Glasgow Celtic

[Sean1967]

So I've taken over Celtic with the aim of winning the Champions League the way the game should be played. I've done quite a bit of reading through training & tactics section and have a much better concept of how the tactical side of the game works. I always neglected the match analysis tab. My results have been unbelievably better since I started adjusting my tactics depending on what it said.

So this is the squad I've taken over. Transfer budgets we're disabled so I was pretty much stuck with what I was given. A decent side, weaker than last year but good enough to dominate domestically and reach the Champions League Group Stage.

I only brought in the one free transfer, was tempted to bring in David Bentley too but I'm training Derk Boerrigter to cover the right side. Franco Zuculini looks like a great free transfer. He can play centre/defensive midfield and even offers cover on the right. In the January transfer window I hope to emulate the real life signings/sales.

Zuculini looks like a no-lose situation. He has enormous potential and sell-on value. The only problem is he doesn't speak English so I won't be expecting to get the best out of him until next season.

[forameuss]

The only problem is he doesn't speak English so I won't be expecting to get the best out of him until next season.

I wouldn't worry. Most people in Glasgow can't speak English either.

Good luck with this though, always interesting to see someone starting in Scotland. As you say, domestically you should be fine, but it's how you handle those key European games that'll make the big difference. Probably the first thing would be to try and increase the co-efficient enough so you can get that group stage spot back for Scotland. That'll help massively.

[Sean1967]

I wouldn't worry. Most people in Glasgow can't speak English either.

Good luck with this though, always interesting to see someone starting in Scotland. As you say, domestically you should be fine, but it's how you handle those key European games that'll make the big difference. Probably the first thing would be to try and increase the co-efficient enough so you can get that group stage spot back for Scotland. That'll help massively.

Haha that's true. He speaks Spanish and there's a few Spanish speaking players in the team. He's settled in frailty quickly and getting some good performances.

Thanks man. Yeah that's the goal. If I can get a few good players in and strengthen the squad then I don't see why we can't be reaching the last 16 on a regular basis. Maybe even quarters at a push.

[Sean1967]

So here's how the campaign kicked off. Pretty good if you ask me. The friendlies were pretty varied so I could give the whole team a run out. The loss to Krasnodar was a bit of a shock. Really underestimated them. We made up with it with results against Belgian sides Genk and Standard as I see them as about equals at the moment.

In the competitive fixtures we got down to business from the off. Gyor and Molde were no match in the qualifiers but Maribor did managed to give me a freight. Thankfully we sailed trough. In the league I was delighted to pick up maximum points. and keep 3 clean sheets in a row.

The squads glued pretty well. I don't really have a dominant goal scorer, Anthony Stokes is doing ok with 5 but only 1 of them came in the league. Kris Commons has stolen the show so far with 3 goals and 7 assists and has featured every match. New boy Franco Zucilini has settled in well and even managed to net twice so far. We have a couple of injuries but nothing too major.

Not much to mention in the league. Not far off how I expected it to look with the exception of Motherwell. We have a 3 point lead at the top thanks to a victory over Inverness.

It'll take a few upsets to see us even reach the Europa League last 32 never mind the last 16 of the Champions League. My prediction is Chelsea will top the group and it will be a dog fight for 2nd and 3rd.

[Sean1967]

After the first set of games I've got my tactic pretty much sorted. I want to play high up the pitch with wide players to utilise most of the pitch. The only things to note that you can't really see in the screenshot are:

• The wing backs will act almost like wingers and be the widest players on the pitch
  
• The wide midfielders will play a bit narrower and push up the pitch
  
• The striker will come deep to get the ball
  
• The attacking centre midfielder push up a bit to form a link between midfield and attack.
  

The biggest problems I had were there the space between the midfield and attack but I sorted that, crossing was very poor so I reduced the amount attempted. The last issue was the goalkeepers distribution but that was sorted by a single instruction.

I had to re-train a few players to fit the formation. The shape of the formation isn't as flat as it looks due to the players roles/style of play.

[Sean1967]

First thing I done when I got the chance was request and increased budget. I also sold Beram Kayal after Montpellier came in with a bid for him. Once December rolled around Mo Bangura returned and I managed to flog him to Nottingham Forrest for about £250k.

- Transfer budget: £4.94m

- Wage budget: £403k (20k free) p/w

Next thing was to bring in some reinforcements for the begining of January. I brought in Stefan Johansen and Leigh Griffiths (just like real life) for a combined £2.4m.

We extended our great run of form until the end of 2013, only losing in the Champions League. The highlights in my opinion was probably the games we managed to keep a clean sheet. In the domestic cups we remain in both going into the new year and even put Rangers out of the League Cup. We face Partick Thistle in both the League Cup and Scottish Cup in February.

We got some good results in the Champions League, better than I would have thought.

Kris Commons has been outstanding so far, top goalscorer and most assists. We've scored a decent amount of goals and managed to keep a good amount of clean sheets. We're hit bad with injuries at the moment so I may look to add to the squad in January.

We've opened up a big gap at the top and managed to stay undefeated despite a few scares. The table doesn't look too far off how I or the media predicted. Hearts still have work cut out for them to stay up despite their good start.

We done great to claim the Europa League spot in such a tough group. It went right down to the last day and Schalke came out on top to claim 2nd place. We guaranteed European football after the winter break with a game to spare.

[Sean1967]

January was a pretty busy month in terms of moving players out. Leigh Griffiths and Stefan Johansen had already agreed deals and arrived of the first of the month. I wanted to mimic Celtic transfers pretty closely so the players who went out on loan, went out on loan. I decided to keep Tom Rogic to avoid work permit issues and Joe Chalmers as he already played a handful of games.

Beram Kayal (instead of Joe Ledley) left after lack of first team appearances seen him hand a request. Derk Boerrigter has been very poor and I already have Kirs Commons and Giorgios Samaras who can play on the left. Amido Balde was unhappy at the arrival of Griffiths so he was shown the door. On paper Balde had a good record but of his 5 goals and 0 assists in 16 games, 3 of them was in the one game.

The final two sales freed up a hefty chunk of the wage budget so I brought in Keisuke Honda. I'm hoping he can half even half the impact of Shunsuke Nakamura.

All good things come to an end. In fairness the month was pretty poor. Not a single clean sheet. Thats something I'll have to look at improving in the 2014.

We were unable to open the gap at the top any further. Still 18 points clear, hopefully we can really kick things off in February.