Hello dear friends, welcome to my fourth season in charge of Dorchester Town in Football Manager 2010! As you know we got our third consecutive promotion last season, we won League Two quite comfortably and made the step up to League One. I felt I had a massive task ahead of me during pre-season as I believed that the squad needed some heavy reinforcements in order to be competitive in the new league. Let’s see what happened during the long, long, summer.
I was already over the wage budget when the season ended so I couldn’t make any signings until the board announced the new season expectations and financial structure. They were expecting us to fight bravely against relegation, I told them that we could get a top half finish and that added 2,000 pounds to the weekly wage budget. The transfer budget was quite impressive again, no less than 45 pounds! Yes, you read that right, 45 pounds! You can buy a copy or two of Football Manager 2011 with that money but you can’t buy a player for that kind of sum nowadays…
Alright then, let’s move on to the actual transfers. I sold eight players but they left the club gradually, whenever I managed to sign a player I had to sell one in return. We had to say goodbye to our long serving Romanian striker Marius Dabu, I felt that his abilities were not enough for League One but I surely am grateful for all the goals that he netted during the previous seasons. I also released the whole bunch of lads from the yearly youth intake, I considered them not fit for a career in the beautiful game.
We managed to get a healthy 450,000 pounds from the player sales but the board allowed only 20% of that money to go back into the transfer budget. I decided not to use that money from transfers anyway, I moved everything into the wage budget and went on to sign only free players. Overall I brought in 12 players plus five more on loan.
I asked my board to find a parent club yet again but they gave me the exact same answer, they think we don’t need one at this point! I’ll try again in January…
Now let me present our new players, almost all of them! I sold both my goalkeepers, they didn’t prove to be reliable enough, and I brought in a new pair. First, Czech youth international Miroslav Kocur, a talented 19 year old that is believed to have good potential. He never played outside of his homeland before so I guess he will need some time to adapt.
My new first choice goalkeeper will probably be Romanian 19 year old prospect Gabriel Nicolau, he already had his first youth cap and he surely shows a lot of potential. There were quite a few Romanian clubs that placed bids for his signature but I managed to capture him with a higher wage and benefits offer.
My new first choice right back will be John White, a 26 year old English player that joined us from Blackpool. He should be a reliable lad because he has good League One and Championship experience under his belt.
White’s backup will be young prospect Eddie Kelly, a player that was released on a free by Arsenal. He surely has some potential and I hope that he will make some progress this season as I will try to give him some first team football.
I decided to cover the left flank with the player that served us so well last season, Fabio Daprelà, West Ham agreed to loan him to us again for the whole season. His backup will be Luke Garbutt, a promising talent that was released on a free transfer by Everton. He started his career with Leeds and Everton paid no less than 600,000 pounds to buy him in 2009 but he didn’t settle too well. I hope that he’ll try to fulfill his potential at Dorchester. Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Sears
14 августа, 2010 at 18:13
Hi Johnny,
You had a busy pre season :-D
League One, in my opinion, is extremely tougher than League Two. You have a way better team than me though so you’ll more than likely do better :-)
Goodluck mate!
Johnny Karp
14 августа, 2010 at 19:58
Thanks Sears, I hope we’re ready for League One but I guess we’ll only know that for sure after a few games.
Laxeyman
14 августа, 2010 at 19:53
Some good signings there Johnny, as usual you’ve managed to attract some good players despite the poor finances. You seem to have a good side for League 1, I think you’ll get into the play offs at least. Good luck!
Johnny Karp
14 августа, 2010 at 19:59
Thanks for the confidence Laxeyman, I’m not that optimistic at the moment but who knows…
java
14 августа, 2010 at 20:16
Like the previous season Johnny, annoying board…
But i think you can compete in League One. I can’t predict your game since I don’t know enough about another clubs in your game. (every game must be different right) But I know your club will cause some shocks in League One because «they have you as their manager». Just be patience as always to your board, hopefully God will open their eyes. :D
Good luck sir..
Johnny Karp
14 августа, 2010 at 21:27
Thanks for your support Java, the board will have to improve someday, they are way behind the team.
Cal
14 августа, 2010 at 21:48
Nice to see the board gave a huge starting budget
NOT!
You made some great signings with the recources you have.
Hope you do well next season!
Johnny Karp
15 августа, 2010 at 09:56
Thanks Cal.
Kevin Mayo
14 августа, 2010 at 22:08
Hi Johnny
That’s a very busy pre-season you had. It must have taken you a few hours to go through that lot :) I’m delighted you have signed a Canadian player for the first time and I hope he does well for you. Good luck with the new season!
Johnny Karp
15 августа, 2010 at 09:58
Thanks Kevin. I didn’t count but I reckon the pre-season took more than eight hours :) I have high hopes regarding the Canadian but first I have to get him back into shape after his injury.
Plobdork
14 августа, 2010 at 22:17
wow some of those cheap guys are pretty good promotion is just a season away good luck mate :)
Johnny Karp
15 августа, 2010 at 09:58
Thanks for the confidence mate! :)
Lye
15 августа, 2010 at 04:21
Hi mate, i think we have got used to the board managing style if we are managing lower league team. A lot of signings in, i won’t be making a prediction as i have confidence in you and the players you have brought in. I believe you will do well. The first few game will shape that and give us an idea. Good luck for the coming games.
Johnny Karp
15 августа, 2010 at 09:59
Thanks Lye. I had a fantastic board and chairman at Notts County compared to this one :)
Darren Smith
15 августа, 2010 at 10:09
Hey Johnny, look at all those Romanian flags in your squad!! I must admit I have a soft spot for a few of those players. You have done well with a crappy budget, hopefully you’ll have enough quality to compete. I found League One quite tough but its a great challenge. You should hopefully be in or around the play-offs this season. However I’m routing for your promotion campaign. Goodluck mate
Johnny Karp
15 августа, 2010 at 10:34
Thanks Darren, I hope that your assessment will prove to be right. As for the Romanians, I think that my knowledge of Romanian football is a great asset for the club :)
Vinners
16 августа, 2010 at 02:01
I can’t believe your board; rubbish transfer budget, no parent club. They are really testing your skills as a manager! Good Luck!
Johnny Karp
16 августа, 2010 at 07:26
Thanks for the good luck wish Vinners. I guess the board shouldn’t test my skills anymore, they might know by now that I’m a fairly decent manager :)
Zheljo
17 августа, 2010 at 09:45
very busy pre-season, the board was harsh with the transfer budget, but you have bough good players for free. would it be possible to make a post about the background of the team like training, coaching, finances, tactics, board request you made etc.?
Johnny Karp
17 августа, 2010 at 11:01
Zheljo, my approach to those aspects if the game is explained in the Lower League Management Guide, you can have a look and then let me know if you need further info.
https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/2010/07/football-manager-lower-league-management-guide/
Zheljo
17 августа, 2010 at 13:30
thx. that helped a lot.
Sayam Khan
17 августа, 2010 at 17:52
Excellent signings, you’ve done really well. Good luck, i think you’ll get promoted.
Also, excellent prediction contest, i got 7 points from the first week.
Johnny Karp
17 августа, 2010 at 18:27
Thanks for the compliment and I’m very happy that you like the contest too. You did well to get seven points, good luck for the next weekend! :)
de ce?
12 сентября, 2011 at 14:03
I got lucky, the board linked me with mighty Arsenal as my parent team while still in League 2. I’m also playing Dorchester, as I mentioned in a previous comment here on your story.