26/27 Season - November & December

A bumper couple of months have gone by, let's see how it went!

Europa League

Three absolutely amazing results, that away win over Real Betis was one of our best attacking performances of the season. 12 goals scored, 9 points on the board and we are now in pole positions for a top 8 spot and have already sealed a playoff spot alongside Celtic.

Premiership

An absolutely incredible couple of months, no defeats and all my pessimism from the previous Queen's Park update has well and truly gone. We had a fantastic 3-2 win over Rangers and a solid 0-0 draw at Celtic Park. Overall in 9 games we've gained 23 points, that is title challenging form!

And we are well in it, Celtic have actually lost a couple of games and we sit only a point behind them, Rangers are top and have just beaten Celtic 2-0, we are 6 behind them but know we can beat them. This should be a fun second half of the season!

League Cup

We had got to the semi-final where we faced Rangers, it was one hell of a game, defences were on top but Rangers scored minutes into the second half, we were playing well and eventually grabbed the equaliser midway through the second half, the game then petered out and extra time was terrible as all the players were shattered. The game went to penalties and we held firm scoring 4, Fisher in goal saved 2 Rangers penalties to seal the win and a spot in the final.

Against Celtic! Where overall we played very well, we had chances but Celtic were just too good and although we defended well they grabbed the all decisive goal just before half time, we couldn't get back into it, Celtic held on and claimed the trophy. Gutting!

So an amazing few months, it was a shame we couldn't win the League Cup final but we are getting closer and closer by the minute. We now have the better of Rangers on the whole which is great, now it's time to overtake Celtic!!

If you look closely at the results as a whole you will see a couple of names that have an “I” and a number after it, they represent a player that's come through a Youth Intake and the year they came through. In the past few months, due to injuries and the sheer number of games, some have been given a chance, well two in particular.

Firstly is Attacking Midfielder Kier Hamilton who came through the 2024 intake. With me switching the formation around a bit and going with an AM behind a pair of Strikers Hamilton has been given a few games before he got injured, he's made 5 starts in the past 2 months and 3 sub appearances, scoring twice and getting 2 assists. 

The other player is Striker Calvin Leslie, he's actually only made 1 start and 1 sub appearance but has 3 goals, a late winner in the game against St. Johnstone when he came on as sub and then a brace in the 4-0 win over Trabzonspor in the Europa League.

The future is bright!

In other news, we've had the Euro 2028 Qualifying group, we were seeded 1st and were given a rather easy-looking draw.

We are ranked 17th, the next is Sweden who are 34th, Kosovo are 51st, we really should be winning this group and at worst ending 2nd which seals qualification for the Euros which is being held in Italy.

Some great results. Unlucky in the final but won’t be long until you become the top team. A couple of promising players there as well. Get that finishing improved and Leslie could be a handful for opposing defender.

26/27 Season - January & February

Welcome back! Once again there was a bit of business done. Firstly, we lost one of our CBs, Baptiste, who frankly hadn't been amazing for us left for Burnley after they activated his £3m release clause. A big loss but a decent amount of money for a player signed on a free.

We ended up signing three players, one whom can't play for the club this season as I cocked up and he'd already played for two teams!

Bolstering the midfielder is Conor Noss, signed on a free from FC Blau-Weiss Linz, he looks really good and gives us solid option as a CM, an AM, out wide and up front!

James Hill joins from Huddersfield for £95k, my replacement for Baptiste, a solid central defender who can also play right back.

And finally, the cockup, Matthew Anderson joins from Celtic for £700k, what I didn't realise was he had played for Celtic and whilst on-loan at Huddersfield, this meant he couldn't play for another team this season! D'oh!

Now to the results and let's start with the Europa League, it's has gone so much better than I ever expected!

We had two more games in January and managed to claim four points but there is so much more to it than that.

Besiktas was a solid point away from home, we then went in to the PAOK game knowing a win would seal a spot in the top 8, meaning we bypassed the playoff round, at half time we were 2-0 down and playing awfully, I switched formation and, well just look up!! Two injury time goals to seal a 3-2 win!

6th place in our first Europa League campaign and unbeaten, absolutely incredible, it's also good to see Celtic end in that top 8.

The playoff round has also been played and we will face Young Boys in the Last 16, Celtic face Stuttgart.

In other news both Rangers and Hibernian ended in the playoff spots in the Conference League and won their ties meaning they are into the Last 16, Rangers face Hoffenheim, Hibernian play Burnley!

Now to domestic action, what I will say is I hate playing Aberdeen!!!!

We've actually lost 3 games, twice to Aberdeen and then a shocker to St. Johnstone, I wouldn't say the wheels have fallen off, we are still massively over-exceeding expectations but we need to stop these defeats if we are to challenge the big two.

We are still well on for 3rd place but the top 2 look out of reach without a miracle happening, 3rd will still be an amazing achievement with all the extra games we've had this season and the little money I've spent.

The good news is we are still in the Scottish Cup and have an away tie against Hearts in the Quarter Final.

Defo cemented third place.

Soon Steve, soon you'll be fighting at the front. And for the cock up, don't worry too much about it, looks a quality player so once you're able to register him it's gonna be such a player for ya! 

3rd place looks secured, and you're right, it'll probably take a miracle to get up into 2nd but don't give up!

An immense first campaign in the Europa League, and definitely a winnable tie against Young Boys. Could you go all the way? I hope so!

26/27 Season - March, April & Youth Intake

This may be a long update! We have lot's to go through, the continuation of our Europa League campaign, the Scottish Cup, the Premiership and then another decent looking Youth Intake!

Let's start with that intake, there is a known bug in the game at the moment, which I'm sure will be fixed in the full release tomorrow, no matter what intake you get it always says it's a “poor intake”, that's because, if you look at the screenshot below, you'll see the “intake distribution” has 0 players for every position! Well, as you can see, that's not the case!

One elite talent and four possible top talents. After looking through them all I have high hopes on a couple of them!

Central Midfielder Glenn Moore is the elite talent and he looks really good, he has aggression and bravery and for a 15-year old has really good physicals. I am really excited to see how good he becomes!

The other exciting talent we have is Striker Ewan Cardno, he scored twice in the intake game against the under 18's in a POTM performance. 

The future continues to be bright!

Now to the results and we have reached the end of the Premiership regular season and as expected we are sitting in 3rd place.

We've only played 4 League games in the past couple of months but overall it's been good, especially with so many games being played. We now have 5 games left to attempt to chase down the big two.

A defeat to Falkirk the only blip but in that game we were decent but couldn't finish and hit the woodwork twice. 9 points from 4 games is brilliant, including a rare win over Celtic!

Only the second time in three season's we've beaten them in the league.

Now to the Scottish Cup, we faced Hearts away in the Quarter final and at half-time it was 1-1, the game then turned on a substitution, Churlinov got injured and with academy star Calvin Leslie the only man who could fill in on the RW I brought him, 9 minutes later he had scored twice to seal a 3-1 win! This lad is going to become a legend at this club!

Into the semi's we go and we had the tough ask of facing current league leaders Rangers, the game wasn't great, very few chances and it was settled by a late penalty, unfortunately for us it was for Rangers, Danilo sent Fisher the wrong way to seal a 1-0 win, absolutely gutting as I really wanted a trophy this season.

Finally we come to the Europa League, we had already massively exceeded expectation by getting to the Last 16, we had Young Boys to play for a spot in the quarters.

The first leg was away and we played really well taking a 2-0 lead by half-time, then came a minute of madness, Young Boys scored, a header from a corner, we kicked off, the won the ball, won another corner and scored from it! A 2-2 was a solid result but after being 2-0 up we go home frustrated.

With the Hampden massive behind us we took the game to Young Boys in the home leg, they took the lead but we instantly hit back and at half-time it was 1-1, the game looked to be heading to extra-time until, with 8 minutes left Muniz pounced on a Byrne cross to beat the keeper and seal a 2-1 win! WE'RE INTO THE EUROPA LEAGUE QUARTER FINALS!!!

And when the draw came out I was really optimistic, of all the teams we could've drawn we got probably the easiest tie, we could've got Ajax, Newcastle, Spurs and more, we ended up drawing Genk.

Away leg first and I expected us to win, the players however failed to show up, we hardly made a chance and managed to lose the game 2-0.

I still expected us to come back in the home leg and we really tried, Genk held firm until with a quarter of an hour to go when sub Joe Taylor grabbed a goal to half the aggregate deficit, we huffed and puffed but failed to blow the Genk house down, the whistle blew and we were out.

A frustrating way to go out but when I look back I am delighted with the run we've been on, we started in the Champions League qualifying, we got all the way to the Europa League last 8!

In good news though Celtic have managed to go one step further than us after beating Ajax in the Quarters, the face Spurs in the semi final, Hibernian are also through to the Last 4 of the Conference League and will face Omonoia Nicosia.

A huge boost to our co-efficient, our season total is currently at 17.6, our highest that I've seen so far in the save and we sit 5th in the season rankings. If we continue this we should move up a few places in the overall co-efficient rankings.

26/27 Season - Championship Group & End of Season Review

With third place all but wrapped up the aim for these final five games was to see if we could chase Rangers and Celtic down, the past few games have been a frustration, out of the Scottish Cup and Europa League in the space of a few days, overall though it's been another good season, we've over-achieved in the main, I did however want to win a trophy this season.

The final five games have been hard work, the players are shattered and we have had numerous injuries. After losing the opening Championship Group game to Celtic our chance of the top two was all but over, so I used the last four games to test out some different players and mess around with my tactics. The double-Libero tactic has been brilliant but I do feel we need some kind of fall-back tactic, something less mental, for when we face those tough games or if we hit a bad patch. Overall it worked well, we lost to Rangers but, in the other three games, we didn't concede a goal!

That tactic I decided on was a 4231 with 2 DMs and personally it hasn't worked but trying out a new tactic when it's not pre-season always tends to be a struggle!

In that final game I gave a debut to 2027 academy star Glenn Moore, playing as the anchor man, he put in a fantastic performance and scored!!

So a decent end even if we did lose to the big two.

We end the season in third place, a few points shy of where we ended last season but with all the extra game I have to be happy with how it's gone, would I have liked a trophy? Hell yes but when you look at what we've achieved this season has been a success!

• Premiership - 3rd
• Scottish Cup - Semi final loss to Rangers
• League Cup - Semi final loss to Celtic
• Europa League - Quarter final loss to Genk

Really really good!

Third place this season gets us a Europa League spot for the next campaign, we will enter in the third qualifying round.

The board have also give me solid budgets for the upcoming Summer.

The bank balance is looking really good. We end with £16m in the bank, a profit of £9m since the end of last season. Most of this has come from prize money from our European travels, £11.5m to be exact, an increase of £4.5m from last season. So I expected the budgets to be decent, it gives us around £35k per week in spare wages and a really decent sized transfer budget. Will I spend it all? No, but we do need to make improvements.

As for our key men well there weren't that many players that excelled this season, only 8 players averaged over 7 and 3 of those are kids who only played a handful of games. Our best and most consistent performer was goalkeeper Andrew Fisher, a signing last Summer he had a fantastic campaign, he made 57 appearances and kept 22 clean sheets. He also ends as the clubs player of the season.

With the challenge of Joe Taylor coming in Rodrigo Muniz stepped up his game and ended as the club top scorer, he managed 20 goals in 35 starts and over-performed his xG by 3. 

The final player I want to speak about is Winger Bobby McLuckie, even though he wasn't an ever-present in the side he ends with the most assists at the club, 22 starts, 22 sub appearances, 4 goals and 10 assists.

And here is the whole squad.

And the clubs Best XI for the season.

As you can see, very few players averaging over 7. There were some good performers though but I really need to start improving this squad and replacing some of the poorer players. I need to look at replacing Tanner at RWB, Wilson-Esbrand, on-loan from Man City wasn't great and won't be hanging around so a new LWB is needed. I want to bring in another midfielder to help Okeke, Trevitt and Kilkenny who are all decent but suffered with the sheer number of games. We then could do with another wide-man, injuries have really affected us in those positions, Byrne has struggled, Bonazzoli has spent half the season injured and Churlinov has been rubbish, so big changes are needed out wide.

A big Summer ahead!

Now let's discuss Europe, it's been a really good season for Scottish clubs. Of the five teams who entered into Europe four progressed to the League Phases of their respective competition, two in the Europa League (Us and Celtic) and two in the Europa Conference League (Rangers and Hibernian).

All four of us got our of the League Phase, us and Celtic bypassing the playoff round by ending in the Top 8 spots, in the Conference League both teams ended in those playoff spots.

In the knockouts Rangers went out in the Last 16 of the Conference League followed by ourselves when we went out in the Europa League quarters. 

Celtic were the next team to go out when they lost to Spurs in the semi final of the Europa League.

This left one team standing, Hibernian has made it to the Conference League final where they faced Hoffenheim and they only went and won!!!

A massive boost for the nation co-efficient, we end this season with a total of 19.8, the third highest of all the nations and that means we jump two places in the rankings, it doesn't change the qualification places that we currently have but, with the average being over five years this means that it will give us a big boost in the coming seasons!

Finally, a few screenshots of how we have progressed over the four seasons so far.

What an amazing four seasons it's been!

Shame about the European defeat, but you can be really proud of the team! As for the youth intake, bloody nora… You're spawning some absolute worldies! Scottish football on the up and I hope Hibs can show value for their skin in the Europa League! 

27/28 Season - July, August and Transfers

Another season is here and it's been a busy Summer!

Let's firstly talk transfers and there have been a few out's

The big one there is defender Nelson Abbey who moved to Leicester for a fee which could rise to £11.5m, the board went over my head and accepted it! The only other first-teamer on that list is Winger Churlinov, signed on a free last season, he was crap, a good profit! We also lost three first-teamers who left when their contracts expired, we say goodbye to Lewis Macari, Tom Lawrence and Alex Bannon.

Now to the in's, we really did need to improve the squad and improve it I did!!

Ryan Porteous - Central Defender - Free from Watford

My replacement for Nelson Abbey and all for no money. He also helps out with the homegrown rule. A top quality centre back.

Siriki Dembele - Winger - Free from Birmingham

You'll see with most of my transfers there's a running theme and that's the fact they cost no money. Dembele comes in to add depth out wide, when I've had him in my Scotland side he's always done a decent job and I have high hopes he can do the same at Queen's Park.

Rares Ilie - Attacking Midfielder - Free from Nice

With me looking at switching to a 4231 (I haven't as yet), I wanted to bring in a top quality player who can play there, this lad fits the bill, he can also play as a CM and on the Left Wing.

Enock Kwateng - Right Back - Free from Ankaragucu

With Macari going I needed a new RB and this lad is a major improvement, not only on Macari but also Tanner who was my first choice. 

David Longwell - Full Back - Free from Bolton

A player I'd been looking at for a while, his technicals worry me but his physical and mental attributes are top notch for a 20-year old

Waylon Renecke - Left Back/Central Defender - £950k from Norwich

I really needed a new LB with me losing Wilson-Esbrand due to his loan expiring, I couldn't find a freebie so went for this lad, only 21 so plenty of time to grow, he already looks really good and can also play LCB if needed.

Fabrizio Montalto - Winger - £3.1m from Padeborn

And now for the biggest deal of the window! This lad looks incredible and could be a massive player for us for years to come. The only issue is he has an £8.25m release clause!

There were very nearly a lot more out's, Saudi Arabia and UAE came calling and bid for Kilkenny, Okeke and Muniz but there offers were woeful and they were all rejected.

Now that's all done let's see how the results have gone in the opening few weeks.

In domestic action it's started pretty well.

10 points from 4 games in the League is a decent start, we should've beaten Hibs but I am happy with how it's started.

Now we come to Europe, we were supposed to be in the 3rd Qualifying round of the Europa League but somehow managed to bypass it meaning we only had a single round to get through to qualify for the League Phase. That game was against Nordjaelland, a tough ask but I had confidence.

The first leg was away and we managed to win the tie 2-1 courtesy of a late goal.

Then in the home leg we went mad, 4 goals in the first half sealed the tie, they did score twice but we sealed it with a 5th goal to win the tie 7-3!

A second straight season in the Europa League and we have a decent fixture list in the League Phase

All those home ties are winnable. Can we end in the top 8 once again?

In more good news, we had 6 teams in Europe this season due to Hibernian winning the Conference League last time around. St Johnstone fell early in the Conference League, losing in the 2nd Qualifying Round but all the others managed to get through to the League Phases of their respective competitions.

Champions League - Rangers and Celtic

Europa League - Queen's Park and Hibernians

Europa Conference League - Hearts

A massive season ahead for the Scottish teams!

Enjoying every minute of this bud, like the layout and that…

Bonagoali! 😍 Loved the boy at Sampdoria a few years back, glad to see him chipping in during his first season with the club!

Mammoth updates from you, gutting to finish 3rd this time round given 2nd the year prior, but still goes to show the progress made over a short period of time.

Glasgow is black and white!

27/28 Season - September & October

It's been an action packed few months!

League Cup

A couple of close games but we deserved to win them both. We are into the final where we face, yes you guessed it, Celtic! Wish me luck!

Premiership 

Just look at all that green, two blemishes though, the Celtic game was a close one, we are getting better against them but just not good enough. The St. Johnstone game at the end of October was one of those games, we hammered them, their keeper was POTM, a crappy loss but it is what it is!

So over all 9 games, 21 points, I'll take that!

Around about a third of the way through the season, we are comfortably in second, 8 clear of Rangers but 3 behind Celtic and they have a game in-hand.

Europa League

What a start!

3 games, 7 points, the 2 home games you'd expect us to win but we also played really well. Atalanta away was one of our toughest games and we did amazingly, we had most of the chances and came out with a respectable 1-1 draw.

Already in the top 8, can we stay there?

Finally, I want to talk about a couple of players who have been playing really well.

George Tanner has been amazing the past few months, I brought Kwateng in to take his place at RB but he wasn't setting the World on fire and when he got a 2 week injury Tanner got his chance and hasn't looked back. He's only missed 2 games in the last 2 months and has averaged well over 7, getting 3 assists and a goal. Not bad!

This lad is bloody insane! Summer signing Fabrizio Montalto is a revelation!! He's been our best performer so far this season, chipping in with 5 goals and 4 assists from his 14 starts with 3 POTMs, I mentioned when we signed him he had an £8.25m release clause, well he's been given a new deal and that release clause has increased to £12.5m, my plan is to keep giving him improved deals until I can remove that clause completely!

Euro 2028 Qualification

If you remember way back when I mentioned the group we had you will know it looked pretty easy! We had Sweden, Iceland, Kosovo, Faroe Islands and San Marino. Sweden were the highest ranked team (bar us) in 34th. The top two go through, a foregone conclusion, right?

CORRECT!!! It was even easier than I expected!

What an amazing campaign, qualification was sealed by game 8 so in those final 2 matches I picked a heavily rotated squad, only one game where we dropped points and that was away to Kosovo when I rested a raft of my key players.

Stunning!

Over the 10 games I have managed to give numerous players their debuts for the national side so below is a few players who made their debuts and I think will be key as we progress, not only to Euro 2028 in Italy but also in the years to come.

Andy McCarthy - Goalkeeper - Dundee United

McCarthy joined up the final squad in the qualification stage and played really well. He needs to improve his quickness if he going to become a top quality sweeper-keeper but I have high hopes and plan to keep to him in the squad as my 3rd choice keeper behind Angus Gunn and Callan McKenna

Ricky McKeown - Right Wing - Aberdeen

McKeown mad his debut in the Nations League victory over England and then, due to injury wasn't called back up until the September/October games, he's been in the last 2 squad, mainly due to his amazing form at Aberdeen where he has 5 goals and 6 assists in 18 starts. He played in the final game against San Marino and scored.

Matthew Anderson - Left Back - Queen's Park

One of my Queen's Park boys after his move from Celtic last season. He has been on really good form for me this season and got his first call-up in the final squad of qualification. He played really well in both games and if he continues to develop he will end up taking over from Josh Doig to become my 1st choice left back.

Ethan Laidlaw - Striker - Brentford (on loan at Hibernian)

I am really short of decent striker, Che Adams has been incredible for me over the save so far but he's now 31 and not playing for Southampton so I've had to start looking for alternative options. One of those is Ethan Laidlaw who's been on decent form since joining Hibernian, scoring 7 goals in 5 starts. He's been in the last 3 squads, making his debut in the away tie to San Marino where he banged in a hat-trick, since then he's made 3 sub appearances and scored in the final game against San Marino

Tommy Conway - Striker - Rotherham

Another striking option is Tommy Conway, he's been on decent form for Rotherham, scoring 7 goals in 16 games which has helped Rotherham into the Championship playoff spots this season! Conway came in for the June squad and has been in all the squad since, he made his debut against Faroe Islands and like Laidlaw he scored a hat-trick! He's made 2 appearances since, playing against Faroe Islands and played well without scoring and then coming on as sub against Kosovo where he didn't make an impact.

The future really is bright, with the like of Luke White (CB/DM), Charlie McArthur (LCB) and Ben Doak (RW/LW), who I've mentioned before, we have a really decent-looking, young squad which can only improve!

Now it's time to take the Euro's by storm!

The future is bright, the future is Scotland!!!

Cannot believe you dropped points against Kosovo though, should be sacked :p

27/28 Season - November & December

These months seem to get busier and busier!

Premiership

It's been an absolutely incredible few months!!!!

Just look at that! 8 games, 8 wins!!!!! Ok we've not faced Celtic or Rangers but who cares! There have been some amazing performances, very few goals conceded and going forward we have shared the goals around, 13 different scorer in 8 games!!!

Unfortunately Celtic have been as good!

Second place is well and truly sealed, 15 clear of Hibs with 2 games in-hand, Celtic though sit top, still unbeaten and look way way too good!!!!

Europa League

Three more games and three more wins!!!

This is going so well and because of the results we have already sealed a playoff spot. We now have games against Olympiakos at home and Dortmund away, one win should seal a Top 8 spot, meaning we bypass the playoff round.

League Cup

We're into a second League Cup final in 3 years and once again we faced Celtic, a tough ask but we ran them all the way, we took an early lead, injuries didn't help us but we played really well and probably edged it, Celtic then grabbed a leveller just after half-time and after that we struggled to create many chances, luckily we held firm and took the game to extra time, this is where we ran out of legs, Celtic looked fitter and stronger and took hold of the game, they scored twice and we had no answer. Another gutting cup final defeat.

Youth Intake Preview

Now this is exciting!!! Will it actually be as good as it looks?!

Now we move into the Winter window and I am slightly worried about the amount of rumours circling about my players, Okeke, Kilkenny, Muniz, Tanner, Morrison and many more, all have rumours coming out that clubs want to sign them, luckily there have been no bids so far but I'm expecting a raft of them when the window actually opens. 

I do need to look at strengthening in certain areas, we have really struggled with our Strikers, Muniz has been OK in bits but then goes 5 games without scoring, I also need to look at another keeper as Fisher has had a couple of 4-5 week injuries already this season and we have no real decent backup, then I have to look at who ends up leaving, I have been scouting with the expectation of losing players so already have my targets lined up, I just can't make the move until I know people are going.

Tactical Evolution

It's been a good season or so since I spoke about the tactic, the amazing “double-Libero” tactic! It's still working but it has evolved, especially this season where I felt we needed to make some slight changes.

There have been some small changed to the roles and positions, the two full-backs have now moved forward into the wing-back role, I just felt they sat too deep and with 3 central defenders I didn't need them as far back. One of the central midfielders has dropped back into a Segundo Volante role, this is just as I felt Kilkenny and Trevitt suited that role better and also, as they come deeper than when they play as the Carrilero they offer better passing options to my defenders. The other big change is in central defence where one of the Liberos has been removed and we now have a Wide Centre back. Again this is more of a preference of the players I have, it also offers a bit more help to the attacking Wing-back, the Libero seemed to sit back and play short passes, the WCB seems to get forward move and offer options when attacking. 

As you can see from the results it seems to be working……so far!

The new tactic is a thing of beauty, supported with the fantastic run of results! Very unlucky to be pipped to the Viaplay Cup by Celtic in the manner it happened in, but that first final win over them will be ever so sweet!

27/28 Season - January & February

I fully expected a really busy Winter window but actually, bar a couple of early bids, I managed to hang on to most of my key men. I say most because two players actually left.

Michael Okeke was the big loss, Al-Wehda activated his release clause and he was gone, a key player to lose but we have Kilkenny, Trevitt and Hamilton who can play in CM, another player was needed, more on him in a moment. We also lost Striker Joe Taylor, he never really got going here and when St.Gallen came in with a £2.2m bid I had to take it, he was signed for nothing so a big profit for probably my third choice striker.

I said I planned in bringing a few players in but I never really found that player who would improve the side. A new keeper was needed, as was an Okeke replacement, I also wanted a new striker but that never came about as most players I was either priced out of or their wage demands were stupidly high.

So please welcome two new signings.

Josh King - Central Midfield - Season loan from Fulham

I didn't really want to spend a load of money who, with the other option I had in central midfield, would probably be a back-up at best. King comes in for a relatively cheap loan and will provide a decent option when injuries or suspensions occur.

Santiago Silva - Goalkeeper - Free Transfer

Finding a keeper was really hard, Fisher is really good and the bids I expected for him never materialised, I decided to bring in another option in goal anyway, Siva looks quality and in comparison is just as good as Fisher.

And that was it, two out, two in. This is really the way I have to do things at the moment, we have max'ed out our Europa League squad with no other spaces available for non-Homegrown players. So players will only join from now on if I know a player is leaving.

Now to the results.

Europa League

We had two games remaining in the League Phase and we knew one win would seal a spot in the knockouts, bypassing the dredaed playoff round. We sealed a really good win over Olympiakos before a fantastic 3-3 draw away to Dortmund!

And that meant we have ended in 4th place.

Absolutely amazing and we end unbeaten as well! Bring on the knockouts!

Then came the Last 16 draw and we were handed the toughest possible tie!

I mean that is harsh!!!

In other news we are the last club standing in Europe.

In the Champions League Celtic lost in the playoff round to Liverpool

In the Europa League Hibernian blew a 3-1 first leg advantage against Young Boys to lose the second leg 3-0 and go out

In the Conference League Hearts lost to Besiktas on penalties!

Shocking but luckily our co-efficient total for this season sits at 13.833 and provisional rankings have us moving up to 9th meaning we gain a Champions League League Phase spot.

Scottish Cup

We entered in the 3rd Round and faced League One's Cove Rangers, I expected a win so made a raft of changes and we smashed them 5-0!

Into the 4th round where we played fellow Premiership side Motherwell at home, I rotated quite a bit but we came out with a fantastic 3-0 win and very dominant as well!

In the Quarter finals we will face an away tie to Championship side Airdrie.

Premiership

Oh my word we have done well, we had a mini-wobble after the Winter break, that's if you can call two draws that!!! But after that, well just look at this…

5 straight wins including back-to-back 3-1 wins at home over Celtic and Rangers!!!!! In the Celtic game we were incredible and for the first time in the save were the better team!

And that run of wins puts us well in the title hunt now, it's a two-horse race between us and Celtic, can we come out on top? It's going to be tough but I will more than take second, just look how far ahead we are of the chasing pack!!!

Our amazing February form then was rewarded with a clean sweep of the Premiership awards. I won the Manager of the Month but we also won the Player and Young Player of the Month.

I said at the end of the last update that I was disappointed in the lack of goals from my Strikers, well Muniz, even though he has asked to leave, has been banging them in left, right and centre! 6 in 5 in February pushes him into contention for the Premiership top scorer.

Winger Montalto ended second in the Player of the Month but also won the Young Player of the Month, this lad is incredible and I really need to tie him into a new contract with a higher release clause!

The futures bright!

The future is very bright!

Amazing to see what you have achieved with Queens Park, the bridge between you and 3rd is terrifying! Cannot wait for the season run-in, this looks as though it can be tasty

27/28 Season - Youth Intake

I wouldn't usually do a separate post for my intakes but I just got this through and had to share it!

A golden generation, four elite talents, three top talents!! This is the one!!!

So after a gander through it comes about that we have some serious talent here……

Ray Hillcoat - Centre Back 

• Positives: He can tackle, is brave and has good teamwork and work rate, he is also good at heading.
• Negatives: Pace and strength, also with me playing BPD and Libs I need to get his passing up,
• Overall Opinion - This lad, with a bit of work could be amazing! - 7/10

Nathan Brannigan - Striker/Left Winger 

• Positives - He is darn quick and has brilliant physicals for a 15-year old, good passing and first touch
• Negatives - For a striker he only has 8 finishing and some of his mentals are poor. Low determination as well
• Overall opinion - could be decent but needs a lot of work - 5/10

Ryan McArthur - Centre Midfield 

• Positives - Where do I start? This lad looks incredible!!!!! 10's+ in so many areas, this is the lad!!!!!
• Negatives - Not much!!! Strength and Concentration is below 10 and has 9 for passing, easy to improve though
• Overall opinion - OH MY WORD!!!! 10/10

Ross Holmes - Centre Back 

• Positives - Decent physicals and has good pace which you don't tend to see in young defenders.
• Negatives - Technicals are really not good, heading and jumping is low and needs to improve his positioning
• Overall opinion - Could be decent but is going to need some serious work - 5/10

Josh Boyd - Centre Midfield 

• Positives - Good work rate and first touch amongst others
• Negatives - For a CM he needs to improve his passing and tackling, his mentals also need a bit of work
• Overall Opinion - A solid player who with a bit of work could get a spot in the first-team squad - 4/10

What an intake, we have a couple of lads there who could become superstars of this teams in the coming seasons, they need to continue to improve though as the club improves, otherwise they will be left behind. I am really excited by Ryan McArthur and he will come straight into the main squad to be mentored by our more experiences midfielders.

Love the tactic and it seems to be working superbly! Chaos is the future in FM24 

Thanks mate, it's definitely chaos!!!! I need to find out how to make it more defensively solid as we start challenging more in Europe but so far I can't complain!

Just caught up from my last read up of the save! What a ridiculous long way you've brought this club!

You're already cemented as a legend in the History Books for Queens Park, but imagine what you'll be when you win the Champions League one day.

The future is definitely bright for the club with you in charge!
 

Absolutely brilliant stuff mate. Very tight at the top but let’s go get the title. some brilliant youth players in there. Young McArthur looks like he’ll be top quality.
 

love the tactic, it’s out there and it works. What’s not to love? 

27/28 Season - March & April

We are closing in the business end of the season and we are still in with a chance of winning three competitions!!!

Europa League

With us ending in the top 8 of the League Phase we bypassed the playoff round, so I expected an easy draw in the Last 16, or not!!! We were handed Juventus, an impossible ask I hear you say? Well the first leg was away and for 60 minutes we played incredible, 2-0 up and coasting but in true FM style Juve scored, then scored again and then in the last minute came back to win the tie 3-2! Gutting but we had ran one of the better teams in Europe all the way and we still had the home leg to come!!!

With 11,000 fans behind us we turned and played amazing, we dominated, Juve only had 1 shot all game but, even though we scored courtesy of a James Hill header late on, we couldn't find another goal and it was to go to penalties.

Where Fisher in goal was immense, saving two penalties, Trevitt missed for us but then up stepped Dembele, a player who hadn't featured massively this season, to win the game, he sent the keeper the wrong way and we had won!!!! ABSOLUTE SCENES!!!!!

A shock win and we were into the Quarters where we were drawn against Athletic Club, another tough ask but after what we had just achieved I had faith. We went to their place and put in another amazing performance, Muniz scored early to give us then lead and then it was the Andrew Fisher show, save after save after save, he was unbeatable and sealed us a 1-0 win, surely we couldn't make the semi finals?

The home leg started OK, we had the best of the chances and looked to holding firm but, as the game drew to a close, we ran out of legs and their key men stepped up, 3-0 was a tough score-line to take, we didn't deserve that, a gutting way to go out but what a run!!!

Scottish Cup

Now we come to domestic action and firstly the Scottish Cup. In the Quarters we had a relatively easy game against Airdrie and it proved to be just that. A 3-0 win and we coasted into the semi's

Where we missed Rangers and Celtic (Celtic beat Rangers on penalties in the other semi final) and were drawn against Hibernian. With the Hampden park crowd behind us we put in a brilliant display to ease past them 2-0, another final and once again we'll face Celtic!

Premiership

Now to the main one, could we win the League? Well the answer is, we still don't know!!! The sheer number of games have been really tough on us, fitness issues have been rife and we have struggled in parts. 

5 games, 3 wins and 2 defeats, we got battered by Celtic but it was the Kilmarnock home game which was most disappointing, it came 3 days after the Juventus win, everyone was knackered so I had to mix the team up and it didn't work. So we now have 5 games to go to try and claw back Celtic's 4 point advantage.

To do that we're going to have somehow beat them at Celtic Park in the final game and hope at some point they drop points and we win every game! A tough ask but I am delighted with how this season has gone already. We have equalled our highest points tally for a season and we still have 5 games left, we've made both domestic cup finals and had an amazing European run, whatever happens from now until the end of the season will be a bonus.

Finally, we've had our Euro 2028 draw and once again it's a shocker

I'm beginning to wonder if UEFA have some kind of vendetta against us, we won our qualification group with ease but were seeded 4th in the draw!!! We could've got Iceland, Greece and Austria. We got Italy (hosts), Norway (Haaland) and England (rivals). Could it have been any tougher? No, but we had a tough draw in the World Cup and caused a few shocks, so we can do it again!

27/28 Season - Championship Group, Scottish Cup Final & End of Season Review

Well here we are, the end of my 5th season in charge of Queen's Park and this one has been the best by far. We made it to the Europa League Quarters and lost in the League Cup final to Celtic, we still have two competitions to play for. We have a Scottish Cup final v Celtic to come but also five more games in the League, 2nd is wrapped up but we're looking upwards, we're 4 behind Celtic, can we do it? It's going to take a miracle but I have faith!

Championship Group Game 1 v Aberdeen (a)

Not the start we were looking for, we scored early and had numerous chances, we hit the bar twice in a single attack but Aberdeen played some good attacking football and scored twice in the first quarter of an hour before getting a third late on to seal a 3-1 win.

Championship Group Game 2 v St. Johnstone (a)

Back to winning ways in an emphatic victory!

Championship Group Game 3 v Rangers (h)

We had to win, if we didn't it would hand the title to Celtic, Rangers scored early on and it was an uphill battle from there, we played well but our finishing let us down until right near the end when Trevitt scored from long-range. A point wasn't enough though and Celtic were crowned champions AGAIN!

Championship Group Game 4 v Hibernian (h)

With the title gone it was time to mix the team up against Hibs, a decent performance sealing a 3-1 win.

Championship Group Game 5 v Celtic (a)

In the final game we went to Celtic Park, I went strong but they were just way too good, a 3-0 loss to end the season. 

Even so, this was the best season yet, 2nd place, 88 points (7 better than our previous best), miles clear of Rangers as well. Celtic are just on another level at the moment but we are getting closer. If we can just make slight improvements to the squad each season I know, in a few seasons time, we can be properly challenging them.

Scottish Cup Final v Celtic

There was however one game to go, another cup final, our second of the season and once again it was Celtic we faced. In the five seasons of the save we've played six cup games against Celtic, losing all six including two cup final. Could it be lucky number seven?

I decided to go all out attack and try to take them by surprise and it worked. Rares Ilie cutting in from the left and curling a gorgeous shot into the far corner within 2 minutes, just under 20 minutes later and it got even better, a lovely move eventually came down the left to Anderson, he played a one-two with Ilie and then hit a lovely cross, Muniz beat his man to put it home! 2-0!!!

Surely we couldn't throw this away? Well only 6 minutes into the second half Celtic grabbed a goal back and we looked shakey. I gave them an encouraging shout and it worked. A long throw from Hill found Thomson who was pushed in the back and the referee pointed to the spot. Montalto stepped up and sent Mvogo the wrong way! 3-1!!!!

Now we just had to keep our heads….yeah maybe not. Captain Jack Thomson lunged in, missed the ball and caught Datro Fofana, a second yellow and we now have 16 minutes plus injury time to hold on.

Celtic huffed and puffed but the Queen's Park door held firm, we sat back and soaked up the pressure. 

5 minutes injury time…..HOLD ON!!!!

THE WHISTLE BLOWS!!! QUEEN'S PARK WIN THE SCOTTISH CUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eventually, all those defeats, all those close games, we have done it, we have beaten Celtic in a cup final!!!

Incredible scenes, I really hope that now gives the players confidence that they can do it, they can stand toe-to-toe with the mighty Celtic!!!

Now let's look over who have been our key men this season

Rodrigo Muniz nearly left in the Summer and I'm so glad I kept him around, a brilliant season ends with him winning the clubs player of the season and scoring 29 goals in 40 start, 20 of those in the League. Will he be here next season though? Rumours are circling that a move may be on the cards, whoever it is better cough up!

What a first season at Queen's Park for Winger Fabrizio Montalto, he ends as the clubs young player of the season. A club record signing (£3m) in the Summer and he has just got better and better. 51 starts, 20 goals and 17 assists, an absolutely massive player and I need to keep him around, the issue at the moment is his agent will not let me give him a new contract with a release clause more than £12.5m, if he goes for that I'll be gutted.

Defender Waylon Renecke wins the clubs signing of the season, playing as the left-sided central defender (wide centre back) he has been a revelation and one of the reasons why we've done so well. He's chipped in with 4 goals and 2 assists in 47 starts as well.

The last player I want to speak about is 2024 intake star Kier Hamilton, the central midfielder hasn't played as much as I hoped this season but next season he is getting his chance, with Okeke leaving in the Winter and it looking highly likely Kilkenny will go I want to give Hamilton the chance to cement a first XI spot. I think he has it in him to become an absolute superstar.

Here is the clubs Best XI for the season.

And here's the whole first-team squad.

With the finances looking really good I expected some decent budgets for the upcoming season and what we've been given is solid at best. 

We've made over £4m this season and have over £20m in the bank with projections only looking one way and that's upwards so I did expect a bit more on that transfer kitty, £7.3m though is more than enough for me to do what I need to do, especially as I am expecting a few players to leave. The wage budget is really good though, a bit increase on last season and it gives us around £70k per week spare. 

It's going to be an interesting Summer, once again we have a lot of players wanted and I expect a few of them to go, the like of Bonazzoli and Kilkenny have already said they will not be signing a new contract which expires at the end of next season, I'll be looking to cash in. Muniz is also wanted but I really don't want to lose him.

I want to try and give some of the academy lads a go next season, Hamilton will most definitely be in the first-team next season but I have my sights on a few others who I'll mention in the pre-season post. My main aim this Summer is to look to improve two areas, Right Back and Left Wing, Tanner and Kwateng at RB haven't been amazing this season and I want to bring in a much better first-choice, on the Left Ilie has been decent but the players in reserve haven't really done it.

As for other transfers it will depend on who leaves as ever!

Now for some Scotland updates.

Firstly, we have announced our 30-man provisional squad for Euro 2028.

No real surprises here and I'm really going to struggle to cut the squad down when that comes about. 

The other news is we've had our Nations League Division A group draw and for once it doesn't look too bad.

Italy are decent and Croatia aren't bad but we should be expecting to end above Ireland.

The next update will be the Euro's, wish me luck!! I'm going to need it!

A decent transfer budget that.. well done on the cup final win.

Cup champions and Hamilton looks like a class player already, Hoping he can grow into a great player 😀 

Euro 2028

We have the group of death to negotiate so this update may not take long!!! Italy, England and Norway stand in our way, top 2 go through, the 4 best 3rd places also progress, we can only hope and pray we do enough!!!

We had to cut our 30-man squad down to 26 prior to the tournament, I thought it was 23 so that was a pleasant surprise!

It was a tough choice deciding who to leave out but I feel I've picked the best squad I can.

Game 1 v Italy

We face the hosts in the opening game and the tournament and are huge underdogs but within 7 minutes we're ahead……or so we thought, Adams was adjudged to be just offside and the goal was chalked off! Italy then took the lead mid-way through the half courtesy of wing-back Kayode. We had our chances but never really tested their keeper and then just after the hour mark Italy doubled their lead, Chiesa scoring a belter. As we pushed forward Italy caught us on the break and scored a third via Real Madrid striker Colombo. Full time, 3-0 and not a good start and even worse as Che Adam tore his calf muscle and is out of the tournament.

Game 2 v Norway

With England beating Norway we knew we had to win this game to stand any chance of qualifying. If we lost we would be virtually out.

After the poor performance last time out I made a raft of changes but it didn't help, Norway have this player, I'm not sure if you've heard of him, his name is Erling Haaland, well he didn't score the opening goal, that was scored by Tobias Gulliksen on 24 minutes but then Haaland got his goal 7 minutes later. 2-0 down and we hadn't shown up whatsoever, it was a poor all over, absolutely fuming and embarrassed, yes we had a tough group but I expected better, especially in this game. We managed to not concede any more but we hardly created a change. A 2-0 loss and we were out.

Game 3 v England

A dead rubber. England were through, we were out but there is national pride at stake, not only is it our nearest neighbours but we need to end with some kind of positivity!!

Well it ends with no positivity at all, we were awful, a 3-0 defeat, we failed to have a shot on target, absolutely woeful!

Now the worrying news, I have a funny feeling I may end up getting sacked. Whilst nothing has happened as yet, this is the board confidence screen.

Not good, there's also news articles circling that the players aren't happy with me as well. This means that, if I do get sacked, I've failed in the challenge of winning the World Cup and topping the FIFA Rankings with Scotland, unless I get offered the job again in the future. Let's hope the board give me a chance! If not then we'll just have to prove them wrong and smash it with Queen's Park!

Goodbye Scotland National Team

I said it would happen and it has come to pass, my time as Scotland manager is over, this means, at the moment, one part of this challenge is over but it now gives me even more time to focus on Queen's Park

Hopefully in the future I will get the chance to manage them again but for now it's over!