Good to see you're still smashing through this one, and congrats on the England job!
Do you have a certain timescale on your objectives such as winning the league in the next 3 years?
Also, has there been any interesting management changes in the league?
Seems like 2023/24 was a tough year for football with Messi, Ronaldo, Bale and Aguero all retiring. Happy days you stayed up but time to spend all of your money available and try and push top 10/Europe.
Thanks TheWanderer now we're spending more on wages each season the tv money doesn't have the effect it did first season, however its keeping us in the black for a few years running now so big steps forward there.
Can't give it up yet Tom26 even being back at work I want to win the Premier League and Champions League with this London City club, I'll keep going for a while yet! As for targetting the league title I've not thought about it, we're so low reputation in comparison to the other prem sides I think we could yet be 5-10 seasons off being real competitive, but I'm not sure, we may make a sudden rise. I'm afraid I've not really checked manager movement!
I know TheBattman, one day!
Yeah indeed it was jonnylaverty we will continue to spend but do it wisely and hope for a top ten finish over the next couple seasons.
[FONT="]____________________________________________________________________ London City FC - Pre Season Round Up 2033[/FONT]
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[FONT="]I've not changed the kits up this season, simply because I'm trying to get this update out before I go to sleep and have work early tomorrow morning, there is no club news this summer, simply because the 'big news' came at the end of the last season post with more upgrades happening. We've got a second feeder club in Shamrock Rovers, all the clubs transfer dealings this summer below, along with our usual squad report and the summer action on the pitch.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]I think this is the most we've ever spent on a single transfer window now, thirty six million has set the club record whilst Eight million pound man Mojovic becomes our dearest player to date of purchases. We ended up bringing in six new players including two from Schalke, one from Dortmund and Wolfsburg each, whilst the other two come from PSG and Southampton. On the other side of the door we saw thirteen players depart, most on free transfers whilst six have gone out on loan deals including Fuba again who we failed to get a transfer bid for and can't get a work permit still, Khumalo goes to Hull[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Our six, fresh new faces to London City FC and I'm excited to announce I feel they're all a step up in class once again. Four new defenders come in to hopefully strengthen our back line more this season. Two centre backs and a right and left back. All of our signings this year and young for footballers, bar perhaps Natterman, so I'm hoping we can get a few good years out of these players and they'll be key to the future. Very excited about Arregui.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Here is our biggish squad for the season ahead and once again as I said, I think we've taken a step forward in quality. The quality I thought we could of got out of Bishop in goal has faded and he'll probably go this season whilst we search for a replacement and Fuba will leave when his contract expires if we can't sale him. The new additions in defence I'm hoping have secured that up and up top I want a performance from Arregui.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]A successful enough summer with good wins over Leverkusen and OGC Nice whilst narrowly losing out to OM. Hopefully this will be the season we're beating the likes of Middlesbrough, Leicester and West Ham sort of teams as well as maximising our points against the bottom end teams. Time will tell, but I'm hoping for a top twelve finish this year around.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Next Update: London City FC - August 2033[/FONT]
Thanks banger93 I definitely think those signings are a stronger batch than last year, defence was a key part to strengthen this summer.
[FONT="]____________________________________________________________________ London City FC - August 2033[/FONT]
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[FONT="]So following on from a busy summer I had set our target at a twelfth place or higher finish, setting the bar high thats for sure. In our two seasons in the Premier League to date we've finished in sixteenth on thirty eight points and fourteenth on forty one points, this year I'm aiming for twelfth place and hopefully forty five points plus. I had also come out and said this was the strongest squad I feel I've had here so it'd look bad if we go backwards this year, all the opening month round up below.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]A superb start to season three in the Barclays Premier League sees us pick up three wins and one defeat, whilst also opening up the EFL Cup with a win as well. We got one over on Middlesbrough to start the season strongly, Webb netting after six minutes, Johnston doubling our lead a minute into the second half before the host pulled a consolation back. We returned home to beat Leicester one nil, Bertolotti netting in the final minute against the ten men before Southampton beat us two one at the St Marys Stadium. We welcomed Championship side Walsall in the EFL Cup Second Round, narrowly beating them one nil through Robin before ending the opening month with a late two nil win over Watford as Nowocien and Arregui both netted their first goals of the season, the latter in the final minute as it was his first goal for the club too.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Admittedly the table means next to nothing at this stage of the season, only four games played but we are up in fifth place early days. Both Arsenal and Man City win four out of four so far whilst Man United and Chelsea are the other two teams above us after four matches having drawn one and won their remaining three matches. But when you consider we're on nine points after four games, we only need another thirty three points from thirty four games this season and we'll beat last seasons tally.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Next Update: London City FC - September 2033[/FONT]
[FONT="]____________________________________________________________________ London City FC - September 2033[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Following a strong start to the season with three wins from our opening four league matches we were living up to my word when i said it was the strongest squad I felt I've had. Now we head into September with just three more league games along with the next round of the EFL Cup which drew us against Newcastle, a side I hoped we would begin to beat over the seasons now having built strongly.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Well all in all another strong showing from us with three wins from four, two from three in the league and I think the defeat against Chelsea shows how far we're still off the top sides. A trip to Everton saw us win two one as Webb netted a brace. A narrow one nil win at home against newly promoted Sheffield Wednesday followed as Dlamini netted for us. We left it late to beat Newcastle in the EFL Cup Third Round as Burkhard and Dlamini netted in the final three minutes. We'll face Man United in the Fourth Round. Finally we ended September with a heavy five two defeat against Chelsea, Schepens and Arregui with our goals, a small step back.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Despite the heavy defeat to Chelsea to end the month, we've still moved up the table as we now sit fourth after seven league games on fifteen points. Both Man United and Chelsea are unbeaten and the only two sides that are, as they sit top two both on twenty points separated by one goal. Arsenal are then three points ahead of us, we all have a game in hand on the top two as well so could close the gap yet. Every team in the league has currently got at least one win on the board this season.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Next Update: London City FC - October 2033[/FONT]
[FONT="]____________________________________________________________________ London City FC - October 2033[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Seven games into the league season and we're flying much higher than expectations however things could be about to make a big twist and turn around. With us still in the EFL Cup we faced a tricky tie against Man United whilst also facing four more league games. Could we continue our great run of form and high league position as of late.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]As I said, things were going to take a drastic turn as things went down hill throughout October but it was a tough month facing Arsenal and West Ham along with City and United. It started with us welcoming Arsenal and drawing one a piece, a good point for us as Oliveira netted. Another London derby saw us welcome West Ham and blow an early lead, Dlamini gave us the lead after five minutes before we filtered away and lost two one. Our first away game of October saw us go to Manchester City and lose two nil whilst welcoming Man United in the EFL Cup Fourth round and losing four two Arregui netted both our goals but it shows the big difference in class. We ended the month with a much needed win away at Wolves, Webb and Arregui bringing us back from one down to take all three points in the final twenty minutes.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Now moved to eleven league games played and still up in fifth place as we're really motoring towards a good season outcome. Arsenal are now the league leaders and sitting a point clear of Chelsea in second place. Three points further a drift sees Man United whilst in fourth place West Ham are level on points with us in fifth before we have a two point gap over City and Liverpool. A close league table at this stage. But now two solid months of only league football to focus on.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Next Update: London City FC - November 2033[/FONT]
[FONT="]____________________________________________________________________ London City FC - November 2033[/FONT]
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[FONT="]The calendar year is almost upon us again as we enter the penultimate month of the year in November but there is no let off just yet. The month for me started with a couple more England matches, only one more update after this one with London City before you see how my first full calendar year has gone in charge of the national side. That left just three matches for us in the league for the month.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Three matches in November, three wins as we pick up a good bit of form to go four wins in a row following the victory at Wolves to close out October. We traveled to Stoke to kickstart November and picked up all three points whilst keeping a clean sheet as Robin and Natterman scored in the two nil victory. Welcoming Reading we picked up our biggest win for some time, a four one victory as Barros scored two own goals for Reading and McGregor and Webb on target for us. Finally ending the month by welcoming Swansea and keeping another clean sheet with a two nil win. Both goals coming in the first half as Dlamini and Arregui netted.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]And so come the end of November we're now sat up in fourth and without getting too carried away, we're knocking on the door for some form of European football next season. However we still have plenty of football to play in the league this season, in fact twenty four matches and we've stumbled in the final two months of both seasons lately. Maybe we can get across the line this year around and secure some European football next season.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Next Update: London City FC - December 2033[/FONT]
Thanks naterr I'm hoping we can finish top half but now targeting a European spot with how well we've coped this year. We're constantly being priced at 1000-1 to win the league so the boards expectations of fight against relegation are in line with the media odds.
[FONT="]____________________________________________________________________ London City FC - December 2033[/FONT]
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[FONT="]And so the calendar year has come to an end with us finishing December. In November we picked up three wins from three matches and were on a four game winning run as we look to continue our hunt for European football next season, well above expectations so far. A busy December compared to last month saw us play six league games in comparison to the three matches of November, how would we end the year...[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Not too bad form indeed throughout December with three wins, one draw and just two defeats against the expected two in the fixture list thats for sure. A trip to Anfield saw us lose out one nil. Back to back home games followed with us beating Barnsley three nil, Webb netting twice and Nattermann all on target inside the opening twenty minutes before we drew one a piece against Tottenham with Bertolotti netting our goal. A trip to Old Trafford saw us lose to Man united two one, Webb again with our goal. We ended the month and year with two home games and two one nil wins against Newcastle and Middlesbrough with Nowocien and Arsenio netting.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]So we end the calendar year and head into 2034 and the second half of the season currently sat up in fifth place and still knocking on that door for European football net season with eighteen league games remaining. We're only eight points off the top remarkably as Arsenal lead the way with Chelsea second, four points behind. West Ham are the surprise package in third so far two points ahead of us whilst United occupy fourth, a single point infront of us. We have a seven point gap over Reading in eighth so could realistically begin to look at a top seven finish this season. Two seasons ago we finished on thirty eight points and last season forty one points, we're already on thirty eight points this season![/FONT]
[FONT="]Next Update: England - 2033 Round Up[/FONT]
[FONT="]____________________________________________________________________ England - 2033 Round Up[/FONT]
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[FONT="]And so time for my second ever England national team update as I've played through my first whole calendar year here at England. It wasn't a busy year nor a 'big competition' year however we did have World Cup qualifiers to play this year around as we aimed to reach the 2034 World Cup next summer. We also had the European International League Semi Final to play against Holland.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Well, looking back on things I said it wasn't busy, we still played a large handful of matches, in fact nine games over the calendar year, the majority coming in the World Cup qualifiers which got off to a great start with wins over Albania and Bulgaria winning five nil and three nil, great to see us keep two clean sheets to start the qualifiers. Unfortunately we lost to Holland in the European International League Semi Final clash one nil. Back to qualifying action we beat Faroe Islands seven nil, Rigby and Guest netting hatrick before France beat us one nil. Three more wins followed, three nil against Albania, one nil against Bulgaria and four nil against Faroe Islands before ending our qualifying campaign against France with a nil nil draw.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]We done enough to steal the top spot and automatically qualified now for the 2034 World Cup. I'm looking forward to our first major competition as manager. Bulgaria took second on sixteen points, ahead of France in third. Faroe Islands finished bottom of the group with eight defeats from eight games and a minus thirty seven goal difference, tough competition for them.[/FONT]
[FONT="]With the 2034 World Cup coming up this calendar year, I'll play through our 'warm up friendlies' and then update at the end of the season before updating the World Cup as we play through it.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Next Update: London City FC - January 2034[/FONT]
Another amazing year comes to an end and the story keeps getting better. European football next season would be a great achievement, think it's time I head to the bookies again to bet on you winning the EPL in the next couple of seasons.
Just wondered if there would be any stage or set of circumstances that would mean you would leave London City?
Its a successful season to date neavie pops23 and we're definitely moving forward thats for sure. Still think we're a few seasons away from mounting a serious title challenge but if we can get European football it can only help surely. Only if I was sacked etc I imagine!
[FONT="]____________________________________________________________________ London City FC - January 2034[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Following the end of calendar year England round up its time to return to club football as we head into the New Year with London City FC. January is always a busy month as we head into the month containing FA Cup action as well as plenty of league football. In fact we'd end up playing eight matches in total. I also had some transfer news which is rare for January.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]A few more players left in January, becoming unhappy with lack of playing time and simply not good enough for the squad anymore, I didn't make a loss on the transfers from when they joined on a free most of them a couple seasons ago. Schepens has gone out on loan to Mansfield whilst Vranic joins Hull for two hundred and seventy five pounds originally. Felix heads to Chesterfield originally for three hundred thousand pounds whilst Dijkhuizen joins Norwich for five hundred and fifty thousand pounds. All three of those deals could rise in value yet. Finally young Andy Fox has been moved to our feeder club Stevenage on loan.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]And I even made a January signing![/FONT][FONT="] Centre midfielder Damian Mazurek joined us from Leicester for eight million pounds and will definitely add to our strong midfield area. He possess all the right qualities for a roaming playmaker or even an advanced playmaker and we'll make the most of that this season. Hes only twenty three so has a long future ahead of him still.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Anyway, finally moving into Januarys football and it was a slow start for sure, however we eventually got ourselves sorted and picked up the points nearer the end of the month. Unfortunately the New Year got off to a poor start as we lost two one at home against Southampton. We then drew three games in a row, firstly against Championship side QPR in the FA Cup Third Round, Nowocien netted twice to put us ahead twice but QPR pegged us back to earn a replay. We then drew two a piece against struggling Leicester as Arregui struck twice for us which saw us two one up. It took Extra Time but we eventually got past Championship side QPR in the FA Cup Third Round replay, Nattermann put us ahead, we then conceded late on, however an own goal in the final minute of Extra Time saw us through. We were shocked by a brilliant Everton side who beat us three nil in the league before we beat Sheffield Wednesday two nil another two for Nowocien. The month ended with a two nil win over Leicester in our second head to head this month. Acuna and Nowocien securing our spot in the FA Cup Fifth Round where we'll face Championship side West Brom.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Seventh in the league, a slight step back but with our form stuttering a little bit, but I expected that with the start of the FA Cup as well making our fixture list a lot more congested lately. We have a game in hand over sixth place Liverpool where a win can see us go above them. We're still aiming to end the season with European football come the end but it will be a struggle.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Next Update: London City FC - February 2034[/FONT]
____________________________________________________________________ London City FC - February 2034
Our form was a bit up and down in January but I was expecting that with the congested fixture list we had. And its not going to ease up anytime soon as we continue to push for for European football next season but also extend our run in the FA Cup. February wasn't too bad however with just our matches for us over the two competitions, it'd just be a case of if we could hold our nerve.
Plenty of goals over the four games, in fact we saw twenty one goals in four matches including three three two results and a four two. It was a narrow defeat against both Chelsea and Arsenal, the first at home and second away as we lost three two in both matches. Arregui and Nattermann with late goals against the blue side of London whilst McGregor and Webb netting against the red side. We traveled to West Brom in the FA Cup Fifth Round and beat them three two, two own goals in the first half guided us to victory with McGregor also on target. Finally we ended the month against Man City and shocked them with a four two win. Webb struck his twelfth and thirteenth goals of the season whilst Arregui and an own goal helped us across the line.
Tables still tight as we now have just ten league games remaining this season and we're still flying high above expectations in seventh place and currently on for European football next season. But we've seen the past two seasons, a lot can change over the last couple of months of the Premier League. Ten points outside the Champions League spots but I don't have aims for them. Fifth and sixth automatically qualify for Europa League group stage whilst seventh go into the Third Qualifying Round depending on the EFL and FA Cup winners.
[FONT="]____________________________________________________________________ London City FC - March 2034[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Three months of competitive football to go this season and we were due another short, quiet month as we had another international warm up game before the World Cup. Four games awaited us as we faced three more Premier League games on our hunt for European football along with an FA Cup Sixth Round tie against Chelsea. Oh we also had the youth intake, maybe, just maybe this was our year...[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Nope! Same old rubbish, we'll keep upgrading our facilities, one day, just one day, we'll get one decent player come through our youth facilities. But not today.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Yes! Another soid month for us, just the one league defeat and we've got FA Cup progression! We welcomed Wolves to start March and that saw a Cliff Webb brace which helped take all three points. A trip to West Ham saw us lose one nil to a London rival as they continue their hunt for Champions League football next season. We welcomed Chelsea in the FA Cup Sixth Round and made the Semi Finals for the first time ever as we beat them three one. A superb result which saw Arregui strke and Nowocien net twice. We'll face Championship side Derby County in the Semi Final. Finally ending March with a four two victory over Reading away from home. Webb netted our first whilst Dlamini netted a superb first half hatrick.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Still seventh and now two months remaining of league football with us facing seven more league games this season. Arsenal are top seven points clear of second place Chelsea as it looks like it'll be their season for success. West Ham in third are looking good for Champions League football with Man United in fourth. Man City look set for Europa League football as do Liverpool, we're hoping that seventh will be enough this year.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Next Update: London City FC - April 2034[/FONT]
[FONT="]____________________________________________________________________ London City FC - April 2034[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Down to two months and boy am I getting excited, excited at a new, personal best record for London City FC but the thought of European football potentially gracing our new capacity stadium next season. However we got time to finish the season yet or even blow it. Going into the month I had seven league games remaining and we'd face four of those this month along with the FA Cup Semi Final at Wembley against Chelsea.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Not the prettiest of months, not the run of green dots we wanted, but a couple of big wins and progression to the FA Cup Final! We traveled to Swansea to start the month and took all three points back from Wales as Webb and Dlamini netted in a two nil win. A home game against Stoke saw us draw one all after Arregui put us ahead. Liverpool beat us three one at home, Arregui netted our late goal only a consolation. A trip to Wembley, our first for years saw us face Championship side Derby and win three two, a narrow game which saw Arregui net another two and Acuna strike in the second half to set us up into the Final! We ended April with a narrow one nil defeat against Man United.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Seventh still, its a running trend now it seems, we've occupied seventh on a regular basis this season and are just three games away from Europa League football next season, or even one as we face the FA Cup Final in May as well as our last three league games. Arsenal are Premier League Champions whilst Chelsea finish second thats already been confirmed Man United, West Ham and Man City are in the hunt for the last two Champions League spots. Everton are only a point behind us, we have a game in hand though.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Here is our end of season run in, our final month of competitive football and it shouldn't be too bad in the league. A trip to Barnsley, who need to win all their games by quite a margin to stay up. We'll then go to mid table Tottenham before ending the league season with a trip to another side who are struggling, Newcastle, who could be relegated by then. And we'll end the season with a chance of some silverware which we haven't had for some years, the FA Cup final against Arsenal at Wembley.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Next Update: London City FC - May 2034[/FONT]
