Category: Retro

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Hello there, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you’re not feeling too hungover after the madness that was last night, when England were crowned European champions for the first time after a shock victory at Wembley against the mighty Finland. Who honestly expected Jordan Pickford to score a 90th-minute winner with a header from the halfway line?!

Or at least that would’ve happened but for some virus which has absolutely nothing to do with an Irish rock band.

Anyway, seeing as it’s the day after what would’ve been the Euro 2020 Final, my Championship Manager 99/00 story with Scotland has reached quite a fitting moment. The previous chapter saw us qualify for Euro 2004 – and that tournament will be the main focus in today’s installment. Enjoy!

Continue reading “CM99/00 Revisited: Fitba’s Coming Home – Part 7” →

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My Championship Manager 99/00 story gets back underway now on Fuller FM. I’ve already rewritten history by taking Scotland to one major tournament, and now we’ve got another in our sights.

You join us midway through the Euro 2004 qualifiers, where Scotland are battling England and three other teams for a place at the upcomining continental finals. If you want to see how we got on in our earlier matches, you can read Part 5 right here.

When you’re ready, let’s get going…

Continue reading “CM99/00 Revisited: Fitba’s Coming Home – Part 6” →

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I’m back with another chapter from my Championship Manager 99/00 adventure with the Scotland national team. I’ll admit it’s still a little strange as a Londoner to be managing our neighbours north of the border, but I’m really getting sucked into this career now.

Of course, our recent exploits at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan have played a big part in settling me in – and answering my biggest critics. I won’t spoil anything in this intro, but if you haven’t yet caught up with the story (or you just want to relive our Asian journey), you can read Part 4 right here.

In today’s post, I’ll be playing through the first half of our Euro 2004 qualifying campaign. Again, no spoilers, but excitement levels are about to kick up a notch…

Continue reading “CM99/00 Revisited: Fitba’s Coming Home – Part 5” →

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My Championship Manager 99/00 adventure with Scotland continues right now on Fuller FM. And let me tell you – things are about to get very, very spicy!

Remember the last chapter, where we had to get out of a World Cup qualifying group with Denmark and Spain? Well… if you’ve read that, you’ll know what’s coming up in today’s post. If not, then please check that out first, because there will be obvious spoilers below…

Continue reading “CM99/00 Revisited: Fitba’s Coming Home – Part 4” →

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Welcome back to my Championship Manager 99/00 challenge with the Scotland national team. Last time round, I began to rebuild the team after our failure to qualify for Euro 2000 – and now it’s time to find out if that work has reaped its rewards.

I’m subtitling this article “2001: A Scotland Odyssey”. I don’t like to exaggerate, but if today’s story sees the Tartan Army successfully qualify for the 2002 World Cup, it would surely rival even Arthur C Clarke’s greatest epic fiction.

More likely, though, is that it’ll end in the sort of British ultra-violence you’d expect from another classic Stanley Kubrick film.

Continue reading “CM99/00 Revisited: Fitba’s Coming Home – Part 3” →

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Welcome back to the second chapter of my new retro challenge – or “fàilte don dàrna caibideil den dùbhlan retro ùr agam”, as Scottish Gaelic speakers might say on BBC Alba. Sadly, I’ve just found out that BBC Alba isn’t a TV channel dedicated to the actress Jessica Alba, so you’ll have to put up with seeing Don Hutchison’s pretty face instead.

In this challenge, I’m managing the Scotland national team on Championship Manager 99/00. I’m hoping to erase 20 years of hurt by leading the Tartan Army to success – which, in their case, would be getting out of the group at a major tournament.

In Part 1, I took the reins for the closing stages of the Euro 2000 qualifiers. Today, we’ll be entering the new year, where you’ll find no millennium bugs – except the one that turns Championship Manager goalkeepers into supermen, perhaps.

Continue reading “CM99/00 Revisited: Fitba’s Coming Home – Part 2” →