The Scandinavian Shankly's final chapter: From paupers to kings v2

[deltablue]

Nice dramatic final. Sounds a lot like my first CL final in the Ipswich save. 

[oriole01]

Brilliant 

[bigmattb28]

Love a good Scandinavia save. Keep up the good work.

[withnail316]

20 hours ago, kidthekid said:

What better way to cap a remarking run with a very stressful dramatic penalty shootout.

Congrats

 

11 hours ago, deltablue said:

Nice dramatic final. Sounds a lot like my first CL final in the Ipswich save. 

 

6 hours ago, oriole01 said:

Brilliant 

 

3 hours ago, bigmattb28 said:

Love a good Scandinavia save. Keep up the good work.

Cheers for the support, all. It was certainly a stressful game, but a fantastic way to win it. Now, hopefully, I can build on that. 

[withnail316]

May & June

Domestically, we're absolutely dominant at the moment. Performances have been excellent from both first teamers and squad players, but there is a little bit of restlessness from some of my fringe players. I might have to do a bit of work in the upcoming window, where I suspect there will be a few comings and goings. I'm targeting a young central midfielder, while I'm also hoping the board seize the moment and agree to pump all the lovely cash we have from that European run into a shiny, new stadium. 

[withnail316]

One deal I have confirmed already is for a new goalkeeper.

He joins us on a free and looks very useful, which will allow me to sell (bitterly unhappy) Luis Eduardo. That deal simply hasn't worked out. 

[withnail316]

July

Our form has been a bit sketchy throughout July, but there are certainly no complaints about results. I've also just lost Combe to injury, which is likely to see him out until the start of the Champions League, which has forced a bit of a rethink in terms of transfers. I shall explain more in the next post. 

[withnail316]

My plan this window was always to get rid of South African striker Nkonzo Mpangase, but I've had a change of heart. Brazilian Rodrigues, who joined from Monaco for €4.2m back in November, was going to move from his role as a winger into his natural centre forward position, and become back up for Combe. However, the South African's form (including the goal in the CL final) combined with his willingness to play from the bench rather than the start, convinced me he should stay. Instead, I took my chances and offered Rodrigues out for €10m. Stade Lavallois offered us €9.4m for him (€1.4m now, and €8m to come) which is a club record fee, and one I simply couldn't turn down. Now Mpangase is likely to remain for another year, although Finnish youngster Jyrki Yil-Renko has scored 13 goals on loan in the Swedish 2nd tier this season, and could yet become our main back-up next year.  

I've also equalled our out-going record of €5m for German youngster William Aryee from Leverkusen. He had been out on loan last season and I'd agreed a fee of €7.5m while he was at Genk, but he refused to talk to us. Upon his return to Leverkusen he was transfer listed, and this looks a steal for us. He can also become homegrown, so it's a win all round. 

[withnail316]

Youth intake 2020

[withnail316]

Having an FM break for a bit. I turned on my games console for the first time in over a year last night, and actually really enjoyed playing rather than doing it for the sake of it. I've decided I need a bit of time to miss playing FM again.

Catch you all in a few weeks.