Satisfied with a fifth place finish last season, this time round I want to see progress. I want to go one better and break into the top four, an achievement we were just four points from attaining. With a forty million pound budget to rope in new recruits, I am reasonably confident I can make this happen.
Rafael Van Der Vaart's arrival smashes the club transfer record, previously set by Michael Owen, who I forgot to mention left for pastures anew last January. Van Der Vaart looks a fantastic player and that is why I splashed the big bucks to get him. Excellent in both an attacking and creative sense, his role will involve a mixture of both, sitting behind our two front men.
After a lot of interest I then made the decision to offload Jose Enrique. Not our best player, I was surprised at the level of interest he was garnering but being only twenty two, I would wager that his potential had something to do with it. I flogged him to the highest bidder, they being Lyon who came in with a seven and a half million offer. In comes the fantastic Nigerian Taye Taiwo of Marseille for twelve million to replace him. He trumps Enrique by some margin and at only twenty three, is just one year older, giving me hope that his development has not quite hit its peak.
Our other expensive signing of the window is Asamoah Gyan. The striker comes in as adequate cover and gives us a number of options now in attack. Another youngster at just twenty two he is one for the future more so than the present.
Mikael Lustig, Shaun Allan and Francesco Bolzoni make up the rest of our incomings. Lustig is a young Swedish right sided wing back bought in on the cheap to replace the gap in the squad left by the departure of Geremi, who I had not planned to sell. Aston Villa came in with an impressive five million offer though and my hand was forced. Geremi after all had not played much part in my debut season. Shaun Allan is a Scottish prospect I bought in to add to a growing line of talents in our youth team. He comes from Hibs and will start the season in the Under 18's. Last but not least, I am confident we have landed a coup in the signing of Francesco Bolzoni. We were in need of defensive midfield cover in the wake of Nicky Butt's departure and Bolzoni's a player I know well from my attempt at the 'Don Fabio Challenge.' He was one of the Inter's most promising prospects and so I was surprised I was able to lure him away to be honest but I guess he realized he would find playing time easier to come by here at Newcastle under my rule while chances would surely be scare at the quality packed Internazionale.
Shola Ameobi, Alan Smith and Mark Viduka make up the outgoings. They were dead wood I had been just waiting to get rid of. Ameobi to Birmingham for one million, Alan Smith to Villa for two million and Viduka on loan to FC Sochaux for the rest of the season (I couldn't find a buyer, this way I don't have to pay his wages.)
That is our transfer business done and dusted and there remains money to burn still should I wish to adjust the budgets what with our wage bill coming in well under budget. Good stuff. We have strengthened our ranks and this makes Champion's League football a real possibility.
Shout out to One FM for being the first site to link to us. Cheers for that, much appreciated.
Tuesday, 29 January 2008
Monday, 28 January 2008
What Big Sam couldn't do - Part 1
Newcastle United are a club of large ambition. They are not the team they were ten seasons ago however, not at all. The squad is decent with a few particular highlights (Owen, Given, N'Zogbia) but destined for a mid table finish at best. Big Sam, having done a fantastic job on a shoe string budget at Bolton , was sacked for being round out about where I would expect Newcastle to be half way into the season. To be fair to Mike Ashley, Sam was appointed before he came to power. His Newcastle side also lacked the entertainment factor that the fans craved. Something told me I could do better. What if Ashley had gotten rid of Sam from the off and placed the fate of his club in my hands?
Unusually for me I have the resolve to march on despite a stuttering start. We take only a point against Wigan in a 2-2 draw before losing 1-0 to City at our place. A 4-0 victory over Fulham follows and suddenly I am a good deal more optimistic about our season and my abilities. A 2-1 defeat to Liverpool is not enough to dispel the optimism though what comes next proved hard to take - a 2-1 loss to Reading and then a 1-1 stalemate with Derby at St. James Park was not what I had expected.
We picked up however. Fortunately, that was the lowest point of our season and from then on in we managed to show Sam Allardyce just how it is done. Suddenly we found form and aided by the January arrivals of Nicholas Anelka and Lorik Cana we even had ourselves a late title push. That was until Manchester United crushed us 5-0 at least and quashed any such hopes but had that result gone our way, who knows.
I was not at all unhappy to end the season fifth in the table. We began to look a little like Keegan's Newcastle, certainly in the entertainment steaks. 7-3 V Reading, 6-1 V Bolton, 5-3 V Sunderland were all great to watch ( or read you might say as I am in the commentary only camp for reasons I may tell another day.)
A League Cup run was also fun. We made it all the way to the final, surpassing the board's expectations and making up for our swift FA Cup exit in the fourth round against Blackburn. We could not see off Chelsea at the final hurdle but nevertheless I was proud and so were the fans if supporter spokesman Phil Collins is to be believed.
It's a good start. UEFA Cup qualification was my aim and that is what we got. We very nearly managed to break our way into the top four and that is worthy of plaudits. Next season we can look forward to attempting success in Europe, attempting to break into the top four and some more high scoring football. I have gone into every game with an attacking mentality, my aim being to simply outscore my opponent. It did not always pay off, in hindsight playing in the same manner at Old Trafford was suicide but so what, at least we are entertaining and are not afraid to give any team a go.
Unusually for me I have the resolve to march on despite a stuttering start. We take only a point against Wigan in a 2-2 draw before losing 1-0 to City at our place. A 4-0 victory over Fulham follows and suddenly I am a good deal more optimistic about our season and my abilities. A 2-1 defeat to Liverpool is not enough to dispel the optimism though what comes next proved hard to take - a 2-1 loss to Reading and then a 1-1 stalemate with Derby at St. James Park was not what I had expected.
We picked up however. Fortunately, that was the lowest point of our season and from then on in we managed to show Sam Allardyce just how it is done. Suddenly we found form and aided by the January arrivals of Nicholas Anelka and Lorik Cana we even had ourselves a late title push. That was until Manchester United crushed us 5-0 at least and quashed any such hopes but had that result gone our way, who knows.
I was not at all unhappy to end the season fifth in the table. We began to look a little like Keegan's Newcastle, certainly in the entertainment steaks. 7-3 V Reading, 6-1 V Bolton, 5-3 V Sunderland were all great to watch ( or read you might say as I am in the commentary only camp for reasons I may tell another day.)
A League Cup run was also fun. We made it all the way to the final, surpassing the board's expectations and making up for our swift FA Cup exit in the fourth round against Blackburn. We could not see off Chelsea at the final hurdle but nevertheless I was proud and so were the fans if supporter spokesman Phil Collins is to be believed.
It's a good start. UEFA Cup qualification was my aim and that is what we got. We very nearly managed to break our way into the top four and that is worthy of plaudits. Next season we can look forward to attempting success in Europe, attempting to break into the top four and some more high scoring football. I have gone into every game with an attacking mentality, my aim being to simply outscore my opponent. It did not always pay off, in hindsight playing in the same manner at Old Trafford was suicide but so what, at least we are entertaining and are not afraid to give any team a go.
Hi, my name is FM Junkie and I am an addict
That is correct. I am an addict though my addiction is arguably less hazardous than smoking or drinking (I have a fondness for the latter, less so the former.) My addiction concerns football manager, a computer game I have been playing since back when it was called championship manager (not to be confused with the championship manager still in production) and one that sees me become gaffer of pretty much whichever football club I like. I love it, buying my favorite players from the real sport, enjoying a particularly pleasing season only to fail to find the same luck the following year, unearthing a future footballing god for pittance and of course the self created media interviews which take place in my head.
I am not entirely sure what this is or what this will be. Truth be told I have no plan, no direction, that being something I will hopefully ponder further down the line should I get that far. No, this was started in a matter of seconds following a nudge by the author of one fm, a fellow addict (or junkie shall I say.) I have been avidly following his blog which details his own accounts of his football manager career among other stuff and just recently discovered an entry urging on like minded beings to do the same. I have heeded his advice if a little belatedly because yes, I think 'That's me! I could have my own site and tell people what I've done with whomever.'
I am not entirely sure what this is or what this will be. Truth be told I have no plan, no direction, that being something I will hopefully ponder further down the line should I get that far. No, this was started in a matter of seconds following a nudge by the author of one fm, a fellow addict (or junkie shall I say.) I have been avidly following his blog which details his own accounts of his football manager career among other stuff and just recently discovered an entry urging on like minded beings to do the same. I have heeded his advice if a little belatedly because yes, I think 'That's me! I could have my own site and tell people what I've done with whomever.'
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