[Radii]

-- The ML I was trying to buy signs for Sporting CP in Portugal so while new loaner Turgay Colak will begin the season starting for me there I am still looking around at ML.

And with loan offers outstanding and a ton of transfer money, the Ipswich squad still hasn't fully taken shape. But that doesn't mean its not time to play some football anyway!

Friendly #1

We travel to Brighton today in one we should win easily. My lineup will look familiar here, its shocking how little I had to modify it:

GK: Carlos Antonio
D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet
M: Colak/Donnelly/Mariga/Gordon
F: Hamilton/Constantino

New loaners Turgay Colak and Simon Hamilton get into the lineup.

We get a goal in the first minute but we're offsides. In the 18th minute Constantino hits Neil Gordon for an easy goal. That's the score at the half and I sub out all my starters at the half as I traditionally do in my first few friendies. This means a number of U18 guys are out there running around, whee. One of their men burns my now useless DC Park and scores in the 52nd minute. Another defensive failure allows a 2nd goal through in the 63rd minute.

Brighton 2 : 1 Ipswich

We had a number of guys in there who were U18 kids who ought to be cut. That if nothing else reminds me of the need not just to find the big splash in the midfield but to add a bit of depth as well.


New Signing

Oh god after the unhappy Kang experience I'm worried all of a sudden. After saying he didn't think he'd want to play for me, Arsenal's MC accepts my contract offer.

We pay Arsenal a little more than half our transfer budget ($6.25M) and hope it's going to be worth it!

Welcome 22 y/o MC Steven Mills to Ipswich. Mills has mostly played for the arsenal reserves but played well when called upon last year. My assistant feels he's on the same level as McDonald Mariga as a player, his only weakness is in set pieces, and he's a good strong team player.

Physical: Strength 19, Balance 18, Pace 12/Acceleration 16. Nothing below 12.

Mental: Determination 16, Creativity 16, Decisions 12, Off the Ball 13, Teamwork 18. Positioning is low at 9, Influence and flair are under 10 as well. All other ratings that I didn't mention are between 12-15. After reading through some of SFraser's stuff I'm noticing Determination and Anticipation more and more and really like the 16 determination here.

Technical: Passing 18, First Touch, Technique 13. I'm hoping to see a little improvement here to round him out but the passing/first touch/technique combo I'm hoping will be a good basis for him to build up from. Dribbling, Marking and Heading are all 9. Tackling is 12 which will help in the midfield.

McDonald Mariga is still on the squad, but remember he wants to play for a higher level club and I have him transfer listed. I'd love to keep him around this year and will begin the year rotating Donnelly/Mariga/Mills quite a bit.

I did offer Mills a large contract, he and Donnelly are now my two highest paid players at $52,000/wk and $51,000/wk. That's almost 20% of the wage budget (though I'm pretty pissed off about the salary drop clause not working and that is inflating things an awful lot!).

Hell, offering mills $50k/wk may be a bigger gamble that I made with anyone I signed in the EPL last year.


New Signing #2

I mentioned an exciting DC in the England Trialist Matches. This kid just got released by Chelsea and hadn't been signed yet. He performed well and caught the eye of my scouts and many others. In the end he agrees to sign for Ipswich:

Welcome 23 y/o DC James Welsh on a free transfer! The scouting report on Welsh compares him favoribly to Henrique, touting his marking ability and pointing out no real weaknesses. He's got pretty good speed, he's determined, brave, positions himself well, he's great in the air and in man marking. Technique and Tackling leave a bit to be desired or I'd say he is an insanely complete player.

Still, Welsh will make $16,500/wk and comes in valued at $2.6M. Signing this kid on a free transfer is an absolute steal.

Physical: All ratings 13-14 except Agility 11/Accel 12.

Mental: Determination 16, Bravery 19, Positioning 15, Anticipation 12. Influence is 14 which is nice. Other ratings in the 11-12 range.

Technical: Marking 18, Heading 15, Tackling 12, First Touch 12. Technique 8.


I'm really really thrilled to have signed Welsh. I'm hoping he can make an immediate impact.



New Loan In

-- With Fryers and Bruce gone I don't really have the easy depth in defense that I did last year. So I get rid of the silly notion of selling my best DC, and also loan in the young DC I had left waiting in the wings.

Welcome 20 y/o DC Vinny Burke to Ipswich. Burke is a step down from Henrique and Welsh but not a big one. We'll be rotating him in with regularity if he plays well. He's a monster in the air, we could have used this kid to clear some crap out of the penalty area in the EPL last year I bet.

Physical: Jumping 17, Fitness 15, everything else 11-12.

Mental: Positioning 14, Teamwork 16, Work Rate 13, Bravery 16, Anticipation 15, Decisions 15, Determination 12. Composure is 8 so we'll see if he picks up any red cards. But he's really really strong in the areas I care about the most.

Technical: Heading 17, Marking 14, Tackling 13, Passing 15. He can't dribble the ball at all (2), and his Technique is poor (6). I'll be trying to make sure I get this kid forward on corner kicks for sure.



With a number of things coming in now lets look at a depth chart and see how we feel about things.

GK: Carlos Antonio/Chris Mason

Good.

DL: Kirkland/Colak/Hughes

Spectacular.

DC: Henrique/Welsh/Burke/Hughes

Probably better than I fielded in the EPL last year.

DR: Berthet/McKerr/Jackson

Okay. Shoudl be fine at this level, I am still worried a bit about Berthet's struggles at the next level last year. But he's fine for now.

ML: Colak/Hughes/Guarin

Guarin was actually pretty decent at ML last year for us so I'm sure he can do it now. Hughes I expect will be fine in the championship as well. In the EPL I'd have depth concerns but I think I'm good.

MC: Donnelly/Mills/Mariga/Guarin

I could run a bit thin on depth if I have injuriies, but I'm starting in a good place.

MR: Gordon/Jackson/Berthet

-- I love Gordon. Clive Jackson is an up and comer like Jack Hughes, he'll be Gordon's primary backup this year.

FC: Constantino/Hamilton/Khan/Taylor

Ian Taylor isn't ready for prime time and will mostly play with the reserves. But when i've needed that striker that won't see the field much unless we have injuries (Bojinov last year, Jon Stead my first year)... they've been massive failures, so might as well make that 4th guy a youngster who will play with the reserves until requested.


I actually feel pretty solid here. That all came togther really quickly with the signings of Welsh and Mills both going my way on back to back days in game. Hell I actually think this team is better than the one I took to the EPL last year. I guess that's the goal, keep improving.


Financial Update

Right Now I'm left with a transfer budget of $5.4 Million and I'm $25,000/wk under my wage budget. I see little reason to bring anyone else on, I've got 3 loaners that I think could be very big contributors and I think we're basically ready. If we start out the season with some sort of disaster maybe I change my mind, or if Mariga gets real unhappy, but right now I probably won't look to bring anyone else in during this transfer window.


I do notice that Troy Brown isn't even listed on my depth chart. I only noticed as a total afterthought. Maybe I should sell him.


Additionally, Park Sang-Ho no longer has any use to me at all. I transfer list him and offer him around. He's got some interest from lower level clubs so maybe I'll unload him easily. He isn't worth much, hardly worth mentioning.