In part 1 we saw the Germans go out at an unthinkably early stage, but nowhere near as many shocks as in 1998. Hoddle’s got England flying too…can they? No, but here’s what happened anyway.

As a reminder, here’s the last 16 draw

Northern Ireland’s reward is the daunting prospect of Brazil, desperate to prove they are still a force after their early exit in 98. It’s brave from the Northern Irish but Gerry Taggart can’t stop Ronaldo, for some reason.

Meanwhile, huge news in England’s game – they’ve won on pens!

Good old Steve Haslam, what a guy. Meanwhile the currently where I’m currently employed run into the unstoppable freight train from hell that is Denmark.

The holders though, are out, beaten on penalties by Spain. Argentina don’t fare much better, stunned by Nigeria.

All of this leaves the Quarter Finals looking like  this:

Are Denmark finally going to end their streak of being runners up? First though, England play Brazil in a re-run of real life. Same result though

Just the 6 defenders on field for Hoddle, plus defensive midfielder Batty. When it all goes wrong, sub your captain on 28 minutes.

So we have a repeat of the 94 final, and Denmark looking to make it third time lucky. First up, Italy/Brazil

The Italians gain revenge for 94 by winning on pens! I’d love to show you the shootout but there were so many pens, going on the page broke the resolution of the screen and I had to exit. Italy will face Spain in the final, breaking Danish hearts a game early

Poor Thomas Gravesen, he’ll never recover. Spain though, having led 2-0, had a man sent off and pegged back to 2-2, showed great character and they’ll have every chance in the final. First though, who gets Bronze?

Of course. But who’ll prevail in the final?

Unbelievable scenes when Nadal heads home a late leveller before Spain’s most hated man scores the winner in extra time. Spain have done it! And 6 years ahead of schedule. Where we off to in 06?

Well. That’s handy.

Finally, the end of season awards. Can anybody de-throne Marashliev?

Yes, it turns out Viktor Onopko can. Who votes for these things? Good to see John Fashanu picking up the division 3 award too. That wraps up the 2001/02 season, it’s time for me to get fishing for a new job.

We’re taking a break from club football as it’s time for the festival that is the World Cup Finals. Because the game can’t handle the concept of co-hosts, South Korea aren’t given that privilege and instead it falls on Japan to put on the best party they can. Firstly, here’s the groups:

As ever we’ll focus on England with the important bits of the other groups thrown in. It’s a 2 parter, such is the size of the tournament. Speaking of England, here is their squad

Hoddle has, somewhat controversially, gone with Chris Bart Williams and Nigel Quashie. Shaun Newton is also a surprise inclusion, though in a world where Alan Stubbs and Steve Haslam are stars players, nothing is a surprise any more.

Group A

In group A we have the holders, Portugal. Other than that though, there is little to shout about. Portugal beat Mexico with minimal fuss, whilst Egypt squeeze past Iran. It’s then 0-0 draws all round leaving Portugal looking very strong and Egypt just a point away.

As it is, both sides win their last games and there’s a very symmetrical look about the group, though Egypt steal top spot by hammering Mexico.

Group B

This is another less than captivating group but the hosts Japan are putting up a decent fight, beating Ecuador to keep their hopes alive. Sweden and Nigeria are well placed after drawing with each other, though Nigeria’s win over Japan has them in the box seat

Sweden though are the party poopers and beat Japan Meaning Nigeria secure their advancement with a point against Ecuador.

Group C

This is a bit of a tough group with 94 champions Brazil paired with 98 hosts France. Should be hosts South Korea are also in there, along with Bakayoko’s Ivory Coast. Brazil beat France to get themselves off to a good start and put the French on the backfoot.

With Brazil going on to thrash the Ivory Coast, who are also beaten by South Korea, France are left needing a win against the Ivory Coast to be guaranteed progression. South Korea need to beat Brazil

France destroy the Ivory Coast and Brazil brush aside South Korea, ensuring France’s passage to the second round.

This was definitely the group for entertainment, look at those goals for and against columns.

Group D

Is this Glenn Hoddle’s time to become a hero? It’s a favourable group but a less than mighty start, just about beating the USA

You just can’t beat Steve Haslam. The USA recover to beat Jamaica, just as the Swiss already have. England vs Switzerland is the key game but England pass with flying colours

With qualification ensured, USA and the Swiss fight it out for the second spot whilst England need a point to ensure top spot

Jamaica are brushed aside, though they do put up a bit of a fight

The group therefore finishes with England on 100%, and Switzerland join them in round 2 after beating the USA.

Group E

Neighbours Belgium and Holland are located in this group, with Belgium surprising the Euro 2000 hosts and leading the group.

In the final game, Holland can only draw with Australia but Ghana can’t beat Belgium so it’s the two European sides who advance

Group F

The Northern Irish are here! What’s more, they beat Bulgaria despite the great Marashliev turning out for the Bulgarians. Denmark you may remember were runners up in both major tournaments so far and they certainly mean business here.

It means that Colombia need to beat Bulgaria to have any chance of getting through…

But they can’t, despite Rene Higuita being on the bench, and that means that Northern Ireland’s defeat to Denmark is irrelevant. They’re through!

Group G

What a rough group this is for Ireland, with both Germany and Argentina in there. The two heavyweights are up first, with Argentina nicking the win Cameroon secure a decent draw with Argentina, but look what Ireland do!

So Germany are out with a game to spare

More remarkably, Ireland are through with a game to spare. They can get turned over by Argentina and it won’t matter in the slightest.

As it is, a tepid 1-0 secures Argentina top spot. Good show.

Group H

Scotland have got another rough draw, similar to Ireland’s in many ways. Spain and Italy are feeling less charitable though, with Spain winning the battle of the giants and turning Scotland over.

With Scotland beating Saudi Arabia, they need to beat Italy to advance. They don’t.

Spain get through with 100% record, their decision to hound out Clemente looks to be a wise one.

With the group stages done, the last 16 draw is a corker

Who do you fancy from that? Join us next time as we run through the knockout stages and look forward to the 02/03 season.

It’s the end of the 2001/02 season and as you can see from the title, it’s another big one for Aston Villa. With Auxerre still in the Champions League, it could yet be a big season for me and to top it all off, the World Cup is round the corner. Shall we?

League Cup

As ever, the first final is the league cup – this time contested between Aston Villa and Gordon Milne’s resurgent Chelsea. It’s a close one, but Chelsea nick it on penalties

That is day time TV’s Jeff Brazier on the scoresheet, who has somehow forged a decent career

FA Cup

Meanwhile, the FA Cup is still ticking along and somehow, Division 1 Crystal Palace are hanging in there. Can they cause an upset to meet Arsenal in the final?

No.

It takes penalties after 240 minutes of goalless action, but Man Utd prevail.

In the final, they have no such trouble and Fergie has another FA Cup for his collection.

The Premier League

A fascinating finale, as going into the last games of the season, Man Utd and Aston Villa are level on points separated by only goal difference (in Man Utd’s favour). The door swings open for Villa as Chelsea claim a draw.

Villa can’t take advantage though, as a stubborn Coventry hold out with 10 men and deny their midlands rivals the title.

The final table:

Newcastle and Blackburn finish a creditable 6 points behind the top two but there’s a definite hierarchy with Man Utd & Villa at the top.

The three promoted clubs go down with Fulham managing a feeble 14 points, getting Ray Wilkins the sack in the process.

Top scorers:

UEFA Cup

It’s rare I mention the UEFA Cup but look at Leicester go

A very brave effort. Bayern take care of the final in their ruthless efficient manner.

The Champions League

The semi finals saw my Auxerre side go toe to toe with Man Utd, but it wasn’t to be. A narrow 1-0 loss at Old Trafford gave us a chance, but Faulconbridge missed a pen on the way to a 1-1 draw at home. Unfortunate!

Real Madrid go on to win the final, which is just as well for them as they come 2nd in La Liga and runners up in the Copa del Rey both to Barcelona

Ligue 1

As I mentioned previously, Ligue 1 is no longer a priority. I’ll be leaving at the end of the season regardless, and it’s worth peanuts, so I’ve been preserving players for the big CL games. We finish a very average 9th

I will be tendering my resignation after the World Cup. Meanwhile, Villa get over the disappointment by doing this:

Whilst Fulham bring an old favourite back to England

All that’s left then is to sum up Auxerre’s squad that I’ll be leaving them with. It’s a huge improvement over what I inherited and I imagine whoever takes it on will have few issues.

In the next update, I’ll cover the World Cup 2002 tournament and see if there are any jobs going

I’ve often found with this game that any modicum of success results in a massive failure elsewhere. Auxerre are definitely struggling to burn the candle at both ends, as Champions League commitments take their toll on our league form, whilst the season back home ticks along in a more familiar manner.

The good news first – we’ve successfully made it through the group stages!

The bad news…

Any draw at this stage is tough – the repeat of last season’s final looks particularly tasty.

On the domestic front though, we’ve lost that winning habit, and we’re stuck in midtable. Look at Marseille though, flying away with it. Blanc has failed badly at PSG. The thing is, the club get £250k for even drawing a CL match, £750k for winning one and £1m for getting through a knockout round. Finishing 2nd in Ligue 1 netted me £335k. It’s a no brainer which one I need to prioritise.

In worse news, my mate Nev is broken

I’ve signed Bakayoko to fill the gap but it’s nearly bankrupted us. This one’s for you, Erik

Benfica, Benfica, Benfica, Benfica

Damn!

Back on the domestic front, I am begging for a move back to the Premier League but nobody has been sacked, typically. With results like this being thrown up though, I can’t wait to get back there

Steve Simonsen, PFA Player of the Year & young player of the year is on the move. Remember Steve, I made you who you are!

There’s a rush on for ex-Man Utd youth but now established England international John Curtis

In the cups, Villa have another League Cup Final, this time against Gordon Milne’s Chelsea

Whilst the FA Cup is reaching the vital stages, Man Utd have really got the lucky draw there out of the possibilities!

They are however on course to retain their title, and could still take home a treble.

Meanwhile at the bottom, there’s nothing too unusual to report, the bottom 3 made up of two of the promoted clubs. I’m hoping, of these clubs, that Leicester sack O’Neill, but we’ll see.

It is of course a World Cup summer, so hopefully that’ll cause some movements or there’ll be some retirements. Hoddle has landed on his feet though with a very favourable draw.

As ever, we’ll round up the season in the next post before a World Cup special. Until then though, thanks for reading.

In real life, Sir Alex Ferguson announced the 01/02 season would be his last, although he eventually overturned that decision when his team was struggling. As we roll into season 5, Fergie is looking at building his most dominant Man Utd side yet and shows no sign of slowing down.

His forays into the transfer market are a sign of intent

Yes, it is disgusting that Figo costs £3m less than Alan Rogers. Elsehwere Liverpool are trying to get back on par with the champions after falling off the pace and sign England’s Ugo Ehiogu.

To give you an idea of context, here is the transfer market at the start of the 5th season:

Yes that is Joonas Kolkka of Crystal Palace fame. Anyway, the season gets underway with the usual curtain raiser

A real classic as ever – Mark Kennedy the hero. However, it’s time for the merry-go-round to start up again

It’s good to see PSG bring forward Blanc’s appointment by 12 years. Hopefully this will make them less dominant but I doubt it. One other important managerial change:

What I would give to see that in real life. Here’s how the table looks at the start of November – as you can see Man Utd are on another big unbeaten run and with only 5 goals against, it’s all very ominous.

At the bottom meanwhile, new boys Ipsich are propping things up and Everton’s yo-yo existence is continuing. But look at Kinnear’s impact on Spurs!

There’s also some huge news as two time Footballer of the year Marashliev is on the move. To Leicester.

Whilst the actual best striker in the world heads off to Real Madrid – we’ve seen this before though..

At Auxerre, I negotiate a Champions League qualifier against the Moldovan champions to get us in the group stages – and also my first manager of the month award.

The group draw is decent too, though there’s a sizeable object in the way

With 2nd not guaranteed to go through (6 group winners plus best 2 runners up back in the old days) I need to beat Real Madrid at our place to have any chance, I was pretty annoyed when this happened:

Fergie time seems to exist on the continent too! And yes, I am looking for a Walrus to play alongside Eggiman (and a Jerome to pair with Robson…)

Terrible puns aside though, here’s Ligue 1 at this stage of the season:

Marseille seem to have taken over as the form team, helped by the fact they seem unpenetratable. Monaco are falling off the face of the earth without the Champions League money, they look certain to cash in on Thierry Henry to balance the books. Meanwhile, I’ve signed my old pal Erik Nevland

The CL money has meant I had a little bit to spend at last, otherwise I’ve had to rely on a bunch of free signings or bargains

So, things are generally good but I’m desperate to go back to the Premier League, once I’ve banked the reputation for the Champions League games I should have no trouble. It’s a World Cup year so there’ll be plenty of movement in the next 12 months.

As ever, thanks for reading and feel free to comment either below or over at our twitter account

Season 4 has reached it’s finale and as usual, the events vary from sublime to ridiculous. Is Brian Little going to retain the Premier League for Aston Villa? Can anybody stop Barcelona & Real Madrid dominating European football? Let’s find out.

Transfer Window

Before we get into the winners and losers, a couple of panic buys

If that doesn’t keep them up, nothing will. Meanwhile, in Heskeywatch

League Cup

This is Liverpool’s tournament really, not even Brian Little can stop them. That’s one defeat in 4 years in this tournament, and that was in the final. Riccy Scimeca lifts the cup.

Ridiculous.

FA Cup

The Semi finals kept the apparent big hitters Villa and Man Utd apart, but they will meet in the final

It’s heartbreak again for Villa though as they can’t beat Man Utd. Never get on the wrong side of Sir Alex.

Premier League

It’s a double for Man Utd, as Villa fall short with a couple of draws late in the season. Man Utd only lose two games in the whole season though, which was always going to be difficult to keep pace with. Gordon Milne recovers Chelsea to 11th, somehow.

Meanwhile at the bottom, it turns out Romario can’t save Man City, as the 35 year old nets zero times in 8 games. Wimbledon survive at their expense, I’m pleased for my old boys but don’t think they’ll be around much longer.

UEFA Cup

I don’t normally comment on the UEFA Cup after my inevitable early exit but I’ll make an exception here as Man Utd complete a treble, beating Vicenza

Incidentally, Wenger led Bordeaux to the Cup Winners Cup, which is a decent achievement.

Champions League

The semi finals looked a bit lop sided, but it gets us the final we want

Real won La Liga before Barca beat Real on penalties in the Copa de Rey final – but it’s not to be for the Catalans in the Champions League final…you’ll never beat Steve Haslam!

Ligue 1

You may remember from the previous update, I’ve got Auxerre in the mix in Ligue 1 despite having nothing to spend. To cut a long story short, we’ve been awesome and managed to beat PSG and Marseille to get ourselves into this position:

There’s only 34 games in Ligue 1 so it comes down to the last day of the season. We brush Monaco aside, but sadly Ludovic Guily scores an 80th minute winner for PSG at Nantes

So close! Why is this bittersweet you may ask? Well, 2nd is enough for Champions League football, and that is far more than I could have hoped to achieve without a major signing.

PSG, like Man Utd, only lose twice all season, and one of those was to me. I could babble on all day about what a good season it’s been, take a look at this home record

Zanotti is the main standout with 19 goals from midfield, though Guivarc’h gets 21 goals and 16 assists in the lone striker role, which is a good return

Enough about France though as the curtain comes down on another season. Southampton have suffered relegation to divison 3 (that’s 3 relegations in 4 seasons) and they sack another manager. Who do you appoint?

That won’t help. Let’s see some awards

Marashliev’s at it again! Clearly the Messi of his day. Steve Simonsen sweeping up the PFA Awards is a bit of an odd one. Incidentally Roy Hodgson took Lille to Ligue 2 title and they are back in the “big time” – Auxerre received £335k for finishing 2nd in Ligue 1…

Arsenal waste no time in bidding for the 2 time Footballer of the Year

But he turns them down! Better off at Banik Ostrava anyway. And so, as the transfer windows starts to go daft again, look who Joe Kinnear’s bought…

Join us next time as we kick off the 01/02 season, where I’ll hopefully take my first footsteps in the Champions League

We’ve survived the Y2K bug and rattled along into 2001. To set the scene of who is on top of the world as we cross over into 2001, here’s the manager of the month awards so far this season:

Brian Little’s Aston Villa are again coming on strong, and they’re only going to get better with this signing:

That’s Fowler, Owen & Yorke on their books now. Brian Little is a genius.

One man who is definitely not a genius is Gordon Milne, who follows up his 8-3 defeat yesterday with a 5-0 home defeat to Forest in the Cup

Speaking of the FA Cup, here’s how the important stages are shaping up:

Arsenal however will be doing this without Arsene Wenger, who has been tempted by Bordeaux, who are the Cup Winners Cup holders which has probably enhanced their reputation in the game somewhat.

It’s worth pointing out Arsenal are 15th in the Premier League at this moment, so they go for my replacement at Wimbledon John Toshack, just because.

Wimbledon go for Mick Harford, so that’s nice. Here’s how the Premier League looks with a couple of months to go:

Blackburn’s run of form is remarkable, they were really struggling earlier in the season. Coventry’s Giovanni (of Barcelona and Olympiacos fame) is the league’s top scorer. At the bottom, it looks bleak for Bolton but somehow Gordon Milne has got Chelsea to 17th. I fear for Wimbledon under Harford but I hope they survive, I’d feel partially responsible if they don’t.

As ever, the first cup final of the season is the league cup and it’s Liverpool again in the final, this time against Villa

For those keeping score, Villa are in a final, a semi final and 2nd in the league. They lost to Real Madrid on away goals in the Champions League. On that note, two of the Champions League Semi Finals I expected. The other two however…

Nope, I can’t explain that either.

Meanwhile in France it’s still going better than I could have expected. I’ve had no cup runs and we were well beaten by Fiorentina in the last 16 of the UEFA cup, but we’re still in with a shout in the league

Once PSG & Marseille win their games in hand it will be back hdown to third but with both teams still to visit Auxerre, we’ve got a chance. Amazingly we have 11 wins out of 12 at home, with one draw, so that bodes well. Even finishing 2nd would represent a huge achievement given the resources I’ve had compared to the “big two”

As ever, in the next update we’ll run down who wins what, and find out if anybody can beat Marshaliev to World Footballer of the year

As we leave Euro 2000 behind, the 2000/01 season looks like a time of change. There’s a huge amount of free transfers on offer, with this the pick of the bunch:

Elsehwere the big two in La Liga continue to strengthen, although Oscar has gone from Barca to Real to Valencia…back to Barca. He will never learn

To keep up the status quo, Karanka continues the squad swap

Meanwhile Real Madrid do me a favour by taking Barthez out of Ligue 1

They also take their own striker back from Villa, he’s done his damage over in England with 58 goals in 72 games.

So that’s all well and good. I’ve decided to stay at Auxerre and see what happens, we’ve got UEFA Cup football again and although I want to head back to the Premier League, I need the right job to come up. This isn’t it:

This, however, could have some mileage. Poor Roy.

However, I forget that it wouldn’t nearly be controversial enough to appoint me, instead they pillage Tottenham’s manager

I don’t want the Tottenham job but they decide I’m the man for the job. It’s a route back to England but they’ve got no money and a fairly average squad.

I give them the old thanks but no thanks and continue living it up in France. Obviously any manager they choose is a downgrade from me (stop laughing) but this was unexpected

Well, I suppose he used to play for them. so Joe goes from Divison 2 Bristol City to Premier League Tottenham. How and why, I’m not too sure. Anyway, speaking of Spurs, look who is QPR manager

Lovely Teddy. On the plus side, the managerial change is working out well at Chelsea

Normally when you see a scoreline like that, you assume a keeper has been sent off or there has been some sort of shenanigans. Nope…

Meanwhile, Roy Hodgson sits back and laughs and is unveiled as the manager of Lille. Just take a second to let Noel Whelan’s hat trick sink in, and for how many saves Ed De Goey must have made to let in 8 goals and still get a rating of 9.

All of this madness leaves the Premier League looking like this in November 2000

That bottom 6…falls from grace all round. Over in France, things have been going pretty well and I’m in the upper echelons of the league after 11 games.

I had no money to spend and had to sell Agboh to PSG to balance the books, my list of transfers in is pretty depressing

The problem is, all the teams I’ve played so far are bottom half teams, and in the next few I have PSG, Marseille, Monaco and Bordeaux among others. So the table might have a more realistic look about it in the next update!

Until then, thanks for reading and remember to keep an eye on twitter for various other happenings @cm9798

Won’t it be strange not to play Michael Owen?

Ruining Pulp lyrics aside, welcome to Holland (but not Belgium) for Euro 2000. Firstly, a reminder of the groups:

The World Cup holders, Portugal, are missing after a terrible qualifying campaign which saw Yugoslavia prevail, and they join England in Group A. All of the home nations have qualified except Northern Ireland, so that’s something to be proud of. Anyway, England, still managed by Glenn Hoddle, have picked a decent squad including Real Madrid’s Steve Haslam and a 33 year old Gazza

Blow by blow then, here is how it all unfolded

Group A

The first game of the tournament sees hosts Holland and England play out a 1-1 draw. Shearer puts England ahead but Jordi Cruyff equalises. Yugoslavia edge past Sweden 1-0 and it’s already looking like a tight group. There’s more white hot action as England and Yugoslavia play out a 0-0 draw, Hoddle enjoying a tactical tinker during the first half and actually playing Michael Owen, but to no avail.

Holland and Sweden labour to a 1-1 draw meaning England need to beat Sweden to go through. Hosts Holland need to beat Yugoslavia to avoid being massive disappointments themselves. Fortunately for England, a 2-0 win over Sweden (Beckham and Shearer) sends Hoddle’s men through, but Holland are not so lucky and get hammered 3-0 by the Yugoslavs, meaning the hosts are going home. Or staying home, whatever.

Group B

The Germans are heavy favourites to win this group and achieve this in their usual style, winning all three games without conceding. It’s a battle for 2nd, which Scotland take pole position in by winning the all home nations battle with Wales

Unfortunately for Scotland, the Czech Republic turn them over 2-0 before going on to beat Wales, meaning they take the second spot behind Germany. Wales lose all three games and take the wooden spoon.

Group C

World Cup runners up Denmark are big favourites in this group, though Spain are coming into their own a bit with a host of star names. Spain draw first blood beating Denmark 1-0, whilst Switzerland edge past Slovenia. The Slovenians get a creditable draw with the Danes, whilst Spain can only draw 0-0 with Switzerland. This leaves Denmark vs Switzerland as the key clash, which the Danes win emphatically

Spain thrash Slovenia 5-0 to top the group, and the Danes join them in the quarters.

Group D

You’d expect France and Italy to qualify here and Italy lay down an early marker by thrashing the French 3-0. Ireland lose to Croatia which basically puts the writing on the wall for them, though they do claim a creditable 0-0 draw with Italy. France can only draw with Croatia though, meaning they need a handsome win against Ireland to qualify, and for there to be a winner in Italy vs Croatia. Predictably, Croatia and Italy draw 0-0 meaning Zidane’s late winner against Ireland is in vain. France are out

Here’s the final tables:

Quarter Finals

There’s a big World Cup re-match as England draw Germany, whilst the Czech Republic have a great chance to go as far as they did at Euro 96.

It’s not to be for England though, as Germany win 1-0

Hoddle seemed to approach the match with very little ambition

Anyway, the Czech’s beat Yugoslavia 3-1, Denmark beat Italy 1-0 and Spain ease past Croatia 2-0

Semi Finals

It’s a re-match of the 96 final, only this time Czech Republic win!

In the other Semi final, everybody’s favourite under dogs are at it again, as Denmark reach another major final, after an extra time win.

Final

It’s the final nobody expected but both sides have wrongs to right – the Czech’s were runners up at Euro 06 and Denmark suffered the same fate at World Cup 98. Who will come out on top?

The Czech’s have done it! Who would have thought it?

We’re all off to Italy for 2004!

All that’s left to do is sign off the season with some awards:

I’dl ike to point out that I brought Steve Simonsen to Wimbledon. Also, Marashliev? I don’t know who he is. He looks canny though!

See you for season 4

The third season has come to a close and it’s fair to say my first season in France has been a steep learning curve, but it’s also let the Premier League run wild in my absence. So in time honoured tradition, here is how the final months of 99/00 turned out.

Premier League

In a ridiculous turn of events, Aston Villa have won the Premier League. Villa become the 4th club to do so, following Man Utd, Blackburn & Liverpool. Brian Little is a Premier League winner. To be fair, they’ve won it at a canter and they’ve outscored everybody, well done.

Big fall from Liverpool in their attempt to retain their title, whilst last season’s third placed Blackburn had an awful season, finishing 15th.

Barnsley finally get relegated whilst Birmingham are relegated on the final day of the season, earning Gerry Francis the sack. The old Dons limp to 13th, having now lost Rio and Sean Devine for very little money.

The League Cup

Kenny Dalglish delivers Newcastle’s first domestic trophy in 45 years, finally ending Liverpool’s dominance of the competition

With Newcastle also finishing 4th it’s a very good season for Dalglish.

The FA Cup

A pretty low key Cup final but Leeds come out on top and get the Cup Winners Cup spot. You’ll also notice Jamie Redknapp is the latest in turncoat club as he turns out for Everton.

Ligue 1

Auxerre battle to 6th which I am delighted with, all things considered. 6th in the league, UEFA Cup quarters and French Cup semi finals – it could have been a lot worse

PSG and Monaco are an absolute force, and without Champions League Money I don’t see a way to break that stranglehold. To give you an indication, here’s what a season of toil earned Auxerre

I got 20 times that for finishing in the top half with Wimbledon! This country…

Champions League

I posted Barcelona’s squad previously and to say it is heavy loaded on the forwards front would be an understatement. Anyway, they just about beat PSG to retain the Champions League. They also win La Liga, so it’s a good time to be Louis van Gaal

So that’s it for another domestic season. My form with Auxerre after sorting out a formation is encouraging and I might stay for another season unless a good Premier League job appears. It is now time for Euro 2000 though, and as with World Cup 98, I’ll give it the respect it deserves and a full post to itself. Here’s the groups to get you in the mood

Yes – World Cup holders Portugal failed to qualify…