[FM10] Derby County presents Paul Green as their new Manager!!!

[squaddie198]

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Running a large sized database

I started as usual taking control of my team, Derby County as I always do. My intention is to get them back into the premiership and hopefully get them into Europe, and maybe push for the title, as crazy as that sounds! I've not gone in and edited the database at all as that is one of my pet-hates when I speak to mates of mine and they have taken some non-league team to European champions but then when you give them all the money in the world then it can't be hard! I've also given myself a professional reputation, just so that I get given a decent amount of time to change Derby's fortunes around.

2009/10

Derby County are pleased to present their new manager, Paul Green at Pride Park. The board's expectation is to challenge for promotion via the playoffs this season. We are prepared to back him in the transfer window and have 'wiggle' room on the wage limit. I was fairly happy with the Derby squad in general but wanted a couple more players in to help keep players on their toes so I brought in during the off season transfer window were:

Players in Transfer Type ClubZavon Hines Loan West Ham

Eddie Johnson Loan Fulham

I decided from when I arrived that I would use a 4-3-3 system, with one of the midfielders sitting in front of the back 4 and have one main striker with 2 attacking midfielders supporting him. Early indications from our pre-season friendlies suggested that I would need a couple of fresh faces in as the squad quality was a little lacking. But unfortunately I couldn’t get anybody in that I was chasing so I had to make do with what I had.

Friendly Results

Derby Reserves (H) 1-0

Inverurie Loco Works (A) 0-3

Aberdeen (H) 0-1

Burton Albion (H) 1-0

Man City (H) 1-2

Grimsby Town (A) 1-1

Brentford (A) 0-1

GH Academy (H) 8-0

During the 1st 4 months of the season I couldn't keep a consistent team due to injuries so I constantly had to chop and change my team around to overcome the injuries. The football we were playing was quite neat and tidy but just not consistent enough. The highlight result up to that point being a 5-1 away smashing of Scunthorpe. Even so I was still hovering just outside the playoffs but hoped that with a few new signings during the January transfer window then I could push on and get into the playoff places at least. So when the window opened I brought in:

Players in Transfer Type ClubKyle Bartley Loan Arsenal

Andreu Fontas Transfer (45k) Barcelona

John Bostock Loan Spurs

Zydrunas Karcemarskas Free transfer

Players out Transfer Type ClubRuben Zadkovich Transfer (26K) Grimsby

Jermaine Johnson Free Transfer

Greg Mills Free Transfer

Aleksander Prijovic Loan Luton

Robbie Savage Free Transfer

These signings unfortunately didn't help me push on and try as I might we just couldn't get consistent enough to push for a playoff place and so we settled for 9th place, if only I could've been more consistent! The highlight of the 2nd half of the season being 4 goals for Lee Hendrie in the 3rd round FA Cup against Hereford and a 4-0 away win at Coventry. So in the end of my 1st season ended fairly well and the board were happy we were pushing for a playoff place. Our end of season summary looked like this:

Posn Played Won Drew Lost GS GC GD Points9th 46 18 11 17 67 65 +2 65

Top Goalscorer Rob Hulse (15)

Highest Ave Rating Paul Green 7.09 (45 apps)

Fans Player of year Paul Green

2010/11

The Board this season wants promotion and again were prepared to back me in the transfer window. Even so I didn't want to spend massive amounts of money so again I looked for a few loan signings.

Player in Transfer Type ClubRandy Wolters Free Transfer FC Utrecht

Michael Woods Transfer (180k) Chelsea

John Bostock Loan Spurs

Emmanuel Frimpong Loan Arsenal

Nathan Baker Loan Aston Villa

Ryan Shotton Loan Stoke

Antunes Transfer (200k) Roma

Players out Transfer Type ClubLee Hendrie Free Transfer

Gary Teale Free Transfer

Saul Deeney Free Transfer

Mark Dudley Free Transfer

Alex Forde Free Transfer

Medi Abalimba Free Transfer

Ross Atkins Free Transfer

Lewis Price Free Transfer

Mark O'Brien Loan Bury

Luke Varney Free Transfer

With that little bit of extra quality I brought in and the fact that the players had a year playing together our pre-season friendlies went ok. The results were:

Spartans (A) 0-6

Crewe (A) 1-0

Burton Albion (A) 0-4

GH Academy (A) 0-4

Southampton (H) 2-2

Dundee Utd (H) 3-0

Cheltenham (A) 0-1

Gillingham (A) 1-3

A good start to the season saw us have a good run of results up until the Christmas period, including a sensational 5-0 home victory over Nottingham Forest. We had been sat in the top 2 almost since the start of the league so I didn’t want to disrupt the squad too much so I all I did was bring in Jessy Mayele from Sparta Rotterdam after my scout recommended him to me. Even so, I was still slightly disappointed with the fact that I was either winning or losing, and as much as I tried to cure the team’s problems, it carried on for the rest of the season, in fact at the end of the season the top 6 were covered by just 6 points, it was a good battle between us, West Ham who eventually won the league and Birmingham. If I could’ve only turned 4 of my defeats into a win or a draw then I would’ve taken the title. Even so I had done what the board had wanted me to do so they and the fans were ecstatic! And they were over the moon at my loan signing of Jessy Mayele, as he scored 10 in 10 games which in all honesty got me promoted. So my end of season record stood at:

Posn Played Won Drew Lost GS GC GD Points2nd 46 25 7 14 86 61 +25 82

Top Goalscorer Kris Commons (18)

Highest Ave Rating Kris Commons 7.24 (48 Apps)

Fans Player of Year Kris Commons

[Paggioram]

Being a Rams fan I am going to be watching this one. Good Luck to you.

[H2ONeon]

I am also a DCFC Fan so will be keeping an Eye on this when i can! Good Luck!!

[Nobby_McDonald]

DCFC... Derry City then Neon? Durham City?

[H2ONeon]

@Nobby Nope DERBY!!!

[squaddie198]

Thanks guys. I had the hardest decision of my life to make in the off-season just. Fergie retired from Man Utd and without applying for it I was offered the job! God knows how they offered me the job, maybe because after the promotion my reputation went upto Continental and i'm only 30 years old, but either way I turned down the job!

[squaddie198]

2011/12 season

Well after turning down the Man Utd job I set about trying to keep derby in the premiership. The board want me to bravely fight against relagation this season and gave me £10M budget to try and accomplish this. There was NO way I was going to do a Newcastle or a Leeds and bankrupt myself over staying up so I tried to be realistic about things. So I brought in:

Player in From Fee

Stephen Brown Dundee £2.8M

Romelu Lukaku Anderlecht Ln fee £450k

Yago Juventus Ln fee £1.3M

Kriakos Papadopoulos Olympiakos Ln fee 925k

Morten Nordstrand FC Kopenhagen £800k

Iker Munian Athletic £5M (£5M over 48 months)

And got rid of:

Player Out To Fee

Mitchell Hanson Tranmere Loan

Dean Moxey St Mirren Ln fee £325k

Rob Hulse Leeds £1.2M

Lee Croft Leicester Loan

The fans were not very happy about Rob Hulse going to one of my main rivals in Leeds but his legs were starting to go and I wasnted to change the style of play this season. I wanted to change from the defensive 4-3-3 I was playing to a 4-4-2 system where the wingers were pushed on supporting the 2 strikers.

Anyway I was feeling confident about this formation after my friendlies as my results were:

GH Academy (H) 9-0

Darlington (A) 0-4

Brighton (A) 1-1

Rushden (A) 1-4

Man Utd (H) 3-2 !!!!!!!

Burton (A) 0-3

Crewe (A) 1-3

So as you can imagine I was taking some optimism into the new season but unfortunately so far its not paid off. In the 1st 5 games of the season we've played really well in all the games but just not got the run of the ball, well apart from the Man Utd game where they came to Pride Park and played us off the pitch. No repeat of the pre-season friendy here!!! So, so far this season my Premier League results have been:

Birmingham (H) 0-1

Man Utd (H) 0-3

Blackburn (A) 1-0

Spurs (A) 3-2

West Brom (H) 2-3

We should really have got something from all the games except the Man Utd game but just had no luck so far. Hopefully the team is starting to gel now though and will start getting the results we deserve.

I'll try and keep you upto date with how i'm going....hopefully still in the job of my dreams by the end of the season!!!

[H2ONeon]

WOW Amazing.. You got Derby into the Premiership with little money and not great players.. Congratulations... Also the board offering you 10Million is probably a good thing saying that you have good rep. I look forward to the rest of the season!.

N

[squaddie198]

Thanks H2ONeon, I was over the moon that I got Derby back into the Premier League. As much as I was glad they gave me that size transfer budget, i've got no room to 'wiggle' in the wages budget so the large transfer budget isn't much of a help. I'll update my season once ive got a few more games under my belt back in the Premier League.

[squaddie198]

Thank god for the League Cup!!!!

As you have probably seen I lost the first 5 games of the season back in the Premier League, well I lost the next game 2-0 away at Wigan and the whole team were starting to get on a real downer, even though we had been playing well. Well the 3rd round of the League Cup through up a home tie against Sunderland, and I wasn't expecting any return from this game. And after going 2-0 down in the 1st half after dominating the half then I was really starting to tear my hair out! So I gave them the "Hairdryer" treatment Fergie-style and made 2 half-time subs and tactical changes Jose-style we looked a different team. We got it back to 2-2 after 90 minutes to then push on to win 4-2 at the end of extra time. This gave us new belief as our next Premier League game was home to West Ham. A 3-1 win was the least we deserved but then a cruel fixture list of Chelsea away, Liverpool at home followed by Man City away. The FA fixtures people were certainly having some fun with ours this season! 2-0 and 3-1 losses to Chelsea and Liverpool didn't help for our journey to Eastlands...but we came away with a 0-0!!! Papadopoulos had Tevez in his pocket all game long and we might've even nicked it at the end but we were over the moon with a point.

Will update at the January transfer window

[Paggioram]

I actually think that your start is not as bad as it looks. Your team needs time to adapt to this league so I think it will come good. I would only worry if you are seriously adrift come the end of the year.

[Nobby_McDonald]

@Nobby Nope DERBY!!!

I see you're trying to ram it home.

[squaddie198]

I actually think that your start is not as bad as it looks. Your team needs time to adapt to this league so I think it will come good. I would only worry if you are seriously adrift come the end of the year.

Thanks Paggioram, I personally think myself and Fulham are doomed this season. I thought we were doing badly with 4 points from 12 games but Fulham are sat on just 2 points and are on an even worse run than us. The board are happy that we are trying our best but im gonna try and get a couple more players in during the window, as my right back and right winger are just not cutting the mustard right now.

Update soon

[squaddie198]

Well this has been a tough start to the season, i'm currently bottom of the League with 11 points, after only gaining 3 wins and 2 draws from 20 games so far. Luckily the board and fans haven't turned against me and are happy that we are trying our best, we just havn't got enough quality in the squad. I've got to try and keep us up or at least improve performances so i've brought in:

Jukka Raitala / HJK / Free transfer

Augusto Fernandez / Saint Etienne / £1M (extra £5M over 48 months)

On the plus side Miles Addison, Kyriakos Papdopoulos and Yago have been performing really well for me in the 1st half of the season. I just can't find the goals from anywhere. My top goalscorer is Iker Munian with 5 goals. Its true what they say, the difference between the top and bottom teams is the fact that the top teams put their chances away.

I just hope that I can keep the majority of this team together when we enevitably get relegated at the end of the season!!!

[squaddie198]

Well this has been a tough start to the season, i'm currently bottom of the League with 11 points, after only gaining 3 wins and 2 draws from 20 games so far. Luckily the board and fans haven't turned against me and are happy that we are trying our best, we just havn't got enough quality in the squad. I've got to try and keep us up or at least improve performances so i've brought in:

Jukka Raitala / HJK / Free transfer

Augusto Fernandez / Saint Etienne / £1M (extra £5M over 48 months)

On the plus side Miles Addison, Kyriakos Papdopoulos and Yago have been performing really well for me in the 1st half of the season. I just can't find the goals from anywhere. My top goalscorer is Iker Munian with 5 goals. Its true what they say, the difference between the top and bottom teams is the fact that the top teams put their chances away.

I just hope that I can keep the majority of this team together when we enevitably get relegated at the end of the season!!!

[squaddie198]

I'M CLOSE TO GETTING OUT THE RELEGATION ZONE!!!!!

After 26 games we're sat on 16 points in 19th place with Fulham above us on goal difference. Birmingham are the team in 17th place on 18 points. I just hope we can find a couple more wins to try and get out of the relegation battle to give the fans and the board some hope

[squaddie198]

Just beaten chelsea at home 1-0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[squaddie198]

Well what a FANTASTIC end to the season!!!!

We ended up battling our way out of the relegation zone and managed to string together a 6 game unbeaten streak which ended the season with us in 16th place. With wins against Wolves, Aston Villa, Burnley, Middlesborough and Fulham and a draw against Sunderland in the last 7 games staved off the threat of relegation, which delighted the fans and the board.

Luckily my strikers started to put a few chances away in the end after each going through about a 13 hour dryspell in front of goal, and also my midfielders popped up with a few too,with Giles Barnes scoring possibly the most important goal of the whole season against Fulham giving us a 1-0 win and guaranteeing our survival from relegation.

I'm expecting the fan's player of the season to be Miles Addison, the boy was a ROCK all season long for me as my ball winning midfielder finishing up with 7.40 rating over 30 games and 3 goals. On the bad side of that he picked up 20 yellow cards and 1 red card making him the dirtiest player in the league this season. But at least he led the stats for tackles, being almost a whole 2 tackles a game ahead of the next player. he also came 9th in the stats for average rating and made the Premier League Select team of the season too.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the season until it's over as i'm already trying to tie down a transfer deal for Kyriakos Papadopoulos as he was outstanding in defence for me and coming 2nd in the voting for Players young player of the year behind Jack Rodwell. I've already sorted out a deal for next season for the goalkeeper Oscar Ustari from Getafe. He was somehow not being played and on the transfer list so i've managed to get him for next season for a measly £1.9M!!!

Once the end of season summary is completed then I will do a season review before taking a well earned holiday!!!

[Paggioram]

Well done on keeping the mighty rams in the premier league. This is a huge achievement.

Keep it up Squaddie

[squaddie198]

Well done on keeping the mighty rams in the premier league. This is a huge achievement.

Keep it up Squaddie

Thankjs Paggioram, i'm absolutely stunned I managed to keep them up this season, and with a run of Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City and Arsenal in a 5 game spell and my run-in against teams not involved in the relegation battle I thought I was doomed. But we turned over Chelsea 1-0 and ruined their title chances and had a 2-2 draw with Liverpool I thought this was the start of some good form for us, but then defeats to Man City, Bolton and Arsenal dropped us back into the bottom 3.

Then somehow something clicked and in the last 7 games and 5 wins and a draw kept us up and I am delighted with it.

[squaddie198]

2012 / 2013 Season

Start of season expectations

You have told the board that you believe you can avoid relegation

As a result, your transfer budget for the season has been set at £27M and your wage budget at £275k p/w.

[squaddie198]

Pre-season update

I think i've just gone and done the ONE thing I said I wouldn't go and do, and that was to go and spend all my transfer budget on the new players and risk the long term safety of the club. I don' know why I did it either, I was perfectly happy to bring in a few more quality loan signings again and keep my transfer budget for the January window if I needed it, but once the new season predictions came out and they had me finishing in 20th place again after the likes of Stoke, Hull and Sheff Utd got promoted then I was determined to prove them wrong.

I think the buys that I have made are good buys though, but the amount of money i've invested in Tomas Necid from CSKA Moscow (whisper this....£10M upfront, £15M over 48 months and £5M after 50 apps!!!!) could quite easily come back and bite me in the a**e if he doesn't come flying out of the traps!!!!

[Paggioram]

Great signing but I think you have paid over the odds there. Dont tell the Americans!

[squaddie198]

Great signing but I think you have paid over the odds there. Dont tell the Americans!

I know but its done now!!! Things started well for me, he scored 3 in 5 friendlies, then got called up for the Czech Republic Olympic team as they made it to the 3rd place playoff. Now i've had him back for 3 games but had to send him away for a month as he's homesick!

[squaddie198]

Pre-season friendlies

Rochdale v Derby

A good 1st run-out of the season for the team and chance for me to the new signings in action

Derby v Lyon

An expected defeat if being honest but we put in a decent performance against a european giant.

Hartlepool v Derby

An easy win over the 'monkey-hangers'. Geoff won't have been happy on Gillette Soccer Saturday or Countdown after the way we played them off the park!

Derby v Sampdoria

They're not the team they once was, but was still a good performance over a well put together italian side.

Derby v Mallorca

We played well against another good foreign team, don't know what my assistant manager was doing getting me friendlies against Lyon, Sampdoria and Mallorca. Must have spent the summer travelling Europe with the wife and kids!

August / September Update

A fairly good start to the season for us, unfortunately I lost Tomas Necid to the Olympics and then for another month after 3 games as I sent him away as he was feeling homesick. The new signings seem to have settled in well, especially Kapadopoulos who won the Player of the Month for September

Stoke v Derby - Barclays Premier League

A good start to the season is what we wanted and we got just the start we needed. Taking a much changed side from the team that struggled to stay up last season to The Britannia Stadium and putting one over Tony Pulis's Potters with debut goals for Mikhailov and Suarez giving the Derby fans joy over beating one of our biggest rivals

Derby v Everton - Barclays Premier League

A tough game against a good team. A great goal from Azpilicueta just before half-time took the 3 points, even after a spirited fightback in the 2nd half from us

Derby v Peterborough - Carling Cup 2nd round

My 1st game with new record signing Tomas Necid starting and he soon starting repaying the huge outlay on him with the 2 goals that sealed this tie.

Derby v West Ham - Barclays Premier League

A good home win over a West Ham side who were sat in 4th place before the game. A 1st game of the season for Papadopoulos and another goal for Mikailov set us on the way to our 2nd win of the season already.

Arsenal v Derby - Barclays Premier League

A fantastic battling performance from us at The Emirates against a good Arsenal side. Our goal was officially put down as on own goal but it should be another for Papadopoulos. When I thought we had done the impossible and beaten Arsenal, they popped up and snuck an equaliser in the 94th minutes. Gutted isn't the word for it!

Middlesborough v Derby - Barclays Premier League

Another good performance from us against 'Boro. Should have taken all three points but a mistake from Scott Brown let them back into the game to take a point.

Derby v Chelsea - Carling Cup

A good performance against a quality Chelsea side who broke down my stubborn team for a well deserved win against us.

Derby v Manchester City - Barclays Premier League

A heartbreaking defeat for us against City after twice taking the lead against them. Prijovic ran them ragged in the 1st half but my defence just couldn't keep their front 2 quiet enough.

[squaddie198]

October / November / December Update

Spurs v Derby - Barclays Premier League

A sensational away win for us at White Hart Lane. Fair enough as you would expect Spurs dominated us but most of their shots were off target or my defence blocked them out. But after grinding out a couple of half decent chances in the 1st half, Mikhailov put us 1-0 only for Keane to equalise on half-time. Spurs came flying out from kick-off but Necid was able to nick a 2nd on the counter attack we held on for a fantastic win.

Derby v Liverpool - Barclays Premier League

Another fantastic result for us against a strangely subdued Liverpool side. Necid again popped up after 11 minutes for us to take a deserved lead playing fast counter attacking football and managed to hold onto the lead until half time. Then in a frantic 15 minute period it was 2-2 with Liverpool equalizing through Skrtel only for Munain and Vukcevic to score within 3 minutes of him. Then the game petered out into a draw.

Derby v Sunderland - Barclays Premier League

This game was mental for the first 25 minutes with us twice taking the lead through Addison and Necid only for Bent and Jones to equalise every time. Half-time came and I wanted us to try and control the 2nd half, but the referee soon changed that. Mike Dean came out and in the first 4 minutes of the 2nd half sent off Kapadopoulos and Addison for 2 stupid fouls and ruined what was a good game. So in the end we were lucky to come away with the draw.

Sheff Utd v Derby - Barclays Premier League

We went to Bramall Lane with a couple of enforced changes due to the sending offs in the previous game but luckily it didn't affect us as we came flying out against The Blades and took an early 13 minute lead through Munain and never looked like losing against them. Diego Suarez terrorised the Utd defence and the just couldn't cope with his attacking dribbling and crosses.

Derby v Hull - Barclays Premier League

It was a poor Hull side that turned up at Pride Park and we despatched them in the way that the big 4 would've done. We showed no mercy and attacked from the 1st whistle, and a brace from Necid and 3rd from Munain in the first 22 minutes stopped this from being a contest. It was only because Myhill in the Hull goal turned into spiderman that we didn't add anymore to the scoresheet. Necid came

away with the MOM fittingly.

Derby v Wigan - Barclays Premier League

A boring game to be honest between us and the Latics. Martinez had obviously set his side up to try and get a point from a team in form and pushing for a UEFA Champions League slot. Yes that's right guys, Derby are in 5th place on goal difference from Man City! Anyway we just couldn't break down their stubborn 5 man defence and middle 4 and so ended up taking a point.

Derby v Man Utd - Barclays Premier League

The biggest test of the Derby season so far came with a visit of the reigning champions and current league leaders. The 1st half was a quiet affair with the midfields on both both sides dominating but not really creating much. That was until on the last kick of the 1st half we took the lead with a goal from Kapadopoulos from a deep corner. This as you can imagine fired up the Red Devils and they came out in the 2nd half and battered us and took a 1-2 win with goals from Rooney and Fellaini.

Wolves v Derby - Barclays Premier League

We recovered quickly from the Man Utd game for the visit to Wolves where we took the game to them and was happily leading 1-0 at half time through Necid. But in the 2nd half we gave away too many free-kicks around our box and Milijas finally put in an equaliser. But luckily an inspired substitution of Munain for Mikhailov had us back in the lead 2 minutes after coming on. The to put the coffin in the nail Suarez popped up in the 90th minute for a 3-1 win.

Burnley v Derby - Barclays Premier League

We really should've won this game by a lot more than the 1-0 we did. With 11 shots on target and 6 off target we really should've scored more than the 1 from Prijovic that we did, and we had to wait until the 82nd minute to finally do it.

Derby v Aston Villa - Barclays Premier League

A tough local(ish) derby against Villa which really could've gone anyway but ended in a 1-1. A gritty but boring 1st half was sparked into life in the 62nd minute when Addison smashed home a 30 yard piledriver that was still rising as it hit the back of the net. i was hoping to hold on after Agbonlahor went off injured after 70 minutes but Delfouneso came on and 2 minutes bagged the equaliser.

Derby v Arsenal - Barclays Premier League

A fairly even game against Arsenal but their overall quality shone through at the end with goals from Fabregas and Vela giving them a 2-0 lead. Munain pulled one back with 12 minutes to go but they just kept the ball for long periods to run out the clock and take the win.

Everton v Derby - Barclays Premier League

The Last game of 2013 was won for Everton with a stupidly soft goal from Kieran Gibbs in the 1st minute. Try as we might we just couldn't get that equaliser and finished off the year with a dissapointing defeat.

Season Summary

After a fairly even start to the season weve pushed on a took some good results and because of that are currently sat in 5th position with 36 points taking 9 wins 6 draws and 6 defeats. I'm really proud in how the guys have performed so far this season and have been lucky avoiding any major injuries so far this season. I just hope we can keep up this run of good performances and hopefully keep all of my players, as the vultures are circling around over 6 or 7 of my players.

[RichG]

I am a bit confused?

You say you are still Derby manager but the top post says you were Man U manager from 2011/12-2014/15 and are now Real Madrid manager? is there a typo you need to correct

[squaddie198]

I am a bit confused?

You say you are still Derby manager but the top post says you were Man U manager from 2011/12-2014/15 and are now Real Madrid manager? is there a typo you need to correct

Ah sorry about that. That was another of my saved games. If I ever leave a team I save it just before I leave them. In that save game I left for Utd and then onto Madrid. But I came back to this career and started again.

Plus I don't know how to delete or close threads either

[squaddie198]

January Update

Derby v Stoke (2-1) Barclays Premier League

The New Years Day game started badly with Stoke taking the lead in the 38th minute through Danny Collins and looked good for it too. The changing moment came in the 45th minute when Glenn Whelan was sent off for his 2nd yellow card. I gave the team a bit of the Fergie "hairdryer" and it seemed to work as we came out and ran Stoke ragged with the goals coming from Mikhailov and Prijovic.

Derby v Man City (3-1) FA Cup 3rd round

A Great 1st half performance saw us take a 2-0 half-time lead with goals from Stephen Brown and Mikhailov. I told the players to expect a backlash after hurting City in the 1st half but it never came, in fact we got a 3rd from a Steven Davies penalty. City pulled one back through a Raitala OG but we hung on for a great victory.

West Ham v Derby (1-4) Barclays Premier League

We took our performance from the FA Cup into this game and demolished a poor West Ham side thanks to a great hat-trick from Mikhailov. Stephen Brown started the scoring off after a Dean Ashton opener for The Hammers (I thought he had retired!!!)

Derby v Middlesborough (2-1) Barclays Premier League

A another good win, this time against a tough Boro side who have brought some good players in and become a tough team to beat. Augusto Fernandez opened the scoring for us in the 61st minute cancelling out N'Gog before big Miles Addison won the game for us with a great volley from the edge of the area.

Derby v Newcastle (4-0) FA Cup 4th round

After a poor 1st half, I adjusted our formation and playing style to combat Newcastle's 5 midfielders to smash in 4 goals. A brace from Adrian Cristea helped us along with Necid and Mikhailov rounding off the scoring. A great second half performance put us into the 5th round to face either Arsenal or Bristol City

Sunderland v Derby (3-1) Barclays Premier League

I hate playing Sunderland as they always give me a hard game and this one was no different. I took an early 2nd minute lead with Mikhailov bagging his 10th of the season to then sit back and allow The Black Cats to run us ragged. Cattermole equalised from a rebound from a free-kick for Campbell to give them the lead just before half-time. I just couldn't keep them contained and as I pushed for a late equaliser Kenwyne Jones killed the game off with their 3rd.

Summary

We won 3 games throughout January which gave me 3rd place in the Manager of the Month and his 5 goals gave Mikailov the Player of the Month also. Stephen Brown came 2nd in the Young Player of the Month

[RichG]

LOL no probs

Glad you went back to Derby. Takin Man U or Real Madrid I enjoy reading about small clubs making it big. Going to the big team after 10-15 seasons is better after you have succeded taking a small club to the big time

[squaddie198]

February Update

I managed to keep hold of all my players through the January transfer window, despite some teams just not leaving some of my players alone. The main players attracting interest were, Antunes, Papadopoulos, Brown and Fernandez.

Derby v Chelsea (2-0) Barclays Premier League

A fantastic display of counter attacking football took all 3 points from Chelsea and probably ended their hopes of chasing for the title, leaving them in 7th place. Things got off to a good start with us with Mikhailov carrying on his good form to score in the 20th minute before Necid popped up in the 2nd minute of 1st half injury time to make it 2-0. We were over the moon but I warned them not to let their performance drop and it never. Chelsea threw everything at us but we held on for a fantastic win.

Man City v Derby (4-0) Barclays Premier League

City gave us a footballing lesson here at Eastlands today. Things got off to a bad start with Kallstrom scoring after 2 minutes and they just run us all over the place. Aaron Lennon got a 2nd just before the break and all hope of even a point went when he got his 2nd and their 3rd in the 55th minute. I thought they given up with us after that but Robinho rifled a 4th in on 78 minutes to complete a miserable day for us.

Derby v Arsenal (2 - 2) FA Cup 5th round

What a kick in the teeth for us. After taking a deserved 2-0 lead through Davies and Necid a stupid slip from Papadopoulos let in Van Persie after 67 minutes to turn the tie around. Then in the 95th minute he popped up again for the agonising equaliser. I'm sure I saw the referee celebrating with the Arsenal players because where he found the extra 2 minutes of injury time I don't know.

Derby v Blackburn (1 - 1) Barclays Premier League

This was a game we should've won comfortably. Rosicky gave them an early lead against the run of play with a 30 yard free-kick which wasn't a free-kick but even so, we fought back well with Fernandez getting the equaliser in the 36th minute. Try as we might, our strikers just couldn't hit a cow arse with a banjo in the game and so we had to settle for a dissapointing draw.

West Brom v Derby (1 - 0) Barclays Premier League

Another poor game from us again today. The players seem to be playing with no confidence at all at the moment, especially Necid. An early goal from Saviola settled this but we dominated possession but just couldn't score. Any more poor game like this and we're going to be sliding down the league rapidly.

Summary

That was a poor month for us, 1 win 2 draws and 2 defeats have seen us slip from 4th in the Premier League to 7th. If you said I would be unhappy with that with 9 games to go then I would've said you were crazy but we've been playing so well up until this point then it's hard to take. Hopefully we can turn this poor run around for the last part of the season

[squaddie198]

March / April / May Update

Derby v Spurs (0-0) Barclays Premier League

A good draw for us against a Spurs side who are struggling in the league this season under first Marco Van Basten and then Tony Pulis. They had a number of shots but they were mostly off target and we held out for a well deserved point.

Arsenal v Derby (0-1) FA Cup 6th round replay

A fantastic win over Arsenal at the Emirates. Necid struck the winner after 17 minutes and then it was a backs to the wall job for us for the rest of the game as Arsenal dominated possession but just couldn't break down our defense. Swansea await us in the quarter finals.

Swansea v Derby (0-0) FA Cup quarter-final

We threw everything at the Swans, apart from ther kitchen sink (well it was an away game!) at The Liberty Stadium but just couldn't break them down. So it's yet another replay for us, at least it's in front of our own fans and a few more quid in the coffers for us.

Liverpool v Derby (2-2) Barclays Premier League

A good result against a tough Liverpool side who struggled without Gerrard and Torres (just like in real life then!). Lucas took advantage of poor defending from a corner to give them the lead, only for Davies and Necid to give a 2-1 lead at half-time. An open 2nd half saw chances for both sides but Riera finally put one away with 7 minutes to go to draw the game.

Derby v Swansea (4-0) FA Cup quarter-final replay

We played them off Pride Park with a fantastic display from Necid and Mikhailov both grabbing a brace. Mikhailov got his goals in the 1st half after we attacked straight from the whistle, and then sat back and hit them on the counter in the 2nd half, allowing Necid to finish the game off with his brace. Semi-final at Wembley against Villa our prize.

Derby v Sheff Utd (1-0) Barclays Premier League

A good win against a relegation threatened Blades side. They were stubborn in the 1st half, not allowing us a shot on target and doing a good job of keeping the front two quiet. This changed in the 2nd half though when Henderson got his 2nd yellow card. We tried to push on and take the win, with the winner finally coming in the 78th minute from Mikhailov.

Hull v Derby (1-2) Barclays Premier League

A poor display from us all game long allowed Hull the chance to take something from this game. Ghilas scored their goal in the 18th minute, his 1st goal in about 6 months of play according to his formstats and looked good for being the winner until Necid and Munain popped up with a goal each in the last 20 minutes.

Wigan v Derby (0-0) Barclays Premier League

A boring game....nothing more to say!!!

Aston Villa v Derby (2-0) FA Cup Semi-final

I just hate playing Villa as they always seem to control the game no matter what I do! And it was no different today as after dominating the 1st half Agbonlahor pinches a goal just before half-time. It was much the same in the 2nd half with that man again robbing Kapadopoulos on the halfway line to seal the win in the 92nd minute.

Derby v Wolves (0-0) Barclays Premier League

Another goalless draw in the league which should've been a win for us. We had many attempts on goal but their keeper had a blinder.

Man Utd v Derby (1-0) Barclays Premier League

A visit to the current champions and league leaders wasn't the best place to go but we put in a good performance attacking quickly on the counter attack and should have taken the lead in the 1st half. Unfortunately we didn't and Fletcher got what turned out to be the winner in the 56th minute.

Burnley v Derby (1-3) Barclays Premier League

A good comeback against a spirited Burnley side who took an early lead from the penalty spot after a stupid foul from Antunes. Luckily we responded well with a 30 yarder from Green in the 21st minute. This sparked us into life and goals from Necid and Mikhailov before half-time gave us a good win.

Aston Villa v Derby (2-1) Barclays Premier League

The end of season game against Villa (again!) saw Necid give us an early 19th minute lead which was against the run of play to be fair. Villa made what I thought was a crazy substitution bringing off Agbonlahor and putting on Reo-Coker but little did I know. he came on and run the game setting Delfouneso in the 58th to equalise and then to get the winner himself in 87th.

Season Summary

A Fantastic season saw us beat the media prediction of 20th to end up finishing 8th in the League. The board and fans are delighted with this and what with the semi-final run in the FA Cup, i'm currently untouchable! As well as we played we are struggling on the money side of things, ending up £6M in the red at the end of the season, with out end of season payment for our final league position putting us back in the black. My transfer policy has kept us up but put us in financial trouble, something i'm going to have to sort out. I feel like if I get big offers for some players i'm not going to be able to say no.

Most apps - Oscar Ustari (41)

Top goalscorer - Tomas Necid (22)

Best ave rating - Tomas Necid 7.40 (41 apps)

Fans player of year - Tomas Necid

Petr Mihailov took the Players Young Player of the Year award beating Blackburn's Raymond Ahn and our Diego Suarez to the title. Tomas necid also made the Premier League Select team of the year substitute bench.

[squaddie198]

2013 / 2014 Expectations

The board are expecting us to achieve a respectable position in the Barclays Premier League this season. They will give me a £20M transfer budget and increase the wage budget to £550k a week. They also want a 5th round appearance in the FA Cup and a 4th round Carling Cup appearance.

I am pretty hopeful of keeping the majority of my squad together. I'm hoping I can bring Petr Mikhailov back this season, either on loan or by buying him. As painful as this will be for us, if a big offer comes in for Tomas Necid then I think i'm going to have to take it. That money would help me rebuild in other areas.

[squaddie198]

Pre-season update

I've made a few new signings this month, and cut some players which were not needed anymore. More importantly though, I couldn't manage to hold on to Tomas Necid. Real Madrid came in and matched his minimum fee release that I put in when I signed him (£80M). I can't really complain as that has really helped out our bank balance. I've also brought in:

Jano Ananidze - Metalist - Free transfer

Sofiane Feghouli - Free Transfer

Petr Mikhailov - CSKA Moscow - £12.75M

Derek Richardson - Burnley - £2.1M

Kyle Bartley - Arsenal - Loan

Jean-Luc Redon - Man Utd - Loan

Cristhian Stuani - Fiorentina - Loan

Carl Burton - Liverpool - £230K

Oztekin Burak - Real Madrid - Loan

Mark Brown - West Ham - £18.5M

Players Out

Tomas Necid - Real Madrid - £80M

Dean Leacock - Bologna - £1M

Shaun Barker - Sheff Utd - £725k

Chris Porter - Cardiff - £475k

Paul Green - Sheff Utd - £900k

Kris Commons - £1.3M

Dean Moxey - Free Transfer

Friendlies

Hartlepool v Derby (1-3)

A good start to our pre-season with goals from Prijovic, Green and Davies.

Burton v Derby (0-4)

Was always going to be an easy game with goals from Ananidze, Prijovic, Stuani and Barnes.

Stoke v Derby (1-1)

A tough game against local rivals and recently relegated Stoke. Whelen gave them the lead after 67 with Feghouli rescueing a draw for us in the 92nd minute.

Derby v Zenit (0-0)

A good result against a tough Russian side.

[squaddie198]

Season update

After the first games of the new season I find myself sat in 8th position with 5 wins 6 draws and 3 defeats. I've scored 21 goals and conceded 14 giving a +7 goal difference on 21 points. This puts me only 8 points of the leaders Arsenal, and ahead of teams such as Supurs, Chelsea (who have just sacked Ancelotti and brought in Di Matteo) and Aston Villa.

Derby v Man City (0-0) Barclays Premier League

A good result over a tough City side who have surprisingly not splashed the cash this season. We could've pinched the win right at the death if it wasn't for Joe Hart producing a world class save.

Wolves v Derby (2-1) Barclays Premier League

A disapointing result but we never looked like we were going to get a result all day at Molineux. They scored 2 in a minute through Dawid Janczyk in the 22nd and 23rd minute, only for us to grab a late equaliser through Mikhailov in the 83rd minute.

Derby v Blackburn (2-0) Barclays Premier League

A good and well deserved win for us over a stubborn Rovers side. Burak Oztekin opened the scoring on the 63rd minute before Jean-Luc Redon confirmed the win in the 88th. There was just enough time for Chris Samba to get his 2nd yellow in the 92nd minute to make the day worse for Rovers.

Scunthorpe v Derby (0-1) Carling Cup 2nd round

I played players who hadn't had a regular run-out and they played well giving us a win with Giles Barnes grabbing the winner.

Everton v Derby (0-0) Barclays Premier League

A boring goaless game. Nothing happened at all.

Derby v Arsenal (1-1) Barclays Premier League

The league leaders arrived and signalled their intent by hammering us for the entire 1st half and luckily for us only scored once through Dzsudzsak in the 26th minute. A little Ranieri style "tinkering" from me at half-time started to create some chances from us and Diego Suarez equalised in the 72nd with a 25 yard screamer to take a point.

Fulham v Derby (0-0) Barclays Premier League

Another boring goaless draw against the bottom of the table team.

Burnley v Derby (2-4) Carling Cup 3rd round

A great result over a hard working Burnley side. Goals from Mikhailov, Suarez, Woods and Oztekin gave us a good win to give us a 4th round tie against Chelsea.

Derby v Bristol City (0-0) Barclays Premier League

Our 4th draw in a row now and a game we should've won over a poor Bristol City but we just couldn't hit the target for love nor money.

Sunderland v Derby (2-2) Barclays Premier League

A poor result over a very dirty and poor Sunderland team. Jano Ananidze scored in the 15th minute for us before they injured my keeper Oscar Ustari and striker Iker Munain in under 23 minutes. This clearly affected us as then Sunderland started to boss the game and goals from Bent and Kranjcar in the 2nd half had them leading. Then a crazy tackle from their defender gave us a 90th minute penalty which Oztekin put away and we got out with a point.

Derby v West Brom (3-2) Barclays Premier League

Finally we break the run of draws to win over The Baggies. Petr Mikhailov opened the scoring in the 15th, only for poor defending allowed James Morrison to claim 2 early 2nd half goals. Thankfully Kapadopoulos redeemed his earlier mistakes by scoring 2 from set pieces to give us the 3 points.

Derby v Birmingham (5-1) Barclays Premier League

Everything just clicked into place in this fantastic win over Birmingham. We were 4-0 up at half-time and had the game won after goals from Mikhailov Fernandez (13) and Oztekin (19, 26). Michael Woods popped up in the 50th to complete the rout before I lost another goalkeeper, this time Karcemarskas in the 71st. My under 18 keeper did well but couldn't stop Garry O'Connor getting a consolation.

Chelsea v Derby (4-0) Carling Cup 4th round

My keeper crisis meant I had my U18 keeper in goal again and Chelsea peppered him with shots and he withered away under the onslaught and conceded goals to Lampard, Sturridge, Antunes (OG) and Frigerio.

Man Utd v Derby (5-0) Barclays Premier League

An absolute horror show from us at Old Trafford, made this result even worse. With both my 1st team keepers still injured I had to stick my U18 keeper back in and unfortunately the rest of the team never showed up to help. A Berbatov hat-trick won the game for them with the others coming from Hargreaves and Anderson.

Burnley v Derby (0-5) Barclays Premier League

Thankfully the teams morale didn't suffer after the murdering at Old Trafford and we went and did what Utd did to us to Burnley. 1st half goals from Mikhailov (9) Suarez (17) and Kapadopoulos (21) had this game pretty much wrapped up but Mikhailov again (64) and Ananidze (48) wrapped this game up for us.

Derby v Liverpool (2-0) Barclays Premier League

Another fantastic display took a well deserved win over a full strength Liverpool side. Oztekin was the hero for us with goals in the 9th and 53rd minute sealing a great win for us. Agger was sent off in the 55th for a horrid 2 footed challenge on Oztekin, he had run him into the ground all game and was no surprise Agger went.

Tottenham v Derby (1-0) Barclays Premier League

A surprisingly poor performance from us allowed Defoe to give them the win from a 54th minute tap-in after a mistake from Stephen Brown.

[RichG]

£80m?

I have seen a few players sell someone to Madrid for that much now. Is their a bug in the game or something and they accept silly negotiated offers for your players?

[squaddie198]

£80m?

I have seen a few players sell someone to Madrid for that much now. Is their a bug in the game or something and they accept silly negotiated offers for your players?

Thats the 1st time anyone has gone for that much in any of my games so far RichG, the next 2 most expensive transfers were

Diego Renan from Roma to Milan for £39.5m

Patrice Evra from Man Utd to Milan for £38.5m

I couldn't believe it either. I had £80m as his minimum release fee and when they asked what I wanted for him I said that hoping for them to offer around £30m and snap their hand off, but they offered me the full whack so I was laughing my c**k off!

But he's gone into the 1st team and put Benzema on the bench after scoring 5 in 6 games for them though

[RichG]

lol fair play man.

I hope the board don't invest it for you

[squaddie198]

Season Update

I managed to carry the good form we showed in the 1st half of the season over into the 2nd half and really started to push the top teams for the leaders spot. We quickly put the poor result against Spurs behind us and went on an 11 game unbeaten run in all competitions, with 8 wins and 3 draws. Included in those results were a 3-1 win over Chelsea, 2-0 over Everton and draws with Man City and Aston Villa. Then a 2-0 loss to league leaders Arsenal had us slipping off the pace of the top 3.

We got back onto winnings ways again quickly afterwards though going on another good run of results, and with 9 games left we hit 1st position, taking over Arsenal on goal difference. But I felt we had no chance of keeping this going with Man Utd, Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea and Villa all still left on my fixture list.

Then the unspeakable happened and we won 7 out of the next 8 games, beating Utd 1-0, Liverpool 3-1, Spurs 3-0 but losing to Chelsea. So with 1 game left to play we are top on 75 points followed by Arsenal on 74, Man City and Liverpool both on 73. Last game of the season and 4 teams can still win the Premier League!!!!

[squaddie198]

Final Game Of The Season!!!!

I was now nervous as HELL going into the final game of the season, the thought of making Derby Premier League Champions was making my heart pound like a mother f**ker!!! The most important fixtures of my FM life were:

Derby v Aston Villa

Liverpool v Arsenal

Middlesborough v Man City

Kick-off

Villa came flying out the traps at us, obviously sensing the nerves we had at the knowledge that a win would give us the title, and in a nervy 10 minutes battered us but couldn't get past Oscar Ustari thankfully. Then came the news Stephen Ireland had scored for Man City.

This now bumped City upto 2nd in the table on the same points as us but worse goal difference. This seemed to spark us into getting into Villa and we then started to boss the midfield with them giving away foul after foul to us. But we just couldn't find a goal to settle our nerves.

Then to add more drama to the occasion Liverpool scored against Arsenal after 33 minutes. Now you have Derby, City and Liverpool on the same points and only separated by goal difference, luckily ours being better, as exciting as this was, it was playing hell with my nerves!

With half-time approaching, Tevez puts City 2-0 and Walcott equalises for Arsenal easing at least some of the pressure as at the moment it's only between us and City for the title and we had +11 goal difference over City .

Half-time scores

Derby 0-0 Aston Villa

Liverpool 1-1 Arsenal

Middleborough 0-2 Man City

I gave them as much encourage meant as I could without panicking them, but luckily they weren't playing with any nerves and were all having an okay game and so I sent them out ready for the most important 45 minutes of all of our careers upto then.

Second Half

I'm sure City had spies in Pride Park as they scored again after 51 minutes to really start to make me panic, as every goal they scored brought them closer to taking the title away from us. Then Jano Ananidze popped up with a sensational 20 yard curler to put us 1-0 up and 2 points ahead of City and towards the title.

Liverpool must've been feeling left out because Torres put them back in front against Arsenal and back on level terms with City in the league, with City edging 2nd place on goal difference. Fabian Delph then went and gave a HUGE boost getting sent off straight from our restart and so putting Villa on the back foot. I subbed Mikhailov straight away for Muniain as he was on a yellow also and went in search of a 2nd goal.

Unfortunately Villa scored an equaliser in the 79th minute with Delfouneso handballing it into the net "Thierry Henry" style to put the nerves back onto us. City and Liverpool had both gone quiet thankfully and so as long as we didn't concede again I felt the title would be ours.

3 minutes to go and Iker Muniain scores a gorgeous chipshot "Messi" style over the outrushing Begovic in the Villa goal to put us 2-1 up and surely confirming us as champions. The final whistle went at Anfield 1st, with Liverpool taking the win 2-1 to confirm 3rd place in the league for the Reds. Now as long as we didn't concede 2 in the last 3 minutes then the title would be ours as City had finished 3-0 at The Riverside.

FINAL WHISTLE!!!!!!!!

Derby 2-1 Aston Villa

Liverpool 2-1 Arsenal

Middlesborough 0-3 Man City

DERBY COUNTY ARE PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!!!!!!

We had won the highest English league again for the first time since 1975 and couldn't believe the joy and relief of that final whistle!!!!

[squaddie198]

2014 / 2015 Season

Start of season expectations

After delighting the fans and board with last seasons fantastic League win, the minimum they are expecting are:

UEFA Champions League - Reach the 1st knockout round

Barclays Premier League - Qualification for the UEFA Europa League through league.

FA Cup - 6th round

Carling Cup - Not important

Community Shield - Not important.

The board have backed me to the tune of £45m and an increase in the wage budget to £825k p/w.

I think i'm going to start using a slightly new transfer policy this season, due to the rules constraints of the UEFA Champions League reference home-grown players then the only players I am going to buy are already home-grown qualified, and if possible English players too. This isn't to say i'm going to sell off my foreign players as there's not a hope in hell i'm going to sell Kakadopoulos just because he's Greek!

I had already agreed a deal with Real Madrid for Burak Oztekin during the back end of last season for £7m after he finished last seasons top goalscorer. Which was strange as he was worth almost £10m after playing so well for us but who am I to argue!

So using this seasons transfer policy i've done deals to bring in Sunderland's Darren Bent for £3.8m and Paul Courtney (regen I think) for £6m. Bent gives me that extra bit of quality in my strikeforce, he's 30 years old now and after Sunderland being relegated he jumped at the chance to play for the League Champions and European football. Paul Courtney is a 16 year old defender who looks like he will become a good Premier league defender ( a Wes Brown style squad player) and who crucially will fill up my home-grown players.

On the players out front, apart from the obvious deadwood from the U18s who didn't cut the mustard then i'm hopefully selling Giles Barnes, Steven Davies and Aleksandar Prijovic. They are just waiting to be confirmed and will bring in £8.5m. They have been good players for me in the 5 seasons i've been here, but they just don't bring anything to the squad anymore.

The board have also announced the expansion of the stadium by 9240 seats. This will take Pride Park upto a 44000 capacity and will hopefully be completed by mid October so will bring in some extra money through gate receipts.

On the U18 side of life, only one player has jumped out of the new intake of players and that is a left midfielder called Ian Clay. He's a 16 year old local lad and my assistant reckons he will become a 4* player so he's signed up for a pro contract when hes old enough.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Just clarify this in case I missed it... did you win the Premier League?

[Paggioram]

Fantastic achievment with the mighty Rams. Job well done

[squaddie198]

Just clarify this in case I missed it... did you win the Premier League?

Sorry Nobby if post #40 wasn't very clear, but i'll happily re-iterate for you that I won the Premier League!!!

[squaddie198]

Fantastic achievment with the mighty Rams. Job well done

Thanks Paggio, i've been busy at work the last few days so i've not been able to update on the start to the new season, but once i do, you will be amazed at what my mighty RAMS are curently doing!

Update soon guys

[squaddie198]

Season Update

Transfers

I also added 3 more players to the Derby County family, with those being:

Adam Bradshaw* (CM) £2.4m

Paul Ritchie* (DC) £2m both from Man Utd

Nathan Howe* (AM/F C) £2.4m from Southend

* = regen

I've brought these guys in to give some extra quality to my U18 and reserve sides as my scouts all seem to think these kids will push onto become good or leading Premier League players in the future so I thought it was worth it.

Pre-season Friendlies

I played well in the friendlies, the team almost identical to the team that finished the previous season as champions. Sure the standard of opposition wasn't the best but I like playing well in the friendlies as I can guage the upcoming season from them. I had moved Suarez from my AML position into my complete forward role upfront and he slotted in like he had played there all his life. His AML role being filled by Mark Brown who I brought in from West Ham last season. The only reason I drew with Mallorca in the last friendly was I rested all the starting 11 ready for the Community Shield just a few days later.

McDonalds Community Shield

We absolutely DESTROYED Man City in a completely one-sided Community Shield with Diego Suarez proving me right moving him upfront with a fantastic 1st half hat-trick. To do that to a team who pushed me hard all last season gave me some serious pride and I really couldn't wait for the new League to start now!

Barclays Premier League

What an unbelievable start to the season for us! Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought we would be top after 10 games, unbeaten, and more unbelievably not conceded a goal in those 10 games. My defence has been just awesome and Oscar Ustari in goal is just unbeatable. Stephen Brown and Kyriakos Papadopoulos as my CDs are just immense and have hardly missed a header or tackle all season long. Miles Addison in the ball-winning midfielder role is just getting better with every game and quite rightly the best player on my team currently. He will go onto become a Derby legend as long as he stays he is that good for us.

Carling Cup

Well so far this season, Sheff Utd are the side who has just us the most problems all game long, working hard and not letting us have much time on the ball. thankfully our class proved in the end as we finally broke their resistance with Darren Bent having his best game for us so far. Hull proved easier opponents and we eased into the quarter-finals.

UEFA Champions League

Our 1st ever Champions League group stage was drawn and we got without doubt the hardest group possible that was drawn facing Juventus, Wolfsburg and Fenerbahce. But the bookies gave us odds of 16/1 to win the whole thing which gave me confidence that we could at least do well and hopefully qualify for the knockout phase. Beating Juventus 4-2 at Pride Park on our ECL debut was out of this world and possibly the best 1 game result i've had as Derby manager in 6 seasons, well maybe the 5-0 hammering of Nottm Forest is the best!!!!

Summary

It's been a fantastic start to the season and we are in no way playing above ourselves at all. We fully deserve to be where we are after perfoming as good as we have all season long. If we can carry on playing like this then I really feel that this season could be even more successful than last season, which would just be another unbelievable achievement for us.

[squaddie198]

End of Season report

I thought I couldn't improve on last season after finishing as champions, but this year truly was even better than last season, which is another unbelievable achievement for this squad of players. We finished the season as Premier League Champions for a 2nd year in a row, made even better by the fact it was done with style and great football all season long. Disapointingly we were knocked out of the FA Cup in the 4th round but looking now that was a blessing in disguise as we were going well in the UEFA Champions League. In fact we went that well, we only went and won the bloody thing!!!!! Beating AC Milan in the final!!!!

Barclays Premier League

A fantastic season long performance allowed us to retain our title with some wonderful attacking and brilliant defending. Our only defeats came against Man Utd at home, Liverpool away and Chelsea away and our best result of the season was a 7-1 home demolition of West Brom.

Petr Mikhailov finished our top goalscorer with 25 goals in 31 games (5 as sub). In fact in all competitions he ended up with 44 in 47 games for us!!!

UEFA Champions League

Without doubt our greatest result in history, taking the win over AC Milan to become European Champions for the 1st time in our history. As a Derby County fan in real life, i'm not ashamed to admit that I had goosebumps all over after that game!!!

Summary

Stephen Brown won the Young Player Of The Year award after winning it 8 months in a row which I am guessing is pretty much unheard of. He has turned into amazing defender and only cost me £2.8m from Dundee 4 seasons ago, so it has been my football that's turned him into the player he is.

I've now also joined Steve Bloomer and Brian Clough as Derby County Legends. Reading that really is a humble moment for me (I know it ONLY a game but still) and have made it into 7th place on the nation Hall of Fame.

[squaddie198]

2015 / 2016 Season

Pre-season

After last years unbelievable finish, I didn't want to make any drastic changes to the squad. I only added one major signing to the team, right-back Daniel Rojas from Malaga for £26.5m. As well as Jukka Raitala has done for me over the last few years after picking him up on a free transfer, Rojas is 4* rated and couldn't pass up the chance to add that extra quality to my defence. I brought in 4 others all young lads (regens) hoping to have them come through and push for 1st team places in the next 2 or 3 years.

I let 3 go for £7.75m total and sent out my promising reserves to get that 1st team experience they need.

Board Expectations

UEFA Champions League - Semi-finals

UEFA Super Cup - Win the Super Cup

Barclays Premier League - UEFA Europa League qualification through league position

FA Cup - Semi-finals

Carling Cup - Not important

Community Shield - Not Important

Pre-season Friendlies

6 friendlies, 5 wins and 1 draw. A good pre-season work out for us, all away games and against some good teams such as Roma (2-2) and Sevilla (1-2). With other wins coming against Burton, Hartlepool, Raith and Glentoran.

Community Shield

A penalty shoot-out win settled this with us beating Chelsea after a 2-2 draw at full time. Goals from Mark Brown and Petr Mikhailov had us rightfully leading at half-time, but a POOR second half saw Chelsea come back to take it to penalties. Luckily we held our nerve in the shoot-out with young 18 year-old Adam Bradshaw making himself a hero with the fans scoring the winning penalty.

Barclays Premier League

After 4 games we sit in 3rd place with 8 points after an opening day 1-1 with Spurs, 2-0 defeat of West Ham, 1-1 with Man City and 3-1 win over Bristol City. The team don't seem to be flowing as well as last season for some reason, i've not tweeked the formation or playing style this season, but it's not seemed to have "clicked" just yet.

UEFA Super Cup

18000 saw a great game between us and Man Utd with us sneaking over the line with a 3-2 win mainly thanks to Stephen Brown scoring 2 fantastic set-piece headers. Mikhailov bagged the other goal for us and Jesus Navas getting a brace for Utd.

UEFA Champions League

Group E consists of us, PSG, Napoli and Leverkusen. So it's a cheeky group to qualify from but we gave ourselves hope after an opening 2-5 win in Paris with Fernandez and Mikhailov getting braces and Suarez finishing off the scoring.

[RichG]

Have your board actually said the Carling Cup is not important?

[squaddie198]

Have your board actually said the Carling Cup is not important?

They did Rich. I got the whole "The board do not regard the Carling Cup as important so will evaluate me in other competitions".

I would've thought a cup win would be good for the fans, finances and the like but nevermind. Still gonna try and win it though