We’re underway in 2010/11, and whilst some players are taking their first steps into management, others are wishing they hadn’t bothered.
Middlesbrough’s relegation leads to their star player being released, which is Juventus’ gain
Meanwhile, this guy is French!?
I decide to get in on the act and sign the current footballer of the year
The traditional season opener is the Charity Shield, but it’s a very mundane start for me
My 10th and final taker plays up front for goodness sake, what a fool. Anyway, it’s a kind Champions League group draw so that should help. Forest lose in the Prelims to Fenerbahce so I’m flying the Champions League flag solo
Gary Neville, who has just retired with 100 caps to his name, decides to take up management in the warmer climbs of Tenerife
But it’s bad news for his best friend
Can you sack David Beckham? Anyway Beckham gets over it by joining Gary in Spain, taking over as Albacete manager. How is this for a replacement!?
Another England legend under fire is Alan Shearer, player manager of Notts County
Things to note here, one, he is 40, and still plays himself every game. Secondly, he took over with Notts County near the bottom of division 1 – they now reside in division 3. It’s fair to say it hasn’t gone well.
That is no surprise. But when you’ve sacked big Al, where can you turn? Ah yes
My old pal Carl Cort from my very first job in this game, I’d love to say he’ll do a great job but I would be lying.
Radomir Antic is removed from his role, leaving Alex Ferguson & Nigel Spackman as the only managers who are still in the same jobs they were on 16th July 1997.
Meanwhile at Liverpool, it’s been easy in the Champions League with 4 wins out of 4 but the league form hasn’t been as good. Here’s the squad
It’s a good squad, really, but with Marco out injured it exposes the lack of depth in the quality. Wiltord, picked up on a free from Villa after their relegation released him, isn’t all that good. Keane has always been hit and miss whilst Bakayoko is an old man now. Ramasut, or the reincarnation of Ryan Giggs, is used sparingly mainly because he’s not a forward and I don’t play wingers, so it’s tricky. Junior Brookes has just been capped by LVG, which is tremendous.
The main man is still Austin Blades though, a starter for England now
Unfortunately he hasn’t looked like getting near the 25 goals he got last season. Here’s the table
Roy Evans, you old fox. Keegan’s Birmingham in second too, whilst you can’t underestimate the job Mark Hateley is doing at WBA. Meanwhile, at the bottom:
Bryan Robson’s Coventry look set for an early return to Division 1, likewise for Gerry Wilson (who?) and his Watford team. The aforementioned Spackman completes the bottom 3. McManaman’s clubs new and old are also in deep trouble, but there’s a long way to go.
Can I make it 3 titles on the trot? Will I win the coveted Super Cup? All big questions that will be hopefully be answered in the next update
We’ve got 5 nominees for the right back slot in our ultimate team, and with your help there’s some kind words about each of them below to assist you in making a decision
Before Gary Neville was a Sky Pundit, he was actually a very good right back. Aided by an excellent Euro 96, by the time 97/98 rolled around Beckham’s best mate was one of the first name on the Man Utd team sheet. Starts the game relatively young and goes on to get plenty of England caps – indeed he bowed out with 100 caps on the blog game. Not bad as an emergency centre half too
Christian Panucci (2nd, 24%)
Panucci is another one who starts at a great team, in this case Real Madrid, and sustains that level for many years. Panucci’s all round greatness is summed up nicely by @_markreynolds
“Great going forward as well as at the back – fantastic as a wing back. Scored lots of goals from corners as well with his heading ability”
Dario Simic
Perhaps a lesser known name than the previous two, fans of the game will know Dario Simic. Firstly, as a defender RLC, he’s a great utility man to have around. Secondly, he’s at FC Croatia (Croatia Zagreb to you and me) so enticing him to your club is not much of a problem. Finally, for the real nerds amongst us, he has a negative potential ability if you’re into your data editing, which basically means given the right nurturing you’ve got a star on your hands. Ker-ching.
Omari Tetradze
What can you say about Omari Tetradze that hasn’t been said already? Well, according to wikipedia, he was arguably the best right back at Euro 96, where he represented Russia. He could be picked up for relative peanuts in the game, as @fishmanmart will testify:
“Always worth having in your squad as he could play right side of defence or midfield and also centrally in both positions as well. If he was contracted to Roma, 75k would secure him, and he’d always come.”
Javier Zanetti (1st, 41%)
A true legend of the game, back in 97/98 Zanetti was a spritely 36 year old. I joke of course, he was in his early 20’s and rivalling the ageing Guiseppe Bergomi for the right back slot at Inter. In game, there was no competition, and Zanetti’s flexibility is a right sided midfielder made him an ideal candidate for a right wing back slot. The only drawback for Zanetti was his status as an “FGN” of which you could have only 3 in your matchday squad, and because I was young and reckless I often favoured the ridiculous attacking talent at Inter’s disposal of Javier, but then it was Ronaldo, Kanu, Recoba and Simeone, so you can forgive me, right? Anyway, in summary, Zanetti was mint and durable, you can’t say fairer than that.
The thirteenth season of this ridiculous game has come to a close and I have ran out of superlatives for how it has transpired. This is, by far, the oddest season we’ve seen to date. The 09/10 season finished with a World Cup but before that, all sorts of stupid things happened.
League Cup
We’ll keep it simple to begin with, my trophy cabinet is open again
West Ham will at least enjoy promotion back to the Premier League despite this set back.
Premier League
I’m mixing the order up a bit this time to bring you the news that I have retained the Premier League crown, indeed I managed it with a couple of games to spare, so it’s not all that exciting
It is however the bottom where things have gotten really odd
Aston Villa, for much of the 13 seasons, have led the way with Brian Little’s unique brand of attacking football. However it’s the defence that has let them down here, and they are down with a game to spare. To give you an idea of how bad their defence is, look at this Cup Winners Cup Semi final
Just a casual 6-2 loss to Malmo but an away goals win. To make things even more odd, they go on to win the final against Albert Ferrer’s Deportivo
I hope Brian keeps his job, he’s top of the reputation list but do a relegation and a major European trophy cancel each other out? Probably.
Anyway, the last day of the season is here
It’s Keith Gillespie’s Middlesbrough who go down from the 5 possible candidates. Wolves play the following day and draw 1-1 at Birmingham to secure their survival
For completeness, here’s the final standings at the top
A good season for Forest as they take the second Champions League spot, finishing handsomely clear of 3rd placed Man Utd
FA Cup
A good season for Forest gets even better as they book a final spot against Colin Todd’s Chelsea
Pearce will be loving how this has played out, Champions League and the FA Cup!
UEFA Cup
Fergie gets over his double disappointment by winning the UEFA Cup
It’s all too much for some people
He’s replaced by the Peterborough manager, for some reason
Champions League
To complete the treble, I need to do what I have failed to do with Auxerre and Leeds and that is get beyond the Semi finals. Juventus stand in the way
Always loved away goals. Barcelona in the final – Real Madrid have won La Liga and the Copa de Rey, so De La Pena needs this or else he’ll win nothing
Robbie Keane! The Irishman climbs off the bench and scores the winner in Portugal. Get in!
World Cup 2010 – Argentina
There’s no England after Laurent Blanc’s failings, but here are the groups anyway
The home nations hopes rest with Ireland and Scotland, Scotland have a decent group aside from Germany whilst Ireland have to tackle Brazil and former European champions Czech Republic. Holders France have a good group for them, whilst former European champions Spain go head to head with Holland. Hosts Argentina will fancy their chances of progressing.
Very few shocks around all told, Scotland lose all three of their games but Ireland make it through. Otherwise, it’s all gone to form.
Stand out tie here is Germany vs Holland. There’s an all south American clash for Argentina whilst Ireland have the unenviable task of taking on Denmark.
It’s a disaster for Argentina as Colombia topple them on penalties. Meanwhile, Germany edge past the Dutch thanks to my mate Fonzy
Germany/Brazil is the pick here, it’s looking like a blockbuster line up
Germany lay down a serious marker by easily dispatching Brazil. Ronaldo plays surely his last World Cup game. Semi final time.
The holders France will have their work cut out against Germany, whilst Spain/Italy will be an eye catching tie
Germany win through thanks to an OG, the holders are out!
Italy will join them in the final, and as reigning European Champions they have the chance to do the double
France at least claim 3rd
So the final, Germany vs. Italy
Ruthless German efficiency sees them through, a first World Cup win for them since 1990. They’re also going to have a big party in 2014
All that’s left of this season is the awards, and it’s good news for me and one of my youngsters
So that’s it, can the 10/11 season live up to this?
As we steamroller towards the 2010 World Cup, this crazy alternative world has thrown up a series of questions for this update. The most pressing is of course who will Chelsea bring in to replace Kenny Dalglish, the second is are Aston Villa really in relegation trouble and finally, surely Stuart Pearce isn’t going to win the Premier League with this beloved Forest?
Big news up first as there is only one man Chelsea can turn to
The Toddster wastes no time in getting back over to England after what was essentially a brief holiday to Spain. Bravo.
Another manager under pressure is Laurent Blanc. Fingers crossed!
A week of deliberation and the FA decide enough is enough. A truly dreadful reign for Blanc, and now here we are without a World Cup to look forward to. Surely there’s only one man for this job, my application goes straight in
WHAT!? Van Gaal turns his back on Barcelona to leave Alex Ferguson as the only original manager left in the game. I’m furious, what has LVG got that I haven’t besides years of experience and winning everything? Barcelona hire a former player to fill the void
LVG’s reign gets off to a very average start
LVG out! Please. The only positive is that he is old and will hopefully retire in time to let me have a go at it.
Speaking of old, Brian Little looks to have finally ran out of luck. In a change to the usual running order, here’s how the bottom of the Premier League sits at the end of March 2010
Thierry Henry’s absence has really been felt, but the 2 games in hand might save them. Clarky’s Newcastle are dropping like a stone, that goals against column is a problem.
At the end of the last update, Stuart Pearce’s Forest topped the pile and their good form has continued. They’ve also got a big FA Cup game to look forward to
Todd will be eyeing a final appearance already in the other Semi Final. It’s bad news for somebody taking their first steps in management though:
Not to worry Paul, I’m sure you’ll work again
Less than a month later, in fact. Everton sit 20th in Division 1, whilst Hull are 7th. Great time for Scholesy.
At Liverpool, everything is great. The Champions League group was easy in the end
The reward for that was Milan over 2 legs, which seems harsh
A nervy win at Anfield is backed up by a stubborn draw in Milan, we’re through!
We’ll have to be at our best in the Semi Finals though – remember with Leeds & Auxerre, I haven’t been beyond the Semi Finals
From one end of the scale to the other though, I’m also in the pointless cup final against Division 1 West Ham
The league table is looking healthy, with Forest due to visit Anfield in May that could be a huge game
Man Utd are coming back yet again, they just won’t go away no matter how many times they re-build. Fergie has got to be edging toward retirement though. Todd has Chelsea up to 5th, everything Colin touches turns to goals (see what I did there?). Blackburn, post Keegan, cannot be ruled out but having played a game more they’re relying on a Leeds style collapse.
So the final update of the 09/10 season will be along in a few days – I’ve got three cups to win, but the Champions League is the one that has alluded me to date. I’m off to ask LVG to retire.
This Swedish stopper starts at a poor Tenerife side and is notoriously busy as a result. As his average rating soars, so does his stock and he usually ends up at a middle of the road Premier League side
Starting in the Brazilian leagues with Cruzeiro, this youngster is available for relative peanuts. I’m talking about £500k. He turns out to be almost unbeatable, and for those following my career game his worth to my Auxerre side cannot be underplayed. A real beast.
Mickael Landreau (Winner – 42%)
Landreau had several nominations and I’m obviously a fan since I’ve signed him for Leeds & Liverpool during this career, and was my France goalkeeper when winning the World Cup. He starts at Nantes, where he regularly denied Auxerre when I faced them.
Realistically the only true top drawer goalkeeper on the game that you could attract away from his base club before he got too old to be worth bothering. Almost instantly as good as the top goalkeepers like Schmeichel and Van Der Sar, he would usually stay loyal, keep his wage demands low and serve you for over a decade.
Peter Schmeichel (3rd, 15%)
No words needed really, Man Utd’s number 1 was practically unbeatable in season 1 & 2, before the decline begins and he’s usually sacked it all off by 2000.
He may only stay at his best for about 2-3 seasons at the start of the game but he would be like a brick wall, beating Man Utd was so goddamn difficult
Neil Sullivan
The Wimbledon goalkeeper is ever so busy, the Dons aren’t the best but Sullivan’s hands are very warm. A midtable favourite of many.
Richard Wright (2nd, 20%)
Beginning at Ipswich, Wright is nearly always snapped up by a Premier League clubs within a few weeks of the game starting. With him being 19, you can get almost 20 years out of him for about £4m. I just hope for your sake he turns out better than he did in real life after his big move.
After my surprise league win to finish the 08/09 season, 09/10 has a lot going for it. My Liverpool side have got Champions League football to look forward to, and there’s a World Cup in Argentina at the end of it all. What is the game going to throw at us this time?
Some well known managers called it quits at the end of the previous campaign
Big Ron worked wonders at Birmingham and his replacement is a little surprising
Michael Kyd gets the player-manager job at Blackburn, I don’t know who he is. Meanwhile Spain celebrate qualifying for the World Cup by sacking their manager
They have done this before…and once against they choose PSG’s manager to take them forward
Fernandez, the former PSG & Spain manager, is actually brought back to PSG
Crazy times on the merry go round. Off it goes again…
Arsenal have really struggled for a number of years now, but this appointment is a bit of a coup
Leeds lost their Champions League qualifier to Real Madrid and with last season’s collapse fresh in mind, he’s obviously decided to move on. After 1 day, he gets manager of the month!
Leeds opt for John Hartson
The PFA player of the year is on the move too, joining Chelsea
Chelsea haven’t really hit the heights they did under Tony Adams but this might help.
The Charity Shield kicks us off, and we destroy Villa
To make matters worse for Villa, Thierry Henry has broken his leg and will miss the season (and the World Cup). Villa are really struggling in his absence and you’ll see later on.
Champions League draw is quite kind
A win in Munich plus 3 wins against Ostrava (twice) and Tblisi mean I’m all but qualified with 2 games to go.
The Premier League has another new leader, this time it’s Nottingham Forest. Stuart Pearce has gone about his business in a very quiet manner and has made them a solid Premier League side, though after finishing 16th last season, few would have seen this coming
I’m unbeaten in all competitions which is nice, but I’d rather be top of the pile. it will come though. My star player is the boy Blades, who’s on almost a goal a game
Chelsea, in 10th, decide that’s enough to get rid of King Kenny
Meanwhile if things don’t improve for Villa, Brian Little might not be far behind!
Leeds also struggling under Hartson, it’s all change once again.
Realistically, England need to win in Wales to try and get 2nd place in the Qualifiers
It’s another Blanc for Laurent though and that’s pretty much curtains. There is one game to go though, so it’s not over just yet. I’ll have your job soon Laurent, don’t you worry.
Join us next time to find out who replaces Dalglish at Chelsea and whether the FA finally sack Laurent Blanc
I was expecting the end of the 08/09 season to be fairly mundane, with Leeds enjoying a 13 point lead at the top of the table. Surely they would win the title again? Wouldn’t they?
League Cup
Everybody loves the League Cup. Especially Big Ron.
Ron Atkinson takes Birmingham to the League Cup, getting one over his old club in the process. Sir Alex will no doubt be back.
FA Cup
The semi finals went with form, Brian Little once again making a final, where he’ll face Chelsea.
Little, who has the best reputation of all the managers, brushes Dalglish aside in the final
Henry is still a major force in his early 30’s, whilst Brian Little is presumably ageless.
UEFA Cup
Liverpool are still in the UEFA Cup and, with the league not a realistic target, I’m going all out for it
A 4-0 win at home sets us up nicely for the trip to Betis, where a 2-0 loss doesn’t really matter. We’re in the final! Boro nearly make it an all English final but away goals puts paid to that.
The final sees us take the lead but Deportvio strike back late on to deny us.
It’s a big shame, but worse things will happen.
Premier League
To say Leeds have bottled it would be a massive understatement. Think Newcastle in 95/96 but with only 8 games to go. Their 13 point lead over me has been reigned in, with just one game to go, it’s all level.
I hadn’t even realised how bad it had got for them as I had mentally checked out of it, but as we kept brushing teams aside, McManaman crumbled. At the bottom, 4 teams can go down with nobody already relegated.
The fixtures are set up below, all I need to do is beat Wolves at Anfield. Leeds have the tricky task of Aston Villa anyway, I’m very confident. Stoke vs Everton, 17th vs 18th, is the pick of the relegation games. I guess the game has made a bit of an error here as with those two playing each other, West Ham are down already.
Can we complete the remarkable turnaround?
Yes, with ease. Leeds mess up against Villa anyway, their mindset must have been all over the place. So it’s another league title for me and a return to the Champions League. Get in! Just take a look at Leeds’ results over the last few months:
Good grief, 1 win in 10. Here;s how the table finished up
Champions League
In the Champions League, for once Spain’s big two have blown it
Milan are losing finalists again, for the fourth time in fact (with 1 win). PSG win the title for the second time after their success over Bolton in 2005.
Barcelona get over their loss by winning the La Liga/Copa de Rey double yet again. PSG win Ligue 1 and the French Cup in a dominant year for them.
One Frenchman who is definitely not dominating is Laurent Blanc
Good lad Austin, get him the sack. Few other pieces of news – Paul Scholes is in management after Peter Reid is sacked following Everton’s relegation.
His first move is to sign a Scouser who’s career has gone nowhere
All that’s left now is to look at the Awards – guess who is manager of the year?
Well played, me. Pascoe, surprise surprise, is a goalkeeper.
So that ends the 08/09 season, I’m still in a little bit of disbelief at how the league unfolded but that’s my gain. Next stop – Champions League!
The 08/09 season has belonged to one club so far, and as we reach March, Leeds have a handsome lead at the top of the Premier League which should see Steve McManaman win his first League title. But the real story is elsehwere… It is actually a Leeds player who makes the big headline, but only after Bolton sack Colin Todd. Todd led Bolton to a couple of 2nd place finishes, including last season, but being knocked out of a Champions League group containing Barcelona and Inter is apparently a sackable offence The important thing to note here is the date Colin Todd HATES the dole and goes to work in Spain 2 days later. Good lad. But who can possibly replace Todd? Ah, of course. It’s 80 times capped David Beckham, who gives up the chance to win another Premier League with Leeds to go and manage Bolton. Well, why not. I was marvelling at Leeds’ defence last time out, but this went out the window one afternoon Unfortunately, Leeds have barely lost since, and hold a commanding lead at the top. More on that later though. Another legend has entered the management game Montpellier are currently 8th in Ligue 1. Leicester have a really good go at winning the Super Cup. Roy Evans working his magic again, almost. A famous win never the less, but he’s as likely to relegate them if the Liverpool experience has taught us anything. Man Utd and Birmingham will compete in the first final of the season. Whilst the FA Cup Semi Finals see Brian Little’s Villa in the mix yet again. Chelsea vs Sunderland is actually quite a big deal given the current plight of thie game – Sunderland knocked me out in the Quarter Final. One cup I’m not out of is the UEFA Cup, having eased past Le Havre The old Tees/Wear Quarter Final there – Keith Gillespie clearly a managerial genius. Semi Final draw seems me up against Betis who I played a few years ago My season hasn’t been helped by a string of injuries, after Blades’ long term injury (which he has since recovered from and received an England cap), Bakyoko gets a big one My solution is to sign Ged Collier, who you may recall is actually Peter Beardsley re-generated I haven’t posted the squad for a while, so here it is The suspension situation is ludicrous, yes. Dirty buggers. The Champions League has a familiar look to it at the Semi Final stage When I do the next stat update in a season or so, I’ll be interested to see just how many times Barca & Real have reached this stage. Here’s the Premier League table in March 2009 With 8 games to go, Leeds will surely win the title. Kinnear’s Tottenham are 2nd but have played a game more – from 2nd down to 12th could be as little as 5 points if the games in hand work out. I really want to get 2nd as otherwise I haven’t improved at all over the last couple of seasons – and it might be time for a new challenge… Meanwhile, the bottom of the table looks bleak for Palace. Everton, as usual, are down there whilst West Ham have suffered an enormous fall down the table from last season. It looks like 3 from 4 though. As ever, we finish with a chuckle at Laurent Blanc’s England Home defeats to Eire and Wales puts qualification for World Cup 2010 in serious doubt. Steve Haslam deserves better. Until next time, thanks for reading and remember to give us a follow on twitter for some random musings
The 08/09 season has begun and as is becoming the nom, the pack are pretty close together, but as they all take turns beating each other, one team has built up a commanding lead.
To begin with, as there are more and more fictional players, here’s a quick look at the most valuable players in the transfer market in 2008
I don’t know why the most valuable player on the game is playing for Boro, nor why he moved there from Leeds last season. It just doesn’t make any sense. He’s an Icelandic International and Boro are mid-table ish just like everybody else. Boro have failed to hit the ground running this season anyway and one of the few “original” managers has now been fired
Who could possibly replace him?
Obvious replacement.
If it’s the older player that interests you, here are the most capped players in the World still playing
Oliseh and Gravesen have 110 caps each. Gary Neville has 100 caps exactly but Fergie has finally have enough of him and packed him off to Birmingham. Lokondo Mpenza is only 30 and has 96 Belgium caps, so he’ll end up with well over 130 I’d think.
Anyway, a couple of transfers to tell you about
Big moves there, I’m particularly pleased to see the back of Hubchev. This also raised an eyebrow
Still playing aged 35 but his first management gig.
The season kicks off with the Charity Shield – Hubchev scores for Villa in one of his final appearances before leaving for Real Madrid.
Villa take it on penalties, it’s an epic battle between 2 of the very few remaining original managers.
Meanwhile my league form starts atrociously. Marco breaks an ankle and Bochenski is getting on a bit, fortunately Austin Blades is back and I really need him to fire. Despite a rough start, we’ve recovered well and sit in the top 6, but it’s very close. Leeds, however, have stormed ahead, and look well placed to win back the title.
Even at this stage, 9 points is a big lead. Their defence looks in great shape too, but as I found out it can all go very wrong very quickly. Boro are 9th which is apparently enough to see off Bryan Robson – a totally mad decision as far as I can see. Meanwhile, at the bottom:
There’s as many points between 2nd and 16th as there is between 1st and 2nd. That’s going to take some sorting out in the coming months.
I’m in the UEFA Cup again, and a couple of wins against Lazio and Aab have out us in the last 16
An extraordinary game I feel the need to show you is this clash between Mallorca and Bayern
Only a 6 goal win would do it for Mallorca but they did it…hell on. Another man under pressure is Laurent Blanc
Yet somehow, he clings onto the job I desire the most. Just sack him already!
Anyway, see you next time for more unpredictable shenanigans
The 07/08 season has reached boiling point and with a clutch of clubs in the running for honours, not to mention a European Championships on the horizon, it promises to be quite the end to the season
The only interesting signing of transfer deadline day sees cash strapped Leeds flog their star man to Boro
League Cup
The first domestic silverware is Man Utd’s, beating Keegan’s brave first division Blackburn. Blackburn do however rack up 108 points to gain promotion
But can Fergie make it a double with the Premier League?
Premier League
It was a three horse race and with a game to go, we’re hanging in there but are very much outsiders
In truth we’ve struggled for form recently as Marco got a 4 month injury and then, unfortunately, so did new man Austin Blades
Sigh. At the bottom, there’s a few teams who could go down still
Here’s the last day fixtures:
Ideally I will take at least 2nd, but that will require a good result at Villa Park coupled with bad results for Man Utd or Bolton. Man Utd, at home to mid table Leeds, are red hot favourites. Newcastle could still go down so maybe they’ll have a go against Bolton
Bloody Clarky. My point at Villa Park in isolation is a good result but it needed Bolton to lose for it to be enough. They win handsomely, but not as handsomely as Man Utd, who stroll their way to the title. Cheers Leeds. Burnley, meanwhile, are relegated.
So a big failure for me, maybe I can put it right in the UEFA Cup?
UEFA Cup
Nope. Bremen go on to win the trophy, which is of little consolation
Leicester, however, do England proud and retain the Cup Winners Cup
That’s some result for Roy Evans.
FA Cup
It’s an all claret & blue final
Chelsea’s woes continue. Is Brian Little’s wonderful career going to glitter yet again?
Crafty Brian.
Champions League
Juventus stun Real Madrid, who just have to make do with La Liga (for the first time in 5 years) and Copa del Rey, whilst Barcelona will fancy their chances.
Juventus win on home soil, albeit in Rome, which is a bit of an upset. Maybe van Gaal’s reign of dominance is coming to a close.
Euro 2008
So after the disappointment of this season, I’m hoping Laurent Blanc fails msierably so I can have his job. Here’s the groups:
It’s a terrible group for Blanc, but hosts Spain have a decent group. My old buddies France, reigning World Champions, should fancy their chances in Group B. Firstly though, England. Here’s the squad
Good grief. Let’s see if the hosts get us off to a good start
Oh dear. England’s first game goes well
I’m amazed the introduction of Shaun Newton didn’t change the game. Game 2 is a lot better
But game 3 is game over
Here’s some headline results:
All of means Spain, France, England & Ireland are all out in the groups. Scotland are the only hope
Denmark’s constant run is ended by Belgium whilst Italy beat the Germans. The big shock though sees Scotland put out Portugal.
But can they beat Holland?
Poor Scotland. A good final awaits though
Italy take it, despite Patrick Ax and Fabien Ho-a-Hing winning world’s greatest name. Also, Kiki Musampa of Man City game. What a team. All aboard for Norway 2012
Awards time!
Quite sensible for once, although Andreas Andersson must be tearing up division 2. Neil Finn is a very irritating goalkeeper, if you are wondering. Two huge losses to the game though
Means Roy will never get the chance to lead England to underwhelming Euro and World Cup campaigns. A great shame. Anyway, thanks for reading, we’ll be back with the first update of the 08/09 season very soon.
