Aberdeen Save 2022

[Mr_Grieves]

October


Fixtures

Still perfect and that's now 12/12 wins in the league


SPL

Hearts are still amazingly holding up in 2nd. They have a few good regens in tow that i have my eyes on. One as mentioned in the last post has never been interested in joining so he must be class. Celtic and Rangers will strike at some point surely.


Champions League

Unreal that after 2 wins against the top of European sides, we draw our one easy game.


Connor Barron Finally gets a Scotland cap!

 

[MatthewElphinstone]

Yes! The young winger i got from Ross County took 3 windows before he would look at us and I've been chasing a Hearts wingback for 2 seasons and he still won't talk to us. These 17 year olds you mentioned were the heartbeat of the team building in previous saves but these days the only way I've found to do this is by buying South Americans that are in the national teams or u21s early. Over half my 24 man squad is South American or Spanish youngsters from their Min Fee deals. The next problem with this is almost everyone we buy this way is a gamble as there are not as good as the current starters and no guarantee they will improve so ATM i have a starting 11 of players that are not good enough for our first team but i can't sell due to the wage demands. 4 i can't even give away for nothing. Also now that we are regulars in the Champions League last 16 these gambles have gone from £1-5K per week in the first few seasons while now i just checked the last 3 i signed. £5,75k, £9.5k £29k for Tolrado who joined on double the wage of my previous 3rd highest earner. He is still the top wage earner.

Been getting around the contracts by avoiding Min Fees where possible and throwing them an extra few £K per week to add an optional 2 year contract extension to their deal so it gives me a 5-7 year window with them before the demands get out of hand.

I made the rookie error of not paying attention when I got my DM signed as I got too excited that Blackburn were willing to part with him!

Now he went to Liverpool for £19 million..

My highest earner is in the 40k region but in order to stop the club spiralling financially I have a current self imposed limit of 50k p/w which is usually fine but finding diamonds in this game is rough! Pun unintended..

Makes the journey far more interesting though

 

[Mr_Grieves]

I made the rookie error of not paying attention when I got my DM signed as I got too excited that Blackburn were willing to part with him!

Now he went to Liverpool for £19 million..

My highest earner is in the 40k region but in order to stop the club spiralling financially I have a current self imposed limit of 50k p/w which is usually fine but finding diamonds in this game is rough! Pun unintended..

Makes the journey far more interesting though

Yeah i totally agree. We expect to lose at least 1 player a season but getting harder to get an affordable replacement in

 

[Mr_Grieves]

November
​

Fixtures

It was all too good to be true, wasn't it. 90 minutes against at best the 2nd worst team in the league and a much-rotated team couldn't find a goal. Back to full power against Hearts and they dragged us to penalties with their 4 shots in 120 minutes then won 9-8 on pens. Celtic's turn we took the lead at Parkhead but found an equalizer in the 90th minute. Livingston tried to throw a gut punch pulling us level at HT but a fired-up second half saw us blow them away hopefully setting up for a better December.


SPL

Hearts had a messy month too and here comes the old firm.


Champions League

Back to winning ways against the Germans before getting schooled by Arsenal. We're sitting 8th but will be hard work to stay there.


Finally to top it off a miserable month Ross Marshall's time in the first team could be over

 

[Mr_Grieves]

December


Fixtures

Fancy giving us a day off? They crammed 8 SPL games into the month including 3 old firm games and by the time we got to Ross County we were on our last legs. On the Old FIrm front both Rangers games were tight affairs. One went our way one didn't. Celtic dominated from the start. Our only other dropped points was away to Ross County in one of the crazier games I've seen

Aberdeen was missing 5 starting players to begin with so a red card right after half time for Rukavina was far from ideal. The extra man made it an even game until Ross County capitulated themself with a red card and two players off injured leaving them somehow able to hold on with 8 men for the 6 minutes of stoppage time.


SPL

9 point gap to end the year with little between Celtic, Rangers, and Hearts. Ross County clear in 5th with Livingston & Hibs fighting over the final top 6 places. Any of the remaining teams could find themselves in relegation trouble as it's setting up to be a great scrap just like last season.


League Cup Final

Hearts with a dramatic extra-time winner secures the first cup of the season


Champions League

We get back on track with a win over 10 men Ajax

Celtic are in great shape tied at the top. We are in 4th and have a good shot at a top 8 finish. Inter and Sevilla stand between us and a last-16 spot​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

January


Fixtures

Nothing spectacular but with rotating teams just happy to get through the month with a run of wins


SPL

The top 3 win all their games. The gap to the top is 6 points and we've all played 25.

Champions League

A disaster in Milan had our Champions League last 16 spots in danger but thanks to Pedro leading a comeback in Sevilla gives us the bye to the last 16.

Final table

Transfer Window

Celtic dropped over £50m on 5 new players while Rangers were active but sold their best player.

Aberdeen

Almost 3 years after turning down a £35m move to China Pereira moved for £29m to Turkey. Joseda had fallen to back up DR so making the sale at the end of the deadline was a no-brainer while Hardie joins the club of homegrown regen that was never going to make it. The one sale i had not planned for was the Uruguayan Barbiero who in his 2nd full season was one of our best players but with our overload in defense i can't reject bid money for players i don't believe will be world-class at DC and Barbiero is not one of the three 5* CBs.

Henrique Pereira
P267 G47 A71 AVE 7.07

The first Don to reach my Alumni Hall of fame on the opening post
​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

February


Fixtures

Alfie Stewarts' stoppage time winner saved us against Hearts who are looking stronger and stronger every time we play them. The joys of Drawing old firm in the early rounds of the cup almost ended in disaster till we fought back in extra time to reach the Quarter Final. Tolardo scored back-to-back hatrick during our thrashings of Hibs, Killie & Ross County. Must have herd me talking about his wage around the October post.


SPL

Aberdeen & Celtic win out while Rangers draw with Hearts should be the end of their challenge that has looked strong this season along with the improving Hearts team.


Champions League Draw

Your freaking kidding me, right?​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

March


Fixtures

3rd perfect month of results in Scotland. The closest we came to not winning was the Cup win against Ross County after our Champions League game. All 5 goals were scored in the first half.


SPL

Celtic finally drop points getting hammered at Ibrox. With the split on the horizon, our lead is now 9 points and Celtic are closer to Rangers than the dons.


Champions League

1st Leg
Man City 0-1 Aberdeen

We set out to stop City and Haaland and we did that hitting them with a counter late on and Tolardo who has come up really big since the winter break came off the bench at the Etihad to make a further push to start.

2nd Leg
Aberdeen 4-3 Man City

A thriller at Pittodrie. Haaland had City ahead twice in the first 15 minutes but it was all square at half time although not for long as we were 4-2 up on the night 10 minutes into the 2nd half and although Haaland completed his hattrick we get through them winning by the odd goal in both legs.

Milan beating Chelsea is the biggest team to be knocked out but Barcelona beating Man Utd 5-0 over the two legs was a bit of a shock as is the Catalans being the only La Liga team left.


Champions League Quarter Final Draw
Bayern vs Aberdeen

The first time we'll play the German mega powers who have made it to 3 of the last 4 finals


Finally a 5* Youth! Before we ever see a 4* youth. Shouldn't complain

 

[MatthewElphinstone]

Regen looks superb! I wish Celtic were as willing to throw that much money up the wall on mine.. They finished 5th in the season I just finished which got Steve Clarke the boot. Hibs are playing champions league football in their place!

Great result against City! I still stumble at the round of 16

 

[Smee135.]

What’s the formation like now? Changed much?

 

[Mr_Grieves]

What’s the formation like now? Changed much?

Usually the same as Day 1. The only change is for tougher games like Man City or Old firm away i play one striker and drop the other one to be a DM

 

[Mr_Grieves]

April


Fixtures

Wins either side of the Celtic double header simply enough. The league tie was a disaster. The same team showed up after the cup tie and was destroyed.

SPL
6 points with 4 games to go. With no European football, this should be simple enough for us.

Another record for Bavidge

As for the Scottish Cup Semi-final was a roller coaster. Lead the game through a Connor Barron pen on the hour and all was looking swimmingly well. Till the 88th minute when regen Alex Sandro scored a late equalizer that forced extra time. Extra time followed a similar trend. We retook the lead and Celtic equalized so late in the day i only noticed it as the list of penalty takers showed up.

Penalties was another adventure. Both sides missed the first kick and we combined to score 16 in a row after that. With the real danger of the keepers showing up Carter Vickers missed the 10th Celtic Pen and up stepped Alfie Bavage to put us back to the final. Yes, Bavidge is awful at pens and has never taken one for us until this kick.


Champions League Quater Final
1st leg
Bayern Munich 2-1 Aberdeen

The first leg was the game taking revenge for the late Man City robbery when it looked like Barron nabbed a draw for us Bayern went up and scored with the last kick of the ball in the 93rd minute and that goal settled the tie.

A familiar face helped put the beating on us. Check the Right Back

2nd Leg
Bayern Munich 0-0 Aberdeen
Bayern Munich win 2-1 on agg

Bayern showed their might by doing an Aberdeen and shutting us out of the 2nd leg.​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

May


Fixtures

Rangers was the last obstacle and victory at Ibrox combined with the huge lead in gold difference secured back-to-back league titles for the first time. Kids got a win over Ross County but were blown away by a stronger Hearts side.

Final League table

Scottish Cup Final
Dundee Utd 0-4 Aberdeen

The final went as expected as we rolled over championship side Dundee Utd in the first half.​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Season 7 Review


SPL - Winner

The Dons retain the title for the first time. Dominating the first half of the season and despite Celtic having a stronger 2nd half the gap we had was too big. Will be tougher next season. Rangers & Hearts were in their own spot in distant 3rd and 4th places wonder if either can kick on next season? Ross County recovers back to their rightful place in 5th place. Hibs reach the top 6 after a 3 seasons of absence. IF they can sort their defense out they could catch up with Ross County perhaps. Motherwell's European exploits had little to do with them returning to the bottom half. Queens Park distanced themselves from the bottom 3 which was by the end a clear bottom 2 with St Johnstone and Ayr tied at the bottom for most of the relegation split. Ayr got a point from Motherwell but St Johnstone's win over Kilmarnock saved them for the playoffs but it's the end for Ayr who go down.

Playoff
St Johnstone 3-7 St Mirren

They're joined by St Johnstone who was 2-1 ahead on aggregate after the first minute and proceeded to be totally turned over and relegated.

Managers

Ayrs' move to bring in Goodwin could not save them, Imagine my shock. Meanwhile, club legend for 90s kids at least Gus McPherson led Kille to safety. Time will tell if Simon Rusk can do the same with St Johnstone


Champions League Final
Bayern 2-3 Arsenal AET

First title for Arsenal thanks to an Extra time pen


Squad Review

Goalkeeper

Luiz Junior is the no1 but Dorsaz did enough in the cup games to suggest next year he could be at least a cup and European keeper.

Luiz still leads on most stats and will still be no1 but will be interesting to compare these in a year's time.


Defense

The defense was statistically a real letdown except for Fabio Luis. Perhaps there was too much rotation so i can see the defense being a far smaller section next season when i decide who will stay. Sean Allen will not be one of the players staying after his min fee was met by Leverkusen. Cursed by Matthew Elphinston here!


Midfield

This looks massive till we see that 1/3 of the list made fleeting appearances. Jorgensen and Barron anchored the midfield with backup Junco probably on the way out although the other youngster Santiago did not impress as i expected. Alfie Stewart was a reliable backup as ever. On the wings, new signing Ariza will challenge Rukavina for the starting spot on the right while Bakardzhiev has immediately made the left wing his own. Ross Marshall at the bottom of the list lost the season to a cruciate injury but is still rated as 4.5* so really not sure what to do on a youngster that's now 20 and has not impressed. If he wasn't Scottish he'd be long gone.


Attack

Bavidge led the line this season and was spectacular almost scoring a goal a game. The major competition for the other ATT spot. Pedro was outperformed by Tolardo who did play the easier games. Statistically, they are very close and it feels like with players coming back from loan one will probably be sold. Very big decision to be made here. Lagesberg did fine but the competition is mega and he falls just short.


Players for life
Here at Aberdeen, we love one of our own coming through and thriving. There are quite a few current Dons i hope to keep long-term so let's have a look at how the spine of our squad is doing in more depth after our first season.

Luiz Junior - GK
P263 CS112 R7.08

I worried that i may have jamp the gun putting him on this list and his form was worse than his understudy but as he's still the better keeper statistically he's still no1. For now

DC Bradley Cummings - DC
P3 G R6.63

Made his debut as a 15-year-old. Will be getting phased into the first team over the next few seasons.

Connor Barron - MC
P307 G87 R7.22

He clearly took it personally that i said he was steady by racking up 22 assists in all competitions this season.

Alfie Stewart - MC
P138 G20 R6.95

Our career backup improved again securing his spot in the 25

Ross Marshall - ML
P136 G9 R6.80

A season-ending injury in early November could lead Marshall down the Ryan Duncan path sadly

Alfie Bavidge - ATT
P327 G233 R7.30

As usual, Bavidge kicked onto another level this season scoring well over a goal a game in the SPL


Rankings

Club Ranking - 11th

We are now tied for 10th best team in Europe

National League - 7th

Scotland stays 7th and has a real chance of passing Portugal next season.

National Team ranking - 48th

Scotland drop 3 places and still won't sack Clarke!


Awards

Player of the Year
Alfie Bavidge

Young Player of the Year
Fabio Luis

Top Scorer
Alfie Bavidge - 34

Manager of the Year

Team of the Year

 

[iopzzza]

Just a suggestion, in the openning post, put a spoiler mark on your results, cause i wanted to read your career from start to end, but if i didnt scroll fast enough the openning post, i would've spoiled it all

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Season 8
Aberdeen 2029

The biggest change in the squad since the early seasons. Lots of players leave to try to give me a more compact squad. Yet come September 1st were back with a 25 man 1st team.


Squad


Goalkeepers

Amongst the chaos the Keepers stay the same. Dorsaz i expect to play more in the Champions League to get a better idea of how good he is.


Defense

Huge overhaul at the back. Calvin Ramsey returns to Aberdeen after being transfer listed at Bayern Munich. He will be great for the registration rules and provide reliability as Lewis and Jakovolevic continue to develop. Oviedo was the sole left back as the season began so after failing to bring in a back up i finally got my man from Boca. In the middle, we are overflowing with superstar Argentines going against regular starter and captain Fabio Luis who signed a new 4 year deal. Staricco will start next to him along but Obispo will get his chances too.​

The reason for the mess at the left back is allowing
to stay at Hearts for his first season as at the time i still had Allen and Oviedo.

Midfield

We see plenty of change in the midfield too. Barron starts of course and his new partner in the middle Martinez looks to be brilliant but we have a dead heat between Ariza & Rukavina for the right-wing while a similar competition on the left comes from unexpected late free addition Mudryk. Yes, his life has turned out very differently here.

Strikers

Pavlovic returns from his season loan to give us a ridiculous front 4 with Tolardo, Pedro, and Bavidge who for the first time in a while is starting to make serious noises about leaving, and we, of course, rejected every bid. We have about 21 months to solve this problem

Transfer Window


SPL

We dominate the window while Celtic dropped big money on a Portuguese right back who looks very limited considering the fee. As usual, my opinion of them having a poor looking window was rescinded when i saw they got Leroy Sane on a free. Rangers did even better on the free market with Moffi, Bidstrup, and Antuna all going first into the starting 11 then they beat us to John McGinn on deadline day. Was furious he rejected us for them.


Aberdeen

In

The often mentioned Hearts wonderkid finally talked to the dons in April we signed him for a club record £12.25m. Part of the deal was to loan him back for a season which turned out to be a huge mistake as i sold the player he was supposed to be replacing a year too early. In a repeat move, we gamble on a Columbian striker who also goes back on loan

Out

Minimum fees were our friend and enemy as they help clear the bulging squad however it has seen me lose a few players i would rather have kept. Jorgensen was tremendous for us but was going to be rotated with Martinez this season so 1st it's good for Martinez and 2nd He better be good. In defense, i had to move on one player and i went for the oldest Lacruz who quietly racked up over 100 games for Aberdeen in his 5 years at the club. Annoyingly just a day later Tottenham matched Javier's release clause and since he was up against 5* potential defenders i didn't resist the move. Junco hit a wall in development so no problems moving him on. Sean Allen was in a long term shoot off for the LB spot but his min fee was met and away he went. Irigoyen, Langesberg, Symons, Laidlaw, Paes, Emslie, and Maxwell all fell short of being 1st team stars but made us a good income.​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Just a suggestion, in the openning post, put a spoiler mark on your results, cause i wanted to read your career from start to end, but if i didnt scroll fast enough the openning post, i would've spoiled it all

Cant tell you how annoyed i am that i never thought of this. Thanks

Going to have to rethink the OP anyway as i have hit the character limit so might change the tables for pictures of a spreadsheet

 

[Mr_Grieves]

August


Fixtures

All the upheaval along with the squad being unhappy that i won't let Bavidge leave combined to make us look very sloppy to start the season. Although Queens Park was the defeat we were a mess against Hearts and the same could have happened in the opener. Hamilton from league 1 was holding us off with ease till a late flurry got us the win. Normal service is hopefully resumed against Celtic in what was a close tie till 2 late goals. We were helped by Celtic having a champions league qualifier while we had a week off


SPL

Laidlaw who 1 update ago was given away for barely £100k for not being good enough for Aberdeen had more goals than our 4 strikers combined after the first 3 games. Feels like we are in for a long season.


Champions League Fixtures

Far fairer draw this season. Hopefully, we can play better.​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

September


Fixtures

Found ourselves back on track against the smaller teams with 3 comfortable wins. Then came the two old firm games which were both ruined by a red card in the first 10 minutes to the losing teams. Even so, the 2nd half-collapse to Rangers was pathetic. The moves I've made have really disappointed. We have no depth in midfield and are overloaded going forward. Nobody is stepping up to be the DCR. Not writing off the season yet but a rebuild is definitely in order next summer after i messed up this season.


SPL

Somehow it's nice and close at the top of the SPL.


Champions League

A disappointing defeat but what a game for the 854 fans that made the trip including the 8 goals in the 1st half​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

October


Fixtures

Poor Motherwell was the first opposition after we got hammered by Rangers and the steelmen felt the full force of our wrath. Ross County suffered a similar fate after the international break before St Mirren reminded us that we haven't totally recovered from last season's form but a good win over Hibs was another fine result.


SPL

Celtic pulled 3 points clear at the top.


Champions League

Not sure where Tottenham was in this match. Never showed up and were thumped by the Dons.


We make it back to back wins keeping struggling Atletico Madrid at arm's length throughout​