Lincoln City - Watch your back, the Imps are coming

[Davebarbaren]

Cheers! I just finished the playoff games, will update shortly! Thanks for reading.

 

[Davebarbaren]

May 2016

Playoffs

Playoff semifinal first leg

First game was away to Rotherham, a team that beat us twice this season. We played very well and had many chances in the first half but we waited until the last minute of extra time to break the deadlock. Heavily criticised winger Viljar Nordberg who has been good lately in Radeem Harris absence was put through on goal by Stefansson and made no mistake one on one with the keeper. The second half was short of chances and we were happy with a win more importantly an away goal.

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In the second leg we lined up with the same team and again we dominated the game but Karason who has been so good this season hit the woodwork three(!) times in the first half and it was still 0-0 at the interval. Then early in the second half came the heartbreak, Fialho cut down Tancovic inside the area and the referee pointed to the spot. Tancovic took care of the penatly himself and made no mistake, Rotherham was now level on aggregate. The goal gave energy to Rotherham and made us nervous and we started to lose control of the game. Fifteen minutes from full time Jayden Stockley hit the inside of the post and it felt like we were panicking, but in the 87'th minute came the goal that sent the whole stadium into rapture, Sean Newton who has been with us all the way from the Skrill Premier put in a cross from the left and on the back post shows who else but little Viljar Nordberg up and heads home from short range. The player who was referred to as one of the worst signings in Lincolns history sends us through to the playoff final where Brighton awaits us.

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The playoff final against Brighton could take us back to The Championship for the first time since 1961 and it was a nervous start from both teams as no one wanted to make a mistake. The first half flew past in no time and there were no chances for either team. The first chance in the game came early in the second half when Michael Kightly was put through on goal, but a fantastic save from Siegrist kept us on level terms. After that the game kept beeing a tight affair and no chances appeared. I decided to take off Stefansson who had a quiet game for once and bring on injury plagued Haris Vukcic. Vukcic had only been on the pitch for three minutes when he recieved a cross in the box and laid it off for Karason who just smashed it home and ran out to the fans in a wild celebration. We saw off the rest of the game and even had a few chances to extend our lead in stoppage time but Kuszczak made a a fine double save to deny Karason his brace. When the whistle sounded the joy knew no limits and the Lincoln fans stormed the grass of Wembley. After 55 years we are back in The Championship!

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[Davebarbaren]

Post season 2015/2016

Another fantastic season and we get promoted for the third time in three years. Karason carrying the team once again and was well deserved named as the League one player of the year.

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Two our players got in the team of the year, both of them Icelandic.

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I also got my first job interview offer, flattering but I will stay here until they drag me out of my office.

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Happy with a bigger budget, over a million transfer budget feels like an unlimited pot of gold. Now begins the heavy work to strenghten and prepare the squad for The Championship where the goal is to stay up. It's a much bigger difference between League one and The Championship than between League two and League one.

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[Davebarbaren]

Season 2016/2017

Vacation is over and now the hard work to stay up begins. The bookies tips us for relegation but I'm very happy with our new signings and think there's no way we're going down.

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Summer transfers

Now that I have more money to work with I'm switching my attention from Iceland to Norway for higher quality players but still at a rather low cost. The first thing I look after in new signings is workrate and speed which I think are the most important attributes for players in an underdog team like ourselves.

We stole three players from norweigian side Molde and the rest where either transferlisted or free. Old captain Casper Gronn and last season's playoff hero Viljar Nordberg both leaves the club since they where not needed/good offer. Backup keeper Gaetan Deneuve wanted to leave because he didn't get enough gametime, I highly doubt he will get that at Man City..money talks.

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First player in is Craig Bryson. His contract at Derby was running out so we got him for nothing. Bryson's got alot of experience and is a quality player that always wants to put in a good shift for the team.

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Next player in is Simon Church from relegated Charlton. Church is a player with great physique and attitude, sure he lacks a bit technically but as mentioned that's not as important. He will mainly be a backup to Karason but I think they will work very well toghether if I decide to go with two strikers.

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Coventry got relegated from League One so I managed to pick up Cyrus Christie for a reasonable cost. A good, well rounded fullback that still have some development in him.

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First norweigian signing was Fredrik Guldbrandsen who can play both as striker and on the right wing, which is where I will mainly play him. An extremly hard working player with good stamina that will run all day.

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The next guy in was a daylight robbery. Kristoffer Barmen just needs to work on his acceleration and a few of his mental stats and then he's ready for the Premier League. Fantasic well rounded player that can both create and destroy.

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Third norweigian signing was Jorgen "forever a talent" Skjelvik. If he can stay fit he will be a huge asset to our team and I will have to change my fullback(s) to a complete wing back because this guy is a total menace going forward. Skjelvik and Berndsen on our left will be a nighmare for Championship rightbacks.

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Last signing was a bit of a panick buy when Berndsen got injured and I realised we needed a backup left winger. Riyad Mahrez was transferlisted by Leicester so I got him got well under his value but he was not my first choice as I looked at other players but simply was out of cash. Though he's still a tricky player that will be useful to us.

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Preseason injuries

Berndsen misses the first few games and Skjelvik picked up an obligatory injury. I will probably have to bribe the opponents to be careful around him.

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[Davebarbaren]

August 2016

Fixtures

Frustrating month where we deserved atleast a draw at Leicester and where completely robbed by QPR and Bolton, in both draws the opponents scored from their one and only chance. Against Bolton from a penalty and QPR scored a fluke free kick from 60 yards. Atleast we ended the month on a high when we destroyed in form Tranmere away.

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Stefansson missed three games with injury this month. McGugan did well in his place though, especially against Bristol City in the Capital One Cup where he scored twice from the spot and assisted the other two goals.

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We did one more transfer on deadline day as Ludvig Baltesgard Rinde joins us from Norweigian giants Rosenborg for a 20k fee. He will be our backup CD although he's a natural left back his stats are much better suited as a CD.

Then I realised he has already played for two teams this season and ineligible for us. Well that's what happens when you make last minute deadline day transfers I guess..

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We got some good bids for a few of our players and I decided to sell both Vagi and McGugan. This is our transfer history after deadline day.

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League Table

A good start for a new team but I feel we should've got more points from these matches as we deserved it.

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[Davebarbaren]

September 2016

Fixtures

Month started with a very unfair loss to Watford where we just couldn't score. We were then lucky to draw against Villa but got destroyed at Carlilse where I played a lot of reserves and it really bit me in the **** as we were shocking. We managed to grind out three wins in the league this month though, which I'm very happy with.

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Berndsen sings new deal. Delighted as he is one of our best players. Siegrist is still crying about bigger clubs though and now he refuses to sign a new contract. He's got one year left on his current deal and I really want to keep hold of him as he's developed into quite a monster.

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League Table

We move up a few places and it's very tight in and around the playoff spots. Stefansson has been great this month and single handedly won us three points against Blackburn.

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[Davebarbaren]

October 2016

Fixtures

A good month for us inlcuding two thrashings and a last minute vitory over Brentford. We lost to top of the table Cardiff but it was a close game. Last game of the month we cruised towards another easy win but captain Corry got sent off early in the second half and it nearly cost us the win.

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In form Stefansson out for a month but Berndsen has come in and done very well as a playmaker in Stefansson's absence.

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League Table

A good month sees us climb up to second place and with a few home games coming up I've got great hope that we can stay here.

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[Davebarbaren]

November 2016

Fixures

A decent month for us, Middlesbrough are a strong side and they were simply better than us. 3-0 seems to be our favourite result right now and I certaintly don't mind as long we are the team scoing three. The draw against Burnley was disappointing as we were the better side.

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Two injuries, both to left backs left us with Newton as our only choice, but the former non-league man performed like a god. I almost benched Skjelvik but luckily I didn't as he scored the equaliser against Burnley with an absolute screamer.

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League Table

We're still second on goal difference and it feels like we've got some momentum now. I'm getting my hopes up that maybe promotion is on the cards once again!

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[Davebarbaren]

December 2016

Fixtures

An unbeaten month for us started with a heartbreaking draw against Peterborough where we thought Bryson had grabbed the winner with his late strike but Lee Tomlin equalised from a direct freekick in the 93'rd minute. Then we had a good away win against Ipswich followed by a disappointing performance at Bournemouth where man of the match hero Siegrist saved us a point. After that we completely thrashed top of the table Leicester after a fantastic first half display and then we turned 0-1 to 2-1 at Forest after a late winner from Gulbrandsen. Very happy with how we ended the month.

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After the Leicester game I asked for a new contract and the board just couldn't say no after that performance.

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Harris signs a new deal.

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James Tomkins joins us on a free transfer. He's come straight into the team and done well for us this month.

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League Table

We are in fantastic form at the moment and with over half the season gone we sit at the top of the table! Summer panick transfer Riyad Mahrez proving to be a huge asset to our team grabbing four goals and seven assists in 14 league starts this season.

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​

 

[Davebarbaren]

January 2017

Fixtures

A fantastic month for us with six wins in seven games. We knock out Manchester United in the FA Cup, it was a close game and I think we actually deserved the win. Karason had the game of his life scoring two fantastic goals and creating our third. Poor performance away to Villa but other than that we were great the entire month.

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We've had a few injuries during this month and got two more in the last game against Bolton. Christie got injured when we had a lot of games in a short time so Tomkins had to play right back, then of course he got injured in his first game at that position. Ludvig Baltesgard Rinde who now can play for us since the Norweigian season is over has come in as a CD and done very well.

Against Bolton Gulbrandsen had to come off early so Harris came on, scored two and assisted one then he got injured aswell and is now out for four weeks. Gulbrandsen is luckily only sidelined for six days with a bruised rib.

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Got my first manager of the month award this season.

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I've brought in two new players during the January transfer window. Rajiv van La Parra joins us on a free transfer and Manny Smith for a 160k fee from Notts County. Alan Fialho was sold to Brighton for a 215k fee with more cash to come in when they get promoted.

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League Table

Nine points clear of third placed Cardiff and we can almost smell that Premier League money now. Karason on fire this month with eight goals in seven games, four of them in our two FA Cup matches.

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[Davebarbaren]

February 2017

Fixtures

Another unbeaten month sees us through in the FA Cup and strenghtening our top position in the league. Karason and Riyad Mahrez proving to be a match made in heaven as they serve each other chances on a platter time after another. Van La Parra scored a brace on his debut which made me feel very good about myself.

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Alot of injuries this month, our defenders are just getting killed out there. The long term injury to Skjelvik was only of matter of time though and I knew that when I bought him, this game is actually realistic sometimes..

The injuries to Skjelvik, Tomkins, Blackett and Christie means we have 3/4 of our usual backline unavaivible for the FA Cup 6th round tie against Huddersfield and Manny Smith is cup tied which means we have no one who can play RB in the team right now. Huddersfield are a good Premier League side and we've been drawn as the away team so it will be tough to keep the cup dream alive.

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Benjamin Siegrist refused to sign a new deal with us and now he's signed for freaking St Gallen..We have a big chance of being a Premier League side next year and he signs for a Swiss team, this game is actually unrealistic sometimes..

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Karason gets the player of the month award, very well deserved he's in the form of his life right now.

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League Table

Eleven points clear from the chasing pack but they have one game in hand. Things are looking great for us!

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[Davebarbaren]

March 2017

Fixtures

Because of our long injury list I had to do a last minute loan for a right back and our team was quite decimated ahead of the FA Cup quarter final against Hudderfield. I feared the worst, but **** I was wrong. We completely destroyed the Premier League side and they only managed to get away two shots all game. We will face Arsenal at Wembley in the semi final. We played well in the league too and we only lost to Cardiff because we couldn't finish our chances.

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Huddersfield game

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This is the guy I brought in on loan, no world beater as you can see but he's done well for us.

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A few new injuries this month, Huddersfield looked to have more intention to hurt our players than to win the game.

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Youth intake was very poor once again.

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League Table

Twelve points clear with seven games left. Unless we break down completely we will play at the highest level for the first time in Lincoln's history next season.

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[Davebarbaren]

April 2017

Fixtures

A good month for us and we secure the promotion and the title with a few games to spare. In the FA Cup semi final we were 1-0 at half time, Cazorla equalised in the 78'th minute from a direct free kick and we held on despite being down to ten men after Christie got injured with no subs left. Then in the 121'st minute Siegrist did a shocking mistake where he just dropped the ball for Benteke to tap in when the game should've already been over..

It was a tough loss for us but we will get chances for revenge next season when we play Arsenal in the league!

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We went out with our heads held high, I'm delighted with our performance.

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Karason is the league top scorer for the third successive season

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Our new stadium will be called Lincoln Stadium and will be finished in time for the 2019/2020 season.

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Skjelvik tore up his old injury straight away. We will have to bring in a new LB during the summer.

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League Table

We dominated the league and scored 89 goals. I definitely didn't see that one coming but it feels **** good . Karason top scorer, Stefansson highest average rating and Mahrez with the most assists, our offesive players won us the league without a doubt.

It will be very interesting to see how Karason will fare in the Premier League. I will definitely give him a chance to prove himself at the highest level and he's been rewarded with a new four year contract.

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[Davebarbaren]

New Season! 2017/2018

Summer transfers

Ahead of our first ever season in the highest division I was handed a transfer budget of 14M and a wage budget of 220K. The wage budget is quite restrictive and the highest wage possible for a keyplayer is 16,250K per week.

We got rid of some players who have served the club well but are just not good enough for Premier League football. I needed to strenghen our defence, bring in a new forward and of course a new goalkeeer. Only transfer out was Simon Church who was only a backup last season and we made a good profit of this sale.

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My first goal was to find a new goalkeeper to replace Siegrist who refused to sign a new deal. I looked at some relegated clubs around europe for good, transferlisted players who I can get below their value. Montpellier was relegated from Ligue 1 and their goalkeeper Geoffrey Jourden was trasferlisted by request. The 31 year old has lots of experience and overall he's just as good as Siegrist. The big difference between them is that while Siegrist is much taller and better in the air, Jourden has better reflexes, is better on the ground and is alot quicker. We'll see how this works out as I like my defence to drop deep which usually benfits from a goalkeeper with good aerial ability.

Fee: 3.1M

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We needed a new CB and Stambouli was also transferlisted by request at Montpellier. Stambouli is very good with the ball and the only weekness is his aerial skills and as I said earlier we'll see if I have to change my tactics to push higher up and use a sweeper keeper because of our small defenders and goalkeeper.

Fee: 5.75M

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Next player in was a total bargain from Helsinki based HJK. Niklas Friberg has incredible physique and still a few years to develop. He can play all along the defence and will mainly be a backup this season.

Fee: 81K

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We needed a backup LB to injury prone Skjelvik and Pasqualini will to only fill the backup role but also give Skjelvik a hard fight for the startin spot. Overall a very good player, lacks just a little bit of pace but solid defensive and very good mental stats.

Fee: 1.1M

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Another bargain here as Leicester took a shocking decision to sell Anthony Knockeart for coffee money. He's played one season in the Premier League earlier and has done very well for Leicester every season so far. Very good technically and can play on many positions. Of course I will mainy use him as my AMC playmaker but I think he can do well as a false nine aswell.

Fee: 2M

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Last transfer in was big danish striker Kenneth Zohore who was co-owned but Chievo and Sampdoria. If Karason doesn't perform I'll put my hope to Zohore who can fill that target man role and also be a threat moving into channels.

Fee: 2.25M

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I'm very happy with our transfers and raring to start the season. Let's do this!

​

 

[Davebarbaren]

August 2017

Fixtures

What a fantastic start! Loic Remy scored just before the break for Newcastle but we fight back and van La Parra who joined us on a free transfer at the end of last season turned the game around with two fantastic goals. Next game against Hull it was the van La Parra show once again, first he hit the corner that Kalas turned into his own net and then he secured us the three points with another classy finish. Against Rochdale we trailed early on and just attacked and attacked but couldn't score. We had three goals disallowed for offside and we hit the woodwork four times, it seemed like it was impossible to get the ball into the net, according to the rules atleast. But in the 92'd minute van La Parra who had come of the bench scored the well deserved equaliser after a mistake by a Rochdale defender. The game went to extra time and again it was van La Parra who came up big for his team, with a fantastic solo effort he made sure we didn't have to go home embarrased.

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League Table

Great start and van La Parra playing out of his skin with five goals and one assist in three games.

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[Davebarbaren]

September 2017

Fixtures

Frustrating month where we concede from every freaking corner our opponents gets, my short-grown defence seems to be unable to defend set pieces.

Against Birmingham they went 2-0 up after two corners, one own goal by Bryson and a goal from Packwood. We hit one back from the spot but it wasn't enough. Against West Brom again an own goal from a corner, this time from Karason. Knockaert equalised short after but they reclaimed the lead from another corner, turned in by Gouffran. Karason took revenge on himself and grabbed his first goal of the season to set us level and late on ge won us another penalty which captain Corry slotted home for three points.

Against Huddersfield it was the goalkeeper show where both keepers made some stunning saves to keep the game goalless. After all my whining about corners the gods heeded my call against Norwich and Tomkins scored the extra time winner from Knockaerts set piece. The last game of the month was disappointing as we where 1-0 up until very late where Corry made a shocking error and Vydra pounced to grab Swansea a point.

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Zohore missed three games this month through injury.

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League Table

I feel we should've more points from the games we've played and it might cost us. Even though we have started very well it must be said that we haven't played any of the big teams yet so things will get tougher and we might drop hard and fast. Karason got his first two goals this month including a wonder goal against Swansea, maybe he can keep carry the team like he's done for the past three seasons!

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[Davebarbaren]

October 2017

Fixtures

Everton outplayed us and deserved the win. We outplayed Fulham but defensive errors cost us the win, we had 15 shots on target to their one but they still managed to score twice. Against Man U our defence was world class all of a sudden, it was a game with very few chances and it wasn't unfair at all that we went home with three points. Knockaert grabbed his first competitive goal for us when he headed(!) home the winner against Villa to see us through in the Capital One Cup.

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Manny Smith out for six weeks, he's only a backup but we'll have to pray that injury prone James Tomkins stays fit.

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League Table

As you can see United are doing very poorly so our win against them may not say that much about our quality. However fifth in the table after nine games is great, if we just can start to hold onto our leads and stop drawing at home we should be nowhere near the relegation zone when the season ends. Rajiv van La Parra is playing like a god and have taken Premier League by storm.

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[Davebarbaren]

November 2017

Fixtures

A great month for us where Berntsen once again grabbed a last minute winner, this time against Tottenham. We were down to ten men because of an injury to Zohore with no subs left but we still managed a hard fought win. Knockaert won the Reading game all by himself in the first half with a stunning hattrick including a perfect 30 yard free kick. We dominated Crystal Palace but Adam Johnson cancelled out Corry's first half penalty with a fluke 60 yard free kick where our keeper was clearly fouled but the ref said no.

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In form Knockaert missed the Palace game.

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League Table

We're doing great and just have to keep going. Our stikers are finding it hard to find the net at the moment which is a bit worrying.

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[Davebarbaren]

December 2017

Fixtures

A ton of games this month and what a month it was. We started the month by completely thrashing Wigan, Cardiff and a strong Southampton side. We simply dominated and with that confidence we went to Anfield and stole the three points with a patented late winner from Berndsen, even though this one was early with his standards. We are also through to the semi final of the Capital One Cup where we will face Newcastle. Our only poor performance this month was the Chelsea game where Pasqualini had an absolute stinker (4.30 rating) and Willian toyed with him down the right wing. However we managed to rally and outplayed City at Etidhad but we missed a ton of chances so we had to go home with just the one point. Against Arsenal we were 0-1 down at the break after a James Rodriguez penalty. In the second half the beast awakened. Karason turned the game around with two fantastic strikes both ending up in the top left corner out of reach for Szczesny.

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Jorgen Skjelvik is so mournfully injury prone and it hurts us as we've had a very tough schedule and poor Pasqualini in starting to get very tired which shows in his performances. It worked so well when I could rotate them every game keeping them fit and fighting for their spot.

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I get my first Premier League manager of the month award, hopefully it's not my last!

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Knockaert had a rough start during his first few games at the club but my god has found his form, scoring and assisting for fun and the Motm awards are piling up. Well deserved.

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League Table

This save is just unreal so far! I certainly didn't think we would do this good our first season. Chelsea and Mourinho seems to be running away with the title already as they are three points clear with three games in hand.

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[Davebarbaren]

January 2018

Fixtures

A good month where I decided to rest some players in our first game against Hull but after a poor first half I threw Knockaert into the action and he changed the game with his two assists then sadly he got carried off on a stretcher late on which was worrying. We went on and demolished non league side Hereford 6-0, we got three penalties this game which is a new record for me.

We faced Newcastle three times this month and won the two most important games against them. In the loss against Newcastle we were cruising 1-0 up and they were down to ten men, then in the last ten minutes we just shut down and they bombarded our goal. I think they had five CCC's in the last ten minutes and scored twice, Jourdren pulled off some fantastic saves to see us through to the final where we will face Chelsea. The last game of the month was very disappointing as our defence was very poor once again.

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Knockaert's injury against Hull proved to be a serious one. It's a big blow for us but luckily Berndsen has stepped up and done really well as our AMC in Knockaert's absence.

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Even though we lost against Swansea I claimed my second manager of the month award this season.

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League Table

So we're still second and the Champions League dream is very much alive. Toughest possible opposition for us in the Capital One Cup final as we face league dominants Chelsea. I looked for players to strenghten our defence this transfer window but simply couldn't find anyone that was good enough and wanted to join our club. There were no transfers out either.

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