Cracking the top 4

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Starting XI - Horn, Whiteman, Tah, Van Dijk, Chambers, Maia, Slattery, Insigne, Hesketh, Lucas, Williamson.

Frustration at St Marys as Stoke held us to a draw and leave with a point thanks to Eduardo Vargas ceasing on Jonathan Tah's mistake to tap in from a good cross. Things had started really well with Lucas scoring yet another goal but unfortunately the draw is all we could come up with as we relinquish the lead of the Premier League.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Digne, Tah, Chambers, Tete, Maia, Slattery, Grealish, Gotze, Lucas, Martial.

That was far too close for comfort. The scoreline definitely flattered us in the end after a shaky and nervous performance where it looked like the pressure of running at the top end of the table was getting to us. Both of Martial's goals came from chasing down underhit back passes but we will take them gratefully however they come.
 
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Transfer Round-up​

It has been a pretty uneventful window for the club as we couldnt scrape together any serious money to buy. Instead we settled on selling some of the players that were not going to get any game time.

Players out

Graziano Pelle - Malaga - £250k​
Graziano has been just wonderful for us for so long and deserves his move. He leaves with 67 Southampton goals to his name but has only made two appearances this season due to the incredible form of Martial. When he came to me with his concerns over his lack of football, I realised it was only fair to let him go. His departure leaves room for a couple of younger strikers from the academy to make their mark on the squad.

Dusan Tadic - Crystal Palace - £2.8 mil​
In a deal that could rise to £4.5 million, Dusan leaves the club after complaints about lack of football. We renewed his contract at the end of the season, perhaps unfairly, to serves as backup to the first team and he is another player that has earned his move away after more than 100 appearances for the club over 5 seasons.

Fede - Loan Cancelled​
Fede has been disappointing since arriving from Liverpool on loan and only made 5 appearances for the club at an average rating of 6.65. Liverpool were complaining about his loan, he was complaining about his loan, so it was best to end it.

Players in

Sergi Samper - Barcelona - Loan​
Fede's departure leave us slightly light in midfield until Kevin Strootman's return. This was solved by dipping back into the loan market to take Sergi Samper from Barcelona for the 2nd half of the season. Strong and with great passing and vision, he should fit right in at the club.
 
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January Review​

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A slightly mixed month with disappointing results against Chelsea and Stoke. We remain in the mix though.
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Still hanging on in there, joint top of the table with United and City. Chelsea are starting to close a little and if they win their game in hand then just 7 points separate us. 18 points ahead of Arsenal and 14 points ahead of Spurs is definitely a boost though!

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A nice home draw against Leeds in the FA Cup 4th round.
Player of the Month​
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Anthony Martial claims the award again with some big performances and big goals including two against Villa and two against Tottenham.
February Preview​
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Wou Blacburn is 10th?! If you can get little more stablier results you're going to win BPL!
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Whiteman, Tah, Van Dijk, Tete, Maia, Slattery, Grealish, Hesketh, Lucas, Williamson.

A massive sigh of relief rang around St Marys as young Mike Williamson scored his first goal for the club early on. It was a great moment for him and really meant a lot to me as well as he repaid the faith put in him. He then went on to score our second goal as well to wrap up the match and put us safely and comfortably into the 5th round.
 
Nnicod55 said:
Wou Blacburn is 10th?! If you can get little more stablier results you're going to win BPL!
Click to expand...

Yeah Blackburn are doing really well! Jordan Rhodes is firing in the goals for them! I'm not so sure about winning the league, but if we can be there or there abouts then I will be delighted :)
 
Sad to see Pelle go but like you said it was probably for the best. Still going strong in the League so that's very pleasing! Also the second tie against Huddersfield in the FA Cup doesn't have a picture with its post.
 
TheOtherSpecialOne said:
Sad to see Pelle go but like you said it was probably for the best. Still going strong in the League so that's very pleasing! Also the second tie against Huddersfield in the FA Cup doesn't have a picture with its post.
Click to expand...

Thanks for letting me know! thats fixed now :) Yeah, Pelle is one of my favourite players :) it was unfair just to leave him here if hes miserable.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Digne, Tah, Van Dijk, Tete, Maia, Slattery, Insigne, Gotze, Lucas, Martial.

A really important result for the club as despite going down to 10 men, we hold United to a point at St Marys to prevent them from gaining ground on us. We went behind early on through a Memphis Depay goal and struggled to get back into the game. Van Dijk got himself sent off carelessly for a second yellow card but strangely that is what it took to improve our performance. Lorenzo Insigne smashed us level eventually and that is how it finished.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Whiteman, Tah, Bartra, Tete, Maia, Slattery, Insigne, Gotze, Lucas, Martial.

Another manic game, this time away at Everton as a fantastic first half performance just edged us past the Toffees to claim three more vital points. We found ourselves 4-0 up and coasting at half time but so nearly threw it all away in the 2nd half. Luckily Martial was on hand to complete his hatrick and wrap the match up. Just look how tight it is at the top now.

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Starting XI - Horn, Whiteman, Tah, Bartra, Tete, Samper, Slattery, Insigne, Gotze, Grealish, Martial.

In one of the most entertaining matches I have ever watched, we just pipped Real Betis to an away win. Both teams tried to get the ball down and play attractive football and it was almost a game of tactical chess as we both probed each others defences to try and find a way through. Eventually, in the 89th minute, Mario Gotze came up with a ball of a lifetime, 40 yards, across the pitch, lofted over the defence. Martial broke the offside trap and ran onto it to tap home for his 32nd goal of the season and give us a crucial away goal and massive win in the Europa League.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Digne, Van Dijk, Bartra, Chambers, Samper, Hesketh, Grealish, Gotze, Lallana, Williamson.

Our Achilles Heel strikes again as we are knocked out of the FA Cup, losing away to a Championship side. Both teams went ultra-attacking with Sunderland playing 3 up top. This left them short in numbers at the back so I decided not to cover them off and go for the goals instead. 7 Goals were served up between us, unfortunately the deciding one as Sunderlands. Mike Williamson got another goal for the club to continue his development which is a positive. Another silver lining is being able to focus on the league now.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Whiteman, Tah, Chambers, Tete, Maia, Slattery, Grealish, Gotze, Lucas, Martial.

We have safely navigated our way through the first knockout round of the Europa League with another 1-0 win over Betis to take a 2-0 aggregate win over the course of two legs. It was Calum Chambers this time with the goal in a game that we absolutely dominated and we really should have scored more. This came at a price though, as Mario Gotze broke his ankle and will pretty much miss the rest of the season. A huge blow to our chances.

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February Review​

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A good month with the only defeat coming in the FA Cup which I wasn't overly bothered with. Advancing in the Europa League and keeping pace in the Prem!
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The gap to Chelsea in 5th is back up to 10 points now which gives us something of a cushion. A win from our game in hand could take us back to the top of the table and we are still very much in this fight.

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The last 16 of the Europa League has drawn us against German side Hannover in what is going to be a really tough fixture, especially playing the 2nd leg away from home.
Player of the Month​
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I know its boring, but its this fella again. Martial just does not know when to quit as he claims our player of the month award again. His Hatrick against Everton could yet be vital and his last minute away goal winner in the first leg against Betis was payment for his hard work. Keep it up Anthony!


March Preview​
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Starting XI - Horn, Digne, Tah, Chambers, Tete, Maia, Slattery, Insigne, Hesketh, Lucas, Martial.

A closely fought contest ended up with us stealing all three points from Newcastle as we begin to really ride our luck! It was the old guard that made the difference today, with Martial, Lucas and Insigne scoring the goals. It is so nice to have a reliable front line!
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Digne, Tah, Bartra, Tete, Maia, Slattery, Insigne, Hesketh, Lucas, Martial.

That was so almost the perfect away performance. Marc Bartra got the breakthrough just before half time as he volleyed in from a corner to send the away fans wild. As we didnt appear to be creating much else I decided it was best if we shut up shop and played for the clean sheet and the win. We almost made it too, but two minutes before the end Schwaab found the ball at his feet after some penalty area pinball and lashed it home.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Digne, Tah, Bartra, Tete, Slattery, Hesketh, Grealish, Lallana, Lucas, Martial.

That is half the job done as we got a good win at St Marys against Hannover and most importantly, prevented them from scoring any away goals. We were hugely wasteful with our chances for most of the game, Martial being the main culprit, but just when I was starting to give up hope, Lucas and Martial combine to give the Frenchman his 34th goal of the season and the win for us. Lucas Digne managed to tear his hamstring during the match and will miss the rest of the season, things are getting rough but we need to pull together and push on as a unit!

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Starting XI - Horn, Whiteman, Tah, Bartra, Tete, Slattery, Hesketh, Insigne, Lallana, Lucas, Martial.

Brighton came to St Marys looking for a point, and thats exactly what they got. A frustrating afternoon was had by all as we tried to work the ball around and find space between the 10 Brighton players parked behind the ball but we just couldnt do it. Disappointing, we have chosen the wrong time to start struggling for goals. Were we over-reliant on Martials form? A silver lining today was the debut of young attacking midfielder Josh Barry who came on late in the game and did fairly well. What a way to make your debut, a local derby in front of a sold out St Marys of 48,000 people at this stage in a season like we are having.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Whiteman, Tah, Bartra, Chambers, Maia, Slattery, Lallana, Hesketh, Lucas, Martial.

That was all we had to do, grab an away goal and see the tie out. Of course it was Anthony Martial who did get our away goal half way through the first half with a really cheeky finish over the keeper that shows just how confident this boy is. We then set about defending our lead, knowing that thanks to the away goals rule Hannover would need to score 3 to win. Luckily for us, they only scored one and we are through to the quarter finals.
 
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