[NoSkillz]

Dover Fans' Player of the Year

-- It was likely a close race with striker Shanon Andrea but in the end, it's right midfielder Gianluca Bolis who is named as Dover's Player of the Year by our supporters. Bolis was sensational, without question. By the way, Bolis still hasn't received his first senior team cap and has been on the bench for Italy during the World Cup. He's blocked by Inter's 24 year old phenom Jonathan Bottone and Bolis will likely need a Bottone injury to see action.



Dover Best Eleven for 2021-22

-- No major surprises here:

GK - Ingo Wilke - 48 apps 0g 6.96 avg
DL - Renato Gaucho - 54 apps 1g 7.07 avg
DC - Rayane Hamon - 54 apps 4g 7.20 avg
DC - Paulus Tjiuoro - 21 apps 1g 7.00 avg
DR - Salim Loucif - 47 apps 1g 7.15 avg
MC - Andrea Rocca - 45 apps 3g 7.16 avg
MC - Neil Cairney - 48 apps 5g 7.08 avg
ML - Arsene Bamba - 53 apps 9g 7.28 avg
MR - Gianluca Bolis - 50 apps 16g 7.29 avg
ST - Shanon Andrea - 31 apps 24g 7.52 avg
ST - Paul Moses - 22 apps 9g 7.11 avg

Other notables: DR Ross McLaughlin 1 apps 0g 5.80; DR Jozef Kuciak 13 apps 0g 6.91; DC Claudio Contreras 39 apps 2g 6.96; DM Mancini 26 apps 0g 6.94; ST Zoltan Bardi 35 apps 13g 7.07; ST Wayne Rooney 31 apps 12g 6.95; ST Giorgos Gesios 34 apps 8g 6.86

A slight surprise to see Paul Moses get on the team but it's obviously heavily slanted towards average rating so it's understandable to see him up there. What Ross McLaughlin is doing on the other notables list is beyond me...

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 - 251 apps 0g 7.01 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 - 192 apps 36g 7.22 avg
MC - Zoltan Bardi - 200 apps 70g 7.03 avg
MC - Andrea Rocca - 190 apps 35g 7.27 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

No changes to the starting eleven from last year.

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
MR - Gianluca Bolis - 123 apps 29g 7.11 avg
ST - Ben Hunt - 156 apps 70g 7.12 avg

Gianluca Bolis comes onto the list for the first time and former striker Gerardo Escobar comes off.


2022-23 Barclays Premier League Fixture List Announced

-- We open our season on the road at Everton and our first home game is against "oil-rich" Tottenham. For the THIRD consecutive year, our Boxing Day game AND our final game of the season are both against Manchester City.

-- We are given £40,000,000 spread over 12 months for Premier League television rights. Sweetness.


Start of Season Expectations

-- OK here we go! For the second consecutive year, the board is hoping we achieve a top half finish in the Premier League for the upcoming season but I'm more ambitious then they are. I'm really gunning for a league title but I won't be that bold in our budget meeting and instead tell them my goal is European qualification again. For that they'll offer the following:

2022/23 TRANSFER BUDGET - £38,000,000 (Last Year: £27,500,000)
2022/23 WAGE BUDGET - £700,000 (Last Year: £450,000/week)

These are hefty hikes from last year, with obvious help from all that Champions League money we earned. I may use some of that transfer money to edit our wages higher but we'll see how things go.


Youth Intake - U18 Club

-- Once again, I'm completely let down by our youth intake and our best prospect from this class has a meagre 1.5 potential rating. With two improvements made to our recruiting network I've been expecting better. We haven't developed one true "home-grown" talent in all my years here at Dover.

-- Two players are promoted to our senior team due to turning 19: promising left fullback Carlos Guzman and GK Louis Read. Both have a chance to play a bit this year but will likely be sent to our reserves for seasoning.


-- Chelsea is rumoured to be preparing a £40,000,000 bid for Neil Cairney which would activate his minimum release clause. If they want him that bad, I'll take the money and run but obviously I want to see Cairney develop here.