shannon2007

SPL Table 2007

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | | | 1st | C | Celtic | | 38 | 27 | 3 | 8 | 85 | 36 | +49 | 84 | | | | 2nd | | Rangers | | 38 | 20 | 13 | 5 | 60 | 31 | +29 | 73 | | | | 3rd | | Dundee Utd | | 38 | 14 | 15 | 9 | 47 | 36 | +11 | 57 | | | | 4th | | Kilmarnock | | 38 | 16 | 8 | 14 | 50 | 51 | 1 | 56 | | | | 5th | | Dunfermline | | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 51 | 50 | +1 | 52 | | | | 6th | | Aberdeen | | 38 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 51 | | | | 7th | | Hibs | | 38 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 52 | 59 | 7 | 46 | | | | 8th | | Hearts | | 38 | 10 | 15 | 13 | 42 | 49 | 7 | 45 | | | | 9th | | Motherwell | | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 41 | 56 | 15 | 43 | | | | 10th | | Livingston | | 38 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 37 | 50 | 13 | 40 | | | | 11th | | Inverness CT | | 38 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 33 | 51 | 18 | 38 | | | | 12th | R | Clyde | | 38 | 8 | 10 | 20 | 41 | 70 | 29 | 34 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | </pre>

shannon2007

Notes

I have decided to put this story 'on the back burner' for now. I may well come back to it in the future, but I have been planning a new story that I will doing in a bit more depth than I normally do and that takes longer to write. With the Met Police game also requiring a lot of effort and my French game being quite similiar in style to this one I have decided to allow this one to drop for now. I will probably come back and try to finish it at some point in the future.

Unless I die.

retired_bbcarr

enjoyable disappointing to see the form drop towards the end of the season, but was probably inevitable with such a small pool of players.

shannon2007

Thanks Simon. Yeah the small squad didnt help, but still it gives the story a bit more life if and when I get back to it.

shannon2007

July-December 2007
Stuart Redmond

There were rumours that Laidlaw jumped before he was pushed, that myself and the board had been unhappy with not winning the league and wanted to bring in a more experienced manager, now that the clubs finances were a bit more under control. That though is only partially true, and we would have been willing to give Laidlaw more time to see if he could build on his success. Nevertheless, when he offered his resignation, we took it.

There were many good candidates in the running for the job, but in the end we decided to go for David O'Leary, who had just been sacked from Newcastle. The man has a wealth of experience, and should be able to work with the players we have and perhaps attract a better class of player to the club. At least that was the theory, in reality things were a little bit different.

O'Leary decided not to bring in any new faces, but he did allow Noel Whelan, Greg Shields and Steven Smith to leave the club, and sold Paul Gallacher, Ben Clark and Sebastien Svard, and come January Tom McManus would be off to Plymouth for £1.3M. But still no new faces would come in. Rumours were that the chairman, myself, had refused to sanction any transfers but that was simply not true. There is money to spend if the manager wants to spend it, its up to him entirely.

O'Leary's reign as manager could not have gotten off to any worse a start, as the team were dismissed from the Champions League at the 2nd Qualifying round stage by Albanian side SK Tirana, who stunned Ibrox with a 2-1 win after a 1-1 draw in Albania. This wasnt the kind of performance we expected, but it was early days for the new manager and there was no panick yet. Indeed, a 1-1 draw at Celtic Park in the first Old Firm match did much to alleviate the dissmal results we had had to that date. The manager has also guided the side to the League Cup Semi Finals, but come the end of December, including a 3-2 home defeat to Celtic, we were lying in a very dissapointing 9th place in the SPL. Clearly, things will have to change.

Steven Laidlaw

Having decided to depart Ibrox, and refusing to disclose my reasons, there much speculation in the media, but most of it was wrong. It took me three months, but eventually I got a new job at 3rd Division outfit Forfar. The side have been languishing in the lowest league for three seasons now, but they have some decent players, and I managed to sign up one or two promising youngsters.

After a shaky start, in which we exited the Challange Cup in the 1st round to Clyde, we put together a great run in the League which saw us reach January of 2008 unbeaten, and therefore top and looking good to climb back to the 2nd Division. Of course success brings attention to our squad, and although we managed to fend off most if it, we did lose a couple of players but the £350k brought in from their sales in January certainly helps the clubs bank balance, which was riding in the red until we drew Celtic in the Scottish Cup 3rd round.

Unfortunately, the draw paired us at home to the SPL Champions, and a great crowd of 4587 saw us manage to pull off a 0-0 draw and earn a replay at Celtic Park that draw in £450k in cash and cleared our debt. We lost 3-0, but it was a great all round experience. The League Cup had also generated a bit of exitement. After sending Brechin packing in round 1, we then sent SPL side Falkirk out in the 2nd round by 3-1. Another SPL scalp was claimed in round three, as we knocked out Motherwell by 1-0, but our run was to end with a 1-0 loss at Tannadice.

Its a long way from Ibrox to Station Park, and huge world of difference, but I feel my efforts here are more appreciated and there is much more of an enjoyment factor. I certainly dont regret going to Rangers, but it would take an awful lot now to drag me back there.

shannon2007

Thanks Dan

Im just kinda skimming the seasons atm to see what happens.

-------------------------------------------------------
January 2008-June 2008

Stuart Redmond

There was no need to panic yet, although our exit from the League Cup at the Semi Final stage to Hibs was followed by a 4th round exit from the Scottish Cup at the hands of Hearts and so our chances of silverware were gone. Failure to beat Celtic, as the final two Old Firm games ended in a draw and a defeat was dissapointing, but signs from the second half of the season are encouraging, as the team put together a great run to finish second, and so clinch a Champions League place.

In the summer, it will be hoped the manager can bring in a few players that will strengthen the squad and bring us closer to challenging a Celtic side who have just won their 5th title in a row. Its imperative that we start now to close the gap, and make a real bid for the title.

Steven Laidlaw

Despite the Cup exit to Celtic, spirits were high at Station Park. Indeed, before February was out we had not only clinched promotion back to the Second Division, we had also wrapped up the Third Division title. That meant that the last quarter of our season was largely meaningless, but our aim was to remain unbeaten in the League. Despite the odd scare, we managed that feat, only dropping points in seven draws with 29 wins.

The money from the Celtic game, plus the £350k raised from the sale of two key players has certainly stablised the club financially, and although we have a decent squad, I would hope to be able to dabble in the transfer market during the summer. We could probably do with a couple of players to help us get a grip in Division Two, although the truth is that there really isnt much difference in terms of quality.

Division Three Table
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | | | 1st | C | Forfar | | 36 | 29 | 7 | 0 | 92 | 14 | +78 | 94 | | | | 2nd | P | Berwick | | 36 | 17 | 11 | 8 | 41 | 32 | +9 | 62 | | | | 3rd | | Peterhead | | 36 | 16 | 13 | 7 | 54 | 34 | +20 | 61 | | | | 4th | | Brechin | | 36 | 14 | 7 | 15 | 44 | 54 | 10 | 49 | | | | 5th | | Stranraer | | 36 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 39 | 36 | +3 | 48 | | | | 6th | | Cowdenbeath | | 36 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 36 | 49 | 13 | 42 | | | | 7th | | East Fife | | 36 | 11 | 9 | 16 | 36 | 55 | 19 | 42 | | | | 8th | | Stenhousemuir | | 36 | 7 | 10 | 19 | 27 | 46 | 19 | 31 | | | | 9th | | Elgin | | 36 | 8 | 7 | 21 | 33 | 58 | 25 | 31 | | | | 10th | | East Stirling | | 36 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 31 | 55 | 24 | 30 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | </pre>

SPL Table

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | | | 1st | C | Celtic | | 37 | 20 | 11 | 6 | 62 | 39 | +23 | 71 | | | | 2nd | | Rangers | | 37 | 19 | 7 | 11 | 60 | 44 | +16 | 64 | | | | 3rd | | Dundee Utd | | 37 | 17 | 11 | 9 | 51 | 46 | +5 | 62 | | | | 4th | | Hibs | | 37 | 16 | 8 | 13 | 53 | 48 | +5 | 56 | | | | 5th | | Aberdeen | | 37 | 16 | 7 | 14 | 53 | 52 | +1 | 55 | | | | 6th | | Livingston | | 37 | 13 | 9 | 15 | 47 | 52 | 5 | 48 | | | | 7th | | Kilmarnock | | 37 | 13 | 10 | 14 | 55 | 54 | +1 | 49 | | | | 8th | | Hearts | | 37 | 14 | 5 | 18 | 45 | 51 | 6 | 47 | | | | 9th | | Falkirk | | 37 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 49 | 52 | 3 | 45 | | | | 10th | | Dunfermline | | 37 | 13 | 5 | 19 | 50 | 55 | 5 | 44 | | | | 11th | | Inverness CT | | 37 | 10 | 14 | 13 | 48 | 56 | 8 | 44 | | | | 12th | R | Motherwell | | 37 | 7 | 7 | 23 | 40 | 64 | 24 | 28 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | </pre>