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Conquering Europe


oneteaminglasgow

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Europa Conference League - Second Qualifying Round - 2086

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Perfect.

Took a while to get into it, but we utterly controlled the game from about the half hour mark and fully deserved the win. New striker Dane Chism came off the bench to open the scoring which was hugely pleasing to see.

Should be able to see it through in the second leg.

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And we're comfortably through. They only had one chance, which they scored, but we looked like we could go up a gear if needed as well so pretty straightforward stuff.

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And that'll be our European efforts over. Oh well.

 

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Europa Conference League - Third Qualifying Round - 2086

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Well, that's not bad at all.

The early goal made me shite it and think we were in for a total humiliation, but we rallied a bit and actually put in a very respectable performance. Could have crumbled after the red card as well, but we've given ourselves a chance in the second leg which is more than I expected to have.

It's still an outside shot but we'll see how it goes.

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You fucking dancer.

Being FM21, I've still got the away goals rule and it's come in extremely handy for me here. If we'd been forced into extra time, we'd have gone out as they were definitely the dominant team and it looked a matter of time before they scored.

But they didn't, and we're heading through.

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Right, I know I said this last time but that will be a step too far.

 

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Europa Conference League - Fourth Qualifying Round - 2086

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That's an excellent result, but also probably one that sees us go out as we really needed something to hang on to in the Netherlands.

We successfully turned the match into a shitfest though. Lovely.

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It wasn't to be. We hit the post at 0-0 which will go down as our "what if" moment, but in truth they should have scored three or four goals in this game, and only some great last ditch defending and poor finishing prevented it so it would have been completely undeserved.

Still, it was a good run and we've kept it very respectable. I'm pleased with how it went.

 

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Transfers 2086

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That's the outgoings, and other than MacKenzie who retired it's mostly guys on the periphery of my team.

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And the incoming players.

Curtis Green is a centre half who can also cover in either full back position. Just a pretty solid player, nothing fancy but he will be good defensively.

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Dane Chism joins to give me some actual competition up front. He's a good finisher, good in the air. Bit slower than I would like and not quite as well rounded as Stitt is, but he should be good for some goals and an option off the bench at least.

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Gary Doran joins as an attacking midfielder or left winger. He's a good technical player, but I'm not convinced by his end product. Still, should do well enough.

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Shane Smith was on loan last season, and only made four appearances due to a broken leg. He impressed me in those four though, so I've made it permanent. Very quick, good delivery, bit of flair - about all I can ask for from a winger at this level.

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Damien Hill - back up goalkeeper. Should do fine if I need him, but hopefully I won't be needing him.

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And last up, Robert McStravick - a centre midfielder. Lots to like here, he's reasonably good at almost everything and his vision and passing is lovely. Should do a job for me.

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August 2086

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Will certainly take that start, especially with the European games thrown in. We should have been three wins from three in the league, but contrived to throw away a two goal lead in the final five minutes.

Still, not bad at all.

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And that's how things stand.

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September 2086

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The loss against Larne has really taken the shine off what would have been an unbelievably good month. Glentoran also only equalised in the last couple of minutes so it could have been a fair bit better than it was.

I'll still take it though. Very pleasing.

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Looks like it'll be the same group of teams competing at the top of the table again this season.

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October 2086

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Another good month.

We were fairly lucky to escape with a point against Cliftonville, but overall our performances against the top sides have been a lot better than they were last season. I think that's where we really let ourselves down, so hopefully a good sign for the season ahead.

Stitt is injured for the next month or so though, which is frustrating. Will need Chism to step up to the plate.

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Glentoran starting to create a bit of a gap at the top. Going to need to reel them back in, or at the very least not let it get bigger until we play them next. 

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November 2086

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Other than getting put out the League Cup by Glentoran for the second season running, pretty good. The season could definitely be the one if we keep this up.

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Well, Glentoran have games in hand but as things stand we're sitting top. Cliftonville and Linfield have both fallen back a little as well, with Crusaders doing well presently.

Will be an interesting season. As always we have a massively busy December coming up next. 

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December 2086

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Fantastic stuff. We were completely outplayed by Glentoran and, to a lesser extent, Cliftonville but we still managed to escape both games with a draw, and the rest of the month went really well.

Usually we struggle with December a bit due to the amount of games and our players being shattered, but we've come through that very well. I'm still hopeful that this could be the season we do it.

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And it's back to looking like a three way fight at the top of the table.

Another busy month up next too. 

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January 2087

Transfer window was open this month and, aside from letting a few of the promising young players head out on loan, there was only one bit of business worth noting. Incoming is 18 year old Portuguese midfielder Tiago Figueiredo on a free transfers. He allegedly had clubs like Porto and Braga interested in him as well, but obviously not as much as me. In terms of a ball winning midfielder though, he'll be too good for this division and I'm really pleased to get him in.

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The month went very well until the end of it. I'm actually quite pleased to have been put out the Mid-Ulster Cup, because I don't care about it and would rather the players got a bit of a rest, but I could really have done without the loss against Crusaders. 

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That loss puts us into second in the table, and it's all very tight at the top so still a lot to play for.

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February 2087

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I am over the moon with that.

Scraped through the games against Malachians and Larne, but got the six points there and then really should have beaten Cliftonville where we missed a penalty. However, we made up for that by finally beating Glentoran in a league game. They'd played a Europa Conference League game in Belgium two nights prior, and we took advantage of their tiredness wonderfully. Took our chances when it came, and sat back and soaked up pressure while limiting them to very few actual chances.

Wonderful. Cup win was good as well.

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Linfield also managed to lose 3-0 against Crusaders, so we've opened up a gap at the top.

We need to make the most of this. 

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March 2087

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Well, dumped out the Cup so we won't be retaining that, but we took maximum points in the league, and got a bit of a boost to our goal difference too.

About all I could hope for.

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And so we go into the split in pole position. Still three clubs in it I'd say, Crusaders maybe just hanging on to a title challenge but unlikely there.

We'll have games against both Linfield and Glentoran last, so hopefully we can have it secured before then. I doubt it though.

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Match 34 - April 2087

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A perfect start for us. We did our job, although there were a couple of dodgy moments, but Linfield and Glentoran both dropping points is superb behaviour from them. I'm a particular fan of Glentoran contriving to draw from 3-1 up in the 85th minute.

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Six points the gap now.

It's ours to lose.

 

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Match 35 - April 2087

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Was hoping we'd get game days where everyone all played each time, but that's no happening so Glentoran haven't played yet due to cup semi finals, but here we go. On the face of it, a poor result but given how the game went it's a point stolen by us. Shame that Larne couldn't do us a favour but there we go.

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Still in the lead, now down to four points but I'll take that.

Glentoran play Linfield next, while we have a weekend off.

 

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Linfield v Glentoran - April 2087

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It's fucked my naming convention right up, but this was a pretty huge result and that will be massively demoralising for Linfield given they led until the 87th minute.

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It also means that my four point lead at the top remains intact for now.

Up next, we're playing Cliftonville.

 

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Match 36 - April 2087

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Well, first off that's Linfield out of it.

Up until the 77th minute, we were going to be champions but Glentoran's comeback means that it goes on for another week. We were a bit lucky to grab the win, but I'll take anything at this stage.

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We're playing Glentoran next - a draw and we're champions.

 

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Match 37 - April 2087

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GET FUCKING IN THERE

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It was a bit of a smash and grab performance, and if Glentoran could finish at all then they'd have won pretty comfortably as the stats below illustrate...

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Again though, we've done the job and we're champions.

Buzzing tbh. Delighted to be getting out of the failed statelet.

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One game to go.

 

 

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March 38 - April 2087

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Oh well, f**k it.

I threw on Mark McNally, a 16 year old, for his debut and he lasted about 45 seconds before being sent off which is a fairly good laugh. Other than that, the game was shite.

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And there's the table. Still games to go in the bottom half, but that's of no concern to me.

Next on the list is Hungary.

 

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Next stop - Slovakia and FC Nitra.

As the name would suggest, FC Nitra hail from the city of Nitra - apparently the oldest city/town in Slovakia, and the sixth largest city in the country being around the size of Paisley. However, unlike Paisley and a number of the places I've pitched up along this save, it would appear that Nitra is actually quite nice and from what I can see online would be worth visiting. So that's something I suppose.

But what of FC Nitra? Well, their best ever season would appear to be in 1961/62, when they were runners up in the Czechoslovak league and were also runners up in the Mitropa Cup - which seems to be a competition for clubs in what used to be the Austro-Hungarian empire. It seems they got relegated the following season though. Since the split of Czechoslovakia, they've come third in the league twice (once in reality) - 2008 and 2035 - but mostly they've dossed about being a mid table top flight club, and occasionally being relegated before coming back up. For some Scottish interest, they were also the first and last club that Lubomir Moravcik played for, and sound like exactly the sort of club who St Johnstone would lose to in a Europa League third qualifying round match.

Presently, they are back in the top flight after promotion last season, and I'm looking to avoid relegation. I'd like to think I can do that and build from there. Plus, I'd like to win some cups. "Zero major honours" might be good enough for the Ayr United's of the world, but not for me.

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