FM Sensation - Comments

Hello and welcome to another update in my Derby save! I'd like to apologize for taking so long to release this update, but I have been exceptionally busy with other non FM related things, and I haven't had the time. After this update, it'll probably be after Christmas that the next one comes out, so enjoy!

We started off our month at home to Milwall, and this gave the lads a chance to redeem themselves against the side that knocked us out of the League Cup. Chris Martin was suffering from the flu, and John Eustace was suspended from this match, so we replaced them with Will Hughes and Johnny Russell. It was yet again the visitors taking a shock lead, with Mathias Ranegie nodding home after 3 minutes. Jesse Lingard missed the chance for us to instantly reply, but Johnny Russell made up for it with his strike in the 28th minute. Lingard looked out of his depth for most of the night, and missed a few good chances. Nicky Bailey was sent of 73 minutes in, and Milwall duly parked the bus. Thankfully for us we did find the breakthrough, with Luke Garbutt’s free kick being parried from Forde to the feet of Richard Keogh, who passed the ball into the empty net. Not the greatest of performances, but a win regardless.

Our following match was away from home against Reading, who at the time were 5th in the league. I knew this was likely to be one of our tougher fixtures so far this season, but the players proved that wrong. Eight minutes in, Jordan Ibe was played through, and being too quick for the defenders, coolly placed the ball into the bottom left hand corner. Our lead doubled only 5 minutes later through another loanee, this time Jack Grealish. From that point on the match was killed, and a great away victory.

We then went away to Blackpool, who have been struggling this season. I felt as though we’d easily brush the poor Blackpool side away, but I was incorrect. The home side made the breakthrough with Andrea Orlandi shortly before halftime, and Chris Eagles doubled the lead in the 51st minute. We pulled one back with 15 minutes to go through Jack Grealish, but missed too many chances towards the end of the match. Blackpool pulled off a shock win.

The lads had to redeem themselves instantly, and we played a struggling Wigan side at home, giving them a good opportunity to do that. Jordan Ibe put us in front in the 18th minute, and it was game over in the 38th minute, when Ivan Ramis was sent off. It wasn’t until late on though that we put the match fully to bed, with Johnny Russell scoring what was at the time his 6th goal this season.

Following on from the victory against Wigan, we travelled to London to play Brentford. It was that man Johnny Russell who yet again scored, putting us 1-0 up in the 47th minute. The lead was short lived, as Stuart Dallas put the hosts back in level terms only four minutes later. Instead of kicking on, Brentford went and parked the bus, and it proved too big of a task for us to unlock their defence.

Following on from our first draw of the season, we were at home to Huddersfield, who have been drastically over performing this season. The man on fire, Jack Grealish, yet again put us 1-0 up, with his strike coming in the 14th minute. Twelve minutes later it was 2-0, with the midfield maestro Craig Bryson grabbing his fourth goal of the season. We were cruising… or so I thought. James Vaughan pulled one back in the 29th minute, with Lee Grant failing to get down to his near post, and he got his brace by nodding home from a corner in the 33rd minute. They really kicked on, but luckily we held on for a disappointing home draw.

It was one tough fixture to another, this time we played hosts to Wolves. They’re in the play off places, and will prove a tough task. We made our breakthrough a half hour into the match, with Richard Keogh being a surprise goal scorer. We had to wait until the second half to see that lead doubled, through our star man Jack Grealish. James Henry pulled the visitors back into the match in the 65th minute, but we responded well, with Johnny Russell scoring yet again. David Edwards set up a tense ending with his goal in the 87th minute, but John Eustace scored a penalty in the 92nd minute, after Jesse Lingard was fouled in the area. A very good win again a strong side.

Our next match was away to Watford, who are just outside of the playoff places. This promised to be a tough match, as they have some great talent in their ranks. We thought we’d made the breakthrough in the 27th minute when Ryan Shotton had literally an open net from 5 yards out, but he somehow managed to miss. We did go 1-0 up in the 38th minute though, with Chris Martin getting his first goal in a while. They levelled things up only a few minutes later, as a poor clearance off a corner gave Angella an easy tap in. The hosts went in front in the 68th minute, after a rubbish backpass from Jake Buxton put Troy Deeney through, and it was no surprise to see him score. Deeney got his second in the 77th minute, and it was game over. A very disappointing performance.

We ended the month of November away at Elland Road, to take on Leeds. I was eager for us to get back on track, but only 7 minutes in that looked like a tough task, with Casper Sloth scoring. Despite changing to a 4-2-4, we were unable to create anything, and in the 93rd minute when we did, the goal was correctly disallowed, as Jake Buxton sneaked behind their defensive line. Another shocking result to end the month.

Despite the fact that we're still up there near the top of the league, I can't hide my disappointment at our results over the past couple of months. For a team battling for promotion, picking up 14 out of a potential 27 points in 9 matches it just not good enough. The result that I really couldn't take was the defeat to Blackpool, as regardless of the result, our players didn't seem up for it, and were being beaten to every ball by their players. I can only hope that things improve over the festive period, or else we may drop like a stone.

Despite poor team performances, the star man yet again was Jack Grealish. I can not express how good this man is. He's a class above everyone in this division, and with quality strikers such as Martin and Russell, we do have the best attacking force in the league. Jesse Lingard can't get a game over these past few weeks, as Grealish is just too good to drop. If I go up I'd love to buy him, but I just am not sure about his fee. Craig Bryson has been putting in quality performances in the heart of our midfield, as usual, which is great to have. Richard Keogh has also been a rock in our centre of defence, and has formed a fantastic partnership with Ryan Shotton. In terms of players we have out on loan, Mason Bennett is absolutely ripping apart League One with Barnsley, which is great to see. I have big plans that he'll one day become a quality striker for us.

Thank you for reading my latest update! I'll probably have the following one out sadly after Christmas, but I'll try for earlier!

Continuing on from our fantastic start to the season, I was hoping we’d be able to continue this into the month of September. In this month we face our most fierce rivals in Nottingham Forest, and some other decent sides, including Cardiff and Bournemouth amongst others.

To start off the month we went away to Forest. This was going to be an incredibly difficult task, as they have spent big in the summer, and have a very good side. Unfortunately for us, we didn’t get off to the greatest of starts, with Jamal Lascelles opening the scoring. Britt Assombalonga doubled their lead, slotting home a penalty in the 57th minute. I thought the comeback was on after Johnny Russell reduced the lead to just one goal in the 62nd minute, but Chris Cohen put Forest comfortably in front scoring just four minutes after our equaliser. This result annoyed myself, and devastated the fans, as we both equally wanted to beat our rivals.

Following the disappointing result at Forest, we went away to Blackburn, and I wanted the players to redeem themselves. They certainly didn’t do that, with us going 1-0 down through Leon Best, our man whose loan we terminated, in the 18th minute. Their lead doubled only a few minutes later, with Jordan Rhodes scoring. He did so again in the 64th minute, to make it a gloomy 3-0 defeat. Slightly more concerning than the result itself was that Jordan Ibe had to come off injured, meaning he’d miss around 4 to 5 matches.

I was highly annoyed from our last two results, and I made it clear to the players they’d have to be at their very best to beat Cardiff. Despite them being 20th in the league, I was still cautious of the very talented squad that they possessed. We did make the breakthrough though, with Chris Martin scoring in the 58th minute. Twenty minutes later it was Jack Grealish who doubled our lead, with the on loan Villa man slotting the ball past David Marshall. A very good comeback from the boys to two disappointing results.

Our next fixture was away to Bolton, and despite the fact that they’re looking like a solid mid-table side, I felt we should certainly be leaving the renamed Macron Stadium with the three points. It was yet again Jack Grealish who put us 1-0 up in the 11th minute, and he’s certainly showing me why some people were crying out for me to sign him. Only four minutes later it was 2-0, with Craig Bryson hitting a screamer from 25 yards out into the top corner. We shut up shop from that point on, and picked up the three points.

We ended the month at home to Bournemouth in a fixture I felt confident going into. Despite the fact they have some very good players like Callum Wilson and Matt Ritchie, I felt our in form and superior side would face no troubles. My hopes were confirmed only nineteen minutes into the match. We were 3-0 up through goals from Jeff Hendrick, Jack Grealish, and Jake Buxton. We were cruising for what looked like it may be a comfortable victory, or so we thought. Junior Stanislas pulled one goal back for the Cherries in the 25th minute, and scored in the 39th, setting us up for a tense second half. My worst fears were made a reality when in the 50th minute, Callum Wilson slid the ball into the corner of the net. I thought at this stage we’d blown our chances in this match, but that man Craig Bryson came up massive yet again for us, and scored in the 66th minute. It was a nervy finish to the match, but we did manage to hold on and get our third successive win.

Despite the fact that we’ve dropped to second in the table, I am still very pleased with our overall performance this month. The defeat to Forest and Blackburn obviously upset the fans a bit, but the squad couldn’t of reacted in a better way, winning our remaining fixtures in the month. I am hoping we can continue this into October and November, which I’ll be combining together in one installment, due to the lack of fixtures.

The standout player this month was our on loan man Jack Grealish. He bagged himself three goals in five fixtures for this month, and for a winger that;s an incredible performance. Craig Bryson is another player who came up massive for us in times of need, and that's the fight of players we need if we're to go up.

Thanks for reading!

Following our successful run to end pre-season, I was certainly looking for us to have a strong start to the season, and we certainly did that.

We opened up our campaign home to Rotherham, in a fixture I felt would be tougher than it looked on paper. Despite our superiority in terms of talent among the ranks, I felt as though this newly promoted Rotherham side would happily sit back and defend against us, and make us beat them. Luckily for us, we managed to show our true class, and thanks to two goals from Chris Martin we won 2-1. Becchio pulled one back in the 87th minute for the visitors, but thankfully for us they didn’t have the firepower to complete a later comeback.

Our next fixture was at away from home to Oldham in the Capital One Cup. I slightly rotated the side with us having a fair few fixtures early on in the season. It wasn’t long before Mason Bennett showed the gulf in class between us and the opposition, with the highly rated youngster making it 1-0 after 6 minutes. Johnny Russell put the game beyond any doubt about an hour in after calmly finishing his chance, and we progressed to the next round, in which we play Milwall.

We followed up wins in our first two competitive fixtures with yet another one in this fixture away to Sheffield Wednesday. I highly doubt they’ll be struggling to stay up this season, as they have some decent players all around, including Stevie May up front. This didn’t cause us problems though, as Jordan Ibe opened the scoring in the 35th minute, with a delightful solo goal. Johnny Russell doubled our lead only two minutes later, with a poacher’s finish after some good work yet again from that man Ibe. Paul Corry made for a nervy finish to the match with his goal in the 76th minute, but a late save from Lee Grant made sure we were leaving Sheffield with the three points.

Our next fixture was yet another away one, and this time it was against Charlton. I was wary before the match started of their threats, including Igor Vetokele, who I rate highly. Despite the fact that this was our third away match in 7 days, the players showed no signs of tiredness. A trip on a clean through on goal Chris Martin led to us being given a penalty in the 29th minute, which John Eustace. A slightly more controversial penalty was given in added time in the first half, after the referee believed Ibe was fouled in the area, despite it being revealed by cameras it was a dive. John Eustace stepped up again, and sent the keeper the wrong way to double our lead. Chris Martin put the game beyond any doubt after putting us 3-0 up in the 81st minute. A fourth successive win put us top of the league.

Following the win against London club Charlton, Fulham made the journey up to the iPro Stadium. Similar to us, they were enjoying a good start to the season. New signing Jack Grealish made his debut for us, whilst Fulham fielded a side containing Patrick Roberts, Hugo Rodellega, and Ross McCormack. It was us who made the breakthrough, with Jordan Ibe scoring yet again in the 56th minute. Adam Taggart equalised only a few minutes later, with the young Australian scoring into an open net. This match wasn’t done yet, as in the 91st minute Chris Martin was tripped in the area. John Eustace yet again stepped up to take it, and emphatically smashed the ball home.

Following the Fulham result, we travelled away yet again. This time it was down to Milwall on a Tuesday night for a Capital One Cup clash. I expected us to win this quite comfortably, but against the run of play it was the hosts who opened the scoring through Lee Martin. John Marquis doubled their lead in stoppage time in the first half from a former player Paul Coutts’ cross. We pulled a goal back through Simon Dawkins in the 82nd minute, and a 25 yard wonder goal from Craig Bryson set us up for extra time, or so we thought… Straight from kick off, Milwall played the ball backwards, and hoofed it forwards to Marquis. This was headed up in the air, but only as far as Jordan Clarke, who had a simple header to play back to Grant. He left this header short, with Lee Gregory running on, and in the 93rd minute they scored their winner.

We next played Ipswich at home, and this was a fixture I felt we should win quite comfortably. We broke the deadlock in the 39th minute, with Johnny Russell getting what was already his third goal of the season. We were on top for the rest of the match, and held on comfortably for a 1-0 victory, meaning we were top with fifteen points from five fixtures to start the season.

I can only say that I am absolutely delighted with this start to the season. I set myself with the goal of finishing in the top six and ideally promotion, and we're certainly on course to do so. I have been very impressed with all players, but Jordan Ibe has to win my player of the month award. He's been in fine form with two goals in his first six appearances, and also picked up two assists. His pace is vital for our attacks, and he beats players with ease. I also managed to pick up the Manager of the Month award for our performances this month, and I'd love to pick up more along the course of the season.

There's only been one transfer made since the last update, and that was bringing in Jack Grealish in on loan. He will replace another loanee in Lingard at the left wing role, and he'll be key for us this season. The only issue with this signing is that we now have to drop one of our six loanees for each match, as only 5 are allowed in the matchday squad.

Thank you to all who have read the latest monthly update! Please give feedback on how I can improve

My sole focus for this pre-season was to make sure my tactics that I had set up for the squad would be implemented well, and try out some players in roles I foresee them playing in. The poster boy for the series, Will Hughes, unfortunately suffered a dislocated shoulder early on in pre-season, which means he'll miss the first couple of months this season.

I am always an advocate of getting my deals done as early as possible in the transfer window, and I continued that philosophy of mine in this save, with Jesse Lingard coming in on loan following a successful season on loan at Birmingham and Brighton last season, in which he also managed to score against Derby in the first leg of the playoff semi-final last season. I'd like to think he won't renew his contract at Manchester United with it expiring this summer, and I'll certainly be looking to make him here on a permanent basis if that happens. Two other players who joined the club include Mateusz Taudul, who has signed for the U-21s following the expiry of his contract with Everton, and hopefully he can develop into a solid enough back up keeper one day. I also brought in another Everton player in Luke Garbutt. He's got a lot of potential in game, and with an initial loan deal, I plan on signing him like Lingard on a permanent basis if his contract at Everton expires.

There have only been two outgoings before our first competitive fixture of the season, with Paul Coutts leaving for Milwall in a deal that included a 500k fee up front, with us also getting a possible 20% sell on fee. We also released Zak Whitbread from the club. No clubs were willing to take him on for free due to his high wage demands, so I had to terminate his contract. He wasn't going to feature at all considering he was my fifth choice centre back, so it was the best move for all parties that he left.

In terms of results, pre-season was as I fully expected it to be, the team gelling, and an improvement in results from the beginning to the end. I can accept the defeat to a Ligue One team in Lens, but I was slightly disappointed in the 1-0 defeat to the Swiss side St. Gallen, as I felt we were the more dominant side. The 0-0 draw to Tranmere was particularly disappointing, but from that result we really kicked on, and the team started performing as they should. Chris Martin bagged four in a 6-1 win away at Doncaster, in what certainly was the highlight of pre-season.

I don't expect much more movement in terms of transfer, but there's a slight possibility Mason Bennett could be heading out on loan. Other than that, I feel the squad is in a very good place to fight for promotion this season!

Following the Rams heartbreak in the playoff final at the hands of QPR, I have decided that they would be the perfect team for me to start a save with this year. They already have a very talented side, and as they're showing in real life at the moment, they are fully capable of gaining promotion to the promised land, the Premier League.

I will be doing monthly updates for this save, showing the fixtures, league table, some of the leading players in terms of goals, assists, match ratings, etc. and my own personal views on each match. I hope you enjoy, and feedback is very welcome!