The Revival of The Tractor Boys an Ipswich Town Story

[leckuno]

October

Ipswich v Arsenal

Bit of an expected result here as we fall to one of the bigger teams again

Liverpool v Ipswich

Jens Johanesson had a great game for us being involved in a number moves that we had and 2 of them paid off to nearly get us a huge draw but sadly a corner that we couldn't clear bounces off Colwill into the goal.

Bournemouth v Ipswich

It looked like it wasn't going to go our way here after Bournemouth took the lead but Beljo got a very rare goal as he came of with 15 minutes to go and got us the point

League

A poor run of form has seen us fall down to 13th and getting close to the relegation spots now as well.

November

Back to 4 games this month and hopefully we can try and turn our form around before having to face Man Utd come the end of the season​

 

[leckuno]

November

Ipswich v West Ham

A well needed win here as its our first in 7 and it was all thanks to a strong first half performance from Zaniolo who not only got on the scoresheet but also made the assist for the 2nd goal as well

Aston Villa v Ipswich

We looked to be on for a narrow win here but sadly another poor choice from our keeper cost us a goal meaning we only get a point

Ipswich v Everton

Zaniolo has really stepped up over the last few games and is showing his skill and experience and its paying off. It was a nervy finish though with only goal in it for the final 15 minutes

Ipswich v Manchester United

We're getting closer to the big teams at home but again our keeper gets the ball and plays it straight to Kudus who then slots it past him. He's costing us far too many points now

League

A better month and we're back into the top half of the table. We're nicely just sitting out of the European spots as well as moving away from the relegation spots as well

December

The busiest month that we've had for a while and there are plenty of chances to pick up points this month as we avoid the big teams​

 

[leckuno]

December

Ipswich v Brighton

Jeremic got us off to a flyer with a well placed finish before we doubled the lead and then got a very rare clean sheet as its the first time in 10 games we've managed it

Ipswich v Middlesbrough

Another repeat performance here with another clean sheet and two goals as our wingers come together to get the 2 goals.

Southampton v Ipswich

We might not have scored here but 3 cleans sheets in a row is massive for us and the draw was a fair result.

West Brom v Ipswich

It was disappointing to fall one behind as I didn't know if we'd collapse but it seemed to just get us going as we went on to run riot

Ipswich v Leicester

Well a defeat was always going to be on the cards at some point and we were poor here and lost to the better team

Wolves v Ipswich

It was nice to bounce straight back with a win instead of going into a spiral even though it was a nervy end to the game with the final 5 minutes of being on the back foot.

League

We're very close to the European spots as we're just hanging on there as we are establishing ourselves this season and beating decent teams this time around

January

3 big games to look forward to this month where we will also have a chance to see where we can improve the squad or even trim it as well​

 

[leckuno]

January

Transfers Out

We've been busy with getting rid of player to raise funds to improve the squad as we get rid of both our keepers due to far too mistakes from Mamardashvili and Green wanting more game time but not being good enough to Gilmour, Beljo and Ampadu all wanting more game time as well but weren't good enough to knock other players out of the starting 11.

Transfers In

Facundo Villalba

Villalba looks live a very promising young centre back and already has 3 caps for Argentina as we sign him from Boca Juniors for £12.5 million

Gabriel Slonina

We've been on the hunt for a new keeper and Slonina fits the bill and as a young keeper still has plenty of time left to grow as well. He had a successful spell on loan with us in our first season back in the Championship as he becomes the record signing for the club as he joins from Chelsea for £50million up front followed by another £10 million over the next few years

James Trafford

He comes in as a backup keeper and should hopefully not moan about wanting game time as he signs as an emergency backup

Rob Faber

An upcoming Dutch midfielder comes in as backup after Gilmour leaving and he joins from PEC Zwolle for £10 million and will get some game time over the rest of the season

Nicolas Castro

I wanted a new ST and a new AMC and Castro fills both roles nicely as we activate his release for £16.5million and he looks like he could be a bargain for us.

Ipswich v Liverpool

We threw a number of our new signings in here but sadly it wasn't enough after best got us off to a fast start but Liverpool are again just far too strong for us

FA Cup 3rd Round
Ipswich v Leeds United

It was testing at time but our left winger got us going before his replacement scored with the final passage of play in the game to see us into the next round.

Arsenal v Ipswich

What a game for us here as our new signings start to bed in as we get a huge draw here and hopefully a sign of things to come

Ipswich v West Brom

I really feel we could of done better here against 10 men but we did just enough to get the 3 points.

Crystal Palace v Ipswich

Of course Jose Bica scores his first goals in English football against us due to some sloppy defending but we worked hard and walk away with a point.

Ipswich v Manchester City

Man City push us aside here but we didn't help matters with a poor challenge to give away a penalty

League

We're still hanging on close to those European spots with us being 4 points off them but we're now 1 point off the 40 point mark so at least we know come the end of the season we'll be safe.

February

Its nice to have a month without the big boys as it gives us another good chance for points
​

 

[leckuno]

February

FA Cup 4th Round
Aston Villa v Ipswich

Our new signings have settled really well and Villalba even gets a goal in his first start for the club as well. Slonia seems to be a big upgrade in goal as well which was needed.

Ipswich v Southampton

Another clean sheet is racked up here but its Szoboszlai that is the key player here for us and he's been amazing for us this season playing down the left wing

Middlesbrough v Ipswich

Jack best got us off to a quick start here in only the 5th minute heading in from the back post. It took us a while to make the most of the sending off but once we got going in the 2nd half we ran riot

Ipswich v Brighton

We struggled here against Brighton as a number of players just didn't turn up and perform as we got lucky with Iglesias coming on and riffling home a shot to get us a point

FA Cup 5th Round
Southampton v Ipswich

If there was ever a tale of two halves it was this game. We had a horrible start conceding within the opening minute and then it just went downhill from there over the rest of the first half. Some choice words at half time and a few changes and we managed to completely change the course of the game. Castro was instrumental after coming on at half time with a MOTM performance netting twice and assisting once.

League

We've moved up into the European spots now but Spurs do have a game in hand over us but it is a sign of improvement since the winter transfer window.

March

Plenty of time for training and rest over the course of the month thanks to the international window​

 

[leckuno]

March

Manchester United v Ipswich

With the January signings we're getting closer and closer to getting results against the bigger teams even if we do get a goal against 10 men but its still a good result

Ipswich v Aston Villa

A good win even though we scored all 3 goals of the game here but its good to see our midfielders amongst the goals for us

FA Cup Quarter Final
Wolves v Ipswich

Well our FA Cup run comes to an end in the quarter finals but we did ourselves proud this season in the cup

League

Well West Ham have won the Carabao Cup to bag the first European spot of the season so not sure where we'll end up now.

Youth Intake

A really poor youth intake here and funnily enough I don't think any of them will make it.

April

We're now in the final run of the season and we need to keep going and make sure we finish as high as possible​

 

[leckuno]

April

Ipswich v Bournemouth

Best seems to have stepped up his game over the last few weeks as his two goals here from cutting in off the wing really shows that.

Everton v Ipswich

Another great result here and Best gets in amongst the goals and sets Castro up for his strike from just outside the box as well

West Ham v Ipswich

There is only one Jack Best as he gets his 4th goal in 3 games before Almada sadly equalises.

Chelsea v Ipswich

What a result for us and what a final 10 minutes as everything really came together with 2 goals from midfield to show our quality

League

With a good month we've managed to hold onto 7th spot to give us our best chances of finishing there but we don only have a 2 point advantage over and even have an outside chance of finishing in the top 4 as well

May

3 games to finish off our season and I wish they could of been a lot easier than having to face Spurs and Newcastle.​

 

[leckuno]

May

Ipswich v Newcastle

A mixed match here as we raced into a lead in the opening 7 minutes before Jeremic rounded off his hat-trick in just 20 minutes. It then started to go wrong as we got complacent and managed to throw away a 3 goal lead

Leeds v Ipswich

With Leeds fighting against relegation Leeds were up for the fight here and it took right to the death for us to get the goal as Castro smacked it home from 30 yards.

Ipswich v Tottenham

a poor way to finish the season here as I thought we had enough to get a result here but sadly it wasn't to be.

League

Well we managed to sneak into European football in 7th place this season even though it didn't look likely with West Ham and Brighton winning the two cups but Arsenal managed to win the Champions League meaning their place went to the league and Crystal Palace managed to win the Conference League as well for them to qualify for next season as well.

Budgets

We have decent budgets for the season ahead with a nice increase in wage budget for attracting new players even though I would like to start integrating some of our youth players into the first team as well unless they get good loan deals.​

 

[leckuno]

Season 6

Transfers In

We've had real issues in this transfer window going up against other teams for most of the players we've been targeting to strengthen the first team and been beaten to nearly every single player meaning that we've only managed to bring in 3 players over preseason which is a lot less than normal for me as we have even been beaten to younger players as well.

Ismail El Amri

The young Moroccan has signed from Schalke for £15million after he broke into the first team and national team last season as an AMC where he looks like he should develop nicely into a key player for us. We have loaned him straight back to Schalke for this season though and he will get plenty of game time in 2.Bundesliga and come back stronger and ready to fight for first team football.

Nathan Patterson

The Scotland international joins from Everton for a club record £63million as he brings in a lot more quality to the RB role and will hopefully hold that spot for the next few years

Peixoto Vida

I wanted more cover for the middle of the park and Vida joins from Sporting for £39.5million after we activate his release clause. He has a lot of strong mental stats which hopefully means he will develop into a top midfielder.

Transfers Out

We've had a very busy window with players leaving. Quite a few of them have been younger players who I didn't think would cut it in our first team after coming through the youth ranks but we were still able to turn a tasty profit off them to improve the balance. The two big outgoings were Sergio Carreira and Adrian Bernabe who thankfully we now have cover for.

Preseason

An excepetional preseason for us as the young players we brought into the squad last season have massively improved and going to be key to our season ahead.

Expectations

The board don't have high expectations of us again this season in the league with just needing a top half finish which is always good and in the cups we just need to be competitive. I'm not 100% sure what the latter stages of the Europa League is if its quarter/semi finals or just the group stage which we go straight into.

The good news is we still have plenty of money to miss out on more players with over the rest of the transfer window

August

A bit of a horrible start this season with having to face Chelsea, Manchester United and Newcastle all this month but the upside is that we're facing them all at home which will hopefully give us a decent chance.

​

 

[leckuno]

August

Ipswich v Chelsea

We got off to the best possible start for the season as Johanesson taps home from a couple of inches out for a huge win over Chelsea

Southampton v Ipswich

A nice easy game here where our wingers were key again getting 3 goals between them and getting the assist for Jeremic to get off the mark as well

Ipswich v Manchester United

I thought that after the sending off we were done for and the United goal really didn't help but all of a sudden after Casemiro getting sent off it put them on the back foot after we managed to score from the penalty spot. With the confidence flowing we were then able to run riot as they couldn't handle us

West Ham v Ipswich

What a final bit of injury time here as we really struggled to break them down but our fitness was just better as Best gets on the scoresheet before teeing up Johanesson on the edge of the area.

Carabao Cup 2nd Round
AFC Wimbledon v Ipswich

We were able to fully rotate our squad here giving some youngsters a chance and it was Lewis Storey who took his chances here and got us off to a quick start before Castro stepped up and took over with a great hat-trick

Newcastle United v Ipswich

I was disappointed with this result as we threw away the lead twice before we succumbed to defeat

League

We're sitting exactly where we want to be after 5 games and just 3 points off the top of the table.

Europa League Phase

We have a pretty decent draw for the Europa League here with only two main worries with having to face Bayern Leverkusen and Sporting CP so I expect to finish with close to maximum points.

Transfers Out

Well we have ended up losing another two huge players for us with Moriba and Szoboszlai had their release clauses activated by Champions League teams which I had forgotten about being in their contracts so we had to move quickly to replace them to ensure we weren't being made weaker.

Transfers In

Alex Scott

Since Porto took one of our midfielders we then used that money to sign one of theirs with their own cash as he joins for £28.5million. Hopefully he can fill the gap that Moriba leaves and run our midfield.

Joe Gelhardt

We needed another out and out striker to play backup to Jeremic and Gelhardt fits that perfectly after Leeds got relegated and we snapped him up for £11million

Gary Robinson

We were only left with a couple of hours to sign a new LW so we have probably overpaid but we forked out £75million for Robinson from City. He's a little rough around the edges but hopefully fulfils his potential and can show he was worth being our record signing.

Wage Expendature

We are somehow still the second lowest spending team on wages in the league which is mad but it shows how careful we're being when offering and renewing contracts to make sure that we're not overpaying on players.

September

We start the month with our derby against Norwich before starting our first campaign in Europe and then we have to throw in games and Liverpool and Spurs into the mix as well​

 

[leckuno]

September

Norwich City v Ipswich

Its always good to get a win over your biggest rivals and its our star man who gets the goals for us as he makes it look so easy sometimes

Europa League League Phase
Bayer Leverkusen v Ipswich

I expected this to be the hardest game of our league phase and we ran away with it here as Leverkusen couldn't handle us at all.

Ipswich v Liverpool

What a game here as it looked like it was all going to be over after Abraham got his 2nd goal but Jeremic showed again he can mix it with the best of them as he slots home to get us a huge point

Carabao Cup 3rd Round
Ipswich v West Brom

We fully rotated the squad here to give people a rest after the Liverpool result and it worked perfectly for us as Gelhardt gets the opening goal before Vida gets two great goals from midfield.

Tottenham v Ipswich

Everybody came back into the first team here and it was a massive disappointment as we couldn't cope at all.

Europa League League Phase
Ipswich v Legia Warszawa

The squad was rotated again here and the backups do us proud to get our 2nd win in a row here.

League

We're holding our own here as we're sitting 3rd in the league and we've played 5 of the big teams now as well so hopefully it can only get easier.

October

We'll got Man City to face this time along with the Carabao Cup and Europa League that we need to concentrate on.​

 

[leckuno]

October

Ipswich v Aston Villa

We get off a flying start through a great bit of play from Johanesson to get the opener but sadly we weren't able to build on it at all but still took a good win

Manchester City v Ipswich

We knew this was going to be a tough match as normal and sadly it wasn't to be but we did limit it to just the one goal

Europa League League Phase
Ipswich v Slavia Praha

We took the chance with rotating our squad here and Gelhardt shined here for us with a goal and an assist to make it 3 wins from 3 so far

Ipswich v Bournemouth

The first team come back into it here and there is no rust to shake off as Best runs riot from the right wing and pulls all the strings as he's unplayable

Carabao Cup 4th Round
Wolves v Ipswich

The backups come back out here and Zaniolo is the stand out player as he is giving a real fight to try and get best out of the team to make space for him down the wing

Leicester City v Ipswich

This was disappointing after Jeremic got a brace and then we managed to throw it all away and end up with only a point.

League

12 games in and we're now 4th in the league, we may have dropped a position but we're still exactly where we want to be come the end of the season

November

A big game against Arsenal this month but we have another 2 opportunities in Europe for our backups to shine if given the chance.​

 

[leckuno]

November

Europa League League Phase
Ipswich v Sparta Praha

Another great performance in Europe from our backups as we maintain our 100% record so far.

Ipswich v Everton

Jeremic and Best ran riot here with Jeremic scoring an excellent hat-trick as Everton really struggled against us but it was disappointing not to score more playing against 10 men

Arsenal v Ipswich

A huge win away to Arsenal here and it was great to see Wilsmer who came through our youth ranks score against them as well even if it was from the penalty spot.

Europa League League Phase
APOEL Nicosia v Ipswich

Gelhardt has found his level in the Europa League as he continues to keep his form going as he gets the only goal of the game

Crystal Palace v Ipswich

A really disappointing result and we should of done a lot better here.

League

We hold onto 4th spot thanks to goal difference but we're not too far from the top of the table as well.

December

We've got a very busy month with games coming thick and fast with 9 games and we finish off with tough games against Spurs and Liverpool​

 

[leckuno]

December

Ipswich v Brighton

Another poor game here as the early goal really took it our of us here and we couldn't get back into the game at all after it.

Brentford v Ipswich

A much better performance here but it was only once Gelhardt and Zaniolo came on that we looked like we were going to win it as the two of them linked up well for the two goals.

Europa League League Phase
Brondby IF v Ipswich

Jeremic leads the line here this time as he has been struggling for form recently but he takes his chance just after half time for us a to grind out another 1 goal win

Ipswich v Fulham

Its amazing what our backups can do when given a chance in the league due to fatigue as Anderson and Castro were fantastic. Zaniolo made the final 15 minutes difficult though with his sending off but Jeremic put the game to bed for us

Carabao Cup Quarter Final
Plymouth Argyle v Ipswich

Plymouth gave us a fright here as we should of done a lot better as we had a very strong starting XI out there but we did just enough to make to to the semi finals.

Wolves v Ipswich

Wolves have been a bit of a bogey team for us over the years and it continues here as we lose it right at the end of the game.

Ipswich v Southampton

We bounce right back here thanks to goals just either side of half time gets us back on track.

Ipswich v Tottenham

Johanesson has a great game with 2 goals from just outside the area along with Best tapping in at the back post.

Liverpool v Ipswich

A positive draw here after Castro tapped in from the edge of the 6 yard box before we conceded a screamer from Andic who scored a wonder goal that we couldn't do anything about.

League

We are making 4th spot our own here but its still very close below us but with 9 points between us and 1st I think that dream could be over for us already this season.

January

Another chaotic month here as we have 5 cup games to look forward to. Rotation is going to be key for us again here if we want to make sure we do our best and progress the way we would like to in the cups along with maintaining our fight in the league as well​

 

[leckuno]

January

Transfers Out

Some big deals were made to sell players as Zaniolo decided to announce he wouldn't renew his deal when it finished so we cashed in while we could on him. We recalled Iglesias from his loan at Celtic as well to cash in on him as well while his value was high. Finally we lost Betancurt due to a release clause for teams in the Champions League that we had forgotten about in his contract.

Transfers In

Nicolas Santos

Santos joins from Club Nacional for £5million and again looks live we've found a bargain midfielder from South America

Cameron Humphreys

With Europe its important that we also have homegrown players in the squad along with players who come through our own academy so when we got the chance to resign Humphreys from Newcastle for £11.5million

Darwin Chinga

We needed another right winger to come in after Zaniolo left the club and hopefully Chinga will be happy playing backup to Best as he joins from Universidad de Chile for £5million

Clodovil

Who doesn't love a Brazilian wonderkid and hopefully he develops into a world class defender and he joins from Flamengo for £15.25million

Ipswich v Manchester City

What a game as we make the most of being able to put out a number of fresh players here and it paid off as Man City's players started fast and couldn't last the full length of the game

Carabao Cup Semi Final 1st Leg
Ipswich v Chelsea

We had some tired legs out there today so to walk away with a draw is a good result for us and now we just need to hope for the best in the return leg

FA Cup 3rd Round
Ipswich v Burnley

Gelhardt has really shown he can step up when needed and take his chances as a last minute header gets us into the 4th round

Carabao Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg
Chelsea v Ipswich

Sadly a poor challenge from Colwill was enough to seal our fate as they slot home from the penalty spot.

Aston Villa v Ipswich

This time it was our legs that gave out sadly and let Villa slip through our defence to equalise.

Europa League League Phase
Ipswich v Rapid Wien

Johanesson!!!!!!! and thats all that needs said about this game.

Ipswich v Wolves

We make sure we don't succumb to Wolves this time as new boy Chinga cuts in off the right to get the goal

Europa League League Phase
Sporting CP v Ipswich

Gelhardt does it again in the Europa League with getting past the defenders to make sure we finish top of the group with a 100% record

Chelsea v Ipswich

We came so close to getting a win here as Jeremic managed to end his goal drought but again its a penalty that costs us here again against them

League

We still hold onto 4th thanks to goal difference so as long as we keep scoring we should be fine.

February

Thank goodness now we have a bit of time off to rest our players as we just have the 4 games to look forward to​

 

[leckuno]

February

FA Cup 4th Round
Leeds United v Ipswich

The backups come in here again and Gelhardt that was the standout player against his old team getting a goal which sees us progress to the 5th round against Arsenal

Fulham v Ipswich

The first team come back out here and we were a wee bit frail defensively but thankfully we were great going forward and were able to bang in the goals.

Ipswich v Brentford

A disappointing result here with only getting a draw.

Brighton v Ipswich

What a boring 1st half of football before Brighton opened the scoring which just gave us the kick we needed as we went on to run riot as the goals got shared around by our 4 attacking players.

FA Cup 5th Round
Ipswich v Arsenal

Jeremic is some player when he's on form and boy was he on form here as Arsenal couldn't handle him at all.

League

Still 4th and now opened up a 4 point gap as well over 4th and now just 9 points off top as well so still holding an outside chance of the title.

March

European football returns this month as its what we'll be concentrating on to try and get as far as possible.​

 

[leckuno]

March

Ipswich v Crystal Palace

What a game against Palace here as we left it to the second half to really get going but Jeremic was unplayable again here

Europa League Round of 16
PSV v Ipswich

We do just enough here to take a lead into the 2nd leg thanks to Johanesson slotting home from inside the box.

Everton v Ipswich

A tough game for our backups here and it was great to see our homegrown talent in Willsmer get the inly goal of the game

Europa League Round of 16
Ipswich v PSV

Thank goodness we got the opening 3 goal through Scott and Chinga as thing got very nervy after they managed to get two goals back but at least we only had to hold out for 5 more minutes

FA Cup Quarter Final
Ipswich v Manchester United

The sending off made all the difference for us here as Johanesson scored on either side of the half time whistle to get us into the semi final

League

We've moved up to 3rd now with a 6 point gap over 5th and now just 7 points off first as well as we close the gap by 2 points.

England Call ups

Its only taken over 6 and a half seasons but we've finally had our first call ups to the England team here and hopefully it will be the first of many

Youth Intake

Its a pretty standard youth intake apart from Tom Hope who looks like he can hopefully develop well at the club and become one of our great players.

April

Thanks to progressing in the Europa League and FA Cup its going to be a busy month for us​

 

[leckuno]

April

Bournemouth v April

Willsmer is at it again with a strike from just outside the box as we grind out a fine victory

Europa League Quarter Final 1st Leg
HNK Rijeka v Ipswich

He's really making a name for himself in our midfield as he's going to be difficult to keep out the team soon if he keeps getting on the scoresheet.

Ipswich v Leicester

We did our best here but there were a lot of tired legs and we had a stroke of luck with the penalty as we didn't look like scoring at all without it

Europa League Quarter Final 2nd Leg
Ipswich v HNK Rijeka

Willsmer pulls it out the bag again here with a great finish to get us on our way before Castro seals the win and sends us to the Semi Finals where we will have a battle of Britain against Rangers

FA Cup Semi Final
West Ham v Ipswich

We had to throw everything at West Ham here as we didn't want any slipups but thankfully we owned the 2nd have with 3 good team goals to reach our first final where we have lucked out and will face Brighton

Ipswich v Arsenal

Our form continues here as we open the scoring from a freekick before Colwill scores from a well crossed ball from the corner flag

Europa League Semi Final
Ipswich v Rangers

What a great team performance here as we now have one foot in the final as long as we don't blow it in the return leg at Ibrox.

Manchester United v Ipswich

Our first loss since January and it was a hard one to take as the first goal was a bad defensive error and it was all downhill from there


I sadly forgot to take screenshots of the league table and fixtures and I don't want to give too much away about results​

 

[leckuno]

May

Europa League Semi Final 2nd Leg
Rangers v Ipswich

We came into this game expecting it to be a walk in the park but in the 2nd half it went horribly wrong as Rangers ran riot with us and pushed us to extra time and then penalties. Thankfully we were able see it out after 8 penalties and make it to the final.

Ipswich v Norwich

We had to rotate the squad here as the last game really took it out of us but thankfully Scott is on hand to fire in the only goal of the game,

Ipswich v West Ham

Even though we took the lead West Ham were just the better team and fully deserved their win.

Newcastle United v Ipswich

After falling behind I thought we were going to lose again but we rallied at half time and it was great to see ex Newcastle player Elliot Anderson scoring the winner so it was a great way to finish the season.

League Table

Well the season is finished and we've managed to complete our goal of getting Champions League football. We're still a wee bit shy of competing for the title so hopefully another season or two and we'll be there

Europa League Final
Ipswich v Bayer Leverkusen

Its ironic that in the final we face the team that we faced first this season in the league phase where we beat them 3-1. Scott had an absolute blinder of a game as he scored two great goals before Gelhardt who has been key for us through Europe this season with his goals.

FA Cup Final
Ipswich v Brighton

It was the final that we hopped for here as Gary Robinson put in a man of the match performance with twice cutting in and tapping home from the back post.

Budgets

I'm not going to lie I expected a bit more cash after everything we achieved this season so it looks like we'll be selling some players to boost the transfer budget as usual. On the upside though we have had a nice boost to the wage budget​

 

[leckuno]

Season 7

Transfers Out

Its been a very busy transfer window for players leaving as we've let some of our youth players go who we've managed to get some decent cash for. We've also had a clear out of players who played well for us but better options were available or we were going to try and give some younger players a breakthrough as well at the club. Whats important though is that we made profits on each player we sold which continues our good work in the transfer market.

Transfers In

Falck Johan

Johan joins from Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors for £3.5m and looks like he should develop well and should bring in a nice revenue boost from South Korea as well

Mateo Lenormand

We've been tracking Lenormand for the whole of last season and nearly signed him in January but decided to hold off and we've finally got our man as he costs us £72m from RC Lens but can play right across the front and will give Jeremic proper compeition upfront.

Rayam Ait-Nouri

I needed a big improvement in the LB position and hopefully Ait-Nouri will step up and make that role his own as he joins from Wolves for £48m

Jarrad Branthwaite

We've signed Branthwaite for £27.5m from Everton and we've probably overpaid for him being a backup but I want more English players in the squad for European registration

Kieran O'Malley

Another English player coming in from Stoke for £16.75million but he looks like he should be a good player going forward. To continue his development we've loaned him back to Stoke for the season ahead.

Preseason

I don't think we could of asked for a better preseason around Australia with notching up a number of good wins but whats important is the wins at either side against the level of teams we'll be coming up against in Europe this season

Expectations

The bored again doesn't expect too much from us this season with just needing a top half finish and to be competitive in all of our cups as well. I always find it interesting though when they want you to reach the group stages of Europe even though you go straight into that point.

We still have plenty of money to spend though on some more players should the right players become available or be found by our scouts.

August

We start the season nice and early thanks to the Charity Shield match before starting off the league campaign against Chelsea and then thrown straight into the European Super Cup. Sadly doesn't get easier from there as we then end the month with Man Utd and Spurs​