[Izulde]

In addition to Parameter and Bangura, we've got the following guys:

ML/MR Courtney Harris (22)
$37.5k contract, but his physical attributes are amazeballs (14 Fitness, 13 Pace, 13 Stamina) and he has 14 Work Rate. My scouts rate him as equal to or better than Izak Reid, so he'll get the start there and we'll drop Reid to DR.

DLC Leon Clowes (22)
$19.5k and another great physical specimen (13 Jumping, 13 Pace) and also has 13 Decisions and 12 Positioning. Like with Harris, my scouts see him as equal to or better than our starter, in this case Sharpe, so he'll get the nod at DL and that means we can move Sharpe back inside.

ST Gianluca Gracco (23)
We went back and forth trying to land this Italian who has the best physical attributes of anyone I've ever had on this team - everything is 13 or higher with the exception of 7 stamina and 10 strength. 12 Influence and 13 Off The Ball, too. Should be worth the $37.5k contract, and he's rated as our top striker.

Board's back to satisfied. They're sad about Eddie Nisevic leaving.

ST Elliott James (17)
Strictly a shot in the dark youth signing. May not pan out after looking at him more, but we'll see.

DM/DC Ryan Woodford (22)
Inked on a non-contract, he has the upside to play at this level and could conceivably fight for a starting spot at DMC, as he's well behind a lot of players at DC.

ML Cladudiu Hoban (22)
Also on a non-contract, he's very raw and essentially here as a project to develop into a decent rotation ML guy in our system.

We sign a fitness coach, to stop players complaining about crappy the coaching there is.

89 season tickets sold so far. Lot of teams were sniffing around Tyrone Thompson, so we give him a non-contract to keep him locked in.

We can now afford 3 coaches apparently, so I'm going to put that to use.

Oh look, Izak Reid is crying that he wants to be transfer-listed again. Heh, okay pal.

Talk about a knife in the back. Tyrone Thompson signs a non-contract with archrivals Oxford City after signing a noncontract with us. Can't say as I really blame him, though. He'll get more opportunities down there.

[b]Brazil[l/b] wins the World Cup, beating England 2-1.

After our coach hires, every category is 2 or 2.5*. Not fantastic, but still better than what we had.

Cladiu Hoban is out 2-3 months, further weakening our ML depth. We sign Elvis Hammond as a Player/Scout apparently, even though I wanted him just as a player. I thought the 33 year old would be a useful depth player, but he stinks.

Interesting. The Forest Green and Brackley match will be on TV on November 8th. We get $3k for it.

Prior to our first friendly....

Goal Keeper
Max Crocombe (20 - $18k)

Yep still just the one keeper. Max is still our guy and is rated as decent for this level, with the potential to be leading. We'll have to find a backup obviously, because we all know what happened last season, but for now, he's our man.

Defenders
DLC Leon Clowes (22 - $3.5k)
DLC Tom Sharpe (25 - $35k)
DCR/DM Sergio Sanchez (21 - $10k)
DR/MR Izak Reid (27 - $45k)
DLCR Samuel Bangura (19 - $3k)
DLC Stevland Angus (33)

Obviously there's more coverage elsewhere, but this is what I see as the primary set of guys. Clowes/Sharpe/Sanchez/Reid should be a great starting backline and Bangura has 3 position versatility while he develops. Angus is pretty much done for this level, but he'll still hang around.

Defensive Midfielders
DM/DC Taylor Parmenter (21 - $10k)
DM/DC Ryan Woodford (22)
DM/DC Aaron Wickham (20 - $14k)
DM/DC/DR Brett Solkhon (31 - $9k)

Essentially what we have is one dynamite player (Parmenter) with League 2 upside and a bunch of currently mediocre players. We need to beef up this area through loans or something.

Midfielders
ML Callum McNish (22 - $24k)
MLR Courtney Harris (22 - $14k)
ML Claudiu Hoban (22)

While we have Reid who can slide to MR, depth here overall is an issue. I do like our two starters, though, and think they represent an upgrade. McNish signed a contract extension, as did Crocombe and Sanchez, by the way. Sanchez got the biggest jump - $4.4k to $17k.

Strikers
Ashley Yeoman (22 - $30k)
Gianluca Gracco (23 - $24k)
Nabil Guediora (19 - $4k)
Elvis Hammond (33)

So I said how I signed those three other guys to extensions, right? Well, Yeoman wants a hefty pay increase that I'm not willing to do, especially since he doesn't have next level upside. Depth is a serious issue until Nabil develops. I love the look of Gracco, by the way.

vs Newcastle Reserves
GK Max Crocombe
DL Leon Clowes
DC Tom Sharpe
DC Sergio Sanchez
DR Izak Reid
DM Taylor Parmenter
DM Ryan Woodford
ML Callum McNish
MR Courtney Harris
ST Gianluca Gracco
ST Ashley Yeoman

Time to see how this new-look team plays out.

46 - Harris, who has really impressed me in the eye test, feeds it up to Yeoman on the border of the goalbox. Yeoman then slides it over to Gracco, who hits it for the just before half goal. 1-0

Bangura, Guediora, and Solkhon come on DC, ST, and DR respectively, Harris flopping over to ML, and Reid up to MR.

67 - Guediora steals the ball and gives it to Yeoman, who holds until our new Nigerian prospect is in the box before sending a controlled pass in, whereupon it's 2 for 2 in new guy goals. 2-0

68 - Lee, Hammond, Dixon and Angus on for a bunch of tired guys off at DR, ST, DM, and DL.

83 - [b]Varney[b] on for Reid

Pretty damn good result. The new guys made an impact and the old guys looked fine, except for McNish and his 6.1. Still need to add some more depth and find upgrades in places, but overall, nice start.

1,796 people showed up to watch that one, so I'm glad we gave our fans a good game.