The Third Team

The Premise

Basically, the aim of this story is to get Partick Thistle FC, the team whom I support, from relegation candidates in the top flight into being the most successful team in Scottish football. Currently that is Rangers FC, who, in terms of major honours, can boast 54 Premiership titles, 33 Scottish Cups, 27 Scottish League Cups and a Cup Winners Cup. Thistle, on the other hand, have just 1 Scottish Cup win and 1 League Cup win, so I've got a bit of a way to go. But that's what I'm hoping to achieve ultimately, and I have some other ambitions along the way:

• A day out at Hampden by reaching a major semi final, a treat Thistle fans haven't had since 2001.
• Break into the top 6, a feat which Thistle haven't achieved since the 1980-81 season.
• A major cup final. No Thistle side since the 1971 league cup winning team have played in a major cup final. Let's rectify this.
• European Qualification. the 1995-96 season Intertoto Cup was Thistle's only European venture since the 1970's, and its time we dusted off those passports.
• Win the League Cup. The 1971 league Cup final was the most memorable result in the 139 year history of Partick Thistle (a 4-1 win against Celtic).
• Win the Scottish Cup. 1921 was Thistle last success in the Scottish Cup, its long overdue that we bring it to Maryhill.
• Top 2. Thistle have never breached the top 2 in the Scottish league, with 3 3rd placed finishes marking their best campaigns.
• Win the League. The ultimate prize in Scottish Football, and one which we must conquer on the march to glory.
• 3 Scottish Cup wins. Thistle's historical rivals are Clyde FC, and while these days Thistle are a bigger and better club in every respect, Clyde have won more Scottish Cup titles with 3. Overtaking this would be nice.
• League and Cup Double. Needs no explanation really.
• 5 League titles. This would set us apart as the 3rd most successful team in the Scottish Leagues, and is a major step to our eventual domination of Scottish football.
• The Treble. All 3 domestic honours in one swoop.
• Win the Europa League. Europe's secondary competition has been won by two Scottish clubs, Aberdeen and Rangers (albeit as the Cup Winners Cup), and we need to join them.
• Two European Titles. Aberdeen are the only club to achieve this, winning both the Cup Winners Cup and the Super Cup in the 80's. Let's take that honour from them.
• Win the Champions League. Celtic won the European Cup in 1967, and its about time another Scottish Club joined them in this prestigious honour.
• Ten in a row. Celtic and Rangers have both won 9 titles in a row. I'm going to make that record not matter.
• Overtake Celtic. Celtic have 97 major domestic honours, and a European Cup medal (at the beginning of the game, this is likely to change as it goes on). This is my first target.
• Overtake Rangers. Rangers have 114 major domestic honours, and a Cup Winners Cup medal (again, subject to change). Once this has been achieved, we will have finally gained our rightful place as Scotland's most successful club.

I have a few other things I'd like to do, like bringing through as many players as possible from my youth system, and eventually managing success without any non-British Isles players, but I'll get to these later on. For now, we are a club on the up, having been promoted 2 seasons ago and just having completed our best campaign since 1995. It's time therefore, to meet the squad.

The Squad

At the time of writing, I've completed my pre-season and am about to embark upon my league campaign. So far, I have made only one signing, but it is one which I am very happy with...



Legendary Italian Striker Alessandro Del Piero has joined the club. His physical stats are very poor (which I guess you'd expect from a 40 year old) but his technical ability is a step above anything else you'll find in Scottish football, and his mental stats are very impressive as well. Hopefully he'll make a big contribution.



Elsewhere, we look set to have a successful season, with a good deal of strength throughout the squad. I could certainly use some depth in certain positions (notably left back and left wing) but I'll be looking to bring this in over the next few weeks. Anyway, that's all for now, I'll be doing updates on a monthly or two monthly basis, and maybe more regularly for crunch periods. Here we go on the biggest challenge I've set myself in football manager, wish me luck! Mon the Jags!