[FM13] Turning the Roman Empire into Més que un Club

[shnen]

going well!

on a more naggy note, could you include the positions in the screenshots of your new signings please?

[Bracken]

going well!

on a more naggy note, could you include the positions in the screenshots of your new signings please?

Yeah sure no problem, I'll include it somewhere, I like keeping the screenshots small if I can so maybe I'll just type it by the names or something.

[Bracken]

December 2013

Fixtures - Pre-United Match

A very mixed month for us. The Fulham game was just awful, a shockingly poor performance, the Newcastle game was better but still not good enough. We ground out a couple of 1-0 wins over Arsenal, Southampton and Burnley (the last by the skin of our teeth) but our form and performances just were not good enough throughout. The Napoli game was the one pleasing result, 1-0 down at half-time and facing elimination from the Champions League, we fought back really well and scored some good goals. However, the other performances were dyer. The goals had just dried up all round, even though Lukaku was still playing well, and Hazard was really off-form. His morale had plummeted to Poor and he hadn't scored in quite some time.

Safe to say, I wasn't looking forward to playing Manchester United. Luckily we were at home, but they were unbeaten in 8 games, 7 of which were wins, and were really starting to head back up the table. So, the last match of the month was upon us, and it was a big one.

The Formations

So this was my team and the United team I faced. They looked pretty strong, Rooney and Van Persie were on great form, and Vidic had been a rock lately. The only weak link seemed to be Valencia at right-back up against Hazard, but with his disappointing form lately, I didn't expect much. I certainly didn't expect this...

The United Result

That's right, 7-0 even Mikel scored. It was the best team performance I've ever had on FM. We just cut them to pieces, Hazard was superb with 1 goal and 3 assists, they just had no answer to us. They had a couple of long shots but never threatened, while we cut them to ribbons and scored some incredible goals. Every player in my midfield and attack grabbed a goal, which I don't think has ever happened to me before and certainly never against someone like Man United. The goals were crackers, especially Oscar's, which should really win goal of the season.

Here are the goals for those who want to revel in the destruction of Fergie's boys

What a win.

The League Table

Those poor results this month gave City a real opportunity to close the gap, but luckily they stumbled too, and only closed the gap by one point, leaving us still four points clear. They should be level with us right now, we're lucky they dropped points too. It's definitely a two-horse race now, with Arsenal well back in third, so it's going to be tight between us and City but I back us to hold on. The relegation scrap looks to be a great one, with everyone from 15th and below well into the battle. Going to be interesting to see how that one shakes out.

Champions League Group H

So we finished top by a comfortable margin in the end. However, we didn't play brilliantly through the group and we got lucky on a couple of occasions. We face Bayer Leverkusen in our first knockout round, should be a tough tie but on paper we should get through, as long as we don't get too many injuries.

Other Business

Couple of other things going on, the main one being that Ashley Cole has asked to leave, he wants a new challenge. I don't want to let Ash go as he's an Icon at the club and I was hoping he'd get to retire he. We had a conversation in which I told him we could meet his ambitions by winning the title this year. So it puts a little more pressure on us to win it, but I'm confident we can and we can keep hold of him. His contract is up, along with Frank and John Terry at the end of the season, but all three will get renewals in the latter part of the season once their demands have dropped a little, as I need to bring this wage bill down if at all possible.

Oscar and Azpilicueta have both asked for improved deals, and while neither are on massive wages, they're both on long-term deals and so neither will be renewed yet. Luckily, they're both professional players and so both understood when I told them they still had a while to run, and that's caused no problems so far.

Finally, we've got a new coach, welcoming back a retired hero. Say hello again, to Carlo Cudicini:

Great to have him back. His attributes are fairly solid too, so if I can get him sent on a few coaching courses he could be great. There are a few other players I've got on my shortlist for when they retire, even though they all have pretty poor attributes, they'll get a chance here with the U18's if they want one.

Next Up

Mid-season review time! Just a few things to write about, so I'll be back with that soon enough, soon as I'm done revelling in the United win

[iHeadHunta x]

That is a disastrous rsult against Fulham but fantastic against the Mancs

[Bracken]

That is a disastrous rsult against Fulham but fantastic against the Mancs

Yeah really disappointed with the Fulham game, we were just 1-0 down until the last ten minutes when we pushed for the equaliser and they just picked us off on the counter. Still, made up for it with the United game

[Bracken]

Mid-Season Update 2013/14

Performances

A bit of a mixed bag, we've had some fantastic games (obviously the recent United win sticks out) and some stinkers (Fulham, Newcastle, Marseille), but overall I'm pretty pleased. The defending has certainly been the weakest area, which is quite a change from last season where we were really strong there and weaker up front. I still think this weakness is more down to the personnel than the tactics, because when we play a full first team we keep a lot of clean sheets, but if just one player is rested, we seem to struggle to keep the opposition out. We still limit the number of chances they get very well, but they seem to be better quality chances that are created when we don't have our first choice back 5. Ashley Cole has been a pretty big culprit, he hasn't played well this season, and with him asking for a new challenge and his contract being up at the end of the season, I've definitely got something to think about there.

The attacking performances have been much better, particularly up front, where we find this lad:

Romelu Lukaku - ST

Kid's having a monster season, I focussed heavily on his finishing all year and he's improved from 13 to 15 which is much more in line with what I want to see. His physicality makes him such a handful for any defender, and if he keeps improving (currently only 3 stars of a 5 star PA!) he's going to become unbeatable. He's already had a nice little honour:

He also made it into the World Team of the Year as the only Striker JT made it in at centre back too. My only reservation about Lukaku is I'd like to see him get a couple more assists, but I can't really complain, he's been superb. Eden Hazard is another who's having a great year, he was off form for a little while but I'm hoping he'll hit another purple patch after that United win. John Terry and David Luiz are a fantastic centre back partnership, and Mikel has excelled since I'd slightly tweaked his instructions in midfield. Overall, very pleased with the attacking play and the first choice defence, with just a few improvements needed among the defensive performances by the backup players.

Style

Similarly to the performances, when our first team plays I'm delighted by the style. We stay solid at the back, making some heroic tackles and blocks, and build slowly into the midfield, before attacking with real pace down the flanks and power through the middle. The transitions between defence and midfield and between midfield and attack are very pleasing to watch, as the tempo increases as we move further forward and find the spaces and holes in behind their midfield and defence. The only concern, as before, is with our second string players at the back, who just haven't been as solid as I'd like. This is mainly Ashley Cole (who's declining rapidly), Jeffrey Bruma (not enough work rate, gets lazy and makes mistakes) and Todd Kane (who's just not up to it right now, but I'll give him time) but if we can work on these then we've got a good chance of improving.

The Tactics

I now have two, very effective tactics. The Counter-Attacking style which I've posted before and hasn't changed has proven very useful against the bigger teams away from home, while my Control tactic helps us really dominate teams at the Bridge. Here is the control tactic for those who are interested.

Formation

The same 4-2-3-1 I've used throughout, but the roles change between the different tactics.

Team Instructions

Fast tempo means we attack with pace after building out the back, while the width allows us to use the full range of the pitch and stretch the opposition. The back-line stays quite deep to protect against counter-attacks and to cover for the lack of pace that JT and Cahill have.

Individual Instructions

Goalkeeper

Full Backs

Right-Centre Back

Left-Centre Back

Right-Centre Midfield

Left-Centre Midfield

Right Winger

Attacking Midfielder

Left Winger

Striker

So that's how we line up, I'm pleased with the results we're getting so far and can't see any tweaks coming to it shortly unless we undergo a seriously bad run of form.

Development

We've had some good improvements among the first-team youngsters. Luke Shaw (Left Back) has really improved since he's been tutored by Ryan Bertrand. Now with a Professional personality and 16 Determination, he's really ready to step up to more first team football, and he's played very well in the games he's had so far this season. Him and Bertand should have my left-hand side locked down for years to come.

Another who's coming along well is Nathaniel Chalobah (Central Midfield/Centre Back). He's been tutored by JT and now also has a Professional personality and 20 Determination, which is excellent. He seems to have luckily not picked up any of JT's more annoying personality traits, such as his controversy, which is fantastic. I'm undecided whether to lose a couple of points of his Determination to get him a Model Professional personality by being tutored by Lampard, I'm leaning that way right now as he'd be a great tutor in the future then. All thoughts on that are welcome. I'm glad I moved him to central midfield as he's been a revelation there, and will certainly be first choice in a couple of years.

Chalobah's midfield partner in crime is Josh McEacrhan (Central Midfield), and while his development has been as impressive as Chalobah, his performances have been every bit as good. He's my ready-made Lampard replacement, I'm hoping his attributes will improve but I've never had that much luck getting Josh to reach his PA before. Maybe that'll be different this time, even if not, he's playing well enough as it is.

Scott Devonshire (Centre Back/Right Back) is coming along nicely in the Under 18's. He's been their best player so far with the highest average rating, and has captained the side regularly. He's been tutored by David Luiz, which has sadly resulted in an Ambitious personality, which isn't what I want. Hopefully tutoring by John Terry in the second half of the season will improve his professionalism a little and make him into a great future captain. Nothing much else to report on in the U18's so far, everyone is coming along fairly well but there haven't been any standouts. I'll probably post a few more of the regens in the end of the season update rather than now.

The young players have also been playing well as a team. While they only finished 4th in their reserves group (won by a Man City team that now includes Fernando Torres, wasn't the best move for him it seems ), they did this in the Under 18's League:

Great stuff from the youngsters, hope they can replicate that at first team level some day

Next Up

I've got a little transfer dilemma I need you guys' help with, it's a pickle really. Will post that shortly, followed by a January update probably this evening.

[forameuss]

Wonderful topic, really is. When it's stacked up against stories that just follow a manager around the world with little deviation (although they're great in themselves) there really is no comparison. Keep it up.

How are you finding Islam Feruz? In real life he seems like an absolute tool to be honest - think his move to Chelsea gave him a bit of an ego.

[Bracken]

Wonderful topic, really is. When it's stacked up against stories that just follow a manager around the world with little deviation (although they're great in themselves) there really is no comparison. Keep it up.

How are you finding Islam Feruz? In real life he seems like an absolute tool to be honest - think his move to Chelsea gave him a bit of an ego.

Thanks a lot mate, really means a lot that other people are enjoying this.

So far he's been fine, haven't had any problems with his attitude, though from what I've heard he does have issues with it IRL. He's performing pretty well, he's currently out on loan at Coventry and has an ok return of 6 goals in 27 games. He's been playing a fair few times for them from the AML position rather than up front, which may well be where he ends up for me. He doesn't have the physical presence that I want from my strikers, but he could play well coming in off the left side onto his right foot.

I have actually just noticed that he has "Feels to good to be loaned out" in his information, so maybe his ego is starting to become a problem. I'm hoping he can become a top player for me, but we'll have to see, especially if he's got attitude problems, that could lead to trouble down the line.

[DBurns]

Fantastic updates as usual mate especially the result against Man United!

Great development with Shaw and Chalobah in particular!

Keep it going!

[Bracken]

Fantastic updates as usual mate especially the result against Man United!

Great development with Shaw and Chalobah in particular!

Keep it going!

Cheers mate, got a little problem coming up that I'd appreciate your advice with

[Bracken]

Transfer Dilemma

So I've got this young lad in my youth team who looks pretty solid for the Ball-Winning Midfielder position as a future competitor to Chalobah:

He's prgoressing fairly well, and already has a Model Professional personality, which is great. However, my scouts have just spotted this lad:

He looks fantastic, he has a Professional personality, which also fits in really well, and nice high determination already. His pace is a little poor but that could be improved with training. Currently, Huddersfield want a massive fee, around £20m which I'm not going to pay.

But the question is, if I can get them down to a more reasonable fee, preferably under £10m, would you say he's worth going for, knowing I already have the young Scottish lad coming up? They both have very different strengths, and I already have Chalobah who will certainly be first choice in a few years, so my question is should I go for him, or just stick with what I have? He's a really tempting option to have, but I just don't know if I really need him. The other option, is to get him and use him in both central midfield roles, as backups to McEachran/Lewis Baker at DLP and Cholabah/Hendry at BWM.

So guys, any thoughts?

[forameuss]

Thanks a lot mate, really means a lot that other people are enjoying this.

So far he's been fine, haven't had any problems with his attitude, though from what I've heard he does have issues with it IRL. He's performing pretty well, he's currently out on loan at Coventry and has an ok return of 6 goals in 27 games. He's been playing a fair few times for them from the AML position rather than up front, which may well be where he ends up for me. He doesn't have the physical presence that I want from my strikers, but he could play well coming in off the left side onto his right foot.

I have actually just noticed that he has "Feels to good to be loaned out" in his information, so maybe his ego is starting to become a problem. I'm hoping he can become a top player for me, but we'll have to see, especially if he's got attitude problems, that could lead to trouble down the line.

Looks like FM has got it right then. He's reported to have the potential to be truly great, but whether he reaches it...not sure. I, along with plenty of other Scotland fans I'm sure, hope he does!

ETA; for your dilemma, I would sign the youngster. Does look very, very good.

[DBurns]

Cheers mate, got a little problem coming up that I'd appreciate your advice with

Two completely different players but Hendry's concentration is very poor which would put me off him but a good player apart from that whereas Ashton has poor pace as you say and is a better passer. Would Ashton be a better option at DLP as opposed to Baker?

[Bracken]

Looks like FM has got it right then. He's reported to have the potential to be truly great, but whether he reaches it...not sure. I, along with plenty of other Scotland fans I'm sure, hope he does!

ETA; for your dilemma, I would sign the youngster. Does look very, very good.

Cheers mate, I'm leaning that way right now

Two completely different players but Hendry's concentration is very poor which would put me off him but a good player apart from that whereas Ashton has poor pace as you say and is a better passer. Would Ashton be a better option at DLP as opposed to Baker?

Hendry's concentration does worry me, I'm hoping it improves with his training and tutoring but we'll see. He certainly could be used there, it may be that Baker will get a few years there before he moves on and Ashton takes his place. Think I'm going to have to go for him, he's just such a good prospect. Now I just need to get their asking price to a reasonable level.

[legacalciofan]

Hello Bracken, very nice updates on your save I have a question did you edit the database to be able to offer Lampard a new contract or just used the current SI update cheers..

[Bracken]

Hello Bracken, very nice updates on your save I have a question did you edit the database to be able to offer Lampard a new contract or just used the current SI update cheers..

No I didn't edit it, he accepted a new deal I offered at pretty much the start of the first season, is he not accepting one on your save?

[legacalciofan]

I have not offered him one yet as I just started my Chelsea save and wanted to keep him so that is good news then so I will offer him one and see if he accepts, as I was going to wait until Dec. Jan. to offer him a new contract due to he listed as leaving on a free but following your career save and he accepted your offer at the start of the first season is good news.

[Bracken]

I have not offered him one yet as I just started my Chelsea save and wanted to keep him so that is good news then so I will offer him one and see if he accepts, as I was going to wait until Dec. Jan. to offer him a new contract due to he listed as leaving on a free but following your career save and he accepted your offer at the start of the first season is good news.

Huh, he wasn't listed as leaving on a free on mine so that's interesting. I considered waiting until later to see if his demands dropped, but that seemed a little inconsistent with the message I wanted to send to my squad at the start of my reign. Hope he accepts a new deal on your save, let me know, I'd be interested to see why he's listed as leaving on yours when he wasn't on mine

[smgers]

Love reading this Bracken - hopefully when our new manager is appointed next season Roman will give him the time to develop the club like this!

I've just started my Chelsea save and am having a clearout of the coaching staff - getting rid of staff I don't think will cut it and also ensuring that all my staff have full time contracts. There was quite a few on part time and rolling contracts but I prefer my staff to be on full time.

Bought back Ray Wilkins to the club as coach - always liked him when he was at the club and still no idea why we got rid. Also promoted Tore Andre Flo to U18 manager and bought in Michael Ballack as his assistant. Although their stats aren't anything fantastic they do have good stats for 'working with youngsters' and I'm kind of hoping that being managed by two legends will have a good effect on them.

The one area I'm struggling for is getting in a new assistant as let Zenden go. His stats weren't bad but he would never be my choice as AM. Have had a quick look through various staff and also advertised it to see who pops up but no one is really catching my eye. Toyed witht the idea of Wilkins coming back as AM but instead opted for giving him a coaching position.

[DBurns]

Love reading this Bracken - hopefully when our new manager is appointed next season Roman will give him the time to develop the club like this!

I've just started my Chelsea save and am having a clearout of the coaching staff - getting rid of staff I don't think will cut it and also ensuring that all my staff have full time contracts. There was quite a few on part time and rolling contracts but I prefer my staff to be on full time.

Bought back Ray Wilkins to the club as coach - always liked him when he was at the club and still no idea why we got rid. Also promoted Tore Andre Flo to U18 manager and bought in Michael Ballack as his assistant. Although their stats aren't anything fantastic they do have good stats for 'working with youngsters' and I'm kind of hoping that being managed by two legends will have a good effect on them.

The one area I'm struggling for is getting in a new assistant as let Zenden go. His stats weren't bad but he would never be my choice as AM. Have had a quick look through various staff and also advertised it to see who pops up but no one is really catching my eye. Toyed witht the idea of Wilkins coming back as AM but instead opted for giving him a coaching position.

For your assistant manager:

[legacalciofan]

Huh, he wasn't listed as leaving on a free on mine so that's interesting. I considered waiting until later to see if his demands dropped, but that seemed a little inconsistent with the message I wanted to send to my squad at the start of my reign. Hope he accepts a new deal on your save, let me know, I'd be interested to see why he's listed as leaving on yours when he wasn't on mine

your are right I had started a save with a transfer update that was not SI official update so I started a new save and I was able to offer a new contract to Lampard

[Bracken]

Love reading this Bracken - hopefully when our new manager is appointed next season Roman will give him the time to develop the club like this!

I've just started my Chelsea save and am having a clearout of the coaching staff - getting rid of staff I don't think will cut it and also ensuring that all my staff have full time contracts. There was quite a few on part time and rolling contracts but I prefer my staff to be on full time.

Bought back Ray Wilkins to the club as coach - always liked him when he was at the club and still no idea why we got rid. Also promoted Tore Andre Flo to U18 manager and bought in Michael Ballack as his assistant. Although their stats aren't anything fantastic they do have good stats for 'working with youngsters' and I'm kind of hoping that being managed by two legends will have a good effect on them.

The one area I'm struggling for is getting in a new assistant as let Zenden go. His stats weren't bad but he would never be my choice as AM. Have had a quick look through various staff and also advertised it to see who pops up but no one is really catching my eye. Toyed witht the idea of Wilkins coming back as AM but instead opted for giving him a coaching position.

Good stuff mate, I brought in Ballack too, and kept on Flo but they're just coaches, I'm hoping once they improve they can be promoted within the club. I have Steve Holland as my assistant, his stats aren't great but he has the right personality and he's been there for a long time so I felt he deserved a crack at it. He's been very good so far.

your are right I had started a save with a transfer update that was not SI official update so I started a new save and I was able to offer a new contract to Lampard

Ah good, hope he continues to play well for you

[DBurns]

Just re-reading over this as my own Chelsea save is progressing towards the start of the season and noticed that in your squad lists for the second season there is no sign of Wallace, the RB? Is he away out on loan or what and how's he progressing?

The reason I ask is I'm playing a formation with wing backs so Ivanovic and Ferreira aren't quite good enough on the ball so I want to know if its worth signing anyone to challenge Azpi or whether Wallace is good enough?

[Bracken]

Just re-reading over this as my own Chelsea save is progressing towards the start of the season and noticed that in your squad lists for the second season there is no sign of Wallace, the RB? Is he away out on loan or what and how's he progressing?

The reason I ask is I'm playing a formation with wing backs so Ivanovic and Ferreira aren't quite good enough on the ball so I want to know if its worth signing anyone to challenge Azpi or whether Wallace is good enough?

Wallace is out on loan for me as I really wanted to give Todd Kane a chance. Sadly, he's fractured his skull and has been out for a while, which has really taken a hit on his development. I'm hoping he'll be able to pull it back, but it'll take some time. I'll post a screenshot of him at the end of the season for you once he's recovered and had some game time.

[Bracken]

January 2014

Fixtures

A decent if unspectacular month, we had to come from 1-0 down three times, winning two and disappointingly drawing the final game with Tottenham. Still, an unbeaten month to follow on from our United win which is great. The second string players did really well in the Capitol One Cup Semi-Final against Sunderland, completely dominating both legs and securing a place in the final.

The League Table

An 8 point gap at the top is very pleasing at this stage of the season. We're still conceding too many goals, now only having the second best defensive record in the league which I'm not so happy about, but we're scoring regularly enough that it hasn't been a big issue. It's all still very close down at the bottom, with 5 teams really in the relegation scrap and the two above them could easily still be drawn into it. Going to be a very close one at the end of the season.

Transfers

Just the one player coming in, the young midfielder I posted earlier. Here he is as a Chelsea player:

I had to spend £13.25m to get my man, so I'm really hoping he proves worth it. My reasoning behind spending the cash now is two-fold. Firstly, he's just turning 18 so if I want him to gain home-grown status at the club then I needed him now. Secondly, Huddersfield are looking good for promotion to the Premier League this season, meaning their financial situation would dramatically improve and they'd have no need to sell him. I felt it was better to take this hit now, than to wait and have to pay more in the summer. Hopefully he'll prove a good investment in the long term.

Next Month

The Capitol One Cup Final against Machester City at Wembley is the biggest game of the month, with the first knockout round of the Champions League against Bayer Leverkusen coming up too. The League games look decent, the toughest being away at Stoke and West Brom. Tutoring is also about to restart, so that'll take up a little time to completely sort out as well. I'll update you guys later on how we get on in February.

[EvilDave]

Just checking in to echo the praise of others, this is a fantastic thread even for someone who is by no means a Chelsea fan! A big club thread would normally struggle to remain interesting, but the way you play the game makes it very clear how you're working towards your goals, and it's great reading.

Now that I've reached a point in my own career where I'm likely to stay at a club for a while (CSKA), I've started to apply some of the principles from your game with some of the late SFraser's theories on youth development and squad management. Although the effectiveness of tutoring seems quite random (any tips on avoiding clashes/gained little?), the idea makes for a more immersive game that I'm really enjoying. Keep up the good work, even if it does have to be with Chelsea

[Bracken]

Just checking in to echo the praise of others, this is a fantastic thread even for someone who is by no means a Chelsea fan! A big club thread would normally struggle to remain interesting, but the way you play the game makes it very clear how you're working towards your goals, and it's great reading.

Cheers mate

Now that I've reached a point in my own career where I'm likely to stay at a club for a while (CSKA), I've started to apply some of the principles from your game with some of the late SFrader's theories on youth development and squad management. Although the effectiveness of tutoring seems quite random (any tips on avoiding clashes/gained little?), the idea makes for a more immersive game that I'm really enjoying. Keep up the good work, even if it does have to be with Chelsea

Good luck with your save, hope it goes well in Russia. Tutoring is a tricky business, and it requires more than a little bit of luck. The best advice I can give is to take it slow, it's a long process that often requires more than two different tutors for each player. Pick tutors who have a similar (though slightly better) personality than the tutee. For example, if you've got a player who is very unprofessional, your model professional tutor may not be the best first option. Start with someone with a slightly lower level of professionalism, something like Fairly Professional or Balanced, then once this has increased the tutee's professionalism, you can hit them with your best tutor. It might take a while, but you're less likely to to have bad reactions.

Also, I wouldn't worry about having players saying they gained a little, I've had some great progress with players who don't think they've gained much. In these cases, it'll usually be a change in personality rather than Determination that's occurred through the tutoring, so even if the players may not know it, you may have already achieved your goals. Hope that helps a bit mate.

[Bracken]

February 2014

Fixtures

We've been stuttering along a bit for a while now. We're grinding out results at the moment, our fluid free-scoring football of earlier in the season has deserted us for some reason at the moment. Still, they say the sign of Champions is when you can get results without playing well, and really that's exactly what I'd be hoping for from my team. It's almost exactly what I've been building towards, a squad that are capable of dealing with anything and pulling out a win. It was a least nice to get revenge on Fulham for their win over us earlier in the season.

The Leverkusen game was a good example of the performances of the team this month, Leverkusen bossed possession and had a few chances, but we mainly limited them to long shots and just grabbed 3 goals on the break. Juan Mata has been on a great run of goalscoring this month which is great, as he hadn't bagged too many earlier in the season. Lukaku grabbed a few more, but he hasn't been scoring over a goal a game as he was before. After the Leverkusen game, we had another big match, our first (but hopefully not last) cup final of the season

Capital One Cup Final

Those stats hide what really happened in the game to be honest, as while they had more shots and more possession, they had one one clear cut chance, and most of their efforts were from long range. Courtois pulled off a spectacular save to keep us level right on half time, and while we had a couple of chances we just couldn't break them down in the second half. I had played my second string players throughout the competition, and I stuck with them into the final, but I put a few first-teamers on the bench in case we needed them. It turned out we did. I brought Lukaku off the bench around 75 minutes, and into extra time he grabbed the winner, capitalising on a mistake from Clichy, stealing the ball and powering it into the back of the net to give us our first domestic Cup win under my management. I'm really pleased we won this trophy, we have a decent history in the competition, with Mourinho winning it in his first season to set the stall out for a winning mentality. We did poorly in my first year, but we've really made up for it this season, so it's a good achievement.

The League Table

Still an 8 point gap, City have been matching us result for result, but haven't been managing to close the gap at all which is satisfying. We've regained our place as the tightest defence in the league, so despite our grinding out results, that's something which is more pleasing. Sunderland have been sucked into the relegation battle, while Fulham seem to have pulled clear since they traded managers with Cardiff as Malky Mackay took over the Fulham job and left Martin Jol back at Cardiff. The top 4 this season has a more familiar look as Tottenham are well back on their performances last season, though Newcastle have done well to challenge having sold Cabaye to United in the summer. United have pulled up the table following a slow start, and I predict the top four as it is now is probably how it'll stay.

Next Month

The second half of our Champions League tie against Leverkusen should be a formality after a 3-0 win at their place, the big game will come towards the end of the month with Manchester City at home. We have Bradford away in the cup, so need to be aware of an Arsenal-style giant killing, but I think we should make it through. Our other league games are all mid or lower-table teams who we should beat, and hopefully rediscover our goalscoring prowess. We also have the youth intake, which I'm hoping will prove successful again after the great capture of Devonshire last season. I'll probably throw in another youth update at the end of next month too.

[rancer890]

Doing well Bracken KUTGW.

Mind, after reading this I still don't like Chelsea IRL, but I do hope for success in your virtual world.

[Bracken]

Doing well Bracken KUTGW.

Mind, after reading this I still don't like Chelsea IRL, but I do hope for success in your virtual world.

Ha, well thanks for putting aside your IRL dislike and cheering me on

[Lenzar]

Looking a good little save, this.

Good luck going forwards. Let's hope you can get a new JT or two in the youth intakes.

[ChelseaFan7]

Amazing thread Bracken. Proper inspiring me to try a save like this of my own.

Do you think you could upload your tactics?

[Bracken]

Looking a good little save, this.

Good luck going forwards. Let's hope you can get a new JT or two in the youth intakes.

Cheers mate, actually had an almost perfect JT replacement last year! This year is a little different.

Amazing thread Bracken. Proper inspiring me to try a save like this of my own.

Do you think you could upload your tactics?

Thanks mate, see my PM about the tactics

[Bracken]

March 2013

Fixtures

A great league and cup month, with one really disappointing Champions League performance. We're still through to the next round thanks to our 3-0 win away in Germany, but the home leg we just weren't good enough. I did rest one or two players, but we still should've been far better than we were. The Sunderland game was absolutely mad, but I was delighted with the spirit we showed. We went 1-0 down to a soft goal, before Frank got sent off for a second yellow. We equalised, before falling behind again, but the professionalism and determination we should with just 10 men was fantastic, and to come back and win that game definitely helped morale in the squad. The big league game this month was a little bit of a disappointment, as we should've scored more, but it was great to get a win over City as they were sat in second place in the league. The game against QPR was a great example of the way we play away from home, they had more shots than us and more on target, but we had 5 clear cut chances to their 1. My team has no problem if the opposition wants to take pot-shots from 30 yards, but you do not get in behind us, and you will not get through us when we're on form.

League table

At this stage, that's a big gap at the top. The victory over City, coupled with a few dropped points for them throughout the month, have enabled us to pull away a fair bit, and we'd really need to screw up in April no to secure the title with a few games to go. I reckon that 3 more wins and we're safe. At the bottom of the table it's still very tight between the bottom 5, though I think Blackburn have given themselves too much to do. Should be an interesting battle for the rest of the season down there.

Youth Intake

Well if you've been following along, you'll remember that I had a great bit of luck with Scott Devonshire coming through last season. This season I've been basically just as lucky, but I need to make something clear first as I don't want to be accused of cheating.

I'd heard about the bug wherein human clubs get a small youth intake, and wanted to see if that was linked to perhaps having a big youth team. So I did two rounds of my intake. First off, I saved the game the day before, continued with all my players still in the U18 team, and received just 6 players in my intake. I saved this file under a different name (with the intent of carrying on with this file if my trial didn't work), reloaded the previous file, and moved all the players from the U18 team to the reserves. I then continued, and received a full youth intake that included the player below. I decided to take this save, rather than the one before, because the small intake has been acknowledged by SI as a bug, and therefore felt I wasn't cheating. I just wanted to put that up front so you guys can decide yourself, I took what I was doing as fixing a bug rather than cheating, as I only reloaded once in order to see if it would work, and it did. So anyway, here's what I got.

That's probably the best player I've had come through my system when having already had someone top quality before. The only issue is, I don't know where to fit him in. I already have Lukaku who'll be my number 9 for years to come, while Lincoln doesn't have the same physical presence that I want from my striker. I he's versatile, he could easily be used at AMC or AML, and that may be what will happen, but for now I'm going to try and improve his physicality and see if I can mould him into the perfect backup to Lukaku in future years. Still, another quality homegrown player never hurts

As far as the others went, there wasn't much to shout about. Gareth Sullivan and Roger Matthews[/b] were the best of the rest, and hopefully they can develop at the club in years to come. But obviously, Lincoln is the star of the show.

Next Month

Some very big games coming up, kicking off with the quarter finals of the Champions League against Manchester City, with the month opening with the home leg. This is followed by an away tie against 3rd place Arsenal, which will be another big test, before we go to the Etihad for the second leg. We also face Liverpool at home in the league and an FA Cup semi-final against United. Some very big clubs in our way, but is it too early to start whispering about a quadruple?

[mag man]

Youth Intake

Well if you've been following along, you'll remember that I had a great bit of luck with Scott Devonshire coming through last season. This season I've been basically just as lucky, but I need to make something clear first as I don't want to be accused of cheating.

I'd heard about the bug wherein human clubs get a small youth intake, and wanted to see if that was linked to perhaps having a big youth team. So I did two rounds of my intake. First off, I saved the game the day before, continued with all my players still in the U18 team, and received just 6 players in my intake. I saved this file under a different name (with the intent of carrying on with this file if my trial didn't work), reloaded the previous file, and moved all the players from the U18 team to the reserves. I then continued, and received a full youth intake that included the player below. I decided to take this save, rather than the one before, because the small intake has been acknowledged by SI as a bug, and therefore felt I wasn't cheating. I just wanted to put that up front so you guys can decide yourself, I took what I was doing as fixing a bug rather than cheating, as I only reloaded once in order to see if it would work, and it did.

I only just figured this out. Have played through about 5 seasons getting 5/6 players per intake

[Bracken]

I only just figured this out. Have played through about 5 seasons getting 5/6 players per intake

Ouch that hurts. It didn't happen to me in the first season when I had a small youth intake, so I figured maybe that was the issue, gave it a go and it worked. I tried posting it in the GD forum but most people seemed to have ignored it

[Bracken]

April 2013

Fixtures

Well, where to start? The fixtures hardly tell the story of what has been a really strange, frustrating, and sometimes fantastic month for the club. It all starts with the City game at home in the Champions league. What looks like an easy win hides what happened in that game that really affected the rest of our month.

We we were completely dominant against City and after half an hour it was clear they had no answer for us, so they resorted to being the dirtiest team I have ever played against on FM. Firstly, Mikel got injured, so I had to put on Chalobah. Then Frank scored a penalty after a foul on Oscar, which resulted in another injury. Then he got another penalty, but Hart saved. Then they injured Chalobah. The result was the decimation of the right hand side of my midfield, with both of my defensive minded central midfielders out for a month, Oscar out for three weeks, joining Kevin De Bruyne and Victor Moses, both of whom got injured for a few weeks at the end of March. The injuries couldn't have come at a worse time. I still had Ramires who could cover the right flank, and Lea Ashton, my January signing who could fill in at central midfield, but Ashton was cup tied and Ramires couldn't play every match.

It was obvious in the next few ames how much we missed Mikel and Chalobah. We got a lucky draw against Arsenal, followed by the defeat to City, where we thankfully kept that down to two goals and made it through to the semi finals. Then followed two good Premier league wins, with Ashton performing very well against Liverpool, and a very weak side coming out on top against Villa away.

Then United. It looks awful, and obviously it was, but it was a real reserve team. This was the reserves of the reserves, my entire team was knackered, I knew we weren't going to be able to win even if I put out the full strength but exhausted players, so I had to sacrifice the cup. I decided it was better to risk destroying the morale of some of the youngsters, and focus on the Barca game, rather than risk losing both ties due to the exhaustion and injury crisis. What's even more annoying is that 3 of the goals were scored by a young Irish regen striker that I opted against signing because I have a thing against one-footed players. Well, that was my mistake and he made me pay for it. Still, the youngsters did have the odd chance, and although it was a very one-sided scoreline, two goals were from set pieces, so maybe it wasn't as bad as it seemed.

Then of course came the biggest matches of the season, and probably of my career so far, and my resting players seemed fully justified. We were fantastic against Barca, honestly we should've had more goals, we hit the bar and Valdes pulled off some top saves, but they just couldn't live with our breaking on them at pace after they'd passed themselves to death. Still, a 3-0 win over Barca at the Bridge? Yeah, I'll take that.

The Fulham game was another reserve team, but they ran out comfortable winners, and not only that, they secured us the title! We were comfortably clear and I knew that it was just a matter of time before we put it to bed, and this proved to be the game. I rested players again as it worked last time, and De Bruyne back from injury and Ba not being too tired proved the decisive factors.

Then the Nou Camp. It started awfully, we were 2-0 down inside 15 minutes and the back-line looked shaky. I changed our style of football and make us much more direct, pumping it long to Lukaku and throwing early balls into the box. Essentially we became Stoke for 60 minutes, and it worked, with Lukaku scoring from an Azpilicueta long throw (proper Stoke style ) and although we conceded again in the last 10 minutes, we somehow hung on for the win.

The League Table

That's the league with us sitting pretty and clear at the top. The relegation battle seems to have settled down a bit, with Blackburn looking beyond hope, and probably Wigan too. I'd say Sunderland were most likely safe, and it'll be a battle between Cardiff and Burnley to survive. One really interesting team this year has been Newcastle, who have the best defensive record in the league, but a really poor recored up front and a massive 14 draws this season. Must've been a dull, dull season at St. James's Park, but if they hang on for a Champions League spot I'm sure they won't care. United haven't been at their usual best (their demolition of us in the cup aside) and Fergie is actually under pressure

Next Month

3 League games and then the biggest game of them all, the Champions league final, my first of this career, and it'll be against Juventus, the team we knocked out last year in the quarter finals. We have Burnley at home, and Newcastle and United away to finish up the league, the main goal of course being to keep everyone match-fit, injury free and with good morale before we try and reclaim the biggest prize in European football having surrendered it last season to Madrid. It'll be tough, Juve are a good side, but I think we can do it. If we turn up like we did against Barca and United earlier in the season, they don't stand a chance. If we play the way we did against Fulham away or United in the Cup...well let's not think about that.

[AcidBurn]

Very very good season, good luck against Juve.

[Bracken]

Very very good season, good luck against Juve.

Thanks mate, enjoying your save a lot.

Right, here comes the May roundup, a full season review will be later on.

[Bracken]

May 2013

League Fixtures

The end of the season was fine, I was mainly concerned with just keeping people fit and in decent shape in terms of morale, which we succeeded in doing, largely thanks to Lukaku finding his top form in the last two games, giving him a great platform for the final. The United game was a great example of the Spirit of the lads, even though the match didn't matter, they battled back from 1-0 down, then 2-1 down to claim a deserved win, with us having a 100% shot accuracy rating during the match (never seen that before). Another comeback, another good win, and a great way to see off the League season. I'll post the final League Table in the full end of season review, but still, two good wins and a draw against a desperately battling Burnley side wasn't a bad month.

Then, the big one.

UEFA Champions League Final

Formations

Result

Foootball eh? This team just never gives up. After 4 minutes we were 2-0 down, they scored from their first two attacks, with the first goal inside 20 seconds. Before I could even figure our where we were going wrong, the game already seemed to be slipping away. I changed things after 10 minutes, going more defensive just hoping to make it until half time without conceding again, and that worked as we stifled the game and kept it a bit tighter. I had a few choice words at half time and that seemed to work. I love it when you get a bit of news like that, it shows a great bond between the players and me and shows that what I'm doing has been working. The second half I altered our style, looking to get more balls into the box quicker, their formation meant it was really tough for us to get in behind them through the middle or down the wings, so I tried to get it forward quicker and put the ball in from deeper, and that paid off with first Mata having a shot that came back off the post and hit Buffon, then Lukaku fighting his way past a crowd to head home a deep cross from Azpilicueta in the very last minute of normal time. From looking dead and buried, we had pulled it out somehow. Fighting spirit.

Then into extra time and now we were the team on top, we had a couple of chances and should've scored before, but another cross and another Lukaku header and we were in front. Then we had the chance to seal it, and Lukaku had the chance to get his hat trick, but he struck his penalty against the bar and suddenly it was Juve on top again. I was certain we'd blown it and thrown the chance away, but we hung in with some heroic defending, and then we were Champions of Europe again

I couldn't tell you for certain that it's because of the successes I've had in transforming the squad personality and character, but this is the reason I was making those changes, and in my mind it's paid off in spades. I wanted a team that would never lie down, that would keep working until the very end, that would have the best of that Mourinho winning mentality coupled with a team ethic and lack of controversy that the club has often lacked. It's not just this game, we've done it time and again, coming back when we looked down, and this was the pinnacle achievement of that.

After the match, I got a few nice comments from a true Chelsea legend which is always nice to see

Next Up

A full season's review, with some comments again on the Ethos, Style, Development, and future transfers and prospects. It'll be a bit of a monster post, with a lot of screenshots etc. so may take a little while to post, but until then I'll just revel in the CL triumph

[JackJCFC]

Blimey, i bet you were a bit worried after 5 minutes! Got a bit lucky but they all count.

[Bracken]

Blimey, i bet you were a bit worried after 5 minutes! Got a bit lucky but they all count.

At that point I was just thinking "please don't let them thrash us" but we pulled it back. The own goal sounds lucky, but we really should've scored anyway, so I'll happily take it. The worst moment was the missed penalty, I really thought we'd throw it away but we just managed to hold on.

[Bracken]

Season in Review – 2013/14

Champions of England, Champions of Europe, building a legacy to endure

The Barclays Premier League

Another very good season for us, with some improvements on last season but a few shortcomings. We finished two points worse off than last season, so pretty much just the same really. Sadly, we conceded 6 more goals but scored 8 more, for an overall goal difference improvement of 2. I don’t mind that we conceded more goals, it’s annoying but you do sometimes have seasons like that, what does annoy me is that we didn’t have the best defensive record in the league, that honour fell to Newcastle this year, who managed to just claim a place in the Champions League, thanks in part to our defeat of United on the last day of the season I always feel like a real league win involves being the top goal-scorers and best defence, sadly this year we only accomplished one. Still, only two defeats again and buckets of goals scored, not a bad season.

Premier League Stats

Our players again had a good season in terms of individual performances. Lukaku retained his Golden Boot and smashed all records in the process, besting our club record of 43 held by Greaves and the Premier League record of 34 goals held by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole. Hazard again topped the Assists chart, with Mata finishing in second place, our two creative players showing they are the very best in the league at what they do. I was delighted to see not just Mikel, but Lampard also finishing top of the Pass Completion tables. Lampard’s achievement is more impressive, as his passes are generally of a riskier nature than Mikel’s, so for him to complete 87% of his passes is superb. Not bad for a 35 year old. Hazard unsurprisingly made a lot of Key Passes, Mata actually finished joint 5th, so is just not quite on that list due to alphabetical order. What I would like to see in this stats are some of my players appearing on the Key Interceptions top five or ten. JT made the most, but he’s down in 27th place, so that’s an area I’d like to improve if I can, hopefully that would help with our overall defensive record.

Premier League Awards

Footbal Writers Player of the Year: Romelu Lukaku

PFA Player of the Year: Eden Hazard

PFA Young Player of the Year: Daniel Sturridge

Barclays Golden Boot: Romelu Lukaku

Barclays Golden Glove: Tim Krul

Baclays Premier League Goal of the Season: Yannick N’Djeng

Barclays Manager of the Year: Dave Bracken

Again it’s been a great season in terms of the awards, though this time we lost out on the Young Player of the Year and the Golden Glove. We still haven’t had anything in the Goal of the Season running, but here’s my personal goal of the season:

[video=youtube;j_51APbjwP0]

The UEFA Champions League

Winner: Chelsea

Runner Up: Juventus

A fantastic achievement for the club in just my second season. We had some lucky breaks and some worrying moments right the way through, but the spirit the team showed was just fantastic. We really did it the hard way, having to beat both Manchester City and Barcelona along the way, and despite losing both games at their places, we still ground out the results we needed to reach the final. We survived the whirlwind opening five minutes and fought back to bring the big-eared cup back to the Bridge for the second time in the club’s history, and the second time in three years. We also picked up some individual awards along the way:

UEFA Champions League Best Player: Romelu Lukaku

UEFA Champions League Top Goalscorer: Lionel Messi

UEFA Champions League Team of the Year:

Basically, some combination of us and Barca would be unstoppable. But hey, over two legs, we’re the better side, so I feel we deserved to have more players in there over them. Interesting that Ba made it in there, that’s largely for his performances in the group games and one knockout round where Lukaku needed a rest, still nice for him to be in there.

The FA Cup with Budweiser

Winner: Liverpool

Runner Up: Manchester United

Another year, another Semi-Final defeat, this time to Manchester United. But then again, another year and another defeat in the final for United they must be getting annoyed by that about now. As I covered before, our defeat in the Semi-Final was always going to happen as we had the Barca game in midweek, and to be honest I still think I made the right decision and I think the results have proved that to be the case. Still, I’d love to add this trophy to the CV, so we’ll go again next season more determined than ever.

The Capital One Cup

Winner: Chelsea

Runner Up: Manchester City

We did bring home our first piece of domestic cup silverware with the Capital One Cup. It took until extra time in the Final for us to make the breakthrough, but if there’s one thing we’ve proved this season, it’s that we never lie down or stop fighting, we’ve got the drive, professionalism and energy to keep fighting until the end.

The Community Shield

Winner: Chelsea

Runner Up: Arsenal

Great start to the season where we lost out last time, and to thrash Arsenal made it even sweeter. We’ll be up against Liverpool in this next season, so that should be a spicy affair. Still, that technically gave us a domestic treble and a quadruple over the season, so all-in-all, a pretty good season

Other Competition Winners

nPower Championship: Huddersfield

nPower League One: Millwall

nPower League Two: Crawley Town

Blue Square Bet Premier: York

Blue Square Bet North: Harrogate

Blue Square Bet South: Salisbury

Clydesdale Bank Premier League: Celtic

Danske Bank Premiership: Linfield

Airtrcity Premier Division: Cork City

Corbett Sports Welsh Premier League: Bangor City

La Liga: Real Madrid

Bundesliga: Borussia Dortmund

Serie A: Juventus

Ligue 1: Olympique Lyonnais

Eredivisie: Ajax

SOGAZ Prem’er Liga: Lokomotiv Moscow

Jupiler Pro League: Anderlecht

Liga ZON SAGRES: Porto

FIFA Club World Cup: Real Madrid

UEFA Super Cup: Real Madrid

UEFA Europa League: Porto

UEFA NextGen Series: Barcelona Under 19s

Next up will be a 2012/13 Club Review, covering performance, development, and the progress I’ve made on the club style and ethos. After that will be a youth development and performance roundup. Gonna be a lot of reading

[AK22]

What a great comeback against Juventus!

You did alright in the league too

[Bracken]

What a great comeback against Juventus!

You did alright in the league too

Cheers mate, I guess it was an acceptable season

[Bracken]

First Team Review – 2013/14

A look back on the performances and development of the first team, as well as a check on how we’re progressing in terms of Ethos and Style

Performances

I’ll take a look back at the first team’s performances this season, again looking at our ‘top 5s’ in terms of goals, assists, key passes and average ratings, and then a brief discussion of the squad as a whole. There’s also a little problem I need some advice with.

Goals

Well obviously Lukaku is insane. It seems unreal, but then again compared to Messi and Ronaldo in real life, he’s only just keeping up. It’s also not just my tactics or any exploits, as he was superb for West Brom last season, and he’s simply kept that up while getting even more chances this year with much better players behind him. It was also very good return from Ba, whos’ now obviously second choice to the wonderboy, he performed well in the games in which he was called on. Hazard and Mata had good returns again, Hazard matched his last season’s performance exactly, while although Mata scored a few less, there were reasons for that, so I’m pretty pleased with his total. The only downside for me really was the lack of goals coming from the right hand side of my attacking three. While I understand that role is primarily creative, I would like to see a few more goals coming in. Ramires did fairly well, scoring 9 goals from rotating between the centre and the right flank, but Oscar just managed 2 goals all year, so I’d like him to chip in a few more. Still, we scored a great number of goals and overall I’m really pleased with this area of the team.

Assists

Hazard again leads the way in terms of assists, with Mata helping himself to a lot af them too. Azpilicueta has been a key player for me, his crossing from deep on the right has been a great attribute, Lukaku’s fantastic at getting across his man and flicking it into the net from a deep cross. Again I’d like to see more assists from the right hand side of midfield, Ramires managed 10 while Oscar got 8, it could be due to the injuries Oscar suffered and the rotation that went on there, but I still think that there should be more coming from here. I’d also like to see Lukaku getting a few more assists, he got 7 this season, I’m assuming it’s because he chose to spank it in the back of the net rather than find a teammate still, he should be getting more as Ba got 6 assists in around half the games. It may require a little tweaking, but I doubt I’ll change too much as I’m pretty pleased with how we’re doing up front.

Key Passes

Again this stat is very important when understanding how my team actually plays, as while Hazard and Mata predictably lead the way, Lampard and McEachran have a lot of key passes to their names, demonstrating their key role in the transitional phase of play from defence to attack. Lukaku also grabbed a good number of key passes, showing that even though he’s not getting too many assists, he is very involved in the play in a way in which Ba wasn’t last season. This stat I find really useful and pleasing, as it shows that I’m really making progress in the way I want the team to play. If I can just boost Oscar’s stats in this area, then I think I’ll have perfected the way I want my team to attack.

Average Rating

Of course Lukaku is the man leading the way here. An average rating over 8 is a brilliant achievement any season, he’s just a fantastic player. Hazard and Mata are deservedly in second and third, while JT continues to prove he’s still a fantastic centere back with another very solid season. JT’s partner in crime David Luiz finished in 6th place here, just behind Ba who was again very impressive despite being a backup to Lukaku. Luke Shaw finished just behind Luiz, showing he’s now really read to step up to a regular first team role. Azpi’s rating surprises me a little, as I expected him to be slightly higher, while Frank’s role isn’t generally conducive to high ratings so I’m pleased he managed to do so well from a difficult position, especially at 35 years old.

The Squad

So this was the squad used this season, though is was often supplemented by players from the youth team in cup games and the last few League games of the season. The squad size is slightly reduced from last season, but we faced a few more injuries than last season so at times (the United Cup game being the key example) that became a little problem. I don’t really like working with a big squad, but with the number of games we’re going to have next season, I made need to add a body or two to the squad. What is more important than the size, is ensuring everyone in the squad can really contribute, and I’m not certain that is the case right now. I’ll explain that in my First Team Development section in a moment. What I am happy with is the number of different options I have in a few positions. My first choice right-wingers are Oscar and Ramires, who both offer very different attributes and so are used in different kinds of games. Like wise in the centre of midfield, I have Mikel, Chalobah, Ramires and Ashton who can all play the holding role, but all offer different qualities and so can be really useful against different opposition, with Chalobah and Ashton only going to improve as they age. So that’s my squad, I’m generally pleased with the balance in most positions, it’s just a few areas where I’m not sure that the players are either good enough or right for the team, but I’ll cover those in the future section of the update.

First Team Development

Todd Kane – Right Back

Todd just hasn’t pushed on as much as I would’ve liked. He’s now at one star of his two star PA, and frankly I’m just not sure his attributes are good enough. He’s physically very good, and he works hard for the team and is solid going forward, but he is a liability at the back. I’m really torn as to whether to keep him on or not, his performances were ok but I can’t deny he did cost us goals at time, and I often wasn’t comfortable playing him in some matches, meaning Azpi rarely got a rest. He’s a problem, one I’m happy for any advice on. I want to be loyal as he came up through the academy and captained the reserves, but I’m just not sure he’ll ever reach a level where I’ll be happy for him to play as Azpi’s backup.

Cesar Azpilicueta – Right Back

Just a fantastic right back for me, and probably a future Vice Captain. He’s just got great attributes in all the right areas, his crossing has been a major weapon for us and he’s great both going forward and in defence. I focussed on his positioning and marking this season and he’s improved well in both areas with good solid attributes in both now. I don’t think he’s got much more room to grow (has another half a star apparently, to bring him to four stars in total) but if he can add just one more point in tackling I’ll be delighted. He’s also on a long-term deal with lowish wages, and his professional personality means he’s yet to complain. He really embodies what I want at the club, a great player, a great professional and someone who works their socks off for the team.

Jeffrey Bryma – Centre Back/DR

Jeffrey is another that I’m just not totally comfortable with. He’s certainly pushed on a bit, and he’s physically very impressive, but his Teamwork and Work Rate remain a real concern, as does his concentration which is far too low for what I’d like. However, he’s another who’s been a long-serving member of the club, having been here since the 07/8 season, so I am tempted to give him another season to kick on and see how he goes. His rating was solid enough and he’s certainly not dreadful, he’s better than Kane by some way. He has half a star of PA still to fulfil to take him up to two and half, and he’s on fairly low wages. If I can boost his attributes just a little more, then the end of next season will probably be the time to cash in on a player who’s done a job but never really shone for us.

Luke Shaw – Left Back

This boy is a real star. He’s developed brilliantly ever since he’s been tutored by Bertrand. He’s now got a professional personality and solid determination, which has helped him progress really well. I’ve focussed on his tackling this season, it wasn’t really a weakness but I like my fullbacks to be strong in the tackle, and he’s improved really well here. I’ll probably focus on his positioning, marking and crossing in the future, but he really doesn’t need individual attention as he’s pretty fantastic across the board. He’ll probably remain second choice to Bertrand next year, but after that he’ll undoubtedly be the number one. I’m also tempted to give him the number 3 shirt next year. The only downside is he’ll need a new contract in the summer, but I’ll wait until he’s 19 so I can give him a good long deal and hope that’ll hold for 4 years or so while he fulfils the reaming two and half stars of his five star potential.

Nathaniel Chalobah – Holding Midfield/DC

Nathaniel is coming along brilliantly. He’s now accomplished in the role in which I see him has having the best future, which is as a holding central midfielder, and his attributes are improving nicely. He played pretty well in the games he played, and I’ll be looking for him to push on even more next season as he gets more and more chances in the team. I focussed mainly on his tackling this year as it wasn’t great when he arrived, and it’s now a solid 13. Next season I’ll be focussing more on tackling, as well as marking and probably do some focus on his role too. Still, he’s a great player for us and a possible future captain or VC. Currently at two stars of a five star potential.

Lea Ashton – Holding Midfield

The £13.25m signing in the January window has slotted in well and is already developing quite nicely. I’m very glad I paid the money when I did, as although the balance took a hit, Huddersfield just got promoted as Champions so his value just would’ve increased and he would’ve been even more expensive. I focussed on his pace which has increased slightly, I’ll keep the focus here until I’ve seen at least one more point on each attribute, then I’ll move it to tackling, and some role-focus. He was tutored by Lampard, as although he already had great determination and good professionalism, I think getting him to Model Professional was worth it, and he’ll be a great tutor in the future with his mental attributes and strong personality type. Although he was expensive, with three and half stars of a five star potential still to be filled, I’m convinced he’ll be a good buy, and his wages are tiny!

Josh McEachran – Central Midfield

Josh is coming along, although not quite as quickly as I’d like. He was tutored by Frank in the early part of the season, and while his determination is now ok, he’s got a Resilient personality, and I’d like to see a little more professionalism in there, so he may be tutored again next season. His tackling was the main focus this year, as his attacking attributes are already solid, that will probably remain for part of next season, before he moves to Long Shots, Finishing or a more role-focussed schedule. He still has two starts of his four star potential to fulfil, so I’m confident he’ll become a great player in the future, and he already performed well this season.

Oscar – Right Winger/AMC/MC

He’s already a key member of the first team, but Oscar has still been doing some development over the last two years and I felt it was time to share how his attributes have come on. In previous saves I’ve focussed on getting Oscar to become a playmaking, passing machine, but this year as I’m using him in the wide-right position, I’ve been focussing on the attributes needed for a great winger, and he’s responded brilliantly. His Pace, Dribbling, Crossing, Long Shots, and Off The Ball have all been improving really well, and he’s now a great looking winger. His Determination increased after learning from Frank last year, and his personality is now Determined, meaning he should be at least a decent tutor in the future. He’s become a really great player attributes-wise, hopefully his performances will match that next year if he stays fit a bit more. Still has another star of potential to fulfil apparently, though I don’t see him improving that much more to be honest.

Gael Kakuta – Left Inside Forward/AMC/AMR

Gael has really surprised me how well he’s come along and performed. Six goals and seven assists in twenty starts is great for a player who’s not perfectly suited to coming in off the left flank, as he’s very left-footed, but he’s performed well and his attributes are coming along. I focussed on his Passing which is now pretty acceptable, I’ll probably change that focus now to his Finishing. His Work Rate and Teamwork are a little disappointing, but it hasn’t shown in his performances (unlike Bruma) so I’m pretty certain he’ll be sticking at the club for a good few years yet, rewarding him with some loyalty after the club handled him pretty badly in his early years.

Romelu Lukaku - Striker

What can be said about Rom? His development this year has been outstanding, his Finishing was my main concern and that’s developed from twelve to sixteen in just one year. I also focussed a little on his Technique which has also improved by a point. The boy is physically outstanding and mentally very strong, so there’s not much that he needs to focus on now. I’ll continue the focus on Technique for a little while, before a change to his First Touch and perhaps more Finishing, but to be honest, he’s already the perfect weapon for my team. He still has a star and half of a five star PA to go!

My Player of the Season

There’s obviously only one player it can be

Not much more to say about him really, I love that he scores all kinds of goals, headers, power shots, lobs, tap ins, placed efforts, individual goals or team efforts, Romelu just hits the back of the net. The only disappointment I’ve got is that he’s not yet on the Club’s favoured personnel, which seems a bit strange to me as he’s already shown he’s so important to this club and this team. Hazard and Mata are also yet to make it onto the list, so I’m hoping they will in the future. Still, this season was more than a breakthrough for Lukaku, it was an announcement of a new superstar to the footballing world.

Next

I’m actually going to separate this post into two as it’s already proved a mammoth one. Next will be a look at the club ethos, style, structures and finances. Then I’ll end this season review with another post, comprising short look at how some of the youth players have come along and asking for some advice on at least one matter that I’m not sure about going forward.

[Bracken]

Club Review – 2013/14

Here I’ll examine the core principles and structures at the club, looking at the progress that’s been made and what still needs to be done

Club Ethos

Personality

Well the biggest step we’ve made in terms of Club Ethos this season has obviously been this:

It’s a great development, and one I expected would take a lot longer than it has. It’s mainly been down to a lot of tutoring of players around the first team squad (Moses, Oscar, Shaw, Kane, Courtois, Chalobah, McEachran etc.) as well as moving on players who had personalities that weren’t suited to the club and couldn’t be changed (Torres, Marin etc.). Still I never thought we’d have a Highly Professional squad so quickly. The challenge now will be to maintain that squad personality as the players change and youngsters come through, as our older players are phased out and the youngsters become more prominent, it’ll be key to ensure that I’ve really made sure we have tutors in place wherever possible to continue the personality for years to come.

Loyalty

What’s surprised me with this save is that I felt this part of the Ethos I wanted would be easy, where personality would be difficult. In fact, it’s proved the opposite. The changes I’ve made have already ensured we’ve got the right personality, but Loyalty is proving a much greater challenge. I had problems last season, particularly with Michael Essien and Sam Hutchinson, both of whom ended up leaving the club for careers elsewhere, but this season poses even more of a challenge.

It started when Paulo Ferriera really surprised me with a demand for first team football at the end of the summer transfer window. Paulo was a Model Professional, so I never expected it would be a problem to keep him on in a backup/tutoring capacity until he retired. It seemed I was wrong. I decided that it would just be impossible to offer him the first team football he wanted, and it would seem to be a bit poor to keep a player who’d served the club so well and for so long when he clearly wanted to go elsewhere, and so on deadline day he left the club for Swansea City. He only made 13 substitute appearances this year, with no starts, and he’s now retiring this summer.

It lead me to think a bit more about what loyalty to players really means these days, does it mean keeping them until they retire, even if they won’t get games, or does it mean moving them on when the time is right, to the right club, to make sure they have full and happy carers, even when though it’s at another club? Is it better to keep a player against his will, to show him that he’s wanted at this club, that the club remains loyal to him even when he wants to leave, or is it better to bow to his wishes and send him on his way with goodwill? These questions will probably be with me throughout this save, and I’ve decided it’s best to solve it on a case-by-case basis really. I have a few cases that need resolving this year, which I will post later on and ask for you guys’ help with if that’s possible.

One area where it’s much easier to show loyalty is through staffing, which I’ll cover in a separate section.

Style Update – The Pendulum Swings Again

So at the end of last season I wrote that I was very happy with the defensive style of the team, but less pleased with the inability of the team to involve the striker more in play and get more chances for the striker. The second problem has been completely solved. However, our defending wasn’t quite up the standard of the first season, and that’s something to be looked at. Certainly one of the reasons behind that was we conceded a number of goals from individual errors, particularly from my second or third choice full backs (Ashley Cole and Todd Kane) but there may also be something in the system that needs looking at. It’s not a major issue as we still defended pretty well on the whole, but just something worth investigating.

The predominant form of goals scored against us is from ‘passes’ which is not the most useful definition but it gives me some clues. It shows we don’t concede many from crosses, and this in unsurprising as my full backs tend to push the wingers inside onto their weaker feet, forcing them to pass the ball rather than cross it. The assists also tend to come from the area just outside our 18-yard box and. This is pretty revealing, it shows that we defend our 18-yard area pretty well, we concede very few goals that were created inside the box, showing it’s very difficult to get in behind us and play. However, it shows that I need to do more in the full back position and defensive midfield area. I’ll be looking again at the tactic over the summer to see if I can bring that solidity that we had in the first season back, and retain the attacking flair we’ve had this year. These stats aren’t the most useful, but it backs up most of what I see during matches, our goals tend to come from wide players who are pushed inside by the full backs, and have to try to create from there. Mostly, they’re ineffective at doing so, but if my full backs stand off or my centre backs lose the striker, they have the opportunity to play a ball through that could cause damage. It’s a tactic that’s hard to stop, but I’ll be looking at how I can change to prevent tha in future.

On the attacking side I’m generally very pleased. We score the majority of our goals from passes from the area just outside the 18-yard box, but we also create a lot from within the area and from the right flank. This is exactly as it should be, as the left-hand side is where Hazard roams as an Inside Forward, and so his assists generally come from the middle of the pitch rather than the left-side. I also think it shows that we attack with pace, as we create so many from deeper positions, 14 assists from within our own half in fact.

This shows the kinds of goals we score and concede, and basically backs up what I showed before. We concede most of our goals by balls that some how get through from outside the 18 yard box and give the player a one-on-one with the keeper, while we score a lot of these goals as well as a lot from headers from crosses. We don’t score many free kicks, which is disappointing, but we have managed to cut down the number we concede (it says zero but I certainly remember one or two going in). The lack of goals scored against use from crosses shows that when balls come into the 18 yard box we are very dominant in the air, if we can replicate this dominance with through balls and passes along the floor into the area, then we will have a really impressive defensive unit.

So overall, I’m pleased with the style, we’ve kept the main elements I’m looking for which are quick transitions from back to front, pace down the flanks and power through the middle, all built upon a solid defence. As always, there are areas we still have to work on, but style will be an ongoing and developing area of the club that will probably never be perfect.

Staff and Facilities

Coaching Staff

Another new face has joined the staff as our Under-18’s Assistant Manager. And when I say new face, I mean old face. Welcome back Eidur Gudjohnsen

I love seeing messages like that, it shows that even if it doesn’t have a huge effect, the game does seem to understand what I’m trying to do, and the fans and players would (in real life) react pretty well to the return of someone like Eidur. He joins Tore Andre Flo, Michael Ballack and Carlo Cudicini as our four former players on the staff. I’ll be looking to add to that as we move along, but it’s tough to bring in former players while retaining a high quality staff and stay loyal to long-serving backroom staff who provide a great service to the club like Steve Holland and Christophe Lollichon. I’ll be looking to send as many of my young staff members on coaching courses as soon as possible in order to improve their attributes if I can.

Here’s a list of my staff for anyone who’s interested:

It’s a pretty massive staff, mainly due to the number of scouts, though this fluctuates pretty regularly. I want to trim the staff down if at all possible, but it’s hard to get rid of people when they all perform a good job, and are all their for different reasons, whether they’re ex-players, have good attributes or have the right personalities. So slimming down the staff, mainly to cut back on wages, is a goal I have but it could be hard to reach quickly.

Stadium and Facilities

At the end of the season I was confronted with two messages regarding the stadium. Firstly, this:

This was pretty disappointing, even though I hadn’t asked for a new stadium. I wasn’t expecting the club to be looking to build a new stadium so soon, but I am very pleased by the ambition the board is showing in trying to do so. We don’t really have the bank balance to support the building of a new stadium yet, and anyway, I haven’t been at the club long enough to have it named after me just yet. So, while it’s good they’re showing ambition, and it’s a shame we’ve been rejected, it’s probably too early anyway. Then there’s this:

Ok so it’s not a huge expansion, but every little helps right? I didn’t believe the Bridge could be expanded in real life, but I’ll take any more revenue we can get really. So this was a nice development, not massive but it can’t hurt.

The other facilities are all maxed out, except our Training Facilities which were downgraded at the end of last season. Thankfully the board agreed to improve them to their prior level, and that should be completed by November this year. The stadium expansion should be ready for the new season, so that new revenue will help along nicely.

Finances

This is an area where I really need to improve. Right now we’re only staying in the black because of prize money and income from players sold, and that needs to change. The stadium expansion will help, but a new stadium has to be a major long-term goal. In order to accomplish that, we need a healthy bank balance, which means reducing the wage bill, retaining the regular prize money, and maintaining the squad quality.

We ended this season with £23m in the bank, and £6m remaining in the transfer budget. The wage budget makes better reading, we’re well under our weekly budget of £2.76m, currently spending £1.74m, and I’m hoping that will come down over the summer. This kind of hides the problems we’ve had with finances, we dipped to around £18m in the red towards the middle of the season, the acquisition if Ashton being the prime reason, but losing cash each month didn’t help. The Champions League prize money helped enormously, but we can’t expect to win it every year, so we need to cut expenditure, with the primary one being wages.

I’ve already started along this route. Lampard has agreed to a big wage cut, taking him down from £155k p/w to £89k p/w. Even with new bonuses, he’s taking around a £50k wage cut, which will help enormously. Likewise JT has taken a cut, though a smaller one from £175k p/w to £140k p/w. These wage cuts help, but won’t solve the entire issue. So it looks like some sales might be necessary. The three primary candidates are Demba Ba (£80k p/w for a second choice striker who’s only been here two years), Gary Cahill (while he is English, he’s on £80k p/w and he’s not going to dislodge JT from first choice and probably won’t be good enough to eventually replace him) and Victor Moses (only on £30k p/w but worth £16.5m and not only is he not first choice, he’s often too selfish in play and doesn’t work enough for the team), while I’ll also consider the staff. The final issue is the contract of Ashley Cole, which I’ll cover in a separate post as I really want some advice.

Next

So those are the overall club structures and how we’re progressing on those fronts. The final post of this season will be a youth report, focussing on the Reserve and U18 team’s performances and the developments of those players and the loanees. Then I’ll do one last posting asking for a little advice.

[crewe_york]

I think I'm in love with your updates Bracken and the detail that you put into them. Looking forward to the next one!

[Bracken]

I think I'm in love with your updates Bracken and the detail that you put into them. Looking forward to the next one!

Cheers mate, should have the next one up later tonight

[Bracken]

Youth Player Development

Here’s a quick look at some of (though not all of) the most promising young talents who remained at the club this season

Scott Devonshire {Centre Back/DR) is coming along nicely, and I still see him as JT’s long term replacement. I focussed firstly on his quickness, just to bring that up slightly to reduce the chances of him being caught out at the back, before changing the focus to Marking as that was his real weakness. Now his Marking is nice and solid, I’ll focus again on his physical attributes briefly, before probably some focus on his Tackling or Marking again. He’s been tutored by JT this year, which has improved his Determination and changed his personality from Ambitious to Determined, which while an improvement, isn’t yet the Professional personality I’d like, so still some work to do there. He’ll be 17 soon, but I anticipate he’ll probably be staying at the club next year unless I find an exceptional loan move.

It’s been another solid season of development for young Billy Britton (Right Back/DC). A focus on his tackling has brought a nice solid improvement there, while some time being tutored by Azpi has helped improve his Determination and changed his personality to Fairly Determined. As with Devonshire, this is a good development but I’m still looking for a little more, so more attention is needed on that. With the weakness of Kane, I’m considering promoting Britton to the first team next year, but at the moment I’m undecided.

One player who could be Devonshire’s future partner at the heart of the defence is Bartomeu (Centre Back). I think having those two together would be the hardest working defensive partnership in the league, which really appeals to me. He’s focussed on his jumping this year which sadly hasn’t improved, and I don’t think he’ll be quite ready for the first team until it is, but other than that he has progressed fairly well this year. He’ll certainly get a loan move next year, but I’m unsure if it will be a short term or long term move yet, I’ll see what offers I get in.

Richard Hendry (Holding Central Midfield/DM) is finding his gap for first team progress rapidly closing. While his physical attributes are impressive, his technical abilities, Teamwork and Concentration give me some real concerns as to whether he’ll ever be good enough for us. I’m hoping he improves and surprises me, he’s got a four and a half star PA and is currently only at one star, so he’s got a lot of room to grow. He also has a Model Professional personality which is very useful. He’ll be staying at the club next year so I can continue to monitor his development.

A British midfield prospect who’s fared better this year is Glenn Wakeford (Central Midfielder – DLP), who’s had 3 sub appearances and one start for the first team this year. While his attributes don’t look like too much, he’s trained well every month and so has deserved a shot. I’ve mainly focussed on role training for Glenn as he doesn’t have any specific glaring weaknesses, rather he just needs to develop all round as he grows. He’s at one star of a four and a half or five star PA (coaches differ), so hopefully he’ll meet that eventually. He’s been tutored by Mata and Ramires this year, and is now Fairly Professional, so there’s still more to do here, perhaps some time with Frank is in order for young Glenn. He’ll be remaing at the club at least until January, probably until the end of the season, before I think about loan moves. The only downside is he’s an Arsenal and Millwall supporter

Garry Pettigrew (Attacking Midfielder) has probably had the biggest impact on the first team this year. He’s had one start and ten sub appearances, creating one goal and scoring his first for the club in one of the Cups. I focussed on his strength here, which has improved from five to seven which is nice, while his other attributes have seen solid improvements this year. He hasn’t had any tutoring so far, that may change this year. He’s got an ok personality (Balanced and Level-Headed), but if I could improve that to some sort of Professional personality that would be great. I’d like to improve his Teamwork if at all possible, but really in the position he’s playing it’s not imperative as he’ll be a creative force for himself and others anyway.

The toughest player I’ve found to develop is Northern Irishman Keith Derry (Right Winger/ST/MC). He came to me with fantastic pace and little else, and while he’s had a couple of improvements he’s still not ready for the first team. His pace makes him a threat to anyone, and he’s got good Work Rate and Teamwork, but he really needs to improve technically. He came to me as a Striker, but his Finishing, Composure and Anticipation (coupled with my preference for strikers who can compete aerially) mean he’ll never make it in that role, so I’ve focussed on training him in the AMR position and with Winger role-focus. Hopefully he’ll keep improving next season and I’ll be able to utilise him in that role going forward. He reminds me most of Alex Kiwomya, fantastically pacey but with little else. Next year will be a big year for Keith, he’ll stay until January and then I’ll consider a loan move for him.

I have two strikers who have the same issue. The first is Nawaf Ghulam (Striker), who has a lot of very impressive attributes but doesn’t have the physicality I look for in a striker. He’s really got everything, except the Jumping and Strength that I need. I began focussing on his Strength, and then moved to Jumping, but these seem to be the most difficult attributes for me to improve. I’m hoping a loan move might succeed where I’ve so far failed, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

The other striker who has a lack of physicality is Lewis Lincoln (Striker), who despite having only been in the game since March has already seen some improvement. He has slightly more Strength and Jumping, but only slightly, so that’s where my focus has been. I’m not sure if he’ll ever become a Lukaku-lite as I’d like, but as he’s home grown, and has some exceptional attributes for a 15-year old, he’ll certainly get a role in the first team in the future. As he’s so young, he’ll obviously be at the club next season. No tutoring for him thus far, as while his Determination is low (but seems to be improving on its’ own?!) his personality is ok, and I don’t really have a great determination for him yet.

Loanees

So that’s it for the younger players who have remained with at Cobham to train this season, here’s a quick look at some of those who’ve been out on loan.

First up is Jamal Blackman (Goalkeeper). Jamal had a good season on loan with Preston in League One as their first choice goalkeeper. His performances were fairly standard for a mid-table League One keeper, but he’s developed a little more and I now think he’s about ready to take his place as one of my backup keepers at the club. He has a Model Professional personality, so I’m really hoping he won’t mind being a backup. I’ll give him some games in the early rounds of the cup, but I don’t realistically ever see him becoming number one. Still, he’s been come up through the academy and deserves a role if he wants one.

Keiran Crossan (Centre Back/DL) had another Championship loan, this time at feeder club Crystal Palace. He did very well this season, playing fifty games (!) and gaining the second top average rating for the club that season. Keiran is a tricky one, he’s not much to shout about mentally, but has very good technical attributes and fairly solid physicals. I’m not quite sure what the future holds for him, he’s yet to play a game for Chelsea, but with a value of over £3m from a fee of just £325k, he’s already proved a very good investment.

A player who should certainly find a first team role in some position is Nathan Ake (Centre Back/DM/MC). Nathan has great pace, solid mental attributes and physicals that still need some development. I’m just not sure whether he’s better at the back or in midfield. Despite his low-ish Determination, he has a Professional personality and should find a role in the squad somewhere. The most likely situation right now is he’ll become a utility player who can fill a number of roles. I’m not yet sure whether he’ll step up this coming season or next, but he’s certainly going to get a chance in Pre-season and will give me something to think about.

One player who’s definitely moving into the first team squad this coming season is young Lewis Baker (Central Midfield/AML/C/R)[/b]. He’s been developing really well (as he has been IRL and had a fantastic game today) in his loan spell with Middlesbrough. Despite not having many great performances, his attributes have continued to improve, and he already looks like a good solid Deep Lying Playmaker. I’ll need to work on his Stamina, Teamwork and Positioning, but I’m hoping he still has some potential to grow (he’s supposedly at one and a half stars of a four star PA, but I’m not that sure as his PA has been steadily declining in the view of my coaches, which is natural as I’ve brought in better youth players), but he’s ready for some first team action next season.

A much more disappointing story is that of Lucas Piazon (Left Inside Forward/AMC/AMR). In two loan spells he just hasn’t developed at all. This year he was also at Crystal Palace, and while he did have a few issues with injuries, I’m still really disappointed that he hasn’t developed. Of all my youngsters, he’s probably the closest to the door at this point, as he’s simply not good enough right now and I’m not sure he ever will be. I will determine his future this summer, but it’s not looking good.

Want raw pace? You’re in luck, I’ve got Alex Kiwomya (Striker/AMR). Alex had a decent spell at Sheffield United, a team that got relegated. He broke double figures, with ten goals in just nineteen start, a good return in a very poor side I think. Like Feruz, Ghulam and Lincoln, he’s a striker with no physicality. But Alex can also player on the right wing, so if I can massively boost his Crossing and Dribbling, he could provide a good option on that flank, or possibly as an Inside Forward coming in from the left, though that’s less likely. Alex will probably be at the club until January so that I can focus on his weak attributes, before getting another loan move in January.

Finally, did fairly well in his loan spell with Coventry, scoring 11 goals in all competitions for a that finished 11th in League One. I quite like Feruz, he’s different to my other strikers as he’s a real Poacher, but I’m not sure how we;; he’d fit into my formation with his really poor Jumping. He may be able to develop into a good inside forward, only time will tell. He’s on the verge of First Team action, but he’s probably not there yet, so it could be he’ll get a short-term loan move and I’ll re-evaluate his position in January. If I could improve his Jumping then I’d have no reservations about bringing him into the First Team squad, but I’m just not sure at this point.

Other Loanees

Both Wallace and Tomas Kalas suffered really bad injuries and so their progressions have really stalled. I’m not sure what to do with either yet, but I’ll evaluate them when they return at the end of June. Joe Harkin, Andreas Christensen, and Bertrand Traore will probably be loaned out again next season for more experience and development. Players like John Swift, George Saville, and Ryan Gauld will be back at the club for some time next season, to develop and add bodies into that Reserve team that seemed light on bodies last year, while others such as Alex Davey, Dion Conroy, Cristian Cuevas, Joao Rodriguez, Mitchell Beeney, Dion Conroy and sadly probably Billy Clifford will be leaving the club, they’re just not going to get the first team football they need here, so I’ll try and ensure they get the best moves possible to continue their developments as professional footballers. Kenneth Ormeruo may have a role at the club next year, he hasn’t really developed too much but I could be light on centre-backs depending on transfer activity, so I’ll evaluate him when he develops.

So, that’s pretty much it for this season and I can finally move on to next year I just need one bit of help from you guys with an issue I’ve got that I haven’t decided on yet, and I don’t want to progress too far until I’ve sorted it out, so that’ll be the next post.