Being a Newcastle supporter I know how long it has taken to get this far in real life. With this in mind, I thought about having a proper attempt with them on CM 99/00. I knew who I was going sign before starting. I released 16 squad members, and ended up selling Marcelino and Warren Barton. I signed Sigporsson, Simon Davies, Bircham, Zlatan Muslimovic, Andreas Jacobssen and Tony Sheilds of Peterborough. I played 4-4-2 as my tactics and won the 'Adidas Cup'. I was unbeaten in pre-season, and was looking forward to season ahead.

I scraped past Bradford and Derby 1-0, thanks to my strikers Sigporsson and Shearer. I then held on 0-0 against Liverpool, without 1 shot on goal. Then a 0-0 with Middlesborough at home was a disaster with them having more possession.

I needed a change. Enter Joe Cole and Kennedy Bakirioglu (difficult to write and say, but a must for all clubs). For my next game, I let my assistant manager, Paul Ashworth, take over my next game. We beat Sunderland 1-0 away, and a Christmas Tree formation was played. It comprised of Given in goal, 4 defenders (Pistone, Howey, Dabizas and Bircham), 3 defensive midfielders (Jacobssen with Dyer and Davies running up into midfield), 2 attacking midfielders (Bakirci... whats his name and Cole) and Shearer up front as a lone striking. I also played Long Ball with Hard Tackling.

I used this formation, and it worked immediately. I beat Arsenal 2-0, Southampton 7-1, Man.Utd 2-0, and Roma in the UEFA Cup 4-2 on Aggregate. Shearer was scoring by the hatful, netting 15 goals in 12 games. Also, when any of the team got injured or suspended, on the bench were Sigporsson, Muslimovic, López, Asper or Sheilds. My reserve team actually beat a near full team of Derby in the league cup, 2-0 (Sheilds and Dumas scorers).

I could not be beaten, and with Man Utd dropping points at Bradford, Watford and Leeds I clinched the Title with a record of pld 38, won 24, drew 9, lost 5 and scored 60, conceded 27 with 81 points. Shearer scored 31 senior club goals, Cole scored 12 goals with 9 assists and an average of 7.11. Kennedy Bakiricioglu had an average of 7.14, and Dyer an average of 7.17 and scoring 9 goals from defensive midfield. I lost to Benfica in the UEFA Cup sem-final, and have started the second season with the signings of Paolo Cannavaro, Peter Rasmussen and Ipswhich striker David Johnsen (who scored a hat-trick against me as a substitute in a friendly). The future for Newcastle looks bright, the future for English football looks Black and White.