Right Midfielders
I decided to keep only Pietro Palladino, a long-serving player at our club, and I brought in two new right wingers. First there is 18-year old Darren King from Tottenham, a good dribbler and also a hard working lad.
The other new right winger joins us on loan all the way from Paraguay from champions Guarani. First I wanted to buy him but the club wanted 100,000 pounds and I couldn’t afford that. Then I tried a loan move and they agreed, we didn’t have to pay anything but we will cover his wages (at 50 pounds per week that isn’t a problem). Carlos Bogado is already a youth international and I think that his dribbling will do some damage in League One.
Left Midfielders
For the left side of my midfield I decided to keep only Jacob Walcott, a player that did well last season. He will have to compete with two new players, one signed on a permanent deal and one on loan. The one that I signed on a long term contract is former Manchester United player Keith Higgs, a versatile player that can provide cover on both flanks.
My first choice left winger joined us on loan from Blackburn, his name is Jason Banton. His great speed and determination make him an ideal candidate for the first team spot while his flair might make a difference in a game or two.
Central Midfielders
I had a few problems when it came to the middle of the pitch. I was keen on buying an African midfielder, the deal was already agreed for 20K but unfortunately he wasn’t given a work permit. I decided to keep four of my old central midfielders and bring in two more, it will be quite crowded :) The players that remained at the club are: Peter Leven, Nathan Rooney, Matthew Ball and Shane Williams and they will have to prove that they deserve to wear the Motormen shirt until January, the weakest one will be sold then. Mark Brown joined us on a free transfer after being released by Liverpool, a hard-working and determined kid with good set piece attributes.
The other new central midfielder joined us on loan from mighty Manchester United, I doubt they will agree to sell him anytime soon. Graham Howson is a perfect free kick taker at the age of 18 but his other attributes indicate that he might be an extremely reliable choice this season.
Strikers
Darryl Duffy and Omar Koroma will stay at the club for another season, they earned new contracts after scoring around 50 goals between them last season. They will have tough competition for a place in the first team though, no less than three new strikers. First we have Dale Hills, an interesting prospect that joined us on a free transfer after being released by Arsenal. He has decent attributes overall but he’s only 18 years old so I hope we’ll see him developing well at the club.
Luke Williams joined us again on loan from Middlesbrough, he spent three months with us last season and scored five goals in 12 appearances back then. He can also provide cover as a right or left winger but I hope that he can establish himself as a first team regular.
Last but not least, Mark Cullen, a striker that joined us on loan from Newcastle. He is kinda short but very quick and hard working, a player that could serve us well throughout the season.
I also brought in a few new coaches to improve our training sessions and I’m quite pleased with the perspectives, we have 3.5 stars for most training categories. Our scouting network was improved as well, we have 11 scouts that travel the world to find the best players for us. We have a pretty big squad, 27 players to be exact, but I will be looking to reduce that number to 25 once I’ll have a better idea of who deserves to be here and who doesn’t.
The friendly games went well enough, seven straight wins including a pleasing one over Championship side Bristol City. Darryl Duffy scored no less than seven goals but I was happy to see that another 11 players found the back of the net during the summer friendlies.
We’ll start with some pretty tough fixtures in August as we’ll meet Championship side Newcastle in the League Cup and league favorites Charlton 10 days later.
That’s about it for now, I’m eager to start playing the August games and see my new players in action. Thanks a lot for reading folks, I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts about the new signings.
Darren Smith
7 января, 2011 at 11:37
Hey Johnny, thats a very productive pre-season. Lots of young talent entering the squad and its great your board have finally invested in some vital aspects of the club. I look forward to what will be an overachieving season Im sure.Goodluck mate.
Johnny Karp
7 января, 2011 at 14:16
Thanks for the confidence Darren, taking so many youngsters is risky but I hope they will blend in quickly.
`sea
7 января, 2011 at 11:51
What skin is that and did you no you can get leagues lower on blue square north/south on the game
Johnny Karp
7 января, 2011 at 14:19
The skin is called Dominion and it’s used along with the backgrounds pack you can find in the downloads page. I know that lower leagues are available through unofficial add-ons.
Sea
7 января, 2011 at 20:14
Great Thanks
Zola
7 января, 2011 at 11:58
Well the summer became hot in England! Let’s see if they can gel quickly.
Johnny Karp
7 января, 2011 at 14:20
Thanks for the comment Zola, I surely hope they will. :)
hils
7 января, 2011 at 15:29
Hi Johnny,Good signings there!!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully they will gel quickly!!!!!!!!! Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Johnny Karp
7 января, 2011 at 17:07
Thanks Hils.
Ryan Inskip
7 января, 2011 at 15:35
Johnny, you reckon in your next post you could show a print screen of the «Assistant Manager report» of the new-look team? :) all loooks good tho man, keep it up..
Johnny Karp
7 января, 2011 at 17:07
Sure Ryan, I’ll put that in the next post.
Laxeyman
7 января, 2011 at 16:27
Good signings there Johnny, you’ve got a lot of players who have a good potential to get better, and will be good this season too. I reckon a top half finish is on the cards, and you can also get to the play offs, although with your stunning record I wouldn’t be suprised if you got promoted. Good luck for the season!
Johnny Karp
7 января, 2011 at 17:08
Thanks Laxeyman. I guess I have set high standards for myself, everybody wants a promotion now :) We’ll have to wait and see how it goes, I can’t promise that right now :)
Lye
7 января, 2011 at 16:28
Hi Johnny,
Great young signings. They normally adapt better in lower league so i have no doubt they will do well. Looking forward to a good start by your team. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
7 января, 2011 at 17:09
Thanks Lye, I surely hope we’ll have a good start.
Kevin
7 января, 2011 at 17:07
Hi Johnny
Well that was a very busy off season indeed and must required a lot of research and note taking :) All the new recruits look very good so it’s hard to say which is my favorite one at this point. Great pre season results and the «Motormen» look as good as a Dacia :) Best of luck for the new season.
Johnny Karp
7 января, 2011 at 17:10
Haha, we do look a bit like Dacia: cheap but pretty good :)
Ana Garcia
7 января, 2011 at 17:26
Plenty of new faces!
I guess you spend alot of time finding players and it pays off as again you have found some promising players.
I love you ambition! Your are newly promoted yet you pick top half finish! I am always to scared to choose anything higher incase I fail and get sacked!
Good luck Johnny, hope you can have another good season!
Johnny Karp
7 января, 2011 at 17:41
Thanks for your comment Ana. It’s not about ambition, they wouldn’t dare to sack me after three consecutive promotions! :) Anyway, if they would sack me it would be their loss and another club’s gain :)
Sears
7 января, 2011 at 20:22
Hey Johnny,
you signed some great youngsters and they should serve you well. There all determined players and I think you should be able to challenge for a play off spot, at least :-p
Johnny Karp
7 января, 2011 at 21:21
Thanks Sears. You are right, we seem to be having a pretty determined bunch of players.
Squealy
7 января, 2011 at 23:00
I must admit, I laughed when you said you signed sixteen players.
Good luck Johnny. Your crazy FM skills will led you to first place in no time.
Johnny Karp
8 января, 2011 at 08:49
Thanks for the good luck wish. I signed even more players on other occasions so I guess it’s my way of playing the game.
Vaibhav C.
8 января, 2011 at 09:55
You had a good run in pre-season, hopefully you can continue that form in the league. Great loan with Graham Howson, he’s amazing! He should definitely be your starter. How do you take pictures in FM?
Vaibhav C.
8 января, 2011 at 09:56
Is it using the screenshot button or do you have to download something?
Johnny Karp
8 января, 2011 at 09:56
Thanks mate, Howson will surely be a first team regular. I use a free program called PicPick to make screen shots.
Chris
8 января, 2011 at 10:46
My god Johnny you go through a lot of players. I think you have signed more in that pre-season than i have in 4 years at Manchester United. Keep it up though. The team looks good enough for another promotion
Johnny Karp
8 января, 2011 at 10:52
I wouldn’t sign so many players at Manchester United, there’s no need to add so many new faces there :) We’re in the process of building a team at Vauxhall so there will be lots of players going in and out for a while. I hope you’re right about the promotion though :)
Sayam Khan
9 января, 2011 at 13:34
Hi Johnny,
Why did you sell ozyakup! Also who is your first choice keeper?, they’re both really good. Really impressed with your Mervin Simon transfer, he looks like he will be a great defender! Also Jason Banton, really like him. And lastly Graham Howson — brilliant for League 1. Best signing I think. What do you think?
PS: Can you tell me how to put links in for other players, like you have done. IE. Pietro Palladino?
Johnny Karp
9 января, 2011 at 17:23
Thanks Sayam, Howson and Banton are probably the best players in the team. About the links, I just add a link to the profile picture that I had previously uploaded to the site. Hansen is my first choice goalkeeper. About Ozyakup, he didn’t seem to be able to compete for a first team spot.
James
9 января, 2011 at 16:41
Brilliant Johnny :) Well done matey.
Johnny Karp
9 января, 2011 at 17:20
Thanks James :)
Mariano
29 января, 2011 at 03:01
Hi Johnny,
I´m catching up with my Havant and Waterlouville game:)
Just finished league 2 and won it using your tctic and training schedule!
Now I´m preparing for league 1 as you in this post.
You say you have 11 scouts, where do you send them?
Chers and good luck!
Johnny Karp
29 января, 2011 at 09:37
Hi Mariano and well done on the promotion! One of the scouts is assigned to the next opposition plus UK and Ireland, two are set to roam all over the world and the others are sent to the European regions, South America, Central America, North America and so on. I didn’t send any of them to Asia or Oceania.
Mariano
29 января, 2011 at 10:55
In this version of FM sending the scout to roam the world or regions almost never give me any results. I´ll share how I do when managing English lower leagues.
I send the first to EU countries, mainly with English-speaking players(Scotland, Holland, Norway etc,), big league countries(Italy, Spain) or eastern like Roumania and Poland.
And to look for African-Asian- South American players, what I do is to send the scouts to the continental competition like the African Cup, the U21 South american and so on.
I guess you know, but every scout is allowed to be sent at the same time to one country and one competition, so I can have one scout scouting Bulgaria and at the same time the European U19 cup.
And I made a new discovery to get money from friendlies in the pre season, managing Havant in League one pre season I am able to arrange lots of friendlies with English teams like Man city, Tottenham, Everton, and it gives an earning of 70K american dollars, but I have to play this games before they relay the pitch as it gets destroyed of so many friendlies:)
But at this point I consider that too much friendlies is cheating, but every now and then thos 35K games in New Zealand are indeed needed:)
Johnny Karp
30 января, 2011 at 08:18
Thanks for sharing this Mariano, useful stuff!