Keano16 Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 So I got tired of my save in Ireland and I needed something else to fuel my obsession. That something is a continuation of a Southampton save that I started as my second ever save. I'll throw up the previous season's standings as I'm in season 4 right now. 2015/16 Spoiler Awful first season really, we started alright but them plummeted. The only bright side was the Europa League performance which I'm sure saved my job. 2016/17 Spoiler Better as we finished 6th on goal difference behind Watford and claimed a Europa League spot. 2017/18 Spoiler Solid again as we finished one place higher in 5th. I will post more details if you guys want them over the coming days but this is all I have time for right now. Buckle up and get ready for the ride where ever it takes us because there's no set goal for this! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 Reserved. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 Reserved. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 Reserved. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Loving some of those transfers, especially brilliant when you get to pinch Rulli on a free. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 13, 2017 Author Share Posted February 13, 2017 7 hours ago, BoxToBox said: Loving some of those transfers, especially brilliant when you get to pinch Rulli on a free. Don't you love '16! I'm hoping that we can at least solidify our Europa League spot this year but I want to challenge for top four. I'll throw up some screenshots of the squad and my better youth players either today or tomorrow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 I should finish the summer window tonight so a squad screenshot will be up as well as transfers. Is there anything you guys want to see? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 Summer 2018 Lets get straight to the main component of the summer, the transfers. I wanted to add depth but also improve the quality of depth as challenging in Europe and finishing in the top four is the aim this year. Unfortunately Wanyama, Rudiger and Mario all wanted to leave for bigger clubs. Son had a release clause in his contract so Liverpool took him. I let Tore go on deadline day as he is very inconsistent for me and always gave away the ball as many times as he did something good. De Jong never really made an impact so he too left on deadline day. With the incomings: Eggestein I hope will be a 20 goal a season striker as that's a key thing we have been missing. Casquete is a wonderkid playmaker with a bright future while Jovanovic also has great ability. Nastasic is Rudiger's replacement and should do well alongside Benatia. Sane came in as Son's replacement after being listed by Real, he only played twice for them. I'm very happy with this deal as he could become really special. The final two deadline deals were Sidibe and Sisto. The former was offered by his agent after being listed by City and I decided to take the deal. He will provide competition with Klein at right back who is 31 now. Muller, originally meant to be the back up now goes out on loan for the year. Sisto takes Tore's place and I think he will do well. Thankfully we also managed to hold onto Rulli and Kranevitter. I decided that no more first teamers could leave as we needed to improve not weaken. That leaves the squad looking like so: Okoro, Hudson, Chappell, Hamillton, Blake and Smith are all players that have come through our academy and I will go through them in more detail, along with other promising players, in a later post. I'll leave the screenshots of the signings in a spoiler below. Spoiler Finally we received the draw for the Europa League: I definitely think the group is there for the taking if we can deal with Ajax. The next post will either be the opening to the season or detailing the current youth players, stay tuned! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hasdgfas Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 Some good signings there. Doesn't look like you spent over the odds on anyone, and you're getting good churn from the sales as well. Keep up the good work! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 Great transfer moves. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 8 hours ago, hasdgfas said: Some good signings there. Doesn't look like you spent over the odds on anyone, and you're getting good churn from the sales as well. Keep up the good work! 6 hours ago, BoxToBox said: Great transfer moves. Cheers lads! I just hope they all gel well together so we can make a decent challenge this year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 August/September Well things haven't gone according to plan at all. An unstoppable long ranger from Diego Costa condemned us at Stamford Bridge followed by a lucky win against Spurs. Swansea mauled us before I thought we had gotten back on track with wins against Watford and Kharkiv. Three straight defeats followed. Nastasic scored an own goal and then missed an easy interception allowing Afobe to score the winner and then we were awful against Sunderland in the cup, eventually losing on penalties. I tried a new counter attacking tactic against City but it left us toothless in attack. De Bruyne scored on a rebound that should have been cleared off the line but instead the defender just ran over the ball. That means we are 15th after 6 games which is not where I want to be at all. A group of about 10 players can to me complaining about my management after the City game so things are not looking good unfortunately. At least we sit at the top of our Europa League group. That's the tactic and I'm not sure what to do to improve it. We just don't seem to create enough decent chances. I'm considering changing the AP to a Roaming Playmaker and the AF to a F9 or a DLF. Any suggestions? I'm also not sure how to approach bigger teams. It's gonna be a painful season I think that I may not see the end of. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 It'll come together! Have faith! (On my phone, so hard to weigh in on the tactic.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hasdgfas Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I'd actually really like this tactic if your default mentality were counter. I'd be trying that against bigger teams at first. Success has been off and on with that, but it's a bit more cautious, and I tend to be a bit on the cautious side against bigger sides, particularly away. I generally like to have more players with an attacking mentality if I think I'm as good or better than a team, or generally for all home matches. Just your AF and left-side WB as attack seems like you won't have many players are far forward as you'd like to get a bunch of chances. If I'm trying to get a ton of chances, I'll generally set my Wingers and IFs to Attack as well, and occasionally a midfield player, depending on the squad I have. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 8 hours ago, ManUtd1 said: It'll come together! Have faith! (On my phone, so hard to weigh in on the tactic.) I just hope it comes together soon. I look forward to reading your input. 5 hours ago, hasdgfas said: I'd actually really like this tactic if your default mentality were counter. I'd be trying that against bigger teams at first. Success has been off and on with that, but it's a bit more cautious, and I tend to be a bit on the cautious side against bigger sides, particularly away. I generally like to have more players with an attacking mentality if I think I'm as good or better than a team, or generally for all home matches. Just your AF and left-side WB as attack seems like you won't have many players are far forward as you'd like to get a bunch of chances. If I'm trying to get a ton of chances, I'll generally set my Wingers and IFs to Attack as well, and occasionally a midfield player, depending on the squad I have. Would you have the same TI's on counter though? They seem to contradict the counter attacking style. I'll try changing the roles to attack for home games and see the difference. Do you think that the IF on attack would get in the AF's way? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Couple quick tactical thoughts from the train...still on my phone. Overall, I like the simplicity of the tactic. To create more opportunities going forward, I'd consider changing your forward to a support duty (maybe CF, DLF or false nine, depending on the player) to ensure that he isn't isolated up top. I'd also consider an attack duty in midfield - either the winger or the AP (not the inside forward, for the sake of balance with the fullback). Maybe tick the "be more expressive" and "pass into space" TIs, as well - not necessarily as defaults, but something to add during a match when struggling to break down a side. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 46 minutes ago, ManUtd1 said: Couple quick tactical thoughts from the train...still on my phone. Overall, I like the simplicity of the tactic. To create more opportunities going forward, I'd consider changing your forward to a support duty (maybe CF, DLF or false nine, depending on the player) to ensure that he isn't isolated up top. I'd also consider an attack duty in midfield - either the winger or the AP (not the inside forward, for the sake of balance with the fullback). Maybe tick the "be more expressive" and "pass into space" TIs, as well - not necessarily as defaults, but something to add during a match when struggling to break down a side. I had the same feeling about the striker. Austin and Eggestein should both do well as either the CF or DLF and I have a good young player that's natural as a false nine. I've been hesitant to have a attacking winger because I'm worried of the fullback becoming isolated one on one. Same with the AP for fear of being outnumbered in midfield but perhaps that is holding me back. The TIs could be useful to try. What would be your feeling for bigger teams/away games against similar rated teams? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 3 hours ago, Keano16 said: What would be your feeling for bigger teams/away games against similar rated teams? Hah! My apologies! I'd consider dropping the mentality to standard or counter, with "be more expressive ticked" so that you're more compact defensively but adventurous when going on the attack. I'd definitely not add a new attack role, though. (Cleon's counter-attacking thread may have some good info on setting up in this formation...) Re another attack role in that control mentality, I'm thinking about linkage/movement between the midfield and forward lines, to open up and exploit space. You've got cover in the defensive midfielder. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 It's a difficult one, everyone will have so different ideas. If it was me, I'd have a deep lying playmaker with defend duty in the Defensive midfield strata (Busquets ish role) so you've got your playmaker sitting a bit further back. You could switch the AP to a straight up CM with attack duty, and I'd consider switching your winger or inside forward to attack duty but that would be a case of trying both and see how it affects their movement / placement in relation to the rest of the team. Control is also a bit optimistic for coming up against bigger sides, I'd dial it back to Standard and then it at least gives you room to manoeuvre if you need to get a bit more attack/defensive minded. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 Thanks for the feedback guys, I really appreciate it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 First game with the Winger on attack and a CF on support: I'm not getting carried away but it was very pleasing. Sisto was the winger on attack. 2 goals and 2 assists! @ManUtd1 @mjaferrie @hasdgfas Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Nice! Hopefully things continue to go well Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 23, 2017 Author Share Posted February 23, 2017 30 minutes ago, ManUtd1 said: Nice! Hopefully things continue to go well Next game.... Ipswich are my ****ing kryptonite. Three crosses for Dembele's hat trick, two of which were straight at Ruilli. Lord give me strength.... Edit: After calming down a bit, I possibly should have started more cautiously being away from home. The three crosses all came from Targett's side so possibly a fullback on attack away from home. The first goal really annoyed me though, Targett completely missed an easy header that he would have gotten 9 times out of 10 which allowed the cross. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 23, 2017 Author Share Posted February 23, 2017 Yeah I think that 5-0 was a once off, back to the drawing board. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 23, 2017 Author Share Posted February 23, 2017 October I got a false sense of hope after the opening game and well you know what happened against Ipswich. Newcastle could have gone either way while Ajax was awful. We went one up and then collapsed. The Liverpool result was good although I'm not convinced by the lack of opportunities that we created. Coutinho equalized with only 8 minutes remaining to snatch a needed win away. It's early days but we need to start winning again to get back up the table soon. I'm going to keep plugging away until our form improves or I am sacked. The loss Ajax means we drop to second behind the Dutch. Three games left and we should finish at least second. We face some very winnable games in November. Brighton and West Ham are must wins while Leicester could prove a challenge. We visit Ajax again before facing Metalist for a needed three points. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Been a rough season so far. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 23, 2017 Author Share Posted February 23, 2017 1 hour ago, BoxToBox said: Been a rough season so far. Evey time I think we've turned the corner it goes down hill again! If I do get sacked, I'll just turn it into a journeyman save as there are some youth players that I want to see develop. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 What are you talking about? The Ipswich game went fantastically. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 24, 2017 Author Share Posted February 24, 2017 4 hours ago, deltablue said: What are you talking about? The Ipswich game went fantastically. Say that again without your rose tinted glasses on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 25, 2017 Author Share Posted February 25, 2017 November At least there's two wins! But that's it. Ajax was terrible and we really should have beaten West Ham. Leicester went ahead in the second minute and we never got back. They were however third in the table so I wasn't too disheartened. The win against Metalist leaves us second and if we avoid defeat against PAOK we will go through. That leaves us with nine points to make up on Arsenal in 6th. Forget Champions League places now, we need to finish in the Europa League places again, even that may be a stretch. Elsewhere United and Spurs are also struggling, as are surprisingly Everton in the relegation spots. Ajax are flawless so far with five wins from five. It's a straight battle for second between us and PAOK although we have a slight advantage. Next month sees massive games against Derby, Sunderland and Everton which we need to take nine points from. Norwich are beatable too as are United considering their position. Finally the Greeks come to visit three games in. Tactics wise this is what we've got. I'm trying to play possession football but I'm not yet sure on how to best win the ball back. I may switch the CM(s) to CM(a) to give us more options going forward. This is a sneak preview of the game against Derby, who sit in 20th and haven't won for seven straight games. Austin gets two in four minutes before we immediately concede off a corner and then with 20 minutes left, a shot that is going straight at Ruilli deflects off Sidlbe and into the net....heartbreaking. Edit: Next game we throw away a 2-0 lead away to Stoke.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 25, 2017 Author Share Posted February 25, 2017 I have no ****ing words Off a corner, drops to Mata right in the six yard box with four men around him. ****ing typical. I have no luck whatsoever. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 25, 2017 Author Share Posted February 25, 2017 And now we have an ultimatum. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Who is on the schedule for those 5 matches? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 25, 2017 Author Share Posted February 25, 2017 19 minutes ago, ManUtd1 said: Who is on the schedule for those 5 matches? Norwich, Sunderland and Everton are the first three. We have to beat Sunderland and Everton as they are in the bottom three although we should have beaten Derby and look at how that turned out. The final two games I'm not sure, I'll have to look later on. I do know that there is a group of fixtures coming up with a lot of big teams so I basically think I'm ****ed. Let's hope a nice job comes up somewhere! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Fingers crossed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 25, 2017 Author Share Posted February 25, 2017 2 hours ago, ManUtd1 said: Fingers crossed Arms and legs will need to be crossed as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Harsh ask, but hopefully you manage it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 25, 2017 Author Share Posted February 25, 2017 1 hour ago, BoxToBox said: Harsh ask, but hopefully you manage it. We have the ability to do it, whether we will or not is another question. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 25, 2017 Author Share Posted February 25, 2017 @ManUtd1 This is the run in. Three winnable games but then a horrible stretch. Even if the cup game doesn't count the 5th game is awful. Is there a place in France for me? The Europa League draw was also made: I was hoping for something a little easier. Although the tie isn't until February and we could be long gone by then! Well at least one team is winning..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Ouch, good luck man! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 Oof...that Arsenal-Chelsea-Tottenham run in the league is brutal. Always room for you in France Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 26, 2017 Author Share Posted February 26, 2017 18 hours ago, mjaferrie said: Ouch, good luck man! I meant to quote this this morning with the results but haven't had a chance to play yet today. Unfortunately against Norwich and Sunderland we drew 1-1 in both so I think I am as good as gone. 1 hour ago, ManUtd1 said: Oof...that Arsenal-Chelsea-Tottenham run in the league is brutal. Always room for you in France Hopefully I get the luck that has been nonexistent thus far. Lazio are doing badly in Italy (13th) so I like the look of them. I can't remember if the job is insecure or if the manager has been sacked. Right now it is the best looking option. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted February 26, 2017 Author Share Posted February 26, 2017 So as I have already said the first two games finished 1-1 which was bitterly disappointing as I was counting on these three games to achieve the board's target of 9 points from five games. We did however pick up a massive late win against Everton after going a goal down. Sane crossing from the left to meet the towering head of Charlie Austin. We now have to pick up three points from either Arsenal or Chelsea with an FA Cup game against Liverpool sandwiched in between. *crosses fingers*The moment I cried with joy [I mean what?.....] In terms of the other two games I'm a bit annoyed that we got the lead early but couldn't hold onto it. Especially when the equalizer for Norwich was this... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted March 1, 2017 Author Share Posted March 1, 2017 I have no idea what just ****ing happened....... The man of the match was 19 year old youth graduate Gordon Okoro who got a goal and an assist from centre back. And what a goal it was! (My laptop quality is awful I know) And Sisto's wasn't half bad either.... Here was me thinking that I had reached the 9 points target with a game to spare. Unfortunately it's only 8 and the last game is against Chelsea. And on that bombshell! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 40 minutes ago, Keano16 said: Here was me thinking that I had reached the 9 points target with a game to spare. Unfortunately it's only 8 and the last game is against Chelsea. And on that bombshell! Oh, FFS...if you get canned after that...brutal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted March 1, 2017 Author Share Posted March 1, 2017 29 minutes ago, ManUtd1 said: Oh, FFS...if you get canned after that...brutal. I know right... we lost 1-0 to Liverpool in the FA Cup to a 2nd minute Coutinho header (Yes that MIDGET scored a header) where we missed two guilt edged chances including one off the post that should have been buried and Liverpool could only create very little. Also this happened. I sold him in the summer to Atleti who barely played him and he was listed, We made a loss but hey he's a good player! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted March 4, 2017 Author Share Posted March 4, 2017 And of course you know what happens next..... Bastards. Chelsea were lucky to win imo. Pedro knocked in a rebound that Targett should have really gotten and that was enough. What annoys me the most is that there are a lot of really good young players there that I wanted to develop. I swear if that ****er Bobby Manc gets the job.... @ManUtd1 I was after bringing in Smalling and Rudiger at the back while Mane was ready to return but for a work permit meant he couldn't play against Chelsea. I really think that we were going to move up the table after this game, As for the future, I'm going to look for another job, likely in another European country and turn this into a Journeyman-esque career. No idea what to rename the thread though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 [INSERT BOBBY MANKINI PHOTO HERE] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 That's truly brutal, man. The thread name can stay -- since you'll be coming back for revenge at some point. Remind me, what nations/leagues are active? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted March 4, 2017 Author Share Posted March 4, 2017 1 hour ago, ManUtd1 said: [INSERT BOBBY MANKINI PHOTO HERE] This one? 1 hour ago, ManUtd1 said: That's truly brutal, man. The thread name can stay -- since you'll be coming back for revenge at some point. Remind me, what nations/leagues are active? You'd think that 8 points would be enough, especially with the good performances against Liverpool and Chelsea. Ultimately the draws against Sunderland and Norwich cost us. Here are the leagues: The most interesting there are Lazio and Sampdoria with Villarreal looking nice as well. I've turned down interviews with Sheffield United, Wigan and Charlton. Thoughts guys? Currently the jobs that are available that are inter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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