My new first choice right winger is a loanee, Alex Chamberlain from Manchester City. He’s quick and a good dribbler so I guess he will do a good job.
I don’t have a dedicated backup for Chamberlain at the moment but there will be one come September when Guatemalan international Carlos Chavez will be joining the club on a free transfer. He’s a hard working youngster and I hope that he will show enough ambition to succeed at this level.
For the left flank I secured another season-long loan deal for Jason Banton, a player that served us very well last season. Keith Higgs will be his backup but I will continue to look for a new winger. I did find some but couldn’t sign them due to the work permit rules. Spanish central midfielder Daniel Toribio can also be a backup for the left flank but I guess he will be a first team regular in the middle of the pitch. He is a pretty talented lad that was schooled at Barcelona‘s academy and then spent a few years in the Spanish lower leagues.
I kept only one of my central midfielders from last season, Mark Brown. Along with Toribio I brought in another three new central midfielders but I have to say that none of them are as good as Graham Howson… Connor Newton joined us on a free transfer from Carlisle, he won’t be a first team regular but I think that he will provide good cover both as a central midfielder and as a right winger.
Matthias Gohlert is a young American prospect, a player that joined us for 80K from Stoke City. I believe that he has some potential but for now he should be a good backup.
The best new central midfielder was brought in on loan, his name is Suso and he’s a very talented Spaniard from Arsenal. He was a Liverpool player for a few seasons before being bought by Arsenal for 2.4 million pounds, a great prospect for the Gunners but a good enough player even at this moment for the Motormen.
Last but not least, the strikers. I decided to keep youngsters Ibrahima M’Bow and Dale Hills as I still believe in their talent and I brought in three new lads to boost our firepower. The first one that I signed is French striker Lenny Nangis, on loan from Arsenal. He surely has the enough talent to make an impact for us this season but his potential might make him a star of the future.
And now, my best signing of the summer: 20-year old Spanish youth international Andrés Hernandez. He is a product of the famous Barcelona youth academy and I have to say that I competed with several big clubs for his signature after he was released by the Spanish giants. I offered him the biggest wage in our squad but I think that he’s worth it, he is the best player that has ever worn the Motormen shirt.
The last signing that I want to introduce is a player that will be at the border between the first team and the reserves: 17-year old Paul Harris. I paid no less than 300K for this lad to the Blyth Spartans and although he won’t be a first team regular right away I think that his potential is definitely worth it. He scored 15 goals in Blue Square North last season and he was only 16 years old, this lad could become somebody special. I will be trying to give him as much first team football as possible but I will also consider a loan move to help him develop.
We also have some promising youngsters that will be given a chance to develop in the reserves team, these lads have some potential and some of them might be sent out on loan to get more experience.
We have 24 men in the first-team squad at the moment but I also have around 400,000 pounds left to spend on transfers so I might try a last-minute coup before the start of the season. I have found several exciting players, mostly from South America, but the transfers were canceled due to them not being granted work permits. I will keep trying though…
I arranged eight friendly games because I wanted the new players to get more minutes on the pitch to help them blend in with the team. The results were satisfying, we lost only one game but the opponents were a lot better and richer than us: Manchester City.
The Citizens have a surprising new manager, Arsene Wenger! We put up a good fight against them in that friendly, even managed to score three goals, and Mr. Wenger praised me after the match. I admit that it felt good :)
Midfielder Mark Brown was our best performer during pre-season, he made 8 assists in five games! Last season he was in Graham Howson‘s shadow, now he will have the chance to step up and lead the team. Spanish striker Andrés also had a very good run of games but unfortunately he picked up a knock during the Manchester City game and will miss the first two weeks of the new season. Dale Hills is showing signs of improvement though and I hope that this will be the season that will make him a star in our small town, Ellesmere Port.
We’re predicted to finish 24th again, we’re used to that. It will be tough to play against former Premier League sides like Hull, Wigan or Sheffield United but we’ll surely try to give it our best shot.
We’ll start the season with a Carling Cup match against Barnsley and then we’ll be meeting Sheffield Wednesday, Crystal Palace and fellow promoted side Brentford. It’s good that we won’t meet any of the promotion favourites during the first month, that could help us to make a good start.
That’s how it was my friends, lots of wheeling and dealing and also lots of frustration every time we missed a good signing. I think that we managed to shape up a decent squad given our club’s low reputation but there still is room for improvement. I still can’t get over Graham Howson so I think I might try to offer him a loan deal again, a three-month loan this time because we have already filled up the four domestic long-term loan spots. Thanks a lot for reading this post, I’m looking forward to reading your opinions about the new signings.
P.S.: The chairman offered me a new one-year contract worth 1,400 pounds per week. I made him a counter-offer: five years for 1,000 per week :) He accepted.
Sayam Khan
10 февраля, 2011 at 17:35
Hey Johnny,
your new striker is amazing!!! Unlucky about Graham Howson, im sure he will change his mind soon. Good preaseason…. Good Luck :-)
Johnny Karp
10 февраля, 2011 at 20:13
Thanks Sayam. I guess Howson will change his mind after a few months with Man Utd’s reserves but it might be too late then.
Vaibhav C.
10 февраля, 2011 at 17:40
Hey Johnny,
I was so happy when I read that Manchester United accepted the loan bid for Howson, then I saw what happened and I was annoyed by Howson. Why would he come to a club when they played in League 1, but not in the Championship? I think you replaced him well with Suso, maybe he can fill his role.
Johnny Karp
10 февраля, 2011 at 20:19
Hi mate. It’s strange, maybe Howson feels that he’s too good for us now. However, Vauxhall is listed among his favorite clubs so I would have expected him to agree. Suso has a different profile but I hope that he will do well.
Sears
10 февраля, 2011 at 18:02
Wonderful signings Johnny!! Carlos Santos, Lenny Nangis and Andries are my favorites. You have enough quality to mount a serious play off charge, good luck:-)
Johnny Karp
10 февраля, 2011 at 20:20
Thanks Sears. I don’t know about the playoffs, I can’t really predict where we would finish right now. I think that a mid-table position would be possible.
Laxeyman
10 февраля, 2011 at 18:12
Good signings Johnny, particularly Andres and Suso, and you’ve got a lot of young players with plenty of potential. I can’t believe that Howson refused to go to you, you might miss him this season. Still, I reckon you can get a comfortable mid table finish this season, good luck!
Johnny Karp
10 февраля, 2011 at 20:21
Thanks Laxeyman, Andres is my favorite as well and I also hope that Suso will work well with him considering that they are both Spanish.
Kevin
10 февраля, 2011 at 21:17
Hi Johnny
Well I couldn’t get Nangis or Suso to come to Wrexham but somehow you worked your Romanian charm on them :) You must be well pleased with the start Andres has made and he looks like a star of the future. Great pre-season results so confidence must be high going into the start of the new season.
Johnny Karp
10 февраля, 2011 at 22:17
Hi Kevin. I don’t think that it has to do with my charm (although some people say that I have some). I think that I got those two because I made the offers very early, immediately after the transfer window became open. Andres should be our best player this season, I have watched him in the friendly games and he seems to be the best player I ever had at Vauxhall.
Lye
11 февраля, 2011 at 02:25
Hi Johnny,
Very good transfer considering the financial conditions of your club. Andres is a great striker who can make an immediate impact. Too bad about his injury. I am hopeful for another successful season, probably a top half finish but i know you always work magic. So please produce another one. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
11 февраля, 2011 at 06:37
Hi Lye. I’m not a magician, most of it depends on the players from this point on. I hope that they are as good as I think they are or even better :)
Jack
11 февраля, 2011 at 02:46
Hey Johnny, great signings! Like everyone has said before me, I really like the look of Andres, he should fit your complete forward support role perfectly, does he have more potential though or is this the best he is going to get? Its a shame about your youth recruitment network, do you consider it a more important factor than an actual improvement in youth facilities? I’ve heard you can also improve the network by acquiring feeder clubs in different countries, maybe you could try that? Your thoughts on these topics would be much appreciated. Finally I think you will get promoted one way or another, I think you’ll finish 2nd personally as I can’t see you breaking your record of consecutive promotions (including notts county and dorchester etc), you always seem to find a way :P anyway good luck for the new season Johnny the Premier league awaits!
Johnny Karp
11 февраля, 2011 at 06:40
Thanks Jack. About Andres, he’s only 20 years old so I think that he can make some progress during the following years. The youth recruitment network is important because you can have better players in the yearly youth intake. The youth facilities are important for the training of those in the youth team, it’s a different thing. A youth academy would also help but we don’t have that either. Finishing second would be great, I’d like that :)
Mariano
11 февраля, 2011 at 08:36
I was waiting for this post.)
I´m really surprise Howson didn´t want to return to Vauxhall, specially if they are one of his favourites teams. One thing I do when I have good players that might want to leave or are on loan is to interact as much as possible so I become one of their favoured personals.
Andres looks amazing , like wonderkid quality!
I´m struggling with the signings in the preparation for Chmpionship, all players seems to ask between 600k and 1.2 M per year, which is too much.
Though I signed 35 year old Lampard:)
Good luck and I´m very curious on how you are going to do this season.
Cheers!
Johnny Karp
11 февраля, 2011 at 09:30
Hi Mariano and thanks for the good wishes. My top earner has 4.7K per week so that would make it around 225K per year but I did have quite a few transfer targets that I had to skip because of their wage demands. Some of them were asking more than my entire wage budget! Andrés should be a star, I’m expecting at least 20 goals from him this season. Let me know about how Lampard does at 35, I’m quite curious about that :)
Darren Smith
11 февраля, 2011 at 12:14
Johnny, such a shame to miss out on Howson. Though Andres looks deadly and an amazing find. Very well done for snapping such a talented player up to the Championship. I think you’ll be the shock of the season and have a great feeling about your chances. With some more talent in January I think a play-off spot isn’t impossible. Good luck mate.
Johnny Karp
11 февраля, 2011 at 12:37
Thanks Darren. I will keep trying to get Howson until the end of the transfer window, maybe he will change his mind. Andres might be a big hit, I’m still a bit surprised that he accepted the offer.
hils
11 февраля, 2011 at 15:37
Hi Johnny,good signings there!!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully you will have a good season!!!!!!!!!! Good luck!!!!!!!!!!
Johnny Karp
11 февраля, 2011 at 15:50
Thanks Hils, I hope it will be a good one!
Ana Garcia
11 февраля, 2011 at 20:28
Yay! Some Spaniards!
Am looking forward to see how Andres gets on shame he is injured for the first few weeks of the season. I dont recognise the other two but am sure they will do a good job for you! :)
Good luck on your season and with your new friendship with Arsene Wenger maybe you can get some of his players on the cheap! ;)
Johnny Karp
11 февраля, 2011 at 21:31
Spaniards are quite fashionable at the moment and they don’t need work permits either :) Andres is a great player for such a small club, I’m very happy that I got him. As for Mr. Wenger, he has already given me Chamberlain on a free loan ;)