Conquering Europe

[oneteaminglasgow]

May 2097

Another two wins to see out our unbeaten league season. The only side to beat us all season have ended up as champions of Azerbaijan, so that's got to be a decent sign.

Giorgi Zoidze has been absolutely fantastic all season, with a genuinely phenomenal record:

He's contracted for next season as well, so hopefully he can keep it up in the top flight.

Fucking pished it.

And set a load of records in the process.

Time to build for next year. A few guys have already decided to leave, which is a pity, so need to start finding replacements. 

[oneteaminglasgow]

June 2097

A couple of international friendlies, and some wildly contrasting results. We probably didn't deserve to lose quite so heavily at Hampden, but Scotland took their chances well so fair enough. Equatorial Guinea aren't great.

We also got out draw for the next AFCON qualifying, which is this. Not sure if I'll still be hanging around by then.

[oneteaminglasgow]

Transfers 2097

It's been a summer with a lot of turnover at the club. I wanted to keep Rehimov, as he was an important player last season, but he wasn't interested in staying so that's a shame. All the rest I'm fine with leaving/punted out to get off the wage bill.

And there were a lot of players coming in as well, as we build for our first season in the big time.

Istvan Kovacs is a left back/centre half and he's here as a squad player primarily. To be honest, when I signed him I was meaning for him to be first choice, but then better players came along so he's been bumped down a bit.

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Eli Mirzeyev is a young winger, with plenty of room to improve, so he's a bit more for the future than this season. He'll still play a wee bit, and he's technically decent enough and an intelligent player.

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Zahid Memmedov will be my first choice attacking midfielder, and I could probably have gotten better than him, but he's pretty good nonetheless. Will do a job.

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Ivan Kemenes is my new left back, and he's a solid defender who can cross a ball well enough, so he's a massive upgrade on what I had last season.  He's also quick and plenty of stamina so I'm pleased.

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Tural Memmedov is my new goalkeeper. He's not great, but there's f**k all decent keepers kicking about available to me, so this is the best I could do.

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Natiq Allahverdiyev is an experienced centre half, and I'm very pleased to get him. Of my Azeri signings, he's the best by a fair distance, and should be solid enough at the back. Decent.

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Arkadiy Stepankov is another centre half, and he's very decent. Physically he's better than Allaverdiyev, and he's an equally decent defender, so that should be a solid enough pairing at the back - although I'm still not done with the centre half signings.

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Adrian Gavriliou is a striker, and he's here to compete with Zoidze  He's a good finisher, and has a good first touch but he's slow as f**k unfortunately. He probably won't do much apart from scoring goals either, but oh well.

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Marius Costescu is my right back, and can also cover on the other side. He's not great going forward, but fine defensively. He'll do the job for me this year.

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Adrian Birladeanu is my final centre half signing, and he's probably the best of the lot. Still only 20 and he has the makings of a really good defender at this level, so I'm pleased to get him. His positioning, in particular, is very promising.

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Murad Hesanov is a central midfielder I've brought in on loan. He's not costing me anything and provides good depth in a position which I'd completely forgotten I needed to strengthen. So that's nice. He's also banned for the first three games of the season for being a headcase, which is less nice.

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Asim Abdullayev is back again, this time as my back up goalkeeper, and largely because I realised that I had my first choice and then some 15 years olds and that was it. Good thing I did as Memmedov is now injured for a few months. Abdullayev was dependable enough last season, so hopefully will be the same this one.

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And finally, Rehman Quliyev. A central midfielder/left winger/attacking midfielder, he's technically pretty good and works hard. I'm pleased with him.

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[oneteaminglasgow]

August 2097

Not the start to the season I was after, but we were a bit unlucky to lose and Neftchi are a decent side (I think) so not too disheartened. This season is just about staying up.

And there we go.

[oneteaminglasgow]

September 2097

A good month, and I think I'm getting a good idea of how we measure up in this league. We were pretty comfortably beaten by champions Qarabag - despite taking an early lead - but the other three games we've done well and picked up a good number of points.

And the table makes decent reading for us. We're not going to win the division, but I think we can have a successful campaign.

Senegal

Some more comfortable wins as we keep going towards world cup qualification. I also loaded up the French league, so now have a load more players to choose from (as do a load of other African nations)

And we're nearly there. Playing Ivory Coast next, so could have it wrapped up then.

Edited October 11, 2022 by oneteaminglasgow

[oneteaminglasgow]

October 2097

Largely as expected. MOIK are looking like early favorites to finish bottom, so pleasing to beat them convincingly, and then a very straightforward day in the cup.

Qabala deserved to beat us, but 4-0 flattered them a bit. And Qarabag are simply too good just now, so we were nowhere near taking anything from them - again despite taking an early lead.

I'd take finishing here to be honest.

Senegal

A draw against the Ivory Coast was all we really needed to get, and an easy win against Tanzania meant it was job done.

We're going to the World Cup in China next year. 

[oneteaminglasgow]

Apologies about the hiatus for a bit there, I was on holiday and just haven't found time to play since I got back. Save is still going though.

November 2097

A mixed month, I'd say. The point against Neftchi was very welcome, but we are (or at least should be) a better side than Sabah, and losing to them isn't good enough. That Sumaqyit game was a bit mental, we were 2-1 up in the 85th minute, then conceded twice before scrambling a draw with the last kick of the ball.

We also got, predictably, pumped out the cup by Qarabag - who are Azerbaijan's best side by a fucking mile, so fair enough.

But anyway, we're sitting reasonably comfortably in mid table. MOIK are still stinking out the division, which is helpful.

Senegal

A couple of decent friendly results for our last action this year. 

[oneteaminglasgow]

Reasonably tricky. China are a good side, and while we should be beating Sweden, there's some utter pish like India or Curacao that we could've drawn instead. Oh well. 

[oneteaminglasgow]

December 2097

Sneaking a win against the league's whipping boys wasn't ideal, but a win is a win I suppose.

Utterly pumped in the next two games. 

We seem to be in a three way fight for fourth place, which would remarkably be enough to get to the Europa Conference Legaue (depending on who wins the cup)

If we can get that, then the cash could be massive in helping us improve.

In any case, I don't think we'll be going down. 

[oneteaminglasgow]

January 2098

Beaten comfortably by Qarabag, but other than that it was an excellent month. Two tight games produced important wins against the teams below us, and then we played MOIK. They're absolutely fucking pish.

And with that, we've given ourselves a four point advantage in fourth place.

Eight games left, and then we'll know if we're heading to Europe. 

[oneteaminglasgow]

February 2098

Results to be expected to be honest.

We've officially avoided relegation which is something, but we've lost our lead over fifth. Not ideal. Still, hopefully get a few points next month.

[oneteaminglasgow]

March 2098

I won't be discussing that Qarabag game any further.

We got the win that I was expecting against Sabah, although not as comfortably as I would've hoped. The win is all that really counts though.

But it's enough for us to remain in fourth, albeit with our goal difference advantage absolutely devastated.

We're playing Sumqayit next, which is huge.

Senegal

A nice comfortable start to our Cup of Nations Qualifiers. Libya never had a shot in the game against us so that's nice.

Based on what I've seen, we'll be going through pretty comfortably.

[oneteaminglasgow]

April 2098

A great win over Sumqayit, which was absolutely huge for us in that battle to get fourth spot. We slipped up a bit against Sabail, but still managed to get another point closer.

And with two games left, we've got a single point lead.

And we have MOIK to play, so there's a chance there.

Most importantly, the final of the cup was played this month - and fourth place will be enough to qualify for Europe.

[oneteaminglasgow]

May 2098

We got the win we needed against MOIK, although we should have won by more than that, and Sumqayit had gotten an unexpected point the day before which brought goal difference into the equation. We then lost on the final day to Qabala - although with 10 men and them missing a penalty, 1-0 really isn't that bad.

Would that be enough for us?

Only just, but yes it would.

We're heading for a (very short) European tour.

[oneteaminglasgow]

World Cup 2098

We're heading for our 14th World Cup, and this time it's in China - who last hosted in 2062. Last time out we lost to Serbia in the second round, which was our first time past the group stages since 2030. So, history doesn't suggest that we'll do very well. We do come in as African champions though, so we need to hope that serves us well.

We'll be having to navigate a tie against the host nation, and China have become a legitimately good side, so it's likely to be between us and the Swedes for second place to get through. We're a better ranked side that them, but there's some complete dross at the world cup and I'm disappointed to have an alright side to compete with.

Our warm up was fine, I guess. We did everything apart from score against Norway, and played well enough against Bosnia too, but I was really looking for three wins there. Oh well.

And these are the lads that'll be taking part. We have a very decent first choice 11, particularly in midfield, but our depth isn't great, and I don't think we have much of a defence. We'll need to see how it goes.

I think that if we can get out of the groups, I'll consider that a success.

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We sit out on matchday 1, and that's a fine result from our perspective I suppose. Means that if we win either game, we're through, which is nice.

I had forgotten about that Byren boy for Sweden. He's currently the best player in the world. Could be problematic

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An absolutely mental 15 minutes for us, and Ousmane Mbodj being the absolute boy. He managed 6 league goals last season in the 2. Bundesliga, but did it when it really counts.

And with that, we're through. If we avoid defeat against China, we're topping the group.

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Back down to earth with a bang.

Absymal.

We're still through, but based on that we won't be troubling the big sides very much,

It remains to be seen if Turkey are one of the big sides. 

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Turkey are a better side than we are and should've beaten us in normal time. Were it not for the red card, we wouldn't have won that game. However, the red card did happen, and they ran out of steam allowing us to score a few in extra time to see us through.

Demba Ba also became the youngest ever scoring at a world cup, which is nice for him. Only 16.

We won't be going any further though.

And that's the second round in full.

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4-1 flatters them, but they definitely deserved to win the game. We gave it a good goal, should've scored at least one more goal, but ultimately our world cup comes to an end in the round of 16. 

That's the Round of 16 in full - the remainder of the tournament will follow in spoilers.

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My old side grabbing third place in what appears to have been a terrible game. 

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And Mexico claim their first world cup empathically, becoming the first side from outside Europe or South America to do so.

Well done to them

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Given that I've already won the Cup of Nations, there doesn't seem to be much else I can do with Senegal so that'll do me. 

Time to tick off some more club honours, hopefully. 

 

[oneteaminglasgow]

Back to club business, and we've been drawn to face my old side Gjilani. I think we'll be fairly similar in strength, so a good chance to get through.

[oneteaminglasgow]

Europa Conference League - First Qualifying Round - July 2098

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A fantastic performance, and an even better result. I'm a bit annoyed about that late away goal for them, since I don't think they'll play as badly again and remain a threat. Got to be happy with that first leg though, and we've got a great chance to get through now.

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God that was close.

We were very much on the ropes for a lot of that game, but at 3-1 they started to really go for it and we were able to pick them off with a couple of breaks to put the game beyond them - even with their late winner. A struggle, but we're through.

I do think that'll be a step too far for us though. 

 

[oneteaminglasgow]

Europa Conference League - Second Qualifying Round - July 2098

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We really should've won this game and should've been going to Cyprus in a very strong position. But we didn't take our chances, so we aren't

That said, they were nowhere near as good as I thought they'd be. However, the Gjilani tie showed me that home advantage seems to be massively to our advantage, so will have to see how it goes.

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Fucking hell, what a result. Just a good, old-fashioned thrashing.

I know I said it last time, but that's going to be it for us.

 

[oneteaminglasgow]

Europa Conference League - Third Qualifying Round - August 2098

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A very, very good result, that doesn't actually give us anything to go and hold on to in Kyiv. But it's very promising that we managed to hold out with 10 men against a side who're definitely better than anything in Azerbaijan.

They were the better side and we were hanging on quite a bit - I don't think we'll be doing much in the away leg. 

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For six glorious minutes I though we were going to do it.

Admittedly, that was the only shot we had in the entire match, and they quite conceivably could've scored about six goals on another day, but we're out anyway. 

f**k it, we made it a round further than I thought we would and we've made around half a million quid out of the it, which should keep us solvent for a while at least. So that's nice. All three of our ties were our record crowds and record income for a single match.

 

[oneteaminglasgow]

Transfers 2098

First off, the board made my job a wee bit harder for me by making us the only part time team in the division. It's alright at the minute, as I had almost everyone I signed this summer already agreed before they did this, and then I just haven't renewed any other contacts. It'll be a pisser going forward though.

The outgoing players. Managed to get two of the worse foreign players off the books, which is nice, as that'll be the key to this league I think. Azeri players willing to join me are mostly not that good.

First up, is Maksim Reinke - an Estonian centre midfielder/right winger. I actually signed him last summer, but then he wasn't allowed to join until his 18th birthday in late January, and I forgot to mention it. Anyway, he's a pretty decent player and his ability to fill a few positions is always handy. Managed a couple of assists last season, but is taking a wee while to get up to speed - just need to hope he grows into it.

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Arthur Grigoryan rejoins after leaving at the end of last season, and he's back to provide some depth. He'll never be first choice in any position for me, but he can do a job all across the back line.

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Cavid Ryazev joins as the guy I'll stick in midfield to run around breaking up play, which I think he'll be more than capable of. I need someone with a bit of creativity to go next to him though.

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Ismayil Isgenderov is here as a backup left winger, and he can also fill in at central midfield in an emergency. Should be fine.

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Ruslan Oliyev is another bit of defensive cover for us. and he's my second best right back as well as not being too far off my top couple of centre halves. Did mean that I could punt Kovacs who was on a much higher pay, so that's good. 

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Abdullayev makes it permanent after the last two seasons on loan. He's still not that good, but he'll do fine.

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Emin Karimov is a young centre half, who's already good enough to be in my first 11 and has plenty of room and potential to improve as well. I'm pleased with this one.

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Sahib Babazade will be my first choice left winger, I think. He's started the season well with three goals and an assist in Europe already.

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Kenan Huseynov will be my back up striker, and he's definitely a step up from what I had last season. No chance that he'll displace either Zoidze or Gavriloiu from the first team, but it's good to have someone who might do score occasionally off the bench.

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Kamran Memmedov is the centre midfielder that I'll be having next to Ryazev with a wee bit of creativity.  I've spent a good bit of money on him, so really hope it pays off.

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