Young Englishman Takes Reigns

The Board of F.C. Barcelona have taken drastic measures and replaced their "B" team coach Eusebio.

The man they have chosen to carry on the fine tradition of Barcelona creating talented young individuals is relative unknown Harry Griffiths.

Griffiths who has managed at a lower league level in England, has previously been spotted watching & studying training sessions held at The La Masia training facilities.

Although he may be light on experience, Barcelona's calculated risk may just turn into a massive reward.

This young manager is willing to learn and keen for success and only the right results will provide this.

Squad Report & Season Objectives are to follow.

Good Luck.

Good luck

Fractious Beginnings

After sitting down with the chairman he made his plans clear to me. I was disappointed.

He told me that he would be happy with my team securing the clubs position in Liga Adelante for next season.

Obviously, I can't win promotion. But why can't I with all the talent at my disposal atleast push the senior teams in the division.

Secondly...



I couldn't believe my eyes... We were in the RED for our wages.

How could this be? A club who is affiliated with F.C. Barcelona over budget. I was beside myself.

I needed to simmer down & this helped massively.



A plethora of talents was before me, all of which were ready to be moulded to my exact needs. Obviously having watched many of these players in my studies I knew of their talents.

But I was just about to find out what they were really capable of.

Key Players & Tactics Next Time.

Harry.

The Drawing Room

After the meeting with the chairman I retreated to my office.

My assistant manager, Joan Barbara who handed me the squad report, was gone.

It was just me, all alone, looking out onto the immaculate La Masia pitches.



From Joan's report I pinpointed three players to be key to any success I would have this season.

They were...

Defence - Carles Planas

A graduate of academy, a Barcelona Man. Carles experience at this level will be key.

Midfield - Javi Espinosa

Javi will be my Xavi. Having played 27 times for the F.C. Barcelona and scoring 5 times at the age of 19, I am lucky to have him in my squad.

Striker - Jean-Marie Dongou

Dongou is the future of his nation and possibly the future of this club. He has all the tools to be successful, it's just if he really wants it.

These 3 players make the spine of my team.

Being the manager of Barcelona "B" has its perks, those dropped from the senior team can join me and those from the U19's can freely be selected at my will.

However with this I also can have my players poached as Mr Martino has the final word on squad promotions and the selling of players.

I just hope he realises what i'm trying to do with this team.

Harry.

Preseason Review

I Got Screwed

Well I couldn't have asked for anything more from my lads.

We played 3 preseason matches, all against good solid senior teams and we managed to win two and draw one.

Key Player Of Preseason

Jean managed to bag himself three goals in three appearances, his constant threat always produced an excellent end result.

Things were going great. The players were playing for me & utilising my tactics well.



Mr Martino was even talking to me as an equal & giving me advice.

However late on a tuesday night I received the chilling news that one of my most promising players was to leave.
Macky Bagnack, a solid 18 year old centre back with all the talent in the world was sold on the cheap to Real Sociedad.

I could deal with this, there was backup. Mr Martino believed he was surplus to requirements. I begrudgingly walked away before I said anything I would regret.

But the news that hit my desk the following day sent me over the edge.
Carles Planas, One of my "Key Players" for the forthcoming season, had packed up his bags and left for Malaga.

All trust is now gone. Why should I trust someone who is just goes behind my back and sells on my best defender. Obviously he'd never be good enough for F.C. Barcelona.
BUT he was good enough for me.

I let Mr.Martino know of my astonishment. Things boiled over. I ended up stating that I would be his successor upon his sacking.

Harry.

Decent pre-season. I look forward to seeing how Dongou does for you. Shame about Planas and Bagnack though

Nice pre-season, really liking this so far as it's a really nice idea. Shame about Planas and Bagnack though

August 2013 - Well That Was Odd...

Things were looking good going into my first competitive match in charge of F.C. Barcelona "B".

We dominated our opening two matches, monopolised possession & had many clear cut chances. Yet it just seemed it wasn't meant to be. We lost twice to teams who are tipped to be in the bottom half come the end of the season.

We needed a lucky break, unfortunately our next opponents happened to be Zaragoza. Expected to finish 2nd & this wasn't what we needed. However the lads rose to the occasion and we got our lucky break scraping out a 1-0 win, over a very experienced side.

With the momentum gained, roll on September.

Transfer Update

Well it happened again... Mr. Martino cashed in on another of our better players. Ilie was now out the door and I could do nothing but wave him goodbye.


As cover for losing the promising Bagnack I brought in a backup CB in the shape of Jefferson.


Overall my transfer window was... Poor.

I lost players who were key to me and due the lack of funds available I only managed to bring in a mediocre replacement. Lets just hope things can only get better from here.

Player Of The Month - Edgar Lé

The one positive from this sobering month. Edgar has shown he can be a consistent performer even in a losing team.

September 2013 Review - Highs & Lows

This month was interesting, to say the least.

Building off the back of a massive win against Zaragoza we went into the "Mini" El Clasico vs Castilla. After a tense match we finally came out victorious thanks to a thunderous right footed shot from Joan Angel Roman.

Miniestadi erupted at the full time whistle as all my players and support staff came rushing onto the pitch at the final whistle. Among those enjoying the celebrations was Mr.Martino, he calmy walked up to me with his arms spread and embraced me. In doing so he whispered in my ear "Watch Your Step, oh and Dongou is mine now". He stepped away, nodded and the turned around and began his interview with La Marca. Another player lost to the jurisdiction that is Mr.Martino.

He's taken my star striker but all I know is that, I will be here longer than he ever will.

The rest of September was a mediocre one. A good away win against Tenerife was the only positive. After this encouraging win we succumbed to Recreativo and League favourites Mallorca. 6 points from 12 isn't too bad I suppose.

Player Of The Month - Joan Àngel Román

A brilliant goal in the "Mini" El Clasico and a good all round month for the young Spaniard.

Harry.

Couple of promising months, unlucky about Dongou though

2014-02-15 00:53#160655 joethequin : Couple of promising months, unlucky about Dongou though

Cheers Man. Just gotta stop the goal leak!

October 2013 - Unsteady Footing

We needed a reaction, confidence was deteriorating within the camp. If we went three loses in a row it could spell near disaster for our season.

As Mr.Martino had so politely poached Dongou away from me, I needed a new talisman. Someone to lead the line and give a result for the possession domination we always have.
The man for this was the young Tony Sanabria.

Yes it wasn't a sterling 4 games this month from him but he scored when it mattered and thats all fine by me. He's young so he has plenty to learn, but he must learn fast.

Tony bagged us the winning goal in our 1-0 away win over Ponferradina. However after that great result my young team was over-powered and sometimes found to be very naive against Alaves and Sleeping Giants Deportivo.


These results were not ideal. Again we were staring down the barrel of a three match losing streak but the boy's managed to pull together for a 2-2 against league high flyers Eibar.


Despite our poor goal difference we are only one win away from being in the top half. I needed to address that shocking goal difference as some of the younger players just weren't cutting it.
So I brought in Lukas Tomas on a Free Transfer as back up.

On paper he looks like he could be a very astute signing and could give us that extra bit of steel we need.

Living dangerously in 16th. Hopefully Luka Tomas can help get a few more points on the board alongside Edgar Ie and push you further up the table