[FM22] But can he do it on a cold rainy night in..

[DavidBeckham]

Stoke hire club icon as new manager

Championship strugglers Stoke announced club icon Rory Delap as their new manager on a two-year contract on Monday.

Stoke City have officially appointed Rory Delap as the club's new manager, reports Mundial. He replaces Michael O'Neill, whose stint with the Potters ended after twenty months.

Rory John Delap started his playing career at Carlisle United and impressed enough to earn a move to Premiership side Derby County in 1998. In 2001, Delap joined Southampton for a club record of £4 million. After spending five years on the south coast, he moved to Sunderland. Following a brief spell on Wearside, Delap was loaned to Stoke City in October 2006. In just his second match for Stoke, against his parent club Sunderland, Delap suffered a broken leg. Despite this, Delap signed a permanent contract for Stoke in January 2007. He went on to become a vital member of the squad and his long throw-ins helped Stoke gain promotion to the Premier League and consolidate in the league. After spending six seasons at Stoke, Delap had short spells with Barnsley and Burton Albion before retiring in December 2013.

A midfielder by trade, he was renowned for his long throw-in ability. Between the touchlines, he was famed for his fitness and work rate, which gave him a valuable role in breaking up opposition play. Delap was a talented javelin thrower in his youth, and was touted to represent Ireland in the Olympics after his throw-ins shot to prominence following Stoke's promotion to the Premier League.

After finishing his playing career, Delap returned to his former club Derby County where he began his coaching career. After coaching the club's under-18 team, he replaced Darren Wassall as the under-21 head coach in February 2016, winning the U21 Premier League 1 Division 2 title in his first season in charge.

Despite the lack of first-team coaching experience, Stoke clearly believes he is the right man for the job.

Rory Delap said: “I’m excited to be making my first move into management with a club with such huge tradition and history. 

“I have spent considerable time discussing the role and the club’s objectives with the Chairman John Coates and the board. We want to improve on the club’s recent finishes in the Championship, while at the same time bringing through some of the academy graduates we have at the club. This is my first job as a first-team manager but I’ve been working towards this for a long time. I’ve worked closely with some of the best coaches in the game and I’m confident in my own abilities and those of the team around me. 

“I know it won’t be easy – managing a football team never is – but I’m here to work hard. I’m really looking forward to getting started and to the challenge ahead."

Game Status

Current Version: 22.4.1+1662587 (m.e v22.4.0.0)

Database Size: Large

Selected Nations (Leagues)

England (Sky Bet Championship And Above)

France (Ligue 1 Uber Eats Only)

Germany (Bundesliga Only)

Italy (Serie A Only)

Spain (First Division Only)

..but can he do it on a cold rainy night in Stoke?

Edited June 23, 2022 by DavidBeckham

[Brooklyn Jensen]

Surely the long throws will be back at Stoke? Will be following this, what are your targets in the 1st season?

[karanhsingh]

Definitely here for the long throws!

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I think there is a tactic that replicates Stoke's style under Tony Pulis and also a throw in routine that is very similar to how Delap did it.

I had great fun playing with that tactic on a Burnley save I had on FM2019.

[DavidBeckham]

16 hours ago, Brooklyn Jensen said:

Surely the long throws will be back at Stoke? Will be following this, what are your targets in the 1st season?

The aim is to take Stoke as far as possible. Hopefully we can reach the very top before FM23!

14 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Definitely here for the long throws!

Rory's reply on long throws before he went into management! It will be dependent on the personnel he can put together

When you move into management, will throw-ins be a valuable piece of your attacking weaponry?

RD: I think it's an important part of the game. On average, you get between 20-25 throw-ins a game. I'm not going to be out there for hours teaching them how to throw it long, but you've got to give them a bit of information and work through routines of how to retain possession.

If somebody's got a long throw-in, it would be daft not to utilize that if you've got strength and height in your team, but I'm not going to base my managerial career on trying to find someone who can throw a ball.

11 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

I think there is a tactic that replicates Stoke's style under Tony Pulis and also a throw in routine that is very similar to how Delap did it.

I had great fun playing with that tactic on a Burnley save I had on FM2019.

Cheers mate! Unfortunately, it will be quite challenging to go full Tony Pulis as the board expects us to play possession and attacking football. I'm pretty sure Rory's Stoke will play on the ground more!

[SixPointer]

7 hours ago, DavidBeckham said:

The aim is to take Stoke as far as possible. Hopefully we can reach the very top before FM23!

Rory's reply on long throws before he went into management! It will be dependent on the personnel he can put together

When you move into management, will throw-ins be a valuable piece of your attacking weaponry?

RD: I think it's an important part of the game. On average, you get between 20-25 throw-ins a game. I'm not going to be out there for hours teaching them how to throw it long, but you've got to give them a bit of information and work through routines of how to retain possession.

If somebody's got a long throw-in, it would be daft not to utilize that if you've got strength and height in your team, but I'm not going to base my managerial career on trying to find someone who can throw a ball.

Cheers mate! Unfortunately, it will be quite challenging to go full Tony Pulis as the board expects us to play possession and attacking football. I'm pretty sure Rory's Stoke will play on the ground more!

assuming it’s a new board since Tony left!

[DavidBeckham]

21 hours ago, SixPointer said:

assuming it’s a new board since Tony left!

Peter Coates was Stoke's Chairperson when Tony was in charge! His son, John Coates, has since taken over the reins and it seems like the father and son have very different visions on how football should be played  

Peter is still a director though! 

[DavidBeckham]

Start of a new Era

Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke Football Club in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke-on-Trent was granted city status. It was one of the twelve founding members of the Football League in 1888.

They won their first and only major trophy to date, the League Cup, in 1972, when they beat Chelsea 2–1. Their highest league finish in the top division is fourth, in the 1935–36 and 1946–47 seasons. They played in the FA Cup Final in 2011, finishing runners-up to Manchester City; and reached FA Cup semi-finals in 1899, 1971 and 1972. They competed in European football in 1972–73, 1974–75 and 2011–12. They won the Football League Trophy in 1992 and in 2000.

Stoke's home ground is the 30,089 all-seater, bet365 Stadium. Before it was opened in 1997, the club was based at the Victoria Ground, which was their home ground since 1878. The club's nickname is The Potters, after the pottery industry in Stoke-on-Trent, and their traditional home kit is a red-and-white vertically striped shirt, white shorts and stockings. Their traditional rivals are Midlands clubs West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers, whilst their local rivals are Port Vale with whom they contest the Potteries derby.

Following their relegation to the Championship in 2018, Lambert was replaced with former Derby County boss Gary Rowett. Despite spending nearly £50 million on players in the summer transfer window, results and performances were poor and Rowett was subsequently sacked on 8 January 2019 with the team 14th in the table. He was replaced with Luton Town boss Nathan Jones. Stoke went on to end an uneventful 2018–19 season in 16th place with a record number of draws (22). After achieving just 2 wins in the opening 14 games of the following season, Jones was sacked on 1 November 2019 with the team in the relegation zone. Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill was confirmed as his replacement a week later. Results improved under O'Neill and the team managed to avoid relegation, finishing in 15th. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the entire 2020–21 campaign was played without supporters present as Stoke again finished in mid-table.

Transfers Out

With negligible transfer funds provided by the board, Rory initiated a major clear-out and let 17 players whom he didn't plan to utilise in the upcoming campaign go in a very busy summer.

Transfers In

As for transfers in, nothing much could be done as the squad already had 6 players on loan and the limit for match day squads is 5. Rory is also relatively confident that most of the current players can compete at this level.

Hal Robson-Kanu

Henri Saivet

Two experienced campaigners were brought in on frees to strengthen the wide areas.

Harry Toffolo

We also needed cover at left-back and Harry was Rory's choice in the only deal which involved a transfer fee.

Rwan

Fabrice Muamba also recommended one relatively unknown striker from Brazil and he was brought in on a cheap loan deal

Perhaps disappointing a couple, Rory will be playing his football on the ground in a 4-3-3 Vertical Tiki-Taka formation. Let's hope he doesn't have to turn to long throws to grind out results in the upcoming season! And with that, the new era begins..

[TheGoodRebel]

Good luck! Enjoyed your previous threads over the years. I’m sure it won’t be long until Stoke are in the Champions League!

What tactics are you using for slots 2 and 3? Variations of your base tactic?

[DavidBeckham]

12 hours ago, TheGoodRebel said:

Good luck! Enjoyed your previous threads over the years. I’m sure it won’t be long until Stoke are in the Champions League!

What tactics are you using for slots 2 and 3? Variations of your base tactic?

Great to have you here mate! I'm not too sure about that though as I'm sure the journey to the Champions League will take a few years! 

I use the 4-3-3 for the majority of our games but there are times when we may switch to this against 5-at-the-back formations.

I also use this to close out away/neutral ground games if we are a goal up with ten minutes to go!

[karanhsingh]

How's the back 3 one working for you? 

How does underlap work with these formations? I didn't quite understand the theory of that and i recently saw it on bust the net as well. 

[DavidBeckham]

3 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

How's the back 3 one working for you? 

How does underlap work with these formations? I didn't quite understand the theory of that and i recently saw it on bust the net as well. 

To be honest, I haven't had the chance to use it much but based on past experience, it works well against formations with 3 at the back and 2 up top! The instructions are the default ones of the vertical tiki-taka style and I believe the underlap instructions force the players to work the channels. I also realised it is important to have left-footed strikers in the STCL spot and vice-versa as they are vital in providing additional width. 

[nsd]

As a Stoke fan, it's always interesting to see what other people make of us on FM. I can't help but feel a little something at you letting Souttar go for £650k 

[DavidBeckham]

18 minutes ago, nsd said:

As a Stoke fan, it's always interesting to see what other people make of us on FM. I can't help but feel a little something at you letting Souttar go for £650k 

Sorry mate! I'm sure he's much better in real life but his acceleration of 7 and the decision to play with a high line meant we had to off-load him  We needed money to strengthen the squad as well! 

[DavidBeckham]

Solid Start

Rory has had a solid start to his tenure at the bet365 Stadium. After ten games, the Potters sits second on 21 points, two points behind leaders Fulham and we are just ahead of Bristol City and Nottingham Forest on goal difference. Things have been really tight at the top of the league and I can't help but think that this will continue throughout the campaign.

We began with a bang against Reading but things got rough as we suffered a three-game winless run. Rory wasn't too worried though, as the level of performances were encouraging. As the boys began to gel, results improved and we are now unbeaten in six in the league. 

Carabao Cup

We managed to progress past three opponents in the Carabao Cup playing our second string and a tough Nottingham Forest outfit awaits us in the fourth round.

Deadline Day

With no money left in the bank, we somehow managed to bring in three players on loan for absolutely no money on deadline day. Anthony Elanga is the best of the lot and his incredible speed and flair meant he will go straight into our starting 11 in the left wing spot. What a steal this is!

Harvey White came in to further strengthen our central midfield, and it is a position where we suffered a couple of injuries early on. He will get most of his game time in the cup games.

The last deadline day signing is another very exciting one, and we were all surprised that Brighton allowed a player of Moises Caicedo's quality to come in on loan for no money. Our midfield has enough quality but lacks mobility, and Moises is the perfect addition to complete our transfer businesses!

It was good to hear some nice words from a certain legend at the club..

 

..but our football is very different from how he played his

Edited June 26, 2022 by DavidBeckham

[Brooklyn Jensen]

Elanga! What a steal for free and he could fire you to the Prem. Congrats on the good start! 

[DavidBeckham]

18 hours ago, Brooklyn Jensen said:

Elanga! What a steal for free and he could fire you to the Prem. Congrats on the good start! 

He has been solid with 2 assists and 2 goals in 6 starts! However, he tends to get anxious or apprehensive during games and I believe it is due to his low determination. Can't complain much though as we are not paying anything for him!

Edited June 28, 2022 by DavidBeckham

[karanhsingh]

Are United a parent club?

[DavidBeckham]

On 28/06/2022 at 20:11, karanhsingh said:

Are United a parent club?

Unfortunately no! I've been pestering the board for the senior affiliate but they have rejected me on every occasion! Thankfully, Elanga, White and Caicedo were all available on free loans and we snapped them up without any hesitation!

[DavidBeckham]

Midway Point

The fans are very happy with the first half of our campaign \o/

Sky Bet Championship

Things are really tight between ourselves and Fulham, but Rory is just happy that there is some breathing space from 3rd-placed Bournemouth in a very frantic season so far. The top two sides are only separated by goals conceded and we face a very tall task trying to finish ahead of the Cottagers as they have a better squad than ours.

The boys were so consistent in our 8-eight winning run before a slight blip towards the end of November. Hopefully, the two wins in mid-December will kickstart another good run of results in a very busy period.

Carabao Cup

The second stringers continued to perform admirably in the Carabao Cup but an excellent Liverpool outfit was far too strong for us as we were beaten 3-5 in a goal-filled quarter final!

Player of the Half-Season

The biggest surprise of the season so far had to be the level of performances from Hal Robson-Kanu. Rory deployed HRK in the inside forward role down our right wing and he has been cutting in and smashing balls into the goal like peak-Arjen Robben. He also has terrific timing arriving in the box to nod crosses in from our left-sided players. We are all hoping that he can keep up his goal-scoring ratio as we need all the help we can get to keep up with a very strong Fulham side.

[karanhsingh]

Looks like the tiki-taka revolution at Stoke is going well!

[nsd]

Impressive start, nice gap opened up between 2nd and 3rd already but keeping up with Fulham in the second half of the season is going to be quite difficult, once injuries/fatigue/general Stoke-ness sets in.

[deltablue]

It's nice to have such a comfortable gap to 3rd.

[DavidBeckham]

On 01/07/2022 at 13:31, karanhsingh said:

Looks like the tiki-taka revolution at Stoke is going well!

 Yes mate! The football has moved on considerably from the Pulis' Era and we have been on the right side of the results! So far so good!

On 01/07/2022 at 20:27, nsd said:

Impressive start, nice gap opened up between 2nd and 3rd already but keeping up with Fulham in the second half of the season is going to be quite difficult, once injuries/fatigue/general Stoke-ness sets in.

Thanks mate! Lovely to hear that from a big Stoke fan like you! We have exchanged places with Fulham so much throughout the season and we will certainly do our best to finish in the right position at the end!

21 hours ago, deltablue said:

It's nice to have such a comfortable gap to 3rd.

Great seeing you mate! It has been too long! And yes, the gap has made the save very stress-free so far

[DavidBeckham]

Into the Final Stretch

Things stayed very much the same as we completed our games in March.

Sky Bet Championship

Unfortunately, Fulham overtook us at the top and they are now on 86 points, 1 point ahead of us with seven games to go. On the bright side, we managed to extend the gap between ourselves and Bournemouth in third. Premier League is within reach!

We are on a 9-game unbeaten run but too many draws meant the more consistent Fulham outfit overtook us at the top. If we want the title, we need to win more games in the final stretch as Fulham rarely drop points.

FA Cup

The squad players failed to impress in the FA Cup as we crashed out in the fourth round against Ipswich at the bet365 Stadium. It is highly unlikely that the second stringers will dislodge the 1st eleven in the remaining run of games.

Star Performer

Josh's performances improved considerably as the season went on and he is now playing at such a high level that he is in with a shout of bagging the Player of the Year award. The Englishman has been such a creative outlet at left-back, creating 9 and scoring 3 in 28 starts in a very productive campaign so far. If we somehow manage to pip Fulham to the title, Rory will be very disappointed if the young left-back doesn't sweep the end of the season awards.

[karanhsingh]

Tymon is an all time FM favorite for me 

[DavidBeckham]

3 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Tymon is an all time FM favorite for me 

Absolutely mate! He has been such a good prospect at left-back on so many versions! Bad timing to get an injury though

[johnloch]

Bring in his son please!

[DavidBeckham]

17 hours ago, johnloch said:

Bring in his son please!

It is very unlikely for a couple of reasons, and Rory has just informed him that he won't be welcomed back for Christmas 

[DavidBeckham]

Season Review 2021-22

WE ARE GOING UP, SAY WE ARE GOING UP!

Sky Bet Championship

We fell short in the end and Tymon's injury didn't help, but we should all be happy with the season of over-achievement. We are back in the Premier League baby \o/

FA Cup

We were not at our best in the FA Cup as our second stringers were knocked out early in the fourth round after a 1-3 home defeat against Ipswich.

Carabao Cup

The level of performance was much better in the Carabao Cup but we suffered an inevitable quarter-final exit as we were eliminated by a very strong Liverpool side.

Best Eleven

Even though most of the best eleven won't be with us in the Premier League, we will always remember them for taking us back to where we belong :**)

Club Awards

Unsurprisingly, Josh Tymon swept both the Fans' Player of the Season and Young Player of the Season awards. He was also our top assister, and Hal Robson-Kanu proved to be an absolute bargain of a signing after topping the club's goal scoring charts. Joe Bursik was also immense in goal for us and we will definitely be doing our best to keep him with us in the Premier League.

Sky Bet Championship Awards

Despite us not winning the league, Josh still managed to bag the player of the season award. Rory is a very proud manager.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis was another pleasant surprise, coming in on loan from Man City and completing a very solid campaign for us. We will definitely be using this to hopefully work out a loan deal or two with Man City in the upcoming season.

Terrific trio in the Players’ Team of the Year!

Rory also tried to use this to negotiate for larger budgets in the summer..

..but he didn’t get his way, did he?

Edited July 5, 2022 by DavidBeckham

[karanhsingh]

Very well done, congratulations on the promotion!

[johnloch]

Not following his dad's steps, literally.

[deltablue]

Nice one.

[lied90]

What happened to Tyrese Campbell on your save? He was my top scorer but I can't see that you've used him or sold him.

Good to see that Josh Tymon can contribute up the pitch, he's stuck crossing from deep in my alternate reality.

[DavidBeckham]

12 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Very well done, congratulations on the promotion!

6 hours ago, deltablue said:

Nice one.

Thanks both! It has been a very enjoyable save thus far!

10 hours ago, johnloch said:

Not following his dad's steps, literally.

Rory never rated his son anyway

2 hours ago, lied90 said:

What happened to Tyrese Campbell on your save? He was my top scorer but I can't see that you've used him or sold him.

Good to see that Josh Tymon can contribute up the pitch, he's stuck crossing from deep in my alternate reality.

Tyrese was unavailable due to a long-term injury at the start of the save and never really managed to dislodge Sima from the starting 11, who had a solid season himself and got into the team of the year. He is also unlucky that we play with just that one up top!

In addition, our coach feels that he's fairly inconsistent and his performances from the bench and a couple of starts here and there reflected his opinion too. He's still with us though! I'm still undecided if we should keep him in our 1st season back in the Prem!

Josh is excellent going forward! He was our very own Andrew Robertson and his deliveries are unbelievable! I'm sure he has been solid for you crossing from deep too!

 

[DavidBeckham]

1st signing of the summer in preparation for the Prem! A no-brainer for 2 million pounds, and we really need to scrimp and save due to the limited budgets provided by the board!

Edited July 7, 2022 by DavidBeckham

[DavidBeckham]

Building a New Squad

Rory has never been this hardworking during the summer, bringing in 17 and letting 16 leave in a major squad overhaul. Our number one, Joe Bursik, Josh Tymon, Jacob Brown and Tyrese Campbell were the only survivors from our promotion-winning squad.

Goalkeepers

Jeroen Zoet was brought in on loan from Spezia to provide backup in our goalkeeping department. He will start the season as our number two keeper behind Joe, who will get his chance to establish himself as a Premier League level stopper.  

Defenders

Jack Stacey was our most expensive defensive reinforcement and the exceptionally fit Englishman will go straight into our starting 11 in the right-back position. He will play next to Anel Ahmedhodžić, who will partner the returning loanee Taylor Harwood-Bellis in central defence. Josh will continue to start at left-back. Midfielder Peter Etebo returned to the bet365 Stadium after spending last season on loan at Watford, and Rory decided to retrain him into a right-back to provide some much needed depth in the position.

Barcelona defenders Óscar Mingueza..

..and Arnau Comas were brought in on loan to be our 3rd and 4th choice center-backs. 

Our Brazilian scouts recommended Renê for his all-round game and experience, and he was brought in for 400k pounds to compete with Josh for the starting left-back berth.

Midfielders

Pierre Kunde was Rory's final choice to play in the important midfield holding position, and the Cameroonian was brought in for 3 million pounds from Olympiacos to play in the Regista role.

Uruguayan Felipe Carballo came in on a permanent deal from Nacional for 1.5 million pounds, and he will push Kunde hard for a spot in the starting lineup. 

Rory also brought Clinton Mola back home for 3.6 million pounds after his adventure in Germany, and the hardworking and physical midfielder will start in the Box To Box Midfielder role.

He will have to hold off the competition of the more technical Onni Valakari though, who was brought in on loan from Inter Milan to provide backup in the left no. 8 position.

Another loanee from the Serie A, Filip Rønningen Jørgensen, came in from Juventus in search of regular football and the young Norwegian will get lots of game time in the Mezzala role. 

However, Rory is still undecided if another loanee, Billy Gilmour, or Filip is his preferred choice in the right number 8 spot.

Attackers

Rory struggled to find a better player than Tyrese Campbell on the market to play at the tip of his front three, but he knew he had to improve on the position to give him a better chance of survival in the Premier League. He eventually settled on Adam Hložek, who reminds him a little of Marcus Rashford, a player who can play up top but is better down the left. With no better options on the market, he is gambling on Adam's potential and hopes to develop the Czech into an all-rounded pressing forward.

Rory proceeded to inject more pace in his attack by bringing in Zambian Edward Chilufya from Football Club Midtjylland for 4 million pounds, and he will play in the inverted winger role down our left flank.

Another of Rory's numerous loan signings, Nuno Santos, will compete with the Zambian for the starting role on the left of our front three. 

Our second most expensive signing of the summer,  Jordi Mboula, came in for 7 million pounds to complete a very busy summer. The Spaniard will start on the right of our front three in the inside forward role, and he will have to fend off the physicality of Jacob Brown to keep his starting spot.

August 2022

We have also completed the first month of our first campaign back in the Prem, and it looks like Rory is going to have a very tough year ahead..

Edited July 19, 2022 by DavidBeckham

[lied90]

Making Etebo a right back is clever, he has the attributes for it. August doesn't look to bad, can't expect to get many points vs top teams in the first season.

[karanhsingh]

Wow that's a massive upheaval of the squad! Some good signings there but have to hope they don't take too long to settle. Hlozek developed into genuinely world class on my Everton save. 

[DavidBeckham]

On 10/07/2022 at 17:22, lied90 said:

Making Etebo a right back is clever, he has the attributes for it. August doesn't look to bad, can't expect to get many points vs top teams in the first season.

That's exactly what I was thinking! His passing range isn't the best for a central midfielder too. Unfortunately, he also hasn't shown that he can be a Premier League level right-back thus far

11 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Wow that's a massive upheaval of the squad! Some good signings there but have to hope they don't take too long to settle. Hlozek developed into genuinely world class on my Everton save. 

We didn't have much choice to be honest! There was hardly any Premier League quality players in the squad which achieved promotion and we will most likely go back down with the same group of players  As for Hlozek, he hasn't lighted up the league so far with only 5 goals in 14 starts! We are all waiting for him to take his game to the next level and let's hope that happens sooner rather than later

[DavidBeckham]

Life in the Prem

Life in the Prem has been tough as we tried to adjust from winning most of our games in the Championship to struggling for points in arguably the toughest league competition in the world.

Premier League

The new signings have done well to support the 'Fantastic Four' from the promotion winning squad to help us steer clear of the relegation places after 25 challenging games. We lost almost as many games as the ones we won in a very topsy-turvy campaign so far.

Carabao Cup

We decided to place full emphasis on the league games and that resulted in a terrible Third Round performance away at Southampton in a humiliating 1-5 defeat  

FA Cup

Things were similar in the FA Cup when we fielded a weakened 11 against Middlesbrough as we wanted to rest our starting players fully for the Prem. Unsurprisingly, we were eliminated in the Third Round in a narrow 1-2 defeat. 

Star Performer

It wasn't hard to pick out our star performer as Anel was by far our most important player in a very tough season so far. His towering presence at the back meant we were able to compete against the rich boys and he was also our main threat at set-pieces, nodding in 5 in 24 starts. If he can stay fit for the rest of the campaign, we are quietly confident that we can avoid relegation in our 1st season back in big time.  

With us out of both cup competitions, 13 cup finals remains!

[Brooklyn Jensen]

The first season back in the Premier League is always the toughest. Keep going mate! You are doing just fine!

[DavidBeckham]

Season Review 2022-23

WE ARE STAYING UP, SAY WE ARE STAYING UP!

Premier League

The boys managed to keep up our mid-table form and we finished 11th on 56 points, winning 16, drawing 8 and losing 14 in a very up and down campaign. We will definitely take it as the media predicted us to finish rock bottom before the start of the season. We keep going!

Carabao Cup

FA Cup

As mentioned in the last update, we placed full emphasis on the Prem and the second string failed to impress in the cup competitions as we suffered early exits

Best Eleven

The players who will always be remembered as part of the squad in our maiden Premier League campaign \o/

Top 3 Players 

I still can't quite believe Adam Hložek did not make it into our best eleven as he led the line really well for us and took our game to the next level. He also finished the campaign with a respectable 12 goals and 3 assists in 30 starts, and we barely won any in the 8 games which he missed. I have no doubt that Adam will be a big part of the club's progress in the next ten years!

Filip Rønningen Jørgensen is by far our best loanee and what a find he has been! Playing as a Mezzala in the right-sided no. 8 position, the Norwegian was our creative fulcrum and he linked up well with Adam on numerous occasions throughout the campaign. He ended the season with 10 goal contributions (2 goals and 8 assists) and with his best years ahead of him, Rory is incredibly delighted that Juventus allowed us to have him for an additional campaign

Anel Ahmedhodžić has been our defensive lynchpin, main set-piece threat and guard, team leader, and is without a shadow of a doubt our player of the season! He has been so impressive all campaign that we are not too optimistic that we can keep him for long. Let's hope that the big boys don't come calling too soon

Finances

Unsurprisingly, our financial situation improved considerably after a season in the Prem and the board elevated our budgets for the upcoming summer. Rory will have around 45 million pounds to spend with an increased wage budget of 770k pounds p/w. He is really looking forward to strengthening the squad..

..and here is a sneak peek of what he has already done

[lied90]

No idea how you pulled Lucca, he still has no interest in joining me

[karanhsingh]

Well done mate! Great season.

[DavidBeckham]

20 hours ago, lied90 said:

No idea how you pulled Lucca, he still has no interest in joining me

I wanted him in January but he didn't have any interest. We continued scouting him and a renewed scouting report came up in March and he was willing to consider our offer! Thankfully we had money left in the bank to do the deal! 

8 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Well done mate! Great season.

Cheers mate! Onwards and upwards!

[13th Man]

Catching up after being away from the game for a month.

Great stuff - promotion and comfortable if hard fought  safety in your first year in the Premiership! Funny how much Stoke has changed since Delap’s playing days. 

Stoke have been my low-key boogie team in my Portsmouth save, constantly managing undeserved draws, but I’m still, reluctantly, wishing you well in your second season.

[DavidBeckham]

On 15/07/2022 at 22:48, 13th Man said:

Catching up after being away from the game for a month.

Great stuff - promotion and comfortable if hard fought  safety in your first year in the Premiership! Funny how much Stoke has changed since Delap’s playing days. 

Stoke have been my low-key boogie team in my Portsmouth save, constantly managing undeserved draws, but I’m still, reluctantly, wishing you well in your second season.

Great to see you here again mate! The change in mentality from winning most games in the Championship to scraping for points in the Prem is the toughest! But I'm sure things will improve season by season!

And it's really unfortunate to hear that Stoke is the boogie team in your save! Let's hope that the wins will start coming in and I'm absolutely ok with you beating Stoke every single game in your alternate reality!  

[13th Man]

3 hours ago, DavidBeckham said:

And it's really unfortunate to hear that Stoke is the boogie team in your save! Let's hope that the wins will start coming in and I'm absolutely ok with you beating Stoke every single game in your alternate reality!  

Ha! They haunted me for two years in the Championship, then I had a one season break from them after promotion, only for them to follow the next season. Luckily, they dropped right back down after losing to every one but us and I’m hoping they stay there.

[DavidBeckham]

17 hours ago, 13th Man said:

Ha! They haunted me for two years in the Championship, then I had a one season break from them after promotion, only for them to follow the next season. Luckily, they dropped right back down after losing to every one but us and I’m hoping they stay there.

By the time they come up again, the gap between yourselves and them will be bigger! You will be fine!