The Lions, The Witch & The Wardrobe

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clarky1683 said:
Insane story and great season bud! Keep it up, I'm following :) do you have any ideas for a team I could do a story with?
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Thanks man! More of a blog than a story but I'm enjoying it! Erm, just go for a team you like. I've always had a soft spot for Millwall and I enjoy the fact that they have low finances as it makes it more of a challenge, if you want a similar story to mine maybe try Blackburn? Not the best finances but a great team and a world class Striker in Jordan Rhodes. :)
 

The Lions, The Witch & The Wardrobe

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Season Two
Pre-Season Update (2015):

Following the end of our first season at The Den (In which we finished 11th) we now head into the pre-season of our 2nd campaign as Manager of Millwall.​


Overview:

Heading into the pre-season I don't feel that there is much we need to work on in terms of progression with the Club. Our tactics are strong for the players we have at the Club and I am very happy with the backroom staff members here at the club. The only thing limiting us from expanding outwards are the finances which are in a torrid state, but I knew that when I took the seat here at Millwall.

The tactics for the start of this season will remain the 4-2-3-1 and the counter-attacking 4-5-1.​


Transfers:

Despite our board only giving us around £100,000 to bring in new players I was able to raise money on the wage budget due to the release/retirement of some of the more experienced players at the club. This freed up about £79,000 worth of wages meaning I would be able to bring in some players on free transfers, but I still went looking for cheap loans in a bid to save money wherever possible.

Here is a look at our transfers made throughout pre-season:

View attachment 319464

I'm not going to go through each signing individually as I'm hoping that their ability will do the talking for them, but overall I am very pleased with the players we have been able to bring to the club. We have certainly bolstered our existing squad and I don't see why we can't press for a top 10 finish this year!​


Results:

After making our signings we went into the pre-season friendlies hoping to chisel some team-cohesion into the squad, after all if they're going to be playing together all season it's pivotal that they work off each others strengths.

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Pre-Season went well, results aren't overly important but a few of our new players shone throughout the matches, especially former Manchester United winger Chris Eagles who bagged a couple of goals and at the experienced age of 29 this could be a big season for him!

With the pre-season complete we will now be heading into August where the 2015/16 season will kick-off!

Predicted Finish: 13th
​
 

The Lions, The Witch & The Wardrobe

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Season Two
August Update (2015):​


News:

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Due to my good management of the wage budget here at Millwall the board have announced that they have increased the percentage of revenue retained from player sales to 40%, a very pleasing sign as I have set my main aim at fixing finances here at The Den!
​


Results:

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A very stuttering start to the 2015/16 season as we saw the month both start and end in a defeat, the totals meaning that we managed 2 wins, 2 draws and 3 defeats in August.

The first game of the season was a very tense affair, both clubs clearly coming to grips with the expectation on the shoulders of the club which had clearly rubbed off on the players. Sadly for us we appeared the more nervous team and quickly found ourselves 2-0 before mustering up a late consolation goal in the 80th minute, to lose our first home match was very displeasing.

We then played against League Two side Stevenage in the Capital One Cup, a much more pleasing home affair as we managed to outclass our opponents with a 3-1 scoreline meaning we would progress into the 2nd round.

We then managed an unbeaten run in the league of 3 matches that began with a 1-1 draw away at Ewood Park, a good performance from the squad but we failed to find the winning goal and traveled back to London with only a point, our first of the season!

We then took on Suffolk side Ipswich Town at The Den, the Tractor Boys coming here off the back of a league victory but you wouldn't have guessed it as our opponents were not on par with the performance that their previous results had merited as we brushed them aside with a 2-0 victory.

We then drew 2-2 to Watford away at Vicerage road in what proved to be a ding-dong battle, both sides playing very attacking football which by the end of play could not separate the two teams.

Following our win against Stevenage we were drawn against fellow Championship Reading in the Capital One Cup and despite a strong belief that we could progress we were instead beaten 1-0 by our league counter-parts, Jordan Obita bagging the only goal of the game from a superbly struck free-kick meaning we had exited the cup in the 2nd round, a huge disappointment.

Our final game of the month saw a Brighton side put 2 past keeper David Forde with our attacking players unable to muster up a response, an easy 2-0 win for the Sea-side club and a disappointing back to back loss.​


League Table:

View attachment 319455

Following our poor start to the season we found ourselves down in 19th which I believe is the lowest we've been since this series started, a very poor month which means we have to improve in September.

If we don't not only will our play-off hopes be dashed, but I may be exiting The Den ahead of schedule.
​
 
Please leave any feedback/advice for me to improve my Millwall story/blog.

I'm not a very creative person and don't believe in turning this into a story book, but it's more of a blog on how I play the game but if you'd like more screenshots/data let me know in the comments!

- A.C.
 
A poor start but i am sure things will improve during the season!
 

The Lions, The Witch & The Wardrobe

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Season Two
September Update (2015):​


News:

New signing Chris Eagles has been ruled out for 6-7 months after suffering a broken leg during our victory over Sheffield Wednesday, a very tragic piece of news to a player who I not only had high admiration for, but a player who was in desperate need of a stand out season.

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We wish Chris all the best in his recovery.​


Results:

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At the start of the month I was beginning to believe we were getting our season back on track here at The Den, but a sloppy end to the month saw us suffer three straight defeats which quickly knocked us back down the table.

The month began very well with back to back wins over a struggling Nottingham Forest side and a new-look Sheffield Wednesday team, impressive performances in which we dominated the ball and rarely looked like losing the game, a great way to start the month!

However we then suffered straight defeats to Rotherham, Swansea and Reading, the two home defeats were the biggest disappointments during this run as I felt we were more than capable of beating Rotherham at home, and having already lost to Reading at home once this season we quickly went back to old ways and repeated the failure. Swansea was always going to be a tough match despite the Welsh side being in 20th place, they have an exceptionally strong squad and the Liberty Stadium is certainly not an easy place to go.

A poor end to the month.​


League Table:

View attachment 319149

This crushing end to the month saw us end September in 16th place, a gradual improvement over last months placing but still a poor position to be in, a club with our ambition has to be aiming higher and I trust the fans and board alike won't settle for anything less than a top half finish.

We need to turn this around before we get too far into the season.​
 

The Lions, The Witch & The Wardrobe

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Season Two
October Update (2015):​


News:

View attachment 318989

After 15 months at Millwall I have finally received my first job interview, albeit from a Nottingham Forest side who are struggling right down at the bottom of the table following some poor management. I'm honored that the club have been impressed by my work here at Millwall but I plan to stay here for as long as possible (Unless I get sacked), but I'm still very pleased to have been offered the opportunity.​


Results:

View attachment 318988

Getting back to Millwall I'm starting to wonder why Nottingham Forest offered me an early exit, my management this season isn't bringing the same results last year as we managed only a single victory in October, we need to add to our strike-force when we get the opportunity as Trotta and Sanogo just aren't getting the goals we need.

The game started with a draw against former Premier League side Stoke City in which we took the lead on the stroke of half time and kept it up until the 89th minute where Stoke's height advantage gave them the edge following a set-piece, Diouf rising high to head the ball home, but despite the disappointing end to the game a 1-1 draw with Stoke is nothing to be ashamed off.

We then managed to pick up a much needed victory over newly promoted Peterborough, a great performance in which we stroked the ball about with confidence with some great attacking play helping us to exploit our oppositions weaknesses, Marcello Trotta picking up a couple of much needed goals as his position really is under scrutiny from the press.

For the 2nd month in a row we then suffered three straight league defeats to Burnley, Fulham and Cardiff. These are all tough teams but I was hoping our fighting spirit would see us take at least a couple of points away from the fixtures, but instead I'm left here disappointed and under severe pressure.​


League Table:

View attachment 318987

This month saw us slide down two places to 18th and with the club indefinitely slipping towards the relegation places the players and media have began to question the safety of my job here at The Den which I think is completely fair, but despite this the squad still remains fully behind me and I have belief that we can turn this run around before it's too late.​
 

The Lions, The Witch & The Wardrobe

View attachment 318821

Season Two
Reviewing the Season:
As you all know I play a couple of months ahead of my updates in order to keep them flowing but after not having internet for the majority of the day I ended up finishing my season, and rather than post the separate updates from November-June I thought I'd upload one or two large updates to review the season!


News:

View attachment 318820

In March we received our 2nd youth intake which this time had a little more promise, however the DC who has the best potential on that chart is in fact 5"7, so some retraining may be needed to play him in more of a midfield role but in reality this is the best sort of intake we can hope for here at Millwall.

View attachment 318819

This year Arsenal managed to win the Capital One Cup by beating Manchester United at Wembley, Arsene Wenger was hailed by the fans for his success at bringing home the silverware, albeit a small piece.

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The end of the season saw another North London club win some silverware, this time it was Tottenham Hotspur who also beat Manchester United at Wembley to claim the trophy, a rotten year for Manchester United as they miss the chance to win a trophy on two occasions!

View attachment 318817

Lionel Messi returned to record breaking ways as he claimed his 5th Ballon D'or, this time finishing above Cristiano Ronaldo and Falcao to claim the award.

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Throughout the course of the 2015/16 season I also received a number of Job Interviews from fellow Championship clubs and although I was tempted by Burnley I decided to reject the offers and keep loyal to Millwall, although maybe one day I'll move clubs?


Transfers:

View attachment 318807

Not many transfers were made during January due to the lack of funding (Broken record) but here's a look at the deals I carried out in the Winter.


Results:

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Apologies for not being able to fit all of the fixtures on one screen but this is how things went following my October update, we entered a great run of form to round of the year which saw us move up to 7th in the table before a horrible slump in the new year where we simply couldn't buy a win for love nor money, we then had a stuttering run of form before ending the season on a strong note. Overall the season didn't go as I wanted but we know the Championship is a tough league and we were always going to need a miracle to achieve our dreams of reaching the play-offs.

As you can also see we were knocked out of the FA Cup fairly early on, a poor performance in both legs against Brentford saw us exit the competition below expectations.


League Table:

View attachment 318809

The season didn't go too well in the end, despite beating our predicted finish of 13th we actually managed to finish off worse than we did in our first season at Millwall, one place and 3 points worse off than we were last year.

I have to admit that we never at any point looked like a club who would reach the play-offs and scoring goals was definitely a tough task this season, something I'll be looking to fix next season.


Player Stats/My Squad:

View attachment 318808

I won't talk through every player's performances but there were definitely some players who did well and some who were very disappointing. Hopefully you can get a gist of who played well based on the average rating column or the G/A columns.


Summary:

The 2015/16 campaign proved to be a very frustrating one, finances have failed to improve despite my attempts to save money and the club is just struggling to perform above a mid-table stance, it's very difficult to score goals and not concede many when you don't have the funds available to bolster your squad.

Overall I'm pleased that I exceeded the media prediction, at one point we were sitting 18th with 4 to play and I was starting to fear for my place at the helm so I'm glad the players dug deep at the end of the season, next year I'll be looking to solve our problems up the top of the pitch while hoping to strengthen our defence as well.

I apologise for the format of this update but posting single updates from last season would cause me to fall behind drastically, I'll return to monthly updates come next season!
​
 

The Lions, The Witch & The Wardrobe

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Season Two
Post-Season Update:

This update will show the awards that were given out at the end of the 2015/16 season.​


Championship Awards:

Manager of the Year:
Owen Coyle (Wolves)

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Player of the Year:
Nakhi Wells (Huddersfield)

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Top Goalscorer:
Nakhi Wells (Huddersfield)

View attachment 318803

Championship Best XI:

View attachment 318802​



Millwall Fans Awards:

Fans Player of the Year:
Magaye Gueye

View attachment 318801

Former Everton Winger Magaye Gueye was voted as the Fans Player of the Year with a whopping 34% of the votes, Sean Morrison finishing 2nd with 28% followed by former Fulham Striker Marcello Trotta who claimed 23% of the votes.

Fans Best XI:

View attachment 318800

​

This concludes the 2015/16 Campaign!

(Please ask if you have any inquiries about last season as I know there's a lot to take in from one update)​
 
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