Back to Basics - Birmingham City Story

[markbcfc]

game crashed will start again soon

 

[bcfc1]

November

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Pedersen, Maghoma, G Gardner (Crowley), Sunjic, Bellingham (Bela), Hogan (Dean), Jutkiewicz

A great comeback to take the points here. It looked as though the game was going away from us before we scored 2 in 2 minutes to win the match.

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Pedersen, Bela (Maghoma), Bellingham, Sunjic (G Gardner), Crowley, Hogan, Jutkiewicz

A bore 0-0 draw here but against a team like Fulham it is not a bad result. We created a few chances against them as well which was good.

Camp, Colin, Roberts (Harding), Clarke-Salter, Pedersen, Bela, Bellingham, Sunjic, Crowley (Mrabti), Hogan, Jutkiewicz (Connolly)

What a sucker punch at the end of the game. Connolly came on in the 62nd minute and within 5 minutes had turned the game around but then in the 7th minute of just 5 added on they scored an equalizer.

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Pedersen (Keita), Bela (Maghoma), Bellingham, G Gardner, Crowley, Hogan (Connolly), Jutkiewicz

A disappointing loss here as we conceded an early goal from a long range strike and then couldn’t create a decent chance to get an equalizer. We aren’t creating as many chances as we were in previous games at the moment.

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Pedersen, Bela, Bellingham (Baningime), Sunjic, Maghoma (Crowley), Hogan, Jutkiewicz (Connolly)

The month ends with a boring draw again as we fail to win again. This makes it 4 games without a win but 3 of them have been draws so we haven’t lost too many games this season either. The defence were strong in this game but the front line were lacking once again.

Summary

Another tough month for us here as the goals have all dried up and we are not creating the chances we were a month or 2 ago. I’m not too sure what has caused the drop in form but hopefully we are able to turn it around next month. My real concern so far is the midfield as they don’t seem to be providing anything so far. I am still working on the tactic to try and get it to work and hopefully I will stumble across something soon.

Player of the Month
Jake Clarke-Salter

It hasn’t been a particularly strong month for anyone but Clarke-Salter has certainly been the most consistent performer with all him getting an average rating of at least 6.9 in all of his matches this month.

League Table

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[Brane_Orsou]

Keep it up Big Horse, I remember the days when Horse and Barry Hayles were tearing it up for Fulham!

 

[bcfc1]

December

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Pedersen, Bela (Crowley), Bellingham, Sunjic (G Gardner), Maghoma, Hogan, Jutkiewicz (Connolly)

Another late steal here against a Reading team that deserved to win. We didn’t really create much until Maghoma got a late counter attacking goal.

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Pedersen, Bela, G Gardner, Sunjic, Bellingham, Hogan, Jutkiewicz

A more balanced game here that ended in a draw. This is one of the first games of the season where we had more shots and more shots on target than the opposition. The chances weren’t great however as we couldn’t build on our 4th minute goal.

Camp, Colin (Harding), Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Pedersen, Bela, Bellingham (G Gardner), Sunjic, Crowley (Maghoma), Hogan, Jutkiewicz

Another draw here keeps us ticking along. West Brom are one of the best teams in the league so this result is not too bad at all.

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Pedersen (Keita), Bela, G Gardner, Sunjic, Bellingham (Crowley), Hogan (Connolly), Jutkiewicz

A great comeback win after conceding an own goal so early on in the game. I tweaked the tactic a little here and pushed Bela into the AMR position and bar the early goal it seemed to work as he was more involved in the attacking play.

Camp, Colin, Roberts. Clarke-Salter, Pedersen (Keita), Bela (Maghoma), G Gardner, Sunjic, Bellingham, Hogan, Jutkiewicz (Connolly)

Another draw here with another goal from Jutkiewicz. Blackburn beat us earlier in the season so I am pleased to see that we can now compete with them and take a point from them.

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Pedersen, Maghoma, G Gardner, Sunjic, Bellingham, Connolly, Jutkiewicz

A disappointint end to the month as we got beaten pretty comfortably. Leeds are probably the best team in the league so it was always going to be a tough game and we never really had a chance here. We created a couple of chances but sometimes you have to just take this on the chin.

Summary

A decent month overall as we only lost one game at that was a tough game against Leeds. What was interesting to see is that we played 3 games at home but failed to win any of them. I am still struggling to get my head around trying to use this style of play. I either end up being too defensive and not creating any chances or I push a bit higher and then the tactic is moving away from being a defensive counter attacking tactic. I plan to keep working on it but I am not happy with it at all at the moment.

Player of the Month
Marc Roberts

Roberts has put in some great performances this month and been a real leader at the back. Harlee Dean has started to get unhappy about his lack of playing time but the performances of Clarke-Salter and Roberts have been great.

League Table

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[bcfc1]

January

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Pedersen, Bela, G Gardner, Sunjic, Crowley, Hogan, Jutkiewicz

A really late goal from Hogan gives us a good start to the new year. We were the better team here and deserved the win but it didn’t look like it was coming until Hogan got on the end of a Bela cross to head in the winner.

Trueman, Harding, Dean, Clarke-Salter, Pedersen, Bela (Maghoma), G Gardner (C Gardner), Baningime (Kieftenbeld), Crowley, Hogan, Jutkiewicz

This was our game in the FA Cup and the goalless draw means that we will have to do it again in a couple of weeks time. The game was pretty poor and hopefully the replay will have a bit more action.

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Pedersen (Seddon), Bela, G Gardner, Bellingham (Crowley), Hogan (Connolly), Jutkiewicz

Disappointed to only get a draw here as Luton are a beatable team. We played well but just couldn’t get the goals. We have started to create more chances in games which is pleasing to see and will hopefully lead us to some bigger results soon.

Trueman, Harding, Roberts, Dean, Pedersen (Bellingham), Maghoma, C Gardner (G Gardner), Sunjic (Bela), Crowley, Hogan, Connolly (Jutkiewicz)

What a disappointing end to a good game. It was a very tight game that looked like it was going to penalties but then they scored 3 goals in the last 10 minutes of extra time. We pushed for a late equalizer and then they caught us out twice to make the score line look a lot better than they deserved.

Camp, Colin, Dean, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Bela, Kieftenbeld, Sunjic, Bellingham, Hogan, Jutkiewicz

A very boring game but the highlight is that Kieftenbeld played 90 minutes and is close to being back to full fitness. He starts the game with a big injury and this is him now just getting back from that. Hopefully he can make a big impact in the second half of the season.

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Pedersen, Bela, Kieftenbeld (Bellingham), Sunjic (G Gardner), Crowley, Hogan, Jutkiewicz

What a game to watch. It was end to end and almost every clip I saw ended in a goal. It was a not a game for the keepers as both of them made mistakes for some of the goals as well. I said before that there would be a game where we scored plenty of goals and thankfully it came when the defence wasn’t at its best.

Summary

Overall the month has gone pretty well with us going unbeaten in the league with 2 wins and 2 draws but the result against West Brom in the FA Cup was definitely disappointing. I’m not going to write up a separate section on the January window as not much happened. We didn’t sign anyone new but we did let a few players go. Josh McEachran (£1.1mil), Cheick Keita (£550k) and Kerim Mrabti (£3.1mil) all left the club although Mrabti’s deal is to join the MLS so he doesn’t officially leave until 12th Feb. None of these guys were getting much game time so I was pleased to make some money from them. I didn’t really need a replacement for McEachran or Mrabti but to replace Keita I recalled Steve Seddon and he will compete with Pedersen for the LB position.

Player of the Month
Jeremie Bela

Bela has been our most creative player this season and tops our assists table and he has been in great form this month as well.

League Table

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[bcfc1]

February

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Pedersen, Bela, Bellingham, Kieftenbeld, Crowley, Connolly, Jutkiewicz

A good performance for the CB’s but the rest of the team were pretty poor and we couldn’t get a goal to take the win.

Camp, Colin (Harding), Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Pedersen (Seddon), Bela, Bellingham, Kieftenbeld, Maghoma, Hogan, Jutkiewicz

A great result here which means we have done a great double over Bristol City after scoring 5 against them very early on in the season.

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Bela, Kieftenbeld, Sunjic, Bellingham (Maghoma), Hogan (G Gardner), Jutkiewicz (Connolly)

Another great win as we score 4 away from home. There was a downside to this game though as Bellingham came off very early with an injury and Sunjic was sent off for a second yellow card late on.

Camp, Colin, Roberts (Dean), Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Bela, Crowley, Kieftenbeld (Davis), Maghoma, Hogan (Connolly), Jutkiewicz

Another big win as the goals are flying in. Jutkiewicz has been great for us all season and came up with another 2 goals here.

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Bela, Bellingham (Crowley), Sunjic (G Gardner), Maghoma, Hogan, Jutkiewicz (Connolly)

A much tighter game but another vital 3 points. It has been a good run of form that has pushed us back into contention for automatic promotion. If we can keep the form going then we could compete for 2nd and maybe even top the table before the end of the season.

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter (Dean), Pedersen, Bela, Bellingham, Kieftenbeld, Crowley (Sunjic), Connolly, Jutkiewicz (Hogan)

Another incredible game where we scored 4. Connolly came into the team and is clearly fighting for a place with this hat-trick. We went behind really early on but came back into it and the quality of our front 2 was enough to get us the win.

Camp, Harding, Roberts, Clarke-Salter (Dean), Seddon, Bela (Davis), G Gardner, Sunjic, Crowley (Bellingham), Connolly, Hogan

Yet another win to end the month. I rotated the squad a little as some players were getting tired but we were still able to get the 3 points. The games have come quick and fast this month so I am pleased to see that the backup players can step up and get us some vital points as well.

Summary

What an incredible month. It simply has to be the best month of the season so far as we won 6 and drew 1 while not losing any games. This run of form has seen us push right back up in contention for the automatic places and the playoffs is looking extremely likely now. It has been great at both ends of the pitch as we scored 16 goals and conceded only 3 across 7 games.

Player of the Month
Steve Seddon

I could have chosen a lot of players for this month but I have gone with Seddon who came back from his loan in January and is already looking push Pedersen out of his position with his performances so far.

League Table

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[bcfc1]

March

Camp, Colin (Harding), Dean, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Bela, Kieftenbeld (C Gardner), Davis, Bellingham, Connolly, Jutkiewicz (Hogan)

A nice win but we almost threw it away after conceding two late goals. Jutkiewicz stepped up with some important goals again and he is competing with Karlan Grant for the top goalscorer in the league.

Camp, Harding, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Bela (Davis), Kieftenbeld, Sunjic, Bellingham (Pedersen), Connolly (Hogan), Jutkiewicz

The game was pretty poor until Hogan came on and got the late winner. You can tell how poor the rest of the game was by the fact that Hogan didn’t come on until the 72nd minute but got the MotM award from scoring that goal.

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter (Dean), Seddon, Bela, Kieftenbeld, Sunjic (Davis), Bellingham, Hogan, Jutkiewicz

Another good win and this one comes after conceding in the very first minute of the game. They scored with less than 30 seconds on the clock but then the rest of the game was us bombarding them with balls into the box and eventually the pressure paid off as both strikers got a goal each to give us the 3 points.

Camp, Harding, Dean, Clarke-Salter, Pedersen, Davis, Kieftenbeld (C Gardner), Sunjic, G Gardner, Connolly, Hogan

It has been an incredible run of 9 straight wins but the run comes to an end here as Huddlesfield beat us with two goals from Karlan Grant. Again, due to fatigue, I had to rotate some players and it showed as we weren’t as good as we have been. The big loss is that Bela picked up an injury in training before this game and will now miss the next few games.

Summary

Another good month overall as we won 3 and only lost the last 1. At the moment we are sitting right at the very top of the table but we have a tough month coming up and have some injuries with Bela and Maghoma missing meaning we are very light on the wings. Our recent form has meant that promotion is a real possible which is frightening as this squad is nowhere near good enough to compete in the top division. If we were to get promoted then we will be having an incredibly busy summer of rebuilding.

Player of the Month
Lukas Jutkiewicz

The player of the month and almost certainly the player of the season is Lukas Jutkiewicz. The target of this save was to create a target that can get the best out of a target man in a 442 system and it is definitely working at the moment.

League Table

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[bcfc1]

April

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Crowley (Harding), Kieftenbeld, Sunjic, Bellingham (Pedersen), Connolly, Jutkiewicz

Fulham are the best team in the league and we almost took a point from them here. We played well and were competing with them but Cavaleiro came up with two great goals to get them the win. That is probably any chance of the title gone but we are still in with a chance of promotion.

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter (Dean), Pedersen, Crowley, Kieftenbeld, Davis, Bellingham (Seddon), Connolly (Hogan), Jutkiewicz

What a finish to this game. It looked like it was going to drift out for a 1-1 draw but then they scored in the 87th minute and just a minute late Pedersen scored an equalizer to make sure we did take at least a point from the game.

Camp, Harding, Roberts, Dean, Seddon, Crowley, Kieftenbeld (C Gardner), Sunjic, Pedersen, Hogan, Jutkiewicz

This result wrapped up a couple of things. Firstly, we are confirmed to be in the playoffs at least and can now focus on trying to get into the top 2. Secondly, this result confirms Stoke’s relegation to League One. Stoke have some real quality players in their team so it is surprising to see them go down and I will be looking to take a player or two from them if I can afford to do so.

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter (Dean), Seddon, Bela, Kieftenbeld (Davis), Sunjic, Bellingham (Maghoma), Hogan, Jutkiewicz

Another good win here with Hogan stepping up with the goals this time. Seddon also scored which was good to see as he has been great for us in the last couple of months. It wasn’t a surprise to see us put in a much better performance when Bela returned to the right wing.

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Bela (Crowley), Kieftenbeld, Sunjic (Davis), Bellingham, Hogan, Jutkiewicz

A disappointing collapse here as we took the lead but left with no points. They did to us what we have done to many other teams this season as they had just 44% possession and only 3 shots on target but they scored 2 of them to take the points.

Summary

Overall the month has been positive as we secure our place in the playoffs and have a decent chance of making the automatic places as well. There is just one game left to season and if results go our way then it could be our only game. If they don’t then we will go into the playoffs which we would have a decent chance of winning. We made a sale in this month as Gary Gardner left us to go to the MLS with DC United. The deal is worth £1.5mil which is a good amount of money for a player that was 3rd or 4th choice CM.

Player of the Month
Lukas Jutkiewicz

I can not give it to anyone else but our talisman up top as he keeps on scoring the goals for us.

League Table

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[bcfc1]

May

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Seddon (Pedersen), Bela, Kieftenbeld, Davis (Maghoma), Bellingham, Hogan (Connolly), Jutkiewicz

Gutted to not get the result we needed here as the draw means we finish the season in 3rd place and will go into the playoffs. I thought we had stolen the win when Connolly scored in the 84th minute to make it 2-1 but then just 2 minutes later Huddlestone scored to make sure the game finished as a draw. West Brom didn’t win their game either so a win here would have seen us finish second.

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Seddon (Pedersen), Bela, Kieftenbeld (Maghoma), Davis, Crowley, Connolly, Jutkiewicz

This has to be the most one-sided 0-0 I have seen and we were incredibly lucky that we didn’t lose this game. Huddersfield had 2 goals disallowed for offside and then Mounie missed a penalty as well before eventually he was sent off for a second yellow card.

Camp, Colin (C Gardner), Roberts, Clarke-Salter (Dean), Seddon, Bela, Kieftenbeld, Davis, Bellingham, Connolly, Jutkiewicz

We are through to the playoff final. In sich a high pressure game, it was 16yr old Jude Bellingham who stepped up to score the 2 goals that see us face Preston in the final after they were able to get past Leeds over two legs.

Camp, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Bela, Crowley, Kieftenbeld, Bellingham (Maghoma), Connolly (Hogan), Jutkiewicz

Heartbreak here as we fall at the final hurdle to Preston. The game was extremely tight with most of the chances coming from set pieces and then eventually it was Preston who got the goal that secures their promotion while we now face another season in the Championship.

Summary

Absolutely gutted to not secure promotion and it will now be a very different summer than what I was hoping for. I will talk about the season overall in an end of season post so to focus more on this month, we couldn’t see out the win against Derby to get promoted automatically and then we couldn’t score at all to get past Preston at Wembley.

Player of the Month
Jude Bellingham

Wasn’t too much quality shown this month but Bellingham put in an incredible performance in the second leg against Huddersfield which secured us a place in the final.

League Table

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[markbcfc]

unlucky mate keep it going though

 

[bcfc1]

End of Season Post

So what to say about this season. We got off to a flyer in the first few months, had a bit of a drop during December and January, and then finally picked up our best form at the end of the season to push back into an automatic promotion race. We fell just short of automatic promotion so we went into the playoffs where we failed to beat Preston in the final. The team have done a lot better than I thought they would and if I can bring in a few quality players then we should have a great chance of promotion next season.

We were terrible in the cups as we went out of both of them very early on. One thing I would like to do next season is to put together a better cup run. Hopefully we will be able to do this while putting together a promotion push during the season. To do this we will need to have much better depth, especially in midfield where sometimes we lost games due to having to rotate in players who were not good enough to play.

End of Season Awards

The team of the season had a few surprises in it. Firstly, Seddon got into the LB position over Pedersen despite being in the team for half of the season. I think he deserved it but it is a surprise to see him in there when Pedersen played for the whole season. Next, in the midfield both Gary Gardner and Jacques Maghoma made the team over players like Sunjic, Kieftenbeld and Crowley. I would have definitely had Sunjic in there while possibly had Crowley in there over Gardner and Maghoma as well.

Onto the player awards and there was only one real option for player of the season. Jutkiewicz was incredible throughout the entire season and finished as our top goalscorer and the leagues as well. Roberts was a good second place as he kept plenty of clean sheets and provided many chances from his long throws. Aaron Connolly won young player of the season which I would have bet my house on going to Jude Bellingham instead. Connolly had a great season for us but Bellingham played in many more games. I am not sure how the awards are decided but there were plenty of weird decisions here.

Squad Overview

Goalkeepers – Lee Camp was the clear number one but he wont be next season as his contract is running out and I am not planning on renewing it. I already know who I want for this position but we will see whether we can bring him to the club.

Defenders – Colin was solid at RB while Roberts was great at the back and provided plenty of chances with his throws. The left side of defence is up for debate though as Clarke-Salter will go back to Chelsea after his loan and Pedersen and Seddon are fighting it out for the LB position.

Midfielders – Bela was our most creative player from the right wing and didn’t really have any competition for that position. The rest of the midfield were all competing with each other and hopefully it will be similar next season. I’m not too sure what Bellingham’s best position is yet but I will have to make a decision between playing him as the LM or as one of the CM’s.

Forwards – The number one choice here was clearly Jutkiewicz. Hogan and Connolly both made good partners for him but they were both on loan so there will need to be changes here.

Plans for next season

The transfer window will be a busy one as we need to replace Camp, Clarke-Salter, Hogan and Connolly before we then look to try and improve the squad in any other positions. Some of our key players are wanted by Premier League teams so we may be forced to move some players out of the club as well.

In terms of league ambitions, the only way we can improve on last season is to get promoted and I would preferably like to do so without having to go through the pressure of the playoffs again. I would also like to put together a better run in either of the cup competitions and go a bit further in those. I'm hoping to have a bit more depth next season and this will help with meeting this target.


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[bcfc1]

Pre-Season

It has been a busy pre-season as we had 2 big sales and then a few players leave as contracts had finished a well. All of these needed to be replaced and other positions improved as well so we brought in 7 new players in.

Transfers Out

The biggest transfer out is obvious as Jeremie Bela left to join Crystal Palace for £20mil. The deal is £10mil up front and another £10mil in installments. Bela was outstanding for us last season and was attracting a lot of Premier League interest so I always felt we would lose him. The other big transfer is youngster Odin Bailey who leaves to go to Brighton for £8.25mil. I was looking at bringing Bailey into the squad this season but when we got this offer I had to let him go.

All of the other deals shown here are backups/youngsters. What this page doesn’t show is that players like C Gardner, Camp and Maghoma have all left the club as well as their contracts came to an end I did not renew them. I want to try and build a squad for the Premier League and none of these 3 would be any good in the top division so I felt it was best to let them go now.

Transfers In

The first transfer is to bring Jack Butland back to the club for £6mil. With Camp leaving I needed a new goalkeeper and with Stoke getting relegated I knew exactly who I wanted. He is a top quality goalkeeper for this division or the Premier League and he will be our keeper for years to come.

The only other player we paid money for is Robbie Gotts who joins from Leeds United for £4.8mil. I needed a replacement for Jeremie Bela and Gotts looks like a very good option from the right wing. He is young, English and got well rounded attributes so he should do well this season.

The next two transfers are to improve the depth of the squad as Chey Dunkley and Kevin Stewart both come in on free transfers. They will both be backup options for CB and CM respectively but should be better options than what we had last season.

The last 3 are all quality loan options as we bring in Eddie Nketiah and Conor Gallagher while Jake Clarke-Salter comes back as well. Last season I set up a partnership with Chelsea and I took full advantage of that to get Clarke-Salter and Gallagher in while not paying any of their wages. I only brought Nketiah in after I sold Bailey and needed another forward option. We also have Aaron Connolly on loan again but I agreed to that last season.

Full Squad

Goalkeepers – Butland, Trueman
Defenders – Colin, Harding, Clarke-Salter, Dean, Dunkley, Roberts, Pedersen, Seddon
Midfielders – Sunjic, Stewart, Gotts, Bellingham, Davis, Gallagher, Kieftenbeld, Villalba, Crowley
Forwards – Connolly, Nketiah, Jutkiewicz, Gimenez
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[markbcfc]

just finished my first season got promoted as champions with 118 points.juke got 45 goals in all comps with toney grabbing 33,hogan 16 and Bellingham 10 as the main scorers

 

[Dan McConnell]

Unlucky in the lottery that is the play off final mate. Some really good additions there though so no doubt you'll be near the top again this time around

 

[bcfc1]

August

Butland, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter (Dean), Seddon, Gotts, Kieftenbeld, Sunjic, Crowley (Bellingham), Nketiah, Jutkiewicz

A strong start to the season as we score 3 away from home against a good side. We started well and the game was all over after 30 minutes. It was good to see Jutkiewicz get off to a good start as I am expecting big things from him again.

Butland, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Gotts, Gallagher, Sunjic, Bellingham (Villalba), Nketiah (Connolly), Jutkiewicz

A much tighter result here but we get all 3 points in the end. The game started incredibly quickly with them scoring after 4 minutes and then we got a penalty just a minute later that we scored. Eventually it was new signing Robbie Gotts that got the winner from the right wing.

Trueman, Harding, Dunkley, Dean. Pedersen, Crowley, Kieftenbeld, Stewart, Villalba, Connolly, Gimenez

We go through to the next round of the cup with a comfortable win against Coventry. This game was a chance for the backup players to get a run out and a few of the impressed me and could push for a place in the regular team.

Butland, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter (Harding), Seddon, Gotts, Gallagher, Sunjic (Stewart), Bellingham, Nketiah, Jutkiewicz

Another win here keeps our great start to the season going. Nketiah hadn’t delivered yet but he definitely did here as he scored both goals.

Butland, Colin (Harding), Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Gotts, Gallagher, Sunjic (Kieftenbeld), Bellingham, Nketiah (Connolly), Jutkiewicz

Another tight game that we come out from with the 3 points. The only goal came very early on when Jutkiewicz scored a penalty in the 3rd minute. The rest of the game flew by pretty quickly as nothing much happened except for the 2 red cards which were for second yellows.

Butland, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Gotts, Gallagher (Crowley), Sunjic, Bellingham, Nketiah, Jutkiewicz (Gimenez)

What a game and what a comeback considering we went 1-0 down after 15 minutes. Nketiah put in a great performance as he scored twice and assisted one as well in this win.

Trueman, Harding, Dunkley, Dean, Pedersen, Crowley, Kieftenbeld, Stewart, Villalba, Connolly, Gimenez

The cup run comes to an end early on again. They blew us out of the park in the first half and it should have been 4 or 5 to them really. We fought back late on with Villalba scoring twice but it wasn’t enough as we go out 3-2.

Butland, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Gotts, Bellingham, Sunjic, Villalba (Gallagher), Nketiah (Connolly), Jutkiewicz

We drop points in the league for the first time here as we weren’t as clinical in front of goal as we should have been and could only score once out of 23 shots. The team were a little fatigued for this game and hopefully the coming international break will give the players a bit of a break after a busy start to the season.

Summary

A great start to the league so far as we win 5 out of 6 games and drew the other. We went one stage further in the cup compared to last year as we at least won in the first round but then faced Premier League opposition in Sheffield United in the next round and went out. I wanted a bit more of a cup run this year and if we are going to the that then it is going to have to come in the FA Cup later in the season.

Player of the Month
Lukas Jutkiewicz

It has been a bright start to the season for Jutkiewicz. He was great for us last season and if he can deliver something like that again then I have aims of achieving promotion this year.

League Table

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[bcfc1]

just finished my first season got promoted as champions with 118 points.juke got 45 goals in all comps with toney grabbing 33,hogan 16 and Bellingham 10 as the main scorers

Those are some incredible stats. Let me know who you sign for your first season in the Premier League as I am sure I will doing the same next summer.

Unlucky in the lottery that is the play off final mate. Some really good additions there though so no doubt you'll be near the top again this time around

It was a disappointment but judging from how we have started this season it may be a blessing in disguise. I have another season in the Championship to build the squad before going into the Prem.

 

[markbcfc]

Those are some incredible stats. Let me know who you sign for your first season in the Premier League as I am sure I will doing the same next summer.



It was a disappointment but judging from how we have started this season it may be a blessing in disguise. I have another season in the Championship to build the squad before going into the Prem.

 

[bcfc1]

September

Butland, Colin, Roberts, Dean, Seddon (Pedersen), Gotts, Gallagher, Sunjic, Villalba, Nketiah (Connolly), Jutkiewicz

A much tighter result than I would have liked but we still got the win. Jutkiewicz got two more goals to add to his total but it was the performance of Villalba that I was most impressed with. Almost every attack we had came through him. He has definitely taken the role of LM at the moment.

Butland, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Gotts, Bellingham, Sunjic (Stewart), Villalba, Nketiah, Jutkiewicz (Gimenez)

Newcastle probably have the best squad in the division so to get a win and a clean sheet against them is probably the best result of the season so far. We were tight at the back and then caught them out with a counter attack that Nketiah got on to the end of.

Butland, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Gotts, Bellingham, Sunjic, Villalba (Crowley), Nketiah, Jutkiewicz (Gimenez)

Another tight result that we end up on the right side of. It looked like we were going to throw away 2 points when Charlton got a late penalty but Lyle Taylor smashed it wide and we deservedly took all 3 points.

Butland, Harding, Roberts, Clarke-Salter (Dunkley), Seddon, Gotts, Bellingham, Sunjic, Villalba, Nketiah (Connolly), Jutkiewicz

We end the month with our biggest win of the month. We made an electric start and was 2-0 up in the first 5 minutes of the game. From there the game was a bit more balanced but we had a 2 goal lead and never looked like losing.

Summary

It has been a perfect month as we won 4 games out of 4. We have looked really good in all 4 games and come out of them with maximum points. A lot of the positions in the team are now settled and I could probably name my regular XI now bar 1 or 2 positions. Next month brings 5 games against some tough opposition as we face two relegated teams in Burnley and Southampton and also face Brentford as well.

Player of the Month
Marc Roberts

Roberts has been solid at the back and his long throws means he creates loads of chances and is getting a few assists. He got 8 last season and hopefully he can do something similar this season.

League Table

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October

Butland, Colin, Roberts, Dean, Seddon (Pedersen), Gotts, Bellingham, Stewart, Villalba (Gallagher), Nketiah, Jutkiewicz (Connolly)

A very good draw against a team that were in the Premier League last season. The game was very tight and neither side could score the vital goal.

Butland, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Gotts, Gallagher (Crowley), Sunjic (Stewart), Bellingham, Nketiah, Jutkiewicz

What a comeback. It looked like the game was over after less than 30 minutes with them 2-0 up but we stayed in the game and with 20 minutes left we changed the central midfield, dominated the ball and turned the game around completely.

Butland, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Pedersen (Seddon), Gotts, Gallagher, Sunjic, Crowley, Connolly, Jutkiewicz (Gimenez)

A disappointing draw here as we couldn’t get the goal to win the game. We had 16 shots on goal but none of them were good enough to hit the back of the net.

Butland, Colin (Harding), Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Gotts, Bellingham, Sunjic, Villalba (Gallagher), Nketiah, Jutkiewicz

We haven’t played particularly well for a while now but we keep on getting the results. Again we had plenty of shots on goal with 24 in this game and thankfully we did enough to get the 3 points after they had equalized with a penalty.

Butland, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Gotts (Crowley), Bellingham, Sunjic, Villalba, Nketiah (Connolly), Jutkiewicz

Again we dominated the game but struggled in front of goal. We got the one goal we needed for the win but in reality we should have 3 or 4 in this game.

Summary

The strikers haven’t been terrible this month but they haven’t been as clinical as they have been before. We regularly had 15-20 shots in games but twice failed to score and scored just 6 goals across the 5 games. We are unbeaten in the league which has seen us settle in at the top of the table. As the games tick by we seem to be looking the real deal and should end up looking for promotion by the end of the season.

Player of the Month
Robbie Gotts

Gotts has had a great start to his career with us. While the strikers weren’t scoring, Gotts was still creating plenty of chances and lets hope it continues.

League Table

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November

Butland, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Gotts, Bellingham, Sunjic, Villalba, Connolly, Jutkiewicz

A really boring game where nothing happened. We should have won this game based on form but we couldn’t break down their defence.

Butland, Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Gotts (Crowley), Bellingham, Sunjic (Stewart), Villalba, Nketiah (Connolly), Jutkiewicz

Another big game where Jutkiewicz steps up. Leeds are one of our closest rivals in the league but we battered them for the whole game. Crowley added a 4th goal to make the score line look even better and in the end they only had 1 shot on target during the whole game.

Butland, Colin (Harding), Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Pedersen, Gotts, Bellingham, Stewart, Villalba (Crowley), Nketiah, Jutkiewicz (Gimenez)

Another big score as we put 3 past Nottingham Forest. All 3 of our goals came in the first half and then the game just ticked by. They got 1 back but we were never in any real danger of losing the 3 points.

Butland, Colin (Harding), Roberts, Clarke-Saltter, Pedersen, Gotts, Bellingham, Stewart, Villalba (Crowley), Nketiah, Gimenez

This was a very tight game and we were lucky to get the win in the end. We only had 3 shots on target but we scored 2 of them and ran away with the points.

Summary

November was a slightly shorter month due to an international break and the break did us well as we won all 3 games after we came back from it. Our form has been incredible and we are always looking dangerous in games even when we don’t score. Jutkiewicz keeps adding to his goal total and he is far ahead of everyone else at the club and in the league. Next month brings 6 league games but all of them are teams we would be expected to win so we could keep this good form going for a while longer.

Player of the Month
Jude Bellingham

At the start of the season I wasn’t sure on whether to start Bellingham in CM or LM but he has definitely made his home in CM now. He can run games from the middle of the pitch when we are dominating and is good enough defensively to put a foot in when we are holding on.

League Table

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