2nd tiers around Europe

2nd tiers around Europe are just as entertaining as the 1st tiers. We start in Spain as promotion is going to the wire.

Spain:

Promotion to La Liga is very tight at the moment as we enter the 34th round of matches. A total of five clubs can get promoted with Real Sociedad clear by five at the top still not far away.

Levante currently occupy 2nd spot going into today's games with Cartagena in 3rd a point behind on 54. Both Real Betis and Hércules Alicante are next with 53 points while Elché are two points further back in 6th.

The season isn't over until June so there is plenty of time for twists and turns but I think Real Sociedad, Levante and Real Betis will do enough but it is hard to predict.

Relegation is equally as tight with the final relegation spot right up to 12th placed Girona being seperated by just six points. A total of 11 sides are scrapping but looking at the table it looks at if Castellón and Real Unión are down. Cádiz are still in the mix but at the moment are three points from safety. Some big sides down there with Real Murcia, Celta Vigo and Cádiz all of which have played La Liga at some point in the last five years. Las Palmas and Rayo Vallecano are down there too which is going to really tighten up the scrap.

Italy:

Today's matches have ended which means round 37 is almost over with the exception of Triestina and Modena who play on Monday.

Promotion is quiet tight with the exception of Lecce, who are six points clear of 2nd placed Sassuolo. Play-offs like used in England are used to decide the 3rd promoted club and the race for these is very tight. With five games left it looks like two of those places are filled but the remaining two looks like going down until round 42. 8th placed Torino still have a chance and Crotone in 9th might feel they have a fighting chance for that final spot. Four sides will be fighting for the last spot while the 3rd spot is also under treat with five games to go. Both Cesena and Grosseto lost today which has opened the race for those two spots.

Relegation has already taken one with Salernitana already down with just 17 points from 37 games. From 21st right up to 13th only seven points separate the sides. Reggina in 13th, only relegation from Serie A last year could go down if they don't secure victories. They are however in good form with no defeats in their last five and need probably four more points in their last five games to be safe.

Modena and Triestina play on Monday which will be vital for everyone involved. A win for Modena will almost secure their status next season but victory for Triestina could drag Modena in the mix. Bottom two go down automatically while the next two enter the play-offs with two sides from Lega Pro.

France:

Caen play on Monday and should they win they will go six points clear of Brest with just four rounds left. Caen are already promoted and Brest just need a point next weekend to join them in Ligue 1 next year but the title is up for grabs. The third promotion spot however is still in the balance between Arles, Clermont Foot, Metz and Angers while there are a clutch of sides behind them catching up.

Relegation is really interesting as some big name clubs are involved but none bigger than Nantes. The canaries were Ligue 1 winners in 2001 but have been in decline since. Strasbourg, Ajaccio and Guingamp are also involved. Bastia from Corsica are three points off safety after a good run has helped them recently. Chateauroux and Istres are currently in the bottom three.

Germany:

Promotion in Germany looks like its decided already. Kaiserslautern, St. Pauli and Augsburg look likely to go up. The first two are up but Augsburg can secure promotion tomorrow should they win and Fortuna Dusseldorf fail to win.

Relegation will be decided tomorrow and a victory for FSV Frankfurt will all but secure Koblenz to 3rd tier football next season. Rot Wiess Ahlen are down already. The bottom two go down while the next side enter a play-off with the 3rd placed 3. Liga side.

Barca win while Cork are double winners

Have Barcelona effectively won the league? Maybe going on last year when they beat Real Madrid they did but this Clásico was a smash and grab for Barcelona. Lionel Messi, who did nothing before he opened the scoring set the tone really. Messi, was checked down by Sergio Ramos before a kick-free to Xavi, who spotted the run of Messi and chipped a delightful pass over the Real defense and Messi was on hand to poke in the opener.

Pedro Rodríguez settled the nerves with a cool finish after half-time after being released by Xavi. Barcelona three points clear but also ahead on head-to-head have the won the title?

Cork enjoyed a double taste of victory over the weekend by beating Longford Town 1-0 on Friday in the 1st division and going through to the next round of the EA Sports cup with a 3-0 win over Wexford Youths on Monday night. Cork are great form having won three games in a row in the league and face either Limerick or Cobh Ramblers in the next round.

El Clásico

El Clásico tonight in what is the biggest game of the season certainly in Spain. Both sides Real Madrid and Barcelona have swept all before them this season and both go into tonight's big game level on points with 77 each.

Kaká is definitely out tonight which is a blow for Real as he is a creative general in attacking midfield but Barcelona are without their big Swede target man Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The game will go a long way in giving us an idea of who will win La Liga this year.

Real Madrid may be at home in this one but I am going for a Barcelona victory tonight. Barcelona have been in exceptional form of late with Lionel Messi scoring left, right, centre and diagonal. He will be a key but the real treat for Barcelona is Xavi. His vision and passing will open Real's defense open.

Real Madrid have the treat of Cristiano Ronaldo who with his tricks and pace can unlock even the best of defenses. Gonzalo Higuaín has a goal touch of late and Marcelo can play when he is up for it. A good game hopefully and who knows what will happen.

Medal of Honor Championship

I and some friends have started a championship on medal of honor rising sun. The format is quiet basic really. After unlocking all characters we have enough for four eight man leagues. This is means we have a Premier division, 1st Division, 2nd division and 3rd division with a couple in a 4th division.

In the Premier the bottom three are relegated. The 1st division sees the top three promoted and the bottom three relegated. The 2nd division has the top three promoted while the bottom two are relegated. The 3rd division has the top 2 promoted and relegation is decided on an average over 3 games.

Me and my friends started in the 2nd division and we all had completely different games. Me and my brother were promoted after finishing in the top two while Adam was relegated to the 3rd division.

The target for me is to be in the premier as soon as possible and looking at the premier at the moment it will be tough. Adam meanwhile has to begin life in the 3rd division with the likes of Rickshaw, Zwick and Tarver while my brother and I are in the 1st division with Takeuchi.

I will be posting some tables soon.

Football Manager some of my achievements

Football Manager... quiet simply the best series ever! My first football manager game was 2007. This was a game that I really really enjoyed.

Some of my achievements in the game are quiet good. The best one though has to be getting Cork City into the champions league group stage only to be knocked-out.

Cork City:

At Cork I first targeted the league. It was out with dead wood and in with some swift but effective signings. The idea was to bring in free agents or free transfers and sell them on for a good profit which would fund the objective of winning the league. I kept hold of John O'Flynn, Dan Murray, Danny Murphy and Joe Gamble and made some good money off the likes of George O'Callaghan and Vinny Sullivan.

My first year we finished a creditable 3rd considering the changes I made. Free players I picked up were sold to other League of Ireland and English clubs and in came around €250k to spend on a winning squad.

I felt my defense needed improvement so I signed Eddie Nolan from Blackburn. Quiet a good signing I must admit. Attempts to bring Stephan Carr in were in vain but more quality players were signed with James Vaughan from Everton the pick of the bunch. I now had a squad capable of matching Shelbourne.

We went on to win the League Cup, Munster Senior Cup and the League. The League was fantastic and we only lost three times all season. Phase one was completed in year 2.

Year 3 was all about the Champions League. Drawn against Siroki Brijeg in the 1st qualifying round I played tight defense and went through on away goals. The next round was against Gorica of Slovenia and though this was close at 1-0 over two games we played well.

The 3rd qualifying round was a big one against IFK Goteborg. A fantastic game and we sneaked through on away goals.

Finally we were there, the champions league group stage in a group with Real Madrid, Fenerbahce and Lyon. A very though group indeed. At the end we somehow picked up 3 points from two draws with Fenerbahce and a draw against Lyon.

Napoli:

Napoli were in Serie B when I took over and I knew that Serie A was where they belonged. I started with a squad that had finished 8th the year before and so the work began. We had a good start by picking up 12 points from a possible 18 in our opening games and as the season went on I found a formation that matched my ambitions. A 3-4-3 formation that worked a treat. We were top of Serie B with three games left and we only needed a point in any of those games to win the league but we lost all three and we pipped by Crotone by a point.

We were promoted to Serie A having finished 2nd but the title was what we deserved. I left the club that summer after I was refused to have money to improve my squad. They eventually finished 10th in Serie A that year.

DR Congo:

Being appointed boss of DR Congo meant a lot. I always felt I could get DR Congo places and so I attempted to achieve that. I set about getting the nation into the african cup of nations firstly and see what happens there. With the firepower of Lomano Lua Lua and the excellent keeping of Yves Ma Kalambay we had a good team. Trésor Mputu was another star in a team rising and rising. We qualified after being drawn in a piss-easy group where we finished with maximum points.

Although exiting at the group stage so cruelly it was certainly a good experience. We were now hard to beat which was half the battle in the Football Manager world. As it turned out after that cruel blow in the 2010 African cup of nations I was surprisingly sacked as boss. I felt it was harsh considering that they proberly wouldn't have qualified had I not changed a few things with the formations.

Uzbekistan:

After the shock of getting sacked by DR Congo, I quickly found new employment this time with Uzbekistan. The challenge was to get Uzbekistan to the 2014 world cup. By now it was Autumn 2010 and I had three years to get Uzbekistan to Brazil 2014. It started well as we went through to the final group phase. This was a tricky part of the journey as we lost our opening two games and needed to win every remaining game to have a chance. We did exactly that and made the continental play-off with New Zealand. We overcame New Zealand and thanks to Djeparov we were going to the World cup. My first World cup finals with a country was surprisingly Uzbekistan. To my amazement we went to the last 16 only going out to Spain 3-1.

I left the position after that as I felt this Uzbek team could do no more with me in charge.

Limerick 1-3 Cork City FORAS 2nd April 2010

Made the trip up to Limerick yesterday and it was mental!!! A great day out as the trip was very much worthwhile as Cork City overcame our opponents Limerick 3-1 at Jackman park.

It was my first time up to Jackman Park and to be honest the place was like a public park. Just one tiny shed with seating was all while the rest of the ground was grass and concrete.

Weather was unsettled at the start with light showers but mid-way through the 1st half we took the lead. Graham Cummins heading in for 1-0 much to the delight of us away fans. We went mental!

2nd half Limerick were a bit more edgy as we looked to more likely to score next. That we did when Graham Cummins headed in his 2nd of the game from a pinpoint cross. That goal sent us into a wild frenzy of jumping up and down and chanting at Limerick and Pat Scully.

Davin O'Neill's volley just minutes after the 2nd goal saw us take a 3-0 lead and that was game set and match.

Much to the surprise of us all Robbie Kelliher pulled one back for Limerick to make it 3-1 but we had shown we are stronger on the day.