keeper#1

Tough Day In The Transfer Market Watts is a player that was in the U21 team but had a blocked pathway so he wasn't a big loss. I was able to sell the unhappy and unprofessional Ronald to Genk for full value. I'm claiming that as a win. Losing Ben Lloyd is tough. He is a top U21 Welsh international - a player that I want to keep at the club. He's a player that is only going to better as his game develops. However, the board went over my head twice (I was able to block the first move) and cashed on a player for below his market value. I could have sold him for double or triple with another year or two of development.

2024-25 Season - Update 1 The Swans have used a red-hot start to put themselves into the fight for automatic promotion. We could have really put a gap between ourselves and the rest of the Championship if we had kept up our form throughout November and December. However, we have slipped a little bit which has allowed Norwich and Nottingham Forest to slip past us in the standings. We get a second chance against Nottingham Forest during the Festive Fixture season. A win would allow us to stay in the mix while a loss would sink us further into the battle for the playoff spots. The offense has been firing on all cylinders all season. Teams have started to find some gaps in our defensive square - more on that in the statistics and player breakdown section. The first thing that stands out in the first half of the season is we have a variety of players who can score goals. Attacking midfielder Pontus Dahbo leads the way with six goals while chipping in with six assists as well. He is well on his way to a 10 goal/10 assist season. I love seeing those from my midfielders. Two more new signings are also finding themselves toward the top of the goal chart. Bork Bang-Kittilsen (6 goals 1 assist) and Octovian Popescu (5 goals 4 assists) have been banging in the goals from the attacking midfield strata. Our center forward, Mykala Kushareych, is still banging in the goals (5 goals 1 assist). The problem has been finding a reliable replacement for him when he is tired or is carrying an injury. It's becoming clear that Jerry Yates and Josh Thomas aren't cut out for the primary back-up center forward. I'm willing to cut ties with Yates over the summer but Thomas will stick around because of his age and roster registration requirements. Matt Grimes has been a great asset for us in the defensive midfield. He is always willing to track back and break up attacks. He has been quite lethal in picking out the proper pass to send a player in behind the defense as he leads the team with seven assists while winning 84% of his tackles. Very pleased with his efforts for us this season. However, I have struggled to find a partner for him. Nathaniel Chabaloh has shown flashes of being a good player and then has matches where he completely switches off and plays "controller disconnected." Jensen Weir has been serviceable as a rotational option and Jay Fulton is a player who can easily be replaced. In the future, I will have a solid center-back partnership with Malcolm Jeng and Villands Neilsen. However due to injury to Josh Tymon, I have been forced to move Jeng out to the left back position and back-fill the center-back position with Nathan Wood, who is still a young defender in is own right. The other options are an upset Harry Darling who wants a new contract that would earn him a starter's salary or Ben Cabango, who has proven to be the 5th best center back on the team. Right now, I have the following players that can be moved for just about any price: Cabango (5th best defender), Yates (a center forward at the peak of his game but not good enough for a backup role), and Ronald (a winger who is in a similar contract situation as Darling but also, now, questioning why I subbed him out of a game - sorry I'm the manager - you do that and you'll play for someone else). My winter transfer market wish list: a reliable back-up at center forward and a significant upgrade to the defensive midfield

I really like how this looks. It's simple and useful.

Nypan went to Liverpool in my Swansea save. Someday, I'll have the resources at Swansea to poach that type of talent.

I've never managed in Spain but might do it later this summer if my Swansea save falls apart or in FM25.

Summer 2024 Transfer Window External Players We brought in six new faces in addition to the five new players that we brought in June. It was a very busy summer window. In the month of July, we went very defense heavy and players that provide the club with depth. We start with a pair of defensive midfielders Jensen Weir and the experienced and well-traveled Nathaniel Chalabah. Heading into the pre-season friendlies, these two will provide back-up behind Matt Grimes and Jay Fulton. We made a small purchase bring over Anthony Ralston from Celtic. Ralston was the best of a large group of reserve right-back options behind Josh Key. It came down to Ralston and free agent Dominic Iorfa. Iorfa was the more physical player and could slide into the central defense as well but Ralston is the better overall player. Octavian Papescu is the only offensive player in the group. Papescu can play across the entire attacking midfield strata which is good because I want to create more attacking fluidity among that group. Positional versatility will be vital for that group this season. Frans Kratzig was brought in deadline day on a season-long loan from Bayern Munich. We needed a reserve left-back as Kristian Pedersen and Nathan Tjoe-A-On both left the club on transfers. The last player Edwin Agbaje is a long-term project at right back. Promotions from the Academy I was able to focus on defense in the transfer market because I was able to promote two attacking midfielders from the academy. The compliment each other positionally perfectly so it is great that I could bring them up as a pair. On the left side, 19-year old Ben Lloyd earned a promotion the senior team. He will battle Papescu for starting minutes on that side but he can also slide into the central midfield as well. On the right side, 20-year old Cameron Cosgrove is almost a carbon copy of Lloyd but on the right side. Cosgrove will back up Ronald on the right wing but, like Lloyd, he can slide into the central midfield. The third academy call-up is third-string goalkeeper Evan Watts. Watts will train with the senior team while starting for the U21 team. The 11 new faces brought in via the transfer and free agent market and the three academy promotions now give me a U21 core on the senior team that looks like this. In line with our recruitment, we have three Welshmen, three Swedes, a Dane, and a Norwegian in this group. Joining them is a Romanian and a German (on loan).

Really like this save idea. Best of luck!

Next stop: Toronto FC or CF Montreal?

Denmark deserve this goal. Don't know why Southgate continues to go into a prevent defense after taking a 1-0 lead.

So Close Yet So Far We finished the season just two points off of the playoff places. The fans will point to our 2-1 collapse to Huddersfield late in the season as to why we didn't make the playoffs. If that loss becomes a win, we finish on 82 points and bump Middlesbrough out of the playoffs. However, I will point to our absolutely dreadful January where we took only one point from a possible 12 as to why we didn't make the playoffs. That's why. If we win any of those matches and we had plenty of chances to win those matches, we qualify for the playoffs. Am I disappointed? Yes. Making the playoffs would have been a solid achievement for the club. But also, no. The last thing I wanted to see if we qualified for the playoffs was for us to get hot, win the playoffs, and get promotion, ahead of schedule, to the Premier League. So 7th place, it is for us and we work on building the squad up to make a more serious run at the playoffs next season. The stats do show that we are a very good team both offensively and defensively. However, we do have places for improvement. On the offensive side, we do need to improve our crossing which can be solved by getting wingers who are better at crossing the ball or getting interior players who are better at winning the service. Now, the forwards definitely need to improve getting the ball on frame. It's just average. We improve that to above average or even slightly above average and we don't through a month like January where we struggle to score costing us a spot in the playoffs. What we do need is a center forward behind Mykala Kukharevych. Mykala led the team with 18 goals but the two forwards behind him Jerry Yates and Josh Thomas combined to scored just eight goals. They were out-produced by some more rotational options like Charles Sagoe, who could play across three positions in the attacking midfield strata, and Jamal Lowe, who could play both wing positions in addition to the center forward position. In line with our recruitment, I'll need to see if we have an internal option before going through the shortlists to bring in a better option. In the midfield, we were solid at the attacking midfield position. Liam Walsh had grown into the central role and was second on the team with 10 goals. Then, he broke his leg against Huddersfield and will miss the next six months. Hopefully, he produces at the same level when he returns from injury but this is something that we will need to keep our eye on. The defensive midfield is aging. 34-year old Joe Allen will be shipped to the Houston Dynamo in a few days for 120k because the MLS is a retirement home. Matt Grimes and Jay Fulton are decent but can be improved upon. The defense is solid on the wings with Josh Key and Josh Tymon. The central defense can be improved upon as they are very turnover prove even when not under pressure. Scouting the Great White North I've already discussed Filip Sidklev in an earlier post. During the winter, I continued to pound the great region of Scandinavia. I thought I was going to have to mine Finland and Iceland for talent and then head to Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. But during the winter, I was able to pull a player from those three regions and I couldn't be happier. Bork Bang-Kittisen is a right winger from Odds in Norway. He has yet to crack any of the Norwegian youth teams but my scouts found him while working through the club scene in the region. He has the potential to be a solid right winger for us going forward and could push Ronald for the starting right forward position. Next we went into Sweden and Denmark where our scouts, hopefully, found our center back pairing of the future. Malcolm Jeng comes over from Sirius in Sweden where he has featured in 36 league matches while making six appearances for the Swedish U21 team as a 19-year old. Villads Nielsen, from Nordsjaelland in Denmark, will partner with Jeng. Nielsen is a tough tackler and strong in the air. He has only made two senior appearances for the club but my scouts believes he has a lot of potential.

2024 Youth Intake - Here Come Kids What a great class of kids! Three of the top five are born and raised in Swansea while we made in-roads to England and Austria for some of the top talents in the class. I'm excited by this group. Dane Allen 24A made the long trip from Austria to join the club. He could be a much needed option on the right side of the formation. He has great dribbling skills and pace but needs to spend A LOT of time in the weight room. Could be a great option off the bench in a few years when we need some speed against a tired backline. Luke Rice 24B - the hard-working center back from England will be a fixture in the Swansea backline in the future. He isn't an elite play in any one area but does a lot of things very well for his age and wants to put in the work to be a great player. Darren Norris 24C can rule the left side of the back line for many years and is the pride of Swansea. He is an elite tackler and is willing to put the needs of the team above his own needs. He's a touch undersized but hopefully he will grow into the position both literally and figuratively. Robert Roberts 24D is an interesting forward. He's not a true goal scorer but doesn't have the traits that would make him be an elite creative center forward. He will be a great option off the bench in a couple of years before moving into true reserve/spot starter role. Not 100% convinced that he will move into a true #1 option at the center forward position. Ian Marshall 24E will be a deep lying playmaker type of midfielder to watch for the future. He can pass the ball very well and wants the team to do well. He will be perfect for a deep lying role that brings the more attack minded players into the game.

Last 30 minutes of that match ruled.

Saving the Swans - Season 1 Update 2 We've reached the halfway point in the season and it has been a great season for us thus far. Picked to finish mid-table. We are flying high in 4th place. This would put us WAY ahead of schedule so while I'd like to see us get promoted to the Premier League, I'm afraid that we would have a roster that would see go right back down. We just aren't ready yet. We are riding the league's best defense to our 4th place standing. The offense has not been too shabby ranking in the top 10. The advanced stats expect us to regress to the mean and fall into a tough fight for the playoffs. Which I feel is about right. We aren't a top five teams. Definitely not a team that should fighting for automatic promotion. Can the defense continue it's stellar first-half of the season play? The answer to that question will likely determine if we stay in the playoff places or fall into a top-half finish. In terms of the team stats, there are three things that stand out: OPPDA which is one of the worst in the league but our tactic doesn't rely on constant pressure on the opposition. We force the opposition to bring the ball up and pounce on any mistake that they make and hit the opposition on the counter. Our crossing is not the best in the business. We rely on the fullbacks and wingbacks for the majority of our crosses and they aren't the best at it right now. Our shooting is not the best either. If we continue with this level of shooting, we will eventually struggle to score to goals. The average ratings have not been kind to our team either. We've only got four players over 7.00. Our center forward, Mykola Kukharevych, leads the squad with 9 goals. He will be missed in our next couple matches as he decided to scissor kick a midfielder down right before he was subbed off against Preston. The attacking midfield strata has been a mixed bag as we searched for a tactic that we could settle into. Left winger Charles Sagoe has been our player of the first half of the season. Sagoe has seven goals to go along with four assists. A solid loan signing. The loan signings are another reason why I think we would struggle if we won promotion into the Premier League. On any given match, my best starting lineup can feature five loan signings as starters. As part of the recruiting strategy, I want to reduce our use of loan signings so we can develop our own players. Right back Josh Key has been good when he has been healthy which has been an issue for him all season and our loan signing goalkeeper, Carl Rushworth, has been a solid backstop for us. Our schedule shows how hard it was, in the beginning, to find something that worked. We started with a conventional 4-2-3-1 then switched to a 4-2-4 then to a 5-2-1-2 back to a 4-2-3-1 before settling on the 4-2-4 formation which is unconventional in naming and shape because it's not really a 4-2-4. We give the inside forward room to cut inside by shifting the AM(a) over to the right. This shift allows the DLF(a) and AM(a) two different channels to slot into and the IF(s) cutting inside creates an overload in the middle which we overload the right flank with a W(s) and a FB(a). This creates a problem of the fullback because he has two players to potentially mark or the winger needs to track all the way back to mark the fullback. The centerback can't slide over because he's dealing with the AM(a). So, we are creating problems for the back four.

Thanks. I love the Nordic nations but hate playing there because it's a summer season.

Our First Signing Sidklev has already earned some caps with the Sweden U19 team and my scouts think that he has great potential and may be even an EPL caliber goalie in the future. It's always a long game with goalkeepers because they take a long time to develop. I was able to bring him in on a 450k total transfer fee. But half of that is spread out over three seasons along with some appearance clauses. I've still got just over 1M to spend in the transfer budget. He will come into the club next season and will likely be handed the starting job to aid in his development. Make that 1.6M in transfer funds.