LEEMOD

Unfortunately it was not to be as we somewhat disappointingly bowed out to SC Cambuur 4-2 over two legs. I'll be back in pre-season once I have decided where I need to strengthen the squad and of course once I have seen what budgets we have to work with etc.

FEB - END OF SEASON Sorry for the lack of updates, I was just bashing through the games so I thought I would do a post after the season has finished. Here are the results and final league table. I have to say I am very impressed with how we managed to improve on last years 10th place finish, there's definite progress being made here and the players are responding well to what we're trying to do here. We now go into a playoff game against Cambuur for a European place!

JANUARY 2028 It's been such an hectic month here, first of all Paulinho eventually did sign a new 3 year deal, I bought his agents 15% share who I felt was a bad influence anyway and he agreed and two young players join the club, I did sign them both last season but they could only join now, here they are: I've also recently acquired a new parent club and my board managed to get Monaco! So we have signed these two on loan until the end of the season: In terms of results the defeat by Willem was so poor, we really need to find some consistency!

DECEMBER 2027 Going into the winter break we're looking in good shape, the loss at NAC Breda was unlucky we battered them but they stood firm and fair play to them I suppose. However, we then played superbly with back to back wins which now takes us to 6th place. In terms of contracts we have one huge worry which is Paulinho my star defender won't talk to me about a new deal, his agent came to me a few months ago asking for an improvement and like an idiot I said no because I thought he had a year left but he doesn't, it's 6 months, that error could cost me and we could lose him for free, and all this comes after we turned down £800k for him in January. I am however pleased to announce that Vinogradov & Yumerski have agreed new deals. Maznev will be allowed to leave, he can't get into the team now and his ability as probably reached it's heights and that height is probably lower level Eredivisie. Finally, I have given Canales every chance with opportunities but he has flopped and what a waste of money he has been, I have sent him to the reserves to run down his contract,

OCTOBER & NOVEMBER 2027 I was too angry to do an update at the end of October as my team was playing so poorly so I decided to power on into November and I am glad I did as, after a team meeting our results have really picked up including a resounding win away in the Amsterdam Arena, what a performance it was, not many teams will come here and rip them apart the way we did. We currently sit in 7th which is really good but I do have ambitions of breaking into that top 5 this season but only time will tell.

SEPTEMBER 2027 Last month I was saying we were still yet to play the big boys and look what has happened this month when we did, we concede 7 goals, not a great month and it has to be said that gap between where we're at and the top teams is pretty significant, Vitesse though hammered us, they cut through us at will and it was rather worrying to see.

AUGUST 2027 We have started fairly promising, I am still testing out various team selections but with 4 wins from 6 that is pretty satisfying but in terms of teams we have faced we have avoided the big boys so it was sort of expected. The loss against Graafschap though was poor. I am very impressed so far with Miranda & Lopes, we only picked them up by chance really due to our affiliation with Setubal in Portugal. In the window we rejected a £475k bid from Heerenveen for Paulinho, he is 23 and worth £800k now! He is central to our plans and going nowhere,

Thanks mate, hopefully yeah but the money coming into the club now is really helping, I think we're only a few years away from battling for European places!

Here are some of the players we brought in this season but before I show you this is what the media think: In order of who I think is most significant here are the new lads:

PRE-SEASON It's been a huge summer here at GVVV and the club have seen a lot of activity with transfers, improving facilities and even expanding our capacity so it definitely feels now like a club on the horizon of big things but I have to focus on the here and now, yes last season was excelent finishing 10th but we're going to have work just as hard as last year to maintain that or dare I say better it. Here are the transfers we made: Here is my squad sheet for the season, Vinogradov is now down the pecking order a bit but players above him are either almost retired or on loan so this year we'll see how he goes, we can either cash in on him or stlll use him but to make the leap to a top5 team which is my aim he may not quite have the quality we need but we'll see.

Here is my squad sheet now after some decisions have been made, the players in red mean either their loans are coming to an end or contract is expiring and they are going, those in green are the loans I have in but who have impressed me enough to be offered contracts: Canales played a 6.8 but I want to give him another year, we spent £425k on him and I really want him to come good so this year is make or break for him

SEASON REVIEW I decided to power through the remaining games and get to pre-season as I have a lot of work to do this summer with many players contracts coming to an end some big decisions need to be made but more of that later. First of all, let's look at the results, can you tell Vindogradov came back from injury for the last 3 games, he is such a big player for us and 3 in 3 is no mean feat, I can only dream of what our season may have been had he not been injured for most of it: We had some amazing results and we ended the season strongly which gives me hope for next year, overall I have to say it has been an amazing first season, we did look like we were heading south at times but we fought back and were not in any real danger all season of being relegated which, given our pre-season odds is pretty remarkable! Here is the final league table: At this point of the season I like to take a look at my squad depth sheet and then use this as a basis for my upcoming summer, here it is sorted in order and with their average rating:

FEBRUARY 2027 Once again we are blowing hot and cold and to give you an example, in our last game we battered 5th placed Groningen but somehow ended up losing 2-1. This month started so well, I mean we beat Feyenord 5-1 an amazing result but we fell back again and once again we're a few games away of being dragged in to the relegation scrap but hopefully it doesn't come to that.

Thanks mate, it's a tough league but I think we're safe now, just need some more depth next season, Canales though has been a flop it has to be said

JANUARY 2027 Last time I was concerned about our depth and in addition to that two loans had expired so immediately last month I knew what we needed, we needed a midfielder and a striker and I have managed to secure these two lads on loans until the end of the season. 35 years of age but just look at those mentals! It's mental! I am so pleased to announce that we seem to have turned it around and Ashirov has been at the heart of everything good, it goes to show you should never discard someone based on their age, he has been superb! To win at PSV who were top was outstanding, a team like ours should not be winning away at a club like PSV in front of 33,563 people, this hopefully should act as a catalyst for us in our coming fixtures: