The difficult part was still ahead of me, I had to find a left back and a centre back and it wasn’t easy at all. After long and painful negotiations with Aston Villa they finally agreed to sell regen left back Joe Barton for 17 million pounds (they asked for 25 million at first). He’s a very talented youngster that could solve our left back problem in the following years. I also brought a Brazilian left back, Dodo, on a loan to buy deal from Manchester United, so I guess we’re pretty well covered on that flank.
After solving the left back problem I focused on finding a centre back but it was quite difficult with the amount of money that I had left in the bank. I’ve made several offers for British centre backs but eventually had to find a foreign target, Danish international Simon Kjaer. He’s a player that I admire a lot, a professional guy that could wear the Notts County shirt for years to come. The problem is that we signed him late in July and I wasn’t able to insert him into the squad that had to be registered for the Europa League. I hope they will let me insert him later on…
I would have wanted to bring in another right/left winger but I had to give up because there was no money left. The bookmakers believe that we are among the top teams in the league but I can’t tell you if they are right or wrong yet, I’ll have to see the first matches and then have a better idea.
Let’s see the friendly games now. Since we had to play in the third preliminary round of the Europa League I thought that three friendly games would be enough, we could use the two Europa League games to build up the fitness and match form. It was a risky decision but I felt that having too many friendlies besides the European games could cause some injury problems.
The team that we had to face in the third preliminary round was Swiss side Young Boys Bern, not an easy opponent at that stage. The home game began quite well, we put the opponents under heavy pressure in the first half but lacked precision upfront. We even missed a penalty kick just before the break. The second half was quite difficult because of the fitness problems but we could still have won it. A poor clearance from Djourou gave us a 1-1 draw instead but I was fairly confident for the second leg.
In fact, the second leg was totally different, my players already had some match form in their legs and they thoroughly proved to be the better side. Right winger Bonetti scored the opener from a corner kick that was flicked on by Demba Ba. Then Biglia doubled our lead by finishing a team move but Young Boys clawed one back right after the break, a nice goal from Romanian winger Gangioveanu (one of my favorite players in real life, he plays for my beloved Universitatea Craiova). Senegalese striker Demba Ba missed a truckload of chances throughout the game but he finally found the way to the net in the second half, he slotted in a quick hat-trick to put the result beyond doubt. I was quite pleased with the performance, I can’t remember any of my teams creating 14 clear cut chances in a single game before!
We have one more round to pass until the group stage and the draw pitched us against a Romanian team, Rapid Bucharest. They have a good team but I guess we’ll be able to beat them. We’ll also have three Premier League games to play by the end of August, I guess we’ll know more about the team’s strength at the end of the month.
That’s how the pre season went, I think that we have good squad depth overall, I just wanted one more winger but I guess I’ll have to wait until January and hope for some money from the board. I’m looking forward to read your views about the transfers campaign and about my squad, you can always view the full details about my players in the current squad page (I’ll be working to update it right after finishing this post). Thanks for reading!
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Laxeyman
31 января, 2010 at 15:39
Pretty good signings there Johnny, they will definitely strenghten your squad. Joe Barton looks like a good player, you seem to have a good eye for Regens! Defour, Sobis and Demba Ba are all good players, especially Defour and they are great free signings! Kjaer is very good as well, better than Djourou for sure!
Looks like you blew away Young Boys in the 2nd leg, what a great performance there! I have no doubts you will beat Rapid, Good Luck!
Martin
31 января, 2010 at 15:46
Good Signings Johnny.
You Always Get Quality Free Transfers. I Don’t Know Why Their Clubs Would Let Them Go!
Strange How You Drew At Home And Then Thrashed Young Boys Away, Good Result.
When I Saw Joe Barton’s Name, I Thought It Said Joey Barton, And I Was Shocked! :P
I Think You Have A Really Good Chance Of Reaching The Champions League This Season.
By The Way, What Skin Are You Using?
Oh And, Do You Think I Should Post On My Blog On A Monthly Basis, Or Half A Season?
Majk
31 января, 2010 at 15:55
14 clear cut chances is beyond me. Never seen that before.
Your free transfers are all solid players. Sobis in the PL will be a treat, even though I think that he’s a bit on the weak side.
Simon Kjear is someone I always expect more from in the game. Never really grows as a player from what I have seen. Would’ve been nice to see his stats grow a bit in tackling and so forth.
Your left back looks like an extremely good buy. Only 19 and with those stats! Dodo will work good as a rotation player until Barton can take full reign over the DL position.
Laxeyman
31 января, 2010 at 15:56
Martin, I am the same as you I thought it said Joey Barton at first as well. I think the skin Johnny is using is Vitreous, check out FM Base it’s really good for skins. And also I would advise posting on a monthly basis, but of course it’s up to you.
Johnny Karp
31 января, 2010 at 16:04
Thanks for the comments folks!
@Laxeyman
I’m quite satisfied with those signings myself, I hope they’ll do well.
@Martin
Nope, it’s not Joey Barton :) The skin is called Vitreous, you can find it in the Downloads page if you want to give it a try. About the blog updates, I think that you should pick whatever suits your style, if you have the time to play half a season in one day it would be difficult to post monthly updates.
@Majk
I expect a lot from Barton and Kjaer, Sobis will probably be a backup for Guilherme but with all the games that we’ll have he will get lots of chances to play.
Bilal Ahmad
31 января, 2010 at 16:08
I also thought he signed Joey Barton lol! Your free signings are really good! Congradulations on the win against Young Boys! Also Joe Barton looks really good for a regen player, nice find.
Johnny Karp
31 января, 2010 at 16:15
@Bilal
Thanks mate. Barton was quite expensive but 17 mil for such a talent isn’t too much…
@Majk
Btw, I added your blog to the links page, keep it updated! :)
Johnny Karp
31 января, 2010 at 16:19
I forgot to mention something… If any of you will be watching Arsenal vs Manchester United today I’d be happy to comment it together on Twitter. See you there!
Laxeyman
31 января, 2010 at 16:28
Johnny, I think many of us will be watching Arsenal v Man Utd. I will see you there!
Calum
31 января, 2010 at 17:02
Well done on some brilliant signings Johnny. Think you are Champions League destined :).
About my blog, I decided not to do it as I don’t enjoy the game as much when doing a blog so I won’t do it. Sorry for that.
Good luck with Notts County!
Lye
31 января, 2010 at 17:22
Good signing on the left back Joe Barton(I have the same thought too)SI really not very creative on regen names. 17.5million is not expensive consider he is very young and probably have chance to be a future England international. Some fantastic signings added on the existing players, i think you will at least get a champions league place and challenge for the title this season Good luck mate.
Johnny Karp
31 января, 2010 at 17:27
@Lye
Thanks mate, I hope we’ll be able to get at least the 5th place, that would mean progress. Hopefully they will give me some more transfer money in January to bring one or two more players.
@Calum
Thanks buddy, I hope your prediction would prove right :) Don’t worry about the blog, you should play the game in the way that allows you to enjoy it the most.
Luke Emery
31 января, 2010 at 17:34
Awesome signings there! How do you find all these free foreigners! and I signed Demba Ba on my old Derby game on FM 2009 and he scored over 30 goals in the premier league for me. May not be as prolific in your side though.
Johnny Karp
31 января, 2010 at 17:37
@Luke
Thanks mate, I always check the players with expiring contracts and make my move on the interesting ones. Some players don’t want to renew their contracts and you can grab them for free, «contract status» is probably the most used filter for me when I search for players.
Luke Emery
31 января, 2010 at 17:57
ahh thanks, i always just use contract expired not contract expiring, i’ll bear that in mind.
Martin
31 января, 2010 at 17:58
Johnny,
Yet Again, I Find Myself In The Situation Where I’m Contemplating Whether To Delete My Blog, I Think I Will.
Like You Say, I Should Do Whatever Makes Me Enjoy The Game Most.
Johnny Karp
31 января, 2010 at 18:18
@Martin
It’s your decision mate. Take your time, think about it and then do whatever you feel will make your FM experience better.
@Luke
Normally you can approach a player within the last six months of his contract.
Majk
31 января, 2010 at 18:25
@Martin
that’s why I couldn’t find your blog anymore… too bad. Well good luck in the future Mate.
@Johhny Karp
Alright then, I’ll do my best to keep it flowing. I have a tendency to play too much. That way I can either publsih a lot of posts in one day. Otherwise i’ll keep em coming for each 6 months of the game or so on. I changed it to english aswell (the blog) and I’ll be trying to make it more of a story with more in-depth writing than just commenting on pictures I put up.
Good luck now Johnny with Notts Co
Kevin
31 января, 2010 at 19:39
Hi Johnny
Good pre-season results there and I like the Steven Defour signing. There seem to be a lot of useful DMC’s from Belgium. Good results in Europe and you have quite a nice schedule to begin the new season.
Johnny Karp
31 января, 2010 at 19:48
Thanks Kevin, I hope for a good run in August.
TheZiggy
31 января, 2010 at 21:18
Some great looking signings there. It’s interesting to compare Kjær between our two games, with you being a year ahead. In the important attributes for a defender, it’s interesting to see that I have him at 16 on tackling, how his Positioning and Concentration are one lower for me. I’ve found him to be very consistent. Like others I did a double take when I saw the name Joe Barton.
14 clear cut chances is insane. Most I think I can remember is something like 8, and I thought that was crazy. I like the look of the squad, and feel you should be fighting it out in the top 4.
Johnny Karp
1 февраля, 2010 at 08:25
@TheZiggy
Thanks for the analysis mate, I hope that Kjaer will solve some of the problems that our defense had during the last season. As I said’ I’m pretty satisfied with the squad myself, the only thing that still bothers me is that I couldn’t bring in another winger, a couple of injuries to our current wingers could cause us big problems.
mariano
7 августа, 2010 at 02:21
Hi Johnny,
A few questions:)
How do you do to get so good players for free?
Do you offer the contracts in december?
How do you prepare the players in the pre-season?
Do you train them hard for how long?
Do you train them heavy while playing friendlies?
I finished my first premier league with Crewe……8th place, hopefully the next i´ll make it to Europe……:)
Johnny Karp
7 августа, 2010 at 08:54
Hi Mariano! You guessed right, most of the contract offers are made in December/January. About the pre-season training, I don’t do anything special at all, I stick to the same training schedule as the one I use all year long. 8th place is not bad, I’m sure you’ll make it to Europe next term.
mariano
14 августа, 2010 at 14:41
I´m preparing to a new season managing Crewe at the Premiership, i have to achive a half table position and i have a financial dilema:)
The balance of the club is 37 Million dollars
The current budget is 65M and the total budget is 140M
The transfer budget is 112M
So i should be able to spend a lot buying players but……
During the last four seasons i´ve been buying like crazy paying in 48months, so this year i will have to pay 92M from old signings.
So i think that if i spend 112M the balance will go extremly red………
And during this season we are building a new stadiums since the 13.000 we have now is very small……..
What do u think?
Thanks
Johnny Karp
14 августа, 2010 at 14:47
Mariano, that seems to be a very tricky financial position. I rarely use the installments when paying for transfers, I don’t like to complicate my life :) Anyway, I don’t know how your squad looks but I would suggest buying just one or two players on the positions you feel that are weak in your team. You can also bring in players on loan as backups, you can pay one or two million as loan fees for a whole season and bring in some decent backups in return. Then once the financial situation clears up you can resume your spending spree :)
mariano
14 августа, 2010 at 15:22
The policy i decided is , not buying any new players, probably in december i will have to sell 2 rotation players and i can loan or buy in 48 months again to replace them:)
It´s the «market bubble» strategy, i want the whole economy to collapse:)
Once i did this in another game and at the end of the season my balance was 80M red, but my chairman was Dear Roman and he just gave me 100M out of the blue:)
But with the Crewe chairman i don´t think this is going to happen:)
Johnny Karp
14 августа, 2010 at 15:33
That’s a good strategy Mariano :) I guess you’ll force the chairman out of the club :)