Tee2

FEBRUARY 2023 UPDATE It’s been a longer period of time in both the game and real life since I intended to provide an update on how things are going at St Mary’s. Where the latter’s concerned, events outside Football Manager have an irritating tendency to take their toll. As for the Southampton save, it’s been a fun ride, and all we have really proved is that we are a class above the standard Championship outfit. League Matters In reality, the Saints have struggled to get to grips with their existence in the second tier, though it’s relatively early days and plenty of time remains for them to sort out their collective shiz. Their FM alternatives have turned out to be exactly the big fish in a small pond that I hoped they would be. With two-thirds of the season remaining, we share the tabletop with fellow relegated team, Leicester, and unless something seismic happens, the title will be handed to either them or us. The Championship features some very decent sides, however the top three demonstrates nothing more than the relative power and might of those clubs that went down at the end of the previous campaign. Maybe it was never meant to be quite so unfair. Leicester City look like a Premier League set-up that is taking a break from top flight affairs. To only a slightly lesser extent, it’s the same for Leeds and our good selves. Barring a debilitating injury streak, we should all be able to power through the endless grind of fixtures, wielding the strength in depth that means we can simply cope better than the meat and drink of the division in coming out on top. Good signings have helped. Armando Broja is second only to Daka in the scoring charts. The likes of Kyle Walker-Peters and Taylor Harwood-Bellis are a cut above, though the star of our show has been the young Croatian wonderkid, Martin Baturina. The 20 year old midfielder we signed for £7.5 million is now worth three times that amount. He’s scored nine goals and is credited with a staggering fifteen assists. The kid’s a star. He trains well, is improving across the board and is someone we have no doubt will be Premier-ready when we go up. Cup Runs How we fare in the cups is determined largely by the standard of the teams we happen to be drawn against. The FA Cup pairs us with Brighton and Hove Albion, a top flight side who we are good enough to force to a draw at home. In the return leg at the Amex, a 15th minute strike by Ansu Fati makes the decisive difference. I am impressed enough to see we are probably at the standard of a lower mid-table Premier League team. The Seagulls are good. De Gea in their goal turns out to be a wall. They can put out their best XI to overcome our challenge and indeed this is something they are forced into doing. We struggle to cope with the likes of Dahoud, Mitoma, March and Nketiah, and ultimately, they have a slight edge. Our cup run is over, snuffed out with honour intact. The Carabao Cup is a very different matter. The first round pits us against Port Vale, who we dispatch 3-1. Crawley are next. That ends 4-1, before we go on to beat Mansfield (2-0) and Leeds, which produces an especially satisfying 2-0 result at Elland Road. The quarter final places Grimsby in our path. 5-0 spins us into the two-legged semi against Everton, the first Premier League opposition we’ve faced in the competition. They’re exactly the lower order comer we are set up to beat. We win 2-1 both home and away, and our reward is a place in the final, where we will face a certain Manchester United. This could be humiliating. They’re in fifth place and an established giant, though you never really know, do you? Ten Hag commands a squad that doesn’t concede many goals, however they are scoring at a rate of around 1.5 per game, so they haven’t exactly been a powerhouse. Much will depend on our ability to keep Marcus Rashford quiet – maybe we can arrange a wee accident beforehand… January Transfer Window Like any side that’s trapped in the second division, we are vulnerable to attacks from sharks. The one I’m really worried about is Kyle Walker-Peters. The England international right-back is obviously far too good for this level. He’s been scouted by the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal for some months, and while nobody makes an offer for him, the interest is enough for him to declare he will be considering his options at the end of his contract, which will be in 2024. We can’t get him to agree to new terms, and so we are at a stalemate. At the moment our asking price is £28 million, which is the limit he will accept before his agent whinges about it being on the high side. My feeling is that if/when we get promoted, perhaps that will be the time to chance our arm once again, to see if he rekindles his love for us because we are in the Premier League. If not, I’ll probably sell and bank the cash for a new full-back. It’s not the ending I want, but I suspect it’s what will happen. Elsewhere, Kamaldeen Sulemana has made a bright start to his Saints career and attracts the attention of Lyon. The lad wants to go, which I guess is fair enough, and in the end, he makes the move in a £24 million deal. It’s around the same amount as we paid for him. Leicester then snake their way in for Samuel Edozie, and suddenly we are left with scant left wing options when he goes for £13.5 million. I feel this is a decent price for someone who could be a top tier winger, with the word ‘could’ doing some heavy lifting. Speaking of which, after a bright start Adam Armstrong has become bang average for us, with Broja robbing him of his place up front and his work on the left wing becoming fitful and uneven. Armstrong is a good but unspectacular player. Even if things go as planned, he will never have a golden future with us, so I offer him out and Ajax are exactly the kind of outfit who we see coming. They cough up our £11 million cash price. I’m so happy with this that I also let Ross Stewart go, for £625,000 to Everton (for reasons best known to them, I guess), while Sekou Mara joins Sturm Graz on loan. They can purchase him outright for £5 million, which might be the best outcome for all concerned. West Ham pay £6.75 million for young prospect, Tyler Dibling, and we also let misfit midfielder, Carlos Alvaraz, leave for Alaves in a £4.4 million deal. I invest these riches in fitting some final pieces in to what will hopefully be our promotion jigsaw. I end the loan term of Ryan Fraser and pay a mighty £9.5 million for Reiss Nelson. The Arsenal boy simply looks like a better long-term bet, and while there’s plenty of interest in him, it’s only our package that offers him the playing terms he demands. I think he will enjoy a half-season of bullying Championship teams and getting in some first team development. We use the spare slot for a loanee by bring in Bryan Gil. The Spurs man doesn’t come cheap. We will hand them £900,000 for his services, while paying £48,000 towards his weekly wage, but we are getting a silky winger who should have the capacity to wail on opposition defences for fun. For the longer-term left-wing option, we search Europe far and wide, and end up landing Stefan Mitrovic. Not to be confused with the veteran Serbian defender, his countryman is a 21 year old winger, signed for £7 million from Red Star and bringing enough agility to make him a tricky customer. His potential looks limitless, and I look forward to seeing him settle. Mason Holgate has been injured for two months with sprained knee ligaments. I like the Everton man, but he never looked anything better than a squad option, so we make the decision to end his loan deal and go instead for grizzled experience. Jonny Evans is transfer-listed at Manchester United and can be ours for as little as £850,000. At 36, he clearly is a short-term fix, however he brings his years of playing at the top level and he fills a leadership void at St Mary’s. With a spare loan place once again, I fill it with Evan Ferguson, the teenage Brighton prodigy who will battle with Armando Broja for the striker’s position. There may be some element of concern that both forwards are here on loan, and it’s unlikely their parent clubs will let them leave permanently, but in fairness it was always a position we were likely to need to address in the summer. Dutch youngster Jayden Oosterwolde is signed for £13 million from Fenerbahce. Left-back was never a terrifically strong position for us. Manning is a solidly Championship option, Larios the young gun with lots of promise, however Jayden ought to be able to cope with the top flight, and his value has doubled since he joined us. To plug the midfield gap, we go for two players. The first is Imran Louza, the Watford advanced playmaker who can be had for £7.5 million. At 24, he has already bagged eleven caps for Morocco, and he’s happy to take a largely second fiddle role. On deadline day, we add Manu Trigueros, the Villarreal man who sets us back £4.8 million. Like Evans, we see the 33 year old Spaniard as an experienced option who will help to smooth our transition if we get promoted. A strong free kick taker, Manu also addresses a weakness from set pieces that existed within the squad. A frantic transfer window ends with goalkeeper Alex McCarthy making his £550,000 switch to Rapid Vienna. In the last year of his contract, it’s clear the veteran sweeper keeper was going nowhere with us, as we have preferred Bazunu from the start. This leaves us with Calamity Joe Lumley as the back-up goalie, so there’s a hope that nothing befalls Gavin before we can make further upgrades in the summer. January therefore sees a lot of manoeuvring, particularly towards the very end of the transfer window when some real bargains presented themselves. As in the summer, persuading anyone of any worth to come and play in Hampshire was a challenge. I didn’t always get the guy I was after, and there remains a shortlist of transfer targets who simply had no interest in joining us. But we’ve got there, and this is now the squad that will represent us through the thick end of the campaign, and with a League Cup final thrown in for good measure. Do I think we are better than we were? Well yes, yes I do, and ultimately that justifies all the flesh trade we got ourselves involved in, and a reminder that we aren’t only trying to go up but also there’s a mission to provide the starting base of a good Premier League squad. Though there is still time for things to change, here in my head is a breakdown of the players who will carry on with us, those who won’t (If I have anything to say about it), and some about whom I am on the fence: Five members of the first team squad are loanees, and are not included above. Of these, I don’t think there’s a cat in hell’s chance of signing Broja or Ferguson permanently. The others – Harwood-Bellis, Matar Sarr, Bryan Gil – might be more amenable but would cost a fair wedge. It’s worth remembering that we have a number of Saints who went out on loan when we were relegated. The likes of Bella-Kotchup, Caleta-Car, Mateusz Lis, Perraud, Onuachu and Lyanco all have the capacity to do a job for us if we go up. Similarly, they have release clauses and could opt to leave, and in the back of my mind is the concern that they helped us to go down… Still, a matter to worry about further down the line.

Morning Warlock, hope you're okay, mate. I've been thinking about a FM23 write-up for a while, so am going to try and sign the game off in a bit of style. The Saints seem a good team to manager - not doing that well in real life so far, loads of potential, some scope to improve the squad... We'll see, I guess.

September 2022 Update In the past, I have lavished hundreds of words on a single match, however I am trying to work through this as quickly as I can so the updates will come in the form of periodical snapshots. To cut things short, things have started very well. Southampton top the table with the exact same number of points as Leicester, who I expect will push us to the very end of the season. Leeds are also well placed, and Hull, Stoke and Cardiff have started well. Our +12 goal difference makes for delicious reading. What has particularly impressed me so far is our capacity to find goals from various sources. Adam Armstrong leads with four, but Aribo, Sulemana and Baturina have each scored two, and Broja has begun his loan term in fine fashion with a brace against Millwall. Broja and Struijk have started their Saints careers very brightly, yet of the ever presents, winger Joe Aribo leads the ratings chart on 7.66. His four assists go very well alongside the two goals he has produced for us. Little wonder that he’s a wanted man. Verona are sniffing around, but they can sniff. The Nigerian winger is now valued at £11 million and rising. Other Saints are on teams’ shopping lists. Lyon want Armstrong, who could be theirs if they can produce close to £20 million for his services. Jan Bednarek (£17.5 million) is wanted by Brentford, West Ham and Juventus. Carlos Alcaraz (£12 million) is another target for Lyon. But it’s Kyle Walker-Peters who’s really drawing in the scouts. Arsenal and Liverpool lead the queue of suitors, and will need to produce an offer of £22 million or more if they want to put their money where they mouths are. I really don’t want to lose Kyle, but it’s the sort of fee that will be difficult to reject, not least if the player’s head is turned. I am considering a new deal for him – currently, Kyle is on £28,000 per week, which is a lot by Championship standards yet isn’t as much as he could be earning. Our single draw in the league came at Vicarage Road. Watford were always going to be a difficult team to visit, and so they proved in an even game where we had to be at our defensive best. We did a good job of restricting their scoring opportunities, but they knew what to do with the ball when those chances came, placing five of their six shots on target. Ismael Kone rifled in a second half equaliser after Baturina shot us into an early lead. While we tried to restore our advantage, Bachmann was strong in goal and our forwards wasted their many efforts as we shared a hard fought 1-1 result. Elsewhere, Preston and QPR were taken apart at St Mary’s, while our three other fixtures on the road saw us win 2-1 at Hull, 2-0 at Cardiff and an emphatic 4-0 victory at the New Den, home of Millwall. We have refused to concede a goal in September as the Struijk effect starts to work on our defensive cause. Before he arrived, we were seen as a bit shaky at the back; now, the data hub considers us to be very strong at keeping goals out. October will be testing. The games have been nicely spaced out so far, but we have eight fixtures next month, capped off with a home tie against Leicester City, which should provide a true gauge of where we are as a club. This will be a month when the overall depth of the squad will be tested. I expect the likes of Fraser, Alcaraz and Bree to have much more to do as we try to protect strained muscles with the heavy Championship calendar grinding up a gear. Alongside the league, we have also navigated three Carabao Cup ties. Each of our draws have been against lower league opposition, giving us the opportunity to give priceless game time to some of the squad’s lesser lights. Port Vale were beaten 3-1, before we dispatched Crawley 4-1 and most recently saw off Mansfield Town 2-0 at One Call Stadium, Mara and Sulemana producing the goods while the home team were restricted to two off-target shots. It was the football equivalent of the bigger guy using his longer reach to plant a palm firmly on the smaller fellow’s forehead while he ineffectually swings punches into thin air. We have Leeds away at the end of October, and if we get past them we will be into the Quarter Final, no doubt landing a far more illustrious opposition to have to deal with. Injuries haven’t been too debilitating an issue. Alex McCarthy is close to recovering from his twisted ankle, though the back-up keeper has been used mainly in cup ties. Ryan Fraser has strained a hamstring while on international duty. He’ll be unavailable for up to three weeks, which is a shame for him as his playing opportunities have been few and far between, and my feeling is that he will see more action in an increasingly packed schedule. The Saints squad is almost certainly too good for the Championship, and I feel that the sooner we go up the better things will be. Our healthy bank balance is haemorrhaging cash as a Premier League level wage bill comes up against the smaller gate receipts and TV revenue proferred to us at this level. The financial projection lays it out starkly. Remain in the division and we will certainly suffer as we go into the red and can provide only small transfer budgets and reduced money for salaries. Go back up, and these worries should vanish quickly.

Meet the Squad As I suspect, the final squad changes don’t happen until the very end of the transfer window. This means we have already played several matches and we’re trying to gel the players into a team, when we switch things again with further adjustments and tweaks. Still, they’re good ones and I am proud that we make them. First, Jack Stephens has been making noises about wanting to explore his options at the end of his contract. Despite being a homegrown player and one of our more influential people in the dressing room, in terms of pure ability I don’t think there’s a lot to him and I suspect we could do better. As the hours tick down, I offer him out and Sturm Graz come up with £1.9 million to seal the deal. For me, this has worked out quite well – the board are devastated, making me wonder what they saw in Jack that I could not. His departure leaves a vacancy in defence, and has me shopping for a centre-back and a striker. The latter solution presents itself on deadline day, when Chelsea make it clear they wish to loan out Armando Broja. The Albanian was one of the hundreds of forwards we had scouted and even made enquiries about, but in characteristically Chelsea fashion, we can have him for the season without having to pay a loan fee, or even a groat towards his wages. His home team will meet all the costs; we just need to field him. Fine by me. We can therefore afford to spend handsomely on a defender. One of the plethora of agents’ contacts throws out Pascal Struijk’s name. The Belgian Leeds defender is looking for a potential move, and we can have him for under £20 million. To my surprise, the Yorkshire side are happy to sell, and he’s equally pleased to travel south, for an initial fee of £12 million plus three £2.16 million instalments. With the first team squad now complete, we look like this: Goalkeepers 12. Gavin Bazunu (21, Irish - 10 caps) – young keeper signed for £12 million from Manchester City, who looked a bit swamped in the top flight but now has the gift of a year of Championship football to hone his talents. Already great at shot stopping and with excellent reflexes, he’s still getting better and could be our solution for years to come. 13. Joe Lumley (28, English – 0 caps) – journeyman keeper brought in to be the emergency back-up option. I remember his frequent gaffes at Middlesbrough, and hope that he will never be relied upon here. His contract ends in 2023, and I can’t see us rushing to renew at any time soon. 1. Alex McCarthy (33, English – 1 cap) – the experienced option, who’s been with us since 2016 and has had many spells of being called upon. He’s now playing back-up to Bazunu, but will appear in cup games. I have a decision to make over his contract, which runs out in 2023. I might be tempted to offer him an extension if he requires less than his current £28,000 per week deal. Defenders 6. Jan Bednarek (27, Polish – 42 caps) – a high standard of service from the Pole, who’s been with us since his £5.25 million move from Lech in 2017. He’s probably too good for the Championship, though he remains committed to us after not kicking off when I rejected a pair of offers from Ajax. Jan is brave, works hard, and has been named as team captain for the season. 14. James Bree (25, English – 0 caps) – part of an exclusive group of footballers named after cheese varieties, our back-up right-back is a recent signing from Luton, probably playing at the right level for him and unlikely to improve very much. He has all the right assets for his playing role, but I think he may get left behind when/if we go up. 5. Taylor Harwood-Bellis (21, English – 13 U21 caps) – squad rotation centre-back on loan from Manchester City, potentially a Premier League performer but well suited to this standard. A big strong boy and very determined to succeed, both qualities that could take him far. 21. Mason Holgate (26, English – 6 U21 caps) – on loan from Everton, with an optional future fee of £11 million. Struijk’s arrival has sent him down the rankings a little but his sheer flexibility – he can play right-back as well as in the centre – makes him useful. Brave and aggressive, and he could do well for us. 18. Juan Larios (19, Spanish – 2 U21 caps) – recent £6 million acquisition from the Man City reserves, a young Spanish left wing-back who will be eased into first team affairs. His training report indicates a strong attitude to improving himself, and he has done well when picked. 3. Ryan Manning (27, Irish – 6 caps) – free transfer from Swansea City, a hard working left wing-back who cross the ball well, is good in the tackle and has no fear of being on the ball. I’m not sure he will ever be good enough for the level above, but at this level he’s our first choice. 22. Pascal Struijk (24, Belgian – 0 caps) – signed by me as a stronger pick at centre-back than Jack Stephens, already Premier quality and still improving. This makes him an investment both for the present and the future, a tall boy with a good aerial presence and strong assets across the board. He loves a big game. 2. Kyle Walker-Peters (26, English – 2 caps) – an ever-present since his £12 million switch from Spurs a couple of years ago, I expected to fight off attention from top flight sides for Kyle, which hasn’t yet emerged. He’s playing as though to impress every scout who watches him, strong and consistent, a true team player, and I think we need to show him we mean promotion business if we are to keep him around. Midfielders 17. Carlos Alcaraz (20, Argentinian – 0 caps) – fine prospect of a central midfielder, a good passer as part of his promising all-round technical showing. The downside is an almost complete absence of determination, which makes him appear to be a Championship answer to Mesut Ozil. 10. Martin Baturina (20, Croatian – 4 U21 caps) – I spent £7.5 million on this talented advanced midfielder from Dinamo Zagreb, someone I expect to improve to Premier standards just as we are ready to go up. He’s improving nicely already, though his diminutive 5’ 8” frame means he will never present much of an aerial threat. 4. Hamza Choudhury (25, English – 7 U21 caps) – I invested considerably in this defensive midfielder, a crazy-haired ball winner who has never quite met his enormous potential over the years. Sparing appearances with Leicester have probably done for him, though my intention is to give him an opportunity to shine. Hamza is brave, works hard and is great in the tackle, though his aggression levels mean he can easily pick up yellow cards. 8. Pape Matar Sarr (21, Senegalese – 8 caps) – deep lying playmaker who’s on loan from Tottenham, with vague hopes that we might end up signing him permanently. A lack of determination can lead to some anonymous performances, but he’s a smart player and his choices when it comes to passes are usually assiduous. For some reason, he doesn’t like me very much, however it doesn’t stop me from wanting to hang on to a midfielder with endless potential. 19. Will Smallbone (23, Irish – 6 U21 caps) – prematurely bald advanced playmaker who is also the only current first teamer with ‘trained at club’ homegrown status. Will has excellent vision, good technique and passing, however he is also very much a Championship standard footballer who may never become better than that. 25. Ivan Sunjic (26, Croatian – 1 cap) – I might have overpaid for this Croatian DM, a £6 million capture from Birmingham who I coughed up on because (i) frankly, we had the money (ii) reasons of harmony, as he’s good company for Baturina. A grizzled and hard working team player who has the priceless attribute of being in the right place at the right time, his fine mental and physical picture contrasts with a somewhat lacking set of technical qualities. Forwards 9. Adam Armstrong (26, English - 5 U21 caps) – a flexible forward who is equally comfortable at striker or on the left wing, Adam was signed from Blackburn in 2021. His Premier League output was largely underwhelming as he struggled to make the leap to top flight football, but he should be fine here with his raw pace and big match mentality making a difference. 20. Armando Broja (22, Albanian – 14 caps) – young Chelsea advanced forward who has joined us on loan. He’s already operating at a high level, fast and comfortable on the ball, and I hope he falls in love with us while he’s here. 16. Samuel Edozie (20, English – 2 U21 caps) – yet another Manchester City youngster who’s found his way down south, Sam is a young and dynamic left winger, tricky and agile, and he could yet improve a lot. His chances might be relatively limited for now, but his time will come. 23. Ryan Fraser (29, Scottish – 22 caps) – Newcastle loanee who can play equally well on both flanks but will mainly be used on the right. Ryan is very short, meaning he has no aerial presence whatsoever, and there are concerns over the slight worsening of some his qualities and his propensity for getting injured. Still, a good player to have at this level, and while we are unlikely to activate his £10.5 million buyout, he can do a job of work.. 15. Sekou Mara (21, French – 4 U21 caps) – young, advanced forward, signed for £9.5 million from Bordeaux after setting few lights on fire over there, though he has much room for improvement. He’s fast and can dribble well, and I see him principally as a project to be sharpened and developed. 24. Ross Stewart (27, Scottish – 2 caps) – fringe striker, signed for free after being released by Sunderland. Ross had a great scoring record in League One, and his height makes him a good aerial threat, however he’s the fourth choice in a position where we only use one player, and his chances are likely to be few and far between. 11. Kamaldeen Sulemana (21, Ghanaian – 11 caps) – fast left winger who was signed for £22 million from Rennes, and his tender age means he is very much improving as a footballer. His pace is electric; he has excesses of flair, and he can dribble like a dream, however he’s a frequent injury risk and you can see his energy levels drain away during a game.

Squad Building The good news is that, despite losing so many players, we are in decent shape. Many positions are amply covered by people who are more than good enough to cope in the Championship, and we even get the luxury of taking someone like Gavin Bazunu through a season of development and improvement at this level. A year or so ago, the club took a decision to go after young players with potential, which has its merits but also left the likes of Bazunu exposed cruelly at the highest tier of the game. He will be a much better keeper if he can make it through the travails of England’s second level. If there is an area of weakness, then it’s in midfield. I like to have three midfielders in my starting line-up, one defensive and the others operating centrally, and Southampton do come with a trio but no more than that. No cover, nothing. We lost six midfielders in the summer, and have recruited Shea Charles (too young to make an impact), along with the loan deal for Flynn Downes. There’s also Carlos Alcaraz, who hates my guts, and Will Smallbone, and that’s about it. Not a bad set to be working alongside, but if anything happens to any of them, and Championship campaigns are long and arduous, then we are in trouble. This area is therefore a priority. I ask my scouts to get themselves hence and do their thing… I am also hit with the ‘exploring my options’ chestnut by both Che Adams and Stuart Armstrong. Both are players of quality, especially at this level, but they are in the final year of their contracts and for me, their intention not to sign a new deal in the short term is a red flag. What do I do? Wait to see if our sizzling form is good enough to have them reaching for the contractual fountain pen, or cash in now? The pair, both Scots who have been at St Mary’s for some years, should carry some responsibility for our relegation, but with that comes the opportunity to help us go back up. At the same time, they are on the radars of so-called bigger teams, and there is a list of potential names who could replace – and even improve upon – them to be explored. So I agree to their wishes to put a potential new contract on the backburner, and discretely offer them out to any interested teams. Within days, both have gone. Adams is now with West Ham for a £14.5 million fee. Wolves produce the £7.5 million required to make Armstrong theirs. This leaves us richer, but with more holes in the side. Armstrong is the loss I worry about less, as we have Joseph Aribo, and Newcastle’s Ryan Fraser on loan with us for the season, but Adams is harder to replace. Our other centre-forwards are Sekou Mara and Ross Stewart, who I see as adequate but not world-beating, even in the Championship. If I need to, I could shove Adam Armstrong up front and hand the left wing to Kamaldeen Sulemana, a very fine young Ghanaian winger who deserves an opportunity to shine, indeed he’s been listed in the Championship Dream Team. With those players gone, and little opportunity for any of the young tyros in our U21s to seize their chance, we have plenty to spend, space in the weekly wage budget, and a need to fill the following areas: Defensive midfielder, preferably someone who can step up and start regularly. Two central midfielders, who can at least provide competition for the starting places. Either a left winger, or a striker. Southampton want us to get no one who’s over the age of 28, which is fair enough. We only have one spare loanee slot to fill to meet Championship rules - Mason Holgate and Taylor Harwood-Bellis join Downes and Fraser as part of our existing loan army. Despite our rude health, actually persuading decent players to make their future with us becomes a matter of trial and rejection. It turns out many people aren’t delighted to drop into the Championship, even if it’s only for a year, while very good existing people at this level would rather move up than sideways. The trouble for us is that this is exactly the standard of baller we’re looking for. The summer becomes a wearying spiral of scouting prospects (no interest in joining us), speaking to agents (no interest whatsoever in joining us) and making cheeky offers, which are knocked back (no interest in joining us, not now and not ever, no thank you, no more junk mail, etc). For instance, with Che Adams gone I would really like to bring in a replacement striker, ideally someone young who can grow and develop across a Championship season. Now, I accept that we’re asking a lot for the right player to effectively gamble their future on us, but as the likes of Donyell Malen, Myron Boadu, Eddie Nketiah and Kasper Dolberg slam their door in our faces, it starts to look as though the saga will never end. Midfield is a different matter. We start with a loan deal for Tottenham’s Pape Matar Sarr, a deep lying playmaker who is entirely appropriate to rule at this level. Hamza Choudhury from Leicester joins in a deal that will amount to £10 million. The crazy-haired Englishman will mainly be used in defensive midfield, with hopes that we will finally help to tap into his potential. For the last piece in this particular jigsaw, we go all the way to Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia and snap up their young Mezzala, Martin Baturina. 20 years old, on the cup of the Croatian national team and with potential that frankly looks endless, he’s ours in a trade that will eventually net his side £7.5 million. We’re so impressed with Baturina that we draft in a fellow Croatian. Ivan Sunjic is a defensive midfielder who players for Birmingham City. He’s 26, a good Championship player with Premier League potential and willing to play second fiddle to Choudhury. His arrival allows us to end the temporary stay of Flynn Downes and have a space for signing someone on loan. Meanwhile, the striker search goes on. I ask Jason Wilcox, our Director of Football for some suggestions. He comes up with: Ivan Azon – 20 year old Spaniard currently at Zaragoza and available for anything up to £7 million. He looks all right if we want a future prospect, but I feel we need someone who can slot in straight away. Sekou Koita – RB Salzburg’s advanced forward from Mali, who has produced a fine goalscoring record for the Austrians, however I don’t think he offers us anything we don’t have already. Josh Sargent – the Norwich forward with the American accent and Screech from Saved by the Bell haircut, and the most likely option. He’s struggled to emerge from the shadow of Pukki, who has now left, and his tender age (23) means he has room the grow. He could cost us anything up to £12 million, which feels like a hefty fee for someone who’s yet to prove himself. While all this is happening, we are trudging through a heavy pre-season schedule in July. After a 2-2 draw against Slaven Belupo, we go on a tour of Turkey, beating up on three teams with lengthy names and unknown reputations. Oxford City of the Vanarama National League are next. We win 5-0. The calendar closes with two drawn games at home against more illustrious opposition – Anderlecht, followed by Red Bull Salzburg. If there’s the potential for these tied matches to be frustrating, then in all truth I am impressed with the team’s unwillingness to give up.

Welcome to Southampton I have enjoyed Football Manager 2023, but it’s been difficult to find a team that I really liked managing. Liverpool, Barcelona, Manchester United, Leicester (twice), the hot mess that is Chelsea in the Boely regime, all have been a lot of fun yet have lacked staying power. I’m used to lingering at the same club for a number of seasons, building a dynasty – none of these have lasted much longer than one. The time to move on to the new edition of the game is quickly creeping up. I could stick with this one instead, but I know that I’ll be there on demo release day, shoes buffed up and tie straightened, and the rest of my life put on hold, so I’m going to finish 2023 with a save to write about. I have started various write-ups of my games, all aborted when ennui sets in, and it’s high time I grow a pair and cover someone in a bit of depth. The team I have chosen for this noble exercise is Southampton. Why them? Well, 2022/23 was especially horrible for the Saints. They finished dead last in the Premier League, accumulating a mere 25 points as opposing teams saw them routinely to be the sort of soft touch it was barely worth turning up to brush aside. Southampton won six league matches. They struggled to score goals but had few problems in letting them in at the other end, shipping 73 to become the division’s second leakiest outfit. Batterings were doled out to them more often than at your local chippy. They only recorded two victories at St Mary’s, one against the similarly doomed Leicester City and the other an inevitable 2-1 win over Chelsea. In a season of three managers, none were very good and one was considered to be something of a joke appointment. They weren’t a pretty sight. With relegation came the obvious exodus of star names. Monaco snapped up Salisu. Orsic went to Qatar. Livramento was Newcastle-bound. Chelsea snatched Romeo Lavia from the jaws of Liverpool, and worst of all was the loss of iconic midfielder, James Ward-Prowse, to West Ham. A raft of Premier-quality players scarpered on loan deals, which leaves the rump of their squad, plus some acquisitions and a few loanees to start the long march out of the Championship wastelands. Southampton are third favourites to go back up, behind Leicester and Leeds. The Foxes are overwhelming favourites, while Leeds are on broadly similar odds to ourselves. Also in the running are Norwich, Watford, West Brom, Middlesbrough and Stoke, though the bookies see it as a straight fight between the three relegated sides. We will play a forty-six match league campaign, along with contesting the FA Cup and Carabao Cup. I am running with an updated database that takes into account the state of play up to the closure of the summer 2023 transfer window. We start in decent financial health. There’s not much less than £100 million in the overall balance, and the Saints have precisely zero in terms of net debt. The £12 million I get to spend on transfers is the best in the Championship, and while the £779,558 we have allocated as a weekly wage budget is mean by top flight standards, only Leicester and Leeds get more at this level. I am able to augment our transfer spends by cashing in some generous clauses. We get a whopping £4.37 million from Spurs to buy out a clause relating to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Chelsea give us £1.75 million for Jimmy-Jay Morgan, and we’re paid a further £504,000 from Leicester for Jannik Vestergaard. The suggestion that this is the most Vestergaard ever did for us is cruel. Fair, but harsh. But fair. That leaves me with more than £18 million in the kitty, which increase further still by telling the board we will achieve more than what they’re asking for. They expect us to win promotion, which is something we ought to be able to achieve. In the cup competitions, we’re only supposed to be competitive. I declare we will finish a round above the lowest one, knowing that it only takes one draw that pits us against a mighty opposition and it’s game over. Still, fortune favours the bold, apart from when it doesn’t. For now, I have a squad of 22 first team players. Most of them seem ambivalent about my appointment, though midfielder Carlos Alcaraz is opposed to me for reasons that don’t seem especially clear. We have no team leaders currently, which could be a problem and might hint at reasons for our downfall last season. There are two ‘trained at club’ homegrown players in the squad. The development centre looks fantastic, with an U21 squad rated as very strong and great promise suggested by the U18s. The situation overall is promising, though I think we need to show signs of being promotion-ready at the earliest opportunity in order to keep the boat rocking. Southampton have not won a league title in their history. We have finished second, as recently as 1983/84, but we’ve never quite sealed the deal, and it rankles that our great south coast rivals, Portsmouth, have achieved it on two occasions in the past. We’ve won one FA Cup and finished runners-up twice in the League Cup, but the trophy cabinet is barer than it should be considering our top flight pedigree. It’s maybe time to change that, exorcise some demons and leave Pompey choking on our dust in the process, but first, we need to get out of this division…

To my mind, Chelsea along with Liverpool and Manchester City should have one of the best squads in the English Premier League. Other sides, United, Arsenal and Spurs, aren’t far away, and then there’s the building capacity of Newcastle to bear in mind, but the Blues ought to be among the top three. Perennially there or thereabouts, most summers involve endless traffic in and out of Stamford Bridge as Chelsea roll the dice time and time again, their heavy turnover of managers producing a melting pot of signings that somehow need to coalesce into a fighting unit. That’s the biggest difference between them and their two main rivals. While Guardiola and Klopp have had years to build their squads into reflections of their personal philosophies of how the game should be played, at Chelsea you have players who were brought in by Conte, Sarri, Lampard and Tuchel. Each man thinks differently, and to an extent the team reflects that clash in opinions. New arrivals from the 2022 intake rub shoulders with N’Golo Kante, their long-serving midfielder who arrived in 2016. There’s a good sprinkling of Academy graduates, but on the whole it’s an assortment of talents. A lot of players are out on loan. Many of these are youngsters from the bloat of Chelsea’s youth system, but there are also relics of past recruitment campaigns. Tiemoue Bakayoko is at Milan. Lukaku is with Inter. Reading is this year’s hat-hanging location for Baba Rahman. The impression you get is that it’s all a bit of a mess, but at the same time it’s a team that’s expected to do well and at the heart of that is an expensively assembled and skilled clutch of playing personnel. The situation is bright enough to almost render as null the meagre £16 million transfer budget that you start with. It’s entirely possible to get a tune out of this lot without spending a groat, and if you do need to then there are some very generous buyouts available within departed players’ transfer clauses. This isn’t to say that things are perfect at the Bridge. Chelsea showcase a number of aging players, and it will be the lot of the manager to replace them over time. For 2022/23, they should be just about okay, with those issues left to be addressed until after a successful season has concluded and you have kept your job at one of football’s more trigger-happy set-ups (the current boardroom is little different in attitude from Abramovich, if their treatment of Tuchel is anything to go by)… Goalkeepers For some years, this was a position of genuine strength with Peter Cech supposedly handing the reins over to Thibault Courtois. Then the latter was snapped up by Real Madrid and Chelsea went big in response, spending a record fee to draft in Kepa Arrizagabala. This was around the same time as City and Liverpool both spent heavily on a new keeper, but it was the Blues who came off worse, with their young, fitful, eccentric and hard-to-trust Spaniard. Kepa’s still here, now a back-up and sitting on uncomfortably high wages for someone who won’t play many games. He’s the Chelsea equivalent of Barcelona investing big wads into Neto. With other teams hardly queuing up for his services, it might be best to keep him on roll for now, as a competent alternative to Edouard Mendy, the Senegalese, sure-handed default starter. Mendy’s good, and at 30 has plenty of miles left to cover on his clock. Third choice is Marcus Bettinelli, crazily enough at one point the starting keeper for Middlesbrough and here for his homegrown status. As someone who is happy with two goalies and using that precious squad place elsewhere, I might be tempted to sell or loan him out. Right-Backs Reece James has developed into one of Chelsea’s best players, a strong and attack-minded full-back who should be racking up multiple assists with some glee. He’s 22 and homegrown, therefore the best of all worlds and good to run for years. He should by now be effortlessly overshadowing Cesar Azpilicueta, a rarity at the Bridge thanks to having been around since 2012. At 33, the captain’s considerable powers are beginning to decline, though natural fitness levels continue to make him a reliable option, let alone his useful ability to be just as effective at left-back. Left-Backs Chelsea’s scattergun approach to signing players is never better expressed than here, where Marc Cucurella has been extravagantly purchased to complement Ben Chilwell, himself an expensive addition in 2020. The latter’s problems with injuries add some method to their madness. Ben’s a terrific player, fast, hard working and technical, yet fragile. The former Barcelona player is a very useful player to have around and can play just about anywhere on the left wing. More than £100 million has gone into bringing these two players to Stamford Bridge. Central Defenders Chelsea lost two first teamers in the summer when Rudiger and Christensen left on free transfers. The latter was homegrown, the former bloody brilliant, and they will both no doubt be missed. Their absence has been mitigated with the twin signings of Kalidou Koulibaly and Wesley Fofana. The Senegalese Napoli centre-back was a Manchester United target for many years and at times was considered to be among the elite in his role. Now, 31 and costing £33 million, some of the shine has rubbed away, though there’s nothing at all wrong with his powers. The big guy remains a wall at the heart of defence. Fofana has been one of the potentially most exciting ball-playing defenders around for some time. Signed for nearly £70 million from Chelsea’s feeder club, Leicester, he’s only going to improve and the thought of rotating him with Koulibaly while he grows as a footballer is a mouth-watering one. The new arrivals have the soft task of working alongside Thiago Silva, the illustrious Brazilian international who has added stability and class since joining from PSG in 2020. Now in the last year of his contract, choosing whether to extend it for a 37 year old player is more of a dilemma than it ought to be. Thiago oozes experienced talent, and though it’s likely that most people will look to replace him in 2023, he will leave a gap. Also here is Trevoh Chalobah, just 23 and an Academy graduate who has steadily worked his way into first team affairs. He’s a good guy to have on the team, and he can be re-trained as a natural defensive midfielder. Defensive Midfielders Chelsea’s options here make it possible to play with a dedicated DM. The obvious and most natural choice is Jorginho, a £50 million capture from Napoli who’s now entering his fifth season. The Italian, penalty extraordinaire is 30 and in his contract’s final year, so there’s a temptation to sell him that is understandable, however he does bring a lot to the cause. His vision is exceptional; he can read the game really well, so there are few better players to have patrolling that area betwixt defence and midfield. Getting a replacement for the monies raised from his sale won’t be easy. You want Declan Rice and you won’t get him, so perhaps it’s better to stick for now and enjoy Jorginho, occasionally resting him for Denis Zakaria, who’s here on loan. The Swiss midfielder from Juventus has a release fee inserted into his contract, which I see as more hopeful than realistic. It’s unlikely that he will either stay or even get much game-time, but as a back-up option he’s fine enough. Central Midfielders An eclectic group starts with N’Golo Kante, 31 and a Chelsea regular, though like Jorginho he’s into the last year of his contract. This is worth renewing, as he is likely to accept a substantial decrease on his £300k weekly spends. N’Golo is such an entertaining and effervescent midfield presence who seems born to win things, not least friends along the way, and he can be used just as effectively in defensive midfield. Perhaps this is better. The Frenchman is one of several box-to-box midfielders, and it seems a shame to deny time to Mason Mount or Conor Gallagher because of him. Both are homegrown products of the Academy, the former maybe better deployed as an attacking midfielder, though this is a position I don’t normally use. In central midfield, Mason is a terrific baller, just 23 and already an important part of the England set-up. Possibly most valuable is his versatility, his ability to fill in on either wing, though he can be simply devastating in the middle. Conor was a very bright spot of Crystal Palace in 2021/22, and is now considered more than ready to do a job for Chelsea. He’s a very good example of the embarrassment of riches that is the production line from the club’s talent factory. Mateo Kovacic has quietly been doing a good job as advanced playmaker in the three years since he signed from Real Madrid. Now 28, he’s at his playing peak, technically gifted with flair and the capacity to put on a good dribble. Then there’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek, kind of the forgotten man and indeed transfer-listed. Finding Ruben not either up for sale or on loan elsewhere is a novelty, and for sure there’s an element to this deep-lying playmaker that suggests his career has kind of stalled over time. Personally, I think he’s worth removing from the list and giving him a chance, especially if he is realistically unlikely to leave for the sort of amount Chelsea would want to recoup. He’s another homegrown player. Right Wingers Chelsea have various people who can play in this position, but only one for whom it’s as effective as anything else, and that’s Moroccan international, Hakim Ziyech. Signed from Ajax in 2020, Hakim is one of those players you’re surprised to see is still around. The team seem to regard him as a squad player, an occasional presence, though there’s nothing especially wrong with this agile and technical forward with a neat line in free kick taking. If there is a gap in the side, then I think it’s here. Sterling, Pulisic and Hudson-Odoi can all do a good job on the right, however I have added Alexis Saelemaekers from AC Milan to boost the numbers. The Belgian is young, at 23, and more importantly cheap (I got him for £11 million, including clauses and bonuses). Left Wingers An area of strength. Chelsea can field Mount here, but in Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic they have two specialists, not forgetting Callum Hudson-Odoi, who can be recalled from loan at Bayer Leverkusen. Raheem was of course a high-profile summer signing, costing the best part £50 million for a well established 27 year old who is now with his third elite team. Increasingly marginalised at the Etihad, Chelsea have landed an England international, not to forget a favourite of the England manager. At his best on the left, Raheem is a ridiculously fast and dynamic presence, a supremely fit individual whose off the ball work is textbook material. It’s between him and Christian, an American international who was signed from Borussia Dortmund in 2019, expensively acquired before their transfer ban kicked in. A fine footballer who loves dribbling, there’s the nagging sense that Chelsea don’t quite know what to do with him, suggesting a player already on the rocks at the ripe old age of 23. Forwards With Lukaku out on loan and Batshuayi finally put of his misery with a transfer to Fenerbahce, Chelsea are left with Kai Havertz, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and young Academy product, Armanda Broja. The former, a German international signed for megabucks back in 2020, is perfectly happy playing as an advanced forward. An attacking midfielder by trade, Kai has the finishing ability, along with the pace, technique and first touch, to be exactly right for this role. He can be given time to own it, in which case there’s a nice, veteran alternative in former Arsenal man, Pierre-Emerick. It’s doubtless that the Gabonese forward has been drafted in as a short-term fix, a panic buy for whom they overpaid Barcelona, but he should be good enough to help out, at least in his first season. Finally Broja, the 20 year old Albanian who has emerged from Chelsea’s Academy to challenge for his place. Mixing height with pace effectively, he has an opportunity to wipe Chelsea’s slate clean of what they thought they were getting when they re-signed Lukaku. And if that doesn’t work, then the big man will be back in 2023. The temptation when looking at Chelsea is to decide that they aren’t very good, particularly when compared with recent seasons. Some of their attacking firepower has been lost, whilst elsewhere, City have acquired Haaland, Liverpool and Tottenham retain Salah and Kane, and so on. Age is an issue, with eight of the current first team on the wrong side of thirty, and some of these are well into their declining years – Azpilicueta, Silva and Aubameyang lead the way here. At the same time, there are few obvious weaknesses in the short-term. Chelsea are very healthy in terms of homegrown players (six, or seven if Hudson-Odoi is recalled), and they have a good young core, around which to construct the side – James, Fofana, Mount, Gallagher, Broja and Havertz are all under 25, and could be strutting their funky stuff here for years. As always, Academy players are being honed and sharpened into first-team stars of the future, and it’s for sure that a good finish to the season will cascade into transfer riches for their successful manager. And therein lies the challenge. Chelsea expects. At a club where the head coach is as expendable as toilet paper, it will take a rabid team builder who wins things to keep their job.

I usually start each edition of FM with a 'big team' game, a soft start while getting used to it and the fun of managing an out of the box good side. I normally wouldn't touch Liverpool - a bit too good, basically - but their league form this season has convinced me to give them a go. Ordinarily, I'd do Arsenal, however they're top of the league and for me, that's nosebleed territory. Early impressions are that this is still a hell of a squad, with some hefty caveats. There's isn't so much that needs updating instantly - I have spent the bulk of my transfer budget on James Justin, as cover for Trent - but some long-term concerns. Big summer signing Darwin Nunez doesn't look as brilliant as perhaps he once did, however time is on his side, and there's Firmino to make up the shortfall up-front. Five injured players at the start of the game. Alisson should be back for the start of the campaign, which is good because Kelleher is also out and I don't think Adrian is nearly good enough. Diogo Jota is a big miss until the end of August/early September, while Curtis Jones won't be around for much of the pre-World Cup part of the season, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain even longer term. Where the Ox is concerned, I think he's a good player, albeit one that needs wrapping up in cotton wool and used sparingly at the best of times, which is a shame because I rate him. I'm going to sell Nathan Phillips (not good enough) if I can, and loan out Fabio Carvalho (don't think he's quite up to the standard yet, but I don't really mind if he ends up staying and putting in the occasional appearance). I've made an offer for Andreas Schjelderup of FC Nordsjaelland, an 18 year old Norwegian left-winger who might be a slight update on Carvalho and will become homegrown over time. Longer term, there are some oldies who will need to be replaced eventually. The obvious one is Boring Milner, still fine and flexible, and incredibly high standards for a 36 year old (there can't be many players in the game who have lasted at the top level since Football Manager 2005 - Ronaldo, Ibrar, etc), but I'm unlikely to extend his contract. Jordan Henderson is on the verge of his stud years, and some of Pool's biggest stars elsewhere are on the wrong side of 30. The really big job will be to replace Mo Salah at some point, but not something I've got to worry about for a little while yet. I'm happy to arrange a new deal for Bobby Firmino, part of a desperate effort to keep the gang together maybe, as I sense the squad is haunted by that Mane-sized vacuum. The board wants Champions League qualification, which should be attainable with a team of this sheer quality. Injuries over the course of the year are a concern however, and I have to rely on my innate tendency to rotate the squad in order to minimise players having lengthy periods of time out. As always with Liverpool, the backroom staff - especially coaches - is excellent, and I hope the Academy maintains its reputation for churning out talent. While they have enough qualifying players to enter a full Champions League squad, the number who qualify as 'trained at club' homegrown is at the bare minimum (Kelleher, Jones, Gomez, Trent, with Elliott joining the cohort next summer), and generally I'd like the situation to improve. Anyway, the game looks good, something of a glorified update on 22, and I like the Squad Planner screen as a kind of whiteboard tool. Hope you're all enjoying it!