Transfers and August 2014
Plenty of ins and outs, maybe too many?
Champions League group very very tough
England won the World Cup :O
Transfers
So I cleared out a lot of the dead wood again in the window, the two notable outs must be Jay Rod and Jack Cork. I just feel with the way the clubs progressing and with them being just fringe players they'd only get in the way of younger, potentially better players playing. I chucked in some tidy clauses in the transfers anyway so if they play well and are signed by another team for a higher fee we'd rake a fair bit in.
Now to the ins and the big stand out one is Romelu Lukaku coming in for ?20m. I asked earlier in the window how much they wanted for him and they wouldn't budge from ?35m but then they accepted a ?18m bid from PSG. So i swooped in and poached him myself, he's a clear replacement for the ageing Rickie Lambert. I also signed a young English left back regen in Terry Digby on a free and he'll be Shaw's deputy. Goalkeeper Alex McCarthy was signed too and he'll be our number 1. Eder Balanta comes in to partner Lovren at the back. I managed to sign Rodrigo Gomez this summer after he failed to gain a work permit last summer and will rotate with Cerci on the right wing. Kenneth Omeruo comes in on loan after he impressed me whilst at Swansea last season. Rob Green was signed on a free, yes Rob Green. Hopefully his experience will help the younger McCarthy. I then noticed just how short we are in central midfield, especially as we're in Europe this season so I signed Barry on a free, his wages are pretty reasonable and he still has decent stats. I then loaned in Oriol Romeu from Chelsea too, he's versatile and young plus looks quite decent too. Gabriel Barbosa finally joined up with us after agreeing a deal in January.
Terry Digby
Alex McCarthy
Eder Alvarez Balanta
Rodrigo Gomez
Kenneth Omeruo
Romelu Lukaku
Robert Green
Gareth Barry
Oriol Romeu
Gabriel Barbosa
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League
Southampton 2 - 1 Fulham
Lukaku, Osvaldo
Solid win here they scored with their only shot on target all game, we could have scored more ourselves but Lukaku wasted a fair few chances. He did score 30 minutes into his debut though and was a constant menace. Nice start to the season.
Liverpool 1 - 0 Southampton
Shame here as we deserved something, but Liverpool have had a stunning start to their season so I'm not too upset. Still never nice to lose.
Southampton 2 - 1 Manchester City
Gomez(2)
Great win here, all thanks to summer signing Rodrigo Gomez. His first was a tidy finish after James Ward-Prowse slipped him through nicely and his second a close range header after Shaw drilling in a delightful cross. Aguero scored late on to make for a nervous final few minutes but we clung on for a big win.
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Monthly Review
So a pretty good month considering we played Liverpool and City. The Fulham game was a solid performance all round from a fairly new team considering all the summer signings and a new man in goal and up front. The Liverpool loss wasn't fair on the lads, we played well and deserved something from it really. But that win over City was superb and I was delighted it was Rodrigo Gomez who I've been chasing for over a year who decimated the City defence by himself.
Anyway onto our Champions League group... it couldn't be much worse really:
Yuk lets hope we can beat Olympiakos to third place and go into the Europa League.
Player of the Month
Rodrigo Gomez
For a young lad to come into English football and net a brace on his second appearance against City is impressive.
Table
Doesn't mean too much after 3 games. Things to note are City are winless so far and Brighton are off to a great start.
