Why are we here?

A recap…

I grew up in the 90s/00s and being a football fan, I disliked Sir Alex Ferguson. He won everything at Man United and everyone seemed to be a fan. Now I’ve matured I appreciate that he was the greatest manager there might ever have been. Certainly in the top 5. Looking back it was pure jealousy.

The Sir Alex Ferguson challenge is something that exists in the world of Management Simulation Challenges, more popular in the series that begins with F, than C but it’s certainly something that’s possible within the confines of C.

Sir Alex was in charge of Man United from 1986 to 2013 – a grand total of 27 years, within CM9798 you get until the end of 2025/26 – a very similar time frame.

So far it’s a see of Red – very apt for Man United but lousy for Bolton. The only thing we’ve done is set a managerial transfer record. Not quite what we need…

Significant changes for the start of Season Two.

7 released, the most high profile (or the ones that featured..) are Andy Todd and Gudni Bergsson. The rest are cannon fodder.

Lots of new blood.

I like Roger Hitoto. He seems to be able to do almost anything in the midfield. We’ve also recruited kids. Tom Youngs from Cambridge has the potential to be massive. The Schoolboys are regens. Nicky Spink is a keeper. Cameron Burke will go straight into the squad – if I knew how to identify regens then I would. Tiago and Stefan Gislason are both young squad players signed on the cheap.

The most exiting? It’s good old Rog.

The media dubbed it the battle of the Holdsworth’s. David captaining newly promoted Sheffield United and Dean up front for the Bolton Boys. Burke scores on debut. Sadly in the wrong goal.

Everything is going well.

The big question.. what’s my next save idea going to be.. Beaten by a musical band from the 90s.

Leeds are top of the table. We (surprisingly) are not. Tom Youngs put’s us one up. It doesn’t last. We scored a goal though..

One whole goal…

I remember this game being a bit more fun… Derby aren’t a great side but have more than enough to see us off.

Lancashire Derby. Big Crowd. Excited. Angry. Fuming. For 70 minutes we can at least claim not to be humiliated, then.. yeah…

We’ve been jumping from tactic to tactic trying to find something that fits. Liverpool batter us, BUT we are able to find a combination that worked. Cameron Burke’s first senior goal in the correct net.

Against “bang average Division One” sides we look good. The tie should be over, but late goals mean we have to be careful. Burke again on the mark. Even Saileti scored. I mean what a time to be alive!

Birmingham came up last year. Their keeper is MoTM. Least we didn’t lose.

Champions of England. Tottenham Hotspur. Is it too late to raise a bug on that one?

Anyway we get a draw. Could have won it. Maybe we’ve found a backbone.

These are certainly times where you shouldn’t look gift horses in the mouth. If we can’t score, it’s very nice when the opposition do it for us.

Cup action. We make it seem more nervy than it needs to be but Burke and Sellars score late on to make sure we progress. 6 games unbeaten.

Even Saileti managed a goal. How bad must Wimbledon be? Two sides in the relegation zone, we had chances, so did they.

The good run had to end sometime. It’s amazing as a Premier League club, no one wants to join us. What we could do with Eidur up top. In real life of course, Bolton in 98 did have the cool hand Icelander. Sigh

Per Frandsen hasn’t played for me in nearly a year. Threw him in at Leicester and he scored. Sadly the game was already done and dusted. There were two bits of commentary in the first half. Can you guess what happened?

Bart Griemink is MoTM EVERY TIME WE PLAY HIM. We can’t find our way past their Dutch keeper, their Zimbabwean can find a way past Branagan.

The League Cup is gone.

The League has gone. Can something go if it was never really there?? That’s maybe too much of a physiological question for a Friday morning.

Been in the job a year. Took Bolton from 19^th in the Premier League to 20^th in the Premier League. Some might call that progress. Not many. Just some.

We can’t score goals. 8 league goals, only 6 of them by players we actually employ.

I’m off with a massive canvas bag, a ski mask, a baseball bat and a list of home addresses for strikers..

Until next time!