The Ballad of Charlie McGhee – 2nd Stanza

[dave8721]

Mate, great story! shame the swindon board didnt listen to you. back to back promotions would have been awesome. Did Swindon make it without you?
Great job at Nice so far, do you think if the Juventus offer came in the following summer you would have at least gone to the interview? or are you looking for a Nice dynasty?

I'll look forward to the next update.

 

[Nomadic]

Great result at the Bernabau mate!

I think we may need to export our international teams (If possible) and have Australia vs Wales match at some point mate

 

[Yeti01]

Mate, great story! shame the swindon board didnt listen to you. back to back promotions would have been awesome. Did Swindon make it without you?
Great job at Nice so far, do you think if the Juventus offer came in the following summer you would have at least gone to the interview? or are you looking for a Nice dynasty?

I'll look forward to the next update.

Appreciate the feedback mate! Swindon ending up finishing just outside the playoff spots the year I left and then the following season dropped down to just above the relegation spots. Peterhead had hovered above the relegation spots in Scottish League 1 but last season finally failed and have dropped down to Scottish League 2. Newcastle Jets though hired Tony Popovic after Charlie left and went from strength to strength and are now perennial powerhouses in the Australian A League. I think they've won the title 2 or 3 times since Charlie left.

Hard to say regarding the Juventus offer - I think it would have depended on how Nice go this season. If we end up in the Champions League again and bring in some more quality players than they are quickly becoming one of the elite clubs in Europe which makes it much harder to leave. If they have a season to forget and don't make Europe than I probably would have moved to Juve.

Great result at the Bernabau mate!

I think we may need to export our international teams (If possible) and have Australia vs Wales match at some point mate

Sure mate - I've only downloaded the file thus far. I haven't exported the side as yet. Let me know if there's a time that suits you for a practice. I really need to get onto Ninjaskill and actually try and arrange our match though too!!

Who do you have first up?

 

[Nomadic]

Sure mate - I've only downloaded the file thus far. I haven't exported the side as yet. Let me know if there's a time that suits you for a practice. I really need to get onto Ninjaskill and actually try and arrange our match though too!!

Who do you have first up?

We don't start until round 2, then have USA.

I actually meant our international teams from our saves so your Australian squad from this and mine from my Wales story, but don't actually think it is possible. Would be up for a practice match at some point for the International series game as well though at some point .

 

[Yeti01]

We don't start until round 2, then have USA.

I actually meant our international teams from our saves so your Australian squad from this and mine from my Wales story, but don't actually think it is possible. Would be up for a practice match at some point for the International series game as well though at some point .

Haha - my bad. That would be fun though! Why don't see if we can - you seem to be one fairly regularly when I am (late our time so around noon GMT). If you are near your save go into the wales squad and see if you get the 'export for online' option.
If you do we can tee up a match and also a practice with the international series squads.

 

[Yeti01]

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October 2020 – Just keep swimming…



High flying Stade De Reims were first up for Charlie and Nice in October. Nice played a strong game away from home though here and ran out 2-1 victors. Youngsters Nangis and Diallo proving the match winners here.


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Following the Stade de Reims match Charlie jetted out to take control of the Socceroos in their next round of Asian World Cup Final stage qualifiers. Their first match was against the team most likely to cause them issues in group B South Korea. In an epic tussle in Seoul the Socceroos fought their way to a win that will go do in Aussie football history – coming back from 2 goals down to win 3-2 with Tommy Rogic pulling all the strings. A massive result in Korea that will go a long, long way to securing their place in the 2022 World Cup.


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Next the plucky Aussies took on Bahrain. With Leckie struggling for fitness McGhee gambled slightly and started Mario Duncan up front with Adam Taggart – the two combined beautifully though for 3 of the Socceroo’s 4 goals, Luongo grabbing the other. They continue their unbeaten start to the final stage of qualifying then and McGhee is really starting to dream about Canada (where the World Cup has been moved to) 2022.


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This was the Aussie’s 6th win in a row and 12 match in a row unbeaten, their last loss coming in McGhee’s 2nd match in charge in Mexico, both of which represents the longest ever respective streak for Australia.


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Also, off the back of their last 2 performances, the Aussies have moved up to 17th in the World Rankings. McGhee would be absolutely ecstatic if he could ever lead them to a top 10 ranking.


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Back to Ligue 1 then and Nice found themselves taking on Dijon. In a match that should have been easier for the hosts they ended up finishing with a one nil win.


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Am I dreaming? The result at the Bernabau was nothing short of magical but tonight will go down as one of the best nights in Charlie’s life. After 27 minutes they had been having almost the perfect start as Modeste and then Diallo put them 2 up. Dybala’s goal just after half time made things tense though but Nice hung on for their first Champions League victory.


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Another fantastic result. On the face of it a draw with Monaco should be seen as cause for celebration but considering it was away and they went down to 10 men halfway through the 2nd half means this was a very good result in Charlie’s eyes.


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Following the recent good results the Nice Board came to Charile asking if he would sign a new contract – something that he always intended on doing. Not that he was going to tell them that however and he managed to squeeze them for an upgrade to the youth facilities as part of the negotiations.


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Finally in October Nice took on Nantes. It was a tough match in western France but Le Gym managed to come away with all three points thanks to a Diallo goal.


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A much, much better month then. Although they aren’t blowing sides off the pitch they are grinding out results and have seen themselves climb up to 3rd in the league.


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[Yeti01]

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November 2020 – Consistently Inconsistent



First up in November Nice played Manchester United (which means I forgot to do a screenshot of the match with Napoli which I’m really frustrated about as we won 2-1…). This time around however it was the Red Devils who had the last laugh, coming back from a goal down to condemn Nice to their first loss of the campaign.


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They followed that up with a result that, whilst on the face of things doesn’t seem so bad, when you consider they were 2 nil up with only 20 minutes to go makes it feel more like 2 points lost rather than a point gained. Fair play to Lyon though they never gave up here.


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It was World Cup qualifying time again so that meant a trip back down under for Charlie to lead the Socceroos against the UAE. In somewhat of a procession the Aussies ran out easy 2 goal winners.


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This meant they now had a full complement of 15 points from their first 5 games. South Korea had also had an unlikely draw with China meaning the Socceroos now have one foot on the plane to Canada with 3rd placed UAE 8 points behind halfway through qualifying.


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A friendly with the old enemy England at Wembley was next on the cards. McGhee was forced to rest a number of his first choice 11 as fatigue set in and they were duly dispatched by the motherland 2 nil. Probably should have been more though.


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Despite the result against England the Aussies moved up to 13th! In the World rankings. An amazing achievement for a nation that is really only in it’s infancy as a player on the world stage. This also represented the highest ever ranking achieved by the Socceroos.


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Another tough away fixture for Nice upon Charlie’s return and another draw. This time is was Bordeaux who set up to frustrate Le Gym. It is certainly something Charlie has noticed that a lot more teams are setting up deep in response to their 2nd place finish last season.


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Charlie obviously now has a vested interest to be aware of any young Australian talents coming through. In Nick Jenner he spotted a real gem. The scouts say he can be better than both Adryan and Tariq so Charlie moved quickly to snap him up for a miniscule 62,000 pounds from Sydney FC and bring him over to Nice where Charlie can have a real hand in his development from when he joins in the upcoming January window.


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Circling back around Nice them took on Real Madrid. This time the Spanish giants were too good for Nice as Le Gym had no answers for James Rodriguez and Christiano Ronaldo.


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Yet another draw for Nice in Ligue 1!!! This time it was Metz’s turn to play the role of party pooper – mustering a paltry 4 shots the entire game. In the 82nd minute though they made on of them count as Marcelo equalized. It is one thing that McGhee has started to notice about his young side – consistency is still very much an issue for them.


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A slide down to 6th then at the end of November as Stade de Reims continue their excellent season under the tutelage of Zinedene Zidane.


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[Yeti01]

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December 2020 – A season of goodwill?



Nice went into their final Champions League Group G match against Napoli sitting in equal 2nd spot thus knowing a win would likely be enough to guarantee progression to the knockout stage. Any other result and they would be relying on Madrid, who had already qualified as group winners, to at least replicate the result against Manchester United. Unfortunately, despite this being one of the biggest matches in the club’s history the boys couldn’t get it done today against a far more clinical Napoli – Funes Mori’s red card didn’t exactly help either. At the final whistle all McGhee could do was pray that Madrid had done them a solid.


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And they had!! Beating Manchester United 3 nil and allowing Nice to reach the knockout stage! An amazing result for their first season in the competition. Nice go through by virtue of a goal difference that was superior by the smallest of margins. I doubt Karim Benzema will ever really know how important that goal was to Nice fans – what a Christmas gift for them!!


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Back to the league and Nice next took on Lorient. In what was a reasonably tight affair Nice battled their way to a 2-1 victory.


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Ah man. These are really turning out to be coach killers. If Nice don’t finish in the Champions League spots at season’s end they will look back on matches like today’s against Bastia as a key reason why. They have to find a way to convert their dominance in games into goals.


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So it’s Dortmund that Nice will play in the knockout rounds. In fact, of all the teams that won their groups, it fair to say that Dortmund was actually one of the easier draws that Nice could have got.


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French League Cup 4th round action saw Nice take on lowerleague opposition in the form of Clermont Foot. Giving game time to all his younger charges McGhee was expecting the worst after seeing them crash out of both cups in the previous season when he similarly rotated the squad. Not here though – they were always in control and dominated this game.


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Much Improved!! McGhee was far more happy after the match against St Etienne where he saw his side kick on from a 1 all scoreline early on to lead 4-1 coming into injury time. A late consolation goal to Etienne took a little gloss off the performance but this was still a good win – it was also good to see Florin Andone grab himself a hatrick after struggling so much recently with injuries.


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4th at the halfway point of the season mean that Charlie could enjoy his winter break. Stade de Reims are still outplaying all expectations and leading they way.


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Finally, with the down time afforded to him by the winter break Charlie took a look at another young Aussie prospect that had caught his eye. Alex Lloyd has been lighting up the scene with the Australia Under 19 squad and Charlie wanted to ensure his talent was maximized. Unfortunately he and good friend Lucas Neill had initially failed to arrive at an agreement that angered Lloyd.


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Soon though a fee that benefited all parties was agreed. It was probably a little more than Charlie wanted to pay but, as this kid has the potential to be as good as his current best striker Modeste Charlie figured he would be worthwhile having at Nice and it would also benefit the Socceroos.


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[kolas79]

Good work in qualifying from your champions league group man! Now you will have the opportunity to give your whole attention to the league. With the three in the top being so close you have the chance to claim the first place !

 

[Nomadic]

Haha - my bad. That would be fun though! Why don't see if we can - you seem to be one fairly regularly when I am (late our time so around noon GMT). If you are near your save go into the wales squad and see if you get the 'export for online' option.
If you do we can tee up a match and also a practice with the international series squads.

Looks like we can export our National Team Squads from our saves . Will set a game up some time in the future - and will PM you my steam name.

Great work in the Champions League, in what looked like a Group of death! I think you have the potential to cause an upset against Dortmund.

Also some promising Aussie talent looks to be coming through, which is always good to see as the Nations manager.

 

[kolas79]

Looks like we can export our National Team Squads from our saves . Will set a game up some time in the future - and will PM you my steam name.

Great work in the Champions League, in what looked like a Group of death! I think you have the potential to cause an upset against Dortmund.

Also some promising Aussie talent looks to be coming through, which is always good to see as the Nations manager.

I must give him a lot of gredits for his success in the champions league. When I wrote to him that his group could be easily renamed into the group of **** he answered that he was optimistic and he made it !

 

[PatrickLFC]

Charlie going from strength to strength with Nice and Australia! Nice​ work!

 

[Yeti01]

Good work in qualifying from your champions league group man! Now you will have the opportunity to give your whole attention to the league. With the three in the top being so close you have the chance to claim the first place !

Lets hope so!!

Looks like we can export our National Team Squads from our saves . Will set a game up some time in the future - and will PM you my steam name.

Great work in the Champions League, in what looked like a Group of death! I think you have the potential to cause an upset against Dortmund.

Also some promising Aussie talent looks to be coming through, which is always good to see as the Nations manager.

Exactly mate - don't want to leave their development up to chance!!

Charlie going from strength to strength with Nice and Australia! Nice​ work!

Haha - thats terrible Patty.... Terribly good!!!

 

[Yeti01]

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January 2021 – Treading water



Jan 1 signaled the arrival of McGhee’s 2 young aussies. Alex Lloyd is a sharp striker who is a crisp finisher. McGhee will look to develop other facets of his game so that he fits what he will be looking for in a striker. Nick Jenner is an all-round solid attacking midfield with a little penchant for flair. Both have bags of room to grow and figure to be a huge part of the Socceroo’s setup moving forward.


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To start the new year Nice faced a French Cup match against Martigues. Using it as a tune up match out the back of the winter break his side dominated their lower league opposition and ran out easy 3 nil winners.


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McGhee had seen Emerson go down late in the Martigues match clutching his shoulder and hoped it was just a sprain – unfortunately in the sheds it was revealed that he had popped it and would now be looking at lengthy stint on the sidelines.


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Welcome to the Anthony Martial show. 41 minutes in he had scored 5 goals and Nice were out of the contest. McGhee made some changes at the break that seemed to make a difference and they dragged 2 goals back but by that stage the damage had well and truly been done. PSG taught Nice a lesson here.


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Nice’s Coupe de la Ligue quarter final was next and Nice rotated heavily from the side that was smashed by PSG. It was new boy Jenner though, on as a late sub, who spared Nice blushes here tucking away from just inside the box.


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Woo-hoo! Moving up a spot in the rankings without even playing a game. I’ll take that!


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About ****** time!! Rather than giving him the rest McGhee sent out Modeste to hopefully get some goals and confidence in their 10th round French Cup match and he delivered. 4 goals and a man of the match performance from the big man.


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And he took that form with him into the next match against Evian in the league. Adding a second after Orland Nangis had opened the scoring for Le Gym on their way to a solid 2 nil away win.


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Hmmm – it wasn’t as easy as McGhee would have liked but whatever they are through to the final even if it took penalty kicks. Their inability to turn dominance into goals though is starting to get really troubling.


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“Bullshit”, said McGhee, kicking the grass on the sideline as he side was punished on the counter for the 2nd time in their match in Lens. You shouldn’t have 3 to 1 ratios in both possession and shots and lose…


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Their grip on European qualification is slipping. Nice are a young side and with that comes inconsistency. In fairness too they are still just below the top echelon of clubs in France in terms of overall talent so perhaps this should be viewed as an acceptable spot.


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[Yeti01]

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February 2021 – Would the real Nice please stand up?



Because of course coming off 2 pretty abject performance you come out and play one of your best games of the season – can’t believe Charlie didn’t see that coming!! Modeste was Nice’s hero here with the winner with a little over 10 minutes to go.


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Woops! Spoke too soon. You know that 2 decent performances in a row is too much to ask. Nancy Lorraine are rooted to the bottom of the table but Nice just couldn’t find a way through their defense. Also 19 year old central midfielder Orlando Nangis who has been having a decent season picked up a bad one today. Achilles tendon’s are notoriously hard to get right once you done one…


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Oh you know – lets just turn it on then for a 3 nil win. Why not? Nice did it easy here and could have won by even more then the 3 goal score line.


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In the lead up to their next match again Stade Rennais McGhee was advised this was in fact his 100th game in charge of Nice so you’d figure the boys would be up for it. Right?? Right????


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McGhee really didn’t harbor any real hopes of progressing as their Champion’s League knockout tie with Dortmund rolled around. And so it proved as the Germans were just too good at the Allianz Riviera. Nice had a few chances to put one away and to give themselves hope for the second leg but their finishing just hasn’t been there for a number of months now…


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So this is what it takes to win for Charlie. All they need to do is outshoot the opponent 23 to 3 each week and they can record a 1 nil win. Ridiculous. His strikers are actually the part of his squad with the highest quality – it doesn’t make sense that they are struggling to put away their chances…


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See – you just have to outshoot them 23 to 2. It’s so simple – I don’t know why it’s taken Charlie so long to unlock the key to winning with this squad.


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Probably the best performance of the month. Stade de Reims are still right up there so this win has closed the gap for Nice. A much better performance against quality opposition.


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The true test now will be in proving that the final few matches of February weren’t just a dead cat bounce. 10 games to go and now everything to play for.


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[Yeti01]

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March 2021 – Another false dawn?



On one hand Nice managed to pretty well match St Etienne her despite losing a man in the first half. On the other they still lost. Grrr….


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This was a team who a few months ago Nice dispatched 3 nil. Those times seem like so long ago as yet again Nice failed to make their dominance pay. Very disappointing.


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Something then to distract Charlie was he observed his u/18’s take on the youth candidates. Young goalkeeper Sergine N’Doye looks like he could be a real player!


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Up next for Nice they travelled to Dortmund for the 2nd leg of their 1st round knockout tie. After only 12 minutes Nice were staring down the barrel of a big defeat but to their credit they turned the game around and managed to score 2 goals quickly after the break. They dominated from that point on and it would have been extremely interesting to see how the game would have ended up if Nice had managed to grab a 3rd goal and really put the pressure on.


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The Jekyll and Hyde act continued in full force in Nice’s next match now runaway league leaders Monaco. The side can do it! They just have to start doing it on a regular basis! Moussa Diallo showing why he will likely find himself replacing Florin Andone in the starting 11 come next season.


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Wooooooo Hoooooooo!!! Top 10 for Australia!!!! Charlie was delighted! An amazing achievement for the side from Down Under.


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After Nice’s great performance against Monaco you knew, you just knew, this was coming. Aye, aye, aye this season will be the death of Charlie…


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Back on duty with the Aussies McGhee called up his Nice contingent for the upcoming fixtures. The youngsters didn’t disappoint either, grabbing all 3 goals on debut in a tighter than expected affair between Australia and Uzbekistan.


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From basically eastern Europe all the way to China the Socceroos next took on the most populous country in the world. The did it pretty easy though, seeing off the Chinese 3-1.


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This result meant they’d done it – they were officially qualified for the 2022 World Cup!! A great result considering there is still a number of games left in this round of qualifying.


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7 games to and they are realistically in with a shot of finishing 2nd – how? McGhee has no idea. But Charlie isn’t complaining.


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[Yeti01]

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April 2021 – Come on!!



To start April Charlie took care of some housekeeping. Yoann Caron has developed nicely this season and when Charlie was advised that his contract would be up at the end of next season he moved quickly to lock him in for the long term. The wage might seem a little bit at the moment but by the end of the contract it will seem like a bargain.


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Given the way the team has been playing an away draw at Lyon felt like a win. In truth this was a drab match with neither side willing to commit too many men forward.


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Because of course that’s what you do when you’ve been rewarded with a fat contract – you go and get yourself sent off!! From the ensuing free-kick Bordeaux snatched the win. A terrible result really for Nice…


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Frustrated: “Why oh why can’t you finish off the match!!” McGhee lamented in the shed after this one. Nice threw away a two goal lead and their chances of playing European football next season are beginning to look very slim…


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Yep, McGhee can’t say he was too surprised with this result in the Coupe de la Ligue Final. Take the lead, concede a crushing injury-time equalizer and the botch the penalty shoot-out to ensure Charlie finished another season at Nice without any silverware…


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Well it’s something… Finally Nice played something like they’ve been threatening and destroyed Lorient today.


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Despite a frankly pretty terrible run for most of this month Nice are astoundingly still in with a shot of making Europe.


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[kolas79]

Amazing job with Australia national team !!! Well done !!