BoxToBox Posted December 5, 2017 Author Share Posted December 5, 2017 Didn't realise the transfer window was still open in France, this happened late in the day... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 5, 2017 Author Share Posted December 5, 2017 Two months down, and we've combined past attacking intent with a much sturdier defence, mainly due to the growth of Glenn Taylor. Board are very unhappy with the Carabao Cup result, wanted a QF appearance, but with Man City on the first of the month, the squad for QPR was entirely backup and youth. Something new, comfortably on top of the Prem. Alderton has turned into a killer forward. Taylor is the reason for our defensive uptick, he's turning into a real beast, and putting in the performances to match it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fer Fuchs Ake Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 Killing it in the league. Taylor looks like a beast at the back. Those physicals are mouth-watering. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 5, 2017 Author Share Posted December 5, 2017 1 hour ago, Fer Fuchs Ake said: Killing it in the league. Taylor looks like a beast at the back. Those physicals are mouth-watering. Cheers! He's just constantly improving, too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 Unbelievable prospects in Alderton and Taylor! Leader at the back and top goal scorer sorted for the next ten years! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
yatesiboi37 Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 You are obviously doing a fantastic job with regards to develop your younger players! Could you possibly give some insight as to how you set up training (both team and individual) and how you handle younger players in terms of playing time, tutoring and loans? This has always been an area of the game where I've struggled so it would be great to get some help from someone who clearly knows what they are doing! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 6, 2017 Author Share Posted December 6, 2017 6 hours ago, DavidBeckham said: Unbelievable prospects in Alderton and Taylor! Leader at the back and top goal scorer sorted for the next ten years! Aye, with them we're set short and long term. 4 hours ago, yatesiboi37 said: You are obviously doing a fantastic job with regards to develop your younger players! Could you possibly give some insight as to how you set up training (both team and individual) and how you handle younger players in terms of playing time, tutoring and loans? This has always been an area of the game where I've struggled so it would be great to get some help from someone who clearly knows what they are doing! Cheers! I can do of course, but it's nothing special. Team training is simple, I always set balanced/average. Individual training is not too different, just pick what role I think will suit them best, and any attribute that I feel is a weakness in their game. Alderton for example has been training Advanced Forward and Passing. Haven't been able to tutor too much this save but it's just a case of having the more professional and resolute lads with decent determination tutor the ones less professional. I generally don't loan players I think have a big future at the club, unless they're pretty well developed and need lots of minutes(I like them to become homegrown if they're bought players). Most of them I'll try and give them the odd game right from the start when I can get away with it. The ones I like the very best will stay on the 1st team bench whenever fit and available, any match that's well in hand they'll get subbed on about the 60-70 minute mark. Those regular 20-30 minutes will do them the world of good. Taylor had like 30 senior starts before he turned 18, I think. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcconnell1 Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 Fantastic end to the season, huge congratulations. Cracking start to the new season too, keep it up! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 6, 2017 Author Share Posted December 6, 2017 19 minutes ago, danmcconnell1 said: Fantastic end to the season, huge congratulations. Cracking start to the new season too, keep it up! Cheers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 6, 2017 Author Share Posted December 6, 2017 Into the winter window, and we're still hanging on to top, just not so comfortably as before. We've been hurt badly by injuries, Lee missed two months with a fractured leg(Pellegrini came in handy after all!), Redfern in defence 3 with a spine injury, Taylor all of December with fractured ribs, O'Leary a month with ankle ligament damage. A couple of strikers all picked up knocks at once, meaning youth Mbiyavanga has had regular games the last few months. Boy is going to be amazing. Also, two things of note, mentioned resting the first team for Man City, so we lost that, naturally. Also how much the defence improved, so they instantly shipped 5, though still won, strange things happen in Malmo after dark.... It's all about Alderton, Cassaro and Sheldon, one of 'em will always get ya. We were very lucky, Man City choked the Christmas run. CL went well, despite a tough group, drew Dortmund because of course we did. Second Golden Boy in a row(three overall), and the most deserving yet for the amazing Alderton. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maw74 Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 A great 7-5 win, that is the kind of results I like to see, doing things Stopsley style. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 6, 2017 Author Share Posted December 6, 2017 5 hours ago, Maw74 said: A great 7-5 win, that is the kind of results I like to see, doing things Stopsley style. It's how football was meant to be played. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 6, 2017 Author Share Posted December 6, 2017 Big transfer window, as I made some hard decisions, and one notably sad one. I transfer listed and sold a number of senior players, including a club legend. A solid servant to the club that never complained, for 3.8m + 50% of profit. Pelegrin was his equal defensively, but far more physically gifted, and technically better too, not to mention 7 years younger. 6.75m, good player, very good even, but I wanted to move Henderson to the senior side, and needed room, he was the most expendable. This is the sad one, a club legend goes. We still had way too many mids, so another had to go, and Cooney was the, sigh, obvious choice, being one of the weakest personalities at the club. Wolves get a steal at 7.5m. 8.5m, he goes to free up room for Mbiyavanga to step into the senior side. After all that, this happens.... Gomes stirring up the squad, some of these lads only got their chance because of situations like this. Told them to shut up and they returned to happiness. Not much I can do about it now, as Gomes is clearly better than the other keepers we have, but our best keeping prospect is going to get a lot more games going forward... This happened late in deadline day, once they were told to clear off, they started randomly bidding on other young mids at the club, 24m for Upson, notably. The three promotions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 6, 2017 Author Share Posted December 6, 2017 Two more months down, and on we march. Great form overall, and a surprise away win at Dortmund, can't complain. Of course, mid way through Feb, Pellegrini came to my office demanding a new contract. Half a season into a deal? No chance! So he has the hump and has been dropped to the U23's. Karma for Cooney. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 7, 2017 Author Share Posted December 7, 2017 Youth Intake Day! Swings and roundabouts, this one. Our second generational talent! On the flipside, if you excluded him, this is one of the worst intakes we've ever had, even Bob Hird is a no hoper for me. Will only be keeping Bonfrere and Pelling who has a decent personality. He's a winger and we don't use them, but he's already capable up front and has a lot of the tools to be really useful there. I see him being amazing as one of the DLF roles. Strange that he has three nationalities. This is Hird, some interesting attributes and maybe great potential, but no determination, no ambition, no squad role, no tutors, no chance. Shame. If I wasn't still trying to influence the squads personalities into a better direction, I'd have taken the risk, but professionalism and determination aren't generally high enough yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fer Fuchs Ake Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 Bonfrére has everything! Great pace for his age, very high determination, brilliant dribbling for his age and decent crossing. No wonder he's a generational talent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 7, 2017 Author Share Posted December 7, 2017 10 minutes ago, Fer Fuchs Ake said: Bonfrére has everything! Great pace for his age, very high determination, brilliant dribbling for his age and decent crossing. No wonder he's a generational talent. He even dropped straight into the U18's core social group, which is a good sign he has at least reasonably good professionalism. Only downside so far was him picking up a knock in the trial game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bedese Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 Think you might be making a mistake in letting Hird walk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 7, 2017 Author Share Posted December 7, 2017 5 minutes ago, Jupjamie said: Think you might be making a mistake in letting Hird walk I just can't take the risk with personality drops, it seems much, much stronger an effect than it was in 17. This is my first team squad, and I'm still seeing the odd determination or professionalism drop. Glenn Taylor's dropped from Professional, to Fairly Professional, then got a slight Det boost and hit Resolute, then lost that again and is back to Fairly Professional. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bedese Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 14 minutes ago, BoxToBox said: I just can't take the risk with personality drops, it seems much, much stronger an effect than it was in 17. This is my first team squad, and I'm still seeing the odd determination or professionalism drop. Glenn Taylor's dropped from Professional, to Fairly Professional, then got a slight Det boost and hit Resolute, then lost that again and is back to Fairly Professional. It's fair enough, I just wonder if he could grow on to be something... any chance you could shortlist and keep tabs on him? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 11 minutes ago, Jupjamie said: It's fair enough, I just wonder if he could grow on to be something... any chance you could shortlist and keep tabs on him? Will do, no problem. If I had anyone that could tutor him, I'd have cracked on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 I realise now, Taoui might have been able, he's a striker, but accomplished on either wing. Not a great personality, but passable... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 @Jupjamie You were right, I should have been giving him a chance... brought him in. Turns out we had plenty of tutors available, I never knew pure strikers like Sheldon could tutor AMR/L's... Cassaro's on the case now but we have a few to loop through if any go badly. Training to play CM, might have a wee Mezzala on our hands. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 Two more months down, and the run in is tight, in fact it was starting to look like we'd thrown it away when Man Utd drew level on points. We had a game in hand, but it was away at Man City. BOOM! Alderton had a brace of assists, too. Man, O'Leary was surprised when he got fined a weeks wages afterwards..... As it stands, two games should see us the title with goal difference, but we all know what happened last season. Also, Liverpool! Man Utd have the harder run in, Liverpool might be in a relegation form, but that means nothing in a derby. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 What a nervy match, and just when it was looking like it was too late, Lee pops up to basically win us the league. Man Utd need to beat us with a goal difference of +6 to overtake us now. Entirely possible for us to concede six, but at home I'd expect us to score too. EDIT: We've been at Elland Road all season, and move back home for just the last game of the season! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 Perfect welcome home. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 Another season down, and what a season! Almost came down to goal difference, but we managed to prove clear winners with the last kick of the season, deep in Fergie time, against Man Utd. Failed in the cups, but the board quickly got over it, had a lot of fun in Europe, Sheldon tore Dortmund a new one. Expected to do better against Lyon though, but I guess as a team we're still a bit young and naive, as I constantly play my system home and away for better or worse. We'll get there, eventually. Liverpool, lead by Diego Simeone, relegated. What a mental season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted December 8, 2017 Share Posted December 8, 2017 Ahahaha Liverpool 😂😂 did anything happen to them behind the scenes that led to them dropping so far (debt, selling players etc). Well done on the league win! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 17 minutes ago, shaunvamos said: Ahahaha Liverpool 😂😂 did anything happen to them behind the scenes that led to them dropping so far (debt, selling players etc). Well done on the league win! Cheers! They failed FFP in 2024, but since have been taken over by a consortium. Squads a bit average in places, but still more than good enough to be in the top half. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted December 8, 2017 Share Posted December 8, 2017 36 minutes ago, BoxToBox said: Cheers! They failed FFP in 2024, but since have been taken over by a consortium. Squads a bit average in places, but still more than good enough to be in the top half. Ah right, will be interesting to see how they bounce back. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 20 minutes ago, shaunvamos said: Ah right, will be interesting to see how they bounce back. I'd be surprised if they didn't smash the Championship, but I guess if morale's low, a key player leaves, they could get a nasty shock. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fer Fuchs Ake Posted December 8, 2017 Share Posted December 8, 2017 Congratulations on the league win! Lol at Liverpool as well. At least ‘Next year will be our year’ is probably going to be true for them next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andychar Posted December 8, 2017 Share Posted December 8, 2017 36 minutes ago, Fer Fuchs Ake said: Congratulations on the league win! Lol at Liverpool as well. At least ‘Next year will be our year’ is probably going to be true for them next season. "We won the Championship! Its called the Championship because only the best teams can be crowned Champions! 19 times" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted December 8, 2017 Share Posted December 8, 2017 Congrats on the title win! Smashing it as always mate! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneronaldo Posted December 8, 2017 Share Posted December 8, 2017 Googled the lads birth place out of curiosity, turns out that Leudal place is right on the border between Belgium and the Netherlands. Bit curious though that he has English nationality too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 6 hours ago, Fer Fuchs Ake said: Congratulations on the league win! Lol at Liverpool as well. At least ‘Next year will be our year’ is probably going to be true for them next season. The boys will finally come up the hill. 5 hours ago, andychar said: "We won the Championship! Its called the Championship because only the best teams can be crowned Champions! 19 times" Already booking the parade, no doubt. 5 hours ago, DavidBeckham said: Congrats on the title win! Smashing it as always mate! Cheers! 1 hour ago, oneronaldo said: Googled the lads birth place out of curiosity, turns out that Leudal place is right on the border between Belgium and the Netherlands. Bit curious though that he has English nationality too I should have realised! I had a save in 17 with Sittard which was on the border too, and most of the youths in intakes were half Belgian. I guess the English bit is because of brexit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcconnell1 Posted December 8, 2017 Share Posted December 8, 2017 Brilliant, what a way to win it, at the new home! As for Liverpool, just wow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 1 minute ago, danmcconnell1 said: Brilliant, what a way to win it, at the new home! As for Liverpool, just wow. Cheers! Last two seasons have been properly bizarre. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipky Posted December 8, 2017 Share Posted December 8, 2017 I forgot about this and now you're in the PL. This is unblievable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 22 minutes ago, Slipky said: I forgot about this and now you're in the PL. This is unblievable. Lower leagues flew by at surprising pace. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheriff7 Posted December 8, 2017 Share Posted December 8, 2017 What the F@@k man??I left for somedays and when i return you have already: Seed 1st in CL group stage draw,won league,beat City 6-1 and have Netherlands,Chinese and Basques??!!! regens?? You must kidding me... Congrats again!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 2 hours ago, Sheriff7 said: What the F@@k man??I left for somedays and when i return you have already: Seed 1st in CL group stage draw,won league,beat City 6-1 and have Netherlands,Chinese and Basques??!!! regens?? You must kidding me... Congrats again!! Cheers! Chinese haven't given me anything decent yet, I'd like a good one with the owner and all. Athlone Town have yet to give me a half decent Irishman either, and we've just picked up an American affiliate too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 9, 2017 Author Share Posted December 9, 2017 We crack on with another season, hopefully my young squad will grow enough to give Europe a real tackle. We suffered another weird Wolf Cup late cancellation, Ajax this time. Luckily I had just enough time to set up a new one. Strange CL group. Leverkusen were about the easiest 2nd seed available, Valencia one of the hardest 3rd seeds, but they're still kind of meh. Shakhtar probably the hardest 4th seed. This happened early in the transfer window, they having a laugh?! After his tantrums, Pellegrini was chucked for 18m, well rid. Replaced him with an academy lad. This guy comes in from Man Utd, as our u18's were a ghost town defensively. Hopefully he hits some kind of useful level. Leiria have surprisingly become an European regular last 5 years. This lad was there on a one year contract, and left after it, so we were happy to pick him up, 5* potential, and a murderous finisher on either peg. Initially he was going to stick with the u23's, but when a few clubs came in and offered to pay his wages and give him regular first team football, it was a no brainer to send him back out to develop as he'd never become homegrown anyway. Funnily enough, Leiria were one of the clubs that asked to loan him. They only wanted to pay 30% of his wages, though! Gomes is still first choice, and while I have a lot of potentially good keepers, none of them have shot stopping close to him, or what I'd want. This guy's close, and even better at communication, a fine backup that could take over as starter if none of the younger lads kick on. That said, Gomes is 29, that's entering a keepers prime, so worst case scenario, we have him another 5-7 years. This lad was brought in to drop in the u23's as emergency depth, hoping to never need him. Pretty quickly starting CB Shaun Lloyd broke his ankle, meaning this lad is certainly needed. As an aside, Lloyd recently made his England debut. In the World Cup final, which they won! What a way to start a national career. Probably never get called up again, mind..... Liverpool haven't exactly started their assault on the Championship so hot. Bizarrely, they sold their star CB, CM, AM, AMR and ST, and only bought strikers. Of which they bough three! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 9, 2017 Author Share Posted December 9, 2017 Thought it might be a good time for a run through the squad. Goalkeepers. Solid stoppers. Not much else to say. Rightbacks. Possibly our strongest position, Augusto is a monster, and Hope would be good enough to start for most teams, just wish he'd ditch Stays Back. Leftbacks. O'Leary came through in League 2, and has consistently excelled, remaining our key player, but now also one of England's stars. Tripaldelli is a solid if more defensive backup, and a fine tutor. Centrebacks. Taylor is living up to his generational tag, well on his way to being world class. Lloyd is a solid partner who looks to have peaked early. Eight years later, Redfern and Fisher reman with us, as strong backups, though about level with Lloyd so could easily start. Defensive mids. Giles turned into a fine DM, but not as ludicrous as his intake day would have you think. Pellegrin looks like he'll overtake him in the near-ish future. Central mids. Henderson is looking about ready to be first choice, still listed as the clubs hottest prospect(ahead of Taylor!!!), so it's looking like he could be straight up special. Lee is another oldboy from the League 2 days, still a starter, still killing it. Clucas' passing is a joy, would easily start only for Henderson. Allen is Pellegrini's replacement. Doesn't especially fit my tactics(but does a job as a Mezzala), rapid and hard working is always good, though! Strikers. Alderton has turned into a quality well rounded forward. Sheldon is a legend. Taoui has been amazing since he joined pretty even split of goals and assist. Thompson-Hull never hit the heights his intake levels suggested, but he's a good PL striker, and has always performed well for the team. Cassaro is a fine forward too, always gets his share of goals. Probably should start ahead of Sheldon, but Sheldon is a legend. Mbiyavanga is well on his way to being a monster. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 Another Wolf Cup win. Glad you got back to winning ways in that. Would be intriguing to see how Liverpool do now. Could see them freefalling tbh. Any sign if Bradford sneaking into the PL? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 9, 2017 Author Share Posted December 9, 2017 3 hours ago, Nottingham Forest said: Another Wolf Cup win. Glad you got back to winning ways in that. Would be intriguing to see how Liverpool do now. Could see them freefalling tbh. Any sign if Bradford sneaking into the PL? Cheers! I'll be keeping a close eye on Liverpool all season. Much worse for Bradford, they're just promoted *to* League One. Chris Houghton's their manager. Giggs was for a while, part of the reason they dropped to League Two. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 It's a shame about Bradford tbh. Would be good for them to be in the PL eventually so you get a derby match of some form. I don't think you've played them yet have you? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 9, 2017 Author Share Posted December 9, 2017 2 minutes ago, Nottingham Forest said: It's a shame about Bradford tbh. Would be good for them to be in the PL eventually so you get a derby match of some form. I don't think you've played them yet have you? No competitively, no. Real shame, I was looking forward to it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 Tbh, I don't think you could have expected shooting up the leagues as quickly as you did. Although, from some of the comments I've seen, it seems to be the norm for BoxtoBox . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted December 9, 2017 Author Share Posted December 9, 2017 It's a bit of a habit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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