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FM 5.0.5, England from Conference National up, all divisions from Scotland and Greece on huge database size.I'm in charge of Albion Rovers in the Scottish Third Division.
Albion Rovers - Scottish Third Division - Season 04/05
I find a faily big squad, quite young but also quite crap, with the exception of 2 decent keepers and a good DMC. 12 players
are drafted in during the season, most of them on a free. The finances are surprisingly good; over half a million in the bank and a £75k transfer budget.
We start the league campaign in exceptional form, as we go through the first Round unbeaten, but our second encounter with Gretna is painful. Still, we keep our nerve till January, holding on to 2nd place and extending the gap from 3rd place to as much as 9 points.
Despite our form suffering badly in January and February, Peterhead and East Fife never manage to find some form. Difference to 3rd is diminished to just 4 points with 12 games to go, but two wins over Peterhead in early March and the end of April means we're 8 points ahead with 3 games to play. We claim a valuable point at 6th Montrose to clinch promotion and proceed to lose the last two games, both on our ground. Peterhead still don't find it in them to win their games, so we go up.
Our attack is far from flamboyant and the defence quite shaky at times, so it's more the lack of a third competent team that gifts us with this promotion. Needless to say, Gretna never lose in the league and finish miles ahead on 90 points. Cups are a complete write-off.
D3: 2ndW18 D9 L9 GD 49-39 P63.
League Cup R1: Albion 0-1 Elgin(D3).
Challenge Cup R2: Albion 1-1p Partick(D1).
Scottish Cup R1 Replay: (D2)Brechin 4-0 Albion.
On to the higher league then, and i wasn't overly confident of our fate. Good news is we clear out the dross (18 players released) and manage to sign 8 youngsters, some of which look promising, as well as keeping well under the wage budget. The average age of my first team is 21, and the backups are even younger.
After a shaky start, we climb to 2nd place for a brief run of games in November, but some draws throw us behind Gretna and Forfar. January is particularly bad; we only make 1 point from 4 games, as we fall as much as 10 points behind Forfar. Our form improves a lot after that, we cut the difference to just 2 points but more draws keep us at bay. With 4 games to go we need to cover 5 points. Forfar did badly enough for us to overtake them in that period, had we been arsed to win a couple of games, but yet another irritating run of draws means we stay 3rd. Ironically enough, we finish the season on a 17 game unbeaten run.
Still, i wasn't unhappy with that effort at all. The team, young and inexperienced in its majority, gels together rather well, as we score with relative ease (strikers get 30 between them and an MC adds another 13 from his midfield general position) and we have the best defensive record in the league. A 20yo DC looks like the brightest prospect; he averages 7.50 and the media keep claiming he's the brightest prospect of his generation.
D2: 3rd W17 D14 L5 GD 58-26 P65
CC R2: Albion 0-1 Morton (D1)
LC R2: Albion 2-3e Dundee (SPL)
SC R3: (D1) Ross County 2-1 Albion
With the exception of a 22yo D/DMR we signed from the Celtic Reserves, the first team remains the same as last year, as i was expecting the team to be more mature and experienced.
And indeed, this season was our best yet. We jumped first after 4 games and remained there to the end, even though we had to glance nervously behind our back at times. The addition of that D/DMR seems to have been the key for our stellar defence, as he averages 7.62 and helps the captain 21yo DC immensely at the back. Up front, a right footed SC bags 18 goals even though he'd only scored 7 in 2 seasons with us . Last year's top scorer, a left footed SC (quite similar in attributes with his partner) settles for a measly 6 goals. Airdrie Utd finished 2nd 12 points behind, even though they were just 4 behind with eight games to go.
The media kept proclaming that the captain DC, the D/DMR and a 19yo AMRLC were the brightest prospects of their generation. The latter in particular averaged around 8.20 :o, despite the fact he never was up to much in the key highlights and most of his stats are below 10 . I also have high hopes for a youth AMR who was given a fair share of first team action and is coming along nicely.
Updates should be banned... 
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