[NoSkillz]

Sat. July 31, 2021

Preseason Friendly
Sheffield United vs. Dover
Bramall Lane, Sheffield, UK

We head on the road to take on Championship side Sheffield United. We finally get our first look at on-loan striker Paul Moses in this game, as he's finally back from International duty with England. He will be alone up front. Zubizarreta has been excellent in the preseason and will play wing while Nasri will play his most natural position, AMC. Pretty strong lineup - about half strength, which should be enough for a win.

Dover: 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) Control
GK - Y. Sylla
D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, M. Thompson, J. Kuciak
M - Mancini, N. Cairney
AM - A. Bamba, S. Nasri, A. Zubizarreta
S - P. Moses

Sheffield United 3 - 3 Dover
Goals - Paul Moses 3 (9.5)
Assists - Neil Cairney (7.9), Aitor Zubizarreta (6.8)
Man of the Match - Paul Moses
Other Dover Notables -
Attendance - 6,260

So yeah, this Paul Moses character is going to be FUN to watch. Three goals in his debut, all before half time! He was electric and completely as advertised. Cairney was the only other guy to show up today - for the FOURTH time this preseason, we give up an injury time goal at the end of the game, giving United a draw. What a horrible run we're on - the veterans are doing nothing - Nasri was invisible and Sylla is a bit wild in goal - Wilke definitely will be getting the majority of the games. But yeah...Moses was something else and it's great to see him deliver so quickly, as I'm still waiting for the first goal from Shanon Andrea, the Dutch international.



August Update

-- We have two more friendlies left, with home matches against Espanyol and Rangers. We also have three Premier League games in August, opening the season at home versus Newcastle, then heading out to Liverpool before ending the month at home versus Reading.

-- The Champions League Best Placed Playoff draw will be held on the 6th and it looks like games will be held on the 17th and the 24th. We'll also have a League Cup match around the 25th. So eight matches at least in August…

-- We get positive training reports for two youth players: Johnny Mardenborough and star prospect Emmerson Harvey along with a negative report for Steve Sinnott - I'll have a talk with him…



-- HSV make another Salim Loucif bid, this time for ~£12 million. It's a no - again, he's got a £15 million release clause so someone can definitely get him if they so choose. Juventus is also preparing to make a significant offer for my 18 year old DC Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz, with rumours giving an amount over £5.5 million. That's a LOT of money for him…I'd have to at least consider that but I'm grooming that kid to be a home-grown player and he's one that will actually be able to play.

-- I get my first ever offer (that I remember) for five star potential DC Claudio Contreras. Porto make an insulting bid just over £3 million - I counter with £60 million, non-negotiable. I'm sick of dealing with this stuff so that will stop them in their tracks I'm sure.



August Board Confidence Update

-- The board is very pleased with my overall leadership. Stature increase is still the positive and Oliver Nicholas' departure is still the negative.

-- Ouch. We lost £22.18 MILLION last month! That's mostly due to transfer fees but I also had some rather large signing bonuses and agent fees.



Next Up

-- We host Spanish side Espanyol in a preseason friendly at Crabble.