Wallace v Roberts 2009

[Jimbokav1971]

Adrian Sanehbhbfhedbfh - LB £1.4m

It's hard to form an opinion about him without seeing a detailed scout report. Could be good but could also be utter guff.

Mendez - DM/MC for £13m

He was another one of my previous cheap signings that someone saw fit to flog:(.

I wonder how many of these guys are going to come back and bite us on the arse.

Just so everyone knows, I only sign young players based on detailed scout reports from JPP20 scouts.

If they say they are gonna be class, then generally they are gonna be class. Selling them for £5M after a couple of seasons might bring in some cash but it's really not the answer in the long run.

Haman - Striker with a great goals ratio in the German leagues, £17m

He looks good but isn't great physically. I suppose our other SC's are so he does maybe offer us something different. I am a little cautious about taking too much notice of goals scored in inactive leagues. I haven't made up my mind as to their worth at the moment.

International goals can somtimes be the same.

Fedele - appears to be in a co-ownership, I can't make a offer so it's a wait and see.

From what we can see he looks good, but we really need to see a detailed scout report.

I try to avoid signing players in the 22-25 age bracket. You are still paying for PA but at the same time it is probably too late to get them to their optimum PA if errors have already been made. As a result, prices are often ridiculously high. If we are buying current ability then I would prefer to buy players 25+ years old or 21 and under for PA. That gives us the time to develop them.

The problem we have encountered is that most of the Monkey managers have played their save with their season in mind, (me being the exception). I bought players for the future at every opportunity, (to the detriment of my own seasons performance), and only 2, (Snelling and Manuel), have come through as a result.

[Dava]

I like him too, seems to be a good goalscorer.

I really don't know what to do about Henriksen and KDV, if I keep both we will have 6 strikers for 2 places which I believe is overkill. I've never being that much of a tinkerman and don't believe I could keep all 6 happy. Important to keep moral high in this game and I just think it would have a negative effect come mid season when games are few and far between for alot of them.

[Dava]

Strongest left back is Kvist, according to our Ass man and there isn't too much difference between the two at the moment, however Adrian Sand can become a leading premiership player. I've signed him up now £1.4m is a bargain, loads of competition too.

[Dava]

I can't believe Mendez was ours too, cancelled that deal now.

[Dava]

I think I will retrain Raimundo to be a CB too, for extra cover. His stats look better suited to that position in my opinion.

[Jimbokav1971]

I can't believe Mendez was ours too, cancelled that deal now.

Don't get me started.

I looked back at some of my old signings this morning.

I think I will retrain Raimundo to be a CB too, for extra cover. His stats look better suited to that position in my opinion.

I try to retrian just about everyone into another position.

Full backs are re-trained to either play midfield on the same side or DC, (I don;tt bother with WB because I never use them)

DC's are retrained to play full-back but is they are especially slow they are introduced to DM.

MC's can be taught to play on the flanks, AMC/DM or DR.

Wingers are taight to play on the opposite flank or at full back.

Strikers are taught to play on the flank, (if they are quick), or in the hole if they are slow.

I have ever retrained TM to play at DC before.

[Jimbokav1971]

I like him too, seems to be a good goalscorer.

I really don't know what to do about Henriksen and KDV, if I keep both we will have 6 strikers for 2 places which I believe is overkill. I've never being that much of a tinkerman and don't believe I could keep all 6 happy. Important to keep moral high in this game and I just think it would have a negative effect come mid season when games are few and far between for alot of them.

See that's where you are going wrong. It's not 6 strikers for 2 slots. It's 6 strikers for 4 slots, (2 starting and 2 on the bench), and the other 2 will usually be tired/injured/suspended or in poor form..

Am I right in assuming that you are not used to playing in Europe and the Premiership?

Neither am I, and it does take some getting used to.

The way I see it, (dafuge might be a better one to give advice here), is that you need to flesh the squad out so you have a minimum of 2 players for every position, (which means 4 centre-backs, centre-mids & SC's). As I like to be quite active with my substitutions, (and prefer to do both winger and 1 Sc if I can, (just to keep them fresh), then I find that it is easy to keep them happy.

At the moment, we have Henriksen & KdV, Puckett and Lafforgue, with Cummings there too.

Cumming has a far poorer scoring record than any of the others, (and we are short on the flank at the moment), so maybe using Cummings floating between AMR & SC might be an idea.

I am not going to try and sway you about picking Henriksen, (I will leave that up to him), but I really do think it would be a mistake to sell him for the little you would get for him. I would say the same for KdV too. It is obvious that you will favour Puckett and Lafforgue even without bringing in a top SC, (look at Bolton who were relageted by the way. I seem to remember them having some decent players).

If you are playing with 2 SC's in each game, (and can have 2 more on the bench and probably use 1 of them), well that only leaves you with KdV and Henriksen in the Reserves as I see it. If someone gets injured then these 2 should be in top form and hammering in the goals in the Reserves so will be champing at the bit.

I often drop/rotate SC's to the Reserves just so they can get a shedload of goals and come back in good form 2 weeks later. I also immediately stick an injured player straight in the Reserves. With the 5 SC's you have, (and even with 6 if you buy 1 more), I think they would rotate themselves.

Starting a SV with less than 95% health is suicide so if you just pick who you can when you can then I have no doubt that you will be forced to call on Henriksen and KdV enough to keep them happy.

[dafuge]

He was another one of my previous cheap signings that someone saw fit to flog:(.

I wonder how many of these guys are going to come back and bite us on the arse.

Just so everyone knows, I only sign young players based on detailed scout reports from JPP20 scouts.

If they say they are gonna be class, then generally they are gonna be class. Selling them for £5M after a couple of seasons might bring in some cash but it's really not the answer in the long run.

Tell me about it

I signed what sounds like the best central defender in the game right now for peanuts as a kid, he was sold for £500k

[Jimbokav Jr]

Stadium expansion of 12983 announced due to be completed by the 07/12/2031.

Current transfer targets from last night:

Vito Verdi - Could cost anywhere upwards of £25m. Looks "decent" weather you play him on the wing of in the middle. Nothing special.

Luca Ledda - RW currently negotiated at £14.75m Already joining and looks good.

Logan Jacquet - DC looks very good, cost £20m Looks good, VERY good. I notice your spending quite a lot, what are the clubs finances like at the moment, and your transfer budget? ( mabey apic of the finances page? )

Carlos Foster - LB, looking to be costing around £20m I dont like this guy. Passing in single figures and not good at gong forward.

Staine Grande - Around £15m for this striker Looks good, and a great scoring record, from this seasons stats and his international goals.

Mate Kujundzija - Again a striker around the £15m mark I dont like him, 13 finishing

Matteo Carrere - Striker around £30 - £40m.. Looks amazing and is young

James Ogden - MC again around £30m mark... Tackling 9 for a MC, not good

Mike Barton - WBR who I would retrain to RB, for £13.5m. looks like a good signing

Let me know your thoughts, they are just some guys I found last night, will be looking around alot now and will post some other targets.

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[Dava]

I'm not used to playing in Europe no. I only ever use one striker as a sub too.

The reason Cummings appears to have scored so few is he played as a winger most the time last season, but he will definitely be playing up top for me.

I dunno I'm undecided really, it's really tough to sign players at the moment, although I think we are only maybe 2 players off a very good squad. Henriksen just doesn't seem worth keeping about as a 6th striker when we have a couple of youth players that could fill that role.

[Jimbokav1971]

I'm not used to playing in Europe no. I only ever use one striker as a sub too.

The reason Cummings appears to have scored so few is he played as a winger most the time last season, but he will definitely be playing up top for me.

I dunno I'm undecided really, it's really tough to sign players at the moment, although I think we are only maybe 2 players off a very good squad. Henriksen just doesn't seem worth keeping about as a 6th striker when we have a couple of youth players that could fill that role.

Well let me give you a last little tit-bit of advice and then I will just leave it to you.

1. You never want to start any player who is less that 95% fitness.

2. In order to do 1. you will need 6 SC's, (simply because of the time between your league games and European games.

3. I have found that substitutes can be an excellent way to keep momentum going as players tire in the 2nd half. Using subs just for injuries is wasteful in my opinion.

4. Don't be afraid to drop star players for a few games, (especially SC's). They will more than likely take out their frustrations on some poor unsuspecting Reserve side and come back refreshed and happy with a couple of goals under their belt.

5. You will have 7 substitutes. Make use of them. I try an pick 1 DC, (who can also play either DR or DL), a MC, a ML, a MR, a SC, a utility player, (usually a SC who can also play on the flank), and a young/form player who is not the same position as sub 6. You have 7 for a reason so give it some thought. I NEVER stick a GK on the bench EVER.

6. Do what YOU want. If you don't like Henriksen then don't play him. If you REALLY need the money then sell him if you want, (but think about how much you would want to get for a double Young player of the year, Champions League winning, FA Cup winning, Super Cup winning, Premiership top goal-scoring SC before you do).

When you eventually/hopefully realise that he must have something about him to have scored all them goals in the Premiership then stick him back in the team and watch as he hammers them in and fires us to the league title.

Seriously, good luck with whatever you do.

ps (I am currently rotating 7 SC's and it is going nicely).

[hasdgfas]

I'm not used to playing in Europe no. I only ever use one striker as a sub too.

The reason Cummings appears to have scored so few is he played as a winger most the time last season, but he will definitely be playing up top for me.

I dunno I'm undecided really, it's really tough to sign players at the moment, although I think we are only maybe 2 players off a very good squad. Henriksen just doesn't seem worth keeping about as a 6th striker when we have a couple of youth players that could fill that role.

Have you hit the turnover yet? It'll probably be easier once we get the bump from 2nd in the EPL and winning the CL

[aka.arrogantio]

To be fair Mendez, who was good enough to get games is now valued by his club at only £4.5m more than he was sold for, which is slightly less than the profit that is lined up to be made selling his replacement Henriquez.

Carrere looks overpriced and wasn't rated especially highly as a youngster looking to break into a weaker Blyth side, so the seller can probably forgiven for not trying to turn him into a superstar

Even a talent like Ciuca probably wouldn't have made it sitting in the reserves...

On the listed possible signings I can understand why you like Foster (pace in a fullback is good which I guess probably why you don't like Raimundo) and one or two of the others, but they'd have to deliver a pretty huge improvement to the squad at the listed prices. Stian Grande, for example, kinda reminds me of an unproven Henriksen...

[dafuge]

Even a talent like Ciuca probably wouldn't have made it sitting in the reserves...

That's exactly the problem, it is very hard to develop young players without playing them regularly. You seem to need to commit to playing them early on to make the most of them, which is a bit of a risk for the sake of the team's performances.

Ciuca was very raw when I signed him, and without regular games he was never going to become world class at the club. It is still pretty gutting to see him doing so well now after being sold for so little though.

[Jimbokav1971]

To be fair Mendez, who was good enough to get games is now valued by his club at only £4.5m more than he was sold for, which is slightly less than the profit that is lined up to be made selling his replacement Henriquez.

Carrere looks overpriced and wasn't rated especially highly as a youngster looking to break into a weaker Blyth side, so the seller can probably forgiven for not trying to turn him into a superstar

That's all very valid, (as usual from you), but it eally leaves us with more questions than answers. While I haven't had a particular issue with the selling of many players for the amounts concerned, I do have an issue, (and this is a complaint about the lack of continuity within saves of this nature rather than a pop at the individuals themselves), with the lack of forward thinking that has been shown by us Monkeys.

For example, well as Spartan did in his save, he did not sign a single player to arrive in the close season, (as he would have done had he been continuing as manager himself).

We have produced only 1 academy product of genuine quality, and he was completely overlooked by us for much of his time with us, despite the fact that his best position would have filled our problematic left hand side, and also despite the fact that he was highlighted to us by being capped by England at U19 level. I have no doubt that had any of us been managing this sife on a continuous basis then Lumsden wouldn't have slipped through the net.

Scouting also has become pretty sporadic in recent saves. On the most recent save for example, we had about 11/12 scouts on the books at the handover point, but only about half of these wetre actuatlly doinge any scoutirng and at least 2-3 of these were scouting off the beaten track. There seemed to be little pattern to the scouting and indeed of the scouts who were not currently scouting, none of them had scouted recently enough to have any reports available for viewing at all. (That's not a pop at Spartan by the way because he's not the only one who has been guilty of that.

Moving on from that, the club can have up to 18 scouts employed. We currently have only 12, (of whch probably only about 6 are being used to their potential.

By the same token, we can employ up to up to 26 coaches at the moment. We currently have only 13 on the books. Because scouting/coaching/training/buying/planning for the future doesn't benefit us in 1 particular season, we seem to have almost completely stopped doing it.

I tried to put a system in place where each manager just highlighted the best prospect to come through the academy each season, (and give him a suitable nickname so that we could easily keep track of him. That seemed completely beyond some of us simply because it would not benefit us as individuals.

I also tried to explain the relative worth of creating a balanced coaching structure, with individual coached being appointed with individual skills in mind, but it seems to have completely gone by the way-side. In the most recent save, there is not a single coach at the club who has JPP rated a more than 14 and only 3 with JPA more than 15. My point is, if we are relying on our coaches to tell us how good our players are, and more importantly how good they will become, how on Earth can we rely on them if we don't appoint coaches with decent ratings in those abilities.

A scout gets to see a player 3 times. 6 times if it was me and I was being picky. A coach gets to see him every day. Yet we seem to take little notice of the coaches, or prefer to ask the DEF coach about an attacker or a GK coach about a winger.

[Jimbokav1971]

Even a talent like Ciuca probably wouldn't have made it sitting in the reserves...

Absolutely 100% correct.

The days of just buying the best potential players and watching as they come through so you can rule the World are well and trly gone. You have to play them enough, (but not too much), and keep them happy and under the radar all at the same time.

The reason I bought a plethora of potential young stars was ideally so that we could sell most of them and keep the best for ourselves. Unfortunately it just doesn't seem to have worked.

[conners]

you know what jimbo, i fancy another go, whats the queue like

[dafuge]

Absolutely 100% correct.

The days of just buying the best potential players and watching as they come through so you can rule the World are well and trly gone. You have to play them enough, (but not too much), and keep them happy and under the radar all at the same time.

The reason I bought a plethora of potential young stars was ideally so that we could sell most of them and keep the best for ourselves. Unfortunately it just doesn't seem to have worked.

I'm actually finding that bringing talented youngsters through in my own game is increasingly difficult. I'm having to take a pretty big hit on the performance of my team just to drop the quality experienced players for the talented youngsters.

In a game like this (WvsR) where the save is being passed on, this is made even more difficult. We don't have the same attachment to the youngsters as we do in our own games so players often get lost in the quest to have as big an impact in one season as possible.

Like yourself, I sign players mainly based on scout recommendations, so when they say they will be brilliant, they can be. I've had a fair few great signings just fade away since they were not good enough for the first team and I can't blame anyone for that since I've done the same with other 'people's youngsters'.

I think if you sign a big prospect you have to advertise him well, like I did with Steve Ford (did you notice? ). I played him for an entire season despite his poor performances but made sure I kept his profile up and just look at him now! Sticking by a player can really come off, but you need a succession of managers to buy into it. I must admit I fluked it with Lee Dennis, I signed him based on high potential but barely used him. It just so happened that he fitted into a new manager's tactic perfectly and now he looks like a world beater. Even when I signed him I though he would be yet another potential star who would fade away, only to come back and haunt us.

[TaylorB]

We have produced only 1 academy product of genuine quality, and he was completely overlooked by us for much of his time with us, despite the fact that his best position would have filled our problematic left hand side, and also despite the fact that he was highlighted to us by being capped by England at U19 level. I have no doubt that had any of us been managing this sife on a continuous basis then Lumsden wouldn't have slipped through the net.

Scouting also has become pretty sporadic in recent saves. On the most recent save for example, we had about 11/12 scouts on the books at the handover point, but only about half of these wetre actuatlly doinge any scoutirng and at least 2-3 of these were scouting off the beaten track. There seemed to be little pattern to the scouting and indeed of the scouts who were not currently scouting, none of them had scouted recently enough to have any reports available for viewing at all. (That's not a pop at Spartan by the way because he's not the only one who has been guilty of that.

I tried to put a system in place where each manager just highlighted the best prospect to come through the academy each season, (and give him a suitable nickname so that we could easily keep track of him. That seemed completely beyond some of us simply because it would not benefit us as individuals.

I think that was always going to be a problem in this kind of game. Participants will play for their one season and thats it, well that's what it seems like at the moment. Forward thinking is a must for success.

For youth prospects and any player really their progression all depends on the manager and the tactic, if a new tactic is being used each season then the players have only the friendlies to get used to it, yet the youth players will not always fit into the new manager's system. For example, if an academy player played 15 games the previous season with a decent average rating and progressed well under a certain manager, as the save game is swapped and a new tactic is used the academy prospect might be discarded for not fitting into that particular system.

I'm not suggesting having the same/similar tactic for each manager, but it might be an idea to work a tactic around the players rather than work the players around the tactic as I for one would normally do.

For scouting, I'd suggest having a scout in all the major regions and assign them every 6 months, ideal for when the transfer window opens and a new participant starts the save game.

[Dava]

I can honestly say I've never had a player turn into a world beater on this game, seems bizarre that I will sell a player to a top team and the same player will never get any games yet progress at a fantastic rate... however the same is certainly not true when you are the manager.

To be honest I have flogged off alot of the youngsters in my current go, but I'd very surprised if any of them could do a job for the side as it is now. Young players just get lost in the rapid progression then discarded.

[Cardiovascular]

March

FA Cup - 6th Round

Everton 1-2 Braintree - Everton took an early lead following some carelessness at the back, however Dennis pegged them back immediately. 6 minutes before half time, Tom Ford took the liberty of tapping in Munro's header.

Champions League - First Round, Second Leg

Braintree 4-0 PSV - A more dominant win this round. Dennis scores again, Fumagalli scores a penalty and Terziev knocks home a rebound. Alexander also scores a header.

League

Braintree 2-0 Arsenal - An easy match for us. A full deserved win as Fumagalli heads home and Alex Wright fires a beauty from the edge of the area.

Stoke 1-1 Braintree - A disappointing draw as they pegged us back following Wright's opener.

League

[Cardiovascular]

April

League

Braintree 2-1 Plymouth - A dominant yet narrow win. Fully deserved, but Plymouth shouldn't have scored. Fumagalli converts a pen and Steve Ford latchs onto Wright's through ball to power home a shot.

Champions League

Lyon 1-3 Braintree - A Tom Ford double and Steve Ford ensure we take 3 vital away goals into the home leg.

League

Huddersfield 0-3 Braintree - For the second game running, Tom Ford grabs a brace. Alexander belts home a brilliant free kick to finish the game.

Champions League

Braintree 2-1 Lyon (5-2 agg) - Lyon open the scoring for us with an own goal by their goalkeeper, but soon equalise through their star man. However, Funes makes sure we are going through and scores early in the second half.

FA Cup Semi Final

Braintree 0-0 Stoke (Braintree win 6-5 on penalties) - A dominant yet uneventful game for us, except Fonseca's sending off. Grant Wilson was the hero as he saved Stoke's fifth (and potentially winning) penalty to keep us in and send us to Wembley.

League

Braintree 1-0 Hull - Funes scores early on and we hold on. Very disappointed not to score more, but at this stage a win is a win.

Sunderland 1-1 Braintree - Another disappointing performance, Stadsgaard's own goal summed it up. Ferreira equalised late on to keep our dreams alive.

Champions League

AC Milan 0-1 Braintree - Again, we take an away goal into the home leg of a difficult tie. Munro breaks his drought to give us that goal.

League

[dafuge]

Things are looking good for the treble

[conners]

unbelievable that youve lost 1 game all season and still arent top

[dafuge]

unbelievable that youve lost 1 game all season and still arent top

The two games in hand should take care of that

[Cardiovascular]

May.. part one

League

Braintree 2-0 West Ham - A vital win. Fumagalli nabs a double to secure the win.

Champions League, second leg

Braintree 3-2 AC Milan - Milan score 2 so it means we have to win... which we do. Munro scores, but Milan pull back and take the lead. However, Tom Ford and Sorensen both pop up to ensure Braintree are in the final!

League

Braintree 0-0 Leeds - I'm very unsure about this game. We should've won but it was ok because Middlesbrough slipped up too.

Everton 0-1 Braintree - An excellent win against 4th place Everton, our bogey team this season. Ford pops up with 20 minutes to go to make sure we win.

Tottenham 1-2 Braintree - Dennis and Alexander ensure the win, which means we edge closer to Middlesbrough. If we win our game in hand, we go first by a point.

Braintree 1-0 Fulham - And the game is won.. just. Guzman comes off the bench to score his first the season and his first after the broken leg. We go first \o/.

League

Next up... the Champions League Final.

Then... the last game of the season

And after that.. The FA Cup.

[dafuge]

Wow, three games that could make or break our season.

[Cardiovascular]

THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL - BROUGHT TO YOU BY ERIC CANTONA ()

Match Odds

Scout Report

Line ups

Pre-Match Analysis

Softies news: Steve Ford sadly misses out due to rib problems as well as Kevin Grace and Lee Griffin. Stuart Barry, Jacob and Michal Novak are all ineligible.

Kick off! The Brazil and Barcelona bosses are in the stands.

9 minutes - Throw in for Madrid, it falls to Paulo Sergio. He shoots! Saved by Wilson, but the rebound falls to former Softie Haworth. His effort is blocked for a corner. Corner from Diop, header by Washington! Deflected out for another corner. Diop in again, poorly headed out, it falls to Clancy! OVER!

13 minutes - Corner for Braintree. In it comes from Dennis, Fumagalli is there! And its off the bar! Falls to Funes and his shot falls weakly into the keeper's arms.

24 minutes - Terziev goes past one, past two and cuts it inside. Dennis turns his man, it's Lee Dennis! Parried away by Kleber and cleared by Washington. A good chance goes begging.

28 minutes - Corner for Madrid. Floated in but it's headed away. Munro pickss it up and feeds Terziev, but he loses it and Belak clears. It falls for Marsh on the left, to Funes who switches to Terziev. Terziev cuts it back to Wright! Saved! Counter attack by Madrid, Medina down the left. The cross comes in, Ferrer! Over!

29 minutes - Wilson with the goal kick. Munro heads it down to Wright who plays it to Terziev. Terziev cuts inside.. and goes down! However the ref says no penalty and the ball is promptly cleared. Picked up by Savino on the left, he charges away. Crosses the ball, but it's headed clear by Fumagalli but it falls to Ferrer and GOAL. Madrid go one up after some pretty poor defending. Oscar Funes is having a go at the ref, he feels it was offside!

35 minutes - Henderson's throw, to Ferreira. To Munro, back to Wright. He gives it to Ferreira who cuts it back to Dennis. Dennis to Marsh, this is the lovely football by Braintree. Marsh gives it to Funes who's shot is saved.

37 minutes - Belak's throw to Paulo Sergio. Sergio to Medina who shoots! Saved by Wilson but the rebound falls to Savino who is offside.

42 minutes - Alex Wright has gone down hurt.. it looks like a sore one and it's game over for him. Alexander replaces him.

45 minutes - Half time..

46 minutes - The second half begins. Real Madrid kick off, and it's out to Savino on the left but he's robbed by Alexander. He plays it to Dennis who tries a through ball to Munro, however Belak gets his head on it. Terziev wins the aerial challenge with Savino, and it falls to Dennis. Dennis plays a one-two with Munro and shoots! Over.

49 minutes - A throw in a dangerous position for Braintree. Henderson takes it, throws it Alexander. Back to Henderson who's cross falls to Munro in front of goal! However he puts it wide, an unbelievable miss from Munro!

51 minutes - Long ball is headed down to Alexander in a promising position for Braintree. He plays it to Terziev who quickly passes to Ferreira. He shoots but puts it over.

59 minutes - Fumagalli's free-kick goes to Ford, to Alexander, to Dennis. Dennis to Ferreira and look at Funes! Ferreira times the through ball perfectly and Funes is clear! He shoots! POST! Haworth scrambles it away.

62 minutes - Funes picks it up on the left, crosses and TERZIEV! Wide!

64 minutes - Real Madrid have been caught here, Terziev to Ferreira who shoots! Over. There will be a change.. and it's Guzman on for Ferreira.

68 minutes - Funes bombing down the left, cuts it inside for Dennis! He goes down! Nothing given but the ball falls to Alexander! Great block, corner. Dennis is not happy. Alexander's corner, FUMAGALLI! No, it's over.

72 minutes - Paulo Sergio for Madrid, what a ball! Ferrer clean through! Fantastic save by Wilson!! Corner. And it comes to nothing.

76 minutes - Todd Henderson comes off and on comes Jesus Fonseca. Alexander lines up the free-kick, he's shaping up to shoot. Wait, he's taken it quickly and it's Fumagalli! He turns his man like a striker and GOAL Braintree! Fumagalli with a strikers finish!

79 minutes - Throw in for Braintree, Marsh to Munro to Guzman who shoots! But it curls wide.

82 minutes - Real Madrid get the go ahead for 2 changes, Clancy and Washington come off for Esteve and Stabile.

86 minutes - Throw in for Madrid, quickly taken, DIOP! Wide. Thiam replaces Savino.

89 minutes - 2 minutes of added time.

91 minutes - And it's Dennis to Munro who shoots! Over. END OF 90 MINUTES! For the second year running, the CL Final goes onto extra time.

95 minutes - Corner Braintree, in it comes. Headed away and it's Shemesh on the counter attack, to Diop in front of goal! What a howler! He's fluffed it wide!

103 minutes - Alexander loses it and it is a fantastic through ball for Ferrer! Great block, corner. And in it comes and Munro gets it away.

105 minutes - Half time in extra time. This one could go to penalties!

109 minutes - Alexander's free kick hits the wall, falls to Terziev! Saved and cleared away. And there are penalty claims for a foul by Haworth but the ref waves them away. Anyway, Belak's throw to Medina who's challenged by Terziev. Terziev gets it away and it falls kindly for Munro who volleys it just wide!

116 minutes - We're nearing the end now, pass back to Wilson who clears. Alexander picks it up and passes to Terziev. He plays it for Munro, who turns his man, shoots and scores! GOAL for Braintree! Bryan Munro with a great finish!

119 minutes - Ferrer goes clean through and what a tackle by Tom Ford! Corner Madrid, and the goalkeeper heads up to try and saalvage and equaliser! In it comes, poor header away and it falls to DIOP who makes to mistake and its a GOAL for Real Madrid! What an intense ending! And that's it! The match goes to penalties!

Penalties

Braintree go first.. Fumagalli steps up. GOAL - the net is almost ripped! 1-0

Medina vs Wilson.. to equalise for Madrid. And Wilson wins! It stays one-nil Braintree!

Oscar Funes next.. and he calmly makes it 2-0.

Paulo Sergio now for Madrid. And he misses!! It hits the post and comes back into play! Braintree now have a 2 penalty advantage!

Jesus Fonseca to make it 3 for Braintree.. and he does!

Ferrer must score to keep Madrid in the game.. and he does - in off the post!

Tom Ford can make himself the hero here. YES! It's there! Braintree retain the Champions League!

Braintree 2-2 Real Madrid (Braintree win 4-1 on penalties)

Fans are pleased

Board are pleased

[Cardiovascular]

The news gets even better!

Middlesbrough lost their last game, so we're Champions with a game in hand.

[Dava]

Congrats CV.

Lewis Singh has finally accepted a contract, unfortunately not with us.

I'll be playing the save from now to match of the day and will be hanging around this forum, so if anybody has any requests or advice feel free to let me know.

[dafuge]

Fantastic double

Good job we are good at penalties, that's twice we've needed them to win the CL. 30 shots on goal against Real Madrid is quite some achievement, if a few more were on target we could have thrashed them.

Will it be a treble?

[Cardiovascular]

EPL - AWARDS

Goal of the season - Frank Ruddick came third.

Player of the Year - Oscar Funes is the winner, Lee Dennis came second.

Young Player of the Year - Alex Wright won this.

Manager of the Year was won by us.

Team of the Year includes Grant Wilson, Lee Dennis, Fumagalli, Tom Ford and Oscar Funes.

FA Cup

Middlesbrough 1-1 Braintree (Braintree win 4-2 on penalties) - We seem to be the penalty kings

For the benefit of bermy: Community Shield Winners, European Super Cup, Club World Championship, Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup is what we won. My finest achievement on 09 :*)

I'll edit this post when I've uploaded the save.

[dafuge]

Great treble

[hamilton162]

Just got back from holiday, fantastic work there CV and berty

[Cardiovascular]

**SAVE GAME FILE**

[Jimbokav1971]

Can anyone point me in the direction of the most recent Softies save game file. I can't see it anywhere.

[Dava]

Transfer Summary

Well I sold a great deal of our reserves and previous youth players. To be honest none looked good enough to ever really feature, I have however tried to keep hold of a good few that could make a impact and loan them out.

Summary

As you can see I sold Henriksen, I honestly didn’t believe he was good enough and thought £7.5m was decent value... apologies if it back fires. In total we raked in £63m in the mass clearout.

Players bought:

Mike Barton – I have decided to retrain him as a RB, as his assists and general performance in the friendlies suggested he’d be best suited there.

Luca Ledda – Bought as back up to Snelling, although I have been really impressed with him in the friendlies as he plays as a out and out winger (which I prefer) as where Snelling is very ball greedy and shoots at almost every opportunity, regardless of his position.

Haman – Was regarded as a definite buy by the scouts and Ass man, I think he’ll offer something different to the current physical beasts we currently have at our disposal.

Wayne Blackmore – Footballing CB that can play as DM & CM, so a pretty versatile back up youth player.

Leonardo - Covers the entire right flank, looked good and the scouts think he’ll be a good premiership player, he signed as a back up and that’s all he’ll really be unless he impresses, when given the chance.

David Irazusta – Expired contract and a tidy U21 international with good potential, may feature as a deep playmaker type.

Jorge Flores – Good scout report and better than our current back up Vyskoc, my thinking was to get another winger so that I can play Jennings through the centre.

Danny Marshall – Good U21 player with potential to be as good as Puckett, he may be too old to really develop any further, I don’t know, but he offers that elusive 6th Strike that Jimbo recommended.

Adrian Sandulescu – Bargain LB, who is already the best at the club.

So that leaves me with a £40m transfer budget left over, however I’m pretty happy with what I have. I had to change tact and scour the U21’s to try and find any players that would be decent and not too expensive. My original plan was to guff £30m+ on two really good players but they are few and far between and the ones interested had offers around that value turned down flat.

Won all the friendlies and about to kick off the season.

[Jimbokav1971]

I really don't get why you insist on retraining Barton as a DR rather than a MR when he seems to have far better attacking attributes than defensive ones. Positioning, marking, jumping, determination & tackling all under 15 compared to most of his attacking attributes all 15+. Still a good signing though.

Ledda looks excellent.

£17M for Haman is a ridiculous amount of money for a SC with not a single physical attribute over 15.

Blackmore looks good and is excellent value.

Leonardo looks decent, but not sure why we are signing anyone who doesn't have the potential to be a "leading" Premiership player.

Flores looks good but it all depends on his potential as he is still only 21. Improves the squad though. £10M is a fair bit for someone with such poor mental stats though.

Danny Marshall looks decent at the moment, (but again it's all about potential for a 21 year old). Buying him means though that you effectively gained only £4M (that you don't need) by selling Henriksen. Why are we buying a young SC that doesn't look much better than Elam & Upson, (who both have excellent potential).

[stunned silence]

Sandelescu. The best DL at the club? Passing 11, marking 9, determination 10, natural fitness 7, jumping 10.:confused:

Congratulations on a phenomenal season CV. You really do have a team of penalty kings.

[Dava]

Premier league – match 1 (H) Leicester

We started the game really strongly and dominated, not a sniff at our goal from Leicester. We finally made a break through with Melvin scrambling a free kick in, just before half time. The second half was very boring not alot happened until I made my changes on the 65th minute and sure enough Jennings is injured in the 66th (6 weeks) and we have to play with 10 men. Held on with ease and created a couple of counters that came to nothing. Final result 1-0 W.

Premier league – match 2 West Ham (A)

Again started very strongly and again we waste lots of chances until Melvin scores from another free kick, then within 5 minutes we have a second, with Melvin nodding in a corner. Second half we carry the momentum and Adriy & Tetteh scoring a screamer each. Full time 0-4 W.

We have only had 4 shots on our goal in the first two games, probably a blessing as Lafita is injured, but we are creating an abundance of chances with our strikers and wide men being very wasteful.... may give one of my signings a chance soon.

EUROPEAN SUPER CUP – Monaco

Laffourge was back to full fitness and replaced Cummings in this game. Straight away he scores a great goal from a even better free kick from Manuel (2 assists in 3 games not to mention the scrambled goal in the first game, top player) Snelling then lacthes onto a deep cross and pokes one home. Laffourge quickly scored a cracker from just inside the box to make it 3-0 at HT. We dominated the second half too but couldn’t find the net, Monaco had 2 attempts at goal. FT 3-0 W

Premier league – match 3 Middlesbrough (H)

Again we dominate, our possession is great at the moment, Laffourge breaks the dead lock and we go into t half time at 1-0 without Middlesbrough having a single effort at goal. One chance happened in the second half and it was for the sub Leonardo who tucked it away on the back post. Full time 2-0 W

Premier league – match 4 Sunderland (A)

Really close first half, Sunderland are very organised and hard to break down and hiting us on the counter. Tetteh separated the sides with a tidy finish on the 42nd minute and we went in 0-1 at half time. The second half was much of the same when Sunderlands captain grabbed a equaliser. I brought on the big guns as I’d rested a few players and Puckett missed a sitter (still yet to score). Then on another Manuel special on the 82nd minute hit the post a Melvin poked home from close. We held on. Full Time 1-2 W.

Chamipons League Group Match 1 – CSKA Moscow (H)

Played as many rotation players as possible this game and the team responds great. Dominated the first half with a great individual effort from Cummings then double our lead when Cummings is brought down in the box with Haman converting. Second half more the same, Haman gets another Pen, Andriy scores a great free kick and Leonardo chips in too. Full Time 5-0 W.

Premier league – match 5 Wigan (H)

Bring back most the big guns for what seems a straight forward home game. We really dominate again and Laffourge grabs two great efforts and Nonato grabs a header from another Manuel free kick. Lafforuge has 4 in 3 starts now and really looks the business. Full Time 3-0 W

League Cup – Fulham (H)

Complete overhaul for all back up and youth to get a game. Fulham are a very good side with alot of very good individuals and pretty much played full strength. We nabbed the lead early on with a penalty but were equalised in the 74th minute by one of their stars. We grabbed a late winner Vyskoc coming off the bench to nod in at the back post. Full Time 2-1 W

Premier league – match 6 – CHELSEA AWAY!

Really a very tight game, quite boring infact, the first half I’d say Chelsea edged it but we held them to long range efforts and Lafita had nothing to deal with. Second half we really pushed Chelsea and had a couple of chances that maybe on another day would of went in but it ended at a boring but satisfactory 0-0. Full Time 0-0 D

League Table

Sitting at the top at the moment and remain undefeated this season, the best news is Chelsea’s fairly poor start but Arsenal are very strong and have a good group of players.

The best news is that we haven’t had Snelling, Jennings, Flores and Vyskoc for the last 6 games and Kvist has been filling in at LW, so it shows the overall strength is there.

[Dava]

Jimbo - I understand what you are saying but I think we must have very different styles. The team now as I see it is a title challenger and it is up to us to bring the game to the opposition, this is why I like my full backs to be very good at attacking as quite often they will be supplying crosses and will be overlapping the wingers. Jumping for full backs is too irrelevant in the system I play, as I prefer them to be very quick so that they can get back in when the counter is on and wingers are never usually that much of a aerial challenge anyway..

As for Haman is he is pretty good to be honest, I don't like players that are so physically weighted as it isn't so important when we have so much of the ball. Haman is playing great as a proper footballer linking up playing and creating chances. I don't really rate physical attributes as highly as others as it's obvious they probably preform best when it come to the match engine, but in real life alot of the best footballers are quite slow. I've had previous success with players not all physically there, so won't write anyone off because they aren't steroid induced.

[berty1978]

Wow, well done CV, that's a fantastic season. Looks like Alex Wright was doing pretty well, I'd love him to become World Class, not because I signed him or anything. Ok, because I signed him.

[Dava]

The story up to the beginning of January. I've decided to show screenshots of each game as my summary's were pretty poor.

Premier League

West Brom (A) - 2-4 W - Conceded early on and was a much tougher game than the scoreline suggests. A couple of Tetteh beauties put the game to bed though.

Tottenham (H) - 2-0 W

Man City (H) - 2-0 W

Hull (A) - 2-2 D - Well we hammered them and conceded twice from there only chances, can't win em all.

Newcastle (H) - 3-1 W

Portsmouth (A) - 0-1 W

Derby (A) - 1-3 W

Liverpool (H) - 3-1 W

Charlton (A) 1-1 D - Again we dominated and pushed hard to win but it wasn't to be.

Fulham (H) 5-0 W - Closer than the scoreline suggests, Fulham are a good team with some classy players.

Aston Villa (H) 4-0 W

League Cup

Liverpool (H) - 1-3 W - Played a second string and they dominated.

Man Utd (A) - 2-1 L - First and only loss of the season so far to bring a abrupt end to the League cup campaign. We were dominated for the first 20 minutes and there after we had many highlights but squandered them.

European Cup

M. Netanya (A) - 2-3 W - Easy game really, most surprising was the clinical finishing of a team I've never heard of.

Feyenoord (A) - 0-3 W - Very easy game, we were handed a very easy group so mainly back up players are featuring in the group stages.

Feyenoord (H) - 2-1 W - Again fairly easy but Feyenoord were much better than before.

CSKA Moscow (A) - 1-2 W

M. Netanya (H) - 2-0 W

So we qualified from the group stages with ease and only playing, in the main, the 2nd XI.

The worst news is we have drawn Real Madrid in the 1st round, tough tie.

World Club Championships

New York - 0-5 W - Always was going to be a easy game and the second XI wrapped it up with ease.

Independiente - 3-0 W - Played the full strength team with the Man Utd league cup game in mind for the 2nd strength XI (that turned out well) ... World champions anyway.

League Table - 5 points clear and sitting pretty at the moment, Arsenal are the only real contenders this season and they do have a fantastic squad, I bid on around 5 of their players during the summer.

January is upon us, I have alot of money burning a whole in my pocket but I don't think we need anymore players. I have also created two commercial links in the USA and Japan. Should I sign a couple of decent players from USA and Japan to increase merchandising? or doesn't it matter?

[conners]

pretty impressive so far dava, keep it up

[hamilton162]

Who's up next for the Softies?

[SJ234]

No one has put their hand up yet.

[Dava]

Transfer window up date.

I wasn't going to make any dealings but things didn't turn out like that. Irazusta was sent out on loan to Fulham (he'd featured 14 times) as they offered £1.4m to have him for the rest of the season, easy money imo.

Marrow and KDV have both refused contracts and currently would have expired at the end of the season (neither would sign as back up). Both kicked up a fuss so were sent packing on free transfers.

Also Tetteh and Jennings were called up for International duty for the African cup & WC qualifiers, so I'd have been without my two first choice attcking MC's. On transfer deadline day I managed to nab this guy Simonetti for £15m and he is natural MC, AMC & FC. It may have been a tad excessive but the scouts rated him as not being far off Tetteh's ability and has the potential to be as good (in the summer this) and I was rushed into a quick purchase.

[Dava]

What a bizarre turn of events - both Lafita & Nonato have expressed their dislike for team mate Snelling. The squad harmony is good so possibly a couple of contract offers may sort this out.

[Dava]

Results run down.

The big games up until the end of March was Chelsea at Home and Arsenal away in the league.

Arsenal away was a fairly one sided affair as we pushed for a goal but eventually had to settle for a draw.

The Chelsea game on the other hand was a very open game with many chances. We were leading 2-1 at half time only for a early second half equaliser and eventually another Chelsea goal with ten minutes left. Melvin pulled it back to tie the game up on the 83rd minute, with a great finish from a scrambled free kick. Then in the 93rd minute Snelling weaved down the left and was taken down just inside the box which Pluckett tucked away. A great win and possibly the final nail in Chelsea's challenge for the league.

European Cup

Our only games in the European cup was the tough tie against Real Madrid. I had rested my preferred starting 11 of Lafita, Manuel, Sandulescu, Nonato, Melvin, Andriy, Tetteh, Jennings, Snelling, Puckett & Laffourge, for over a week benching everyone for two games in preparation. All players were 100% and in superb condition, and it paid off as we romped to a 0-4 W away from home!

Barcelona the next opposition in the European cup, we aren't getting the easiest tie's but I suppose you have to beat the best to win it in the end.

FA Cup

Knocked out two of our North East rivals with ease and progressed to a Semi Final appearance against Fulham.

Results:

League Table - 14 point advantage and I really can't see us blowing that in the remaining 7 games.

Squad Selection screen

[ssestig]

Great effort Dava.

Who is next for the Monkeys?

[PaulHartman71]

There doesn't seem to be anyone else on the list for the Monkeys.