Belfast F.C.

[Ralph2211]

A little bit of background before i start with the story.

Firstly the database I'm using was created by Venners and is on the Steam Workshop called the Steam FC Challenge. I did however use the pre-game editor to make a few changes to it. Firstly I changed the team name, The only other changes I made were to the finances, on the original database you have almost unlimted funds to build your team, and to the expectations, as on the database given your unlimited money you were expected to win the league. I do wish I had changed the goalkeepers kit as its hideous!

So the changes I made was to give the club a balance of £300m, a transfer budget of £150m and a weekly wage budget of £2.5m as opossed to £999m, £900m and I can't remember the wage budget but it was massive. With my new budgets I had to, just like with the original database build a club! I had no players in any of the squads, no staff and with the goal of staying in the Premier League some might say no hope.

I had also decided that all transfers would be cash up front, so no £5m down and £50m over the next 3 years. There would also be no clauses of £xm after X number of appearances etc. The only exception to this would be if the selling club added a non-negotiable clause that I could therefore not remove (because I don't have the time or patients to go through ever clause and make it impossible to add). I would also not be able to move wage budget across to transfer budget and vice versa.

So what do we think guys? Is it possible to build a club capable to competing in the Premier League for £150m? What position do you think we will finish?

 

[Brane_Orsou]

Good luck, with this. £150m to build a full squad will be hard. Wage budget will also be difficult if factoring in squad and coaches etc but hey, that's why it's a challenge!

 

[Ralph2211]

Good luck, with this. £150m to build a full squad will be hard. Wage budget will also be difficult if factoring in squad and coaches etc but hey, that's why it's a challenge!

I've literally spent 5 days trying to do transfers, and to build a squad, going to be really dissappointed if I just lose every game 5-0

 

[Ralph2211]

Breaking news reaching us hear at Sky Sports suggests a massive in fight within the Boardroom at Sheffield United.
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Reports reaching us this morning suggest that the owners of Sheffield Utd Prince Abdullah and Kevin McCable are at loggerheads over how to take the club forward and which of them should actually take complete control . Both men have been trying to gain full control and an epic court battle appears to be on the cards.

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The High Court battle for control Of Sheff. Utd. is turning nasty with Price Abdullah suggesting if he was on the losing side of the argument he would be seeking all of his investment back pushing the price beyond what could be what could be afforded by his fellow owner Kevin McCable meaning neither man could end up in charge of the club.

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Sources at Sheffield Utd have told Talk Sport that Prince Abdullah has spoken to Kevin McCable and stated how much he wants to sell his 50% share of the club, whilst no figure was reported to us, our source has stated it is well beyond the reach of Kevin, but that he is refusing to sell his shares to the prince for any price.

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With neither side of the Sheffield Utd. boardroom willing to back down the club has officially been put up for sale. There are a number of intererested parties, from a fans buy out, a Chinese industrialist and an Irsh consortium who want to move the club to Dublin. Whilst there is a way to go in negoitations it could be a while before we find out who will be in charge of the newly promoted club, however rumour has it that Prince Abdullah is playing hard ball and according to some connected with the club is trying to destroy the club in what has been called a childish view of If I can't have it no one can.

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The sale of Sheffield Utd has been agreed, and the fans are not going to be happy. The buyers are the Irish consortium and they plan to move the club lock, stock and barrell to Dublin. This still has to be approved by the Premier League and Sky Sports understands that there are many issues and bridges to be crossed, not least Brexit and the fact that Dublin would remain in the EU whilst the UK may well be leaving and therefore the different employment laws that would be in place.

The sale of Sheffield Utd has now been rubber stamped by the Premier League and the FA but only after a major shift was agreed by those buying the club. The team will now play in Northern Ireland as this will be within the UK and will therefore not cause any issues should the UK leave the EU. Belfast F.C., who currently have no players or staff, now face a massive race to be ready for the new season which is only weeks away. New manager Ralph Lavery has stated that they will be ready but that he and the clubs owners were under no illusions that it was a mamoth task ahead and that just staying in the league would be a bigger shock than Leicester winning the Premier league.

 

[Ralph2211]

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New club Belfast FC held their first press confrence today and manager Ralph Lavery faced loads of questions about transfer targets and budgets, style of play and if they could even be competitive in the Premier League. He admitted that it was going to be a struggle. He said that pre-season would be the most difficult he had ever faced and that despite this he was confident that whilst they probably wouldn't be pushing Man City or Liverpool that he would keep them up.

On the subject of budgets he refused to confirm if the rumoured £150m was in fact all they had to spend but did confirm that the club were looking at the free and loan markets as well as identifying targets that would come with a fee attached. Lavery also refused to be drawn on the names of any of the players that he was hoping to recruit but did say the club would be looking to bring in as many young hungry players as they could.

He was also asked about the Sheffield Utd fans who in the blink of an eye had lost their club, and he did say he felt extremely sorry for them and stated that they would be more than welcome to become Belfast fans.

 

[Ralph2211]

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This was going to be the most stressful pre-season ever! I had so many things to do that I barely knew were to start. I sat down with the director and we decided that we needed a few more staff members to give us a hand in recruiting the playing staff. Neither of us were new to football so we both had a few contacts, so we called everyone we knew to find out about coaches, scouts, physios, tea ledies anyone that may need a job, plus if there were any players we could pick up for free ideally or at the very least for a good price.

It didn't take us too long to fill all of the major positions and we managed to get all our staff from those that were out of work meaning no compensation to other clubs and when your budget is as tight as ours every penny counts never mind pound.

Once we had the majority of our staff on board we set about builing a squad. We had a wealth of knowledge amongst the staff and they all had contacts coming out of their ears. It wasn't long until we were talking to players and clubs from all around the world, and of course with the need for 8 Home Grown players also the length and breadth of the country. I was begining to actually believe that we could pull this off for the first time!

 

[Ralph2211]

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With the staff onboard we set about the most difficult part of the challenge, convincing players to join a brand new team that everyone thinks are going to be relegated. Before buying anyone we decided the formation we were going to play, meaning we could focus on getting players to fit the roles and avoid a scattergun approach. We set out to play 4 at the back, a defensive midfielder, another 2 midfeilders ahead of him with a bit more of a licence to got forward, two wide men and 1 up top. We weren't set on roles, and ideally we would be looking to bring in players who could play more than one role.

Of course whilst all of the players were being brought in we also needed to be playing games. We decided that we'd play quite a few friendlies to try and get the players as much game time together as possible, so for the first time in my career pre-season would be less about fitness and more about building familiarity. I was expecting to lose a few of these games as we would struggle for numbers to start with and then with the players basically being strangers, so I was surprised with how well we did.

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A number of good wins against teams who are in the top division of other European leagues, a pretty successful trip to the Far East which didn't just help with fitness and bonding but also to promote the brand and try nd attract the all important fans from around the wotrld.

But which players had helped us achieve these results? Had we managed to get a good enough squad? Could we even fill our bench?

So heres who we signed, I have tryed to break the playes into GK, Def, etc however some players can fulfil several positions and so appear in more that one of the areas of the team.

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In Gunn and Martinez we have two good young goalkeepers. Gunn will be 1st choice whilst Martinez will probably get more game time for the U23s than the first team. Ruddy is an experienced back-up and being English helps with the squad registration rules.

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Probably the strongest area of the team. We have 3 really stong CBs in Maksimovic, Gigot and Komar. They are backed up by young English CBs Warren, who may well go out on loan, and Joe Worrall. Our starting full backs both arrived from PSG and I'm very happy to have managed to get them on board. Both are solid defensively but both are also good going forward and will hopefully help provide chances for our attackers. Our back-ups are a experinced Yiadom who has been around the lower leagues of English football for years and the much less experienced 17 year old Gvardiol.

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We have a nuber of options in the centre of the park who can sit in front of the back four. I ideally would like that player to pull the strings for us, however it may be necessary to have someone who is more defensive and can break up play on occassions and so all of the palyers can pick a pass but aren't affaid to stick a foot in if required.

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Attacking midfield wise we have a number of options avaliable to us and gives us the flexibilty to play with wingers, inside forwards, with a number 10, palye deeper in midfield or some of them can be pushed further forward as a second striker. They all fit into the can play different roles that given our small squad was essential.

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Ok so theres one name that sticks out here! Ibrahimovic was a bargin at less than £3m including signing on and agent fee and the eagle eyed amongst you will see he has started the season pretty well. Livaja is decent and has plenty of experience whilst Daramy & Brewster are at the other end of the scale with bags of potential .

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As you can see we still have a few quid left in the bank which we can use to add to the squad in January if its required.You can also see that we didn't insert any cash clauses with the exception of Komar were we will pay £600k if we don't go down. The only other clauses are a percentage of sell on and for Chapman we agreed to a friendly.

With all the players in the door we have decided that we will mainly play like this:

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We are looking to play short passing high press, but we want to have some end product rather than just passing for the sake of passing. Against bigger teams or away from home we may change a few roles to make us a bit more solid.

After all our signings how do we stack up in the league? Do they think we'll be rock bottom or do they give us a chance of beating the drop

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15th! I'll take that! Looking at a few of the teams above us as well I think we could maybe push a little further and get a top half finish.

So what do we think of the signings? Do you think we'll beat the drop? What position do you think we'll finish?

 

[Brane_Orsou]

What happened to the players who were at Sheff Utd? Not get any on frees?

 

[Ralph2211]

What happened to the players who were at Sheff Utd? Not get any on frees?

Not sure where they went, but the only one I could find was Dean Henderson who was back at United. Its a shame as it could have helped with not just money but home grown players too

 

[Ralph2211]

With our squad assembled and our friendlies over it was time for the real football to begin. The fixture computer had been kind to us and we wouldn't face any of the Big Boys in August. In fact with games against Everton, Leicester and the Toon Army in the league and a Carabao Cup game a gainst Leaue 2 Scunthorpe I felt we had a good chance of getting a few points on the board and to achieve our first Board minimum requirement of 3rd round in the Carabao Cup.

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The Everton game was a tight affair which we probably deserved to edge, though when they went 1 up inside 10 minutes my heart sank a little. Luckily Ibrahimovic was on hand to get us back on terms 7 minutes later. Both teams then had chances before a great strike from the left edge of the area from our left back Kurzawa won us the game on 72 minutes. 3 points from our first game and we were on the Monday Night Football allowing all the fans to see what we were made of. I was a very happy camper.

Next up would be our first home game of the season (I have descovered we don't have a stadium and so attendances are generall only 5k, hopefully will be able to build one before this becomes an issue) and again we were on TV this time leicester provided the opposition. We were all still on a high from the Everton performance and were keen to show our own fans what we could do. If anything this was an even better performance. We controlled the game and limited Leicester to very little. Right winger Samu opened his account for the club on 30 minutes then Aquino cut in from the left wing to put the gloss that the performance had deserved with a good finish on 90 minutes. 6 points from 2 games and two good performances I was begining to think that this management lark was easy.

We travelled to Newcastle full of confidence and it proved to be well placed. We dominated Newcastle who only managed 39% possession at home. Two goals either side of the half hour mark from Zlatan adn dos Santos put us in complete control and whilst Newcastle pulled one back on the hour mark the result was never in doubt and we wrapped up the perfect start to our League season, not that that was enough to win me manager of the month, no thatwas Klopp who only spend £101m to suppliment his squad. I'm not bitter at all!

Anyway onto the Carabao Cup and we rotated a bit and gave a few of the youngsters a run and whilst we were in control we did seem to lack a bit of invention and cutting edge. A goal from striker Livaja was enough to see us in the gat for the next round and tick off our first part of the club vision. I'm not really concerned about the cups this season as Premier League survival is the main goal.

 

[Ralph2211]

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After our good start to the campaign, September was shaping up to be a much more difficult month. We had drawn Spurs in the next round of the cup, it was at least at home but when you add that to a month were we would play Wolves, Man City, Chelsea and Watford then you can see what I meant be a difficult month! We really need to be taking points off Watford and ideally Wolves as I can't see us getting too many from the City and Chelsea games. In the cup if Spurs play a full strength team we will probably go out, especially as I plan to rotate and to give the kids some gametime.

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I think its fair to say that the homneymoon period is definately over.

We didn't show up against Wolves. We couldn't get on the ball and therefore created very little and if I'm honest nil probably flattered us! I'm not sure if we just had an off day or if it was something to do with their formation, this is the first team who have played five at the back against us, but we weren't at the races.

City were just better than us. We didn't manage a shot on target in the whole game. We did feel a little hard done by when VAR gave a penalty on 14 minutes, which lets just call soft. Naturally Aguero slotted it. They then pounded us foir the rest of the first half. Second half we were better without ever threating and Aguero wrapped up the points with his 2nd on 85 minutes. Another bad day at the office.

After the City game I was fearful going into the Chelsea game, and therefore set up to be a little more solid especially in midfield where City had overun us. We took the lead inside of 20 minutes when Meunier put a lovely ball across the box for left winger Younes to tap in at the back post. We continued to give as good as we got and were looking good for the 3 points as most of Chelseas play was in front of us and generally resulted in pot shots from a distance. That was until they got a penalty in the 72nd minute. I'd have taken a draw before kick off but felt a little dissappointed at the final whistle that we hadn't held on for the win, but another point towards the 40 point target.

We made 7 changes for the Spurs games and whilst spurs weren't at full strength they still had 5/6 that I'd imagine are first choice. It was in honesty a dull affair with not a great deal of quality on show and the teams just seperated by a 3rd minute Deli Alli goal. At least the 3rd round was the target.

Watford turned up and I thoyught this was our chance to rescue something from the month but it wasn't to be. Despite dominating the ball we created next to nothing whilst Watford hit us on the break time and again. Two goals in quick succession meant Watford left with all 3 points and another team who play 5 at the back had completely outclassed us.

I now realise that I haven't taken any shots of the league table but we hanow dropped from 4th at the end of August to 11th at the end of September. The confidence of summer had evaporated and I was now heading into October with major concerns.

 

[Ralph2211]

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After a terrible September we needed to start picking up points again. With games against Palace, Southampton and Spurs I was hopeful that we could do just that. If we turn up I was confident we could beat both Palace and Southampton and I had been given a bit of extra hope for the Spurs game given how we had performed with a weakened side against them in the cup. That said I'd be happy with points wherever they came from.

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Four pointsfrom a possible nine isn't what I had been hoping for but its better than nothing and keeps us moving towards our 40 point target.

Palace is a game I feel we should have won. We had most of the play, with Palace playing on the break. A missed penalty for us early on meant that we went in level at half time. Zaha put Palace 1 up against the run of play on 55 minutes and I thought it was going to be one of those days. However an equaliser from Livaja just 5 minutes later renewed hope. We threw everything at them for the last half hour but couldn't break them down. At least we had ended our losing run, but it definately felt like 2 points dropped rather than 1 gained.

Southampton had be fairly hit and miss all season so I felt that with a good performance we could take the 3 points. However it was the Saints that struck first with a early goal on 8 minutes. We got ourselves back into the game and equalised on the half hour mark through Livaja who would double his tally just after half time to put us 2-1 up. Nathan Redmond then scored straight from the kick off and I thought that it was going to be another game that we should have won but didn't. That was until on loan Liverpool striker Brewster stepped up on 80 minutes to fire in the winner, our first since August.

With morale boosted by the win the pervious week we headed to London thinking a win was possible. It didn't take long for that idea to be wiped from our minds. Kane scored inside the first minute, Son added a 2nd in first half injury time before Eriksen put the game to bed with the 3rd just after the break. Brewster got us a consolation only for Moura to rub salt in the wounds with Spurs 4th late on.

It's now 1 win in 7 in the league and the Southamption win looks like it could have been a false dawn. Luckly the teams below us have been equally as bad and we finish the month just as we had started it in 11th place in the table. We really need a run of results to push us away from the relgation dogfight that is starting to shape up and pull us in.

 

[Ralph2211]

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The four point we had picked up in October was ok but I was hoping for a few more in November. We faced trips to an under performing Arsenal side and a struggling Norwich. Neither of these would be easy however I felt we we at least capabile of picking up a couple of points on our travels. We would also entertain Villa who were bottom of the table and a Brighton side who were hovering just above the drop zone. These were the types of games we really needed to get points from if we were going to stay in this league.

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So not exactly what I had hoped for in terms of results.

Arsenal battered us, in an ill tempered game that saw 10 yellow and 1 red card. Arsenal took the lead just before half time and put the game out of our reach in the 78th minute, not that we had offered much in the way of attack with just 2 shots on target the entire game. A poor performance from us especially as they had been struggling down in 13th position before kick off. It reaqlly felt like a missed opportunity.

The Villa game was now of massive importance, we needed to win, I mean they were bottom of the table and if we couldn't beat bottom of the table at home we really would be in trouble. It was a really even game and I feared the worst when Villa opened the scoring on the half hour mark. Thankfully 2 goals in 2 minutes securred us the 3 points thanks to a penalty from Kurzawa on 51 minutes and then Brewster 2 minutes later. Not a great performance but a win.

Norwich probably deserved the win as they edged a tight affair. Norwich opened the scoring early when right back Aarons hit a low drive from the edge of the area. Both sides traded chances without really looking like scoring until Norwich scored a 2nd with a little over 10 minutes to go. We replied straight away through Brewster again but could find the equaliser in the final 10 minutes of the game.

The Brighton game was certainly entertaining for the neutral not so much for me. An OG had put Brighton 1 up inside 20 minutes and that is how is stayed until we scored either side of the hour mark with goals from winger Younes and striker Livaja to put us in the driving seat. However we weren't in the assendancy for long Brighton got the equaliser 10 minutes later and when the took the lead a further 10 minutes later in the 84th minute I was less than impressed. However the boys showed a bit of fight and got a point that we probably deserved thanks to an equaliser from Kuzyaev who having created the other 2 goals from the middle of the park took the MotM award.

Another 4 points towards survival and we now sit in 12th place. There is a bit of a gap opening up between ourselves and the bottom 3 but with plenty of games left to play and our form not being great it wouldn't take too uch to drag us into the scrap.

 

[Ralph2211]

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After another month of ups and downs in November we headed into the busy month of December were we would have six games in total. We had home games with Bournemouth, Burnley and Spurs and really needed to pick up a few points in these games as our aways days this month would see us travel to Liverpool, Man U and West Ham and I didn't anticipate too many points certainly not against the first 2 teams anyway.

Another month and another 4 points, its becoming a bit of a habit! The Bournmouth game was a fairly even affair with both teams creating chances but only one actually taking them. Bournmouth were 2 up at half time thanks to goals from King and Lerma, but we had missed enough chances to at least be level. The second half saw The Cherries now effected with our poor finishing and despite plenty of chances the only goal of the second period was an injury time consolation scored by Livaja.

The United game was definately a game of two halves. United were 2 up inside 5 minutes and whilst we pulled one back through Younes on 14 minutes it was pretty much our only attack of the first half. United added a third before the break and I was concerned we were going to get spanked. We made a couple of changes in the second period with different personel and changed our formation slightly and we definately the better side and grabbed a 2nd late on and even had time to miss a sitter in injury time that would have got us a point.

Burnley we next up and they hadn't been pulling up any trees and found themselves just outside the relegation zone, we should have been winning this game but we didn't show up and Burnley bossed things. They were 1 up thanks to a Barnes goal on 7 minutes, we got one back through Holse on 21 minures and went in level at the break. However Ben Mee struck just after half time to make it 2-1 and we never looked like we would get back in the game. It was our worse performance for a while and very worring as that was 4 defeats and no wins in our last 5, I was very worried giving who we were due to play.

However I needant have been worried. We rocked up at the London Stadium and taught West Ham a lesson. We we head and shoulders better than them and resitrited them to shots from distance and probably should have won by more than the 2 goals scored early doors by Younes and Thompson. It was a very pleasing display and a very welcome 3 ppoints.

We went to Anfield not expecting too much against top of the table Liverpool but put in a great display to frustrate Liverpool and walk away with a much derserved point, which was nearly 3 except we missed a glourious chance in the 84th minute, but I settle for a point!

On the back of two good performances we were confident heading into the Spure game. Spurs scored early through Moura but we kept creating chances, as did Spurs, and we finaly got our reward and another point when Aquino slotted home the equaliser.

All of this left the league looking like this (I actually remembered to take a screenshot of the league table)

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13th after 20 games, I'd have taken that at the start of the season. We now need to push on in the second half of the season and with a bit of luck we could maybe even push for a top half finish.

 

[Ralph2211]

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We headed into January and of course the transfer window. We had made one signing, a player that we didn't get the deal done on time in the summer would be joining us, but other than that I don't see any new faces coming in as we are in line to fail FFP currently so there may even have to be the odd departure. There are a few of the younger guys who will probablt head out on loan as they just aren't getting the game time I had hoped.

The guy joining is will be familiar to most of you, he came through on a scout report a day or two before the window closed in the summer and for £2.6m I thought he would be a good pick up. Belfast FC welcomes Dennis Man

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He is a decent little player and gives us options as he can play on either wing or up front. Given that Samu has been very poor on the right and one of the players that I'd be happy to move on, whilst Holse has blown hot and cold he'll probably get some game time in the second half of the season.

I was more confident going into January after our win against West Ham and 2 draws against top sides in Liverpool and Spurs. We had games against Southampton in both the league and FA Cup and they were struggling, Palace who were struggling, Watford who were in and around us and then Liverpool and we had picked up a point away from home against them so you never know. The cup wasn't a priority so I would be feilding a weakened team and I was hopeful that we'd manage more than 4 points in the league this month.

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The Palace game was a cagey affair. They sat back allowed us to have the ball and tried to hit us on the break, and for the first half it worked for them we hadn't created too much and they had a couple of break aways which never really threatened but showed they were capable. We opened the scoring 10 miutes into the 2nd half with a header from Livaja. This drew Palace out and resulted in a much more open second half. They had a couple of half chances as did we but it looked like the one goal would settle it until on 89 mintues a low drive from left back Kurzawa sealed the 3 points.

We went to St Marys in the cup and I made 9 changes to the starting lin up and had a number of youngsters on the bench, meanwhile Southampton went full strength fro what I could see. The 3-0 scoreline flatters them a bit as the game was very 50/50 just that they took their chances whilst we wasted ours. Not too disappointed as the rotated side played well enough and the cup wasn't a priority for me anyway.

Watford was another game that could easilt have gone the other way but luck wasn't on our side. We went 1 up thanks to an OG on 14 mintues. Watord hit back 10 mintue late and thats how it stayed until late in the game. With 15 minutes to go I made a few changes and decided to push for the win, however in doing so I opened us up to the counter attack and Wellbeck scored a 86th minute winner for Watford. Maybe should have been content with a point, you libe and learn I suppose.

Next up we were back on the south coast to take on Southampton this time in the league. We were as full strength as we could be and it payed off, we battered Southampton who only managed 3 shots on target the entire game and we should definately have scored more than the one goal given to us by Kuzyaev. The creative midfielder has been our best player for most of the season and it good to see him getting on the scoresheet.

The final game of the month would see us take on top of the table Liverpool, who were starting to run away with the title a bit and were opening up a bit of a gap over the two Manchester clubs. It was another strong defensive performance from us and despite offering little from an attacking sense we held them to another draw, and at this stage of the season they have only failed to score in 3 league games and two of those were against us, so I'm pleased with that.

All of this (because I've forgotten league screenshots again) meant we stayed 13th. We had flirted with 12 after our wins but had dropped down again. That siad we are starting to open up a bit of a gap over those teams in the drop zone and I am begining to think we'll be safe barring a major dip in our form.

 

[Ralph2211]

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January had been at ok month picking up 2 wins in a month for the first time in a while. I hoped to carry that decent form into Febuary were we would play 3 teams in and around us and so would be looking to pick up points in these games to try and push up the league.

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So that didn't go quite to plan! The most frustrating thing is we were in every game and could eaisly have come away with 5 or 6 more points if we had had the rub of the green. Leicester was a very even game the only real difference being that when they created good opportunities they put them away and we didn't.

Everton game was the one that we didn't really play that well but neither did Everton, and we stil had chances that could have resulted in getting something from the game. Kean scored the only goal of the game to give Everton the 3 points and move them further ahead of us in the league.

West Ham were the team highest in the league but with us being at home I felt we could get something from the game. Things didn't start well with our left back stretchered off inside the first 10 minnutes. However things got a bit better when Livaja put us ahead in the 35th minute. We were looking good for 3 points until Creswell wipped a free kick into the top corner with 5 mintues left on the clock. It was a point but it felt like a defeat.

We went to Burnley and battered them. Despite this they managed to take the lead on 44 minutes but we still went in level at half half time as we scored straight fronm the kick off thanks to some nice play anf a great run fro Dos Santos. In the second half we threw everything at them but just couldn't find the einner and had to settle for a point.

A poor month which left the table looking like this

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Despite our poor month we remain in 13th as the teams below us were just as bad as we were. We have opened a bit of a gap over the bottom 3 and with 10 games left to play I'm fairly sure we are going to stay up. One thing I would like to point out is Bournemonth in the Champions League places!

 

[Ralph2211]

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March would be a short month with only 3 games. We entertain Man U, who are pushing for the title, and Norwich who are like ourselves are very much at the other end of the table. We would also head take on Bournemouth away from home, and they are ahving a great season and are in the Champions League conversation, so it wouldn't be a gimme.

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So this went kind of as expected in that we lost when I thought we would struggle and won the game I thought we were most likely to win. However the margin in the defeats were very concerning. Against United we started well and went at them for the first 15/20 minutes but any thoughts we had of taking anything from the game was ended when Dos Santos was snt off on 24 minutes. It was then a backs to the wall type performance and we managed to hold out until the hour mark when Lingard opened the scoring. This was swiftly followed by McTominay adding a second on 69 minutes before Pogba wrapped up the scoring on 89 minutes. Frustrating as we had been the better team until the sending off and may have got sonmething from the game on another day.

The Bournemouth game wasn't as bad as the scoreline suggests. Yes they were the better team but 5-1 flattered them a bit. Everything they touched turned to goals whilst the few chances we created weren't taken. The were 2 up by half time and had added another by the time Bellingham scored for us just after the hour mark. Any thoughts of a comeback were forgotten about as they added the 4th 7 minutes later and rubbed salt in the wounds with an injury time 5th.

Confidence had taken a major knock and what I had down as a potential win was now just a don't lose game. I made a number of changes, some of which were enforced but some just to take a few players out of the firing line after the past couple of performances. The game itself was very tight and could have gone either way but a penalty just before half time from Kurzawa was enough to seperate the two sides and for us to get a much needed win. This left us still in 13th and only needing a few points to actually guarentee our place in the Premier League for next season.

 

[Ralph2211]

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April would be a mixed bag in terms of who we would be facing and what was at stake for the clubs. We had games with Arsenal and Wolves, 2 teams pushing hard for European qualification and then we had matches versus Villa and Brighton who were very much at the opposite side of the scale and were down there fighting against the drop. With a good month we could seal our own survival in the Premier League.

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Brighton deserved their win. The created more than us and overall were better than us. Not sure what else to say but we didn't turn up and a 76th minute goal was enough for Brighton to take all of the points and give their survival bid a boost.

Against Arsenal a draw was probably the right result. They had plent of shots, mostly from range and probably have a few more chances however the chances we created were probably the better goalscoring opportunities. Aresenal took the lead on the hour mark Aubameyang only for Dos Santos to restore parity with 15 minutes to go.

Villa were already down when we arrived at Villa Park, and this was a tight game despitie what the scoreline suggests. Villa acutally took the lead through Wesley on 11 minutes and I was begining to think we might be getting pulled back into the relegation fight. The up step Livaja who scored a hat-trick in 20 minutes, his first on 13 minutes the second on 27 and his third on 33 minutes. That is how the score stayed until the 92nd minute when young striker Daramy got his first goal for the club, then right back Munier scored a minute later to add some gloss to the score. Happy with this performance and we have had a couple of games like this that have gone against us this season so it was nice to be on the right side of the scoreline for a change.

After the Villa game we got this:

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So we'd be guarenteed another season in the top flight, and we could start looking to who we wanted to bring in and who we would look to move on. It would also give me the chance to give a few of the younger players who hadn't gone on loan a bit of game time without having to worry too much about the results.

The Wolves game was possibly our worst performance of the season. They dominated the ball, created many more chances than us and wer just better all over the park. The only positive was that I had managed to get a couple of the younger fringe players a bit of game time but honestly this could have been 6 or 7 and has convinced me that we need to look at what we do against team that play 532.

We still sit 13th and whilst mathmatically we could finish 12th it looks unlikely more likely that we'll be 13/14th come the end of the season.

 

[Ralph2211]

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With safety already assured I was keen to not let our season just fizzle out and I felt that playing some of the younger players would help keep the intensity there. We would round off the season with 3 games. Newcatle would be first up and anything other than a win for Newcastle would see them drop into the Championship. We would then face a trip to Chelsea and entertain Man City on the last day of the season. These two teams were fighting for top 4 and Champions League places so very little chance of them being on he beach.

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We controlled the game against Newcastle and probably should have been ahead before Kurzawa scored a penalty on 59 minutes. When Daramy scored our second on 76 minutes it looked all over for the Magpies. But they pulled one back on 80 minutes and we were hanging on for the last 10 mintues but did enough to win and condemn Newcastle to relegation.

Chelsea though outclassed us. 1 up early doors and 2 up by half time. Hudson-Odoi added a 3rd late on to complete a bad day at the office for us. It looked very much like our guys had gone on holiday.

The City game was heartbreaking, and I'm only glad nothing was riding on it. We set up to defend and hit them on the break and thats exactly what we did when Livaja opening the scoring just before half time to give us the lead. City threw everything at us in the second half but we were defending well and most of their shots were from range. That was until Sterling got a bit of space and managed to find Sane unmarked at the back post in the 87th minute. At that point I just knew what would happen, the lads were deflated and sure enough Sane got his second of the game and Citys winner with1 minute to play. Gutted!

That meant the final table looked like this:

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14th in the end and I'd have taken that at the start of the season. Next year with a few additions I'd be looking for top half maybe even a run at the European spots.

We had a few other bits of news in the close season. The fans had picked their team and players of the year and they looked like this:

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I can't argue with any of it, except maybe goal of the season. The team was the one I played most often and the awards went to the players I'd have given them to.

The board also advised we would be getting a new stadium and that they were spending a couple of quid on the training facilities

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[duke313]

Good first season.

I like the way the Director named the stadium after himself.