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A look at the Premier League and we see Norwich finish just inside the top half while Villa linger in 14th - a good position considering the 35 points.

Obi Ball In East Germany Results A fantastic start with 4 Sesko goals, but we then struggled away from home against Stuttgart and Dortmund. Then came the winning run of 8 straight matches to finish the season . Bundesliga Table We were too far off the pace of Bayern and the loss against Dortmund made it too hard to catch them, but we got within 5 points of the title in the end. Tactic After some tweaks of the system used with Norwich, this has been settled on.

Yes I think we've met the definition of that

A quick turnover where Obi finds a new job within the month. Next up is Leipzig!

Sometimes you make the wrong decision. Amidst dressing room rifts, unacceptable player effort and performances leading to some poor results as well as battles with the boardroom after less than 3 months into his Villa reign Obi pulled the plug. The result against Everton the final straw as he felt that the squad were not pulling together in the right direction.

Certainly, though as they're miles top of the league it won't be soon and I don't think that such a big club would be interested just yet.

Well, that wasn't what we wanted....

Decisions, Decisions! An excellent start to the season where after 8 games we were surprising Premier League leaders! We've also made good progress in the cup. But there's a reason I've highlighted that Villa match...... The day before Norwich were due to face Villa, Obi has jumped across to them! They're bottom of the table but have a squad capable of competing to be the "Best of the rest" as they've shown the previous two seasons. Villa are a bigger club and this is a good challenge and stepping stone for Obi.

Obi One Canary: Part 2 (Jan 2025 - May 2025) Transfers We broke the club transfer record to bring in ball playing defender Tosin - although a lot of it in add ons. He's exactly the kind of centre back needed for our style of play. Anjorin was brought in on the cheap and will be given the chance to prove his potential, while Olatunji was a deadline day signing to give cover up top when Adam Idah broke his foot. Only one major outgoing - 33-year-old Kenny McLean joined Alaves for a decent £4.5m. Results Clean sheets were harder to come by in the second half of the season, however the back of the oppositions net was not! In the FA Cup we beat Mansfield 1-0, before losing to Bristol City in the 4th Round. Championship Table We beat the club record of 99 points and ended up just 3 off Readings record, showing Obi's credentials as a winner. A first trophy and hopefully the first of many. Team Stats Best defence, best attack, excellent average possession and a whopping 22 goals from set pieces. Stats to be proud of! Player Stats This is what our squad ended up looking like by the end of the season. I'd like to highlight the following players: Rowe was a constant threat to opposition defences playing as an inside forward, ending up in double figures for goals and assists and claiming the Supporters Player of the Season. Sara was our attacking playmaker and manager to get into double figures for goals and assists and oozed class all season. Onyeka was an excellent signing proving to be the Championship "Patrick Vieira" and being the third player in the squad to sneak into double figures for goals and assists. Voted the Fans' signing of the season, Okonkwo was one of those magnificent surprises. Finally, Renecke. No outfield player featured in more games than him and only Sara achieved more minutes - considering prior to this season he'd never made a single first team appearance this is a fantastic debut season for Waylon. An impressive 6 goals too!

Obi One Canary: Part 1 (June 2024 - December 2024) Transfers Out There were a few more outgoings on freebies, loans or earlier in June but this represents the main outgoings. It's a bit of a rebuilt project and with that some experienced heads were moved on in Fassnacht and Duffy and followed by Hanley on deadline day as younger players staked a claim in the starting line up. Sainz just wasn't the sort of player that Obi likes so a good bid and he was gone. Transfers In First man through the door was Obi's fellow countryman Onyeka and he's been a revelation since signing. Jevsenak was a player brought in under the previous regime and he was shipped out on loan. Fredericks came in as back up and he's been kicking up a fuss so will be got rid of in January. Okonkwo has been a surprise hit. He came in as a cheap back up option for Gunn but has established himself as our No. 1! Osho is a good backup option for centre back or right back. Ali McCann is the player for the "Obi" role, playing as a defence-minded deep-lying playmaker hence the splashing of the cash in that position. Lowe is a good option for left back rotation wile in August we raided the loan market for Amad Diallo and brought back Omobamidele to the club. After Hanley left, Omobamidele became captain and there's already thought of trying to secure him on a permanent basis. Tactic Unlike at QPR where no preferences were specified, here at Norwich the board expect possession football so the strategy is adapted. The play is a bit shorter and we're looking to overlap down both sides. McCann is our focal point building out from the back, while Sara in the mid-to-final third, Onyeka providing the balance between the two. Results (July-Sept) We had an excellent pre-season including beating Benfica, Arsenal and Lyon and our form continued into competitive matches. Our defence was a rock providing many clean sheets, while two results stick out. The 5-0 drubbing of title-challenging Wolves and of course the 6-0 smashing of Spurs in the cup! Results (Oct-Dec) It took penalties for Chelsea to overcome us, but overall we can be happy with our output in the Carabao Cup. Bar a couple of poor results and games we'd let our guard down a little defensively it's been a good end to 2024 and the first part of Obi's saga in East Anglia. League Table Top of the league by 3 points, ahead of Obi's expectations of a play-off place. Hopefully we can maintain it in 2025 and gain promotion to the Premier League! Player Stats Great statistics all round but the standout trio are Onyeka, Rowe and Sara. Also special mentions to Okonkwo who has usurped Gunn as first choice keeper and kept 16 clean sheets in 25 games and Waylon Renecke who at the tender age of 18 has kept his position in the starting line up as our left-sided centre back.

Honestly I thought he was a good signing but a frustrating player to manage - inconsistent and injury prone! Cheers, I think so too!

Obi's efforts to keep QPR in the championship didn't go unnoticed from other sides in the division and after consideration between Norwich and Middlesbrough, Obi's off to East Anglia!

It's going to be very difficult to improve the squad with needing to sell players and being expected to help repair the club's financial damage.

End of 2023/24 Season: Survival! With 5 straight draws, 4 of which scoreless, we limp over the relegation line by two points. In the end, grabbing a point per game was enough. Obi's defence has definitely been the strong point, but on many occasions a toothless attack needs to be blamed for not making this a more comfortable survival effort. Despite the recent change in ownership, QPR are a club in crisis.

For the first time under Obi's leadership, QPR are out the drop zone - on the back of two 0-0 draws...

A win, a draw and loss so far and here's how the scrap shapes up. That Preston game is huge!

February-March 2024 Update Results Come February, Obi's honeymoon period was over. An abysmal goalkeeping display from captain Begovic (5.8!) allowed Blackburn to trump our clean-sheet run and then we couldn't find a clean sheet again until a scoreless draw with West Brom in March. We rescued a draw with Stoke in the 98th minute, but also succumbed to a defeat to Middlesbrough in the same way. The highlight of the two months was certainly the dismantling of Sunderland 4-0 at the Stadium of Light, but there weren't too many more light moments. 9 points from 10 games is not the sort of form that gets you out a relegation scrap. Our creative options have been ravaged by injuries - Lingard scored and then did his knee ligaments while Chair and Willock have also just return from injury. League Table The good news is that despite the poor form and still being bottom of the table, we are just a good result or two away from staying up. Club Updates The club is now under Chinese ownership, though not much has changed at all with the finances in fact due to interest on new loans the debt has grown. Some old club favourites are already piling on the pressure on Obi - a couple of bad results and it could be curtains. Fixtures The Sheffield Wednesday and Preston games are certainly ones to be billed as "Six Pointers". 7 games left to the save the club and with it Obi's reputation.

This is a big transfer for the club. It was clear that we were missing a bit of spark and Jesse could provide exactly that and due to being without a club for a long time he's in on low wages .

January 2024 Update Results Obi had a tough start in his managerial career facing off against Premier League Wolves away in the FA Cup and while defensively we were ok we had no cutting edge. Another good defensive performance against a Watford side vying for promotion ensured Obi's first managerial point on the board but again our attack proved toothless. Tweaks were made to try to get our better attacking players like Ilias Chair more involved and Sam Field more licence to create. Hopefully the Millwall game will be the catalyst that sparks our survival. It was an excellent performance in attack and defence and we followed it up with another win against Blackburn. League Table Off the bed of the table and now just three points off safety. A very solid start to Mikel John Obi's managerial career. Tactic Colback has been switched into an anchor role giving Field licence to create from deep and Chair looking to get on the ball as much as possible as a wide advanced playmaker. It's a balanced strategy and so far we've been very solid defensively. Transfers Just one signing as Sheff Utd youngster Osula joins on loan on deadline day to add a different option up top to Dykes and cover on the wing. We're also in talks with an experienced well-known unattached attacking midfielder, let's see if that comes off. Fixtures This is a decent month to see where we're at. With the exception of play-off hunting Stoke they're all mid-table sides....even better Bristol City are currently bottom! Miscellaneous Off the field QPR are in turmoil and new ownership is looking likely. What that means for Obi remains to be seen.

Begovic --- Cook --- Chair --- Field --- Cannon --- Paal After cutting 6 players from the first team squad, this is the 20 man squadron that Obi has identified to be good enough to compete. Begovic is the captain and a player that Obi knows from his playing days at Chelsea, while Steve Cook brings experience to the back line. Ilias Chair can be identified as the teams best creator, while Sam Field will take the "Mikel John Obi" role. Cannon and Paal are good full back options too. There's something missing though. One more quality attacking midfielder / winger or striker. Dykes is the only senior striker, although Armstrong and Kolli are decent prospects.

After some discussions with a club abroad, Obi felt that the offer from London was more compelling. He'd need to win some fans around given the QPR - Chelsea rivalry but winning would be enough to do that. The task is simple; keep QPR in the championship. It's an excellent level of football to start your managerial career in, but this job comes with a big downside. QPR are in a woeful financial position and therefore there's no money to be able to build in January. But how bad is it? Yeah, it's pretty bad. 6 points off safety and even 5 points off the next side. There's 20 games left to gain on the teams above, but is the side good enough? They've scored just 14 league goals which is close to half a goal per game. Next up, let's look at the squad.

Yeah I'm sure the UEFA B course for the ex-pros in the UK is more of a box tick for them for sure! That experience doesn't surprise me - great to see you too and thanks!

Obi One: A Force To Be Reckoned With As listeners settled in for the latest episode of "Obi One" (Mikel John Obi's popular podcast) Mikel John Obi's popular podcast, a bombshell was dropped. Obi announced that he was he felt the time was right to step into football management. Over the last year he'd been completing the UEFA B Licence, the highest level ex-pro's are able to get fast-tracked to and that over the last week or so he'd been in negotiations with a couple of clubs that were interested in bringing him in for his first taste in football management. No...the club isn't Chelsea, although Obi has that in his sights in the future. Obi is a pragmatist and is happy to adapt his style to the players available to give the best chance of winning. Winning is paramount, style is secondary; Obi build a career as a winner on the field. One aspect that is non-negotiable is the implementation of a proper holding midfielder wherever he goes. Whether that's an anchor man purely looking to break up play or a deep lying playmaker that can actually defend, it's a must. It's the Mikel John Obi role and it will create the balance needed. Of course natural preference will be given to Nigerians as signings where appropriate. Next up, the new club. Less that 24 hours after his podcast, official announcements are ready.

I will be downloading the Demo first to see if I will get into it. I'm currently using FM22, I got the FM23 demo and it didn't grab me enough to want to buy it. I'm 99% certain FM24 will give me enough extra compared to FM22 but want to make sure first.