The Blackpool Team Guide: The futures bright...the futures Tangerine!

[DandyDon]

As I was only a few months into my Blackpool save when the 11.2 patch came out I've decided to restart with a new game.

Decided on making some signings from the free transfer market to provide cover in defence, add a few scouts and backroom staff, and use the limited funds available to sign a couple of highly recommended younger players. I've added 6 scouts so far, mostly English who were available for free, and a French scout for a cheap fee from Le Havre (I think it was them, at work just now so can't be sure). The other scouts I looked at wanted too much in terms of wages, and most foreign scouts didn't even want to discuss terms.

I picked up Michael Ball and Abubakari Yakubu to provide cover for both full back positions, and Jay Demerit for the centre of defence. Signed the young French lad Alexandre Coeff for midfield and have my eyes on James Rodriguez for the AML position, scouting a couple potential strikers as well. Tried to loan Macheda again, but Valencia put in a loan offer for him and unsurprisingly he picked them.

Have won all our friendlies so far apart from one drab 0-0 draw with Millwall, putting 8 goals past poor Oldham and an Irish club called Crusaders.

Hopefully the trains keep running tonight so I can get home from work and start the season properly.

[Johannes]

Update. Well I got relegated Had every chance in the world to avoid relegation but lost to Sunderland at home in the last game when a draw would have been enough. Horrible! I was 10-11th almost the whole season but it was very packed from 11-19th and getting only 2pts in the last 9 games was just too much. Got sacked as a result.

My defense wasn't good enough and I constantly conceded too many goals. Yakubu was the worst, he was awful. Finnan was pretty bad also, I sold him early on. Got Masilela, he was decent, quick and determined but prone to mstakes. My centre backs were just too clumsy and too slow. If I would do it again I'd probably go for 4-5-1. Went for classic 4-4-2 in every game, only changing the mentality.

Macheda was easily my best player, scored 15-16 league goals. Maresca my 2nd best player.

[DandyDon]

Johannes,

unlucky mate, surprised about Yakubu he was very reliable on my Newcastle save. I'm planning to go with a 4-4-2 tactic as well but might have to reconsider that.

[Nick134]

May I also recommend a few players on a game which I have just started with Blackpool.

In the problem left back area, Francesco Renzetti from Padova is a very good buy, and with some tough and risky negotiations you can get to around 1.5 million, which is rather expensive, but I will see how his future pans out. His stats look very good for a 22 year old.

Another player you can sign is Dinamo Moscow's versatile midfielder Luke Wilkshire who I have managed to sign on a season-long loan worth 60K, paying 4500 of his wages.

[DandyDon]

May I also recommend a few players on a game which I have just started with Blackpool.

In the problem left back area, Francesco Renzetti from Padova is a very good buy, and with some tough and risky negotiations you can get to around 1.5 million, which is rather expensive, but I will see how his future pans out. His stats look very good for a 22 year old.

Another player you can sign is Dinamo Moscow's versatile midfielder Luke Wilkshire who I have managed to sign on a season-long loan worth 60K, paying 4500 of his wages.

Just had my scouts out to look at both of them Nick, definitely seem to worth a punt. Unfortunately Wilkshire is on loan at AZ for the season, but I might make a move for them both next season. Left back area is defintely a problem for me, seems to be that wing that the opposition create their goals.

[Nick134]

Just had my scouts out to look at both of them Nick, definitely seem to worth a punt. Unfortunately Wilkshire is on loan at AZ for the season, but I might make a move for them both next season. Left back area is defintely a problem for me, seems to be that wing that the opposition create their goals.

Yeah, I have too missed out on Wilkshire who has gone to Lecce instead, oh for joy

However, a good cheap CM is Jonathan Roufosse who is extremely cheap at less than 30K, and he is pretty good all-round stats too

[DandyDon]

Nick, Sounds like a bargain!

Have my Blackpool season well and truely underway now and figured I'd summarise the first half season so far.

We were fairly active in the transfer window, bringing in Ball, Yakubu and Demerit on frees. Then Alexandre Coeff, Juraj Kucka and Marco Verratti were signed for reasonably cheap fees, the first 2 arranged over 48 months. 3 young central midfielders, with Kucka going straight into the 1st team alongside Charlie Adam. Coeff and Verratti will be eased in along the course of the season.

To finish off the summer spending I looked to add some extra firepower upfront, we actually had a deal accepted for Sanogo and he accepted our contract offer...but I stupidly hadn't noticed that he had a broken leg, so the deal fell through. I instead managed to nab young Connor Wickham from Ipswich, and then our biggest signing of the summer Humberto Suazo arrived for 3.4 million (again over 48 months).

I opted to play a fairly attacing 4-4-2 with a first choice back line of Yakubu, Crainey, Demerit and Keinan. Charlie Adam and Juraj Kucka in the centre of midfield, Grandin and Vaughan on the wings and then Suazo upfront with either Harewood or DJ playing off him. We suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Blackburn due to a Morten Gamst Pedersen penalty, but bounced back from that by walloping Newcastle 4-1 at Bloomfield Road....Marlon coming up trumps with a hattrick. We followed that up by putting 4 past Sunderland at their Stadium of Light to edge a 7 goal thriller. Then holding Man City to a 0-0 draw and I was starting to feel very optimistic.

We then lost 4 straight games and the morale started to plummet.

A hard fought draw with Chelsea at home stopped the rot and we grabbed a couple more wins, either side of a 5-2 spanking by Everton. A nice little run from the middle of November where we won 5 straight matches saw us climb out of the bottom half of the table before the Geordies got their revenge on New Year's day, beating us 2-1 at SJP. During this run I had organised another couple transfer deals, putting in a bid for Ochoa to try and add a little more quality in goal behind my back four, and also somehow beat off competition from Chelsea, Juventus and Roma to sign the Corinthians left back Dodo.

The board gave me the chance to reconsider the season's objectives and I decided to be optimistic and plumped for a mid table finish. They offered me a new transfer budget of 7.25 million to help meet this target and with my earlier signings Ochoa and Dodo arriving when the 2nd window opened, I decided that I would try and grab Sanogo once again. He arrived for another deal of 4.1 spread over 48 month, joining us at the tail end of January...just in time for a very tough run of fixtures. We play Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea in our next 3 matches, having lost our last 2 league games to the Manchester boys.

League Table in Jan:

Results so far:

Wheeling and dealing:

[DandyDon]

Finished the first season with Blackpool this afternoon, and Ochoa's arrival in January helped propel us to a decent league position and a fantastic cup run.

We spent the second half of the season fluctuating between 11th and 5th (our highest position at one point...for all of 24 hours), eventually 3 wins in our last 4 league games helped us claim and hang on to 6th place. DJ Campbell had a fantastic run from January, finishing the season with 22 goals in all competitions (15 in the league) from 34 appearances, his regular strike partner Suazo finished with 17 goals in all, but he was also our main creator grabbing 21 assists. The other impressive performers were David Vaughan and Juraj Kucka in midfield, and Jay Demerit was the defensive mainstay, especially once Ochoa took over between the sticks.

I would have liked to get more out of Charlie Adam and might have to look at rejigging our formation, or his player instructions for next season.

Final League Table:

Results:

The biggest achievement was our win in the FA cup, although the whole cup run seemed to be a fluke...we got past Swindown reasonably easily in the 3rd round, but then needed replays to dispatch Portsmouth and Leicester in the next rounds. Both of whom should have beaten us in the first games. We somehow beat Ipswich 4-2 in the 6th round, again despite being battered for most of the game, and then squeaked past West Brom 1-0 in the Semi Final. the Baggies missing a penalty in the first 10 minutes, and having 21 shots to our 7. In the final we faced Chelsea and came out on top with 2 penalties from DJ and Suazo, after Chelsea defenders upended DJ twice in the box.

I'm looking at making some major changes in the close season, with quite a few of the current squad moving on at the end of their contracts. Hoping to unsettle a couple of players at newly relegated Stoke, targeting Begovic and Shawcross in particular and concentrating on younger players in general.

[cemendur88]

First post on the forum, but wanted to talk the game I've started with Blackpool on 11.2.1. Only a few games into the first season but things are going very well so far.

Was a bit ambitious with my season expectations and said I would get a mid-table finish, mostly to help boost the transfer fund. Below is a summary of all the transfers I've made so very. Very happy with all of them apart from Michael Ball who has been disappointing overall so far.

I have no idea why the piics are appearing blurry, saved out fine on my PC.

I'm playing an attacking 4-4-2 formation with attacking wingers. Caffa has been playing very well at AML. Smithies has gone straight into the first team and has been solid so far.

Here are the results at the moment:

Yes that is right, 2-1 victories over both Chelsea and Liverpool. Both games were a case of they both got more opportunities but I hit them on the break few times. Stats and scorers below:

Will be interesting to see this form will continue. Will definitely be looking to strengthen my squad in January.

[DandyDon]

Cracking first couple results there in the league, squad morale must be through the roof already.

If you're playing attacking wingers I can highly recommend Matias Ezequiel Schelotto as your AMR, you might not be able to get him at first, but if you have a reasonable season he should be willing to consider a move to England. There's also a chance he might be available for free at the end of the first season, like he was on my game, as he didn't renew his contract. He's got a massive scoring rate for me from out on the wing, 19 goals in all competitions from 43 games.

I've also grabbed Antoine Griezmann from Sociedad to take up the AML position and he was well within budget range, got him for 2 million, so you might not even need to spread the deal out over 48 months. He's not been as prolific a scorer as Schelotto, but still has 10 goals, but more importantly about 25 assists already.

I signed those 2 as my scout reports told me they would be interested in signing for us, so I knew I wouldn't be wasting my time trying to sign them, and I have been delighted with the impact they've had, right from the off.

[cemendur88]

Run didn't last long, played very badly against Bolton and lost 1-2. Really want to strengthen my defence in january.

Thanks for the tips will definitely scout those two and see if i have enough money in january to get either of them.

[DandyDon]

The defence was a worry for me as well, I ended up going with the 'attack is the best form of defence' policy pretty much. Jay Demerit was a great signing on a free in the first season, really helped out, but the biggest improvement was signing a decent keeper in the January window. Kingson and Gilks did ok for me, but we improved a lot once Ochoa arrived.

[cemendur88]

Certainly an approach I'm taking more and more, I've lost games against Arsenal and Man U but I've beaten Blackburn and Wolves so still quite high in the table.

[cemendur88]

Well the season went much better than I expected, we ended finishing 6th(!!!!) and getting to the League Cup final. The stand out performers for my team were definitely Smithies, Caffa on the left, Griffiths up front, and Nam Tae-Hee an AMR who I signed in January who also played well.

league table:

results:

For the 2nd season my first priorities were definitely getting the stadium upgraded and improving training and youth facilities. All of those have been improved by the board and will be finished by christmas 2011.

Also been very active in the transfer market. I let a lot of players go and I've strengthened the squad a lot ready for the Europa Cup and to try and repeat last seasons performance. Very happy that I managed to get quite a fgew players cheaply as they were transfer listed. Only payed large sums for 3 players: Ronnie Stam, Michael Turner and Jay Bothroyd. Here is all the comings and goings that have happened:

This is the tactic I'm using:

I've got cover for every position so definitely feel happy going into the second season and I think the team can do well both domestically and in Europe whilst also being financially stable.

[foggy]

DandyDon- how did you manage to spend 23m?

[DandyDon]

DandyDon- how did you manage to spend 23m?

Basically all those deals were arranged over 48 months, the only one I paid upfront was for Veratti as he was co-owned. I didn't offer any more than 250,000 upfront on any of the other signings as far as I remember, and a couple were for £0 upfront with a couple million spread over the next 4 years. The club asking me to rethink our goals halfway through the season helped as they gave me a new transfer budget and we made a profit month on month in the first season.

[Mani_Q80]

Congrats DandyDon looks like you've had a mint first season with the Pool. I don't know if this is cheating but I've ran a game as unemployed for a year to see what goes on in the game, who goes where etc, anyways Blackpool finished on 16 points! (and Holloway got the sack)

I've spent an age tweaking in pre-season, making whole sale changes to the back room staff. I notice with staff that once you go in for someone and withdraw the offer (just so you can improve it) they don't want to talk to you. Happened to me with COLIN COOPER who looks like a good replacement for Thommo as an assistant manager.

I've signed Colin Kazim-Richards, Leigh Griffiths and Alex Smithies whilst letting Gilks go to Man Utd. Allowed my assistant to handle the friendlies just to see what line-ups he plumps for. I think I'm going to go with Ollie's 4-3-3 and see how things pan out in the first few games.

[DandyDon]

Mani, some decent signings there. I had Smithies as a back up keeper on my Newcastle save and he was decent. Had to let him go eventually as Joe Hart ahead of him and he wanted to shift on.

I think if you hit the 'Back' arrow rather than end talks when discussing contracts with staff you can go back in again at a later date......though don't hold me to that!

[Bebetu]

For me some good signings for Blackpool in 11.2 when u start the game are:

-Silviu Lung jr Gk-arround 800 k (u need to load first division from Romania)

-Abubakari Yakubu: dr,DM-free

-Matthew Booth:dc-80k

-Dzmitry Verkhovtsov-dc-650k

-P.Masilela:dl-700k (Offer him very high salary and key role and u may have a chance to sign him)

-Ibrahima Gueye:dc-300k

-Mate Simao-dm 1.1 M(Tenacious defensive midfielder,i must admit i have a weakness for good defensive midfielders who are poor ofensively but very strong in defense, butcher or Mascherano type of players.I use him as anchor or ball winning midfielders and hes very good at this.Offer him a key role and salary over 1 M and he may come)

-Senijad Ibricic:AMC-1.5 M

-Bogdan Stancu:ST,AMC,AMR,AML-1.7 M

-Cedric Bakambu:AML,ST as loan(u need abit of luck to get him)

-C.Benitez:ST-1.6 M

-Ivan Pacheco-AMC-1M

In second window transfer some awesome signings would be Garra Dembele(FC),Medunjanin(MC),James Mcarthur(MC),this guys should cost arround 1.5-2 M each.

[DandyDon]

Bakambu was one I looked at but unfortunately my offer got blown out of the water when Man Utd went in for him.

[DandyDon]

Finally found time to pick up my Blackpool save again and managed to complete a barnstorming second season. The first stage during the close season was to add some more quality to the scouting network and the coaching staff and spent june bringing in a few new bodies to the backroom.

On the player front my plan to unsettle a couple of players from the relegated teams worked and I was able to persuade Begovic and Shawcross to sign, to strengthen the backline a bit more. Woodgate was released by Spurs on a free so I decided to take a gamble and brought him in to add another centre back as cover. Added a few more options in midfield as well, especially for the wings. Matias Schelotto came in on a free after being released by Atalanta, Antoine Griezmann from Real Sociedad for 2million over 48 months and the transfer listed Adam Johnson from Man City for 5.25.million over 48 months. We grabbed a trio of good youngsters after scout recommendations and right at the end of the summer transfer window I also signed Javier Garrido and Jorge Fucile to cover both full back positions.

We kept on playing the same formation and attacking style we had the previous season and most of the new signings blended in really quickly. Particularly the 3 wingers, rotating the trio of Johnson, Griezmann and Schelotto throughout and they were a constant threat, Schelotto ended up our top scorer with 20 goals from the right wing, and both Griezmann and Johnson provided over 20 assists. Those 3 along with the surprisingly reliable Woodgate were our players of the season, Ryan Shawcross not far behind...and he would have had a far better season if not for a 4 month injury lay off.

Up until the end of January we were almost constantly in the top 4 in the league, but then injuries and a congested fixture list started to take a toll and we slipped back down to about 7th. However the league was pretty tight from 3rd place down and with a run of 5 wins from our last 6 games in April and May we were able to pip Liverpool to 4th place on the last day of the season, and by goal difference.

We were pretty woeful in the League cup, going out 3-2 to a truely dreadful Wolves side in the 3rd round, we were better in the FA cup, making it as far as the semis, before going out in a very one sided 1-0 defeat to Sunderland. We qualified for the group stage of the Euro cup and barnstormed our way through a group including Villareal, Dnipro and Elfsborg before knocking out Rapid Vienna on away goals in the first knockout stage. Unfortunately we then got drawn against Man utd who'd dropped down from the Champion's League, not surprisingly we got knocked out 5-2 on aggregate, losing both ties.

I'm delighted with the season overall though, and we have a chance to qualify for the Champion's League next season and bring in some real money hopefully. The main challenge will be hanging on to the trio of wingers I think as all of them have major teams sniffing around, as does Shawcross. I've identified a couple of hot prospects to sign in the summer and will hopefully persuade the board to improve the training and youth facilities either this summer or next.

Signings for 2011/12

Final League Table

Euro Results

Of course having spent so much money over that last 2 seasons, even if it is all spread out over the next 4 years means I will probably be a lot more cautious from now on, hoping to rely on some good youth signings coming through to the established squad.

[Bebetu]

I want to mention also some name of coaches that would want to come at Blackpool.This will help those who want to start as Blackpool and for those who dont want to waste too much time looking after coaches:

Strength and Fitness-Renshaw,Balsom,Kresimir Sos,Zoran Pajic

GK Shot,Gk Handling-Jim Stewart,Simon Smith

Tactics-Al Stewart(hire him as ass man he has great stats for this position also and until your club will raise in reputation keep him responsable for tactic training)

Ball Control-Prosinecki

Shooting-Tosh Farrell or Jelicic

Atacking-Owens

Defending-Keith Downing

Bakambu was one I looked at but unfortunately my offer got blown out of the water when Man Utd went in for him.

On other game Bakambu came for me as loan,and now as i started again he chosed Arsenal but the loss is not so big because i took H.Lansbury from Arsenal in his place.Similar it happend with other players such Mate Simao and Masilela they went to other clubs and now in their place i took Petar Zanev as DR( backup for S.Crainey) and Ezequiel Carboni as DMC.

[olli-efc]

despite giving my players over a month of intensive aerobic work with pre season training and having 2 fitness coaches; one a 17 and one a 19 they all seem to be dropping like flies after every game. Got lads who after a game on the saturday have condition 88% on the wednesday ... and no they didnt pick up knocks in the match

[dan99]

despite giving my players over a month of intensive aerobic work with pre season training and having 2 fitness coaches; one a 17 and one a 19 they all seem to be dropping like flies after every game. Got lads who after a game on the saturday have condition 88% on the wednesday ... and no they didnt pick up knocks in the match

Rest players from training for a day or two after a game, really helps if you've got a game soon after.

[olli-efc]

how long will it take though to put all my players on rest and then back onto all my schedules i've made (strikers, wingers, defenders, general attack, general defend) etc??

[Bebetu]

I have incredible results in my start of the first season its incredible ,Blackpool is becoming a real force in EPL with Charlie Adam ,C. Benitez(already 16 goals in 13 matches) mvps and Carboni being a true bad boy .

[jamescrews]

about too start a blackpool any tips

[olli-efc]

Really struggling in the league as I'm 19th, been unlucky though - was beating Spurs 1-0 and Defoe scored in the last minute, was beating city 2-0 and they scored 4 in the last half hour, was beating west brom 3-2 and they equalised in the last minute, then my main man Leigh Griffiths tore his hamstring and will be back in March/April

I brought in Elokobi, Wheater, Rafael, Nick Montgomery, Leigh Griffiths, Jan Koller and now Anichebe in January with both Griffiths and DJ Campbell injured. Tried to get the likes of Owen, Klose and Jo but they didnt want to enter discussions

Might try and get Ochoa but his stats dont look good? Only lkike 12 or something for one on ones and reflexes 14 ... Paul Rachubka is beter than that!

[olli-efc]

Well I've brought Ochoa in, lets pray he does the business

[olli-efc]

Finished 15th first season, been given a whopping £38mil budget for the second season!!! Signed Yobo, Walker, Cairney, Jarvis, Carroll, El Ghannassy, Dudek (backup) so far and looking on bringing in Micah Richards

[jlawlor91]

Had a game on the 10.0.2 patch or whatever it is. Kept Blackpool up in the Prem in the 1st season. Got given 15 mill to spend in the second season and there weren't any players that wanted to come. Really annoyed me as the club's reputation didn't increase making me resign and eventually delete the game. A bit more realism would of been needed

[tcooky]

i need a centre back for blackpool, 1st season. i have 2 mil

[joe__the__man]

i need a centre back for blackpool, 1st season. i have 2 mil

See if Olexandr Chyzhov is on your game

[Rubentus_Juventus]

second game of the season and what a game it was!

Absolutly dominated creating 7 clear cut chances while they created NONE!

[Shakey]

Just signed Charlie Adams for my Fulham team at start of second season, any idea how to play him best? I see him as my long term replacement for Danny Murphy who pulls the strings in the middle as either a advanced or deep lying playmaker. Usually in a flat 4-4-2, with Etuhu as the ball winning midfielder. Does he perform like this?

[olli-efc]

advanced playmaker with support, mixed passing and often through balls and high creative freedom

finished 10th second season, began playing David Vaughan as an LB and training him for that position and he played well, but is still ineffectual in that position! Need an lb now

[zero_01]

My Blackpool transfers, just finished preseason

[mark b]

I'm now in the 2015/16 season. Here's screenshots to show my story. Blackpool are now an established continental club. Beat utd in the CL final!

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-HA7x_x89-U/TUR29gh-WZI/AAAAAAAAAAw/P9qf5FRhrMQ/s1600/blackpool%2B2010%2B11.jpg

2010/11 season ^

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_-HA7x_x89-U/TUR29jkEkYI/AAAAAAAAAA4/TaEAP1hFA2A/s1600/blackpool%2B2011%2B12.jpg

2011/12 season ^

2012/13 season ^

2013/14 season ^

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_-HA7x_x89-U/TUR2-bO9bsI/AAAAAAAAABQ/PMqHz0bXk0A/s1600/2014%2Bblackpool%2Bleague%2Bcup.jpg

league cup win ^

2014/15 season ^

Bacambu - best player

[mark b]

CL win

[aberdeengoose]

How do you get the best out of Charlie Adam he's never done anything for me in my game?

[ArranoBeltza]

So I've started a Blackpool save- I got bored with my Spurs save (way too easy) and am waiting until the next patch to start again as my favorites Athletic Club. Blackpool always looked interesting to me so I'm in for the challenge!

[ArranoBeltza]

Well, the save is going well so far- I have finished my transfers and played two matches and I am more than pleased at the start of the season.

Transfers:

I also have Server Jeparov joining in January ($1.7mil) and Cristian Fabbiani joining in December for free. I need to get another winger or two and maybe a fullback who can cover both sides, but I'll look to sell a player or two in January and try to find those guys.

And then, my two league results:

I got lucky in both- first the red card for Fulham and then ManU's inability to finish (along with great performances from Smithies both times). Lucky or not, though, those are six points I will happily take!!!

By the way, Harewood wins a lot of headers for a guy with 10 heading...

[ArranoBeltza]

OH DAMMIT!

Earlier, I played four matches- a win against Gillingham away in the Carling Cup, before suffering two away 4-1 losses to Spurs and Newcastle. Then, we returned home for a stunning comeback 3-2 win against Liverpool.

After that game, I went out to pick up some groceries. When I returned shortly after, my computer screwed up and I had to shut it off. So now maybe I'll have a better chance in those 4-1 losses, but losing that Liverpool result is very disappointing.

[ArranoBeltza]

I wish more people played as 'Pool/cared about this thread so that I could share my current overacheivement :'-(

[ArranoBeltza]

Into November 2010:

Smithies has been playing out of his mind, Adam has been very solid in midfield, and my opposition seems to be getting lots of red cards

Cristian Benitez and Italian youngster Giovanni Cristofari will be joining me in January.

[ronaldo_1978]

Hey pal I am just starting new game now with pool so I'll be joining ya here LOL

[ronaldo_1978]

Just out of curiosity mate what formation are you using ?

[ArranoBeltza]

Just out of curiosity mate what formation are you using ?

I'm using a balanced 4-4-2. However, I don't have lots of depth or a great amount of quality on the wing so I am gearing up for a 4-3-3 to use in my second season as I have lots of strikers and lots of depth at central midfield.

[ArranoBeltza]

I'm in April and am in 12th place.

After a great early season, we middled out and started losing regularly, but still picked up a good amount of points and were bouncing around from about 6th-8th in the table. Then, I drew Arsenal for my first FA Cup match. We managed a 0-0 draw at home, then away played them 1-1 until losing due to a late winner. After that, my team has just gone downhill. We're currently on a run of 5 defeats in a row in the league. DJ Campbell leads the scoring with 16 goals, while Marlon Harewood is in second with 10. The problem, though, is over-reliance on Campbell- Harewood hasn't scored since November!

Still, it doesn't look like we'll be relegated, but I just want to get this season over with and start a new one!!!

[ArranoBeltza]

I'm in April and am in 12th place.

After a great early season, we middled out and started losing regularly, but still picked up a good amount of points and were bouncing around from about 6th-8th in the table. Then, I drew Arsenal for my first FA Cup match. We managed a 0-0 draw at home, then away played them 1-1 until losing due to a late winner. After that, my team has just gone downhill. We're currently on a run of 5 defeats in a row in the league. DJ Campbell leads the scoring with 16 goals, while Marlon Harewood is in second with 10. The problem, though, is over-reliance on Campbell- Harewood hasn't scored since November!

Still, it doesn't look like we'll be relegated, but I just want to get this season over with and start a new one!!!

WOOHOO! We ended our 5 game losing streak!!!

....with a 0-0 home draw against West Ham.