Wallace v Roberts 2009

[Polar Bear]

That's a decent start Salman, we've had some hard matches and are only a few points off the top 4.

Regarding player development - does anyone tinker with the training schedules? I simply used the ones that were already there that an earlier manager had put in place. In my own games I have the Tug's Training schedules but I felt it wouldn't be in the spirit of the challenge to import them. I'm happy to fiddle with tactics but training is an area I haven't got to grips with.

[bermybhoy]

Northern Monkeys - first impressions

Been able to make a bit of a start earlier than expected. Having taken a look through the squad, all I can say is - how on earth have we done so well these last few seasons?

The first team

This is my verdict on the players I'm happy to use in the first team. Even then, some of them need replaced. First team squad as I see it. Even the assistant manager seemed to have some trouble picking the best XI. There's too few stars here for my liking. Hopefully, that situation is going to change.

Goalkeepers

Thompson - good solid keeper. We can do far better though.

Defenders

Pavlov - I'm really not sure here. Decent on paper, but he's only 5'8" and has consistently 'meh' ratings. I miight look to sell if we can find a better standard.

Mevlin - much more like it for a centre back. PaulH's big signing at over £10m, and should be a rock for a few years to come.

Senior - I like this guy. Getting on, but wages aren't much and should be good backup for either full back.

Kvist - good player this. We've been bringing him on nicely. His crossing isn't great, which is a pain considering I like the full backs to get forward.

Manuel - the right back is only 19, and still pretty raw. I'd rather he wasn't a first choice, but he's easily the best we have in that position.

Midfield

Ivan - like Mauel, another Spanish kid who has time to improve. I don't forsee him being a first choice at this stage.

Johnny Ek - club stalward, now 30 but really looks a player. Getting on a bit much for my liking, but might struggle to find better.

Kvartsyanyi - my prediction as PaulH's best contribution to the club. Only 18 and can't very well play too often, but is going to be a star. Undecided whether it's too early to be rotating him, or if he should be loaned out.

Lewis Singh - not sure what the deal is here. Looks good, especially his crossing, but the coaches aren't that excited, and think he's peaked at just 20. Hmmmm.

Snelling - is already better than Singh, and will get better yet. Excellent find.

Soares - left winger/forward, has continental rep, but can't say I'm too impressed. Still, definitely one of our best players. Will play a part unless there's a superstar available.

Forwards

Henriksen - I've expressed misgivings about this chap before, and they won't go away. Simply put, I don't think he's as good as we can get. Last season, his ratings dropped to 6.76 and he only got 10 in 35 league games. I dunno. Let's see who else is out there.

KdV - much prefer the look of this fella, a beast physically. In the last year of his contract, so a decision on this guy will be required at some point.

The others

The rest of the players have been stuck in the reserves til I decide what to do with them. Since we have so many youngters who'll simply be farmed out on loan, no point going through them all (there's bloody hundreds) but I think the squad needs some major pruning. These are the guys I plan to get rid of, a few former managers might be interested in this:

Goalkeepers

Scotto - Italian signed by PaulH. Just don't like the look of him, the youngsters are better, we should find a buyer easy enough.

Defenders

Johnson - centre back isn't good enough, is aged 30 and on decent money. Best to move on.

Lewis Gregory - At 36 the most obvious target of my ageist policies. Has to go.

Cranky - not sure what Jimbo will make of this. Undecided whether to try and sell now. He really isn't improving, and he's too short. Only 19 though, so could be loaned out and sold next year instead. Equally, I might be able to mug some team a few million for him.

Midfielders

Gavin Price - possibly the most controvertial one. On the club 'favoured personnel' list, been with s a good while. But he's getting on, and whilst I'd have no qualms playing him, we're better making space for younger talent.

Craig Deeney - aged 34, only played 15 league games in two years, but gets £25k a week. Not any more, hopefully.

Booker - decent player, been with us a while but now no more than backup, aged 31 and out of contract end of next season. Sell.

Roznik - 34 year old right winger. Not nearly good enough.

Zoran - versatile Serbian winger, now 34, never payed last season and won't get a sniff this year either.

Marcial - yet another winger who likes either wing. Only 21 and cost nothing, I just don't think he'll get better. Will try and sell for a few bob, or loan out.

Ruud - left/centre attacking mid, with a host of Dutch u-21 caps. That hints he had past potential, but I don't see him as having or gaining Premier League class.

Forwards

Martz - baffled by this one. Looks hopeless to me, never a Premier League striker. £18k a week?

Gallardo - PaulH has already sold him for £1.1m. Beat me to it.

Note that I haven't taken screenshots for these players - they should exist somewhere throughout the thread - I'm hoping to save it for new players you haven't seen before. If anyone wants to request some to see how these guys look now though, please do ask.

[PaulHartman71]

I think that you've made a lot of decisions that I would have suggested. I would keep one of Booker or Gavin Price as either would be good back-up in the central midfield position, but again we can get a better player in or play the younger lads. I'd actually agree with the Ass Man with the lineup, Akkermans is more than decent on the right, but again if we want to give Manuel a chance to prove himself and develop this season I am all in favour. Not sure how much money you've got, but I'd definitely try and bring in a few players. Controversial as it may sound, I'd consider getting rid of KdV or Henriksen. They're both good players for the club, but niether of them are the 'Munro' that we'll hit us loads of goals. They're that player you want as the second best striker in the squad. Everyone else you seem to be getting rid of I agree with, Ruud could be decent back-up but would probably get you 2/3M so I'd sell him. Hopefully we can see a great summer of transfers

Oh and I forgot to mention, the builders for our new stadium have been a bit dodgy and the construction finish date has been delayed until October

[bermybhoy]

Oh yeah, I lost Akkermans there

I don't like him. Wages too high and he's 30+, we can probably get better on a Bosman without spending a whole load.

Transfer budget is about £18m (I haven't got past the end of May yet), not sure whether to commit much now or see if our rep increases next season having been in Europe. We're still only 'National'.

How is Wallace not even on the club's favourite personnel list btw - it's an outrage!

[PaulHartman71]

I'd definitely start looking around at potential signings, but hopefully our rep will increase after the league reset date. I'm not sure why Wallace isn't on it, maybe we have to win more trophies as we seem to have got promoted a lot of times without actually winning the title.

[Guest arrogantio]

The competition between the two sides is hottening up now that the Softies have a squad that looks like it's on the verge of winning things.

A player clearout for the Monkeys is a logical response, and getting rid of several of the youngsters is a no brainer. Wouldn't have thought you'd want to be getting rid of the reliable and underrated Price unless you're going on a spending spree for multiple central midfielders, and at this stage I would have thought Johnson and Akkermans were players that could do a job as cover until there are better players available for less.

[bermybhoy]

Akkermans is on £37k per week though and he's 32 - if I can't find someone better for cheaper, we're struggling.

I've also just had 3 players - Gregory (£6,750 per week), Scepovic (£10,250) and Deeney (£25,000) announce they're retiring - at the end of next season. I don't want them, and now can't sell them. Very frustrating.

[PaulHartman71]

that's a shame you couldn't make a couple of Million out of them, but at least you'll have 40K worth of wages free.

[Jimbokav1971]

Cool Bermy. Glad you've had a chance to have a look early.

What you have to realise is that this squad is in effect the squad from 2 seasons ago. PaulH seemed to want to save the money for you, (which will be good), and I was really just trying to get through the season before that because it wasn't my season and I was just finishing it off.

I agree with many of your comments though.

I liked the look of Thompson in my season, but you have to remember that my goal that season was to avoid relegation back then. We have moved on since then and he is 3 years over older. I like the idea of him as a back-up but we desperately need to go out and find and international class shot-stopper, (not even a kid with loads of potentiol). We need an experienced guy right now). We had some young GKs at the club who were thought to have potential. How are they coming along? I don't think Bobby or Josh were going to make it but I signed a young Spanish GK who looked like he might develop nicely.

Pavlov has an attitude and I hinted at the end of my 2nd season that he wasn't the God that we all viewed him as. I think PaulH's signing of Melvin showed us what a proper centre-half should look like. Pavlov is a cheap immitation. I would sell without a 2nd thought. This is what I said about Pavlov at the end of my 2nd season.

Something that I only noticed when having the discussion with

arrogantio

, is his height.

Pavlov

is only

5'8"

Now we all know that height is only an indication and bla bla bla. What it means is that

Pavlov

is never going to be the dominating towering centre-half that we want him to be. His strengths quite simply are elsewhere.

I changed my mind so often about Senior that it made me dizzy. In the end though, when everyone was fit he started the Cup Final for me so that will tell you where I ended up. He is also one of the better skippers at the club and is a good corner taker. His versatility is also invaluble. The fact that he will be happy not to be involved in every game is also an added bonus.

Kvist is a VERY good player. I inherited him and he was one of the first names on the team-sheet from the off. Can we do better? Yes. Is it a priority? No. I alse remember a decent Brasilian who could do a job when called upon.

Manuel has only been given so much senior exposure simply because we had little else, (and because I wasn't sold on Senior for long periods). From what I remember he is far better going forward than he is defending and what I wanted to do was play him at home and play a DRC at DR when we were away, (what heppened to Akkermans?). He wasn't European standard the last time I saw a pic, (but I would expect him to be in a couple of years.

I really just bought Ivan on a whim as one of a trio of young Spaniards, (to keep Manuel company). I hoped he might be decent but it was really more in hope than in anticipation.

Johnny Ek can't still be a starting MC. Please no.

Kvarstyanyi was signed by Bramble but he only arrived after PaulH took charge. I was never able to see hom in the flesh infortunately but from what I saw I would have expected him to have been knocking on the door for a starying spot by now.

I have reservations about Lewis Singh and I think that he will never reach his potential due to a mix of injury/fitness issues and poor hidden stats. Whenever I wanted to call on him he seemed to be injured/unfit or simply in poor form. I think I suggested giving him another year and then flogging him during my last handover.

The only problem I see with Snelling is that he is a whinging old woman and he won;t be happy about not playing in Europe this season. If you can keep him happy then great, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear you reporting that he is moaning and that you have accepted a big bid for him. There is no doubt that he is one of our best players right now though.

I liked Soares, (and I think another Monkey manager did too), but most have stayed well clear. His problem is that his most effective periods have been on the left flank filling a gap and he is realy not a ML. I would say get rid as long as we have someone better. He seems to have good hidden stats though so don't be too hasty.

Henriksen did great for me, but again this was in a team who's aim was to survive relegation. He was Premiership Young Player of the Season in both my seasons so maybe he just worked well with the tactics I used, (his tactics were a bit weird if you look at the left SC in my saved tactics). Very defensive. He's certainly not going to win us a Premiership or European title so do as you see fit. I inherited him and he did a brilliant job for me but that's as far as it goes.

I'm quite surprised/astonished that KdV is still leading the line. Don't get me wrong, he's decent, but he's never a top class European SC and I can't see him being happy playing 2nd fiddle to anyone so I would suggest flogging him rather than having him as a squad player. He has a history of disciplinary issues but has been great for us because he has been playing and scoring goals. Just because he has done well for us does not mean that we should keep him beyond his sell-by date.

Johnson was never going to be good enough to stay in the squad this long and he should have been off-loaded already. He was signed to avoid relegation. Nothing else.

I was hoping that Lewis Gregory would turn into a coach but if he is gone he is gone. Certainly wasn't going to feature.

Cranky is of the same ilk as Pavlov. A diminutive centre-half. He will go on to be a top player but not for us. He has good potential so we should get some good cash for him but that's all he is now, a name with a price-tag. He will go on to play at a top team but it won't be us.

Scotto looked like an Italian Bobby Mimms.

Price, Deeney, Booker, Roznik & Zoran all past it.

Ruud never quite made it despite all his early promise. Has been anging on for a couple of seasons and is only still playing occasionally because we have been unable to sign the right quality of ML.

Martz was bought with a very specific back-up job in mind. He was meant to fill in as the defensive left -sided SC (Henriksen), but Henriksen hardly ever missed a game. He was just their to hold the ball up and win headers, (which he did to decent effect).

Gallardo was good while he was there but only ever a short term stop-gap.

This was my summary at the end of my caretaker season.

GK.

If it was me managing again for another season, then I would look to sign a GK still not yet at his prime, (say mid-late 20's), and then keep one of the senior guys and sell the other. With the youngsters we need to just send them out on loan and see how they develop.

DL

So although we now have 2 decent left backs at the club, I am guessing that our success will mean that interest in the likes of

Kvist

will mount. As a result, do we need to sign another to cover the eventuality that he leaves us?

DR

We don't have a top quality DR at the club, but the way I see it we don't want one either. We have a few options available while

Manuel

develops. We have other far more important areas to worry about other than DR.

DC

Centre-half is the weakest area of our squad. Ideally i woudl like us to sign an experienced, dominat in the air player who is influential enough to lead the team. It may been shelling out big bucks but I think it is what we need most.

ML

With some of the right-sided guys also able to play on the left, this is an area of significant strength for us. If I was managing next season I would send

Lumsden

out on loan for a few months, and I would try to flog

Vaughan

and see how much we could get for him. Even if we don;t sell Vaughan, we can't leave him sitting on his harris. get him out on loan where he will gain experience.

MR

We've got MR's coming out our ears, (and good one's at that). If

Snelling

goes in the Summer, (as I expect he will). Don't panic. We have plenty of depth on the right flank.

MC

I think we are strong in central midfield. Very strong in fact. Certainly stronger than our performances suggest. Again I waould say that "Its my tactics!" lol. I mentioned somewhere else that I would really love us to splash the cash on a top class ball winning, goal-scoaring, box to box, central midfielder. As there tend to not be too many

Fat Franks

around and we have bigger problems elsewhere I guess he will have to wait.

If it was me I would be selling

Booker

&

Foti

to bring in some wedge.

SC

Now this is REALLY what I call strength in depth. No out and out superstars but it also seems no primadonas either. Obviously

KdV

and

Henriksen

should remain first choice but I don't think it is a forgone conclusion anymore.

Gallardo

made a significant impact a the end of this season given limited opportunity and seemed to just get on with it when played on the bench for long periods.

Martz

could make an impact as a squad player but also might need to be loaned out, (with the ability to recall), because I have a sneaking sucpicion that

Odir

is going to rock our World! Whatever you need to buy, its doesn't need to be a striker. having said that, the other SC that was on loan at the back end of last season is a guy called

Carmona

. He is out of contract and available on a free but he wasn't keen to join us when I approached him before. As soon as the fixtures are announced and we are in Europe then it might be worth approaching him again. He was better than

Matz

if memory serves me right.

You have to remember that all the above comments are now a whole 12 months out of date and the club has had a full European campaign to develop, (and the players to develop and age). Our midfield was good for what I was asking of them, but is not up to qualifying for Europe. The same can be saif for much of the rest of the team. The way I see it we don't have a GK able to play in the leage for the next few years, we only have 3 of a back 4 (and ideally it is still too early for Manuel). What happened to Fernando by the way? He was my great ghope for solving our DC issues. We only have the Ukranian in the middle from what I see, little on the left and an over-balance on the right, and then up front we have guys that have done us proud but are not going to push s up to the next level.

With Fernando, I was expecting serious develoment from Odir, Kev, Ismael, Ivan, Rodrigo & Andriy. Not to be starting yet, but at least so we could be getting a little excited about them.

I might downlaod the save and have a look actually.

[bermybhoy]

Edit: at PaulH - Ah no - I won't - they're retiring 2030. So they'll all sit out this season doing nothing.

Sold Akkermans for £4m, decent bit of business I think. Martz will be going to Strasbourg for £4.5m (!!!), Johnson to Blackburn for £2.5m and Matt Booker to Derby for £5m. Happy with those - brings in cash, and reduces the average age.

Now - is this guy worth the £9m he'll cost? The scout report is not convincing - I think he has room for improvement though.

[Jimbokav1971]

How much cash do you have available Bermy?

I didn;t spend very much at all and PaulH has only splashed the cash on Melvin.

You should be rolling in it? £25M to spend?:confused:

[bermybhoy]

It's crrently at £31m, but that will change after the season clicks over.

[PaulHartman71]

Akkermans for 4.5M is decent business, 2.5M for Johnson must be good as he never played for me, Booker for 5M is a good sale, but 4.5M for Martz is unbelievable, he was awful. Not sure that guy you've looked at is worth 9.5M, but we have got the money and it's not too much of a gamble imo.

[Guest arrogantio]

Nitulescu certainly looks a better bet than two lots of Marz, although he's pretty selfish and I hope the angry face isn't a sign of things to come.

[Jimbokav1971]

Bermy.

I've had a look for a decent GK and I think you might have to just stick with Thompson. Decent GK's eem pretty thin on the ground from what I've seen. I think the lack of stars on the Ass Man's screen near any GK's speaks volumes though.

DL looks good with Kvist, Raimundo and the England U21 player Abbott.

DR looked ok before you sold Akkermans. Now we are just down to Manuel & 18 year old Rothwell as back-up. Not ideal but they both look decent if they are playing with dominant centre-backs.

DC is all about Melvin. Akkermans is the 2nd best DC at the club and you have just sold him so we are now back to the likes of Pavlov & Cranky who we know aren't good enough and Fernando who is developing nicely but who is only 19 years old, (noted the Spanish senior Cap). What was the name of the guy I mentioned at the end of my last season..... (Alexeev is at Fulham). Leoni at Inter is another possible target.

I've just realised that only 8 players were senyt out on loan last season. It should have been closer to 28. That will be why some of our youngsters aren't developing.

GK Bobby not sent on loan.

DL Abbott not sent on loan.

DR Rothwell not sent on loan.

DC Ismael not sent on loan.

ML Gomes not sent on loan. We purchased him for £90k and he is worth £1.9M 12 months later but he has missed out a whole seasons worth of development so there is no point keeping him.

MC Kevin Nash gone from £500K to £1.1M but not sent on loan so just sell.

SC Odir has gone from £210K to £2.7M but is not progressing and is still on general training schedule. We may have missed the boat on him. There are 30 players on general schedule.

We have 1 player on 6*'s for CA (Melvin), and we have only another 4 on 5*'s, (Kvist, Pavlov, Akkermans & Ek). We even only have 4 more players on 4*'s, (Snelling, Raimundo, KdV & booker).

Speaking of which, our Ass Man only has JPP13.

All the above could be a load of old Michael Ballacks so I suggest we find a proper Ass Man who we can trust so that we know what is going on.

I am in favour of a HUGE clear out to generate a LOAD of cash and then go out and buy top quality players.

[PaulHartman71]

Oh and just to warn you Bermy there might be some interest in Melvin, I had Chelsea and Man United sniffing around and occasionally flirting with him, but giving him a new contract seemed to keep him happy until the end of the season. I'm also in favour of the clear out.

[bermybhoy]

Bit of progress since the last update. A few signings made, who'll join on July 1 - I'll introduce them then. In terms of players leaving - Cranky is due to join PSG for £6m + sell on - however, he got injured in an international, so remains to be seen if it will go through. Johnny Ek will be joining Lazio for £10m (30 y/old, 1 year left on his contract - it's a good deal), Ruud has aready gone, £5.25m to Feynoord, plus sell on. Scotto, the keeper, has gone to Sunderland on loan, hopefully they'll stump up £4.2m to make it permanent.

The last round of internationals brough some very bad news. Out til Christmas at least, he's a massive loss and means we need to give even more thought to central defence. I've arranged a deal for young Brazillian Diego, who'll cost £6.5m and can play anywhere along the back. The scout reckons he's already as good as Melvin. At least anohter couple also needed, now.

Some good news with a new sponsorship deal which is up from about £3m on the last deal, so we're growing.

Season summary - no where to be seen here unfortunately.

Season best XI - fair dos. I think PaulH really ecelled with this squad.

All time best XI - if anyone's interested

Season expectations/budget - promised a top half finish, the extra expectation of a Euro spot wasn't worth it for the meagre extra budget.

Jimbo: dead right about keepers. Was chasing a fairly average looking guy from a French side, gave up when they still rejected £9m. Hopefully there's someone out there though. Centre backs - see above - we need another one or two. A right back too.

You're right about the assman, but we can't shift him as it would cost £600k to do so, the board won't allow it. On the upside, he will also retire next season.

[Dava]

Tough break with Melvin and agree the squad needs a total clear out. Quite liked the striker you linked before, could do well playing with a target man..

What's the clubs bank balance? I thought you may have had even more to play with considering our modest spending over the last couple of years.

[Jimbokav1971]

Bloomin hell. Disaster with the melvin injury.

Without him and Akkermans maybe you should just hold off on flogging any more of the fringe DC's until you actually get some in. I have a feeling we could be in for some tough times without a couple of bruisers coming in.

Don't be afraid to sign an old bloke to do the job while Melvin is out. (The good news is that at least you shouldn't get offers for him now).

I think £31.5M is a bit stingy when you think that it is 2 seasons worth and you have also generated about half of that yourself. Very shabby.

[dafuge]

Regarding player development - does anyone tinker with the training schedules? I simply used the ones that were already there that an earlier manager had put in place. In my own games I have the Tug's Training schedules but I felt it wouldn't be in the spirit of the challenge to import them. I'm happy to fiddle with tactics but training is an area I haven't got to grips with.

I spent a fair bit of time a while ago without the help of the TTF designing a set of training schedules, they may well be the ones you saw as they had been left untouched between my first two stints.

I'm not really sure where we stand on downloaded training schedules, although I'm guessing it is a no go area in the same way as tactics are.

[Salman91]

October Update:

Sevilla 0-2 Braintree

5.10.28 - EL Group Stage (2)

Didn't expect this at all, a vital away win. They started off with a lot of long range efforts but it was us who got the first goal when Ford met Terziev's cross with great volley to slot the ball home. after that the play stuck in the middle with long range efforts from both teams. On the 70th min we were able to double our lead with great header from Ford.

16 player were called up for international duty but this time a lot of them are for the senior squad

Arsenal 0-0 Braintree

8.10.28 - PL (7)

they were on an 11 match unbeaten run so I'm happy with this result. We managed to keep them at bay throughout the match thanks to Garden's man of the match performance. We had the best of them in dying minutes but couldn't score.

Braintree 3-0 Sunderland

22.10.28 - PL (8)

A great win!! We had a flying start scoring 2 goals in the first 20 minutes through Funes and Ford, and just before the end of the half Ford got his second and our third with a nice place shot from inside the box. Nothing to mention in the second half, they were better but they were limited to long shots and corners.

We lost Stadsgaard for 6-7 weeks. Injuries just don't go away!!

Braintree 2-0 Bronby

26.10.28 - EL Group Stage (3)

I wasn't really worried about the result, although we left it for second half, but I was worried the no one would get injured and that did happen to Munro

Munro is out for 2 months , on an upside note the Board just upgraded the Youth Facilities.

Braintree 1-0 Leeds

29.10.28 - PL (9)

It was a close boring game in the first half. I went to a more attacking style in the second and it showed we wanted to win this more by scoring the early minutes of the second half and taking control of the rest.

Squad - We're starting to hit our form. Ford has been sensational this month

Table - a great climb up the table with the last 2 results

Next Month - We have a total of 7 games, only 2 are at home. The EL and LC match are both away so that explains it.

** sorry I forgot to make the pic JPGs

[dafuge]

Bad news about Munro but I'm really pleased to see Ford scoring all these goals, my faith in him last season seems to be paying off.

Don't apologise about the PNGs, they are better for us. It was the uploading time that was the problem with them for me, loading them takes no time.

Why is Oscar Funes unhappy?

[Salman91]

Bad news about Munro but I'm really pleased to see Ford scoring all these goals, my faith in him last season seems to be paying off.

Don't apologise about the PNGs, they are better for us. It was the uploading time that was the problem with them for me, loading them takes no time.

Why is Oscar Funes unhappy?

He wants to move to a bigger team. I tried offering him a contract several times but he keeps on refusing.

[bermybhoy]

I didn't manage to get pictures of the new signings uploaded last night, will try and do so tonight. Finally made it past the first couple of league games though, so almost at the end of the transfer window and assuming no surprise offers come in, business is probably concluded.

There's been a LOT of movement, and in terms of players out, we've achieved most of our objectives. Some of those coming in in might be more controversial.

One player who hasn't gone anywhere is Singh. Checking his profile again, I finally clocked that his description is 'wonderkid' (the only other in the squad is Snelling). Now, given he's only 20, I think we're best to persevere with him. Even if he's never going to be someone we consistently fancy playing, or if he's injured (which he was for the first 2 games of the season) you have to think his PA is on the rise, and he'll be worh far more at 23/24 than he is now. Therefore, he's staying, for now. Only problem is he's unhappy - will pester him for a new contract to try and sort it.

[Dava]

Looking forward to it.

Good prices for ageing/not good enough players by the looks of things so far.

[Salman91]

November Update:

Q.P.R. 1-1 Braintree

1.11.28 - PL (10)

They were the better team throughout the match we barely had a shot on goal but when we did we scored. I thought that goal would win it for us but the cancel it straight away.

West Ham 1-2 Braintree

4.11.28 - PL (11)

I started the game with a attack tactic and paid off with 2 goals in the opening minutes of each half from White and that put the game away.

Barry is out for a week. S.Ford and Funes are out for 3 weeks.

OGC Nice 0-2 Braintree

9.11.28 - EL Group Stage (4)

any win in the next 3 games we would qualify and with a lot of injuries already I fielded a weak team but they delivered controlling the match and getting the win. Wagner started it off with a screamer just after the break and Ruddick double lead after he met with Gibbons corner 10 minutes from time.

We qualified to the 1st Knockout Stage \o/

Braintree 1-1 Middlesbrough

12.11.28 - PL (12)

Against league leaders, this was a tough match. It could've gone either way. We took the lead through Guzman's header just after the half hour mark but the equalized with screamer just after the hour mark.

Man Utd 1-3 Braintree

15.11.28 - LC 4th Rnd

We conceded an early penalty, after that the game went quite but just before the end of the half Guzman got the equalizer just like i wanted. In second , we pushed for the win and in the 70th min we got the lead through substitute Alexander with a great shot from outside the box, with 10 minutes from time Alexander got he second and our third and great placed shot. Unfortunately he got injured 2 minutes from time.

Alexander got injured for 2 weeks and Guzman got injured for 10 days. Guzman's injury left us with only 1 striker!!

The stadium's 9225 seat expansion has just been completed

We drew Q.P.R (A) in the League Cup Qtr Final

Man City 1-0 Braintree

19.11.28 - PL (13)

They were the better team throughout the first half missing a penalty and having a lot of chance, in the end of the first half they got what they wanted when they scored from a long range effort. In the second, we balanced things out but just couldn't convert our chance into goals. This ended out 10 league unbeaten run.

Braintree 3-0 Nottm Forest

25.11.28 - PL (14)

a very quit first half until the very last minute when Barry rebounded Sorensen's free-kick to slot the ball home. 7 minutes into the second half, Barry double his tally and our lead with a great screamer and then Ford got his first after his injury with a powerful strike from inside the box that went straight to the corner.

Squad - A lot of fixture and a lot of injuries, we're barley holding but if the injuries stay away we have a shot in going far in every competition.

Table - We're in CL spot but it's a tight league.

Next Month - a lot of matches. We already qualified from our group in EL so I'm going to rest our player in the 2 match so that leaves only 7 important games.

[Salman91]

Just noticed I haven't posted a screenshot of our EL group, so here it is.

should I post the league table after every league match or posting it at the end of each month is good?

[Dave.]

That's a great start Salman, well done!

Blimey, the league is tight, but the fixtures haven't been so kind so far, so hopefully we can move away from the chasing pack now.

And congratulations on qualifying from the EL group, are the last two games going to be used to give some youngsters a go?

[dafuge]

Just noticed I haven't posted a screenshot of our EL group, so here it is.

should I post the league table after every league match or posting it at the end of each month is good?

I think at the end of every month is fine.

4th spot is ideal, looks like things are really going to plan

[hamilton162]

Great season so far mate, keep it up and we're in with a great chance of an EPL title in a year or so's time

And yeah, at the end of every month is fine for the screenshot of the table

Onwards, upwards and into the Champions League for the Softies this year

[Salman91]

And congratulations on qualifying from the EL group, are the last two games going to be used to give some youngsters a go?

yes, but a lot of them have been playing due to injuries. That's the only upside to injuries.

[bermybhoy]

Northern Monkeys - transfers

Transfers (1) Transfers (2)

Players in (in chronological order)

Puckett / Coach report - presumably identified by Jimbo previously, this guy should be good if he can improve in the right areas. Should see some sub appearances at least. £4.8m for some real potential here.

Cruse - has been an absolute star for Crewe in the Championship last two years with high average ratings. Only decent at this level, but for £2.7m gives good backup for a couple of positions and should have decent resale value.

Elder - signed from relegated Reading after a decent season. Again, only backup for the right wing, but coming on a Bosman should mean we profit in a year or two.

Diego / Coach report - the Brazilian can play anywhere across the back and is rated as good as Melvin already, with the ability to get better. Hopefully a mainstay for several years.

Tetteh / Coach report - like Diego, cost £6.5m from Brazil, already looks good enough for the first team and should improve in future. A potential star.

Elam / Coach report - 17 year old striker weighed in at £4m from Newcastle - he appears to have bags of potential and can probably already do a turn in some low-key games. One for the future though.

Labourdette - released by Real Madrid, he can play on either wing, has a couple of French caps but hardly played any first team football. Could get better, either way, decent backup.

McInally - no star, but Everton were selling him for free, so seemed rude not to snap him up for resale potential.

Brunskill / Coach report - hmmm....really doesn't look much in hindsight. The scouts suggested he had more hidden potential than the coaches now do, so maybe worth the £775k gamble.

Vyskoc - left winger had a £3m release clause from Zaragoza, and the scouts rated him currently as good as Snelling. As such, a bit of a steal.

Lafforgue / Coach report - at £13m, became our record signing (beating KdV by £500k). Already rated better than the rest, and with potential to improve. Should be guaranteed a spot as left sided striker for the forseeable.

Nobre - our first raid on AZ, a centre back, looks solid. To my mind, easily better than the likes of Ekkerman, who was sold for the same money.

Henriquez - by this stage, we needed a defensive midfielder. The wonderkids I was chasing would have cost more and limited my goalkeeper budget, so this fella was a bit of a cheap option at £5.25m from AZ, but looks good regardless. Again, to me better than Ivan Mendez, who we sold for £8.5m.

Lafita - as discussed previously, decent keepers are thin on the ground. This guy means we've broken our transfer record twice this window, and I'd struggle to say £14m is value for money - however, he's way better than Thompson and hopefully solves the obvious weakest area of the team. From that perspective, the outlay is justified - quite simply - that's the going rate.

Dodd - they can't all be superstars. A cheap backup for Henriquez.

Wood - ageing centre back brought in as stop gap cover. Played most of last season for Liverpool, so not past it yet, but unlikely to play much.

Smith - ANOTHER centre back. His signing kinda upset Diego and Nobre, but tough, they'll all be rotated. Potentially a bargain at £3.7m - Arsenal shelled out over £11m for him 3 years ago - but he didn't play mich and might not reach the potential implied there.

Law - obviously pants, but after raking in £4m for Thompson and loaning most of the young keepers, Josh was the only remaining backup for Lafita for £600k gives us a decent stop gap.

Players out (notable only)

Akkermans - £4m for a 32 year old? That'll do nicely.

Ruud - £5.25m plus sell on. He might get better, but it was agreed it wouldn't be with us.

Johnson, Booker, Martz - discussed previously.

Cranky - £6m plus sell on. I'm not convinced this guy will ever make the early promise shown. Good luck to him in France.

Ek - £10m. I liked the look of him to be honest, but he IS 30 and the money was good.

Samuels - Doubled our money in 6 months with a £500k sale. Would never have featured.

Ivan - the young DM might have got better, but was stirring trouble and £8.5m plus sell on is a good deal.

Nash - bought for profit, was more than surprised to persuade Stuttgart to part with £4.2m. Hopefully not missing a trick with this one.

Pavlov - an acknowledged weak link, I though we might get more but £9.75m is more than decent.

Thompson - good keeper, but turned 33 and only a year left on his contract. Offered him out for £4m and Real Madrid - of all teams - bit.

Two players who haven't gone anywhere are Henkriksen and KdV. Plenty of interest, just no realistic bids. In spite of my criticism, I quite like them both. The plan is now to play either of them with Lafforgue as the 'big man'.

Jimbo - you'll be pleased to know that everyone who can be shifted on loan, has been. A few just won't go anywhere.

After all that, I'm more than a bit shocked to discover we actually turned a £1m profit on transfers. And still the transfer budget had shrunk to about £10m...guess it's partly timing in terms of budgets being set but still, the board are stingy, stingy gits

[Funbags]

some excellent signings there bermy

[Dava]

Really like the look of some of those signings; Lafforgue, Diego and Smith in particular.

Good luck with the season.

[bermybhoy]

Northern Monkeys - August

The fixture computer has been kind in giving me a nice start, with two home games to get the ball rolling.

Match 1

Leicester are newly promoted and we didn't expect many problems here. After dominating the frist half without scoring, KdV popped up and stuck it home in a stramash from a corner, knicking the ball off Lafforgue's toe to deny him a debut goal. With 15 minutes left, young right-back Manuel - who we have some misgivings about - powered home a 30 yard free kick. Excellent way to start the season. They never threatened, it could have been more.

MoM: Manuel

Match 2

After warming up v Leicester, things very much clicked against West Brom. Lafforgue opened his account for the club with a cool finish early on. Henriksen, rotated in for KdV, added a fine brace either side of half time. Sandwiched in between was an another absolute peach from Manuel, another 30 yarder, this time from open play. We should've added more - but bearing in mind West Brom were 6th last year, this was a very fine result.

It will warm some hearts to know that Pavlov sold us at least one of the goals, and was hooked after 65 minutes with a rating of 4.4. £9.75m? Mugs.

MoM: Henriksen

League Cup 2nd Round

Completely changed the team to give youngsters and fringe men a run out. Two early goals from new arrivals sealed it, we took the foot off the gas and the rest was rubbish.

MoM: Labourdette.

Nice start to the season, with 3 easy home games. Champions Chelsea away next will be a sterner test.

Lafforgue was YPOTM. Bobby was runner up for the Championship award, on loan at Huddersfield.

[PaulHartman71]

I nearly signed Lafforgue myself in January, but instead just gave him the * so I'm glad that you signed him. Overall I think you've done well in the transfer market, and we should see some progress this season

EDIT: Fantastic, a 100 percent record to start the season. Manuel looks like he might turn out to be a bit of a goalscorer!

[bermybhoy]

Shame you didn't sign him sooner actually. He's quality, would really have helped your cause far more than he other duffers we had.

Genuinely very surprised Manuel hasn't shown these talents before...he's a demon with a dead ball.

[bermybhoy]

Northern Monkeys - September

Match 3

Chelsea was cancelled, so this was the first game for a fortnight. Hull are no great shakes, so such a poor performance to be beaten is hard to take. Labourdette did well and scored after coming on for Singh who - surprise, surprise - went of injured. As I contantly moan about in Dafuge's challenge, I find away games a real struggle. This was no different.

Match 4

Better result than performance. A wondergoal for Stoke from 30 yards made it difficult, until Lafforgue placed one home, having just seen an effort disallowed. Manuel then notched a 3rd screamer, this a 20 yard free kick, to give us 3 largely undeserved points.

MoM: Manuel

League Cup 3rd Round

Another easy tie against lower Championship opposition in Watford, another ok-ish performance from the fringe men. Labourdette scored again and Puckett opened his account for us.

MoM: Labourdette

Next round sees a very tough away game to Fulham.

Match 5

Afer playing with the unsuccessful tactics from the Hull game, this was a lot more like it v Portsmouth. Henriksen nabbed one from a corner just after half time. After moving to slow things down and kill the game, a superb Snelling run and cross from the byeline was nodded home by Lafforgue. Minutes later we got a freekick was out right, with everyone expecting a Manuel cross from this position, he simply smashed it into the top far corner for easily one o the best goals I've seen on FM. Portsmouth got a late consolation, before Henriksen again headed home a corner for a very, very convincing win.

MoM: A wonder goal and two assists - obviously Manuel.

That leaves us nicely in 3rd at the end of the month - table.

[PaulHartman71]

fantastic month there, bar the slight slip up against Hull. Manuel the right footed Roberto Carlos?

[bermybhoy]

Possibly - I'm convinced that Roberto Carlos lived his career off that goal though - every other freekick was a rocket into row ZZ. At least Manuel is getting them right on target

Btw, about to face Chelsea and Joao. He's only just coming back to fitness after missing most of last season by breaking his same leg, twice. I think we missed a bullet. Wait and see how many scores against us now

[dafuge]

Possibly - I'm convinced that Roberto Carlos lived his career off that goal though - every other freekick was a rocket into row ZZ. At least Manuel is getting them right on target

wasn't bad though

[bermybhoy]

wasn't bad though

Just a bad cross

[dafuge]

This one any good?

edit: this will probably save me some time

[PaulHartman71]

the analysis video is pretty interesting. But back on topic, Bermy how has our new look defence looked, Melvin obviously not playing for a while, Pavlov gone, Thompson gone etc.

[bermybhoy]

Well, Manuel is performing way better than I'd ever have imagined, although his goals might be masking any defensive deficiencies. Kvist is ok on the left. I'm rotating Smith, Diego and Nobre in the middle. Smith has made a couple of 'mistakes leading to goals' which means his average is shot. Too early to say if he's been unlucky, or just rubbish. The new keeper is excellent, pulling off some great saves - that's making a big difference.

[PaulHartman71]

I imagine that Akkermans getting injured a fair bit contributed to Manuel's growth in quality during my reign, he got a lot more first team action then I'd imagined and tbf he just got better and better. Never really noticed his knack for goalscoring until he scored twice in one of the last games of the season though. New keeper sound good, never had much of a problem with Thompson but he was average at best so a replacement that's a lot better should mean we concede a lot less this year.

[Polar Bear]

Good work Salman, a steady start to the season.

That's very good wheeling and dealing Bermy, you've reinvigorated the Monkeys there.

[Salman91]

December Update:

first day in december and unsettling begins this is the worst part about having good players

Wigan 0-0 Braintree

2.12.28 - PL (15)

Nothing to say here, a boring draw.

Roberts Denies Tottenham interest.

We Drew Championship side Barnsley in the FA Cup 3rd Rnd

Braintree 0-0 Sevilla

6.12.28 - EL Group Stage (5)

The young lads did great to keep Sevilla at bay. with this result we only need a draw in our last game to win the group.

The game against Sevilla broke the attendance recored by about 9000 which means we set a new gate receipts high.

If we win against Q.P.R. in the LC Qtr Final we will play either Middlesbrough or Chelsea

Hull 2-3 Braintree

10.12.28 - PL (16)

What a match!! We started off on flyer scoring in the second minute after a great play and then we doubled the lead through Ford on the half-hour mark. They pulled on back just after the hour mark and I thought we had enough to see them off but disaster struck when they got the equalizer in the 89th min and this time I thought it was over but I was proved wrong again when McCabe received a cleared ball in the last minute of injury time to pass it to Stadsgaard on the left who with a one touch pass picked out Barry in the middle and then Barry passed a creative through ball to Ford who slotted the ball home with a great placed shot. A great match!!

Terziev got injured for 10 days and T.Ford for 3 weeks

Q.P.R. 1-1 Braintree (Q.P.R. win 5-3 on penalties)

13.12.28 - LC Qtr Final

It was an even match. We started great by scoring in the opening minute but they managed to cancel that just after the hour mark. After that, nobody could finish the game off so it went to penalties and we were unlucky.

Funes's season is over, a HUGE blow for us

Braintree 2-1 Reading

16.12.28 - PL (17)

We started out on the wrong foot conceding in the 16th min but 20 minutes from time everything changed Sorensen scored a wonderful volley from outside the area, 3 minutes after White ended his ten hour drought finishing off a great play.

Brondby 1-2 Braintree

20.12.28 - EL Group Stage (6)

After they preformed really well against Sevilla I expect them to win here and they delivered.

We drew Heerenveen in 1st Knockout Rnd of EL. We will play either Roma or Man City in the 2nd Knockout Rnd if we win.

Braintree 2-0 Norwich

23.12.28 - PL (18)

a very quite first half until the last minute when Alexander met with Trzeiv's cross with great header to give us the lead. In second, I went to a more attacking tactic and we started creating a lot of chances, missing a lot of them. In 67th minute, we doubled out lead through Dennis when he scored a great screamer from the left edge of the area.

Braintree 2-0 Aston Villa

26.12.28 - PL (19)

We started off greatly when we took the lead through Dennis with a nice placed shot, 20 minutes later we doubled our led when Ford met with Barry's cross to tap in to the empty net. A great win.

The game against Aston Villa broke the Attendance Record by 64

Braintree 1-0 West Brom

30.12.28 - PL (20)

It was a quite game and looked like it was heading to a bore draw but 20 minutes from time White capitalized on short pass back to the GK to snatch the winner, a valuable win.

Our 5 wins in a row got us the Manager of the Month Award.

Squad - Although we are in good position but I feel the squad is thin and I spent the majority of the budget in the summer, I'm hoping that injuries keep away.

Table - In great position, wasn't expecting this at all!!

Next Month - I'll be looking on getting cheap, for the future players.

[dafuge]

Fantastic stuff

Interesting to see that Munro has stopped scoring now Ford has started.

Bad news with Funes, are you going to give Bertani a go? He had great potential when I signed him, a run of games could do him good.

[Salman91]

Fantastic stuff

Interesting to see that Munro has stopped scoring now Ford has started.

Bad news with Funes, are you going to give Bertani a go? He had great potential when I signed him, a run of games could do him good.

Munro stopped scoring because he was injured and hadn't got back till the last couple of games.

Gibbons and Dennis are ahead of Bertani so he hasn't played a lot.