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Earned a rest, I know you worked all day, I know
And everybody needs a holiday "Everybody Needs a Holiday" -- Big Audio Dynamite
The five aforementioned lads finally show up: Gary Todd (AM L, ST C), Richie McConachie (D C), Brian Veale (M L, AM RL), Dale Dunphy (SW, D C), and Glenn Farquhar (M/AM L).
England waltzed through Group H, scoring 7 goals while conceding only 1; Romania was the only team to score on them. Australia also made it out of the group, having beat Mexico on the final day. That must be considered a major upset! Mexico was 12th in world rankings with Australia ranked 46th. USA is out, having only 1 point from a draw with Algeria. Italy and France made is out of Group B. Other upsets include Holland not making it out of Group E, with Chile and South Korea making it.
On their way to beating Spain 2 to 1 in the Final of the World Cup, England beat Uruguay (3:1), Chile (2:1), and Switzerland (3:0). The Swiss took 3rd, beating Argentina 4:3 in extra time.
It was only a matter of time before offers started flowing in for our players. Hamilton came-a-calling for Gary Allan. Hamilton are in the Scottish Championship with Okay Financial Status yet they offered me the whopping amount of £0. On 1 July Colchester (League 2) also came in with a £0 officer. Come back when you’ve got at least £1 million.
Other offers that come in:When the new season started I got an email that the board expected me to win the league, Isthmian Division One South, but they dropped the weekly budget down to £104K p/w. However will I survive?! (Spending as of 25 June 2014 was £4,374 p/w.)
As the pre-season drew to a close, the board allowed me to offer £91,000 for a squad win bonus if we take the league. That oughta motivate them! (By the way, we are 4:6 odds to win the league.)
I totally forgot to set up friendlies until 23 June, whoops!
Pre-season schedule:For those of you who are not up on their English geography, all the teams above are in the London area (less Le Havre). I keep travel costs down and it gives me a sense of realism as a real team this low isn’t going to try to bus up to Newcastle.
Brixton also gets invitations to join U18 and U21 leagues. I accept the U18 invite but reject the U21. I of course accepted the U18 because I enjoy the man management aspect of Football Manager and the board insisted I do so too. But I don’t have the bodies for U21 this season so I pulled out.
I’ve been scouting like a champ the whole off-season but either the players suck or they want way too much money or they have absolutely no interest in joining us. I mean, I’m generally happy with the team but have realized I could do better at MR/AMR. Hence:
David Connolly, M RC, AM C (Stars: 2.0/4.5) Finally found another player with great Stamina. He’ll be a fixture for years. He’ll be our first choice for AMR and will be able to slide into MC r (BBM) if we have a late lead and need to switch to the Anchor formation. He has a Resolute personality and is Consistent. Doesn’t have much in the way of Technical skills but at this level it shouldn’t matter too much.
I added the Arrow and 3-3-2-2 formations to the repertoire for the pre-season. Eventually I’ll replace the 4-4-2 Control with a 4-4-2 Diamond Counter-Attack, and 3-3-2-2 with the Anchor. In the meantime, the learnings are going so well. I use the Arrow for all our friendlies to get the players comfortable with it.
An acceptable pre-season considering we are introducing two new formations and I used U18s in the Seniors a lot. Our familiarity with the Arrow is all Accomplished or Fluid, except Creative Freedom, which is only Competent. The 3-3-2-2 is barely improving but I haven’t focused on it at all.
Here’s a look at our Tactical Familiarity as of 5 August, the day after our last friendly.
So concludes the 2014/2015 Pre-season. I'm feeling very confident. Our 4-4-2 Control formation is our strongest but I'll want to use the Arrow as soon as possible.
I love the slow pace of the offseason, I don't need a holiday. The song is dedicated to the players, I need 'em fresh for the season.