Aberdeen Save 2022

[Mr_Grieves]

April


Fixtures

After our first defeat of the season, we naturally win the next 3 league games including a revenge win over Dundee Utd. We also saw off Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi-final


SPL

Hibs & Dundee Utd are now tied for 2nd place and are only split by 1 goal. Celtic look locked into 4th while Queens Park has a good lead over Rangers in what could be the 5th Champions League spot. Hearts vs St Johnstone for the 7th place. At the bottom, Ross County have the most work to do to stay up. St Mirren, Killie & Motherwell are working to avoid the playoff spot and maybe worse.


Champions League
Newcastle 3-4 Aberdeen AET

We threw away a 3-goal lead from the 1st leg but saved the tie in extra time

Celtic needed pens but saw off powerhouses Man City. Dundee Utd won the all Scottish tie. They are rewarded with a Semi Final with Man Utd while we play Celtic in a all Scottish Semi Final​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

May


Fixtures

We equal last season's 37 wins out of 38 but agonisingly to be so close again.


Final SPL Table

Champions League
Semi Finals

1st Leg
Celtic 2-2 Aberdeen

A very even game we led twice and were slightly the better team but couldn't find a winner which could have gone either way

2nd Leg
Aberdeen 6-0 Celtic
Aberdeen win 8-2 on Agg

A red card changed the tie more than i can ever remember. Celtic totally collapsed. Dundee Utd stun Man Utd and we have our first all Scottish Champions League final​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Champions League Final 2047


From OAKA Spyros Louis Athens

Dundee Utd vs Aberdeen
The historic first all Scottish Champions League final and would you look at that? Not an old firm team in sight.

The New Firm History
The New Firm is the term used, hailing from the 1980s, to describe the rivalry between Scottish football clubs Aberdeen and Dundee United. Both clubs are located on the east coast of Scotland, in the third and fourth most populous cities respectively.
Although not traditionally a derby, with 65 miles separating both teams, the fixture was seen as a North-east of Scotland derby between the two most successful teams in Scotland outside of the Old Firm during the 1980s. Dundee United also have a more traditional rivalry with their close neighbours Dundee.


Dundee Utd 0-2 Aberdeen

We had total control of the game and Dundee Utd couldnt ruin the most important part of the season after they took our perfect domestic season from us. Nothing to take away from us winning a 9th Champions League in a row and a 11th in total.
​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Nations League


Semi-Finals
Scotland 2-0 Germany

It was a stalemate for most of the game till Maciver on his last legs just back from a 3-month injury gave us a late lead before his Dons strike partner secured our spot in the final


Final
Scotland 5-2 Spain

An extremely unexpected but fantastic victory and a second Nations League win for Scotland. Aguilar gave Spain the lead and i felt that was probably it. However, we were going to get 60 minutes out of the best player in the world in Mr Maciver whose first-half half hatrick had us in a strong position at half time. The second half flew by except for Spain getting a red card to what i thought finished the tie but actually they made it 3-2 for 5 minutes but two stoppage-time strikes secured the second major trophy win for ScotsSadly it was not enough to move us top of the world rankings.

 

[Mr_Grieves]

End of Season 25


SPL - Winner

15th title in a row.

We won 37/38 games and for the 2nd season in a row, we have our 2nd best season ever 1 point off our best. STILL waiting for the 114/114 point season with Dundee Utd costing us a perfect season again. Celtic who previously looked locked into 2nd place have fallen behind Hibs & Dundee Utd. Interesting to see how this works out next season as is expect the current top 4 to be as they are a level above the rest. Due to the success of our top 4 teams, we have a 5th team in the champions league groups next season and amazingly its Queens Park. Rangers rallied towards the end of the season but couldn't get back into the top 5. They and Hearts will go into the Europa League. with St Johnstone proudly returning to Europe 2 seasons after being in the championship. Motherwell, Kilmarnock & St Mirren all spent the season fighting over the playoff spot which St Mirren ended up falling into. A sad story from the bottom of the table as Ross County are relegated for the first time in the save. Europa Conference runner-ups in 2038 and finalists in 2035 and a league-best finish of 3rd in 2032. Following the Europa League win their fortunes slowly turned and they became a bottom-half team. It got even worse last season having to survive the playoff and despite a 55m investment from the Dons it got worse this season and they finished a distant bottom. They will be replaced by Airdrieonians making a 2nd appearance in the SPL. They got 28 points last time. Dont fancy their chances of getting there this time.


Playoffs
St Mirren 4-1 Hamilton

Hamilton fought through from the 3rd/4th place game to face the SPL side. Thanks again to Cove choke Rangers. They put on a far stronger show against St Mirren being tied with 16 minutes to go in the 2nd leg yet St Mirren scored 3 quick-fire goals to save their playoff spots.


Managers

Three of the bottom sides changed managers. The former Turriff manager Deal Donaldson has worked all his way up to the SPL and did the best job out of the 3 hires. Also, that is not THE Andy Cole who would be almost 80 years old in this sim


Europe
Dundee Utds first season back in the Champions League and they stun the world by getting all the way to the final
Celtic reached the Champions League Semi-Final and if not for an early red card, it could have been more
Hibs Champions League run ended to finalist Dundee Utd in the quarter-finals. Their best run in almost a century
Rangers Europa League reached the Europa League Semi-final losing to Spurs
Hearts Europa League run ended at the last 16
St Mirren were the team that let us down. There is always one. They lost the Conference playoff to Turkish side Kasimpasa


Champions League Final

Squad Review


Goalkeeper

Ajay was fine but Lawrie had a brilliant season playing over 20 games once again.

Defence

Solid back 4 once again. I expected bids for Ipsen this summer despite another subpar season.

Midfield

The middle of the park was brilliant with starting wingers Petkov & Piepenbrock.

Attack

Andy MacIver missed 3 months of the season but still leads us in every forward stat. Dujakovic secured his spot at the best of the rest. Could Craig & Hernandez ever move up to the next level?



Players for life
300+ Appearances


Samuel Ajayi - GK
P459 Clean sheets 270

Bradley Cummings - DC
P833 G43

Andreas Alvarez - MC
P409 G55

Dimitar Petkov - MR
P471 G165

Andy MacIver - ATT
P583 G657

Rankings

Club Ranking - 1st

National League - 3rd

Our best national season ever and except for England it is the best season on record


National Team ranking - 2nd

After that was Brazil. There was Scotland. This is ridiculous but a shame the Nations League didn't get us up to top spot.



Awards

Player of the Year
Andy Maciver

Young Player of the Year
Luis Villegas

Top Scorer
Andy Maciver - 40

Team of the Year

Lots of questions here.​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Season 26
Aberdeen 2047

The Dons won a record-breaking 9 Champions League in a row, 11 in total. Only 3 behind Real Madrid now. Yes, i am just copying and pasting it at this point. For the 5th season in a row, my sole focus of the season is a perfect season in the SPL. It's embarrassing that I've never managed this before but this will be tougher than it has been for decades


Squad


Goalkeepers

We have our weakest keeper lineup in over 20 seasons. Ajay was in the last year of his contract and was not going to sign a new deal. I waited through the summer and finally, Real Madrid came along and we worked out a huge fee. Joe Lawrie as i say is a big drop but has done well as a backup and when he had played in over 20 games the last 3 seasons as well as being good for Scotland. Ritter is a pure backup,

Defence

Like in goals, the defense takes a step back with teenage wonderkid Trevor Esson stepping in for Ipsen who leaves after another poor season. The other 3 stay the same.

Midfield

The only position unchanged is the midfield. Petrov being 34 is a concern but he is still one of the best forwards in the world. Backups are stronger than my starting defence.

Attack

Mark Craig is now over 4* and that was enough for me to make him the no2. Behind them, i have half a dozen players fighting it out to not be sold.


Transfer Window


SPL

Our sale brings in nearly 300m. All going back to other Scottish sides


Aberdeen
SPL Donations

In

We only signed one player for the future


Out

Real Madrid do what Real Madrid did in the 2000s and dropped us a 168m bill for our backup striker & long-term no1 keeper. Both were away to start the last year of their contract so this major payday is welcome but at what loss? Ajay at least as we have so many strikers to fill in for Dujakovic. Victor & Nauzet were solid prospects but we were paid 5* and 4* potential prices for 3* players. Rivera & Marco never broke out of the loan squad.


GK Samuel Ajayi 2034-47
P459 Clean Sheets 270 Ave Rating 7.27

 

[Mr_Grieves]

August


Fixtures

Celtic almost ruined the perfect season at the very start. No chance it will happen this year


Champions League Draw

Super Cup
Aberdeen 2-0 Tottenham

We win it back after losing to London clubs the last 2 seasons​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

September & October


Fixtures

We won 6/7 league games comfortably by at least 3 goals. We had a tougher game with the backups in the League Cup but we won nonetheless.

Then there was the annual slip-up. This time it was Dundee Utd's turn holding us to a draw at Tanadice. Well i say held to it was a deserved result. Are Dundee Utd the first team to catch us up? It definitely is Hibs


SPL

Despite my season being ruined we are clear at the top. The race for 2nd looks very exciting first quarter of the season in. Airdrie look out of their depth which financially the are by a long way.


Champions League

We thrash 2nd favourited Watford and beat another side full of former dons in Hertha Berlin with a 90th-minute winner. Then came our 4th seed match with Cluj for our first-ever meeting in the save. They held us to a draw and led most of the game.


Scotland

Wins against the 3 minos secure our spot at the 2048 Euros. We draw with Ireland who are doing their best to win the group but we should secure that against Malta & Isreal​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

November & December


Fixtures

Wins all around as usual in the update after the death of a perfect month.


League Cup Final
Dundee Utd 0-1 Aberdeen

The new firm derby is alive and well. Yet again there was nothing between the sides in the final and the Dons only got the win with a goal right at the end through Maciver of course


SPL

Celtic move into 2nd place as the rest of the top half move clear of the rest. Rangers enter the top 6 for the first time this season and Airdrie finally have their first win.


Champions League

3 Very impressive wins. we are finding our feet after a dodgy start in terms of performances


Scotland

It was far from convincing but we secured top spot in the group on our way to Euro 2048​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

January


Fixtures

Rangers gave us a worry but won all around in the league & Cup


SPL

Celtic pull further clear in 2nd as Dundee Utd & Hibs are set to clash in the middle. Hearts after a brilliant January are well into the top 6. Rangers have a terrible month. Airdrie counting the days till they swap back with Ross County. Probably


Champions League

2 wins secure qualification and £5m in the bank. Madness that Cluj was the only side to take points off us when i rotated in both these games but won


Final Table

Not great news for the other Scottish teams. Celtic & Dundee Utd are in the playoffs but Hibs & Queens Park both fall out of Europe before the knockout phase



Transfer Window

Hibs falling out of Europe and losing 2 of their best players. Man City beat me to one Hearts wonderkid after i massively overpay for another


Dons Transfers

In

2 players for the u18s that will almost certainly play a huge role in the 1st team next season.


Out

3 back up players and one long term major star

Robbie Jacob spent over a decade at Aberdeen becoming the best backup DM, MC and MR. Game time was at an all time low over the last few seasons and he asked for a move that i had no problems letting him go for the last 3 or 4 seasons of his prime.

Robbe Jacobs MC
P302 G34 Av Rat 7.17

​