The modern day Lisbon Lions - A Celtic FC story

[keffelk]

View attachment 237529

The modern day Lisbon Lions
A Celtic Football Club Story

View attachment 924006


​

First off, hello! Welcome to my first ever FM story! I am new to the community, but have read many of the stories and it has inspired me to give it a go!

A Little background information:

I absolutely love Celtic Football Club, every single save I play, I find myself playing as them. Yet, every single save after a few seasons becomes stale, Simulating becomes the norm and the actual games are rare. So after contemplating for what felt like ages (20-30 minutes max) I came up with what I think is a unique (I am sure it has been done countless times, but it is unique to me!) idea to add some spice to my Celtic saves. I am going to attempt to recreate the famous Lisbon Lions, but in the realm of modern football. The Lisbon Lions were a team of players all based within 30 miles of Glasgow. They conquered Europe and picked up four other pieces of silverware along the way. I want to try and create a modern twist on these legends. My interpretation of how to do this simple. Get rid of all of the non-UK based players and have a full team (first team and reserves) consisting of only players from the UK. Now I know what you are thinking, how hard can that be? Just pick up all the England national players and call it a day! That is why I am placing the following transfer restrictions on this save:

75% at a minimum of the squad must be from Scotland
25% of the squad can be from Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, and England

Football is a global game, players travel far and wide to play the game. So the modern twist (in my viewpoint) is players all being from the same region. The eventual goal of this save is to have the entire squad be from Scotland. But I know this will take some time.


First season goals

1) Sell and remove as many non-UK players as possible. I know this will be a challenge, and it will take some time. But if I have to sell players for free, I will do it.
2) Begin phasing in UK based players, with an emphasis on Scottish talent.
3) Win the SPFL
4) Be competitive in the cups
5) Qualify for Europe (though I expect this to be a very big challenge my first season)
6) Do not get fired. If I get sacked, this save will have failed in its goal. So this could last 50 years, or 5 months!


I hope you enjoy this, and if it is awful, I apologize in advance! The fact you made it this far is impressive in itself!

The first season has been played through (didn't want to start a story to get sacked within weeks) So I will update you on the progress made during the campaign! The second season will be a proper story!

 

[dllu]

Nice concept!

I would advice you to phase out the foreign players gradually, if you want to stay competitive in the beginning. I imagine the Celtic board (quite rightly) expect you to win the league every single year.

Also, get the board to bring all youth facilities up to the maximum standard you possibly can. Creating good newgens will of course be key for you, but I'm sure you already figured that out yourself...

 

[keffelk]

2014-2015 Season Review

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Having already completed the first season of the save. I wanted to provide an update so that I am caught up to the current point. In order to provide a true story and not just sighting off reviews.


Transfers

View attachment 236342

Throughout the season, I managed to offload almost all of the non-UK players. Some of the sales were for big money, some I had to literally beg teams to take my players for free. When it came to bringing transfers in, I will be honest, I spent way more than I wanted to. i bought some players for way more than I should have. Also, mid-season I spent a fortune on Robbie Keane, in desperate need of goals. Below is all of the transfer activity from the first season.

Transfers out

In total, 18 players were sold or long term loaned (as no one would buy them) they have been put on two year loans. Four loans to Celtic were all sent back to the home club. The total profit from all of this was $24.5 Million. Below are the significant transfer business that occurred.

[TABLE="class: outer_border"]
[TR]
[TD]Player[/TD]
[TD]Fee[/TD]
[TD]Club[/TD]
[TD]Notes[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Virgil Van Dijk[/TD]
[TD]$9.75M[/TD]
[TD]Swansea[/TD]
[TD]This was my big one, I tried to get as much as possible for him. Absolute fantastic player and was pleased with this bit of business.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Efe Ambrose[/TD]
[TD]$5.75M[/TD]
[TD]Stoke[/TD]
[TD]I was surprised to get this much for Ambrose to be honest, but I will gladly take it![/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Stefan Johansen[/TD]
[TD]$4.1M[/TD]
[TD]OGC Nice[/TD]
[TD]Another good bit of business for a quality player.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Nir Biton[/TD]
[TD]$2.5M[/TD]
[TD]Toulouse[/TD]
[TD]Overall, happy with the amount. Was wanting $3M. But like I said, will sell for anything.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Emilio Izaguirre[/TD]
[TD]$2.4M[/TD]
[TD]Torino[/TD]
[TD]Quality outside back. Good money for him too.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ash Taylor[/TD]
[TD]$500K[/TD]
[TD]Seattle Sounders[/TD]
[TD]Ash was a transfer in. Ended up being a thorn in my side and I lost money on him. Bad signing.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jackson Irvine[/TD]
[TD]Free[/TD]
[TD]Free[/TD]
[TD]Released him due to no interest.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Victor Gallardo[/TD]
[TD]Free[/TD]
[TD]Free[/TD]
[TD]Youth team regen that I released.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Stefan Sceopovic[/TD]
[TD]2 year loan[/TD]
[TD]Bremen[/TD]
[TD]No interest in buying him. So I loaned him out in the hopes that would generate someone willing to take him.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Lukasz Zaluska[/TD]
[TD]Free[/TD]
[TD]St. Johnstone[/TD]
[TD]He is the first team keeper for them. No interest, so I was forced to give him away.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Leo Fasan[/TD]
[TD]Free[/TD]
[TD]Free[/TD]
[TD]Released him.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Derk Boerrigter[/TD]
[TD]Free[/TD]
[TD]Free[/TD]
[TD]Mutual Termination. I had to force him out as no one would take him. Due to his $2M in salary.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Mikael *******[/TD]
[TD]2 year Loan[/TD]
[TD]OGC Nice[/TD]
[TD]No interest in buying him, but was able to loan him out for two years with a small monthly fee.[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

In total, I received $25.5M in player sales and fees. My goal was $30M but I will gladly take it!

Transfers in


I signed pretty much anyone I could. Just so I could field a decent team. A total of $24.5m was spent on bringing in players to the squad. Below are the significant signings

Player	Fee	Club	Notes
Jeff Hendrick	$5M	Derby	Absolutely cracking young player. I see him as a foundation for the club, and one I plan on holding on to for a long time.
Steven Whittaker	$4.5M	Norwich	It hurt me immensely to sign a former Rangers player. But I was in desperate need of a quality back who can play either wing. Steven fit the bill.
Kevin Mcdonald	$3.6M	Wolves	Another quality signing. Proved to be a good one throughout the season.
Liam Cooper	$3.2M	Leeds	Solid player for me throughout the season.
Robbie Keane	$3M	LA Galaxy	This was a desperation signing. We could not score to save our lives. So I picked up a tried and true goalscorer during the winter transfer window. Way overpaid but he paid instant dividends.

During the season. My best signings were Robbie Keane, Jeff Hendrick, and Kyle Bartley.

European Campaign

View attachment 236341

Europe was a surprising success. We managed to qualify for the Champions League. The money was huge for the club, the group stage was a disaster though.


During the 3rd round and playoffs we managed to squeak by. Winning the 3rd round tie on away goals as we beat Bratislava 2-0 at home and lost the away leg 1-3. During the playoff round we had an absolutely mind blowing melt down in the away leg. Against Maribor we won 4-0 at home! During the away leg we lost 2-5!!! I must admit, I don't know what happened. We went from absolute domination to squeaking by! The group stage was a different story altogether. We managed to win one match (2-1 at home against Basel) and draw another (1-1 at home against Athletico Madrid) the rest of the matches were losses. We conceded 14 goals while scoring 5. Very, very poor. But the fact we even made it to the group stage is quite the achievement.

SPFL
View attachment 236340
The final table

The league campaign came down to the last day of the season. Aberdeen was in quality form throughout the season until the last five games they fell apart. Allowing us to sneak in and avoid the utter disaster of not winning the league. (Which would have all but guaranteed I would be fired) At one point, we were seven points back of Aberdeen with 27 matches played.

Home form

View attachment 236339

Paradise was far from a fortress this season. The problem was not that we were losing (though we did lose three) it was that we were tying far too much! at home we won only 8 times. We lost only 3 times. But, the killer was we tied 8 matches!

Away Form

View attachment 236338

The bhoys went unbeaten away from home and this was very exciting! Still, too many draws for my liking!


Scottish Cup
View attachment 236336

We managed to lift the Scottish Cup. In an absolute nail biter against Inverness! Overall, I was pleased with the result!

League Cup

View attachment 236334

The league cup went horribly. We lost to St. Mirren in the quarterfinal. Which was vastly disappointing.

Finances

The club spent a total of $127.5M during the season. We had an income of $140.75M. Overall, I was happy with the financial situation of the team and the direction we were heading.

European Ranking

The club moved up from 62nd in Europe to 52nd! Great progress, but still loads more to do!

The reputation of the league also went up. From 24th to 19th!

Attendance

The team did not have a single sell out throughout the season. We averaged 45K for our league home games. 75% of the stadium capacity, I am hoping as the club continues to improve this number will also improve.

Season summary:

I am very happy with how things are going at the club. I knew the season would be rough, but I am shocked at how successful we were. Our best players with Kris Commons (7.26) Leigh Griffiths (7.16) and Robbie Keane (7.06) even though he only played in 14 matches.

Our top goalscorers were as follows:

Player	Goals	Assists
Leigh Griffiths	25 (49 App)	14 (49 app)
Kris Commons	16 (38 App)	12 (38 app)
Robbie Keane	8 (14 app)	4 (14 app)
Anthony Stokes	8 (20 app)	6 (20 app)
Stewart Armstrong	7 (38 app)	8 (38 app)

Save goals:

Currently the squad breakdown is the following:

65% Scottish
25% Irish, Northern Irish, and English
15% unsold but loaned

10% more Scottish players are needed to meet the minimum expectation.

2015-2016 Goals

1) Improve the squad breakdown to 75% Scottish
2) Win the SPFL
3) Win the Scottish Cup
4) Win more than one game in the Champions League
5) Continue off-loading non-UK players and staff.

I am so far loving this save. This is the first time in FM that I managed every single match. As each match carried a level of importance. I know to many this may find silly, but the sim temptation was non-existent. Which is really what this save is about! Enjoying the game for everything it has to offer!

Now that is out of the way I can continue with a proper story!

 

[keffelk]

dllu - Trying this out has definitely made for an interesting game. I forced things quickly early. I thought I was going to have a player revolt on my hands as it seemed every day I had a player coming in asking why all of the best players were getting sold! Since essentially the entire back line was sold or loaned out immediately. I wanted to be more gradual, but figured I would just go for it and hope for the best! ha I am going to ask the board at the beginning of the new season for training facility upgrades. Hoping they will accept and then building something from within. Which will save loads in transfer fees! As long as I don't get sacked I am happy!

 

[MagicWithin]

Quality idea! Especially doing a save in the Scottish league

Best player in the youth intake?

 

[keffelk]

MagicWithin - So far I have two youth players with loads of potential!

View attachment 236224

Aiden Mcllduff. He is a an outside left back. I decided to loan him out to get first team experience, see how he copes within the league. But I am very excited that he could be a star for the side!

View attachment 236223
Calvin Miller. I plan on using and developing him as a striker. He already has decent technical skills, so just like Aiden. Wanted to see how he does playing first team football. Hopefully in a few years time he will be bagging loads of goals for us!

The rest of the youth intake has been decent. These two are the only ones who currently stand out within the side.

 

[keffelk]

Start of the 2015 campaign
July, August, and September


View attachment 236222

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During the middle of the campaign in 2014 I had requested that the board improve the training facilities. After forcing Dermot Desmond to loosen the purse strings he agreed. The new training grounds will help us to better develop our first team players. Hopefully the $4M invested in the grounds will not have to be spent again in the transfer market. Speaking of the transfer market I still had a few players I needed to offload. The beginning of the season saw a flurry of sales, loans, wheeling and dealing. In total, 15 reserve players were loaned out. 6 players were given away for free. Finally, 4 players were sold for a total sum of $3.7M.

Transfer out

[TABLE="class: outer_border, width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]Player
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Club[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Fee[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Amino Balde[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Racing Club De Leon[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]$1.9M[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Stefan Scepovic[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Bremen[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]$1.5M[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Neal Eardley[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]St. Johnstone[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]$200K[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Liam Craig[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Motherwell[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]$56K[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Teemu Pukki[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Released[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Free[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Darcy Blake[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Hiberian[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Free[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Nicky Maynard[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Yeovil Town[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Free[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Holmbert Fridjonsson[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Brodby[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Free[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Tom Rogic[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Young Boys[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Free[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jackson Irvine[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Released[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Free[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Of all of these players none are a loss for the club. Neal Eardley, Liam Craig, Darcy Blake, and Nicky Maynard were upset because they rarely saw the pitch. The rest of the players were foreign. So, they had to go! The only remaining foreign player on the squad is Mikael *******. Who is on loan, I hope to sell him next season.

Transfer in

The club only saw one player join its ranks. Wayne Routledge. I wanted to add more age and experience to the side. So, I figured someone as well traveled as Wayne would make a decent addition. Especially considering I am only paying him $500K a year. Granted we are his tenth club. But I couldn't resist the free transfer to add depth and experience.

View attachment 236220

Board Expectations

1) Win the SPFL title
2) Win the League Cup
3) Win the Scottish Cup
4) Reach the group stages of the Champions League

The board is obviously being ambitious with winning the treble. It is very possible, but the bhoys have to play well and we have to avoid the injury bug that likes to strike at the worst times.

Save Goal

The squad breakdown is as follows at the beginning of the season for both the first team and the reserves is as follows:

73% Scottish
11% English
10% Irish
3% Northern Irish
1.5% Welsh
1.5% Swedish (unable to sell but on loan)

I am still short of the 75% minimum goal, but that will be the case by the end of this season.

Preseason

The squad has been focused on the new formation, we are running a 4-3-2-1, With the back line playing a flat four, the midfield playing central, the outside mids playing as attacking midfielders. With a lone target man up top. Our best bet in Europe is to play a quick counterattacking style. Quickly closing down on our opponents to force mistakes. While remaining compact and organized.

The team played two friendlies in America, playing against the Colorado Rapids and a semi-pro team in Colorado Springs. We lost against the Rapids 2-1. In a rather dull affair. The starting eleven played the first half. Then the reserves played the second.

View attachment 236216

Our second friendly we managed to scrape by with a 1-0 win. Despite the fact we had 31 shots. But only 9 on frame. I really hope this is not the trend of the season.
View attachment 236217

We also played a friendly against Arsenal, in which we lost 2-0. I played the reserves in the match versus Arsenal who fielded a strong side. I was encouraged.

SPFL August and September

View attachment 236211

Overall, it has been a good start to the season. Obviously out of those matches only one highlight stands out. The return of "The Old Firm" despite the fact that we are playing a new club, so I feel the old firm is not an appropriate term. Bias aside, the rivalry still burns bright. The team did not disappoint!

View attachment 236206

A dominating performance and a very big statement win for the team.

Europe

The side managed to navigate through the three rounds of qualifying!

View attachment 236205

The 2nd round of qualifying saw us pitted against Portadown. We managed to win both legs 2-0 to win on aggregate 4-0. It was nice keeping the clean sheet through both legs. Would have hoped for a few more goals, but still solid results.

The 3rd round of qualifying had us against a much larger challenge. Maccabi Tel-Aviv. The first away leg could not have gone much worse. we lost 2-0. Conceding two very questionable penalty kicks. It was a very heated match with our side being given five yellows and a red. Versus Tel-Aviv receiving three yellow cards. We needed something special at Paradise.

The home fans were not left disappointed. We managed to score two goals to force extra time. After both teams failed to score the result was settled with the coin toss of football: penalty kicks. Robbie Keane struck hard and true on the fifth kick. The bhoys won 4-3 and we survived!

The playoff round was far less exciting, but thrilling none the less! We were pitted against BATE. A solid 2-0 win at home saw us through after an edgy 1-1 draw in the second leg.

For the second year in a row we managed to make it through! Now just to hope the football gods bless us with a favorable group...

they didn't.

Liverpool
Benfica
Dortmund

I am just hoping we get insanely lucky and sneak a win or two. But I am not expecting much else.

More updates to come soon!