Training Camp Begins
-- The players return from their vacation and two of our central midfielders are injured upon reporting to the team:
Gian Marco Fanfoni and
Emmerson Harvey will miss most of the preseason by the looks of it but we knew that would be the case in advance. Thankfully, there are no other fitness concerns from my assistant manager.
-- In our team meeting, my coaches give me the low-down on where we stand in relation to other teams in the league. We still struggle in a few key categories:
Aggression - Low (Same as last year)
Concentration - High
Dribbling - Poor (Same as last year)
Height - Good, among the tallest squads in the league (Same as last year)
Speed - High (same as last year)
Strength - Poor
Fitness - Best in the League (Third year in a row)
Age - Youngest team in the League (We've been the youngest squad all six years in the Premier League)
Transfers IN
-- We sign a couple more youngsters for our U18 team in GK
Anthony Gardiner and MR
Steven Miller. Neither are great prospects but will help our U18 team in their bid to win their league once again.
Loan OUT
-- I was hoping to get rid of him by selling him but instead, we loan out midfielder
Shaun Spall to Norwich for the season. Norwich just got promoted back up to the Premier League so Spall won’t be eligible to play in games against us. We get an up front loan fee of £575,000 - we’ll take it.
Transfers OUT
-- I release two former U18 players whose contracts had expired. Striker
Tomas Liska and defender
Geoff Williams are released on a free.
Transfer Talk
-- ST
Orlando Scolari rejects a contract offer from FC RB Salzburg and a potential £5.5 million sale is nullified. Bastard! Scolari was picked up last year and loaned out for the season. He’s a surplus to requirements here and I could use the money a sale would bring. I’ve got a couple offers in right now - one is a huge one on a central midfielder star and I continue to chase central defenders too.
Transfer IN
-- We’ve waited patiently for a work permit to be issued to a 19 year old Brazilian fullback and it’s finally granted. I’m absolutely delighted to introduce
Rafinha as the newest member of Dover Athletic!
We scoop up this youngster from Omonoia in Cyprus for £4.3 million and I’m STUNNED at his ratings when he arrives - my scouts felt he was a 2.5/4.0 type of player but upon arrival, my coaches feel he is currently rated between 3.0 and 3.5 with a potential rating of 4.5! This guy is a stud and may end up being an upgrade on Kostas Zagos, who was taken from us by Chelsea late last month. Rafinha (real name is Rafael dos Santos Gomes) doesn’t know the language so we’ll bring him along slowly but I still envision him playing a similar role as Zagos did last year, which means he could see close to 20 starts. He can play both sides of the field and that versatility is a huge plus. This is an exciting signing for us!
Preseason Fun
-- Our upcoming friendly against FC Bayern Munich will be televised live.