The Saviour Sees the Light and Stayeth

[Mandy42]

Playing at work on my Ipad with FM20 Touch

Figured one night shift I would start the Saviour Cometh challenge, as I think it's the 1st challenge that comes up when you click on the pre made section of the game. I was given Sunderland in League 1, and we managed to stay up on the last day of the season more by luck than better judgement. Can't say why I decided to continue the save after the challenge was completed, guess I just wondered how far I might be able to make the team go. 

Straight after we stayed up, reality set in and the boards opinion of me went from a B to an F and I thought I was going to get sacked straight away. But I made it to pre season the next year, with a budget and board expectations, the whole 9 yards.

After the humbling experience of nearly getting relegated from League 1, the board set a minimum expectation of playoff football for the coming season. After all this team was a mid table Premier league side 10 years ago, relegated into the Championship 4 years ago. Suffered back to relegations to find themselves in League one 3 years ago. Then only last year survived relegation on the final day of the season. Surely, the only way is up now.

Getting my first full season under way I went into the market to try and strengthen the squad. There were 3 main aims, first and most obvious was to work within the confines of the transfer budget. Next we had to get some quality in to bolster the squad we had, while finally, begin reducing the overall age of the squad something which would not be possible in just one transfer window.

Cameron Borthwick-Jackson had been a Manchester United player whom they had released at the beginning of the 20/21 season. I scooped him up as he fit the above aims. He was free, he was 23 and he added some quality and depth to the left back position.

Dominic Samuel was similarly released from Blackburn Rovers and I snapped his hand off for some extra cover up front. 

Loanees Dujon Sterling from Chelsea and Daniel Arzani from Man City would hopefully provide some much needed quality and youthful exuberance on the right hand side of the pitch.

Ryan Sweeney a 23 year old Irish centre back. Cost 375k from Mansfield  

My scouts rated Jason Cummings at 90/100 and at 800k, the 25 year old Scottish striker came to use from Shrewsbury.

Finally Josh Harrop, another highly rated scouted player joined from Preston for 975k. He's 24 and plays as a central attacking midfield player.

This left our senior squad looking like this:

Goalkeepers: 

Lee Burge, 27 £300k

Leon Fowler, 16 £8.5k

Defenders:

Denver Hume, Left Back, 22 £140k

Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Left Back, 23 £235k

Ryan Sweeny, Centre Back, 23 £275k

Jordan Willis, Centre Back, 26 £175k

Jack Baldwin, Centre Back, 27 £275k

Tom Flanagan, Centre Back, 28 £250k

Tommy Smith, Centre Back, Vice Captain, 30 £1.6m

Dujon Sterling, Right Back, On Loan, 20 £4.7m

Connor McLaughlin, Right Back, 29 £350k

Midfielders:

George Dobson, Central Midfielder, Captain, 22 £1.3m

Josh Scowen, Central Midfielder, 27 £1.1m

Kevin McDonald, Central Midfielder, 31 £2.3m

Grant Leadbitter, Central Midfielder, 34 £16.75k

Ryan Bruce, Central Midfielder, 17 £9.5k

Max Power, Central Midfielder, 27 £475k

Elliot Embleton, Central Midfielder, 21 £300k

Aiden McGeady, Attacking Midfielder Left, 34 £135k

Lynden Gooch, Attacking Midfielder Right, 24 £600k

Tryhys Dolan, Attacking Midfielder Centre, On Loan, 18 £69k

Daniel Arzani, Attacking Midfielder Right, On Loan, 21 £12.5m

Josh Harrop, Attacking Midfielder Centre, 24 £1.4m

Jack Diamond, Attacking Midfielder Left, 20 £47.5k

Chris Maguire, Attacking Midfielder Left, 31 £525k

Strikers:

Jason Cummings, Striker, 25 £825k

Dominic Samuel, Striker, 26 £1m

Will Grigg, Striker, 29 £925k

Might seem a lot, but we play a game pretty much every 3-4 days at the moment, with commitments in the league, Carabao Cup and Leasing.com Trophy, then the FA Cup to start after the new year. 

We play a 4-2-3-1 control possession tactic with the basic idea to minimise the amount of time the opposition can have the ball. Then if we are the better or stronger team, we look to use our domination of possession to overload the opponent with created chances through either a positive or attacking mentality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 20, 2021 by Mandy42
Post to be completed and updated once I get a break at work!

[Mandy42]

Pre season saw a mixed bag of 3 wins, 2 losses and a draw. The win against Darlington was to be expected with them being in the Vanarama Conference North. Wins against Hamilton and Motherwell were better markers of how we might get on. Losses to Sparta Prague and a 0-3 drubbing by Watford were to be expected and I'm not sure why the backroom staff organised games against those opponents. However the most concerning result was a toothless 0-0 against league 2 Crawley as our last friendly before the curtain came up on the start of the season.

Saturday 1/8/20 

 Sky Bet League One, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 2 vs 0 Accrington. 

Lee Burge, Dujon Sterling, Tommy Smith, Jordan Willis, C.Borthwick-Jackson, Josh Scowen, Chris Maguire, Max Power, Daniel Arzani, Dominic Samuel, Aiden McGeady.

As run of the mill as you could hope for on the opening day of the season, and a world away from the performances of last season. A Jordan Willis header from a free kick on 40 minutes set us on our way. Then a Chris Maguire penalty on the hour made it more comfortable and we recorder our 1st win of the campaign.

 

Wednesday 5/8/20

Sky Bet League one, DW Stadium: Wigan 1 vs 1 Sunderland

Lee Burge, Dujon Sterling, Tommy Smith, Jordan Willis, C.Borthwick-Jackson, Josh Scowen, Chris Maguire, Max Power, Daniel Arzani, Dominic Samuel, Aiden McGeady.

Aiden McGeady cutting inside from the left with only 4 minutes played and stroking a curling shot into the bottom corner made me feel like this campaign was going to be a cake walk. We dominated the game against Wigan, and then a Joe Gelhardt sucker punch in the 85th minute from a free kick we just couldn't clear made us drop 2 points and put a while different complexion on the tie and my mood.

Saturday 8/8/20

Sky Bet League One, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 2 vs Wycombe 0

Lee Burge, Dujon Sterling, Tommy Smith, Jordan Willis, C.Borthwick-Jackson, George Dobson, Josh Harrop, Max Power, Lynden Gooch, Jason Cummings, Aiden McGeady.

Back at home and back with a win, Jason Cummings scoring 2 minutes into his debut, sweeping home a fantastic Josh Harrop through ball shows a glimpse of what those two could produce for us in the future. Lynden Gooch put us in the driving seat just before the half with a tap in at the back post from a deep free kick.

Wednesday 12/8/20

Carabao Cup 1st Round, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 2 vs Bradford City 0

Lee Burge, Conor McLaughlin, Tommy Smith, Jordan Willis, Denver Hume, George Dobson, Josh Harrop, Max Power, Lynden Gooch, Jason Cummings, Jack Diamond.

A brace from new signing Jason Cummings, taking his tally to 3 goals in two games saw us into the hat for the 2nd round. Board expectation is a 3rd round draw so one more game to go. At the time this tie was 1st (us) against 2nd (them) in the League one table. Only conceding 1 goal in our opening 4 games is why our centre back pairing has stayed the same. However rotation is starting to be required.

Saturday 15/8/20

Sky Bet League One, Oakwell: Barnsley 1 vs 4 Sunderland.

Lee Burge, Dujon Sterling, Ryan Sweeney, Jack Baldwin, C.Borthwick-Jackson, Josh Scowen, Chris Maguire, Max Power, Daniel Arzani, Dominic Samuel, Jack Diamond.

4 headers from 4 corners saw us breeze past Barnsley, Ryan Sweeney the player scoring twice on his debut. A Barnsley consolation goal on 82 minutes from Jordan Williams marred the clean sheet but not much else.

Tuesday 18/8/20

Sky Bet League One, Plough Lane: AFC Wimbledon 0 vs 0 Sunderland.

Lee Burge, Conor McLaughlin, Tom Flanagan, Jack Baldwin, Denver Hume, George Dobson, Josh Harrop, Elliot Embleton, Lynden Gooch, Will Grigg, Aiden McGeady.

Lots of changes for this game, definitely a 2nd string team as Wimbledon were struggling near the foot of the table and we were firm favourites to win. They parked the bus and we were unable to break through. Hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come as we will need to pick up points against "easier" opponents down the stretch.

Saturday 22/8/20

Sky Bet League One, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 3 vs 1 Rochdale.

Lee Burge, Dujon Sterling, Tommy Smith, Tom Flanagan, Denver Hume, George Dobson, Josh Harrop, Max Power, Daniel Arzani, Will Grigg, Aiden McGeady.

We maintain our 100% home record but had to come from behind to do it. Tom Grivosti put the visitors ahead with a shot that Lee Burge got to but was unable to keep out of the net. Into the 2nd half and I was beginning to get worried that we were going to get nothing for our work until Tommy Smith powered home from a corner to restore parity. George Dobson with a piledriver from outside the area on 75 minutes gave us the lead. But it was still touch and go until Will Grigg reminded me that he was still worth consideration alongside our two newly signed strikers, with a deft back post header from a deep cross on 83 minutes.

Wednesday 26/8/20

Carabao Cup 2nd Round, Stadium of Light: P Sunderland 0 v 0 Walsall

Lee Burge, Conor McLaughlin, Tommy Smith, Ryan Sweeney, C.Borthwick-Jackson, Josh Scowen, Kevin McDonald, Josh Harrop, Daniel Arzani, Jason Cummings, Chris Maguire.

A hard slog at home to go through into the 3rd round of the Carabao Cup. Little of quality from either team, however we did dominate possession and were the more proactive team. Kevin McDonald, returning from injury was the victim of a harsh tackle, resulting in a red card. In the lottery of penalties we had the advantage scoring our 1st 4 penalties, with Walsall missing one we had the chance to put and end to it with our 5th. But we missed, even so Walsall had to score in order to stay in the tie, and they did. Into sudden death and we miss our 1st sudden death spot kick. Typical, having held the advantage and looked the most likely to progress, now we were 1 kick away from going out. Walsall miss! And like that we go again. Both teams score to make it 5-5. We score again to make it 6-5 and Walsall finally blink when it matters missing to put us through.

29/8/20

Sky Bet League One, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 1 vs QPR 1

Lee Burge, Conor McLaughlin, Tom Flanagan, Ryan Sweeney, Denver Hume, Josh Scowen, Max Power, Jack Diamond, Lynden Gooch, Jason Cummings, Chris Maguire.

A very even game, great for the neutrals but one that had me sweating until the very end. After a tight 1st half, QPR broke the deadlock with a fantastic flowing passing move which was finished by Jayden Stockley on 58 minutes. Try as we might, despite dominating possession we couldn't get that last bit of quality to draw level. With time running out and QPR keeping the ball well, it took some heroic pressing to win the ball back on halfway. Jason Cummings carried the ball down the left channel before cutting it back low across the area for Josh Scowen to pull us level with only 2 minutes of the 90 remaining!

End of August Sky Bet League One Standings (7 Games Played):

Sunderland 15 

Wigan 14

Doncaster 14

Ipswich 14

Bradford City 14

Lincoln 14

Accrington 14

Oxford 12

Wycombe 12

QPR 11

Barnsley 11

Bolton 11

Tranmere 10

Fleetwood 10

Walsall 9

Rotherham 7

Gillingham 7

MK Dons 7

Salford 6

Bristol Rovers 5

AFC Wimbledon 4

Coventry 4

Rochdale 3

Scunthorpe 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jon1982]

Nice start and very tidy layout. 

[Mandy42]

8 hours ago, Jon1982 said:

Nice start and very tidy layout. 

thanks  helps focus my mind during the 12 hour night shifts, as I was struggling to do more "creative" stuff without getting frustrated 

[mark wilson27]

Good luck with this challenge. Hope you do better than I did mate

[Mandy42]

2 hours ago, mark wilson27 said:

Good luck with this challenge. Hope you do better than I did mate

Thanks, the challenge part I did ok with, though I had mine set on normal, where as your thread said hard. Think that's because I find touch "harder" than the full fat version by default. Maybe it's just psychological but with no team talks, touchline shouts, and other things that are in the full version I feel less able to micromanage if games are not going as planned. 

Whether my micromanagement tweaks would have been positive or not is a different story.

[Mandy42]

Tuesday 1/9/20

Leasing.com Trophy North Group A, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 1 vs Wigan 0

Lee Burge, Dujon Sterling, Jack Baldwin, Tom Flanagan, Denver Hume, Kevin McDonald, Elliot Embleton, Ryan Bruce, Lynden Gooch, Dominic Samuel, Jack Diamond

Just as our 1st game in the Carabao Cup was 1st vs 2nd in League one, our 1st game in this competition is us in 1st against 2nd placed Wigan. We bossed possession just like the league game, and took the lead just after the restart when Jack Diamond connected with Lynden Gooch's cross from the right. The keeper managed to stop his 1st effort, but Diamond was quickest to the rebound and turned it into the empty net. We could have doubled our lead but were denied by the width of the post. Like the league game, Wigan came back into the game late on, we managed to scramble the set pieces away this time and weathered the storm to record our 1st win in the competition.

In the other game in the group, Liverpool Reserves beat Mansfield 2-0.

Off the pitch and rumours of a take over bid are rife with current chairman Stewart Donald making it clear last year in my job interview that long term he was looking to sell the club. While that might bring an increase in our fortunes (pun intended) down the road, in the short term we have been hit by two training injuries. Dujon Sterling has pulled his ankle ligaments and will be out for up to 2 weeks. Borthwick-Jackson has done his knee ligaments and could be out for as long as 6 weeks. Then Will Grigg returns from international duty with a hip injury which requires a specialist to treat, out for almost 3 months.

Saturday 12/9/20

Sky Bet League One, Banks's Stadium: Walsall 0 vs 1 Sunderland.

Lee Burge, Conor McLaughlin, Tommy Smith, Tom Flanagan, Denver Hume, Josh Scowen, Josh Harrop, George Dobson, Lynden Gooch, Dominic Samuel, Chris Maguire.

The longest gap between fixtures so far in our calendar, which is frustrating as all my players did was get injured. Like our Carabao Cup meeting Walsall were passive, but we were unable to make them pay for long periods of the game. Our best chances in the 1st half fell to Chris Maguire, who had a header over the bar and straight at the keeper. However his best chance, the product of a long controlled build up. Saw Dominic Samuel lay the ball off beautifully to him in the area, unfortunately Maguire was not confident enough to take the effort 1st time, once he took a touch the keeper was able to get just enough on his shot to push it against the post. 

Second half and we were better with no reward. Offensive changes freshened things up, but it took a captains contribution to get us all 3 points. George Dobson darting to the front post to flick in a right sided corner on 75 minutes. With all of our substitutions made in an attacking capacity I feared we would need to hang on with tired legs at the back but Walsall seemed unable to mount any real challenge.

Tuesday 15/9/20

Sky Bet League One, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 0 vs 0 Doncaster.

Lee Burge, Conor McLaughlin, Jordan Willis, Tom Flanagan, Denver Hume, Josh Scowen, Josh Harrop, George Dobson, Daniel Arzani, Jason Cummings, Chris Maguire.

Our 6th clean sheet in 9 games shows how difficult we are likely to be to beat this season. Plus against 3rd placed Doncaster a draw isn't the worst result. We just didn't have the cutting edge at the top end of the park to secure all 3 points. 

Saturday 19/9/20

Sky Bet League One, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 2 vs 0 Bristol Rovers.

Lee Burge, Conor McLaughlin, Jordan Willis, Tom Flanagan, Denver Hume, Kevin McDonald, Josh Harrop, George Dobson, Daniel Arzani, Jason Cummings, Chris Maguire.

Simon Grayson had been sacked by Bristol Rovers midweek with the visitors languishing in 22nd place. Thus when we had played an hour and the game was still 0-0 I knew changes needed to be made. Jack Diamond was introduced for a struggling Chris Maguire. 10 minutes later and we still hadn't broken the deadlock, so I dialled up something even more drastic. I removed Kevin McDonald as the ball winning midfielder and changed the formation to go 2 up top. Dominic Samuel came on and scored pretty much with his 1st touch on 72 minutes. His 2nd, in the 1st minute of injury time was pretty similar. Jason Cummings bringing the ball down the left channel and delivering it low into the box for Samuel to finish. Manager of the month stuff if I do say so myself.

Tuesday 22/9/20

Carabao Cup 3rd Round, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 2 vs 1 Nottingham Forest.

Lee Burge, Dujon Sterling, Jack Baldwin, Tommy Smith, Ryan Sweeney, Kevin McDonald, Elliot Embleton, Max Power, Lynden Gooch, Dominic Samuel, Aiden McGeady.

With board expectations meet in this competition and the squad looking a little battered due to injuries and this being our 4th game in 10 days, rotation was needed. Jason Cummings was the latest player to pull up injured, luckily it was only for a day or so with a bruised foot. Dujon Sterling wasn't fully fit but had to be thrown in to give Conor McLaughlin a break, with Ryan Sweeney having to play as a makeshift left back with Denver Hume exhausted. I also felt ok shuffling the pack as Forest were our 1st opposition from a higher division, and while we weren't massive underdogs, we weren't expected to get anything from the tie. 

Setting up with a balanced mentality and basically instructing the players to keep and look after the ball, we smothered Forest with 60% possession and it was from one such extended period of play with the ball that Samuel scored his 1st, getting ahead of his marker at the front post to head home. Forest chased the ball and the tie, and with time running out in the 1st half Samuel found himself played in on goal after we broke from a Forest corner, he netted calmly 1v1 with the keeper to send us in 2-0 up at the break.

Second half was much of the same, I set the team mentality to defensive on the hour. I got a scare soon after when Samba Sow headed in from a Forest corner to half our advantage. I was worried with a change in mentality I might have upset the players rhythm but we passed our way into the 4th round, keeping the ball away from Forest.

Saturday 26/9/20

Sky Bet League One, Highbury Stadium: Fleetwood 2 vs 1 Sunderland

Lee Burge, Conor McLaughlin, Jack Baldwin, Tommy Smith, Denver Hume, Max Power, Josh Harrop, George Dobson, Daniel Arzani, Dominic Samuel, Chris Maguire.

The 1st game all season we have really struggled in. 1st 15 minutes and we did nothing with the ball, then against the run of play we have a simple goal from a corner off the head of Samuel. His 5th in 3 games. I dialled the mentality back to balanced and it steadied the ship, nullifying the Fleetwood attack, although we still failed to really create anything ourselves. 

2nd half and we were pegged back by a rather contentious penalty. The referee had no hesitation apparently for what appeared to be a Fleetwood player backing in on Daniel Arzani on the edge of our area from a throw in. Ched Evans smashed it into the bottom left hand corner and levelled the game. From there we never really looked like we deserved any more than a draw. Paddy Maddens 89th minute header from just inside the box won it for Fleetwood which felt a bit frustrating.

29/9/20

Sky Bet League One, MEMS Priestfield Stadium: Gillingham 0 v 1 Sunderland 

Lee Burge, Dujon Sterling, Jordan Willis, Jack Baldwin, Denver Hume, Kevin McDonald, Josh Harrop, George Dobson, Lynden Gooch, Dominic Samuel, Aiden McGeady.

Dominic Samuel again sees us get all 3 points, 6 in 4 games now and the scorer of the last 6 goals the club has scored. This one came just after the 2nd half kick off. A half volley on the edge of the area after a poorly cleared corner. We should have won by more, but the result never really felt in doubt. With 66% possession and a Gillingham side in 16th place struggling for quality when they did have the ball.

End of September Sky Bet League One Table (12 games played):

Wigan 27

Sunderland 25

Lincoln 23

Oxford 22

Ispwich 22

Bradford City 21

Doncaster 20

Bolton 19

Accrington 18

QPR 18

Tranmere 18

Fleetwood 18

Wycombe 17

Salford 17

Barnsley 16

Gillingham 14

MK Dons 11

Walsall 11

Coventry 11

Rotherham 11

Bristol Rovers 9

AFC Wimbledon 9

Rochdale 9

Scunthorpe 7

 

[Mandy42]

Saturday 3/10/20

Sky Bet League one, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 1 vs 1 Salford.

Lee Burge, Dujon Sterling, Jordan Willis, Tommy Smith, Ryan Sweeney, Kevin McDonald, Josh Harrop, George Dobson, Daniel Arzani, Dominic Samuel, Jack Diamond.

A frustrating afternoon where a **** poor performance from us, coupled with a smash and grab appearance by them almost cost us our 2nd defeat of the season. At the end of a 1st half where they hadn't offered a sniff of anything Salford take the lead with their 1st attempt at goal, a free kick which Ashley Eastham headed in at the back stick.

2nd half and with 8 of their players almost permanently positioned inside their penalty area it became almost impossible to get any sort of effort on target. Finally as they began to tire it took until the 2nd minute of stoppage time at the end of the game for Daniel Arzani to ghost in at the back post to prod home a Chris Maguire cross.

We will have to do much better, though injuries, especially in defence are hampering us, as we finished with 4 centre backs on the pitch due to tiredness and injuries to fullbacks.

Tuesday 6/10/20

Leasing.com Trophy North Group A, One Call Stadium: Mansfield 0 vs 3 Sunderland 

Lee Burge, Richard Brown, Jack Baldwin, Tommy Smith, Denver Hume, Max Power, Elliot Embleton, Ryan Bruce, Lynden Gooch, Jason Cummings, Jack Diamond.

A brace from Jason Cummings and a Jack Baldwin header saw us eventually run out comfortable winners against bottom of the group Mansfield. However for much of the 1st half both teams looked more likely to gift the ball to the opposition and shoot themselves in the foot than shoot themselves into the lead. Our opener came from Cummings slotting onto a Jack Diamond through ball as we escaped from a Mansfield corner.

Richard Brown a 16 year old prospect who has been a transfer target for other clubs started and Michael Collins a 20 year old centre back came off the bench in the 2nd half as we continue to be thin on the ground at the back.

In the other group game Wigan beat Liverpool reserves 3-1 which puts us top of the group.

Off the pitch Consortium leader Matt Robinson indicates he will replace me with Lee Johnson if and when his bid for control of the club is successful. A transfer embargo has been put in place due to the rumours hotting up.

Saturday 17/10/20

Sky Bet League One, The Utilita Energy Stadium - Valley Parade: Bradford City 0 vs 1 Sunderland

Lee Burge, Dujon Sterling, Jordan Willis, Tommy Smith, Cameron Borthwich-Jackson, Josh Scowen, Max Power, Lynden Gooch, Chris Maguire, Dominic Samuel, Aiden McGeady.

Harder than the Carabao Cup tie, both teams had chances to make the other pay. It looked like it was going to wind itself out to a draw. Until Tommy Smith got across the defence and headed a whipped cross what looked goalwards. However, the goal went down as a Bradford City goalkeeper own goal as it was judged that the header wasn't on target and Richard O'Donnell's attempted save deflected it in.

Tuesday 20/10/20

Sky Bet League One, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 1 vs 2 Lincoln

Lee Burge, Dujon Sterling, Jordan Willis, Ryan Sweeney, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Max Power, Josh Harrop, George Dobson, Daniel Arzani, Dominic Samuel, Aiden McGeady.

This did feel a bit like Bradford City in the playoff spots softened us up and then top of the table Lincoln rolled over us. We were still classed as favourites going into the game and as the home team I looked to attack. We were behind after 4 minutes, Zack Elbouzedi volleying in a poorly cleared ball on the edge of the area. Jack Payne made it 2 on 23 minutes with a header from a cross.

The problem was, Lincoln were happy to sit back and hit us on the break after their 1st goal. Their 2nd came from them breaking up our attack. My initial reaction to going behind would have been to push for more response from the players. However seeing that Lincoln were profiting from our attacking intent I instead pulled us back to passive. That stemmed the tide.

Unfortunately we saw little to no penetration for our 60% plus possession and a Josh Harrop strike from outside the box from a Dominic Samuel knock down gave us hope on 73 minutes. But even with an increase to attacking mentality we couldn't produce the quality to get us back on level terms. Not the kind of results that are going to endear me to the potential new owner.

Saturday 24/10/20

Sky Bet League One, Stadium MK: MK Dons 0 vs 2 Sunderland

Lee Burge, Dujon Sterling, Jordan Willis, Tommy Smith, Ryan Sweeney, Max Power, Josh Harrop, Kevin McDonald, Daniel Arzani, Dominic Samuel, Aiden McGeady.

Just the tonic required after the Lincoln game. Dominic Samuel headed us into the lead after only 8 minutes. Profiting from the kind of service we can provide him down the right with both Arzani and Sterling playing. MK Dons responded well to going behind but we weathered the pressure and looked to be on course for another single goal victory. However a mad last 10 minutes saw the game open up and MK Dons almost get back into it. Samuel got in behind the defence but looked hemmed in with an acute angle to goal. Sensibly he played a backwards pass to substitute Chris Maguire who had a much better angle and swept home with the Dons keeper stranded from closing down Samuel.

Tuesday 27/10/20

Carabao Cup 4th Round, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 2 vs 1 Watford.

Lee Burge, Conor McLaughlin Tom Flanagan, Jack Baldwin, Denver Hume, George Dobson, Chris Maguire, Kevin McDonald, Lynden Gooch, Jason Cummings, Jack Diamond.

Being the only League one side left in the competition, facing Championship side Watford who brushed us aside in pre season, and with an important league game against Ipswich at the weekend. I was ready for our run in this competition to be done. I rotated, resting tired players and once more filling the bench with reserve and youth players. 

A sloppy back pass on 25 minutes gifted Jason Cummings his 1st, although he still had to hit it from the edge of the area. His second on 34 minutes a half volley in the penalty area after a knock down from Chris Maguire saw us looking pretty comfortable. I had set us up with a cautious mentality from the start, reduced it to defensive at halftime. Keeping 57% possession and staying tight kept us ahead in the tie. Troy Deeney managed a consolation goal for Watford on 89 minutes as our tired defenders allowed him to head in from a corner.

Saturday 31/10/20

Sky Bet League One, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 1 vs 0 Ipswich

Lee Burge, Conor McLaughlin, Jack Baldwin, Tommy Smith, Denver Hume, Josh Scowen, George Dobson, Dujon Sterling, Daniel Arzani, Dominic Samuel, Chris Maguire.

A bit of an experiment playing Sterling further up the pitch on the right hand side paid off big time when he cut inside from the right and beat the Ipswich keeper low into the bottom corner. A moment of highest quality in an otherwise very even affair against two well matched teams. We as usual had the bigger chunk of possession and used it to our advantage to control the game as best we could.

End of October Sky Bet League One Standings (17 Games played):

Wigan 36

Lincoln 36

Sunderland 35

Ipswich 34

Accrington 29

Bradford City 28

Oxford 27

Bolton 26

Doncaster 26

Barnsley 26

QPR 25

Fleetwood 23

Wycombe 22

Salford 21

Gillingham 20

Bristol Rovers 20

Rotherham 20

Coventry 19

Tranmere 19

MK Dons 18

Walsall 18

AFC Wimbledon 17

Rochdale 14

Scunthorpe 10

 

 

 

 

[Mandy42]

Friday 6/11/20

FA Cup 1st Round, Crabble Athletic Ground: Dover 0 vs 1 Sunderland

Anthony Patterson, Richard Brown, Jordan Willis, Tom Flanagan, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Josh Scowen, Daniel Arzani, Kevin McDonald, Lynden Gooch, Jason Cummings, Chris Maguire.

New ground for me, as most of my saves see me entering the FA Cup at the dizzy heights of the 3rd round. A fantastic rear guard action from Vanarama Conference side Dover saw them clinging on until I introduced Dominic Samuel as we went 2 up top and introduced a very attacking mentality. Anthony Patterson and Richard Brown were brought in from the reserves.

Tuesday 10/11/20

Leasing.com Trophy North Group A, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 2 vs 2 Liverpool Reserves.

Anthony Patterson, Richard Brown, Jordan Willis, Tom Flanagan, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, George Dobson, Josh Harrop, Kevin McDonald, Lynden Gooch, Jason Cummings, Aiden McGeady.

Another competition I hadn't been anywhere near until this save. Which is why when it came down to a draw after 90 minutes it went to penalties. Which I felt was strange with a group qualification format. We won the shootout 5-4, the decisive miss being an exhausted Divock Origi who had a fitness percentage in the 40s when he stepped up to take the spot kick. We secured 2 points for the shootout win, which means we top the group with 8 points.

Saturday 14/11/20

Sky Bet League One, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 2 vs 0 Tranmere

Lee Burge, Dujon Sterling, Jordan Willis, Tommy Smith, Denver Hume, Max Power, Josh Harrop, George Dobson, Lynden Gooch, Dominic Samuel, Chris Maguire.

Back into league action as we welcome 19th placed Tranmere to the Stadium of Light. A 1st half goal from captain Dobson was the least we deserved after bossing possession and creating chances. Not that our captain knew much about it, Jordan Willis' header from a free kick was going woefully wide until it hit Dobson in the chest and bounced into the net!

Second half and Samuel ghosted in at the near post to tap in a Sterling cross to make the scoreline look as comfortable as the  game had been. 

Friday 20/11/20

Sky Bet League One, The University of Bolton Stadium: Bolton 1 vs 1 Sunderland.

Lee Burge, Dujon Sterling, Jordan Willis, Tommy Smith, Denver Hume, Max Power, Daniel Arzani, George Dobson, Lynden Gooch, Dominic Samuel, Chris Maguire.

A frustrating draw, though much better than it could have been. Bolton had 1 attempt on target in the 1st half, a long punt clearance that they chased down and finished quickly at the near post. Completely against the run of play and left us playing catch up. This time Dobson did know what he was doing in the penalty area for the goal. Jason Cummings, on as a sub as we chased the game, headed the free kick straight at the Bolton keeper. He somehow fails to hold onto it and in the goal line scramble that followed Dobson slides it over the line.

In the closing minutes Cummings had an effort tipped onto the bar which could have won us the game, but a draw keeps us in the mix.

Monday 30/11/20

Leasing.com Trophy North 2nd Round, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 0 vs 0 Man Utd Reserves

Anthony Pastterson, Conor McLaughlin, Jack Baldwin, Tom Flanagan, Denver Hume, Kevin McDonald, Chris Maguire, Josh Scowen, Lynden Gooch, Will Grigg, Aiden McGeady.

Another tie where the side I picked was more to rotate the squad and keep people fresh than actually chase a result. I didn't feel we had a prayer against a Man Utd reserves team with the likes of Alexis Sanchez in it. However we kept the ball well, we had a lot of attempts on target at goal but only 5 on target. They only managed 4. So it once again went down to penalties. We won 6-5, scoring all of ours and Konate missed their 6th to see them out.

End of November Sky Bet League One Standings ( 19 Games Played)

Wigan 39

Sunderland 39

Lincoln 39

Ipswich 37

Barnsley 32

Bradford City 31

Oxford 30

Bolton 30

Accrington 29

QPR 28

Doncaster 27

Wycombe 26

Coventry 25

Walsall 25

Bristol Rovers 24

Rotherham 23

Fleetwood 23

Gillingham 22

MK Dons 22

Tranmere 22

Salford 22

AFC Wimbledon 18

Rochdale 14

Scunthorpe 14

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mandy42]

Wednesday 2/12/20

FA Cup 2nd Round, Portman Road: Ipswich 2 vs 1 Sunderland

Anthony Patterson, Jordan Willis, Tommy Smith, Ryan Sweeney, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, George Dobson, Josh Harrop, Max Power, Daniel Arzani, Dominic Samuel, Jack Diamond.

Always the way, you progress in the competitions that the board don't care about and you come unstuck below expectation in the others. This game however was always going to be tough, with Ipswich in and around us at the top of league one. We only won the league fixture 1-0 and on another day it could have gone the other way. Well this was that other day.

Sunday 6/12/20

Sky Bet League One, The Ricoh Arena: Coventry 0 vs 2 Sunderland

Anthony Patterson, Jordan Willis, Tommy Smith, Ryan Sweeney, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, George Dobson, Josh Harrop, Max Power, Daniel Arzani, Dominic Samuel, Jack Diamond.

Back to the league, and with the same lineup we get ourselves a dominant win. Arzani scoring a screamer on 3 minutes to set us on our way. Then bagged his 2nd in the middle of the 2nd half with a tap in from a left wing cross. Nice to see him among the goals finally as he was touted as our important player of the season by the pundits at the start, but hasn't lived up to that tag as of yet. 

Saturday 12/12/20

Sky Bet League one, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 2 vs 0 Scunthorpe

Anthony Patterson, Richard Brown, Tommy Smith, Ryan Sweeney, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, George Dobson, Elliot Embleton, Josh Scowen, Lynden Gooch, Jason Cummings, Jack Diamond.

With Scunthorpe sitting comfortably bottom of the table I felt ok with letting some of our backup and reserve players play. Patterson kept his place in goal. Jack Diamond scored in the opening minute with a bundling challenge which saw both himself, the Scunthorpe player and the ball end up in the back of the net. Jason Cummings hit the post from the penalty spot late on in the 1st half, but otherwise I had no complaints over the performance. Borthwick-Jackson gave us a cushion midway through the 2nd period with an absolute laser after overlapping on the left. 

Tuesday 15/12/20

Carabao Cup Quater Final, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 1 vs 0 Swansea

Anthony Patterson, Conor McLaughlin, Jordan Willis, Tom Flanagan, Denver Hume, George Dobson, Josh Harrop, Josh Scowen, Lynden Gooch, Jason Cummings, Aiden McGeady.

Having won our last few cup ties on penalties against better opposition I was expecting this one to be close. When I saw the pre match build up and noticed Swansea had lost their last 5 games in a row, well then I began to get my hopes up. It was a fairly even contest, and our goal seemed to lead a charmed life at times. Patterson did reward my faith in keeping him in for the later stages of the cup by pulling off a decent double save. Jason Cummings' great diagonal run and cute finish into the bottom right corner across the keeper was our real only moment of quality, but it was enough to book us a semi final berth.

Saturday 19/12/20

Sky Bet League One, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 0 vs 0 Oxford.

Anthony Patterson, Conor McLaughlin, Jordan Willis, Jack Baldwin, Denver Hume, George Dobson, Josh Harrop, Josh Scowen, Dujon Sterling, Jason Cummings, Aiden McGeady.

Patterson stays in for this fixture as Lee Burge has gone home with a cold, or he's just taking the rest of December off as holiday because he doesn't think he will get back in the team. We didn't play very well, at least we didn't do a lot with the amount of possession we had and a draw was probably a fair result on the balance of play.

Tuesday 22/12/20

Sky Bet League One, AESSEAL New York Stadium: Rochdale 1 vs 1 Sunderland  

Anthony Patterson, Dujon Sterling, Tommy Smith, Ryan Sweeney, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, George Dobson, Chris Maguire, Max Power, Daniel Arzani, Dominic Samuel, Jack Diamond.

This was not a fair result, Rochdale sucker punched us with an equalizer with pretty much the last kick of the game. Jack Diamond had put us ahead with an absolute howitzer of a strike from outside the box just before the half hour mark. We were in complete control. Daniel Arzani couldn't have known it at the time, but he probably cost us all 3 points midway through the 2nd half. He bundled a Dominic Samuel header over the line from an offside position when the original effort looked like it was going in anyway. 

Saturday 26/12/20

Sky Bet League One, The Peninsula Stadium: Salford 1 vs 1 Sunderland

Anthony Patterson, Dujon Sterling, Tommy Smith, Ryan Sweeney, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, George Dobson, Chris Maguire, Max Power, Lynden Gooch, Dominic Samuel, Jack Diamond.

Boxing day and our 3rd draw on the bounce as Jack Diamond rescues us a point with another killer of a strike in an otherwise poor performance.

Monday 28/12/20

Sky Bet League One, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 1 vs 0 Bradford City

Anthony Patterson, Conor McLaughlin, Jordan Willis, Jack Baldwin, Denver Hume, Max Power, Josh Harrop, Josh Scowen, Dujon Sterling, Jason Cummings, Aiden McGeady.

Our final game of the year, and we finally get back to winning ways in the league. Jason Cummings finish under an onrushing goalkeeper on 10 minutes was the difference. We looked more comfortable, but we didn't create much, which seems to be our stumbling block at the moment. We don't concede many, but when we do, we don't look like scoring many either. Hench the high number of draws.

End of December Sky Bet League One Standings (25 games played):

Sunderland 51

Wigan 48

Lincoln 47

QPR 46

Barnsley 45

Ipswich 44

Bolton 43

Rotherham 37

Accrington 37

Oxford 35

Walsall 35

Wycombe 32

Bradford City 32

Fleetwood 31

Bristol Rovers 29

Doncaster 29

Gillingham 29

Salford 29

MK Dons 28

Coventry 28

Tranmere 26

AFC Wimbledon 22

Rochdale 20

Scunthorpe 15 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mandy42]

 Tuesday 5/1/21

Carabao Cup Semi Final 1st Leg, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 4 vs 1 Newcastle

Anthony Patterson, Dujon Sterling, Tommy Smith, Jack Baldwin, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, George Dobson, Josh Harrop, Max Power, Daniel Arzani, Dominic Samuel, Chris Maguire.

Must admit I've been waiting for this fixture all season. Their reserve squad is still in the Leasing.com trophy so I figured a Tyne and Weir derby of some description was on the cards. However, never in my wildest dreams did I expect that we would finish the home leg 4-1 winners. We came out of the traps like a greyhound with Chris Maguire putting us ahead in the 4th minute as he taped in a back post cross that had evaded everyone else.

Miguel Almiron pulled one back for the visitors on 31 minutes after a period of controlled passing which suggested they might be growing into the game. In fact we were hanging on for the halftime whistle under continuous Newcastle pressure when we cleared from a corner. Dominic Samuel appeared to be the only Sunderland player outside of our box and when he flicked the clearance on with his head it just looked as though Newcastle would recycle the ball. But out of nowhere Josh Harrop pounced on the flick on and was away into the opposition half with only the keeper to beat. A strong finish low down past the keeper saw us take a narrow lead in at halftime.

Goals on the break from Borthwick-Jackson and Samuel in the 2nd half broke the Newcastle will and saw us go into the away leg with at least a foot in the final.

Saturday 9/1/21

Sky Bet League One, The Memorial Stadium: Bristol Rovers 0 vs 2 Sunderland.

Joe Lumley, Dujon Sterling, Tommy Smith, Jack Baldwin, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, George Dobson, Josh Harrop, Josh Scowen, Daniel Arzani, Dominic Samuel, Chris Maguire.

Possibly the best fixture we could have had after the showcase feature of a semi final. Bristol Rovers sit in 19th place after a woeful season and didn't put up much more than a rearguard effort. Not that said effort wasn't frustrating. It took until the 78th minute for us the break the deadlock. Borthwick-Jackson only knows how to score one kind of goal, an absolute thunderbolt with his left foot when he is left ignored on the left and over laps at the corner of the box. 

Dominic Samuel scored his 12th of the season, well deserve for his en devour all day. He's one of those strikers that when they play on the opposing side your assistant manager constantly reminds you that they are "getting lost" so you have to man mark him, but then your player is being dragged out of position. Samuel just pops up, near post, far post, 1st time volleys, power headers, little clipped flick headers. He had hit the crossbar twice and narrowly headed wide twice before he final connected at the front post late on.

New signing Joe Lumley had only two saves to make, and he made them very well to keep a clean sheet on his debut. My scout team had informed me I needed to sign him at any price. When that price came back at £39.5k I was over the moon to snap QPR's hand off.

Saturday 16/1/21

Sky Bet League One, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 0 vs 3 Wigan.

Joe Lumley, Dujon Sterling, Tommy Smith, Jack Baldwin, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, George Dobson, Josh Harrop, Josh Scowen, Daniel Arzani, Dominic Samuel, Chris Maguire.

Only our 3rd defeat of the season, by far our biggest, though I would be the 1st to suggest that the scoreline flattered them. In simple terms they took their chances and we didn't take ours. We each had 5 shots on target, we couldn't find the back of the net and they clinically put away 3. Daniel Arzani hobbled off midway through the 2nd half which restricted our choices in trying to mount a comeback. It just wasn't our day.

Monday 18/1/21

Leasing.com Trophy North 3rd Round, Highbury Stadium: Fleetwood 0 vs 1 Sunderland.

Anthony Patterson, Conor McLaughlin, Jack Baldwin, Tom Flanagan, Denver Hume, Kevin McDonald, Aiden McGeady, Max Power, Lynden Gooch, Will Grigg, Jack Diamond.

With only 2 days since the league game there were always going to need to be wholesale changes to the team. And it showed in the performance. Max Power slide in and bundled the ball into the net after mayhem ensued in the area after we put a free kick in. We kept the ball after that and kept Fleetwood at arms length.

Wednesday 20/1/21

Sky Bet League One, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 2 vs 0 Fleetwood.

Joe Lumley, Richard Brown, Jack Baldwin, Michael Collins, Denver Hume, George Dobson, Aiden McGeady, Max Power, Lynden Gooch, Will Grigg, Jack Diamond.

It wouldn't be FM if you didn't play the same team twice in a row due to fixtures being rearranged multiple times. We were able to rotate and field a stronger side than we did in the Leasing.com Trophy. They on the other hand rolled with the same starting XI as 2 days earlier. Jack Diamond finished smartly after a lovely passing move left him effectively alone in the penalty area. A Will Grigg penalty just before halftime sealed the tie. Nice to see Grigg scoring again but after back to back injuries of longer than a month I feel his time at the club might be coming to a close.

Saturday 23/1/21

Sky Bet League One, Wham Stadium: Accrington 1 vs 1 Sunderland

Joe Lumley, Conor McLaughlin, Tommy Smith, Ryan Sweeney, Denver Hume, George Dobson, Kevin McDonald, Dujon Sterling, Josh Harrop, Will Grigg, Jack Diamond.

Officially found my favourite stadium name! That is excellent. The game however, was not. We scored with a Josh Harrop volley from outside the box on 77 minutes. I thought that was going to be that. However we capitulated just 8 minutes later from the simplest of goals. A header from a corner.

Tuesday 26/1/21

Carabao Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg, St. James Park: Newcastle 3 vs Sunderland 3 (4-7 on aggregate)

Joe Lumley, Conor McLaughlin, Tommy Smith, Ryan Sweeney, Denver Hume, Josh Scowen, Kevin McDonald, Dujon Sterling, Josh Harrop, Will Grigg, Chris Maguire.

Wow! We went out cautiously and just tried to hold onto the ball. However Newcastle were up for it and made the most of what little ball they got hold of. As they scored 3 times with only 39% possession. Will Grigg only seems able to score from the penalty spot.

Thursday 28/1/21

Leasing.com Trophy North Quarter Final, The Utilita Energy Stadium- Valley Parade: Bradford 0 vs 0 Sunderland.

Joe Lumley, Richard Brown, Jack Baldwin, Tom Flanagan, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, George Dobson, Elliot Embleton, Max Power, Daniel Arzani, Will Grigg, Aiden McGeady.

3rd time this season we went to penalties in this competition, and we just ran out of steam. Bradford beat us 6-4 in the end after neither team really did enough to beat the other in regular time.

Saturday 30/1/21

Sky Bet League One, The Stadium of Light: Sunderland 2 vs 0 AFC Wimbledon 

Joe Lumley, Conor McLaughlin, Jack Baldwin, Tom Flanagan, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Josh Scowen, Josh Harrop, Kevin McDonald, Dujon Sterling, Jason Cummings, Aiden McGeady.

After 9 games this month it is getting to the point of basically picking XI warm bodies than can more or less play in the position I need them in. Arzani is on his way back from his 2nd injury this month. Harrop had to wobble off today. Luckily 23rd placed Wimbledon didn't put up much of a fight and 2 first half goals saw us take all of the points and roll into February.

End of January Sky Bet League One Standings (30 games played)

Sunderland 61

Lincoln 61

QPR 58

Barnsley 58

Wigan 55

Ipswich 54

Rotherham 53

Bolton 50

Oxford 43

Fleetwood 43

Walsall 42

Accrington 41

MK Dons 39

Coventry 38

Gillingham 38

Bradford City 37

Wycombe 36

Salford 36

Doncaster 33

Bristol Rovers 30

Tranmere 30

Rochdale 28

AFC Wimbledon 27

Scunthorpe 20

 

 

[Mandy42]

Balls!

gone and messed up the save from the point of view of this thread. Getting completely carried away and playing through the season meaning I couldn't go back and fill in the end of month standings...

Which means I will have to do a kind of round up post, then get back to the regular format next season. 

The highlight of February was our Carabao Cup final appearance against Liverpool at Wembley. I expected us to get absolutely smashed, though I had been expecting that for quite a few rounds now! In the end it took a Rodrigo Bentancur screamer from outside the area in the 91st minute to see us lose 1-0. A fair result as Liverpool had 24 attempts on goal, compared to our 3.

Our league form in February started poorly with a 2-3 away defeat against struggling Wycombe. However after that we would go 13 games unbeaten in the league, 9 wins and 4 draws keeping us in and around the sharp end at the top of the table.

Midway through April with only 4 games left in the campaign we had 4 day period that would define our season. We sat top by a single point, we would travel to 3rd placed QPR knowing a win would put us out of their reach and secure us automatic promotion. Following that 2 days later we would have to go to 2nd placed Lincoln.

At the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium, both teams kept their powder dry and the game ran out in an exceptionally boring 0-0 draw. While we hadn't secured promotion we hadn't thrown it away either. However at Sincil Bank against Lincoln it was a different story. Who else but Dominic Samuel put us 1 foot in the Championship on 11 minutes. Followed by a moment of madness as we were awarded a penalty on 14 minutes which Lynden Gooch buried to double our advantage. Lincoln pulled 1 back just before halftime to keep us honest in the second half. But by parking the bus and holding onto the ball we were able to get the job done and ensure we would be in the Championship next season.

Two games left to play, promotion secured, 5 points clear of 2nd placed Lincoln with 6 to play for. We lost away 0-2 to Oxford, but Accrington held Lincoln to a 1-1 draw which saw us crowned champions with one game to play.

We would go on to lose our final home game of the season against Rotherham 2-1. Champions with a Whimper.

End of Season Standings (46 games played)

Sunderland 92

Lincoln 91

Wigan 89

QPR 88

Barnsley 80

Rotherham 75

Ipswich 72

Bolton 69

Oxford 66

Walsall 64

Salford 63

Bristol Rovers 61

Coventry 61

MK Dons 58

Wycombe 58

Accrington 58

Fleetwood 56

Bradford City 56

Gillingham 53

Doncaster 45

Tranmere 43

Rochdale 43

AFC Wimbledon 39

Scunthorpe 32

[Mandy42]

Pre season of 2021 and we are in the Sky Bet Championship. Though according to the bookmakers not for very long. We are 60-1 to go up. While we are evens to go back down. They believe we will finish 22nd, with Luton and fellow promoted side Lincoln below us. Interestingly Wigan who came up with us having finished 2nd are predicted to avoid the drop and finish 18th. 

Of the relegated clubs Everton are expected to bounce straight back up as champions. Norwich should finish 2nd. With Crystal Palace and Swansea both down from the Premier league last season are only good enough for playoff spots.

The board wanted us to avoid a relegation battle for the coming season. I bargained them down to simply avoiding relegation. I wanted a black and white objective in our 1st year up. We were either going to succeed or fail. With that in mind I stripped out the attacking mentality and changed our formation. A flat back 5-3-2 would hopefully make us difficult to beat. While having 8 players in the defense and midfield would help us keep the ball and nullify opponents that way.

With those parameters in mind the squad for the coming season looks like this:

Goalkeepers:

Joe Lumley 26 £350k. Signed from QPR in January for peanuts. Hoping he can live up to his potential and secure us some points with clean sheets.

Anthony Patterson 21 £87k. Played in the cups last season and mainly due to his run of form that saw us get to the Carabao Cup final he replaced Lee Burge as starting keeper.

Defenders:

Denver Hume Left Wing Back 22 £235k. Here from last season. Likely 2nd in line behind Borthwick-Jackson. Increased in value since last season.

Cameron Borthwick-Jackson Left Wing Back 24 £575k. Snapped up on a free last season after released by Man Utd.

Tommy Smith Centre Back 31 £1.9m. Still increasing in value despite his age. Wanted by Bristol City but am desperate to keep him.

Ryan Sweeney Centre Back 24 £500k. Nearly doubled in value. Was a signing made before I joined the club. Looks a solid player

Jack Baldwin Centre Back  28 £450k. Yet another increase in value. Not as reliable as Smith and Sweeney but still 1st choice.

Tom Flanagan Centre Back 29 £375k. 1st back up centre back. 50% value added from last season.

Michael Collins Centre Back 20 £22.5k. Promoted from the reserve squad after making a few appearances last season.

Alex Kirk Centre Back 18 £30k. Released by Arsenal at the end of the season. Snapped up on a free which the board seem ecstatic about!  

Conor McLaughlin Right Wing Back 24 £575k. 50% increase in value. Will see more playing time this year as Dujon Sterling's loan spell has ended

Richard Brown Right Wing Back 17 £97k. Everyone and their dog wants to sign Richard. He has been moved to the senior squad to help him realize his potential and give him reason to stay long term.

Zak Swanson Wing Back On Loan from Arsenal. 20 £165k. I feel one of the keys to this years system is going to be having fresh wing backs to provide width going forward. Hence a loan player who can come off the bench and play either side depending on who is flagging.

Midfielders:

Jamie Hanson Central Midfielder 25 £600k. Signed on deadline day from Oxford for £350k. He can also play right back if needed.

Kevin McDonald Central Midfielder 32 £1.9m. Never really understood this guys value. If he hadn't been signed just before I joined the club I think I'd of pushed to get rid of him.

Josh Scowen Central Midfielder 28 £1.5M. Josh has increased in value by 400k. Hopefully he can reduce the amount of time he spends suspended this season.

George Dobson Central Midfielder 23 £4.1m. Our captain increased in value by over 200% He will be immense for us this year.

Daniel Batty Central Midfield on loan from Hull 23 £250k. Brought in to provide some more defensive grit in the middle of the park.

Max Power Central Midfield 28 £375k. A good all round midfielder who can play in any role.

Lynden Gooch Attacking Midfielder Right 25 £1.3m. Doesn't have a role in the current formation. Either will be sold or come off the bench if we tweak things tactically.

Reece Burns Attacking Midfielder Right 17 £48k. High potential youth prospect. Was hoping to loan him out but nobody came in for him. Similar story to Gooch expect I don't want to sell this guy.

Josh Harrop Attacking Midfielder Centre 25 £2.1m. Joined us for £975k last season. Can at a push play further back in midfield and give us a more attacking option if we ever are in a position to utilize one,

Danny Williams Attacking Midfielder Centre 17 £160k. Another bright star for the future. Can play further back in midfield or up front if needed.

Strikers:

Dominic Samuel Striker 27 £1.9m. Joined us free from Blackburn last season. Was our top league scorer. Am slightly concerned he wasn't good enough for this level or Blackburn would have kept him.

Jason Cummings Striker 25 £1.9m. 800k from Shrewsbury last season. Hasn't lived up to the scout hype as yet. Though did score some massive goals for us last season.

Keinan Davis Striker on loan from Aston Villa 23 £500k. As the formation calls for 2 up top Keinan is here to provide cover for the other two and not put too much pressure on Williams to have to pull too much of the load.

 

As far as pre season went we were undefeated in 6 games. We beat the teams in leagues lower than us. While drawing against Charlton from the championship, Southampton from the premier league and Falkirk from Scotland. The most worrying aspect by far would be the fact we only kept one clean sheet in the six games. For a formation built around behind hard to break down and beat we seemed rather leaky. 

 

Edited April 25, 2021 by Mandy42