Santos FC suffered a fairly unsurprising dropoff in 2029 as they backed up a first Brazilian title in 24 years by dropping to a 6th-place finish, 25 points behind champions Palmeiras. But manager Robinho Lazaró was choosing to remain optimistic given the talent they had coming through the ranks.
Atalanta BC shocked Italy as their superstar attack of Ronaldo, Raúl, Álvaro Recoba, Vincenzo Montella, Domenico Morfeo and Juan Román Riquelme blitzed them to a maiden Serie A title with 128 league goals in 1999 (2028). And those exploits saw Montella and Recoba installed as Atalanta legends.
Big Sam Allardyce made it 3 survivals out of 5 as he led a beleaguered Wolves to unlikely Premier League safety in 2028. But there was no time to hang around in Wolverhampton as Big Sam tendered his resignation, holidayed ahead to Christmas, and went in search of a new club to save.
Big Sam enjoyed a positive fourth season of his Bottom At Christmas experiment, leading an underachieving Köln side to comfortable Bundesliga survival. And that made it 2 survivals, 2 relegations and 1 sacking. But, despite growing fond of the German club, he wasted no time in taking 7 months out of the game and holidaying ahead to Christmas 2027.
Big Sam suffered his second relegation in three seasons of the Bottom At Christmas challenge as his Sampdoria side was relegated by local rivals Genoa on the final day of the 2025/26 campaign. He took seven months off to lick his wounds and holiday ahead to Christmas Day 2026.
Italian football saw seismic change as a young Atalanta side established itself as the 2nd best in Serie A in 1998 (2027). Their massive overperformance saw the vultures yet again circling their best players, clearly cognizant of the club's dreadful finances, but things were about to get very exciting in Bergamo.
Valencia CF enjoyed their best season so far under the stewardship of Roberto Lazaró in the 2027/28 campaign. And the manager was delighted to see his approach to blooding youngsters was resulting in plenty of progression.
Big Sam Allardyce enjoyed a much stronger Season 2 of his Bottom At Christmas challenge, leading Cádiz CF safely away from the LaLiga dropzone. But he swiftly stood down and holidayed ahead ready for a new challenge in Season 3. Looking back at his former clubs, Nottingham Forest gained promotion at the first tome of... Continue Reading →
Youthful Santos Futebol Clube claimed the club's first Brazilian title in 24 years as they stormed to Série A success in November 2028. Manager Robinho Lazaró now had to ensure they kept hold of their best youngsters to try and defend that title and aim for their first Copa Libertadores Final since 2020.
Atalanta surprised everyone, including their manager, as a sublime end-of-season surge saw them climb into the European places and finish 3rd in Serie A in 1997 (2026). The challenge now was for Roberto Lombardi to strengthen his squad and hold onto his exciting youngsters.
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