Jambo98 Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 Hi all, Not sure i have ever done an updates thread, but decided to give it a go to try and keep my interest in FM19 alive. The quality of the updates, let alone football, may be questionable..........but then again would you expect anything else from The Magpies..... The inspiration for the thread / club choice, and the title of the thread, comes from David McVay's brilliant book(s) which effectively are a list of diary entries he kept during the late 1970s as a fringe player at Notts. I doubt many have read it, but it is absolutely worth a look. Brilliantly honest and at times hilarious (Digression - the book contains a tail of McVay having made one of his early first team appearance, and had a poor game in a loss. In those days, his only way to get home was to catch a public bus. As he wearily sticks out his arm to flag the bus then steps on, he tells of fans at the bus stop with him making the cutting remark "aye, first thing he has stopped all day" - properly spit out coffee moment reading that!) I wont bore you all with too much of a background to Notts - I am sure most people are aware of them and the history the possess, as well as the absolute downright mediocre streak the club has been on for a long period now. I am no Jimmy Sirrel, but i will have a go at lifting this great old club! In the spirit / style of the book, my updates will be in the form of diary entries (dont worry, i wont be doing one per day, nor did McVay!) supported off course by screenshots Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted January 28, 2019 Author Share Posted January 28, 2019 25th June 2018 First day at the club, time for a look around. The facilities look........well average. Average rating in several categories, could be worse i suppose......... at least Meadow Lane is a good old stadium with a decent capacity. Finances, not bad i suppose, not much transfer budget or wage budget to play with but thats pretty par for the course in League two. Then onto meeting my staff...... The Chairman seems a lovely bloke, you know, when he isnt tweeting picture of his b*llocks accidently......... My Ass Man, ah a fella a recognise. The lower league legend that is Warren Feeney. Seems like a useful man to have around with this experience of clubs around this level. Beyond that, there seems a distinctly "Forrest" theme to the staff much to my surprise. Paul Hart is our DOF, i remember him from a spell managing them, our 2 coaches are Mark Crossley and Steve Chettle, both of whom i remember as players for them in the late 90s (surprisingly, Andrea Silenzi is not found amongst the staff then.......) So all in all they seem a decent bunch to get us started. I might look to add a few of my own in the coming days, budgets allowing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted January 28, 2019 Author Share Posted January 28, 2019 25th June 2018 (Part 2) Time to meet the squad. My first thoughts are - How on earth are Jon Stead and David Vaughan still playing. I assumed they retired to do part time radio commentary years ago.......oh well, experience helps at this level i suppose! Kane Hemmings up top is a name i recognise from his time in Scotland, and looks like a bit of quality. At the back 2 experienced campaigners in captain Richard Duffy and Elliot Ward stand out. We also somehow have a Slovak, a Cameroonian and a Dutchman.....how do those people end up at Notts County..... Overally, not a bad squad but we are a bit light in midfield and its certainly towards the older end of the scale. I am a very youth focused manager, so changes are likely Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 You can't do any worse than we are IRL mate. Best of luck. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted January 28, 2019 Author Share Posted January 28, 2019 26th June 2018 Excitement as the first recruits of my era begin to arrive. Excitement diminishes as they are all staff and mostly unheard of. Greg McMinn is appointed HOYD, partly as he has a good personality and good key attributes, but mainly because his name sounds a bit like Ted McMinn. Sports Scientists types and a physio arrive as well. Meanwhile i upgrade our scouting packages to cover Scotland, which seems very expensive but what the heck, its not my money. I then have a first trawl of all free agents, trying to weed out the dross and find a few worth bringing in on trial. A number of trial offers out there, 3 immediately join (which makes me think they are desperate...). Former Chelsea academy product Reece Mitchell, who was latterly at Chesterfield for 2 years comes in and we will see if he has any untapped potential still at age 22 Scottish School boy Patrick Gay gets a trial, partly due to childish amusement at the name but also because he is 16 and came up when i filtered for passing / vision / first touch above 11.... The signing of the day though, is this chap on trial. Only because of his name I was confused as to how i had a spaniard on my player list but turns out he has English 2nd nationality. Looks dross but i couldnt resist..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted January 28, 2019 Author Share Posted January 28, 2019 4th July 2018 Time for our first friendly, and we have a couple of new faces in on permanent deals as well. Former Newcastle man Remi Street is our first signing, it was not a position of great need but he looked like a clear set up and has age on his side, so seemed worth going for: Joining him is a left field signing. A 21yr old Scottish lad who came up on the player search, but oddly has played his entire career in Cyprus.......hope he is ready for the midlands weather....... Both will start in our maiden friendly at home to Jong AZ. We line up in 4231 formation. Nothing overly fancy. A goalscorer up front, an attacking midfielder behind, inverted wingers and in the middle a passer and a runner. The game turns out to be a bit of a wild affair. A crushing win for us, but helped by the dutch kids contriving to get 2 red cards in the first half Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deisler26 Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 Ted McMinn, the Derby legend! Good luck, Jambo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 Done county a few years back. Was very enjoyable!! Best of luck! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 Good luck with the oldest Football League club. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted January 28, 2019 Author Share Posted January 28, 2019 14th July 2018 Things have been pretty quiet around the club, surprisingly tough to attract players to the doldrums of league two....... we did clinch 2 perm signings, one was the 16yr old kid who goes in the youth squad, but Reece Mitchell is a first team squad player. He lacks a bit in talent but brings versatility and relative youth: We did manage to shift out 3 players though. Cameroon fullback Cedric Evina is packing his backs only weeks after arriving, off to Orient for him. Jamie Surley was similarly short lived at Meadow LAne and joins Salford. Midfielder Terry Hawkridge also heads off to Chesterfield. Safe to say i was not a fan of the previous managers summer recruitment In friendlies, things are going surprisingly well: Fair enough. Quorn sound like something you find on the supermarket shelf not a football team, and Donnie helped us out with 2 own goals.......but a win over Hadjuk split is not to be sniffed at. Onwards and upwards Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted January 29, 2019 Author Share Posted January 29, 2019 18th July 2018 A rare day today north of the river, as we actually pay a transfer fee. . The chairman had allotted me £60k, and with the use of some installments, i managed to splurge £125k on a young Scottish AMC name Matthew Knox. Livingston reserves might not be a place you often find a gem, but i like the cut of his jib. Number 10 was our biggest area of need and whilst i considered filling it with a loan, just as i stuck in a couple of loan offers, the scout reports came back on Knox and i took the plunge. Elsewhere, we spanked Buxton 5 v 0 in an other friendly win, 2 goals from Nathan Thomas, a pacey winger on loan from Sheff Utd, and a goal on his full debut for Mitchell. We are hurtling fast towards the real business of league football........ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 Knox was watched by the likes of man United not so long ago. I had him with hearts last year turned into a decent investment well played getting him in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andychar Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 I would wish you good luck but as a Mansfield Town fan the letters just refuse to be typed by fingers... ...I hope you do better than they are doing IRL. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted January 29, 2019 Author Share Posted January 29, 2019 23 hours ago, withnail316 said: You can't do any worse than we are IRL mate. Best of luck. Cheers! I am no Jimmy Sirrell but another gruff Scotsman might be what is needed here 19 hours ago, Deisler26 said: Ted McMinn, the Derby legend! Good luck, Jambo The Tin Man! What a player in his day. Tragic what happened to him in recent years. 19 hours ago, SixPointer said: Done county a few years back. Was very enjoyable!! Best of luck! Thanks, yup seems a good club to build - Decent sized stadium always a start point 15 hours ago, Nobby_McDonald said: Good luck with the oldest Football League club. Cheers, lots of history to live up to! 5 hours ago, SixPointer said: Knox was watched by the likes of man United not so long ago. I had him with hearts last year turned into a decent investment well played getting him in. Yeah i signed him at Hearts last year as well when doing a scottish players only save (now that i think about it, i think i had a thread here about that......) - ah yes, found it 5 hours ago, andychar said: I would wish you good luck but as a Mansfield Town fan the letters just refuse to be typed by fingers... ...I hope you do better than they are doing IRL. If nothing else, my twitter use is less calamitous than IRL......... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted January 29, 2019 Author Share Posted January 29, 2019 31 July 2018 The last of our pre-season games sees us complete the clean sweep of wins in pre-season Bit easy this malarkey............. Plenty goals, defensively a bit concerning........ At the same time, a glamour day for County. We announce what is likely our final addition to the squad. I felt we were one short in the middle, and set to rely a little much on the ancient David Vaughan. I recently managed to snag a scout with knowledge of Spain and France, which expanded our known player pool by, well, about 8 players...... That said, one of them was a spanish CM named Pol Calvet. A tidy little hard working midfield dynamo. Most amazingly, his pedigree is none other than La Masia Can he live up to previous County greats of spanish descent........ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted January 29, 2019 Author Share Posted January 29, 2019 4 August 2018 So the day has arrived for us to get down to serious business of League Two football. But first a quick sit-rep on the squad we have inherited / assembled:Goalkeeper Last minute decision that we felt a bit low on quality here led me to sign Benda on loan from Swansea and he will assume the #1. Fitz will be the backup and Pindroch the emergency option Defence An experienced bunch, to put it politely. Streete the pick of our signings and Elliot Ward gets the nod ahead of club captain Duffy and Brissley who is not a bad 4th DC for this level at all. At fullback, we are more solid than spectacular with Tootle and Jones but both have able rotation options in Hewitt and Kellet, although the later is more attacking than i would like Midfield In the engine room, Vaughan stands out on quality but his legs will be an issue. Milsom and the little spaniard will likely be rotating along with Vaughan for 2 spots, with Ally seeing some game time although he needs some development. Husin was promoted from the U23s to give me some depth but looks a marginal prospect at best Attacking Mid / Wide Despite paying up for Knox, i went ahead with the loan signing of Gribbin as well. He has a touch of class for this level and can prevent Knox from taking a starting role at age 18. He also has the versatility to play deeper or from out wide when needed. Starting wide are Enzio and Thomas who both look well equipted for this level. The depth is not great with Mitchell and Alessandra being pretty poor. If i make another addition, it might be a better backup winger. Striker Hemmings the clear starter here and he banged them in pre-season. Daniels has a good track record at this level and looks like he should be a serviceable backup, but he has been awful pre-season and picked up 2 separate injuries already. Stead is done and im trying to offload him and his 3k per week wage. I have a bid in for a younger foriegn striker (another of 8 who showed up on the player list!) who i hope will replace him. There looks to be little of use in the youth squads, but the above is a first team squad of 24 with a fair bit of versatility so hopefully can get us through the first half of the league season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 What tactics have you deployed? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted January 29, 2019 Author Share Posted January 29, 2019 1 hour ago, SixPointer said: What tactics have you deployed? So far just a basic 4231 Dabbled a bit with a defensive version moving the AM to DM and playing him as Anchor and making the ST a DLF(s) but not used it much yet. Will probably develop more variety as we go, but in terms of roles an duties i try to keep it fairly basic at this level.Its attacking with the FBs but im fine to concede a few in return for how many we score from crosses Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 Looks nice. Very balanced! I’ve been playing 4141 with Kaiserslautern and had a lot of sucess. But I used a 4231 first season and it was the same as yours except a used a wingback and inside forward on the right and used overlap. Got some nice football from the 4231 best of luck. Hemmings should get you goals. As you will know being a fellow Jambo he scored goals up here. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted January 30, 2019 Author Share Posted January 30, 2019 10 August 2018 Transfer deadline day in league two. No sign of Jim white, or even Peter Odemwingie turning up here. The old fax machine is cranking though, and whilst i did not intend to do much business, that changes somewhat when a bid of £220k arrives from Pompey for Shaun Brisley, who was my 4th choice DC. Snapped the hand off that one, and with a day to spare set about sifting my scout reports for a way to spend some of it. Decided i dont really need another DC, will simply promote young Pierce Bird (who is one letter away from sounding a lot like my Ex.....) from the U23s. Instead, i went back to Scotland to try and find a rough diamond. Alan Forrest had been scouted a few weeks ago at Ayr and looked versatile with some talent, and room to grow. A bid of £40k was enough to secure his services, which gives us that bid extra depth on the wings i needed. Joining him was the striker i mentioned earlier from France who appeared on the player list after we gained some knowledge there. A bit raw to put it mildly, but he was at Inter Milan for a year......French 2nd nationality which is, i assume, how we found him and how he does not need a WP. Joining Brisley on the way out were Lewis Alessandra (£40k to Plymouth) and Jon Stead who agreed to terminate his contract for a pretty low sum, since i had no use for him and his wage. Oh yeah, we also won our opening league game 4 v 1 to sit proudly atop the table after a single game Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted January 30, 2019 Author Share Posted January 30, 2019 15 August 2018 Gave David Vaughan his full debut in the Milk cup, after injury kept him out of the first 2 league games. Clown got sent off for 2 bookings inside an hour. Veteran leadership my ****. In other news, Knox looks a player, marking his own first start with a peach FK goal and an assist. Meanwhile Remi Streete has 3 goals in 3 games to top our scoring charts. Having Gribbin and his brilliant set piece ability paying dividends aready. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted January 30, 2019 Author Share Posted January 30, 2019 16 August 2018 Playing around in the scouting centre and realised i can actually upgrade my "package" to all of Europe......never noticed this option before in LLM All sorts of european goodness now appears on my player list, rather than just those from my french scout. I discover this, of course, days after the transfer window closes........ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted January 30, 2019 Author Share Posted January 30, 2019 30 August 2018 Won through to the 3rd round of the Littlewoods cup and get reward in style. Chairman will be delighted. Meanwhile gave Vaughan another start and he notches a late equaliser against Newport. Great bit of veteran presence that Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted January 31, 2019 Author Share Posted January 31, 2019 26 September 2018 Riding high in the league, top of the table after 3 straight wins plus a win in whatever the EFL Trophy North Group G is......... but now its time for the big day out for the Notts fans. A trip to the big smoke. Arsenal didn't exactly play the big guns, and i expected some kids, but really, Danny Welbeck? Give us some respect Unai mate........ Gribbin melts in a direct FK early on to shock the place, and somehow we almost hold on all the way to HT before another direct FK gets Arsenal level. We battle in the second half but Arsenal are just a bit better, eventually scoring the winner from a corner. Last 15 we threw everything we had at them (well, Matty Knox and the young french ST.....that is all we have tbf) but it was not to be. Still, a respectable performance and a nice payday for the chairman. Time to see if we can shake some of it loose..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 1 hour ago, Jambo98 said: 26 September 2018 Riding high in the league, top of the table after 3 straight wins plus a win in whatever the EFL Trophy North Group G is......... but now its time for the big day out for the Notts fans. A trip to the big smoke. Arsenal didn't exactly play the big guns, and i expected some kids, but really, Danny Welbeck? Give us some respect Unai mate........ Gribbin melts in a direct FK early on to shock the place, and somehow we almost hold on all the way to HT before another direct FK gets Arsenal level. We battle in the second half but Arsenal are just a bit better, eventually scoring the winner from a corner. Last 15 we threw everything we had at them (well, Matty Knox and the young french ST.....that is all we have tbf) but it was not to be. Still, a respectable performance and a nice payday for the chairman. Time to see if we can shake some of it loose..... Unlucky! Great day out for the fans! Did it boost the finances a fair bit? Did you make the tv? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted January 31, 2019 Author Share Posted January 31, 2019 6 minutes ago, SixPointer said: Unlucky! Great day out for the fans! Did it boost the finances a fair bit? Did you make the tv? Yup about 800k finances boost Not on the telly though Damn BBC Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Still a decent lift. I had thought about doing Newcastle next as that’s my English team but between you doing notts county and someone doing forest and both good threads am thinking lower league now. Still have a about another ten season to go until I achieve what I want but got me thinking about the romance of old clubs in England coming back Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted February 1, 2019 Author Share Posted February 1, 2019 1 December 2018 As the calander flips to December, and thoughts turn to turkey, our form has turned to...well something else. The contrast between October and November is stark...... We struggled a bit with injuries, losing 2 of our top CB's for a few weeks meaning we had to play our back RB in there at times, and i possibly over-rotated at times as well as i attempted to keep everyone match fit. None the less, we remain clear at the top so I cant complain! The chairman also rewarded me with a 2 year contract extension which is nice, and scouting for JAn is also well underway, with us being able to scout Europe. Also asked the board to pour the money from the Arsenal tie into upgrading our Youth Level and they agreeed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 Going along nicely mate! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 Great start. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 On 30/01/2019 at 22:08, Jambo98 said: Won through to the 3rd round of the Littlewoods cup... That takes me back, man. Not in a good way either, as For*st seemed to be permanently at Wembley back then! Great progress, chief. The 'pies fans would be delighted with this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted February 2, 2019 Author Share Posted February 2, 2019 5 January 2019 The transfer window swings open, and early on our business has been minimal. Kristian Dennis has gone to Bradford for £30k as he had slipped to third choice ST for me, so was happy to let him go. Inwards, our heavy scouting of Europe had found a few interesting players but one was immediately available for cheap and so Leandro Texiera comes in. Mostly one for the future but can immediately serve as a backup DC. With that deal done before the window opened, its now about time for me to review where the squad is at, and how i might deploy our mighty financial resources (well, £45k budget and £9k p/w free wage budget...). Here is the 23 man squad we have at the moment - a nicely balanced / 2 for every position plus a 3rd GK setup: As you can see, most of the squad is performing pretty nicely. Fullbacks are really doing great, as are our wide men. Our loanees are pushing us on a lot but a nice spread of goals. In terms of needs, perhaps a younger DC to partner Streete, if i can find one who looks like he could also handle the step up next season if we get promoted. Also probably a bit more quality at CM wouldnt go a miss. We are looking good in the league but a long way to go: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 37 minutes ago, Jambo98 said: 38 minutes ago, Jambo98 said: Get him working on that positioning and you’ve got an a very exciting prospect there Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted February 3, 2019 Author Share Posted February 3, 2019 9 Feb 2019 So after the window swung open, it slams shut (we really should treat windows with more care.......) A moderately busy window for County. On the outward side, our backup keeper, who is 27 and frankly rubbish, ended up getting a move to the Prem and to Palace......odd one but it was for nothing and he was just a wage i didnt need to carry. The only other sale was my backup LB, Kellet, who was unhappy with his game time, on 2k per week and was not really solid enough defensively for me, more of a converted winger. We also suffered some injury issues, with Ally Reynolds ruled out for 2 - 3 months, then David Vaughan out for 3 weeks. So we needed to strengthen a bit. First up we needed a replacement backup LB, and i returned to my fave hunting ground of Scotland to pluck Jack Iredale from the depths of Greenock Morton. A solid enough looking lad, and at 22 might still develop a tad. Cost me £20k Next i scoured my Portuguese reports, being the country i scouted the most by far. Mostly for youth but the odd experienced player pops up, and among those was Rui Pereira, At 27 he is in his prime and actually looks a cut above what we are used to seeing here. For a mere £5k (he was out of contract in the summer), i had to take him Finally after we suffered the 2nd midfield injury, i hit the loan market. Teddy Bishop at Ipswich was once a highly thought of prospect, before injuries hit. Worth a shot, but of course the day before i confirmed the deal, he picked up a 3 week injury Took him anyway as with no wage to pay, why not really....... Beyond that, we did a couple of pre-contract agreements for the summer. Firstly, from our 2nd fave place to scout, Portugal, is yet another DC. A bit similar to the one we signed earlier in Jan, but 2 scouts gave this guy have a gold star more, so chucked him a contract: Next up, our spanish scouting seemed to yield far less players, but this one caught my eye. A RB who frankly might not be that good, but his current club was........interesting: Not many players move from Real Madrid to Notts County.......... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 Not many Real Madrid players have probably even heard of Notts County. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted February 6, 2019 Author Share Posted February 6, 2019 2 March 2019 Ah youth intake day, the day in which future club legends are born......or a load of half start muppets arrive......... Our lot were not all that terrible i suppose, but not exactly any "once in a generation" talent either.... The fact that our best prospect here is named Blaize Bunting is just absolutely magnificent Thinks are still looking good in the league, with a handy gap at the top: https://i.gyazo.com/348008d42288155384f9f9be18e2652d.png Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 On 06/02/2019 at 01:06, Jambo98 said: The fact that our best prospect here is named Blaize Bunting is just absolutely magnificent What a name. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted February 8, 2019 Author Share Posted February 8, 2019 26 March 2019 Well, we are not quite up, but with 7 games to go i think we can probably just about call it job done.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted February 8, 2019 Author Share Posted February 8, 2019 30 March 2019 Well indeedy, that did not take long......... Promo and title clinched. Way above what i hoped for in the first year! Not sure this is gonna cut it in League One mind......... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted February 8, 2019 Author Share Posted February 8, 2019 5 May 2019 The end of our first season, and what a great season. Champions by a mile, 110pts in total. A lovely little run in the rumbelows cup including an epic performance at the Arsenal, although the FA cup is not worth mentioning (our to Barnsley in the 3rd round). Insanely, we scored 124 goals in the league. Clearly we were pretty attacking in our setup, and tbh the ME helps because long shots and corners result in too many goals. We scored 16 from corners, but 3 other teams scored 14 so seems no that bad. After the season, and the final match, i send Warren Feeney to cover the presser whilst I go to the pub frankly, his response to the season is.....interesting. Remind me to kick him up the hole then fire him before next season......... As for the squad, a nice spread across it in terms of goals and assists. Our top 2 probably being loanees but that is to be expected at this level Stand out performer obviously Gribbin With a very big shout out to Daniel Jones. The absolute definition of a journeyman LB, 32yrs old and didnt really expect him to do anything other than not be a black hole in that spot, instead he was top notch, somehow scoring 6 times and setting up another 7. Into the off season we go, and much work to do Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 Great first season! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted February 10, 2019 Author Share Posted February 10, 2019 3 August 2019 A busy off season is almost at an end. Notts have been pretty active in the transfer market as we seek to get better for now and for the future: The first 2 were pre-arranged Bosman deals mentioned above, but beyond that, the outgoings are mainly just squad trimming. Bit brutal to let Jones go after a great season, but his physicals were declining fast. On the incoming side..... Reece Wilson - LB As always, my homeland is a treasure trove and gets scouted heavily. This lad is only 16 but my scouts already pegged him at 3 gold star CA and 4 gold star PA. Had to pay a bit of a fee, but its 50% in installments so i hope worth it Teddy Bishop - CM A known quantity, given we had him on loan last season. If he can stay fit, he is more than capable of performing at league one level. As always, injuries are the big concern here Freddie Woodman - GK (Loan) We had no keeper of any quality and after finding success with a loan keeper last year, we repeat the trick with a keeper of some decent quality. Liam Bossin - GK In need of a backup GK and this was the best of our scout reports from the free agent market Callum McManaman - AML / AMR The "big name" signing of the summer. Has played at a much higher level and still looks to have some real quality about him. Joao Rodriguez - AML / AMR Loanee from the prem to bolster our wide options. Mick Kelleher - AMC / ST Conference scouting mostly finds dross, but this guy had 3.5 gold PA stars and his starting attributes looked a bit better than most at that level. Likely ticketed for U23 duty Sam Oakley - AMC Our biggest outlay of the summer, even though some of it is installments. All 3 of our scouts gave this guy 4.5 gold star PA so i couldnt let him go. Already looks like he would be good enough for my bench but probably let him develop in the youths. so that is the business thus far, have one more iron in the fire before the window closes and the season begins......... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted February 10, 2019 Author Share Posted February 10, 2019 18 August 2019 The one more iron in the fire turned into, well, three........... the original plan was to bring in Scottish goalscoring machine Laurence Shankland, but i messed up with the negotiations and he went to Hearts instead So instead i pivoted to my second favourite scouting location, and the one which seems to have by far the most reports, Portugal. Joao Paredes - ST Originally i had been looking for someone to backup / rotate with Hemmings, but this lad actually looks a bit better than him already. At 23 he is a prime age and cost me only £80k. At the same time as i flicked through my portugese scouting reports, i noticed this youth who i could get for £10k and has 3 gold start potential. Joel Baptista - ST Some interesting attributes, although his inability to finish or remain composed may be a small issue for a striker....... Finally, on the last day of the window i panicked that i had no real decent backup for Matty Knox, so scoured the free agent market in a bit of a panic. A former Wolves stalwart was available and although he wanted a not insubstantial wage, we had plenty room in that budget. David Edwards - AMC At 33 he brings some experience to the squad as well and looks like he could still be very useful at our level. On the outward side, Rob Milsom was punted on a free to Maidstone as he was never really good enough, Billericay triggered a £74k release clause on Reece Mitchell, who was my 5th choice winger so i didnt care much. Finally loaned out Tom Gaydu, our young backup french ST who was not going to get the minutes he needs to develop. So that concludes the transfer window. A total of 13 players come in, with a total outlay of £700k when you factor in future installments Just 5 out for a total of £160k, but we also released 11 at the end of there contracts in June (including first teamers Duffy and Husin) Season has started well with 3 wins and a draw, including an impressive 4 v 1 win away at T'reebok over Bolton Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted February 11, 2019 Author Share Posted February 11, 2019 8 Sept 2019 After a nice positive start to live in League 1, the injury bug has bitten us hard. Firstly this: He has gone back to his parent club obviously, and as you can see we have 3 other long term injuries at this point, made worse a few days later when: Safe to say our squad is already stretched and its only September. The amount of games doesnt help, who cares about the checkatrade trophy or whatever it is We still sit 4th though thanks to our great start, so cannot complain too much. Since league 1 allows you register free agents anytime, i have been scouring for additional wing cover having lost Rodriquez and also our dutch winger for another few weeks, with our best backup also out long term in Forrest. Brought in George Moncur, Frazier Campbell and Will Buckley all on trial to see if any look good enough for a short term contract. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
numbas2 Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 I'm from Nottingham so it's nice to see a County save... good work so far and enjoying the updates! Shame about the injuries but a lot of quality in that squad already. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted February 11, 2019 Author Share Posted February 11, 2019 13 October 2019 So the injury situation did force me into the murky waters of free agents in late September.......a rag tag bunch at best.. I ended up taking the plunge and paying out a wedge in wages to secure two: Will Buckley - AMR / AML Not a particularly exciting signing, but needs must and all that. Its a deal only to the end of the season at least and although the wage is much higher than i would like, we were in dire need. Frazier Campbell - ST Also having a need up front, with Hemmings out for a while and Paredes not really having adapted that well so far......cant believe that a) this guy had an England cap and b) That i have signed him on FM. Absolutely woeful player IRL Again short term, but expensive. In league terms, we are going along ok: This despite McManaman doing his best to single handedly lose us this game: A few days later, i was keeping my eye on the free agent market despite having blown basically my entire budget on Campbell and Buckley. My initial target for the wing spot was an Irish international but he was not interested. Less than 3 weeks after blowing £3k per week on Will freaking Buckley, of course sods law, this lad is now interested! Some creative accounting later, and i pulled the trigger to bring him in. Means we are over our wage budget by about £4k per week, but we have £900k in the bank so the chairman can just wind his neck in......... Callum O'Dowda - AML Looks to have a touch of quality about him, and is in the current Ireland squad Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 Fabulous first season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted February 12, 2019 Author Share Posted February 12, 2019 Cheers to all who comment Never sure whether the protocol is to individually reply or what On 01/02/2019 at 17:16, SixPointer said: Going along nicely mate! Thanks and thanks for the continued following along On 02/02/2019 at 12:41, deltablue said: Great start. Cheers - lets see if we can keep it up! On 02/02/2019 at 13:33, withnail316 said: That takes me back, man. Not in a good way either, as For*st seemed to be permanently at Wembley back then! Great progress, chief. The 'pies fans would be delighted with this. Hah yeah, that was a rough time to be a magpie i guess. Part of the reason for this, the books mentioned in the OP have some classic Jimmy Sirrell quotes about Clough and Forest sprinkled in. On 09/02/2019 at 14:06, SixPointer said: Great first season! Thanks, it was way above expectations! 12 hours ago, numbas2 said: I'm from Nottingham so it's nice to see a County save... good work so far and enjoying the updates! Shame about the injuries but a lot of quality in that squad already. Cheers, yeah its a team i have never paid much attention to but they are good fun. Yeah the injuries can be brutal but the short term signings i have added i think improve the quality as well 5 hours ago, Nobby_McDonald said: Fabulous first season. Thanks, keeping it up is the hard bit! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo98 Posted February 12, 2019 Author Share Posted February 12, 2019 18 November 2019 We reach the midpoint in the league season already! Games flying in....... we are having a great season thus far, in the automatic promo spots after really finding our form over the last month as the injuries start to ease. This is a good summary of all the key aspects thus far: Having our AMR as top scorer probably reflective of the fact that we have rotated a bit up top. Paredes taken his time to find his feet in a new league, Hemmings having injury issues and Campbell filling in now and then. Finances are looking good, even if we are over wage budget. But the bank balance is high so surely the board are happy! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 County are well and truly on the up!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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