Beam me up, Scotty - Rangers & Scotland CM Story

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@CO88LER5 wrote:
England win a penalty shootout (two actually). That's not normal!
Fancy Scotland finishing third...

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Haha, yeah that's not normal, usually being their Achilles' heel. Yes, a third place was a nice finish. A lucrative path during the knockouts and an honorable defeat to the English in the semi final. I think this was as good as I could have hoped for. A few good individual performances too:

Lewis Ferguson: 2 goals, 4 assists (joint most assists).

John McGinn: 3 goals, 1 assist.

Scott McTominay: 2 goals, 1 assist.

Ché Adams: 3 goals.

Oliver Burke: 3 goals.

Elliot Anderson: 1 goal, 1 assist.

Josh Doig: 3 assists.

Andy Robertson: 2 assists.

Billy Gilmour: 1 assist.

Angus Gunn: 2 clean sheets (joint most).

I somehow knew that England wouldn't win it.  The Scots will be delerious...

Scotland did well in the team of the tournament.  Interesting that a freebie (in the game) was also in there; Alexis Vega.  I've used him before, last year in my Blackpool career.  On of my favouurites - Lautaro Martinez - too.

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@CO88LER5 wrote:

I somehow knew that England wouldn't win it.  The Scots will be delerious...

Scotland did well in the team of the tournament.  Interesting that a freebie (in the game) was also in there; Alexis Vega.  I've used him before, last year in my Blackpool career.  On of my favouurites - Lautaro Martinez - too.

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Vega wasn't just in the Team of the Tournament. He was arguably the Player of the Tournament, being the standout player in a dangerous front three with Lozano and Giménez. 3 goals and 4 assists, stuff of legends.

A freebie, yes, but only in game due to the Mexican clubs being left out. It's not like he's out of club in real life, so I also don't consider ham as a freebie. Perhaps a season in or more, if he is still out of club then. Then I might consider him on a free. But I won't see him as a free agent from the start, when I know he's not unassigned IRL.

I did sign him for a sporadic role in a Man United career some time ago. And he was an absolute beast, pushing well above his value. He was brilliant in that save.

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@CO88LER5 wrote:
It will indeed be interesting to see if the big departures do allow the other clubs to get closer.
Interesting that Atletico would come for someone like Cantwell. Iwouldn't have him down as their type of player.
But then, I get weird transfer bids sometimes.

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Yes, I didn't see that coming either. But I agree, the game does have a brilliant imagination sometimes. And I've anticipated a big sale for quite some time, the right bids just haven't really come. Midfielder Raskin was targeted by Chelsea at some point, but they backed out, when I wanted a (in my opinion) reasonable fee for him. So I guess it was time to let someone go, and Cantwell seemed to be the one.

Not getting out of group H then😉

Celtic won't get out of their's either.

Interesting start to the league, with Hibs deciding to get in on the act.  Going to be interesting to see if that continues.

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@CO88LER5 wrote:

Not getting out of group H then😉

Celtic won't get out of their's either.

Interesting start to the league, with Hibs deciding to get in on the act.  Going to be interesting to see if that continues.

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Yes, probably not! But I suppose I'd be an underdog in any group, so regardless of the draw I would always need some luck to push a bit beyond what is expected. And the same goes for Celtic! Spoiler alert: A minor upset already in their first group game 😉

I do hope for a third wheel in the league,  but I'm pretty sure it won't last. Aberdeen started well in the last couple of seasons too, but they weren't really close, when it was decided in the end. Kudos to Hibs for a good start. But it's not going to last.

Good draw against Bayern.  The Arsenal result is reallu unexpected.  The game does throw up weird things from time to time.

Celtic match; Luimo Boas Santos.  Now that's a player I haven't used for a while.  I bought him several versions ago when he was a kid and he was quite prolific.

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@CO88LER5 wrote:

Good draw against Bayern.  The Arsenal result is reallu unexpected.  The game does throw up weird things from time to time.

Celtic match; Luimo Boas Santos.  Now that's a player I haven't used for a while.  I bought him several versions ago when he was a kid and he was quite prolific.

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Yes, the group is already going down a rather surprising path. Interesting how that will eventually turn out. I'm keeping an eye on Celtic's group as well, they beat PSG 4-2 away... Another EA classic, isn't it? You can't make that up...

I've never heard of that Luimo Boas Santos fellow. From what I understand he's an in-game generated player to resemble a real-life Brazilian, who couldn't be in the game due to licensing issues. I do very much prefer to play with real players, so I always avoid these fake ones myself. Unless they are academy players or regens that come to life during my CM save. But you may have a point about him being quite profilic. He did score twice against me and seems to be their answer to fill the gap from the departed Armando Broja.

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@CO88LER5 wrote:
It's quite interesting about Arsenal generally in this game overall. They seem to be quite fragile, as I have found out in my current Plymouth save and in the Manchester United one I had started. They don't seem to be anything like the Arsenal we see IRL. Interesting to see how they are struggling in your CL group. I wonder if the programmers at EA have something against them...

4-0 against a Hibs side that were tracking close to you until that match is a good result, too.

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It's true about Hibernian. But they had already slipped a great deal before I met them. 5 wins in the first 5 games. But no wins for them from match 6 to match 10. I knew they wouldn't last, but I didn't expect such a full stop from them.

I agree with the Arsenal part. I haven't played in England yet in this game, but I did do it quite often in recent editions, and I seem to recall Arsenal often starting quite well, then dropping off later on to see someone else run away with the title. If this checks out, then it has to be one of the more realistic things to happen in Career Mode.

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@CO88LER5 wrote:
So, Hearts are the team looking to join the title fight. Interesting to see how much longer that lasts.
The odd weird result, though. Only a draw against Dundee, who are hovering near the bottom.
Maybe Arsenal will produce a great escape and send you into the Europa...I think they'll have to do the unlikely and beat Bayern to stand a chance, though, as you should beat Braga.

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Dundee is actually quite the bogey team this season, especially for Celtic, who lost their first match against them 2-1, at Celtic Park. Later they drew 3-3 at Dundee, so half their lost points are so far on the hands of Dundee. Or feet. And in that light I suppose my home draw and away 2-0 win seem quite reasonable.

Hearts, yes, they're keeping up so far. I do also expect them to drop off, as has been the case with both Hibs and Aberdeen in recent seasons, but it's nice to see a little competition now and then. They also seem to do well in Europe, contrary to the two former, who could be about to end last in their respective groups.

Should beat Braga? Well, I couln't the first time, and they've proven to be quite competitive in this group. I certainly won't take anything for granted, but anything less than a win could put me in a tricky position before the final game, perhaps needing a win at Bayern to go through. A "Man United situation", one might call it.