[FM21] The Journeyman Save of a Singapore Football Legend

[DavidBeckham]

The Manager

Fandi bin Ahmad, PBM (born 29 May 1962) is a Singaporean former footballer who mainly played as a striker, but also played as a midfielder. He played for Malaysia Cup state sides Singapore FA, Kuala Lumpur FA and Pahang FA, and won titles with all three, including two Doubles in 1992 and 1994, and the Golden Boot in 1988. Fandi also played for Niac Mitra (Indonesia), Groningen (Netherlands), Geylang United (Singapore) and SAFFC (Singapore). With the Singapore national team, Fandi won 101 caps, scored 55 goals, won three Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) silver medals and was captain from 1993 to 1997.

As a 1994 winner of the Pingat Bakti Masyarakat (state medal), the first Singaporean footballer to play in Europe, the first Singaporean millionaire sportsperson and first Singaporean sportsperson to have a published biography, Fandi has been called a national legend. Fandi was ranked sixth in a list of Singapore's 50 Greatest Athletes of the Century by The Straits Times in 1999.

Quote

 Game Status

Current Version: 21.0.0-1476964 (m.e v21.1.0.0)

Database Size: Large

Selected Nations (Leagues)

England (Sky Bet Championship And Above)

Germany (Bundesliga Only)

Italy (Serie A Only)

Spain (First Division Only)

Fandi will be starting unemployed, going where the game takes him and hopefully climbing the football management ladder. Let the journey begin!

[DavidBeckham]

9 August 2020

Minus Six

The journey begins..

..and we are starting on the back foot 

And it's good to have the fans behind me right away 

[bigmattb28]

I've always had a lot of fun playing in Singapore, and Malaysia, hope you manage there someday in the save. 

Good challenge to begin with especially the points deduction.

Good luck!

[DavidBeckham]

1 hour ago, bigmattb28 said:

I've always had a lot of fun playing in Singapore, and Malaysia, hope you manage there someday in the save. 

Good challenge to begin with especially the points deduction.

Good luck!

Cheers mate! Fandi will definitely return home once he completes his rounds in Europe 

[Rikulec]

Great to see you! Best of luck.

[abulezz]

Good luck!

[DavidBeckham]

11 hours ago, Rikulec said:

Great to see you! Best of luck.

Cheers mate! It feels great to be back 

10 hours ago, abulezz said:

Good luck!

Thanks mate! 

[DavidBeckham]

10 August 2020

1st Transfer Window Disabled

We have disabled the 1st transfer window in the save so that we can be as close to reality as possible. The board made it very clear that I will be sacked if I fail to avoid relegation this campaign. With no transfers, a six-point deficit and us being one of the relegation favourites, we face an uphill task to keep ourselves afloat in the 1st half of the season.

This is our strongest XI according to my assistant. We have numbers in the squad but we lack a defensively sound left-back. That will be the top of my priorities when the transfer window reopens in January.

We face a tough opening month to the season, with two tricky away games and a home game against a relegated side from the Premier League. With us already 6 points behind, we will need to start picking up points right from the go. The hard work begins!

[karanhsingh]

Good luck with this! I had a fun couple of seasons with Wednesday on FM20. Penney was an absolute legend from wing-back and on set pieces.

Marriott should be a good addition too.

[DavidBeckham]

3 October 2020

Still in Deficit

After four fixtures, we are still rock bottom with -2 points, 3 points adrift of safety. 

We won our opening away fixture in Wales, lost the next two against Watford and Bristol City, before picking up a point at home against QPR. We are also out of the Carabao Cup in the fourth round, suffering a closely fought 2-3 defeat away at Norwich. 

You know we haven't played well at all when your star performer is your right-back. Dominic hasn't been perfect defensively, but has been a constant threat down our right side, creating 2 goals in all competitions so far.

We desperately need to pick up points in a very busy October. Come on you Owls!

[abulezz]

Five games in two weeks is going to take its toll - hope you can pick up some points. 

[DavidBeckham]

On 12/11/2020 at 14:42, karanhsingh said:

Good luck with this! I had a fun couple of seasons with Wednesday on FM20. Penney was an absolute legend from wing-back and on set pieces.

Marriott should be a good addition too.

That's fantastic to hear! Looking at the results, I definitely need someone I can turn to for advice  

Penney looks like a great attacking left wing-back in a 5 but I play most of my games with a 4  He's very small and I'm worried about his defending at the back post 

We lack goals upfront so hopefully Marriott can add to our tally soon! 

1 hour ago, abulezz said:

Five games in two weeks is going to take its toll - hope you can pick up some points. 

Thanks for the timely good luck mate! We are finally 'positive' and out of the relegation places!

Edited November 13, 2020 by DavidBeckham

[DavidBeckham]

25 November 2020

Climbing the Table

We are surely, but steadily climbing the table with each passing game. We now sit 13th after 13 games, with 16 points after starting the season with -6. We keep going!

We are now on a solid 7-games unbeaten run, with the pick of the games coming against Bournemouth, in a ridiculous 4-4 draw. 

Elias has been a superstar for me during the unbeaten run. The end-product machine bagged 6 and created a further 2 in just 8 league starts. The DR Congolese isn't the best technically but has depended on his physicality to help us win important points. We can't wait for the January transfer window already but we will most certainly be keeping this guy!

[DavidBeckham]

19 December 2020

20 Games

After 20 games, we now sit 10th on 30 points, 16 points clear of the relegation zone. This gives us a good platform to strengthen our squad in the January transfer window, without having to worry about losing the job. 

We have had another solid run of games, winning 4, drawing 2 and losing 1 in 7. The solitary defeat came against a strong Norwich outfit, in a 0-2 defeat.

Kachunga's form slowed down in the last month, and his goals and assists have been replaced by his team-mate on the opposite flank. Josh has been a constant threat down our left flank and has had 7 goal involvements in 8 starts. If our wide-men can keep up their productivity, we have a good chance of climbing the table further \o/

[karanhsingh]

Good progress, you have a chance of pushing for the play-offs too which would be great

[abulezz]

The difference in 8 points between you and the Playoff spot, but luckily there is only 4 points between 1st and 6th - basically, as long as your form stays good, its inevitable one more more of those 6 teams slips. 

[DavidBeckham]

On 16/11/2020 at 18:12, karanhsingh said:

Good progress, you have a chance of pushing for the play-offs too which would be great

On 16/11/2020 at 18:34, abulezz said:

The difference in 8 points between you and the Playoff spot, but luckily there is only 4 points between 1st and 6th - basically, as long as your form stays good, its inevitable one more more of those 6 teams slips. 

Cheers lads! Getting into one of the play-off spots will be very tough, given that we started the season on -6 points with no transfers/loans, but I will certainly be overjoyed!

 

Edited November 18, 2020 by DavidBeckham

[DavidBeckham]

16 January 2021

The 'Magical' 40 Points

We have had a really busy few weeks as we began scouring the market for players to strengthen our squad. Looking at the squad, I cannot help but worry about the fact that we do not have a single player who is Premier League quality. However, on a brighter note, we are in a decent position in the league, sitting in 8th with 40 points after 24 games. 

In terms of results, we have had a decent few weeks, staying unbeaten in the league and progressing in the FA Cup after an entertaining 5-2 home win against QPR.

It's finally time to pay tribute to our captain, our midfield maestro, the excellent Barry Bannan who has been the creative force in our midfield. His goals and assists tally may not be impressive but he is absolutely crucial to the team when it comes to controlling the midfield and progressing the ball. We would be nowhere near our current position in the league without his role in our attacking transitions. KUTGW Barry!

[DavidBeckham]

1 February 2021

'Transfer-less' Transfer Window

In our first ever transfer window with the club, we made zero permanent transfers as players of the right quality weren't available on the market. 6 players were brought in on loan to add depth to our squad, with 2 arriving from our parent club (Man City) for free

Out of all the loan signings, I believe Andi can have the biggest impact. We have no real depth in the forward areas and the Swiss striker can provide that much needed goal threat from the bench.

We managed to keep our consistency on the pitch as we won all of our games for the rest of January,..

..helping us to climb the table further \o/

Izzy is the next featured top performer! I had doubts about him when I took over the reigns due to his underwhelming work rate, but he took his chance extremely well when our first-choice striker (Callum Paterson) got injured. He was the next best deep lying forward we had and he showed good consistency since coming into the starting 11. We will need him to keep his performance level and work rate up if we are to achieve anything this campaign!

[DavidBeckham]

1 February 2021

Squeaky Bum Time

We have finally made it into the play-off positions! It has been a tough ride and it will only get tougher as we enter the final 7 games of the season.

We were like a yoyo club falling in and out of the play-off spots in the last three months, and I believe it is going to be the same for the rest of the campaign. We were also lucky with the FA Cup draws (Newcastle was our only top flight opponents), and we are now in the semi-finals following a penalty shootout win against Forest. Man City will be our next opponents at Wembley, and surely our journey ends here 

Izzy continued to be our star performer in the last couple of months, bagging us numerous points by grabbing crucial goals. He must be the only lazy player I have ever loved in football. The Chelsea loanee will be our first choice striker for the rest of the season after we successfully retrained him to be natural in the striker position.

We now have 7 cup finals and 1 semi-final to go. No injuries and dips in form please!

[DavidBeckham]

9 June 2021

Premier League!

We have done it! Against all odds, we reached the play-offs final and emerged 3-1 winners against a good Norwich side. Unbelievable achievement by the boys 

We faced Blackburn in the semi-finals and the lads played fantastically well in an aggregate 4-0 victory. They kept their level of performances up in the final and we are now in dreamland \o/

We finished 5th in the league on 85 points to get that elusive golden ticket.

With some luck in the earlier cup draws and a resilient performance in the semis against Man City, we somehow reached the FA Cup Final. It was a case of so near yet so far as we finished runners-up against Chelsea after a devastating penalty loss 

Elias has surprised me the most with his level of performances this campaign. He isn't the quickest and the best technically but he managed to bag 18 goals and 7 assists to help us secure promotion to big time. Unfortunately, he is unlikely to get his chance to shine in the top flight as I feel it will be a step too far for him.

Fisayo is by far the best newcomer of the season. He didn't start the campaign in the 1st 11 but played his way into it following an injury to Massimo Luongo. He hasn't looked back since and went on to play a crucial role in our play-offs win. Unlike Elias, he will get his opportunity to shine in the Premier League 

Our 'Captain Marvel' is my player of the season! He has been the heart beat of the team, playing in the Mezzala role and starting every single league game this campaign. He managed to achieve double figures for goals and assists and we will be nowhere near the Premier League without his leadership. With his contract expiring and him on the wrong side of his thirties, he will likely be released reluctantly. We will always remember him :**)

We now face an incredibly challenging transfer window as we were given 40 million pounds to strengthen a squad with no Premier League quality players. Nevertheless, it's still exciting times for the club and we cannot wait to rub our shoulders with the big boys \o/

[DavidBeckham]

20 July 2021

New Team

We are almost done with our transfer businesses and the squad is now almost unrecognisable from the one which helped us gain promotion to big time.

Out of the 17 transfer/loan signings, Ryan is potentially the most important one. He is Bannan's replacement in the heart of our midfield and his technical ability will hopefully help us adapt to the top flight in the upcoming campaign. 

Mitro is our most expensive signing this window. We had no choice but to splash the cash as we needed someone to bag the goals for us at a level we are not used to. We know he can score goals at this level and his aggression + presence upfront will be extremely key for us against the Premier League outfits.

Juan has the potential to be the bargain signing of the summer as the Argentinian came in on a free to strength our central defence. He will likely not have significant impact for us right from the start as he doesn't know English. Once he settles into life at Hillsborough, I have no doubt he will grow into a key component of our defence by the end of the campaign.

The anxiety is beginning to outweigh the excitement as we approach the start of the campaign. As we do not face any of the bigger teams in the opening month of the season, we will find out by the end of August if we are good enough for the league. Let's hope the squad can gel quickly!

[DavidBeckham]

29 August 2021

End the season now!

I will take our current league position if the season ends here..

..having won our two home games and losing the opening away tie against Wolves. Our second string also did themselves no favour after failing to impress in a horrible penalty loss against League Two side Morecambe. The first 11 will certainly not be looking over their shoulders after this.

It was great seeing our most expensive signing opening his account this early in the season. The Serbian bagged two in the opening three league games and if he can keep up his goal-scoring form, it will go a long way in helping us stay in the league \o/

With a couple of days to go before transfer deadline day, we will spend most of the time pondering if we should sign this lad on loan, with him nowhere near fully scouted..

Edited November 24, 2020 by DavidBeckham

[DavidBeckham]

1 December 2021

We hate draws

We just don't like drawing games, do we?

September was horrible as we lost all of our league games after suffering a couple of injuries to our key defenders. October was equally tough as we faced three of the six giants, and I was pleased to come away with 4 points. November was perfect apart from the horror show against Newcastle, where our players volunteered to reimburse the fans after a terrible performance. 

Our form picked up after our number 7 began to start games, scoring all three of his league goals in November. Noni came in on loan from PSV and has adapted surprisingly well to life in the Premier League for a 19-year-old. I really want to keep the gigantic Inverted Winger at the club permanently and has managed to insert a future optional fee of 34.5 million pounds. We tried our best to negotiate but PSV refused to bring down their asking price. As a result, we will have to spend a huge chunk of our budget next summer, if we want to keep him  Decisions, decisions.. 

[Khrayze]

Good start to your first season in the PL, Tottenham in the relegation spots tho

[DavidBeckham]

5 hours ago, Khrayze said:

Good start to your first season in the PL, Tottenham in the relegation spots tho

Cheers mate! We faced Spurs at the right time too! (1st game after Mourinho was sacked and Chris Powell was the caretaker manager) 

[abulezz]

If you want him, make that offer. You won't regret it. 

[DavidBeckham]

18 hours ago, abulezz said:

If you want him, make that offer. You won't regret it. 

Thanks for the advice mate! I will definitely do it if we have enough money left, after strengthening the areas of the squad which we need to  

[DavidBeckham]

2 February 2022

January Transfers

We brought in two to strengthen our squad further and the first is an extremely exciting one. Adam is super quick for a 19-year-old and with so much potential, he can be here for years to come and grow into a club favourite, if he wants to.

We needed upgrades in our central defence as we really only have two who are decent enough for this level. George was brought in from Rangers for 6.5 million pounds and his pace suits our style of play as we want to play high up the pitch. He will push Komar and Harwood-Bellis hard for a starting spot in central defence. 

Edited December 2, 2020 by DavidBeckham

[DavidBeckham]

24 April 2022

Three to go

We have had a great ride back in the top flight, and the Owls now sit 7th on 51 points, with three to go. 

With two away games and a solitary home game against Arsenal to go, I'm quite sure we will fall back behind the Gunners when the season ends. 

We are also out of the FA Cup early after I made the decision to rest all of our 1st-teamers for the competition. 

Taylor has been arguably our most important player of the campaign so far. Whenever he is unavailable for selection, our defence looks porous and we concede silly goals. He is also an attacking threat down the other end, nodding in 5 and creating 1 in 26 league starts to bag us crucial points. I'm also absolutely ecstatic that Man City has allowed us to extend the loan deal by another season \o/

Edited December 2, 2020 by DavidBeckham

[DavidBeckham]

21 June 2022

Eighth!

We are 8th! All in all, it has been a terrific season as the media tipped us to finish rock bottom at the start. Cheers for another season of top flight football \o/

We were terrible in the cups though, and I take full responsibility as I made the decision to focus fully on the league. With another summer to strengthen the squad, let's hope we can progress further in the cup competitions next campaign.

Our 1st Premier League squad after a long time outside the top flight \o/

Juan was a free transfer last summer and what a bargain signing he has been! He missed our 1st 12 league games because he didn't know English but once he did, our form improved drastically with him in the starting 11. As long as his head doesn't get turned by the bigger sides, we will see him play at Hillsborough for many years to come. 

Bannan's departure left such a huge hole in the squad but Ryan came in and did an admirable job in replacing our ex-captain. Despite bagging only 1 solitary goal and creating a further 6, he sparked so many of our attacking moves and is one of the league's leading players in key passes. He will continue to be the fulcrum of our attacking transitions in the upcoming campaign.

Taylor came into our starting 11 during the last 10 games of our promotion-winning campaign, and has never looked back since. Like his partner in central defence (Juan Cruz Komar), he missed a huge chunk of our opening fixtures back in the Premier League. Once he recovered fully from his early-season injury, he shored up our defence significantly and provided a solid base for us to bag points against the Premier League outfits. Without him, we will be nowhere near 8th so I'm delighted that Man City allowed us to have him for an additional season. Our player of the season by a distance! 

[Rikulec]

That's a great first season in the Premier League.

[DavidBeckham]

10 hours ago, Rikulec said:

That's a great first season in the Premier League.

Cheers mate! It has certainly been a great year! We were helped by our good luck with injuries and suspension too

[DavidBeckham]

1 August 2022

Summer Transfers

We brought 6 in permanently and 2 on loan deals to strengthen the squad and plug the holes left behind by the departures. 

In terms of departures, Boyata left after a disappointing year in our maiden campaign back in the Premier League. He was signed to provide top flight experience but he only brought errors and uncertainties at the back. Luongo's contract was not renewed as he wasn't good enough for the Premier League. I decided to offload Grytebust and Mavididi too as there are upgrades available on the market.

Our number one last campaign (Cameron Dawson) ranked the lowest in terms of Save Ratio (%) in the league. We needed an upgrade badly and Pope was my preferred choice. Despite him being on the wrong side of his thirties, he doesn't need to adapt to the league, and can come in to do a job right away. Let's hope he can stay clear of injuries and we will have him at the peak of his powers for a couple of seasons 

We only had Mitrovic who can score goals regularly enough at this level, and I feel that we needed more competition in the striking positions to take our game to the next level. Arthur was the best option available on the market who was willing to join a club of our level, and we snapped him up early in the window. 

Carles is arguably our most exciting signing of the summer. Apart from Ryan Gauld, we do not really have anyone else who can progress the ball from midfield to attack. The Spaniard can do just that for us. I couldn't believe that he was willing to come to us on a free and once he settles into life at Hillsborough, I have no doubt whatsoever that he will be huge for us \o/

[DavidBeckham]

13 September 2022

Decent Start

We are 6th after 6 games, winning 3, drawing 1 and losing 2 to bag 10 points in a decent start to the season.

The performance of the season so far came away against Arsenal, where we were perfect in a 3-0 win. Two disappointing home results followed though, where we went a man down against Watford in a 1-2 loss. We were also unable to break down a solid Leicester outfit in the next league game. Thankfully, the goals flowed after the international break as we beat West Ham in two consecutive games. Man United awaits us in the next Carabao Cup tie.

We managed to secure Noni on loan for another season and he started like a house on fire, scoring three and creating four in six starts as our Inverted Winger. If he can perform consistently and develop as the season progresses, we will definitely add to our goal tally considerably from the right wing \o/

[ronaldlye]

Fellow Singaporean here...grew up watching Fandi in the 90s and even got coached by him briefly when i was a junior at Geylang United. Glad to see him doing well in your save!

[DavidBeckham]

13 hours ago, ronaldlye said:

Fellow Singaporean here...grew up watching Fandi in the 90s and even got coached by him briefly when i was a junior at Geylang United. Glad to see him doing well in your save!

Hey! Great to see a fellow Singaporean here  Fandi is every Singaporean football fan's idol and let's hope he can keep progressing in the save \o/

[DavidBeckham]

23 October 2022

Seventh Heaven

We are down one spot after ten league games, but we are still very satisfied as we weren't tipped to finish this high up the table. Let's enjoy while it lasts

Callum Wilson is unbelievable. He was the top scorer in the league last season with 36 goals, and he already has 9 in 10 this campaign. He is the reason why we always tend to struggle against Newcastle. On the bright side, we continue to defy the odds against the bigger sides, and Arthur was the hero as he scored two in Fergie Time to bag us all three points against Spurs \o/

Arthur may not be the quickest or the best finisher at the club, but he has been incredible off the bench for us. He already has 5 goals in 4 starts across all competitions and if he can keep his form up, Mitrovic will really need to start looking over his shoulder  

[DavidBeckham]

4 January 2023

Unbelievable!

We still can't quite believe that we are 2nd after 15 games 

Our defence has been perfect in the last 5, and we won 5 straight to climb up the table to our current league position. With tough fixtures to come, I foresee a drop back down the table imminently, but we will enjoy while it lasts!

Juan has been absolutely superb for us and he is a key contributor to our 5 consecutive clean sheets. The Argentinian even found time to bag the winner away at Everton and he is without a shadow of a doubt our most in-form player in the last few months \o/

[abulezz]

If you've made it this far after 15 Games, it is no longer a "good start" and its now all about rotation and momentum. 

[DavidBeckham]

17 hours ago, abulezz said:

If you've made it this far after 15 Games, it is no longer a "good start" and its now all about rotation and momentum. 

Yes mate! We have been really lucky with injuries and suspensions at this point, and we will need this to continue if we want to stay high up in the table 

[DavidBeckham]

18 February 2023

Third, but not for any longer..

We dropped one place down to 3rd after 25 games, and I foresee us dropping out of the Champions League positions soon as we have a number of tough fixtures to come. 

As the tough fixtures start to come in, we are beginning to lose more games, and the lads absolutely hate drawing games. We are also out of the FA Cup after Spurs eliminated us in a 1-2 away defeat. I'm also unsure why we got to face Chelsea twice at home. Could this be a bug?

Arthur has taken over Mitrovic's spot in the starting 11 after a string of consistent performances, both in games and during training. His goal-scoring record is very decent too, with 11 goals in 13 starts. If our Brazilian sharpshooter can keep this up, it will be very tough for Mitrovic to regain his spot in the starting lineup.

[DavidBeckham]

5 April 2023

Hanging in there..

After 31 games, we are still 2nd! However, with Liverpool, Man United and Man City to come in our last three fixtures, I'm still not optimistic that we are going to secure Champions League football. I'm also lowering my expectations to prevent further disappointment if we miss out eventually 

We won all of our home games but lost against the relegation candidates away in our last 6 league fixtures. We have also continued to not draw games 

Reiss has been the star performer in our last few games. Arsenal allowed us to loan him for a second consecutive season, and the Englishman has improved on his form slightly, scoring 3 and creating 6 in 25 starts from the wings. More goals & assists in the last 7 games please!

[DavidBeckham]

22 May 2023

Champions League!

We have done it!!

I knew we would struggle in the last three, and thankfully we secured a top 4 finish before the Liverpool match. Unbelievable achievement by the boys :**)

Magical moments during the campaign \o/

Club finances..

Heroes!

The Accolades!

We entered the new campaign with a very similar looking starting eleven, apart from Nick, who is a huge upgrade from our number one last campaign. We went from the keeper with the lowest save ratio to the fifth best in the league, and the Golden Glove winner played a major role in our rise to the Champions League places. Well worth the 9.5 million pounds!

The assist machine! Ryan continued to be the fulcrum of our attacking moves and he managed to more than double his assists tally from last season, creating 13 and bagging 4 in a very productive season. Wand of a left foot!

Our player of the season for a second consecutive season! We concede the least amount of goals in the league and a huge part is down to the excellence of Taylor. To my pleasant surprise, Man City has allowed us to loan him for an additional season, and we are looking forward to another solid season of football from our rock at the back \o/

[DavidBeckham]

12 August 2023

Summer 2023

It is all about this boy this summer! We spent the bulk of our transfer budget on him despite us having a solid pool of midfielders. We just can't resist bringing in a player with the potential to be the best midfielder of his generation. Let's hope that the club can progress as quickly as the Frenchman's development, and we can keep him at Hillsborough for a long, long time.

Camavinga only agreed to come to us if we promise to strengthen our midfield further this summer. We fulfilled this promise by bringing in Patrick, who is another all-rounded central midfielder. He can do great things with Camavinga once they both settle into life in England. Exciting times for the club!

The only key departure this summer is left-back Jamilu, who has done well for us since we got promoted but is no longer good enough for European football. 

We now face the toughest start ever in Premier League history 

Edited December 13, 2020 by DavidBeckham

[DavidBeckham]

3 October 2023

Back to reality..

After the dizzy heights of last season's finish, we are sort of back to where we belong after a tough start, sitting 8th on 10 points after 7 games. 

I still can't quite believe how tough our start to the season was. Results are slowly improving as we got through the incredibly tough fixtures. And yes, we have champions league football!

I don't know what's with our luck this year. It seems like we've used up all of our luck last campaign, as we were drawn into the group of death in our maiden Champions League campaign. The boys played incredibly well in our opening 2 games though, and that meant we now sit top of the group on 4 points. It definitely won't last though!

Arthur continues to be a star for us, scoring 4 and creating 2 in 7 starts, despite the tough fixtures. There isn't a part of his game that is particularly outstanding but he continues to perform above our expectations for him. Long may it continue! 

[DavidBeckham]

6 January 2024

The Halfway Mark

We are hanging on to the Champions League places by a thread, sitting 4th on 35 points, ahead of Arsenal on goal difference at the halfway mark.

The boys performed admirably in their maiden season in the Champions League, but Real Madrid and PSG are just too good. We finished 3rd eventually, and we now have Europa League football for the second half of the campaign.

The second string did well in the Carabao Cup, progressing all the way to the semi-finals to face Chelsea in two tough ties. 

Arthur is our star performer again, scoring goals on a consistent basis and he now has 13 goals and 5 assists in 15 starts. An absolute goal machine!

[DavidBeckham]

17 February 2024

The Only Juan

It is going to be a struggle for the last Champions League spot all the way until the end of the season, with 5 teams within 5 points of one another. We are still there for now, and let's hope we can still be there by the end of the season!

We progressed in the FA Cup after a straightforward 3-0 victory against Crawley, but crashed out of the Carabao Cup after a 1-3 aggregate defeat against the mighty Blues.

We made a solitary signing in the January transfer window, and it's a loan deal with the option to buy at the end of the season. We will probably do it too as 9 million pounds is a snip for a player of Juan's quality. The Spaniard is so all-rounded for a left wing-back and hopefully, that's our left-back sorted for the rest of my tenure at Hillsborough 

Edited December 18, 2020 by DavidBeckham

[DavidBeckham]

20 May 2024

Champions League.. again!

We have done it again! We weren't anywhere near the top 4 in terms of budgets or media's predictions, but the boys managed to outdo their expectations again in another fantastic campaign \o/

We entered the Europa League after finishing 3rd in the Champions League group stages, and managed to progress all the way to the quarters, where we faced a very good Juventus side. We came unstuck eventually in an aggregate 2-3 defeat. 

We were also knocked out in the fifth round by Liverpool in the FA Cup after a painful penalty shootout loss.

Moments to remember!

The finances!

The heroes :**)

The accolades!

Edited December 20, 2020 by DavidBeckham

[DavidBeckham]

18 August 2024

Summer Signings

We needed a right-back desperately as Foulquier turned 31 this year and is in the last year of his contract. Hoever is a quality, all-rounded defender who still has room to grow, and we have high hopes that he can develop into a top Premier League right-back in the coming years.

Pope is already 32 and we needed to plan for his replacement this summer. Altay is a giant of a goalkeeper and he is a decent shot-stopper for a man of his size. He will take this season to settle at the club before taking over the number one spot next campaign \o/

This summer is all about planning for the departures of our ageing players, and Denis is brought in as Mitrovic's potential successor. The Serbian is on the wrong side of his thirties and we needed someone to replace his goals when he starts to decline. Let's hope Denis can repay the 14.5 million pounds we paid for him very soon!