CM97/98 was the first game in the series that came with a built-in editor, and as we’ll see over the next few weeks, it opens up endless opportunities for the creative players amongst you. In this article I’ll give you a brief run through of some of the features.

Before we get into the nitty gritty, I must point out there is a notepad file in the CM9798 folder which gives you a detailed run through of how the editor works. I don’t want to re-write that, but it is useful.

To run the editor, fire up dosbox and do what you normally do except instead of cm2e8.exe or cm2e16.exe you need to type cm2ed.exe and hit enter. That’ll launch the editor

Now, before you get ahead of yourself, I’d highly recommend backing up the three databases you can edit. They are:

players.db1
tmdata.db1
mgdata.db1

Click “load database” and type one of the three options above. The editor will load that database. Players is by far the most interesting, that allows you to change who players play for, their stats and so on. Click on edit database.

Most of these are self explanatory. Search records is probably where you will head first, you can free type in there and go to a player you want to edit. View Records will list all the players in a particular order, the default is by Nationality – so players with Albania as their nationality are first. You can change that by using “sort records” if you so desire, that will let you choose to order by another field, such as current club or Ability. This will take quite a while though, and if you wanted to search for all players who played for Arsenal (for example) you could just search for “Arsenal” in the search records box.

Let’s look at editing a player:

You can click on any of the fields to change it. Any position with a 2 is natural and a 1 means they can play there, for example if you’ve ever wondered why Sol Campbell shows up under midfielders on the player search it’s because he has a 1 in there – which is why the computer sometimes plays him as a wing back. All abilities are out of 20, whilst Ability, Reputation and Reputation are out of 200. You can have a player with -1 for potential, which basically means they can be really bloody good if they get lots of game time.

If you want to change the current club, make sure you know the name of the club in the database. That’s a seamless segway into the tmdata.db1 database.

In the above screenshot, I’ve searched for Bolton and you can see in the result, you have the long team name, the reputation and the division. Clicking into the record allows you to change the name, but be careful as if the team is involved in Europe and the database can’t find the team name it will crash.

Page two is where you find the real good stuff.

Here you can change the stadium name and capacity, this is just an exact number and nothing too complicated. Following however is the fan base of a club during an average season measured in 1000s. The formation and style are what the club most commonly uses, whilst cash is the budget available. Again this is entered in 1000s, so 1 Million = 1000. “Essential” means the team is loaded in every version of the game no matter which leagues are loaded. Division allows you to move clubs between divisions, but again there’s a crash risk here if you don’t have the right number of teams in each league. The Home/Away Text means you can change the home/away kit of the team, so if you are Vincent Tan and you fancy making a change, now you can. The colours have codes which you can find by clicking “colours” in the top right.

Several of the fields are for Nations only, which we’ll look at now.

The “EEC Member” box effects which players have “fgn” after their name – 1 means they are European Union members, 0 means they will require a work permit. So, the crafty amongst you can change this over if you are tired of losing players to WP issues. League std is the quality of the league of that nation, 20 being the highest. Nations can also be edited to make every team available to play as, so if you want to manage Brazil you can. There’s no qualifiers, so it’s very dull, but the option is there.

The last section is manager data, which is by far the least itneresting but here we are

The most interesting things are “Motivating Ability” which measures how good a manager is at getting the best out of his players, with 200 being the best. Judgement is how accurately a manager judges a players ability, so if you ever wonder why the AI signs a rubbish player, the odds are his judgement stat is pretty low. Board confidence is out of 100 and measures how secure the manager is in their current job.

That’s all I’ve got. Happy editing and remember to save each database when you’ve finished making changes. Be creative! We’ve got some great database customisations to bring you over the next few weeks, but feel free to send me your own.

Hello! As our celebration of 20 years of CM9798 continues, I’m this week joined by Sid Lambert, the author of the brilliant Cashing In. You may also know Sid from his Twitter account, which is full of nostalgia and Championship Manager references. That gave us quite a bit to talk about…

Thanks for joining me, Sid. For anybody that doesn’t know, can you tell us a little bit about your book, Cashing In?

Cashing In tells the story of Ray Cash, a 19-year-old footballer whose life is makred by tragedy. Disillusioned with the game after an accident involving his twin brother, he is eventually released by Manchester United weeks before the start of the inaugural Premier League season and dreams of reinventing himself.

Pressured into pursuing his career by his grieving dad, he signs with agent Paul Francisco and finds himself thrust into the murky world of top-flight football.

The story is set against the real-life backdrop of the dawn of the Premier League era. It’s packed full of nostalgia but at the heart of it is Ray’s journey. It may be a new league and a new era, but he can’t escape the past.

Although it’s football fiction, are any of the Cash family based on anybody in the real world?

Not really. Certainly not in a football context. I think the reason the story works is because Ray’s experience is one lots of us can empathise with. We all had hopes and dreams. We all wanted to please our parents. And we’ve all struggled at times to find our own identity. That’s what’s happening to Ray. It just happens that he’s going through it at the most exciting time in English football history.

I also wanted to flip the narrative a bit. It’s a slightly tired assumption to say that every footballer is living his dream and loving it. I wanted to approach it from a different angle. Football is a job. A very, very well-paid one, but a job nonetheless. I know from my research that many players see it the same as we do getting up and going to work in the mornings.

And that’s what I wanted to explore with Ray. What if everyone else’s dream job was your own nightmare? We’ve all had jobs we hated and dreamed of doing something else. Ray is experiencing the same thing. He has a rare talent that could earn him huge sums of money, but his ability feels like a curse.

Cashing In has a little bit of everything, it’s not just a football story. Was that always the intention or did it just happen naturally?

That was always the intention. I wanted nostalgia to play a huge part in the book. I genuinely wanted people to feel like they were fully immersed in the Nineties and a completely different time in football. I think I’ve done that. The research has been painstaking at times. I’ve read hundreds of match reports and articles from the early Nineties. It’s been essential to creating an authentic setting for the story.

But that was very much the backdrop. At the heart I wanted to have a group of complex, interesting characters that people could really identify with and care about. I think that’s what makes the story here. The feedback I’ve had suggests they do.

Ray has become a character that people have really invested in. They want to know where he’s going next and what’s going to happen to him. Someone asked if I could do a TV series and someone else said they wanted to see Ray Cash inserted into Football Manager, so I’m clearly doing something right.

Reviews have been excellent, is there a plan for a follow up?

The original plan was to do a trilogy that would finish around the 10th season of the Premier League.

Ray’s journey is only just beginning. At the end of the first book, we see his character take a different arc and I know lots of readers want to see where it takes him next.

I’ve been really touched by the reviews and it shows that there is an appetite for football fiction, if done the right way. I have started the sequel but right now I’m focusing on spreading word of the first book. I think we’ve only just scratched the surface in terms of finding an audience. Hopefully more and more people will give it a try. If they do, then I’ll be under pressure to finish the second one sooner than expected.

People will probably know you from Twitter (@sid_lambert) as your account is a treasure trove of football nostalgia. What attracts you to the nostalgic side of football rather than the modern game?

Players are so removed from everyday life that it’s hard to care about them.

This isn’t a gripe about loyalty or anything like that, because there’s never been loyalty in football. When your career could end in a split-second due to one bad tackle, you go where the money is. So I’ve no issue with that. Even my favourite player of all time, Tony Cottee, left West Ham to go to Everton because he wanted more money and trophies. That’s the way life is.

The difference is that it was easier to identify with players back then. They were still normal people. You still might bump into Tony Cottee in Sainsbury’s or see Julian Dicks in the bookies. And they’d make fun of themselves, wearing silly wigs on the front of Match magazine just for a laugh. That doesn’t happen anymore.

And it also felt a little more fun. The game is so serious now. Lose two games in a row then social media is filled with hate and managers lose their jobs. It used to be a lot more fun. Football didn’t used to take itself so seriously. The Premier League was a bit of a rogues gallery back then and I loved it.

You’ve been gracing our timelines with some CM01/02 legends recently – I take it that is your favourite game in the series?!

CM 01/02 is undoubtedly my favourite version of the game. It was so addictive and so easy to play. You could race through seasons and it wasn’t weighed down by the layers of functionality that the latest versions of the game employ.

To this day I would back Maxim Tsigalko to score the goal that would save my life. Unflappable, unstoppable, unbelievable – you can’t heap enough praise upon that young man. You could put him into Serie A at 20 years old and he’d terrorise the likes of Nesta, Stam and Cannavaro.

And one player who didn’t get enough credit was Tino Asprilla. Available for about £1.5m from a random Saudi team, he would still do a job at any top club at the age of 32. Sure, he didn’t turn up for training on occasion, but you had to let that slip by (and not reprimand him under any circumstances). He was a match-winner. And as long as you had the reliables like Mike Duff, Taribo West and Kennedy Bakircioglu around, your team could accommodate him.

Have you had any experience with CM9798?

They still talk in hushed tones about my Hull City save from 1998. I started with veterans Mark Hateley and Brian McClair, both free transfers, up front in the fourth tier. It ended with Hull as champions of England and Europe. Michael Owen and the original Ronaldo up front at Boothferry Park in 2003, smashing in goals aplenty. The locals never had it so good.

I have fond memories of playing 97/98. Tommy Svindal Larsen still holds a special place in my heart. A world-class player – at a bargain price – who could mix it with any midfielder on the planet. When you went into war against the likes of Barcelona and Madrid, Tommy was always the first man out of the tunnel, bursting with pride and ready to add to his 7.89 average for the season. A magnificent man.

I also loved the regens. At one stage at Gillingham I had the regenerated Diego Maradona alongside the regenerated Gary Lineker. To see those two bury the hatchet of 1986 and thrill the Priestfield faithful was a special moment

Who do you support in the real world? What are their chances this season?

In the real world, I’m a West Ham supporter of over 30 years and have a season ticket. It’s not life and death any more, and I’m able to deal with the frequent bouts of misery much easier than in my early years. I don’t buy into the hype like I used to and treat it all as a soap opera really. Football is cyclical and I think we’re due a cup win sometime soon. I’d love to have that sort of moment. Though knowing West Ham it would be instantly followed by heartbreak.

This year? We’ve signed a few old players in their autumnal years. Football is a young man’s game played at a frenetic pace. If we can get a couple more athletic types into the starting XI, I’d like to think we could finish mid-table. Give us good football, a cup adventure and a win over Tottenham and I’m happy. I’ve got no delusions about the Champions League and couldn’t care less about it.

If you could change one thing about modern football, what would it be?

I’d introduce a wage cap. So the best clubs don’t hoard all the money and all the talent.
Leicester winning the league was the best – and worst – thing that could have happened.

Now the big clubs want to ensure their income is never, ever compromised again. Given the chance the big six teams would break ranks at a moment’s notice and negotiate their own TV money, just to increase the gap between them and everybody else.

I can’t stand the Champions League and hate the fact that this cartel of clubs tries every trick in the book to maintain the status quo. It sums up the agenda of the modern era.

Thanks again to Sid for taking the time out to help the blog out. You can buy Cashing In on Amazon – be sure to leave a review! You can also follow Sid on Twitter.

Welcome to another talking tactics, as we look at some of your weird and wonderful formations that have delivered success for you on CM9798. This time, we’re going back to the future…

Back in 1997, nobody played 4-2-3-1. Nobody of note anyway. I’d say it is the most used formation in the Premier League as of this writing, though as with all formations it has just about reached the end of its cycle and 3-4-3 is poised to take the title for 2017/18.  So, can 4-2-3-1 working CM9798?

Norbert – who we will hear much more from in September – certainly thinks it can:

The one caveat is that the wingers are more tucked in, but I’m sure it’s a minor point. As you can see, Arsenal are my team of choice for this one. There’s something else, too

The style depends on the seating in the stadium. That was a tip from the guestbook [on cm97-98.eu]. Seating under 10.000 is Long Ball, under 50.000 is direct and above 50.000 is passing

Woah! That’s blown things wide open. I have never considered the capacity of a stadium to be a factor but who bloody knows. I guess we’ll find out.

Some other points from Norbert:

Pace, dribbling and creativity is important for the Forward Right and Left.

Passing and Positioning is important for Midfielder Central

Off the ball is important for the striker

Heading, tackling, marking and strength is important for central defenders

Tackling, marking and pace is important for defenders right and left

Ian Wright fits the bill, he has 20 for off the ball. Adams, Keown & Bould will be very adequate centre halves, whilst Petit looks a better bet than Winterburn at left back. Lee Dixon will definitely need replacing.

Arsenal have £15m to spend so my first task is to find somebody better than Luis Boa Morte (probably not that hard) and then sell some players so I can upgrade elsehwere.

Robert Pires ticks every box

Unfortunately for me, Juventus and Barcelona also like the look of him so I have to go the low budget Liverpool flop version

And so, on the same day Pires is unveiled in Turin, Bernard Diomede rocks up at Highbury. I’m sure it’ll be fine.

The only bid that comes in is an optimistic one for Vieira, so once they’ve been told to sling their hook, it’s time for West Ham away. With Adams crocked it’s the ultra mobile Bould-Keown combo at centre half, but what follows is promising…

Still, Ali Boumnijel was in nets so let’s not get carried away. Diomede is a lad though.

Wimbledon at home should be 3 points but how does the formation treat us?

For the second game in a row, we’re 3-0 up before half time. A poor second half nearly costs us, but I’m not sure if that was formation related or just complacency.

Liverpool away, now there’s a test. Keown is injured too so it’s Bould and young Wicks, who you may know from my saving Swindon series.

We certainly like an early goal. We don’t get one against Sheff Wed and we struggle to get a grip on the game – Wednesday play counter attack and presumably keep picking us off as we try to launch balls in behind for Wrighty. Eventually, 22 shots later, the points are ours

I didn’t expect to drop points at home to Coventry but thanks to Martin Keown, we do just that

Ogrizovic got man of the match, which is both good news and bad news. For football I mean.

We finish for the International break with defeat at Derby.

Of our 18 shots, only 4 are on target. Hmm.

The International break passes by without any injuries and it’s time for the first Vieira vs Keane of the season, where Wright finally gets the better of Schmeichel and we win…

So a bit of a mixed bag to start with, I’m sure you’ll agree. The Coventry and Derby results worried me but it’s always good to beat Man Utd. What I didn’t expect was for this to be the first in a 20 game unbeaten run. Let me talk you through the highlights…

Goals are not a problem. Ian Wright is loving life.

Getting 6 on the road is a good sign, even if it is Palace. But it’s not just the attack which is good, the old Arsenal backline shows no sign of easing up

Aston Villa can’t stop us

Nobody can stop us. We’re an unstoppable, Bernard Diomede fuelled machine

And yes, there’s the odd rough draw in there like Leicester at home but I put that down to Pegguy Arphexad more than a bad tactic.

The proof of success in any of these tactics is how close you can get to Man Utd in season one – they nearly always win the league by a huge margin. They shouldn’t really in this save:

Look at that goals scored column. Ian Wright is a God in this formation, but how has he only managed one man of the match award?

I think, and I don’t know if this is fact, that in this formatino the striker literally runs in behind for the whole game and he either scores or he doesn’t. The rest of the game he is not involved and as a result his overall stats probably aren’t great.

Besides, he has to compete for man of the match with Bernard Diomede (and Dennis Bergkamp) and nobody can do that

Hubba hubba. As predicted, Lee Dixon is the weak link but it’s barely noticeable. We do what we want.

Everybody’s main aim is to find the striker. If anybody else scores it’s probably a rebound or an accident.

I should point out I played with the direct style for every game, it seemed to do alright.

The unbeaten run ended with a 1-0 loss away in Auxerre in a game where we entered 3-0 up from the first leg, so I couldn’t care less. Whether I got lucky with the personnel or not I don’t know, but certainly Ian Wright’s skill set seem absolutely ideal for the striker position.

I’ve got to give this formation 9.5 Bakayoko’s out of 10, only dropping .5 because I can’t say it is perfect if we don’t have a 100% record. Thems the rules. It’s going to take some beating though, you know what you need to do…

Good day to you! We have a bonus Champ Man & Me for you, as every now and again things move quickly in the Twittersphere (it’s a thing…) and I get excited and have to talk about it. This week, I’m joined by Mark Simpson – Media Manager for Hartlepool United.

If you aren’t on Twitter, you’re probably confused. Allow me to eleborate. Mark runs Hartlepool’s official Twitter account and recently has been using a bit of a theme to share news from Victoria Park…

#Pools #WelcomeFranksy pic.twitter.com/3UfUwMyQYq

— Hartlepool United FC (@Official_HUFC) 17 August 2017

Anybody who uses CM graphics in the real world is a winner in my book, and so I got in touch with Mark to get the story behind it all. You’ll find some examples of said tweets within the interview below

Thanks for joining us, Mark. You’ve been using the Championship Manager graphics on the Hartlepool Twitter account recently, what gave you the idea to to do that?

I was actually speaking to a journalist I know about the Subbuteo-style graphics that we’ve been using for our previews on social media and our Official Website – they’ve also proved pretty popular. He said to me “next season you should do something around retro Champ Manager!” and I just thought “why wait until next season?!” Haha. I loved the 97/98 version so got to work on putting together some graphics and it’s gone from there.

Thank you to every one of our loyal followers. #Pools50k pic.twitter.com/QKFK9cOuux

— Hartlepool United FC (@Official_HUFC) 15 August 2017

Do you make them all yourself? Is it time consuming or is it a case of building a template and going from there?

Yes, I have made them myself. I am not particularly a graphic designer but it was a bit of a labour of love to try and make them all as accurate as I could. They have probably taken a couple of hours each to set up a template I was happy with but obviously now they’re done they only take a little tweaking for each game. It is quite basic design in essence but the time has been increased just to try and get every detail included as it was in the game. We also edit the full-time screen during the game so that it’s ready to go at the final whistle – I think that’s one that will definitely go down better with three points in the bag!

How have they been received by the club and the fans? Obviously I absolutely love it!

Haha, thank you! I love them too. The goal gif we did which mimicked what happened when a team scored in Champ Man has gone down the best. That got plenty of attention on Twitter both on the night we debuted it (when we scored our equaliser against Chester) and then in the days following it. It’s still getting retweeted and favourited now almost a week on. It’s obviously hit a button with a lot of people and we’re pleased with how it’s been received. It’s just about trying to do something different on social media these days so we’re happy with the reaction to the CM graphics. It even got a mention on BBC last Wednesday!

pic.twitter.com/UlN5yc6CrL

— Hartlepool United FC (@Official_HUFC) 15 August 2017

Will they be a feature all season or is it just temporary?

The idea would be to keep them going all season but we’ll judge it as we go along. We will probably limit them to around matchday but if they remain popular we might throw a couple of new ones in here and there throughout the week as the campaign progresses. The squad list page which we used to accompany our team news story was well-received too. I think we’ll know if and when people grow tired of them but hopefully it’s not for a while and we see the goal gif being used lots and lots for the rest of the season!

Is CM9798 your favourite version of the game?

Yes, definitely. Every year I try my best to get in to the most recent incarnation of the game but I last about a day and I am back on 97/98. I just find the current ones too intricate and time-consuming – I like the simplicity of the 97/98 version. I do love some of the new things they put in to games these days but I haven’t got the patience to wade through it all and never get past the first season before I am back trying to sign Bjorn Heidenstrom and Andrew Duncan.

And for retro fans, here’s tonight’s team news in the style of Championship Manager 2 97/98… #HARvCHE pic.twitter.com/KlNVtp93ql

— Hartlepool United FC (@Official_HUFC) 15 August 2017

Everybody has one save that takes over their lives – what’s yours?

Haha! I have actually got quite in to a particular type of challenge in the game where I edit my hometown team (Peterlee) in to Division Three in place of a non-league side so that they start the summer with no players. You’ve then got a race against time to build a squad to start the season with a strong hand! I even got the Kit Man at Hartlepool doing the same thing on the coach to away games – much to the amusement of everyone else on board! I have taken quite a few Peterlee teams to the Premier League title in the past but I have just started a new one, inspired by all the Champ Man talk of recent weeks!

Jake Cassidy levels for Pools (71 mins) #HARvCHE pic.twitter.com/DfvcNI9HFe

— Hartlepool United FC (@Official_HUFC) 15 August 2017

Unfortunately Hartlepool dropped out of the Football League last year, are you confident of a swift return despite a rocky start?

Yes, I think we have to remain confident. We have had a rocky start and nobody is hiding from that but there are only five games gone at the moment so there’s no need to panic. Once we get that first win under our belts I am pretty sure we’ve got a strong enough squad to move right up the league so hopefully that can come sooner rather than later because it has been a frustrating first fortnight.

Do you ever get the chance to play the modern FM games? Hartlepool on FM18 could be a good save…

As I say, I have played them in the past but I never really get drawn in to them as much as 97/98 – I always end up back on that whenever I spent any time on a new version of the game. Maybe I will give FM18 another go though and let you know how I get on with Hartlepool!

Here’s our round-up of team news ahead of Saturday’s trip to Bromley – who would you pick? https://t.co/40Hky2Zrst #BROvHAR pic.twitter.com/kHMlDLQ2EZ

— Hartlepool United FC (@Official_HUFC) 17 August 2017

You’re the Media Manager at Hartlepool, can you talk us through a typical match day for you?

Well, most matchdays I do the online commentary for our Official Website which goes out to fans all around the world so that’s my favourite part of the day. Before that it’s all about making sure all visiting press are catered for and also updating our various social media platforms with content in the run-up to kick-off. We’ll release the team news online an hour before kick-off and then head to the press box. After the game I will interview the Manager and some players and then spend my evening uploading that video content on to the website and then begin on editing highlights of the game. It’s a busy day but enjoyable most of the time – particularly when we win!!

Do you have any advice for anybody looking to break into that line of work? It must be pretty cool to work for a football club?!

It is pretty cool to work for a football club though everything you do is dictated to a large extent by how the team is performing. I can’t lie though – if someone had said to me when I was at school that I could go in to a job where I spend most of my days talking or writing about football then I would have been pretty happy! I would say my best advice to people looking to do a similar kind of job to me would be to try and get some experience whilst you’re still studying. There obviously aren’t too many jobs in the industry so if you can back up your academic qualifications with some voluntary experience it can help get you the break you need.

Thanks again to Mark for taking the time out to answer my questions – you can follow Mark on Twitter @MarkSimpsonHUFC

You’ll also find Hartlepool and hopefully more CM goodness on Twitter @HUFC

Up until now, we’ve barely discussed tactics. We dabbled a bit in the Ajax save, but here on cm9798.co.uk it’s always been about the pre-loaded tactics. I’ve always naively felt they were better. Also, I don’t like when the top left changes to “custom formation.” But that’s just me being picky.

Anyway, in a twist of fate a few people tweeted me over the summer asking for my suggestions of the best formation. I stuck to my guns, 532 this, 3-1-3-3 blah, but what if I’m wrong? So, I opened the floor to Twitter, and over the next few weeks I’ll be trying out your formations and bringing you the results. The barometer? Trying to beat Man Utd in the first season. A nigh on impossibility. So who do we have first?

A gent by the name of Antonio contacted me via the comments section on the final Ajax blog:

The best tactic you say? Let’s put that to the test. I asked Antonio if there was anything else I should know, but the gist was that it had worked very well for him in Spain and the attacking midfielders should have good positioning. But who to be? Antonio suggested Chelsea…

More from Antonio:

Some more thoughts:

– the postions 2, 3 are hard to find.

2 and 3 normal left and right defenders dont perform there they need to have at least one in defender midfield (check data base), or miedfield defenders with one at right (like gulit) or left (you understand what I am saying?)

– 8 and 11 also somewhat tricky.

If a Player are only Left or right they will not perform they need to be center atacking midfields, if they are bout great. (at leads having 1 at one of the positions).

Interesting, as Poyet meets the AMC criteria but Mark Hughes/Zola do not. With Bakayoko unavailable, Matt Le Tissier would be my next choice but he has a broken arm. So instead I get the Brazilian Matt Le Tissier and future record transfer fee

A 2-1 win over Man Utd in the Charity Shield gets us off to a good start, but Man Utd’s side is a shadow of what they will play week in, week out.

The first game of the season is at home to Spurs and should be a more accurate depiction of what we are.

Dear God, he’s found a formation that makes Tore Andre Flo unstoppable

Off to Anfield next, a further test of the formations credentials

Seems legit. Worryingly Eddie Newton is our only defensive midfielder, and as he’s now out for 6 weeks, I spend £3.3m on his replacement

Who would have thought he would be so sought after? He’ll fit in nicely.

He makes his debut at home to Leeds in a 3-1 win, Poyet twice and Mark Hughes from the bench. After the match, Flo is ruled out for 6 weeks too. For goodness sake.

The trip to Barnsley is normally a guarantee of 3 points but at 2-0 down with 15 minutes to go, I consider packing the whole thing in. Luckily for me, Denilson and substitute Laurent Charvet score two quickfire goals to salvage a point and our pride, but it is very apparent that Flo’s absence is going to kill us. With that, rookie goalkeeper Nick Colgan is given his P45 to free up a space in the squad and it’s time for that old Chelsea adage: When in doubt, spend.

More dropped points at unfancied Bolton highlight the formations fragility away from home – you are going to concede chances so you need strikers who are ruthless. That said, when it works, it really works

With the Cup Winners Cup a Thursday night pain in the arse, I decide to spend the money on a striker seeing as Hughes is getting on and we need to rotate.

Don’t judge me, he’s a talent back in 1997.

Anyway I’m sure it’s a coincidence that our next match is our first loss.

I’m not going to play out the whole season, as I’m not made of time, but here are some things I’ve noticed about the tactic up to the half way point in the season.

• You score an awful lot of goals with this formation. As well as the 8-4, here are some highlights
  
  
  
• Emile Heskey is an unstoppable freight train from hell.

With the formation being direct, physical strikers are the order of the day. Heskey, Flo & Hughes all boast better than a 1 in 2 record

Oh if only Flo didn’t get that big injury. Even Zola’s return is pretty decent despite not being big or pacey

• You get plenty of red cards and injuries

Unfortunately because you only have two centre halves they get exposed from time to time. Expect a lot of “professional foul” red cards – or that could just be because Chelsea are a bit filthy. Likewise with injuries, it might just be coincidence rather than a result of being direct.

• Some games incorporate all of the above and more

Send help.

To summarise, this formation is a lot of fun. I have had to shoehorn certain players into it but I think given the time to build a squad, it will be brilliant. Sometimes on this game the “superkeepers” come out to play but I’ve rarely seen that here, you just keep battering them with long balls until you score.

At the half way stage, Chelsea are 4th. Would we be 4th anyway? I’m not sure, but we wouldn’t be the top scorers by a mile (though the defence might be a bit tighter!)

Have a go of Antonio’s formation and let me know how you get on. It’s getting 8 Bakayoko’s out of 10 from me, we’ll be back next week to see if we can better that. Toodles for now.

Welcome back. I had this wonderful idea in part 1, where I’d simulate a game to February and then take over a club in trouble and try and keep them up. It was going so well. We even won 5-0. But now it’s gone a bit wrong.

Here’s the state of play with just 6 games to go:

We have 6 cup finals (cliche klaxon) but that’s fine. We’re Swindon Town. We’re ready.

Michael Clegg is back from injury. He’s one of the discarded Man Utd youth who Steve McMahon decided to spend £600k on. He’s injured a lot, but he’s back in the fold here, at home to Stoke.

Stoke have Phil Mulryne on loan, who is now a vicar. That’s quite fitting as we need a miracle.

As it is, two goals before half time helps us to the first home win of my time in charge. Good.

We are really at the mercy of other clubs though, so it is with great joy that I see Norwich lose 3-2 at home to Man City whilst Crewe surrender 2-0 at QPR. Bradford do win at Oxford, but I didn’t expect them to do us a favour

It’s looking better but now we have a very difficult away game just two days later. One crumb of comfort is that Birmingham haven’t won in three. Can we take advantage of any fragility?

The short answer is: kind of

George Ndah scores just before half time and despite me spending the break explaining the merits of keeping it tight, they equalise just two minutes after half time. It should be a good result, but Norwich, Bradford and Crewe all win. Explain this to me:

The fat lady is warming up her vocal chords

Norwich have Birmingham next, no doubt they’ll bend over.

It’s Reading at home for us though, and all we can do is win and hope. The relief when Clintypoos scores is palpable

I love you, Peter Van Vossen

Crewe get a point at Port Vale but Bradford lose at home to Man City. Hmm.

We’ve got to go to Charlton next, who are 6th, but we’ve got a chance. They’ve won one of their last 5 so they can’t be that good. We’re without the banned Ndah and the crocked McDonald, but we’re given a mighty helping hand and then seal the win in the second half. A great result

And so the endless wait for the scores to tick through, made all the worse by it being International friendlies day. As long as Norwich don’t win, we’ll be happy. We’re within striking distance of the other two.

They leave it late but Reading just about keep us alive

Crewe and Bradford both lose – we’re off the bottom!

Norwich host Charlton next and finish away at Bury (19th). Bradford have a home game with Reading before going to Birmingham, whereas Crewe travel to Sunderland and then host Middlesbrough. We actually have Bury next, so they’re going to have a lot to say about how this finishes up.

We just get our bit done

Norwich lose!

Bradford snatch a point

Crewe pull off the shock win at Sunderland

Which remarkably puts us out of the bottom 3 but all four teams can survive going into the final day

Bloody hell.

So my 2 and a bit months spell in charge of Swindon comes down to this match. For the first time, it doesn’t matter what other teams do – a win will be enough

We’ve definitely got the toughest fixture, and Crewe are the only side to have a home game. Maybe we can all just agree to lose and then we’ll stay up?

The team news is good, though everyone is a little bit tired as this match comes just two days after the last. Good old May day fixture list. For added drama, I’ll bring you this in the style of a clockwatch.

All four games kick off at the same time…

19 – Crewe 0 – 1 Middlesbrough (Marco Branca) – Early blow for Crewe as Branca capitalises on a defensive error to give Boro the lead.

27 – Reading 0 – 1 Bradford (Gordon Watson) – Bradford are out of the relegation zone as it stands, Gordon Watson heading in from a corner

31 – Bury 1 – 0 Norwich (Neale Fenn) – Fenn’s goal puts the Canaries in a world of trouble as they now need to score twice as it stands.

37 – Crewe 0 – 2 Middlesbrough (Shaun Smith own goal) – Is that the final nail in Crewe’s coffin?

40 – Crewe 1 – 2 Middlesbrough (James Collins) – Maybe not! Collins gives Crewe a sniff of survival.

42 – Reading 1 – 1 Bradford (Stuart Talbot) – Bradford are back in the relegation zone as Stuart Talbot equalises for Reading. That means Swindon are back safe where they started the day.

44 – Crewe 2 – 2 Middlesbrough (Stephen Halliday)  – What a turnaround! Crewe are level and one more goal could see them stay up.

Half time scores:

Bury 1 – 0 Norwich

Crewe 2 – 2 Middlesbrough

Reading 1 – 1 Bradford

Sheff Utd 0 – 0 Swindon

57 – Reading 2 – 1 Bradford (Ray Houghton) – Oh what have you done Ray Houghton? He’s scored for Reading and Bradford are stuck on the bottom of the table

82 – Penalty to Reading! But Neil Rimmer smashes it over the bar. Bradford still in with a shout.

FULL TIME – Swindon Survive

Fraser Digby picks up man of the match for holding Sheffield United off for 90 minutes. The nervous wait for results see none of our rivals win and we’re staying up! We’ve done it!

Let’s see that all important confirmation

The division’s lowest scorers survive, 4 consecutive clean sheets to finish and that’s 8 in my 12 matches. Build from the back lads. Wicksy was unbelievable, playing 11 games and averaging 7.72 whilst Digby finishes the season having played 36 games at 7.58 including 9 man of the match awards. Tomlinson’s 4 in 10 was a very useful contribution but my word, that was hard work.

Give it a go yourselves and send them through to me on Twitter or in the comments. I hope it is a lot easier for you all than it was for me!

Well hello there. It’s been a couple of months since the Ajax save concluded and I’ve spent most of the last two months planning the 20 year anniversary of this great game, and it’s fair to say some ideas are better than others. But luckily it’s my site and there’s not much filter between bad ideas and what gets published. So, to my first brainwave of the summer.

Here’s what I did, you can feel free to also do this if you want to play along and send in how you get on.

1. Create a new save. Any league(s)
2. Add yourself as a manager of somebody like Doncaster. They always do terrible and start without a manager anyway. Or be Wales. They’re always on a hiding to nothing.
3. Go on holiday. Either literally or in game.
4. Wait until it gets to February-ish. Return from holiday
5. Take over the team bottom of the Premier League/any league of your choice.
6. Keep them up!

You’re basically in the lap of the gaming Gods as to how much of a challenge this will be, but I’ve loaded three leagues on the basis that at least one of the 11 divisions on offer will offer a team in distress.

So, where am I pitching up?

12 games to make up a 10 point gap? Only 21 goals all season? Goodbye Steve McMahon, I’m in the dugout now.

What hav I got to work with?

Fraser Digby is a decent keeper, Mark Walters has an England cap and George Ndah will be a future Premier League player. He has 10 goals this season, but nobody else has more than 3. Finney, the other striker, has 2 in 36. You don’t have to be Dave Bassett to figure out where the problem lies.

I don’t have time to get anybody in before my first match, Oxford away. They’re 10th and perhaps more worryingly, it’s a fierce rivalry. Defeat here and the low confidence of these players could be absolutely shattered.

I’m opting for my trusty 5-3-2. It’s never done me wrong. Incidentally this screenshot was taken in minute 1, it wasn’t just a really average performance from everybody!

Oxford batter us and take an early lead in the 9th minute through Nicky Banger. They don’t stop. Digby makes some top saves and the woodwork bails us out a few times. We’re short of centre halves (Culverhouse banned, MacDonald suspended) so we actually have two full backs in there with Seagraves. They are manful. Or lucky. We survived to half time for the loss of just one goal.

Shortly after the restart, we’re still getting pummelled, big Kevin Francis is having a field day so I decide attack is the best form of defence. Off comes Cuervo, Robinson becomes a centre half and Peter Holcroft trots on. 8 minutes later, we’ve equalised. A scrappy goal from a corner where (Justin) Lee Collins rams in the equaliser. Then it’s back to being battered, but the lads are strong, and we pinch a point.

Undeserved? Yes. But it’s something to build on. The table remains bleak.

Still, now we have a week to dive into the transfer market. We have £100k to spend, which won’t help a great deal, but I’ve released some guy who is out of contract in 3 months and useless, so we have 3 spaces to fill. I’m very happy with business.

Wicks is a top young centre half who will do more than a good job here. Clinton Morrison is very young but he’s got potential, whilst Graeme Tomlinson is a community favourite but I’m not sure if he’ll hit the ground running at this level. He’s dynamite in Division 3.

The man with the fixture computer has definitely read the narrative. It’s Norwich away next, and we go to Bradford in a few weeks.

For the trip to Carrow Road, which we really must not lose but ideally win, I have three better centre halves to call upon, and I opt for Tomlinson to partner Ndah with Morrison on the bench.

It’s a minging game. Norwich must 3 shots, none of which are on target. We double that, but also without testing the keeper. Then a super sub arrives and unleashes one from 30 yards

Carrow Road isn’t exactly packed out but those who have made the trip are rewarded with an injection of renewed hope. The great escape is on!

A 0-0 draw with 3rd placed Forest in my first game at the County Ground is a solid if unspectacular result. The defence has certainly stood in my games so far and we’ve just nicked goals on occasion. Here we are though, off to Valley Parade in another 6 pointer.

It’s a day Swindon fans will never forget

Paul Jewell’s Bradford have the proverbial nightmare and Tomlinson puts them to the sword. We were better in every area. The table looks a lot healthier already

Tomlinson is out for 2 weeks and his absence is certainly felt at home to table toppers Wolves, a 1-0 defeat where we manage a solitary shot. Digby picks up man of the match for keeping it respectable. Crewe and Norwich both win, undoing our good work of recent weeks.

On the face of it a 1-1 draw at 8th placed Man City is a good result. However, when Norwich go to Wolves and win 3-1 and Crewe have taken 7 points in 3 games, that optimism is starting to fade away

With 7 points, probably more likely 8 with goal difference, to make up in just 6 games, things are looking bleak. Here’s our last 6 games:

Stoke and Reading are 16th and 15th respectively, so there are possibilities there. But Birmingham and Charlton are 4th and 5th, so they may well prove to be fruitless trips. Bury are 19th before we finish with playoff chasing Sheff Utd. I strong suspect we are, to coin a term, boned.

Join me next time to see if we can pull this one out the fire. Toodles for now!

Last week I spoke to CM9798 legend Bjorn Heidenstrom. Catch up with that here

Greetings to you! Did you miss me? I’m back after my summer sabbatical, and I’ve been working away behind the scenes here at CM9798 towers to bring you the greatest content possible to celebrate 20 years of this great game. Twenty Years! So, what better way to kick off the anniversary celebrations than a Q&A with a legend of CM9798 – Mr Bjørn Heidenstrøm!

For those of you who don’t know Bjorn, load a game, start as pretty much any team in the football league/lower Premier League and sign him. Then come back and thank me. Then thank him. He will change your CM life. A defender or midfielder, Heidenstrom would be a pivotal part of any team – and he takes a mean penalty. Starting the game at Leyton Orient, he would inevitably move on and work his way up the football pyramid. Bjorn was kind enough to indulge me and my questions about his time in England, his charity work and, of course, the fact that he is a Championship Manager legend!

Thanks for joining me, Bjorn. Fans of the game CM9798 hold you in extremely high regard due to your legendary performances on the game – are you aware of this!?

I did know that I was in the game – and I need to find and send a case of beer to the man who wrote me in to the game, and I have heard from my old and new football mates that have used me in the game – that they are satisfied – so I’m super happy and it has made a lot of funny episodes atcually in many countries I’ve visited ( people have been asking “are you THE Bjorn Heidenstrom from CM???” (so again I owe a fan a case of beer)

In the game you are at Leyton Orient, can you tell us about your transfer there? How did the move to England come about?

Tommy Taylor (Leyton Orient manager at the time) was at Cambridge United when he saw me on a pitch, he later moved to Leyton Orient and had a man sick before the big 1000 Shilton match – and he just phoned me ( and I thought it was a drunk mate that made a prank call )  –  so he asked me if they could rent me for the 1000-Shilton game and some matches afterwards?  (and I thought, but did not say that I would pay a lot to do so….:-))

What would you say was the highlight of your playing career?

Playing for Leyton Orient (me and all my mates are raised with British football – Shilton was a hero), winning the national cup in Norway, playing on the national team against East and West Germany ( yepp, I am that old…:-)

Are you still involved in football now? Have you considered management?

I follow and are one of the billion in the Football Family – have used and will use the football family and the “football planet” for expedition ( read: The Shirt) —— and yes, I have considered management, but the expeditions have taken my time so far.

You’ve done some incredible charity work in recent years, can you tell us about The Shirt and the bike ride you did for the 2010 World Cup?

The most fantastic year in my life where I said “I can cycle to the World Cup in South Africa because the football family will take care of me – I have 1 billion mates out there “… and it was right – in Russia, Belgium, Sudan, Denmark, Malawi, and Ethiopia – it was fans, ex-players, players who helped me and it was football journalists that exposed it and in the end the UN and the Nobel Peace Centre endorsed it because they did see that the huge volume was carrying it…

What’s keeping you busy at the moment?

I’m making nature books about hiking, cycling, outdoors and I’m trying to get backing for the next expedition (((((So – let’s do that again, let’s see if we can make a CM-expedition with The Shirt in 2018 ? 2019 ? ))))

Photo: http://bjornheidenstrom.com

Have you any experience of the Championship Manager series yourself?

No, just getting a lot of super nice, funny and cool moments – the last was a TV celebrity asking (again) “are you THAT Bjorn from CM???”

Norway’s chances of qualification to the 2018 World Cup look fairly slim, what could Norway do to improve their chances of qualifying in future?

We need to start now – with the youngest – and let them see and experience how hard and focused they train and work in other countries, and they need to do the same (work hard) – We had 10-20 lads who got out in the 80 and 90s (playing for Liverpool, Man Utd, Tottenham) – and it was no magic – it was working hard (too many movie stars at the moment)

I’ll put you on the spot – if the World Cup was tomorrow, who would you be backing to win it?

I always back the British countries as number one (always) because of the tradition in my gang and in Norway for Norway to support the Brits, … then …when the British are out ( sorry, but that happens) – then I start to support the one working hardest ( read; Iceland ) then the coolest ( read: Brazil and Argentina or any African nation) – then in the end Germany wins …….. 🙂
I never support any posh or diving-for-free-kick-countries…

Once again, thank you to Bjorn for giving up his time to answer my questions and kicking off our 20 year anniversary celebrations in style. You can follow Bjorn on Twitter, Instagram or his blog. There’s also The Shirt which is an incredible story which is well worth reading.

We hope to have another CM Legend along later in the year, but I’ll be back with a new save next week.

In case you missed it…

Here’s some things I have been up to in the summer which you may have missed (on purpose or otherwise)

Alive & Kicking 90s Podcast: I was fortunate enough to be invited on the iconic 90s podcast to discuss Newcastle in the 1995-96 season, as well as some CM9798 chatter

The Full Toss: I thought I’d try my expertise in the world of Cricket Management. It’s not going well.

Tales from the Top Flight: If you like a lighter look at the Premier League, you’ll find me contributing on Tales in various columns

Good day to you, and welcome to the final update of the fourth season. If you didn’t read yesterday’s Champions League Live Text, the next 700 words will be a nice surprise for you. If you did, then some of this will not be news. Nevertheless, I’d appreciate it if you pretend you are reading this for the first time. To set the scene, Ajax are winning lots and we stand on the verge of another league, cup and Champions League treble. I’m not saying this is the last update of this particular story arc, but there’ll be a lot of summing up.

As ever, let’s start with the Pointless Cup in merry old England

League Cup

Newcastle win their second in four years, in a competition they’ve really made their own. But get nothing for. Wonderful.

FA Cup

The semis are lacking a bit of star power, but Wimbledon are looking to win their first since 1988

Boro of course lost the 1997 final on their way to being relegated, but wouldn’t you just know that such a wonderful final would need to be replayed

I’m pleased they abolished that rule. Boro win the replay and everyone is delighted.

Now, over in Holland, the Amstel Cup is a great source of hydration for me. For once, we don’t have to play Feyenoord in their own back yard and instead we get to play NAC, who Ronaldo puts to the sword. Just.

That game is in Rotterdam, as was the previous game – the last day of the regular league season saw us travel to Feyenoord…

A rare Ronaldo miss but another 3 points and two wins in De Kuip in a row. What does that mean for the league table?

100% Now, let’s pull in the previous three tables for the sake of completeness

So that’s 404 points out of 408. My only regret is not scoring 100 again. But it is a small regret. We haven’t lost in 4 seasons.

We’ve also won the mutch coveted Amstel cup 4 years in a row which makes me an alcoholic I think.

Ah, TOP Oss. I remember that final well. Enough of this self indulgence

Champions League

Now, if you didn’t read it yesterday, I covered the Champions League final in a live text which you can find here. If you prefer to read it the old fashioned way, it’s below.

Hey look we made the final

Spurs were stubborn but unthreatening, like an old dog. Barcelona did what we couldn’t and hammered Real Madrid, so we’ll face the Catalans in the final

We did it! In our third consecutive game in Rotterdam we retain the Champions League. For more reaction and frivolity, live text. Seriously, I spent a bank holiday writing that.

Premier League

Back to a bit of normality after last season’s shenanigans

Ferguson and Dalglish are still at Man Utd and Newcastle respectively, and of course this is the order they start the game in. So nothing has changed…

You’ll notice my Champions League opponents Spurs are nowhere to be seen, well set your faces to stunned

To think I drew 0-0 with them. Mind you they only conceded 1 goal a game on average so it’s obvious where the problem lies.

Incidentally with Bury bottom of the table it’s not hard to see why Dean Kiely got PFA Player of the Year

I don’t know who Thomas Frigard is but…crikey.

Over in Holland, old Dicky Witschge gets the Dean Kiely treatment

That though is all I have to say. We’ve had four great seasons and I’ve actually enjoyed this save more than most, your interaction has been outstanding and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about what is probably the best team I’ve ever cobbled together. I say that a lot but it means more when they are real players.

I am going to take a break for the summer now, but fear not CM9798 lovers, I promise there will be new updates to come. This game is 20 years old in October and I’m planning some celebratory pieces. Of course the success of them very much depends on people getting back to me in a timely fashion, but the idea is there. Maybe there will be cake.

In the meantime, I’ve branched out into Cricket Management (just to fit in this summer, you know) and you’ll find my blog on that over at The Full Toss, who have very kindly agreed to host my work. I wish you all a very pleasant summer and I’ll no doubt be talking nonsense on Twitter if you need me.

Well, well. For the past 12 weeks I’ve been bringing you plucky underdogs Ajax and their rise back to the pinnacle of European football. After narrowly missing out on becoming the first team to defend the Champions League in 95/96, this star studded Ajax team finished 4th in 96/97 and missed out on Champions League football. Somehow I’ve managed to take this team:

And return them to the summit of not just European football, but also World football, seeing as we won the World Club Cup which is obviously the pinnacle of achievement in the sporting world. Anyway, that squad has grown and whilst most of the stars remain, we’ve also added in the likes of Ronaldo, Batistuta, Henry and Dion Dublin. It’s gone pretty well.

So here we are, mere moments from potentially successfully defending the Champions League. Real Madrid may go on and do likewise tonight and I’ve done it numerous times in previous saves on this very blog, but work with me here people. This could be (fictional) history. So please, join me in suspending reality as we do a live text of the 2001 Champions League final.

18:30 – Welcome to Rotterdam, the home of Dutch giants Feyenoord, who have the rather unfortunate circumstance of their great rivals Ajax bidding for Champions League glory against Spanish giants Barcelona. For those who like a connection, Feyenoord are managed by Johan Cruyff who played and managed both clubs. I wonder who the great man is supporting tonight?

18:40 – We’ll have team news in five minutes but let’s remind ourselves of how both sides reached the final.

Barcelona beat their great rivals Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate, sealing their final berth with a 2-1 win in the Nou Camp

Incidentally, Real Madrid were in the same group as Ajax and took 4 points off the Dutch club.

Ajax faced Tottenham over two legs and after being frustrated to a 0-0 draw in London, Black’s men eased to a 2-0 win back at the Amsterdam Arena.

18:45 – TEAM NEWS

Barcelona are missing Perez Munoz Alfonso through suspension and have surprisingly opted for Nikos Mahlas over Sonny Anderson. Mahlas was a goal machine in the Eredivisie for Utrecht but has only scored 6 goals this season. They’ve opted to match up Ajax’s formation.

Ajax meanwhile stick with their 3-1-3-3 formation which was briefly ditched to accomodate Ronaldo and Batistuta, but it was dropped due to Batistuta’s injury and the run of form that followed. Frank de Boer is the only absentee, so Zidane captains the side in his absence.

It’s going to be an incredible match, looking at the lineups.

18:50 – Although this final is being played in Ajax’s home country, there is a certain irony to it being held at De Kuip, Rotterdam – the home of Ajax’s great rivals Feyenoord

It doesn’t seem to have hindered Ajax too much in the past, winning consecutive Amstel Cup (The Dutch FA Cup) at this ground. In fact, this will be their third match in a row at the stadium, having played their final league game of the season away at Feyenoord before the Amstel Cup Final against Roda JC. What a turn up.

19:05 – We’re getting closer to kick off now so let’s have a look at some of the key players for both sides:

Ronaldo (Ajax)

The former Barcelona man raised a few eyebrows when he moved back to Holland for the 1998/99 season, with many seeing it as a step down. After a disappointing first season where he netted only 12 times, the Brazilian has struck back with 36 goals last season and 32 so far this campaign. He will take some stopping.

Rivaldo (Barcelona)

Another Brazilian who will have a key part to play is Rivaldo. Averaging 8.30 in this season’s Champions League is an achievement in itself and Ajax need to find a way to nullify his threat in order to win.

Zinedine Zidane (Ajax)

Zidane will captain the Ajax side tonight in Frank De Boer’s absence. Very much the heartbeat of the team, he is to Ajax what Rivaldo is to Barcelona.

Luis Figo (Barcelona)

Figo’s domestic form has come in for criticism in some quarters, but in the Champions League he has been imperious as ever. Tonight he’ll be up against Kieron Dyer, playing on the wrong side, and that could be crucial.

19:20 – Under half an hour to kick off, here are some of your predictions we’ve received by SMS (Twitter doesn’t exist in 2001)

Babykangaroobet, Manchester – I’ve put £100k on Barcelona and £100k on Ajax. I can’t lose! Barca to win on pens.

MeLT, South Coast – Ajax to get a throw in after 15 seconds. Nailed on. Barcelona to win 5-2.

Lawro69, Liverpool – Ajax to clean up. Hahahaha you get it?

OctoPaul, Germany – Ajax to win 2-0, what a team

MagicMan, London – I bet my house on a Barcelona win. Rivaldo to get the winner.

19:30 – 15 minutes to go, the players will be in the tunnel here at De Kuip very soon.

The pitch looks immaculate as you would expect.

19:40 As the players are about to emerge, here’s a reminder of the lineups:

Barcelona: Vitor Baia, Grenet, Luis Enrique, Lopez, Guardiola, Garitano, Rui Costa, De la Pena (c), Figo, Rivaldo, Mahlas. Subs: Solozabal, Abel Xavier, Calado, Anderson, Mjelde

Ajax: Barthez, Cafu, Dyer, Campbell, Witschge, Bisgaard, Seedorf, Zidane (c), Sibierski, Henry, Ronaldo. Subs: Batistuta, Van der Sar, Sibon, Curtis, Litmanen.

Hit the Champions League theme song, it’s nearly kick off time!

19:45 – Barcelona kick us underway! The 2000/01 Champions League final is underway.

3 mins – Not much to report in the opening stages, both sides feeling each other out, trying to get their players settled with bouts of possession.

7 mins – We have our first shot of the game! Ronaldo races onto a pass from Zidane but from a tight angle his shot is easily gathered by Vitor Baia. A sign of his threat though, Zidane and Ronaldo are a potent combination.

10 mins – YELLOW CARD

Bit naughty from the man we were just praising. Vitor Baia comes out to claim a ball over the top and takes a clean catch, only for Ronaldo to barge him over. Very needless and a yellow card for stupidity.

15 mins – We haven’t really mentioned Nikos Mahlas so far. The Greek striker has been preferred to Sonny Anderson, somewhat surprisingly, but Mahlas was lethal in Holland for Utrecht before moving to Barcelona. He’s only scored 6 goals this season and he shows that form here, bludgeoning a cross well wide of Barthez’s goal.

19 mins – That form I was talking about. Wow. Mahlas is presented with a clear sight of goal but rather than picking out a corner, he opts for power and blazes very, very high over the bar. Oh dear.

21 mins – Barcelona are pressing for that opening goal. Rivaldo whips over a corner and Josep Guardiola meets it with a glancing header that goes wide of the far post. Not sure if he was trying to flick it on or go for goal himself but he wasn’t far away.

26 mins – Better from Ajax. Having sustained the pressure, they win a couple of corners in succession, the last of which sees Kieron Dyer head goalwards but Baia is in exactly the right spot to claim it.

30 mins – WOODWORK

I don’t know how this has stayed out, but it has!

Ronaldo takes a shot from the edge of the box which Vitor Baia tips round the post. It’s a smart save but not something you’d write home about. However, what follows would have you reaching for the quill as Richard Witschge meets Zidane’s corner flush with a header and it cannons off the crossbar. Thierry Henry is lurking on the egde of the box and he hits a first time volley back at goal but Baia re-adjusts himself to get across and tip it over for a corner. Some save, and it remains 0-0.

32 mins – Barcelona’s turn to have head in hands. Garitano shoots from distance, Barthez fumbles it and the arriving De la Pena slots it…into the advertising hoardings! A terrible miss.

Ross Jacobs via Text: Ronaldo has the ability to destroy a team on his own. Power, pace and skill. Just pass him the ball let him do the rest.

Barcelona have dealt with their former favourite so far but there’s still an hour to go.

38 mins – Clarence Seedorf, a £7.5m replacement for Ronald De Boer, has had  a quiet game so far but he forces Vitor Baia into a save here, getting half a yard on the edge of the box but his shot lacks power and it’s easy for the Portugese international.

42 mins – Luis Figo isn’t known for his heading ability but he gets on the end of a floated Rivaldo ball in and panic ensues. A bit of pinball ends with Sol Campbell booting the ball into next week, or at least the middle tier.

44 mins – YELLOW CARD

The game has barely had a tackle but now we have our 2nd yellow card, this time Antoine Sibierski taps the ankles of Rivaldo and is booked. Rivaldo had got away from him but was still a long way from goal

45 mins – HALF TIME

No time for stoppages here in Rotterdam, that’s half time and it’s not the worst 0-0 we’ve ever had but it could do with a goal.

An enthralling half, but no goals. Ajax are narrowly ahead on shots but Barcelona have edged possession. Goalkeepers on top though, Barthez and Vitor Baia have been outstanding so far. Will they be required to be penalty shootout heroes later on?

The second half will be coming your way once my fingers have had a lucozade and a once over with the magic sponge.

KICK OFF – Ajax get the second half restarted as they look to retain their Champions League trophy.

48 mins – It’s a scrappy start to the half, both teams have been a little bit cautious so far.

52 mins – Garitano has the first shot of note in this second half. His forward runs from midfield have troubled Ajax a few times and they’re fortunate his shot is right down the throat of Fabien Barthez, who gathers comfortably.

55 mins – Ah now this is the hallmark of the goalscoring midfielder! Seedorf arrives late in the box to head over Henry’s cross from the left, but you know the exact type of chance. In between two centre halves, arriving in the box, should probably do better.

60 mins – An hour played, will either manager be thinking of making a sub? It’s been fairly cagey in the second half as the tension is ramping up.

64 mins – Great save! Ronaldo meets a Zidane cross and it’s a header with great direction, heading towards the bottom corner. It’s not the most powerful though and Vitor Baia scurries across to tip it wide. From the resulting corner, Sol Campbell heads wide. Sol doesn’t get many.

68 mins – GOAL! Barcelona 0 – 1 Ajax (Thierry Henry)

There it is! A goal made in France but scored in Rotterdam for Amsterdam. Or some other clever word play. Antoine Sibierski receives a pass from Zinedine Zidane on the right hand side of the box, his shot is low and hard and through the legs of the defender, Vitor Baia is down well to save it but he can only push it out as far as the arriving Thierry Henry who smashes home the loose ball. A quick check to make sure he’s onside and he’s away over to the Ajax fans to reveal a celebratory t-shirt

I’m sure that has a humorous meaning which we’ll find out about in the coming days.

70 mins – Barcelona have restarted the game but the Ajax fans are making so much noise, I’m not sure many of them are watching the game at the moment!

71 mins – GOAL! Barcelona 0 – 2 Ajax (Clarence Seedorf)

They’re watching now! Morten Bisgaard, the quiet man of this Ajax side, strides forward from midfield before passing to Seedorf, who takes one touch out of his feet before lashing a shot low and beyond Vitor Baia from the edge of the box. That might be that…

73 mins – Unsurprisingly those two quick goals have muted Barcelona’s fans. Their players are still trying to conjure something up but Ajax can defend in numbers now.

77 mins – Both managers are in discussions with their coaching staff, but I bet the conversations are very different…

83 mins – SUBSTITUTION

Ajax are the first to make a change, manager David Black applauds as Antoine Sibierski is withdrawn and Jari Litmanen is on. Bisgaard seems to have gone out to the right for these closing stages.

86 mins – The game is a bit of a procession now, both teams are pretty much waiting for the whistle.

89 mins – A Barcelona corner comes to nothing. Not their night!

FULL TIME – AJAX RETAIN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

It’s over! Ajax are the first team to retain the Champions League trophy – it’s party time for them, but spare a though for this Barcelona side that just didn’t get going in the second half.

In terms of stats, you’d have to say Ajax were worthy winners on chances created alone

Man of the match is given to Vitor Baia, which sums it up really. Question marks will be raised about why Barcelona didn’t look to their bench at any time, but then again would Abel Xavies have helped the situation?

The Ajax players are on their way to lift the trophy, it’ll be captain Zinedine Zidane who takes the honour of lifting the famous trophy

I have many skills but photoshop is not one. So here’s Zidane holding the trophy, it’s as good as it’s going to get lads.

TIme for some words from those involved.

Manager Dave Black speaking to anyone who will listen:

I couldn’t be prouder of the players. I came to Holland as a relative unknown managing world class players and I signed Dion Dublin. They still respect me, or at least tolerate me. We are the winners!

Ronaldo:

The Ronaldo name will go down in history. No Ronaldo will ever surpass this!

Zinedine Zidane:

Hopefully we’ll win many more, there’s no better feeling. I hope to win more as a player but then I’ll be back as a manager. I think I could retain it as a manager too…

Thierry Henry on that T-shirt:

Google it. Know your niche Premier League humour

We’ve been through a lot together. Join me tomorrow for the full run down of the end of Season 4 (spoiler alert, Ajax win the Champions League) but then I’m going for a lie down for a few months.

Hopefully you enjoyed my dabble at a live text, and if you know somebody who could also like my interpretation of a live text, be a dear and tell them about this please. Thanks for reading!