retired_beautybodee

Just found the story....it's great!!!!

well done so far and good luck in the new season

retired_destiny1124

Excellent work there PM 7 Bad luck in the shootout- I hate 'em...

retired_heather

My first post here ever, and I must say I'm really enjoying your story, brillant work!

Don't quite understand why you keep ignoring Paul Ferguson! I'd give him a run on the right wing, with 20 crossing and 18 passing, he might just be the next Beckham! Where did he play in Scotland's team those 2 caps?

Anyway, keep up the great work! :thup:

shannon2007

Its nothing personal against John (not Paul, hes a noob ), but I like Kevin McMillan and think he's a better player

I'll have a look next time I load the game up, Im still baffled as to why he was even in the Scotland squad lol.

Thanks

retired_heather

Yes, sorry, John Ferguson .

shannon2007

The Billy Buchanan Diaries - 22

Our aim this season is quite simple. To win the Champions League. Of course, that may seem like crazy talk but having lost in the semis and the final in the past two seasons, I feel we can't be too far away from such incredible success.

Tactically I decided to switch things a little, going to a 4-3-3 allowing Alan MacDonald to play just a little bit behind the strikers, and also allowing Scott Craig to become a regular striker. It seemed to work as we put together a run of 14 successive victories in the SPL as we stormed away with the title. Our run finally ended as we rather pathetically crumbled 3-0 at Tannadice, but you can't win them all. The only other points dropped were at Celtic Park in a 1-1 draw, and as we reached the half way stage we had 52 points out of a possible 57. The Old Firm continue to struggle, both sides having floated around 10th place at times, but at the half way stage Celtic had climbed back to 5th with Rangers 7th. Such poor form couldnt go unnoticed as Rangers sacked manager Bryan Robsons, who had won them the UEFA Cup.

On the coaching from, we lost another of our staff as Jan Wouters went to manage bottom of the SPL Kilmarnock. Good luck to him if thats what he wants to do.

In the League Cup we beat Falkirk 2-0, before gaining revenge on Dundee United for ending our league run, with a 5-0 triumph in the Quarters. We obviously wasnt to win every trophy we can, but if we dont win the League Cup, we wont be shedding too many tears over it. But of course, it was Europe that was our holy grail.

Once again, the draw for the group stages was far from kind as we found ourselves in with Milan, Arsenal and PAO. Yet having beaten a fair few big names in the past few years, we shouldn't be afraid of anyone. We can win this, if we just believe we can.

Our campaign started at home to Milan, and a Steven Murray double, added to by a Paul O'Neill penalty, all in the first half, saw us cruise to what was in reality, a very easy win. We looked very accomplished, and I have to say I was very proud of such a performance. PAO are probably the weakest team in the group, as so it proved as we went Greece and tore them apart with a 5-1 win, and excellent hattrick for Scott Craig.

The double header against Arsenal was next, and at Ashburton Grove, we were about to witness possibly one of the most incredible game in Champions League history. It took 20 minutes for the first goal to come, Scott Craig the scorer again, and when Scott Adams sent us 2-0 ahead just a couple of minutes later, it seemed we were on easy street.

But Arsenal weren't about to give up that easily, and Aliadiere hit us with a stunning double around the half hour mark. It was a game that was ebbing and flowing, and really goals could come at any minute, and in first half injury time, Paul O'Neill hit a wonderful **** to restore our lead. On 52 minutes though, Aliadiere completed his hattrick to pull Arsenal level, and three minutes later, the Londoners were ahead through Nikos Koulis.

Seven goals, and after being two up we were now staring defeat in the face. Yet this game wasn't over yet, and just after the hour Steven Murray put us back on level terms. A draw would have been a fair result, given the way both teams had played, but Alan MacDonald had other ideas as he fired home the ninth goal of the match, which turned out to be the last. A superb match.

Back on home soil, and a win over Arsenal would see us clinch a place in the last sixteen with two games to spare. Scott Craig and Mark Mitchell provided us with goals that gave us that win. In Milan, we went down by a goal to nil, and we ended the group with a comfortable 2-0 home win over PAO. The last sixteen draw has paired us with Ukrainian side Dinamo Kiev, which will be a tough match of course. But we should win.

shannon2007

The Billy Buchanan Diaries - 23

The League wasn't of course quite wrapped up yet, but it was in reality only a matter of time. A 4-0 win over Dundee United on the 9th or March saw us win our fourth successive SPL title, with ten games to spare. We only lost one other league match, a 2-0 reversal at Tyncastle against Hearts, as we managed to amass 102 points, and 100 goals, in a near perfect league campaign.

The Scottish Cup wasn't to come our way, as we went down 1-0 to Partick in the 3rd round. Rather amazingly, considering they finished 6th and 7th in the league, the Cup Final ended up being an Old Firm affair, with Celtic, having just sacked my former assistant Rivaldo, lifting the trophy by 1-0. That was a the same scoreline in the League Cup Final, as we took on local rivals Brechin. It was a dissapointing match, but a 62nd minute strike from David Davidson was enough to see us lift the trophy.

And so of course, we could concentrate on the Champions League. Our trip to Kiev though was to turn into a bit of a disaster. Two nil down after just seven minutes, we were aleays chasing the match, and three minutes from time Kiev grabbed a crucial third, and our CL dreams for this season were in tatters.

All we could do was try and get an early goal in the return, and simply hope that Kiev would collapse. Twelve minutes in, Paul O'Neil gave us the goal we needed, and when Alan MacDonald made it two just four minutes later, the stadium was buzzing, and suddenly we really had a match to play here. Yet as time wore on, with Kiev recovering from their early setbacks, we found ourselves up against a brick wall, and each minute that passed ticked away or Champions League hopes for this season.

We reached the 87th minute, still two behind, and now it was desperation stage. A throw in on the left was taken by Kelly to Craig, but the young striker could only back track, looking for space, before finding MacDonald on the left edge of the penalty area. MacDonald tried a desperate shot, that didn't seem very well hit, but somehow the Kiev keeper managed to fumble the ball, and we were incredibly, level. Now the stage was set for an extra gruelling 30 minutes, but with such a late goal, we were on high and we would have no problems I was sure with demands of the extra period. We were only 45 seconds away though from the end on the normal 90 minutes, when Paul O'Neil played the ball to Mitchell, about 25 yards out, and the midfielder hit a rasping, curling shot, that totally dumbfounded the Kiev keeper, and we didn't need extra time after all.

After such a dramatic fight back, the draw for the Quarters saw us paired with Bayern Munich, a repeat of last seasons final, and a chance for revenge. With the first leg in Munich, at half time were were flying high after a 17th minute goal from MacDonald, and 39th minute penalty from O'Neill to send the Germans reeling. But you dont become Champions of Europe without being a decent side, and in the second hald Bayern came roaring back. Gials form Pizarro annd Aldo Andres Jara pulled Bayern level, but they couldn't get the 3rd they so desperately wanted, and in the end we were more than happy with a scoring draw. The bad news though was an injury to Steven Murray that would see him miss the rest of the season.

Even although we had gotten a decent result in Germany, we knew that we still had a lot of work to do at home. Bayern would not be giving up their crown without a fight. Eighteen minutes in, Scott Craig relaxed our nerves a little with a fine strike, and ten minutes from half time, Adams made it two. Bayern tried their best to get the goal that might open the match up again, but they couldn't get it, and 12 minutes from time Craig added a 3rd and it was all over.

For the second successive season, our opponents in the Semi Final would be Juventus, with the first leg in Turin. Scott Gibson gave us the lead after just three minutes, but on 58 a fine strike from Hasan Barua pulled Juve level. Once again though, we held firm, and secured an excellent away draw. The first half in Forfar was a nervy affair, and we were more than awar that a goal from Juve would turn the tie on ite head. Two minutes into the second half thouhg, the Italians resistance was finally broken, thanks to a bit of help from the referee who awarded us a penalty. Scott Craig scored, and two minutes later, Scott Gibson added further misery for the still shellshocked Italians. Mark Mitchell added a 3rd on 58 minutes, and we were into our 2nd successive Champions League Final.

The team standing in the way this time would be Manchester United, and the game would be played at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid on the 1st of June. It was going to be an incredible occassion, but our experience from last year would surely make us that bit stronger.....

shannon2007

SPL Final Table 2011


<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Inf Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts 1st C Forfar 38 33 3 2 100 14 +86 102 2nd Aberdeen 38 16 10 12 48 44 +4 58 3rd Hearts 38 16 8 14 60 60 0 56 4th Dundee Utd 38 14 11 13 45 39 +6 53 5th Dundee 38 16 5 17 64 66 2 53 6th Celtic 38 14 8 16 50 51 1 50 7th Rangers 38 16 5 17 77 70 +7 53 8th St. Johnstone 38 10 21 7 42 42 0 51 9th Hibs 38 13 10 15 56 66 10 49 10th Motherwell 38 12 12 14 70 64 +6 48 11th Livingston 38 6 10 22 43 96 53 28 12th R Kilmarnock 38 6 9 23 52 95 43 27 </pre>

shannon2007

The UEFA Champions League Final
Forfar Athletic versus Manchester United
Wednesday 1st June 2011
Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid (72,115)

And so here we were again, in the final of the greatest club competition in the World, against another of the most famous clubs in the World. And yet this was a match that I truly believed we could win. We had beaten the best in Europe over the past few years, and now we were in fact, one of them. We were one of the top clubs, and people would have to fear us now. I don't think we needed to fear anyone.

Yet we arrived in Madrid minus Steven Murray, who although back in training, simply wasn't fit enough, and with Paul O'Neill also injured, we were missing two very key players. Yet we have asked players to come in before, and they have done a job, and I'm sure that will be that case today. It's their chance to become legends, and we might never get another one.

Manchester United had a mixture of youth and experience. This would be their 4th Champions League Final in seven years, and they had won one and lost two so far. Therefore we knew that this was going to be another tough match, and we would need to be at our very best to be able to get the win we all felt we fully deserved.

The Line Ups:

Manchester United: (4-4-2): Gary Morris; Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, Mark Porter, Phil Neville; Cristiano Ronaldo, Eric Djemba-Djemba, Kleberson, Harry Kewell; Ruud van Nistelrooy, Adrian Mutu Subs: Luke Dawson (GK), Francis Jeffers, Nicky Butt, Jamie Hart, David Bellion, Chris Burke, Michael Bird

Forfar Athletic: (4-3-3): Mark Williamson; Craig Campbell, Tony Murphy, David Barker, Ross Kelly; Kevin McMillan, Mark Mitchell, Scott Adams; Scott Gibson, Alan MacDonald, Scott Craig Subs: Jimmy Ross (GK), John Ferguson, Stuart Murphy, Pat Kenny, Steven Hamilton, Alan Lynch, John Foley

And so the stage was set on a warm Spanish night, and once again it was our time to step out and try to become legends.........

retired_embartl

Ok, now please don't screw this one up