FMT19 - Career Online 1v1 "A Rivalry born out the Midlands"

[BJT]

FMT19 - Career Online 1v1 "A Rivalry born out the Midlands"

Leagues Loaded

-Sky Bet Championship (Start)

-Premiership / La Liga / Serie A / Bundesliga / Ligue 1

The  Managers

  Tedo (Aston Villa)                                                                                                           VS                                                                                                                                 BJT (WBA)

         

With the demise of two established Premier league clubs the chairman have decided to place their trust with two relatively unknown managers. But with their severely restricted budgets and during their interviews seeing their clear enthusiasm in rising to the challenge of acheieving promotion this year, Villa have appointed Bulgarian Tedo and West Brom's choice being the Englishman BJT to at least take the helm for at least this first season. A risk seen by many loyal fans, but both will be looking to prove their doubters wrong,

Despite having a good off the field relationship and often seen spotted at the odd musical concert here and there, it would seem those friendly ties will now need to be immediately severed with these two fierce Midland rivals expected to be hotly contesting for top spot in this year's Sky Bet Championship. The only concert they'll both likely be seen at together will be in the middle of a mosh-pit and beer fest Marilyn Manson one,

It will be interesting to see how both adapt to the unique demands of this physical and tightly contested league. Success will undoubtedly be great for their own future career prospects, but a failure creating an immediate poor reputation which will be tough to resurrect.

BJT has an advantage linguistically whilst bringing the ever so important English passion, but Tedo with his continental footballing knowledge and fiery Bulgarian character will undoubtedly come to the fore.

[BJT]

West Brom – Pre Season (S1)

With the likes of Salamon Rondon and Alan Nyom off on loan elsewhere, I’ve had to try and bolster our depth in these areas. These would have been first teamers for me this year, and with a 10 million budget undoubtedly we’ll be shorter on quality.

That said, it has been a productive window. We do have a much better overall squad depth to play my 442 hoof n play game. Centre midfield was an issue as we did not seem to have a natural playmaker, but my top signing will probably end up being Norwegian international Henriksen who is a great fit.

Already trying to play the villain, the 'Villain Tedo' was looking to gazump this one. Lucky for me Henriksen was willing to take a pay cut given our wage budget isn’t the healthiest at the moment.

Other key signings were Clarke and Griggs. I’m hoping they’ll provide sufficient backup to Rodriguez and Gayle up front who were the only two strikers in my squad at the start. Welsh international Richards at right back will also be first team this year coming on loan from Cardiff, allowing our best defender Dawson to play at centre-back.

Here are my transfers done before the deadline:

BJT 442 – "Hoof n Play"

I always like to try and play some football in my tactics, so this isn’t all out hoof and hope. It’s designed to be quite flexible in the way it plays, but predominantly will look to play direct, hoofing the ball up to the target man who will hold up the ball allowing our team to gain field territory, moving up the pitch to provide close support so we can then play our shorter game.

At the same time we’ll be looking to play on the counter and play that bit deeper and narrower, so if an opportunity does arise for a quick break hopefully we’ll have some natural pace down the flanks to exploit the space behind their pushed up fullbacks. My forwards are also expected to work the channels here, to help relieve any pressure that is bound to build by playing a classic 442.

Bringing in Henriksen was important as he’ll be the man tasked to direct the play in the opposing third, controlling possession well that will allow our fullbacks to provide deep support and help free our wingers to get balls into the box. I don’t expect to be having much possession unless teams really do sit-back against us. So it needs to be of quality and high precision when we do.

Here is a rough look at the tactic,and first team picked with Dawson the only absentee:

Season Board Objectives

Sky Bet Championship: Win Promotion

FA Cup: 4^th Round

Carabao Cup: 3^rd Round

The media prediction has us coming in second. So we really do need to be challenging for automatic promotion this year. The importance of squad depth for me was critical to give ourselves a good chance of overcoming any injuries that may occur during the season.

Already key man and captain Craig Dawson is out and will be missing several games at the start of the season. It was the purchase of a centre-back which was my failure in the transfer window, as my targets all cost a sufficient amount of money.

If we can avoid any major injuries to our back-line, I’m confident we’ll be thereabouts pushing for promotion or at least ensure a playoff spot. Anything under, then I probably will deserve the boot!

With the cups I’ve never been big on these. I’ll definitely use them to keep our squad players relatively fit for the important promotion campaign. It would be nice to hit our board objectives, but ultimately all I’m worried about is firstly keeping my job, and secondly trying to bring back Premiership status to the Albion.

[BJT]

West Brom Lose Patience with BJT

The date 5^th of January 2019. After a promising start to the season, a loss to one of the promotion contenders Bristol City led to a downward spiral which BJT was unable to resurrect.

Despite bringing financial security to the Midlands club, ultimately poor form, two poor cup runs, and the less than attractive football on offer led to his dismissal. By the time he left the club, WBA had just dropped to 7^th in the league but still with a great chance of making the playoffs.

Fellow manager Tedo felt it was very harsh from the club, especially given a lot of the poor results stemmed from one player significantly under-performing. Gayle, missing 5 from 6 penalties at crucial times in games caused great frustration. A striker had also been purchased to try and solve the problem, but there was no time to see it through.

When playing a compact game, taking chances are critical. Unfortunately for him, Gayle was a big let-down, and those wanting to give BJT more time pointed the finger solely towards him. Will West Brom live to regret this on the spot decision? Time will tell as to how the season ends up panning out.

Meanwhile, BJT is taking a break hoping a club of a similar stature will give him a second chance.

[BJT]

BJT Appointed Leeds boss

Only a couple of weeks since BJT’s dismissal at West Brom, Leeds saw some potential in his management and decided to offer BJT the managerial position, greatly surprised at the Midland's club for dismissing him.

Currently languishing in 11^th spot, the board set out their expectations immediately with a top-half finish being the aim for the remaining part of the season. Significantly off the playoff spots, it look as if BJT will use the remaining part of this season to evaluate his squad and try his best to set things up for next season.

Quotes from BJT’s interview:

On BJT's Sacking:

“I was hugely disappointed with the dismissal at West Brom. Why provide money to invest in the January window to then only sack me days after?

The club needed to be rebuilt from the back, but I was not going to waste money immediately in the hope we could compete with what we had. I guarantee with the right club willing to provide patience, and a squad capable of playing good football, then WBA will most certainly live to regret their decision.”

On Leeds:

This club is a sleeping giant. I couldn’t have asked for any more to be given the opportunity to manage here. Great history and they have some good players in their ranks. With the talent on offer I hope to try an implement a more offensive game.

This is also a club that should not be playing football in the Championship. I’ll be working hard with the players to try and instil a winning mentality and a style worthy of the Leeds supporters, and I can't wait to get started.

[BJT]

Leeds – (S1 BJT)

I’m surprised to see Leeds currently in this position. After comparing this squad with the West Brom squad, the strikers are better at Leeds, the midfield is better all rounded at Leeds, and defensively the players at Leeds are better. So perhaps taking on this club is a blessing in disguise.

With the talent and a slightly quicker back-line, I want to get this team playing more the football I’m comfortable with. Quick, high pressing, width, attacking football that both the fans and the board will most certainly appreciate.

Here is an overview of the system, again 442 and a squad report of our key men:

No transfers made by me, but I did confirm a transfer that was in progress that had begun prior to my arrival. Funnily enough after looking to bring in a right winger, the guy I was after was already in the processing of moving here! The name Joe Lolley.

I am confident of meeting the board expectations, but lacking depth I don’t think any real late push for the playoffs is possible. But if we keep our first team fit, well you know this division anything can happen.

[BJT]

Leeds – “BJT has the last laugh”

After taking the helm at Elland Road, one defeat in twenty two games saw Leeds previously laying in mid-table obscurity somehow sneak into the playoffs, and to then produce their finest performance under their new manager BJT.

Going on the offensive, BJT knew his slowish backline would let in a few. But with the talented Roofe and Bamford up front, and new signing Lolley and Macedonia international Alioski occupying the flanks, his side were always going to cause other teams problems. Having a leader in the team with centre-back Cooper was also important. And with no long-term injuries suffered, this all led to the miraculous late push eventually ending up in 5^th spot.

On the contrary, BJT’s old club West Brom fell even further down the table eventually finishing in 9^th spot 8 points worse than Leeds.

Sky Bet Championship Playoff Final =  Leeds 4 – 0 Swansea

Form going into this game was great, and with a fully fit squad to pick from Leeds saved their most damaging performance for the biggest stage at the Wembley arena.

Pressuring the Swansea back-line who had the slow Bony up front on his own, this was a delight for BJT to see. With a fairly slow Leeds back-line in itself, it seemed the perfect setup for Leeds to be more solid against and be a great opportunity to clinch the last Premiership spot.

This vision ended up being proved right. With only one shot on target from Swansea to Leeds’ nine, although the score-line was at 1-0 at the half-time interval, there was only one team performing on the day.

Key playmaker Klich bossed the game superbly well in the middle of the park grabbing a goal and two assists. The trio of Alioski, Roofe and Bamford all chipped in with a goal making it a comfortable 4-0 victory.

BJT had never been so nervous before his biggest game of the season – but it ended up being a very nice day out at a sunny Wembley.

Quotes from BJT’s interview:

On Promotion:

“I never envisioned we would be able to get into a playoff position. It’s never easy for a squad to adapt to the new manager’s style quickly. Despite drawing our first 5 league games, not losing helped build confidence to take things to the next level. We never looked back from there, and all credit must go to the boys for that.”

On West Brom:

“Honestly I don’t want to say too much now. But it’s a great feeling to know that everything I mentioned previously was fully vindicated. At many clubs, the board do not know what happens on the training ground or have the knowledge to understand the game is decided by very fine margins.

Their lack of patience meant they made a big boo-boo, and Leeds are the ones to profit. This is my home now, and I hope our board will trust me with some funds to give us a chance of staying up next year. We’ll be sitting down to discuss matters very shortly.”

--

Interviewing him, BJT may have not wanted to say much, but you could tell he absolutely loved proving his old side wrong, finishing above them in the table and leaving them behind for another year stuck in the Championship. He absolutely "loved it" to put things into a two word perspective.

[iopzzza]

Hello from me also. I am tedo and i control Aston Villa. For the start i didnt have much money to work with, so i had to Offload, my tactic for the season will be 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 deppends on the situation.
 First i sold Mile Jedinak , he is 33 anyway's and he is no use in my tactics . I solf him for 650K , and bought in Ethan Pinnock for 1.5 mln. 
As you can see he is very decent player , so he will be my second or third choice for CB. Every other position i managed to get things through so i can have 2 whole squads, 22 players. I rotate squads almost every match and of course 1st squad is a bit stronger.
 Other players i've signed if left back juan fuentes, i didnt use him much anyways , he is a back option.

 Soo , our season started very good winning almost all matches From august till october.
 
 This was followed by amazing cup run in Carabao cup and as you can see even better Championship performances... This didnt go unnoticed , i won Manager of the month for november , december and january (august also).

After this fine performance by the team and most importantly Terry Abraham we went to a carabao cup final...

 
But i wasnt to be... we lost to city, and then we lost to united in Fa cup . Still pretty hapy though.

We've won the tittle 2 rounds before the end...


So i gave 3 points away and huge GD  to leeds and BJT , so he can go to playoffs.

Aand that is the final League Table for this season, i've been given around 60 milions for transfers after the season 


Lets hope we both can make impact in Premier League

[Nobby_McDonald]

How long until you are both dominant..?

[iopzzzza]

Well we dont know , i started decent the next season , but more detailed report will happen on friday. As for him , he will say for his self

[BJT]

On 07/01/2019 at 22:47, Nobby_McDonald said:

How long until you are both dominant..?

Not sure that will be happening in my case unfortunately, not any time soon anyhow. You'll see in due course!

[BJT]

 

Leeds United (S2) “ A Challenging Window”

Pre-Season Transfers

It was a very challenging market this year. Hoping to offload a number of players, several were just not willing to move to any clubs with accepted bids. This really meant I wasn’t able to get the squad I had hoped for despite having a 50 million chest.

With that said, I was able to obtain a good amount of depth in case I endured any injury crisis. But unfortunately being unable to offload a number of players meant our first team only really changed defensively. Quality is lacking.

I decided to invest in Fry at centre-back. Only twenty years old, I’m hoping he’ll improve over the course of the year and become an important player for the club over time. Risky business though to develop in such a difficult league.

Generally, it’s been a window of investing of unproven premiership bench-warmers and Championship experienced players. Not ideal, but it is what it is.

Board Objectives

Premiership: Avoid Relegation

FA Cup: 5^th Round

Carabao Cup: 4^th Round

The same mentality remains for me this year at my new club. Staying in the league is absolutely our priority. But it would be great if at least in one of the cups we could achieve or exceed expectations.

This was one of the reasons why WBA had zero patience despite being in a playoff fight for promotion in my first year.

Squad

Not a lot of quality talent were interested in joining us. We also had problems with satisfying wages. So we have the numbers, but whether the players are good enough to keep us up is a huge doubt.

A lot will depend on keeping Roofe and Bamford fit who are again my first team strikers. But this is a completely different level, and goals will most certainly be harder to come by. Fry will need to settle in quickly at centre-back.

I also hope Nick Pope in goal will provide some stability for the new backline. I’ve invested in slightly quicker full-backs. No doubt the way we play we’ll leak goals, but I’m hoping we’ll have players that will bring us enough 3 pointers to keep us afloat.

Are we ready? Not sure, but I’ll make sure my troops are up for the fight.

[BJT]

Leeds United (S2) “Pointing the Finger”

Throwing away points

The number of times I’ve felt like spitting chips is countless. We’ve got ourselves into good positions in a number of games, but have failed to keep the other side out causing us to drop points and mostly lose games. Leicester, Tedo’s Villa, and Spurs all prime examples. Spurs the worst, losing a game 5-4 where we had a two goal cushion early on.

Head in hands, BJT at times has been left wondering what he has to do to get a single point in this division. Sitting rock-bottom with one single point from a possible twenty four and with two months of the season already gone, the signs look extremely worrying for the Leeds boss.

Injuries, Poor Discipline & Dodgy Fixtures

Nick Pope who was meant to play an important role this season has already missed 10 weeks of this season. The squad have had various knocks at different times so we’ve not had a first team out much at all. And a number of red cards already this season has just added to the hard times.

But the cause of such difficulties was our dodgy fixture list. From the start of the year we had Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool all in quick succession, with only an away game at Everton separating the games before then having to face a Villa side on their turf. Man City followed soon after just to hammer it home.

I predicted we’d have zero points from the first five games and that was proved right. Morale extremely poor throughout the squad, and the fans becoming highly critical of BJT’s tactics has meant questions have already been raised on his ability to keep Leeds up.

Quotes from BJT’s Interview:

“Our inability to hold onto a lead, along with injuries and ill discipline is always going to leave us with an uphill struggle. And yes, you’re correct our starting fixtures couldn’t have got much harder. I can only guess someone from Lancashire helped create the schedule for this season!

One point from a possible twenty four is a bad start yes, but we are a team of fighters. We’ll continue to keep plugging away and battle to the end. Why? Because “WE ARE LEEDS”.

--

In what appears to clearly be a bunch of Championship players and Premiership rejects at BJT’s disposal, can he pull of a miracle and keep the men from Yorkshire up this year?

 

 

 

[Nobby_McDonald]

Shocking start.

[BJT]

Leeds United (S2) “A Light starting to Shine?”

Leeds 3 vs 0 Arsenal

With nearly the first half of the season gone and Leeds being stuck in the bottom three throughout, it would seem a miracle if BJT could somehow turn around the injury, suspension and morale issues that have hit his squad from day one.

Coming to Elland Road were the mighty Arsenal. A team still full of quality players, but somehow languishing outside the European spots. So their form has been a little patchy.

Then came Leeds’ best performance of the season. Running absolutely riot, the two men up top finally found their shooting boots in the same game. Roofe chipping in and Bamford whom BJT was critical of very recently then bagged a double to give Leeds a 3-0 win over The Gunners.

BJT will be hoping some momentum and morale can finally be built to give what seemed an impossible task at hand of keeping their premiership status alive, now becoming a slim possibility. The result has finally given the fans belief, and BJT hopes the squad too.

Quotes from BJT’s Interview:

“Very much so, it was a fantastic performance from the lads. We really needed to give them something to cheer about after the really poor performance at Turf Moor earlier this year. It’s a massive three points for us and hopefully we can try and build some momentum. It’s given us real belief now and was just the tonic we needed”.

Leeds have now finally escaped the drop-zone, albeit by one solo single point. Next up is a trip away at fellow relegation contenders Bristol City who now after this result dropped into the relegation zone. It's a game BJT's side cannot afford to lose, or they'll again be drowning in the bottom three.

[iopzzza]

Hello again. I am starting my second season as Aston Villa manager. I know we did great in championship but we had to strenghten our team if we were to stand a chance in PL.
 So this is my transfer history with some decent signings as well as High Profile striker Fiete Arp. 
IMPORTANT NOTICE - My last transfer is Bojan , and my lost out transfer is Orjan Nyland. You will see later why.

So , we started very good actually. Before starting i clicked mid table finish on expectations, but with luck and some winter transfers i was even dreaming of playing in euro cup next season ( yeah , bit unrealistic), 
 But then this happened - 
and i was little demotivated for anything.....

Our only hope were the cups where we had easy opponents and manager to get through later rounds. 
And then all of a suddenly Wolfsburg , currently 14 in Bundesliga offered me a job, but i decided to delay 1 week.
The final straw was 
Us losing to Wolves, after which i just accepted Wolfsburg job as they have twice better the squad i have at villa, and much more money for transfers.

My first transfers at wolfsburg were high profile ones. Players like  Will really help us dont get relegated (as media says). But actually i am hoping for may be even Euro cup spot. 

We started our matches great, but then had 3 bad losses which could cost us much at the end of the season. Borrussia Gladbach, Eintracht and Freiburg.. those 3


As for the cups ... we are really through later stages at both. German Cup bayern is already gone and only borusia left + bayer so i hope we could do strong finish there and hopefully win it? as for euro cup we are through 1/8 finals against lazio with some very good teams left in the tournament and we will see if i should push for it.

That's it for now. If anyone wants something more detailed , or some player screenshots feel free to comment and ask, or even if u want me to go more detailed with each post ,its fine i will do it, just want to know if there is anyone interested at what we do here with BJT.

[BJT]

Leeds (S2) “The Great Escape Complete”

Final Day Joy

BJT’s Leeds on the final day secured their Premiership status after an emphatic win and sterling performance against high flying Watford coming out 4-0 victors, with the Elland Road faithful there to witness this fine day for the club.

After a horrific start to the season, BJT rallied his troops and ended up successfully turning their fortunes around. Despite losses to fellow strugglers Burley and Brighton, some good points gained against better sides compensated.

With a considerably better goal difference compared to those around them, it meant the final day was a comfortable one. Fulham would have had to beat Chelsea at Stamford bridge by a good twenty plus goals with Leeds losing.

Predicted 20^th but finishing in 15^th place, it ended up being a good season for the men from Yorkshire, and with this it meant the club debts have been able to be repaid which will hopefully enable further investment in the squad.

The Key Men

Captain Pontus Jansson played an excellent captains role this year, averaging 7.09 with Dael Fry putting in some good performance at centre-back with him whilst grabbing some important goals.

Matt Philips the expensive 13.25million signing from WBA, despite a questionable price tag, his work ethic and performances justified the money spent. Averaging a 7.04 along with front man Roofe who grabbed an all important 16 league goals and ending as the club's top-scorer. Both helped bring potency to the Leeds attack which ultimately helped manoeuvre them to survival.

After steering a bunch of Championship players and Premiership rejects to safety, this will undoubtedly boost BJT’s reputation, with his West Brom sacking now seeming a distant memory.

Quotes from BJT’s post-season Interview:

“There were times this year we could have got ourselves out of danger but didn’t perform in those important matches. We need to improve in playing better in those higher pressure games. However our 5-1 home win vs Bristol City was the perfect game at the perfect time, giving us some breathing space going into the final few games.

Achieving what we have this year with the players we have at our disposal was excellent, and we’ve proved that on our day we can compete and give the top sides in this division a good game of football. Let's hope we can push ourselves up a level and bring a greater consistency to our game. That's the next stage for us.

I have spoken with the board, and they’ll be able to invest around 50 million pounds for the year forthcoming. So we will be looking to strengthen in a lot of areas, but the players that have kept us up will have a chance to prove they can keep their spot in the team.”

===

So Leeds will be looking forward to next season. Man City took the title this year head of their local rivals United. Fulham, Brighton, and Bristol City filled the relegation spots up. Bournemouth had a fantastic season, but just missed out on the top four.