Pre Season , Transfer activity and gearing up for the long road ahead
I first of all cancelled ALL of my friendlies and rearranged them with higher profile clubs (mainly big club reserve teams e.g Bayern Munich II & Lyon Reserves) for the simple reason of money coming in to help the clubs finances a little.
Pre Season Results:
Stockport 1 (Bobby Lofthouse 13) - Stockport Under 21's 2 (John Shepherd 44, Danny Hunt 90+1)
Disappointing result but one i didn't really care about as it was a day after joining thus meaning my tactics didn't really have much effect. Losing to a last minute goal was a bit of a kick in the nuts though.
Stockport 4 (Kristian Dennis 8 & 39, Adriano Moke 32, Phil Jevons 64) - AFC Telford 2 (Stephen O'Halloran (o.g) 28, Russell Benjamin 44)
Solid result against a team in the same league as my team. Dennis was a player i neglected to include in my first team report as he was hidden away in the U21's and his two goals were a bit of a surprise so i may have to take a closer at him in the near future. Despite having only 42% of the possession i managed a solid 9 shots with 7 of those being on target.
Stockport 1 (Liam Dickinson 5) - AS Monaco FC Reserves 2 (Nathan Laze 34, Rapael Diarra 69)
I didn't expect much from this match at all so to run Monaco (albeit their reserves) as close as i did was a pleasant surprise. I had 47% of the possesion and managed a healthy 8 shots on goal. Very even match and i can have very little complaints going into the next match.
Stockport 1 (Liam Dickinson 82) - Olympique Lyonnais Reserves 1 (Dylan Mboumbouni 4)
Bit of a surprise result if i'm honest, Lyon Reserves really didn't have much control over the match despite getting more shots than me (9 to my pitiful 3), they only had 46% possesion and squandered many chances to score. Despite needing a late equaliser from Dickinson, I am more than happy with this result and hopefully i can keep this momentum going.
Stockport 3 (Liam Dickinson 11 & 25, Kyle Jacobs 89) - FC Bayern II 1 (Daniel Wein 71)
Brilliant result. Hammering a team with the quality such as Bayern II is very pleasing. Liam Dickinson is looking like a very strong player and the tactics seem to be effective for the team i have. 44-56 possesion doesn't do the result any justice as i have double the shots on target Bayern had. The current way we are playing i'd be surprised if we didn't meet our expectations of getting to the playoffs.
Stockport 4 (Kristian Dennis 26, Phil Jevons 34, TRIALIST 39, Liam Dickinson 89) - Hednesford 1 ( Neil Harvey 47)
Straight forward win against a fellow league team, very little to say as it was just a good all round performance.
Stockport 1 (Liam Dickinson 74) - Buxton 1 (Andy Molloy 59)
Disappointing draw. Late lucky equaliser. Very average performance. Not much more to say than that.
Stockport 0 - Lille Reserves 1 (Arnauld Soquet 58)
I expected a defeat but i pushed Lille close and had 3 goals disallowed in 10 minutes. Disappointed but we're showing signs of working together a lot better. One more pre season match and then the real test begins.
Stockport 2 (Kieran Charnock 15, Liam Dickinson 67) - FC United 1 (Chris Langham 20)
Final pre season game and the last chance for me to evaluate my squad. I ended pre season on somewhat of a high, with a win and yet another star performance from Liam Dickinson. Hopefully i can hold on to him and keep him here for a good few years. Dominated the game and all areas linked up well with each other.
Transfer Activity
Transfer Budget - £0
Wage Budget - £5,456 per week
I outlined my transfer plans during my team report, I mainly needed to strengthen my wingers, full backs and provide competition for CM and ST.
I released both Tunji Moses and Nicky Platt as they were just not good enough to be in my first team or even backup. Freeing up a bit more space in the first team and freeing up some wage budget.
My first signing was former Histon player Joe Peacock on non contract basis. Peacock is an 18 year old MR who can competently play ML & CM and i intend to retrain him to play on both wings and possibly in the centre as a versatile backup / future prospect. His current ability is ** and has ***** potential (good Sky Bet League 2 right midfielder according to my assistant. Him coming on non co tract basis means no damage to my wage budget.
Secondly i brought in former Newcastle United CM Ben Williamson. He's only a young lad at 21 and has the potential to play at a League 2 standard. I'll probably retrain him to play both wings so he's a bit more versatile and adds a bit to the team. At only £250 a week i reckon i'll make a decent profit on this free signing in a couple of years.
Pre season Evaluation:
The team performed really well and the highlight being the 3-1 thrashing of FC Bayern II. The stand out performer was Liam Dickinson without any doubt, scoring 7 goals in 5 games , hopefully he can continue this hot run of form for the whole season (fingers crossed!).