Fulham: From Championship to Champions League

[Dylan Campbell]

Fulham: Championship to Champions League

Hello, everyone, welcome to my brand new manager story on Football Manager Handheld around Fulham, a team which five years ago had reached the Europa League final, but now finds themselves languishing in mid-table obscurity in the Championship, the second tier of English football.

To stop you from being bored quickly, I will start the series in my second season, as I practically dominated the Championship, scoring 98 goals with my three strikers: Ross McCormack, Kostas Mitroglou and Hugo Rodallega, all three had been outstanding in that season.

Also, we had also won the Capital One Cup, our first ever major honour, which was a superb achievement for the club. We were well-placed and set for the Premier League, after a year-long sabbaticial.

If you do like this series, please follow it and give it a thumbs-up. Also comment if you want to sign any players or give me some good feedback, which is always greatly appreciated.

 

[Dylan Campbell]

2014-15 PRE-SEASON

In

James McArthur: £6 million from Crystal Palace
Alexis: £2.4 million from Getafe
Abou Diaby: Free from Arsenal
Jevad Nekouman: Free Agents
Eliseu: Free Agents
Nick Powell: Loan from Manchester United
Paulo Santos: Loan feom Benfica

Out

Paulo Santos: Recalled to Benfica (BIG MISTAKE!)
Luka Jovic: Loan to Nottingham Forest

Out of the transfers that we brought, McArthur and Diaby could be the most crucial. Both have Premier League experience and could bulk up our midfield, which is incredibly vital to the style I play. Eliseu is another steal, with decent all-round stats having been released by Benfica.

Nekouman is a back-up, and Alexis is a poor signing. Nick Powell is one for the future, and slots in brilliantly into the squad.

For the outs, Paulo Santos who I had only signed on loan at the beginning of the season, was recalled again as I felt that my two centre-backs were good enough: Amorebieta and Burn, however that proved to be a big misjudgement.

My other out, Luka Jovic is on loan to Nottingham Forest. One for the future, Jovic could break into the first-team next season, but needs time to develop into English football, having signed from Red Star in my first season for £4.5 million.

NEXT UPDATE IS THE AUGUST & SEPTEMBER REVIEW!

 

[Dylan Campbell]

AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER REVIEW!!!

Our Premier League season began in dramatic fashion as we drew 3-3 with Everton at Goodison Park. After Steven Naismith had completed his hat-trick 13 minutes in, we staged a glorious comeback when Hugo Rodallega scored a wonderful hat-trick of his own to secure a point in our first Premier League appearance in 15 months.

Our slow start to the season continued when we drew 1-1 with Kazakhstani minnows Aktobe in the Europa League play-off. Dan Burn had given us the lead 39 minutes in, but a late Victor Yakovlev goal meant that Aktobe had a crucial away goal that could come to their advantage in Kazakhstan.

However, we recorded our first Premier League win of the season against fellow newcomers Watford in emphatic style, with Hugo Rodallega scoring another hat-trick, two from Kostas Mitroglou and a single goal from Ross McCormack as we trumped them 6-0.

Our return leg in Kazakhstan also ended 1-1, Ross McCormack opening the scoring 61 minutes in but a Marcos Pizzelli six minutes later forced the game into extra time and eventually into penalties, which we won 5-4 as Anderson Santana missed his penalty.

We also thrashed Stoke 6-0, with McCormack bagging four and Rodallega two. Our first Europa League group stage match against Dynamo Kyiv was a success, as we won 3-1, with Rodallega scoring two and McCormack one, with Younes Belhanda scoring a solitary goal for the Ukrainian side.

Our good start to the season continued as we held Chelsea to a 1-1 draw, with young striker Cauley Woodrow firing home four minutes in, before Diego Costa equalized on the 64th minute. We won our third round match of the Capital One Cup 2-0 against Bolton with James McArthur and McCormack bagging the goals.

We recorded our third win of the campaign in the league with a 2-1 win over Hull, McCormack and Rodallega once again providing the goals with Abel Hernandez pulling one back for Hull in the second half. That concludes our August and September review, the next post will be the October and November review.

 

[mask0991]

Our good start to the season continued as we held Chelsea to a 1-1 draw, with young striker Cauley Woodrow firing home four minutes in, before Diego Costa equalized on the 64th minute.

Woodrow is a superstar

I'll keep an eye on your progress. It'll be interesting to see how you go about transfers, and how you progress in the European stage. Good luck.