Season Two
Part Fourteen
Welcome back to Singing the Blues! A new season is on the horizon - so what have we done to prepare?
“Right then, Harry,” I say, replacing the lid on my whiteboard pen. “I think that’s everyone sorted before the game tomorrow.”
“I have to admit, I didn’t think you’d be able to bolster the squad as much as you have with the budget they gave you,” Harry replies. “I’m not even sure I can remember everybody who’s come and gone, I added and removed so many phone contacts that it feels like I’ve moved clubs myself.”
“Why don’t we go through them all again? I’ve still got all the reports on my desk.” I gesture to the teetering pile of scout and coach reports that have been slowly gathering over the summer.
“How do you find anything on there? It’s a total mess,” Harry says, pulling the sort of face a child might at the sight of cabbage.
“I call it organised chaos.”
“It’s a dump.”
“I can find everything I need!”
“Like birthday cards you received nearly three months ago?” Harry says, raising an eyebrow.
“Fine, I’ll sort it next week,” I concede.
“You’ve been saying that since the start of July.”
“Shush, do you want to recap the transfers so far or just judge my stationery organisational skills?” I snap.
“I think I’ve made my point,” Harry says, leaning against the cupboards and taking a sip of his tea. “Go on then, remind me of who left before you reel off the new boys.”
“Well, most of our loanees returned to their parent clubs - some of them weren’t good enough for the step up, some weren’t as good as other players on the market who were in their price range, and Hannibal would have cost us almost our entire budget to keep.
“As for the permanent members of our squad who left, a lot of them were, at best, mid-table Championship players and needed moving on. Gary Gardner left for MK Dons, Danny Rose went to Reading, Emerson Hyndman moved back to the USA to join Charlotte, Jonathan Leko’s still looking for a new club after his release, and Josh Williams has gone to Oxford.”
“Poor Josh,” Harry interjects. “Shame about Max as well.”
“Max leaving did make me a little sad, but he simply wanted too much money for a player of his age and quality - I hope he enjoys himself at Spezia. Oh, and both Ivan Šunjić and Sam Cosgrove were moved on because their already ridiculous wages got doubled when we were promoted, despite them contributing absolutely nothing. Other than a few loans for young players, I think that’s everyone.”
“Signings then?” Harry asks. “I suppose getting an extra £9 million to spend from Jude being sold to Liverpool helped?”
“Yes, that and agreeing lots of staggered payments so we could get as many bodies in as possible,” I admit. “Krystian Bielik was the first through the door after his impressive loan spell last season, and we know what he’s all about: strong in the air, good on the ball, and excellent defensively. If there’s any concern, it’s that he has a rather worrying lack of speed.”
“No, he’s not the quickest, is he?”
“Which is a large part as to why we brought in the centre backs that we did,” I explain. “Anel Ahmedhodžić is an excellent player technically and could probably fill in at right back in a pinch, whilst Andrew Omobamidele is already very solid defensively for someone so young. Both of them are fairly fast and surprisingly affordable, especially as Andrew’s not signing permanently until the end of the season and the total cost will be under £10 million.”
“I’m a fan of both of them,” Harry says, nodding as he reads their reports.
“As am I. Beth too.”
“I didn’t realise she was into football.”
“She’s not,” I reply, shaking my head. “She just thinks they’ve got fantastic names.”
Harry sighs.
“How are the two of you a couple?”
“Because I’m like a sick puppy that she finds too adorable to leave in spite of my obvious inability to look after myself.”
“You sound like a treat to be engaged to, Nicole.”
“Didn’t your previous partner leave you because you kept getting angry that they wouldn’t follow the layout you gave them for their underwear drawer?”
“So, what about the guy from Boca Juniors that we agreed to sign in January?” Harry says, trying to hide his reddening face as he steers the subject back to transfers.
“Agustín Almendra? He’s really well-rounded but probably won’t be as important a player as he thought he would be when he agreed to his contract. Very cheap wage for us though.”
“Who’s ahead of him then? I presume Juninho, but who else?”
“Alex Scott from Bristol City. He’s not the finished article but looks fantastic for a player of his age and his versatility could be vital,” I explain.
“I see,” Harry nods, holding up a folder. “Is Oscar Gloukh not starting then?”
“He is.”
“Where?”
“Up front.”
Harry seems to chew his tongue before replying.
“Bold. Very bold.”
“I feel like his link up play and mobility make him a better choice than Troy, though he’ll need to work on bulking out a bit.”
“I suppose, seems risky.”
“We can’t exactly play it safe, can we?” I argue. “I reckon Oscar could be exactly the player we need, as long as we give him the platform to develop.”
“You could always play Bob there,” Harry says, winking.
“Not yet. I want him as an option on the right, seeing as there was nobody of Oscar’s ability and potential on the market for a similar price who can play that role.”
“Good point, there isn’t another left-footed player who could step in if Tahith gets injured. The other wing’s looking good now at least.”
“Absolutely. I jumped at the chance to bring Demarai Gray back to the club and Danny Namaso was a no-brainer when we could have him for so little, giving us time to decide if we want to keep him at the club longer,” I agree.
“They’re both such clever and skilful players,” I continue. “Their dynamism is going to cause a lot of problems for defenders.”
“Speaking of defenders, did you sign another left back?” Harry queries with a knowing smile. I shuffle my feet awkwardly.
“Yes. Yes I did. For what it’s worth, we paid a lower initial fee for Ian Maatsen than we received from Reading for Danny Rose, so given he’s eleven years younger and will hopefully be our left back for a number of years, I don’t think I have anything to be ashamed of.”
“He’s not amazing though, is he?”
“Look,” I snarl. “You seem to underestimate how much work needed to be done on this team and how much a Premier League standard player costs. That’s why we went with signing Josh Griffiths as a backup for John, rather than looking for a new first-choice goalkeeper - a lot of these signings are with a long-term view.”
“Okay, okay, calm down,” Harry pleads. “And does that just leave Neco? I’m not sure anyone expected our new record signing to be a right back.” I pass him Neco Williams’ report to scan through.
“That wasn’t originally the plan, but his delivery is incredible and he’s very capable both offensively and defensively. Add to that that only a quarter of his guaranteed fee came out of this year’s budget and it all starts to make sense.” I grin at Harry. “So, what do you think? We’ve built a good squad, right?”
“Yeah, I think so,” Harry agrees after thinking for a moment. “It’s quite a youthful bunch, but I can see us being competitive. I’m looking forward to seeing them in the new kits too.”
“I’m glad we could get such an important local employer like Cadbury to sponsor the front,” I say.
“Me too. I don’t recognise the designers’ logo though.”
“Apparently it’s a local, independent woman. Someone with an interest in football, pandas… blogging…” I trail off.
“And the sleeve sponsor?” Harry continues. “What is that?”
“Free advertising,” I mutter.
“Pardon?”
“We are surprising. Surprisingly expected to do worse than Hull who scraped through the play-offs, according to the bookies at least.”
“Who knows, boss. They thought we’d be useless last season too, so don’t read too much into it. Anyway, it’s getting late. You better get home and get some rest tonight, Nicole.” Harry makes his way to the door. “Big game tomorrow.”
“It’s not THAT big,” I reply, smirking as I rise from my chair.
“It’s only Villa away in our first game back as a Premier League club.”
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Disclaimer* As a result of adding custom kits to the game, I've had to buy and use the In-Game Editor, however this will be the only thing it's used for - because where would be the fun in cheating?
