Brick Tamland - Comments

Pre-Season Update

Hugely busy pre season transfer window for us, we've strengthened massively and we've not actually offloaded any players, We've got lots of depth and a lot more quality in the team now which should hopefully stand us in good stead. I'm looking to play some attractive attacking football, however, it remains to be seen how it goes throughout the season, if it goes drastically bad I do have a contingency plan tactic to play in less of an attractive way and grind out some ugly points.









As you can see, there's been a massive amount of transfer activity. I'm over the moon with the signings of Irwin, Konchesky and Kettings, they're going to bring in some much-needed quality into the team and in Konchesky's case a wealth of experience, I think he'll do fantastically well at this level, he's got experience of playing in the Premier League with Liverpool so if he can pass on some of that experience to the others then he'll turn out to be a fantastic acquisition. It wasn't the worst pre-season in the world, we played some really big clubs to bring in a bit more money into the coffers for us and I think that will put us in good stead for in the future. I was really surprised with our performances against West Ham and West Brom particularly seeing the gulf in class.

Possibly looking to get one or two more real quality faces in and then the squad is complete. We kick off the season against Telford United, I'm hoping to hit the ground running.

A Journey from the bottom to stardom - A Journeyman Career

I have decided to make a long-term save alongside my Southampton save which ultimately will become a side save now and this is a save where I have a mission to start from the lower leagues and work my way up as manager to the big leagues with the ultimate goal of becoming the biggest and most successful manager in the footballing world. I'm not looking to take Southport from the bottom division to the very top, they are just merely a team I'm starting off my managerial career with and as success goes on and job offers roll in I'll be looking to leave should the right opportunity arise.

So here goes nothing, let's see where the future takes us. I'm really excited to see where the future takes us.





As you can see, the finances aren't exactly amazing and with us being predicted to finish 15th we're going to have to work hard to match my expectations to reach the Playoff Spots as a minimum as that's where I want to be as I'm ideally looking to get a promotion, tough and hard ask but if we work hard with the finances and bring in the right free players then we might just stand a chance. I'm going to have to strengthen the team quite considerably so I may have to rely upon non-contract players to add the depth we need.

Our expectations with the board which I've agreed is a Playoff spot, First round of the FA Cup and the third round of the build base trophy.

Next update will be end of pre season and transfers.

January to End Of Season








WHAT AN UNBELIEVABLE SEASON. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would be able to win the title in the first season, unbelievable achievement by the lads. Everyone played their part in getting the title won, the solid foundations in the goalkeeper and defence were absolutely key in my eyes though as our strikers weren't exactly the most prolific as the top goalscorers were Ings and Redmond on 13 goals each. Now I know we didn't exactly do well in the cups, however, I'd trade that every day of the week for a premier league title and getting Southampton in the champions league for possibly the first ever time maybe, nevermind, win our first ever top division title as a club.

We made some solid additions in the winter transfer window, Nasri has turned out to be a great squad player addition on a free and gave us more creativity alongside Oliver who played well for us. I signed Loftus Cheek as a third option in case both players ever got injured. Grealish has been fantastic since he signed and has proved to be a solid addition. I signed Cutrone as he's usually a player what has done well for me in the past and has bags of potential, he's had a bit of a baron run this season but I fully expect him to be firing on all cylinders next season, I can see him being integral for us. I'm pleased with the signings of Markovic and Palacios for the future, however, I believe if I can get the work permit for Palacios, he can turn out to be a first teamer for us next season.


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Rulli was absolutely tremendous for us all season, he was so solid and saved us tons of points over the course of the season, I really could run out of superlatives for the guy. He managed 17 clean sheets in the league which is brilliant for a debut season and for a club of our stature. I really believe he was one of the key reasons of our success.

Our defence across the board was fantastic, our four starting options were unbelievable. Clyne, Mere, Hoedt and Bertrand formed an absolute unbelievably strong and reliable defence, there is no doubt better defenders out there quality wise and it might be something we'll have to look into going into the champions league but i'm sure they'll feature a lot next season regardless.

Midfield was solid throughout the season, Lemina really pulled the strings throughout the season despite his few disciplinary issues with a couple of straght reds but I'll take that considering how well he played. Oliver was a good performer for us, really gave us the creativity we needed against the teams who were more defensively minded. Tonali was an absolute rock in defensive midfield when I had to play one against the likes of the bigger teams which posed more attacking threat such as your Man Utd's, City etc.

Redmond had a great season really from the wing but there is no doubt better players out there where I can improve on that position but he is a solid option for us and a player who played really well. Gabbiadini played solid throughout the season for us as well. Ings was our stand-out striker as such but he didn't exactly set the world alight with his goals, we may need to look at getting someone prolific in next season if we're going to have a good cup run in the Champions League next season and do as well as we have done this season in the upcoming premier league season.

*Updates will still be still slightly slower, I have moved house, however, there are internet problems and there's an engineer coming out on Friday to fix them so from Friday I should hopefully be back updating much quicker and better as I'm still using mobile data for internet ha.*

December update






Probably the busiest month in the Premier League calendar and to be fair we had a pretty strong month all in told, we, unfortunately, succumb to our first two losses and both to the two Manchester clubs, however, I believe we still give a good showing against both teams and we could've really sneaked a draw in both games if we didn't make a couple of costly mistakes but mistakes happen and they're easily punished against such good opposition.

We managed to get four fantastic wins, the pick of the punch being the 2-0 win over Liverpool in a game which he controlled and dominated from start to finish and they never got a look in but overall wins against Liverpool, Huddersfield, Wolves & Newcastle has put us still in a great position in the league sitting 3rd. I'm really really pleased with where we are sitting in the league at the minute. I was a bit annoyed with the 3-3 draw against Leicester but the boys showed great grit and determination to come back in that game as we was somehow 3-0 down within 20 mins!


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I'm starting to sound like a broken record but Rulli is still performing so well and keeping us around the top of the table. I would be surprised if he isn't named signing of the season at the end of the season, as he has been nothing short of fantastic.

Again Mere & Hoedt have been absolute rocks at the central defence and are establishing a fantastic partnership and one which many clubs will be envious of, they do pick up plenty of cards but we have the players to deputise when the ban does inevitably happen, Nelsson has been an absolute rock when he's had to step in also. Clyne and Bertrand have been absolutely amazing for us as well in the full backs areas, I hope the defence can keep up this form.

Again Hojbjerg, Lemina and Tonali have been running the show in midfield for us and really are controlling the matches against the bigger teams to give us a good chance of giving a good performance and on the odd occasion picking up all three points. Ward-Prowse hasn't featured too much but when he does, he does show a good account of himself when required. Ferri also has been a fantastic rotation option to keep the legs fresh and made some great impacts off the bench.

Again, Redmond has been the pick of the attackers and is playing really well for us, if it wasn't for him in attack we'd be a lot worse off than where we are now. Gabbiadini has been playing well for us but he has picked up a lengthy 5 week injury so that gives Dennis Man to stake a claim for his place and who knows if he does perform it might be hard for Gabbiadini get his place back.

Sergi Enrich has been our stand out striker this month and is starting to stake a claim to take the starting spot off Ings, however, I'm just slightly worried we'd miss out on Ings' unbelievable work rate and pressing, although Sergi Enrich's work rate is great its just not quite good as Ings'. The less to be said about Austin the better really for me, I really hope I can offload him in January and get a decent replacement in if I can and it all works out to plan.

*Updates may be a bit slower until Monday evening as I'm currently in process of a housemove and there is no working internet till Monday so I'm having to use my mobile hotspot*

November update






Again another month we have gone unbeaten, we managed to produce a great result at the Emirates against a very strong Arsenal side where we drew 2-2. We managed to beat our fierce rivals Bournemouth 1-0, would have hoped to win by more goals for goal difference, however, can't complain we got the three points and a clean sheet. We managed to beat Burnley at Turf Moor too, we were winning 3-0 but they showed fantastic character to come back and score two goals, safe to say I was starting to get a little twitch when the second goal went in but we stayed strong and managed to see out the game.



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Rulli is still performing to a decent standard and as long as he continues to do so we've always got a chance of getting a result against anyone we come up against, his consistency has been brilliant and is quickly becoming one of the best goalkeepers in the league.

Defence has been relatively sound despite conceding two goals against Burnley when we were winning comfortably although anyone can have an off day, I do expect to concede against Arsenal as bad as it is to say but when you're coming up against the likes of Aubameyang, Lacazette, Ozil, Mkhitaryan in the same starting XI there's always a big chance you're going to concede. Wesley Hoedt has been somewhat a rock at the back for us, however.

I did play the more defensive formation with the DM against Arsenal and Burnley and it worked a treat, Tonali is turning out to be some player despite his young age, he was pulling all the strings against a super strong Arsenal side and he was causing havoc against Burnley with his fantastic range of passing and eye for choosing the right pass at the right time. Hojbjerg has yet again been impressing throughout the month and is growing and developing brilliantly into the box to box midfield role I'm playing him in. Some transfer news in terms of midfield is that Romeu is off in January after becoming upset with the lack of game time but I can't understand why he could complain as he was atrocious every time I played him; he's off to Chinese outfit Jiangsu Suning for a fee of £10M plus its also 65k a week off the wage bill.

Ings has been our best striker again this month, his work rate is unbelievable and so far thank god he hasn't encountered a lot of injuries surprisingly especially with the amount of game time he has had. Redmond is producing the goods on a regular basis, he's a constant annoyance for the opposition defence, he's forever causing havoc. I hope he can keep up this form as he is proving to be a fantastic asset for our team.

So, so far so good in terms of the league. We remain the only unbeaten team in the league and remain joint top on 29 points with Man Utd & Arsenal, we're already seven points clear of 5th as well which is fantastic, I would never have expected such a strong start and I really hope we can keep it up.

October update




Another unbeaten month in the league, I'm really happy with how well we're doing in the league. We got what I believe is a good draw at home against a very strong Chelsea team, I thought this would be the game where our unbeaten streak would come to an end but we produced a good result against them.

We, unfortunately, drew against Watford, we did play brilliantly, however, a couple of injuries meant that we struggled to play to full potential after just 30mins and we were playing with James Ward-Prowse at RB after injuries to Bertrand in the match and an injury to Targett prior to the match and he ultimately made a mistake which gave away a penalty in the second half but I can't blame him too much as he was playing massively out of position.

A massive result against a very strong Everton side, to say a 5-1 drubbing would be on the cards before the match would've been outrageous. We played unbelievably well and took ourselves to the next level. When we conceded to bring it level it sort of spurred us on to go and go absolutely mental, Ward-Prowse scored a fantastic brace both goals being absolute piledrivers from the edge of the box and Ings had a fantastic game as well, he set the tone with his massively impressive pressing.


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Rulli has been an absolute revelation in goal for us, I think if it wasn't for him we would have conceded a fair few more goals and he's very good at slowing the game down to our pace as well. I think he'll be up there to be in the team of the season in the Premier League if he's able to keep up this sort of form.

Defence again has been absolutely solid, Hoedt & Mere have a fantastic partnership and with Nelsson coming in to give them a rest has been brilliant at central defence, think we could do with one more centre back of their quality meaning we've always got quality options to come in if we have injuries and suspensions, and suspensions being likely as Hoedt and Mere are picking yellows up for fun at the minute. I have got some transfer new in terms of a central defender, Vestegaard handed in a transfer request and I've agreed to sell him on to Burnley for £9.5M, I've also agreed a deal for Cedric to leave in January to Shanghai for £12.5M after he handed in a transfer request so I will have to find a new back-up right back which shouldn't be too hard to find.

In midfield we have plenty of options and I like to keep rotating them in order to keep them all happy if possible, I've been disappointed really in the performances of Romeu, in previous FM's he's been fantastic for me when I've had him but he's just not cutting the mustard for me and could be a player on the move either in January or end of the season so that's one to look out for. Hojbjerg, Lemina and Ferri have been absolutely fantastic for us and I hope they can keep up with this form.

In terms of strikers, Ings has been playing relatively well even if he isn't scoring as much as I'd like, his pressing game is making a massive difference for us. Austin has been absolutely dire so far, if he carries on then there is a strong possibility he'll also be moved on at some point and we'll bring in a different option. Sergio Enrich hasn't played amazing but he's still settling in and does show some good glimpses, I'm sure he'll come good over time. Gabbiadini had a good month and so has Redmond. Transfer news in terms of Elyounoussi is leaving for West Ham in January for the tune of £12.5M plus Add-ons which isn't bad for a player who again handed in a transfer request and hasn't actually featured so far this season. We're developing a decent war chest to make a couple of quality additions hopefully in January.

August & September update




WHAT A START! I'm massively pleased with the start in the league, albeit we haven't played many top oppositions and we've played quite a few teams we should expect a result against, we managed to pick up plenty of good results against them. I was slightly annoyed that we only drew against Newcastle considering the number of chances we had against them. We were lucky to come out of the West Ham game with a draw as we were outplayed all game. I was extremely pleased with the win against Tottenham, we played a slightly more defensive tactic against them due to their attacking threat and it worked wonderfully, limited their chances and we took ours. I was really annoyed with the Boro result as I was hoping we could go on a good cup run in the EFL Cup, however, I suppose that's the penalty for playing a heavily rotated team to save legs.



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Plenty of players are playing up to standard, especially my main choice of goalkeeper and defence. Rulli has been fantastic and is in really good form, I really hope he keeps it up as he'll be a fundamental reason for any success this season if we have any. Clyne has been a revelation, I'm so glad I brought him back, he's in tremendous form as Hoedt & Bertrand have been also. Cedric, Vestergaard and Elyounoussi aren't best pleased with their lack of game time, but I am struggling to find a way for them to get in the team as they just don't fit in.

Cedric can't get a look in at the minute due to the form of Clyne, Vestegaard was horrendous in pre-season playing as a ball playing centre-back which is something we utilise so I can't find a spot for him at the minute. Elyounoussi was useless at Inside Forward as well during pre-season so reluctant to play him until last resort really.

I've been rotating the midfield quite a lot and it's been working as well as it could've been, there really hasn't been any outstanding players in midfield bar Oliver who has been fantastic picking up four goals in the league so far and is our top scorer. Our strikers haven't been brilliant to be honest, Ings has scored a couple but has been frequently playing bad, Enrich's game time has been limited to injury. I've tried Austin off the bench and so far he is abysmal and really isn't deserving a start anytime soon.

Overall really pleased with how this things are going, there could be a couple of improvements but if we keep up this sort of form in the league we should have no problem getting in the Europa League spot.

Pre-Season Update





So as you can see there has been quite a lot of transfer activity throughout this window. I've managed to offload some high wage players who weren't going to feature much such as Davis, Yoshida and Shane Long for decent amounts considering they were transfer listed so it's hard to get what you truly want for them but we managed to get decent amounts. However, the incomings have been brilliant I've added plenty of quality youth, some which are able to make a big impact straight away such as Tonali, Ontiveros, Man, Mere & Nelsson while some such as Morilla, Xadas, Vagnoman, Gronli and Marin are definitely for the future and won't play much part this season if any for us with most of them going on loan already. We've also added some quality experience into the ranks as well in the lines of Enrich, Rulli, Ferri and my favourite signing this summer from Liverpool; Nathaniel Clyne. I saw Clyne got transfer listed and Newcastle put an offer in for him straight away, I knew it would be perfect to bring him back to St Mary's as he's an excellent fullback, he might not be the most attacking but he's definitely one of the most defensively sound fullbacks. I did tried to offload Fraser Foster on a permanent transfer but there was no interested parties so I thought I'd loan him out, he can get first team football and interest a few clubs then sell him next summer.

A fairly solid pre-season across the board really for us, no major upsets bar the Brondby game and plenty of games for the squad to gel and gain the right amount of match fitness to start the season with, we had a couple of injuries during pre-season which has hampered some players fitness but they're all pretty close to full match fitness now though.


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Really, really happy with the balance of the squad and the amount of quality and depth we've already put into the lacklustre squad we inherited at the beginning. I really truly believe this squad can definitely go on to challenge for Europa League spot this season, there may be a couple of changes of players in January but I can't foresee many but let's see how some of the players play throughout the season and go from there. We've got a brilliant mixture of experience and youth in each department of the field really, to be honest. The only real positions where we don't have much youth is upfront and in the goalkeeper area but Rulli is only 26 and could go on for at least a decade before he retires anyway and Ings is only 26 so there's plenty of years left in him as well and he's not even hit his prime years yet!

I am going to update this month by month, however, the first update will be August and September together.

Oh when the Saints... - Southampton FC

I have decided to make a career save with Southampton, Southampton are a club that I've always kept a close eye on even though I'm not an actual supporter of the club (I am actually a big Liverpool fan), I've always been impressed with the club has been run, they've got fantastic facilities and over the years they've generated some amazing talent not to mention unearthing some absolute gems. As a Liverpool fan, I've seen us snap up plenty of the best talent in recent years from Southampton the likes of VVD, Mane, Clyne and Lallana who have turned out to be players of the highest quality for Liverpool.

My strategy is to build some solid foundations from similar techniques by unearthing gems from foreign leagues while also nurturing talent from the fantastic academy just like they did with Lallana and Clyne, the basics are there for us to build on as we've got the facilities and a couple of good youngsters but no one really stands out as such.

I'm looking to play attractive attacking, likely to be tiki-taka style of football but it's trying to find a formation which works best with the team that we build over the pre-season and go with there but that's how I fundamentally want to play but it just depends if we can get the right players in to suit that style as some of the acquisitions Southampton have made in the past couple of years has been questionable as I'm not too sure they are up to the standard where I'd like them to be at for us to push for a Europa League spot in the first season as a minimum.

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In terms of goalkeepers, we've got three decent keepers but no one really stands out as a brilliant keeper, they are all lower team Premier League quality, I feel like it might be best for me to offload one of them and bring in a top quality sweeper keeper who will make a big difference.

Defence isn't the greatest, in my eyes we've only got two central defenders of real quality which are Vestergaard and Hoedt, Yoshida and Bednarek don't look like they'll be good enough for us and could well find themselves on the way out of the club this season whether its the summer or January. We've got two half decent left backs in Bertrand and Targett so they will be sufficient, however, we've only got one decent right back and that is Cedric, so I will need to make an addition there.

Midfield we have got a few decent options, however, I still feel we can improve on the quality what we have in there so there could well be a couple of departures and additions in the midfield. I've always liked Hojbjerg, Ward-Prowse, Romeu and Lemina, however, Davis is getting on a bit and Armstrong isn't really looking like anything fantastic so we do need to strengthen a little bit.

Attackers we've got an abundance of, I classify wingers as attackers as I tend to play with Inside forwards. Redmond and Gabbiadini are great options on the wing but I'm definitely not particularly inspired with Elyounoussi, he really doesn't look like the type of quality we need in order to see us challenge for Europa League spot, he'd be an ideal option for a club like Huddersfield, Fulham or Cardiff etc but not for where we want to take Southampton. Really impressed with Southampton's capture of Danny Ings he's a quality striker who'll bring a lot to our team after that we've got a decent option in Charlie Austin. Shane Long isn't really of the quality I want so he'll likely be a departure and I'll be looking to send Sam Gallagher on loan and then offload him next season as a target man really doesn't feature in our plans at all.

We've got a transfer budget of £44.35M and a wage budget of £2.1M so there is plenty of money for us to improve the squad while adding in the money we're going to bring in from selling players, we should see a good overhaul of the squad.

Brendan Rodgers has resigned from his role as Liverpool Manager due to personal reasons. It is believed that Rodgers has decided to leave his role as Liverpool Manager due to stress related issues and the stress of managing such a demanding club was becoming too much for him. Sources close to Rodgers suggest that he is only going for a break and is fully expected to return to management in a year or two, however, Liverpool board have acted swiftly and appointed unknown English manager Brick Tamland who is a Liverpool fan as their new man to take the hot seat.