Yo, just to clear up straight away I've already played 2 seasons on this save.. just in pre-season of my 3rd and carrying on from here, but I'll round up the previous 2 seasons and all that so you know whats happened..
West Brom;
2012/2013 season review;
View attachment 376849
We battled all season for the European places, and led the way for a month or two but fell at the last hurdles and lost the last place to Arsenal on goal difference on the final game. 17 league goals from Romelu Lukaku wasn't enough to get us into Europe, as our defence was far too leaky conceding 52 in 38 games.
Top Goalscorer - Lukaku; 17 goals.
Top Assists - James Morrison; 10 assists.
Player of the season - Jonas Olsson
Signing of the season - Martin Olsson; 4.5M
FA Cup - Knocked out in the 3rd season by Chelsea
League Cup - Knocked out in the 3rd round poorly by Sheffield Wednesday
2012/2013;
Transfers;
View attachment 376856
We spent quite a fair bit in our first season but I felt we needed to in order to compete. No real massive names were brought in as it's pretty hard to attract them to West Brom - focused on players who could perform at this level but this could develop more. Chris Solly was a big fee especially for his ability but he proved his worth and he is still in the first team now. Will Hughes caught my eye in January along with other EPL sides so I decided to take a gamble on him. Got rid of a lot of dead-wood in my first season which seemed to help a lot.
West Brom;
2013/2014 season review;
View attachment 376855
I faced more than a few problems at the beginning of the season - one being replacing my top goalscorer Romelu Lukaku as he returned to Chelsea after his loan spell. In all honesty we were struggling in the first half of the season and looked like we were going backwards. Failed attempts to get Lukaku back on loan led to the signing of Jelle Vossen for £10M, also brought in Tom Ince for £10M as I thought we needed more of a punch on the left wing, as Brunt used to drift in and out of games. Sadly Ince got ruled out for half the season at the start and Vossen did not settle in at all, leading to him being sold at January and replaced by Ante Vukusic. I sort of panicked a little here because we were slipping down the division and needed a better goal source.
The January signings helped us get back to form and we managed to finish a very creditable 5th position, after the media touted us as 9th, meaning European football next season. If it wasn't for our defence being so good I think we could of really struggled this season, as we didn't score many goals, or enough really, with Will Hughes our top scorer with only 8 goals..
Top Goalscorer - Will Hughes; 8 goals - Really developed this season and was fantastic
Top Assists - Clint Dempsey; 7 assists - Turned out to be a great loan, also grabbed 6 goals
Player of the season - Jonas Olsson - Again was so solid and also grabbed 7 league goals
Signing of the season - David Ospina; Free Transfer - Easily our best signing, put in great performances and he didn't cost a penny.
Worst Signing of the season - Jelle Vossen; £10M - This was a bad move by myself to be fair and I think it's got to come down to me not getting the best out of him, as he went to Hull and scored 11 in 16 games, keeping them in the division.
League Cup - Knocked out to Arsenal - again no luck really.
FA Cup - Knocked out to Chelsea at home, once again no luck in the draw.
Transfers;
2013/2014;
View attachment 376861
Didn't spend quite as much this season as I didn't want to stretch the finances, especially seeing as we didn't get into Europe - I was pretty bad in the market this year to be honest, Ince only made an impact towards the end of the seaosn but maybe wasn't quite worth as much as he ended up costing, but he could prove me wrong this year as he'll be starting ahead of a declining Brunt. Vukusic showed a lot of promise last season, only scored 4 goals but he settled in well and whenever he played we seemed to play much better football. Dempsey was great but doubt I'll sign him or get him back on loan either because of his age and his wages not being worthy of him really. Ospina was a bargain and signings like McCann, Parker and Hughes were cheap and cheerful - done the job easy and McCann even scored an injury time equaliser against Everton which was important.
Overall a good season but we'll need to improve the squad if we want to be able to compete in Europe and retain 5th spot or break into the top four.
West Brom;
2014/2015 pre season review;
I felt we really needed to get another top striker in with a physical presence because Vukusic would get lost up top on his own most games and was crying out for a partner to play alongside. Gary Hooper had agreed a free transfer from Celtic but he wasn't the right player we needed, however would replace Shane Long who would be sold to Hull for £6M. Also needed another centre back who was consistent because Rhys Williams seemed to be getting injured far too much to keep a consistent back four. Ben Foster left for £1.5M to Liverpool so we also needed another keeper, and also Steven Reid was ageing and his contract was up so he was released, meaning we needed another right back.
Transfers;
2014/2015;
View attachment 376872
Made some solid signings, especially in Benteke who I think could be the perfect man to play with Vukusic. Forren played brilliantly for Scum last season and even though it wasn't easy buying a player from Southampton as a Pompey fan it had to be done, especially at the price he was available at as I would of had to buy double in most other situations. Kyle Naughton brought in for a couple of million was a good deal, solid player, quick and can play both sides of defence, also young and English which I like.
The partnership of Mulumbu and Yacob has been quite simply superb the past two seasons, however I needed a solid backup for them with class because quite frankly Parker is a tad to old now, and McCann won't be good enough against the top teams, so Fernando Gago was a perfect replacement on a relatively cheap loan deal. As I said we 100% needed another 'keeper, so when Victor Valdes was available on a free transfer after Barca released him it was a must.. He's on £105k a week which sucks but he is no doubt going to be worth it. Also as already mentioned Gary Hooper came in on a free transfer, a real bargain if he can manage to perform for us.
Key Players;
Victor Valdes;
View attachment 376879
Without doubt he's probably our best player now so he's got to be a key player clearly. He could keep up is a lot of matches with his ability in goal so he will be extremely important.
Jonas Olsson;
View attachment 376878
Simply cannot forget this man, player of the season for us two years in a row and was a rock, especially last season. Even though he's 31 and starting to age he can do a good job this season, however next season he may find himself in a more rotational role.
Claudio Yacob;
View attachment 376880
Although he hasn't grabbed the headlines in either seasons or any interest from big clubs, which really surprises me, he's been fantastic both seasons. Playing consistently in near enough all games and single handedly controlling the midfield even against the likes of City and United. Massive player.
Will Hughes;View attachment 376881
Although he is still quite young you can't ignore what a big player he was last season, and as you can see he's already showing big signs of development. If he continues to play like he did last season, and develop as much as he did last year, there's no reason why he couldn't set the league alight this season.
Christian Benteke;
View attachment 376877
Could seriously be an important player this season if he performs well all season and stays fit - was the clubs record signing so let's hope for the best. Certainly got the attributes and scored 14 league goals for a relegated Villa side 2 seasons ago, followed by 24 goals in the Championship the following season.
Aims for this campaign;
- Try to get to the quarters (ATLEAST) of a domestic cup
- Get through the group stages atleast in the Europa League and aim on from there
- Retain 5th position in the league, and try to challenge for 4th.
Can we do it? Find out soon
Will be updating monthly
West Brom;
2012/2013 season review;
View attachment 376849
We battled all season for the European places, and led the way for a month or two but fell at the last hurdles and lost the last place to Arsenal on goal difference on the final game. 17 league goals from Romelu Lukaku wasn't enough to get us into Europe, as our defence was far too leaky conceding 52 in 38 games.
Top Goalscorer - Lukaku; 17 goals.
Top Assists - James Morrison; 10 assists.
Player of the season - Jonas Olsson
Signing of the season - Martin Olsson; 4.5M
FA Cup - Knocked out in the 3rd season by Chelsea
League Cup - Knocked out in the 3rd round poorly by Sheffield Wednesday
2012/2013;
Transfers;
View attachment 376856
We spent quite a fair bit in our first season but I felt we needed to in order to compete. No real massive names were brought in as it's pretty hard to attract them to West Brom - focused on players who could perform at this level but this could develop more. Chris Solly was a big fee especially for his ability but he proved his worth and he is still in the first team now. Will Hughes caught my eye in January along with other EPL sides so I decided to take a gamble on him. Got rid of a lot of dead-wood in my first season which seemed to help a lot.
West Brom;
2013/2014 season review;
View attachment 376855
I faced more than a few problems at the beginning of the season - one being replacing my top goalscorer Romelu Lukaku as he returned to Chelsea after his loan spell. In all honesty we were struggling in the first half of the season and looked like we were going backwards. Failed attempts to get Lukaku back on loan led to the signing of Jelle Vossen for £10M, also brought in Tom Ince for £10M as I thought we needed more of a punch on the left wing, as Brunt used to drift in and out of games. Sadly Ince got ruled out for half the season at the start and Vossen did not settle in at all, leading to him being sold at January and replaced by Ante Vukusic. I sort of panicked a little here because we were slipping down the division and needed a better goal source.
The January signings helped us get back to form and we managed to finish a very creditable 5th position, after the media touted us as 9th, meaning European football next season. If it wasn't for our defence being so good I think we could of really struggled this season, as we didn't score many goals, or enough really, with Will Hughes our top scorer with only 8 goals..
Top Goalscorer - Will Hughes; 8 goals - Really developed this season and was fantastic
Top Assists - Clint Dempsey; 7 assists - Turned out to be a great loan, also grabbed 6 goals
Player of the season - Jonas Olsson - Again was so solid and also grabbed 7 league goals
Signing of the season - David Ospina; Free Transfer - Easily our best signing, put in great performances and he didn't cost a penny.
Worst Signing of the season - Jelle Vossen; £10M - This was a bad move by myself to be fair and I think it's got to come down to me not getting the best out of him, as he went to Hull and scored 11 in 16 games, keeping them in the division.
League Cup - Knocked out to Arsenal - again no luck really.
FA Cup - Knocked out to Chelsea at home, once again no luck in the draw.
Transfers;
2013/2014;
View attachment 376861
Didn't spend quite as much this season as I didn't want to stretch the finances, especially seeing as we didn't get into Europe - I was pretty bad in the market this year to be honest, Ince only made an impact towards the end of the seaosn but maybe wasn't quite worth as much as he ended up costing, but he could prove me wrong this year as he'll be starting ahead of a declining Brunt. Vukusic showed a lot of promise last season, only scored 4 goals but he settled in well and whenever he played we seemed to play much better football. Dempsey was great but doubt I'll sign him or get him back on loan either because of his age and his wages not being worthy of him really. Ospina was a bargain and signings like McCann, Parker and Hughes were cheap and cheerful - done the job easy and McCann even scored an injury time equaliser against Everton which was important.
Overall a good season but we'll need to improve the squad if we want to be able to compete in Europe and retain 5th spot or break into the top four.
West Brom;
2014/2015 pre season review;
I felt we really needed to get another top striker in with a physical presence because Vukusic would get lost up top on his own most games and was crying out for a partner to play alongside. Gary Hooper had agreed a free transfer from Celtic but he wasn't the right player we needed, however would replace Shane Long who would be sold to Hull for £6M. Also needed another centre back who was consistent because Rhys Williams seemed to be getting injured far too much to keep a consistent back four. Ben Foster left for £1.5M to Liverpool so we also needed another keeper, and also Steven Reid was ageing and his contract was up so he was released, meaning we needed another right back.
Transfers;
2014/2015;
View attachment 376872
Made some solid signings, especially in Benteke who I think could be the perfect man to play with Vukusic. Forren played brilliantly for Scum last season and even though it wasn't easy buying a player from Southampton as a Pompey fan it had to be done, especially at the price he was available at as I would of had to buy double in most other situations. Kyle Naughton brought in for a couple of million was a good deal, solid player, quick and can play both sides of defence, also young and English which I like.
The partnership of Mulumbu and Yacob has been quite simply superb the past two seasons, however I needed a solid backup for them with class because quite frankly Parker is a tad to old now, and McCann won't be good enough against the top teams, so Fernando Gago was a perfect replacement on a relatively cheap loan deal. As I said we 100% needed another 'keeper, so when Victor Valdes was available on a free transfer after Barca released him it was a must.. He's on £105k a week which sucks but he is no doubt going to be worth it. Also as already mentioned Gary Hooper came in on a free transfer, a real bargain if he can manage to perform for us.
Key Players;
Victor Valdes;
View attachment 376879
Without doubt he's probably our best player now so he's got to be a key player clearly. He could keep up is a lot of matches with his ability in goal so he will be extremely important.
Jonas Olsson;
View attachment 376878
Simply cannot forget this man, player of the season for us two years in a row and was a rock, especially last season. Even though he's 31 and starting to age he can do a good job this season, however next season he may find himself in a more rotational role.
Claudio Yacob;
View attachment 376880
Although he hasn't grabbed the headlines in either seasons or any interest from big clubs, which really surprises me, he's been fantastic both seasons. Playing consistently in near enough all games and single handedly controlling the midfield even against the likes of City and United. Massive player.
Will Hughes;View attachment 376881
Although he is still quite young you can't ignore what a big player he was last season, and as you can see he's already showing big signs of development. If he continues to play like he did last season, and develop as much as he did last year, there's no reason why he couldn't set the league alight this season.
Christian Benteke;
View attachment 376877
Could seriously be an important player this season if he performs well all season and stays fit - was the clubs record signing so let's hope for the best. Certainly got the attributes and scored 14 league goals for a relegated Villa side 2 seasons ago, followed by 24 goals in the Championship the following season.
Aims for this campaign;
- Try to get to the quarters (ATLEAST) of a domestic cup
- Get through the group stages atleast in the Europa League and aim on from there
- Retain 5th position in the league, and try to challenge for 4th.
Can we do it? Find out soon
Will be updating monthly
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