pre season 3

Season 3

It's here

League football is coming to Moor Lane

Im so happy to have gotten here in 2 seasons

i was anticipating a year of adjustment last season, but we managed to over the pre-season 95/1 odds and came out on top

this year brings the riches of league 2, and will give us far more wiggle room in the financial department, but, puts us up against far better opposition

this will be difficult

650/1 to win the league

we can write that off straight away, im hoping for survival, and anything above that is a bonus

we are going to need to clear out some deadwood, save up those pennies, and build a squad capable of keeping us up. 

First of all Budget time

I've decided that as i havent spent a penny on transfer fees yet, im going to look to continue doing that as far as possible, thus hopefully getting us a decent kitty for when we get promoted again, so that being said, all the 1.3 million budget goes into wages instead

we have 37.5k remaining, that should get us some decent players as free agents, but loans will be essential again this season, as we can usually get people for £0 wages doing this.

First of all though, Marcus Tudgay was released as he wasnt all that good

so i kept form and hired another ex-player, but this time, one with a little more calibre.

Capped 97 times by Isreal Yossi Benayoun will hopefully add a good insight into some new signings.

this is his first job as a Director of Football, but im keen to let him have a go.

now however, its that sad time where the boys who took us out of non league, into the promise must be released at the end of their contract to make way for better more suitable players at this level.

A lot of these were very hard decisions, but they had to be made.

First of all, thenot too difficult decisions were to release Johnson, Dudley and Askew

they never made the cut and were an easy decision

but the rest

they all hurt 

Emmanuel just never made the step up after that first great season

Bean is 35 now and just doesnt have the legs at this level anymore

Livesey suffered the same fate, being just too old now 

Ibou touray was a weird one, he has the ability, but just never impressed enough to merit the now 1.2k he demanded a week

Burge i was sad to see go, but he is a non league footballer and that's it im sad to say

Piergianni was always a solid second choice, and great in the revamped back 3 in season one, but just isnt going to cut it in league 2

Murombedzi was a revelation in year 1, but again, isn't good enough to merit his new wage demands

now that they've gone, we need to get some new guys in

but first, theres a couple of guys i'd like to keep around a bit longer

Did you really think i wouldnt renew this one?

Balboa is a club hero, and will no doubt be good enough at this level

he's more suited to league football than probably Redshaw is with his physical attributes, so im looking for him to really step it up this season

1 more year added to the loan

Jamal Lewis got better and better last season

He improved week in week out and even showed he had the ability to play on the wing if needed

i'm interested to see how he develops as a footballer and we've tied him down for 2 more years.

Next we got 2 bits of news

Our first ever Carabao cup draw, and our first ever group in the Checkatrade Trophy

who would we get???

MASSIVE TIE

The biggest game in the clubs history to date?

probably

potentially 25000 people could witness this game and it will raise some much needed funds

can we win? who knows, teams like Hull tend to take this Cup with a pinch of salt and try some new players

Cant wait!

A tough as nails group

wolves have one of the better under 23 teams in the tournament

and Blackburn and Bolton are 2 of the strongest league 1 teams in the competition

Good group though, again, i'm looking forward to this

but we are going to need some players arent we

Yossi, Get your backpack we're going scouting

first up is young Jack Evans from Blackburn

We looked to get him in last season but he turned down the move looking to stay in the leagues

im looking to get a bit more fight and desire in the team, and with 20 work rate, 20 bravery, 19 aggression and 17 determination this lad has it in buckets.

pleased to get this over the line and for a year, with no wages, its a big win.

Next up is Anthony Jeffrey

He isn't the most technically gifted, but he will be the quickest player in the whole divison, and in some games, he could just make the difference

at £375 a week, he doesnt represent too much of a risk either

Next up, Yossi chipped in with this chap

Not overly sure what he brings to the table other than being a handy backup to Lewis

ill trust Yossi though, as thats what he's here for

I was impressed with Oates from his time at free scoring Hartlepool so took him on a 2 week Trial

He scored twice and got an assist in those two games and thus earned this contract

£460 a week and for that we get a useful centre forward with a dcent physical prowess along with good work rate

not too bad at all.

This one took some negotiating

Richards played very well against us for Fylde last year and ive wanted him in ever since to fill the void left by Shepherd

But Fylde were holding out for a massive 8 thousand pounds

i wasnt having that, im mr freebie

So we finally settled on 14k for Jordan, but only if we make the playoffs in the next years

it's a small price to pay if we get there, so i pulled the trigger and in comes a good all round left back with 10's or more across all the key stats

Another determined youngster comes in on loan in the shape of Cameron Sangster

By no means the finished article, but a decent passer with well rounded physical stats and loads of determination, he will fit in well into this new look hard working Salford side.

We let Johnson go and had no second choice keeper

and realistically, we arent getting any better than Crocombe at this level, so in comes Jasbir Singh at a bargain £160 a week

He's been around league 2 level as a backup since the mid 2000's with teams such as shrewsbury, so he will most certainly provide OK backup if needed.

Another one of our loan signings goes on Tom Solanke

this was another suggestion from Yossi, but i can see what he's going for here

good marking and tackling, coupled with decent physical attributes, especially his pace for a centre back is hopefully going to make him a good first choice if we can pair him with a good experienced centre back

and this is where this man comes in

Me and Yossi had been scouting international friendlies in the off season and noticed a shock result with Andorra holding Holland to a 0-0 draw in the Amsterdam ArenA

At the heart of that defence was a man who put his life on the line to secure a point in a friendly

and thats what i want

By no means perfect, and coming toward the end of his prime, i couldnt help myself when it came to this 30 year old, 30 capped veteran of Andorran international football

Welcome

Adrian Rodrigues

Now he's been signed as first choice, to partner Solanke but i realise that taking him from his last club in the spanish 6th tier, he might struggle to adapt.

so i brought in someone who might just have a little more

Yann Songo'o

A behemoth of a man with the heart of a lion

He will be employed in the defensive midfielder role to start with and with 18 aggression, 19 bravery, 20 determination, 19 teamwork and 16 work rate coupled with 18 natural fitness this man will be the anchor in the team, but can slot naturally into the centre half role if needed, with old faithful Gus Mafuta dropping into midfield.

We Also managed to pickup former Manchester United graduate Tosin Kehinde on loan for a season

 however, as i forgot, you'll have to wait until next month for his screenshot

and with all this activity, this is how we will line up, Injuries aside, on the opening weekend of the league 2 season!

Max Crocombe keeps the gloves and looks to set himself as a proven league 2 level goalkeeper

Richards will start at right back and hopefully continue his good form from last season at Fylde

Solanke and Rodrigues will form hopefully a solid back 2 and give us a base to build forward from

Lewis holds onto his left back role and will continue to impress im sure

Big Yann Songo'o will act as a pivot, and a brick wall hopefully linking defence and attack and also bulldozing anyone trying to get past

Kehinde and Sangster will start out but with Evans, Mafuta and Maynard waiting to come in, it will be hotly contested position and im thrilled we finally have some depth in this position

Puig and Djonhambo hold their respective positions and i will expect some big performances this year, however with some electric pace in the form of Jeffrey, we've got a solid second option on both wings here

finally, im plumping for Redshaw as he's never let me down to date and i hope he can prove his critics at this level wrong and get some goals, he won't be given as much time this year with Balboa and Oates both waiting eagerly for the call.

Im actually really excited by this lot

I think they've a lot to offer this season and im more confident of survival now, and for a squad assembled for effectively £0 i think we've done well

Yossi, take a week off son

Pre Season was used this year as not only a good training tool, but as a bit of a money making effort too

We had some good friendlies against Leicester, Stoke and Peterborough that although ended up in defeat, made the club over 100k in Fees

and these results aside, we managed to go unbeaten against the smaller teams including feeder club Bury and Local heroes Atherton Collieries in the new yearly friendly we have with them.

im excited about this season, and with 20k or 1.1 million still to spend, if it goes wrong, we've always got january to fix things.

LETS GO