Motlhen

Mar 2025 A massive month. Through in the Champions League and beating 2nd and 5th in the league to close the gap to the teams above us. First place is seemingly impossible now - but after last years late surge, I am looking at that 5-point gap to 2nd place and wondering if we could get close. A huge tie against Liverpool is on the horizon - we'll be playing them 3 times in 11 days. I've managed to pick up a brilliant free signing of Asensio, who was a star in my PSG squad. ...and I also forgot to mention that I bought Garner in January as a decent home-grown backup.

Youth Intake Hunt looks like he could be very good, I'll be keeping an eye on him.

We've managed to get past Juventus! It was a lot tougher than our 4-0 win against them in the Group Stage.

Feb 2026 A really disappointing month. Both the Villa and Leicester games, we couldn't hold onto the 2-1 lead and conceded in the 90-plus minutes. Then going out of the FA Cup against Leeds with pretty full squad, was unacceptable. We have drawn against Juventus in the UCL R16. We beat them 4-0 already this campaign, but we need to show up! Knockout Playoff Round My old club PSG being knocked out was the biggest shock & Villa were unlucky to lost to Real Madrid.

Jan 2026 A couple of poor results against Bournemouth & Brentford, but a huge win against Juventus sees us finish 6th in the UCL group and jump straight to the Round of 16. In the Premier league, we're only 5 points off of 3rd, where we finished last season, and only 9 points off of top - but with so many teams jostling for position, there's no guarantee and we need to get back to form.

Dec 2025 A mixed bag to finish the year.

Nov 2025 A tough month. And how it can all change so quickly. From top-spot to out of the European places. Props to West Brom for making me feel better. We're still top of the UCL group though! Youth Intake Preview

Oct 2025 Going into our game against Man Utd, we were level on points at the top! So I guess a draw might have been expected. But Liverpool, who just knocked us out of our defence of the Carabao Cup, have also leapfrogged us both into pole position.

Sep 2025 AN incredible month, with a huge win against Inter Milan to kick off our European campaign. We're riding near the top of the premier league, although Man Utd have gone 6 from 6 so far.

Saudi clubs have come sniffing, but I'm not giving in!

Aug 2025 We managed to be comfortable against Brentford on the opening day, until a late goal. Then we strolled into Bournemouth and got caught lacking. They played us off the park and I blasted the team for a terrible performance - and they reacted heroically by smashing 7 past West Brom.

Start of 2025/26 Season Last season we didn't have continental football to contend with. This season we will be jumping straight into the Champions League with a mean list of fixtures. Because of the fixture congestion and our over-performance last season, I am glad that the board only want a top-half finish in the league. I would like us to at least get Europa league football for next season. Squad This is my favoured 1st and 2nd Xi for the coming season. Rotation will be key! Backups We have a solid list of backups. Bounanotte & Ilenikhena will hopefully be loaned out before the transfer window closes.

Transfers Out Transfers In We've got 2x new right backs who will fight for a first team spot. And we've added Theate as a first choice at centre-back with Dunk not getting any younger. I chose not to sign DCL for around £9m in January and I am glad I didn't, as he joined us on a free! He's a great alternative option up front as our pressing forward. Ilenikhena is another great signing, but we will look to loan him out this season for regular first team football.

I've immediately asked the board to use the Champions League money for improvements. And we managed to get an affiliate in France.

May 2025 What a way to end the season. After we clinched a Conference League spot for next year through the Carabao Cup, I thought we could maybe upgrade to a Europa league spot, but never thought Champions league would be possible.

We've beaten Liverpool! And with it qualified for the UCL!!! We were 9th for most of the season and have flown up to 3rd and I can't quite believe that we'll be playing in the Champions League next season.

May 2025 A massively disappointing draw. I was hoping we would battle for a point - but we were 3-0 up at half time and cruising. Losing in this manner feels like 2 points dropped and I hope we don't live to rue this. Chelsea (who we play on the last day of the season) and Man Utd (still in the current season's UCL) are hot on our tails. I don't know when our aim became top 4, but it is now! Next, we have the minor task of playing Liverpool, who have only lost to Villa this season.

Apr 2025 April ends with 4 wins from 4 and my first Manager of the Month award in the Premier League. (I forgot to take a league screenshot here, sorry) Whilst we push for Champions League football I have been toying with the idea of signing Lewis Miley. I am not over the moon with the fee or the contract clauses - but he is one hell of a youngster. I've delayed my decision as we need to know what competition we'll be playing in next season before making a decision I reckon.

Another commanding win! We're above Chelsea too now! 3rd never seemed possible, but everyone around us has been dropping points (or not playing as many games) and we have stormed up the table. ... Then Chelsea lost their game in hand, crowning Liverpool Champions as they won 7-0 at home, and meaning only Man Utd can are within touching distance of us when they play their game in hand. Man Utd are also still involved in the UCL - in what is an absolutely outrageous semi-final line up.

We're up to 4th with a convincing win over Burnley. Man Utd can catch us and the teams 7th and below have a game advantage too but they have a gap to catch back up to us. I'm hoping for 2 more wins next, then a draw and then probably 2 losses (so 2 free hits!)

Apr 2025 The run in! Buonanotte grabs a 97th minute winner to muster a huge 3 points for us. We've won our hardest game in April and will have to keep this run going this month because May's fixtures are not a kind way to end the season. That result takes us to the dizzying heights of 5th. All of a sudden both we have an advantage over Arsenal and Aston Villa despite their games in hand. Can we make 5th our own?

Mar 2025 We've crashed out of the FA Cup after a slightly rotated squad didn't give enough against Bournemouth. This marks the first competition I've not won as a manager (although it would be unrealistic to think we'll get close to the league title this season). In the league, it has become remarkably close. 4 points below us are Arsenal, who have two game in hand on us. 4 points above us is 3rd!? We have 7 games to go and I would love to push our Conference League spot up to a Europa League spot for next season. Bardghji is denied a 3rd YPotM award by Ferguson - with Barco rounding off a Brighton top 3! NxGN Our 2 signings and also Hinselwood have made it into the top 50. I will pay Hinselwood more attention when he returns from his loan from Clermont and try to get him some playing time next season to see how he develops. Youth Intake Not a great intake, as expected. I'm hoping some European money will fund some more facility improvements next season and the quality of our youth intakes should improve soon after.

Feb 2025 We had a great month, only dropping points to Man City. Our run of games wasn't the toughest but the winning run will have helped us overcome Newcastle to win the club's first Carabao Cup. Bardghji continues to prove an incredible signing with his 2nd Young Player of the Month in a row in 2025. We're in 9th and now closing the gap between us and the teams above us.

We've achieved our goal for the season! Our first trophy at Brighton makes it 5 out of 5 competition wins so far for me personally (including the quadruple at PSG). The game was decided by Enciso, a great individual display by the sub made the difference. We had to hang on at the end after Bardghji's injury reduced us to 10-men for the final 6 minutes plus nine minutes of stoppage time but we did it and I am delighted!

Jan 2025 Transfers In There were a couple of transfers that I cancelled at the last minute again this window. £7m for Calvert-Lewin, £15m for Salisu and a loan for Kimpembe with an optional £11m fee. All of these players are good, but I realised that they are on-par with the players we already have and I want to make sure we are improving the quality of the squad with every purchase. £27m for Thiago Almada was the biggest cancellation. He would have improved the calibre at the squad, but I've opted for another, cheaper, younger AMC. £7.5m for 18yo Pafundi (a saving of £20m) and I think that he will be a better player in 5 years than Almada is at 23. Transfers Out £10m+ for a 30yo backup. With Koulibaly coming in on a free, on less wages, this made sense to generate revenue for a player who would at most end up on the fringes of the squad. I will be keeping a close eye on the Portuguese Premier League as Lamptey will be sold for near £20m if Porto win it! He's fast, but he's not a good footballer. We have plenty of options in his position so I figured this transfer was worth the risk. Fixtures Another decent month. We're through to the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle, who beat us at the start of the month. We play the final at the end of Feb and will be looking for revenge and to get our place in Europe for next season! We're also advancing through the FA Cup with some favourable draws and have Derby in the 5th round. In the league, we're in touching distance of Tottenham & Arsenal and only 7 points off of 4th (although looking that high up might be overly optimistic).