The 42 Challenge

[LoonsYouthTeam]

Match Day 35:

A rollercoaster of a win! One thing that has really been a big plus this season is the goals being shared throughout the team and no surprise to see 4 different goalscorers from all over the pitch. Morton got a great win at Montrose but my win means they can't catch me. How would Stirling fair?

Spoiler

AYR! AYR! SUPER AYR! Huge result for me, and for Ayr too as they're in the relegation mix. Although not officially champions that makes us 3 points clear with a goal difference advantage of 13, would take a Morten-esque last day performance to see me lose the title.

 

[LoonsYouthTeam]

Match Day 36:

Spoiler

So glad to have it virtually over before this game as Montrose are a good side and this was always going to be a hard game. Stirling beat Morton but only 2-1, not the 13-1 scoreline they needed, so we were officially crowned 2nd Division Champions at the home of my former club which was nice on a personal level.

 

Arbroath saw off Stirling in the play-off final to avoid relegation so nobody else will follow us to the First Division.

Final League table:

Spoiler

Worthy champions in the end, and for all my talk of sharing the goals it was actually our strong defence that won the league. Given the nature of this challenge I'm also looking to see how other teams are doing, interesting to see Livi and Ayr struggling, could be potential there to try and bring them back up the leagues. I'm also glad that after leaving them Montrose haven't returned to the Third Division; would like my legacy to be long lasting at many clubs.

[LoonsYouthTeam]

Best XI:

I talked a lot about sharing the goals through the team and you can really see that here. Every single outfield starter scoring and the majority of the bench too. The only first team player without a goal was David McKay but he was a back up right back who often came on as a sub on right wing due to a lack of bodies. This really shows our lack of depth too as Scott Allan somehow makes the bench after playing once as a trialist before signing elsewhere. McNamara was the sub keeper. The only real disappointment was David Cox but fortunately the regular front 2 contributed well. I actually played Sheridan a lot in midfield rather than at the back and he had a superb season; my player of the season was Chris Manganello though, a rock at centre back and scored some crucial goals too. Spoiler for what happens to some players in the future:

Spoiler

Chris Manganello ends up being a regular at Rangers. Boo. Even worse, he ends up scoring against me at several points throughout this game. I take back what I said before, he's a p***k. 

 

James Sheridan becomes one of the best midfielders in the world. A regular at Liverpool he becomes Scotland captain and was part of the Scotland team who made the World Cup final. I knew he was good in this team but didn't see him becoming that good!

 

So what for next season? Winning the title was good but I have to admit that it wasn't a huge surprise given the club had just been relegated. Winning the Challenge Cup was excellent though, another challenge scored off the list although Clyde fans might not have been too bothered having won it 2 years previously in this game. I'd also completely wiped out the debt at the club so all set to return to the First Division on a much better standing. I took the time to consider the challenge and what could I realistically do next season. I had no doubts I could see Clyde safe from relegation, but challenging for the title would be a long way off, I'd already won the Challenge Cup and had a Scottish Cup run with a win away to an SPL team. As much as I liked this Clyde team, realistically for the challenge there wasn't much to keep me here so after a single season in charge I resigned from The Bully Wee.

[Stellaboz]

How many teams you on now? And can you give a brief highlights reel, maybe leagues and cups win ? 

[LoonsYouthTeam]

9 hours ago, Stellaboz said:

How many teams you on now? And can you give a brief highlights reel, maybe leagues and cups win ? 

That's me completed 5 teams on this thread, although I'm up to 12 in the game currently, trying to catch up in this thread!

 

I've got a list of honours in the first post but here's a list of them below:

 

3rd Division:

Champions 2008/09 - Montrose

 

2nd Division:

Champions 2010/11 - Hamilton

Champions 2014/15 - Clyde

 

1st Division: 

Play-off Winners 2009/10 - Montrose

Champions 2011/12 - Queen of the South

 

Challenge Cup:

Runners Up 2009/10 - Montrose

Winners 2014/15 - Clyde

Edited March 22, 2021 by LoonsYouthTeam

[LoonsYouthTeam]

Here's a list of the cup winners throughout the game so far:

Challenge Cup:

League Cup:

Just the one non Old Firm winner, and 4 Old Firm finals. I'll need to get this sorted!

More Old Firm dominance but Hibs broke their hoodoo earlier than in real life. Good to see more teams in the finals but 6 straight Old Firm wins isn't great.

[LoonsYouthTeam]

And so onto the next challenge. After resigning in May I had to wait until July for another job to come up. The man sacked?

What the hell has happened to Billy Davies in real life? I just checked his Wikipedia and apparently since leaving Nottingham Forest in 2014 the only thing he's done in his life is unsuccessfully apply for a role at Hearts. What a minter getting turned down by that joke! I digress. In this game, where had Billy been given the boot from?

So I packed my bags and headed north for a different challenge. Since their promotion in 2004 Caley have been pretty much permanent fixtures in the bottom 6, save for a fantastic 4th place finish in 2010 they've finished between 8th-11th in each of their other 10 seasons in the SPL. My main aim; make Caley a club who can get into the top 6 consistently and try to win a cup too.

 

Come on Caley!

Edited March 25, 2021 by LoonsYouthTeam

[LoonsYouthTeam]

I've not bothered with transfers out as it was mostly conducted by Davies and was largely youngsters. The only thing of note is that Michael Fraser was sold for £1 million. Great money but leaves us with no number 1 and only Jonathan Tuffey as a senior goalkeeper.

 

The rest of the squad is generally a selection of British journeymen, although I'm delighted to be reunited with Andy Barrowman who played a pivotal role in my Queen of the South team surviving. He's joined up front by Liam Buchanan. A fun strike partnership for sure, but a top 6 one? Doubtful.

 

Elsewhere there's not a lot of quality. One big-ish name is Ben Watson, the man who scored Wigan's famous FA Cup winning goal in real life, who's a good SPL centre mid. Issoumaila Lingane is an AMRC who is old but still technically good. Apart from that there's quality lacking; although there's a few promising youngsters; Laurence Gaughan at centre back, Derek Taylor on the right wing and Steven MacKenzie up front.

 

Transfers in:

A huge number of players coming in but many before I arrived on July 13th. Of the transfers made before I joined, Joe Skarz will be my starting left back, Irvine my starting right back although he can also cover centre back and centre mid. Alan Gow will probably start left wing. I don't think Pantsil,  Hughes or Fleming will feature too much.

 

Now for my signings. I was given a hefty budget, much bigger than I anticipated for where Caley were at, and spent the majority of it on Brazilian centre forward Eder. He's unfortunately retired so I can't show his stats but he's easily my best player; quick, strong, skillful, clever and a good finisher, he'll be the main man. For the rest, Guerreiro can play a number of positions in midfield, Bogdanov is a 19 year old Bulgarian who is 6'4" and can play all across the back 4, Sammy Stewart should be my main central midfielder, John Gill is a great kind for a free transfer and becomes my first choice goalie. Daryl Murphy gives us an extra option up front. I couldn't resist signing my beloved Manganello from Clyde, I don't see him starting much but he's got time to develop. Rozenhal is a Czech centre back who is old but is solid and Drissa Diarra is another player who is versatile in midfield. I'm also finally at the point where I can show you some of these signings, although bear in mind these stats are 10 years or so after I signed them in the game!

Kiri Bogdanov

John Gill

Chris Manganello

[LoonsYouthTeam]

August

Decent start, horrendous end! Solid opening day win before an exciting draw with Hibs and a decent point at Pittodrie. Absolutely infuriating to be out of the League Cup already, especially against Ross County, losing a derby is bad enough but when they're in a lower league and it's in a competition you'd like to have a go at winning it's gutting. Followed that up by an absolute skelping at Celtic Park, they're just incredibly good. Need a response!

[LoonsYouthTeam]

September

And I get a decent response. Nice to win against my old club and keep a clean sheet, tough away game at Tynecastle before we blitzed the Pars, always good to get a big win.

 

October

Good and bad. Always tough to have 3 away games on the bounce, although they're 3 of the teams I'd expect to be bottom 6; draws not a disaster but losing at Falkirk is poor. Excellent to bounce back with a win over Rangers with Eder getting his first goal, he'd had a knock at the start of the season so took a while to get going. Undefeated at home but haven't won away yet.

Edited March 25, 2021 by LoonsYouthTeam

[LoonsYouthTeam]

November

Not sure why there were only 2 games but a decent point at Easter Road follow by a huge win against the Dons, always nice to see the goals shared.

 

December

Happy with that overall. Excellent way to pick up my first away win before a spirited but ultimately pointless display against Celtic for my first home loss, at least they never scored 7! Away draws seem to be my specialty; although not losing at Tannadice as the home fans hurled abuse at my was enjoyable.

 

10 away games so far and only 7 at home, I'm blaming Neil Doncaster for this schedule!

[LoonsYouthTeam]

I've done a tally, and here's how the league table looked after December:

 

1st: Celtic - 47 points

2nd: Rangers - 37 points

3rd: Hearts - 34 points

4th: Hibs - 31 points

5th: Caley - 25 points

6th: Motherwell - 21 points

7th: Killie - 19 points

8th: Dundee - 16 points

9th: Falkirk - 14 points

10th: Aberdeen - 13 points

11th: Dundee Utd - 12 points

12th: Dunfermline - 10 points

 

Looking good for top 6 so far with a healthy gap. One worry is after a torrid start (they never won until December) Aberdeen appear to have got their act together so would expect them to start moving up. Delighted to see Dundee Utd down in 11th, hope they go down, what a surprise that selling your best players bites you in the arse. I've only been gone a season but they've got rid of most of my best players. Up them. 

 

Celtic are phenomenal this season, it's not just me they've blown away. Edinburgh sides look strong but I'm hopeful I can keep pace with them and challenge for a European spot.

[LoonsYouthTeam]

January Transfers:

No first team players out but one major signing made with young full back Petros Stathakis who can play right or left back; full back has been an area we've struggled in so happy to bring him in:

This is stats a good 10 years later in the game, but show you how goof a player he is, very solid all round. Should be great in the SPL.

 

January fixtures:

Eder with another excellent month and good to see Barrowman chipping in with a couple. Some good wins with an excellent win in the cup, although the home loss to Falkirk was a kick in the teeth but we just couldn't score. Didn't disgrace ourselves at Ibrox but again disappointed to not pick up a win at home to Dundee.

[LoonsYouthTeam]

February:

Really disappointing start to the month losing at Dens in the cup. One thing I'd love to do in this save is win the Scottish Cup with a smaller team so losing to a team like Dundee increases my frustration as they're a beatable team. I followed that up with a home loss to Hibs before a little recovery at Pittodrie before my second absolute arse skelping at Celtic Park this season. That's 13 goals I've conceded there this season, they're just too good! Delighted to pick up my first league win in 7 games at the end of the month to stop the rot and good to see youngsters McJKnzie and Taylor among the goals.

 

March:

Much much better! 3 wins out of 4 with the only loss at a difficult ground. Highlight is the sharing of goals as that's something missing since the turn of the year. McKenzie really showing his worth the the team now.

 

League standings:

1st: Celtic - 75 points

2nd: Rangers - 62 points

3rd: Hearts - 54 points

4th: Hibs - 45 points

5th: Caley - 45 points

6th: Motherwell - 38 points

7th: Falkirk - 31 points

8th: Aberdeen - 31 points

9th: Killie - 29 points

10th: Dundee - 27 points

11th: Dundee Utd - 24 points

12th: Dunfermline - 20 points

 

With just a handful of games before the Top 6 I'm delighted to see we've secured a Top 6 place. Celtic are Champions in all but name but I'm not concerned by that as I'm fighting with Hibs for 4th place, 3rd seems just a little too big a gap.

[LoonsYouthTeam]

April pre-split:

Fantastic! Revenge for our home defeat to Falkirk and our cup defeat at Dens as well as our 2nd win over Rangers at home this season; puts us in a great position for the top 6. Just the 3 games for us before the split, but the way the fixtures worked meant some teams had more, leaving the table at the split like this:

 

1st: Celtic - 90 points

2nd: Rangers - 68 points

3rd: Hearts - 64 points

4th: Hibs - 55 points

5th: Caley - 54 points

6th: Motherwell - 46 points

7th: Aberdeen - 34 points

8th: Killie - 33 points

9th: Falkirk - 31 points

10th: Dundee - 28 points

11th: Dundee Utd - 27 points

12th: Dunfermline - 23 points

 

Despite winning 3 from 3 I go into the Top 6 a point behind Hibs as they took 10 points from 4 games. Celtic champions by a mile and could break the 100 point barrier.

[LoonsYouthTeam]

Split fixtures:

A bit unfair having 3 away games in a row to end the season! Although in what must be a Football Manager first all the fixtures are at the venues they should be based on the season so far.

Spoiler

 

Bad start. Hearts are good but to keep pressure on Hibs I needed a result. Hibs drew 2-2 at home to Motherwell so are now 2 points ahead, but that is theoretically their easiest game of the split out of the way.

 

Spoiler

Ooft, what a win! Liam Buchanan has not been great but what a time for him to chip in with a double. Celtic may be champions, and have battered me previously, but this is a sweet, sweet victory.

 

Hibs got a 0-0 draw at Ibrox. Would have liked them to get a demoralising pumping, but still, that's us level on points before we meet at Easter Road, feels like the winner will get 4th place.

 

[LoonsYouthTeam]

Game 36:

Spoiler

A good draw with that man Eder with another goal. Hibs have a much better goal difference so I'm going to need to get an advantage from somewhere. Up next a trip to Motherwell and Hibs go to Celtic Park

Fixture 37:

Spoiler

Well that'll be that then, really needed something today but a poor loss. To make matters worse Hibs got a draw at Parkhead to move a point ahead and with their vastly superior goal difference I need to win at Ibrox to have any chance of coming 4th. Can we do it?

Fixture 38:

Spoiler

No we cannot! Now, I never expected much from Ibrox, but that defeat was a disappointing way to end the season. Hibs got pumped 3-0 at Tynecastle but they finish 1 point ahead of me. Top 6 has proved to me there's a bit of work needed for next season.

 

[LoonsYouthTeam]

Final league table:

Disappointed to not finish 4th but overall a 5th place finish is great for Caley and it wasn't a fluke, we were pretty much in 5th all season long. It's clear where our problems lie, 64 goals conceded is shocking. On the flip slide we had some great wins, can clearly score goals and ended up qualifying for Europe. I've decided to stay on at Caley with the target next season to try and challenge for 3rd and do a lot better in the cups.

 

Best XI:

You can see the importance of Eder with 1 goal every 2 games, it'd be interesting to see what would have happened if he never had an injury. A lot of goals chipped in from elsewhere but you can see that I struggled for a decent average rating for any defenders, that's a priority for next season

[LoonsYouthTeam]

So onto the 2016/17 season, and starting with the transfers out:

Mostly just youngsters and first team players who were now to old or just not good enough for the club. Despite not making much from sales we were given another large transfer budget allowing us to splash some cash:

Scott Robertson is the ex Dundee Utd and Hibs central midfielder, he's a decent age but is quality for the SPL, he'll be a regular starter.

 

Matthew Connolly is a big centre back, not great on the ball but doesn't need to be; we conceded too many goals last season so a new starting centre back was a priority.

 

Scott Parker is the Ex-England and Chelsea midfielder. Won't start much but he's good quality to have as back up.

 

Cameron Campbell is a 16 year old midfielder. I haven't generally bought players for the future in this game as I'm not planning to stay too long in one place, but he's already good enough to be around the squad and gives me an additional body for the requirement to have 3 Under 21 players in the squad.

 

I've spent huge on Arnhold Rivas but he is quality! Another I wish I could show his stats, he can play left wing or up front, two positions I wasn't bless with options for last season. I plan to play him up front with Eder and I believe they could be the best partnership in the league.

 

Chad Harpur is a South African goalkeeper just brought in as free backup, but he was better than I had before.

 

Steven Hammell is the ex-Motherwell left back, happy to get him for free as full-back was another area we were short.

 

Have to admit I don't remember Stephen O'Donnell! I'm guessing it's the current Scotland right back but honestly couldn't tell you, shows what impact he had!

 

Finally, the wonderfully named Mohammed Mohamed comes in to be my starting left winger. He's technically really good and a great crosser, the only real issue is he's slow, bit disappointing, but if he was quicker he'd be at a much better club than us.

 

Let's bring the season on! Target has to be to get top 6 again and hopefully improve our points total to finish as high up the league as we can. Doing well in the cups too is a goal for this season. It'll be nice to play my first European games of this save but not expecting too much from them.

[LoonsYouthTeam]

A good 9 months without an update in this thread! I fancy playing it again but this thread needs a good few updates to catch up. We start with my first ever European adventure in this save.

 

 

Very early in the season! So early it was my first pre-season game. Despite that, that man Eder gave us a comfortable lead to take over to Hungary, it was nice not to lose over there and I'm sure many Caley fans would have loved the delights of Budapest. What delights would there be in the next round? Still 2 qualifiers to go before the groups. We were drawn with...

 

Christ, English teams are always great in this, and the poor Caley fans hardly get a fun day out. I don't have the English league running however, so there's a slight chance they're not as brilliant as I would normally expect.

 

 

Well, unsurprisingly we go out, but still, we gave it a good go, no disgrace in losing away and Gary Irvine gave us hope, but they were just better. Blackburn ended up making the semi-finals, so definitely not too disheartened. The aim this season is to re-secure European football.