Career Dethroning Celtic (or try to)

[Spadge]

So I've been reading these forums for probably the last two years and probably spent hundreds of hours reading players careers, challenges and tactics, but never contributed anything myself. I thought I'd change that today by sharing a few highlights of my career (small part challenge).

While sat on the beach in Mallorca last week, I thought I'd start up one last save before the next instalment of FMM. I decided for my last career that I'd try and end the dominance of Celtic in the Scottish Premiership. The only conditions I'd set myself was that I had to start unemployed and could only take over a club in League Two. 

After reaching the beginning of December and still unemployed a job finally came up. Queens Park offered me my first taste of management in Scotland. Upon accepting their offer I was greeted by the message informing me of the lack of money in the club. Exactly zero. Also slightly over wage budget by nearly £2.5k! 

Spoiler

A friend pointed out that Queens Park are the only amateur team in the league/game. Having a look through the general info for the club I was quite surprised to see they play at Hampden Park which has an incredible 51,866 capacity. 

I joined with the club down in 7th having lost seven of their first 13 games. As there was no money I decided to see out the season with the current squad to see who would be worth keeping. 

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My first month in charge saw me claim the manager of the month award for December with two wins, one draw and one defeat. Making a good first impression. 

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Over the last few months of the season I picked up 12 wins, seven draws and four defeats. My best victory coming against Elgin City away. 

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And one incredibly boring game for both sets of fans. Not a single shot on target! Might need to look at adding some fire power up front.

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The final league standings. Pretty pleased with my few months in charge. Narrowly lost out on the league title in the penultimate game of the season but still qualified for the playoffs. The players rallied well but East Fife were just that bit better in the end.

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We drew Annan in the Playoff Semifinals but unfortunately we struggled to create any chances over both legs losing 1-0 home and away.

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The standout player of the season has to be Paul Woods with 15 goals and 9 assists from the right wing. I've begun to narrow down the players I plan to keep for next season and the ones who'll be leaving come summer, I need to cut the size of the squad down to get the club back under budget.

Spoiler

Goals

Assists

Not a bad platform to build on for next season, I'm feeling pretty optimistic going into next season. 

[AndersJ]

Best of luck - would love to see competition to Celtic

[Dar J]

I managed East Fife in the Scottish league once and it was my most interesting save in FMM16

[Цветан Чуканов]

Very interesting! I played with Queen's Park on FMH15 but didn't have the time to get them to the Premiership, as FMM16 came out.

[Mikee1984]

What a great read mate never would of guessed this was your first post, keep up the good work ?

[Real_Random]

Good luck mate. This looks like a great career. KIU

[Spadge]

Thanks guys for the support. Unfortunately I have no screenshots of my second season due to a few reasons. The main two being unused to screenshotting my game to upload and it was a fairly successful season in which I got carried away. 

Anyway, lets run through the year! Financial restrictions were still in place at the start of my first full season in charge so bringing in players was going to be tough. I released half a dozen players or so to reduce how badly over budget we were. Overall I managed to knock just over 2k off our outgoings but still over budget. The only signing made was striker, Kyle Lander, on a free from St. Johnstone.

It looks like I'm going to have to rely on academy players to bolster my team this season with five players being promoted, the best probably being striker Liam McNeil who went on to find the net 20 times in 26 games in the latter half of the season. Two other prospects were both defenders, Kyle Neill and Harry Fotheringham.

We made the league look easy this year and crusied to the title about 18 points clear of second place. Paul Woods had another standout season scoring 20 goals and laying on 16 assists, easily the best player in this team. This guy really is the inspiration for the rest of the team and I feel myself growing attached to him. Hopefully I can hold onto him. Playmaker, Jamie McKernon, had a solid season too in the centre of the park creating 11 goals.

We even snuck in a decent cup run, gaining a few giant killings along the way, by reaching the semifinals of the Challenge Cup sadly being beaten 3-0 by Hibernian, a team I'd come to dislike immensely later on.

Spoiler

Kyle Lander didn't exactly flatter in his debut season scoring 10 goals in 41 games and in the process getting upstaged by the youngster Liam McNeil. He's going to have to roll up his socks and start impressing next season or he could struggled for first team action.

Well that sums up my second season, apologies again for the lack of photo's but that won't be a problem next season. So time to start preparing for life in League One.

Because we're still an amateur team, do we not get cash from a giant killing? Something I noticed twice this season. 

[Dar J]

Just got promoted to the championship with East Fife 

[Spadge]

Nicely done. Congratulations. How have you gotten on in the Challenge Cup? Twice a semi finalist myself but never a winner.

[Spadge]

So here goes season three. Might as well crack on with it.

Transfers
Yet another season with no money to spend and no one on the free market interested in join such a small club, pickings were slim. So another season relying on last seasons academy products and this years graduates. One in particular that caught my eye is Northern Irish defender Jack Brown. My coaches tell me he has the potential to be the best defender in squad. Promising!

One player I didn't consider to be very good last year, David Forrest, his stats have bloomed considerably and he's now considered a decent back up.

League (Part One)
After bringing in zero players and releasing one or two youngsters I thought wouldn't cut it I was taken aback by the start we made to League One. Paul Woods and Liam McNeil both smashing in the goals again this season. Really loving those guys! Paul probably has another year or two left at the age of 31 and I'll be truly sad when he retires.

Scottish Cup
Now we're a professional club a few giant killings would be nice to finally get some cash in at the club and that's just what we got. Some quite incredible results against teams much bigger than ourselves. First up was Motherwell, though they had a couple more shots on target we were by far the deadlier in front of goal. Paul Woods grabbing a goal and an assist in this game and my two young strikers Billy Mortimer and Liam McNeil grabbed a goal each too.

Into the fifth round where we drew Championship team Falkirk. We found ourselves two down around the hour mark where I made a few changes to my system altering from target man to a deep lying forward and going more direct. It worked wonders as we salvaged two goals in the last 10 minutes to earn a replay.

Replay with Falkirk. I decided to start with a deep lying forward and an advanced forward as it seemed to help link up my midfield better against our much better opponents. This small change helped us create 16 chances seeing us take three of them to more than earn a place in the quarter finals.

Quarter finals. Queens Park versus Queen of the South. I decided to employ the same strategy that got my past Falkirk but with one change, changing my advanced playmaker to a standard central midfielder, mostly to help cover the defence. Paul Woods yet again finding the net from that right wing to help send us on our way to the semifinals! Three giant killings so far.

Unfortunately that's as far as our cup run goes as we lost away to Hibernian 3-1. On the bright side we made about £180k!

League (Part Two)
We continued to build on our outstanding start to the league. In our penultimate game of the season we beat Peterhead 2-0 and with Dumbarton losing we went top with one game left to play.

A win on the last day away to Stranraer saw us lift the League One trophy and gain promotion to the Championship. Dumbarton could only manage a draw but it didn't matter as we got the job done.

Challenge Cup
We have a decent record in this competition having now reaching the semifinals for the second year running. Only claimed one scalp this term, Motherwell again, they must be getting sick of us now. They'll be seeing much more of us next season!

Player Stats
There's not much else I can really say about Paul Woods... 29 goals, 20 assists. His stats speak for themselves. 

Liam McNeil netted another 20 goals this season and is starting to look a solid forward player.

Billy Mortimer had his best season to date in a Queens Park shirt scoring a seasons best 17. Another young forward with big potential hopefully. Jamie McKernon had another steady season in the middle laying on 11 assists. On the other end of the scale is Kyle Lander... a poor return of eight goals in 38 games. 

Goals

Assists

I'd probably say this was my best season to date, finally have a little cash in the bank and some very good looking young players.

[Dar J]

5 hours ago, Spadge said:

Nicely done. Congratulations. How have you gotten on in the Challenge Cup? Twice a semi finalist myself but never a winner.

I got knocked out in the quarterfinals twice 

[Spadge]

Season Four

Transfers
After putting some cash into my wage budget I was left with around £70k to spend in the summer. The biggest transfer budget I've had to play with yet! A couple of first year players out and a few decent looking freebies in.

I brought in Allan Smith as back up to Paul Woods, the first player I spent cash on, hopefully he'll be as prolific as the Queens Park fan favourite when he replaces him.

Two decent academy graduates promoted this season; Callum McAllistar and Carl Williams who has the look of Wayne Rooney about him.

League (Part One)
A fairly strong start to the new season picking up 10 points was nearly overshadowed as Paul Woods was stretchered of in the latter stages of my first league game. Looks like Allan Smith will be getting more game time than expected after Woods' stats turn a huge nose dive. Could this be the end?

A couple of big wins over Dundee United and Motherwell (who must hate us by now) helped push us firmly into second place at the half way stage of the season.

Carl Williams started to show glimpses of his potential netting four goals against Queen of the South in a scintillating display.

At the half way point we're still holding strong in second place, 10 points clear of fifth.

Challenge Cup
Liam McNeil netted a hat-trick in a second round victory over Motherwell. Unfortunately that's about as far as we got this year.

Scottish Cup
No decent run this year as Dundee United narrowly knocked us out in the fifth round. Paul Woods made a return from the bench but his stats are horrible now. Looks like this is it for him.

League (Part Two)
Four games to go. 11 points clear with 12 to play for. Next game, second place Dundee United. A win would see me secure the league title and my third successive promotion...

So we bottled it. Maybe we could claim the title at home to Dumfermline...

After getting ourselves in a commanding position, one silly red card has turned the game on it's head and we've bottled it again.

Next we head to Falkirk where we're running out of games now to get it won. Less than half an hour in and we've gone a goal down and at this point I'm thinking that the title is slipping away but a few tactical tweaks and the guys dug in to turn the game around.

And that is our third league title on the trot winning by an eight point margin. 

Player Stats
Liam McNeil once again score 20+ goals in his third consecutive season, his stats are starting to look better as he matures.

Carl Williams had a blistering debut scoring 22 goals and a standout debut for Allan Smith with 19. Bring on the Premiership!

Goals

Assists

[kts365]

Liam McNeill looks quite the tidy little striker mate. can easily go from strength to strength.

[Real_Random]

Great job mate. KIU

[Spadge]

On 27/10/2016 at 20:29, kts365 said:

Liam McNeill looks quite the tidy little striker mate. can easily go from strength to strength.

     He's pretty consistent and not too bad in front of goal. Gets better every year.

 

On 27/10/2016 at 21:32, Real_Random said:

Great job mate. KIU

Cheers mate.

Season five and time to prepare for life in the Premiership. Expecting a tough, long season this year.

Transfers
I have to say I'd expected a bit of money to spend this season but it isn't to be. So time to scrounge about in the free market though not too much to select from. Brought Adrian Lopez (goalkeeper) in and Marc Miller (midfielder) on loan.

A couple of youngsters promoted again this year with Craig Hunter being the pick of the bunch. Carl Williams has improved a bit a year on.

League (Part One)
Five games in, three wins and one defeat isn't too bad considering the lack of transfer activity and a good win over Rangers to boot.

A great result in our first encounter with Celtic. Actually outplayed the current Champions.

Brought back down to Earth by a rampant Aberdeen squad but got revenge three days later smashing them back.

League Cup
Third game against Aberdeen in a week see's us ease through into the semifinals of the cup curtesy of a Billy Mortimer double.

League (Part Two)
Can I call it quits right now? 14 games gone and sitting top of the pile though Celtic have two games in hand. Brilliant start from a bunch of players playing League Two football only a few seasons ago.

Continuing to defy my wildest expectations by pulling Hearts apart. 

Scottish Cup
A positive start to the Scottish Cup with a win over Alloa and a hat trick from Allan Smith.

Transfers (January)
It was a tough decision but I decided to let Carl Williams leave for Stoke City in a £3.9million move. Some much needed cash. Broke the clubs transfer record bringing young English goalkeeper Matthew Brown to the club. Also signed Brazilian Felipe Fernandes and Spaniard Alberto Fernandez on frees. 

League (Part Three)
Another massive victory over Rangers and a first goal for Felipe Fernandes.

Our forwards seemed to be on another planet against Ross County.

League Cup Final
Our first major final saw us play some good counter attacking football to come from behind against Celtic to beat them once again. The winner scored by local lad, Liam McNeil. My first piece of silverware!

Scottish Cup Semifinal
We drew Falkirk in the semis and after a great start we were having to hold on throughout the second half to grab a spot in the final.

League (Part Four)
Well Celtic won the title with eight games to spare but my aim is to hold onto second place and a Europa League qualifier spot up for grabs. Three games left to play.

We managed to stumble over the line against Hamilton with a 94th minute winner.

A narrow defeat at home to Inverness CT didn't help our cause but Dundee are faltering themselves. A warm up to the Scottish Cup Final.

We bounced back with a comprehensive win over third place Dundee to claim second place and potentially a trip around Europe.

Final league standings. Finished 23 points behind Celtic so a lot of work to do next year but a solid platform to improve on. Time to focus our efforts on the Scottish Cup Final.

Scottish Cup Final
Inverness CT Vs. Queens Park.

Very positive in front of goal today and we lift our second trophy of the season! Two of January's signings getting on the score sheet. A really good year this time out. Allan Smith had an outstanding year scoring 25 goals and 13 assists. Young forwards Billy Mortimer (22) and Liam McNeil (20) deserve a mention too.

Goals

Assists

[Real_Random]

Wow fantastic job mate. To come 2nd is a fantastic achievement. Hopefully you can go one better next year. I know you needed the cash but I believe that carl Williams may have been Rooney's Regen who could've one you the league single handily. KIU

[Spadge]

33 minutes ago, Real_Random said:

Wow fantastic job mate. To come 2nd is a fantastic achievement. Hopefully you can go one better next year. I know you needed the cash but I believe that carl Williams may have been Rooney's Regen who could've one you the league single handily. KIU

Thanks a lot! Was really surprised to finish second and do so well in the cups. It was a tough decision regarding Williams. He's playing for Inter Milan and England these days so more than likely Rooney's regen. At least he'll always have Queens Park in his history.

[Jens]

I'm really enjoying this. I hope you make it before FMM17 is released

You actually inspired me to tackle Edinburgh City when the new game will be out. Keep it up.

[Spadge]

9 hours ago, Jens said:

I'm really enjoying this. I hope you make it before FMM17 is released

You actually inspired me to tackle Edinburgh City when the new game will be out. Keep it up.

Glad you've enjoyed it so far. Much appreciated. Edinburgh City will be a fantastic challenge, quite a few people have been tempted by it. Think FMM17 will be the most interesting yet for teams and potential challenges. 

[Spadge]

Who arranges these friendlies? Over the last couple of seasons I've had games against Dortmund and Chelsea... now Villarreal! Not a bad performance though.

Anyway, let's get on with season six.

Transfers
Brought in a few players to strengthen up a few places and released a bunch of older players.

Europa League Qualifiers (Part One)
My aim in this competition is to hopefully qualify for the group stages but mostly just enjoy the experience of playing European teams. First up is Odd. Two goals from Liam McNeil saw us narrowly miss out on victory but I'm more than pleased with the two away goals.

A decent home performance and victory over Odd seals our place into the third qualification round.

We drew Zurich and handed out a hammering with our strikers on form to give us a great lead heading into the second leg.

League (Part One)
What. A. Start. The best start to a season I could hope for. An absolute mauling of Hearts including hat tricks from Johnson and Fernandes.

After six months my young keeper, Matthew Brown, wants to move on already. Thanks for the loyalty!

Europa League Qualifiers (Part Two)
Poor shot stopping and some sloppy defending nearly saw Queens Park eliminated but thankfully we held on.

A decent home win over Basel saw us progress 4-3 on aggregate into the group stages of the Europa League. One target reached.

A pretty tough looking group featuring Chelsea. Yay for us!

League (Part Two)
A little hit and miss so far in the league, a slightly disappointing result against Celtic.

Currently sitting fourth after 11 games and Celtic have already built up a cushion over second place. Scoring plenty of goals but conceding a few too many for my liking.

Liam McNeil still banging in the goals as he chases down his 100th career goal for Queens Park. Can he do it this year?

Our second biggest win of the season battering Ross County.

Celtic are looking unbeatable right now. Just over half away in and they're 14 points clear with a game in hand. It's going to take something special to beat them.

Europa League
Our first opponents CFR Cluj away. A really good three points and a strong showing from Marvin Johnson who's going from strength to strength.

Followed up by a one sided victory over Feyenoord.

Chelsea proved too strong for the group winning all of their games. But the big news is that little Queens Park have also qualified from the group!

Transfers (January)
Only one player brought in in January. John de Jong for £1.5m from Eupen.

League Cup (Part One)
A fairly straightforward route into the semifinals against lower league opposition until we came up against Celtic... and what a game it was! Finally getting a bit of revenge for all the beatings in the league so far.

Not only are we into the League Cup final for the second year running but Liam McNeil finally hit a landmark 100th goal for the club. Queens Park's record goal scorer.

League (Part Three)
We have no problem beating Celtic in the cups but the league, the one I want, is a completely different story. Samba Thiam is becoming the bane of my life.

Celtic secure the title in ridiculous fashion with 10 games remaining. They're going to take some beating. So now I'll have to set my sights on that Europa League spot... again.

Europa League Round One
We drew Napoli. Not going to be the easiest of games. Hoping for a solid performance at home and maybe a bit of luck in the return leg.

So that's out trip around Europe ended. Some really good results and a great experience for the team but just slightly out our depth.

Scottish Cup
Heartbreak in the quarterfinals as we get knocked out by Ross County in extra time made worse when I find out Celtic have been knocked out too!

League (Part Four)
Getting a huge slice of luck against Hamilton as we try to secure second place.

And another slice of luck denying Aberdeen three points. A really valuable point as the season draws to a close.

Our confidence seems to have risen as we put five past Rangers. Great result in the fight for second place.

Another five goals scored on the last day of the season and another second place finish. 

A small improvement as we finish with two points more than last year.

League Cup Final
Queens Park Vs. Hibernian

Our second League Cup in a row and a competition I'm starting to enjoy. Keep the silverware coming!

Billy Mortimer had a great season, his best to date and was nearly the first player to break the 30 goal barrier for me. Better luck next year. Yet another solid season from Smith and McNeil.

Goals

Assists

[Real_Random]

Great job mate. How did Celtic get 93 points! KIU mate you will beat them soon

[Spadge]

On 03/11/2016 at 20:22, Real_Random said:

Great job mate. How did Celtic get 93 points! KIU mate you will beat them soon

Cheers dude! They were incredible that year. No one could touch them. 

[Spadge]

Season Seven

After finishing so far behind Celtic last year I've decided to change my formation and play three upfront. With a little bit of cash to spend hopefully we can make a decent attempt at a title challenge. 

Transfers
Brought in a few decent looking players on frees, no cash spent. Scott Ferries didn't live up to the promise his stats showed, mostly due to him disliking any form of training. On the plus side I made a nice profit on him. Alvaro Ramos looks like a quality player and the biggest surprise being Banfield wanted nothing for him. Queens Parks gain!

Two promising players picked from the academy this year who look like they could have a bright future here.

Europa League Qualification
First up is a home tie against Progres. McNeil started in fine form bagging a hat trick and giving us a good advantage going into the away leg.

After such a good first leg it would seem my players left their shooting boots at home as a lucky own goal help us to a draw and progression into the next round.

Great results against Ventspils and Lokomotiv Moscow saw us comfortably into the playoff round of qualification against Rio Ave.

League (Part One)
First game of the season against the Premiership champions, Celtic. What a demolition! Cracking start to the league campaign.

A super fortunate result against Aberdeen and three valuable points continues our brilliant start.

Even though we outplayed Hamilton their goalkeeper wouldn't be beaten, still some positives to take from the game. Can't win 'em all.

That demoralising 5-1 win over Celtic at the start of the season seems to have done just that. The worst start Celtic have made to any season. Two points behind Rangers with two games in hand... this HAS to be my year as I cann't see us getting any better opportunity than this. 

Europa League Playoffs
An outstanding first leg shows the confidence the team is playing with. This was followed up by a 2-0 away win. 

Safely into the group stages. Drawn Real Sociedad and Wolfsburg, not as tough as last year, perhaps.

Europa League (Part One)
We keep going from strength to strength and surprising everyone so far. A quite brilliant win over Wolfsburg and Viktoria Plzen.

League (Part Two)
A big win over Ross County, a team I had found difficult to beat over the last year, McNeil with another hat trick.

15 games in and sitting top of the pile. Celtic have started to pick up wins and slowly moving back up the league. We need to stay focused now.

Europa League (Part Two)
Going undefeated in the group stage sees Queens Park finish top of the group. Hopefully we can progress beyond the first round this year.

League (Part Three)
A huge win away to Celtic helps stretch our lead over them after 21 games. We have a game in hand and the chance to go eight points clear.

Yet another league win over Celtic, this is now the best chance we have to finally dethrone the champions.

League Cup
Absolutely gutted. We've dominated this competition the last two years but we fell to a 120 minute goal.

Europa League First Round
Having drawn Fiorentina I didn't have high hopes of progressing. After a slow start to the game we left it a little too late to get back into the game but we have an away goal.

A brilliant effort from the lads but it just wasn't to be. The penalty pretty much killed us off. Better luck next time.

League (Part Four)
Our league from has slipped a bit following being knocked out of Europe including this unfortunate lost to Dundee.

This is it. If we win our next game the Premiership title is finally coming to Queens Park. Could history be made? Next up... Dundee United.

Marvin Johnson's 86th minute winner is enough to see us crowned champions of Scotland in a crazy match!

Final league standings. A 17 point gap back to Celtic is pleasing to see after the last two years.

No Cup success this year but I'm not that bothered as we picked up the big one! John de Jong had a great first full season scoring 30 goals, the first man to do so. An incredible effort from midfielder Fernandes finding the back of the net 26 times! Marvin Johnson had great season too getting 22 assists from the wing.

Goals

Assists

Probably one of the cheapest league wins I've had spending around £1.5m over seven years. Really pleased with the way it's gone. Finally dethroned Celtic at the third attempt. Now I just need to prove it wasn't a fluke... and there's Champions League football next year.

[Real_Random]

Great season mate, dethroning Celtic domestically is great but how about you dethrone them in European Football. KIU

[Taff]

Just caught up dude and what a fantastic job you've done and only spending £1.5M over 7 years is an incredible feat 

KIU mate hope you can retain the title and show the big boys of Europe what happens when you mess with the Scottish 

[Spadge]

On 06/11/2016 at 02:28, Real_Random said:

Great season mate, dethroning Celtic domestically is great but how about you dethrone them in European Football. KIU

It was a great season, all went well, just need to get past the dreaded round one of European football. Seems to be a problem at the moment. Cheers mate.

2 hours ago, Taff said:

Just caught up dude and what a fantastic job you've done and only spending £1.5M over 7 years is an incredible feat 

KIU mate hope you can retain the title and show the big boys of Europe what happens when you mess with the Scottish 

Okay so £1.5m isn't quite what I spent, I forgot I spent that on John de Jong in January. It's a fraction under £2.5m actually. Not bad still. 

Cheers dude, the first round has been a stumbling block the last two years hopefully that'll change next season.

[Taff]

23 minutes ago, Spadge said:

It was a great season, all went well, just need to get past the dreaded round one of European football. Seems to be a problem at the moment. Cheers mate.

Okay so £1.5m isn't quite what I spent, I forgot I spent that on John de Jong in January. It's a fraction under £2.5m actually. Not bad still. 

Cheers dude, the first round has been a stumbling block the last two years hopefully that'll change next season.

Dude £2.5M over 7 years and you've claimed multiple cups, promotions and the Scottish Championship you have done amazing work

[Spadge]

Season Eight

Transfers
Quite a bit of activity this year with eight players coming in with Bunn, Simpson and Hughes looking like good prospects for the future. Frank de Bruin being a club record signing at £2.7m.

John de Jong coming along nicely.

image url upload

A couple of multinational youth prospects in Jonathan Kane and Kwame Musah.

Champions League Qualification Rounds
First up is Red Star away and a good solid start. A hat trick from Alvaro Ramos easing us to a 5-0 win.

Slightly out shot in the return leg but still managed a decent win going through 8-1 on aggregate. 

Next up in our path is Levski. Currently got a 100% record of qualifying for the group stages and brilliant home display helped us to a commanding position for the second leg.

The players are looking hungry for success this year smashing in another four goals and dominating the game.

League (Part One)
Three points is three points but our defending needs some work. Good start from club hero McNeil with a hat trick.

Really come on some over the last few years and tempts me to get a Queens Park shirt with his name on for a laugh.

League Cup
A huge win over East Kilbride and four goals for McNeil saw us move into the next round smoothly.

Champions League
Ajax, Bayern and Liverpool... or group of death! First game against Bayern.

WHAT. A. RESULT. Singularly the highlight of my Queens Park reign. Never saw this coming.

Two defeats home and away to Liverpool were the only downside to what can only be described as an incredible group stage win. 

League (Part Two)
I think there has been a definite power shift now as we smashed Celtic away.

12 games in, three points clear with three games in hand. In such a strong position to defend our title.

How did we not win this game? Battered their goal but couldn't put it to bed. Might need a word with my keeper.

Own goals galore, disallowed goals and a couple of injuries to key players. This was a pretty eventful game.

Youngster Jaime Hughes had a debut to forget conceding an own goal and giving away a penalty that handed the game to Rangers.

Four days later and we're up against rivals, Celtic. There's no fear of them anymore.

22 games gone and 11 points clear, unless something monumentally bad happens we should have this wrapped up soon...

Transfers
Koln came in with a bid of £7m for Alvaro Ramos which was a tough decision as he'd scored 19 goals up to the end of December but I couldn't refuse the money. After a random "why not" I had a quick flick through young Japanese players and out of the six guys, this guy looked the best. Kenji Abe. Picked him up for £1.5m

League (Part Three)
Not a bad impression to make.

Our lead has been cut to five points. Only seven games left.

Scottish Cup
First decent opposition in this competition but couldn't stand up to the mighty Park.

Champions League Round One (Oh God)
So we drew Shakhtar. Usually a tricky opponent for most teams. A solid display saw us dominate the game and grab two vital away goals. Even missed a penalty.

Such a tense match to watch, too many ups and downs for my liking but McNeil came off the bench to send us through in the 89th minute. Phew!!

Champions League Quarterfinal (Part One)
Benfica in the quarters and uncharted territory. Frank de Bruin sparring our blushes bagging an injury time equaliser in a match we really should have won. This could come back to haunt us.

League (Part Four)
Celtic are no longer a threat as we brush them aside yet again in emphatic style. This win also saw us lift the Premiership title for the second time. Well done lads.

Scottish Cup
This is as far as we get this year crashing out to Inverness CT. Quite an even game in the end.

Champions League Quarterfinal (Part Two)
After taking a beating in the first 70 minutes I made a few tactical tweaks and it was like a completely different team for the last ten minutes. Kenji Abe to the rescue and two away goals.

Champions League Semifinal
Think I got the better of the draw with Man City and Real Madrid playing in the other semifinal. A really good away performance and two away goals helped get the fans dreaming. 

WOW! The flood gates opened early and stayed open. Schalke had no response for our devastating finishing. Kenji Abe netting four times. Great signing so far.

League Cup Final
Kenji Abe is THE man. Hat trick in the final against Dundee United grabs our second trophy of the season.

Champions League Final
Queens Park Vs. Man City. Going two down in 10 minutes had me wincing. I was expected a mauling but we held on until half time where I made some tactical changes. Turned off pressing and changed from short to direct and counter attacking and the result was... incredible. 

What a season this turned out to be. Winning the Champions League was the biggest surprise and probably the best one I've won. 26 goals from Kenji Abe from January to May was a brilliant contribution and McNeil broke the 30 goal barrier in his best season yet. Nuno Moreira scored 29 and setup 25 in his debut season.

Goals

Assists

Two top division titles, four domestic cups and one European trophy. Not bad in eight years. 

I've now considered this challenge/career complete... but I couldn't resist one more season.

Won five out of six trophies over the season. I lost Kenji Abe early on to Barcelona for £13m and Jong de Jong to Chelsea for £29m. Two highlights were a 6-1 win over Man City and a 4-3 Champions League Final win over Real Madrid. 

On another note, when I first got to the Premiership, Scotland's league was down in 36th place in the reputation league. After this current seasons heroics it's now 21st. Kind of curious how high I could get it... hmmm... another challenge in the making perhaps? Maybe for FMM17.

[Real_Random]

Wow congratulations mate. Winning the champions league with an ameteur team is a fantastic achievement. KIU

[Taff]

Simply stunning dude a huge congrats to you and the mighty Queens Park