Profit making challenge

Pre-season


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A pretty straight forward pre-season really. We were expected to win all the games and apart from one goalless draw we thumped everyone!
Most impressively was the amount of goal which we scored! 18 goals in just 5 games works out at over 3 and a half goals a game!
Kevin Gameiro managed 11 of these goals including 2 hattricks.

The rest of the pre-season was made up of managers moving around:

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After guiding England to their first piece of silverware since 1966, manager Roy Hodgson decides to leave the job on a high!
Its not yet confirmed what Hogdson's plans are after his role with the national side, however sources close to the former Fulham manager say his intention is to retire and dine out on his recent success.

Holland, Italy and Spain also parted company with their managers.


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All 3 national sides have declared interest in appointing Tottenham manager, Glenn Hoddle.

Holland parted company with Jan Jensen after a dissappointing European Championships in which they were knocked out of the tournament at the quarter final stage by eventual winners, England.

Italy were another team intereted in appointing Hoddle, Italy were too knocked out at the Quarter final stage, by Switzerland. Italy sacked Antonio Conte after a disappointing Euro's.

Spain were probably the biggest underachievers of the whole tournament after losing in the second round to eventual finalists, Turkey. Unsurprisingly Spain then sacked Vincente Del Bosque.

Hoddle has rejected all 3 job offers stating that his current job at White Hart Lane requires his full attention as they aim to retain the Premier League and make their mark on the European stage.




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Engalnd eventually went on to hire former Man Utd manager Laurent Blanc.
Blanc only managed one season at Old Trafford before being harshly sacked for not winning the league. Expectation is now high for the national side!

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Quite a surprising choice as Manchester City appoint former Crystal Palace and most recently Aston Villa manager to replace Rafa Benitez who lasted just 11 months in charge. City failed to qualify for the Champions League last season which forced the board's hand.

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Man Utd were yet again looking for a new manager after parting company with Laurent Blanc. Man Utd opted for former Germany manager Joachin Low. The demands are high with the Man Utd board and will demand Low brings them the league title within his first season.

 
August 2016

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After all the pre-season and commnity shield is out the way we turned our attention to the Premier League.

The fixture list was fairly kind to us, drawing up 3 fairly easy games to start the defence of our title.

We start the month with an away trip to face Burnley.


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Fabio Borini (5) Wilfried Zaha (6)
Kevin Gameiro (14)
Christian Erikson (19)

Burnley took a shock 1-0 lead after just 5 minutes before the star of last season shon yet again, Wilfried Zaha bagging a leveller just a minute later.
Kevin Gameiro then put us 2-1 up before Christian Erikson bagged the 3rd to confirm all the 3 points in the first game of the season.

We then had our fist home game of the season, against Stoke:

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Phil Jagielka (12)
Kevin Gameiro (25)

A much more confortable win came here. A good 2-0 win against a difficult Stoke side. Goals from Phil Jagielka and Kevin Gameiro bagged all 3 points.

Another away game in which we were expected to win came next:

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Kevin Gameiro (Pen 78)

A pretty nervy win here which looked to sizzle out for a bore-draw before Wilfried Zaha took on his full back and won a clear penalty. Inform Kevin Gameiro duly stuck the spot kick away to bag his 3rd goal in his 3rd game.


After 3 wins in 3 games we find ourselves in joint top spot.

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We stay in second though due to Man City having a superior goal difference. Very early days but its always good to start with a couple of wins.
 
September 2016

September brought some much tougher fixtures than August did, the toughest was the come first ... a home game against last years runners up, Man Utd

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James Ward-Prowse (23) Juan Mata (24
Kevin Gameiro (26)

A fantastic win for the lads.

James Ward-Prowse scoring his first goal for the club to put us 1-0 up before Juan Mata equalised a minute later. Kevin Gameiro the rounded off the mad 3 minutes which saw us re-take the lead through a defensive mistake from old boy Jan Vertonghen.​

After the Man Utd result we awaiting the Champions league draw to determine our group opponents:

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Tottenham, last seasons Quarter Finalist have been drawn against Zenit, BMG and Fenerbache.

This should be a fairly straight forward group for us to progress in, i cant see any of these really causing us too many issues.

We start our Champions League campaign with an away trip to Turkey to face Fenerbache.


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Emmanuel Eminike (85) Kevin Gameiro (Pen 4)
Moussa Sow (87) Wilfried Zaha (39,59)
Dele Alli (49)

A very good start to this seasons champions league. In truth, this 4-2 victory flattered Fenerbache slightly as we were totally dominant and conceeded 2 late goals after already being 4-0 up.
Goals from Kevin Gameiro, Wilfried Zaha and Dele Alli put us 3-0 up before Wilfried Zaha grabbed his second to put the game beyond doubt.​

After this great win, we returned to league action to face an in-form Liverpool side:

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Mario Balotelli (Pen 55,64) Phil Jagielka (red card)
Raheem Sterling (68)

What a disappinting result!
We were neck and neck up until Phil Jagielka was sent off on the 54th minute, in the process giving Mario Balotteli an apportunity to take the lead from the penalty spot. Balotteli then went on to double the lead before Sterling rounded off proceedings to make it 3.

This ends our unbeaten record this season.​

After this shocker, we enter into the League Cup at the 3rd round stage:

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Nabil Bentaleb (54)
Liam Moore (red card)

Another disappointing result and performance.

This was a much changed side with Kaderabek, Moore, Ben Davies, Xavi, Danny Ings and Andy Carroll all got starts. We never really clicked and stumbled to a 1-0 win thanks to a goal from Nabil Bentaleb.
This isn't a competition we're taking that seriously but I really wanted to go through here after the Liverpool loss.​

After stumbling through into the 4th round of the club we turn our attentions back to the league:

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Wilfried Zaha (8,70)

A fairly routine victory here, a brace from Wilfried Zaha bagged the points. Zaha really is continuing his great form from last season, and we need him to at the minute!

The last game of the month sees a home game against BMG in the Champions League:

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Phil Jagielka (8)
Kevin Gameiro (20)
Christian Erikson (41)

Another straight forward victory.

Phil Jagielka opened the scoring before Kevin Gameiro continued his great form to doubled the lead. Christian Erikson the rounded off the scoring just before half time.
The last couple of games have seen us starting to hit our best form, we've got a long way to go though to match last season.

​

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The end of September sees us drop slightly behind leaders Man City by just 1 point. Its our goal difference thats really struggling so far, already we're 7 goals behind the leaders.



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Awesome read and congratulations on all your successes.

I hope this story continues for a long time.
 
Bullardinho said:
Is this story over now?
Click to expand...


BiggieD said:
Awesome read and congratulations on all your successes.

I hope this story continues for a long time.
Click to expand...

Sorry guys! Had a while off both the game and in particular this save! Will be posting an update and probably a catch up tonight. Hope you've not all forgotten the story and the great success we've had :)
 
Right then, followers of this story will have seen that I haven't posted on here for a while. This is down to me concentrating on another save and just generally falling out of love with both the game and the save. But a quick read of the story got me excited about it and made me want to continue ... so, here I am.


After a while away, I thought i'd give everyone a bit of an update as i appreciate you may have forgotten part of this journey.


SEASON 1



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So the first season we managed a 3rd place finish in the Premier League and also managed to claim both the League Cup and the Europa League. We also got to the semi final of the FA cup but lost the wembley tie against Aston Villa.

Player of the season: Andros Townsend / Christian Erikson
Christian Erikson managed to win the Premier League young player of the year award in our first season after some great performances.
Andros Townsend also put in some great performances which i wasn't really expecting. He scored 10 goals and gt 6 assists in 28 games from right wing.

Profit made on transfers: £14.9 million.
As a large part of this story is to do with finances, it was pleasing to bring in just short of £15 million is profit on just transfer dealings. This was largely thanks the sales of Robert Soldado for £10 million, Adebayor for £7million and Capoue for £10 million.


Season 2

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We also got further success by winning the European Super Cup against Champions League winners, Real Madrid. We really didn't expect to win but Madrid were poor on the day and we took full advantage.

After a great first season, our second year was even better! Winning our very first Premier League title!! We also managed another League cup success. Almost as pleasing as our Premier League form however was our run in the Champions League where we got all the way to the Quarter Final stage where we eventually lost to Barcelona.


Player of the season: Wilfried Zaha.
Zaha had the season of his life in my second season in charge! Signed on an initial loan (which has now been made permanent) Zaha bagged 17 goals and 7 assists in 36 games from right wing. To cap off his great season, Zaha then went to lift the European Champiosnhips with England and claimed the best player of the tournament award.

Profit made on transfers: £26 million.
An even bigger profit made in season 2 which was helped by selling Nacer Chadli for £7.5million, Andre Hahn for £11million and Stambouli for £5.5million.

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This table shows that we only need to win the FA cup and the Champions League before we've won all the big domestic competitions (how hard can it be!!). Lets see if our 3rd season will be the one!




After just 6 games played in the 3rd season, we find ourselves in 2nd place on the same points as leaders Man City!
We also won the community shield with a 2-0 win over FA cup winners, Hull and find ourselves top of our Champions League group. We are also still going strong in the League cup thanks to a 3rd round win over Leyton Orient.


Hopefully this brings us all to speed and you'll continue to follow !!​
 
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October 2016

After a pretty good September, we had a fairly comfortable start to October 2016:

View attachment 281851 Wilfried Zaha (2) Britt Assombalonga (37)
Bernard (43)

A pretty confortable win here against newly promoted Nottingham Forest. Goals from Wilfried Zaha and new signing Bernard bagged us the important 3 points.


View attachment 281850 Kevin Gameiro (1,10) Abel Hernandez (3)
Wilfried Zaha (13)
Bernard (36,89)
Dele Alli (37)

What a fantastic win!​
One of the biggest wins of my rein, a 6-1 win over Hull. A very early brace from in-form striker, Kevin Gameiro got us off to a great start. Hull drew level after just 3 minutes before we really took over and gained control. Wilfried Zaha then put us further in front with yet another goal to his name. Bernard then grabbed his first of the day just before Dele Alli grabbed the 5th. Bernard then capped off the performance with his brace and our 6th.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE:

View attachment 281843 Phil Jagielka (18)
Bernard (62)

Back to the Champions League with a tough game against Russian side, Zenit. We were totally in control and never looked back after Jags put us 1-0 up after just 18 minutes. Bernard then continued his good form with his 4th goal in games.
This also makes is 5 wins in a row in all competition.


View attachment 281840 Adrian Mierzejewski (51) Andros Townsend (6)
Shinji Okazaki (90) Phil Jones (14)
Liam Moore (71)

A good win but not a great performance. For the first time in a while we looked shaky at the back, although both Phil Jones and Liam Moore did get on the scoresheet. On the whole we played okay but need to do much better if our good run is to continue.

LEAGUE CUP:
View attachment 281853 Jack Hobbs (44)

Our first defeat in 6 games comes in the league cup against newly promoted Nottingham Forest. We beat Forest recently in the league but a slightly weaker team was put out and we paid the price for it.


View attachment 281834 Eden Hazard (18)
Diego Costa (74)

Our first really tough game of the month, and we really didnt fair very well.
A poor 2-0 defeat against London rivals, Chelsea. Chelsea were well and truly dominant and fully deserved their victory.

After another pretty good month, we find ourselves in 2nd place in the league:

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Man City are in front of us just thanks to their goal difference. Chelsea are also catching up after their recent win over us, they are now just a point behind us both.

The main disappointment this month was the defeat in the League cup which knocks us out at the 4th round stage. We've had great success in the League Cup in both seasons so it was a shame to be beaten so early on!

Next month is a short one with a couple of difficult games against Fenerbache in the Champions League and Man City in the Premier League.
 
November 2016

After a disappointing end to October, November started even worse!!

View attachment 281501 Hulk (7,35,88) Kevin Gameiro (pen 90)

A 3-1 defeat away to Zenit ended our 100% record in this seasons Champions League. In truth, we were very poor and couldn't cope with Hulk who went on to score a great hattrick.
We still find ourselves top of the group with games against Fenerbache (home) and BMG (away).


View attachment 281499 Cristian Tello (2)

Back to the Premier League and back to winning ways!
Cristian Tello with the only goal of the game. We still didn't look great but did enough against a very average Southampton side. Cristian Tello also missed a penalty just after the break.


View attachment 281498 Liam Moore (69)

Back to back 1-0 wins keep title hopes alive!
Consecutive 1-0 wins keeps our momentum going in the league as we challenge to retain the title. Again, we we'rent great but we didn't need to be against this Cardiff side. Young center back, Liam Moore with the only goal of the game.


View attachment 281497 Cristian Tello (8)

And that makes it 3 in a row!
A third 1-0 win in a row, this time in the Champions League, secures our qualification from group C. We have 1 more game left away against BMG where the result is almost irrelevant. Again, Tello getting the only goal of the game. The on loan Barca man is really coming into his own this month.

View attachment 281495 Dele Alli (25)
Aymeric Laporte OG (82)

Spurs shine in toughest test of the month!
Tottenham finally click after a couple of nervy performances in recent weeks. In the month's first real test, Spurs show what their really made of. Dele Alli bagged the opener before Laporte scored an embarrasing own goal. This is the game where everything really clicked and we looked the team we did last season.


View attachment 281492 Bernard (36,46)
Kevin Gameiro (51)
Phil Jagielka (75)

Spurs finish off group stage in style!
The final group game of this seasons Champions League was finished off in style by inform Tottenham. An early brace from Bernard put us on our way before Kevin Gameiro put us 3-0 up. Center back, Phil Jagielka then killed the game off with 15 minutes to go by making it 4-0. This is also Tottenham's 5th clean sheet in a row.



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A great month in the end following the disastrous start against Zenit. We didn't really get going until the 2-0 win against our nearest title challengers Man City. 5 wins in a row (all with clean sheets) cant really be complained about.




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After such a good month, we find ourselves 4 points clear at the top of the league! After defeating Man City they've fallen all the way down to 4th with both Liverpool and Chelsea overtaking them and becoming our nearest challengers.



Our good month was also recognised with a couple of individual awards:

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First of all, Delli Alli comes 3rd in the young player of the month award, finishing just behind Raheem Sterling and Will Hugges.
It was a great period for Alli who has really established himself as a first team player this season.



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Also, our 100% league record in November ensured the manager of the month award was also won. 3 wins and 3 clean sheets including the 6 pointer against Man City.
 
December 2016

After a cracking November we entered the final month of the year with a couple of potential banana skins coming up:

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Balde Keita (90+2) Bernard (87)

The winning run ends!
A 1-1 draw against Everton means our 5 game winning run ends! When Bernard put us 1-0 up with just 3 minutes to go i thought the game was won but we couldn't stop Keita bagging a late equaliser.

View attachment 281171 Tom Cleverley (9) Chris Brunt (84)
Kevin Gameiro (22,49)
Christian Erikson (75)

Back to winning ways!
A very comfortable 4-1 home win against a poor West Brom side. Tom Cleverley got us on our way by putting us 1-0 inside 1- minutes. Kevin Gameiro then bagged a brace to really ensure the points were ours. Christian Erikson then capped off a great performance to make it 4.

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Kevin Gameiro (Pen 15) Remy Cabella (Pen 27)
Bernard (22,41) Moussa Sissoko (62)
Wilfried Zaha (33)
Christian Erikson (52)
Harry Kane (72)

What a win!
This has to be one of our best performances of the season! A thumping 6-2 win over Newcastle who in truth really didn't offer too much.
Kevin Gameiro got us on our way with an early penalty before Bernard scored his first to double the lead. Remy Cabella then netting a penalty of his own after a clumsy challenge by Liam Moore. Wilfried Zaha then re-established our 2 goal lead with a close range finish before Christian Erikson made it 4 and surely put the game beyond doubt.
Newcastle then came back into it thanks to a great solo goal from Sissoko before forgotten man Harry Kane made it 6. Kane has struggled this season but impressed during his brief appearance here.


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Derby disappointment!
A drab 0-0 draw away at fierce rivals Arsenal. It was a pretty boring game with very few chances to mention. We were poor but were cancelled out by an equally poor Arsenal side.​

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Christian Erikson (73,83)
Kevin Gameiro (90)

Back on track!
After the dissapointment of the Arsenal draw, we were back to our best away against a decent Swansea side. A brace by Christian Erikson helped us on our way before Kevin Gameiro continued his good form to secure the 3 points.

View attachment 281165Kevin Gameiro (44, 65,81)
Wilfried Zaha (55)

Another good win!
A 4-0 win against a struggling Middlesbrough side. A great hattrick by Kevin Gameiro helped us on our way to holding onto top spot in the league. A great solo goal from Wilfried Zaha put further gloss on the victory.

​
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A great month which we finished unbeaten with 5 wins in 7 games.

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After such an impressive month we finish the year 5 points above nearest challengers, Chelsea! With 20 games played, we're now more than half way through the season and the title defence is looking good!

During December, we found out who our opponent would be in the Champions League 1st knockout round:

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We managed to get a fairly favourable draw in the 1st round with a tie against Benfica. As we won the group we avoided the big guns, Madrid, Bayern, Madrid and Juventus.
This draw should be fairly winnable!


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After winning the manager of the month award award last month, I came third the following month too, just finishing behind Joachim Low at Man Utd and Jose Mourinho at Chelsea.


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Kevin Gameiro was in great form and won the premier league player of the year award. He managed 7 goals in 6 games and helped us to an unbeaten month.
Christian Erikson was also mentioned for the award and came third beihnd Eden Hazard of Chelsea.

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Dele Alli also had a great month and just finished second behind Bald Keita in the young player of the year award. Alli is really coming into his own now after a great start to the season.
 
January 2017


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3 wins in a row!

After a great December, it was important we carried our form off, and we sure did against a decent Stoke side. Winger, Bernard got the only goal of the game and put in a great performance yet again!​

After a winning start in the Premier League, our attentions turned to the FA cup:

FA CUP 3rd round

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5 of the best!

A very confortable 5-0 win over League 2 side Wycombe. Wycombe currently occupy one of the play off spots in League 2 but were no match for a rampant Tottenham side. Goals from Dele Alli, Mousa Dembele, Harry Kane and a brace from Christian Tello ensured our name goes into the hat for the 4th round. ​

Back to the Premier League:

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Bit shaky!

We really weren't at our best here but a solatary goal from Andros Townsend got the important win. Townsend came into the side following an injury to in-form Wilfried Zaha and capped his start with the winning goal. The result could have had further gloss had Kevin Gameiro not missed an early penalty. ​

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Again, we weren't great but still managed to get the win. Bernard with a brace and a man of the match performance. Although we aren't playing great, we've still had 7 clean sheets in a row in all competition. ​

FA Cup 4th round:

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The winning run comes to an end!

Once again, we're knocked out the FA cup at a fairly early stage! In truth we were rubbish and didn't deserve anything. We possibly made too many changes but even so, the side we put out should be beating West Brom. ​


After the disappointement of the FA cup loss, we now face back to back games against Man Utd and Liverpool:

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2 goal lead slip!

What an absolute shocker!! 2-0 up and f***ed it up. We looked really good for the opening 15/20 minutes and took a 2 goal lead with goals from Gameiro and Erikson. Then all of sudden Man Utd turned a switched and we just couldn't cope! First Antonio Candreva pulled one back before Falcao grabbed a brace to ensure Man Utd closed the gap.​


We now face an equally tough game against Liverpool. Here's what the table looks like before this 6 pointer:

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This just shows how big this Liverpool game is, we're currently 6 points clear but Liverpool can halve the lead in one afternoon. We also can't write Man Utd off after beating us and closing the gap to just 7 points.


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Another poor display leads to defeat!

Another loss! I can't remember when we last suffered 3 defeats in a row (if ever) in this save! Something has to change before we blow our title hopes altogether. ​

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The fans seem to be over reacting slightly to what is 3 defeats in a row. Since Hoddle took charge, the fans have only celebrated so they've forgotten what the bad times are like.

We really need a couple of wins ASAP.

The last game of the month is a must win against a struggling Nottingham Forest side!

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Nervy but just enough!

We still didn't play that well but we got the all important win! Wilfried Zaha back from injury and back on the scoresheet. If we're honest, Forest had chances to win the game we stood tall at the back and recorded yet another clean sheet. ​


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At the end of the month we finish 5 points cleat of Liverpool and 7 points clear of Man Utd. We've slipped up a few times recently but are still clear at the top. If we can get a few wins on the bounce then we'll feel much better.
 
Glad to see this is back again and your Tottenham team are still going strong!!
 
Just caught up with this. A very interesting experiment and looks to be going well so far.

Good luck! :)
 
February 2017


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Another nervy performance!

This was very similar to the previous Nottingham Forest game where we won 1-0. We just did enough here against a struggling Aston Villa side. Goals from Kevin Gameiro and Wilfried Zaha won us the game but it could have been a different story.​


Champions League 1st knockout round

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Important away goals!

This was a pretty even game and in truth the result could have been anything. Benfica went 1-0 from an own goal from Tom Cleverley before Gameiro came to the rescue and levelled. We then took the lead through another own goal, this time from Pablo Aguilar with 20 odd minutes to go.
Just as we thought we'd take them back to the lane 2-1 up, Manu Trigueros pulled it level in injury time meaning we just take a slim advantage of the 2 away goals.​


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Champions League hangover!

A really disappointing result against Leeds who are punching above their weight in the top half of the division. Kevin Gameiro once again scored to put us 1-0 up before Adrian Mierzejewski levelled from a great free kick.​

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Unfortunately, after the Leeds game we suffered an injury to top goalscorer Kevin Gameiro who looks like he'll be out for 3 weeks or so. It will be between Kane and Ings as to who takes his chance for the next few games.

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Thats more like it!

We really went for it here and stuck 2 up front along with the wingers pushed forward in the hope of just overpowering a poor Hull side. From minute 1 we were by far the better team with Dele Alli running the show from midfield. And it was Alli who got the opener from the edge of the box. Center half, Phil Jones then doubled the lead with a good finish from a corner. The 2 strikers then grabbed a goal each, first up Harry Kane scored a great header from a Zaha cross before Ings bagged in the 4th.​


View attachment 280304
A decent month where we won 2 and drew 2. The draw against Leeds was really disappointing as i felt we should have won that but the other results I'm fairly happy with.



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Joachim Low of Manchester Utd won February's manager of the month award for the 3rd month in a row after winning all 3 games in the month. Glenn Hoddle came second with the draw against Leeds the only result letting us down.


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It was a great month too for Dele Alli who duly picked up the young player of the month award after some brilliant performances. I'm a little surprised how well Alli is doing but he's fast becoming one of the most important players of the team and is keeping Cleverley, Xavi, Shelvey, Dembele and Bentaleb out the team.

 
March 2017

Champions League 1st knockout round

View attachment 280254

We're through!!
A really good win against a good Benfica team who took us all the way in the away leg. Phil Jones bagged a brace either side of a Bernard strike which put us 2-0 up inside 10 minutes. Jones has now scored 3 goals in 2 games, maybe he should start playing upfront. It'll be interesting to see who we draw in the Quarters.

Back to the Premier League and straight into a 6 pointer!!

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Advantage Chelsea!
This was really disappointed, we've really struggled against the top teams this season which is a shame as this was a real strength of ours last season. We almost got back into it but left it too late before Liam Moore got 1 back. This now puts Chelsea right back in the title hunt alongside nearest challengers, Man Utd.


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Worst performance of the season!
I was really aggressive here and went 2 upfront which was probably a mistake as Southampton dominated possession and were far the better side. At 3-1 down with 10 minutes to go we shoved everyone forward and in the hope of rescuing a point, we got one back but were so open that Southampton easily carved us open again. This now puts a title defence as unlikely with Man Utd and Chelsea only a couple of points behind with games in hand.

View attachment 280250

Thats more like it!
A much better formance against a pretty poor Cardiff side. Again we went gung-ho and very agressive as we've nothing to lose in the hunt for the title now. Danny Ings has been pretty poor since being brought into the side so i dropped him for Federico Bonazzolli who duly score 2 goals and rightly will keep the shirt. Zaha also got back to scoring ways with a brace before Bernard wrapped it up. This takes us just 2 points behind Man Utd having played the same amount of games with Chelsea just a point behind us with a game in hand.

View attachment 280247

Winning the league is now probaby unlikely, for us to stand any chance we're going to have to win all our games and hope both Utd and Chelsea slip up just once. We've all got tough games in which we're capable of losing points:

OUR FIXTURES:
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MAN UTD FIXTURES:
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CHELSEA FIXTURES
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I would say that Man Utd have the easiest run in with the Arsenal game the only difficult one on paper. Our fixtures are pretty similar to those of Chelsea's so its going to be close between now and the end of the season.

In other news this month, Man City have sacked manager, Tony Pulis after less than a year in charge . . .

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Pulis had failed to impress at Man City leaving the side 7th in the league and unlikely to qualify for the Champions League.

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Now I must have missed Guardiola getting the sack at Bayern but he must have done as he now tries his luck in England with Man City.

 
April 2017

With the title blown wide open in recent weeks, the main 3 challengers were all in action:

View attachment 280018

We had the advantage here with the late kick off so we knew how Man Utd and Chelsea faired in their games. It gave us such a boost when we saw both had unexpectedly lost. Man Utd's loss was the one game i thought they might slip up in so it was much needed for us. It was a real surprise for Chelsea to lose so comprehensively to mid table Nottingham Forest.
All the pressure is now on for us to beat Man City so we can reclaim top spot with just 6 games to go.

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Best result of the season!

With the amount of pressure we were under this was by far the best result of the season. We started nervy and allowed Silva to drift infield unchallenged before he struck low and hard beyond the goalie. We then really kicked on and Ward-Prowse got us back in it just before half time. We then absolutely blew them away in the second half where Gameiro put us in front before Phil Jones made sure of the win late on.​

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This now has to make us favorite for the title with us a point clear and just 6 games to go. Win all our games and we'll retain the title. The defeats to Man Utd and Chelsea bring in Liverpool into the title hunt who are now only 3 points behind us.

This was pretty much the perfect weekend for us !!

Champions League

I forgot to mention the quarter final draw in my previous post:

View attachment 280015

So, as you can see the draw hasn't exactly been kind as we've drawn against Spanish champions Real Madrid with us playing the home leg first.

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I'm actually pretty pleased with this as we matched Real Madrid all game. We were probably even the better side and Madrid keeper, Casillas was named man of the match which shows our dominance. I was just pleased to keep a clean sheet as an away goal would have probably sealed the tie already as i cant see us scoring twice at the Bernabeu.​

Back to league action and a very winnable game against West Brom

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Wasted opportunity!

2 dropped points here puts Man Utd back in pole position, 1 point clear of us and 3 clear of Chelsea who have a game in hand. Our afternoon wasn't made easy when Phil Jones was sent off after just 19 minutes. We eventually went on to take the lead but a great strike from Brown Ideye levelled it for West Brom. We now have to rely on Man Utd slipping up with just 5 games to go.​

Champions League

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Real Madrid really showed their dominance here! They dominated the whole game from start to finish and really deserved this win. I thought we had a chance when Gameiro tucked away his penalty to make it 2-1, that meant we only needed one more with the away goal rule. But only minutes later, Jese struck Madrid's third and sent them through to the semi's where they'll play Liverpool.​

Back to league action and another must win against a decent Everton side:

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This puts the pressure back on the chasing pack!

We were a little nervy and didn't play that well but at this stage of the season its all about grinding out results! The bad news is that both Man Utd and Chelsea also both won meaning we stay 3rd, 1 point behind Man Utd.​

Just before the crucial north London derby we had some terrible news!

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This is gutting, Lloris has been great this season but will be out until about September so misses the all important run in. This leaves Vorm as the only other option.


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Another great win!

A man of the match performance from Wilfried Zaha got us the win here against a good Arsenal side. This again puts the pressure on the other teams as we won the early kick off. Liverpool and Man Utd both had failry comfortable wins in the 3 o clock kick offs but it was Chelsea who dropped points in the late game against Man City.​

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After all this we finish April in second place, just a point behind Man Utd with 3 games to go. My biggest concern is that Man Utd's final 3 games are all pretty easy with a home game against Stoke followed by two away trips to Burnley and Watord.

The draw against West Brom has really harmed us here as it's no longer in our hands and we rely on Man Utd slipping up.
 
The run in 2017

After putting all the pressure on Man Utd last month it was really important we kept doing so and be ready to cash in if they slip up in the remaining 3 games.

Just before the final 3 games though, our job was made even worse!!

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Our only fit goalkeeper, Michel Vorm is out of the run in with a twisted wrist. With Jordan Archer out on loan and Brad Friedel retiring last season it means we'll be relying on 19 year old Thomas Glover who's currently in the under 19 squad.

Just what we want for a title run in !!


View attachment 280007
Title hopes gone!

What a shocking result!! It's probably a bit unfair of me to blame the young keeper for this result but he wasn't great. We started well with Kevin Gameiro scoring after just 2 minutes before Ki equalised. Laim Moore was then shown second yellow to make the job even tougher! We pushed everyone forward in the hope of finding a winner and were caught on the break from a Gomis winner. ​

This puts us out the title picture now with both Man Utd and Chelsea winning.

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We've secured a top 4 finish but can't see us getting any higher than that. We need Man Utd to lose both their remaining games and Chelsea to lose one. As it stands i cant even see us winning our last two.

View attachment 280004

Players have gone on early holiday!

Newcastle were the team and deserved the 3 points here. The players must have realised that their title hopes had gone and there wasn't much to play for. Again the young goalie, Glover didnt shine. ​

This is the weekend Man Utd actually won the league with us losing and Chelsea also losing away to Everton! They reclaim the league after a 3 year break.


View attachment 280003
A much changed Tottenham side struggle to draw with Middlesbrough here. Zaha got the opener but Harry Chapman equalised for Boro shortly after. We rested a lot of the big players here and gave youth an option in this nothing game.

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Man Utd ended up winning the league fairly comfortably after our collapse at the end at Chelsea also drawing their last game. In the end their lead was 7 points.
The draw Middlesbrough earned against us wasnt enough to keep them up as they join Hull and Cardiff in the relegation zone.

 
HODDLE QUITS TOTTENHAM

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Sky sources say that Tottenham boss, Glenn Hoddle has quit his job after 3 years in charge. ​

Hoddle brought instant success to Tottenham by landing the League cup in his first season followed by European success by winning the Europa League in the same season.

Hoddle then went on to claim Tottenham's first ever Premier League title where they finished 6 points in front of Man Utd.

Hoddle also had success in the Champions League where he led his side to consecutive Quarter finals where they narrowly lost to Barcelona and Real Madrid in consecutive years.

Hoddle brought more silverware in his second season by beating Real Madrid in the Super Cup.

Hoddle brought Tottenham all this success whilst bringing in more than £60 million in profit on transfers.

It is not yet known whether Hoddle will now retire or whether he'll look for a new challenge. After all this success, we're sure they'll be a clamor for his signature.


More to follow . . .
 
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