Trillionaires Toys 6: It's getting tight at the top!

[luke_21]

Disastrous month for us, hope we can go through v Dortmund to make the extra fixtures worthwhile!

[ebfatz]

Still in the hunt. Just.

Should be doing better than we are though.

[samsami]

December European Games and Cup Games

While there are still a number of league games to be played I will take this time to give you the results of the European games as well as the FA Cup and League Cup games, starting as always with Dermotron's Exeter City.

Exeter continued their impressive European campaign by defeating AS Monaco at St James Park while Feyenoord stunned Real Betis.

Exeter have done well above expectation in Europe and for the time being they can now focus on the league again.

luke_21's Notts County had to defend a 1-0 lead at Dortmund and to be honest, they were battered for most of the game but somehow they withheld the German pressure and qualified for the Europa League Fourth Round!

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That same night Redknapp69's Crawley Town also defended a 1-0 lead in Germany at RB Leipzig and when their ageing striker scored the opening goal from the spot all looked well for Crawley.

However, the Germans showed resilience and character and taught Crawley Town a lesson in efficiency.

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And so Crawley Town's European campaign has ended and they can now start focusing on domestic football again.

Four of our teams competed in the FA Cup Second Round and ClaretChris72's Accrington Stanley impressed with a 5-0 win over Kidderminster with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scoring a hat-trick!

marimo's Stevenage also qualified for the FA Cup Third Round. They narrowly defeated Luton Town thanks to a late equaliser by Son Heung-Min and a last-minute goal by Camará.

However, ebfatz's Gillingham failed to defeat ten-man Sheffield Wednesday when Philips scored the last-minute equaliser from the spot.

And to make matters worse for Gillingham, they lost the replay at Hillsborough...

On the 15th of December luke_21's Notts County stunned Man Utd at Old Trafford to reach the League Cup Quarter Final which was played a week later.

And that next week Nott County went on to defeat Spectral's Plymouth Argyle at Home Park as well to qualify for the Semi-Finals! Only, Foden picked up a nasty foot injury.

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And then Redknapp69's Crawley Town, whose European campaign has just ended, were also knocked out of the League Cup by evesham's Stockport County. It would seem that 35-year-old Salah has lost his golden touch...

And so two of our teams, Notts Co and Stockport, managed to reach the League Cup Semi Final along with Liverpool and Fulham.

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[luke_21]

Who cares about league form anyway, I always said we are a Cup team!

[samsami]

Ending the calendar year 2027

As the transfer window opens this week I still owe you an update on the December league games.

I must say, I am having such a grand time at the Múzsa, here in Budapest, that I had almost forgotten!

Anyhow, a lot has happened on the pitch as well this month, so to start with let's quickly zoom in on the Premier League.

First of all, Dermotron's Exeter City - who are cruising through Europe - began the month by losing at home to trunky's Portsmouth who had a good month. Portsmouth played their games in hand as well and collected a total of fifteen points from their eight league matches. As a result, 'Pompey' have moved up three places in the table.

Here2Win79's Bolton Wanderers also lost their first home game of the month to Redknapp69's Crawley Town who can put all their focus on the league since having been ousted from Europe as well as from the League Cup. And with fourteen points from just six games Crawley did remarkably well this month.

Now it's not as if Bolton did not do well, but because of their home loss to Crawley Town they ended up collecting just ten points from six games.

And then there was the unexpected home loss for AJ's Bristol Rovers against Dermotron's Exeter City. Actually, the game did not deserve a winner nor a loser, but this is football. Both teams are still in the title race, though.

Meanwhile, evesham's Stockport County defeated Bolton, but they still dropped more points this month than any of the other trillionaire sides.

And although luke_21's Notts County lost at home to Crawley Town, they collected enough points to move up a few places in the table, just like Portsmouth.

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So because towards the end of the month Man City held both Exeter and Bristol Rovers to stalemate it's still very, very tight at the top of the table!

In the EFL Championship by the end of November marimo's Stevenage were already seven points ahead of Spectral's Plymouth Argyle and twelve points ahead of Xeno's third-placed Bradford City. However, things have changed dramatically in December!

The league leaders began the month by suffering a 3-1 shock loss at Blackpool and they also failed to defeat ClaretChris72's Accrington Stanley at the Lamex. All in all, Stevenage collected just ten points from five games.

And because Bradford City managed to win all seven(!) of their league games and Plymouth Argyle only played five games and dropped points at Sheffield United, Bradford suddenly find themselves in second place in the table, just one point behind Stevenage, who do have a game in hand over them. But it's clear that anything can still happen.

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In League One ebfatz's Gillingham are picking up steam with some impressive away wins. Even so, they are still in second place, five points behind the undefeated league leaders.

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Now in closing let me add that at the end of the month Plymouth Argyle's talented forward, Antony, has still not returned to the club yet!

[Redknapp69]

Looks like being knocked out of league cup and Europe has worked ok for us!

Feck - I’ve completely forgotten that players age in this save!

Salah - 35!

I better check the save

[Dermotron]

Top

Glad December is over, nightmare of a month due to the number of games

[samsami]

January 2028

After a hectic December month the New Calendar Year started with a relatively small number of league games but quite a few cup games, including the FA Cup Third Round and Fourth Round matches!

There weren't many unexpected results in the Premier League this month. AJ's Bristol Rovers defeated Here2Win79's Bolton Wanderers at the Memorial Stadium, while Bolton narrowly defeated Dermotron's Exeter City at the University of Bolton Stadium, but those were two home wins which you could more or less have expected.

However, luke_21's Notts County did well to defeat evesham's Stockport County at their own turf. Stockport seem to be going through a dip of form as they only collected three points from three games.

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Notts County - with ten points from four games - and Crawley Town - with ten points from five games - both moved up several places in the league table. And in January Crawley Town were still playing with 35-year-old Mohamed Salah as their striker!

In the Championship all teams played four league games, except Xeno's Bradford City who only played three. As a result they have now all played 29 games.

Spectral's Plymouth Argyle were the only ones to drop precious points - against a regular team. The other three won all of their games.

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In League One Bristol City finally lost not one, but two league games, allowing ebfatz's Gillingham to leapfrog them in the table and grab first place!

And then there were some really exciting cup games this month, including one very memorable game at Meadow Lane!

The FA Cup Second Round went as expected. All of our teams more or less comfortably qualified for the Fourth Round, with the exception of marimo's Stevenage who lost to Dermotron's Exeter City at St.James Park.

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However, at the end of January the ten remaining trillionaire-owned teams faced bigger challenges and so far only five have advanced to the Fifth Round.

Here2Win79's Bolton Wanderers lost at home to luke_21's Notts County and AJ's Bristol Rovers lost to Xeno's Bradford City so they were the first two teams to be eliminated.

But a more unexpected result was Redknapp69's Crawley Town's loss away to Newcastle Utd which means that Crawley Town can now entirely focus on the Premier League. Not a bad thing, perhaps. And then there was trunky's Portsmouth home loss to Fulham!

So four of our ten remaining teams have been eliminated while Dermotron's Exeter City failed to defeat Preston North End. This means that a replay at Deepdale will now be necessary.

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And in the League Cup Semi Final luke_21's Notts County humiliated Liverpool with Federico Chiesa scoring a glut in a memorable cup night at Meadow Lane which Notts County fans will not quickly forget!

Meanwhile, evesham's Stockport County held ten-man Fulham to a 1-1 draw, so they should now be able to qualify for the Final in the return match at Edgeley Park.

[Redknapp69]

Feck sake - out of cup!

Only league left then but picked up some good (maybe expected v CPU) points

Time for the final march...............now I really need to check out the save!

[Dermotron]

Notts Co

[samsami]

February 2028

It's the end of February, the weather is miserable here in Hungary, but Dermotron's Exeter City are conquering Europe at the moment!

It's hard to believe, but after having played Feyenoord twice this month Exeter City are looking to win their Phase Two Group as well.

So having picked up ten points from four matches so far Exeter seem unstoppable and have already qualified for the Champions League Quarter Final since Betis still have to play Feyenoord!

In the Premier League Redknapp69's Crawley Town started the month by suffering an unexpected loss at the King Power Stadium.

Also, luke_21's Notts County defeated trunky's Portsmouth but later in the month they lost at home to AJ's Bristol Rovers.

Overall, our teams did well, though, and if it wasn't for Man City we would already be dominating the Premier League just like we have been dominating the EFL Championship for several years now. In fact, if it wasn't for Man City Exeter would be topping the Premier League as well!

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In the Championship marimo's Stevenage and Xeno's Bradford City both lost one game while Spectral's Plymouth Argyle and ClaretChris72's Accrington Stanley drew a game each.

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So we are still dominating the league but I have to add that it's a very tight race for the two automatic promotion spots with Bradford only being one point ahead of Plymouth Argyle.

And in League One ebfatz's Gillingham have widened the gap with Bristol City to four points and they actually look to be winning the league now.

And then there was cup football as well this month, with a couple of interesting games again, although nothing like Nott Co's 8-0 over Liverpool, last month!

After Dermotron's Exeter City had defeated Preston North End in the FA Cup 4th Round Replay at Deepdale there was the FA Cup 5th Round on 19th of February.

And Exeter City, who are doing so well in Europe, went on to comfortably win their 5th Round League Cup match against ten-man Fulham as well!

Xeno's Bradford City did even better when they eliminated Man Utd at Old Trafford to become the second trillionaire team to qualify for the Quarter Final.

And they were joined by evesham's Stockport County who narrowly defeated Norwich City at Carrow Road and luke_21's Notts County who eliminated Q.P.R. in a highly remarkable cup game!

So Notts Co keep impressing friends and foes alike! However, ClaretChris72's Accrington Stanley failed to defeat Derby County so a replay is needed, which will be played next month.

And because Spectral's Plymouth Argyle were beaten by Aston Villa at Home Park we shall have four, or possibly five of our teams in the FA Cup Quarter Final.

Now luke_21's Notts County not only reached the FA Cup 5th Round this month, but in the League Cup Semi Final they eliminated Liverpool. After their sensational 8-0 home win they only narrowly lost the second leg at Anfield.

And evesham's Stockport County, who had drawn the first leg (1-1) at Fulham, were held to stalemate at Edgeley Park. And so the match went to extra time, but there were still no goals and Stockport were declared the winners!

So this means that this season one of the trillionaire-owned teams will win the FA Cup for the third year in a row!

[evesham]

well that was a pish poor League Cup semi-final 2nd leg, if we can't beat Fulham at home we have no chance of beating Luke' Notts County in the Final.
Still happy with 8th in the league in our 1st full season, especially with the lack of signings the Ass. Man. has done over the years.
Dermo's Exeter looking good in europe and the league.
great update samsami, thanks.

[samsami]

Just added a poll to the Tavern VI thread!

[Redknapp69]

Gash league month but remain in the mix

Thanks for the evver cracking updates!

[Dermotron]

It's a shame that with all our cash bungs to any of the managers or owners in the top 8 just won't work. We've reached that phase where we'd rather not see other win so City are going to keep winning the league by default

Must check the save, with the guys we have scoring we must have yet another hospital ward for a physio's room

[samsami]

It's a shame that with all our cash bungs to any of the managers or owners in the top 8 just won't work. We've reached that phase where we'd rather not see other win so City are going to keep winning the league by default

Must check the save, with the guys we have scoring we must have yet another hospital ward for a physio's room

Ah, so that's it!

Check out the save now then, because there will not be another write-up tomorrow (work got in the way).

[samsami]

March 2028

March was the month of two teams who have been excelling both domestically and in Europe this season, Dermotron's Exeter City and luke_21's Notts County.

Exeter City lost their first European game of the season, at home to Real Betis, without Endrick who was not fit enough to play. However, they won their final Phase Two group game when Endrick was fit again - and their striker immediately bagged a hat-trick for them again!

And so Exeter reached the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final along with the likes of AC Milan, AS Roma and FC Porto. But they will be facing Real Sociedad first!

Notts County, our other successful team, played Legia Warsaw in the Europa League Fourth Leg and after a narrow home win, they managed to defeat them in Warsaw as well.

In the Quarter Final they played Elche FC and again they only won by the narrowest of margins at Meadow Lane but once more they went on to win the away game as well and so Notts County have now reached the Europa League Semi Final!

And in the Semi Final Notts County will play Arsenal, starting with a home game at Meadow Lane - as usual.

And so both of our teams are continung their respective European campaigns and we can now look and see how they have been faring domestically this month.

In the Premier League there were only two league games to be played in March and the league leaders, Man City, started with a shock loss at Aston Villa.

However, Dermotron's Exeter City also lost their first game of the month against Man Utd at Old Trafford, while Redknapp69's Crawley Town lost at home to evesham's Stockport County and Here2Win79's Bolton Wanderers dropped points at Newcastle.

Two weeks later, AJ's Bristol Rovers were held to a 1-1 draw by Crawley Town at the Memorial Stadium and Exeter defeated Stockport County while Bolton lost (0-1) at home to luke_21's Notts County and trunky's Portsmouth lost at Leicester.

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And so all teams only played two league games, but Notts Co and Bristol Rovers were the only ones to remain undefeated and even the Pirates dropped two very precious points against Crawley Town.

In the Championship Spectral's Plymouth Argyle held marimo's Stevenage to a draw at Home Park, but Xeno's Bradford City had two players sent off at Middlesbrough and so they could not take advantage of the situation.

Bradford did manage to defeat ClaretChris72's Accrington Stanley at Crown Ground but then they lost to Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Valley Parade and so March wasn't a good month for the Bantams.

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As a result, Stevenage now have an eight-point gap with Plymouth Argyle who are the runners-up again, while Bradford have dropped to third place.

In League One ebfatz's Gillingham won the away game at Bristol City just when the latter were closing up on them again.

And so Gillingham remain six points ahead of Bristol City and they are still hoping to win the title this year.

In the FA Cup Quarter Final luke_21's Notts County comfortably defeated ClaretChris72's Accrington Stanley at Crown Ground, while Dermotron's Exeter City eliminated West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns.

And so both teams advance to the FA Cup Semi Final, but Xeno's Bradford City were eliminated by Aston Villa and evesham's Stockport County were held to a draw by Newcastle.

And eleven days later Stockport were eliminated from the FA Cup Quarter Final when they lost the replay at St.James' Park after penalty shootouts.

And so two trillionaire-owned teams - and who else but Exeter City and Notts County - managed to reach the FA Cup Semi Final!

Now luke_21's Notts County will also be playing evesham's Stockport County in the League Cup Final next month so as we are moving into April Notts Co are actually still playing at all four fronts!

[luke_21]

Unbelievable couple of months for Notts County! How our squad will cope with all these games I have no idea. But that's the manager's problem.. I'll just get the bus booked for the Europa League trophy parade!

[Redknapp69]

1 point from 4 is gash but in CL spot I guess and need to finish strong

Dermo has had the easiest path to CL ever

2 bang average groups and the last 8 don't look much better

Notts Co the form team in this at the mo!

[samsami]

Approaching the Finish Line - April 2028 (part one)

So much exciting stuff is happening this month that it's hardly possible to squeeze it all into one monthly report. Therefore, this write-up only covers the first couple of weeks of April - and more or less in chronological order this time.

The month started with the League Cup Final between luke_21's Notts County - the team in form - and evesham's Stockport County.

On Sunday the 2nd of April Notts County grabbed their first trophy of the season - since winning the Community Shield, that is - by defeating a valiant Stockport County in extra time in front of a crowd of 85,000 at Wembley!

Stockport were arguably the better team, but at the end of the day it's the goals that count and not the match stats. Still, the Hatters will feel that they should have scored in regular time.

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And so Notts County, playing on four fronts, won the first silverware of the season - although there are still bigger fish to fry!

Three days after Notts Co won the League Cup Dermotron's Exeter City played Real Sociedad in the Champions League Quarter Final Leg One at St.James Park and although Real Sociedad parked the bus Exeter's striker managed to find the net not just once, but twice, both times in the first half.

A well-deserved win. It would appear that there is simply no stopping Exeter in their impressive European campaign this season!

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Not to be outdone, the very next day luke_21's Notts County defeated Arsenal with the exact same scoreline in the Europa League Semi Final Leg One at Meadow Lane!

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And on the 9th of April Dermotron's Exeter City narrowly defeated Newcastle in the FA Cup Semi Final at Anfield so that Exeter are still playing at three fronts, just like Notts County.

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However, that same night - just one week after winning the League Cup and three days after beating Arsenal in the Europa League - luke_21's Notts County suffered a shock loss against Aston Villa.

After Rodríguez was sent off Villa promptly scored the opening goal. Brobbey responded by netting the equaliser, but in the second half Durán scored to restore Villa's lead and that was that.

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Now with all of those European games and cup games one would almost forget that there were league games to be played as well. And the Premier League table especially is very tight behind leaders Man City!

Each of our teams, including Exeter and Notts County, played three Premier League games so far this month and it is obvious that pressure is mounting. Only one of our seven teams managed to win all three games, while none of the others managed to win even two!

Dermotron's third-placed Exeter City started the month well by defeating Redknapp69's fourth-placed Crawley Town at Broadfield while Here2Win79's sixth-placed Bolton Wanderers narrowly defeated Aston Villa at Villa Park.

The next day, however, AJ's second-placed Bristol Rovers lost against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium so things looked bleak for them until the next day when the league leaders, Man City, also lost their league game, at Liverpool!

After that first weekend trunky's seventh-placed Portsmouth won their midweek game against evesham's eighth-placed Stockport County at Edgeley Park thanks to Haaland's late goal. So Portmouth can still hope to qualify for Europe.

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The following weekend Bristol Rovers were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Man Utd, which meant that the Pirates had already dropped five points from two games. And Stockport County also dropped points to Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.

And when Exeter played their midweek game against Arsenal and had Joško Gvardiol sent off within ten minutes Exeter suffered their first loss of the month as well.

But once more, Man City failed to win their game as they were held to stalemate by Notts Co at the Etihad Stadium!

Meanwhile, Bolton Wanderers won their midweek game against Crystal Palace. At least Bolton had not dropped any points so far. Unlike Portsmouth and Crawley Town, who played each other at Fratton Park in a scrappy game which ended in stalemate.

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In the third weekend it was Exeter's turn to drop points again when they were held to a 1-1 draw by 'colleagues' Portsmouth at Fratton Park. And the same went for Bristol Rovers who dropped two precious points at Stockport.

Bolton kept winning their games, though. They even defeated Liverpool at Anfield, while Notts Co were held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton.

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Now Crawley Town did well to convincingly win their third game, at home against Everton, and the month actually ended on a positive note when the league leaders were unexpectedly beaten by Man Utd at Old Trafford!

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And so, even with most of our teams dropping far too many points these past couple of weeks, the gap between Man City and Exeter City has been reduced to three points, while Bolton Wanderers - the only team that won all of three of their games - have moved up two places to fourth!

There was considerably less excitement in the EFL Championship, only Xeno's Bradford City, who started the month well enough by holding marimo's Stevenage to a 1-1 draw, ended up dropping five points from their five league games.

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Spectral's Plymouth Argyle won all of their games, including their game in hand, so with three games remaining the gap between Stevenage and Plymouth has been reduced to just three points. Both teams have almost secured automatic promotion already, though.

In League One ebfatz's Gillingham lost at Cambridge United and dropped to second place, but they now have two games in hand over Bristol City.

By the way, Gillingham were defeated by Cheltenham in the EFL Trophy Southern Section Semi Final, which means that for once we won't win the EFL Tropy this year.

[AJ]

Damn. Couldve been top. I guess my leaky defence is going to cost me once again…

[samsami]

Damn. Couldve been top. I guess my leaky defence is going to cost me once again…

Yeah, looks like you have defensive problems. But just imagine if City, with their tight defence, would have kept Haaland....

[Redknapp69]

4 points out of 9 isn't terrible against 3 top 6 teams

Hoping the fixture list is kinder for last few games and we can have a little charge at CL - will be happy with any European spot though

Exeter and Notts County standing out - but both also had fair share of luck in cup games - although a red for Notts C in Cup SF was a kick in the nads

Quite a few mixed results in PL so proving to be a brilliant dvision when all of us there!

Nice one on the effort/write up as ever!

[samsami]

4 points out of 9 isn't terrible against 3 top 6 teams.

Hoping the fixture list is kinder for last few games and we can have a little charge at CL - will be happy with any European spot though

[evesham]

and still the trophy cabinet is full of woodlice, it was a good performance by us, deserved the win with the shots.
think this is the 3rd time over the years we've lost silverware or promotion to Luke' Notts County, deffo our bogey team.
Gratz to Luke, looking good for the treble with the europa league.
Gratz to marimo, Spectral and ebfatz on securing promotions.
thanks for the update samsami.