DaneBramage

Absolutely. Start a normal save as one of these smaller nations and you'll get pummelled for years in the European or World Cup qualifiers. But playing against other low-ranked countries and winning a few games is much more fun. Though I dare say it would still be considerably harder with some of the Oceaniac island teams.

November 2023 - Gibraltar FIFA Nations League 3, Group B: No complaints about the beating from Chad, we were never likely to get anything from this tie and the result was an accurate reflection of how the game went. Chuffed by the win against Eswatini though, that means we completed the double over them. They piled on the pressure after going one-down, but we withstood it and grabbed another to solidify the result. Player Milestones: Joshua Prescott (Badalona, DRL, 18 y.o.) made his debut. --------------------------------------- I'm very happy with this. I expected to finish last and suffer instant relegation, so making it into the play-offs is quite the achievement. --------------------------------------- And our opponents will be Eswatini again. The draw's been kind to us there, I'm glad we avoided Lesotho. ---------------------------------------

The aim of this save is to get Gibraltar as high as possible in the FIFA Nations League. Club football is a stepping stone to making that happen - European football, prize money, improve facilities, better players. So I don't think the league being knackered is necessarily a save-breaker, it just means the European football is likely going to come earlier than expected. At that point trying to achieve something there, while also improving the national team is the real challenge. The next registration window is in January. So I'm thinking I might add additional managers to the other teams at that point, just to register players, then resign and retire each of them. It will mean disruption to the managers there, but at least the new hires will be able to field proper teams.

October 2023 - Europa Point Three games, three big wins. Diego Diaz has been deadly with 6 goals already, and new signing Jaron Vinet has also announced himself in style. But there is a problem. It's too easy. I've had a look, and I don't think the other teams are registering players properly. So we're just battering a bunch of greys and U23s. --------------------------------------- Top of the table, large goal difference already. ---------------------------------------

Pre-Season - Europa Point There was a lot of turnover during the summer, as 17 players left and we brought in 11. One of these was Spanish, but the rest was all Gibraltarian to give our home-grown ranks a much needed boost. Should make picking squads on matchdays a lot easier. We're predicted to finish 7th this year, reflecting that we came top of the bottom group after the league split last season. Given our form in that time I'd like to think we can make the top group. --------------------------------------- I'm not much of a tactician, so I'm using a tried and tested 4-4-2 that tended to do me well in FM20 (though hasn't quite seemed to click with FM23 yet). ---------------------------------------

October 2023 - Gibraltar FIFA Nations League 3, Group B: A fourth win of the campaign, we're really finding our footing in this division now. We passed the Solomon Islands to death in this one, not letting them have much of the ball and when they did, generally keeping them out of dangerous positions. They still had a couple of big chances and a draw wouldn't have been unfair, but Kelvin Morgan scored his 20th international goal (in 30 games) to give us the points. We're now up to 7th, and a play-off place is looking likely. ---------------------------------------

September 2023 - Gibraltar FIFA Nations League 3, Group B: Another win, happy days. After zero wins from our first eight games this season we've managed three from the last seven, so a definite improvement. We bossed Hong Kong and it would have been a travesty if we hadn't got a result. It looked like it was heading for a bore draw but Julian Valarino got on the end of a long ball to bag all three points in the dying minutes of the game. Cape Verde were just much too strong for us, we barely made them sweat. Player Milestones: Julian Valarino (Lincoln Red Imps, AMR/ST, 23 y.o., 24 caps) scored his first international goal. Johnny Rush (Burton Albion, DL, 17 y.o.) made his debut, and in doing so became the youngest ever player to represent Gibraltar. --------------------------------------- We had made it as high as 7th after the win, but with three games left we sit in 8th place. We've given ourselves a fighting chance at least. ---------------------------------------

@phnompenhandy @Helginho Thanks, it certainly is tough. I'm hoping we can scrape a play-off spot to give us another chance to survive, but I wouldn't put money on it. And this break between domestic league seasons is really long, itching to start that up again.

August 2023 - Gibraltar FIFA Nations League 3, Group B: Wahey! A second win of the campaign! A 94th minute winner too, you love to see it. It was a very close game against St Kitts & Nevis and could have swung either way, but luck was on our side as we scored with our only shots on target. The two we scored in Azerbaijan slightly flattered us, in reality it was very much a one-sided game. Still bottom of the group, but it's tight again. We have 8 points, the three sides ahead are all on 10. ---------------------------------------

July 2023 - Gibraltar FIFA Nations League 3, Group B: A pair of beatings. Can't argue with the Ethiopia result, but the loss to Lesotho rankles. On another day it could have been a win for us, but yet again, we couldn't score while they took their chances. The teams above us have picked up results this month, we're now 5 points adrift. Player Milestones: Jamie Coombes , Anthony Hernandez, and Kyle Casciaro all reached 50 caps. ---------------------------------------

@Mr Jabay @phnompenhandy Appreciate it, thanks. Being able to play teams at a similar level in year one was fun, year two not so much... Could be a case of bouncing between Leagues 3 and 4 for a while, getting into Europe with Europa Point (or any other Gibraltarian team, I'm not ruling out the possibility of moving on at some point) is obviously what's needed for money, upgrades, and progress.

June 2023 - Gibraltar FIFA Nations League 3, Group B: We won a game! I thought we were going to get hammered by Chad, but it was a really close game and a loss was harsh. But we carried the performance over to our next tie, and finally got the result we deserved. A Louie Annesley header from a Liam Walker corner was the only goal of the game. --------------------------------------- At the halfway point we predictably lie bottom of the table, but the win has made the situation a little healthier. We're not cut adrift, if we build on this we could maybe pull ourselves into the play-offs. ---------------------------------------

May 2023 - Gibraltar FIFA Nations League 3, Group B: We were looking good to grab a well deserved point, but threw it away with a defensive mistake late on. Still bottom of the table. Team Milestones: 11 games without a win. ---------------------------------------

April 2023 - Europa Point It was always going to be a tough task beating College Europa in the Rock Cup, as they already had the Premier Division sewn up at this point and were aiming for the double. And when my idiot right-back got himself sent off in the 10th minute the chance was reduced from minimal to none. On the final day we dropped our only points of the play-off stage. We already had top place in the bag, but it was pretty aggravating to throw away the 100% record, especially from a 2-1 lead. We just couldn't keep hold of the ball and kept giving it back to them, and were punished accordingly. --------------------------------------- Other than the final day we had a perfect run through our group, and ended up best of the rest. --------------------------------------- I have no idea what next season's squad will look like. Nearly everyone is out of contract this summer, and most of them don't want to re-sign. Top scorer Diego Diaz has been offered a new deal, but there'll be a lot of turnover. Bringing in more homegrown players will be the recruitment priority. ---------------------------------------

April 2023 - Gibraltar FIFA Cup of Nations: Montserrat have been having a similarly poor league campaign as us, also residing in League 3 (although a different group). So I was thinking we could possibly get a result here. And indeed, we should have. We had more possession, more shots, more xG. But crucially, fewer goals. Out at the first hurdle. --------------------------------------- FIFA Nations League 3, Group B: I just want to band my head against a well. Repeatedly. We raced into a two goal lead against Hong Kong, then failed to create anything of substance over the next 67 minutes. Despite going down to ten men, Hong Kong kept coming and equalised in stoppage-time. Cape Verde tore us apart with ease, and it could have been many more. Still bottom of the group obviously. Player Milestones: Tjay De Barr reached 50 caps, Jayce Olivero scored his first international goal. Team Milestones: Ten games without a win. The demand more, berate, and throw water bottle buttons are getting a lot of use right now. ---------------------------------------

March 2023 - Europa Point Lovely stuff. Three wins, three clean sheets, everybody's happy. Apart from Manchester 6 who we beat twice in a row. The first win over them ensured progression to the semi-final of the Rock Cup. Diego Diaz had a great month, he now has 9 goals in just 7 games. --------------------------------------- Three games left, and we're a point behind Glacis United with a game in hand. It's in sight. I think all it gives us is marginally more prize money, but it would still be good to top this group. ---------------------------------------

March 2023 - Gibraltar FIFA Nations League 3, Group B: We did well to get a point from St Kitts & Nevis. We were trailing at half-time, but the team-talk sorted things out and we were pretty good after the break, the equaliser was well deserved. We couldn't do anything against Azerbaijan though, they were just much, much, much better than us. We briefly rose to 9th, but now we're bottom of the table again. Team Milestones: Seven games without a win, largest loss of my reign. Player Milestones: A debut for Jaylan Hankins (Magpies, GK, 22 y.o.) ---------------------------------------

February 2023 - Europa Point We now have more players registered, so that makes life a lot easier. There are still issues with not having many homegrown players while needing five on the pitch at all times, but we're getting by. Albeit with limited options when we can make substitutions. The first full month of fixtures has gone by perfectly. There was a rocky start against Hound Dogs when they scored the opener, but a strong second-half turned the tie around. Mons Calpe didn't back down easily but a goal in the 84th minute killed the game off, and we coasted past Glacis United and Gibraltar Lions. Couldn't really ask for a better month. Our strike partnership has been deadly with Keegan Cauli and Diego Diaz grabbing nine goals between them. --------------------------------------- I said in my last post that I hoped we could avoid finishing last, but after those last few games I'm now looking higher. With only a few points separating us I don't think it's unreasonable to think we could come top of this group. ---------------------------------------

February 2023 - Gibraltar The groups have been drawn for 2023, and we're by far the lowest ranked team. We're going to lose a lot this year. The team that finishes bottom is automatically relegated, 6th to 9th go into a play-off. --------------------------------------- FIFA Nations League, Group B: The Ethiopia game was a lot closer than it looks. If our strikers had their shooting boots with them we could easily have snatched a draw. Instead, we were goalless and Ethiopia were much better in that regard. We dominated the possession and passing stats against Lesotho, but did nothing with it. Lesotho didn't outplay us, but they fashioned more chances, and scored twice from three efforts on target. We've already hit the foot of the table. Team Milestones: Consecutive losses for the first time, five games without a win. Player Milestones: Julian Del Rio (Magpies, ST, 20 y.o.) made his debut. Louie Annesley has hit a half-century of caps at the age of 22. ---------------------------------------

November + December 2022 - Europa Point I'd been keeping an eye out for jobs becoming available, and after just eight games of the season it happened. Europa Point had started the season with six consecutive losses, and though they'd drawn the last two, it was enough for the manager to be given the boot. The squad is a mess. Who knows what the previous incumbent did, but somehow there were only seven players registered to play in the league. There's only two more games until the winter break, so luckily we'll be able to sort that out soon. In the meantime, we muddled by with just the few players we had available. We had the U23 squad as well for the first game, but they were on holiday for the second so it was a bit of a struggle. We emerged with one point from these ties, but it really should have been more. We led St Joseph's twice, but the grey goalie let shots go straight through him in the 86th, 91st, and 94th minutes to throw away the points. We've finished bottom of the first stage, and the league now splits. The top six are playing for European qualification, whereas I don't think there's any target for the bottom five. As far as I can tell there's no relegation, so just not finishing last is my only aim.

2022 Cup of Nations Round-Up Double success for one, double despair for the other. The final saw Uruguay take on England. And Uruguay made it a very successful year, adding cup gold to their play-off promotion triumph. Meanwhile England saw themselves finish as runner-up for a second time his season. Spare a though for Kiribati who lost 15-0 to Azerbaijan in the first round. Erling Haaland top scored with 10 goals.

2022 Nations League Round-Up - Part Three If my geography is correct (and my counting), Africa and North America made good progress this year. Both had a six team swing towards teams in higher divisions, after Africa managed 12 promotions (and 6 relegations), and North America had 8 promotions (and 2 relegations). Europe (9 promotions and 4 relegations) and South America (3 promotions and 2 relegations) also had positive swings, though obviously both were skewed higher in the first place. And Europe won overall courtesy of Portugal winning the Gold League. Oceania slipped a bit (1 promotion and 3 relegations), while Asia had an absolute 'mare (18 relegations and just 1 promotion).

2022 - Nations League Round-Up - Part Two League 1 Ivory Coast and Norway won promotion, but Ivory Coast were crowned champions due to their superior points tally. Burkino Faso were heavily out of their depth, and the Republic of Ireland were a big letdown. Alexander Sorloth (Norway) top scored with 15 goals. League 2 North Macedonia were crowned champions of the fifth tier, earning more points than fellow league winners Georgia, Israel, and Ghana. Of the eight teams relegated seven were from Asia, China in particular a surprising casualty. Kyrgyzstan were the worst of the bunch, not winning a single game, though Cape Verde will be wondering how they made such a mess of the play-offs to get relegated from 7th place. Michail Antonio was top scorer with 18 goals. League 3 The Gambia were champions of the sixth tier, ahead of Congo, Thailand, the undefeated Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, Angola, and New Zealand. Four teams didn't manage a single win, but Chinese Taipei surpassed that by not even picking up a point. M'Bala Nzola (Angola) was top scorer with 22 goals. League 4 The mighty Liechtenstein won the seventh (and final) tier, ahead of Chad, Guadeloupe, Sao Tome & Principe, and French Guiana. A few teams didn't manage a single win, but Wallis & Futuna were the whipping points with just one point on the board. Ibrahim Ahmada (Zanzibar) was the top scorer with 32 goals.

2022 Nations League Round-Up - Part One Gold League Three nations went into the final day with a chance of bringing home the first ever FIFA Gold League trophy. All of them nearly bottled it, with none of the three winning. But while England lost to Spain and France lost to Italy, a draw against Argentina was enough for Portugal to stumble over the line. At the other end of the table Morocco were routed to the bottom almost all year, so relegation was no surprise. The other spot went down to a battle between the neighbours of Belgium and the Netherlands, and the Dutch downed their opponents 3-0 on aggregate in the play-offs. Karim Benzema top scored with 13 goals. Silver League Peru were the surprise winners of the second tier, clinching top spot on the final day with a win over Poland. Uruguay would have been disappointed to miss out on going up as champions, but winning the play-offs was the next best option. Germany underperformed and will be hoping for better next year. Iran started strong but lost momentum as the season went on, hitting last place for the first time after gameweek 21 and they couldn't recover. Denmark had been in this spot for most of the year, and while they pulled away a bit, it wasn't enough as they still found themselves in the play-offs, and were dispatched by the USA. Robert Lewandowski top scored with 19 goals. Bronze League Cameroon ran them close, but Serbia ran out champions of the third tier. Despite finishing seven point behind Cameroon, Austria took advantage of the play-offs to steal the second promotion spot. Chile's form saw them divebomb in the second half of the season, and they were joined by Australia in waving goodbye to the big leagues. Heung Min-Son top scored with 14 goals.

2022 Squad - Gibraltar This was the final squad of the campaign, and there's no one major missing from it. Kelvin Morgan was obviously the main man, with 18 goals from 19 games, while Tjay De Barr and Reece Styche also offered decent contributions up front. Louis Annesley ended up with the highest average rating, and a few other defenders also scored highly in this regard, perhaps unsurprisingly as we had the best defensive record in the division. The midfield looks to be the problem area, with only Liam Walker posting any good numbers. ---------------------------------------