Warren — FM 2011 Hartlepool United Pre-Season 2012/13

Hi all and welcome back to the north of England and more specifically to Hartlepool United. Before I start I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas tomorrow and you hope that they can enjoy the festive period. Back to the story and after what ended up to be a decent season last year I was looking forward to bringing in new players that would improve the squad so that this team can push for a promotion into the Premier League.

When I budget came I was happy with what I was given and didn’t get the shock that I got last season when I was only given £40. I chickened out a little as only went for a top half finish as I just wanted to be on the safe side but also I like to buy a lot of my players of free transfers so the transfer budget shouldn’t be that much of a problem.

Outs

I haven’t got that big of a squad so I was never going to make massive changes in my team it was just a case of tweaking a few things. Four players went in the end and these were players that I thought wouldn’t develop the squad and were clogging up the wage bill.

Ins

Six players were brought in and I felt that they were all good signings considering that the most of the budget went on the first signing. I will now go into more detail about each of these signings.

Morrison

A young centre-back who has a lot of potential and actually broke the clubs record transfer fee. His attributes aren’t that good but I think that they will soon change and he could be one of my key players.

Kightly

Kightly came from Wolves on a free transfer and I think that this was a really good signing as his Premier League experience should be crucial to us challenging for these top spots.

Watson

My favourite signing of the lot and I think that Watson will be our key player this season and if he has a good season than so will Hartlepool. A player that I can see driving us forward into the Premier League.

Butland

Here only as back-up although I may look at him as in a few games this season to see how he compares to Flinders. On a season long loan deal.

Norregaard

Norregaard is a player that I felt the club needed as my squad is probably the weakest in the centre of midfield. Like Due and Silerbauer last season his experience will be vital

O’Dea

O’Dea was my final signing in pre-season and I think that him, Morrison and Chester as the 3 players that I will be playing at the back this season will develop a very good partnership and hopefully concede less goals than I did last season.

Pre-Season Results

A decent pre-season and it is always good to see who is performing well and how your tactics work against certain clubs. After the final whistle went after the Blackburn match I couldn’t wait to get the season started.

Preferred Starting Eleven

GK – Scott Flinders

DC – Darren O’Dea

DC – Sean Morrison

DC – James Chester

ML – Anders Due

MR – Michael Kightly

MC – Michael Silerbauer

MC – Ben Watson

MC – Hjalte Norregaard

STR – Luke Moore

STL – Eyeman Henaini

Thanks for reading

Warren