Welcome back friends to My Football Manager Story which left off last time with a decision to be made as I received a very tempting job offer from Leicester. To be honest my finger almost clicked on the accept button but after considering Ana’s passionate comment for me to stay in my last post I pulled away at the last second and clicked reject instead. So I’m staying in Devon with The Pilgrims and I hope it’s the right decision.
Season Three:
So with the job offer out of the way it was time to knuckle down and build for the new season in The Championship. That would require some money of course which started to arrive in early June with a new kit sponsorship deal.
The board announced the initial budget for the season which was about 10% of what had been on offer from Leicester but was indeed a significant jump from anything that had been previously presented.
With the £2million in hand I went after a couple of Polish youth internationals that had tremendous potential and were real bargains as well. Just like their English counter parts they had no intention of coming to Plymouth. That left June being a somewhat empty and long month with the exception of Conor Coady whom I secured on loan from Liverpool for another season.
The last week of the month began with the club receiving a tidy sum of money in TV revenue and the same afternoon I met with the board to set out the season’s expectations.
I don’t think we have a particularly strong squad for this level of football so chose avoid relegation which turned out to be less money the the initial budget.
Aside from the budget the board capitulated to some earlier demands and increased our scouting range to continental Europe.
***Authors note
I’d just recently added the Dutch league to the game profile so hopefully that will prove beneficial.
June 29th saw another job offer this time from Southampton which I turned down, but again was tempting.
July 2013
The first day of July saw the arrival of James Wallace who was released by Everton whom I’m really excited about as I feel he can switch between both to box and a holding midfielder.
Our biggest transfer fee to date of £ 425,000 was spent on Blackburn reserve Josh Morris who arrived just a few days before and will play on the left flank as Bhasera will drop into the left back position.
I had to give this one some extended thought but in the end did sign Kudus Oyenuga who was released by Tottenham and felt he would add value to the team despite not playing that much for us last season when on loan.
By the end of the first week of July I shattered the Plymouth record transfer fee by paying Liverpool £600,000 for American ML Mike Pelosi who will battle with Josh Morris for that starting left flank position.
Our first two pre-season games, though not fierce opposition went extremely well with wins against Barnstaple and Stockport. I was happy to see Oyenuga score in both games.
Following those back to back wins two more players arrived at Home Park. The first was goalkeeper Aaron McCarey who I paid £200,000 to Wolves and will back up Loris Karis between the sticks. The second was a rather interesting arrival in the form of MR Ilyas Zeytulaev who is from Uzbekistan and has by far the best all round attributes in the entire squad. Even with 24 caps for his country this new player represents a gamble as he doesn’t speak English!
Kudus Oyenuga scored twice in our next game against Aachen but an injury picked up in the match will keep him out for the start of the season. We played very well against a Spurs reserve side led by Jermaine Defoe up front but it was our own Sanmi Odelusi who captured the headlines with a tidy brace as we won 2-1. The Rovers game was too soon afterwards and ended in a bland 0-0 draw and that was followed by an inspired Truro team whom we eventually dispatched thanks to Odelusi and Boateng.
Before our final warm up game of the summer there was yet another arrival from the distance land of Uzbekistan and that was striker Alexander Geynrikh who has won 67 caps for his country. Lets’ hope he becomes Alexander the Great at Plymouth!
In the end I spent £1.4 million and adjusted the budgets a couple of times along the way to compensate for salaries. All the outgoing players at least so far did not provide any revenue for the club as they were all released on a free transfer.
Finances:
They are not in too bad a shape and are at least in the black for now though I did spend far more on players than I originally intended back at the end of May.
We finished off pre –season with a comfortable win over Newport County which featured a spectacular 40 yard free kick by Simon Walton to open the scoring and a powerful drive into the corner of the net by winger Zeytulaev.
Plymouth Squad: 2013 / 2014 Campaign
The bookies don’t give us much of a chance in The Championship and feel we are in for a long season at the foot of the table.
We start the season off with a very difficult home game against Bristol City and aside from Crawley the rest of the line-up makes very tough reading as well including two teams who I turned down job offers from!
That concludes this report and I hope you like the blue font color and the use of hyperlinks for the player profiles. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I look forward to your comments.
Johnny Karp
11 декабря, 2011 at 19:48
Those two guys from Uzbekistan are pretty good, I’m very curious to see how they adapt in England. I think you have a strong squad overall so relegation shouldn’t be something to worry about this season. Good luck!
Kevin
11 декабря, 2011 at 21:58
Hi Johnny
I’m curious as well to see how they adapt. The first Ilyas Zeytulaev came up in a news item, the second I just went looking for so he’d have a buddy :) Hopefully we can stay up with these two in the side
David Wornham
13 декабря, 2011 at 19:35
Just want to say love reading your updates Kevin and the presentation style. Good luck in the Championship.
Alex
11 декабря, 2011 at 20:03
The two Uzbeks look like good signings,they should fire you into a prosperous position in the league. The championship is always tight so I think you might make the play-offs.
Kevin
11 декабря, 2011 at 22:01
Hi Alex
Thanks for the confident prediction and I’m happy you like these two unusual signings.
Laxeyman
11 декабря, 2011 at 20:19
The two Uzbekistanis look like good players, I’m sure they’ll provide some experience and quality for your side Kevin, and help the talented youngsters you’ve brought in. I’m predicting at least a top 10 finish this season, good luck!
Kevin
11 декабря, 2011 at 22:04
Hey Laxeyman
Good point about experience as the vast majority of my side is indeed quite young which could have been a disadvantage. Didn’t think of that
Sears
11 декабря, 2011 at 20:35
Like the others side, two impressive Uzbekistan’s were signed. All in all, a great pre season and I’m sure your in store for a memorable season! Good luck Kevin!
Kevin
11 декабря, 2011 at 22:20
Hey Sears
Glad you like those two more unusual signings and I hope they create some memories!
Darren Smith
11 декабря, 2011 at 20:57
Wow two signings from Uzbekistan, that must be a first on FM lol :) But seriously they do look good and provided they settle well they should set the Championship on fire. Can’t wait to see how you settle in, good luck.
Darren Smith
11 декабря, 2011 at 20:58
p.s. The blue font is nice, easy on the eyes :)
Kevin
11 декабря, 2011 at 22:24
Hi Darren
Yep, I thought I was creating a first with FM bringing in two Uzbeks Having them settle quickly will be key to our success as they are a huge gamble.
Glad you like the blue font , it’s easier on my eyes when I’m typing.
Lye
12 декабря, 2011 at 00:48
Hi Kevin,
I echoed my fellow FMLovers comment, those two Uzbekistan player are real good. I don’t see any problem for your team to settle in the Championship. Can’t wait to see you get started on the new season. Good luck on the new season ahead.
Kevin
12 декабря, 2011 at 08:46
Hello Lye
I seem to have created quite the hype with my two Uzbek players so I hope they can both live up to those great attributes they both possess.
CsAtlantis
12 декабря, 2011 at 01:28
Glad to see you stay at Plymouth Kevin
Those two Uzbekistan players look like they could make an impact in the Championship and possibly beyond, if they are this good then I wonder how good Server Djeparov (current Asian player of the year) is
This should be an exciting season, did you try to get Eccleston back?
At least you have some nice TV money now, and your finances look good, good luck for the new season
Kevin
12 декабря, 2011 at 08:49
Hi CsAtlantis
I’m happy to stay at Plymouth too but all those offers were very tempting. I’ll post a screen shot in my next update of Server Djeparov.
Eccleston, just like Asante refused to come back and he signed on a free for Notts Forest.
TheZiggy
12 декабря, 2011 at 13:14
Really glad to see you stay at Plymouth, and not jump for what should be an easier option. The two Uzbekistani players should do a very good job for you this season. Relegation shouldn’t be an issue, but it’s hard to really say how well you’ll do though.
Kevin
12 декабря, 2011 at 23:38
Hey Ziggy
I’m happy I stayed to especially after finding by sheer chance those two Uzbek players!
vaibhavc
12 декабря, 2011 at 16:54
Good to see you stay at Plymouth. I know the offer was tempting, but its good that you stayed.. The Usbekis look good, wish you all the best for the season.
Kevin
12 декабря, 2011 at 23:39
Hi vaibhacv
Thanks for the well wishes and I’m glad I stayed to in the end. Hopefully it will be an exciting season ahead.
Frank
12 декабря, 2011 at 17:26
Hi Kevin,
Glad you stayed at Plymouth. You signed a lot of good players especially the two from Uzbekistan. I like the blue font and the hyper links as well. Good luck for the season :)
Kevin
12 декабря, 2011 at 23:40
Hi Frank
It’s good to hear you like my new color and the hyperlinks as well as all those new signings. Cheers!
Stromson
12 декабря, 2011 at 18:05
Hey Kevin!
1) You stayed! That offer was tempting, but I agree that Ana’s speech was too powerful to ignore. ;-)
2) I wonder if Marc Pelosi is related to Nancy…
3) I have to agree with everyone else: Those are some talented Uzbek’s you’ve managed to find!
4) Digging the blue font choice.
Kevin
12 декабря, 2011 at 23:57
Hi Stromson
1)Hard to resist that Spanish charm :)
2)Speaker of the House…I never made the connection until your comment. LOL!
3)One was be sheer chance in a news item, the second I went looking for like Dog the Bounty Hunter!
4)Nice, though it was a bit selfish as it’s easier on my aging eyesight
Ana Garcia
12 декабря, 2011 at 19:45
Ha! What can I say I’m just a passionate person I guess! :P
I love how multi-national your team is and you enjoyed a good pre-season so am optimistic that you can look forward to a good season.
Your signings all look very good so hopefully they can all settle down quickly for the long season ahead.
As always the very best of luck!!
Kevin
12 декабря, 2011 at 23:47
Hi Ana
Yep, that did it
Glad you like the variety in my team and thanks for the well wishes.
PeeDub
12 декабря, 2011 at 23:55
Dumb question: is there a way to keep tabs on who has recently been released from top teams? You seem to pick up a lot of players this way.
Kevin
13 декабря, 2011 at 00:09
Hi PeeDub
Greetings from Toronto and thanks for your comment. It’s not a dumb question for sure though I think my answer will be dumber!
The straight answer is I’m not sure. What I generally do is do as search of players whose contracts will be expiring in three months which I perform around April in the season.
I add to the search filters pace and stamina with each having to be no less than 10. Any I like I add to my shortlist that way I receive news items on them as well. Then if I have the salary budget make early contract offers on them July 1st or before if possible.
hope this helps :)
PeeDub
13 декабря, 2011 at 00:19
Ah, I was hoping you had magic secret weapon. I was also hoping to find out about players who were released on frees even before their contracts were up, which often happens as well.
Keep on keeping on.
Kevin
13 декабря, 2011 at 00:24
Sorry, no magic weapon for you mate but if you find a way let me know :)
Have a nice evening / morning wherever you are?
Martin - F.M.J.S
13 декабря, 2011 at 12:54
Hey Kevin
Nice to see you staying with Plymouth. And some nice transfers. I look forward to your next post on how your getting on. I feel you got a team good enough to avoid relegation. :)