Category Archives: FM20

In my last post about Glentoran I talked about how to keep the save alive, the keep it challenging and, more pertinently, interesting. Time for a bit of honesty, I don’t like being a dominant force in Football Manager. I enjoy the struggles of mediocrity. It might seem strange to some, maybe it’s a formContinue reading “Six Whole Years of Joy”

No sooner had we made our inglorious exit from Euro 2024 than we were ready to engage in the 2024 UEFA Nations League process. I really like this competition, sadly not a view that was widely shared in Northern Ireland footballing circles at its inception in 2018. International friendlies (or International Challenge Matches as theContinue reading “Northern Ireland: UEFA Nations League 2024”

Make-believe has, in part, echoed reality in my Football Manager universe. Naturally, the circumstances are much different however as I took over the reins from departing manager Michael O’Neill I was stepping straight into a play off for the European Championships. In November 2023, Michael O’Neill moved on to take over at ailing Birmingham CityContinue reading “Northern Ireland: UEFA Euro 2024 (Germany)”

At the beginning of my fifth season with Glentoran, I feel it a good time to take stock of the progress and look at what comes next. 2022/23 (Season Four) took our total trophy count up to 10, in no small part due to our domestic clean sweep of trophies last season. It’s clear thatContinue reading “A New Adventure”

Even when a tactic brings overwhelming success, it can still be a useful exercise to sit back and analyse what has been going right and what hasn’t. Despite only losing 4 times in the league during a season that my Glentoran side claimed a total of five trophies, there are still obvious elements which IContinue reading “Alexander Fleming’s 4-4-2: The Matches”

Serendipity /ˌsɛr(ə)nˈdɪpɪti/ (noun): the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. Sir Alexander Fleming famously made the effective discovery of Penicillin by “accident”. One of the best known quotes attributed to Fleming is “One sometimes finds what one is not looking for” – pure serendipity. I’m not going toContinue reading “Alexander Fleming’s 4-4-2: The Tactic”

If the signing of Antonio Candreva was an indication of giving realism the boot then this update takes realism and gives it a proper hoof into touch for a goal kick. Our exploits in Europe have left the club with £6 million burning a hole in our pockets and I’ll be damned if we’re notContinue reading “Through The Looking Glass”

After our Europa League Playoff heroics, things are going to be tight this season. We’re competing on so many fronts and the squad isn’t really big enough to cope. Despite this problem, I’m making the decision not to prioritise any particular competition. The league remains important in my board’s eyes, I’m keen to complete domesticContinue reading “Czech Mate :-(“

Last season’s title win meant it would be a berth in the Champions League Qualifying Rounds for us this season! The added challenges of an earlier season start (6th July), additional fixtures in an already packed schedule and the possibility of humiliation by a bigger side are very much offset by the insane income (byContinue reading “The Tale of The Three-Legged Playoff”

Five games of Irish Premiership football remain this season and the fate of the Gibson Cup lies in our own hands. March’s victory over Glenavon put us level on points with them as we turn into the post-split fixtures but the final fixture against them in April will be even more crucial still. With theContinue reading “Title Race Nerves”