FM19: Barnsley - A New Beginning?

[Jamesbfc1887]

 

 

Barnsley FC

"Welcome t' Tarn"

Life has been a challenging task for Barnsley fans, over the last 10 years having suffered two relegations and a promotion in the space of just 4 years. Barnsley haven't hit the heights of the Premier League since the 98/99 season and have spent more time seasons than any other in the second tier of English football 77 years to be precise and that is were I hope to return the club at the first time of asking.

The club has undergone a number of “life cycles” over the last few years, resulting in multiple changes to how it does its business from the dark days of signing past it journeymen like Jonathan Greening, Emmanuel Frimpong and the Prince of Egypt Mido, to being one of the first sides to invest in young home grown talents like Alfie Mawson and Conor Hourihane and sell them on for profit a concept very similar to that of “Moneyball”. but now a change has arisen under the new stewardship of Gauthier Ganaye.

Under the new stewardship of Gauthier Ganaye headed by owners Chien Lee and Paul Conway who took over from the late Patrick Cryne. Lee is also the co-owner of Nice Football Club with a similar recruitment strategy as ourselves, in developing young players to be sold for a profit, since the takeover in December 2017 there has certainly been a change in recruitment with Head Coach Daniel Stendel at the forefront of the change on and of the pitch. 

After a successful 2016/17 season, where Barnsley were comfortably stationed above the drop zone in 14th position the Sky Bet Championship, exceeding all expectations. Since then things have taken a dramatic turn for the worse for the Reds with a large influx of new players joining in the summer of 2017. 13 in total including; Cameron McGeehan from Luton, Liam Lindsay from Partick Thistle, Ethan Pinnock, Mamadou Thiam, Brad Potts, Matty Pearson, Stevie Mallan, Jason McCarthy, Lloyd Isgrove, Zeki Fryers, Dimitri Cavare -and breath-, I’m sure you can see the problem already. This without naming several loanees. 
And to manage this hapless bunch was the equally useless Paul Heckingbottom (still a divisive issue), which I won’t get in to. The 2017/18 was definitely a season to forget for Barnsley fans ending with relegation on the final day of the season at Derby under another useless manager, Mourinho’s cone man Jose Morais -If only we’d BELIEVED a bit more- sorry only Barnsley fans will get that reference. I think it was fairly obvious the players didn’t enjoy playing for the last two managers and s neither did the fans something that couldn’t be further from the truth under Daniel Stendel. There were little positives to take out from last season two of them being the emergence of Oli McBurnie and Harvey Barnes both of which are now crucial parts of top Championship teams, which gives me real hope that the club still has a great eye for a player,  if only lacking the financial clout to compete for the players we would really like to. Maybe that will change under the immensely rich new owners -who knows-. 

The summer of 2018 took a decisively different turn to the previous, with very few arrivals coupled with minimal departures means we enter the 2018/19 season with largely the same squad as last season.
The incomings being Kenny Dougall from Sparta Rotterdam for roughly £350,000 a bargain price on evidence so far. Mike Bähre (Loan to buy) from Hannover,  Jordan Williams from Huddersfield, Cauley Woodrow (Loan to be confirmed as permanent in January) and Callum Styles from Bury (Loaned back to Bury until January ). With Stevie Mallan heading to Hibernian, Tom Bradshaw to Millwall (Loan to be confirmed as permanent in January) and the illusive Christoph Knasmullner to Rapid Wien who I never actually saw play for the club in his brief spell in English football. 

And my job is to try and return us to the Championship at the first time of asking.

 

[john1]

Good luck  

[Jamesbfc1887]

19 minutes ago, john1 said:

Good luck  

Cheers 

[DefinitelyTaylor]

I've always liked Barnsley and really wanted them to survive last season. Great to see them doing better this year under Stendel. Looking forward to how you go with the Tykes.

[Jamesbfc1887]

10 minutes ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

I've always liked Barnsley and really wanted them to survive last season. Great to see them doing better this year under Stendel. Looking forward to how you go with the Tykes.

Thanks 

[King Cactus]

Literally created an account to say thanks for letting us have Stevie Mallan Best of luck with the save, I'm another with a soft spot for Barnsley, so fingers crossed!

[Jamesbfc1887]

40 minutes ago, King Cactus said:

Literally created an account to say thanks for letting us have Stevie Mallan Best of luck with the save, I'm another with a soft spot for Barnsley, so fingers crossed!

Mallan was pretty awful for us, if you ask me. I think it was too much too soon for him really he looked like a child in a man's league.

Thanks for the support 

 

[Jamesbfc1887]

The Database:

 

Team Overview:

Goalkeepers:

2 Solid Keepers available to us this season.

Defenders:

We may lack a little bit of cover at centre back with only 3 at the club, hopefully I can find a 4th man to fit in.

Midfielders:

We are very strong in the centre of midfield for sure, with a great amount of versatility throughout.

Strikers:

We're probably 1 player light upfront depending on if we go with a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-4-2, I don't know whether Brown or Adeboyejo will be able to step up if Moore or Woodrow get injured.

[Jamesbfc1887]

Players:

Keepers:

Walton is a great back up and understudy to Davies, with bags of potential.

Captain and first choice keeper, he had a poor season last time out but he's the only survivor of the promotion squad from a few years gone. Wanted by Colombus Crew so we'll see what happens with that.

 

Centre Backs:

Jackson is probably our 3rd choice centre back, solid if anything. Wanted by Millwall, but they can do one.

Lindsay has got the most potential at the club for sure and will be a starting centre back.

Pinnock has come on no end in the last season and he'll start alongside Lindsay.

 

Full Backs:

Fryers is constantly injured and lacks technical ability but w as a great athlete, whether he will be after he gets back from injury is another question.

Pinillos is the first choice left back at the club, he looks great on FM.

Ben Williams has got a great future, with Fryers out injured he may well be called upon this season.

Cavare is a bit of unit really, if he ran into a wall you wouldn't want to be the wall.

Jordan Williams is a great young prospect and his versatility will certainly be useful.

 

Central Midfielders:

Dougall, has a great name, but he's an even better player bought in for peanuts in the summer from Holland and has proven to be a great piece of business by the club.

I hope Bird will develop into a a great player for us and save us a few bob.

Socks down languid style, I'm a bit disappointed by Moncur stats to be honest, IRL he's the player with the most God given talent in the squad which is quite fitting given how religious he is. Portsmouth have taken a fancy to him but I don't think he'll be going anywhere.

McGeehan has only just begun to really get back from his broken leg injury but I'm still not sure what he really does, I see him more as a defensive cover than a real attacking option.

Reborn under the new system at Oakwell and finally beginning to show what we saw from him at Leeds, he'll play a major role in this side for sure.

Styles, I can't tell you much about he's back in January from his loan to Bury after his summer move.

 

Wingers:

I have Potts down as a winger because he's been deployed there for the majority of this season and has quickly become a fan favourite.

Injuries have really curtailed his career, sad really as he was a real fan favourite and part of the promotion squad from a few years ago.

Another great player how will tear defences apart at this level, for the 30% of games he's fit for.

Bahre is another incredibly versatile player in midfield.

 

Strikers:

Brown is another academy product and has taken really well to life in the 1st team this season so far, however I don't think the game accurately represents that.

Mamadou, should be a good player he's got everything you need to be a good player without being one.

A name like his is enough to get him cult hero status, let alone scoring dodgy tap ins from 5 yards.

Another injury prone player, he's been injured for the longest 2 weeks ever having signed on the 24th August and not having played for the club yet. He's the clubs replacement for Tommy "Tap in" Bradshaw who will join Millwall in January.

No doubt the jewel in a Barnsley shaped crown, his physical status will terrorise any defence in the league.

 

Youth Prospects:

Berkovits, is one of the real talented youth players at the club.

DMH out on loan at Tranmere, to get some game time.

[DefinitelyTaylor]

I knew how strong Barnsley's midfield was beforehand, but when you see it in the way FM maps it out for you... it really puts it into perspective.

[Jamesbfc1887]

22 minutes ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

I knew how strong Barnsley's midfield was beforehand, but when you see it in the way FM maps it out for you... it really puts it into perspective.

It's certainly a strong area for us.

[nastymiller]

Who's wanting Mr Moore?

He was amazing on loan for us last season and I think IRL Barnsville will cash in on him come Jan.

[King Cactus]

15 hours ago, Jamesbfc1887 said:

Mallan was pretty awful for us, if you ask me. I think it was too much too soon for him really he looked like a child in a man's league.

Thanks for the support 

 

The does tend to be an issue for Scottish players, I've found, particularly in the final third of the pitch - sometimes all of the technical ability is there but the physical demands of making it in England are on a different level. Really stood out for me watching Scotland U21's v England U21's recently, the difference athletically was huge. Although on the subject of Stevie, he has 9 in 15 for us in all competitions, the closest of which was from 22 yards so make of that what you will.

That looks a very strong team at the level of football you're playing, I've got a Hibs save on the backburner until I've figured the game out a bit more and already had Victor Adeboyejo on my shortlist, looks like a potential handful! Looking forward to seeing your tactical approach.

[Jamesbfc1887]

8 minutes ago, nastymiller said:

Who's wanting Mr Moore?

He was amazing on loan for us last season and I think IRL Barnsville will cash in on him come Jan.

Bolton, I'm worried that we'll cash in on Moore or any number of others in January.

[Jamesbfc1887]

Season One Aim:

This I am certainly not happy about, not that I think our players are massively underrated there are 1 or 2 Mike Bahre and Jacob Brown that I think are way better than their stats on FM reflect. I just think some of the teams above us are massively overrated, Burton, Fleetwood and Oxford are above us which is -in my opinion- completely wrong. Bradford are extremely high as well. If we were 3rd I would be okay with that but 7th is way off. I know the stats are done predominantly  on last season but I'm just not happy with the ratings.

I had expected to say automatic promotion was my target but now that seems a bit optimistic, so we'll say top 6 is our aim this year.

[Jamesbfc1887]

Shortlist:

We need another centre back to accompany the 3 we have, especially now that Jackson is injured for 6 weeks.

And I've found 3 I'm interested in;

Tall, great marking, quick, strong and can pass a football just what I want.

Tall, good really good in the air but not so fast which worried me.

Very tall, great in the air bit slow again.

Upfront We need an extra option preferably someone with real pace;

Fast, tall and transfer listed, that's what we like to see.

Quite fast, great finisher and not so tall, also transfer listed.

Incredibly fast, good finisher but not at his best down he middle, he'd be more expensive than the other two as well.

Who I sign we'll have to see.

[DefinitelyTaylor]

I rate Tafazolli, both in-game and irl. He would certainly be a good piece of business in my eyes.

[Jamesbfc1887]

3 minutes ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

I rate Tafazolli, both in-game and irl. He would certainly be a good piece of business in my eyes.

Estimated cost looks nice as well £300-450K, but he is a bit slow which is a problem with what I am trying to do. Which you'll see later. 

[Jamesbfc1887]

Huge move! Very happy to see him leave the league.

[Jamesbfc1887]

Top 2 in the league go head to head first game of the season and this happens. Wow Sunderland are strong

[samwilzrhcp]

Great opening post James 

Pretty messy start for me so far,  no new signings, and still getting to grips with the tactics.   Trying the gegenpress tactics, but my two main strikers Moore and Woodrow are target men and have been struggling in a high pressing tactic.

As for training, still trying to figure that out, a lot to take in so far.

[Jamesbfc1887]

1 hour ago, samwilzrhcp said:

Great opening post James 

Pretty messy start for me so far,  no new signings, and still getting to grips with the tactics.   Trying the gegenpress tactics, but my two main strikers Moore and Woodrow are target men and have been struggling in a high pressing tactic.

As for training, still trying to figure that out, a lot to take in so far.

I'm going to upload my tactics soon, so you can have a look

[shakey.bridge]

Hi James, Great to see you doing another Barnsley Career  will be following and maybe doing one myself, really enjoyed last season's career, I'm becoming a FM Barnsley Fan.

[Jamesbfc1887]

1 hour ago, shakey.bridge said:

Hi James, Great to see you doing another Barnsley Career  will be following and maybe doing one myself, really enjoyed last season's career, I'm becoming a FM Barnsley Fan.

Cheers mate, glad to see you're enjoying it . It' s a completely different task this year. And I'd 100% recomend a Barnsley career, more than a healthy budget for League 1 level and I have now idea how much you'll be given by the new owners if you return to the Championship.

[samwilzrhcp]

So i sacked off the gegenpress and went back to basics.   Two up front, with a target man and lots of wing play, hammered AFC Wimbledon 4-1.

[Jamesbfc1887]

Having just listened to a very disappointing performance vs Charlton, which is exactly why it's top 6 at best for us this season. I thought I'd give you my transfers and tactics for the season ahead.

Transfers:

Just the two coming in, with 3 going out on loan. I could and probably should have kept Bird but he'll get more than his fair share of game time on loan.

 

I didn't really want to bring in any players on loan, one of my (many) criticisms of the club is that whilst the loan system can provide us a level of player we could never afford to buy but we've developed a lot of great young layers on loan see Harvey Barnes and Oli McBurnie but that ultimately benefits the club they're contracted to not us. -Oh it's easy to be negative when you've just lost and I love a good moan, there's nothing better so much so I regard it as one of my human rights- "The right to moan" .

Anyway, I've rambled too much and completely bored you senseless if you bothered to read that, but Gallagher is an unreal signing for League 1 level, I remember seeing him play for Blackburn at Oakwell 2 years ago he played out wide if I remember correctly and he was brilliant; strong, fast, tall, drives at the defence, perfect just perfect. The only problem is that he certainly won't be joining permanently, they want 48! yes 48 million! quality British Pounds for  him.

I decided to go with Tilt in the end, his pace is something we really need for our gegenpress, which I'll show you now.

Tactics:

This is what I'm primarily using, I tries to replicate what we've been doing IRL, depending on the match situation I might decide to look for the overlap on both sides, I'm also not sold on defending narrow as we've not been as good defensively as I'd of thought we would be but we'll see.

A very similar tactic we've been rotating in sometimes, that makes use of George Moncur more than anything else really.

My "Colin" (Neil Warnock) tactic which involves kicking lumps out of the opposition and taking ten years to take do anything once the ball has gone out, I only use this when we are really holding on.

[Jamesbfc1887]

Still a bit of budget remaining as well.

[johnstonpickle]

Unbelievable signing Gallagher.

My club, The Blades wanted him IRL on loan but apparently the fee and wages were far too high!

[kiwityke1983]

I'm a massive Reds fan and have started a save as them. Currently unbeaten in October absolutely miles clear at the top.

Sunderland just sacked their manager because they were 7th with a game in hand, which would put them 2nd. I just smashed them a few days later 3-0 away from home too.

[kiwityke1983]

Actually it's December and I'm unbeaten still.

[john1]

Good signings especially bringing Gallagher in from Southampton.  

[samwilzrhcp]

Found a bit of consistency with my 4-4-2 tactic, Adeboyejo is on fire! 

[kiwityke1983]

2 minutes ago, samwilzrhcp said:

Found a bit of consistency with my 4-4-2 tactic, Adeboyejo is on fire! 

I've been using an asymmetric 4-4-2 

WBA           Cd                   CD                    WBS

IWA                          MCD        DLPS

                                                                    IFA

                            PFA            TMS

We are currently 19 games in 17 wins and 2 draws. I'm at the point where I honestly think the games kinda broken.

Also using Geggenpress. I've found with the Geggenpress you need to defend wide and force teams to play it into the middle and attack through the middle too. Just overlap on one side with Cavarre. I let Moore and Woodrow swap places throughout the game.

[samwilzrhcp]

32 minutes ago, kiwityke1983 said:

I've been using an asymmetric 4-4-2 

WBA           Cd                   CD                    WBS

IWA                          MCD        DLPS

                                                                    IFA

                            PFA            TMS

We are currently 19 games in 17 wins and 2 draws. I'm at the point where I honestly think the games kinda broken.

Also using Geggenpress. I've found with the Geggenpress you need to defend wide and force teams to play it into the middle and attack through the middle too. Just overlap on one side with Cavarre. I let Moore and Woodrow swap places throughout the game.

Yeah i rotate Moore and Woodrow in that target man role.

My instructions are a "light" gegenpress if that makes sense.  

[Jamesbfc1887]

35 minutes ago, kiwityke1983 said:

I've been using an asymmetric 4-4-2 

WBA           Cd                   CD                    WBS

IWA                          MCD        DLPS

                                                                    IFA

                            PFA            TMS

We are currently 19 games in 17 wins and 2 draws. I'm at the point where I honestly think the games kinda broken.

Also using Geggenpress. I've found with the Geggenpress you need to defend wide and force teams to play it into the middle and attack through the middle too. Just overlap on one side with Cavarre. I let Moore and Woodrow swap places throughout the game.

Pretty similar to what I've been using actually

[Jamesbfc1887]

Preseason:

Not bad not good, we dominated particularly against Stoke and Wigan which was nice but you can't read too much into pre-season.

August:

A pretty solid start to the season if you ask me, top of the league and I couldn't really ask for much more to be honest.

The opening game of the season was a tough test against a very good Oxford side, goals from Woodrow, Potts and own goal by Curtis Nelson were enough to secure the 3 points, a great start.

Next we travelled to Bradford in what Sky Sports would hype up as a "Yorkshire Derby", a second half goal from Woodrow gave us the lead in a game we had mostly dominated but Mike Bahre decided now was probably a great time to get sent off, resulting in Bradford stealing a late winner, much to my annoyance.

A Tuesday night at Brammall Lane was our next fixture and a chance to put the Bradford game behind us, two largely rotated sides contested a game that we dominated and won thanks to a Thiam penalty and Moncur tap in 4 minutes from time agve us the bragging rights (I suppose) 

AFC Wimbledon was an easy win, 2 from Woodrow and 1 st of the season for Moore, Rochdale gave a 1st goal for Gallagher in a 2-0 win.

Scunthorpe was a game we made needlessly difficult, gifting them a sloppy goal to make it far more tense than needed, but a 5th of the season for Woodrow gave us all 3 points. Scunthorpe v2 4-1 Adeboyejo, McGeehan,Isgrove and Moncur with the goals.

 

Player of the Month:

Cauley Woodrow claims the first player of the month award with 5 goals in 5 in the league. Happy days 

[DefinitelyTaylor]

Good start to the season there, not too much to complain about!  

[Jamesbfc1887]

September:

We continued our great start to the season in September;

2 goals from Isgrove and 1 from Woodrow gave us a comfortable victory over Gillingham, we then played Lincoln in a competition I refuse to acknowledge shown by a club record low attendance of 2500.

Well of course we didn't win at Coventry -somethings never change- a penalty save from Davies in goal the highlight of the game. We followed up with 2 straight home wins against Walsall with a double from Moore and 1 from Potts and a solitary goal from Woodrow secured a  1-0 home win against Burton.

A fantastic draw in the cup saw us heading to Goodison Park full of optimism, I genuinely believed that we could win the game and we didn't disappoint. I decided to be just as attacking against Everton as in the League and just give it a go and a goal from Potts then a second half winner from Gallagher secured a victory to remember.

A comprehensive victory against Fleetwood, in a game we completely dominated, goals coming from Woodrow, Moore and Isgrove.

We are sitting pretty at the top, 3 points clear of Luton a great start to the league campaign.

I'm begging to realise I've sold myself a bit short in the central midfield department, they're being asked to do so much running and play at least twice a week, which is begging to get to our fitness levels luckily now injuries and I'm certainly looking forward to getting Styles back from Bury in January.

Player of the Month:

Kieffer Moore, there wasn't really anybody standout this month everybody played pretty well. 3 goals and an assist is a great outlay for a quality League 1 striker who I hope can fire us to promotion this season.

[samwilzrhcp]

6 hours ago, Jamesbfc1887 said:

September:

We continued our great start to the season in September;

2 goals from Isgrove and 1 from Woodrow gave us a comfortable victory over Gillingham, we then played Lincoln in a competition I refuse to acknowledge shown by a club record low attendance of 2500.

Well of course we didn't win at Coventry -somethings never change- a penalty save from Davies in goal the highlight of the game. We followed up with 2 straight home wins against Walsall with a double from Moore and 1 from Potts and a solitary goal from Woodrow secured a  1-0 home win against Burton.

A fantastic draw in the cup saw us heading to Goodison Park full of optimism, I genuinely believed that we could win the game and we didn't disappoint. I decided to be just as attacking against Everton as in the League and just give it a go and a goal from Potts then a second half winner from Gallagher secured a victory to remember.

A comprehensive victory against Fleetwood, in a game we completely dominated, goals coming from Woodrow, Moore and Isgrove.

We are sitting pretty at the top, 3 points clear of Luton a great start to the league campaign.

I'm begging to realise I've sold myself a bit short in the central midfield department, they're being asked to do so much running and play at least twice a week, which is begging to get to our fitness levels luckily now injuries and I'm certainly looking forward to getting Styles back from Bury in January.

Player of the Month:

Kieffer Moore, there wasn't really anybody standout this month everybody played pretty well. 3 goals and an assist is a great outlay for a quality League 1 striker who I hope can fire us to promotion this season.

Things going well 

I'm having the same problem regarding the central midfield department, particularly defensively.  Although Bird isn't doing too badly.   Also having trouble in the right back area, Cavare is good, but keep needing to rotate him and Williams who isn't the best really.   Plenty of work to be done come January.

[john1]

Fantastic result against Everton

[Jamesbfc1887]

October:

Another great month to continue our fantastic start to the season, we're beginning to pull away at the top already which is a bit concerning to be honest FM is way more rewarding when you have to work for something rather than it coming easily.

Sunderland aren't having a great time of it to be honest and Jack Ross has already been sacked by November, Gillingham have been awful so far 9 points after 16 games is poor to say the least.

Peterborough and Plymouth were both tough games separated by goals from Woodrow and 2 from Gallagher respectively.

We've dominated every game we've played apart from against Charlton, a crazy game 2-0 up before half time then Jordan Williams went and got himself sent off just before the break, the second half yielded two penalties for Charlton, both saved by Adam Davies I couldn't believe my eyes but then in true FM style a goal from Karlan Grant in the 88th minute and an own goal from Pinnock in the last seconds of the game ensured a point for Charlton.

Just after that George Moncur decided to pipe up about not playing very often, so I did what any self respecting manager would do and play him in the next game . Bristol Rovers was the best game of our season so far Moncur scored as well which was perhaps a little awkward, the only disappointment was a month long injury to Zeki Fryers.

We were then subsequently beaten by Fulham in what should have been our second Premier league scalp if we could score from 5 yards out that is.

All in all a great month though which saw us extend our lead at the top of the league.

Player of the Month:

Moncur was absolutely brilliant in the 4231 formation after he decided he was going to leave, hopefully I can get him on a new contract sooner or later.

 

November:

Things are looking good for us, a little too good if you ask me somethings bound to go wrong at some point. We've extended our lead a the top of the league even further, now 13 points clear of Scunthorpe in 3rd.

Southend provided a stern test, with Lloyd Isgrove providing an 89th minute winner. We made it 4 clean sheets in a row in the league with a comprehensive win over Luton with Thiam at the double.

Wrexham simply outplayed us, it serves me right for making 11 changes from the last game but fixtures are coming thick and fast and we are really starting to struggle with fitness and 2 games in 3 days doesn't exactly help. Adeboyejo scored 3 against Rochdale and then we had another scare against a surprisingly good Wrexham side.

The next game was a frustrating one we really should have won, Moore put his in front before the very impressive John Marquis pegged us backed, but he game was marred by an awful injury to Mamadou Thiam.

Ouch!

In other news Lloyd Isgrove has signed a new deal thanks to his great form over the past few months.

Next we pilled on the misery for Sunderland who are on their 3rd manager already , in a result that flattered Sunderland rally.

Player of the Month:

 

George Moncur again! He's now willing to listen to a new offer and I've offered him one.

[DefinitelyTaylor]

Great start to the season! Huge shame about Thiam though and hopefully his absence won't impact too much. Great to see Accrington impressing too!

[WillHoward42]

Following 

[samwilzrhcp]

Be wary when you enter January, Mr Conway went ahead and accepted a £1.6 million bid from Sunderland for Pinnock.  

[Jamesbfc1887]

13 hours ago, samwilzrhcp said:

Be wary when you enter January, Mr Conway went ahead and accepted a £1.6 million bid from Sunderland for Pinnock.  

I've already had interest pre January from Sunderland for most of my players,  they seem pretty desperate.

[samwilzrhcp]

57 minutes ago, Jamesbfc1887 said:

I've already had interest pre January from Sunderland for most of my players,  they seem pretty desperate.

I would tie him down to a new contract ASAP, it was Sunderland who made the offer in my save.  A poultry 1.6 with add ons.   He has high potential and would **** ball the Championship.  

I had to replace him with a lad from Bristol Rovers.

[Jamesbfc1887]

December:

A few bumps in the road this month but we've been able to continue to build up our lead at the the top of the league.

Coventry away, enough said we didn't lose I guess, but It's another game in an already hectic December.

Accrington away, a terrible game won by a Woodrow just after half time.

Wycombe away, goals from McGeehan and Lindsay were enough to give us the win.

We finally beat Coventry! . 3-2 We made this game so much harder than it needed to be.

We finally lost another game in the league, a cross from Andre Green hits the post and goes in, what a fluke . We got back on level terms just before half time, we had chance after chance then Cavare preceded to get sent off with 20 minutes to go, which turned out to be just enough time to for Portsmouth to find a winner, title race back on!

So, by now I'm thinking just a blip against a good side chin up and we'll beat Blackpool. Oh no I wrong could I be that would be far too simple as we go down 3-2 to a Blackpool side who had 2 shots on target all game . Surely we're not going to bottle the league from here, surely not.

We then preceded to demolish Peterborough, 2 from Woodrow(who else) and crisis averted. 

Charlton gave us a real good game and in all truth 2-0 probably flattered us a little but we'll take it. Adeboyejo and Moore are now in the goals.

Player of the Month:

Woodrow claims his second POTM with his fantastic goal scoring form. Taking his account to 16 for the season so far.

Scouting Pre-January:

We're definitely, struggling with fatigue, the number of games in the Christmas period is just killing us due to the intense style of play we've gone with meaning I've had to rest a number of key players including; Dougall and Mowatt regularly.

We go into January needing to fill the gap left by Mamadou Thiam and ideally I'd like to bring in a defensive midfielder on loan just to plug a gap until the end of the season more than anything.

So,

Well then, I know I shouldn't but he's been released by St.Mirren and he's actually quite good on FM.

Another player who's surprisingly been released by Oxford I actually think he's really good IRL but he's been injured for the whole season, he's been on trial at the club for a month.

Wow, ideally this is who we'd bring in his contract is up in the summer and he's fantastic but unfortunately he wants to move to a bigger club than us.

We may miss out on this guy the bid is from Ipswich and I'm not that sure he's all that good. 10 crossing for a left footed winger on the left is pretty rubbish.

Unlike the others i have absolutely no idea who this guy is, he looks pretty decent to be fair to him.

 

 

Yates would be a good addition, maybe not the defensive addition we need though.

Again maybe not as defensive as I would like but would I could definitely bring him in permanently.

A great ball winner for sure but he's injured unfortunately. I got really close to signing him in November but injury struck before I confirmed the transfer.

 

A bit of a pipe dream, they want 20 mil for him, I think he's a genuine top quality wonderkid on FM 19.

In other news: Pinnock, Moncur and Jackson all signed new deals until the end of the 2021 season.

[SpillBlood]

Nice going! Hopefully can keep that form up.  Such a shame about the year injury, nasty stuff that :(.

Need a midfielder? Check out Vaulks

[Jamesbfc1887]

January:

Transfers:

Callum Styles returned to Barnsley after a loan spell at Bury, I'm very hopeful he'll make a positive impact for the remainder of the season.

Big money signing Tariq Fosu joins the reds on a deal until the end of the 2021 season for £500K, his pace and dribbling are frightening.

£300K for Chuks Aneke is a great deal IMO he's already playing at Championship level. He's a bizarre player really he's 6'2 got 17 strength but 15 flair. He's a bit of a beast and far too good for League 2 football. He'll occupy the number 10 role alongside Moncur.

Evans will plug a gap in central midfield when called upon.

 

Results:

Well then, we're definitely starting to streak away at the top of the league now. 19 points clear and it's going well.

We came a cropper against a very good Derby side and gave them a good game to be fair, which is something we'll need to get used to if we go up.

An Alex Mowatt screamer against his former side gave us the win, with a real moment of quality in an otherwise poor game.

We then put Bradford to the sword with Mowatt, McGeehan, Hedges and new signing Fosu with the goals.

Wimbledon Away, Fosu hat-trick! Boom! What a signing 4 goals in 2 games.

It's all getting a bit easy now, Moore's in on the act now 3 for him in the next game, in our best win of the season by far. McGeehan and Isgrove with the other 2.

 

Player of the Month:

A fantastic first month at the club for Tariq Fosu, 4 goals and 2 assists.

[SpillBlood]

Aneke been great in Rotherham saves for me, sadly I couldn't afford to pick him up when he was listed in Jan.

I do like the look of Fosu!