Another complete renovation--Ideas please !!

Hi everyone. This is our second attempt to make our 16 x 32 vinyl lined , stee wall IG pool work. We bought this place as part of an estate sale and it had been empty for quite some time. Two years ago, we acquired all the equipment and last year we bought a liner off ebay. I didnt really look much into it, the ad said it would work for 90% of pools sized that way, and I bought it.
We were in quite a hurry to drop the liner, as we were doing a refinance on the house. Well things didnt work out exactly as planned. I ordered a 4 ft radius corner, and of course we went to install, I realized we have 6" radius corners. We installed anyway, and the local pool place said we'd be lucky to get a couple seasons out of it.
The other major issue was the returns. The holes somehow got bigger than the gaskets and eyeballs. I pondered for weeks about what to do. I went to a machine shop and had them machine 6" round disks with the hole cut out perfectly in the center. It worked for one return, but not the other, so the water just kept leaking out.
By this time it was time to quit, getting to be winter here in the Midwest.
So the first thaw, I noticed the liner busted.
Ok, I made a mistake, I'll take that, order a new liner....
AND THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION IS.................
How do I fix this return situation. Of course the local pool store told me after the fact that I should have just made new returns.
But what is your opinion about how to make the holes perfectly and where to locate them. There was only two of them, but they were on the same side as the skimmer. Should they be on opposite sides, one on the skimmer side and one opposite? And how should we cover the old ones? and while we are at that, should we make a new skimmer, as the skimmer plate did not want to sit flush with the gaskets and such last go round.
Any help would be tremendously appreciated by my kids and every kid in this neighborhood who seems to think this is their home :)