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Dejay

By Dejay,
in FM Career Updates

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Dejay

Dejay

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Making it look easy.

Hah I wouldn't go that far.

November update 2014/2015

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I was going along nicely at Exeter - picking up wins against Derby and Hull before the call came. West Ham offering me a huge opportunity, and from reading the above post you know I took it! As I said it was a tough choice to leave Exeter but probably the right one to progress.

Looking over the squad we seem to have a fair bit of quality - and so we should with the wages we are paying out. Almost £500k a week at the moment which is something I will look to address. I can see some players are looking to leave and leave they shall in January. I also seem to have a trouble maker in the ranks, in the form of Nery Castillo. He decided to skip my first training session so I hit him with a two week fine. Rule with an Iron Fist (-see what I did there?) I shall.

I opted to change the formation to my familiar 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 because we have the players to make it work, we have 6 very good attacking players in Castillo, Cole, Fernandez, Jantscher and Nouble so I am confident we can out score most teams. Our midfield is also competent with club captain Kevin Nolan still here, and players such as Scott Brown and Noble here too.

Our defence is probably our weak point right now and I will look to sort that in Jan. It will probably be a busy window for me as I look to build a side to not only gain promotion but stay up. Looking at what I have right now I am confident I can hit the play offs at least.

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As you can see we have a big squad that will need trimming.

So now.. my first game in charge...

The big one for me - West Ham United v Exeter. My former club coming to the Bolyn ground for my first game in charge of West Ham. The pressure couldn't be much higher could it?

The start of the game was a nervy affair, my under performing side lacking in confidence against high flying Exeter who should have been brimming following their 11 game unbeaten run. That was something I was looking to change.

Exeter, who now employ a 4-4-2 formation came forward first, retaining possession around our area and taking a number of pot shots from range as they began to take a foothold over the game. Bijev broke through our defence just after 20 minutes and Rob Green did well to parry his shot around the post. Exeter continued to pressure with Johnson just firing wide and Bosch skimming the bar.

I changed things up a little then, we pressed a little more and took control of the game. We pressed forward and found gaps in the Exeter defence and Cole broke through to force a fine save from Farquharson. He England under 18 keeper produced another string of saves from the ensuing corners before we hit on the break. Jantscher broke forward down the left, cut inside and smashed home from 20 yards.

The goal filled us with confidence and we broke forward at will, carving holes in Exeters defence and were rewarded once more just after then break when Nolan bundled in from a corner. Things were looking well and a personal embarrassment looks off the cards..

Exeter came back then and pressed for a goal but their finishing was poor today. We hit them on the break late on through Barrera to round off a 3-0 victory. A personal triumph for me, I didn't want Exeter to come here and get one over on me and that's exactly what we prevented. Top stuff and we have found some confidence.

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A good start filling us with confidence to push on. I see bubbles..

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Dejay

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Didn't see that coming.

Mister unpredictable me ;)

Hah, seriously I am trying to play from a real perspective and as well has Exeter have done I think if I got them into the premier league they would not be able to compete at all, the stadium would either need massive expansion or a new one built, the backroom set up would need revamping and facilities too. I think it would all be too much too soon with them.

With West Ham I know if I go up we have the resources to stay there and progress.

Good result against your former club. West Ham should easily be able to match your ambition :thup:.

Cheers mate, I was worried when they have 5 shots to our 0 early on :lol:

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That is a lot of loan money to pay back..

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November update 2014/2015 - Part 2

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As you can see it's been a fantastic start for me at West Ham. The form was mixed before I arrived, it wasn't bad but they were sitting 11th in the league. The Exeter result was a nice one for me personally.

Following that we seem to have stopped scoring though, with two 1-0 wins. Our young striker Chris Collins who I found in the reserves for some strange reason was injured against Hull, leaving us with only Carlton Cole as our out and out striker. Castillo can play up front but his attitude has been poor.

I also have 3-4 other players looking to leave to bigger clubs, which I shall gladly let them. I have been trying to shift some others out too but nobody seems to want them which is concerning as they are on high wages for this league and won't play.

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This is Chris Collins, young and still a bit raw, I have no idea why he was in the reserves but I will look to play him whenever he is available. Last season he scored 5 goals in 12 appearances and I think if I base my play around him he can fire us to the promised land.

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Were in the play off positions for now but if we continue to struggle for goals I am not sure how long for.

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Dejay

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Ouch!!!!

Looks like your doing well with West Ham though :).

Thanks mate.

December Update 2014/2015 - West Ham United

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A very good month for us. I had to employ some rotation and use players I don't really want to keep - but needs must when fixtures get hectic. As you can see we seem to have found our shooting boots, and we kept the goals out for the most part. We ended up going 8 games without conceding which pleases me because we never sit back.

Our form has been good with the whole team performing. The league form is very pleasing, despite dropping points as Ipswich. Also by beating Sheffield Wednesday we are going to play in the League Cup semi final, against Burnley. It looks very possible to beat the Championship leaders and hopefully we can get to the final to face either Wolves or Villa. Realistically we have an outside chance at a cup as none of the big sides are left.

Barrera and Cole have been very good since I took over both scoring freely. Cole has been attracting interest from Birmingham and are rumoured to be stumping up £3.5M which is a bid I would seriously consider. Noble and Nolan have also been solid in the middle, I am still getting to know my team but I have a pretty much set first 11 right now.

I also have managed to put together deals for four players to come in so far, and arranged for 4 to leave. Going out are Montano, Castillo, Humphrey, and Mentel for a combined £240k.

Incoming are 3 freebies in Ravel Morrison (quality), Edu Oriol and Szablocs, and then I persuaded my chairman to stump up £1.4M for Bill Farquharson from Exeter. I had to move fast for him because he will become world class, of that I am sure.

So there we have it, 1 point off top and going strong. Pretty little bubbles..

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Dejay

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Great work so far mate :thup:.

How many points is that now for Exeter since your departure?

5 from 27 =/

Too few!!!!!

Indeed. They have appointed Phil Parkinson. Since the game started he has done nothing at Bradford. He's changed from 4-3-3 to play 4-4-2 even though nobody in the squad is suited to play wide midfield, they all inside forwards..

Excellent career so far,you made the right move going from Exeter to West Ham.Hopefully you can keep that sort of form up and win the title :D

Thanks, I hope I did make the right choice.

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January Update 2014/2015

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A mixed month for us really. 2 League losses, 1 league win, got knocked out of the Carling Cup by Burnley and scraped past Leicester. Not good actually. Once more we struggle to score goals, it seems we have a lot of shots but hardly any on target and even less find the back of the net. Frustrating.

The Palace and Swansea games were both very poor by our standards, against the Swans we couldn't break them down at all but held firm at the back. We conceded two very early goals against Palace and just couldn't comeback. The Forest win was again poor, only hitting the net from the spot. Something we need to work on.

Now on to the cups. The game against Northampton in the F.A cup third round was routine enough, marred by a late consolation by them. I like my clean sheets. The Leicester game was a much tougher affair, they went 2-0 up early. We managed to fight back after an almighty rollocking at half time with Noble tapping in, the Novaretti scoring from a corner. Nouble ran half the pitch, rounded 3 defenders and smashed past the keeper in the 89th minute, to keep us in the FA cup in spectacular fashion.

The Carling Cup annoyed me. We lead 2-1 from the first leg at home, but I had to rest a couple of players as games were so close in January. Burnley tore us apart at will, Hines could have probably scored 5 on his own. We were awful and even though we attacked we couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo. Terrible performance from us.

On the transfer front, Jaun Surraco has joined Exeter on loan for £8K, Vangjeli has joined Sporting on loan for £35K and Ossuama has accepted a contract termination. I have managed to drop my wage bill down to £366K. Still massive for this league but there isn't much else I can do right now.

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I also just did something incredibly stupid. I didn't realise Daan Disvelds loan deal finished at the start of feb /facepalm. This left me with only 2 first team centre backs and a youngster who whilst can play at this level isn't great. So I had to look for a loan sharpish and ended up blowing £200k on Stephen Taylor until the end of the season. It is a useful move though because his contract is up in the summer so I will consider this a trial to see if he would be worth signing.

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February Update 2014/2015

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A better month this time around, unbeaten in February. We are still drawing too many games, and conceding too many. I don't know what has happened since we went 8 unbeaten. Frustrating. One of the main facts I can see is that both of my keepers are top class in this league, but both seem to be under performing. I think I might stick with Green as he has been slightly better. I want Bill to develop though so it's tough.

Burnley are sitting pretty at the top of the Championship now so it seems theirs to lose. They don't seem to be dropping points at all. I thought we had snatched the whole 3 points in our game but late substitute Cameron Jerome pulled it level on the 96th minute. Grrr.

We're still in the F.A cup, again by the skin of our teeth, Nouble popping up very late on to force a replay. Hopefully we can dispatch the Saints and progress.

On a better note though, my free signing Edu Oriol has been putting in some top performances, and Ravel Morrison has picked up too after gaining fitness. Nouble has been playing very well too, forcing Carlton Cole to the bench. I am thinking of trying a 4-4-2 so I can incorporate the both of them but it's the business end of the season and I don't really want a new formation disrupting us.

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The sooner you leave them the sooner I can wish you luck :cool:

Haha doesn't look likely right now!

Overall, still doing well in the league!!!

Cheers mate, we've picked up recently too!

Exeter just hanging on.

They are slipping now, sadly.I wanted them to go up. The new manager has messed them up imo. He has hardly used Bosch or Sivonjich for some reason, two of their best attacking players. He seems to think league one level Ball, and the loanee I sent them are better. He's gone 4-4-2 so Johnson, Bosch and Sivonjich are playing in weaker positions for some reason. He also stripped Tully of the captaincy and looks to be releasing him sadly, and has sold the best centre midfielder in my opinion to Swindon for a paltry £28K. When I was there I declined a £120K bid for Lund..

March Update 2014/2015 - West Ham United.

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Now that we seem to have been dumped out of all of the cups our form has picked up. 6 Wins on the bounce sends us to the top of the league with breathing space - Burnley have dropped points in all but one game in March, including 3 losses on the bounce!

I have changed our formation to a 4-2-2-2 which seems to be more solid, yet more attacking. We make a lot of chances during games and with two goal scorers in the box now we have been finishing more. Carlton Cole has been exceptional since he's had a strike partner. Collins and Nouble have been rotated but both have been scoring.

We have been really impressive in March, so hopefully we can press on now and win at least 6 of our remaining games, although if we keep going like we have been all 8 seems possible as we are playing teams in the lower half of the table mainly.

Two bits of bad news coming out of March are firstly, Jantscher is leaving us for Swiss leaders Xamax for a fee of £4.2 Million. I didn't want to lose him but he wanted to quit before I arrived so I let him talk to clubs. He has been first class though still putting in top performances. He will be tough to replace. The second bit is Barrera is out for a month now at crunch time, and with Morrison out too leave us a little short on the flank..

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End of Season Update 2014/2015 - West Ham United

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A very strong end to the season for us, losing only 1 of our remaining games, and trouncing Milwall in the last game of the season to finish the season comfortably at the top of the table. Premier League here we come. To be truthful getting promoted was desperately needed as the funds at the club are very poor right now.

My rivals seemed to all have dips in form towards the end of the season so it made my life much easier. I think the 4-2-2-2 will be my formation next year after it raised our performance levels and produced more goals.

We did fairly well in the cups, reaching the League Cup semi's before being battered by Burnley. We went out of the F.A cup in the 5th round to Southampton. Hope for better next year. I am disappointed with the League Cup for one reason really - Burnley won it, putting them in Europe. I can't help but think what if I didn't rotate? Perhaps we would be in Europe.

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Key Players -

Carlton Cole - Beast at this level, ended up being the leagues top scorer with 26 in the league, 31 in all games. Bagged a lot of goals since we decided to go 4-2-2. The man is in his prime now so I expect him to score in the Premier League too.

Diego Novaretti - Our main man at the back, been consitantly solid since I took over. The Argentine has also popped up with a couple of goals. I need to find him a partner for next season.

Johan Martensson - Been our ball winner in the middle of the park, and done his job splendidly. Highest tackle rate in the squad. Been stand in captain in the absence of Nolan too.

Jakob Jantscher - Leaving for £4M at the end of the season. He wanted to go but has been sublime, scoring and setting them up all season from the left flank.

Pablo Barrera - Much like Jantscher he has contributed with goals and assists all season. Wanted to leave but promotion has seemed to change his mind. Will be staying next year.

Mark Noble - Our creative force in midfield, deep lying playmaker has bags of assists and a few goals. Has signed on for a few more years. Loyal Hammer.

Frank Nouble - Our second striker, has been quality since I bought him back from the reserves. He was up for sale when I joined but has proved his worth to us this year with 15 goals in all competitions.

Matty Taylor - Injured for the first part of the season, put in a brilliant shift during the second half. 15 assists to his name and top defensive performances.

Edu Oriol - The free signing, joined us in Jan. Has been fantastic from the right wing with 3 goals and 10 assists.

Chris Collins, Rob Green, Bill, Drame and Gissi have all been solid too. Kevin Nolan has been the big let down for me, average when playing but injured a lot. On £50K a qweek he has to go this year.

Around the world -

EPL: Winner - Man Utd, ECC - Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea. Relegated - Norwich, Wigan, Birmingham.

Championship: Winner - West Ham. Promoted - Burnley, Everton. Relegated - Swansea, Millwall, Colchester.

League One: Winner - Swindon. Promoted - Leeds, Peterborough. Relegated - Walsall, MK Dons, Brentford, Bradford.

League Two: Winner - Darlington. Promoted - Fleetwood, Oxford, Plymouth. Relegated - Bristol Rovers, Bury.

BSP: Winner - Luton. Promoted - Southend. Relegated - Gateshead, Alfreton, Salisbury, Altricham.

FA Cup - Newcastle. League Cup - Burnley

La Liga: Winner - Barcelona. ECC - Valencia, Real Madrid, Villareal. Relegated - Cartagena, Hercules, Zaragoza.

Serie A: Winner - Genoa. ECC - Juventus, Inter Napoli. Relegated - Lecce, Siena, Cagilari.

Erdevise: Winner - Ajax. ECC - PSV. Relegated - Den Bosch, Zwolle, Volendam.

Scottish Prem: Winner - Celtic. EC - Rangers, Hibs, Hearts (No Champs League). Relegated - Aberdeen.

AC Milan are mid table, Athletico Madrid still languishing in Liga Adelante. Ivory Coast are the top ranked nation too.

Former Clubs -

FC Zwolle - Finished second from bottom in the Erdivise, relegated back to the Jupiler League.

Exeter City FC - Dropped down the table since my departure, ended up a respectable 8th. Hope they can build on this and become Championship regulars.

All in all a good season for both me, and West Ham. I have a higher profile job and more monies and West Ham are back in the promised land. As I said before we are in a bit of trouble financially so I will need to keep transfer fee's low and wages the same. I don't know how well we will perform next year but I will just hope for the best and continue to play attacking football.

The squad will need fresh faces so I will see what I can do with free transfers, and I will let some go hopefully to bring some cash in. Interest is high in 9 of my squad right now so let's see. WE ARE PREMIER LEAGUE, WE ARE PREMIER LEAGUE!

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Congrats on the title win,no better way then destroying your fierce rivals on the last day of the season :D

Hah I did enjoy that, I went all out attack to get Carlton Cole the Championship golden boot! :D

Impressive stuff.

Cheers mate :thup:

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Pre Season Update 2015/2016 - West Ham United.

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The premier league season draws close and our finances were boosted by £34M from TV rights. Bostin'. The board are hoping I can keep us in the league, and have given me a £7M transfer budget and £450K per week wage budget. Should be all right as I intend to free up a lot of wage space. The media predict us to finish 18th. I was also linked with the jobs at Liverpool, Newcastle, Leicester and Braga.

A good pre-season for us, went without loss and beat a very good Porto side at home. The draws against the two Scottish sides were a bit disappointing but it's only pre season. It has also given us chance to let our summer signings gel, because I made quite a few..

Transfers -

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The £12.5M bought in boosted my budget a bit, 50% of fee's go back in to my kitty. I cleared a lot of wages off the bill and basically emptied my reserve side. Too many of them on £10K+ a week. I didn't manage to shift Nolan on his ridiculous wage though. My current wage bill sits at £463K p/w.

I decided to bring in quite a few new players too.

Nuno Reis - 24 Year old centre back, quick enough and strong, should be a good rotation option, possible first choice. Decent mentals too.

Djamel Mesbah - Experienced full back, very versatile. He should be my first choice left back, his stats are very good. 37 caps for Algeria too so should add some experience to the side. One of the bigger signings so hopefully it works out.

David Wotherspoon - Scottish Left back from Hibs, looks decent enough to start at left back but looks to be a more attacking option than defensive.

Angelo Basile - Very promising Aussie centre midfielder. I hope he can turn out to be quality for us. Very good mentals for his age.

Sarno Vincenzo - Versatile midfielder, scored a screamer in pre season. Hopefully he can look to be a starter.

Alexander Madlung - A similar defender to Per Mertesacker, slow but good in the air. And German.

Jon Hardling - Young centre half from Tranmere, should provide cover at the back. Very promising, excellent mental stats.

Enzo Zidane - How could I not sign Zinedene Zidane's kid? He's average at best right now, but can still develop. £350 a week so it's not breaking the bank either.

Aaron Dugdale - Excellent centre forward from Man City. Looks a bit like Shearer. Should develop well, I can't believe City released him..

Michael Carrick - Bringing the old boy back, past his best but still a very good centre mid for us.

Lucas Weatherby - Speed demon down the flanks, rated a 4* potential so I think he may turn out like Walcott.

Danny Simpson - Bought in because I needed English players and a right back. Decent enough but a big fee.

So there we have it, expected to go down and I'm not at all sure how we'll do. I signed a 1 year extension in June too.

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