TheLutterworthFox

Fantastic start mate and nice to see you sign Renecke, signed him in my save as well and he's really good

Euro 2028 Qualification If you remember way back when I mentioned the group we had you will know it looked pretty easy! We had Sweden, Iceland, Kosovo, Faroe Islands and San Marino. Sweden were the highest ranked team (bar us) in 34th. The top two go through, a foregone conclusion, right? CORRECT!!! It was even easier than I expected! What an amazing campaign, qualification was sealed by game 8 so in those final 2 matches I picked a heavily rotated squad, only one game where we dropped points and that was away to Kosovo when I rested a raft of my key players. Stunning! Over the 10 games I have managed to give numerous players their debuts for the national side so below is a few players who made their debuts and I think will be key as we progress, not only to Euro 2028 in Italy but also in the years to come. Andy McCarthy - Goalkeeper - Dundee United McCarthy joined up the final squad in the qualification stage and played really well. He needs to improve his quickness if he going to become a top quality sweeper-keeper but I have high hopes and plan to keep to him in the squad as my 3rd choice keeper behind Angus Gunn and Callan McKenna Ricky McKeown - Right Wing - Aberdeen McKeown mad his debut in the Nations League victory over England and then, due to injury wasn't called back up until the September/October games, he's been in the last 2 squad, mainly due to his amazing form at Aberdeen where he has 5 goals and 6 assists in 18 starts. He played in the final game against San Marino and scored. Matthew Anderson - Left Back - Queen's Park One of my Queen's Park boys after his move from Celtic last season. He has been on really good form for me this season and got his first call-up in the final squad of qualification. He played really well in both games and if he continues to develop he will end up taking over from Josh Doig to become my 1st choice left back. Ethan Laidlaw - Striker - Brentford (on loan at Hibernian) I am really short of decent striker, Che Adams has been incredible for me over the save so far but he's now 31 and not playing for Southampton so I've had to start looking for alternative options. One of those is Ethan Laidlaw who's been on decent form since joining Hibernian, scoring 7 goals in 5 starts. He's been in the last 3 squads, making his debut in the away tie to San Marino where he banged in a hat-trick, since then he's made 3 sub appearances and scored in the final game against San Marino Tommy Conway - Striker - Rotherham Another striking option is Tommy Conway, he's been on decent form for Rotherham, scoring 7 goals in 16 games which has helped Rotherham into the Championship playoff spots this season! Conway came in for the June squad and has been in all the squad since, he made his debut against Faroe Islands and like Laidlaw he scored a hat-trick! He's made 2 appearances since, playing against Faroe Islands and played well without scoring and then coming on as sub against Kosovo where he didn't make an impact. The future really is bright, with the like of Luke White (CB/DM), Charlie McArthur (LCB) and Ben Doak (RW/LW), who I've mentioned before, we have a really decent-looking, young squad which can only improve! Now it's time to take the Euro's by storm!

27/28 Season - September & October It's been an action packed few months! League Cup A couple of close games but we deserved to win them both. We are into the final where we face, yes you guessed it, Celtic! Wish me luck! Premiership Just look at all that green, two blemishes though, the Celtic game was a close one, we are getting better against them but just not good enough. The St. Johnstone game at the end of October was one of those games, we hammered them, their keeper was POTM, a crappy loss but it is what it is! So over all 9 games, 21 points, I'll take that! Around about a third of the way through the season, we are comfortably in second, 8 clear of Rangers but 3 behind Celtic and they have a game in-hand. Europa League What a start! 3 games, 7 points, the 2 home games you'd expect us to win but we also played really well. Atalanta away was one of our toughest games and we did amazingly, we had most of the chances and came out with a respectable 1-1 draw. Already in the top 8, can we stay there? Finally, I want to talk about a couple of players who have been playing really well. George Tanner has been amazing the past few months, I brought Kwateng in to take his place at RB but he wasn't setting the World on fire and when he got a 2 week injury Tanner got his chance and hasn't looked back. He's only missed 2 games in the last 2 months and has averaged well over 7, getting 3 assists and a goal. Not bad! This lad is bloody insane! Summer signing Fabrizio Montalto is a revelation!! He's been our best performer so far this season, chipping in with 5 goals and 4 assists from his 14 starts with 3 POTMs, I mentioned when we signed him he had an £8.25m release clause, well he's been given a new deal and that release clause has increased to £12.5m, my plan is to keep giving him improved deals until I can remove that clause completely!

Thanks mate, fingers crossed! We need to somehow beat Celtic more than once a season! Thanks mate, really appreciate the kind words

27/28 Season - July, August and Transfers Another season is here and it's been a busy Summer! Let's firstly talk transfers and there have been a few out's The big one there is defender Nelson Abbey who moved to Leicester for a fee which could rise to £11.5m, the board went over my head and accepted it! The only other first-teamer on that list is Winger Churlinov, signed on a free last season, he was crap, a good profit! We also lost three first-teamers who left when their contracts expired, we say goodbye to Lewis Macari, Tom Lawrence and Alex Bannon. Now to the in's, we really did need to improve the squad and improve it I did!! Ryan Porteous - Central Defender - Free from Watford My replacement for Nelson Abbey and all for no money. He also helps out with the homegrown rule. A top quality centre back. Siriki Dembele - Winger - Free from Birmingham You'll see with most of my transfers there's a running theme and that's the fact they cost no money. Dembele comes in to add depth out wide, when I've had him in my Scotland side he's always done a decent job and I have high hopes he can do the same at Queen's Park. Rares Ilie - Attacking Midfielder - Free from Nice With me looking at switching to a 4231 (I haven't as yet), I wanted to bring in a top quality player who can play there, this lad fits the bill, he can also play as a CM and on the Left Wing. Enock Kwateng - Right Back - Free from Ankaragucu With Macari going I needed a new RB and this lad is a major improvement, not only on Macari but also Tanner who was my first choice. David Longwell - Full Back - Free from Bolton A player I'd been looking at for a while, his technicals worry me but his physical and mental attributes are top notch for a 20-year old Waylon Renecke - Left Back/Central Defender - £950k from Norwich I really needed a new LB with me losing Wilson-Esbrand due to his loan expiring, I couldn't find a freebie so went for this lad, only 21 so plenty of time to grow, he already looks really good and can also play LCB if needed. Fabrizio Montalto - Winger - £3.1m from Padeborn And now for the biggest deal of the window! This lad looks incredible and could be a massive player for us for years to come. The only issue is he has an £8.25m release clause! There were very nearly a lot more out's, Saudi Arabia and UAE came calling and bid for Kilkenny, Okeke and Muniz but there offers were woeful and they were all rejected. Now that's all done let's see how the results have gone in the opening few weeks. In domestic action it's started pretty well. 10 points from 4 games in the League is a decent start, we should've beaten Hibs but I am happy with how it's started. Now we come to Europe, we were supposed to be in the 3rd Qualifying round of the Europa League but somehow managed to bypass it meaning we only had a single round to get through to qualify for the League Phase. That game was against Nordjaelland, a tough ask but I had confidence. The first leg was away and we managed to win the tie 2-1 courtesy of a late goal. Then in the home leg we went mad, 4 goals in the first half sealed the tie, they did score twice but we sealed it with a 5th goal to win the tie 7-3! A second straight season in the Europa League and we have a decent fixture list in the League Phase All those home ties are winnable. Can we end in the top 8 once again? In more good news, we had 6 teams in Europe this season due to Hibernian winning the Conference League last time around. St Johnstone fell early in the Conference League, losing in the 2nd Qualifying Round but all the others managed to get through to the League Phases of their respective competitions. Champions League - Rangers and Celtic Europa League - Queen's Park and Hibernians Europa Conference League - Hearts A massive season ahead for the Scottish teams!

26/27 Season - Championship Group & End of Season Review With third place all but wrapped up the aim for these final five games was to see if we could chase Rangers and Celtic down, the past few games have been a frustration, out of the Scottish Cup and Europa League in the space of a few days, overall though it's been another good season, we've over-achieved in the main, I did however want to win a trophy this season. The final five games have been hard work, the players are shattered and we have had numerous injuries. After losing the opening Championship Group game to Celtic our chance of the top two was all but over, so I used the last four games to test out some different players and mess around with my tactics. The double-Libero tactic has been brilliant but I do feel we need some kind of fall-back tactic, something less mental, for when we face those tough games or if we hit a bad patch. Overall it worked well, we lost to Rangers but, in the other three games, we didn't concede a goal! That tactic I decided on was a 4231 with 2 DMs and personally it hasn't worked but trying out a new tactic when it's not pre-season always tends to be a struggle! In that final game I gave a debut to 2027 academy star Glenn Moore, playing as the anchor man, he put in a fantastic performance and scored!! So a decent end even if we did lose to the big two. We end the season in third place, a few points shy of where we ended last season but with all the extra game I have to be happy with how it's gone, would I have liked a trophy? Hell yes but when you look at what we've achieved this season has been a success! Premiership - 3rd Scottish Cup - Semi final loss to Rangers League Cup - Semi final loss to Celtic Europa League - Quarter final loss to Genk Really really good! Third place this season gets us a Europa League spot for the next campaign, we will enter in the third qualifying round. The board have also give me solid budgets for the upcoming Summer. The bank balance is looking really good. We end with £16m in the bank, a profit of £9m since the end of last season. Most of this has come from prize money from our European travels, £11.5m to be exact, an increase of £4.5m from last season. So I expected the budgets to be decent, it gives us around £35k per week in spare wages and a really decent sized transfer budget. Will I spend it all? No, but we do need to make improvements. As for our key men well there weren't that many players that excelled this season, only 8 players averaged over 7 and 3 of those are kids who only played a handful of games. Our best and most consistent performer was goalkeeper Andrew Fisher, a signing last Summer he had a fantastic campaign, he made 57 appearances and kept 22 clean sheets. He also ends as the clubs player of the season. With the challenge of Joe Taylor coming in Rodrigo Muniz stepped up his game and ended as the club top scorer, he managed 20 goals in 35 starts and over-performed his xG by 3. The final player I want to speak about is Winger Bobby McLuckie, even though he wasn't an ever-present in the side he ends with the most assists at the club, 22 starts, 22 sub appearances, 4 goals and 10 assists. And here is the whole squad. And the clubs Best XI for the season. As you can see, very few players averaging over 7. There were some good performers though but I really need to start improving this squad and replacing some of the poorer players. I need to look at replacing Tanner at RWB, Wilson-Esbrand, on-loan from Man City wasn't great and won't be hanging around so a new LWB is needed. I want to bring in another midfielder to help Okeke, Trevitt and Kilkenny who are all decent but suffered with the sheer number of games. We then could do with another wide-man, injuries have really affected us in those positions, Byrne has struggled, Bonazzoli has spent half the season injured and Churlinov has been rubbish, so big changes are needed out wide. A big Summer ahead! Now let's discuss Europe, it's been a really good season for Scottish clubs. Of the five teams who entered into Europe four progressed to the League Phases of their respective competition, two in the Europa League (Us and Celtic) and two in the Europa Conference League (Rangers and Hibernian). All four of us got our of the League Phase, us and Celtic bypassing the playoff round by ending in the Top 8 spots, in the Conference League both teams ended in those playoff spots. In the knockouts Rangers went out in the Last 16 of the Conference League followed by ourselves when we went out in the Europa League quarters. Celtic were the next team to go out when they lost to Spurs in the semi final of the Europa League. This left one team standing, Hibernian has made it to the Conference League final where they faced Hoffenheim and they only went and won!!! A massive boost for the nation co-efficient, we end this season with a total of 19.8, the third highest of all the nations and that means we jump two places in the rankings, it doesn't change the qualification places that we currently have but, with the average being over five years this means that it will give us a big boost in the coming seasons! Finally, a few screenshots of how we have progressed over the four seasons so far. What an amazing four seasons it's been!

26/27 Season - March, April & Youth Intake This may be a long update! We have lot's to go through, the continuation of our Europa League campaign, the Scottish Cup, the Premiership and then another decent looking Youth Intake! Let's start with that intake, there is a known bug in the game at the moment, which I'm sure will be fixed in the full release tomorrow, no matter what intake you get it always says it's a “poor intake”, that's because, if you look at the screenshot below, you'll see the “intake distribution” has 0 players for every position! Well, as you can see, that's not the case! One elite talent and four possible top talents. After looking through them all I have high hopes on a couple of them! Central Midfielder Glenn Moore is the elite talent and he looks really good, he has aggression and bravery and for a 15-year old has really good physicals. I am really excited to see how good he becomes! The other exciting talent we have is Striker Ewan Cardno, he scored twice in the intake game against the under 18's in a POTM performance. The future continues to be bright! Now to the results and we have reached the end of the Premiership regular season and as expected we are sitting in 3rd place. We've only played 4 League games in the past couple of months but overall it's been good, especially with so many games being played. We now have 5 games left to attempt to chase down the big two. A defeat to Falkirk the only blip but in that game we were decent but couldn't finish and hit the woodwork twice. 9 points from 4 games is brilliant, including a rare win over Celtic! Only the second time in three season's we've beaten them in the league. Now to the Scottish Cup, we faced Hearts away in the Quarter final and at half-time it was 1-1, the game then turned on a substitution, Churlinov got injured and with academy star Calvin Leslie the only man who could fill in on the RW I brought him, 9 minutes later he had scored twice to seal a 3-1 win! This lad is going to become a legend at this club! Into the semi's we go and we had the tough ask of facing current league leaders Rangers, the game wasn't great, very few chances and it was settled by a late penalty, unfortunately for us it was for Rangers, Danilo sent Fisher the wrong way to seal a 1-0 win, absolutely gutting as I really wanted a trophy this season. Finally, we come to the Europa League, we had already massively exceeded expectation by getting to the Last 16, we had Young Boys to play for a spot in the quarters. The first leg was away and we played really well taking a 2-0 lead by half-time, then came a minute of madness, Young Boys scored, a header from a corner, we kicked off, the won the ball, won another corner and scored from it! A 2-2 was a solid result but after being 2-0 up we go home frustrated. With the Hampden massive behind us we took the game to Young Boys in the home leg, they took the lead but we instantly hit back and at half-time it was 1-1, the game looked to be heading to extra-time until, with 8 minutes left Muniz pounced on a Byrne cross to beat the keeper and seal a 2-1 win! WE'RE INTO THE EUROPA LEAGUE QUARTER FINALS!!! And when the draw came out I was really optimistic, of all the teams we could've drawn we got probably the easiest tie, we could've got Ajax, Newcastle, Spurs and more, we ended up drawing Genk. Away leg first and I expected us to win, the players however failed to show up, we hardly made a chance and managed to lose the game 2-0. I still expected us to come back in the home leg and we really tried, Genk held firm until with a quarter of an hour to go when sub Joe Taylor grabbed a goal to half the aggregate deficit, we huffed and puffed but failed to blow the Genk house down, the whistle blew and we were out. A frustrating way to go out but when I look back I am delighted with the run we've been on, we started in the Champions League qualifying, we got all the way to the Europa League last 8! In good news though Celtic have managed to go one step further than us after beating Ajax in the Quarters, the face Spurs in the semi final, Hibernian are also through to the Last 4 of the Conference League and will face Omonoia Nicosia. A huge boost to our co-efficient, our season total is currently at 17.6, our highest that I've seen so far in the save and we sit 5th in the season rankings. If we continue this we should move up a few places in the overall co-efficient rankings.

26/27 Season - January & February Welcome back! Once again there was a bit of business done. Firstly, we lost one of our CBs, Baptiste, who frankly hadn't been amazing for us left for Burnley after they activated his £3m release clause. A big loss but a decent amount of money for a player signed on a free. We ended up signing three players, one whom can't play for the club this season as I cocked up and he'd already played for two teams! Bolstering the midfielder is Conor Noss, signed on a free from FC Blau-Weiss Linz, he looks really good and gives us solid option as a CM, an AM, out wide and up front! James Hill joins from Huddersfield for £95k, my replacement for Baptiste, a solid central defender who can also play right back. And finally, the cockup, Matthew Anderson joins from Celtic for £700k, what I didn't realise was he had played for Celtic and whilst on-loan at Huddersfield, this meant he couldn't play for another team this season! D'oh! Now to the results and let's start with the Europa League, it's has gone so much better than I ever expected! We had two more games in January and managed to claim four points but there is so much more to it than that. Besiktas was a solid point away from home, we then went in to the PAOK game knowing a win would seal a spot in the top 8, meaning we bypassed the playoff round, at half time we were 2-0 down and playing awfully, I switched formation and, well just look up!! Two injury time goals to seal a 3-2 win! 6th place in our first Europa League campaign and unbeaten, absolutely incredible, it's also good to see Celtic end in that top 8. The playoff round has also been played and we will face Young Boys in the Last 16, Celtic face Stuttgart. In other news both Rangers and Hibernian ended in the playoff spots in the Conference League and won their ties meaning they are into the Last 16, Rangers face Hoffenheim, Hibernian play Burnley! Now to domestic action, what I will say is I hate playing Aberdeen!!!! We've actually lost 3 games, twice to Aberdeen and then a shocker to St. Johnstone, I wouldn't say the wheels have fallen off, we are still massively over-exceeding expectations but we need to stop these defeats if we are to challenge the big two. We are still well on for 3rd place but the top 2 look out of reach without a miracle happening, 3rd will still be an amazing achievement with all the extra games we've had this season and the little money I've spent. The good news is we are still in the Scottish Cup and have an away tie against Hearts in the Quarter Final.

A really good move for you to look forward to mate. They are a decent team and a big upgrade on the club your moving from. I smell a league title incoming!

26/27 Season - November & December A bumper couple of months have gone by, let's see how it went! Europa League Three absolutely amazing results, that away win over Real Betis was one of our best attacking performances of the season. 12 goals scored, 9 points on the board and we are now in pole positions for a top 8 spot and have already sealed a playoff spot alongside Celtic. Premiership An absolutely incredible couple of months, no defeats and all my pessimism from the previous Queen's Park update has well and truly gone. We had a fantastic 3-2 win over Rangers and a solid 0-0 draw at Celtic Park. Overall in 9 games we've gained 23 points, that is title challenging form! And we are well in it, Celtic have actually lost a couple of games and we sit only a point behind them, Rangers are top and have just beaten Celtic 2-0, we are 6 behind them but know we can beat them. This should be a fun second half of the season! League Cup We had got to the semi-final where we faced Rangers, it was one hell of a game, defences were on top but Rangers scored minutes into the second half, we were playing well and eventually grabbed the equaliser midway through the second half, the game then petered out and extra time was terrible as all the players were shattered. The game went to penalties and we held firm scoring 4, Fisher in goal saved 2 Rangers penalties to seal the win and a spot in the final. Against Celtic! Where overall we played very well, we had chances but Celtic were just too good and although we defended well they grabbed the all decisive goal just before half time, we couldn't get back into it, Celtic held on and claimed the trophy. Gutting! So an amazing few months, it was a shame we couldn't win the League Cup final but we are getting closer and closer by the minute. We now have the better of Rangers on the whole which is great, now it's time to overtake Celtic!! If you look closely at the results as a whole you will see a couple of names that have an “I” and a number after it, they represent a player that's come through a Youth Intake and the year they came through. In the past few months, due to injuries and the sheer number of games, some have been given a chance, well two in particular. Firstly is Attacking Midfielder Kier Hamilton who came through the 2024 intake. With me switching the formation around a bit and going with an AM behind a pair of Strikers Hamilton has been given a few games before he got injured, he's made 5 starts in the past 2 months and 3 sub appearances, scoring twice and getting 2 assists. The other player is Striker Calvin Leslie, he's actually only made 1 start and 1 sub appearance but has 3 goals, a late winner in the game against St. Johnstone when he came on as sub and then a brace in the 4-0 win over Trabzonspor in the Europa League. The future is bright! In other news, we've had the Euro 2028 Qualifying group, we were seeded 1st and were given a rather easy-looking draw. We are ranked 17th, the next is Sweden who are 34th, Kosovo are 51st, we really should be winning this group and at worst ending 2nd which seals qualification for the Euros which is being held in Italy.

26/27 Season - September & October It's been a very busy few months! I want to try and keep these updates shorter than I have been as I know what I'm writing is probably too much. So let's see the results. Overall I have to be happy with those set of results given the sheer number of games, I am however frustrated, we are really not playing that well, we can hardly keep a clean sheet and have drawn too many games! Maybe my expectations are too high, when you drill down we have played 3 Europa League games and have gained 5 points..fantastic! Just look badly Celtic are doing! Then you look at the domestic results, we're into the League Cup semi where we face Rangers and in the League, yes we've drawn a few too many games but we still sit 3rd! And only 4 points off Celtic, maybe I need to stop being so pessimistic and realise, although we aren't keeping clean sheets, we're doing so much better than anyone ever expected at this point of the save.

I'm a tw*t, thought I was on my own thread!

2026 Nations League Let's take a brief look over how our Nations League campaign went, well we're in Division A and we have a shocking draw. France, England and Belgium, if we avoid bottom spot I'll be delighted We opened with a home game against France and came back from 2-0 down to seal a famous draw……in the 96th minute…..courtesy of an own goal!!! Next up was a trip to Wembley where we faced old foes England, we were battered but Angus Gunn in goal was possessed, Kane scored a penalty right on half-time but with 2 minutes left Billy Gilmour scored to seal a 1-1 draw. Massive! We then faced Belgium at home and played amazingly to claim a 3-1 win, Che Adams with a brace, this lad is a goal-scoring machine! And the big one, England at Hampden!! We took the lead just after the half hour mark but then, mid-way through the second half Declan Rice grabbed a leveller, after that we took total control. Jacob Brown, playing for Che Adams as he needed resting grabbed two goal and even though Smith-Rowe scored in injury time we had done it, we beat England!!!! This means with two games left we couldn't end bottom which was massive but the next game would decide who won the group, we went to the Stade de France and unfortunately lost to a late Kolo Muani goal, the man who knocked us out the World Cup! Gutting but we had done so much better than we ever expected. In the final game we faced Belgium away and we ended with a 2-1 defeat, a poor final two games but I have to be delighted, we beat England!!! We end the group in 2nd place, above England! Challenge wise (remember one of my aims is to top the FIFA Rankings), we have moved up to 17th place, a rise of 8 places since the start of the Nations league.

I'm so sorry, I was looking at your post when I copied mine over and totally didn't notice what thread I was on!!

Fantastic performance in the Europa League mate, making great strides!

Thanks for kind words mate. In answer to your question about rivals, this is what it currently shows. So Clyde are our massive rivals but it does say Rangers and Celtic are rivals too, whether they were there at the start of the game I don't know

2026/27 Season - July & August The World Cup is over and it's time to get back to all things Queen's Park. After last years amazing 2nd place finish we have another European adventure ahead of us which start in the Champions League qualifiers. The squad needs strengthening…..massively if we are to challenge. Was last season a fluke? Well we shall see! Firstly, let's discuss transfers.. Out-wise there weren't that many. Will Fish left, he fell out of favour and moved to Samsunspor for £375k, Jack Spong also left, he was never going to be a first-team player and moved to Legia for £76k, we also lost Steele (GK) and Hanlon (CB) who both retired, also McKenna (GK) and Marshall (ST) who both went back to their clubs after their loans expired. Now to the in's and there's quite a few so I'll go over them quickly! Darren Allison - Midfielder - £155k from Raith Signed for the future, I'll hopefully send him out on loan this season. Bobby McLuckie - Winger - £650k from Sunderland A lad I'd looked at last season but Sunderland nicked him, they now no longer want him so I brought him in, only 20 so plenty of years ahead of him. Andrew Fisher - Goalkeeper - £750k from Swansea With me losing both my main goalies in the Summer I needed a new 1st choice and Fisher will be that man, he looks really good, he has big boots to fill though after how Steele ended last season! Joe Taylor - Striker - Free from Luton Finding a decent Striker has been tough, Muniz was good last season but fell away towards the end and with Marshall going I was left with just Muniz. For no money Taylor looks good and will be a decent back-up. Keyland Watts - Defender - Free from Swansea I needed another left-footed centre back to provide back-up to Nelson Abbey and this is that man. Ryan Trevitt - Midfielder - Free from Brentford A signing I didn't need but when he popped up on a free I had to snap him up, he will provide decent back-up to Kilkenny and Okeke. Darko Churlinov - Winger - Free Transfer We really needed to strengthen out wide, Lawrence and Byrne were great last season but that was all we really had and both have struggled with injuries, with McLuckie and now Churlinov we have decent options on either flank. Federico Bonazzoli - Striker - Free Transfer A last minute signing, he looks really good and for no money, we now have 3 quality strikers, the difference between Muniz and Taylor is Bonazzoli can also play out wide, much needed versatility. So some really good signings and only £1.55m spent. Wages have risen quite sharply though which is going to damage the bank balance slightly, Europe is huge, we need that prize money! Talking of Europe, let's see how it went. Well our Champions League run did not last long! We were drawn against Panathinaikos and lost 4-3 on aggregate. Weirdly, in that first leg we absolutely dominated but somehow had to come back from 2-0 down to scrape a draw, not the result we needed at home and that was to be our downfall, a 2-1 defeat away sealed our fate and this meant we dropped down to the Europa League. Where, in the 3rd Qualifying Round we faced Neftci Baku or Azerbaijan. We were huge favourites and we made that count as we hammered them 3-0 at home. In the away leg we rested numerous players and defended like clowns but only lost 3-2 meaning a 5-3 win on aggregate. We now had one round to get through, if we win we go into the League Phase of the Europa League, we lose, we drop down to the Europa Conference. Standing in our was Club Brugge. A really tough task…..or so we thought! The first leg was at home, we had to make sure we had a lead to take to the away tie and my word did we win! A 4-0 hammering, a massive win, one of the best in this save so far, we were utterly dominant and clinical to boot! We sat back in the second leg, soaked up the pressure and saw out a solid 0-0 draw, we had done it, we had qualified for the League Phase of the Europa League! What an incredible win and £3m to add to the bank balance We then got our fixtures and I won't lie, they don't look too bad. Some tough tests, some winnable games, can we do enough to get into the playoffs spots? We shall see! A quick word on the other Scottish teams in Europe… Celtic - Lost to Shakhtar in the Champions League playoff meaning they dropped down to the Europa League Rangers - Lost to FC Twente in the Europa League 1st Qualifying Round, then beat Marijampole and Celta Vigo to get into the League Phase of the Conference League St. Johnstone - Lost in the Conference League 2nd Qualifying Round to Lugano Hibernian - Managed to get through 3 Conference League qualifying rounds, beating Gent, Riga and Braga to qualify for the League Phase So 4 of the 5 teams managed to get through, just a shame we don't have a team in the Champions League proper. Finally, let's see how it's gone domestically. Well it didn't start as we lost at home to Celtic but after that it's been green all the way. Some good results but we need some clean sheets! It was also nice to see Tom Lawrence grab a hat-trick in the final game of the month, his first game of the season after a 6-week lay-off. A solid start and we're well in the mix, I'm not expecting a title challenge, nor am I expecting to end as high as last season, if we can get a European spot and hopefully win a cup I'll be more than happy.

2026 World Cup Here we go, grab everything typical Scottish thing you own, we're going on a World Cup adventure to the USA, Canada and Mexico, with the group we have (Argentina, Germany and Costa Rica), it may not last long but it'll be fun nonetheless! Just to recap, here are the groups, we are in Group K with Argentina, Germany and Costa Rica. The top 2 from each group go through to the Last 32, alongside the 8 best 3rd place teams Scotland's 26-man squad has been announced and there's no real surprises, nor any major injuries. The big surprises are in defence with Queen's Parks Liam Morrison and 17-year old Newcastle centre back Luke White getting a callup after some good displays in the March friendlies. Lawrence Shankland also gets a callup, I am really short of decent Striker and he was about the best 3rd choice Striker I could pick! If everyone is fit and available this is my Best XI, as you can see I'm using the “double-libero” tactic that's served me so well with Queen's Park and did well during the World Cup Qualifying Campaign. The big decisions are in goal, where Gunn, Kelly and McKenna are all pretty even and at Left Back where we also have Doig and Hickey. On the bench we have the likes of McTominay and Lewis Ferguson who are both solid midfielders. As you can also see from the screenshot above, Ryan Gauld is currently unavailable, he contracted flu in the days before the first game and is our for up to 2 weeks! A big loss. Game 1 v Argentina I decided to do live updates on a Discord I'm involved in, here are those updates, pardon the language! Here we go, up first....Argentina at the SoFI Stadium in California. We only have one player missing, Ryan Gauld has flu! We're playing the double-Libero tactic that I use with Queen's Park, we may get hammered! 3 mins - OH MY GOD!!! It's 1-0 Scotland, a lovely move, its played out to Doak on the right, he nods it to McGregor who beats his man and slams it home! 10 mins - McGregor so close to a 2nd, his 20-yard shot is tipped over by Martinez 18 mins - THIS IS INSANE!!! It's 2-0 Scotland, we play a short throw , it falls to Adams, he squares it Doak, he turns his man and rifles it into the bottom left corner! 23 mins - OH MY F*CKING GOD!!! A Tierney corner is headered home by McKenna, Scotland 3 Argentina 0!! 38 mins - I am in shock, it's 4 F*CKING 0!!! Argentina play out, they pass it around and then bang, McGregor wins the ball back, he passes it to Adams, who with 3 men around and about 25-yards out smashes it into the goal!!!!! It's half-time, it's 4-0, Argentina have an xG of 0! I cannot believe what I've just witnessed Well this is the most boring 2nd half ever! There are no words, just look and let it sink in! That was one incredible game, we were utterly insane in that first half. We now have one foot in the Last 32 already, Costa Rica up next in 4 days time, if we win we should be through! Game 2 - Costa Rica If we win and Germany beat Argentina we're already through to Last 32! We've made some changes, to keep players fresh. I'm not sure why the lineup isn't in position order. Morrison comes in for Welsh, Tierney replaces McKenna at LCB with Doig coming in at LB, McTominay replaces Gilmour with Ferguson coming into midfield instead of McGregor, Morgan comes in at LW with Jacob Brown instead of Adams up top (edited) 40 mins - It's been a really quiet game so far with the best chances falling to Costa Rica but with our first highlight we take the lead, it's a nice move through the middle of the pitch, McTominay picks it up, plays a nice throughball to Brown who slides it under the keeper, 1-0 Scotland! 43 mins - Jacob Brown has to score, Doig goes flying down the left, he plays a stunning cross, Brown is free, but his header goes well over And that's half time, 1-0 Scotland! 57 mins - Doak hits the post, he does amazingly to spin his man, runs into the box but his efforts doesn't curl enough 75 mins - OH MY WORD! Stuart McKinstry comes on and rips the **** out of their left back, he totally skins him, runs into the box, lays it back from Brown who has an easy tap in! 2-0 Scotland! And that's full time, not as exciting as the Argentina game but a win is a win! We also had the good news at the end of the game that Germany had beaten Argentina 2-0, meaning we had qualified for the knockouts with a game to spare! Incredible! Game 3 v Germany With qualification already sealed there was no need to live update this game and I didn't want this post to be longer than war and peace so I just played and this is what happened.. We rotated the side once again and left out the players who were a game from suspension, I decided as well to go with the more defensive double-Libero tactic which has the CMs dropping to DM and the WBs moving forward a little bit. Well it went well, we didn't play amazing but defended for our lives. It looked to be heading for a 0-0 draw until right at the end, a Gauld corner was headed home by McKenna. A 1-0 win! 3 wins out of 3 and we end top of the group!!! Absolutely crazy, we're into the Last 32! We then got the draw for the knockouts and were handed an easier tie than we expected. We would face Egypt in the Last 32, here is the knockouts as a whole. Here is our possibly journey IF we win! Last 32 v Egypt Last 16 v France or Colombia Quarters v More than likely Brazil or Italy Yeah we won't look any further than that! Last 32 v Egypt We do like playing at the SoFI stadium! A strong team put out. Gauld in for Ferguson, Gilmour isn't fit so McTominay plays 2 mins - First attack and we have a penalty, A cross from Doak and Gauld is tripped McGregor steps up.....AND SCORES! 1-0 Scotland! Not a single other highlight, half time 1-0 Scotland This is the worst game ever seen, not a single highlight since the penalty! Oh a highlight! 82 mins - It's a red for Egypt, Trezeguet dives in on McGregor, right on the edge of the box, it's a shocking tackle and he's gone 83 mins - McGregor seems OK, Gilmour takes the freekick and it's wonderfully tipped over the bar 88 mins - Holy sh*t, Egypt have a chance, it's awful defending from Kerr Smith who just passes it to Egypt, they break clear, their first shot is blocked, it falls to Elneny who half-vollies it over the bar And that's it, full time, we win 1-0, a really poor game but it's all about winning. We so far haven't conceded a goal! Last 16 v France Yes it was France we would face after they smashed Colombia 5-1. A tough ask but with wins over Argentina and Germany under our belts I had hope we could cause another shock! McTominay is out and Doak isn't fit. Gilmour in for McTominay, McKinstry in for Doak, McGregor is also rested as he is struggling for fitness, Ferguson comes in for him 13 mins - First chance to France, Theo Hernandez gets down the left, he crosses it and its met by Griezmann but he shoots wide 21 mins - Another France chance, this time a Griezmann freekick goes just over 43 mins - it's all France, we've not had a highlight yet, and Angus Gunn is there to keep it at 0-0, saving from close range after a Mbappe shot And that's half time, we're doing well to keep it at 0-0 but at some point we need to create some chances 66 mins - Oh dear, it's a penalty to France, a corner came in and the ref blows for handball by Hyam. (edited) Mbappe steps up........ AND GUNN SAVES! (edited) It was an awful penalty in fairness 71 mins - It was coming and France eventually take the lead. Camavinga goes charging through the midfield, he lays it through to Kolo Muani who places it into the comer, Gunn no chance. France 1 Scotland 0. Now we somehow have to make a chance! 84 mins - We are going to need a miracle here, we've not had a highlight, we've defended well but not been at the races going forward. France make another chance, Kolo Muani cuts in from the right, he plays it to Dembele at a tight angle about 2 yards out but its blocked by Hyam It's all over, France win 1-0, we were absolutely battered as you can see in the stats and the fact that Angus Gunn ended as POTM! A poor way to go out but France were just too good. What a run though, to even get through that group with wins over Germany and Argentina was testament to this team. We will be back and with the youth coming through we will be better! The World Cup ended up being won by Portugal who beat Netherlands in the final A shock winner in my opinion.

The 4 team groups are what's in FM24, I'm not using another db

25/26 Season - Championship Group & End of Season Review Here we go, 5 games left, 5 games to become heroes, the League title is out of the question but maybe, just maybe, we could nick Rangers to that 2nd spot and claim Champions League football next season! No one ever thought we'd be in this position, the media, the board, and most definitely myself but here we are, on the verge of something incredible! Game 34 - Kilmarnock (A) Although we had tougher games to come I was worried about this one, Kilmarnock beat us 3-0 at Rugby Park earlier in the season but this was totally different, it took us a while to break through but not for the want of trying, we dominated and made that pay half-way through the second half, Kilkenny scoring from the edge of the box, that lead was doubled with 10 minutes to go when Lawrence nipped in at the back post to tap home a Paton cross. A brilliant 2-0 win and with Rangers drawing we were now level on points with them. Game 35 - St. Johnstone (H) The easiest on paper but it was far from it, we were really poor, created very little and the game was a damp squib. It looked to be heading for a 0-0 draw until with virtually the last kick of them, a corner came in, a massive scramble ensued, it feel to Callum Marshall who somehow knocked it home for Queen's Park. An absolutely huge win and even more so when we saw Rangers has drew again. 3 games left, we now sat 2nd by 2 points! Game 36 - Hibernian (A) You have these games on FM, a game where no matter what you do you won't win and this was one of those. We did take the lead, a lovely rifled finish from Muniz who had gone 9 games without a goal. Hibernian had 2 shots on goal……and scored them both. The first, a 30-yard drill into the bottom corner, the second, 25-yard wonderstrike into the top corner! We couldn't come back and lost 2-1. Rangers drew though, their 3rd straight draw. 2 games left, 1 points clear….Rangers away next! Game 37 - Rangers (A) I had no hopes for this game, just try REALLY hard not to lose. This was a game I don't think I'll forget in a long, long time!!! Rangers absolutely battered us from the off, Steele in goal for us was amazing and somehow, completely against the run of play we scored. Muniz with goals in consecutive games, he was played in by Kilkenny, a lovely touch and he slid it past Butland in the Rangers goal. That was where things went mad, I have never ever seen a game on FM where a team had so many chances and fail to score, they hit the bar THREE TIMES, Steele made at least 5 amazing saves, blocks on the line, sitters missed. Rangers smashed on the door and somehow it held firm. The whistle blew and we had done it! A 1-0 win at Ibrox and that meant we had sealed 2nd place and a spot in the Champions League qualifiers next season!!!! And breathe! Game 38 - Celtic (H) An end of season party at home to the Champions, we had wrapped up 2nd, they had won the League weeks ago and we came out with an absolutely amazing 2-1 win, a goal either side of half-time courtesy of a Lawrence penalty and another Muniz goal sealed the win and even though Tadic scored late on we had beaten Celtic for the 2nd time this season! What an absolutely bonkers end to the season, I'm definitely a lot greyer but I don't care! We have ended in the Champions League spots ahead of Rangers!!! 81 points! EIGHTY-ONE!!!! That an improvement of 25 points from last season. This double-Libero 523 tactic is an absolute beast, defensively not great but my word does it work!!! I am in shock, I have never been as engrossed as I am in this save and I sincerely hope it continues!! Now lets see who our best players were, firstly, the Best XI Average ratings are a little low but ah well, nevermind! Seeing Paton there is odd but then again McKinstry left mid-season and Byrne, his replacement spent a lot of time injured. McKenna was good in goal but Steele took over from January and was utterly incredible, a POTM performance in that Rangers game seals his spot in Queen's Park history, such a shame he's retiring at the end of the season. The clubs player and young player of the season goes to defender Liam Morrison, what a shrewd signing he's been £150k from Bayern last season, he's now one of our key men in defence, playing as the right-sided Libero. 45 starts and an average rating of 7.1 Tom Lawrence ends as the clubs top goalscorer, now I'm not sure if FM has a penalty issue but as you can see below a lot of his goals came from penalties! He scored 26 over the season, 15 of those from the spot, a good conversion rate though, 100%! The most assists goes to midfield maestro Gavin Kilkenny, another brilliant signing last season and all for nothing. This lad is something else, 52 starts, 11 goals and 9 assists, all from central midfield. And here is the whole squad for you to look over. And to cap the season off I end as the Premiership Manager of the Year! So with Champions League qualification sealed we have a lot of money coming in to look forward to, the balance currently is £7.1m and is expected to drop considerably, I'm guessing that all depends on how far we get in Europe, we enter the Champions League in the 2nd Qualifying Round, I don't expect to get all the way to the League Phase but if we can get into the Europa League that would be huge for the finances. Our decent season has been reflected in the budgets. We are already spending all of that £110k p/wk in wages so I will end up moving some of that £10.94m transfer budget over, there is absolutely no way we're spending that when the balance is lower than that and also expected to drop. Once again I'll be looking for cheap deal, freebies or loans for next season. The big news is the new stadium has been announced, we will be moving into the Malkay MacKay Stadium in 2029, a capacity of just short of 19k, a lot less than Hampden but our average attendance this season was around the 10k mark and that's with the home games sell-outs against Rangers and Celtic. Now let's see how the other Scottish clubs did in Europe, obviously we got all the way to the Conference League Last 16 which was amazing but let's see the rest Celtic - They automatically qualified for the League Phase of the Champions League but didn't do well, 7 points from their 8 games meant they ended 27th and went out Rangers - They managed to get through 3 Champions League qualifying rounds, beating Sparta Prague, Besiktas and Marseille to get into the League Phase but did even worse than Celtic, they ended 34th with 4 points. St. Mirren - What a run they had. The lost in the Europa League playoff to Sporting Lisbon but dropped into the Conference League where, in their 6 games, gained 12 points and ended 9th, missing out on the Top 8 on goal difference. This meant they joined us in the playoff round where they beat Apollon Limassol and then won in their Last 16 tie, beating Austria Wien, into the Quarters but that's where it ended, a narrow defeat to Real Sociedad. Amazing! Hearts - They lost in the Europa League 1st Qualifying Round to Luzern which meant dropping to the Conference League Qualifiers where they beat Fehervar in the 3rd Round before being knocked out in the Playoff Round to Brighton. So not bad, but not brilliant. Seeing both clubs go out in the League Phase of the Champions League is not helpful to our co-efficient. We ended this season 14th with a co-efficient of 34.2 but it increases next season, I'm guessing down to both ourselves and St Mirren getting into the knockouts, to 36.7. This means we will rise up to 13th next season. This means our qualification spots will stay the same. Finally, we need to talk about the National Team and more importantly the shocking draws we've had for the upcoming World Cup and then the Nations League. In the World Cup draw we were seeded 3rd and were handed one of the toughest groups. We're in Group K with Germany and Argentina, luckily we also have Costa Rica, the best 8 3rd places do go through to knockouts so we can only hope and pray for that! In the Nations League draw it was just as tough with us getting England, Belgium and France! OUCH! What a season it's been and it doesn't stop here, next up we have the 2026 World Cup, Scotland's first one since 1998!! COME ON THE TARTAN ARMY!

Don't let the bad results get you down, there were some seriously tough games in there, December was a great turnaround, even though you're near the bottom you have a massive gap to the bottom 2!

Just read through the whole of this. What an amazing time you've had so far. I did a Gibraltar save on FM23 and it took me a good 4 or 5 seasons to even get through a qualifying round of the Champions League so to get into the league phase that quickly is incredible work from yourself. As you can see the hardest bit is to get the other teams in Gibraltar doing well in Europe, I ended up filtering money down to the other teams after maxing out our facilities to try and get them improving quicker. Hopefully you start getting better intakes soon. Have you had a new TV deal yet for the league? This is one thing that really helped me, a whopping TV deal came through once I qualified into the Champions League proper, helped the whole league out with shed loads of money

25/26 Season - March/April & Youth Intake My word things have gone downhill since I last left you, I guess I should be happy, even before March came around we had already exceeded our points tally from last season and were nailed on for another shot in Europe next season! So you have to take the rough with the smooth I guess! Firstly, lets take a look at the Youth Intake, it was forecast to be a rubbish one with the preview showing C's at best, well it came in better than that, even if once again it said it was a poor intake! One “elite” talent and three “ top” talents! Definitely not as poor as expected but are any of them actually any good? Well two definitely take the eye. Calvin Leslie is the elite talent, naturally a striker but only has 8 for finishing but then again he doesn't have the right attributes for a wide-man either! I like the fact he has high work rate and teamwork but he needs some serious work. The other half-decent one is goalkeeper Neil Irvine but once again needs some real work to make him anywhere near good enough to be in the first-team squad. So not great on the face of it but those top quality academy players will come once we improve both on and off the pitch. Now to the results and firstly Europe, we had made it through to the Last 16 of the Europa Conference League but had the tough task of Werder Bremen ahead, we did really well in the first leg but let a 1-goal lead slip to draw 1-1, in the away leg they were just too good, we succumbed to a 3-0 thrashing, an amazing run though, especially for a team not even expected to make it out the qualifiers. We also got dumped out of the Scottish Cup to Celtic, it was always going to be a tough ask playing them at Celtic Park and they were just too good. We were never ever in the game, even though we've beaten Celtic this season they are way way too good currently! Now we come to the League and it's been hard work, we have struggled with the sheer number of games and also we've had a raft of injuries to key men, most of them out wide. I really need to improve the depth of the squad next season, I will make sure that I don't send all my younger lads out on loan next season and keep some back to try and give some of my key men a rest when required. We however come out with some decent results, I think it felt worse as we had the cup games where we lost but actually, on the face of it, it's still pretty good! 5 games, 8 points, the only real blemish was that shocker of a result against St. Johnstone. The big issue we've had though has been goal-scoring, gone are those days of scoring 3 or 4 a match, we've scored 4 goals in those 5 games, Muniz has gone totally off the boil but I've had to play him as Marshall has been injured and we have no one else. Strength in depth is very much needed! So the end of the regular season has come about and things are looking rosy. We have 5 games left, 15 points to play for and we sit 13 clear of 4th places Hibs, 3rd will get us a spot in the Europa League qualifiers next season. We are still chasing Rangers down though but we have the tough ask of going to Ibrox in the penultimate game. To be honest, I'll take 3rd, I never thought we'd have done this well this season!!

25/26 Season - January & February Another really busy couple of months down, we have the League, the cup and the Europa Conference League to look over but first transfers…. Firstly, there has been one huge out, we say goodbye to Winger Stuart McKinstry after UAE side Al-Wahda activated his £10m release clause, a big loss but that money is massive. So with money to spend I went and brought in four new players. The first player in was central defender Nelson Abbey, defensively we were really struggling and I noticed one problem, we had no naturally left-footed CB, Abbey joins as that man who fill the Libero on the left side of the back three, he comes at a cost, £2m but worth every penny in my opinion. Next up is a face we've seen before. I had Michael Okeke on loan in the previous seasons, he has spent the first half of this season on loan at Bahia, when I saw him transfer-listed by Manchester City I had to bring him in, we were losing Louis Reed as I had accepted a £300k bid for him so another CM was needed, he looks brilliant and alongside Kilkenny should take our midfield to another level. Now for McKinstry's replacement and that man is Jack Byrne, in comparison he is better than McKinstry and only cost me £700k! A absolute steal at that price. Now to an odd one, with McKenna leaving at the end of the season to join Bournemouth I wanted to bring in a new GK, get him in now and get him settled before being No. 1 next season. After an extensive search I went for experience and brought in Jason Steele for £125k, he's 35 but personally he looks really good. Great, a new keeper, that will do me for a season or two, or so I thought! 2 weeks after bringing him in he decided to retire at the end of the season!!!! Some really good signings, even Steele will do a job for the rest of this season. Now to the results and boy things are still going so well! Let's firstly discuss Europe, we managed to get ourselves into the playoff round and faced Swiss side Luzern. First leg - The game was really even and we did play well, Luzern scored early but we grabbed a leveller half an hour in, it looked to be heading for a draw but they scored in stoppage time to win the game 2-1. Overall though we are still well in the tie and with our decent form I knew we could turn it around Second Leg - And we did exactly that, in emphatic style! A 5-1 win, 3-0 at half time, that was one of our best performances of the season One amazing performance but it is going to get very tough in the Last 16. We face Werder Bremen, it's also nice to St Mirren in there as well, that should help with the co-efficient. Now to domestic action and I don't think it could've gone much better!!! So much green!!! Only one defeat and unsurprisingly it was away to Celtic, it was close though!!! 8 league games, 19 points, this season just gets more and more amazing by the game!!!! We also got through to the Quarters of the Scottish Cup. Our opponents? Yeah, you guessed it, Celtic away!! Just look how healthy the League Table looks!! We sit 3rd, level with Rangers but below them on goal difference. Just to put in perspective how well this season is going. Last season we claimed 56 points from the 38 games, this season we've already exceeded that and more and there's still 10 games to go! Also, just look at the gap to 4th! The big question now is, can we overtake Rangers to get that 2nd Champions League spot? In other news, I have used to McKinstry money to improve the facilities. A huge improvement and that should really help in improving, not only the players already here but also the kids coming through the academy.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read and commenting. It's massively appreciated