Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - FM – From Semi-Pro Minnows to Champions League Glory: Dover Athletic FC

NoSkillz · 08-19-2014, 09:58 PM

Sun. July 28, 2024

Preseason Friendly
Dover vs. Aberdeen (Scotland Premier League)
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK

Talk about consistency! Here are Aberdeen’s finishes over the past ten years in Scotland’s Clydesdale Bank Premier League: 4th, 6th, 5th, 6th, 5th, 4th, 6th, 5th, 4th, 4th. Hilarious. They locked up a Europa League spot with last year’s finish, which tied their team record for points with 65. This is a much smaller team than we are and they don’t have many stars but I smile when I notice a former Dover U18 player on their roster in midfielder Luke Hendrie, who last played for our club in 2014/15 when we were in League 1.

We’re back to using a lesser side today, as we’ll save most of our best players for another home game coming up in two days. I really want to see a performance out of new striker Manuel Lugo today - I have him playing a target man role today which may suit his skill-set a bit more than our advanced striker role. Zoltan Bardi is opposite him. Lyubomir Kunchev, newcomer Paolo Secchi and Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz will also get starts.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - M. Perez
D - Renato Gaucho, M. Yilmaz, R. Hamon, Rafinha
M - M. Pedersen, P. Secchi, A. Rocca, L. Kunchev
S - Z. Bardi, M. Lugo

Dover 3 - 1 Aberdeen
Goals - Rayane Hamon 2 (9.2), Paolo Secchi (8.0)
Assists - Andrea Rocca 2 (7.5), Mads Pedersen (7.6)
Man of the Match - Rayane Hamon
Other Dover Notables - Renato Gaucho (7.1)
Attendance - 9,058

Not impressive whatsoever, as we gave up the first goal on a penalty shot after Rafinha tackled a man down inside our area. Secchi scored to even things up almost right away then two Hamon goals off corner kicks sealed the win. I continue to really worry about Manuel Lugo - when you pay that much for a striker, you expect immediate results. The guy is 22 years old, speaks English and has a record of goal scoring but he’s kind of slow, both with his feet and with his head. I’m not going to panic yet but it’s quite clear that he will need some time in the reserves and maybe some low-key cup games before I starting trusting him on the bigger stage.

Transfer OUT

-- Midfielder Shaun Spall agrees to a move to Wolves but in order to make the transfer happen, we have to bridge the gap between what we were paying him and his new contract. So we make up the £2100/week difference and that closes the books on Spall and a £2.3 million transfer deal. We brought Spall over from Peterborough in July 2020 for £500,000 and he played two seasons with our club and spent last year on loan with Norwich. In all, he started 14 games and played in 44 games overall for our club, scoring 2 goals and adding 5 assists. We wish him well but he won’t be missed!

Players in Last Year of Contract

-- A few key players are in their last year of their contracts with us, including ST Zoltan Bardi, MC Andrea Rocca, ML Felix Hernandez, DC Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz and DC Mwemere Mutesa. We’ll likely try to extend them all at some point soon.

Squad Win Bonuses

-- As usual, I agree to give the players higher squad bonuses for all competitions and that makes them all delighted.

August Update

-- We have three more preseason friendlies, with home match-ups against AS Monaco and Rangers then a road matchup against non-league Folkestone. We head to Wembley to start the season against Manchester City in the Community Shield then start the Premier League season with match ups against Sheffield United (road) and Newcastle (home). We’ll also have a League Cup match and face Dortmund in the European Super Cup at the end of the month. Lots of action to start the season.

-- We get positive training notices for Mwemere Mutesa and U18 player Robbie Welsh along with a negative notice for Paul Moses. I’ll start worrying about Moses if he suddenly stops scoring.

August Board Confidence Update

-- The board are very pleased with my overall leadership of the team. Our stature increase is the main reason for their happiness but they are still disappointed that I sold Shanon Andrea.

-- We recorded a loss of £56.61 million in July. OUCH.

Injury Update

-- Midfielder Emmerson Harvey returns to full training after missing three weeks with a pulled hamstring.

Transfer News

-- In some good news, Tottenham spend £25.5 million on Dutch striker Peter Jansen, who spent most of his career with Stuttgart. The 28 year old will be expected to lead the charge from the front for Spurs but this can only mean that they will stop sniffing around Chiquinho.

-- Then again, right after that we hear rumours that Spurs are going to make a bid for Arsene Bamba. Boy, these guys have a lot of money!

Transfer IN

-- It took some patience but we finally get a work permit approved for Brazilian right fullback Emerson, thus completing a £5.75 million transfer with Avai FC in Brazil!

Emerson just turned 20 a couple of days ago and was only at Avai for a year after starting his career at Palmeiras. The 2.5/3.5 rated youngster has very good speed and a well-balanced skill set and should give us even more depth at fullback behind Salim Loucif and Rafinha.

Olympics 2024

-- Egypt is hosting the 2024 Summer Games and we have four players called up to take part, with Arsene Bamba (Ivory Coast), Manuel Perez and Manuel Lugo (Mexico) and youngster Vlastimil Silhavy (Czech Republic) all getting the call. This means we will be without two key players in Bamba and Perez to start our season.

Next Up

-- We play host once again, this time to French outfit AS Monaco FC in preseason friendly action.

08-19-2014, 09:58 PM	#516
NoSkillz College Benchwarmer Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: St. Catharines, Canada	Sun. July 28, 2024 Preseason Friendly Dover vs. Aberdeen (Scotland Premier League) Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK Talk about consistency! Here are Aberdeen’s finishes over the past ten years in Scotland’s Clydesdale Bank Premier League: 4th, 6th, 5th, 6th, 5th, 4th, 6th, 5th, 4th, 4th. Hilarious. They locked up a Europa League spot with last year’s finish, which tied their team record for points with 65. This is a much smaller team than we are and they don’t have many stars but I smile when I notice a former Dover U18 player on their roster in midfielder Luke Hendrie, who last played for our club in 2014/15 when we were in League 1. We’re back to using a lesser side today, as we’ll save most of our best players for another home game coming up in two days. I really want to see a performance out of new striker Manuel Lugo today - I have him playing a target man role today which may suit his skill-set a bit more than our advanced striker role. Zoltan Bardi is opposite him. Lyubomir Kunchev, newcomer Paolo Secchi and Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz will also get starts. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - M. Perez D - Renato Gaucho, M. Yilmaz, R. Hamon, Rafinha M - M. Pedersen, P. Secchi, A. Rocca, L. Kunchev S - Z. Bardi, M. Lugo Dover 3 - 1 Aberdeen Goals - Rayane Hamon 2 (9.2), Paolo Secchi (8.0) Assists - Andrea Rocca 2 (7.5), Mads Pedersen (7.6) Man of the Match - Rayane Hamon Other Dover Notables - Renato Gaucho (7.1) Attendance - 9,058 Not impressive whatsoever, as we gave up the first goal on a penalty shot after Rafinha tackled a man down inside our area. Secchi scored to even things up almost right away then two Hamon goals off corner kicks sealed the win. I continue to really worry about Manuel Lugo - when you pay that much for a striker, you expect immediate results. The guy is 22 years old, speaks English and has a record of goal scoring but he’s kind of slow, both with his feet and with his head. I’m not going to panic yet but it’s quite clear that he will need some time in the reserves and maybe some low-key cup games before I starting trusting him on the bigger stage. Transfer OUT -- Midfielder Shaun Spall agrees to a move to Wolves but in order to make the transfer happen, we have to bridge the gap between what we were paying him and his new contract. So we make up the £2100/week difference and that closes the books on Spall and a £2.3 million transfer deal. We brought Spall over from Peterborough in July 2020 for £500,000 and he played two seasons with our club and spent last year on loan with Norwich. In all, he started 14 games and played in 44 games overall for our club, scoring 2 goals and adding 5 assists. We wish him well but he won’t be missed! Players in Last Year of Contract -- A few key players are in their last year of their contracts with us, including ST Zoltan Bardi, MC Andrea Rocca, ML Felix Hernandez, DC Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz and DC Mwemere Mutesa. We’ll likely try to extend them all at some point soon. Squad Win Bonuses -- As usual, I agree to give the players higher squad bonuses for all competitions and that makes them all delighted. August Update -- We have three more preseason friendlies, with home match-ups against AS Monaco and Rangers then a road matchup against non-league Folkestone. We head to Wembley to start the season against Manchester City in the Community Shield then start the Premier League season with match ups against Sheffield United (road) and Newcastle (home). We’ll also have a League Cup match and face Dortmund in the European Super Cup at the end of the month. Lots of action to start the season. -- We get positive training notices for Mwemere Mutesa and U18 player Robbie Welsh along with a negative notice for Paul Moses. I’ll start worrying about Moses if he suddenly stops scoring. August Board Confidence Update -- The board are very pleased with my overall leadership of the team. Our stature increase is the main reason for their happiness but they are still disappointed that I sold Shanon Andrea. -- We recorded a loss of £56.61 million in July. OUCH. Injury Update -- Midfielder Emmerson Harvey returns to full training after missing three weeks with a pulled hamstring. Transfer News -- In some good news, Tottenham spend £25.5 million on Dutch striker Peter Jansen, who spent most of his career with Stuttgart. The 28 year old will be expected to lead the charge from the front for Spurs but this can only mean that they will stop sniffing around Chiquinho. -- Then again, right after that we hear rumours that Spurs are going to make a bid for Arsene Bamba. Boy, these guys have a lot of money! Transfer IN -- It took some patience but we finally get a work permit approved for Brazilian right fullback Emerson, thus completing a £5.75 million transfer with Avai FC in Brazil! Emerson just turned 20 a couple of days ago and was only at Avai for a year after starting his career at Palmeiras. The 2.5/3.5 rated youngster has very good speed and a well-balanced skill set and should give us even more depth at fullback behind Salim Loucif and Rafinha. Olympics 2024 -- Egypt is hosting the 2024 Summer Games and we have four players called up to take part, with Arsene Bamba (Ivory Coast), Manuel Perez and Manuel Lugo (Mexico) and youngster Vlastimil Silhavy (Czech Republic) all getting the call. This means we will be without two key players in Bamba and Perez to start our season. Next Up -- We play host once again, this time to French outfit AS Monaco FC in preseason friendly action. __________________ MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo Last edited by NoSkillz : 08-22-2014 at 03:19 PM.