Damien Duff - A Duff Story

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Ps. As I work a lot, I am unsure how frequent the updates will be but I will hope to get a few out every couple of days...

Thanks goes to Lippo for the hilarious banner! Cheers.

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You left his stint at Melbourne City out mate, massive over-sight! :p

Good luck with it man, always love your stories. Cant see this one being any different :)
 
Lippo255 said:
You left his stint at Melbourne City out mate, massive over-sight! :p

Good luck with it man, always love your stories. Cant see this one being any different :)
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Haha It's 5.30 am, you can forgive me for such an over-sight! But just because it is you, Lippo(and you're an Aussie), I've updated the OP ;)

Thanks man, Happy to have you on board! :)
 
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I have been handed a 1 year contract in which I must prove myself if I expect to have an extended stay here! Preseason is already upon us and I have yet to meet the team, set the tactics or sort out any transfers. This is going to be a stressful and nervy Summer but it is a task I am looking forward to.

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Mid-table finish seems reasonable, from what I know about the current Blackburn squad, they have a few good players which should make this possible. I'll know more when I get a good look at each player.




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I have been given absolutely NO transfer budget or extra wages to work with...as I have just been informed that the club is under a transfer embargo!

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1st Team Overview


We have a decent sized squad thankfully, considering we are unable to sign anyone while under this transfer embargo!

No loans, no frees...no nothing.

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We have a great spine in the team..

Rhodes is one of the best strikers in this division.

Guthrie is a player I hope can finally show his potential in the midfield.

Hanley, the captain has played for Blackburn in the Premiership; although has anger issues but no doubt a talented defender.



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Time to get a detailed look at each of the starting 11 and subs. I'll not note anything on the players unlikely to make an impact unless there are a lot of injuries.


Goalkeepers

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Jason Steele is the number 1 goalkeeper in the squad but Raya isn't too far behind him; though he will be playing backup this season but I'm sure he'll get a few chances to impress.



Defenders
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This is without a doubt my strongest back 4. I have a few concerns about Grant having a thing for diving into tackles; some anger management may be needed to keep him in check.


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Kilgallon and Lenihan will play back up to the starting centre backs. Unfortunately we don't have much quality back up full backs and therefore may need to dip into the youth team; hopefully we stay clear from injures.



Midfield

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Guthrie and Evans will hold the middle while Marshall and Conway run up and down the wings putting crosses in, they will be the starting 4 in the midfield.


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Akpan and Lowe will cover Guthrie and Lowe. Once again we don't seem to have much backup quality for the wingers. There are a few youths that could step up; Tomlinson is an exciting young winger who may get a chance.
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Strikers

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Rhodes will be absolutely key for us this season! He one of the best strikers in this division. Delfouneso has never been prolific in his career but maybe we can use his pace to create a few more chances.


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Brown and Koita wont be seeing too much playing time. They are just not upto scratch, Koita may be able to play the odd game if we are in real need.



The team has been assessed...this is where I would want to start looking for new additions to beef up the squad but with the transfer embargo we have to work with what we have.

Pre-season may yet chance my mind of a few of the choices above.
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Man, rough situation with the transfer embargo. Seems like you have a solid enough squad to work with though. Planning any sales to help ease the financial pressure?
 
Lippo255 said:
Man, rough situation with the transfer embargo. Seems like you have a solid enough squad to work with though. Planning any sales to help ease the financial pressure?
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Yeah tell me about it! Although the squad, like you said, seems solid. I'm expecting big things from Rhodes this season!

I dont think so, I'd only want to sell if I could improve the squad but that's not possible until January at the earliest so doesn't seem worth it to me. Lets hope someone buys the club :p

I think I'll keep the squad together until January and see where I stand; the embargo should be lifted by then.
 
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Injuries

Ok so we currently have quite a few players out injured at the moment..

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Most noticeably, Jordan Rhodes is out injured for 5 weeks, which means he will miss the first 4 games of the season which is a huge blow to the start of our campaign!

On top of that BOTH backup strikers Brown and Koita are out for 5 months and 1 month respectively...which leaves Delfouneso the only fit striker in the first team...not good so far.

We are without our starting ball winner, Evans. He will be out for upto a month meaning he will miss upto 4 league games! Luckily his backup, Lowe, will be back from injury in 1 week.
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Tactics

With the players I have at my disposal, I have opted to go for a 4-4-2 formation.

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I'll be looking for the players to shift the ball out to the wide men before delivering dangerous crosses into the box, in which I'll be hoping for Rhodes to make the most of. Delfouneso is more than capable of getting on the end of any low crosses.

The full backs will join in on the attack and are instructed to overlap the wingers in the right situations.

In the middle of the park we will play with a ball winner and a deep lying playmaker.


I will adopt other formations and tactics when needed but for now this will be considered my main go to!​
 
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Easy first club for Duff a small injury crisis and unable to make any transfers. Good luck, looking forward to it
 
ninjaskill said:
Easy first club for Duff a small injury crisis and unable to make any transfers. Good luck, looking forward to it
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Haha Yeah, I was unaware of either when I took over...should keep things interesting at least! :p
 
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Player Sold

Tommy Spur, backup left back, was sold to Bournemouth for £1 million in order to ease some financial pressure.

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Some of the fans aren't happy as he could have been decent backup..but after checking the youth team, we have a young player in Jack Doyle who will be able to provide cover for Olsson.

Jack's key focus this season will be to work on his marking and crossing. He be be given a few chances to impress, lets hope he takes them.

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Although it doesn't although me to buy/loan any players, it allows for me to free up wages which will be needed as a few of our starting 11 have expiring contracts at the end of the season which I need to sort before Christmas.​
 
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As you can see, quite a few of the 1st team and talented youth players are in the last year of their contract.

The sale of Tommy Spurr will go a long way to raising the funds to help secure the most talented of this bunch to new and improved contracts so they don't leave for free! ​
 
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Preseason...or 1 game...

As I joined Blackburn Rovers quite late into preseason, it turns out there was only 1 friendly for me to take control of before the season began!

We were set to take on a stubborn Bath team. Stubborn or not, I expected a win and wouldn't except any other result.

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With Rhodes out injured, it was down to our reserve attacking midfielder to slot in beside Delfouneso and do his best; I'm not expecting much but we need 11 players and I'm trying to get us used to the 4-4-2.


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Great result!

More than just the scoreline but the fact that the wingers assisted 3 out of the 6 goals along with scoring 1 of them shows tactic is working, for now!

After witnessing Delfouneso scoring 2 crackers, I must say I am feeling more confident about him...hopefully he can bring this type of form into league fixtures; against higher level opposition.



Blackburn MOTM
Craig Conway
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Our left winger picked up the MOTM award thanks to his 1 goal and 2 assists.

He is one of the players who are out of contract at the end of the season, I need to tie him down soon.

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2015/2016 Championship Fixture List

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So the above fixtures only brings us until the end of the year! So many matches between now and then.

We begin our journey with a home fixture against Wolves. I'm looking through the list and to be honest there is not really games I can point out that will be 'an easy 3 points'.

In saying that, I'm confident in the quality of the squad and believe 'mid table' to be a ridiculous goal...we should be pushing promotion, especially if we can get Rhodes firing.​
 
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I am just minutes away from my first championship game, as a manager,

I must admit the nerves are creeping upon me. Hope I've picked the right formation and tactic! I've spent the past few weeks studying and researching all teams in this division as much as possible, There is nothing left to do but put my money where my mouth is!

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Q.P.R beaten by Charlton is good for us as they will be a strong automatic promotion contender this season. Also a nice draw from Hull.

I see these 2 teams battling with us most of the season...if we play well that is and are at the right end of the table.


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League Game 1

Bruce Buffer: - "It's TIMMMEEEEE"

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Our reserve attacking midfielder plays in place of the injured Rhodes as I have no other strikers available to me. Lowe plays in place of Evans who is also out injured.

I put trust in my 4-4-2 formation and hope we can come away with the win today, that would be the perfect start to my managerial career. Although I cant get carried away, without Rhodes and Evans, the team could struggle.

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A game of two subs!

Disappointed not to have won this match today. A lapse in concentration resulted in sub Bjorn scoring a well timed header to level the game.

Although our sub O'Sullivan(came on for Mahoney) scored on the 70th minute thanks to a wonderful cross from our right back Adam Henley.

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Nice to see the full backs getting forward and providing crosses for out strikers to attack.




Blackburn MOTM

Adam Henley
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The right back was a constant thread with his overlapping and crossing today, he got his rewards when he managed an assist.

On top of that he was on point with his defensive duties keeping Wolves winger in check throughout the game.


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