st Turkish Super Lig, Cup & Super Cup winners 2082/83 Besiktas Turkish Super Lig 1st Turkish Super Lig & Super Cup winners 2083/84 Besiktas Turkish Super Lig 1st Turkish Super Lig & Super Cup winners 2084/85 Besiktas Turkish Super Lig 1st Turkish Super Lig & Super Cup winners. CL runners-up. 2085/86 Besiktas Turkish Super Lig 1st Champions League, Super Lig and Super Cup winners ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2086/87 Young Boys Swiss Super League 4th Swiss Cup runners-up ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thierry's Trophy Cabinet Champions League x3 - 2070/71 (St. Mirren), 2078/79 (Anderlecht), 2085/86 (Besiktas) Scottish Premiership x1 - 2067/68 (St. Mirren) Scottish Cup x3 - 2061/62, 2067/68, 2070/71 (St. Mirren) Scottish League Cup x2 - 2067/67, 2069/70 (St. Mirren) Turkish Super Lig x6 - 2080/81, 2081/82, 2082/83, 2083/84, 2084/85, 2085/86 (Besiktas) Turkish Cup x1 - 2081/82 (Besiktas) Turkish Super Cup x6 - 2080/81, 2081/82, 2082/83, 2083/84, 2084/85, 2085/86 (Besiktas) Belgian Pro League x8 - 2071/72, 2072/73, 2073/74, 2074/75, 2075/76, 2076/77, 2077/78, 2078/79 (Anderlecht) Belgian Cup x3 - 2074/75, 2077/78, 2078/79 (Anderlecht) Belgian Super Cup x7 - 2072/73, 2073/74, 2074/75, 2075/76, 2076/77, 2077/78, 2078/79 (Anderlecht) 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 as Thierry: 9. Scotland - St. Mirren 10. Belgium - Anderlecht 11. Turkey - Besiktas Nations completed by the AI: 1. England - Manchester City 2. Germany - RB Leipzig 3. Spain - Valencia CF 4. Portugal - Sporting Lisbon 5. Austria - RB Salzburg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 28, 2020 Author Share Posted June 28, 2020 Nations Remaining (based on nation coefficient ranking) Austria Switzerland Ukraine (+2) Norway Croatia (-2) Denmark (+3) Romania Iceland (+3) Czech Republic (-3) Serbia Bulgaria (+1) Israel (-4) Sweden Poland (+1) Greece (-1) Republic of Ireland Slovenia (+1) Slovakia (-1) Hungary Finland Belarus (+1) Wales (-1) Northern Ireland Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 28, 2020 Author Share Posted June 28, 2020 Salzburg's European run again causing them no problems domestically as they easily win once more, it's been 21 years since anyone but them won it and with a Champions League in the bag it wouldn't be a surprise if nobody else won it for another 21 years! An absolutely shocking season in the Ukraine as a slow start from Shakhtar saw them fail to make it in the top half of the table before the split, meaning we'd crown a new champion of their 5 year run of straight titles. It was Mariupol who picked up the win, becoming only the 7th different winner in 95 years of the Ukrainian league. What is even more incredible is that Mariupol were playing in the 2nd tier last season, so to come up via the Playoff and then win the title and get into the Champions League the next season is quite extraordinary. Lviv finish as high as runners-up for only the second time in their history the first time for 50 years and will get Champions League football next year for their troubles. Dinamo Zagreb it is fair to say are the dominant force in Croatia. Since the save began they have only surrendered the title to Hajduk on two occasions, the last one you have to go back 59 years to 2027/28, so if they win the title next year it will be an unbelievable 60 in a row for the Zagreb giants. Their league looks pretty similar to the Swiss league. 10 teams who play each other 4 times, with a relegation playoff at the end. No splits with weird maths. You like to see it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 28, 2020 Author Share Posted June 28, 2020 Not sure what happened to the CL/EL post. I'm sure I posted it earlier but doesn't seem to be there anymore. It was a monumental year as the AI pulled off a huge shock by only going and winning the thing with RB Salzburg. They won the Europa League last year and become the first Austrian side to win that, I doubt they would've thought they'd get their first ever Champions League so soon! My old side Besiktas make their 3rd final in a row, but this time on penalties they lost it, with the Red Bull outfit getting theirs and Austria's first ever CL trophy. A huge blow to me in Austria as that puts out RB Salzburg, but what a performance from the AI who has now done the Red Bull double after doing it with RB Leipzig all those years ago. Turkey still a force to be reckoned with, as Trabzonspor have an impressive run and win a shoot-out in that final over Chelsea. Sparta Prague of the Czech Republic doing incredibly well to reach the Semi Final, before the Turks dumped them out. Dinamo Zagreb only a shoot-out away from a Semi Final, whilst an impressive Last 16 run from FH of Iceland. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 29, 2020 Author Share Posted June 29, 2020 Basel went out at the Champions League Group Stage to Man United, Real Madrid and Roma. Tough break for them there really. Servette failed to make the Champions League, going out to Russian opposition in the playoff, before going out of Europe completely when STVV of Belgium knocked them out just before the group stage. Vaduz, who are of course representing Liechtenstein, went out in the 3rd qualifying round of the Europa League qualifiers. Sion went out to Czech side Slovan Liberec in a tie you'd maybe expect them to win. Lugano got knocked out of a Europa League group with Shakhtar, Kobenhavn and Slovan Liberec. St. Gallen the highlight as they reach the last 16 of the Europa League before going out to Liverpool. Bad news as we actually went down in the rankings by 2 places. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 29, 2020 Author Share Posted June 29, 2020 A fairly uneventful window in terms of outgoings until deadline day when Basel decided they wanted one of our Atletico B lads. Hontoria was very solid in midfield last season and I thought I would lose him for his less than £1M release clause to sides in the Champions League. Basel, who of course failed to qualify for the Champions League ended up coming in with an offer of £6.25M I accepted it immediately purely because I was bricking it that a side in the Champions League would come in and get him for 6 times less than that. Not a bad profit for one season of taking a chance on a guy in Atletico reserves! I'd saved about £5M from business last season and then with getting in Europe we got a budget of about £10M on top which wasn't bad so we managed to address some gaps in the squad. I wasn't mad about our keeper so I signed a new one in the Croatian lad Lovro. He was in the last year of his contract for a side that very nearly went down in Croatia last year so we managed to get him for a decent price of £5M. Jamie Thomas, again on a pretty good deal joins from Championship side Sunderland for the right wing. Bracelli isn't that great but he's mainly signed as a HG Swiss player to be 2nd choice striker. We picked him up from Vaduz at a decent deal of under £1M. Anders Voss is a hard-working young Danish midfielder who we picked up a low price to add depth to our midfield. I again dipped into the Danish market to get young defender Cornelius who looks very good for what we paid. Finally, Perrin was only signed once Hontoria had attracted the interest from Basel. A good young midfielder who came through the academy at my old side in Belgium. They only let him go under the basis that if they want to buy him back for double the price they can. If the worst case scenario is we double our money on him in a few years then that sounds pretty good to me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 29, 2020 Author Share Posted June 29, 2020 Our 2nd qualifying round tie in the Europa League saw us play Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia. 4-0 on aggregate, no real problems across the two matches. We've got a far tougher tie in the 3rd round, as we head off to Russia for Rubin Kazan. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 29, 2020 Author Share Posted June 29, 2020 We actually ended up doing even better against Rubin Kazan, winning 6-1 on aggregate which was brilliant. Slavia Prague all that stands in the way of the Europa League Group Stage. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted June 29, 2020 Author Share Posted June 29, 2020 Mark Prasnikar with a very important brace in what was a quite cagey game in Prague. We held on brilliantly to a 0-0 to secure passage to the group stage. Looks like a pretty open group between us, Standard Liege, Feyenoord and FC Midtyjylland. No idea what to expect really. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 Good luck handling Young Boys. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted July 2, 2020 Author Share Posted July 2, 2020 Mid-Season Update Swiss Cup Smashed it up so far to lower league sides. We have Luzern in the Quarter Final. Europa League We kicked off proceedings with a very good 4-2 win against Standard Liege, who were poor enough that we were 4-1 up at half-time. Feyenoord a much tougher test, we could only get a decent point in Holland. A solid 1-0 win in Denmark, with Zoran Jovanoski from the U21s getting the goal. Jovanovski was on the score sheet again as we beat the Danish side 2-1 at home, with Hendrik Thomas getting a nice goal early on. Standard Liege were a much tougher test away from home, as we lost in Belgium. Interestingly their new build stadium is actually named after a striker I had back at Wolfsburg who came through their Academy as a youngster The final game saw us get a good solid win against Feyenoord top off a fantastic overall performance. Top of the group! FC Koln in the next round, not too sure what to expect of them as they're a German side often in the CL Group Stage although rarely progress through to the knock out round. Some proper random teams in there, no idea how Queen of the South have got that far as I don't remember them even being in the SPL when I was at St Mirren Super League A decent enough start to the new season, with 2 wins, 2 draws and a loss from a difficult run, which randomly saw Mark Prasnikar smash 4 past Vaduz in just over 20 minutes. Slipped up a bit in he next 5 games, with 1 win, 2 draws and 2 losses, albeit to tough opposition. We then went through a bit of an awkward spell where we weren't losing games but couldn't get a win either, 4 draws in a row! We finally got a win again against Sion, before a further 3 draws going into the Christmas period. Lower than I'd like to be at this point, but the table is quite tight. Ideally need 5th to get Europa, or 6th if Vaduz finish above us as they can't qualify via the Swiss league finishing place. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted July 2, 2020 Author Share Posted July 2, 2020 No transfers in or out in January window Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted July 4, 2020 Author Share Posted July 4, 2020 For a club with more or less maxed out youth recruitment and facilities etc we've really not been blessed with great intakes in the two I've witnessed. The only 3 star PA or higher as rated by my staff in the first intake was Ney, who to be fair to him does look pretty good. He's also Brazilian/Swiss, which I thought given he's a goalkeeper too might have meant he was Thierry's son, but the brief excitement was short lived and he wasn't. His full name is Viosney Siegrist, which to be fair does even sound somewhat Russian The most recent intake was again fairly garbage, but we did once again have 1 player with 3 star PA or more, but he was once again a goalkeeper ffs Grgic also looks fairly decent, although I'd say at this early stage Ney looks slightly more promising and is a cooler prospect due to his Brazilian 2nd nationality and Russian sounding name and cool nickname. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted July 4, 2020 Author Share Posted July 4, 2020 End of Season Update Europa League A decent result in Koln but I was worried not getting an away goal could prove costly in the return leg. It didn't, as at home we were much the better side and came away with a 3-1 win on the night and on aggregate. We were rewarded with a Last 16 trip to Scotland and a return to Paisley. Hendrick Thomas' early 2nd half goal gave us the lead, before a late strike from the away side gave them a big away goal to take back to Scotland. We just didn't have enough in the end, but by no means a bad effort to go out to a solid side like St. Mirren, I didn't know if we'd even make the Group Stage at the start of the season so to make the last 16 without getting humiliated is a great result. Super League We started off the new year with a loss to Basel, but then bounced back with 2 wins and 2 draws to get some good momentum going. A no less than incredible run came from our next 5 matches, with an unprecedented 4 wins from our next 5 games, including a 2-0 win over a strong Basel side. Morale was sky high and with no European games to stretch our relatively thin squad we came into our own, with our defence doing well, as this next 4 games without conceding meant we had 7 clean-sheets in a row, with 5 wins and 2 draws in that time frame. We only let 1 goal in our last 4 games, which meant from March to the end of May, across 12 games we only conceded twice, which is mad. This of good defensive performances helped catapult us up the table... The strong form against the sides around us actually meant we managed to finish 2nd, which meant we qualified for the Champions League. This was very unexpected and I'm not sure we have the squad to get past 3 qualifying rounds, but a fantastic result financially for sure. A problem I think we had in the first part of the season was juggling Europe with the league, as we played 6 qualifiers and 6 group stages, so it added 12 extra games to our season which for a squad which doesn't have massive depth was a bit of a struggle. Once it died down in the new year we started playing really well especially defensively. Swiss Cup Two close games in the cup, but we battled through to reach our second consecutive final... Lugano by no means an easy side to come up against, but their man getting sent off in the first half certainly helped. We still had to to take it to extra-time, but substitute Ryan Eliisalde was on hand to get a glorious brace to give Thierry his first trophy in Switzerland. A lot of players had good seasons. Lovro Jelic-Balta had a brilliant debut season in the net, featuring in all 58 games in all competitions, winding up with 29 clean sheets, including 7 in Europe and 19 in the league. We'll do well to hang onto him over the summer I think, although no clubs sniffing around yet. The young German Wolfgang Beltau is always a threat on the left wing, with 18 goals and 14 assists in all competitions this season. He does have clubs sniffing about, with Roma and Real Madrid both interested. He could well be going although his release clause is £20M so not bad money if we do lose him. Latorre very solid at CB. Lastly, Hendrik Thomas a great option at CAM in his first full season. 9 goals and 10 assists for him this year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted July 4, 2020 Author Share Posted July 4, 2020 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 2063/64 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 3rd Scottish Cup runners-up 2064/65 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 3rd Scottish League Cup runners-up 2065/66 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 2nd Scottish League Cup runners-up 2066/67 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 2nd N/A 2067/68 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 1st Scottish Premiership, Cup & League Cup winners 2068/69 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 2nd N/A 2069/70 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 3rd Champions League runners-up & League Cup winners 2070/71 St. Mirren Scottish Premiership 2nd Champions League & Scottish Cup winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2071/72 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Belgian Pro League winners 2072/73 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Belgian Pro League & Super Cup winners 2073/74 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Belgian Pro League & Super Cup winners 2074/75 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Belgian Pro League & Belgian Cup & Super Cup winners 2075/76 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Belgian Pro League & Super Cup winners 2076/77 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Champions League runners-up & League & Super Cup winners 2077/78 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Belgian Pro League, Belgian Cup & Super Cup winners 2078/79 Anderlecht Belgian Pro League 1st Champions League, Pro League, Cup & Super Cup winners ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2079/80 Antalyaspor Turkish Super Lig 7th N/A. Resigned. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2080/81 Besiktas Turkish Super Lig 1st Turkish Super Lig & Super Cup winners. EL runners-up. 2081/82 Besiktas Turkish Super Lig 1st Turkish Super Lig, Cup & Super Cup winners 2082/83 Besiktas Turkish Super Lig 1st Turkish Super Lig & Super Cup winners 2083/84 Besiktas Turkish Super Lig 1st Turkish Super Lig & Super Cup winners 2084/85 Besiktas Turkish Super Lig 1st Turkish Super Lig & Super Cup winners. CL runners-up. 2085/86 Besiktas Turkish Super Lig 1st Champions League, Super Lig and Super Cup winners ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2086/87 Young Boys Swiss Super League 4th Swiss Cup runners-up 2087/88 Young Boys Swiss Super League 2nd Swiss Cup winners ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thierry's Trophy Cabinet Champions League x3 - 2070/71 (St. Mirren), 2078/79 (Anderlecht), 2085/86 (Besiktas) Scottish Premiership x1 - 2067/68 (St. Mirren) Scottish Cup x3 - 2061/62, 2067/68, 2070/71 (St. Mirren) Scottish League Cup x2 - 2067/67, 2069/70 (St. Mirren) Turkish Super Lig x6 - 2080/81, 2081/82, 2082/83, 2083/84, 2084/85, 2085/86 (Besiktas) Turkish Cup x1 - 2081/82 (Besiktas) Turkish Super Cup x6 - 2080/81, 2081/82, 2082/83, 2083/84, 2084/85, 2085/86 (Besiktas) Belgian Pro League x8 - 2071/72, 2072/73, 2073/74, 2074/75, 2075/76, 2076/77, 2077/78, 2078/79 (Anderlecht) Belgian Cup x3 - 2074/75, 2077/78, 2078/79 (Anderlecht) Belgian Super Cup x7 - 2072/73, 2073/74, 2074/75, 2075/76, 2076/77, 2077/78, 2078/79 (Anderlecht) Swiss Cup x1 - 2087/88 (Young Boys) 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 as Thierry: 9. Scotland - St. Mirren 10. Belgium - Anderlecht 11. Turkey - Besiktas Nations completed by the AI: 1. England - Manchester City 2. Germany - RB Leipzig 3. Spain - Valencia CF 4. Portugal - Sporting Lisbon 5. Austria - RB Salzburg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted July 4, 2020 Author Share Posted July 4, 2020 Nations Remaining (based on nation coefficient ranking) Austria Ukraine (+1) Croatia (+2) Switzerland (-2) Denmark (+1) Czech Republic (+3) Norway (-3) Iceland Romania (-2) Bulgaria (+1) Serbia (-1) Sweden (+1) Israel (-1) Poland Greece Republic of Ireland Slovenia Slovakia Hungary Finland Belarus Wales Northern Ireland Ukraine in as good a position as I can ever remember them being. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted July 4, 2020 Author Share Posted July 4, 2020 Red Bull on top of the world. After investing in football for decades, 2080 is when they really have arrived, as they've got back to back winners in the Champions League Salzburg last year, now Leipzig pick up their 4th Champions League trophy after beating Roma in the final, also knockout out Salzburg after a tasty all Red Bull Quarter Final clash. Shakhtar reaching the final is big for the Ukraine, with Sporting Lisbon of Portugal ultimately getting the win. A big year for Scotland who had 3 sides in the last 8, with Queen of the South somehow making the Semi Final after a shock underdog win against Celtic in an all Scottish quarter final Rapid Vienna and Austria Vienna both make the last 16, in another solid year for Austrian sides. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted July 4, 2020 Author Share Posted July 4, 2020 Business as usual in Austria with nobody coming close to RB Salzburg. Business back to usual in the Ukraine as Shakhtar make amends for their horrific season last year. The shock champions Mariupol didn't even make the top half this season. Dynamo Kyiv also with their best finish for just under a decade meaning they're back into Europe after a bad spell which included them being relegated to the 2nd tier. No surprise in Croatia as Dinamo Zagreb continue their dominance, just one defeat away from doing it unbeaten. Nobody anywhere near them, although Hajduk were distant from the rest of the pack in 2nd place. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted July 5, 2020 Author Share Posted July 5, 2020 (edited) Some good news as we rise up 5 places in the coefficients table. I think each season will see a change as it's very tight between a lot of us. Luzern went out at the first hurdle in the Champions League to Spartak Moscow, before then going out of the Europa League to Feyenoord. Vaduz were knocked out by Leganes in the Europa League, although this of course doesn't affect our coefficient. Last year's champions Lugano went out of the Champions League at the last hurdle pre-Group Stage to the Israeli champions Maccabi Tel-Aviv, before crashing out of the Europa Group stage in a group with Shakhtar, Heerenveen and Dundalk, finishing 3rd in that. Xamax, the shock cup winners, who actually got relegated this season, possibly as a result of having to play in Europe as well, actually did pretty well because they managed to get past both Lille and PSV to even make the Group Stage, which is no small feat for a side that was battling relegation last year and this year. They came unstuck in the group though with Krasnodar, Eskisehirspor and Ludogorets. Basel, like us, were knocked out of the Europa League knockout stage by St. Mirren. England, I think, are out of the Top 4 of Europe for the first time in the entire save. Edited July 5, 2020 by PaulHartman71 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted July 5, 2020 Author Share Posted July 5, 2020 Summer Transfers Imanol Hernandez was very good at right back, he was the guy we got on a bosman from Real Madrid who someone had signed before I got to the club. What a signing he was, and he's now left for United after they activated his release clause. Decent fee and nice profit so no complaints really. Hugo Vernay was our third choice centre back and wanted out due to not starting every game, so he was offered out with Atalanta the highest bidder. A few other squad players were also let go. Bracelli came in from Vaduz last summer and didn't really do a great deal, he wanted out as didn't like being back-up so he's sold to Zurich. Anders Voss possibly the biggest flop, we signed the Danish central midfielder for £2.5M as a rotation option but he didn't crack on and looked poor whenever he featured. He wanted out so I let him go to Zurich too as they were keen to get him. . The most expensive transfer we made was to get a new right back in to replace the departing Hernandez. We paid a reasonably high price due to him being Swiss, but he looks a good talent, perhaps not quite as good as the departing guy but it would've been hard to find someone that good with the money we had. Juan Jose Azcona our main "big" signing not directly replacing anyone leaving. A great midfielder who joins us after being transfer listed by Celta Vigo. All I can say is they must have a pretty good midfield to be letting him go. The other transfers were to bolster our thin squad with some Swiss players to add depth to rotation/backup options. I also got another right back in as our 2nd choice Aerling was sold. We got this Spanish guy in who was transfer listed at Villarreal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted July 5, 2020 Author Share Posted July 5, 2020 For the 2nd qualifying round of the Champions League we got drawn up against Ukrainian runners-up Karpaty. I had no idea what to expect really. A pretty mad first leg. We were 3-0 up after half hour, in large part thanks to Wolfgang Beltau, who scored the opener then got 2 assists. He then made an absolutely stupid two footed challenge, bad enough normally, but unbelievably stupid when you're 3-0 up. Luckily they only got 1 goal back. Not the most comfortable of games in the return leg but we did enough to get through on aggregate. A big challenge awaits in the 3rd Qualifying Round as we will play St. Mirren, the side who knocked us out of the Europa League last season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
olliep Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Good strong season last year. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted July 5, 2020 Author Share Posted July 5, 2020 A huge result at home to St. Mirren, Wolfgang redeemed for his red by scoring within 30 seconds of kick-off, before he was fouled close to the hour mark to win a penalty. Jacobo Barroso converted, before Mark Prasnikar capped off a wonderful win making it 3-0 late on. Not sure where we pulled this out the bag from as they were better than us last year in Europa, but huge nonetheless. We took an early lead in Paisley to make it 4-0 on aggregate, then looked quite comfortable, but an own goal got them back in it and they ended up winning 2-1 on the night, but 4-2 on aggregate meant an underdog victory for us. Lyon are the last step between us and the Champions League Group Stage. Lyon are a good side who I think last season made the knockout stages of the CL, so it will be very difficult to get past them, but we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. If we go out and go back into Europa then that's cool too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted July 5, 2020 Author Share Posted July 5, 2020 A difficult night in France, we did well and I thought it would be 0-0 until they popped up with a late winner. We got off to a brilliant start on the night, going 2-0 up within the first 10 minutes in front of a capacity crowd. Lyon got a second half goal, which would've seen them through on away goals, but Mark Prasnikar's late late strike gave us an incredible late aggregate winner and the most unexpected joy of the Champions League Group Stage! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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