Brentford FC - Bringing Glory To Griffin Park

Pre-Season

Alot has happened at Griffin Park over the course of the summer and I am delighted with the ongoings at the club. I'll start off with the transfers and there was ALOT.

Here is an overview of my transfers which I was delighted with. Sam Hewson is on his way out soon but I havent been able get rid of him yet.

Transfers

Firstly the board gave me a budget of £0 but with a weekly wage budget of 45,00K I was satisfied with the deals I could do.

I was able to bring back Nacer Barazite and Havard Nordveit on loan deals with Norveidt claiming he completed his dream move (we are one of his favoured clubs). Fran Merida joined on loan for the third season in a row. And I made loads of frees which I am very satisfied with. We also released players and I will miss a few but I don't think their departures will cause us much damage thanks to the 1M sale of Michael Misfud which was a fantastic piece of business.

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We have made 2.7M on 2 players we signed on frees who seemed to be going nowhere so I am pleased in that respect.

Major Ins

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Francisco Sandaza - Managed to snap up the big striker on a very low wage and he should provide good quality cover for the front line so we are rather blessed this position so far :).

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Mika Vayrynen - I am over the moon with this transfer as he brings in alot of quality I think. He is a creative player with an eye for a pass and he can take free kicks. Very pleased as his all round game is very good.

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David Beckham - The biggest transfer in the clubs history most probably despite Becks being 36 I made him our top earner on 4,300 K p/w. He brings alot of experience to the squad along with immnse quality.

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Isaiah Osbourne - Very talent english midfielder and there wasn't much competition for him, only from Scotland. I feel he will become one of our better players and being able to add such quality midfielder to the pack.

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Seamus Coleman - The former Everton right back was released and there wasn't too many takers. He looks like a good right back for championship level and I'm sure he will establish himself with us.

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Abou Diaby (Loan) - We made our usual 4 long term Arsenal loans this time we managed to bring in a real quality player in Diaby. He adds alot to our midfield which is already becoming very very strong.

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Patrick Gerittsen - I signed the dutch winger on a low wage but he is good at this level and I think he is good cover for both flanks.

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Kelvin Etuhu - Promising player who has very good physical ability. I am excited at him as a prospect. He wanted ridiculous wages so I waited and he wanted lower a month on.

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Steven Hammell - The experienced left back was sensational in League 1 for Oldham last season and got well over 20 assists in the league so I was delighted to strengthen this area in the team after Sam Wood's departure. He will be starting unless Daniel Jones and Ryan Dickson stake a real claim for it.

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Victor Anichebe - In my opinion this is the most exciting transfer. He looks very very good and is young, again there weren't many takers and his wage demands were not high. Fantastic transfer for us.

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Stephen Ayodele Makinwa - The fans werent happy about this for some reason but he looks alright to me. Again wanted silly wages so I waited and he lowered them down about 3/4 so I snapped him up fast as there was intrest.

Major Outs

Michael Misfud (Tromse 1M) -Great player for us and a fan favourite. He is under liked personnel so he will be missed for his impact but when I said 1M they offered and it is too good to refuse.

Francis Jeffers (Free) - He did okay for us but didn't score that many in quite a few games. He netted 2 or 3 crucial goals but it didn't warrant his wage.

David Noble (Free) - Good, creative midfielder who played very well for us but we signed far better midfielders.

Nathan Poritt (Free) - I was excited by him but he never performed expect for a couple of a brief spells where he was very good. Too inconsistant and injury prone and not worth keeping.

Big Changes at Griffin Park

There has been plenty of change in West London in recent years including Chelsea's surge to the top of England under Mourinho with Roman Abramovichs attempts at getting the club to become a global brand. And Fulham's fantastic spells in Europe under Roy Hodgson. But now it is the smaller team in West London who are shining. The club has experienced mass changes over the summer but the manager has been keen to stress a few things that will stay the same.

"There has been plenty of change here obviously but that's what comes when managing in th lower divisions. I think there will be a much more stable squad now. I have had to get rid of plenty of players, and I think Ryan Dickson is the only player that was here when I arrived but I feel now I have managed to put together a very good squad on a shoestring budget.

"Corry Evans is staying on as Captain with David Beckham being vice captain. It is staying this way despite all the media David attracts, Corry is our future and he has fantastic leadership qualities on and off the pitch.

We are still going to be playing the same style of football but we will definately be looking to tighten up our defence as we wont get away with our defending in this league.
 this way. "

Here are two screen shots showing my first team squad in its entirety along with my formation:

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And I wanted to show you how much Rhys Murphy has improved and how he is becoming a top quality player for us and a fan favourite. I am also showing his goal history for us.

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Finances

We have had a very good increase in finances under my stewardship and the club is slowly but surely going in the right direction.

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Targets

The board set a target of avoiding relegation and this is the very least I want to do I think promotion may be to much but I at least want to give it a good go. I am not concerned with the cups in any way.

Oh yeah the media have predicted 23rd for us, so they're full of optimism, but still I have very high hopes for the season with the signings I have made and so on and want to stabilise this club and then lead it to whatever glory I can.

August results tomorrow
 
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Very good update mate I am very impressed. I have finished my Vale season! I will post the last update of the first season tomorrow afternoon! I am very impressed with your signings especially anichebe and etuhu! They will do very well for you and I also hope that Becks can do a grand job for you at the age of 36. Have his attributes dropped much?
 
thanks alot make Im really glad you likd the update, I put quite a bit of effort into it. becks stats ar surprisngly okay phsyically considering the ammount of younger frees I have seen whos physical hs been dreadful.

and im looking forward to reading your update your story has been quite exciting mate.
 
Thankyou and when I do it could you post any improvements I can make and suggest transfers? thanks mate I will look forward to see how this is going tomorrow Im going off now

P.S Im getting some kits made hopefully. So they can be unveiled at the start of the new campaign lol! You dont think that is unrealistic for my club do you? We are low on finances though.....
 
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**** me those signings are immense, absolutely fantastic job youve done, what tactics have you been using?
 
thanks alot lads and yeah joe I was well pleased with the frees I managed to find although I hear makinwa is a trouble maker lol.

and I'm using my own variant off a 442 formation I can post a few screenies of the tactic tomorrow if you'd like
 
oh yeah makinwa was a little **** for my bristol rovers team, and yeah screenies would be nice
 
Super signings. Promotion via the playoffs could well be possible with a bit of luck
 
Thanks for showing interest guys here is th first update of the season

August

The first month of the season is always hard especially when you are working on getting all of the lads fit and ready for the opening fixtures of the season but hopefully we enough quality to grind through til we are fit and ready to go.

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Very tight game with few chances, it could have gone either way and neither team really looked that dangerous but it is first game of the season and we will take a point.

Leagu Cup 1st Round

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First round of the cup and it was good for us to get fitness levels up. We dominated throughout and showed we are definately too good for League 1

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Fantastic performance to give us our first 3 points of the season. Rhys Murphy announced himself in the championship with a stunning hatrick which helped us race into a 4-0 lead. Dissapointed to let them get 2 consolations in the last 5 minutes but overll very pleased with a superb performance.

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Another very hard fought game against a club that gained promotion along with us. Again there were few chances and neither team seemed to show much intensity or desire to win.

League Cup 2nd Round

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Marvellous game of football which saw both teams net 3. New signing and Villa old boy Isaiah Osbourne bagged his first 2 goals for the club which was good and few of the new signing showed plenty of promis against one of the best teams in our league. Incredibly nerve jangling towards the end with the penalties but we kept a cool head claimed a good win.

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Another clean sheet here which is good and we managed to grind out another win. Rhys Murphy netted the only goal of the game and maintained our good start to th league. We can only get better.

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We didn't defend as well as we have been but we attacked superbly and looked dangerous every time we attacked. Scunthorpe are one of the weaker teams in the division so it was good to get the win especially at home.

Monthly Overview

It's been a really great start to life in the Championship but we cannot get too buoyed as we have some very difficult games to come but we are sitting at the top of the league and have got to the 3rd round of the Carling Cup which is a very nice bonus as the board only wanted me to reach the 2nd round.

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Doing very well but it is only 5 games so we are not getting carried away the target is to avoid relegation and that is our priority.

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Rhys Murphy continued his fantastic form for this club and is leading the score charts in the championship at the end of August.
 
Great start mate! Wow already on your way to the promised land! Any chance you can lok at my story and suggest any signings or any improvements I can make
 
Thanks mate and yeah hopefully we have a good season and see what happens.

I had a glance on your thread a bit ago I saw the little slump which has moved you down to 4th is a playoff spot guaranteed?
 
Rhys Murphy is the man ;)

Never signed him myself, may have to look into him now as I've seen him available a few times.
 
Yes a playoff space was guaranteed but I have finished the season so take a look!
 
Yeah he definately is mate, he's proper vital to us.

I definately recommend him becuse if you get him on a good schedule he improves loads and is turning into a very good forward.

this is what he is like atm:

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September

After a great start to the season I was interested to see if we could keep it up with the fixtures we had coming up. I genuinely thought we had a fantastic squad then I noticed Bristol City had the likes of Naingolan so I'm not too sure where we stand in terms of depth.

Results

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Great win for us with Becks grabbing himself a brace. We are playing with good confidence at the moment and are performing better than I even expected.

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Fantastic come back in the second half are going 2-0 down in the first. We started awfully and never got going til I laid into them and the reaction was exactly what I wanted, we were unlucky not to win it in the end.

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Outplayed. Only slight positiv is Makinwa scored his first goal for the club though he has been a big dissapointment so far.

Carling Cup 3rd Round

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Outplayed by a good premier league side, we got a consolation goal but that was it.

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Very tight game and loan signing Abou Diaby who is beginning to look like a marvellous player for us scored a good poachers effort late in the second half to give us a priceless win.

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Another 1-0 win another Abou Diaby goal. We are grinding wins even when we are not at our best so it is pleasing in that respect but I want us to get back on form with our football because we will eventually get punished, but still a very nice way to end the month.

Monthly Overview

A fairly good month that continues our momentum. 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in the league isn't bad at all but I was dissapointd in the way we went out of the Carling Cup. Still there is an extremely good feel around Griffin Park at the moment and most of the players are enjoying playing their football with us. I am excited about where we are going as a club.

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We are right up there still which is pleasing but it will be hard to maintain it.

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Rhys Murphy is showing he can hack it at this level and is increasingly improving with us,

any suggestions on improvements I could make are appreciated and any requests for screenshots will of course be granted where possible.
 
you couldnt post the tactic screenie could you? im struggling with the gills in league 1 and they have similar squads in term of quality
 
oh **** sorry I forgot about that man I'm definatly going to put that in the october update which is coming very soon
 
Im absolutely lovin this story and it has inspired me to start a game with a lower league team and set realistic targets! I have the patience to try and take a league 2 team to the EPL!

Love the time and effort you've put in mate, all the best! I'll continue to follow!

GOOD LUCK!
 
thanks for following mate always nice to know people enjoy the story makes it worth the effort :)

and yeah man its alot of fun it just takes a bit of patience. when I started the clubs valuation was about 3M and we were averaging 7000 fans per game. now we're worth 12M and are hitting our capacity at 12,000. our youth facilities and training facilities are still very poor but the owner has gone from "loves the club" to "happy to stay" although we're doing okay without the money right now we are going to need some investment eventually.
 
No problem!

So are you hoping that the chairman sells up to allow new investors in that can improve training facilities etc? Also, if an inbestor was to come in, would you continue your salary cap or would you look to stregthin in order to progress quicker?

If you gain promotion this year, surely a new stadium will be built or a massive improvement on Giffin Park?

Also, in all honesty, do you think promotion could maybe be a bad thing for the club as it's very early or do you believe you have the resources to challenge and stay up at the first time of asking?
 
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