Introducing the 2019 CM9798 Cup

Posted on May 16, 2019 by David Black

Hello! It’s no secret that the wheels have been in motion for the 2019 CM9798 Cup for a while. In an attempt to go bigger and better than last year’s World Cup, we’ve upped the field to 20 and ran a draft style system. Each manager has their own team, custom designed and ready to entertain.

This will be my last big tournament as I’m cutting back my commitments in the new season. The blog will continue and I’ll hopefully still have regular updates for you but I doubt I’ll be able to put aside the amount of time to do this sort of thing. The hours of editing, creating and generally pissing about with a spreadsheet of over 600 players do not come easily. Now if somebody wants to pay me to do this, that’s another matter…

Anyway, onto the event.

The Contenders

FPL Hints returns as defending champion. He will immediately have a bullseye on his chest after winning the World Cup with Italy last summer. Beaten finalist 90sFootball is also back for another crack.

In fact 14 of the field featured last season. Only myself and Adam (Belgium) have dropped out, so we welcome back guest writers KingOfTheRooks, Matt_C_Wills, Ross Jacobs, Rob Tait and Corinthian Collector. There’s also spots for friends of the blog Ross Bell, Tom Reed, Chris Darwen, Ash Rose, Mark Carruthers, Dan Barker and 2017 Champion Dan Williamson.

Stepping up from their analysis roles last season are Tom Rostance and Michael Marden. They talk a good game but how will their get on in the dugout?

SupernovaDragon joined the writing team this season so he pitches up with a team, whilst 90s enthusiast Sid Lambert brings a wealth of knowledge to the table. Dave Mathieson is full of 9798 nuggets on Twitter and takes the 19th spot which leaves bundle winner S4ooter to take the final spot.

The Draft

It’s not easy trying to organise twenty people around the country so although I wanted to do a draft, I was also aware time was an issue. I mean that in the sense both in terms of how long I had to set things up but also asking people to give up their time for this.

The lads were asked to pick a squad of 18 players but order them in terms of who they prioritised. So their first pick was their most important player. If more than one team picked the same player, whoever had them as a higher priority got the player. Those spaces would then be filled by the second draft phase.

Clearly some strategy would be needed – picking the best 18 players imaginable would leave the managers running the gauntlet of the second draft so some tact would be needed. Paddy (90sFootball) took matters into his own hands and named a team of Patrick’s (or continental equivalent) and got all 18 of his squad. Poor old SupernovaDragon got 4 of his 18. If anybody really wants to see it I’ll publish the full spreadsheet of carnage.

A scoring system was in place so that a unique player was worth 20 points, a player you stole from another team (due to a higher priority ranking) was worth 10 and a player you lost on that basis was worth -10. The highest score meant you got first pick of a draft pack. As Paddy didn’t need any replacements, there were 19 draft packs.

The draft packs were my way of speeding the process up. Each pack had 14 players in and there were two preview players on show for each pack. Each manager in turn chose a pack and then were given the full list of 14 – they’d then pick however many they needed from that list to complete their squads.

Confused? Try administering it!

The Squads

The upshot of all that is that the squads are now complete. They are in the thumbnails below if you want to take a peek – there’ll be a full preview blog coming up. The lads were asked to pick team names related to their name/Twitter name/publication but that soon went by the wayside. Please note AFC Supernova Dragons were awarded a bonus Chris Sutton by way of an apology – my foolproof spreadsheet failed to pick up Paolo Maldini at number 4 in his list when Quickly Kevin United had him at number two. Racked with guilt, Maldini was replaced by Nesta and Sutton is playing the role of a basket of muffins.

: @RonnieDogChris

: @AshRoseUK

: @FPLhints

: @KingOfTheRooks

: @MarkCarruthers_

: @winkveron

: @Supernovadragon

: @_Michael_Marden

: @90sfootball

: @sid_lambert

: @taitanator

: @Riddley82

: @davemathieson84

: @RossBell1984

: @BarkerDan10

: @TJRostance

: @Matt_C_Wills

: @s4ooter

: @CorinthianHead

: @tomreedwriting

The Format

There will be four groups of five teams, with the top two in each advancing to the quarter finals. Then it’ll be a straight knockout to the final.

The draw will be coming up in a few days, I just need more kinder egg pods. Yes, really.

Matches will be recorded but as ever they will be summarised via blog posts. We’re almost ready to start, I’ll have a definitive date soon and we can be started by June at the latest.

The Prize

Alongside the coveted trophy, there’s a £25 Classic Football Shirts voucher up for grabs. There are other prizes being worked on – please do get in touch if you have something to give away in exchange for exposure on the posts. My sincere thanks to CFS for offering up any sort of prize, it’s really appreciated.

For the non-entrants there will be prizes to be won along the way, so keep an eye out for that.

So in the words of David S Pumpkins – Any Questions?

Run Forest, Run – Part 11

Posted on May 15, 2019 by David Black

It’s the penultimate episode of Matt’s Forest of the future save! He’s tantalisingly close to restoring Forest to their best years but can he keep competing on all fronts? Catch up with part 10 here.

Hello and welcome back to my Forest blog and for the penultimate part. We head into 2008 as defending domestic treble champions and have set our sights on European glory. We’re top of the league, into the quarter finals of the Champions League and League Cup and about embark on our quest t retain the FA Cup.

We’re doing well, but we’re functional and hardly ripping up any trees, which might be best for a team called Forest.

2007 has been a great year for us, and we see it out with a league match against Watford. They have a strikeforce of Giggs, Heskey, Fowler and Owen, but the latter two are injured, which might explain why they are hovering around the relegation places.

Missing penalties won’t help their cause, nor will Shay Given conceding 4 goals. I’m pleased with that result, we played liquid football.

It’s a complete change of lineup when 3rd Division Bournemouth come to town in the FA Cup 3rd round and Alfonso does what he was bought to do, come up with valuable goals.

It’ll be Premiership Leeds in the next round at the end of January, but for now, it’s the quarter finals against Man City in the League Cup.

City are down to 10 men early doors, but it isn’t until they score a ridiculous own goal that we take control and book a semi-final spot.

We’ll take on Arsenal while it’s a north-east derby in the other.

Jarni Jnr is out for a few weeks, otherwise we are unchanged for the trip to mid-table Huddersfield.

Gifton Noel-Williams. I can say no more.

The board were as unimpressed as I was.

Time for some redemption against lowly Swindon. Debbah and Rubini shut down any thought of a Swindon comeback.

We’re quickly back to FA Cup action against Leeds who are chasing us hard at the top of the table. Amazingly they only have Thomas Myhre as a goalie and he’s injured so it’ll be a random fake goalie, who no doubt will be the reincarnation of Lev Yashin.

Maybe he’s actually the regen of Paul Rachubka. It should have been more than 4 really.

It’ll be Division 1 Portsmouth next time out.

Back to the league and our form has gone to pot.

With that, Leeds and Spurs jump above us in the table and we’re down to 3rd.

Back to the cups, my lovely cups. They’ll shield me from the inconsistencies of the league.

Lovely cups. Although conceding 3 away goals isn’t the greatest thing ever.

At least in the cup we entertain…

Four nil up and cruising and then we let in two silly goals.

Potential banana skin in the next round though…

Arsenal really should have made us pay for this.

But they didn’t and it’s another League Cup Final to look forward to

Back to the league and back to winning ways again, Nice to see Ascensio on the score sheet, he was a Stuart Pearce signing

All these cup games give us a bit of a fixture pile up in the league and so it’s a midweek date with our title rivals Spurs.

Rubini is rolling in the goals so much, Fred Durst could sing about him.

This game was duller than a tin of Dulux extra dull matt emulsion

After a long wait, we’re back into Europe and face Espanyol in the Champions League quarter finals.

The Lizard is suspended so Courtin takes over goalkeeping duties. We weather the storm of baby Keane getting sent off and everyone’s favourite Icelander gives us the lead and a valuable away goal, but the lead is ours for only 3 minutes and we come away with a draw.

While we await the return leg, we take on Lincoln City in the FA Cup Quarter Final.

Rubini is currently on fire and only a late lapse lets Lincoln in. We’re into the semi’s and another match up with first division Middlesbrough who we’ll meet soon in the League Cup Final, manager Joe Royle channelling his inner ‘Bryan Robson 1997’.

We travel to one of Bryan’s former clubs next and come away with 3pts courtesy of 3 goals with no reply. Utd looking a shadow of their former self these days, just like in real life really!

This win takes us into a table topping clash with Leeds. The scoreline suggest a close match, but in truth, our 3 goals in a 5 minute flurry flatters us and Leeds were cruising to the 3pts. Will this prove vital at the end of the season?

This run of form is good preparation for the return leg against Espanyol, where hold a slender advantage having drawn 1-1 away n the first leg.

Thompson puts us ahead and when Gislason doubles our lead I start to relax. Edilson gets one back to set up a nervy last 15 minutes but a Thompson second settles my nerves. Espanyol have a player called Nayim in their first 11, but there are no last minute lobs here and we’ve booked our place in the semi-finals. It was no mean feat defeating a talented Espanyol side, but it gives me confidence that this side can go even further.

The draw is made and we avoid Milan and another trip to Spain. Monaco was probably the best draw we could have had and we’ll pick up the semi-final in the last part next week.

There’s just time for one more league match to finish off this post and we’re away to Villa in 10th spot while we sit second to Leeds by 2 pts but with a game in hand.

Of course, our form couldn’t last could it? Dukes with the early goal was a definite Hazard.

So, at the end of this part, we’re down to 3rd, our game in hand could put us back 2pts from Leeds at the top, but it’s a big if at the moment.

At the bottom, newly promoted Chelsea are struggling, as are Joe Kinnear’s Watford, whose job is in danger.

We definitely need to win our game in hand. I’ll be back next week for the final part of this season and this save, can I go out in a blaze of European glory and make Cloughie proud? See you next time.

Before I go, my customary update on the teams you turned down:

Liverpool – Up to an impressive 8th for Shearer’s team. We beat them in the League Cup and they got knocked out of FA Cup by Bury, but they are through to the Semi-Finals of the Cup Winners Cup after dramatically overcoming Real Madrid 5-4 in the quarter finals to set up a semi-final meeting with Inter Milan. Some chap called Neville the hero in Spain.

Espanyol – Well, we’ve knocked them out of Europe and they are down to 5th in La Liga but have a Copa Del Rey semi-final with Sevilla to look forward to, so there’s that.

Lazio – Well, they are 7th in Serie A with nothing left to play for, not a sausage.

You can follow Matt on Twitter @Matt_C_Wills

Starting from Scratch – Part 15

Posted on May 14, 2019 by David Black

Twitterless Matthew is here with the penultimate episode of season two. His Altrincham side started last season without a single player but a promotion later, they’re mounting a charge to Division 1. Oh and I’m going to assume the genering greeting is intentional from Matthew rather than an error. Catch up with part 14 here.

<Generic Greeting, Season 2 Episode 7>. Let’s get on with it!

This isn’t a great start to the update, he’s our most reliable midfielder behind N’Diaye so will be sorely missed for the next 3 or 4 games.

When it rains it pours. He’s only backup though so we’ll cope

Aw c’mon! If someone gets the flu next I’m going to scream. Not great timing either as our next match is in the cup against premiership outfit Newcastle. I put out a patched up team and hope for the best, it might be painful though as I’m without a left wingback so Browning’s having to start there

It’s fair to say that it goes about as well as expected. Only Roberts does himself proud, though Browning does alright to say he’s in the wrong position. 5th round is still a decent achievement and we’ll aim to go one better next year.

Oh pipe down, look at my injury list you morons. I’m so sorry that we got tonked in the 5th round, which I’ve guided us to for the second season running, you deserve so much better. Why don’t you build some more seats to cheer yourselves up? Besides which, we’re record breakers

Anyway it’s time to shift our focus back to the league. Who’s next up….oh, what?

Oh for God’s sake, this is getting ridiculous now. Ferguson is back at least, but I might play with one up front until Tomlinson comes back because we’re out of options up front. Oh wait, Ferguson is bloody suspended so he’s unavailable anyway. Shoot me.

What a perfect time to be visiting the Zoo…err, the Den. Our supporters have been complaining about the lack of phlegm in their hair recently so it’s a great time to go and stock up. I decide against going with 1 up front and give McGarrigle a recall

We’re quite understandably second best and the scoreline is probably a bit flattering to us really. Let’s just move on, quickly.

Of course. Things are going swimmingly right now. This cheers me up a bit though

Colwyn Bay come in for Matthew Bound, who I’m happy enough to offload so I accept their offer

The loss has allowed Brighton to catch us and we’re second on goal difference. We have the chance to grab first again though with our game in hand, at home to Wigan. Tommo, Ferguson and Hughes are all back so thankfully we can dump the dregs of the team and put out a somewhat stronger side.

That’s more like it, back to winning ways thanks to the familiar scorers Allardyce and Ferguson. Taggart picked up some sort of knock but it’s not serious, hopefully he’ll be fit for the next game. After the match we bid farewell to Bound and pocket £250k

3 days later we’re back in action at home to Plymouth, and it’s just one of those games

We go behind in literally the first minute, and then batter them for 90 minutes without scoring. This happens at least 5 times per season (well, not the scoring in the first minute, you know what I mean) but it’s not going to define the season so let’s move on.

This isn’t too helpful though

His understudy Heinrich is also out so we don’t have any cover. I think it’s going to be Browning filling the gap again as we don’t really have another option. Allardyce is also suspended for 2 games to piss on my chips further. At least we’re playing the division’s bottom club, Bristol City:

Well, that was bloody close. We manage to survive the first minute without conceding this time – but we concede in the second, what the hell are my team doing at the start of the game? We quickly take control of the game but can’t find a way past their keeper, who’s having the game of his life. After the break our fortunes change and Tommo stabs one in, before Zerrouki blasts in a rebound and N’Diaye heads in a corner. They pull one back in the last 10 minutes and have 2 chances to level it up, but some excellent last-ditch defending allows us to hold on for the win.

There’s a potential Hollywood against-the-odds blockbuster (or at least a BBC 1 hour-long drama) in the making as 3rd division Wrexham are 90 minutes away from the FA Cup final

Heinrich makes a recovery but he’s lacking match fitness for our next game against 19th placed Swindon. I hand him a start but will have to sub him later on, hopefully we’ll be comfortably ahead by that point.

Ugh, it’s another match where we lay siege to their goal but fail to score. This is the final straw and I’ve made my mind up to sign a third striker that can hit a cow’s arse with a banjo. No wonder no-one’s interested in taking McGarrigle off my hands, he’s sodding hopeless. I make a £1.1m bid for England U21 and Boro striker Campbell, though he’ll probably be tempted to go with Wimbledon and play in the Premiership so I look for a backup target.

Tony Bird is twice the price but he’s been banging them in for Swansea over 3 seasons and crucially isn’t wanted by anyone else, so I put a bid in for him as well.

At least Allardyce is available again as we travel to Luton for the next game. They are a couple of places outside the playoff places and probably looking to put a run together to break into the top 6, so this might be a tricky one.

It’s actually a bit more comfortable than it looks. We go two up by half time as we run Luton ragged. It really should be 5 or 6 and then of course they go up the other end and score with their first effort on target in the second half. We’re holding on for the last 20 minutes but the defence holds firm and we take the win. I’m impressed with Luton’s old man Wilkins, as player manager he’s been selecting himself for every game at the sprightly age of 43.

Bird gets back to me first, and I doubt Campbell will choose us anyway so I rubber stamp the deal, which is a new club record

Jason Harris had all the qualities to be a top drawer striker but it just hasn’t happened, so I transfer list him and look to offload asap although his contract is up in the summer so I’ll dump him for free if I must. Campbell opts for Man City to my relief.

Southend in 8th place are our next opponents, and I give Bird his first start at Tomlinson’s expense – he’s missed so many chances recently I’ve lost count. The entire squad is injury free and fully fit so I pick my strongest team and cross my fingers.

Is it a Bird? Is it a pla…oh nevermind, it was actually a Bird. He starts paying back his record transfer fee straight away as his diving header puts us one up by half time. We can’t add to it however and we’re indebted to Roberts for keeping them goalless, as he makes 3 or 4 saves to maintain his clean sheet.

There’s now 7 games left in the season, so I’ll save the rest of them for next week. The table makes for good reading right now:

11 points clear with only 21 to play for, we should get over the line sooner rather than later. In the division below, Colwyn Bay are still in the mix but they’ve dropped out of the playoffs at this crucial juncture:

They’re only a point behind though so they have every chance of getting there by the end.
The arse end of the table has tightened up somewhat, if you’ll pardon the expression

Oh Darlo, you did the hard work and hauled yourself off the bottom earlier this season after being 6 points adrift, but now you’re right back where you don’t want to be. Like Colwyn Bay though there’s only a point (well ok 2, their goal difference isn’t the best) to make up and they’ll be alright.

Come back next time to see how the end of the season unfolds and hopefully see our promotion to Division 1 confirmed. We’ll also follow the division below to see who drops out of the football league. Goodbye!

The B’s of Manchester – Part 11

Posted on May 13, 2019 by David Black

It’s the end of season two for the Manchester United B team and SupernovaDragon. A late run of form would surely secure a promotion spot as they seek to avoid the dreaded playoffs. Catch up with part 10 here.

Welcome back to the B Team of Manchester United and we pick up where we left off which is 2nd place and looking forward to momentum carrying us onwards to promotion to Division 1 at last.

Our first game of the update is at home to Luton. I tell the lads before they go out that we need to win to get a stranglehold of 2nd. Did that team talk work?

I think it’s fair to say that is THE best first half we have ever played. I decided to throw De Bont to start and I am so glad I did. From the 4th minute onwards, we absolutely dominated this half. I tell them to go out and enjoy the second half.

I’m very disappointed to have conceded the 3 goals but then I take the blame for that as I took Duncan off because of his booking, maybe I shouldn’t have done that. De Bont was worth his MOTM award.

By the time our next match comes, away to Fulham, Cundy is back from suspension but more importantly, so is Nevland. I was always planning on putting him straight back into the starting line-up but after how well De Bont played, he has to make do with a place on the bench.

At half-time, De Bont has not proven to me he deserves his place. He has wasted numerious chances as we are 1-0 down. I decide to keep faith with him and my lovely Tree equalised and then we go 2-1 down, on comes Nevland and we instantly play better and Nevland almost scored. We then go 3-1 down, Nevland pulls 1 back and in the 90th minute Nevland equalised. Or so I thought, the linesman ruled it out for offside (it wasn’t) and we lost again. I can’t believe how patchy our form is to say we are 2nd.

Meanwhile, our parent club are in yet another FA Cup Semi-final. This time playing Chelsea.

Next up, it’s home to Wrexham. Nevland starts again in the only change. Problem was, the defence didn’t play that bad. 2 minutes in and we are 1-0 down, Nevland equalised 5 minutes later but neither team really trouble the goals for the rest of the half. I tell the team to get out there and win this match as nothing else will do.

Second half and we run riot as Nevland got a second, Notman scored 2 and Tomlinson also got in on the act as we won 5-1.

Meanwhile, Newcastle are the sole remaining English team left in the Champions League. In the semi-finals against Barcelona. Good luck to the Toon.

We then visit Blackpool, not for the Pleasure beach but to play our next match. I leave the entire team as it was and send them on the way. 5 Minutes in and Nevland scored, a minute later and it’s 1-1. Notman then goes off injured and I bring De Bont on, Nevland takes the free-kick and it’s parried and De Bont scored the rebound. On the stroke of half-time it’s 2-2. I tell them to get their act together and get out there and win.

Second half and not a lot really happened until I brought Ferdinand on for Greening, shifting Clegg to the left and within 5 minutes, Tomlinson got given the ball, rounded the keeper and won the match for us.

I treat the lads to staying over and letting them go to the pleasure beach the next day.

Bye bye Jonny Macken, you scored a few vital goals for me but I wasn’t standing in your way as I just wasn’t giving you the game time:

Not surprised he chose Burnley though, seeing how they got promoted last season and are actually in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

Meanwhile our parent club? Well they got a bargain:

I forgot to screenshot but Sheringham left our parent club to sign for Celtic.

Another player that barely ever played, yet did feature in my first ever starting line-up of this experiment has now left us on deadline day:

The day after deadline day and we get an injury:

Not the ideal player to lose as we still only have Appleton as our defensive midfielder. We also lose Duncan for a few days.

Our next match is at home to Crewe. With the two injures above, I have had to make a couple of changes. At half-time we are leading 2-0 thanks to McGibbon (header from corner) and Nevland (putting it beyond the reach of the keeper.) I tell the lads to keep it together and to get a third. We do end up winning the match 3-2 thanks to Tomlinson netting the 3rd and we then came very close to throwing it away as they pulled it back and then missed a golden chance in the 90th minute.

Our parent club win the League Cup. Again.

As another month ends, we are closer to the end of the season and the board are very pleased. This is very nice:

Not one of ours but this is a very bad injury:

Up next for us is a trip to Bristol to play against City. I remind the lads that the win is the most important thing. They appear to not be listening to me as we are 1-0 down at half-time. I tell them to get their heads in the game and start to play. This was a very disappointing result. Why is it we can play so well for matches on a run and then we can lose in this manner:

What makes it more disappointing is that, according to the ratings, we played well?

4 days later, on the Wednesday, we are away to Leyton Orient. I talk to the team and I tell them, in no uncertain terms, to get out there and win no matter what. 2 minutes in and we go 1-0 down. On the half hour mark however, we turn it around with a quickfire double, first Mulyrne and then Greening getting us in front at half-time. At the end we won, 5-3, even if it did look like we could have thrown away the win at the end.

Our parent club are through to yet another final:

Now we are finally in a home match again, this time against Exeter. We’ve got to win this one. In 2 minutes we are 1-0 down, 5th minute we equalise through Mulryne, Notman then lobs the keeper to put us in front on 21 minutes and Mulyrne gets a second on 41 minutes and 2 minutes later we conceded another meaning it is 3-2 to us at half-time. By full-time only 1 more goal is scored, Tomlinson pouncing on a loose ball.

A very good all round team performance.

That’s that at least, but where we are now, we NEED to be securing 2nd also.

Some more good news, after missing the whole season, the friendly ghost has returned:

As long as we get the 2nd place sorted, he will get a game or 2 before the end of the season.

Our parent club get the shock result graphic:

Blackburn are in the UEFA Cup final:

However, Newcastle cannot find their way past Barcelona:

Arsenal have got to their final though:

Our parent club win yet another Premier League:

Up for us next is Swansea who are top of the table and already promoted. Currently it looks like this:

Somehow, if we were to win this, we’d be 1 point behind but played a game more. Can we really beat Swansea though?

At half-time we are 2-0 up thanks to goals from Nevland and Notman, we have played so well so far so I tell the lads to keep it tight and keep going as they are. Within 10 minutes of the second half starting, we concede 1. They then stayed on top of us and attacked but we stood firm:

That now brings us 1 point behind with 3 games to go. We can win this league, as long as Swansea suffer defeat in their game in hand.

They win their game in hand, beating Wigan 2-0 away.

We then get to the weekend and we’re away to Gillingham. However we are missing 2 players due to international duty, McGibbon and Mulyrne. We’re definitely going to miss Mulryne. A dour poor game was 0-0 until we opened the scoring thanks to Tomlinson, only for an equaliser to come 10 minutes later. It then stays like that until the 83rd minute when Thornley scored a rebound, only for the referee to disallow the goal. We could, and quite possibly should, have won this match.

However, this is the news I have been waiting to hear:

It’s been a long hard season. I will give a couple of fringe players a game or 2 at the end of the season.

I should think so too.

Let’s get this season wrapped up then shall we, our penultimate game is at home to Watford. After being 1-0 down at half time, we play poorly until I do a sub and then after that we play a lot better.

The draw was a fair result.

Final game of the season and this update is away to York. I make quite a lot of changes again, give Ridings a game to finish the season off. The final game is one to see us off in style as we win:

Great way to see off the season:

In the end we drew too many games but our goals for tally is the best I’ve personally had on this game.

Excluding Ridings ratings as he played the one game:

The biggest disappointment was Cantona to be honest. McClair has seen the last of our squad also.

As you see, Tom and Nev easily got the majority of the goals and I take back what I said about King Eric. He has brought his share of goals and Mulryne has really shone recently. Langley and De Bont also got in on the act and I am so glad they did, they restored the faith I had in them.

As for assists, Tomlinson and Nevland easily lead the way, Eric having got 10 assists

We didn’t really get many Man of the Match awards which is a shame.

Blackburn won the UEFA Cup:

But their joy then changed to sadness:

Arsenal won the Cup Winners’ Cup

Nottingham Forest pulled off a bit of a shock in the FA Cup:

Barcelona won the Champions League:

Oh I am so happy for you 3:

You all deserve it.

Meanwhile joining us in the 1st Division:

Had a feeling it would be Bristol Rovers.

I should think you are very pleased:

Let’s have a take a look back at the two key players who have left, first up Johnny boy Curtis:

As you can see, Curtis has played well for Leeds so far, still no England caps though.

What about our other key player, Terry Cooke?

He’s only played 9 games for our parent club but saying that, he does have some competition in that team.

It is now that I let you know the board were somewhat surprised I released McClair after we held a clear the air talks after I confirmed to him that he would not be starting any games next season and, to be honest, probably won’t get on the bench either.

I’ve also transfer listed John O’Kane as I feel I won’t be playing him much now either.

We started to start looking at new players for the upcoming season but I failed in my first transfer:

He had been released from Real Madrid and would have fitted into our wing back formation but it wasn’t to be.

We will finish this part with the end of season awards:

It was a surprise to be to see the Leyton Orient manager get manager of the year for Division 2 as I thought it would be me (somehow) or the Swansea manager but it was also good to see Tomlinson be top scorer.

As we end this part, let’s do another BACK TO REALITY:

Today we look at the career of John Curtis:

Johnny boy Curtis started his his career at Manchester United obviously and was there until 2000 after playing 14 games for the first team. He spent 99/00 on loan to Barnsley. He signed for Blackburn and was there for 3 years until 2003 and spent time on loan to Sheffield United in 2003 before he left.

2003/04 he signed for Leicester City and played 15 times and then signed for Portsmouth for the 04/05 season, played 7 times and went out on loan to Preston North End and played 12 times and signed for Nottingham Forest from 2005 until 2007, played 79 times then started to bounce around signing for QPR (4 games until John Gregory was sacked and got released), John then signed for Worcester CIty just to gain fitness and signed for Wrexham (13 games), Northampton Town for the 09/10 season (19 games) and his final club Gold Coast United, played 19 games and even scored his first goal since he was on loan to Barnsley back in the 99/00 season.

He played 4 times for the England U21’s and 1 game for England B team.

Johnny boy Curtis didn’t live up to anywhere near his potential but at least he played a full career.

Until next part and next season, bye from the Manchester B’s.

SupernovaDragon will be back after the summer break with season 3!

CM9798 Academy – Part 39: Bore Draws

Posted on May 12, 2019 by David Black

Hello! Welcome back to Academy life. Last week, season 13 got underway and the CM9798 Academy made a reasonable start to life defending their league title. We sit just behind Everton in the table and have already secured our place in the last 8 of the Champions League.

As luck would have it, Everton visit the Arena next.

Continue reading →

Mission Impossible – Saving Barnsley: Part 3

Posted on May 9, 2019 by David Black

Andrew is trying to pull off the unlikely scenario of Barnsley staying in the Premier League with the default squad. It’s going quite well but now we’re into the business end of the season. Can he do it? Catch up with part two here.

Ey-up and welcome back to part three of our mission impossible as I attempt to keep the bad boys of Barnsley in the promised land. Previously we cruised through summer and autumn in the top half, but a winter of discontent has seen us slide down to 13th place only 8 points above the drop zone with 14 games remaining. As positives go, we’re above Man Utd in the league and we’re still in the FA Cup (for now, pending a trip to Leeds). The average ratings tell you a pretty good story and a reason why I haven’t diverted from a core number of players, even for the cups, despite the imperative of staying up;

Markstedt has been a revelation at left wing back since being introduced despite his absolutely shocking ratings. Meanwhile Liddell has forced his way in with 8 assists so far.

Next up it’s Arsenal and I just can’t get my head around this signing, I’ve never seen anything so bizarre…Lee peaked at Scunthorpe and by 2002 his career was spiralling towards ten transfers across the next ten years…

The man from Leek Town just keeps on keeping on. We had several chances to bury the game in the last 4 minutes, but I’ll take that!!!

Another Yorkshire derby, another red card and a game thrown away. We had them under pressure until the sending off. Gutted, but at least that’s us focusing on staying up.

A chance for revenge goes missing. Must remember dirty Leeds are top, but the ref doesn’t help us. Kewell fouls Redfearn when through on goal…not even a yellow. Wallace commits a cynical foul on Markstedt and again no card and he’s off injured. Nigel gets MoM and that just says it all about our derby day luck!

We lose a vital relegation six-pointer against Southampton. We are nothing without Fjortoft as Hristov continues to fire blanks following his lack of competitive action…

Things go from bad to worse as we lose to 20th placed Bolton. Shooting boots have gone awol in the last two games.

He’s only De Goey’n and let us score a sack full as the floodgates open. As you can see from his 9th MoM award, it could have been a 5-6 loss but for Tony.

I am delighted, but Fjortoft gets a 5 and the stats tell the tale of the game. Lucky!

Tony, Tony Tony, Tony Tony, Tony Tony Bullock! The man from Leek Town gets his 10th MoM of the season to date and we climb up to 9th place in the table, and reach the elusive 40 pts marker with plenty of games to go.

Reality Check: At this stage of the season the real Barnsley had won 9, drawn 4 and lost 18, but were putting up a similar late fight to ourselves. They had conceded 69 and scored 31 and were sat in 18th place with a shot at survival possible. We’re 9 points and 9 places better off.

Elsewhere this save just keeps getting stranger…

And stranger…

And then there’s this…Man Utd sit 4pts from safety with Sir Alex having plumped for this striker from Partick Thistle in pre-season.

5 minutes of madness and the Dons go crazy.

We can’t repeat that famous night at Anfield with our two attacking midfielders out we had to resort to 4 strikers…so close.

We are fading fast and that see’s us drop to within 7pts of the trap door with 4 games left to play.

We’ll be without Hendrie, Sheridan, Martin Bullock, and Fjortoft for the next game. Down to the bare bones up top.

Whatever possessed Danny Wilson to sign Hristov…I’d like to know who the scout was for that one, a lot to answer for.

Twitchy bum time…we are below Man Utd for the first time this season.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!

With two games to spare, victory in a South Yorkshire derby and we’re safe!!! The fans storm the pitch and hold the captain aloft.

You absolute beauties. Did not see that victory coming.

We’re now fighting for 11th place, top of the bottom half.

Disappointing 79th minute.

We tamely fizzle out with a whimper having secured our survival a few games ago.

Our rag-tag bunch of, what can loosely be termed, footballers have survived against all the odds and all the history. Here is the final table;

And at the top, Liverpool pip dirty Leeds to the title, justice!!!

So we closed the season out with 11 more points than Danny Wilson’s Barnsley back in 1998 and we’ve kept that goals against down by 20 odd goals too! I am grateful to the following few who enter the fake Barnsley hall of fame;

Tony Bullock and his 11 MoM’s plus a host of other great games, was our best rated player.

Fjortoft sure would have been handy from the start of the season in real life, he is no doubt the difference maker in my survival along with Tony.

The man, the myth, the legend. Captain of the relegation favourites and living up to his real life hype he reached double figures.

So there you have it. A Yorkshire vintage survival. I just can’t quite believe it. In 20+ years I’ve never seen them survive that season. I can attest to just how hard that was, and I think if I’d had a more punishing spell of injuries during the season I might have failed.

I hope you have enjoyed your stay in Barnsley, I’ll be back soon (hopefully) with another mildly interesting tedious tale to tell.

That’s T’goodbye from me.

My thanks to Andrew for a hugely enjoyable season. You can follow him on Twitter @KingOfTheRooks

Run Forest, Run – Part 10: Stuck in 2nd Gear

Posted on May 8, 2019 by David Black

Matt Wills is back to get you through hump day. His Nottingham Forest adventure began 8 seasons in but he’s more than caught up now. The glory days are back at the City Ground but are those magic European nights here to stay? Catch up with part 9 here.

Hey you guys, we’re back with our Forest Future save, and well into Season 3 now after a domestic treble last season. We’re 2 from 2 in our Champions League group and have worked our way to the top of the Premier League.

A quick visual reminder…

Newcastle chasing us hard, Man Utd looking adrift already. Shocking stuff.

AaB dominant with no goals conceded so far.

Whilst things are going quite well, Wee Jimmy wants to go

I say no and as The Lizard is injured for a week, put him in the sticks for our away trip to Leeds. He concedes to Chris Woodcock after only 2 minutes. At the other end, we can find no way past Thomas Mhyre and when Bogie hauls down Woodcock in the box and is sent to the dressing room, Timofte converts to make it a bad day at the office.

We’ll have to lick our wounds for a week or so as it’s the International Break and it’s costly for our strike force

Young Derek Thompson is itching for first team football, so he’ll fill Rubini’s boots for a week or so to keep him happy.

Derek takes his chance against Villa, but we hold the lead for a whole minute before Mark Low equalises. It’s more injury woe as Debbah goes down hurt, so old man Alfonso steps off the bench to take his place and helps set up Fisher for the winner 2 minutes later.

Debbah’s out for a few weeks, so we’ll be relying on youth and experience for our goals when we take on Aab in our 3rd Champions League group game.

We take an early lead, but Aab come back strong to equalise but we cannot find a winner.

The Match Stats tell the story – only 4 shots on target. I need my injured strikers back pronto!

They are still out injured however when we take on Wolves and although we go in front, this time it’s for less than a minute when Richie Wellens scores. Inge secures the three points with a second half strike but in truth we were holding on until the red card. We’re certainly not fluid at the moment. Last seasons hero Guerrero has gone right off the boil this time out, but still remains a vital squad member.

We find some striking form when we take on Kettering in our defence of the League Cup and although we score five, I’m disappointed to concede 2 to a Division 2 side, still, we’re into the next round to take on Kidderminster Harriers. Nelo and Inge getting the goals from midfield which is always a bonus.

Really not understanding our lack of goals at the minute. I know Debbah and Rubini are out, but surely we can score a few at against Bolton, no?

No.

At least The Lizard kept a clean sheet. Somehow we’re still top of the league. Bolton finished 6th last season, so it’s not that much of an upset.

Our 4th Champions League game sees us travel to Rosenborg and Trujillo from Metallica is invloved again, our winner coming from the unlikely left wingback position through Jarni Jnr.

That gives us 10 points from 4 games and one more win from our last 2 should see us through to the quarters.

Despite that, it feels like the wheels are coming off a little in the league. Not sure where to start with our away game against Everton. Baksa scores again and Thompson had a goal ruled out for offside in the last minute. We should have done better against 10 men. I think Ron Butcher is the regen of Ian Wright, who always used to like scoring against Forest.

I think my problem is that my summer recruitment strategy means we haven’t had a settled side as I try to find my best 11.

While I’m pondering all that, England have qualified for Euro 08 with a perfect record and know their group for the finals. Noel Whelan helping out with 3 goals in 8 games.

England will probably finish bottom of their group after such a fine qualifying campaign.

We’re up against Arsenal next, who are top and amazingly we are 2nd. So we aren’t that entertaining at the moment, but maybe we are becoming resilient and Debbah celebrates his return with the winning goal and send us back to the top of the pile.

Back to our European campaign and we’re cruising to our required 3 points in our match against CSKA until The Lizard gets himself sent off, but summer signing Davide Courtin keeps them at bay after conceding the penalty.

We have 13pts but qualification isn’t confirmed yet.

We’re away to Martin O’Neill’s Man City in the league next.

Substitute Thompson saves us a point, but really its two dropped and we’re back down to second in the league.

It’s a complete change in the starting 11 for the League Cup as I give some of the fringe players some game time and we squeeze through after 120 minutes against Kidderminster. Our defence of the trophy marches on.

The story of our next league match against Sunderland can be told in the space of 4 send half minutes.

We seem to like winning 2-1 at the minute.

It’s our last Champions League group game up next and we do just enough to finish top.

I just want to avoid Milan in the next round.

Well we did, but not much better.

Our group mates AaB draw Milan out of the hat and we’ll pick that thread up in the next post.

As we head into Xmas its all very routine away to Burnley

Boxing day is an absolute bore draw against Newcastle which I won’t even post details of it was that drab, but it keeps us top at Xmas, but it’s getting tight

Liverpool doing well after promotion, but it’s a different story for Chelsea who came up with them

The next, and penultimate blog post will pick up with our defence of the FA Cup and the quarterfinals of the Champions League, but before we go, and quick round up of the teams I avoided.

Liverpool – 12th in the Premier League following last season’s promotion. They are out of the League Cup, losing to Man City, but have the 3rd round of the FA Cup against Bristol City to look forward to in the new year, as well as a two-legged affair with Real Madrid in the Quarter Finals of the Cup Winners Cup. Alan Shearer is doing some good work at the helm.

Lazio – Midtable in Serie A, with not much than pride to play for where the bugger story is Napoli leading the table, 7 points ahead of the mighty Milan.

Espanyol – Our next opponents in Europe are 4th in La Liga, only 3 points from the top and into the quarter finals of the Copa Del Rey.

Also a quick mention for Stuart Pearce, the man I usurped from the Forest hot-seat took over the reins at Bradford City and got them promoted to Division 1 in his second season where they are now fighting against relegation.

See you next week as we enter the business end of our final season.

You can follow Matt on Twitter @Matt_C_Wills

Starting from Scratch – Part 14

Posted on May 7, 2019 by David Black

Twitterless Tuesday is upon us as Matthew Cooper resumes the hotseat at Altrincham. Can he turn a good season into a great one? Catch up with part 13 here.

Hello, last time was a bit of a rocky road with a bit of a losing/drawing streak eating into our lead at the top. The goals dried up and the goalkeeping situation was concerning, so let’s get to it and try to change our fortunes.

By chance, I noticed that several clubs had bid for the positively singular John Barnes. I don’t really need him but I couldn’t help myself so I threw my hat into the ring.

7 grand? Nah. I can’t really justify that on a player who’s not going to be in the team every week , besides which his desired contract would take him into his 39th year so I bid him good luck and end negotiations there.

The opening game is our FA Cup 3rd round at home to Huddersfield, in the division above. We’re not exactly flying high right now so I’m not too confident things will go our way today.

Well that shows what I know. We didn’t just win, we completely obliterated them and were well worth the margin of victory. Gattuso has an effort ruled out so it could have got even worse for them. Most pleasingly, Roberts repelled every effort when they broke and looks back to his old self. Allardyce’s finishing highlights just how much we missed him during his suspension.

Only 2 days later we’re back in action again, away at Wycombe. They’re down near the bottom but the squad is collectively shagged out from the cup game. I switch things round as much as I dare but there’s only so much I can do and it’s a very tired team I put out.

We’ve got enough in the tank though and it’s comfortable in the end. Roberts has another solid game and Allardyce gets MotM as we look to have gotten over the recent hump.

We get a comparatively luxurious span of 5 days to prepare for our next match, away at another struggling team – the mugs who sold us their keeper, Torquay. Ferguson’s back from suspension to further freshen up the team and I’m feeling confident.

Not amazing by any means but we won and that’ll ding dang do for me. Allardyce makes it 3 out of 3 but Tomlinson draws a blank again. It’s disappointing compared to his stupendous early form but I have faith he’ll come good again. And then get sold to bloody Bolton, who are collecting our players to build some sort of human effigy or something – whatever they’re doing, they’re not bloody playing them so they must have some ulterior motive.

The following Monday we’re at home to Portsmouth in our game in hand owing to our cup run. Browning’s the latest player to join the cool kids behind the bike sheds with a suspension so Zerrouki’s back in.

It’s a workmanlike performance for our latest win, with a host of chances but only Ferguson can put one away. Ferguson really has been a solid purchase since he came in and he’s good enough for at least one more division, unlike Gattuso and Zerrouki who I expect to have to jettison if we escape the league this season.

I’d expected to face first division WBA for the 5th round, but Oxford in the basement league pulled off a shock in the replay and have got through to face us. This is a great opportunity to at least match last season’s cup progress so I’m looking forward to the game.

The third struggling team in a row meet us for the weekend game, as we’re at home to Grimsby. N’diaye needs a rest so Zerrouki swaps him for his bench spot but it’s pretty much the same team otherwise.

Argh, the annoying thing about teams near the bottom is that their keepers are invariably in brilliant form so chance after chance is repelled and sometimes they keep it up for 90 minutes. Tomlinson misses 4 clear-cut chances so I try Harris for the last 20 minutes but we can’t find a way through. Zerrouki hobbled off after a quarter of an hour so he might be out for a while.

It’s not as bad as first feared and he’ll only be out for a couple of weeks. Browning’s suspension has just ended so it’s no biggie.

I did a double take as this transfer flashed up, I bet this poor lad didn’t have a childhood free from name-calling in the playground. I checked and he’s not a regen, this is a real person

The cup game is upon us already so Browning comes straight back into the side for injured Zerrouki and everyone else has a clean bill of health so I put out a full-strength side to blow Oxford away

It doesn’t quite work out that way but we’re good enough and go through to the 5th round. Tomlinson gets the monkey off his back and a chance finally goes in, but he picks up a worrying injury late on so I face an anxious wait to see how bad it is.

At least we’re not going to be facing Darren’s dad in the next round

Ah, big hairy bollocks

He’ll be missed, Harris isn’t the reliable goalscorer I’d envisioned. Still, as long as Allardyce keeps firing we’ll be alright. Sod off Bolton, let us keep one!

The fifth round looks pretty interesting

Zerrouki’s back from injury but Browning does his leg in and is laid up for a week, our midfield injuries situation is like musical bloody chairs.

After the excitement of the cup it’s back to usual business with a league game – but it’s a big one. We’re at home to 3rd placed Chesterfield who are still 5 points behind, a defeat would be potentially pretty damaging

N’Diaye volleys home on 6 minutes but it’s ruled out by a linesman’s flag. We’re well on top but Harris is getting the majority of the chances and putting them any which way but the net. I considering hauling him off for the last 20 minutes for McGarrigle but then out of nothing, he hits a 30 yard scorcher into the top corner. I guess you’re forgiven, Jason.

Well it’s about bloody time!

England’s next World Cup qualifying group has a very Eastern Bloc feel to it. It looks navigable but then again, they always do don’t they? It’s the finals we cock up rather than the qualifiers.

We’re only given 3 days to rest before we find ourselves rocking up to Carlisle to play yet another game in hand due to our cup exploits. Palmer picked up a knock in the last game and is unavailable for now, so I hand David May the captain’s armband. Since he joined us he’s hardly put a foot wrong

Palmer will turn 32 next month so I expect May will take over the captaincy full-time at the end of the season. Bound is recalled in the defence but N’Diaye’s fitness is holding up well for once so starts his second match this week

We hammer them for the entirety of the first half but can’t score (I feel like I’ve written that in nearly every match this season). Allardyce makes the breakthrough shortly into the second half, but it looks like the curse of the crappy team is going to strike again as they get a completely undeserved equaliser on around the 70th minute. N’Diaye rescues us though, blasting it past the keeper after a defensive error and justice is done.

There’s no upset this time and it’s confirmed that we’re at home to Newcastle in the 5th round. I briefly get excited at the prospect of Alan Shearer visiting Moss Lane before remembering that he moved to Man Utd in preseason. In some kind of striker job swap they do have Andy Cole though, so David May will have an old pal to chat with throughout the game at least.

We go to Reading for the last game of the update, with captain Palmer restored and Zerrouki replacing Gattuso

It’s a bit of a fortunate win as we’re on the back foot for most of the game. Harris comes good with half an hour left and we hold on despite heavy pressure. Our last six wins have been by a single goal, I’d like us to be more prolific but at least we’re getting the results.

It’s time to wind it down so let’s just check the table:

Those 1-0 wins have widened the gap between us and second place to 6 points, and we’re now 10 points clear of the play off places. It’s looking very good for another promotion but there’s still work to be done.

Colwyn Bay have slipped a little since we last looked in but they’re holding on to the last play off place. Scarborough are a further two places down but remain in the hunt.

It’s getting very interesting at the bottom as Darlington have made up the six point gap and are out of the drop zone on goal difference. Only 3 points separates the bottom 9 teams so it’s a lottery as to who’s going down right now.

Please join me again next week to see if we can maintain the lead and get closer to a second successive promotion.

The B’s of Manchester – Part 10

Posted on May 6, 2019 by David Black

It might be a bank holiday but Monday is always @SupernovaDragon day. His Manchester United B team is well into the second season but are they approaching promotion? Catch up with part 9 here.

Hey and welcome back to the Man United B Team story. Where we left off we were somehow still 3rd after a patchy start to the season and finally got to a bit of a run over December and with us being out of all the cups, there is just the league to concentrate on, this is our chance to stay fit and get the promotion we need.

Our parent club are continuing on their quest to win everything in sight.

Not Michael, he’s vital to our team:

We will definitely miss him.

Our first game of the update is at home to Bristol Rovers, I tell the lads that the win is the most important thing, I have to make a change, taking out the injured Clegg. At half-time we are 1-0 up thanks to Mulyrne playing Tomlinson through and his shot being parried and Nevland slotting into the empty net with ease. By full-time we won 3-1. A Cantona corner was headed in by Duncan, Bristol Rovers netted one back but was never really in the game, Twiss come off the bench and in the last minute, his low cross from the right and Tomlinson finished to win the match completely.

It was a deserved win.

Good Grief, I am out of centre backs:

2 matches? We were just getting somewhere, this is going to be tough for them 2 matches.

Up next is away to Millwall, I send the team out telling them that they know what to do. In 3 minutes Nevland put Cantona through to put us 1-0 up, then Millwall come back at us and equalise 10 minutes later and then, on the stroke of half-time, Duncan pushed Newman in the box, got booked and the penalty was converted. I tell them they can still win this match.

Within 5 minutes of the restart we go 3-1 down. I feel like this small unbeaten run is slipping away. We manage to get a second after Cantona fed Nevland who slotted nicely under the keeper. We then bring Twiss on for the last 10 minutes and he had a shot saved and in the last minute he found Nevland in the box, who equalised beautifully. We were lucky to get the point but I’ll definitely take it.

Just as Clegg returned from his injury, we get another to a vital player:

I swear this game is trying to ruin my promotion chances.

Up next is an away trip again, however this is our shortest trip as we visit Oldham who are 24th. I tell them they are have to win this one, show everyone we deserve to get promoted. In the first 5 minutes Oldham squander a number of chances, including the moment the ball bouncing around the box and Ritchie putting over from 5 yards. We broke away in the 17th minute and Tomlinson’s through ball found Nevland who smashed it into the corner. We then dominated as we had our chances to squander and hit the woodwork a lot. Second half and it was nervy as Oldham was all over us for most of it, we waste a few more chances and then with 9 minutes to go, they pull 1 back to really make me nervous. We hang on though and come through with a win.

As well as Nevland played, I thought Kelly deserved man of the match as he almost saved everything thrown at him.

It’s been far too long since I last saw this message and I am savouring every second it is on the screen:

Nice little pre-birthday present as for the first time this season we are in the top 2.

We have a 15 day gap until I next play so I look to the youth academy for a new centre back. Meanwhile our parent club continue to win everything:

We do bring in a new youth centre back:

Tackling high, aggression high and heading high. He could actually end up being useful. He will be starting straight away as Duncan is suspended for 2 matches.

Our next match, Cundy’s debut, is away to 19th placed Wigan. I bring Clegg onto the bench for O’Kane and tell the lads to go out and try and take the lead early and then have fun. This isn’t what happened, in fact it was just flying by until McGibbon gets himself sent off due to being the last man so I had to bring Clegg on to shore up the defence. A minute later and Cantona set up Nevland to put us ahead. We keep it at 1-0 at half time and I tell them to keep it tight and go for the win. Second half and Johnson is sent off for 2 bookings for Wigan and a while later, Tomlinson pulls the ball back to my lovely Trees who nets a screamer. We won 2-0 but now I will be missing McGibbon.

Cundy had a good debut to be fair.

It has been too long since they were very pleased.

It’s nice to see.

Our next match is at home to bottom of the table Oxford. We should win this as I name the same team again. When we go in at the break it is 1-0 to us, thanks to Cantona putting Nevland through who slotted beautifully. By the final whistle we won 4-2, Mulyrne put us 2-0 up but we then proceeded to throw it away as we got drew back level, only for Tomlinson to net another goal and then Ferdinand to get his first ever goal for us after Nevland put him through.

Nevland’s booking in the last match meant he was suspended from the 17th for 2 matches, we will probably miss him as our form is going well right now.

Meanwhile, Ronnie Wallwork is now definitely out of reach for us as he’s signed for Everton so that’s that over with. Good luck to Ronnie.

Our next match is at home to 4th placed Portsmouth. This is vital and our current run should set us up for another win but this is the first time we have met anyone this high up in the league for a while. At half-time it’s 2-2, Tomlinson put us ahead with a beauty of a goal only for Portsmouth to equalise straight away thanks to Aloisi and then they went 2-1 up. We managed to draw level thanks to Nevland putting Tomlinson through again who burred it.

Second half and Portsmouth took the lead late on and I could feel the defeat coming, only for supersub Twiss to come off the bench and net the last minute equaliser. To top it all, he almost scored again in the 90th minute but the keeper just about saved it. All in all, the draw was a fair result and at least we’re still unbeaten.

Our next match is away again, this time to 4th placed Brentford, I tell the lads to keep this run going and to go for the win. Level at 1-1 at half time thanks to Cantona getting the equaliser, second half and Brentford won the match after McGhee got his 2nd. To top a bad day, Cundy got sent off for deliberate handball.

Guess who’s in yet another final:

There is no stopping the domination.

Our next match is away to Carlisle. Nevland is suspended and Twiss is injured for a few days so a couple of changes are done. At half-time we are 1-0 down after Pilkington brought down their forward and got booked for the trouble and the penalty got converted. We picked up far too many bookings in that half and feel another red card coming and we created nothing in that half.

In the end we deserved to be beat, we created nothing, we playing awful and the worrying fact is, we have now lost 2 games on the trot now and I am getting worried what happened last season, is happening again.

How can missing Nevland make us play this bad?

End of the month and the end of this part and the board are still very happy:

As for the table?

As you can see, we are 2nd currently due to the 3 teams below us keep drawing or losing their last couple of matches. How we are still there I don’t know to be honest. Swansea are running away with this league and I wish it were us.

Join us next time to see if we can get back to winning ways and see if we can get automatic promotion.

BACK TO REALITY:

This week, John O’Kane:

John was at Man United until 1998 after failing to get into the first team, despite being a part of the 1992 Youth team that spawned Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, the Neville’s etc. He made just 10 appearances until leaving for Everton, where he starts CM9798. He played 14 times for them between 1998 and 1999 and still found himself being loaned out. After failing to really make headway until their starting line-up, he signed for Bolton. After Bolton got promoted in his first season he went on to make 36 appearances, scoring twice.

He left in 2001 and signed for Blackpool. However, this is another player who retired a little earlier due to injury. He did come back and play in the non-league for Hyde United and was even their captain but that was as far as he got.

CM9798 Academy – Part 38: Big in the back time

Posted on May 5, 2019 by David Black

Hello! Welcome to the CM9798 Academy, where the teachers have become the masters or at the very least, the champions. Of England. We’ll work on the rest of the world this season.

Season 12 ended in a blaze of glory. All that hard work, selling players and replacing them with free transfers finally resulted in a Premier League crown. We can’t stop there though. We aren’t the ultimate fighting champions yet. Let’s bring in some new blood.