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Ice Man
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So that's what happened! We finished a very respectable 14th but we could have finished a lot higher. My main aim for the season when taking over Villa is just to stay in the league and that is what we did. Judging by the start that we made in the league I feared the worst and by October - November time I was starting to look at the job security page more frequently, but I didn't have to worry. Late November we clicked into gear and managed to put some results together and consequently we never looked back down at the relegation zone. We never threatened the top 10 but I am happy where we are at the moment as this gives us a good solid platform to build on.
We had great success in the cups by getting to the Quarter Final stage in both cups. In the Carling Cup we had good draws in the first two rounds and then in the 3rd we outplayed Fulham. We never looked like giving them a sniff. In the Quarters we never really had a chance. They had 3 shots in the first half and they all went in. This was too much for us, despite getting one we were never going to get two more.
In the FA Cup we had another couple of good draws and saw us progress to the fifth round without breaking sweat. We played an indifferent Liverpool team now managed by AVB! They got lucky in the first half and scored via a Clark own goal. Thankfully Weimann equalized on the brink of half time and allowed me to say some words of wisdom in the changing rooms and the team came out and played one of the best games I've seen in a long time.
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My player of the year will be no suprise in going to Christian Benteke. What makes this guy even better that what his record says is that after fourteen games he had only scored three goals and two of them were in the same game! I finally worked some things out and how I could get the most out of him and since January he went from strength to strength.
There was some interest in him around January time and sure enough Bayern Munich came in with a pathetic £6m offer. It was never going to be enough to sell him but it had the required effect and straight after he requested to be put on the transfer list. Noting happened for him which I was so pleased abut but now I will have to wait until the Summer transfer window opens and the barrage will begin again.
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I will be looking to rebuild this team while sticking to the guide lines in the challenge. I still have a few players that are worth some money but are not willing to budge while a couple of of others are taking up some much needed wage budget. People like Alan Hutton & Charles N'Zogbia are the most important players to get off my books while I am also hoping that Darren Bent will not be too hard to move on.
I am in the midst of upgrading some staff members who will hopefully increase my scouting knowledge (2nd rule) and find me some good cheap players that can come in and make a difference. My current coaches are doing a good job although I will be on the look out to see if I can improve on the current crop.
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Ice Man
| Group A - Group B - Group C - Group D - Group E - Group F - Group G - Group H |
So Argentina add their third World Cup after beating Italy in the Final. They probably were the best team, although they were very lucky to overcome Belgium in the quarter finals. It was the first time that anybody had managed to stop Messi & Aguero and Argentina were indebted to Di Maria who scored an 81st minute goal to take it into extra time.
The other finalists Italy had played well on the their way to the final. They had topped their group, and with a last minute goal beat and knocked out the Germans who had drew to Cameroon which proved to be costly for them. They were comfortable against Costa Rica and the Ivory Coast game looks a bit closer than it really was. In the semi final they broke the hearts of the hosts (who were lucky to overcome Jamaica in the quarters) as Manolo Gabbiadini scored twice to send them into the final.
England had promised so much after their group stage. Having been drawn against Netherlands, Ecuador & South Korea, England came through with flying colors having beaten Netherlands 3-0, Ecuador 2-1 & South Korea 2-0. In the 2nd round against a strong Ivory Coast team it was all going well enough until Drogba scored an 80th minute equalizer to take the game into extra time. England just couldn't get going with a lack of attacking substitutions and fitness levels fading the Ivory Coast scored two goals and booked their place in the quarter finals.
Messi deservedly took home the honor of best player. The wizard not only scored 6 goals, which was equal top with Bafetimbi Gomis from France but also set up 6 goals. He really shone in the opening game against Ghana were he only scored 1 but set up 2 of Aguero's goals. In the very next game against Mexico he was faultless as he scored both of Argentina's goals and also set up the other one. His only bad game of the World Cup came against Belgium where Kompany kept him quiet the whole game. Messi didn't let that bother him though as he scored the winner against France in the Semi Final and although he didn't score in the Final he did set up 1 of the 2 goals.
Dan
SR67
Ice Man
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So all in all I am quite happy with how the transfers went. We managed to clear some of the deadwood and also managed to get rid of some of the highest earners. I really didn't want Darren Bent coming back to the club so was ecstatic when Fulham offered me what I wanted and off he went. Albrighton had been moaning a lot last season and wasn't going to be seeing any playing time so newly promoted Brighton took him off my hands. Weimann & Delfouneso both joined another promoted team in Forest. I really wanted more than I got for Weimann but it was either take that or be left with him at the club. He wasn't going to be playing much this season and it's a shame that we had to let him go but he just doesn't score enough. Didn't care about Delf as he had been out all of last season on loan and another big chunk of the wage bill. Speaking of which Alan Hutton finally left the club although we are still paying a little of his wages.
The last two were the ones that are going to have an impact on the team. Benteke made it clear that he wanted to leave and I did everything in my power to get more money than I did, but it wasn't too be. He had Bayern or Dortmund to choose from after I rejected offers from PSG, At. Madrid & Liverpool! Vlaar I had been thinking about selling all off season (rule 6 (sell while you can)) and again although I would have liked more money at 31 thought that he was only going to decline so I took what I could get and saw him leave England.
I am pretty happy with the players that I bought in. Mackay-Steven comes in as a natural left winger which is something we didn't have last season. At the age of 24 I believe that he can improve a lot and at the price that we got him for we could always sell him on for a profit if things don't work out.
Vossen, Zapata & Vydra all coming in are really fighting for two places. I thought that Vydra on a free transfer was too good to turn down and am confident that he can produce when we need him to although it wont be this season as we have sent him out on loan to Liverpool for the rest of the season, although we can recall him if we need him. Zapata was somebody that I had my eye on since I started and last season was quoted £7 million for him so when I saw him at such a low fee I had to have him. Vossen is somebody that everybody knows and I am hoping that he can take over from the departing Belgian striker although I am not expecting too much straight away.
The final 3 signings are all mainly to add some depth to the team. Dawson & Jorgensen will battle it out to try and get a look in at center back in place of the departed Vlaar, although Clark, Baker & Okore are ahead of them in the race. Schelotto has come in as cover for the season after Lowton damaged his ACL and is out for the season. What I like about Schelotto is that he is super quick and I hope that if we can improve some of his technical skills he will be a crucial player this season.
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Overall the off season has see the finances looking very healthy. Obviously the majority of the balance is from the Benteke transfer and due to me not spending all of the money I have still got £7.86M to spend in January if I need to. The most pleasing thing is the wage budget. We have knocked a lot of that with the outgoing transfers and have even managed to offer new contracts to Gabby & Delph at a lower weekly wage then they were currently on. I am going to have to offer Guzan a new deal which will likely double his current wage but the slight saving grace is that we still have Given, Tonev & N'Zogbia eating up a combined weekly wage of £127k. I am hopeful that I can at least sell 2 of them during January although if I can find somebody to bring in as a 3rd choice keeper then I may consider releasing Given from his contract.
During the off season we did also gain a new feeder club in Japan. Hopefully our presence there during pre-season as well as the link all year round can reward us a healthy monthly income.
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Ice Man
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The only transfers going out were players on loan. Aleksandar Tonev was becoming unhappy due to lack of games so I thought that this was a good time to use our new partnership with Zulte and send him there. He was later joined by new Brazilian left mid Lucio who completed his move but couldn't get a work permit. By the time he has done his 3 year stint in Belgium he will be 26 and hopefully in the prime of his career. N'Zogbia finally left the club unfortunately it is only on loan for 3 months and we are STILL paying all his wages. Hopefully he can impress a few people while on loan at Yeovil and somebody will take a chance on him. Finally new summer signing Mathias Jorgensen couldn't break into the team and wanted a loan move. We found him one to local rivals West Brom.
After the first half of the season I realized that our central midfield partnership was just average. Never bad but never amazing. They are constantly getting ratings of 6.8 - 7.2 and while that isn't bad I wasn't more. The first person is Spaniard Javi Espinosa. I am hoping that despite him still being 22 he can improve our midfield and add some of that Barcelona class to this team. Another young midfielder in the shape of Leandro Paredes joined for the rest of the season on loan from Roma. Having altered my tactics I needed another attacking midfielder and this guy fitted the bill perfectly. Ole Kristian Selnaes joined on a free transfer and this guy has a promising future ahead of him. Primarily a defensive midfielder, with a bit of training I am confident that he can become a good premiership right midfielder. I am not expecting a lot from him straight away but next season could be a dark horse. The last signing was Mathias Bossaerts from Man City. With Jorgensen's departure to West Brom I needed another central defender to add some cover. Hopefully this guy can provide this and even progress into a decent center back.
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Sitting in the middle of the table is pleasing and would love to end up finishing around here. At the moment we are really struggling to turn draws into wins and stupid loses into draws. We are also having a problem making and creating chances. The amount of times we have conceded within 5 minutes and that was the only chance of the first half has been endless. Hopefully the new signings and tactic can change that.
I heard this phrase recently and it sums up our first half of the season:
"The only thing consistent about us is that we are inconsistent"
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Dyrim
Ice Man
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So another season is over and once again we have finished in the lower mid table. It ended up being closer than we would have liked but a lot of the teams got stronger and for one reason (mainly losing Benteke's goals) or another we couldn't match teams that we should. There are some teams that you just cant explain. Brighton finishing 11 points ahead of us with no stars in there team is just embarrassing, but finishing 8 points above relegated Everton (we sent them down last game of the season) is impressive considering they finished 7th last year.
Hopefully we can improve next season with some better additions to the team and a change of tactics I firmly believe that we can get into the top half next season.
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The big highlight of our year was undoubtedly winning the FA Cup. Our fixtures were a tale of two half's. The first 4 rounds we came up against 4 championship clubs and while we needed 2 replays to beat Milwall & Middlesbrough we just about progressed into the semi finals. Our most accomplished performance coming against Ipswich who we beat 3-0 and didn't even give them a look in.
The second half is far more impressive. Coming into the semi final stage we were drawn against Man City. While they were coming of the back of a defeat to United in the Manchester derby they we clear favorites but thankfully they were very wasteful during the game. We managed to hold them off early doors and while we should have been going in at half time 1-0 up thanks to an Agbonlahor goal we conceded on the brink of half time and I thought that we were going to be doomed! Thankfully Nicklas Helenius hadn't read my mind or the Man City script as he took it upon himself to score our second, and then win and convert a penalty to give us a 3-1 lead. Of course that went to a 3-2 lead and then we shut up shop even more than normal and rode the Man City wave and ended up winning 3-2 and booked a final place against their rivals and top team in England Man Utd.
The final was a different matter altogether. 3 days before the final we played Arsenal so coming into this game we weren’t at our fittest but still it was and FA Cup final if the players couldn’t get up for this game then they never will. The first half started out as you would expect with Man Utd coming out all guns blazing but to our credit we battled well and saw them off. As the first half was coming to a close and Man Utd had gone off the boil, I made a tactical decision and attacked them for the last 10 minutes. Amazingly this risk (managerial genius) worked as not only did Antonio Luna score but captain fantastic Gabby Agbonlahor also scored and amazingly we went into half time 2-0 up. The second half was all about discipline and not conceding. We managed the discipline all game but unfortunately we didn’t quite manage the not conceding part. Wayne Rooney scored a nicely worked goal in the 88th minute but thankfully there wasn’t enough time for them to score another and we had won 2-1.
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The first thing that I need to do is look around and bring in some better quality players. At the moment we have too many that are good/ok but not enough that are great/quality players. If I can bring in 2-3 of these players along with some more squad players then we should be ok with the extra amount of games that are going to be coming our way next season.
I still need to try and trim the wage budget although Shay Given is retiring at the end of the season so if I can get rid of Charles N'Zogbia then that will be even better. New summer signing Duvan Zapata came to me demanding a new contract. Frankly he has been average at best this season so I will be looking to find him a new club for next season, and young goalkeeper Jed Steer wants to leave which is a shame but I can understand why so a new club for him and a backup goalkeeper for me is also on a long off season list.
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Dan
SR67