SamHampden
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In this story I am going to be taking charge of my local team Brighton Hove Albion. I have been a supporter for many years so will be going into detail and also have a lot of knowledge of the squad.
Breaking News in the Argus Newspaper
Gus Poyet leaves albion! It is widely expected a manger of his quality will persue his career in management with a team of high quality. The stand out candidate to replace Gus is Sam Barlow, a local lad.
Its been confirmed ! Sam Barlow is the New BHAFC manager.
In his first interview Sam states how passionate he is about the club and is very excited by the prospect of taking the club to the next level. He spoke very highly on Tony Bloom's input to the club.
Gus Poyet leaves albion! It is widely expected a manger of his quality will persue his career in management with a team of high quality. The stand out candidate to replace Gus is Sam Barlow, a local lad.
Its been confirmed ! Sam Barlow is the New BHAFC manager.
In his first interview Sam states how passionate he is about the club and is very excited by the prospect of taking the club to the next level. He spoke very highly on Tony Bloom's input to the club.
Squad Analysis
First job is to evaluate the squad in order to find out who the key players are, where the squad needs to be strengthened and who can be sold.
Goalkeepers:-
We have 3 goalkeepers in the first team. Peter Brezovan, Casper Ankergren and David Gonzalez. They are all very similar although not of great quality. Casper will be first choice as he is slightly better than Gonzalez and Brezovan will be sold. May look to bring in someone on loan.
Defenders:-
Joe Mattock on loan to the club from West Brom is a more than able left back with Marcos Painter as backup.
Gonzalo Zara Reyes also on loan from West Brom is a very capable right back with Inigo Calderon as backup.
Gordan Greer is club captain and first choice CB. He will be partnered by Lewis Dunk, an exciting English talent. El Abd is the only other CB at club but injured for start of season. Will look to strengthen here through loans or free transfer.
Centre Midfielders:-
Brighton have an excessive amount of CM's in my opinion. Liam Bridcutt and Alan Navarro are DM. Matt Sparrow, Gary Dicker, Ryan Harley are CM. With Jake Forster-Caskey an exciting young CM. Problem here is lack of a quality passer with good vision to make things happen. Also Navarro is very weak and will be sold. Will bring in a DM and CM with more quality and perhaps look to move Dicker on.
Wingers:-
Brighton also have wingers in abundance. Vicente is the star player in the BHAFC squad. Ex-spain international and has won La Liga with Valencia, still only 31. Can be injury prone so will perhaps improve physio's and look to shelter him. Will Buckley will be the starting right winger as he has the most quality of the rest and at 21 will improve in the future. Kazenga Lualua is young congolese winger with great physical attribute but very raw, will be developed or sold. Craig Noone is a useful Back-up. No strengthening needed here.
Strikers:-
Brighton have only a few strikers. Craig Mackail-Smith is the pick of the bunch, a Scottish internation with good work rate and technical skill. Sam Vokes on loan from Wolves has physical power, heading ability and premier league experience so will be a very important extra option. Ashley Barnes is an average striker at championship level and will be used occasionally. Will look to bring in a young striker on loan.
Overall Brighton have a large squad so some will leave and be replaced by more quality players. Only real quality in squad comes from Vicente and CMS. Forster-Caskey and Dunk will turn into very good players but are still young and raw at the moment.
Transfers:-
In:-
Andile Jali from Orlando Pirates for 1m. Strong, young CDM will be starting 11 with potential to progress and compete even at BPL level.
Dare Vrskic from Olympija Ljubjanic for 450k. Real quality CM that squad was crying out for. At 26 he wont improve much but that isn't important as he is already of a very high standard. Free-kick maestro to boot.
Currently trying to bring Ignacio Miguel and Benik Afobe from Arsenal on loan.
Out:-
Alan Navarro, he joins Burnley for 150k. Just not up to championship standard so pleased to let him go. Jali is a far better player.
Gary Dicker, joins Hibernian for 220k. Same as Navarro really, not up to standard with little room for improvement. Vrskic is much better.
Peter Brezovan joins Fulham for 190k. Not sure why they want him. Very prone to mistakes and at 31 not a youngster. Still thinking what I should do with regards to replacement or using Casper.
Season Expectations.
Barlow has told the Board he expects a Mid-Table finish. In return for a 1 Million transfer budget and fairly low wage budget.
However I will really be trying to gain a play-off spot. Wouldn't be too upset if I missed out on promotion as squad is no where near prem standard.
Pre-Season
Individual results not important as pre-season has been used exclusively for match fitness, player rotation and to help learn tactics. However, Sam Barlows BHAFC have not lost a single game and scored fairly freely.
Currently have one game of pre-season to go. Hoping to get some loans in to strengthen squad depth having let some players go. Looking forward to the challenge of the Championship as it is a very competitive league. Thank you for reading. I will be including screen shots of league positions and league games in subsequent updates.
First job is to evaluate the squad in order to find out who the key players are, where the squad needs to be strengthened and who can be sold.
Goalkeepers:-
We have 3 goalkeepers in the first team. Peter Brezovan, Casper Ankergren and David Gonzalez. They are all very similar although not of great quality. Casper will be first choice as he is slightly better than Gonzalez and Brezovan will be sold. May look to bring in someone on loan.
Defenders:-
Joe Mattock on loan to the club from West Brom is a more than able left back with Marcos Painter as backup.
Gonzalo Zara Reyes also on loan from West Brom is a very capable right back with Inigo Calderon as backup.
Gordan Greer is club captain and first choice CB. He will be partnered by Lewis Dunk, an exciting English talent. El Abd is the only other CB at club but injured for start of season. Will look to strengthen here through loans or free transfer.
Centre Midfielders:-
Brighton have an excessive amount of CM's in my opinion. Liam Bridcutt and Alan Navarro are DM. Matt Sparrow, Gary Dicker, Ryan Harley are CM. With Jake Forster-Caskey an exciting young CM. Problem here is lack of a quality passer with good vision to make things happen. Also Navarro is very weak and will be sold. Will bring in a DM and CM with more quality and perhaps look to move Dicker on.
Wingers:-
Brighton also have wingers in abundance. Vicente is the star player in the BHAFC squad. Ex-spain international and has won La Liga with Valencia, still only 31. Can be injury prone so will perhaps improve physio's and look to shelter him. Will Buckley will be the starting right winger as he has the most quality of the rest and at 21 will improve in the future. Kazenga Lualua is young congolese winger with great physical attribute but very raw, will be developed or sold. Craig Noone is a useful Back-up. No strengthening needed here.
Strikers:-
Brighton have only a few strikers. Craig Mackail-Smith is the pick of the bunch, a Scottish internation with good work rate and technical skill. Sam Vokes on loan from Wolves has physical power, heading ability and premier league experience so will be a very important extra option. Ashley Barnes is an average striker at championship level and will be used occasionally. Will look to bring in a young striker on loan.
Overall Brighton have a large squad so some will leave and be replaced by more quality players. Only real quality in squad comes from Vicente and CMS. Forster-Caskey and Dunk will turn into very good players but are still young and raw at the moment.
Transfers:-
In:-
Andile Jali from Orlando Pirates for 1m. Strong, young CDM will be starting 11 with potential to progress and compete even at BPL level.
Dare Vrskic from Olympija Ljubjanic for 450k. Real quality CM that squad was crying out for. At 26 he wont improve much but that isn't important as he is already of a very high standard. Free-kick maestro to boot.
Currently trying to bring Ignacio Miguel and Benik Afobe from Arsenal on loan.
Out:-
Alan Navarro, he joins Burnley for 150k. Just not up to championship standard so pleased to let him go. Jali is a far better player.
Gary Dicker, joins Hibernian for 220k. Same as Navarro really, not up to standard with little room for improvement. Vrskic is much better.
Peter Brezovan joins Fulham for 190k. Not sure why they want him. Very prone to mistakes and at 31 not a youngster. Still thinking what I should do with regards to replacement or using Casper.
Season Expectations.
Barlow has told the Board he expects a Mid-Table finish. In return for a 1 Million transfer budget and fairly low wage budget.
However I will really be trying to gain a play-off spot. Wouldn't be too upset if I missed out on promotion as squad is no where near prem standard.
Pre-Season
Individual results not important as pre-season has been used exclusively for match fitness, player rotation and to help learn tactics. However, Sam Barlows BHAFC have not lost a single game and scored fairly freely.
Currently have one game of pre-season to go. Hoping to get some loans in to strengthen squad depth having let some players go. Looking forward to the challenge of the Championship as it is a very competitive league. Thank you for reading. I will be including screen shots of league positions and league games in subsequent updates.