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FC United – League Two 2016/17 – Season 8

So after losing in the playoffs in the last two seasons, I was running out of chances to gain promotion, luckily the board weren't bothered and offered me a new three year contract with the expectation of promotion again.

One initial problem I had this season was the fact that most of the teams contracts were due to expire at the end of the season and nearly everyone wanted £1K-£2K wages p/w and to be a key player - which would bankrupt us and cause the squad harmony to plumment (if it could that was).

Whilst I was busy trying to sign my players onto new contacts without going bankrupt, my chairman dealt us another blow by selling my vice-captain and possibly best player John Simpson to Bolton for £425K :( (at least he included a sell on clause, so we gained another ~£300K when bolton sold him for to Birmingham for £3m at the end of the season)

Transfers out also saw the sale of several other squad players who wanted too much money to stay at the club, though this did leave me rather under strength - I brought in defenders Holsgrove and Dootson to provided some cover in defence, the rest of my signings were promising youngsters for the future - with young Welsh Striker Derek Bowes looking promising, whilst midfielder Carl Day arrived due to my reputation turning down Championship sides Soton and Ipswich.

We were further fit later on in the season when my star defender David Robertson randomly demanded a transfer :(

Even with all our off the pitch problems (squad harmony again hit the bottom with players demanding first team football regardless of whether they were playing or not - it finally went at the end of the season when I got down to one unhappy player, seems more than one unhappy player triggers a revolt) we finally clicked on the pitch and were living upto our potential even embarking on an FA Cup run.

We overcame local rivals Oldham 2-1 in the first round, setting up a Second Round tie away to Sheff Wed, where I was quite happy to just take home the gate reciepts, but with Wednesday reduced to 10men just after half-time we sniffed blood and Christie managed to bring us level after 70mins, before Young Welsh Striker Jay White scored an unlikely winner in the last minute after just coming on.

This set up a Third round tie at home to fierce rivals Premiership Leeds and saw Leeds hand us a famous cupshock, after they were reduced to 9 men before half-time, my second string took full advantage (I was fully expecting to be hammered) winning 2-0!!!

This then set up a Fourth Round tie at home to Man City our other rivals (we have now taken on Liverpool, Leeds and Man City, just Chelsea left from our rivals to play), however they'd be no fairy tale ending money bags Man City proved too strong for us we survived until just after the half-hour when three goals in nine minutes ended the tie.

On the plus side the money from the cup run boosted our finances (and hopefully means my chairman wont sell anymore players) the slight disadvantage was it caused several league games to be postponed - this allowed Burnley to catch us up at the top of the league, but we had two games in hand - they'd managed to wipe out the six point lead we obtained over Christmas by beating title rivals Burnley and Oxford.

Me and Burnley quickly pulled away from everyone else and we claimed a playoff spot after 38 games, claiming an automatic promotion spot after our next game - Burnley were doing their best to keep pace with us and were only six points behind but we still had a game in hand.

We finally claimed the title after 42 games, and claimed the title with a record breaking 99 points, in the end the league proved too easy this season, we were top for pretty the whole season, with me claiming Manager of the Year.

Squad - player stars updated at the end of the season for League One.

Pedro was again a rock in goal, with Ryan Dawson again rotating with him.

In defence Jai Gray pretty much owned the rightback spot, on the left Ross Birch was also a rock, with new signing Graham Holsgrove providing cover.

In the centre of defence David Robertson was outstanding and I really don't want to lose him, partnering him was Timothy van der Meuelen, though new signing George Dootson is pushing for his place.

On the right wing Jose Manuel Ramos and Tamer Ross continued to rotate, as both aren't very fit, though Ramos demanding a transfer at the end of the season isn't helping. On the left Colin Coleman is my only left winger, so him spending half the season injured didn't help and saw me bring several players in on loan.

In the middle of the field, the loss of John Simpson gave Peter Tanner and Tom Ruddy a chance to impress, not that either them cemented their place in the first XI, it was left to Steve Patterson to control the midfield with young Spanish Midifielder Carlos Soria providing cover - I now have 14 players who can play MC so its not like I'm short of options, has anyone else noticed that there seems to be loads of DM,MC players?

Upfront Sendoa and Steve Ellison continued their fine partnership, with Ellison becoming only the second player to score 25 goals in a season for FC Utd. Providing cover was Scottish Striker Craig Christie.

Best XI

Snapshot - Carling Cup and Paint Trophy didn't go well, and I hope the board give me some money next season or at least increase the wage budget otherwise we'll be coming straight back down again.

Manager Profile and Club Infomation

A rather interesting thing I came across this season, was the appearance of a random Dutch gray player in my U18's?

So the plan for next season is to not come straight back down now I've won League Two I have no desire to be in their again, I've also got to try and keep hold of my players with Gray, Robertson and Ramos all demanding transfers, not sure what trophys they'll win at struggling Championship sides?

Career Overview

Season          League                League Finish     Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2009/10        Blue Square North         1st              Promoted - Champions
2010/11        Blue Square Prem          5th
2011/12        Blue Square Prem          1st              Promoted - Champions + FA Trophy & Setanta Shield Winners
2012/13        League Two                2nd              Promoted
2013/14        League One                24th             Relagated
2014/15        League Two                6th              
2015/16        League Two                4th              
2016/17        League Two                1st              Promoted - Champions

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I've just noticed out of the 43 players I have at the club (not including yth players from my academy) 14 are Irish, with only 15 Englishmen, with the rest made up of 6 Spanish players, Four Welshmen, Two NIrish, One Dutch player and One Trinidad Player, but no Scots.

Ireland is a nice place to scout now that I can actually attract players from there :)

Though France surprisingly has been a complete waste of time.

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Last night I signed a 37 year old Richard Wright.

Keeper has been one of the weakest parts of my team and even if he rarely plays he should be a decent tutor for the keeper who'll be joining in the winter transfer window.

Oh, and the potential good Championship DC who came into my U18s this season has turned 17 and signed a professional contract. He's only played 3 or 4 first team matches but an average rating of about 7.2 isn't too bad for a 17 year old. So that's the second weakest part of my team sorted out.

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I've just noticed out of the 43 players I have at the club (not including yth players from my academy) 14 are Irish, with only 15 Englishmen, with the rest made up of 6 Spanish players, Four Welshmen, Two NIrish, One Dutch player and One Trinidad Player, but no Scots.

Ireland is a nice place to scout now that I can actually attract players from there :)

Though France surprisingly has been a complete waste of time.

I've found Ireland to be a good source too. My Irish utility winger was signed when we were still in League 1 and is having some great seasons in the premiership. I have an excellent AM/FC I signed from Bohemians too.

France is a total bust on my save too. I have one AMRL in the u-18's who looks like he could make it but other than that the players are poor quality, overpriced and demand silly wages.

Surprised you have no Scots in the team. My starting DC's are both Scots and some of the talents I can't afford from Scotland are ridiculously good.

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Spain's been decent for me, as is Hungary and the Czech Republic. Here is the nationality breakdown for my squad:

English: 13 of 25

Czech: 2 of 25

Spanish: 5 of 25

Hungarian: 2 of 25

Italian: 1 of 25

Welsh: 1 of 25

Swiss: 1 of 25

Not much diversity but I prefer having a predominantly English squad. My scouts haven't turned up many good players from Ireland

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Can you guess how the season will finish with 1 game left this is the table with Dover in 4th could we get automatic promotion

Bradford 83 pts +21

Shrewsbury 81pts +23

Scunthorpe 81pts +21

Dover 81pts +17

have already played match and am working towards end of season so will give the answer when i do my season update in a little while

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Dover Athletic F.C. Coca Cola League One 2012-13 Season

Well what an end to the season with any 2 from 4 teams with a chance of auotmatic promotion on the last day of season. We went in to the game in fourth 2 pts behind 1st placed Bradford and level on points with Scunthorpe and Shrewsbury but behind on goal difference. This meant only a win would do and at least 1 of the others to lose and another to only draw for us to get automatic promotion, which looked like we didnt have a chance. But Bradford lost to Brighton, Scunthorpe beat Peterborough and Shrewsbury lost to Millwall. We went 2-0 up against Yeovil before halftime but a goal from them 7 mins from time had us sweating but we held on to win 2-1 and with the way the other games finished meant we finshed 2nd behind Scunthorpe gaining automatic promotion and our 4th straight promotion. So the Championship here we come!!!!!!!!!!

Table Graph

Before the season started i had worked on a 4-4-2 set of tactics which worked very well over the season that bought about promotion. Also I think it help with the 20 players i bought over the season for a massive £12,000. I also did the same as last season and got rid of the deadwood and players not upto league 1 standard and also the standard of youth players at the club was c*$p, so this amounted to me releasing a total of 31 players from all 3 squads. Doing this hardly costed anything as most were out of contract also managed to loan out a couple as well. This left me with 24 players who made 1st team appearences, 7 players in the reserves who didn't manage to get a 1st team game and about a dozen youth players who looking at them aren't gonna make the grade now we've reached the Championship.

The best player over the season for us was a summer signing called Shaun Mills who made 46 appearences in all competitions scoring 23 goals and assisting in another 11 goals, picking up 7 Man of the Match Awards as well.

1st Team Squad Best Player Transfers1 Transfers2

Also forgot to mention we were runners up in the JPT which help the finances no end with us finishing with a massive £1,036,283 in the bank so have asked the board to improve the training and youth facilities, which they have agreed as they say a club of our statue should have better facilities as they are still at the bottom level. The only down side is again squad harmony it seems that all season its been great but now we've gain promotion its drop to very poor. ( i noticed this when playing a previous save as FC United earlier in the challenge before my pc crashed and had to start challenge again).

Finances Confidence

On to next season:

  1. Avoid relegation
  2. Improve squad to acheive number 1
  3. Try to get to Quarters of either FA Cup or Carling Cup to acheive number 4
  4. Improve bank balance to do number 5
  5. Try to get stadium upgrade as dont have many seats and a capacity of only 6,000 googled stadium and should be able to as no housing in the area and only rugby clubs pitches nearby

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is anyone having trouble updating the challenge website, realised hadnt updated it at end of last season and cant connect

have a link saved in favourites thats not working and did search and tried two different links from search and they arent working

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Boston United Second Season Update 2010/2011

Once again we exceeded expectation. After game 30 it was getting all too easily and we won the league with two games to spare. We had an 18 game unbeaten run ended with a 4 game losing streak which was making me very nervous with 6 games left. But we hung on to clinch the title with second place finishing 7 points behind me. Once again we only had one real goalscorer in Sam Mullarkey. In most most of the squad chipped in with goals but Mullarkey just stands out with a clear 26 goals. Next highest had 12. Our keeper Martin Hansen has had a good season as well. I've kept faith with my two young centre backs who have done brilliantly.

In the cups we exceeded expectations in them as well. In the FA Cup we needed a replay to get past Nantwich in the fourth qualy round. We then beat Darlington 1-0 at home in the First Round. But we crashed out in the Second Round to Crewe losing 2-1 but we got 100k from that match. In the Conference League Cup not as good as I hoped but better than the board expected. Beat Southport in the second round but then lost in the third round to my bogey side Cambridge. In the FA Trophy I thought we was going to go all the way beating Newport, Workington and Histon to get to the quarters but then lost to Rushden.

All in all a really good season. I got Manager of the Year :D. Also made it onto the favourite Personnel. Not scoring as many one on ones as I would have liked but I can't have it all I'm afraid. We finished second in the discipline record in our league which i'm quite proud of. Here are some screenies of the season:

Graph

League Table

Confidence

Transfers

Season   Position  Division             Achievements
2009/10  3rd       Blue Square North    Promoted via Playoffs
2010/11  1st       Blue Square Premier  Champions

Aims for Next Season

1. Low to Mid Table ish

2. Build a good squad ro do aim 1.

3. Build up Finances

4. Have a little cup run

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Small update from my FC United 1st season, as it's drawing to an end.

I'm out of every cup, mostly due to my awful away form. In the FA I go to the first round with lucky draws. Basically all home games, but I did beat Stockport on my way there who's in L2. Lost the 1st round away to Burnley. They totally smashed me.

In the league we're looking good after a bit of a rollercoaster start. I'm laying 3rd and looking comfortable for playoff with 9 games to go. I'm 8 points behind Leigh Genesis (who's a bit of a surprise 1st to me) and 2 points behind AFC Telford. I got a game in hand to both of them, but I dont see me catching Genesis. They have won 7 in a row and dont look like stopping.

Me I'm having a hard time winning much away from home, but at Gigg Lane we've been great, grabbing 12 wins, 3 draws and only 1 loss so far.

I found out early that my defense was extremely weak. It was the one place I didnt manage to strengthen much with free transfers. So I've gone for a very attacking approach (a 4-1-2-2-1 with wingers and lots of forward runs), and it's payed off. Although my fingers barely have nails left on them after some very high scoring games away from home. I had a 5-5 draw against Blyth to name one.

I just played against #2 in the league AFC Telford at home, and was hoping to win it to push for 2nd (even though I dont think it matters if you'r 2nd or 3rd?).

At half time I was shouting at the game more than my players after going 2-0 down even though I had 3 times the chances they had. Had a few of these games. I calmed down and told my team I sympathized with them and I made sure Super Kyle knew I had faith in his abilities.

This was the end result : FC United - AFC Telford :D Really happy!

So now I got a game in hand and 2 points to catch on AFC. But my away form is so bad lately I dont see me catching neither them nor Genesis. Playoff should happen though, so I'm in for a few more nailbiters probably.

I have to ask though, how close is this league usually? I'm a bit surprised I can be in the playoffs having let 44 goals past me in 33 games and only won 18 (11 draws though). I've let in more goals than most teams, even some in the relegation zone. Genesis have let in 24 less than me, so if only my defence was stronger I'd probably be challenging for direct promotion. I have scored more goals than anyone though.

Also how come Leigh Genesis are so good? They where promoted last season like me. I noticed they are playing a 352 formation some games, at least against me. Very annoying, as I just can't get the grips on how to deal with it.

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I've found Ireland to be a good source too. My Irish utility winger was signed when we were still in League 1 and is having some great seasons in the premiership. I have an excellent AM/FC I signed from Bohemians too.

France is a total bust on my save too. I have one AMRL in the u-18's who looks like he could make it but other than that the players are poor quality, overpriced and demand silly wages.

Surprised you have no Scots in the team. My starting DC's are both Scots and some of the talents I can't afford from Scotland are ridiculously good.

Scottish players think they are too good for my team :(

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i share your problems with 352 formations. For me when i was in that league it was just me and another team in the top 2 all season until i started losing a few dropping to third. also the difference between finishing 2nd and 3rd is that if you finish second you will play the 5th placed team in the playoffs. 3rd placed obviously plays 4th. so theoretically finishing second will be the easiest option but football is a funny old game after all.

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i would like to introduce my new set piece coach

Nice signing. My latest coaching staff signings have been John Terry, Iker Casillas and Steven Gerrard. They're all damn good too. I tend to check out players just after they've retired as they seem to be looking for experience.

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I've had quite an... interesting start to my Champions League group stage.

after besting Sevilla 3-1 on agg to get into it, I was drawn with Barcelona, Milan, and Aberdeen. a close defeat at the Nou Camp was followed by a headscratching defeat at home to Aberdeen. here we were, joint bottom with Milan on 1 point with Aberdeen on 4 and Barcelona on 6.

what did we just go and do? we beat Milan home and away to all but seal our spot in the round of 16. fantastic work.

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kroblues FC United Championship 2016/17

I felt we didn’t really need much more strengthening this window, except where players had been let go. Ishmael Miller arrived for £200k from West Brom to replace Mosalman who left in the other direction for £550k. Numerous youngsters were bought in, most notably Andras Horvath, who formed the second half of my Hungarian CB partnership along with Kovacs. Raul, Mucha and Martinez were the new full backs, while the first choice full backs were Kerrea Gilbert on a free to replace Morris, who joined Dundee Utd for £325k, and Liam Russell, who returned for another loan spell, and in fact became the highest appearance maker, despite playing entirely on loan for us. He will be joining us next season however. Vlastimil Vlacek became another in a long line of keepers who have and will challenge Amos for the #1 shirt. Two other loans were Chris Horne, who has agreed to join on a free next year, a MC from Newcastle, and Paul Griffiths, who returns for another spell.

In the cups, we didn’t perform spectacularly. Walsall were dispatched by the reserves in the Carling Cup 1st round 2-0, but we were dumped out by Premier League Sheffield Wednesday 1-0. In the FA Cup we were beaten 4-2 by Wigan, a certain Danny Wellbeck, making his debut after a £6M move from Chelsea scored all 4.

We lost 3 of the first 5 league games, but won the other 2 and we were above a point a game, which was my target. Coming up to half way, both Miller and Hunter were proving to be a good partnership, Miller netting 19 times and Hunter scoring 9 as we finished the first half of the season in 10th, well above where I was expecting to be, but I wasn’t going to complain about a mid-table finish. Lee Peters joined from Man City for £500k in January, and his pace down the flank really helped as he set up 8 goals and helped with our charge up the table as we were beaten only once from January to March, and this put us in a playoff position, but automatic promotion was never going to happen. Only 2 more defeats followed in the remaining games, as we secured a very unexpected playoff position, and with my record I was feeling very confident, especially with the form of Miller and Hunter. Miller had managed to break King’s goalscoring season records and finished with 37 in the regular season, with a good chance of breaking 40 goals. Hunter finished with 26 goals, and has the record of 57 league goals in only 69 appearances.

Onto the playoffs, and we would play Ipswich in the semi-final, and we have never beaten them. The first game finished 1-1, as Hunter’s goal was cancelled out by league top scorer Danny Richardson, who scored 43 in the league. In the second leg we would likely have to beat Ipswich for the first time, and forgotten man Dave Cotterill came in from the cold to score two, while Miller added his 38th of the season to give us a 3-0 win and put us into the final for a place in the Premiership.

It didn’t start well. QPR’s top scorer put them in to an early lead which we struggled to equalise. Equalise we did, however, as Miller powered home his 39th of the season. His 40th came soon after with a perfect lob to end QPR’s hopes and give us a 2-1 win to put us into the Premiership!

Final Position: 4rd (Playoffs)

Top Scorer: Ishmael Miller- 40

Most Assists: Ishmael Miller- 15

Highest Rating: Ishmael Miller- 7.32

One to Watch: Scott Whelan- 19 y/o who already has over 50 appearances

Season League Position Points GD Notes
09/10     BSN    1st    84   +40 Promoted as Champions
10/11     BSP    6th    72   +19 –
11/12     BSP    3rd    88   +32 Promoted through Playoffs
12/13     CCL2   6th    81   +29 Promoted through Playoffs
13/14    CCL1    3rd    87   +41 Promoted through Playoffs
14/15    CCC     22nd   43   -18 Relegated 
15/16    CCL1    3rd    87   +32 Promoted through playoffs
16/17    CCC     4th    85   +34 Promoted through playoffs

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FC United 1st Season

Media Prediction:21st

My Prediction: 12th

Final Position: 1st

after a rocky start to the season, and a lot ov free transfers later Fc Utd soon started getting into the swing of things not losing a game for 10 games straight but then lost to league Leaders (at the time) Hinckley, but i beat them when they came to Gigg Lane. That match was a must win match as Hinckley were 1st still and i was 2nd. In the 2nd to last game i drew while i watched in amazement to Hinckley drawing to 14th placed Harrogate. Final Match i couldn't lose i came away with a win and they lost, with me finishing the season in 1st

League Table - http://g.imagehost.org/t/0254/Blue_Square_North.jpg

Ryan Mcgivern (rock at the back of defence and also he was Fans' player of the year) - http://g.imagehost.org/t/0196/Ryan_McGivern.jpg

Martin Hansen (my main keeper until i got loaned Ben Amos from Utd) - http://g.imagehost.org/t/0940/Martin_Hansen.jpg

Darren Mansaram (my supporting striker) - http://g.imagehost.org/t/0855/Darren_Mansaram.jpg

Chris Williams (Main striker and Top Scorer in League also Blue Square North Player of The Year) - http://g.imagehost.org/t/0249/Chris_Williams.jpg

Club Info Screen - http://g.imagehost.org/t/0447/FC_United_of_Manchester.jpg

Funny thing from Assistant Manager - http://g.imagehost.org/t/0852/James_Ashmead-2.jpg

Main Screen - http://g.imagehost.org/t/0758/James_Ashmead.jpg

Best 11 of season - http://g.imagehost.org/t/0148/FC_United_of_Manchester-2.jpg

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Is it ok if i start this now? Got 09 kinda late this year :o

It's never too late to start, IIRC there were people starting the 2008 challenge just a couple of months before FM09 was released.

Don't forget to post your prifle and register on the website.

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FC United 2009/2010 Blue Square North

Final table

Really pleased. Lots of goals, which was what I wanted since my defense is craptastic. I really need to get a couple of solid centrebacks in. I let in 33 goals in my away games, not so pleased with that, mabye I'll try playing more defensive away next year, but I dont think it would have worked with the lack of quality in my back 4.

Playoff final

I met AFC Telford, who I had beaten twice (4-3 and 6-2) earlier in the season. This game didnt turn out as high scoring though. It was tight and went to the wire. I was sure I had won it when I was 2-1 up after 120 minutes, but we managed to score an own goal :rolleyes: So it went to penalties, which turned out to be the nailbiter I expected.

The first eleven

- Rusk was really important in the defensive midfield.

- The two wingers are decent driblers for this level, that's about their only quality though, but it was enough to make the goals.

- Kyle scored 25 goals, very inconsistent, but scored som really important goals to.

Transfers

- Rusk was the really important one.

- Morley played most games, but only cause I really got no good defenders. He is good in the air, which is why I brought him in. I was looking for pace, but I didnt find any, so I went with airial ability.

- Liam Green was a leftback I picked up from the "england trial-match". He's average at best, but I needed a leftback. My assistant dont think he'll develop either.

- Briggs played rightback most of the season, he's the only one in my defense I'd consider decent really.

The cup

- I went out of both minor cups after 2-3 rounds. Away games getting to me again.

- In the FA cup I got home games all the way to the 1st round, where I was hoping to draw a big team, but it was "only" Burnley. Away from home though, and they thumped me 4-1. I did beat Stockport (league 2) on my way there which was a great game (screeny below).

A couple of highlights

- The comeback against AFC Telford (posted earlier)

- Another comeback, in the FA cup against league 2 side Stockport.

Goals for next season

- Get a better back four, and mabye a goalkeeper.

- Actually just improving every position of the team would probably be best, I dont see many of these players getting me another promotion.

- Avoid relegation, mabye push for playoff if I get lucky in the free transfer market. I dont think the level of quality between BSP and North/South is that big, so it might be possible.

Cheers.

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Oooh, I feel so far behind.

I'm just gonna start this now.

Can I ask what seasons you huys are on at the moment?

I'm gonna try and grab Tooting & Mitcham. (If that's possible)

Did anyone else choose them?

I don't think anybody has used them. They are possible according to the OP they have a reputation of 850 so aren't easy but aren't the hardest to get promotion.

Tbf, you might want to fast forward more than a year to give yourself extra chance to get them. :)

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This is getting a bit annoying now, Arsenal are just insanely good in my game.

League Table

They have just beaten me at home, 1-0, pretty much ending my chances of the title. Their goal difference is scary.

Guess who I've got next in the CL semi finals, Arsenal :(

They were like that in my game to until their manager changed.

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Gutted Daf :thdn:

Arsenal aren't doing insanely well on mine. 2nd currently after 28 games 5 points behind Chelsea and their Goal differences are around +35.

Liverpool won the league in the first season then Arsenal in the 2nd. They only won it by 2 points on 82.

Just lost 2 games in a row decreasing my lead to 5 points in BSP.

On an upside Leitch-Smith just scored his 100th goal for Staines :cool:

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