Pre-Season
After some early probes in the transfer market including a few loan offers for players we reached our first pre-season game; away at Shrewsbury. Although we are the better side I decided to keep using the counter attacking tactic I planned to use in the league just to see how it works in game.
Friendly @ Shrewsbury
I start my potential best eleven for the league opener and it is a very innocuous first half with a grand total of 2 shots and none on target between both sides.
The second half started much the same until Rob Kozluk shoved over Cannoville in the box. He composed himself and slotted home a penalty to put the Shrews ahead. Not a good start to my reign. With this I made a raft of changes to try and get us back in the game. These changes eventually paid off as Danny Webber equalised in the 70th minute from a Michael Tonge cross.
The match finished 1-1 and was, in truth of poor quality with very few shots all round. I hope my tactic performs better against teams who dominate the game more as this is a very worrying first step.
Much of my early scouting efforts are futile as the only players wanting to join my club are either too expensive or of a similar quality to my existing squad. I desperately need a top striker!!!
We did some some success in the loan market as Portugese winger Sarmento joined for the season. He gave us some much needed pace and flair out wide so I can now put Tonge into the middle where he can hopefully have more influence.
Friendly @ Notts County
Our second pre-season game saw a tweak to both the line up and the formation. I brought my two CM’s further up field, moved Tonge into the middle and put Sarmento onto the wing. Hopefully this yields better results.
We start off much more positive with slightly more possession and even win a penalty on 10 minutes! Our chance to have a lead for the first time in this save and Rob Hulse skies it! Balls.
We slowly take control of the match more and more with County not even having a shot but we go in at half time 0-0. I decide to bring Stead and Webber on for the second half as Hulse and Shelton have been poor.
For the second game in a row one of our substitutes made the difference as Stead headed in from a Sarmento cross on 50 minutes. We kept control of the game after this so I subbed out the rest of my starting line up to give the reserves some game time. Unfortunately this back fired on 77 minutes as County got back on level terms thanks to a Jason Lee goal from a corner.
Despite being back on top for the remainder of the game we actually managed to lose 2-1 thanks to a Leigertwood own goal as he diverted a cross into his own net in a very disappointing collapse.
Despite losing 2-1 I feel we played better than our previous outing as we dominated the game much more and conceded 2 goals from only one shot on target, typical. I hope our luck improves along with out defensive concentration.
Friendly @ Nottingham Forest
Our toughest challenge to date but I decide to keep an unchanged starting line up from the last game in the hope they can finally put together a match winning performance for the first time.
The first half is of poor quality with few shots from either side as we set up to frustrate the opposition and for the third game in a row we go into half time at 0-0. This pattern remained unchanged in the second half as the game finished 0-0 with no shots on target from either team the entire 90 minutes! I’d like to write a little more about this game as it feels short but practically nothing happened! Thrilling stuff.
Back in the transfer market our attacking options were further bolstered with another loan signing as David Ngog joined us from PSG! Despite only being 17 he is a great pacy striker with better all round stats than Luton Shelton!
Friendly @ Coventry
I throw Ngog straight into the line up but other than this the team remains unchanged in pursuit of our first win at the 4th attempt!
For the first 20 minutes the match passed much the same as our previous games with no shots or chances to speak of until the 18th minute when Kozluk received a straight red for an elbow on Kevin Kyle. We switched to a 4-3-2 in an attempt to carry an attacking threat with ten men but sadly this backfired on 25 minutes as the giant Kevin Kyle converted a low cross to put Coventry ahead. Things went backward from here as Kyle scored twice more to complete a first half hat trick. We were crumbling against a mediocre Championship opposition. This pre season was becoming worrying.
In the second half we managed to stabilise somewhat and played pretty well. This was emphasised as substitute Webber scored in the 70th minute to restore some credibility. Despite a consolation goal the 3-1 scoreline really doesn’t bode well when we come up against better players.
With the team struggling to score in pretty much every game so far I make a few more loan offers for strikers. Firstly I go for Blackburn’s young striker Matt Derbyshire for a season long loan who offers another physical presence if Hulse fails to get going. Secondly I make a far more ambitious offer.
Staggeringly they accept straight away despite him being on the fringe of the first team and he will be my best striker when he signs. Just a matter of having the work permit approved.
Killjoys. Even after an appeal they refuse to budge on this signing so I guess Derbyshire will have to do for now. He has a grand total of ten career Premiership goals in real life I sincerely hope he is more successful in this game.
I also bolster my defensive options with a young German full back with incredible pace and mental abilities that puts him head and shoulders above all of my other options.
With numerous loan signings improving my first team I finally make my first permanent signing of the window. Costing only £850k from Aston Villa he provides me with an experienced LM option as well as the potential to score some long range bangers.
Friendly @ Millwall
With significant signings made of the pitch and my team showing terrible form off it I throw several new faces into the lineup. Webber, Sommeil, Kunert and Berger all start for the first time in an effort to finally get a win.
We start off positively and hit the woodwork twice in the opening ten minutes but cant quite score. Webber looks to be my best attacking option after getting his first start of pre-season and looking lively but despite these positive signs we go in at half time 0-0.
The second half is a familiar tale for pre-season as Millwall score practically straight from kick off as Morgan was totally beaten for pace by Hubertz, he might be another player who loses his spot in the line up for our next game. I decide to make only minor substitutions in the second half to try and build some momentum and, for the first time we show some character. Firstly Berger drilled a shot in from the edge of the box to equalise on 60 minutes before fellow debutante Derbyshire rounded the keeper in the 74th minute to put us ahead, a lead which we hung onto!
It may have taken us five games and it may have been against a League One side but we had a win! At long, long last. If wins were this hard to come by in the league I can’t see this save going well.
In a final effort to bolster my midfield I find out that Luca Modric is still playing in Croatia and has an asking price of £1.2 million! My offer is accepted and so is his contract and yet again I have a potential game changing player within my grasp…..subject to a work permit being approved.
Any potential signings would need to be finished soon as our final pre season game was approaching! Hopefully we could win a second game in a row and build some momentum.
Friendly v Derby
I make no changes to the line up after a generally positive game against Millwall but we have an indifferent first half as we manage 0 shots to Derby’s seven. Despite being hammered we continue the recurring theme in this save and go in at half time 0-0 once again.
The second half was equally poor and the game finished with zero shots on target so we managed to snatch a draw against a Championship side which is some level of achievement i guess?
Pre-season Record
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals A | Goal Diff |
| 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 7 | -2 |
In a word, poor. Only one win and two defeats against lower league teams really doesn’t bode well. I guess our best option is to draw all 38 games 0-0 maybe? I cant see any way we will pick up regular wins unless performances pick up in competitive games. I seriously need some good news.
Well. Perhaps this could be the start of something special. Then again I have no friendly games left to play so they will both be thrown in at the deep end. Despite being a big name Neuer is on a par with Paddy Kenny so I might hold off putting him in the line up immediately but Modric is easily our best midfielder….when he recovers from shin splints that is. At least three weeks isn’t too long!
I replenish my transfer kitty by selling both Craig Short and Christian Nade for a combined £1.5 million which gives me some flexibility when the January transfer window comes round.
Premiership v Arsenal (H)
Real Result: 1-0 Win (Nade)
In reality this was an incredible home win definitely one of the high points of the season. In game this fixture will be our opening league game and we need something similar to the performance that occurred in real life!
I decide to keep the starting eleven from the last game as we have put together some sort of form however my bench is severely hampered by the fact that we are only allowed to name five substitutes!
The half starts off as I expect as Arsenal dominate thanks to a forward line of Henry and Van Persie, attacking talent I can only dream of! Kenny is forced into a good save after only 6 minutes from a corner while we have few chances of our own. This opening spell of dominance is hammered home as Rosicky curled a free kick into the net. This goal did little to change the game as we barely managed to get a touch in Arsenal’s box before the inevitable happened when Rosicky scored yet again from outside the box!
Going into half time 2-0 down wasn’t ideal and we needed to find a way back into the game so I bring Shelton and Quinn on for Webber and Berger. These changes have the desired effect as Jagielka hit the post from a header at a corner! So close to our opening league goal.
We became much more competitive after these changes as Arsenal created very little. The only real negative point came in the 92nd minute as Tonge picked up a second yellow card to get himself sent off.
Far from an ideal result but considering the strength of the opposition not that bad of a performance as Arsenal were limited to just two long range goals. The board were equally pleased even if it was far from a fantastic performance.
League v Fulham (A)
Real Result: 0-1 Loss
With Tonge banned and Modric still injured the only change I make sees Tie go into the centre of midfield. We need a more positive result here as Fulham are likely to be a fellow struggler.
The first half was a very even game with a few half chances for each side. Sommeil even socred a header from a corner but this was disallowed as he shoved Jimmy Bullard. So close to our first lead! With the game still balanced going into the second half, Sheffield United finally got stuck into Fulham. On 65 minutes Quinn whipped a corner in and Webber flicked a header into the net to give us a lead. Riding this momentum we continued to press on. We took advantage of this spell of control as Webber was played through before rolling the ball calmly into the net!
It was a solid team performance capped by Webbers two goals and we were rewarded with our first win of the season! Despite not being our best striker Webber was in great form after being our top scorer in pre-season, hopefully he can carry this on for a while longer yet!
This result signalled the end of August with the league table looking like this. I know there is still a very long way to go but this is a very positive start!
With the transfer window slamming shut without me adding to my squad I think this is a good place to end the second part, thanks again for reading!
StratMan Gaming
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