Jump to content

Conquering Europe


oneteaminglasgow

Recommended Posts

September 2084

YP27Wtw.png

It would appear that the confidence boosting wins against Dollingstown and Newry at the end of last month were even bigger than I had anticipated, as they've given rise to a great wee run of form this month. Crusaders, Larne and Cliftonville are (usually) very good sides and we've dealt with all of them well here, albeit we only managed the draw with Larne.

The one thing I am noticing is that we have a tendency to completely fall apart within games. We were four up at half time against Dungannon and nearly didn't win, same story with Cliftonville where we were two up and cruising and then really struggled second half before they got a couple of reds and we saw it through. Even the Glenavon game we were three up at half time and then didn't threaten again. I'm not really sure how I address that, and we've gotten away with it mostly so it's not a big issue yet, but my head will be completely gone when we actually do throw away a 4-0 lead.

aK9ZOZi.png

Sitting pretty in the top four.

If we can keep up our form, who knows what will happen. Declan Donnelly has made a real difference here, even just with having a reliable penalty taker - think we missed five or six last season, and he's managed to convert them all thus far.

India

rcx3Vgi.png

A really poor opening game against Singapore - we should have been out of sight and they scored with their only chances but it's still a completely unacceptable result. We also had to rescue ourselves from late embarrassment against Syria, but at least we got there.

Jtc3IYH.png

On paper, we look ok but we really should have had six out of six from the games we've played.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

October 2084

fO0DuP2.png

Well, we were put out of the league cup, but aside from that it was another very good month for us. We should have beaten Coleraine, but gave away two utterly needless penalties so really only ourselves to blame for that one. Still, a win at Linfield is a wonderful result for us, and maybe we really do have a shot at doing something this season.

NVTNMhb.png

And we find ourselves in second place as we approach a third of the season complete.

Just a quick shoutout to Jonathan McGivern as well. His career prior to joining us looks like this.

jPV3Hqi.png

Bang fucking average in other words.

For us, however...

7Bwi3tk.png

Some effort. Hopefully he keeps it up and I haven't jinxed it by posting this.

India

UGlv0nF.png

Just the one game this month.

Picture the most one-sided game of football you've witnessed. This was like that.

MgIoTrI.png

Iran and China already out of reach - we'll just need to hope that Japan aren't up to much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

November 2084

CMdpW0f.png

Two good results and then an absolute doing from Glentoran. We just failed to turn up in that game, completely outplayed. Fair enough.

sZ9AUEL.png

As I said, the target for this season is Europe, and we're very much in that conversation.

I can see Glentoran running away with it a bit.

India

cjg2WYF.png

I went in to the game against Iran hoping that we could grab a point, and it almost worked. Unfortunately, once they took the lead midway through the second half, I couldn't change it up at all and that was that.

Good result against Singapore though.

JkqbhUY.png

And so we remain in the qualifying spots.

We also have the SAFF Championships coming up again later this month. Hopefully I can retain that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, oneteaminglasgow said:

September 2084

The one thing I am noticing is that we have a tendency to completely fall apart within games. We were four up at half time against Dungannon and nearly didn't win, same story with Cliftonville where we were two up and cruising and then really struggled second half before they got a couple of reds and we saw it through. Even the Glenavon game we were three up at half time and then didn't threaten again. I'm not really sure how I address that, and we've gotten away with it mostly so it's not a big issue yet, but my head will be completely gone when we actually do throw away a 4-0 lead.

 

Does your tactic drain players energies? I'm going with gegenpress and if I'm a coupla goals up in the 2nd half will instantly sub off the three most knackered players in like-for-like subs. Before I done this I was often losing late goals. This calms it down. As does just spending the last half hour playing Duffyball if my team are particularly fucked.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

South Asian Football Federation Championships - 2084

Aye, we've got another one of these. I'm hopeful that I can take India to a World Cup, but after that's done I'll be leaving so this is my last go at this tournament. We won last time, I'd like to think we'll do the same again.

IjkwD5D.png

That's my squad, and it should be more than good enough to win this tournament.

Our group is us, (host nation) Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bhutan. Shouldn't present any problems.

Spoiler

2R4nqfH.png

Absolutely no issues whatsoever. We played quite well and, while two of our goals were penalties, we created a fair amount of chances - as usual we weren't great at taking them though.

GkvbKqU.png

I would think the Afghans are our biggest challenge here, so good to get them out of the way.

Spoiler

1GeqESK.png

Another comfortable win. We didn't do a great deal in an attacking sense, but Sri Lanka never laid a glove on us and managed 1 shot the whole match. Comfortable.

ZUHBPun.png

And we're safely through to the semi finals with the minimum of fuss.

Spoiler

F7fF8nQ.png

Another walk in the park.

We're too good for this tournament, and should be winning quite easily from here.

5QDts6S.png

Simple stuff.

dxDELhg.png

We should beat them, but who knows. We're over 100 places higher than them in the World rankings, and haven't lost to Pakistan for 24 years.

Sri Lanka v the Maldives in the other semi.

Spoiler

4TcDL7v.png

Another really straightforward win. 

I'm almost certainly going to win this tournament, but it feels very underwhelming given how easy it's been for us.

WTs48do.png

We've already beaten them, should be doing it again.

Spoiler

0ZUeNrc.png

And there we go.

P5 W5 GF12 GA0. Incredibly comfortable.

FtFw4HR.png

PJwoGJ8.png

Another honour for my collection I suppose, but I'm really not overly bothered.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

December 2084

NDeeZqD.png

A bit of a slump in the middle of the month there, but still didn't lose any games - although we definitely should have lost against Cliftonville. All in all a very positive month I'd say.

sUdXV0o.png

Those draws have seen us slip into fourth, which is still not bad really. We're playing both Linfield and Glentoran in the first three days of January so that'll be pretty big. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

January 2085

vmuuTzP.png

bE4uQss.png

For some reason, in Northern Ireland you can give out contracts which expire half way though a season so I had two guys leave on free transfers. Both had made very few appearances this season so not much of a loss. Glenn Lewis also went to lower league Portadown, which is about his level so fine.

We did, however, bring in a new midfielder/attacking midfielder in Danny Fitzimmons. He's a good player, plenty of flair and should be able to contribute plenty of chances for us.

Spoiler

u6Y7Yr9.png

x0ckWSC.png

We were extremely poor in the opening 5 of these games, and really lucky to get through it with as many points as we got. The loss against Ballymena seemed to snap us out of it, and we've been great since then. We've also been missing Declan Donnelly for these games, so pleasing that we've still been able to get some goals.

3FOMbiw.png

We're probably out of it as far as the title goes, but we're firmly in with a shout of taking third and a European spot. Which was the target so that's nice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

February 2085

UcvRwMp.png

A poor start to the month, with us being dumped out the cup and being comfortably outplayed by Larne. We then had a horrorshow of a first half against Cliftonville and were 3-0 down, but the second half performance was ridiculously good and that got us back on track.

I rested a few guys against lower league Annagh United and it very, very nearly backfired but we managed to get through to another final in that competition.

pidI7eq.png

One game left before the split, and we're still in third.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mid-Ulster Cup final - 2085

We're playing Warrenpoint, a side who currently sit just above the relegation spots in the division below us. Should be winning this without too much fuss.

Spoiler

FI3y74d.png

And we did. Never really had to get out of first gear, they only had one shot on target while we had 11 and quite conceivably could have scored more goals than we did. Nice to win this again though - means the club have now won more finals of the competition than they've lost, which I find deeply satisfying for some reason.

LnjASik.png

lT9rbWX.png

Hooray.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

March 2085

yuvaWRs.png

Beating Bangor is, or at least should be, a given. I went pretty much all out attack which left us open at the back, hence their two goals, but at the same time we should have scored about eight goals if we were more clinical.

Missed a late chance to win at Ballymena in our first post split fixture, but on the balance of play the draw is fair enough.

8ke0Ot6.png

We're looking good for Europe, which is absolutely delightful.

India

kvNcScJ.png

That Japan game was something else. We turned 1-0 down to 3-1 up by half time, before a hattrick from Japan's forward had us behind again. We grabbed another equaliser, before Debjit Deb completed his hattrick with an utterly delicious lob.

Spoiler

77e3de5e7abf97571ca55b9313e08e21.gif

Deb basically dragged us through the game himself, which was outstanding behaviour from him.

We followed that up with a solid win against Syria, which was expected but still very necessary.

IVvVgnr.png

It puts us in pole position, but it's still likely to come down to our home game against Japan. We're playing China and Iran, while they're playing Singapore and Syria before the final game, so likely we'll only be a point ahead by that point. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

April 2085

qtm66cj.png

f**k sakes. We've totally collapsed in that last month, and probably should have lost the Cliftonville game as well.

We had a six point lead in third, but given we've only picked up one point from a possible twelve - would that be enough?

DJr7LWI.png

Phew. The absolute epitome of limping over the line there. Ballymena seemed to hit a great run of form, which helped us massively.

Still, target achieved and onto next season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

June 2085

9uHsMmX.png

An entirely predictable hounding from China, and a very comfortable win against a shite Azerbaijan team.

That's not the main news of the month though. The main news is this...

k8KiapP.png

The Syrians. A great bunch of lads.

qFKFzpp.png

We're six points ahead with six to play for, and a much superior goal difference. We're very, very close to qualifying for the World Cup.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, oneteaminglasgow said:

June 2085

9uHsMmX.png

An entirely predictable hounding from China, and a very comfortable win against a shite Azerbaijan team.

That's not the main news of the month though. The main news is this...

k8KiapP.png

The Syrians. A great bunch of lads.

qFKFzpp.png

We're six points ahead with six to play for, and a much superior goal difference. We're very, very close to qualifying for the World Cup.

BOO BOO BOO 

THE DISRESPECT IS UNACCEPTABLE 

😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Europa Conference League - Second Qualifying Round - 2085

Spoiler

guSKi0A.png

Not the ideal start to the tie. 

I think that second goal will be especially important, a one goal deficit and I'd still give us a good shout but two might just be a step too far.

Spoiler

f7X10UR.png

A bit of pride restored with the draw here, but we never really threatened to overturn the scoreline from the first game. A couple of half chances here and there, but nothing majorly troubling for HJK.

So, as I suspected, we go out immediately. Oh well, take the cash. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Transfers 2085

YyicRSF.png

i45KfSZ.png

The only big loss was Declan Donnelly - sold to English Premiership side Colchester. He'd asked to leave, then I convinced him to stay for the season before the board accepted an offer on him anyway. Oh well.

JGR4Btr.png

Vuw3ZzA.png

And the incomings.

Vicente Navas is a very good defender, but almost certainly doesn't have enough going forward to be a properly good left back for us. That said, he'll do the job and I couldn't get anyone better to agree to sign.

Spoiler

nwOsCfA.png

Stephen McMenemy is an attacking midfielder and was on loan last season, and makes it permanent. He was underwhelming to begin with last season, but seemed to be coming on to a game at the end of the season so hoping he keeps that up.

Spoiler

ij1ND5T.png

James MacKenzie is a left winger, and should have enough about his game to do a decent job in this league. Getting on a bit so he's only a short term fix, but he'll do for the season.

Spoiler

WJ9qgRc.png

Shane Smith is a right winger, and looks very good. Loads of pace, good delivery - aye, he should be good.

Spoiler

YLq1t8O.png

And my final signing is Ethan Stitt, my replacement for Donnelly. He's decent at everything, but not outstanding at anything. Doesn't have that wee spark that Donnelly had either. Still, he was the best I could find, and with decent service he should do well enough.

Spoiler

O44HiWs.png

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...