Dropping «The Bear», A Portugal Story (Summer of 2012)

Firstly, I’d like to apologize for the subpar quality of my most recent update. I was tired and hadn’t been drinking nearly enough to be typing an update. Well rest assured, neither of those conditions apply at present (as in I’m awake and proper liquored up)!

Secondly, let’s face it, the whole «The Bear» thing has gotten tired. I’ve been thinking about it quite a bit (about 5 minutes, actually), and it isn’t adding anything to the story. From now on you’ll be stuck with just regular ol’ Jon, albeit in a somewhat more sarcastic form.

Finally, let’s get on to the real meat and potatoes of thus update: transfer activity! Now you may recall I ended up opting to let about half of my team walk at the end of their contracts (because it was impossible to sell them), and you may recall me mentioning in the comments that I perhaps went a little overboard in that decision. The main problem was, you see, that I couldn’t actually find that many decent players worth signing to replace the ones I’d lost. As a result, I’m fairly certain the team isn’t any better than last year.

So all that being said, here’s (in no particular order) who I brought in:

My previously keeper was hardly a young buck (turning 41), and he’d fulfilled his role of helping us survive last year’s relegation battle. Now I needed someone younger, and Piedade fit the role. He actually has a fair bit of potential left for someone of his age, which was a bit surprising.

Same as before. My old AMC was never especially good, and his attributes were declining faster than former President Bush’s approval ratings. In comes Canha, young, ambitious, and not very good!

It’s a right back! His technical attributes are nothing to write home about, but I was impressed by his physicality, which frankly is what matters at this level of the footballing world (the third tier is probably about on par with the Blue Square Premier).

I’d be lying if I said his name wasn’t a healthy part of why I signed him. Even so, he’s still a pretty decent central midfielder (even if he does have noodle arms).

I’m pretty sure I’m using this guy as my second central midfielder. I think? Is it bad that I already can’t remember what exactly I signed him to do? Maybe I should open up the save and double check… (nah)

Look! A left winger! I mean, he’s not anything special (he is, in fact, terrible), but at least he actually plays the position for a living!

This was my stupid signing of the off season. I grabbed him because I liked his physical and mental attributes, and only later did I realize he actually can’t really play in the middle of the pitch all that well. He’s a solid defensive mid, but I don’t use one, so he’ll probably be on his way out come January.

And finally, here is a shot of all of the transfer activity for the summer:

I didn’t show screenshots of the players brought in for the reserve or youth teams, but I ended up doing a one-for-one on the whole. All in all, it’s a distinctly average squad, but at least they all (excepting Azeez) play in positions I can actually use. Given those signings, I’d say we have a chance to finish anywhere between 1st and 14th, and we’re carrying a media prediction of 16th this year (one worse than last year). Here’s to hoping we find some consistency in our approach (I doubt it).

Thanks for reading all!