Community XI: Right Midfield

Posted on May 18, 2015 by David Black

The defence is complete, now let’s move focus to the midfield.

Just the five nominees for the right midfield role – as usual there’s some wonderful literary pieces below helping you to make your decision.

Luis Figo

There was a time where pig’s heads had yet to be thrown and Just for Men wasn’t invented where Luis Figo was just a really good footballer. Part of the mighty Barcelona midfield, Figo was consistenly brilliant and would average over 7.40 for the season without any fuss. Of course he then turned his back on Barcelona to become a Galactico, although in this game that sort of transfer happens every other week.

Diego Fuser

Fuser starts the game at Lazio and has a handful of Italy caps. Although maybe not the first player to come to mind, he was attainable, and that was a big thing for Martyn Oakley

Much overlooked option on the right hand side, Fuser was a regular source of goals and assists whenever you could get him… Which was often.

So with that in mind, does Fuser get your vote?

Sabri Lamouchi

Lamouchi is one of those players who always used to move in the opening days of a new game, usually to one of the Champions League clubs. If you moved quickly you could get him to your Premier League side, just as Eoin did:

A flying winger who helped me win a Champions League with Aston Villa, such a feat demands inclusion

If you’re wondering where you’ve heard his name lately, he managed Ivory Coast during the 2014 World Cup…badly. But don’t let that put you off.

Jerome Leroy

Leroy is my mojo man as somebody once sang but even before that, he was a key part of PSG’s midfield in 1997/98. PSG had just been runners up in the Cup Winners Cup when the game starts, and young Leroy was deemed one of the stars. As a result he is usually hot property in the game and goes on to get many France caps, which sadly he managed none of in real life.

Antoine Sibierski

Don’t be fooled by the balding target man who turned up at Man City, Newcastle & Wigan in the 2000’s, back in 1997 Sibierski was deemed hot property and on the cusp of a France call up.

Being an AM/F RC meant he could play in a number of positions in various formations, a real gem who could be picked up for around £7m from Auxerre. Indeed in the Darlington save, he’s been snapped up by Man Utd. A total hero, who would run through walls for you.

Big Club Release Clause

Posted on May 17, 2015 by David Black

Those four words are the bane of my life as we head towards the end of the first season. Darlington are putting up a brave fight against the odds to secure automatic promotion to Division 2, whilst Manchester United are having a season to remember.

The big club release clause is basically a clause players insist on putting in their contract when signing for your tiny club, which means that if a larger club wants them, you have no choice but to sell them. Graeme Tomlinson did this to me in update 1, and now everybody is at it.

First to go is centre half Andrew Duncan

It’s irritating but £700k is actually decent money for a Division 3 club. My usual move is to look on the free transfer list at who my scout recommends, so some kid called Jonathon Atkinson is in

…and out. Motherwell can’t need all these Division 3 Centre halves surely? What a mighty irritance. He played two games for me!

A more positive side of being in the lower leagues is if you win an FA Cup match you feel like a King. Imagine how good you’d feel if 36 year old Mick Quinn knocked out Division 2 Luton for you

The reward? Well it’s only Mick’s former club Newcastle United coming to Feethams!

Well that’s a tie to capture the public’s imagination. Unfortunately, Alan Shearer shows no mercy

It is however one of Shearer’s last acts as a Newcastle player

Good job Newcastle recalled Paul Brayson off me really. Out of spite, they’ve also recalled Aaron Hughes. Robbie Keane has arrived on loan, but he’s 16 and terrible – but he does a cracking forward roll.

All of that leaves Darlo fighting in and around the top 3, somehow. Not long to go!

8 games to go then, and I’m not settling for anything other than being promoted.

Away from the crazy world of Division 3, some impotant manager changes

George Graham swapping Leeds for Sheff Wed is a bit odd. Readers of the previous blog will be delighted to see Brian Little back in charge at Villa. This game never fails to surprise me, there’s always something weird.

Further to that, look what the FA Cup semi Final has thrown up

Coventry vs Tottenham! I know…but also a Manchester derby. Amazing. Meanwhile Man Utd are still going strong…everywhere

Not only domestically, but also in Europe

Parma, with the people’s champion squad, will be a tough battle

Real Madrid have splashed the cash on Alfonso

But Barca went for del Piero to get over it

Whilst these legends of the game were also on the move

Huge names, huge moves. Your community XI Keeper made the move to Parma, too

And finally, Glenn Hoddle survived the World Cup playoffs

The draw thows up a famous battle…and two economic superpowers. POLITICAL BANTZ

Anyway, as ever we’ll finish with the Premier League table. Honestly, I have never seen anything like this

One draw, 27 wins. 0 losses. Only 9 conceded. That is insane. Arsenal & Chelsea a distant battle for second. Meanwhile, at the bottom…

Nobody cut adrift yet, I suppose West Ham are the most surprising of the strugglers.

So join us next time for the finale to the 97/98 season, where hopefully I’ll clinch promotion and nobody steals any of my remaining players…

Back to the start

Posted on May 13, 2015 by David Black

After some contemplation, I decided to start again. There was a good response on twitter with new game suggestions and that was enough for me to re-install and go again. But where?

That’s right, we’re going right down to Division 3 and Darlington FC. Why Darlo? Well, strictly speaking they don’t exist anymore (See Darlington 1883) and they’re fairly local to me. They’re a middle of the road Division 3 club, not like a Hull or Cambridge who always run away with it, so it should be a challenge. Here’s the squad we start with:

Not too much to shout about in there, but I’ll soon see to that with the usual freebies who are must haves in the lower leagues. Tomlinson, Mainwaring, Betterton, Duncan – 4 names who regular lower league players will know, but they also feature on the game’s Wiki page. Sadly Marc Emmers was busy, but This Morning’s Jeff Brazier joins in.

Of course you can always play the loan market, sadly you take your life into your own hands with this as they can be recalled any time. It’s a cause for celebration when blog favourite Steve Haslam arrives

He’s around for 2 glorious months before Sheff Wed want him back. Boo! This guy though arrives for real money

Heidenstrom got all sorts of nominations for the Community XI so I’m surprised to be able to prise him away from our divisional rivals. He will captain my side.

The season starts with the familiar scene

It’s a sign of things to come for Man Utd…

Things start pretty well for Darlo, we’re in and around the top 7. This is a highlight:

Whilst Everton are an early contender for entertainers

Why is this happening to Everton? Well…

Howard Kendall took the Wales job after Bobby Gould’s inevitable sacking, which is a bit more normal than the last game.

Another issue with Division 3 is that the better your players they more likely they are to be poached.

I’ll take my chance with the tribunal

If this was Deal or No Deal, I’d be high fiving Noel right now

Obvious solution is to loan Paul Brayson from Newcastle.

FFS. I’ll just sign Mick Quinn on a free. Nobody will want him.

All of that leaves my squad looking like this:

I sold midfielder Michael Oliver (not the ref) to Wolves for £900k, so the bank balance is good espeically since Tomlinson went too. It’s on a knife edge though, your better players can be taken at any time. Look what we’re missing from GT though 🙁

In the real, rich world, there’s hundreds of transfers. here are the highlights:

Bringing the Italian league in seems to have made Juventus hungry for success. Barce mean business in the SuperCopa

All of that leaves the tables looking like this:

Not too bad, we’ve got a platform to build. But fundamentally I have Mick Quinn up front, so it’s not all brilliant.

Meanwhile, look at Man Utd

Utterly dominant. Everton up in 2nd in a surprise!

The bottom 6 or 7 are all fairly close, some very heavy goals against in there.

So that’s it for update 1, join us next time where hopefully Darlo keep themselves together and nobody poaches my best players. Don’t hold your breath.

Community XI: Centre backs

Posted on May 11, 2015 by David Black

We’re looking for two centrebacks for our all-time greats team – there’s a bit of blurb about each of the nominees below the vote. Vote as many times as you want, but only the top two will be selected.

Marlon Broomes

If you were to ask somebody to name their favourite all time 11, Marlon Broomes wouldn’t get close (unless you asked Marlon Broomes). However in the world of CM 97/98 Broomes was one of those blessed with the -1 potential ability. Most importantly, he allowed you the opportunity to play Broomes as a sweeper. Anyway, he played for Blackburn and nearly always went on to play for England. You could say, that Broomes cleans up.

Fabio Cannavaro

This is less of a surprise. This man went on to win the Ballon d’or in real life and as he starts the game as a 23 year old, the sky is often the limit with this chap. He already has 4 Italy caps when the game starts, and he’s part of Parma’s mighty squad. He’s often attainable, but as he doesn’t play for the big 3, he’s usually available a couple of seasons in. Everybody loves Fabio.

Martin Djetou

I bloody love Martin Djetou. A D/MC, he was equally at home in the middle of the defence or midfield. I once had a game that I kept going for years, and he was still playing at 42. What a guy. He starts at Monaco, and is usually released once Monaco fail at Champions League qualification and go bust. If that’s not enough, he opened a beauty palour when he retired, so that’s something.

Valur Fannar Gislason

One of the lesser known nominees, this young Iceland International starts the game at Arsenal as a below average Premier League defender, but he becomes much more than. Martyn Oakley puts it best:

Always available for loan, or a 250k purchase if you were feeling flush, Valur was the first port of call every time I started a lower league campaign. Reliable, cheap, loyal and very very good from the off, he was also worth adding to the squad of any big club you took over too

Mark Iuliano

A stalwart of Juventus & Italy’s defence, Iuliano is vowel greedy but very stingy when it comes to conceding goals. Adequare cover for left back, Iuliano is one of the most consistent defenders in the game and is usually passed around between the top clubs. A real class act.

Teddy Lucic

People were falling over themselves to nominate ‘The Bear’ Teddy Lucic. Let’s be honest, he was rubbish at Leeds but the good people at Sports Interactive obviously had a thing for him as he was a good buy on CM 01/02 as well I seem to recall. Indeed Eoin says:

Just typing his name makes me feel safe and assured, a rock at the back, always seemed to get 8 out of 10, even when we lost by a lot. The sign of a true class act

Strong words indeed. As he was young and unknown, he could be picked up for £250k. Let the good times roll.

Ever Moas

So much has been written about Ever Moas. And by that I mean even his wiki page is lacking. Even Paul Redfern, who nominated him, was dead against signing him. Read into that what you will. I’ve never owned him, but I’m sure he’s mint.

Victor Onopko

Loads of people loved Victor too. He was a model of consistency and always available, the only negative was him being non-EU. His best review came from Kevin, who said:

“Usually available by October in first season for 4.5m, Russian centre back consistently averages 7.5+, best centre back on the game for me”

A mighty review, but are you going loco for Victor Onopko?

Robert Page

If you’ve followed the first blog game all the way through, you’ll know I’m a huge fan of Rob Page. I took him everywhere I went, and he captained my teams too. Will clock up 100 caps for Wales barring injuries, and easily attainable from Watford in the early days. From Wimbledon to Leeds via Auxerre, Page was my right hand man – but does he get your vote?

Chris Perry

Chris. Perry.

He’s quite useful but never amounts to all that much. Chris Perry would vote for Chris Perry.

Marcio Santos

Brazilian International centre half part of Ajax’s all star squad. Part of his allure is that he seemed unable to agree a new contract with Ajax after a season or 2 and was available for nothing. One of those where his average ratings far outweigh his skill set.

Christian Worns

Wornsy (as everybody called him, no doubt) was everybody’s first pick for a centre back, mainly because he was always available when the game started and he was amazing. This was the guy you wanted to shore up your defence if you could afford the £6m or so. Martyn Oakley had some big words for Worns too:

“The best buyable centre back on the game bar none. Always available relatively cheap and on reasonable wages, like Landreau would form part of your backline for years to come.”

There you have it. The best bar none. Well liked, well nominated. But who does your vote go to?

A Cruel End

Posted on May 10, 2015 by David Black

Sadly, shortly after taking the league table screenshots for the last update, a tragedy occured.

My laptop battery was very low, so I saved the game and went to plug in the power. Mid-save, the laptop ran out of battery and switched off. I immediately feared the worst, re-loaded the laptop and went to restore game

I knew this wasn’t good, and upon loading the game, it closed straight away. The other saves, such as my Altrincham save, have survived, but the blog game is corrupted. I did a system restore but to no avail – the game is over.

So unless anybody knows of a fix for this, and I suspect there isn’t one, that brings an end to the series.

Having thought about it, I’ve taken the decision to start a new game very shortly. I hope you’ll stick with us through the new game, it’d be no fun without you lot.

So keep a look out over the summer for the community XI articles, and a new game will commence shortly. I had always planned to break for the summer anyway, the only question is whether I start the new game before or after the break.

Until then, thanks for reading and we’ll be back very soon

Reign in Spain

Posted on May 10, 2015 by David Black

We’re approaching the business end of the 2011/12 season and my time in Spain has gone better than I could have imagined. How you ask? Well, let’s find out

First off though, Louis van Gaal has passed his first test as England manager and qualified for Euro 2012…Norway 2012 if you will

It’s a tough draw, as it always is at the Euro’s, but Van Gaal is usually a winner. On another European front, Deportivo are still going strong in the UEFA Cup

Plenty English representatives, unlike the Champions League.

Brian Little is not endearing himself to the Anfield crowd failing to get out of that group. This also won’t help his cause:

The FA Cup is shaping up for an odd semi final line up

Blackburn have had a bit of a recovery since sacking their manager

His replacement is this chap:

Look who came crawling back to take over Ipswich

The League Cup has a more familiar look to it, despite plucky runs from Hull and Gateshead

Gateshead’s run to the semi final included this:

One for the North East fans there. Anyway, at Depor everything is going well and we’re into the top 6. The January window arrives and I’ve had a good look at the squad, Boye is the first to go. At 31, £5m is good money for a striker who can’t score

Pardeza is attracting some interest

I’ve decided to keep him until the end of the season, even though he’s only worth £7m and has 18 months on his contract, I’d like to re-establish Depor as a top club and then we can attract better replacements. But then…

My eyes pop out of my head at £11.5m and he’s sold. I feel like Kevin Keegan standing on the steps explaining it to the fans, except I don’t speak Spanish and they don’t understand Geordie. It doesn’t deter us particularly

The Champions League sees a huge shock as Malmo knock out Real Madrid. Kaiserslautern also thrash Juventus, casually.

The semi final draw keeps Barca & PSG apart, which is for the best.

And in La Liga, we’re actually starting to reel in the top teams

Nobody cares about the bottom but here it is anyway

Back home and Roy Evans is top of the pile, though Keegan’s Birmingham have a game in hand.

Leicester’s cause is not helped by this result

A bad day to not bring a sub keeper. Meanwhile WBA might have knocked Inter out of the UEFA Cup but they are struggling badly in the league.

Interesting to see McManaman’s Chelsea struggling again, and Beckham’s arrival at Everton has done very little for them. It’s crazy how amongst all the changes in this game, Everton have led a yo-yo existence throughout.

So, with just 2 months of the season to go it’s all to play for. Can anybody stop me taking Deportivo to the top*

*For those who follow the twitter account, you know the answer…

My Coruna

Posted on May 4, 2015 by David Black

After the 2010/11 season ended with a trophy laden season for Liverpool, you could probably tell I was ready for a change. However, until a job comes up, I have to go through the motions at Liverpool. Fortunately, a job does become available…

As I have mentally checked out of Liverpool, there’s very little transfer activity to report on, and we are brushed aside in the Charity Shield

Benny Lenie was my only free transfer signing, from Juventus. Roy Evans’ Leicester brush us aside and it’s a reminder that a fresh challenge is needed.The Champions League draw looks quite straightforward too

Luckily for me, Albert Ferrer is dismissed from Deportivo, and an opportunity arrives.

Depor are 17th in La Liga, in the UEFA Cup but only have £7m in the bank. It’ll be a long term challenge but it’s exactly what I am looking for. We’re off to Spain!

I joined Liverpool with them having been relegated from the Premier League, I leave them with three consecutive Premier League titles and numerous other trophies. Irreplaceable? There’s only one man for the job

Having failed to get Villa promoted, Brian jumps at the chance to be at the top level again and takes over one of the best squads in Europe. Obviously.

Deportivo have a very average squad, I’ve got my work cutout with so few recognised names

The best known player in there is Leonidas, who actually captains Brazil, partnering Ronaldo up front. The transfer window in Spain shuts at the end of September, so I only have a couple of days to bring in fresh blood. It’s unlikely I’ll be able to call on many of my usual favourites, but I can’t resist this:

I’ve set myself a simple target of staying up, the advantage of the window being shut is that I have no choice but to look at the players I have and work out which ones are any good. The Spanish season starts after the Premier League, so we’ve only played 10 games. In addition to that, I’ve taken Depor to the last 16 of the UEFA Cup

WBA knocked out Inter Milan, incidentally.

Villa need a new manager, so a legend of the game takes his first steps into management

His predecessor at Man Utd has moved back to England too following Wenger’s retirement

And where’s there’s one, the other usually follows

Everton are really struggling, and indeed my last game as Liverpool manager saw Blades score twice in a 2-0 win in the Merseyside Derby.

One of my first signings as a manager has moved into management

Whilst nobody is shocked that this didn’t work out

All of that leaves the Premier League looking like this:

Man Utd looking dangerous again in what must be approaching Fergie’s final seasons. Liverpool are some way off the pace, which is mostly my fault.

Beckham has already taken Everton off the bottom, and Steve McManaman is doing his usual terrible job at Chelsea.

Meanwhile, in my new home…

Surprising to see Valladolid up there, but Barca will no doubt muscle their way in. Sevilla were the first team to break the big two last year and they are well placed to continue.

Up in 13th now, it’s a small recovery but our goals scored column is frightening. 5 goals in 10 games is just inexplicable. Having said that, they had 1 goal in 6 league games before I arrived…

Join us next time as we continue to strive for mediocrity in Spain whilst Brian Little tries to work his magic at Liverpool

Community XI: Left Back

Posted on May 4, 2015 by David Black

This was definitely the hardest position to fill – a lot more household names in this vote. Once again, there’s 5 for you to pick from, and a little bit of reasoning below for each nominee

Niclas Alexandersson

For the man who can play everywhere, you could make an argument for him in any position. However, nobody likes buying full backs and you had to have this guy in your squad, so he often got shoe horned in there at left full back. Indeed, in the blog game Spurs are playing versatile Nic at left back even though he’s pushing 40. But they are managed by Joe Kinnear…

Roberto Carlos – 2nd, 38%

Well this hero starts at Real Madrid so you know he’s good. Hot on the heels of that free kick in Le Tournoi, Roberto Carlos is a set piece maestro which means he’s as useful in attack as he is in defence. The galactico left back.

Paolo Maldini – 1st, 43%

Again, one of the world’s all time greatest defenders needs very little justification. A model of consistency who can also play centre back, starts out at Milan and if he leaves it’s only for Real Madrid or Barca, or occasionally Man Utd if they’ve got sick of Phil Neville.

Alessandro Nesta

An Italian hero, who starts the game as a young star at Lazio. Martyn Oakley is a big fan:

The hardest position to fill. Frank De Boer was nigh on impossible to pry away from Ajax and would have been my first choice every time. Slightly out of position, but Nesta was much easier to get hold of at the time, usually in part exchange, but would work perfectly at left back or as the left side of a back three.

Ok, so maybe not as big a fan of Nesta as he is of Frank de Boer, but de Boer was married to Ajax so forget it Frank, you’re out.

Barjuan Sergi – 3rd, 11%

Sergi starts the game as Barcelona’s left back and is probably the most solid out and out left back on the game. Unfortunately as he’s at Barca he is basically impossible to sign, so it’s a pleasure only Barca will know of. This game was released before Keith Gillespie tore him apart though, I doubt he ever recovered from that. Kev W has more:

Barcelona Spanish left back, hard to sign for obvious reasons being at barca, if your lucky could get on a free after 2 or 3 seasons, best left back on the game

De la Penalised

Posted on May 2, 2015 by David Black

We’ve reached the end of the 2010/11 season and my Liverpool side are close to World Domination. But will there be an unwelcome visit from an old friend to spoil it all? Well, let’s find out.

League Cup

This is just about the only thing I’m not involved in, but Martin O’Neill has something to celebrate.

No doubt he’ll have been jumping about on the touchline like a tramp as usual even though it was against the club he played for for a good portion of his career. Anyway, well done etc.

FA Cup

Best get this in the bag ahead of what’s to come. White hot semi finals see one goal over 2 games, but Spurs book their place in the final.

We manage to join them at the second attempt

The final is a tight affair but despite Blades taking an early knock, Steffansson comes off the bench and scores twice in Extra Time

That’s 3 trophies for the season!

Premier League

As seems to be our trademark, we come into form in the business end of the season and it helps that we beat the teams around us. It’s looking good with a game to go

Our last game of the season sees us host relegation threatened Coventry

With Leicester hosting 4th placed Birmingham, it should be in the bag

It’s actually even easier than I could have hoped. Coventry manage no shots and are relegated with a whimper.

Leicester and Sunderland, who could both have won the title, manage draws but it’s nowhere near enough – we’ve won it 3 times in a row!

Leicester take the 2nd Champions League place, whilst the midlands are having a great time. Look at Man Utd down in 9th!

Watford were long gone, Bolton sacking Colin Todd and then David Beckham has made no difference, and Bryan Robson battled hard for Coventry but for no reward. Oh, speaking of sacking Colin Todd…

As ever Colin bounces straight back and over to Spain for a bit of sun to cheer him up

It is with great sadness I report that Wimbledon, my first club, have been relegated out of the league. Chris Perry, my former centre half, was their manager who took them out of division 3 and into the abyss.

Anyway, it’s not going well for English clubs across Europe. Here’s what got Colin the sack

Cup Winners Cup

And Roy Evans has a pair of silver medals

Champions League

Sadly, we miss out on a 5th trophy of the season as my old pal Franco Tannai, a star of my World Cup winning team, scores twice in De Kuip for Ivan De La Pena’s Barcelona.

Bugger! Barcelona finish a lowly 6th in La Liga so they needed this badly – Real Madrid win the league and cup double. Auxerre win the Ligue 1 which is a popular victory in these parts.

The managerial merry-go-round is in full swing

McManaman shows that famous loyalty to go and ruin another club. Gillespie, who has won Division 1 with Boro (Everton 2nd) moves on to a bigger club and Lee Jarman rounds it off. No, I don’t know who Lee Jarman is.

Awards time!

Freeman retains young player of the year and has an England cap so I’m proud of him. Brian Little win Division 1 manager of the year despite losing in the play off semi finals, though he did enjoy a Cup Winners Cup run so that’ll have helped his points. Stan Llewellyn, England’s keeper, has been relegated under the guidance of Lee Hendrie but is an obvious choice for player of the year…

Some retirements

Whatever.

Barry Fry calls it a day having taken City up to Division 2 via the playoffs.

Wenger retires in 2011 – Fergie is still going.

So what now? I think it might be time to move on, but where to? Join us next time and remember to vote in the Community XI poll

The Quintuple is on

Posted on April 29, 2015 by David Black

The 2010/11 season has rattled through to March and remarkably, Liverpool are on for the Quintuple, if that’s a word, though retaining the Premier League is looking fairly unlikely.

First things first and I’ve won the one everybody wants – the World Club Cup!!!

In all seriousness I’m happy to have to won it but I’ve already forgotten about it. To try and arrest my slide down the league I’ve decided the best course of action is to raid Man Utd for two if their best players

Big bucks but I have plenty in the bank and needs must. Marco & Bakayoko are getting on and Keane isn’t really good enough at the very top level. I’m pretty sure Steffansson is actually Henrik Larsson but who knows. Haeldermans is a goalkeeper and will be the long term replacement for Landreau.

It’s fair to say we didn’t struggle in the Champions League

And we carry that good form into the Quarter Finals

I have no idea why Banik Ostrava are so good, but I’ll find out just how good in the Semi finals

Meanwhile there’s some managerial switches going down. Scholes has failed again…

And been given another chance…

Shearer’s been given a second chance after his Notts County disaster

And this jerk is in his second job post England

Sheare, rather wisely given that he is 40, has restricted himself to a handful of games and Preston sit 2nd in Division 2.

The League Cup finalists have been decided

Stuart Pearce and Martin O’Neill will go head to head for that title. Speaking of titles, I’ve got another in the bag

Again, you can hold the parade as we ease past 1st Division Aston Villa. Villa are involved in a 4 horse race with Everton, Stoke and Keith Gillespie’s Middlesbrough for promotion.

Meanwhile the FA Cup Semi final lineup is shaping up.

Forest have gone on to win their replay but West Ham and Spurs are yet to meet again, so the screenshot will have to wait. Stuart Pearce is on for a double of his own if he can win the League Cup and perhaps knock me out on the way to retaining the FA Cup.

I decided to indule myself with this legend

One of my favourite ever players, I couldn’t not sign him. Blackburn bring an England international back from Spain

Whilst Leicester are also raiding Spain

Why Leicester you might ask? Well…

Roy Evans is at it again, a healthy 4 point lead plus a game in hand – though Sunderland will probably emerge as their nearest challengers should they win the games in hand. I would say it’s a three horse race but after the Leeds’ debacle a few seasons ago, don’t rule anything out. Meanwhile, at the bottom…

Watford are all but relegated, but it’s sad to see Bolton’s demise. Coventry, under Bryan Robson, have every chance of relegating Newcastle. John Hartson’s Leeds have nothing to shout about.

On a final Liverpool note, this was nice to see

Followed up by a convincing win for LVG with 2 of my lads on the scoresheet

One way or another, I am having a positive impact on the national team even if I may never get to manage them.

So we’ve reached the end of this update, but with all the Domestic trophies up for grabs in the final update of this season, you wouldn’t want to miss it.