Before moving to the usual transfers I have some good administrative news to share. Firstly, the new chairman decided to get something out of his pockets to help the club, 29 million pounds is not a fortune at this level but it’s the largest ever sum we have received from a chairman so far.
That money along with the TV revenue provided a good opportunity for the board to invest in the club’s infrastructure, I was ecstatic to see them deciding that without a request from me!
The biggest news is that the stadium will be heavily expanded, almost 13,000 new seats will be added and that will increase the capacity by more than 50 percent!
Another pleasing aspect is that UEFA puts us right at the top of Europe according to their coefficients, that’s a dream come true!
We also moved up in the Richest Clubs table, we are now 8th and officially richer than Man City!!!
The transfer budget doesn’t reflect all that wealth though, the board offered me just 40 mil for a title win. I didn’t want more to be honest, the investment into the stadium and training facilities is much more important at this stage.
As usual, there were quite a few players that left the club but most of them are youngsters that were unable to reach their expected potential. Three first team players left the club: goalkeeper Luis Guilherme, right back Rafael and central midfielder Graham Howson.
Eight new players joined the club for an overall fee of 60 million pounds. Half of these players will be heading straight to the reserves while the other half will reinforce our first team.
The first important signing is Ivorian goalkeeper Franck Gnahoua, I paid 6.75 million for him to Liverpool as I believe that he can become better than Luis Guilherme. He is still very young and has a lot to learn but I think that getting him straight into the first team will boost his chances of reaching his awesome potential.
After selling veteran Rafael I needed a new backup for the right back position and I decided to splash the cash on a hot prospect from Spain: Miguel Angel Tomas. I paid no less than 20 million pounds for him, maybe a bit too much, but he was the very best prospect in Europe at the time.
Another young Spaniard will be a backup for the right winger position, his name is Raul Manrique and he joined us for 11 million pounds from Real Madrid. He seems to have what it takes to become a leading Premier League player, time will tell…
The last signing was a bit selfish from my part, I didn’t really need Thiago but I signed him just to make sure that he doesn’t end up at one of our rivals. Portuguese club Leiria let him go for just 8 million pounds and I believe he will be easily worth at least double shortly. He is strong, quick and talented, I might keep him or sell him for a good profit at the end of the season.
Here is how our 25-man squad looks like, we have very good depth and pretty good quality overall as well.
We also have quite a few good prospects in the reserves, usually I sell those who turn 21 and are not good enough to break into the first team by then.
The pre-season meeting with the coaching staff was quite pleasing this time, we still have the youngest squad in the whole league but we also boast the best passing and first touch, the two essential attributes if you want to employ a possession tactic.
Speaking about tactics, I arranged quite a few friendlies to help the team to get used to the new Bulldozer tactic and I have to say that the results were pretty good overall although we conceded quite a few goals in the first few matches. However, the last three games saw us keeping a clean sheet while scoring 16 goals against pretty good teams. The lads are not entirely familiar with the new formation yet and I think that they will fully understand what I’m asking them to do midway through the season.
The bookies seem keen on losing money again, they offer 6-1 odds for Vauxhall to win the title! We won a few in a row already and I can’t see why we wouldn’t win it again. Or maybe I know how we could lose it, the new tactic might be a risk that would backfire…
That’s about it for now folks, thanks a lot for reading. Questions and comments are welcome as always, I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
ri916
17 августа, 2011 at 15:39
congrats on confed cup win. that new tactic seems interesting hopefully it will lead you to another prem title.
Johnny Karp
17 августа, 2011 at 16:08
Thanks mate, the new tactic is ultra-offensive and I’m quite curious to see it in action.
Laxeyman
17 августа, 2011 at 15:42
Busy pre season there Johnny, what with the new tactic, Confederations Cup plus signings! The new tactic is very attacking and you will certainly score a lot of goals and as soon as the players become completely used to it I think you’ll destroy teams. Well done in the Confederations Cup, and you never know, you might win the World Cup :) The new signings are all young but already very good, and they will get even better too, another bonus :) Anyway, your squad looks strong, good luck for the season!
Johnny Karp
17 августа, 2011 at 16:08
Thanks Laxeyman. The new tactic is probably the most attacking I’ve ever created, I hope it will produce the results.
vaibhavc
17 августа, 2011 at 15:49
Hey Johnny
That was a lot of games for you, Confed Cup and friendlies. Your tactic looks very interesting, because it encourages attacking football and dominates possession. I am looking forward to seeing if it is a hit in the Prem.
Johnny Karp
17 августа, 2011 at 16:09
Thanks mate, I’m quite curious to see the tactic in action in the Premier League myself.
joelance
17 августа, 2011 at 15:52
Welcome back Johnny. Greece, maybe i’ll go there someday :) Good win in the Confed Cup even if you were a little lucky. Good signings too. Dont mind ’em bookers. Always making City the favourites. Prove them wrong again.
Johnny Karp
17 августа, 2011 at 16:10
Thanks mate, if you decide to go to Greece I can recommend a hotel and a couple of restaurants in Thassos :)
Kevin
17 августа, 2011 at 18:03
Hi Johnny
Welcome back from what looks like a stunning location in Thassos. Congrats on winning the Confederation Cup and your new tactic — love the name — is quite a departure from what we’ve seen before with an even more attacking element to it. Results so far are quite impressive. Excllent signings as usual and it’s very interesting to see the abundance of potential in your reserve side too. Good luck for the new campaign!
Johnny Karp
17 августа, 2011 at 20:50
Hey Kevin, I guess the Greek sun pushed me to think about an even more attacking tactic. I hope that the change will not turn the team upside down :)
Sears
17 августа, 2011 at 18:27
Glad to hear you enjoyed your holiday :)
Congrats on winning the Confederations Cup with Argentina,and you made some impressive acquisitions too. Intrigued by the new tactic and looking forward until you make it available for download, good luck :)
Johnny Karp
17 августа, 2011 at 20:50
Thanks Sears, I will probably make the new tactic available for download by the end of this week.
Sayam Khan
17 августа, 2011 at 18:44
Welcome back Johnny!! Congrats on winning the confederations cup, I quiet like you Buldozer tactic, however it does seem a bit too attacking. Good pre-season with Vauxhall, although I do feel you may have slightly over spent on your RB, however if he turns out to be really good, then it won’t matter. Good Luck
Johnny Karp
17 августа, 2011 at 20:52
Thanks Sayam. About the tactic, I think that «too attacking» isn’t in my vocabulary :) About the RB, I had a few targets in mind and he was actually the cheapest! :)
Darren Smith
17 августа, 2011 at 19:12
Well done on the new trophy mate, great victory and your new tactic seems to be working also. Those friendlies have proven promising and Argentina handled it well on a biggish stage also. I think the new signings are great and you do similar to myself in buying youth, sticking them on loan or in the reserves and selling them by 21-22 if they don’t reach enough potential. Hope the new season brings more silverware.
Johnny Karp
17 августа, 2011 at 20:53
Thanks Darren. The tactic still needs some work, a national team is quite different so I guess the Premier League matches will give me a clear indication of what works and what doesn’t.
Nicholas Phipps
17 августа, 2011 at 20:46
Nice results and congratulations on your cup win! Your new tactic is definitely very attacking and so it will be interesting to see how it works with Vauxhall. Nice signings btw and good to see you sticking with youth :)
Johnny Karp
17 августа, 2011 at 20:54
Thanks Nicholas, I hope I will find a reasonable balance between attack and risks with the new tactic.
Ana Garcia
17 августа, 2011 at 21:11
Welcome back Johnny, Greece looks beautiful may consider going there on holiday next year. :)
Your new tactic looks interesting, its the same as I am using at Sporting but thats because I have the strongest team in the league so am interested to see how well it works for you.
Love your new Spainards! Hopefully they will both develop into world class palyers.
Good luck on your season!!
Johnny Karp
17 августа, 2011 at 23:50
Thanks Ana, I warmly recommend Greece for a holiday. About the tactic, I think we are the best team in the league too but maybe the difference between the top teams is not as big as it might be in Portugal.
Lye
18 августа, 2011 at 03:18
Hi Johnny,
First, congratulations on that confederations cup win. What a ambitious formation you will be using. It should suit the team and yours as you always opt for an attacking football. Another few future stars you have signed. Along with the reserves who are coming up the ranks, you are going to dominate for long, probably until FM12 arrive. Just wondering will you stick with the Motormen until that long?
Johnny Karp
18 августа, 2011 at 13:37
Thanks Lye. I don’t know what I will do with the game, I might stick with the Motormen if we won’t win everything in one season.
CsAtlantis
18 августа, 2011 at 04:32
Congratulations on the Confed cup win Johnny, by the way regarding your photo of the mountain, why does it look like someone took a bite out of it?
A bit sad to see Guilherme leave, but he did fetch a big fee, and the Ivory Coast new buy has potential to burn
Miguel Angel looks pretty nice, good at free kicks too, Thiago is quite a physical specimen
Only player in your squad above 26 is Danny Wilson :D
Johnny Karp
18 августа, 2011 at 13:39
Thanks mate. I guess it’s the wind that took a bite out of that mountain, a slow bite that might have taken a few million years :) Wilson and Jones have the same age, 29, they are the «oldest» of the bunch.
MRDNRA
18 августа, 2011 at 18:56
4-2-4 is my favourite base formation, I usually play it with a control strategy. Some good signings you’ve made there. Looking forward to the next post.
Johnny Karp
18 августа, 2011 at 20:37
Thanks for the info mate, I’ll be trying to employ an attacking strategy but the control idea makes sense.