June Update
-- This is a World Cup year so we'll have a number of our players taking part in this great competition in June and July. We'll talk more about it as the time comes. The Premier League transfer window opens on June 9th as well - I don't have a LOT of money right now (just north of £5 million) but that number is sure to rise when I get my new budget. I'll be scouting players closely all month as we look to add youth, some depth and maybe a key player or two to complement what we have.
June Board Confidence Update
-- No change here: the board is absolutely delighted with the way I'm leading the team. Stature increase is the highlight and
Wayne Rooney's performances are the lowlight.
-- We made a profit of £24.64 million last month. HILARIOUS! Gotta love that television revenue for the Champions League!
International Round-Up
-- We've got four players taking part in the annual African Nations qualifiers and all four,
Youssouf Sylla,
Arsene Bamba,
Salim Loucif and
Paulus Tjiuoro play well for their clubs.
-- Final friendlies take place in the buildup to the World Cup.
Neil Cairney and
Cameron Murray play for Scotland in a 3-0 win over United Arab Emirates,
Giorgos Gesios comes on as a substitute for Greece in a 1-0 win over Uruguay and
Zoltan Bardi earns a cap for Hungary in a 1-1 draw versus FYR of Macedonia.
-- In U21 action,
Jonathan Adam gets an assist and
Emmerson Harvey also earns a cap in a 5-1 England win over Northern Ireland. On loan striker
Paul Moses also plays.
-- So yeah, the Champions League makes quite a difference to the bottom line! We eclipse the £100 million barrier in turnover and despite skyrocketing wages and bonuses, we clear a £4 million profit. Our bank balance is as high as ever and with no stadium improvements on the horizon for the first time in years, we should have a bit of extra money to spend when the transfer window reopens.
World Cup 2022
-- Five of our players are called up for the World Cup:
Salim Loucif for Algeria,
Giorgos Gesios for Greece,
Gianluca Bolis for Italy,
Shanon Andrea for Holland and
Neil Cairney for Scotland. It's great to see Andrea get a callup from Holland but the big news is Bolis' callup - he is still looking for his first ever senior cap for Italy so this is a HUGE step for him and I'm delighted that he's going to get a chance to play.
Cameron Murray, despite playing in friendlies leading up to the event, does not get the call for Scotland, nor does
Andrea Rocca, who is also still looking for his first cap for Italy.
Youth Recruitment Improvements
-- Our planned expansion to the club's youth recruitment network has been completed. We now move from "average" to "above average" youth recruitment.