FA Cup

Emirates Stadium is a difficult place as we faced Arsenal in this FA cup 6th round fixture. We were put on back footed for large periods as Arsenal controlled the game and dominated the proceedings. Shawcross was unable to stop Nicklas Bendtner from scoring off a Gervinho cross in 23 minutes. Despite having fewer shots, we equalized 10 minutes later after Ryan Shawcross headed towards goal and James Tomkins stuck out his foot to divert the ball in before Szczesny could collect the ball. Arsenal found the winner five minutes after the break with a stunning free kick from Douglas Costa. The Brazilian was a handful to the defenders with his precise passing throughout the game and his goal broke the Hammers fans’ heart as we were knocked out of the FA cup after the final whistle.

Premiership

March

First game of the month was against lowly place team Wolves and we left it very late with a narrow win. Younes Belhanda scored the decisive goal eight minutes from time to save us some embarrassment. Next was a difficult outing against Man City and they were just too good for us, creating 27 shots in total but we put up a strong defensive performance for 89 minutes and their winning goal arrived in the last minute which was hard to take. We returned to winning ways against West Brom who was lying in the bottom half. A Yaya Sanogo brace and a Bressan goal gave us a 3-0 win.

vs Man Utd

Last game of the month saw the visit of Man Utd to The Boleyn Ground. A full house crowd was here to support the team. We started well and took initiative with Man Utd doing most of the defensive work. Man Utd took the lead six minutes from the break after Darren Fletcher made a run from deep to beat Luis Guilherme. Our equalizer came 10 minutes after the break with Miralem Sulejmani hitting a low shot after receiving the ball from the edge of the box. The game seemed destined for  a draw as both teams wasted a few chances. However football was nothing short of drama, a corner result in Sulejmani hitting a shot. Ryan Shawcross tried to put the ball in but it gone wide to the far post, hit Chris Smalling and went in. We won and the whole stadium erupted.

April

First game of the month was against mid-table team Newcastle. They are a decent team but this was a one sided affair for us. The goals came rather easily for us as we were very clinical in front of goal. Yaya Sanogo score a goal in each half and we consolidated the result with a strong second half performance with Jack Collison and Khouma Babacar scoring the other goals.

vs Merseyside Teams

Next two games were against Merseyside teams Liverpool and Everton. We took an early lead in Anfield after Sami Khedira gave us the lead two minutes into the game but Lucas Leiva scored a long shot eight minutes later for their equalizer. The rest of the game was exciting with Liverpool playing better than us. They couldn’t get past Luis Guilherme as he was a rock for us in goal.

We welcome high flying Everton at home, our last game in April. Bressan helped us to a good start with a goal in 17 minutes but that sparked Everton into life as Landon Donovan found himself in good position to beat Luis Guilherme not once or twice but three times in the first half. Suddenly we found ourselves 1-3 down and young Argentinian Andres Llama reduce the deficit with a rebound shot to the top corner two minutes from time. We made it level four minutes after the break as some fine work on the right by Yaya Sanogo saw Miralem Sulejmani converted in close range. From that onwards it’s all about us and we completed the comeback four minutes deep into injury time. A mistake by Everton defender inside the box saw Younes Belhanda released the ball fast to Khouma Babacar in the penalty area and the substitute beat Tim Howard from close range. Phew, what a game!

May

There was no tough opposition for us in May and we won all the league game in the last month of the season. From March to May saw us winning 10, drew 1 and the only defeat came against Man City. Is that enough for us to win the Premiership title?

Final Table

No, we had not done enough to win the title. In normal case, 87 points should see us winning the title but Man City put up a more consistent performance throughout the season. Liverpool faded off in the last few months and dropped to 4th place with us and Arsenal overtook them.

Champions League

vs Standard Liege Leg 2

I left you in February after we beat Standard Liege 2-1 away in Belgium. The return leg in Upton Park saw us dominated the game with 42 shots created but only one goal to show our dominance to the frustration of the home fans. We won 3-1 on aggregate and the draw was kind to us. Our opponent in the quarter final is CSKA Moscow.

Champions League Quarter Final

We can’t take them for granted as they have plenty of Russian international in the squad with the biggest name being goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev and midfielder Alan Dzagoev. We were away in the first leg but we showed no fear as we went for the offensive and were rewarded with four goals. Though CSKA Moscow pulled two goals back but the confidence of progressing was there with us playing at home.

No dispute in the second leg. We showed we were the superior side and two youngsters Andres Llama and Shahed Kemp provided the goals to win the tie 2-0. The 6-2 aggregate win saw us presented with the chance to feature in the Champions League final for the first time in 120 year club history. The team stood our way in the semi-final was Real Madrid who had to rely on penalty to beat OM.

Champions League Semi-Final

We beat them before in the group stage and we know we can do it again. Still, we played a safe game away in Spain as we defended very deep and limited their space. As a result, we managed to contain them until the closing period and even took the lead six minutes from full time from Yaya Sanogo with a counter attack. I guessed the players must too happy and they failed to track Benzema’s run as the Real Madrid equalizer came two minutes later. A 1-0 win was good but i guess a 1-1 draw was not a bad result for us.

Few days later, we prepared to take on Real Madrid for the 2nd leg of CL semi-final fixture. We got into trouble midway in the first half when Mark Noble received his marching orders after picking up a second yellow card. It was disappointing as we were able to match them early on. We switching to defensive hoping to grind out a goalless draw and the players did just that. Real Madrid was limited to long shots and few was on target. The match ended 0-0 and we were through to the Champions League final. Our final opponent is MAN CITY…They beat Porto 3-1 on aggregate in the other semi-final.

Our record against them is awful. We failed to beat them for the past 7 meetings. They are the Premiership and League Cup Champions this season. We wanted to stop them from winning a treble. Lets take a look on the team sheet.

Champions League Final

They have a team which is envied by many managers. They had Neymar out injured for this fixture. They still had Tevez, Milner and Dzeko to call upon on the substitute’s bench when needed. The first half was a total disaster for us as Joe Mattock was made a clown by Samir Nasri. He gave Man City the lead in 14 minutes and Arturo Vidal made it 2-0 four minutes before the break. In real life, we know how awesome these players are, so i probably developed a negative thinking to play defensively.

I switched our play to fluid and control strategy in the second half and we actually outplayed Man City for 45 minutes. Disappointingly, Yaya Sanogo had to come off in 63 minutes after picking up a knock and we found Joe Hart unbeatable. He put in a man of the match performance to deny us from getting anything out of this game.

Well, we lost and became bridesmaid to Man City twice this season but we will come back stronger next season.

Players Rating

I couldn’t fault the players effort even when we won nothing this season. Some of them are still young and they have lots to learn. Yaya Sanogo who is the fans’ player of the year is out top scorer with 26 goals. If not for his injuries in the early season, he would have scored more. Khouma Babacar has done well in his debut season in West Ham shirt as he not only contributed 15 goals, his biggest asset is providing chances for his team mates. As usual captain Shawcross is as reliable as he is every season since he joined us from Stoke. He has the highest average rating of 7.52.

Some of the goals we conceded are pretty soft goals but ironically we have the best defensive record in the Premiership. This season is dominated by the teams from Manchester. Man Utd was rather poor in the Premiership but they won the FA Cup and the Euro Cup. Next season will be the year to break the dominance of the Manchester teams. I forgot to take the screenshot but my initial budgets show i have 33 million to spend on new players. I have already identify a few targets i want to sign.

Overall i guess it’s not a bad season for us and we have improved one position to 2nd in the Premiership. Hopefully next season will be the year for us. This concludes my 2014/15 season ends report. Thanks a lot for reading and i hope to hear your thoughts in the comment box.

Need Help  You may have noticed my competitions result is broken. This is due to the filters i have. We are playing in the Premiership for few seasons now but the filters still showing Championship and there is no Champions League. Is this a bug or due to settings? Does anybody have any idea? Thanks in advance.

We were left with 22 million transfer funds and the board offered every single amount for players purchase and 50k for wage budget in the new transfer window. The board expects a minimum of CL qualification and i decide to choose it as the target.

There are some transfer activity going on in January. First i offloaded Nicolas Lodeiro to Sao Paulo for 6 million pounds. He is a good player and definitely have not realize his potential but he is too injury prone.

His various injuries has limited his appearances for us since joining us in 2012/13 season. I feel it’s a benefit for both parties as we get some money and he may be having better luck elsewhere.

New Hammers

Young Ukrainian Vadym Medvedev’s transfer was pre-arranged when his contract was up.  1.5 million was parted to get this talented young left-back. At 18, he is looking like he is ready for Premiership football and a player to look forward to in the future West Ham team.

Rafael joined us from Santos on a free and he is another quality goalkeeper. Suddenly i found myself with three quality goalkeepers and i will be having a hard time keeping them happy. Rafael, Luis Guilherme and Francesco Bardi will have to battle it out for the number 1 though my preferred choice remains Luis Guilherme.

Sami Khedira was having a difficult time in Real Madrid and was transfer listed. The industrious midfielder joined us for 6 million and will go straight into the first team. His physical and mental attributes is second to none in the squad. He is not fast but has an intelligent mind. I am glad to welcome him to the club.

There is not much quality backup on the right-back position and Thanos Petsos was signed to provide some competition to Jordan Spence. Definitely not world class but good enough to play in the Premiership. Besides that, he is still young at 23 and could see some improvement with some games under his belt.

January Results

There are six games to be played in January with two FA Cup games and four league games. There are not many tough teams except for our fierce rival Tottenham.

We have a 100% record in the first month of 2015. Yaya Sanogo found his scoring boots after returning from injury and he had nine goals to his name in six games. We began the month with a FA cup 3rd round meeting and after going behind to Wigan in 1st minute, we went on and showed them what we made of thrashing them 6-2.

Birmingham, Blackburn and Bolton posed no problems for us as we won three in a row before meeting Tottenham in White Hart Lane. Yaya Sanogo set up a perfect stage for us when he scored a brace under 13 minutes. Tottenham then saw Joleon Lescott sent off in 36 minutes with a straight red card. From that onwards, Tottenham found it hard to revive anything from the game.

Last game of the month saw Yaya Sanogo turning in another magnificent performance when he single handedly overran Sunderland in the FA cup 4th round and fellow Premiership Peterborough will be the team we will be facing in the next round.

Injuries: We don’t have any major injuries except for Jack Collison who is still 1-2 weeks from returning to the training ground.

Manager of the Month: No surprise here as we have a 100% record as i collected my first manager of the month award.

February Results

It was a big contrast to the results in January as we recorded three draws in a row for our first three games. We dropped two points in the opening game against Fulham as we failed to find the finishing touch.

The next two games saw us unable to take full points from Arsenal and Chelsea in front of our cheering fans. We played better than them in both games but the players were unable to produce the goods in these big games.

Next was the FA cup 5th round match against Peterborough. I changed the entire first team and sent in the second fringe players and they did enough to win the game as a Peterborough own goal won us the match one minute from time. Our 6th round opponent was a difficult one as we faced Arsenal in the Emirates Stadium.

Last game of the month was against Standard Leige in the Champions League 1st knockout round. We were away to Belgium in the first leg. Standard Leige suffered two early blows as they had to make two substitutions early in the game. We took the lead in 31 minutes through Yaya Sanogo in close range as they failed to clear a cross from Miralem Sulejmani. They scored a shock equalizer one minute later as we conceded a freak goal. An attempted cross caught Francesco Bardi out of guard and it flied to the far side of the net. It was all square in the first half. Six minutes after the break, we went ahead and Yaya Sanogo scored his second goal of the game. Standard Leige was unable to find any breakthrough and we put ourselves in a comfortable position for the return leg.

Full Results

Table

It is not looking good for us in the Premiership. Even though we retain the 3rd place position but we are nine points away from Liverpool. Both Liverpool and Man City are running in great form and never drop too many points like we do. The task of winning our first league title looks slim as i don’t believe they would drop too many point in the remaining fixtures.

Players Rating

After some average performances in the first few game after his injury, Yaya Sanogo breaks into the top two position again with some strong performances. I like to commend Luis Guilherme as he seems to finally settle in The Boleyn Ground and starting to demonstrate what he is capable of.

Remaining Games

We are not throwing the towel yet for the title race as we are still in with a chance. The players need to improve their performances and keep on fighting. We look good to progress in the CL but it needs a lot of effort from the team in the Emirates Stadium for the FA cup 6th round match next month. Will our promising season turn up empty handed? Stay tune and find out in my next report. Meanwhile thanks for reading and i look forward to your comments below.

November

We started the month against the bottom team Wolves. It should be an easy game for us but the players showed a bit of complacency there allowing Wolves to take the lead through a penalty in 13 minutes. We clawed back with Liviu Ganea scoring the equalizer in 31 minutes and raced to 3-1 lead with an own goal plus a goal from Marc Muniesa. Wolves then made us worked hard for three points as they made it 2-3 through Kevin Doyle. Not very convincing performance from us.

Champions League vs AC Milan

Our next game saw us traveled to Milan for the Champions League match against AC Milan. We were destined for a miserable night when we conceded a penalty just two minutes into the game. Credit to the players, the nature of the game was changed after a deflected shot from Liviu Ganea saw us getting the equalizer and we were ahead before half time whistle after Marc Muniesa was pushed inside the box during a corner. Two minutes after the break, the Milan fans were looking in grim faces after Miralem Sulejmani hit a fierce shot past the goalkeeper from a Liviu Ganea through ball. There was time for Milan to mount a comeback but defensively we were solid and returned home with an upset.

There are two matches left but we have done enough to qualify for the next stage along Real Madrid as AC Milan and Feyenoord have no chance of catching us with them seven and eight points behind us.

Last two games

Real Madrid was clearly complacent when they visited Boleyn Ground and we overtook them as the group leader after goals from Younes Belhanda and Khouma Babacar. Our last CL game saw us traveled to Holland to take on Feyenoord who was the weakest in the group. We dominated the game there but could only won by a single goal scored by Mark Noble.

Table

With five wins and a defeat, we won the group ahead of Real Madrid and i had to admit i was a bit surprised. It was great effort from the team and we can now look forward to the first knockout round. The draw was done in 19 December and we had a very good draw as our opponent is Belgian club Standard Liege. I though we have a very good chance of progressing to the next round. The first leg will commence in February and we can now switch our attention to our league results.

After the Milan game, we immediately need to face Man Utd in the league. They played a very attacking line-up with 3-4-3 formation. We packed the midfield area and opted for a counter strategy. As a result, we were able to frustrate Man Utd and went home with a point.

Next two games against two north eastern side Sunderland and Newcastle. We were better than them in all areas and controlled the game with more possession and shots. We won 2-0 and 2-1 respectively.

vs Liverpool

Last game of the month was against the leader Liverpool. We were having a great run of form in November and our morale was at an all time high after beating AC Milan and Real Madrid. Even though Liverpool had more possession but we showed good finishing touches in this game. Younes Belhanda gave us the lead when he pounced on the rebound after Reina had saved twice from Miralem Sulejmani. Sulejmani then doubled our lead after Liverpool lost possession in the middle of the park. We scored a 3-0 win with substitute Connor Wickham teased and beat Reina from a counter attack 10 minute from full time. It was a solid win against the leader.

Injuries: We don’t have too many injuries except for Nicolas Lodeiro and Khouma Babacar who will be out for 2-3 weeks.

December

vs Everton

First match of the month was a trip to Goodison Park to face Everton. Our past meeting against them was a happy one but we were facing a spirited Everton side today. An own goal from James Tomkins in 33 minutes saw us chased for the result in large periods. They defended the game with their back four forming a wall and we suffered a defeat at the start of the month.

We played Feyenoord after the Everton match. Next few games was an easy run-in for us as we faced most of the bottom half teams. We won all and conceded none. Young Brazilian Adryan finally opened his account for the club with his first goal. This month also saw the return of Yaya Sanogo from injury and he seems struggling as he needs time to return to full fitness.

Injuries: We don’t have any concern for injuries this month as all players are fit for selection.

Full Results

Table

We have been running in good form but that is only enough for us to improve two places and go up to 3rd position. Liverpool is still the leader with 44 points and Man City and us are not too far behind.

Players Rating

Ryan SHawcross is still the best player for us while the injury to Yaya Sanogo has seen his ratings drop tremendously. Miralem Sulejmani has secretly work his way up and put in some reliable performances. He has been very consistent since joining us in 2013. I am a bit disappointed with Belhanda as his ability should prove better than his rating has shown. Hopefully he will start performing or his place will be lost.

Schalke Approach

I was approached by a German club instead of a England club as Schalke wanted me as their manager. Of course it was turned down by me as i have yet to finish my job with West Ham.

We are still on course to win our first title as we are keeping close and tight on the top after half a season gone. Next week will see the opening of the transfer window which will see two pre-arranged signings joining us. I am happy with the progress so far especially able to top the CL group in such a tough opposition. Sorry to keep you waiting for this updates. Thanks for your patience and reading. I hope the next report will not take such a long time. Meanwhile i am looking forward to your comments below. See you soon.

August

vs Birmingham

We began the new season with a meeting against newly promoted team Birmingham. We were the real favorites but Birmingham did very well to keep us at bay in the first 45 minutes. Atila Turan then did a mess of his debut appearance when he fouled a Birmingham player inside the box and was sent off in 54 minutes. Birmingham converted their spot kick and we were a goal down. We had a quick equalizer two minutes later after new boy Thanasis Karagounis hit a fierce shot from the edge of the box after receiving a ball from Jordan Spence. Another new boy Ivo Pekalski marked his arrival with a beautiful goal which saw the ball flied to the top corner in 60 minutes. Karagounis was impressive on the right and he fed Yaya Sanogo for our third goal eight minutes later.   That summed up the win even when we were fighting with 10 men. A great comeback by the team.

vs Blackburn

Next game against Blackburn at home was much easier as we took control of the game and raced to a two goal lead in the first half. Midfielders Bressan and Miralem Sulejmani were the scorers and we had a 100% record after two games.

European Super Cup

We had a chance to win our first trophy in this season’s European Super Cup. Sevilla who won the Champions League last season was our opponent. It was an epic final as both team show great desire to go forward and never attempt to hold back. 90 minutes of football was unable to separate both sides and Sevilla had the killer ball in the net with 10 minutes of extra time left. Luis Guilherme who won the man of the match was unable to stop the goal. I was happy with the performance even though we were the loser.

September

September saw us started against Bolton and won 4-0 comfortably. Bolton did not play too badly but our finishing was great. Thanasis Karagounis maintained his impressive start in West Ham shirt as he gave us the lead with his second goal of the season. Yaya Sanogo continued to be the key player for us this season as he hit a hat-trick in this game.

Next was the first big match for us against our fierce rivals Tottenham. We had an awful first half as we conceded two goals easily. We could hear the jeers when we were heading to the dressing room. The players received some hair-dryer treatment and came out as a different team in the second half. Six minutes after the break, it was Thanasis Karagounis who pulled a goal back for us after a tackle on Yaya Sanogo saw the loose ball fell to him inside the box. Khouma Babacar score his first goal and our equalizer in 71 minutes after he was put through by Yaya Sanogo. Sanogo had a chance to win the game for us in the dying minutes but he narrowly put the ball wide. We had our first injury casualty after Younes Belhanda suffered a dead leg but luckily he will be back after few days rest. Next game will be a Champions League game. Lets see who we faced in the group stage.

Champions League draw

I never expect us to be drawn in a tough group consist of Real Madrid, AC Milan and Feyenoord. It needs big effort from us to qualify to the next stage.

vs Real Madrid

We were taught a football lesson by Cristiano Ronaldo and co in Bernabeu. Ronaldo was too difficult to handle for our defenders and his brace under 14 minutes signalled we would have a difficult outing. Ryan Shawcross had to come off early after he damaged his elbow in 13 minutes. Yaya Sanogo pulled a goal back in 31 minutes but another two Real Madrid goals in the second half meant we had a lot of catch up against the elites in Europe. The injury to Ryan Shawcross was not too serious as he will miss action for 1-2 weeks.

Our first league defeat came at the hands of Arsenal as we were totally outplayed in Emirates Stadium. The pace of Theo Walcott caused us a lot of trouble as we went down 2-0 to them.

We met Tottenham again but this time it was in the League Cup competition. I made a couple of changes and sent in some reserve players in this game. We were doing most of the chasing as we had to come back from behind to force the game into extra time. Mark Noble gave us the lead three minutes into extra time but Tottenham equalized again seven minutes later. Jordan Spence then got himself sent off and Tottenham took advantage to find the winner one minute before the end. A disappointing result for the fans. The disappointment was further added after Nicolas Lodeiro and Yaya Sanogo both suffered an injury. Both will be out for 1-2 weeks.

Next was against Fulham who scared us as they took the lead in 10 minutes. It was poor marking by the central defenders. Younes Belhanda then scored a brilliant solo goal in 30 minutes after the Fulham goalkeeper unable to stop his low shot. As we were busy searching for the winner, our discipline record came under the spotlight after Liviu Ganea committed a vicious tackle and was ushered down the tunnel. We were lucky to claim the win after a mistake from their goalkeeper saw Connor Wickham smashed in his first goal for the club seven minutes from time.

October

vs Feyenoord

October saw a lot of tough games coming up. We will be meeting Feyenoord and AC Milan while Chelsea and Man City waiting for us in the league. We started the month by entertaining Feyenoord at home and won 2-0 easily as we had total domination. Feyenoord was forced to defend in large periods as they created only four shots for the whole game.

It seemed our meeting against our fierce rivals always turned to be a disaster this season. Chelsea narrowly edged us 2-1 in Stamford Bridge with the Torres winner arrived one minute from full time. We returned to winning ways against weaker team West Brom as Thanasis Karagounis’s 4th goal of the season and a Babacar brace saw us running 3-0 winners.

Starting from the West Brom game, i modify my formation and push the two wide midfielders further up to the wingers position in order for Belhanda and Sulejmani to provide more ammunition for the strikers.

vs AC Milan

I was wary of the threat posed by AC Milan as they have Pato, Robinho and Ibrahimovic up front. Hoever they seemed to have some off days as you can see from the shots created, we were the better team. Our finishing was rather poor and it took Miralem Sulejmani to turn in a rebound after their goalkeeper saved a shot from Khouma Babacar to send us behind Real Madrid in the group. Yaya Sanogo suffered another injury after returning and this time he will miss action for 3-4 weeks.

Group D

Not too bad after three games played. We are one point behind Real Madrid and four points ahead of AC Milan. We need to perform well away to AC Milan and Feyenoord in order for us to qualify as i believe Real Madrid is probably too strong for us.

vs Man City

We had one more game to play. Title favorites Man City is coming to The Bolyen Ground. Their football were like from the other planet and Neymar was a handful for us. He justified his huge price tag with a goal, a 25 yard shot that eluded Luis Guilherme. Two goals in three minutes(Aguero was the other scorer) condemned us to our third defeat of the season and a dent to our title hopes.

Full Results

Table

After three months into the season, we are currently lying in 5th position. Not too bad but it could be better. Liverpool has a dream start as they won eight and lost only one. Man City is still the team to beat as they are still unbeaten while our fierce rivals Tottenham is also enjoying their season.

Players rating

Ryan Shawcross and Yaya Sanogo are our Mr Consistent. Both of them are still reliable as before, too bad on Sanogo’s injury. The rest of the players need to step up and play better. We do have the talent but they must show it on the field.

New signing performances

I have to admit i am disappointed with the performances of my new signings. Only Thanasis Karagounis manage to impress. I will give them more time to show me what they can do. Hopefully they can repay my faith.

Honestly i expect us to do better. I thought we are a match against the big teams but there is big match shyness in the players. We have done well against the weaker teams but we can’t put in poor performances against the giants. We need vast improvements if we are to win the title. This is a pretty long report and thanks for following all the way to the end. I will conclude my report here and love to hear your comments about our results. See you soon.

Season Expectation

The board is very generous offering me 33.5 million and an extra 84k wage for new players and expecting us to achieve Euro cup qualification. I opt for Champions Cup qualification due to last season’s success and the final transfer budget increased to 42 million and 775k for wages. After the budget was set, it’s time for the transfer dealings.

My target this season is to lower the average age and released players who are older and hadn’t seen much first team action. The position that i am looking at is a better strike partner for Yaya Sanogo. Goalkeepers, full backs and left midfielder are positions i want to strengthen too. First lets see who is leaving.

Transfer Out

A total of eleven players were either sold or released. If you notice, i sold both my goalkeepers Robert Green and Jan Lastuvka. My home strategy has a higher defensive line and i want a goalkeeper who is younger and faster. We recouped 18.5 million and a portion of it is allocated to the transfer funds. Besides that, we have a larger wage budget to play with.

Transfer In

Some of the players you might be familiar with. A couple of them are regen players. 10 new players joined us this season and 34.5 million were spent. We still have almost 20 million but due to the wage constrain, i am more than happy to keep the money in the bank. Now lets take a look at the new players.

Position Strengthen

Goalkeeper

My new first choice goalkeeper. I am sure you are familiar with Luis Guilherme if you follow Johnny’s Vauxhall story in FM11. Great handling, one on one, kicking and reflexes. Beside that, he is fast and suitable for me to employ him as a sweeper goalkeeper. I paid 9.5 million for him from his old club Atletico Paranaense.

Francesco Bardi joined us for nothing after he was released from Livorno. He will be the backup for Luis Guilherme. Will not see too many games but could be a decent deputy. He could be sold next season as i had arranged a transfer for another goalkeeper who will be joining us in January. His name is Rafael, a countryman of Luis Guilherme.

Full Back

I signed another young player in Atila Turan who plays at left back. He was signed for 6.25 million from Sporting(Por). His biggest asset is his pace and look dangerous in going forward but need to improve his defensive attributes if he wants to be world class. His only weakness is his jumping.

Defensive Midfielder

Mark Noble is the only player who looks capable in defensive duty in the middle of the park. I have plenty of option for attacking minded midfielder. That’s why i bought Ivo Pekalski from Celtic for 6.25 million. He is only 23 and a current Swedish international. According to my coach report, he doesn’t seem to have any weakness and could be a leading Premier League player. Lets see when the season starts.

Winger

I mentioned i wanted to sign a left winger but i end up signing two right wingers. Younes Belhanda has no reliable backup and he is comfortable in both wings so signing two right wingers doesn’t seem too bad. These two players joined for free when their contract expired. Thanasis Karagounis, a current Greek international is the better of the two. Good pace and he has pretty good technical attributes, could push for a starting place. Joachim Mununga will provide the backup. Excellent pace and strong mental attributes. He could be useful for us in some stages.

Strikers

I signed two but not one striker partner for Yaya Sanogo. Both Connor Wickham and Khouma Babacar play best in a target man role while Yaya Sanogo excel in a poacher role. All three of them are 21 years old and it could mean years of tormenting opposition defences if they can work well together. Connor Wickham was signed from Sunderland for 7.5 million while Khouma Babacar joined us from Fiorentina for 4.8 million. From what i see, Babacar could gain an upper hand over Wickham for a starting place. What do you think?

The other two players are young strikers, 19 year old Ukrainian striker Eugene Khudayev and 16 year old French striker Marco Antolini.

Most Expensive Transfer

This season saw three of the most expensive transfers in my game history. Both the Manchester clubs and Liverpool have spent big on one player each. Neymar became the most expensive player when he joined Man City. I am having headache when i think of their attacking line-up consist of Neymar, Aguero, Ganso and Tevez. Hopefully they will not work well together. Elsewhere, Edinson Cavani joined Man Utd for 42.5 million and Gareth Bale ditched White Hart Lane to Anfield for 42 million.

Friendly Games

We didn’t have a pleasant friendly as we had four wins, one draw and two losses. The defeat against Stoke and Cardiff was down to poor finishing and giving away of penalty. We created plenty of chance but could not take them. I am not so concerned about the losses as i have confidence we will step in first gear once the season kicks off.

Title Odds

We are the sixth favorites to lift the Premiership title. The media also make the same prediction that we will finish in 6th position. I guess if we play well, anything can happen. Definitely i am looking to retain the Champions League spot at a minimum.

Coming Games

These are the fixtures for our first few months. I no longer fear anybody. We just need to play our normal game and push for our first Premiership title. We have a chance to win our first trophy in the European Super Cup against Sevilla who was the winner of the Champions League last season.

I forgot to mention our stadium expansion plan has completed and we now can cater for 40,500 fans. This conclude my pre-season report. Thanks for reading this update and i look forward to your comments.

Last two games

We welcome 15th place Derby to New Bucks Head with that play-off spot in mind. The players had to win in this game. It turned out to be a frustrating first 45 minutes as we took full control but unable to find the goal scoring touch. Second half was a different story. We had Jonathan Ramage to thank for as he burst to life after the break. His pace was too much for the Derby defenders and he found his scoring boots scoring a brace. First was an individual solo effort while the second was a latch on a through ball. Ismael Fofana put us 3-0 up in 75th minute after some fine work on the left by Svein Kvernoey.

We are not confirm to enter the play-off yet as Swansea can still catch us. I doubt so as we have a far superior goal difference.

Last league game of the season was against 21st place Preston. It turned out that the players were satisfied of the finish and failed to convert the chances that were presented. The whole game became a boring affair and it finished goalless.

I forgot to take the table screenshot but we finished in 5th place, earning us a play-off spot. Wolves, Fulham and Coventry occupy the other three spots. Now it’s the time to see who we face in the play-off semi-final.

Play-off Semi-final draw

AFC Telford vs Fulham

Coventry vs Wolves

There is no easy team when comes to play-off. We have a mix record against Fulham. We will face them at home first and then travel to London for the second leg.

Play-off semi final leg 1

We lost to them last month so i can foresee it’s a difficult match for us. The players put up a decent performance and we were able to match Fulham on the chances created. However our weakness of defending set-pieces haunt us in 33rd minute when David N’Gog powered in a header from close range. We couldn’t create any clear cut chances and ended in a defeat. It made our away trip an unattainable task to progress.

Play-off semi final leg 2

Can you believe what you see in the screenshot? I can’t believe what i see. I stick to the same eleven players and they produced a different performance in Craven Cottage. Oliver Nicholas fired us ahead with his head early in the 6th minute but Fulham managed to equalize through David N’Gog eight minutes later. Though Fulham was better than us but Jody Morris was in a good position to give us the lead again in 36th minute. We were 2-1 up when the first half whistle sounded. Fulham entered second half with a much stronger fighting spirit. Jonathan Ramage broke their fans heart with a brace in 69th and 76 minute to put us 4-1 up. They hit back with another goal in 77th minute but Oliver Nicholas made sure there was no coming back with another header in 83rd minute. We progressed with our heads up wining two tie on a aggregate of 5-3. In the other game, Wolves was too strong for Coventry as they thumped them off 5-0 in two legs.

Play-off final

This is the formation for both teams. Both like to play 4-4-2 formation. On paper, Wolves look stronger than us as they have some players with Premiership material. But this is a play-off final, we are in with a chance as long as we are in it. Lets get on with the game.

Here it is, the play-off final. This is a do or die game for us. It’s a great chance to join the elites of the English Premiership. We are out to create a history for Telford football club. There was great support from the stands, a total of 51,751 fans from both teams. Wolves started strongly with a few clear cut chances but they wasted it to the frustration of their fans. To the delight of our fans, Oliver Nicholas gave us the lead in 10th minute with his…head of course. He is fast becoming a legend for us. The lead lasted only two minutes as Chris Wood equalized for Wolves after we gifted him too much space. The game was running in a fast tempo. A cross to the far post from Greg Mills saw Svein Kvernoey headed in from close range in 20th minute. Both teams were running in attacking mode as Wolves scored a very lucky goal in 43rd minute. Their shot hit the post and deflected in by our goalkeeper. Greg Mills made sure we hold on to the lead in the first half when he converted a laser guided cross from Tom Kennedy.

A shell shocked Wolves came fighting back after the break and we couldn’t prevent Chris Wood from scoring his second goal from a set-piece in 59th minute. It was all level again. Both teams continued to pressure and the clock was ticking fast. We have reached the injury time and both managers were preparing the team talks for extra time. I was drafting my team talk when my assistant manager called me to look at the field. A long kick by our goalkeeper Sam Walker landed perfectly to the legs of Jonathan Ramage. He brought the ball, dribbled and dribbled. Wolves players tried to take him down but Jonathan Ramage was still having the ball. He was at the six yards box area, he saw a chance and he shoot…… Goaaaaal. I couldn’t believe it. The ball flied into the net. A  brilliant individual effort. This goal alone could cost 40 million dollars. I looked at the clock, it’s 92 minutes. The referee blew the whistle shortly after and WE ARE IN THE PREMIERSHIP. We are in wonderland. Little Telford is going to Old Trafford, Emirates stadium and Anfield.

Take a look at the match highlights

The fans and the board are absolutely ecstatic. They couldn’t believe on our promotion.

This is the final table. Birmingham looks too good at this level and they are going straight up after relegation from last season. Bristol City is the next best team and we will join both of them in the Premiership next season. Peterborough, Bristol Rovers and Northampton will be heading straight down to league 1 after finishing in the bottom three.

We don’t have too many outstanding players in our existing squad except for Oliver Nicholas and Tom Kennedy. The loanees have returned to their clubs but Jim Cummins, Svein Kvernoey and Jonathan Ramage are the reasons that bring us to this far. The trio have contributed tremendously to our promotion especially Jonathan Ramage. He is a winger by natural but has done very well in the striker position. Oliver Nicholas and Svein Kvernoey also managed to elect into the players team of the year this season.

The contribution of Tom Kennedy is recognized by the fans and he is their fans player of the year this season.

Awards

No, i am not the manager of the year but i leapfrogged Stern John of Bristol City to claim the runner up position. Something i am please with as Stern John just doesn’t see eye to eye with me.

Stadium Expansion

We received some good news on the expansion of our little stadium. An additional 6200 seats will be added and it will be completed in around six months. Meanwhile we will ground share with Willenhall at Noose Lane. Where is this place?? And their stadium stands at 5000 capacity with 324 seated. Are you sure of that Mr chairman? You should do better than that.

The chairman did his best to secure the best deal in the sponsorship but we are a club growing. We can’t have a bigger sponsorship, until then we have to stick with what can attract now.

It is a new history for Telford football club. Can we survive in the Premiership? It’s too early to say. We will see how much money we receive for new players. No matter how we fare, i think this is going to be a great chapter for the fans of Telford. Dear friends, thank you very much for your support and i know you will be following us all the way in the Premiership. Thanks for reading this update and i will see you in the 2015/16 pre-season report.

March Results

We were doing fine in March wining three out of the four. The only loss came against 2nd place Bristol City.

We were facing 11th place Norwich in our first match. We were magnificent in the first half as we totally demolished Norwich. I can’t believe what i saw. Ismael Fofana converted a Greg Mills cross to give us the lead after a loss of possession from the Norwich players. Then we went into a goal scoring spree inside three minutes. A delightful chip from Jonathan Ramage gave us two goals up in 28th minute. One minute later, Jim Cummins sent Svein Kvernoey through and it was 3-0. Norwich was cracking as another through ball from Jim Cummins saw Jonathan Ramage scored his second goal of the game. The game was as good as over. We put more salt in their wound when Greg Milla scored our fifth goal in 50th minute after a mix-up between their goalkeeper and defender. Norwich didn’t play too badly but it was just not their day.

We got a difficult game coming up and it was against 2nd place Bristol City. They have a lot of good players and were attacking us from all fronts. We managed to prevent then from scoring in large periods of the first half but some fine team work saw them took a lead in 44th minutes. I was disappointed to concede a goal just before half time. The coaching tried to encourage the players but Bristol City was too good for us. We were unable to create any clear cut chances and ended in defeat.

Leeds Utd was not far away behind us. They were hot on our heels chasing after the same play-off spot. Both teams were evenly match in this game and there was a lot of chances created. Full of action and the fans didn’t feel boring. We had better luck as twice the referee ruled decision in our favor awarding us two penalties. Tom Kennedy successfully converted both of them and we ran out 2-0 winners against our play-off rivals.

Last match in March was against 22nd place Peterborough who looked doom to head for League 1 next season. It should a comfortable match for us but Peterborough made things real difficult for us. It was a pretty tight match and both teams unable to score in the first half.  Things remained the same in the second and we won due to the individual brilliance of Jonathan Ramage. He got us the three points when he took on the defender and made a good run all the way to the six yards box to curled a great ball in. What an asset he has been!

April Results

April didn’t go as well as we expected as we suffered two losses, gaining two draws and the only victory came against bottom place Northampton.

First game of the month was against 18th place Cardiff. We had to keep winning to consolidate our position but Cardiff made things difficult for us by employing a deep defensive line which we had trouble breaking. Few chances were created and it was a boring draw at the end.

We should have no problems beating bottom place Northampton who seems destined to play League 1 football next season. There was no dispute who was controlling the game. Northampton was pushed back in large periods of the game. However, they shocked us by taking a lead in 15th minute by an individual solo effort. Despite having plenty of chance to level, we went into the break trailing by a goal. The players came out fighting after the break and we were rewarded in 64th minute. A header from James Tavernier saw their player deflected the ball into the net for our equalizer. We were getting frustrated as time passed by. The players kept losing chances. We left it late when another own goal from their goalkeeper in injury time saw us winning the game by a narrow margin. What a relief!

Next was against 13th place Millwall. They are a good side with some quality players. The team has hit a dip in form this month with the players up front having problems in scoring. We were facing the same problem in this game. Despite having more possession, we were unable to avoid a goal and the defeat when they beat the offside trap to score a goal in the second half.

We seem unable to beat teams lying lower than us. It was the same scenario in this game against 19th place Swindon Town. Both teams played cautiously and chances were far and few. Swindon took the lead three minutes before the first half whistle. We hit back in the second half when Jim Cummins found Ismael Fofana and he hold his composure to equalize for us. The game ended as a draw as neither team look worthy for the win.

We had a difficult game coming up and it was against 4th place Fulham. We performed better and both team had even chances to win the game. Both teams were wasteful in front of goal. The game was settled by a magnificent freekick by the Fulham player and we continued our poor form this month.

Lets look at where we are now. We are still holding on to a play-off spot despite not playing as well as we should. We should be confident of a play-off spot as we only need one win to confirm. Last two games were against 15th place Derby and 21st place Preston. As long as the players perform normally, we should be fine.

Alright friends, we will have a conclusion on our debut season in the Championship next month. Can we perform a miracle for the promotion? I will see you back with my 2014/15 season ends report.

We have hit top gear this month. Five wins and a draw. I couldn’t ask for more. That’s a top performance by the players.

First game of the month was against 16th place Reading. We took control of the game from the start but have to wait until 35th minute before a diving header from Jim Cummins gave us the lead. Reading basically had no answer to our passing game. Three minutes after the break, Oliver Nicholas headed the ball off the bar into the net for us to go 2-0 up. Jonathan Ramage then picked up a great pass from debutant Graeme Black to score our third goal of the game. Reading had a poor game and there was no doubt there was only one winner.

We need to keep up the performance against 14th place QPR and the players truly did. This was another complete domination for us. First Jim Cummins hit a magnificent curling shot to the top corner. That was a top class goal. We hit two further goals after the break after Svein Kvernoey and John Gorman got into good position to give us a 3-0 win.

Next was against 10th place Sheff Utd. We were full of confidence going into this game but Sheff Utd was able to match us in terms of chances created. Jim Cummins who was exceptional continued his great form by heading a goal from close range. Sheff Utd had chances to equalize from the penalty but David Jones blasted it wide. They managed to level the score four minutes from half time when we failed to clear the ball. It was 1-1 when the referee blew the whistle. Both teams went into attacking mode after the break and we got our second goal in 59th minute. Jonathan Ramage received a through ball and he had no trouble in hitting the ball into the net. Despite heavy pressure from Sheff Utd, we were able to held on for the win.

We were meeting another Sheffield team and it’s Wednesday. Sheff Wed is lying in 15th place and we had confidence of securing another three points. However, things didn’t go as well as we think. Though we dominated the game but we couldn’t find the finishing touch in the first half. Second half was a different story as the players raised the game tempo. Svein Kvernoey hit a powerful shot in 60th minute to give us the lead. Jim Cummins continued his goal scoring form with another well taken shot in 74th minute. It’s down to Oliver Nicholas to complete the rout with another traditional header in injury time.

1st place Birmingham was our next opponent. They have more quality than us and for the first time this month, we were under heavy pressure right from the start. Luck was smiling at us as we took the lead in 31st minute due to an own goal by Roger Johnson. Birmingham was unable to unlock our defence and we hold a slender lead to the dressing room. We had a great start in the second half when Ismael Fofana headed in a close range goal in 54th minute to extend our lead further. I sensed an upset but Birmingham reacted strongly. First Roger Johnson compensated for his earlier mistake to pull a goal back for Birmingham in 62nd minute. They completed the comeback twelve minutes later with another goal to draw level. We had to be on alert as they looked dangerous to take the game off us. We managed to keep them at bay and the game finished as a draw.

Last game of the month was against disappointing Blackpool who stands in 15th place. Jose Luis Martinez gave us a great start when he he deflected the ball into the net from a Oliver Nicholas drop down header. The game turned into exciting mode with both teams playing brilliant attacking football. But there was no further goals in the first half and we hold a one goal lead. The tempo did not slow down after the break and we widen the lead when Graeme Black opened his account for us in 67th minute. Credit to Jonathan Ramage’s fine work on the right. We had an injury blow when instrumental leader Oliver Nicholas had to go off due to an injury. The squad was reshuffled and Jonathan Ramage was deploy on the right midfield. His pace was too much for the opposition. He delivered another two top class crosses for Graeme Black and Ismael Fofana to score another two goals. Blackpool didn’t deserve that as they played really well. The difference between the two sides was we took our chances really well. The injury to Oliver Nicholas was a bad one. He will be out for 6-7 weeks. This really killed one of our goal sources.

A great run of results finally saw us forced into the play-off spot. There is no way other teams can catch the top three teams. Birmingham is the run away leader at this level. I believe we have a good chance of claiming a play-off spot. Four players are instrumental for our great run.

Jim Cummins – I am delighted to bring him back. He can pass, score, tackle and everything. He can’t stop scoring this month.

Svein Kvernoey – Left midfielder on loan from Bolton. He has chipped in a few goals and his most important contribution is his ability to open up spaces for his team-mates.

Jonathan Ramage – His pace is awesome. Always not afraid to take on defenders and open up space for himself. 10 goals so far and 12 assists. A brilliant talent.

Oliver Nicholas – He has been with us since BSN. He is an icon now in the club. I want him to become a legend. I will not release him unless he decides to leave. He is still able to contribute 8 goals with his head in a tougher level.

The great run saw us sweep almost all the awards for February.

Jim Cummins is the player of the month for his excellent form and Jonathan Ramage comes in second place.

We dominated all three spots in young player of the month with Jonathan Ramage, Svein Kvernoey and Jose Luis Martinez in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place respectively.

I got my first manager of the month award this season with five victories and a draw.

There are only four games in March. Two difficult fixtures against 2nd place Bristol City and 7th place Leeds who is chasing a play-off spot.

Things look promising at the moment for us. We need to continue the good form to consolidate our position and then look forward to promote through the play-off. The only set-back is the injury to Oliver Nicholas. I will see who is going to replace him. Alright friends, thanks for reading this updates and see you soon in my March report.