The Transfer Window Slams Shut

Well it has reached the end of August and therefore the transfer window, I have not revolutionised my club but I have certainly improved it. My work in the transfer window was limited by my financial status and also the clubs reputation, meaning the best players don't fancy playing in the official coldest ground in the country. But back to transfers later, first I will summarise the last three results:

Oldham 3 - 0 Crewe

Once again another great attacking performance from the team as we put in a great performance and achieved a very good victory over a fairly strong side. The clean sheet, the 3rd in the league for Fleming, was also impressive as Anthony Elding and Calvin Zola are threats. Todays highlight was the performance of the wingers. Bilos got MOM and Liddell got the second best match rating after him. The attacking play on the wings lead to many opportunities in front of goal and the amazing stat of 19 shots to 2 says it all. Hughes gave us the lead in the 12th minute and this was improved by Bilos in the 33rd, he is looking to be a good acquisition. The game was dead and burried for Crewe in the 49th minute when centre-back Zambernardi nodded in. The attacking superiority was shown by the fact Eardley could even afford to miss a penalty, although im considering finding a new spot-kick taker. The centre-backs put in good shifts, Zambernardi and Sodje being new to the squad. The whole team did well and this was game of the season for us so far.

Newcastle 3 - 1 Oldham

Predictable result, performance deserved a better score though. The League Cup is of no importance to me as promotion is the aim and with the sides competing the cup is impossible. That said, we gave it a good shot and I chose to remain attacking even though they have such prowess. Due to the fixtures little importance debuts were given to previously injured duo Kabba and Sastre, fitness building was the aim. Although I say the result wasn't important, I feel the performance had many positives and with a bit of luck we could have drawn. Up front accuracy was what was lacking, and Hughes hit the crossbar twice unfortunatly. To get 9 shots and 49% of the possesion at St James' Park can be seen as good work. I am certainly not dissapointed in Hughes, Fleming and co. Michael Owen played and was the difference between the two teams, he got a hatrick. Our best player was Sastre and the goal came from substitute midfielder Whitaker. The League Cup is now out of the way and the competitions which matter remain.

MK Dons 2 - 2 Oldham

A dissapointing scoreline in my eyes, but not the end of the world. I feel the result against Newcastle, although meaningless to me, may have knocked a bit of morale out of the team. We have lost our 100% record and clean sheet, but we remain undefeated in the league. Sam Hewson, on loan at the Dons from the mighty United, scored early on to set the game rolling. The kids class was clear and he got MOM for the game. We levelled it through Alessandra in the 12th minute. This was the first time my preferred strike partnership of Hughes and Alessandra have played together since the opening day of the season. Eardley scored an own goal in the 30th minute and his poor form is dissapointing me - he has the potential to be a good player at a higher level I feel. At the start of the second half I made a change to make my formation 4-3-3 with Lopez coming on and this led to Hughes scoring in the 59th. Of course he did, him and Alessandra usually score together. Around the 67th minute mark I made a move of desperation and shifted it to a 4-2-4 with substitutions meaning I genuinly had four strikers on the front line. Unfortunatly the chances didn't come and the game finished a draw. The star performers for me
were the strikeforce and for the first time I can say I was dissapointed in the defence.

That result is not so bad when you consider we sit second in the table after four games. We trail Leicester who are a different class for this league.

Transfers



As you can see I have spent much less than I have recieved but thats not to say I have lots of cash left over. The first batch of my money went to paying off staff contracts. The rest I have recieved has been transferred into the wage budget. Loads of signings for me are free agents and they all need wages, good ones too to beat off opposition. This has left me with ver little in the bank. I shall now talk you through all my signings:

Fabrice Fernandes: Much travelled French winger who's last club was Le Havre, I believe I'm privlidged to have him as is quality is evident.
Celestine Babayaro: Should be well known to most followers of the Premier League after many years at Chelsea and then Newcastle. Top class at this level, glad that LA released him!
Daniel Bilos: Another good winger who has even been capped 3 times for Argentina. His best years were at his favourite club Banfield.
Jordan Timmons: 16 year old I snatched from Dundee, he's a striker with finishing 13, yes please.
Yannick Zambernardi: 30 year old with an uneventful career, appears to be very good for League One.
Sam Sodje: Not wanted by Reading, sitting in their reserves, when I saw he had been released by them from the news bar I acted quickly. Best defender at the club.
Ariel López: At a time when I needed strikers desperatly he was the best option. Not a bad player, but at 34 he has no long-term use.
Lluis Sastre: The only person I spent money on. When scouring the transfer lists I found this very decent midfielder at what must be a cash needing club.

I will do a squad list summary shortly and will add a few printscreens of some of these players. If there are any you wish to look at in particular then post a comment and I will put them in.

In terms of sales the bids for Smalley and Stam were just too good to refuse. I did reject high bids for Taylor though as he has a good future ahead. Black was useless and had to go and it wouldn't let me sell Stephens yet so best I could do was get him out the club. I was trying to raise some cash so as the most valuable player at the time I offered Allott out hopefully at £500k, way over his value. This failed. So I offered out at £400k, once again the predictable occured with much interest but asking price still to high. Then out th blue Brescia came in for him and I near snapped thier arms off. In summary I am very pleased with my dealings in the market and my squad is a much more complete unit.

I considered creating a poll asking what you thought my best signing was, but that is in no way orginal : Feel free to say though, or ask me anything about them. Instead after the next informative blog there will be a question as the poll.

The next fixture related blog will come after five more fixtures which will be the end of September in game. I have Carlisle and Bristol Rovers at Boundary Park first (Carlisle in the JPT not League though), then Yeovil (A), Hereford (H) and Brighton (A). After that run-in, which includes some good teams, it will be clear if my team are promotion contenders or not. Bring on the challenge.