Career Tree's 30yr "Goal A Mile" Challenge - added World round-up!

[Mr Tree]

1 minute ago, 1759 said:

Who are you rooting for in the finals?

the Dinosaurs, of course - can't have the Evil Empire winning again!

[Ian]

1 hour ago, Mr Tree said:

the Dinosaurs, of course - can't have the Evil Empire winning again!

Yeah I’m just a pure part time NBA fan and only occasionally watch some of the finals. Last one I watched was 2016 when the Cavs won. 

I do enjoy watching it though and would’ve been tempted to watch tonight but think it’s on sky and I don’t have it now.

[Mr Tree]

26 minutes ago, 1759 said:

Yeah I’m just a pure part time NBA fan and only occasionally watch some of the finals. Last one I watched was 2016 when the Cavs won. 

I do enjoy watching it though and would’ve been tempted to watch tonight but think it’s on sky and I don’t have it now.

 

their youtube channel gives great little bits which sound kinda ideal for you. always like to see something new, and the party if Toronto manage to win is going to be spectacular!

[Mr Tree]

SEASON 26

Got everything worked out pretty nicely, so I have time to post the update

I've never really liked the training much on FMM19 - too much to fiddle about with. So I've been leaving it to my assistant.

But Bobson joined me as a 19yo who looked like he had lots of potential - but his shooting and heading didn't improve at all in his first year, with the AssMan focusing on Movement...

After 4 goals from his first 11 games, I bit the bullet, took the reins, and NEXT GAME this happened:

 

And then a couple of weeks later:

 

I had to bat away tearful requests for a reunion:

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Bobson's form obviously led to awards:

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But success? Well, not in the Betfred (seems I didn't even screenshot), and not in the IRN-BRU, which I've still never won (and if I get promoted now, I may never get a chance to):

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And not in the Scottish Cup, where we gave it a good shot but couldn't take down the champs:

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In the league, I shot out to an early lead, but faltered, and Greenock Morton started munching down the ground to catch me up. A huge win here...

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...was tempered slightly by the bittersweet words of a TRAITOR!!

This put big pressure on us to get the job done...

But we lost two of the last three

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Fortunately, Morton totally bottled it

2pts from their last 5, then getting smashed in the playoffs by a team that finished miles behind. Ouch!

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So it's back to the SPL for me:

Bobson? He got accolades:

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But as you can see - there may be trouble ahead.......

And despite his little flurry (I think he got something like 21 in 18 at some point), he tailed off again, so not quite the monster season I'd have hoped for:

 

Manager profile, for the record:

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NEXT TIME: our hopes of reaching our destination hang very much in the balance...

Edited June 17, 2019 by Mr Tree

[Mr Tree]

SEASON 27

A quick update on the international scene:

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Germany have now won the last two Euros and World Cups, yuk!

As for me getting up to Elgin, it was looking tricky. I needed 79 goals to be eligible... But, Elgin had gone and got themselves relegated!

So had Brora, thank god, so Ross County is now my target. Unfortunately I need 90 goals to reach them. 30 goals in each of the next three seasons plus a bit of luck?

Well that was dependent on keeping Bobson too, who was showing signs of discontent. Fortunately, my increased wage budget and our elevated status persuaded him to hang around:

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Alas, he kept getting injured

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But he had his moments when fit:

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We struggled to bring in many signings but we had some great developing prospects and some half-decent loanees, so we settled into 2nd place in the league, unable to keep pace with the Celtic monster but just about picking up enough wins to hold on to a top-two spot and a shot at Champions League qualification.

Then it unravelled at the end, of course, and Hibs overtook me with one game to go. Cruel fate!

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Except, yet again on this save, the last game of the season pitted me against my rival. And Bobson saved the day!

Bobson got a slightly unlikely POTY award, and his understudy got YPOTY - I'll have to get a screenshot of Reggie, he's developing annoyingly well...

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And overall? Well, not as good as I'd have liked...

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So we're up to 87 goal-miles overall, and really need something of a miracle now.

Anyway, that's 90% of the career done - now for the final straight!

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NEXT TIME: can Bobson shine? Can we challenge and add the SPL to our trophy cabinet?

Edited June 17, 2019 by Mr Tree

[smoggy90]

Fantastic career mate, hope Bobson does the business for you!

[Ian]

Epic career this has been so far. Even if you don’t end up getting to your destination you’ll still have completed the full 30 seasons and managed lord knows how many clubs along the way.

[Mr Tree]

SEASON 28

Not long to go now. This was another strange season that almost had me rage-quitting before it picked up well.

The obvious start-point is Bobson. As mentioned last year, his understudy, big Reg, was banging down the door for a spot in the first XI:

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I was trying to keep Bobson as the main man in my 4-3-2-1, mixing in big Reg for tougher games etc to keep fitness good. But it just wasn't working

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I had a good long think in the sauna (true story - we were away on holiday this week, lovely stuff) and decided to switch to 4-4-2. I have a couple more decent youth strikers coming through who can act as reserves, and I'm a bit overstocked in midfield but we'll see who's worth keeping I guess.

I smashed Kilmarnock 5-0 in the first game after the switch, but I beat them 6-1 earlier in the season anyway and they finished bottom, so that was inconclusive.

Then Inverness got an injury-time equaliser and Gretna (bloody Gretna, they won't give me anything now) got an injury-time winner. We went to Celtic and of course they smashed us, then we had Rangers away where we played fantastically (IMO) but didn't take our chances while they did, so we lost 3-0.

All this meant we were 9th in February, while the increased expectations after last year meant the board "felt" that I "should be doing better".

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Never fear, dear reader - results thankfully started picking up. Starting quite dramatically with this!

...which was especially brilliant because, coupled with Hibernian getting beaten on the same day, it was actually the day that Celtic clinched the title

 

I stupidly didn't screenshot my fixtures but I went on a great run, made the top six and then managed to claw my way into contention for 2nd. And then, a tense victory over Rangers...

...coupled with Celtic surviving a late Hibs rally:

...meant that we'd done it - back-to-back runners-up spots!

The lads did alright in the league:

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Although the biggest difference in the run-in was my old mate Shea, who Motherwell had inexplicably not been playing since I left:

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(His last season with me was 20 goals and 20 assists in 50 games!)

Speaking of old friends, one eliminated us from one cup:

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But we got revenge in the Scottish Cup:

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And we ended up coming painfully close to lifting the trophy:

Our Champions League run was fun too - we battled through to the group stage:

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...before getting a brute of a draw:

We did alright, but not quite good enough:

After all that, where are we? The manager profile after 28 years:

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And the challenge? Bobson had a shocker overall:

Leaving us on 109 goal-miles overall. From here, it's 32 to Inverness, 33 to Elgin or 44 to Ross County. 

I'd jump elsewhere but there's nowhere else to go - the area in-between is a barren wasteland (in football terms).

So I'm going to stay at Dunfermline and try and win the title, as I've not won the SPL. Bobson's my penalty taker, so hopefully we can be an attacking force and he can play his part and we'll see where it takes us...

 

NEXT TIME: Germany's grip on international football loosens as a shock winner is crowned World Champions...

Edited June 17, 2019 by Mr Tree

[Ian]

You avoided the dreaded sack in some style there👍

[Mr Tree]

On 15/06/2019 at 14:47, 1759 said:

You avoided the dreaded sack in some style there👍

Cheers!

Very lazy weekend here so I've banged out the last couple of seasons and... Well, this will be ending with a bang that's for sure, and I doubt anyone would be able to predict how this plays out!

So a bonus edition tomorrow, probably maybe, and then season 30 write-up on Wednesday...

Edited June 16, 2019 by Mr Tree

[Mr Tree]

SEASON 29

An emotional season at East End Park, but first... what's that...... it's coming home, it's coming home, it's coming...

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football's coming home...

England had failed to build on that semi-final appearance in 2018 but, after an emphatic victory over their old friends...

...the now-octogenarian Baddiel and Skinner were wheeled out to inspire the nation. "80 years of hurt", they crooned, despite concerns that fate was being tempted...

Darcy was a young centre-back of mine at Wigan, and Lindfield a young RB i had at Motherwell, btw.

Anyway - fate was not tempted. In glorious style, and with no goals from any of my former players, England were crowned World Champions!

I'm not quite sure what happened to their manager after the tournament, I didn't notice. But in time-honoured fashion, they poached East Fife's manager to replace him:

Anyway, great, wooptidoo - what about ME?!

I wanted an SPL title to add to my collection. I liked my squad, and I knew we were decent judging by that run-in to finish last season. But the first game of the season helped to emphasize that we had a chance:

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Even better, after a scoreless first four or five games, Bobson caught fire 🔥

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And despite being slowed by an injury...

...he reached last season's total before Hogmanay:

And the back-door skank was ON! If he could get 11 more goals and Elgin get promoted into the league (they're still languishing in non-league), they'd be looking for a new manager!!

The season was going pretty well for me too:

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We got through to the Champions League group stages again:

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But got another tough draw - I know Southampton don't look so scary, but you've gotta assume they're half-decent as one of England's top teams:

 

We started at home to Barca, where we were cruelly denied a famous point:

And it fell apart from there, with Ajax also getting a late winner before Southampton crushed us twice

Oh well, the league was the focus anyway. We were seven points clear at one point but Celtic are super-dominant and powerful up there, so they relentlessly won whenever I dropped points. They overtook me before a bizarre few days saw me back on top:

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So I was 4pts clear with four games to go... Then this killed me:

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I was hovering over the button, ready to "shut up shop", before the game had one of its spurts and moved quickly forward - I had a corner but they defended it, hoofed it forward and suddenly their striker was racing clear... Dammit!!

We held serve so, 2pts clear with 2 games to go, Celtic with a much better goal difference though. So two wins will see me home, but one draw will likely open the door for them.

My last two opponents? Motherwell and Gretna. You bastards.

It was Motherwell who did it, plunging that knife deep into my heart. They could even have stopped Celtic in the last game if they wanted but noooooo, they had to twist the knife further

 

Oh well, it's only a game... 😭

Yeah, we got some awards, some recognition, FINE:

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And at least we had a little something to celebrate at the end:

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As for that CRETIN Bobson, he managed five goals in the last 19 games, goddammit!!

So CHALLENGE FAILED.

What to do? I mean, I guess I'll play on, see if Bobson can grab some goals, see how far north I can earn myself in the end. And obviously we're close so if I can't get a move, maybe I can get Dunfermline over the line next year in my final season...

Manager profile:

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NEXT TIME: the end of the saga!

Edited June 19, 2019 by Mr Tree

[Mr Tree]

SEASON 30

An epic post to complete the journey 

This is it baby, end of the road!

And what an amazing way to end it...

First things first - confirmation that Elgin were not an option:

 

So that meant 5 goals from Bobson could get me to Inverness, or 17 to Ross County. I explained the deal to Bobson and he showed his willingness to get rid of me in the first two games of the season:

He did his part (finally)...

So that left me happily playing with my nice Dunfermline squad - but as that was the "default" position, I would merrily have jumped if either job came up, just for the sake of it.

They didn't, so I didn't.

So what then?

We thumped our local rivals in the Betfred:

...before promptly getting knocked out in the next round

 

We started well in the Champions League:

(not sure what happened in the 51st minute there as I wasn't fully paying attention - it wouldn't surprise me if he managed to miss two penalties though, the dickhead)

So through comfortably enough, but another horror of a draw:

And a great FMM-ing to start things off, with Bobson shining again:

But we had a pretty tasty squad by now, so once we got going, we were hard to stop:

Which set up a reunion, gulp!

 

Meanwhile the league was going well - after playing everyone once, I'd beaten them all except St Sodding Mirren, who held me to a draw in the 11th game:

With this as a particular highlight:

 

Motherwell handed us our first defeat, but we were still in a commanding position after the second round of games:

 

And we never really faltered, cruising home with three games to spare in the end:

 

Breaking Celtic's 15-year reign (!!) in the process:

 

Of course the lads cleaned up with the prizes:

(only 3 for me, but 4 for Motherwell?! Sure, ok...)

 

We added the Scottish Cup for the domestic double:

 

And we still had the Champions League... I was welcomed back to The Thunderdome with wild applause from the fans and a cold shoulder in the boardroom, but after a tense first leg...

...we got the job done in Scotland:

 

We got another English team in the quarter-final... And...

An 11-2 giant-killing

If any Liverpool fans thought that was funny, well, we got another English team in the semis, and...

Especially after conceding as soon as the game started, that result was jaw-dropping!

We completed the job of course:

(didn't even get a giant-killing graphic, sick burn)

 

So somehow, we'd reached the final - against Barcelona at the Millennium Stadium. My last ever match of the career. They weren't going to FMM me now, surely....

 

 

 

Those thrashings in the knockout stages had helped to boost this number to a crazy level:

 

Really, it was a beautiful season and a nice way to end. Just had that really nice mix of a squad where I was honestly happy to use any of them, so just had the morale view on all season and selected the happiest guys who had a full circle of fitness. Worked out pretty well!

Waugh and Henderson were the two young reserve strikers mentioned previously who seemed like decent prospects - they certainly did their jobs, with Bobson pretty much slipping to 4th in the pecking order by the end:

(Hilson was the main man but probably missed 6-8 weeks overall with a couple of knocks)

 

Of course Bobson's contribution overall can't be forgotten - he was my designated striker to finish my journey. I guess the elevated level of competition helped his stats to improve slightly, too:

So the final tally:

 

The squad that I leave behind - who knows how far they could have gone...

 

The final manager profile:

 

And my trophy cabinet:

 

And my "All-time Best XI", apparently!!! This is totally bugged / not working, this is utter drivel:

Good to have the Roon in there, i guess, but otherwise... MacDonald played maybe 2 years before I replaced him with a better younger prospect... I sold Krones quickly, he barely played for me! Sellers was a bit-part player. And it's OTT Torquay-dominated. Silly - a nice idea but very poorly executed

 

So that's that - we've reached the end of this epic:

 

And hopefully I had a positive impact on all the clubs I was at I tried to highlight my time, but the tool on the phone is a bit imprecise (and me a bit lazy!)

 

Many thanks for reading and for your support!

I'll be back later in the week with some screenshots from "the state of world football" - I was going to take requests but unfortunately, I've already written over the game with my new project!

Edited June 19, 2019 by Mr Tree

[Kanegan]

Great job on completing this mammoth career. Really must have lot of patience

[smoggy90]

Mate, massive congrats on a fantastic career! Great read 👍

[mikeedwilson]

Cracking read and a mega career! Great finish considering Elgin weren't playing ball haha! 

[Ian]

Brilliant career this👍

Once you somehow managed to win the semi final you are always going up win the Champions League.

I look forward to your next venture 😀

[samhardy]

This has probably been my favourite career to follow this year. Unfortunate not to complete the challenge but congrats on 30 seasons

[Paul186]

Great career unlucky not completing the challenge, but that will take a lot to beat.

[Mr Tree]

13 hours ago, Kanegan said:

Great job on completing this mammoth career. Really must have lot of patience

Cheers - perseverance, I'd say, rather than patience! Just being THAT bored to actually undertake the whole endeavour is almost an achievement itself - I didn't particularly consider that "2 seasons per week" would make this a four-month campaign! But we made it and I really enjoyed it

12 hours ago, smoggy90 said:

Mate, massive congrats on a fantastic career! Great read 👍

Thanks Smog!

12 hours ago, mikeedwilson said:

Cracking read and a mega career! Great finish considering Elgin weren't playing ball haha! 

Cheers Mike - yeah it all worked out pretty nicely in the end

11 hours ago, 1759 said:

Brilliant career this👍

Once you somehow managed to win the semi final you are always going up win the Champions League.

I look forward to your next venture 😀

Thanks Ian. Already halfway through the first season of my next project. You'll never be able to guess it (seriously), so just wait and see

10 hours ago, samhardy said:

This has probably been my favourite career to follow this year. Unfortunate not to complete the challenge but congrats on 30 seasons

High praise indeed! Cheers Sam. I think if you put your mind to it, the actual challenge would be easy enough to complete, but I took my foot off the gas a bit and... Well anyway, we'll see, I definitely enjoyed the concept so I'll be up giving it another try next year

9 hours ago, Paul186 said:

Great career unlucky not completing the challenge, but that will take a lot to beat.

Thanks Paul - step one to "beating" it will be being mad enough to try it!

[Gunners Rishi]

this career has been Planted into my heart. everyone is Green with envy after reading this. i should take a Leaf out of your book with these careers. elgin was an absolute Thorn in the side. also bobson loved to Soil himself at the penalty spot. however, the career still Blossomed. this career was the whole thirty years and that’s Tree times ten. even the usually Prickly samhardy loved this career. you started from humble Roots and took it to the top. finally it’s nice to know that you have Branched out into beach accommodation.

(Yes I have already used the leaf out of your book pun. but I still think that was pretty punny)

[Mr Tree]

SEASON 30 - WORLD FOOTBALL ROUND-UP

One last look here - as above, I was going to ask if anyone wanted to see anything in particular, but unfortunately I wiped it already

 

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

 

EUROPA LEAGUE

 

WORLD CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

 

WORLD CUP

 

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

 

AFRICAN NATIONS CUP

 

COPA AMERICA

 

ASIAN NATIONS CUP

 

I think that's all, but a little look domestically at some risers and fallers... Bristol Rovers were the lowest current club to be in the Premier League in 2048 (aided no doubt by my heroism):

 

No current EPL team had fallen lower than the Championship.

Otherwise, Tranmere might be one of the most impressive climbers:

 

And a couple who progressed well from outside the league structure when the game starts:

 

There were a few current football league clubs who had fallen down to VNS/VNN territory - Gillingham might be the worst:

 

And Yeovil (who dropped into non-league in real life last season) managed to fall right through the VNS:

 

Again, thanks to all for reading and following - it's highly appreciated!

Edited June 21, 2019 by Mr Tree

[mikeedwilson]

Excellent news on Enfield Town getting into League One! Another 25 years and I'll see some league football in Enfield haha!

Great world round up, a nice addition to the career info and nice to see some of your old clubs like Wigan carrying on your work.

[Arellian]

Just seen this topic after reading your Italy G-a-M challenge (great BTW), and it's inspired me to try it myself. Just one question: I don't have Truro in my list of VNS clubs available to start. Did you use create a club, or a custom league or something?

[Mr Tree]

On 25/12/2019 at 15:45, Arellian said:

Just seen this topic after reading your Italy G-a-M challenge (great BTW), and it's inspired me to try it myself. Just one question: I don't have Truro in my list of VNS clubs available to start. Did you use create a club, or a custom league or something?

Truro got relegated from the VNS in 2018-19 in real life, so they are in FMM19 but not in FMM20 (at the start)