Great post!, well done on the cup win and promotion looking forward to how to how you fair in the BPL!...
also how on earth did Barcelona end up in the Europa league???
Thanks! I'm pleased first of all that we achieved promotion and the FA Cup was a bonus, so to win that was a nice feeling. Haha I have no idea how they ended up in the Europa. Juventus were there too which is also a surprise. I'll try to catch up on your videos when I get a chance. Also welcome to the thread!
Thanks! I'm pleased first of all that we achieved promotion and the FA Cup was a bonus, so to win that was a nice feeling. Haha I have no idea how they ended up in the Europa. Juventus were there too which is also a surprise. I'll try to catch up on your videos when I get a chance. Also welcome to the thread!
Yeh good work!...Did the Board give you a decent transfer budget for next season?
Great!, i hope you enjoy the videos!...feel free to give me some feedback!
Been here at OS for years!...the active posters here are very friendly here!
P.S. Thanks Aquaman for the high praise, I'm just glad there are people who enjoy watching what I share and can draw inspiration from it, much like I do from many of the people in this thread!
Yeh good work!...Did the Board give you a decent transfer budget for next season?
Great!, i hope you enjoy the videos!...feel free to give me some feedback!
Been here at OS for years!...the active posters here are very friendly here!
They gave me a fairly decent budget which will be revealed in the next update. I'm not sure how much other teams around me have so I don't know if it's low or average. I'll definitely give some feedback for ya.
Yeah we're all very friendly just stay away from Simp, he's a bit (joking!)
With the start of the Barclays Premier League appoaching, Aston Villa look to be in for a tough season, with departures to Fabian Delph (Manchester City) & key striker Christian Benteke (Liverpool), Aston Villa have to find an avenue to score this season, and that responsibility has been placed on fan favourite Gabrielle Agbonlahor, aswell as 23 year old Jordan Ayew.
After starting his career in France, Ayew joins Aston Villa after playing on high profile teams such as Marsielle, FC Sochaux, and arriving from FC Lorient for £7,000,000 Ayew has big shoes to fill in Benteke's absence.
Ayew has not had a great start to his campaign at Aston Villa looking lost in the forward structure in his limited game time and getting injured against Nacional in the Pre-Season tournament in Portugal keeping him out for the remainder of the tournament.
With the squad touching back down in England this past week after a challenging tournament in Portugal, Ayew stated "I am ready to go for Bournemouth, Aquilina is going to be a great manager, he is really helping me improve my game and grow as a player, we know we have a tough year ahead, but we are ready to work hard".
With just 3 weeks to go until kick off for the Premier League, we can only hope too see what the Ghanian is capable of in the upcoming matches against a very telling August fixture.
Goalkeepers: Joe Day (63 OVR), Joe Green (51 OVR). Fullbacks: Danny Holmes (64 OVR), Seth Nana Twumasi (62 OVR), Scott Barrow (59 OVR). Centre-backs: Janoi Donacien (66 OVR), Matt Taylor (63 OVR), Taylor Moore (61 OVR), Andrew Hughes (60 OVR). Midfielders/Wingers: Gary Gardner (69 OVR), Oliver Burke (64 OVR), Mark Byrne (63 OVR), Jack Giles (63 OVR), Medy Elito (61 OVR), Alex Rodman (59 OVR), Yan Klukowski (58 OVR). Strikers: Manuel Arteaga (65 OVR), Jack McKay (62 OVR), Scott Boden (59 OVR).
Starting XI (4-4-2 Diamond Wide)
Day
Holmes/Donacien/Taylor/Twunasi
Gardner
Burke ------------------ Elito
Byrne
Arteaga / McKay
_________________________________________________ Announcements: Gary Gardner has been awarded Player of the Month for the month of January!
League Match 28 Newport - County - Dagenham (2-0) Barrow 55' (Gardner)
McKay 70' (Byrne)
Unable to make full use of the B-squad due to very few off days Marccelino used a mix of starters and subs in the starting lineup and the defense held up well - including a goal from sub LB Scott Barrow - to give The Exiles the win.
F.A. Cup - Round 4 replay Newport County - QPR (1-1, 1-2 in PK's) Arteaga 15' (Byrne)
Austin 27' Donacien Twumasi
Heartbreak was the result of Newport leaving it all out on the field at Rodney Parade just 24 hours after hosting Dagenham. Arteaga put the Exiles ahead 15 minutes in but Austin once again scored for QPR before the 30-minute mark. The remaining 90 minutes would be an onslaught of shots that turned Joe Day and Rob Green into heroes, but in the end an exhausted Newport squad on a heavily rained field was only able to convert 1 of 5 penalty kicks with the visitors being able to do just one better, and so QPR will move on.
League Match 29 Yeovil Town - Newport County (2-2) Arteaga 26' (McKay)
Arteaga 37' (Byrne)
Gillett 49'
Dolan 86'
Marccelino used all the players he had available for this game after just 2 days of rest following the QPR game, and after the first half it seemed like they were on their way to a victory. But the second half caught up with restless bodies and the home team was able to equalize the score near the end.
League Match 30 Stevenage - Newport County (2-1)
Kennedy 11' Poole 43' (OG)
Kennedy 69'
A sloppy Newport squad never really got in sink, firing 11 shots (8 on goal) yet none that really truly threatened. An own-goal near the end of the first half gave them some breathing room but it wasn't enough.
League Match 31 Newport County - Carlisle United (1-1) Arteaga 41'
Wyke 70'
Cons: third straight game without a W. Pros: Arteaga is getting on a scoring groove. This was the team's 5th game in a 12-day span so it's hard to ignore the possibility that exhaustion has something to do with the team's inability to win at the moment. The roster just isn't too deep and all resources are already in play outside of promoting players from the academy that just aren't ready for the call. More good news: the team gets a week off before a big showdown on the road versus Leyton.
League Match 32 Leyton Orient - Newport County (0-2) McKay 48' (Byrne)
Arteaga 77' (Elito)
**In Julia Roberts' voice** BIG WIN. HUGE. The regular rest proved very timely for The Exiles and they put the clamps down on one of the top-scoring teams in the league along with getting back to a good rhythm on offense to close the gap between them and Leyton.
League Match 33 Newport County - Oxford United (1-2)
Collins 8' Gardner 41'
Sercombe 45+'
There aren't really any excuses here, Oxford was just the better team. They stifled The Exiles' offense, only allowing one shot on goal. That one shot was a beauty though ....
Spoiler
League Match 34 Luton Town - Newport Count (2-2) Arteaga 37' (Burke)
Mackail-Smith 42'
Guttridge 50' Twunasi 70'
The struggles continue for Newport as another uneven performance keeps them from battling for a direct-promotion spot. A poor pass in the back line by Taylor allowed the home team to score and The Exiles never truly bounced back from that error, and can consider themselves lucky that they were at least able to salvage a point.
League Match 35 Newport County - Crawley Town (1-1)
Harrold 7' Boden 22' (Gardner)
Marccelino was very supportive of his squad after the game, citing a lack of luck for only scoring once on 10 shots (7 on goal). However, while The Exiles were able to get a lot more shots than their opponent, their lack of possession during this game made them take some desperate shots at times.
League Match 36 Accrington - Newport County (0-0)
Marccelino declined to speak to reporters after this game. Such must have been his frustration after his team was unable to score on a squad hat is undoubtedly the worst in League 2. It wasn't long ago that The Exiles were a possible title contender, while nowadays you have to wonder if they'll even make the playoffs.
League Match 37 Newport County - Notts County (2-1) McKay 21' (Arteaga)
Arteaga 54' (Byrne)
McLeod 80' (pen)
Edwards 45'
The Exiles picked an excellent time to get back on the winning column, even if they were aided by having an extra man in the second half. They already led 1-0 before Mike Edwards got himself ejected due to a harsh foul from behind on Byrne, who luckily escaped unscathed. Newport was able to manage their advantage in the second half, eventually leading to a 2-0 lead that was only cut by a penalty kick. They need to string a few W's together.
League Match 38 Northampton - Newport County (1-3) Byrne 14' (McKay)
McKay 19' (Gardner)
Collins 25' McKay 90+ (Arteaga)
Back-to-back wins for the first time in nearly two months was a sight for sore eyes. McKay is starting to settle in a nice compliment to Arteaga up front.
League Match 39 Newport County - Cambridge Utd (4-1) Gardner 11' (pen)
Giles 59' (Gardner)
Arteaga 80' (pen)
Corr 84' Giles 89'
A winning streak! Sure, aided by a couple of penalty kicks but they were the right calls and both Gardner and Arteaga (once Gardner had been subbed off) executed perfectly, although their efforts were overshadowed by academy-product Jack Giles getting started as scorer as a professional with a brace! It was all smiles at Rodney Parade after the game.
Review: What a roller-coaster this is turning into. The beginning of February was just rough with some many games without much rest and we just never got into a groove until the end of March, and that's hopefully something we can ride into the last 7 games of the season. But is that hill too steep to climb at this point? All the points we missed out on may come back to haunt us as the top 3 (direct promotion) teams are somewhat separated from the pack, but only 6 points out with 21 points left to play for is too soon to give up and we're gonna take our best shot down the stretch. At worst we seem to be in a pretty solid spot for a playoff spot but we would like to avoid that if possible.
I must say the highlight of this 2-month period without a doubt was Giles scoring a brace. He's worked hard in training since he arrived at the academy and we don't really have a spot for him in the starting XI (plus his stamina isn't there yet) but he's a regular sub, usually in place of Byrne who runs all over the field, and it was just nice to see him score a couple of times. He's missed some other chances also and it may be time to work with him on shooting in some training sessions.
Speaking of the academy, our youth scouth Adam Adeyemi wrapped up his trip to Italy and was then sent to Ireland in search of more talent. What has he found for us? A set of brothers!
- Patrick Miller (ST, 48 OVR, 70-90 POT)*: The younger of the Miller brothers is a promising 16-year old Irish striker who at the moment stands at 5'2", 143lbs. However, his older brother is a lot taller so we're hopeful that Patrick still has some room to grow to go with promising ball skills. He's described as "technically gifted".
- Bondz Moore (LW, 59 OVR, 81-87): Small frame (5'0", 134lbs) is a non-issue with this 16-year old Englishman due to his talent. He is speedy/agile/balanced and has been performing well in drills so far.
- Ben Potter (LM, 55 OVR, 78-84): This 16-year old from England looks similar to Moore but prefers to play a bit closer to midfield.
- Cristiano Dall'Oglio (CDM, 50 OVR, 75-83): 16-year old defensive-minded midfielder from Italy is the newest addition to the academy. He flashes leadership skills at a very young age.
- Danilo Sabbione (CM, 50 OVR, 74-82): This 16-year old from Italy is our first addition to the squad from outside England. He's raw but has a bright future.
- Mark Miller (RM, 48 OVR, 67-87)*: The older Miller brother is a 17-year old Irish standing at 6-feet tall and 181lbs. He brings a lot of physicality but is still rough around the edges and needs to work hard in the academy.
- Taylor Nelson (LW, 55, 73-79: The 17-year old from England has recently asked the board for promotion to the senior squad and this is currently under discussion.
*recent addition
What's next
- 4/2/16: at Exeter City
- 4/9/16: vs Wycombe
- 4/16/16: at York City
- 4/23/16: vs AFC Wimbledon
- 4/30/16: at Barnet
- 5/7/16: vs Mansfield Town
- 5/14/16: at Hartlepool
And hopefully that will be all and we'll have achieved direct promotion and won't need to play in the playoffs. It's going to be an exciting 7 games and only 1 of them is against a top-7 squad, the rest are against teams in the bottom half of the table.
We can do this, right?
Previous Update ^^^
Newport County A.F.C.
End of Season Update
League Match 40 Exeter City - Newport County (0-1) McKay 25' (Twunasi)
Four-game winning streak dating back to the end of March. It wasn't easy but McKay, who has really been in groove since soon after joining mid-season, gave the Exiles the only goal they would need to go with their stingy defense to allow Newport to keep pace with the top three in the table.
League Match 41 Newport County - Wycombe (1-2) McKay 14' (Elito)
Ugwu 37'
McGinn 90' (pen)
That hurt. That hurt A LOT. Wycombe played Marccelino's squad very evenly but the game deserved to end with a draw, not with an unnecessary penalty kick resulting from an unintentional handball in the box. Sigh.
League Match 42 York City - Newport County (0-2) Arteaga 77' (Gardner)
Arteaga 89'
The Exiles get right back on a winning groove thanks not just to the Venezuelan on loan from Palermo, but to an outstanding performance from their goalkeeper Joe Day who earned Man of the Match honors.
League Match 43 Newport County - AFC Wimbledon (2-1) Gardner 16' (Elito)
Arteaga 48'
Elliot 82'
Wimbledon may be near the bottom fourth of the table but they had beaten the Exiles earlier on this season and once again played them tough, making them sweat till the end. However, Newport's defense was able to seal the deal to keep Marccelino and his army very close to putting themselves in the top-3 in the standings.
League Match 44 Barnet - Newport County (1-2) Arteaga 40'
Elito 45'
Lisbie 74'
They've done it. The Exiles move into 3rd place in the table thanks to another gritty win to go with a draw from Oxford United and Newport will control their own destiny with just two games left!
League Match 45 Newport County - Mansfield Town (1-1)
Green 30' (pen) McKay 61' (Byrne)
The Exiles missed an opportunity to clinch promotion to League One after only managing a draw against Mansfield Town, who left everything on the pitch as they try to clinch a playoff spot. The home team created more opportunities but in the end it wasn't enough. Fortunately for them Oxford also managed just one point so Newport will go into the season finale knowing that a win will get them through.
League Match 46 Hartlepool - Newport County (2-2) McKay 14' (Gardner)
Featherstone 23' Arteaga 56' (Byrne)
Bingham 71'
Oh, THE HORROR. Bottom-side Hartlepool seemed determined to spoil the party and they accomplished their goal, keeping Newport to a draw which paired with a win by Oxford United keeps them outside direct promotion to League One and into the League Two playoffs. Heart-breaking. The Exiles threw the kitchen sink at the home team, edging them in possession (57%) and vastly out-shooting them with 11 shots (7 on goal) but their defense, which had earned them so many points this season, was unable to protect two leads and Marccelino will now need to get his squad ready for a playoff series against 7th place Stevenage.
League 2 Playoffs - Semi Final, 1st Leg Stevenage - Newport County(0-2) Day 40' (OG)
Byrne 79' (Twunasi)
Nerves clearly affected both teams in the first half but the Exiles were able to shake it sooner, and in the 40th a minute a shot from Elito was deflected by Boro goalkeeper Chris Day and Newport took a lead into the half. From there they were able to keep the composure in the 2nd half even after losing edge in possession and taking less shots than the home squad, but were the more opportunistic side and sealed a 1st leg win with a goal from Byrne inside the last 15 minutes.
League 2 Playoffs - Semi Final, 2nd Leg Newport County - Stevenage (3-3, 5-3 agg) Byrne 2' (Burke)
Akinyemi 9' Day 17' (OG)
Byrne 23' (Gardner)
McAllister 45'
Kennedy 79' (pen)
The Exiles sealed their ticket to the playoffs final after a wild one at Rodney Parade. A good number of fans weren't even on their seats yet when Byrne got them home team on the board after just two minutes but before the 10-minute mark the game had been equalized by Akinyemi. It may take a while for Boro goalkeeper to get past this series, and there are questions as to whether he will retire after this game, but he was once again tagged with an own goal, although to be fair the goal should had been awarded to McKay outright as his shot seemed to be on goal before it was deflected by the goalkeeper. Undoubtedly Day was distraught as soon after Byrne scored a 3rd goal for the home side, creating what would be an insurmountable lead. Credit goes to Stevenage as they never gave up, closing the gap before the half and leveling the score with just over 10 minutes left, but the two-goal difference from the first leg ended up getting Newport through.
League 2 Playoffs - Final
Spoiler
Leyton Orient - Newport County (1-0)
Moore 77'
Wembley was rocking. Over two games in the regular season Leyton had been unable to beat Newport, managing a draw on the road then losing 0-2 at home. But this time, when it mattered most, they clamped down on defense, and got the minimal edge on offense with a goal from Moore in the 77th minute. Gary Woods was the hero, earning Man of the Match honors. The Exiles, with a 2nd opportunity to simply win and move on to promotion, failed once again and you'll have to wonder how they'll bounce back from this next season. Just a disappointing end of the season for Newport County.
GK - Joe Day (Newport County)
RB - Daniel Leadbitter (Bristol Rovers)
RB - Elliott Hewitt (Notts County)
CB - Jake Wright (Oxford United)
LB - Lee Brown (Bristol Rovers)
CDM - Gary Gardner (Newport County)
CDM - Stanley Aborah (Notts County)
RM - Gareth Evans (Portsmouth)
LM - Luke Gambin (Barnet)
ST - Craig Mackail-Smith (Luton Town)
ST - Danny Hylton (Oxford United)
Player of the Year Gary Gardner (Newport County)
Manager of the Year Ricardo Moniz (Notts County)
Golden Boot Manuel Arteaga (Newport County)
Golden Glove Brian Murphy (Portsmouth)
Promoted to League One Notts County, Portsmouth, Oxford United, Leyton Orient.
Demoted to League Two Swindon Town, Burton Albion, Fleetwood Town, Crewe Alexandra.
Promoted to FL Championship Coventry City, Wigan Athletic, Sheffield Utd.
Demoted to League One Rotherham Utd, Preston, Bristol City.
Promoted to Barclays PL Hull City, Reading, Sheffield Wed.
Demoted to FL Championship Bournemouth, Sunderland, Leicester City
F.A. Cup Champion Stoke City (2-0 over Swansea City)
Capital One Cup Champion West Ham (3-2 over Arsenal)
J. Paint Trophy Champion
Sheffield Utd. (4-0 over Port Vale)
Review: To be honest this update comes a while after I actually got done with this part of the career so I'm kinda over it by now. Hell of a ride. There are some positives that come out of this so I'll try to focus on those. For one, we should be heavy favorite for promotion next season so it'll be fun to see if we can play at that level. For two, we get to improve our team even more before we start our climb up the Football League so that's not such a bad team. I look forward to performing better in the COC and JPT after losing in the first round in both of those this season. I think I'd really like to win the JPT, establish that Newport County will be a force once we get to League One.
Can't just focus on our failures to achieve promotion and dismiss the great season we had as an unit and individually. The acquisition of Gardner last summer paid off, he was our top player in nearly every game and I was glad to see he was recognized as Player of the Year. Joe Day surprised me, he was a great goalkeeper and may be able to hold down that spot for at least another year. Manuel Arteaga took a while to get going but once he did he was a force for us and earned that golden boot. He may not be able to repeat that feat next season, his last under loan for us, because Jack McKay is looking like a real baller that may contend for that scoring title in '16-'17. I look forward to the summer transfer window and the upcoming season.
We also have some promising lads in the academy. Adam Adeyemi had a very good year scouting for us and before the season ended we hired a second scout, Kimmo Rasanen from Finland. He's being asked to get started in his homeland. This is what the youth squad looks like at season's end:
- Bondz Moore (LW, 60 OVR, 81-87 POT): Our top remaining prospect after one season, Moore has higher upside than Jack Giles who performed admirably off the bench of us in the second half of the season. We're expecting growth from his current frame (5'0", 134lbs) and at just 16 years old this Englishman offer a lot of talent. He doesn't have top-end speed at the moment but his first step is deadly and he's very agile.
- Patrick Miller (ST, 53 OVR, 75-89): The younger of the Miller brothers turned 17 years old by season's end and the Irishman has grown to 5'9" and 158lbs, which is very good size for his position. Coaches describe him as "technically gifted" and he brings good speed to the position.
- Ben Potter (LM, 57 OVR, 78-84): This 16-year old from England looks similar to Moore but prefers to play a bit closer to midfield although he offers a bit more speed.
- Cristiano Dall'Oglio (CDM, 52 OVR, 77-83): This 16-year old defensive-minded midfielder from Italy flashes leadership skills at a very young age. Has a promising future.
- Mark Miller (RM, 50 OVR, 71-85): The older Miller brother is a 17-year old Irishman standing at 6-feet tall and 181lbs. He brings a lot of physicality but is still rough around the edges (although very agile) and needs to work hard in the academy.
- Patrick Brennan (LW, 45 OVR, 63-83)*: This 15-year old from Ireland is the most recent addition to the academy. Adeyemi saw enough flashes from him to highly recommend him and we hope to be able to help improve his game since he's still very young.
*recent addition
Taylor Nelson was promoted to the senior squad near the end of the season at his request. Unfortunately 16-year old Danilo Sabbione (CM, 50 OVR, 74-82) abruptly left the academy without much explanation. We wish the Italian the best.
_________________
And that's all for now, roster review will be next
__________________ vrabbit
______________________________ Currently playing: FIFA 19 on XB1
Spoiler
Previously played: FIFA 16 on XB1 Teams: FC Barcelona
Globetrotter CM (previously at FC Twente, Kayserispor, Dorados de Sinaloa and Central Coast Mariners F.C.)
Newport County A.F.C.
Last edited by vrabbit; 02-24-2016 at 04:14 PM.
Reason: Adding champions for FA, COC, and JPT cups. Shoutout to tex's team for a hell of a season!
Maximilian Mittelstädt, 64 Ovr, Left Back, €500,000 to 1. FC Heidenheim
Even though the left back position is lacking proper depth, the 21-year-old man was never going to break into the starting eleven or to the bench with his low potential. We simply didn't need him in the team.
Valentin Stocker, 78 Ovr, Attacking Midfielder, €8,000,000 to FC Augsburg
We sold him for two reasons: he wasn't useful for the squad, making only two pre-season appearances, and he didn't want to accept a contract extension. Augsburg were ready to pay our eight million valuation for Stocker.
Transfers In
Yussuf Poulsen
75 Ovr, Striker, 23 Years Old, Denmark
€6,000,000
The only signing Hertha BSC completed in the transfer window was signing the young Danish striker Yusuf Poulsen from the most hated German football club, Red Bull Leipzig. The 23-year-old represented The Red Bulls for five years since 2013, netting a solid amount of goals in the two top German leagues. Poulsen, who combines well pace, finishing and dribbling, could be a long-term replacement for the Herthaner's 32-year-old Salomon Kalou.
That is it, the 'rückrunde', or second round/return round, has officially started. We managed to pick four points from two games and remain in third, six points in front of fifth-placed Bayer Leverkusen. Our objective for the season is still to finish in the top four and secure a Champions League spot. Challenging for the league title is out of our reach and it will stay like that for at least a couple of seasons more.
The transfer window could be considered to be a slight failure because we failed to sell Stefan Aigner and Yunus Malli. There were several offers for both of them and we accepted a few, but all of the deals fell through as the players preferred to rotten in our reserves. Fortunately, we managed to sell Stocker and we signed Yusuf Poulsen to take Kalou's spot in the future.
February will be a tough month for us with seven games, including a DFB Pokal quarter final against Borussia Mönchengladbach, the first leg of our Champions League round of 16 clash with Saint-Etienne and league games against top sides Wolfsburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Thank you for reading this post! I hope you have enjoyed it! Any feedback or suggestions will be appreciated!