And now the most spectacular area of the team, the strikers. Omar Koroma and Peter Singh remained at the club and they will have to compete with three other strikers for a spot in the first team. The first signing was a free one, Sean Scannell from Championship side Wigan. He has no Premier League experience but he should be a great counter attacking player considering his speed.
The next striker that joined the club is 18 year old Spaniard Jonathan Ezquerro from Real Madrid. I paid only 300,000 pounds for him and he appears to be a pretty good prospect. His stats so far are quite impressive, he scored 23 goals last season for Real Madrid C.
The biggest signing in the club’s history is Liam Parker, a player that you already know from last season when he was with us on loan from Manchester United. He scored 15 goals in the Championship for us and I was quite keen on signing him. Manchester United wanted 7.5 million pounds and I gladly paid, I think that this lad will be the player who will drive the club forward.
Another signing completes our summer window, a transfer for the future: 16 year old centre back Raul Munteanu. This kid has great potential and I hope he can develop quickly as I paid quite a lot for him, 500K!
With the new players gradually coming in we had a mixed bag of friendly results. I was quite pleased to hold A.C. Milan to a 1-1 draw but rather disappointed by the 3-0 defeat at the hands of Middlesbrough. That was a special game though as we had a man sent off around the 30th minute.
The assistant manager report points out our weak spots, the two full back positions. Unfortunately there’s nothing I can do about that at this point because we are already way over the weekly wage budget… However, I think that we have enough strength in the other areas of the team. I might also try a new tactic with no full backs, we’ll see.
Here are some interesting facts about our team: it’s the youngest squad in the league, we have the lowest average wages but the most under 19 internationals!
The bookmakers were not impressed with those stats though, everybody thinks that we are going to finish last. Well, that’s what they always said :)
Our first month will start with a killer double, at home with Liverpool and then away at Arsenal but then we’ll try to pick up some points against Bristol City and Hull. We also might have a Carling Cup fixture in between those games, I’m not sure.
So, that’s what we managed to do during the transfer window, thanks for reading this update. I am a bit frustrated because I couldn’t manage to bring in the full backs that I wanted, I had offers accepted for three good full backs but all of them decided to sign contracts with other clubs. Anyway, I think that we’ll put up a good fight in the Premier League and I hope that we will manage to stay up this season in order to continue building for the future.
Darren Smith
19 сентября, 2010 at 13:06
Hi Johnny, you have made some really bold moves in the summer. It may take a while for your side to gel, but your new like team are definately worth a mid table finish. Goodluck for the new season and Im looking forward to Dorchesters Prem debut
Johnny Karp
19 сентября, 2010 at 15:52
Thanks Darren, I hope that the bold moves will pay off :)
Laxeyman
19 сентября, 2010 at 13:40
Hi Johnny, you’ve made some impressive signings there, and your side looks like they can compete in the Premier League. You have a very young side and a lot of them look like they have exciting potential. This season is sure to be exciting, good luck!
Johnny Karp
19 сентября, 2010 at 15:54
Thanks Laxeyman, we have nothing to lose, that’s for sure! :)
Sears
19 сентября, 2010 at 13:46
Hi Johnny,
the new young team should have enough quality to stay up. Like you siad the main worry is the full back position, they seem quite weak, though there still young so they can improve over the course of the season. I think you can finish between 16th and 13th. Your side is only going to get better! Goodluck!
Johnny Karp
19 сентября, 2010 at 15:55
Thanks Sears, you pointed out my strategy exactly: we can only get better from this point on!
Jean Paul Borg
19 сентября, 2010 at 15:24
Hi Johnny. I have been impressed with your promotion from the Championship but I knew you could achieve a play off. I think you’ll do well to stay up, I think that you’ll finish from 10-17th position. I am concerned that you signed a bunch of Romanians. I think you should concentrate more on your coaching staff so that your youngsters can polish their skills quicker. I would advice bringing in first team coaches and youth coached, not general coaches as they won’t have enough time to deal with both senior and U18 or U20 squad. Good Luck mate, I am behind you!
Johnny Karp
19 сентября, 2010 at 15:58
Thanks Jean Paul. Unfortunately I can’t have too many staff members but I don’t really need youth coaches anyway since almost all of my players are with the first team squad. My reserves squad has only one player, the 16 year old Romanian defender while the under 18 squad is completely empty. Now about the Romanians, I would have signed Vietnamese players if they were good, young and cheap :)
Sayam Khan
19 сентября, 2010 at 15:37
Hi Johnny,
Very impressed with your signings especially Arturo Bahomendes, Liam Parker, Lulian Marin and Fran Merida! (arsenal factor :L)
And playing at saint maries does seem funny. And for once you got a budget! lol
I think you will stay up but it will be difficult for you, good luck.
Johnny Karp
19 сентября, 2010 at 15:58
Thanks Sayam, I know it will be difficult. Those four are among my favourites too :)
hils
19 сентября, 2010 at 19:21
Hi Johnny. Great signings there. Good luck facing europe’s finest!!!!
Johnny Karp
19 сентября, 2010 at 19:26
Thanks for the good wishes Hils!
Lye
20 сентября, 2010 at 02:49
Hi Johnny, quite a number of signings there and young too. I hope they will make a immediate impact. However i believe your current corp of players from the Championship should be able to survive in the Premiership. Some of the free transfers should be useful too. I wish you well in the Premiership. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
20 сентября, 2010 at 18:06
Thanks Lye, I hope that the youngsters will be strong enough to survive the clashes with the big boys in the Premiership.
Andries
20 сентября, 2010 at 16:43
Hey Johnny,
Good Luck in the big league! I love your signings Tamasi and Marin, i think they will become a great asset to your team. Hope you can stick it to Arsenal and Liverpool. Give them h@ll..
gr Andries
Johnny Karp
20 сентября, 2010 at 18:06
Thanks Andries, hell is what they’ll get! :)
bigbaz
20 сентября, 2010 at 17:35
this story got me hooked on this website all of u keep up the good work.
great acheivement you’ve done with dorchester, all the best in the prem
Johnny Karp
20 сентября, 2010 at 18:07
Thanks a lot for your kind comment and for the good wishes, I hope that you will continue to follow the stories.
Ana Garcia
20 сентября, 2010 at 21:23
I cant believe how much transfer money you got to spend!!
I guess thats the major difference between the premier league and la liga, huge amounts of money split evenly across all the teams.
I wish la liga has a similar structure rather than the bigger clubs getting the most of the tv money, anyways I digress!!
I like your signings and two Spaniards! Hope they do well!!
May take a while for your team to gel though, but at least they have a talented manager! ;)
Best of luck in the top league and dont let the bigger teams scare you, look at Barca and Hercules last week……
:(!!!!!
Johnny Karp
20 сентября, 2010 at 21:29
Thanks for the good wishes Ana. You are right about the Premier League money, I like that model too opposed to Spain or even Italy. Things might have changed in Italy though, they had some problems a few years ago because the small clubs wanted more money out of the TV rights and threatened to go on strike. Anyway, I expect no fear from my youngsters, they have to prove themselves against world class players and that should be an incentive for them to play well.
dami
21 сентября, 2010 at 17:01
good signings there johnny…I’m glad the board gave you a reasonable amount of money this season…
Hopefully there will be no international competition this season which will require your young players to leave…
btw-what happened to ryan carolan…is he still in your club cause i didn’t se him in the outgoing transfer list…
Johnny Karp
21 сентября, 2010 at 19:27
Thanks Dami. Carolan is still in the squad as a backup for the left back position. I promised that I won’t sell him unless he will desire to move and I’m keeping my word :)
Kevin Mayo
23 сентября, 2010 at 09:23
Hello Johnny
A good mix of signings and not bad pre season results either. I like the look of Iulian Marin whose excellent passing attributes could set up a lot of chances for you and Liam Parker is another of my favorites. Interesting to see if you do stray from your tried and tested «Notts Co» tactic but good luck in the Premier League.
Johnny Karp
23 сентября, 2010 at 18:32
Thanks Kevin. It will be a bit difficult to experiment with the tactics during the season but I guess I will try to do that in the cup games first.