CM 03/04 Addict

Only 500k remains in the kitty from the old season before a new budget is announced, so use the early part of the summer to prey on the weak and financial stricken. Four clubs are in receivership so will basically accept any offer, my choices are Leeds duo Seth Johnson (250k) and Aaron Lennon (230k) plus promising youngster David Bryan (16k) from Southend. Also add Chelsea duo Celestine Babayaro and Jesper Gronkjaer who both have expiring contracts. The budget for the new season is 7m, with a fair bit of business done already the focus is on getting a centre-back and Phillippe Mexes arrives from Auxerre for his 4m minimum release fee. On the eve of the new season, Zema Abbey finally agrees a new 3-year contract so hopefully all set for a push to get into Europe. Gronkjaer hits the ground running with a goal and assist on his debut as we start the season with a 3-1 win over Fulham, he then provides another assist against Liverpool, holding our own at Anfield in a 1-1 draw is an

One signing arrived in the January window, Tomas Galasek from Ajax for £140k, at 32 he's not a long-term option but Gary Holt has struggled with the step-up to the Premier Division and didn't take kindly to me criticising his performances. Galasek shows his quality by setting up Dimitar Berbatov to score a 90th minute winner against Spurs. It moves us up to 37 points with 10 games remaining. After a three week break between matches we come back rusty losing to Fulham and Newcastle, the latter thrash us 5-0. We bounce back in style by beating Liverpool with Darren Huckerby starring although he would have a hat-trick if he could finish. In the last part of this story I described losing to Rushden & Diamonds in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup was the low point of the season, well they've only gone and reached the FA Cup Final by beating Premier Division leaders Chelsea. Not such a bad defeat after all. Having passed 40 points, the closing stages of the season ar

It took until the 85th minute for a shot on target, but a dire game against Fulham is lit up a piece of divine intervention by way of a Phil Mulryne 89th minute free-kick winner, hallelujah. Get a bit of a pasting off Liverpool and Newcastle, stabilise things by drawing with Derby 1-1 before another defeat this time to Middlesbrough. Worse news follows as Zema Abbey, scorer of 6 of our 14 league goals, is now sidelined for 2 months after tearing his calf. Life after Abbey begins far better than expected, couldn’t ask for a better fixture than 19th placed Bolton at home but 3-0 up by half time and don’t even allow them a shot all game. The lopsided fixture list leaves us playing the top three in three matches over Christmas. Lose to them all in various manners. Man Utd at home is relatively even but they take their chances we don’t, a red card for Gilberto Silva gives us hope at 1-1 against Arsenal but we push forward and get done 4-1, Huckerby gets sent off early at home to u

New season brings a stonking new transfer kitty of £1.5m, the club made £16m by winning promotion and they've given me less than 10% to try and stave off relegation. Approach Darren Huckerby, whose contract is expiring, and sign him on a free, Danny Mills follows him on a free from relegated Leeds who are desperate to clear the wage bill. Centre-back seems the most pressing concern, so splash out 2/3 of the budget on Marco Zanchi from Juventus. Add a couple of loan signings, Dimitar Berbatov who offers a striking alternative to Zema Abbey and Michael Stewart who provides cover in central midfield. We win 2, draw 4 and lose 1 of the pre-season fixtures. Injuries hamper proceedings; Lionel Morgan fails to play a single minute, Adam Drury only 45, Phil Mulryne is injured in the final fixture and Berbatov was injured when he signed. This is how the squad shapes up. Opening fixture, a time that mixes optimism with warm sunny weather, well apparently not at Goodison Park where

Phil Mulryne is the hero as we win the most important game of the season, the East Anglian Derby. This is followed by a draw at Reading, home comforts bring a convincingly win over Walsall before losing equally convincingly at Cardiff. The home win/away loss sequence continues into April against a trio of Yorkshire clubs (Sheff Utd, Bradford and Rotherham). Five away matches without a win at the crunch point of the season have let the title chances slip away, we are now in a battle with Stoke for the second promotion spot. The goals for Alex Notman and Zema Abbey that flowed uncontrollable during the winter months have dried up to barely a trickle. The squad is tired and like a long-distance runner desperate to reach the finish line. The remarkable home defence record continues though, dispatching Burnley 2-0 makes it nine games since we last conceded at Carrow Road and only four goals conceded in 22 home league matches. Back-to-back away fixtures send a shiver down the spin

An Alex Notman hat-trick inspires a 3-2 away win at West Ham, one of the promotion favourites who are languishing in mid-table despite Defoe & Carrick et al. A couple of 2-0 home wins stretches the unbeaten home record and leaves us with just 3 goals conceded in 13 home league matches. In his first match back after injury Phil Mulryne scores a wonderful free-kick to salvage a point away to Wimbledon. An audacious 91st minute chip from Zema Abbey sees us past Premier Division Wolves in the FA Cup Replay despite being reduced to 10-man. Another late goal keeps the unbeaten home run going against Palace, the 11th shot on target in the match finally does the trick for Notman. The dropped points do allow Coventry the opportunity to extend their lead at the top of the table to six points. Somehow contrive to lose after leading 2-0 against West Brom, to be fair we were outplayed and fortunate to be leading, but it means a first league defeat in 12. Defeat Preston 2-1 wit

With Paul McVeigh's injury I opt to get a striker in on loan, Felipe Oliveira from Chelsea arrives just before the East Anglian Derby with Ipswich. The match ends in a stalemate despite us dominating after an early Zema Abbey goal. Get awarded manager of the month for October after three wins and a draw, while Damien Francis two thunderbolts against Stoke dominate the goal of the month award. Picking a weakened team in the League Cup tie with Leicester in a bid to boost match fitness of the fringe players ends with a 4-0 thrashing. Fear for morale is dismissed as we convincingly put aside Reading three days later. Away performances are improving but not necessarily results, draw at Walsall and lose to Sheffield United which ends the unbeaten league run of eight games. Worse follows as Phil Mulryne is ruled out for 2 months with a dislocated shoulder, McVeigh is still three weeks away from returning so squad starting to be stretched. Even so manage back-to-back home win

The First Division season begins at home to one of the promotion favourites, West Brom, and the ideal start of an early goal. That's as good as it gets in the early part of the season as our record reads 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses after 6 matches before a switch from fancy 4-3-3 to old fashioned 4-4-2 brings about an upturn in results with four successive wins. Unfortunately in the last of these matches, the star of the season thus far Paul McVeigh (7 goals in 10) suffers a torn groin injury which will leave him sidelined for two months, we have plenty of other striking options but none seem to have the handy knack of scoring goals. Even McVeigh-less we manage to beat top of the table Stoke 2-0 in a ill-tempted affair thanks to first a 30-yard strike by Damien Francis who followed it up with a 35-yard strike to finish things off. Extending the run to five successive wins and leaving us second after 11 games.

Having held off as long as possible during the Coronavirus lockdown I finally succumbed to the lure of another stint of Championship Manager, CM 03/04 was my first experience of the series so the one I’m always drawn back to, although I quite like Football Manager 2005 as well. An initial struggle with getting the game to load on Windows 10 was overcome after installing the two patches (and much frustration), so the big decision of whom to start with. I recall previously starting off with Norwich (the team I support), Wimbledon (severe financial problems) and Woking (random bottom of the ladder team). I opt for Norwich once again, they start in the Championship First Division and in real life gained promotion in 2003/04 although the virtual Delia and her board are more lenient and only expect mid-table with a budget of 510k. The first pre-season friendly is a wake-up call as we get demolished by Galatasary 4-1, next up are Scunthorpe, Bournemouth and Mansfield, who prove