FM18 - Where Bolton Wander

[craiigman]

Where Bolton Wander. Bolton Wanderers FM 2018. Been wanting to do a Bolton save for a while now, and this is it. Goal is to get them back to the Premiership and at least mid-table.

Full disclaimer, the In Game Editor is being used for a few things, I will touch on them as I go. But the main use of it is scouting, and again I will touch on it some more as I go.

The setup:

Selected nations: England to league 2 (should have done to conference, will add them for next season). Players from top teams in Europe. About 30k players.

- Add players to playable clubs

- Add key staff

- Disable attribute masking

 

The Club:

- Predicted to finish 20th, 2 places off the drop.

- Finances: Okay.

- Transfer budget: 10k

- Wage budget: 200k

- No philosophies

- Target: avoid relegation

 

The squad:

The starting squad for Bolton is fairly poor, but there are a few exceptions. The best thing about the squad though is the contract lengths. Longest contracts expire in 2 years, meaning there is lots of opportunity for recruitment. Transfer balance makes this tricky, but there is one rather large helping hand. Rob Holding. Although now at Arsenal, he has a clause which you can sell for £3.4M, and if sold before your initial meeting, you get to keep all of it.

Let's meet the key players (note screen shots are after 1st league game):

Josh Vela: Has a big injury to start off with, which means have to get by without him. But he's a big player, and going to be a big help when he's back.

Craig Noone: Very solid IF for this level

Wheater and Beevers: Wheater been down, down, up again with Bolton. Last year of his contract, but key this season. Beevers also very solid, probably better. Good platform to build on.

Sammy Ameobi: Another injured player to start. But when he's back he offers that flair winger goodness.

Jem Karacan: Solid CM, offers a lot as a support role as he gets into opposition area. Also plays it simple.

ALF: If I want goals, I need him to step up. But he is 30 now.

Derek Osede: Heading not quite good enough for a CB. But is a very interesting player somewhere else, will touch on that in a upcoming post.

They are the key players to start off with. What about youth prospects?

Jake Turner: Has the potential to be as good as my first team keepers, maybe a bit better. But his determination is very low. Currently have him being tutored to try and raised this to see if he can become anything here.

Jeff King: Already 21 and not quite good enough for the first team. Unsure what to do with him, think he will likely go.

Alex Perry: Thinking a loan for him to see how he does, and re-evaluate on his return.

They are the only few. However as I set add players to playable teams, I appear to have had a bit of luck:

According to the game, he's already better than my 2 1st team keepers. He's only 16, but doesn't have the highest of ceilings. He will be playing cup games at least this season. Both keepers contracts run out at end of season.

This guy looks the part. Need to put some work in to get him there, but that's the plan.

There are a few others with good potential in the under 18's as regens, but start a lot lower, so work to be done there.

 

Next post will be transfers, system, scouting, and explaining where the in-game editor is being used.

Then training and development.

[craiigman]

Transfers, scouting, In game editor

 

Boltons squad needed quite a bit of work to ensure we avoid relegation, with £3M to spend now due to the Rob Holding clause, had some room to work with. However I do not like the scouting this year, and this is where the Editor is being used. I have enabled Show all players in search. What this does is just show all the players in the game world in the search. You are still restricted by who you can scout by your package, but this just saves me going through every team, which you still can.

Next up I view CA/PA as part of my views. This will go away once regens start populating properly, but so far it's just a few teams who have regens due to add players to playable teams. Also no harm when I have no budget to buy any of them.

I also show Asking Price under my views, this gives me a quick indication of what I might have to spend, with a very limited budget, it's helpful. Again if I get to the point where I have more to play with, I'll turn this off.

Lastly, I released the following 3 players for free:

Taylor old and no interest. Buckley on £10k per week, and Wilbraham in 37.

That's it for the editor, no transfer to club, and adding money, no changing stats etc. Just a few things to make my life easier.

 

Transfers in/out:

I'll be honest, most of these are signings @Cleon made in his Sheffield United save, here's the overview though:

Feel I have got a lot for the money spent, here they are:

Those 4 are courtesy of Cleon. Offers me lots of depths and options in midfield, and also a starter left back.

Lewis Morgan: Well known already, needed an extra man on the left wing, with Sammy out injured.

Hugo Basto: Playing in the Portuguese 2nd division. £350k a bargain. And has brings ball out of defence. Only player found using the show all players option.

Anthony Forde: I need another striker to go with Madine and ALF. I released the 37 year old and sent back Armstrong on loan. Now I know he isn't a striker, but I'm converting him into a DLF. Will look more at him a bit later in the development section.

I sold Dervite, his money was invested so spent total of £3.2M, and I think I've done well with the money.

It does leave me with a fairly large squad, but with the contract situation and a few older players knocking around, I'm okay with it for the coming season.

 

The Systems:

 

Madine is the main striker for the 433, but goals expected to come from else where, Madine:

 

The half back works really well with wing backs, so far anyway, this is where Derek Osede comes into play:

 

Currently no TI's or PI's on either, add them in game when needed. Only roles not 100% on at the moment are the Carrilero's, will update as we go.

No real style of play as of yet, I have an idea of what I want, but first need to ensure don't get relegated and continue to make smart transfers, if there is a budget.

[craiigman]

Won't get far without good staff, and I made a huge overhaul to the staff:

Now we have at least 3 star across first team, under 23's, and under 18's. But here's the first team:

Few changes will be need to improve once can interest other people. Plus setting just England playable means less overall staff to pick from.

[craiigman]

Pre-season:

Pre-season went well, although most games were vs weaker/much weaker opposition:

Was happy with the wins vs Grasshoppers, Mouscron, and Norwich. But it's pre-season and didn't really have any system in place, was more about the fitness levels. But from playing and watching the games I put something together for the last couple of games.

Player of the pre-season was probably Gary Madine, with 7 goals, 2 assists, and 6 clear chances created, he has proved himself half useful. Morais and Noone also had good showings. ALF also bagged 7 goals.

[craiigman]

Getting the show on the road

First game of the season at home to Leeds United, media predicted 8th placed finish.

They played a 4-3-3 Narrow, which I hate playing against on FM. But was still fairly confidant, the line-ups:

Forde starting as a DLF(S), and this game was all about him. 3 chances created, 5 key passes, 2 assists. MOTM.

They grabbed a late goal to ruin our clean sheet, but we handled everything else they threw at us. Great start with a good win.

Match stats:

Le Fondre was caught offside 10 times..

[craiigman]

August update:

It's safe to say any system we did have has now gone out the window. Major injury to Craig Noone and a spell on the sidelines for Lewis Morgan meant 1 winger in the first team. The 4132 was resulting in my wing backs being doubled up on.

But results have been fairly positive:

Chesterfield taking me to penalties was disappointing in the cup, but did play a few 16 year olds, got there in the end.

Millwall away is never nice, 1-1 can't complain too much, both had chances to seal it, didn't take them.

Birmingham away, leaves a bit of a sour taste. We equalised in the 86th minute, for them to just hoof it out of defence in the 90th and my defence stood still as their striker went through unchallenged.

Derby at home gave us out next win, tight game. Think we just edged it and the result shows.

Sheff Wed in the cup, awful game for both sides. You can never give Rhodes space in the box, he will punish you. Not bothered about going out of the cup, injuries mounting up.

Hull away. Hull are top, leagues big spenders. Would have taken a draw all day to start with. But we went 2-1 up in the 86th minute. They scored in the 4th minute of injury time, another hoof out of defence right over the top and my defenders standing still to let him score. Ended up disappointed not to win.

 

This does leave us currently at mid-table:

 

You may have noticed a new scorer:

Got him in on loan from Dortmund, injuries to wingers meant I needed someone to come in. Already showing his quality in the first few games.

I also took Harry Wilson on loan from Liverpool, but he's also currently injured. Will offer extra depth to the wide areas. I wanted Woodburn, but they weren't having it. Wilson is still a quality option.

 

Player of the month:

Anthony Forde

Took to the DLF position like a natural, would probably have double the assists if ALF was as clinical as he should be. His form dropped a little last couple of games, but that's due to my tactical decisions really. He has a lot of offer in this role:

His finishing has let him down a couple of times, but really he's here to create, and that's what he's good at, even with 11 vision:

- 22 key passes made

- 4.38 key passes a game

- 4 assists

- 12 chances created

- 2.39 chances created a game

- 1 goal scored

- 3 MOTM awards

Currently training him as a DLF, and trait Play one-twos. If he can learn that, I will be putting him on finishing training to try and help that attribute as much as possible.

Honorable mention:

Derek Osede

Recycles possession so well at half-back, but he's got good vision (13) and passing (15)so thinking may be good to get him a bit further up the pitch.

 

Need to improve

- Corners - let in more than 1 corner at the near post so far, need to get some setup asap

- need to deal with this long ball over the top, maybe if we take a late lead I'll drop the back line a little bit and go disciplined. Something to think about.

They are the two biggest issues when letting in goals, which I want to focus on going forward. Still lots of work to do in terms of general play, making some strange decisions when passing options available.

[craiigman]

September update:

September started poorly, but has picked up a bit as it's gone on. The Sheff Utd result meant a change of system, now a 3/5 at the back system. It's really meant I have a solid defence, but work to be done in attack.

 

They took their goal really well, but we should have won this one. Wasted too many chances, can't win if you don't score. May well be the story of this season.

Lost to 2 corners and a random deep cross. 10 men with just 1 up top. We also had a goal disallowed before their 3rd, still not sure why. Bitter taste left, change of system required.

New system, ALF steps up and smashes it. Why can't he do this every game?

Dodgy penalty decision, we levelled it up. Failed to make any real chances on goal.

Dominated the game, but failed to take the chances we did make, Forde scored a worldly into injury time.

Dominated Villa away in everything, other than chances. They didn't have any themselves either, but a real bore draw.

 

The new system is much better in defence and keeping the ball, but we either can't create chances or we aren't taking them. I have lots of "support" players, very few creators. No budget to work with in January, means I think this will be our season.

This does leave us in 9th place, however the Championship is so close:

8 points separate 2nd to 21st.

[craiigman]

October-November Update:

Things haven't been going so well, we've just been awful all over the place. Really disappointing performances, and more frustrating is the type of goals conceded.

We did finally get a win after 8 games, was a huge result away Wolves, but we have been in a free fall in the table. Although we started the season just wanting to avoid relegation, recent form has really been disappointing, I don't feel like the players are as poor as they have been showing. Goals we keep letting in all look very similar, but anything I put in place to try and stop it backfires.

- 9 Corners

- 13 crosses

The the others are rebounds from corners mainly. A few well worked goals, but really we're struggling to deal with crosses, even with small strikers who have 5 heading. Teams just spam crosses, and if they don't score from that, they get a corner, and score from that. **** goals really. But if I try to put in loads of crosses, nothing happens other than they win the ball back.

The other weak spot is between the CB's and the full backs. Really getting frustrated at the moment, and January isn't going to make anything any easier as no budget what so ever.

That sums it up really, allow too many chances, don't take the ones we make.

I will persist, but it's getting tough.

[craiigman]

Winter update:

We've had a tough old time this winter, table is at tight as ever at the bottom, and a win is a big deal.

We followed up the win at Wolves with a home win vs Barnsley, took a loss on the road, before 2 back to back home wins, which did leave is in a good position. Then the same old issues came  back and the results started to suffer.

Somehow we beat Newcastle in the FA Cup, I set up with my second string side hoping to lose really, didn't want the extra games, relegation battle going on. But they done really well, and was super proud of them. 

Then Ipswich at home, we dominated, but took us to the 87th minute to score. Then my defenders decided to mess around with the back in defence and gift them a last minute equaliser. Not happy.

Cardiff away didn't take our chances again. Then Bristol at home had be so close to quitting. Went 2-0 to 2 cross header goals. Got back to 2-2, they then score a cross header goal again, somehow we managed to nick it, but it was a truly testing game.

And that's honestly what I've noticed most about the game this year, or at least the Championship. Cross header goals and target men. Even players who are short, and have poor heading are used as target men, and yet show how still score headers vs me. At first I recognised that my CB Basto had just 12 heading, which could have been having an effect, when I went with a Beever-Wheater pairing, this helped for a few games, then it stopped working again and the crosses just kept coming. Plus Wheater only has 5 passing, so causing other issue.

I have tried this approach, and it doesn't work for me at all. Unsure if ME issue or Championship football, but it's not very enjoyable.

Table currently looks like this:

We have managed to get ourselves 6 points clear of the drop.

May have noticed a new scorer on the results.

On loan from Stoke, panic signing really. Had about £4k per week of wages and that was it. Tried James Wilson of Man Utd, but they wanted £10k per week contribution. No other strikers offered pace, which is what I needed, so I ended up with pace and no end result, except he's 2 for 3 sub appearances so far. I should not have sent Adam Armstrong back to Newcastle at the start, bad decision.

I do feel like we can stay in this division, but I am worried about what happens when we do and still have no money.

I know clear cut chances don't mean everything, but when you look at the stats now, it's really telling:

Still lots of games to play, next update will likely be the end of the season now.

P.S. is anyone reading?

[craiigman]

I will do a tactics update though, current system:

A very simple 4-3-3 system, with tighter marking added to try and keep hold of those pesky target men, worked to begin with, but recently less so, may need to turn it off again.

I tend to add TI's as the games go on. Sometimes I don't need more, sometimes I do. Generally I try to leave it alone.

[craiigman]

Player highlight: Anthony Forde, cost £875k from Rotherham.

The signing of Anthony Forde was with the impression he could be re-trained to be a DLF, as he had decent stats to play that role, here he is at the start of the game:

I have trained him as a DLF, but more recently as a CM due to a change in system, but I think I will train him as a DLF for the rest of the season as I've got the 4-3-3 as above, and a 3-5-2 again. I have also trained him "play more one-two's"

Here he is mid-late February in the first season:

No major increases, but there certainly has been a few. The main reason I am highlighting him though, is not just because it shows you can re-train players for new roles, but just how well he's been doing.

He's got 7 goals, 7 assists in 23(7) games for me, which is decent, but doesn't tell the full story:

He's currently leading both key passes and chances created for the whole league. At CM I don't think he can maintain that chance creation, but like I said I'm going back to using him as a DLF, so hopefully he can continue to keep it up.

But just wanted to share how good he's been really, could be a great buy for lots of Championship sides.

[craiigman]

Youth intake day

Apparently I could have "a golden generation" on my hands. Now don't get me wrong, there is some good potential here, but due to the low youth coaching, they start very low. I don't see many of them reaching their potential. I've decided to just sign all recommended on this occasion, which I think was all of them.

It leaves me with a large under 18 squad, which is not good for development. So this is the perfect time to evaluate the squads for next season and start planning which direction to go moving forward.

I don't want an under 18's/under 23's squad that has too many players for one position, they then won't get any game time at those levels.

Finally I've decided that for me to get the most enjoyment out of this save, I need some money. Current balance 2nd March 2018:

Now I know it's possible to start making money, but really it's going to take several seasons, and frankly I do not have the time, and I will get left behind in the league. So here is what I have decided to do, feel free to stop following if you have been following, which seems like no one, but I enjoy making these posts.

 

Bolton announce a HUGE £75m sponsorship deal

Today Bolton annonce a new £75m sponsorship deal. This is a £15m per year deal, for the next 5 years, for sponsorship of Bolton's training gear, has come under a lot of scrutiny. The company 'Ben Hogg's boxtobox' has strong links to Bolton's manager, and the deal is said to only be valid while the Bolton manager is in charge. While the deal has been passed through The FA, fans of other clubs are dubious to say the least.

 

So that's what I'm doing. I'll be adding £15m every year using the in-game editor. Will add the funds after the youth intake each year. I will be adding the funds to the overall balance, not the transfer budget. I will let the board decide if I actually get any of that money to invest in the side.

But here is where we are now:

[craiigman]

Ignore this post.

[danmcconnell1]

I am following and feel like you should play how you want, although threads have been locked for similar things in the past though so be careful with your use of the editor, especially if you're clearly showing you're using it to gain an advantage, it may be frowned upon. 

[craiigman]

On 16/01/2018 at 11:56, danmcconnell1 said:

I am following and feel like you should play how you want, although threads have been locked for similar things in the past though so be careful with your use of the editor, especially if you're clearly showing you're using it to gain an advantage, it may be frowned upon. 

Nothing in the rules says the editor can’t be used, just don’t show the CA/PA. Either way I have reloaded my save from before I started using a downloaded tactic. I’ll re-do my end of season post when I get there.

First two results have been excellent, trying out my own tactics again.

I rushed to the end of the season, and didn’t plan like I should have. This time taking my time and getting everything ready for the summer window.

Hope you keep on following.

[craiigman]

End of season 1 v2

I did play to the end of the season, with a plug and play tactic, but honestly it felt cheap, so I loaded a save to before I done this, hence v2. I did however end up in the same position and goal difference, but with 2 more points. But here it is:

Up and down form, but ended the season on an 8 game unbeaten streak! I secured Championship football vs Millwall and from then have been planning for next season and trying some new tactics, think I've got roughly what I'm going for now.

Final table

Saw us finish in 14th, which really is quite amazing considering we should have been in a relegation battle all the way, but we never once went into the drop zone.

We finished 6th on goals scored:

But 20th on goals conceded:

15 corners let in was the most in the league. Based on those stats it's obvious what we need to improve on.

 

The players:

 

Anthony Forde - 10 goals, 14 assists, joint most key passes, 2nd most chances created. Easily player of the season.

 

Adam Le Fondre - 15 goals, 7 assists, 131 offsides. Yep 131.

Gary Madine - 10 goals, 6 assists - Proved he isn't completely useless after all. Put in a real good showing towards end of season with number of goals.

Jacob Bruun Larsen - 8 goals, 5 assists - Probably the only loan signing who has been worth it. Will see if we can have him for another year.

Josh Vela - 3 goals, 6 assists - Was disappointing when he first came back, but really started to show his class as the season ended.

Lewis Morgan - 3 goals, 4 assists - Hoping the new system will help him get more involved. Inconsistent player, but shows signs for quality.

Christian Tue - 3 goals, 3 assists - Did spend some time in the under 23's, but when he came back up, he played really well. Unsure where he fits in my new system though, so may have to go on loan.

Forde takes the awards:

I will try and work out how to get his goal vs Bristol uploaded, as it's a belter. Next post will be about squad building for next season and the system I'm looking at using.

 

But finally.. I have removed CA/PA from all views I use, and I have turned off Show all players in search. So only use of in-game editor is the £15m per season "sponsor".

[craiigman]

Forde's goal:

 

[craiigman]

Season 2 - system and transfers:

Still playing the friendlies, this save is going to take a while to get through now, real world commitments, but I'll try and update as I can.

New system:

 

 

I have changed the CF(S) to a DF(S), and that BWM(S) role needs to be looked at when I play a certain player there, but works well with someone else. This is the main tactic for this season.

 

The board gave me a decent transfer budget, but a crazy wage budget, so that turned into a very good transfer budget. I feel I have done some good business, and not looking to add anyone else, I also have £0 left in the transfer budget.

First piece of business was getting Bruun Larsen on loan again, I got him for another 2 years, £0 wages and £0 fee, here he currently is:

And then here is my other moves:

 

Zohore for £4m felt like a steal, Cardiff got relegated, he wanted to leave, it was a large chunk of my budget. Also adds to my Danish bunch.

Borthwick-Jackson on loan from United. Cover for LB and CB. I had a number of LB targets, they all wanted too high wages. He fits in nicely.

Roberts on a free, also from Cardiff. I needed an upgrade at right back. He was free, he's better than what I had. Again I had other targets, all wanted high wages. I wanted Rasmus Nissen but they wanted none of it.

Brooks, the big money signing. It's £3.5 out of this years budget, £5m from next years budget, and £4.2m after 50 games. Been tracking him all last season, Sheff Utd not playing him. @Cleon speaks so fondly of him, I wanted him, I got him.

Jeff on loan from Arsenal, extra cover for the wings was needed, he's a class act.

Woodburn on loan from Liverpool. The man I wanted all last season on loan, is finally here. It does now mean Le Fondre is on his way out of the club, but this guy is exactly what I want, but I now have 2 similar players in Woodburn and Brooks. But I'm happy with both.

Leaves me with a squad of:

And loans:

Mark Little and Gary Madine are still both potential exits, neither really good enough. But no budget left, so staying for now.

[craiigman]

Managed to adjust the wage budget enough to be able to try and go after extra cover at CB, picked up this guy for £700k

23 man squad.

Pre-season went as expected. Have had a very good start to the season:

(I nicknamed Jeff Reine-Adelaide "Jeff")

Puts us into 3rd currently:

Zohore currently joint top scorer:

Tactically things are working how I would expect, this system has it's down sides, and I have to be comfortable knowing that. So far my biggest issue is more so reacting to the second ball from set pieces. But also crosses seem to still be an issue, may have to see if FB(S) has any better luck at stopping the crosses coming in.

[craiigman]

What a start to the season we are having:

Still unbeaten in the league! From the end of last season to now, that's 21 league games without defeat.

I went out in the 3rd round vs Arsenal. We gave them a proper game, they scored with a long ball over the top in the 90+2 when I decided to go for it. Still on another day, we would have won that.

Couple of the draws I am disappointed with really. Forrest away, they are currently bottom, and they out played me, the only team so far to do so. But we grabbed a draw. What is it they say? Title winners find results even when they play poorly..

Still a long way to go, and I think we will start to fade off. I didn't improve the defence enough in the summer I don't think, but we will take one game at a time. The system is basically the same, but a couple of tweaks. Here is my preferred line up, when all fit:

Brooks keeps getting injured, so no link to Zohore as of yet. Nelsson may start to see himself slip out of the first 11 as Tue and Ogrinec are both playing very well recently. However everyone is getting game time, and due to injuries I've been able to start including this guy into the first team:

He needs game time now to push on, may give him a loan in January to the end of the season. But need to improve those mentals. Just started tutoring him with Anthony Forde, hopefully see some improvements there.

I have used the 4-4-1-1 and 4-1-4-1 this season. As I don't have a proper AM the 4-1-4-1 hasn't been as effective as I'd like. The 4-1-4-1 has worked well when needed.

[craiigman]

As things are going well, it's time to bother the board again and request some improvements.

I try to ask for a Affiliate club so we can pick up some youngsters, answer again is no as they would prefer to create their own. This time we have some luck!

 

I also felt that now is a good time to get a DoF into the club, and help out with a few tasks:

 

And with the board finally looking to improve on the youth level, now is a great time for a new HOYD, and I think I've found myself a good one:

4-4-2, Perfectionist, good CA judge, decent PA judge. Hoping he can find me good top top quality players.

[craiigman]

I have very limited time to play at the moment, so only a small update, but a good one.

Results have been much closer, and honestly we are scraping by with the results. Corners and crosses are still a huge issue. With corners they were all getting in a near post, so I put someone to stop that, now they go over that man. It's like can't win. Also finding over the top balls an issue for my defenders, even when dropping the line back a bit.

The 4-4-2 I've been using seems to have been "found out" so adjustments may be required. When the wingers aren't working, the tactic doesn't. Also IF(S) seems to be a big weakness of my team, unsure why exactly.

It leaves us... top.

Like I say I don't think it's going to last, long way to go yet, and my defence isn't good enough to be treated like a good side by the AI, and teams are already unlocking me with quite a bit of ease. Thankfully we seem to react to going behind and grabbing results.

[craiigman]

It's been a while, took a break from the game, but I'm back and played a fair few games..

We were 7 points clear at one point, but the recent patchy form means they've been playing catch up

Was starting to feel like Leicester when I was getting away, but it only takes a couple games and I'm no longer top. I've had to mix between the 442 and 4141 and I've taken off play into space when playing vs a team who is defending deep, as it was resulting in lots of really poor decision making. When playing vs teams who are open against me, it works wonders, but less teams doing that now I'm keeping this up.

Also my patchy form was when Zohore was injured, then Brooks (again), then Woodburn. I sold Madine in January, so I was using one half fit striker at a time. Zohore's first game back vs Hull he scored a hat-trick in 10 mins!

January transfer window:

Madine to Cardiff - £500k: Not sure how they or why they paid £500k, he was in last 6 months of contract and they didn't need him. But my board were only giving me 10% when I sold him, so I got no money. I've got this up to 35% now, but even that's low.

Morgan loan to Huddersfield - I promoted Draper the young left winger, who looked more promising in games than Morgan. He's gone on loan to see if he improves, but they've put him in their under 23's, so think he'll be gone when he's back. Doesn't like big games and is inconsistent. Liability.

I loaned in Kieran Dowell from Everton. Young attacking mid who can also play ST if necessary. Squad player.

Next update will be at end of season, or if it gets really close, maybe I'll do an end of season game by game. My last 2 games are Norwich and West Brom, so it could all be still to play for!

[craiigman]

We done it! Promotion secured!

Hasn’t been an easy run-in but we dig deep and played for our lives the last few games.

But the season isn’t over, and the table looks like this:

The final two games? Yep it’s either Champions and Bolton Bottle job.

[craiigman]

A 1-1 draw vs West Brom meant the final game of the season was basically a cup final. Avoiding defeat and we would be Champions...

And boy did we do it!

Quick fire double before half time gave us a great platform for the second half. They bagged a goal shortly after, a quick “demand more” shout and we smashed it. What a way to win the title!

Player/s of the season:

Zohore and on loan Larsen.

Zohore only lost out of top goal scorer as Leeds played 2 more games in the play offs. But he lead goals per minute, less than 90 per goal!

Larsen who is on loan for 1 more season chipped in with 15 league assists. He’s quality, will see if a permanent move is possible!

Most disappointing:

- Lewis Morgan. Lost his place to academy player Draper. And his loan move has been even worse. Think he’ll be on his way out.

- David Brooks. His stats look decent, 8 goals, 10 assists in 16(9) games. But he’s injury prone and he would easily have double the goals if he could score 1v1’s. But he’s young and developing so still time.

- Full backs. All of them have averaged below 6.91 this season. I don’t know if tactics or other wise. But they just all are disappointing. I’ll keep Richards and Balkovec as back ups but need to improve here.

And as is tradition on this save apparently..

My man on loan tops the offside chart once again!

There we go! Bolton back in the Premier League! Done a few off season bits with some new contracts. But probably going to take a break for a while. I also caught so caught up in my title run I forgot about the “sponsorship deal” from a few posts back. So editor wasn’t used all season from what I can remember. Happy days.