Author Archives: David Black

CM9798 Academy – Part 25: Marseille Roulette

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Welcome, welcome. Today we celebrate a quarter of a century of Academy updates. If you’re new to this, the challenge began 24 episodes ago where the newly formed CM9798 Academy took their place in division 3. Owner Ike Mashley wanted to build his dream club and put in a blueprint. Only players under the age of 23 and available on a free transfer could be signed, whilst all offers to buy players would be accepted. It has aged me terribly. Nevertheless, progress through the lower leagues was relatively easy but the Premier League has seen us scrapping for survival every year. Here we are in season 8, our first in European competition (via a losing FA Cup final appearance) and yet again we’re in the bottom half. Now, let’s get back to it. 13 games to go and this is the table:

table bottom feb s8

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Building Brazil – Part 4: Fortalecimento or not?

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Uniao Madeira enjoyed serene progress under Rob Tait in season one. Promotion to the top tier in Portugal was achieved with minimal fuss, but how will they find mixing it with the big boys? Catch up with Part 3 here.

Season two begins well, the board recognise that I have spent all my money. Fortunately tourism was good this summer so they give me a little cash to strengthen (fortalecimento) the squad.

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The Golden Generation: Part 4 – The Nation Goes Potty

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It’s the final part of Andrew Chapman’s Golden Generation series. The England youth have reached the knockout stages of the World Cup so it’s time to find out if Alan Hansen was right. Catch up with part 3 here, which includes the database for download.

Hello and welcome back to “The Golden Generation”. We’ve escaped what should have been an easy group with extreme difficulty but somehow still managed to finish top of the group. We were rewarded with a last 16 tie against the masters of total football, the Dutch. This could be a really short episode…

Seaman is back from a fractured cheek, so he goes straight back in for Nigel who can get back to his barrow on the market. Sol ‘Solid’ Campbell returns to the CB slot replacing Gary Neville.

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Building Brazil – Part 3: Capoeira Countdown

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Off we go back to Portugal, where Rob Tait is building a Brazilian legacy. Is promotion on the cards? Catch up with part 2 here

At the end of part two I was waxing lyrical about my front four and how good they are, I know this is the Portuguese second tier but you can only beat what is put in front of you and we have been. It is the last push now, 12 games to decide the league title.

The first match and our mate Gil Vincente comes to visit. He puts up a good fight and it is close but when you have our fire power it’s never over and young Laelson pops up at the death.

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The Golden Generation: Part 3 – Throwing the Potty out the Window

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Andy is here with part 3 of his Golden Generation challenge. It’s time for the tournament, will the young lions become…men lions? Old Lions? Animals aren’t a strong point for me. You can catch up with part two here. You can also download the players database here

Bonjour and welcome back to “The Golden Generation”. We’ve managed to squeeze past Italy and qualify automatically for France 98, have been given a fairly positive group stage, and have managed some very indifferent friendly results in between then and now. I think, the reality is, the potty training is over, and its time for these bairns to show what they are made of.

Here is the confirmed squad for the finals;

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CM9798 Academy – Part 23: European break

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Hello! Season 8 is here and not only have the Academy got another season of Premier League football to look forward to, they will also play in Europe for the first time. This might be as good as it gets.

For such an occasion, we’ve added a massive 1348 new seats. There’s over £50m in the bank, we may as well spend it on something.

How do you ready a squad for a European campaign? Well…

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Building Brazil – Part 2: Magic in Madeira

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Rob Tait is back in Portugal for part two of his latest project. He’s building an entire team of Brazilians with the first task of getting out of the Portugese second division. Catch up with part one here

We finished part 1 three points clear at the top with a nine wins, one draw and a loss. Unfortunately while I was writing Part 1 I managed to lose the last three games I’d played by forgetting to save and then closing the window by mistake. It means that Marquinhos isn’t injured and Newcastle didn’t get beaten by Forrest. We also won the game we drew in the replay. With that out of the way Maia visit the “Tree House” that’s what I’m calling our stadium since we are Wood Utd. We continue how we finished part 1 with a simple victory.

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The Golden Generation: Part 2 – Warming Up

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Andrew is back with England’s Golden Generation but in 1998. Catch up with Part 1 here

Hello and welcome back to “The Golden Generation”. So, let’s catch you up. After a poor start in Cyprus, we worked out an expected win at Wembley against Moldova, and then, after going a goal down in 60 seconds and totally against the wave after wave of blue shirts in Rome, including Zola uncharacteristically fluffing a glut of clear chances, we saw out a famous win in Rome even though the team we’re up well after their bedtime. The celebrations were over quickly when the Mam’s arrived to take Gerrard et al home.

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CM9798 Academy – Part 22: Passport to Relegation?

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Hello hello. As 2019 continues to rattle along, we’ve reached the end of another season. The Academy, as usual, are battling relegation. Things are actually bleaker than normal as we are in the bottom 3 with 14 games to go. One positive though is that we’re still in the FA Cup, though Derby is not a happy hunting ground for us. That’s where we start today’s update.

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