SRL88's FM12 Journeyman Career

[SRL88]

Indeed because its utter bollocks now.

And Belgium being two times runners-up!! I'm sure you are involved in that!

It would probably help if I had the Belgian leagues loaded .

I wasnt involved in the Belgian team...because if I was we would have won it .

[SRL88]

Not going to whinge about either of these.

[SRL88]

SRL88's Career - Pre-Season - 2019/20 - Aston Villa FC

Friendlies

A mixed pre-season, but we had a lot of players who came into the club and had to get used to our system so Im not to worried. The league is the most important thing!!!

Community Shield

We played alright, but Arsenal are a class above us and made it show in the result. Still, we hold our heards high.

Transfers



Alex Olexade-Chamberlain - £3m - Had him on loan last season and although he started averagely, he upped his performances and constantly hit the 7.1 mark so I thought he was worth a perminant deal.

Andy O'Connell - £10m - A big money signing but worth it. £10m is a snip for a youngster with his quality. A brilliant replacement for Gutierrez.

Anes Arnautovic - £1.2m - What a great looking goalkeeper. Only at 2* and has a 5* potential. Cant wait to see this lad reach his maximum potential.

Angel Di Maria - Loan - A shrewd loan signing. Will add quality to our side.

John Obi Mikel - Loan - Provides experience to the DM position and will help aid Gilian in his development.

Jon Kempin - £2.5m - Our new number one and replacement for Brad Guzan. Really pleased to have brought him in.

Julien Gay - Loan - Youngster who I sent on loan to Bristol City. One for the future.

Mxolisi Mbambo - £2.6m - A player who I managed at Blackpool and was fantastic. When they were relegated I had to snap him up for a cut price.

Ricky van Wolfswinkel - Loan - I wanted Jordan Rhodes but I had already filled my domestic loans up so I opted for Ricky.

Rob Wilson - £2m - Signed from Liverpool. Probably 3rd choice but will hopefully be a quality signing

.

Yao Diabate - £3.6m - Had to sign him. You cant beat an African defender on FM. Class act.

Scott McGhee - Loan - Brought in on loan with an agreed fee. Has a lot of potential.

So a lot of transfer activity. Really pleased with the players we brought in and we got some fantastic deals for the outbound players, none more so than Gutierrez.

[Dejay]

Some quality bought in there, hope it ends up with a good season this year.

[AcidBurn]

Some great signings Andy O'Connell looks a very good buy.

[egesagin]

Just read through the whole topic, great entertainment. Though I think you paid way too much for O'Connell. With such low decisions, passing, teamwork and finishing, I would never pay 10m for him. Still you've earned your right to even burn money for what you've done to Villa financially so it's not a big deal, hope he does wonders

[SRL88]

Some quality bought in there, hope it ends up with a good season this year.

Some great signings Andy O'Connell looks a very good buy.

Cheers lads .

Just read through the whole topic, great entertainment. Though I think you paid way too much for O'Connell. With such low decisions, passing, teamwork and finishing, I would never pay 10m for him. Still you've earned your right to even burn money for what you've done to Villa financially so it's not a big deal, hope he does wonders

I understand what your saying, and I am going to work on his decisions and teamwork, but as a winger I dont really care to much about his passing and finishing. As long as he gets the ball and puts in a good cross for someone to get on the end of which he has done in his opening couple of games...its just a shame people cant stick the ball in the back of the net .

[B.W.G]

Some good signings made,good luck for the new season

[SRL88]

Some good signings made,good luck for the new season

Cheers fella!!!

[AK22]

Good luck for the new season. You've done some solid business in the transfer market, so it's looking good for making Villa a top-six side again

[SRL88]

SRL88's Career - August 2019 - Aston Villa FC

Premier League

A decent start to the season. A tense performance against Everton but a deserved win. We won it narrowly and you could tell there were nerves, especially from the new boys. A nice finish from James McCarthy got us off to the perfect start to the season. We followed this up with an entertaining affair at Upton Park, taking the lead twice but unable to hold on. Overall though, Im pleased with how we have started.

Europa League

So we have qualified for the Group Stages of the Europa League. Dont read to much into the scorelines because over the two legs we had over 50 shots at goal to their 10. Our finishing let us down though. Still, Im really pleased that we're in the Group Phase of this years competition.

[SRL88]

Good luck for the new season. You've done some solid business in the transfer market, so it's looking good for making Villa a top-six side again

Cheers mate. Looking forward to this season more than any so far.

[SRL88]

Had to put the Community Shield result in with pre-season if you wish to look.

[Dejay]

Nice work getting into the Europa league group stages, bad luck in the Community shield though.

Decent start in the league too. Keep it up.

[SRL88]

2018/19 Group Stage Draw

Pretty pleased with the draw to be honest. As second seeds we could have been given a much worse tie. Pleased to have missed the two Spanish clubs and I am pretty confident we can top the group.

[SRL88]

Nice work getting into the Europa league group stages, bad luck in the Community shield though.

Decent start in the league too. Keep it up.

Cheers mate .

Just posted the draw for the group stage.

[B.W.G]

Nice looking group stage,you should get top two but will need to play to your best to make sure.Also a decent start which is made better by West Brom and Birmingham right down there

[cragswfc]

good luck in Europa league

[SRL88]

Nice looking group stage,you should get top two but will need to play to your best to make sure.Also a decent start which is made better by West Brom and Birmingham right down there

Haha. Fulham's start enlightens me the most. Following on from August, they have played 3 games so far in September. Their record is won 1, drew 4, scored 3, conceded 1. They won their 1 game 3-1 as well, so they've had 4 0-0 draws .

good luck in Europa league

Cheers mate .

[SRL88]

Just to let you know that my Internet has run out so there wont be any updates until Sunday when I get it back on .

[SnakeXe]

Bad times

[ScottT87]

Decent looking group draw there - must be looking to go deep into the competition now. Good luck!

[egesagin]

I wish internet was free

[SRL88]

Bad times

Tis a right bummer!!!

Decent looking group draw there - must be looking to go deep into the competition now. Good luck!

We should make the knockout stage, but hopefully the Quater Finals arent to far out our reach.

I wish internet was free

Snap .

[Dejay]

No updates? Bad times

You should be able to top that group

[SRL88]

No updates? Bad times

You should be able to top that group

Cheers mate. Got a few updates ready to do which should be up today/tonight!!

[Dejay]

Cheers mate. Got a few updates ready to do which should be up today/tonight!!

Woop, evening reading beckons

[SRL88]

SRL88's Career - September 2019 - Aston Villa FC

Premier League

A really tough month for us which started badly, but we ended it brilliantly. We played alright away to Man Utd despite finding ourselves 2-0 down at half time. We played much better in the second half and although we probably didnt deserve a result, we had our chances to get back into it. Against Arsenal we started like a house on fire with signing of the season so far Andy O'Connell scoring after just 4 minutes, but Arsenal dominated from then on. I had a tiny bit of hope going into the Chelsea game because they had been playing poor under manager Didier Drogba and we played really well and deserved our 2-0 win.

League Cup

A solid win over Bolton set up a 4th Round tie against Wigan.

[SRL88]

September 2019 - Continued

Europa League

So our European campaign is off to a decent start. We found things tough in Norway and had to battle, but a 2-1 win gets us up and running.

[HotChocolate]

Always used to get the big teams in a row but 6 points out of 12 isn't bad at all especially with a win at Stamford Bridge to boot.

[Dejay]

Tough month but you did well against Chelsea and high flying Sunderland!

[jackripper]

good result against Chleski there. Good to see United beating you though hahahahaha

[SRL88]

Always used to get the big teams in a row but 6 points out of 12 isn't bad at all especially with a win at Stamford Bridge to boot.

Tough month but you did well against Chelsea and high flying Sunderland!

Cheers lads. Really needed that Chelsea result so confidence didnt drop to much.

good result against Chleski there. Good to see United beating you though hahahahaha

Probably the only team on the game I HATE losing to .

[SRL88]

As you can see, I am going to be doing 2 updates with every month due to not being able to add more screenshots per post. Just keeping you all informed and you can have a look.

[Dejay]

As you can see, I am going to be doing 2 updates with every month due to not being able to add more screenshots per post. Just keeping you all informed and you can have a look.

Ah, wondered why it was reserved

Good win in Europe

[B.W.G]

Very tough month but did very well to get 6 points out of it and a good start to the Europa League.

[john1]

Read the entire 9 pages You done a great job at Darlington and Blackpool and now with Aston Villa.

Looking forward to more updates!!

[SRL88]

Ah, wondered why it was reserved

Good win in Europe

Very tough month but did very well to get 6 points out of it and a good start to the Europa League.

Read the entire 9 pages You done a great job at Darlington and Blackpool and now with Aston Villa.

Looking forward to more updates!!

Cheers lads .

Im going to try and get the rest of the months up now.

[SRL88]

SRL88's Career - October 2019 - Aston Villa FC

Premier League

A quiet month in terms of league fixtures. Im becomming slightly frustrated with things at the minute because we always manage to start brightly but take our foot off the pedal and let teams back into it. We took a 2-0 lead against Blackburn but let them go 4-2 up before giving ourselves a chance with a late goal to make it 4-3. Leicester was another case of the same thing because we were 2-1 up until the 92nd minute but gave away another lead to cost us 3pts.

League Cup

Another solid win in the Carling Cup as we moved into the Quater-Finals and set up a tie against Huddersfield.

[SRL88]

October 2019 - Continued

Europa League

A lovely win against Plzen to keep up our 100% start to the group. Leverkusen were always going to be the challenge though and our league form carried into Europe as we gave away a 1-0 lead to concede two goals in the last 5 minutes to throw away the points.

[SRL88]

A nice offer, but Im not ready to return to International Management yet.

[SRL88]

SRL88's Career - November 2019 - Aston Villa FC

Premier League

A very annoying start to November. We were leading 3-1 against Stoke but threw it away, and then we went to Anfield which saw by far the worst result I have ever had. We also took a 1-0 lead in that game, but Liverpool blitzed us and we were deservidly thumped. I wasnt happy for obvious reasons because we had lost so many points from winning positions and held a team meeting after the Liverpool game. It worked as we won our next game against West Brom 1-0 and then went to The City of Manchester Stadium and came away with a fantastic 2-0 win to leave us sat in mid-table.

League Cup

A solid win at Huddersfield in the Quater-Final see's us move into the League Cup Semi-Final to face fellow Midlands side Wolves.

[SRL88]

November 2019 - Continued

A brilliant win over Leverkusen to keep us top of the group and put us in a nice place for qualification.

[HotChocolate]

Great cup tie against Wolves, one for the fans.

Good luck against them

[SRL88]

SRL88's Career - December 2019 - Aston Villa FC

Premier League

A very congested Christmas period which saw us remain unbeaten and shoot us up the table. There were a few annoying draws there, but it was nice to not see a red dot on the fixture list. We started off with a hard fought win over Spurs before we threw away another lead against Wolves in the first of our trilogy of draws. We entered the annoying period of 3 games in 6 days and managed to win all 3 games with solid wins over Forest, Swansea and bitter rivals Birmingham.

Europa League

Job done in Europe as we remained unbeaten in our final two games to top the group and qualify for the knockout rounds where we were drawn against holders Betis. If we manage to get through that tie we will face either PSV or Rangers.

[SRL88]

Always nice to be linked.

I have no interest in managing in Germany unless its with Hoffenheim.

Coincidence or what???

[HotChocolate]

I can delete my comment if you want it reserved

[SRL88]

Great cup tie against Wolves, one for the fans.

Good luck against them

Cheers .

I can delete my comment if you want it reserved

No its fine!!!

[SRL88]

SRL88's Career - January 2020 - Aston Villa FC

Premier League

We started the New Year off with a shocking start at Goodison but got back on track nicely with a comfortable win over West Ham. We entered the period of the big boys again and put in a great shift against Man Utd and picked up a massive win. We put another good display in against Arsenal but luck wasnt on our side and they won 1-0 but still find ourselves not to far off the Champions League places.

FA Cup

A tough game against my former club and they had a real go at us. We managed to scrape a 3-2 win and set up a 4th Round tie against Nottingham Forest.

[SRL88]

January 2020 - Continued

League Cup

Brilliant!!! Just brilliant. We battled our way past Wolves to reach the League Cup Final, my second Cup Final since taking charge at Villa. Im absolutely delighted with the outcome and we really deserved it. Our opponents?? Of course, the team who I beat in the FA Cup Final, Leicester.

Transfers - In

Andy Carroll - £13.25m - Overpaid? Probably yeah, but I needed someone who was different. All our strikers are poachers and I wanted someone who I could mix our play up with and Andy fits the bill perfectly.

Alvin Arrondel - £3.1m - Probably not the greatest centre half in the world, but we have been quite annoying in the way we concede goals as players seem to switch off and this guy has high concentration levels which is one of the main reasons I signed him.

Jose Manuel Aguayo - £1.8m - A nice player brought in for a small fee. Will need time to settle, but adds class to the midfield.

Vaclav Kadlec - Loan - Transfer listed at Man Utd so I snapped him up straight away till the end of the season.

Transfers - Out

I sent a couple of players out on loan for first team experience. Mango was voicing concerns over wanting to leave and Mrcela has been average, so when Newcastle came in with a decent bid I accepted.

[AcidBurn]

What a great month December was if only a couple of those draws were wins you would be flying. Were they close games or did either team deserve to win the drawn matches?

[SRL88]

What a great month December was if only a couple of those draws were wins you would be flying. Were they close games or did either team deserve to win the drawn matches?

They were all pretty even, but we were probably just say the better team against Newcastle.

[AK22]

Another cup final awaits! Well done, and good luck against Leicester

[NorthernGooner]

Great write-up SRL, look forward to the next one, Aguayo looks a great player.

[SRL88]

Another cup final awaits! Well done, and good luck against Leicester

Great write-up SRL, look forward to the next one, Aguayo looks a great player.

Cheers lads .

Ive got February update ready which includes the Cup Final. Will have that up at some point today.

[SRL88]

This kid is turning into a really good player.

Stadium is now at 51,292.

[deltablue]

Nice size stadium now.

[SRL88]

League Cup Final

First Half

We started the game strongly and really went at Leicester, creating a few opportunities in the first 5 minutes without converting. Whilst attacking Leicester in the 19th minute they hit us on the break. A long ball over the top had Daniel Sturridge running onto it. He pulled the ball to the edge of the area for Danijel Tot to slide into the back of the net. 1-0 Leicester. The big talking point of the first half however came in the 32nd minute when Andy Carroll was shown a straight red card for a two footed challenge. The players were livid as four of the surrounded the referee. Nothing changed and it remained 1-0 at half time.

Half-Time

We were left in a really tough spot. 1-0 down to a pretty decent Leicester side and we only had 10 men. No target man, so I had to change things around a little. I made us play shorter and quicker passing to try and get our lone front man in behind.

Second Half

We started the second half much like the first, but this time made it count. We won a free-kick on the right hand side and the ball in landed perfectly on the head of Alvin Arrondel who powered home a header to even things up. We didnt sit back and kept on pushing. Despite having 10 men, we were by far the better side and had numerous chances to take the lead. As time wore on our legs began to fade. We had played at such a high tempo to get back into the game that we were weiry. Following a poor corner Leicester again hit us on the break. As they flooded forward we couldnt handle their pace and the ball found its way to Daniel Sturridge on the left hand side of the box. He dinked passed a defender and scored at the near post to make it Leicester 2, Aston Villa 1 in the 93rd minute. We had no time left to go back up the other end and score and our dreams of lifting another trophy were over.

Full Time

Leicester 2-1 Aston Villa

A hard scoreline to take, especially with them scoring so late on. The sending off was the difference. Was it deserved? I will never know but the players were angry. Still, we done well to reach another Final, its just a shame it didnt end like the last one.

[AcidBurn]

Unlucky in the final dude, late goals are hard to take especially in a match like that.

[john1]

Unlucky to lose in the final Not bad position to be in the league. Hopefully you'll get more income from increasing the stadium to 51K.

[SRL88]

Nice size stadium now.

Will hopefully help with the finances to.

Unlucky in the final dude, late goals are hard to take especially in a match like that.

It was a sucker punch to say the least. I played them the game immediately after in the league as well.

Unlucky to lose in the final Not bad position to be in the league. Hopefully you'll get more income from increasing the stadium to 51K.

Fingers crossed. The finances are much better but could still do with a bit of work.

[B.W.G]

In a good position in the league and hopefully the players can forget about the painful loss in the final.Also a good size stadium to have,maybe good news in the future.

[SRL88]

SRL88's Career - February/March 2020 - Aston Villa FC

Premier League

A fantastic run of form by us which has us hot on Liverpool's heels for a Champions League spot. Just two games which we failed to win over February and March, but by no means a massive problem as we got good draws against Chelsea and Liverpool. Vaclav Kadlec had a brilliant run of form infront of goal and I hope it continues. Brilliant wins against Blackburn and away to Sunderland were followed with us getting revenge on Leicester with a solid 1-0 win. Our excellent couple of months was capped off with an amazing 7-0 win away to West Brom.

FA Cup

We continue to defend our FA Cup crown but it could easily have been over. We were down to 9 men against Nottingham Forest after 6 minutes of the home tie but we battled brilliantly to take the game to a replay. We were heading for the next round until a 91st minute goal from them took the tie to extra time. Our extra levels of fitness showed and we took advantage to win the tie 5-2. That set up a tie against Bolton who we breezed past before beating Blackburn 2-1 with 10 men as we moved into yet another Semi-Final where we will face Sunderland.

[SRL88]

February/March 2020 - Continued

League Cup

So our run in the League Cup ended in defeat in the Final as Leicester got revenge on us for our emphatic FA Cup Final victory last season. We had to play 70 minutes of the match with 10 men and it took an injury time goal in the second half for them to win the tie.

Europa League

Our run also ended in the Europa League against PSV. We had to rely on penalties to knock holders Real Betis out but PSV were to strong for us and we went out without to much of fight.

[SRL88]

In a good position in the league and hopefully the players can forget about the painful loss in the final.Also a good size stadium to have,maybe good news in the future.

Cheers mate. We have made great strides this season and Im really looking forward to next season with the club in a better financial position.

[SRL88]

A nice link with an American club for financial reasons.

Always nice to see.

Looks like the club is benefiting already from the stadium extension.

Im a wanted man in Germany by the looks of things, but Im not ready to leave Villa just yet.

[Dejay]

Going well at Villa, really good in the league and a good result at forest considering the circumstances! Keep it up mate

[HotChocolate]

Unlucky losing the final in the 93rd minute but you've made some great progress in the league

[SRL88]

Going well at Villa, really good in the league and a good result at forest considering the circumstances! Keep it up mate

Unlucky losing the final in the 93rd minute but you've made some great progress in the league

Cheers lads .

[AK22]

Bad luck in the cup final, at least you're still going well in the league.

Andy Carroll- I hope you fined him heavily for his sending off!

[john1]

Shame to see you go out in Europa League

Any chance of letting me copy your layout?

[tomtuck01]

Any chance of letting me copy your layout?

Should be a cool kid like me and just do it.

Great campaign thus far SRL88. Now push on and get that Champions League spot!

[SRL88]

Bad luck in the cup final, at least you're still going well in the league.

Andy Carroll- I hope you fined him heavily for his sending off!

Haha, I wasnt pleased but I didnt fine him. I was more angry against Forest in the FA Cup when we had 2 men sent off in the first 6 minutes.

Shame to see you go out in Europa League

Any chance of letting me copy your layout?

I suppose ha.

Should be a cool kid like me and just do it.

Great campaign thus far SRL88. Now push on and get that Champions League spot!

You just thieved it off me!!. Hopefully we can keep pace with Liverpool, but their run in is more favourable.

[Purefun]

Leverkusen spend more money on playerwages then Dortmund, well well.

[SRL88]

SRL88's Career - April 2020 - Aston Villa FC

Premier League

After a brilliant couple of months in February & March we started off poorly in April with back to back defeats against Wolves & Spurs. We got back on track with a professional display against Fulham and rounded off the month with a solid win over Newcastle to leave us with a great chance of making the Champions League. Its going to be very tight and our run-in compared to Liverpool's are pretty similar, but we have that vital game in hand against Swansea.

FA Cup

Brilliant. For the second season in a row we have reached the FA Cup Final, and our second Final of the season. In what was a pretty tense Semi-Final we managed to beat Sunderland 3-2 to move into the Final where we will meet Chelsea.

[SRL88]

Leverkusen spend more money on playerwages then Dortmund, well well.

Neither are as good as The Hoffe .

[NorthernGooner]

Good luck in the final, going to be close for the last Champions League spot!

[SRL88]

Good luck in the final, going to be close for the last Champions League spot!

Cheers mate.

[SRL88]

I was going to post an FA Cup Final update, but the scoreline didnt really result in anything worth a long post about, so I will just post a screenshot for you.

FA Cup Final

An absolutely unbelievable performance. Cup Finals are usually tense affairs but you can throw the rule book out the window on this occassion. The scoreline was a little flattering, but our clinicalness infront of goal was second to none. Rather than post **** loads of information, I will just let you look in amazement .

[B.W.G]

Wow....just wow

[tomtuck01]

What the ****?

[NorthernGooner]

I guess it was an average result at best, Rob Wilson must have played a blinder, great result

[SRL88]

Wow....just wow

Was a fantastic result.

What the ****?

Summed up my reaction watching. Was so weird for a Cup Final.

I guess it was an average result at best, Rob Wilson must have played a blinder, great result

Perfect 10.0 .

[SnakeXe]

That's a ridiculous result! Definitely a perfect storm.

[SRL88]

That's a ridiculous result! Definitely a perfect storm.

It half took the enjoyment away in a sense Cup Finals are usually tight, but I wasnt complaining to much .

[City2000]

Stunning result! Now to try and take 4th place and cap off a great season.

[SRL88]

Stunning result! Now to try and take 4th place and cap off a great season.

I will have the update for May up tonight, but we're on the brink of 4th I will say that .

[dizzyp]

Cracking result in the Final. Made it look easy. Now if you can just do that in the remaining games of the season.......






Just realised this is the 888th post, maybe i should make a bet at a prominant bookies?!

[Dejay]

Holy crap that is epic. Fantastic work

[cragswfc]

Did they play a goalie good win thought keep up the good work

[SRL88]

Just a few records thanks to our FA Cup win.

[SRL88]

Cracking result in the Final. Made it look easy. Now if you can just do that in the remaining games of the season.......
Just realised this is the 888th post, maybe i should make a bet at a prominant bookies?!

Put £100 on Liverpool to do the Cup double for me .

Holy crap that is epic. Fantastic work

Cheers mate.

Did they play a goalie good win thought keep up the good work

Well.....they did, but like the other players they didnt exactly perform.

[cragswfc]

Put a screen up of Rob Wilson please

[john1]

What?! 8-0 against Chelsea in FA Cup final Superb result SRL88.

[SRL88]

Put a screen up of Rob Wilson please

I will include one in my end of season report because he will be in my top 3 players .

What?! 8-0 against Chelsea in FA Cup final Superb result SRL88.

Cheers fella . Was an unreal result like.

[SRL88]

SRL88's Career - May 2020 - Aston Villa FC

Premier League

Job done!!! Obviously disappointed with the draw against Birmingham on the final day but it didnt matter because we will be playing Champions League football next season. We brushed aside Nottingham Forest & Swansea without much trouble before putting in a fantastic display in against Man City to clinch a Champions League spot.

FA Cup

Not much more to say on this matter. We destroyed them!!! An excellent achievement to retain the FA Cup.

[john1]

Not bad finish to the season alongside massive FA Cup win Good luck for next season.

[Dejay]

Fantastic work in the league

[SRL88]

SRL88's Career - Season Review - 2019/20 - Aston Villa FC

Premier League - Results 1 - Results 2 (4th - Champions League football )

Brilliant season. I couldnt really have wished for more. From taking over with the club struggling in the league and in financial disaray to Champions League football in less than two seasons. Brilliant achievement from the club. We put in some brilliant displays over the course of the season, doing the double over Manchester City, a brilliant win at Stamford Bridge and against Man Utd being stand-outs. As the season wore on it looked more evident that it was going to between us and Liverpool but we held our nerve to clinch a Champions League spot. Such a good season domestically that I came third in the Manager of the Year Award.

Community Shield (Runners-Up)

Season opener and we lost. Arsenal were the better side. Not to bothered.

FA Cup (Winners)

A great achievement to retain the FA Cup. Obviously the stand-out result came in the Final as we destroyed Chelsea 8-0. It could have been much different though. In the 4th Round against Nottingham Forest we went down to 9 men within 6 minutes in the first tie but we put in a battling performance to take things to a replay where our class showed. The only other tough tie we had was against Sunderland in the Semi-Final but we battled through that before our quality result against Chelsea.

League Cup (Runners-Up)

A nice run to the Final in the League Cup which ended with us losing out to the side we beat in last seasons FA Cup Final. It was made harder with us going down to 10 men in the first half, but we battled on and it was more annoying that we lost to a stoppage time goal to lose 2-1.

Europa League (Knocked out in 2nd Knockout Round)

A decent run in the Europa League for us. We topped our group pretty easily before knocking out holders Real Betis. A disappointing performance over the two legs against PSV and we deservidly went out.

Transfers - Finances

A lot of transfer activity both in and out of the club but it made a huge difference. There were some ok players at best in the squad I inherited so they had to move on. The players I brought in were excellent for us. Really pleased with their performances as they were probably the main difference between success and failure this season.
Finances wise, wow!!! Such a remarkable turn around compared to when I took over. I wouldnt have been suprised if we went into administration because of how bad they were but how its changed. The club is now solid financially.

Squad

A really good squad we have going here. There will be changes, but the base is there. The wage budget has gone down and we have a lot of good players on smaller wages. Really pleased with the players we have.

My Top 3 Players

Rob Wilson - The clubs new record goalscorer for one season. Obviously not a mass amount of goals in the league but a brilliant signing from the man brought in for £2m from Liverpool.
Anes Arnautovic - Signed as a back-up player due to his age but following an injury to Jon Kempin, I threw this guy in and what a goalkeeper. For his age he is excellent and isnt even at full potential yet. One of my best signings without a doubt.
Andy O'Connell - The clubs big money signing in the summer and he proved his value. Really good winger who put in consistant and excellent performances.

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| Season  |  Team            | League                  |  Country | League Position |  Notes                                            |
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| 2011/12 |  Kirklareli Spor | Second Division Group A |  Turkey  | 5th             |  Play-Off Quater Finalists                        |
| 2012/13 |  Kirklareli Spor | Second Division Group A |  Turkey  | 3rd             |  Play-Off Semi Finalists                          |
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| 2013/14 |  Darlington      | Blue Square Premier     |  England | 4th             |  Play-Off Semi Finalists, FA Trophy Runners-Up,   |
                                                                                       Appointed in October                             |
| 2014/15 |  Darlington      | Blue Square Premier     |  England | 2nd             |  Promoted via Play-Offs, FA Trophy Runners-Up                                           |
| 2015/16 |  Darlington      | League Two              |  England | 3rd             |  Promoted                                         |
| 2016/17 |  Darlington      | League One              |  England | 5th             |  Promoted via Play-Offs                           |
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| 2017/18 |  Blackpool       | Championship            |  England | 3rd             |  Promoted via Play-Off's                          |
| 2018/19 |  Blackpool       | Premier League          |  England | -               |  Resigned in November                             |
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| 2018/19 |  Aston Villa     | Premier League          |  England | 10th            |  Appointed in November, FA Cup Winners            |
| 2019/20 |  Aston Villa     | Premier League          |  England | 4th             |  FA Cup Winners, League Cup Runners-Up,           |
                                                                                       Champions League Qualification                   |

Next Season?

Brilliant work this season and really looking forward to the challenge of Champions League football. We have already agreed to sign Yaya Sanogo for £4.1m and a couple of 15yo regens so things are already in motion.

[SRL88]

Not bad finish to the season alongside massive FA Cup win Good luck for next season.

Fantastic work in the league

Cheers lads.