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Dover Fans' Player of the Year
-- Not too much of a surprise to see our leading scorer, striker Giorgos Gesios named as the Fans' Player of the Year for 2020/21.
Dover Best Eleven for 2020-21
-- In reality, only one surprise on this list but based on average rating, I suppose it's an understandable decision:
GK - Ingo Wilke - 36 apps 0g 7.10 avg
DL - Renato Gaucho - 35 apps 1g 7.09 avg
DC - Claudio Contreras - 17 apps 0g 6.91 avg
DC - Paulus Tjiuoro - 38 apps 5g 7.03 avg
DR - Jozef Kuciak - 14 apps 0g 7.21 avg
MC - Andrea Rocca - 42 apps 6g 7.25 avg
MC - Neil Cairney - 42 apps 5g 7.16 avg
AML - Arsene Bamba - 33 apps 11g 7.21 avg
AMC - Zoltan Bardi - 40 apps 18g 7.16 avg
AMR - Gianluca Bolis - 40 apps 7g 7.03 avg
ST - Giorgos Gesios - 38 apps 23g 7.30 avg
Other notables: GK Lukasz Fabianski 9 apps 0g 7.06; DL Jozef Varga 12 apps 0g 6.98; DR Salim Loucif 31 apps 0g 7.08; DM Mancini 13 apps 3g 6.91; MC Darren Pratley 14 apps 0g 6.77; ST Gerardo Escobar 19 apps 6g 6.85; ST Petr Simek 17 apps 4g 6.81
The only anomaly is Jozef Kuciak over Salim Loucif but it's a minor quibble.
Let's take a look at our overall Best Eleven since I took over management of the franchise:
Dover Best Eleven - Overall
GK - Ingo Wilke - 203 apps 0g 7.02 avg
DL - David Ogilby - 178 apps 8g 6.98 avg
DC - Olly Schulz - 120 apps 18g 7.32 avg
DC - Oliver Nicholas - 316 apps 28g 7.14 avg
DR - Conor Morrissey - 230 apps 1g 6.98 avg
ML - Arsene Bamba - 139 apps 27g 7.20 avg
MC - Zoltan Bardi - 165 apps 57g 7.03 avg
MC - Andrea Rocca - 145 apps 32g 7.31 avg
MR - Abdeltareck Sakali - 176 apps 50g 7.14 avg
ST - Alexander Rattke - 125 apps 55g 7.13 avg
ST - Aaron Green - 141 apps 65g 7.18 avg
Zoltan Bardi moves into the starting eleven into a midfield position, knocking Richie Ryan down to the substitutes.
Substitutes:
GK - Liam O'Brien - 219 apps 0g 6.84 avg
DL - Aziz Deen-Conteh - 122 apps 2g 6.95 avg
ML - Ismael Fofana - 206 apps 38g 6.98 avg
MC - Richie Ryan - 131 apps 28g 6.98 avg
MC - Jon Wallis - 135 apps 13g 6.94 avg
ST - Ben Hunt - 156 apps 70g 7.12 avg
ST - Gerardo Escobar - 82 apps 26g 6.89 avg
Gerardo Escobar is added as a sub but will likely be taken out next year by Giorgos Gesios.
2021-22 Barclays Premier League Fixture List Announced
-- We open our season at home against Newcastle and our first away game is the following week against Liverpool. For the second consecutive year, our Boxing Day game AND our final game of the season are both against Manchester City. Doh!
-- We are given £40,000,000 spread over 12 months for Premier League television rights. Rock on!
Start of Season Expectations
-- The board is hoping we achieve a top half finish in the Premier League for the upcoming season and for that they'll offer the following:
2021/22 TRANSFER BUDGET - £27,500,000 (Last Year: £33,500,000)
2020/21 WAGE BUDGET - £450,000 (Last Year: £245,000/week)
Well, colour me disappointed. Before today, I still had approximately £12 million in LAST YEAR'S transfer budget still available and they only add about 15 million to my total for this year. I completely understand that much of that is likely due to my wage budget almost doubling from last year but it's still a tad disappointing.
I had options to guarantee continental play for next year or challenge for the title but the increases to my budget weren't really enough to justify going out on a limb. I may need to be a bit more conservative with my expectations with my first year of continental play on the horizon.
Youth Intake - U18 Club
-- We've added a youth academy, improved our youth facilities and expanded our youth recruitment network so I had my fingers crossed that I'd see something come out of all that work. Instead, we get nothing - a couple of 1 star potentials and that's all. What a colossal disappointment.
-- Two players are promoted to our senior team due to turning 19: promising striker Carlo Cerbone and DC Abdallaye Kokaina. Kokaina may have a place on our club this year while Cerbone may be a loan candidate. We'll see.
-- Olympique Lyonnais come calling for Arsene Bamba, offering £7,500,000. Sorry, no dice.
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