danmcconnell1

Transfer Update I have thought for a few weeks now that we've been a little short in central midfield so have been looking for a player that wouldn't break the bank but would also improve the squad. Due to already having the maximum number of international players in our squad, we had to look at American free agents, therefore welcome Emerson Hyndman. The former Fulham, Bournemouth and Atlanta United man joined us on a free (although we did have to trade Seattle's 2025 Superdraft 1st round pick that we had for the rights to sign him) is a player who obviously has pedigree but unfortunately has never quite hit the heights some thought he would when he moved to England at such a young age. He's a tidy midfielder and will certainly bolster our midfield going forward.

April 2024 After a promising start to the new season, we went into April hoping to continue our good form and pick up more points. On the whole, it's been a successful month again in terms of results, however some of the matches played, particularly those that ended in draws, were frustrating. We began with a thumping win over Cincinnatti beating them 4-2, Jean with a brace, Mabika and another rookie from the draft this year Aviza all getting on the score sheet. That was followed by an impressive 2-1 win away at NYCFC. Robbie Robinson scored a brace there including a 93rd minute winner to steal all three points for us at the death. We then drew 3-3 away in California against San Jose Earthquakes. We were 2-0 and 3-2 up in this game so it was frustrating to only leave with a point, Robinson got another as did Mabika while Messi got his 2nd of the campaign too. Just 3 days later we travelled to Colorado to face the Rapids and we soundly beaten. The score line flattered us at 3-2 as we were poor and gave away 3 silly goals for the 2nd time in the space of 3 days. Both of our goals were successful penalties scored by Messi. However we did respond with our best result of the month away at Nashville winning 4-1. Mota scored 2 while Messi and Taylor also got on the score sheet, that's Messi's 4th goal in 3 matches. Then came another frustrating draw at home to bottom of the Eastern Conference Chicago Fire, Mabika equalised early in the 2nd half for us as we struggled in front of goal. The final result of the month was another win against the New England Revolution, Pozuelo scoring the only goal 6 minutes before half time to secure the points for us. We end the month 2nd in the Eastern Conference and 4th in the Supporter's Shield, just 2 points behind leaders of both our Conference and the Shield the Columbus Crew, a side we managed to beat on the opening day.

March 2024 The new season is upon us and I'm hoping that we can go one step further this year and make it further into the play-offs. Our start has been pretty decent. We scored 4 in both of our opening matches home and away against Columbus and LA Galaxy respectively. Robinson, Pozuelo, debutant Ramsey and then Jean completed the rout against Columbus while a Jean hat-rick and another debut goal, this time for rookie Ricardo off the bench put the cherry on top in LA. We then came back down to earth with a bump though as Vancouver beat us 2-0 at home in a poor performance by us, however we responded well with a victory in Florida's state capital against Orlando City. Messi equalised after an hour with Robinson scoring with 9 minutes left to give us the victory. We ended the month in the capital against Wayne Rooney's D.C. United and came away with a point from there, Jean getting our goal to continue his good goal scoring form from the end of last season into this. After 5 matches we sit 4th in the Eastern Conference and 6th in the Supporter's Shield. Corentin Jean has been outstanding at the beginning of this new season averaging a goal a game at the minute while Messi has been at his creative best already with 4 assists in 4 appearances. It's been a solid start to the season picking up 10 points from 15 so I'm hoping we can continue the good form, perhaps even better it slightly, and make a push at the top end of both the Eastern Conference and the Supporter's Shield this time around.

Off-Season Part 3 With the new MLS season fast approaching, let's take a look at the squad as it shapes up ahead of the new campaign. We've certainly refreshed the squad during the off-season, with plenty of new faces arriving while some left us also. In goal, we have Drake Callender as our number 1, with CJ dos Santos the backup. As mentioned before, Callender is more than adequate, however an upgrade for the right price would certainly be welcome. We're well covered in defence with Caceres able to play across the back line, Yedlin the first choice RB and Gibbs the same at LB. Rookie Campos can also play either side which is great for us, as well as Noah Allen also being the backup LB. Jean Mota can also play at LB if required, however he's primarily a midfielder. Our CB options are plentiful too, with Lowe, another player than can also play at RB too, Fray, Mabika and Sailor all capable options for us. Gonzalez Pirez was waived in the end as we just couldn't fit his salary within salary cap limits. In midfield, again Mota is a great option as he's so versatile on the left side and centrally too. Kelyn Rowe is very similar and will provide great backup to Mota in pretty much the same positions. New signings Kranevitter and new DP Ramsey will be the first choice partnership in central midfield from the beginning of the season, however that's always open to change as time goes on. Finland international Robert Taylor is a great option out wide as he can play either side. Alejandro Pozuelo is the 2nd DP in the squad and can play pretty much anywhere on the left side and in central midfield too. Rookies Hernandez and provide cover in the central attacking roles and on the right too in Hernandez's case, so may get some game time as the season goes on. Then there is, of course, the mercurial Lionel Messi. He can play anywhere on the right side of midfield, cutting in on that wand of a left foot, or centrally in a number 10 role or upfront. He's given a free role in my team, essentially he does whatever he likes as he's a match winner and has earned the right. Finally, upfront, firstly we have Ricardo. Another rookie who was drafted this off-season, he's 3rd choice upfront at the moment, but just like Robinson last season, if he performs well for us, there's no reason why he can't muscle his way into the first team regularly. Corentin Jean ended last season in fantastic form for us with 11 goals in our final 7 matches. His form did dip following the emergence of Robinson midway through the campaign, however he's still a very good option to have who can also play wide on the right too. Finally, it's Robinson. He was outstanding last season with 34 goals in all competitions and will go into the new season as our first choice striker based on his form last time out. I'm hoping he can replicate the goal scoring exploits he managed last time out and hopefully help fire us a couple of steps further this season by helping us win an MLS Cup. Our pre-season friendlies began perfectly with wins against Minnesota, Atlanta, Chicago and Houston before we beat our own B team too. The final 2 however weren't quite as successful with a heavy defeat away to LAFC and a high scoring draw with Sporting Kansas City, however I'd much rather get these poorer performances out of the way in pre-season than I would save them for the regular season proper. We begin the new season at home against Columbus who had a quiet season last time out finishing 10th in the Eastern Conference before a trip to LA to face the Galaxy. We then welcome Canadian side Vancouver before 2 away trips up the East coast, firstly against Floridian rivals Orlando City before travelling to the capital Washington D.C. to face D.C. United. As mentioned before, I would certainly like to improve the goalkeeping situation within our squad, however with so little wiggle room within the salary cap this may not be possible unless some players are waived which I really don't want to do at this stage. If the right GK came along and was a significant upgrade, then it may have to be considered, but at the moment Callender is still number 1. I have noticed a very decent GK has been waived so I'm in the process of claiming him from waivers, whether we get him or not though remains to be seen.

Off-Season Part 2 I did mention there may well be further signings coming in and that's exactly what's happened almost immediately. Argentinian international Matias Kranevitter has joined the club after being released by Monterrey. Once an FM wonderkid, Kranevitter's career didn't quite hit the heights many thought it would after his move to Atletico Madrid back in 2015 from River Plate. He made just 8 appearances under Simeone as well as spending time out on loan at Sevilla and back at River Plate before joining Zenit in 2017 for £7m. Injuries restricted him to just 29 appearances in 3 seasons in northwest Russia therefore he left to join Mexican side Monterrey. 84 appearances and 2 goals later, he's left them for nothing and joined us in MLS. Another central midfielder was what I wanted after Gregore, Ulloa and Nungaray all left, so to bring in Ramsey, Rowe and now Kranevitter, as well as the extra options we now have following the Superdraft, I feel like we have a much better squad to move forward and hopefully take that next step in winning the MLS Cup this season. In an absolutely ideal world, I would like another goalkeeper, however we are right on the cusp of the salary cap now, so any more additions would have to be those that didn't impact it, therefore finding a keeper of a quality better than we already have that wouldn't impact the salary cap is highly unlikely this close to the beginning of the new season, so Callendar is first choice currently with dos Santos his backup. It's also highly likely that we're going to lose Leandro Gonzalez Pirez. He spent last season on loan at River Plate, however his wages increase our salary cap to £100k if he were to be registered, £9k over the cap, therefore when it comes to the final registration window, he may well be waived if we can't manage to sell him before then. We completed a trade with Real Salt Lake for Bryce Duke. It see's the Utah based side receive Duke and an international player slot in return for £750k of GA, which boosts our balance after buying down all eligible players salaries in our squad to stay within the cap, so I'm happy with the deal considering the reinforcements we've also bought in in central midfield.

Off-Season With our season not finishing the way we would have liked, we enter the off-season with plenty to ponder and decisions to be made as to who stays, who goes and finally who comes in. The first player out of the club was Felipe Valencia. He joined St. Louis City through the waiver draft after failing to graduate from our B Team despite showing promise in his early days at the club. Next out was Rodolfo Pizarro, which frees up a Designated Player spot in our squad. He made it clear since the summer that he would not be considering extending his stay here in Florida, so it made sense to let him go at the end of the year. He served the club with distinction in his 4 seasons at the club (one of those was out on loan back at Monterry in Mexico), making 101 league appearances and scoring 15 goals for the club. He's joined Al-Sadd in Qatar. We completed some trades with other MLS clubs too this off-season, with the likes of Gregore joining Portland Timbers, Victor Ulloa joining Seattle Sounders and Ernest Nungaray, who only joined the club himself in August, joining LA Galaxy. In return for these deals we received General Allocation (GA) money, always useful when buying down salary impacts to help stay under the salary cap, which incidentally has now been increased this season to £91k, and some international player slots. The salary cap increase has also resulted in reserve and senior minimum salary contracts being increased also, just to further add to the confusion that is the MLS salary cap rules. I like to think I understand the litany of rules within MLS contracts/registrations, however that doesn't make following them easy. As far as I understand, Designated Player contracts to not impact the salary cap, unless the player is signed in the winter, then a small percentage of the players' wage impacts the salary cap, as I think I've just found out with the Designated Player I've signed to replace Pizarro, however we'll get to that shortly. These players are essentially paid far more than the average MLS player to help increase the quality of the league. Senior contracts can vary in salary, however these impact the salary cap, so it's important not to blow the budget on these types of contracts. Then, and I may be wrong here, Reserve and Generation Adidas player contracts do not impact the salary cap, as they're generally younger talents that the MLS want to keep within the league, therefore they're more likely to be registered in a squad if their salary doesn't impact the cap, however, there is a limit on the number of 'off-budget' players you can register, which currently stands at 10, with no more than 6 being 'Reserve' contracts. So, now that the minefield that are the MLS rules are somewhat out of the way, I'll move onto the new Designated Player. Aaron Ramsey is a name familiar to football fans worldwide. The Welshman has played at huge European clubs including Juventus and Arsenal, while also pulling on the shirts of Cardiff where he began his career, Nottingham Forest, Rangers and Nice in France. Still only 33, I believe Ramsey can be a real asset in this team and help create goals as well as hopefully bagging a few himself. Next into the club was Kelyn Rowe, a versatile player who can play at LB, CM as well as anywhere across the attacking midfield positions. He's joined as a free agent on a Senior Minimum Salary deal, meaning his salary doesn't impact the cap. I love these kind of deals, versatile, experienced and no salary cap impact, what's not to love!? Whilst Robinson isn't a new signing of course, we did tie him down to a new deal to keep him at the club until the end of the 2026 season. Although my coaching team believe his best position is out wide on the left, I wholeheartedly believe he's an out and out striker, and last season proved it. 34 goals in all competitions was more than enough reason to warrant a new deal, however it was slightly disappointing to lose his Generation Adidas status, meaning his contract now classes as Senior, therefore impacting the cap. However, he's only on just shy of £5k per week, so it's a small price to pay both in terms of salary and cap impact. Here's hoping he can rediscover his form from last season as we enter this new one. It's almost time for the MLS Superdraft now, where MLS clubs pick the best players coming out of the college system that year to join their club's and hopefully move onto becoming the next big thing. Our first pick was Ricardo, a Brazilian striker out of Little Rock, AR. A pacy striker with very good finishing, passing and technique, I'm very happy with him and hope he can follow in the footsteps of Robinson for us. He has a decent record for Little Rock too, scoring 9 in 19 appearances. Ricky Aviza was next in, an attacking midfielder who can absolutely learn off the likes of Ramsey, Pozuelo and Messi in his time with us. He has good attributes for a midfielder like first touch, passing and dribbling, so I'm hoping he can improve other aspects of his game too with us. He was signed from the Boston Bolts, MA. He has a very good scoring rate for a midfielder too, scoring 11 in 33, that's one every 3 games. Daniel Hernandez is next in from local club Miami City. He's another attacking midfielder who, despite not quite being on the same level as Aviza previously, certainly has the potential to become a decent player for us. Another player with a decent scoring record from midfield too with 6 in 33 last year. Our first round pick of this year's Superdraft was Obed Campos out of the Southern California Seahorses. He's a full back who can play either side, so again, his versatility is something I like very much. He's a leader too so I'm hoping he can become a mainstay in the squad in the years to come, whilst learning his trade potentially out on loan in the short term, however, if not then definitely in our B Team for the time being. So, that's it from the Superdraft this year, I'm very happy with our picks after discussing them at length with my coaching team. There may well be more senior incomings or even outgoings as the season approaches, but for now I'm relatively happy with the way the squad is shaping up ahead of the new MLS season.

Update The board have confirmed the new stadium plans have been approved therefore Inter Miami will be playing in central Miami from what will now be the 2027 season it looks like. Building will begin imminently and be completed hopefully be the end of 2026.

November 2023 It's play-off time. As mentioned before, we face NYCFC at home in our Eastern Conference semi-final, which if we win we'll face Atlanta United in the Eastern Conference final. We did manage to win the semi final against NYCFC, quite convincingly in the end 4-1. Pozuelo got things going for us while Jean doubled our lead. Moralez got one back for them but 2 late goals from Jean again and Nungaray secured our Eastern Conference final place. Unfortunately though, the Eastern Conference final is where our play off campaign came to an end. Atlanta United have been brilliant this season winning the Eastern Conference regular season league table and now go on to face FC Dallas in the MLS Cup final later this month. Atlanta United ended up winning the MLS Cup for the 2nd time in a row, beating FC Dallas 1-0 in the final.

Clearly I'm more of an attractive manager than Neville to Messi (in footballing terms...)

October 2023 With just one more regular season match to play, I saw it as an opportunity to give some fringe players a bit of game time ahead of the all important play-offs. And we were fantastic in that final regular season match away at Toronto. We beat them 3-1 with Jean getting on the score sheet again whilst Messi bagged a brace. This meant we would be facing Orlando City in the Eastern Conference First Round, or the equivalent of a quarter final in the play-offs. We also managed to beat them, mainly thanks to a magical Messi performance. He provided all 3 assists to Corentin Jean's hat-rick whilst also getting on the score sheet himself, he was outstanding as we beat our Floridian rivals for the 3rd time this season under my tenure. That win set up a play-off semi final against 2021 MLS champions NYCFC. We have home advantage in this semi so I'm really hoping we can take advantage of that and progress into the Eastern Conference final, which if we do win will be against Atlanta United as they beat the New York Red Bulls, ending the possibility of an all New York Eastern Conference final. The win against Toronto secured 2nd place in the Eastern Conference table as well as securing our best ever Supporter's Shield finish of 6th too. The Eastern Conference semi takes place on 1st November so we don't have long to wait for it.

September 2023 With the cup triumph still fresh in our minds, we head into September with a spring in our step and hope we can continue our good form as we look to secure a play-off spot and prepare for them too. We did continue the good form with 3 wins from 4, losing the other one. We began September with a win in Utah against Real Salt Lake, Robinson with a brace there. We then welcomed Nashville to Miami and beat them 2-1, Messi from the penalty spot and Jean scored the other. We then travelled to Cincinnati who were much improved after we put 4 past them twice earlier this season, they beat us 3-1 this time, Jean getting our only goal. The best result of the month came in our penultimate game of the regular season at home to D.C. United, managed by former player Wayne Rooney no less. We beat them 3-0 with Jean scoring 2 more and Pozuelo completing the rout. Jean now has 4 in his last 3 so is hitting form right in time for the play-offs which is good news as it reduces the pressure on Robinson who's without a goal in 3 as things stand. The win against Nashville secured our place in this season's play-offs and also Inter Miami's best ever regular season finish, another win would take us to 61 points from the regular season, something we haven't come anywhere near in the past with the previous record being 41 points amassed in both 2021 and 2022. Robinson is still the MLS top scorer adding another 2 to his total this month. He's also entered the race for the best average rating and most MOTM awards too in what's been an outstanding season for the 24 year old.

August 2023 With us still fighting on all fronts heading towards the business end of the season, I'm hoping we can again continue our good form and perhaps even lift some silverware this season. And that's exactly what we did this month, but we'll get onto that shortly. The month began with a roller coaster of a match up in Orlando against Floridian rivals Orlando City in the Leagues Cup East quarter final, we drew 3-3 after extra time, Robinson with another 2 and Pozuelo getting one for us. We managed to win the penalty shoot out 7-6 with Robinson himself scoring the decisive penalty. We then followed that up with a convincing win in the US Cup semi final against Seattle Sounders at DRV PNK Stadium, winning 4-1 with goals from Messi and a hat-rick for that man in form Robinson which booked our place in the final against Columbus Crew later this month. We were unfortunately knocked out of the Leagues Cup in the East semi final away at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico against Club America as they beat us 2-1. Robinson opened the scoring for us but we fell to a late goal scored by Vinas for them. Our only match in MLS itself this month was at home against the Portland Timbers and we beat them comfortably 3-0, Robinson again with another hat-rick, his 2nd of the month, got all 3 points for us. Then came the US Cup final against the aforementioned Columbus Crew. We were favourites heading into it due to our outstanding form and, frankly, because we have Lionel Messi in our side. And so he proved to be the difference maker. He assisted Alejando Pozuelo's opener before completing the scoring himself to help Inter Miami CF to the first trophy in our history in just our 4th full season within MLS. We'd had a great run in the cup as well as some thrilling performances so I was ecstatic to win the first trophy of Inter Miami CF's history. As mentioned previously we'd only played 1 match in the league this month, but we won it to help consolidate our place in the Eastern Conference play-offs. Robinson's goal scoring exploits now make him the outright top goal scorer in MLS so far this season with 18, however he has 32 in all competitions. The 1st overall pick from the 2020 Superdraft has finally shown why he was so sought after at that draft and has fully deserved all of the plaudits coming his way this year.

July 2023 After the fantastic end to last month, I was certainly hoping we could continue this great form heading into July. We did make it 7 wins on the bounce with a win against St. Louis City, Robbie Robinson bagging another brace to continue his outstanding form in front of goal. However the next 3 league matches all ended in defeat. We lost away at Charlotte FC 3-2, Acosta and Jean got our goals there, then lost at Soldier Field against the Chicago Fire 2-0. We did manage a win in the US Cup quarter final against Charlotte Independence, beating them 2-0. Pizarro got both of our goals in that one as Lionel Messi made his debut after officially joining the club the day before that match. We then lost away at Austin in Texas too 2-1, Messi getting his first goal for the club in his 2nd appearance but on his MLS debut. I'd not heard of the Leagues Cup before, despite managing in MLS on previous versions of FM before, so was surprised to see it appear. There are 15 groups of 3 where we face each team once in the group before the knockout stages begin. We faced New England Revolution in our first match and comfortably beat them 3-0 at DRV PNK Stadium, which was officially a neutral venue despite being our home stadium. Pozuelo, Pizarro and Robinson got our goals that day. We then got back to winning ways in the league which was much needed after those 3 defeats as we travelled to Colorado to face the Rapids. We managed to beat them 3-1 with Jean, Messi and Taylor all bagging. The final match of the month was the final Leagues Cup match of the group against Mexican side Queretaro. I didn't know too much about them but after seeing New England had beaten them, I was confident that I would be able to rest a few key names against them and it paid off. We beat them 6-2 in the end with Robinson grabbing 4 goals, while Fray and Ulloa got one each. All of this means that we're still fighting on 4 fronts in total. The Supporter's Shield looks to be a trophy too far for us at this point though with us down in 6th and Atlanta 14 points clear, however an historic treble could well be on the cards if things go our way. We sit 3rd in the Eastern Conference table and are starting to pull away, despite a relatively poor month in terms of league results, so I'm confident we'll secure a play in the play-offs soon. The draw for the Leagues Cup Eastern quarter finals takes place soon and we're also in the semi finals of the US Cup where we'll welcome Seattle Sounders to southern Florida. We did make another signing this month with Martin Caceres joining the club. The veteran Uruguayan international has a litany of trophies throughout his career, mainly thanks to his time in Italy whilst being part of a dominant Juventus team through the early-mid 2010's. He's obviously not quite the player he once was, however I'm hoping his experience will help us through the latter part of this season and potentially into next as well. He still has good attributes for this level across the board, so I'm pleased with the signing.

That's it. That's the post.

June 2023 We're almost midway through the MLS season and with us in decent form I'm hoping we can continue that going into June. Whilst the month didn't start great, we ended it superbly. A draw against the New England Revolution got us underway, it finished 2-2 with Pozuelo and Taylor getting our goals. We then lost 2-1 away at Sporting Kansas City, Robinson bagging for us there. After that though was when our luck changed. 6 wins on the bounce followed, beginning with a trip to LA Galaxy where we won 3-1, Pozuelo, Robinson and Azcona with the goals. We then faced local rivals Miami FC back at home in the US Cup 4th round and beat them 1-0, Pozuelo again scored for us, that's 3 in 4 for him now. Pozuelo got another one in our next match against Toronto back in MLS whilst young defender Ian Fray scored his first goal for us as we beat the Canadians 2-0. The US Cup rolled into town as we faced another relatively local side, or at least within the same state, Orlando City up in the state capital. We needed extra time, but managed to pull through with a 3-2 win, Robinson got 1 with Pizarro bagging a brace to send us through to the quarter finals where we'll NASL side Charlotte Independence, who incidentally beat our next opponents Atlanta United in their 4th round tie on penalties. Speaking of Atlanta, we travelled to Georgia in wonderful form and were confident ahead of our match against the reigning MLS champions and current Eastern Conference and Supporter's Shield leaders. And we had good reason to be confident. We thrashed them 4-0 with Acosta opening the scoring for us before Robbie Robinson scored his 2nd hat-rick of the season to inflict just their 4th defeat of the season. We ended the month with another win, this time at home to the New York Red Bulls, Robinson got himself another 2 as we comfortably beat them 2-0 in Fort Lauderdale. Again, the Eastern Conference is pretty tight towards the top end of the table, so we currently sit down in 4th despite our brilliant form. We do have a game in hand over both NYCFC and DC United which if we win we'll move up into 3rd ahead of the side from the capital and then just a point behind NYCFC, however we'd still be 8 behind leaders Atlanta if we did win that game in hand. We do of course have Lionel Messi joining us in July, so I'm certainly hopeful that he can provide even more firepower upfront as we look to ensure, at a minimum, a play-off spot this season while hoping to go further into those play-offs than the club has managed to before. Speaking of Messi, here's how he finished his season at PSG; 51 appearances and 20 goals in his final season in France is certainly not bad for a man who's just turned 36. He also managed 8 assists and 4 MOTM awards too. Obviously, the MLS isn't quite as higher standard as the French Ligue 1, however Messi's undeniable class and talent will hopefully mean he's head and shoulders above anybody else in the league.

May 2023 After a solid start in charge in South Florida, the remainder of May's results are as follows; We managed another win, this time against Montreal CF with Rob Taylor and Pozuelo both getting on the score sheet in a comfortable win in Canada. Next up was the visit of FC Cincinnati who we thrashed 4-2, Pozuelo, Jean, Pizarro and Lowe all getting one each. Then came just the 2nd defeat since I took over at home to Seattle, we lost 1-0. However we responded well to that setback again and knocked Cincinnati out of the US Cup in the 3rd round, scoring 4 against them again for the 2nd time in the space of 2 weeks, Taylor and Pozuelo both got one each while Robbie Robinson bagged a brace to send us into round 4 where we'll face a local derby against Miami FC next month. It's getting a lot tighter at the top of the Eastern Conference with us currently occupying the final play off spot down in 7th despite losing just once this month. 6 points separate 2nd placed New York Red Bulls and 10th place Philadelphia Union, so a good run of form, like the one we're currently on, could certainly see us move further up the league in no time, and with just over a month until the arrival of a certain Lionel Messi, hitting form now could certainly boost our morale ahead of his arrival, which we're all very excited about of course.

When David Beckham joined the LA Galaxy back in 2007, there was a clause inserted into that contract to allow Beckham to purchase an expansion team for $25m upon his retirement from the sport. After much deliberation, this clause became a reality with the inception of Inter Miami CF, or Club Internacional de Futbol Miami to give them their full title. Established fully in 2018, it was announced that the club would play their home games at the DRV PNK Stadium, built on the site of the former Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, FL. As you can see, the current home of the club is a little way outside of central Miami, therefore the club are in the process of building a new stadium in downtown Miami which will be called the Miami Freedom Park, which should be ready for the beginning of the 2025 MLS season. The new stadium will have a capacity of 25000. The club's first season in MLS was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, therefore it was a very stop start season which resulted in the club finishing 10th in the Eastern Conference table (made up of all clubs in the eastern USA), which in turn meant finishing 19th in the Supporter's Shield (the overall MLS table). The 10th place finish in the Eastern Conference did mean they had qualified for the MLS play-offs, a mini-tournament at the end of the season to find out who wins MLS overall. The format for the play-offs is pretty simple, there is a play-in round played by the lowest finishers in each of the conferences. We faced Nashville however were beaten soundly 3-0 therefore our participation in these play-offs were over. The eventual 2020 MLS Cup winners were Columbus Crew, who beat Seattle Sounders in the final 3-0. The 2021 season was much more traditional in terms of games played, however crowds were limited, again due to Covid-19. Inter Miami finished 11th in the Eastern Conference and 20th in the Supporter's Shield in their 2nd full season, therefore didn't qualify for the play-offs this time around. New York City FC won their first MLS Cup title in 2021. Due to my game beginning in April 2023, the results of the 2022 MLS season were available also. The club finished 8th in the Eastern Conference and 19th in the Supporter's Shield, therefore again missing out on the play-offs. The 2 players pictured above, French World Cup winning midfielder Blaise Matuidi and former Real Madrid, Napoli and Juventus forward Gonzalo Higuain both left the club during the 2022 season, therefore there will be a need for one or 2 big names to come into the club this season. Atlanta United were crowned MLS Cup winners in 2022. As mentioned previously, my game began in April 2023, therefore the club had played a few matches before my arrival. The side had won just 1 match before I arrived, which came against Minnesota in mid March at home. My first match in charge was away to Vancouver, which we won 2-0 thanks to goals from Robbie Robinson and Corentin Jean. My arrival seemed to coincide with an upturn in form and we've lost just once under my stewardship so far. We followed the first match with a draw at home to Dallas, Ulloa scoring a penalty for us, another win at home again to the newest franchise within the league, St. Louis City, beating them 3-0 as Pizarro, Robinson and Acosta all got on the score sheet. That was followed by our only defeat since my arrival, another home match, this time against the Houston Dynamo. Alejandro Pozuelo scored our goal in that one. Since then though we've been good and responded brilliantly with a 4-2 win over Columbus Crew, Jean with a hat-rick and Bryce Duke also getting one late on against them. We then drew 2-2 with LAFC, Jean got another 2 for us but a late Gareth Bale penalty rescued a point for the hosts. Again we responded to that disappointment well though by winning our next two, which in turn were our first back to back wins of the season. The first was against Chicago Fire by 3 goals to 1, CB Aime Mabika with a brace and Robinson with the other, which was then followed by our biggest win since my arrival against Charlotte FC as we beat them 5-2 with Mabika getting another one, captain Gregore also scoring while Robinson continued his good goal scoring form with a hat-rick. All of this means that despite arriving with the club down in 13th in the Eastern Conference, we now sit in 4th after 13 matches. We're also 9th in the Supporter's Shield too, so we're steadily rising up the table. However, the biggest piece of news is still yet to come. As mentioned before, after losing the likes of Matuidi and Higuain last season, there was room for a big name in our squad, and arguably, we have the biggest of them all joining in July. The great Lionel Messi is swapping Paris for Miami. He'll join on a Designated Player contract earning £165k per week, a drop in the ocean compared to the wages he was earning at both Barcelona and PSG, however he's made no secret of his desire to one day grace the MLS with his presence. As soon as I arrived and noticed the clause in his PSG contract to extend his deal by a year had not yet been activated, I pounced on his agent, discussed the possibility of signing him which ended positively, then approached the man himself and here we are. The greatest footballer to have ever played the game is joining Inter Miami CF. He's been back to his sparkling best with PSG this season scoring 18 goals in 44 appearances as well as registering 7 assists. However, his biggest achievement was completed earlier this season as he guided his beloved Argentina to the World Cup title back in December 2022 in Qatar. Despite only scoring 2 goals at that World Cup, his presence on the pitch inspired his team mates and it's pretty clear that, after this achievement, he'll go down as the best player of all time. Rather surprisingly he didn't announce his retirement on the international stage following the World Cup triumph, so we'll have to manage his minutes accordingly when he does arrive to ensure he doesn't burn out after no break until the end of this year for him.

December 26 The final month of the year brought about matches in 3 different competitions as we look to progress in 2 cups and get back to winnings ways in the league. However, none of those things happened. We had the Scottish Cup 3rd round replay against East Fife first up, which we were unlucky to lose 3-2 in after a spirited performance against the side in mid-table one division above us. We then lost 3-1 to Cowdenbeath in the league which was a very disappointing performance with them struggling towards the foot of the table. We were then knocked out of the Trust Trophy at home against Championship side Dundee who were incidentally the reigning champions of this trophy. Three more defeats followed, all of which came in the league, firstly at home to Stenhousemuir, then away to Peterhead, then on Boxing Day at home again to Spartans. This meant that despite a shocking run of form, we're still only in 6th place, dropping just one place from last month. Realistically, I don't think we're going to get into the top 4 now, we're already 15 points off the pace despite being just 2 places below them, it's highly unlikely, given our thin squad, we can put a run of form together and sustain it for long enough to make up that big of a gap. Stranger things have happened of course, I just can't see it with this team. Moving onto Morocco, the group stage for AFCON 27 has been drawn. We've been drawn in Group E alongside Algeria, Cape Verde and Gabon. I'm optimistic that we'll make it through the group, I don't see us running into too many problems so should make it to the knockout stages where it's a lottery after that.

Morocco Update There has been a lack of updates recently with Morocco as I've been concentrating on Stranraer, however we have had a few games since the World Cup. The first 2 of which were in September and both were in AFCON qualifying. We beat Sierra Leone 3-2 with goals coming from Maleh and a brace for En-Nesyri. That was followed by a 3-3 draw with Guinea-Bissau, a side we have struggled against in this group. Hakimi scored 2 in that draw with the other being scored by En-Nesyri again. October brought 2 friendlies against Malawi and Peru and both ended with 2-0 wins for us. Abde and Hakimi both got on the score sheet against Malawi, then Hakimi got his 4 goal in 3 caps by opening the scoring against Peru whilst Aboukhlal got the other. AFCON qualification was confirmed with a huge win in our penultimate group stage qualifier against Zambia as we thrashed them 6-2, En-Nesyri and Munir both registering a brace whilst Abde and Ziyech also wrapped up the scoring for us. This meant we could play a few fringe players against Sierra Leone in our final match before the tournament in the new year and they covered themselves in glory with another 4-2 win for us, Idrissi and En-Nesyri both scoring 2 again as we signed off for the tournament in great goal scoring form. The draw for AFCON 27 takes place in mid-December so I'll round that up in the December update.

One piece of news that caught my eye was this; The great Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has taken charge of east-coast club Grimsby Town in England. They're currently in League 1, England's third tier, so it's some fall from grace for World Cup winner Buffon, however his experience may well be huge for a club of their size.

November 26 I'm hoping we can continue the winning league form as we enter November to help propel us further up the table. However it didnt quite happen for us. We lost 2-0 at home against Forfar to begin the month but did respond well against Brora with a 1-0 win thanks to Blair Henderson getting on the score sheet again. Another defeat followed though, this time against Stenhousemuir 3-1. Danny Handling scored a 2nd minute free kick to give us the lead in that one but the home side came back and beat us convincingly in the end. We did get another point in our final league game of the month away to high-flying Stirling though, Jake Hastie scoring his first goal for us to equalise in the first half after we fell behind to give us a point. We ended the month with the Scottish Cup 3rd round tie and we earned ourselves a replay against East Fife which will be our first game of next month with the Cowdenbeath match being put back 3 days to accommodate the replay. Hastie and Henderson got our goals and we could have won it, a very tight offside on Henderson denied him a 2nd which would have been the winner and avoided the need for the replay but he was just off. Due to our stuttering league form, the top 4 have given themselves a big cushion over the rest of the league. We're in 5th, however already 9 points away from Stenhousemuir in 4th. It's going to be a tough ask to get back into the top 4 even at this early stage, however if we can start turning some of those draws into wins then perhaps things might change. We definitely need to put a consistent run together as our season is very stop-start in terms of picking up points so far.

October 26 With games coming thick and fast, we enter the spookiest of months with a point to prove. We are in stuttering form, we seemingly take a step forward then 2 back again. We began the month with back to back 1-0 defeats to Peterhead and Spartans, before a draw against FC Edinburgh, already the 3rd time we'd faced this this season with Dean Hawkshaw getting on the score sheet for us. Attention then turned to the Scottish Cup 2nd round where we faced East Stirlingshire at home and managed a 1-0 win against them, Handling with a late penalty putting us into the hat for round 3 where we will face East Fife of League 1 next month away from home. We then ended the month with a much needed victory against bottom of the table Elgin City. Hawkshaw and Handling got our goals as we beat them 2-1. The 4 points gained this month have seen us move up a place in the league to 6th, however an injury to striker Henderson has hampered his progress in challenging for the golden boot.

Ridiculous isn't it lol

September 26 As we began the season relatively solidly, I'm hoping to continue the decent form heading into September. The league form unfortunately didn't continue with consecutive 1-1 draws, firstly away to Brora then at home to Cowdenbeath with Blair Henderson scoring in both ties for us. We then got a goalless draw against Kelty Hearts of League 1 in the SPFL Trust Trophy and managed a 5-4 win on penalties to send us through to the 4th round where we'll face current holders Dundee in December. Those 2 draws in the league have seen us drop to 7th, however it's a very tight league with us only 2 points off top spot, so I'm still far from worried at this very early stage of the league season still. Also, Blair Henderson's goal scoring exploits put him top of the goal scoring charts by virtue of less game time compared to the others with 5 league goals. He's had a great start for us with 8 goals in 13 appearances up to now.

August 26 With our Premier Sports Cup exploits getting our season underway, it was time to concentrate on the league as we entered August. And we've had a decent, albeit slightly inconsistent start. We began with a win against FC Edinburgh again after beating them in the cup group stage, it ended 2-0 this time with Henderson and Hennem both scoring. Then came back to back defeats, firstly away to Elgin then at home to Stenhousemuir. We got back on the winning trail a week later at home to Stirling with Henderson bagging a brace including a 90th minute winner with Hennem getting the other again. We then entered the SPFL Trust Trophy in the 2nd round against Motherwell's Reserve side and beat them thanks to a penalty shoot out, Hennem again on target for us. Finally we ended the month with a 1-0 win over Forfar, Danny Handling scoring his first goal for the club too. This meant we ended the month in a play-off spot after picking up 9 points from 15. A solid start to the season for us has meant we are in the promotion race early on, which can only be a good thing, however I speak from experience that late season collapses can happen, however I hope this side can put to bed the ghost of Haverfordwest.