From Plymouth to the Top. G Dyke Returns

Hey guys. This is my third football manager story. Some may have read the two Unemployment to Stardoms but I stopped after a while as I got bored of FM13. However, FM14 is here and I'm going to try again. I've loaded these leagues:

England : Premier League to League 2
France : Ligue 1 to National
Italy : Serie A to Serie B
Spain : Liga BBVA to Liga Adelante

I clicked the pick a club for me button and it spat out Plymouth Argyle.

I will try to keep this story going as my other two faded out and I hope you enjoy it. Any suggestions would be helpful.

New Man at Home Park

James Brent, the Plymouth Chairman, has announced that John Sheridan has left the club to be replaced by the 25 year old Englishman George Dyke. Fans have been sitting on the fence about this decision as the previous manager, Sheridan, had been less than inspiring at Plymouth as he has achieved very little since he became manager in January 2013. However, one problem the fans do have is the young age of Dyke and his lack of experience. We spoke to one fan who commented with:

"Yer, I think he'll be alright that lad, he seems like he knows his stuff"

Well, lets see if he does know his stuff as the season begins soon.

Plymouth 1 - 1 Plymouth U21s

George Dyke's managerial career got off to a poor start as his Plymouth team drew 1-1 with the U21s. However the team have only just met their new manager so may not be used to his different tactics. Unfortunately one of Plymouth's star defenders picked up an injury to his elbow and will be out for 2-3 weeks.

Trotter's Ability/Potential

Plymouth 0-2 Peterborough

Even though they lost Plymouth put in a good performance against a considerably stronger Peterborough side. They held on well throughout the first half but got very few opportunities on goal. Possession was hard to find for Plymouth but there were positives for sure.

Good start and good use of graphics One piece of advice. Slow down the story a bit and have more stories But nice start will follow!

Transfer Update

George Dyke has picked up 8 players so far in this transfer window.


Having only spent around £7000 Dyke seems to be happy with taking players on loan or on free transfers.

He spoke in a press conference recently:

Journalist: Do you think that there are any areas of the squad that you need to strengthen?

Dyke: Well, we have two quality keepers and a strong central defence. However we are quite weak at left back so that will be addressed. We do have good striking options and I may look at another striker, I'm not sure. However we are definitely weakest in midfield and this is the area I will me looking to invest in the most.

Here are the players in detail:

Anthony Straker - 7k from Southend. DL


Jake Howells - Loan from Luton. ML


Joel Ambalu - Free. ST


Kyle Connolly - Free. DL


Emyr Huws - Loan from Manchester City. ML


Sam Kelly - Free. MC


Micah Evans - Free. AMR


Victor Zapata - Free. ST

Pre Season Roundup

George Dyke's Plymouth had a mixed pre season. Having drawn 1-1 with their Under 21s and then losing 0-2 to Peterborough things were looking bad. A shock draw against Bideford made Dyke more uncomfortable as his season could be over before it started. However the players rallied away at Elburton Villa to win 9-0. Pre season finished with a 0-0 draw againt Weston-Super-Mare. Dyke spoke to us in a press conference after the Weston-Super-Mare game:

Journalist: So George what do you think of today's performance.

Dyke: Well, the lads played well throughout but we still lack that creativity that gets teams goals. Our defence stood firm and we'll take the clean sheet.

Journalist: What do you think of your pre season as a whole?

Dyke: We started poorly but that was due to my changing of the tactics for nearly every game to see what worked the best. We found that the team can work well together and score goals because they won one match 9-0! Unfortunately I do think that we require more time to gel so I've told the guys that the pressure is off for the first couple of league matches just to calm their nerves.

Journalist: Thank you for your time.

Dyke : Thank you.

Pilgrim in Controversy

BBC Sport have unearthed a shocking story that Victor Zapata's cousin, Juan-Carlos, has been arrested in Colombia on drug dealing charges.

Drug cartels cause many problems throughout South America with Colombia being regarded as the "Capital for Cocaine". He is due to be sentenced with his sentence being a minimum of 5 years, however we have learned that the judge is set to make an example of Juan-Carlos and is ready to slap the maximum 27 year sentence on him.

August Roundup

It was a great month for George Dyke's Plymouth. They took 11 out of 15 points in the league, leaving them in 3rd position.


The month was not perfect for the Pilgrims as they dropped out of the Capital One Cup with a 1-3 loss against Charlton at The Valley. One highlight was Plymouth player Tyler Harvey scoring goal of the month.


Latest Transfers

The end of August signals the end of the transfer window and 3 new players have joined Plymouth since our last update.

Vincent Pericard - Free. ST


Nigel Seidu - Free. DR


Shane Byrne - Free. MC

October Roundup

This month was even better for Plymouth as they took 8 out of 11 points and are still unbeaten in the league. They are now in second, two points behind Cheltenham Town in first. They also beat Bristol Rovers 3-2 in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy to progress to the second round.


Hoyte Set to Join the Pilgrims

Plymouth Argyle have agreed the transfer of Gavin Hoyte for £88,000. The ex-Arsenal man will join at the beginning of the next transfer window January.

Plymouth's Awesome October

The overachieving team of the season continued their fantastic run in the league. This month they won 3 and drew 2 in the league, increasing their unbeaten run in the competition to 14 games. However they did lose a tight away game to Cheltenham 0-1 in the Johnstone's Pain Trophy Second Round. Their fantastic league run has left them at the top of the table on 30 points. Dyke's men are averaging an incredible 2.14 points a match.

Dyke Meets the Board

Chairman: Mr Dyke, welcome to our quaterly season meeting

Dyke: Thank you for inviting me

Chairman: We are here to discuss Plymouth's performance in the league and cups. Let us begin.

Board Member: We aren't that unhappy with your performance in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy as you dropped out in the second round. Any comments?

Dyke: It was a very tight game away against a strong Cheltenham team, I think we performed well.

Chairman: Fair enough. What about the Capital One Cup?

Director: We know that you dropped out away to Charlton so we're fine with your performance in that competition.

Dyke: Thank you

Chairman: Now, the league. We are extremely happy with your performance in the league as we are looking like potentials for promotion. The whole board thanks you for the success you have brought to the club.

Dyke: Thank you very much, I'll go and relay this onto my staff and players.

Cole to Join Mansfield

Plymouth goalkeeper Jake Cole is set to join Mansfield on Wednesday 1st January 2013 for a fee of £24,000. We spoke to the player who said:

"I'm sorry to leave the club but I'm not receiving as much game time as I want and Mansfield have promised me that, I'm sorry to go but am looking forward to my time at my next club"

We spoke to George Dyke, the Plymouth manager as well:

"Jake's a good player but he wanted to be my first choice keeper. The outstanding form of Luke McCormick kept him out and he isn't showing any signs of letting up"

Non-Stop November

The Pilgrim's fantastic season has continued, they are running riot in the league, still unbeaten in 19 league games. They took 13 out of 15 points and progressed into the Second Round of the FA Cup. Dyke's stock could not be higher as his team are averaging 2.26 points a match.

Hoyte Injured
George Dyke's most expensive signing, Gavin Hoyte from Dagenham and Redbrige for a whopping 88k, is out for three weeks with a damaged shoulder. This is disappointing for the Pilgrims' fans as they may not get to see their new man in action as soon as hoped.