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

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So the Playoff Final arrives and we are up against Burnley, a team who until the last months of the season looked nailed on for automatic promotion. They fell apart so lets hope their form continues, unfortunately like a lot of teams we have been coming up against lately if they turn up we could easily be blown away. We have our left winger return to fitness on the day of the final but his condition means that despite him being 2nd top scorer and 4th on assists I can pit him in the squad, so it looks like we will go with the team that beat Sunderland in the semi.
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So we kick off and the first half just flys by with nothing to report and not a single highlight. Looks like the best defense and the best attack are just cancelling each other out. The second half starts much like the first had finished in that nothing happens until the 53rd minute when a ball down the line finds James Wilson who beats the full back and whips in a cross for Andre Gray to finish. 1-0 Burnley!
About the hour mark I take off my shield in midfield and throw on another striker in the hope that we can get back into the game. With no sign of a goal we go more direct and attacking around 70 minutes and shortly after this Macheda is put clean through on goal but puts his shot straight at the keeper. We keep pushing and commit more men forward and just as I was worried about we get caught on the break with a long ball over the top and James Wilson ends our Premier league dreams in the 83rd minute. 2-0 Burnley! And thtas how it stayed until the final wistle. Burnley will enjoy the riches of the Premier League whilst we will have another slog of a Cahmpionship season. I'm gutted and the lads are down is going to be difficult to lift them for another assult on this.View attachment 104237
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Not had much feedback other than the help with the layout, so not sure if I should continue the story of another year in the Championship and whilst I'm still enjoying the save I'm not sure if you guys have any interest in reading about another year which is the same as the previous 3. Let me know what you think.
 
Keep it going, I prefer to read stories like this where you can see the struggles and gradual build over a few seasons, not coming in and winning everything in one go
 
neavie pops23 said:
Keep it going, I prefer to read stories like this where you can see the struggles and gradual build over a few seasons, not coming in and winning everything in one go
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Thanks mate. Definitely think we are a better team now and have progressed each year, just wasn't sure if people were even reading it never mind enjoying it
 
Commented previously massively enjoying this as the Brewers for since they have being in the football league have being my go to and I am a fan personally as well was there the night they got promoted to league 2!
 
brooksey84 said:
Commented previously massively enjoying this as the Brewers for since they have being in the football league have being my go to and I am a fan personally as well was there the night they got promoted to league 2!
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Thanks for the support mate. Trawling through transfers currently whilst on nightshift hopefully have pre-season done shortly
 
So it has been a summer of trying to get over the disappointment of missing out on promotion and then having to quickly turn my attention to the new season. The lads reported back for pre-season and spirits were low. I told them that I wanted to make the playoffs again though if I’m honest I have a really bad feeling that last season may have been our chance and we missed it.
The board finally started to believe in the possibility of promotion and handed me a war chest of £5.75m transfer and 9k per week wages, naturally half of that transfer budget was moved to wages and myself and the scouting team sat down to discuss targets. We had identified several younger players who were due to be realised by Premier League sides, however this meant we couldn’t approach them until 30th​ June so the big decision was do we wait and miss out on other targets or push ahead with transfers and not go for our top targets? We decided to wait and hopefully significantly improve the squad for minimal outlay. As it turned out this may have been a bad decision as all but 1 of our targets either turned us down in favour of other teams or were after well above what we were able to pay. Anyway here are the transfers that were made, lets start with the outs. We had the usual youngsters leave on frees that I’m not even going to talk about.
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So a few of the higher potential youngsters have gone out on loan to get some 1st​ team action with teams who have decent facilities. Hopefully they can improve enough to challenge for the first team in future or in the case of Osei he can get a work permit. So keeper Sy goes just because I managed to bring in a couple of new keepers so he just wasn’t going to get any games time. Defenders Benedictus and Berra both leave as they weren’t playing that much, were complaining about it and were in pretty decent wages so a profit on Benedictus but a loss on Berra. Then midfielders Newell and Henry went as they weren’t going to get the number of appearances they needed and I had a few wide men amongst the targets I mentioned so I thought I’d make a bit of room in the squad.
Now the ins. As I said we had hoped that our run to the playoff final would be enough to attract a few Premier League cast offs who would be available for free, this meant that I missed a few transfers as I was keeping the budget for these free transfers that didn’t come off in the end, I just hope it doesn’t cost us too much!

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One of a number of Swansea players I tried to sign after their relegation to league 1 but unlike Lewis Dunk, Mo Besic, etc he actually wanted to join us. A good solid midfielder who can play in a number of the positions we use in our midfield and he fits the ongoing theme of the signings: potential.
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On a free from Juventus and as you can see continues the potential theme. At 25 plenty of time to grow as a keeper and will fight with my other new signing for the number 1 spot.
View attachment 103814The first of 2 centre backs brought in from Brescia. 20 year old cost 60k and is pretty quick and strong with good technical for a centre back, he could use a boost in his mentals but that will come with time and some match experience. Will be a backup along with his mate from Brescia.
View attachment 103813At a cost of £200 Pesari was identified in a scout report and has no risk attached. Will go into the u23s to start with and hopefully he can improve and make a push for the 1st​ team in a year or two.
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The second of our Brescia centre halfs. Again a bit of a physical beast for 19. Though not as good technically as his pal he is better mentally. I think the 2 of them would make a good pairing and he will also start the season as a backup.
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A striker to provide support for Macheda. Given that neither of our 2 current backups have been in great form I thought it was worth bringing in another. At 300k I think he represented decent value and will hopefully help with our lack of goals.
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Just a backup full back on loan from Swansea. Given that Berra went we needed a backup and the bonus was that he can play both left and right back. Tried to buy him but they wanted way too much money.
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A free transfer from Watford and one of the only Premier League outcasts we had identified that actually joined. Direct replacement for Henry and a definite upgrade plus can play on either wing which adds to the cover we have across the team.
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Another keeper on a free this time from Man City. Already looks a good keeper and will only get better with experience. Will battle for the number 1 spot with the other keeper we signed.
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Andreas became available and given that my current backup McHattie hasn’t set the world alight and has a long term injury a simple decision to bring him in. Will actually fight for the starting spot rather than just be a backup who isn’t quite as good as the starter. Actually pretty happy with this signing.
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Just a youngster on loan to boost numbers. Was brought in after missing out on a number of other targets. Not sure he will get a lot of starts but he looks more than capable should we pick up a few injuries.
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The final signing of the window came after his agent offered him to me for free. Has a bit of potential and could become a good striker. He has gone on loan to Motherwell for this season and will hopefully get the game time he wasn’t going to get here and will probably be in the first team squad next season. Again continuing the potential theme.
 
So signing made it was time for pre-season. Having looked at last season I had noticed that we had the best defense in the league, which being a former defender myself please me no end, however we weren’t scoring enough goals and definitely weren’t getting enough input from our central midfielders. With this in mind I tweeked the roles in the formation to test during pre-season and then perhaps take forward into the season proper.
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So only 3 games organised by my assistant (note to self: take control of this next season) meant not too much testing could be done, but on the face of it all looked well. That is until I looked a little deeper than just results and whilst we hadn’t conceded a goal we had been allowing numerous chances. I decided to go with the tweeked system for the start of the season as I think we need more goals.
So the season starts with a match against what are fast becoming my bobgy team Barnsley who I don’t think I’ve beaten as a manager yet, next up is EFL cup action against league new boys Forest Green. A trip to Stadium MK is followed by Hull rolling into town. August rounds off with trips to Reading and Cardiff whilst Villa come to the Pirelli, further EFL cup action is a possibility and one that given the opposition in the 1st​ round I’d be disappointed if we don’t. Ideally I’d like 3 league wins and progression in the cup, but that’ll depend if my signings can hit the ground running.
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Two wins and a draw plus cup progression twice isn’t bad but we have reverted back to the old tatic as I thought we were too open and this was causing us no end of problems. Unlike last season we weren’t controlling games, but 2 straight wins since the switch means it may stay this way for the forseeable future.
 
5 games in September see us come up against some of the teams who have flown out of the blocks this season. We travel to 2nd​ place Cardiff and 6th​ place Bristol City whilst Sunderlan who currently sit 4th​ come to the Pirelli in between. If we can pick up some points from these games I’ll be happy enough. We round the month off with EFL cup action away to the Mackems then a home game with Birmingham who unlike our earlier league opposition haven’t started well. 2 league wins and a win in the cuo will do though I’d swap the cup for a further league win.
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The defeat at Cardiff had me worried that the month could be a bit of a nigthmare especially as it was a very even game that we could easily have won on another day. We followed that with 2 draws with the Sunderland game even and probably a fair result, however we battered Bristol with 17 shots and over 60% pocession but just could break the deadlock. A shootout win over Sunderland after a goaless draw with a bit of a rotated side please me, even more we we drew a League 1 side in the next round and dreams of Wembley come to mind. We scrapped the points against Birmingham and pleased to be on the right side of the result in an even game for a change.
 
October wasn’t going to be ant easier with 6 league games plus Shrewsbury in the EFL cup. Whats more is that 5 of the 6 league games come against top 8 teams. An important month that could shape our season. A good month would see us up amongst the challengers for playoffs again a poor month and we could be looking over our shoulders again, a feeling I had hoped we had left behind.
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3 draws and 2 wins in the league could have been a lot worse and leaves us in mid table and only a 2 points off the playoffs. However the cup defeat to Shrewsbury was a major disappointment and maybe I should not have changed my team completely but whilst a cup run was good I would rather concentrate on the league. It will hopefully mean a bit more recovery time for players which could mean less niggles and 2-3 week injuries that we have been picking up meaning I have rarely been able to play a settled team.
 
November would bring 4 games with Brighton, Forest, Ipswich, and Leeds. Brighton are in and around us in mid table and will be a difficult game. Forest and Ipswich find themselves struggling at the wrong end of the table and we really need to be beating these teams to try and push on for the playoffs. High flying Leeds at Elland Road may be one that we have to write off. 7 points from the 4 games would be a pleasing enough month.
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An unbeaten month so it is kind of hard to be disappointed, however I can’t help but feel we should have had more. The Brighton and Forest games we should have won as we creted plenty of chances and were generally the better team, Brighton only managed 1 shot on target for example but we continued to struggle in front of goal and picked up 2 rather than the 6 points we deserved. The Ipswich game was a different story though as this time we only had 1 shot on target but managed to win 2-1 (own goal in case you were wondering). The draw with Leeds was probably a fair result as they had more shots whilst we had more on target and possession. 6 points but we need to sart turning those draws into wins if we want at least a playoff place again.

Also in November I was approached by the IFA to manage N. Ireland, and as a proud Northern Irishman, I was tempted to go and try and qualify my country for a World Cup but resisted the pull for a shot at getting Burton to the Premier League.
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December would be a busy month what with the Xmas/New year fixtures, meaning 7 games. 5 of those games come against teams who are in the bottom 6/7 places, so an opportunity to pick up some points and get a move on up the league. That said Sheff. Wed. and Huddersfield have recently sacked their managers and approached me, which I turned down of course, but having spent £66m and £24m respectively during my time a Burton they both have teams that should on paper anyway be much higher up the table.
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Another month, and more incosistantcy. Our 2 wins coming against title chasing West Brom (3rd​ at the time) and 20th​ place Hull. We got spanked by Sheff Wed who appear to be having an upturn in fortunes under their new manager and of course lost to Barnsley because we always lose to Barnsley! In the 3 games we drew we created enough chances to have won 10 games and if we had a striker who was in any kind of form or just any good we would be pushing for an automatic place without doubt. Anyway January means that the transfer window swings open and I will be looking to get shot of some of the dead wood and with a little bit of cash in my back pocket (£2.5m transfer and 20k wages) I might even try to bring in a new face or two to help us finally start to move up the table.

At the turn of the year the table looks like this:
View attachment 102127So 11th​ place and 5 points off a playoff place means we need to improve results in the second half of the season and if we can find a stiker who can actually hit a cows **** with a banjo I’m confident we can make the playoffs.
 
Not a bad first half of the season, just need a striker as you say and those points will start racking up
 
neavie pops23 said:
Not a bad first half of the season, just need a striker as you say and those points will start racking up
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Happy enough with the start but struggling to find a striker. Those I want won't join or I can't afford, whilst those that are interested aren't any better than I have.
 
January would bring the transfer window and I would definitely be looking to address our lack of goals, that said strikers are hard to come by especially on the budget we have, so we may need to look at a loan rather than a transfer. That coupled with a busy month of four games including the FA cup third round clash against MK Dons and leagues matches with Reading, Brentford and Villa. Would like a bit of a cup run but we may need to concentrate on the league if we are to make up the points on the playoff places.
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So out of the cup to MK Dons wasn’t a massive surprise as I rotated the squad make 8/9 changes for each game having decided that a playoff position was more important that winning a couple of rounds in the cup. Home draws against Reading and Brentford isn’t good enough and a defeat to Villa rounded off a rather poor month all in all, what is worse is all these teams are in the pack that are just off the playoffs and we could have pushed on had we won these games.
Of course we also had transfers in January, and I had spent most of the month trying to find a striker that would a) Improve our team b) that we could afford and c) that would actually join us, no mean feat I can assure you.

So first the outs:
View attachment 101670The only permanent departure was Haug the young keeper that we had signed on a free from ManCity in the summer. Not a player I wanted to leave as he is already a good keeper and at 21 will only get better but Middlesborough activated his release clause, which I had forgotten about, and off he went, but an almost £4m profit in 6 months can’t be sniffed at especially as he was actually starting for us. Grant and Uhre both went as they were not getting any game time and hopefully they can perform well on loan and both will probably leave in the summer if I can get the right offer. Osei I still can’t get a work permit for despite playing regularly for his country. It is really disappointing as he looks a pretty good striker and given our inability to score may have got a shot in the first team by now. Pesari is a young player who is progressing nicely and could use the game time to improve further, I can see him being part of the 1st​ team next season.

Now the All important ins:
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So Negredo on loan was I must admit a desperation signing. We weren’t scoring despite making plenty of chances and I thought that despite costing us £20k loan fee per month and £8.5k wages he might be able to offer something and get us the goals we were so desperately in need of. How wrong I was! Played 2 games didn’t score a single goal and averaged 6.3 before getting injured for 2 months! So off he went back to his parent club. The less said about that the better.

View attachment 101668James Wilson is the man I am praying can score the goals that we need. I tried a few times during the window to sign him and it went from no interest in joining us to I’ll join but only for £30k per week to ok £10k per week on deadline day. Decent enough player with good technicals and ok physicals mentals could improve a bit but overall happy with the signing.

View attachment 101667Our final signing was right back Boniotti. This was a position we were weak in with Rutten not up to being any more than a back up really and the loanee Aaron Lewis from Swansea whilst he is improving again wasn’t really of the quality that I needed. Boniotti should settle in well as he is now the 3rd​ Brescia defender we have signed this season.
 
With our new additions on board we moved into February with new hope. 6 games with four against teams above us in the league including top of the table Sunderland and 3rd​ place Cardiff. Games with Birmingham and Rotherham who were both struggling gave us a chance to get a few points on the table.
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Only 1 defeat to run away leaders Sunderland with 2 wins and a couple of draws mean it was not the worse month on record, however the draws are beginning to cost us and we are slowly losing sight of the playoff spots, oh and we still can’t score goals. We did win Goal of the Month so maybe its quality rather than quantity.
So we slipped a couple of places to 13th​ and are now 7 points off the playoffs. I’ve kind of given up on them now and just want this season to be over. May use the remainder of the season to test new tactics and look to the summer where I feel a big shake up of personnel may be required to try and push us forward rather than just treading water, though that will very much depend on budgets etc.
March could prove to be another difficult month with games against teams sitting 2nd​, 3rd​ and 5th​ and with only 10 points separating us from the relegation places maybe we need to start looking down rather than up.
 
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