[FM22] Ultimate Challenge with a Few Extra Rules - 14/32

[SaintsFCFan7498]

Two Goal Difference Behind the Playoffs

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We went to Sunderland and knew we had to win to overcome Leeds if they lost to Reading. We went to the league champions and dominated. They struggled to get good shots in and we took advantage of needing to get a result with them effectively on the beach. I didn't think we'd be in the playoffs but the earlier we get the Premier League money, the earlier we can build the team into what I want it to be. Frustratingly, Leeds drew with Middlesbrough and we didn't beat the champions 4-0. Looking at the match report from that game, the right result would have been a score draw or a Leeds win anyway. 

I think we need to look at ourselves for not making the playoffs. Losing 6-1 to Burton is a key one. We lose that game 4-1 and we're in the playoffs. In the penultimate game of the season, we failed to win at home to relegated and bottom of the table Preston. Bristol City scored a 93rd minute winner after we equalised in the 91st. Arguably, we deserved to fully turn the game around against Leeds as we struggled early but turned it around in terms of performance. Sheffield United from the previous update equalised in the 93rd minute. Brentford equalised in the 94th.

If we made the playoffs, I think we could have pulled off a shock. Middlesbrough would have been tough then a fascinating tie between Brentford or Burton at Wembley could go anywhere being a playoff final.

But that's football and we'll go again next season. I pretty much have to overhaul the squad or extend these loans. The loan signings were fantastic from the previous manager and I want to bring them back. Blackburn were relegated so I think it's unlikely we'll see Davison-Marsh return and they've already said they want him in the first team. Man United have already accepted an extension for the Jessup loan. We have £2m to spend in the transfer window. 

Edited July 15, 2022 by SaintsFCFan7498

[SaintsFCFan7498]

Midtable Finish Predicted With Good Improvements to the Squad

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We've made good changes to the squad and I believe we're a better team than we were last season. The midfield was the crucial area to look at in the summer and we did that. In terms of how we played last season, 50-1 and 17th feels a bit harsh on the team. What doesn't help is there's a relatively clear favourite in Southampton. Looking at their news, they're the target of takeover rumours and stories.

The promoted sides look to be somewhat reasonable which has put teams like Wycombe, Oxford and Swansea at risk. I'm not sure we'll see all of these teams relegated and one promoted from League 1 team will return. Birmingham won that division so I'm somewhat surprised it's them.

In terms of the EFL Cup, we've been drawn against Hartlepool in the first round. It won't be that interesting to take much notice of.

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The squad is almost unrecognisable compared to last season. Starting from the Goalkeeper, Cardiff wanted to reduce the size of their squad and Messaoudi represented a good upgrade on Urquhart. Although he didn't make many mistakes, I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to improve at a good price when available.

Defensively, we've made a few moves too. Kristian Pickford was available for decent money from Oxford United at £1.3m. He represented an improvement over Davison-Marsh and being from a similar level at Oxford, the wage isn't too much of an issue. At left back, I wanted to decrease the age and the wage since Cowan was one of the highest earners at the club. Perks came in on a free since there weren't many options and we'll find better options in the coming years.

Midfield is the key area I wanted to improve. We got Jessup on loan this season again which was one of the aims I discussed in the previous part. We signed Kevin Willock from relegated Peterborough for £3.4m. If we get to the Premier League with him, he'll be massively impressive and he's got time to develop. £3.4m for him now is fantastic and if we do sell him on, a lot of clubs will be interested. Joao Linares is somebody that came in from the lower leagues of England with Leyton Orient in League 2. Since he was a needed upgrade, the wages and the upgrade is good. I feel like he's an undervalued player since the game tells me he's only League 2 quality.

Paul King is somebody who Stoke wanted to get rid of and represented an upgrade. Although the money doesn't seem as good as the Kevin Willock signing, he's one of the better players at CAM for us.

Our striker position wasn't planning to be as interesting as it was. However, there was interest to sell Huws and we did for £8.75m. I took that since I wanted to upgrade elsewhere. Juraboev was a player I found last season on a free agent recommendation. He's expected to become absolutely stunning. Peter Francis was somebody I identified on an expired contract at Luton. I wanted to negotiate a better fee than the £110k for compensation but Luton weren't interested so I signed him with the compensation. He's young enough to easily be sold more than £110k. Especially when we get to the Premier League.

My next update will come around the time we get an interesting draw in the EFL Cup or we progress into the latter stages of the competition. I'm expecting an automatic promotion spot this season but 3rd/4th wouldn't be an issue.

[SaintsFCFan7498]

Good Start to the Season as We Draw Newcastle in the EFL Cup

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This isn't Mike Ashley's Newcastle anymore. They're not in transition. They're now two time Premier League champions with their first win in 2037 then they did the Champions League and Premier League double last season. They have four EFL Cups with three of those coming consecutively from 2036 to 2038. We are Chesterfield. We're trying to get the Premier League money. They have all the money.

Against Hartlepool, it was a Peter Francis masterclass as he scored 4 goals to ensure we weren't upset by the League 2 champions. Against Burton, it was pretty much a 3-1 game before they scored an injury time consolation to make it look closer than it was. We progress and this is as far as I'm expecting to go.

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We've started the season well. Outside of a slow start against Reading, we're in good form and haven't conceded any other goals and scored 6. It's early in the season so far and I'm happy. I'm not worried about the Reading game as we were the better team and it was more points lost than anything else. West Brom and Derby were just dominant performances. They're not expected to be in the promotion fight so I won't read too much into them. We haven't played a team who are going to go properly toe to toe with us in the table.

I'll return when we get knocked out by Newcastle.

[SaintsFCFan7498]

Newcastle Show Their Quality As We Fought Well

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It was a fantastic game and we went into it with fight and pushed it. We gave away a penalty in the 17th minute which is where I expected Newcastle to run away. However, 15 minutes later, Pickford gets his head onto a cross to equalise. We held on until half time then into the second half as Juraboev was sent through one on one with the goalkeeper. He chipped the keeper and sent us into the lead. Immediately, Newcastle turn it around. We pushed for a final chance to take it to penalties but nothing came to fruition in terms of highlights and we lose. It was less emphatic than I expected from the Premier League champions.

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Four league games, two we turned up in and deserved to win. Burton weren't clearly the better team and we didn't deserve to lose but neither did Burton. Coventry was just an awful performance all round. We were second best everywhere and deserved to lose comfortably. Annoyingly, we are failing to lose too much. Hopefully, that's more down to us having changed the team a lot over the summer and continuing to gel which does make sense. Our quality is definitely there and we see it in the comfortable wins we regularly have. When this team does become the cohesive unit we had last season, I think there's a lot of potential for us to go on a winning run.

At the moment, we're currently 4 points off the top of the table in Blackburn. I'm not too worried about waiting for the team to gel properly because we're successful now. Hopefully, without the distraction of the EFL Cup, we will see an uptick in our momentum and not losing games we should be winning or failing to lose games. That was our key attribute last season across the squad and I'm hoping we'll get that back.

I'll go a longer way into the future now and maybe return around the beginning of December before the mass of fixtures that brings.

Edited July 16, 2022 by SaintsFCFan7498

[SaintsFCFan7498]

Oxford United were 22nd. We went 2-1 up, they had a man sent off. They turned it around. They went down to 9 men. This is that game.

[SaintsFCFan7498]

7th. Still.

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We're still 7th in the league but that doesn't tell the story of the season. We've missed so many opportunities where we've been on top and we just didn't take advantage. Oxford United was just one of them with three points lost there, Charlton were 22nd and we gave way two silly chances. Even in the wins, there are warning signs of us failing to win races we should. Ipswich required a corner and then we conceded late on. There's a reason for us to be concerned when we just need to take our chances and not make mistakes.

In the Watford game, we were denied a goal when King took a long shot from outside the box to score but there was an uninvolved player in an offside position. He didn't affect anything. Nobody cared he was there. Two points robbed.

We had a winless run but looking back on these results, I feel like we're starting find momentum. Blackburn are in freefall as Burton continue their underdog story. I'll return when we get something interesting in the FA Cup.

[SaintsFCFan7498]

Mistakes Against Lower Table Teams The Bigger Issue

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Since we were knocked out in the Fourth Round against Swansea, I went further than planned in the league. With 7 games to go, it's our inconsistencies and failures to beat weaker teams that are the issue for us. We don't seem to lose much but the issue comes when we throw away opportunities from winning positions or fail to take advantage of just being better than the opposition. In our loss to Stoke, we were the better team, had more shots, better shots and then Stoke went down the other end and scored. This is just one situation in this season where we've failed to take advantage of being the better team. Even against West Brom, we were 4-1 at half time then the team conceded two goals and an offside goal to win 4-3.

Fulham are fighting relegation yet we go 2-1 up, they go 3-2 up and we scrape a draw. Charlton we're the better team and take the lead, they turn it around and we scrape a draw. Brentford, we take a 2-1 lead in the 23rd minute before throwing it away. Against Portsmouth, we take a 2-1 lead in the 51st then lose 3-2. In those games alone, we lose 9 points. With those changes alone, we'd have been with Burton and I genuinely believe we can win the playoffs if we can just get into them.

I'll update at the end of the season. Hopefully, we stop being mentally awful and get into these playoffs.

[SaintsFCFan7498]

We're 6th and in the Playoffs

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Well. We did it. With Wycombe not winning their final game with us losing, we're in the playoffs. We had a reasonably good run to the end of the season and showed we can win these playoffs. Having finished third, Watford will go into these playoffs as the favourites expecting to beat us and the winner of Portsmouth and Burton. If we win, it will be the first time any of these teams have been in the Premier League in about 30 years with Chesterfield and Burton never being in the Premier League.

We've played Watford twice this season with a 1-0 loss and a 2-2 draw. I'm under no illusion that these will be easy games because there's no reason for them to be. This is an underdog's playoff. Time for an underdog to knock out the favourites.

Edited July 18, 2022 by SaintsFCFan7498

[SaintsFCFan7498]

Promotion. We did it. Premier League.

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The Semi Final was the more difficult tie and that was expected. We fought back from 1-0 down to win 2-1 at home against Watford. It was tough in the second leg where we conceded a penalty in the 7th minute and then went 3-2 down in the 23rd minute. Fortunately, we equalised in the tie to send it into extra time where we scored goals in the 102nd and 108th minute to lead by 2. We didn't concede anything else beyond that and made the final.

In the final, we went 1-0 up through Howell in the 9th minute. We gave away a poor goal when Azael hit the post before the ball came back to him. Francis scores his one on one chance to make it 2-1 in the 43rd minute. We sealed the win, and promotion, when a poor goalkeeper parry landed at Francis' feet to score and make it 3-1. We continued to be the team on top and didn't concede at the end for promotion to the Premier League.

We have £37m to do something with and we need every single penny of it to try and survive in the Premier League. I made good signings when I could but I feel like we need a lot to be 17th and that's my aim for our first season.

[SaintsFCFan7498]

20th and 1000-1. Survival is the Aim.

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The odds really aren't in our favour and that's no surprise. We beat Watford in the playoffs of the underdogs and came 6th. 17th will be a massive achievement for us this season and that's all I hope for. It will be frustrating if we get relegated but Premier League TV money is massive for us. We're the biggest Premier League underdog for a number of years and anything we get would be incredible. The first aim is to beat Derby's points. Then whatever comes next.

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A lot of money has gone into this team and we needed it. Only four players survive from the playoff final in January signing Pavic, James Forbes and last season signing Kristian Pickford as well as Kevin Willock moved back to a DM role. Up front is the most interesting story. Wonderkid Juraboev had his release clause met as Man City paid £20.5m for him. Herd was one of our first signings from Bournemouth as we focused on improving the quality we had. Since he was unhappy, we got him on a relatively cut price deal. Kieran Behan is a reactive signing because of the sale of Juraboev but he should be along the lines of Francis who has dropped back to being a backup. Him being 28 isn't an issue since there will be a lot of turnover in the coming years when players actually want to join us.

In midfield, we needed more quality and Gary Westley was already on my radar last season but he was too expensive in both fee and wages. With the Premier League money and his contract ending, he was more feasible and attractive so we signed him on an End of Contract. Des Dodds was unhappy at Southampton and was also interested in a move to Brentford. Since they never put a bid in, we were able to sign the 24 year old. Louis Jones from Watford is a solid signing for us. I'm surprised he came to us considering we're more likely to be relegated but he represents a clear improvement and standout ability.

Thomas Heffernan from Aston Villa is a good signing for us and I'm hoping he fills the Left Back void for a few years until a viable replacement comes in because of his age. He was unwanted by Villa so we're hoping he performs well at a new home. The same goes for former Sunderland player Jonathan Howson. I didn't realise it at the time but he's 6'7 which should help us score on set pieces whenever we get them and bring in some additional goals when necessary.

Hopefully, we're of reasonable Premier League level to fight for 17th at the very worst and don't become infamously bad. I'll update when we progress to an interesting EFL Cup draw.

[SaintsFCFan7498]

We're 17th. There's the Positive.

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As I expected, it will be a tough season. However, there's an argument for us having two wins this season. We threw away a 2-0 lead against Sunderland before going behind and an equaliser in the 90th minute. Against Norwich, we were comfortable and a 49th minute own goal meant we dropped two points. Even with that, we're still 17th so there are positives from our performances. I feel like we need a win soon or we've got no chance at all.

In the EFL Cup, we went 2-0 up and somehow threw that away and then lost on penalties to Walsall. There was some small rotation, though so it's not much of a concern.

Edited July 19, 2022 by SaintsFCFan7498

[SaintsFCFan7498]

We're In Trouble. Not Job Trouble but Survival Trouble.

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It's been a case of what if so far in the majority of our games. We were unbeaten at home until we played Newcastle now we can't get anything. We've won one game all season and we're 3 points behind 17th. I envisaged it would be tough but this tough isn't what I expected. If we were outclassed every game and didn't deserve anything from any game, I wouldn't be so downbeat. However, there are just so many missed opportunities. Against Everton, we played well for 81 minutes and were 2-0 up. Somehow, we lost that game 3-2. We play our best game of the season against Chelsea then they win 2-1. I get that one being a big club with the gulf in quality but even against teams like Brentford they get easy chances where we really have to fight for everything.

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Fortunately, the board gave us some money as well as money we already had to try something in January. I've found a significant improvement in the goalkeeping area from Hammarby and he'll be our starter for the rest of the season. We were able to bring him in for £1.9m which is the same amount we sold Messaoudi to Sheffield United for. To try and help us convert chances, I found a 21 year old from Molde who's expected to progress well. Hopefully, these signings will be enough to get wins because that's what we need. We're hopeless in terms of getting 3 points right now but it's definitely doable now.

Honestly, I'm panicking. We're awful and I can't figure out what to do to get out of it. The only positive is we're only 4 points off 17th but with one win all season, we need to figure out how to win fast.

[SaintsFCFan7498]

This is what happens when we win a game.

Edited July 20, 2022 by SaintsFCFan7498

[SaintsFCFan7498]

Worst Premier League teams by points total: 5. Chesterfield (2042/43)
Points: 19, Goal Difference: -47

Chesterfield came into the season as the victorious team from an underwhelming playoff group the season before. Despite scoring the 11th most goals with 42, tying a league record of 89 from the infamous Derby team meant they couldn't get the results. They won three times with big names in Bournemouth, Arsenal and Manchester United. There's an argument that they were unlucky but when you give away 15 (No. That's not a typo. It's 15.) penalties in a season, you're essentially going into a game with one hand tied behind your back.

Sunderland and Chesterfield finished 19th and 20th. It wasn't helped by their red card totals with 7 for Chesterfield and 6 for Sunderland. For reference, the next team were Bournemouth with 2.

With this poor a season, we might as well list the Premier League Records Chesterfield have broken or matched:

• Fewest Away Wins in a Season (Tied with Leeds, Coventry, Wolves, Norwich, Derby and Hull) - 0
• Most Away Goals Conceded in a Season - 57 (Two fewer than Ipswich conceded in a 42 game (21 away game) season
• Fewest Clean Sheets - 3 (Tied with Birmingham, Derby, Norwich and Blackburn)

So yeah. There's no record for penalties conceded but if we conceded the most, it wouldn't be a surprise. For reference, the ranking is compared to real life. There have been some teams worse but that's not interesting.

PS: The article format is from this.

Edited July 23, 2022 by SaintsFCFan7498

[SaintsFCFan7498]

Disaster Season. 20th. Poor.

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We were garbage. Just awful. There's no other way to describe it as we didn't deserve to go up with such a weak playoff group then we just showed how awful we were. 6-0 losses to Chelsea and Newcastle. We couldn't defend and we scored four own goals including two in the match against Liverpool. One denied us two points against Norwich. We conceded a penalty (Man United wasn't scored) in every game from Chelsea through to Newcastle. We were a farce of a team.

Interestingly, the Southampton job has come up after they failed to win promotion via the playoffs. I feel like that's a better option than becoming a yo-yo club here.

[SaintsFCFan7498]

Moving on Up and Going Home.

Being a Saints fan and looking at the size of the club, I thought this would be an easier decision than it was. In my short time at Chesterfield, we did an incredible job to get them promoted as a massive underdog but the step to being in the Premier League felt like too big of a challenge. After losing in the playoff final, Saints sacked their manager. Frank Lampard left England and I was in two minds about that for a moment but it didn't last long. The Saints job felt too good to turn down. The problem is part of me wanted to finish the job at Chesterfield. Taking a club from the depths of despair with relegation and beat those who had beaten us to a Premier League and FA Cup.

Then I took a moment to think and remember this is the Ultimate Challenge and the aim is to go to a bigger club. Saints should be one of the biggest clubs in the Championship and do incredible things. 

[SaintsFCFan7498]

Preview for our Return to the Championship

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We're expected to get 4th this season and we're happy. As losing finalists in the playoffs, that's where we should be and wins should be fairly easy to come by this season. Our former club are expected to be 7th which shows that we made a lot of signings to improve the squad in our time in the Premier League. With our odds being relatively small, we should be promoted fairly comfortably and in a position to stay up in mid table next season.

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This is largely the squad we've inherited for our first season at the Saints and there are definitely some highlights. Appiah is a stunning left back who was already at the club and there are some players who would have slotted in our Chesterfield team comfortably. I expected that with the quality of team we had. However, there were, and are in some cases, some squad depth issues with those mainly coming in Central Midfield and Striker. To combat that, we made the signing of Zoran Mancic from Lazio for only £700k. He's a short term option for this season and I hope he'll score some goals before upgrading next season.

Leonardo Amtsfeld joins us from our old club Chesterfield. Since he's regarded as a wonderkid, I thought I'd bring him in and £15m is a good signing for us as well as upgrading a problem position. I did look at signing Max Crona from Chesterfield, too. However, he wasn't interested despite being a clear upgrade. He's still there so I'd look at him if available next season.

Edited July 22, 2022 by SaintsFCFan7498

[SaintsFCFan7498]

Saints Top EFL Championship

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Lots of positive results and we're the better team. We had a run where we didn't score but we've also had the anomaly of having a game in the International Break. I don't really understand why and it didn't happen at Chesterfield. On the topic of Chesterfield, we lost to them with a 95th minute winner after we equalised in the 59th minute. We deserved more than that and we got that against Ipswich. The pack is really tight and a run of bad results could be an issue but us, Luton and Leicester have created a gap to most of the non-automatic spots.

In the EFL Cup, we had a comfortable win against Plymouth before rotating for a game against Bromley where we took a 2-0 lead only to lose on penalties. It's frustrating but it's less fixture congestion for the league.

Overall, there are lots of positive results for us and I'm hoping we continue that through to the start of January.

[SaintsFCFan7498]

Saints Extend Their Lead into January

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We've had a great run since the last update and shown we've got a better team than Chesterfield in the Championship. We've only had one more loss in the league with an unbeaten December as we extended our lead at the top to 7 points. There have been a few teams into second in the league which has helped us as well as beating teams like the Skates and Luton. Our only loss was a frustrating one where Sunderland had the ability to score everything they shot.

We seem to be a near-lock for promotion this year unless it turns to disaster for the rest of the season. However, I find it to be quite unlikely. I'll update when we get an interesting draw in the FA Cup if we beat West Ham or a few months down the line when we're nearing promotion.

[SaintsFCFan7498]

Inability To Lose Ensure Saints Keep Championship Lead

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James Etoga is fantastic. I can't criticise him. He has 34 goals in the league and is regular scoring than scoring them in bursts. Most others, I feel like have become complacent but we're good enough to not lose every single one of these games. We're the best team in the league but our issue is how we can't keep clean sheets as a league winning team. Without Etoga, we'd be fairly poor and barely fighting for the playoffs. With that, teams would approach us in more of an attacking manner than being a league leader.

Next season, we'll be Premier League and we'll be mid table. Mark my words.

[SaintsFCFan7498]

Top 10 highest scoring Championship teams ever

2) Southampton (2043/44) - 105 goals

Championship title winners Southampton mauled defences all throughout the Championship. 45 of those are thanks to new Championship record goalscorer James Etoga. Eclipsing the new real life record of 43 by Aleksandar Mitrovic. Five hattricks scored by Etoga eclipsed the single season record and this season alone means he matches Dwight Gayle's record for overall Championship hattricks. His goals ensured Southampton were comfortable in promotion with 97 points and a 57 Goal Difference. 

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[SaintsFCFan7498]

Remembering a Legend: Aidan Mfulwane

For those who don't know, Aidan Mfulwane is my cult hero of this save. At our first club, Polokwane City, we found this man at Jomo Cosmos. He was tearing up the second division and would have slotted into our team. We signed him for £200,000 and he was stellar. He wanted to leave and Juventus offered us a small amount of money up front to buy him but a clause which would help the club long after I'm gone. Juventus offered him back for a season and the aim was to win the title. We got him a DStv Premiership in his final season. It was a tough title but I don't care. We got it with him and that's what mattered.

At Juventus, he was a stellar player for their second team but never broke into the first team. Throughout his four seasons at the club, he only achieved 15 appearances. He was a substitute but that earned the attentions of Bristol City in the Premier League. They bought him for £11.5m and 40% of that went to Polokwane City. Their record signing for a foray into the Premier League. If I were at the club, it would have been huge money. In his only season at the club, they came 19th with 26 points. It was a difficult introduction to England with him being involved in 30 games achieving a 6.81 average rating and four goal contributions. It's not awful for a relegation side but it's not fantastic.

With that, he earned a move to stay in the Premier League with West Ham for £24m. It's a record sale for a South African and it was Bristol City's too. There, he was a regular from the start of the 2031/32 season. Playing 22 games and earning a 7.01 rating in the 2031/32 season with three goal contributions. His goal contributions didn't matter at this level because he's not that type of player and West Ham knew it. He played 233 games for West Ham in the Premier League. Such a quantity of games would put him third on West Ham's website for the Premier League behind Mark Noble with 414 and Aaron Creswell with 256. A stunning service to West Ham for a man I picked up for £200k in South Africa before selling on to Juventus.

He wound down his career with a move to Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia. Recapturing the goal contributions he had at Polokwane in the twilight of his career. He played 30 league games for all three seasons there. His final season had 10 assists. A record for his career for a single season before stepping away. It could be argued that the Magic Man from Potshefstroom could have kept going but it didn't matter. He was a West Ham legend and earned a good paycheck showing he still had it.

He was a stellar player for South Africa and always played with belief and determination for his country. He was a role model for players around and shows that South Africans can progress and do incredible things on the world stage. He'll always be under-respected as he played for a relatively poor South Africa team and stuck with West Ham for a stable Premier League journey. He won't care. He stayed there because he was happy.

[SaintsFCFan7498]

2044/45 Premier League Preview

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I'm surprised we're 13th in the table. As a promoted team, I expected us to be 15th at best. Though our title rivals in Swansea are miles off compared to us and are around where we were with Chesterfield. With that Chesterfield team, I think Swansea might have been around 800-1. I feel more ready for the Premier League this time around and hope that relegation won't be an issue. Although I had the same signing philosophy, we were more ready for the Premier League from the promotion team unlike the fluke of Chesterfield. Etoga scored a ton of goals for us and I hope that will continue.

For recent Premier League history, Tottenham won the title last season with Newcastle for a few seasons before that which was before the other Tottenham win. It wouldn't surprise me to see a title fight between those two but before that, Liverpool had a spell with Chelsea in the middle with a title. Those four make complete sense to be the title fight but it feels like Newcastle and Tottenham are the clear favourites. I expect the European spots to be taken up by those four, Man City, Bournemouth and Arsenal. Man United are pretty much continuing their modern issues where they're barely even in the fight for European football anymore.

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My philosophy for this season is to buy those who can be developed for good bargains plus a few youth prospects. From the back, Noble was a much needed improvement in goal with Justice Williams not being up to Premier League level. He's a Liverpool academy graduate who moved to Celtic two years ago for £1.8m. We gave them a small profit by purchasing him for £5.5m but if we sold him, we should expect a minimum of £25m. Justice Williams falls to the bench.

In defence, it's half stays and half goes. Our new, improved Right Back in Sebastian Nalic comes in from Sunderland for £13.25m. He was bought last season from Leipzig for £2.9m. He played well and that's what earned him a move to us. He will be our staring right back. Our new centre back Jose Lopes is a match for others but we've created a little and large partnership at the back. Smith is a relatively quick centre back who can chase and Lopes is a physical presence who will help on set pieces. We bought him from Vitoria Guimaraes for £3.1m. It's a good bargain as he's already a match for our other centre backs and will be easily sold on for more than that.

In midfield, Lindsay-Tierney continues his stop-gap role in the DM role. He does it well and I haven't found a better option there yet. At 30, he's also a leader of the squad on the pitch to ensure we can keep our heads. I found that to be one of the weaknesses at Chesterfield. We had a young, inexperienced squad who seemed to panic too much. That helped us get too many reds and penalties despite their energy. We also fell away a lot more near the end of games.

Going up to the main crux of the midfield, I've been experimenting with a tactic that brings the AP back from the CAM position to the CM. I tried it when we hit a run of poorer form last season and it was used to great success. It gives us more options for Amtsfeld and games where we struggle. Matthew O'Rourke is a player we signed from Middlesbrough for £2.4m. He was only expected to be a depth player considering he hadn't played as much but in the games I've played, he's definitely shown he's Premier League quality. It makes me think that O'Rourke might have been the difference to help Middlesbrough avoid relegation. All they needed were two or three wins and they'd have been safe.

Kashindi is a fascinating prospect at 18. He's regarded as a wonderkid and we were able to sign him for Valenciennes for £2.6m plus a % of future sale. If we sell him, it will be for such big money that it won't be an issue. He's played 38 games for the last two seasons for Valenciennes. They'll be happy with the % of future fee since he will be sold for massive money long-term.

I'm expecting Amtsfeld to be sold in the next few years for big money. I've seen the Wanted tag on him from teams like Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Man United. It wouldn't surprise me to see him go. That won't be an issue when it happens because I've already signed his replacement in Martin Hurka. I'm planning to use him as a rotational option for when Amtsfeld cannot play or isn't having a great game. I signed him for £7.25m from Slavia Prague and it wouldn't surprise me to see him becoming a first team option. His mentals are around the 17s and 18s in areas and he's also 21.

Up front, we have familiarity in James Etoga and partnering him is Nicolas Rodallega. We signed him for £14m from Sassuolo with the expectation for him to be our key striker for a few years to come until we get the absolute megastar that will drive the team forward. Even if we do, it looks like it would be James Etoga stepping aside due to his age. I wanted a slightly older player for here to keep his head in the dressing room and ensure we don't throw too many results away.

[SaintsFCFan7498]

I Can't Explain This.

Spoiler

I don't understand this. I expected us to be midtable at best. 40 points would be the first aim then the sky's the limit beyond that. We're a promoted team. We shouldn't be getting these results. The last time I was in the Premier League, we didn't get 20 points. We struggled to 19 whilst tying the Derby record for the most goals conceded but this team. We've essentially become the opposite. We rarely make mistakes. We don't concede that much. We deserve to be here. What should bring us down to Earth is how we've only played two top teams that have been the Premier League champions for the last 5 years in terms of the traditional big teams. Even then, we got 4 points out of them.

At the end of the season, it feels like I'm going to use another FourFourTwo article for one of the best newly promoted teams. We have 23 points after 10 games and we're third. This shouldn't be happening. We shouldn't be anywhere near this good. I don't feel like I've built that stellar a squad. There are areas I'd clearly improve but that doesn't matter as we're in this position.

Our only failures to win have been Crystal Palace, Tottenham and Everton. The Palace game felt like an anomaly as we just couldn't stop them scoring after they scored their first for some reason. Tottenham are a big team and we got lucky against Everton. We have 5 clean sheets this season. At Chesterfield, we had no away wins and three clean sheets all season. It took us three games to have an away win and three clean sheets. It's unbelievable.

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In Carabao Cup news, we're into the Quarter Finals against Tottenham. Normally, I'd think this is our run done but we drew with them already this season and we're just stellar. We haven't conceded any goals so far in this competition but our issue is we've only scored one. We got lucky with shootout wins against Peterborough and Aston Villa. It felt like Peterborough were going to scrape a win on penalties but they missed their first and we didn't miss any. Against Villa, we looked like everybody except the goalkeeper wanted to throw away that penalty shootout. Fortunately, we scored our first goal of the competition against Wrexham at home to progress. 

In the last update, I discussed the Amstfeld issue.  He had a £38.5m release clause I couldn't get rid of and Borussia Monchengladbach activated that on Deadline Day. We already had a replacement lined up at the club but our midfield depth is susceptible to an injury crisis. Curiously, our replacement looked the part when I brought him on. On debut, he assisted the second from a corner before scoring a 93rd minute free kick to make it 3-0. He scored the winning goal against Newcastle as well as a few assists dotted around from corners for 6'5 Jose Lopes. He's also 21 but part of me is thinking if he should have started games before then. It's been fascinating watching this play out.

[SaintsFCFan7498]

No. Seriously. I Can't Explain This.

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Through the run of November, we had a perfect run and a win against Brentford at the start of December showed how we could be in for a shout. But then we just didn't score after the 29th minute of the Man City game. Losing against Man City hurt but it hurt less than the Tottenham loss. They're a traditional big 6 team and we shouldn't be beating them as a newly promoted side. West Ham concerned me as a game where we just offered nothing. Then an undeserved clean sheet before being unable to fire against Blackburn. It was frustrating. We were just off the boil for the month of December.

One of the positives is that we led the Premier League. It felt ridiculous how we're there as a newly promoted team. In December, it felt like we were in freefall and couldn't find anything. Fortunately, we didn't make mistakes against Everton and took a comfortable win. Part of me thinks we're going to fall into a Europa League spot and that's ok. We're 5 points ahead of 5th and 6th and a further three points to 7th. We're good enough to be in the top 6 so far this season. Hopefully, we don't fall off too much later in the season and we get nothing from our ridiculousness. I'd take 8th and an FA Cup.

Spoiler

We lost against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup Quarter Final on penalties. We were so close but a 5th penalty miss from Jose Lopes meant we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Tottenham scored their 6th penalty and we didn't. It's frustrating but I'm glad we're frustrated at this stage. A defensive error gave us the lead before they equalised in the 84th minute. It's a shame but we've got the FA Cup to go further.

[SaintsFCFan7498]

A City Dares to Dream

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This is a dream. This is dreamland. The city can't believe it. The club can't believe it. The Saints are well and truly in heaven. The league is going incredibly well. I can't believe it. That fifth penalty miss against Tottenham denied us a Carabao Cup. They played Chesterfield in the Semi Final and beat West Ham on penalties in the final. This is well and truly the year of the underdog. The Premier League is ridiculous. I don't understand how we're doing so well. In the FA Cup, we're playing a team 8th in the Championship in Ipswich. Blackburn are playing Derby County in 11th in the Championship in the other game. Embrace the crazy for the next few months, guys. This is going to be incredible.

Spoiler

As said earlier, we play Ipswich Town who are 8th in the Championship. This is winnable. We should win this. To reach here, we had a good win against a dreadful Liverpool. We led in the first game with a rotated team against Notts County before they scored. We never scored again until the 86th minute of the replay and that was enough. A dominant win against West Ham followed in the Fifth Round. We deserved that win and 4-1 is the right result.

Then when heroes are made. Man United scored in the 14th minute through star man Danny Braithwaite. We were second best. Etoga's goal in the 29th minute felt undeserved. Then a change of tactic and we became the better team. We grew into the game but it felt like whatever we'd do out of Extra Time or penalties. We got a corner in the 95th minute of the 5 added on. I thought it was the game ending highlight but I believed we could. Hurka crossed a fantastic ball into academy graduate Jeremy Smith. I'm amazed sat here just writing about it. It's a fairytale. A dream for anybody at the club two years ago. Even when they got promoted from the Championship comfortably.

Jeremy Smith sent the stadium into raptures as he headed the ball into the back of the net. It's the build up to a film. Now it's the time to discover whether that film is a cult classic about a team which shocked the world but came up short. Or if that team captured the philosophy of a Hollywood classic going from nothing to taking everything. I don't know who will play me in that film. But I do know I'll be sitting down to watch it in tears whenever it does.

[SaintsFCFan7498]

The Fifth Penalty Miss Strikes Again

Spoiler

This was our worst game of the season. We went into it expecting it to be a party and it felt like that with Rodallega scoring in the 19th minute. The rest of the game was a search for a second goal but a wonder goal from a cleared corner from Castro meant Ipswich had a lifeline. We should have killed this game off. We were the better team but it was penalties. Both teams scored their first before Ipswich missed their second. We were on the front foot and never looked like missing until Appiah stepped up for the fourth. With their fifth missed, this would have gotten us the win but it was a poor penalty into the hands of the keeper. It was fine. Desmet would score and we'd be in the FA Cup Final.

He didn't. Then it turned into a cat and mouse game of who would miss. It was scary watching us go second with the opportunity to mess it up with no opportunity for hope. Then Barriero missed. A backup full back because I subbed Nalic off. He missed. Ipswich Town play Derby County in an all Championship FA Cup Final. Another missed opportunity and it hurts.

[SaintsFCFan7498]

Best newly-promoted Premier League teams ever:

1. Southampton FC, 2044/45 (78 points)

When they got promoted from the Championship, I don't think anybody expected this. They had fairly simple early season games and showed the characteristics of the team in not conceding as much as last season. Their defence was far more solid. A 6 point swing would have been enough to not even get Champions League football for those not in. They made smart signings in the summer signing Nicolas Rodallega who got 20 league goals, an immediate fit for the Attacking Midfield in Martin Hurka. He replaced the departing Leonardo Amtsfeld. In his first game, he came on for the aforementioned player and collected an assist and a goal from a free kick. This was the trend for him with 17 assists for a season.

They were an incredible team but it's a reminder that the rest of the league was especially poor. 78 points ties Arsenal's 1997/98 title win for the second fewest points to win the league. The first season since 1998/99 to not have any teams on 80+ points. In a save where 90+ points is a norm, this is an anomaly. They shouldn't expect this to work normally. But it's fine. They did the incredible. They'll be annoyed the fifth penalty taker missed a winning penalty before inevitably losing in sudden death.

Spoiler

 

[SaintsFCFan7498]

Saints Win The Community Shield in Dominant Fashion

Spoiler

As should have been expected for the FA Cup, it's a walkover for this Premier League side in the Community Shield. Derby County looked like a team from the Championship happy to be here. Much like how they should have been against Blackburn and Ipswich against the Saints in the Semi Finals. Saints weren't the underdog and didn't mess up. They had some scares from Derby when 1-0 up but a corner on 25 minutes from Lopes assisted by new left back signing Jimenez. (this is why my left back is on corners) Derby then gave away a penalty which Etoga scored as a substitute before scoring another in the 72nd minute. A rout showing the real gulf in class between the Premier League and the Championship.

[SaintsFCFan7498]

2045/46 Premier League Preview

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My first note is the return to the Premier League for my former side in Chesterfield. They finished 5th in another mediocre playoff group where they played Burton Albion, beat them for a game against Norwich. They won on penalties and returned to the Premier League. Anything other than another 20th place would be a surprise. In the off-season, my replacement, Diego Costa moved to Fiorentina.

Back to the Saints, we're predicted to be 10th. We make up a few places and our odds are shortened to 50-1. It feels like we're not going to be Premier League title challengers with the league expected to return to being more normal. We've made good signings but we shouldn't have won the Premier League already.

Spoiler

 If you want to have a look at why we won the Premier League, Noble on a 92 and is wanted by Atletico Madrid. He's not in the Dream 11 but he's stunning. Rodallega was another star man up front and Hurka topped the assists. We just needed to build on the team for the next season and maybe fluke a Champions League. In January, we signed Franky Desmet from Lommel for £5.25m. He's a fantastic 22 year old who could continue to being a starter for the next few years. In central midfield, we upgrade it with another signing from earlier on. Jose Neves was bought and loaned out for the rest of the season. We signed him for £8m and he'll be a starter who will develop long term. If we sell him, we can sell him for 5 times his value but we don't need to. He's got a lot of development and reputation building to get to that level.

Our key signings were made in defence. Daniel Hogarth is a standout player who would be courted by teams like Liverpool in real life. We bought him for £27m and that's easily going to increase being a Premier League player. I don't want to sell him since he's going to be absolutely stellar for us. He's a 6'6 mountain in defence with the other 6'6 mountain. We'll be dangerous from corners with that pairing. In the left back position, we upgraded where we needed to with Appiah not wanting to stay and moving to Besiktas for some reason. He comes in from Club America for £18m and he'll be a fantastic player. I can't see us wanting to move him on since he is that good.

Continuing the Mexican connection, I wanted to improve the strike force with Etoga ageing. There were a couple of players available but the best option is Christian Corona from Mineros. (Yes. That Mineros) We signed him for a bargain at £7m. If I were at Mineros, I'd have wanted his release clause to be completely removed since he should be a star in that league and vultures like us would come calling.

I'm optimistic for the season. I'd like to chalk off a Champions League or the FA Cup this season. Top 4 in the Premier League is a fair aim for us. I'll return for the Champions League Group Stage draw where we'll be Pot 1 as Premier League champions.

Edited August 12, 2022 by SaintsFCFan7498

[SaintsFCFan7498]

2045/46 Champions League Draw

Spoiler

Leipzig are probably our most difficult opposition but we've been handed a favourable group. Pot 2 could have included teams like Real Madrid but we avoided those teams. We had one of the weaker Pot 2 teams and one of the favourable Pot 3 teams. We probably got unlucky with a Pot 4 team from a major league. Granada are the representatives from Spain not named Barcelona, Real Madrid. Bilbao wouldn't have been a bad Spanish team for a Pot 2 team. I don't mind this group, though. We can win it and be seeded for the knockout rounds.

Spoiler

We started with a frustrating draw against Villa. We took a lead and then we immediately threw it away. A comfortable win against Fulham reminded me of the fantastic performance against Derby. The Fulham performance was very similar to that. We were dominant and showed why we were. Against Tottenham, it was 2 minutes of a nightmare from the 13th minute to the 15th. We gave away a penalty then they scored in the 15th. We weren't overly bad. It's just those 2 minutes turned the game against us then they added another goal in the 39th. It was frustrating but that's how we really should be.

In terms of the Premier League table, we've got 4 points and we're on the edge of Europe. We won't get second season syndrome and get relegated but we're good enough for Europe. Without Liverpool and their poor team for the last few season, it's just a top 6 and 7th is where we should aim for.