My First Ever Attempt At The Sir Alex Ferguson Challenge

[FM_TNSSO]

The Sir Alex Ferguson Challenge

This is a challenge I've always had interest in but never actually taken on! After numerous attempts already trying to manage at lower level with very little success (a slight understatement), I decided to take everyone's advice and start a little higher up the ladder. However, I still fancy taking on something that will present me with a challenge, so I thought 'why not take on one of the most famous football manager challenges of all time'.

For anyone unfamiliar with this challenge, the idea is to try to emulate Sir Alex Ferguson, possibly the greatest manager the game has ever seen. Love him or hate him, you can't deny that the guy was pretty ******* immense!

So what's the rules....well, I've found several different versions with some stories offering up extended rules, but these are the ones I am following for the purpose of this story/save;

1. Sim the game until November 6th and take over the team that is 2nd bottom in the Premier League (Alex Ferguson took over Manchester United on this date, with them sat 2nd bottom at the time)
2. Stay at this one club for the entire save, getting sacked at any point is game over
3. Aim to bring youth players through the club (Alex Ferguson brought through numerous prospects including the likes of David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Nicky **** to name a few)
4. Persuade long term players to become part of my coaching staff when they retire from playing (the likes of Scholes, Solksjaer, Bruce, Keane, Berg, Ince, Robson, Hughes and Strachan all worked under Sir Alex on his backroom staff)

I am not putting any restrictions on signings or the money I spend as I think it is unrealistic to compare with the inflated prices on today's transfer market!

After going on holiday to the 6th November, the club currently sitting in 18th position that I will be taking over is.....

So that's the rules...what are the goals? Well as mentioned, we need to achieve as many targets against what Sir Alex managed with United....obviously if we fail any it isn't game over, but it just gives me a benchmark to work towards and that progress will be followed and updated here...

GOAL	Achieved?	Sir Alex Ferguson	Chris Ball
November 6th	Yes	Manchester United, November 6th 1986	Bournemouth, November 6th 2018
Win a domestic cup within 4 seasons	Yes	1990, FA Cup against Crystal Palace	2021, Carabao Cup against Chelsea
Win Premier League within 7 seasons	N/A	1992/93
Win the domestic double within 8 seasons	N/A	1993/94, Premier League and FA Cup
Win treble within 13 seasons (must include Champions League)	N/A	1998/99, Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup
English Premier League Titles	N/A	Total 13; 1992/93, 1993/94, 1995/96, 1996/97, 1998/99, 1999/00, 2000/01, 2002/03, 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09, 2010/11, 2012/13
FA Cup	N/A	Total 5; 1989/90, 1993/94, 1995/96, 1998/99, 2003/04
League Cup	Yes	Total 4; 1991/92, 2005/06, 2008/09, 2009/10	Total 1; 2020/21
Community Shield	N/A	Total 10; 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011
UEFA Champions League	N/A	Total 2; 1998/99, 2007/08
Europa League	Yes	Total 1; 1990/91	Total 1; 2019/20
UEFA Super Cup	Yes	Total 1; 1991	Total 1; 2020
FIFA Club World Cup	N/A	Total 2; 1999, 2008

​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

It Begins

The Challenge Begins; Taking Over On The South Coast

It's mixed emotions for me as I take over the Bournemouth job. First, I'm chuffed it worked out this way as Bournemouth is a little club I really like, but I'm not pleased about putting Eddie Howe out of work. He's a manager I really respect and have a **** of a lot of time for! However, I'm sure he'll be back with a new job sooner rather than later!

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We sit 18th with only 9 points from 11 games. Our defence immediately seems to be the issue as we have one of the worst defensive records in the league. However, on the plus side, we seem to be finding the back of the net often enough to compete and if I can tighten things up at the back, we have a chance of moving up the table quickly!

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Sir Alex managed to lift Manchester United to an 11th placed finish in his first season. Personally, I'll be happy to avoid the drop and give us something to build on next year.

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My chances of lifting the League Cup in my first season are already gone, with Bournemouth having already been knocked out by Brentford in the 2nd round. We await the draw for the 3rd round of the FA Cup!

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The club's bank balance is pretty poor with less than a million in the account. There'll only be £3.6 million for me to use in the January window as well. On the plus side, we're a good £100k per week under the transfer budget so I won't be required to offload any players.

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Bournemouth have a lovely little stadium on the south coast. Little being the operative word, with a capacity of only 11,464. I'm sure that during my time here, we'll be looking to expand or build a new.

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Before I have a look at the full squad, I have a look at Eddie's transfer business from the Summer. With big money having already been spent on Brooks, Rico and Lerma, he went on to add 2 loan signings, Abate being a great one at right back in my opinion. No players left the club!

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As I look over the first team squad, it seems that I have a lot of players underachieving with some pretty poor average ratings so far this season. Unsurprisingly, Callum Wilson is the club's top scorer so far with 4 goals in 12 appearances. The creativity is coming from the wings as the wide men in the side are contributing with most assists.

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The three best players in the squad at the moment (based on a combination of stats, ability and average ratings) are Callum Wilson (ST), Steve Cook (CB) and Adam Smith (RB).

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As part of this challenge will be to bring the youth through, I have a look at the U18s and my best prospect is currently 18 year old centre back, Brennan Camp.

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However, the level of the youngsters at the club is pretty poor and it's hard to see many of these lads coming through the ranks. But it's no surprise as the club's youth facilities, youth recruitment and junior coaching all have plenty of room for development.

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Doing the Sir Alex Ferguson challenge, it was probably fate that my first game in charge was going to be against Manchester United!! And if that isn't bad enough, I'll follow it up this month with an away day at Anfield! Talk about thrown in at the deep end!

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​

 

[leckuno]

you chucked your other save mate?

 

[FM_TNSSO]

you chucked your other save mate?

Still got it....May play alongside or come back to it later

 

[FM_TNSSO]

November 2018

[FONT=&quot]
November 2018; A ****** Tough Start

[/FONT]I take the immediate decision to change the captain. Steve Cook will take the armband for the rest of the season, and vice captaincy is handed to one of the brightest young talents at the club, Lewis Cook! Cook is a defnite future captain and could be a key feature in my team for years to come!

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The board make their expectations clear. Avoid relegation at all costs has to be the number 1 goal!

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Saturday 10th November 2018
English Premier League
Manchester United (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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An encouraging start for me, despite losing the game! We matched United all over the pitch and gave a good account of ourselves. Unfortunately, a wonder goal from Alexis Sanchez sealed a win for them late on after we'd worked out way back into the match.


Saturday 24th November 2018
English Premier League
Liverpool (Away)
Fomation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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Liverpool at Anfield...it's always going to be a tough game. They were the better side and deserved the victory...as expected! But to go here and only lose 1-0 is not a terrible result and again it offers some encouragement that we will pick up some results when we play lesser opposition.


November Review: I kicked off my Bournemouth tenure with two defeats, although I'm sure I can be forgiven as we took on two of the best sides in the league. It means we'll stay in the bottom 3 for now, but there's still plenty of football to be played yet!

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Player of the Month
Callum Wilson

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Despite a poor showing against Liverpool, Wilson bags the player of the month, contributing with a goal and an assist in the other two games. He'll be a huge contributor to any success we have this season, that's for sure!


December: Possibly the busiest month in the English football calendar is upon us and we'll play no less than 7 games, all in the league. We'll target the matches against the likes of Southampton, Fulham and Brighton as big opportunities for a win. If we can pick up points against Everton, Leicester and Wolves then happy days. Obviously, we'll give City a good go, but will almost write that game off at this stage, focusing our attention on more realistic games to win.

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

December 2018

December 2018; Leaving The Relegation Zone Behind

Saturday 1st December 2018
English Premier League
Southampton (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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No better way to get my first win than to beat one of our fiercest rivals! And we should have won by a much wider margin, but Callum Wilson spondered a few chances...he could easily have had 3 or 4 here!

We'll take on Wolves next month in the 3rd round of the FA Cup.

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Tuesday 4th December 2018
English Premier League
Manchester City (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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It didn't help that I had no Steve Cook (still injured) and no Nathan Ake (suspended) for this tough away game, so instead I had a couple of youngsters who made appearances at centre back. Corey Jordan (19) and Brennan Camp (18) both did OK though and we weren't entirely embarassed here, as we could have been with the heavily weakened defence.


Marc Pugh came to me and said he felt he'd achieved all he could at the club and was seeking a move away. With him only being 4th choice in the wide positions, I've agreed to move him on in January. A host of Championship clubs including Middlesbrough, Stoke and Swansea are sniffing round him, so I don't expect to have any problem cashing in during the transfer window.

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Sunday 9th December 2018
English Premier League
Fulham (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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Possibly the most comfortable 1-0 win you'll ever see! They had 1 shot, no highlights at all in the entire game and we were never in doubt of losing this game after Charlie Daniels early penalty hit the back of the net. Shame we didn't go on to score more, but a wins a win!


Saturday 15th December 2018
English Premier League
Everton (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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Delighted to walk away with a well deserved point from this one. Everton are flying high in 7th and presented us with a tough challenge and late on it looked like they'd snatched the win. However, veteran striker, Jermaine Defoe had other ideas and we immediatelty hit back with an equalizer to share the spoils. And we could have won the game in the 93rd minute when Junior Stanislas found himself through on goal and one on one with Pickford, only to put his shot wide of the post!


Ryan Fraser will miss the next 4 weeks through injury!

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Left back Diego Rico has been a constant thorn in my side since I arrived here. He seems to be whinging about his lack of football every week and is now turning players like Jermaine Defoe and David Brooks against me. During my latest press conference, I finally lost it and told the press I won't be pandering to him anymore and immediately afterwards, Ajax came in with a bid. However, I've turned it down as it's short of my valuation. The player is valued at £9.25 million, so I want at least £9 million up front!

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Apparently, Rafa Benitez has his eyes on Callum Wilson! That's all well and good Rafa, but he's gonna cost ya son!

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Saturday 22nd December 2018
English Premier League
Leicester City (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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What a great performance and great result as well! We were ******* brilliant here and Leicester simply couldn't cope with us! Callum Wilson scores again as he adds another £10 million on his valuation for when Newcastle come in with a bid!


Wednesday 26th December 2018
English Premier League
Wolverhampton Wanderers (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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Gutted to have to settle for a draw here. It was a close game and although it's probably a fair result for both sides, it's always disappointing to concede in injury time!


Saturday 29th December 2018
English Premier League
Brighton & Hove Albion (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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We finish the month with a fantastic away win at our south coast rivals, Brighton! Josh King was immense here as he looked to wreak havoc in the Brighton half every time he got the ball....a really impressive performance and he combined really well with Wilson too!


The win against Brighton stretches our unbeaten run to 5 games!

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December Review: What a fantastic month we've had. From our 7 games, only Manchester City managed to get the better of us as we took a massive 14 points in December and left the relegation zone well behind as we moved up to 13th in the table and a good 8 points clear of the bottom 3! The highlight has to be the 3-0 victory over Leicester in a game where we just looked incredible!

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Player of the Month
Callum Wilson

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The main front man wins player of the month again. He has been great for us this month with 4 goals and an assist, but his overall match ratings have been ultra consistent as he continues to impress me. Surely, he's due an England call up soon!


January: We have another 4 league games coming up, with Chelsea at home sure to present our stiffest opposition. However, tough away trips to Watford and Burnley won't be a walk in the park. Wolves stand in our way in the FA Cup and we'll be looking to progress there as well!

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

January 2019

[FONT=&quot]
January 2019; Moving On Up...And Progress In The Cup

[/FONT]Ezequiel Schelotto wasn't featuring in the team at all and requested I terminate his loan contract. I'm happy to oblige and he returns to Brighton.

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The transfer window opens and there's plenty of rumours flying around! My main aims for this window are to add another centre back, defensive midfielder and central midfielder. I will also be looking to offload a couple of fringe players to generate some funds.

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Lewis Cook claims the Young Player of the Month award for December!

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Tuesday 1st January 2019
English Premier League
Watford (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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We kicked off the New Year with a pretty poor result. Watford are lingering down in the relegation spots, so this really should have been a game we took at least a point from away from home. I think the busy Xmas schedule is catching up with the lads and with a lack of strength in depth, I've not been able to rotate the squad quite as much as I would have liked over the last few games.


I make my first signing of the January window and it's a good one as it covers both our central midfield and defensive midfield roles that I wanted to bring players in for. Mohamed Elneny joins from Arsenal on a 3 year deal. He has cost me £11 million in total, with £2.5 million paid up front and another £8.5 million to be paid over the next 2 years. At 26 years old, I expect him to be here for at least the duration of his contract!

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Saturday 5th January 2019
FA Cup 3rd Round
Wolverhampton Wanderers (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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Charlies Daniels had a bit of a whirlwind game as he gave away a penalty, scored a goal and missed a penalty! But it was his opposite full back, Ignazio Abate who really shone and bagged 2 assists after I'd handed him the captain's armband for this game. On we go in the cup with a good away victory here, beating a decent side.


We'll take on Hull City in the 4th round of the FA Cup at the end of the month.

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The other position I had mentioned that I wanted to strengthen this transfer window, was that of centre back. With very little funds available, I looked to the loan options and am delighted to bring in 22 year old Mason Holgate for the rest of the season from Everton. He's only managed to get 2 games for the Toffees this season, but he's sure to get some game time under me here and I'm pleased for the opportunity to work with the talented youngster.

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Marc Pugh has made his expected move away from the club. He joins Middlesbrough for a fee of £2.3 million which could rise to £3 million if he makes 50 appearances for them. I had a choice to make....let him move to the Championship and pay some of his wages, or sell him to another Premier League team and pay nothing (Crystal Palace and Fulham also made bids)...I opted for the former!

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Saturday 12th January 2019
English Premier League
Chelsea (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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Good effort lads! We really held our own against one of the title contenders! Proud of the boys here!


Monday 21st January 2019
English Premier League
Burnley (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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Burnley are having another good season and were 10th in the table coming into this game, so I'm really pleased to come away with all 3 points! We were already 1-0 up and when they went down to ten men, it only ever looked like we would win the game. Our second goal (Callum Wilson) was possibly the best team goal we've scored since I arrived here....the passing play involved 7 players as we expertly moved the ball through Burnley's back line before Wilson slotted home.


Saturday 26th January 2019
FA Cup 4th Round
Hull City (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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We easily progress to the next round of the FA Cup with a very comfortable home win against Hull. Elneny got his first goal for the club, whilst Dan Gosling continued his good goalscoring form with his 3rd in 4 games.


Jermaine Defoe departs the club for Germany. He just wasn't getting enough football and became disgruntled so I allowed him to move on.

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Tuesday 29th January 2019
English Premier League
West Ham (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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Despite having to play the entire 2nd half with 10 men after Lewis Cook's sending off, we saw the game out very well and actually continued to dominate in the 2nd half as well, capped off when Elneny added a 3rd goal late on!


Josh King to miss 4 weeks of action with fractured ribs.

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Paulo Dybala's £140 million move to Manchester United is the biggest transfer of the window! I have to admit I'm a little envious of the Uniteds, Chelseas and Arsenals who can fork out over £50 million for one player!! All in good time though.....I hope!

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January Review: Another great month for us as we record only 1 defeat, shoot up the league to 11th and progress through two rounds of the cup! It's more than I could have possibly hoped for so early into my Bournemouth career!

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Player of the Month
Charlie Daniels

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The left back has been brilliant this month! Consistent performances, goals, assists, he's had everything!


February: The schedule slows down a little next month with only 3 league games and the 5th round of the FA Cup. The away day at Spurs will be a tough fixture, but there's no reason for us to think we can't win the Palace and Newcastle games with the way we are playing. In all honesty, I'll be disappointed if we can't overcome Huddersfield in the cup too.

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

February 2019

February 2019; League Form Stays Strong But Falter In The Cup

[FONT=&quot]During the transfer window last month, it was the Premier League where most money was spent, with nearly double that of the German Bundesliga. Bayern were responsible for more than two thirds of Germany's spending, as they spent £215 million bringing in 9 new players, the most notable being Otavio from Porto (£45 million), Jonas Hector from Koln (£20.5 million), Jose Gaya from Valencia (£27.5 million) and Julian Draxler from PSG for £40 million!

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Sunday 3rd February 2019
English Premier League
Tottenham (Away)
Formation: 5-3-2 WB (Changed to 4-1-4-1 DM Wide on 67 minutes)

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I decided to start with a more defensive formation away at Tottenham as I felt our usual 4-1-4-1 DM Wide was too attacking and would leave us exposed at the back. It seemed to be working as well as we frustrated Spurs and even though they had a lot of shots, they were from distance as they struggled to get anywhere near our goal! We took the lead against the run of play and I was happy. During the 2nd half, they increased the pressure and I was worried about losing the game when they equalized, so I threw caution to the wind and reverted to our 4-1-4-1 formation in an attempt to fight fire with fire (attack being the best form of defence). However, it didn't work and Harry Kane headed home from a last minute corner to give them a victory that I have to admit was deserved!


Our main man, Callum Wilson has penned a new 4 year deal with the club and earned himself a well deserved £20k per week pay rise in the process!

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Saturday 9th February 2019
English Premier League
Crystal Palace (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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Ignazio Abate's 13th minute sending off seemed to have left us right up **** creek for most of the game, but that wasn't necessarily the case as we still went on to dominate the whole match, recording the win in the process! Two side notes from the game; What a signing Mo Elneny is turning out to be as he bagged his 3rd goal since signing last month, and how ******* **** is Christian Benteke!


Just before we take on Huddersfield in the FA Cup, two of the big boys crash out of the competition on the same day!

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Sunday 17th February 2019
FA Cup 5th Round
Huddersfield (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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And we follow Chelsea and Arsenal out of the competition as Huddersfield convincingly dump us out! Everything about us was wrong here and we struggled to string two passes together and credit where it's due, Huddersfield were immense in front of goal taking every decent chance they had!


Chelsea beat Arsenal in the final (2-1) to lift the Carabao Cup. Very well deserved considering they also overcame Liverpool and Spurs on their way to the final as well!

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Wednesday 27th February 2019
English Premier League
Newcastle (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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We immediately put the disappointment of the Huddersfield result behind us and smash 4 past Newcastle to pick up another big league win and finish the month on a high. Yet again Mo Elneny is ******* awesome and picks up a man of the match! His goal was an absolute cracker by the way!


February Review: A mixed month as we pick up another couple of wins in the league to keep us in the mid table positions. We are now only 4 points away from the safety net of 40 points, whilst Cardiff look destined to return to the Championship. Liverpool lead the title race, but any one of the top 5 still has a realistic chance! The biggest negative this month was the disappointing crash out of the FA Cup as I felt the Huddersfield tie was a winnable one.

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Player of the Month
Mohamed Elneny

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The central midfielder has been excellent this month, especially as he has had to adapt to playing different roles in the centre of the park. Two goals and a man of the match performance along the way all contributes to his player of the month award.


March: Only 3 league games to play next month! There's no reason why we shouldn't open with a win against bottom side Cardiff before the opportunity to gain some revenge on Huddersfield. Liverpool will be the toughest test by a long way!

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[Brane_Orsou]

Flying high my friend! KIU

 

[FM_TNSSO]

March 2019

neavie pops23 - "Cheers mate, it is going very well. If I'd have arrived earlier I reckon we could possibly have been challenging for a Europa League qualification spot by now. But this definitely gives us something to build on next season, especially if I can have a good transfer window in the Summer"

March 2019; Perfect Month But Disappointing Youth Intake

The youth intake this year isn't particularly strong, with only a couple of players tipped to become any good in the future.

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The best of the bunch is 15 year old striker, Paul Thomas, who does look to have some good potential to be fair, but we probably won't see him getting anywhere near the first team for at least a couple of years yet!

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Mo Elneny picks up the Premier League Player of the Month award for February. That £11 million I paid for him is looking like a steal!

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Saturday 2nd March 2019
English Premier League
Cardiff (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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March kicks off with another win and to be fair I expected us to beat Cardiff. However, we made hard work of it and it certainly wasn't convincing! Elneny, the goal machine, scores again!


I love the fact that the press decide to focus on my ability to 'splash the cash' rather than the dramatic turn around in the club's form since I arrived. Anyway, 20 games in and things couldn't be better even if the press don't want to say so!

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Saturday 9th March 2019
English Premier League
Huddersfield (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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Revenge is sweet, but it's even sweeter when you do it playing with 10 men for more than an hour. One things for sure, we seem to play pretty well when we've had a player sent off.


Sunday 30th March 2019
English Premier League
Liverpool (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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What a win! Jordon Ibe terrorised his old team here and I'm sure Klopp will be going away from this game wondering why they got rid of him! I won't tell him he doesn't play like this every week!


March Review: We're only in the top ****** half of the table after a 100% record this month! Three really good wins and we may just have put a dent in Liverpool's title hopes along the way as well. Cardiff will be relegated very soon, whilst things remain tight at the top with it still being anyone's title!

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Player of the Month
Mason Holgate

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The on loan centre back is really starting to find his feet now and is getting better and better as he racks up more and more gametime.


April: A very busy schedule next month as we play 6 league games and there's some real toughies in there with both Manchester clubs and the Gooners to take on! There's no doubt about it, we could definitely influence where the Premier League title goes this season!

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​

 

[Linecoigne1998]

Just caught up with this, nice to see another story from you mate! Bournemouth are a great team honestly, I remember using them I think in FM17 for a story and had a lot of fun. I see you're already up to mid-table now, with a few good signings I'm sure you'll be a settled upper-half side for years to come!

Good signings and great results along the way too, but **** what a month you have in April hahaha, reminds me of a few months I had with Betis so far... btw, since you took over at Bournemouth where's Eddie Howe gone? Never seems to perform so well in FM but maybe the devs at SI should change that considering how well Bournemouth have done so far this season in real life!

Will be following the rest of your story for sure, always love a good old SAF challenge

 

[FM_TNSSO]

April 2019

Linecoigne1998 - "First I have to thank you for your comments and following the story, it is much appreciated! I've never managed Bournemouth on an FM save before but they're a club I have some affection for in real life and Eddie Howe is one of the most under rated managers in football I feel! As for this save, he's still currently unemployed but I will provide an update when he get's snapped up by someone else"

April 2019; European Qualification Contention?!
[FONT=&quot]
I pick up my first ever Manager of the Month award for February!

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Wednesday 3rd April 2019
English Premier League
Manchester United (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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We're unlucky to concede a late goal at Old Trafford when I really think we deserved a point from the game.


I sign a new 2 year contract with the club with a £2,500 per week pay rise too! A deserved reward for the start I've had here I think!

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Saturday 6th April 2019
English Premier League
Southampton (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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We completed the double over our main rivals with a solid performance here. Callum Wilson was in top form and Begovic continues to prove he's still at the top of his game with another penalty save!


Saturday 13th April 2019
English Premier League
Manchester City (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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Without a doubt the best result of my Bournemouth career to date! What a performance this was and everyone played their part, especially Callum Wilson who bagged an excellent hat trick as he was a demon in front of goal! We suffered two late sending offs when City were piling on the pressure and we were defending for our lives but I'm not mad at the lads...how can I be after a result like that!?


Saturday 20th April 2019
English Premier League
Fulham (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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After the pure jubilation of beating City the week before, we had the disappointment of not being able to overcome Fulham here! If I'm looking for positives, I guess it will be the clean sheet!


Poor old Brighton felt the wrath of Manchester City following their defeat to us!?

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Wednesday 24th April 2019
English Premier League
Arsenal (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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Back to back 0-0 draws but where as the one at Fulham was disappointing, this one at the Emirates was a very good result! Especially as Arsenal came into it on the back of 5 straight wins in all competitions.


Monday 29th April 2019
English Premier League
Everton (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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I was worried about our centre back pairing of Mings and Francis going into this game (with Ake suspended and Holgate unable to play against his parent side), but we actually finished the month with a massive away win at Goodison Park and every player turned up and put a shift in! It all came together nicely and after a couple of games without scoring, we smashed 5 past The Toffees here. Callum Wilson is now closing in on 20 goals this season and surely he's going to be attracting interest from some big clubs in the Summer....oh, and how the **** does he not have an England cap yet?!


I tie down Nathan Ake for another 4 years and slap a massive release clause in his new contract too! He's been ******* brilliant for me so far this season and at 24 years old, I want to keep him here and build our defence around him for years to come!

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April Review: When we looked at this month's fixture list last month, I was a little worried going into it, but as it turns out we've been ****** amazing! Huge wins against Manchester City and Everton and a solid away draw at the **** keeps us moving up the table. Unbelievably, we are now 8th and have an outside shot at leapfrogging Leicester into a Europa League qualification place! Their final games are against Manchester City and Fulham, by no means easy! Cardiff's long forseen relegation is confirmed, and it's likely to be 2 of Palace, Southampton or Fulham that join them in the Championship next season! At the top, City are closing in on back to back titles and two wins in their final two games will secure the Premier League Trophy!

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Player of the Month
Callum Wilson

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Although he had a couple of off days this month, it could only be Wilson for the Player of the Month award after he banged in 7 goals in 6 games and chipped in with an assist as well! He really has been immense for me this season and I hope I can keep him here!


May: When I took over this job, I never would have imagined that I'd be in the running for European qualification with 2 games left, but here we are! Brighton and Wolves are our final two fixtures and if we can win both games, we'll give ourselves a chance!

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[FM_TNSSO]

May 2019 part one

May 2019 (part one); Europe Here We Come


Saturday 4th May 2019
English Premier League
Brighton & Hove Albion (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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We make it look pretty easy against Brighton as we romp to a 3-0 home win! Brighton won't be too disappointed as it was a good day for them as they confirmed their Premier League status again for next season after the other games results meant they can't go down this year!


With 1 game remaining, we leapfrogged Leicester into the European qualification spots after they were beat by Manchester City. It will be between us and them for the final Europa League place and a win against Wolves will confirm 7th place for us!

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Sunday 12th May 2019
English Premier League
Wolverhampton Wanderers (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

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JOB DONE! An excellent finish to what has been an amazing first season in charge for me!


The final league table confirms our 7th placed finish and a Europa League qualification spot! Unbelievable effort from the lads! Manchester City win back to back league titles with Spurs finishing 2nd and running City all the way to the wire. Fulham and Southampton are relegated alongside Cardiff. I'd say it's a shame to see our main rivals go down....but it really isn't!

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We bag £27 million in Premier League prize money!

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[FM_TNSSO]

May 2019 part two

May 2019 (part two); Records, Awards, Stadium Plans & Contracts

Our 5 draws this season represent a new team record low.

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And our 7th placed finish represents a record high for Bournemouth.

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Now that's something I wasn't expecting! I lift the Manager of the Year award!!!

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The future looks bright as my U18s squad complete a double!

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It's no surprise to see Callum Wilson voted fan's player of the season on awards night. He has been fantastic since I arrived here and fully deserves this! Jordon Ibe definitely got better as the season went on and he takes the young player award! Mo Elneny also snuck into the team of the season ahead of Jefferson Lerma in central midfield.

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The media review is as complimentary as I'd have expected! We completely packed out our stadium for every home game this season as expected and expansion is something I will need to look at over the next couple of years.

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And the board couldn't be happier!

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The board must have read my mind as they announce plans to expand the stadium! However, it does mean we'll play the first half of next season in front of even less fans!

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Young player of the season, Jordon Ibe, is rewarded with a new contract that will keep him at the club for another 3 years! I look forward to his continued development with us!

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Looking at the transfer spend over the past season, Manchester United made double the loss of anyone else in the division, but it may pay off as they have a Champions League Final around the corner! Five teams made a profit on their transfer dealings, whilst we virtually broke even!

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After just falling short in the Premier League, Spurs are the 'nearly men' again in the FA Cup as Liverpool beat them 2-0 in the final!

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The commercial summary shows everything going in the right direction with more income coming into the club!

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The board announce the long awaited budgets for next season and I'll get a healthy transfer kitty of £57 million to spend. They've also left me a good £100k in the wage budget to spend as well!

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On the wages to turnover ratio we've spent this season, we sit about mid table with 45%. I'm not really sure of the importance of this if I'm honest but thought I'd share it anyway.

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Asmir Begovic signs a new 3 year deal and is likely to be my number 1 keeper again next year as I see no real need to replace him at this stage.

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​

 

[Sam91]

Congrats on a great season!!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

June 2019

Sam91 - "Cheers mate, I still can't believe how good it was"

June 2019; Preparing For The New Season

[FONT=&quot]Dan Gosling is named player of the month for May after banging in 3 goals in 2 games!

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Amongst everything else going on last month, I forgot the obligutory squad screen shot at the end of the season! Callum Wilson finished one short of the 20 goal benchmark as top scorer, but it was the 12 goals from Dan Gosling which was the real surprise. He's probably one of the weakest players in the squad but his performances last year meant I just couldn't leave him out of the team! It was Wilson and Gosling that actually made the most appearances for us last season, although Charlies Daniels and Adam Smith were both pretty constant fixtures in the wing back roles. I have to give a shout out to Mo Elneny again as he was terrific since I signed him in January, whilst Tyrone Mings also deserves a mention for his good performances when he had to step into the side. The assists were pretty evenly shared amongst the side with everyone chipping in on the creative front!

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I also didn't give a Player of the Season award, so I'll do that here as well...


Manager's Player of the Season
Dan Gosling

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As mentioned above, Gosling was absolutely brilliant for us all season and fully deserves this award from me. We had very little cover in his role and if he'd have played poorly, I'd have struggled to put anyone else in for him. But he didn't and maintained an incredible level of consistency throughout the campaign!


As part of the Sir Alex Ferguson challenge, the longer term aim is to bring through youth players as well, so I have asked the board to invest in the youth facilities to which they agreed.

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The transfer window opens but I can assure you I have no interest in any of the players we're linked with! I will be looking to add a centre back, a central midfielder, possibly a wide player and maybe a striker. I probably won't be able to make all permanent transfers with the budget I have, so will potentially see who is available on loan as well.

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Callum Wilson gets a very well deserved first England cap!

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I make my first signing of the transfer window and it's 19 year old Sandro Tonali who joins us from Brescia. The Italian U21 centre mid has some great stats already at such a young age and could become a key figure in our squad for the years ahead. But he has the ability to push the current crop of players for a starting spot in the team straight away!

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Junior Stanislas didn't get much football under me last season and with new arrivals expected in his position, he'll likely drop down the pecking order further. So I have allowed him to join newly promoted West Brom on loan for the season. Not only does it take £35k per week off the wage bill, but they're going to pay a decent monthly fee for him as well!

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Ignazio Abate, who was here on loan last season, will now join us on 01/07 on a free transfer when his contract expires with AC Milan. He'll continue to act as the main backup to Adam Smith at right back.

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We kick off the new season against Crystal Palace, before taking on both the Manchester clubs within our first 5 games.

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We'll receive a massive £80 million in TV rights over the next year!!

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As we continue to look to build for the future, the board agree to invest in the youth recruitment!

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Artur Boruc and Simon Francis both retire from football.

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Young prospect Ben Woodburn joins us on loan for the season from Liverpool. Ben is one of the brightest young players in the British game at the moment and is tipped to follow in the footsteps of Welsh nationals like Ryan Giggs, Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale, so I'm delighted to have the opportunity to bring him here and aid in his development over the next year. I expect him to get a fair few games for us this season as I look to rotate the squad between competitions.

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Our friendly schedule is set and we'll kick off with a couple of domestic matches against lower league opposition before going on our Dutch training camp. When we return we'll take on FC Porto in our final friendly before the season kicks off.

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[Linecoigne1998]

Fantastic job getting Europa League football mate, seems like you got your tactics down this time! Excited to see if you make any more signings, a budget of £57 million seems crazy though, I guess maybe it's because I'm used to La Liga TV money being nothing close to the Prem and getting just £15 million to spend for a 5th place finish with Betis...

 

[Brane_Orsou]

Great first season my friend, what's your aims for this season? Domestic cup perhaps?

 

[mhabridge91]

Great season! what a run to the Europa League, good luck next season!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Pre Season

Linecoigne1998 - "The tactics seem to be working an absolute treat so far and I feel good as I can now spend some money on buying better players to suit my style of play too! The money in the Premier League is crazy eh?"

neavie pops23 - "Cheers mate. Aim for next season has to be to maintain our European status and qualify for the Europa again I think. If we can have a good cup run that will be a bonus....I may target the Carabao this season as it's probably more realistic for us to go deep in that competition"

mhabridge91 - "Cheers mate. Thanks for reading"

July/August 2019; Pre Season & New Arrivals

My second loan signing of the Summer is Borussia Dortmund wonderkid, Dan-Axel Zagadou. At 20 years old, he still lacks some experience, but his stats speak for himself as does his future potential. I'm sure he'll get a few games this season and will be rotated in the back line across different competitions.

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My second permanent signing of the Summer is another young Italian. This time its attacking prospect, Moise Kean and at £13 million he's an absolute steal! The only thing I'll have to watch out for is that Juventus insisted on a buy back clause within the first year of his contract for £24 million, so let's hope he's good....but not too good! Well, not for the first year anyway!

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With Artur Boruc retiring last month, it left a gaping hole in the squad for a backup keeper. Liverpool released their backup, Adam Bogdan at the end of last season and I've snapped him up on a free to now act as a backup to Asmir Begovic this season! He's on a nice cheap wage and is a decent keeper to have in the squad.

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The increased need for an expansion to the stadium is again highlighted when the ticket revenue figures are announced and we're rock bottom of the table bringing in less than £10 million in ticket sales a season!

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How is Callum Wilson not up there amongst the favourites for top goalscorer this season?! At 55-1 I'd definitely be having a punt!

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I splash the cash big style (well for Bournemouth anyway) as I bring in Jean Michael Seri from Fulham for £28.5 million! We pay the full whack up front with no add ons and he has signed a 4 year deal and immediately becomes one of the highest paid players at the club! I'm confident this signing will prove to be a success!

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A perfect pre season campaign comes to an end! We won all 6 games and kept 4 clean sheets in the process. Every game was a very dominant performance other than the Porto match that was much more even...but we still got the win against the Portuguese giants! I'm satisfied that we are well prepared for the new season!

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