Football Manager 2005 - Feyenoord wins treble! (season 2029/2030)

Remember Feyenoord's 5-1 win over archrivals Ajax in season 2028/2029? (refer last month's post: http://daplanetdt.blogspot.com/2009/11/football-manager-2005-feyenoord-5-ajax.html).

After that astonishing result, it was thought that Feyenoord would go on & complete the treble that season. Well, it didn't happen. Feyenoord got knocked out of the Champions League quarter-finals by AC Milan. They finished second in the Dutch League, 1 point behind champions PSV Eindhoven. They did win the Dutch Cup, beating NAC Breda in the final (2-0, i think). So after all the hype & hysteria from the Ajax demolition, Feyenoord ended season 2028/2029 with just 1 trophy. Injuries & bad luck didn't help.

Feyenoord headed into season 2029/2030 with added motivation to succeed where they fell short in season 2028/2029. For season 2029/2030, Feyenoord kept most of the key players in the squad but sold a fair few players, including Serbian forward Milovanovic & Czech forward Krejcik. Those forwards would be replaced by youngsters Simek (another Czech forward) & Chinese striker Li Wei. Both chipped in with their share of goals, though Simek is more regular than Li Wei. The chief attacker is still Roy Van Der Linden (worth more than 13 million euros). The emergence of Dutch young forward Bert Rijsbergen is particularly encouraging - he has a mixture of the pace of Fernando Torres & the aerial ability of Nicolas Anelka. Feyenoord has other quality forwards, too. The midfield department is also very competitive, where young midfielders like Dutchman Bert Bakker & Martijn Verhoeven had an excellent season 2029/2030.

In fact, Feyenoord had a lot more than just these players - most of the squad had an excellent season 2029/2030. Why??? Because Feyenoord won the treble!! Yes they did!! Dutch championship, UEFA Champions League & Dutch Cup. All in 1 season!!!

Feyenoord won the Dutch championship with a few games to go. They regained the Dutch title after beating Ajax 1-0 thanks to a goal by Verhoeven (for Ajax, it's better than losing 5-1 last season). That win meant that no one could catch Feyenoord on the table, & how sweet it is to clinch the title by beating your greatest domestic rival. Feyenoord ended up 20 points ahead of second-placed Roda JC & 21 points ahead of Ajax, who finished third. But this Ajax are no mugs - they reached the Champions League semi-finals before losing to Milan. Feyenoord's comprehensive semi-final aggregate win over Roma prevented an all-Italian final. So the Champions League final took placed in Lisbon on 22 May 2030, & it featured Milan (representing Italy) against Feyenoord (representing the Netherlands). Feyenoord won after a nail-biting penalty shoot-out 3-2, after the scores were 1-1 after 90 minutes & extra-time. That was revenge for losing to Milan in last season's Champions League quarter-final. So that is the second trophy in the bag, & Feyenoord are 2029/2030 champions of Europe.

The magical treble was secured on 25 May 2030 (a day to remember for Feyenoord fans), when Feyenoord beat PSV Eindhoven 3-2 in an entertaining, closely fought Dutch Cup final. Each time Feyenoord take the lead, PSV Eindhoven equalised. However, PSV could not respond to Feyenoord's third goal, so the final result was 3-2 to the Rotterdam side. Worthy but vanquished opponents PSV finished a disappointing fifth in the Dutch championship, & were beaten by Milan in the Champions League. That's interesting......Milan had to face all the big 3 Dutch clubs in the Champions League. They got past PSV Eindhoven in the quarters & Ajax in the semis to get to the final. But once there, they could not overcome Feyenoord, although perhaps Feyenoord did have a bit of luck in the Champions League final.

The next challenge is to do it all again, & this time to win the Champions League without the penalty shoot-out. Meanwhile, season 2029/2030 is Roger Kronendijk's best ever. He is the most successful manager in the Netherlands, in Europe & in the world. He has led Feyenoord to 20 Dutch championships, & champions of Europe for 5 times!!

Feyenoord Rotterdam, treble winners of season 2029/2030. Champions of the Netherlands! Champions of Europe!

Football Manager 2005 - Feyenoord 5 Ajax 1 (season 2028/2029)

In real life, Ajax recently thumped Feyenoord 5-1 in a Dutch league, a painful result for fans of the Rotterdam club.

On Football Manager 2005, the complete opposite happened. We are in season 2028/2029. Look at the scoreline from the most recent Klassiker (see attached pic) - Feyenoord 5 Ajax 1. So there's no doubt who's the boss in the Netherlands. What's remarkable about this win was that Feyenoord were without a number of injured key players.

Coached by Roger Kronendijk (the greatest football manager of all time!), Feyenoord are the best club in the Netherlands & Europe. This season, everything's going well so far. In the Dutch league, they are neck & neck with PSV Eindhoven. In the Dutch Cup, Feyenoord beat Ajax before Christmas (this time, 1-0 in Amsterdam) to set up a February quarter-final against PSV Eindhoven. In Europe, Feyenoord won all 6 of their Champions League group matches against Panathinaikos (Greece), Ferencvaros (Hungary) & Banik Ostrava (Czech Rep). Feyenoord are well on course to regaining the Champions League title which they lost last season after being eliminated by Lyon in the quarter-finals. They will play Arsenal in the round of 16.

If all players are fit & available, surely no one can stop Feyenoord from sweeping all before them & winning the treble this season!!!!!!

I bought Football Manager 2009

I bought Football Manager 2009 this past Sunday afternoon. EB Games in Sunnybank Plaza had a sale (maybe it was an end-of-financial year sale?). There was a huge markdown on a few games including FM 2009. I was there with my friend Ivan C after we had lunch. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, stumbled on FM 2009 on the shelves, saw the markdown sticker & grabbed the game without hesitation. Thanks to the huge markdown, I paid just under $45.

I am still enjoying myself with Football Manager 2005, so I don't know when I will start playing FM 2009. Ivan urged me to ditch FM 2005, now that I have FM 2009. But hey, no rush for me, since I own FM 2009.

FM 2009 has 3D match view. When I play, I will find out how good it is. I joked on Facebook that FM 2009 could mean that my quiet time & social life goes right out the window. A friend (who is a committed Christian) responded, saying I shouldn't let my quiet time slip, & suggesting that I could operate along the lines "no quiet time, no FM 2009" without wanting to be legalistic. True, & a good idea. But how about this for another idea: "quiet time always". So whether or not I play FM 2009 is irrelevant, as long as I do my quiet time constantly.

But knowing me, everything can wait. No rush, no rush....

CM5 - Season 2024/2025 - Freiburg win treble again!

SC Freiburg won the treble again! This time, in season 2024/2025. They first won the treble in season 2023/2024. As if to show that achievement was no fluke, they won it the next season.

This time round, the German Division 1 had a much tighter finish than previous season - only 3 points separate SC Freiburg in first place from Bayern Munich in fourth place. SC Freiburg & Eintracht Frankfurt both finish equal on 69 points, but Freiburg had a much better goal difference (+54, compared to Frankfurt's +37) & so they are the German champions. Nurnberg finished third on 68 points, & Bayern Munich fourth on 66 points. Bayer Leverkusen finished fifth, on 63 points. You can't get much tighter than that!

Freiburg beat Nurnberg 3-0 on the last day of the league season, to clinch the Division 1 title. They then retained their European crown by beating Spanish side Deportivo La Coruna 4-0. SC Freiburg sealed the treble by beating Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 in the German Cup final.

So there - the treble again - German Division 1 league, German Cup & European Champions League. Roger Scherzinger is proving to be quite a coach. To cap off another wonderful season, he won the German Division 1 Manager of the Year award.

See pics below:

CM5 - Season 2023/2024 - Freiburg win treble!

On that PC game Championship Manager 5, I've been coaching German club side Sport-Club Freiburg, using the name Roger Scherzinger. Since starting in season 2004/2005, it has been a struggle to establish myself at SC Freiburg, as the German league is very tough. It took me a while to win the German League championship, but I finally did. Then in season 2023/2024, SC Freiburg won the treble for the first time - German League championship, German Cup & European Champions League.

SC Freiburg won the German Division 1, finishing 10 points ahead of Bayer Leverkusen. On the way to winning the Division 1 championship, SC Freiburg scored 94 goals in 34 league matches - far & away the most goals in the league. They became European champions by demolishing Manchester United 6-1 in the final. Then, the treble was secured by winning the German Cup, beating Division 2 side Kaiserslautern 3-0 in the final. Kaiserslautern won promotion to Division 1, & will play there next season, in 2024/2025.

The successful 2023/2024 season earned SC Freiburg the right to consider themselves the best club side in Germany & Europe. See pics below:

CM5 - The treble again!

I got back into the swing of things with my PC game CM5, since getting my PC fixed. And guess what happened? Under the guise of Roger Van Haaren, I won the treble in season 2027/2028, with Vitesse Arnhem. This happened a couple of weeks ago. Since then, I haven't touched CM5 - I've been practically "sitting" on my success, basking in all that glory. It's not the first time Vitesse won the treble - they also achieved the same feat in 2022/2023 & 2023/2024. So, 2027/2028 is the third treble by the club. Treble again!

Vitesse Arnhem won Dutch Premier Division/Eredivisie with a few games of the season remaining, making them club champions of the Netherlands once again! In fact, it was Vitesse' 9th successive Dutch championship! Some feat, that. After clinching the Dutch league, "manager extraordinaire" Van Haaren then led the club to the Dutch Cup, beating Den Haag 2-0 in the final. Just 3 days after that, the treble was secured with a 6-0 demolition of Italian side AS Roma in the UEFA Champions League final. That made Vitesse Arnhem club champions of Europe. What's remarkable is that the Champions League victory was secured after Vitesse had a man sent off in the first half. But that had little effect on Vitesse, since their football relies on skill & technique rather than physical endeavour (teams that rely on physical endeavour would tire & fade as the game goes on).

The treble success adds to Vitesse' bulging trophy room, so filled that they will probably need to expand to fit in more trophies that the club will surely win in the future. It's a great testament to Roger Van Haaren's managerial abilities, & also the excellent set-up & professionalism of the club. And it's not just Vitesse who have benefitted over the years. The Dutch national team too have tasted a fair bit of success, & Vitesse Arnhem supplied quite a number of players to the Dutch team. At some stage during the last few years, the Netherlands were European & world champions - they held the Euro Cup & World Cup simultaneously at one stage. Needless to say, this reflects very well on Vitesse Arnhem, which in turn reflects very well on ME!!





Vitesse finish top of the Dutch league. They may have finished "only" 6 points ahead of Ajax, but look at the number of goals Vitesse scored (120) & the goal difference (+84). Clearly the best team in the Netherlands.






Great last few days of the season - victory in Dutch Cup final & UEFA Champions League final, scoring a total of 8 goals without reply to secure both trophies.







Look at the list of trophies won by Vitesse, under manager Roger Van Haaren - from the Premier Division to the Club World Championship. I'm not too sure about what Conference means, though. Computer game glitch, perhaps??

CM5 - win some, lose some

Remember the Championship Manager 5 game that I blogged about a few days ago? About how I was playing in season 2026/2027 & the Dutch football club I'm coaching, Vitesse Arnhem, was gunning for 3 trophies in that season?

Well, Vitesse did win the Dutch Eredivisie championship - so champions of the Netherlands once again! Our nearest rivals Ajax Amsterdam finished second in the Eredivisie ladder. Vitesse also won the Dutch Cup, beating Ajax 3-2 in the final. But 3 days after that, Ajax gained revenge by beating Vitesse 3-0 in the UEFA Champions League final. Scoreless at half-time, Ajax got a penalty & opened the scoring, then added 2 more goals in the last 10 minutes to seal the Champions League trophy.

That means I got 2 trophies out of 3. Ajax got the biggest prize - the UEFA Champions League, making them club champions of Europe. I was disappointed with the Champions League defeat. Ai yah, I guess u win some, u lose some. I had a couple of key players missing through injury, & they could have made the difference had they been available. However, I don't want to dwell on those missing players - after all, I did win the Dutch Cup without them, & so perhaps should have been able to cope without them in the Champions League final. Anyway, I'll try again next season to see whether I can go 1 better & make a clean sweep of all trophies that Vitesse compete for.

My brother BT found the defeat "amusing", & did not hold back in poking some jokes about my Vitesse team. He just loves bagging my team.

To those who are wondering what's CM5 is about (one church brother asked me on Sunday): Well, I think I blogged about it previously a few months back. CM5 is a soccer management game, & you pick a club side & manage the club. You buy players, you sell players, you hire the coaches to train the footballers, you hire the physios to look after the players when they get injured. You create a training program for the club. You select your line-up for the team's matches. On match day, you watch how the team you select perform, & you can make player substitutions or change the team tactics as you see fit.

It's different from such soccer games like FIFA2008 or Winning Eleven, that you see on PC or XBox or PlayStation. CM5 is different from those soccer games, because in CM5, you do NOT control the player movements & you don't make the players on the screen pass, tackle or shoot. In CM5, you simply manage the club & do all the things I talked about in the preceding paragraph. It's fun!! Do try it if u are up for it & if u have the time to do so :)

CM5 - chasing the treble!!

Those of u who know me well would know that I'm rather heavily addicted (some say too heavily addicted) to the PC football management game, Championship Manager 5. The team that I manage on CM5 is Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem, & I use the name Roger Van Haaren - a fictitious, cocky Dutchman.

I'm currently in season 2026/2027, & Vitesse are chasing honours on 3 fronts.

Firstly, Vitesse are top of the Dutch Eredivisie (the top league in the Netherlands), lying 9 points ahead of Ajax Amsterdam with just 4 matches to go. That means that 4 more points from the remaining 4 games will be enough for Vitesse to clinch the Dutch championship.

Secondly, Vitesse are also in the final of the Dutch Cup, & their opponents are once again those aristocrats from Amsterdam. The Dutch Cup final is scheduled on 23/5/2027, after the Dutch Eredivisie has concluded.

Thirdly, Vitesse are also in the final of the UEFA Champions League. Guess who are their opponents in the final?? Yep, Ajax Amsterdam once again!! The Champions League final will be played on 26/5/2027, just 3 days after both sides contest the Dutch Cup final. The winner of the Champions League final will be crowned champions of Europe.

So if Vitesse wins all 3 trophies, they will win the treble for the third time in the CM5 history.

By the end of the Champions League final, both sides will be absolutely sick of the sight of each other. For the last number of seasons on CM5, Vitesse & Ajax have been each other's major & bitter rivals, particularly in the Dutch Eredivisie. In real life, there's no real rivalry between these clubs. But on CM5, the rivalry is huge, thanks to me! Ajax regularly finish second in the Eredivisie behind my team Vitesse! So, I wouldn't think Ajax are especially fond of Vitesse & manager Roger Van Haaren. The rivalry can be considered to have reached unprecedented heights in the current season (2026/2027) because both teams will face each other in the Dutch Cup & UEFA Champions League, on top of being in the top 2 of the Eredivisie.

So what are Vitesse's chances? Well, they are likely to win the Dutch championship, because the gap is 9 points & Vitesse' has a far superior goal difference than Ajax. As for the Dutch Cup & UEFA Champions League, well, they are one-off games, so anything can happen. Even if Vitesse wins the Dutch championship, there's no guarantee they will win those 2 cup finals. The fact that Vitesse have not lost to Ajax in the Eredivisie in the current season (played Ajax twice, drew one, won one) may be seen to give Vitesse a psychological edge going into those 2 cup finals. But as stated earlier, cup finals are one-off games, so anything can happen. Needless to say, I will endeavour for Vitesse to win the treble. Go Vitesse!!