Welcome back for the final part of our story as we look to better the real life 97/98 performance of Celta Vigo with the same squad and no transfers. As a reminder, we are 6th and in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey.
Hello blog readers, it’s Tuesday and as I contemplate my impending 45th birthday, lets swing back to the year 2000, where we’re entering season 4 with Cologne.
I start pre-season with an Austrian signing to Purk up my attacking options, to add to my close season capture of Oliver Kahn on a free transfer to try and stabilise my defence.
Bonjour! and welcome. Our start to season four has been the stuff of which dreams are made, but we’re without our injured keeper for a week or two more, so let’s hope it doesn’t fast turn into a nightmare. European football surely has to be our aim from here. Let’s go…
Welcome back! You re-join us as we look to improve on Celta’s real life performance with the same squad. A reminder we are still in the Copa del Rey and sit 5th in La Liga.
Hello, welcome back to Germany in the 2000, where my Cologne team are a mix of goal scorers and goal conceders. Here’s where I left you last week
Fifth and eleven points off the pace with ten games to go, but we are still in the hunt for European glory in the Cup Winners Cup, but……we can’t overcome the two goal deficit from the first leg and just like that, we’re out of Europe. Landreau just proved too hard to beat twice in the end.
Welcome back to Dingwall.
After storming out of the Second Division at the first time of asking, Ross County now step into season three with a single, crystal-clear objective: don’t get relegated. It’s not glamorous, but it’s honest work, and if we’re to keep this challenge aligned with the club’s real-life rise through the leagues, simply holding our own in the First Division will do just fine. There’s optimism in the air, a little trepidation too, and the unmistakable feeling that surviving this season might be every bit as satisfying as last year’s promotion — if a touch more stressful.
Bonjour, and happy new year! Bienvenue to season four, our third in Ligue 1. If you’ve forgotten where we left off before Christmas, we finished eighth, which sadly wasn’t enough for European football, but we do seem to be heading in the right direction. Let us resume…
Manolo hangs up his boots. I had high hopes for him, but he was plagued by injuries…
Well, here we are. The annual treat of being inspired by a mystery kit for our Secret Santa and I have landed in Balaidos with Celta Vigo (thanks Dave). But what is the approach, well, in real life Os Celestes finished 6th in La Liga and reached the round of 16 in the Copa del Rey. The league finish was their best attempt in just over quarter a century. My purpose in this blog will be to better that performance with EXACTLY the same players at my disposal. So let the blog see the squad:
Hello and welcome to 2026, or rather the fag end of 1999 in my Cologne save. We’re into season 3 and all we have to show for it so far is a Pokal cup runners up medal.
Here’s where we left things last time out. Scoring lots, conceding lots and ten points off the pace after 12 games, not ideal really…
Welcome back to Dingwall, where my hardy Highlanders began Season Two with the modest aim of simply not going back down again. Yet somehow — through grit, good fortune, and the occasional deflected hoof — we’ve ended up second in the table with fourteen games to play. Back-to-back promotions? Nobody dare say it out loud, but the dream is taking shape in the cold Highland air.
Naturally, the moment hope appears, football has a way of whacking you with a rolled-up newspaper. Exhibit A: Livingston at home, and we contrive to lose 1–0 thanks to a Colcombe strike after just 22 minutes. A crowd of 2,196 trudged back into the Dingwall night wondering how on earth a team chasing promotion can look so thoroughly mid-table. A gentle reminder, then: this is Ross County. On CM2. In the 90s. Nothing will be simple.
