Here we go, the Blyth Spartans achieved a great success in their first season in the Premier League, the 6th place and the improbable qualification for the Europa League. Now I had to prepare the squad for this new challenge and it was pretty obvious that we needed a few more good players to make a success out of our first European outing. I told the board that we could achieve continental qualification next season so they gave me a decent transfer budget, 30 million euro, and a not so decent wage budget, only 10 million euro per year.
I was quite sad about it but I had to let go some of the current players, some of them have played a big part in our rise through the leagues in the last few years.I also decided to let Dejan Stankovic go, his contract expired and I though that he didn’t have the strength to play at this level anymore.
And now the most important part, the acquisitions. I bought 8 players but I would have wanted two or maybe three more. I tried to do my best with the funds that I had, so here are the players.
Only 5 of these 8 players will be first team regulars next season, the other three are promising youngsters that might give me some nice surprises in a year or two. Now let me introduce my new stars.
My new goalkeeper, the one who will keep our last season goalie on his toes in trainig, is Romanian Silviu Lung jr. I admit that I was a bit sentimental, he is my favorite keeper in real life football, playing for my favorite club in Romania, Universitatea Craiova. Anyway, he is slightly better than Itumeleng Kune, he is much taller and has great aerial ability but is a bit slower in coming out to intercept long balls. I tried to get an even better keeper but I had to settle for him in the end.
Our new right back will be French regen Damien Grange from PSV Eindhoven. He is a great talent and a natural born set piece taker. I have great expectations from him, I hope that he will express his talent in the Premier League.
I also brought a new centre back to have a good alternative to Suarez and Baranyai. He’s Romanian, regen, 21 years old, tall and with great pace. With a bit of hard work in training he could become a very good player.
I had to replace Stankovic in the middle of the pitch and after chasing several central midfielders I had to settle for Eyong Enoh, 27 years old experienced player from Ajax Amsterdam. He will play next to our hot prospect Mickey Wordsworth and I hope that they will make a perfect duo of strength and creativity.
Last but not least, our new striker. He’s 24 years old, Czech, and his name is Tomas Necid. I expected to get him for 3 million euro from CSKA Moscow but there was fierce competition for him with Marseille, Stuttgart, Benfica, Betis and some other teams so the price went up to 5 million euro. I was happy that he chose to sign a contract with us, so I will have Nicao, Pavlyuchenko and Necid competing for the two striker places. I also have another three young hungry strikers that would try their best to impress me.
So here’s how the team will most probably look like in the new season.
I was curious to see what the other clubs did during the transfer window and I noticed that Arsenal and Crystal Palace have been the most active. But the transfer window is still open, so those that still have some money will probably make their moves.
The media prediction for this season is 11th, not bad :) The bookmakers even think that we have an outside chance to challenge for the title!
My goal is to grab a Champions League spot at the end of the season, and that would mean finishing at least 4th. We will enter the Europa League fourth qualifying round in August, we will play Georgian team Dinamo Tbilisi. It won’t be easy, these Georgian teams are tenacious and quick.
We’ll begin the Premier League season away at West Ham, last year we made our debut at home with a 1-0 win against them, so they might bring us luck for this season too :) That’s about it, now it’s your turn… Please share your thoughts about the new signings and about our chances in the next season. Predictions are welcome, as always :)
paine
25 августа, 2009 at 19:31
I wouldn’t be too concerned about Dinamo Tbilisi, I bet you’ll destroy them, Enoh is a good addition to your team, maybe not so creative, but very consistent.
Necid has great composure, now you’ll be able to rotate your 3 strikers to keep them always fit.
I wish you a great season!
JohnnyKarp
25 августа, 2009 at 20:01
Thanks a lot Paine. I needed that type of midfielder, consistent and reliable. I have a good feeling about the squad overall but we’ll have to wait for the real games to see how it shapes up.
C
25 августа, 2009 at 20:38
It looks like you got some good deals there, I love a good striker and Necid could turn out to be a fantastic purchase.
I’m currently managing West Brom, you seem to be very good in the transfer market, i have a good squad i just always feel i need to add!
Good luck in Europe, you’ll get that top 4 spot in the league.
eddie eddie
25 августа, 2009 at 20:47
Good signings that I think will get you 3rd theres my prediction good luck in europe!
JohnnyKarp
25 августа, 2009 at 20:59
Thanks Eddie, thanks C! I’m going to start playing the first games of the new season in a few hours maybe, I’m quite curious about how my new players will adjust to the squad.
Necdet Celal Güner
26 августа, 2009 at 13:35
Hi Johnny,
As far as I see Radu is a superb transfer, congras. Don’t worry about that 7m. Necid, Enoh and Grange are also fantastic. You have a superb squad to compete for title. But you’re right about Lung. I have a question, is he the son of Lung of Steaua, penalty eater? Univ. Craiova, yes I remember, you defeated us (Galatasaray) once in Euro, 15-20 years ago.
Necdet Celal Güner
26 августа, 2009 at 13:43
A little comment, please put more match videos. And do you know how to save a specific moment of the game? I would like to generate a goal or a save folder for one of my players? I also want to share my game datas, tactics and regimes with you. I downloaded your Blyth data, and saw a lot, and maybe I could have something to offer.
JohnnyKarp
26 августа, 2009 at 15:00
Hey Celal! Yea, the boy is Silviu Lung’s son. His father is a legendary goalkeeper, had around 75 caps for the Romanian national team. I remember that he played with Steaua against Galatasaray in the Champions Cup, Galata had a great striker named Tanju Colak or something like that…
As for the videos, I had some trouble with my computer lately and couldn’t capture the videos, I’ll try again soon. I don’t know if you can save a specific moment of a game in FM 2009, but you can make captures of it and save them as videos. About the things that you want to share, I could give you an account here and you could publish those as guest posts if you want.
Ahmed Shah
26 августа, 2009 at 16:45
Some good signings there, Johhny and I like the ‘most active in the window’ part in this post. My prediction is 2nd ;-)
JohnnyKarp
26 августа, 2009 at 16:54
Thanks Ahmed, I’ll do my best to make your prediction come true :)
marvin
26 августа, 2009 at 16:56
i predict that your team will challenge for the title and as for the europa league, i think your team has the quality to book a place in the final but it depends on what opposition your team faces. I would like to see your team battle it out with some stronger spanish, italian and even ukrainian oppositions.
Well good luck on the new season, Johnny!!!!
JohnnyKarp
26 августа, 2009 at 17:37
Thanks Marvin, stay tuned for the first update, coming up in a few hours :)
brsamn
26 августа, 2009 at 18:13
Hey, I’m sorry for the delay of my response.
Yes, it’s my second season with Spartans. I give the promotion on the Blue Square North aftter win Harrogate in the playoff final 1 x 0 .
And I stay undefeated with 18 wins and 7 draws.
I’m out of FA Cup (loose for Northampton 2 x 1). But I have chance to title in the others two.
I could see you dispense various of the original players.
Someone players stay with me in the fifth division and are good players.
Examples : Dale, Webster, M.Bell, Reay, Dalton, G.Williams, McCabe, Pell and White.
Look this picture to view my team and table of classification:
http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/9264/blyth.jpg
What your real team?
Sorry for my english and good luck !!
PS — Palmeiras continues leading the Brasileirão after win Internacional 2 x 1 and have chance to win after 15 years. (C’mon Pigs)).
Next sunday is a derby versus São Paulo, the actual 3 time champion.
JohnnyKarp
26 августа, 2009 at 18:28
@brsamn
Yea, I kept Dale, Webster, Reay and Dalton if I remember correctly. I think I’ll get to watch the Palmeiras — Sao Paulo derby on TV, there’s a TV station in my country, Romania, that gives us matches from Brazil and Argentina from time to time :)