FM10 - From the Bottom Up

[Radii]

-- Dunno how much I'll play but I decided to fire this up tonight.

January 17th, 2028

West Ham (8-5-10, 11th) @ Ipswich (15-4-3, 3rd, EPL)

We're 1:6 favorites against an overachieving West Ham squad. We beat them 2-0 on the road very early in the year.

GK: Bogdanovs
D: Kirkland/Mattle/Connor/Hayward
M: Crespo/Smith/Connolly/Gordon
F: Chapman/Di Giuseppe

We play a lower league team in a cup match in a few days, so I run out the starters today. Standard mindset today.

2': They get an early attack and get a shot from 20 yards away that Bogdanovs has to save. We get the corner cleared out.

20': A few passes after a throwin Smith hits Di Giuseppe on a jailbreak, he has a clear cut chance in the area, but its saved, he should have scored.

22': Di Giuseppe draws two defenders and gets it to a wide open Chapman, but his first touch is awful and the keeper is able to get out there and pick it up.

39': Time to attack.

41': Gordon with a free kick 35 yards out near hte right sideline, he fires a ball into the area, Smith heads it.. off the bar, close!

43': Our second clear cut chance as Chapman burns his man and gets free in the area, but he can't finish.

HALF: We shoot 12 times including 2 clear cut chances but haven't scored yet. West Ham has 6 shots and 4 on target. We control possession and every statistical area except they are tackling better. I tell the team i'm disappointed and that we better go out there and score in the second half.

46': Di Giuseppe with a quick clear cut chance and he flat out puts it wide.

49': After a throwin Kirkland sends it ahead for Chapman, he's got space in the penalty area and finally we score! 1-0

64': They have a corner, we clear it out and a long ball goes ahead to Di Giuseppe, he makes a run down the right, hits Chapman charging into the area right down the middle and Chapman finishes for his second goal! 2-0

75': Ros in for Crespo

77': Mills in for Smith and we drop into a counterattacking mode.

We run this one out with ease.

Ipswich 2 : 0 West Ham

Man of the Match: Clive Chapman (8.8)
Goals: Chapman 2
Assists: Di Giuseppe (7.9), Kirkland (8.0)
Notables: Bogdanovs (7.5), Hayward (7.2), Connor (7.5), Mattle (7.4), Gordon (7.2), Crespo (7.0)


-- We move back into first place with our win today and we still have a match in hand on everyone. Its likely a 5 team race (with a 6th trying to hang around):

1. Ipswich - 52 pts - 1 less played
2. Chelsea - 52 pts
3. Blackburn - 52 pts
4. Man Utd - 49 pts
5. Man City - 49 pts
6. Liverpool - 43 pts
7. Sunderland - 33 pts

-- This was Stuart Kirkland's 400th league match, all for Ipswich

[Poli]

400 games?? Wow!

[Radii]

January 20th, 2028

FA Cup Fourth Round

Oxford (24th, L1) @ Ipswich (1st, EPL)

1:10 favorites over an Oxford squad that looks like they're dropping down to league 2 next year. We last played Oxford 16 years ago, losing 1:0 in the League Cup.

GK: Bogdanovs
D: Lucas/Junaedi/Williams/Jackson
M: Ros/Leather/Mills/Ivanov
F: Darcy/Bryan

Backups everywhere today.

14': Bryan has a clear cut chance but its saved, corner goes nowhere.

19': Ros with a cross into the area, Darcy goes for the header and he's brought down, its a penalty! Ros takes the penalty and scores! 1-0

22': Ivanov with a nice run down the right, a nice cross to the far post, Ros with the header but the keeper makes a nice save.

28': Gareth Williams is hurt but can stay on

33': Their striker Compton gets alone against Williams and lets just blame his injury for this... he gets totally burned and Compton finishes well, they tie it. 1-1

35': Darcy finds Bryan wide open 25 yards out, he moves up and shoots but he mishits it (I assume) and it goes miles over.

37': Bryan is dribbling in the area and tackled and its our second penalty.. Ros takes it and drills it again. 2-1

HALF: Bryan and Darcy have both had reasonable shots to score and we could be up 4-1 here, but we're not. We outshoot them 13-2. Aldrovandi is in for the injured Williams.

49': A nice move as Leather passes to Bryan who one touches it over to Darcy, Darcy shoots immediately and its off the keeper and in! 3-1

67': I can't believe Bryan hasn't scored yet, we have 8 clear cut chances now and at least 4 of them are from Bryan.

80': With the ball lying loose outside the left side of the penalty area after a corner, Leather gets to it first, fires a pass into the middle, Mills is there and puts it in! 4-1

91': Ros dribbling in the area, he's brought down and we get our 3rd penalty of the day. Ros takes it again and gets a hat trick, all off penalties.

Ipswich 5 : 1 Oxford

Man of the Match: David Ros (9.5)
Goals: Ros 3, Darcy (8.8), Mills (8.2)
Assists: Bryan 2 (7.9), Darcy, Leather (7.9)
Notables: Jackson (7.4), Lucas (7.6), Ivanov (7.8)

-- We get $150,000 for this win.

-- Gareth Williams is out for 2 weeks with the injury he picked up here.

-- On to Round 5

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Poli

400 games?? Wow!

He's 29, looks like he started getting senior team time at age 16. I took over Ipswich when he was 18 or 19 and an up and coming star. He has 30+ starts in 9 of the last 11 seasons, including 37 two seasons ago.

[Poli]

I think I'm more impressed by how long you've spent with the team.

Well done.

[Radii]

-- Taking the USA job was a clear mistake. I mainly stopped playing back in April due to other games coming out, but a couple times I loaded the game up and just put it off because I didn't want to deal with the national team. So I resigned from that.

FA Cup 5th Round Draw

-- Down to 16 teams. 4 teams outside the EPL left. We won't be playing any of them, but we do get a home game, it'll be against #6 Liverpool. The match will be on Feb 10th.

January 23rd, 2028

Ipswich (16-4-3, 1st) @ Everton(9-5-10, 9th)

We're 4:6 favorites on the road today, Everton are 7:2 dogs. We never expect a road trip to Everton to be that easy though. We played to a scoreless draw at home back in September. 9-7-6 lifetime, we haven't lost to them in the last 6 meetings though.

GK: Bogdanovs
D: Kirkland/Connor/Mattle/Hayward
M: Crespo/Leather/Smith/Gordon
F: Chapman/Di Giuseppe

Connolly is out on international duty, I give Leather the start over Mills. We're counterattacking on the road.

3': We get a breakaway on a counter attack. Di Giuseppe has it near midfield, the ball is tackled away but it falls to Brian leather, Leather sends it long and Di Giuseppe gets out ahead of everyone, running onto the ball and getting into the area alone against the keeper and he puts it in! 1-0

20': Di Giuseppe finds Chapman with a nice pinpoint pass, Chapman with our second clear cut chance but he can't put it away.

33': Their ST Hooper gets a look from 25 yards out and its a great shot, Bogdanovs dives for it but its off his hands and in. 1-1

HALF: Each team has 5 shots, they put 3 on target, we put 2 on target. We have 57% possession, 70% passing, tackling and 65% heading.

71': Gordon with an AMAZING pass. He's on the right sideline just inside midfield, he's got two men on him, he pulls up and gets just a little space and sends a cross to the ~20 yard line dead center, Chapman made a perfect break on the defense and scores!! Gordon is aging but that ball was just brilliant. 2-1

90: Aldrovandi in for Chapman, we'll drop to a 5-4-1. Mills and Garcia Mut in for Leather and Gordon.

We hang on through the extra time and get a really nice road win!

Everton 1 : 2 Ipswich

Man of the Match: Yuri Di Giuseppe (8.0)
Goals: Di Giuseppe, Chapman (7.2)
Assists: Leather (6.9), Gordon (6.9)
Notables: Bogdanovs (7.1), Kirkland (7.3), Mattle (7.2), Smith (7.1)


-- Blackburn loses, Man Utd draws, we still have a match in hand:

1. Ipswich - 55 pts - 1 less played
2. Chelsea - 55 pts
3. Man City - 51 pts
4. Man Utd - 50 pts
5. Blackburn - 50 pts

Huge road match against Man City in 5 days.

[Radii]

-- We've been rejecting transfer offers for awhile now, this $64 million offer from Man City for Kieran Connor is noteworthy enough to mention, of course we reject it.

January 28th, 2028

Ipswich (19-4-3, 1st) @ Man City(15-6-4, 3rd)

A chance to put some distance between Ipswich, Chelsea and everyone else. Man City are slim 6:4 favorites in this one, we're 13:8 to win. We are 11-8-13 lifetime against these guys, winning 2:1 at home back in October. We've beaten them 3 times in a row in league play, but they did knock us out of the FA Cup last season.

GK: Bogdanovs
D: Kirkland/Connor/Mattle/Hayward
M: Ros/Smith/Connolly/Ivanov
F: Chapman/Di Giuseppe

Changes in the midfield today, Ros/Connolly/Ivanov in, Crespo/Leather/Gordon resting. We will of course counterattack on the road. Its raining hard out there today.

8': Man City with a nice move and precise 30 yard pass to get a clear cut chance, but Bogdanovs makes the save.

11': After a free kick taken by their keeper, two quick passes lead to a breakaway for ST Silveri, he got a step on Connor and scores. 0-1

32': Another flurry of quick and accurate passing sees their AMC Oktay Karluk get behind our defense and they get another goal, not looking good here. 0-2

HALF: We get one last attack before the half but it goes nowhere. They have 9 shots with 5 on target to just 1 shot for us. We'll do what we can in the second half but we are in a rough spot.

52': Di Giuseppe takes a free kick about 20 yards out wide to the right, we end up passing it around, back to Di Giuseppe wide right, he crosses into the 6 yard box and Mattle is still in a forward position from the free kick and he heads it home! 1-2

53': We quickly steal the ball after their kickoff, Ros with a long pass ahead to Chapman, we've got a 2 on 2 break, both defenders collapse on Chapman, the keeper shades over to his side, Chapman lays it off to Di Giuseppe who puts it into the net, what a turnaround! 2-2

60': Back to a standard mindset, I am worried about playing any more defensive than that, Man City put us on our heels so easily.

61': A breakaway for Man City, their man gets into the area.. and Bogdanovs brings him down trying to cover the ball, midfielder Godoy takes the penalty and scores. 2-3

61': Back to attacking.

64': Crespo is in for Ros

67': Garcia Mut in for Ivanov, Ivanov didn't have a great game at all

82': Kirkland a yellow

90': Di Giuseppe has a chance with a volley in the area after a throwin but puts it just wide, difficult shot.

93': Crespo with a great takeaway near midfield, but his pass ahead to try to start a break with Di Giuseppe and Chapman is off target and we give the ball right back.

That's it.

Man City 3 : 2 Ipswich

Goals: Di Giuseppe (7.5), Mattle (8.2)
Assists: Di Giuseppe, Chapman (6.8)

Our defense was just bad today, Bogdanovs a rare poor match, 5.8. Hayward 5.6 and Kirkland with an awful 5.0.

QPR gets a draw @Chelsea, so we fall behind by 1 point, but still have a match in hand.

1. Chelsea - 56 pts
1. Ipswich - 55 pts - 1 less played
3. Man City - 54 pts
4. Blackburn - 53 pts
5. Man Utd - 51 pts

[chesapeake]

Glad to see this dynasty back!

[Radii]

Originally Posted by chesapeake

Glad to see this dynasty back!

thanks!

[Radii]

January 31st, 2028

Ipswich (19-4-4, 2nd) @ Huddersfield(6-10-9, 15th)

Huddersfield are having a huge letdown of a season, but they're still a good team and they are 6:4 favorites today at their place. After beating these guys 3:0 at home earlier in the year we are now 12-10-12 lifetime against Huddersfield.

GK: Bogdanovs
D: Kirkland/Connor/Mattle/Hayward
M: Crespo/Smith/Connolly/Gordon
F: Darcy/Bryan

Crespo/Gordon/Darcy/Bryan in for Ros/Ivanov/Chapman/Di Giuseppe, and we'll counterattack today.

10': We control the ball in midfield and push forward quickly, Smith to Darcy, he draws the defense out and puts the ball into the area, Bryan is there and open, shoots and scores! 1-0

16': Connor with a horrible giveaway in the back leading to a shot by Huddersfield... not a clear cut chance, which surprises me. Bogdanovs makes the save.

HALF: We go to the half with limited highlights the rest of the way. They miss a couple long range shots and that's about it. We have a slight possession edge (54/46), they outshoot us 6-5, both teams are tackling exceptionally well (85% and 82%). No changes at the half.

50': Connolly with a great pass to Darcy, he gets a shot off from 18 yards out, the keeper saves it but there's a rebound, Gordon shoots from 15 yards out with the keeper way out of position... but hits the crossbar, that was a missed chance there.

62': Smith passes ahead to Bryan, he's 20 yards out, turns by his man, sprints into the area and finishes a clear cut chance to put us ahead by 2! 2-0

66': Huddersfield can't clear it out after winning a header in their end, Bryan recovers a loose ball, feeds Darcy who scores! 3-0

76': Rest for the defense, Lucas, Aldrovandi, Jackson in, Kirkland, Connor, Hayward out.

79': Bryan a yellow.

Solid road win!

Huddersfield 0 : 3 Ipswich

Man of the Match: Chris Bryan (9.0)
Goals: Bryan 2, Darcy (8.5)
Assists: Bryan, Darcy, Smith (7.1)
Notables: Hayward (7.4), Kirkland (7.7), Mattle (7.2), Crespo (7.1)


All the other top teams were off, so this match makes up our game in hand on the field, and we did a great job taking advantage.

1. Ipswich - 58 pts
2. Chelsea - 56 pts
3. Man City - 54 pts
4. Blackburn - 53 pts
5. Man Utd - 51 pts

12 matches to play for everyone. Looking ahead, we've already played Chelsea and Man City twice (we beat each at home and lost on the road). We have home matches remaining against Blackburn and Man Utd. 7 home/5 road. We're still in the FA Cup and Champions League as well.

[Radii]

-- The transfer window closes without any of our guys becoming unhappy over me not letting anyone leave, so that's good. We weren't really looking to pick anyone up to try to integrate into the rotation, "only" $8 mil left to spend, so I'm content.

-- We do get a note that Constantino is unhappy about his playing time. If we stay in the FA Cup and Champions League he will see some more action.


February Update

-- We play on the 3rd, 6th, 10th, 13th, 17th and 24th. 10th is the FA Cup and 13th is Champions League.

-- Youngsters Graham Black and Angel improve in the last month. Black shows ipmrovements in 9 ratings

-- Di Giuseppe and Bryan are 2nd and 3rd in EPL Player of the Month voting. Aston Villa's ST Terry Hutchinson scored 7 times in 5 matches, holy crap.

-- Man City's manager wins manager of the month after going 5-0-1. I'm 2nd.

-- The board is very pleased with my leadership. Our signing of MR Ivanov is the highlight, our 3-2 loss to Man City the lowlight. We made $7.2 mil last month, but that includes the $15.6 mil we made selling Jean.


February 3rd, 2028

Sheffield Utd (10-4-12, 9th) @ Ipswich (20-4-4, 1st)

We're 4:7 favorites here at home, that seems a little generous to us, but that's ok. We're 10-4-16 lifetime against them, we lost 2-1 at their place back in September.

GK: Bogdanovs
D: Kirkland/Connor/Mattle/Hayward
M: Ros/Mills/Connolly/Ivanov
F: Chapman/Bryan

With a lot of games without a lot of rest I continue to alternate ML/MR, and I get Chapman and Bryan together and will pair Di Giuseppe with Darcy in our next match to keep everyone rested going into the upcoming cup matches.

Standard mindset today.

8': So is this how we find playing time for Constantino going forward? Chris Bryan is hurt and forced to come out. Darcy is in him.

25': We haven't managed a shot yet... 5 for Sheffield Utd, though they're all off target and all from long range.

HALF: Really uninspired half for us. Sheffield Utd has 8 shots but all long range and none on target. We shoot 3 times. We only have 41% of the possession so far, we really can do better than this.

50': We'll attack this half.

69': Crespo in for Ros, Ros playing bad today.

81': We have a throwin in their half, thrown into the area but they head it away. Connolly recovers and feeds Darcy, he turns right by two defenders, shoots from the edge of the box and scores! Good move and he was a bit right of center, not easy at all. 1-0

We hold them off without a serious challenge in the last 15 minutes.

Ipswich 1 : 0 Sheffield Utd

Man of the Match: Eoin Darcy (8.3)
Goal: Darcy
Assist: Connolly (7.7)
Notables: Hayward (7.0), Mattle (7.3), Connor (7.0)

Not the prettiest game but we come out of it with the W, two solid games from Darcy in a row, his playing time has been hurt badly by the Chapman signing, but he's really made the most of his opportunities.


-- Bryan is just going to miss a couple days.


1. Ipswich - 61 pts
2. Chelsea - 59 pts
3. Man City - 55 pts
4. Blackburn - 54 pts
5. Man Utd - 51 pts

11 matches to go. Man Utd loses to Southampton, Man City and Blackburn draw, while Chelsea beats QPR to keep up with us.

[Poli]

Just love the detail you provide. Wish I could do it!

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Poli

Just love the detail you provide. Wish I could do it!

Thanks

I found that if I write things up this way I get really immersed in my team and feel like I know all my players, if I just try to play it out I start to skip over details and get sloppy even on important decisions and I don't have as much fun.

I also don't have kids or spouses so my free time to do so is a bit more than many here

[Poli]

Originally Posted by Radii

Thanks

I found that if I write things up this way I get really immersed in my team and feel like I know all my players, if I just try to play it out I start to skip over details and get sloppy even on important decisions and I don't have as much fun.

I also don't have kids or spouses so my free time to do so is a bit more than many here

I definitely get that. I really do.

It's perhaps the main drawback of playing a video football game for me. In real life I spend mid July through early November with my kids/players and their parents. Before a season starts I'm sorting out who starts and who plays what role. I don't get that with a college football video game. If I'm lucky I get 48-50 games with a kid...and it isn't a competition. It's almost always a "who has the better ratings" deal.

I'm loving Eastwood right now. Watching the team and knowing the players is a lot of fun. I wish I was more in tune with their skill sets, but definitely enjoy a slower paced methodical approach like yours.

[law90026]

I totally agree on the international management thing. Everytime I try to manage an international team, I just lose interest in the game. I remember my shortest stint was taking on the Brazil job and quitting the very next day.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by law90026

I totally agree on the international management thing. Everytime I try to manage an international team, I just lose interest in the game. I remember my shortest stint was taking on the Brazil job and quitting the very next day.

I guess I haven't quite killed off my curiosity yet. I took over the Wales U19s to start a game, and I essentially have my hands full in getting a complete roster together based on the dearth of bodies/talent. It may be different at the upper echelons of international management, though.

[Radii]

EDIT: Game Crashed and I forgot to save after the Sunderland match. Gotta replay it, see below.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by britrock88

I guess I haven't quite killed off my curiosity yet. I took over the Wales U19s to start a game, and I essentially have my hands full in getting a complete roster together based on the dearth of bodies/talent. It may be different at the upper echelons of international management, though.

It definitely wasn't because it was too easy or boring or anything. I felt like it'd be awesome to manage the USA when I took the job, but reality set in once I looked at the roster and realized that trying to get immersed in a new team I know nothing about in the middle of a great run with the team I already knew was going to completely kill the pace and momentum I have going.

[Radii]

We played Sunderland to a 1:1 draw which worked out ok b/c everyone near me either tied or lost on the same day... but due to a crash we've got to re-do. The crash happened when I hit the match preview button for my next match, I hope nothing is corrupted.

February 6th, 2028

Ipswich (21-4-4, 1st) @ Sunderland (11-6-10, 7th)

Sunderland are in 7th, but they only have 39 points.. 6th place has 50, so that's where the talent in the league starts to seriously drop off. They are tied in 7th with a struggling Arsenal sqaud so this is a big match for them. We're even money favorites (they are 11:5) on the road, 8-1-8 lifetime and coming off a 2-1 home victory back in September.

GK: Bogdanovs
D: Kirkland/Connor/Aldrovandi/Jackson
M: Ros/Mills/Smith/Gordon
F: Di Giuseppe/Constantino

Sunderland's Simon Greenhouse has 13 goals which is good for 6th in the EPL so far this year.

I'm worried about our lineup, Aldrovandi and Jackson in for Mattle and Hayward, Leather in since Connolly is playing for the Aussies, Constantino up front. Every match matters a ton right now, but with the FA cup in 4 days and the Champions League knockout stage starting 3 days after that, we have to mix and match a bit. (NOTE: this is the same lineup as the first match, including my mistake of taking Lucas out of my sub list, trying to not do something different b/c of what happened the first time)

Counterattacking on the road.

12': They get off to a lead here with two clear cut chances, the first after a mistake by Aldrovandi, Bogdanovs saves it but the rebound falls to their star Greenhouse and he puts it in. 0-1

21': Gordon with a solid run into the right side of the area, he tries a low cross but its blocked, Gordon tracks down the rebound, sends another little cross in and di Giuseppe heads it into the net! 1-1

33': Getting old sucks. Constantino gets the ball in the open field, the only man on him is injured... and Constantino no longer has the speed to beat him. In fact, its taken away and they start a break, a long ball ahead to ST Shaw and he scores. 1-2

HALF: They have 14 shots and are attacking hard, we've got 7. I bring in Gareth Williams at DR to replace Clive Jackson who had an awful first half. We'll try to attack harder this half.

50': Constantino redeems himself! But the real work was done by Craig Smith who dribbled by and between three defenders before hitting Constantino open in the area, Constantino with a solid finish to tie the match back up! 2-2

59': Some great passing after a throwin... Smith ends up finding Ros open in the area for a clear cut chance, but his shot hits the post and misses.

65': We lose possession deep in their end, but their man trying to clear the ball completely fails, Ros takes the ball away from him, centers it, Gordon is there and he scores! 3-2

84': Lets defend and kill the clock here.

85': Dear lord really? We have a goal kick but they win the ball in midfield, one pass ahead to their ST Shaw and he just dribbles through the defense... like, he goes wide right, dribbles by a man, cuts into the area, by another, by a 3rd defender before getting his own shot from close range and he scores. 3-3

That'll do it.

Sunderland 3 : 3 Ipswich

It sucks giving away a late lead but the original game before the crash ended in a draw, I would have felt weird getting extra points out of it, we already erased an injury (Kirkland was hurt for a month and now he's not).

Their man Shaw is man of the match.

Goals: Di Giuseppe (8.3), Constantino (7.7), Gordon (8.3)
Assists: Gordon, Ros (6.9), Smith (6.8)
Notables: Kirkland (7.0)


Chelsea draws with Liverpool, Man City draws with Aston Villa, Blackburn loses and Man Utd wins... Man Utd takes over 4th from Blackburn on goal differential for now.

1. Ipswich - 62 pts
2. Chelsea - 60 pts
3. Man City - 56 pts
4. Man Utd - 54 pts
5. Blackburn - 54 pts
6. Liverpool - 51 pts

10 to go. No league matches for anyone for 10 days thanks to the FA Cup and Champions League.

[Radii]

February 10th, 2028

FA Cup Fifth Round

Liverpool (14-9-5, 6th) @ Ipswich (21-5-4, 1st)

We're even money favorites at home today. We beat Liverpool at their place earlier in the year, havent played the return trip in league play yet.

GK: Bogdanovs
D: Kirkland/Junaedi/Aldrovandi/Hayward
M: Crepso/Leather/Smith/Ivanov
F: Chapman/Darcy

Junaedi gives Connor a day off, and we go with Chapman/Darcy up front, saving Di Giuseppe for our Champions League match in 3 days. Standard mindset at home today.

2': We have a goal kick, taken long, headed by a defender at the 30 yard mark or so but headed backwards into the area.. Chapman comes down with it and shoots, technically its a clear cut chance but really he didn't get to the ball until the keeper was basically on top of him, its saved.

28': Leather misses a shot from 20 yards out just over.

31': Chapman to Darcy for a strong shot from 15 yards away, but saved... they counter quickly and get an equally solid looking shot that Bogdanovs saves. Neither are clear cut chances on the stat sheet but both were dangerous.

40': Darcy a yellow.

45': Two scary shots from Liverpool are saved in the final minute of the half.

HALF: They shoot 11 times to our 9, 4 on target for them, 5 for us. They have a slight edge in every stat, passing better, tackling better and winning more in the air. Our ratings are fine, Crespo shows up with a 7.5 rating which is above everyone on both teams by a lot, he's credited with 9 runs which I assume is the reason, but they haven't taken us anywhere yet.

47': Lets attack.

48': Ivanov finds Chapman who does a great job beating his man and getting into the penalty area... he has a clear cut chance but blasts it right at the keeper. No excuse for missing that.

59': They get their two forwards passing quickly back and forth and a little hole opens up as we try to cover them, their ST Hatton gets free in the area and scores an easy one. 0-1

72': They clear a ball out after an attack of ours fails, recovered by Mattle at midfield, he passes ahead to Smith, Smith lines up from just inside the penalty area and blasts a shot that blows by the keeper for a great goal! 1-1

77': Mills in for Leather, Garcia Mut in for Ivanov

87': Bryan in for Darcy to try to create a last minute winner.

No luck though...

Ipswich 1 : 1 Liverpool

Man of the Match: Juan Pablo Crespo (8.7)
Goal: Smith (7.4)
Assist: Mattle (8.4)
Notables: Bogdanovs (8.1), Kirkland (7.2), Ivanov (7.2)

Darcy struggled with a 6.0 today. Both teams created tons of chances in that one, but now we're going to have to travel to Liverpool to decide who advances in a replay. The replay will be Feb 21st and will interrupt what could have been a much needed week off.

Next up, we kick off the knockout rounds of the Champions League, traveling to France to play OM in the first leg.

[Alf]

Allez Ipswich !

[Radii]

FA Cup 6th Round Draw

We still have a replay with Liverpool, but if we advance into the quarterfinals, we know now that we'll be playing @Arsenal.

February 13th, 2028

European Champions Cup First Knockout Round First Leg

Ipswich (1st, EPL) @ OM (2nd, Ligue 1)

OM is clearly a great squad and this is a tough draw, but we are happy to note that 4 of their 5 most valuable players are ineligible or injured. FC Antonio Luis has scored 8 goals in the champions league so far and looks like a huge threat. OM are 5:4 favorites at their place today. We've played them 4 times, we beat them at home once and then have 3 draws. In the 26/27 season we met in the Champions League semifinals, tying 1:1 at our place and 0:0 at theirs, losing on away goals.

GK: Bogdanovs
D: Kirkland/Connor/Mattle/Hayward
M: Ros/Mills/Connolly/Gordon
F: Di Giuseppe/Bryan

Notably missing from the lineup today are Chapman and MC Craig Smith, we can't really start too many guys that are going to be completely worn out at the end of the match. We'll counter on the road.

8': Throwin for us near midfield, after a couple passes Di Giuseppe has it 25 yards out, he gets by his man and gets into the area, not a clear cut chance but its a good look, but its saved nicely by their keeper.

13': We clear a ball out of our end, a long ball to Di Giuseppe, he makes a run down the left side, crosses into the 6 yard box and Bryan gets his head to it but its right at the keeper and saved.

34': After some buildup there's a pass to midfielder Toledo, he's 20 yards out wide to the right, he blasts a shot to the near side, Bogdanovs gets a hand to it but can't push it away, its by him and in.. 0-1

36': Di Giuseppe hits Bryan with a nice through ball, Bryan's first touch is not totally clean, he recovers to get a shot off, and its another clear cut chance, but again he's too close to the keeper and can't get it by him.

HALF: They've generated 7 shots, putting 3 on target, their one goal was a pretty impressive strike. We've got 5 shots, 3 on target and two of them were clear cut chances but Bryan just hasn't been able to finish. We're in a tough spot here, my instinct is to go aggressive to try to tie it up, but falling behind by two would make the return trip pretty awful. We change to a standard mindset, not quite attacking but a little less on our heels.

46': They get a man in the area, he's trying to dribble by the defense, Kirkland with the tackle... and its a penalty. Mattle complains and gets a yellow, and they convert the penalty. 0-2

46': Well now we must attack.

51': Di Giuseppe gets a goal but very clearly he's offsides, doh.

70': We work our offense, a pass goes into the area for Bryan, he lays it off to the left for Ros, he shoots but the keeper blocks it. Rebound to Mills, he shoots, keeper blocks it... rebound back to Ros, he shoots... and the keeper blocks it. Holy crap.

74': Garcia Mut and Smith in for Gordon and Mills, fresh legs to try to get a goal back here.

85': Garcia Mut with a cross, Di Giuseppe's header is just high.

That's it.

OM 2 : 0 Ipswich

Man of the Match: Dmitrijs Bogdanovs (9.0)
Notables: Ros (7.6)

we should have done better here, and now we're in big trouble going into the second leg. We've recovered from situations like this before, but not against a team that's this good.

After the match there are discussions in the media about how both the OM penalty and our disallowed goal were quite controversial. I thought our goal was very clearly offsides, but hey, lets buy into media hype, we got robbed!

Barcelona beats Chelsea 1:0 at Chelsea, not a good day for the English squads.

[Radii]

February 17th, 2028

Nottingham Forest (5-7-16, 18th) @ Ipswich (19-5-4, 1st)

We're massive 1:4 favorites today at home. With the FA Cup replay, a league match with #5 Blackburn and Champions League 2nd leg coming up it'd be nice to get a win here with some backups.

GK: Bogdanovs
D: Lucas/Junaedi/Williams/Hayward
M: Crespo/Leather/Mills/Gordon
F: Darcy/Constantino

loooots of backups today. Please don't backfire. Standard mindset at home.

2': Good stuff, we control the ball from the outset and have a long buildup on offense, finally Mills finds an opening and passes into the area to Darcy who has a clear cut chance and drills it! 1-0

24': Another long buildup of possession on offense, Constantino dribbles in the penalty area, passes out to the right to Hayward who has moved very far forward at this point, he drives a low cross into the 6 yard box and Darcy wins the header and nails it for his second goal! 2-0

35': They try to get one back, a run down the right, cross, a solid header... Bogdanovs can't get to it but the ball hits the crossbar and goes nearly straight down, barely staying out of the goal. Williams gets to it and clears it off the line.

40': Gareth Williams is hurt and must leave the match. Aldrovandi is in.

42': Leather is hurt as well but can stay in.

48': Ugh, they have a free kick in their end, taken by the keeper, they win a header about 20 yards out and knock the ball into the area, their ST Byrne gets to it first, has a clear cut chance and puts it by Bogdanovs. 2-1

HALF: We're still ahead but giving up that goal in injury time kinda sucks. We have to avoid getting complacent here. We outshoot them 10-3 and have 62% of the possession.

59': Darcy puts a ball into the right side of the area for constantino, he's got a clear cut chacne and scores! Some nice passing there. 3-1

61': David Ros is in for Leather at MC (Ros is primarily a ML but he is capable at MC, Leather is hurt and I want him out)

66': Darcy to Constantino again! This one though the credit goes to Constantino, he turned by his defender to generate the open space himself and had a really nice finish from 18 yards out! 4-1

We finish off a win with mostly backups, no complaints here!

Ipswich 4 : 1 Nottingham Forest

Man of the Match: Eoin Darcy (9.4)
Goals: Darcy 2, Constantino 2 (9.1)
Assists: Darcy 2, Mills (7.8), Hayward (7.8)
Notables: Lucas (7.7), Gordon (7.2), Leather (7.2)

Constantino turns 34 in a couple months, last year he only scored 1 goal in 12 league matches, I'm really happy to see another multi-goal game out of him here today.


Injury Update

-- MC Brian Leather is out for about 10 days.

-- DRC Gareth Williams is out for 5 days.


Blackburn and Man City get wins, Man Utd is upset at home by Huddersfield. On the next day Liverpool gets a win but the big news this week is that Arsenal gets a 1:0 win over Chelsea. That's HUGE for us.


1. Ipswich - 65 pts
2. Chelsea - 60 pts
3. Man City - 59 pts
4. Blackburn - 57 pts
5. Liverpool - 54 pts
6. Man Utd - 54 pts

9 matches to go. FA Cup Replay next, then in our next league match we host #4 Blackburn.

[Radii]

-- Ivanov and Brian Leather are singled out in a coaches meeting for having trained well recently. The early accomplishments of Brian Leather really haven't been discussed enough most likely. Remember he was a youth pull for me this year, he just turned 17 in January, yet he's found his way into 16 league matches, including 7 starts, with a 6.92 rating. This kid is going to be a star.

February 21st, 2028

FA Cup 5th Round Replay

Ipswich (20-5-4, 1st) @ Liverpool (15-9-5, 5th)

We're 13:8 underdogs today, Liverpool is 6:4 to advance at home. We played Liverpool to a 1:1 draw a week and a half ago at home.

GK: Bogdanovs
D: Kirkland/Mattle/Connor/Hayward
M: Crespo/Smith/Connolly/Gordon
F: Chapman/Di Giuseppe

After getting to rest everyone last match, we put out a crazy strong lineup today and expect everyone to step up in a critical situation. We counterattack.

19': Chapman makes a run down the left, he tries a cross but its pretty poor, but they can't clear, it bounces off a defender and falls free in the area and Di Giuseppe gets to it first and puts it in! 1-0

24': They attack hard, a pass into the left side of the area, Hayward goes to take the ball away but he brings down his man and its a penalty. Their striker Hatton takes the penalty and finishes it. 1-1

42': Connolly is hurt.

49': They have a corner, taken short and a shot is blocked. They recover it at the very left edge of the penalty box, really no threat at all.. but still in the area when Gordon commits a foul, and its another damn penalty. Hatton hits another one, very very frustrating half. 1-2

HALF: This is immensely frustrating. Both penalties were harmless tackles that just didn't quite get the ball, legit penalties to be sure though. They shoot 8 times with 3 on target, we just have 2 shots with the 1 on target for the goal. We're not playing bad and their shots outside the penalties haven't been threatening.

47': Time to go aggressive... attacking.

56': Chapman is 30 yards out, passes ahead to Di Giuseppe at the 20 yard mark, Di Giuseppe makes the turn and has open space ahead of him, he gets a yard or so into the area, shoots far post and beats the keeper, goal!! 2-2

65': A run up the middle by Chapman, he passes to Di Giuseppe but he doesn't have an opening, he pulls the ball out right and crosses it in to Connolly, Connolly has a wonderful open look but hits the right post.

76': They attack right down the middle, similar to Di Giuseppe's goal, they get it to Hatton, he turns by Connor and gets an open look and scores. 2-3

83': Ros in for Crespo, Mills in for Connolly.

87': Garcia Mut in for Gordon.

We can't do anything late and we're out of the FA Cup.

Liverpool 3 : 2 Ipswich

Goals: Di Giuseppe 2 (8.8)
Assists: Chapman 2 (8.2)
Notables: Crespo (7.0)

Gordon and Hayward, the two that gave up the penalties, finish with 5.5 and 5.3 ratings.

Injury Update

-- Connolly is going to miss about 5 days with a "facial injury" he picked up today.


Really disappointing. We've won the FA Cup twice in the last 5 years, losing out early this year really sucks.

[Radii]

February 24th, 2028

Blackburn (16-9-4, 4th) @ Ipswich (20-5-4, 1st)

Blackburn are 8 points behind us with 9 matches to, they're also only 3 points ahead of Liverpool and Man Utd in 5th/6th. We are 4:7 favorites (way more than we should be) to win this one. We tied them 1:1 at their place easlier in the year and have actually played to a draw the last 3 meetings, and 6 of the last 8 meetings (we won the other two).

GK: Bogdanovs
D: Kirkland/Mattle/Connor/Hayward
M: Crespo/Smith/Mills/Ivanov
F: Darcy/Di Giuseppe

Connolly and Leather are hurt, leaving us a bit thin at MC. Standard mindset at home today.

5': We have a corner, they head it out of the area but Ivanov recovers. He dribbles into the left side of the area, down near the end line and crosses into the 6 yard box. Darcy is there along with 3 Blackburn defenders... Darcy gets up above everyone though and heads it into the net! 1-0

24': They get ST Butler behind our line to recieve a pass from 40 yards out, he's got a decent look but not considered a clear cut chance form 18 yards out... Bogdanovs is able to save it.

HALF: A pretty boring half, and after getting out to the early lead that's ok. We shoot 6 times with just 2 on target, they have 2 shots. Ivanov takes an 8.0 rating into the locker room, pretty impressive. No reason to change anything here.

58': Di Giuseppe is hurt, but can stay in.

62': Di Giuseppe with a great bit of dribbling 30-40 yards out to get around multiple defenders, a pass ahead to Mills, he shoots but saved.

65': Chapman in for Di Giuseppe, no need to risk further injury.

68': After much buildup Smith gets the ball ahead to Crespo, he crosses it in from the left side, Chapman wins the header and its a clear cut chance... but headed right at the keeper.

71': A perfectly timed break by their ST Butler gets him behind the defense, he receives a pass, shoots from 15 yards out and scores. Ugh. 1-1

77': We attack.

We get a couple shots in added time that should have been threatening, but ended up way wide.

Ipswich 1 : 1 Blackburn

Man of the Match: Dobrin Ivanov (8.6)
Goal: Darcy (7.0)
Assist: Ivanov
Notable: Kirkland (7.0)

Otherwise its strikingly average. Everyone else rated 6.5-6.8. I felt like we were clearly the better team but they got behind our defense twice and made us pay once. We had 8 more shots than them but didn't generate enough really good opportunities.


Injury Update

Yuri Di Giuseppe is going to miss ~10 days with an injured elbow from this match. He'll miss our match against OM coming up.


Man City crushes Watford, Liverpool beats Tottenham, and Chelsea gets a big home win over Man U.

We stay in first but lost a couple points off our lead. 8 to go:

1. Ipswich - 66 pts
2. Chelsea - 63 pts
3. Man City - 62 pts
4. Blackburn - 58 pts
5. Liverpool - 57 pts
6. Man Utd - 54 pts

[Radii]

March Update

We play on the 6th, 12th, 17th, and 31st. Our first match is the Champions League against OM. We've put ourselves in a big hole, if we can climb out of it on the 6th the Quarterfinals of the Champions League would add a game to the schedule in late March.

-- Ivanov is 3rd in young player of the month voting.

-- Darcy is 2nd and Constantino (??) is 3rd in Player of the Month voting.

-- I'm 3rd when it comes ot Manager of the Month. Liverpool's boss was first after a 3-1-0 month that move them up to 5th and just a point out of 4th. Arsenal took over 7th and their boss was 2nd.

-- The board is very pleased with my leadership. Our overall stature increase is the highlight, our FA Cup exit is a slight disappointment.

Injury Update

DR Clive Hayward is hurt in training and is going to miss 2-3 weeks. Clive Jackson will get about 4 starts as a result and that's an annoying loss.


-- In a coaches meeting we learn that Ivanov and Leather are both training well. That's the good news. The bad is that Chris Bryan is making noise about wanting a new challenge. He's quite good and we want him around as long as possible, we'll see what develops there.


March 6th, 2028

European Champions Cup First Knockout Round Second Leg

OM (2nd, Ligue 1) (2) @ (0) Ipswich (1st, EPL)

We lost

GK: Bogdanovs
D: Kirkland/Mattle/Connor/Jackson
M: Crespo/Smith/Connolly/Gordon
F: Chapman/Darcy

Darcy starts for Di Giuseppe who isn't quite ready to go yet, and Jackson starts for the injured Hayward. We'll attack, needing 2 goals to even this series up.

16': They counter after saving a shot by Darcy, a couple long passes, run down the left and a cross into the 6 yard box, ST Luis with a clear cut chance on a header but headed weakly at the keeper.

26': We have 7 shots with 5 on target, I've seen Darcy take a few but none have been great looks.

HALF: We see Smith and Chapman shoot the rest of the way and that's it. We're pressuring them as hard as we can, 13 shots, 7 on target. OM shoots 5 times/1 on target. We'll keep the pressure on and hope to get one back quickly in the second half to give us a chance.

59': Bryan in for Darcy. Darcy didn't play bad, just seeing if something else will work.

70': Garcia Mut in for a very tired Gordon.

74': We haven't been able to get a shot on target this half.

80': Bryan to Connolly in the area gets us our first shot on target, its turned behind for a corner that we can't do anything with.

86': Crespo with a cross to the far post, Garcia Mut is there and has a big opening, but his header is poor and right at the keeper. That was our first clear cut chance.

That's it.

Ipswich (0) 0 : 0 (2) OM

Its been a disappointing couple weeks for Ipswich fans, knocked out of the FA Cup and now the Champions League earlier than expected. Down 2 goals coming into this one, OM was able to play good defense and make it extremely hard for us to score.

Their keeper is the clear man of the match.

Notables: Jackson (7.0), Connor (7.2), Mattle (7.3), Chapman (7.0)

Barcelona knocks out Chelsea today as well.

-- We receive $4.3 million for our play in the Champions league.

With this we turn our entire focus towards winning the EPL.

[Radii]

-- Man City beats Cagliari to advance in the Champions League, the only EPL squad to make the quarterfinals.

-- We offer Chris Bryan a contract extension, a small raise and a $1 million signing bonus to hopefully keep him happy here. He accepts the contract.

-- We're playing a day after the rest of the league, and good news abounds. Liverpool draws with Man City and Chelsea travels to #20 Sheffield Wednesday and loses 1:0. If we are able to get a win over Aston Villa here we'll have a 6 point lead on 2nd with just 7 matches to go.


March 11th, 2028

Ipswich (20-6-4, 1st) @ Aston Villa (7-14-9, 11th)

We're once again big favorites today, 4:5 to win on the road. We're 7-8-8 lifetime against them, we haven't lost to them in our last 8 meetings, and we won 3:2 at home back in November.

GK: Bogdanovs
D: Kirkland/Mattle/Connor/Williams
M: Ros/Smith/Connolly/Ivanov
F: Di Giuseppe/Bryan

Gareth Williams starts at DR, Jackson isn't used to playing that much and can't go two matches in a row. Standard mindset in a match we should win on the road.

18': Ivanov passes to Di Giuseppe who is 30-35 yards out. He makes a beautiful run, cutting between two defenders to get an open look 18 yards out and he drills it! 1-0

45': A solid 20 minutes pass without a highlight, then there's a little back and fort, here Smith passes ahead to Di Giuseppe, he's 25 yards out, turns by his man, sprints into the penalty area and scores an easy second goal! 2-0

HALF: Di Giuseppe is the man. He created both those goals by himself really. We shoot 10 times to their 5, 5 on target to their 2. They're tackling really well (83%) but we're doing better in the air.

50': We'll drop back to counterattacking with this lead.

77': Garcia Mut is in for Ivanov

We finish this off easily.

Aston Villa 0 : 2 Ipswich

Man of the Match: Yuri Di Giuseppe (9.0)
Goals: Di Giuseppe 2
Assists: Ivanov (7.3), Smith (7.3)
Notables: Williams (7.3), Kirkland (7.8), Connor (7.3), Mattle (7.3), Ros (7.1)


This is a pretty huge couple days for us, we're now 6 points clear of the field with just 7 matches to go.

1. Ipswich - 69 pts
2. Man City - 63 pts
3. Chelsea - 63 pts
4. Blackburn - 61 pts
5. Liverpool - 58 pts
6. Man Utd - 57 pts

[Radii]

-- We have 16 players called up for international duty in Europe, in addition to Connolly for Australia. World Cup Qualifying is picking back up I think.

March 17th, 2028

QPR (9-7-15, 14th) @ Ipswich (21-6-4, 1st)

We're 1:6 favorites at home today, a chance to start some backups it would seem.

GK: Bogdanovs
D: Lucas/Junaedi/Olvera/Williams
M: Ros/Mills/Leather/Ivanov
F: Bryan/Constantino

Lots and lots of backups in today. Standard mindset at home.

14': Bryan to Constantino to Ivanov for a look, its a tough one, and Ivanov hits the left post, close.

28': Mills with a ball into the right side of the area, Ivanov breaks on it nicely and has a clear cut chance... but he puts it at the keeper and its saved.

29': Ivanov again receives a ball in the area, this time he's brought down and its a penalty! Ivanov is going to take the PK... goal! 1-0

39': Ivanov is hurt.

44': Mills passes ahead to Bryan, Bryan turns by his man, into the area, shoots from 15 yard out and its a goal! 2-0

HALF: We shoot 9 times, 4 on target, they shoot 4 times with none on target. Garcia Mut is in for the injured Ivanov at the half.

48': We have a throwin in their half, after a couple passes, Mills with a pass between two defenders in a crowded penalty area, Garcia Mut is there 10 yards from the goal and he scores easily! 3-0

50': Garcia Mut a cross, Bryan a header, goal! 4-0

63': Garcia Mut is tackled in the area and we get our second penalty. Bryan takes it and scores. 5-0

Easy easy!

Ipswich 5 : 0 QPR

Man of the Match: Chris Bryan (9.6)
Goals: Bryan 3, Ivanov (7.1), Garcia Mut (8.2)
Assists: Garcia Mut 2, Mills 2 (9.1)
Notables: Williams (8.1), Lucas (8.0), Olvera (8.0), Junaedi (7.4), Ros (7.4), Leather (7.7), Constantino (7.0)

Man City beats Arsenal, Blackburn beats Aston Villa, Man U beats Tottenham, Chelsea beats Newcastle. Liverpool fall to 6th losing to Sheffield Utd.

6 matches to go:

1. Ipswich - 72 pts
2. Man City - 66 pts
3. Chelsea - 66 pts
4. Blackburn - 64 pts
5. Man Utd - 60 pts
6. Liverpool - 58 pts

The last 3 seasons we've finished with 81 points, 80 points, and 81 points. Of course just staying in first is all that really matters but it'd be cool to top that.

[Radii]

-- ML Crespo is making noise about wanting a new challenge. As with Bryan, we'll see where that goes.

-- DR Hayward resumes full training.

-- A round of World Cup Qualifiers are played and a lot of our guys did well, most notably Connolly getting an assist for Australia against South Korea, Chapman getting a goal for England against Montenegro, Darcy getting a goal for Ireland against Macedonia, and Di Giuseppe picks up a hat trick in a 6-0 stomp over Malta by Italy. Darcy now has 22 goals in 34 international matches for Ireland, while Di Giuseppe has 25 goals in 38 matches for Italy.

March 31st, 2028

Ipswich (22-6-4, 1st) @ Arsenal (13-9-10, 7th)

We're slim 6:4 favorites at Arsenal today. They're clinging to a 2 point lead over Sheffield Utd for 7th and have no shot at 6th. We crushed Arsenal 3:0 at home back in December. We're just 11-3-17 lifetime against them.

GK: Bogdanovs
D: Kirkland/Mattle/Connor/Hayward
M: Crespo/Smith/Connolly/Ivanov
F: Di Giuseppe/Bryan

Counterattacking on the road of course.

14': Beautiful play by Ipswich. We clear a ball out of their end, Bryan picks it up in our half, he draws two defenders near midfield and plays a perfect pass ahead to Di Giuseppe, he gets a half step on his man 40 yards from goal and takes off, building extra space between him and the closest defender, the keeper tries to attack as Di GIuseppe nears, but the shot is perfect, by the keeper and in! 1-0

32': A through ball on their side to Nooij, we react extremely poorly, Hayward was out of position, allowing Nooij to hang out behind our DC's, and Bogdanovs couldn't decide whether to come out or not and got stuck in a bad spot. They tie it up. 1-1

HALF: We have 8 shots to their 5 but each team got one big break and capitalized. We have an incredible 65% of the possession so far but they are tackling better than us and winning more in the air to keep us at bay.

60': Connolly finds Bryan 10 yards from goal with a bit of space, but he can't finish, a shot from close range is saved.

68': We control the ball on offense, they get a couple chances to clear but Connor both times wins headers at midfield to send it back into the offensive end. Smith passes to Bryan, Bryan turns by his man and gets into the area and scores! 2-1

84': Leather in for Di Giuseppe, 4-1-4-1. Garcia Mut in for Ivanov.

93': They get one last attack (hopefully its the last shot at least), a cross comes in from the right and Connor dangerously heads it down for Bogdanovs, who picks it up. Unsure if mishit or not.

That's it!

Arsenal 1 : 2 Ipswich

A difficult win, another huge one in our quest for a second straight EPL Title.

Man of the Match: Chris Bryan (8.9)
Goals: Bryan, Di Giuseppe (7.8)
Assists: Bryan, Smith (6.9)
Notables: Hayward (7.0), Kirkland (7.2), Connor (7.2), Crespo (7.1), Connolly (7.0)

Elsewhere:

Man City and Chelsea get easy wins over weaker squads. Man Utd over #9 Sunderland. Blackburn travels to Liverpool and they draw 1:1.

5 matches to go:

1. Ipswich - 75 pts
2. Man City - 69 pts
3. Chelsea - 69 pts
4. Blackburn - 65 pts
5. Man Utd - 63 pts
6. Liverpool - 59 pts
7. Sheffield Utd - 49 pts
8. Arsenal - 48 pts


One step closer to another title. Man Utd closed Blackburn's lead for 4th place down to 2 points, while Sheffield Utd took over 7th from Arsenal.

[Radii]

April Update

-- We play on the 7th, 21st and 29th. vs Liverpool and vs Man Utd for those latter two.

-- Chris Bryan scores 4 goals in 3 matches in April and is the player of the month in the EPL. Di GIuseppe is 3rd. Bryan has been amazing this season, he's played almost as much in league play as Di Giuseppe and Chapman and only has one less league goal than Di Giuseppe.

-- Youngster DRC Gareth Williams is 3rd in young player of the month voting. He had outstanding matches against Aston Villa and QPR in March.

-- I win manager of the month. 3 matches, all wins with a 9-1 goal differential.

-- The board remains very pleased with my leadership. Our "amazing increase in stature" is the highlight. The FA Cup is slightly disappointing. We lost $2.3 Mil last month.

-- I haven't really looked at financials much, we're down $94 million on the season so far and have a balance of negative $57 million. Champions League TV revenue and a top 2 place in the EPL will give us a big windfall at the end, but we'll still end up behind on the year. Hopefully that's ok with an EPL title.

April 7th, 2029

Ipswich (23-6-4, 1st) @ Watford (7-7-19, 18th)

We're big 4:7 favorites over a Watford team that seems quite likely to be demoted. We're 13-6-12 lifetime against Watford. 6-2-0 in the last 8 meetings though.

GK: Bogdanovs
D: Kirkland/Junaedi/Williams/Hayward
M: Ros/Smith/Leather/Gordon
F: Chapman/Constantino

Lots of backups today though not quite 100% across the board with Smith, Kirkland, Hayward and Chapman in the game here. Standard mindset here against Watford's 4-1-4-1.

4': They get a free kick just outside the penalty area on the right side. A cross to the 6 yard box, header by DC Zitouni and we fall behind early. 0-1

18': Throwin deep in their end, thrown into the penalty area to Chapman, he goes all the way down to the left end line, lobs the ball into the 6 yard box, Constantino is there and heads it in! Not sure how their keeper didn't just grab that, but ok! 1-1

23': Quick buildup here, Smith to Chapman, he fires a pass into the area with a lot of pace, Consantino breaks on it and scores on his first touch! 2-1

HALF: We watch Watford send a shot over the bar and then 15 minutes fly off the clock as we go into the locker room with a one goal lead. Each team shoots 4 times, we put 3 on target to just 1 for Watford, we also have a 58/42 possession edge. Only 36% of our tackles have been successful but that includes a 1 for 6 success rate from our forwards. Kirkland has missed two and Leather has missed two, they should do better.

49': They have a corner, taken to the near man and his shot hits the crossbar. Williams clears it.

70': We drop back into a counter attacking mindset.

90': They build up on offense, ST Garrido receives a pass a bit left of center, 20 yards out, he gets into the area and shoots far post, our defense was a bit slow to get there and he's able to get his shot by Bogdanovs, they tie it late. 2-2

Ick, that'll do it.

Watford 2 : 2 Ipswich

Man of the Match: Constantino (8.8)
Goals: Constantino 2
Assists: Chapman 2 (8.7)
Notables: Ros (7.0)

Allowing the late goal hurts us a bit, lets see if anyone was able to take advantage.


Chelsea travels to Southampton and can only manage a 1:1 draw. Blackburn draws with QPR. Liverpool does get a win today. Man Utd and Man City have a prime time showdown in a few days, we'll be rooting heavily for Man Utd.

4 matches to go:

1. Ipswich - 76 pts
2. Chelsea - 70 pts
3. Man City - 69 pts - 1 less played
4. Blackburn - 66 pts
5. Man Utd - 63 pts - 1 less played
6. Liverpool - 62 pts
7. Sheffield Utd - 50 pts
8. Arsenal - 48 pts - 1 less played

Chelsea doesn't make up any ground. Man City with a match in hand but as said above its @Man Utd, hopefully United helps us keep our lead.

[Radii]

-- WOOHOO. Man Utd 3 : 0 Man City. We're 6 up on Chelsea and 7 ahead of Man City with 4 matches to go. Our next two matches are at home, but very difficult opponents

-- The Quarterfinals are done in the Champions League. Barcelona > Atletico Madrid, Man City > AC Milan, Inter > Roma, and OM > AS Monaco. Barcelona faces OM in one semifinal, Inter and Man City in the other.


April 21st, 2029

Liverpool (17-11-6, 6th) @ Ipswich (23-7-4, 1st)

We're once again big favorites, 4:6 to win today, against Liverpool. Liverpool are 4 points behind both Man U and Blackburn, so they need a win badly if they want a top 4 finish. We're 9-7-8 lifetime against Liverpool. We beat them at their place back in November, but in the FA Cup we tied them at home and lost on the road in the replay.

GK: Bogdanovs
D: Kirkland/Mattle/Connor/Hayward
M: Ros/Smith/Connolly/Ivanov
F: Di Giuseppe/Bryan

Liverpool's ST Jimmy Hatton has 33 goals in league play, 13 more than 2nd place. He's clearly the man to watch. We're going to counterattack at least for now against a very agressive 4-3-2-1 formation from Liverpool.

25': Smith to Di Giuseppe, he is behind the defense and has the first clear cut chance for either side... but his shot is pushed wide left.

27': We clear it out of our end and Di Giuseppe is off to the races, he goes down the left side, Bryan is all alone in the area, Di Giuseppe crosses to him, Bryan volleys it.. right at the keeper. Should have scored there.

44': Connolly steals a ball in midfield, a pass ahead to Bryan, Di Giuseppe has lots of room up ahead, the pass to Di Giuseppe, but his first touch is poor and it squirts away to the keeper.

45': They take a long shot, it grazes off a defender but stays on target, Bogdanovs blocks it away, but their man Hatton is there for the rebound and puts it in. 0-1

HALF: We are just struggling with Liverpool going back to those FA Cup matches. It feels like we're better, but behind. 6 shots, 3 on target, 3 clear cut chances but no goals. 7 shots for Liverpool but 3 of them long range. We've got a 58/42 possession edge and are tackling and passing better. We'll just come out attacking in the second half and see if we can pile on the aggression.

54': They counter after a failed attack on our part, Hatton gets out in the open and he's got a clear cut chance... but Bogdanovs makes a big save.

57': Ros a yellow.

66': Bryan a yellow.

68': Connolly intercepts a poor pass in our own half, a pass ahead to Bryan, he sprints down the right side and draws the defense over that way, he passes over to Connolly, Connolly shoots instead of trying to get it to Di Giuseppe who is forward as well, and it works, Connolly scores! 1-1

74': Garcia Mut in for Ivanov.

85': Chapman in for Bryan.

93': They have one last corner, taken to the near post and headed.. but off the crossbar and over.

Ipswich 1 : 1 Liverpool

We've had a tough time with Liverpool and I'll take a draw here.

Man of the Match: Chris Bryan (7.9)
Goals: Connolly (7.3)
Assists: Bryan
Notables: Kirkland (7.0)

I subbed Bryan b/c he had a yellow and was quite work down, I don't usually take people out who are rated that much better than everyone.

Chelsea crushes West Ham 4:0, Man City beats Sheffield Wed so both teams make up a couple points on us today. Blackburn gets a win while Man Utd plays to a draw, so they are back into 4th.

3 matches to go:

1. Ipswich - 77 pts
2. Chelsea - 73 pts
3. Man City - 72 pts
4. Blackburn - 69 pts
5. Man Utd - 67 pts
6. Liverpool - 63 pts
7. Sheffield Utd - 51 pts
8. Arsenal - 49 pts

We lead by 4 points with 3 matches left. We host Man Utd next. We will still control our own destiny no matter what happens but we could avoid a LOT of pressure if we can beat these guys.

[Radii]

-- Man City beats Inter in the Champions League semifinals (1:1 draw @Inter, 1-0 win at home) and advances to the finals.

Injury Update

Ugh. Yuri Di Giuseppe is hurt in training and is out for about a week. He'll miss the Man U match.

-- Chelsea plays the day before we do and beats Nottingham Forest 2:0 so we only lead them by 1 point, pending our big meeting with Man U of course. Arsenal beats Blackburn which could have a major impact on who gets the 4th Champions League spot.

April 29th, 2029

Man Utd (19-10-6, 5th) @ Ipswich (23-8-4, 1st)

We're 5:4 favorites at home, Man U are 7:4 to win. They're 2 points out of a Champions League top 4 spot. We're 9-11-10 lifetime aginst Man U. There have been a few draws here and there, but we haven't seen the road team win in this series in 5 years, we hope to continue that.

GK: Bogdanovs
D: Kirkland/Mattle/Connor/Hayward
M: Crespo/Smith/Connolly/Ivanov
F: Chapman/Bryan

Standard mindset at home here.

2': Connor is hurt, he can stay in but that sucks.

4': Bryan makes a great one on one move and gets a clear cut chance, but the keeper makes a strong save.

7': A nice ball from Bryan to Ivanov coming in from the right, but Ivanov's shot is saved.

35': We've been in complete control this half but have nothing to show for it so far.

39': A beautiful long ball from Kirkland down the left side, Chapman gets to it and sprints down the left, a cross into the box, the keeper is shaded over ot the near post, Bryan heads it and its a pretty, softly struck header that floats into the right side of the net seemingly in slow motion. It was just perfectly placed so their keeper had no way to get to it. 1-0

HALF: We have a 60/40 possession edge, that's as close as that number has been, at the 20 minute mark it was 69/31 in our favor. That's led to 10 shots for us with 4 on target, while Man U has only managed 3 shots. We assume they'll push pretty hard at us and will counterattack in the second half.

51': Well that was just terrible. They have a goal kick, their keeper sends it long, to about the 20-22 yard mark. Bogdanovs leaves his goal and comes out to try to head the ball.. for really no reason at all, Connor is there, and so is their star Wray... Wray is the one to win the ball, heads it over Bogdanovs and it rolls into the net. That may be the single worst mistake I've ever seen Bogdanovs make. 1-1

54': Chapman with a through ball for Bryan, Man U feels its offsides and its close, but not called, Bryan runs onto the ball and scores! 2-1

-- I started talking to my LoL friends on voice chat while the second half was playing out, I did watch everything closely, they never really threatened seriously, Mattle had a couple strong defensive plays to prevent attacks from starting and they had a few shots that weren't threatening at all. We hang on from here and secure a key win!

Ipswich 2 : 1 Man Utd

Man of the Match: Chris Bryan (9.0)
Goals: Bryan 2
Assists: Chapman 2 (8.3)
Notables: Kirkland (7.2), Ivanov (7.0)

Bryan has been on fire in the last couple months. He may end up being our leading goalscorer.


Injury Update

-- Kieran Connor is going to miss a week with the injury he picked up today. He may miss our penultimate match.


Man City gets another win as well.

2 matches to go:

1. Ipswich - 80 pts
2. Chelsea - 76 pts
3. Man City - 75 pts
4. Blackburn - 69 pts
5. Man Utd - 67 pts
6. Liverpool - 64 pts
7. Arsenal - 52 pts
8. Sheffield Utd - 52 pts

We can now clinch the EPL title with another win. Blackburn still leads Man Utd by 2 points for the 4th spot, and Arsenal is tied for 7th with Sheffield Utd but holds the gial differential advantage.

[Radii]

May Update

-- We travel to Sheffield Wednesday on the 5th and host Newcastle on the 13th. We need 3 points to clinch the EPL title (though technically 2 points would do it unless Chelsea wins 7-0 and 8-0).

-- In a training update we learn that youngsters Graham Black (DRC/MRC), GK Paul Ralph and GK Aaron have all trained well recently, while Mattle and Garcia Mut are showing some signs of fading.

-- Bryan and Chapman are 2nd and 3rd in Player of the Month voting this month.

-- MR Ivanov is 2nd for young player of the month this month.

-- The board is very pleased with my leadership, stature increase good, FA Cup loss bad, same as its been for months. We did lose $8.75 mil last month.

May 5th, 2029

Ipswich (24-8-4, 1st) @ Sheffield Wednesday (5-9-22, 20th)

We're 1:3 favorites over the worst team in the league. Lets not have a letdown game here boys.

GK: Bogdanovs
D: Lucas/Mattle/Williams/Hayward
M: Crespo/Leather/Connolly/Ivanov
F: Bryan/Constantino

Some backups in today but not too many. Standard mindset on the road.

13': Ivanov with a cross to the far post, Bryan with a strong header but its high.

14': They attack, there's a pass into the area for ST Bell, Bogdanovs rushes out for it, but he bobbles the ball and drops it. Bell is there to put it into the empty net. WTF, that's two massive mistakes by Bogdanovs in two matches. 0-1

34': Through ball for their ST Bell, he's by our defense but Bogdanovs makes a diving save to stop this clear cut chance.

HALF: Just an awful first half, Bogdanovs and Hayward at 5.8, a few others 6.0. I yell a bit to try to wake them up for the second half. We outshoot them 6-5, but they have an insane 62/38 possession edge. I bring Darcy in for Constantino at the half.

50': We'll attack.

64': Kirkland in for Lucas.

66': Crespo with a long run down the left side, a cross far post, Ivanov with the header... just over, that was a clear cut chance apparently.

70': Connolly with a long range shot, the keeper has to make a diving save to stop that one, good try. They clear the corner.

77': Connolly a yellow.

84': Crespo is hurt and forced to leave the match. Ros is in.

89': They get a breakaway counter attacking as we desperately try to salvage a point. ST Bell gets into the area all alone, but Bogdanovs makes the save when he shoots!

93': Bryan with a rocket of a shot from 18 yards out, the keeper dives to tip it wide. First corner it headed aside for a throwin, second one is cleared.

Wow. What an embarrassing result.

Sheffield Wednesday 1 : 0 Ipswich

Bogdanovs 5.8, Constantino 5.9, Bryan 5.9, Hayward 6.0.


Chelsea chokes too, drawing 1:1 with Everton. Man City comes through though with a win though to make it interesting.

1 match to go:

1. Ipswich - 80 pts
2. Man City - 78 pts
3. Chelsea - 77 pts
4. Man Utd - 70 pts
5. Blackburn - 69 pts
6. Liverpool - 67 pts
7. Sheffield Utd - 53 pts
8. Arsenal - 52 pts

Man U beats Blackburn to take over 4th place. Arsenal loses and falls to 8th.

Man City plays Huddersfield in their last match. We host Newcastle. We have a goal differential edge on Man City so we just need 1 point to clinch.

Man City is in the Champions League final and the FA Cup final so if we choke this could turn into something amazing for them. Lets not choke.

[Radii]

May 13th, 2029

Newcastle (12-10-15, 10th) @ Ipswich (24-8-5, 1st)

We're even money favorites to win here, Newcastle are 11:5 to win, 11:5 to draw as well. We're 15-0-11 lifetime against Newcastle, that weird series where there's never been a draw. We won 2-0 at their place back in December. We're 8-0-1 in the last 9 against Newcastle. That loss was last season FWIW.

GK: Bogdanovs
D: Kirkland/Mattle/Connor/Hayward
M: Crespo/Smith/Connolly/Gordon
F: Di Giuseppe/Bryan

Bryan has been too good lately to rest, and I can't leave Di Giuseppe out of the most important match of the year when he's healthy right? So Chapman is on the bench. Standard mindset at home.

2': Smith puts a shot over from 18 yards out. Scoreboard watching... Man City gets on the board immediately against Huddersfield.

3': Di Giuseppe with a run down the left, cross in, Bryan heads it just over.

17': Their leading scorer Matteo gets a decent look in the penalty area, Bogdanovs makes a good save.

28': Highlight opens with a 3 on 4 break for us, Smith runs down the middle... keeps going... shoots 18 yards out, its saved.

35': Man City is up 2:0 now and Huddersfield has a man sent off. We just can't lose, that's all. NO PRESSURE GUYS.

HALF: Scoreless tie, Hayward struggling with a 6.0 rating, everyone else doing ok. We have 6 shots to their 4, possession is about even, they're tackling better but we're doing better in the air. We'll keep doing what we're doing. I don't like going into a defensive shell, and I feel like we allow too many chances and freak goals when we do, so I'm not going to try to hide and play for a draw here... too afraid of a backfire.

49': Throwin deep in their end, thrown short to Di Giuseppe, he passes to Connor, Connor steps up, fires a shot from 25 yards out... and its PERFECT, upper left corner of the net, where did that come from!!!! KIERAN CONNOR FTW! 1-0

66': They have a throwin in our half, two quick passes and ST Partridge has it at the penalty spot, Mattle with a great tackle, but the ball goes free to another man in the area for them, and he puts it in. Di Giuseppe takes the blame for missing an interception shortly after the throwin. 1-1

80': They have a corner, taken to the far end of the 6 yard box, Smith goes up for a header.. misses it, they win the header and score. Smith takes the blame and oh god are we choking away a title? 1-2

80': Obviously, attack...

83': Di Giuseppe to Crespo for a shot, but right at the keeper.

85': Bryan out wide right for Connolly, his shot is saved.

86': Chapman in for Bryan.

90': 3 minutes of extra time

93': Connolly gets us a corner, we completely give it away though. They send it long, Hayward controls the clearance and passes ahead to Crespo, Crespo immediately crosses into the area, its a poor cross, no one on our team nearby... their defender Hughes looks to volley it away and clear it... but its a poor/low/weak clearance clearance, Chapman jumps, heads it, the keeper dives, the ball bounces once... and INTO THE NET!!!!!!! The clock reads 92:24. Is *that* how we win the title? 2-2

THATS IT.

Ipswich 2 : 2 Newcastle

One of their scorers is man of the match.

Goals: Connor (7.5), Chapman (7.3)
Assists: Di Giuseppe (7.4)


And that's how you win the English Premier League and feel virtually no elation... just pure relief. On the verge of giving the title away to Man City with two straight losses to vastly inferior teams, including the worst team in the league having already been mathematically relegated, we get a fluke goal with 30 seconds left in the match to earn a draw and back our way into the title. WHEW.


Ipswich Retain Premier Division Title - After finishing second in the EPL to Arsenal two years in a row, we've now won the EPL twice in a row.

Dixon Becomes Ipswich Favorite

-- I guess I wasn't before? But on the team information screen I am, along with Di Giuseppe, Chris Bryan and Brett Connolly, listed as "favored personnel". Constantino is listed as one of the "Legends", as he absolutely should be.

-- We receive $34,042,000 for winning the EPL and officially qualify for the Champions League.


Final Standings

1. Ipswich - 81 pts - +46 Goal Differential
2. Man City - 81 pts - +42 Goal Differential
3. Chelsea - 78 pts
4. Blackburn - 72 pts
5. Man Utd - 70 pts
6. Liverpool - 70 pts
7. Sheffield Utd - 56 pts

On the final day of the season Blackburn beats Sheffield Wednesday, while Man Utd can only manage a draw with Aston Villa, so Blackburn earns the Champions League spot, Man U will be in the Euro Cup. Arsenal loses to QPR, allowing Sheffield Utd to finish 7th, but it means nothing as Exeter wins the League Cup and clinches the final slot in the Euro Cup.

Man U beats Blackburn to take over 4th place. Arsenal loses and falls to 8th.


Once again.. WHEW.

[Radii]

Awards

-- Sunderland's Richard Shaw is the Young Player of the Year in England. John Mason from Sheffield Utd is 2nd, MC Brian Leather of Ipswich is 3rd. That's 17 year old Brian Leather.

-- I win the Manager of the Year award. Man Utd's manager is 2nd (why?) and Man City's is 3rd.

-- We are shut out of the two player of the year awards (English Footballer and Players Player of the Year). I find this completely absurd. Liverpool's Jimmy Hatton was destined to win it with an absurd 40 league goals, but Yuri Di Giuseppe scored 16 goals and made 6 assists with a 7.75 average rating, tops in the EPL. Chris Bryan was second with a 7.70 rating.

EPL Team of the Year

GK: Dmitrijs Bogdanovs - Ipswich - 6.97 rating
DL: Stuart Kirkland - Ipswich - 7.28 rating
DC: Kieran Connor - Ipswich - 6.95 rating
DC: Pat Scott - Man Utd - 7.18 rating
DR: Alex Livesey - Man City - 7.33 rating
ML: Bruno Franco - Sunderland - 7.15 rating
MC: Bob Van Schijndel - Man Utd - 7.40 rating
MC: Christiaan Velder - Blackburn - 7.40 rating
MR: Victor - Aston Villa - 7.34 rating
FC: Jimmy Hatton - Liverpool - 7.50 rating
FC: Stuart Wray - Man Utd - 7.55 rating

Brett Connolly is a reserve on this team with a 7.09 rating.

[Radii]

That's where I'm leaving things tonight and maybe for a couple days.

I'm seriously considering ending my managing career here. We don't have a Champions League title, but we've won two EPL titles and we've won the FA Cup twice. We're a top 10 squad in Europe. We get $80 million to spend each year and I didn't even use 85% of my wage budget this season. In short, being a frontrunner isn't quite as fun. FM is about the journey, and we have, by any measure, arrived.

This dynasty deserves to be completed, not just left aside for good at some random point. I'm not sure about this, I'm going to think on it for a day or two, I may decide I want to take another shot at a Champions League title. If I do wrap things up though, I intend to make a list of my current favorite players and sim ahead until they all retire and write up how everyone does, and where Ipswich goes for the next few years or so (Di Giuseppe would be around for 10 more years I'm sure and I'd obviously want to follow him).

Anyway, more on this in a couple days.

[chesapeake]

What a finish to the season! Man City got to be on the bitter end of a last second, disaaster-averting goal this time.

[Poli]

Man, the end of quite a run.

[ntndeacon]

This is what made me get the game!. What a great Dynasty!

[NoSkillz]

Absolutely *love* this dynasty. If you decide to end this particular career, I just hope you get back on the horse again soon and start a new dynasty.

This is a hall-of-fame thread. Congratulations on the great run!

[Professor58]

Add me as someone who got the game because of this thread. Thanks.

[britrock88]

Ditto.

[britrock88]

Though I've probably mentioned that somewhere in the prior 38(!) pages.

[Radii]

This is the 92nd minute goal that won the EPL for Ipswich this last season. With less than a minute of extra time remaining, we were about to throw the season away to Man City when this happened. As always, the youtube vids best viewed full screen.

[Radii]

I've decided to retire as manager of Ipswich. I'm planning on doing a number of updates to track the remainder of the careers of my favorite players, and to see what happens with Ipswich after my retirement.

[Radii]

Players to Track


ST Yuri Di Giuseppe - Has 115 career league goals at age 22. His career match rating average is 7.55, last year he posted an 8.04 average in 34 EPL matches. Di Giuseppe is my second favorite player in this dynasty, its very likely that I will sim ahead to his retirement and that will dictate the completion of things here.

ST Chris Bryan - 26 years old and a 9 year Ipswich Veteran, Bryan has 69 career league goals. I spend $50M+ to build a front line of Clive Chapman and Yuri Di Giuseppe, and Bryan somehow finds a way to lead the team in goals, scoring 17 in 21 matches.

ST Eoin Darcy - 25 years old, always 2nd (or 3rd) fiddle for me, but he'd turned into a dangerous scorer. He has 73 league goals in his career, more than Bryan thanks to 3 seasons in lower leagues. Darcy is also on his way to becoming an international legend in Ireland, with 22 goals in 34 caps for the Irish senior squad.

ML Juan Pablo Crespo - 28 years old, an 8 year Ipswich veteran, 21 goals and 19 assists, not the most flashy numbers but an important member of our titles.

MC Brett Connolly - 24 years old, he's already made 58 appearances for the Australian national team. A 5 year Ipswich vet, he's got 198 league matches and 46 assists to his name already, though 20 of those were with lower clubs before he arrived here.

MC Craig Smith - Also just 24, and seemingly the best youth pull in my career. A consistent starter since age 18, he's got 157 league matches and 34 assists to his name.

DC Kieran Connor - Only 3 years at Ipswich but when you pay $59 million for a defender you want to follow him the rest of the way He's already appeared in 232 league matches, all in the EPL, and is only 24.

DL Stuart Kirkland - Probably my favorite... maybe second favorite... non striker of this dynasty. Kirkland is 29 years old and is one of two players remaining on the squad who was here when I arrived. Kirkland has 413 league appearances, posting the second highest rating of his career this year. I hope he hangs around for a long time.

MC Steven Mills - 31 years old and a 10 year Ipswich vet, we bought him from Arsenal in my final season in the Championship, he was a key part of helping us stay up in the EPL for good. 276 league matches in his career with 76 assists, every single assist was made with Ipswich.


DR Clive Jackson - 29 y/o, a 12 year Ipswich veteran with 227 matches played and a 6.87 career rating. A very steady presence for us for a long time.

GK Dmitrijs Bogdanovs - 31 y/o. A 5 year Ipswich vet. Signing Bogdanovs was probably almost as important as signing Di Giuseppe as far as vaulting Ipswich from a solid EPL team to a title contender. He's been top 3 in EU Keeper of the Year voting 4 years running, including being named the best keeper in Europe 2 seasons ago. Bogdanovs has played an amazing 624 league matches in his career.

MR Neil Gordon - 33 y/o, an Ipswich lifer. He came up with ipswich in the 12/13 season, was loaned out 4 times before becoming a full time starter. Gordon has appeared in 472 matches, scoring 106 goals and making 84 assists. My favorite non-striker in my career along with Kirkland.

ST Constantino - *the* player of this dynasty. Should go down as one of the greatest names in any FOFC dynasty ever. Bounced around in Barcelona, Man City and Aston Villa's youth systems before being loaned out to my Woking team two years running. He singlehandedly got Woking from league 2 to the Championship and got me my job at Ipswich. I was able to purchase him at Ipswich where he's become a true legend. Constantino put up godlike numbers with his speed at lower levels, including a 50 goal/17 assist/21 Man of the Match season in my last season in the Championship. After that, he proved he had more than just speed, being *the* star at Ipswich in the EPL for many seasons. He's 34 and I'll write more about him when he retires, which could be soon.


That's a long list of players, but these are my guys, and while I'm ready to close out this dynasty and move on to FM12, I won't consider it this one properly complete until we see through the careers of my guys.

[Radii]

Ipswich Boss Resigns

Ipswich head coach Richard Dixon has resigned from his position as manager after many years in the job.

The Ipswich board were quick to pay tribute to their long-serving manager, declaring that whilst they were sad to see Richard leave, his announcement has given everyone an opportunity to celebrate one of the club's most faithful servants.


My last action before retiring was to decline a job offer from Inter.

[Radii]

[Radii]

Competition Highlights

2009 - Hired - Woking
2010 - Blue Square South Champions
2013 - Blue Square Premier Champions
2016 - League 2 Champions
2017 - League 1 Champions
2017 - Hired - Ipswich
2018 - Coca-Cola Championship winner, promoted to EPL
2019 - Relegated out of EPL
2020 - Coca-Cola Championship winner, promoted to EPL
2023 - English League Cup Winners
2024 - EURO Cup Winners
2025 - FA Cup Winners
2027 - FA Cup Winners
2028 - English Premier Division Champions
2029 - English Premier Division Champions


Award Highlights

2009/10 - Blue Square South Manager of the Year
2012/13 - Blue Square Premier Manager of the Year
2015/16 - League 2 Manager of the Year
2016/17 - League 1 Manager of the Year
2017/18 - Championship Manager of the Year
2019/20 - Championship Manager of the Year
2027/28 - EPL Manager of the Year
2028/29 - EPL Manager of the Year

I was runner up for EPL Manager of the Year once and 3rd place twice.

[Radii]

One issue it appears that I'm going to have is that when a player retires if they aren't going into coaching they may just disappear from the game database entirely. Does anyone have any suggestions to try to make sure I catch these guys at or before retirement? Will retirements usually (always?) happen on Jun 30 so I can just make sure to note anything I want before then and probably be ok?