[FMT-16] An Irishman in West Yorkshire(Bradford City)....

Right, I've been wanting to do another thread since my Roma one(first and only so far). To be honest, this one is probably less interesting than that, as I've set myself no limitations like I did at Roma. I was going to wait until something more interesting came to mind, but this is likely to be my only save for a while, and at a slower pace than last time(maybe). Normally, I tend to prefer young players to develop, highly homegrown, or national squads and cheap deals. To the level that I'll often sign more players than I need just because of great opportunity(I'll be trying to play sensibly this time, though!). Eventually, I'll probably hold to these tendencies.

So, we arrive at Bradford. Now, I'm already played a bit, so I'll give a quick rundown of progress.

First was the summer transfer window, I immediately terminated the two loans already set, Luke James and Lee Evans, if I remember correctly, I believed their wages could be spent better.

These are the players brought in.

Vanja Milinkovic Savic, the squad were in quite rough shape goalkeeper wise, Vanja is a very good prospect, and great at this level, not spectacular in any area, but incredibly well rounded.

Reece Burke, this loan actually happened in real life too, after the data lock(I assume). Best defender at the club currently.

Alessandro Del Piero, past his best, but still better than League One, if you can deal with his lack of physicals, magic is your reward.

Abdul Razak, ex-Man City/Anzhi defensive CM, a handy ball winner, Championship standard, Premiership potential.

Baily Cargill, handy CB/LB cover, could develop into good player.

Adam Drury, ex-Man City, can play anywhere down the right wing, scouts raved about him, planned as a wingback prospect. Ended up as full back and winger cover, his potential rating is melting. Scouts probaby have this one wrong, but he's been handy in the squad.

The gems in the squad are Razak, and especially Devante Cole(Andy Cole's son) who could become a fine Premiership player. Pacey forward who needs to develop his all round game, but is terribly effective up front or on either wing.

In the league we began with 4 draws in a row, the last 3 0-0's, then started to scrape wins as I stuck doggedly to an ineffective 3-5-2, eventually after noting that I was changing formation at half time in every game, I permanently switched to a 4-3-3, my reward in the next game, a 7-1 dismantling of Wigan, and a long streak of wins.

In the Capital One Cup, I get one win, only to fall to a injury time OG against Norwich.

Progressing nicely in the Paint Trophy, a two legged tie next, against a playoff contending Burton side.

Into the 3rd round of the FA Cup, big away day at Balckburn to come.

Started picking up losses and draws, but we're still in a great position.

So here we are, up to date, January 1st 2016, and I'm trying to decide where to spend to try and strengthen for the remainder of the season.

Ben Garratt, Jak Alnwick and Daniel Bentley are all available, especially Alnwick. I'm unsure of them though(especially of Bentley), but any could be my man between the sticks for at least a few years. It'd take all my budget though, and perhaps United will give me Savic again next season...... A decision I'm finding quite difficult.

Ok, I apologise for the lie. That wasn't a "quick" rundown at all. Got carried away with myself....

Going well and some great signings, probably won't be long before you are winning the Premier League.

Going well and some great signings, probably won't be long before you are winning the Premier League.

Cheers! I won't worry about that for a while yet, though!

Wow, Del Piero!

Wow, Del Piero!

I was baffled, went into my scout list and filtered by world rep, he was top. Accepted 5k a week too!

January has passed, and a fantastic month has ended on a sour note on the pitch, but a nice deadline day move has us in high spirits.

As we were in the league, though all games were touch and go, and two required comebacks.

Blackburn scored in the opening minutes, and a "go down swinging" attitude drove the team to play some incredible football and trounce the Championship side. A late consolation goal too the gloss off a tad.

As we were in the Paint Trophy, handed a relatively easy final in Leyton Orient.

We lost starting CB Rory McArdle to a short term injury just before the Spurs game. Both their goals came from defensive errors by his replacement. Other than that, we gave them a good game, and had our chances. I think we may have been competitive, had we McArdle, or.....

Transfers!

We started the window by splurging most of a budget the board upped at my request, on a right back. Gaetano Berardi was unhappy at Leeds, and far better than any fullback at the club. Even then, I had to stretch most of the price(900k) over the next four seasons. Worth it though, the entire flank is notably stronger in defence and attack.

Half way through the window, I notice midfielder Anthony Annan is a free agent on my scouting list, available, and asking reasonable wages... score!

On deadline day, again, poking about my scouting list, I notice another free agent, left/central defender Jose Goncalves! Was just about able to negotiate him down to a reasonable wage, a massive coup for the short term future of the club(may even have had an impact on the Spurs game, sigh...).

Also brought in were Junior(Everton) and Ryan Meadows(Sheff Wed) for squad depth, and some chaff were sold in Ben Williams, Christopher Routis, Mark Marshall, Tony McMahon and Nathan Clarke. None of which are worth going into much detail over.

These are some financially risky moves I've made, and I'm slightly over wage budget. It make promotion a bit more important than it was(board are happy with making playoffs), but I'm fairly comfortable with that, top of the league by 6 points and two games in hand.

Well the promotion came handily in the end, we went on another streak of form, and no team could hang with us.

They've given me 2m and 30k in wages to build upon, and I believe I have a strong enough core to survive in the Championship, maybe even do well.

I've already got one deal in place, Crewe's relegation handily meant Ben Garratt didn't sign a new contract, he joins me in July. Also have extended Milinkovic Savic and Burke's loans.

Bolton have been relegated, which is also good news, I can pick up Liam Trotter for a song, or even just loan him. Zach Clough is available too, and would be an ideal striker for my system, but they've him priced massively(5.75m), and even a loan is 1.3m. I think I need about 7 players all told.

Del Piero retires after next season, and while he's done well, he shouldn't be first choice this season, doesn't have the physicals for the Championship(3 pace + acc, 4 stam, 6 str).

I think you have a great chance of a mid-table finish in the Championship next year!

I think you have a great chance of a mid-table finish in the Championship next year!

Hope so, made a flying start at least, sitting in the playoff spots after the transfer window closed.

Well, the summer came, and preparation for the Championship.

Possibly the biggest move for the clubs future came before the window even opened. Bafflingly, Phil Cannon was still jobless, and open to negotiations. Difficult, but I got my man, a real coup, hopefully the club invest in youth.

His first intake, he brings this youngster, and raves about him. Kid is cocky too, future plans include winning the Premiership! Obviously I hope he hits those levels! His potential has already been downgraded half a star, though....

This is how the transfer window went, lot of chaff out, some better brought in.

McLean, Gilhaney, Nelson, Jackson, Fuente and Cowling are all regens.

Carruthers is already feeling like a waste of money, sigh, Fernandez has 7 goals in 4 starts, real quality so far. Helan has made an awesome start too, and Elvedi looks a cracking player, at CB, DM or MC.

The most interesting regens are Jackson and Fuente. Instantly after signing him, the news article was raving about how good he was, and thing media questions about this kid who's expected to reach the top, hopefully accurate! Fuente was rated 4 stars by my scout, and I figured worth a punt for 7k, once Cannon eyeballed him, he jumped to 5 stars.

On the pitch, things have gone very well.

The Sheff game was disappointing, well off the pace. I think we should have beaten Villa though, just one of those days that chances don't work out, we played good passing football. Hard to complain though, we're temporarily in the playoff spots and showing strong signs of being a comfortable Championship side and our next Capital One Cup game is against a League One side, so chance of a nice cup run.

Will definitely be following this! That's a lot of businesses done in the summer (but I understand it's needed), hopefully the new recruits can gel fast and you already have a decent start

Oh! I figured no one was much interested, and ploughed on, I'm most of the way through the third season....

Don't go by the number of comments - most of us are too busy writing our own threads or just forget to comment. Sometimes I really wish we had a "like" button here as they do on the FM Base forums.

Focus on the number of views instead, judging by which this thread already has quite a few followers despite being so new...

Right! I guess I'll recap to where I am now and carry on, though some of it will seem a bit mad.

Second season.

Championship, early on we hold on with the top teams, and keep in the playoff spots, after 19 games we took the top of the table. From there on, we have a close battle with Derby until spring where they drop off, and we take the Championship title handily, thanks to some excellent January reinforcements, notably Nouha Dicko and Ravel Morrison. Harshly, Derby end up not even getting promoted....

Table looks a bit more one sided than it was, the chasers dropped off once we won the title.

The FA Cup was one to forget, drew Man Utd in the 3rd round, and a 1-0 scoreline flattered us, we were awful and deservedly lost.

The Capital One Cup turned out better though, we make it to the quarter final, and loose 2-1 to Liverpool after taking the lead. We had chances to win that game too, it was a shame. The round before we beat Everton.

Our signing of the season proved to be Jérémy Hélan, leading the team in assists, and the entire league in average rating.

This kid also joined up in January, literally pinched from under the noses of Porto and Sporting.

When he's first team ready, there'll be an issue though, he doesn't fit my system.

Great back-to-back promotions.

Third season, up to current status.

Transfers.

We were originally given a budget of 19m, which I then adjusted the sliders to make 24m out of, and added 11m sales. I made some glaring errors here, and massively stretched the budget, without paying attention to squad size, and ended up broke and with a 14 man squad. So I set out for some loans, and rebuilt the squad as best I could, happy enough with a squad to fight for survival. With 4 days to go though, I chanced my arm, and asked the board for a little extra to see if maybe they'd give me 5m or something and I could pick up a deadline day deal. They gave me another 30 million. 30. I was equal parts delighted, and slightly raged as I could have picked up some killer deals with it all window long. The end of the window was quite hectic, and I ended the summer with over 85 million spent, for a promotion side this was ridiculous.

Josef Sindelar is notable here, as a 16 year old CB newgen, but he was already good enough for squad rotation. Edmar Chipongue is a striker I pinched from under Real Madrids nose.

Draxler was a lucky score, unhappy at Wolfsburg and transfer listed on deadline day. They're paying a large chunk of his wages too.

Ravel Morrison and Jesse Lingard's loans were also extended.

The loans, Gedion Zelalem, Chiedebere Nwakali, Ahmed Elmohamady and Jon Gorenc Stankovic were all terminated before the window closed, as better options became available. Rodrigo Bentancur's was too, but only because he tore his knee ligaments during his first game.

You'll notice my 7k man from Bath, Issac Fuente in the sales list. That was while I was broke, and the cash was needed to cover wages, so I couldn't say no.

This fellow was signed on a bosman, to join January, as well.

January was quiet by my standards.

Mario arrived, and a few cheap prospects were picked up, Ante Reboic had his loan terminated at his request, didn't play enough, he was crap. Przemyslaw Tyson's was too, as I just didn't need 3 first team keepers. Michael Jackson, one of the other kids posted earlier was added to the sales, 5m to man utd. On deadline day, loans of Lucas Moura and Edorado Goldaniga were added.

Great back-to-back promotions.

Cheers mate!

Third season, continued...

Premier League.

We began in streaky form, first with a loss and a handful of draws, then a winning run, then a run of draws, but doing incredibly well for a promoted side, holding between 8th and 10th for most of the season so far. Currently we're in early March, and have just pushed up to 7th and entered the race for European football, 2 points behind Bournemouth, who we play next in a massive 6 pointer, but first have a cup game to deal with.....

Shockingly, we're on a 24(iirc) game unbeaten run, but with more draws than wins. We've chucked so many points it's ridiculous. 4 losses all season, could have been in the title race if we could hold leads.

FA Cup.

We've had an incredible run so far, given an easy fixtures at almost every turn, Bristol Rovers, Watford, Colchester, we face Bournemouth(funny how that happens) in the 6th round.... There's a good chance to win this too, as only Wolves, Southampton, or the winner of Newcastle/Everton remain.

Capital One Cup.

Now here's were we had some real fun! We begin with Hull, who take us to extra time, only for Michael Jackson(sigh) to supply a 110th minute winner. Then a 30 demolition of Crystal Palace sees us through to a handy game with QPR that we win 2-0. Chelsea in the quarters, and a 6th minute Devante Cole strike, gives us an incredibly nervy 1-0 win. Brentford in the semis should have been an easy prospect, and the 3-0 home first leg proved so, I played with too much squad rotation in the 2nd leg and almost paid for it, a 2-2 draw gives us a 5-3 agg. win, and Man City in the final....

Lanzini skinning their defence, burns them for pace and with an ice cold placed shot gives us an instant lead. After this the match turns incredibly dirty(I didn't even have "get stuck in" set...), and pretty end to end. We were lucky Aguero left his shooting boots at home and ended without even a shot on target. A delightful win, and gives us a shot at European football even if we don't chase it down in the league. Couldn't be happier.

Well, we beat Bournemouth in the FA Cup to set up a tie with Everton. They done their best to injure both of my strikers before the league fixture though! Cole misses a month, but luckily Lanzini should be fine after the international break. He played through his injury and was the one to put them to the sword.

What's worse, is during the week off, we loose Jordon Mutch, for 2 months, so effectively the season. Now, he's not a regular starter, but he was always on the bench, and vital to the team. A versatile player who could attack or defend, he could change the shape of the team. Swapping him in for my regular BWM(s), made the team more forward thinking and attacking if needed, and swapping him for my CM(a) made the midfield more sturdy and defensive when needed against big teams or defending leads. Changes that helped me control plenty of matches. He even covered for the Anchorman a few times. This could be a real problem.

Missing a few key players, Razak and Aurier ended up on international duty along with the Cole & Mutch injuries, we managed to patch together something special. Some odd decisions though, like playing Julian Weigl as a ball winner.

Well done on the progress so far and the cup win against Man City.

Cheers! That's been the absolute highlight of the save so far.

Our first season in the Premiership is a season to be proud of, but still a touch bittersweet. In the league we practically downed tools for the last 4 games as our soft underbelly and streaky form came to the fore again at the worst possible time.

All of these games should have been winners. Especially the Chelsea game which was choked away in the dying minutes.

Final table. An immense season for a promoted team, but if you look at those last games, we basically threw away a Champions League spot.

After this, both Draxler and Lazini sign new long term contracts, which is massive news as the should be playing for CL sides. Lucas Moura doesn't want to stay, despite having a buy out clause in his contract, back to PSG's bench then, I suppose, oh well.... Goldaniga will be joining permanently in summer.

You'll have noticed, in the first screenshot, we beat Everton in the FA Cup semi final. Got a plum final against Championship mid table side Wolves.

Yup, we almost choked this away too..... Very lucky to have won, but win we did, ending 107 years of hurt. Bradford were one of the early FA Cup winners, back in 1911, coincidentally the year a new cup design was introduced, designed and manufactured in.... Bradford!

Here's the season review.

Summer plans.

We've been given an additional 200kpw, and 40m to spend on the squad. Things could change quickly, as there's a consortium eyeing the club at a very bad time....

I think the midfield is a little soft, so going to try for some steel, I think Wanyama is available.

I need at least one winger, possibly two. Nathan Redmond looks like a good shout, but will be very expensive to pry away from Leicester.

I need to decide what to do with my strikers, either change my tactic to suit more typical striker roles, or find a pair of playmaking forwards. This will dictate the winger situation, as currently Lazini and Cole play up there, and will have to be moved about if I bring some fresh blood in.

I'm probably going to have to get rid of Aurier and Rezak, they missed key league matches playing for the Ivory Coast, and I believe there's an ACON coming up on the back of a World Cup. I need my players to be here.

Weigl is another issue, very good but not a great match for any of my midfield roles. Had a fair enough season as Anchor, though.

You had a great season 6th and 2 cups, Tottenham were the big chokers.

You had a great season 6th and 2 cups, Tottenham were the big chokers.

I felt really sorry for Spurs, in March they had a 6 point lead and two games in hand, not only to loose their way, but for Arsenal of all clubs to pip them! On the flip side, a last day 3-1 hammering by Leicester who finished 9th and had nothing to play for cost Liverpool the title, which was delightful.

I had already completed about 2/3rds of my business, but now have 94m, and 1.2m wages to go nuts with.

Wow. What a fairytale so far!!

Well, this was an interesting summer! Initially given 44m and 200k wages(iirc) to rebuild, I had as mentioned above a few key areas I needed to deal with. I spent the better part of that, and in mid June we go under the embargo, exiting it by the start of July, with a brand new tycoon owner, 95m more to spend and 1.2m extra wage budget.

Obviously I went a bit mad! Pre-tycoon moves that I was very happy with were young forward thinking midfielder Lewis Cook(who will be first choice in his position), Marcelo Meli a truly top class ball winner who was picked after Wanyama failed a work permit and Spurs nabbed Cristeig from my clutches, Besic is a cracking rotation option for him at a ridiculous cut price deal.

Honestly, had I expected a tycoon was coming in, I wouldn't have bothered making the Ravel Morrison or Goldaniga deals permanent, but is what it is, and both are fine players.

Once the tycoon came in I went hard, and picked both Pavón and Zivkovic to be my strikers, both rapid, creative all rounders that will suit the Trequartista role, though Zivkovic will need to work on his passing. Pavón required ridiculous by any standards wages to lure him away from Champions League clubs like Dortmund. Ismael Miranda is another creative striker, sent on loan to Espanyol for now.

Bernard was transfer listed at Bayern, and is similar to Lucas Moura, but with better attacking skills, so I'm delighted there. Moura ended up in another strop at PSG and eventually left for AC Milan. Bernards backup will be Maitland-Niles, while Filip Krovinovic goes on loan, as I had cut too much English blood from the club(something to work on over the coming years).

James McCarthy become my starting anchorman, far more capable defensively than Weigl was(who leaves as PSG activate his buyout clause), and his backup is a Brazillian youngster named Ferreira, this kid will be immense.

Kenny Tete will be rotation for Sam Byram, right back is a position that may need strengthening in future, neither are special(had a deal for Marquinhos, but he went to Leicester, bafflingly). Jetro Willems and rotation Andrew Robertson cover the left side, proper wingbacks.

Martins Indi was a steal for his level of class, and replaces the slightly disappointing Filip Helander, while Harry Maguire indicates his wishes to leave when Man City bid, and is replaced by Callum Chambers.

Martin Odegaard comes in because why the hell not? Leaves the squad a man large at 23, and I'm not sure where to play him as I play right winger/left inside forward. Can play CM and compete with Cook and Morrison, I suppose.

Hopefully future summers won't be so massive, and I won't have to worry about practically a new squad gelling yet again!

Board expectations, before and after takeover were surprisingly low, still requesting no more than surviving relegation, a pair of wins in the FA Cup, a quarter final run in the League Cup, and nothing more than where we start in the Europa group stages.

Handy group, hopefully Pavón will be able to put his old club to the sword.

In the league we start with a 0-0 draw away at Man City(Agureo continues a baffling record of being completely incapable of scoring against us despite many chances), and a 1-0 win over Everton that sees Lewis Cook off the mark.

We were battered 4-2 in the Community Shield.

I should say, I'm a tad sorry I did go so mad when I had quite low board expectations, the Man City/PSG mercenary feel of the team is less enjoyable than the former "rag-tag bunch of outcasts upsetting the applecart" thing I had going earlier. Devante Cole(now at Sassuolo) will be especially missed.

Wow crazy stuff at Bradford.

It only gets crazier, we've had a fairly rotten start to the season, probably because of the massive overhaul of players. Into November now, and we're hoping the last few games are part of an upward trend.

3-3-3 and 10th doesn't seem that terrible, but after 280m spending I should be doing far, far better. Least the board are happy enough.

The worst patch of form coincided with Meli missing a few games after a two footed tackle. The recent upturn coincides with giving Odegaard more first team minutes, and Ravel too.

Not too sure what to do now, stick with the tactic I like, and picked most of the players for and hope we're finally gelling and on the right track, or twist and try to rebuild around Odegaard and the other more successful players.

What's annoying is, barring Odegaard & Meli, it's the bigger signings that have let the side down the most.

Cristian Pavón, was supposed to be my star player, a signal of intent, and put the league on notice. Besides that one goal against Waregem, he hasn't had a single goal, assist or meaningful moment in any game. Seriously considering cutting my looses in January. Robbing me blind, 30m and 190kpw(so far probably the worst signing I've ever made in any FM), oddly, his attributes are developing very well.

Bernard, supposed to replace and outclass Moura, harsh to be really angry as he has 3 goals and an assist, but he's either brilliant or bafflingly terrible, no in betweens.

James McCarthy, I was hoping for a more solid defence, with him mopping up interceptions and dictating tempo, like Michael Carrick in real life, but his passing has been awful and easily bypassed. Tends to head the ball clear straight to opposition. Ferreira has been better, but not much.

Richario Zivkovic, hasn't done too well either, and took a long time to score, but had a 6 week injury took, so is understandable. Passing remains a weakness.

On the flip side, Marcelo Meli took to Bradford like a duck to water, and picks up goals and assists from his BWM role, we're massively worse when he's out(despite Besic actually doing well, oddly enough). Willems has fit in well to, as good as Hélan in attack, but stronger defensively. Martins Indi has been class too, or we'd probably be in a relegation battle. Everyone else has been up and down.

Great so far. KUTGW!!

Wow, double cups and a new owner!

Great so far. KUTGW!!

Cheers!

Wow, double cups and a new owner!

Hopefully it's no fluke.

Loving this especially since it's my local team. Out of interest what team instructions are you using as you tactic seems pretty good.

Loving this especially since it's my local team. Out of interest what team instructions are you using as you tactic seems pretty good.

Short Passing, Work Ball Into Box, Play Out Of Defence, Pass Into Space, Play Narrower, Prevent Short GK Distribution.

The only player instructions are the keeper told to slow things down and roll the ball out, and the CB's to pass shorter.

Form is a little better now, with one change, I've moved Odegaard to first choice AMR, playing as an Advanced Playmaker Attack.

We're coming into January now, and things are looking up at Bradford!

Moving up the table, and looking better. The introduction of Odegaard as first choice over the wingers I had there has proven a massive improvement, less goals from the area, but many more assists. I need to get a rotation option in a similar mould. Cristian Pavón has discovered that popping the ball in the 'ol onion bag the odd time is helpful to the team(13 goals in this run, having not played every game). All of these things are linked no doubt, and I should have made the changes earlier in the season. Zivkovic is proving fine coverage, Bernard still flatters to deceive, and McCarty continues to be bang average.

We handily won the Europa group, and have a tie with CSKA Moscow, should we win that, it's very likely that Chelsea will be in the next round.

Knocked out of the League Cup, after an extra time brace from Domenico Berardi, it's ok though, met expectations. Augreo continues to get nothing, but this time he began the match at half energy, so makes sense.

Chelsea are eyeing Draxler, and to be honest, if I see the "my client wishes to discuss terms...." message, I'll let him go(for massive money, of course, 40m release). Lanzini has been better on that wing this season anyway.

Now, in January, I'll probably try to cut my losses on the big time charlies, and bring in an option to support Odegaard.

January has come and gone, and with it goes probably the best single month we've had in the Premiership. Losses were cut, as much as possible, cash was splashed, hopefully in wiser directions. Looks like solid progress off the pitch, and on it.

6 games, 6 wins, in a very tricky set of fixtures. A Man Utd side far stronger than last season dominated, Hull hammered though they fought for a long time, another tight 50-50 affair with Man City(and Valley Parade remains barren hunting grounds for Aguero), a pasting of a relegation battling Everton(their misfortune may be my cause, and I've done more damage, as you'll see...), a tough defensive affair against a Liverpool side who usually get the best of me, a fluky as heck win against a Chelsea side that battered us for 90 minutes.

I considered starting a tactics thread on the Chelsea game, as if I was the Chelsea manager, complaining about hax and broken match engines, on a lark...

Leaving the table like this.

I'd be happy with that as the season end, but only 3 points off Arsenal, they're an incredible side at the moment though....

Transfer window.

In,

Out,

Willi Orban, this is delightful, I tried top buy him last summer from Wolfsburg, bidding 22+m, and offering 90kpw wages, he picked Bayern, played 2 games for them, and here we are 14.75m and 45kpw wages. Will need to settling in and to gain match fitness(he's showing decent form anyway), but he's a top CB and can play DM/CM too if need be. All that and a profit on replacing the lesser Goldaniga, perfect.

Phil Jones, another I tried for in the summer, but West Brom rejected bids, unsettling him. In my opinion, Jones is one of the very best fullbacks in the game, unless you need a pure pacey attacker, he's fairly quick, just technical enough, mighty defensively, and can whip in an acceptable cross if need be. Can also cover in midfield, but his "gets forward whenever possible" impedes his effectiveness if required to be the holder. Big loss versus Tete, but when replacing 2nd choice RB with one far better than the starter(Sam Byram, who's more suitable as a wingback) it matters not.

Ross Barkley, another one of Evertons stars taken, a monster of a player and incredibly versatile. Takes 1st choice CM(A), and is having an instant impact. Cook will be rotation as he develops. Out goes Ravel as there is just too much competition now in any place he can play. Net -43.5m, but a opportunity not to be missed, and I managed to undercut all the the usual suspects that could have got him and were indeed circling.

James McCarthy goes after an incredibly disappointing 6 months, at a massive loss, especially with having to pay out a huge loyalty bonus. Well rid though. Ferreira is first choice for the foreseeable, Reece Oxford comes in to deputise and has already shown more in 1 month than McCarthy has in 6.

Matheus Pereira comes in to provide cover for Odegaard, a quality young playmaker who's a natural all across the AM slots, and can develop into a truly top player in his own right. Bernard goes out on loan on deadline day as that was the only way to get rid for now. Watch him shine in Italy.... I also tried to move on Ainsley Maitland-Niles as he's been in a huff about game time, but rejected Chelsea and multiple loans. Prat. He sits in the reserves and will provide backup for injures, of which this season there are many.

That's the lot, bunch of disappointments ditched and mostly hard working team players brought in. Pereira being the exception, but his role isn't expected to be that hardworking long as he does his job. Takes the season to a 408m spend, and 138m sell. Future years should be calmer.

I was going to leave it a few more games before this update, but I may be at a season changing moment....

Almost perfect on the pitch. Comfortably into the next round in Europe(to face Chelsea), 5 solid w's in the league. We loose another closely fought match with Man City, in which we were two up could couldn't hold on, they've knocked us out of both cups this year, and this time at below expectations. The Desolation of Kun Aguero continues.....

So this is the league table.

Incredible! Arsenal slip up, and we're given an ideal opportunity, with our destiny practically in our own hands. I say practically, as we'd have to equal or better Man Utd all season, and keep up goal difference. Last game of the season? A visit to Old Trafford...

So, why is this a season changing moment? Because of the last game listed, a comfortable win against the worst team in the division. We pay a heavy price for the 3 points though.

5-6 weeks is obviously a lot better than it could have been, but it's still a massive blow. I count him missing about the next 8 games, including a massive fixture against Arsenal.

For what it's worth, we're loosing a bona fide top 5 in the world keeper, for a guy who's of much lesser quality and unhappy at the club.

Garratt is a capable shot stopper though, with my stronger defence hopefully that'll be enough....

Wow, good luck!

Wow, good luck!

Cheers! We're going to need it.

3 games later, knocked out of the Europa, and this....

Well, we fought on, and our form dropped noticeably through the run in. Stumbling over the line, but over the line indeed.

A tight finish in the end, but I think even on the last day, United would have had to win by a goal difference of 6 or higher to take the title.

A great season all told, despite slightly underachieving in the FA Cup. Plenty of investments coming in, youth to be boosted, youth facilities, a stadium expansion, but I need to get on to them about the training ground.

Not sure what will happen in summer, standing still is the worst thing a team can do, so I will have to strengthen, and I'm not sure what to do with Phil Jones and his broken leg. He has great natural fitness, so should recover well, but may just end up a yard shy of useful fullback pace. It could be as simple as just switching him and Calum Chambers roles in the team around.

Still, I don't want to shake things up too much, this year I don't think I can afford a slow start, given CL football and probably raised expectations across the competitions.