We have exceded expectations in all three competitions we were entered into. The objective for the league was to avoid relegation in our first season of Premiership football. Not only did we avoid relegation, but we achieved a magnificant 4th place to secure a European Champions Cup place for the next season. The players rose magnificently to the challenge, providing us with some highly memorable victories.
The expectations for the League Cup were to make the fourth round, and again we exceded expectations by reaching the Quarter Final stages, losing to Sunderland, who at the time were one of the in form teams.
In the FA Cup the minimum expectation was to reach the fifth round. A fantastic run in this competition saw us get to the final at Wembley and record a victory over our closest rivals Chelsea, to lift the famous trophy for the first time in the clubs history.
This has been an exceptionally good season for the club, which saw us remain largely injury free for most of the year, which was a major factor in our success.
Our reserve team were also highly successful, as they managed to win the Reserve Group 1 league they are in, which has helped to keep morale up.
Team Statistics
Our top five goalscorers for the season were:
- 49 - Fatih Yucel - Striker
- 25 - Angelo Balanta - Striker
- 8 - Akos Buzsaky - Midfielder
- 3 - Hogan Ephraim - Midfielder
- 2 - Rafa - Midfielder, Sebastian Puygrenier - Defender
Our top five for providing assists for the season were:
- 15 - Hogan Ephraim
- 11 - Fatih Yucel
- 9 - Angelo Balanta
- 8 - Wayne Routledge - Midfielder
- 7 - Rafa, Akos Buzsaky
- 7.40 - Fatih Yucel
- 7.15 - Akos Buzsaky
- 7.08 - Rafa
- 7.08 - Angelo Balanta
- 7.04 - Hogan Ephraim
For the second season in a row our I had a strikeforce partnership that worked almost perfectly, with Balanta starting every match, Fatih Yucel starting all but one match, in which he came on as a substitute.
It will be no surprse that Fatih Yucel was the fans player of the year.
Signings
My signing of the season isn't even a contest, with that accolade going to Fatih Yucel, and needs very little else said about him.
Silvui Lung jr, signed to be my first choice goalkeeper was another excellent signing, and has made huge improvements through the season and looking like he will be an exceptional keeper for us for years to come. I feel he was my second best signing of the season.
Clement Grenier was a signing for the future, but his progress through the year allowed me to start giving him games near the end of the season, in which he started to show the promise I felt he had. He has a lot of intelliegence allowing him to make use of his skills, always looking for the right pass, and always quick to get back to make a tackle.
Sebastian Puygrenier and Cristian Nasuti started in most of the matches, playing as central defenders. They both had good seasons, proving to be very solid for most of our matches.
Martin Stranzl another signing in the centre of defence was unlucky in picking up an injury and didn't feature in the first team as often as his quality would suggest he should. I may have to let him leave as he was slightly concerned that he was not getting as much first team football as he would have liked. With the European matches, he should get more chances to start if he is happy to stay at the team.
Dimitri Daeseleire was brought in as my new first choice to play at right back. He is still only 21, and if he continues to improve he will serve us well at right back for several years to come.
Alexandre Coeff is a young player brought for the future, but so far is not quite living up to the promise the scouts and coaches believe he has. Hopefully he will start to improve soon, although even if he doesn't I will probably be able to turn a profit from his signing.
Rafa was bought as a ball winning midfielder just before the first transfer deadline when both Martin Rowlands and Gavin Mahon were out injured. At £550k he was cheap, and well below his value at the time, has proved to have been an excellent signing, at times bossing the midfield for us. I believe he has turned out to be my third best signing of the season, being highly dependable, and picked up surprisingly few yellow cards, given his role in the team. At 26 years of age, he looks to have a good future ahead of him with the club.
Loan Players
Davide Di Gennaro came to us on loan from our parent club A.C. Milan, and showed a lot of promise, but an injury meant he didn't get to play as often as he should, but 3 goals and an assist from 7 games was a good return.
The Future
As we we will now be playing in the European Champions Cup, we will need more depth to the squad in certain positions. The midfield needs a couple more players, but mostly importantly we need to add to our strikers, because with the increased number of matches likely in the coming season, our main strike partnership will struggle to be match fit for every single fixture.
I am actually thinking of playing a 4-4-2 wide diamond formation next season, as it gives more security at the back and will allow me to play certain players in their natural positions, such as Rafa, Buzsaky and Grenier.
2 comments:
Your players performed extremely well this season, you really need a couple of players for every position as there is a lot games coming up next season. Hope to see your transfer news soon.
You're right, that I will need a couple of players for each position. August alone will see us play 7 competitive matches, so the season starts with us very busy.
I've almost got the end of the pre-season. It's been a tough fight to get players of the right quality to the club.
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