I've simply organized all of the players by the position they played most this year, ordered by Average Rating.
The GK ratings are a bit misleading - I basically used Wilke in most big games and gave Fabianski more of the easy matches. Wilke especially was a key factor in our second half surge.
At fullback, the biggest surprise is seeing 18 year old
Renato Gaucho doing so well at such a tender age. Veteran English international
Glen Johnson will be retiring at the end of June and I'll be releasing DL
Bob Harris when his contract expires next month.
Our central midfield traditionally has been a strength but we had disappointing seasons from
Oliver Nicholas, loan pickup
Alen Krivic and the aging
Stephane Mbia.
Lukas Stetina was quite solid in his first year despite having difficulty grasping the English language. Mbia will be moving on next year.
Gianluca Bolis was excellent in his first year, becoming great friends right away with fellow Italian
Andrea Rocca - he'll be a key player going forward for us.
Cameron Murray played very poorly for us and I'm worried the Scottish international is not fitting in with our club. Veteran
Cristian Rodriguez has seen his skills decline greatly and will not have his contract renewed next year.
At central midfield, it's Rocca leading the way. He's simply a superb player and we're lucky to have him. Veteran
Darren Pratley continues to play well despite his age and was resigned for one more season.
Frantisek Kroulik looks to have great potential and I'll lean on him much more next season.
Mancini, a defensive midfielder, was largely disappointing for us.
At striker,
Giorgos Gesios is having trouble living up to his huge transfer fee but in all fairness, he battled injury for more than two months. When healthy, he showed explosive ability.
Gerardo Escobar was better in year two at Dover but still isn't a big producer while
Zoltan Bardi suffered through a horrific five month long slump before getting hot in the last two months of the season.
Petr Simek was very reliable off the bench or as a spot starter. Rideout won't see his contract renewed.
May 11, 2020
For our 11th place finish, we collect £7,369,000 - not a bad haul! That temporarily brings us into the black for the season.
Stadium Expansion
Without any prompting from me, the board announce a £6,400,000 stadium expansion plan that will see 5250 more seats added at Crabble Athletic Ground. This will take us from 10,500 to a capacity of 15,750! Very exciting news! We see current capacity reduced to 9135 until the expansion is finished, with a projected completion date of November 30th.
In the same press conference, the board announce plans to also build a Youth Academy. This will be a £450,000 project that is expected to be completed before the end of August.
Transfers Out
Two players with expiring contracts have agreed to deals that will see them move on July 1st. DC
Stephane Mbia will be heading to Krylja Sovetov while ST
Simon Rideout has agreed to terms with Blackburn, who was just relegated to the Championship. Rideout had a number of teams to choose from, including Peterborough, Hull City, Crewe and Bristol Rovers.
Champions League
Manchester City were monsters this year, winning the treble - Barclays Premier League title, the FA Cup and the Champions League. They defeated crosstown rivals Manchester United IN ALL THREE! That may be a fireable offense for Man U! Their current manager is former star player Jurgen Klinsmann.
Man City's MC Moussa Sissoko, a French international, claims the Champions League best player award.
International Friendlies
Two of our defenders are called up by their respective countries: DC
Oliver Nicholas will be looking to add to his 41 caps for Eritrea while young fullback
Rachid Diallo, who I loaned out to Spanish side Rayo this year, is called up by Togo. At 20 years of age, he's been capped 3 times so far.
Dover Takeover Talks
Current chairman Chris Dunphy has been entertaining offers on the club since we arrived in the Premier League - I guess that will happen when our estimated value goes from less than a million pounds upon his purchase of the team to over 30 million!
A consortium led by board member Chris May is evidently close to a deal with Dunphy but the most interesting thing about it is that May has another manager in mind to possibly take over for me should he buy the team!
You have to be kidding!
I'm not going to get too worried at this point…May would get skinned by our supporters if he tried to pull off a stunt like that…right?
We hit the end of May and with our players on vacation, I'm actively scouting in preparation for the opening of the July transfer window. That said, while the takeover talks are ongoing, I have a transfer embargo placed on me - needless to say, I hope the bloody thing gets settled before the 1st of July!