Saving Scottish Football 2021

[Mr_Grieves]

January


Fixtures

3 win our 3 SPL games with Celtic giving us a close run at home before almost putting us out of the cup at the first opportunity. THankfully we thrashed them in the 2nd leg


SPL Table

So we play Dundee Utd next in Dundee and the injuries piled up. I lost 3/4 strikers leaving only 4th choice Juanjo and a U18 to lead the line against our only rivals.


January Window


Aberdeen

In
As usual, some prices on pre-contract players proves too tempting bit this time all but 1 go into the u18s

DC Einar Ingason

I didn't expect to find a new starting CB from the premier Danish side but non the less Einar fills our biggest weakness.

6 Youth players in which gives us a grand total of 49 players in the youth team or out on loan. Halfway to being Chelsea.

Out

Four departures but the one that stands out is Mattias Petersson one of my first signings through the door never cleared a 7,00 rating so Besiktas overpaid for a player that may have been holding the squad back. Two youngsters that were well down the pecking order join Ross County while the disappointment of the season so far Stuart Willett is loaned to Fulham with a future sale expected.


SPL Transfers

Hibs failure of a season see's them sell 3 key players. Non more key than Captain and keeper Lucas Pantalacci who moves on after over 500 appearances. Barry Black was a tempting addition from the transfer list before i looked at my U18s and found Alex Pastor is ready to play.​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

February


Fixtures

How did we cram 8 domestic games into one month? It was clear when the schedule was in front of me that we were not going to win every game this month but we won the big one at Dundee Utd. A slip up at Motherwell was a shock but nothing compared to getting manhandled by Hibs. Got a bit big from my boots in the approach for that game maybe.


SPL Table

After losing to us Dundee Utd would lose their next 2 games as well which hands us a 10 point gap at the top but we have played a game more.


Champions League Last 16 1st Leg
Red Bull Salzburg 1-6 Aberdeen

Youngsters for the 2nd leg then?​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

March


Fixtures

Celtic somehow won against us after we hit every bit of woodwork and missed 2 penalties that will make the title run-in far more interesting.


SPL Table

We go into the championship group with only a 4 point lead which i feel like we're just waiting to throw away. Celtic should hold off Hibs for 3rd while new manager-led team Hearts & Rangers battle for 5th. The gap to the bottom 2 is staggering.


Champions League Last 16 2nd Leg
Aberdeen 1-1 RB Salzberg
Aberdeen win 7-2 on Agg

We put out backups and kids and they came within minutes of getting a win.


QF Draw
Aberdeen vs Man City

Now business picks up
​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Run In

We start the run-in with a 4 point advantage and the goal difference. We play each other on the final day so it would be nice to have it done by then.


Champions League Q/F
1st Leg
Aberdeen 1-0 Man City

We stun the English giants and even more amazingly we keep a clean sheet to set us up for the 2nd leg

2nd Leg
Man City 2-1 Aberdeen
Aberdeen 2-2 Man City on agg, Aberdeen win on away goals.

Captain Billy Connolly gave us an early lead on the night and a 2 goal cushion for the tie. The city did score twice but that away goal got us into my first semi-final since Dundee Utd in 2035


Scottish Cup S/F
Hearts 1-0 Aberdeen

The squad was spent after the Champions League so the inevitable defeat was sadly here to end the treble dreams.


Match 34
Celtic 0-3 Aberdeen

Despite resting a few players we waltzed past Celtic and day 1 of the split was made even better with Hearts beating Dundee Utd


Champions League S/F 1st Leg
Man Utd 5-3 Aberdeen

That more like Aberdeen in Europe. We led early and set up shop but unlike City, United attacked us hard and exposed our weakness at the back. Orozco score a hattrick that gives us hope for the 2nd leg


Match 35
Aberdeen 6-2 Hibs

Our turn to score a pile of goals. Dundee Utd's draw with Rangers means effectively we are champions due to our goal difference.


Champions League S/F 2nd Leg
Aberdeen 2-0 Man Utd
Aberdeen 5-5 Man Utd, Aberdeen win on away goals

Were in the final! And it could not have been done more dramatically with a 92nd-minute goal from Aleix securing the away goal win we deserved after we pummeled United.

Bayern awaits in the final. A tough tie to beat the 7-time winners but we fear nobody after beating England two biggest teams.

Match 36
Rangers 3-5 Aberdeen

We changed all 11 players but still managed to comfortably see off Rangers and secure the title.


Match 37
Aberdeen 4-0 Hearts

Backups get one more run out. Maybe they're better than the first team? Is Dundee Utd going to fail to win any of their championship games? 0/4 so far. Speaking of losing Raith play Motherwell on a final day decider. They are currently tied on points & goal differences.


Match 38
Aberdeen 3-0 Dundee Utd

The first half hattrick from Orozco means he takes the golden boot. Dundee Utd finishes closer to Celtic than us somehow. Raith went down having only scored 30 goals to Motherwell's 31. There can't have been a closer ending than that.

Over in Spain Valladolid probably had the worst season ever.

Maguire sacked
2nd in the League and a European final was somehow not enough for Harry Maguire to keep his job. Mast amazing sacking in the save so far.

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Champions League Final 2040


Were away to start our 20th season and its the first time we've played Bayern Munich


Final
Aberdeen 0-0 Bayern AET
Bayern win 4-2 on Pens

Absolutely gutted. We were the better team over the 130 minutes and despite having 9 shots on target we didn't score. I pushed for the win in extra time and it almost cost us but thankfully Tomic was offside for all it mattered in the end.

We will have one more chance with Aberdeen next season before I move on to whatever is my next challenge.
​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Season 19 Review


Long term plans
Were on the verge of something big here. I plan to do one more season at Aberdeen then it will be off to a new team in the bottom 6. Only Celtic or Hearts could interfere with those plans if they take a dive but I feel it's time to build a new force.


Managers

Rangers made a questionable change. McGinn made a bad start but had got their best results in a decade. I hope he gets the Dundee Utd job after they made an insane decision to fire Maguire. More on that later.


Aberdeen Squad

Basic turned out to be the no1 keeper we always needed. Now to hold onto him
Piatek and Schipmann shared the right-wing and both are already sold. Both rated well for wing-backs but the hunt for the holey grail of one that gets over 7.0 goes on. Left-winger Di Blasio will get another chance next season unless there's a youth prospect I've overlooked. Padilla was a great backup coming in January. The centerbacks atm are Centurion & Ingason. Bass is at least next in line and might start with Ingason next season. Dylan Wilson is a guy I'm so tempted to sell but is our best homegrown player all be it 4th best CB
Millic came good in his first full season. A must keep the player with Connolly who gets better every season. Aleix & Pastor shared the DLP role. Not sure who gets the start next year. Vidojevic was a weak spot and i will probably replace him or at worse give someone else a shot at ML
4 Strikers are all top-notch. Orozco & Juanjo will be the starters next term. Massarotti & Navarro's future depends on others development.


My Player of the Season
Aleksandar Milic

I didn't realise how brilliant the winger had been. Came back from an injury to lead the late-season charge. More of the same next year, please!


Final SPL Table

Our title win looks like a procession but that's only because Dundee Utd had one of the worst spilt forms or any team ever to finish distant runner ups. Celtic seem to finally have a manager capable of making a run and he got them Champions League football. Hibs were the letdown of the season with only a Scottish Cup win saving face. Hearts saw off Rangers for the final Europa spot. The bottom two were in a world of their own. Their combined points would only yield 9th place. I have more hope for Ross County coming back up after dominating the Championship.


Play-Off
Motherwell 2-1 Airdrieonians

The annual so close yet so far for Airdrie


Europe
We weren't the only Scottish side in a European final. Harry Maguires last game at Dundee Utd was a 3-1 loss to Liverpool in the Europa League final. There best season since i left and they fire the guy. Insane

Hibs after falling out of the Champions League got to the Europa League last 16
Celtic failed to get out of their Europa group but a Champions League place next year makes up for it.
Rangers reached the Conference last 16 losing to eventual finalists Craiova.
Hearts got a round further losing on penalties to eventual winner Club Brugge


Club Rankings
5th +1
66.571

Two finalists come just in time as we're away to lose our greatest ever season next term.
​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Aberdeen Season 20
Pre Season 2040/41


Managers

Celtic are huge losers here. Dundee Utd took their manager Louis Appere after sacking Harry Maguire. Wouldn't call it an upgrade but not a disaster. Celtic in return gets Ross County's manager who took them down then back up but didn't overachieve in any major way. All this with John McGinn sitting there unemployed plus the usual international exodus of managers after the Euros


Euro 2040

England finally gets their Euro's win in Italy of course. Scotland failed to make it out of their group. Sacked their manager then turned me down again this time for David McCracken who's been sacked from his last 2 SPL jobs.


Season Targets
SPL - Winners
Scottish Cup - Winner
League Cup - Winner
Champions League - Champions League Winner

We were penalty kicks away from winning a champions league and have retained more key players than ever before. This is planned to be my last season in Aberdeen so i will be playing the strongest squad possible in every game to try and win the quadruple.


SPL Pre Season Prices

Wow, i agree with everything here.


Aberdeen Transfers

In


Marlon Edgar - ATT

I didn't need a new striker but one of England's hottest prospects was willing to come for more than reasonable wages so a buy to sell was not to be missed.

***** Pineau - ML

Willetts failure and the sale of Vidojevic didn't leave me too shot of MLs but again a top prospect on a free. Should be a no lose situation.

Two youth also join


Out

£213m in sales. Where do we start here then,

In defence, i sold both my right-backs Piatek & Schipmann. No big thing with the prospects behind them. The only worry is that it may be a season too soon and i should have kept one.
Midfield saw the biggest clear out but only Aleix was a regular starter. Gonzalez was a back up which we have plenty of for MR. Mehmet came back from his loan and was inundated with offers for my 5th MC. This was after i sold my previous 5th MC Saevarsson who despite the talent never really fitted in. Trela was a stop-gap DM but now i have a u18 coming through to do that. I've said enough about Willetts on the left-wing. He did enough on a loan to Fulham to secure a permanent move to England. Vidojevic had an offer in and after looking at his career stats for us selling him was a no brainer.
Attackers saw 3 leave Our biggest sale of all was Navarro for £31m. A victim of too many attackers. Same reason Gonzalez was sold after his loan. Novotny is supposed to be a striker but he can't shoot so I'll take my chances on moving him to Juve.
​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

August


Fixtures

A slow start but we manage to win all 3 league games and our league cup game


SPL Table

Were the only perfect team.


Champions League Draw

We'll have a bit more work to do this year after last seasons walkover group.


Transfer Window


Aberdeen

August took forever due to trying to get the squad down to 25 men. We ended with 27 on the squad but bids came for two of my starters. Centurion at CB and Massarotti up front. The latter being the nations biggest ever sale. He'll go on to great things in the game most likely. Centurion was a victim of his own complaints. He spent August demanding a move and when propper offers finally came in i let him go. Time for Bass to sink or swim in his place.


SPL Transfers

I knew i had been busy but this is ridiculous. Dundee Utd splashes some cash too to try and wrestle the league out of our hands. It must be a record £298m net spend. Almost £300m came into the SPL.​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

September


Fixtures

We won 4 of our league games and a thrilling League cup Q/F. Then there's the small matter of a home game with Dundee Utd. Here's hoping this was their Newcastle 96 moment when they beat Man Utd 5-0 but never looked like challenging for the title after that game.


SPL Table

Despite that fumble, we still lead the way at the top. Motherwell still waiting for a win.


Champions League

Toughest game. Won it mate. We should have lost by at least 4 goals but we fought tooth and nail to get the most undeserved 3 points of my life.


Sorry for the lack of updates. Been busy with the new F1 game and other stuff the last week​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

October


Fixtures

Four very one-sided games but the one against Hibs was the worst. Can't even blame European football as Hibs were also in action


SPL Table

It's all very interesting at the top then with Hibs and Dundee Utd right on our tails. For the first time since i came back its 3 months into the season and we have nobody in the top 3 scorers.


Champions League

Like everyone else we got a win in Basel, Barca left it close! We then played a top of the table decider with Lille and lost. We must beat them at Pittodrie. Not many good signs for us going all the way if we're losing to 3rd seeded teams.
​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

New Dundee Manager

I make the 90-minute journey south to my new team in Dundee


Outside the big 6 teams, Dundee was far and away the next best team to take over in terms of money and squad.


Squad

Not a bad starting point for this squad. A few additions away from being able to be better than Rangers. Its the 3rd time I've managed Gustavo Varela


We start amazingly in 12th. How on earth is any team below Motherwell. The first game is a basement battle although looking much further ahead. The top 6 is just 10 points away.

​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

December


Fixtures

4 wins and a draw from my first 8 games is about as good as i expected. We were beaten comfortably by all the top 6 teams we played.


SPL Table

In a month we have now got double the points of the bottom place side we occupied not long ago and were now only 6 points off the top 6.


New Manager#
Aberdeen could have gone after any big-name manager in world football. Instead, they took Hearts Russell Dingwall. He ruined St Mirren but since then has done good work with Motherwell & Hearts. Hearts take Killie boss Curtis Jones another reasonable appointment. Wonder how busy our 3 managers will be in their new jobs.

​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

January


Fixtures

A good cup win against Morton then a stunning draw with Aberdeen. Then we had a chance to really lay down a marker on our push for 6th place at home to Rangers. A game we totally dominated but they scored in the first and last 5 minutes to get a huge win in the race for the top 6. We have 10 games to close down a 12 points gap, bigger than when i took over in November. If we don't get a big turnaround in February i will have to consider dropping players to bleed the youths i bought in January.


SPL Table

Were also still just 4 points clear of a playoff spot so will need to keep an eye over my shoulder.


Transfer Window

Dundee
In

Defence
Bart Zawislan

He doesn't sound very Irish! But looks like a top talent.

Midfield
Darwin Pozzi, Ricky Miller, Aled Blake, Nestor Ubiria, David Daivez

A whole new midfield. It Will be a struggle to get them all settled before the end of this season but at worst we won't have to buy midfielders in the summer.

Attack
Juan Barron

I found the Mexican on a free on my first today in the job. More to come from him hopefully


Out

Nobody of note here but we did a job on our wage bill clearing all that dregs. The squad still stands about 5 players too heavy


SPL Transfers

Lots going on here. A Scottish winger joins Real Madrid for almost £30m. Hibs sell their best player to Aberdeen and Hearts buy Brazilians.​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

February


Fixtures

Twice we had a flash of hope for reaching the top 6 twice it was immediately wiped out by Dundee Utd then St Mirren. We beat Motherwell and kept the cup run going so all in all, not a total disaster


SPL Table

Top 6 and bottom 6 are pretty much set. What a fight for the title at the top! Motherwell closes the gap to Ross County both of who are non of my problems now.


​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

March


Fixtures

Operation backups have failed with 5 defeats in a row in the league and the cherry on the top. They're on for a treble now. As soon as the top 6 was gone it was all about next years squad so plenty of players have gotten a chance and the results have not been too important since were almost safe


SPL Table

​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Relegations Split

Despite a wobble start i stuck with my kids and they did enough to avoid the playoffs and showed me we have about 4 players I'd be happy to start next season. Oh, dear.​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Season 20 Review


Managers

8 Teams end the year with different managers an unprecedented turnaround. Most were good. Appere at Dundee Utd was spectacular, I was so wrong about him. & Curtis Jones improved at Hearts. Celtic had less luck with Nagiyev who they should sack.


Dundee Squad

A major lack of green or 7+ rating and i won't be going into much depth with this squad review. Lake on the right-wing is far and away our best player. Luta, McCord & Barron will be good enough to start next year Jacko is solid but after him, nobody in my starting 11 is fit for purpose.
The bench has more promise with kids Zawislan, Daivez, Ubiria, Pozzi & Castro showed glimpses and Santana coming back from a loan will give us a starting 11. How much i will have to invest after clearing out the rest will dictate how good our 41/42 season will be.


My Player of the Season
Tomas Castro

The Argentine came in as a back up striker but when everyone else was injured he got a few starts and would go on to score 13 goals from his 16 starts, better than a lot of strikers i had at bigger teams.


Final SPL Table

Dundee Utd completes the domestic double with a League and a Scottish cup win. Hibs bypassed Aberdeen who as i suspected have again suffered from a poor replacement for me. Rangers were the form team in the second half of the season. They were only 6 points ahead of me at one point and ended up 4th in the Europa League 22 points ahead of us. Hearts and Celtic go into the Europa 2. Both should be ahead of Rangers. In the bottom half, the gap to the top 6 is huge in terms of money and squads. The very minimum for us next year is 7th. Motherwell finished bottom and im delighter to say they will be replaced with Airdrie who finally end their decades of heartbreaking playoff defeats by winning the league.

Play-Off
Kilmarnock 0-0 Raith AET
Raith win on pens

120 minutes of goalless action led to a shoot out and Raith return to the top flight. Double disappointment for Killie who lost the Scottish Cup final 4 days earlier.


Europe
For the second season in a row a Scottish side lose in the final on penalties. Dundee Utd is clearly in great shape and got to the final defeating Atletico Madrid who has dominated Spain for a decade. On the other hand Hertha has won 1 league title in 2032. Nothing else till now. A huge miss for Scottish Football.

The Rest
Hibs got beat by AC Milan in the Europa League last 16
Hearts were knocked out of the Europa League last 32
Aberdeen had a disaster and like Hearts fell at the Europa last 32
Celtic was the 3rd of the 3 Scottish teams to go out at the Europa last 32 stages.
Rangers yet again let us down by failing to get out of the Europa Conference group


Club Rankings
6th -1
66.821

Germany flies past us, Italy and France. Germany goes clear but so little between 4th-6th and i won't be there helping the cause with no European football for Dundee which is a concern.​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Dundee Season 21
Pre Season 2041/42


Managers
No Changes for the first time ever!


Season Targets
SPL - Top 6
Scottish Cup - Q/F
League Cup - Q/F

We have my squad now so no excuses for not getting a top 6 finish which looks like a big jump from where we were. Cups besting everyone outside the top 6 is our level. No European football to get in our way either for this character-building season.


SPL Pre Season Prices

Dundee Utd is one of the best teams in Europe and is deservedly favourite. If Aberdeen can replace Dingwall with someone competent they may challenge with all the loan players i had returning to give them their best squad ever. Hibs should feel jobbed at being 16/1 tied with Celtic. Hearts to are not 19/1 shots. We are 150/1 where we belong


Dundee Transfers

In

Moses Nhlapo - Att

I don't need a striker so of course, the best player i find that's interested in signing is a striker. From the discounted land of South Africa comes Nhlapo who will be my lead striker and has the potential to be one of the leagues best.

Benoit Le Garrec - MC

An Anderlecht youngster what could go wrong! Comes in to start immediately. Probably with Nestor Ibiria.

Nemanja Jokanovic - MR

In another position, we are already stacked at MR but in scared that our best player Lake will demand a move or force through a sale at some point. He's better as an AMR but is young enough to adapt.

Sam Logan - MC

A bargain that can fill in at DMC for the tougher games.

3 loans are in already. Once again I fell in love with a striker. Rodolfo appeared on the loan list at the very top by a mile. Far better than anyone in my squad. Fabricio Rogel was a backup DC for me at Aberdeen so is more than good enough to start here. Davide Cacciatore on the left win was a desperate pickup. I needed a left-back but took this guy. If I can get a DL in on loan then Cacciatore will leave or be forced out.


4 Youth players join the fold

Out

26 players left us over the summer. One of them was by force against our will and could lead to problems due to my inability to stop buying forwards and wingers. 10 players that made regular appearances for us last season were shown the door. I was not messing around. The big loss is Mike McCord. I somehow missed his £2.6m min fee clause and when Chelsea negotiated passed that he was going. Everyone else was put up for sale or moved on as depth prevailed.​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

August


Fixtures

We waltz through the League cup group and that sets us up for an easy start in the league beating Raith & Airdrie. We come unstuck somehow against Ross County before getting a huge win over Aberdeen. I Have not got a clue how this season going to go.


SPL Table

Were 1 point off the top but don't be fooled as Dundee were in this spot last season & we've had the easiest run of games possible.


Transfer Window


Dundee

We buy a centre back from Atletico and in my panic, i loan 2 wing-backs which mean we'll be paying a huge amount for players we don't own but i have simply got to make it into the top 6 this season

SPL Transfers

This is what we're up against. Dundee Utd is going to win now for the Champions League. Lots more action​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

September


Fixtures

A very impressive month for us. A fighting draw at home to Hearts before a stunning win an Ibrox where we went 4-1 up before going down to 10 men. 4 points from 6 against our biggest rivals for 5th place. We dropped points with St Mirren in our only disappointing result of the month but the best 11 were still knackered from the Hibs game which deserves a section of its own


League Cup Q/F
Hibs 2-2 Dundee
Dundee win 4-3 on Pens

So if you look at the first 35 minutes you'll see why i gave up and subbed on a few youngsters. We were 2 down and down to 10 men heading out of the cup so rested some of my regular starters and took of my sole striker. How we mounted a 2nd half comeback? I'll never know but we did and dragged Hibs to penalties where we won 4-3. Rangers await in the Semi-Final


SPL Table

We are still up there with the big hitters. Hearts and Celtic down on 4 and 7 points are giving us a good head start. Rodolfo's shooting boots have been the difference for us so far this season.​