Life in Football Manager

July

Well the first month went with not much happening really, Cesc made the first move from the Arsenal side joining Inter Milan. What I didn’t expect, was in my failure to put in a fee that the players should leave for the computer has made up it’s own reasonable price for the players, Cesc making £51 million for Arsenal. John Hesitinga and Ben Arfa were signed by Arsene. Chelsea have still managed to sign some players Modric coming in for £10.5 million but there financial statue is considered just as secure. The Liverpool players who had their attributes changed to 10 have come out into the game a lot worse in which I put them, a lot of been dropped from the first team and transfer listed. Manchester City sign defender Mensah and are in contract talks with a return for Wright-Phillips.

Managers Gone: (None)

August

It’s not looking good for Paul Jewell to get the sack as Derby are over achieving beating Chelsea along the way sitting at the top of the table after 4 games. Everton, Villa and Wigan make the bottom half. But even though Derby are looking good at the top financially things are crippling and the club has taken to restructuring the dept. Despite the lack of key players Liverpool are 3rd and after spending £27 million on Mutu and Rodriguez may help sure up the squad. During the transfer window Pompey managed to bring in 3 players, DeMerit, Torrado and Skjelbred, hopefully they turn out rubbish.

Managers Gone: (None)

September

Despite Derby playing well and topping the table last month and Paul Jewell taking the manager of the month award, they have quickly seen themselves in administration and being docked 9 points because of it, this has seen them crash all the way down to the bottom Man City and Wigan are with Derby in the drop zone with Everton just above. Normal service resumes at the top as Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool make the top 3, West Ham a surprise at 4th. But unfortunately The Hammers have been able to secure Gianni Nanni a great addition to help out the injury prone players, but even though they have 5 players out on the injury table are still over achieving. Steven Coppell’s Reading is sitting in a reasonable positing at 14th, but his lack of tactical knowledge has not hampered his England performances as they beat Isreal 5-0 and Russia 2-0.

Managers Gone: (None)

October

Derby have managed to get themselves out of the drop zone and continue to over perform still, but the pressure at the bottom is beginning to show as boards are evaluating managers performances. Reading are sat at the foot of the table as they have only managed to gain 2 points in the past month. The top four looks as it should Crouch and Mutu supplying the goals to keep Liverpool at 2nd in the league. Bolton skinny small players seem to be able to help them get about as they are finishing the top of the second tier of the Premier League.

Managers Gone: (None)

November

Still no managers have been sacked it’s looking worrying, but I am hoping that once one has gone that it will be a domino affect. Favorite to be first out is Steve Coppell who are still searching for a win going 11 games without a win. Although his England team is going through a different run not losing all year and only conceding 2 goals away to Russia in a 3-2 win, England finished top of the group on goal difference and Coppell will take England to Austria and Switzerland. Although Ramos has a better reputation around the world he looks like he might be pushed out instead of going to a better job as he underperforms and the boards are not happy with him. Moyes seems to have made his job safe for now as he has catapulted his Everton side to mid table. The top 4 looks as it should hopefully as Arsenal begin to lose more players performances will drop.

Managers Gone: (None)

December

Derby continue to storm up the league and if you didn’t count their 9 point deduction they would be 3rd in the league Jewell is a god it seems. Kevin Keegan’s side has managed to break into the top 4, so it’s not looking good to get a few managers gone from mid table clubs anytime soon. Sunderland though have drifted into the relegation zone and Reading take themselves off the bottom with a win at Villa who replace them at the bottom, seems to have secured Coppell a few more games in the New Year. Before the January transfer window Arsenal have managed to put together £139 million already in sales, will this mean that they could replace the players they have lost with a better side? Things are moving so quickly in the table that it is hard to see where the first sacking is going to come from as when one side looks like they are struggling they will quickly recover, my money though is still on Coppell.

Managers Gone: (None)

January

Through January Arsenal spent some of that money they have been making on losing their best players, in came Kuzmanovic, Moutinho, Menez, Lucio and Zapater to help a bid to win the league as Wenger sits at the top of the league. At the bottom of the league Manchester City brought in Cavani to help while the players are still on a global ban. West Ham have started to fall down the league now and sit only 3 points above the drop zone and there is only 4 points separating 11th and 18th. But it has not been injuries that have caused West Ham problems as they only have one players on the injury table who was a new signing Ryan Taylor. Newcastle are still in a Champions League place and don’t look like budging as Owen and Martins are enjoying the new support from defenders running up the pitch, Enrique and Beye being the main providers of goals. Pompey are the team this month to have changed things around as Harry Redknapp sees his side move to 9th, but it just shows you the nature of the league I have created that things can quickly change. Bankcrupt Derby are still competing for a European place and that is with a transfer embargo over their heads.

Managers Gone: (None)

February

Still no managers moving, surely Football Manager has gnomes in that knows when I am trying to do some challenge and as a result tinkers so that everyone stays in place. Reading, Fulham and Manchester City make the bottom 3 this month with the Brum moving back up the table a point under their neighbors Villa. Arsenal are beginning to lose some of there younger players, Bendtner and Walcott see the way out. But they still look to be running away from Liverpool who are 2nd. Manchester United have retained 4th place and Tottenham seem to have recovered from a bad start of the season as Berbatov and Keane score for fun to break into the top 10.

Managers Gone: (None)

March

At last the first manager has gone and it is not who I thought would be first, Middlesbrough first got rid of Southgate as they enter the relegation zone losing to all major rivals. I am hoping that this would start a trend but it doesn’t look like it will as Coppell seems to be the only manager under pressure for results as Reading are favourites for relegation. Injury prone West Ham are not so prone to injury as stats may have thought, obviously the introduction of Nanni seems to have helped as they sit at the bottom of the injury league with 0 players out of action. Unfortunately for City and Reading they sit at the top meaning that City have less players to choose from although they themselves have moved up the league even with only 10 players, a win against Manchester United doing wonders for the side.

One Manager Gone: Southgate (Middlesbrough)

April

Arsenal secure the league one player I neglected to sell onto another side was Adebayor whose 26 goals went along way, at the other end of the table Reading are the first side to be relegated but Steve keeps hold of his job at the royal club. Still anyone from Tottenham at 12th and Wigan at 19th can go down while Everton are just hanging on as their good run of form didn’t last too long thankfully. The season is coming to an end now and I think a lot of the teams are under performing but that means it balances itself out meaning that league position looks better then it is keeping people in the job.

One Manager Gone: Southgate (Middlesbrough)

May

The final teams to go down along with Reading, were Middlesbrough and Sunderland who both finished with 41 points, the two Birmingham sides only finished a point above that to survive. No other managers left their clubs but as the season ended, O’Neill and Coppell were left with the pressure over their heads of the sacking come June. Paul Jewell also is a surprise to be under pressure. Just missing out on a European place which Newcastle and Bolton took the money difficulties hasn’t done anything for Paul and could see him leave within the last month of the challenge, if there isn’t a mass exodus of players leaving I concede defeat.

One Manager Gone: Southgate (Middlesbrough)

June

June brought one extra sacking and it was 86 year old Sir Alex Ferguson, who I thought would have retired but instead Manchester United thought that needed someone else to lead the club and didn’t bother renewing his contract, maybe it did have something to do with his age but you would have thought a legend like Alex would have commanded a key to the car park for life. On a side note even though Steve Coppell finished bottom of the league with Reading he was able to get England to the European Championship final against France, but lost in extra time a Ben Arfa goal sealed it, even though nothing was helped by Owen being sent off.

Two Managers Gone: Southgate (Middlesbrough), Ferguson (Manchester United)