Manchester Disaster

[misterioBean]

30th July 2026
Preseason

This season we were able to have a proper preseason.
It went very well overall but we didn't face any teams I would expect us to have trouble going against.

Transfers Out

A lot of moves away from the club but only 3 players leaving on a transfer fee.
Harwood-Bellis was running out of contract next season and didnt' want to sign a new deal so we sold him or 10M. Unfortunately wasn't able to put the 50% future fee clause on the deal but we got a fee over his value so I can't complain.

Zack Steffen has been showing interest in leaving the club for 2 seasons already so when he came to me saying he wanted to join a stronger side I decided it was time to move on. Another player in which we didn't get a future fee clause on the deal.

Brits looks ready to pick up the challenge of replacing Steffen though and he can still improve a lot since he is only 19 years old.

Harrison Parker will have a bigger challenge replacing Taylor though and will need to improve a little more but he will have plenty of time this season since he is now our 2nd best CD only behind Doyle.

3 other players got released including Sarmiento who couldn't get a work permit and didn't have any interest shown in him last season.

Reinforcements

With Steffen leaving and Brits becoming our main GK I had to call Iwan Johnson from our U21's team. However, I set him to play for them so he can improve more as he doesnt' seem quite ready to jump in yet, but he looks promising.

I brought in more players but ended up loaning them all out for the season.

Squad depth seems nice and we still have some players in the U21 we can bring in if needed.
Glad to be able to keep our midfield in the team as well as our wingers.

Kaiky's work permit expired but he will get English nationality in less than a month so we kept him on our team.

Finances

Finances look alright and this is the last season of the embargo being active so starting next season we will finally be able to spend the money.

Also is worth noting we have a huge expenditure because for some reason this database didn't remove the installments of players bought before they left the team. We are still paying for Akanji, Aké, Julián Alvarez, Rúben Dias, Doku, Edozie, Sergio Gómez, Grealish, Gvardiol, Haaland, Matheus Nunes and Kalvin Phillips, who haven't been in the club since 2023 but we are still playing for their transfer fees.

This hurts our finances a bit but we can't say we don't have any money.

Where are the former Man City players?

I thought this was a nice thing to take a look at and I probably should have done it sooner but I kept forgetting so I'll leave it here.
​

Goalkeepers:

Ederson - PSG
Scott Carson - Retired in 2024 after staying with the club
Stefan Ortega - Retired (not sure when since he doesn't have a profile anymore)

Central Defenders:

Ruben Dias - Real Madrid
Josko Gvardiol - Tottenham
Manuel Akanji - Newcastle
Nathan Aké - PSG
John Stones - Al-Hilal

Wing-Backs:

Kyle Walker - Recently retired, joined PSG when he left the club
Sergio Gómez - Crystal Palace
João Cancelo - Liverpool

Midfielders:

Rodri - PSG
Matheus Nunes - Juventus
Mateo Kovacic - Went back to Chelsea, was loaned out to Porto who then bought him for 62M€
Bernardo Silva - Brighton
Kevin De Bruyne - Recently retired, joined Al-Ittihad after leaving the club and then joined Al-Nassr in 2025
Kalvin Phillips - Newcastle

Wingers:

Jack Grealish - Tottenham
Jeremy Doku - Manchester United
Phil Foden - Real Madrid

Strikers:

Julián Álvarez - Bayern Munich
Erling Haaland - Real Madrid

I would assume PSG and Real Madrid would pick up the best players but there are some interesting moves around here.
The main one that immediately strikes for me is Bernardo Silva joining Brighton but even more impressive than joining Brighton is staying there after 4 seasons. I would expect him to at least get a transfer to a bigger club but it never happened.

Final Thoughts

A bit of a bigger update here but I wanted to do something different and I think it's interesting to show you where the players ended up.
Not sure if I forgot anyone though.
Also I must say that our youth intakes were not that bad after all. I mean we have James Hemming in our 1st team who scored 30 goals for us last season and now we brough in Iwan Johnson who looks very promising as well.

In our U21's we still have good looking players around including 3 players from our youth intakes: Paul Hartley, Jorge Everall and Liam Cruse.

U18's also have some good looking players but I have to say Luke Williams looks the most promising and he may end up joining our 1st team sooner rather then later.​

 

[misterioBean]

3rd September 2026
Ups and Downs

There were no more players leaving the club in the month of August so let's get straight into the schedule.

Sky Bet League One

Bad start against Barnsley in the league only coming out of it with a 3-3 draw but since then we have won every game we played in the league. Very good to see!

We are 1st in league table right now but there's still a long way to go.

EFL Cup
First Round

Good win in our first cup match of the season. Yes it was a fairly easy game to win but a win is a win.

Next game: Leicester

EFL Cup
Second Round

Very good second game playing in the King Power Stadium and leaving with a 3-0 win.

Next game: Manchester United

EFL Cup
Third Round

Very sad to lose the Manchester Derby even when we gave them a very good challenge for their money but in the end we couldn't really get any shots on target besides one. I mean they also only shot once on target but they scored and we didn't.

We are eliminated from the EFL Cup right from the start...

Next Fixtures

Interesting couple of months ahead of us but I don't think any of the teams we'll be going up against will give us a hard time. Maybe Cardiff will give us a run for the money but everything else should be winnable (hopefully).

We will also be playing the First Round of the FA Cup at the end of October but we don't know who we are going up against yet.

Random Stuff

Kaiky decided not to get English nationality because "he sees no bennefit in doing so".
So we have applied for a work permit which I'm not sure if will be given or not. If it's not it won't be good because I don't have any winger ready to come to the 1st team on our youth teams. Henderson-Hall is more than capable of being our main man on the RW but who's going to be his backup? Let's hope Kaiky gets the work permit...​

 

[misterioBean]

4th November 2026
Some bumps Along the Way

I'll start by showing this first bcause Kaiky's work permit got accepted literally 2 days after I posted the last update.
Great stuff to start with.

EFL League One

In my last post I said we could have a hard time against Cardiff and they were able to beat us and deliver our first loss in the league.
Other than that we also drew against Peterborough but won every other game we played.

One thing I have to say is we got a really hard time for about 2 weeks because of international games.
As you can see all of our GK's, including the youth players, were out on international duty as were some other players as well.

That added to the injuries we suffered in the last 2 months was not a very enjoyable time to manage.

It wasn't enough to put us out of the 1st place on the league table and we are now 8 points clear of Cardiff.

EFL Trophy
Northern Section Group C

Gameday 1

Well that didn't go very well. Honestly, we didn't desearve to win the game, only got 3 shots on target against their 2 and once again we failed to score a goal.

Bad start to our goal of retaining this competition.

EFL Trophy
Northern Section Group C

Gameday 2

Better performance and result on the second game of the group against Crewe.
The only game left on the group stage will be against Everton U21's in November.

The table sees us in 3rd behind both York City and Crewe, which means we have to beat Everton U21's and hope York City beats Crewe or at least get a draw.

FA Cup
First Round

We drew a team playing in the Vanarama and completely dominated the game.
We got lucky again and in the Second Round of the FA Cup we will befacing Morecambe, another team playing in the Vanarama.

Next Fixtures

Tough couple of months ahead of us. We'll be facing some stroing sides in the league and will have to win both our cup games in order to stay in the competitions.

I'll be back in January.​

 

[misterioBean]

1st January 2027
The Turning Year

This is the start to the most expected year of our managerial career in Manchester.
In 7 months from now the 4 year transfer embargo applied to Manchester City will be over and we will finally be able to spend our money.
Yes, we won't be playing in the Premier League yet so that may influence the players we are able to bring in, but it's still better than relying on our youth intakes, which as you know have not been great.

Sky Bet League One

We can say we had a successful end of the year with only one loss in the last 2 months but it was not a match we should have lost at all. This season we have had some not so good performances and that one was one of them.

We played well on the majority of the other games, maybe not so much on the 1-0 win against Colchester but a win is still a win and we can't be too mad about winning.

We keep our 1st place and are now 20 points clear at the top of the table. Some teams behind us still have one game to play but even if they win we have a pretty big lead already with 20 games to be played in the season.

EFL Trophy
Northern Section Group C

Gameday 3

It was crucial for us to win this game if we wanted to go through to the next phase and hope to retain this title, so we went to the game with that in mind.

We ended up scoring two goals in the 1st half and take the win against Everton U21's and with that we secured a 2nd place in the group behind York City, who despite losing to Crewe in the last match were able to beat us way back on the first game of the competition so they won the group.

Next match: Bradford City

FA Cup
Second Round

Morecambe were able to hold us off their goal and got a draw in a game our GK only saw the oppsite side shoot once on target but wasn't able to save it.

EFL Trophy
Northern Section Second Round

We were able to beat Bradford despite missing a penalty in the end of the 1st half.

Next match: Stoke City

FA Cup
Second Round Replay

This time Morecambe weren't able to hold us and we beat them 2-0 playing at their stadium.

Next match: Doncaster

Next Fixtures

We have a packed month of January with 9 games to be played in 30 days.
Let's just hope our players don't collapse this month as we can very easily lose the lead we worked so hard to get.

Youth Intake Preview

Doesn't seem that good once again even though our staff considers it to be an excellent intake of players. Guess we'll wait and see.

Random Stuff

As we get closer and closer to the transfer embargo lifting day I feel like it's time to make some preparations.

We already filled our recruitment team slots with good scouts and sent them out to bring in some 1st team players and some young players with good potential as well.

As soon as the embargo is lifted, we will be trying to bring in some players to our squad, focusing on 1st team players first and then moving on to young players to fill our youth teams which are not very packed with young talents.

I'll be back after we get our youth intake since there won't be any players coming in January and I don't intent to sell anyone important unless is for good money.

That was not entirely true. Michael Okeke's loan move ended and he returned to the club and I brought him to the 1st team to help us out during this month of January. With that many games to be played any help is appreciated.​

 

[leckuno]

Going to be really interesting to see the level of players you'll be able to bring in over the summer

 

[misterioBean]

Going to be really interesting to see the level of players you'll be able to bring in over the summer

Since our reputation is still severely damaged by the events that happened in the club I'm not expecting to be bringing world class players but I don't really want to do that either just to keep this save somewhat realistic even though it's full premiss is fictional

 

[Nightman]

Can you show the league champions in Premier League so far?

 

[misterioBean]

Can you show the league champions in Premier League so far?

Of course.

Since this season is very close to the end I'll show it in the last update of the season so it includes this year champion as well.

 

[misterioBean]

30th May 2027
End of Season

Sky Bet League One

Since our last update we have had a pretty good run, specially in February and March where we were unbeaten in the league.
We had some bad games here and there but overall good performances all season long.

We finished the season in the 1st place which means we are once again crowned champions as we have been every season since we joined. Still scored 136 goals in the league and only conceded 45 so pretty decent numbers yet again.

Stoke City and Barnsley are going up to the Championship with us next season.

FA Cup
Third Round

Very good game against Doncaster. Nothing to say here.

Next game: Lincoln City

EFL Trophy
Northern Section Third Round

Another good game this time against Stoke City.

Next game: Plymouth

FA Cup
Fourth Round

We keep the good performances in the cup competitions against Lincoln City and move to the next round.

Next game: Liverpool
(Yes, them again)

EFL Trophy
Quarter Final

Tougher game against Plymouth but we still move on to the next round of the EFL Trophy.

EFL Trophy
Semi Final

We meet Lincoln City yet again, this time for a different competition but the outcome was still the same.

Next game: York City

The very first team to beat us this season will be playing against us in EFL Trophy Final, the perfect opportunity to get some revenge for the last time we faced.

FA Cup
Fifth Round

Wasn't really expecting a different result here but at least we put 2 past them.
Just unfortunate to concede 2 goals in the last 10 minutes right after scoring our 2nd one.

We'll get them next time (or not).

EFL Trophy
Final

I think it's safe to say we really got our revenge on York City as we demolished them 6-1 to lift the EFL Trophy yet again.

Youth Intake

Somebody needs to tell our staff this is not an excellent youth intake at all. Could be worse though but for the time being there's no player worth showing.

Finances

Still loaded when it comes to money and for the first time since the beginning of this challenge we will be able to use it.
Probably won't be bringing any game changing players yet since our reputation won't allow it. We still need to prove ourselves in the world football once again.

Random Stuff

As asked earlier, here are the last Premier League winners (or winner I must say).
Ever since we left the English top flight Liverpool have cimented themselves as the best club in England.

UEFA Champions League

They also won the 2023/24 edition of the UEFA Champions League, struggling to do any other good performances in the competition ever since.

UEFA Europa League

Aston Villa also won the UEL in the first season and England had 2 other teams playing in the Finals but both failed to win the trophy.

UEFA Europa Conference League

Yet another English team winning an European trophy, this time Chelsea in 2024/25 but no other English teams playing in the Finals.​

 

[misterioBean]

1st July 2027
Turning Point

Today marks the turning point in our path to bring Manchester City back to the top of world football.
Our transfer embargo was finally lifted and we are now allowed to sign players to our club.

But before moving into the transfer business, let's analyze our squad.

Squad Analyzis

This is our current squad.
You may notice Issa Kaboré is not there. That's because we sold him to Ipswich Town for 6M€. His contract was ending at the end of this season and he wasn't better than Ezra Carrington anymore so we decided to sell him.

On the way out are also our LB Wilson-Esbrand and our DM Maximo Perrone. Wilson is in the same situation as Kaboré was and Perrone unfortunately wasn't able to get a work permit for a contract renewal so we will be trying to sell him.

With that being saod, there's a couple of areas I think we should really focus on bringing in some new players.

Not too hard to guess, but I want to bring 1 RB, at least 1 LB, maybe 2 because Galvez is not developing much anymore, and one more CB to solidify our defense.

Moving away from our defense, I think maybe a DM would be nice to bring in, as well as a new GK to be either our 1st or Brits backup.

I already have some signings in mind. I'll be back soon.​

 

[misterioBean]

4th August 2027
Transfers In, Transfers Out and Work Permits

With our transfer embargo lifted we were finally able to start scouting around and bring in some players to improve our team.
However, we had some bumps along the way. Let's take a look.

Transfers Out

Let's start with who left the club.
We already know Issa Kaboré left for Ipswich Town for 6M, but who else ended up leaving Manchester?

Like I said in the last post, Maximo Perrone left the club to join Al-Shabab for 5M.
Another player who left for the same amount was Henderson-Hall who joined Bristol City who paid way more than his valuation which didn't even reach 1M.

Unfortunately, we couldn't sell Wilson-Esbrand as he snubbed his move to Qatar and ended up loaning him out for the season.
A lot of youth players went out on loan to get consistent football as well.

Finley Burns and Jadel Katongo saw their deals terminated as they lacked the ability or the potential to be ever useful for us.

Transfers In
​

Tomás Handel - Free

I know what you are thinking, as soon as I could I went and had a look at my favourite team and snagged one of their best players. That's not true (entirely at least). Tomás Handel showed up in our scout reports and when I saw he could be picked up for free I couldn't let him pass. He didn't develop as much as he probably could but he still looks very good and is an improvement from Perrone.

Danilo Landsbury - Free

Another free transfer, this time for a youth player who doesn't have the most potential but also doesn't look too bad to start with. Won't be world class and may even not be 1st team material but he can be sold for profit later.

Mark McGuinness - 7.75M

I started looking for transfer listed players and Mark was there just waiting for someone to pick him up. Honestly, looks very good for the price we paid and can be a very good addition for the Championship.

Josh Brownhill - 7M

Another transfer listed player, this time to strenghten our midfield. Brownhill comes in as a backup B2B and honestly he looks good.

Somto Boniface - 825k

We needed to strenghten our LB and when I saw the English 21 year old on the transfer list for less than a 1M I had to go for him. Don't get me wrong, he doesn't look amazing and has some very noticeable weaknesses but he also doesn't look bad for this level.

Cameron Archer - 1.4M

I was not looking for a striker this transfer window but when I saw Archer on the transfer list for only 1.4M€ I couldn't hold myself. It coulc have very much been a nostalgic move for me, if you saw my QPR save in FM23 you remember how amazing this guy was for me. Let's hope he lives up for the expectations.

Alphonse Areola - 700k

I had a lot of possible GK's in my list to come in and be even a first-choice or a backup keeper. But let me tell you, I couldn't for the life of me get them work permits, even for other players playing in England already. We ended up having to settle with Areola since he was the best option who was keen to join us. He won't be our main choice but at least is a decent backup.

Emanuel Coronel - 5.25M

Similar situation for our RB. We had 3 players denied work permits (even when their agents said they would likely get one) and the only decent option keen to join us was the 30 year old Argentinian from Banfield. He's not terrible, but is already a bit old and we'll need to look at a better replacement soon.

Ian Maatsen - 5.5M

With Boniface coming in as a better backup, we still needed a good 1st choice LB. Ian Maatsen was also transfer listed and got his work permit immediately. He wasn't my first choice, but the other player didn't get the work permit, once again.

Sergi Canós - Free

With Henderson-Hall leaving the club we needed someone for the spot and the Spanish winger was available on a free transfer and he looks good despite his age.

Current Squad

Our current squad looks evidently stronger compared to what we started with. If we can snug some more deals to strenghten our squad I won't say no though.

Preseason

Mixed preseason here but I wanted to go against some Premier League teams just ti see how we would do against stronger sides.
Unfortunately we sold some 1st team players and had some injuries along the way so the results were not the best but at least our players got match fitness.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 1

We had a hard challenge as our 1st match in the Championship against the recently relegated Bournemouth.
Despite having more chances and possession, we just couldn't score goals and we ended up losing our first game.

EFL Cup
First Round

We won our first cup match though and we are moving forward on the Carabao Cup.

Next Fixtures

We have a tough month ahead of us but there's still time to improve the squad so let's see if we can have a good run in August.​

 

[leckuno]

Some great transfers there for just getting promoted, it’s always hard at that level to bring in foreign players as I’ve found that in my save as well.

tough start but things can only get better

 

[Nightman]

Looks like Klopp is living the dream since City are out of the picture.

Good luck in Championship.

 

[misterioBean]

Some great transfers there for just getting promoted, it’s always hard at that level to bring in foreign players as I’ve found that in my save as well.

tough start but things can only get better

Not only that but even getting some English players is hard because most of the ones who would be a big improvement to our squad want us to reach the Premier League before considering a move to us.

Looks like Klopp is living the dream since City are out of the picture.

Good luck in Championship.

Yeah no doubts. He has made a very good job internally, not as good on an European level but it's always hard competing against Real Madrid and PSG, they always seem to dominate

 

[misterioBean]

2nd September 2027
End of the Transfer Window

Transfer In
​

Serdar Çiftçi - 2M + 400k (after 50 league games)

The only player joining us in August was the Turkish Serdar Çiftçi who's only 18 years old and already has a good foundation.

Transfers Out

A bunch of loaned out players, including the recently bought Serdar and the former 1st team backups Isaac Smith and Nico O'Reilly.
They need more playing time and better off getting 1st team gametime than U21.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 2

Good performance playing home against Hull City as we clinch our 1st win in the league.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 3

Similar result against Sheffield. Amazing result to get against a relegated side in a gane rescued by the substitute Kayky who showed he doesn't want to be seen as a backup to our new signing Sergi Canós.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 4

Another very good win against Watford in a game we went into with our 2nd team and Micah Hamilton banged in a hat-trick in 30 minutes.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 5

We got really lucky against Middlesbrough. We were not in our best form here and conceded from a corner just 4 minutes after scoring the first goal of the game. Luckily Hemming was in the right spot at the right time and scored a tap in to secure us the win.

EFL Cup
Second Round

Very good game from both teams in the cup, specially in the 2nd half.
Honestly either team could have won this game, we just got lucky once again and scored a penalty and 2 other goals on the counter-attack. They still had time to score a goal in the 94th minute but it was already too late.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 6

Looking at the score it's easy to assume it was a very balanced game. But it was surely not. Bristol City had 4 shots on target and scored 3 of them. We were leading 2-0 after 15 minutes and let them draw the game in the next 10 minutes with 2 goals scored from corners.
We were the better side and desearved the win, but Bristol really fought to prevent us from getting out of the Etihad with the 3 points.

At this time, it became clear we had a very big flaw in our game plan: defensive corners.
I set this up in our 1st year and never looked at it again, but looking back at our last seasons, we conceded a lot of goals from corners. That got me thinking about what was wrong and when I opened the set pieces tab it hit me like a lightning strike.
I mistankenly set 2 players to stay forward when I wanted one on the edge of the area.

Hopefully this change will reduce the amount of goals we concede from set pieces.

EFL Cup
Third Round

Good comeback from our team in the 2nd half after being down a goal since the 2nd minute.

Next game: Crystal Palace

League Table

This season start was a bit rough on us when we faced Bournemouth but since then we have been very consistent and won every single game we played in. That was enough to secure the 3rd place after 6 games and only one point behind the 1st spot.
Our board expect us to get promotion this season so we need to stay consistent in the next months if we want to achieve that.

If we don't get promoted, I think there's a chance the board will fire us. I've saw it happening already and happened to me as well so I don't take anything for granted.

Next Fixtures

Very quiet month ahead of us but we have no easy games as I already have experience enough to know you can't assume anything playing in the top 2 English divisions.

We also need to remember that for the first time since we started we are not the best team in the league so we have to be humble enough to admit and acknowledge we might not win the league and may even have to fight hard to get promoted.​

 

[misterioBean]

3rd October 2027
Performance Drop

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 7

We kept our good performances against Swansea but only on the 1st half. Swansea were able to get one goal back and kinda dominated the 2nd half.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 8

Goaless game against luton and let me tell you it was the most boring game I've seen in the last 5 seasons.
Only 5 shots from each team all game, Luton didn't even get one on target. We failed to score in 3.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 9

We followed it with another draw, this time against Birmingham who were the league leaders at the time.
We started the game very nicely with a goal in the first minute but Birmingham's 2nd half was way better than ours and they desearved the equalizer.

League Table

The game againts Ipswich was delayed to October so we ended up playing only 3 games this month.

Next Fixtures

Pretty stacked month with 7 games and once again no easy fixtures.
Let's hope we get back on good performances.​

 

[misterioBean]

1st November 2027
Back to Form

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 10

What a way to come back to winning ways away from home.
Yes we conceded first and relied on an own goal to equalize but our 2nd half was just too much for Preston to handle.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 11

At this point we had both our striker injured as Hemming was out for 4 days and Archer took a 4 week injury so we relied on Dickson and he delivered.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 12

We had a hard time getting through West brom's defense but we were able to cut them loose in the final 20 minutes of the game for the 3rd win in a row.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 13

Rotherham had one shot all game. That pretty much sums up this game.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 14

Sunderland controlled the game but we came out on top.
Just an efficiency masterpiece as we scored 4 goals in 4 shots on target.

EFL Cup
Fourth Round

Crazy to say this but our 2nd team was able to beat Premier League side Crystal Palace.
I decided to play our 2nd team because I had no hope in winning this game and we had another game just 3 days later but like I said in England you can never be sure.

Also Cameron Archer came back from injury in this game and scored in his comeback day.

Next game: Newcastle

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 15

The last game of the month was really the Hemming show as we scored 4 goals in this match.
I'm really glad to see our strikers finally scoring some goals as they were struggling in the beginning.

League Table

The unbeaten month of October puts us in the 1st position of the league with a 3 point lead over Bournemouth.
I must say this season is going way better than I expected but now I just hope it keeps going this way.​

 

[misterioBean]

1st December 2027
Cruising

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 16

I forgot to show the match list for Novemeber but there were only 3 games this month.
First of them was a 3-0 win against Barnsley.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 17

We also beat Derby County 2-0 with both our strikers scoring.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 18

And we nailed another 2-0 win against Huddersfield but this time no goals from our strikers.

League Table

Still 1st in the league after another full month of wins as we approach the winter transfer window.

Next Fixtures

After a very peaceful month we now have 8 matches in 29 days ahead of us in the last month of the year 2027.​

 

[misterioBean]

1st Janaury 2028
Brand New Year

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 19

We kept our good run against Stoke City who had basically no goal chances the whole game but we did rely on two late goals as well to secure the safe win.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 20

Coventry fell to our fire power on the 1st minute of the game and never had enough in them to come back, even less after we scored the second just 15m after.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 21

Millwall saw our midfield put 3 past them and once again were unable to score a goal against us.

EFL Cup
Quarter Final

Cracking game against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup but unfortunately we weren't strong enough to beat them as a very strong 1st half from them was enough to put us out the cup.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 22

We bounced back rigth after in the league though as our backup CB Harrison Parker scored the only goal of the game from a corner.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 23

Sadly we conceded a 90th minute goal against Blackburn and failed to keep our winning streak after being 2 goals ahead.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 24

Back to back draws against Stoke just 20 games after battering them 4-1.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 25

We did beat Luton in the last game of the month though and it was a very good win as well.
Archer even had time to miss a penalty on the 96th minute but at least the 3 points were already guaranteed at that point.

League Table

We are still leaders of the Championship and we have one less game than Bournemouth so I guess we are looking good as we reach the middle of the season.
We can't let our guards down though as there's still a long way to go, 21 games to be precise.

Next Fixtures

We start the year with our first match in the FA Cup this season against a team which we should be winning against easily.
There's a couple tricky games in the league as well so we must keep our consistency.

Random Stuff

Burnley saw our good form in the Championship and called us to attend an interview to join them as their new manager.
An offer we politely declined.

Youth Intake Preview

Another disappointing year for our academy it seems like.​

 

[misterioBean]

1st February 2028
Injuries, More Injuries and Rigged Competition?

Transfers Out

Let's start this update with the one player who left the club on a permanent deal.
20 year old winger Nfonkeu showed interest in leaving the club in the summer but in this transfer window he decided to put his foot down and demand a move to a premier League team. The first offers were not good enough. There were only two teams placing bids and they were only 5M offers. I offered him out for 10M which both accepted and then started a bidding war to get the 12M€.

Unfortunately no percentage of next transfer included in the deal but at least we avoided any worryings with the locker room atmosphere.

Transfers In
​

Ousmane N'Guessan - 350k

The first incoming player is a youngster with some potential but I think I may have rushed the signing. He doesn't look much promising after all, not sure what I saw at first but he's here now so...

Jonathan Rowe - 5.25M

We needed a replace for Nfonkeu and Rowe was on Everton's transfer list so we snagged him up and honestly he looks very decent, just a bummer about his off the ball but I think it can still go up.

Jacopo Fazzini - Free

The Italian is not an outstanding player by any means but he was available on a free and it was a good opportunity to add some very much needed depth to our midfield.

FA Cup
Third Round

Good win in the FA Cup against Barnet despite missing yet another penalty.

Next match: Liverpool

I mean who else could it be? We literally faced them every single year since we reached League Two and it's starting lo look like someone doesn't want us to get to the latter stages of this competition.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 26

Another good win in the league against a very good Birmingham side and once again a comeback from our team with 2 goals after the 90 minutes.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 27

Very poor performance in front of goal allied to an highly efficient opposition resulted in a 2-0 loss to West Brom.

From this point on, our luck started to look a bit grim.

Ian Maatsen picked up a 3 week injury and was out for the Liverpool match as well as some league fixtures.

Tomás Handel also picked up an injury against West Brom and missed 1 match.

Our starting midfielder McAtee got a light injury the day before our next match, so that's two starting midfielders out for that one.

Brownhill also picked up an injury, altough a bit later on in the month.

Sergi Canós is set to miss the first 2 weeks of February as well.

And Maatsen got Covid or something right after recovering from his groin strain so he will be out for 9 days and hopefully won't get any other player sick as I decided to use the club's doctor cause if I was to send him home he would be out for another 2 weeks.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 28

Another game dominated but we still lose against Preston playing at home.
Liverpool was next and things weren't looking good.

FA Cup
Fourth Round

Astonishing win again the ruling Premier League Champions after we dominated them.
What a result!

(Also throwback to last season when I said we would beat them next time)

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 29

Despite that huge win, we struggle to score goals in the league.
At least we didn't lose this one.

Sky Bet Championship
Gameday 30

It was not a very good performance but we got the win and finally scored some goals.

League Table

This was not a very good month.
We lost points against 2 bottom teams and Bournemouth were able to reduce our lead to just 2 points.

Next Fixtures

Another packed month ahead of us including the next round of the FA Cup against a supposedly easier side to go against.​