The Seagulls - Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.

[Thelle]

I've never been a member on this site before, but I've played Football Manager for many years, so I thought that I'd should share one of my latest saves on FM15. I wanted to try to manage a team from Championship or League One, and I have played with similar clubs in the previous games. For some reason I went with Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. from the south of England, perhaps for their nice shirts and stadium. Before I started with the save I actually thought that they were expected to finish in around the play-off spots, but media thought that a place in the bottom half would be more accurate. Shows what I as a Swede knows about the Championship then.

Since I've played one season with the team, it is now pre season during the summer of 2015, I thought that I would do a recap of the first season first before I go onto describing the current situation and preparations for the coming season.


So, without further ado, here's the transfers I did during the first season and how the season went for the Seagulls with a young, unexperienced Swedish manager at the helm. If you're wondering about some of the words in the screenshots, they're in swedish. ;-)






2014 Summer Transfer Window

Since I didn't have a large sum of money at my disposal in my first transfer window at the club I dicided to bring in a few young players on loan instead, the spending some money on players who could really make a difference for the club during the season. Since I've played with a 4-2-3-1 formation on previous FM's I was planning on playing the the same formation with Brighton.



In:


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- Jesse Lingard, from Manchester United (£875k)
A player that I know have played in the Championship before and would become great competitions for the one of the three places behind the striker. A quite low transfer sum aswell, so a good buy right there. A player I hadn't thought of buying before but when he got listed I hit.


- Max Gradel, from AS Saint-Etienne (£700k)
Since I was thinking about playing with two wingers I thought that this rather quick winger from Cote D'Iviore would go straight into the first team and be one of the carrying players. A little experience with the English football leagues before and also some experience of playing at a higher level. With him on the right and Kazenga Lua-Lua on the right I would have some serious threat towards the opponents defence.


- Medhi Abeid from Newcastle United, Jack Grealish from Aston Villa, Moi Gómez from Villareal, Dedryck Boyata from Manchester City, Todd Kane from Chelsea and Joe Bennett from Aston Villa (loan), and Chris Eagles on free transfer
As mentioned before I brought in some players on loan instead of buying them. With the young Algerian Abeid from Newcastle I got more depth in the midfield, and both Jack Grealish and Moi Gómez were great players for the front three. I managed to get Moi for a relatively low fee and without having to pay any salary, great! The club had alrealy signed Joe Bennett on loan from Aston Villa when I took over and along with Todd Kane I had to good fullbacks, both on the left and right side. Dedryck Boyata added depth in the defence and could fight for a place next to Greer or Dunk during the season. I also brought in Chris Eagles for free, another player to add to the depth in the attack.


Out:


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- Craig Mackail-Smith to Nottingham Forest (£900k) and Kemy Agustien to Twente (£600k)
Since the 4-2-3-1 formation only has one striker it would not be necessary to have that many strikers in the squad for the season, so had to sell at least one of them. The £900,000 I got for Mackail-Smith were really good, and I kept my fingers crossed that Sam Baldock, Adrián Colunga and Chris O'Grady would deliver. And when I didn't think Agustien would fit into the squad I sold him to Twente.


A lot of players went out on loan, were Solly March probably were the one who was closest to stay with the team, but with both Moi Goméz and Jesse Lingard in his position as a CAM he could probably get some playing time with Wolves in the Championship.



Squad for the season

GK: David Stockdale, Casper Ankergren

DF: Todd Kane (loan), Iñigo Calderon, Dedryck Boyata (loan), Gordon Greer (C), Aaron Hughes, Lewis Dunk, Joe Bennett (loan)

DM: Danny Holla (VC), Andrew Crofts, Rohan Ince, Medhi Abeid (loan), Dale Stephens, Nzuzi Toko

CAM: Moi Goméz (loan), Jesse Lingard

W: Kazenga Lua-Lua, Jack Grealish (loan), Max Gradel, Chris Eagles, Paddy McCourt

S: Adrián Colunga, Sam Baldock, Chris O'Grady



So, my objective for the season was to manage to get into the play-offs to the Premier League, but would be happy with a place on the top half of the table with something to build on during the next years. In the next update I will go through the first half of the season and the changes during the january transfer window.

 

[MashedPotato]

for someone that has only just joined, you seem to have a great layout.
hope you have a long and successful career with the 'gulls

 

[SamPeters]

Just one thing.....why the **** is March out on loan! he is one of the better players at the club! lol but brought in some good players and nice with bringing back Lingard

 

[Thelle]

for someone that has only just joined, you seem to have a great layout.
hope you have a long and successful career with the 'gulls

Thank you!

Just one thing.....why the **** is March out on loan! he is one of the better players at the club! lol but brought in some good players and nice with bringing back Lingard

Thought that he wouldn't get that much game time with both Lingard and Moi Goméz in his position, but he returned to the club during the season anyways.

 

[Thelle]

Half time report & January transfer window


January, and more than half the season played for the Seagulls in the Championship. The objective to finish with at a "respectable" position in the league were well on pace, with a place somewhere in the region just outside the play-off. Some of the players performed well, and some didn't. But the most disappointing thing about the season so far was the injury on Moi Goméz, sidelining him for the better part of the first half of the season, and he still isn't fully recovered. In his place, though, Jesse Lingard shined.

( + ) The attacking half of the team performed really well during the first half of the season, with players like Sam Baldock, Jesse Lingard, Adrian Colunga and Jack Grealish the top of the bunch. Sadly we concede a lot of goals aswell so at the moment we were a bit away from the play-off spots. Still hasn't quite got the starting XI right but the midfield duo with Medhi Abeid and Danny Holla was performing really well.

( - ) If the attacking players were a positive side from the season, the defensive wasn't. Conceding a lot of goals and David Stockdale didn't have a good season at all, sloppy at times and costing us goals far to often. In the middle of the defence the trio of Lewis Dunk, Gordon Greer and Dedryck Boyata shared the responsibilites and the fullbacks were not that good defensively, mostly Todd Kane and Joe Bennett. The two wingers I thought would be my starting duo, Kazenga Lua-Lua and Max Gradel, didn't performe at all and were both very unhappy that they didn't get any playing time during as a result of that.



January transfer window

Without having that much funds to buy new players I still felt that I had to make some changes to the team, and with some of the players unhappy with the playing time I thought that I could sell them. I didn't find any team for either Lua-Lua or Gradel so they stayed at the club, but I could sell Bruno to Mallorca for £200k and Nzuzi Toko to Leyton Orient for £300k, along with some players heading out on loans again. So with some coins the wallet I could try to add to the squad during the transfer window.



IN:


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- Gary Mackay-Steven, from Dundee United (£120k)
As some of the winger didn't performe as well as I would've liked I felt I could add a bit of quality to that department, with a player that I was thinking about buying already in the summer but didn't have the funds for. A great dribbler and at a relatively low cost aswell.


- Fernando Pacheco, from Real Madrid (£200k)
With a goalkeeper who wouldn't performe as good as I hoped, I was looking at bringing in a good first goalkeeper to the squad in january, and I got one in Pacheco from the Spanish capital city. A great talent and a keeper who could grow into becoming a really good keeper for the team in the next couple of years. A bargain because I felt he could've cost a lot more.


OUT:


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Sold both Bruno and Toko so I could bring in other players, and then sended out some players on loan. Little did I know that I would soon change the formation of the team from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-1-2-1-2 with a diamond shaped midfield (Lasse Lagerbäcks diamant, as we call it in Sweden). Some players that didn't get that much time on the pitch during the first half of the season did and it were going to be a pretty good spring for the Seagulls, but more on that in the next update. After that one I will be pretty much on pace with the save.

 

[Thelle]

Season 2014/15 Summary

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So, the first season in charge of Brighton & Hove Albion ended with a promotion to the Premier League after an impressive spring season. From January and onwards the team beat everyone in their way and in the last few matches the team could decelerate and end the season by drawing against the other two teams who were promoted, Leeds (who as Brighton were in the middle of the table by Christmas but had a really, really good finish to the season) and Wolverhampton. As you can see the team scored a lot of goals, finishing with 100. The defence on the other hand didn't impress as much, with for example more goals conceded than Brentford who were relegated to League One instead of promoted to the Premier League. To still finish with the best goal difference in the league just shows how well the attack and midfield performed in front of the opponents goals during the season. As you could imagine, the board and fans were over the moon with this unheard-of Swedish coach who in his first season got them into the first division for the first time since 1983, and brining home one of the clubs biggest ever trophies to the cabinet.


The Cups

- Capital One Cup, lost to Millwall (Ch.) in the fourth round
- The F.A. Cup, lost to Manchester City in the finale


If the Capital One Cup were put aside to focus on the matches in the Championship, the adventure in the F.A. Cup were along with the finish in the league the real highlight of the season. If I'm honest to the draw could've been so much worse, with matches against lower league teams on the way to the big finale at Wembley Stadium in London. In the final Adrian Colunga had two shots who hit the post before City could score their first and eventually go on to win with 3-0 and finish the season having won both the cup and the league. But the fans could enjoy at least the first trip up to London with a victory over Charlton on rainy day. And as a result of Manchester City's victory of the league it meant that Brighton & Hove Albion will be in the group stage of the Europa League in the fall (!), most likely not something that the fans would've thought before this season started.



Best XI and Player of the Season

The first half of the season I played with a 4-2-3-1 formation, but when I changed it to a 4-1-2-1-2 formation in the second half the team really flourished. Players such as Max Gradel, Kazenga Lua-Lua and David Stockdale were replaced with Andrew Crofts, Paddy McCourt (who made a couple of stunning games during the spring) and Fernando Pacheco. Here's the season's best XI as well as well as the fans pick as the player of the season.


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Best team: Stockdale; J. Bennett (loan), G. Greer, D. Boyata (loan), T. Kane (loan); D. Holla; A. Crofts, M. Abeid (loan); J. Lingard; A. Colunga, S. Baldock
Subs: F. Pachecho, L. Dunk, J. Grealish (loan), D. Stephens, C. O'Grady, I. Calderón and Moi Goméz (loan)

And as Player of the Year, the fans voted for the winner of the Championship's best goal scorer during the season, Sam Baldock, who scored 36 and assisted 15 during the season. A fantastic season for the striker who probably is going to be one the key players of the squad in the Premier League the next season. Behind him is Jesse Lingard, who stepped up when Moi Goméz got injured and now is being followed by a couple of Premier League teams. At the third place is on-loan Dedryck Boyata from Belgium with 14 % of the votes. Really the three outstanding players during the impressive spring.



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My selection of the five best players of the season for the Seagulls

5. Adrián Colunga, Striker
7.11 - 23 (8) - 12 assists - 15 goals - A (C) - ESP
The Spanish striker Adrián Colunga were for the first half of the season the back-up to Baldock and perhaps he didn't get the game time that he deserved. When the new formation came, so did the time on the pitch and the goals from Colunga. With a really good partnership with Baldock, scoring a lot of goals and setting up, the Spaniard earned himself the place as the fifth best player of the season in my opinion.



4. Medhi Abeid, Central Midfielder (on loan from Newcastle United)
6.97 - 42 (3) - 5 assists - 4 goals - M (C) - ALG
Ahead of the season I was choosing between bringing in Abeid or another midfielder from the same club, Gaël Bigirimana. The spot went to the young Algerian midfielder Medhi, who were a regular in the team during the hole season and gave stability to the team. A couple of goals and assists as well to add to a good season Medhi, who probably will feature for the club again in the Premier League during the next season on loan again.



3. Danny Holla, Defensive Midfielder
7.01 - 51 (1) - 11 assists - 11 goals - DM, M (C) - NED
One of the issues with the 4-2-3-1 formation were that it didn't really fit Danny Holla, one of the real leaders of the team. But when he took the step down to become the more defensive midfielder in the hole between the defence and the midfielders, he really started to become a great asset to the team. Holding the team together but still going forward and scoring a couple of free kicks along the way. Future/present captain of the team and a leader for the team and anyone who's thinks he's ready to take his place in the team in the next season is going to struggle.



2. Jesse Lingard, Attacking Central Midfielder
7.15 - 42 (10) - 16 assists - 11 goals - M (C), OM (HVC) - ENG
Starting the season as back-up, like Colunga, but went on to become the second best player of the team in the end. Played mostly on the left wing during the beginning of the season, but when Moi Goméz got injured in october he went on to play in the attacking midfielder position, and boy did he deliver. A great partnership with the two strikers, scoring important goals and an overall really good spring got him the silver medal in my player of the year competition. Has drawn interest from a couple of bigger teams, but signed a new contract just after the season and is going to be one of the most important players during the next season. A real bargain from Manchester United and a fan-favorite of the 'Gulls.



1. Sam Baldock, Striker
7.24 - 46 (6) - 15 assists - 36 goals - A (C) - ENG
Couldn't be anyone else, could it. Brought in from Bristol City ahead of the season for £1,8m, the twentysix-year old Englishmen really delivered during the hole season and got the award as player of the year in the Championship. Not much more to say really, but to say that the Player of the Year Award of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. goes to Sam Baldock.




~ Now the players go on vacation and return late June to the training ground to start the work before they go onto play in the Premier League the next season. In the next update I will go through the beginning of the transfer window, as well as the first games of the pre-season.

 

[Grand Duke Soapys]

good start there

 

[Thelle]

Pre-Season report from Switzerland

After some well deserved rest the team is back in action for pre season, were the team travels to Switzerland for the first three friendly matches. It's the end of June and a couple of players have left the team, some being sold and some leaving because their contract expired on the last day of June. Both Chris O'Grady and Max Gradel left for Burnley and Íñigo Calderdón left the club when his contract expired. Danish keeper Casper Ankergren and English central defender Aaron Hughes both put their shoes up on the shelf, and then a couple of U21 and U18-players left the club. The club is still looking for a buyer for David Stockdale and Kazenga Lua-Lua and hopefully those transfers could fund another good buy in the summer.

But after receiving a little more than £25m to buy players for, the funds were there to add some quality and depth to the team ahead of the next in the Premier League. My first idea was to get some players who's contract is running out, so I scouted the market and got a couple of players who were worth looking into. So, here's the players that we bought in the first month of the transfer window and they're now traveling to Switzerland with the rest of the squad for pre-season.



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- John Guidetti, Striker (Free transfer from Manchester City)
As a Swede it was very tempting to sign the talent John Guidetti, who a couple of seasons ago really shined at Feyenoord but then couldn't play for a long time after eating some bad chicken, and then went on loan to Stoke City and during the 14/15-season at Celtic. I feel he could form a great partnership with Sam Baldock up top and grow out to be a fantastic player both here and in the Swedish national team. A real goal-getter and a lot of confidence if he gets to play.

- Joe Bennett, Left back (Loan from Aston Villa)
Had a decent season at the club last year and helped the team to promotion, and I felt that he still hade something to offer for the Brighton. A good loan.

- Todd Kane, Right back (Loan from Chelsea FC)
As with Joe, he performed well during last season and could take another step this season. Probably second choice at right back but will get his minutes one way or another.

- Matteo Bianchetti, Central defender (Free transfer from Hellas Verona)
After a season were we conceded a lot of goals I felt that I could bring in some good defenders during the transfer window, so I dicided to bring in this young and talented Italian to the team. Will be fighting for his place but is a man for the future, for sure.

- Dele Alli, Central midfielder (£1,4m from MK Dons)
A really good buy, this. A young and very talented English midfielder who'll become a great player for the club for years to come. Maybe not a player who'll deliver for the club right away in the fall, but he's a player that I, the club and the fans believes in and will be a fantastic player for the Seagulls.

- Gueïda Fofana, Central midfielder (£2,1m from Olympique Lyon)
A great midfielder that I've thinking about buying for some time. Will be a important player during the season and got some experience of playing on this level. Great work rate and is a good box-to-box midfielder.

- Frederik Sorensen, Central defender (Free transfer from Juventus)
Another young and talented defender brought in on a free transfer. The Danish defender will be a back-up and provide great depth to the team during the season.

- Medhi Abeid, Central midfielder (Loan from Newcastle United)
One of the best players in the team last season, were he was one of the first names to be put on the team sheat ahead. Now he'll have a tougher time getting that much time on the pitch, with more quality players to fight over places for. But will again be a great player and he'll only get better, still very young.

- Tyrone Mings, Left back (£1,8m from Ipswich Town)
Another young and English talent who'll develop to become a great player here at Brighton. Will fight for the place with both Joe Bennett and Urby Emanuellsson but in the long run Tyrone is the player who'll play at left back for the club. A good buy and not that high fee as well.

- Sergi Roberto, Central midfielder (£2,5m from FC Barcelona)
Arguably the biggest buy of the summer for the club? I was thinking about adding some real quality to the midfield and got it with Sergi Roberto. The highest salary in the squad and will become one of the most important players of the team. The buy really shows were the club is heading and hopefully he'll deliver as the myself and the fans expect.

- Urby Emanuellsson, Left back (Free transfer from AS Roma)
Another free agent which I couldn't resist as least try to get. Will provide some great experience, as others of the signings will, and could play on any position out on the left. Will probably be the first choice left back for the start of the season and compute with Tyrone Mings for his place. Experience of the Premier League and from other first divisions.

- Unai Albizua, Central defender (Free Transfer from Athletic Bilbao)
Another central defender? Yeah, well, I felt that I didn't get that position right last season and need for some alternatives were quite obviously there. This young Spanish defender will get some minutes in the cups and could continute his development with the U21 during the fall, and then maybe get a loan or time with the A-squad during the spring if he delivers.


Wage cost - £591 366


Other than those players the player who the fans rated as the third best player of the season last year, Dedryck Boyata, has also signed a new one-year loan at the club. Since he did well during last season he will provide a great option at central defender during the season, even though that's probably the squads weakest position right now, along with right back.

~

So, this was the first transfers of this summer transfer window. The team is now in Switzerland and will face three Swiss teams before heading back to Brighton for some other games before the Premier League starts in mid August with a game at home v.s. Liverpool Football Club. Hopefully by then we'll have added a good back-up keeper and a good right back to the team as I feel that's the holes that we could fill at the moment, either on loan or a free transfer. In the next update I will go through the team's players, one by one. Rate them from 1 to 5 and how I think the team will manage in the next season, a "guide" of the team, as well as going through the games of pre-season. After that it's time for the season premiere.

 

[SamPeters]

Some great signings there mate! good luck for the season!