28/29 Season - July, August & Transfers

Last season was incredible, we eventually lifted a major domestic trophy and got closer the Celtic, it ended with disappointment for me, as I was sacked as Scotland manager but it's made me even more determined to bring even more success to Queen's Park. This is a big season, our last at Hampden before we move to our new ground “The Malky MacKay Stadium” for start of the 29/30 campaign, a brand-spanking shiny, nearly 19l all-seater stadium. So let's make our last season at Hampden a good one, yeah?

This may be a slightly longer post as there have been a lot of games in the opening month and a bit and, as you'll see, quite a bit of transfer business!

Transfers

I said in the last Queen's Park update that I expected some players to leave and that's exactly what happened.

We say goodbye to some of our most influential players:

Liam Morrison - Signed for £1590k and last season won a Scotland cap and became the clubs vice-captain, Al-Jazira activated his £15m release clause and there was nothing I could do, a HUGE profit though!

Gavin Kilkenny - Signed on a free in 2024, a massive player, helping our amazing progression but he said he wasn't going to sign a new contract so I had to cash in, £8m is a decent fee.

Federico Bonzzaoli - Signed on a free in 2026, another decent player but, like Kilkenny, he wasn't going to sign a new contract.

We also lost Kwateng who was signed last season and never really took off, another big profit on him, Jack Byrne also left after falling out of favour.

Some big losses of player but some huge profits and around £33m of money brought in.

Now we come to then in's and clearly, after losing so many players, we had to make some moves. I have gone big!

Nicolas Larrosa - Right Back - £3m from Nacional

A decent looking full back who can also push forward and play right wing. With Kwateng going I needed another option to Tanner at right back, I have high hopes this lad can be a superstar

Simon Torijano - Left Back - £450k from Once Caldes

Another option on the left, whether that's at full back or on the wing. I really like this lad, he looks top quality and all for a really low fee

Jason Peters - Striker - £500k from Arsenal

The first of two new Strikers, I really expected Rodrigo Muniz to leave, he had a £30m release clause and I thought someone would activate it, in the end the highest fee I was offered was £25m and I said no. So I now have Muniz and two others. The first of those is Jason Peters, another top quality young player who already looks really good.

Alex Calver - Defender - Season loan from Leicester

I do have a number of defensive options but with Morrison leaving I needed to find a short-term solution, just for the season, with the hope that some of my kids will improve and can take that spot from next season. Calver looks solid, he can play all along the back-line and all for a cheap wage %.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - Attacking Midfield - Free Transfer

With all those kids coming in I had to bring in some experience and when I saw AOC available on a free it was a no-brainer. Versatile, a great mentor and a top quality signing for this level.

Stephy Mavididi - Left Wing - Free Transfer

I had been looking at Stephy the whole Summer, even before he left Leicester at the end of his deal to get him in on a pre-contract but he wanted stupid STUPID wages, like over £60k per week. Then he was released, I went back in and boom, £18.75k per week! A top top quality signing for the Scottish Premiership and a fantastic option out wide.

Martin Campbell - Striker - £3.1m from Kilmarnock

The second Striker to join and this was a last minute deal, with the Muniz bids coming in I fully expected him to go, we also had loan bids in for wonderkid Calvin Leslie, I had looked at Campbell previously but wasn't sure where he'd fit in the first-team. With Muniz likely to go I went for it, Muniz stayed and now I have more than enough options up front!! I do like the look of him, he needs some work but with some mentoring and training he could become a superstar.

And that's it, some really good deal, only £7m, over £30m recouped, a fantastic window!

Champions League

Now we come to the big one, only our second venture into Europe's premier competition, last time went out in the 2nd Qualifying Round, this time we did much better!

We eased past Serbian side Novi Pazar and then a fantastic result against Olympiakos putting us into the playoff round, a 2-legged tie against French side Rennes for a spot in the League Phase and all the money that comes with it!

We went to their place in the first leg and played really well. At half-time it was 2-2 and we were well in the tie, we had chances but couldn't find a way through, until the 92 minute when Ilie popped up to seal a huge 3-2 win.

Then came the second leg and total chaos descended!!! 76 minutes in we were 3-0 down, 5-3 on aggregate, we had capitulated in shocking fashion, subs came on and one of those subs, Rares Ilie grabbed a goal back with a minute to go, 5-4 down. We then went for it, everyone up front, pump it in the box, chances came and went, then in the final minute, virtually the final kick of the game, Muniz rose highest to nod the ball home!!! 5-5 and we go to extra time!

Extra time came and ended, it would go to penalties. We were clinical but so were Rennes, 4 rounds each, all scored. James Hill then stepped up for us and scored. Le Fee stepped up for Rennes AND FISHER SAVES!!!!!

We're into the Champions League proper!!! Absolute scenes at Hampden!!!!!

Then we got out fixture list and oh my word that's tough!

Hampden will have some amazing nights under the lights in our final season there!

Domestic Action

So far it's been a solid start, with so many games I've had to rotate and overall it's worked.

Loads of goals in most of the game and some good wins, we did get hammered by Celtic at home which wasn't great and also drew 0-0 away to St. Johnstone in a game where we could've scored 10! 

10 points from 5 games though is decent enough, we do somehow need to start challenging Celtic in games regularly and not just winning 1 out of every 4!!

Huge signings needed for that destructive UCL group… That's gonna be tough but I trust you to perform well Steve!!! 
Looks like you've gotten some gems! As for the league, keep that up mate! 

28/29 Season - September & October

What a brilliant couple of months it's been, lots of games and some really good performances.

Champions League

It started oh so well but the last two results show how much work is needed before we start getting close to challenging!

I'm happy with four points though, the Barca result was an absolute hammering!

Half way through and we are just inside those playoff spots.

League Cup

I really wanted to win the League Cup this season but we failed and I'm really annoyed about it!

When you play Celtic, especially in such an important game it's key to keep your heads and Rodrigo Muniz, who had been incredible so far this season, didn't! He got sent off inside one minute! After that we had no chance. Fuming!

Premiership

Now to the League and we continue our amazing form.

7 games, 17 points, the only real downer was those poor draws in game we should be winning, it's totally down to the number of games we're playing, I'm having to rest and rotate more and that's what happened in both those draws. Other than that it's been amazing, plenty of goals and Muniz has been on fire (not that makes any difference after that shocking red!!)

We are top of the League!! Celtic on our tails though, Celtic have however lost more games already this season than the whole of the last campaign.

In Other News

I've been asking the board to sign an affiliation to help us send players out on loan and I've eventually managed to get them to say yes!

A really good deal here with Championship side Hamilton, not only can I send my players there on loan but we also get first option to sign any of their players.

With finances looking really good and there being a large surplus in my wage budget I've gone out and tied my key men into new deals, while also increasing or removing those pesky release clauses!

Montalto had a £14m release clause, this is now £40m!

Summer signing Torijano's release clause was £2.9m, it now £15m.

And finally the big one, I fully expected Muniz to leave in the Summer, so much so that I went out and signed two new strikers, he has been utterly incredible for me so far this season, I had to keep him around, so he's got a new deal and that £30m release clause has been removed.

Fantastic start you had in the Champions League and League. The cup loss is rough, but might give you a small edge on the fitness of your players. 

Good to see the RC's being upped. It'd be raiders central otherwise! Keep this up mate 😀 

28/29 Season - November & December

Man there are so many games in the opening half of the season!!!

Champions League

I won't lie I am so proud of how the lads have performed in the Champions League, we have been handed a ridiculous draw and bar the Barca game we've held our own. We played two games in the last couple of months and came out with a win and a loss.

The win was absolutely incredible, we conceded early but for around 35 minutes, between our first and fourth goals, we were absolutely incredible, like some of the best football I've seen on FM, Trevitt going off made it nervy as we had no more subs and they did come back but we hung on for a huge win!

We are still struggling for a playoff spot, our final two games are so tough, Atletico Madrid at home and Arsenal away, I think one win may be enough but getting that win is going to require a miracle!

Premiership

In the League been OK, we have really struggled with there being so many games, I've also had some very disgruntled players who wanted to play more, the likes of Noss, Dembele, The Ox and Watts have all complained and it's upset the morale, we've also had injuries and suspensions to deal with so results have been hit and miss.

11 games, 7 wins, 1 draw and 3 defeats. When you say it like that it's actually a really good few months, I'll take it back about us struggling!!! The defeat were annoying though, Celtic I can take, Hibs was a shocker of a performance and Rangers was a repeat of that Celtic cup game, an early red and we had no chance. 

Some of the wins though have been really good, we have been scoring for fun lately with Mavididi and Muniz on fire!

Those defeats mean we have slipped away from Celtic who sit 4 clear of us with a game in-hand. A nice gap to 3rd though.

There's also been another positive intake preview with a projected “golden generation”, I don't see it on those ratings but we will see.

We now move into the Winter window and I am expecting some comings and goings, Watts is leaving and I have a replacement lined up, Dembele and Noss have both signed pre-contracts to leave at the end of the season so will not feature from here on in (unless I really REALLY need them!). There is also noise about Trevitt going as he's asked for a move, I'll probably cash in but it does leave us short of central midfielders. So it could be a busy month!

Great youth intake, the Champions League dream is well and truly alive (Maybe you'll have a result like mine in the Semi Final just now 😉 ). 
For the league it's a bit rotten to be behind Celtic again, but I have faith in you 😀! 

28/29 Season - January & February

I always feel in every save there's comes a point where everything clicks into place, a month (or two) where everything works and you know, eventually, you can challenge, this was those two months!!!

Lets start with the transfers, I expected a busy window and it turned out to be exactly that.

We say goodbye to four first-teamers.

Trevitt and Watts asked to leave and I couldn't stand in their way, Anderson (LB) got his second red in only a few games and I was angry, I sold him for a good profit, the weird one was 3rd choice keeper Heraghty who was signed by Leicester! We will also be saying goodbye to Noss (CM/LW) and Dembele (RW/LW) at the end of the season who have both signed pre-contracts elsewhere.

So I needed some players in and I managed to sign three players

Mauro Martinez - Central Defender - £6m from San Lorenzo

With Watts going I needed to bring another defender in, I really wanted to go big and get a top quality player in and I really feel this is the lad. A big fee but he has so much potential.

Paul Holman - Defensive Midfield - Season loan from Southampton

With Trevitt going I needed a new DM, I couldn't find someone who wanted to come in and be a squad player and with us having a couple of decent kids, currently out on loan, I went for Holman as a short-term replacement.

Carlos Romero - Left Back - Season loan from Burnley

Anderson leaving left me short of LBs but I didn't really want to go mad and spend a shed load on a player when Torijano was doing a really good job, so I went with another short-term solution, he looks really good though.

Now to the results and my word it's been going well!

Champions League

We had two games left in the League Phase, two really tough games but we knew we only had to win one to seal a playoff spot.

First up was Atletico Madrid at home and we put in one hell of a performances, especially in defence to seal a 1-0 win! And that sealed a playoff place in knockouts. Stunning!

We then went to Arsenal and blew up, I mean they are brilliant but when one of your players gets sent off just before half-time it makes it even more difficult. This was the first of two reds for Anderson and one of the reasons why I sold him!

An amazing campaign though and we end in those top 24 spots alongside Celtic.

Into the Playoff round and we were handed a tough tie against AC Milan. First leg at home and we once again defied the odds to seal a 3-2 win with two very late goals!!

We then went to the San Siro and got an absolute kick-in!!!! A 5-0 defeat, they were just way too good and shows you how much hard work is ahead!

What an amazing run though, we got through three qualifying round, went toe to toe with some of Europe's elite, cause some shocks and got into the knockouts

The other Scottish Clubs in Europe have also done really well.

• Celtic - Played Liverpool in the Champions League playoff round, the managed a 2-2 draw at home before losing 4-2 away, a solid campaign for Brendan's boys though.
• Rangers - Ended 5th in the Europa League qualifying for the Last 16 where they'll face Trabzonspor.
• Aberdeen - Ended 5th in the Conference League qualifying for the Last 16 where they'll face .

Scottish Cup

You always want a nice, easy draw when it comes to the early rounds of the cup and we got completely the opposite!!!
 

We had Celtic at home to play, this was sandwiched in between those final two Champions League League Phase games, we went strong though and put in one of the best performances of my time here. We absolutely hammered them, they only had 1 shot and scored from it, we totally dominated, 13 shots on target, some scintillating football and, courtesy of a Muniz hat-trick we sealed a 4-1 win! MASSIVE!

In the next round we got a much easier tie against Championship side Airdrie, I rotated and the boys delivered a 6-0 win, 4 goals for LW McLuckie!

In the Quarters we will face Aberdeen at home.

Premiership

Now to the League and my word it's been incredible, even with so many games, injuries and fitness problems, the boys have turned and in style as well!

6 games, 16 points including ANOTHER 4-1 hammering of Celtic!!

As I said at the start, everything seems to have clicked, the players now believe they can do it, they can mix it with Celtic and actually beat them!!! The Hibs draw though did set us back, only a little bit, we have however dragged the gap back, in the last updated Celtic sat 4 clear with a game in-hand, they lose that game and with the loss against us we've now shrunk the gap down to a single point!

We have 9 games left, 9 games to make history at Queen's Park! Can we do it? Hell yes!

Good wins over Celtic and Fiorentina and unlucky against Milan

2029 Youth Intake

I've had some good intakes in this save so far, most have had at least 1 amazing player but so far only a single player has progressed to be consistently picked in the first XI, that man is Kier Hamilton, who I'm sure I'll talk about at the end of the season. 

Every season I expect a poor intake, with the squad and club progressing really quickly then surely the rating of the kids coming through will drop, well this intake was the total opposite, dare I say it's the best one yet!!!

Just look at that!! One elite player and seven players classed as a top talent!!! Absolutely incredible but the big question is, are any of them actually going to do what Kier Hamilton has done and be good enough to break through.

John-Paul Tait - Striker

The elite talent in the intake and he looks so good, we had Calvin Leslie come through the 2026 intake and at the time I thought he was good, Tait is EVEN better! Physically good, has some really good mental attributes and has good technique, the big question is, how do I make him better? What I've found with Calvin Leslie is he hasn't been given game time as with only player one striker we need a top quality one until Leslie gets to that stage. I've sent him out on loan but he's just not done it. I don't want the same to happen to Tait, so do I keep him around, in the first-team, to get mentored and then play reserve and U18 football? Or do I risk a loan?

James Kingsley - Goalkeeper

We've had a couple of decent keepers come through but so far none of them have progressed well enough to even take that No. 2 GK spot. Kingsley looks solid , handling and reflexes are brilliant who is huge, but his distribution needs to get better, as does his quickness. 

Michael Simpson - Attacking Midfield

A solid looking player, I don't play an AM though so he'll either need retraining as a ST or a CM, personally he's going to be a better CM, he needs to improvement certain things, such as his strength, first touch, bravery and composure but he has a great base.

Anthony Cameron - Central Defender

His physicals for a 15-year old are so good, he also has really high bravery and work rate, two things I love in a player. His technicals are the only thing that let's him down but that can easily be worked on. We have a raft of CBs who have come through intakes and so far only one has got into the first-team squad, the rest have spent the last 2 or 3 seasons out on loan. Can he be the one to break through?

Ben Smith - Right Wing

Naturally a RM but he is going to have to be re-trained as a RW which shouldn't be too hard. He looks solid, he's quick for 15 and has good technique, work rate and teamwork, he can also cross but he is let down by his passing, first touch and some key mentals. He could be a solid player in the future with the right mentoring and training.

So an incredible intake, the best one so far, the hard work now starts to get these lads improving as quick as possible. 

I've had a few people in a Discord ask me how I get so many good intakes and I don't really think I have a game-breaking idea. I always make sure I max out the youth facs, recruitment and junior coaching as quick as possible (although I know they don't completely affect the intakes), I also hire a solid HOYD and then pray! Here is my HOYD.

John Goodman has been here since 2023, one of my first staff signings. He isn't a worldie HOYD but has a good personality. He's doing an amazing job though!

2028/29 - Scottish Cup Quarter Final & End of Regular Season

Before I start the results review I thought I'd show you this.

In the post about the last intake I mentioned at how I felt Calvin Leslie of the 2026 intake wasn't progressing how I hoped, he's spent the season out on loan at Championship side Livingston, wasn't playing loads and when he was he wasn't performing that well, well something changed, maybe he's heard me talking about him as he's just ended second in the Championship Player of the Month.

And for anyone wondering how good he is, well take a look below.

He's rapidly improving, next season he's coming into the first-team as my backup Striker.

Scottish Cup Quarter Final

We had a tricky tie at home to Aberdeen who we always seem to struggle again, it was an absolute belter of a game!!!

A 4-3 win in extra time, The Ox grabbing a hat-trick!!! Even at 35 he is still incredibly good. An amazing win and we're into the semi's where we could've faced Rangers but they lost to Dundee United and that's who we'll face. We have a huge chance of back-to-back Scottish Cup now with both Celtic and Rangers out.

Premiership

We only had four games over March and the start of April prior to the League split and it's gone really well.

Kier Hamilton produced a worldie free-kick to sneak a point away to Aberdeen, that could be massive at the end of the season, then we won three straight including a 4-1 hammering of Rangers!!!

Celtic also matched our results with 10 points from 4 games meaning, with 5 games left we sit a point behind them.

And it could be a title shoot-out as we go to Celtic Park in the final match!

28/29 Season - Scottish Cup & Championship Group

Premiership

Championship Group Game 1/5 - Rangers (H) - A nervy win!!!! Rangers probably played better but we held firm to seal a 2-1 win. Celtic played Hearts at home and won 4-2. 4 games left, Celtic 79 pts, Queen's Park 78 pts (edited)

Championship Group Game 2/5 - Hearts (A) - Absolutely gutting to not go away with the three points, a late Hearts goal salvages a point but the big news is Celtic lost 1-0 away to St Mirren!!! 3 games left, we're both on 79 points with Celtic ahead on GD (+6 on us)

Championship Group Game 3/5 - Hibs (H) - Easy peasy! We coast to a 3-0 win to go top of the league, Celtic played on the Sunday and smashed Rangers 4-0

Championship Group Game 4/5 - St Mirren (A) - An absolute hammering, our form lately has been incredible, 18 games unbeaten in the league, we haven't lost in the league since we played Rangers in December! This was a brilliant performance and we needed to win as Celtic beat Hibs 2-0.

Championship Group Game 5/5 - Celtic (A) - It comes down to one game, Celtic and ourselves are locked on the same points with Celtic ahead of goal difference, only a win for us will do.

27 mins - Celtic score, they broke clear and Datro Fofana slid it in - BUT ITS OFFSIDE!

34 mins - OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Queen's Park score!!!

A long James Hill throw, it's flicked on my Porteous and Renecke rises highest to nod home! 1-0!!

45+1 - Datro is causing chaos up front for Celtic, he runs and runs and runs past three or four players, hits it but its well saved

Half time

51 mins - Another good save from Fisher, Celtic are knocking on the door

The corner comes in, Relvas wins it in the air but his header goes just wide for Celtic

68 mins - Datro has won a penalty by diving

Its gone to VAR

NO PENALTY

88 mins - Celtic corner

Oh god, their keeper was up, it got cleared, Amad ran into the box and his shot took a deflection and went straight into Fishers hands.

6 Minutes injury time

92 mins - Another great save from Fisher but Celtic have a corner.

It's swung in and Datro Fofana rises above Porteous to nod home

Absolutely gutting!

We have no time for a reply

Full time, we bottled it in the last minute

Absolutely gutting, we were literally minutes from the league title only to have it snatched away from us.

So so SO close!! 

Scottish Cup

We eased past Dundee United in the semi's

And in the final we were to face Hearts, 6 days after that Celtic game, could I pick the boys up and end with a positive?

We were red-hot favourites and we played like it, we dominated the match, had most of the chances and right on half-time made that dominance pay when Muniz was played in by The Ox and slid it past the keeper.

Chance after chance came and went and as the game drew on I was worried we were going to fall apart like the Celtic game but our nerves were settled when Left Back Romero cut in and smashed a shot into the top corner.

The whistle blew and we had won our second successive Scottish Cup

After that Celtic game I was really worried the players morale would be damaged but they came back and proved the doubters wrong. 

What a brilliant season overall, ignoring the fact we lost the League title in injury time of the last game, to run Celtic that close, to beat them 4-1 twice in a season, to be so far ahead of everyone else and to retain the Scottish Cup, alongside our really pleasing Champions League run I have to be happy. The league title is coming, I can feel it!!!

Key Men

For a team who did so well it's strange to see only 6 of the 11 players averaging over 7.

Rodrigo Muniz had an incredible season, he ends as the Premiership top goalscorer with 20 goals and also ends as the clubs players of the season. This lad is so good!

One of our own!! Kier Hamilton came in to the first XI after Kilkenny left in the Summer and never looked back, he ends as the clubs young player of the season but also wins the Premiership best rookie and young player of the season. 40 starts, 17 sub appearances, 7 goals and 10 assists. This lad is going to be a key man for us moving forward, all he needs now is a Scotland call-up

Although defender Waylon Renecke didn't win any awards this season I was delighted with his performances, he was a huge reason why we did so well with some fantastic defensive displays. 

The Kids

I want to just take a look at some of the academy lads who have performed well this season whilst out on loan and to look at those who I will be bringing in to the first team next season. I have so many amazing players who have come through the intakes, now is the time to give them a shot, see if they can prove their quality on the big stage.

Paul Hutchinson - The central midfielder has a really good season on loan at Championship Livingstone, he made 21 appearances and averaged over 7. He's not the highest rated academy player we have but he looks really good, some amazing mentals.

Kevin Patience - The central defender has had a few loans since joining the academy in 2024, now 20 I think he deserves a shot in the first-team. He's spent two season at Falkirk, helping them to the promotion playoff final where they lost to Motherwell. He's averaged a smidge under 7 this season in 43 starts and also chipped in with 4 goals.

Calvin Leslie - I've spoken about this lad a few times now and really feels he is good enough to come into the first-team as my backup striker. He's spent this season on loan at Livingston and after a slow start he ended the season pretty well with 6 goals in 25 starts. I do feel he is better than that!

Ryan McArthur - Coming through in 2028, he was the star of that years intake and is progressing really well, the central midfielder has spent this season on-loan at League One Dunfermline and has done really well, 29 starts, 9 goals and 6 assists from midfield is some season.

There really are so many more I could go through but these are the four I think can make the step up next season.

My plan for the next campaign is to not sign anyone (bar the two signings I may have already done!) and give the kids a chance, we have a really strong squad and, as you can see, some amazing talents coming through, if I don't give them a go then I'll never know if they're good enough. 

If anyone leaves this Summer, I won't be replacing them, UNLESS I have no academy player to play in that position then I may have to dip my toes in the transfer market.

We have so much money at our disposal now, £56m in the bank, a transfer kitty of £16m and a wage budget that's now sitting at £600k per week. So plenty to play with IF I need a player but this Summer will hopefully be quiet.

European Progression

Finally, let's see how well the Scottish Team did in Europe.

Queen's Park - We made it from the Champions League qualifiers all the way to the League Phase and managed to seal a playoff spot, we then lost to AC Milan in the playoff

Celtic - The automatically qualified for the League Phase of the Champions League and sealed a playoff spot where they lost to Liverpool

Rangers - They went the furthest out of anyone, getting all the way to the Europa League semi finals where they lost to West Ham

Aberdeen - They played in the Conference League and managed to get all the way to the Quarter finals where they lost to Atalanta

Hibernian - They lost in the Conference League qualifiers

So a really solid season for most of our teams and that has massively helped our co-efficient.

17.4 for this season and that pushes our score for next season to  71.067 which takes us above Netherlands in the rankings into 8th place. This doesn't affect our qualification spots though, it stays the same as this season.

The next nation we're chasing down is Portugal in 7th who have a 9 point lead on us.

What a brilliant season overall, it was gutting to lose the league in that way but we sealed another Scottish Cup and I have high hopes next season will be the year we beat Celtic to the title!!

29/30 Season - July and August

I said I'd make sure the transfer window would be a quiet one and it's been exactly that.

Transfers

My plan was to bring the kids in to replace those leaving and not to sign anyone, apart from the two players I had already signed, as you will see I did sign another player but there was a reason for that.

Out-wise we lost Noss and Dembele who both left when their contracts expired, we also let Bobby McLuckie leave after falling down the pecking order, he goes to AEK Athens for £145k.

Then, on deadline day we lost one of our key men and in a position I'm light in. Left Back Torijano moved to Burnley after they activated his £15m release clause, other than that no-one else left, bar the three players who were here on loan last season.

Now to the three in's.

Faber Arismendi - Defensive Midfield - £1.7m from Atletico Nacional

I actually signed this lad in the Winter window but let him stay at Nacional on loan. The improvement in him in just those 6 months has been amazing and he is ready-made to walk into our team. Obviously I want to give some of the kids a go in midfield but his versatility means I can play him in numerous positions.

Julio Anon - Left Wing Back - £375k from Danubio FC

I had already agreed to sign Anon before the last season ended, this was because I have no left back to bring in from the youth side who is anywhere near good enough. A stupidly low fee for a top quality, young player.

Salvador Navarro - Left Back - Season long loan from Atletico Madrid

This was the last minute signing to replace Torijano, with McLuckie already gone it meant I only had Anon as a decent LWB, there is no one in the youth side to promote so I had to make a short-term signing.

And that was it, it's time to give the kids a shot, when needed, it may work, it may not but we're so far ahead of schedule I feel like a season where I run the risk of not doing as well will be beneficial in the long-run.

Before I go through the results we have some weird news, we should have moved into the new “Malkay McKay Stadium” before the season started but oddly it's been delayed by 3 months. I've never seen this before and hope it doesn't get delayed further!

Champions League

We entered in the 3rd Qualifying Round and were handed PSV! A really tough tie and after losing the away leg 1-0 we had our backs against the wall. Then came the home leg, PSV scored early but we grabbed two goals back and mid-way through the second half it was 2-2 on aggregate. Then, in the 93rd minute PSV scored what looked to be the winner until Kier Hamilton stepped up to a free-kick, the 96th minute, it flew into the top corner and we had sent it to extra time. Torijano then scored to pur us 4-3 up on aggregate, we had done it….just!

In the playoff round we faced Galatasaray and I fully expected a win, we opened up with a 1-0 home leg win, it was a bit tighter than I expected! In the away leg we went for it, Galatasaray did score the opener but Ilie scored right on half-time to keep us in the lead in the tie. They then scored again but we scored within a minute, as they piled forward Ilie broke clear in the last few minutes to score a 3rd for us on the night and sealed a 4-2 win!

We're into the League Phase for a second successive season.

And we've been handed what looks like a decent set of fixtures.

The good news is we have four teams into the League Phases, Celtic joins us in the Champions League after the automatically qualified. Rangers made it into the Europa League and Hearts and Hibs got into the Conference League, so all five teams made it through.

Domestic Action

It's been a solid start with lots of goals!

3 games in the league, 7 points gained and 12 goals scored! Really good and a fantastic draw away to Rangers. We are however letting way too many goals in!

I played the kids in the League Cup and they repaid the faith with Leslie, Tait and McArthur scoring. Tait also ending as POTM.

A really good start but will it last? We have a really small squad this season, around 26 players in total, 8 of those are kids from the academy. We are going to need them with the sheer number of games to come!

29/30 Season - September and October

Champions League

This season, for me, is all about winning the Premiership, just to get to the League Phase of the Champions League is enough for me, so I've been resting and rotating to keep my key men fit for the bigger domestic games. This means results have suffered!

Only one point from the three games. Fiorentina we played well but defended poorly, Young Boys we should have won but they scored a late leveller and Leipzig we were rubbish!

League Cup

We're into the Quarters where we faced Rangers, it was an incredibly tight game, very even but we managed to come out the other end with a 2-1 win/

The good news is Celtic lost to Hibs meaning we are clear favourites to win it, possibly for the first time in the save. We will face Kilmarnock, the other semi is between Hearts and Hibs.

Premiership

It's been a really good start to the competition which means everything this season, we have however really struggled with injuries, with a much smaller squad than normal due to wanting to give some of the kids a chance, I really didn't want a raft of injuries, they haven't been long-term lay-offs but those annoying 2-3 week one, this has really stretched the squad, another reason why I've had to prioritise the league and forget about European progression.

The good news is we have been really really good so far and the kids who have had to fill in have been solid.

Still unbeaten and we also seemed to have stopped shipping goals as well! A couple of iffy draws but who cares, a stunning start!

And Celtic have already lost three games!!!

So we sit top on goal difference but we have a game in-hand, we haven't actually played Celtic yet, that will show me more than anything how far we've come. 

I really need to stem the injury tide now and try and get my players back fit, I'm looking forward to the next international break where we can have a rest!!!

In other news we have eventually moved to our new ground and the good news is we have a big expansion capacity!

Hopefully we can get the capacity increased quickly, the interesting news is the ground has also replaced Hampden as the new ground for the national side!

We've also signed another new affiliation with Japanese side Consadole Sapporo, hopefully that gets us some commercial income

Nice one on increasing the seating should help finances.  How did you set up your database for this save? Playable vs view only etc.

I tend to go basic. England down to the national League north/south and Scotland obviously. Then added a couple of view only leagues, La Liga, Bundesliga and Serie A. Had a large database and added all players from the UK. Came to about 60k players I think

29/30 Season - November to Mid-December

This update might end up with me just waffling but hopefully it all makes sense!!!

So far this season has gone pretty well, we've prioritised the league and cup and scrapped the Champions League and it was working well but, as the games wore on and, as you'll see in the results, especially for November, it showing that my plan to give the kids a chance and to keep the squad thin isn't working. If we are to actually challenge and challenge consistently I am going to need to improve the squad. That's not to say the kids won't get a chance, some aren't doing too bad but it is looking like a mistake bringing a load through in one go.

I'll be giving them their chance but maybe a bit more spread out!

Anyway enough waffling let's see how it gone

I thought I'd put all the results together so you can see that it's all fallen apart!!

8 games over a month and a bit, we've won 3 games, 2 of those in the league. Our 2 Champions League games have been awful and even in our wins we've struggled!!

The only positive note was we beat Kilmarnock in the League Cup semi final, we will face Hibernian in the final.

As you can see though we didn't create much, nowhere near the levels are the start of the season.

So with only 8 points from 5 games you would expect Celtic to have overtaken us in the table but even they've struggled, they've gained 7 points from 5 games. The funny thing is, although we're top we have a new challenger!

Yes Celtic are down to 3rd and Hibs are the team level with us at the top of the league, Dundee United are also doing well!!!

So as you can see results haven't been good whatsoever but we're still top which is a big bonus! We now move in to the Winter window and the board have increased our transfer budget from £6m to £36m, they clearly want improvements as well. My aim is to look at 3 or 4 positions, positions where we don't have a decent kids coming through and then improve on the players we have. 

Those positions are: Right Back, Left Back, Defensive/Central Midfield and a Winger that could be left or right. We have a couple of decent Strikers and Central Defenders coming through so I feel like I hold out on those areas but the likes of Tanner (RB), Thomson (DM) and my back-up Wingers just aren't good enough if we are to properly challenge Celtic consistently. We've also then got the worry of whether we will lose players as, once again, the transfer rumours are circulating!

Another thing I've noticed is, after our initial burst of goals earlier in the season, we've completely stopped scoring, in most of our defeats we've failed to score but we've also stopped creating decent chances, maybe I need to look to change our formation to add some extra attacking impetus or maybe I need to change our style to be a bit more forward-thinking and quicker at getting the ball forward, this is me thinking out load so I'll spend the Winter working it out!!! 

29/30 Season - December to Mid-January - Levelling up!

I'm updating now as, firstly it's the Winter break but also I have a lot of transfers to talk about.

We've gone big, we've gone bold, I've attempted to upgrade this squad by spending a shed load of cash, if this doesn't work, nothing wilL!

But first lets look at the results and actually it's gone pretty well since the last update. I don't think performances have been that good, we've played well in probably two games, the two most important games but overall the way we're playing is still a bit meh!!

Firstly the best news is that we won the League Cup!!!

It wasn't pretty and it took three goals late on in the second half to seal a 3-1 win. We deserved it, you can see by the stats we had all of the game, most chances, more possession, hugely better xG but still I felt we could've done better! I guess that shows you how far we've come!

The other good news is we smashed Celtic in the league.

We left it very late though, the game itself was really even, similar stats for both sides but we just hit a good patch at the end!

We actually end this little period unbeaten.

Some really good wins, a couple of iffy draws, I really can't put my finger on it, I watch the games and I just get frustrated, we miss so many chances, we give away stupidly easy chances by either not tackling or making sloppy passes. I really need to stop complaining, in six seasons we've gone from the Championship to battling it in the Champions League and challenging for the Premiership title. 

What I know though is we can do better, the tactic is still working even if it does have it's off games so for me I need to upgrade the players, we've stood still for a few seasons now, I wanted to give the kids a chance but I know I've rushed them through this season and they don't need the pressure. I need to improve the squad and like I said in the last post, we need to upgrade certain positions and that is what I have done!!!

What I want to do here is show you who we've signed but also look at the comparison against who is my best player in that position, that will show you how much better that player is.

Valentin Rosier - Right Back - £4.1m from Besiktas

A little older than I wanted but he looks so good for 33 years old. Right back has been one of my biggest issues for a few seasons now, I stuck with Tanner, I brought Larrosa in who just hasn't done well. Tanner is now leaving to go to Saudi Arabia and Rosier is his replacement.

As you can see below he is a lot better technically and mentally and as I like to play an attacking RWB to see his attacking and vision much better is key. He's also had a very good season at Besiktas averaging well over 7 in his 20 starts.

Bernt Granhus - Left Back - £5.5m from Juventus

Just look at those physicals, a bit like the right back area we've really struggled at left back. We lost Torijano late in the Summer window and I had no time to replace him, Navarro came in on loan and he's done OK but Anon as his back-up has been awful. 

As you can see Granhus is a lot lot better than Anon in nearly all areas. I like my LWB to play a little bit more reserved so the fact his attacking is lower doesn't bother me, What I like is he is quick, strong and has much better mentals. He is also only 20 so has time to improve.

Axl Peiffer - Defensive Midfield - £10.75m Genk

Only 21 and already played 100 times for Genk, I really like the look of this lad. His mental attributes are top quality and also has really good passing and first touch. We've missed having that creative player in defensive midfield since the likes of Okeke and Kilkenny have left, with Kier Hamilton playing as the CM I really needed this type of player to play alongside him in the DM role. 

Jack Thomson is the club captain and is the only player left from when I joined, he has been a great player for us but is declining now the club are improving. Pfeiffer is a different type of player to Thomson, he more technical and forward-thinking. In comparison he looks much better in those areas, I want my DM to pick the ball up off the CBs and not to lose it all the time, something that's been grating on me for the past few months!

Connor Smith - Attacking Midfield - £12.75m from Aberdeen

I've had my eye on this lad for a while now, even when I was Scotland manager, he's now 20 and is improving massively even if his form at Aberdeen hasn't been great this season. I've signed him as I see a huge for him and also he helps with the homegrown rule. He looks exciting, can play either on the RW or as an AM. 

As he can play RW I've compared him to our main man Montalto, he is probably the best player in the squad and has been on good form this season. As you can see though Smith isn't that far off him, physically and technically he's actually better. Whether he played RW I'm not sure, I am thinking of bringing him in to play as an AM behind a Striker but we will see.

Jean Carlos Pajoy - Striker - £1.4m from America de Cali

Now I didn't really need a Striker but when I saw this lad I had to bring him in. He is absolutely ridiculously good!!!! Rodrigo Muniz has been such a big player for me over the past few years but this season he has been so far off it, Jason Peters as back-up has also not been great and with Muniz looking like he wants to go I needed to find someone who would be a like-for-like replacement. 

In comparison to Muniz who, attribute-wise, the best player at the club he is actually better in so many departments. He isn't as good in the air but seeing as we like to play the ball on the floor and not put too many crosses in, then I don't mind. Pajoy is quicker, stronger, has better vision and is technically better. This lad could be an absolute superstar, I just need to get rid of his £12.75m release clause!!!

So some big upgrades, now let's hope this helps!! I really want to stick with my 343 double-Libero tactic but I'm finding it more and more defensively unstable and in some games we're struggling for goals, even though, as you can see in the results, we've scored a few lately, we do miss a lot of chances though!

I am looking at a 4231 to accommodate either Hamilton or Smith playing in behind a Striker but I'm reluctant to switch it all up mid-season.

Now it is only mid-January to there is still time for more business but I hope I can now hang on to my other players, this squad looks much better now I've signed these five players, let's hope it shows on the pitch, results continue to be good but our performances get better! 

29/30 Season - January & February 

Yesterday was a hard one for me, as you can tell from my updates I was struggling a bit, even though we were still winning games I was getting increasingly frustrated with performances and my decisions. It ended being the best thing that could've happened, it allowed me to take a step back and remind myself what this save is all about and that's taking this club and the nation to the top.

It's not about standing still and transitioning, nor is it about blooding all the kids in one, we need to continue to move forward, to challenge Celtic and to improve this squad to a level where we can progress in Europe.

The signings made in the last update improving a good few areas has helped but I needed more, not only new players but also a fresh approach, a new tactic which could give us more attacking impetus.

Now I've waffled let's see if it's worked and firstly the transfers, I have made two more signings to improve the side.

Murillo - Central Defender - Free Transfer

Not only is this guy costing me no money but he is a huge improvement on my current defenders. When a big came in for my main left-football central defender Waylon Renecke from Saudi Arabia for £19m (I signed him for £1.3m) I needed to find an alternative and this is that guy!

As you can see below, in comparison to Renecke, who is one of my better defenders, he is so much better, in virtually every area, for a free transfer this is a no-brainer, especially as I'm making such a profit on Renecke.

Feliz Gebhardt - Goalkeeper - £7.5m from Augsburg

Andrew Fisher has been really good for us but is slowly declining, with us also losing back-up keeper Santiago Silva after he asked for a move, I needed another option in goal. I spent a long time looking for a new No. 1. I got priced out of some players and then out-waged when going for others.  eventually settled with this lad and I have to say is still really good.

In comparison to Fisher he is better in some areas, not in others. Distribution for me is key, Fisher has struggled in some games, so to have this improved it massive, Felix's shot-stopping also a lot better, as is aerial ability and communication. The only area Fisher is better is physically. So again a good improvement.

With those two new signings, alongside the other five signed in this window I really feel we have a squad capable of properly challenging but I still had to sort this tactic out.

The “double-Libero” tactic had worked so well for me so far but, with teams more inclined to sit back on me and counter, I needed something new and fresh, to maybe catch a few teams out, letting goals in is fine if we score more!!! What we've found lately is we're struggling to create chances, we're still scoring but we could be doing more and that's down to a) not having enough players joining the attacks and b) we are too slow on the ball and need to get it forward quicker. So I decided to change to this….

We are using the base Gegenpress team instructions with a 424 formation. What I've tried to do is balance the roles giving us different options on either side of the pitch while trying to balance risk and award in the middle. I've also tried to get the players playing in their best position's where possible.

The F9 was the one I wasn't sure on but as you'll see in a minute, it's working pretty well. The only big concern for me was when we faced bigger teams or teams that played an AM, we may get caught out but for the domestic games, where bar Celtic we should be winning and dominating every game, this should work, I said “should”!!!

Changing tactics mid-season is always a risk but with a winter break in Scotland, it meant we had three weeks to put in some hard work in training and arrange some friendlies to see how it worked. Well the friendlies went amazingly and then it was time to put the tactic into proper competitive games!

I want to show you all the results together just so you can see HOW well it's gone!

I mean just look at that! Only one red but we'll gloss over that. 42 goals in 11 games!!!!!

Lets discuss the Champions League! So we lost our first five games and looked doomed. We then beat Copenhagen in matchday six to claw some dignity back, as you can see above it's gone mad and for me it all started in the Champions League.

After a solid 2-1 win over Marseille courtesy of a late goal from new-boy Pajoy, we went to Anfield knowing we HAD to win to get a playoff spot, I had no hopes, this tactic was new and surely it wouldn't work?! My God did it work!

We won 5-2!!! Just look how clinical we were tough, 6 shots on goal, an xG of just over 2 but we scored 5! This is what we've been missing this whole season. This meant we had nicked a playoff spot, unbelievably!! 

From there it went crazy, we beat Red Bull Salzburg in the playoff round, 5-0 at home before a rotated side lost the away leg 5-2, this puts us into the Last 16 for the first time!

We've also progressed in the Scottish Cup with two emphatic wins over East Fife and Arbroath, in the Quarters we will face Aberdeen away.

It's in the League though where things have took off, we weren't losing before but I wasn't enjoying the performances, now, with this new tactic, it's just insane!!!

5 games, 5 wins, 18 goals scored, including another 4-1 win over Celtic!! Again we only had 5 shots on target and scored 4! This tactic is so clinical!

And that means we are in pole position for our first ever League title.

5 clear of Celtic and we have 2 games in-hand! Surely we can't blow it from here!

The tactic has also sorted Rodrigo Muniz out! In the last update he had 9 goals from 28 starts, he now has 18 from 36 starts! His form has got mad and it has coincided with him having someone up-front with him. He ends February as the Premiership Player of the Month.

It's amazing how things can change just by taking a step back and re-assessing. Things were never bad, they were far from it but something was wrong, I needed to look and remind myself of the aims of this save. The kids will still come through, I may just take it a little slower, we need to keep moving this squad forward, as I said before, we can't stand still, Celtic won't, the big clubs in Europe won't, if we are to continue to challenge we need to continue to adapt and upgrade.

Apologies for the long post AGAIN. I wanted to keep these short but felt it good to put my ideas down so you can all see my thinking!

New tactic looks to be doing the business for you mate. Cracking results both in Europe and domestically. That gap at the top is nice and gives you a buffer towards the title push now!

2029/30 End of Season Review

Well here we are, it's been a few months since I last updated, I want to keep the amount of posts down at the moment, especially I seem to be writing a bit too much, hence the lack of “March/April” update.

Well the end of the season is here and when I last left you things were looking good, still in the Scottish Cup, we scraped into the knockouts of the Champions League and we say well clear at the top of the League, where we were looking for our first Premiership title.

Champions League

When I left you we had just beaten RB Salzburg in the playoff round, in the Last 16 we were drawn against Man United, a really tough draw but you'd expect it at this point.

We played the first leg at home and played so well, we let in an early goal but by half time were 2-1 up, we then fell asleep at the back and with 11 minutes left Anthony scored to level the tie. A draw is a solid result but we really needed to go to Old Trafford with an advantage.

We did really well in the away leg but it just wasn't enough. Three goals in the second half, one for us, two for them, their second coming minutes after we had levelled the game.

Still, after the start we had in the League Phase to get this far has been incredible.

Scottish Cup

We had some tight games in the Quarters and Semi's where we edged past Aberdeen and then a late goal to beat St. Johnstone 4-3.

We'd made it to the final where we faced Celtic, a team that had been nowhere near as good they should have been this season, a wounded animal you could say but it was time for us to lay down a marker, show them who we are!!!

We we didn't start well, Celtic scored within 8 minutes and they looked right at it. Then we got some big help, Celtic were down to 10 men 15 minutes in, surely we could come back? Well we did play well but we were sloppy, wasted chances galore, it looked like it was going to end 1-0 to Celtic until the 2nd minute of injury time of the game, a corner was swung in Navarro, up rose Martinez, BOSH!!! 1-1!!! We have rescued it!!!

Into extra time and this is where the game went absolutely bonkers, Celtic were dead on their feet, we had the bench to make a different, the subs came on and we went mad!!! 4 minutes into extra time it was 2-1 to us, Muniz beating his man and smashing it into the far left corner, 4 minutes later is was 3-1, Larrosa scoring a gorgeous curling shot from the edge of the box, 107 mins it was 4-1, Celtic has capitulated, another goal from a corner, this time Porteous with the header and then, right near the end, we scored a 5th goal, Pajoy nipping in front of his man to poke home. The whistle blew and we had BATTERED THEM!!!

5-1 FIVE ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Absolutely insane!!!

So we had won the League Cup, we had won the Scottish Cup, could we make it a treble? 

Premiership

When I left you last we sat top by 5 points from Celtic with 2 games in-hand, we did have a couple of slip-ups along the way but that was due to fitness issues and we having to rotate but as we entered the Championship group we sat 11 points clear of Celtic, all we had to do was not fall apart!!!

Well we lost our opening game to Rangers but Celtic also lost, this meant we had the chance to win the title in the next match. We were away to Hibernian, Celtic were at home to Rangers.

We did our bit and beat Hibs 2-0 but could Rangers do us a favour? YES THEY COULD!!! They hammered them 3-0 at Celtic Park meaning, for the first time, QUEEN'S PARK ARE SCOTTISH CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!!

An absolutely amazing season but we were helped by how poor Celtic were in comparison to the season before, last season they lost twice, this time they lost 11 games!!!

It couldn't have been much easier than that, 13 clear!! We have to thank the tactic though and the new signings, the 424 has worked so well since the Winter break, in the league alone we won 13, drew 2 and lost 3, 41 points from 18 games, we also end the League season unbeaten against Celtic!!!

What an absolutely incredible season, we have won the domestic treble!!! Our demons from last season have been vanquished!!!!!!

Key Men

I could talk about so many people here but then you will get really bored so let's speak about a couple of our key players.

The Clubs player of the season goes to Right Winger Fabrizio Montalto, this lad gets better and better every season and what a season he's had! 21 goals and 14 assists in 37 starts!!!! Incredible!

Connor Smith ends as the signing of the season, he only came in January and I remember at the time I said I was worried about his poor form at Aberdeen, well he turned that around and repaid my faith with a string of impressive displays. For us he made 18 starts and scored 10 goals!

Our Wide men this season have been so key and Rares Ilie has been amazing, playing on the left wing he has been a machine, providing 15 assists and 19 goals in 43 starts, he has over-performed his xG by 7! What a player!

Here is the clubs Best XI

And here is the whole squad.

Some amazing performances

Scottish Teams in Europe

It's been another decent season for the other Scottish teams:

Celtic went out in the League Phase of the Champions League ending 29th gaining 5 points from their 8 games/

Rangers ended 16th in the League Phase of the Europa League sealing a playoff spot where they beat Slavia Prague but were knocked out in the Last 16 to Celta Vigo

Hibernian ended 2nd in the League  Phase Conference League and automatically qualified for the Last 16, in that round they beat PAOK before losing to Sevilla in the Quarters

Hearts ended 9th in the Conference League League Phase qualifying for the playoff round where they beat Tobol Kostanay, they then lost in the Last 16 Besiktas.

So a decent season overall and then we got some huge news, we had risen two more places in the co-efficient, we are now up to 6th and that means big gains in the qualification spots available for next season.

As you can see our 30/31 season co-efficient rises to 80.667, above Turkey and Portugal.

And below you can see 6th spot means an extra Champions spot, rising from two to three, we also get two automatic League Phase spots. We gain a League Phase spot in the Europa League as well.

Finances & Budgets

The board have once again been generous with our budgets, nearly £20m to spend on players and a solid wage budget which leaves us with around £150k per week spare

The bank balance is also looking fantastic with it sitting at £56m, we haven't made much of a profit but that's because we spent nearly £40m in the Winter!

In Other News

A few pieces of good news for you and firstly I've persuaded the board to increase the capacity of the new ground.

Only 2,000 more seats but it's better than nothing.

We also, for the first time in the save, had two players in the NxGN and one of them is from our academy.

Ryan McArthur came through the 2028 and improving really quickly, he made a few appearances this season and chipped in with a couple of goals. Hopefully he continues to improve and he'll get more game-time as we move forward.

Next Season

Now we look forward to next season and I have a feeling expectations are going to go through the roof! Overall though we have a really good squad, this Winter signings have really propelled the quality we have and because of that I don't expect a raft of new players to join, that obviously may change is people leave.

My two main aims this Summer are a new Left Back to challenge Granhus and new Left Winger to provide back-up to Ilie. We have a few players who have declined quite rapidly this season who we'll be saying goodbye to. The Ox is leaving and I will be looking to sell Thomson and Mavididi. One thing I do need to keep an eye on is the number of homegrown players we have in our Champions League squad, last season we only had four, I need eight, so I'll be looking for a couple of trained in nation players to help make sure the squad is at it's maximum.

Hopefully those couple of signings, alongside the Winter incomings will mean next season we have another successful campaign, it's going to be really tough to exceed what we did this time around but I have faith!

What an incredible season mate! The progress you've made with this fabulous cup is incredible!

It's no mean feat to knock Celtic off their perch in the Scottish Premiership, so props to you!

Will the added capacity have a big impact on your finances for future seasons?

Awesome season mate!

Bigger than Celtic now!!!

What an achievement mate, congratulations!

Montalto has had a stormer of a season; I think his strength is in his hair? Will it be a tough task to keep him around?

2030/31 - Transfers, News & Opening Games

I can't believe I'm saying this, Queen's Park won the domestic treble last season!!!!! All with relative ease, we dominated the Premiership, we won the League Cup early and then we utterly battered Celtic in extra time of the Scottish Cup final. It's going to take a minor miracle to top what we achieved last season but to do that we need to continue to improve the squad.

I said in the previous update that I wanted a new LB and a new LW and then players would come in depending on who left, so let's firstly see those out's.

A few more than I wanted, the big losses were Fisher (GK), Martinez (CB) and Thomson (CM), all three wanted to leave and those fees are more than their value. We also sold Mavididi, The Ox left on a free and Navaroo went back to his parent club after his loan ended. 

The one interesting sale was Ryan McArthur, he was in last year NxGN list and is highly rated by me and the club but when Man United come calling there is no way you're going to keep hold of him. I got the best deal I could which includes 50% of the next sale.

It will be interesting to see how he develops at Old Trafford.

Now to the in's.

Calvin Paterson - Left Wing - £10.75m from Hearts

A player I'd been looking at for a while and I actually did this deal before last season ended, a top prospect and he helps with the homegrown rule. I have high hopes this lad could become a key player for club and country.

Dean Henderson - Goalkeeper - £15m from Crystal Palace

Did I overpay? Maybe but just look how good he is, compared to Fisher, who left and Gebhardt, who joined in the Winter, he is so much better and still had a good 3 or 4 years ahead of him.

David Moreno - Left Back/Defensive Midfield - Free from Burgos

With Navarro leaving and Thomson moving on I wanted a new LB and a new DM/CM, well Moreno ticks both those boxes and all for no money. He will be a good back-up player who can fill in as and when required.

Samuel Hernandez - Winger/Striker - Loan from Tottenham

A late deal, I just felt I needed another forward option, especially with players getting injured left, right and centre! A top quality young player who will provide a great option off the bench

Giuseppe Turone - Central Defender - Loan from AC Milan

With Martinez leaving I needed another option at CB, I didn't want to go out and spend a huge amount of money on a player as we do have a couple of decent, young prospects who I hope can improve enough to get a first-team spot in the next season or two. Turrone looks amazing and is a great short-term solution

So five in's costing just over £25m, a good window and now the squad looks set for another shot at domestic glory and hopefully a decent run in the Champions League.

Talking of that competition, as Premiership winners we automatically qualified for the League Phase and here are our fixtures. 

It actually doesn't look that bad, we have 3 winnable ties and some good match-ups against the likes of Inter, PSG and the team that knocked us out last season, Man United.

In our opening games we've played well but results haven't been as good as I hoped.

Three league games and only one win but we've played ok in those games. We also progressed in the League Cup with a brilliant display away to Hearts.

After four games the league is already really right, Celtic, now managed by Eddie Howe after Brendan took over at Real Madrid (YES REAL MADRID!) have also started the same as us. 

I also have numerous other interesting updates to show you.

Firstly, the board have decided to expand our new ground but just short of 10k seats. What this means though is until the expansion is complete in March we will be ground-sharing with Partick Thistle at their 10k capacity stadium

I've also decided to let my HOYD Jon Goodman leave and upgrade him with this fella.

Sam South-Thomas looks incredible, the last couple of intakes haven't been great so I've decided to get a new man in to hopefully provide us with some quality kids.

I mentioned it in the last update that it looked like we were going to rise up the co-efficient rankings and it's now been confirmed, we have moved up to 6th place which gives us more spots in the Champions League and more guaranteed League Phase spots.

Massive news for the save but we are a long way off taking on the big 5 nations of England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain!

So a good transfer window, an OK start result-wise, lets hope we I update you next, at the end of January we are still challenging in all competitions

2030/31 Season - September to January

League Cup

Two relatively easy wins over fellow Premiership sides put us into the final where we faced Rangers who beat Celtic in the semi's.

It was a really boring, tight game, then it exploded in injury time. Turone scored a header from a corner to put us ahead in the 91st minute and we looked to have one hand on the trophy but, with the last kick of the game, Rangers levelled the tie. Extra time came and went and it was to decided by penalties.

All penalties were scored until the final spot kicks of the five, Saito scored for Rangers, Turone stepped up….and missed. We had lost in the cruellest way possible.

Gutting!

Premiership

What an amazing run it's been, we are now 21 games into the season and as you can see below, we are still unbeaten!!!

Some amazing results, including a 2-0 win over Celtic and plenty of goals scored whilst being pretty tight at the back.

Even though we're unbeaten we aren't top but it's only because we have games in-hand. We have two games in Celtic and sit three points behind them. It's going to be a really interesting, tight end to the season.

Champions League

We played really well in nearly all our games in Europe, we ran Inter close and got a solid 1-1 draw at home to Man United, three wins in a row towards the end of the campaign sealed a play-off spot and we went into that final game v PSG knowing a shock win would seal a top 8 spot, unfortunately PSG were just way too good and we got hammered.

We had qualified for the play-off round though and that's really pleasing, we are punching at the moment and long may it continue!

We only had three Scottish teams left in Europe this season with both Celtic and Rangers in the Europa League and both of them qualified for the knockouts, Celtic managed to end 5th and go straight into the Last 16, Rangers ended 18th, sealing a play-off spot.

January Transfers

The Winter window was relatively quiet with two out's and two in's.

As for the out's we lost Striker Peters, who asked for a move after falling down the pecking order and Right Back Rosier, a signing in the last Winter window who didn't perform well and wanted to leave, a good deal for a 34-year old.

Now to the two in's, please welcome…

Kieran Tierney - Left Back - £3.7m from Atletico Madrid

When I saw Tierney on the transfer-list for that fee it was a no-brainer, a top quality full back even at 33, I do have Granhus and Moreno who are good but Tierney is on another level. A statement signing.

Kaio Jorge - Winger/Striker - Free Transfer

A player I didn't need, with Peters going I wanted to give the kids a chance but when I saw Jorge on a free he had to come in. He can play on either wing and up top which offers versatility and with us suffering from numerous injuries I couldn't turn the chance to sign him down.

Who's Stood Out

Jean Carlos Pajoy has been fantastic up front alongside Muniz, at only 22 he is already better than Muniz and is currently our top scorer with 15 goals in 26 starts.

Connor Smith came in to be Montalto's understudy on the right wing but has actually over-took him in the pecking order. He has been a revelation since signing last Winter. He has had a couple of injuries and struggled slightly with fitness issues but has made 18 starts and scored 9 times with 5 assists. 

Now for the one of the kids and that lad is Striker Jay MacLeod, this lad is improving at a rate of knots and has made a few starts due to the sheer number of games causing fitness issues and quite a few injuries. He scored his first Queen's Park goal in the 2-0 win over Celtic and has two more since. 

500 games down

It's amazing to think I'm already at the half-century mark of games, I'm nearly at the end of season 8 and it's been absolutely amazing so far but there is so much more to come!!

500 games

1 x Premiership

1 x Championship

2 x Scottish Cup

1 x League Cup

Amazing!

What a save so far mate! Great talents coming in and the league win is glorious! 

Champions League is looking like you're becoming a standard fixture in it now too 😁 

2030/31 - End of Season Review

And just like that the season is over! But first we have a worldie in our Youth Intake!

Craig Wiles, our new wonderkid left back. I swear I've never had an intake player this good and already first-team quality before on any FM. He went straight into the first XI and played 8 times since joining, he hasn't set the world on fire but I think he is going to be a superstar.

Champions League

We managed to seal a playoff spot for a third straight season and in that round we face Leipzig, a tough ask but we absolutely battered them! 3-1 in the away leg and then 5-3 in the home game!!

We then face Barca in the Last 16 and it was a step too far, we lost the home leg 2-0 and then went to the Nou Camp and lost 3-1. Another really good run though.

Scottish Cup

After losing the league cup final on penalties I was determined to make sure we won this and we did amazingly.

Solid wins all the way against pretty decent teams, the other semi was between Celtic and Rangers and Rangers won 2-0.

Now it was time to get revenge after losing to them in the league cup final and we did exactly that, we absolutely hammered them!!!

5-1, an amazing performance and our third straight Scottish Cup win.

Premiership

Now to the league, when I left you last we sat 3 points off Celtic but we had 2 games in-hand, it was ours to lose and we did really well, we did lost to Celtic 3-2, after being 2-0 up which was a shocker but after that we went on an amazing run of 8 wins in a row and by the time we faced Hibs with 3 games left we knew a win would seal the title, we beat them 2-1 and we had successfully retained the Premiership!

Only two defeats all season, both of them to Celtic but we absolutely smashed it, 94 points, 7 clear of Celtic, our best season yet by miles!!!

Key Men

Striker Jean Carlos Pajoy dominated the player awards, he won the clubs player and young player of the season, he also ended as the clubs top scorer. A stunning talent and a player I really hope will stick around for the long-term. He ends with 29 goals in 46 starts, sensational!

I spoke about Connor Smith in the last update and he continued his good form throughout the rest of the season, he ends with most assists at the clubs for the season, 14 in 40 starts with 17 goals. 

Another player I want to speak about is Murillo, he played the first half of the season at CB but I moved him into midfield to play as a Segundo Volante and he was amazing, I was going to look for an SV in the Summer, I don't think I need to anymore!

Here is our Best XI, strangely though there is no Murillo!

And here is our whole squad.

Co-efficient Update

This has suffered this season, mainly because only three teams qualified for the League Phase with Queen's Park in the Champions League and Celtic/Rangers in the Europa League. We had a good run as did Celtic who beat Rangers in the Last 16 before losing to Ajax in the Quarters.

We will retain 6th spot for next season but we have teams breathing down our neck. The good news is that due to us being in 6th we are guaranteed 2 teams in League Phase of the Champions League and one team in the Europa League League Phase, all in all there will be six teams in the Europe, with the other three going into Qualifying.

In Other News

At the end of March we moved back to our new ground after a lovely 9,400 expansion, this is going to massively help our gate receipts as we move forward.

But the even better news is I've persuaded the board to add even more seats! Another 3k at a cost of £8m!

The Academy is Flourishing 

A quick word on a few of our academy lads, who all made their Scotland debuts this season. David Moyes (Scotland manager) went mad in the March friendlies and called up 8 Queen's Park players, including these lads who all made their debuts

It was great to see forward Jay MacLeod get his chance for Scotland, this lad, when called upon has been really good this season and is improving rapidly, next season he is going to get his chance.

There was also a call-up and debut for Striker John-Paul Tait, he hasn't played much for me so I sent him on loan to Hearts, he didn't score loads but obviously impressed enough to get the call-up. 

Another player on-loan at Hearts who got the call was defender Steven McIlvogue. He isn't rated very highly but has a really solid half a season on-loan.

These three lads will all be in and around the first-team next season. I feel now is the time to give them a chance as we are doing so well in the League, with these guys, Kier Hamilton in midfield and Craig Wiles at Left Back we have a really good crop of academy players who I think can help take this club to a new level.

2031-32 - Transfers and Opening Games

I have to say we have properly upgraded this squad for next season, lots of outs and some real top quality players coming in.

Transfers Out

£68m of player sales, we say goodbye to DMs Peiffer and Anon, both sold for a profit, around £5m made on Peiffer, Anon was signed for £375k! Left Backs Moreno (signed on a free) and Granhus (signed for £5m) also leave, Tierney is so much better than these two and we also have wonderkid Wiles so neither of them were needed.

Ryan Porteous also leaves, he asked for a move and he wasn't going to get regular game time.

So a few first-teamers go meaning I needed to bring a few players in.

Transfers In

Pires - Central Defender/Left Back - £11.75m from Cruzeiro

A lad I'd looked at last season but I held off. With Murillo spending more time in midfield I felt it best to go out and sign a new left-footed CB, he can also play LB which helps.

Florian Boyer - Left Wing - Free from Toulouse

I really didn't need this lad but when I saw his contract expiring, meaning I could get him on a free, well it was a no-brainer. I top quality attacking midfielder who is an upgrade on Ilie and Paterson

Nordi Mukiele - Right Back - Free from Monaco

Another player I snapped up on a pre-contract. My new back-up right back to Larossa, he has Champions League experience as well and will be a great help to the young lads in the squad.

Andre-Franck Zambo Anguissa - Defensive Midfield - Free Transfer

With Pefiffer and Anon leaving I needed to bring in new midfield recruits, Anguissa is getting on in age but for 35 he still look top quality.

Ardon Jashari - Defensive Midfield - Free Transfer

Another ridiculous signing on a free transfer, just look at his value!!! This is why I left Anon leave, a huge upgrade on any midfielder I currently have.

Kristoffer Ajer - Central Defence - £12.5m from Brentford

I may have slightly overpaid but Ajer look really good and adds experience to our defence.

Some fantastic signings, lots of experience added and I really feel we're in a much better place for a good run in the Champions League

Opening Games

Sensational!!!! We have started incredibly with plenty of goals and hardly any conceded!

How low are Celtic?!?!

In Other News

I mentioned in the last update that the board agreed to my request for more seats in the ground, they agreed to a 3k expansion, then only days later they told me they were going to add over 9k more!

This will take the capacity up to nearly 38k! Huge!

The biggest news though is that all six teams that qualified for Europe this season have made it to their respective League Phase, we had three teams (including us) that has automatically qualified and then Rangers, Hibs and Aberdeen all made it through their qualifying rounds, this means we have….

• Champions League - Queen's Park, Celtic and Rangers
• Europa League - Hibernian and Dundee United
• Conference League - Aberdeen

This should really help the co-efficient!

Our Champions League fixtures also look pretty decent.

Those four home games in a row are going to be huge, three of those we should win, we also face last seasons winners AC Milan, there are also a couple of winnable away games. Could we do enough for a top 8 spot?

What a massive transfer window for Queen’s Park! Really like the logic behind the experienced signings, Jashari looks an absolute beast, Ajer is solid and Mukiele will do a job for the next year or two!

Just caught up on this, after seeing a few of your posts on the discord got me interested.
Incredible journey you have been on so far with Queens Park & you've managed to sign some great youngsters & some really solid older heads this season.

A lot of your posts about your come up and starting to properly challenge for the league title reminded me a lot of my personal Kelty Hearts save I done a few FMs back & you've really got me pumped for my Loch Ness FC save once the database comes out.

Look forward to reading on!