Out of the Red into the...

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10 February 2015



Admonished



On only a couple of days rest we then faced off in a London derby against Arsenal at the Emirates. We came into the game with a fair bit of confidence thanks to our Newcastle performance. Confidence that was horribly misplaced it would seem.


This was a football clinic from Arsenal. They eviscerated us from first whistle to last and really after re-watching the game in our mid-week review I honestly don’t know how we didn’t lose by more. The rout started in the 8th minute. Ozil arrived late in the box and got on the end of a Welbeck cross and fired home.
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On the half hour the Ox made it 2 nil as Ozil did the hard work, waltzing through our defence, before firing directly at Beeney – deputizing in goal for Blackman – who did well to parry the first effort, but the rebound fell to Oxlade-Chamberlain for an easy tap in.
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Walcott made it 3 before half time as his pace, which caused us fits all afternoon, took him past Ivanovic and his shot hit the back of the net before Beeney even reacted.
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We weren’t real happy and told the guys so at half time. We got a sign of life immediately when Boga continued his good form scoring 4 minutes after the restart with a smart shot.
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One way traffic resumed straight after though and Arsenal’s 4 goal cushion was soon restored. 7 minutes later and Ozil returned to torment us as his close range effort struck the cross bar and rebounded straight up. Welbeck, with Beeney still floundering on the ground, had the simple task of heading in for practically on the line.
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Walcott then had his second and Arsenal’s fifth as he surged into the box and slid the ball back across Beeney.
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Thankfully Arsenal decided to be somewhat merciful after that and were more happy to sit back and let the game come to them and that meant there was no more scoring. Geez we got taught a lesson today though…
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14 February 2015


Improvements



The changes were rung up for the visit of Albion in the FA Cup 5th round. Izzy Brown got the start up front and he repaid our faith. On 8 minutes he got us on the board when he roofed on after being played in by Kiwomya.
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On the half hour mark he had his and our second when he slammed home from close range.
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Beeney, who’d had a horror afternoon against Arsenal, was preferred again in between the stick and produced a fin save to deny Craig Gardner from the spot. The match was then very close until the 88th minute when Berahino scored with a close range header after our defense went AWOL.
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By that stage though we had brought on Quaresma to give some minutes in his legs and he replied with a goal to seal the match of exquisite quality. Picking up the ball 30yds from goal there didn’t seem to be a lot of danger but he took his first touch forward and noticed Ben Foster slightly off his line and chipped him. Classy finish.
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A good solid win in the cup. We just need to get a few more of those in the league now!!
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Now a little update for where I’ve needed to use the in game editor to avoid breaking the save.


In October I got an email advising me that the Board was considering putting the club into administration. Given I wanted to retain control of the transfers I took that opportunity to correct the bank balance which, at that time, stood at negative 80 million pounds with the intention of deducting the same amount from the budget at the conclusion of the January window.


That seemed to be going along just fine until December. In game I believe this is when some FFP calculations are performed. Given our apparent horrendous losses we were going to fail and fail miserably until this happened….

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A 90 million cash injection from the Board AND a one-off 80 million dollar FOR A ONE YEAR sponsorship deal?? Go home FM you’re drunk. So I edited out both of those as that was just completely unrealistic. I don’t think there is a single club in world football who has ever received a one off, one year sponsorship deal for anything like that amount…


At the conclusion of the January window and after deducting the amount I added to the bank balance in October we were, as noted in the financial report, 40 million in the red. This will get worse as the season goes on and we will likely enter administration but this is what I want as it should force the game to find a buyer for the club. Give the Loan debt is around 340mill still I can't see any way I get out of the season without going, in game, into administration.


That’s all good though as I think this is the most likely ‘real world’ result if Roman ever did pull out of Chelsea. There’d be a massive sell off and whoever purchased the club would pick up the tab on Roman’s loans. I’m still a bit disappointed by the amounts I was able to recover for my players. As I have already lamented. Getting someone like Hazard in today’s market for only 30 something mill up front is akin to daylight robbery. I mean how much did PSG just pay for a slightly worse and older Di Maria? So I feel that in real life the remaining outstanding amounts payable to Roman by the new owner wouldn’t be as high as they are in my game.


It still has to happen though so I will be playing this save for a bit longer yet!!
 
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19 February 2015



Meh



Following our FA cup victory we had another knockout cup tie to contend with as we travelled to Copenhagen for the first leg of our Europa League 1st Knockout Round tie. Before the match all the talk was about how many we would win by but I tried to rotate the squad and unfortunately that lead to a less than desirable performance from the lads today.


Copenhagen made us pay as early as the 2nd minute when Cornelius scored from range. I’m not sure if the shot perhaps took a slight deflection but from my vantage point it looked like it completely wrong footed Blackman…
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We were second best throughout today so it was slightly surprising to see us even things up after half time. Quaresma had been brought on again and nipped in front of his defender to head home a teasing Kiwomya cross that seemed to give us a little life.
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It turned out though to be a false dawn as Copenhagen reestablished their dominance on the game soon after and it was only a matter of time (20 minutes or so in fact) until they scored again. It was Sigurdarson who, when given all the time in the world, made no mistake with his towering header from point blank range. That Blackman even got hands to it was impressive but his efforts were in vain as the header still hit the back of the net.
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All in all it was a pretty disappointing outing but we did manage to get the away goal which may yet prove critical in this tie – not that I am particularly bothered if we do go out.
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22 February 2015



To the final whistle



Southampton then visited with us on only 3 days rest following the Copenhagen game so again rotation was the order of the day. The wet weather contributed to a dour struggle that wasn’t brightened to the final minutes.


After 94 minutes of gameplay that began to resemble trench warfare as each team took turns poking and prodding the other but never really threatening the tenacity of our players finally shone through as a somewhat speculative Quaresma cross was met by Izzy Brown. His youthful exuberance seemed to give extra spring to his jump and he leapt, and then hung in the air, before heading in past Fraser Forster. Great goal.
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Another 3 points then that will be so valuable in helping us finish as high as is possible.
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That result now leaves us 7th on the table. We are not going to end up any higher than this but if we can stay close to this spot then we will be very close to achieving our expected ‘best case’ finish.
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26 February 2015



Crashing Out



After the great result against Southampton we welcomed Copenhagen to Stamford Bridge for the second leg of our Europa League Knockout tie. Unfortunately though today would end up being our last involvement in the competition for this season.


Things looked good early though as Boga got us off to a flyer in only the minute. He went on a surging run down the left before cutting in and curling a delightful shot around Stephan Anderson in goal for the Danes. Top effort.
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After our initial spurt though the game settled in a more even affair and Copenhagen took advantage of some slack marking to equalize 30 minutes in. Cornelius stole a meter of space and glanced his head past Blackman from a tasty Mikkelson cross. In fairness their play had deserved it.
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After that Copenhagen was able to sit deeper allowing them to successfully stifle our attacks and although we dominated possession and shots we couldn’t find a goal to bring the tie level and as a result our European jaunt is over.
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3 March 2015



Ruh Roh Raggy!



Not a good day as we travelled up to Burnley to play in a squall. We’ve hit a pretty poor form patch here, not that this was unexpected, and it will be a stern test of my managerial acumen to turn us around. 6 minutes was all it took for Danny Ings to get his hattrick today…


10 minutes in and Ings broke the deadlock when he beat the offside trap and got in behind. Despite our defenders best efforts to get back no one could stop him beating Blackman one on one.
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Seconds later and it was two. From the kickoff we contrived to lose possession and Burnley quickly broke down the left. A cross was sent in by Boyd and Ings showed incredible desire to beat Terry to the header and nod home.
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His third, 5 minutes later, came in incredibly comical fashion. A ball fell to Ivanovic in our backline. He walloped his clearance directly into the back of Mahamadou Diarra’s head, almost knocking him off his feet, and the ball rebounded back kindly for Ings to hit on the turn and volley home. Real instinct’s goal from Ings there.
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At this point I was, I’m sure you can imagine, less than impressed and told the guys so in no uncertain terms. I also changed the shape up a little as we were being abused through the middle. After that we started to improve and on 56 minutes we gave ourselves a way back into the game when Musonda got on the end of a Drogba through ball and finished from close range.
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From that point we were the dominant side and really were unlucky not to at least get one more goal to really put the pressure on. Turf Moor though at this time of the year and in inclement weather isn’t the easiest place to play and we wound up finishing 3-1 losers.
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Some tough results to take there mate unlucky! Izzy Brown seems to be doing alright though!
 
Sam91 said:
Some tough results to take there mate unlucky! Izzy Brown seems to be doing alright though!
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Thanks mate - I was going through your 'Youth First' story the other day and my Izzy Brown isn't quite as good as yours!! Because I have so few coaches he really hasn't quite taken off stats wise like that for me but is performing very well.
 
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7 March 2015



Lose a battle to win the war



Right now I just want a 7 day break between fixtures – is that too much to ask? We had an FA cup tie next against Palace on only a few days rest so we rung up the changes. This was a very inexperienced squad yet it still took a monumental management blunder (or was it??) from me to allow Palace the victory.
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The game was reasonably even – the report the next day said that we were ‘carved open’ on a number of occasions, I must admit, I certainly didn’t see it the way. In fact I thought we had actually created the better opportunities and it wasn’t until the late in the 2nd half that Palace actually got on top. This only came about because by the time Ivanovic was forced from the field in the 89th minute I had already made 3 subs and as such had to play a man down.


Frankly, not really wanting a replay, I changed to 3 at the back and sent the guys on looking for a winner. My plan was to do anything, even lose, to avoid a replay – and I got my wish. In the 2nd minute of injury time Jordan Mutch strode through the middle of the park and slotted home from around from around 12 yrds out.
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There was a picture of me in the paper the next day clenching my fist saying “York dismayed at late goal”, really I was actually celebrating a bit not having to worry about another round in a competition we are never going to win…
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11 March 2015



I’ll take it



Not really sure where this result came from today. We faced West Brom at Stamford Bridge and, despite them have far more of the ball and shots, we smashed them… I aint complainin’ though!


13 minutes was all it took for us to get on the board. West Brom had half cleared a corner but the ball made its way to Musondu lurking in the area with intent. He took a touch to steady himself and unleashed a drive on goal that, although Foster was able to get hands too, couldn’t be kept out.
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7 Minutes later and we had (relatively) new signing Ebert to thank for going two up. He went a run down the right that mesmerized the Baggies backline as he cut in and shaped to shot both central defenders and the goalkeepers raced over to stop him and he then had the simple task of rolling the ball across to Drogba for the tap in. Glorious stuff from the German winger.
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Ebert then got on the scoresheet himself. Another well worked move resulted in Ebert picking up the ball just inside the area. He sent a stinging shot goalward, Foster vainly attempted to parry with his hands but he couldn’t raise them quick enough and the ball ricocheted in off his face!!
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The rout was complete just after half time when Boga was chopped down when clear in the box. I was a litte aggrieved that a red card wasn’t shown to the offender Gamboa but given we were in no real danger of losing this one I kept my mouth shut. Baker sent Foster the wrong way from the spot to seal all 3 points.
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West Brom was probably the better side from that point on but didn’t really create any amazing chances. I was really happy with the performance of my central defensive pairing Bonera and Terry who were extremely solid today. Good win.
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14 March 2015



Better late than never



Leicester, sitting bottom of the table, were our next opponents and given this match was at Stamford Bridge no one was giving them much chance of getting a result. As it turned out they really gave us a scare.


Although we were looking them most likely to score we were having some serious trouble creating good chances and just after the half hour mark paid for our profligacy. With us on the attack deep in the Leicester half it seems we might be the ones to break the deadlock but a mistimed pass allowed the Foxes to clear the ball to Kramaric, he then went on a run that we didn’t deal with well at all before finding a streaking Drinkwater who stabbed his shot past Blackman.
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From that point on the game was a very frustrating one for me personally as we created many chances but wasted them all. In fact, it wasn’t until the 86th minute that we evened things up. A free kick was lofted into the Leicester penalty area. De Laet got to the ball and attempted to head it away but his clearance fell invitingly to Hendry Thomas who unleashed a tremendous volley on goal. Kesper Schmeichel did very well to keep it out but the rebound sat up for Boga to slot home and give the home crowd life.
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By this time we had changed shape and Musonda was being used as a pure attacking midfielder. He was seeing lots of the ball and when he picked up a pass 1 minute into injury time just outside the area the noise leave around Stamford Bridge rose. He dribbled past his marker before propping once just in the area, he then curled a delightful shot around Schmiechel and the crowd went wild. Great goal for someone who is fast becoming a fan favorite.
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Its games like this that prove the Premier League is one of the most exciting leagues in the world the 20th placed side took a side sitting 7th coming into this all the way.
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This result also took us to 6th spot (albeit only temporarily most likely) which is fantastic given we only have 8 games to play. Looking at the table we are towards the top of our ‘expected finish range’ disclosed in the Financial Summary so that is very good. We are also 15 points clear of Stoke who sit 11th at this point meaning at the very least our expected ‘Worst Case’ finish is almost now guaranteed and we can focus on finishing as high as possible.
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This is a fantastic story and as a Chelsea fan it's so weird to see players like Ebert playing for us but you've done such a detailed and great job with this story! Really happy that youngsters such as Brown, Musonda and Baker have done well for you - where Loftus-Cheek out of curiosity? He's been v good in my previous saves on the game
 
SeanKeaney said:
This is a fantastic story and as a Chelsea fan it's so weird to see players like Ebert playing for us but you've done such a detailed and great job with this story! Really happy that youngsters such as Brown, Musonda and Baker have done well for you - where Loftus-Cheek out of curiosity? He's been v good in my previous saves on the game
Click to expand...

Ruben had a horror run with injuries to start the season unfortunately and is only getting back into properly now. He's first man up off the bench usually though and I will be using hin as much as possible in the run in.
 
Can i just take a couple of minutes to say wow. I'm a huge fan of what you've done here. I actually came upon this continuing from your previous oss-frankfurt-spurs save and as disappointed as i was that story went on a break im glad you found time to create this. I work in financial services as well and i fully get what you're trying to do
I had a similar attenpt with man City about 6 months ago but i got fired because i lost points for selling my best players and not buying enough high profile stars. Never thought to do it this way so hat's off. Finally, the level of detail is just astounding. The screenshots, the depth, analysis etc is truly top drawer, so great job mate, absolutely brilliant
 
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21 March 2015



Welsh Walkover



Disappointing day here in South Wales. Swansea were by far the better side and really we were lucky to only lose by one.


Gylfi Sigurdsson got them underway with a tick over 20 gone, nipping in and heading home from a Dyer cross.
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Swansea were two up shortly after – Dyer found a few meters of space in the area and use them to full effect, working enough room to shoot into the top corner. Good finish.
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We changed things up at the break and tried to push on a little more but that only played into Swansea’s hands as Tom Carroll caught us out and finished on the break. 3 nil with an hour or so gone.
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We got a lifeline around 5 minutes later when young central defender Andreas Christensen scored his first goal of the campaign getting on the end of a Boga cross.
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Our youngsters continued to be our best players and our best on the day, Lewis Baker, got his reward in the 85th minute when he scored a goal that will be a contender for goal of the season at the end of the year.
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Unfortunately though it was a bit too late and we fell short in our comeback attempt. Fair play to Swansea though – they were good value for their 3 points today.
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karan10489 said:
Can i just take a couple of minutes to say wow. I'm a huge fan of what you've done here. I actually came upon this continuing from your previous oss-frankfurt-spurs save and as disappointed as i was that story went on a break im glad you found time to create this. I work in financial services as well and i fully get what you're trying to do
I had a similar attenpt with man City about 6 months ago but i got fired because i lost points for selling my best players and not buying enough high profile stars. Never thought to do it this way so hat's off. Finally, the level of detail is just astounding. The screenshots, the depth, analysis etc is truly top drawer, so great job mate, absolutely brilliant
Click to expand...


Thanks mate - glad you're enjoying it!
 
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4 April 2015



Big Sam can suck a fat one…



I know my young guys are going to be pushed around a bit but today was just ridiculous. Jose used the term “19th Century Football” to describe the tactics of West Ham last season – well this was caveman stuff. Sam sent his team out with one mission – to injure as many of our guys as possible.
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We got ourselves off to a wonderful start here. Boga dancing through the Hammers defense and finishing with aplomb.
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Against the run of the play then Enner Valencia equalized for West Ham, turning in an Amalfitano cross.
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We were back in front minutes later when Drogba curled one around Adrian, delightful goal.
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Despite our second goal coming with only 16 minutes played that’s the way the game finished – we were by far the better side though.
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I wasn’t happy after the match – I told Sam off as we shook hands and wasn’t backward in coming forward in my press conference either…
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