Part 0 - Prologue

10th of November 2046 - New FIlbert Road Stadium, Leicester

“Leicester now, trying to get the ball into the box. Hunt see's space on the left, plays it to Maggiolo who is pressured by Colic but Omari Bryan is there for the overlap. First time cross to Davies into the box! OH NO! Disaster for Manchester United! Disaster for their young goalkeeper! Davies header was low into the ground but it's slipped through the fingers of Cho Dae-Hee and into the back of his net. Leicester now back in front, and it is now 2-1.”

 

“And there's Rooney in the dugout. legend as a player. 15 years as manager of Manchester United. A Europa League and a Conference League win in that time. But if this result stays the same, Man United would be 19th in the league. And you would have to imagine that would be it.”

 

11th of November 2046 - Statement from Manutd.com

“The club can confirm it has terminated the contract of Head Coach Wayne Rooney by mutual consent. While we appreciate his efforts over the last 15 years of management, recent performances have been nowhere near good enough and have left the club fighting a relegation battle. We hope to announce his replacement soon.”

21st of November 2046 - The Athletic

“10 days since sacking Wayne Rooney it looks like Man United have settled on current Fraserburgh United Manager Patrick Hawkins. The manager who has guided the Scottish team from the nation's 7th tier to last season's Champions League winners in 24 years is believed to be finally ready for a new challenge despite rejecting an interview from Liverpool in the summer.” 

27th of November 2046 - Twitter account of BBC Sport Scotland Journalist Ryan Hanley

“BREAKING: Patrick Hawkins set to join Manchester United as their new Head Coach. Will take charge of his final game tonight against future rivals Manchester City, then head down south to be unveiled tomorrow.”

Later that day - Lennon Green Stadium, Fraserburgh

“Baraye now with a long ball up to Gorkem Ozdemir. 13 minutes left in what will likely be Hawkins' final game, and this team that he has built from the ground up has shown up for him tonight. 2-0 now up and dominant, fans in great noise- and the team are wanting more! Salina now running down the middle of the park, plays the ball into Caceres! GREAT GOAL! delicate little finish into the bottom corner and the Lennon Green Stadium erupts once more! What a send off this is for their manager.”

28th of November 2046 - BBC News Extract

“Old Trafford. Once upon a time, this place was called the Theatre of Dreams. Now, it's a nightmare. No league wins in 33 years, 2 Champions League appearances in 22 years. No trophy win at all in 7 years. And now 14 games into a new season, 8 points from 14 games, and well into a relegation battle. but is there hope? after the 15 year reign of Wayne Rooney, a new leader in the dugout has appeared. Patrick Hawkins took Fraserburgh United from a part time team in the 7th tier of regional scottish football and has elevated them to the greatest team in Europe. is he the man to save this club? Is he the man to awaken this sleeping giant?”

                                                                                                                                                                                                       

 

Right then! that's enough of that for now.

I like to do long saves. Because of that, weird things tend to happen. in 2030, as I was battling relegation in my first year in the Scottish Championship, Wayne Rooney was appointed manager of Manchester United. that seemed realistic, the type of thing the Manchester United of my save (awful club who had won few trophies) would do. It was a disaster.

 

After winning the Champions League in my save last season, I was ready to move on but wasn't quite ready to move on from this save, embarrassingly I feel as if I know this save about as well as I know the real world of football. So this scenario really interested me, taking Man United back to where they belonged. finally, Rooney was sacked and here we are!

 

I'll try and post in here as the save goes and I try and turn this team around... Slightly worried that I have turned myself into the Ruben Amorim of this world. 

 

(two notes. 1. Patrick Hawkins isn't my real life I just think that having my real life in the worldbuilding extracts would be a bit egotistical. 2. the editor is on for this save however has only been used for minor edits.)

Hello! This save was originally shared on the Scottish Football fan forum Pie and Bovril, I am now going to be cross posting them here. Forgive the style of the first post. I wasn't sure how to do it at first.

Today is a tale of both Hello's and Goodbyes for the Hibees. While 1st place Hibs welcomes second place Formartine United to Edinburgh in a scintillating top of the table clash, they will also be saying farewell to legend and Hibernian Hall of Famer Martin Robinson, as he announced his retirement from playing during the week to take a coaching role with reserves.

Born in Edinburgh on the 16th of April 2012 and raised in Craigentinny as a diehard fan of the green and white of Edinburgh along with the rest of his family, He was spotted by and joined the youth academy at age 12, being handed a professional contract aged 16, foregoing the usual youth contract due to interest from clubs both down south and from Europe.

He would be given his first team debut 5 months later, Starting for the club on the 25th November in a Scottish Cup fifth round home tie against Dundee, and it would only take him eighteen minutes to make his mark, latching onto a low Colin Marshall cross to score a diving header past Jamie Barclay in a game that would eventually end 3-0 with the next two goals coming quickly after, Gareth Masson putting the ball into his own net for the second in the twentieth minute before Inter loanee Adrian Aguado finished the game on the half hour mark.

Despite this great start, Martin would have to wait a while before he was given another chance for the first team, his appearances were limited to substitutions with the game already pretty much over. But when he got his chance he took it once more, scoring twice in a 6-1 away win against Partick Thistle, with the others goals including another brace from Moussa Bamba, with Laurent Jacquet and Colin Marshall scoring the rest with Tommy Devlin getting the consolation for the Glasgow Jags. He would end the season with two more important goals, the opener in a 4-3 Edinburgh Derby win, as well as a goal in 2-2 draw against Celtic as Hibs secured their sixth successive Premiership. Though Robinson failed to pick up a medal for the league, his appearance from the bench in the 2-0 Scottish Cup Final win over St Mirren meant that Robinson ended his first season as a Professional footballer with a medal, the first of many. Robinson would spend the next few seasons forcing his way into the first team, successfully doing so in 2031 despite the goal scoring exploits of Barry Soane. With Martin Robinson up front, and the attacking midfield three of Fredinho, Dave Pickford and Lee Grice playing behind him, the Hibees would strike terror into the hearts of defenders across Scotland and Europe.

It would only get better for Robinson when, at only the age of 22, he was named captain following the retirement of Fellow Hibernian legend Colin Marshall, many players would crumble under such pressure at such a young age, but Martin Robinson finished the season with 43 goals and 15 assists in all competitions as well as completing another domestic treble for his team.

Undoubtedly his finest achievement for this club was his performances in 2038/2039 quadruple winning season. Captaining the squad that included fellow legends, such as goalkeeper Mohamed Boussaid (now retired), playmaker Paul Hutchings (Now at Bordeaux), and Left Winger Fredinho (retired), as well other greats like Leonardo Fantini, Gareth Pearson (left for West Brom, now retired) and Mariano Hue (now at Barcelona), the team would go on to record victories that the fans would remember for the rest of their lives, including an 8-3 cup semi-final win over Inverness CT, a 7-5 win over Formartine United, and a 3-1 victory over German giants Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League Final.
Robinson would carry on as the main man up front as he reached his early thirties, even when a young Gary Moore broke into the ranks, Martin was still scoring twenty goals a season, breaking the record for the most league goals for the club as well as the most league appearances, and would eventually outlast Moore when the much sought after star was sold to Manchester City for £8 Million.

It was only last season where it became clear that age was finally catching up to him, as he only scored 6 goals in 21, paling in comparison to his record of 22 in 34 the previous year. With appearances coming harder and harder to come by with the revelations of Bobby Schumacher and Matt Finnie, as well Craig Brown finally showing the ability he had teasing the Hibernian faithful he would show for so long, Martin Robinson announced he would hang up his boots aged 35 earlier in the week, with the captaincy role going to Leonardo Fantini, who was promoted from Vice Captain.

All in All, Martin Robinson made 680 appearances and scored 526 goals across all competitions for Hibernian football club. During his time, he would gain the following honours:

The Scottish Premiership 18 times
The Scottish Cup 14 times
The Scottish League Cup 14 times
The UEFA Europa League

In terms of personal accolades:

League Golden Boot 9 times
The European Silver Boot
The Champions League Bronze Boot
Twice named Runner's Up in the Scottish Writer's Players of the year
Once named 3rd place in the SFA Player of the Season Award.

Martin Robinson will also be remembered well by the Tartan Army as he is the record goalscorer for Scotland, with 74 goals in 80 appearances for his Country.