This Saint Gonna Be Easy: Ch. V - Endgame

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

39 minutes ago, BoxToBox said:

Phones Krueger: "So, our European campaign's off to a flier, how's yours going?"

He really should do that. It would probably only make Krueger more vengeful though, especially now that he's in cahoots with David Griffiths (you'll hear from them soon).

13 minutes ago, john1 said:

Wow who would have thought you would get 6 points out of first 2 games?!  

I certainly wouldn't have! I'm gonna curse myself for jinxing this but we might actually qualify at this rate...  

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

Unbeknownst to Michael, Ralph Krueger and David Griffiths had formed an unholy alliance. Both men hoped to take Michael King down. Ralph already hated Michael for blackmailing him and spending three seasons at his club. Recently, Michael had given him more reasons. He'd taunted him about Southampton's failure to qualify for Europa League (cheers @BoxToBox), was actively trying to unsettle their best youth prospect Tom Askey and was generally annoying Ralph with how well he was doing. David Griffiths hated him because he had slighted his country, Wales. David had taken personal offence to this and also vowed to destroy Michael.

The two men met in a quiet pub in Southampton to discuss their plan. David always had a manic look in his eyes that made Ralph wary of him. Still, he was the only other person Ralph knew who hated King nearly as much as he did so he ignored his misgivings and got down to business.

“Hello, David. Thanks for coming.”, Ralph opened.

“Ah, Ralph. Hello.”, David replied.

”Well let's get to it. How do we go about taking down Michael King?”

“We have him killed! Then we don't have to worry.”, David said excitedly.

Ralph began to feel like he had made a mistake. “No. No we don't do that. Because that gets traced back to us and we suffer. What can we do that doesn't negatively impact us?”

David looked disappointed that his plan had been shot down. “Put out a rumour than he's cheating on his wife. No one likes a cheater right? The press will destroy him.”

Ralph sighed deeply. ”He doesn't have a wife, David. The dumbass doesn't even have a partner. We can't do that. Anyway, even if he did he might recover from that. We need to get him arrested or something.”

This drew David's interest. “Arrested? Hmmmm. Why don't we plant drugs on him? I could get some easily.”

David being in close contact with dealers didn't surprise Ralph. His idea however, piqued his interest. He smiled at the thought. 

“That could work actually. Yeah, that's good. He couldn't deny it and his career would be gone. That could really work!”

David took this as a yes. “So it's settled then. I'll go to London, go to one of the places he frequents and plant some on him. You won't have to worry about anything, Ralph. I'll call the police as soon as I've done it.”

This suited Ralph perfectly. He'd get rid of King, not have to do any dirty work and it would be all sorted. 

“Excellent.”, he said. “I'll leave that with you then.” Ralph shook his hand and got up to leave. He'd forgotten about the doubts he'd had about David. The thought of revenge being so close was all he was focusing on.

 

 

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

2nd October, 2022

It had been a week since his meeting with Ralph Krueger and David Griffiths was in the West Ham Fish Bar. He knew it was a place Michael frequented as he had seen pictures of him there online. He was ready to put the plan into action. He had everything he needed and now all that was left was to find Michael. He had been waiting for the past 5 minutes, barely touching the food in front of him. 

Just under 10 minutes later, David spotted him. His Elvis-esque hair was unmistakable. He took a seat in the corner, away from everyone. He didn't appear fully relaxed, as though he too was waiting for someone. He ordered his meal but ate it slowly, looking up frequently as though hoping for someone to join him. He looked around the bar, scanning the place but couldn't see who or what he was trying to find. David watched as he returned to the plate in from of him. David noticed that he began to eat quicker, seemingly realising that he wouldn't be joined.

Eventually, he finished and went to the counter to pay. David moved swiftly, making sure that he had what he needed to put this plan into action. He got behind him and quickly put the small satchel that he was carrying into Michael's pocket as he was paying. David paid for his own meal and quickly left the bar.

He then made two calls. The first was to the police. This was the crucial part of the plan. Once he heard the sirens in the distance, he made the second call. This was to Ralph Krueger. 

Ralph picked up. “Hello?”

“Hello, Ralph. It's me. I did it just as we planned. Went off without a hitch. I left as soon as I heard the police coming.”, David replied.

Ralph punched the air. “YES!” Then he regained his composure. “Excellent. Well done, David. I knew I wouldn't regret this.” That was a lie but he didn't want to burst David's bubble.

“Cheers, Ralph. This was easier than I could've hoped.”

“And it was so effective.”, Ralph replied gleefully. “Michael King is dead in the water.”

[oriole01]

David Griffiths Composure: 20
Michael King Anticipation: 1
Ralph Krueger Decisions: 1

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

David Griffiths had executed his plan. The drugs had been planted, the police had come and the man who he thought was Michael King had been arrested. However, David Griffiths had not done his homework.

If he had, he'd have known that it couldn't have been Michael King because he only goes out in public with his bodyguard, Zoran. This was to protect from his freakishly obsessed fan, Joel. If David had done his homework, he'd have known that Joel frequently went out in public with a Michael King wig and face mask. If he had known that, he'd have known why the person he thought was Michael King had been looking for someone. Joel had been hoping to “bump into” Michael King. After he'd realised Michael wasn't going to come he'd eaten his meal and paid. And it was when he was going to pay, David had planted the satchel in his pocket and called the police. And it was a very confused Joel that got arrested.

 

Michael King and Ralph Krueger had one thing in common. They both were stunned when they saw the headline.

“MICHAEL KING IMPERSONATOR ARRESTED”

Michael's reaction was one of surprise. He knew that the impersonator was Joel as soon as he saw the picture. Ralph's reaction was one of pure anger. He rang up David Griffiths.

“Hello, David Griffiths speaking.”

“YOU ****ING IDIOT!”, Ralph yelled.

David was taken aback. “What? It worked. Michael King is gone. I executed the plan perfectly.”

“YOU EXECUTED THE PLAN PERFECTLY ON THE WRONG ****ING PERSON, YOU ******!”

“What? No, it was King. I know him to see.”

“WELL YOU CLEARLY ****ING DON'T! YOU DID IT TO SOME OBSESSED FAN THAT IMPERSONATES HIM! MICHAEL KING IS STILL ****ING FINE!”

David turned on his computer to find what Ralph was talking about. It was then he saw the articles. “MICHAEL KING IMPERSONATOR ARRESTED”, “HAMMER IN THE SLAMMER!” and “WELL KNOWN WEST HAM SUPER FAN ARRESTED!”

“Uh oh”, he muttered weakly.

“UH OH IS ****ING RIGHT!”, Ralph raged. “CHRIST, I KNEW IT WOULD BE A MISTAKE WORKING WITH YOU! YOU'RE AN ABSOLUTE DUMB, IDIOTIC, STUPID C-”

David hung up. 

“It just couldn't get any worse, could it?”, he said to no one in particular.

But it could. Because David had forgotten one key thing about most restaurants and bars. And the West Ham Fish Bar was no exception to this rule. 

There are security cameras everywhere. And as he was scrolling through the various articles, those security cameras were being checked...

 

Edited March 4, 2018 by Fer Fuchs Ake

[oriole01]

What a twist . Bravo!

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

19 hours ago, oriole01 said:

What a twist . Bravo!

Cheers! 

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

October Update:

Pretty good all in all. Leicester result was disappointing but I can't complain about anything else. 

Leicester (A): G. Alexey Miranchuk (2)  A. Michail Antonio

We shouldn't have been dropping points against a mid table Leicester side but unfortunately that exactly what we did. We were a bit flat. We took the lead on 24' when Michail Antonio found Miranchuk with a short pass and he blasted home the first. They equalised shortly after through Florian Grillitsch on 29' before taking the lead on 33' when Harry Maguire scored from a header. That deflated us and we took ages to respond. Eventually, on 86' Miranchuk leveled things after capitalising on a poorly cleared cross. Not good enough from us.

Brighton (H): G. Fabio Martins, Maicon (2)  A. Patrik Nyman, Alejandro Pozo

Much better! Unfortunately, Tuanzebe was forced off injured and missed the rest of the month. He was one of many injury casualties which I'll talk about later. Fabio Martins gave us the lead on 31' after Pozo found him at the back post with a cross. Slimani equalised for them with a header on 45+2'. Maicon restored our lead on 49' to boost morale for the second half. Nyman found Maicon with a beautiful ball over the top on 58' for him to slot home our third. Good performance here and a deserved win.

Ajax (H): G. Maicon (2), Michail Antonio  A. Harry Winks, Alejandro Pozo, Patrik Nyman

We continue our 100% start to the Champions League! We started brightly and got the lead after 8 minutes when Maicon slotted home from a Winks through ball. We got our second 8 minutes later when Nyman slipped Antonio in on goal and he buried it into the back of the net. Ajax got reduced to 10 men in the second half but still managed to score after that! Tatih Chong got theirs on 76'. Pozo was able to find Maicon with a cross on 90+3' and he buried it to kill the game off. Really happy with this.

Everton (H): G. Maicon (3)  A. Patrik Nyman, Alejandro Pozo

Third game in a row where we put three past our opposition.  Maicon continued his fine form with a hat trick. He got his first on 28' after Pozo found him with a cross from the left. Maicon doubled his tally shortly after on 34' when he blasted it home. His final goal came just after half time when Nyman picked him out with a superb pass and Maicon ran in behind it tucked it away. Great stuff.

Man United (A): G. Maicon (2)  A. Harry Winks, Michail Antonio

Meh, I don't really care about the Carabao Cup. To be fair to us, we did well to draw given Junior Tavares got sent off on 29'. Jonker handled this one as you probably guessed by now. Maicon gave us the lead on 66' after Antonio's cross found him in the box. John English equalised for them on 86' and we went to extra time. Maicon gave us the lead on 96' after Winks played him in on goal. Stefan De Vrij got the game's final goal on 105'. We lost 3-1 on penalties.

Arsenal (A): G. Maicon  A. None

Brilliant result. I only really expected a loss or draw but we deserved the win we got. It was a pretty quiet game to be honest with both sides cancelling each other out. The first half was uneventful. We got what turned out to be the winner on 52' when Maicon knocked it in from close range. Who else would it be? He's in insane form.

 

Key Points:

• We got decimated with injuries this month. Tuanzebe, Bailey, Tavares, Bustos and Dembele all got injured for 2-3 weeks. Tarkowski and Veltman both got injured for 2-3 months which meant we had to play Lerma at centre back alongside Jedvaj. 

• Maicon has been ridiculously good this month. This whole season in fact.

• Horvath has been great for us. He makes a ton of life-saving saves and his average rating is around 7.1/7.2. 

• Pozo has been great for us. Probably even better than Fabio Martins was last season. 

• We're conceding some sloppy goals which is concerning. We conceded needless goals in the first three games.

• Antonio looks like he'll be continuing last season's form. He's doing very well, especially for a 32 year old.

Solid on both fronts. Win the next one in the Champions League and we'll have qualified. As for the PL, we're progressing nicely. Hopefully we can make it back to back Champions League qualifications. Southampton continue to be mediocre, Liverpool continue to struggle and Stoke are the surprise package as they build on the momentum of last season's Europa League final appearance.

 

 

 

 

 

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

It's been a great month for Maicon. Swept up both awards.

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

[john1]

Fantastic results especially away to Arsenal  Surely 1st place is yours to lose in your CL group  

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

11 hours ago, john1 said:

Fantastic results especially away to Arsenal  Surely 1st place is yours to lose in your CL group  

Cheers John! Hopefully we can secure first place in our group and get an easy team in the knockout rounds. We only need to beat Ajax away in the next game to qualify for the knockout rounds so if be fairly confident of that. If we do that and PSG win, we'll need just a point from our remaining two to finish first.

[DavidBeckham]

Fantastic opening three games in a very tough Champions League group  KUTGW mate! 

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

8 hours ago, DavidBeckham said:

Fantastic opening three games in a very tough Champions League group  KUTGW mate! 

Cheers! 

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

The trial had ended quickly. David Griffiths had been caught on camera trying to plant drugs on the man who he thought was Michael King. It was clearly Griffiths on this footage. There hadn't been much to argue really. The story had made national headlines all across Europe. The chairman of the Welsh FA was going away for a long time. Before he was due to be taken away to prison, he was allowed to meet someone. That someone was Ralph Krueger. Ralph was still furious at Griffiths but there was also a part of him that respected David for not turning him in. And it was because of that small bit of respect Ralph had left for him, he'd decided to meet with him. 

There was an awkward silence between the two. 

“Okay”, David said, breaking the silence, “So that didn't go entirely to plan. No one's at fault and-”

“You're at fault, you ****!”, Ralph interrupted angrily. “If you'd done any bit of research you'd have avoided all of this. But you didn't and now you're going to jail and King continue his career. Free to torment my club for as long as he wants.”

“OK, so it could possibly be my fault.”

“Not possibly. Definitely! Goddamnit, how could you have ****ed it up that badly?! 

David ignored the question. “I didn't turn you in as well for this. I could have. You were involved. But I didn't. Do you know why?”

“No and I don't care.”

“It's because I want you to continue to try and take down Michael King. If we both got locked up, no one would be there who had it out for him. Who actively tried to end that arrogant ****. That's why I didn't turn you in. Because you're going to be the one to take Michael King down.”

And with that, David was brought away from the table before Ralph could reply. 

David was escorted down the wide prison corridor past multiple cells until the guard stopped in front of his.  

“The good news is that you'll be sharing your cell with a fellow Welshman.”, said the guard. “He's famous too, like you. The bad news is that he's a complete psycho and his temper goes from zero to one hundred in a second.” 

And with that, the guard opened the cell, shoved David in, locked the cell and left. And David turned around to find himself eye to eye with his cellmate. A look of both surprise and recognition spread across his face.

“Robbie?”, he said. “Robbie Savage?”

[kidthekid]

Oh my. Sharing a prison cell with Robbie. Surely, he will be forced to cooperate and turn Ralph in, for less prison time.

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

14 hours ago, kidthekid said:

Oh my. Sharing a prison cell with Robbie. Surely, he will be forced to cooperate and turn Ralph in, for less prison time.

He's certainly not an ideal cellmate! He's fairly determined that Ralph take down Michael so he's unlikely to turn him in. Unless Robbie gets unbearable...

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

November Update:

A brilliant month. Couldn't have gone any better.

Ajax (A): G. Alejandro Pozo (2)  A. Maicon, Alexey Miranchuk

We confirmed our passage to the knockout rounds with an easy win over Ajax. Maicon set Pozo up for our first after 12 minutes. He got his second of the game on 58' when Miranchuk slipped him in on goal. Derrick Luckassen saw red for them on 78' yet they managed to score after that! Alireza Jahanbakhsh got their goal on 85' after a cross from the right. Good win and we're through now!

Southampton (A): G. Yuri  A. Michail Antonio

Okay, I'll admit we got lucky here. They dominated the game and we FMed them. Honestly, it was  a poor performance from us. We gave them about 6 clear cut chances but thankfully Yeung Ming Son missed all of the chances that came his way! He got about a 5.8.  Yuri was subbed on for Maicon late on in the game. We got Southampton on the counter on 86' and Antonio burst down the wing and crossed for Yuri to volley home. Very happy to beat them but it was a poor performance.

Bournemouth (A): G. Maicon, Michail Antonio, Alejandro Pozo  A. Maicon, Alejandro Pozo

A narrower win than I'd have liked but still a pretty good performance, at least in an attacking sense. Maicon gave us the lead on 23' after getting on the end of Pozo's cross. Facundo Barboza equalised for them on 32' before Antonio put us ahead again on 41' after an incisive pass from Maicon. Michy Batshuayi put them level once again on 51' from close range. We got our winner on 63' when Pozo pounced on a defensive error and slotted past their keeper. Deserved but we defended poorly.

Bayern (H): G. Maicon, Patrik Nyman, Alejandro Pozo, Michail Antonio (2)  A. Alejandro Pozo (2), Harry Winks, Michail Antonio, Patrik Nyman

Well holy ****. This was probably the best result I've ever gotten in FM. We only scored one in the first half when Maicon slotted home from Nyman's through ball on 23'. Patrik Nyman got our second on 51' after a short pass from Winks. Our third came after 60 minutes when Pozo latched onto Antonio's cross. The reverse happened on 78' to give us our fourth. The fifth was a replica of the fourth. Pozo crossed for Antonio who tapped in from close range. Brilliant, spectacular performance. The one caveat? Maicon's injured for three weeks.

Stoke (H): G. José Tavares, Michail Antonio (2), Yuri  A. Pedro Obiang, José Tavares, Yuri, Fabio Martins

I expected to win but I thought it would be tight due to Stoke's form. However, we destroyed them! Yuri, who replaced the injured Maicon put Tavares in on goal for our first on 30'. Tavares then teed up Antonio on 46' for our second and he drilled it into the corner. Obiang then flicked a corner into Yuri's path on 73' and he smashed home our third. The final goal came when Fabio Martins crossed for Antonio to nod home from a few yards out. Great stuff from us.

Key Points:

• Yuri is proving himself to be a promising young striker. He's made a good start.

• Maicon continues to be brilliant. Shame about his injury but thankfully it's relatively short term.

• Our defence continues to be a little shakier than I'd like. They're talented but inconsistent. One game, they're putting in top class performances and keeping a clean sheet to Bayern (Belotti and Lewandowski up front) and the next they're giving multiple clear cut chances to Southampton.

• So far, Pozo has been signing of the season. He's been brilliant on that left wing. Horvath and Shaw are heavily in contention for that title as well though.

• With Winks, Nyman, Tavares and Miranchuk available to me, I'm spoiled for choice with playmakers. I'll have to rotate the AMC spot regularly. Winks is nailed on in the CM spot as he partners so well with Obiang. The pecking order for AMCs currently is Nyman, Tavares, Miranchuk.

United have really fallen off the pace after back to back title wins. We're currently in title contention, 6 points behind Spurs. Kane has been in crazily good form for them. Leads Maicon in the goals chart by about 5 and Maicon has been having a great season. Liverpool continue to fall while Southampton are boringly mediocre. 

We confirm top spot in our Champions League group, an outcome I could've only dreamed of when first handed this draw. Bayern will be playing in Europa League this season while Ajax were only able to muster a point. All in all, it's going very well.

 

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

Once again, our players clear up the Player of the Month awards. This time though, it's two separate players.

[BoxToBox]

Amazing!

[kidthekid]

How old is Obiang in your save? Surprised Antonio at 32 is still doing the business for you.

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

1 hour ago, BoxToBox said:

Amazing!

Cheers!

3 minutes ago, kidthekid said:

How old is Obiang in your save? Surprised Antonio at 32 is still doing the business for you.

Obiang's 30 and still going strong. Probably got one and a half/two more seasons in him.

Antoniois strangely good for his age. His attributes, while decent, aren't anything incredible (14 acceleration and pace, 14 crossing and 14 dribbling). He pretty much carried us into the Champions League qualification last year and he's helping us massively this year too. He'll be 33 in March of this season.

[john1]

Wow 5-0 over Bayern  Are you planning to rest key players in last CL match as it's dead rubber game for you?

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

28 minutes ago, john1 said:

Wow 5-0 over Bayern  Are you planning to rest key players in last CL match as it's dead rubber game for you?

I couldn't believe what I was seeing! The goals just kept coming. 

I know I should play the second string against PSG for the reason you have but I probably won't. Even if it's a dead rubber, it would be very brave to rock up to Parc des Princes with a weakened side. They're already heavy favourites as it stands I'd say.

[kidthekid]

What was Michael "Better than Gunnar" King's reaction to the case or does he even know that his impersonator was a victim of an attempted drug plant?

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

On 04/03/2018 at 11:33, Fer Fuchs Ake said:

Michael King and Ralph Krueger had one thing in common. They both were stunned when they saw the headline.

“MICHAEL KING IMPERSONATOR ARRESTED”

 

2 hours ago, kidthekid said:

What was Michael "Better than Gunnar" King's reaction to the case or does he even know that his impersonator was a victim of an attempted drug plant?

He knows about it alright. I suppose he'd know about the case too given it made national headlines. I just haven't written his reaction to it yet.

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

Got this news in early December. This is a great outcome for us. Palermo and Galatasary were the two best draws we could've gotten. If we were able to make it through this and into the quarter finals the board (and I) would be ecstatic.

[oriole01]

Unbelievable results! I suppose it's reward for the fine job you've done of building this squad since you got here. Looks like you've got depth in spades at most, if not all positions. KUTGW mate!

[john1]

Fantastic draw, but surprisingly Palermo?!  

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

11 hours ago, oriole01 said:

Unbelievable results! I suppose it's reward for the fine job you've done of building this squad since you got here. Looks like you've got depth in spades at most, if not all positions. KUTGW mate!

Cheers mate! 

Our squad depth is fairly good I have to say. I'm obsessive when it comes to squad depth so it's what I've been focusing on since I got here. 

10 hours ago, john1 said:

Fantastic draw, but surprisingly Palermo?!  

I know, it's very strange! I'm away from my laptop atm but when I get to it I'll tell you where they finished in the league to qualify and who was in their group.

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

Talk about last-minute drama! 

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

December Update:

A little bit mixed but we got some important wins. We also made sure we stayed unbeaten in our group. 

Hull (H): G. Axel Tuanzebe, Tin Jedvaj  A. Tin Jedvaj, Javier Hernandez

We started off the month with a routine win over newly promoted Hull. Our first came after 33 minutes when Jedvaj flicked on a corner and Tuanzebe volleyed it in. We struggled to break them down after that but for a second from another corner. This time, Hernandez headed it on to Jedvaj who nodded home on 66' to seal the win. Decent if not spectacular performance.

PSG (A): 

As @john1 said earlier, this was a dead rubber game. However, I played a full strength side as I felt PSG could have caused as some serious damage if I didn't. Neither team had anything to play for with both having qualified and it showed. A quiet game petered out into a 0-0. I'll take a goalless draw away to PSG though.

 

Swansea (A): G. Pedro Obiang  A. Tin Jedvaj

 

This was pretty awful. We allowed ourselves to get rolled over by a mediocre Swansea side. We started terribly and I wasn't surprised to see us concede on 14' from Tammy Abraham's shot. We leveled on 60' through Pedro Obiang but they got the winner just four minutes later. Tammy Abraham got it as he poked home from a shot/cross (it was hard to tell). Really, really poor from us.

Sunderland (H): G. Axel Tuanzebe, Maicon (2), José Tavares  A. Michail Antonio, Patrik Nyman (2)

Well this was much better. We bounced back in style with a clinical display over Sunderland. Axel Tuanzebe got the first after a poorly cleared corner on 28'. Maicon scored on the stroke of half time to double our lead when Nyman put him through on goal. Maicon struck again when Nyman picked him out with a lovely pass over the top and Maicon blasted it in on 64'. Tavares got the game's final goal when he latched onto Antonio's cross on 74'. Really good display here.

 

Spurs (A): G. Maicon, Patrik Nyman, Alejandro Pozo, Pedro Obiang  A. Tin Jedvaj (2), Claud Adjapong, Harry Winks 

We'll this was a brilliant win to get to get us right into title contention. Adjapong's cross found Maicon on 38' and he gave us the lead. Nyman got our second on 43' when Jedvaj nodded down a free kick to his feet. Pozo made it three on 45+3' when Winks set him up with a delightful through ball. Lastly, Obiang slotted home when Jedvaj flicked on a corner to him on 62'. We really needed this and it was an extremely convincing win.

 

Liverpool (H):

Poooooor. Off the back of two 4-0 wins, we slumped to a defeat against Liverpool. We didn't deserve to lose nor did we deserve to win. Their regen wonderkid Josh Phillips got the goal on 58'. We panicked after that and started popping shots from all angles and never looked like scoring once they scored. Disappointing.

 

Chelsea (A): G. Patrik Nyman, Michail Antonio  A. Maicon, Patrik Nyman

We ended the month well with a solid performance and deserved win over Chelsea. Maicon made a brilliant 30 yard run to the byline before crossing for Nyman on 2' and he tucked it away. Michail Antonio got the second just before half time when Nyman played him in on goal and he blasted it past Courtois. They never really threatened us and we rode out as victors.

Key Points:

• We were very inconsistent this month and we're dismal against Swansea but we also showed signs of brilliance against Spurs and Chelsea.

• The two centre backs were surprisingly brilliant this month. Contributed a strange amount of goals and assists.

• Maicon continues to shine for us. His value keeps rising too. Thankfully he has that three year extension in his deal so we can keep his wages low for now.

• Our defence is horribly inconsistent. It's really annoying. They're never average. Either top class performances or awful ones. There's no in-between.

• Despite his age, Antonio is doing really well for us. He and Pozo are dominating on their respective wings and are definitely first choice.

It probably won't last bit we're at the top! Albeit by goal difference. Hopefully we can keep it up. Spurs had a poor month and let us back into the title race. Even to be amongst the contenders is a good achievement. 

In other news,

Maicon has had an extremely good year and got showered in accolades. All well deserved too. He's been immense.

[john1]

Good result against PSG   Great to see Maicon picking up awards  

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

48 minutes ago, john1 said:

Good result against PSG   Great to see Maicon picking up awards  

Cheers! 

Maicon is only 19 as well and this is his first full season with us. Makes what he's doing all the more impressive. If he keeps on like this, there's a chance he might end the season with most PL goals. Though Kane is having a great season as well so who knows? Either way, I love seeing him get this sort of recognition

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

Nearly forgot to mention this. It really has been a great month for our centre backs!

[superbowl145]

Started Following This, as southampton being my 2nd favourite team in england im sorry things didnt wwnt well, but i see that in West Ham you are doing it great, let's see where you go in Champions League

[noikeee]

That's a fairly tight league table.  Could this be West Ham's year? Jinxed you now. 

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

15 hours ago, superbowl145 said:

Started Following This, as southampton being my 2nd favourite team in england im sorry things didnt wwnt well, but i see that in West Ham you are doing it great, let's see where you go in Champions League

Thanks man.  Always good to get new followers.

3 hours ago, noikeee said:

That's a fairly tight league table.  Could this be West Ham's year? Jinxed you now. 

As long as @kidthekid doesn't post the “It's Happening!” gif, we have a chance.  

Seriously though, I don't think we're quite ready to win the Premier League. We'll compete heavily and probably get a top four spot but I think Spurs, Arsenal or City will win it. I think that we have the talent but just not the consistency needed to win the league. Hopefully the lads prove me wrong though.

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

“You never told me this was part of the deal.”, Michael said irritably.

He was in a studio three days after having signed a three year extension to his contract. There was a vast array of objects strewn about the floor, the most noticeable being a very large '3 ½' sign. 

Brad Manning, West Ham's owner, looked at him incredulously. “Announcement videos are a major part of football. You've surely seen some of the videos for the signings you've made.”

“Nah, I've never bothered with those.” He winced as he realised that this wasn't the best thing to say to the club's owner. “Anyway, I don't wanna do this. You remember the Red Bull ad?”

Brad laughed. “Everyone remembers that. Jesus, some of those outtakes...”

Michael frowned. 

Brad continued talking. “It's just a quick video. There's no way you'll mess it up.”

“What do I have to do then?”, asked Michael reluctantly.

“I've no idea.”, replied Brad. “I'm a bit too busy to be organising this kind of thing. I've delegated the task to a trusted member of staff.”

With that, Brad strolled out and Michael got a proper look at the items that surrounded him. It was only then that he realised how strange and out of place some of them where. There was a box of firecrackers, a large wooden statue of Michael King himself, a group of ten massive inflatable hammers and two cannons. In the corner stood a large, brightly dressed dance troupe who appeared to be huddled together in conversation. 

“Who could possibly use all this for a quick announcement video?”, Michael muttered. And then the realisation hit him like a ton of bricks. “A member of staff”, Brad had said. Who else would consider using props as bizarre as these except...

Andries Jonker burst in the door excitedly.

“Hi, Michael!”, he called out cheerfully. “Ready to shoot your video?”

The phrase “Like giving a monkey a machine gun” came to Michael's mind as he realised what lay in store.

“I bet you can't wait!”, Andries continued. “I've got this brilliant idea for it...”

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

January Update:

Ughhh, we fell off the pace here. Very mixed results. We could've beaten Newcastle had Tuanzebe not gotten sent off which was frustrating.

Man City: G. Alejandro Pozo  A. Michail Antonio

I've said before that our defence, while solid overall, is prone to errors. This was a classic example. We conceded two in two minutes. Coutinho scored on 19' and then we gave the ball away at tip, they swung in a cross and it was cleared straight to the feet of Gabriel Jesus who smashed it in. We pulled one back quickly enough when Pozo tapped in Antonio's cross on 37'. We played well after that and were unlucky not to equalise but it's not good enough. I expected at least a draw here.

Yeovil: G. Leon Bailey, Joel Veltman, Michail Antonio  A. José Tavares (2), Jefferson Lerma

We grabbed a fairly routine win over League 2 opposition in this one. I played the second string to keep the first XI fit after a busy Christmas period. Bailey got the first on 19' when he latched onto Tavares' through ball to slot home. Joel Veltman then got the second on 33' when he nodded home from Lerma's flick on after a corner. Michail Antonio got the third on 58' when Tavares played him in on goal. Expected but still deserved nonetheless.

Watford: G. Maicon (2)  A. Michail Antonio, Pedro Obiang

A complete bottlejob. Like the City game, two lapses in our defence's concentration resulted in us throwing points away. Maicon gave us the lead when he volleyed home Antonio's cross on 41'. He got the second on 47' when Obiang played a short pass to him and he did the rest of the work, bursting into the box and burying it. Trezeguet pulled one back for them on 57' after our defence forgot how to man mark. Ryan Kent scored a goal far too easily on 66' to equalise and we couldn't get that winning goal. Very poor. The one positive is that we improved on last season's 4-2 loss here.

Newcastle: G. Maicon  A. None

As said above, this probably would've been a lot different had Tuanzebe not gotten sent off three minutes in. But he did and, just two minutes later, Dani Ceballos smashed in their first. We managed to equalise on 31' after an awful backpass was pounced on by Maicon. However, Jean-Michel Seri put them ahead on 45' and we trailed at half time. Diego Jota killed the game off on 82'. We didn't do too badly for a team with ten men but I was livid with Tuanzebe. It's a touch fixture but it was winnable. He got fined two weeks' wages.

Burnley G. Tin Jedvaj, Maicon  A. Alejandro Pozo (2) 

At least we bounced back here. We started brightly and looked like we'd be able to clscore early on. We eventually did when Jedvaj nodded in Pozo's corner on 31'. It then became our turn to play ten men opposition when Paul Dummett got sent off on 43'. Maicon got the second on 56' when he tapped in Pozo's cross. We were dominant here and I think we would've won even if they had their full eleven. Good performance from us.

Brentford: G. Moussa Dembele (3)  A. Leon Bailey, Fabio Martins

You probably forgot we even had him! He barely features these days given we have Maicon, Yuri and Hernandez available. He got our first after 25 minutes when Bailey crossed and he knocked it in. He earned a penalty three minutes later which he converted emphatically. He rounded off his hat trick on 62' when he nodded home Martins' cross from close range.

 

Key Points:

• Poor from us, at least compared to our usual standard. We dropped points we really shouldn't have been dropping.

• Pozo and Antonio continue to shine on the wings. They've both been brilliantly consistent this season.

• We have this bad tendency to start popping shots from all angles late in games which we're losing or drawing.

• The defence was fairly suspect this month. Our attack was fine though. No real complaints there.

• Maicon only played in the PL games this month and scored in three of them. He's been amazingly consistent.

 

We've fallen off the pace a little but we've games in hand on most of the teams ahead of us. United have recovered slightly while Southampton have improved a little bit as well. Huddersfield have been strangely good this season too.

 

Edited March 14, 2018 by Fer Fuchs Ake
Removed the second picture of results which was accidentally put in

[john1]

Mixed month  At least you're progressing in FA Cup  

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

17 hours ago, john1 said:

Mixed month  At least you're progressing in FA Cup  

Very mixed but least we picked up towards the end of the month. Hopefully we build on that. Progress in the FA Cup has definitely been quite good. Some of the bigger sides have been knocked out so we have a shot at defending the trophy.

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

Very quiet transfer window in January. Just two sales and no signings.

 

As I said before, he just declined drastically with his physicals over the summer . He's gone to Watford for about 900k. He's got a straying spot for them which is strange because I don't know if he can even play at this level anymore. He's been decent for them though.

 

And the other sale. No where near the bench, let alone the first team. For that reason, Lanzini is gone. We have to pay 20k per week but it's much better than the 75k we were paying him before. We fetched about £2.8M for him which is alright. His problem is his versatility. He's a decent playmaker and a decent winger but he doesn't specialise in either. This meant he was 6th choice as a winger and 6th choice as a playmaker as well. He just had to go.

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

Last game of February and this happens!

Ugh, that's him gone for the season. Given his age, it might even be the last we see of him as a West Ham player if he declines badly. Very sad if so because A. He's in good form and B. He's a club legend.

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

February Update:

An unbeaten month which is great. Two dodgy draws but good wins against Palermo and United.

Huddersfield:

We started off the month with a boring draw against Huddersfield. This was an interesting game because it was so dull. Not one significant thing happened. Poor result though. They're doing well this season (top half) but we've got to be winning against them at home.

Leicester: G. Maicon (2), Michail Antonio, Tin Jedvaj  A. Maicon, Axel Tuanzebe, José Tavares

Now this was much better! We controlled this one and strolled to an easy win. Maicon put us a goal up on 3' after Tavares played a great pass onto the box. Antonio scored our second after 8 minutes when Maicon teed him up. Maicon made it 3 on 21' and we were sailing. The fourth came through Jedvaj on 61' when Tuanzebe flicked on a corner. They got a 91st minute consolation goal through Francois Kamano to ruin our clean sheet. Great display though.

Man United: G. Maicon, Fabio Martins (Pen)  A. Paul Pogba basically

This was a great win for us to get. The first half was all them with our counter attacking proving ineffective. Icardi gave them the lead on 26' as we looked ready to roll over for them. We went to our regular formation for the second half and it made the difference. Maicon pounced on a terrible back pass from Pogba to get us level on 53'. Fabio Martins scored from the spot on 57' to win it for us and we held on after that. Dismal in the first half, brilliant in the second.

Brighton: G. Hernandez (Pen)  A. None 

The second string proved why they were the second string. Bailey and Hernandez in particular were dreadful. They had so many clear cut chances but couldn't bury any of them, except for the penalty Hernandez scored. This happened after just 19 minutes which gave me confidence. Unfortunately, this confidence dwindled quickly as we fluffed chance after chance after chance. On 81', the inevitable happened. They smashed home the equaliser with Victor Gyokeres getting it. Very poor from us.

Palermo: G. Patrik Nyman, Michail Antonio, Javier Hernandez  A. Maicon, Michail Antonio, Luke Shaw

A brilliant performance away from home saw us put one leg in the quarter finals. A brilliant, winding run from Maicon before a cross into Nyman saw us score and take the lead after just 4 minutes. Antonio doubled our advantage on 51' when he got on the end of Shaw's cross at the back post. Hernandez wrapped up the game (and possibly the tie) on 86' when he nodded in Antonio's cross. I saw two familiar faces playing for Palermo from the Southampton days. Diego Perez (a regen I signed but he never got a permit. I mentioned him briefly when I signed him) and Khouma Babacar. 

Crystal Palace: G. José Tavares, Harry Winks, Yuri, Maicon  A. José Tavares, Fabio Martins, James Tarkowski

Because they're a Championship side, I let Jonker take this one. Tavares gave us the lead after 9 minutes before Yuri doubled our lead on 30'. Harry Winks got a rare goal on 37' to put us three up. Bojan got one back for them on 52' before Ben Oghogho (you might remember him for last season's match vs Middlesbrough) got another on 61'. Thankfully, Maicon helped us avoid embarrassment by killing the game off on 86'. Stoke in the next round.

Everton: G. José Tavares (2), Fabio Martins, Patrik Nyman  A. Maicon, Alexey Miranchuk

Like the United game, we were shocking in the first half and brilliant in the second. José Tavares gave us the lead on 49' from a wonderful free kick. They leveled through Sandro on 53' as we let them walk through. Tavares scored a beauty from the edge of the box with a first time effort to restore our lead on 66' after Miranchuk's pass. Shaw found Maicon with a brilliant pass and he dribbled to the byline and squared to Martins who tapped into an open goal on 70'. Nyman got a lovely goal from distance on 90+5' to put the cherry on top.

 

Key Points:

• I forgot to screenshot the league table. Sorry. I'll remember for the March update.

• We tend to struggle against teams that sit back sometimes. This needs to be worked on.

• The Champions League fairytale looks set to continue!

• Every month, there's multiple matches where I'm putting Maicon's name beside ‘G.' or 'A.'. He's incredible.

• The two centre backs are at it again! I love the way they're contributing with goals and assists. 

 

 

 

[john1]

Fantastic month regarding the two draws.  

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

1 hour ago, john1 said:

Fantastic month regarding the two draws.  

Cheers! Here's hoping we can continue on in this form.

[john1]

10 minutes ago, Fer Fuchs Ake said:

Cheers! Here's hoping we can continue on in this form.

Hope so!

How is your coaching staff set up? like training stars.

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

16 hours ago, john1 said:

Hope so!

How is your coaching staff set up? like training stars.

Away from my laptop now but I'll get that info for you soon.