Shaking up the Football League - A Bury FC Story.

March Update

Club News

Premier League striker arrives on loan

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Reading striker Simon Church has arrived at Gigg Lane on a 2 month loan deal which will oversee the rest of the season and the play offs if Bury qualify. The Welsh striker brings a wealth of experience with him and will be looking to impress the Bury management to see if they will make this move a permanent one.

Pratt out on loan

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Hot prospect Tom Pratt has joined Blue Square South side Havant and Waterlooville on a 2 month loan deal as he seeks to gain first team experience. The loan will see him join the team in 1st​ place as a first team player which is set to please Bury manager Michael Henson.

02.03.13
League One
Bury 2-1 Crawley
Redmond, Elford-Alliyu

09.03.13
League One
Bury v Coventry
*Postponed due to waterlogged pitch*

12.03.13
League One
Leyton Orient 1-1 Bury
Bishop

16.03.13
League One
Bury 2-1 Shrewsbury
Healy, Elford-Alliyu

19.03.13
League One
Bury 2-1 Coventry
Healy x2
30.03.13
League One
Bournemouth 3-2 Bury
Elford-Alliyu x2

Manager’s Point of View
Another congested month due to the postponement against Coventry, we performed alright but I am very angry with the team after the last two games. We get the re-arranged game against top of the league Coventry at home and win thanks to two goals from David Healy but then throw it all away with a poor performance against a promotion rival. The result seems close to many but to go three nil down in 60 minutes is terrible and we managed to grab two late goals to soften the blow. Hopefully in April we can secure our play-off position and win the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy which will add some money to the coffers.
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League Table
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Upcoming Fixtures
01.04.13 – League One versus Swindon
07.04.13 – Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final versus Stevenage
10.04.13 – League One versus Oldham
13.04.13 – League One versus Brentford
20.04.13 – League One versus Crewe
27.04.13 – League One versus Doncaster​
 
April Update

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01.04.13
League One
Swindon 1-3 Bury
Worrall, Elford-Alliyu, Redmond

07.04.13
Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final
Bury 2-1 Stevenage aet
Elford-Alliyu, Eastmond
*BURY WIN THE JOHNSTONE’S PAINT TROPHY*

10.04.13
League One
Bury 0-0 Oldham

13.04.13
League One
Brentford 0-1 Bury
Church

20.04.13
League One
Crewe 0-0 Bury

27.04.13
League One
Bury 0-1 Doncaster

Manager’s Point of View
We’ve made it into the play-offs which is pleasing as at one point in the game versus Doncaster it looked like we were going to finish just outside the play-offs on goal difference, which would be devastating. We now face Brentford in the play-off semi-finals which is a difficult game, any would be at this stage of the season. If we get through these two games, a tie at Wembley awaits versus Scunthorpe or Stevenage. Speaking of Stevenage, we managed to beat them after extra-time to win the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy which I am delighted with. The support for the team has been great so all we need now is one last push to hopefully get us promoted.
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League Table

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Upcoming Fixtures
05.05.13 – League One Play-Off Semi Final First Leg versus Brentford
10.05.13 – League One Play-Off Semi Final Second Leg versus Brentford​
 
League One Play-Offs Update

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05.05.13
First Leg
Bury 0-1 Brentford

10.05.13
Second Leg
Brentford 1-5 Bury
Healy x2, Elford-Alliyu, Church, Hughes
*Bury through to League One play-off final*

Manager’s Comments
What an advert for games outside the Premier League, both games were end to end action. The first leg was nicked by Brentford as they caught us out early and scored inside five minutes but we responded well in the second leg. We went one nil down before Healy equalised just after half time to spur us on. Seven minute later and he grabbed a second to draw the tie level on aggregate. We pushed on in the second half to get a winner and the game came to life in the last ten minutes. As Brentford pushed forward to grab a winner, Elford-Alliyu countered and slotted home to put us ahead and on target to get to Wembley. Two goals followed as we pressured Brentford high up the pitch which made them make mistakes and Church and Hughes took full advantage of this. We now face Stevenage in the play-off final and we know we can beat them as we have only just defeated them to win the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final.
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19.05.13
League One Play-Off Final
Bury 4-2 Stevenage
Healy x2, Redmond, Elford-Alliyu
*BURY ARE PROMOTED TO THE NPOWER CHAMPIONSHIP*

Manager’s Comments
I am overwhelmed at the team’s success this season. At the start of the season, we were predicted to go down and we have proved our critics wrong as we enter next season in the league below the Premier League. Who would have thought that eh? Little Bury just one promotion away from mixing it with the big boys? There is so many people that I have to thank for this achievement, from the Chairman Brian Fenton for believing in me and giving me the job and all the players whose efforts have not gone unnoticed. Next season will be extremely tough as we’ve got the three teams from the Premier League coming down to join us and we’ll have one of the smallest budgets in the league so I’ll have to be a wheeler dealer in the transfer window.
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Coming up:
- Bury End of Season Awards
- English Leagues Review​
 
Bury End of Season Awards
Player of the Season – Lateef Elford-Alliyu
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He was our top goal scorer this year as he bagged twenty-one goals in fourty-four appearances in the league which helped steer us to play-off glory. His work rate was top class as he filled in at the start of the season after David Healy got injured for four weeks. As well as his twenty-one league goals, he grabbed six cup goals in eight appearances and was a key player in our Johnstone’s Paint Trophy success.

Young Player of the Season – Matt Doherty

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Wolves loanee Doherty was a rock at the back as he helped achieve promotion for the Shakers in 2012-13. He achieved an average rating of 7.11 in the league and was one of our most consistent players during the season. Maintaining a passing competition average of 85% also showed that he was key in retaining possession and starting the attacks from the back.

Fan’s Player of the Season – David Healy

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33 year-old Healy has been named Fan’s Player of the Season after his performances during the campaign. The experienced striker was injured for a few weeks at a time and missed some key games but bounced back in the play-off games scoring key goals to secure promotion to the Championship.

Goal of the Season – Lateef Elford-Alliyu v Shrewsbury

[video=youtube_share;YQlCBpiPXN0]http://youtu.be/YQlCBpiPXN0[/video]

Dribbling from inside the Shrewsbury half, Elford-Alliyu takes the ball past two Shrewsbury defenders before coolly slotting home from just outside the area to give Bury the lead.

Bury’s Best Eleven 2012-13

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GK: Trevor Carson
LB: Joe Skarz
CB: Mark Hughes
CB: Adam Lockwood
RB: Matt Doherty
LM: Danny Redmond
CM: Peter Sweeney
CM: Steven Schumacher
RM: David Worrall
ST: David Healy
ST: Lateef Elford-Alliyu

Subs
Cameron Belford
Eric Addo
Ben Davies
Lenell John-Lewis
James Beattie
Andrai Jones
Marcus Marshall​
 
English Season Review

Barclay’s Premier League

Winners: Manchester City
Relegated: West Brom, Southampton, Wigan
Top Goalscorer: 23 – Djibril Cisse (QPR)
Most Assists: 14 – Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle)
Highest Average Rating: 8.07 – Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Overachievers: Everton
Underperformers: Liverpool
Signing of the Season: Reading’s Aron Gunnarsson (£3.2m)
Worst Signing of the Season: Arsenal’s Pablo Armero (£16m)

nPower Championship

Winners: Bolton
Promoted: Bolton, Cardiff, Nottingham Forest
Relegated: Middlesbrough, Blackpool, Milwall
Top Goalscorer: 28 – Charlie Austin (Burnley)
Most Assists: 23 – Lee Chung-Yong (Bolton)
Highest Average Rating: 7.75 – Tom Hateley (Huddersfield)
Overachievers: Huddersfield
Underperformers: Middlesbrough
Signing of the Season: Crystal Palace’s Iain Vigurs (£150k)
Worst Signing of the Season: Nottingham Forest’s Dean Moxey (£400k)

nPower League One

Winners: Coventry
Promoted: Coventry, Sheffield United, Bury
Relegated: Shrewsbury, Walsall, Oldham, Preston
Top Goalscorer: 26 – Adam Rooney (Swindon)
Most Assists: 16 – Korey Smith (Sheffield United)
Highest Average Rating: 7.43 – Lee Miller (Carlisle)
Overachievers: Bury
Underachievers: Preston
Signing of the Season: Sheffield United’s Kaba Diawara (£0)
Worst Signing of the Season: Preston’s George Francomb (£110k)

nPower League Two

Winners: Rotherham
Promoted: Rotherham, Southend, Gillingham, Bristol Rovers
Relegated: Morecambe, Dagenham and Redbridge
Top Goalscorer: 22 – James Constable (Oxford)
Most Assists: 15 – Kadeem Harris (Rotherham)
Highest Average Rating: 7.54 – Marlon Pack (Cheltenham)
Overachievers: Port Vale
Underperformers: Fleetwood
Signing of the Season: Port Vale’s Stephen Jordan (£0)
Worst Signing of the Season: Gillingham’s Phil Picken (£20k)​
 
2013-14 Season
Pre-Season Update

Following promotion to the Championship, I had a meeting with the board to discuss this season’s aims, their expectations of me and potential transfer targets that I wanted to bring in. After the meeting ended these were the board’s expectations, my aims and the transfer and wage budgets.

Board’s Expectations
Avoid Relegation
Do well in one cup competition

My Aims
Avoid Relegation
Reach 3rd​ Round of Capital One Cup
Attempt to reach Quarter final of FA Cup

Transfer Budget: £1.1million
Wage Budget: £59,000


With an important season coming up, we needed to bring in a wealth of experience to even try to stay up and increase our club’s status. The summer transfer window saw a total of 12 players brought in for a total fee of £250,000 with £210,000 going on one player. 15 players departed Gigg Lane as I believed they were dead wood and I could get some young players in on their wages, some of the departed included two loanees to our new feeder club, AFC Wimbledon.

In

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Alex Nimely – Loan – Manchester City
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Connor Ripley – End of Contract – Middlesbrough
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Jonathan Obika – End of Contract – Tottenham
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David McGoldrick – End of Contract – Nottingham Forest
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Julio Arca – End of Contract – Middlesbrough
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Stefan Kutschke – End of Contract – RB Leipzig
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Miguel – Free – Unattached
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Abdoulaye Seck - £30,000 – Anderlecht
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Piscu – Loan £9,000 per month – Wigan
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Alex Bruce - £210,000 – Hull
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Ryan Tunnicliffe – Free – Unattached
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David Forde – Free – Unattached
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Out

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Efe Sodje – Released
Ben Futcher – Released
Cameron Belford – Released
Ryan Howley – Released
Dale Jennings – Released
Luke Beastall – Released
Max Harrop – Released
Luke McCarthy – Released
Mark Carrington – Free – Morton
Lenell John-Lewis - Free – Oldham
Andy Bishop – Free – Hartlepool
Eric Addo - £4,000 – Exeter
Shaun Harrad – Loan – AFC Wimbledon
Marcus Marshall – Free – Plymouth
Craig Jones – Loan – AFC Wimbledon

As well as the players being moved in and out of the club, we have employed a number of new staff to assist in the day to day running of the club. We’ve brought in Barry Ferguson, John Hartson, Jamie Redknapp and Nigel Winterburn as coaches and Heini Otto as the new Under 18’s Coach. We have also boosted our scouting department with Franz Roth, Adberrahim Ouakili and Detlef Irrgang joining the ranks. Darren Heyes has joined Bury as the first goalkeeping coach we’ve had whilst I’ve been in charge and with more money available for staff I’ve brought in two fitness coaches in the form of Andrea Corrain and Frank Nuttall.

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Pre-Season Results

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03.07.13
vs Bury Reserves [H]
W 2-0
Hughes, Obika

08.07.13
Vs Liverpool [H]
L 1-4
Elford-Alliyu

12.07.13
Vs Ramsbottom [A]
W 4-0
Obika x2, McGoldrick, Worrall

16.07.13
Vs Cardiff [H]
W 1-0
Nimely

20.07.13
Vs Scunthorpe [A]
L 0-1

23.07.13
Vs Radcliffe Borough [A]
W 3-0
Marshall, Bruce, Obika

27.07.13
Vs Bradford [A]
D 1-1
Redmond

30.08.13
Vs Accrington [A]
W 4-1
Obika, Worrall, Piscu, Nimely

03.08.13
Vs Hyde [A]
W 4-0
Tunnicliffe, Obika, Nimely, Arca

Manager’s Point of View
It has been a good pre-season for us and we needed it to give us a confidence boost ahead of a tough nPower Championship season. We brought in twelve players, a mixture of experience and youth and I am delighted with the signings. Former Valencia right back Miguel has joined us on a free transfers as Wolves wanted £1.1m to make Matt Doherty’s loan a permanent one. We also have two very talented youngster on our books now in the form of Connor Ripley and Ryan Tunnicliffe and they didn’t cost us a penny. Results wise in pre-season it doesn’t really matter as it’s about the team getting used to each other but there was a few standout results such as the win against Cardiff. Hopefully this will give us a lot of confidence ahead of a tough first away game against Birmingham.
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Upcoming Fixtures

10.08.13 – nPower Championship – Birmingham [A]
13.08.13 – Capital One Cup – York [A]
17.08.13 – nPower Championship – Brighton [H]
20.08.13 – nPower Championship – Huddersfield [A]
24.08.13 – nPower Championship – Southampton [H]
31.08.13 – nPower Championship – Peterborough [H]​
 
August Update

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10.08.13
nPower Championship
Vs Birmingham [A]
W 3-1
Zigic 16 – Nimely 38, 45+1, 90+2

13.08.13
Capital One Cup First Round
Vs York [A]
W 2-1
Rose 68 – Kutschke 32, Elford-Alliyu 90+9

17.08.13
nPower Championship
vs Brighton [H]
L 0-1
Orlandi 29

20.08.13
nPower Championship
vs Huddersfield [A]
W 2-1
Novak 78 – Nimely 15, 18

24.08.13
nPower Championship
vs Southampton [H]
W 1-0
Kutschke 69

27.08.13
Capital One Cup Second Round
Vs Aston Villa [H]
L 1-2
Worrall 2 – Bent 23, Agbonlahor 90+2

31.08.13
nPower Championship
vs Peterborough [H]
W 3-1
McGoldrick pen 73, Nimely 85, 89 – Brisley 87

Player of the Month – Alex Nimely

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The Manchester City loanee has shone this month for Bury with seven goals in five league appearances. He opened his account with a hat trick away at Birmingham to put us up there with the big boys and has continued to put the ball away as we maintained a high position in the league. Not bad for someone who was forced to come on loan here by his parent club.

Manager’s Point of View
What a great start to the Championship season, I would never have thought we would joint top with Wolves and Southampton at the end of August. There is only one person we can thanks for this and it’s Alex Nimely, who won our Player of the Month award. He’s got seven league goals in five appearances and his goals have helped us achieve some great results, for example his hat trick on the opening day against Birmingham getting us off to a good start in front of 3,000 travelling fans. However, it is a marathon not a sprint and a few bad results could see up slip down the league. We’ve failed to achieve one of my aims in this month though but I wasn’t expecting much when we were drawn against Premiership side Aston Villa.
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League Table
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Upcoming Fixtures
03.09.13 – nPower Championship – Charlton [A]
14.09.13 – nPower Championship – Barnsley [A]
17.09.13 – nPower Championship – Wigan [H]
21.09.13 – nPower Championship – Sheffield Wednesday [A]
24.09.13 – nPower Championship – Burnley [H]
28.09.13 – nPower Championship – Leicester [A]​
 
Looking good in the champ (made a better start than me!!) KIU and Elford-Alliyu is something else currently worth £3.5m on my game which isnt bad!
 
September Update

Club News

Bury sign Dutch youngster

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Dutch youngster Matthew Steenvoorden has joined Bury on a free transfer after he was released by Feyenoord in the summer. The defender is expected to be part of the manager’s plans for cup games and less important league games to go with his squad status as a rotation player.

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03.09.13
nPower Championship
vs Charlton [A]
L 0-2
Wright-Phillips 57, Kermorgant 71

14.09.13
nPower Championship
vs Barnsley [A]
W 3-0
Kutschke 8, 13, Worrall 69

17.09.13
nPower Championship
vs Wigan [H]
W 4-0
Nimely 25, 67, Redmond 69, McGoldrick 88

21.09.13
nPower Championship
vs Sheffield Wednesday [A]
W 2-1
Pecnik 48 – Kutschke 35, 55

24.09.13
nPower Championship
vs Burnley [H]
D 1-1
Worrall 57 – Johnson 73

28.09.13
nPower Championship
vs Leicester [A]
L 0-1
Nugent 25

Player of the Month – Stefan Kutschke

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He has been a great addition to the squad since he joined in the summer for RB Leipzig and his role as the complete forward has been met with many goals and assists in the second month of the season. With his height, he manages to flick most long balls on to the other striker to run onto and has managed to grab himself four goals this month due to his aerial power.

Manager’s Point of View
It was quite a bad start to the month with the two nil defeat away at Charlton but we recovered well to get three wins on the bounce against very good opposition in the likes of Barnsley, Wigan and Sheffield Wednesday. To beat Wigan 4-0 at home was a superb result for me as they have only just been relegated from the Premier League and pay huge wages compared to my top wage of £5,000 per week for Julio Arca. We are still up there at the top of the league, moving up to 2nd​ and hopefully we can keep this up and gain either promotion or be in the play-offs at the end of the season.
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League Table
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Upcoming Fixtures
01.10.13 – nPower Championship – Hull [A]
06.10.13 – nPower Championship – Wolves [H]
19.10.13 – nPower Championship – Derby [H]
22.10.13 – nPower Championship – Leeds [A]
26.10.13 – nPower Championship – Crystal Palace [H]​
 
October Update
Club News
Former MLS player arrives at Gigg Lane

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Former New York Red Bulls player Joel Lindpere has signed a contract with the club until 2015 after impressing manager Michael Henson during a two week trial which he was invited to after he was released by the American club. He is a left sided midfielder and will be rotated with Danny Redmond as the fixtures piles up.

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01.10.13
nPower Championship
vs Hull [A]
W 1-0
Worrall 4

06.10.13
nPower Championship
vs Wolves [H]
D 1-1
Nimely 32 – Holman 4

19.10.13
nPower Championship
vs Derby [H]
*Postponed due to FC United FA Cup game*

22.10.13
nPower Championship
vs Leeds [A]
D 2-2
McCormack 3, Pearce 20 – Nimely 71, 81

26.10.13
nPower Championship
vs Crystal Palace [H]
W 1-0
Nimely 31

Player of the Month – Alex Nimely

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Once again the Manchester City loanee wins the player of the month award. He’s scored four in four league appearances this month including a double against Leeds to secure a comeback after going two nil down inside twenty minutes. His performances have kept us up at the top of the league and only one other player has managed to score one goal all month.

Manager’s Point of View
It’s been a great month for us once again as we’ve gone unbeaten all month and remained second in the league behind Southampton which is great for a club with such a low stature. It was extremely disappointing to go 2-0 down to Leeds inside 20 minutes as they were second bottom in the league but we showed great character to get the two goals to equalise and we had another good chance towards the end of the game but McGoldrick hit the post. Next month will be a tough one as we have seven league games so the squad will need rotating to stop the players from getting tired.
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League Table
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Upcoming Fixtures
02.11.13 – nPower Championship – Watford [H]
05.11.13 – nPower Championship – Ipswich [A]
09.11.13 – nPower Championship – Bristol City [H]
13.11.13 – nPower Championship – Derby [H]
23.11.13 – nPower Championship – Sheffield United [A]
26.11.13 – nPower Championship – Coventry [A]
30.11.13 – nPower Championship – Blackburn [H]​
 
November Update
Club News

Four players sign contract extensions

View attachment 296003View attachment 296002View attachment 296004View attachment 296005

Bury can announce that four first team players have extended their current deals to beyond the current season. David Worrall, Mark Hughes, Andrai Jones and Shane Byrne all signed on the dotted line earlier this month and are said to be looking forward to the next few years at the club as it moves up the Football League.

Birmingham approach manager

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Birmingham City has approached manager Michael Henson with a view to taking over the vacant job at St Andrew’s. Managing Director Vitor Braga has offered Henson a four year contract on £10,750 a week which is a significant amount more than he is currently earning at Bury. However Henson has turned the deal down as he believes it would be wrong to leave his hometown club at this current moment in time.

02.11.13
nPower Championship
vs Watford [H]
W 2-0
Nimely 57, 78

05.11.13
nPower Championship
vs Ipswich [A]
L 1-3
Emmanuel-Thomas 11, 78, Scotland pen 45 – Nimely 9

09.11.13
nPower Championship
vs Bristol City [H]
W 1-0
Nimely 15

13.11.13
nPower Championship
vs Derby [H]
*Postponed due to international call-ups*

23.11.13
nPower Championship
vs Sheffield United [A]
D 0-0

26.11.13
nPower Championship
vs Coventry [A]
D 1-1
McDonald 44 – Nimely 51

30.11.13
nPower Championship
vs Blackburn [H]
L 0-1
Rhodes 10

Player of the Month – Alex Nimely

View attachment 296000

His third Player of the Month award in four months, he was the only candidate really. Quite a poor month for us goals wise yet he managed to score all of our goals this month and has continued to put great performances in for us. His loan could be turned into a permanent move in the upcoming January transfer window.

Manager’s Point of View
We had some positive news at the start of the month as Worrall, Hughes, Bryne and Jones extended their deals for the next couple of years. They have played well this season and it would be awful if they were let go on a free in the summer. Another player whose contract runs out in the summer is Steven Schumacher, he’s playing well in the heart of the midfield but has rejected a new contract so it may look like he will be offloaded in January. Being at the top of the table, people expect us to win nearly every game but it is impossible with such a small squad. Look at the teams around us and they have 30-40 players at their disposal whilst we have 20. We’ve brought a few trialists in recently with a view to signing them and the only one I can name at the moment is Wes Hoolahan, the ex-Norwich player. Hopefully we can add him and a few others to the squad in January to see us over the finish line.
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League Table
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Upcoming Fixtures
04.12.13 – nPower Championship – Derby [H]
07.12.13 – nPower Championship – West Brom [H]
14.12.13 – nPower Championship – Brighton [A]
17.12.13 – nPower Championship – Birmingham [H]
21.12.13 – nPower Championship – Huddersfield [H]
26.12.13 – nPower Championship – Southampton [A]
28.12.13 – nPower Championship – Charlton [H]
31.12.13 – nPower Championship – Peterborough [A]​
 
You've had a great start to the season. Do you reckon you could sign Nimely permanently or would Man City want too much?
 
Stokee99 said:
You've had a great start to the season. Do you reckon you could sign Nimely permanently or would Man City want too much?
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At the moment, he's worth £2.9m so I enquired how much they would want from him. They asked for £675,000 but I can't afford that. However, his contract runs out at the end of the season so I'm hoping that he will be released and I can sign him for free
 
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