FM2012 - 2 Live Crewe (And US Too!)

[Abe Sargent]

Crewe – I have a ton of international call ups.

Because West Brom hasn’t won a game in 6 tries, we are favorites even though we’re in their place.


March Games:

1st – West Brom away
8th – Middlesbrough home
11th – Sheff Utd away
15th – Crystal Palace home
19th – Birmingham away
22nd – Tottenham away, FA Cup
25th – Hull home
29th – Nottm Forest away

A ton of games this month.

USA

5th – USA vs Paraguay, home, friendly

McKee named young player of the month for February, Dongou second


Daineche in for Barty for today’s West Brom match. We are lucky to catch them on a losing streak. We have some difficult games coming up (2nd, 14th, 10th, 4th and Tottonhem) and to have caught one of the more difficult games of the year, the #2 team in their place, in bad sorts is lucky. Can we do something with that luck? We’ll find out today. I want to get to the USA game so I’ma fast sim in. We tie 0-0. Mikkel Diskerud broke his ankle, and I replace him on the USA squad. I call up Benny Feilhaber. Edu is out too and in goes 21 year old Sebastian Lletget.

[Abe Sargent]

USA v Paraguay

I begin controlling, since we are home. Paraguay scores on the 27th minute after Donovan fails to intercept a cross, and the header is on target on goal. They foul Adu just outside of the box and a dfk is on target but blocked. Convey scores in the 40h. Chandler with a nice cross from the outside line finds him. We’re looking better in the last part of this half. Until they say Clarence Goodson tripped someone in the penalty box in extra time. Paraguay makes it. 1-2 half. Next half underway. I make a few changes in the mid 50s. I pull Adu, swap Dempsey to his place, put Donovan as a striker with Jozy, and Jose Francisco Torres goes in the middle for Adu. Convey picks up an injury in the 57th minute and I swap Heath Pearce for him. They get a counter in the 62nd minute and a third goal off it . I pull Goodson for Oguchi. Daniel Williams in for Castillo. Sacha Kljestan for Bradley, Feilhaber for Dempsey. A corner kick bounces in the area, and Iro finds it and scores. He has scored on his debut, as a DC, and in the 76th minute given us a shot back in this. I slide to attacking. Game.

[Abe Sargent]

Barty in for Daineche today for Middlesbrough match. Another quick sim, and then I’ll get back to the good stuff. We win 1-0 and scored off Mohoek,and Barty was MOM. Daineche is rested and back in the lineup, replacing Gorman. Whle Sheff Utd was doing well, iit hs lost two of the last three games and tied the other. I begin attacking to try and get some pressure early in the face of their down morale. It works - in the 9th minute, Dongou gets the ball after Molhoek tackles a defender and kicks it to him, no defenders on him, he goes on to score. I back into standard Bunjaku grabs a yellow. We continue pressure, and then, in the final minutes of the half, Dongou strikes again. McKee has an indirect free kick he puts short to Molhoek, who passes to Bunjkau, who finds Dongou who scores. Halftime. I move to counter. Dongou grab a yellow post-half. I sub Stewart for McKee, Risser for Bunjaku and swap them. They get a score in the 75th minute. I swap Frimpong for Tonge. Then Nijland grabs one in the 87th off a Dongou tackle, he has the ball and was bringing it in when they tackled him, Nijland pounced and scored. MOM is Dongou, duh.

Our new youthers arrive, and I take a looksee. I have a few solid propects. 15 year old Dan Martin is a striker with a 13 finishin, 11 dribbling, 12 heading and 12 jumping, 10/7 speed, 14 flair, 13 work rate. He’s a good guy. Middie, 16 year old Goerge Collymore can play ML, MC, AML and has some good stats. But the best is 15 year old GK Nathan Williaims, with 13 agility, balance, 11 jumping, 10 aerial ability, 12 reflexes, etc.

[Abe Sargent]

I replace Molhoek for Stewart, since he’s tired. Today we host #5 Crystal Palace, and I’ll begin standard. They score quickly, in the 8th minute. Too much ball movement and my defenders couldn’t keep up. We score right back in the 11th when McKee sets up Nijland with a nice long shot for goal. Harewood finds Dongou with a lot of space but pushed aside for a corner by the GK. A corner header is just off target by Ilunga and they hit us on the counter from 25 yards out in the 26th minute. Dongou has a few good runs and a 1:1 shot blocked. Half time. The next one opens. They injure Harewood in the 60th minute, and I sub in Benali and swap him for Nijland. Stef can play striker too. Ilunga grabs a yellow card I toss in Frimpong for Tonge in the 68. I pull Ilunga for Avci in the 75th. McKee injured one of theirs. We score back right after the sub is made. Benali is running with the ball. He feeds it to Nijland running it. Stef is disposed by three defenders who converge on the ball and him. It falls loose to Benali, who kicks into an open goal. Now it’s 2-2 and it’s anybody’s game. They tackle in a dangerous place for a dfk, and here goes McKee in the 89th minute. His shot on target, but their GK grabs it. Game. tied. MOM is Nijland. Harewood is injured for a month with a strained ligament – we move Gommans in. Nijland gets Team of Week.

[Abe Sargent]

Can we beat Birmngham on the road? We’ll found out today! I start countering. They score in the 15th and 35 minute. I try to head up, and then we get some hope, Nijland gifts Dongou with a run behind their defense and he converts. Halftime, 1-2. We move into the secnd half and it’s very quiet. Twenty minutes roll off in a few seconds I sub in Gorman for a underwhelming Daineche, Stewart for McKee and Frimpong for Molhoek. We get some pressure, but nothing. They get some, and nothing. We lose 1-2


Next up is the woodshed game in Tottenham’s court. Larbi is back and will start for a tired Tonge. I fast sim it, it’s a boring game. We lose 1-2, with Barty getting a header off a ifk for a score in the 89th minute. Gommans is injured for 10-12 days. Beattie is back. I move Dan Martin to my subs to give him some match experience with this loss to my striker corps.

[Abe Sargent]

I bench McKee for Stewart. Gorman is up for Barty. Let’s head to the match. I begin with a control set up. Today is raining hard. They score in the 5th minute. Dongou reciprocates with a long header by Ilunga that springs him free for a score in the 21st. After the half, Molhoek is injured, and I pull him for Frimpong. Risser heads in for Daineche, and Ilunga gets a header off a Stewart corner kick and scores in the 77th minute. We swap in Martin for Beattie, and keep the win. 2-1. MOM is Ilunga


I move Martin to the starting spot and pull Beattie. Barty in for Daineche. McKee back in, Tonge in for Bunjaku. We are away in Nottm Forest and I start countering. They get a nice assist down the center for an assist in the 13th Dongou slips on the wet grass, recovers, grabs the ball and scores fromteh corner of the box on the 25th minute. Half. Gorman grabs a card They tackle Dongou in the penalty box hard and it’s a penalty - KcKee scores and we are up in the 55th minute. I pull a tired Larbi for Bunjaku. In the 72nd, I pull carded Gorman for Avci. Martin has a nie shot on goal, on target, blocked by gk. Final sub – Nijland for Benali. Game. Dongou is MOM.


You can tell I’m building around youth with older players in temporary gaps. Who is leaving in three months?

Molhoek – 32. Carlos – 34. Harewood – 34. Dainehe – 31. Gommans – 31 Quintin – 30. Beattie, - 36. Stewart – 33. Davis – 22. You can see me removing the older players and getting younger. I want to replace Daineche in the DC, find a new middie to star in the middle, get better on the edge and improve massively in strikers.

[Abe Sargent]

Welcome to April – Ilunga and Dongou in Team of Week, Dongou Young Player of Month,


5th – Leeds, home
12th – Norwich, away
19th – Brighton, home
22nd – Reading, away
26th – Bournemouth, home
May 5th – Watford, away

We are currently in 6th place. Our remaining schedule pits us against the 11th 12th 13th, 9th, 14th and 18th teams in that order. We have a chance to remain in 6th and have a playoff slot. We are two wins above Middlesbrough in 7th. We got lucky catching some better teams at the right time, and we got very very lucky with Dongou, plus Delle is allowing fewer goals per game than a Carlos did – Carlos was 46 goals in 28 games, Delle is 14 goals in 12 games. Delle has 4 clean sheets, Carlos has 5. So the combination of Delle and Dongou have been really good, and sinc ewe signed Delle we moved from 10th to 6th in the league charts. That’s not an accident. The team still needs a lot of improvement to get promoted, but we are in a good place with core younger players such as Barty, Nijland and those guys.


Jordan Jones has returned from a long loan. I give him a spot to get some play. I move back to the 4-3-3
and drop Dan Martin back to the youth squad. We have starting Bunjaku, Avci, Daineche, Barty, Ilunga, Delle, McKee, Tonge, Molhoek, Nijland and Dongou. I give Jones the #40 jersey. We begin controlling. A lot of aggressive ball by both sides early. A few shots on target by both teams. By the 30th minute we’ve had four shots on target be stopped by their GK. A corner kick is kicked out to Dongou in front on the goal who tries to head it in. It falls to Barty who kicks it in 36th minite. Nijland gets a great cross to Dongou, who with a diving header nails in into the back right corner of the net in the 38th minute. Avci is injured jut before the half, in goes Gorman. Half. Bunjaku gets a card and Barty does as well. They power a goal past both Delle and Gorman for a goal in the 63rd. I sub Jones in for Molhoek. My final sub in the 82nd minute is Dongou out for Gommans. He’s very tired and I need to pull him to reserve him for the next game. Game. Barty is MOM and in Game of Week.

[Abe Sargent]

I bring in a nice trialist from Iran, 19, plays DC and DR, but he’s to slow and wants too much, so I won’t be keeping him around. He’s solid though. West Brom and Birmingham has guaranteed a playoff spot and we’ve moved to 5th.

Back to a 3-5-2for today’s match vs Norwich. Back in is Larbi, and Nijand as striker alongside Dongou and Bunjaku in his spot. Let’s see how this works. Since we are away, I begin counter set up. Tonge is dinged in the first few minutes but we’ll keep him in. Tonge wth a vicious cross off a counter to Nijland, who finishes in the 5th minute. Now Larbi is injured but will stay on in the 24th They are pressuring us now. Bunjaku is injured and is pulled for Benali in the 45:21 spot. Half. I remind them of complaceny and send them out for another half. Larbi is dinged a second time, so I decide to pull him in the 51st minute. In goes Jordan Jones. Delle stops a 1:1 shot from going in in the 57th minute they had gotten off a counter. Massive pressure ensues. I mean massive. In the 74th I sub in Gorman for Nijland, who s tired, and I pull him back. I move to a 4-5-1. I pull back Benali from the AMC role, move Molhoek to the DMC slot, and lt’s see what we can do with that. I tell my lds to pass sshort and tackle hard – no yellows in the match so far in the 81st minute. Ilunga is injured. I move back to a three defender set. I pull Dongou to AMC and my wide guys to WB roles. Can we survive a few more minutes? 3 minutes of added time. Game. I have no idea why Delle doesn’t have a higher rating. 6.3? They had 8 shots on target and he stopped every one. How is that not better than that? Ilunga has a torn calf muscle and will be out for 4 months. Ouch.

[Abe Sargent]

Harewood is back, and I will start Avci this week. Avci hs switched to German first and Turkish second and he has now deemed the new Stefan Reuter. I open here vs Brighton with control. We have some pressure early and another dose late, but can’t’ connect with the net - we need to improve in the 2nd half. Swaps – Molhoek for Stewart, Bunjaku for Larbi, an then we finaly break through in the 77th minute. McKee took a shot, blocked, Nijland put away the rebound. My final swap – Frimpong for McKee. They score right back on a counter attack after an interception of a Bunjaku pass. Tie game. I tell me lads we shoulda won. Nijland is MOM and in Team of Week.


QPR won a playoff slot. We play Reading and its quick and painful – 1-0 loss on the road – it was one of those games that is over in two minutes and you wonder what actually happened in the game

[Abe Sargent]

Our final home match has arrived, vs Bournemouth. Molhoek is benched for Stewart. Avci, tired, will make way for Davis in his last home match for the fans. I begin controlling. Stewart gets banged up in the first minutes. Harewod scores in the 15th minute. Larbi was driving up the right flank, tackled, the ball continued, Harewood grabbed it and put it away. Pressure by us commences. We harvest nothing from it. McKee lofts an indirect free kick to Nijland, behin everyone, and he shoots and scores in the 41st minute. Half. Dongou gets a beautiful long shot that powers through eh GK and sinks in the 53rd minute. Set up by Harewood. I make my first sub. Stewart leaves for Benali. Dongou gets another goal in the 56th minute after getting free from an assist by Nijland after he had headed down a pass an lofted to Dongou. 2nd sub. Mckee out, Frimpong in. Tonge is knocked a bit in the 60s, we keep him in. My final sub at the 75 is Bunjaku for Tonge. I had wanted to bring in Beattie for one last match, but Tonge is down. That was a dominant win. Nijland is MOM, but Dongou was 8.8, Harewood 8.1, lot of great play.

[Abe Sargent]

West Brom won the Championship. We have guaranteed a playoff spot. We are hot right now, and if we manage to win the playoffs, this would be an unheard of group of three years. From League 2 to EPL in three years. We likely won’t be 4th. Wigan is three points ahead and +13 on GD beyond us. We can’t fall to 6th, so we are basically guaranteed 5th. I have never gotten promoted to th EPL – often I get tired with my dynastes before I get too many years in the Championship, and I’e never even finished in the playoffs before. Nijland in Team of Week.

[Abe Sargent]

Because the Watford match doesn’t matter,we’ll just quick sim it and move on. I’m also cooking Manwich, so I need to watch it. We win 3-2, MOM is Dongou with two goals and Nijland with one. Dongou in Team of Week.


We finish 5th, with 79 points and a +13 GD. Bournemouth won, Birmingham was 2nd and is promote to the EPl as well. The Playoffs are 3rd place QPR, 4th place Wigan, 5th place us and 6th place Crystal Palace

So we play Wigan The first leg of two is in our house on the 10th. CP beat QPR in their place 2-0 in thir semi final first leg. The Crewe U18s win the league, with U18 clubs such as Man City, Man U, Liverpool and Wigan in the league, we still managed to win – we are about youth.

[Abe Sargent]

Here it goes. The playoffs begin. This is where we put our mark on destiny. We move Gorman and Molhoek to the starting roster. I begin standard. They cross and score past Daineche in the 7th minute. That;s not the start I was hoping for. We get some set pieces, to no avail. It’s raining today. They get a second score in the 16th minute. They get header off a corner in the 23rd minute. McKee crosses to Daineche on a corner to get a score in the 27th minute. Half time. Several shots on goal pushed away by Wigan. I sub in Stewart for Molhoek in the 61st. I move to control, and sub in Bunjaku for Harewood. Larbi and Daineche get yellows. Game. That was not what I expected, we lose 1-3.

[Abe Sargent]

The next game is 13th in their home. We need a hail mary. Crystal Palace lost 3-2 on the road to QPR but defeated them in aggregate. That’s going to annoy QPR a lot. They were favs to jump back up. Can we get a miracle vs Wigan in their home? I begin standard. Dongou is injured and I replace him with Gommans. They get a cross and score in the 14th minute. We feel it was an uncalled offsides. Tonge picks up a knock in the 32nd minute. I leave him in for now. Half time. Larbi with a booking. In the mid 50s, I pull Tonge for Bunjaku. I push forward to control. McKee is injured and has to come, in goes Benali. All of my subs for injuries. Barty collects yellow. They score again in the 86th minute. Not the result I was hoping for. Ah well. Next year.


My squad go on break I need to find some talent. Can I unearth another Dongou? A Barty, Delle or Nijland will work too.

[Abe Sargent]

Stats –

Dongou was 2nd in league with 31 goals. McKee leads league in 4 penalty kicks. Mckee tied for 3rd with 14 assists. Nijland had ten and was tied for 18th Dongou was 11th in dribbles per game. He was 3rd with a 56% on target. McKee’s cross completion ratio was 12th with 37%. Nijland was 5th with 46 key passes. Barty was first with 116 key headers Ilunga and Daineche tied for 10th with 82 each. Daineche 14th tie for picks at 232, Barty in 17th wit 226, Ilunga in 26th wth 209. Dongou has the 4th best ratio with 7.35

We had 24 sellouts out of 24 home games. We had the 3rd lowest salary. The most, Aston Villa, had six times the salary we had. We finished 5th, they finished 13th. Tied for 2nd in goals from IFKs with 12, Tied for 5th in DFKs with 2. 13th wth 8 corners. Scored 79 goals 5th most. Allowed 70, 14th best.


I need new DC for Daineche, new MCs for McKee and Stewart/Molhoek’s spot, new strikers, and new wideouts, at least one. This is a chane to invest in next year. I take a look to see what is out there right now. Maybe I can find a gem that’s not with a contract. I doubt it, but you never know and it doesn’t hurt to look.

[Abe Sargent]

I actually find someone to make an offer to. I know of a DC named Tor Marius Gromstad, and I like him. He’s not a stud but he’ll work. I also search and add a ton of people to the USA squad. There are few more I like but not enough to make an offer to right now . Gromstad is joining us.

Crystal Palace bow out Wigan 3-0 and win the playoffs. We are given 2.5 mill for playing and give out 500k in squad payments.

I’m surprised that Dongou does not win young player of the year, the striker who won had a 7.15 average and just 24 goals. Lower goals, and lower rating significantly.

Championship – Win, Aut, Playoff – West Brom, Birminham Crystal Palace; Relgated 3rd worst, 2nd rowst, 1st worst – Cardiff, Tranmere, Barnsley

EPL – Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea – Relegated – Bolton, Leicester, Wolves

L1 – Huddersfield, Leyton Orient, Scunthorpe – Relegated Rotherham, Coventry, Stevenage, Carlisle

L2 – Port Vale, Brentford, Yeovil, Shrewsbury – Relegated, Morecambe, Wrexham

[Abe Sargent]

Michael Owen is signed as a first team coach by CPalace and we get an amount of change. My U20 manager for the USA was hired for Vancouver. I kick my USA ass man to the curb, he wasn; that good. I offer it to the now retried Steven Cherundolo. He accepts.

I extend my coaches who are expiring this year, because I like all of my guys.I resign a scout and look for a replacement scout for the other guy. I make an offer to an Argentinian and a Serbian.

Youth players are released today in England, so I look to see if any attract me. Initial budget set for next year, not a lot of change.

[Abe Sargent]

I have to choose my USA set up, so let me look at all of my discoveries to see if I can find my new slate of players


My defense is too slow, I make some changes. Good bye Clarence Goodson. Good bye Andy Iro. Good Bye Benny Feilhaber. Bye Sacha Kjestan – I’m also pulling Beasley.


GK – Tim Howard, Brad Guzman, Sean Johnson
DC – Jalil Anibaba (25, uncapped), Oguchi Onyewu, Zak Whitbread, Jonathan Spector
DR – Daniel Williams, Jalil Anibaba, Timothy Chandler, Jonathan Spector
DL – Daniel Williams, Edgar Castillo, Heath Pearce, Gavin Tavernese, (25, uncapped)
MC – Landon Donovan, Jonathan Spector, Freddy Adu, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Jose Francisco Torres, Daniel Williams Alejandro Bedoya, Joe Corona (uncapped, 23)
ML – Freddy Adu, Heath Pearce, Joe Corona, Landon Donovan, Brek Shea (24, uncapped)
MR - Timothy Chandler, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Joe Corona, Freddy Adu, Jose Francisco Torres
ST – Jozy Altidore, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Bobby Shou Wood (21 uncapped), Isaac Acuna, (24, uncapped)




Carlos Bocanegra is injured, as is Bobby Convey,


We will get some youth players some play, and I expect to play Acuna, Wood, Shea, Coruna, Anibaba and Tavernese this year. We need to move to the next gen.


Some of the younger players I expect to tap who have a future


Isaac Acuna




Bobby Shou Wood





Brek Shea




Daniel Williams





mega-star Timothy Chandler, who you may already know

[Abe Sargent]

Starting Squad for our game today vs Scotland


Tim Howard, Timothy Chandler, Edgar Castillo,Jalil Anibaba, Oguchi Onyewu, Brek Shea, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, Isaac Acuna

This gives some players I have high hopes for – Acuna, Shea, and maybe Anibaba a starting opportunity. I suspect Acuna will be the future striking twin for Altidore. I begin standard. Shea with a nasty cross to Altidor and the header just turned aside in the 4th minute. They score on a counter attack from that. Again, Onyewu is just too slow. We need speed. They score again in the 10th. Their guy gets a hat trick in the 43rd minute. Half. Jozy collects a card. I pull Altidore and move Dempsey in and place in Torres. I also pull Gooch for Spector. In the 60s I pull Bradley for Adu, Castillo for Tavernese. In the mid 70s, I pull Acuna for Daniel Williams, and Shea for Pearce. They sneak a score in the 76th minute. Adu nails Jonathan Spector on an indirect free kick for a score in the 88th minute.

[Abe Sargent]

I sign my new scouts. Michael Stewart has announced he is retiring.


My new player – Tor Marius Gromstrad. DC, DM, MC, 24, 3.2k, 85k value. 12/11 speed, 14 jump, 15 head, 16 tack, 13 tack, 15 agg, 17 brav, 16 str, 17 inf, 16 determ 14 composure, 15 team work, 14 rk rate, etc. Norwegian. Speaks English, Norwegian, Danish and Swedish, Fairly Determined. I imagine him as my 4th DC if I can find someone better. I make an offer to Bobby Shou Wood for Crewe, and I hope I can slip him past the permits. I doubt it, but I’m taking a shot.

Risser announces his retirement. Beattie does as well. I offer a few trials. I have one I really like, 18 year old newgen German/Albanian Striker, AMR named Erjon Salku. I hope I can sign him. I release some of my players early, free up some salary, and make an offer to Salku.

Dongou wins Player of the Year by the fans. We're given 3.7 mill for the TV Stuff. My board demands hitting the playoffs again as their expectations. I confirm that. We have officially signed Erjon Salku


Erjon Salku, coming really nice. I'll show a pic of him in a bit He’s a good 3rd or occasional starter in my ST position.



Gromstad

[Abe Sargent]

Since Barty is a newgen, I thought I'd take a pick for ya. This is not from when I first picked him up, but the end of season 3.




And here's Salku

[Abe Sargent]

Welcome to the most important day of the year, June 30th.


Stewart retires.

Ben Davisson is gone – several loans finish. Players gone include McKee returning, Molhoek, Beattie, Clayton.

Now I take a look and see who else is running around available on a free. Can I find a stud DC, ST and MC/MR/ML? Famous people currently without a club include Joe Cole, Miroslav Klose and Harry Kewell. I make an offer to David Murphy, who is 30, English, and worth two year deal to start on the left wing. I also offer to a Belgium defender for 3k contract to be another body in defense, since I’m not finding a stud.

I like McKee, but he’s a bit slow. He’s gotten better for us while playing. For example, his passing is now 16. His rating was a 6.88 and that’s inflated by penalty kicks, ,dfks, and other set pieces. As a non-set piece middie, he just didn’t have the gas. It’s time to let him go. But, Mckee counted as a Homegrown player, and that was nice. I make an offer to an older, 31 year old Dean Hammond, English, to play some middle for me. Not a stud starter, and not really a starter, just another Frimpong that I can rely on.

We have signed ST Bobby Shou Wood for an 18k transfer fee from Germany. David Murphy signs on the 3rd. I also sign some youth players. Some major upsets in the World Cup, and I’ll tell you all about it in bit once it’s all over. Hammond signs. The team that upset England in the round of 16 just upset France in the Quarters. Wood is injured for a few weeks in training. Craziest World Cup of all time, no joke. It’s a shame the US isn’t in it. If they were I wouldn;t have their manager job, but still

After considering a lot of other offers, Pieter Mbemba signs with us. Our first friendly is today, the 10th of July, vs Port Vale. Salku, Avci, Dongou, Ilunga and Wood are either in international play or injured. I have my ass man take care of it, since many of my guys are gone and it’s a friendly. We lose 1-2. We draw Hartlepool in the League Cup, 1 rnd .



Wood Again:





Mbemba





Murphy






Hammond

[Abe Sargent]

I look over my youth and reserve youth. I have picked up a lot of players over the last few years. My budget is tight, and maybe I can move a few for some cash. Here are my reserve players, at least 18, with value

ST Ryan Colclaugh, 1 mill
MR Per Jall, 975k
MCRL Jordan Jones, 900k
DC Jiri Papuga, 800k
D/WB R Gunther Mayer, 750k
MC Luke Woodland, 725k
DC Richard Butcher, 575k
DC Declan Dalley, 550k
DC/MC Liam Nolan, 525k
MC/DM Akis Loukinas, 450k
D RL Alex Nicholson, 450k

Liam Wilson is out for 5-6 months with a broken leg and only worth 26k. Everyone else is worth much less. I ask for a trial day. Several of those youth players came from trials. We are Crewe, we are youth. These guys have a lot of value, and if I can move a few, it will really help. My first target for the move is Colclough.

Trial Day time.

[Abe Sargent]

Okay, World Cup 2014, was just won, and you are not going to believe what happened.


From group A, Brazil and Poland qualified. Group B had Croatia and Colombia qualify over Germany. C was Argentina and Belgium over Mexico. Spain and Nigeria qualified from D. In E, the Swiss lost and Cameroon and Ecuador got out. France and Chile were qualified over the Dutch in F. G has England and Italy come out and the final one saw Russia and South Africa qualify.

In the Round of 16, here are the matches:

Brazil vs Colombia
Poland vs Croatia
Argentia vs Nigeria
Spain vs Belgium
Cameroon vs Chile
France vs Ecuador
South Africa vs England
Italy vs Russia

Several powerful clubs are not here, Dutch, Portuguese, Mexican. No Asian club got out of the group stage, not Australia, Japan or South Korea. Figure out who you think wins each match. I’ll even help you, we have three upsets of significance.

[Abe Sargent]

Our winners are:

Colombia, 1-0 over Brazil
Poland 3-1 over Croatia
Argentina 2-0 over Nigeria
Spain 1-0 over Belgium
Cameroon 4-2 over Chile in extra time
France 3-1 over Ecuador
South Africa 1-1 over England, penalty kicks
Russia over Italy 3-1


So Italy, England and Brazil all fall in the first knockout round.

The Quarterfinals:


Colombia vs Spain
Poland vs Argentina
Cameroon vs Russia
France vs South Africa

[Abe Sargent]

Now I want you to imagine who is the underdog and who is the goliath in these four matches. So far a, a few losses in the previous round are odd, but this is where everything spins out of control. Who are the underdogs? Colombia is a massive one, right? They win 3-1. Poland is a massive one too, right? They win 1-1 in penalty kicks. Cameroon is likely one, but not as much, and they win 1-1 in penalties. Finally, France is clearly favored vs South Africa, and they lose as well, 2-1.

That leaves s with South Africa, Cameroon, Poland and Colombia. All four teams which have never won a World Cup. In a quarter final marked by upset, we have an incredible story unfolding

Semis:

Colombia vs South Africa
Poland vs Cameroon

Who will win? At this point, it could be anyone’s game!

[Abe Sargent]

South Africa wins 2-0. Cameroon wins 2-0.

That sets up an all African World Cup final.
















South Africa wins, 2-1. Colombia beats Poland in the 3rd place game 2-1.

1st South Africa
2nd – Cameroon
3rd – Colombia
4th – Poland

Incredible!

[Abe Sargent]

I sign a few youthers from the trial day.

I only get 150k for Colclough and the other youth I tried to unload, Luke Woodland, has no one really interested. I sign a backup Striker, and you’re going to LAUGH when I tell you who. Colclough goes to Brighton. I keep my smaller pitch.

If you remember, my first year in Crewe I loaned various strikers to play the point. Well, one of those was released, is now 22, and expects a backup contract after being let go by MK Dons. He had been with West Ham, then he played adequately for Dons, but not super well. He comes in worth just 100k and being paid 2.4k a week, Say hello to Cristian Montano.

Colombian, English, ML or ST, 12/13 sped, 12 finish, dribb, 13 cross, 9 pass, 10 head, 12 tck, technique, 9 stam, etc. Not great anymore. I felt I needed a 4th ST to go behind Wood, Dongou and Salku. He can play M LR as a backup too, so he;s our 4th ST and maybe our 3rd ish M and MR. Balanced. Speaks Spanish and English



Montano

[Abe Sargent]

I haven’t told you my other singings yet, so let’s do that now:


Bobby Shou Wood – AM R, ST, 21 years old, American, 5.75k a week, 18k value. 14/13 speed, 11 jump, 8 stam, 9 strength. 14 finish, 16 head, 14 cross, 11 dribb, 12 first touch, 10 mark long shots, 13 pass, 10 tack, 12 technique;13 flair, 15 off the ball, composure, 13 antiipation, 12 creativity, work rate, team work, 11 positioning, 10 determin, aggression, concentration. He also has 11 corners, 16 penalty taking, and 12 free kick. Fairly Professional, speaks English, German, and a bit of Spanish - born in Hawaii

Why Bobby? I like for a few reasons. First of all, he can play on my flank. He’s competent on the MR. Secondly, he can be my new penalty kicker, and he’s useful at other set pieces not named long throws. When I play someone on my flank in a 3-5-2, I want them to have good ball-winning skills, and he does. When I throw him out there, he’ll okay. Now, take a look at his stats again. How often do you see a young striker with double digit scores in tackling and marking? I might try him as a ball winning forward to see what happens, across from Dongou. That could be a nice combo. He has great stats, and I have no idea why his value is so low.


David Murphy – D, WB, M L, 30, English, Determined, 9k/week, 325k overall. Started for Birmingham for 5 of six years with them, good stats (For example, 37 starts, 7.09 rating, in 2011-2012 season for them with 13 assists in the Championship). Naturally a DL, but I like him in the ML role a lot.. I’ve discussed what I want from my wide middies just now. He is my major pickup salary wise. Every technical stat is double digit save for set pieces. Every physical stat and mental stat is a double digit, save for 9 in creativity. His best is 18 in determination, and features 15 teamwork, 14 marking, 13 tackling, 12/13 speed, 14 stamina so I don’t have to replace him every game, because he’s tired, etc. I suspect he’ll slide right in nice and neatly. He was elated to join us and get back to stating in football after a stint with the Wolves last year that had him play virtually not at all.

[Abe Sargent]

A few more


Pieter Mbemba – DC, DM, Belgium, Congolese (DR). Speaks French, Dutch, German, basic English, Balanced, 3k weekly, 100k overall. I wanted some speed in my DC area – 14/13 gets it He is very strong – 19. Jumping of 15 and heading of 15 I good stuff. Add in 15 marking, but a low tackling of 9. Lots of 11s – pass, dribb, cross, long shots, first touch, penalties, decisions, anticipation, stamina, fitness. 15 wor rate, 14 bravery, determin, 13 teamwork, 10 aggression, influence. I see him and Tor battling for my other DC spot along Ilunga and Barty. They both could start, and both are being paid lower. I can also bring him in the middle if needed occasionally.


Dean Hammond – MC 31, English, Fairly Professional, 3.5k/week, 85k overall. Just a rotation/backup guy to do the Benali/Frimpong role. 10s in speed. 13 pass, mark, tack, techn, 12 first touch, 11 head, 10 drib; 13 jump, 15 stam, 14 strength, 18 influence, 16 team work 14 aggress, concentration, work rate, 13 position, determin, decisions, 12 composure, off the ball. So, good mentals, adequate technicals and physicals.

[Abe Sargent]

GK – Delle, Johnstone *
Defenders – Ilunga, Avci, Gorman *, Barty, Mbemba, Gromstad
Strikers – Dongou, Wood, Montano *, Salku, Dunauskas, Bunjaku*
MR – Larbi, Tonge *, Wood, Montano *,
ML - Murphy *, Tonge *, Montano *, Bunjaku *,
MC – Tonge *, Frimpong *, Benali *, Hammond *, Larbi, Nijland, Gromstad, Mbemba
AMC – Nijland, Benali *, Bunjaku *

I believe that’s a balanced roster now. I have a lot of training Avci for DC, Bunjaku for MC, Hammond for DMC, etc. Players with Asterisks are HG.


Budget – With no transfer money, it’s 105k, and I’m spending 96k. With max transfer budget its 99k vs 86k with a budget of 285000.

I still feel like we could really use a very sexy MC. Tonge will be playing MR, Larbi/Benali/Hammond aren’t super good, Mbemba and Gromstad are defenders who can sub in in an emergency and Nijland is up in the AMC role. That leaves Frimpong as a starter and who else??? I could really benefit by one more MC of massive significance. Let start by looking at the free folks. I actually find someone I like and make an offer.

My guy signs in the 26th.


Rodrigo Battaglia, Argentian and Italian. 23. Plays DM, MC. 5.7/week, 625k salary. 13/14 speed, 13 marking, passing, long shots, 12 tack, 14 technique, 15 first touch, 12 dribb; 13 str, 16 stamina, 13 jump, 15 agi, 12 balance; every mental stat at ten. 14s in work rate, team, creativity. Balanced, speaks Spanish and Italian.


Battaglia

[Abe Sargent]

He will start in my MC role. Ilunga is back from injury. Ilunga speaks Spanish, Montano Spanish, Wood a bit of Spanish,Dongou both, and yet I was asked if I was worried that only Dongou spoke Italian at the presser. Many of my players speak the other Battaglia language though.

Tactics time

Battaglia is given a deep-lying playmaker, support role. Frimpong is given Ball-Winning Midfielder , support role. Barty is in the middle and given a Cover role. The other DCs keep their defend roles. Nijland is moved back to an attacking middle role, on attack.


Tactics done.

[Abe Sargent]

I hand out jerseys and squad numbers to my new guys. My budget is just 3k under. Very nicely done.

This team is better than last year’s in several ways. First of all, Daineche disappointed, and I have two new guys to play there, to find my new guy. Second of all, we’ll begin the year with Delle, and have him a whole year. Thirdly, Battaglia is a huge improvement in the middle over Molhoek, Stewart or McKee. Fourth, I should have real strikers his year, instead of it being the Dongou show alone. Fifthly, Murphy is an improvement on the outside. Lastly, younger players such as Dongou and Delle and Barty have gotten better. For example, last year Dongou’s acceleration was 17 and now its 18, his finishing rose to 16 from 15 his creativity rose to 12, and more. Let’s look at Barty. In the last year, his positioning rose 2, his marking rose 1 to a 16, his strength rose three, and so forth. The only negative I see is the loss of McKee’s set piece styles cloud result in fewer DRK and IRK goals. We have someone with the same corners, and 16 pk is really good on Wood. FK is where we have a hole. Otherwise, this team is younger, faster, and stronger.

Tutoring – Ilunga is mentoring Avci.
Dean Hammond on 16 year old Roland Derungs
Michael Tonge on Jordan Jones
David Murphy on Alban Bunjaku
Kamel Larbi on Erjon Salku
Pieter Mbemba on Joe Gorman
Tor Marius Gromstad on Justin Taylor

[Abe Sargent]

Before I move into the season, who is leaving at the end of this year, and how much can I expect to get in my salary?

Larbi, 5k
Ilunga, 2k
Tonge, 6k
Hammond, 3.5k
Benali, 1.3k
Bunjaku, 2.8k
Gorman, 1.5k
Dunauskas, 190

None are irreplaceable

I loan Obileye to Bury for 6 months. Salku is injured for a month with a training injury.

High cup bonus, normal league bonus. I loan a few more players . A rumor is circulating that Crystal Palace is interested in paying up to 775k for Frimpong. Southampton came in and made an offer for Derungs, for 575k plus 30% profit. I negotiate it to 800k and 40% of next sale and accept the offer.

Hammond is my vice-captain.

We are 8-1 favs for promotion

It’s tough to get out of the Championship, because each year, heavies the EPL come down and ruin your day. Take Bolton. They are expected to get just 3rd. Half of their squad is worth at least 1 mill. Their salary is unreal. The media is predicting 4th for us. The Wolves are predicted 2nd . They also have a ton of players and money thrown at winning. Leicester is expected to head back up at 1st in the league. Again, tons of money and talent across the board. Don’t forget teams like QPR and Middlesbrough breathing down our necks, predicted to be 5th an 6th.


Derungs has officially left for 800k to Southampton. Vancouver just signed Clint Dempsey. I pull Gooch from the USA squad and replace him with 24 year old uncapped Matt Hedges.


The season begins today, August 9. Crystal Palace has made an inquiry for Frimpong. I offer back 850k and 30% sell on. He’s worth about 400k, but we have a pricetag of 1 mill on him.

[Abe Sargent]

Opening Day Roster –

Joris Delle, Herita Ilunga, Bartlemiej Szewczyk, Tor Marius Gromstad, David Murphy, Michael Tonge, Rodrigo Battaglia, Emmanuel Frimpong, Stef Wijland, Bobby Shou Wood, Jean-Marie Dongou. I move Wood to a defensive forward, because I want to see how that goes.


We are favored today on the road vs Wigan. Vengeance time for our spanking last year. I begin countering. A lot of pressure in the 30s. Half time. Next one. No real attacks of note by us in the that half. At the 55 mark I move to standard - I pull a tired and not match fit Battaglia for Benali in the 63rd. My next sub is a tired David Murphy for Bunjaku. Dongou gets the ball and scores in the 78. I pull back to defensive. Let’s hold on! But it’s not to be s they score, not once, but twice in the 80s. Wood gets a yellow in extra time. We lose 1-2


For today’s Hartlepool match, we have a few changes based on internationals. Starting are Montano, Mbemba for Ilunga and Wood, I skip the game since it shouldn’t be that much. We win 3-2, with scores by Barty, Dongou and Battaglia.


I sell Frimpong for 600k plus 30% sell on fee. He was just a body, so I look to see who else I can bring in. I have some extra dough after these two sales. Maybe I can find an MC on the unsigned roster, maybe I’ll buy one or maybe I’ll just loan one. I find loanee I really like playing for West Ham and I make him an offer. Newgen Ben Ide, homegrown, worth 2.2 mill, so let’s hope he joins me.

[Abe Sargent]

USA vs Canada, Friendly

I have put in Carlos Bocanegra and Matt Hedges in the DC spot. Donovan replaces Acuna alongside Altidore and Daniel Williams is starting in the middle. Here we go. I begin controlling. We push for a while, and then we get a score n the 32nd minute. Corner kick by Dempsey fidns Bocanegra’s head for a score. Shea sets up Dempsey beautifully and Dempsey scores in the 38th. Shea’s second start for us, and first assist. Halftime. I’ve given Jozy a target man role, and he’s fed Donovan twice and Bradley once, and all three have their shots blocked. Altidore feeds Donovan after getting a header from Bradley and Donovan scores in the 53rd minute. I think I like Jozy as a target man, he’s been doing really well with it. First sub – Acuna in for Donovan. Canadia gets a header off a corner in the 58th minute to sink. Subs n the 60s – Joe Corona for Williams in the center, Adu for Shea on the left, Heath Pearce for Castillo in the DL. At the 70, I pull Altidore for Wood, my player. Wood has a crack on target, stopped by GK. That would have been awesome. Final sub, Torres for Bradley in the middle. They get a score on an indirect free kick knocked in the in 88th minute. Adu pushes forward and gets a corner in extra time to keep the ball on their side and we win 3-2. Dempsey is MOM. Several of my news players, such as Shea and Hedges, looked good. He had a 6.9 rating. By the way, I am now Bobby Shou Wood’s favorite personnel.

[Abe Sargent]

We draw Huddersfield in our place for Rnd 2 of the League Cup. My middie decides not to come to us. Try another plus I send out a few scouts to other possibilities.


Today we host Bournemouth. Ilunga, Wood, are in. I begin controlling. They are coming forward a lot so I slide to counter. Lots of pressure continues against us. Dongou collects a yellow. Half time. Tonge’s corner finds Gromstad for a score in the 51st minute. They score back in the 54th minute on a rebound shot off the crossbar. Battaglia scores in the 73d minute. In indirect free kick from the half way mark bounces past the GK and in. I make some changes. Dongou for Saiku and Montano for Tonge. I pull Hammond for Gorman, and then swap him for Gromstad. We hold them off and win. 2-1. Battaglia is MOM.

[Abe Sargent]

We may have a problem, hold on. I don’t now why but Hammond is not HG. He’s English, and he started in English leagues. His entire career he’s been at English teams – Brighton, Aldershot, Leyton Orient, Colchester, Norwich and Southampton. How is a native English guy who’s played his whole career in England NOT homegown? In fact, he was with Brighton for his first six years until 21 or 22, with Aldershot and LO just loans. Is there some quirk I don’t get, or is the game flawed? This is bad because I was relying on his HG-ness to work. I move Hammond to squad rotation status. My next loan offer was to a Danish guy, but that won’t work. What HG players can I acquire for my middle spot?

No loaners are here. What about the transfer market? I make a few offers and I make an offer, very expensively, for a guy on a free, just in case. My first offer, accepted by Chelsea, is for an aging Frank Lampard, but he’s not interested in coming down. I admit that was a long shot. I have to walk away from David Jones, 29 year old guy who’s solid, cheap to transfer, but wants too much money.


We start Salku for the 3rd game, vs Middlesbrough and Mbemba - I begin counters. A corner hits Barty, the ball rebounds off the top and falls to Gromstad who puts it in for a score. Salku picks up a knock in the 12th minute. I replace him with Wood. Tonge get a yellow. Some pressure in the 30s. Delle stops a few shots. They get a cross and their guy with a diving header puts it in in the 40th. Half. A long shot from Nijland gives us the lead. We keep it and win 2-1 on the road.

Well, we have the guy off a free, and he’s overpriced ,but he’ll work.

Henri Lansbury, M RCL, 10k/week, 2.1 mill, 23, signed until 2019, I couldn’t get him down. 13/15 speed, 14 passing, crossing, 15 drib, first touch, technique, creativity, 14 flair, finishing, otb, 13 determin, 12 stamina, fitness, tackling, anticipation, composure, decisions, etc Fairly Ambitious – last year ha 40 starts for Nttm Forest with a 6.97 rating.


Lansbury -

[Abe Sargent]

Delle gets injured during training and is out for about two weeks, Sam Johnstone will start instead. We host Sheff Utd. I begin controlling. We have a lot of pressure early, but nothing too fancy. Then they tackle Dongou outside of the box to the side. Here comes an indirect free kick. Salku is taking it and its up, and it find Barty’s diving header on the far side for a score in the 44th minute. Half time. They score right after half in the 48th minute on a counter attack. Nijland feeds Salku who scores to put us up. I begin to make subs, but before they are in, Lansbury finds Tonge in the box who puts it in for a goal. I sub in Mbemba, Wood and Hammond. We move to counter and hold them off, and win 3-1. MOM is Nijland. Good win with a backup GK. On his debut, Lansbury has an assist and a 7.0 rating. Nijland is in Team of Week.


League Cup arrives. We host Huddersfield. I begin attacking and we get a goal in the 19th minute by Salku, so I pull back to control. Dongou set him up. Then in the 24th minute, Murphy finds Tonge for a score. Finally, in the 39th minute, Murphy hits Dongou on an indirect free kick, and Dongou moves to goal and scores. Half time. I pull back to standard. I swap some people, Wood, Hammond and Larbi head in. Murphy is MVP.

[Abe Sargent]

We draw Wigan in the 3rd round in their place. League Cup. We travel to Nottm Forest today. I begin controlling. Barty grabs a yellow and a soft half. I tell them I’m not happy with what I saw and they look fired up. I slide to standard. I was hoping to get a goal or two in the attack. They get a score in the 53rd minute off a rebound allowed by Johnstone. I sub in Larbi for Lansbury. Dongou collects a yellow. In the 75th, I pull Murphy for Bunjaku. I move us to attacking and pull Tonge for Mbemba. Nope, no goals. 1-0 loss.

[Abe Sargent]

September has arrived. No more transfers. Barty gets 3rd for young player of month.


Games:

2nd – Aston Villa, home
13th – Leicester, away
20th – QPR, home
23rd – Wigan, away, League Cup
27th – Wolves, away
30th – Bristol, home


USA

6th – Greece, friendly
10th – Peru, friendly


On the last day of transfers, Southhampton have made an offer t me for Richard Butcher for 850k and I accept. He signs. It’s 12:15, and I have an injection of cash to find a transfer kitty if desired. But I’m pleased with the team right now. I go to the board and ask for improved facilities, since I’ve gotten them three major transfers of cash, and they agree that it’s needed, but don’t have the cash. I can have a budget of 130k with no transfer or 110k, leave myself 3k under my salary, and have a million in transfer cash. I take one last look at the transfer folks.

I have been following the pattern of Crewe very closely. Bring in youth, develop them , sell them for money, get more youth. Dongou is our Dean Ashton, I brought in Roland Durangs and sold him, we had Butcher come through our youth academy, developed him and sold him, and we brought in Frimpong for free, gave him about 25 subs and a handful of starts, developed him, and shipped him.

[Abe Sargent]

I haven’t been going through this dynasty lately as much as I’d like, so I’m going to be quick simming a bit more, including the next little bit. I’ll play important matches. I’m looking for talented youth that are cheaply held by another club. Someone who could get me money or starts later. I make offers to two youthers.

I come t a deal with a youther in Bulgaria, and he can’t come because a work permit was denied. But Bulgaria is IN the EU? Why was it denied? I checked and in the game, Bulgaria counts. My other guy wasn’t able to agree on a contract with me. Ah well.



We play Ashton Villa in The Alexandra Stadium. We win 5-2 – MOM is Dongou with two goals. Others were scored by Salku, Nijland and Gromstad. A good match. Players such as Ilunga Wood, and Benali were traveling. Jelle will be back by the next game. Salku is injured for a month in the U21 German team game. Gromstad and Niland in Team of Week

[Abe Sargent]

Time for the USA Matches:


First match vs Greece.

We had two middies injured, Willaims and Torres. I called up others for these two games. Brad Guzan just stubbed his toe, and I call up 23 year old Bill Hamid to replace him. Alejandro Bedoya is starting in the MC. Other starters are identical to the first game – with Hedges and Shea remaining. I begin standard. They get a goal when the shot rifles off the top of the crossbar high into the air, and then head it in back in in the 13th minute. Hedges is injured, and I pull him in the 19th for none, I look at the wound level and he can stay in for now. Half time. We put on some pressure of our own but our shots aren’t on target. I light a fire under three players. Let’s see if my impressions are on track. It’s the 52nd minute. They have 6 shots, all on target. We have 4 all misses. My first sub is Donovan with his 6.2 and 64% self. I bump Dempsey up and put in Adu in the Right. At the 60, I pull Shea for Convey. Then I sub in Spector for Hedges. Next is Acuna for Jozy. We get a goal at the 71st minute off Acuna – Bedoya found him and ran and scored at the GK My final two subs are Wood for Dempsey and Ricardo Clark for Bedoya. Acuna scores again! 75th minute. Bradley with a nice pass. You can see why I liked Acuna. 3 extra minutes – can we hold on? We win! Acuna, with about twenty minutes of play is MOM.

Benali got his first international goal for Libya.

[Abe Sargent]

Peru vs USA


No changes to starters.


I begin controlling. We are attacking hard in the first few minutes, with corners, two shots on target and more. I’ve been disappointed with Dempsey recently – too many bad shots. I pull back to standard in the 30s. Shea’s corner is up, finds Bedoya behind the line and Bedoya shoots and scores in the 40th. Half time. I tell them not to get complacent and the ones who respond are Hedges, Bradley, Shea and Donovan. Alons-y! Another corner by Shea finds Hedges, who’s header is on target, but pushed aside for a corner in the 46th minute. I make a sub in the 56th – Bradley out, Joe Corona in At the 63, I swap Acuna for Donovan and Zak Whitbread for Bocanegra. Dempsey gets a knock a minute later, so he is pulled for Adu. Acuna gets a yellow. I pull my lowest rated player, 6.9 Castillo for Convey and Spector for Chandler. They score in the 77th minute. We have suspicions of offsides, but what goal doesn’t? Adu launches a corner kick, and it is headed back to him, so he drops it, and crosses to Acuna, who scores in the 82nd minute. I slide to counter. Can we hold on? The wins vs Canada and Greece are good, and if we can get this one too, that’s some good friendlies. They change to a 4-3-3. Here comes their GK for a corner kick in the overload. No good. We win! MOM is not on our team.

[Abe Sargent]

Next up is a big game vs Leicester. We are on the road. A win would be fascinating, a draw really amazing, and a close loss surprising. Wood is starting with the injury to Salku. Joris Delle is back as well. Again, this is just a fast sim. I’ve been playing this game for eight hours and I’m not even half way done with September yet. We lose 3-2, but Henri Lansbury is MOM and our shots were Dongou and Wood.


Did you know I am one of only 8 managers described as “very secure?”


Next is QPR in our place. Can we manage to win? No changes to the starting lineup. Last year the QPR win was really the beginning of our rise, it made a statement. We win 4-2. Barty is MoM. They had 2 OGs from their team, and we scored with Wood, Barty.

[Abe Sargent]

This is the League Cup game vs Wigan in their place. I play this one. We begin with counter. We’re underdogs and Wigan have had our number a lot recently. Murphy is driving, jukes the GK and scores in the 13th minute. Beautiful pass by Nijland to set up that goal. A wigan goal is called off for offsides in the 37th. We had the momentum early, they have taken it later. Nijland finds Wood who sneaks in a score off a counter attack in the 42nd minute. Half time. Here we go. They injure Murphy. I put in Larbi, and swap with Tonge. Dongou with an amazing assist from Battaglia that freed him past the defense and charged30 yards for the goal. 64th minute we are 3-0 in Wigan. I sub Ilunga for Mbemba. I make my final sub in the 76th minute – Hammond for Lansbury. Larbi gets a yellow. Wigan with some pressure. Dongou has 91st minute goal called off for offsides. That was a dominating performance. Gromstad is MOM.


We draw Bolton in the League Cup, in their place.

[Abe Sargent]

League game today – away vs Wolves. Rough match - I’ve had a rough schedule. Aston Villa, Leicester, QR and Wolves all in a row. Can we do something away vs Wolverhampton? Yes we can, we crush them 3-1. MOM is Dongou with a hat trick. He is also Team of Week


We are significant favorites for the Bristol City match today on the 30th. We win 1-0 with Barty scoring and MOM.


Welcome to October – Dongou wins Young Player of Month, Barty comes in 2nd.

Games:

4th – Away vs Millwall
18th – Home vs Leeds
21st – Away vs Hull
25th – Home vs Huddersfield
29th – Away vs Bolton – League Cup 4th Round


USA

11th – Morocco, friendly


Bed time, nap time has arrived.

[Abe Sargent]

I have players called up for the following U19 or U21 squads – Spain, Germany, Denmark, Greece, Lithuania, Poland, N. Ireland, Turkey. Many you can guess – Dongou for Spain, Dunauskas for Lithuania, Barty for Poland, Avci for Turkey. Jordan Jones is N Irish, and some youthers are the rest.


For today’s Millwall match, Tonge is pulled for Larbi. I begin countering. Dongou collides with their keeper in the 5th minute and injures him, he has to get pulled. I move to standard, expecting them to pull back after that. We get some chances, and in the 36th minute, the first chance converts. Nijland finds Wood, and he runs at the defense, slides it to Dongou who puts it in. Halftime. In the second half, Dongou returns the favor, feeding the ball to Wood after the defense moves to him Wood lobs the keeper and puts it in. 2-0 us in the 56th minute. I pull back to counter, and subs begins – Montano for Murphy, Hammond for Lansbury. Finally, in the 81st minute, an indirect free kick from Larbi hits Barty’s leg and the goal is scored for us. I order my lads for light tackling, we have no yellows and I hope to keep it. A tired Larbi is pulled for Benali. We do and win 3-0, with Dongou the MOM. Barty is in Team of Week


It’s obvious that Barty, Delle, and Dongou are still the power of this team with players such as Nijland, Murphy, Battaglia and Lansbury behind.

[Abe Sargent]

USA – I pull Ricardo Clark for Torres. I put Guzan back on the squad for Bill Hamid. I also pul Heath Pearce for Daniel Williams. Convey and Pearce are basically the same player and can only plat the same positions. With Shea in as ML right now, and Castillo locked in at DL, I can’t afford o players who play the DL/ML only on my roster. Why no Fabian Johnson, the 26 year old DR worth 4 mill who has many caps already the world wants to know? First of all, Chandler, my DR is one of my best players. Castillo is locked in the DL as well. This guy has 10 passing, 9 mark, 11 tack, 6 head, 10 cross This is not an international player.


USA vs Morocco

I begin controlling. I start Williams in Bedoya’s spot alongside Bradley in the MC role. Starters are otherwise the same as before, Hedges, Shea and Williams are the new ones. Castillo, Chandler, Bocanegra, Howard, Dempsey, Donovan, Altidore and Bradley the others. This is the 30th cap for Castillo, 110th for Dempsey. Bradley injured in 1st minute. I keep him on. I move to standard after a few runs get past my D. They are very quick in the front. We injure one of theirs. We’ve had a few weak shots on target, but nothing threatening. Half. I light fires under 6.1 Dempsey and Donovan. Will it matter? We score in the 45:21 by Donovan. Altidore finds Bradley finds Donovan. My first subs – Dempsey out for Adu, Altidore for Acuna. Williams out for Bedoya. Shea for Convey. Chandler for Spector. My final sub at the 79th minute is Whitbread for Carlos B. And that’s game. MOM is Bradley.

[Abe Sargent]

One of my youth players is having difficulty settling, in a Czech youther named Papuga. I agree to bring in someone to help. He’s 18 and 825k value – so he’s worth it. I make an offer to a guy in their U18 international squad who’s stats I can’t see. Maybe we’ll get lucky and hit a homerun. He’s signed with us and….wow. Came in at 1.1 mil and made my fans happy. Thanks Papuga! I offer him a full time contract for 275 a week until 2018, with a bump to 1100 after 20 games.


USA – Drawn for Group B of Copa America. Our group includes Argentina, Ecuador and Peru. My expectations are to reach the QF and get out of the group stage.


Mbemba starts today for Gromstad vs Leeds. Tonge back in for Larbi. We are heavily favored, and I quick sim it. We crush them 4-0. Dongou is MOM with two goals, Wood and Hammond also score. We have moved into 1st place in the league. We’ve had good early form in the first 12 games. Bolton were crushed in their home 4-0 by Wigan. I slide Bunjaku to a hot prospect from a squad rotation. Ilunga is Team of Week