Hello, folks, and welcome to a new Fuller FM story. It’s been a while since I last wrote about Championship Manager 99/00, so I’ve now started another challenge to mark the game’s 20th anniversary.
After my earlier exploits with Bayer Leverkusen, I’ve gone international this time around. As you know, Euro 2020 should have been starting this evening. Then you-know-what happened, and it was pushed back by 12 months. With no international tournaments to occupy us doing the summer, I thought I’d do my bit to fill the void.
Although I’m from England, the first national team I ever managed on Championship Manager was actually Scotland. I got the job early in my first proper career, but my tenure ended early as the Tartan Army were knocked out of Euro 2000 after two group stage defeats. (I was about 9 at the time, to be fair.)
Two decades on, it’s time to give the Scots another shot at glory…
INTRODUCTION
Wednesday 10 June 1998. After coming home from school, an 8-year-old Christopher sits down in front of the TV to watch his first ever World Cup football match: the opening game of France ’98, between Brazil and Scotland.
Brazil were the reigning champions, and César Sampaio got the Seleção off to a flyer by scoring after just five minutes. Scotland equalised just before half-time, with John Collins scoring a penalty after Sampaio had held Kevin Gallacher back in the box. However, an unlucky own goal from Tom Boyd in the 74th minute saw the Scots go down 2-1.
Scotland went on to finish bottom of their group, drawing 1-1 with Norway before Morocco pumped three goals past them without reply. Little did I know that the Tartan Army wouldn’t appear at another tournament up to press, or that it would be 21 years before the women’s team put Scotland back on a World Cup stage.
Since losing 2-1 on aggregate to England in the Euro 2000 play-offs, the Scottish men’s team have consistently tried and failed (sometimes spectacularly) to qualify for World Cups and European Championships. But what if I could go back in time to try and end their 22+ years of hurt?
Saturday 5 June 1999. Nearly a year after pushing Brazil all the way, Scotland are humiliated in the Faroe Islands. Thanks to Allan Johnston’s first-half goal, and despite a red card for Matt Elliott, they were set for a 1-0 win that would’ve boosted their Euro qualifying hopes. That was until Hans Fróði Hansen headed in a late equaliser for the tiny North Atlantic archipelago.
More agony followed that 1-1 draw just four days later, as Scotland squandered a 2-0 lead over the Czech Republic and were ultimately beaten 3-2 in Prague. Under growing pressure from the baying media, Craig Brown stepped down as manager after five-and-a-half years.
Imagine the uproar from John o’ Groats to Gretna Green, then, when the Scottish FA appointed me – an inexperienced Englishman – as manager. I mean, they didn’t beat us at Bannockburn for this to happen!
The Czechs had already won Group 9 and qualified automatically for next year’s finals in Belgium and the Netherlands. The other five teams now had to scrap it out for a play-off place – and it looked like either Scotland or Bosnia & Herzegovina would be in the driving seat.
The Tartan Army would travel to Bosnia and Estonia in September, before hosting Bosnia and Lithuania in October. If I could lead them through those last four games, as well as November’s play-offs, it would go some way to getting the fans and the press on side.
SQUAD REPORT
Before I officially get going as Scotland manager, I want to look closer at my squad. Here’s a quick summary of which players are at my disposal, and I’ve also attached profiles of our best assets.
As tempting as it is to recall 40-year-old Jim Leighton and add to his 91 caps, it’s probably time we moved on from the ancient Aberdeen legend. The favourite to succeed Jim as Scotland’s number 1 is Wimbledon’s Neil Sullivan – an agile and strong goalkeeper who is coming into his prime. Just don’t mention David Beckham.
Leighton’s long-time rival Andy Goram is still going strong at 35, but the Motherwell goalie is well past his best. Dundee United’s Alan Combe, Dundee’s Robert Douglas and Celtic’s Jon Gould are all younger and more viable options between the posts.
The pacey Jackie McNamara is ready to establish himself as the new starting right-back of both Scotland and Celtic. McNamara is aggressive and determined, though he needs to become tactically more astute to oust 33-year-old Tom Boyd for good. Bradford’s Stephen Wright and Everton’s Alec Cleland are both on the fringes.
Competition will be fierce at left-back. 20-year-old prospect Gary Naysmith has recently broken through at Hearts, while Liverpool regular Dominic Matteo – a former England B international – has now committed to Scotland.
And now we come to Scotland’s second-most successful sporting Hendry of the 1990s. Colin Hendry is a fearless centre-half, and captain of both the Tartan Army and Rangers. He might be slowing down at 33, but you’ll still have to go some to overcome this huge, blond-haired defensive obstacle.
Though CM99/00 says that Leicester’s Matt Elliott only won one cap before July 1999, he was actually more experienced on the international stage by then. 34-year-old Colin Calderwood of Aston Villa also offers plenty of experience in the twilight of his career. In the long-term, Christian Dailly (Blackburn) and David Weir (Everton) might become key defensive stoppers.
Gary McAllister is now 34 with exactly 50 caps to his name (I don’t think that’s quite right either, but whatever) but is still as strong and reliable as ever. Everton’s left-footed magician John Collins is himself a single cap shy of a half-century, while clubmate Scot Gemmill offers another midfield option.
Last season saw Brian O’Neil follow in Paul Lambert‘s footsteps and move to Germany, signing for Wolfsburg. O’Neil is mentally resilient but technically limited, but Lambert – now at Celtic – is a more well-rounded option who can hit a mean long shot.
If you’re looking for someone more creative and technical, Everton’s Don Hutchison and Birmingham’s Allan Johnston offer good playmaking abilities. Johnston is currently on loan from Sunderland, where Alex Rae is a hard-working attacking midfielder. Meanwhile, Rangers youngster Barry Ferguson‘s Flair attribute of 18 is probably as un-Scottish as it gets.
Simon Donnelly is currently valued at £4.4million – more than any other player currently in my squad – following his transfer from Celtic to Sheffield Wednesday. The 24-year-old right-winger is rapid and has a good cross in him. Another quality option on the right flank is the selfless Leeds ace David Hopkin, who has bags of stamina.
I’m spoilt for choice on the left wing. Newcastle’s 23-year-old Stephen Glass might be front of the queue, but 24-year-old Neil McCann‘s reputation at Rangers is growing. I’ll also be looking forward to seeing how Phil O’Donnell gets on at Hillsborough after he made the same move from Celtic Park as Donnelly.
Mark Burchill is the most exciting teenager in Scots fitba right now. Having scored nine goals in his debut Scottish Premier League campaign with Celtic, he’s already proven himself as a clinical finisher. Though Burchill starts off in the Scotland Under-21s squad, I’m obviously going to fast-track him to the senior side.
Tireless veteran Kevin Gallacher is looking for a late-career renaissance at Newcastle, who also have Scotland’s most-feared frontman in their ranks. Alas, big Duncan Ferguson self-isolated from the national team two years ago and thus won’t be Glasgow-kissing any Bosnian defenders.
In terms of other attacking options, Billy Dodds scored 17 SPL goals for Dundee United last season, while Eoin Jess netted 14 for Aberdeen. Scott Booth plays for Twente in Holland but is not the most natural finisher by any means.
Some of these players will become key men for me over the coming years. Others may not even get a look-in, as new contenders emerge from the shadows.
Scottish players are typically brave, aggressive and energetic, so we’ll regularly press hard and tackle even harder. Other than that, there’s not much else to say about my initial tactic. It’s just your standard 4-4-2.
I haven’t yet set up any set-piece takers either. Frankly, some of the players are pretty intimidating, so I’m perhaps best off leaving them to sort free-kicks and corners out themselves for now! Collins will likely take most of them anyway…
SEPTEMBER 1999
A new era for Scotland’s national team began with a mini-tour of Eastern Europe, taking in matches against Bosnia & Herzegovina and Estonia. These were the 26 players I trusted to get my tartan tenure off to the best possible start:
GOALKEEPERS: Robert Douglas, Jon Gould, Neil Sullivan
DEFENDERS: Tom Boyd, Colin Calderwood, Christian Dailly, Matt Elliott, Colin Hendry, Dominic Matteo, Jackie McNamara, Gary Naysmith, David Weir
MIDFIELDERS: John Collins, Simon Donnelly, Barry Ferguson, Stephen Glass, David Hopkin, Don Hutchison, Allan Johnston, Paul Lambert, Gary McAllister, Alex Rae
FORWARDS: Mark Burchill, Billy Dodds, Kevin Gallacher, Eoin Jess
Three days after the squad announcement, I was informed that Hendry – the hardest man in Glasgow – had withdrawn with a bruised rib. I laughed and told him, “Oh no, you’re not getting out of national service that easily! Get back in my squad NOW!”
Gould had a better excuse for pulling out just before we flew to Sarajevo, having gashed his head in Celtic training. After Gould’s withdrawal, we had to physically drag the party-loving Goram out of a Motherwell nightclub and onto the plane in his place.
Now… when it comes to international management in CM99/00, coaching the Under-21s side isn’t optional. Therefore, my first match of this save was an Under-21s warm-up against Bosnia. A young Scots side captained by CM97/98 cult icon Alan Archibald won 2-1, thanks to goals from Dundee United winger Jim Paterson and Hearts striker Gary Wales.
That was a promising start, but could the big boys do it when it mattered more? If so, we would have to do it without Collins, who’d strained his wrist in training.
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA 0-1 SCOTLAND (Euro 2000 Qualifying – Group 9, Match 7)
What should’ve been a close contest to the end was actually settled pretty quickly. After just two minutes, Jess was wiped out in the Bosnian area by home goalkeeper Sead Ramovic, who was sent to a very early shower. Eoin dusted himself off and then despatched the penalty past substitute Miralem Ibrahimovic.
Despite having a man advantage for almost the entire match, we couldn’t completely dominate our opponents. We were too wasteful in front of goal. Thankfully, Hendry was rock-solid at the back (bruised rib, my eye) and didn’t allow the Zmajevi a single shot on target.
A surprisingly simple win put us up into 2nd – two points ahead of Lithuania (whose 0-0 draw ended the Czech Republic’s perfect record) with a game in hand.
Next up for us were Estonia, who emulated us by only managing a 1-1 draw with the Faroe Islands. That didn’t tell the story, though, as the Faroes had 17 shots on target and would surely have won had they not been up against an inspired Mart Poom in the Estonian goal.
ESTONIA 1-1 SCOTLAND (Euro 2000 Qualifying – Group 9, Match 8)
Poom carried on back home in Tallinn where he’d left off 1,000 miles away in Tórshavn. The Derby keeper made several excellent saves in the first half to keep Jess, Gallacher et al off the scoresheet. Despite bossing Estonia in all the key stats, we went into half-time still goalless.
I switched to a 4-3-3 and brought 19-year-old debutant Burchill for the second half, but disaster struck within six minutes. A clumsy challenge from Dailly gave Estonia a free-kick just outside our area, which Andres Oper thundered into the top corner.
Burchill didn’t have much luck against Poom, but fortune did smile on another of our younger players. With 20 minutes remaining, Glass received an excellent ball from Hopkin and cut it past Poom to salvage a point – and save us from embarrassment.
Bosnia crumbled late on in losing 2-1 to the Czechs, while Lithuania suffered a surprise defeat to the previously winless Faroe Islands. That meant a draw in our penultimate game against the Bosnians would see us through to the play-offs.
OCTOBER 1999
Before our final batch of group matches, I made one major change to my squad. Ferguson had been dropped to the Under-21s to make room for Burley, who had helped Celtic make a strong start under their new managerial mastermind John Barnes.
My squad originally included in-form Sheffield Wednesday winger O’Donnell in place of Gallagher, who’d dislocated his shoulder in Newcastle’s 8-2 demolition of Leicester. That was until O’Donnell withdrew a few days before Bosnia with a pulled hamstring. By then, Gallagher’s shoulder had healed, so he was available for selection after all!
SCOTLAND 1-1 BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA (Euro 2000 Qualifying – Group 9, Match 9)
Just like in our previous meeting, this match saw an early goal: two, in fact. A fit-again Collins sent the Tartan Army roaring after just six minutes, when he powered in a rebound shot after Jess’ initial effort was saved by Ramovic.
Scottish celebrations didn’t last long, though. Three minutes later, Coventry defender Muhamed Konjic flicked Sead Kapetanovic’s free-kick goalwards. The Fenerbahce forward Elvir Bolic (or just Bolic, as he’s known in-game) did the rest, and Bosnia were level.
The rest of the game was a real battle, as we wasted a number of good scoring chances. Donnelly was especially ineffective on the right wing, showing the sharpness of someone whose 10 appearances for Wednesday this season had all come from the bench.
Thankfully for us, the Zmajevi only had one more shot on goal all game. The experienced AIK midfielder Nebojsa Novakovic’s drive midway through the second half was pushed away by Sullivan, who got us the point we needed.
With our play-off berth secured, I could afford to rest my key men against Lithuania – and try out a 4-4-2 narrow diamond with some fringe options instead. Among those players who would see action was Booth, who came into the side after Burchill picked up a groin strain in training.
SCOTLAND 6-1 LITHUANIA (Euro 2000 Qualifying – Group 9, Match 10)
Now that’s entertainment! We thrilled our supporters with three goals in the opening half-hour – one from Gallacher, and a couple of Burley, who converted a penalty after being hacked down by Aidas Preiksaitis.
The industrial Balts loved to rough Craig up. When Edgaras Jankauskas dived in on our midfielder with both feet three minutes later, the Club Brugge striker was given his marching orders. Not the best way to endear yourself to Scottish football fans, Edgaras…
Lithuania did start to play some football just before half-time. A late free-kick from Donatas Vencevicius beat Douglas, as Aberdeen’s new £2.9million goalkeeper conceded the only shot on target he faced on his Tartan Army debut.
Glass dismissed any Lithuanian hopes of a fightback by heading in captain Elliott’s cross 11 minutes after the restart. Booth and Rae then came off the bench to grab goals in the final nine minutes and complete a 6-1 rout.
Italy, Norway, Germany, Russia, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Yugoslavia and the Czech Republic had all qualified for Euro 2000 as group winners. As the best group runners-up, Slovenia also went through automatically to make their tournament debut.
That left just four places up for grabs. We were into the play-offs along with Switzerland, Turkey, Israel, Romania, Croatia, world champions France… and the ‘Auld Enemy’. Art wouldn’t imitate life and give us another ‘Battle of Britain’, would it?
France and England aside, Romania were perhaps the toughest opponents we could’ve faced. Bucharest would host the first leg on 13 November, and it would be vital to keep our heads above water before the rematch at Hampden Park four days later.
NOVEMBER 1999
Despite scoring against Lithuania, both Booth and Rae lost their Scotland places for the crucial play-off ties. O’Donnell and Burchill were recalled after recovering from their injuries, and Gould returned in place of Goram.
Our first injury blow came about a week after the squad announcement, as Matteo twisted his knee at Liverpool and was ruled out. That mean an unexpected return for 10-cap Aberdeen left-back Derek Whyte, with the 31-year-old having recently rediscovered his form at Pittodrie.
Then, on the Monday that we came together for training… Gould was a no-show. Dodgy neck, apparently. Time to phone up Goram’s favourite bartender again and see if Andy was sober enough to return. Thankfully, he was…
The bloke staggered out of a club the night before we flew out to Bucharest and cracked his shoulder against the pavement. Idiot. Combe had behaved much more responsibly in Dundee and took his spot.
By then, I’d already been forced to make another change to my squad after Calderwood’s 34-year-old thigh gave way. I called up Scot Gemmill for the first time, hoping that the returning Everton midfielder could produce a moment of magic like his dad Archie did in 1978.
ROMANIA 1-0 SCOTLAND (Euro 2000 Qualifying – Playoff, Leg 1)
We’d certainly need a bit of inspiration to qualify after a narrow 1-0 defeat at the Stadionul – the same scoreline our Under-21s lost by. In truth, we were lucky not to lose by a bigger margin to a dominant Romanian side whose striker Adrian Mihalcea hit the woodwork a couple of time.
The hosts perhaps lacked a creative spark, as Hagi had been controversially dropped after falling out with manager Victor Piturca. However, the Tricolorii did have 19-year-old Eugen Trica, who came off the bench to turn Dumitru Mitrita’s late free-kick across the line.
After holding out for 86 minutes, that was a cruel way to lose. Nevertheless, we were unbowed, and qualification was still up for grabs as we returned to Hampden.
SCOTLAND 1-2 ROMANIA (Euro 2000 Qualifying – Playoff, Leg 1)
Pah! We’d done so well to get back in the tie, with Burchill teeing up Hutchison’s first Scotland goal to put us 1-0 up just before half-time. Sadly, we’d already wasted some great opportunities, and a couple of second-half errors would cost us dear.
The first was in the 49th minute, when McNamara made a dangerous two-footed lunge on Florentin Petre in the penalty area. Valencia midfielder Dennis Serban sent the spot-kick past Sullivan, meaning we’d need to score twice more to qualify.
Any realistic hopes we had of going through went kaput on 72 minutes. Donnelly stuck a hand out to block Marius Lacatus’ free-kick, earning himself a stupid red card. The rest of us were condemned to defeat in stoppage time, when Mihalcea’s header completed the Romanian comeback.
It was a valiant effort, though, and I’m optimistic that we’ll start the new millennium well and qualify for the 2002 World Cup. That being said, it’s probably time to phase out some more of the old guard and move forward with the next generation of Scottish heroes. I’ll win the Tartan Army over yet.
No Euros for Scotland, then, but I’m already enjoying this new challenge. I’ll be providing new updates every Friday over the coming weeks. I hope to see you back here for the next one.
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Until next time, thanks for reading.
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