UK Journeyman

[sek729]

First match of the season. This game can go **** itself right about now.

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[sek729]

Zipped through a whole season without much updates. Here is what happened.



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Got off to a terribly unlucky start. We deserved to win that other home match vs Chester, outshooting them 20-11 and holding a 59-41% edge. Wasn't feeling too good after that start, but then we got things rolling and climbed back up the table.



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Went through an AWFUL stretch from Feb-early Mar where we got just 1 point from 7 matches. Nightmare. I corrected it by leaning on my assistant's advice to switch to a classic 4-4-2 flat. We rattled off a few wins to avoid a total collapse. It looks like we ended the season poorly but Newport and Torquay were tough outs, both made the playoffs and we played well.

I finished with 58 points for 14th. two spots higher than last season. It feels like I'm ONE stud player away from really putting together a promotion push.


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Few highlights from the year:

- ST Michael Cregan did not have as big a year for us as last. He was okay, 24 apps, 9 gls, 4 asts, 1 pom, 6.93, but not the 27 goal stud that he was the year before. I decided not to renew his loan for the final two months as I had others playing well and pushing him for playing time.

- My Fulham loanee AMC/ST Andrew Williamson broke his leg early in the season and ended up missing several months. He did not return until March. He had a 7.29 rating with 3 goals, 1 ast in 8 apps. Disappointing we missed out on him, but he might be made of glass as he got hurt again in April.

- AML/ST James Throne really took over for me, especially once I switched to the 4-4-2 and put him in one of the striker spots. He finished with 42 apps, 11 gls, 5 asts, 7 poms, 7.03.

- M(RC) Josh Rees was my best midfielder, 42 apps, 6 gls, 2 asts, 2 poms, 7.04

- DC Zac Fagan was my best defender for the second year in a row. 41 apps, 2 pom, 7.02.

- GK Hugo Keto was okay again, not great. 42 apps, 58 allo, 12 sho, 6.79.


I think I brought in too many players this last off-season. I'm not going to make a ton of changes and let these guys gel a little bit more. Maybe just 1 or 2 very big upgrades is all I feel I need.


Just a heads up, this might be my last update for a bit as I'm due to go on a business trip tomorrow for several days.

 

[sek729]

Played quite a bit without updates, here is where we stand with Chelmsford City.

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I followed that 14th place season up with an improved 10th place finish in 2020/21.. I had a similar season to back that up. We have had no cup success at all. I think I got to the third round of the FA Trophy only once, and the 2nd round of the FA cup only once.

It's now the 2022/2023 season, my 6th with Chelmsford and we are beginning to make some major headway. I started relying on loans from bigger clubs and they have paid dividends.

It's February 15th, 2023 and this is where we stand:


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We were within 2 points of the leaders about a month ago but had a little blip, but we are in nice position to make a late run at the title or at least hold onto a playoff spot.

I actually got off to a little bit of a slow start this season, but then I took a gamble and made a unique tactical motif to take advantage of the squad's talent and it paid off handsomely. I had some nice attacking pieces, but I was also heavy with defensive midfielders so along with four attack-minded players (AML, AMC, AMR, ST), I decided to try TWO ball winning midfielders in the center of the pitch and it really worked like a charm. With two high-tackling, aggressive midfielders we began winning lots of possession in the middle of the pitch, setting off counter-attacks.


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I had two AMCs in my squad who were perfect as Shadow Strikers so I created that role and have them rotating. I offset the positioning of that role and the Advanced Forward role to allow a little more space between them. They are flanked by support wingers.

Then there's the two MC-Ball Winning Midfielders. One support, one defend. I have instructed the support role to 'Get Further Forward' so they are also helping a bit more in the attack. I actually have 4 guys on my squad who fit quite nicely into these roles and they rotate. The support role makes good passing lanes with the support Winger and Shadow Striker, with the BWM-Defend and FB-Support sitting behind him as a fall-back options. I really like spacing these roles give each other and I'm finding it covers space very balanced. It's been ideal for a short passing game.

My fullbacks are both decent technically, so I decided I had no reason not to play out of the back, instructing my goalkeeper to play the ball to them. The entire back line is instructed for short passes for a steady build-up.

My four forward players also are instructed to pass it short between one another and work it into the box. The only player with a direct passing instruction is the MC-BWM (Support) player. The guys I use in this role are decent passes with good vision, and I don't mind them looping a long pass over the back of the defense to keep the opposition honest.

We have very strong possession (53%, 3rd) and pass completion rates (74%, 2nd).. There have been several games when we've finished with >60% possession. The one downside with two BWMs is that we rack up lots of fouls and yellow cards. We lead the league with 71 yellow cards, 12 more than the next team. I do not use any other instructions such as Get Stuck In or these guys would probably be getting sent off every game. Fortunately for me, they all seem to have enough sense not to pick up that second yellow card. I have not had very many red cards at all for a team that gets yellow cards constantly. I've only had three red cards.

We also have the best defense in the league, allowing just 24 goals so far this season. We are 2nd in tackles.

Our attendance numbers have steadily increased season over season.

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That's it for now.. Hopefully the next update has some very good news in it!!

 

[sek729]

Well Cambridge has not left their foot off the pedal, and it looks like we're heading for a certain playoff with 5 games remaining..... and this just happened...

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Okay.. Patrick Thistle are currently in the Ladbrokes Championship, this would be a healthy step up from the Vanarama, but the caveat is that they are currently in a relegation battle as they are tied for last place with 7 to play.

Ladbrokes Championship is currently ranked 52nd reputation, Vanarama 79th... but if they were to be relegated, Ladbrokes League 1 is 83rd.

Do I leave Chelmsford for this job? What would you do?

 

[sek729]

I passed on the Partick Thistle job. I asked to be considered at the end of the season, and they moved on.

My season? A heart breaking finished. We ended up 3rd in the table with 83 points, 5 back of the winners Cambridge. In the playoff semifinal, we lost the first leg away 2-1 and drew 2-2 home in the second leg.

I did end up winning Vanarama National Manager of the Year award.

Chelmsford proposed contract talks, I declined. My contract is up at the end of June and honestly I'd like to see what's out there. I'm not sure I can squeeze much more juice out of this team and I feel eager for a different challenge.

I may end up coming back, I may bolt. We shall see.

 

[sek729]

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And we are GONE!

Wycombe Wanderers, fresh off relegation from the Sky Bet League One, swooped in and snatched me from Chelmsford City. For the first time in this save I will be managing a fully professional club!

The Chairboys were narrowly relegated the previous season, finishing tied for 20th, but losing out on goal differential.

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Looking over the squad, it's pretty clear I have some work to do here. 5 of my 6 best players were loanees. I'll try to see if I can bring any of them back. The team looks barren of ball winning midfielders, which my newest tactic is based upon. I'll either have to bring some in or find a new solution with what I have.

I'm quite pleased with the financial setup here and it looks like we have some flexibility. We have a $56,455 p/w payroll budget (with $33.6k p/w committed) and a $1.3m transfer budget. That's a long way from my $14k p/w Chelmsford squad!

The quality of my staff seems decent enough, but I'm going to have the opportunity to add 3 more coaches to the staff along with 5 brand new scouts and a Chief Data Analyst. Never had a chance to use one of those yet.

Lots of work to do here and I'll definitely miss my time in Chelmsford, but this next step in my journey looks very exciting!!

 

[sek729]

I had forgotten how much work it is to take over a team. Lots of unrest from the relegation, lots of staff to add, and many new additions to the squad.

- Wycombe is completely void of any youth system. Basic youth facilities, No junior coaching, No youth recruitment. And I have zero plans on changing any of it. I spent some time trying to build up Chelmsford but in the six seasons there very little actually got produced. There are funds here at Wycombe to build a system here, but I'm not going to bother. That money will be spent on first team players and 17-20 year olds who were produced elsewhere. Newgen day will not a non-event here for me. I created a parent affiliation with Tottenham worth $110k/year, so hopefully they can help supply me some important players in my climb

- Biggest departure was Luke O'Nien for $625k to Rochdale. This BWM was excellent for Wycombe last year and would have been perfect for my preferred tactic. I tried hard to hang on to him, but he insisted he leave and he was beginning to upset some of the others. The next richest departure was Jacob Maddox, 24yo AMC, who we sold to Exeter for a cool $550k. He was unhappy about relegation and wanted to go. 40 matches, 5 gls, 6 asts, 6.57 avg rating last year in League One, I didn't have any problem getting out of his way. Fabio Abreu, 30yo ST, was the other one we sold for $275k. He had 9 goals in 42 matches last year, 6.61 avg rating. Cya. We also lost a handful of other role players, but those were the key two. We are struggling to hang onto 25yo DMC/MC Rubun Sammut. He wants to go but is also a nice BWM fit in my system and was excellent last year with a 6.94 rating in 17 matches. I'm going to try to hang onto him as long as I can and hopefully he doesn't cause any unrest. If we have some success maybe he'll change his mind.

- We were able to bring back 4 of the 5 key loanees from last season which made me very happy as they were the best players on this team. We also added another loanee from QPR, 19yo DMC/MC Keith Murphy. Strong tackler, strong mentals, good physicals. Perfect fit for the center of our field. He just played at this level last season (6.61 in 38 apps for Blackpool), QPR snatched him up for $500k and loaned him back to the division!

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- Our most expensive signing was Harry Brockbank, 24yo central defender who played 42 matches for Doncaster in League Two last year, 6.92 avg rating. We also added a versatile MC in 22yo Kirk Hardy for $190k. He's been at Huddersfield and loaned to League One and League Two the last few years, playing decently. Third key signing was 21yo Brighton newgen Leon Palmer, a central defender who was excellent on loan for Barnet in League One (11 apps, 6.97 avg). There were several other sightings, a few of which were youth prospects to populate our empty u23 squad, but the two notable free transfers were AMC Andrew Williamson and ST Sam Sinclair. They are notable because they were both Fulham loanees for me at Chelmsford last season and were vital to our second place finish. Williamson, a Shadow Striker, finished with 36 apps, 7 gls, 4 asts, 1 pom, 6.95. Sinclair finished with 20 apps, 13 gls, 8 asts, 6 pom, 7.36 rating and was sadly injured late in the year and missed our playoff matches.

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- After the end of preseason, I was very unsure whether I had sufficiently replaced my losses but I got some very soothing news from the bookies as I was tabbed as a 4-1 favorite to win Sky Bet League Two!

- We have a payroll budget of $49k p/w, we have $35k p/w of committed spending. We have a transfer budget of $2.4m! I'm very happy I was able to put myself in position to be league favorites while improving finances. A big January window splash is not out of the question!


Time to play some matches!

 

[sek729]

We've just crept into the January window and everything is on schedule.

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The books pegged us as the cream of the crop in League Two, and we haven't disappointed. It even feels like we've left some points on the table, but I cannot complain being 9 points clear into the promotion zone. But I don't want promotion, I want my first trophy!

- We safely navigated the first two rounds of the FA Cup with fortunate fixtures vs non-league sides, we now have a Third Round home match coming up vs Ipswich Town (3rd in League One). We were blasted 4-2 by Ipswich town in the First Round of the EFL Cup back in August. Revenge in this spot would be wonderful.

- My two best players have been AML Danny Clarke (26 apps, 8 gls, 10 ast, 7.32) and ST Lewis May (22 apps, 13 gls, 4 asts, 7.25). Both are loanees from Wolverhampton that were on this squad last year that I was able to bring back in the summer. But as you can see below, I'm getting very strong performances from most of my squad.

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- I've mostly relied on my 4-2-3-1 DM, double BWM tactic that I previous discussed in this thread. From time to time it'll get stale and I've leaned on a second tactic, a 3-4-1-2, also with double BWMs. This tactic has been tearing apart weaker opponents at home.

- Not sure what I'm going to do in the January window. Ideally I'd like to add a Left Fullback as my preseason signing Joe Bennett has been a little inconsistent and eventually got ****** at me and I wasn't quite sure why. It turned out I had promised a Wing Back role and I've been using a FB role, and it irritated the *****. Unless I can spot a superb upgrade, I do not envision any first team additions.

 

[sek729]

An FA Cup tie they will be talking about for ages! I'm still shaking with excitement as I make this post.

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First match was a ping-pong battle that saw us come up breathtakingly short of a late winner.

We completely dominated the replay away at Portman Road. We had 26 shots, 2 clear cut chances, 9 half-chances, 58% possession and it wasn't enough to keep it out of extra time. But a fabulous goal by Lewis May surely sent us onto the first round? No! A travesty of a penalty decision allowed them to equalize. GK Charis Eleftheriou saved the first penalty he face and that's all it took and we sent 2,307 away supporters into delirium.

Fourth round draws sends us home to face Norwich City, who currently sit 7th in the Sky Bet Championship. This should be our first sellout of Adams Park (Capacity 10,264). Can the magic carpet ride continue?

 

[sek729]

FA CUP SHOCKER!
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- Norwich City head coach Frank Lampard was disgusted at the penalty decision, but what's done is done and we pull off one of the great upsets in FA Cup history by tossing the Sky Bet Championship promotion contenders aside.

- We set a gate receipts record from this match of $325K. Previous club record was $220k in a League One clash last season.

- Lewis May's penalty kick gave him 21 on the season, breaking the Wycombe goal scoring record. The loanee was a Wolves newgen from 2018/19. Fabulous player.

- The Fifth Round Draw? We are away to Preston North End, 20th in the Championship. Mixed feelings here. I would have like to have faced a giant but this may be a winnable match if we keep playing like we have been.

- Our league form has dipped slightly. We are still holding 1st place, but only by 1 point to Wimbledon. We actually lost two straight, so the FA Cup may have us distracted a bit. We are still 9 points safe in promotion territory, but I WANT A TROPHY!

 

[sek729]

Annnnnnd.. We're out.

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We played well and had a few good chances but in the end it wasn't enough. Fantastic Cup run was a nice boost to our finances. We made net profit of over $400k in the month of February.

Now it's time to focus on our battle for the League Two title, where we have slipped into second with a game in hand.

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[sek729]

BOTTLE JOB!

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We collapse at dusk by only securing one single point in our final three matches against mediocre competition. Wimbledon ****** the trophy away from us on the final match day. I am totally heartbroken.

As you can see from the final match vs Stockport, one of my idiots collected TWO yellow cards in the first 7 minutes! Talk about checking out of a big match! Macauley Gillesphey was a "minor" January window signing for me and he ended up playing quite well for me, winning the Left Fullback role. Disaster.

The silver lining is I won't have to pay out the big title bonus to my players and staff, but I desperately wanted that trophy for myself and my reputation. Ugh. Sucks.

We do have some drama left in this season. I'm trying to play this out as if I it were real life. Wycombe is currently lowballing with a $1.6k p/w offer, a pretty tiny raise from my $1.3k p/w current wages. An instant promotion winning manager surely deserves more respect than this, no? I asked for $2.4k, they declined, and we've been at a stalemate for a month. If the right money offer comes along, I will have no hesitation in taking it. If not, the journey will continue at Wycombe for at least one more season.

Stay tuned!

 

[sek729]

After looking over the available options, I've decided to STAY at Wycombe. I've inked a 2-year deal worth $2.0k p/w. A nice and deserved pay raise.

Next update will include the biggest transfer splash of my career!

 

[sek729]

PRESEASON 2024/25

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TRANSFERS OUT

Kirk Hardy, $750k to Dundee Utd - Was a player we picked up for $230K from Scunthorpe last offseason and he delivered the goods for us in our midfield rotation. 25 apps, 3 gls, 2 asts, 7.00 avg. Hardy earns himself some Euro Cup action at Dundee United. Just 23 years old, I would have liked to kept him for another season but he showed his ambition in wanting to leave and I didn't stand in his way, turning a nice profit along the way!

James Tarkowski, $165k to Hamilton - 31 year old central defender was a free transfer pickup for me last year so it was nice to get something for him in his declining years. 6.89 ratings in 21 league appearances.

Jake Hessenthaler, Free Release - 30 year old center mid got 18 appearances for me last season, mostly in a substitutes role. We've upgraded this situation and he was no longer needed.

Hakim Abdallah, Free Release - 26yo French target man just couldn't get going for me. Very physical striker, I tried my best to force him into the lineup but he just wouldn't bang in any goals for me.


TRANSFERS IN

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Ryan Bennett, $1.4m from Southend - My number one goal was getting my Left Fullback of the future and I feel I accomplished that. Did I overspend? The media seemed to think so, but looking around at the other available options for me at DL and this was the only one that made sense. He's pacy and his mentals are phenomenal. There's room to grow on the technical side and we'll work on that, but I love what I get from this player compared to what I had. Bennett averaged a 6.92 in 32 apps for Southend last year in the Sky Bet League One. I signed him to a 3-year deal at a reasonable $4.2k p/w wage. He should improve well enough to be a steady Championship level defender for me.



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Danny Clarke, $425k from Wolves - Clarke is not a new addition as he was actually on loan here at Wycombe from Wolves the last two seasons and I decided to make it permanent. 37 apps, 7 gls, 7 asts, 2 pom, 7.02 avg. A very steady performer for me that I was happy to bring back. Just 22 years old, he's plenty good enough already to get me to the next level.



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Ben Dufford, $350k from Brighton - Dufford spent the last three seasons on loan with various Scottish clubs, most recently Hearts in the Premiership. Don't knock Brighton, they are currently an English Premiership side themselves, and I think I got a nice tidy central midfielder to add to my rotation. Nice first touch, passing and the mentals I like to see such as work rate, teamwork, and determination. Love the physicals, I don't have a single ball winning midfielder that is well rounded as this young man. A sweet $1.9k p/w wage for the next 2 years, he will flourish in my system. I predict seven-figure offers next summer for him.



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Dominic Ghansah, $300k from Luton - Another loanee from the past two seasons! 39 apps, 3 asts, 7.01 avg, Ghansan held down the right back situation for me in my promotion run. Too good of a deal to not bring him back!



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Richard McEvoy, $160k from Sunderland - Whoops, another loanee brought in permanently! He wasn't perfect for me last year, and tended to shreik in big matches but heck, 40 apps, 6 poms, 7.01? There's no reason I shouldn't have brought this hulk back for that price tag.



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Andrew Murray, $100k from Cardiff - Alright, here's a fresh face to our squad. Murray never played a minute for Cardiff, but on loan at League Two Oxford last year averaged 6.97 in 15 apps. Look, he's just 21 and the physicals are solid. There's a couple areas where I'd like to see improvement, such as concentration but the scouts think he's got room to grow. He figures to be the 3rd central defender on my depth chart, logging plenty of minutes. Could be a very good player down the road.



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Wayne Doherty, $64k from Finn Harps - Pacy little winger comes over from the Irish First Division as some cover. Scouts liked him to grow some more, we'll see if he can contribute. May end up being loaned out.



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Phil Anderson, Free Transfer - Neat little poaching prospect that my scouts turned found at England Trial Day. Weird, this former Sunderland youngster bagged 17 goals in 37 matches for Carlisle in League Two last year and was just released on a free? 16 finishing? 16 acceleration? He's already no worse than the 3rd best striker on my squad, and for $1.4k p/w!



Also returning to the squad.... LEWIS MAY! The Wolves prospect who bagged 22 goals for us in 37 apps last year is back on loan! I made an enquiry into making May a permanent fixture in my squad, but Wolves were starting negotiations at $6.5 million and it was too rich for my blood. I was happy they were willing to let me have at least one more year of him back on loan. Although he did pick up a knock in training camp and may miss the first couple weeks of fixtures.

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Alright... It's time to kick this season off! Media has pegged us for 11th at 25-1. Quite the expectations for my first foray into League One, but we're prepared to meet the challenge!

 

[sek729]

Decided I'm going to try game recaps this year!

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We draw our season opener with Bristol Rovers. Not a just scoreline as we completely flattened them on the pitch. 21 shots to 2, 58% possession, we deserved all the points! POM: DC Richard McEvoy 7.5



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Same draw as last year's EFL Cup and we turned the tables. It was really an even match, but it was our youngster Phil Anderson who notched the first goal of the season for us! POM was another summer signing, DC Andrew Murray, who notched a 7.7 in his first appearance of the season. Well done Andy! We drew a home fixture to Premiership side Derby in the 2nd round! Exciting stuff.



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Oh Yes! The season is on folks! A scintillating performance by Andrew Williamson, who has been playing for me since my Chelmsford days! An absolute blinder, a 9.9 to earn the man of the match! We left Bury in shambles! I will also note an excellent performance by our $1.4 million summer splash, Ryan Bennett (8.9). Even a goal by Lewis "All Day" May in his season debut. This could be a special season.


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​

 

[sek729]

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Pretty typical performance following the Bury blowout, eh? Tried to get the boys fired up for this one but they were just flat and deserved to lose.



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Back on track impressively! Chesterfield were previously unbeaten on the season and we earned all the points here. It took a while but we finally broke through and put Chesterfield to sleep with 58% possession.



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We played hard, managed 9 shots, 3 on target and 51% possession but Derby were just too much class for us. We suffered a devastating injury to our starting left winger Danny Clarke. There's time left before the summer transfer window closes and we'll be looking for a replacement!



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Tons of chances for us, the saved penalty was nice, but we really deserved to win this one. The goals will come.



TRANSFER DEADLINE

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We've spent the last remaining funds of our once plenty transfer budget on AML/AMC Yan Dhanda. He comes from fellow promotion side Swindon for $625k. He had 42 apps, 10 gls, 6 asts, 5 pom, 6.89 rating for The Robins last season. He'll immediately fill in for Danny Clarke out on the left, and when Clarke returns Dhanda has some versatility to play other attacking positions. We began the window around $2.5 million in transfer funds, we are down to $184k and a maxed payroll budget!


Other News: I practically begged my board and they have finally agreed to expand our scouting range to all of Europe. Could be a game changer for Wycombe! Hmm, I'll need some more funds.
​

 

[sek729]

September 2024

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The month started off well enough with an opening win in the Checkatrade Trophy, but we followed that up with a trio of disappointing efforts that saw us take just 2 points from 3 matches.

I held a Team Meeting to boost morale and we proceeded to smash Pompey at Fratton Park thanks to a two-goal effort from Lewis May. We returned home and took care of business as heavy favorites against Blackburn. Newcomer Phil Anderson continued his impressive start for me, notching a brace as May got the day off.

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We're ahead of schedule and in contention at the moment. It would be great to string together a few more wins!

 

[sek729]

WYCTOBER!
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The squad puts together a sensational run of League One victories that ends a bit disappointingly with an away loss to Wimbledon, where we conceded a free kick goal in the 89th minute. We just can't crack those guys at all.

However, we've also currently built a little injury crisis as four first-team regulars are out with injuries. AMR Jay Beckford, AML Danny Clarke, DL Ryan Bennett, and DR Dominic Ghansah. It hasn't been easy but the depth of this squad has really come through to survive this situation.

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- Barnsley are trying to run away from the league as they went unbeaten in October, but we are right in the thick of things!

- The "UK Journeyman" save is evolving. For next season, I've decided to remove Ireland and Northern Ireland since I will likely not be returning to these countries. I added the top two divisions of Spain, Germany, France, and Italy as playable nations for next season. One of the reasons I did this is that my scouts are not finding much talent in their European searches, so adding more second-tier players should bear some fruit. Also since my reputation is climbing, I've decided I'm open to managing elsewhere if another club is interested.

 

[sek729]

NOVEMBER - WE GO TOPS!

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We are smashing League One into pieces, and if it wasn't for a send off against Barnsley, we would have buried the fellow title contenders!

We are playing fabulous and I just collected my first League One Manager of the Month award. The squad I've put together have been amazing with one another and the hits just keep on coming.

The free transfer signing, Phil Anderson, has worked himself into a full rotation with Lewis May. Anderson now has 8 goals in 7 starts, 6 sub appearances. 7.18 average rating.

My $1.4 million left fullback signing, Ryan Bennett, has held up under the media pressure of that mega deal. 7.24 avg in 15 league appearances.

The $625k deadline signing of Yan Dhanda that emptied my budget has proven my scouts brilliant! 13 apps, 5 gls, 3 asts, 2 pom, 7.32 avg rating!

Everyone is playing well, my squad is getting healthy again. We are looking very difficult to stop at the moment!

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[sek729]

DECEMBER, JANUARY, AND THE WINDOW

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Another successful series of matches. We hit a little blip around the Holiday but turned it back around in January.

- We were dominated by Championship side Huddersfield in the FA Cup Third Round, but snatched a late goal to force a home replay. We nearly stormed back from a 3-0 deficit and even had a chance in extra time to equalize but narrowly missed.

- AFC Wimbledon dispatched us in the Checkatrade Quarterfinals. Those guys just have our number.


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- We have some MAJOR turnover in the squad. The transfer window opened and we got barraged with offers, some of whom we couldn't refuse. Here's the breakdown:

OUT

DR Dominic Ghansah to Burnley for $1.4 million. Was a rock for this team for three seasons, first two on loan from West Brom until we bought him permanently for $300k in the summer. He was phenomenal this year, 7.23 rating in 23 appearances. Unfortunately $1.4 million was his transfer release fee and it was triggered. We make a nice profit, but lose a very solid player.

DC Richard McEvoy to Barnsley for $1.2 million. An incredibly risky decision by me to part ways with McEvoy here. He was also a former loanee who we secured in the summer for just $160K. Barnsley look like our primary challenges for the League One title, and we just gave them our best central defender?!? Let's hope I know what I'm doing. I have solid depth to support the move, but this decision may make or break our season.


IN

With the fresh infusion in cash, players in the squad demanded that I make upgrades and I rallied the scouts to find options.

MC Lewis Duncan from Ipswich Town for $625k

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A ball winning midfielder type that I love, that actually isn't better than my current options. Why make him my biggest January signing? One, my scouts see ton of room to grow and develop, and in my system of rotating MC-BWMs, he'll see plenty of playing time to develop. Two, The PACE! The ACCELERATION! After this guy improves some of his weaker technical areas such as tackling, he'll be an extremely valuable player. Acceleration is a very underrated aspect for these types of players. They can swoop in out of the clouds to win possession.


DC Neil Hare from Bristol Rovers for $450k.

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Snatched this guy from League One relegation battlers Bristol Rovers where he averaged 6.87 in 25 apps. That kind of rating in a struggling team is actually something I look for and value. If he's rating that well surrounded by poor players, how good can be surrounded by good players? He's got all the right attributes and seems like a very solid replacement for McEvoy, and the scouts think he can get a little better.


DR Trevor Chalobah from Ipwsich Town for $160k.

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Not as good as Ghansah but not a horrible replacement, especially for the cheap fee and only $1.6k p/w wages. Pacy enough, decent skills, and even more versatile than Ghansah. We'll see..


GK Jonathan De Bie from Hull for $67k.

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The press gave me loads of **** for this one, and I see why it looks like a weird call. I have two goalkeepers who are solid, one is a loanee from Tottenham, but both have been good for me this year (~6.9ish consistently).

This was more of an investment in my mind. Hull are a Premiership side and De Bie has struggled to break through. He hasn't played regularly in over 4 seasons since having 31 matches on loan with Bradford City (League One) for a 6.69 rating. I feel like if I give this guy some time, he will play well and his stock will skyrocket. He demanded a ridiculously high $5k p/w wage, he's one of my highest paid players now!



OTHER NEWS

- The Swansea City job came open in early January and I applied. I was given an interview but was not chosen for the position. This is my dream job and the only job I would go out of my way to apply for. They are currently in the Championship challenging for promotion.

- Preston North End offered me an interview, I attended and was subsequently offered a $8k p/w deal. It was VERY tempting to take this until I really looked over the situation. Preston are sitting 23rd in the Championship, 10 points back of safety. It would take a miracle rescue and I had no interest in that when I have a title winning team.

- Two other teams offered me an interview after I declined Preston. Inverness CT, another strong relegation candidate in the Ladbrokes Premiership. No thanks. An interesting one was Walsall, 19th in the Championship, look like a good bet for safety. I decided against an interview. Let's see Wycombe out and get there ourselves! But I'm LOVING the interest being shown in me.

- We are facing a difficult stretch of fixtures in February, and with new faces I'm a little concerned about how we'll play. Let's hope for the best.