Career Tree's take on the Mad McGeady challenge (completed)

[Mr Tree]

Credit to @danovic78 for the challenge...

When searching for a suitable Irish midfielder... There was only one man who came to mind 😍

He scored the goal that got the bees into the Championship after so so many years of waiting. The Brentford faithful were sad to see him leave (actually he just left in real life, so 🤷‍♂️)

I wanted to try a new formation too, after sticking with 4-3-2-1's in my first two careers. And I really wanted to see if the Libero role was any good, just because!

The early returns are promising...

Can the little lad keep it up?!

Edited January 26, 2019 by Mr Tree

[danovic78]

Good to see someone else try this one.

Luiz Adriano was still great for me, also try and keep hold of Zobnin, a brilliant midfielder.

Good luck 

[Mr Tree]

We're a third of the way in now... Just knocked spurs out of the Champions League, so I'm into the last 8!

We beat Moneybags City in the group stage and ended up top of the group...

And the league's going pretty well too - beat CSKA home and away, so it looks in the bag...

But who cares about that - how's the main man doing?!

Well as you can see, this experimental tactic is tight at the back but not the most prolific going forward. And poor Judgey's having a right sulk since he turned 30 - he's only had one goal and one assist in his last 9 games!!

So it's not woeful, and hopefully he's not in terminal decline and still has a couple of good years in him, but we need a change in fortunes, that's for sure!

[danovic78]

Having a bit of a 30 something crisis! 😂

Hope he can come back from the rest of the season.

[FuddledFox]

Not a bad start but hopefully he stops sulking and gets back to business for you.

[Mr Tree]

1 hour ago, danovic78 said:

Having a bit of a 30 something crisis! 😂

Hope he can come back from the rest of the season.

Little sod found a little form but then got injured, missing the Champions League QF:

Oh, oh, can they..........!!!

 

No:

[danovic78]

Unlucky, Barca can do that to you.

I signed Nketiah too, he is perfect for that league!

[Ashez]

Decent start sulking aside but that CL exit stings lol. 

[Ian]

Good start. Looks like you were a little unlucky against Barca to me but with their players they can always get you.

I like the look of Nketiah too; I’ve looked at him on a number of saves but never got round to using him yet.

[Mr Tree]

Aw shucks, thanks guys, no worries, I wasn't expecting much vs Barca and was pleasantly surprised to still be in the tie after the first leg. 3-0 down at HT in Camp Nou, we might have had a chance of a recovery if not for the biased referee boo hiss...

Anyway, how did we end up?!

Title wrapped up with four games to go.

I think they've got a point there

Defensive record spoiled by 3-3 draw on the last day! But still, have to say my new tactic went well...

What about the Irish Messi?

He dominated the league assists chart (despite missing 7 of 30 games, nearly a quarter of the season!)

He earned various plaudits...

But none of this matters - we just need his goals and assists numbers for the challenge!

And he added 10 G+A in his last six games to finish the season strongly

Season 2 awaits... More of the same, please!

[Ian]

Great end to the season and a nice total. 

[FuddledFox]

A very strong end to the season and good total from The Judge.

Look forward to seeing who you pick next.

[Mr Tree]

40 minutes ago, Foxy said:

Look forward to seeing who you pick next.

Ah, panic! You had me worried I was doing it wrong. But I've checked, this is a one-player-only challenge, so we're all good...

We've reached the winter break in season 2, and Judgey is yet to experience a defeat in the Russian league...

We topped our champs league group ahead of Benfica and AC Milan, with the reward of Schalke in the first knockout round.

Alas, the main man's not had a great few months - fortunately he can still whip a good corner in, so better than nothing, but not much...

58 games, 49 G+A overall...

McGeady's record has been beaten, at least, but danovic's looks a tough ask from here.

[FuddledFox]

I thought this was one of those challenges were you change player each season 🤦‍♂️

 

[danovic78]

Going good so far. I'm sure he can have a strong finish.

[Mr Tree]

Season 2 is over!

We reached the last 8 in Europe again but didn't do much better than last year:

 

A few days later, Judgey's penalty sealed the title:

 

But disaster struck when he... apparently... strained his thigh (?!) winning a late penalty against the bottom team. I wanted him to stay on and just poke the penalty home with his good leg, but apparently that wasn't allowed...

 

It was only a 3-week injury but enough to knock him out for the rest of the season effectively, so he missed the Russian Cup victory:

 

We finished the league unbeaten again:

 

And the little fella impressed:

 

Meanwhile I was having to deal with media speculation too...

Naaaaah......

Ooh, chance'd be a fine thing...

Anyway, my manager profile after two years:

What?! I do believe they be dissin' my transfer acumen!

 

Anyway, this is all fluff - how did the Irish Messi end up?!?!

Another good spell late in the season before the injury cut things short, so we're on 65 G+A from 72 games overall.

Meaning I'll need 23 from his last 21 games in season 3 to match danovic's target. Unlikely, but will give it a shot!

Edited January 25, 2019 by Mr Tree

[Mr Tree]

Well season 3 is not going to plan...

Which meant he missed our dramatic Super Cup win...

And then... Not seen this before!

I clicked and it said accept or refuse, so I refused. But I wasn't hugely against it, so I thought I'd at least see if he fancied being a WBR (not that I'd have used him there anyway)...

I then tried RB again and got the same message! Silly game

[Ian]

Unlucky with the injury. It’s still early in the season though so he could still come back and do the business. 

I’ve noticed also that older players often want to retrain in a daft position. I usually just accept it but they rarely succeed with their training so I usually have to end it in a few weeks lol. 

[Mr Tree]

It's all over here, finally! So...

Firstly, another accolade:

 

But then, a further delay in getting the challenge completed:

 

We just about held on to reach the last eight of the Champions League again, despite our IDIOT substitute right wing-back picking up two bookings in 15mins on the pitch, the second for disputing their goal!

 

I was having to manage Judgey's fitness, plus taking the chance to use him in easier games and rest him for harder ones So he missed out on the quarter-final first leg:

 

And then the stars aligned so that I was able to give him his McGeady-equalling 93rd appearance in the second leg. Would he be able to write his name in folklore and get us over the hump and into the semi-finals???

You legend!

Couldn't believe it when he missed the bloody penalty, but of course he tucked the rebound away - you beauty!!

 

And that, my friends, is the end of the challenge!

We leave Spartak's story with them not having suffered a league defeat during Judgey's time there. The ultras will be happy!

 

And as for Alan, what was his final total?!

This is how he looked by the end:

 

And the scores on the doors?

Gah, cruel fate! We got so close to @danovic78's total but finish one short with 87!

 

It is a fun challenge, that's for sure. You're not bothered about holding on for a win at 1-0, because you'd rather get a second with your man scoring or assisting ahead of settling or conceding. And you curse your team when they score and your man isn't involved. So, some interesting different perspectives - definitely kept me entertained.

And I was only picking a personal favourite player for a participation trophy - I'm amazed how successful he was and how close we came to beating the current top score! And it's probably my own fault we didn't get more - the new tactic I tried was clearly successful, but maybe not suited to a scoring challenge! Had quite a few frustrating 0-0's along the way.

Anyway, many thanks for reading, and good luck if you give it a go!

[danovic78]

How close was this! I can defiantly relate when your man doesn't score or assist, especially in big wins too!

Great effort. Will update the leaderboard now.