Hero to Villain in 2016

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Jake89

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So this story is carrying on from my Fulham and then Manchester United careers. If you want a full story of them they can be found here :

http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/f81/my-fulham-fc-story-t26592.html
http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/f81/saving-the-devils-from-despair-t27487.html

2009/10 - Fulham - 10th Place
2010/11 - Fulham - 6th Place
2011/12 - Fulham - 7th Place
2012/13 - Man Utd - EPL Champions
2013/14 - Man Utd - EPL Champions
2014/15 - Man Utd - EPL Champions, Champions League winners, FA Cup winners
2015/16 - Unemployed waiting for right job
2016/17 - Aston Villa

So now I have taken over an Aston Villa side who finished last season in 7th place, and I will be trying to take them first into the Champions League and then to the premier league crown. I have set myself an aim to achieve this within 3 seasons.

Taking over the squad I could see they had spent a lot of money on some players who were not that great, but had also kept most of the star players such as Milner, Young, Agbonlahor, Delph and Curtis Davies.

Other new players in the squad were Papodopolous, Tafer, Lichtsteiner and Tommy Spurr.

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I was particularly pleased with the signings of Pacheco, Kameni and Maicon on frees as well as Kwadko Asamoah. Despite his huge price tag I really think he has the ability to take this club to the next level.

I sold many players that I thought weren't good enough as Villa had a huge squad. Trimmed it right down and with the added quality and experience I brought in I was hoping for a top 6 finish minimum.

Had a terrible start to the season, with a lot of new players trying to fit in it just wasn't hapenning and the first month was tricky :

Aston Villa 2-2 Sheffield United
Man United 2-1 Aston Villa
Aston Villa 1-2 Sunderland
Aston Villa 8-1 Sheffield Wednesday (League Cup 3rd Round)

This league cup win was definitely a turning point as the morale and performance picked up a lot from here.

The next month went a lot better with us going unbeaten against some tricky fixtures :

Wolves 1-1 Aston Villa
Fulham 1-4 Aston Villa
Aston Villa 1-1 Everton
Birmingam 0-1 Aston Villa (League Cup 4th Round)
Aston Villa 1-0 Arsenal

Good wins against Arsenal, Fulham and rivals Birmingham. Looking good in the cup so can hopefully pick up some silverware if we can get some nice draws. Also moved up the league to about 12th place.

The next month was where we really got down to business, not conceding a goal and picking up 10 points out of a possible 12. Also got through to the next round of the league cup, was looking like a winnable competition with most the big teams already dropping out !

Aston Villa 3-0 Stoke
Hull 0-3 Aston Villa
Aston Villa 2-0 Wigan
Aston Villa 2-0 Ipswich (League Cup 5th Round)
Middlesborough 0-0 Aston Villa

Going into November full of confidence, but with some tricky fixtures ahead we needed to perform well. Got the month off to a great start but it dropped a bit after that, still a good month altogether.

Aston Villa 2-1 Man City
Newcastle 2-2 Aston Villa
Aston Villa 3-0 Birmingham
Chelsea 3-1Aston Villa
Aston Villa 2-0 Hull (League Cup quarter finals)

December was another average month, with some good and some disappointing results coming:

Tottenham 2-1 Aston Villa
Aston Villa 1-0 Liverpool
Aston Villa 3-0 Coventry
West Ham 1-1 Aston Villa
Sheffield United 2-1 Aston Villa
Reading 3-5 Aston Villa (FA Cup 3rd Round)

Into the January transfer window and I wasnt looking to spend any money, just keep the current squad as Villa were in a bad place financially when I took over. Managed to hold on to all my players which was good and also managed to progress in the cup competitions, including making Wembley in the League Cup !!

Huddersfield 0-4 Aston Villa (League Cup Semi Final Leg 1)
Aston Villa 3-2 Wolves
Aston Villa 2-1 Man United
Aston Villa 5-2 Man United
Aston Villa 1-2 Huddersfield (League Cup Semi Final Leg 2)
Aston Villa 3-2 Wigan (FA Cup 4th Round)
Aston Villa 1-0 Arsenal
Everton 2-4 Aston Villa

Great month in January setting a new club record for wins in a row in the premier league and also beating 2 former clubs in Fulham and Manchester United and also securing wins against Arsenal and rivals Wolves.

February is so far off to a tricky start with no wins in the first 2 premier league games, but we did manage a convincing win in the FA Cup to take us into the Quarters where we will play Everton at Villa Park.

Sunderland 1-1 Aston Villa
Sheffield United 2-1 Aston Villa
Aston Villa 4-0 Charlton (FA Cup 5th Round)

We have 2 more games, Middlesborough at home and Wigan away before travelling down to Wembley to meet Spurs in the Carling Cup final. This is a very exciting time for the Villa fans with a chance to secure a European spot for next season as well as picking up some domestic silverware.

We are currently sitting 6th in the league with just 9 games to go, but a push up to 3rd is definitely possible.

View attachment 29451

Current Top Goalscorers :

Yanis Tafer (29)
James Milner (10)
Edgar Ivan Pacheco (8)

Current Top Assists :

Yanis Tafer (15)
Kwadko Asamoah (9)
Ashley Young (8)

We are operating a 4-1-2-2-1 formation with a DMC anchor man, 2 centre midfielders set to attack and 2 advanced wingers. The starting lineup is :

GK - Kameni
RB - Maicon
LB - Baines
CB - C. Davies
CB - Spurr
DMC - Reo-Coker
CM -Asamoah
CM -Pacheco
AML - Young
AMR - Milner/Nani
ST - Tafer

Don't concede many goals and scoring quite a lot, especially Tafer who has nearly a 1 in 1 record this season, as well as 15 assists. Other players to be palying well when they come in are Papodopolous, Agbonlahor, Downing and Delph.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you will continue to follow to see if we can bring some silverware and a Champions League spot to Aston Villa !
 
Wigan 1 - 2 Aston Villa (Tafer, Nani)
Aston Villa 2 - 0 Middlesborough (Young, Davies)

Tottenham 2 - 2 Aston VIlla (Tafer x2) League Cup Final
Aston Villa win 5-4 on penalties

Aston Villa have claimed their first piece of silverware since 1996 under new manager Jake Hopper. It is only his first season in charge of Aston Villa but he has just picked up his 6th cup of his career to go along with his 3 league titles. Aston Villa have qualified for the Europa League as a result of winning this competition.

Yanis Tafer ruled out for 4 months.

Aston Villa 3 - 2 Hull (Papodopolous, Scannell, Agbonlahor)
Aston Villa 4 - 3 Everton (Delph, Asamoah x2, Papodopolous) FA Cup Quarter Finals
Man City 1 - 1 Aston Villa (Delph)
Aston Villa 1 - 0 Newcastle (Spurr)
Liverpool 2 - 3 Aston Villa (Agbonlahor x2, Milner)
Birmingham 1 - 2 Aston Villa (Milner, Agbonlahor)

Aston Villa 1 - 0 Man United (Pacheco) FA Cup Semi Final

Aston Villa 0 - 0 Chelsea
Aston Villa 1 - 1 Tottenham
Coventry 0 - 2 Aston Villa (Davies, Young)
Aston Villa 2 - 0 West Ham (Milner x2)

This fantastic end to the season led to Aston Villa securing 3rd place in the English Premier League, therefore qualifying for the Champions League next season.

FA Cup Final

Chelsea 0 - 0 Aston Villa
Chelsea win 5-4 on penalties

Won one cup and lost one on penalties, so evens out over the season I suppose.

Just after the FA Cup final managerless Arsenal approached me after finishing 9th. Offered me a £156m transfer budget but with the prospect of Champions League football at Villa I had to refuse this time.

View attachment 29771

Very happy with the club at the moment and the players in it. Unforuntunately a few of the older players left but I have confidence in the youngsters coming through to step up to the plate.

View attachment 29772

We have money for transfers, about £25m left but I can't find anybody that suits me at the moment so I will continue with my current squad until the right option comes.

Here is the only player I signed this summer, apart from a potential successor to Kameni in goal.

View attachment 29773

Gatagov looks like a really good player and I will be using him in rotation with Ashley Young and Milner 2 cover the 2 wings.

Other players I am looking for are a right back or left back, and an anchor man but its harder to find good players now they are mostly regens.

Aims for this season are to qualify for the Quarter Finals of the Champions League, win a domestic cup and finish top 4 of the league, perhaps putting together a title challenge if the players perform well and I can find a few new players to bolster the squad.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy my story.
 
Can you show me the statistics of the Tafer in season 2016/2017?:p
 
Nice layout and looks like you have had a good past, Good luck, I will be following :)
and what was your transfer budget?
 
I recommend buying him, he is absolutely amazing. So clinical, scores almost every game, with his head, volleys, one on ones. He is superb, I love him :)
 
I did write it up but this stupid website keeps crashing :p

Here's an update for the month of August and the new signings I brought in after.

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Good job I brought in the new players after, Delph Milner and Montero have all picked up injuries and will be out for several weeks.

Bit gutted about the Man City and Hull results, done well in both games. Good wins against Everton and Spurs though. Just need a bit more consistency. Think thats also a pretty qualifiable group considering I was seeded 3rd, could have been a lot worse.
 
SEPTEMBER UPDATE

Aston Villa 3 - 1 Fulham (Tafer, Spurr, Pacheco)
Benfica 0 - 1 Aston Villa (Young) Champions League Groupstage
Newcastle 2 - 2 Aston Villa (Asamoah, Agbonlahor)
Aston Villa 3 - 1 Sheffield Wednesday (Pollock, Young, Gatagov) League Cup 3rd Round

Good unbeaten month picking up a nice win in the champions league away from home. Also 2 decent games in the league, would have been better bar a late equaliser from Newcastle.

OCTOBER

Aston Villa 4 - 0 Helsingborg (Arrasate x3, Garagov) Champions League Groupstage
Middlesborough 2 - 2 Aston Villa (Milner x2)
Aston Villa 3 - 1 Wolves (Milner, Agbonlahor x2)
Aston Villa 0 - 1 West Ham
Aston Villa 2 - 1 Juventus (Tafer x2) Champions League Groupstage
Birmingham 1 - 3 Aston Villa (Milner x2, Tafer)

Great month in Europe meaning we have 9 points out of 9 and look certain to qualify now for the knockout phases. Dropped some points in winnable games against West Ham and Middlesborough which was disappointing, but the challenge of Europe may be taking its toll.

NOVEMBER

Leicester 0 - 1 Aston Villa (Young) League Cup 4th Round
Aston Villa 2 - 2 Liverpool (Milner, Reo-Coker)
Juventus 2 - 2 Aston Villa (Delph, Young) Champions League Groupstage
Aston Villa 2 - 1 Arsenal (Tafer x2)
Aston Villa 4 - 2 Man United (Young, Tafer x2, Asamoah)

Brilliant month which saw us come back from 2-0 down against United to win 4-2. This was no doubt the highlight of the month. Also beating Arsenal and going unbeaten again with some very tricky games.

View attachment 29903

Currently sitting 5th in the league which is OK as we are only 3 points behind 2nd.

A win in the next Champions League match will also ensure we qualify for the knockout phase, a winnable home game against Benfica.

10 games in all next month so rotation is going to be key. This month could define our season.

Here is our transfer target for January, think he will cost around the £15m area. What do you think ?

View attachment 29904

Thanks very much for reading, dont be afraid to leave some feedback :)
 
Super stuff mate. Good layout and some brilliant results too. What tactic do you use? Can you post a screenie too maybe?
 
That striker is worth 15, if you can get him for that it's good business.
 
View attachment 29954

The current team is not my actual first choice, needing to rotate at the moment.

And no, not Tafer. The striker in my update above, at the bottom.
 
DECEMBER

Aston Villa 2 - 0 Benfica (Tafer, Horjak) Champions League Groupstage
Chelsea 1 - 0 Aston Villa
Man United 3 - 2 Aston Villa (Tafer x2) League Cup 5th Round
Aston Villa 2 - 0 Sunderland (Agbonlahor, Gatagov)
Helsingborg 2 - 6 Aston Villa (Venetidis, Milner, Agbonlahor, Delph x2, Alimov O.G.)

Qualified in 1st place to the 1st knockout phase. We drew Lyon.

Aston Villa 2 - 0 Watford (Davies, Tafer)
West Brom 1 - 3 Aston Villa (Sissoko,Tafer, Young)
Stoke 2 - 3 Aston Villa (Tafer, Papodopolous, Pacheco)
Aston Villa 3 - 1 Leicester (Agbonlahor x3)
Hull 0 - 2 Aston Villa (Agbonlahor, Clarke)

Fantastic run of form at the end of the month after being knocked out of the League Cup. But, with a busy schedule already i'm not too disappointed as we can focus on the League and Champions League.

Agbonlahor has been in great form and is keeping up with Tafer in terms of goals this campaign. Pacheco has also been brilliant and I recommend anybody who is in the first year of a game to sign him, he can be bought for around £1m I think and becomes a top class player.

Very excited about the arrival of Hillcoat and if he can provide some goals and a different option in attack to what Tafer and Agbonlahor offer then I think we have a real chance of closing the gap of 3 points at the top of the table.

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Current top goalscorers :

3) Ashley Young (7)
2) Gabby Agbonlahor (9)
1) Yannis Tafer (16)

Current top assists :

3) Edgar Ivan Pacheco (6)
2) Alan Gatgov and Yannis Tafer (7)
1) Ashley Young (13)

Current Top Average Rating :

3) Gabby Agbonlahor and Ashley Young (7.29)
2) Febian Delph (7.35)
1) Curtis Davies (7.36)

Thanks for reading :)

 
JANUARY

Aston Villa 3 - 1 Everton (Milner, Hillcoat, Papodopolous)
Stoke 1 - 3 Aston Villa (Papadopolous, Young, Tafer) FA Cup 3rd Round
Tottenham 0 - 4 Aston Villa (Young, Tafer x3)
Aston Villa 3 - 1 Man City (Delph x2, Young)
Millwall 1 - 3 Aston Villa (Hillcoat, Delph, Pacheco) FA Cup 4th Round
Fulham 1 - 5 Aston Villa (Tafer x3, Gatagov, Young)

Currently on an unbelivable run which has saw me set a new club record of 13 GAMES WON IN A ROW. Can't believe how well we are actually doing, its fantastic. We now have a 2 point lead at the top of the table, and if we keep playing like this and with the squad depth we have I can't see anybody catching us anytime soon.

View attachment 30040

Player of the month : Yannis Tafer

Scored a massive 8 goals in the 5 games he has played this month. He just does not stop scoring.

Looking forward to next month with the Champions League knockout phases starting.

Thanks for reading, dont be shy :p

 
Great set of results hopper. Can't believe how poorly Man Utd are doing though!
 
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