Author Archives: David Black

The B’s of Manchester – Part 2

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SupernovaDragon is back with part 2 of his CM experiment. The Man Utd youth team are competing in Division 2, will they be able to exist as a club in their own right? Catch up with part 1 here.

Hi, welcome back to this experiment where we take the youngsters of Man Utd and combine them into a B team in Division 2. We pick up where we left off, about to enter September. There was no manager of the month of the unbeaten manager of the league, instead it went to Buckley of Grimsby. I mention this because Grimsby is where we head to next for our match.

I keep the line-up and formation the same as before:

1

A nothing first half came and went with chances being wasted by us. The same can be said of the second half as it finished a very dull 0-0.

Also you may have noticed that Grimsby finished the match with 12 men on the pitch as they done 2 subs at the same time but 1 went off. No wonder I didn’t win. If only I could complain to the FA about this.

Next is at home to Bournemouth. I decide to drop Tomlinson for Twiss and I dropped Cooke and Mulryne for my lovely Tree and Thornley.

Needless to say, I think I have made the right decision. Notman put Twiss through who finished with ease, then Nevland put Notman though who scored. Then Thornley put Notman through who got brought down by Glass who got sent off for his trouble and Twiss converted the penalty. To end the half, Notman ran clear of the defence and got his second. Onto the second half.

In the end, not much happened in the second half until Bournemouth done a double change, as soon as that happened, Wes Brown handballed in the box and got sent off, Warren scored the penalty and then Town also scored a minute later. 4-2 it ended and Brown will be getting a serious talking to.

Ok John, if you’re that desperate to leave:

Next up is an away trip to Chesterfield. I noticed that Nevland’s energy was a little low so I have rested him and brought Tomlinson back into the starting line-up. I also had to drop McGibbon due to him being on international duty and brought Duncan in for him. After a very dull first half, in which it was 0-0 and the only interesting thing that happened was us injuring Reeves who went off on a stretcher, we went onto the second half.

We got pretty much dominated by Chesterfield and Wilkinson’s goal from a 1-on-1 was deserved. I then took the ineffective Twiss for Macken and as soon as I did Macken had a shot saved and then a Macken attempt got parried for Notman to finish. Then in the 74th minute, my Tree put a header at goal, the keeper saved only for Notman to pounce on the rebound. To be honest, I think we got away with this win.

We were then at home to play Fulham. I made a few changes to the line-up for this one. I brought McGibbon back for Duncan, Mulryne back for Thornley and dropped Twiss altogether for Macken to start and Nevland on the bench.

An action packed first half as you can see. Macken put Tomlinson through to score after 3 minutes, then in the 8th minute, McGibbon handled in the box, the referee ignored it only for the linesman to give the penalty, Thrope missed as it went out for a corner. From the resulting corner, Curtis was all over Arnott and the referee gave another penalty and this time Thorpe scored by putting it down the middle. Then McGibbon gave away a free-kick which resulting in a scramble in the box that Arnott scored. In the 38th minute, Mulryne’s low cross found Tomlinson free in the box to bury the equaliser.

Not much really happened until I brought Nevland on for Notman to play in the hole. Then Nevland had a shot saved and a few minutes later Nevland had another shot blocked by the defender, he then pounced on the rebound but rather than shoot, played in Tomlinson for his hat-trick. I thought we won this match then, until my 3rd centre back Brown decided to miskick the ball in the box and gift Moody with the goal. All in all, I’d actually say the draw was a fair result.

After the match, the board said they were delighted with the current position. I should think so, being top of the table. On news away from England, this is the earliest I have known Celtic to sack their manager Wim Jansen.

Our next match is at home, on the Sunday where there is literally no other matches on at all, against 2nd from bottom Wigan. I make a few changes, 1 of which is forced on me as Brown is suspended. In comes Casper, Duncan, Nevland, Cooke and out goes Brown, O’Kane, Notman and my lovely Tree. Or at least the Casper for O’Kane is what I meant to do. Turns out, I dropped Clegg and played O’Kane out of position on the left with Casper out of position on the right.

At half time, we were 2-0 thanks to my front 3 working well together. The first was Nevland playing Macken through who’s shot hit the woodwork and Tomlinson to follow it up, the second was after Tomlinson played Macken through to score. This match was beginning to look ominous for Wigan.

Full time and it stayed at 2-0. Notman came on and did something but I dunno what he did to earn an 8 if I am honest and I took O’Kane off for Clegg only to end with 10 men because Casper got injured, I just hope it isn’t too serious.

Just a few weeks, that’s not too bad, it could have been worse.

Our next match is the short trip to play Burnley. Obviously I had had to drop Casper now and I moved O’Kane back to the right with Clegg on the left. Other than that, the same line-up.

Half-time and I am regretting not changing the team more. We are 2-0 down and staring our first defeat of the season in the face. I have a go at them in the dressing room but, to be honest, I look at my 3 man bench and just wonder which of the three can make any difference.

This wasn’t just a defeat in Burnley, this was humiliation:

We were awful. The fact anyone got above the 6 mark was surprising. They deserved all 5 goals and Andrew Cooke destroyed our defence. I will most definitely be out for revenge against Burnley next time we meet.

You don’t have to tell me.

Well, well, well. Haven’t my parent club got one hell of a signing?

That may well be good news for me for the future. Meanwhile, Celtic appointed Jack Charlton as manager.

Our next match is at home on the Sunday against Wrexham. I do have 1 question for the Football League, why do I constantly have matches where no one else is playing? Anyway, after that hammering we received, I made a lot of changes:

At half-time it was 1-1 after Watkin put them ahead. We drew level through Nevland after he managed to break free of the defence.

The second half was a mute affair until I brought on Tomlinson and Appleton for Notman and my Tree who wasn’t doing much. Not long after, Appleton put us ahead thanks to a lovely strike. Wrexham drew level thanks to Telfer. We then went back up the other end and a minute later won the match thanks to a pass from Twiss and a finish from Tomlinson.

Our parent club then made another signing:

Always nice to be recognised for your work and I had no idea of the profit we were making:

Surely we can’t slip up in the FA Cup first round:

It was only a matter of time and this time, I fear I may have to let him go

Bye bye Johnny boy:

The sickner is that Leeds offered the least amount of money, they rest offered almost £5 million. I will be changing formation now to a back 4.

Next match, and the first after Johnny Boy left for pastures new, is at home to Brentford. This is our new formation:

I will be honest, if this doesn’t work out, I dunno what formation to play.

At half-time we were 1-1 with Nevland putting us ahead after Notman put him through. I feel like this formation could just work for us.

I say that:

We lost our 2nd game of the season but this was not the fault of the formation rather than the keeper. Wormull struck a rather tame shot at goal, only for Culkin to somehow miscue the ball and put it into the net himself. I dunno how he did it but needless to say, Pilkington is back in goal from now on.

Good to see we weren’t the only Man Utd team to be beat:

After that loss, I shall leave it here for this part. It may seem strange to leave it after 1 month and 1 game but I will leave you the table:

We are still top but with 2 losses and that defeat to Burnley has done havoc to our against column. I still think we should win this league but once the games start to pile up, that will be a test. For the curious:

Blackburn are top, on course for their 2nd Premier League title? Maybe. Our parent club are second are curiously yet to even draw a match.

Talk about the total opposite to real life. Arsenal can’t get relegated, can they?

Join me next time to see if my new formation works, to see if Johnny boy actually plays for Leeds or if he’s left to rot and see if I can stay top of the league.

Until next time, it’s goodbye from the B’s of Manchester.

You can follow SupernovaDragon on Twitter!

CM9798 Academy – Part 30: Casualty

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Hello! Welcome to that awkward mid season update. Season 10 started really promising, I thought corners had been turned and a new era of domination was here. Then we lost a few times are it was soon apparent that I am a fool. That said, there’s still a lot to play for and if we can finish higher than 12th, it’s progress.

Naturally we set about doing that with a heavy home loss.

Continue reading →

Building Brazil – Part 9: What is a ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿX?

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It’s the end of another season for Rob Tait and his Portugese adventure. His all Brazilian side is on the cusp of European qualification but can they get it done? Catch up with part 8 here.

We finished the last update with 12 league games remaining and a potential UEFA cup place in our sights. My first order of business is to sell Marquinhos, I feel a little bad, he helped me out of league two and was pretty good last year but Nene is better and third choice Robson looks handy to I take the £250,000. The clubs financial position is awful and this small fee will take the pressure off for a week or so.

It does seem that any time we sell a player the team respond with a poor performance and ultimately a defeat, since we face Lisbon next that was probably going to happen anyway so when we come back from 0-2 down I can barely believe it, just as I start to think we could snatch a winner the game game senses my optimism and allows Assis to finish us of with 15 minutes left. I think the very unlikely 2nd place is off the cards now.

As is the case we bounce back in emphatic style the following week away to Salgueiros and although we conceded two goals the result was never in doubt. Despite the win tragedy strikes in the final five minutes and Laelson is rhino charged by and angry Salgueiros defender while running down the clock. This is heart in mouth time, especially after the recent sales of Savio and Marquinhos.

WTF, that is not good, is this what happens when they get a career ender? I’ve never seen this before and I’m scared.

The player screen doesn’t help, as you can see he has scored 21 in 27 games, this is bad, really bad.

I check again a week later and am relieved but also nervous. I once had a game where Jon Dahl Tomasson got an injury and his period out just kept rising instead of going down and I’m worried this is going to happen to little Jose. Even if it doesn’t 9 months without him will feel like a lifetime.

The next game is a blur, AC and Jefferson take their frustrations out on Farense in a game that we somehow manage to win. I could really do without suspensions at this crucial stage in the season. I can’t do another season where nobody wants to join me, I need Europen football!

We are on song again the week before all the suspensions kick in and dismantle a poor Leiria side. Maybe we will be alright without Laelson (I’ve never written a sentence with less confidence).

This sort of behaviour is really starting to piss me off, I’ve made these boys, nobody else gave them a chance and now just as we lie of the precipice of making the dream a reality and playing in Europe. No Nene, No, NO NOOOO!!!!

The suspensions begin and we have travelled to Espinho the home of our ex Brazilian international Savio. In the most even of games we of course lose and who else but flippin Savio pops up with the crucial goals.

Things go from bad to worse with the next two pieces of news.

Well that’s the my keeper gone. Even if he wanted to play for us, which he doesn’t £775,000 is £775,000 more than I can afford. I better start researching New Zenga’s heritage, looks like he will be with us a while longer. A small piece of good news though, Laelson is slowly recovering. I’ve never been more relieved.

The suspensions continue to take their toll and even though we can still score AC is being missed in defense as we concede five in the next two games. Even more annoying is the fact we were ahead both times but couldn’t hang it’s four points dropped.

To make matters even worse the Peu injury is for a month. He is our captain and has been one of the best players this season. I really don’t need this now. I’m scared to check the league table but I know I have to.

Five games left and 3rd is still doable, just look at the against column though, 51, 51! The final five games start well though as we beat 6th place Vit. G 1-0 a result that just isn’t in our arsenal.

We stay 5th after this one, four games left and Benfica and Vit. S are only one point ahead. Loanee Henrique is an angry young man, I can only assume it is the responsibility of having to fill Rai’s shoes. Oh and of course we get another suspension, just to help out.

Oh goodie our next game is away to Benfica, a real six pointer. AC, back from suspension goes down injured in the 7th minute (seriously the game hates me at the moment) and when they go 0-1 ahead I’m dejected, head in hands. But then a ray of hope Robson gets an equaliser, then three minutes later Nene puts us ahead. I spend the next 16 virtual minutes with my fingers over my eyes. I take it back, this is a just and fair game, I will never doubt it’s wisdom again.

Three games to go and we are third again two points clear of fourth but with AC out for two weeks Peu, the leader that he is climbs off his death bed to help with that final push. Shit, we are hosting Porto next. No unexpected victories this week.

Down to fifth again a point off third and two games to go. I’ve never felt so nervous about a final two games and all we are going for is third but I’m not sure how many teams get European spots so I really want third to guarantee my place. AC is back for the next game and we are getting close to full strength for the final two. Away to Felgueiras first, we smashed them in league two but since our promotions they are a bit of a bogey side. Fortunately Nene gets a couple before they score to make the last 16 minutes another nervous affair.

Back up to third again, one point in between fourth and fifth. The final game is a local derby with Maritimo. We get off to the best of starts with Jefferson scoring after a minute however despite dominating it is still only 1-0 at the end of the half.

That’s it, we made it. I feel like we have stumbled through the last 12 games but this is an amazing result. We are in Europe next year and surely now we can attract some young regens, plus, maybe we can get rid of some of these big club release clauses and everyone might stop asking to leave.

It’s a whopping £330k which actually I didn’t want as I was hoping to get into the red and receive another healthy investment in the off season.

The end of year awards roll by and there is limited recognition for this amazing feat of mine. Jardel topped the scoring charts with 28 and I can’t help feel that Laelson would have been close to that without the injury. Never mind, he is on the mend and Europe beckons, better hope this glitch I’ve been banking on actually works. A small positive is Mini Zenga gets the young player award, Zenga had a Brazilian great grandmother didn’t he.

Join me for season four to find out how we strengthen in the off season and prepare for UEFA cup football.

You can follow Rob on Twitter @Taitanator

Run Forest, Run – Part 1

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Matt Wills put the power in your hands and you chose to send him to Nottingham Forest. For a catch up on what this is all about, click here. Otherwise, over to Matt…


‘Run Forest, run’ is the judgement from Twitter, so here I am, having simmed the game 8 years into the future, I take the reins from Stuart Pearce as Nottingham Forest manager, and find them in the Premiership with £25m in the bank and less than £15m worth of talent in the squad.

My aim is to emulate Cloughie and turn an unfashionable club into the toast of Europe. I’m giving myself a 3 season limit to earn some European silverware.

You can see Forest having really been pulling up any trees and don’t really have anything to shout about squad wise. The team s also full, so I’ll need to shift some deadwood before I can do any major surgery.

Didier Lang is 34 and on £30,000 a week, so he’ll be transfer listed. Of there rest, there’s nothing really to shout about, a real mix of journey men and never-will be’s.

Out in the wider managerial world, there are no big shocks, although George Graham is back at Arsenal

Looking at the player values in England, Man Utd look to have the strongest squad, so I don’t think I’ll be aiming for the Champions League this season. I turn to the free transfer list and spy Vikhash Dhorasoo up for grabs, but I’ll have to beat PSG to his signature ( I don’t).

I start to thin the squad out in readiness for new signings and turn my attention to my favourite Chadian and Liberian regens – Japhet N’Doram and President George Weah – both available for £5K a pop. Both are 27 by Season #9, but that is no issue for me. I’m hoping to get a tune out of Zizi, as in other saves, Weah’s regen is normally a bit of a disappointment unless playing for someone else.

After missing out on Dhorasoo, I use my searching skills and find a young Roy Keane regen ready and willing. I also bring in the regen of Ronald De Boer on loan, but he lasts one friendly before being recalled – excellent.

I decided to get to know my team by playing a few friendless against the other teams in the Twitter vote, but Liverpool are unavailable, so I square up against Lazio, Espanyol and lowly Telford Utd. Two 3-3 draws and a 5-0 demolition of Telford tell me nothing apart from I think Irons is the regen of Bryan Robson.

We kick off the season against Watford, who have Heskey and Mainwaring upfront, who grab a goal each, but we do one better through Debbah, Liverpool reject David Thompson and Frank Lampard to get off to the perfect start. I was surprised to see Michael Owen on the bench, even more surprised to see he’s only been capped twice by England, scoring one goal. I guess he’s no Noel Whelan.

Next up are Premiership Champions Middlesbrough, and although we lose 1-0, I’m satisfied we matched them for most of the match.

Away at Spurs, our new young French defender caps off a dismal performance by scoring an own goal condemning us to a 2-0 reverse. Things go from bad to worse when we lose 4-0 to Norwich at Carrow Road and new Dutch signing Wessel Kemble get himself sent off early doors.

Things pick up in midweek though with the visit of Graham Stuart’s Villa, Debbah, Kemble and Lampard with the goals. During the internationals, we also manage to entice Brendan Fisher (Gazza) away from exotic Grimsby for £300k and a house for his mum and dad.

Star-studded Derby are next to visit after the international break and a chance for our next new signing to make a start, Batistuta regen, Rubini replacing the suspended Kemble. Derby feature David James, Dominic Matteo, Rivaldo, Trezeguet and Michael Branch on the bench. Nelo misses a penalty and we miss the chance at 2 extra points as we languish in the lower half of the league.

The League Cup and a two leg tie with Oldham gives a respite from our indifferent league form and Debbah helps himself to a hat-trick in a 5-2 win. Our young Scottish goalkeeper Jim Coughlin is starting to become a concern, conceding soft goals at an alarming rate.

Back to the league and we nudge aside Wolves, 3-2, with French attacking midfielder Ascencio proving to be an asset and maybe one signing Stuart Pearce got right.

We meet midweek with Man City to play our catch up game due to their Champions League exploits and the closeness of the league means a win would move us from 13th to 5th, but alas it is not to be and we succumb to a late winner by the amusingly named Bradley Hadley.

Bringing us a quarter of the way into the league programme, Newcastle hold us to a 1-1 draw, with another late goal costing us points.

We round out this update with formalities of the League Cup and the return leg against Oldham, gong through comfortably 3-1 on the night and 8-3 on aggregate, setting up a 2nd round tie against Premier league Watford.

All of this leaves us 15th in the table, no improvement on last year’s finish, but only 4 pts off 2nd, with Hull stretching away at the top. At the moment the league is wide open, but despite the calibre of the regens, I’m struggling for consistency if I’m honest and hope my fortunes turn around in the next quarter. Hopefully you’ll join me for the next update where I’ll be looking to add some steel to my defence and pts to the board, but before I go, I’ll just give you a quick update on the other teams which lost the vote:

Liverpool – Currently sitting 3rd in Division 1 and into the 2nd Round of the League Cup, player-manager Alan Shearer looking for a swift return to the top table.

Lazio – With 5 games gone, Lazio are languishing in 12th in Serie B in their bid for promotion but do hold a 2-0 advantage in the first leg of the Cup Winners Cup against Sparta Vladikavkaz.

Espanyol – Sitting 13th in La Liga and already out of the Copa Del Rey, it looks to be a long season for Jose Antonio Camacho’s team.

See you all in a week!

You can follow Matt on Twitter @Matt_C_Wills

Starting from Scratch – Part 5

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Tuesday is Matthew Cooper day. He started with no players and now his Altrincham side are starting to gel. Can they make a charge for the playoffs with a cup run to boot? Catch up with part 4 here.

Hi, welcome to part 5 of our lower-league adventure. After a rocky start, we’ve hit a purple patch in the league and are on the verge of breaking into the play-off spots. I really believe that form and momentum play a big part in this game – once the team gel and get a few positive results, things just seem to go your way – for a while anyway. When will the bubble burst? Not for a while yet, hopefully.

We’re off to Welling Utd first up for the replay of the FA cup 2nd round game after we fail to dispatch them in the home game.

We get the routine win that we should have got last time, Gattuso and Hunter bizarrely scoring in the same minute in the first half. We now face premier league Sunderland for the third round, where we’ll most likely get mullered.

Next up, a challenging game away at play-off rivals Darlington. Our midweek antics have left a few players pretty tired, so captain Palmer makes way for Duncan and Wright swaps the bench with Browning. Darlo were actually our very first league opponents (which, with us being exactly halfway through the season, makes a lot of sense now I think about it…) and they completely dominated us in that game. This will be a nice yardstick for where we are now from that terrible beginning.

They are in control for the first 20 minutes, but goals win games and we score against the run of play through Zerrouki after half an hour. From then on we’re the better side and we double the advantage when Allardyce prods in a rebound on 66 minutes. The run continues with a pleasing mirror-image of the reverse fixture and I’m very pleased with how things are working out at the moment.

Yes, yes it was. Thank you for noticing. Hammond then overdoes it at the charity wank-a-thon and puts our next result in jeopardy, as his understudy is some kid that’s never played a game. We’ll be fine as long as the opposition doesn’t put any attempts on target.

It’s against Brentford, the first team we ever beat, so that gives us a fair chance at least. Palmer and Wright are recalled and I cross my fingers as the kick-off is taken.

The first part of the plan is executed to perfection, as at half-time they have had precisely 0 attempts on goal of any kind, and as a bonus we’ve taken the lead through Williamson. We then get a soft penalty which Williamson blasts over the bar, the tit. Zerrouki makes it 2 around the hour mark, and that proves to be just enough as they pull one back with their only shot all game. Come back soon Hammond, we bloody need you.

Argh, what is with this strained wrist epidemic? I put the family filter on the club Wi-Fi and block the babestation channel at the training ground’s lounge as a precaution.

Hammond and Strong make a quick recovery and are fighting fit for our next game, at home to Gillingham who did us 1-0 in the last minute the last time we met. They currently sit 4th in the table so a good result here is highly desirable.

In contrast to the first meeting in which not a great deal happened, this was a frantic game with plenty of chances. We lead through Williamson after only 2 minutes, but are quickly pegged back. Williamson is in red-hot form though and grabs a second after half an hour, rounding the keeper and sliding it into the net to give us a 2-1 half time lead. Soon after the restart, Andrews trips someone in the box and it’s all square again. We’re not to be denied though and my man-crush Wright gets the decisive goal from a corner, allowing us to come out on top in a a 5 goal thriller.

The board are understandably thrilled at the recent turn of events but the financial situation is getting serious. We bleed another 70k this month and we’re going to need to sell soon to get out of the red.

This is nice though.

It’s time for our scheduled arse-wupping as Sunderland come to town for the FA cup third round.

Alright, this is getting a bit ridiculous now. Sunderland turn out in a stylish vomit-coloured kit that was briefly in vogue in the late nineties, but they have an off day and fail to assert their dominance at any point in the game. Williamson bundles in early in the second half and we hold on for a famous victory. They were the better side, but if you don’t score you don’t win and we’re somehow through to the fourth round. Annoyingly the attendance is a bit over 12,000, so those extra seats are actually of some use. I can picture the smug nods from the board members already. I’ve evidently embarrassed the premier league fraternity, and retribution is swift:

As you can see, he’s been playing his socks off for us so this is a cruel blow. I have cover and another loanee to throw into the side but I’m once again reminded of the folly of relying on loan signings in this game when they can be recalled, seemingly on a whim, at the drop of a hat.

We’re drawn away at Nottingham Forest for the fourth round, which should be a walk in the park after our famous victory over the Mackems. Just kidding, we’ll get the overdue hiding that we should have received in the third round. I forgot to take a screenshot, but Sunderland’s humiliation is clearly the final straw for their board and two days later Peter Reid walks out of the Stadium of Light with his belongings in a cardboard box

Old man Wilkins gets yet another injury and is laid up for a month. At this point I’m not sure if he really is injured, or if he’s faking it just to have someone to talk to. I make a mental note to sign him up for the meals on wheels service in the near future.

Wright’s heroics have put him on the radar of a bunch of clubs, so I can’t see him staying much longer. On the plus side, his value has soared so it will take care of all of our money troubles. I am touched that despite all the interest, he’s still happy to be with us.

It’s a crunch match next against 4th-placed Exeter, and things are bobbing serenely along towards a 0-0 draw with us in total control. We’re a different animal now though, and games that we would drawn for sure earlier in the season are turned into scrappy wins. Allardyce races through and calmly finishes in the 87th minute to give us the 3 points that our performance merited. Incidently, notice on the lower screenshot that Exeter took off one player on 55 minutes but brought two on? This seems to be an occasional occurrence in cm97/98, the AI somehow sneaks an extra player onto the pitch without the ref noticing. It doesn’t actually seem to help them though, so it’s hardly game-breaking.

Our form is beyond belief – I honestly can’t remember anything like this in all the games I’ve played, so I’m pretty chuffed that it’s happened in this particular save. Take a look at the form table, which only tells some of the story as we’ve won every recent cup game as well

We travel to mid-table Cambridge for the final match of this update, and it’s fair to say that we get off to a difficult start, as we concede in the 2nd and 3rd minutes. We briefly threaten to rally when Allardyce halves the arrears just after the restart, but it’s not our day and they restore the 2 goal cushion with half an hour left. So, the first loss in bloody ages but in a way I’m relieved,as I was beginning to think I might have somehow broken the game or something.

Despite the result we’re still very handily placed in 5th with 18 games left to play. We’re only a point off the automatic promotion places, so if we can keep winning we may very well end up there by the end of the season.

Down at the bottom, Doncaster still bring up the rear with a truly frightening number of goals conceded. Amazingly despite letting in so many they’re still only 3 points adrift so it’s not over by any means.

See you next week, when we’ll try to wash the bitter taste of defeat from our mouths.

The B’s of Manchester – Part 1

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Please welcome our new guest blogger @supernovadragon. He’ll be keeping you company on Monday’s for the foreseeable future as he tries to answer a very potent question: how would the Man Utd youth team do as a club? Let’s see how he goes…

Hi there, I never know how to start this sort of thing so lets just get straight into this. I have loaded up the English, Scottish and Belgium leagues.

My experiment is based around a Manchester United B team, of sorts. I have replaced Southend (sorry any Southend fans reading this) in division 2, as they finished bottom in real life and replaced them with a Manchester United B team. We will be playing at Old Trafford and also have the same finances that the Manchester United first team have. I have taken all the youngsters from Manchester United and put them together.

The more eagle eyed among you will notice that Jonny Macken, David Brown, Simon Davies, Michael Appleton, Pat McGibbon and John O’Kane have also been added. This is due to me doing a search on Wikipeadia to find out which players were sold during the summer of 1997 and coming across these players and I have added these for that reason. I also added the other known free transfers of the usual ex-united players of Tomlinson and Twiss. I also found on the database another former United youngster who was on a free transfer called Robert Trees.

As you can see he doesn’t, ahem, pull up many trees this lad and I will probably barely play him but he will come in useful come the league cup and pointless windscreen games.

One other thing to point out with this experiment is that I can only sign players from Man United themselves. Whenever they put a player up for sale, I have to consider making a bid in a sense that they could be relegated to the B team as it were. Talking of relegation, now that the squad has been torn apart, could Man United be relegated?

I doubt it, but you just don’t know. So I will be keeping an eye on them and on the readded Eric Cantona, who for this basis has still retired but could be persuaded to put his boots back on if a club offers him a contract. He’s on a free transfer.

I will be keeping an eye on if he gets a contract somewhere.

I will be playing just the one friendly, with local lower league team in Rochdale. Before that happened though, Darren Eadie signed for Chelsea. More importantly for us, Manchester United signed someone, not surprisingly

Good signing for them, I’m sure you’ll agree.

This is how we lined up for the Rochdale friendly at Old Trafford, this is also the tactic I shall be using

We dominated the match pretty much but only a 1-0 win thanks to Nevland. First of many hopefully. Though I am very concerned about the amount of shots off target we had.

Bit of a surprise transfer but I suppose Man Utd do need to make their squad bigger.

Tottenham then replaced the sold Sol Campbell with Richard Rufus.

I wasn’t going to report on the Charity Shield but it was very much action packed.

Man United won on penalties.

I finally got to the first game of the season, away to Watford. I made 1 change from the friendly line-up. I brought in Cooke for Wellens, I decided to leave the rest as they were.
At half-time we were 2-1 up. Nevland put Notman through 1-on-1 to put us ahead after 10 minutes, Watford equalised through Noel-Williams and then they instantly done a sub. We went straight back up the other end, a Clegg cross and Nevland headed in to put us 2-1 up at half time and that was how it ended.

Meanwhile there was a more of a fun game in York in our league

Goddamn it John, why? We’ve only played 1 league match

That will be him gone then, the heart of my 3 man defence. I knew I’d struggle to keep hold of him. Then, as if to prove him right:

What would be quite interesting is if Man United were to come in for him.

Now, I know what screen follows this but I am taking this as he has decided he no longer wants to leave so I will refuse the transfer.

Next match is at home in the League Cup against Wycombe. I change the team a little bit but kept the same formation of course:

This a very dull affair with not a lot happening;

The fact my centre back got man of the match said it all I thought.

Man United are definitely beefing up their squad by signing a future Liverpool and England player:

Back to the league, we were at home to Bristol City. I went back to what I considered was my full strength side. At half-time it was 1-1. After only 10 minutes, Nevland had a shot that smashed back off the woodwork, only for Mulryne to score. However, we then got drew level after a header from Tisdale. In the end it was a comfortable 2-1 win.

Cooke got put through by Notman to score a 1-on-1 and then Sahil handballed in the box and Nevland’s penalty was saved. Right at the end of the match, future Premier League manager Sean Dyche put future Man City star of the mid 2000s Shaun “feed the goat” Goater who proceeded to miss a sitter.

Next up was the return leg against Wycombe, once again I changed things around a little but I can’t say I am that interested in this cup.

At half time this was the scene:

Mohan had brought down Tomlinson when through on goal and got sent off. Then in a separate piece of action in the same minute, Davies put a cross in and my Tree was tall enough to put us in front. We then battered their goal until we finally made it 2-0 through Tomlinson who went through 1-on-1. Only for Read to equalise after a mistake in the defence and then in a total collapse at the end of the half, Wycombe broke free of our defence 2 more times. I know I am not interested in this cup lads but come on!
In the end, we lost 4-3. Notman played Tomlinson in to make it 3-3, only for Brown to go and win the match for Wycombe. In a way, I’m glad to be out but I was impressed by the Tree. Maybe he will feature more in the league?

The board was disappointed to be out at the first hurdle, I am just thinking, wait until the FA Cup. We will be going for that one.

Next up in the league was the visit to Boundary Park to play local team Oldham. Back to my full strength side.

At half time we were 1-1, as you can see our defence have been a bit of a waste. Jepson ran the show for the first 20 minutes, beating our defence with a header within the first 10 minutes (I am noticing a theme for the first 10.) Nevland managed to put us back level when we had a short domination spell. Only for Oldham to finish the half the strongest.

Oldham started the 2nd half how they finished the first. Jepson being all over us. Then came the surprising decision by them to take Jepson off for Ritchie and a minute later Tomlinson lobbed Gary Kelly to win us the match. Onwards and upwards.

We then played again on the Tuesday against Carlisle at home. The only match in the whole of England, which I found very strange. At half time we were 1-0 after Tomlinson lobbed the keeper from Nevland’s through ball in 4 minutes, yet again there was a goal in the opening 10 minutes of one of our matches.

In the end It was a comfortable 2-0 win thanks to a second goal from Notman who reacted first to a loose ball from a Tomlinson shot. Tomlinson got a 10, which was very much deserved and I barely remember Carlisle causing us many problems. Probably because it was a Tuesday.

Our “parent” club got a damn easy Champions League group.

Our last game of the month, and the update, sees us play at home against Luton Town. Can we finish this update with another win? Same team for the 3rd game running.

At half-time a very dull match which saw us waste numerous chances, was 0-0. The only interesting moment was a sending off for Johnson for fouling Notman when through on goal. Onto the second half.

We won 1-0 thanks to Mulryne’s goal after being put through by Tomlinson, however it was a very dull affair this match.

All that leaves is to show the table:

As you can see, we are top of the table, max points and conceding only 3 goals. Some might say that’s how it should be.

For those that are curious:

Man United are still 4th having only conceded 2 goals.

Can we keep it up? Please join me for more.

CM9798 Academy – Part 29: Decade of destruction

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Hello! It’s the tenth season of this idiocy and season 9 ended on the highest of highs. The Cup Winners Cup was retained and we added the FA Cup to a hastily assembled trophy cabinet. How do you top that?

We finished season 9 with the disappointing news that club legend Gareth Billing would be departing. Italian Frederic Morello will also be missed. Once again we face a summer of rebuilding.

Continue reading →

Building Brazil – Part 8: Can’t defend won’t defend

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Rob is still plugging away in Portugal. His team of all Brazilians are starting to make progress though and, if they ever stop asking to leave, might be getting somewhere with Uniao. Catch up with part 7 here.

Part one finished with Uniao Madeira 3rd in the league after 11 games, however we have conceded a lot of goals, especially in the second half of games and for that reason Carlos is out and Ange Bug (Zenga) is in. This player tactical move makes an immediate impact as we lose 0-2, without even hitting the target, not sure Ange is to blame for that though.

Bet they were thrilled!

Not to worry the Taca is backa with round three and for once we don’t throw away a 3-0 half time lead.

It will be one of two Vitoria’s in the quarters and we are only two wins from the final, I don’t want to get excited about this, but I am.

Vitoria G in the quarters then but before that we have some league fixtures to attend to. Benfica visit the Barreiros and despite playing them off the park it ends in a goalless draw, I didn’t realise we had one of those in our repertoire

Three days before Christmas we travel to Vit. G’s to see what it will be like in the cup, the answer is hopefully not like this, that’s two games without a goal. I assume we have already wound down for Christmas.

Boxing day really isn’t the best time for a tempermental team like us to be tested with an away trip to Porto and it looks like it will be back to back defeats until Nene pops up in the 88th minute to rescue a draw. It wasn’t deserved but so what.

Hoping to get ourselves back on track after what has been a poor holiday period up until now we host Felgueiras. This time we are unlucky and concede a 90th minute equaliser, I am learning to take the rough with the smooth with this adventure but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating.

We are away to local rivals Maritimo on the 9th of January, the halfway point in the season. Even though we play at the same stadium their capacity is 18,000 whereas ours is 14,000, strange. We dominate the game and 2-1 flatters them, we are so leaky at the back, they scored with their only shot on target.

A big gap has opened up between 2nd and 3rd, we are best of the rest behind Porto and Lisbon but 3rd to 7th is only 2 points so it is tight. I really want a european place and with Laelson and Nene we have quite the strike partnership developing, 13 apiece at the halfway stage.

A week later and we are taken to school by Academica’s keeper, he can save shots and ours can’t. It’s just one of those games, we didn’t play badly, you might even say we were the better team although the history books will say otherwise.

The board aren’t happy and suddenly we are in 6th place two points off 2nd place. Leonidas and Da Silva decide it is all getting too much. Normally I would tell these guys to do one but they are both quite good and I can’t sign anyone else so… REQUEST DENIED.

It’s another Sunday at the Barreiros, which, based on our defensive frailties is rather ironic considering it means barriers. To help prove this point we go 3:1 up by half time and despite them only having five shots on target in 90 minutes we concede three, fortunately we score six.

In an inspired piece of business and about six months after buying him I’m fed up with Savio. He has once again flattered to deceive and I swear this is the last time I ever buy this guy. It probably won’t.

Even though he wasn’t getting a game his presence was clearly missed and the team down tools against Alverca, we manage to get two shots on target and are punished accordingly.

For once we play badly and win, Belenenses didn’t really deserve to lose this but Laelson is a beast.

Two days later and is Taca time, we face Vit. guimaraes in the quarter final, I really feel like this is our chance to claim a trophy and increase our reputation, especially in Brazil where the Taca is a huge competition (it could be). Laelson bangs one in in the first minute and I just know it’s our day. Unfortunately it couldn’t have been less of our day, we peaked after a minute and it was downhill from there. Da Silva gave me a small glimmer of hope, maybe we could get an unlikely draw but his goal was nothing more than a consolation goal.

The final game of the update is away to Braga, to really highlight how our awesome flair but incredible inconsistency we play them of the park. Braga weren’t helped by Sergio Abreu’s sending off but we were always winning this game. Good of Nene to get back in the goals, he has been a bit quiet in the last few games.

Two thirds of the way through the season and we are in the European places, top scorers and top conceders!! I really can’t complain and the up and down nature of our performances is both infuriating and entertaining in equal measure.

Join us next we to see if we can stay with Benfica, I’m not sure we are going to catch Lisbon or Porto especially with our defensive frailties a third place finish is maybe do-able. In all honesty a UEFA cup place is all I really want, something to get so of the bigger name regens through the door.

You can follow Rob on Twitter @Taitanator

Back To The Future

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Matt Wills wants to blog for YOU. However, he can’t decide which story would be best. Have a read of the below and vote vote vote!

After Return of the King and One Season in Turin I took a break from blogging and dived into a straightforward career, taking over Barcelona and winning almost everything in sight over 14 star-studded seasons, building 3 teams and then jumping to Man Utd, saving them from relegation and building a new dynasty.

Sitting at the top for so many seasons, it’s always interesting to see the stories that play out – Gerry Francis making Middlesbrough the dominant force in England then becoming Italy manager, Leicester City dropping out of Division 3, Spurs nearly joining them. Vicenza, then Genoa rising to the top of Serie A – Juventus and Milan being relegated and then regenerated. John Aldridge spending 22 seasons as Tranmere Manager with no promotions or relegations or cup success to speak of.

I was too family with glory to jump at the vacant managers position at Leicester, but it did give me the idea I needed for a new blog – sim the game into the future and see what stories had unfolded and what might make a good blog.

So, I’ve been on a manager holiday for 8 seasons – I chose 8 as I reasoned there would be enough change to make it interesting, but also enough real players still around to know what I was in for. I had started out as Brazil manager – a little fiddling with the editor but found out I was sacked after only getting to the Quarter Finals of the World Cup in 1998. I’d hoped 8 seasons would be enough for the football world as we know it to be a little shaken up and give some good stories for a potential blog post, so what do we find ourselves with? (I have the English, Spanish and Italian leagues running btw)

International – France beat Norway in the final of 98, whilst Italy were champions against Argentina 4 years later. In between, Germany beat Holland at Euro 2000 and Italy beat England to become World and European champions 4 years later. Marcello Lippi is England manager it seems and Noel Whelan is the star striker for England and Man Utd.

Europe – In the Champions League, it’s been mainly a resign in Spain, with Real Madid (2) and Barcelona (2) with Milan, Paris SG, Monaco and Juventus the other winners. Man Utd losing finalists twice. In the CW Cup, Tottenham triumphed in 99, but its been a mix of Spain, Italy Holland and France in other years, whilst in the UEFA Cup, Watford are the current holders, beating off Inter to end years of Italian and Spanish domination.

England – Man Utd, unsurprisingly have won 5 of the last 8 league titles, punctuated by Leeds, Middlesbrough and Man City. In the FA Cup, Utd have won 4 of the last 8, with Sunderland also claiming back to back wins, with Blackburn and Aston Villa also getting in on the act. In the Pointless Cup, it’s not all been about Utd (2 wins) but also Everton (2 wins), Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool and Wolves.

Italy – In Serie A, its all been about Juventus (2), Milan (4) and Inter (2) whilst in the Coppa Italia, only Roma and Vicenza have broken their stranglehold.

Spain – as expected, Barcelona and Real Madrid dominate, but plucky Espanyol took the title in 2001 and Betis and Atletico Madrid have won the last 2 titles. In the Copa Del Rey, Espanyol follow up their title triumph with a cup win, but it’s been mostly Barcelona and Betis running the show.

So, that leaves me with some decisions to make – who to take over?

Having been dominate in my Barca/Man U career, I feel like I need an underdog whose punching above their wait or a giant fallen from grace.

In England, there haven’t been too many shocks, although Liverpool and Chelsea are in Division 1. Nottingham Forest are back in the Prem, holding their head above water with Stuart Pearce in charge – could they be an option? Make Forest, and English teams, a force in Europe again?

In Italy, Lazio are languishing in Serie B, but curiously they are the current holders of the Cup Winners Cup – could I get them back at the top table while defending their crown in Europe?

In Spain, could I make Espanyol the dominate side from the Barcelona region and build on recent successes, or do I take over Valencia in the Segunda and bring them back to life?

There’s too many choices to be had, and I’m only really looking at a 3-season max challenge, so what will it be?

Take Nottingham Forest to domestic and European glory – can that be done in 3 seasons?
Break the triopoly (is that a word?) in Italy with Lazio whilst defending the defunct CWC and breaking out of Serie B?

Or head to Spain to revive Valencia or build on Espanyol’s Leicester City-esque success?
I think I’m going to have to put it to Dave’s good followers on Twitter and kindly ask him to run a poll, with the most votes confirming my next challenge and blog post, so will it be:

Run Nottingham Forest (Run) – take on the Cloughie tradition and go for a European Trophy within 3 seasons, starring Frank Lampard, Aussie Craig Moore, Andy Griffin and Stig Johansen?

Mersey Boys – Take a Liverpool team that has seriously slipped from their perch and get them back on top with a little help from my friends, Patrick Berger, John Curtis, Mickael Landreau and Simon Donnelly?

The Good Ship S.S. Lazio – Sailing the Roman club back to Serie A whilst defending the Cup Winners Cup crown with Stefano Fiore and Raffaele Longo?

Viva Espanyol – Gun for the title and maybe European glory with William Gallas, Constatin Galca and Juan Eduardo Esnaider?

Hopefully this will be a good idea and I won’t blame the voters when it goes wrong!

 

Starting from Scratch – Part 4

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Here’s Matthew with the latest from Altrincham. For a club that started with no players, they’re making a good go of making a team. Catch up with part 3 here.

Hello once again, welcome to part 4 of premature ageing simulator 97/98. We concluded last time with a string of decent results, but a potentially damaging injury to main man Jermaine Wright, our midfield dynamo. You may recall I put in an approach for a replacement, however the negotiations went pretty poorly

I politely, but firmly, tell him to sling his hook and move instead for my number 2 target. He actually has more promising stats than Turner but he’s unfortunately out for 2 weeks injured which in some ways hinders his primary purpose of filling in for Wright. He’ll be fit for the last two weeks of Wright’s lay-off though so it’s not a total loss. Until then, I fear old man Wilkins may have to be roused from his rocking chair and plopped onto the bench.

We’re at Mansfield for our next fixture and I spare Wilkins the indignity of changing out of his pajamas as my underperforming wingback West takes the bench. Allardyce is rested for my backup striker Williamson and Browning takes the field in place of Wright. We kick off and….what the hell is happening?

A few weeks ago we couldn’t win our way out of a paper bag and now I’ve just witnessed one of the most dominant first-half performances in my entire CM career. Both goals are taken by Williamson and we look unstoppable. Naturally, my team desperately contrive to cock it up as captain Palmer elbows someone in the face and gets shown red. Despite his best efforts at sabotage though, we easily see the game out and chalk up yet another win.

My mobile buzzes on the way home, it’s a text from the board:

Oh you are, are you? Well that’s alright then, your satisfaction means everything to me. Whatever, at least I’m not in immediate danger of the sack anyway. McCarthy hobbles in to sign terms with us and then immediately gets better, good lad.

We’re at home to Torquay next, who are languishing in 15th place. An easy 3 points, right?

Nah. It’s a very flat performance and we’re lucky to draw to be honest. Post-match I notice that Williamson has caught the eye of Bristol Rovers, but with £67k left in the coffers I’d welcome an approach at this point. My other striker McGarrigle knackers himself in training and is ruled out for 6 weeks, but as he sits on the treatment table moaning I sternly tell him that it could have been worse:

The deadest of dead rubbers is next as our pointless second game of the windscreen shield takes us to Macclesfield. I couldn’t give a flying toss about the result, but we win anyway

On the bright side, we’ll at least finish first in one table this season, eh?

We’re drawn against Hull, who are second in the division above us, for the second round, so at least we won’t have to suffer through this competition much longer. Old man Wilkins does his back in stretching for the remote, what is he like:

The FA cup is up next, and we travel to Leyton Orient with a bit of a defensive crisis. Both loanees are ineligible and Palmer starts his two-match suspension so I have to put Duncan straight back in at 70% fitness alongside Hart, a very average squad player. Oh, and our right wingback is also cup-tied to add insult to injury.

We have yet another game in our packed schedule to look forward to after a no-score draw with a very familiar man of the match. Williamson gets injured to cap off a miserable day. Oh wait, it hasn’t quite finished yet

Sigh. He was performing well for us and my existing wing-back is, to put it mildly, shite. I’ll have to go looking for a replacement for my replacement. It’s pretty slim pickings by this point in the season, as anyone half-decent has been signed already. I finally settle on this best of the rest selection – as mediocre as he appears, he’d have to be pretty damn bad to end up being a worse option than what I have already

We’re essentially handed a free pass to the third round if we can overcome Leyton Orient, as we’re drawn to play against one of two non-league sides

We’re at home to Notts County next, and it’s fair to say that with injuries, suspensions and under 21 call-ups, my squad is somewhat below optimum staffing levels. It’s funny how circumstances can sometimes combine into a perfect storm of awfulness in this game.

It’s a struggle to actually name three subs and I have to use central defender Luis as an emergency striker but on the plus side, Notts County are 21st and have 1 win in their past 10 games. I sense a draw is on the cards.

Yep. Allardyce puts us in front midway through the first half but we can’t hold on and Notts get a deserved equaliser 15 minutes before the end. I can’t say I’m too disappointed, considering the number of players I had out. Immediately after the game I get some good news for a change

It’s a much more familiar line-up for our next game against Scarborough. Captain Palmer returns from suspension, Tokely is back from international duty and our new right wingback takes the field. Wright makes the bench as he’s still not fully fit yet. Well, you can see why they’re 23rd in the table. Browning puts us ahead after only 2 minutes, and Allardyce doubles the lead soon after. It should have been 6 or 7, but we have to settle for 2 as Scarborough can’t muster even a single shot on target.

The strangest things impress the board sometimes

The replay against Leyton Orient is next up, and the prospect of posting a cricket score against our hapless non-league opposition in the next round galvanises the team into an impressive showing. Tokely pounces on a defensive error just after half-time to put us in front before we do our usual parlour trick and concede an equaliser out of nothing. Extra time looms so I throw Wrighty on, and barely 5 minutes after his introduction he powers home a rebound to nudge us back in front. I love that guy.

The procession of crap teams in the fixture list continues as Wrexham are next to visit our Moss Lane fortress. We’re all over them from the get-go but can’t find a way past Dearden in their net. I enact another inspired substitution as I throw Williamson on for the ineffective Tokely around the hour mark and he scores with his first effort. Strong puts in a man of the match performance and our other wingback has settled in quickly. I’m beginning to suspect that the wingbacks are actually crucial to your team’s fortunes in a 5-3-2, as when our wingbacks were dreadful, our performances and results followed suit. Now that they’re playing well, we look like a quality side.

Next up is our trip to Hull for the windscreen paperweight trophy second round. Their higher division placing shows immediately as they absolutely batter us, and we’re lucky to escape with a 3-0 deficit to be honest. Only goalkeeper Hammond’s heroics prevent further damage as his counterpart, the delightfully named John Cheesewright, is a virtual spectator. Ah well, at least we’re out of that sodding competition.

The FA cup second round game against Welling Utd is upon us now, and I’m expecting a comfortable victory by a 3 or 4 goal margin. I rest Palmer and Zerrouki as they’re showing signs of fatigue, but I don’t expect that to matter against such lowly opposition.

Well, that was humbling. We barely threaten their goal despite their keeper’s MotM award, and they force a replay. At least the gate receipts will help our dwindling bank balance. A rather unappetising game at home to premiership team Sunderland awaits us if we can win the replay.

I’m finally getting the recognition I deserve, and we even scrape a profit this month! I can’t believe the turnaround from the second update which saw us go at least 10 games without a win.

Next we travel to Chesterfield, who languish in the lower half of the table. We absolutely blitz them, racing into a 4-0 lead until our customary slacking off sees them pull 2 goals back. Even so, it’s the most comfortable victory we’ve had in quite a while.

Well, it’s time to draw this update to a close and as usual we’ll look at the standings.

In case you’re curious, it’s still Doncaster that occupy the solitary relegation place, though they’re only 3 points adrift. You know your team is absolutely dire when you can’t even keep up with division 3 whipping boys Scarborough:

Exactly half the season has now elapsed and our excellent run of results has amazingly put us just outside the play-offs in 8th. I really couldn’t have foreseen this during our run of 5 or 6 straight draws early in the season but things seem to have just clicked with the team and we’re on an undeniably upward trajectory. Come back next week to see if we can keep it up and maybe start to look at securing at least a play-off place in the second