Premiership Glory Clan 2013

[dcu223]

End of Week League Table

[dcu223]

Belly

Palace

Decent week for me . Up to 7th in the table (Expectation 10th) and still in the league cup with a tricky away tie at Lee's Man City. The squad is looking good overall. Our 17yr old RB is now a 1st choice player so he will only go from strength to strength. Leandro our young CD is still on the outskirts but i also expect big things from him. Our local boy Striker Farrell will also be a club legend i just hope he can avoid the injuries.

Were only 5 games in so its hard to tell but i am pleased thus far.

Looking forward to next week,

Belly,

[thejog]

Jordan

Southampton

Great start to my first season! Pre-season went remarkably well, including some very good signings. My best signing is most definitely Arsenal's appleyard for a bargain 2.5m! Although injuring himself in his first game, he did score the winning goal on his debut. Currently progressed to the Capital one cup 4th round, which is one of my season targets, bring on the cup run! Next week should be awesome, start the game straight into Sheffield UTD and Crystal Palace, two human teams i'm more than capable of beating! bring it on!!

Till next time!

Jordan

[LEEMOD]

Wednesday review:

A good session tonight but a little disappointed overall. The pressure of managing a top team is quite difficult as you're expected to win nearly every game and despite having a lavish budget I do regret leaving Newcastle but it's nice to see them doing well with the players I brought in.

Firstly, I cannot for the life of me budge Christian Eriksen, he is 30 and his stats are poor but I have found no suitors at all, his contract expires next June so I've decided I'll use him now and then to see if I can raise his profile a little, he has actually done well so far though but at £155,000 per week he is a stain on my budget.

In terms of results we have won 3, drew 1, lost 1 which is alright but for a club of this size isn't great either, I must say again well done to Ali, he played really well to beat me 2-0 at his place, I kept his dangerman Kilic pretty quite but it was the powerhouse of Shawcross from two corners which was my undoing, other than that I am pleased with results. Oli has also re-joined the clan taking over Leicester again and I got a point away at his place but we gifted them a goal and should have won.

I also lost to PSG in the European Super Cup which was disappointing but I was more than pleased with the way we played, two Isco goals catching us on the counter.

Here are my results so far:

Leciester A 1-1 DREW Rodrigo

Chelsea H 2-0 WON Hazard, Oscar

PSG A 1-2 LOST Desdacht

Stoke A 0-2 LOST

Ajax A 3-0 WON Eriksen, Desdacht, Ocampos

Leyton Orient H 3-1 WON Hugo, Oscar, Barkley

Carlisle Utd H 3-1 WON Eriksen, Kaisper, Ocampos

In terms of player performances so far I have been impressed with my new left back from Liverpool and I think Ocampos is doing well, he joined on a free transfer as a back up player but due to an injury to my main man Rodrigo he has been getting games and is doing well.

Arsenal away next, I need to get something out of the game if I'm to keep the pressure on the top two.

Tactics wise, I think I have a decent enough shape for home games but playing Ali has made me think about how to approach away games, I will be working on that this week, I need something defensive just to ensure I don't drop silly points, Ali kept me quiet and fair play to him but we didn't even look like threatening!

Until Monday

Lee

[Advantageous]

Ali - Stoke

Decent summer transfer window at the Britannia. £78m was spent on new players, including the Brazilian Adryan for £45m. I also managed to secure 12m midfielder from Geir's Chelsea, overtime he'll be retrained to DM because his pace is not up to scratch for my counter attacking style. £15m Juan Paulo arrived from Leicester, much to Oli's annoyance when he returned, and the defender is currently being retrained at Sweeper. I'm hoping he can develop into that Glen Hoddle style player, knocking the ball about at ease in the back 3. A couple of other signings were also bought in to fill the gaps left by the released players, now too old to hold their own in the Premier League, and finally, Rui Silva, £23m goalkeeper from Argentina was bought in as a direct replacement for Begovic, who is demoted to the bench/meaningless cup games. He is 35 after all.

Results wise it was a bit of a mixed bag. Our opening 5 games consisted of free-spending Villa, Fulham, Lee's City, Geir's Chelsea and Grant's Arsenal. 4 points from Villa and Fulham was perhaps 2 points less than I should have got, but 3 points at home to Lee's City was an extra 3 points in the bag. The difficult start doesn't end their either, I play Kim's Spurs next before the fixture list starts to ease up. In between those Premier League games is the Europa League. I've struggled so far against Molde in the quali's and Cagliare in the group stages playing my back-ups to keep the 1st 11 fresh, but I can't help feeling that I may need to include the first team to qualify from the group.

Overall a good weeks worth of sessions. I'm hoping to push on from 7th place this season, but my new signings will need time to bed in. I predict mid-table for the first half of the season, before we make a late surge into the Europa places. Top 4 is the ultimate goal with Stoke but I'm still a couple of seasons away from that challenge.

[AndyFal36]

I have been here now two seasons

And your already a mini-belly

[LEEMOD]

Huh? Who are you?

[alvaan]

Kim - Spurs

Season review

It was all smiles and cheers when we exited the January transfer window. Top of the league, League Cup final ahead, through in FA cup and Champions League with ease, and we had already racked up the Club World Championship.

Then, as expected, Tottenham Crockspurs appeared yet again. The whole clan, including myself, have been mocking my team of broken players. Some of them make Owen Hargreaves or Abou Diaby look like the fittest players on the planet. Take one of the top prospects on the game for instance. Brought from France at the age of 15, he was looking immense. He was lacking a bit in the physical department, as any 15 year old would, but his mental and technical attributes were off the charts for a player of his age. Unfortunately for me, and Eric Pierre himself, he's been attending the physio schedule more than the training schedule. He is now 24 years old, but has had over 50 (!!) injuries total in his young life!

At most we had 9 first team players out, and to much aggrevance, the injuries seem to hit the same areas each time. At one point during the season, a total of 5 wingers were out injured. Luckily for me, the Spurs squad have been quite deep since I took over, and the way the injuries have been piling up, we've had to keep it that way. This is also why I've totally disregarded any attempts from my fellow managers to buy any of my players.

Anyhow, regardless of injuries or not, we did go out of the January window with great confidence. Then we received the first blow by arch nemesis Grant, as he thugged us out of the League Cup final with a 1-2 loss. To much of my despair, Arsenal got picked out of the hat yet again, not only for the FA Cup, but also for the Champions League. Every game we played that season against Grant were tight affairs. In the last 2-3 seasons, we've been on the winning side more times than not, but not this season. Grant proceeded to knock us out of EVERY cup competition this year, including the Super Cup!

It was then down to me and Grant for the Premier League title, but fortunately for my own sanity we were able to keep our distance and at least win one major trophy this year.

So, we attained the Premier League, and are again favourites to win it this year. Currently on schedule with 5 wins in 5, and looking like a team that will push once more. I've sold a few of the players to either the AI or abroad this summer, as I wanted to get rid of the players who's been most injured. Also, Gareth Bale is now 33, and may be in his last year as a Spurs player, so in order to keep him pushing we brought in Paulo from Leicester before Oli came back

Unfortunately, we weren't able to lure a couple more of the Leicester players away before Oli came back, but I think we should be strong enough as is to challenge on all fronts.

I expect Grant to be my closest competitor this season as well, but I can see a challenge mounting from the blue side of the town as well, as Geir has done some major business this summer. I'm not convinced Lee will be able to quite yet push for the League title, but he will definately give everyone a run for their money.

Oli might need a couple of months to get his team performing like they used to, and he will be desperate to get into top 4 again, but it may be a stretch too far this season.

Joe, Ali, Belly & Jordan will battle it out between 6th-12th I reckon, but it's going to be tough for the smaller teams to break into the top 6.

Anyhow, it's going to be a great season yet again in the PremGloryClan, and we're hoping our newest members will show that they won't be pushed around!

-Kim

[Advantageous]

Ali - Stoke

Mid-Season Review

Well my pre-season predictions were relatively accurate. Currently sitting around 8th place, battling it out with Lee and the AI for the final Europa position. My first game tonight is the second leg of the League Cup Semi Final against Kim's Spurs. A 1-1 score at my place was probably as good as I could have asked for given my home form, and I feel we go into the 2nd with a slight chance of another final. With Kim having changed formation against me to his infamous 433 Birmingham style however, he's probably strong favourites.

Also still in the Europa League after qualifying from a reasonably tough group. A trip to Russia for the 1st Knock-Out Round is next on the list is what's been a busy season for us. I fully understand Belly's complaints against the Europa League and the level of fatigue it brings upon your players, especially if you have a small squad. I originally thought I had a chance in this competition, but with Geir qualified and Lee now dropping into the knock-out stages my chances grow ever slimmer.

Kim and Grant ofc top the tree. The former looking for his third in a row, in what is his most successful stint in any of the clan games so far. The latter, whilst not as dominant as he was in FM12, will be looking for his second title with what is a very young squad. Geir's assman has taken the reigns during the Norwegian's holiday and kept them fighting for a top 4 place, whilst Lee has had it tough in his first full season at Man City. After his surprise Champions League victory the previous season, he has ofc picked up the Club World Cup, but struggled so far in the League. His board expectation of top 4 and consecutive Champions League wins were pretty unrealistic however.

A predicted second season syndrome for Joe has come to pass, but he's recently pulled himself into a run of form and looks like battling for survival rather than going out with a whimper. As for Belly, he's been flirting with his job at Crystal Palace, but should hold on if he maintains some level of form. 14th is probably not what he wanted though, but he does have some good young players breaking through. Let's just hope Man Utd don't come along and poach them again .

Oli has also struggled somewhat, but this was to be expected after he returned to find his team ripped apart. He has put some good results together recently though and continues to push for the top 4. And finally, our newest member Jordan has started strongly with Southampton. Hit a bad patch as of late, but still finds himself comfortably in the top half utilising a very robust 4231 formation. Probably the stand-out performer thus far.

[LEEMOD]

Well after I was walking down the tunnel after a humhiliating defeat against Joe's Sheffield Utd I said to myself 'I'm not going to let these overpaid c***s lose my job', and so I have decided to have a massive overhaul of all my squad and coaching staff. It just isn't working, a team of our stature should be near the top not in 6th place and to be honest I am very very lucky to be in a job thus far but I hope they can let me do it my way.

I plan on bringing in more youth mixed with a little experience here and there, I will have a load of money coming in too after I successfully negotiated deals for Hugo, Hazard, Oscar. The wagebill should be enormous for next season. I just hope the board buy into my new ideas for the club.

For this season I need to ensure I get at least 6th if not 4th or 5th with a good run. We are also in the Europa League so a decent run there would be lovely but currently we have no back up players as everyone is out on loan and I must say that most of them are really developing amazingly so they could be ready next season.

It will take a little time for things to gel but I'm hopeful of attracting players of the highest calibre to come and play for me. I need to ensure I finish strongly and I can start to think about next year. This season hasn't been what I expected from my players. My left back who I signed will get another year to prove himself to me but his performances haven't impressed me so far.

I hope once I have the coaches/scouts in place we can build with a new youthful looking team.

Comments on other Managers:

Kim/Grant - nothing needs to be said.....yawn

Oli - I thought it would take him a little longer to acclimatise but no he is at it again performing well with Leicester.

Geir - Asleep, his Assman has done ok but Chelsea should be top 3

Ali - He has done well at Stoke so far, he buys very well and is tactically switched on. Rumours that he might be looking to jump ship at the end of the season and Liverpool look likely suitors, the thought of him at Liverpool scares me, I think he'd do really well.

Jordan - Well the newest clan member and is performing miracles with Southampton, he said at the start he would make Europa and most of us rightly thought he was in cloud cuckoo land but no he has proved himself and all credit to him for that. He comes on calls too so it's good to see. If he can maintain top 10 that will be a great result.

Belly - Well Belly has had it tough this season, he has lost a lot of games and like me found himself preparing his CV but as I have said before I really admire his approach, he clearly has money at Palace but his belief in youth is a trait to admire and for a young team they are a good team, in 3/4 years I think they'll be very good once fully developed.

Joe - I have no idea how he is just above relegation, like I said in my opening post he beat me on my patch 2-1 and had some excellent results against the likes of Arsenal et al. His team shocked me, he plays the 451 V shape and it seems to work for him but overall he can't be happy with his performance. I know he'll stay up though, if he plays like he did against me he should be top 10.

Until Monday,

Lee

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End of Week League Table

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Belly

Palace

Well after trying to improve an established tactic things didnt work out and we struggled badly. However we have now reverted back and i am more confident in the future should we survive the wrath of the board ofc. A few more of my young scarlets have broke into the 1st team and as i mentioned if we can survive the end of this season we should be in reasonable shape for the start of next.

Fingers crossed,

Belly,

[Andy H]

Fantastic read lads, looks an awesome, competitive game with loads of banter. Long may it continue.

[dcu223]

Thanks Andy

[LEEMOD]

Cheers Andy, it really is enjoyable, look forward to it each time, just hope I'm not sacked anytime soon!

[Advantageous]

The below tables chart the PGC clan across FM10, FM11, FM12, FM12 Underdogs and FM13 (as of now, season 11). There are still 1 or 2 discrepancies here and there (Wills total seasons, Steve's total trophy count; 68 or 69), but they will be clarified asap.

Major Honours include; League titles, Champions Leagues, Domestic Cup (ie FA Cup) and the Europa League.

Members who have played less than 10 seasons in clan are not included in this table.

[Dig_Dog]

Surprised at that. Nice work Ali.

[Jack92P]

Quality work Ali.

[dcu223]

Ali and his spreadsheets lol - NJ Ali although you seem to of missed all my wins on the major trophy table in the Bedfordshire cup ??

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End of Season League Table

[dcu223]

Manager of the Year

Congratz Kimbo

[Advantageous]

Ali - Stoke

After keeping my eye on the Liverpool job for majority of the season, it finally becomes available. Unfortunately FSG decide to go with the former Southampton Manager Jordan and truth be told, I can't fault their judgement. Jordan had a terrific first full season in clan after saving relegation threatened Saints towards the end of last season and I wish him the best of luck. With £80m to spend and a very considerate board expectation of 'a mid-table position', Jordan really has a club where he can patiently build up a strong side.

As for me, I find myself still at Stoke after a decent second full season with Potters. We threatened to push Lee's Man City for 6th for a while, but ultimately end up settling for a second consecutive seventh place finish. Not too bad in the grand scheme of things, and probably where a team of this quality should be. I will of course be looking to push on as quickly as possible, and the last minute resigning of Kilic's contract before he left on a bosman will perhaps be one of the highlights of our upcoming transfer window. With a budget of £18m I may need to do some transfer market haggling to build up a strong squad ready for a consecutive Europa League campaign. I found out to my detriment that my squad wasn't deep enough, despite a solid previous transfer window and will be looking to strengthen in depth. First off will be 4 quality strikers. With out-and-out poacher Kilic being the only good one I own, this will set me back a pretty penny unless a certain deal is reached tomorrow. Central defenders are also a must. I managed to secure Italo on a free transfer, who will no doubt play a big part in the upcoming 12th season of FM13, but I could do with 4 or 5 top class defenders for my 3 at the back formations.

[Olib1983]

Oliver- Leicester

After a solid season finishing 4th reaching the quarter finals of the champions League only to be knocked out by kim and winning the FA cup, im very pleased with my first season back in the clan. The clubs finances arent the best so have been given a pittance as a transfer budget. However, this is not a problem as i have a dirth of tallent coming through the ranks so as usual some first team players will have to leave the club to make way for the future. I have agreed a deal to see one of my best central midfielders leave the club although this will be for a large sum of money. I really need to bring in another central defender as mine just dont cut the mustard. I may let go of vavra (who i resigned last season) to bring through sonyo ramos the latest future start through my production line. I will still be on the look out for future tallents that may become available and look to keep improving the young players we have in the squad. If I can manage to push in to the top 3 next season i will be very happy and any cup run would be an added bonus.

[thejog]

Jordan -Southampton/Liverpool

A great full season at southampton! I joined clan the season before with a relegation battling southampton and managed to keep the heads above the water with a strong season finish. My first full season in clan went extremely well, although my attacking options were amazing for a team of this level, the defence was still a massive problem, and lacked considerable quality. I was lucky to loan Kim's young goalkeeper for a full season, and although he was only a youngster he had an incredibly strong season and performed supurbly! With the season finished and southampton going from relegation candidates to a strong mid table finish team, all was well at camp Jordan and a look to the future was in. That was when luck would have it and the liverpool job opened up, to which of course i had competition for the manager spot, lucky for me though the liverpool board chose me to succeed benitez and it seems Ali will have to wait another season for a big job offer

As liverpool manager i believe i have an incredibly important season ahead of me. I've been tasked with a "mid table finish" with a squad that i believe much outweighs my previous manager role at southampton. The defence looks incredibly strong ahead of the season and built in the correct way could definitely be a force! The weakness lacks in midfield and possibly why liverpool finished only 9th last season, with only really one average centre midfield player i've got work to do in the transfer market, but lucky for me i have deals which are in advanced talks to make the central midfield area equally if not stronger than the defence itself. Looking to get liverpool back into europe next season with the very least a 7th place finish or a cup run my main personal target!

Applause

[alvaan]

Kim - Spurs

League title number 3 in a row is in the bag, but it still feels like we blew it yet again this season. We did wrap up the League Cup in a tight final against Grant earlier in February with a 93rd min penalty to win 4-2. However, we got beaten 6-3 on aggregate by Grant's Arsenal in the Champions League semi final, after picking up some quite nasty injuries in the business end of the season. Before that loss we'd gone almost 5 months without a defeat in all tournaments, and the pain didn't stop there.

Next up was Oli's revived Leicester side in the FA Cup final. We had remarkably easily dispatched of his side in both league games and then in the Champions League. This time however we were truly crippled. Massive injuries meant I had to play a 18 year old reserve team striker from the start, with the only reserve on the bench being a 16 year old U18 player. He had a half crocked Pierre alongside him, but he was playing his first game back from one of his 47 injuries! This was also my 4th(!!) game in only 7 days, as the fixture congestion really piled up on us.

Long story short, Oli quite easy beat me 3-0, and he also managed to injure 2 of my few fit players. Luckily for me there were only 2 games left in the league at this point, and with a 5 point lead we should be safe.

A 2-1 comeback win over Lee's Man City saw us being able to rejoice with 1 game to go, and to get the standing ovation and guard of honour in our last home game of the season.

Regarding the summer window, I reckon it will be a pretty normal and slow one for my Spurs side. I will probably try to sign one, maybe two players, and also offload one or two. Other than that, my team is pretty much the same as it's been for the last 5-6 seasons, and I don't expect much to change in that area in the next 5 either. Gareth Bale's career is however soon coming to en and, but at 33 he's still put in a helluva shift this season. 8 goals and 16 assists in 41+6 games with an avg rating of 7.43 ain't bad for a soon to be pensioner. I've already got his permanent replacement Paulo playing quite alot, and there are some decent talents in my reserve team as well.

Decided to round it off with a few words on my fellow managers:

Grant - turning into Rafa Benitez; all moan and just cups

Oli - trying his best to avoid being another Leeds

Geir - absent, but should give a payraise to his assman, who's actually winning games

Lee - hanging on to his job by the skin of his teeth - perform or leave for him this season

Ali - taking negative football to new highs. Another 7th position for the clan's Pulis. Question is if he can get higher, or does he need a bigger club for that?

Jordan - Soton's saint brought them into 8th place. Scored an impressive 73 goals, but conceded 79, with a record 10-0 defeat against myself as one of the low points. Defence - no! Exciting footy? Hell yes!

Belly - midtable mediocricy, and that should be it really. Belly is however more interested in the average age of his squad getting as low as possible, and his balance as high as possible. Should pay more attention to get 3 points rather than shave 0.3 years on the average age

Joe - got Sheffield United up. Then saved them from relegation, and now looks to be a secure bottom half performer. Seems to have at least half sorted out the defensive shambles that existed, and will probably look to cement a place around Belly.

With my real life holiday coming up in about 2 weeks, I need to get a solid start to the season next week as I have zero faith in my assistant. I might come back to find it gone horribly wrong, but I'll have another 14 days to worry about that.

Until next time

Kim

[LEEMOD]

As Kim said, it has been a shambles of a season really, we have conceded far too many goals as the league clearly states so this summer is all about re-building my squad and improving the centre backs, right back and wingers, I have some good youth coming through and at this stage I'm in two minds as to give them a chance or not.

I don't set targets, I just want to play the right way and fight for every point, I want to challenge as much as I can but it's a tough league to break down. The top teams are so used to winning it's hard to break them down but my first half against Kim showed me that playing a certain way can give you a platform at least.

Onto the summer and time to 'spend spend spend' as Viv Nicholson once famously said.

Lee

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End of Week League Table

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Belly

Palace

Not much to say. Needed 5 new players this season. Luckily we had 2 decent youth players come through the youth system so they filled 2 without spending a penny. Spent about 15mil on the other 3. They are all kids with good potential so it will be a waiting game i feel but one i am happy to play.

First game of the season at home to Blackburn was tough as we had several injuries and my backup are 16 year olds but we managed to salvage a draw in the 90th min.

Looking forward to getting stuck into the season.

Until Next Week,

Belly,

[dcu223]

End of Week League Table

[Olib1983]

Oil-Leicester

So we're at the half way point of the season and were on coarse for almost 100 points and third in the league which is mental although Kim is away now so I'm hoping I can give grant a run for the title. I would be very happy if I can sneek in second as we're improving fast.

[dcu223]

End of Season League Table

[dcu223]

Manager of the Year Results

Congratz Grant

[phoenix81]

Grant Arsenal

Great season won Euro Super Cup, World Club Cup, FA cup, Premiership and Champions League with my squad gettin older and better

[Advantageous]

Ali - Stoke

Premier League

Finished 4th with Champions League qualification to follow. My best season in clan so far on FM13. After being turned down for both the Man Utd and Liverpool posts, I was beginning to think I'd never be able to challenge with Stoke. The Highlights of the season include a treble over fellow Bedfordshire rival Belly, twice in the league and once in the League Cup. If truth be told, our team really isn't good enough for 4th place just yet, so some summer re-enforcement's are needed to bolster the squad. As part of a part exchange deal with Oli, 3 players will be arriving from the Leicester academy after Juan Pablo returns home. One of which includes Paul Short, a top striker who was integral to my success this season.

Europa League

Secured my first ever Europa League in clan with a 3-0 victory over Atletico Madrid. A 7-1 aggregate victory over Inter was a particular highlight, but I was lucky that both Lee's Man City and Geir's Chelsea were knocked out early, leaving my with AI opposition all the way.

League Cup

My second defeat in the final of this competition. First to Kim's Spurs and now to Oli's Leicester. We were the better side, but found ourselves on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline. Paul Short on loan from Leicester was ineligible to play of course, reducing our threat in the attacking department.

A final word on the other clan members:

Grant: Won the treble. I would have put money on him doing so with Kim on holiday.

Oli: 2nd in the League and won the League Cup. A decent season, but never overachieved.

Kim's Assman: Dropped points left, right and centre. Should stay in the top 4, but not guaranteed.

Geir's Assman: Not his best season, dropped out of the top 4 and lost in the FA Cup final.

Belly: Good season for belly. Overachieved in the League and knocked Grant out of the League Cup.

Lee: Still at Man City. Has been given many reprieves. May need to splash some cash on some top talent.

Joe: Good season forcing Sheff Utd into the top half. Building the Blades into a strong outfit.

[dcu223]

Trophy Update :

Kim - 18 - Premiership X3, League Cup X4, Championship, League One Title, FA Cup, Charity Shield X2, Europa League, Champions League X2 , CWC X2 , ESC

Grant - 17 - Champions League x3, Premiership X2, Championship, FA Cup X4, League Cup, ESC X2, WCC X2, Charity Shield x2.

Oliver - 8 - League One Title, FA Cup X3, League Cup X2, Europa League, Charity Shield

Jack - 5 - Premiership, Championship, FA Cup x2 , Charity Shield

Geir - 4 - BSP Title, Europa League, ESC, Europa League

Joe - 3 - Championship , Johnston Paint Bucket, League 2

Ali - 3 - League One Title, Championship, Europa League

Paul - 2 - Johnston Paint Bucket , League 1

Lee - 2 - Champions League, WCC

Matej - 1 League Two Title

Stuart - 1 - Johnston Paint Bucket

Jamie - 1 Championship

James - League Two

Mike - 1 - Johnston Paint Bucket

[dcu223]

End of Week League Table

[LEEMOD]

As Ali rightly states I did indeed need to spend some serious money and so I did bringing in only first team players. I now have decent cover in most positions with quality players, my kids need another year I think because last season was shocking. I did not perform at all and the last 10 games or so were totally miserable, I think I lost 6 out of my last 10 games and sometimes we got hammered.

Anyway, I am determined to work as hard as I can, I will never leave, I will only go if I'm sacked. So this season I started with Oli at home and it was a good challenge for my new lads and we did really well, it was a very fierce match with 6 yellow cards and almost 40 fouls in total but we gave as good as we got and I actually felt a draw would have been fair aside from a dodgy penalty. It showed me that maybe we can compete this year but I'm not getting ahead of myself, I have some tough challenges to come.

Looking at the clan as a whole, the standard this past year has gone through the roof, in the past there seemed to be certain teams where you would be confident of beating but not anymore, Belly, Joe and Ali have all been very impressive. I did say a few years ago I think that Belly's team were one to watch and so it has proved. He has kept the nucleus of the squad and it is now showing in excellent results. However, I must say it's Ali who has impressed me the most this past season, he got 4th with Stoke and won the Europa League, an outstanding achievement, he deserves a top job but I don't think he needs to, Stoke look the real deal. Joe is also slowly creeping up the league, it has been slow progress but when you consider the facilities/budgets/players of other clubs a 9th placed finish is an excellent coup. Oli and Grant are the ones to beat in this clan and I feel this year they could find it much tougher but time will tell.

Overall, I am happy with my new recruits, I have some fantastic looking youngsters, some are on the cusp of 1st team football and I think some I might loan out for the season but I',m not sure yet, if I can get Kovalev, Rodrigo firing I will do well as my defense now of Acedo, Romagnoli, Serik and Misic look to be really tight, it just depends if I can get lucky with injuries, there were times last year I could barely name a team and often throwing 16, 17 year olds in at the deep end which seriously backfired.

Until Monday..

Lee

[dcu223]

Belly

Sorry for the delay lads but a decent post and clan update is long overdue and therefore here it is.

First

Palace Update.

As we sacrificed short term success for long term success a few years ago we are now starting to see the benefits. We finished off last season strong rising to 6th and winning the leagues overachievers. This meant that in the summer of wheeling and dealing we didn't sell or buy 1 player enabling us to pour our funds into improving our already state of the arts facilities at the club.

Our media prediction for the season is 9th and we have started with a Home Super Win vs Man Utd 4-1.

Here is my Team in Detail :

GoalKeeper

[dcu223]

Defence

[dcu223]

Midfield

[dcu223]

Attack

Formation

Team in action against Man Utd

www.youtube.com/embed/yBqft_5_Qbs

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Clan Manager Stats

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Trophy Count and Sackings

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That's it folks,

Until Next Week,

Belly,

[Jack92P]

Can't believe you still have Marinelli belly, I signed him on a free in the championship!!

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Can't believe you still have Marinelli belly, I signed him on a free in the championship!!

Italian International and one of my best players Jack. I often see the comment "Marinelli has run the midfield today" in game.

[LEEMOD]

Excellent post again Belly, it's great to see how much work you put into it and most of your team now entering their prime I imagine you'll be top 6 again this season too! Good work mate

[LEEMOD]

Ali only sold 8 players??!

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End of Week League Table

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Belly

Palace

This season we are suffering as a result of last years success. The Qualification of the Europa League has meant all the players in my squad have played big games and it is clear that they are just not ready as the league table above shows.

Fact is if I get my 1st 11 fit and playing I can give anyone a game. If Im missing 1 or 2 we struggle. However in time this will change as all my squad have the potential and I fully expect us to be up there and challenging within a few seasons.

Until next Week,

Belly