Let’s Try Not to **** this All Away: A Burton Albion Story

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As feared we finish 1 point and 2 places worse off than last season. Really need to push on next season and a decent budget would help, we currently have just short of 15k in wages and about 800k in transfer budget so a few quid on top would be nice, as I fell we need 2/3 first team players to push us to the next level.

The end of season awards:
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Not sure I’d agree with Macheda not even making the top 3 for Player of the Season, as without his 22 goals we would really have struggled. He did get some recognition though:

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The first season a relative challenge in my opinion but the second is the key. You have a tonne of decent players on a shorter contracts ie Dyer, Turner etc Do you keep them and break the bank to sign them? Do you risk selling one of your best players ie Irvine or Palmer to generate some extra funds and reinvest that. You do not have the luxury of the quality loan signings ie Brayford (a rock in my save) & Ward and finding the experienced value comes at a big old price in the Championship.
 
brooksey84 said:
The first season a relative challenge in my opinion but the second is the key. You have a tonne of decent players on a shorter contracts ie Dyer, Turner etc Do you keep them and break the bank to sign them? Do you risk selling one of your best players ie Irvine or Palmer to generate some extra funds and reinvest that. You do not have the luxury of the quality loan signings ie Brayford (a rock in my save) & Ward and finding the experienced value comes at a big old price in the Championship.
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1st season was ok but had a few of the older players such as dyer retire Spent most of my 2nd year budget trying to replace the players who were on loan, retired or out of contract, so kind of stood still. Sold Irvine winter of 2nd season an used that money to renew contracts and try to bring a couple of players in. Just in pre-season of 3rd and very little money again not sure if there will be significant improvement this year either, unless I sell one of my better players, not that I have had any bids.
 
So I leave for the summer holiday with big plans for whom to bring in. I despatch scouts to check out youngsters from Premier League clubs with just months left on their contracts, in the hope that our budget will be increased further and we can make that push towards the playoffs. Upon returning to the club I find out that we have actually had our transfer and wage budgets reduced, meaning that any hopes of attracting the likes of Mathew Pennington and Sam Johnstone who we had be scouting were slim (even slimmer when both wanted £30k+) So new targets were needed and identified, some of whom may be a bit familiar.
 
So Phil Bardsley and Adam Le Fondre both leave after disappointing seasons and with both being on reasonably big wages I couldn't afford to have them as squad players so off they went. Mousinho and Akins I would have liked to have kept but both were wanting contracts of around 10k per week which I couldn't afford to give them even if I wanted to so They joined youngster Delaney in leaving on frees.

So how good are their replacements? Lets see
 
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Tosin Adarabioyo joins for a third season on loan from Man City. A solid centre half who is good in the air strong and reasonably quick, a good addition to our defense.

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Filippo Berra joins as a back-up right back. Having sold Phil Bardsley after a season were he massively under preformed we needed both a first choice and back-up and Berra was cheap and had a bit of potential.

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Moreno Rutten will be our first choice right back solid all round and his long throw may create a few chances for. I know I conceded from a few last season, let’s hope we can score a few.

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Davide Monteleone was next up and brought in to add further depth to the Centre back position. Young and with some room to grow for free we can’t really go wrong. I also spotted this on the social media feed:
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Let’s hope so!

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Another returning face is Simone Emmanuello. Spent last season on loan with us and I was only too happy to pick him up on a free after his contract expired. A decent rotation option given the number of games in the Championship.

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Another returning face is Simone Emmanuello. Spent last season on loan with us and I was only too happy to pick him up on a free after his contract expired. A decent rotation option given the number of games in the Championship.

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The final first team player to join is striker Mikael Uhre. Just brought in to offer support to Macheda and given that Le Fondre was sold and Shankland hasn’t hit the ground running another striking option was needed.
There were a couple of other buys but they were just free transfers who may progress a bit and either make me a few quid or even better break into the first team.
 
So with signing made we turned our attention to our pre-season games. We had 2 against weaker foreign opposition a game against Fleetwood that we should be winning then our usual game with Derby that could go either way.

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So convincing wins in our first two games and of course plenty of players getting some game time to gain fitness. Defeat to Fleetwood and Derby have me doubting that we can push on this season and I’m beginning to think another season around the wrong end of the table beckons.
 
So not exactly on form as we head into our first game of the season against one of the strongest teams in the division in Aston Villa. A busy August continues when Notts Co. and Brentford visit the Pirelli in the EFL cup and league respectively. Then we are off to Port Vale which will round the month off unless we progress in the cup. I’m targeting 9 points and a win in the cup from these games.

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So the month starts badly and that sinking feeling I had at the end of pre-season is getting stronger, what’s worse is the Villa game was so even that to lose was bad enough to lose 3-0 seemed very harsh and I just hoped it wasn’t going to be the sign of things to come.
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As you can see 3-0 is harsh, at least in my opinion. Anyway a cup win gets us back on track and we follow that up with 3 straight league wins. A defeat to Premier League West Ham in another tight game means we are out of the cup, but that’s not something that concerns me, especially given the number of changes I had made. Overall a good month were at one point we were even top of the table, granted it was only because we played on the Friday night but I will take all the small victories I can get.
 
September brings 5 games in the league and I’m hoping we can build on the momentum we have and another 9 points surely has to be the aim especially with 3 home games.

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So we start with another defeat to a team that plays in Claret and Blue, what is it with Claret and Blue? 3 defeats this season and they all play in claret and blue, if we lose to Scunthorpe then I know there is something wrong. 3 draws and a win from the other 4 games isn’t exactly what I was after but I’m not too disappointed.

October has six games and again I’m looking at winning 9 points from these games, though Claret and Blue wearing Scunthorpe would seem to be a nailed on defeat based on the season so far!
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So the defeat to QPR who were top of the table at the time I can cope with but the Derby defeat is so frustrating. What you can’t see here is that it was 0-0 on 70 minutes when I made 3 attacking changes to try and win the game. 4 minutes later and the FM curse that strikes every time you make 3 subs bites especially hard when my keeper is carried off. We then concede all 4 goals in the last 10 minutes! Gutted doesn’t even come close to it.
View attachment 105060At least it didn’t completely destroy morale and we did manage to pick up 2 draws and a win after that game. So we average a point a game in October which in the days of fighting relegation I’d be fairly pleased with but really need to improve this if we are to trouble the upper echelons of the division.
 
November only had 3 games and I would be looking to take 6 points from these 3 games. I think Wigan and Wolves are winnable matches whilst Sheff. Wed are a bit hit and miss but have plenty of quality so if they turn up I don’t think we can live with them.View attachment 104705
So not quite what I thought would happen. Sheff Wed had one of their off days and happily we took full advantage. We then proceeded to get batter by Wolves and are lucky to escape with anything. Against Wigan we are the team doing the battering but fail to make our procession and chances count and Wigan sucker punch us just after the hour mark. Another disappointing month were we again only average a point a game, though I’m happy we aren’t conceding many I’m not overly pleased with our goal return.

December is as usual a busy month with 7 games. We have a mixture of teams that I feel we should really be beating (Barnsley, Bristol City, Ipswich, and Birmingham) and teams who are struggling a little but have the quality to stuff us if they play well (Villa & Swansea). That said I predict that we will play well against the more difficult opposition and struggle in the games we should win. I’d like at least 12 points from the 21 on offer.
 
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So 12 points and only 1 defeat and I’m a happy man. As I thought Villa and Swansea were despatched whilst we struggled against the weaker sides. We also seem to have found our shooting boots at last. Onto January with the FA Cup and transfer window, though with very little cash there will be very little movement on our part
 
So at the turn of the year here is how things stand:

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We are 4th​ and well in the hunt for playoffs. I think automatic may be a bit and if I’m truthful this is how I expected to be last season but better late than never, just need to keep this form up until the end of the season, not that I want to go up not unless we get about £30m to spend.
 
First things first and after saying we’d not make any signing we make a new signing. We have been a bit short on the right and as he was on a free hard to say no. Pretty decent already and he has room to improve.View attachment 104696Onto the games then and we were looking to build on a decent December in the league and a cup run wouldn’t go amiss if only to bring in a bit of cash.
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A good start to the month with bottom club Port Vale easily put to the sword whilst a massively rotated side made short work of League 1 Rotherham. A draw with MK Dons is probably right after a even game. When the create enough chances to win 3 matches and somehow manage to lose at home to Cardiff before a very good draw away to title chasing Burnley
 
February brings another cup game and league games that we really need to be winning if we harbour realistic playoff hopes. I’ll settle for a cup win and 10 points.
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Well I got the 10 points I was after and was looking for 13 until the day before 20th​ placed Brighton rocked up at the Pirelli when I notice a news item saying that have just appointed a new manager, at which point I knew we wouldn’t win, though I expected to get hammered. Now the cup is a different matter. A game that we dominated possession, shots and shot on target only lose to an injury time goal. Gutted!
 
So March could be a make or break month. A title challenger, 3 teams who like ourselves are hoping for a playoff spot and 1 team struggling against promotion. I’ll be happy if we can come out of the month and still be in the hunt for the playoffs.
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Defeat to Derby, who are flying at the moment, had me worried but 3 draws and a win against top of the table QPR mean that we have dropped a couple of positions we still sit 6th​ and just in the playoff zone.
 
With 7 games left we are currently in the playoffs. Could do with a few goals and a few wins to keep us there, given that all but one of the games is against bottom half clubs I feel we could definitely do this!
 
As the free transfer window is about to close I decide to bolster my midfield with Conor Grant. Released by Everton and unsigned for a few months if nothing else we can sell for a profit.
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We start the month with 3 draws that see us drop to 7th​ and outside the playoffs, however we get back on track with back to back wins against Ipswich and Swansea and the four points we pick up in our final 2 games, an unbeaten run of 11 games plus results elsewhere see us not just make the playoffs but finish 4th​. We get Sunderland in the playoff semis and whilst we drew away and win at home against them during the season, given the quality they have within their squad it could be a very tough match.View attachment 104394
We take our unbeaten run to the Stadium of Light first then it’s back to the Pirelli for hopefully a glorious night prior to our Wembley appearance. Having said that if we were to get promoted I think it would be lambs to the slaughter without a massive transfer and wage budget boost.
 
Playoff semis are long in coming round and we make the trip to the north east on great form and in high spirts. We believe we can win both games and make the final.
That belief doesn’t last long as Sunderland go 1-0 up with the games first shot on 7 minutes. We now need to not concede again certainly mot before half time. For the next 20 mins we exchange chances and yellow cards with Sunderland though there is no doubt that Sunderland are having the better of the game.
Then in the 27th​ minute a flowing move which starts with the keeper sees Saint-Maximum score a 2nd​ and our promotion hopes are sinking without a trace and fast. Now we need an away goal but I don’t think we can push players on or this could well be over before the 2nd​ leg, but the same could be said if we don’t. We’ll try and get to half time and regroup.
Not much happens until half time and we remain 2 down. I tell the boys to keep calm and that they weren’t that bad and that I still believe we can get something from the game. I remind them of away goals and send them back out to get one.
We get to the hour mark and Sunderland are still in complete control so I make a triple change replacing my striker, winger and bringing on a more offensive midfielder, last throw of the dice and all that. The chances keep coming bit they are all for Sunderland and we don’t even look like scoring until about 70 minutes when we get 3 successive corners which only serves to get my hopes up and nothing else! The time is ticking away and I’m just beginning to think its all over when in the 83rd​ minute sub Joe Newell strikes one from outside the box and we are back in the tie. We need to hold on now and get this back to ours. We pull players back and set up to make it even more difficult to break down and whilst they have a few chances when the final whistle goes its 2-1 and I still think we can do this.
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So we didn’t deserve anything from the game but that away goal means that it is game on in the 2nd​ leg. There will be a few changes for the 2nd​ leg with first choice goalkeeper McLaughlin back and possible a few fresh legs in the centre of the park; we may even be a bit more adventurous.
3 days later Sunderland are at our gaffe where a 1-0 win will be enough to see us through. In come McLaughlin, Emmaneullo and Hussain as we look for that goal. Sunderland kick off and the first half an hour or so slips by with little to report though I note we are having more of the ball and a few more chances but no highlights. Just as I’m starting to think about what to say at half time and Hussain, Christie and Macheda link up and we are 1-0 up on 36 minutes. Just need to hold this until half time. Nothing happens until half time and we come in 1-0 up. Stick or twist is my thinking and I decided to keep going as we were. Again time seems to disappear with not much happening and we pass the hour mark and again stick or twist comes to mind then whilst I’m being indecisive Christie plays a lovely ball across for fellow winger Ylatupa to knock it in at the back post for 2-0. 2 minutes later and the goal scorer limps off. I keep the same team out there not wanting to change anything in case it costs us a goal. Then with under 10 minutes to go and some of the midfielders practically crawling I make my last 2 changes an go a little more defensive. The boys then see it out and we ar in the playoff final. Oh god we might get promoted!View attachment 104265View attachment 104264
 
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