Yet Another Football Manager Blog

There is much excitement ahead of the new season, following on from taking the Premiership title and winning the Carling Cup. The squad has been strengthened, meaning we should be able to again challenge for the league title. At the end of the last campaign, the board announced a stadium expansion, which will help to increase our revenue stream, which along with our participation in the Champions League should assure our future for the long-term.

The season starts with a trip to Wembley to take on the FA Cup winners, Swansea in the Community Shield before the real competition begins. I was rather stunned by the fixture list, which sees us start the campaign at home to Man United, before a very tricky trip to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea, before the final match of August, where we play host to Everton at Jack Park. The first two league matches are exactly the same as we faced last season, which brought us a victory on the opening day but defeat at the Bridge. 
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We head into the new season after lifting the Premiership title, and the Carling Cup to do the double. There is great excitement that we will be participating in the Champions League, with the prospect of playing against some real giants of European football.

Last season we ended up making a small loss, but it was with the future in mind, as the board announced an expansion of the stadium, which once completed, will give us a capacity of just over 26,500. We do however have to wait until the end of October before this is completed, but it will certainly increase our revenue stream. Again my major fight during pre-season will be making sure that the talent I have already assembled is not taken away from us. In particular talented left back Laurent Gaillard is getting a lot of attention from Chelsea, as is defensive midfielder Lesueur.

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We begin the month sitting at the top of the League table with a lead of 6 points over Man City, with two matches to play. City have a much better goal difference, which means they do still hold a slim chance of overhauling us. So the big question is, can we avoid doing the unlikely, and throwing away the title, which is within touching distance?

This will a quiet month with only the final two fixtures of the season being played, which will decide the fate of the title, which is not a certainty given our last three matches. We have a trip to take on Tottenham at White Hart Lane, before the final match, which sees the visit of Liverpool to Jack Park. The big twist is the final two fixtures which Man City face, with a trip to take on Man United at Old Trafford, before their last match at home to Chelsea. Like us, the form of City has slipped, but nowhere near as awful as United, who have 2 draws and 5 losses from their last 7 matches. After the way we finished this month I have no idea how we’ll play in our final two fixtures, because the lads seem to be struggling to keep their nerves under control.

As this update only covers a couple of matches, I will also give some more in-depth analysis of the squad than I normally would at the end of a season. In particular I will look how three players have progressed during their time at the club.

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We begin the month sitting second in the table, behind Man City on goal difference only with a game in hand. Man United are a point behind us, having played two games more. The rest of the challengers have started to fall away, so it looks like it will be a two or three horse race.

This month sees us scheduled for 9 matches. We have the second leg of the Europa League Quarter Final at Marseille, and the FA Cup Semi Final against West Brom at Wembley, which we seem to be trying to make our second home. The other 7 matches are in the league, 4 of which are at home against, Bristol City, Portsmouth, Man City and Aston Villa. The other 3 will see us make trips to take on Q.P.R., Sunderland and Swansea. Apart from the match against the Citizens, I am expecting us to win at home, and having already beaten them at the Etihad we can be hopeful of doing the double over them. The away matches are all potentially tricky, but I’d say the Sunderland fixture looks to be the toughest of those.
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We begin the month sitting in second position, 3 points behind Man City, but with a game in hand, which is however against Arsenal. Man United and Tottenham are in 3rd and 4th, two points behind us, having played a game more than us, with Arsenal a further 2 points adrift.

This month is set to be another serious challenge of the squad depth, with us scheduled for 8 matches. We have our FA Cup 5th round match away to Bristol City, who I’m sure will be looking for revenge after the Carling Cup Final, which is sandwiched by our two Europa League matches against Liverpool in the 2nd Knockout round, with us again drawn away from home for the first leg, for the fourth time this season in a two leg tie. If we progress through the FA Cup match against Bristol City, it may cause an alteration to one of our 5 league matches. We face two away trips, with us facing Everton and Q.P.R. with the other 3 seeing us play host to Arsenal, Southampton and Man City. There are definitely some very tricky matches to play, but hopefully we can keep Jack Park the fortress it has so far been for us. This month will probably go a long way to deciding whether we still have a realistic chance of challenging for the title. 
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We begin the month sitting at the top of the League table with a lead of 2 points over the two Manchester teams, with Arsenal and Tottenham still in close attendance. We are scheduled for 3 league matches, the two legs of the Europa League 1st knockout round and the Carling Cup Final.

February will be our quietest month for a while, with us scheduled for just 6 matches. We have 3 league matches, with trips to take on Fulham and Newcastle, plus a home fixture against Newcastle. We also have both legs of our Europa League tie against Anderlecht, before we then play the Carling Cup Final against Bristol City. I would be very disappointed if we don’t win all our domestic fixtures, and very hopeful that we will be able to overcome Anderlecht.
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