Blazing Saddlers?

[KDR]

@Nobby_McDonald: It was disappointing, given the previous failed takeover and the length of time this one took (it seemed to take an age to go through, though it was obviously done fairly quickly in reality. Perception is all, etc, etc).

@cerud: They weren't too far away, but as you'll see there were a lot of big games in the run-in.

April/May 2015 Results

Derby (4th) - Team news: Lee Novak is preferred to Clàudio Pitbull in the starting line-up.

Neither side wanted to take many risks in this game with another match due in 2 days' time, and even the goal that settled it was a pretty unexciting affair.

Two of Derby's midfielders were content to keep knocking the ball between themselves, giving young Dennis Wright the runaround, until Sam Mantom was drawn into an attempt to win the ball. The play was immediately switched to the flank, and a simple forward pass through the hole Mantom had left allowed Callum Ball to take possession. He then ambled forward, with no challenge being made (inexplicably), before knocking the ball past Linganzi and racing after it himself. Valery Laktionov was a little too slow to react - a known weakness that is being worked on - and Ball popped the ball into the net from a narrowish angle.

Ball may have been offside at the moment the ball was played, but it wasn't given and it was too close to call for me to criticize the ref in the post-match press conference.

Amine Linganzi took a slight knock just as I was waiting for my final substitution to take place, with the result that he had to play on and will now be out for 2-3 weeks - so he might make it back in time to feature in the final game against Leeds.

Ipswich (18th) - Team news: Everyone is as fit as can be expected and this is our strongest possible team, so no changes.

I hate matches like this. You are the dominant team, everyone is playing well...and then the opposition has one shot from distance and it somehow goes in. This time, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas was the man with the golden boot, lashing a shot into the top corner when Tavernier had seemed to have the most direct route to goal blocked off.

That forced us to come out and chase the game to no real effect but to burn energy while the Tractor Boys could have a rest, and this was the decisive factor in the latter stages, Rory Donnelly sealing the win with a good header across the goalkeeper from a precisely-delivered corner.

Realistically, any chance we might have had of the play-offs now looks to have gone, while our safety is now mathematically assured.

Burnley (6th) - Team news: Craig Gibbons makes his first senior appearance for the club, replacing Andy Butler in the centre of defence, while Andrew Tutte replaces Dennis Wright, who drops to the bench. Clàudio Pitbull is replaced as sub by Carl Davies.

A good win, and an excellent defensive performance that limited Burnley to a single shot in the entire game - and that one off-target.

Craig Gibbons gave a good account of himself on his senior debut for the club, and showed remarkable composure to break up one move and find Brice Irie-Bi, while Stef Nijland came back into something like form, forcing a brilliant save out of Mark Bunn before being put through by Ibrahim for the goal. A good move through the middle, orchestrated by Tutte, saw Nijland force a corner, and he then had the ball in the net for a second time after the delivery was cleared only for the ball to find its way to Benning, whose cross found the striker marginally offside.

Nott'm Forest (15th) - Team news: No changes.

This game was won after 86 minutes. Our passing was good, we were threatening every time we went forward (without much in the way of end result, which has been our problem since we came up), and Forest looked tired, dejected...beaten.

That all changed when Mal Benning turned away from trouble and sent a long ball back to the 'keeper. It was a woeful effort, however, and Laktionov did well to get near it, so he takes no blame for it going out for a corner. Lasse Nielsen took it, Gibbons won the ball well but could only clear as far as the edge of the box, and Nielsen dinked the ball back in for Jamaal Lascelles to tap home.

Forest flew into us again straight from the kick-off, filled with renewed belief, and only good defensive work by Smith and Gibbons kept them at bay. Laktionov made a fine double save as we went into injury time, then cleared the ball upfield for Stef Nijland to begin a counter-attack.

That move was looking promising, with Nijland, Tutte and Nørgaard moving the ball well and finding space to exploit, until Nijland played the ball to Lee Novak. The striker did well at first holding up the ball and so allowing others to move into advanced positions, so it was disappointing when he tried to force a pass to Benning after one turn too many, and succeeded only in playing it against van Aanholt's legs. The Forest player knocked the ball forward to Chris Cohen, and simply as that we were caught going the wrong way. Gibbons did his best to apply pressure, but two quick passes and a long diagonal ball saw Angelo Balanta outpace James Tavernier to hammer a shot past Valery Laktionov as Manny Smith raced across to cut it out.

It's still mathematically possible to reach the play-offs at this point but we'd need to will all three games by a shedload and have a lot of other results go our way besides, so I'm calling that attempt done. Time to see what the fringers and kids can do.

Middlesbrough (18th) - Team news: Darnell Fisher, Robert Yates, Malvin Benning, Neil Roberts, Daniel Smith, Jake Heath, Carl Davies and Tom Hopper come into the starting XI, while Dan Harding, Manny Smith, Dennis Wright and Sam Byrne join Ibrahim, Tutte and Doyle on the bench. This match will be a particularly special occasion for Robert Yates and Daniel Smith, as they will be making their senior debuts.

The wheels fell off early in this match.

Good play between Roberts, Smith, Davies and Heath presented Hopper with a good chance just 16 seconds in, but the striker has been in an out of form for the reserves all season and is fairly low on confidence. In the end, he wanted too long and finally allowed himself to be tackled. Brice Irie-Bi took the corner, which was easily cleared, but Heath played the ball back wide to Irie-Bi and the young Ivorian found Smith in the box. Unfortunately for the debutant, his shot flashed just wide, and that was where the bright start ended, as Jason Steele launched the resulting goal-kick up the park, where it was flicked on by Andrew Halliday. Martin Waghorn chased the ball down, only to be hauled back by Craig Gibbons. The young defender was the last man and knew what had to come, so we were down to 10 men just 100 seconds into the match.

That required a few tactical tweaks, though it was no surprise that Middlesbrough scented blood in the water and came after us with a vengeance.

Rob Yates did well to fill the hole left by his defensive colleague, but we were out-manned at the back and this was exposed by some patient interplay down our left before Richard Smallwood whipped in a cross. Waghorn went to meet it, but Mal Benning got there first and tried to put the ball behind with a diving header. Sadly for him, his aim was off and the effort went flying past Laktionov to give Boro the lead. Halliday added a second 9 minutes later, as he out-muscled Yates to fire past the advancing Laktionov, and the game was done and dusted by half-time as former Saddler Danny Fox chipped in with a third.

Tea and sympathy all round at the half kept spirits relatively high, and we at least manage to draw the second half - though Boro were on the cigar for most of it and relaxed completely once Grant Leadbitter had made it 4. Carl Davies was set clear by Sam Byrne to net the consolation, which was also the young striker's first senior goal in 18 appearances this season, but we had nothing else to offer and scant reward for our frequently impressive play.

LEICESTER CROWNED CHAMPIONS

CHARLTON RELEGATED

Crazy Highs and Crashing Lows. Football in a nutshell.

QPR (2nd) - Team news: Manny Smith comes in for the suspended Gibbon; James Tavernier is named on the bench. Sam Byrne switches places with Tom Hopper to start alongside Carl Davies.

A very one-sided game that saw The Rs get the win they needed to return to the Premier League.

Charlie Austin started the scoring on 32 minutes, running past Rob Yates from a deep position before stroking a left-footed finish past Valery Laktionov, and the same player made it two on the stroke of half-time when he was left unmarked by Manny Smith at a corner.

We changed formation to an attacking 4-4-2 for the second half without much success, and Andros Townsend turned Tavernier inside out late on to curl a third beyond Laktionov and into the top right-hand corner of the goal.

Tom Hopper had a shot well saved in injury time, but this was QPR's day and an easy win in the end for the side that had been my title tip.

QPR PROMOTED

Leeds (11th) - Team news: Craig Gibbons returns following his one-match ban, while Clàudio Pitbull will make his farewell appearance from the bench.

A narrow defeat for the youngsters against a vastly more experienced Leeds side, that could yet have been a draw - Carl Davies fluffing good chances in either half, including one that was simply begging to be tucked away.

In the end, Steve Morison's goal - bundled in during a scramble in which it looked as though the striker may have fouled Rob Yates AND Craig Gibbons - was enough to separate the teams, leaving us with the joint 5th best defence in the division (the best outside the top 6, and 3 better than 4th-placed Derby's), while our attack was 2nd weakest. Only Charlton, who came rock-bottom, scored fewer goals (43).

Table at end May 2015

[KDR]

2014-2015 Season Review

League: 15th in nPower Championship (the club's highest finish since 1961-62)

WINNERS: Leicester City

FA Cup: Lost in 5th Round to Man City

WINNERS: Manchester City

Capital One Cup: Lost in 3rd Round to West Ham

WINNERS: Chelsea

Awards

Summary

No message for this, but we set a new average attendance record of 8,083. Not bad for saying we had big games but no real ‘rivals’ ties this year.

News

Never seen this before:

Nice choices, eh? Spain, the Algarve, Ireland?

Nah, wim gunna stay a’wum, ay we!

In a word...’no’.

Games against the Baggies and Wolves next season and we’ve sold out 3-4 times this campaign. This is what I get:

[KDR]

2015-2016 Season Preview

Expectations and Finances

Finances on 15/07/2015

Forgot to take a screenie on 01/07.

Sponsorships

Objectives

1 – Survival is the first, but not the only, goal. Should we find ourselves with the chance to do better, others include i) Break the 60 point barrier; ii) Win 20 league games; and iii) Try for at least a top-half finish.

2 – Try to match this season’s success in the cups, going further if we can. We’ve pushed the eventual winners all the way in our FA Cup ties in the last two seasons. Despite the disappointment at the nature of the City defeat, that’s good going by anyone’s standards.

3 – Continue to push the club forward on and off the field in a steady, sustainable manner so that, if relegation should occur, the club will still have money in the bank and a strong, affordable squad capable of bouncing straight back.

(This one, particularly, is getting harder to do due to board resistance and limitations.)

[cerud]

Ouch, that was a painful run in to the finish.

[KDR]

It was disappointing, but on the bright side it does look worse than it was. With a decent striker to partner Nijland, we'd have taken something from Ipswich and would probably have beaten Forest, and the kids showed a lot of character, especially in the final game. On the whole, though, I would have liked to have broken the 60 point barrier at least.

On the plus side again, though, is the fact that the board haven't hit me with unrealistic expectactions for the new season, which they might have done had we finished near the top 6.

I've probably got to hold my hands up and admit signing Novak was a mistake, though. His stats are good and he can be a threat, but he's just not doing it at this club.

[KDR]

Pre-Season 2015-2016

Media’s predicted final positions

1: West Bromwich Albion

2: West Ham United

3: Burnley

4: Bolton Wanderers

5: Derby County

6: Sunderland

7: Brighton and Hove Albion

8: Wolverhampton Wanderers

9: Leeds United

10: Bristol City

11: Barnsley

12: Nottingham Forest

13: Huddersfield Town

14: Middlesbrough

15: Blackpool

16: Cardiff City

17: Southampton

18: Watford

19: Ipswich Town

20: Sheffield Wednesday

21: Crystal Palace

22: Peterborough United

23: Walsall

24: Brentford

Whoo, steady on! I don’t think I can handle the weight of expectation!

Transfers in (to 09/09/2015)

Cor Gillis - 26 y/o Belgian DC/D/WBR.

Will Keane - 22 y/o English Striker. 3 U21 caps.

Sam Johnstone - 22 y/o English GK. 1 U21 cap.

Alex Davey - 20 y/o Scottish DC. Previously at Chelsea. 19 U21 caps.

Petar Grbic - 27 y/o Montenegrin AMR, Striker/AML. Previously at Olympiakos. 6 U21 caps.

David - 19 y/o Malian/Spanish D/WBL/ML. Previously at Valencia. 1 U20 cap.

Ousseynou Sagna - 20 y/o French DL. Previously at Lille. 2 U21 caps.

Piotr Dankowski - 18 y/o German/Polish DM/MC. Previously at Bayern Munich.

Transfers out (to end of transfer window)

[KDR]

August 2015 Results (inc. 01/09 Transfer Deadline day result)

Watford (21st) - Team news: Laktionov; Tavernier, M. Smith, Gillis, Harding; Irie-Bi; Nørgaard, Tutte, Mantom; Nijland, Novak. Subs: Johnstone, Benning, Fisher, Linganzi, Ibrahim, Wright, Keane.

How we only took a point, I don't know. (Well, I say that. I do really, don't I, Mr Jacobson? )

Lee Novak had a couple of gilt-edged chances to score, but somehow managed to put on wide and scuff the other so horribly that a newborn kitten could have kept it out. Stef Nijland was also played through by Tutte, but didn't so much seem reluctant to shoot as he just refused to, and Dan Harding saw at 30 yard free-kick hit the bar and bounce so far into the air it's a wonder the ball didn't burn up on the way back down.

We were in complete control and Abdi Ibrahim finally gave us the lead, smashing the ball past Jonathan Bond following a neat move involving Nørgaard, Tutte, Irie-Bi, Nijland and Tavernier.

Watford hadn't posed any kind of threat since just after the half-hour mark, so the game restarted with no tactical change having been made on our part. It was perhaps predictable, then, that The Hornets should swarm () downfield from the kick-off, with my previously excellent defenders backing off all the time until a simple pass found Márkó Futács lurking with intent at the far post. He tapped in, and we were all square again.

Watford went back into non-threatening mode, and shots by Ibrahim (saved) and Will Keane (skewed so badly wide from 10 yards that you might have wondered at him having been on the books of FC Utd, let alone Man Utd) were the closest we came to taking all the spoils.

Shrewsbury (Capital One Cup, 1st Round) - Team news: Sam Johnstone makes his debut, having switched with Valery Laktionov as per established cup GK policy. Mal Benning, Abdi Ibrahim and Will Keane also come in, with Dan Harding, Sam Mantom and Stef Nijland dropping to the bench.

A win on penalties when it could, and should, have been over well before the end of normal time. Only a combination of good goalkeeping, decent defending and woeful finishing kept Shrews in the game at all, and had Will Keane, Abdi Ibrahim and Christian Nørgaard taken their chances instead of hitting the post, allowing the 'keeper to close the angle, and blasting wide respectively, the tie would have been over by half-time.

The visitors worked hard, and should prove a handful in League 1 this season if they can keep it up, but they were simply outclassed in every department save the one that really matters.

Will Keane, Amine Linganzi and Cor Gillis found the target with their pens, while Andrew Tutte saw his effort spectacularly saved and Lee Novak chose to go straight down the middle, making life easy for Chris Weale. The true hero of the shootout for us, however, was Sam Johnstone, who pulled off three top-drawer saves to ensure we didn't end up being embarrassed too much.

West Ham (11th) - Team news: Lationov returns in goal witg Johnstone reverting to the bench. Harding and Mantom come back in for the Ibrahim and the injured Mal Benning. Robert Yates covers from the bench. Finally, Petar Grbic is named as sub, having joined the club the day after the Shrewsbury cup-tie.

West Ham are my tip for the top spot this season and they certainly started like potential champions, hemming us in for large chunks of the first half as we were forced to repel wave after wave of attacks. We eventually forced our way back into the game, playing some good football without really threatening in what remained of the first half.

That changed right at the start of the second, when Sam Mantom fought hard to gain possession on the left-hand side before playing the ball infield to Tutte. He found Nijland, who laid it back for Nørgaard to pass to Irie-Bi. His ball over the top found Will Keane running into space between midfield and defence, and his square ball allowed Nijland to slot the ball past Stephen Henderson.

Keane and Nørgaard tested Henderson from inside the box, finding the 'keeper equal to the task on both occasions, while at the other end Laktionov saved well from Maïga, who also saw a towering header ruled out for offside in the 76th minute.

Petar Grbic came on for the final ten minutes, replacing Keane, but saw too little of the ball to show any sign of what might be to come.

Ipswich (3rd) - Team news: No changes.

There's no such thing as a bad away point, or so they say, and I'm happy to have taken something from this game, but...Will Keane had a glorious opportunity to seal the points. Credit to Scott Loach, who produced a great reaction save to deny the young striker, but Keane really should have never given him a chance. Hopefully, things will come with time and a little experience - unlike Lee Novak, he doesn't have a couple of hundred senior games under his belt - but it'll have to be soon if he wants to realize his goal of establishing himself at the club.

Bolton (12th) - Team news: No changes.

This was one of those games where everything happens in the first ten minutes, and also gives the impression that more time has passed than actually has. (I could have sworn there'd be 20 minutes on the clock when Nijland scored!)

Bolton pulled and poked and prodded and pressed, but the defence held firm even when we were forced to change the shape due to Nijland going off injured and Will Keane's condition-enforced departure.

Grbic did well as the lone striker, holding the ball up competently while waiting for midfield support, and set Wright up for the midfielder to have a crack from distance, though unfortunately the ball struck the outside of the post and went out for a goal-kick.

Coventry (Capital One Cup, 2nd Round) - Team news: Sam Johnstone comes in for Valery Laktionov, while Mal Benning, Darnell Fisher, Dennis Wright, Abdi Ibrahim, and Petar Grbic replace Harding, Tavernier, Nørgaard, Mantom and Keane. All of these drop to the bench. Stef Nijland is injured, so Carl Davies deputizes.

More even than the scoreline suggests, with us having the best of the early chances and most of the possession.

Cov seemed happy to kick us off the park throughout, yet only my players picked up cards. Maybe the Sky Blues bunged the officials a few months of the ground rent? It's the only way I can explain it.

A real teacup-chucking moment if ever there was one.

Making a bit of history...

Most of them are U21s, too.

Brentford (3rd) - Team news: The regulars return, while Johnstone, Benning, Fisher, and Ibrahim drop to the bench. Carl Davies and Petar Grbic keep their places in attack, while Dennis Wright pulled a hamstring during the Coventry defeat and will be out for 3-4 weeks. Neil Roberts replaces him on the bench.

This season is shaping up like our first at this level; we're not losing, or even conceding goals in the league, but we're not taking advantage and getting the wins either, and that's because we still can't score enough goals. The players are good enough, according to their stats and all the reports, and the tactics are getting them into the right positions with good supply from the flanks as well as the centre...yet the goals just won't come.

Another point gives us 9 from our first 5 games - promotion form, if we can keep it up - but we have to start scoring more often. The defence won't remain this strong forever.

Cardiff (11th) - Team news: Stef Nijland returns to replace Carl Davies, while Amine Linganzi has failed to recover from a heavy knock sustained in the final minute against Brentford. Brice Irie-Bi replaces him. Mal Benning replaces Dan Harding, who is subject of much speculation on this transfer deadline day. Rob Yates and Alex Davey are named on the bench.

We out-shot Cardiff 15-3 and got 8 on target to their 1, so it was pleasing to actually see a couple hit the onion bag.

Petar Grbic opened his account with a tap-in from four yards following an almighty scramble. Cor Gillis had originally thumped a header from Irie-Bi's corner against the bar, with Nørgaard inadvertently testing the 'keeper with his retrieval and first-time chip back into the danger area. Andrew Taylor missed his clearance, and there was Grbic to do the honours. Sam Mantom's effort to extend the lead was also from close-in, though he had dribbled past two Cardiff defenders to get there and his fierce shot left Joe Lewis with no chance.

Abdi Ibrahim came on for a tiring Nørgaard in the second half and immediately found himself with time and space in which to shoot, but his long-range effort smashed against the stanchion and rebounded clear, while just three minutes later James Tavernier crossed for Andrew Tutte to run off his marker and head the ball at goal, but Joe Lewis did just enough to tip it onto the bar.

Table at 01/09/2015

[cerud]

Well, good start to this season

[Nobby_McDonald]

Bad finish to last season but a decent effort overall.

[Crazy Billy-Jay Jones]

Just finished catching up on this, great read so far.

Liking the look of some of your signings, especially Gillis. You've done well to get some of them on frees! Decent start to the season as well, good luck with the rest of the campaign.

[KDR]

@cerud: It's not been bad...but as you can see, it's got a bit better.

@Nobby_McDonald: Cheers. The last 6-10 games could have been better last season, but as I said to cerud in another post, it stopped the board going OTT with the expectations...and it gave the kids and others a chance to show that they have something, if not exactly "it". They didn't win, but they showed guts, and sometimes guts is enough (as someone might once have said ).

@CBJJ: Glad you've enjoyed it so far. A few ME glitches aside, it's been fun. I've been surprised by a few of the frees I've managed to pick up, tbh, Gillis being one of them. I had been tracking him for a couple of seasons and couldn't believe his contract was allowed to run down.

September 2015 Results

Burnley (19th) - Team news: Dan Harding returns at LB. Ousseynou Sagna, Amine Linganzi and Piotr Dankowski take over from Robert Yates, Darnell Fisher and Alex Davey on the bench.

Our first defeat of the season, and Nørgaard's own-goal from a corner on 20 minutes was the first that Valery Laktionov had conceded in 493 minutes of football. God knows how good he will be when he learns a bit of English!

Ashley Barnes added a second from another corner (despite us having worked on defending set pieces in the run-up to the match) moments after Petar Grbic had gone close with a header at the other end, and Kieran Trippier fluked a third from a mis-hit cross before Will Keane netted us a consolation after coming on as sub - his first for the club.

Huddersfield (8th) - Team news: Will Keane and Petar Grbic switch places, so Keane will start alongside Stef Nijland.

A brilliant reaction to the Burnley defeat, especially in the first half when we had 10 of 12 shots on target.

Will Keane played particularly well without managing to get on the scoresheet, though he was unlucky not to do so on 23 minutes as Mantom set him free to run at goal. His shot struck the bar, however, and Mantom's effort from the resulting clearance was tipped over by Marek Stech, a one-time target of ours who is now on loan at the Terriers.

It was Keane, however, that set Stef Nijland up for his first, unselfishly playing the unmarked Dutchman into space when he could have had a shot himself. Nijland - whose late run hadn't been tracked by the midfielders or picked up by a DC - did the rest, firing low across goal to beat Stech's right hand.

Our second came from a Huddersfield corner, which was headed away by Cor Gillis. Dan Harding chased the ball out to the left-hand edge of the box and tried to break along the touchline. Forced to turn back under pressure, he then played it back to Gillis. Last season, with Andy Butler back there, the ball might then have been smashed long. Gillis, however, appeared not to even consider it, preferring instead to remain composed before passing to Brice Irie-Bi, who had taken up a good position 15 yards away. The young Ivorian immediately switched the ball to Tutte, who exchanged passes with Nijland and Nørgaard before lofting the ball over a defender for Nijland. The Dutch forward allowed Keane to run ahead, using him as a decoy before playing the ball to Sam Mantom, whose first-time shot whistled into the top corner.

The third, and Nijland's second, came in a rather more mundane manner. Tutte broke up a move in midfield and played the ball to Nijland. He found Nørgaard behind him, and he in turn played it square to Mantom. A simple ball to the left touchline found Harding with time and space to size up a cross, and his floated ball in was met firmly by Nijland under challenge from Stech.

The second half came nowhere near living up to the standards of the first, though Mantom went close on a couple of occasions, and Piotr Dankowski was introduced as a sub on 70 minutes.

WBA (14th) - Team news: No changes.

This was a very one-sided match. The Baggies are probably the strongest team in the division, player-wise, and should really overpower the division; they've just shown few signs of being able to do so up to now. The only reason why I didn't pick them for top spot is because they're a rival. The fans would have gone mental and, as a fan, it really goes against the grain to give credit to ANY other Midlands side. No respecters of history, we.

So, Albion had most of the possession and chances - we managed just 3 shots in the whole game, two of them coming in the dying seconds as Harding struck a free-kick into the wall before hitting the same guy with his follow-up - but they only posed a serious threat once, when defensive errors and the luck of the bounce allowed Marouane Chamakh a clear chance. He really should have buried it, but Valery Laktionov produced a worldy to keep the scores tied.

Barnsley (17th) - Team news: Christian Nørgaard needs a bit of a rest, so is dropped to the bench. Abdi Ibrahim takes over.

I knew this game was lost as soon as Ben Alnwick pulled off his fourth top-drawer save early in the first half. Mantom, Keane and Ibrahim had all been denied previously, the save for Ibrahim's effort being particularly good. But when Stef Nijland had the ball come to him 8 yards out and hammered it towards the top corner, only for Alnwick to dive the width of the goal to tip it around the post - with enough momentum remaining for me to roughly work out that he must have been travelling through the air at 50 mph (roughly, because it was done in my head; I'm not likely to sit here working it all out!) - I knew the writing was on the wall.

Sure enough, Barnsley's goal came about following a good spell of pressure from us. The visitors were penned in; we had a good shape. Barnsley cleared, Irie-Bi hoovered it up, then knocked it back to Manny Smith. He played it to Cor Gillis, and Gillis then, somehow, managed to lose the ball and fall over. Adam Rooney was then allowed to run thirty yards before Smith and Tavernier woke up and gave chase, and by then it was all too late.

We attacked, Alnwick continued to have the game of his life, and the ref blew the whistle to end my frustration at our sudden insistence on playing the Barca way in our own half during the closing minutes in spite of the instruction to just smack it forward into Barnsley’s box (and which natural competitive spirit and player instinct would surely tell them to do anyway...even if they were Barca).

As with the City game last season, I can take the defeat. I can even take the nature of it, to a degree, because I've watched and played in many a similar game - though I've never seen a 'keeper fly at 50mph (or anyone not wearing a cape with his pants on over his trousers in a film, come to that).

What gets me - and clearly annoys others, too - is the way it's represented. I'll say now that SI do good (sometimes even great) work in making the game what it is, and the ME can recreate football pretty well for the most part, BUT...sometimes, just sometimes, it seems so contrived as to make you think that the AI cheats. Not in its own favour, but in yours. Because it looks like, without 'allowing' you to score or win or overpowering players in your team (which might be why, when you move on, they never reproduce the kind of form under AI control as they did for you), you never would score or win (thereby being programmed to cheat itself). And every now and then, the 'random unfairness of football' has to come up...so you get games like this, with results and stats that LOOK OK, but that are represented in some pretty rage-inducing ways (as opposed to realistic, which is the object of the exercise).

Still...the result is in; it has to stand. (Though you could make a fairly convincing case for rebooting and playing the game over in cases like this...if you could be bothered after the strong emotional reaction the (polite term) 'slightly wonky' ME presentation causes.)

The text commentary, btw, goes "Smith played the ball left first time to Gillis' feet. Excellent sliding tackle from Rooney, easily dispossessing Gillis. Barnsley tried to launch a counter attack. Space opened up for Adam Rooney. ROONEY SCORED FOR BARNSLEY!! The ball went in off the post."

Nothing wrong with that. Annoying to read, but you get a different picture based on what you know of football IRL - dallying on the ball, perhaps, or Rooney being alert to nip in before hurtling off toward goal, defenders sprinting to get back and the forward letting fly as they close in while the 'keeper rushes out to narrow the angle. It's realistic. What I saw...it wasn't dead wrong. It just wasn't right. I didn't believe it, basically, and the ME is visually recreating a story. A story has to act according to its own internal logic as well as external logic(s) to successful convince and/or create ‘suspension of disbelief’. Sometimes FM destroys this completely, and reminds me that I’m just some pleb playing a computer game. At that point, it creates exactly the wrong set of feelings regarding the game.

WEST HAM SACK OWEN COYLE

Middlesbrough (23rd) - Team news: Sagna and Dankowski come in for Harding and Irie-Bi, who are on the bench while Linganzi replaces Gillis in the DCL position. Nørgaard returns though Ibrahim keeps his place in the side. Sam Mantom needs a break and sits this one out. Dennis Wright has recovered from injury and is match-fit enough to replace Neil Roberts on the bench.

A win, but more woes for the ME. First, Boro's RB dallied on the ball despite having 3 easy passes open to him. Mantom nicked the ball off him with no reaction until Mantom was 5 yards nearer the goal. Keane finally put the shot wide from 6 yards under no pressure at all. Then, Manny Smith dallied, ignored two easy options, then tried to force a pass through the nearest Boro player. The ball stuck to him like they're both made of Velcro-wrapped magnets, and it was a simple job to play the ball to Zigic, who was clearly offside but whose goal was allowed to stand anyway.

After that, we equalized and sanity began to prevail once more. Both sides have clear chances saved or scrambled clear until, with just 10 minutes left, the latest tactical changes finally had an effect and Tutte grabbed what turned out to be the winning goal.

All in all, though, between the goings on here and in the last match the session has been soured and I find too easy to switch off and find something else to do. Long term, that's not good news for FM, is it?

BRIGHTON SACK LAURENT BLANC

RUUD GULLIT LEAVES SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY FOR WEST HAM

Southampton (4th) - Team news: James Tavernier is suspended, so Darnell Fisher comes in at RB. Cor Gillis returns to the side, and will take the DCR role as Manny Smith needs a break. Ousseynou Sagna takes over from Harding at LB, while Brice Irie-Bi replaces Piotr Dankowski. Abdi Ibrahim, Dennis Wright and Sam Mantom form the midfield 3 due to Nørgaard's lack of fitness and Tutte's one-game ban, with Neil Roberts returning to a sub role.

Not a classic encounter by any means, though the opening stages were fairly promising with both sides carrying a lot of potential threat. Valery Laktionov pulled off a superb reaction save to deny Troy Deeney in the second minute, while Nijland went close 60 seconds later for us. In the end, though, the game fizzled out, becoming a pretty dull affair. Southampton pushed hard late-on, but the defence did its bit and we were able to engage in a bit of keep-ball to frustrate the Saints in injury time.

As a side-note, 3 days passed before I could be bothered to play FM again, and even then I only popped on because I had a bit of time to kill and nothing else to kill it with.

I’ve even though of going text-only during games, but tbh that seems a little like buying a HD telly and then turning it down to monochrome because it’s all a bit too colourful, or building yourself a nice patio BBQ before opting for cold cuts on sandwiches.

WBA SACK SAM ALLARDYCE

Table at end Sep 2015

Awards

Only third place, but...

[Nobby_McDonald]

Great start.

[KDR]

Great start.

Thanks. I'm really happy with the defensive side of things, though there are always a few wobbly moments. It's just the attack that's a bit of a worry. We were creating a lot and just not scoring enough. In recent matches, though, the creativity seems to have gone, too. Hopefully it'll prove to be one of those little spells that doesn't last too long, but...

The injuries have started to bite into October, too, as will become clear in the next update.

[KDR]

October 2015 Results

Nottm Forest (5th) - Team news: Manny Smith replaces Cor Gillis, who has started to feel a little jaded, and Christian Nørgaard returns in place of Abdi Ibrahim, who drops to the bench. Andrew Tutte and James Tavernier have completed their suspensions, and come onto to bench and onto the team at RB respectively. Darnell Fisher is unfit and is rested.

A solid display against a good Forest team who have started the season in decent form. Brice Irie-Bi was employed solely to keep Sam Vokes out of the game, with the effect that Vokes was withdrawn early in the second half. The defence performed well, Laktionov fielded everything that he needed to with ease, and Dennis Wright was very effective at pulling the strings from his DLP role between Mantom and Nørgaard.

Even though Nijland gave us an early lead, it is worth mentioning that he had already put one shot wide by then, while Will Keane had also had a powerful goal-bound shot well saved by Karl Darlow. Forest, by comparison, only really threatened from free-kicks, but Manny Smith (6' 2"), Amine Linganzi (6' 1"), James Tavernier (6' 1"), Ousseynou Sagna (6' 0") and Valery Laktionov (6' 0") were more than able to cope.

BARNSLEY SACK DAVID FLITCROFT

BURNLEY SACK SEAN DYCHE

Peterborough (18th) - Team news: Sam Johnstone comes in for Valery Laktionov, who picked up an injury while on international duty with Ukraine and will be out for around 3 weeks, while Manny Smith took a knock in training that has ruled him out for around 10 days. Cor Gillis replaces him, with Alex Davey being promoted to the bench.

Another good defensive performance limited Peterborough to a few shots from distance, but the lack of penetration or energy in the attacking third is a cause for concern. The service into the box was poor, and nothing seemed about to improve it in this game.

To make matter worse, Cor Gillis suffered a hip injury that will see him miss the next 2-3 months of the season, despite being srnt to receive specialist treatment.

Leeds (11th) - Team news: Alex Davey steps up to the starting XI in place of the injured Gillis. Darnell Fisher comes onto the bench.

A deserved win for Leeds, who could have won by more but for Johnstone saving first from Michael O'Halloran from close range, and then from Paul Corry from the spot after Piotr Dankowski had bundled a Leeds player over in the box at the resulting corner.

Stef Nijland looked a shadow of his usual self, leaving Will Keane to do all the running, and again the creative spark was missing from the midfield.

Alex Davey played quite well, given his first start, though he was at fault for the corner that gave Leeds their goal. James Tavernier came off the post early, however, and so takes the blame for the goal itself - had he stood still, the ball would have hit him and the effort blocked.

Crystal Palace (6th) - Team news: Andrew Tutte comes in for Dennis Wright, who drops to the bench.

Palace only managed a single shot for the first 85 minutes, that coming after a slip by Sagna and a weak header intended for the 'keeper by Davey. Even then, it was only classed as a half chance. Unfortunately for us it went in.

Will Keane missed a couple of sitters either side of the Eagles' goal, while Nijland and Nørgaard both warmed the palms of visiting goalie Jan Mucha, and Ousseynou Sagna went close eith a cheeky long-range lob that Mucha did well to get his fingertips to.

Another narrow defeat, then, but one in which we looked much more creative, while also suffering from having two of the more regular DCs still missing through injury.

Brighton (19th) - Team news: Manny Smith returns, replacing Alex Davey.

We finally score, thanks to Manny Smith's flick header from Brice Irie-Bi's corner, and we are in complete control. Then, for reasons only he could know, Christian Nørgaard handled the ball after Johnstone had looked for him with a goal-kick. Even more bafflingly, considering the ball was in the centre circle, Mike Dean produced a red card. It did appear to be a deliberate handball, but considering the area it was in, a yellow should have sufficed.

We were hanging on a little after that as recently-relegated Brighton threw everything at us in search of the points, but Smith proved to be a towering presence in the heart of the defence, and Sam Johnstone showed that - while he's no Valery Laktionov - he is still a very good goalkeeper.

Table at end Oct 2015

Awards

Wonder if this’ll be classed as an “unsuccessful loan spell” for Benning?

[KDR]

November 2015 Results

Blackpool (22nd) - Team news: Dennis Wright replaces the suspended Christian Nørgaard, with Neil Roberts stepping up to the bench. Valery Laktionov also returns, but is only fit enough to take a place on the bench.

We're in another of those runs at the moment where we have a load of chances and don't score, while the opposition has one shot worthy of the name and it goes flying in.

Predictably enough, it was Jamie Paterson (remember him?) who popped up in the box to head the ball past Sam Johnstone on 58 minutes, scoring very much against the run of play.

Stef Nijland had a goal wrongly ruled out after 14 minutes, while Keane and Grbic hit shots straight at the goalkeeper from good positions, so again, we're creating chances; we simply aren't taking them. The defenders are doing their bit - we've conceded the fewest goals in the division at this point. The strikers and more attacking mids just need to start doing theirs.

Full house!

Bristol City (4th) - Team news: Sam Johnstone continues to deputize for Valery Laktionov, who still hasn't fully recovered from injury. Christian Nørgaard returns, displacing Dennis Wright, while Abdi Ibrahim takes over from the suspended Sam Mantom. Carl Davies is preferred to Stef Nijland, who is jaded and drops to the bench, while Petar Grbic is dropped and made available for the reserves to see if he can get a bit of a boost there.

A win, with a goal each from the strikers to boot!

Carl Davies showed the sort of quality and composure in front of goal that Nijland has been lacking recently, while Keane demonstrated his determination with a good diving header to net his first goal in 10 hours of football.

Grbic probably won't be here long...

Sheff Wed (17th) - Team news: Valery Laktionov returns to first team action following his lay-off. Sam Johnstone drops to the sub GK role. Sam Mantom has served his one-match ban for picking up 5 yellow cards and starts on the bench, where he replaces the injured Neil Roberts.

A bit of a feast after the famine in this one. Carl Davies had a clear chance to put us into the lead straight from the kick-off, but his shot after just 19 seconds went narrowly wide. The young striker made amends 20 minutes later, however, even though the chance was much more difficult than the one he'd already missed.

Some good play down the left saw Ousseynou Sagna with enough time and space to play a low, teasing cross between defenders and goalkeeper, with Will Keane racing in to clip the ball home, and then a free-kick by Brice Irie-Bi was headed clear, but only reached the edge of the box. Irie-Bi himself was able to run onto the loose ball, jink past a defender, and stroke a shot past Paul Jones in the Wednesday goal. Davies completed the scoring with a simple tap-in while I was waiting for a break in play to withdraw him. Davies wasn't thrilled by it, but he had picked up a yellow card an the next game is a real biggie for us.

BOLTON SACK MAURICIO POCHETTINO

Wolves (1st) - Team news: No changes.

A very special way to secure our 10th league win of the season. I'd set the side up for a smash-and-grab performance, and that's precisely what was delivered. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake went closest for the home side, but was never seriously going to beat Valery Laktionov, who palmed the ball away with ease.

However, last time we beat Wolves in the league, we went on a horrible run that eventually saw us finish just one place outside the relegation zone. It would take something even more catastrophic to produce a repeat but...football is cruel, and can hand out all kinds of punishment as you chase the rewards.

DERBY SACK STEVE ROUND

I dread to think what this guy's going to be like if/when I actually achieve something!

Derby (14th) - Team news: No changes.

Abdi Ibrahim and Dennis Wright had good chances to win this one for us either side of half-time, but Ibrahim screwed his horribly wide while Wright needed a fraction longer to compose himself than the 'keeper wanted to allow.

Derby's best chance came through Callum Ball, but the long punt into the box for him to get his head to was easily dealt with by Laktionov.

Table at end Nov 2015

Awards

A bit of recognition for Manny Smith:

And for Ousseynou Sagna:

[KDR]

No 'Half-term report' this season, since the 23rd game was the first to be played after the last monthly update. New objectives added at the end of this one.

December 2015 Results

Sunderland (4th) - Team news: No changes.

The Black Cats certainly meant bad luck for us in this fixture, scoring with their only shot on target 4 minutes in. Thomas Drage was the man on the spot to end Laktionov's run of 514 minutes without conceding.

Will Keane poked home the equalizer after Tutte played him into space, while Tutte himself had the best chance to secure all three points midway through the second half, but blasted the ball narrowly over from the edge of the box. All in all, though, a draw was a fair result.

Mark Hughes got the boot from Southampton here, but the screenie seems to have vanished.

West Ham (11th)p - Team news: Sam Mantom comes in for Abdi Ibrahim, who reverts to a sub's role.

An even game against the Hammers, decided in the end by a good move that Harry Kane ended by slotting the ball past Laktionov, leaving the young Ukrainian with no chance.

Will Keane had our best chance midway through the first half, but Stephen Henderson was equal to the task and managed to get it well clear.

MIDDLESBROUGH SACK EDDIE HOWE

Watford (13th) - Team news: Will Keane picked up an injury against West Ham and will be out for up to 3 weeks. Petar Grbic has returned to the club following his leave of absence and will start.

Unusually, this was a fairly easy win over the Hornets, who were nowhere near as competitive as they usually are even in defeat.

Carl Davies got the ball rolling on 3 minutes when good link-up play between Mantom and Grbic found the England U19 international in space for him to power the ball home, and Amine Linganzi made it two ten minutes later with a near post header from Brice Irie-Bi's corner.

Petar Grbic had a shot well saved on 47 minutes, before hammering the ball into the net just after the hour following a scrappy period of play where neither team seemed able to keep hold of the ball. Márkó Futács grabbed a consolation in injury time after we'd been forced to see the game out with 10 men due to Sam Mantom's 83rd minute injury, briefly giving Watford a sliver of hope, but we shut up shop effectively and saw the game out in measured style.

Ipswich (6th) - Team news: Brice Irie-Bi is suspended after picking up his 5th booking of the season against Watford. Piotr Dankowski takes his place, while Alex Davey comes onto the bench.

Another good, solid win built on a quick start, made all the more pleasing by the way Grbic took his goals. It's just a shame he had to go back to Montenegro for so long to fetch his shooting boots.

The first was a fierce strike from 12 yards following a good move capped by an incisive pass from Nørgaard, while the second was a routine tap-in after a quick break saw Nørgaard and Tavernier combine down the right before switching the ball to Davies in the box. He cut the ball back to the unmarked Grbic, and the rest was a formality.

We continued to create chances by repeatedly catching Ipswich on the break, but Davies and Mantom had shots well saved while Nørgaard, Grbic and Tutte all struck the woodwork.

Jordan Obita hit the crossbar for Ipswich with a superbly struck free-kick, but with our defence the Tractor Boys' fans might as well have gone home early.

SUNDERLAND SACK GUS POYET

Brentford (7th) - Brice Irie-Bi replaces Alex Davey on the bench.

A bit of a non-event. Brentford never registered a shot on target in the entire match, while Manny Smith had a goal ruled out for offside from Grbic's accurate free-kick. Amine Linganzi and Smith were both forced off with injuries as Brentford took a physical approach that saw 5 of their players enter the referee's notebook, with Smith being ruled out for two weeks with a thigh strain as a result and Linganzi facing 10-14 days of treatment for a damaged elbow.

Bolton (15th) - Team news: Darnell Fisher replaces Tavernier at RB, as Tavernier has to slide across to take the DCR position left vacant by Manny Smith's injury. Cor Gillis has returned to training in the nick of time and fills in for Amine Linganzi. Alex Davey will most likely replace him at some point from the bench. Brice Irie-Bi returns, with Dankowski reverting to a sub's role, while Wright and Ibrahim replace Tutte and Mantom in midfield.

This time of year is always hard on the players, but this time it's especially tough, with games scheduled on the 26th, 28th and 30th, and tiredness certainly appeared to be a factor in this game.

We had been on top without really threatening much when Bolton took the lead. Marcos Alonso, the Trotters' LB, took possession deep in his own half and was allowed time and space to get his head up by Christian Nørgaard. The resulting long ball over the top split our makeshift DC pairing and Mark Davies raced through to beat the advancing Laktionov with ease.

Refusing to panic, and mindful of the game coming up on Wednesday, we stick to the original plan and got our reward when Ádám Bógdán fumbled Dennis Wright's free-kick over the line. It went down as an own goal, but the strike was on target so it was harsh to take it away from my player, considering Bógdán never had the ball under any kind of control.

Unfortunately, Wright, Grbic and Irie-Bi picked up injuries late on, but had to stay on since all the subs had been used. As a result, Wright will be out of action for 2-3 weeks while Grbic will miss 5-7 days.

Cardiff (12th) - Team news: Cor Gillis picked up a yellow card early on in his first game back from a long lay-off, so Alex Davey comes in at DCL. Rob Yates provides back-up. Brice Irie-Bi failed to recover sufficiently from the knock sustained against Bolton and drops to the bench. Piotr Dankowski takes his place. Christian Nørgaard is also tired and drops to the bench, being replaced by Daniel Smith, while Tutte and Mantom return. Abdi Ibrahim reverts to his sub's role. Tom Hopper is also in for his first start of the season, replacing the injured Grbic, while Stef Nijland starts ahead of Carl Davies, who drops to the bench.

A great win considering the patched-up nature of the side. Daniel Smith set Hopper away for his first with a ball over the top, while Nijland set the young forward up superbly minutes later, only for the 'keeper to produce a blinding save. Rob Yates had to replace James Tavernier on 23 minutes after the defender picked up an injury, before Sam Mantom went close toward the end of the first half, his shot going just over after beating Joe Lewis all ends up.

Nørgaard replaced Tutte for the second half and was instrumental in setting up Hopper's second goal, easily winning a header on the halfway line from Laktionov's goal-kick o nod the ball down to Mantom. His pass found Nijland in the hole, and he in turn found Hopper, who time his run superbly to clip the ball past the helpless Lewis.

Hopper then had another chance to net his hat-trick on 85 minutes, but somehow managed to hit the bar after rounding the 'keeper, though Lewis appeared to have fancied a stroll as he was nowhere near the box. (I'll put it down to another annoying 'yanks me out of the game' ME glitch.)

Table at end Dec 2015

Awards

Things are looking good for this kid.

Objectives

1 - We're 5 points from hitting our minimum target. I think it's safe to say we're going to get there. The new minimum now has to be a top-half finish, though I'm really expecting us to stay in contention for at least the play-offs (injuries and form notwithstanding).

2 - Do our best in the FA Cup. The 3rd Round draw has pitched us against Man City at the Etihad (still being called the City of Manchester Stadium on my save). Wonga!

[KDR]

January 2016 Results

Burnley (24th) - Team news: Tavernier reverts to his RB position as Gillis and Davey form the DC partnership. Christian Nørgaard comes back in for Daniel Smith, and Carl Davies replaces Stef Nijland up front. Darnell Fisher, Daniel Smith and Nijland drop to the bench, where they are joined by Amine Linganzi. Petar Grbic and Manny Smith have also recovered from their knocks but are still too unfit to feature, though they may come into contention for the Man City cup tie.

We were far too good for Burnley here. Andrew Tutte had played well in the opening minutes, having already played in Nørgaard and Hopper who saw their strikes charged down and saved respectively, and was never going to miss when Brice Irie-Bi's corner was headed weakly away from Alex Davey's head to find the midfielder unmarked and just 8 yards from goal.

Burnley tried to rally, but couldn't get past the midfield, let alone the defence, and Tom Hopper capped a neat move by passing the ball around Matthew Ryan in the Burnley goal after being played in by the excellent Nørgaard.

The third came courtesy of a huge goal-kick from Valery Laktionov, which James Tavernier latched onto and headed the ball infield to Nørgaard, who made a dash for the line before cutting the ball back. Carl Davies was on hand to apply the finish, though he needed two bites of the cherry after Ryan somehow kept out his first attempt.

A slack pass to Tavernier by Irie-Bi allowed Burnley's Andrew Surman to scamper down the wing before squaring for Federico Macheda to get one back on 59 minutes, but the game was as good as won and the scoreline could have been even worse for the Clarets, as Will Keane, Tom Hopper and Daniel Smith all went close late on.

Man City (FA Cup, 3rd Round) - Team news: Amine Linganzi comes in for Alex Davey, while Manny Smith is named on the bench. Darnell Fisher replaces James Tavernier, who was the subject of a transfer bid on the morning of the game.

A solid performance against the runaway leaders in the Prem. Andrew Tutte went down under a heavy challenge in the box on 10 minutes, though nothing was given, before City really began to find their rhythm. Mario Mandzukic returned to haunt us with a good finish on 31 minutes, though we stuck to the task of not letting them run away with the match until we finally came out and attacked around the 70 minute mark. The game transformed into a blood-and-thunder affair, with both sides taking the game to the other.

Cor Gillis was forced off with ten to go, meaning we had to see the game out with 10 men, but Carl Davies upset the apple cart a bit when he twisted and turned to get away from his marker before finishing well. Tom Hopper, who my AssMan advised me to get rid of in the days before the game, provided the pass.

We can never catch many breaks against City, though, and a switch to a more defensive outlook did nothing to bolster things when Sergio Aguero ran forward to play in Younes Belhanda. The Moroccan international shrugged off the challenge of young Alex Davey and fired low across Valery Laktionov's goal, though he only scored thanks to the assistance of a post. Typical smack-in-the-mouth-and-a-knee-in-the-nethers stuff, but at least we weren't embarrassed (conceding the same amount as Man Utd and Arsenal have here this season).

Huddersfield (3rd) - Team news: Manny Smith replaces Cor Gillis, who is unfit, while Mal Benning replaces Dan Harding as sub.

Another good defensive display laid the foundation for this win, which takes us one point past our survival target with 15 games still to go.

Our goal was a bit of a gift, with good pressure from Carl Davies seeing Christoph Leitgeb sell Greg Halford short to set Tom Hopper racing away, but the young striker still had a lot to do and his chip from all of 30 yards gave the back-pedalling Matthew Urwin no chance.

Huddersfield came close to equalizing near the end with their only shot on target forcing a superb one-handed save from Valery Laktionov, but drawing under those circumstances would have been harsh on my team after testing Urwin several times in the preceding 85 minutes.

GARETH SOUTHGATE LEAVES CRYSTAL PALACE FOR ASTON VILLA

Barnsley (20th) - Team news: No changes.

We were absolutely superb in this match, as shown by the fact that we were 3-0 up before Barnsley even registered their first shot. Sam Mantom fired us into the lead after Christian Nørgaard picked up a half-cleared corner and squared it for his midfield colleague, and it was from another corner that our second goal came, with Brice Irie-Bi swinging the ball in for Smith to head back to Mantom. Mantom's shot struck the foot of the post after beating Ben Alnwick - a one-time target of ours - and Carl Davies tucked away the rebound.

Christian Nørgaard has been occupying the playmaker's slot in recent games, to very good effect, and it was his efforts in an advanced area that ultimately created the opening for Mantom to smash in his second, feeding ball wide to Fisher on two occasions before the RB connected with Wright. His pass to Nørgaard drew two defenders out of position, and there was Mantom running in. 3-0.

Barnsley came out in determined mood for the second half, but our switch to a counter-attacking style ensured we continued to reap dividends as the Tykes laboured to make an impression. Despite our dominance, however, it took until 25 minutes from the end for us to breach the Yorkshire side's defence for the 4th time, Carl Davies latching onto Nørgaard's through-ball after Tom Hopper's run had been halted in its tracks.

Sam Mantom then went close on two occasions, Ben Alnwick somehow keeping the score down, before finally being beaten when a Barnsley break fell apart near the halfway line, leaving space behind for our counter to take maximum effect. Nørgaard fed the ball wide to Fisher, Fisher crossed for Davies, and Davies headed the ball back to Mantom on the edge of the area. With the 'keeper in No Man's Land, having rushed out to deal with the threat posed by Davies, it was left to the skipper to lob the ball towards goal. Alnwick had no chance at all, and the ball bounced right on the line to make the score 5-0 with 12 minutes left to play.

Adam Rooney came close to snatching a consolation in the closing stages, firing wide when it was easier to score, and Will Keane spurned a great opportunity to grab a confidence-boosting goal following another superb pass from Nørgaard in stoppage time, but the scoring was done and we'd secured another valuable 3 points.

Table at end Jan 2016

Awards

Lots of awards this month.

There’s a mention for Sam Mantom:

And a win for Christian Nørgaard, with Carl Davies getting 3rd:

Plus a gong for me:

Transfers In

None.

Transfers Out

[KDR]

February 2016 Results

WBA (15th) - Team news: Darnell Fisher has suddenly decided he can't work with me anymore, and has found himself out of the team, on the transfer list, and training alone (technically he's with the reserves, but since I don't have a reserve squad and prefer to make seniors and kids available from those teams only, Fisher is apt to find himself alone with his thoughts). James Tavernier comes back into the starting line-up, having rejected contracts from Everton and Millwall, both Premier League teams.

A typically tense, tight affair, with too many nerves showing to allow for any real quality. Marouane Chamakh hit the bar for the visitors, while Carl Davies blasted our best chance wide of the post in the first half.

In the end, it was a disappointing way to follow up such a thumping win, but most local derbies aren't classics and this joins the long list of non-events. The only positive to come out of it is the fact we at least got a point, which for now at least was good enough to put us up into 2nd place.

Middlesbrough (23rd) - Team news: Piotr Dankowski returns to action, replacing Neil Roberts on the bench.

Another match decided by the odd goal, thanks again to some inspired goalkeeping, this time by Middlesbrough's Carl Salt.

Boro were already a goal down after a real thunderbolt from Carl Davies had broken the deadlock on 8 minutes, but Salt made amends for being beaten by denying first Nørgaard, then Mantom, before making a brilliant double-save from Hopper's close range drive and Davies's follow-up header.

By contrast, Valery Laktionov had very little to do in our goal, and was never seriously threatened, even when Nikola Zigic worked a bit of space for himself in the box and fired low across the goal. Most 'keepers would have palmed the effort around the post for a corner. Laktionov caught it.

The win here is something of a landmark, taking us past the 60-point mark.

Southampton (4th) - Team news: Will Keane returns in place of Tom Hopper, while Petar Grbic is preferred on the bench.

A very tricky tie against one of our main promotion rivals, so I'm not at all displeased with a point.

Aspects of our performance could have been better - we simply didn't exist as an attacking force in the first half, and barely posed a threat until the closing stages of the second - but we defended well when we needed to and made life equally difficult for the Saints.

Table at end Feb 2016

Awards

[Animosama]

hold on to that spot

[KDR]

hold on to that spot

I'll try!

In the meantime...

Youth intake 2016

All bar two - Nigel White and Adebayo Okechukwu - have been put on contracts by my HoY.

Aaron Seabury's rating has been revised upward following the inter-youth match, for some reason. Hinton and Hull look more like strikers to me, and Ellis looks a good fit for a BBM, so they're being retrained.

[cerud]

That's very tight at the top of the table. Nothing decided there yet!

[KDR]

That's very tight at the top of the table. Nothing decided there yet!

It is very tight. Consistency is the main issue for pretty much everyone. Let's see who can hold their nerves.

March 2016 Results

Nott'm Forest (10th) - Team news: Andrew Tutte comes in for Dennis Wright, who has lost a bit of form and drops to the bench.

The first game of the month should have taken place at Peterborough on the 1st, but a waterlogged pitch saw that fixture get postponed.

The game started well for us, with the midfield doing particularly well, so it was no surprise when Tutte and Davies combined well before the playmaking midfielder slid the ball through for Will Keane, who side-stepped a defender before passing the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal.

Keane then had a glorious opportunity to put us two goals to the good following another great pass by Tutte, but the striker manage to put this easier chance just wide.

That let-off seemed to encourage Forest, as they immediately came at us with renewed vigour, with Edinho Junior finally grabbing the equalizer following a succession of corners when Omri Altman centred from the right.

The second half started more evenly, with neither side creating much in the way of clear-cut opportunities. That changed on 56 minutes, however, when Forest replaced Edinho Junior with Sam Vokes, with the former Wolves man poking the ball past Laktionov just 20 seconds after coming on.

We pushed on in search of a way back into the game, and Carl Davies though he'd rescued a point with a good close-range finish after Mantom had hit the bar, but the assistant's flag went up and the effort was ruled out for offside.

BLACKPOOL SACK KEITH HILL

Leeds (8th) - Team news: No changes.

It was important to get back to winning ways as quickly as we could, but I hadn't really expected it to come against Leeds and, in fairness, they battered us, out-shooting us at a rate of almost 5 to 1, though we edged it in possession. Much of their edge had to do with their hard, physical approach to the game that saw Amine Linganzi forced off with an injury, knocks sustained by Tavernier, Sagna and Irie-Bi, and eventually resulted in three yellow cards, two final cautions, and three more warnings besides.

Carl Davies finished neatly following a mistake by Alan Judge before picking up a booking for what appeared to be retaliation -he was fouled, the Leeds player got away with a talking to, and a minute later Carl kicks the lad up in the air - but we'll need to improve if we are to stay in the hunt for promotion.

I REACH 200 GAMES IN MANAGEMENT

SIMON GRAYSON LEAVES PETERBOROUGH FOR BLACKPOOL

Brighton (19th) - Team news: No changes.

Our defence is the stingiest in England this season...but you wouldn't have believed it on the evidence of this game. True, the conditions were atrocious, but we were all over the place and weren't even getting the basics right, especially at set-pieces.

Nicki Bille Nielsen grabbed both of Brighton's goals, winning a header against Manny Smith from Ryan Shotton's monster throw to flick the ball past Laktionov, before grabbing his second with a free header after a corner from the left dropped between the DCs to find the forward running in.

We were much more of an attacking force in this match, and went close through Grbic, Davies, Mantom and Wright (twice), but just couldn't bag any goals to show for our efforts.

Peterborough (21st) - Team news: Stef Nijland replaces Petar Grbic on the bench.

This twice-postponed fixture finally got the go-ahead a full three weeks after the game was to have been played, and the condition of the pitch was beyond terrible.

Neither side was able to find much in the way of rhythm, with the game ultimately degenerating into a 70s throwback game, with lots of long balls and airborne passes on an energy-sapping pitch that looked more like the Somme than a sporting arena.

Stef Nijland came on to good effect, setting up Carl Davies after Mantom and Tutte had done the heavy work in midfield. Michael Bostwick waded through the mud to close the young striker down, just as he had with Mantom in the first half, but Davies took it early and found the back of the net, and it was Nijland himself that made sure of the points 9 minutes later, as Mantom and Tutte again got through some industrial stuff in the centre to set Wright away on one of London Road's sparse areas of grass. Wright seemed to be closing in for a shot of his own, but squared the ball superbly for Nijland to tap in at the far post.

Blackpool (22nd) - Team news: Stef Nijland did enough in the last game to earn himself a starting berth again, while Tom Hopper is promoted to bench as reward for his fine form for the reserves.

This game sums up why we won't go up at least not automatically. I'm trying to take as much pressure off the team as I can, and the players seem to respond well...but then they go and do stupid things the likes of which they've not done before this season, which is a sign of either too much pressure getting to them, or a weak/complacent mind.

Alex John-Baptiste scored Blackpool's first from a corner, whihc had itself come from virtually nothing. Amine Linganzi knocked the ball back to the 'keeper under some pressure, but overhit it. Unfortunately, he had also put the backpass on-target (something I would never, ever encourage - the risk of Neville-and-Robinson-style embarrassment is far too great), so that in the end Laktionov did well to tip it over.

We changed things around in an attempt to get back into the game, but as so often happens, the chances were created but wasted, and in the end Jose Baxter popped up to put us out if our misery with 15 minutes left to play. Amine Linganzi - who has been a rock for most of the season since replacing Gillis during the Belgian's spell on the sidelines - unnecessarily attempted to head the ball back to Laktionov. Sadly for him, and us, it turned into one of those weak 'more up' efforts that fell into the hole between DCs and goalie. Baxter nipped in, sidled around Laktionov, and slid the ball into the net.

This result drops us to 4th, with just 2 games from our remaining 6 to be played at home.

Crystal Palace (3rd) - Team news: Cor Gillis replaces Amine Linganzi, who takes a place on the bench. Dennis Wright is preferred to an out-of-sorts Christian Nørgaard, and Tom Hopper come in for Stef Nijland, who hasn't recovered sufficiently to start this Bank Holiday game.

This team baffles me, it really does. We were as good here, against the side sitting third in the table, as we were awful for large parts of the game against the team sitting third from bottom.

Brice Irie-Bi got the rout underway with a wonderful slide-rule pass for Davies to net his 12th of the season with 12 minutes played, before Davies himself turned provider for Tom Hopper early in the second half.

Good work by the industrious Wright set Davies away to bag his second of the game shortly after the hour, with the youngster showing good strength and guile to hold off the defender before skipping round the 'keeper to score.

Jan Mucha was unfortunate to score an own goal just four minutes later, when Sam Mantom's thunderous effort struck the crossbar before looping into the air, striking the luckless 'keeper on the back and going in, while Mantom went on to complete the scoring in the end by latching onto Davies's pass to slot the ball past the advancing Mucha.

We scored as many goals here as Palace had shots in the entire match, with Laktionov only called into semi-serious action once as we recorded our 20th league win of the campaign and broke the 70-point barrier for the first time ever at this level (but then, the 59 point haul last season was a record in itself, which tells you something).

Table at end Mar 2016

Awards

And finally...

This might explain something:

[Lenzar]

I'd not play Linganzi again, at least not as a starter.

Any chance of going up requires no bottling.

[KDR]

I'd not play Linganzi again, at least not as a starter.

Any chance of going up requires no bottling.

I need to have a bit of a shake-up at the end of the season anyway - either because we've gone up (please let it be because we've gone up!), or because we need to free up some of the wage budget; we're already at the limit of what we can reasonably afford.

So, it's not looking good for Amine. He's been good for us overall, but...for everything there is a season, and all that.

April 2016 Results

Bristol City (10th) - Team news: James Tavernier picked up his 10th yellow card of the season against Palace and serves a two-match ban. With relations having broken down between me and Darnell Fisher,16-year-old Aaron Seabury is handed his first start less than a month after joining the club.

A hard-fought win over a resilient City side, who went into this game still harbouring play-off hopes of their own.

Tom Hopper earned himself a Man of the Match award, having set the ball rolling by providing the pass that allowed Carl Davies to fire us into an early lead. Stephen Quinn equalized twenty minutes later, capping a good, patient move by stroking the ball beyond Laktionov's dive from the edge of the area.

Liam Fontaine then almost gave the Robins the lead with a far post header, following up on a shot by Sam Baldock from a corner, before the same player let Davies run off him to fire a powerful shot at goal. Lee Camp did well to save.

Tom Hopper had a goal disallowed for offside on 75 minutes, Carl Davies having delayed the final pass just a fraction too long, and the game looked set to fizzle out into a draw when Liam Fontaine hacked Hopper down in the box. Hopper himself stepped up to take the pen, and made no mistake with the finish.

Wolves (1st) - Team news: Dennis Wright picked up an injury on the eve of the match and misses out. Christian Nørgaard gets the start, with Neil Roberts taking the spot on the bench.

The old, old story was heard again in this game - good openings created, with the chances either spurned or very well-saved.

Ousseynou Sagna gave away a stupid free-kick just outside the box two minutes into the second half, and Ryan Taylor duly stepped up to send the ball into the top left-hand corner of Laktiono's goal to notch his first for the club.

Davies posed a serious threat throughout the match for us, but Hennessey was in good form and proved the equal of anything the striker could throw at him.

Sheff Wed (16th) - Team news: Tavernier returns for Seabury.

We got off to a great start in this match, going close through Gillis and Manny Smith from corners before Carl Davies played the ball through for Tom Hopper to open the scoring. Davies then saw a chance superbly turned away by Mason Springthorpe in the Wednesday goal, before a fierce shot by Tutte was parried to Davies, who curled his shot against the post before being denied the tap-in. Brice Irie-Bi swing the ball in, and Cor Gillis rose highest to head the ball in to the top right-hand corner of the net.

Hopper and Davies then wasted two other good chances in the second half, and the game was poised on a knife-edge when Ross McCormack hammered a shot past Laktionov with 10 minutes remaining.

Sam Mantom picked up a season-ending knock late-on, and he now faces 7-8 weeks on the treatment table.

WOLVES PROMOTED

WEST HAM PROMOTED

Sunderland (12th) - Team news: Abdi Ibrahim comes in for the injured Sam Mantom. Daniel Smith is promoted to the bench.

With West Ham having secured promotion with a thumping 5-1 win over Leeds in the Friday night game, this was more about keeping the team together and maintaining fitness in the dead rubbers before the play-offs.

The plan immediately backfired as Carl Davies was taken off after 5 minutes with a fractured arm, which has ruled him out for 4 weeks, and things went from bad to worse as Jamie Mackie scored with Sunderland's only shot on target, playing a crafty one-two with the post before tapping the ball past the prone and helpless Laktionov.

Tom Hopper bagged the equalizer from the spot after being fouled by Andy Wilkinson, but Abdi Ibrahim made sure it was an afternoon to forget after picking up a second yellow on 80 minutes.

BARNSLEY RELEGATED

PETERBOROUGH RELEGATED

Derby (17th) - Team news: Craig Gibbons, Neil Roberts, and Stef Nijland come into the side, with Cor Gillis dropping to the bench. Abdi Ibrahim serves his suspension, while Carl Davies's injury gives Will Keane another chance to shine in the coming weeks.

With 3rd place effectively sealed thanks to our massively superior goal difference over Crystal Palace, we were able to throw caution to the wind and attack Derby from the off.

Initially, it seemed to have worked, as the Rams had no answer to our approach. It was slightly disappointing to only go in one go to the good at the half, especially as the chance Nijland missed a minute after scoring was the easier of the two, but we had restricted Derby's play so much that they had failed to have a single shot on goal in the entire 45 minutes of play.

We came out looking for more of the same, and seemed set to get it when Tom Hopper drilled a shot against the crossbar, but what followed can only be described as end-of-season farce. Brice Irie-Bi started it while attempting a backpass to Laktionov. First he underhit it, then chased it down. Unfortunately, Laktionov had started to rush out to head off an incoming Derby striker, and instead of leaving i for the 'keeper to clear upfield, Irie-Bi slid in, effectively tackling Laktionov, to knock the ball towards goal. George Green knocked the ball over the line, though putting it down as a shot is almost an insult.

The slapstick football wasn't done with yet, though. Mark O'Brien and Frank Fielding went for the same nothing ball, and again, instead of leaving it to the man facing up the pitch, O'Brien threw himself full-length at the ball. Fielding reacted brilliantly to save, but could only palm the ball to Nijland, who accepted the gift with gratitude.

Tom Naylor salvaged another equalizer in the 76th minute, this one coming from the rather more orthodox route of winning a header at a corner, though the effort did need the aid of the crossbar to beat Laktionov, and the game wound down into a 2-2 draw before yet another packed house.

Table at end Apr 2016

Our highest ever league finish, trumping the 6th place achieved at the equivalent of this level back in 1898/99.

Awards

[Lenzar]

Take it from me regarding going up - even if you're in financial trouble the obscene levels of money will help you greatly.

Do you think you'll see the Bescot growing soon?

[KDR]

Take it from me regarding going up - even if you're in financial trouble the obscene levels of money will help you greatly.

Do you think you'll see the Bescot growing soon?

I doubt it. We've hit capacity 5 times this season, including the home play-off semi (no big home ties in the cups this season). We also got high 9000s/low 10000s in about 8 other games, which isn't too bad...but I don't think it'll be enough for the board to fund an increase.

And I'll have to husband the budgets for a while yet, as there'll be no pot of Prem cash for next season...

Ipswich had 4 shots on target over the tie. Valery Laktionov is a very good goalkeeper (4.5 star, 'good Prem player' quality). Somehow, all four shots went in.

But at least the Tractor Boys finished the job.

[KDR]

2015-2016 Season Review

League: 3rd in nPower Championship (lost agg. 2-4 to Ipswich in Play-Off Semi-Final)

WINNERS: Wolverhampton Wanderers

FA Cup: Lost in 5th Round to Man City

WINNERS: Manchester City

Capital One Cup: Lost in 3rd Round to West Ham

WINNERS: Manchester City

Awards

Summary

No message for this again (though I got told all about Sunderland’s new average!), but we set a new average attendance record of 8,841.

News

Some bad news:

I went to the boardroom:

Then, a day or so later, realisation dawned:

Though true enlightenment comes but slowly:

Departures

In actual fact I let Eddie Hopper leave because he kept trying and failing to get his UEFA 'A' badge, and I'm sure I can find a better defensive or technical coach to fill the gap.

[Mattias333]

I could just imagine him turning up at Bescot. The look on his face would be classic!

And Victoria!

"What are the shops like?"

"Well...there's TK Maxx, and we've got a Matalan next door to Lidl's..."

Ha! dont knock Walsall chap! Im a Norwich Home & Away season ticket holder and me and lads usually stop over night at a few select places an usually after playing Villa we stay over for a night out with one of the lads bosses who lives there. Anyway usually his boss takes us to some right dives in the surrounding area (as we usually avoid birmingham). But last season we had a surprisingly good (yet random) night out in Walsall. Was a good laugh!

[KDR]

Glad you enjoyed your night out, mate.

I live in the town, so I'm not knocking the place (too much ).

I remember playing your lot in the 1999-2000 season. I was in the pub with my mates for the usual pre-game...'festivities' (sadly, all too often the best bit of the day), and was just tucking into a sausage sandwich when who strolls in but Delia Smith!

Double takes all round, but all the fawning that was going on and the Norwich scarf were dead giveaways.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Great effort KDR. I know how it feels to get so close.

[KDR]

Great effort KDR. I know how it feels to get so close.

Yeah, I noticed. Losing the first leg after taking the lead was a bit of a disappointment, especially given the 2 shots, 2 goals thing. But you can take that because it happens sometimes. I really wasn't expecting more of the same in the second leg, though.

The biggest problem is that some players' performances attracted attention, while others only have 12 months left on their contracts.

[KDR]

2016-2017 Season Preview

News

More youth development:

And an increase in budget:

More bums on seats, too:

Expectations and Finances

Finances on 02/07/2016

Sponsorships

Objectives

1 – We achieved all our aims in the league last season. This season? We have to maintain our standards. We must i) win 20 games, pushing for 23 if possible; ii) achieve a top-half finish as a bare minimum (this is also the board’s minimum expectation), qualifying for the play-offs (at least) if we can.

2 – Try to do well in the cups. We’ve been beaten by the eventual winners of the FA Cup in each of the last three seasons, pushing them all the way. Let’s see if we can do it again.

3 – Continue to push the club forward, whether it wants to go there or not. :-D

[KDR]

2016 European Championships

If the real final’s like that...*snore*

Pre-Season 2016-2017

Media’s predicted final positions

1: Fulham

2: Queens Park Rangers

3: Bolton Wanderers

4: Wigan Athletic

5: Southampton

6: Crystal Palace

7: Bristol City

8: Leeds United

9: Watford

10: Sunderland

11: Walsall

12: West Bromwich Albion

13: Nottingham Forest

14: Brentford

15: Cardiff City

16: Sheffield Wednesday

17: Derby County

18: Huddersfield Town

19: Brighton and Hove Albion

20: Birmingham City

21: Burnley

22: Charlton Athletic

23: Middlesbrough

24: Doncaster Rovers

Transfers in (to end of transfer window)

Sebastián Ribas - 28 y/o Uruguayan/Italian Striker. Previously at Genoa. Also appointed U18s Manager.

Damien Le Tallec - 26 y/o French Striker. 4 U21 caps.

Grant Hall - 24 y/o English DC/R.

Jason Pearce - 28 y/o English DC/L.

Ameth Dramé - 19 y/o Senegalese/French MC. Previously at Lille. 8 U20 caps.

Paolo Pè - 19 y/o Italian Mr/L. Previously at Inter Milan.

Luke O'Neill - 25 y/o English D/WBR/DL.

Transfers out (to end of transfer window)

[KDR]

August 2016 Results

Nott'm Forest (16th) - Team news: The team selected for the first game of the season is: Laktionov; Hall, Yates, Manny Smith, Pearce; Irie-Bi; Wright, Nørgaard, Ibrahim; Davies, Le Tallec. Subs: Johnstone, Sagna, Gillis, Kinsella, Roberts, Tutte, Nijland.

Sagna has only just recovered from a knock sustained in a friendly and lacks match fitness, while Piotr Dankowski is yet to return from Olympics duty with Germany U23s.

An encouraging start to the season, though I'm not happy at the goals we conceded.

Eric put Forest in front from the spot on 11 minutes after Manny Smith needlessly brought him down, though the lead didn't last too long thanks to Damien Le Tallec's tap-in. It was a debut goal for the striker, though it was tough on Jason Pearce, who had rattled the crossbar with his near-post header from Carl Davies's drilled corner.

The midfield three kept combining wonderfully throughout the game, with Irie-Bi providing a good alternative whenever things became a little congested, and it was one such quick interplay that eventually saw Christian Nørgaard played into some space. The Dane could have taken a shot on himself, but instead slipped the ball to Davies as a defender closed in. Last season's top scorer didn't need asking twice, and opened his account for this season by stroking the ball past Declan Rudd.

The game seemed as good as over from then on, but Sam Vokes came on to do what Sam Vokes normally does against us, his goal coming when Manny Smith deserted his post to 'help' Grant Hall, who was being led a merry dance by Gaël Kakuta. Kakuta immediately managed to win a yard and cut the ball back to the edge of the six yard box, and there was Vokes, now unmarked, to knock the ball home.

Kakuta then went close, hitting the post after wriggling free of Yates and Pearce, while Le Tallec and Wright were denied at the other end, but the scoring was done.

Northampton (Capital One Cup, 1st Round) - Team news: Sam Johnstone comes in for Laktionov, while Cor Gillis replaces Manny Smith, who drops to the bench. Ousseynou Sagna starts, as does Piotr Dankowski, in for Rob Yates and Brice Irie-Bi respectively. Liam Kinsella gives Abdi Ibrahim a bit of a rest, and Sebastián Ribas is in line to make an appearance after replacing Stef Nijland on the bench.

Le Tallec looks like he might be a good signing for us. He didn't manage to get on the scoresheet in this game, but he did provide the pass for Davies to open the scoring, and then held the ball well late on before knocking it back for Yates, whose first-time cross found Davies's head for the young striker to secure the win.

In between those goals, Yates switched off as Alex Nicholls attacked down our right, allowing Robin Shroot to nip in to meet the former Saddler's low cross, and Piotr Dankowski scored his first ever senior goal by firing in a free-kick from just outside the box.

Bristol City (5th) - Team news: Laktionov, Irie-Bi, and Ibrahim all return, while Gillis, Sagna and Ribas keep their places.

Brett Holman's 36th minute strike consigned us to defeat, with the goal being one of those unjust-punishment things that Leicester or Brentford fans will know all about.

We were on the attack, still with plenty of bodies back to break up a counter, and playing very well. Irie-Bi rolled the ball out wide for Hall, and his lofted pass for Nørgaard, and the Danish midfielder's backheel flick to Davies, were wonderful to behold. Davies crossed for Le Tallec, but the Frenchman lost out to Liam Fontaine. Wright gathered the loose ball and fed it wide to Hall again, and his first-time cross was met by a volley from Davies. Lee Camp was beat all ends up, but the crossbar came to his rescue and the ball rebounded clear of the area(!). Cole Skuse cleared the ball to Wotherspoon on the wing, and he scampered away down our left, skipping past Ibrahim's challenge before twisting and turning as Sagna shepherded his away from goal. Irie-Bi joined the LB to force the Robins' player into the corner and eventually won the ball. Irie-Bi laid the ball off for Sagna to clear as Wotherspoon tackled back, but Sagna then seemed to pass the ball back to the winger. Wotherspoon crossed low, and there was Holman, waiting to pounce as Pearce and Gillis were pushing back out.

City never seriously threatened again after that, while Camp saved well from Davies (twice), Le Tallec and Ribas as we threw everything we could at them. One day it just might be enough.

NIGEL ADKINS LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST FOR WEST HAM

Sunderland (5th) - Team news: We played well despite the result last time out, and partnerships have yet to form. No changes.

The Black Cats continued their 100% start with a narrow win that was nevertheless thoroughly deserved. We played well in patches without ever really getting going, while Sunderland were asking all the right questions with every attack.

Laktionov did well on a couple of occasions to deny Danny Graham, but his best moment probably came when he saved Alfred N'Diaye's penalty on 40 minutes, after an alleged infringement by Brice Irie-Bi. My players were outraged by the award, and it did look harsh. Justice was done in the end, though - the pen was missed but the better side won the game.

Southampton (3rd) - Team news: Manny Smith returns in place of Cor Gillis, while Andrew Tutte replaces Dennis Wright.

There's not a great deal to say about this game, as nothing really happened! Neither side really threatened, with the closest anyone came to a goal being Falque's late effort that Laktionov plucked out of the air on the run.

Sheff Utd (Capital One Cup, 2nd Round) - Team news: Sam Johnstone comes in for Valery Laktionov.

The writing's on the wall. We played well, looking good at the back as well as threatening in attack, and Le Tallec looked sharp when he bagged our goal early on. Indeed, the French striker could have had 4 goals in normal time, but hit the post after collecting Davies's wonderful backheel, allowed Legzdins to save well on his return to the club, and then hit the bar with a header after Hall had gathered up a loose clearance and delivered a lofted ball back into the box.

Carl Davies and Andrew Tutte worked tirelessly to create attack after attack, with Davies putting a low shot across goal narrowly wide, as well as providing an accurate corner for Jason Pearce to thump a header against the bar.

Le Tallec managed to find the inside of the post again with our first pen of the shootout while the Blades scored their first three, and when young sub Piotr Dankowski saw his low, hard penalty saved by Legzdins, the game was as good as up. Neil Collins duly delivered the final blow, and if this keeps up I'll be one of the usual spate of late September/early October sackings.

Burnley (9th) - Team news: We looked much better against Sheff Utd after a quick reshuffle, so Cor Gillis comes in at RB, Grant Hall slides over to DCR, and Manny Smith drops to the bench. Dennis Wright replaces Christian Nørgaard in midfield, and Connor Birchall is named as sub goalie due to Valery Laktionov suffering a bruised jaw. (Serves him right for wanting to move to a bigger club. )

Abject. Pathetic. Lazy.

I actually wanted to be sacked at times during this game.

And we finished with 10 men after Sagna had to leave the field, following on from 'green' injuries to Ibrahim and his replacement, Kinsella, and other heavy, energy-sapping knocks sustained by Tutte, Wright, Davies, Pearce and Gillis.

Three subs? I could have done with 300.

Huddersfield (18th) - Team news: Manny Smith and Rob Yates replace the unfit duo of Hall and Pearce in the centre of defence. Christian Nørgaard comes in for Andrew Tutte, while Carl Davies is tired and needs a rest. Sebastisn Ribas replaces him. Pearce, Hall and Davies remain on the bench, where they are joined by Neil Roberts (for the injured Kinsella).

A win to relieve some of the pressure, though it needed a comeback to get it and Cor Gillis has approached to say he's losing faith in me. If he's saying it, others must be thinking it and it certainly seemed to show in the performance against Burnley, as well as rearing its head here.

Sean Scannell gave Huddersfield the lead on 26 minutes after the defence allowed him the freedom of the half to step forward and score, and things could have been worse by half-time as Gillis gave the ball away cheaply on the right. Scannell crossed for Paddy Madden to head at goal, but Sam Johnstone produced a fine save to tip the ball over the bar.

Strangely enough given our recent run and the other things that seem to be going on amongst the players, confidence remains quite high, and a quick morale boosting, but relaxed team talk sees the lads come out in more determined mood.

Even so, it took the departures of Nørgaard and Gillis for Tutte and Hall for our new-found confidence to reap dividends, with Damien Le Tallec bagging another goal after Ribas flipped the ball over the top for him to run on to and Tutte slamming home the winner after Irie-Bi's corner was headed to him on the edge of the box.

It's been a real dog of a month overall, though, and I'm not really convinced that we can do what's expected of us at this stage, let alone go one better than last season.

Table at end Aug 2016

[Mattias333]

Glad you enjoyed your night out, mate.

I live in the town, so I'm not knocking the place (too much ).

I remember playing your lot in the 1999-2000 season. I was in the pub with my mates for the usual pre-game...'festivities' (sadly, all too often the best bit of the day), and was just tucking into a sausage sandwich when who strolls in but Delia Smith!

Double takes all round, but all the fawning that was going on and the Norwich scarf were dead giveaways.

haha good old Delia! She takes alot of stick but without her we would have gone under long ago! Really down to earth as well. Still sits with the riff raff at times as well which is something most clubs chair-people would never do.

[KDR]

haha good old Delia! She takes alot of stick but without her we would have gone under long ago! Really down to earth as well. Still sits with the riff raff at times as well which is something most clubs chair-people would never do.

I have to say she seemed nice enough, not 'diva-ish' at all. That half-time appearance was cringeworthy and ill-advised to say the least, but we all makes mistakes I suppose.

Sep 2016 Results

Doncaster (23rd) - Team news: Luke O'Neill comes straight into the side at RB following his deadline day switch from Crewe, while Grant Hall shuffles across to his preferred DCR position. Cor Gillis takes the DCL spot, with Jason Pearce and Manny Smith taking places on the bench. Andrew Tutte is handed a start ahead of Christian Nørgaard, while Carl Davies comes back into the starting XI in place of Ribas, who drops to the bench. Neil Roberts and Daniel Smith have left the club on loan, while Liam Kinsella is still ruled out with injury, so Ameth Dramé could be in line for a cameo appearance. Valery Laktionov also returns, albeit as sub goalie.

Another sloppy goal conceded in this one, again the fault of Cor Gillis. He completely missed an easy header in the box, with the ball dropping to Billy Paynter.

Shelton Martis and Rovers' 'keeper Gary Woods had a total breakdown in communications from the restart, with Martis flicking the ball beyond Woods as the goalie advanced to gather up a wayward long pass, while Le Tallec collected a pass from Davies early in the second half to slot an effort past Woods and into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal.

Middlesbrough (4th) - Team news: Jason Pearce replaces Cor Gillis, who drops to the bench, and Valery Laktionov returns in place of Sam Johnstone.

Another of those games where we worked hard to take the lead, but fell to the old 'two shots on target, two goals' routine. I'm starting to lose faith in Laktionov on the back of it. He's learnt the language now but seems to have gone a bit...well, *carp*. If he wants to move on, he's not doing himself many favours.

Cardiff (11th) - Team news: Sam Johnstone is preferred to Laktionov.

I'm not quite sure what happened in that 5 minute spell. Cardiff had barely threatened, but the same could have been said of us, so when Le Tallec gave us the lead from 15 yards out, having been played in by Wright, my first reaction was that we'd need to switch things around to make sure we saw the game out. What happened instead was that Dennis Wright himself scored as the changes were waiting to take effect, Le Tallec playing the role of provider this time with a low cross.

Le Tallec then collected a pass from Andrew Tutte after Ibrahim won the ball from the kick-off, and embarked on a teasing run before firing a shot at goal from 20 yards. Marshall got a palm to it but could only parry the ball out, and there was Carl Davies to tuck away his 5th of the season.

No prizes for guessing who was named Man of the Match, and it was no less than he deserved.

Charlton (24th) - Team news: Le Tallec has failed to recover from his exploits against Cardiff, so he drops to the bench. Sebastián Ribas fills in.

Things are finally beginning to come together. We're still a bit ropey on occasion and our defending for Charlton's goal was a joke, but we looked good going forward and were well in control of the game overall, so there's much more reason for optimism than there was just a few games ago.

It's good to see Wright finally getting among the goals, too; for a BBM with his overall level of quality he's not really done enough in an attacking sense. Fingers crossed he can continue in the same vein when he comes back from his latest injury - a 3-month lay-off thanks to a torn hamstring sustained very late on, which meant we had to end the game with just 10 on the pitch.

Wigan (2nd) - Team news: Damien Le Tallec comes back in, while Tom Hopper takes a spot on the bench. Christian Nørgaard replaces the injured Dennis Wright, and Liam Kinsella is promoted to the bench along with Paolo Pè. Ameth Dramé is on international duty with Senegal.

Another game where we took the lead and looked comfortable right up to the point where we suddenly weren't. Mauro Boselli made the difference in 9 second half minutes, first finding space at the far post to head home a driven cross, then capitalizing on an error by Johnstone to tap home his second, so consigning us to a 5th league defeat already this season.

Watford (17th) - Team news: Valery Laktionov replaces Sam Johnstone in goal, while Luke O'Neill, Abdi Ibrahim and Carl Davies miss out due to fitness, though O'Neill and Ibrahim are named on the bench. Cor Gillis, Liam Kinsella and Stef Nijland replace them.

There's no such thing as a bad away point. There's no such thing as a bad away point...and yet, we could have had all three if Hopper and Dramé had put their clear-cut, please-score-me-because-I-really-am-begging-for-it chances away late in the second half. And if Chris Martin hadn't been given all the time in th world to nod home a long throw that reached right under the crossbar, cancelling out Le Tallec's strike.

CRYSTAL PALACE SACK DOUGIE FREEDMAN

BOLTON SACK SAM ALLARDYCE

Table at end Sep 2016

Awards

[KDR]

Oct 2016 Results

A great month, with only the Leeds reverse to spoil a series of strong performances. We simply never turned up for that game, possibly due to a bit of tiredness creeping in.

WATFORD SACK BILLY DAVIES

KEVIN BLACKWELL LEAVES DONCASTER FOR SHEFFIELD UNITED

Table at end Oct 2016

Awards

[KDR]

Nov 2016 Results

A proud moment for Valery Laktionov (and for me, basking in reflected glory ).

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY SACK CHRIS POWELL

Table at end Nov 2016

Awards

[KDR]

Dec 2016 Results

MARTIN O'NEILL LEAVES QPR FOR READING

LEEDS SACK IAN HOLLOWAY

MARCO VAN BASTEN LEAVES SOUTHAMPTON FOR BLACKBURN

OWEN COYLE LEAVES WBA FOR QPR

Table at end Dec 2016

[KDR]

Jan 2017 Results

Table at end Jan 2017

Awards

Transfers In

None

Transfers Out

Mal Benning's gone to Sligo Rovers. Keep meaning to sort the Irish badge pack out, but never get round to it.

[Animosama]

Get back into the playoffs

[KDR]

Get back into the playoffs

Ta-da!

Feb 2017 Results

Table at end Feb 2017

[Lenzar]

Just need to get those silly losses sorted and you'll be EPL in no time.

[KDR]

Just need to get those silly losses sorted and you'll be EPL in no time.

Yeah, it's been a frustrating season. Couldn't get it together defensively until I put Manny Smith back in, but he's got the same Important Matches weakness that Linganzi suffered from so...how far do I trust him now? Hall is good when he wants to be, but is also prone to bouts of laziness, so he's not going to last either.

The midfield's really missed Sam Mantom. Ibrahim's a good back-up, but he's not the answer long-term. I had to let Sam go, though, because his deal was up in June 2017 and his agent priced him out of my reach (asked for £21k p/w, when my maximum was £12.5k. Still, I got £1.8m and 45% of his next fee - and he got to play in the EPL on ~£22k p/w).

Mar 2017 Results

CARDIFF SACK PHIL PARKINSON

Table at end Mar 2017

Awards

Youth Intake 2017

[Animosama]

Continue to hold on to that spot

[KDR]

Continue to hold on to that spot

Tried. The truth is, though, we just weren't good enough or consistent enough overall.

Apr 2017 Results

As you can see, the Fulham game took place on a Sunday. The day before, Rovers surrendered to the inevitable:

DONCASTER RELEGATED

Fulham (1st) – Changed to 3-2-1-3-1. O’Neill and Sagna drop to the bench as Pearce and Dankowski come in. Daniel Smith takes the AML role, while Sebastián Ribas starts as the target man up front.

Crystal Palace (21st) – Switched back to 4-1-3-2. Team: Johnstone; O’Neill, Manny Smith, Gillis, Sagna; Dankowski; Nørgaard, Tutte, Irie-Bi; Davies, Le Tallec. Subs: Birchall, Pearce, Hall, Kinsella, Wright, Ibrahim, Ribas.

Birmingham (15th) – Jason Pearce replaces Manny Smith.

WBA (11th) – No changes.

Bolton (13th) – Dennis Wright comes in for Andrew Tutte. Brice Irie-Bi reverts to the anchor role, leaving Dankowski to drop to the bench as Abdi Ibrahim returns to an MC role.

FULHAM CROWNED CHAMPIONS

WATFORD RELEGATED

CHARLTON RELEGATED

The Race for the Play-Offs

The top 5 were already well out of reach of everybody else.

Brighton (6th) – Cor Gillis was at serious fault for Bolton’s goal in the last match, and didn’t do well against WBA. Manny Smith is a risk for such a big tie, but still appears to be the better option. Andrew Tutte replaces Christian Nørgaard.

SOUTHAMPTON PROMOTED

QPR (3rd) – No changes.

CHARLTON SACK PAUL JEWELL

Final Table – May 2017

Awards

[Animosama]

ouch nice try

[KDR]

ouch nice try

Cheers. That last month - and the last day - really summed up the season for us. The man responsible for losing Korey Smith for the killer goal? Manny Smith.

2016-2017 Season Review

League: 7th in nPower Championship

WINNERS: Fulham

FA Cup: Lost in 3rd Round to Sunderland

WINNERS: Arsenal

Capital One Cup: Lost in 2nd Round on pens to Sheffield United

WINNERS: Arsenal

Awards

Summary

News

Some not entirely unexpected news:

Followed by a bit more. I think I might struggle to hold on to this kid...

The managerial merry-go-round continues apace:

DENNIS ROFE LEAVES MIDDLESBROUGH

Hey! I got at least one thing right this season!

No choice offered this time, but I can live with it.

Departures

End of season reaction

Despite the way the season ended and the inconsistency we suffered from throughout, we actually achieved our minimum aims for the league this season – a top-half finish, having won at least 20 league games.

Our performance in the cups left something to be desired. All respect to Sheffield Utd, but we should have battered them in normal time and there’s no way we should have lost to such opposition with the team we put out and the overall squad we have. The Sunderland game in the FA Cup...we just didn’t turn up, at least until it was too late.

I was delighted with the impact of Damien Le Tallec, though. He was the player we were missing last season. With him up front and that defence (aided greatly by Mantom’s presence in the midfield – we were too lightweight in that department this season), we’d have won the league at a canter.

[KDR]

2017-2018 Season Preview

News

Get some coin, look what’s back on (this kind of thing should maybe get looked at for FM14 – no point having projections if they don’t project end of season/close-season income streams and see long-term projects cancelled only to be restarted from scratch weeks later):

Internal promotion. He was the U18s AssMan. My first choice turned the offer down.

Keep getting the Blade Runner theme stuck in my head with this kid. Dunno why...

Erm...you’ll be moving on, then! (I talked them down to £26k p/w but there was no way they’d go lower. My limit? £13k p/w max on Key Player.)

Expectations and Finances

Finances on 02/07/2017

Sponsorships

Objectives

1 – The minimum expectation is another top-half finish, so I want to at least match what we did last season. The main aim, though, is to be more consistent. If we do that, we should be in the hunt for promotion to the EPL. Either way, we need to take at least 8 points from every 5 games on avg, with the ideal being 10 (2 points per game avg = 92 points from 46 games = Promotion, possibly as champions).

2 – Do better in the cups. We need the money.

3 – As last season: Continue to push the club forward, whether it wants to go there or not.

[Animosama]

you should get promoted this time or at least make the playoffs