JANUARY
Lineup - Woodman, Tavernier, Lascelles, Lejeune, Lewis (Willems), Shelvey, S.Longstaff, Fraser (Lainez), Almada, Saint-Maximin, Wilson (Badji)
Pathetic!!!!
West Ham are above us in the table and they showed why here as they easily beat us thanks to one of my summer transfer targets, Joshua King, scoring a hat-trick. We were well beaten and Sean Longstaff's wonder goal was in vain. 2 wins in 9.
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FA Cup 3rd Round
Lineup - Woodman, Manquillo, Schar, Dummett, Willems (Watts), Hayden, M.Longstaff, Murphy, Almada, Lainez (Popescu), Badji
(Wilson*)
For more than an hour we were shocking and lucky to be level. Sure I played a weakened side but I expect better. In the end Callum Wilson came off the bench to score twice to take us through.
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Lineup - Dubravka, Tavernier (Manquillo), Lascelles, Lejeune, Lewis (Willems), M.Longstaff (Almiron), S.Longstaff, Fraser, Almada, Saint-Maximin,
Wilson*
Callum Wilson's late goal gives us a much deserved victory here. We went into half-time a goal down but we soon levelled when both my CBs combined to score and although we had a goal disallowed we still managed to get the winner when Wilson walked the ball into the net after a defensive mix up.
Martin Dubravka returned from injury here in goal.
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Lineup - Dubravka, Tavernier, Lascelles, Lejeune, Lewis (Willems), Shelvey, S.Longstaff, Fraser (Lainez), Almada (Almiron), Saint-Maximin,
Wilson*
A fantastic performance and result as we trounce Wolves. Callum Wilson scored a great hat-trick while Sean Longstaff put in another stellar performance and he has now scored 3 goals in his last 4 league games. Wolves sacked their manager immediately after this result.
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FA Cup 4th Round
Lineup - Dubravka, Tavernier, Lascelles, Lejeune (Dummett), Lewis, Shelvey, S.Longstaff, Fraser (Hendrick), Almada (Almiron), Saint-Maximin,
Wilson*
Back to back 5-1 victories!!!!!
Another superb performance and not only is it back to back 5-1 wins but it is also back to back hat-tricks for Callum Wilson. We put Brighton to the sword here and played them off the park as Wilson and Saint-Maximin ran riot.
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Lineup - Dubravka, Tavernier (Manquillo), Lascelles, Lejeune, Lewis, Shelvey, S.Longstaff (M.Longstaff), Fraser, Almiron, Saint-Maximin, Wilson (Badji)
Very disappointing. We deserved at least a draw but we lose to a struggling Everton side. We have just drawn them in the FA Cup so I hope to get revenge then!
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Lineup - Dubravka, Manquillo, Lascelles, Lejeune, Lewis, Shelvey, S.Longstaff (M.Longstaff),
Saint-Maximin*, Almiron (Vilca), Lainez, Wilson (Badji)
A comfortable victory. Wilson and Lejeune put us 2 ahead and Lainez struck twice to put the game beyond doubt. He is a player who I would have liked to have started more as I spent big on him but the circumstances havent arisen so far.
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SUMMARY
We had our ups and downs this month as we had some terrific convincing victories but we also had some very poor defeats. None more so than the first game of the month as West Ham comfortably beat us 3-1 in the league however we bounced back to defeat Brighton narrowly before thumping Wolves 5-1. Everton beat us disappointingly but we ended the month with a fine 4-1 win over Watford and we end the month in 7th place with a game in hand.
In the FA Cup we struggled to beat Middlesbrough but against Brighton we blew them away with our 2nd successive 5-1 victory and we will play Everton in the next round.
There is some transfer news! On deadline day Marseille came out of nowhere to bid an initial £14.75m (rising to £18.5m) for Florian Lejeune. I was planning on selling him in the summer so I jumped at the chance to get that sort of cash in and off he goes back to his native country. Now I had to replace him.........
In comes Abdou Diallo from PSG for a bargain £4.8m. He is on a hefty wage but we got him on the cheap and surely we will make a huge profit on him if we move him on. He will partner Lascelles in defence and I expect him to impress.
Leeds appointed Sean Dyche as their new manager which is a huge shift in philosophy and Watford sacked their manager so those 2 clubs plus Wolves are looking for new managers.
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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
CALLUM WILSON
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PREMIER LEAGUE