[FM19] Steak Diana Ross - Musings from Meadow Lane

[Jambo98]

27 December 2018

Good lord, i just had a news article about recent signing O'Dowda and the fact he has a release clause which could send me scrambling.........has me thinking "hang on, i set that to £4.5m im sure".

He is valued at £5m already 

 

[numbas2]

O'Dowda worth £5.5.m in L1

Or is this normal as the last FM I played was FM17, two years ago...

[Jambo98]

2 hours ago, numbas2 said:

O'Dowda worth £5.5.m in L1

Or is this normal as the last FM I played was FM17, two years ago...

It certainly looks odd - miles out of line with the rest of my squad (although it seems to be going down........£5.5m when signed, then £5m when i noticed, now £4.9m........

 

[numbas2]

Some easy money to be had maybe.

[Jambo98]

5 Jan 2020 

The window is open..but  our budget is non existent so no business thus far.  We have shifted 3 out: 

Buckley - my word what a terrible panic signing that was  Played 11 games for us, was terrible and got shunted on to the conference. I am paying him £600 a week until the end of the season to play for bleeding Billericay! Was worth it to get his near £4k per week off the wage bill.

Ward was 4th choice DC and age slowed him a lot so was not worth holding onto. Reynolds did us a turn in League two but found the step up a bit much. Moving him on allowed me to move David Edwards back to backup at CM, and to promote our stand out youth signing from the summer:
 

This lad looks like he is mustard. Only 16 and has developed a lot already in the U23s, and I have given him some bench time but will now start to get more starts when Knox needs a rest. 

Speaking of Knox, fending off interest him from some SPL and Champ sides. Triggered a 3 year extension i smartly built into his original deal so i can at least hold out for good cash but i am hoping i can keep him. Also got interest in our dutch RM who has handled the step up to league 1 nicely but i would probably let go for a decent fee. 

Finally, our star CB Remi Street looks like he might be off to the US. I rejected a bid from Cincinatti and he kicked off a bit, so i had to accept a revised bid Brings in about £300k but he will be a big loss and i might need to look to the loan market to replace him

Edit - and after kicking off about not being allowed a move, Streete rejects the contract from Cincinatti  

 

[numbas2]

My word, don't get me wrong, Nottingham is a nice place to live but... CYA LATER!

[Nobby_McDonald]

Doing very well Jambo.

[Jambo98]

1 February 2020

And the window closes.......what started out as a very quiet window, didnt stay that way. After the above noted deals, we did nothing at all for 3 weeks. Then 22nd Jan hit, and it all went ever so slightly turbo this end........

First up, we made a big decision to sell Kane Hemmings. He was now 2nd choice and i couldnt shift Campbell who had just come in, and Hemmings contract was starting to run down. We only got 100k for him from Salford, but i decided to take the cash. 

With the cash, we clinched the signing of yet another lad from Portugal, one i had been after since the summer but he turned me down then to sign a new deal, but only a 1 year one, so he was now coming out of contract again. We secured him on a bosman then paid the massive sum of £9k to make it an instant deal.

Goncalo Teixeira - AMRLC/ST 

A useful looking player who is very versatile and also has room to grow according to my scouts. At the price, more than worth a gamble as his attributes mean he can cover some first team positions right away.

Then, i went quiet again for 9 days, and to be honest intended to stay that way. Early on deadline day i decided i was really 1 short in central defence and whilst anyone i signed was not going to see loads of game time, figured grab a loan.  Man City seemed a good place to take one from.

Phillipe Sandler - DC

Brought in to be a backup but for league one he is decent enough and might see some game time, after later developments..........

As deadline day wore on, this happened....

I was pretty puzzled by this to be honest. They came in with £150k plus installments and i rejected, came back with £350k plus installments and i negotiated to a flat £750k and amazingly they accepted. Whats most surprising, is that i dont actually think he was particularly good. Awful technical attributes and had not really grown much in his half season here

So, that gave me some funds, but it was also deadline day and i was short of a right back.... initially i pannicked a bit and just grabbed an experienced loan player. 

Billy Jones - DR

He has been around a bit but felt like he was till ok as a rotation player with little time available. 

So as if things were not mad enough, then this happens: 

Insane stuff. They also started bidding at about £350k plus installments and i rejected 3 times then bid them up to a crazy price and they went for it 

So with a few hours to go, i now had a good bit of money available. But i had only so many scout reports available and not many were grabbing me.  I had to gamble a bit, this guy had 2 scout reports, one said 2.5 gold star PA, the other said 3.5 star PA. But he had good looking CA stars / Stats so i splashed out £350k, half of it in instalments

Costinha - RB

Next up, i had my eye on a dutch kid for a few months but never had the funds to bid. This one my scouts gave 4 gold stars but i was being quoted £500k when i first enquired so dismissed it, but i managed to get him for £300k plus 30% profit from next sale so had to go for it

Niels van Boekel - DMC

Finally, in a total panic having sold Rua, i scoured for transfer listed Central Defenders and brought in an old Hearts Favourite. 

Alim Ozturk - DC

If i am honest, he is a bit rubbish but needs must, and basically i signed him on the strength of this moment.........

 

 

 

 

[Jambo98]

21 March 2019

The season is motoring along and we are doing nicely. With 7 games to go, we are in the box seat for automatic promotion, and at worst are close to guaranteeing playoff action.

This summarises where we are, and the overall position:

goals shared around a bit, and Streete continues to perform, quite glad he didnt go to the USA in the end. Finances are healthy as well.

We had our youth intake, and it was terrible, nothing worth mentioning but thats to be expected at this level.

Lets see if we can take the magpies to the Championship!

[Jambo98]

11 May 2020

Well, we did it. Back to back seasons of glory! No title this time but automatic promo was above our wildest dreams! 

It was pretty tight all season, but we sat 2nd for nearly the entire 2nd half of the season. Barnsley were just that little better, but we fought off some much bigger sides to secure our promotion in the 2nd to last game eventually:

In terms of the squad that got us there, its an interesting mix -we pretty much had a great season without one single stand out performer. Streete probably our best performer but the goals and assists were really shared around a lot this year

In terms of next season, this will be nice and give us a bit of chance, athough the wage bill will still be the lowest in the division:

Onwards and upwards!

[numbas2]

Nice work. Just been through deadline day madness on my save. Good when you're happy coming out of it, not feeling like you've been robbed! How do you think you'll fare in the Championship?

[SixPointer]

Nice work bud!! Championship will be a walk in the park. 

[Jambo98]

13 May 2020

First major event of the close season and its a brutal one. Unsolicited approach from my beloved JT's  Has to be turned down of course.

[Jambo98]

9 hours ago, numbas2 said:

Nice work. Just been through deadline day madness on my save. Good when you're happy coming out of it, not feeling like you've been robbed! How do you think you'll fare in the Championship?

Cheers man, yeah the deadline can be crazy especially around League One level with lots of coming and going. Championship could be tough with our low budget and the fact that a couple of our better players might be poached already, but ive been scouting non stop so have some potential targets in mind if i need to. We probably need a 25 goal striker though to have any hope of top half

9 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Nice work bud!! Championship will be a walk in the park. 

Ha, we shall see! 

[Nobby_McDonald]

Well done winning promotion. Good luck in the Championship.

[Jambo98]

8 August 2020

Been ages since an update, and a busy summer.  First up, lets look at those we didnt renew the contracts of / wouldnt renew with us: 

Some quite notable names in there, from the first team. Vaughan was long since a reserve player, Jones and Campbell stopgap signings. Tootle had been solid for me but was ageing and didnt look ready for another step up. Further down, Calvet and Edwards were regulars in and around the first 11 last year, and Ozturk of course was a Jan signing but was always short term.

As well as those, we made some player sales:

 

Enzio was an original player for us, did us a fine turn over the first 2 seasons but is more suited to League 1 at best. McManaman never really clicked with us, had a few solid spells but i wanted better quality. Pereira never let us down but was getting older and we gained better CM options. Streete was the big surprise. he picked up a bad injury late last season and missed the last 6 games plus most of the summer, and his attributes plummeted badly. Probably reflected in where he ended up signing. Still a loss to us.

Next up, time to build a squad for the championship

 

[Jambo98]

8 August 2020

A double diary entry........ so in terms of who we added, lets just go by position rather than chronological.......

First up, we needed a keeper and Fred Woodman had been great for us on loan. He was however on over £30k per week at the other magpies......but his contract was up and to my surprise he was willing to not only talk to us, but to accept a huge wage cut. Looks more than good enough for this level and still young for a keeper

Next up was central defence. With Streete gone, and Ozturk gone, and Texiera not really looking like he is developming much, i decided to hit the loan market first. Nathan Wood  from Boro looks good enough for our first team, even at age 18:

To partner him, i took a bit of a flier on a freebie. Tiago Illori spent last season in League One at Reading, and did not exactly have a great season, but i love his physical attributes and with no fee to pay, it seems a worthwile risk:

With left back sorted by my 2 scottish lads, Right back was the next focus. Having let Jones and Tootle go, we were down to 20yr old Portugal signing from last year Costinha. So of course i signed another Portugese to rotate with him   Paulinho has bags of top flight experience in his home land and at age 29 brings us some welcome experience

Next up, our central midfield. We had lost again 2 of our first teamers, and although Ted Bishop is still around, i dont really trust his fitness much. So firstly another Scot joins us on a free. Former bolton man Jay Fulton had some decent clubs after him, and we perhaps overpaid in wage terms making him our highest earner, but he looks a player:

Having already secured Fulton, i was a little surprised when i found an Italian with top flight experience amongst the list of interested free agents. Luca Valzania might just be the pick of our signings, 

Finally, needing a 4th choice CM and not seeing anything on the loan market, i searched for transfer listed and a random German lad was there, 2 scouts were split on him but one was bullish enough for 3 gold stars, and his starting attributes really jumped out at me for a 19yr old. We had to lay out £450k for him, but with so many other freebies it was no issue. Sahverdi Cetin might be a name to watch develop 

With Knox still in place at #10 and young Oakley looking an able back up, i left that position alone and focussed on adding some more quality out wide having moved on 2 of our wingers from last year. As usual, i went for a market i know well.......... firstly, Scot and former Jambo Jamie Walker was on a free after a year at Wigan. I am not sure he is much of an upgrade, but was always a fave of mine at Tynecastle so had to take him

On the other side, i also looked to scotland. Lewis Morgan had struggled badly for games at Celtic, but was once, not so long ago, a top prospect. A loan was duly arranged and with him and Walker both able to play many positions, we have a nice versatile attacking unit

And finally, we had a decision to make for our main striker. Joao Paredes was last years main signing up there, and he had a solid season but is he really Championship Quality? To be honest, i struggled badly to find someone who was available, affordable and interested. Eventually i settled for someone likely to rotate / back up Paredes for now and we will likely look again come Jan. It helps that the guy who was available is a bit of a Cult hero in footballing circles.  Can Will Grigg Fire us to glory........  

Also made some youth signings, 3 from my many portugese scouting reports. But ending on Grigg gives me the excuse to chuck in my fave ever football banner from the last Euros......

[Jambo98]

1 January 2021

So first up, despite the last post being about the end of the window, it sort of wasnt. A few things happened.

• Our backup LB got injured for 4 months, and i discovered the loan window was still open so i dredged and got Brian Easton on loan from St Johnstone. A pretty poor player but he is only going to be backup for a few months
• I realised i was short a DC and had not decent youths. So i picked up veteran Gabriel Zakuani who is a bit of a lower league legend. Not Championship quality, but will be a rarely used backup again
• Near the end of August, i got a £1m bid for O'Dowda from  San Jose.....and to be honest despite a very high early value, i could never get him to do well so i decided to take the cash. This was bang on 31 August, last day of the loan window, so as the deal was in flight i rushed out and loaned in Ryan Kent from Liverpool, who looks pretty decent. Bit of an error, as it turns out the O'Dowda deal wont go through until 1st Feb  

The season though, has been amazing. We are flying along. After 30 games, we are firmly in the promotion hunt, and to be honest we should have a playoff spot at worst sewn up already!

As if that wasnt good enough, there is also this in the league cup: 

Now, that is not exactly the toughest set of draws......but a semi final! Its against Burnley, who are 8th in the Prem so that might be the end of that!

We are doing it largely on the strength of our attack, but pretty good all round contributions: 

Could be a pivotal transfer window now! 

[numbas2]

Wow nice progress in the Championship. I like that is was a win against Derby ha.

I had Will Grigg on my current save at Chesterfield, he did OK (FM15) and I've just bought Ryan Kent from Liverpool for Southampton, my next job after Chesterfield. Wonderkid on FM15. How's he look for you?

[Jambo98]

20 Jan 20201 

Sweet mother of Jimmy Sirrell............the Mags are only going to WEMBLEY 

We lost the first leg 1 v 0, but cruised the 2nd leg. Kent put us ahead early with a well worked goal, and it was close and cagey for a long time before we got a pen with 15 to go, which our winger Teixiera off the bench dispatched. Valzania boomed one in from 20 yards to clinch it.

It was almost the dream final as well 

Cardiff, by the way, sit 18th in the Championship at the moment............ what an opportunity!!! 

[Jambo98]

12 hours ago, numbas2 said:

Wow nice progress in the Championship. I like that is was a win against Derby ha.

I had Will Grigg on my current save at Chesterfield, he did OK (FM15) and I've just bought Ryan Kent from Liverpool for Southampton, my next job after Chesterfield. Wonderkid on FM15. How's he look for you?

Cheers man.  Its going way to well! i think there is some truth that its a bit easy to bring clubs up through the divisions this year but im gonna enjoy it anyway.

Kent has been a bit inconsistent for me. Not a great goals and assist return, but he has been in and out of the side a bit as i was rotating 4 wingers for much of the first part of the season.

He looks like he should be a player though, two footed, usefull PPMs:

 

[numbas2]

Looks tidy. GL in the final, the dream tie would have been class!

[Nobby_McDonald]

Things are looking very rosy at Meadown Lane.

I remember years ago when somebody stole the O out of COUNTY on their stand roof.

[Jambo98]

6 Feb 2021 

So another window comes and goes, not the busiest ever for us but some business all the same. 

Outwardly, a few bits of squad pruning:

Forrest, Gaydu and Bossin were all signings who served us decently enough when lower down the pyramid, but really were more suited to League 1 or below so out they went. 

Walker was only signed in the summer but never really settled for us and we had too many wingers so i took a quick profit. O'Dowda i mentioned in an early post and he finally completed his move and Fulton was also a recent signing, but had fallen to 4th choice CM so i got his large wage off our bill. 

Coming inward, we really struggled. I wanted to find a "difference maker" type but our rep is still so low and our wage budget so low that in reality i couldnt find anyone who would really upgrade us   Ended up with a few youth signings, then just 3 loans, all out of necessity. 

First up, a spate of defensive injuries had us down to 1 fit DC, so we hit the loan market for a familiar face:

Rui Rua

Only months after we sold him to Huddersfield, he returns on loan to give us cover and has a good chance to start down the stretch for us 

Jon Mitchell 

A 6 week injury to our only decent keeper was a disaster, so i had to delve into the loan market again. Mitchell was the best i could find and did a job covering for Fred

Troy Parrot

Another injury right at the end of the window, 6 weeks without our main striker Paredes. Not fancying relying on Will Grigg to fire us to the promised land, i swooped in for this classy looking lad from Spurs on loan

We are still bang in the promotion hunt with our cup final to look forward to as well. Lets see how the season pans out! 

[Jambo98]

20 Feb 2021

Well its here! Cup final day. The Magpies are off to Wembley!  

Pre match

We go in with our standard 4231 system, but in team news there are a few bits of worthy news and not many big decisions really: 

• Fred Woodman recovered quicker than expected and played our last 2 league games so he starts in goal 
• Our first choice DC's are both loanee's Rua and Wood, only other fit is Zakuani who is on the bench
• First choice LB and one of our stars, Wilson, out for 4 weeks meaning, so trusty backup Jack Iredale steps in 
• All 5 of our first choice midfield are fit and start
• Will Grigg starts up top with Paredes out injured and Parrott cup tied. Means we have a youth backup ST! 

All starters are fully fit and match fit so we are in decent shape. 

 

Cardiff meanwhile start 41221 wide, with there main striker Zahore having 6 goals in 36 appearances this year...........The biggest threat seems to be Josh Murphy from the left wing. 

Match

9mins - Disaster, we dont clear our lines and a low driven cross from the right finds big Zahore who slides home. Nothing in the opening exchanges till then  

15mins - First glimpse of a chance for us, but nothing more than a blocked shot from 18yards in the end. Almost sucker punched as Cardiff quickly counter and Fred Woodman has to make a smart save from Zahore again

20mins - From a deep cross from the right, Ryan Kent is all alone at the back post 8 yards out but somehow only hits the post  

35mins - another half chance but we overplay it and end up firing over from 25 yards from Knox. Its not looking good

45mins - Half peters out completely with no real action 

 

46mins - Decided against any changes, just a stirring team talk. Within 21 secs it almost pays off as Kent and Grigg both somehow hit the ball against the keeper from less than 3 yards out. You really get the feeling its not going to be our day.......

49mins - Pressure building, this time Texiera hits the keeper from a cutback inside the 6 yard box. GO IN BALL 

65mins - With suddenly nothing happening for 15mins, its time for changes. Our bench is a mix of youth and more youth sadly   Matty knox has not really performed and off he comes for young Oakley. We also go a touch more direct

70mins - Cardiff barely had a kick this half, and Kent again with a good chance hits the keeper. 

71mins - HOLD THE ***** FORT. From the resulting corner, Kent turns provided and big Nathan Wood jumps highest to power home a header. His first goal for the club!!!! what a time to get it. Now...stick or twist.....

72mins - No time to decide! From our next attack, a nothing punt into the box and Will Grigg is pushed over. PENALTY! 

72mins -- Who else to take it but the man himself.....its a poor pen, down the middle almost but power and it takes a touch off the keeper and in. WILL GRIGG'S ON FIRE!!!!!!
 

74mins - Oh god, just as i am trying to make some tweaks to go more solid, Cardiff get an FK out wide and after pinball in the box, Kouyate smashes home and the euphoria is short lived  2 v 2 now. 

77mins - Second sub and its out of necessity. Our LB is blowing out his **** at 63% fitness, so have to sub him off and on comes RB Paulinho to play somewhat out of position. 1 change remaining and no real attacking option beyond an 18yr old who has played 3 games for my first team ever.....now im really regretting my Transfer window!!! 

87min - after a real lull, Woodman has to be sharp to hold a long ranger from Lawrence of Cardiff. 

89mins - Final change see's us get fresh legs into the middle. Valzania replaced by Ted Bishop. 

90mins - FIVE MINS of time added on......... 

91mins - gah, Bishop plays Texiera in down the right channel, lovely ball but he smashes it right at the keeper again. Needed more placement / composure 

95mins - Nothing else happens, extra time it is  

ET 

92 mins - ARGHHH. Jacob Murphy hits one from 30 yards which takes a big looping deflection and flies beyond the keeper. Could that be the end of the dream 

94mins - BUT WAIT. Bishop again plays a lovely ball to get our RB to the byline, he just keeps it in play and cuts it back to the edge of the 6 yard box where WILL GRIGG IS ON *****ING FIRE. Back level. Good lord this game......

105mins - Litterally nothing else happens in the first half of ET. Explosive 4mins followed by nothing...

105mins - With it being the League Cup, we are permitted a 4th sub in ET. Options are slim, but Kent is knackered so off he comes for young Kelleher who is not really a winger but needs must. 

108mins - Disaster, barely made that final sub and Oakley has done his hamstring. HE will play on but barely. 

110min - Oh my god......On one leg, Oakley gets fouled in the box! Another pen........

111mins - WILL GRIGG. MARRY ME MATE. HATRICK. Keeper goes the right way but cant reach it, lovely pen. 9mins........

112mins - We immediately try to park the bus. This is going to be a horrible 8 mins plus........

117mins - Kelleher has a pop from distance but nowhere. Even more bus parking tweaks. Grigg is back helping out in midfield. Injured Oakley left up top. Ala Maldini at the world cup that time

119mins - we hoof it clear and in true rugby style, attempt to kick for touch, it gets a deflection and we have a throw about 1 yard from the Cardiff touchline. 

120mins - Two added mins. YOU WHAT REF. 

121mins - Rua intercepts a long pass and back to Fred. One minute lads. 

121mins - Cardiff work it down the right and its blocked out for a corner. Oh god, please no  

121mins - BLOCKED, CLEARED. YES MEN!

122mins - FULL TIME.  OH MY ACTUAL GOD. 

 

 

[Jambo98]

1 April 2021 

Right, now that I have calmed down (and explained to my missus what all the shouting and screaming was about.......her reaction was predictable....), back to the important business of trying to get to the promised land.

As the calander turns to basically the last month of the season, 5 games remain and things are delicately poised. 

Our final fixtures are reasonable, 3 home and 2 away and none against teams in the top 10:

Cup hero Grigg will miss most of the rest of the season through injury, but other than that, for the first time in months we are pretty much injury free.

Lets see what we can do shall we 

[Jambo98]

2 May 2021

Well, what we could do, was absolutely smash those last 5 games! 4 wins, (before losing the last!) and PROMOTION! Absolutely amazing season at Meadow lane! 

In the end it was fairly comfortable, with the 4 straight wins making us safe in the auto spot. Watford were on a different planet mind

The prize money for 2nd place in the Championship seems a touch er.... low?

No matter, the Magpies board have gotten rather excited at playing in the promised land and given me a bit of a bounty 

 

And the icing on the cake, showing that our young lads are coming through:

The final key player stats, showing that we really didnt have one stand out, although Paredes 27 goals is a nice return, its hardly earth shattering in a 46 game season 

 

[Nobby_McDonald]

Well done on winning promotion.

Prize money in the Championship has never been high. They don't have the mega money TV deal that the Premier League has.

[numbas2]

What a win that was in the final

[Jambo98]

Cheers lads, not forgotten this, been a bit busy but getting back to playing it now

[Jambo98]

30 June 2021

So as the off season has not started in earnest yet, a few bits of random news

First up, everyones favourite topic currently.......brexit   Worst feature in FM by a mile, and i got a pretty bad one. 

Supported by this nonsense rule which is going to make controlling wages much harder for us

This might help a bit i guess  

Also a nice first for County this........

Now, on to the heavy lifting.......how do we get a squad fit for this level, with our tiny reputation.......

[numbas2]

Money, money, money I've not played an FM with Brexit in it. I would rather I could remove it from affecting my FM enjoyment... it's a game... Brexit consumes everything at the moment!

[Jambo98]

7 August 2021 

The eve of a new league season, and a historic one for Notts County as we grace the promised land of the premier league for the first time ever......and the riches that come with it.

Lets start with outgoing players. We were always going to need some considerable upgrades and to let a few go. 

First up those released at the end of contracts: 

Cummings was a useless youth, Baptista a youth signing from Portugal 2 years ago who never worked out / was a scouting fail. Zakuani was a stop gap and Iredale was an admirable backup for a few years but a mile below the level now needed. 

Then on to actual player sales:

Ilori gave us a nice profit, amazed to get that for as to be honest he looked championship quality at best and central defense was the first area i looked to upgrade. Paulinho a solid compaigner from portugal but was the victim of me trying to balance some more UK players into the squad, plus it was a tidy profit. Bishop will never be a PL player but couldnt get a perm taker, so half his wages to Motherwell it is. 

So, the main fun of being promoted to the big boys playground........money to spend, lots of it. Over £30m transfer kitty. So the signings, in order of position:

GK - Will Norris  - Free Transfer 

Continuing my risky ploy of bringing in backup keepers who are cheap and generally rubbish.......this guy was at Sunderland and Wolves and whilst he is not PL quality, is HG english to sit on the bench, with our 3rd choice keeper being a woeful but club HG guy 

RB - Kieran Freeman - £250k from Southampton

A direct replacement for Paulinho and to backup  / rotate with Costinha at RB. He is not exactly amazing but is a bit younger, scottish and will do me for a backup

LB - Cameron Borthwick-Jackson - Free Transfer

Continuing the theme of cheap backups......... a freebie to backup our established LB. Plenty holes in his game but there were not many others willing to come to us without wanting £20k per week plus, to be a backup fullback. I also moved early for backup types, before i had finished scouting some of the places i might have found a better bargain tbh

DC - Chris Mepham - £9m from Brentford 

When it comes to central defence though, i was willing to spend. A key position and Mepham is an established international who has played in the PL and still is fairly young, and is HG domestic so ticks many boxes and has a nice overall quality about him. Pricey, but decent domestic players always are

DC - Federico Venancio - £2.8m from Guimaraes 

A slightly less expensive partner for Mepham but still a good solid upgrade. Plus, it would not really be a transfer window if i did not raid the Portugese market at some point  

CM - Francisco Reis - £2.3m from Varzim 

The second portugal arrival is considerably more exciting. My scouts raved about his potential, which was backed up by Liverpool and Juve both being interested, but they didnt bid, I did and he comes to Meadow Lane rather than Turin......could develop into something special with that nice personality type, and suited well to my DLP slot 

CAM - Brian Tissera - £8.75m from Lanus 

Another big outlay, and again for a young player. Brian joined us late in the window, as the ability to scout south america was new to me so spend time trying to pick out the best interested talent. Again the scouts say 4.5 gold star potential and Napoli / Valencia were among the interested parties but again i managed to nab him. Has some development to do but could be a typical Argie #10 with a bit of luck

CAM - Juan Jose Manelli - £3.5m from Tucuman 

This one was probably a mistake, since he is another CAM, and we already have 2 promising young english ones....but scouts were giving him also 4.5 gold and the price was not crazy. Can play a couple of other positions but does not look suited to anything other than CAM at the moment. Needs some development, ideally a loan but its near impossible to loan out foreign youths  

AML - Denis Dragus - £3.5m from FC Vitorul 

This guy was originally flagged by my data analyst for some stats around his national team performance, and i immediately liked his attributes. As an established international at only 22yr old, he fits the bill of adding quality in wide areas

AMR - Andrei Florescu - £1.9m from Dinamo Bucuresti 

In the course of looking at the first Romanian signing, i had a flick through the U21 national side and this guy caught the eye for how well developed he is. Scouts were a little split on whether he has much more potential, but its an affordable gamble and he gives us a good quality and can cover both wings which i always value.

AMR -  David Brooks - Loan from Bournemouth

Looking for essentially a 4th choice winger on the loan market, and Brooks looked like the man for the job. Has barely played in 3 seasons and is a bit rough in terms of his attributes but he is not likely to be relied on much so will do given what we can attract 

ST - Tammy  Abraham - Loan from Chelsea 

Whilst i am happy with Paredes as our main striker, and he is now a full portugal international, at this level i will need more than one quality striker and much as i adore Will Grigg.......he is not really up to anything more than being an emergency option. So in comes a well travelled loanee who has pace and i feel can score goals at this level when called upon.

 

So that is it, we spent an eye watering £32m, against £4.6m inward, but if we want to build a sustainable club, we need to stay in this league and to do that we need to invest.  Sure the TV money will cover it anyway.........

Our European campaign has started, more on that in the next upate  

[numbas2]

GL

[Nobby_McDonald]

I'm looking forward to my first Brexit in FM, though I am still in my first season in my first FM18 save.

Real Brexit can **** off now though. I'm sick of it. Just ****ing leave.