The Ballad of Charlie McGhee

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Yeti01

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Ok by now you’ve seen a few of these. Lippo’s the one to blame for them when he had the great idea to start C.J Lippo, A life in football. There are others too that I have been following such as,

- Matthew 'Bullardinho' Bullard - The Making Of The Legendary Manager;
- Darren Trott's footballing career;
- Fernando Teixeira / Making it Happen;
- Josh Weir - A Players Story;
- Jason Fuendes - The self-proclaimed future of football; and
- David "Godfish" Kerry - Living The Dream.

Check them all out they are great.

Anyway as with others I will be starting with CA set at 70 and a PA of -8. Every attribute set at 0 with the exception of preferred staff role Manager being set at 20.
 
Welcome to the ballad of Charlie McGhee.


Born and raised in Canberra, Australia McGhee, coming from a broken home, got into considerable trouble as a youngster. Despite displaying exceptional talent on the football pitch Charlie preferred to misbehave with his mates. A chance run in with the police lead to his mother sending Charlie to live in Scotland with his estranged father in an effort to get him on the straight and narrow. Upon arriving in Peterhead McGhee joined the local junior side Buchanhaven Hearts and quickly caught the eye of local professional side Peterhead FC signing a 1 year ‘prove it’ deal shortly after his 16th​ birthday. It remains to be seen if Charlie can rise above the troubles that have plagued his life to date.


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Wow – such versatility. I like how the game accounted for my Scottish heritage and gave me a higher aggression score! Anyway a attacking winger/midfielder/striker, not too different from what I actually used to play back in the day. Although I'm 100% right footed! Also like how I got '1' for leadership. Sort of lines up with how Charlie was a follower and that got him into trouble.


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I must admit to a certain element of artistic license in my story. Whilst I have Scottish heritage I have only ever visited, not lived there. Also I wasn't that bad a kid as a youngster I just wanted an excuse to start my career over there as there are a few already going the Australian route. Wish me luck!
 
Good luck mate, try to stay out of mischief over there! ;)
 
Yeti01 said:
Thanks Gents! I'm enjoying following your stories also.

Patrick - you must be due one of these? ;)
Click to expand...

Hahaha I really want to do one! A couple of reasons I haven't started yet:
I've never used the editor before
Not sure what name to give myself
Hard-pressed for time

Hopefully I'll be doing one soon though haha
 
Good start mate! Lippo has started a craze here I think! I can't wait to see how we all get on!
 
Yeah, Lippo has really started something here. I'm literally just about to make a player for my own version of this :D

Good luck to you mate and I'll definitely be following this story along with the rest :)
 
PatrickLFC said:
Hahaha I really want to do one! A couple of reasons I haven't started yet:
I've never used the editor before
Not sure what name to give myself
Hard-pressed for time

Hopefully I'll be doing one soon though haha
Click to expand...


I actually had to youtube to find out how to use the editor!!! I haven't used it since 07 or 08. Showing my age now I know.

For your name you could do what I did. Keep your last name and use the first name of your favorite player at the moment (mine's Charlie Austin from my QPR story).

3. I feel you mate. I was trying to stay on the sidelines but when each new one kept popping up it made me even more keen!
 
Matt419 said:
Yeah, Lippo has really started something here. I'm literally just about to make a player for my own version of this :D

Good luck to you mate and I'll definitely be following this story along with the rest :)
Click to expand...

Bullardinho said:
Good start mate! Lippo has started a craze here I think! I can't wait to see how we all get on!
Click to expand...

Thanks guys. Likewise I'm enjoying/will enjoy following yours. Lippo is the devil!
 
PatrickLFC said:
Hahaha I really want to do one! A couple of reasons I haven't started yet:
I've never used the editor before
Not sure what name to give myself
Hard-pressed for time

Hopefully I'll be doing one soon though haha
Click to expand...

I never used the editor previously, it's a lot easier than expected. I googled how to and watched the first couple minutes of a 9 minute video and then it all came pretty much self explanatory
 
Yeti01 said:
I actually had to youtube to find out how to use the editor!!! I haven't used it since 07 or 08. Showing my age now I know.

For your name you could do what I did. Keep your last name and use the first name of your favorite player at the moment (mine's Charlie Austin from my QPR story).

3. I feel you mate. I was trying to stay on the sidelines but when each new one kept popping up it made me even more keen!
Click to expand...

I'll try to work out the editor at some point I think :p I wanted to do one at the start but I have been too busy, maybe soon though!
 
Year 1 Half Yearly Summary

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Wow, 6 months already. Being a professional footballer sure is tough. I can't believe I've managed to make 20 1st team appearances already. I don't know that I've improved in any significant way as a footballer but all this experience has to be of benefit. The gaffer Jim McInally has used me mainly out at left midfield or up front. I must say at this stage of my career I feel more at home playing striker. Just need to improve my goalscoring numbers if I want to push his hand.

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The team is going really well. We were only supposed to finish 7th, according to the media, but we've put ourselves in a great position just outside the playoff spots and with a decent run in we should really have a go at making them.

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On a personal note I was very happy to score my first league goal against Albion with what the press called a 'deftly executed finish.' Don't tell anyone but as the ball fell to me I just shut my eyes and swung a boot at it...

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That same week saw me make the Scottish League One team of the week for the first ever time. Shortly after I was walking to the shops with Dad and a couple of his mates came up to me and congratulated me. It was the first time I'd ever seen Dad smile at me.

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Finally I was approached by the gaffer with a new contract running through to May 2016, so essentially a one year extension. They bumped my pay up to 150 quid a week - not bad for a 16 year old still living at home!!

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My goals for the next six months are to,
- continue to feature in the first team,
- improve my goalscoring rate,
- put pressure on Paul Okon to give me a run in the Australian U/20's. I've been selected in a few training squads but never featured in a game. It's great though because it's given me the chance to get back to Australia and see Mum. She seems proud as punch with how my attitude has changed.

 
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Year 1 - End of Season Summary


What a fantastic season. The 2nd​ half of the year I wanted to score more goals and keep my place in the Peterhead first team to put the pressure on Paul Okon to play me in the Aussie under 20’s. January didn’t start that well though as in the game against Airdrie I succumbed to my first injury. Officially they called it a ‘bruised head’ sustained when I copped a high boot stooping down to get on the end of a low cross. To tell you the truth I was seeing stars out there, but I wasn’t going to tell the Doc that. Thankfully I only needed to miss 9 days until I was back on the park. The headaches? Well they stuck around a little longer…
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It can’t have been the worst thing to happen to me as when I came back I was playing like a man (or boy) possessed. I picked up my first ever Man of the Match award against Stenhousemuir and also made my 2nd​ team of the week.
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I continued to play well and was desperate to get a game in the Australian U20’s as I was called up to another training squad but didn’t play. I needn’t have worried though as in late march I got asked to go to, of all places, Nepal with the U22 squad and made my International debut in Kathmandu, I know ridiculous hey, against Jordan. I got a goal and was voted player of the match by my team mates. It was the best feeling. Unfortunately it would be the last I would figure for either the U20’s or U22’s. The U22 Asian Cup is on in January so I would love to be part of the team selected to go to Japan as now that I have had a taste of International football I want more and more.
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The rest of the season both me and Peterhead were up and down. The team eventually finished 6th​ so we were far from disgraced considering our initial expectations. Me I feel I played pretty well. I appeared in 38 games starting 35 of them. I know in myself the biggest thing for me now is to introduce some consistency into my game.
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When I received a text in June from the Gaffer asking me to come in I figured we be talking about the work he wanted me to get in whilst we took a break. I was absolutely shocked to hear the club was looking to cash in on me. They had received expressions of interest from clubs such as Anderlecht, Bordeaux and Olympiakos and were going to accept any formal offers for me. The club was run on the smell of an oily rag so any cash injection was welcome.
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In the end I almost had my pick of 15 sides. The majority of the teams were from France which was a little surprising but I didn’t mind. I wouldn’t be all that far from Dad I figured and we had really bonded as he became more and more interested in my football. He had even started helping coach the youth team at Peterhead! When it came to crunch time there was only one club I was interested in. When I had lived in Australia I loved getting to the beach and the one time I’d had a free weekend Dad and I went to the Côte d'Azur region for a few nights and I loved it. So when I found out an offer from Marseille had been accepted I jumped on it.
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In the end I leave Peterhead listed as one of the club’s favoured personnel. Considering I was only there one season I am really proud of the mark I left. The opportunity to play in front of almost 70,000 at the completely revamped Stade Velodrome under a manager I really admire in Slaven Bilic was something I couldn’t pass up.
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The only thing that is nagging me is that I don’t know if I’ve actually gotten any better this season as a footballer. I mean the game time at Peterhead was obviously good for my exposure but I’m really looking at the move to OM to help me get better, not just play more.
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Big move mate, very nice. Now you've just got to crack the squad!

Loving the back story & writing style mate, keep it up!
 
Year 2 - Mid Season Summary


Well it was ‘only’ a friendly and ‘only’ against Ajaccio but I got a taste of first team football in the final friendly before the season started. I had played quite a few with the reserves prior to that but when Bilic pulled me to the side at training and told me I’d be up with them for that game I was over the moon.
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Even though I haven’t featured in the first team since, that game has helped me no end. I can already feel myself becoming more determined to get better. I am getting to training early and staying late and I know at some stage all this effort will pay off.
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So far I’ve made 16 appearances for the Reserves team. My form hasn’t been all that bad either. In fact the gaffer asked me to stop by his office the other day after training and he told me that he had noticed my extra effort at training and that he wanted to let me know he saw me as a ‘hot prospect’, to continue with my French studies and that if I kept working hard at it he saw great things for me in the future. He can be volatile Bilic, but he knows how to motivate!.
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The feeling around the club is fantastic at the moment. We are playing great footy and nominally sit 4th​, a point above fierce rivals PSG. Also, if we win our two games in hand, we will be on top of the league. Not bad for a side who finished 12 points behind runaway winners PSG last season.
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Goals for the remainder of the season,
- Keep improving, lets see if I can get some first team action,
- Do whatever I can to make the U22 Asian Cup squad,
- Improve my goals and assists stats. Its one thing to be performing solidly but I need to be showing up on the scoresheet to really show the Boss what I mean.
 
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