Championship Manager 00/01 - PART II

After grabing that 8th place I was given another year at Lechia. I don't really know what whould season bring but it might be tough. Loan player came back to their clubs and sure I whould miss Fabisiak who was last season team MVP. Board gives me no money for transfers as the club is sinking in debts, so only free players and loans might be available. This time I sure will be fighting to avoid relegation but since I was 8th last season the expetations from the board are a bit higher than that.

Championship Manager 99/00 - PART I

So I start my work in the English Conference League as the manager of Doncaster Rovers. The board expetations is to give the club a decent position in the league. The squad looks pretty good plus they have given me 120K for transfers, so I might be able to get a few players in the window.

Doncaster had poor staff so first thing I did was looking for some good coaches. Then of course I set the training rigors and divide players into groups. I have got four friendly games to check what I have in the squad and decide who is who in this team. It's not gonna be easy, as Rovers are rather one of the weakest team in league, but with a litte bit of luck this might be a good season.

Championship Manager 00/01 - PART 1

It all begins in Lechia Gdansk. Lechia is playing in Polish second division. The club is one of the worst of them all. They give me only 2K for transfers, so no chance of rebuilding squad much, I will have to work with what I got. The board don't expect much, they just want to avoid the relegation.

Flashback: FIFA 2001 and 2002

Two in one becouse I did not spent that much time playing those games. Fifa 2001 was a bit disapointing. Good graphics, with sponsors on strips and smooth tekstures and all, but the game play was soooo boring. How many goals can you score with a bicycle kick anyway? I remember playing a season with Auxerre but I cant remember if I finished it. That's all I remember so let's just leave it that way :)

In 2002 the game was pretty weird. Good graphics and not bad game play, but WTF happend with the physics? You could score some really bizzare goals in that one. Using edit mode I created my own player (Yeah I did that a lot before "Be a star" or "Be a legend" became a game mode) and started in Rosenborg Trondheim winning the Norway League and becoming the top scorer. After that I sold myself to Austria and become the Rapid Vien player, again winning the league and score some serious amount of goals ;) Then I went to Arsenal, but didn't played that season as I got a bit borred. I've also try my luck i European Cups, becouse playing with Legia Warsaw was option in "EFA CUP" and I'm a huge fan.

Of course there was also a qualification campaign that I took with various nations, including Poland. So in both of this games I played about 4 regular seasons, not much as in FIFA 11 I'm already played about 10 of them, but that's a different story...

Flashback: ISS pro Evolution

This is like number 2 on my Best Soccer Games Ever list. Since I played ISS pro Evo I never looked at soccer simulations the same way. I did not play ISS pro and ISS pro 98 before, so the shock was even bigger. I've spend hours playing different cups and leagues mostly with Poland, wich sucked preety much in the game. I create Olisadebe in the edit mode and ad him to Poland team as he was given citizenship at the time and become a national hero for a while. With Olisadabe I was able to achive decent results (he was not all 99 as you may think but he was fast and had some good dribbling and shooting). I realy loved playing the International Cup, that was ISS wersion of World Cup and can't even count how many times a won it playing lots of great and memorful games mostly with Brazil, France, Holland, Italy etc.

I tried the Master League at the begining but it was to hard for me so I left it for some time. After about a year I decided to try againg. I choose Bayern Munchen, wich does not matter any way, becouse the point of that challenge is to built a dream team out of nothing. So you get yourself bunch of amatours and by winning matches get points to buy players. I read somwhere that it's best tu buy Patrick Mboma (bit different name in the game due to lack of license), so I did. He really was a good scorer and my team finally start to win some serious games, but it was other player who put me in top of the league. I'm talking about the young cameronian striker - Semau. Never heard of him? If you played the Master League in that game you shoulde have. He is not the best skill player but he is fast as hell, so if you know how to score goals in this game he will be able to easy get to good chances mostly one-on-one with the keeper and the rest is up to you. Semau and Mboma give mi high position in first season and good amount of points that let me get more serious players.

After that I bought Kahn as a goalkeeper, Roberto Carlos and Jarni as deffenders, Figo in the middle and Ronaldo as replacment for Mboma. After few seasons I got the squad that win everything I wanted with no problem. Few years ago I came back to this game and start playing as Liverpool, pretty much the same strategy but I bought Amokachi instead of Mboma, it was a bullseye transfer. So if you are playing Master League in ISS pro Evolution be sure to buy Semau at first (really cheap guy) and then support him with Amokachi or Mboma those guys will get you some trophies.

Master League was very simple back then. No different divisions, just one league, 16 clubs to choose from no Cups or Champions Cups, no condition etc.

As I said at the beginning, this is one of my favourite games ever and I've spent many, many fun hours playing it alone or with my friend.

P.S. - Look at the cutscene that you get when you win some cup or league, isn't thats what you deserve after all the effort you put into game, why all modern games don't have a decent decoration animations for God sake!?

PES 4 Story: Chapter Four

Well it was the best season so far. Podbeskidzie defended their trophy in the D1 Cup and finished 2nd in the Division 1 but mostly important they won the WEFA Championships. In 30 league games we won 21, draw 7 and lost 2. After this season we reached the 9 place in WEFA Ranking, so our goal is getting close - the goal is to be 1st in WEFA Rank and won the WEFA Masters Cup. A new star was born, a young italian Zola was a transfer hit, coming out of nowhere and scoring 29 goals wich give him the top scorer title. It was a poor seson for Mpenza. He did not score even one goal and lost a place in the squad to Zola, I don't know about his future in the club as competition in attack is very high. On the other hand he still is the best scorer in history.

I transfered Couraz (Forward), Ferdinand (Forward), Moracchini (DM), Zola (Forward), Di Canio (Forward), Roberto Carlos (SB), Odonkor (Wing) and Inan Coldona (CD). New transfer politics. So far in the game a lot of young players is showing up, some of them very skilled, like Zola. So I'm bringing them down and if still got found invest in one more experienced like Roberto Carlos these season.

Season Stats
Zola - 29 goals, 3 assists
Utaka - 17 goals, 4 assists
Martins - 12 goals, 1 assist MVP OF THE TEAM
Di Canio - 11 goals, 1 assist
Odonkor - 3 goals
Ferdinand - 1 goal
Roberto Carlos - 2 assists
Aghahowa - 1 assist

All time stats
Mpenza - 70 goals, 7 assists
Uthaka - 67 goals, 7 assists
Martins - 40 goals, 6 assists
Zola - 29 goals, 3 assists
Aghahowa - 15 goals, 3 assists
Di Canio - 11 goals, 1 assist
Bakayoko - 7 goals, 1 assists
Odonkor - 3 goals
Hossam Hassan - 2 goals, 1 assists
Yobo - 2 goals
Ximelez - 2 goals
Ferdinand - 1 goal
Valeny - 1 goal
Roberto Carlos - 2 assists
Boa Morte - 2 assists
Espimas - 1 assists
Castolo - 1 assists

PES 4 Story: Chapter Three

Season 2006 was not as good as I've expected. Podbeskidzie won the D1 Cup and got to the final four in the WEFA Championships (something like Champions League) but placed only 4th in the league after a really bad finish. Out of 30 games in the league, 18 was won, 6 drawed and 6 lost, we scored 69 goals and lost 35 - thats a lot comparing to other seasons. E.Mpenza again was the best scorer of the league with 26 goals and a team MVP with rate of 6.5. Utaka chased him right to the end but ended with only 25 goals.

This time I got some young and perspective players. I bought Hossam Hassan who is young very fast, with strong shoot but poor in dribbling. Also defensive midfielder Ruotolo, side defender Paulo Ferreira and central defender Yobo.

SEASON STATS
E. Mpenza - 26 goals, 5 assists
Utaka 25 goals, 3 assists
Martins - 8 goals, 3 assists
Bakayoko - 3 goals
Hossam Hassan - 2 goals, 1 assist
Yobo - 2 goals
Aghahowa 1 goal, 1 assist
Boa Morte 1 assist

ALL TIME
E. Mpenza - 70 goals, 7 assists
Utaka - 50 goals, 3 assist
Martins - 28 goals, 5 assists
Aghahowa - 15 goals, 2 assists
Bakayoko - 7 goals, 1 assist
Hossam Hassan - 2 goals, 1 assist
Yobo - 2 goals
Ximelez - 2 goals
Valeny - 1 goal
Boa Morte - 2 assists
Espimas - 1 assist
Castolo - 1 assist

PES 4 Story - Chapter Two

In 2005 season of Master League, TS Podbeskidzie won the Division 1! In 30 games I got 21 wins, 8 draws and only 1 lost (Goals 78 scored, 26 lost), 70% of win. Unfortunetly again I lost in the Cup (D1 Cup), this time in the second round. Team advanced in the WEFA Ranking to 54 place.

In the transfer window I was still doing antyhing I could to make me a strong offence. I got nigerians Aghahowa and Utaka, really fast nad scoring players. Later in the season I used some points to get Van der Sar in my goal, Boa Morte and Bakayoko as deffensive midfielder and deffender. As you can see I rather invest my money in fast players, becuse since ISS pro Evolution Master League they never let me down and fit very well my style of playing.

E. Mpenza againg was the best striker in the League, scoring 25 goals, but right behind him was Utaka with 20 goals and Martins who played offensive midfielder instead of Minanda and still scored 11 goals plus 4 assists.

Season Stats
E. Mpenza - 25 goals
Utaka - 20 goals
Aghahowa - 14 goals, 1 assist
Martins - 11 goals, 4 assists - MVP OF TEAM 6.7
Bakayoko - 4 goals, 1 assist
Valeny - 1 goal
Castolo - 1 assist
Boa Morte - 1 assist

ALL TIME STATS
E. Mpenza - 44 goals, 2 assist
Martins - 20 goals, 2 assist
Utaka - 20 goals
Aghahowa 14 goals, 1 assist
Bakayoko 4 goals, 1 assist
Ximelez - 2 goals
Valeny - 1 goal
Espimas - 1 assist
Castolo - 1 assist
Boa Morte - 1 assist

Pro Evolution Soccer 4 - Chapter One

So, I found my old save of PES 4, that way I can bring back some Master League carrer I played on this game and I will continue it someday as I still have some thing to do in this game :)

I play with my own created team called TS Podbeskidzie. It's based on my local football team that I strongly supported at the time I was playing PES 4.

I started in Division 2 as you do in your first season. I peaked the most international as I like to play with deferent teams in that mode. The team won 10 out of 14 games (10 wins, 4 draws), scored 31 goals and lost only 13. TS Podbeskidzie finished 1'st in the Division 2 with 71,43% of win games. At the time team was 67 in the WEFA Ranking. Unfortunetly my team was knocked out of the D2 CUP in the first round.

In the first transfer window I got E. Mpenza a very fast superstriker. Spend a lot of money I did not really have, so it was risky but in the end I earned them back as Mpenza scored 19 goals and got 2 assist. Later a got nigerian forward Martins, wich I value for his speed and dribbling skills, very good player for begining. Mpenza was named the MVP of the league.

The squad of the team:

Goalkeepers
Kelsen - the first goalie in the season, played good and got avarage rate of 6.0
Ivarov - substitution
Zamenhof - reserves

Defenders
Valeny - one of my favourites, tall and strong defender - season rate 6.2
Dulic - solid central defender - season rate 6.5
Vornander - season rate 6.0
Macco - capitan of the team - season rate 6.1

Midfielders
Celnili - good player, one of the best in the team - season rate 6.4
Espimas - winger, got 1 assist in the season - rate 6.1
Ximelez - 2 goals in the season - rate 6.3
Minanda - playmaker - rate 6.4

Attack
E. Mpenza - Star of the team, best scorer of the league, 19 goals, 2 assist - rate 7.1
Martins - scored 9 goals, 2 assist - rate 6.5
Barota - rate 5.5
Castolo - best in the team you get for start, but could not score a goal - rate 6.2

SEASON GOALS
Mpenza - 19
Martins - 9
Ximelez - 2

Flashback: FIFA 2000

I didn't play much FIFA 99. I got bad reviews and at time it was relesed I was still playing a lot of FIFA 98 and World Cup 98, plus the game was not a big revolution so I decided to let it go.

Next FIFA game that really got me into it was the 2000 edition. It was revolutionary both on PC and PSX. I started with the Playstation wersion, wich had worse grafics but, the gameplay was more or less the same. I dont know why but started playing in danish league with Lyngby team. Before that I didn't even know that such a team exist. I remember playing three or four seasons with theam, winning everything there was to win. There still was no carrer mode, so I could just played season after season. In Lyngby I didn't made any spectacular transfers, only polish keeper Arkadiusz Onyszko and polish defender Tomasz Klos later. I can remember that my hero was Kukulski who played at Lyngby and I thought he Was polish, so I was twice happy to score with that guy.

I played a PC version about year later, after I got really disapointet with FIFA 2001 on PC. In the time there was allready a user extencion with a really nicely done Polish League, so I started playing Legia Warsaw, then I played a season with AC Milan and Real Madrid, winning Serie A and Primera Division. When playing with those two last teams I had this policy to always transfer at least one polish player, so I buy Arkadiusz Klimek to AC Milan (become top striker of the Serie A) and Robert Dymkowski to Real (was a substitution but scored a lot).

FIFA 2000 is the game that I got a really good in. I figured a sure way to score from game and free kicks and learned that 360 spin is the best way to dribble. I was not affraid to play at World Class level as it was not even that hard for me. Then I got even better after playing a lot multiplayer with my friend who also had a great skill after playing a lot with Tottenham on World Class. I whould still probably kick some ass when it comes to FIFA 2000.

P.S. - Do you remember the intro? BEST EVER!!!

Flashback: FIFA 98: Road to World Cup

I've been playing soccer games, both simulators and managment for a really long time. Got some great stories, great victories and painful losts on my back, but it's 2012 and idea of writing them down came to me a little late. Trying to play the old games all over again and write a new stories is pointless. I don't have that much time nowadays, plus it just whould not feel the same, whould not feel right.

Of course there is no comeback to the lost data, old save's were deleted, consoles gone sold, most of the oldies don't even work on na modern hardware. But I still got a decent memory card in my head and got some memories connected with different games, so I figured it whould be a good idea to bring them back with a "Flashback". 

These post won't be filled with statistics, screenshots or videos. It's just my memories, sometimes a litte rusty and overall, but at least honest ;)

So I decided to start with FIFA 98: RTWC as it was a first simulation of soccer that I played on my PC. I got it very late, but trust me it was hard convincing my mom to buy it, so only thing I could do was wait. Finally in summer of 1997, after bringing home some really decent grades from school I got my first own PC with Fifa Soccer Manager (later I will write about it) as a "starter". Two months later FIFA 98 arrived and I got it right away. 

On ma Pentium 90 with 16MB RAM, Windows 95 and no 3D support, the game was working a bit slow, but it didn't affect a gameplay so back then I wasn't even noticing that. Of course I started the game with a World Cup Qualification Campain playing Poland. As a player used to soccer games on NES, Neo-Geo and a little Amiga, I had to take some time to learn the new Fifa, so playing qualifications on easy level got me straight to the finals and a bit bored on that stage with easy winning. Polish squad didn't look much as a real one with players like Warzycha, Citko, Nowak or Baluszynski. It was a time when polish national coaches were switching ofen (3 different coaches in those qualifications) and every one had diferent vision. Polish squad in FIFA 98 was at least year old (looked like they took it from Poland - Moldovia 2:1 game in atumn 1996). Still I didn't care much, I got to play with real players, with real names in 3D, with replays, commentary and some great soundtrack and animations.

Soon I find a real fun in playing season campains with diferent clubs. There was no carrier mode back in the days, so I just played one-time adventures with diferent clubs. The one that still is in my memory was the season I played with Inter Milan. I always had the same tactic. Start with selling most of the players, leaving only biggest stars (not much of them in Inter back then) and get some cash for new guys. After that I was looking for 5 or 6 big names and turn my squad into a dream team, with no subs but still a dream team :D I remember having players like Suker, Beckham, Ferrara, Van der Sar, Litmanen, Roberto Carlos and few more in my Inter Milan. I was not much of a gamer back there, so I just enjoyed playing on easy and winning every game 5:0 - don't blame me I was tweleve ;)

Later I took another qualification campaign. This time it was a bit more serious. I played on higher level and take Guatemala team. We gone from CONCACAF qual. stage to the finals and win the France World Cup. I will never forget one goal in the turnament that I've scored with a players ass. Yeah, you see it right, ASS. It was a lose ball in the penalty area, after oponents (I don't remember who it was, sorry) keeper crushed with the defender and my midfielder got to it first. Instead of shoot at empty goal, I mistakenly pressed cross, and he send a long ball, meanwhile my forward who was standing in the area, turned his back to it and acted like he tried to tie his shoe, ball just hit his ass and went straight to the goal, couldn't belive my own eyes :) I had that replay for year but i got lost in action so I got no prof, but I watched it so many times, that I still have no trouble with playing it in my head.

I lost intrest in FIFA 98 for a while after geting my Playstation console but I returned later. Why? I spend some hours in the edit mode (it was great back then, why it is so lame right now?!) and created a whole Polish Ekstraklasa. Player by player, team by team, after 3 days of doing nothing but creation a got a had changed Malaysian League (how the hell it got there any way?) into Polish. After that a took control of every single team and start playing a full seasun pretending I'm a producer of League Highlights, oh what a fun it was. I didn't played the whole season, because I got bored after few weeks :(

Got your own memories, diary or story about You playing FIFA 98: RTWC? Don't be a stranger, send it We will be glad to post for the world to see.