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#497411 The Flying Scotsman. A Hall of Fame career
bigmattb28
To start this update off we’ve got the small matter of the World Cup final to discuss, and it was Germany that won it after a 3-1 win over Belguim.
In our season we had the Starhub League cup start, and we kicked off with an incredible 6-1 win over warriors, a 2-0 win over Tampines before rounding out Group B with a poor 2-0 loss to Home United. The loss wasn’t the best result but we had qualified from the group by that point.
We’re drawn against DPMM in the semi final, a game we should win
Or not. Dreams of a triple win are over, and we now concentrate on the League and Singaporean cup
In a surprising end to the cup my former team, despite their troubles this season actually won the League cup, so I’m happy for them.
In the semi final first leg we more or less booked our place in the final with a 3-0 away win over Warriors, only a catastrophic showing in the return leg will stop us getting in the final.
Before that second leg we had a league game against Home United in which we drew 1 all. Not bad considering I rested the majority of the team to keep them fresh for the cup.
The first leg result proved decisive as we drew our second game in a row 1 all, but we’re in the final of the cup.
Where we’ll play DPMM, who knocked us out of the league cup, revenge is certainly on my mind.
With only 5 games to go in the league, we absolutely spanked my former team Hougang 5-0 before beating Warriors 1-0, the red card they got certainly helped us.
On the same day as that win away at Warriors, I was greeted with this result
Not only did Hougang get probably their best result of the season, but it helped me out in a big way. As that result put the league title out of reach for second placed Tampines and ensured that the trophy came here to me at Albirex.
So that’s mission objective completed. I came here with 1 goal in mind and it’s been wrapped up with 3 games to go. Those 3 games ended with a win over Geylang, a loss to Balestier and a final day humiliation 2-0 home loss to DPMM. Not the best way to end but that means DPMM have beaten us in the last 3 games we’ve played, and we’ve got the cup final against them coming up, and I do not want to lost to them again.
Before the cup final, confirmation of our final league position of first with 48 points, right winger Motoda getting player of the year.
Now before the game I’d already made my mind up that I am going to be leaving Albirex. I came here for the league title and the league title is what I got this year. I’ve already won both of the cups with Hougang, so winning it again whilst it would be good, it won’t be the end of the world if DPMM do turn us over. With that said, I am going to give everything, as always to win this game.
Do we end on a high, or a sour note?
The highest of highs, as I complete a remarkable double of the League and Cup in my first, and only season at Albirex. I won’t go into much detail, but it wasn’t plain sailing as both teams went all out for the win, but we managed a break through in extra time to seal the win and the cup.
Now I had decided that I was going to leave Albirex after this game, however after seeing this cup final and how I’ve actually had fun with this team, I am going reconsider staying.
Next update will be end of season stuff and the next steps in the career, if I stay at Albirex or if I leave. Thanks for reading.
Career progress:
2016 | Houngang United -- (Singapore) Finished 7th, League Cup winners
2017 | Houngang United -- (Singapore) Finished 2nd in the league, Singapore cup winners
2018 | Albirex Niigata -- (Singapore) Finished 1st in the league, Singaporean Cup winners
#497172 Balkans King - Ludogorets !
bigmattb28
This is what I tend to do when I'm not at a 'big' club, and seeing as How Ludogorets in this save have what I'd call a stable team, 1 leading transfer a season would be about right
#497171 Eskins At The Wheel - Man Utd (FM19)
bigmattb28
#497170 Welcome To Hellgrade - A Red Star Belgrade Career
bigmattb28
#497119 The Flying Scotsman. A Hall of Fame career
bigmattb28
Thanks man, glad to have you here following
#496898 The Flying Scotsman. A Hall of Fame career
bigmattb28
Cheers mate, Balesiter seem to step up when they play us. Am still confident tho
#496860 The Flying Scotsman. A Hall of Fame career
bigmattb28
As the season in Singapore runs from February to November, and it's the end of May, we'll take a look at the European Leagues that have just finished to see who won each.
First up Atletico made it back to back La Liga titles
Man City made sure the Premier League trophy went back to Manchester, this time to the blue side as United won it last season
Somewhat surprising in Italy as Napoli won Serie A with Juventus finishing 4th and 14 points off top spot
Another surprising result, this time in France with Monaco winning Ligue 1 on goal difference
Also slightly surprising is the Russian Premier league isn’t going to Moscow or Saint Petersburg, as Rubin Kazan won the league
No surprises in Germany or Portugal as Bayern & Benfica won their leagues, again
Which brings us to Scotland. Last season was a big surprise as Hearts of all teams won the SPL, this season surprising absolutely no one Celtic won the league, however it’s the bottom of the league that I am interested in
Motherwell were flirting with relegation all season and managed to finish in the relegation play off places. Luckily for them they managed to win the play off game to live to fight another day. Hopefully for Motherwell this season is just a blip and not a sign of things to come
In our own season, May kicks off with confirmation my replacement at Hougang isn’t enjoying the best of times at my former club. I could see this coming a mile away, it’s a shame they couldn’t do much about it.
Our form continues with a good win over Geylang International, before a poor result at home to Balesiter preceded a great away win over DPMM
Confirmation of Warriors season going from bad to worse as well as they sack their manager, the same manager that won the league last season with them.
Singapore cup quarter final first leg now as we didn’t show up with our finishing boots on at all and went down 2-0 away to Balesiter. The saving grace is that there’s a second leg to play
It was in the second leg where we really showed our mental toughness. Going in at half time we had managed to go in at 2-0, meaning the next 45 minutes were key to us as we’re now drawing 2 all in the tie
Second half was much like the first in that we scored 2 unanswered goals, meaning we’re through to the semi final, where we’ll play Warriors.
This second leg in the cup has got me thinking that my decision to come here was the right one, and I genuinely think we're going on to win at least 1 of the League or Singaporean Cup.
To finish off July we smashed Tampines Rovers 4-1 to finish on top of the league with 38 points
With 7 games left to go in the league, it's our to lose. I can't see us going on a 7 game losing streak now and the title is within touching distance.
Next update will be the final set of games for this season, thanks for reading.
-----------------------------------------------
Career progress:
2016 | Houngang United -- (Singapore) Finished 7th, League Cup winners
2017 | Houngang United -- (Singapore) Finished 2nd in the league, Singapore cup winners
2018 | Albirex Niigata -- (Singapore) In progress
#496784 The Flying Scotsman. A Hall of Fame career
bigmattb28
Yeah going well, a nice little cushion early on always helps. I'm a bit surprised by him joining Geylang though, he refused a new contract at Hougang but Geylang aren't exactly a top team, but we'll see how he gets on
#496701 The Flying Scotsman. A Hall of Fame career
bigmattb28
If there was any doubt in my mind if leaving a stable role in Hougang for Albirex, these first 2 games proved my decision right. Absolutely dominating Tampines Rovers, despite only managing 1 goal and exploiting Hougang’s weaknesses despite a red card, I know this team can at the very least challenge for a top 2 spot.
Complacency seemed to be the issue against Home United, but after an aggressive team talk and some rotation in the line up, defending champs Warriors felt the full wrath of our desire to be as dominant as possible.
We rounded out the first month of my reign with a draw at home to Young Lions, we could’ve and probably should’ve scored more but we end the month second in the league but plenty of time to improve where we can.
March came and went in a flash as we recorded 2 wins, and a loss to keep in second place, 2 points behind Home United who have 2 games in hand and have won all 6 of their games.
It’s not panic stations time yet, there’s still plenty of games to go to make up ground on Home United. We assert our dominance in April with wins over DPMM and my former team Hougang United, and on the same day Home United lose their first game of the season, going down 3-2 away to Tampines Rovers which helps us move into top spot for now
I didn’t realise but after leaving Hougang, last season tops scorer Pablo Rodriguez signs for Geylang International and helps them win 2-1 away at Home United to keep them in second and us top of the league after 10 games. It’s now on us to make sure we stay there.
Before we play Home United we manage a 2-1 away win over Young Lions to keep the good work so far going.
As the match preview says we’re overwhelming favourites to win the game
And win the game we do, however it wasn’t all plain sailing. Despite having many shots on goal, we only converted one of them, and Home United did look threatening throughout the game. Still, a win is a win and against second place helps us in maintaining our dominance.
We end April with a 1 all draw against the champions Warriors, and this means we finish the month unbeaten and top of the league by 5 points.
The one thing I’ve noticed is that this side has a lot of shots, we dominate games but we’re not exactly very clinical in front of goal. We could easily win by 5 goals in every game if our finishing was better, whilst not a cause for concern just yet, it’s something I’m going to keep an eye going into the next few months of the season. If we’re really going to dominate and take the league by storm, converting as many of our chances as possible is going to be key.
Next update will cover May to July’s games, any news in the world of football and anything else of note.
Thanks for reading.
Career progress:
2016 | Houngang United -- (Singapore) Finished 7th, League Cup winners
2017 | Houngang United -- (Singapore) Finished 2nd in the league, Singapore cup winners
2018 | Albirex Niigata -- (Singapore) In progress
#496621 The Flying Scotsman. A Hall of Fame career
bigmattb28
Cheers man, Warriors have it all to play for so we won't take them lightly. The bookies have made us favourites for a reason, so hopefully we can live up to it
#496598 Seasons feature
bigmattb28
Cheers.
#496597 The Flying Scotsman. A Hall of Fame career
bigmattb28
So here I am, Albirex Niigata, formerly Singapore’s highest rep team. A short half hour or so drive from Hougang's stadium to my new home of Jurong East Stadium.
A team that struggled last season and finished, for them a disappointing third in the S League, 9 points behind me and my Hougang side, and a staggering 13 points behind winners Warriors. Joining me on this second leg of the journey is my assistant manager Jim Love, along with the rest of my backroom staff Steven Thompson, Kyle Wells, Andy McKenzie, Marc O’Connor and Paul Spencer.
As shown, for a team that was supposed to be challenging for the title, they lost a lot of games last season, so the thing I address is the defence. Now as Albirex are a satellite team of Albirex in Japan, the club can only sign Japanese players. Not too much of an issue as really, no disrespect to any other Asian players but Japanese players are the stand outs in Asian football. There are a few good South Koreans, but Japanese players tend to be better overall.
First in the door are center halves Tommy Stokes (half Australian) and promoted from the youth setup Tara Yokoyama. For this league I expect them to be good players. Stokes isn’t the tallest especially for a center half, but his quickness and tackling should make up for that.
Complimenting them is a new goalkeeper in the form of Guilherme Hasegawa. He will start most games and I am looking for him to really shore up the defence
We were then given the news that DPMM are now the country’s highest rep team, despite Warriors winning back to back league titles. This club has gone down in the rankings, but my good showing over 18 months in Hougang hasn’t seen them rise at all
Season review now and my main man Pablo Rodriguez was top scorer, Plazibat had the most assists and Rodriguez had the highest average rating. Despite this, I am happy with my leaving Hougang, and just to justify it to myself Hougang didn’t agree contracts with those 2 players, as well as letting 6 other first teamers and Matthew Tay (reserve keeper) leave. Without those players I think they will struggle, however the players had seemingly made their mind up long ago and wouldn’t negotiate a new deal with me.
We’re drawn with Warriors, Tampines and Home United in the League Cup. Can we win it, who knows? Our first league fixture is against Tampines so we’ll be looking for a win there as well as being made favourites to win the league.
I finally arrive at my first game for Albirex, and I’m looking for a good performance early on to let the other teams know that I’m here for 1 thing and 1 thing only, and that is the league title. I felt we had no chance of getting it in Hougang, but here it’s different. Here I can tell I’m going to win it, and I’m not looking back. Hougang was a good opportunity and experience to land me this job, and from here who knows. But this season it’s all about me getting that league title. This club are favourites for the league for a reason, and I’m here to make sure that happens.
Next update will be the first few rounds of games at my new club, see how Hougang get on without me in their first few games and any other business.
Thanks for reading.
#496471 The Flying Scotsman. A Hall of Fame career
bigmattb28
Cheers man, am sure next season will go a good one.
#496470 Welcome To Hellgrade - A Red Star Belgrade Career
bigmattb28
#496468 Eskins At The Wheel - Man Utd (FM19)
bigmattb28
#496467 Park Ranger - Moyola Park
bigmattb28
#496235 The Flying Scotsman. A Hall of Fame career
bigmattb28
Cheers for the kind words man. Glad to have you on board.
#496232 Park Ranger - Moyola Park
bigmattb28
Unfortunate mate, hope the win comes again though, fingers crossed
#496219 The Flying Scotsman. A Hall of Fame career
bigmattb28
Cheers mate, I remember Journeyman doing well with Albirex, I'm here for 1 thing and 1 thing only and that is the S League. You'll see in the next post how many players Hougang released, so I think going to Albirex is my best chance of getting that league won.
#496181 The Flying Scotsman. A Hall of Fame career
bigmattb28
Thanks for the words mate, glad to have Journeyman following
I know Albirex are ineligible for the Champions League, but I'm not targeting continental football at the minute. I want to build up a bit of rep and get a good team together, maybe not in Singapore but somewhere to really tackle continental football.
#496180 The Flying Scotsman. A Hall of Fame career
bigmattb28
With the business end of the season coming up we finished the month of September off with a loss to Young Lions in a pretty disappointing showing. We’re sitting top of the league on goal difference though so in the last 4 games, it’s all to play for.
Something I didn’t pick up on, but 4 days ago the man Kedah chose over me didn’t manage to keep them in the Super League as they got relegated, and today Sarawak joined them. Maybe a blessing in disguise that I didn’t get offered the job at Kedah?
With the league title in touching distance, we opened the door for Warriors as we went down 1-0 away to Balesiter in a game we dominated, after going behind early on and absolutely battering them, we just couldn’t take 1 of our many chances.
Next up were Albirex, who we beat 2-0. Not only was this a good victory for Hougang to keep the pressure on Warriors at the top of the league, it also put me in the shop window, as straight after the game I was invited to an interview with the Albirex chairman
I attend the interview, and I want this job. Even if we win the league and the cup, I think going there will bolster my chances of getting a bigger job further down the line, plus with the budget they have I’ll be able to use that to really challenge for and dominate the league. I wait and see.
Finishing off October we beat Home Untied 2-0 in a preview of the upcoming cup final, to leave us with 1 game to go, and we’re 1 point behind defending champions Warriors
During the interview with Albirex, I said I wanted to take over at the end of the season, that way I can finish this season as best as I can, and with that in mind they came back with an offer
So the deal is done and dusted, I’m leaving Hougang for pastures new in a few weeks time. Before then though we’ve got DPMM and Barry Ferguson at home and if we win and Warriors don’t then we become champions of Singapore. If not then we will finish a very respectable second. So how did the final game of the S League season go:
Ahh well, it just wasn’t meant to be for me in my final league game as Huangang manager. I’m disappointed not to win the league as we were right in the game up until the red card, however this team were bottom of the league last season and to finish second just 1 year later is a pretty big accomplishment.
End of season awards and Plazibat is given the player of the year award, and a young player by the name of Kazkui Ishida gets young player of the year. I’ll be hoping despite Albirex’s poor season his form continues as I take over.
So I find myself at my final game as Huangang manager, and it’s a second cup final for me as we take on Home United in the Singapore Cup.
A win here would certainly be great as I could leave on an even bigger high and hopefully take this momentum into my new job.
The cup final really was one sided as it was effectively over after only 21 minutes. Of our 12 shots in the game, 3 were on target, 3 were clear cut chances and all 3 were goals. After that we sat back and let them come onto us, we soaked up the pressure and never looked like conceding at all. A perfect way to win a cup final, and a fitting way to end my time as Hougang Untied manager.
Before I officially go over to Albirex, the clubs best 11 is announced, along with confirmation that Pablo Rodriguez is the fans player of the year, and Plazibat’s goal against Balesiter is given goal of the season
https://youtu.be/FbXFJZea6CA
The clubs moment to forget is the final day defeat to DPMM, ending our chance of winning the league. I’m also now on the favoured personnel list at Hougang United
And with that, I am now leaving my first managerial position as I leave Hougang United after a 7th & 2nd place finish, as well as winning the League and FA Cups during my 18 months here. It’s time to move on and I do feel the time is right to leave. The attraction to Albirex is that they’ve got a good budget to play with, and they can only sign Japanese players which is going to make me prove my worth as a manager. Onwards and upwards.
Next update will be the first few weeks of my new job, new signings and any other business.
Career progress:
2016 | Houngang United -- (Singapore) Finished 7th, League Cup winners
2017 | Houngang United -- (Singapore) Finished 2nd in the league, Singapore cup winners
Thanks for reading.
#496079 Balkans King - Ludogorets !
bigmattb28
No worries, always love a good FM story. Hopefully the next time you play Ajax you'll get the better of them.
#496049 Google Stadia - Graphics Folders
bigmattb28
#496040 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
bigmattb28
What's next now then, a return to club management?
#496039 Park Ranger - Moyola Park
bigmattb28
#496038 Eskins At The Wheel - Man Utd (FM19)
bigmattb28
Looking good this new season, keep it up.
#496036 Balkans King - Ludogorets !
bigmattb28
#495995 The Flying Scotsman. A Hall of Fame career
bigmattb28
We kick this update off with the final of the SPL. How did it end?
So it’s Hearts who somewhat surprisingly win the SPL. All credit to them, definitely not a result I would’ve seen coming at the start of the season. Will be interesting to see how they get on in the Champions League.
So with us playing well and looking like finishing around the top of the table, I let the clubs director of football sit down with main man Pablo Rodriguez and try and discuss a new deal. The outcome:
Not only that, but Milojevic, Plazibat, Ishak, Singh, Hudzaifi, Mukthar, Jonathon Xu, Abdul Wahid, Hasan & Jumahat of the first team, and Jasni, Barudin, Khalid, Mat Noor, Yusop of either back up or rotation status have also all declined new contracts. Now normally this wouldn’t be too much of a concern, but when I myself have gone back to these players to try and renegotiate, they’re not interested at all.
But when I get an inbox inviting me to an interview with bottom of the Malaysian Super League side Kedah my head is turned.
So to me at least my stock seems to be on the rise. You never can tell how interviews go, and there’s not much else I can do other than get the team ready for the next fixture against Young Lions in the Singapore cup quarter final.
Just before that next game however we get news that Cristian Vargas is out for 3 months, not good news but we’ve got Rodriguez & Hasan who despite not signing new contracts are fit and ready to play.
The cup game itself was a great result for us, 3-1 away and taking a 2 goal advantage into the second leg.
3 bits of news now, as firstly the World Cup is now heading to Morocco instead of Qatar (forgot to get a screenshot), Steve Kean wasn’t out of work too long as he heads North to Malaysia with Super League side Terengganu, and I get my first rejection letter as a manager. Part of me is disappointed not to get the Kedah job (if you read my other save found here, you’ll see I had a pretty good run with Kedah) as they’re bottom of the league and relegation is a possibility, plus at the minute we’re still in both cups here as well as in with a shout, albeit a long shot of winning the league
The first leg result really helped as we managed a 2-1 second leg win over Young Lions to progress to the quarter final 5-2 on aggregate, where we’ll play Tampines Rovers.
We then had possibly the result of the season so far as we beat league leaders Albirex 2-0 away to cut the gap to just 1 point with a game in hand. Absolutely terrific performance from us here and the top of the league is looking very close at the end of June.
Starhub League Cup time now as we start off with 2 wins and a draw to see us progress as Group B winners.
We’ve got current league champions Warriors in the semi final, and unlike the Singapore cup this is a 1 legged affair. So how did we get on?
Poor performance despite scoring twice, and we crash out of the competition and don't defend the cup. The only silver lining is we lost to the eventual winners.
We have the chance to progress in the Singapore cup next as we beat Tampines Rovers 3-0.
Before the return leg in the cup, we destroyed DPMM 4-0 and edged a close game against Geylang International 3-4, before winning the return leg of the cup 2-0 to book our place in the final against Home United.
Rounding out this update are 2 games, a loss to defending champs Warriors and a win over Tampines Rovers (again) in the league
On the same day as we beat Tampines, Warriors beat Albirex and we’re sitting at the top of the league on 41 points, 3 in front of Warriors in second place.
The next day I noticed the following news article
Which I’m asked about, and I do confirm I am interested in the job
Now this may seem like a step down should I be interviewed and even get offered the job, but at the minute there doesn’t seem to be any other interest and they’re on a bit of a downward slope. They’re still the biggest rep team in Singapore, and this is a journeyman save so moving to another team, albeit one that is in trouble at the minute is all part of the fun, so we’ll see how things pan out from here.
Next update will be the final 5 games of the S League season, the cup final, any other business and if anything came of the Albirex Nigata links.
Thanks for reading
Career progress:
2016 | Houngang United -- (Singapore) Finished 7th, League Cup winners
2017 | Houngang United -- (Singapore) In progress
#495989 Welcome To Hellgrade - A Red Star Belgrade Career
bigmattb28
#495979 Operation Nine Elms - Failed
bigmattb28