Fantastic job keeping the club up, hopefully you can improve on your finish next season!

Congratulations on keeping the club up mate, what are your targets for next season? I think you could have a push for promotion going by your form at the end of this season.

The Madridista: Why thank you. I am still going to set my expectations to avoid relegation, purely because the board are refusing to give me any extra cash if I set higher expectations. May as well choose the lowest so if we do well then its bonus!

Hibee1875:Thank you. My targets are to get a mid-table finish but have the board thinking I am just expecting to avoid relegation!

In my summary update, I stated quite clearly that I would not be looking to disrupt the harmony of the squad but instead look for consolidation with a few new players being brought into the club. Despite how good my intentions were, I knew all too well that this was never going to happen and that I would undertake a big shake up of the backroom staff and playing personnel. I did this for two reasons; the first being that despite having made a profit at the end of the season, we were well over our wage budget, which meant that there was no leeway in terms of a transfer budget. I had to get rid of numerous players, who were on ridiculous wages, in order to free up funds to bring in my own transfer targets. The second reason was down to my aims for the coming season. I have told the board that I only expect the team to avoid relegation but in the back of my mind, I have bigger aspirations! I can see this club, with the correct changes being made and decent players being brought in that we could at least finish in a mid-table position.

Playing Personnel Out

A huge number of these players who left were simply demanding too much in terms of contracts than I was willing to give them. The club is already struggling with the finance side of things so increasing wages for players who had been part of a team that just about avoided relegation was never going to happen under my watch! The biggest result of the out-goings was the £54k Portsmouth was willing to pay for Danny Haynes. I couldn’t believe that I got so much for him to say he had played 20 games last season and not scored a single goal...more fool them for buying the striker. To be honest, I have to thank Portsmouth for taking Dean Gerken off my hands as well. I already have Fabian Spiess in the ranks who is a promising German goalkeeper and news of a new goalkeeper coming up in the update, so Gerken was simply not needed.

All of the players that have gone out on loan are from the under 21’s or under 18’s which will be of a great benefit to them as they will not get any game time this coming season. The money that we have brought into the club from the two sales I feel I have invested wisely and have the making of a decent League One side.

Since writing this update I have managed to sell Daniele Bazzoffia to Avellino who play their trade in Serie B. I managed to bring in £160k from this deal and that money has been put straight into making the wage budget even more comfortable.

Playing Personnel In

It will sound pretty big headed but I do feel that I have been a strewed business man while also looking at things from a manager point of view. With the club’s finances being in a very poor state, it was important that I simply did not blow all the money that I had brought in from selling players on new talent. I have managed to do this and will walk away with a profit of just below £200k for this summer transfer window. There are a few players that may stand out from the rest; I managed to sign Jak Alnwick on a permanent transfer and we will now boast one of the best goalkeepers in the league. I also raided his former club, Newcastle United, for experienced centre back Mike Williamson who will bring yet more Premier League experience to the club. Even more experience has been added by the arrival of David Bently who is a player I felt never lived up to his expectations as a player but I am confident I can get the best out of him in last couple of seasons as a player.

Stand Out Players

Gozie is a player who we had on loan and he failed to make much of an impression on me. However, I feel that he has very good attributes for a League 1 player and that he will come of good now I have signed him on a permanent transfer. He will be given a lot of game time in order to prove his worth and repay the faith I am showing in him. He will also have to score a fair few goals to pay back the ridiculous wage that I have given him; bit of a spoiler here but he has already got off the mark in the first league game of the seasons (he helped himself to a brace).

With bringing in Ugwu, it was essential to bring in a player to join up to lead the Notts County attack. I simply couldn’t believe my luck when I saw Karim Rossi did not have a club. I may be talking as if I knew who he was but I didn’t. I simply couldn’t believe my luck because of the great potential this player has and the potential of a lethal pairing in him and Ugwu that could materialise. He is another player on quite a high wage but already, as has Ugwu, he has got off the mark in the first league game of the season.

Our parent club, Manchester City, have come up trumps with this brilliant young Belgian defender who is need of game time, which I can definitely provide him with. I have managed to sign him on a season long loan without the option for City to recall him if they so wish. What is even better is that I will not be paying a penny for his services for the duration of his time at our club. I already possess a lot of centre backs so instead I will be looking for him to learn to play right back and this will be accommodated in his training schedule. He is a player with a lot of promise and I wouldn’t complain if I could sign him on a permanent transfer come the end of the season.

Bossaerts looks awesome!

2013-11-30 10:24#146890 Justice : Bossaerts looks awesome!

He looks like a brilliant young player! A great capture for our club. If only we could get him on a permanent deal come the end of the season.

The only disappointment to come out of this pre-season is the result against Bristol Rovers...Bristol Rovers! They ply their trade in the Skrill Premier, yet we didn’t have a sniff of a chance but instead were put on the back foot and we paid the price for my underestimating them. Aside from this result, everything went according to plan and we got the results that we expected to get.

I don’t tend to take control of the team during pre-season as I feel that the matches are at times dull, especially with all the swapping and changing of players at random times during the games so everyone gets some match practise in. I am also very eager to get to the league season and give me players chance to show their potential in matches that actually mean something. However, I have brought in a large number of players this season that will probably have never heard of each other. This made it vital for me to use these pre-season games to test out the new players, in a variety of positions, with a range of team instructions being given to them.

The players appeared to settle back into their football and we look like we have picked up from where we left off at the end of the last season, where we managed to produce some great performances to steer ourselves away from relegation. On the basis of this pre-season, I do feel that this could be a good seasons for us with us definitely not repeating our last season woes and instead be up at the other end of the league.

Player of Pre-Season – Gozie Ugwu

Bossaerts looks like class.

2013-12-03 04:14#147582 Pauker : Bossaerts looks like class.

He really does look like a brilliant prospect for the future and a handy player for us. I can't see us manging to get him on a permanent deal but may look for a second season on loan.

Hugo Fernandez will be a good player, he had a really good season in my story with me as a DM Liking this so far James Keep it up!

loving this mate, always attempt an unemployed after my arsenal save! hardest thing to do! choosing to try and be loyal or further the career!!

NVDTahir:Fernandez is a great signing and he is definitely going to be used in the defensive midfielder position or as a ball winning midfielder. Either way, I want him more towards our end of the pitch instead of attacking the opponents goal.

lross:I am glad you are enjoying it. I do think it is a journey that involves a lot of patience; I am come close to ending the story so many times but I am determined to make it succeed. This stories aim is to make me a successful manager, I think the loyalty to one club will come when I reach the top...however long that takes.

I have ended into managing Notts County with the aim of this being third time lucky; third time lucky in terms of me finally being successful as a manager. Yes, I already have the FA Trophy in the bag from my time with Grimsby, but I also have a resignation and sacking along with that. I have already tasted some success with Notts County by helping guide them away from relegation last season; I had joined the club with them sat rock bottom of the league and it seemed desperate. I had originally said that I wouldn’t be ringing the changes but instead making a couple of additions to the squad with the aim of retaining our position for another season. However, I went against that plan and decided to bring in a number of players and release fourteen players, and boy has it paid off!

We have got off to a cracking start with a number of the players already settling into my style of playing football. Gozie Ugwu was on loan at the club last season and failed to contribute too much, with us instead relying on goals from elsewhere. However, I decided to sign him on a permanent transfer as he is a player with potential and it has paid off! He helped himself to 7 goals in 5 games which have helped propel us to the lofty heights of second in the league; a long way away from the relegation zone where I partly expected us to be sitting yet again. The match against Gillingham got us off to a great start and prepared us for the battle against Championship Blackburn in the Capital One Cup, who I never expected us to get a result against. Instead we passed them and did eventually dispatch Championship side Barnsley with a bit more ease. The Capital One Cup will take less priority compared to the league but I do hope we get a Premier League club at Meadow Lane in the third round to bring in a fair amount of cash.

The result against MK Dons didn’t take long for the players to forget about and get back to winning ways. We just didn’t settle into the game the Dons took full advantage and took the game to us and totally showed us up. I wouldn’t say so far, apart from the match against Blackburn, that my side have been tested. The matches have gone according to plan and the players have played with a lot of confidence and out played all opposing teams. It will be interesting to see how we fair against the sides that are close to us in the league.

Player of the Month – Gozie Ugwu

great results, gl in next games mate.

Unlucky against damn MK (drop the dons!) but great month otherwise