thatirishguykev - Comments

SEASON 2 WRAP

20th May 2051

My second season at Old Trafford has come to an end and whilst I'm absolutely delighted there's also an element of what could have been. When I took over the club had narrowly missed out on being relegated from the Premier League, so the immediate future was all about ensuring we retained our Premier League status and built for the future. Finishing 8th in my first season and winning the FA Cup was far beyond the club objectives set by our board and chairman, our second season was no different. A stunning season in which we still had a very slim hope of winning the league on the final day, eventually finishing 3rd and securing UEFA Champions League football was far beyond the finish in the top half objective we'd been set.

In truth I'd have been happy with finishing 8th again, so finishing narrowly behind eventual champions Newcastle United was a great achievement. We also showed a massive improvement away from home against the bigger sides like Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Wrexham. We won away to Arsenal, Liverpool, Wrexham and should have beaten Chelsea too. We lost away to Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspurs, but the former was an improvement on last years 5-0 hammering. In fact last season we'd lost 5-1 away to Chelsea, 4-1 away to Wrexham, 5-0 away to Newcastle United and 5-1 away to Arsenal, so there were massive improvements on the road against the bigger clubs in the league.

The disappointment is knowing that had we been a little bit more experienced or professional or lucky we'd have won the league. You see we conceded injury time equalizers in 4 games that cost us a total of 8 points. A 98th minute goal at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea, followed by 3 injury time goals at Old Trafford, our home, which really is the punch in the gut. Nottingham Forest in the 93rd minute, West Ham in the 89th minute and Bristol City in the 92nd minute. The latter hurt tremendously too as we were 2-0 up but conceded in the 85th minute and 92nd minute to drop 2 very valuable points.

We also failed to beat West Brom away, that game finishing 0-0. I only mention that as West Brom were eventually relegated with a very low total of just 14 points and a -58 goal difference. Looking back on it we probably should have won the league, but we just dropped too many points and perhaps that's on me as a manager as our squad has an average age of about 23 years.

There was also silverware to be had as we beat Arsenal in the Community Shield at Wembley. We started poorly and found ourselves 2-0 down, but got a goal back before half time through Rafael Barbosa to change the momentum of the game. Star striker Juanma Canete then grabbed a brace with goals in the 58th and 78th minute which looked likely to seal the win in normal time. However, perhaps as a sign of things to come for the season we conceded deep into injury in the 97th minute. In the end though it didn't matter as we held our nerve to win 5-4 on penalties.

We finished the season as we started it with silverware as we beat Real Zaragoza 3-2 at the Gijon International Stadium in Gijon, Spain in the UEFA Europa League final. We'd beaten the Spanish side 3-0 away from home in the league phase of the competition but were behind 17 minutes into the contest. In truth our first half performance was poor, but it was clear that our CAM and LW weren't performing well and the Spanish sides 5-man defence with 2 defensive midfielders sitting in front of them was proving very effective.

Stephen Henderby and Nikola Markovic were introduced at half time and the pair would go on to play big roles in the outcome of the UEFA Europa League final. It was a proud moment to see brave tactical decisions pay off but also knowing that I'd got it right when the players were signed many months ago. Henderby could be a world class striker or attacking midfielder I signed not only because of his potential, but to help with domestic and continental squad registrations. The teenager was also a steal at £25 million and I'm still not sure why Crystal Palace let him go so cheaply. Markovic was signed on a free transfer after his contract with Serbian side Crvena Zvezda ran out, his 59 goals in 141 career appearances enough to suggest he could be a helpful option on the left wing, up front or in the central attacking midfield role.

This season saw us again sell to spend, with a little bit more spent compared to last season. A total of £159 million was spent, but we did offset that by bringing in £298 million in player sales. It was tough to say goodbye to Dmitry Voronov and Mitchell Milne as both players were important members of the first team squad and had performed well for me last season, but in the end they both wanted to leave the club, and the fees were almost in the realm of bids you just can't turn down when you're turning around decades of mismanagement. Georgie Aherne, Emilio Russo and Patricio del Angel all left for substantial sums of money too as we chased younger players for the future to replace Russo and Del Angel.

We had signed Jakob Gram, Marley Hairyes, Rivaldo Garizabalo, Mohammed Balogun and Navajo Profijt last season, but it was clear to continue our improvement on the pitch we'd need to let them go and replace them with better options.

In terms of players joining the club some other big mentions would be Aodh Giurgi, Andre Thompson, Bas Verheul , Jose Romero and Micha Kessels. I feel like all of them will be important first team players beyond this season and Thompson and Verheul in particular played a big part in the most successful defence in the Premier League.

Yeah mate!!

Here's the link to the MediaFire file. You'll just need to download and add your own manager at Manchester United. Good luck!!

https://www.mediafire.com/file/jt9ev01zfiq66g3/Manchester+United+-+The+Impossible+Rebuild+18th+May+2049.fm/file

Cheers mate!! I've been playing this save for over a year and started at Division 12 Falconwood and been to the dizzying heights of Champions League glory with Real Madrid. Been my favourite and best career without a doubt!!

So far so good thankfully at Old Trafford though.

I've uploaded the file to MediaFire.

You'll just need to start and add a manager, good luck!!

https://www.mediafire.com/file/jt9ev01zfiq66g3/Manchester+United+-+The+Impossible+Rebuild+18th+May+2049.fm/file

SEASON 1 WRAP

27th May 2050

A big season of change at Old Trafford and a largely successful one too. On arrival at the club, it became pretty clear that the squad wasn't good enough to compete at this level and I guess that would have been obvious to anybody with eyes as the club almost suffered relegation in the previous season. There was a lot of movement in and out of the club as we sold £267 million worth of players and spent £95 million. The board only allocated 30% of transfer revenue so the job was made somewhat tougher with that restriction.

In terms of transfers our best was without doubt the signing of Rafael Barbosa for just £10 million. 10 goals and 11 assists in 29 league appearances was a fantastic return from the 21-year-old in his first season in the Premier League. 17 goals and 14 assists in 38 total appearances across all competitions saw the Portuguese player quickly become one of our key players and amongst the first names on the team sheet.

Another player that proved to be crucial to our performances this season was Spaniard Juanma Canete. 24 league goals and 7 assists in 36 Premier League games saw him almost win the golden boot, but he missed out on that individual award on virtue of playing more minutes than the eventual winner. His partnership with Barbosa, who usually played on the right wing, was at times irresistible and Manchester United fans will be hopeful of what the pair can produce together next season and beyond.

If you'd offered me an 8th placed finish at the beginning of the season I'd have done cartwheels. To have been expected to finish 13th-14th at the beginning of the season and having the board ask for only a mid-table finish it was clear how far this great club had fallen. We're obviously a long way off Chelsea and Arsenal at the summit of English football, but slow and steady wins the race and the first season of this rebuild has been a success. Thrown into the mix was a narrow semifinal exit to Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup and victory in the FA Cup final against Newcastle United, meaning we'll play UEFA Europa League football next season.

It's a pretty big save file so I don't think it'll let me send it via a PM.

I'll look into uploading it on Mediafire or something this weekend.

23rd June 2049

It's been 13 long years since Manchester United last lifted a trophy and since beating Bordeaux in the UEFA Europa League final in Turin things have gone from bad to worse. The club went into administration in July of 2041 and were relegated in April of 2044. The club managed to bounce back at the first attempt the following season, but a few years later the club are back flirting with relegation again, finishing 16th and just 7 points clear of the relegation zone.

The club are no longer amongst England's elite nor are they a force to be reckoned with in Europe.

It's been 41 years since they last won the UEFA Champions League in 2008, 36 years since they won the Premier League in 2013, 18 years since they won the FA Cup in 2031 and 26 years since they won the Carabao Cup in 2023. The club must now accept it needs a big rebuild if it's to have any hope of recapturing it's former glory days under former manager and club legend Sir Alex Ferguson.

Highly successful Spanish manager Garry Nacho has taken over at Old Trafford following the departure of Dannie Lower.

The 45-year-old Spaniard has plenty of experience in the Premier League after stints with Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur.

Nacho famously won back-to-back Premier League titles and 2 FA Cups during his spell at the London club before making the move to Spain to manage Real Madrid. He went on to enjoy incredible success with the Spanish giants as he won 9 La Liga titles in a row, 6 Copa del Reys, 5 Supercopas, 4 Uefa Super Cups, 2 FIFA Club World Cups and 5 UEFA Champions Leagues.

https://www.fmscout.com/a-fm24-skin-rensie-dark.html

SEASON 2024 - 2025

26th December 2024

We're halfway through our second campaign as Colkirk FC manager and it's shaping up to be another successful season.

After 8 games we've got a perfect record and at this stage it looks likely we'll be celebrating back-to-back promotions.

We've managed to keep up our fabulous form despite losing 2 key players. We lost midfielder Michael Adu after the opening game of the season after he joined Brighouse Town. Whilst disappointed to lose a player who scored 8 goals in 10 appearances last season, I understand why he wanted to leave. The former West Ham United academy player is now earning £300 a week and playing in the Northern Premier League Premier Division which is the 7th tier of English football.

We lost right winger Jacob Shepherd to Jlingz, yes you read that correctly, Jlingz is a club founded and owned by former Manchester United player Jesse Lingard. We lost the 22-year-old winger prior to our last game in the league and hopefully it won't change our fortunes in front of goal. The winger had scored 15 goals in 23 appearances for us, whilst creating another 18 goals. 33 goal involvements in 23 games will be tough to replace, but we wish him all the best for the future.

SEASON 2023 - 2024

21st April 2024

16 games, 16 wins, 71 goals, 9 clean sheets and the Cental & South Norfolk League Division Four title.

At the beginning of the season the expectation was to gain automatic promotion and to be honest I'd have been happy with just getting over the line, but to have blown the other 8 sides in the league away like we did is proof that the coaching staff at the club got it right with the players we recruited. As frustrating as it is to lose members of the backroom staff it's a testament to how well we did that our Chief Scout, Scout and Head of Youth Development have all left for pastures new.

The hope going into next season is to be competitive despite the step up and I feel as if we've a realistic possibility of back-to-back promotions if we can keep our best players at the club. It remains to be seen just how realistic that is considering we did see stars Max Thompson, Fabio Lopes, Jacob Shepherd, Michael Adu and Cairo RIchards offered contracts elsewhere, but thankfully they decided to stay at Colkirk FC for the time being. Our social media presence took a nice jump from just the 1 follower to 178 followers over the course of the season and hopefully we'll see bigger attendances next year, our average home game attendance coming in at just 16 fans over the course of the 2023 - 2024 season.

SEASON 2023 - 2024

16th December 2023

At the halfway mark of the season, we're well and truly on our way to recording automatic promotion.

A perfect 100% record with plenty of goals scored has seen us really race away at the top of the Central & South Norfolk League Division Four table and given our form it would appear unlikely that we'd fail to secure promotion.

In other news it seems that we've got a promising youth intake for our level potentially coming in the next few months.

A goalkeeper, 2 centre-backs, 2 central-midfielders, an attacking midfielder and a winger all with A ratings makes for good reading. Going forward into the future I really want to emphasize bringing through academy graduates for the first team.

SEASON 2023 - 2024

1st October 2023

90 days into my football management journey and things couldn't have gone much better.

We've played 3 league games and recorded 3 wins, scoring 14 times and conceding just 1 goal in that time.

Our most recent performance against Poringland Wanderers was superb and came as a big surprise as they'd won their opening 3 games of their league campaign to sit atop of the Central & South Norfolk League Division Four table.

Leading the line up front is 20-year-old Max Thompson.

He spent time at the Chelsea and Watford academies, but like many young players in England find themselves not earning a professional contract. There's an understanding amongst our staff volunteers and devoted fans that he can and probably will at some stage play at a much higher level. Max has scored 4 goals in our opening 3 league games, his first goal after 4 minutes against Fakenham Town Under 21s also etching his name into the history books as it's our first club goal ever. He also scored the clubs quickest goal ever after just 17 seconds against Poringland Wanderers in our most recent fixture and bagged a hat-trick in that 8-0 rout. 

Another player that has been a standout in our opening 3 league games is Jacob Shepherd.

Just like Max Thompson the 21-year-old spent time at an elite club youth academy, but couldn't secure a contract. He spent 3 seasons at West Brom before being released and he has hit the ground running out our club. He's got 5 assists to his name in the opening 3 league fixtures from the right wing and has been a crucial member of the team since joining the club.

On the opposite flank is Lisbon born Fabio Lopes.

With 4 assists and a goal to his name the pace and flair of Lopes has been on full display down the left wing. A stunning man of the match performance in our recent 8-0 demolition of Poringland Wanderers was fully deserved as he setup 3 goals and also scored. With Lopes, Shepherd and Thompson leading our attack it looks likely we'll score plenty of goals this season.

In midfield we've been blessed to have secured the services of Michael Adu who has not only controlled games for us in the middle of the park, but he's also contributed at the other end of the pitch scoring 3 goals in our opening 3 league games.

Adu always seems to have time on the ball and the confidence to pick the right pass, whilst his timing to arrive in the box at the just the right time has seen him contribute crucial goals. The 20-year-old is just another player who was living their dream at a Premier League club before it ended in heartbreaking circumstances, but hopefully the former West Ham youth prospect can rebuild his career here at Colkirk FC. If his opening 3 league games are anything to go by it seems that's extremely likely.

SEASON 2023 - 2024

3rd July 2023

The journey begins at Colkirk FC in the Central & South Norfolk League Division Four or the 20th tier of English football.

We're a long way from the dizzying heights of Premier League and UEFA Champions League football, but the football will be honest every weekend at the South Creake Playing Fields. The club currently has no players, so extensive trials will be held in the coming weeks before our opening game of the season in 68 days against Fakenham Town Under 21s at Clipbush Lane.

Ahead of the new season our chairman Lee Roscoe has communicated that he's expecting automatic promotion.

We've signed a 2-year deal worth £700 per season with Umbro to supply our match day kits.

In the early 1990’s the landscape of English football was about to drastically change forever, just nobody knew it yet. The English Premier League started in the 1992-1993 season and since then 51 clubs have played in the highest division of English football.

Of those 51 teams to have played in the Premier League since it's foundation, Oldham Athletic hold the unwanted record of being the only team to have been relegated from the Football League. The Latics spent two seasons in the Premier League between 1992 and 1994, narrowly surviving the first season on goal difference. Unfortunately, The Latics would taste relegation the following season and in the 3 decades that have followed since that relegation, the club has been unable to stop their slide down the Football League pyramid which has culminated in their relegation to the National League.

Since their relegation from the Premier League the Latics fans have also had to watch on as local rivals Manchester City and Manchester United have conquered not only just the domestic topflight but also found success in Europe.

The club have had little success of their own in their 128-year existence having never won the Premier League, the FA Cup or Carabao Cup. It has been 10,648 days and counting since Oldham Athletic featured in the first tier of English football and the path back to the Premier League seems like a long painful one for hopeful and loyal Latics fans.

Awesome skin mate, thank you!