The Flying Swans

[tomhosking1990]

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SWANSEA ANNOUNCE NEW BOSS

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After Brendan Rodgers left the Swansea job for Liverpool, the club have been searching for a successor, Michael Laudrup was invited for talks but
the club have now handed the full time job to an unknown manager Tom Hosking who’s only previous managerial experience was on the computer Game Football Manager.
Although a cheerful Hosking stated “I am Confident In my ability to take this club to the next level & look forward to all challenges the club will face!”

TRANSFERS

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TRANSFERS IN

W.HUGHES -1.2M- A pure gem obviously a player for the future but I have played him before & had success so he will definitely be around the squad especially as he is so versatile.
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KO SALNAES-300K- Technically world class at 17 but a bargain signing worth 12k and will become a fantastic creative midfielder.
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W.NEM-3.5M- One of the bargain buys, learns how’s to play RW or LW vey quickly & very certainly be a key player.
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W.ZAHA-3.5M- Was transfer listed by request so I thought I‘d take him as a backup option also play him RW obviously has decent potential as well.
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C.N’ZOGBIA-4.5M- Villa actually offered him to me as he was not needed by club so with the bonus of being versatile & homegrown I jumped at the chance.
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M.SISSOKO-7.5M- He wanted out of Toulouse & me tapping him up a bit probably helped, had to beat off a lot of competition though but on a decent wage to...
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O.ONAZI-700K- Technically for a 19 year old he is superb but physically if I work on him potenitally a top CM or CB.
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R.PARDO-2M- A decent young CM but it was only because I had the offer ready to go through I thought why not hopefully becomes decent.
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R.ALBIOL-LOAN- Although I didn’t think a transfer listed world cup winning Albiol would be keen to come to Wales but I consider him a bit of a coup be a great partner for Williams.
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D.LIMBERSKY-800K- A decent LB although 29 he is a good cover option for N.Taylor good price as well.
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R.DRENTHE-FREE- I seemed to have enough wide options but Drenthe on a free was always going to happen.
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L.KWEUKE-3.2M- Just an FM goal machine, had to bring him in for the price.... Spurs were keen but Spurs try to sing everybody...!
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L.INSIGNE-LOAN- A quality young forward can easily play either wing, Great option!
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S.CAULKER-LOAN- A good back up CB, nice to have him back at Swansea.
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M.CASSANI-LOAN- Needed a RB... Searching high & low cassani was the best intrested player.
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After a positive pre season the season had begun... Away to Aston Villa a game a was expecting to win as I hoped for a top 10 finish come the end of the season...

Great Start!!
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January Soon Approaches....

After a promising start to the season the team has struggled with a few little knocks but all is going good..
8th is a good start just need a little more in the squad to take me forward.

Gylfi Sigurðsson returns!! £8.5M
Gyfil has hardly featured at all for Spurs this season & clearly wanted out, Spurs offered him to me for £8.5M I was certainly interested, He is technically class, Loves the club already, Is Home grown & will improve the squad, Will play AMC then W.Nem can be moved wider.
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Toby Alderweireld joins The Swans! £5.75M
Belgium international Alderweireld wanted out of Ajax after a lot of clubs were chasing his services, When I saw his asking price was £5.75M I quickly made a bid, Will teach him to play RB to add some quality.

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Season 12-13 comes to an end...

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RESULTS
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EUROPE HERE WE COME!
Historic season for the club, after showing better consistency in the 2nd​ half of the season the team really pushed on, disappointed to be knocked out in the 5th​ round of both cups but the league was priority.
I was disappointed with the amount of goals we conceded although our CB’s had superb average ratings, Vorm struggled. but over the moon with 6th place!

LASH UP AT LIVERPOOL
The biggest surprise was LIVERPOOL only staying up by goal difference! Stevie G actually scored 5 goals in the league which was the amount that actually kept them up.. One again Stevie G to save the day! They sacked Rodgers by November,
Rafa Benitez was sacked in February, Luis Enrique then took the reins but was sacked at the end of the season.. What a lash up at Liverpool!

THE SQUAD
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Above is the first team squad as you can see Albiol & Williams were outstanding at the back
Angel Rangel picked up many a knock but when played was brilliant.
To be fair Alderweireld played mainly as a RB in the 2nd​ half of season. Leon Britton & Sissoko were fantastic in CM for me although young Will Hughes did not disappoint playing 30 odd games at CM, AM & RW.
W.Nem was an assist machine either playing AM or LW & forged a fabulous partnership with Neil Taylor.
Kweuke & Michu scored the goals mainly but a very solid season all round from the squad.
Kept picking up lots of little niggles through out he season the season although luckily didn't effect too much.. Zaha missed most of the season with a broken leg, Chico also broke his ankle in September, Insigne just couldn't ever stay fit must have had 10 little niggles in the season.

5 KEY SWANS

ASHLEY WILLIAMS- The skipper was an ever present rock at the back, playing all 38 league games scoring 4 goals, 7 MOM award with an unbelievable average rating of 7.61,It was the highest In the league!
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RAUL ALBIOL- On Loan Albiol formed a wonderful partnership with Williams he was almost an ever present starting 34 league games, scoring 3 goals & if he hadn’t been sent off once he would of played all 38. I have tried my hardest to sign him permanently but for some reason he isn’t keen... Bayern are sniffing too :'(
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MOUSSA SISSOKO- He mainly was the legs in midfield with Britton next to him, he really was the assist before the assist as his average rating of 7.36 shows very consistent from his 32 league games, notching up 7 assists & 2 goals.
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WELLINGTON NEM- The top assist maker in the league with 16 assists playing mainly AMC until January then he played LW mostly, Average rating of 7.27 as well as 4 goals staying fit & starting 35 games he certainly was a bargain for 3.5M.
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LEONARD KWEUKE- Another bargain a t 3.2M he missed a few games at the African nations but 14 goals from 24 starts is impressive mixed with 8 assists and an impressive 7.44 average rating this monster deserves another crack next season.
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WILL HUGHES- Hughes stunned the nation this year with his performances, I expected
him to play but not this much he got it the team didn’t look back, versatile,
class on the ball this 17/18 stared 30 league games with 6 assists but most impressively
11 league goals & an average rating of 7.20 usually player either CM or mainly RW as Hernandez picked up
many a knock during the season, At 18 he is a key player for the coming season
although City & Utd are sniffing about.
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[tomhosking1990]

[/QUOTE]

THE 13-14 SEASON IS HERE...

After a short break the season was soon here & after The Chairman offered me a new 5 year contract I had high hopes for the future, The club had announced there ambitions to finish in the top 10 with a transfer budget of £22MIL which I was excite to sink my teeth in to, especially with the Europa League challenge added to the schedule this season.
After a decent pre season with wins over Bayern, Inter & AC Milan I was confident Europe would be no problem.

TRANSFERS IN

N.CLYNE-4.3M- A decent young RB, It was position I neededquality & Clyne was young, English & cheap so he fit the bill as Alderweireld willbe another option.
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J.ALLEN-5.75M- After Liverpool’s terrible season I pounced on the factmany of their players wanted out. Joe Allen had to come back his fitted mysystem perfectly & being trained at club will help in the Europa League.
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F.BORINI-7M- Another Liverpool player that was a former Swansea player hewas transfer listed & I was in their straight away he would add an option up front & on the wing.
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S.COATES-4M- Oh I loved dipping into Liverpool & Coates was going tobe the New cheap CB I was after plus I was confident he would be consistent enough to fill Albiol's boots.
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M.BOUSSOUFA-5M- Transfer listed by Anji, with he added bonus of beinghome-grown I had to bring him in will be a back up AM although I already haveGyfil, Nem & Michu Boussoufa will mainly be used as a winger.
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JA RIISE-1.1M + Limbersky- I needed another cover for N.Taylor afterLimbersky missed the first 3 days of pre season training he was off Riise is a quality experienced player & will do for this season.
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D.OSPINA-FREE- A quality back up for Vorm was much needed for this season& to free up funds I went for a very decent Ospina who I hope will addcompetition.
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M.MONTOYA-LOAN- Only brought in as an extra RB to option to Clynealthough Alderweireld will mainly play there he returned back to preseasoninjured & is out until September.
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M.ESSIEN-LOAN- Another quality player that will add much needed steel tot he midfield, will be a back up option, but I was missing a tacklingmidfielder.
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So the 2 Europa League qualifiers pitted me against Valarenga which I was confident of winning.... 4-1 away win & a 2-1 home win easy pickings.....
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After sailing through my Europa League group which consistedof a poor Cska Sofia, A good HSV on papaer & a tough Sporting Lisbon... My onlny points dropped in the group were in Germany losing 1-0.
The First Knockout stage has drawn me against Itallian high flyers Napoli, which will sure be a tough game.
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JANUARY 2014
January came along pretty quickly still in The Europa League but struggling to find consistancy in the league the team are only 3 points off Chelsea in 5th​ in 8th​ place... Although I still am proud of the team Swansea City are now considered a force.... Just need a push to finish top 6 again.
I needed as few extra bodies to carry the team through the season with lots of games coming up & injuries becoming more frequent I looked for reinforcements with about 15M in the bank there wasn’t much about Until I snapped up a transfer listed J.HERNANDEZ for 7.5MIL, January also saw the team start to find more consistency so with an eye on future funds I brought in ADRYAN for 850k who is a real bargain but will be more of & impact next year, BOYATA for 350k from CITY seemed a good buy as he is home-grown & can develop nicely. C CLARK was transfer listed by request on deadline day so after deciding to loan Bartley out to Celtic I though Clark would do a good job & save funds! I also decided to bring J MENEZ in on loan as Pablo Hernandez was picking up knock after knock..
J.HERNANDEZ 7.5MIL
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ADRYAN 850K
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BOYATA 350K
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C.CLARK 3.2M
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J MENEZ LOAN
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Napoli would be by next test the Europa League First Knock Out Round, The Europa League
is something I want to do well in this year but 2 legs against the leaders in Serie A will be tough...
Napoli just weren’t good enough.....




Europa League 2 Round Knockout VS STOKE
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After being drawn against ANJI in the Quarter final & knowing the winner would face a French team either Marseille or Evian in the Semi Final I was confident if I can win this there was a good chance of winning the Europa League.

Europa League Quarter Final VS STOKE
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Europa League Semi Final VS Marseille
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Europa League FINAL VS SPURS
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EUROPA LEAGUE WINNERS 13-14 SWANSEA CITY!!!

A historic season for the club, Europa League winners in the clubs first season in the competition, what a season!!
7th in the Premier League is probably where I expected myself to be... Liverpool actually played well this year mostly down to Altidore’s 19 goals & 16 assists..
The Thursday games sometimes disrupted the flow of the side but defending the trophy will be a huge honour next season & hopefully try push on up the table even more, firstly I must keep the likes of Nem & Hughes who have had City & Utd chasing them for 2 seasons now...

Come the end of the season, my priority was more on the on Europe as I knew winning that would get me in to europe next year no matter my league position.
7TH IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE...
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7 th is to be fair the best I should hope for as Liverpool actually did something this year they bought in alot of random players & Slaven Bilic took them to a very good 4th(He is linked with the England Job when Roy retires) Mostly because Suarez scored 30 league goals & Altidore who I chose not to sign scored 18 & had 19 assists... My aim next year would be to try improve If that is possible...
end of season squad average ratings
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The best XI
GK VORM- Struggled with from throughout the season had many a chat with him, Ospina played a couple of games but Vorm came good when it counted
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DR ALDERWEIRELD- Showed quite a bit of steady 7.1 througout the season mainly playing out of position, Probably my best CB but have a good paring & is a good ball playing DF
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DL TAYLOR- been a fantastic performer & improved greatly, Chelsea are chasing him but he is one of the better left backs around
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DC WILLIAMS- The skipper was not as good as last season but it was hard to top, still a rock!
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DC COATES- I put a lot of faith in Coates & he didn't let me down he missed a month or so with a groin injury but was pure class, was nice knowing I had a good CB paring
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MC SISSOKO- After Britton & Allen were injured a lot of the season Sissoko had to step, once again he did although playing more defence this season
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MC HUGHES- He really has come on as a playeer, played a deper role this season mostly, was awesome in Europe but still only 19 but now capped by England, I just need to keep it as he will take me to the next level next year
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RW BORINI- Although he pulled a hamstring which kept him out for a while I wanted to play him upfront but because I have other options I use him wide though he did struggle to find consistency....
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LW W.NEM- Not as good as last season played well but not consitent enough though played wide instead of were he had success in the middle last season, still a fantastic player but Boussoufa was the better performerView attachment 308963
AM SIGURDSSON- Really stepped up this year especially in Europe with an AVR of 7.80, I have option in the AM positions but Gyfil stills is my best option...
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ST MICHU- My striker's struggled with injuries & consistency which is why I brought In Chico but he was better off the bench but Michu scored 9 league goals & 11 in 11 in Europe so come the end of the season he was ahead of Hernandez, Kweuke & Borini
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What will happen in 2014-15 Defending the Europa League title & wanting to break in to the top 5.....

 

[tomhosking1990]

2014-15 SEASON

Defending Europe & breaking into the big time....?

The new season brought a new challenge once again at The Liberty Stadium, after finishing a spectacular 7th​ & winning the Europa League last year I had a lot of high ambitions for the coming season.....
My goals were to hopefully break the elite teams, After Liverpool got themselves back in the mix again last year it will be even tougher, Of course it would be a dream to defend the Europa League title....

Alex Ferguson had retired I TURNED DOWN MAN UTD.
Slaven Bilic left Liverpool for the England Job after Roy Hodgson retired after the world cup.... I REJECTED THE LIVERPOOL JOB.
JAVIER Aguirre was sacked as Chelsea boss after they could only manage 6th place, I REJECTED THE CHELSEA JOB... I had built something special at Swansea & I just couldn’t leave....

The board Initially set me a budget of 18 Mil with a decent wage budget... I was slightly dissapointed with the funds given but was confident of working some magic.
Many teams chased my key players but I kept the core of the team from last year.
I turned down a 22MIL from MAN UTD for WELLINGTON NEM, I almost accepted it but he was in my plans to play wide right this season as there was no one good enough to fill his boots.
MAN UTD also made a 9MIL bid for ASHLEY WILLIAMS but after the skippers 2 player of the year awards on the bounce the skipper had to stay.
I also turned down a 20 MIL bid from ARSENAL for MOUSSA SISSOKO, his contract was up at the end of the season at one time I accepted the bid as he wanted 99k to stay but after negotiating a new contract of 80k he stayed..... he really is a world class CM.
I had some transfer plans in mind here they are....
TRANSFERS
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J O MIKEL-FREE- After he was released by Chelsea I saw him as an ideal replacement for Essien who did well on loan last season, his wages were a bit of a concern but he is a pretty solid CM, plus I wasn’t sure what funds I would have to work with.
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FABIO- 2MIL- Riise was a terrible buy, he dramatically decreased in attributes over the season & I was happy to sell him, Fabio went to Sunderland last year for 850k which I didn’t know about, He is an ideal back up & I couldn’t argue with the price.
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E SALVIO-LOAN- With not really a natural RW except from W.Nem who I trained to play both sides, Borini may play there but Salvio had an awesome season last year but was somehow listed for loan.
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Y BENZIA-FREE-A player for the future but decent at 19, Plan to loan him out but a future goal scorer, couldn’t say no for free.
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I BELFODIL-FREE- Another free transfer I couldn’t refuse at 22 I think he still could improve after loaning him out to championship Fulham I hope a season of goals will improve him.
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A LACAZETTE-FREE- Again another player I couldn’t say not to for free, still can improve if not money to be made off him.
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C AZPILICUETA-5.75M- He went to Villa under the radar last year for 2.3 MIL and was awesome, twice MOM against me and was in the team of the season, he soon wanted to go with a peanuts asking price I snapped him up.
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A YARMALENKO-14M- After selling some players I wanted a game changer thing of playing Nem RW I though Yarmalenko could make the difference on the left I had a bid of 12 mil rejected, 14 accepted bargain in my eyes!
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C SMALLING-LOAN- Got 3 quality CB’s already but when Smalling was transfer listed I couldn’t resist he would add quality depth, His wages of 80k at Utd turned me off a permanent move.
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T-COURTOIS-7.5M- Although he played 16 games for Chelsea last year Courtois was transfer listed as he was apparently unhappy at the club an asking price of 7.5m for possibly the best keeper in the game couldn’t be turned down, Vorm had conceded a lot of goals so when Schalke offered me 12mil for him I made the deal with Chelsea, I was eyeing MA Stegen but funds held me back..
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V IBARBO-17M- With about 10mil in the bank after flogging a few bodies and getting a few bargains so far in the summer I wanted a goal scorer that could possibly take me up a level, so I made the tough decision of selling Kweuke to Dortmund then I set my sight on Ibarbo who had scored a lot of goals in the last 2 season & was being chased by Juventus on first eyes looks bad but have seen him do special things before... I hope it works out!
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I did sell a few players which just weren't at the club's level anymore..

The season got off to a troubling start going 1-0 down to Blackpool but the team rallied on & took the 3 point winning 2-1!

THE WELSH DERBY!!!
As soon as Cardiff got promoted I was looking forward to dishing out a hammering to our fierce rivals.
a real hammering it was they scored in the 80th minute, Sissoko, Gyfil & Ibarbo bossed the game.
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THE EUROPEAN SUPER CUP
More historic times for the club as the Champions of Europe Juventus were defeated in the European Super Cup, Comicly they had tocome to Wales & I was for once the home team at Cardiff... very weird!
Amazingly although another long time injury for Aldeirweield but COATES & WILLIAMS were stunning at the back grabbing a goal each aswell, Sissoko & Highes dominated the midfield, Juventus just couldn't get the ball off of us.
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2015
After my by very own gem Will Hughes picked up a cruciate ligament injury in October I had to rely on what I had to be fair Salnaes & Allen have stepped up well but with Hughes still out for another few months & Sissoko picking up a few knocks A unattached Lampard seemed a good player to bring in a short contract & too be fair he has started well....
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I had a fairly quiet January with funds at around 5 million I just planned for next season by looking for frees, I had sold plenty of players at the club but wages were getting higher which made the board tighter!
I brought in a couple of young CGEN players that had performed at the u19 world cup but none were really ready for first team football...
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The team have kept the momentum up after some injuries & the top teams dropping points, the team are flying in 4th​ although any of the top 7 could win the league, we have 2 games in hand over Arsenal but realistically a Champions League Spot is the goal for the rest of the season.
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The Europa league has seen me rest plenty of guys this year as Champions League football is my priority but defending the title is still near the top of the tree. Although I finished 2nd​ a relatively easy tie against Rapid Wien awaited me....

 

[craig9045]

Following this

Awesome job bringing Allen, Sigurdson and Borini back.

Long time Jack, keep it coming