FMstory

Hello friends, this is my 6th season with Thurrock and i am enjoying every moment so far. The disappointment of losing the play-off last season is going to spur me more to continue the premier league dream with them. We had the quality to challenge in the top half but probably not enough for the title challenge. Reinforcements need to be made in pre-season and before that lets take a look at the season expectations from the board

The board had set me a target of finishing in mid-table and i had comply to this. I don’t want to set a higher target as there is only minimal increase on the wage budget so no point adding pressure to myself. I received a transfer budget of 35k and 7,25k/week in wage budget. Our current spending is 5.5k some increase over there but i don’t think its enough to attract really quality players who normally demands slightly over 1k for the salary. Our salary is capped at a maximum of 800/week. I will do some adjustment between the transfer and wage budget depending on the players that i can find.

SQUAD ANALYSIS

My priority transfer targets for this season is to get a goalkeeper, central midfielder and a few wingers. Let us take a look on various position of the current players.

Goalkeeper – Nikki Bull is my first choice goalkeeper last season and Joe Woolley is the backup. Their performances last were quite suspicious at times and they really conceded some soft goals which they could do better in keeping out. I decided to get a new goalkeeper in. I will still be keeping both of them as their contracts will be expiring next season and can be used as backups.

Full Backs – I got Robbie Threlfall as my left back and Paul Sturrock as my right back. They did pretty well last season so they will still be the first choice this season. Matt Paine is the backup for the left back and George Francomb and David King can play as right back though his strongest position is in the central position. I will probably bring some loans in as backups for this two position. I rarely use George Francomb last season and its best that i give him chance to seek first team football next season.

To be released – George Francomb

Central Defenders – I have four players in this position, they are Troy-Archibad Henville,  David King, Frederic Veseli and Ignasi Miquel. Though my coach thinks that Veseli is the strongest in this position but he is very mistake prone and couldn’t win headers due to his low jumping ability. Most important he does not want to accept his squad role so he will be released. I will get new players in for some backup.

To be released – Frederic Veseli

Left/Right Wingers – I need to get few wingers in as i was using my loan signings for this two position entirely last season. Good wingers are hard to find so i will continue with my loan policy this season.  Steven Leslie and Robin Shroot can’t cope with the demands at this level and both of them will leave the club.

To be released – Steven Leslie and Robin Shroot

Central Midfielder – Kevin McDonald and Josh Falkingham is the only recognized players in this position though David King is comfortable playing here too. New players is definitely needed and i will bring in 2-3 players for this midfield area.

Strikers – I have three strikers in Izale McLeod, Thomas Hitchcock and Gary Alexander. Gary is 34 years old this season and will be released. New players need to be brought in as a backup.

To be released – Gary Alexander

TRANSFERS IN/OUT

After looking at the squad and decided which position to reinforce, i started scouting the players and below is my transfer activity.

Players out – Robbie Shroot and Frederic Veseli both had their contracts expired and were release on a free. The other three players were put up in the transfer list but only managed to sell George Francomb for 16k, not a bad deal. There were no offers for Gary Alexander and Steven Leslie and they had their contract terminated and were released.

Players in – I only spend 14k from the transfer budget and the rest was adjusted to cater for a bigger wage budget. I brought ten players in, a few will go straight to the first team places and the rest will be backups. I wanted to have a greater depth in squad this season as the injuries in the final stages last season had depleted the squad and affect the performances. i do not want history to repeat again. Let me introduce you the new signings one by one that we made this year.

I couldn’t find any quality keepers on a free and Sam Spender is the only player that i paid to bring him in. He is a 29 year old regen, not the best for the club but at least my coaches think he is a lot better than the current two goalkeepers that i have. I like his aerial ability, so most likely he can counter any threats coming from set-pieces. He has great reflexes and decent attributes in concentration, decision and positing. I hope he will perform better than Nikki Bull.

I am delighted to secure a 6 months loan for Vincent Nyssen from Hull. He is a left back whom my coach think that a lot better than my current first team player Robbie Threlfall. The report tells me that his current ability is a leading league 1 player. He will definitely provide much competition to Robbie Threlfall on the left back position.

Jonathan Worthington was released by Carlisle and i snap him up on a free. He will be my new captain this season based on his 15 influence and 16 determination. He will be partnering Kevin McDonald in the middle of the park as a ball winning midfielder. With his 16 aggression, 16 teamwork and 17 workrate, i hope he can become the bulldozer of my Thurrock team.

Emmanual Frimpong was a former Arsenal youth who did not play a game for them. He joined Coventry for a season and was released last season. I thought he will be a useful squad player and could provide backup to Jonathan Worthington. I will employ him as the same role as a ball winning midfielder as he has good strength and decent tackling, aggression and work rate.

Sam Wedgbury is not consider good enough from his previous team Burton a league 2 team. I though he has decent physical and mental attributes and should be able to compete in this level. I snap him up on a free and i like his ability of being able to play in central midfield and defence position. He will be a good squad player for me to have.

One of the few wingers that i had brought in. Kevan Hurst was released by Carlisle and i think that he still had a lot to offer at this level. I brought him in without paying any penny. He can play as left/right winger though he is more comfortable playing on the right. He will be my new right winger for the new season.

I brought in two wingers on loan from Man Utd and Tottenham. One is Moreno Marra, the winger that i loaned last season. I was really pleased with his performances last season and glad that Steve Bruce(yes, he is the current Man Utd manager) allowed him to join us for a year season loan. He will still be my left winger although he is also comfortable on the right. The other player is Bram Meijer. A young regen Dutch youth international who can play on the right and central midfield. He will be used as a backup to Kevan Hurst. He will join us for 6 months.

Lastly i brought two strikers in to provide competition and backup to Izale McLeod and Thomas Hitchcock. The first is a player on a 1 year loan from Tottenham, he is a Czech youth international and his name is Petr Kopecky. I don’t see him as a goal poacher much of as a creative forward who can create chances for his strike partner as he has low physical attributes. But he had good technique, dribbling and finishing ability. I hope he can do well for us.

Vincent Pericard is a journeyman striker who began his career in Saint-Etienne and played for Portsmouth in the premier league few years back. Since then he had travel down the league and could not master a first team place in his respective club until he joined Blue Square premier side Crawley. He scored 43 goals for them and was snapped up by Norwich last season. But he only played one game for them and was released before joining us this season. He will only be used as a backup for us. In anytime you wish to take a look at their screenshot, you can find it here.

Media Odds

The promotion odds was firmly against us this season as  we were 33-1 to win the league and they expected us to prepare for a long, hard and ultimately disappointing season. I do not read too much about the odds as we will always surprise them and let them to fork out a big payout to the people who placed the bet on us.

Friendly

With all the new players in and the players returning for holiday. We are ready for the new season, my assistant had arranged seven friendly game for us and lets take a look at the results.

Good workout for the players as the players trying to blend with each other. Though we lost to Farnborough but there is no need to be alarmed as this is only pre-season and the players are trying to gain their match fitness back.

Dear friends, this concludes my transfer activity this season. Please feel free to give me your feedbacks and comments regarding the players i brought in or what do you think of our 2nd season in league 2?

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