Berwick Rangers: An English Club in Scotland

brooksey84 said:
Such a fan of this game! I have got my Albion Rovers into the Championship finding the gulf in talent a bit harder potential year of stability at this level then kick on. So many teams are trying to scum bag me with bids of £500 quid for player's which are getting rejected instantly.
Click to expand...

Yeah the Championship is tough especially if you're competing against a load of professional teams. Just got to abuse the loan market, either with Premiership teams or under 23 teams in England.

The GallantPioneer1872 said:
WAIT! the only game you lost in that month was motherwell...DAVID MOYES MOTHERWELL XD
Click to expand...

He's a tactical genius what can I say...
 
The Dynamic Duo

We have a new deadly partnership up front at Berwick. You could say they’re the new Aaron Murrell and Scott Scott (fairplay if you get the reference). It’s Kevin Kane and Pape Samb.

View attachment 64750 View attachment 64749

Their partnership was born in our incredible 4-3 win against Celtic in the 5th​ round of the cup.

View attachment 64748

It was a rollercoaster of a game, it always is when we play Celtic, and Samb’s last minute winner prompted me to give him a new contract after just his 5th​ game for the club. That was until I came across his agent.

View attachment 64747

£625,000 release clause…. It’s a no from me.

What’s more incredible was that this was a victory over a side that had just beaten Real Madrid 3-0 in the Champions League 1st​ Knockout Round.

View attachment 64746

The victory over Celtic means we’ll play Dundee United in the quarter final of the cup.

View attachment 64745

With Celtic now knocked out we’re arguably one of the favourites to win the cup considering the form we’ve been in over the season. It’s crazy how far we’ve come.

As for the league we’re still in good form and remain in second with 10 games to go.

View attachment 64744

View attachment 64743

We’ve got some tough games coming up and need to get some positive results from them before the league splits into two.

View attachment 64742

Because of the split we still have to play Dundee United and Celtic twice as well as Rangers once. All of these games are going to be pivotal.

It’s well and truly the business end of the season.

​
 
Haven't commented in years on here, Thought I would reactivate, Been an excellent read right from the start! Looks like you have a player with Snorrason too!
 
neavie pops23 said:
Doing great things this season! Europe here you come!
Click to expand...

Hopefully European football becomes a common occurrence every season from now on!

JamesScott2908 said:
Haven't commented in years on here, Thought I would reactivate, Been an excellent read right from the start! Looks like you have a player with Snorrason too!
Click to expand...

Cheers mate! And he's been awesome this season but after signing a new contract a couple of months ago he's attracting interest again. Think we're going to have to give him a new contract every transfer window just to keep him.
 
Kevin Kane for Ballon d'Or

In our quarter final against Dundee United we drew 1-1. This meant we played them 3 times in a row as we faced them in the league (again drawing 1-1) and then the cup replay immediately after.

View attachment 64636

The game finished Dundee United 2-6 Berwick. But in reality it was Dundee United 2-6 Kevin Kane.

View attachment 64629

6 goals! He scored 6 goals! I don’t think I’ve had a player score more than 4 in a competitive game on any FM.

Needless to say Newcastle are looking to give him a chance in the first team next season. I would say it’s about time a striker called Kane did well in the Premier League but Newcastle are in the Championship…

View attachment 64635

The result typifies just how good we’ve been for a number of months now. We’ve only lost 2 of our last 24 games in all competitions!

View attachment 64634

It’s also looking increasingly likely that it’ll be a two horse race for second between Rangers and us.

View attachment 64633

I have to say that it’s a race that can’t be lost. Either we finish second and enter the best placed qualifying round in the Champions League or we finish third and go straight into the Europa League group stages.

Talking of Europe, Celtic actually overcame Real Madrid in the knockout round of the Champions League and only lost out on away goals to Barcelona in the quarter final.

View attachment 64632

We’ve also had our youth intake. The less said about it the better.

View attachment 64631

Our next game will be the semi-final of the cup against Hibernian in what will be our first visit to Hampden Park.

Hopefully it’s the first of many.

​
 
Last edited:
Unlucky for you with how well celtic are doing!! might be difficult to overcome. You should throw away 2nd place and take europa groups lol champions league football may be a step too far ! Although if you can get into they groups then the finances are great.
 
The GallantPioneer1872 said:
Unlucky for you with how well celtic are doing!! might be difficult to overcome. You should throw away 2nd place and take europa groups lol champions league football may be a step too far ! Although if you can get into they groups then the finances are great.
Click to expand...

Yeah don't really mind where we finish now. We might still end up in the Europa League even if we do finish second and enter the Champions League qualifying rounds, I think that's what Hibs did this season.
 
Scottish Cup Semi Final

So, off we went to Hampden Park playing in our first semi-final in the Scottish Cup. Our starting XI contained 4 players over the age of 20…

View attachment 64454

…and they’ve only gone and put us in the final!

It was not our best performance but we dug in when the going was tough in the first half and eventually emerged 2-0 winners.

We also received £3.37 million from one game alone. We only had £1 million in the bank before that!

View attachment 64453

In the final we’ll play Rangers after they destroyed St Mirren 6-0 in the other semi final.

View attachment 64452

As for the league, with one game left we are just one point ahead of Rangers.

View attachment 64451

All we need to do is get a better result than Rangers in the last game of the season to finish second. Our opponents in our last game? Rangers.

View attachment 64450

We’ve had an incredible season, truly amazing. There’d be no shame in losing in the final or even finishing third (as that would mean the Europa League group stage) so in that sense these games aren’t vitally important.

But this is our chance for Champions League football and victory in the biggest cup competition in Scotland. All that is in our way are two games against Rangers…

Can we do it?
​
 
Last edited:
Hampus Silverholt said:
Yeah don't really mind where we finish now. We might still end up in the Europa League even if we do finish second and enter the Champions League qualifying rounds, I think that's what Hibs did this season.
Click to expand...

Yeah Think it depends what round you go out in! certain rounds you go into europa others you go straight out! Good luck in your final, Despite being a rangers fan I want you to win the trophy!
 
Best of luck in the final game. Would you rather lose the cup final and secure 2nd place or take 3rd place and win the cup?
 
what an end to the season, surely have a decent budget next year as well!
 
neavie pops23 said:
Best of luck in the final game. Would you rather lose the cup final and secure 2nd place or take 3rd place and win the cup?
Click to expand...

100% win the cup every time. I'd rather finish 11th and win the cup than finish 2nd and lose in the final!

TheBattman said:
what an end to the season, surely have a decent budget next year as well!
Click to expand...

Yeah we might actually be able to break our transfer record of £85,000 this summer!
 
Uneventful Final Two Games

Final League Game: Berwick 2-3 Rangers

View attachment 64343

I know it may look like I threw the game but I honestly wanted to get a good result leading into the cup final.

However there’s no hiding the fact that this was the ultimate bottlejob. The game highlighted a long-term problem we’ve had in defending set pieces and was not the best way to prepare for the biggest game in Berwick’s history.

Still, finishing third means Europa League group stage next season.

View attachment 64342

Now onto the all-important cup final.

View attachment 64341

Our first cup final against the 34 times winners.

Here was the line up and formation for the game.

View attachment 64340

Now, I tend to make my posts as short and sweet as possible but this is going to be a very lengthily description of possibly the most incredible, crazy, frustrating and ridiculous game I have ever witnessed in Football Manager. The best way I can illustrate it is as if I were doing live updates, so here goes…


0 Minutes: Rangers 0-0 Berwick
All is well.

9 Minutes: Jonathan McMahon booked

GOAL! 13 Minutes: Rangers 0-1 Berwick
Kevin Kane opened the scoring. I could picture us lifting the trophy.

15 Minutes: Jonathan McMahon sent off.

This is Jonathan McMahon.

View attachment 64339

He’s on loan from Chelsea and has been excellent at left back all season. Despite picking up a yellow card early on, and us telling him to “ease off tackles,” Jonathan decided to fly into a challenge and pick up the first red card of his career… 15 minutes into the biggest game in Berwick’s history. Thanks Jonathan.

GOAL! 21 Minutes: Rangers 1-1 Berwick

We switched from a 5-2-1-2 formation to a 5-2-2 formation. Exactly the same as the starting formation but without a shadow striker.

Inevitably Rangers got a goal back. Striker Andres Chavez was the scorer.

GOAL! 45+1 Minutes: Rangers 1-2 Berwick

However this was not over! A howler from Wes Foderingham gifted Kevin Kane his second of the game. His penalty miss in the previous game was forgiven and it was beginning to seem like the impossible could happen.

50 Minutes Martin McCulloch booked

GOAL! 51 minutes: Rangers 2-2 Berwick
Chavez picks up his second. Despite the equaliser the two teams have been hard to separate.

56 Minutes: Martin McCulloch sent off
That’s right, we were down to nine men after 56 minutes! This is Martin McCulloch.

View attachment 64338

He’s our captain.

Martin McCulloch knew that after the first sending off we told the team to no longer “get stuck in.” Martin was also aware that, after getting booked, he was personally told to “ease of tackles.” So Martin McCulloch, our captain, decided to go flying into a tackle 5 minutes later and get sent off to leave Berwick with 9 men for the remainder of the game. Again, just a reminder that this is the biggest game in Berwick’s history.

Our formation was now a 5-2-1.

60 Minutes: Rangers 2-2 Berwick

70 Minutes: Rangers 2-2 Berwick

80 Minutes: Rangers 2-2 Berwick

89 Minutes: Rangers 2-2 Berwick
You know what’s coming don’t you…






GOAL! 90 Minutes: Rangers 3-2 Berwick
The 9 men fought bravely but Lewis Spence eventually broke down our resistance and gave Rangers the lead. With nothing to lose we switched to a pioneering 3-2-3 formation as you can see below.

View attachment 64337

GOAL! 90+1 Minutes: Rangers 4-2 Berwick
The 3-2-3 lasted a minute. Chavez got his hattrick. Back to a more conventional 4-2-2 it was for us.

GOAL! 90+4 Minutes: Rangers 5-2 Berwick
The 4-2-2 lasted only 3 minutes. Vittorio Parigini grabbed Rangers’ 5th​ goal.

Full Time: Rangers 5-2 Berwick

View attachment 64336

View attachment 64335

If I could fine McMahon and McCulloch 10 years wages then I would.

Unfortunately I could only fine McCulloch 2 weeks wages, which he didn’t like.

View attachment 64334

I was “extremely disappointed” that my captain got sent off after 56 minutes in the cup final despite us already being down to 10 men Martin mate.



So… the two games against Rangers didn’t go great. Can you tell it’s annoyed me?
​
 
**** mate that is an infuriating game. As much as it sucks I find this kind of frustration the best motivator, winning things too early and too easily makes me lose interest in a save so this should keep you hooked for a while!
 
PatrickLFC said:
**** mate that is an infuriating game. As much as it sucks I find this kind of frustration the best motivator, winning things too early and too easily makes me lose interest in a save so this should keep you hooked for a while!
Click to expand...

I'm still in disbelief at how we got two players sent off, especially the second one! And I agree, coming so close to winning makes me want to do so even more now. Hopefully our European adventures don't have too much of an impact on our domestic form next season.
 
What A sickener, Ref must have been a mason :P Unlucky as **** in that final especially after a pen miss in the first game which would have secured 2nd also! Good luck in Europa
 
I'd take a huff with the captain and let him rot in the reserves, but don't suppose the squad is big enough. Fingers crossed this coming season will see major silverware on it's way to England :P
 
The GallantPioneer1872 said:
What A sickener, Ref must have been a mason :P Unlucky as **** in that final especially after a pen miss in the first game which would have secured 2nd also! Good luck in Europa
Click to expand...

They have got that aspect of Scottish football spot on, if I'm ever one up vs. Tims or Huns we do seem to play a lot of injury time !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

FMBase

Beta

Resources

Back
Top