Cracking the top 4

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Starting XI - Gazzaniga, Targett, McCarthy, Caulker, Cedric, Reed, Davis, Rodriguez, Ganso, Ward-Prowse, Pelle.

It was just one of those nights at St Marys as a heavily rotated side lost out to Swindon despite playing the better football. Swindons Obika opened the scoring with a worldy overhead kick before a 35 meter free kick did for us. Just for a while it looked like we might get something when Pelle equalised but it wasnt to be. No major dramas as this competition wasnt important to us, but disappointing anyway.
 
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Starting XI - Gazzaniga, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Fonte, Cedric, Wanyama, Clasie, Ganso, Tadic, Ward-Prowse, Austin.

A slight change in formation a more defence minded 4-5-1 worked really nicely as we held Manchester Utd to a draw. Van Dijk powered home a header i the first minute of the match but unfortunately we couldnt hold on as Memphis scored his own header in the 2nd half to equalise.
 
Looking good so far mate, Austin for £8Million is a brilliant signing. KIU
 
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Starting XI - Gazzaniga, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Fonte, Cedric, Wanyama, Clasie, Ward-Prowse, Tadic, Mane, Pelle.

We got absolutely battered. I'm not sure I have ever seen a team on the game or in real life with such little possession but somehow we held on for a vital point in our Europa League group. Sadio Mane scored with a neat header to give us the lead but we couldnt hang on until the end. Not the end of the world.
 
Loving the story mate and the layout makes it really easy to follow :)

I think the possession in your last game is a bug in the beta version - I have found in 2 of my matches so far, the possession bar at the bottom for the last 5 minutes goes over to about 90% one way or the other and lasts about 20-25 minutes! Nothing has happened during it but it does make the stats look pretty skewed at the end! haha
 
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September Review​

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September has been a really poor month in the Premier League. The draw against Leicester was poor, the defeat to Norwich was just awful but then we managed to redeem ourselves somewhat with a point against United. Fortunately this was balanced by some good performances in Europe.
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The Premier League table is not looking that great but we are just 3 points off of that 7th place that we managed last season so no need to panic yet. Liverpool have significantly changed their fortunes and it is now Chelsea who are struggling with Arsenal and City leading the way.

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The Europa League table is looking much better as we currently sit top of our group. With the boards expectations being set at 'dont be outclassed too often' We can go out there and play our football without any pressure.
Player of the Month​

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Jose Fonte has been terrific this month, he truly is our captain fantastic. A string of very good performances have helped us to a couple of results and his partnership with Virgil Van Dijk acts as a wonderful core to the defence.

Academy Watch​

Jack Stephens and Jordan Turnbull continue to tear up the football league with average ratings of 7.9 and 8.1 respectively, they are really pushing themselves right to the forefront of my mind for next season and I am going to have to think long and hard before signing any centre backs.

Kayembe and Olomola have 6 goals apiece for the under 21's and are both playing really well while fellow academy product Harrison Reed has been promoted to the first team squad.
October Preview​

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A tough looking month as we face away trips to both Liverpool and Arsenal. It becomes vitally important that we get results at Sunderland and West Brom to consolidate our position and it would also be lovely to beat Tripolis in the Europa League.
 
Nomadic said:
Loving the story mate and the layout makes it really easy to follow :)

I think the possession in your last game is a bug in the beta version - I have found in 2 of my matches so far, the possession bar at the bottom for the last 5 minutes goes over to about 90% one way or the other and lasts about 20-25 minutes! Nothing has happened during it but it does make the stats look pretty skewed at the end! haha
Click to expand...

Thanks man :) To be honest I was wondering if it was a bug! Im not even sure its possible to have that little possession :P
 
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I sat at my desk absolutely fuming, The copy of the newspaper I was reading screwed up and thrown in the bin, and this is the reason why.

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There was a knock on my office door and Jordy Clasie walked in.

"You wanted to see me boss?" He asked.

"Yeah, take a seat.. I dont doubt you have seen the papers today?"

"Yeah I have, look. I'm really disappointed to not be in the squad.."

"Jordy.." I Cut him off mid sentence "The man is a jackass, you can achieve anything you want here and I feel it is the best place for your development."

"Boss, its fine.. really.. I signed a contract to play for Southampton and it still has years left on it, I fully intend to see it out."

I smiled widely. "I knew it was a good decision to bring you here.. get your head down son and if you carry on playing the way you have you will be back in the squad in no time, he cant not pick you."
 
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Starting XI - Gazzaniga, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Fonte, Clyne, Wanyama, Clasie, Ward-Prowse, Rodriguez, Mane, Austin.

A thoroughly entertaining match at Anfield that I really enjoyed, despite the result! we huffed and we puffed but we just couldnt get anything. Danny Ings scored for Liverpool early on and we were chasing the game from there. Sadio Mane hit the bar and the post but it wasnt enough and Jordon Ibe caught us in the 93rd minute to put the game to bed. Promising signs but still no results.
 
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Starting XI - Gazzaniga, Bertrand, Caulker, Fonte, Martina, Romeu, Clasie, Tadic, Davis, Mane, Pelle.

The perfect tonic, and at exactly the right time! you could almost sense the relief around the stadium as a superb Graziano Pelle hatrick sent us on our way to a thumping victory. We had switched back to a 4-2-3-1 for this game and it worked a treat. Massive shout out to Cuco Martina who made his debut for the club and bagged two assists to put pressure or Cedric's starting place.
 
[Lost that save file, had to go back to an autosave so the last match result might be different.]
 
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Starting XI - Gazzaniga, Caulker, Van Dijk, Fonte, Bertrand, Martina, Clasie, Ward-Prowse, Ganso, Rodriguez, Mane.

WHAT A WIN! We got absolutely battered for most of the game but the brilliance of Sadio Mane saw us through. Things were starting to look a bit dodgy when ex saints boy Theo Walcott scored to make it 2-1 but we saw the game out and claimed three precious, precious points.
 
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Starting XI - Gazzaniga, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Fonte, Cedric, Wanyama, Clasie, Tadic, Davis, Mane, Pelle.

For this match I picked what is arguably our strongest XI (with the exception of the goalkeeper) and they delivered with a Graziano Pelle hatrick guiding us to an easy victory and the defence holding for another clean sheet. Pelles goals were beautiful including a beauty of an overhead kick. Momentum is now definitely on our side.
 
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October Review​

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A fantastic month! We have managed to go from me being worried about my job, to the top half of the Premier League and leading our Europa League group! The loss to Liverpool was the only bad result of the lot and that was a close run game. Plenty of goals after that and three clean sheets out of four games show the progress we are making as a team.
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The table is starting to look much more like the normal league table. Some surprising strugglers in Leicester and Crystal Palace but Swansea are doing very well! 8th place and one point off of 4th place is just fine for the moment!

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An unbeaten record and top of the group. If we beat Tripolis in our next game and Shakhter beat Besiktas we are safely through into the knockout stages.


Player of the Month​
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Graziano Pelle has been a monster this month, scoring 6 goals in the form of 2 hatricks. Well deserved Graziano. His stunning overhead kick against West Brom also bagged him the Goal of the month.

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Academy Watch​
Jordan Turnbull and Jack Stephens have both seen a drop off in their game time which will impact on their form. Sam Gallagher is a huge source of optimism, the lad has scored 6 goals in the past 2 months for MK Dons and is seen as a real star for the future. A shout out also for young winger Sam McQueen who has put in a series of high level performances for the Under 21's.


November Preview​
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A crucial month coming up as we have three winnable games in the Premier League and the chance to confirm our qualification for the knockout stages of the Europa League.
 
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Starting XI - Gazzaniga, Bertrand, Caulker, Fonte, Martina, Romeu, Clasie, Tadic, Davis, Mane, Pelle.

Embarrassing. We went down hard to Watford who were on top for most of the game. The defence did very well for the whole match until Gazzaniga fumbled a simple claim into his own net. The lack of a first rate goalkeeper in between the sticks has cost us more than once this season.
 
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Bad news for the club as our first choice right back Cedric managed to get himself injured in our Europa League match against Tripolis. Cedric will miss the next 4-5 weeks of the season with a sprained ankle and while this is good news for his understudy Cuco Martina, it is a sore loss as he has been such a presence on the right side of our defence.

The positive news is that Marten Stekelenburg has been cleared as fit by our medical department and will be ready for the Premier League clash against Crystal Palace, it will be a huge relief to have an experienced goalkeeper back, Gazzaniga has done well but I am not convinced he is of the calibre to play week in week out in the Premiership.
 
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Starting XI - Gazzaniga, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Fonte, Martina, Clasie, Romeu, Tadic, Davis, Mane, Pelle.

Much better! a complete performance from the lads saw us thump Crystal Palace courtesy of a brace from young Ward-Prowse. Prowseys two goals came within 3 minutes of eachother in the opening exchanges of the match and killed the game off from the start. From then it was a case of maintaining a good defensive shape and seeing the game out. Adrian Mariappa putting the ball into his own net was just the icing on the cake.
 
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