Hi there!
Welcome to what will probably be a shorter than usual post due to the fact that I’ve only got December to talk about since my January post will be long enough without December results squashed in there too. I figure doing December on it’s own gives a nice build up to the January transfer market, so here we go…
December Results
December Scorers
Not the best start to the month in our critical game against Burnley but after that we were rampant! You’d think that the Burnley game would be my feature game for the month but I wouldn’t want to bore you guys, rubbish game and they came out on top, that’s about it. The Preston game saw a rare switch to my 4-1-2-1-2 formation at half time to try and gain control of the centre of the park and it worked as we ran out 3-1 winners. Middlesbrough was an intense game, even more so since we had to keep up the pace on Burnley and the game was settled with a goal from Matty Fryatt. After that we played Leeds for the second time this season, after losing 2-0 at Elland Road they would have been hoping for revenge at The Circle, unfortunately for them, this happened…
Before this game Tom Cairney signed a new £7k a week contract and he seemed thrilled, his second goal was a 30 yard curling free kick. Simpson also returned to fine form in this game and bagged 2 goals which was pleasing to see since he hadn’t been the same player since getting crocked, hopefully he’ll return to his pre-November form now.
After the Leeds victory we played Barnsley and as expected they offered little resistance, they were on a low which was highlighted by the fact their key player (Jason Shackell) had a rating of 6.2 in his last 5 matches, it turned out to be easy pickings.
Now after that successful Christmas period you’d expect my players ratings to have risen, and they did…
Feel free to ignore Matt Duke, he never has and never will play for me, unless we have a horrendous keeper crisis. The top 2 remain the same in Simpson and McShane with Fryatt and Cairney sitting closely behind, and Devitt separating them after continuing to impress at League 2 Crewe Alexandra. As you can see my defence has really picked itself up with Chester, Turan, Dawson, and Cooper all enjoying ratings of 7+ although Davenport seems to be struggling to adapt to the squad. Horava has continued to impress me as well and now has 6 goals and 4 assists which is quite good for his debut season. The biggest disappointment for me has been Robert Koren, he never plays well and may find himself ousted from the club in January if the right bid comes in.
Player of the Post
This was a very difficult decision this time round. My whole team has played well but eventually I decided on 1 player who may just have edged it. That player is Aaron McLean…
Although his technical ability and mental prowess is verging on awful his physical attributes tend to make up for that, although he will probably be dropped if we gain promotion. His month has not been filled with goals but he has provided pace and assists that have constantly worried opposition. He is probably the surprise package of the season, just scroll back up and look at his stats so far, 6 assists, 9 goals, and an average rating of 7.10, not bad.
Now onto the league and since we’ve now reached the halfway point I guess I should start showing the table as a whole, so here it is at the end of December…
We’re top! Courtesy of Burnley screwing up! Hopefully this will signal an end to Burnley’s invincible run and their form will begin to dip so that we can open up a nice gap between 1st and 2nd to relieve some pressure. Elsewhere, I’m still amazed that Doncaster continue to challenge although it would take a massive slip up my either us or Burnley to allow them automatic promotion! Leicester and Nottingham Forest are also up there while Cardiff have pushed into the play-offs replacing Swansea, you can just imagine the tension in South Wales! At the bottom Portsmouth, Leeds, and Preston occupy the relegation zone after Middlesbrough sorted themselves out. QPR have done the exact opposite and are blowing any chance they had of promotion.
So after December the awards came in and we received our first since September!
Tom Cairney won young player of the month and it was thoroughly deserved. Since signing his new contract he has turned his dwindling form around and played brilliantly. The only downside is that he wouldn’t accept the contract unless it had a £7million release clause for higher division clubs.
While we’re on the subject of money you all remember me moaning that my chairman only gave me £400k transfer budget when he had £28million in the bank, yes? Well, on January 1st he offered a change of season expectation and my jaw hit the floor…
…For a while I just sat staring at the message, obviously he didn’t trust me too much at the start of the season but he certainly does now! He would have given me £5.25million just for keeping my expectations the same, but that would have been unambitious and I needed the extra wage budget if I was going to make a couple of signings…
I decided ‘Title Challenge’ would be the most sensible choice since there was only a 2 point gap between us and Burnley so if things went pear shaped I would have ended up upsetting the board had I chosen ‘Winner’. That supplied me with £7.25million transfer budget and an extra £25k wages but I doubt I’ll spend it all, I only want 1 or 2 players to bolster certain positions. I need a Right Back, a Trequartista to rotate with Fryatt, and a Ball Winning Midfielder to rotate with Evans.
Plobdork Request
One more thing before I go, Plobdork asked me to post the profile of Atila Turan so here it is…
He’s great for the Championship and has the potential to be 4.5 stars for Hull. I may have to invest in him next season, whether it be on loan again or permanently, we’ll see…
Well that’s all for now!
Thanks for reading!
Nicholas Phipps
23 августа, 2011 at 17:44
Great results and you hopefuly can retain first place over the course of the season. :) Your team are playing well and it’s good that you have a much deserved high transfer budget. Good luck for the rest of the season :)
Dan
23 августа, 2011 at 18:52
Thanks Nicholas,
The transfer budget will help bring in a couple of more expensive quality players to give the squad that extra bit depth. :)
Plobdork
23 августа, 2011 at 18:30
I 100 % agree with you buying him on next season just look at his profile on scouting network I mande it myself :)
great results and you surely deserve to be top of the table
Dan
23 августа, 2011 at 18:54
I’m definitely going to try and bring him in permanently for next season, his pace would be really useful in the Premiership. I’ll go and check the scouting network right now! :)
Johnny Karp
23 августа, 2011 at 20:25
Wow, this post is packed with good news! Things are going brilliantly there mate, top of the table and with a few million to spend, I reckon you must be pretty happy :) You will surely be able to bring at least three quality players with that money so I bet you will win the league in style! Good luck!
Dan
24 августа, 2011 at 12:41
Hey Johnny,
The money is really helpful but now comes the more difficult part, trying to persuade quality players to want to join Hull. Most of them either want monstrous wages or massive agent fees which I’m not willing to pay. :(
Darren Smith
23 августа, 2011 at 20:29
Great form mate, the team look solid and its great to see you top of the table. That transfer budget is brilliant also, you could really build for next season and I can’t wait to see your transfers.
Dan
24 августа, 2011 at 12:43
Hopefully I can persuade a couple of Burnley’s players to join Hull City through January, they’ve got some brilliant players which would make me stronger while making them weaker!
Laxeyman
23 августа, 2011 at 20:33
Excellent form Dan, and it’s looking more and more likely that you’ll get promoted now :) There’s still a while to go, but your side are playing well, so hopefully they’ll keep it up. The chairman obviously trusts you with all that money, and if I were you I’d spend most of it now, in preparation for the Premier League, as you never know, he might not be so generous come the summer…
Dan
24 августа, 2011 at 12:44
I’m trying to bring in some Premier League quality but I’m trying to do it on a very tight wage budget. I may have to turn some of the £7million I was handed into wage budget if I’m going to bring in the best available. I think the chairman will be quite generous next season since it seems as though he trusts me now, hopefully this is the start of a very prosperous partnership :)
Sibo
24 августа, 2011 at 05:38
Well done Dan, good form and I think you are likely to get promoted now! :D
I wonder if there is a certain Ukranian you can buy with that kind of money…? :P
Dan
24 августа, 2011 at 12:46
I’ve actually already tried, an offer of £4.3million (the price I got him for Newcastle) was rejected so I had to leave it at that, hopefully next season I can bring in a certain Ukrainian though… :D
Kevin
24 августа, 2011 at 10:18
Hi Dan
Strong end to the year and nice to see you top of the table. Well done!
Dan
24 августа, 2011 at 12:47
Thanks Kevin, hopefully we can have a strong end to the season and not just the year!
Sayam Khan
24 августа, 2011 at 16:03
Hi Dan,
after settling in your team seems to be playing much better now. Hopefully you continue your form and get promoted. Thats quiet a lot of mooney your board has given you at this stage, use it well ;-)
Dan
24 августа, 2011 at 17:40
Hey Sayam,
I’m having to exercise some self control at certain points, I have a really bad thing I do when I’m suddenly given money in FM and that is to usually sign loads of central midfielders! I have to keep stopping myself bidding for players I don’t need :)
Sears
25 августа, 2011 at 00:23
Hey Dan,
To be given £7 million in the Championship is superb, hopefully you’ll spend it on a few talented players :) Promotion looks all but secured, considering the 10 point advantage you currently have .. Good luck in the remainder of the season ;)
Dan
25 августа, 2011 at 12:38
Thanks Sears,
Like I said in the post I just sat there smiling for a while when the season expectations message popped up. I think I’ve spent quite well so far but I’ve always missed out on top targets because of lack of reputation.
Ana Garcia
25 августа, 2011 at 21:11
Good going so far, topping the table with hopefully more good results to come.
Very nice transfer budget aswell so you could bring in a some really good players to help in your promotion bid.
The best of luck! :)
Dan
26 августа, 2011 at 12:32
Thanks Ana,
The problem with having a big transfer budget in the Championship is that the kind of players I’ve tried to sign have either wanted massive wages or are not interested because our club is too ‘small’. It’s been difficult in the transfer market but our league position is something I’m proud of.
CsAtlantis
26 августа, 2011 at 06:41
That’s a hefty budget for a Championship club, should be useful if you find the players you need to strengthen your team, and I think it should increase your wage budget significantly if you use it that way, your only competition seems to be Burnley, good luck for the rest of the season
Dan
26 августа, 2011 at 12:34
Thanks Atlantis the end of season should be really tight since Hull and Burnley seem to both be prone to slip ups whenever they open a gap between one another, it makes great reading but it’s very frustrating :) I think I’m going to keep a chunk of the budget for the end of the season when the transfer market opens before you get your expectations, it’s always annoyed me that the game buys all my targets before I have any money so this year will be different.
cak
26 августа, 2011 at 17:11
hey dan
the team are looking unstoppable at the minute, and the chairman is finally investing within the club, either you are one talented or lucky manager lol. Also it is about time that someone is making success of a yorkshire club, so this is one story that i will be following religiously. look forward to reading the next update
Dan
27 августа, 2011 at 13:41
Glad to here it! :)
celticman
29 августа, 2011 at 22:02
Good going and I think January will be interesting!
Dan
7 сентября, 2011 at 12:09
Hopefully January will be interesting for players coming in, it would be disastrous if I lost some of my best players to, let’s say, Chelsea reserves!