The Hornets - Watford Football Club

[FM_TNSSO]

The Hornets - Watford Football Club

My OH Leuven career proved to be way too easy as I had the league won pretty much before the league had even split, after losing only 1 game all season. Domestic domination was supposed to take a few years, not happen all in the space of a few months. With the lack of challenge available, I have decided to turn my attention back to England and possibly the most competitive league in the world...the Championship. The team I have decided to take over is Watford Football Club, affectionately known as The Hornets, but also nicknamed The Golden Boys. Can I be the man to bring the golden years to the Hertfordshire based club?

The nicknames come from the club's predominant yellow, red and black colours...although this has not always been the case. When they were first founded in 1881, the colours were red, green and yellow, before adopting black and white in the 1909-10 season. Those colours were retained for nearly 20 years, before a switch to an all blue kit. The Hornets nickname first came about in the 1959/60 season when they changed to gold shirts and black shorts, after a popular vote by the club's supporters. The colours they wear today have been retained since 1976 when the gold was changed to yellow and they added red to the black as well.

Watford play their home games at Vicarage Road, where they have been since 1922. The stadium was initially owned by Benskins Brewery and was rented by the club right up until 2001 when it was purchased outright. It was a short lived ownership though, as financial struggles left the club needing to sell the stadium just a year later for £6 million to raise funds. However, there was a clause in that deal which would allow the club to purchase the stadium back for £7 million and following a campaign backed and funded by fans called "Let's Buy Back The Vic" in 2004, that option was taken up and they now own their home again. Vicarage Road has a capacity of 21,577.

Watford FC are a club that have previously had one of the most famous celebrity owners in football history...Sir Elton John. He became chairman in 1976 when the club were in the fourth division of English football. By the 1982/83 season, they had reached the top tier...an incredible rise under their new owner. Today, The Hornets are owned by the Pozzo family, who have been in position since 2012. Gino Pozzo is an Italian businessman and Managing Director at Watford, whilst his father owns and runs Udinese FC in their native Italy.

My vision for Watford FC whilst at the helm will be...​

• Include an element of Italian influence on the team, looking to recruit some Italian players into the club during my time here. I think my owner would enjoy this. Naturally, I'd like a core of English players in the first team as well.​
• Develop the club's youth system to become one of the best in the country and focus on bringing youngsters through the academy and integrated into the first team.​
• Play an attacking style of football.​
• Play an entertaining brand of football.​
• Bring Watford back to the Premier League.​
• Eventually become a major force in English football, regularly competing for trophies.​
• Bring a European trophy to Watford.​

I may have my work cut out though as, although Watford have spent 6 seasons in the Premier League over recent years (as recently as 2021/22), they have failed to finish above 14th since dropping back down to the Championship in the past 3 seasons and are definitely in need of a revival. Even if I can lead them back to the promised land of the Premier League, it will likely take some time to build a squad capable of competing at the top level...as the graphic below shows, they were unable to record a top half finish in any of their previous seasons in the top tier.

It would be great to add some more trophies to a pretty empty cabinet as well. Zero League Cups and zero FA Cups means there is a whole load of history to be created at Vicarage Road.

The five year plan from the board is to make the Premier League via automatic promotion within 4 seasons. For this year, a top half finish would be seen as a good achievement though, so steady progress is what we are looking for rather than quick success.

 

[CrokayVessel]

Best of luck in the championship! Can be unforgivable at times!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Best of luck in the championship! Can be unforgivable at times!

Thanks mate...gotta love the most competitive division in world football ;-)

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 1
Meeting The Squad
Monday 7th July 2025

As I look at the financial situation at the club, it's stable for now, but there is a worrying amount of debt outstanding which I am sure we are going to have to make some hefty payments towards. There is only £500k to spend on new players and only £10k in the available wage budget which isn't going to get us much at Championship level, so I am hoping my squad won't need much immediate improvement.

I'll be looking to focus on youth development during my time at Watford and would love to bring through a steady stream of home grown players as we progress through the seasons. Our youth facilities are going to need some work to make this happen, although they certainly aren't bad. Our training facilities for the first team will certainly be enough of a draw to entice players to the club though...they're impressive.

We have a lot of affiliations with lower league sides in England, but it's our partnership with Udinese that I might need to utilise the most as I look for loan players we might not need to pay for.

So let's meet the squad. There are some observations I can make quite quickly...​

• There is a lack of English players in the squad, with only 6 from the home nation.​
• It is an incredibly multi national team with no less than 16 different countries represented in our first team squad.​
• We have a 'big' defence with all of our defenders being over 6ft, plus a couple of tall lads up front as well. Set pieces could be key for us.​
• It's a relatively young side, with only 3 players in the squad being over 27 years of age.​
• We might be lacking some quality in the wide attacking areas. There is also a lack of numbers in these areas.​
• Our best players are our own. Loanees at the club look to be squad players at best, so we aren't going to be heavily reliant on them.​
• Lots of our players have 4 star potential so it will be interesting to see who comes on as their career progresses.​

I'll be going with a formation I like and looking for the players to adapt to my style. The formation is the trusty 4-2-3-1 with two holding midfielders sitting behind an attacking four and two bombing on full backs. Both the wingers have more of a support function rather than an out and out goalscoring threat with the idea this is a fluid system where goals should come from all over the pitch without the reliance on one or two players to put the ball in the back of the net. I have set up that one of the DMs will get high up the pitch to support the attacks as well and should be playing through balls from deeper positions to the front 4, who can all find their own space in this formation. The other DM will rarely stray from his position as he protects the back 2. It's heavy on a high press and high line as we look to peg our opponents back in their own half and turn over the play high up the pitch for effective counter attacks. As part of that plan, out of possession I will ask my CAM to step up into the front line and put pressure on the opposition defenders alongside our striker.

Our best player is Moroccan international, Imran Louza. Playing through the middle of the park, he is our creator, with the vision and execution to play those key passes and through balls from both deep and further up the pitch. A fantastic player and one I will be keen to hold on to for as long as possible.

It's so important for any side to have a strong goalkeeper and Egil Selvik ticks that box for us. He has 4 caps for the Norwegian national side too and gives us a great presence between the sticks. His backup isn't great so it will be key for Egil to stay fit this year.

Our biggest threat out wide is Kwadwo Baah, who offers great flair and dribbling ability - he's the player the fans will be excited to see each week as he hopefully wreaks havoc down the wings. Not the greatest finisher, so he might not be hugely clinical but the idea is he gets enough chances to at least tuck 1 away.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 2
Pre-Season
Saturday 9th August 2025

I kicked off our pre season with the sale of two young players that seemed to be in high demand. Jack Grieves joins Bristol City for a fee of £300k, rising to £425k, whilst 18 year old Amin Nabizada moves to Sunderland in a deal that could become worth £2.2 million.

Nabizada was being chased by a whole host of Premier League clubs that also included West Ham and Fulham, so we couldn't really stand in his way. If he ends up developing into a really good player and is sold on for more money in the future, then we do have a 40% of profit clause in the deal, so we could get a cash windfall off him in the future.

That would boost the transfer budget to levels where I might actually be able to bring in a decent player to improve the squad as well. But I won't be rushing into anything.

Where I did do some work was in my backroom team. The most significant appointment was the promotion of club coach, Zigor Aranalde, up to Assistant Manager to become my new number 2. We have the same preferred formation and philosophy so it made sense and he has previous assistant managerial experience at both Leeds and Valencia too.

On the pitch, the only blemish on an otherwise perfect pre-season was a defeat against parent club, Udinese. However, we should never have lost that game after dominating most of it and creating 31 shots at their goal without scoring.

The most impressive player of our pre season campaign was Edo Kayembe who has really made a case for himself for a starting spot in the opening game of the season. 5 goals and 4 assists in his 6 friendly appearances is almost impossible to ignore.

Then there was another big name signing to the back room team. The legendary Dennis Bergkamp has joined my coaching staff and as an Arsenal fan, this is an appointment I am particularly pleased to get over the line!

The incredibly competitive nature of the Championship is reflected in the bookie's title odds. Even Portsmouth who are predicted to finish 23rd in the division, are only 25/1 to win the thing! That is just crazy!! As for us, the general consensus is that we are an average mid-table side. Ipswich are the favourites and dominate the media dream eleven with five of their players featuring.

We will kick off the competitive season with a tough home fixture against Middlesbrough, before a trip to Stevenage in the Carabao Cup. We will spend some time in Wales in the opening month of the season too as we'll face both Swansea and Wrexham away from home.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 3
A Solid Start And Two New Deadline Day Arrivals
Sunday 14th September 2025

We kicked off our league campaign with a draw at home to a Middlesbrough side that will be fancied to do well this season. We were the better side for large periods so possibly could have got more from the game, but I see a point as a decent result against this lot for my first game in charge.

It was a quick introduction to cup football as I took charge of a Carabao Cup fixture in just my second game in charge. It was an affair to remember as I chalked up my first win as Watford boss, seeing off lower league opposition Stevenage in the first round of the competition. It's not a competition I expect us to go that far in, but if we can make the 3rd round, it will at least meet the board's expectations.

We didn't exactly carry that momentum of the cup win back into the league as we found ourselves 2-0 down to Swansea inside 23 minutes. However, a spirited fightback from the lads did ensure we picked up a point and coming from 2 goals down, it has to be seen as a good one.

My first league win as Watford boss came against Bristol City. In terms of created chances, it was a tight game, but we had dominated possession and the quality of our chances were much better, so it was a deserved victory. Kwadwo Baah was at the heart of everything for us going forward and assisted both goals.

We would take on Premier League opposition in the form of Brighton in our next fixture, the second round of the Carabao Cup. It might be a game where we rely on set pieces to create our best chances and therefore as part of our match preperation, I have focused specific attention on both our attacking corners and free kicks.

It didn't work unfortunately, as we score no goals from set pieces in the game. Now, although we lost, I am proud of the performance put in by my lads and we were the better side throughout the entire game and can feel a bit sorry for ourselves after losing and going out of the competition. If we had just been a little more clinical in front of goal, we could have been out of sight at half time in all honesty...in the second half, Brighton's Premier League quality came through for them, but we have nothing to be ashamed of by losing here.

I felt we could take confidence from the cup showing, despite losing, and said exactly that to my team as part of our end of game team talk as well as our pre-match team talk for the Norwich match. The player that responded to that feedback the most was the most experienced in the team, Moussa Sissoko. He turned in a man of the match performance against Norwich on our way to a 3-2 win, scoring twice and assisting the other.

As transfer deadline day arrives, there was two new additions to the squad, firstly with the loan signing of Crystal Palace midfielder, Justin Devenny. He can play anywhere through the middle and is competent playing any of the three roles I use in the centre of the park. Based on that alone, he is a great addition to the squad, but he does have some talent to offer as well as he joins us in a bid to impress his parent club.

Devenny is more known for his hard working nature, than his natural flair, but our other loan signing is a very exciting youngster who comes with plenty of flair and promise. Josh King is an attacking midfielder who is knocking on the door of Fulham's first team so to convince him to come to us for the season feels like a real coup. He rejected our first offer this Summer as I had been chasing him for a couple of weeks, but I wasn't deterred and went back in for him again and offered star player status to the youngster, which was enough to convince him to sign for the season.

There was a massive £304 million spent by Championship clubs this window, with the biggest spenders being Southampton (£54 million), Ipswich (£48 million) and Wrexham as their Hollywood owners invest another £34 million into new players.

Neither Devenny (injury) or King (fitness) were able to feature in our next league game against Preston. However, that didn't stop us winning the game by a comfortable scoreline and the player that stepped up with 2 goals was Edo Kayembe - the man Josh King has come in to challenge for his position in the team.

The Preston win was a result that took us to the top of the league after the opening 5 games. Only us, Ipswich and Coventry remain unbeaten at this early stage.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 4
Top Of The League & Flying
Wednesday 5th November 2025

Our last trip to Wales saw us concede twice in the opening 23 minutes at Swansea, in a game that saw us come back and draw. It was a case of a repeat result as again we come away from Wales with a point to our name, this time after a 0-0 draw at Wrexham. A game we probably should have won though on the balance of play.

After a bore draw against Wrexham, it was a goal fest against Oxford United. And back to winning ways for us, with Josh King bagging his first two goals for the club since moving here on loan. I knew this kid would be an exciting prospect for us and the fans are already being treated to his attacking flair early in his Watford career.

We followed that up with another win against Hull City. A tight margin on the scoreline front, but this game was never really out of our control and Hull's injury time strike was only ever a consolation.

Stoke came into our game on the back off 4 games without a win, so confidence was low for them. We did captitalise on that and take all three points but we had to rely on a late, late winner from sub, Luca Kjerrumgaard, who scored from close range scoring his second goal of the season.

An away day at Sheffield United provided a rare defeat (so far this season anyway). A tightly contested game in which we did dominate the possession, but the quality of chances created from both sides left plenty to be desired and the Blades just edge it on the day.

It was our first defeat in 9 games and I will now have to rally the lads for a reaction in our next game against Portsmouth.

Well, I'd say smashing in 5 goals on the south coast is a pretty good reaction to defeat. A great result and a brilliant performance from us, but what a game of football for all the fans to watch with no less than 44 shots on goal between the two sides. Braces for both Kwadwo Baah and Edo Kayembe!

We wasn't in such free scoring mood at home to Millwall, but thanks to an injury time strike from substitute, Josh King, we just about nab the points. It's fair to say the Sheffield United defeat doesn't seem to have affected us too much and we have bounced right back from it.

Big game as we took on 4th placed Coventry City and my first face off against England legend, Frank Lampard. It was a close affair with both teams showing their quality and both proving difficult for the other to break down. It was Coventry that took a lead just after the hour mark, but it only lasted 7 minutes before our experienced captain, Moussa Sissoko grabbed the equalizer. The winner came with 6 minutes to go through a more familiar goalscorer in Edo Kayembe who bagged his 8th goal of the season. Big win!

We keep the good times rolling at Derby as well, winning yet again! We went 1-0 down, but again we responded very quickly drawing level just 4 minutes later through Josh King, who is proving to be a very important player for us this season. It was King who later netted our 3rd and ultimately the winning goal of the game as well.

Things have been so much better than I could ever have anticipated in the opening 3 months of the season and the stats don't lie - we are overachieving in all areas of the game right now.

And it has led us to the top of the league table and with a 5 point lead after 14 games! Just a single defeat to our name so far and the best goal difference in the division as well.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 5
The Hornets Are A-Buzzing
Wednesday 3rd December 2025

Edo Kayembe has already popped up with a few important goals this season and against QPR, he netted another one. His 9th of the season came as late as the 86th minute to secure the points for us at Loftus Road.

At the start of the season, our next two fixtures back to back would look quite daunting. Both Leicester and Southampton could arguable have been seen as two of the best in the division at the start of the campaign.

But is hasn't worked out that way so far, with both sides looking more like potential relegation battlers, than title contenders. The Saints are sat in 17th, with Leicester only outside the relegation zone on goal difference. Maybe these two games wouldn't prove to be as difficult as maybe they might have been anticipated.

And we did take maximum points from the two games, winning both by the narrow scoreline of 1-0. Neither was an undeserved win though, as we were the better side in both games.

The Leicester result was the final nail in the coffin for manager, Marti Cifuentes, who loses his job.

1-0 was again the order of the day as we come back from Blackburn with all the points. Imran Louza with a beautiful strike from well outside the box which expertly found top bins...a goal worthy of winning any game. Defensively, we look absolutely solid at the moment!

Not many sides have been able to hold us so far this season, so fair play to Charlton who manage to nick a point. We weren't at our attacking best and relied on a goal from the penalty spot for our equalizer, but Charlton defended really well and made it difficult for us and they deserve the point.

As November comes to a close, it was double awards for the club as I pick up Manager of the Month and left back, Caleb Wiley, picks up the Young Player of the Month as well.

Our next game was going to be massive as we faced off against the title favourites, Ipswich Town. They sit 3rd as we go into the match, but have a game in hand over ourselves and Coventry. We will have to be at our very best to get something from the game as our pre-match analysis reports show that they are performing better than most sides in the division across most areas of their play. One of their most dangerous aspects to their attacking game is crossing - they are the best crossers in the whole league with the highest quantity combined with the highest accuracy...my full backs will need to be on their A game to cope with the threat.

I changed a few things tactically to nullify the threats that Ipswich posed. Changing our full backs to not get forward to often and our wingers to track back more than usual. It seemed to work to great effect as we win the game and limit The Tractor Boys to just 4 shots on target in the whole game. We were dominant in the central midfield areas and controlled long periods of the game and overall, it was a very impressive performance all round.

I want to guve a mention to 20 year old striker, Tobi Adeyemo, who scored a brace against Ipswich for us. I promoted this lad to the first team squad after his impressive numbers for the U21s, scoring 11 goals in 9 appearances. He has made a few appearances off the bench to integrate him into the team and I put a lot of faith in the youngster by giving him only his second start against Ipswich and boy, did he repay that faith!

After beating the title favourites and extending our lead at the top of the table to a whopping 12 points, is it time for us to be in the discussion as genuine title contenders ourselves. We aren't even half way through the season yet, so won't get carried away, but it's exciting times at Vicarage Road right now and the Hornets are a-buzzing!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 6
Thirteen Is The Unlucky Number
Friday 2nd January 2026

Sheffield Wednesday are a club in turmoil and sit bottom of the league table with just a single point after their deduction for financial issues, and are virtually guaranteed to go down this year. This is absolutely a game we should be winning and comfortably.

Despite having 27 shots in the game, it still took 80 minutes to score our first goal. Once that went in, we did quickly follow up with a second to put the game to bed, but it was nervey for a long time and didn't always look like we might get the result. Mamadou Doumbia came off the bench and got both goals.

Now our next win might just be the most impressive of the season so far, not because of the scoreline, but because of the sheer grit and determination shown by my team. Not only are Birmingham chasing the playoffs this season, but we also had to play them for 74 minutes with 10 men after Justin Devenny saw a straight red after bringing down Blues forward, Jay Stansfield when he was clean through on goal. With a bit of restructure and a more cautious approach, we had to defend as a tight, compact group with a view that we might catch them on the break and that's exactly what we did. The goal came through a swift counter attack, finished off neatly by Nestory Irankunda with a side footed effort into the bottom corner from 10 yards out.

Everything is going extremely well right now, but we have reason to feel optimistic about the future as well with a youth intake preview that looks pretty exciting. Let's see what level of quality and promise it brings later in the season.

Back on the pitch, it was actually our oldest player that shone against West Brom. Moussa Sissoko twice found himself on the end of crosses to header home a brace and ensure we take the points. It was a mixed game for Tom Ince, who came off the bench to assist our second goal with his first touch of the ball, before later being sent off for a two footed challenge that I can't defend and warranted his dismissal.

That makes it 13 games unbeaten for us in the Championship. Will it be a case of unlucky for some?

Thirteen did, in fact, prove to be the unlucky number as the unbeaten run came to an end in our very next game. Losing away at Ipswich provides no shame though, but now we have to recoup and bounce back.

Can you do it on a cold, rainy day in Stoke? Well, kind of....I mean, we didn't lose, but we didn't win either. We return with a point from our Boxing Day fixture.

Sheffield United are one of only two sides to beat us in the league this year, so the return fixture was always likely to be a tough game. It proved exactly that and we have to settle for a point, which is probably a fair result for both sides.

The 1st January has hit and that means the opening of the Winter transfer window. However, I don't expect to be doing much business (not incoming anyway) as the club's financial situation is looking more and more precarious by the month.

I can't control too much on the finances front right now, with the club's debt repayments being what swamps us. What is in my control is our performances on the pitch and we needed a touch of improvement after 3 games without a win, so I am pleased to go into the Lion's Den and return with all 3 points!

Although we did hit a minor blip in form (very minor I know), we have still managed to maintain a 12 point lead at the top of the table with 19 games of the season remaining!

 

[leckuno]

A nice lead going into the final half of the season and hopefully hold on to top spot come the end

 

[FM_TNSSO]

A nice lead going into the final half of the season and hopefully hold on to top spot come the end

It's going pretty well right now. There has to be a dip in form around the corner somewhere though...I can't see us keeping this up all season.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 7
Loan Deals Ended And It's Bull S***
Sunday 1st February 2026

I have to say I'm really disappointed with Fulham! They have recalled Josh King from his loan with us based on the fact we are apparently not adhering to his loan clauses. They want him played as a defensive midfielder, even though he has exelled for us as an attacking mid and has played loads of games as well. This is a bitter pill to swallow!

King was quality for us, scoring 8 times and getting 3 asissts in his time here. I'd love to link up with the player again at some point in the future.

The timing of the recall couldn't be any worse either, as we lose Thomas Ince for 3-4 months after he picked up an injury in an U21s game I had arranged for him to feature in to gain some match fitness.

In the FA Cup, we had been handed a tough 3rd round draw, away at Everton. However, we have every reason to feel we could potentially get something from the game as we fly high in the Championship, where as The Toffees are struggling in the top tier and face a real battle against relegation. Their eyes might not be totally focused on this competition, with Premier League survival likely to be taking more of a priority.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to though and are out of the competition. We saw a lot of the ball, but there was a significant difference in the quality between what both sides actually did with their possession and we weren't up the standard of our Premier League opposition today.

F***ing Crystal Palace have followed suit with Fulham and now recalled Justin Devenny back to their club, so we have lost another player. Again, it's a bull s*** excuse that he is playing out of position, because they wanted him played as a CM where as I was playing him in a CDM role.

Back on the pitch and in the Championship, we weren't able to take advantage of easier opposition (than Everton) to get back to winning ways. We can only manage a draw at home to Portsmouth and only have ourselves to blame for not winning it...we dominated from the first minute to the last and created 25 chances to their 4! We even had an inury time penalty which handed us the perfect opportunity to win it, but Edo Kayembe decided to try a ridiculous panenka which was easily caught by the Pompey keeper in an embarrassing moment for our top scorer!

We were just as wasteful with our chances against Coventry, failing to get on the scoresheet and as a result, suffer our 3rd league defeat of the season! Not good enough in front of goal right now and we need to improve this area of our game.

We are definitely having our worst period of the season right now, having won only 1 of our last 7 games in all competitions.

A big win was needed and it came against Derby. It was really important that we got that winning feeling back, but to do it in such emphatic fashion could prove to be much more of a confidence boost than just the victory itself. Luca Kjerrumgaard has been far from prolific this season in front of goal, but was brought into the starting lineup here and a double for him will also do his own confidence the world of good.

After that poor run, we have had our lead at the top of the table cut, but a 10 point gap is still extremely healthy...and a game in hand as well. We're getting towards the final 3rd of the season now and it's going to come down to whether or not we can hold our nerve to keep up our promotion push.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 8
Busy Deadline Day
Sunday 1st March 2026

With just a couple of days of the transfer window remaining, we have some big news. I have accepted an offer from Wolves for right back, Jeremy Ngakia, and he has agreed terms on a move to the West Midlands club for a fee of £8.5 million. With our declining financial situation and the need for me to ideally bring in a couple of players to strengthen the squad, I needed the funds. Ngakia featured in 22 league games for me this season with an average rating of 7.14, along with 1 goal and 1 assist.

And deadline day was then busy for us with the boost to our funds from the Ngakia sale. First through the door is a loan signing, with the addition of talented youngster, Eli Kroupi, from Bournemouth. This kid looks to have a bright future ahead of him and I look forward to seeing what he can do for us over the next 15-16 games. The best bit about the deal is that we have no monthly fee to pay and only 10% of his wages.

Then a brilliant permanent deal as we snap up Burnley's Mike Tresor for a fee of £2.3 million. The attacking midfielder is an absolute steal after costing Burnley £15.5 million just a couple of seasons ago. He hasn't had the impact they might have hoped for in the North West, but a fresh start for us gives him an opportunity to revive his career.

And I couldn't sell Ngakia without replacing him, so welcome Ethan Laird to the club who has been signed from Birmingham for £2.8 million. Laird has featured in 18 league games this season for the Blues, albeit 17 times from the bench. I feel he has something to offer us in the right back position and I really like his attacking impotus and will hope he can have more influence on the attacking side of our game than Ngakia ever did.

Although all three signing strengthen us in their respective positions, I couldn't drop anyone following the excellent performance against Derby in our last game and it proved to be the right decision as we went on to win back to back matches. Tresor and Kroupi did both feature from the bench but to no real effect (although Tresor only got the last 10 mins).

A single goal from Kwadwo Baah was enough for us to secure all three points at home to Preston and we seem to have put that previous poor run of form well behind us with 3 wins in a row now.

Oxford United are on a good run and came into our match 6th in the form table, so we were expecting as tough a game as we got. However, our resilience was once again as good as it has been for majority of the season and we grind out a narrow 1-0 win. Kwadwo Baah bundled the ball over the line after a goal mouth scuffle where Oxford just couldn't clear their lines.

I certainly don't expect us to steamroller the rest of the season and p155 the league, without any bumps in the road. And Hull proved to be the first stumbling block as they beat us in relatively comprehensive fashion. They were better on the ball, worked harder off it and took their chances well. Poor result.

Hitting two bumps in a row pretty hard is not the greatest idea though, but that's what happened as we are soundly beaten at home to QPR. Are doubts creeping into the minds of my players as to whether we can actually go on and win this title...we couldn't be bottling it surely!

It was very important not to make it 3 defeats in a row, but going away to Southampton wouldn't be an easy task. We did avoid defeat though, but have to settle for a draw which is slightly disappointing considering we 1-0 and 3-2 at times in the game. However, we have stopped the rot and hopefully can kick on again from here.

Despite a slight blip of late, we have still managed to stay 8 points out in front at the top of the Championship. It surely won't be long before we guarantee a playoff spot, but realistically with 10 games to go our focus has to be on winning this thing outright!

And the fact we have topped the league for majority of the season has earned me an outstanding reputation already with both the board and the fans, with both described as ecstatic about the job I am doing.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 9
What A Youth Intake!
Friday 3rd April 2026

Time for the final push. With 10 games to go, it's the business end of the season and we will attempt to capitalise on all our hard work this year to date. It kicked off in perfect fashion with an away win at Leicester...a great result against a side that had a really poor first half of the season but have seen a bit of a resurgence over the past couple of months. The momentum was with us throughout the whole game and it only ever really looked to be a case of how many we would score.

We followed up the Leicester result with another win over Blackburn. Again, a highly dominant display of attacking, possession based football. Right back, Jeremy Petris scored his first goal of the season with a beautiful little chip over the keeper when he found himself one on one inside the box.

Swansea were on a 12 match unbeaten run coming into our game, but we very much put an end to that, smashing 5 goals past th3 4th placed side. Eli Kroupi hasn't exactly been the star striker I was hoping he was going to be when I signed him on loan in January, but boy did he shine here, with a hat trick and his first 3 goals for the club...an excellent display of clinical finishing from the young forward! A great result that pushes us another step closer to the Championship title.

It's March and that month of the year is always dominated by one thing...the youth intake! And my first one at Watford looks like an exciting one, with no less than 7 elite prospects in what is being tipped as a golden generation of youngsters coming through at the club!

16 year old forward, Jauvaney Emmanuel, is a technically superb youngster who can play anywhere across the front line. He offers dribbling skill, combined with flair and pace. There is obviously still plenty of development to come and he'll need to brush up on his shooting and composure in front of goal, but with this kid's decent mental attributes he looks like he could absolutely develop into a very talented footballer.

Carlton Esse is another one I'll be keeping an eye on over the next couple of years. The central midfielder may lack height and presence in stature, but he has an excellent work rate, combined with strong determination and an uncanny ability to work with the team. He's extremely quick for a centre mid as well, which could add an element to his game through the middle which is usually seen more from wingers. He's already a decent passer of the ball as well...Esse could well become a first team regular for us in the future.

There is also a goalkeeper in amongst the prospects and Jack Evans is a big lad at 6ft 4" and already commands his area very well despite his young age of just 16. Hi reflexes are very good for a big guy, whilst he already make good decisions on the pitch and has good balance and handles the ball well. Again, Jack could well feature for the first team in a few years time if he progresses to reach his full potential.

With all this talk of young talent, our oldest player proved his own importance to the club as Moussa Sissoko scored our first in a 3-1 win over Middlesbrough. But it was Mike Tresor who stole the show with a man of the match performance, assisting Sissoko's goal and scoring our 2nd. Our new man has hit the ground running and is churning out some very good performances.

Turning our attention back to youth again, the best young players in the world are officially ranked and announced. No surprise to see Barcelona's Lamine Yamal topping the list.

Back to our own team now and it was double awards for March as I lift the Manager of the Month for the second time this season and Mike Tresor's excellent recent form is recognised with the Player of the Month.

On the pitch, it was another step towards the Championship title as we beat a Wrexham side that have been struggling of late. They are 21st in the form table and so this was always going to be a game I expected us to win and the lads didn't disappoint. It was all about the left side for us as left back, Bola, and left winger, Baah, both scored our goals.

Just 5 games of the season remain and with a 13 point lead, surely the title is in the bag! It could be won with the very next game!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 10
Champions!
Tuesday 5th May 2026

Bristol City was our destination as we attempt to win the Championship title with 4 games left to play.

And sure enough, we got the job done at the first time of asking! We were firmly in control at half time, with a commanding 3-0 lead, which became a lot more nervey when Bristol came out and brought it back to 3-2. The lads were looking shakey, but some words of encouragement from the sidelines seemed to settle them back down and when Kayembe scored his second goal of the game from the penalty spot on 70 minutes, we were counting down the clock to getting our hands on the trophy. A result which caps off an amazing first season in charge where we have exceeded all my expectations.

With promotion secured, the board release the budgets for next season. I'll have nearly £40 million to invest in the squad and get us 'Premier League ready'. There is about £170k additional budget made available for wages, which doesn't go too far in the Premier League and that might be my biggest challenge to find new players that are up to scratch.

Top of the league vs bottom of the league and the outcome was completely as expected. The most comfortable 2-0 win you'll see all season.

And that was followed up by the most undeserved 2-1 win of the season...for Birmingham. We were the better side here, created more chances, better chances, dominated possession, but twice they catch us on the break and twice they score. With the league already won, I'm not too fussed, but I do still want to get to 100 points.

And we surpassed the 100 point mark with a narrow win over Charlton in our penultimate game of the season. Despite having 30 shots on goal, we only managed to score once, but it was enough as The Addicks offered very little.

It was nice to finish the season with a win in the West Midlands as well. The perfect way to round off a perfect season!

It's Ipswich who secure 2nd place and automatic promotion alongside us on the final day of the season. Meanwhile, Sheffield Wednesday, Stoke and Millwall will drop down to League One. It was disappointing seasons for Southampton who only just avoided the drop and Birmingham will have been expecting better than a mid table finish.

 

[leckuno]

An excellent season for you there. A good budget for trying to stay up as well so will be interesting to see who you bring in

 

[CrokayVessel]

Congrats! Prem is a different beast but this side has got something about it!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

An excellent season for you there. A good budget for trying to stay up as well so will be interesting to see who you bring in

Thanks mate. Busy, busy Summer ahead! Squad will need an overhaul if we are to make a go of it in the top tier.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Congrats! Prem is a different beast but this side has got something about it!

Thanks mate. Definitely didn't expect to win the Championship as comfortably as we did in the end, but I'll take it. Feel like we have a good base of players here but lots of additions expected to boost our chances of competing in the Prem.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 11
End of Season Review 2025/26

Competition Winners
Premier League - Arsenal
EFL Championship - Watford
EFL League One - Luton Town
EFL League Two - Cambridge United
FA Cup - Brighton
Carabao Cup - Liverpool
Community Shield - Liverpool

Around Europe
La Liga - Barcelona
Bundesliga - Bayern Munich
Serie A - Juventus
Ligue 1 - PSG
Liga Portugal - Benfica
Champions League - Man City
Europa League - Stuttgart
Europa Conference League - Besiktas

What a season it was! Winning the Championship was something I never expected in my first season in charge, and neither did the board or the fans. Not only did we win it, but we absolutely blitzed it, losing just 6 league games all season! Exceeding everyone's expectations, it really was a campaign to remember! We didn't do much in the cup competitions, but they were never a priority this season anyway.

It was a good year for one of our star players, Kwadwo Baah, who set a couple of new club records.

And he was named as the Championship Player of the Season!

Left back Caleb Wiley also picked up a divisional award, as the best rookie.

And it was Manager of the Year for me!

Both Kwadwo Baah and Kevin Keben made the Championship Team of the Year.

Squad Stats​

Club/Manager Awards

The club's financial situation still isn't great at all with the bank balance sitting £3 million in the red. This has been largely helped by a significant cash injection from the owners.

A rise in ticket prices with us now being a Premier League club will help. At an average ticket price of £36, our prices are incredibly reasonable I feel.

It is clear to see that we're not a 'big club' yet as the commercial revenue is showing some pretty poor numbers.

Bring on the Premier League!