Back to Basics - Birmingham City Story

[bcfc1]

Pre-Season

It has been a busy summer as I have brought in 6 new faces to club and most of them were to improve the backline. I hadn’t planned on changing so much at the back but I kept on finding good players for a decent fee so I brought them in.

Transfers Out

Not too much in terms of players going out as only 2 players involved in the first team left through transfers. The first to leave was Harlee Dean who joined Cardiff for £1mil. He had just one year left on his deal and after you see the transfers coming in you will see why we did not need him at the club anymore. The second player to leave was Kristian Pedersen who joins Club Brugge in a deal worth up to £9mil. It was a similar thing to Dean as players joining meant he was no longer needed so I decided to make a decent amount of money from him while I could.

Transfers In

The first transfer in is by far the biggest of this window and any window as we smash the clubs record transfer fee to bring in Max Aarons for £30mil. With Dalot going back to Man Utd I needed a new RB and Aarons should fill that position for many seasons.

The next signing is another RB as we signed James Justin from Leicester for £5mil. I sold Wes Harding in January and didn’t really have a backup RB so I looked for a cheap young English RB and Justin filled that perfectly. He looks like a very good player but will struggle to get regular game time with Max Aarons in front of him.

The next one should hopefully solve the LB position as we bring in Kik Pierie from PSG for just £2.6mil. I couldn’t believe he was available for such a low fee as his value went straight up to almost £12mil after he joined.

Our next player coming in is Nikola Milenkovic who joins from Man City on loan for the season. The deal includes an optional fee of £22mil if I want to sign him permanently. Marc Roberts left on a free transfer and we have sold Harlee Dean so I needed some new CB’s and Milenkovic looks to be a great upgrade on what we have.

The next one is another CB as we signed Jean-Clair Todibo from Barcelona for just £5mil. Again I spent a lot of time over the summer looking for defenders and Todibo was another that I found who should do well for us and if/when I sell him he should make us a big profit as well.

Full Squad

GK – Butland, Henderson
RB – Aarons, Justin
CB – Milenkovic, Danso
CB – Todibo, Clarke-Salter
LB – Pierie, Seddon
RM – Podence, Gotts
CM – Bellingham, Williams, Dempsey
CM – Sunjic, Ivanusec
LM – Jones
ST – Nketiah, Heredia
ST – Jutkiewicz, Deeney
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[markbcfc]

just finished my first season got promoted first two signings tonali for 17.5m and Sebastian Esposito for 15m deals over long term still have about 25m to spend
edit- double loan signing from Bayern arp and cuisance both join with fees of 8.5 and 12m if they do well,and onguene from Salzburg for 15m just looking for cover at full back and goalkeeper

 

[Farren88]

Great work, as a fellow bluenose I love that the Juke is still going strong.

I’m also doing a Birmingham save so I’d be interested to see your tactics in more detail(In possession instructions etc), my preference was to play 442 but the lack of strikers put me off. Have just signed Troy Parrott on Loan so this could be an option now.

Only 10 games in to my 1st season but sitting in 2nd and unbeaten since losing 1st game to Brentford. I’m using an attacking gegenpress 4231 formation which works really well against stronger teams but I seem to be getting caught on the break against weaker opposition.

 

[markbcfc]

tactic wise try the remember kevin francis tactic on the forums juke got 44 goals for me in the first season the latest tactic is called oh nikola zgiic

 

[bcfc1]

just finished my first season got promoted first two signings tonali for 17.5m and Sebastian Esposito for 15m deals over long term still have about 25m to spend
edit- double loan signing from Bayern arp and cuisance both join with fees of 8.5 and 12m if they do well,and onguene from Salzburg for 15m just looking for cover at full back and goalkeeper

They are some expensive loans. I always try to avoid paying fees for loans if I can. Always feels like a waste of money. For a goalkeeper I would recommend trying to bring Butland back to the club. He has been great for me so far and helps with club registration if/when you get into Europe.

Great work, as a fellow bluenose I love that the Juke is still going strong.

I’m also doing a Birmingham save so I’d be interested to see your tactics in more detail(In possession instructions etc), my preference was to play 442 but the lack of strikers put me off. Have just signed Troy Parrott on Loan so this could be an option now.

Only 10 games in to my 1st season but sitting in 2nd and unbeaten since losing 1st game to Brentford. I’m using an attacking gegenpress 4231 formation which works really well against stronger teams but I seem to be getting caught on the break against weaker opposition.

This is my main tactic with the mentality and team instructions I use. I leave the opposition instructions to the assistant so I don't worry about those. The roles always change depending on who is starting but it is roughly something like that.

 

[bcfc1]

August

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Pierie (Justin), Podence, Bellingham, Sunjic (Ivanusec), Jones, Nketiah, Jutkiewicz (Deeney)

A very strong start to the season with a comfortable 3-0 win against Watford. Jutkiewicz also missed a penalty that could have had made the score line even bigger. The new guys seemed to fit in well which is good to see.

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Pierie (Justin), Podence (Gotts), Bellingham, Sunjic, Jones (Davies), Nketiah, Jutkiewicz

Another massive win here as we smashed Wolves 5-0 at their ground. It was tight in the first half but we really came alive in the second where we scored 4 of our 5 goals. Bellingham was the real driving force behind the team with his two goals and his constant runs through the middle.

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Pierie, Podence (Gotts), Bellingham, Sunjic (Ivanusec), Jones, Nketiah, Jutkiewicz

We didn’t do enough over the 90 minutes to deserve the win but I thought we would hold on to the lead once we took it. We weren’t tight enough at the back to do that though.

Butland, Aarons (Justin), Milenkovic, Todibo, Pierie, Podence, Bellingham, Sunjic, Jones (Davies), Nketiah, Jutkiewicz (Deeney)

Another 2-2 draw here but we played much better in this one and should have won. After conceding an early goal, we created loads of chances and eventually got ourselves in front. It looked like we would win it from there but they got an equalizer and held on for a point.

Henderson, Justin, Danso, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Gotts, Williams, Ivanusec, Davies, Heredia, Deeney

What a great result by the backup team as we go through to the next round of the cup. We got the goal from Robbie Gotts on the right wing and held on to a clean sheet and the win.

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Pierie, Podence, Bellingham, Sunjic, Davies, Nketiah, Jutkiewicz (Deeney)

A nice end to the month as we beat Burnley at their ground. Belligham again put in a great performance. If he continues like this then it could be a massive season for him and his development.

Summary

A strong start to the season here as we are unbeaten in the league and through to the next round of the cup. The team is already looking a lot stronger and should only improve as the new signings settle at the club. We also made one more signing this month as I brought in Alphonso Davies from Bayern Munich on a loan deal. We only had Curtis Jones as a natural LM so we needed depth there and Davies should be a good player for us.

Player of the Month
Jude Bellingham

Bellingham has made a great start to the season with him contributing with goals and assists as well as just being involved with everything we do. He is really starting to become an all round midfielder capable of doing any job for us.

League Table

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[markbcfc]

no cuisance and arp they weren't loan fees i`m just paying wages those fees are if they do well

 

[bcfc1]

no cuisance and arp they weren't loan fees i`m just paying wages those fees are if they do well

Ah okay they could be incredible signings then. I have been looking at Arp myself but his value is too high now.

 

[Farren88]

tactic wise try the remember kevin francis tactic on the forums juke got 44 goals for me in the first season the latest tactic is called oh nikola zgiic

Thanks Mark, the results for both of them look unreal.

Do you have any signing recommendations for the 1st season? How did Crowley get on for you, really hoping he can be my IF for the season but I haven't seen any comments on him up to now.

 

[Farren88]

They are some expensive loans. I always try to avoid paying fees for loans if I can. Always feels like a waste of money. For a goalkeeper I would recommend trying to bring Butland back to the club. He has been great for me so far and helps with club registration if/when you get into Europe.



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This is my main tactic with the mentality and team instructions I use. I leave the opposition instructions to the assistant so I don't worry about those. The roles always change depending on who is starting but it is roughly something like that.

Brilliant thanks, really like the look of your team. Is Bellingham better as a BBM than a Mezzala, I'm introducing him slowly atm but struggling to find his best role/position.

 

[bcfc1]

September

Butland, Aarons (Justin), Milenkovic, Todibo, Pierie, Podence, Bellingham, Sunjic (Ivanusec), Davies, Nketiah, Jutkiewicz

A very good start to the month as we put 4 past Huddersfield. We dominated the game and I was starting to worry we wouldn’t get that second goal and wrap it up but once we did we then got a 3rd and 4th to make the game look very comfortable.

Henderson, Justin, Danso, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Gotts, Williams (Dempsey), Ivanusec, Davies (Jones), Heredia, Deeney

A very good start to our European adventure as we get a comfortable 2-0 win at home against Gent. Heredia got us off to a flyer and then Deeney scored from the spot to make sure we took 3 points from this game.

Butland, Aarons (Justin), Milenkovic, Todibo, Pierie, Podence (Gotts), Bellingham, Sunjic (Ivanusec), Jones, Nketiah, Jutkiewicz

This game was over in 11 minutes as Man Utd came out firing and were 2-0 up before we knew it. The rest of the game ticked by as we didn’t have the quality to threaten them enough and they didn’t feel the need to push for anymore goals.

Henderson, Justin, Danso, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Gotts, Dempsey, Ivanusec, Davies, Heredia, Deeney

A decent point to pick away from home and it was almost 3 as we looked like we would hold on for the win before they got a late equalizer.

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Pierie, Podence (Gotts), Bellingham, Sunjic (Ivanusec), Jones, Nketiah, Jutkiewicz

A good win in the league as Nketiah put in a man of the match performance with a goal and an assist. It is disappointing that we are very unlikely to ever be able to sign him permanently but he has been a great striker for us for the seasons he has spent on loan.

Henderson, Justin, Danso, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Gotts, Dempsey, Ivanusec, Davies, Heredia, Deeney

This was always going to be our hardest game of the group so to come out of it with just a narrow loss is not too bad. We should have come out of it with a point though as in the 92nd minute we were given a penalty but Deeney stepped up and missed the shot.

Summary

Overall it has been a good month as we won 2/3 league games and are sitting in 2nd place in our Europa League group after 3 games. The Man Utd game was the only disappointment but our team is still nowhere near ready to compete with a squad like Man Utd’s if they put in a good performance. Next month will be a busy one as we have 7 games scheduled including the League Cup 4th round against Liverpool and 2 more Europa League games. The games are coming thick and fast as we face a mid season break due to the World Cup. I’m glad that I brought more depth into the squad over the summer.

Player of the Month
Eddie Nketiah

Nketiah has been great for us up front this month. Jutkiewicz has had a quiet start to the season but thankfully Nketiah has picked up the slack and is looking like our main striker now.

League Table

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[markbcfc]

I used Crowley as a DLP on used jude between the BBM and a winger

 

[bcfc1]

October

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Pierie, Podence, Bellingham, Sunjic (Ivanusec), Jones (Davies), Nketiah, Jutkiewicz (Heredia)

It is a disappointing start to the month as we lose to Everton at home. We didn’t play well enough here and didn’t create enough clear chances to get anything from the game.

Henderson, Justin, Danso, Clarke-Salter, Pierie, Gotts, Bellingham, Ivanusec, Davies, Heredia, Deeney

Another loss at home to a team from Merseyside. The cup draw hasn’t been nice to us as we got Chelsea in the last round and then faced Liverpool here and it was one big team too many as their quality was too much for us.

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Pierie, Podence, Bellingham, Sunjic, Davies, Nketiah, Jutkiewicz

It is nice to get back to winning ways here with a tight 1-0 win against West Ham. Jutkiewicz hasn’t delivered this season like he has in the past few but he did well here to get his goal and win us the game.

Henderson, Justin, Danso, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Gotts, Dempsey, Ivanusec, Davies, Heredia, Deeney

What a performance from Pedro Heredia. This lad always looks like he is going to score and did just that here. Marseille are flying high at the top of the group but we smashed them here with a dominating performance. If he can play like this in a few more games then I will have no choice but to start bringing him into the first team.

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Pierie (Justin), Podence, Bellingham, Sunjic, Jones (Davies), Nketiah, Jutkiewicz

Another big win which is great. This game had an incredible start as we scored those two early goals but also before the first goal we missed a penalty. Aarons was a deserved MotM as he scored and got an assist in this game.

Henderson, Justin, Danso, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Gotts, Williams, Dempsey, Davies, Heredia, Deeney

Another European game, another massive score line and another hat trick for Pedro Heredia. We were great here and this result all but confirmed our passage into the knockout rounds. Everyone played their part here with all players, even Henderson, getting at least a 7 for their overall rating.

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Pierie, Podence, Bellingham, Sunjic, Jones (Davies), Nketiah (Heredia), Jutkiewicz

Absolutely gutted with how we lost this game. It looked like we were seeing this game out pretty comfortably before somehow Chelsea scored two goals in the last few minutes of the game to turn it around completely.

Summary

It has been a very busy month with 7 games altogether. We started it poorly with two losses and finished with a very disappointing loss to Chelsea but in between this we put in some of our best performances with 4 very good wins and only conceding once in those 4 games. The next two months bring only two games each as we face a mid season break due to the Qatar World Cup. This will give the team a chance to rest and get ready for the second half of the season which is going to be packed full of games.

Player of the Month
Pedro Heredia

Any man who scores 4 in a game and then follows that up with 3 in his next start has to in player of the month. He is making me very confident that he can replace Nketiah when his loan finishes.

League Table

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[bcfc1]

November

Henderson, Justin, Danso, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Gotts, Williams, Ivanusec, Davies, Heredia, Deeney

Another good win in Europe finishes off the group as we finish second behind Marseille. Our reward is to face Fiorentina in the first knockout round.

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Pierie (Justin), Podence, Bellingham, Sunjic (Ivanusec), Jones (Davies), Nketiah, Jutkiewicz

A disappointing end to the first portion of the season as we lose to Tottenham. Two goals close together sealed the points for them and we never really gave a response to them after this.

Summary

A very short month due to the World Cup now running and it wasn't the best month as we won our pointless game against Spartak Moscow but lost the important league game against Tottenham. Some good news from this month is that England are going well in the World Cup having won their first two group games including a 7-1 win over Costa Rica. The only reason I am following the World Cup is because Jude Bellingham has now broken into the England team and is playing for them in these games.

Player of the Month
James Justin

Justin has quietly had a very good start to his career with us. His ability to play both full back positions has been great for us and he has delivered whenever called upon.

League Table

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[bcfc1]

December

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Pierie, Podence (Gotts), Bellingham, Sunjic, Davies (Jones), Nketiah, Jutkiewicz

A nice start to the second portion of the season. Todibo had some great luck as he scored twice from two well taken set-pieces.

Henderson, Justin (Aarons), Danso, Clarke-Salter, Seddon (Davies), Gotts, Dempsey, Ivanusec, Jones, Heredia, Deeney

It is always nice to get a win against the local rivals, its even nicer when its in the cup and comes from two late goals as well. It looked like we were going to a replay until Heredia got his second of the game and youngster Dempsey scored very late into added time.

Summary

Again it's another short month as the World Cup took up most of it. We won both games which is very good as it means we keep fighting for a European place in the league and we knocked Villa out of the cup. Unfortunately Bellingham didn't win the World Cup at just 19 years old as England were beaten in the final by Brazil. I'm sure he will be there again in 4 years time.

Player of the Month
Jean-Clair Todibo

Again it's hard to choose when there are only two games but I decided to give it to Todibo for his two goals in our first game. With Jutkiewicz always being our first target, the CB's don't get many goals from set-pieces so I am pleased to see him get two here.

League Table

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[bcfc1]

January

Butland, Justin, Danso, Todibo, Pierie (Seddon), Gotts, Bellingham, Sunjic, Davies, Nketiah (Heredia), Jutkiewicz

A late Heredia did nothing to brighten the day as we were outclassed here. The finishing of Harry Kane was too good for us as he scored all three goals for them. The quality in their team is just too good to compete with at the moment.

Butland, Justin, Milenkovic, Todibo, Seddon, Podence, Bellingham, Sunjic, Davies (Dempsey), Heredia (Deeney), Jutkiewicz

It is nice to get back to winning ways here. The defence were very strong here with them all getting high ratings and then we created enough to get 2 goals at the other end to take the points.

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Pierie, Podence, Bellingham, Sunjic, Jones (Davies), Nketiah, Heredia (Martinez)

It was disappointing to lose the game to a late goal but they were definitely the better team over the whole game. We took the lead and then were just looking to hold on to anything but we couldn’t do that in the end.

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Pierie (Justin), Podence, Bellingham, Sunjic, Jones, Nketiah (Heredia), Jutkiewicz

We seem to always play better when facing Villa. This game was actually more balanced than the last couple of games I remember but eventually our quality showed through as Heredia came on to score the first and Jutkiewicz scored a penalty to secure the points.

Henderson, Justin, Danso, Clarke-Salter, Seddon, Gotts, Dempsey, Witek, Davies, Heredia, Martinez

Through to the next round of the cup we go. You may spot a couple new names in this team including double goal scorer Fermin Martinez but I will talk about transfers later on. We played very well and fully deserved to go through to the next round.

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Pierie, Podence, Bellingham, Garner (Sunjic), Jones (Davies), Heredia, Jutkiewicz (Martinez)

Arsenal are not having the best season and are below us in the table but the quality in their team is clear as they have taken Chilwell, Tielemans and Maddison from Leicester as well as a couple other players from other clubs to improve their team. The game was nothing special and a draw was about right.

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Pierie, Podence, Bellingham, Garner, Jones (Davies), Nketiah, Martinez (Heredia)

Now this is a game we should have won. They got an early goal and then we just battered them for the rest of the game but could only score from the spot with a late penalty. We still struggle to break down defensive teams which will be an issue as we become a bigger club.

Summary

A tough month as we had 7 games altogether which including facing Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal. We had to do this while also dealing with a hectic transfer window. So much happened in the window that I am going to talk about it in a separate post afterwards. Anyway back to the matches and we played pretty well but we couldn’t get a win against any of the big teams and then failed to get a win against Brighton like we should have. We are in a fight for European places and we need to make sure we can pick up these points to stay up there.

Player of the Month
Nikola Milenkovic

Milenkovic has been strong for us at the back all season and he really showed it again here this month with some very good performances, even in the games that we lost he came out of them with good ratings.

League Table

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[bcfc1]

January Transfers

So as I said in the previous post, a lot happened in January so I am putting it into a separate post to talk about it all. The main thing really is that I wanted to make 1 or 2 changes anyway and then we had some big offers for players that meant we made a few more changes after that.

Transfers Out

Okay so a lot to unpick here but I will work my way through them. The first major sale was Luka Ivanusec who left to join Hebei in a deal worth up to £27mil. Ivanusec was not a player I was looking to sell but the offer was very good so I decided to take the money and invest it into bringing some new blood to the club. The next deal to involve a first team player is the sale of Troy Deeney to Young Boys. Deeney’s contract is up at the end of the season and I have no interest in renewing it so I decided to take the small fee now and get his wages off of our books.

The next few deals were all youngsters who had no future at the club leaving and then under them we have loaned out the two young midfielders Williams and Dempsey to get them more game time. I have signed a couple of CM’s so they weren’t going to get much game time from me so I thought a loan would be better for them for at least the rest of the season.

The next three deals are all big fees and not deals I was expecting either. Danso wanted to leave after not getting enough game time but the offers we were getting were all around 10mil so I was rejecting them. I then decided to offer him out for 20mil and we had 3 different clubs offer that for him so I took the money happily for a backup CB. The next two players are youngsters that we have made ridiculous amounts of money from. Brookes has constantly had interest in him and I was thinking of trying to bring him into the first team but he plays only as a no.10 so I couldn’t fit him into the tactic. Hire is a striker but he doesn’t have the quality to compete with the strikers we have so I moved both players out and if I get the money from all the clauses then we will be making plenty of money from them.

Transfers In

Okay on to the interesting stuff now and the first deal is one I agreed last summer but he was too young to join us until now. Jacek Witek joins from Dortmund for just £3.1mil. Witek clearly has huge potential but he was unhappy at Dortmund as he had been promised more game time. We moved quickly to get him and I think I have star in the making here.

The next deal is another cheap move as I signed Fermin Martinez from Athletic Bilbao for just £1.6mil. He was worth around £10mil but his buyout clause was set very low. I needed a new striker and the fee made this very low risk but he already looks like a good player after scoring twice in his first start.

The signing is for a much bigger fee as we spent £18.5mil on bringing James Garner in from Man Utd. After Ivanusec left I needed a new CM and I wanted someone who would be more comfortable sitting in midfield and Garner can definitely do that. Between him, Bellingham, Sunjic and Witek we should have plenty of quality in midfield.

The next deal is the biggest of the window as I made the loan move of Nikola Milenkovic a permanent one for £22mil. He has been great for us this season and after I sold Danso I had the money to make his move permanent now. This signing should mean we don’t need to invest much into the defence over the summer and can focus on other positions.

The next deal is for Alparslan Bulbul from Fenerbahce for £16.5mil. My scouts found this lad and he looks as though he could be a very good player as well. He will compete with Curtis Jones for the LM position and should become a very good player for us.

The last signing is one I could have left for the summer but I decided to bring him in immediately. I signed Riccardo Sottil from Fiorentina for just £1.8mil. He was out of contract at the end of the season and I had agreed a contract with him to sign him for free. We had an offer for Podence that I had accepted so I decided to pay this small fee to bring Sottil in and then Podence rejected the contract so I now have both of them here as well as Gotts all competing for one place. At least one of them will need to leave in the summer.

​

 

[bcfc1]

February

Butland, Aarons (Justin), Milenkovic, Todibo, Davies, Podence, Bellingham, Witek (Sunjic), Bulbul (Jones), Heredia, Martinez

A very good start to the month as we score a very late goal to steal the points from Man Utd. The game was very tight and it looked like it was going to be a fair draw but we stole it with Heredia scoring a goal deep into added time.

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Davies (Justin), Podence, Bellingham, Witek (Sunjic), Bulbul, Heredia, Martinez

Another win here with us creating plenty of chances. We seem to be getting things right in front of goal at the moment.

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Davies, Podence (Sottil), Bellingham, Garner, Bulbul (Jones), Heredia (Jutkiewicz), Martinez

And the goals keep coming. Heredia and Martinez are becoming a great partnership, the only issue is that it means Jutkiewicz is getting less game time and I think he is starting to come to the end of his time here.

Butland, Aarons, Pierie, Todibo, Davies, Sottil, Bellingham (Sunjic), Garner, Bulbul (Jones), Heredia, Martinez (Jutkiewicz)

Another big win against a big side. We are really starting to look like we can compete with the big teams now.

Henderson, Justin, Milenkovic, Pierie, Seddon, Gotts, Sunjic, Witek, Jones, Heredia, Jutkiewicz

Wow what a result and through to the next round we go. Everyone was amazing in this game with the lowest rating being a 7.5. We scored 6 and could have scored plenty more.

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Davies (Pierie), Podence (Sottil), Bellingham, Garner, Bulbul, Heredia (Jutkiewicz), Martinez

Another big scoreline as we take 3 points. The goals really are flying in at the moment and they are coming from everywhere as Bulbul scored twice and Bellingham got one as well.

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Davies (Justin), Podence, Bellingham, Garner, Bulbul, Heredia, Martinez (Jutkiewicz)

A much tighter result here but we still got the three points. It looked like we wouldn’t get anything from this game by two quick goals from the strikers meant we kept our great winning streak going.

Henderson, Gotts, Milenkovic, Pierie, Justin, Sottil, Sunjic, Witek, Jones, Heredia, Jutkiewicz

What a turn around. With 5 minutes to go it looked as though Man Utd were going to knock us out of the FA Cup but we turned it around with goals from Heredia and Jones to make sure we go into the next round of the cup.

Summary

A perfect month as we win every game in a heavily packed month. I don’t think I have ever seen the month of February have 8 games in it, but we somehow fit them all in. The performances were great, especially in terms of scoring, and hopefully we can carry this on for the rest of the season. Due to the World Cup taking place in the winter, we are going to face a lot of games in a short amount of time so squad rotation is going to be important.

Player of the Month
Pedro Heredia

Heredia is scoring goals at an alarming rate at the moment. If he keeps this up then he is going to break record and remember he only played in the cups for the first half of the season.

League Table

 

[bcfc1]

March

Henderson, Gotts, Todibo, Pierie, Justin, Podence, Sunjic, Witek, Bulbul (Jones), Martinez (Nketiah), Jutkiewicz

Another strong win sends us through to the quarter finals of the Europa League. We played very well and fully deserved the win. Our 18 shots on target to their 2 is clear sign of how much we dominated the game.

Butland, Aarons (Justin), Milenkovic, Todibo, Davies, Podence (Sottil), Bellingham, Garner, Bulbul (Jones), Heredia, Martinez

I am very pleased to get the win against Villa here but to be honest we didn’t play that well. The fact that we won 2-0 but their midfielder won MotM shows how much they actually dominated us. Thankfully all that matters in a derby match is who comes away as winners and we were able to do that.

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Davies, Podence, Bellingham, Sunjic, Bulbul (Jones), Nketiah (Heredia), Martinez

We really are flying now. It seems to happen a lot that a player scores against their former club and that is what happened here as Curtis Jones came on and scored a very late winner for us to steal the win against Liverpool. If we can get a result like this then we really can compete with the very best in the league and in Europe.

Henderson, Justin, Milenkovic, Pierie, Seddon, Sottil (Podence), Sunjic (Bulbul), Witek, Jones (Todibo), Nketiah (Heredia), Jutkiewicz

We were so close to getting through to the semi-finals of the FA Cup here but it wasn’t to be as Man City got a late goal to take us to extra time and then scored again in extra time to get the win. Their attacking options were just too strong for us in the end but a team that can have Joao Felix, Harry Kane and Vinicius Jr all just sitting on the bench is an incredible team.

Summary

A shorter month due to it ending with an international break but it is still a very important month. We qualified for the quarter finals of the Europa League, went out at the quarter final stage in the FA Cup and won both league games which means we are in a very strong place to secure Champions League football for next season. Next month is going to be crazy as it already has 9 games scheduled in it and that it could be more if we beat Leipzig in the next round of the Europa League and make it to the semi-finals.

Player of the Month
Alparslan Bulbul

Our January signing has been great for us on left wing this month. He is scoring important goals for us as he gets in at the far post regularly and if he keeps that up he should become a very important player for us.

League Table

 

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April

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Davies, Sottil, Bellingham (Sunjic), Garner, Jones (Gotts), Heredia (Jutkiewicz), Martinez

A good start to the month as we get 3 points away from home against Leicester. It is going to be a tough month so I’m hoping we can continue to get results like this.

Henderson, Justin, Milenkovic, Pierie, Seddon, Podence, Sunjic, Witek, Bulbul, Nketiah, Jutkiewicz

A good win in the first leg but the own goal from Sunjic gives them an away goal which could be important come the second leg. They didn’t have a single shot on target in the game and didn’t deserve the goal but now we have to go into the second leg knowing that if we lose 1-0 we will be going out of the competition.

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic (Pierie), Todibo, Davies, Sottil, Bellingham, Garner, Jones, Heredia, Martinez

An incredible win here as we were ruthless in front of goal. Two goals in the last two minutes of the game made the score line look even better but the game was over before them when it was 4-1. This win means we are almost certain of securing Champions League football for next season.

Henderson, Gotts, Milenkovic, Pierie, Justin, Podence, Sunjic (Bellingham), Witek, Jones, Nketiah (Heredia), Jutkiewicz

It wasn’t a classic performance but it was enough to see us through thanks to the late goal from Pierie. When we scored the early goal it looked like we were going to coast through but they got back into it and it looked like it was going to extra time before Pierie scored from a corner to take us through to the semi finals.

Butland, Aarons (Gotts), Milenkovic, Todibo, Davies, Podence, Bellingham, Garner, Bulbul, Martinez, Heredia (Jutkiewicz)

Another good win here against at Southampton team that seem to be in free fall. For the first half of the season it looked like we were going to battle with them for a Europa League place but while we have kicked on, they have dropped down and are looking like a mid table team now.

Butland, Gotts, Todibo, Pierie, Davies, Podence, Sunjic, Garner, Bulbul (Jones), Nketiah, Jutkiewicz (Heredia)

A much tighter score line than it should have been as Reading at right at the bottom of the table and we shouldn’t have needed to rely on a 20 yard strike from Sunjic to get us the points. They defended well but eventually we got that goal we needed.

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Pierie, Davies, Podence (Gotts), Bellingham, Witek, Jones (Bulbul), Heredia, Martinez

A great win here against another big side. We really are capable of matching anyone at the moment. We got the goal early on and then we also missed a penalty in the second half that would have made our lives a bit more comfortable but in the end it wasn’t needed as we held on for the win.

Butland, Gotts, Todibo, Pierie, Justin, Sottil (Davies), Sunjic, Garner, Jones, Heredia (Nketiah), Jutkiewicz (Martinez)

The score line and the time we scored makes it look like we stole a point here but really we deserved all 3. They had two shots on target in the whole game while we had 10 but they took the lead and then held on until the very last minute where Martinez made sure we got at least a point from the game.

Butland, Aarons, Milenkovic, Todibo, Davies (Seddon), Podence, Bellingham (Sunjic), Witek, Bulbul, Heredia (Nketiah), Martinez

Similar situation to what happened with Leipzig here as we win the first leg at home but the away for them means we will have to be very careful in the second leg.

Butland, Justin, Milenkovic (Todibo), Pierie, Seddon, Sottil, Sunjic, Garner, Jones (Bulbul), Heredia (Jutkiewicz), Nketiah

A nice win here to end the month as Heredia gets a couple of goals which is good as he hadn’t scored since the we mauled Tottenham very early in this month. Garner also got a goal which is good as he has quietly had a very good month for us.

Summary

A busy, busy month as we played 10 games in 30 days. If we had beaten Man City in the FA Cup last month it probably could have been 11 games as well. Anyway a busy month has meant we have relied on rotating the squad and everyone has put in an incredible shift as we went the entire month unbeaten. The defence is still a little too open as we kept on 3 clean sheets out of the 10 games but we scored in every game and I even got the achievement of scoring in 30 games in a row this month, we really have been incredibly consistent in front of goal. Next month will bring everything to an end as we face Arsenal in the second leg and possibly the final if we can past them while we have 3 league games left and have somehow played our way into being involved in a title race, although its unlikely we will win it.

Player of the Month
James Garner

Garner has done exactly what I brought him in for and that is he has given us more control over games. He is playing in a DLP role and he has given us more control in games and a player that a lot of our football now runs through.

League Table

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