The Lions, The Witch & The Wardrobe

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The Lions, The Witch & The Wardrobe

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Millwall F.C. (Championship)

Upon the disappearance of my Dafuge Challenge save I have decided to make a new one as my favourite London club Millwall FC, the idea of the save being to get them out of the Championship and hopefully win some trophies but who knows, it could go beyond that!​



About the Club:

Founded in 1885; Millwall are a club who have long since been in the shadow of their fierce rivals West Ham United but the club remain only one division below the Hammers although financial difficulties have made it difficult for the Lions to push on in the Championship with the club frequently scraping survival.

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Millwall have also been a club who have struggled to bring home the silverware since their birth in 1885 with the club having not won a single major honour. The closest Millwall have come to winning a major final was back in 2004 when they were defeated by Manchester United in the FA Cup Final.

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I'd love to win a domestic cup for the Lions, they need to fill the cabinet!

Manager Information:

Usually I'd pick Sunday League Experience and No Coaching Qualifications but so far on Football Manager 2015 this hasn't exactly benefited me in any way (Been sacked on 90% of my saves), so this time I've gone for something a little different, here's the information for my in-game manager:

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Decided to go for somewhat decent qualifications but ones that can be improved on, Millwall will be enough of a challenge as it is so I'll need the qualifications!

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Here's a look at how I've set my Managerial Style/Attributes, more towards Tracksuit but with high tactical coaching, after all I'm not exactly the Mourinho type...



I hope you'll enjoy the Millwall F.C. Adventure!

Please feel free to leave comments/advice!

​
 

The Lions, The Witch & The Wardrobe

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Season One
Pre-Season Update:

To my surprise Millwall have a very good starting squad, lots of depth in key areas and a couple of star players in the mix who can help us to have a memorable campaign in the 2014/15 season.

With a starting transfer budget of £1 million we wouldn't be able to bring in many signings and instead would look to bring in some loan signings and focus more on renewing current contracts.​


News:

After deciding to look for loan signings as opposed to signing a very limited number of players I looked for a Senior Affiliate, a premier league club who can not only allow us to take players on loan free of charge but one that can also pay us an annual sum, after all every bit of income helps!

After proposing my request to the board the Chairman decided to approve my idea and went about looking for an affiliate, to which he returned a month later with two options;
Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.

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You guessed it, I chose to recommend Manchester United as our Senior Affiliate for a couple of reasons, the first being that they have great youth in the ranks, the likes of James Wilson, Tyler Blackett etc. who would definitely play a huge role for us here at Millwall and the second reason being the annual fee...They offered double what Spurs offered.

Hopefully we can pick up some gems on loan!​


Staff Changes:

After arriving at The Den I was quick to realise that the club was lacking in some of the backroom aspects, a missing assistant-manager and poor coaches were among the few.

With this in mind I decided to bring in some new staff members to improve the club and while I won't justify each addition individually I'll show you an overview, I'm sure most of you recognise some of the names!

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Transfers:

The moment you've all been waiting for, to see who we signed in the Summer window!

Although I'll be honest here, we didn't actually sign any permanent deals and instead opted for a number of loans, this was mainly down to the fact that a lot of our star players had contracts that were expiring in a year and I was keen to extend these deals, we can't afford to lose our best players for free.

Here are the signings!

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Most of the players brought in were from our senior affiliate Manchester United, the likes of James Wilson, Tyler Blackett and Andreas Pereira helping to bolster our weaker areas and Sunderland youngster Charis Mavrias coming in to inject some pace and trickery down the right flank.

Overall I'm very pleased with the deals!​


Tactics:

Having now built a reasonably well sized squad I decided to create two tactics, one for the games I felt we could win and a counter-attacking formation for those where I thought we'd be the underdogs.

Tactic #1:
4-2-3-1 (Asymmetric)

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The 4-2-3-1 is a formation that has served me well over the years and with Millwall being perhaps a weaker team on the defensive side I decided to drop one of the central midfielders back to create a 5-line formation, this would prevent gaps forming defensively while allowing the attacking players to get forwards.

Tactic #2:
4-5-1

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This is the more counter-attacking minded tactic, another 5 line formation created to provide solidity at the back, but with the pace of our wide-men we can hopefully move the ball quickly from back to front when possession is won back to hopefully nick a goal against the run of play.

Hopefully these two formations will become a focal point of our season in a positive manner, but if not then changes will be made to freshen things up.
​


Results:

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Here's a look at how our pre-season went, a couple of wins and a couple of losses to round off the season break and some very good performances across the board.

Results aren't too important though in the pre-season, we've made changes here at Millwall and they may take a while to gel, but hopefully things will go well for us!

Predicted Finish: 17th

​
 

The Lions, The Witch & The Wardrobe

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Season One
August Update (2014):

Pre-Season saw us make a lot of changes at the club, the backroom and the team itself are in a new phase of transition as we look to press on and succeed at this level, and August would see the start of the Championship campaign.​


Results:

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August turned out to be a good month for the club, I won my first game in management as we claimed a win against Leeds United at The Den before beating Oxford to progress into the 2nd round of the Capital One Cup.

The month also saw us take three draws as we only managed a single point against Fulham, Rotherham and Blackpool respectively while suffering our only league defeat of the month away at Sheffield Wednesday.

The Capital One Cup defeat to West Brom was very unfortunate, we managed to reach extra time before suffering a number of casualties which resulted in us finishing the match with 10 men, our opponents took full advantage of the extra man as Brown Ideye slotted past David Forde in the 116th minute to seal the win, I was devastated but at the same time realised we had already met our boards expectations, besides a defeat allowed us to focus on the league.


League Table:

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An impressive month see's us lying in 13th place at the end of the first month of the season and while this may not seem like the best of starts, it's surely something to build on.

So far I'm very impressed with what I've seen from the team, youngster James Wilson has been a fantastic loan signing scoring 4 goals in his first 5 league matches.

Every team needs a goalscorer and I think we've found ours!

​
 

The Lions, The Witch & The Wardrobe

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Season One
September Update (2014):

Following an impressive start to the season we now advanced into September where we hoped to build on August's success.​


Results:

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September proved to be another month in which we picked up a decent number of points, we're a club predicted to finish towards the bottom of the table and can't be expecting to get 12/15 points every month, but picking up 7/15 is by no means a poor total.

During this month we picked up 2 wins and 1 draw sandwiched in between 2 losses.

Our first game saw us take on Ipswich Town at Portman Road, and while we remained a constant threat throughout the game a late penalty saw the home side take the spoils, we've now given away 4 penalties in 6 matches which is very displeasing as it's costing us greatly.

We then bounced back with two very impressive victories against Reading and Nottingham Forest respectively in two matches which I expected to end in misery, the fighting spirit is definitely something that pleases me and hopefully we can continue to cause upsets alone the way.

The penultimate game of the month saw us take a point from Huddersfield in a tight encounter with both teams scoring injury time goals, no deserved winner could be picked from the match and so a draw was probably the justified result.

Our impressive form came to an end in our final game as we slumped to a 2-1 defeat to relegation candidates Birmingham City, having taken the lead early on in the game we failed to keep our composure and leaked two second half goals, the architects of our own downfall.​


League Table:

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Having picked up 7 points in the month of September we now find ourselves sitting in 14th place having slipped down one position from August, overall I'm pleased with how things are going and although they could be better, they could also be a lot worse.

And with a gap of 8 points between us and the relegation zone I was beginning to feel confident that we wouldn't drop down a league, and although that would be unexpected I wouldn't put it past us as a prediction of 17th I feel is very generous to Millwall who I'd expect to be scraping survival again this year.

​
 
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The Lions, The Witch & The Wardrobe

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Season One
October Update (2014):

Roughly a quarter of the way into the season and we're sitting pretty in 14th place, dreaming of a top half finish but we know it'll be tough, hopefully October could give us some more momentum. ​


News:

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Due to the poor status of our finances the board have now decreased the percentage of transfer revenue down to 40% and I can only see it getting worse, hopefully we'll receive a takeover bid one day...


Results:

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The games we faced in October were always going to be tough, having to face the likes of Wolves, Derby, Cardiff and Wigan would be a challenge and I couldn't see us taking too many points from the month.

The month began with back to back defeats against Derby County and Wolves with both games finishing with a 2-0 scoreline, the lack of goals was frustrating but we knew that scoring against these teams would be a tough ask.

We then managed a draw against Wigan at the DW Stadium following an impressive performance in which we led the hosts for a long time before conceding another penalty, we definitely needed to work on our discipline when defending in our own box.

The final game of the month was an impressive 3-2 victory over Cardiff at The Den, initially finding ourselves 1-0 down the team rallied and fired us to a 3-1 advantage before Cardiff pulled one back in the dying minutes, a very impressive result!


League Table:

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Having taken 4/12 points from November we managed to climb one place into 13th but only a couple of points away from the top 10.

This months fixtures were especially difficult so I'm not too disheartened that we only managed 4 points, we had to take the positives.

​
 
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Still going alright so far mate! people wouldn't expect Millwall to go up but you may be able to change that! hopefully the financial side will improve soon
 
SamPeters said:
Still going alright so far mate! people wouldn't expect Millwall to go up but you may be able to change that! hopefully the financial side will improve soon
Click to expand...

I'm not expecting us to go up for at least a few years, especially with the finances...Gonna be a case of waiting for a takeover bid!
 

The Lions, The Witch & The Wardrobe

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Season One
November Update (2014)


News:

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 To the pleasure of Millwall fans everywhere Sam Allardyce has been sacked by the West Ham United board following their poor start to the season, nothing like seeing your rivals manager get the boot!​


Results:

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November was a very impressive month seeing us win 2, draw 2 and only a single defeat in the 5 games played.

The first game of the month saw us take a point away at Vicerage Road against promotion chasing Watford, a very impressive defensive performance following a James Wilson red card very early in the game, a silly tackle from the youngsters but he was saved by the strong back-line lead by Mark Beevers, a delightful point!

In our next fixture we suffered our only defeat of the month, a 2-1 result against Blackburn Rovers in which we took the lead early on, but a dramatic late winner by Gestede allowing the visitors to take the spoils.

We then bagged back to back wins against play-off candidates Brentford and London rivals Charlton Athletic, a very impressive couple of performances in which we only conceded two goals, but overall I'm very pleased to have taken the 6 points.

Finally we picked up a point away from home against high-flying AFC Bournemouth, a vintage performance in which we battled from 1-0 down and in truth should have perhaps taken the spoils, but overall a very pleasing month.​


League Table:

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Having taken 8 points from 5 games in November we still found ourselves sitting in 14th place but despite this position we know that another month like this can see us rise up into the top half of the table, which would be a dream place to be!

​
 

The Lions, The Witch & The Wardrobe

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Season One
December Update (2014)​


News:

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The month of December brought about the FA Cup draw for the 3rd round, with expectations set to reach the 4th round we were hoping for a lower league side to cement our place but were instead handed the goliath team that is Manchester City in a home-tie, it'll be an exciting game but the chances of us progressing seem slim, but who knows? It is the cup after all!
​


Results:

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December wasn't a bad way to round off the calendar year as we managed to pick up 7 points from our 5 matches.

The first two games of the month saw us fall to defeat against Middlesbrough and Brighton, once again we failed to find the net in these two matches which ultimately cost us the chance of picking up points.

We then managed to bounce back with an impressive victory against struggling Bolton Wanderers, a great performance with a nervy ending as Bolton began to apply late pressure but luckily we managed to keep firm and claim the 3 points.

We then picked up a point away at Carrow Road which before the game I'd have broken your hand off had you offered me that result, but seeing as we were 3-1 up in the 80th minute I'm very disappointing to see our defence buckle late in the game.

Finally we picked up the momentum again with a victory over high-flying Bournemouth, a brilliant outing in which we battle back from 1-0 down once again to take the spoils, a clinical display from young James Wilson as he bagged his first professional career hat-trick.


League Table:

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Despite a strong end to the month we still sit in 13th place in the table, only a few points shy of the top half but to my delight we're starting to build a gap between us and the teams below us.

​
 

The Lions, The Witch & The Wardrobe

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Season One
January Update (2015)​


News:

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It may come as no surprise as Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed the Ballon D'or for the 2nd year in a row, the Portuguese Forward claimed the award ahead of Manchester City duo; Yaya Toure and David Silva.

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With the financial difficulties continuing to have a choke-hold on Millwall our board have once again decreased the percentage of transfer revenue we can retain from player sales to 30%.

Transfers:

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Not a lot of activity from our club during the January transfer window, the lack of finances playing a pivotal role in this lack of activity although we did manage to secure two more loans in Manchester United defender Michael Keane and Fulham Striker Marcello Trotta, just to bolster the squad.

Ricardo Fuller has also left the club to join Barnsley, after constantly expressing his desire for first-team Football I decided to move him on as I couldn't see an immediate place for him in my starting XI, good luck to him on his move to Barnsley.

Results:

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We continued in January where we left off at the end of 2014, an impressive total of 9 points gained from 4 league matches.

The month began with our FA Cup 3rd round draw against Manchester City at The Den, our rivals fielded an incredibly strong squad but out defensive solidity proved to be difficult for our opponents to break down. The only goal of the game came late in the first-half as Yaya Toure played a neat one-two with playmaker David Silva before sliding the ball under David Forde to put the away side ahead.

As the game went on we had our own chances to get on the score-sheet but England #1 Joe Hart kept our attack at bay with some fantastic saves to see the visitors advance to the next round.

I was very impressive with the admirable performance put in by the lads, no shame at all in this loss!

Our confidence from the City match continued into our next 3 games against Blackpool, Ipswich and Reading in which we claimed 3 wins in a row, scoring an impressive 9 goals while only conceding a single goal.

The 5-0 thrashing of Reading was especially brilliant with youngster James Wilson claiming yet another hat-trick, the youngster definitely has a future in the game and deserved the man of the match award following his vintage display.

We rounded the month off with a 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest away from home, a tight game in which we took the lead before Assombalonga fired a late quickfire double to give the home side the points, but January had proved to be a fantastic month.​


League Table:

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Following our impressive month in January we now sit in 11th place, the highest position we have been this season and hopefully a place we can hold on to, we're in the top half!​
 
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The Lions, The Witch & The Wardrobe

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Season One
February Update (2015):
​


Results:

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February was a very good month for us as we managed to win 4 of our 6 matches, these wins were much needed at this stage of the season as we looked to push up the table.

The first win of the month came against Huddersfield, an impressive performance saw us take a 2-0 victory thanks to some clinical finishing from winger Lee Martin.

We did then slump to defeat against struggling Birmingham away at St. Andrews, a drab match in which there was little action until Paul Caddis fired under David Forde at the mid-way point of the 2nd half, we failed to muster up a response and ended up losing the match.

We then managed to go on a winning run by taking points against Leeds, Fulham and Sheffield Wednesday, a very pleasing run of results to help us cement our place in the table.

We rounded off February with a 2-0 loss to Rotherham United, a poor defensive display saw us go 2-0 down early in the match before the opposition sat back and played for the result, despite them allowing us possession we failed to create any clear cut chances and ended the month with a defeat.
​


League Table:

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Despite getting 12 points from the month of February we still find ourselves sitting in 11th place but have managed to build a large gap between ourselves and Cardiff, who knows, maybe we can make the play-offs!​
 
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The Lions, The Witch & The Wardrobe

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Season One
March Update (2014)​


News:

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The beginning of March saw us receive our annual intake of youngsters and with the financial difficulties surrounding the club I was really hoping for a gem or two, but this wasn't the case...A very poor intake, looks like we won't be developing youth any time soon!

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Manchester City have won the Capital One Cup following a 2-1 victory over Southampton at Wembley!​


Results:

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March definitely wasn't a successful month, especially when contrasted to February where we managed 4 victories, this time we only managed one and were defeated on 3 occasions.

Our three losses of the month came against Middlesbrough, Norwich and Brentford. Not much needs to be said in regards to these defeats, we played poorly and didn't deserve anything from the match. A very disappointing statistic indeed.

We managed to get a point from our match against struggling Bolton Wanderers with the home side scoring a late equaliser to deny us the victory, cancelling out Lee Martin's opener.

Our only victory of the month came against Brighton where we put out a very strong performance, creating chances and staying solid at the back. This is the kind of football we needed to play if we wanted to make a late surge to the play-offs.​


League Table:

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Despite a very poor month we have managed to climb a place in the table up to 10th, although we are now 8 points away from the play-offs with only 7 matches to play, the play-off dream was looking unlikely but a top half finish was definitely on the cards!

​
 

The Lions, The Witch & The Wardrobe

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Season One
April/May Update (2015):​


News:

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Once again our board have retained the percentage of transfer revenue from player sales down to 10%, another statement to show the financial worries surrounding the club.​


Results:

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Our final 7 games of the season weren't the best as we managed 3 wins and 4 defeats to round off the season, the wins coming against Charlton, Watford and Wigan while losing to Blackburn, Cardiff, Derby and Wolves.

Up until the Cardiff match we were only 3 points shy of the play-offs but the collapse at the end of the season in which we lost 3 matches saw us lose all hope of achieving our dreams, a tough way to end the season but overall we've had a fantastic year.​


League Table:

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As you can see we finished the season in 11th place, 6 places above our predicted finish of 17th which shows how impressive we were throughout the season.

Up until the last 3 games we found ourselves in 9th place and were dreaming of a play-off push but our 3 losses saw us slip down to 11th position, but it's certainly something to build on for next year!

Here are the player stats for the season in case you're interested:

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​
 
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The Lions, The Witch & The Wardrobe

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Season One
June/July Update (2015):​


News:

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Manchester United have won the FA Cup following a 2-1 victory over Brighton at Wembley!

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After a delightful season I have signed a new 2 year extension at Millwall, meaning I'll be at the club until 2017!
​


2014/15 Championship Awards:

Manager of the Year:
Steve McClaren (Derby County)

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Player of the Year:
Shaun Maloney (Wigan Athletic)

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Young Player of the Year:
James Wilson (Millwall)

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Championship Team of the Year:

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Top Goalscorer:
Nakhi Wells (Huddersfield) - 26 goals

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​

Fans Awards:

Fans Player of the Year:

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Wide-Man Lee Martin has been voted the Fans Player of the Year with 35% of the votes, on-loan Striker James Wilson claimed 2nd place with 30% followed by Nadjim Abdou with 23%.

Fans Best XI:

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Capital One Cup Draw

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We have been drawn against League Two side Stevenage for the 1st round of the Capital One Cup, the tie will be played on the 11th of August 2015.
​
 
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Still a great season and hopefully you can build on that for next season!

And god **** Man United! they beat us again in the FA Cup!
 
SamPeters said:
Still a great season and hopefully you can build on that for next season!

And god **** Man United! they beat us again in the FA Cup!
Click to expand...

Haha I'm pleased with 11th, very unlikely that we were going to make the play-offs and even if so I doubt we'd have gone all the way.

Hopefully we can come back stronger next year. :D
 
Insane story and great season bud! Keep it up, I'm following :) do you have any ideas for a team I could do a story with?
 
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