Conquering Europe

[oneteaminglasgow]

Romanian Cup Final - May 2096

Spoiler

And we've done the double, with both my Italian wingers doing the job for me. We were by far the better side in this game, FCSB never troubled us once and, aside from the two goals we scored, we had a couple of other half chances as well.

So we've now got two out of three trophies won. AC Milan stand in our way of a famous treble.

 

[oneteaminglasgow]

Europa Conference League Final - May 2096

I've had a few finals throughout this save which I considered to be a bit of a mismatch in terms of the clubs standing in the game, but this is on another level. AC Milan have won seven champions leagues, 19 Serie As, two Cup Winners Cups, two Europa Leagues, six Super Cups, three Conference leagues, eight Coppa Italias and a Club World Cup. We got our first piece of major silverware two games ago.

 I don't think we have much hope here, and history doesn't help either - this will be the fourth time a Romanian side has made the final of the Conference League, and they've lost the previous three, while AC Milan have won all three of their finals.

Ah well, let's see how it goes.

Spoiler

Ah it wasn't to be. We held our own well enough, and certainly weren't outplayed, but ultimately, we came up short against a side who are simply better than we are. There were half chances, but we didn't have that moment where you think 'that's the one they'll regret.' A shame, but entirely expected.

It's been some journey to get here, and I don't think I'll be playing a European final again any time soon.

 

[oneteaminglasgow]

May 2096

That Cluj game was two days before the Conference League final, so I rested absolutely everyone who had any chance whatsoever of playing in the final. Think I had five 16 year olds playing for what was basically a third choice 11. A good laugh though.

We were on our holidays by that last game.

But it means that the final table looks like this, with us winning the title by a comfortable margin.

I think that's among the best seasons I've had in the save. A shame that AC Milan were a lot better than us or it could have been even better.

But, as always, I'm moving on. Next on the list - Bulgaria.

[oneteaminglasgow]

June 2096

Some friendlies with Senegal, who I forgot I was still manager of for a bit. But a disappointing draw, and an absolute pumping. That'll do. 

[oneteaminglasgow]

I didn't have long to wait for a new job this time, and I'm off to Azerbaijan with Suvalan FK. Not only that, it's the Azerbaijani second tier, since every single side in the top flight have won the league title before. 

Anyway, Suvalan is a bit of Baku, Azerbaijan's capital. Baku, from what I can see online, seems to be quite nice albeit in a country with a fairly ropey human rights record to put it mildly. I'm also sure that the fact I used to manage a club in Karabakh would go down really, really well here.

The club itself were founded in 1996 as a futsal club, before switching to football in 2004. They've since become Baku's second side, behind Neftchi, and once finished runners up in the top flight in 2008. Other than that though, it's been floating around the lower leagues mostly, with a few second tier titles and a few third tier ones as well. No major honours though. I also had a look through the list of their former players, and have heard of a grand total of zero of them. Usually with these sorts of clubs, they have some jobber who made three appearances for St Mirren or something, but not here. 

We've finished third in the last two seasons after being relegated, and we're predicted to finish there again. My immediate priority is to get out of this division and see what we can do when we go up. It's a 10 team league with an 18 game season, so not much room for error.

[oneteaminglasgow]

Suvalan FK - Meet the Team

4 stars is a leading player for the division we're in, 3 is a good player for the same.

Zoidze looks like he's a really decent player, and is still only 19 so plenty of time to improve as well. Ramil Məmmədzadə is good backup as well. Pretty happy with my options here overall.

I have good starters in every position here, but perhaps not very much depth. I'll be looking to add some.

I need another central midfielder to play alongside Mərdanov. He's a decent enough start though.

A solid enough centre half pairing, but desperately need full backs on both sides, and cover all round.

And I want a new goalkeeper as well.

Overall, I think my squad is alright, but needs some work done if we're to have a good shot at going up. Let's see who we can get though.

[oneteaminglasgow]

Transfers 2096

There were a handful more outgoings, but they'd happened before I joined so just focusing on these. Grigoryan was a good player, but it was a good offer and he was causing trouble in the changing room so off he went. Orxan Celalzade similar story.

The rest are just me loaning youth players out to get them off the wage bill, because we're fucked financially so needed to do that to bring anyone in.

And now the incoming players. Just before we start, I'm not going to bother with that backwards e symbol they all seem to have in their names anymore, it's an absolute hassle pasting it in every time. I think it denotes how the letter should be pronounced, but not really sure.

Nurlan Huseynzade is a left back, and a member of the Azerbaijani under 21 squad so he should be alright enough at this level. Has absolutely nothing going forward, but he works hard and is ok defensively.

Spoiler

Nahid Ibrahimov is an attacking midfielder. He has a good first touch, and something about him, but equally it's pretty clear why, at 27, he's rocking up in the Azeri second tier. Still, he'll do fine and gives me some depth at least - planning on training him as a central midfielder too so he can cover that.

Spoiler

Asim Abdullayev is a young goalkeeper on loan, and he's slightly better than what I had, and not costing me very much, so I'll take that. The standard of goalkeeper available to me was utterly chronic, so this is the best I could get.

Spoiler

Piotr Jaskolski is a right back from Poland and becomes the second foreign player in my side. As I outlined, I was really needing someone at right back, and despite being incredibly average and 32, he'll be the best one in the division. I'm paying him a fair whack, by our standards, but I have to to get anyone to come here.

Spoiler

Last signing is Ismayil Isgenderov, again on a very cheap loan deal. He's pretty good and can cover either left wing or central midfield for me. Will definitely do a job for the season that he's here, and that's all I'm bothered around just now.

Spoiler

 

[oneteaminglasgow]

August 2096

Just one game this month and it's a winning start for me in Azerbaijan. We were dominant and created a few chances but struggled to take them. In the end, a set piece was our route to victory, and I'll certainly take that.

And the early table looks like that. 

[Miguel Sanchez]

Azerbaijani language - Wikipedia

The 180 degrees rotated e looks to be pronounced as æ, so closer to a double ee in English than anything else (I think)

[oneteaminglasgow]

September 2096

We weren't good against Zira, but still managed to get the draw. We improved for the next two games and should have beaten both opponents by more goals. Ten points from my first four is a good start though.

And we're now top of the league. Lovely.

Senegal

Two incredibly comfortable wins, both these teams are pish.

And we'll be qualifying for the AFCON incredibly comfortably, although it's still to be confirmed officially.

World Cup qualifiers next month. 

[oneteaminglasgow]

October 2096

Another excellent month. Requiring extra time against lower league dross in the cup wasn't ideal, but we ultimately got through, and a couple of really good wins, including against early challengers Simurq. Have to be happy with that.

And it sees us top by four points after seven games.

Given it's only an 18 game season, that seems fairly decent.

Senegal

A break from AFCON qualifiers for some World Cup qualifiers, but the same result as we won both games very, very comfortably. Delightful.

It's going well on every front just now.

[oneteaminglasgow]

We seem to be getting nothing out of this, but oh well. 

[oneteaminglasgow]

November 2096

Pretty easy stuff all round, to be honest. We're going to utterly pish the league this season.

We also have a cup quarter final to look forward to, where we'll be facing top flight side Qabala. That'll be a tough game, but good to see how we measure up against one of Azerbaijan's better sides.

Aye, as I said, we're well on our way to the title, halfway through the season.

Senegal

Our AFCON qualifying group was wrapped up with two straightforward wins. We should have beaten Cape Verde by more, but I don't really mind.

And, as predicted, we finish up with maximum points, while Cape Verde join us at the tournament.

The draw is next month, and we'll see who we'll be playing in Angola 2097.

[oneteaminglasgow]

We've been drawn with Angola, who are both hosts and reigning champions, but other than that we've got a straightforward draw. Cape Verde are a side we beat comfortably in qualifying, and The Gambia are the second lowest ranked team at the tournament.

[oneteaminglasgow]

December 2096

Rounded out the year with a couple of good wins, including against Zira who are the only side we've dropped points too so far.

Our top scorer Zoidze is now injured for the next month, so I'm hoping that doesn't derail us at all.

But we have a nine point cushion at the top.

It really should be a matter of time.

[oneteaminglasgow]

African Cup of Nations - 2097

We arrive in Angola for the Cup of Nations, not quite as one of the favourites, but probably as a dark horse with a reasonable enough shot at the title. Morocco and Guinea-Bissau are the two best sides in Africa just now, but we're not far off.

I only have 13 real players to choose from, as a load of guys who would be playing for Senegal are holding out to get in the France team despite having no chance of doing so. The 13 I do have though are mostly quite good players, with a fair numbers playing in Ligue 1, La Liga or the Bundesliga, plus guys at Celtic and Benfica.

Senegal reached five consecutive finals in the mid 2020's and early 2030's, winning four of them, but haven't reached a final since. So it's been a while since we saw some glory.

And that's my squad of players. Oumar Keita is the main man, and one of the best players in Africa. Konate is also an excellent player.

And, to reiterate, that's my group. We should be getting through relatively easily.

Spoiler

A nice, easy start to the tournament for us, as the game was won within 13 minutes. The Gambia never threatened us once in the whole game, so I have a feeling that we won't have an easier game in the whole tournament.

Angola did what I thought they'd do and dispatched Cape Verde.

So, it's a good start.

Spoiler

Another easy win, and we're through to the next round with no fuss. Delightful.

Angola went one better than we did against The Gambia.

As I said, into the next round we go.

One more group game against Angola to go, to determine if we'll be going through in first or not. 

Spoiler

Well, that was eventful. Dreadful from us until we were two goals down, and then we rallied a bit before almost fucking it up again. A last minute equaliser is always nice.

At least The Gambia managed one goal in the tournament, that's nice for them.

I'm not entirely sure how, as we have identical records, but we're ahead of Angola and so go through in first. Which means in the next round, we'll be facing...

They're an alright side, so it'll be a tricky game. I think, if we play to our potential, that we'll get through though.

Spoiler

Well, that was unexpected. Delightful, but unexpected nonetheless. 6-0 at half time, and then just coasted through the second half. Absolutely delightful.

Diatta deciding he fancied winning the game himself was especially lovely, for our second hattrick of the tournament. 

And it's Nigeria next. They're a good side, and that actually will be tough.

And that's the full round - no real shocks in there. DR Congo losing to Mali is the closest to one we have to one I think.

Spoiler

They started really well, and we were lucky to be level after 20 minutes, but after that we were probably the better side without ever really threatening them. Into extra time though, and we managed to grab two goals and get through. Wonderful.

Up next it's Africa's top team.

Mali continue to deliver the goods as they've now dumped out Guinea-Bissau, who are the second best team (on paper) in Africa. If we get past Morocco, I'm very pleased they won't still be in the tournament.

Spoiler

I know we've dished out a few doings already, but that's the best we've played in the tournament, and probably in my tenure. A really, really professional performance. Konate's goal just before half time was well taken, and we soaked up pressure in the second half before hitting them on the break. That second goal saw their heads go down and we had a few more half-chances to make it even more comfortable.

A fantastic result.

South Africa it is, then. 

They needed penalties, but Mali have proven to be a good side so fair enough. 

Spoiler

Fair play to the Malian lads.

Spoiler

We did not deserve to win that match. It would seem that South Africa are quite bad at finishing their chances off though, while we did score the first chance we created, even if it took until extra time to do it.

Following that goal, we created several more chances, and should have sealed it more comfortably, but in the end the one goal was enough and we're champions of Africa!

 

[oneteaminglasgow]

January 2097

The Suvalan juggernaut keeps rolling on. A comfortable win over a top flight side in the cup is really promising for next season, and another win in the league, despite falling behind early on. 

It's been a really good season so far.

A nine point lead with six games left would be incredibly difficult for us to f**k up.

[oneteaminglasgow]

February 2097

A disappointing draw in the league, and our cup run came to an end, so it's a disappointing month. Admittedly, it's the first one we've had all season so fair enough really.

We're going to win the league, probably next month. Two more wins will do it. 

[oneteaminglasgow]

March 2097

I needed two wins to wrap up the title, and we delivered them incredibly convincingly. Zoidze's hattrick to wrap up the title was especially pleasing, and we just looked really impressive in these games.

Time to start preparing for next season, and hopefully see out the season unbeaten.

As I said, the league title is wrapped up.

This season has been an absolute fucking canter.

Senegal

A nothing friendly with nothing of interest to report on. Oh well. 

[oneteaminglasgow]

April 2097

Just the one game this month as our procession to the title continues. We've already got the most points this division has ever seen, as well as scoring the most goals, so just going to coast through and hope we don't lose in the next two games.

Aye, there we go.

Saruspor was the other job I interviewed for before coming to Azerbaijan, and they'd just been relegated from the top flight, so pleasing to see I made the right call.