Rickie Lambert - New beginnings

The good news just keeps on coming! I'm not entirely sure how its happened but Southampton are now the most reputable club in the world.

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Along with this great piece of news, young centre back Jason McCarthy has received his first England cap after being called into the confederations cup squad. Very proud of this young man.

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We were now also officially the 5th richest club in world football.

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I sat behind my desk at the Staplewood training complex, looking out of the large window that made up the whole wall of my office over the playing grounds where the Under 21s were currently training. Something had been bothering me for a while now and it was time I sorted it, which of the academy players actually had a chance of making it to the first team.

First up on the list was Matty Targett the young left back. Matt has already featured in the first time quite a bit but has been demanding more and more first team football. He is not realistically going to displace Ryan Bertrand from the first team and doesn't have enough potential for me to take a chance on him for the long run so he will leave the club.

Sam Gallagher was a tricky one. The big target man was progressing nicely and has been out on loan for the past couple of seasons, scoring 20 goals in 57 games, not a spectacular return and that was in the championship. What makes it doubly harder for Sam is that we dont utilise a tall striker in our playing system. A hard decision for me because I really like the lad and think he has talent, but I am going to have to let him go for the sake of his career.

Demarai Gray was the subject of a £9 million bid from Watford which I have decided to accept, seeing as we dont use wingers in our formation. Young striker Ryan Seager is another face leaving the club as I decided he doesnt have the potential for the first team.

It was not all doom and gloom though! 16 year old centre back Joel Colwell comes straight into the first team squad to get his chance next season. He is still extremely young and raw but what a talent this kid could be if we play our cards right. I have decided to develop him at the club rather than loaning him out for the moment and he will be mentored by Virgil Van Dijk.

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On a further note, midfielders George Mells and Foday Nabay will receive more time to prove themselves at the club as will playmaker Jake Hesketh and Centre back Oskar Cvjeticanin.
 
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I walked around the edge of the pitch at Wembley Stadium, applauding the fans that had made the journey up as they jumped up and down and celebrated. We had just won the Community Shield with a 2-1 victory over Tottenham. These fans were just incredible.

"There's only one Rickie Lambert! There's only one Rickie Lambert!! One Rickie Lambert!" Chanted the fans as I applauded them, a wide grin plastered all over my face. This was our third trophy since I took over and the fans were almost delirious.

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August Review​

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A very good start to the season! More silverware (I know its only the community shield, but still) and an unbeaten start to the season. Good wins against Derby and Stoke by considerable margins show that our attack is improving from last season.
Tables & Draws
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Not much to see so far at this point in the table with all the usual suspects at the top.

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I am not sure if the Champions League draw has been kind or cruel to us. Bayern is always a tough test and I am not sure about Shakhtar and PSV. We will be approaching this group with caution.

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A nice draw in the Capital One Cup see's us up against our local rivals Bournemouth. The board has informed me that this particular cup isn't of importance to us any more so perhaps this is a chance to field some of the younger players.
Key players​
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Dusan Tadic has started the new season right where he left off the old one. Two goals in the Community Shield and an assist in the league with an average rating of 8.2. Wonderful player.











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Christian Eriksen is going to be huge here at Southampton in his first full season. Running in between the lines from his attacking midfield position he has already scored 3 goals and been credited with an assist in the first two games of the season. Wonderful stuff from the Dane.









September Preview​
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Our first full month of the season poses a few interesting challenges. Bayern will be a wonderful occasion as will Man Utd in the league. We also have to play Bournemouth twice in a row, once in a cup and once in the league.
 
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SOUTHAMPTON

Players in

Ruben Neves - FC Porto - £26 mil
Munir - Barcelona - £18.25 mil
Tomas Soares - Vit. Guimaraes B - £1.8 mil
Brad Jones - Free Transfer
Jon Aurtenetxe - Athletic - Loan
Julio Cesar Rios - Cerro Porteno - £725k (Joins in January)


Players out

Mateo Musacchio - Everton - £8.5 mil
Denys Garmash - CSKA Moscow - £11 mil
Sadio Mane - Valencia - £20 mil
Luciano Vietto - Everton - £7.5 mil
Harrison Reed - Crystal Palace - £5 mil
Demarai Gray - Watford - £8 mil
Matty Targett - Norwich - £5 mil
Sam Gallagher - Brentford - £2.2 mil
Eric Dier - Aston Villa - Loan
Matthias Ginter - Stuttgart - Loan
Tomas Soares - Granada - Loan



​
 
Wow, congrats on the Premier League win! Shame you couldn't get the CL as well but at least that gives you something to aim at going forward.

Another great start to the season, and some good business done as well. Would be easy to blow 100M on players but interesting to see you actually making a profit on transfers. Nevertheless, Neves and Munir should be top additions to the squad.
 
footy1 said:
Wow, congrats on the Premier League win! Shame you couldn't get the CL as well but at least that gives you something to aim at going forward.

Another great start to the season, and some good business done as well. Would be easy to blow 100M on players but interesting to see you actually making a profit on transfers. Nevertheless, Neves and Munir should be top additions to the squad.
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Cheers buddy :) thanks for following! I didnt want to just randomly blow all the spare money I have, I'm just trying to keep the players I have here happy and the balance of the squad good. Mane is a good example, he was unhappy so was sold and replaced by Meyer who was back from loan. Vietto was unhappy so was sold and replaced by Munir. I'm keen to keep the values that were set out at the beginning of the game, young profitable players :)
 
September Review

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A fantastic month for the club with wins against Bayern and Man Utd. The draw against Bournemouth was disappointing but it was just one of those days when nothing would go in. If we had beaten Bournemouth and drawn with United then I would be very happy so the same number of points just the other way around cant be a bad thing.
Tables & Draws​
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We're top of the league! that win against United puts us three points clear out front from United and City.

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That win against Bayern has put us in a fantastic position in the table for the Champions League group stage.

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And Hull have been drawn as our opponents in the next round of the Capital One Cup.
Key Players​

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Rui Patricio has been in great form and is repaying the faith I have put in him by not rushing out and signing a big money goalkeeper. 4 clean sheets this month having only let in goals against Bayern and Utd. Top stuff.










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Christian Eriksen blew slightly hot and cold this month but was still a key player for us. A couple of goals and another assist are just more reasons to justify his hefty price tag.









October Preview​

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A couple of European games against PSV and Shakhtar break up a tough series of Premier League fixtures against the likes of Everton and Arsenal.
 
October Review​

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October turned out to be a mixed month, especially in the Champions League. PSV and Shakhtar yielded only a single point. Other than that we are still top of the Premier League so we cant have too many complaints.
Tables & Draws​
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Still top of the league but the Manchester clubs are hot on our tail.

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Disappointing start as we fail to capitalise on our win against Bayern.

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The Capital One Cup has drawn us against Middlesbrough in the quarter finals.


Key Player​
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Christian Eriksen scooped the player of the month award after scoring 3 goals and bagging a couple of assists. As our strike force starts to falter it is crucial that our midfield steps up, which Eriksen is.









November Preview​
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SaintMotbot said:
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Rickie Lambert announces retirement
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Liverpool striker Rickie Lambert, 33, has today announced that he will be finishing his playing career and retiring from football due to a serious injury. Lambert picked up an Anterior Cruciate Ligament tear during the beginning of his pre-season with Liverpool. The club have issued a statement which claims the club are "deeply saddened by the news but respect the medical experts opinion and the players wishes" they also stated that Lambert "left with all of their good will and they wished him well for the future".​
There has so far been no comment from Lambert himself. More to follow...
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Good start mate, I shall be following!
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HomerPimpson said:
Bump

This still going? The only story I follow!
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Afraid not buddy =/ it just got far too easy! the tycoon takeover giving me transfer budgets of 200 mil every season, it kind of lost its special feeling for me, we were no longer Southampton but the next man city.

I'm more than open to ideas for a new story though :) about time I started one.
 
SaintMotbot said:
Afraid not buddy =/ it just got far too easy! the tycoon takeover giving me transfer budgets of 200 mil every season, it kind of lost its special feeling for me, we were no longer Southampton but the next man city.

I'm more than open to ideas for a new story though :) about time I started one.
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Why you don't just resign?
 
SaintMotbot said:
Afraid not buddy =/ it just got far too easy! the tycoon takeover giving me transfer budgets of 200 mil every season, it kind of lost its special feeling for me, we were no longer Southampton but the next man city.

I'm more than open to ideas for a new story though :) about time I started one.
Click to expand...

I always started a new FM game at Rotherham, seeing as they were the first to employ me when I started out in FM08. Why not try them? Theyre kind of the 'could make it but never seem to' team
 
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