Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - FM – From Semi-Pro Minnows to Champions League Glory: Dover Athletic FC

NoSkillz · 01-01-2015, 12:49 PM

The stats shown above take into account all competitions with our senior team and include everyone who played at least one game for the big club this past season.

GK

-- For two years, we’ve been slowly making the transition to having Manuel Perez take over as our main keeper. He struggled to learn the English language so we went slow with him, playing him in only a third of our games during our Champions League winning year but he played great and finally had a basic understanding of the language going into this year. We gave him the starting job this year but he really struggled early and we were forced to utilize veteran Ingo Wilke more than expected. Wilke had one of his best seasons ever, playing in just less than half of our games. Perez played much better during the latter half of the year so I expect that he’ll be just fine but there is no question that Wilke will continue to play a major role going forward, even as he hits his age 32 season. We are in great hands with our goalkeeping.

D

-- Our main starters spent their fourth consecutive year together. It’s a very young group and they could spend many more years patrolling our side of half but there was a bit of regression from our fullbacks, most notably captain Salim Loucif. Loucif played 41 scoreless games - he’s certainly not here for his offence but his normally phenomenal defence suffered this year, as he was out of position quite a lot and missed a number of tackles that he normally would make. He’s only 26 so I’m not panicking and we do have young phenom Emerson as a backup. Renato Gaucho scored only once but it was a big one - the game winner in our FA Cup final! He continues to develop and at 23, has many more great years ahead of him. Wonderkid Rafinha likely needs more starts, as he played 31 games last year as a main backup - he’s versatile and can play both sides with equal aplomb but he needs to play better when he’s in. Carlos Guzman is our third string fullback - he only got into 7 games last year but he always has played great when called upon, doesn’t complain about his playing time and is still young. His contract is expiring but he’s not asking for much and I may extend him and keep him here as added insurance.

-- Our central defence continues to be a major strength at the club. Rayane Hamon is aging like fine wine, once again moving his game up a notch, scoring eight times and staying relatively injury free, as he started the third most games out of anyone at the club this year. 22 year old Claudio Contreras is one of the great young centre half backs in the game. He’s still a bit too inconsistent for my liking but he’s a commanding presence at the back at 6’ 6” tall. Saber Nasri finished his second year as our main backup and once again continues his fine form. 21 year old Mwemere Mutesa was given easy assignments for the most part in his first year with the senior team - cup ties and the odd Premier League match against a lower-half side but he was simply superb in those games - in fact, he DOMINATED games at times. He’s going to be a really good one I believe and he’ll get more opportunities this year. Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz has been a guy like Carlos Guzman over his Dover tenure - not flashy but always plays well when called upon. He got passed on our depth chart this year by Mutesa and with an expiring contract, accepted an offer from Aris in the Greek Superleague.

M

-- After a year where he exploded for an incredible 14 goals and 19 assists, left midfielder Arsene Bamba had a huge fall, scoring only four goals and adding three paltry assists in an injury plagued season. He just never got on track. Newcomer Mads Pedersen played much more than expected and was very solid, showing great flair and smarts in a 5 goal, 12 assist season to lead all wide midfielders in production. On the other side, Gianluca Bolis continues to confound - he started off like a house on fire then struggled through the middle portion of the season before finally turning up the heat again late in the year. He did end up with 9 goals but he was a passenger way too often for my liking. Graham Allan was the main backup on the right side and was just okay and our deep backup at the position, Lyubomir Kunchev, doesn’t look to be part of our plans in any major capacity.

-- We started the year with incumbents Neil Cairney and Jose as starters once again but newcomer Benedikt Raab simply would NOT be denied! The 23 year old had an astonishing year, scoring 10 goals and adding a ludicrous 24 assists in only 37 starts, as he essentially sent superstar Cairney to the bench by the second half of the year. Raab was an incredible find for us and he may be the best midfielder in the world of football. Jose saw a slight stat decline, mostly due to giving up set piece duty to Raab but he continued to produce well - that said, he’s in his age 28 season and he may start to slow down soon. Cairney was decent but not the influential player he was in past seasons, giving up his spot to Raab. He’s also been recently left off the Scottish national team - a crazy development. Veteran Andrea Rocca, so important for years here, has settled into his spot as our fourth or fifth option and just produces whenever called upon. He’s got an expiring contract and I’m still mulling over whether I’ll offer him a new deal. I see less playing time for him in the future due to the oncoming Emmerson Harvey, another wonderkid who needs more playing time. Harvey had 3 goals and 4 assists in only 8 starts this year - he’s one to watch for the future.

S

-- Coming off an incredible 59 goals and World Player of the Year honours last season, we had big expectations for the sensational Paul Moses. But he’d twice suffer serious injuries to his calf, once with us and once with the English national team and he missed close to nine months of action. He’d only start 11 games for us all year but thankfully, we got an enormous contribution from young Andy Broomes, who we likely only considered a fourth or fifth option at the start of the season. Broomes muscled his way into Moses’ spot and scored 32 goals, showcasing his great speed and a great nose for the net. The stats continue to be there for highly touted star Chiquinho - 27 goals and 12 assists in a team-high 48 starts. He is extremely durable as he starts his age 30 season but inconsistency and a strong penchant for diving rubs me the wrong way. If someone comes calling with 20+ million pounds, I might consider selling him. Zoltan Bardi continues to be an unheralded option off the bench but once again was injured a lot - still, he scored 10 goals and added 9 assists in only 18 starts - great production. Newcomer Manuel Lugo came in with lots of fanfare and a huge price tag and was very ineffective - he scored only 3 goals but we started him in only 7 games all year. He’ll get more playing time this year as he continues to settle into English football. I don’t want to give up on him yet.

RESERVE TEAM PLAYERS

-- We have five “reserve” team members who didn’t play at all for the senior club this year: GK Steven Potter, MC Adam Hyde, MC Gary Archer, MR Steven Miller and MC Warren Ward. None are going to make an impact here but I plan on extending the contract of GK Potter just so we have a dedicated reserves keeper. Plus, he’s playing for England’s U21 team so he may turn into an asset, at the very least.

LOAN PLAYERS

-- We had five players out on loan for the season. DR Hans Briers was sent to Hull in the Championship and only played three games for their club, as they went with better options and ended up winning promotion to the Premier League next season. Briers won’t amount to anything anyway and with one year left on his contract, will likely be sent away once again. AMR Marcel Quade spent the year with Colchester in the Championship after being in Savona in Italian Serie B last year. Quade was a regular starter at Colchester, scoring three goals and adding 7 assists in 32 starts. Not bad but like Briers, won’t amount to much and will be loaned out again next year if he’s not sold first! Defender Steve Reed was deep depth for us for two years but we loaned him out to MK Dons in the Championship this year. He played a bunch (24 starts and 36 total games) but didn’t impress. DC Adam Betts played for League 2 club Bournemouth and started 45 games for them, anchoring their backfield. He was solid but unspectacular, with 2 goals, 1 assist and a 6.75 rating. He could be a very deep option for us off the bench this year, a la Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz, but Betts doesn’t have much quality and will have to step up his game if he’s ever to stay with our club. Finally, there is new midfield pickup Paolo Secchi, who spent the first half of the season on our bench before agreeing to go to Florentina. He’s got plenty of offensive talent and could easily replace Andrea Rocca if we don’t elect to keep him - Secchi scored 4 goals and added 4 assists in 18 starts with the Italian club.

U18 PLAYERS

-- Alberto Velazquez was a sensation for the U18’s, scoring a record 62 goals (!!!) and adding 19 assists in 32 non-competitive starts. Simply incredible numbers…a man amongst boys! He’ll either play a backup role with our club this year or be loaned out to further his development. He’s currently a 1.5/3.0 rated prospect and even got into four games with our senior team, going scoreless. Our other super prospect is ML Felix Hernandez - he was superb once again for the U18s, scoring an incredible 22 goals and adding 30 assists in 35 non-competitive starts and also got into nine scoreless games for our senior club due to injuries. Like Velazquez, Hernandez is a 1.5/3.0 prospect and I can see him sticking around here as a depth option off the bench this year. DR Eneko Remirez is a 1.0/3.5 prospect and still only 17 years of age. He was excellent in his first year with us, scoring 2 goals and adding 12 assists in 38 non-competitive matches and also got into one game as a sub for the senior team. He’ll spend next season with the U18s as he continues his development. Vlastimil Silhavy was here on a one-year contract and scored 11 goals and added 15 assists in 23 non-competitive starts at midfield. He’s a 1.0/2.5 prospect and I may extend him and keep him around either to play on the reserves team or loan him out. We have a number of others on the U18 team but the four players indicated above are the cream of the crop.

01-01-2015, 12:49 PM	#599
NoSkillz College Benchwarmer Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: St. Catharines, Canada	The stats shown above take into account all competitions with our senior team and include everyone who played at least one game for the big club this past season. GK -- For two years, we’ve been slowly making the transition to having Manuel Perez take over as our main keeper. He struggled to learn the English language so we went slow with him, playing him in only a third of our games during our Champions League winning year but he played great and finally had a basic understanding of the language going into this year. We gave him the starting job this year but he really struggled early and we were forced to utilize veteran Ingo Wilke more than expected. Wilke had one of his best seasons ever, playing in just less than half of our games. Perez played much better during the latter half of the year so I expect that he’ll be just fine but there is no question that Wilke will continue to play a major role going forward, even as he hits his age 32 season. We are in great hands with our goalkeeping. D -- Our main starters spent their fourth consecutive year together. It’s a very young group and they could spend many more years patrolling our side of half but there was a bit of regression from our fullbacks, most notably captain Salim Loucif. Loucif played 41 scoreless games - he’s certainly not here for his offence but his normally phenomenal defence suffered this year, as he was out of position quite a lot and missed a number of tackles that he normally would make. He’s only 26 so I’m not panicking and we do have young phenom Emerson as a backup. Renato Gaucho scored only once but it was a big one - the game winner in our FA Cup final! He continues to develop and at 23, has many more great years ahead of him. Wonderkid Rafinha likely needs more starts, as he played 31 games last year as a main backup - he’s versatile and can play both sides with equal aplomb but he needs to play better when he’s in. Carlos Guzman is our third string fullback - he only got into 7 games last year but he always has played great when called upon, doesn’t complain about his playing time and is still young. His contract is expiring but he’s not asking for much and I may extend him and keep him here as added insurance. -- Our central defence continues to be a major strength at the club. Rayane Hamon is aging like fine wine, once again moving his game up a notch, scoring eight times and staying relatively injury free, as he started the third most games out of anyone at the club this year. 22 year old Claudio Contreras is one of the great young centre half backs in the game. He’s still a bit too inconsistent for my liking but he’s a commanding presence at the back at 6’ 6” tall. Saber Nasri finished his second year as our main backup and once again continues his fine form. 21 year old Mwemere Mutesa was given easy assignments for the most part in his first year with the senior team - cup ties and the odd Premier League match against a lower-half side but he was simply superb in those games - in fact, he DOMINATED games at times. He’s going to be a really good one I believe and he’ll get more opportunities this year. Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz has been a guy like Carlos Guzman over his Dover tenure - not flashy but always plays well when called upon. He got passed on our depth chart this year by Mutesa and with an expiring contract, accepted an offer from Aris in the Greek Superleague. M -- After a year where he exploded for an incredible 14 goals and 19 assists, left midfielder Arsene Bamba had a huge fall, scoring only four goals and adding three paltry assists in an injury plagued season. He just never got on track. Newcomer Mads Pedersen played much more than expected and was very solid, showing great flair and smarts in a 5 goal, 12 assist season to lead all wide midfielders in production. On the other side, Gianluca Bolis continues to confound - he started off like a house on fire then struggled through the middle portion of the season before finally turning up the heat again late in the year. He did end up with 9 goals but he was a passenger way too often for my liking. Graham Allan was the main backup on the right side and was just okay and our deep backup at the position, Lyubomir Kunchev, doesn’t look to be part of our plans in any major capacity. -- We started the year with incumbents Neil Cairney and Jose as starters once again but newcomer Benedikt Raab simply would NOT be denied! The 23 year old had an astonishing year, scoring 10 goals and adding a ludicrous 24 assists in only 37 starts, as he essentially sent superstar Cairney to the bench by the second half of the year. Raab was an incredible find for us and he may be the best midfielder in the world of football. Jose saw a slight stat decline, mostly due to giving up set piece duty to Raab but he continued to produce well - that said, he’s in his age 28 season and he may start to slow down soon. Cairney was decent but not the influential player he was in past seasons, giving up his spot to Raab. He’s also been recently left off the Scottish national team - a crazy development. Veteran Andrea Rocca, so important for years here, has settled into his spot as our fourth or fifth option and just produces whenever called upon. He’s got an expiring contract and I’m still mulling over whether I’ll offer him a new deal. I see less playing time for him in the future due to the oncoming Emmerson Harvey, another wonderkid who needs more playing time. Harvey had 3 goals and 4 assists in only 8 starts this year - he’s one to watch for the future. S -- Coming off an incredible 59 goals and World Player of the Year honours last season, we had big expectations for the sensational Paul Moses. But he’d twice suffer serious injuries to his calf, once with us and once with the English national team and he missed close to nine months of action. He’d only start 11 games for us all year but thankfully, we got an enormous contribution from young Andy Broomes, who we likely only considered a fourth or fifth option at the start of the season. Broomes muscled his way into Moses’ spot and scored 32 goals, showcasing his great speed and a great nose for the net. The stats continue to be there for highly touted star Chiquinho - 27 goals and 12 assists in a team-high 48 starts. He is extremely durable as he starts his age 30 season but inconsistency and a strong penchant for diving rubs me the wrong way. If someone comes calling with 20+ million pounds, I might consider selling him. Zoltan Bardi continues to be an unheralded option off the bench but once again was injured a lot - still, he scored 10 goals and added 9 assists in only 18 starts - great production. Newcomer Manuel Lugo came in with lots of fanfare and a huge price tag and was very ineffective - he scored only 3 goals but we started him in only 7 games all year. He’ll get more playing time this year as he continues to settle into English football. I don’t want to give up on him yet. RESERVE TEAM PLAYERS -- We have five “reserve” team members who didn’t play at all for the senior club this year: GK Steven Potter, MC Adam Hyde, MC Gary Archer, MR Steven Miller and MC Warren Ward. None are going to make an impact here but I plan on extending the contract of GK Potter just so we have a dedicated reserves keeper. Plus, he’s playing for England’s U21 team so he may turn into an asset, at the very least. LOAN PLAYERS -- We had five players out on loan for the season. DR Hans Briers was sent to Hull in the Championship and only played three games for their club, as they went with better options and ended up winning promotion to the Premier League next season. Briers won’t amount to anything anyway and with one year left on his contract, will likely be sent away once again. AMR Marcel Quade spent the year with Colchester in the Championship after being in Savona in Italian Serie B last year. Quade was a regular starter at Colchester, scoring three goals and adding 7 assists in 32 starts. Not bad but like Briers, won’t amount to much and will be loaned out again next year if he’s not sold first! Defender Steve Reed was deep depth for us for two years but we loaned him out to MK Dons in the Championship this year. He played a bunch (24 starts and 36 total games) but didn’t impress. DC Adam Betts played for League 2 club Bournemouth and started 45 games for them, anchoring their backfield. He was solid but unspectacular, with 2 goals, 1 assist and a 6.75 rating. He could be a very deep option for us off the bench this year, a la Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz, but Betts doesn’t have much quality and will have to step up his game if he’s ever to stay with our club. Finally, there is new midfield pickup Paolo Secchi, who spent the first half of the season on our bench before agreeing to go to Florentina. He’s got plenty of offensive talent and could easily replace Andrea Rocca if we don’t elect to keep him - Secchi scored 4 goals and added 4 assists in 18 starts with the Italian club. U18 PLAYERS -- Alberto Velazquez was a sensation for the U18’s, scoring a record 62 goals (!!!) and adding 19 assists in 32 non-competitive starts. Simply incredible numbers…a man amongst boys! He’ll either play a backup role with our club this year or be loaned out to further his development. He’s currently a 1.5/3.0 rated prospect and even got into four games with our senior team, going scoreless. Our other super prospect is ML Felix Hernandez - he was superb once again for the U18s, scoring an incredible 22 goals and adding 30 assists in 35 non-competitive starts and also got into nine scoreless games for our senior club due to injuries. Like Velazquez, Hernandez is a 1.5/3.0 prospect and I can see him sticking around here as a depth option off the bench this year. DR Eneko Remirez is a 1.0/3.5 prospect and still only 17 years of age. He was excellent in his first year with us, scoring 2 goals and adding 12 assists in 38 non-competitive matches and also got into one game as a sub for the senior team. He’ll spend next season with the U18s as he continues his development. Vlastimil Silhavy was here on a one-year contract and scored 11 goals and added 15 assists in 23 non-competitive starts at midfield. He’s a 1.0/2.5 prospect and I may extend him and keep him around either to play on the reserves team or loan him out. We have a number of others on the U18 team but the four players indicated above are the cream of the crop. __________________ MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo Last edited by NoSkillz : 01-01-2015 at 01:00 PM.