Beam me up, Scotty - Rangers & Scotland CM Story
Forum Discussion
As Head-to-Head results are leading you're at least certain of Europa League and there is the theoretical chance of proceeding in Champions League if you could cause the greatest upset so far in the story... highly unlikely to defeat Bayern, but [...fill in football cliché here...]
Celtic having an edge in goals scored and goal difference. Some attacking reinforcements in the winter transfer window?
You did okay against Chelsea in the end. A draw at home and a narrow scoreline at th Bridge is very creditable.
Looks like Europa League, so continued interest in Europe in the second half of the year.
Isn't is ridiculous that a draw in the league can be seen as a big slip-up? Just goes to show how Scotland is such a two-horse fiefdom, really, and just how narrow the margins are. But then, quite a few leagues have become just that in recent years; not good for football long-term, I think.
@Danimal5981 wrote:As Head-to-Head results are leading you're at least certain of Europa League and there is the theoretical chance of proceeding in Champions League if you could cause the greatest upset so far in the story... highly unlikely to defeat Bayern, but [...fill in football cliché here...]
Celtic having an edge in goals scored and goal difference. Some attacking reinforcements in the winter transfer window?
Yes, last day of the group would require something extra. A win vs Bayern, and for Galatasaray to beat Chelsea. Not impossible, but not that likely either. In the end I actually came pretty close though. Galatasaray was one up against Chelsea, when it was still 0-0 for me against Bayern, who were down to 10 men. But I failed to take advantage of it, whilst Chelsea also came back to get a result that would still have been enough to count me out.
Attacking reinforcements, perhaps. I need a second South American signing, so that could be the plan. A winger, perhaps, with Adams doing so well centrally. We'll see...
@CO88LER5 wrote:You did okay against Chelsea in the end. A draw at home and a narrow scoreline at th Bridge is very creditable.
Looks like Europa League, so continued interest in Europe in the second half of the year.
Isn't is ridiculous that a draw in the league can be seen as a big slip-up? Just goes to show how Scotland is such a two-horse fiefdom, really, and just how narrow the margins are. But then, quite a few leagues have become just that in recent years; not good for football long-term, I think.
Yes, it's actually ridiculous. But also quite fun! Now that I'm winning so frequently in the league, I really need Celtic to do the same, more or less, to keep me on my toes and keep the season being interesting. Europe can't hold the fort on its own.
But I agree. Rangers and Celtic will also suffer from having such a weak league compared to other countries. There is a reason why the clubs need to target Championship-level players often, not really being able to compete with the Premier League clubs anymore.
Reasonable draw: Bodø / Glimt are a tough team to play against. However, if you look what you could've gotten (Frankfurt, Fener, Hammers, Spurs, Lazio) then it's not so bad after all.
- @JustinCase0110
Looking at that draw, it's one of the best you could hope for.
Can't see Rangers getting too far in the competition, though, with the other names even in this preliminary round.
Looks like the league continues to be a stroll, though.
@Danimal5981 wrote:Reasonable draw: Bodø / Glimt are a tough team to play against. However, if you look what you could've gotten (Frankfurt, Fener, Hammers, Spurs, Lazio) then it's not so bad after all.
Agreed. They're undefeated so far in the competition, so I shouldn't underestimated them. But I could have gotten worse, no doubt about that.
@CO88LER5 wrote:
Looking at that draw, it's one of the best you could hope for.
Can't see Rangers getting too far in the competition, though, with the other names even in this preliminary round.
Looks like the league continues to be a stroll, though.Yes, it's a pretty hard group of teams. So from my current point of view, I'd say that anything beyond the Round of 16 will be a bonus.
First time you're not in the chase, but actually up front. That's progress...
@Danimal5981 wrote:First time you're not in the chase, but actually up front. That's progress...
Haha, just played next game, a draw in Aberdeen, while Celtic comfortably won 3-0 in theirs. A short stay on the top for me, but at least there's an Old Firm next with the chance to reclaim it.
There's your South-American. Good buy for Rangers, I'm looking in a similar pool of quality players, this one was in fact on my shortlist as well, it's just that my limits on salary would make it impossible to sign such a player. He earns 38k and I won't go over 25k at the moment.
Maybe a Champions League campaign and a national league title would increase my financial possibilities again, but for now, as Holland's number #2 - Conference League winner - not sure of Champions League yet - I need to stay in that storyline. Or, I could get one or two of these players, miss out on Champions League and sink the club in another crisis, that's possible too...
- @JustinCase0110
So, victim of the loan recall bug. At least, I think it is a buig, I've raised it several times, but there's never any movement from EA.
It's so disappointing, really.
@Danimal5981 wrote:There's your South-American. Good buy for Rangers, I'm looking in a similar pool of quality players, this one was in fact on my shortlist as well, it's just that my limits on salary would make it impossible to sign such a player. He earns 38k and I won't go over 25k at the moment.
Maybe a Champions League campaign and a national league title would increase my financial possibilities again, but for now, as Holland's number #2 - Conference League winner - not sure of Champions League yet - I need to stay in that storyline. Or, I could get one or two of these players, miss out on Champions League and sink the club in another crisis, that's possible too...
I think my top earners make about £50k or so, so I suppose my limit is a bit higher than yours. But I try to stay within that limit too. When I go beyond it at some point, it has to be a star player doing so, not just someone coming from a big club, entering a smaller role in my team. Can't have that scenario.
@CO88LER5 wrote:
So, victim of the loan recall bug. At least, I think it is a buig, I've raised it several times, but there's never any movement from EA.
It's so disappointing, really.Yes, there it was. 20 games out of 26, in Brandon Williams' case. Not enough, apparently. I knew it could happen though, so I don't let myself be too frustrated about it. I guess it's just a part of playing with loan players these days. I used to never explore the loan option, always think that it would be a better investment to buy the player, grow him, sell him more expensively, always targeting young talents. But I've really grown fond of now targeting a mix of youngsters, more experienced players and - also - players on loan.
But I agree with you. EA would do well to change this threshold. It's quite ridiculous.
Setford one day could become a great goalkeeper. Captain of Ajax II and last three league games (2nd tier) only a single goal against, which is a huge improvement to the first twelve playing rounds.
Hagi was always one of the first players that I'd scout, but this game he came out significantly weaker in my scouting reports. McAtee was mentioned at Ajax this summer, we thought, but in the end Ajax' attention was focused on Carlos Forbs Borges of Man City u21 (unfortunately).
And those results... it could well mean you're three or four points down on Celtic, which in your two horse race could mean a great deal. Four points is like an Old Firm for Free.
@Danimal5981 wrote:Setford one day could become a great goalkeeper. Captain of Ajax II and last three league games (2nd tier) only a single goal against, which is a huge improvement to the first twelve playing rounds.
Hagi was always one of the first players that I'd scout, but this game he came out significantly weaker in my scouting reports. McAtee was mentioned at Ajax this summer, we thought, but in the end Ajax' attention was focused on Carlos Forbs Borges of Man City u21 (unfortunately).
And those results... it could well mean you're three or four points down on Celtic, which in your two horse race could mean a great deal. Four points is like an Old Firm for Free.
Hagi, yes, he's a completely different player now, than he used to be when I signed him in previous editions of FIFA. I remember him having this 85 stamina rating, and he wasn't slow, with his pace around the 75 or so. Now his pace is down around 60, perhaps as a result of his horrendous injury from January 2022 that kept him out for a long time and even saw him removed from the game. So that may also be the reason why things didn't 'click' for him in this save, the same way it used to, when I had him in a few of my previous saves, where he always seems to overperform.
Thanks for the info on Setford, he's not one I was familiar with before, but I tend to target ball-playing keepers these days, and I was almost shocked to see his "kick" skills compared to the rest of his abilities at this point. So I decided to take a chance on him, and with him "showing great potential", he could grow to become a great addition, if I keep him in the lineup.
I agree that four points would be a big gap now, but luckily that is not the case. I know I had three consecutive draws there, but one was against Celtic, so they couldn't really gain on me there. And the other was a cup game. So they gained two points on me, so we're still pretty close.
4 draws in 6 games and still within a victory of Celtic: it could've been worse.
I do notice that the two top teams are now equal on goals scored: that either means you find the net easier, or Celtic has had moe difiiculties.
@Danimal5981 wrote:4 draws in 6 games and still within a victory of Celtic: it could've been worse.
I do notice that the two top teams are now equal on goals scored: that either means you find the net easier, or Celtic has had moe difiiculties.
It's a bit up and down, I think. I didn't score easily in the three consecutive 1-1 games, that's for sure. But then they just flew in during the second halves vs Motherwell and Dundee, the latter in the cup though. So I can't say in general, that I find it easier to score right now.
