Punch

OCT 2037 - Internationals We had up to 36 players on international duty over senior and youth level this month.

OCT 2037 - Match Day 8 - At Leicester City FC Match Report Table Up next...an International break where we have 36 players on duty, before we welcome last place Burnley to Anfield.

SEP 2037 Three wins, three losses this month, as we win only one of three League games, move through to the 4th Round of the League Cup, and take a win and a loss in the Champions League. The attack is still impressive, but the defence has slipped a little. Sitting 5th on the table. Internationals Plenty of Seniors representing their country early in the month. We currently have produced two England internationals. Stats Goalkeepers Hodgson still doing Hodgson things, racked up his 250th League appearance for the club this month. Jensen made his season debut in the League Cup, and performed well. Defence The defence has been a bit off this month, and we are still missing Kearney through injury, and we have needed some rotation already. Midfield Millington is still leading us through the midfield, although we did miss him in the last Champions League game, with a minor training injury. Adams and Hoey have been sharing time. Forwards Gowdy has been brilliant, racking up 8 goals and 3 assists in 11 games. He is being repeatedly linked to Man City, but luckily he doesn't seem too concerned about leaving. The rest of the forward rotation is working well, with plenty of great performances, and rotation as well. We had another player poached, although with only silver ratings, I don't think he would have rated highly here. We are still managing to turn a monthly profit, even with our higher wage bill. This is a record we won't be able to break even at The Isle, as it's max expansion capacity is slightly less than 38k. Four League games, a Champions League match, and League Cup 4th Round coming up.

SEP 2037 - Group Stage Match 2 - At SS Lazio Match Report Table Up next...back to League action on a short turn around as we travel to 16th place Leicester.

SEP 2037 - Match Day 7 - At Southampton FC Match Report Table Up next...Champions League action as we are off to Rome to take on Lazio in the 2nd match of the Group Stage.

SEP 2037 - League Cup 3rd Round - At Preston North End FC Match Report Round 4 Draw Up next...back to League action as we travel to Southampton.

SEP 2037 - Match Day 6 - Vs Tottenham Hotspur Match Report Table Up next...our League Cup campaign kicks off away to Preston. I will be playing a fully rotated squad for this one.

SEP 2037 - Group Stage Match 1 - Vs AS Monaco FC Match Report Table Up next...back to League action as we welcome Tottenham to Anfield.

Be interesting to see how we go there. We were terrible at DW Stadium a few years ago, and then were unbeaten back at The Isle last season. Hopefully we go better at Anfield than DW. City were challenging for the title last year, then fell over in the last two months.

SEP 2037 - Match Day 5 - Vs Manchester City Match Report Table Up next...our debut in the Champions League as we welcome AS Monaco to Anfield.

AUG 2037 We started the month with a loss in the Community Shield, but we remained undefeated in the rest of the month. A happy Analyst, solid defence, and the best attack. Harden has been on fire to start the season, being named Young Player of the Month. We are top of the tree in a 4 way tie. Stats Goalkeeper Hodgson has been brilliant to start the season, although not many clean sheets yet. Jensen will get his chances later in the season. Defence The defence has started well, although we will be without Kearney for a few months. Midfield Millington has been on fire to start the season, while the rest have been rotated as needed. Forwards An hugely impressive start to the season by the attacking unit, although Heys on the left has started slowly. Our Under 23's will again take part in the Pizza Cup, although it will be interesting to see how they perform without a lot of the players from the last few seasons who have been sent out on loan. Transfers Speaking of, I sent a mass of players out on loan who had not been making it to the first team, so they can get more first team experience, to see if they can either push for our first team, or make an impression and be sold on. Southend making use of our partnership taking their full contingent of 4 players. A good month financially. We sold a massive amount of season tickets, but I guess loaning a 50k seat stadium helps. I finally got the Board to agree to the Training and Youth Facility upgrades, to coincide with our upgraded stadium. We broke our record home attendance in our only home game, although not at our stadium, and the record we broke was from our season at DW Stadium the last time we were upgrading The Isle. We have risen up the tree slightly in the Income table. We nearly tripled our wage spend, and it's still below half of our budget, yet we are dead last still. £2 million below the average, and over £5 million below Man U. Three League games, the League Cup, and we make our debut in the Champions League.

AUG 2037 - Match Day 4 - At Sheffield United FC Match Report Table Up next...an international break before we face Man City at Anfield.

AUG 2037 - Champions League Draw The press have called it a tough group. The draw will send us to Italy, Monaco, and Holland. A nice boost to the finances just for making it the Group Stage. That money nearly covers our entire stadium expansion cost.

AUG 2037 - League Cup 3rd Round Draw The 3rd Round draw send us to Preston North End. I think I will be using the kids in this Cup this season, after winning it last season, it's a lower priority going forward. We have a decent record against them, although its been some time since we met.

It's been a great pre-season and a good start, but a long way to go, and we are going to have a lot of games to play again this year, so it will be interesting to see how the rotation and management of fatigue/injuries.

AUG 2037 - Match Day 3 - At Liverpool FC Match Report Table Up next...we travel to Bramall Lane to take on newly promoted Sheffield United.

Good start, the next match will be a big test though.

AUG 2037 - Match Day 2 - Vs Wolverhampton Wanderers Match Report Table Up next...we are the away team at our temporary home ground as we take on 3rd place Liverpool.

AUG 2037 - European Super Cup - Vs Paris Saint-Germain Match Report Up next...Not much time to celebrate as we are straight back to League action as we welcome Wolves to our temporary home at Anfield.

AUG 2037 - Match Day 1 - At West Ham United Match Report Table Up next...we are off to Sweden to take on PSG in the European Super Cup.

AUG 2037 - Community Shield - Vs Manchester United Match Report Up next...the season proper kicks off as we travel to London to take on West Ham.

JUL 2037 A good pre-season with plenty of hit outs to get some running in plenty of legs. A new contract was offered an accepted, looks like I am a Raven for another 5 years. Another solid month financially. We sent Pearce on his way, he had struggled to get any first team time so we let him go for more first team action. We have plenty of room in the budgets, but we are now spending massively more on wages then we had been previously. I spent a lot of time in the off season upgrading contracts, to reflect the players performances over the last few years. I also made the decision to start loaning out players who were not quite good enough for first team, as the 23's squad was getting bloated. We have sent plenty of players out to see if they can get more first team play. Our new partner, Southend, have taken the chance to grab a few players as well. We have moved up the ranks of match day and ticket revenue. Will be interesting to see how the upgraded stadium changes this next season. Time to get the season underway. We kick off against Man U in the Community Shield, before the League season starts away to West Ham, then take on the Champions League winners, PSG, in the Euro Super Cup.

JUN 2037 There has been a lot going on during the off season... Situation normal, as the Chairman wins re-election and keeps his seat for another three years. We broke our attendance record at The Isle this season. Will be interesting to see how playing in the 50+k seat Anfield will effect us next season. We now have a European ranking, coming in at 67th place. Internationals Two new Senior Internationals as Dave Keogh and Obinna Tamara collect their first caps. I hadn't had an interview for a while, but Chelsea tried for the second time... ...but then declined me for the second time This was my 50th interview offer. A loss...and player wages are through the roof. I will cover that later, but we are spending a lot more on wages this season. Massive money still. Brighton and both Sheffield team will join us in the Premier League this season. West Ham away to start the season, before debuting in our temporary 'home' of Anfield against Wolves. We will then be the away side at the same ground to take on Liverpool The highest the Bookies have ever put us, and still middle of the pack. We've formed a partnership with Southend, which is the first one we have had. I have made the decision to go back to sending players who are not playing out on loan this season, so will be interesting to see if they take any up. Our win in the Europa League means we get a trip to Sweden to take on PSG in the Super Cup. While our FA Cup win sends us to Wembley to start the season against League winners Man U, in the Community Shield. Friendly season. We kick of with a friendly at Anfield against City of Liverpool, before a training camp in New York, and then a few more games to get used to our temporary home ground, before the season kicks off.

2036-2037 Season Review - Attributes That favourite time of year where we get to see how players have developed, or not, over the course of the season. Goalkeepers Hodgson has reached potential, but is still head and shoulders above the rest of the squad, and the League. Jensen continues to be a reliable back up. Dan Kearns is an exciting prospect. Andy Cusato is a very exciting future prospect, with a higher PA than Hodgson, and an IoM native to boot. It's a juicy proposition the day he starts to challenge our current number one. Defence Center Dave Keogh is still the best Central Defender, but there are plenty of capable options when rotation is required. The highly rated Neil Forrest has come along massively this season, and may be pushing for game time next season. Right Kearney the clear number one, with the ever improving Kazalac a huge improvement, and capable back up. Left Smith the number one, with Reid slowly improving. Crosby has had a massive improvement, and may be pushing for game time soon. Midfield Ball Winning Midfielders Adams is still number one, but plenty of the AP's can also play here, so there is going to be plenty of competition next season. Advanced Play Makers So many options in this area, while Millington is still number one, and a lot of these guys can play BWM as well, so plenty of options available when rotation required. Attacking Right While Challinor is the number one, Aled Harden made this spot his own this season. Attacking Left Plenty of options available, plenty of game time shared around as rotation requires. Forwards Lewis Hoey has had a huge improvement, but will spend most of his time in midfield, while Harden plays on the Right. Gowdy and Wright continue to be the most lethal combination in the League. Gakou has stalled, and can't seem to find his way in the first team, so I have decided to give him a season out on loan to see if he can get it together. Best XI A lot of blue, and our average has snuck over the 80 point mark. We have a lot of options available all over the park, and a lot of players who are more than capable in multiple positions. Next season is looking good, while the future is still looking bright.

2036-2037 Season Review - Stats We played a whopping 64 competitive matches this season, not including pre-season friendlies, and a number of players also had internationals thrown in as well, it made for a monster season. Goalkeepers Hodgson raked up his 300th appearance for the club in the Europa final, and he is still only 23. His performances this season were brilliant, leading him to be named the best Footballer in England. Jensen would probably be good enough to be the starter at most other clubs, but seems happy to be the deputy for now, and is a very handy one at that. A hat-trick in the Europa Final lead to his best return of 11 goals in a season, and took him to 30 career goals. Defence All the defenders put in great performances whenever they were called on. With so many games, there was a lot of rotation required. Midfield Plenty of rotation in the center of midfield as well, particularly impressed with the performances of Lewis Hoey, who has at times kept Archie Adams out of the team. Forwards Gary Gowdy - 52 goal involvements Incredible performance this season. Six players here made double figures in goals, plus Hodgson makes seven all up. Again, a massive amount of rotation required, and a lot of impressive players putting up great numbers whenever they were called on. Aled Harden broke the key passes record which had stood since our very first season, and came within one of the assists record from the same season. No goals for Williams this season, but he has climbed to within 4 games of Jordan Jack's all time appearances record. Up next...Attribute Reviews.