From the UK to the USA and beyond - An Englishman's Journey

[Crayth]

Should quickly manage to pick things up and start pushing up table. Looks like an interesting appointment

Hope so mate, looking at bringing my own backroom staff in now and making us as strong as possible behind the scenes. I arrived and out of 8 coaches, 6 were 'fitness coaches'! Looking forward to this one, not usually a club I'd normally select.

 

[OutcastGaming]

Hope so mate, looking at bringing my own backroom staff in now and making us as strong as possible behind the scenes. I arrived and out of 8 coaches, 6 were 'fitness coaches'! Looking forward to this one, not usually a club I'd normally select.

Atleast with all the fitness coaches you will have a very fit squad.

Have a look at zirkzee or saicedo both young strikers with huge potential

 

[Crayth]

I warned Milosevic of my intention to replace him as captain and he took it well. Gary Cahill will now take up the captaincy and his central defensive partner Sakho will deputise as the Vice Captain. Two very strong leaders in the dressing room with fantastic experience.

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My first game in charge comes away at Burnley just three days after joining. With not much time able to get my side in order, the result won't be as important today although a point would be very nice on the road. I just want the lads to start getting used to the way I want them to play. We simply do NOT score enough and I plan on changing that whilst still retaining a very solid base.

A superb start from the lads, creating chance upon chance but failing to convert. We are actually dominating possession. Van Aanholt has broke the deadlock very early on with a spectacular freekick! 1-0 up at Turf Moor! Van Aanholt added his second of the season ten minutes later on after being set up by McArthur. Benteke thought he'd added another just a fewminutes later but it was disallowed due to offisde.

After a superb first half showing, I was eager not to let this slip now. A great performance from the first half has made me want the 3 points much more than I'd originally thought I would. From a counter attack, they managed to grab one back with half an hour remaining. Frustrating stuff. Can we stick this out? Just when we'd thought we'd hung on with just 7 minutes remaining, its nicked away. 2-2 here at Turf Moor. Cenk Tosun was almost able to nick the three points but was denied. He then finally did hit the back of the net, only for it to be overruled for offside. We then continued to pepper the goal until the very final minute. A fair point either way and would have been happy before the game with a point but after going 2-0 up so early on, I was frustrated we weren't able to hold onto the points.

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[Crayth]

Atleast with all the fitness coaches you will have a very fit squad.

Have a look at zirkzee or saicedo both young strikers with huge potential

I've sacked the lot mate and bringing in my own backroom staff - already got a huge improvement on the old staff, will post about them all when complete on next update.

Will check out Zirkzee at Bayern, probably more likely able to get him on loan. I'm looking at both Martinez' from Atlanta as I know exactly what they offer. Also, want an out and out goalscoring striker.

Erik Lamela is currently on the transfer list with a couple more useful signings but waiting until my Scouts are better as I trust their judgement a lot.

 

[Michael Onwuegbu]

Would you call Dael Fry an improvement on what you currently have at Centre Back?

 

[Crayth]

Would you call Dael Fry an improvement on what you currently have at Centre Back?

Cahill and Sakho are world class but Dael would be a class signing. I can't see him getting him on the cheap though mate. Will look elsewhere in ST and wingers to strengthen I think.

 

[OutcastGaming]

Cahill and Sakho are world class but Dael would be a class signing. I can't see him getting him on the cheap though mate. Will look elsewhere in ST and wingers to strengthen I think.

Might get Saicedo on cheap young Italian league striker with huge potential

 

[Crayth]

Might get Saicedo on cheap young Italian league striker with huge potential

This guy mate?

 

[OutcastGaming]

This guy mate?

View attachment 498395

Yeah Eddie Salcedo, might still get him on the cheap with money on the never never. That might work to get him on board.

 

[Crayth]

Quarter final of the Carabao Cup at home at Selhurst Park. Huge opportunity. Despite not being the priority, a cup run is always a nice distraction. Jordan Ayew managed to break the deadlock and give us a 1-0 lead in the first half. Van Aanholt then beat three and smashed home to make it 2-0 in the 2nd half.

Christian Benteke increased our lead to 3-0 and we hold on comfortably to advance to the Semi Final of the Carabao Cup! Great achievement by the boys!

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We sign Erik Lamela on a permanent deal worth £16.75M - he will add attacking flair from either wing and will offer us something different. A top signing.

DECEMBER FIXTURES CONTINUED ON NEXT POST...​

 

[Crayth]

We draw West Ham in the Carabao Cup semi final. We will play either Chelsea or Burnley in the final if we are able to get through.

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A blockbuster from James Maddison finds us down within 10 minutes. 1-0 Leicester. Jordan Ayew lashed ohome an equaliser on 15 minutes minutes and five minutes later, Benteke had put us into the lead 2-1,Palace. Sakho was then able to make it 3-1 until Zaha finds himself sent off. 10 men, 3-1 up, 45 minutes played.

3-0 at half time but 10 men. This is going to be a difficult half. Desperate to hold on. Schlupp on for Ayew. With Leicester flying high in 6th, we knew this was coming. An onslaught on our goal in the second half but a fantastic defensive performance allows us to hold on. What a fantastic performance, and being honest, I didn't expect this one. A huge three points.

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Ruben Sobrino completes his signing from Valencia B for just £2.7m - he will join on 1st January 2020.

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Gary Cahill scrambles one in from a corner before Jordan Ayew manages to squeeze one inl, 26 minutes gone, 2-0 Crystal Palace here at Selhurst Park. Jordan Ayew then raced through and made it 3-0 - a brilliant performance from the Jordan, whose been playing much better under my stewardship. We've looked solid in defence and fantastic up top, causing lots of issues for the opposition defence.

In the second half, they manage to force a goal, 3-1 here at Selhurst Park. A Harry Wilson free kick almost finds the back of the net. Keeper Guitata is equal to it and again we manage to hold out for the victory. Three wins on the spin and undefeated as Manager of Crystal Palace.

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Eddie Howe has been sacked as manager of AFC Bournemouth

Always sad to see another manager being sacked, especially on the back of a loss against me. Our 3-1 win seemed to be the final nail in Eddie Howe's coffin. A sad day for Bournemouth and their supporters.

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[TheMaestro]

Crystal Palace are one of my favorite Premier League teams. A good job choice and a great start! Best of luck!

 

[Crayth]

Crystal Palace are one of my favorite Premier League teams. A good job choice and a great start! Best of luck!

Thanks mate, three wins and a draw without bringing in any of my own players. I've sorted the back room staff out (finally), it was a real mess when I first got there and I could see why they were getting hammered every week. Hopefully I can keep the new manager bounce going.

Erik Lamela and Sobrino should help bolster our attacking options and I still have a nice budget to work with in the window to look for young players to improve the squad. I am also looking for a box-to-box midfielder who can drop in as first choice.

 

[Crayth]

We end the month away against 1st in the League Table, Liverpool. We have to go there without suspended Zaha. Schlupp will start on the Left Wing. I'm not expecting a result here, anything from Anfield will be taken as a bonus.

Liverpool takes the lead through a corner. Lovren heading home. Guiata has been equal to Origi on two occassions to keep the score to 1-0. We are finding it difficult to get out of our own half. A rare venture forward sees a Townsend strike saved by Alisson. Wijnaldum doubles the hosts lead on 28 minutes. Benteke works himself some space in the Liverpool area and crosses to Ayew but Alisson is, again, equal to the header. As the 1st half draws to a close, we have started to create some problems down either wing with Townsend and Schlupp but not even to pierce the strong Liverpool defence.

We are causing more issues now in the second half but we always look vulnerable to the counter attack. A difficult game but we managed to best them in possession and did work a few openings without our star man Wilf but we weren't able to put any away. For a first month in charge, it's been fantastic and I haven't been to hard on the lads. Liverpool are 5 points clear at the top of the table and with good reason.

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Great start, a draw, two wins and a loss against league leaders Liverpool who are a formidible outfit this year.

I can't knock those results one bit! Ayew scoring four in five games and Van Aanholt grabs three aswell. A fantastic month reviewing this.

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We have a huge month ahead, including a FA Cup 3rd Round tie and a Carabao Cup semi final. We will play the first leg at home and therefore will try and carry an advantage to the London Stadium. West Ham have been struggling this year in the league and have just parted ways with their manager so I hope we are able to take advamtage of that.

 

[Crayth]

The first game in January saw the arrival of two new signings, both Erik Lamela and Ruben Sobrino join from Tottenham Hotspur and Valencia B respectively. They will both be in the match day squad for the game away at St Marys. Lamela takes the #16 shirt and Sobrino takes the #23. After reviewing the squad, we have quite an aging squad so my next few signings will be looking at bringing the average age of the team down.

We dominated the midfield and possession but wasn't able to create any meaningful openings in the first half. Erik Lamela was handed a start but has not done much yet.

In the second half, Schlupp skimmed the bar early on but despite continuing our domination, we were unable to pierce the Southampton rear guard. Another fantaastic save from Gunn denies Schlupp who has been very bright on the left hand side of midfield. PENALTY TO SOUTHAMPTON. Cahill brings down their striker but Gutierrez MISSES from 12 yards! It remains 0-0. Sobrino has been brought on for the last 10 minutes. Joel Ward fires one in but is denied by the keeper but Cahill nods home from the resulting corner! 1-0. Guaita has been sensational in between the sticks. Saving a penalty and 1-on-1 to keep us in the lead. Djenepo has one last chance saved by Guiata and we hold on for a 1-0 win. Very good victory today and one we needed to bounce back after the Liverpool loss.

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BENNO SHMITZ ARRIVES FORM FC KOLN FOR £4.1 MILLION

We needed a new right back whose younger and with a cheap option available in Benno, I took the punt on him. I'm hoping his Bayern days have helped him and he comes ready and raring to go.

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MARTINEZ MOVE DELAYED DUE TO WORK PERMIT

I have successfully agreed to sign my former winger Gonzalo Martinez from my former club Atlanta United for £14.25m. As he is only 25, it gives him lots of time to become a Crystal Palace icon and I think, with the ability he posseses, he will become a key cog in our machine. We are looking at offloading other players who are on astronomical wages and not playing to that ability.
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Pearson gave Luton the lead against the run of play. I had rested a number of key players and given Sobrino his full debut, Schmittz was also handed his debut at right back. It took us until 60 minutes until we were able to equalise through a fantastic effort from Wilf Zaha. A fantastic header from substitute Jordan Ayew turned the game on its head a minute later and completed the turn around. Townsend then teed up Ayew for his 10th of the season. Hes been in red hot form since I arrived. Well deserved in the end. A fantastic through ball from Meyer was allowed to drop by Andros Townsend who then sent a vicious half volley arrowing past goalkeeper, 4-0.

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JANUARY FIXTURES CONTINUED IN NEXT POST..​

 

[Crayth]

The first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final will come against West Ham United at Selhurst Park. We need to take an advantage to the London Stadium.

We start with what I consider to be our strongest team at the moment. Lamela is cup tied. Sobrino and Schmitz are both on the bench. We are also missing Miliojevic through injury so in comes McArthur (who I'm looking at cashing on in).

James McArthur gives us the lead with less than 15 minutes gone. A firm strike from outside the box arrows into Fabianski's bottom corner. We have totally turned our teams fortunes around. After a few half chances for Crystal Palace, it remains 1-0. West Ham can't get out of their own half and can't retain possession. With 35 minutes gone, we had 67 percent posession. We were then awarded a penalty which Jordan Ayew expertly dispatched. 2-0 and cruising so far here at Selhurst Park.

A quiet second half saw us continue our dominance. West Ham's league frailties were clear to see today and they are going to struggle to stay in the Premier League if they continue to play like this. Wilf Zaha then danced his way round the defender and added a third. 3-0. Andros Townsend then cut in from the right hand side and picked the far corner out, 4-0! What a performance from the lads. Dominating possession and creating chance after chance. If there was such a thing as a perfect performance then this is it, absolutely dominant in every way and we take a huge lead to the London Stadium for the return fixture. Really proud of the boys and finding it shocking this squad of players was doing so poorly!

 

[Crayth]

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KOUYATE LEAVES WEST HAM FOR DINAMO FOR £10M
Kouyate leaves. We will unfortunately have to contribute to his wages but getting the 100k wages off the budget was part of the reason. He if fourth choice and past his best. I thought we could get somebody better in midfield and therefore thought it'd be best to sell.

GONZALO MARTINEZ JOINS US FROM ATLANTA UNITED FOR £14.25M
Absolutely delighted to get this across the line. A player of the highest calibre and he will add quality to the wings. Schlupp unfortunately looks set to be the casualty and could find himself on the way out to accomodate Martinez.

SEKO FOFANA SIGNS FOR £7.5M FROM UDINESE
Wil provide competiton in midfield. My scouts (who are a lot better at judging player potential and current ability have him down as one of our best players.

 

[Crayth]

I apologise about the length of January, just so much happening after taking over, I needed to sort so much out and there have been lots of ins and outs and therefore I've had to split January over multiple updates but once I get to February etc, the months should go back to being 1 or 2 parts. Thanks all for following.

Jordan Ayew latches on to a fantastic through ball from Van Aanholt and we're 1-0 up on 26 minutes. 12 goals for the season now for Jordan. Ruben Sobrino started and marked the first start with his first goal. Absolute genius as he dances through two players and finishly smartly in the top corner. He then follows that up with a fantastic second and a third!! HAT TRICK HERO, the fastest hat trick I'd ever seen, in my managerial career or otherwise. 4-0 Ruben Sobrino bags a hat trick, coming in for the injured Benteke (who I'm looking at offloading, 120k for a bang average forward who hardly finds the net).

Ryan is forced into multiple saves throughout the second half but it is a lot quieter than the first. Lamela and Martinez have both been brought on. Martinez is seeverely lacking match practice and I've set him to be available for the U23's until hes fit.

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DOMANOJ BRADARIC COMPLETES MOVE TO CRYSTAL PALACE FOR £1M
Very happy to get this over the line for such a small price. He will provide cover at left back for Van Aanholt. Kurzawa will be the next one out the door to free up wages.

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Wilf Zaha gives us a fantastic lead in the first half, scoring his 50th league goal for Crystal Palace. A good half, and a deserved lead against Spurs who occupy 5th. In the second half, we continued playing well. Ruben Sobrino added a second to give us a 2-0 lead. Martinez is then given another run out off the bench. Mahamadou Sakho then surely tied the result up by adding a third from a header. 3-0. Zaha also then went onto crack the bar. We are tearing Spurs apart here and I don't think they'd expected this. Not only have we destroyed a Mourinho back 4, we've just shut out the most potent attack in the league until the 93rd minute. Seko Fofana was brought on for the last 5 mins. A fantastic performance and result to go with it. We are playing even better than my expectations. Class from the lads.

 

[Crayth]

Nathan Ake has given Bournemouth a 1-0 lead within the first 5 minutes. Billing thought he'd added a second but fortunately was offside. Callum Wilson has added a second for the hosts. Not the best of starts in the first half. We've been poor and not created anything at the other end. Wilfired Zaha managed to grab one back for us before half time. Ayew thought he'd equalised on 60 minutes but it was disallowed. 7 minutes later, he tucked away from the spot to make it 2-2. Comeback complete however, we weren't able to grab the winner. Bournemouth managed to score twice an give them a 4-2 win. A poor performance from the lads after doing so well to come back.

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We make a few changes from the side that lost away at Bournemouth. Bradaric and Schmitz start as full backs. Giaita makes a poor mistake from a corner, coming to collect and then not getting the ball. 1-0 to Wolves at Molineaux. A difficult first half, we're creating chances but not making any real clear cut opportunities. Despite multiple attempts, we were unable to break through their defence. Bradaric put Sobrino in but he couldn't capitalise. Not really annoyed about this, wasn't really targeting an FA Cup run, we already have a chance of getting to a cup final against West Ham.

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The second leg comes away at London Stadium. We have a very healthy 4-0 lead coming into the 2nd leg but come off the back of two defeats. Really hope we turn it around today and get the job done. I have wished all the lads luck, a place at Wembley awaits them. A chance to play in a cup final is something some of these players will never get to challenge for. COME ON YOU PALACE.

Jarrod Bowen crosses for Haller. 1-0 West Ham in the opening 20 minutes. Jarrod Bowen then went close a minute later but Guaita was equal to it . West Ham go close again but it remains 1-0 as we pass the 25 minute mark. After 30 minutes we found our way into the game but was unable to equalise despite a few good attempts. Randolph had good 45 for West Ham between the sticks. West Ham added a second with 20 minutes left. Haller converts from the spot after being felled by Ward.

Wilfried Zaha smashed one home a few minutes later to make it 5-2 to us on aggregate. Once we got the first, we started peppering the goal and finally found the equaliser on the night through Andros Townsend. Benteke was good when coming on as sub and managed to grab the assist. 6-2 on agg. Progress to the final has been sealed after a fantastic performance in the second half to get us back into the game. We'll be focusing on creating/converting chances and defending in training.

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JANUARY TRANSFER WINDOW ROUNDUP AND JANUARY REVIEW / FEBRUARY PREVIEW ON NEXT POST ​

 

[Crayth]

MONCHU COMPLETES HIS MOVE FROM BARCA B FOR £12.75M

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Very happy overall. I thought our defence was one of our strongest areas and thought our main issue was scoring goals. Sobrino, Martinez and Lamela all offer very good attacking options. We lacked a little creativity in midfield and thought that Monchu (20 y/o) and Fofana (24 y/o) would offer much needed legs in the midfield.

I was able to offload a few, doubling our money on Kurzawa who I'd felt had gone past his best. Schlupp was allowed to leave as Bradaric and Martinez were brought in to bolster options on the left hand side. Benteke (120k), Meyer (125k), McArthur, McCarthy and Scott Dann will be offloaded at the end of this year to free up wages and give me more of a budget to work with.

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THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY
Alexander Isak, Swedish striker would of been brought in but we were unable to sell Benteke or send Tosun back to Everton to finance the move. Really gutting but will look again at the end of the year.

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