TNSSO - Comments

December 2025

The Magic 40 Points

EFL Championship

Matchday 21 - Sheffield United (Home)

Disappointed with this one. Sheffield United are a decent side, of that there is no doubt, but they aren't exactly flying and even this win for them only lifts them to 14th in the table. A game I strongly feel we should have won, but never actually looked like doing so.

The FA Cup draw has handed us a difficult tie for the 3rd round. West Ham will visit Fratton Park and we will need to rely on home advantage to give us our best chance of knocking out the Premier League side.

EFL Championship

Matchday 22 - Millwall (Away)

Going into The Den is always a difficult away day and it proved so again here. We held our own and come away with a point, although the game wasn't hugely entertaining for either set of fans as both sides struggled to create any meaningful chances.

The preview of this year's youth intake looks promising. We have every reason to feel excited about a couple of young strikers who may be coming through the ranks and I look forward to March to see who lands in our youth team.

EFL Championship

Matchday 23 - Hull City (Away)

It's another 0-0 draw away from home and another point to take back to Portsmouth with us. A good result I think against a Hull side that came into this game off the back of a 4-0 win against Preston. 

However, we have now gone 3 games without scoring a goal and this is a worrying trend that we need to put an end to before it becomes a major issue.

EFL Championship

Matchday 24 - West Brom (Home)

The whole focus was on scoring goals in this one after 3 matches without finding the back of the net. So I feared the worst when we went 1-0 down against a side sitting 3rd in the table. However, my lads rallied and recovered well and we went on to win the game...a massive result for us under the circumstances of our recent run. We threw everyone behind the ball for the last 5 minutes as we desperately held on to keep all three points.

EFL Championship

Matchday 25 - Charlton (Away)

A piss poor result after such a good one in the last game. No excuses...just not good enough.

EFL Championship

Matchday 26 - Wrexham (Home)

We absolutely got away with one here. We were outclassed for large periods of the game, but still managed to come away with the victory. 

We finish the calendar year on the magic 40 points and relegation fears are now a distant memory. Will we fall off a cliff in 2026 or will we push on for the playoffs, that is the question!

Player of the Month

Regan Poole

We might have been pretty poor in front of goal this month, but we have been relatively strong in defence with 3 clean sheets and only 4 goals conceded in 6 games. At the heart of that defence has been Regan Poole.

In amongst 4 league games in January is an FA Cup tie against Premier League opposition. If anything, that is our lowest priority game as we look to get back on track in the Championship next month after a pretty poor run of form.

November 2025

Two More Big Injuries May Hamper Progress

EFL Championship

Matchday 15 - Southampton (Home)

Our managerless rivals are sent home on their sorry way with zero points and our fans are going to enjoy their Saturday night! Great result and well deserved as we were the better side throughout!

EFL Championship

Matchday 16 - Derby County (Away)

Another solid defensive showing from my lads, although we lacked a little in attack and had to rely on a penalty to take the points home. But it is another 3 points and another big step in the right direction.

EFL Championship

Matchday 17 - Sheffield Wednesday (Away)

I feel a bit conflicted with this result. When you're a team that is predicted to finish in the bottom half, then any point away from home should be seen as a good one. But we are flying high at the moment and Wednesday are in the relegation zone, so it feels more like an opportunity wasted. But it is a point I suppose and that's better than nothing.

Injury; Conor Shaughnessy has been a constant in my starting lineup this season and the centre back has played OK without being spectacular, maintaining an average rating of 6.81 in the Championship. However, I'll now be without him for a couple of months as he recovers from a fractured ankle, so someone else will get a chance to step up.

I had actually been favouring Shaughnessy over Regan Poole who does have a regular starter status with us, so it's probably not the worst swap out to be honest and I have every confidence that Poole will come in and do a decent job.

EFL Championship

Matchday 18 - Ipswich Town (Home)

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The Tractor Boys are living up to their pre season billing as title favourites and do sit at the top of the table. They proved too strong for us here as well, although we did give them a game and weren't run over like a lot of people might have expected us to be. We might even have knicked a draw at the end as well, if Luke Le Roux's effort had just snuck 2 inches to the left with just a couple of minutes to go...it was a big miss from not far out!

Injury; The injury list is getting longer as we lost Florian Bianchini to a calf strain in the Ipswich game and he will be out for a couple of months. 

Now he will be a massive miss for us as the on loan winger has 11 goal contributions in 15 appearances in the Championship so far this season!

Now here's some news I didn't expect. Ryan Reynolds has sold up at Wrexham and that will be the end of a Disney Plus series I have been really enjoying watching!

EFL Championship

Matchday 19 - Coventry City (Home)​

This felt like our hardest fought win of the season so far. Coventry played some wonderful stuff at times, but we really worked hard to compete and take the points. Joe Bursik between the sticks had one of them incredible goalkeeper days where he pulled off some awesome saves, including a penalty as well!

EFL Championship

Matchday 20 - West Brom (Away)

Another game where we performed well against a top side and are unlucky to come away with nothing. West Brom are 2nd in the table so there is no shame in going to The Hawthorns and losing.

If you'd have given me top 7 after 20 games at the start of the season, I'd have bitten your hand off and never believed it possible, but that's exactly where we find ourselves. Let's hope we can keep it up for the rest of the season.

Player of the Month

Joe Bursik

Joe has come into the side between the sticks and actually proved himself to be a suitable replacement for our number 1 keeper, Schmid. He bags the player of the month award for a couple of stand out performances this month and a clean sheet against Derby as well.

December looks like a busy month and we will start to play teams for the 2nd time this season. West Brom will be a big challenge, having just lost to them at their place, but home advantage might give us a chance to gain some revenge. Away days at Millwall and Hull will be tricky places to go, but I feel we can end the year with a win over Wrexham at home if we're at our best.

October 2025

Recovering From A Mini Poor Run Of Form

Some information from the data analysis team makes for some positive reading after the opening 10 games of the Championship season, as we seem to be performing above average in all areas right now.

EFL Championship

Matchday 11 - Oxford United (Away)

Our first draw of the season comes at Oxford, in a tightly contested game where a point a piece was probably a fair result. Segecic got our goal off the bench, a nice strike from just inside the 18 yard box.

EFL Championship

Matchday 12 - QPR (Home)

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Rangers have been the most free scoring team in the league so far this season and we could only hold them at bay for 53 minutes before they put the ball in the back of our net too. Once they had one, they seemed to settle into a rhythym and we couldn't keep them off us after that and fall to defeat and that's now three games without a win.

A big managerial appointment in the Championship as Leicester bring in Steven Gerrard to take over the reigns. The Foxes haven't made the start to their season that they would have hoped after being relegated from the top flight last year and sit 18th as Stevie G takes over, with just 4 wins from 12 games.

EFL Championship

Matchday 13 - Watford (Home)

We got back to winning ways with a good old fashioned 1-0 win. A solid defensive display means that Swifty's left footed strike from close range was enough to secure the points and put an end to a bad run. 

Stevie G's first game in charge at Leicester resulted in a win too. Could this be a start of a resurgence for them?

EFL Championship

Matchday 14 - Blackburn Rovers (Away)

A 10/10 performance from Colby Bishop inspired a fightback from 2-0 down for us to go on and absolutely batter Rovers in front of their own fans. It was a deserved result as well as we were well in control of this game from the off, which seems weird to say when we went 2-0 down. Even after they went a couple in front, I still felt like it was there for the taking for us as we had dominated from the off...all we needed to do was take our chances and we did just that!

When you are overachieving in your role, there is only one thing that is better than that and that's seeing your main rivals in turmoil. Southampton were one of the pre season favourites to win this division this year, but instead find themselves emroiled in the relegation battle at present in 19th position. And ultimately, that has cost Will Still his job.

Meanwhile, we retain our position in the top 10 at the end of October, after 14 games. I maybe should be looking at the teams above us right now, but I am still focused on the realism of looking behind us right now at how far the chasing pack might be in looking to avoid relegation.

Player of the Month

Andre Dozzell​

Andre played a pivotal role in both of our wins this month, but especially against Blackburn where he scored and grabbed two assists.

We kick off November with a Derby against our fiercest rivals in what will be a much busier month. There is a good opportunity to have a good start to the month as all three of our first opponents sit in the current bottom 5!

September 2025

Getting To Grips With It

EFL Championship

Matchday 5 - Preston (Home)

It's back to back victories and our first home win of the season as well. Callum Lang comes in up top for the injured Colby Bishop and makes the most of his opportunity by bagging a brace. 

EFL Championship

Matchday 6 - Bristol City (Home)​

After two wins, we taste defeat once again at the hands of Bristol City. What a spectacle of attacking football from both sides though and neither set of fans can go home saying they weren't entertained. Unfortunately for us, we were on the wrong end of the result today, but Bristol City had only conceded 3 goals in their opening 5 games before this so it shows we really did give their usually watertight defence a nightmare. I'll put this one down as unlucky.

EFL Championship

Matchday 7 - Stoke City (Away)​

Stoke haven't made the greatest start to their season, sitting 22nd at kick off here. And we heaped on the pressure as we inflict another defeat on them, keeping our second clean sheet of the season in the process. A solid display from my lads and Florian Bianchini nets the winner with a powerful effort which takes a deflection on it's way in from 16 yards out.

EFL Championship

Matchday 8 - Leicester City (Home)

Without a doubt our best result of the season so far as we beat recently relegated Leicester at Fratton Park. Won't lie that I was a bit nervous when they levelled things up at 2-2 after we went 2-0 up, but we rallied well, composed ourselves and actually dominated the rest of the game. Florian Bianchini was awesome down the right wing and Leicester couldn't deal with him as he helped himself to a goal and an assist.

Injury; Just as we were starting to build some momentum and get ourselves into a good run of form, tragedy has struck! Number 1 keeper, Nicolas Schmid will now miss majority of the season after fracturing his leg in training! 

I have two keepers to choose from, with very little between them on ability. The comparison below shows that either one of them can make a claim for the spot in the first team and I'll likely give both an opportunity to show what they can do and work from there. One thing is for sure though, neither are anywhere near as good as Schmid.

EFL Championship

Matchday 9 - Charlton (Home)​

It was actually against the run of play when we took the lead through a John Swift penalty after Connor Ogilvie had been brought down in the box as he dribbled in from the left back position. Swifty then turned provider as he assisted Josh Murphy for his strike which hit the back of the net from 10 yards out. The game was then over at that point as Charlton never looked like getting back into it and the points were well and truly sealed when Callum Lang scored again to continue justifying his position up front as he keeps Colby Bishop out of the side.

Next up was a trip to Wales, with some Hollywood stars in attendance.

EFL Championship

Matchday 10 - Wrexham (Away)​

Things didn't go to plan as on loan Chelsea striker Marc Guiu scored an 85th minute winner for Wrexham. Might have been a bit of poor in game management from me as I went attacking in the last 10 minutes to try to steal the points for ourselves, when maybe I should have been happy to settle for a draw.

It's been a great month for us and 4 victories have seen us rise into the top half of the table. I feel settled into the job now and the lads are really adapting to my tactics and way of playing football. Hopefully it hasn't just been a one off run of good form and we can maintain this level going forward.

Player of the Month

Callum Lang​

Lang wasn't my first choice striker at the start of the season, but Colby Bishop picked up a minor injury and Callum stepped in and hasn't looked back. He has maintained an average rating of 7.47 over his last 5 matches, bagging 3 goals and 3 assists as well. I do love it when a player steps in and makes a place in the team their very own, when you had initially overlooked them.

Our schedule is not so 'full on' next month with just 4 matches to play. The Oxford and Blackburn games are certainly ones we should be targeting for wins, with them sides sitting 14th and bottom of the table at present. QPR will likely present the toughest challenge as they have started their season very well, currently occupying 5th place in the table and are the top scorers in the division with 24 goals in 10 games.

August 2025
Still Finding Our Feet With A Tough Start

Our final pre season friendly ended in an unexpected but very welcome 4-0 win over Belgian side Gent. A fluid counter attack style worked a treat and we took our chances well, whilst limiting them to zero clear cut chances even though they did manage 21 shots at our goal in the game. I expected us to be under the kosh for large periods which we were, but we played the counter attacking football down a tee.

Here is that tactic which I'll be looking to employ in the early stages of our Championship campaign and see how it goes. Each player does have their own individual player roles and instructions depending on their strengths and preferred positions.

EFL Championship
Matchday 1 - Norwich (Away)

Going away to Norwich wasn't the easiest assignment on the opening day of the season, but conceding 4 times in any game is never good. We weren't terrible here and can take some positives from our attacking play, but we must defend better if we are going to compete this season.

After just a single league game, we were thrust straight into cup action and our first round tie in the Carabao Cup would pit us against our local rivals, Southampton.

The fixture is widely recognised as the South Coast Derby, contested between the two most successful sides on the south coast of England. Despite both clubs having a history of more than 125 years a piece, the Derby has actually been contested less than 80 times due to the clubs playing majority of their seasons in different divisions. This year, with this cup tie, it will be played at least 3 times more! It hasn't always been as fierce a rivalry as it is today, as recently as the 1970's one team's fans would often go to watch the other one when their team was away from home. However, by the late 70's Southampton were a team on the rise and Portsmouth were heavily in decline and a likely birth of rivalry came from a level of changing fortunes, bragging and bitterness. Football hooliganism was also on the rise around the same time and most likely had a contributing factor to the bitter rivalry that exists today. 

One perfect recent example of how deep the rivalry now runs, was proven in 2015 when Emirates airline became sponsors of the Portsmouth Spinnaker Tower and wanted to paint it in their famous red and white colours. Because these are the colours of Southampton, more than 10,000 Portsmouth residents signed a petition against it and in the end, the local council came to an agreement with Emirates that they would actually paint the tower in blue and gold...football fan power demonstrated to it's fullest right there.

Carabao Cup
First Round - Southampton (Home)

I think I might need to look at my game management. We went into a 2-0 lead in this one on 64 minutes and couldn't see the game out, allowing Southampton to turn the game on it's head and we end up losing. I have no excuses for letting this one slip...it's a difficult press conference after the game where I can only apologise to the fans and ask them to bare with me in these early stages of my career.

New Signing; Gonzalo Escalante
Fee; Free transfer

Time for a new signing and a bit of experience into the club. Gonzalo Escalante is an Argentinian central midfielder who has played for the likes of Eibar, Lazio and Cadiz all at La Liga and Serie A level, so he has to be seen as a good signing for us at the age of 32, with a good couple of years left in him yet.

EFL Championship
Matchday 2 - Birmingham City (Away)

Well this is not good. We knew Birmingham would be a tough away day but to concede 6 goals is simply unacceptable. Again, we showed promise in our attacking play but it doesn't matter how many we score if we are going to let goals in for fun. I may just need to go back to the tactic drawing board as what I am working with is clearly not working.

EFL Championship
Matchday 3 - Swansea City (Home)

A change of tactic to a 4-1-2-3 saw an improved defensive performance as we only concede 2 here. However, that seemed to come at the expense of some attacking flair and a single goal from a direct free kick from Swifty is all we could manage and I continue to struggle to find a balance between defence and attack.

EFL Championship
Matchday 4 - Middlesbrough (Away)

Get in there...first win under my management and first points on the board for the season. I have to admit I didn't expect to get much away at Boro based on how the first few games of the season had gone, but we were brilliant here! The better side definitely won the game and we dominated majority of the match and should have probably won by a wider margin! Swifty popped up with the winner in injury time with a close range half volley.

Despite that win over Boro, we do finish the opening month of the season still in the relegation zone. However, it was certainly a much needed result to hopefully give us a platform to build upon in September.

Player of the Month
Yang Min-Hyeak

Yang has started the campaign in excellent form, bagging 4 assists in his 4 appearances this month. His creativity is going to continue to be key for us moving forward I'm sure!

As we look ahead to next month, there's another 6 league games to play as the relentless Championship fixture list hits us square in the face. We do have four of those games at home in front of our home fans and will need to make the most of that advantage as we attempt to climb up the table.

July 2025

After settling in to my role and meeting my squad, it was time to meet with the board and go over the objectives that were discussed at my interview. There is no doubt that the initial expectation is to establish ourselves as a Championship side and not get drawn into any relegation battles, whilst working within the wage budget to ensure the financial stability of the club.

The club have loftier ambitions than just remaining in the second tier though and the 5 year goal is to get Portsmouth back challenging at the top of this division and pushing for the playoffs to eventually get ourselves back in the Prem.

Player Sold; Then I got down to work and addressed the first issue of having too many keepers in the squad right away. Jordan Archer is the first player to leave the club under my watch, as the 32 year old keeper moves to St Johnstone in a deal worth £130k.

I then managed to add a little bit more into the transfer budget by adjusting the bonuses for the year. It's not realistic to think we will go far in any of the cup competitions so I'm not too worried about incentivising the players for these. I therefore dropped the bonus level and added £300k to the transfer kitty.

We played 5 friendlies in the month of July, with one to play still in August before the season kicks off (against Gent). The pre season was decent enough with some comfortable wins over some lower opposition before we got a hiding from Wolves. However, I'm not too concerned about that as I rotated and rested most of the first team for the first half and after I made 8 changes at half time, we were much better in the second half - probably the better side and drew it 0-0.

The Squad

Goalkeepers

I'm not quite sure why the first team squad has 5 keepers in it, but I will certainly be looking to trim this by 1 or 2. Austrian, Nicolas Schmid, is head and shoulders above the rest and will clearly be the number 1 between the sticks for us this season. My only concern is that he doesn't have much in the way of competition for his spot in the team and should he pick up an injury, we might be in a spot of bother.

Defenders

For a club predicting to struggle in the bottom half of the table this season, our defence actually doesn't look too bad. We have good numbers across the back line and what looks like decent cover for each position as well. Josh Knight is the main man at the heart of the defence and his form this season could be imperative to any success we might have.

Meanwhile, right back Terry Devlin is a player I'll be looking to work with and develop. At just 21 years old, he is still likely to start his fair share of games and is one of the highest rated potential players at the club, so we will look to nurture that and bring out the best in the youngster.

Defensive Midfielders & Midfielders

Loads and loads of options here and a couple of our best players too. I certainly won't be able to complain about a lack of depth in the team this season and we should have all the cover we need for injuries or suspensions throughout the year. John Swift is a player that has played 353 professional games throughout his career with majority of them being at Championship level with West Brom and Reading, so he is someone I should really be looking to build the team around.

Also, Josh Murphy, twin brother of Newcastle's Jacob, will be one of our main threats down either wing and I'll be looking to him to both create and score goals.

Attacking Midfielders & Strikers

OK this is where I might need to do some work. We do have plenty of players that can attack from out wide or play up front, but the quality if severely lacking and it is hard to see a 20 goal a season man here. Conor Chaplin, on loan from Ipswich is a fantastic player and probably the best in our whole squad, but he can't be relied upon to do everything himself...but I will be utilizing him to make use of his key strengths and work other players off him.

Colby Bishop is the main striker at the moment, but needs some competition as I am not sure he is good enough to put the ball in the back of the net often enough for us. He only managed 11 goals in this division last year.

Unfortunately, I don't have much in the way of transfer budget to make any major improvements to my squad right away. I'll either need to shift some players to raise funds or look to the loan market.

No I was sacked in October, sitting 19th! Hopefully lessons learned and I'll do better on the South coast.

Play Up Pompey

Portsmouth Football Club are a professional football team based on the south coast of England in Portsmouth, Hampshire. They currently compete in the English Football League Championship, the second tier of English football.

The club play their home games at Fratton Park, with a capacity of just shy of 21,000 supporters. Sharing their nickname, Pompey, with the local Naval Base in Portsmouth, the club were formed in 1898 and have played in blue and white since 1912 when they adopted their famous colours.

Portsmouth's early years began in the localised Southern and Western leagues, before being elected into the English Football League in 1920 as part of the newly formed Third Division. Two early promotions followed in 1924 and 1927 which saw the side rise to the First Division, becoming the first club south of London to do so.

Portsmouth's first major trophy came in 1939 when they won the FA Cup, having previously finished runners up twice in England's most prestigious domestic cup competition. They actually held that trophy for 7 years as normal football was suspended due to World War II. No club has ever held the trophy for such a long period and it is likely such a circumstance will ever occur again.

Once the war was over and football resumed in England, Portsmouth established themselves as one of the country's best sides, winning back to back First Division titles in 1948/49 and 1949/50. However, 10 years later, the club's fortunes changed drastically as they suffered relegations in 1959 and 1961 to find themselves back in the third tier. They didn't recover immediately either and in 1978 were relegated once again down to the Fourth Division.

Then 1980's were big for Portsmouth as they looked to rebuild and join England's elite clubs once again. They achieved the feat, winning three promotions in the decade (1980, 1983 and 1987) and were once again back in the top tier. But it was short lived as they were immediately relegated to the Second Division again, where they would remain for 15 years until 2003. During that time, the club also suffered their first round of financial troubles, when Terry Venables was famously able to buy a 51 percent stake in the club for just £1 in 1997, which he sold back just a year later.

During this time, the English football pyramid had also been restructured and the Second Division had effectively become the First Division (but still the second tier) with the birth of the English Premier League in 1992. It was in 2002/23 that Pompey were promoted to the Premier League for the first team and started to establish themselves as a modern day elite club, capped off by winning the 2008 FA Cup, only the second time they have ever won the trophy. During their Premier League reign, they were managed twice by Harry Redknapp who geared the club to a 9th placed finish in 2006/07 and 8th in 2007/08 after making some marquee signings that included Nwankwo Kanu, Arjan De Zeeuw, Sol Campbell, Glen Johnson, Milan Baros, Jermaine Defoe, David James and Niko Kranjcar.

That was about as good as it got as Portsmouth were then plagued by financial troubles once again and after being forced to sell off some of their best players and Harry Redknapp leaving the club for a second time, they were relegated in 2009/10 (although they did still make the FA Cup final again that year, losing to Chelsea).

And it wasn't the end of it either, as the club were forced into administration yet again in 2012, for the second time in 2 years. The club's troubles off the pitch were transferred onto it and they were relegated twice in two seasons and found themselves labouring in League 2 in 2013/14, virtually starting from scratch in a bid to rebuild the club and climb back up the pyramid. But it wasn't as easy as some might have been expecting, with 4 long seasons spent in the 4th tier before finally winning the league in 2016/17. League One proved even more of a struggle to conquer, taking a total of 7 seasons to finally win it and get back to the Championship.

The aim last season was simply to stay in the Championship and it was achieved with a 16th placed finish and now I take over as the new manager to see if I can lead them back to the promised land of the Premier League once again!

August 2025
First Season Underway

Our first game of the season will see us go away to Reading. They're predicted to finish in the top half of the table this year, with the bookies having them at 15/1 to win the title, so they will provide a stern test. All eyes will be on me, from the perspective of the Bolton faithful, who are expecting a draw from the game at least. Here's where the pressure begins.

And after a relatively short pre season with my players, here's the tactic we'll be lining up with for the first game in League One. It's focused on a balanced style of play, building through the lines with a narrow style, but with some wide men who can cut inside and make an impact. Playing with a DM allows additional cover for the defence whilst giving the two more advanced central midfielders to get forward and indluence our attacking play. The idea is to play a relatively fluid, short passing game in order to keep possession and dominate games, as we will likely be the favourites for a lot of our matches this year. In defence, we will fall back into more of a flat 4-1-4-1, with the idea to remain a solid unit that are tough to break down.

League One
Matchday 1 - Reading (Away)

Well it's fair to say that was the worst possible start to the season. Things were going well through the first 45 minutes as we carried a 1-0 lead into the break, through Josh Randall's strike from just inside the box. However, a second half meltdown saw us concede 4 times and we kick off our season with a defeat that I can only hope won't be too damaging. Not the way I wanted to introduce myself to the Bolton fans.

The draw for the EFL Trophy is made and we will play Manchester City's youngsters, Oldham and Rotherham. It's a competition I plan to put very limited effort into, unless we reach the latter stages and then try to win it. But this is a competition the fans care very little about and one that will likely be used to rotate and squad and give minutes to some fringe players.

Injury; Unfortunately, we get some bad news as our goalscorer from the opening game of the season will now miss about 3 months of action after tearing his hamstring in training.

League One
Matchday 2 - Blackpool (Home)

Tactical changes (from last game); Changed attacking focus to down both flanks. Added stop crosses to combat Blackpool's threat from wide areas. Added press much more often as some of their players have low composure on the ball. Changed to positive mentality.

Much, much better result as we win our first home game of the season. Blackpool looked lively in the opening 10 minutes, but once we had settled down, we went on to dominate most periods of the game. Captain, Eoin Toal gave us the lead with a headed effort from a corner, before Marcus Forss bagged a brace to kill off the game.

EFL Cup
First Round - Mansfield Town (Home)

Tactical changes (from last game); Switched back to balanced mentality.

What a turnaround that was in injury time. 1-0 down going into the 90th minute and we ended up winning and progress in the cup! With about 10 minutes remaining, we went for it as I sacrificed a DM for an AM and we changed to ultra attacking with a much more direct style of play as we looked to get back in the game. Xavier Simons got us back on level terms with a great strike from just outside the box, before McAtee pounced on a rebound to score the winner just a minute later.

League One
Matchday 3 - Rotherham United (Away)

Tactical changes (from last game); Changed to mid block.

We grab our first away win of the season at Rotherham, but only by a narrow margin against a side that had drawn their opening 2 games. Right back, Jordi Osei-Tutu was the creative genius of the day as he set up both our goals with his overlapping runs and crosses into the box wreaking havoc.

League One
Matchday 4 - Port Vale (Home)

Tactical changes (from last game); Switched back to positive mentality. Added invite crosses as Port Vale don't offer much from wide areas.

This was a game where we only have ourselves to blame for losing. We simply didn't take our chances and Vale caught us a couple of times on the break scoring twice against the run of play. Poor result at home this one!

EFL Cup
Round 2 - Sheffield Wednesday (Home)

Tactical changes (from last game);Reverted back to balanced mentality. Added hit early crosses as I feel we have missed lots of opportunities to get the ball in the box over the last few games. Changed to a low block.

Well I did take the opportunity here to rotate the squad and was happy to concede that we would likely go out of the competition to higher league opposition. However, the manner of the defeat is gutting and I didn't expect to have our arses handed to us.

League One
Matchday 5 - Burton Albion (Away)

Tactical changes (from last game); Totally new 4-2-3-1 formation and tactics with new team instructions.

The new tactic brought about a good performance away at Burton and a big 3 points that were much needed to end the month.

And here is it. This took me a good hour of solid work, going through every position and every single player has their own individual instructions as well. Hopefully the Burton result is a sign of things to come.

Without being spectacular in the first month of the season, we do still retain a spot in the top 7 in the table, so it's not all doom and gloom. Hopefully, we can push on from here to get ourselves in contention closer to the top of the table over the next few games.

Player of the Month

Amario Cozier-Duberry has looked our main threat going forward in every game and 3 goals and 3 assists in his opening 7 games of the season proves he is the man to fear for our opposition.

July 2025
Settling In

My new home is one that has changed it's name several times over the past few years, from the Reebok to the Macron and as it is now, the Toughsheet Stadium after the club signed a record breaking sponsorship deal with the building products manufacturer in 2023. It's one of the more impressive stadiums down at League One level with a capacity of more than 28,000!

We have the foundations firmly in place to rebuild this club back to a Premier League outfit, with solid training and youth development facilities and I'll be looking to bring some talented youngsters through the Eddie Davies Academy throughout my time at the club. After all, the fans love nothing more than one of their own!

The board are on the same wavelength as me too, as they also want me to focus on utilising the academy. They also want me to operate shrewdly in the transfer market, selling players for a profit and breaking even year on year...I suppose it makes sense they would want us to be sensible on the financial front after the administration a few years back.

In terms of my targets for this season, it's all about getting that promotion and reaching the playoffs is the minimum they will expect from our League One campaign. Just being competitive in the cups will suffice with no major expectations for a cup run...it's all about the league this year!

Financially, the club looks OK at the moment with more than £3 million in the bank and working within our wage budget too. There is a little debt tied to the club, but nothing too huge to be worried about and it must be manageable as the board have given me £350k to spend in the transfer market this season, although based on their vision they will be looking for me to bring in as much as I spend, so I'll need to be cautious.

I did, however, make the decision to reduce the domestic cup bonuses for the squad this season down to low. The board are clearly not prioritising a cup run and I don't believe we should be either. The league is the priority and this decision gave us the opportunity to put another £250k in the transfer kitty for the season ahead.

We managed to fit in 4 friendlies before the season kicks off. It started with an underwhelming draw against Chorley, although the scoreline doesn't tell the whole story. We were 2-0 up and dominating until a sending off saw us reduced to 10 men and Chorley worked hard to get themselves back level. We then recorded two big wins against lesser opposition, before our most impressive result earning a draw against a much better side in Monaco. Not only did we hold our own against the Ligue 1 side, we were the better team creating 26 chances in the match and probably deserved to win.

Pre-season did give me a good chance to have a look at all those players in my squad that are not currently injured. It is clear already that on loan striker (from Middlesbrough), Marcus Forss will be key to our success this year. He is by far the best striker we have at the club and his goals could be the different between us making the playoffs or not.

Another player that will need to perform is centre back George Johnston. At the heart of my defence, he is the main man and the 26 year old will need to organise our back line week in, week out, if we are going to defend our goal effectively. Recording an average rating over the first 3 games of pre-season of 7.48, he has really impressed me thus far. Not only that, he is my vice captain so I need to work hard to keep him on side.

And that started by giving him a new 4 year deal at the club.

Taking a look at the whole squad, we have some minor gaps to plug, but overall I am happy going into the season. We are strong enough to challenge, if we can get things right tactically and keep the morale up. Oh, and obviously keep our better players at the club, which might not necessarily be easy as we do have some clubs sniffing around the likes of Eoin Toal, Chris Forino and George Johnston (until I tied him down to a new deal).

So it's official….I'm the new boss at Bolton Wanderers Football Club and the plan is to get them back to the heights of the English Premier League. But that is just the first goal - from there I want to add trophies to the cabinet and cement the club as one of the top teams in the country, bringing some memorable European nights to The Toughsheet Community Stadium for the Trotters fans that have been put through their fair amount of turmoil over the recent years.

The club were at their peak in the early 2000s, playing in the top tier of English football from 2001 through to 2012, recording some impressive top 8 finishes for four seasons in a row from 2003. It was a period that even saw Bolton qualify for the UEFA cup for the first time in their history, where they managed to reach the last 32 before being eliminated by Marseille.

During that period, the team included some seriously talented players including Fernando Hierro, Ivan Campo, Kevin Nolan and Jay Jay Okocha.

Sam Allardyce was the manager that guided them through this successful spell, but he left the club at the end of the 2006/07 season, citing a lack of ambition from the club as his reason for leaving (after he later joined Newcastle). It was the start of the demise for the North West side, as they found themselves as a bottom half side, battling relegation for the next few years, before finally facing the drop in the 2011/12 season after finishing 18th in the table. 

There would be no immediate return to the top tier and instead spent six seasons across the Championship and League One which included 1 relegation and promotion. Things went from bad to worse as Bolton then suffered back to back relegations in 2019 and 2020, alongside a financial crisis that saw The Trotters go into administration.

New owners came in and Wanderers immediately bounced back to the 3rd tier after finishing 3rd in League Two during the 2020/21 season. Fans were optimistic that this was the start of their beloved side climbing back up the leagues, but it hasn't quite worked out that way. Instead, Bolton have now spent 4 straight seasons stuck in League One and just can't seem to get over the line to get themselves back into the Championship…..Enter Chris Ball for a new era!

Chapter 1
Squad & Tactic

Having a look over my squad, the best player in it is Robin Knoche. The centre back is one of my most experienced players and has played all of his prior career in the top tier with both Wolfsburg and Union Berlin. He will be at the heart of my defence and likely get the captain's armband as well.

Sitting just in front of him in central midfield will be 24 year old Florian Flick. The ex Schalke player gives me an excellent work rate in the middle there along with fantastic determination and teamwork - in fact, his mental attributes all round are some of the best in the whole team.

One of my key threats down the wings will be attacking full back, Oliver Vlladsen, who has been capped at under 21 level for Denmark. He hasn't progressed from there into the senior team, but he still has plenty of time on his side to keep improving and will be my first choice at right back this season.

We've got a decent full back on the other side too in the form of Brazilian Danilo Soares, again one of my more experienced players at 32 years old. Great to have some South American flair in the team.

We're not the strongest between the sticks, but my number one goalkeeper will be Christian Mathenia. I could definitely improve this position though and if the right player becomes available, I won't hesitate to move for a new keeper.

Options up front are not the greatest either, with my best striker being one that isn't even one of ours. Janni Serra is here on loan from AGF (a side in Denmark) and doesn't look good enough to be relied upon to score the goals to get us promoted.

So we've had a look at some of my first team options, and now it's time to look at the most promising youngster at the club. 17 year old, Winners Osawe looks like he's got a very bright future ahead of him and I'll be keeping a very close eye on the prospect over the coming seasons. I mean, with a name like Winners surely he is destined to be a star right!

With what I have at my disposal, this is the tactic I've set up with. I feel we aren't strong in attack so it's better to bolster with numbers in the final third and try to overload the opposition rather than rely on just 2-3 players to work their magic. The wing backs will both have an ultra attacking mentality and do most of their best work in the opposition half as well, whilst we look to keep the ball out wide both in attack and defence, having condfidence that my two centre backs and two defensive midfielders can deal with anything come into the central areas of the pitch. We will play counter attacking, high pressing gegenpress style of football, with our players running at the opposition with a narrow mentality.

There won't be any specific pressure from the fans for me to play a certain way, but I do favour an attacking style. What the fans do want to see is me bringing through talent from the youth system and that will be something I look to appease.

The five year plan as far as the board are concerned is to get the club back into the top tier. I'm hoping I can do it sooner than that, so let's get started!

Der Club, Dier Legende, Dur Ruhmreiche - 1.FC Nurnberg

I was looking for a new challenge on FM24 and one that will possibly my last as it will hopefully see me through to FM26 (assuming we are going to see that later this year). I decided that I wanted to take on one of the most challenging divisions in the form of the 2.Bundesliga. Why do I call it one of the most challenging - well because no less than 11 of the 18 teams competing in it have actually won the top tier of German football, the Bundesliga! Between those clubs they hold an impressive 39 Bundesliga titles and the most decorated of them all is FC Nurnberg (with 9), which is where I end up.

Nurnberg's last Bundesliga win was long, long ago though back in 1968 and in the last 10 years, they've actually only graced the top division with their presence for one single season. It's fair to say they're certainly not the team of old and need a revival.

In terms of my first season in charge, promotion is an outside chance, but not expected by media and fans alike. However, there is no reason that a title challenge couldn't be mounted with the right tactics and maybe a couple of signings.

The club has impressive enough facilities (as do so many of the lower league teams in Germany), boasting a 50,000 capacity stadium along with good training and youth facilities.

And when I turn my attention to the squad I inherit, it looks like an exciting one full of youthful talent that might just develop into something special in the coming years, assuming I can nurture it right. It's great to see that there's plenty of home grown German talent in there too.

I will have a little money to spend to make immediate improvements as well, with the club having a healthy bank balance.

So let's get cracking and take a look at the squad and set up some form of starting tactic in my next post.

22nd June 2029

La Liga
Matchday 34

A very good win away from home, even if Athletic are massively underachieving this season (only 2 points above the relegation places now).

La Liga

Matchday 35

Atletico lead the division and find themseles just 3 games from lifting the title, so this was an extremely good draw for us and these kind of results give us plenty of promise for next season!

La Liga

Matchday 36

A late goal ensures victory over Sporting Gijon as Toure completes another brace under my management. He is definitely cementing his place in my plans for next season!

La Liga

Matchday 37

Our penultimate game of the season results in a draw. A disappointing one based on the fact we took the lead so late on, only for a lapse in concentration to allow Vigo to go right up the other end and equalize!

La Liga

Matchday 38

Nice to finish off the season with a win!

La Liga

League Table

Coming in and winning 6 of my 11 league games in charge saw us rise and finish in the top half of the table. It's a good platform to build on next year as we will look to make the push into the European qualification places. Real Madrid pipped both Barcelona and Atletico to the title in the end, with only 5 points seperating the top 3.

INTERNATIONAL

Friendly

Back on the International scene, we would warm up for our Nations League Semi Final with a win over Uruguay...a game which saw 19 year old Sil Moumane score on his debut!

INTERNATIONAL

UEFA Nations League

Semi Final

Even before Havertz was sent off, we were well on top here and didn't deserve to be behind. With the extra man and extra time, we got the job done in the end and progress to the final.

INTERNATIONAL

UEFA Nations League

Final

Sil Moumane is quickly establishing himself as the long term replacement for Memphis Depay as he bags a brace to lead us to the Nations League trophy and my first trophy in international football.

20th April 2029

La Liga
Matchday 29

Girona are battling hard against relegation so this would present us with an opportunity to bag my first win as Almeria boss and we grasped that opportunity with both hands! El Bilal Toure had an amazing day at the office as he scored 4 and had another 2 ruled out by VAR!

La Liga

Matchday 30

Complete domination from us from start to finish as we limited Zaragoza to just 1 shot in the whole game. Unfortunately, we couldn't take our own chances though and have to settle for a draw.

INTERNATIONAL

FIFA World Cup Qualifying Group

Matchday 1

An easy win to kick off our qualifying campaign against a Kosovo side that were never expected to present any sort of challenge to us. With 30 shots on their goal, there is an argument to say we should have scored more.

INTERNATIONAL

FIFA World Cup Qualifying Group

Matchday 2

A hard fought victory out in Bulgaria as a Memphis Depay double ensures 2 wins from 2!

La Liga

Matchday 31

What a result! A fantastic win against the title challengers and it wasn't even a fluke and we were in fact good value for it!

My first youth intake at Almeria is probably the most promising one I've seen in my career to date with a few players that could develop into stars for the club!

15 year old centre back, Rafael Olmedo could definitely find himself at the heart of the defence in future years!

And Ivan Marti could become one of the best attacking midfielders to have ever come through the ranks at the club!

But possibly the best of the lot is 16 year old striker, Ivan. Although he may turn out better as an inverted winger.

La Liga

Matchday 32

We followed up our win over Barcelona with another fantastic result over another of the top teams in the country! We are looking good for a strong finish to the season.

La Liga

Matchday 33

To beat Barca, Sevilla and Real Madrid all in a row was a bit much to ask for, but there is no shame in this defeat especially when you consider we played most of the game with 10 men!

La Liga

League Table

A decent start to life at Almeria has seen me lift the club into the top half of the table with just 5 games of the season remaining. Unfortunately, we are too far behind to make a push for a European qualifying spot, but I'm still keen for us to finish as strong as possible as we build for next season!

11th March 2029

In the Nations League, we have been drawn against Germany with the game to be played in the Summer of 2029. The other semi final will see England face off against Poland.

Meanwhile, in the world of club football, it seems Erik ten Hag is simply following in my footsteps as he takes over as the new manager at Udinese after following me at Antwerp as well!

Back on the International stage, it was time for another draw...this time for the World Cup 2030 qualifying groups. With no other sides in our group inside the top 40 in the world rankings, we should cruise through this!

As the end of the year 2028 passes, the best 11 for the year is announced for the Dutch national team.

With International taking a back seat all the way around until March, I had a few months to turn my attention entirely to finding a new club job. I was missing club football and after nearly 8 months away from it, I was willing to lower my expectations to find a new job and wasn't necessarily just looking at Europe's elite. I had applied for the Newcastle position, but wasn't even seen fit to interview, whilst Liverpool fans laughed in my face when I declared my interest in a potential job there (which didn't end up coming up anyway). Then the Almeria board approached me without me needing to apply and I was enjoying feeling the love again. After attending the meeting, I was offered and have accepted a 2 year contract with the Spanish club.

Over the past few seasons, my new club have cemented their place as a regular fixture in the top tier in Spain and last season finished as high as 7th to qualify for European football!

But this year, things aren't quite so rosy and the club sit 14th in La Liga and although well clear of the relegation places, it's a disappointing step backwards from last season, which has ultimately cost Marcelo Gallardo his job after 4 years in charge.

I join with the club in a dire run of form, winning just one of their last sixteen games in all competitions and crashing out of the Copa del Rey and Europa League in the process.

There is no denying that the squad is the weakest I've managed since my days at Antwerp, but I am up for the challenge and feel that this is a club with potential that I can definitely steer back in the right direction.

My best player is in fact a Belgian. Winger, Largie Ramazani, has an abundance of pace and combined with some decent dribbling skills and flair, he will be an exciting watch and a player I'll be looking to channel a large proportion of our attacking play through!

And the player that can be feeding the through balls Ramazani, is central midfield playmaker Lucas Robertone. One of the more experienced players in the squad, but for sure one of the most talented he will be key to any success I have here in the short term!

It's the goalkeeper situation that is a real concern though, with my assistant manager rating my best keeper as only a 2 star current ability.

I do at least have £29 million available to me to improve the squad and a goalie will definitely be at the top of the agenda. Although the current window is closed, I can spend this money on players to join us at the end of the campaign ready for next year.

La Liga
Matchday 28

Not the start I wanted but there were a few positives to take from the game and I'm confident we will only improve.​

12th November 2028

My first matchday lineup as Holland boss, as I look to implement the 4-1-2-3 formation that has been so successful for me at club level...

INTERNATIONAL

UEFA Nations League A

Group 2 - Matchday 1

We didn't start off all that fluently and when Ukraine took the lead through Mudryk's free kick, it was deserved. However, we regained our composure and started to get ourselves together and in the end record a good win and a rather dominant performance overall.

INTERNATIONAL

UEFA Nations League A

Group 2 - Matchday 2

A solid performance and another win to make it 2 from 2 under my management. Naci Unuvar came into the lineup and my ex Ajax player bagged a brace as he made a bid for a more regular place in the starting lineup!

INTERNATIONAL

UEFA Nations League A

Group Table

Top of the group with a perfect record, but the hardest games are still to come against Spain!

INTERNATIONAL

UEFA Nations League A

Group 2 - Matchday 3

A month had gone by before we were back into International duty and this was a tightly contested game with another top nation, but in the end it was our two subs who came off the bench to bag the goals to get us the victory!

Whilst in Spain, I took the opportunity to interview for the vacant Real Betis job, but unfortunately wasn't successful as they hire Zinedine Zidane as their new manager. I made a few demands in my interview, which they weren't prepared to meet, so for now I remain jobless in the club market.

INTERNATIONAL

UEFA Nations League A

Group 2 - Matchday 4

Memphis Depay's 81st international goal in his 151st international appearances lands the points for us in the dying minutes of the game, after he had given us the lead earliear on! Fair play to Ukraine who gave us a game here and worked hard to eventually come away with nothing.

INTERNATIONAL

UEFA Nations League A

Group Table

With two games to go, we are firmly in control of the group now and a single point will be enough to see us through as group winners.

Four wins from my opening four games as Holland boss has seen us rise in the world rankings to 5th place.

INTERNATIONAL

UEFA Nations League A

Group 2 - Matchday 5

Time flies by without any domestic football to play and it was soon November and time for our last two games of the Nations League Group. We only needed a point from the Spain game, but we took all three with Memphis Depay again proving that he is the main man up front despite being 34 years old now.

INTERNATIONAL

UEFA Nations League A

Group 2 - Matchday 6

For a long time, it looked like my 100% record as Holland boss was going to come to an end. I'd rotated 8 players in the starting lineup and it seemed to effect some of our fluency, but in the end, I brought some of the big guns on who turned the game on it's head in the last 10 minutes.

INTERNATIONAL

UEFA Nations League A

Group Table

So we top the group with 6 wins from 6 and it's been an impressive start to life in International management for me. Wales are relegated from the group without a win.

Our continued success in the Nations League has seen us rise another place in the world rankings!

31st August 2028

After 52 games in charge at Ajax, I have decided to resign from my position. I found the Dutch league really easy last season and kind of got the impression that whatever squad I put out in domestic football, I would have won every game, so am looking for another challenge. Plus, after winning the treble in my first season here, I'm not really sure what there is left for me in Holland. As I leave my role, my record is an exceptional one!

Ajax wasted no time hiring my replacement and if I thought I moved around a lot, Jose Luis Morales has now managed a different side for each of the last 5 seasons!

After quitting my role at Ajax, it would seem that I am in demand on the international stage and have no less than 6 offers of national team management!!

I decided to stick with the Dutch link and take over as the new boss of the Netherlands national side! Can I bring success to a nation that has notoriously underachieved on the world stage for far too long now!

And that underachievement was continued as recently as this Summer's European Championships where Austria knocked the Dutch out of the competition in the second round!

There is no doubt that the squad is very strong and there really is no excuse for not going further!

We have world class talents in the side and if I can just get them to fulfil their potential, we definitely have the quality to go on and win something before some of these players hang up their boots!

I am still on the lookout for a new club role too, but there is nothing currently available that takes my fancy. Sevilla are a big club, but the job has no appeal to me, so I'll bide my time and wait for a bigger club to come up (probably once the seasons have started).

Back on the international stage, as I start to build my owm backroom team, I turn to my old club Antwerp to reunite with assistant manager, Andries Ulderink! Hopefully, we can bring the same level of success to international football as we enjoyed together in the domestic game!

My first squad is announced for the upcoming Nations League games against Ukraine and Wales and the biggest surprise is that I have dropped Nathan Ake who many expected me to be loyal to after our time at Ajax together last season!

On the domestic front, despite being a serial winner throughout my career so far, apparently I still haven't grown my reputation enough to bag the Barcelona job that I applied for!

So for now, we will just focus on our duties as Holland boss, with our first two games coming up!

END OF SEASON 2027/28 REVIEW

A fantastic league campaign saw us finish unbeaten, scoring nearly 100 goals in the process. League seasons don't come much better than this!

It was success in both the domestic cup competitions as well, lifting both the TOTO KNVB Beker and the Dutch Supercup.

A decent showing in the Champions League saw us make the Quarter Final of the competition and there is no shame in going out to the mighty Real Madrid.

Overall Squad Stats

The New Arrivals

The Best 11

Club Awards

League/National Awards

No real changes over the course of the past season to the fanbase, although we did gain nearly 2 million new social media followers, taking the club to just shy of the 20 million mark.

The Commercials

The Finances

The budgets for the Summer aren't huge and we might have to move players on to raise funds to improve the squad for next year.

Thanks mate. Appreciate that!

Thanks mate. Changes are ahead…watch this space!

14th May 2028

The Champions League Quarter Final draw pits us against the most successful side in the competition's history and we will do well to get through!

Eredivisie

Matchday 28

We were far from our best, but recovered from going a goal down to turn the game on it's head in the 2nd half and get the win.

This is REALLY disappointing. Considering I have joined a club with one of the best academies in the world, this is an absolutely shocking intake of youth players!!

In terms of the best wonderkids in the world, only one of our players makes the list at number 11 and that is new January signing, David Fernandez Vinitzky.

TOTO KNVB Beker

Semi Final

Vitesse posed absolutely no problem to us whatsoever here and they will probably be disappointed to get to the semi final of the competition, to only have 1 shot in the game! On the other hand, we were at our very best as we cruise into the final of the domestic cup competition!

Champions League

Quarter Final First Leg

They certainly don't come any harder than Real Madrid away!! So I'm absolutely delighted to come away on level terms and be in with a fair chance of progressing to the semis, especially as we had to play the last half hour with 10 men as well!

Eredivisie

Matchday 29

A whole host of changes to the starting lineup again back in the league and the players that come in make light work of Venlo!

Champions League

Quarter Final Second Leg

I know Real Madrid are the elite, but I can't help but feel disappointed we couldn't get through here. Maybe I was setting my standards too high, but I really felt like we could do it at home after getting a draw at the Bernabeau. But it just wasn't to be!

We only had a few days to recover from the disappointment of going out of the Champions League, before the final of the TOTO KNVB Beker as we attempted to win a domestic treble. AZ would be our opponents for this one and we would come into the game as favourites to lift the trophy.

Cup Final Lineups...

TOTO KNVB Beker

Final

Going behind twice wasn't exactly part of the script here, but twice we fought back to level things up and the winner came in the 92nd minute, courtesy of substitute Emile Smith-Rowe who tapped in at the back post from Sesko's low cross across the box! Dutch treble...completed it mate!

Another trophy added to my collection and this was the one that propelled me into the top 10 English managers of all time on the hall of fame!

Eredivisie

Matchdays 30-34

With the league and cup already won, it was just a case of playing out the rest of the season and trying to keep our focus despite none of the games really meaning anything to us. I rotated the squad throughout each of the last games just to give everyone some playing time and I'm pleased that everyone continued to chip in and do their bit to see out the season without defeat.

Eredivisie

League Table

When I came to Ajax last Summer, I will fully admit I expected to win the league. However, I didn't expect to win it with an undefeated season!! A fantastic achievement!

14th March 2028

TOTO KNVB Beker
Third Round

N.E.C are sitting 3rd in the Eredivisie so on paper, this would be one of the hardest draws we could get in the cup. However, we made a mockery of their league position as we absolutely battered them to progress to the next round.

Eredivisie

Matchday 22

One of those fixtures you look for in Holland at the start of the season and certainly one of our toughest we will face domestically. However, we come out on top and bag a very good 3 points!

TOTO KNVB Beker

Quarter Final

Considering we had 34 shots in this game to their 7, it's disappointing we needed extra time to get the job done. But the most important thing is that we did indeed get the job done and move into the semi finals of the cup!

Our next game would be my 300th in management! Hopefully we would mark the occasion with a win!

Eredivisie

Matchday 23

We mark my special occasion with a win, even if we weren't at our best.

Eredivisie

Matchday 24

For a moment there, around the hour mark, we lost our concentration a little and allowed Utrecht back into the game. However, we eventually regained our composure and saw the game out in the end for another win.

The draw for the Champions League last 16 pits us against Newcastle. There are some really big ties here with most games looking like they could go either way! I have a little history with Newcastle after my Udinese side knocked them out of the Europa League in the semi final last season on our way to winning the competition.

Eredivisie

Matchday 25

ADO had taken us to extra time in the cup a few weeks ago, but we had dominated that match and I expected a much wider result this time round back in the league and the lads duly delivered. Solid performance, with the only blemish being Jack Grealish's red card just a couple of minutes after coming off the bench!

Our next game would be a top of the table clash as we faced 2nd placed Heerenveen. However, with the gap between the two sides being a massive 21 points, there was no doubting we would be hot favourites to win the game.

Eredivisie

Matchday 26

We justified our favouritism with a win over our nearest rivals and it puts us in a strong position to now wrap up the league title within the next couple of games!

Champions League

Round of 16 First Leg

It's advantage Newcastle after the first leg, but there is only 1 goal in it and I fully expect us to perform better at home. We're not out of this yet!

Eredivisie

Matchday 27

With the second leg against Newcastle just days away, I rotated every single position in the starting lineup here! With all those changes, we had to settle for a draw.

Despite only drawing the game, that point was enough for us to secure the title with 7 games still to play!! It's also the 10th trophy of my managerial career!!

Eredivisie

League Table

With the title now sealed, it just remains to see if we can go unbeaten in the league this season!

Champions League

Round of 16 Second Leg

An excellent turnaround from the first leg defeat and for the second season in a row, one of my sides knocks Newcastle out of European competition.

1st February 2028

Despite having left Udinese 6 months ago, there was an award for me that came out of the blue as I pick up the Serie A Manager of the Year 

As the January transfer window opened, the first thing I did was recall our wonderkid, Christiaan De Waal. He has been at Genk for the first half of the season and has 2 goals, 6 assists and 4 man of the match award in Belgium this year...those sort of performances encouraged me to give him a shot for us!

Transfer News:

 Then came my first signing of the window as I bolster the central midfield area even more, as Greek international Sotiris Alexandropoulos joins the club from Braga for a fee of £20 million! He is a quick, hard working centre mid who can link the play between defence and attack, playing any of the 3 centre mid roles that I like to use in my formation.

Transfer News:

 The first departure of the window sees striker Almoez Ali leave the club for Everton in a deal worth £800k. He has barely featured for me this year and wanted a move so I wasn't going to stand in his way.

As we return to league action after the Winter break, the fixture list has dealt us back to back games against Almere City in the Eredivisie.

Eredivisie

Matchdays 18 & 19

The first game was actually quite tight! The second game was somewhat ridiculous!!!

Champions League - Group Phase

Matchday 7

The winning goal might have come very late on but it was absolutely deserved after we had created 28 chances at the Atletico goal before finally putting the ball in the back of the net to seal the points.

It was a win that seals our safe passage through to the last 16 with a game spare in the group stage.

Eredivisie

Matchday 20

Normal service resumed back in the Eredivisie as we cruise to a 2-0 win over AZ. Pleased to have beaten them after they held us to a draw on the opening day of the season.

Champions League - Group Phase

Matchday 8

A blockbuster game for both sets of the fans with plenty of great attacking football on display. It was Chelsea that come out on top on this occasion but away from home, we can take plenty away from this.

Champions League

Group Phase

So that's the end of the league stage of the competition and we qualify in 3rd place after a strong display at this stage. Hopefully we will bag ourselves a favourable draw in the last 16 although there are plenty of 'massive' sides going through to the knockout stage who could end up being our opponents.

Eredivisie

Matchday 21

Christian De Waal turned in his best performance yet since returning from his loan spell in Belgium this month. He was awesome here with a goal and two assists!

Transfer News:

 On deadline day, I've managed to bring a wonderkid to the club in the form of 18 year old left back, David Fernandez Vinitzky. He looks like he will develop into a really good full back and only cost us £6.5 million. To aid with his development, I have sent him back to San Lorenzo for the rest of the season on loan (who we bought him from).

Transfer News: 

As I continue to build for the future, another youngster comes in. Serbian midfielder, Goran Nikolic, had a minimum fee release clause of just £6.25 million at Red Star and I was more than happy to pay that, which has proven to be the bargain of the century as he is immediately worth nearly £80 million upon signing for us! This kid could have a very, very exciting future in the game!

Transfer News:

 My final piece of business in this window was the loan signing of Bayern Munich's young centre back Gil Hesselbach who comes in to provide essential cover between now and the end of the campaign.

Eredivisie

League Table

So with our squad now finalised, it's time to turn our attentions to winning whatever we can and we will be hot favourites for the league as we have a 15 point lead and have only conceded 4 goals in 21 games all season! I don't ever recall having a better defensive record on any version of FM!

31st December 2027

As we check in on both of my previous clubs, Udinese are doing OK in Serie A but don't seem to have kicked on from my success at the club last year. Meanwhile, Antwerp relinquished their league title last season to Genk, but have started well this season and lead the way as they look to get it back!

Eredivisie

Matchday 11

Focus back on my current side and this would be one of our supposed toughest games of the season as we faced one of the other 'big' teams in Holland for the first time under my management. There is a rivalry there and I'm glad to have got the better of it in my first encounter with Feyenoord.

Eredivisie

Matchday 12

PSV are another of the sides that are supposed to be setting us some sort of challenge. Based on the evidence of this game, they are no threat whatsoever!

Champions League - Group Phase

Matchday 5

I was expecting a bit more from Rangers on their home turf if I'm honest. Always felt like we'd get the win, but thought we would have to work much harder than we did to get it.

Eredivisie

Matchday 13

We struggled to break Cambuur down here, until our English due of Jack Grealish and Emile Smith Rowe came off the bench to combine for the goal that gets us the 3 points.

Eredivisie

Matchday 14

Our biggest win of the season so far as we blow Utrecht away!

Champions League - Group Phase

Matchday 6

A match I fully expected us to win every bit as comfortably as we did! It was only ever going to be a case of how many we'd score here!

That win moved us to the top of the group phase and guarantees a place in the playoff round no matter what. However, from here, we have to feel disappointed if we don't finish in the top 8, but it would be a real statement if we could remain top of the tree.

Eredivisie

Matchday 15

Back in domestic action, I rotated my team pretty heavily, but we still managed to overcome 7th placed Roda without too much trouble.

TOTO KNVB Beker

Second Round

My first experience of the Dutch Cup resulted in a victory as we knock Groningen out of the competition thanks to a Smith Rowe double.

Eredivisie

Matchday 16

We suffer the rare occurence of conceding a goal here, but it really doesn't matter when you bang in 4! We are in senational form right now that's for sure!

I mean as far as the form book goes, it doesn't get much better than 17 straight wins in all competitions, scoring 60 goals and conceding just 4!!

Eredivisie

Matchday 17

Well we didn't make that easy for ourselves, but a win is a win and extends our run of straight victories to 18!

Eredivisie

League Table

As we finish off the calendar year and reach the half way stage of the season, we remain unbeaten in the league and have extended our lead at the top of the table to 7 points with a game in hand.

3rd November 2027

Eredivisie
Matchday 4

A nice double for Moukoko on his debut for the club and one that earns us another win!

Champions League - Group Phase

Matchday 1

We missed two clear cut chances in this game, so we only really have ourselves to blame for not taking anything from it! Dortmund were the better side overall though, so I guess we can't have major complaints.

Eredivisie

Matchday 5

The 26 degree heat seemed to effect the work rate of both sides here with neither looking all that great, as we played out a 1-1 draw.

Eredivisie

Matchday 6

N.E.C had won all five of their opening games of the season prior to this, but we quickly brought them right back down to earth with a big fat thump!

Champions League - Group Phase

Matchday 2

This was a must win match for us and we did win it with ease. Our Swiss opponents were never in the game to be honest and are really going to struggle to get through the league stage of this competition!

Eredivisie

Matchday 7

A solid enough win back in the league as well. Great finish from Emile Smith Rowe for the first goal as he cuts in from the left before curling into the far corner with his right foot.

Injury: 

Unfortunately, we did lose Moukoko for up to 7 weeks in that last game which is a shame as he has started so promisingly with us, scoring 6 in his opening 4 league games.

Eredivisie

Matchday 8

Three quickfire goals in four second half minutes ensured another win. Another impressive defensive display saw us get our 7th clean sheet in 8 league games this season!

Champions League - Group Phase

Matchday 3

Excellent all round and a big win over Marseille! My English duo of Grealish and Smith Rowe were sensational throughout, with Grealish earning a 10/10 for his performance.

Eredivisie

Matchday 9

Entirely dominant! Five goals from multiple different goalscorers and we are very much in our groove right now!

Eredivisie

Matchday 10

VVV couldn't deal with us here and we easily could have had another 5 or 6 here, but 3 will do and the job gets done again!

Eredivisie

League Table

Ten games into the season and we remain undefeated, having opened up a 5 point lead at the top of the division as well. Possibly the most impressive thing though, is the fact we have only conceded a single goal!!

Champions League - Group Phase

Matchday 4

Great to see us transfer our excellent domestic form into Europe against one of the better teams we will face in the league phase of the competition. Benjamin Sesko is coming good and starting to show our fans why I paid the big bucks to bring him here.

Champions League - Group Phase

League Table

At the half way stage of the group phase, we are currently looking good! With our next two games being against Rangers and PAOK, we have to feel like they are both winnable and should cement our place in that top 8!

30th August 2027

Transfer News: The one position that desperately needed addressing in my new squad was that of the goalkeeper. So where better to go for my new number 1 than my old club! I paid £15.5 million to bring Elia Caprile to Udinese from Brentford and he has now cost me an extra million at £16.5 million to get him to follow me to Ajax.

Transfer News: My second signing is a young Brazilian that I had my eye on at Udinese. Thiago Melo had a minimum release clause of £12.25 million which we met to bring him here from Santos. He's good enough to act as a squad player right away, but should only improve over the coming years into a very fine central midfielder.

Johann Cruijff Schaal

Final

My first game in charge at my new club results in a trophy as we win the Dutch Supercup. Great performance for my first game in charge and it looks like it won't take my players too long to come round to my tactics and style.

Transfer News: 

One player I didn't deem good enough for us is Stanis Muzambo so I put him up for sale and managed to bag £9.5 million from Cercle Brugge for him.

Eredivisie

Matchday 1

Not the ideal start to the league campaign I wanted, but we didn't lose so it's not all bad. Must be taking our chances better though as we dominated this!

Transfer News:

 Ansgar Knauff was a player I didn't see getting regular football for me. He's a decent enough player for sure, but he is an out and out winger and I don't play that type of role. So when Marseille were willing to stump up £33 million for him, I happily let him go.

My first home game was up next...without a doubt the most impressive home I've had in my career so far!

Eredivisie

Matchday 2

We marked the occasion of my first home game with a good solid victory!

Transfer News:

 I needed another right back and my wing back roles have become so important to me over the years, so I didn't want to compromise on any quality. Which is why I forked out £31 million to sign Malo Gusto from Chelsea.

Transfer News:

 The other thing I felt we were missing is a world class striker, but not anymore as I paid £32 million to rectify that situation. Benjamin Sesko has been doing well in Germany for Leipzig scoring a goal every 2 games for them and I expect him to thrive even more than that for us! There's no denying the Dutch league will be easier for him and he should be able to hit the target regularly enough in Europe too.

The Champions League fixtures are out and we have a mixed bag overall, but there are some very tough games in here for us! Gutted I didn't get a game against Udinese if I'm honest - Antwerp didn't make it to the league phase as they were beaten in the playoff round.

Speaking of Udinese, the man who took over my role there is Rogerio Ceni, who left his position at Valencia to take the job.

Transfer News:

 Another departure from the club as Francisco Conceicao leaves for Strasbourg in a deal worth £4.4 million. Again, I just think we have much better options down the wings.

Eredivisie

Matchday 3

A dominating performance as we created more than 20 chances at the Willem goal, but we were again less than convincing in front of it. I didn't have new striker, Sesko, available to me as he is on his way back from a major injury (broken leg), but can't wait to see him out there as I think he will snap up plenty of these chances we create.

Transfer News: 

One final addition to the side on transfer deadline day as left back, Matteo Ruggeri joins from Lazio in a deal worth £13 million. He boosts the numbers and options in the squad and is a solid enough addition for a relatively cheap fee.

Transfer News:

 Well I thought it was going to be the last addition until I noticed that Dortmund had Youssoufa Moukoko up for loan and I just couldn't resist bringing him in for the season!

4th August 2027

We released 15 players this Summer but none that are really notable. Mostly youngsters who were never going to get near the first team.

So let's move on to my first three signings of the window...an experienced head, a wonderkid and an old friend!

Transfer News:

 The first is the experienced head as 28 year old Italian striker, Andrea Pinamonti signs from Sassuolo for a fee of £12 million. He scored 22 league goals for Sassuolo last season and I've brought him in to challenge Sergio Camello for his place up front.

Transfer News:

 Next the wonderkid. Serge Ndo looks like an extremely exciting prospect and meeting his £6.25 million minimum fee release clause was an absolute steal for a player that could become worth 10 times that in the next few years!

Transfer News:

 Finally, the old friend that I am reunited with is Arthur Vermeeren who was a first team regular for me at Antwerp! Always liked the deep lying playmaker and as he gets older, he is getting better and better! He cost me £31.5 million (meeting his minimum fee release clause) and I'm confident he will prove worth every single penny!

Arthur Vermeeren wasn't the only big departure from my old club during this window either. Gaston Avila has also left them to join Bayern Munich in a deal worth £51 million!

With the arrival of Arthur Vermeeren, it doesn't leave much room for Charlie Patino and I have allowed him to go out on loan at Monza for the season. They will pick up all of his wages plus £25k per month for the privilege.

And then something unexpected happened. I was approached by Ajax to interview for their vacant managerial role...an offer I took up! After consultations around staff, they have now presented me with a job offer...a job offer that I am going to accept!

So as I go into my 6th season in professional football management, I am going into my 3rd job as the new manager of the Dutch giants!!

The reasons for the move...well when you compare the stature of the two clubs, Ajax are a much bigger football club valued at nearly £1 billion (compared to Udinese at under £700 million). They have similar elite facilities at both senior and youth levels and a stadium that is nearly 3 times the size of that of Udinese. Basically, I feel like the potential is higher here overall!

They were also willing to back me considerably in the transfer market with nearly £75 million made available to improve the squad whilst also adding another £400k per week to the wage budget as well!

The squad has some exceptional individuals in it and for the first time in my career I will manage players with valuations of more than £100 million!! The squad overall will need building on to make us competitive both domestically and in Europe but this is a quality starting block and I have the budgets available to pack out the team a bit more.

Possibly the best player in the team is a product of the Arsenal academy in Emile Smith Rowe! He will be a focal point of our attacking game and will be important to me for sure!

At the heart of the defence, we have Dutch international Nathan Ake who made the move back to Holland at the start of last season for just shy of £40 million. He's 32 now so one of the experienced heads of the team and will be one of my first names on the teamsheet.

Another ex Manchester City player that is here (but also in his 30s now) is Jack Grealish! He's come via Barcelona where he played 73 league games, but again it's a player I saw in the team that I wanted to manage and had a factor in my decision to come here (always been a bit of a fanboy of him)!

Domestically, I will be fully expected to continue the club's recent success by winning the Eredivisie for the 4th straight season and 7th time in 8 years.

Ajax haven't been quite as dominant in the domestic cup competition, but a double was completed last season and I'll be expected to mount a serious challenge to retain the trophy again.

Where my real challenge will come is in the Champions League. In the past 5 seasons, Ajax haven't got any further than the last 16 and a couple of real poor showings in the league phase has been bitterly disappointing for the fans and board who expect better. I've been brought here to deliver after leading both of my previous teams to Europa League finals.

Looking forward to the next chapter!!!

END OF SEASON 2026/27 REVIEW

An impressive league campaign which saw us finish 4 places higher than last season and close the gap between us and the champions, AC Milan. We will look to close that even further next season and maybe even mount a title challenge of our own.

It was a shame not to go further in the Coppa Italia, but losing to Juventus on penalties can be forgiven.

The major success of the season though, came in Europa as we lift the Europa League trophy! I cement my place in Udinese history as the first manager to ever lead them to a European cup win!

Overall Squad Stats

The New Arrivals

The Best 11

Club Awards

League Awards

We seem to have lost some of the core fan base this season in favour of some more casuals, probably brought on by our European success attracting more fans to the club. That probably also contributes to our social media following which has grown by over half a million!!

With our success, the board are becoming a bit more ambitious and next season they expect Champions League qualification via the league again, before going on to challenge for the title after that!

The Commercials

The Finances

The budgets are impressive this Summer and I'll have a whopping £55 million to spend, whilst the wage budget has had a healthy boost of more than £400k per week as well!

Our stature in the game improved greatly this season too with that Europa League win as well. It moved us up nearly 70 places in the European rankings!