Life in Football Manager

The success last season was a result to a two seasons of work coming together after buying the right players to get some balance into the side that was under achieving before my arrival. It also meant that last year I didn’t need to splash the cash as I had spent the years developing the squad to go for the title, this meant that when the season closed their was still £30 million in the pot. Before the new budget was drawn up I thought that I would go out and splash the cash and look forward to a new budget in the summer. I looked at a few players that I had been chasing in the January and finally negotiated a deal with Juventus for central midfielder Javi Martinez whose brilliant performances in Italy shot his value sky high. But the negotiating went on so long that just at the last minute the new budget was drawn up and the money I had for the summer went on the midfielder, but I wasn’t too worried as rumours had surfaced that new money was going to come into the side as new investors looked to takeover. The takeover took the majority of the summer to be sealed and during the time I was hit with uncertainty of being in the job once it was complete and also a transfer embargo, causing me problems when ageing Toure and Barzagli were really coming to the end of their careers with no body to take the reigns in the middle. So I took the decision that it was time for me to move on, this would be the second time that new owners at my clubs didn’t turn out well.

I quickly got back on the saddle and found a new club as things moved quickly, managers shifted around first of all Munich manager Felix Magath replaced my position at Arsenal, leaving a space for Ronald Koeman to take up a management role in Germany and I looked to travel to Spain and try my hand in La Liga sitting in the hot seat of failing Valencia side. Taking up my position late meant that I had to deal with the squad that I had avaliable to me but in the knowledge that £59 million would be there for the side come the January sales. Finishing only only mid table in the previous season the club looks to be going in to decline and when I arrive I can see why. I inherit a team though that on the face of it looks fairly decent and definitely something to build on, the one thing the side lacks is depth and if a few players are injured then the side will totally go under and struggle to reach a European space, which this side is more then capable of.

Goalkeeper

Vincent Enyeama the Nigerian international as many FM fans know, is amazing a must signing for many players, so to have him behind the defence is a real pleasure and will mean that I am going to have safe hands between the sticks for the next couple of seasons. The backups are 36 year old Timo Hildebrand a decent backup and a good servant to the club, but is getting a bit old now and with his contract ending at the end of the season I won’t be renewing as I look to revamp the whole squad. Juan Castillo is the goalkeeper with time on his hands at 19 he has along way to go but with a little training could definitely be one for the future.

Defenders

On the left there is only one player, Italian Simone Chinelli a decent work horse and good enough to stay in the squad till the end of the season if needed, but if we are going to challenge for a title then he is going to have to up his game, Simone will be part of the squads plans in the long term but might not take a prominent role as I seek to bring in new players. On the right is another seriously lacking part of the field, 31 year old Scouser Ryan Taylor who again is in a similar situation to Chinelli, does the job but nothing fantastic and the only problem with Taylor is his age at 31 he has already peaked, he has played in Spain for sometime now though and played consistently not a matter of urgency to replace him. Centrally is key to the defense as it holds an amazing young Frenchman who arrived from PSG 6 years ago for £26 million, making him Valencia’s all time most expensive player, but the defender hasn’t really put in the performances over a season yet, but coming to a more mature age I will be expecting alot from Sakho. Partnering him at the back is huge defender Raul Albiol, a favourite in Valancia and so he should be as over his career he has been consistently a great player and has plenty of legs to keep going. The only decent backup to those two though is former Newcastle man Steven Taylor great attributes and would walk into many sides and recently broken into the England side. Ageing Amorebieta is the the squad who has spend his career moving on bosman rulings look like going to do again as I have no plans in keeping him. When I arrived the defender was asking for a transfer but now begging to stay, with my rejections going straight back to him.

Midfielders

Again down the wings the team had little to spare, but the players on both sides did look like pretty good players to start off with. Saudi Arabian Ali Al-Basha who at 25 had done a lot of traveling spending time in Holland, Scotland and Turkey before arriving in Spain for a fee of £12.5 million this season, the only signing made by Koeman. But the player looks worth every penny as there is nothing he can’t do down that wing and will most probably just need someone to back him up in case of injury. On the other wing though is Oleg Husyev who has never been a regluar in the first team usual playing as backup to Obertan has recently left for Madrid before I arrived but leaving with putting some money in the transfer kitty. At 32 I will be looking for a quick replacement but for the time being he has been enjoying his best season yet, with a point to prove as I look for new players. In the middle their is no short of players, but the only problem all of them are defensive minded players. The two best I have already had on my books at Liverpool, Lucas who commanded a huge sum to arrive from Real Madrid and a player who I was looking to bring back to England to place in my Arsenal side is Ignacio Camacho. Backing up these guys are some really strong players in Dider Digard and youngster Pinheiro, also looking to end his career at the club is Cameroon captain Jean II Makoun, all decent players but all defensive midfielder and I will be looking to bring in my attacking players for that position.

Strikers

Upfront Valencia again had strong players, but once again lacked in depth. It is coming apparent that the side needs a whole other tier of players if we are to compete with the likes of Madrid and Barcelona who are on fire. Mexican Carlos Vela has made a name for himself in Spain and will hopefully continue under my own guidance. Up with him is Marcia who since signing for Valencia has came into his own and finally reaching the potential that everyone knew he had. The two strikers should be able to get 50 goals easily between them. Behind them is Mchedlidze who is another Valencia favourite and has put in the performances over the last couple of seasons but looking at his attributes I don’t why, good at running and in the air, maybe he is able to get on those crosses 99% but I think I will stick with Vela and Marcia up front. David Villa is still at the club but looking a bit worn now and will only serve as someone for the young players to look up to and maybe the odd cup game.

So with this side the aim is for a European spot in the first season, the board have already told me they want to be in the UEFA cup next season, but with a few more players I can see this side looking for Champions League football once again. But when the window comes about it will be about getting some depth into the side, a must is two full backs and a winger, hopefully with the quality I have already got on the wings for now I will be able to get away with bringing a utility man in who can cover both wings. I am also going to concentrate on producing a decent B side to call players from, mixture of young players fighting for first team action and experience to help the young players come along. Another striker might be nice to bring in when other parts of the field are filled, it will be interesting to take up a job that I haven’t paid too much notice of in my career game, it will force me to look around the league for players and hone my scouting skills in the game.

Roy Keane, one of many Manchester United’s legends, captaining the side during a very successful period in United history, using his passion for the game and aggressive style to spur his players on and terrify the opposition in his wake. Keane who was born in Cork 36 years ago, started his career at Irish side Cobh Ramblers, not staying their long in 1990 Keane was picked up by Nottingham Forest, playing under one of the greatest managers of modern times Brain Clough, a manager who was in a similar mould to Keane himself with a passion to win. Clough was one of the few people brave enough to have a go at Keane and actually punch him, but Roy didn’t hold any ill feelings. Forest though, in 1993 were relegated and a hot prospect such as Roy Keane was not going to stick around, funny enough I was reading a local newspaper not so long ago that had been kept by my mother due to my appearance in it, I was shocked to see that Blackburn were initially the favourites for Keane’s signature, but a day before the paperwork was due to be complete Keane cancelled as Alex Ferguson was able to persuade him to come to United. There he stayed for the majority of his career playing 323 games and part of the treble winning side at the Nou Camp. Full of controversy during his career, bust ups with managers and opposition players reinforced his hard man image. Keane spent a brief period at Celtic before he ended his playing career.

Keane has only been in management for a short time and he went straight to the top, touted as being the next number 2 at United to train him up for the top job once Alex retired as every former player is, or as a successor to Gordon Strachan at Celtic. But instead he went to struggling Championship side Sunderland joining up with former Irish team mate Niall Quinn who had previously been the manager as well as chairman. When Keane took over, Sunderland were at the foot of the table, but Keane was able to turn the tables and win the Championship in his first season and now looks safe to keep them in the Premiership for a second season.

So with him touted as the next United top boss, now with winning experience with Sunderland can Keane transfer this to the club he captained for 8 years he has alot of respect in Manchester, I have given him the chance to prove that he has what it takes to push United for more titles. Keane looks like a decent manager tactically and the quality of players should mask any deficiencies he has in this area, able to motivate the side for those big occasions and spot players of all different kinds from miles off.

Roy Keane attributes

Season 2007/08

Sir Alex Ferguson has probably put together one of the best squads in Manchester United history, boasting the talents of Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez and Ferdinand just a handful of talent at the squad. Keane didn’t feel any need to disrupt that team, deciding instead to bring in a Norwegian striker of 16 Joshua King, who arrived on a free transfer and looks a pretty good player to put into the youth set-up. The rest of the youth players found themselves out on loan to get valuable first team experience.

Roy’s first game came in the shape of a Charity Shield game, a win against title rivals Chelsea would surely set up for a good season, both fielded strong sides for the game and Manchester United came out on top, Rooney and Tevez both scoring early in the game to record the first win. In the league the start wasn’t so sweet, United had to travel to The Riverside, a team renowned for getting results at the big four, Rooney was sent for an early bath and once that happened they lost any lethal striking ability, they had the chances but Tevez had a terrible game allowing Middlesbrough to take a point. Things weren’t looking good once again as at home Bolton were allowed a early 2-0 lead Anelka and Diouf scoring early, but a Nani hattrick being the saviour of the game as United came back. The next game at Old Trafford wasn’t so easy, at West Ham another side that Manchester United were expected to win but The Hammers were allowed to dominate play at Old Trafford something the fans didn’t want to stand for West Ham took a 3-1 victory back to London. But games started to pick up and Keane managed to put a string of 3 wins together before losing to rivals Liverpool again at Old Trafford. When it came to December a string of 7 wins did propel United back up to familiar territory of the top four, but any challenge for the league looked dead and buried especially as they only took 4 points from their rival sides for the title and failed to even beat Manchester City. Keane’s Premiership season would be seen as one to right off as a learning curve, a side like the one available should be able to see out the mid table sides which really did hamper the season. United did end up with 4th place quite a distance away from Blackburn who took 5th, but miles away from winners Liverpool.

The poor season could be seen through the average ratings of the players, the spine of the squad Rooney, Ferdinand, Ronaldo and Tevez all finished well but the rest of the squad failed to deliver, Anderson played 10 games and took a rating of 5.90 unacceptable in any top side. Tevez finished at the top scorer taking 20 goals were as top performer was Rooney who scored 14 himself, but played the target man superbly. Keane looked at a few youngsters allowing Fraizer Campbell a few games in the side and he scored 5 goals and it will be interesting to see more of him next season.

In cup competitions though it was much different, Keane managed to reach the final of the first competition he ever won as a player, the League Cup. First of all Owen Hardgreaves was able to lead a weakened side to a 1-0 victory, a freekick was fired past Muller for the only goal of the game. In a week that seen United play Wigan twice they were able to get consecutive wins against them at the JJB the young players were allowed on the pitch, Campbell and Brandy both went out to gain first team places and comfortably beat Wigan. The quarter finals was against Boro and this time they were not able to hold on Tevez and Giggs both punished the Teeside club to set up a side to against Championship promotion hopefuls West Brom. In Bromich amongst a strong wind and heavy downpour the nancy boys of United refused to play, missing Ronaldo and Tevez just incase they got their hair wet, West Brom were allowed into the game, but the difference of the two sides showed when United were able to absurd most of the pressure. Again the young players were called upon and Campbell and Hardgreaves gave United the goals they needed for a trip to Wembley. Arsenal awaited in the final and in a closely contested game Ronaldo was the only difference between the two sides scoring on the 70th minute before Giggs was sent off, but the goal advantage allowed United to see out the rest of the game.

The FA cup wasn’t so successful after beating Blackpool 4-0, Saha faced his old club Fulham at Old Trafford and again the theatre of dreams became a theatre of nightmares and two goals in the first half from Fulham was enough to see them through. The Champions League saw familiar rivals drawn together as United would once again travel to Rome. Despite losing in Italy United managed to finish top of their group and faced Valencia in the next round. But the Spanish club were to strong and United made an early exit, again it was failing to win at Old Trafford that was the cause of the problems.

So not a good season for The Red Devil’s the fans will want to see a turn around quickly if Keane wishes to take United to the same places he did while he was wearing the shirt of the field.

Season 2008/09

Again another quiet season in the transfer market for Keane, two young players arrived from Brazil while some of the young guns were allowed to seek first team football elsewhere. Which again allowed Roy to concentrate on getting the current breed of players to the top of the league. But the season started just the same as it did previous season, a win at home to Blackburn was hopeful, two draws against Wigan and Liverpool both at Old Trafford had the fans thinking whether this guy the right man for the job? Manchester United were again unable to beat the mid table sides at home and again this was the root of all the problems. On the road United were fantastic only Chelsea managed a better record and again United finished 4th and this time the gap between the other teams was closing, a vast improvement would be needed to keep hold of Champions League football. Looking at the record section at the club, United went through 19 unbeaten games, which shows how hard they are to beat but with Ronaldo, Tevez and Rooney in the side they surely should be winning more games and it wasn’t through a lack of trying Rooney and Tevez combined scored 57 goals and there was plenty of players available to supply the goals just not when it most mattered.

It was a better overall team performance Rooney again finished as top performer and the young players are still coming through and looking good, Ben Foster eventually breaking in the first team as the aging Van Der Saar sees the his career winding down, while Campbell continues to score goals when called upon. But Roy did continue winning traditions in cup competitions, the League Cup campaign began at Bolton, this time the home tie wasn’t something to fear and Carlos Tevez’s struck twice along with Carrick, a 9th minute wonder strike sent United through comfortably. Disposing of Charlton in the next round, Villa came up to Old Trafford for the quarter finals, a game played right down to the wire United came from 2-0 down in a magnificent first half. Villa didn’t play to well but again United were unable to convert their dominance into the game and it went to the lottery of penalties. Aston Villa converted all their penalties while Vidic and Giggs both had shots saved sending them out.

The FA cup began with a few easy draws a game at Preston won 2-1 Tevez’s double strike, Wengers’ Luton were next and again at Old Trafford United failed to convert chances, but Campbell made sure his side wouldn’t face humiliation. It was the big boys next in the cup and to arrive at Old Trafford was Arsenal, this time the United team looked like that of old as Tevez and Ronaldo punished Arsenal for not getting a grip of the game. Next was a familiar sight in Aston Villa this time they would meet in the cup at Villa Park, The game was just as hotly contested as the League Cup clash, Kieran Lee managed to get his first goal for the club. But a Luke Moore goal gave the club a tie at Old Trafford. Where again the game went down to the wire and it was penalties again, this time there was no Giggs and Vidic was able to convert his spot kick. Misses from Maloney and Petrov meant that United went through to face Spurs in the semi finals. Two late goals from the stars of the season Rooney and Tevez sent United to the final where they would play West Ham. In a strange game were both teams could have won and if West Ham would have made more of their chances they could have, but Dean Astons goal was cancelled out by Evra’s goal to take it to half time, with United losing Ferdinand and O’Shea after two yellow cards it looked like the ball was in the Court of West Ham, but an early goal in Extra time from Tevez secured the win and West Ham were unable to make the two man advantage count.

The Champions League draw gave United an easy ride as they had Spainish side Sevilla, Club Brugge and Rapid Vienna needless to say they reached the next round top of the table and faced Benfica in the knock out stage and this time the away leg came first. United definitely enjoyed their time away from Manchester, maybe all the rain there had made them lazy, but while at Benfica the Portuguese were thrashed 4-1 after The Reds went behind early in the game, with that it looked unlikely that Benfica would score 4 goals at Old Trafford and in fact Tevez and Rooney scored goals to secure a double. But when it came to some real competition United were no match and this time the tables were reversed as AC Milan beat United 4-1 at the San Siro and a poor display at home meant that United failed to progress.

Season 2009/10

Roy Keane finally got the cheque book out and spent some money, but it was only on the one player, Ecuadorian international Antonio Valencia, who after a brief season in the Premiership went back to Villarreal, not really looking exciting and has yet to reach the potential his attributes suggest. But Keane was still willing to pay £14.75m for the player. Romanian, Nicolae Mitea also decided to join up with the side when his contract was over at Ajax, The 25 year old looked good to take Giggs’ place who sadly ended his long career at the end of the season, but will stay in the game as a coach. But what was surprising that a few of the talented youngsters were let go, Ben Foster signed for free with Barcelona and young defender Pique went to Valencia, it was also a shock to see that Roy decided to send Nani out to Belgium to get some first team access as well, he was definitely gambling now.

After winning the FA cup Keane returned to the place he started his Manchester management career, at Wembley against Chelsea in the Community Shield. The game went pretty well once again as it did two seasons back. Wright-Phillips put Chelsea into the lead, but it wasn’t for long as a minute later Evra hit back from a counter attack from the spot. Tevez scored two goals to finish the game off and take the shield back to Manchester. But the league didn’t start off to well a defeat by Newcastle 3-0 in the opening game just reflected the whole of Keane’s reign. United only gained 3 points against West Ham and then losing to Spurs. Keane seen something had to be done and the prawn sandwiches were removed from the staff canteen which kicked off a great run of form and United were unbeatable and taking out Arsenal along the way. It was only league winners Liverpool that were able to stagger the run. It was a good season for Keane able to put wins together, home and away and putting together one of the most consistent sides in the league Keane looked to have found his feet, putting in a Premiership winning performances. But Liverpool were the thorn in United’a side and the only team to take a maximum of 6 points away from United all season. This proved crucial when it came to deciding the league as United were unable to capitalise on the bad form that Liverpool had at the end of the season, because of dropped points against the Red’s and also Reading. This meant that Manchester United had to settle for 2nd separated only on goal difference.

But it was an encouraging season for Keane, the team was going in the right direction and performing more consistency having the second best Home record in the league. Rooney as usual being the better player and this time getting just as many goals as Tevez. The whole side was brilliant this season and Keane’s signings impressed the fans, Valencia lined up on the right and partnering Ronaldo on the left gaving United that killer punch. Valencia actually finished the 2nd best player of the season gaining a 7.28 which went along way towards his price tag. More players were showing promise for the future, Kieran Lee continued his rotation status, but like a defender in a Brazilian mold, getting himself up to put the ball into the path on a oncoming striker.

Unfortunately though for the first time it was a trophyless season, an early exit in the League Cup to Birmingham didn’t bare well with the fans, when it came at Old Trafford, the fans thought it was the same old problem. It was a better story in the FA cup as three easy draws against Championship sides were disposed easily, Campbell again using the competition to show that he can compete against Tevez and Rooney for some time on the pitch. But it was the common enemy Liverpool that disposed of United in the 6th round. John O’Shea was sent off early and when Wes Brown was brought on for Tevez, United lost any attacking flair to their side, Kuyt and Torres punished the side and went dominated the game at Anfield.

It was the same old story when it came to Europe though, one of the cup competitions that Keane couldn’t progress to far in. In the group stages United met up with Valencia once again and the Spanish club continued to cause problems and in the group stages United failed to beat them losing on the trip to Spain. That meant that Keane’s side finished runners up in the group with also contained HSV and Dinamo Bucharest. The draw pipped United against former Manchester United player Paul Ince and his Inter Milan side. The first tie was in England at Old Trafford and Paul Ince must have loved the chance to come back to the stadium where he played 206 games. Inter were strong in a game that Man U as usual dominated. But on form Julio Cesar was able to keep both Rooney and Tevez out of the goal and take a clean slate to Italy and at the San Siro for the second consecutive time Keane’s European dream was dashed, but it was all left so late as Tevez put United into an early lead in a close game, the Manchester United fans were biting their nails even when Rossi fired in late on the 80th minute, but at the time with the away goal United were through. But as the 90th minute drew closer Javier Saviola turned the tables by scoring a second goal at the San Siro and watched United fall at the knock outs once again.

But with another season without a league victory, United have now gone through their longest spell without a title winning season. This Roy Keane fully knew being a part of the winning team for so long. The fans pressure was too much for the hard man and Keane decided that he wasn’t up to the job and left the club at the end of the season.

After Roy Keane

It was Mihajlovic who took over at Old Trafford next, with a track record of winning Serie A with Cagliari a season after winning promotion, Paul Ince’s former number two looked the best candidate to take over an already talented squad of players. Even after spending some money on the team Sinisa was unable to shift that runners-up space. United finished 2nd for four years running before Deiter Eiltis came in from Italy and was the manager able to push the squad that little further up and took the league, with actually fewer points then the last two seasons, this though came to the relief of the fans to see the familiar trophy return home. Eilts left to manage his home country and Hugo Sanchez continued winning ways and taking the league twice and returned United to English dominance once again. Roy Keane never returned to management have resigning from Manchester United.

In conclusion then Roy Keane isn’t the man to take the top job in Manchester, he looked good on paper although he didn’t put his scouting skills into practice to bring in new players, although Valencia was a really good capture giving his side balance in a more attacking minded game at home, which came through in his final season. But with the players he had and the tactical ability his attributes suggested Roy Keane really should have been a little more competitive when it came to taking the league off Liverpool. But Keane was going in the right direction maybe if he didn’t leave the side would have took the league eventually. But looking at United’s best eleven I think that one of the problems that the team had was down the left hand side. Until Valencia came in there wasn’t anyone down that side that gave the club balance, when Fletcher and Kieran Lee get into the the best eleven it shows you what problems a lack of spending can give you. Keane had the money value to put into those positions some of the best players in the world which could have meant the difference between second and first place.

Roy Keane’s Best Eleven

It was more or less inevitable that when news got round about these great players at Ramesses Rovers that the bigger clubs were going to get their scouts round as quickly as possible and then there cheques even quicker, when the start of the season began all the founding members of the squad left for top English clubs, even Lee Ellington, leaving for Myspacefaceballclub.co.uk side Ebbsfleet. We will of course keep track of the careers of those founding members of the squad to see how they fair, but the upcoming season is just like starting again for the side as one team leaves another bigger one comes in, so many in fact that Burton now has a reserve side to call upon if needed. Even though Burton had nearly £18 million to spend on players he kept the budget down and spent only £375k, I think though he will find it hard to splash the cash and attract those types of players to the lower reaches of English football. To tell you about all the new guys that have arrived into the squad this season would take a life time and I don’t think you want to waste your time me listing the players so below is the new first team, a new team page will be created for the future. A few notable signings though are Delroy Facey the well traveled striker who only a few season ago scored 37 goals for Tranmere and 40 at Rotheram, so surely he can have an impact in the Blue square Premier, his partner in crime a rebel without a cause James Dean, a tall striker who is good in the air which should have some sort of advantage. Captaining the new team will be Chris Coyne with 33 year old Kevin Hunt.

Players Out (New Window)

Players have now begun to find themselves coming through the youth system coming from towns outside of St Helens, Ormskirk and Runcorn. The one youth player to watch is Neil Simpson if he develops well with a PA of 169 could be a fantastic attacking midfielder, but with his unambitious personality will he push himself? Burton has been able to keep the average of the side down even though bringing the new players in, the average age of the squad is 23.2.

News behind the scene is that Burton was able to replace Steve McLaren, in came an international staff member, Holland coach Rob Witschge a really good looking ass man as long as he is not asked to pick the team. But he is more then suited to looking after the youngster of the squad and identify which ones are going to make it.

Ramesses First Team (New Window)

Ramesses Rovers had definitely seen a lot happen around the club over the last season and a bit. The new season will be something about getting the club back on track. The young talent is all gone and now it is about bringing in new players and using the money gained to develop new talent at the club and take them further up the league. So the board obviously kept plans realistic for this season, consolidate the club and let it settle down before they go in search for another promotion, the press were in the belief the club would be in a relegation battle come the end of the season. The squad looks fairly average for the league they are in now, but with plenty of potential in the players that they have got it will be Bultler’s challenge to release it.

The first two games of the Blue Square Premier were unfortunately both away from home, not something that a newly promoted club want. Kidderminster were the first up and took a 2-0 win before a poor Altrincham managed to come from 2 down to earn themselves a point. But once back at Abu Simbel Rovers couldn’t have wished to play anyone better then Burton another relegation favourite. a 2-0 victory brought the morale of the side back up as did the 3-2 win against Northwich. During the season Abu Simbel definitely was a temple for The Pharaohs as they didn’t lose many games at the ground during the season and playing out to an average 25,493 supporters it is no surprise the the opposition crumble under the pressure. But away from home it wasn’t till the end of September that the team registered a win, Ramesses on their travels only actually won 5 games in the league. It was home form that kept the side up in the league and the team finished safely, midtable in 11th. Definitely what they were looking for and will give the team a chance to develop for the next season and challenge for more.

Blue Square Premier (New Window)

The two players who were getting the goals for the side were Delroy Facey who hit 20, I am sure that the majority of them probably came from within the air, because statistics wise Facey should never have hit that many goals, he was firing above his bar. Also was James Dean who scored 11 goals and as a result they were the two best players in the side this season. But there was a big gap between the performances of the strikers and the rest of the squad the biggest disappointment was the regular first team players were averaging around 6. Even worse Julian Kelly finished with a rating of 5.64 from 47 games the lack of depth keeping him in the side, but when he is getting paid £33,500 per week you expect better.

Talking about wages it is just astonishing how much some of these players are taking home each week, how did anyone negotiate a contract for £62,000 for a player of Facey’s quality, specially when he is listed as a backup player. The wage structure is totally messed up in this game and only Neil Simpson in the first team earns under £14,000. It is no surprise to see that again that the team made an £8,000,000 loss, a jump of £11 million in wages has really hit the books and value of the side is falling like a lead balloon. Only the £12 million made by the sale of players meant that the side were staying a float. If contracts are not re-negotiated or players gotten rid of the team will soon see bankruptcy. By the looks of it the game doesn’t handle lower league side well who have got money to spend. Also I have heard of many problems through the scene about problems with finances, also noticing it myself on my Arsenal game that my Gunners and Liverpool bank balances started reducing over the seasons even after league success I was given around £15 million to spend each season. It seems as the game doesn’t take into account how much the team will actually be getting paid in the future and instead using the current bank balance to help set the wage structure. I am not going to bail out the side just yet, I want to see how the side will cope with the financial difficulties on such a dramatic scale.

Whose getting paid what? (New Window)

Wage Structure (New Window)

Finances (New Window)

Even though non of the previous FA Trophy winners are at the club at the moment the current breed started off the competition well first starting with Accrington. Facey and Colin Daniel both scored in the second half to turn around the game after going behind early. Tamworth next and again at home James Dean was quick out of the gates and scored within the first minute with a fantastic long range effort. A late goal from Boucaud decided the tie and setting up a game against Altrincham who were sitting bottom of the conference, Facey scored the only goal in the first away game of the competition for the club. But defeat came to the hands of Kidderminster Harriers who had already recored a comfortable win in the first game of the season. At Abu Simbel, Rovers were lucky to take a 2-2 draw and send the game to Aggborough were a poor away form continued and Gavin Caines scored in a game which dogged Ramesses with injuries. The debut in the Satanta Shield started off badly, against a side that Ramesses should have beat, AFC Telford. It was a closely fought game, but the result didn’t reflect that. If the game was played out in St Helens once again there would be no doubt that the goals would have been reversed and Ramesses would have took the 3-0 victory. But this wasn’t too be and Telford were the side that was able to convert the chances.

The European Championships were played out during the summer of 2008 and in this version of the competition England were able to reach the last eight, losing to finalists Spain who were eventually beaten by world champions Italy. The 31 year old Luca Toni was the star of the show while Silva showed Europe what he can offer. The Premiership has really opened up and allowed other sides in the top 4 Chelsea took the league and by 7 points. While Newcastle and Spurs broke into the top 4. Manchester United failed to reach any European spot, Pompey, Bolton and Southampton all joined the Championship. Arsenal had a disaster of a season finishing 13th only a FA Cup win against Southampton takes them into Europe.

The guys who left the club during the summer all of them found themselves with regular first team spots. James Doran was in the sticks for Arsenal and with their poor season for The Gunners Doran couldn’t perform either and gaining the worse average performance from the players along with Wilson Doran’s team mate. The three strikers enjoyed the best season Ralphie scoring 23 goals in his debut for Liverpool and Roy taking 21 to help Chelsea win the league. Merrill the left back had an amazing season in his position finding that he can play up the field as well and contributing to setting up 12 goals from left back. Ralphie and Tolly both make up the pairing at Liverpool, Tolly who failed to gain a space in the Ramesses squad is now keeping Torres out of the Liverpool line up. International careers for the English players also kicked off and Capello capped all but Tyron, Doran and Wison. Alya took a regular spot between the sticks and has earned more caps then any other player, but the squad of greats still couldn’t take England to an international final.

Original Ramesses squad (New Window)

So even though problems are ahead at Ramesses concerning money, Bulter might look to spend the money while it is available to them, pushing for promotion and hopefully some extra money that the professional leagues will give him once he reaches the Coca-Cola League Two. But he will need to do some work in the transfer market to do that and hope he can bring some good youth players in.

The side is together and ready for their first taste of action, the squad is made up of 17 players, all too good to play in the league they are in and will be looking to move up the tables as quick as possible. The side looked like this:

Goalkeepers

Timoteo Alya is the key man between the sticks and will be looking to keep the ball in front of him at all times, keeping control of his defense as model professional keeper should do. The second in command if anything happened to Timoteo is James Doran.

Defenders

Jaylen Hardy the light hearted defender will command the right hand side, Midhat Ingram and Ashley Vin are the utility players capable of playing anywhere along the back line. Clifford Merrill will ply his trade on the left and in the centre will be Foster Qasim. The key player of the defense Cyril Gamil, from Liverpool will hope to pull his side up by not letting the ball past him and pushing those attackers out the way the key brick in the wall.

Midfielders

The oldest player of the team at 26 is Korrine Shafaqut who will play in the defensive midfield role. Along the left and centre of the field will play light hearted play maker Sultan Wilson. The man in the middle of the field that will hope to have everything played through him will be Darren Tyron. Playing more attacking roles will be Adbul-Aziz Elric who will play down the right along with Roberto Reece who will also play centrally on the other wing will be Merlyn Conor.

Attackers

The guys who will look to take advantage at the lower league goalkeepers and blundering defenders will be powerful strikers Neo Ralphie, Ron Roy and Wolf Tolly who will be the player who will hope to top the goalscoring chart.

The first bit of business to do at Abu Simbel was to find a new manager someone who will be responsible for the club for the next couple of seasons, the adverts had already gone out in the papers. The chance of working with such a talented bunch of players kept the chairman busy whittling through the applications that came in from far and wide. The guy who won out had already a little management experience and been working with an experienced manager as well, he was the Dave Jones’s number two at Cardiff City, Terry Burton. A former youth coach at Arsenal, manager of Wimbledon in 2000 for two years. Burton has very good scouting talents, which will surely help him in bringing in new players and he days as being a youth coach has made him a good candidates working with this bunch of 17 year olds. Not the best tactically, so lets hope that the sheer talent of these players will be enough to win the games at this level.

Before the season began Burton only saw it fit to bring one player in and that was Lee Ellington who arrived from the little village of Staylebridge. Not much of an improvement or addition to the squad to be honest with you, the only attributes that he can offer the side is great pace and acceleration and a decent enough finishing for this level. But the 27 year old striker will struggle to see any first team action this season and the only area that lacked any depth was the attack and for such a young side the reputation isn’t there to attract many bigger names.

Worcester were chosen to host a momentous occasion in The Pharaohs history, St Georges Lane would be the first league game ever for the club and Worcester definitely read the script. Rovers dominating the game and taking their first win 3-0. The next game would be even bigger, allowing the people of St Helens their first chance to watch a game in the giant Abu Simbel stadium, Hyde would this team be part of the history at Ramesses Rovers and again the script was written all for them and 4 goals without reply went past Dootson and Rovers were already top of the league after two games. That is really how the majority of the season went, but what could you expect when you have some of the best players in the world playing in the Blue Square Conference North. Although not everyone read their lines and Workington became the kill joys beating Rovers for the first time, Matthew Berkerley upsetting a good run of wins, hard to take for the Rovers when there isn’t much else you have experienced. But Ramesses bounced back and The Rovers too strong for this league, won it with ease, totaling 96 points, 15 clear of Kettering. Kettering were able to get themselves up joining Ramesses Rovers as they performed well in the play offs.

The League Table (New Window)

With the dominance it will be no surprise to know that there were very few players that didn’t actually play well, Neo Ralphie and Ron Roy both finished first and second in the goal charts scoring scoring 61 league goals between them. These are two great strikers and good on them, but what is a surprise was the lack of time given to Wolf Tolly who only had 8 (3) appearances meant to be the best striker in the spine of the side his stats even though the AI had altered them a little still suggested he should command some first team action. But Terry Burton really didn’t believe in the rotation system and there was a few of the great players that spent the majority of the time on the bench and he decided to play the best eleven players on a regular basis, the professional players didn’t even murmur a whisper.

Best Eleven (New Window)

Due to FA rules and other such things, Ramesses Rovers were only involved in one cup competition this season and that was the FA Trophy. Before The Rovers could go anywhere in the competition though they had to qualify in the 3rd round of the cup. Woodford United being the next in historic first times for the club, the first game was played out at home in front of 10,023 fans and Ramesses put on a show Reece and Tyron putting their names on the scoresheet in the first half to complete the game. Workington, who had already concreted themselves into the Ramesses history books, were waiting in the first round of the FA trophy. Burton’s side this time didn’t make any mistakes in progressing into the next round, Wilson scoring early on before an equaliser late in the game looked to push Ramesses all the way, but Ron Roy made sure on the 87th minute that the Rovers went through. Hayes & Yeading United next an easy 3-0 win before a tie against Aldershot. Ron Roy, Ralphie and Wilson seem to be the only players putting the goals away in the competition and good job to that they all combined to win 3-1. Elric bucked the trend scoring a brilliant long range shot from outside the box to complete a 3-0 win against Histon. York City a team from the league above and pushing for their own promotion were to take on Ramesses Rovers in the semi final over two legs. In both legs York were defeated comfortably Ralphie scoring a hatrick while in York to secure a game against the university boys of Cambridge in the final, another one for the history books in the first season visiting Wembley. Rovers dominated the game holding the ball for 72% of the time but Sean Thomas was able to hold strong until just before the half time break when Darren Tyron put the ball into the back of the net, the only goal of the game was enough to see the first piece of silverware the first in what is hoped to be many treasures to compare with the Abu Simbel in Egypt.

The backroom staff that consisted of managers that were in search of jobs quickly moved around, Steve McLaren was installed as Terry Burton’s assistant manager while Jose Mourinho was poached by West Brom taking up the chance to be their Youth Coach and Billy Davies joined up with Wigan to scout players for them and in the process became the most expensive export of the club to date at £30,000.

The clubs financial position although stronger then the rest of the league isn’t looking too good for the long run, at present they are ranked 24th richest club in England but the graph is going in a downward trend. The AI seemed to want to put some sort of wage structure in place. Within the editor each player was earning around £1,000 per week. But from the start of the game other contracts were put in place and captain Shafaqut became the highest earner taking home £25,500 in basic salary. Meaning by the end of the season the club wasn’t bringing in as much as it was spending on wage and a £8 million in losses in the first season halved the bank balance of the club.

Financial Summary (New Window)

Once June came along and the season looked over Burton decided what players he wanted in the side, he choose players from higher up the league in order to add some experience to the squad, Australian defender Chris Coyne became the record buy at £250,000. A young defender in the shape of Joey Waterhouse arrives from Wigan 19 and looks like a work house of player, a good signing and time is on his side. Another full back Julian Kelly also arrives from the Premiership, Kelly started his professional career at Reading can play on both wings and looks like a quick player but I feel nothing more then squad fodder as Burton starts to build a reserve side. Paul Lloyd came from Morcambe and looks rubbish to be honest with you and from judging from his picture doesn’t seem to have any eyes, that will be a problem if he is playing up front, I hope he can see the post before colliding with it. Colin Daniel was last to arrive, another player to play on the left hand side, this time in midfield, he looks mentally strong but not much else stands out from the 20 year old.

In other news there has been somewhat of a lot of movement in management in the Premiership a poor season by Arsenal seen Wenger sacked and replaced by Aguirre while rivals Spurs won 3rd in the Premiership taking The Gunners Champions League place. Harry Redknapp got himself into a relegation battle and as a result was replaced by English Under 21 boss Stuart Pearce. Winning the Premiership was Manchester United, Milan retained their Champions League title this time beating Real Madrid in the final. Bolton surprised everyone and took the FA cup while Tottenham secured the League Cup. The JPT was won by Luton and Sentanta Shield went to the other university side Oxford.

It has come to the crunch season in my Arsenal career, it is time to win the league, I have spent nearly £200 million pound and won a League Cup and a FA cup during my two season here. I now will have to take the league from Liverpool if I am to keep any respect from anyone. But I am confident this season that my side has what it takes to win the league. Silva, Meirda are both on form and Bendtner will be coming into the season at the age of 26, a good age for a striker hopefully he will be reaching the height of his talents and taking a golden boot.

In terms of my Arsenal spending I didn’t spend to much money in the coming season, four players were signed on free transfers, Felipe Caicedo came in from Paris, he looks like a good backup for all the players I have got, Samaras after the season he had last year has dropped down the pecking order and at the moment transfer listed but no one is paying any interest in the Greek. Next is the former Inter man Mario Batolelli who has been spending most of his professional career now at Lazio, he is yet to reach his full potential, but looks a decent player and hopefully I can turn the Italian into the next great target man in the side, he is worth a punt coming in on a bosman. The only problem now is that my side is bursting with strikers, it is hard to keep them happy especially when the majority of them will put the ball in the back of the net making my job harder. The final two contract rebels were both Brazilians Diego Souza resolute midfielder looks a fantastic backup for Denilison and Meira as Banga has become out of favour now at the club, he hasn’t been putting in the performances to warrant any time in the team. Next was a man that I have been trying to get my hands on since he became unsettled at Chelsea, right back Dani Alves is just an amazing player. At 31 he isn’t getting any younger but I would still give my right arm to have him in my squad. Not the player he was when he made he £35 million move to Chelsea but can I complain? The only player I spent any real money on was Freddy Adu the Football Manager legend arrived from Benfica for £9 million to support Silva on that left hand side. I also added a few players to my youth side to keep the talent up and hopefully bring through the next generation to Arsenal.

The reason that Adu was drafted in as well was because Liverpool came in with a good deal for Downing, offering £16 million for the English winger. It was hard to know whether to let the player leave after 7 years at the club, but the man who has 100 caps for England was hitting 30 and before his value fell in the next couple of years I thought I would get rid of the player. Antonino Barragan also departed the club and traveled to Pompey for £13m, the defender had been sick of having to compete with both Onuoha and Sagna for a first team place and decided he would look to play football elsewhere. Djourou, Delpierre and Alou Diarra all had their contracts end at the close of the season and also decided to look for first team football elsewhere, the latter both ending up in Scotland.

The first game of the season looked like it was going to typify what went wrong last season at an away trip to the Riverside, were Boro took the lead early, a strike from Darren Bent making the fans think that this season was going to be the same poor away performances again. But 7 minutes later Trejo put Arsenal back into the game, but before the half time whistle was blown Daniel Sturridge put Middlesbrough back in front. Stern words were spoken at half time and The Gunners came out firing. Trejo grabbed another two goals to claim a hatrick and secure a first away win of the season. The next game was at home against Manchester United, in a game that produced 23 shots from my Arsenal side but only 5 of them found the target and most predictably the United goalkeeper was able to keep them out and ending the game a frustrating 0-0 draw. But high scoring games followed scoring 13 goals in three games to Aston Villa, Everton and Southampton and a win against Chelsea kept us level on points with Liverpool, the only defeat came to Manchester City who were able to get 3 goals at the Emirates.

So when the Liverpool fixture was scheduled it was going to be an important game and something that could separate the two teams for the season. Playing at home and the scoring for fun mentality that we have developed athe the club, I was confident of a win. But with only 5 minutes in Liverpool took the lead coutesty of Cristian Portilla, Downing who returned to the Emirates for the first time since his departure put a free kick into the box, Angulo picked the ball up and put it in the path of Portilla who hit it low past Craig Gordon. But Walcott a player that during my time at Liverpool caused me so many problems, was the first to equalise, picking up a stray ball cleared from a corner fired it from outside the box into the top corner. Aguero put Liverpool back into the lead, but a reply by Bendtner who scored two goals, the highlight being a ball won by careless play from the defenders which Saviet picked up and counter attacked the goal putting Nicklas through and again another ball fired from outside the box sent the fans in rapture and Arsenal infront for the first time. But Liverpool weren’t going to go down easily and substitute Aquino, just one of the youngsters I had brought into the side put the ball in the back of the net with 10 minutes to go which showed how this season there is very little between the two clubs.

The first half of the season was something I could only have dreamed of 5 points clear of Liverpool and an away form the catalyst to the top of the league. Through Janurary the board still had £35 million in the bank but yet not a single penny was spent through the half way point. Not from a lack of trying, but the two players I wanted at the side, Javi Martinez and Domenico Criscito both playing for Juventus and both so important that they weren’t allowed to leave at any price leaving me short at the back and a title to win, the aging Barzagli and Toure were both going to have to stay fit and perform well if we wanted to fulfil our goal.

But the dream couldn’t last and with Liverpool in form as usual Torres and Aguero were scoring for fun and a few games slipped against mid table teams Manchester City, Reading and rivals Spurs allowed Liverpool to catch up, breathing down my neck and of course with the two strikers up front their goal difference was something I was unable to compete on giving Liverpool an extra point and putting them top of the league and as we both entered the second fixture of the of the season at New Anfield with something to prove, the winner could decide the Premiership. The result is something that pains me to talk about, after going 2-0 down in the first 10 minutes it was a nightmare start a change of tactics was quickly sought and a fight back away from home looked good, a goal from Meirda who struck a loose ball from outside of the box to get the first goal before Bendtner equalised to send the fans wild. But that fight back was enough to throw Liverpool into action Torres completed a hatrick and Thiago and Babel continued the slaughter to secure the game 6-2 humilating defeat. It was a defeat that definitely made all the difference in the league, but not for Liverpool. The defeat infact fired the Gunners into action and following that game Blackpool came to The Emirates and suffered from the backlash, a 7-0 win took the clubs morale shooting up with four games to go.

The league still looked good, all I need was for Liverpool to drop 4 points in games against Wolves, Newcastle, Everton and Chelsea the latter three looked good to at least push for a draw against Liverpool. I was to play Pompey, Sunderland, Derby and the already relegated Charlton on the last game of the season. But with a side that had scored 23 goals in just four games, they looked unstoppable. But Newcastle definitely were my guardian angels, themselves fighting for a top 4 place and in front of the St James’ crowd Newcastle are capable of anything, Damien Le Tallec, brother of former Liverpool player Anthony Le Tallec put two goals away against Liverpool in a 3-2 victory the first 3 points dropped by the reds putting us back on equal terms for the league. I took Arsenal to Portsmouth knowing only a win would do against a side that had dogged me with problems through the years especially at Fratton Park. It was a close game, even when I looked to be running away with the game going 2-0 up, Portsmouth were able to get themselves back, late goals from Walcott and Saviet seemed to concreate a 4-2 victory, but still Pompey fought, but it wasn’t enough Goncalves scored the last goal to make it 4-3 and that is how it stayed as my blood pressure exploded in the game. I felt now I was on the straight and narrow two home games and an away game to finish the season against a relegated side Liverpool continued a strange turn in form and local rivals Everton completed a second defeat putting Arsenal on the top of the league and fans singing in the street. When it came to the final game of the season alot of pressure was off and a draw against Charlton would have been enough whatever Liverpool did. Two goals either side of the half from in form players of the season Silva and Walcott sealed the league as Chelsea with new manager Del Neri, were able to take a draw at Anfield a late goal from Sanchez made the league win much sweeter as a 5 point gap developed between us and Liverpool. Consider that with the 18 points clear of Manchester United in 3rd it just showed how competitve of a run Liverpool gave in the league against everyone else and how they have dominated for so long.

League Table (New Window)

In the League Cup competition it was an early exit to Everton a late goal in the game to force extra time, Everton really should have ended the game before then having plenty of chances to put the ball into the back of the net, Yukubu decided to put the game to bed early in the first half of extra time. Defending the FA cup I put out sides early, Burnley from League One and affiliated side Crystal Palace went out in the 4th round to set up a tie with Newcastle. The Geordies were on form and Damien Le Tallec voted one of the best signings of the season sunk my Arsenal side with two goals. The Champions League though on the other hand was much better unbeaten in the group stages beating both Valencia and Monaco and finished top of the group, setting up a tough tie against Lyon. In France it was a high scoring game, it was only a late fight back that saved the tie losing 4-3 meant that I had the away goals but still plenty of work to do at the Emirates. With one eye of the league I rotated the side a little, but what a performance they gave scoring 4 goals ourselves this time without reply to send us into the next round. Playing AC Milan back to back in the next round meant that I could concentrate fully on the European competition for at least a week while Milan sandwiched a Derby between the two games giving us the advantage. In Milan, Saviet stepped up to the big stage to prove that he was a worthwhile player for the side scoring 2 goals to take a lead back home to London, where Fans player of the season Theo Walcott scored in two minutes, the only goal of the game and Liverpool waiting for us in the semi finals. Liverpool scored an away goal early, Saviet leaving it really late to score an equaliser but Anfield proved tough place to play and a flurry of goals in the first 20 minutes was dominated by Liverpool and the 2-1 loss put them in the final where they lifted the cup beating Real Madrid.

So with the success of winning another league title I have done what I came to London to do, turning a underperforming side to the top of the table and what fun it has been too. But now I am looking for a new challenge and hope that a top job becomes available in Spain or Italy, I rather fancy taking underperfomers Juventus, but with all the top clubs renewing managers contracts it doesn’t look likely. Being the first manager to win the Premiership with two different English sides I hope to be the first manager to win the league in the 3 major countries in Europe.

Season Best Eleven

With Inverness-Metros now gone, I now feel a hole in my Football Management life, I haven’t got a fictional team to support and to watch progress through the years. So I think it is time that Life in FM had it’s own team to support, a team that we can all watch through the good times and the bad, to cheer on to success. A team that we can all have an opinion about and how we would be able to do it better. Yes that is right, I think that Life in FM needs to get a team for us to support and track there development throughout. It will be interesting to see how a lower league side will cope with having the players capable of playing on the international stage, how they handle having alot of money but maybe not the reputation to attract a decent manager to spend it and just how the sides around them are going to cope as well.

The team name has already been picked courtesy of my Egyptologist girlfriend, kindly naming them Ramesses Rovers, after one of the most powerful and long serving pharaohs that ruled over Egypt for 66 years, his power is captured in the temple of Abu Simbel which he was responsible for building.

So The Pharaohs as they have been dubbed now will need a team to take them forward, it is hard to think how you should put a side together in the games. So why not give them the best players available and see how they cope down in the lower leagues, I am going to put the spine of the side together with all 20’s in attributes and then the rest of the side will have attributes of all 15’s, although I do expect The Guardians of the game to alter the statistics a little both Current Ability and Potential Ability will be set up at 200 in the game again I expect this to be reduced a little. All but one of the players will be 17 giving them all a long future ahead of them and hopefully using the other players age to guide to tutor them and guide them up the league.

The team will start off with £30m, a lovely new stadium called Abu Simbel not far from Liverpool in St Helens has been built, which will be seat 30,000 in the stadium at the moment and a chance to expand up to 100,000 when needed, adequate training facilities are supplied but a top notch academy will hopefully see the stars of tomorrow develop at the squad and it will be interesting to see how they use the ability to develop players, will it be a money making exercise or will it be a way to push them up the league in the long term. But added with all that is that fact that The Pharaohs will have an agreement with the major clubs across Europe to become a feeder team for them, this could work in two ways, the first is that the top teams will snap us the players from the Rovers side or Rovers will use the ability to get some of the best youngsters from around the world at the club.

Joining the coaching side to help get this venture off the ground are a few managers that have been looking for some work during a time of unemployment and gardening they have got restless, Billy Davies and Steve McLaren will both join as scouts to the side and the coaching team will be made up of Venables, Mourinho and Zidane. A manager has not been put into post and the job will be advertised at the start of the season and appointed within the game.

To add something different to this I will also be downloading a in game data editor so that I can play god over the side, see what I can change in the game and seeing how things play out around the game, please do send your suggestions to the side for what we could experiement with using the in game editor. So basically it in the same vain as the AI experiment that is so big over in the SI games forum, it will be interesting to see how the two games compare this one being played out in FM 08 as opposed to last years edition and with a few other change made here and there it will be good to get to grips with support a fictional side once again.

Arsene Wenger has been in charge for more games at Arsenal then any other manager and as a result of winning the majority of those matches he is also the most successful manager in Arsenals history. But things could have turned out a lot different for the Frenchman. Wenger played football as an amateur player, at the same time he was studying for an Engineering degree and then did a masters in economics showing that can put his hands to anything. After his degrees he did become a professional footballer playing for his hometown Strasbourg as a defender but he didn’t make many appareances for the club, but did contribute to two games in a title winning season. Wengers management career started at Nancy but again that didn’t bring much success and actually Nancy were relegated, but things really started to kick off for Arsene in 1987 when he got the job at Monaco and after a year in charge managed to win the French league and able to attract names such as George Weah, Klinsmann and Glenn Hoddle to the squad. After a poor start to the season in 1994 Monaco sacked Aresne after he turned down offers earlier in the season to go to Munich. Aresne moved on to Japan with Nagoya Grampus Eight again he was successful in Japan transforming a side from the bottom three to the runners up and winning the national cup in Japan. After 18 months he returned to Europe were he was to start his time at Arsenal and to date has won 3 Premiership titles and 4 FA cups.

So who is better suited to lower league management then Arsenal Wenger? He is able to bring in young players that no one has heard of and turn them into world beaters. He is able to put a side together with next to no money bringing his economics degree, all this and maintaining a top 4 finish with an Arsenal side the is worth a fraction of the price compared to teams around them. He is also been known for his tactical knowledge and able to turn games around playing entertaining attacking football. So can he do this in practise? Now we will get the chance to see as Arsene steps up to the Luton job, a team that is in financial trouble and needs a really bit of luck.

Season 2007/08

The first task for Arsene Wenger was to get some players into the side that could actually help them reach the goals that the board have put upon him. Luton who have recently just been demoted from the Championship are expecting to bounce back up and use Wengers skill to keep them there. First in was a big money transfer at £200k, Jason Puncheon to play on the left at 21 looks like a good all round player who is going to work hard for the side but blowing most of the transfer budget on him he will need to be good. Another attacking winger was also drafted in for the other side Tommy Black arrived from Southend to replace David Bell who left for Burnley for a princely sum of £450k so with Blacks fee only commanding £22k and not much between the two players it was a good bit of business. Ian Pearce came up from Fulham to add a little experience into the side and Everton graduate Nick Chadwick was snapped up. But Arsene didn’t forget the youngsters Medi Elito at 18 was a free transfer coming from Jose Mourinho’s Colchester. Going the other way alonh with Bell was Irishmen Stephen O’Leary, Lewis Emanuel and Paul Underwood were all deemed surplus to requirements at 34 and was allowed to leave the club.

Arsene’s first game in charge was against Gillingham away from home and things didn’t start well with a 2-0 defeat, but thankfully his first game Kenilworth Road against Crewe finished 2-0 to Luton which before losing 4-0 to Forrest kicked off a winning sequence. But as you maybe have already known from the last managerial reversal the league one competition was tight and there wasn’t many points between each club in the league and Luton were definitely up there with the best of them but missed out on a play off spot by one point a loss to relegated Doncaster on the last game of the season pushed Luton down the league at the last gasp a draw would have been enough on the day to take them into the play-offs. Luton also enjoyed a good cup run in the league cup going all the way to the 2nd round before meeting Aston Villa who took a 2-1 win a late goal from Maloney sealed the progression for Villa. The highlight of the run was beating Reading at home in a 2-0 victory. The FA cup was much different as Mansfield dumped them out at the first time of asking. Then the Johnstone’s Paint Trophey went to the the last four in the south beating the Posh at first but Bristol Rovers proved to strong and knocked them out in Luton’s own backyard.

Arsene Wenger opted for a conventional 442 were Sam Parkin was the star of the season and by a far way, scoring 25 goals in 49 games and scoring an average rating of 7.24. Dean Morgan the second striker who finished with 12 goals for the season has become really unsettled demanding his agent find him a new club, demanding to leave immediately, believing that he is now bigger then the club. Wenger did well in the transfer market though Puncheon contributed with 8 goals and 12 assists in a great debut season for the 21 year old. Nick Chadwick also played well as a backup in the side playing only 11 games but was able to able to score 5 league goals.

So overall it was an encouraging season, a few more players into the side and Luton really could push for promotion. I think it was really unlucky that they weren’t able to take a play off place this season, but Wenger will be looking at the side in the long run and not a short term. All Wenger really need to do is win those games that he should be winning, losing to Doncaster really showed a lot of what was happening in Luton’s season throughout.

Season 2008/09

The first move of the season was going out the door, another Irishman leaving, Keith Keane left for Scotland as his contract ended, money was made on a free transfer from last season Richard Jackson who left for £100k and also Alan Goodall who didn’t make many appearances last season. As with any lower league side, free transfers are the life blood of any squad. Wenger looked at his home country first an experienced right winger Fabrice Fiorese from Lyon and then a young Congo international Jina Lelo formerly of Marseille and free agent. Most of the budget went on former Newcastle man Kris Gate who arrived from Mansfield after a season commanding £325k. The right back looks a decent player but has plenty of time for him to improve and will have to judging by his statistics, a good tackler but could work harder to make decisions and concentrate, but at 24 has time on his side. The most notably signing was Gary Doherty a 29 year old who for a while didn’t know what position he was best at, he has now settled to play as a center back but with plenty of top football experience with Norwich and Spurs should be a snip at £40k and arrived in the January. Wenger also went out and signed the offspring of one of the most prolific strikers of recent times. Charlie Sheringham, who shares the same genes as Teddy, arrived from Crystal Palace to live up to his dad’s name working under one of the best managers of recent times.

Again everybody was expecting a title challenge and maybe even taking it at the play offs, but it wasn’t to be in what must be deemed as a nightmare of a season as Luton only finished 16th in the league table, maybe it was in coloration to Sam Parkins poor season in front of goal only scoring 9 goals although he did put performances in just not the ball, maybe he had put himself on strike as he was the latest player demanding a transfer to a bigger club. But goals did come from other players, Nick Chadwick managed 15 along with young Drew Talbot who actually had the best shots on target ratio. So not only can it be seen that this Luton team can get goals from up front but the two wingers were able to score 23 between them, Puncheon carrying on his scoring fashion and new signing Fiorese showing that Arsene definitely does have a talent of finding new players. But it was again the fact that Luton just conceded to many goals that killed off any title challenge, Dean Brill who is only 23 looks a decent goalkeeper but I think he hasn’t got what it takes yet to command his defense, Kris Gate played well but captain Chris Coyne was also a weak link in the defense a few signings in this area could do huge improvements for the Luton side, maybe the signing of Gary Doherty who arrived in the January window will sure up the back.

But Wenger did find some success at this lower league level, winning the lower league trophy, first beating Millwall at the Den, dispatching Brighton, Torquay and Swindon all with relative ease until they met Carlisle, which was the easiest game of them all. Wenger’s first visit to Wembley since the rebuild, he made sure the occasion was a time for his players to perform. Nick Chadwick really came to his own game scoring two goals in the final before Tommy Black nailed the final nail in the coffin to take the first piece of Silver back to Kenilworth for Arsene Wenger. The League Cup campaign ended though two rounds in, to Championship opposition Norwich, but the game was taken to penalties after a close match, but Mark Furlong wasn’t able to convert the 7th penalty in sudden death, and Joe Keenan scored to knock the side out. The FA cup was a better story though were Luton were able to get to the 4th round beating Ipswich along the way to set up a tie with Manchester United, a great day out for the lads and a chance for Arsene to remember what days at Old Trafford are like. United through played the young lads mixed in with the best first team regulars, and fringe players, it was a side that really should have done Luton some damage. But Luton were able to give a fight and came close to scoring on a few occasions, but it was an early goal from Fraizer Campbell that Luton were unable to get over.

Season 2009/10

With the poor season Luton was running out of money to spend and once again Wenger had to look around at the bargain bucket and clubs he could borrow from in order to find players for the new season. Able to keep all the important players there wasn’t any notable departures. In came another defender in order to sure up that defense which has been causing so many problems Andy Butler whose contract has ended at Scunthorpe, even though he played regular football he failed to agree terms, but he could come in handy for the League One squad. After the scouts went out to Eastern Europe to see if there was any hidden gems in that part of Europe they came up with Smajic from Bosnia a real short attacking midfielder who could play well anywhere across that midfield as long as he could hit it on his right foot, pacey and able to put a decent cross in or long shot would work well in the side and had been doing brilliantly in Bosnia. Michael Aspin was the last free transfer that came to the squad before Arsene looked in the Premiership to borrow some players who arrived towards the end of the calender year, Derby forward Anthony Robertson spent a few months at the club in August and Liverpool FA Youth cup winner Craig Lindfield arrived from Liverpool in October, a player who was marked as the best player of the League One season when he spent it at Crewe.

The media didn’t expect much this time around predicting a mid table place for Luton Sam Parkins had yet to leave Luton and doesn’t look like he is going to anytime soon, but his outburst earned him a place in the reserves only to be replaced by Sheringham who managed 10 goals equal with Drew Talbot. The performances overall from the side had been very little improvement on any of the previous two seasons. But the fact that they could again get goals from the midfield, as well as keeping it tight at the back earning them 81 points, enough to clinch the second automatic promotion spot and only two points behind The Posh. Both the loaned players were able to contribute 15 goals to go with the rest of the squads Puncheon continuing with his great form and Nick Chadwick showing his determination through the season. Passes from the wing backs Kris Gate and Sol Davis showed just how Arsene was playing, everything started at the back. The defenders being expert passers and completing the majority them all season to set up plays throughout the field. In the cup competitions there isn’t much to report, Luton being knocked out early in all of them and not in any spectacular fashion, maybe not being involved in the competitions kept there concentration on performing in the league.

Season 2010/11

To keep Luton in the Championship it was obvious that Arsene Wenger was going to have to make changes to the squad and out went alot of the previous seasons signings that had helped them get to where they are. Lelo was allowed to leave after not showing any promise at Luton, but more surprise came when they didn’t renew many of their players contracts. Maybe it had something to do with the change of league made them demand high prices but Smajic left on a free after a season were he performed well, he went to Championship rivals Nottingham Forrest for nothing. Fabrice Fiorese retired, Sol Davis went to Stockport, Sam Parkins was at last allowed to get out of his contract and later signing for Brentford, Tommy Blacks contract was not renewed either. Captain Chris Coyne left along with Gary Doherty who traveled to Scotland. The only player to actually make some money for the team was Andy Butler defender departed for Hull at a fee of £275,000.

But out with the old and in with the new and again with money tight it was careful consideration to who to bring in. The change in personnel also brought down the average age of the squad to just 23. The first young player came from Monaco, Guillaume Gigliotti a small center back who looked pretty average at the moment. Definitely not the player to replace Gary. Nicolas Cheryon also came from France, a wing back that looks really good at 22 will be an improvement on Sol Davis and a freekick expert to get those all important set pieces. Aston Villa graduate Barry Bannan came to add depth into the midfield along with a few other youngsters that were able to come straight in and back out again on loan. Looking to France again Loic Antheunis was another defender who arrived who looked like another young defender that could go along way. Luton added an array of younger players that were going to drop into the reserves for a few seasons. Adding a bit more to the first team was striker Nathan Tyron and Andrew Davies from Leeds, Steve Finnan brought a little experience, but at 35 it is doubtful if he will play many games.

The media predicted relegation for Luton this season, so they didn’t have much to live up to. So anything other then relegation in the season will be seen as success and at 19th they just missed it by two points above fierce rivals QPR. But with the season staying in the Championship alot of good came out of it, first of fact that Charlie Sheringham had a great season able to score 18 goals, Tyson also had a good season scoring 10 goals and to show that Luton won’t miss Drew and Perkins who left. Puncheon also proved that it wasn’t just League One in which he could get goals in, Puncheon is proving to be a legend at Luton, consistently performing each season. 19 year old Montserrat international Harvey Smith also showed signs of more great players Wenger has spotted. But what could have proved really crucial in the season was the strong two defenders that Cheryon and Nestor whose defensive duties probably saved Luton’s Championship status.

Season 2011/12

Luton have kept themselves in the Championship, now it is time for them to strengthen to give them a little more security in the league. But yet again Arsene decides to stick by the players he already has available at the side in the hope that they develop into a better side. Two players arrived in both on free transfers, first of all Kevan Hurst a huge attacking midfielder who will add to a growing amount of talent on the wings. Also Aaron Burton arrived after being released from Sheffield United he will go straight into the reserves. Again it was more players from the League One days leaving as contracts end. Nick Chadwick was allowed to leave, youngster Elito, James Dayton never impressed the French manager. A little bit of money did come in to the club, but not much £18,000 in total. Shelton Martis and Dominic Searle leaving to Walsall and Dagenham and Redbridge respectivley.

But obviously Wenger has a talent for spotting ability as his attributes and performance suggest so the team that he has been building for the last couple of season was always going to perform for the former Arsenal manager. Charlie Sheringham continued to develop into a prolific striker scoring the same amount of goals in the league as he did last season but adding to his goal tally in other competitions for a total of 21 goals. But Charlie’s success hasn’t been too good for Luton as he becomes the latest player to want to move on to a bigger better stage and judging by his performances a Premiership side will snap him up sooner or later. It was the same old players that were putting in the performances once again as Wenger has developed a consistent squad and added to it well when he has brought player in. Kevan Hurst was only beaten by Sheringham as the best player statistically this season, grabbing 10 goals from the right wing and also being a player that is setting the goals up aswell matching each goal scored with another set up. The press did expect another relegation battle this season, but Luton were able to prove them wrong managing to finish 10th, bringing together what they were good at in League One, the ability to win when it matters and grind out results with a steardy defense, wins against Wigan and results against Reading the top players in the league really showed what they were made of.

Luton also enjoyed a good cup run in the FA cup after being dumped out early of the League Cup by Bournemouth. But in the FA cup it looked like an early struggle at Colchester drawing 1-1 at home, it wasn’t until Luton went down to Essex till they turned there game on Hurst and Sheringham scored either side of the half to set up a tie with Southend. Again it was Sheringham that disposed of Southend scoring the winner to get Luton into the 5th round, were Arsene would meet his former employers Arsenal. The Gunners fielded a team of youngsters for this game as they often do for any cup game underestimating Luton Town, but many of these players in the side had worked under Wenger before, many of them being his signings when they were unheard of, but he knew how to hit them. Which they did Sheringham continuing his scoring run in the Cup and knocking out Gunners with a brilliant performance. But Charlton didn’t underestimate Arsene Wenger when they went to Kenilworth Road and two early goals by Papadopoulous made it hard for Luton to come back and they finally lost the quarters finals 3-0.

Season 2012/13

Again another season of tight budget handling, but plenty of players movements in the squad and it’s not the fact that they have no money as the clubs value is rising every year and taking out a loan they have got money in the bank to spend, but Arsene would rather do it his own way. A new deal with Napoli as a feeder club means that they will be sending their players to England. First in was Domenico Zanardini. Most of the signings that arrived to Luton were young players that were going to make up the squad of tomorrow. Shaun Cooper arrived as squad fodder along with a 33 year old Malbranque. Defender Pat Baldwin from Nottingham Forrest another backup for the defenders and Kieran St Aimee another attacking midfielder that can play across the field and coming to that age were he is beginning to put those performances, attribute wise he looks average though. But it was a sad day for Luton as Jason Puncheon left the club again another good player allowed to leave for nothing along with Gigliotti and Kris Gate. But the fans are trusting Wenger, he is very good at seeing when players are past their best and getting them out of the squad.

But even though some of the best players of the past have been able to leave in Gate and Puncheon, Luton also had there best season under Wenger and managing to get themselves into the last play off place winning it by a point separating 6th and 9th. But it was surprising when you consider how bad Luton’s home form was, if they would have improved the home form could have easily improved league standings and maybe pushed for automatic promotion to the Premiership. So it was Luton’s away form that was the secret to the successful season that Luton enjoyed and an impressive defense which was probably a secret to those away games playing on the counter. Sheringham was hit by injury through alot of the late season and he wasn’t performing like the player he was in previous season and only managed 7 goals all season, Tyson and Harvey Smith did try their best to fill the gap that Sheringham left and did it well and it was Giannone another Napoli player that was drafted in late in the season that give Luton the push they needed late in the game to push them up the league. Wenger carried on with a long tradition of good signings as St Aimee had a great debut season. Cheyron and Neston continued in good form the latter being named as a favoured personnel for the Luton fans. It was Coventry in the play-offs and it was again the home form that let Luton down and kept them out of the final, losing at home 1-0 and only able to take a draw at the Ricoh Arena. Harvey Smith’s early goal was cancelled out 10 minutes later, but it was surely a good sign for the future that Wenger is able to take the side from League One to Championship play-offs in such a short time.

The improved league performance came with an improved cup performances, a League Cup quarter finals first disposing of League One opposition in the form of Preston 2-1, before facing their first Premiership opposition in the 3rd round. Derby at home were able to take Luton to all the way to a penalty shoot out before former Newcastle striker Andy Carroll missed to make it 5-4 as all the Luton players were able to take the pressure. Wolves next again at Kenilworth road, showing that Luton knew how to win games at home but couldn’t transfer it to the league, Luton was another side the went to penalties and again Luton didn’t miss. Everton were next and scored early through David Bentley, but once Cheyron was sent off followed quickly by Harvey Smith which made it impossible for the fight back, Karim Zani sealed the victory. The FA cup threw up some difficult ties for Luton and got the fans excited when first of all Tottenham were knocked out, fielding a strong side to go out and win after seeing what Luton were able to do against their rivals last season, but Sheringham was out to prove a point to show the Spurs fans that he is just as good as his dad who scored so many goals for Spurs. After Briant was able to convert an early penalty it was Sheringham who in the space of a minute was able to put two goals past Paul Robinson to knock them out. The next round in some bizarre fate pulled up Arsenal for the second season running for Arsene Wenger. After last seasons lesson The Gunners put out a strong side, but again it wasn’t enough, Arsenal just like Spurs went in front first but on loan striker GIannone quickly equalised before Harvey Smith came off the bench to fire the ball past Akinfeev. But when it came to playing a side on the same level Luton failed losing to Cardiff with no reply in the 5th round.

Season 2013/14

Once again Luton failed to tie in any of the top players into long term contracts, Tyson left to join the Wigan reserve side Kevan Hurst which also leaving which meant that around 25 goals were lost for nothing that the players were able to contribute between them. Napoli continued to send players, but no one of any real quality to fit into the Luton squad. To replace Tyson, Wenger went for a young player and looked to France Marc Cloarec arrived, a player that will thrown himself at every ball, run at defenders and has the pace to do so. In fact it was a French player that also replaced Hurst as well 21 year old Larrieu came from Metz. Jerome Thomas was the token experience former Premiership player for the youth to look up to and Portaguese striker Tomane joined in Feburary as squad fodder. So most of the signings were basically to add a bit of depth to the squad, Wenger will be looking to get more out of the young squad this season.

Luton were now an establish Championship side and there was no question of any relegation battles this season and Wenger’s plan again coming together as you would think. It was two young strikers that stole the show for this season, Harvey Smith and new arrival Cloarec both lethal in front of goal. It was more or less business as usual, the two wide players getting in on goal and doing well in front of goal as usual and play starting at the back with brilliant passing from the defenders. Overall a good season for the players who performed well and the young players coming through especially. But nevertheless Luton didn’t improve their league performance finishing with 68 points which was one less then last season, but with all the other sides around them spending money on their squads improving them enough to move the teams forward and Luton finished 9th way behind the play-offs this time, showing you just can’t rely on youth players coming through to take the club forward. The casualty of the season though was Charlie Sheringham after causing some unrest about wanting to leave last season has dropped down the pecking order and actually only played 5 (9) games at 26 now and sitting on the bench this could really hamper his career.

The League Cup campaign started off at Hereford, the League Two side was passed easily in 3-0, before Stoke took a trip down to Luton in a tricky tie which was won on penalties, something that Luton seem to be an expert when it comes to cup competitions. But Luton were unable to live up to their giant killing status which they have earned in the last couple of seasons, meeting Aston Villa this time in the 3rd round, Agbonlahor and Dia scoring goals in a game, Luton dogged with injury and dismissals. The FA cup only last ed two rounds this time, Preston again meeting Luton in the cup and losing 2-1, Sheringham trying to make a point to Wenger and managed to grabbing both goals. The next round was against Fulham in a close game Luton almost took it, Harvey Smith scored early in first half before Preston gained a penalty. David Nugent though had different ideas and at the last shot of the game managed to put Fulham through.

A consistent season for Wenger and to improve they need to start spending money as has often been the case with a few of these sides unable to take clubs forward due to lack of funds from the board. But Wenger will not see any part of the next season as come June he decided at 65 it was time for him to retire, he had set the foundations at the club it was down to the next manager to take them forward.

After Arsene Wenger

The guy that was in charge of taking the club forward was Stuart Gray and Stuart was dogged again by lack of renewal of contracts, Sheringham was out and left for Plymouth and St Aimee went to Huddlesfield and again Gray didn’t splash the cash. After two good season in the Championship, Luton finished rock bottom in the league, Stuart Gray was quickly replaced by the goals kept coming for the team, but the tight defense that has come so evident of the Luton side crumbled losing them games and putting them back in League One. But with the drop of the league came a mass exodus of players and in the last season and although Mick was able to recruit well, it wasn’t enough and Luton stuck at mid-table in League One, but there is still plenty of potential in the club and they would be more than capable with the right leader and a few more players of getting back into the Championship once again.

If there was ever any evidence to show that clubs are made by their managers and not the players it is here, Arsene was able to put a squad together who played well and on their day could beat anyone. Wenger established a side that was in the Championship and looking for promotion to the Premiership in a few seasons after spending only £650,000. Then when it came for him to leave and for a new manager to take over they couldn’t perform the wonder Wenger did and soon took the team into League One once again.

Best Eleven

Arsene Wenger

It’s been a while since I have last updated on what is going on in my career game, during the time that I have not been writing I have filled it up with playing. It definitely helps if you don’t let the writing about Football Manager take over from actually playing it otherwise I would run out of things to say. So since I last wrote about my game I have actually played a whole season and half, I did get a little carried away before I put my progress to paper.

The team that I have got now at Arsenal is more or less sorted it is definitely a team that can challenge for the league it has plenty of experience and players at their peak as well a the right balance of young players, with a few minor tweaks and a good run in the league it could see me at the top. I have come to kick myself in developing a Liverpool side that has great talented youth players coming through as well as a killer pair up front in Torres and Aguero as they have become the dominate force of the league and look really unstoppable specially if you allow yourself to slip a few games, Liverpool have been the only team that have made it difficult for me to get to the top.

The start of 2013/14 then actually seen me getting rid of a few players, players that had served the club well but really weren’t pulling their weight anymore. During the last campign I was really disappointed by Cesc Fabregas, apart from being injured for the majority of the season whenever he actually played he did well but wasn’t giving the squad the extra bit of a boast I needed from them, he didn’t score many goals from midfield and never rarely made many either and when he is compared to Meirda he wasn’t really worth the wages he was getting paid as the combination of Meirda was bringing me goals from those central positions and too valuable to drop for Cesc. So when a bid of £42 million came in from Real Madrid I jumped at the chance to get the boy out of the door. He was followed by Eduardo who was really coming to the end of his peak years, it was time for him to leave and I couldn’t find any room for him in the squad anymore, so a year before his contract was up I cashed in when I could £3.5 million came in for him. Hleb who went to Wigan in the January 6 months before his contract ended netting £350k which was better then nothing, it could be used to pay a few of the players wages for a week, Bently really pushed him out of the squad.

The swoop of the season was former Barcelona and Liverpool player Giovani Dos Santos. I had already been able to snatch him from Barcelona on a free transfer a few seasons ago at Liverpool but when I had the chance to do it again from Liverpool I wasn’t going to refuse the opportunity specially for a player worth near £16 million and still to reach his peak. Next stop was a decent goalkeeper to back up for Olezabal, Fabinski was good but I was looking for someone better than him, I finally settled for Craig Gordon after many attempts for other goalkeepers, paying £15 million for him though I think I was robbed when I look at it now, he is now 31 and there is better players out there, but I am sure that he will do his job when called upon. Next step then was a striker, Samaras was doing well but his goals tally was falling and I needed a younger striker to take his place. I looked again at me previous experience with players, Henri Saviet seemed a perfect option. He had since moved on from Liverpool to Valencia in a free transfer when I left but was playing regular football and playing it well there, a good backup for Bendtner, Walcott and Trejo I though £14m wouldn’t be so bad. I also signed a 25 year old Alan Kardec who looks just as good even better then Saviet and at the same price I couldn’t resiste but accept even though I had won the bid for Saviet, the only problem was that the Brazilian was unable to get a contract and had to be shipped out to Belgium to gain nationality there.

The season started well with a Charity shield win against Liverpool, a close game which in which I was able to pressure Liverpool in to their own half, but the only problem was my strikers were unable to get past the young defense, taking pot shots that weren’t going anywhere. Liverpool scored first with Aguero and then Bendtner equalised, great bit of passing across the field until it was in the box with Silva who pulled it back to Bendtner who hit it on the volley. That goal was enough to take it to penalties, Aguero this time was the first player to miss the spot kick and cruelly enough Dos Santos scored his penalty to seal the win, his first competitive game for The Gunners.

The league carried on are winning ways, beating Bolton in our opening game, and Manchester United in another closely fought battle, Walcott being the player to cap off a brilliant display with two goals and a 3-2 win at Old Trafford. But even though we were playing much better than last season and grabbing important wins, when it came to the lesser teams away from home we totally forgot our defense, Portsmouth able to get a 4-2 win against us and Wigan’s late goal at the JJB were just two of the disasters that cost us the league, conceding it to Liverpool who won it with 83 points, a season that went to the wire. Those games that I should have won easily proved crucial as I finished 4 points behind the Reds in the Premiership battle when I drew 2 games more than Liverpool. But when you look at the difference between the two sides when it comes to away games it just backed it all up, Liverpool finishing 7 points clear and why were they so successful away from home? They could score goals as simply as that, 50 in fact. Liverpool’s strike force was amazing and 104 league goals all season was quite an achievement for Boothroyd. But I was rather happy with the 2nd place 6 points above Chelsea showed we were going in the right direction, I am now confidence that 2014/15 season will be my year for another league title.

In the other competitions I knew to keep myself in the job that I would have to keep up winning silverware in order to keep the fans happy. It was a tough 3rd round draw against Manchester United, definitely not a team you want to see so early in the competition. United quickly went two up at The Emirates, Rooney firing them ahead two minutes in and just after the half hour mark. But with the second goal going in it sparked my team into action and Walcott pulled the game back before half time giving us a fresh look at the game once we came back out. We left it late but it was Walcott again who scored to force extra time and then penalties Walcott found himself in space and seen a chance to shoot and fired it into the right hand corner in the 88th minute. The penalties were not United finest moment as Ronaldo was the only player able to convert a penalty, while Arsenal had a 100% success rate. Reading were next and swiftly passed and Portsmouth even easier in a 4-2 victory in a revenge match for what had happened previous in the Premiership. Derby were in the semi finals and it was 2 goals again from Walcott that made sure Arsenal were to meet another fellow London team once again in a Cup final. From the off Chelsea were in charge of the game, plenty of time on the ball and tested Oier plenty of times 20 in fact, but it was Arsenal that were able to the find the net, we only managed 4 shots on target and 3 of them found the back, Dos Santos with the first and Walcott and Saviet ended the match with a goal a piece and a winners medal in the League Cup. But it wasn’t the same story defending the FA cup as it was Liverpool this time in the 3rd round and they were just too strong at Anfield and won 3-0 even with Aguero being stretched off in the 25th minute. We reached the quater finals of the Champions League before Milan were able to come back from a 2-1 defeat at The Emirates, it was a soul destroying game as we went to Milan with so many hopes of the Semi-Final trip taking a 2-1 lead into the game, but Martins and Pato made us suffer as they won 3-1 in Milan.

Taking a look at the seasons best Eleven we didn’t play too badly and it is definitely something we can improve on:

Rafa Benitez is probably the mold of manager that all English managers should look upon when thinking about their own careers, Benitez learned his trade the long way round and it has proved very successful. After his playing careers was over, Rafa went straight into management, but he didn’t start at any top clubs first team as you would see many of our players doing such as Southgate and Coleman, who have pressure thrust upon them from the off. Instead Rafa took the job as the Castilla Youth B team and then progressed to Real Madrid Youth B and moving his way up the ladder taking control of many different Real Madrid sides until taking his first full team management job at Real Valladolid. Rafa managed 4 other teams in the La Liga before taking the job that would thrust his name onto the World stage, as he took the helm at Valencia in 2001. He won over the club by his attacking style of football that he adopted at the club and after a year in charge won the La Liga the first time Valencia had done for 31 years, quite a contrast to the more defensive football he later developed. He then did it again along with the UEFA cup in 2003/04, but that season also seen his departure of Valencia when he had a disagreement with the guys above him, in true Rafa style it can be summed up in this quote; “I asked for a table they bought me a lampshade” and join up with Liverpool replacing Houllier.

Rafa quickly became a Liverpool favourite as soon as he arrived at Anfield as he showed how prolific he was in the Champions League winning it with a Liverpool side that boasted such talents as Djimi Troare and Milan Baros, In a thrilling game Liverpool came from 3-0 down at half time to win on penalties, joining a club of a managers that had won the UEFA cup and Champions League in consecutive seasons but the first manager to do it with two teams. Rafa famously has gone out and won all the cup competitions during his time at Liverpool and reaching another Champions League final only for Milan to take the cup this time, but he is yet to convert that success into league performances and has only managed at best a 3rd place position.

With Aldo taking on the Liverpool side now I needed to find a new home for Rafa and so that he didn’t have to move to far he took a job at a mediocre League One side Tranmere Rovers which is only a trip through the tunnels under the water playing at Prenton Park. It will be along way away from any European Cup finals were promotion to the bigger leagues is in no terms certain.

Season 2007/08

Rafa came in and didn’t waste any time in making changes to the squad, first out was aging Jamaican international and Rovers captain Ian Goodison, young player Mike Jones got closer to the Mersey when he moved up to Stockport. But Rafa surely showed his shrewd business sense as he managed to get Tremarco and Craig Curran to raise some money to bring in his own players. In total, Rafa only spent £44k after making £140k on players going out, in came Costa Rican defender Roberto Flores the 21 year old who came in as a free transfer looks pretty good for a league one side and could potentially a decent player if Tranmere were to go up. Hartlepool striker David Foley arrives as squad fodder and will make more appearances in the reserves as he has alot of players to compete with in his position. The first Spaniard arrived in the January attacking midfielder Marcos Guill arrived from Cartagena for £5,000 at 24 he will be looking for time in the first team and again looks like a good spot by Rafa a player to bring flair to League One. While in Spain talking over terms with Guill, Rafa also spotted another player who wasn’t attached to any club, former Albacete defender and a giant of a man giving some strength to the back line Miquel Buades, Ryan Dickson and David Fox complete the signings for the season.

In the first season Chris Greenacre was the player to steal the show for the Rovers grabbing 26 goals for the season 23 in the league allowing him the opportunity to wear the golden boot. Adding to that was Calvin Zola’s 15 goals and right winger Shuker took 10 himself and in true Benitez style Tranmere Rovers also kept it tight at the back, adopting a very narrow 4-4-2 diamond tactic Rafa was able to support his talented strikers while keeping his defense strong. Tranmere performed well in a competitive league were only 5 points separated top spot with the bottom of the play-off places. Nottingham Forest were able to take top spot but separated by a 2 goal difference Rovers finished in the second automatic promotion spot. Shane Sherriff had a huge involvement in getting the team up assisting 11 goals from the back showing how dangerous they could be this season. Many of the new signings made an impression on the Tranmere side, David Fox having the best season from all the newcomers a good passer of the ball in the midfield.

In other competitions it was only a 2nd round place in the League cup, meeting Premiership opposition Birmingham and taking them to penalties before getting dumped out of the cup. But in the first FA Cup game Southend made it a convincing win at Prenton Park winning 2-0. A little better in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy but it was once again penalties that was the downfall of Tranmere after drawing 1-1 to Capello’s Crewe, coming from one down from the spot where Curran was able to convert, but when it came to the pressure of the shoot out it got to much and he missed.

Rafa will certainly have to improve though if he is to stay in the Championship, apart from a good number of strikers Rafa is short of depth and experience from players who have played higher up the leagues may prove crucial. It was impressive to see promotion in the first season, he seems to do wonders first time around but can a squad that is more prone to relegation in FM, survive in the Championship?

Season 2008/09

The media didn’t think that Rafa’s Tranmere side would last long in the Championship, although they did believe that maybe they might just tip it and stay up after a fierce relegation battle. A few players were let go, ageing Welsh striker Gareth Taylor left on a free transfer and later retired as did Buades after a season with the Rovers. To help sure up the side for the new league, Rafa looked for experienced players and brought in 9 players only spending £30,000 all was put on Scottish striker Andrew Barrowman who arrived from Ross County. Shaun Newton arrived first, but in fact never made a single appearance all season. Looking to add some fellow Spaniards to the squad Gerardo from Real Sociedad a 34 year old full back and 10 years younger Alberto arrived from Gatefe, the giant midfielder will give more presence in the midfield, his height though doesn’t stop him from being quick and looks a good player for the side. Nicky Butt and Lee Carsley complete the experienced Premiership players. Younger players came in the shape of loanees, Darcy Blake arrived from Cardiff to give more numbers to the squad along with promising defender Matthew Bates came from a Middlesbrough.

Rafa’s strategy pulled off and his experienced players helped Tranmere to a fantastic first season, Greenacre again was the star of the show managing 21 goals, the only player to come close to his scoring tally was right winger Chris Shuker who got 10 goals, the rest of the strikers were fairly disappointing when it came to finding the back of the net, but Chris had handed in a transfer request, after Rafa had refused to offer him an improvement on his £900 a week contract showing how tight the board was. David Foley got more action in the squad though and is looking a decent player, taking 4 goals out of 5 appearances. Butt had a good season and so did Zola even though he couldn’t convert his chances he made his contribution in other ways, Alberto had a good season creating chances and the big midfielder looks very much a play maker, able to stick himself on the ball, hold up play and supplying crucial passes which helped Rovers finish 11th earning the title of overachievers of the season.

The League Cup ended