Can it be done on a rainy Wednesday night in Stoke?

[leckuno]

March

Caraboa Cup Final
Manchester City v Stoke

We've finally won our first trophy after coming back from 2-0 down before coming back again in extra time and then winning it all in penalties. Its the first on many hopefully thats going to come our way.

FA Cup 5th Round
Stoke v Watford

We progress into the quarter finals with a win here where again we were able to rotate the squad.

Liverpool v Stoke

I was hoping we might of got something here but Liverpool were just too strong for us but was good that Collins didn't score against us this time.

Europa League 2nd knockout Round
Shakhtar v Stoke

I think its safe to say that we're going to be marching onto the quarter final after this result

Stoke v Leeds United

This was hard to take as we lose with the final kick of the ball as the issue of fitness raises its head again here.

Europa League 2nd knockout Round
Stoke v Shakhtar

We did what we had to do here to make sure we didn't lose 5 goals and we're through to face Porto now.

FA Cup Quarter Final
Stoke v Manchester United

What a first half here with all the goals scored but sadly we crash out of the FA Cup

League

The gap we had over 4th spot has closed drastically and its going to be tough to stay in there now.

April

A tough month ahead knowing that we need to match Manchester United and Arsenal

Youth Intake

The last couple of seasons the youth intake has been very kind to us but sadly this year it looks like there isn't anybody worthwhile.
​

 

[leckuno]

April

Stoke v Crystal Palace

We leave it very late but Dele Alli pops up with the important winner right at the end.

Europa League Quarter Final
Porto v Stoke

Porto really made us work for it here but we get the important 2 away goals and that should see us into the semi final

Stoke v Wolves

We rotated some of the squad here and we managed to keep our 3rd clean sheet in a row to show how strong we are at the back

Europa League Quarter Final
Stoke v Porto

Porto were a lot more difficult when they visited us and had us worried after they took the lead but we're now in the semi's

Aston Villa v Stoke

Villa had us against the ropes from the off in this game and we were lucky to only lose by a goal

Newcastle v Stoke

Thankfully we bounce back with a good performance against a team destined to be relegated again

Stoke v Arsenal

A disappointing result here as I felt we should of done better but Arsenal were able to take their chances better than us.

League

We hold onto third spot but go into the final month knowing we could still drop to 5th but we have guaranteed Europa League football at the worse

May

A busy month to end as we will need to beat Manchester Utd to make sure we finish in the top 4​

 

[leckuno]

May

Europa League Semi Final
RB Leipzig v Stoke

Not how we really wanted this tie to go but we pulled it back and have the away goal.

Manchester United v Stoke

We went into this game knowing a win should guarantee a top 4 finish and a goal just before half time is enough to edge past them

Europa League Semi Final
Stoke v RB Leipzig

Again things did not go to plan as we fell behind early on but we managed to get the game to extra time before winning with the final kick before it went to penalties

Stoke v Brighton

We had to rotate the starting XI here due to fitness levels and it cost us here as this was a game we should of won.

Burnley v Stoke

What a game to finish the season, rushed into a 3-0 lead and then nearly blew it.

Europa League Final
Stoke v Chelsea

Chelsea just haven't been the same this season and we were able to continue our run over them as we push them aside to complete a double this season.

League

Well in the end we managed to secure 3rd spot and we weren't gar off top either in the end. Could next season be our season?

Budget

Our budget isn't the best for next season meaning we will need to sell to strengthen but a change of some personnel wouldn't be the worst thing in the world​

 

[leckuno]

Season 5

Takeover No.2

Our 2nd takeover since we started the save and this time they have invested a bit of money in the club and increased our budget by £70,000,000 which is going to help massively.

Transfers Out

A lot of money has been raised so far as we moved on a lot of surplus players we had acquired over the last couple of seasons that weren't going to be in my plans going forward. The good thing is that we made a profit on every players leaving the club as well.

The big outgoing was Myron Boadu though for a fee that could rise to £84 million. The offer was just far too good to turn down and he would of thrown his toys out the pram if I'd rejected it. Max Aarons leaves for City as well as again I really didn't want an unhappy player if I rejected the bid when contracts will be up in a season or two.

Transfers In

We've brought in 3 regens for this season as we look to add youth and if needed we can sell in the future for a big improvement

Jairo Gaurdia

At only 19 he is a skilful AMC who I expect to get an international call up this season.

Morgan Marchal

He had plenty of space to grow and will provide extra cover in the middle of the park. He is very versatile as well with being able to play 3 positions comfortably.

Rafael Leandro

A similar player to Aarons he was originally signed as back up but will now be a first team player



There is one player who I am really excited to sign though and I now hope my long search for a top man is finished for the next few seasons after we signed Youssoufa Moukoko from Leipzig

He looks like a **** of a player now and can hopefully keep me happy in our search for goals.


Expectations

Nothing too strenuous expected by the board here and I will be looking for the top 4 in the league and wanting out the group stages in the Champions League as well.

Friendlies

We squeezed in a large number of friendlies here to get the squad ready, we had a lot of good wins with only two blips on our record with defeats to Real Madrid and Barcelona.

August

A decent start to the season here with the interruption of the Super Cup against Real Madrid.​

 

[leckuno]

August

Stoke v Southampton

An excellent start to the season and its even better debuts for McNeil and Gaurdia as we sweep Southampton aside

UEFA Super Cup
Stoke v Real Madrid

Both teams were missing players due to the Olympics but we put in a much better performance than we did in the friendlies as we lift the European Super Cup.

Wolves v Stoke

All British goal scorers for us which doesn't normally happen but it was a strong performance/

Stoke v Crystal Palace

****** Crystal Palace, we seem to lose to them at least once a season. We should be doing a lot better here.

Chelsea v Stoke

We continue our excellent run over Chelsea as 2 late goals make it a very comfortable win. We also saw Moukoko make his dream debut here coming off the bench.

League

Happy with 3rd just now but its a surprise that West Ham are the only team with a 100% record

Transfers

The sell off continues

Deadline day there were 3 big departures I wasn't wanting to do but didn't want to risk having unhappy players as they were all very capable of being able to be first team players for us. On the upside it means we have raised £429million through transfers this season making the bank balance a lot healthier.


We did end up making 2 incoming transfers though on deadline day as well

Carlos Henrique

Henrique joins from Sao Paulo for £11.75 million and we will be looking to give him cup games this season with an aim to becoming No.1 in a season or two.

Kai Havertz

Havertz joined from Chelsea for £62million and is a replacement for Alli. He can play either CM or AMC so will be a starter for us going forward

Champions League

Its going to be an interesting debut in the Champions League as any team could upset the odds here.

September

A pretty horrible month as we have 3 huge games in the league.​

 

[leckuno]

September

Manchester United v Stoke

What a game as the result was never in doubt as we record a big win to show where we are

Champions League
Stoke v Celtic

Our first game of the Champions and Moukoko gets us off to a very quick start to get us off to a winning start.

Stoke v Liverpool

What a game as we get our 2nd win of the season against a big time and Moukoko gets his first hat-trick

Caraboa Cup
Brentford v stoke

We came close to throwing it away here but thankfully our players showed their class in the penalty shootout

Stoke v Arsenal

Another strong win for us which keeps us up the top of the table

League

Top of the table with a 2 point gap but it is very early days

October

A much easier month for us in the league but we do have 2 big games in the Champions League​