Milton Keynes Dons - A Football Manager 2011 Dynasty

[rhysyboy]

brilliant win

[Joby21]

25.7.2010
We receive another update on our season tickets, having sold 6,000 for the upcoming season. The board expects the club to sell another 500 tickets in the following weeks, which would take us to 6,500. We also receive news that Manchester City have accepted a loan offer for right back Javan Vidal and eagerly hope that the young defender agrees to the arrangement.

26.7.2010
Club scout Jordan Bryant provides a report on today's opponent, Thurrock. Bryant believes Thurrock are likely to field a 4-4-2 formation and also states that the narrow width at Ship Lane will suit teams who play through the middle. Bryant also believes that striker Lee Roache will need to be watched.

I plan on going into this final pre-season friendly with my expected starting eleven plus my planned seven substitution squad. The line-up lacks depth at central defense until Gary MacKenzie and Jude Stirling return from injury though all other positions are covered. Luke Chadwick will start on the bench due to the problems with his fitness, while Jemal Johnson will be our starting left winger. I'll elect to bring Chadwick in as needed in the wing or midfield positions.

26.7.2010 - MK Dons Starting Eleven - 4-4-2
Player	Position
David Martin	GK
Dan Woodards	DR
Sean O'Hanlon	DC
Mathias Doumbe	DC
Dean Lewington	DL
Stephen Gleeson	MR
Peter Leven	MC
Stefani Miglioranzi	MC
Jemal Johnson	ML
Jermaine Easter	STR
Angelo Balanta	STL
Substitutes	Position
Sam Baldock	ST
Luke Chadwick	M/AM(RLC)
Daniel Powell	M/AM(RL),ST
Dietmar Hamann	DM,MC
Luke Howell	DR,DM,MC
Adam Chicksen	D/WB/M(L)
Willy Gueret	GK

Matc Day:
"Thurrock are going to really struggle to contain MK Dons today. I'm predicting MK Dons to win this by a big margin."
- Thenonleaguefootballpaper.com

Wrexham appear to be lining up in a 4-4-2 formation, as predicted by club scout Jordan Bryant. Sam Baldock and Adam Chicksen show some signs of overconfidence during warm-ups, though I plan on addressing that if and when I substitute either player in. I elect to treat this match like an official round and play with an artificial three substitution limit so I can get a better feel for the depth of The Dons bench.

First Half:
Thurrock earn the kick off to start the game and immediately show a defensive strategy that The Dons midfield quickly breaks apart. Stefani Miglioranzi connects with forward Angelo Balanta who's on target shot is just barely deflected by Thurrock goalkeeper Charlie Mitten within the first minute of play.

The Dons defense holds up well during the first half though the offense fails to score until a 43rd minute goal by Jermaine Easter. Easter's goal is the 9th shot made but only the second that is made on target, with only two of the 7 misses being from long range. I consider instructing the squad to work the ball into the box but elect to stick it out and leave their play unchanged going into the second half.

Half Time:
I let the team know that I am pleased, though not thrilled, with their performance. Jermaine Easter and Stephen Gleeson appear a bit tired though I elect to keep them in for at least the first portion of the second half. Assistant coach John Gorman mirrors my concern for the team's off target shots when I ask for his feedback. I leave the roster and gameplan unchanged.

Second Half:
Play starts off slow with The Dons making another two off target shots, both from long range. I replace Jermaine Easter with Sam Baldock at right striker in the 63rd minute, letting Baldock know that I expect a performance out of him in hopes that it causes him to shake off his complacency. 86th minute changes see Luke Chadwick replace Stephen Gleeson at right wing and Dietmar Hamann replace Peter Leven at midfield. Hamann immediately makes his presence known with an excellent sliding tackle that begins a good Dons attack run. The run unfortunately ends with another off target shot from striker Angelo Balanta.

Thurrock are given a reason to cheer in the 88th minute when striker Robert-Thompson Brown knocks a long shot into the corner of the net, creating a 1-1 tie at Ship Lane. Angelo Balanta almost earns a win after breaking passed the Thurrock defense but his well placed shot is barely caught by the Thurrock keeper. Full time is called after two minutes of added time, earning Thurrock the draw.

Full Time:
I let the team know that their performance was not good enough, paticularly offense. The team commited too many long shots that fell off target. Though I do not plan on fixing this with squad changes at this time, I plan on giving instructions to specific players to rarely take long shots if they are more suited to shooting from within the box.

VS.

Jul 26, 2010 - MK Dons vs Thurrock
TEAM	1	2	SCORE
MK Dons ()	1	0	1
Thurrock ()	0	1	1

Team Stats Comparison
MK Dons		Thurrock
1	Goals	1
18	Shots	3
4	Shots on Target	2
74%	Tackles	64%
13	Fouls	12
0	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
0	Injuries	0
22%	Shot Accuracy	66%
82%	Passing Percentage	60%

Match Summary
MK Dons	Thurrock
43' Goal - Jermaine Easter	88' Goal - Robert Thompson-Brown

"MK Dons' head coach has no right to be happy with his team after this draw in my opinion. I think the fans expected a comfortable victory over Thurrock today and they can be justly disappointed with the result."
- Thenonleaguefootballpaper.com

With our last pre-season friendly behind us we are left with 12 days until the season opener at home against Charlton with our League Cup match against Southend just three days after.

I intend to evaluate the strong and weak areas of our counter attacking tactic, meet with the staff and get their feedback on our squad status, and make adjustments to the team's training plan to strengthen known weak areas, such as long shots.

I will also give the squad a couple of days rest!

[Joby21]

27.7.2010
Club physio Paul Collins provided an updated injury report for the Milton Keyens Dons squad. We are still a long way from seeing each of our injured players return, so I will need to tap the reserves squad when I need more depth in the central defender position.

27.7.2010 - MK Dons Injury Report
Player	Condition	Date Injured	Expected Return
Aaron Wilbraham, ST	Back strain	1.7.2010	4 weeks - 2 months
Jude Stirling, D(RLC)	Groin strain	1.6.2010	3 months - 5 months
Gary MacKenzie, DC	Damaged knee cartilage	30.3.2010	5 weeks - 3 months

Scout Jordan Bryant also provided his scouting report on Chalton Athletic, our opening day opponent. Charlton, who the media is projecting to place 1st, appear likely to field a 4-4-2 formation and will look to use the aerial power of striker Pawel Abbott. Bryant believes we should look to cut off the supply to Abbott to limit his danger. Charlton also has three injured players.

Peter Leven will be suspended for the opening match due to being sent off in his last regulation game prior to the break last season, so I will likely start Dietmar Hamann at the midfield playmaker position and bring Mark Carrington onto the bench.

28.7.2010
I alter our tactical instructions to include specific instructions for loanee striker Angelo Balanta, instructing him to cut down the number of long shot attempts. Angelo was the leading source of most of The Dons pre-season long range misses. I hope he will hesitant on taking open shots from long range and instead get in better position for close ranged goals, which he has more success in.

Upon further evaluation of our pre-season matches I noticed that we were missing a lot of tackles on the left wing and in the front striker positions. I adjusted the core instructions for those positions so that those players will hold off more and only commit to easier tackles. This is something I will have to adjust on a player by player basis.

I attend a staff meeting later in the afternoon. I notice an immediate trend where assistant coach John Gorman regularly disagrees with player/coach Dietmar Hamann and goalkeeper coach Paul Heald, mainly in regard to specific training instructions for various players. Scout Jordna Bryant offers a short list of candidates that he would like to scout and I send him off to compile reports. Lastly, I ask the staff to focus the team's training and match preparation on defensive positioning between now and our opening day match.

[rhysyboy]

tough draw

Search for a player from Cape Verde called Raul Azevedo, I signed him and he is brilliant in the English divisions

[Joby21]

I am trying to play this as realistically as possible and only pursuing players who are discovered naturally in game, either from scouting recommendation, playing their side, or from scouting assignments. I find it more fun that way rather than chasing the pre-assigned dream team for that league.

Besides, with a 0$ transfer budget and us so close to our salary limit it'd be hard to add anyone of substance.

[rhysyboy]

true, I think I did get him on a free

Still, any more friendlies?

[Joby21]

The last match was our last friendly. I will work on getting an update leading into (and maybe including) our first league match today.