(FM14) Drink up thee cider!!!

Why Bristol City?

My name is Andrew Booy and I have been an avid Bristol City FC fan for as long as I can remember.
My dad bought me my first season ticket when I was 12 years old and I have held a season ticket in the same seat in the Williams stand for the past 15 years.
My club have not been very successful in this time so I plan on doing something about this injustice!

I am writing this story for my own record but if anybody else wants to read/comment and enjoys my adventure then all the better……..here goes!!!!



The Initial Squad….

GK

Simon Moore (on loan for season)

The best player in my squad by quite some margin and significantly better than my other two GKs. The only problem is that I am paying him his full wages for the duration of the loan (a whopping 16,000 a week). I may need to terminate the loan but only if I find a cheaper replacement.

Frank Fielding

First choice permanant GK but Moore is much stronger. Will need to find a replacement eventually.

Elliott Parish

Not much between Fielding and Parish but Fielding is first choice. Will look to send Parish out on loan to get some game time.

DL

Greg Cunningham

Solid attacking left back who will play as a complete wing back getting forward whenever possible. Easily good enough for League 1 level.

Tom King

Youngster who is not good enough and has little potential. Will need to find back up for Cunningham. Joe Bryan (ML) can fill in if Cunningham is injured/suspended.

DR

Karleigh Osbourne

Good standard defender. Best position is CB but I have strong players in that position so he will fill in at RB. Eventually plan to move to CB when I can find RB.

Brendan Moloney

Good squad player and more natural RB than Osbourne. Is a viable option if Osbourne doesn’t work out.

DC

Adam El-Ebd

Very strong player. Expect him to be the rock for me in front of Moore this season.

Liam Fontaine

2nd choice CB. Been around for a while and short of confidence last season. I hope to get him back to his best.

Derrick Williams

Similar level to Fontaine and younger. If he progresses has chance to dislodge his place in first team.

Aden Flint

4th choice CB. Average standard. Probably limited game time and will be replaced eventually.

ML

Joe Bryan

Can play anywhere down the left. Worst player in starting 11. After replacement found will find himself as cover for LB/LM.

Stephen Pearson

Injured for 9/10 Months. Last year of contract. Probably played last game for Bristol City

MR

Scott Wagstaff

Defensive Winger. Again will look to replace him soon. 2nd weakest link after Bryan. My midfield flanks definitely need to be assessed.

Jordan Wynter

Not a great player. Just here for cover in MR and CM positions.

CM

Simon Gillett (on loan for season)

Solid box to box midfielder who could be important for me in middle of park this season. Will take my corners.

Liam Kelly

Like Pearson injured for around 9 months. Lucky I have Gillett on loan. May make an impact at end of season.

Bobby Reid

Young playmaker with plenty of potential. Will need to grab his spot in first team considering Kelly’s Injury.

Marlon Pack

Defensive playmaker who barring injuries will need to make his impact from bench this season

Marvin Elliott

Ball winning midfielder similar level to Pack. Again may have limited game time this season.

FC

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas

Very strong attacking player who will be very important this season. Can play in many attacking roles and on either flank in the midfield. Expect big things from him going forward.

Sam Baldock

An advanced forward who is also my Captain and 1st choice penalty taker. Hoping his goals will lead us to strong season.

Tyrone Barnett (on loan for season)

1st reserve forward. A target man who offers something different. If players are brought in strong chance his loan will be terminated

Wes Burns

Youngster who plays up top or on the RW. Cover for Emmanuel-Thomas and Baldock.

Kevin Krans

Young backup FC who simply is not good enough. Will be shipped out as soon as cover is brought in up front.

Being from Bristol I will be following this mate! Shame Rovers stayed up yesterday eh?

Booy makes his mark!!!!

Andrew Booy has barely been in the managerial seat at Ashton Gate a week and already he has made his first shock decision as the new manager at Bristol City.
He has looked at his squad and been in pre-season training with them for a few days now. Apart from the usual group of youngsters who have been put on the loan list there is one notable squad member who has been put up for transfer to the highest bidder.



It is clear that Booy has no room for sentiment in his era as long serving previous Club Captain Louis Carey has been placed on the transfer list with immediate effect. Carey has made 557 appearances for the Robins over 2 spells at the club and is 2nd in City’s all time leading appearance makers list behind only the legendary John Atyeo. However at 36 years of age the new Bristol City manager clearly feels Carey is past his peak and is not willing to have him in the squad just to make up the numbers. City have more than enough cover in the central defender department so Booy is willing to listen to any offers for his veteran centre back. Time will tell if any suitors come forward. Andrew Booy clearly means business in his new role!!!!!!

Dream Team Assemble………

Following the appointment of Andrew Booy as the new manager of Bristol City the unexperienced young Bristolian has added two new members to his back room staff. Steve Black has joined as a new fitness coach and the German Ulf Kirsten has signed on as an attacking coach.



“Steve Black is acknowledged as the best conditioning coach in the world” says The Times. Kevin Keegan called him ‘the best one-to-one coach in the world’. Jonny Wilkinson lays much of the credit for his unparalleled success at Steve’s door. Graham Henry, the All Blacks coach, calls him “the best motivator I’ve ever encountered”. Steve describes himself as a chameleon - someone who is able to evolve to suit the needs of the persons he is coaching at each individual circumstance. One of Booy’s main aims at City is to have his players in peak physical condition and Black’s vast experience is a major coup for the club going forward.



Ulf Kirsten is a former German football striker, the first player in history to reach a total 100 caps playing with two different national teams (East Germany and Germany). His biggest success was the win of the 1992–93 DFB-Pokal. His nickname was der Schwatte. He clearly has pedigree and Andrew Booy is looking to adopt an attacking style of play at Bristol City which Kirsten will definitely be able to assist with.

In terms of staff outgoings Oliver Whitehead the under 18s fitness coach has now left the club after a mutual termination of his contract was agreed. It was felt that Steve Black has more than enough ability to be the fitness coach for both the first team and the youth team so Whitehead was surplus to requirements.

Booy signs Ivan The Great



Bristol City have confirmed their first signing of the 2013/14 pre-season with the capture of 24 year old forward Ivan Bolado on a free transfer. The Equatorial Guinea striker has been without a club since the 2011/12 season where he played for CSKA (Sofia) for just one match due to injury. His career has been blighted with injuries to date as he has only made 78 first team appearances scoring 10 goals in the process. His most successful spell came for 3 seasons for Racing in the Spanish top flight between 2007 and 2011. There were offers from other top flight clubs in Spain but Bolado choose to join up with Andrew Booy at Ashton Gate.



Bolado is a similar player to Baldock so it will be interesting to see if the two can play together up top. Emmanuel-Thomas will most likely now play on the left side of midfield and Joe Bryan will be used as cover for the LB or LM roles. The young left back Tom King has now been put up for transfer/loan. Bolado has a Spanish duel nationality so luckily does not require a work permit. He will also now have the responsibility of taking Bristol City’s free kicks. The hope is that as long as Bolado can shake his injury proneness he could easily finish this season as the Robins top scorer.

Bristol City board agree to facility upgrades



Andrew Booy certainly has made an impact in his first month in charge at Ashton Gate. In a meeting with the Bristol City board he has mentioned his vision for the club and suggested that the training and youth facilities both needed to be upgraded to be in line with his long term goals.
The board have agreed to pump a substantial amount of money (believed to be in excess of 2 million pounds)and work on the improved facilities have begun on the 10th July 2013 with an estimated completion date for both projects of October 2014.
The Bristol City board seem clearly happy to support Booy financially with his vision for the future.

Booy's Norwegian Invasion

Andrew Booy has made a double swoop in the transfer market in preparation for the start of Bristol City's League 1 campaign. He has raided the Norwegian Premier Division to sign youngsters Andre Hansen and Yann-Erik de Lanlay.





Andre Hansen is a 23 year old Norwegian international goalkeeper who joins from Odd for an initial fee of around 275,000. Part of the transfer also will see Bristol City pay Odd a further 220,000 if they see promotion to the Sky Bet Championship.
Booy sees Hansen as his long-term No 1 and believes that he is more than capable of playing at a Championship level and has the potential to even play in the Premiership.
With Hansen's arrival sees the termination of Simon Moore's loan contract. It was thought that it was not financially sound to pay Moore's 16,000 a week salary to be Hansen's understudy. Fielding is more than capable of being the reserve GK this season. Elliott Parish is no longer needed in the first team squad and has been made available for transfer.



Booy has been looking for an answer to his right wing position all pre-season as it is thought Scott Wagstaff was a weak link in the potential starting 11 for the new season kick-off. Therefore 21 year old Yann-Erik de Lanlay has been brought in from Norwegian top division side Viking for an initial fee of 200,000 potentially rising to 350,000 if Bristol City get promoted.
De Lanlay is an attacking right sided winger who may need to work on the defensive side of his game in training but Booy's scouting team assure him that he has even more potential than Hansen and could easily grow into a leading Premier Division right winger in the future.
Wagstaff will provide a more defensive minded alternative to De Lanlay on the right but his game time will be limited to primarily sub appearances this season. Jordan Wynter has lost his place in the City first team squad and Booy will listen to any offers for the young defensive midfielder.



In terms of transfer outgoings Bristol City have announced the sale of 16 year old Joe Morrell to Nottingham Forest for a fee of just over 250,000.
Although the young central midfielder has shown bags of potential an offer as high as a quarter of a million for an unproven 16 year old was too good to turn down. It also meant that the signings of Hansen and De Lanlay did not hit the City finances as hard as they might have done.

Pre-Season Review - July 2013

Bristol City had 5 pre-season matches to work on their shape, fitness levels and bed in new signings. The three away games were scheduled as easier fixtures which were expected to be won easily. The two home friendlies were against Championship sides and were a stronger test ahead of the season kick-off. Overall not an inspiring pre-season with the only real positive being the performance and goals of new signing Ivan Bolado. The defensive definitely needs work on.

The results are below:



vs Blackpool (H) 1-2
No new signings yet. Played a 4-4-2 formation as this will be Andrew Booy's preferred formation. Strong first 60 mins with nice goal from Simon Gillett but had to sub entire outfield 11 and then second string 11 conceded 2 in 30 mins.

vs Bury (A) 1-2
Same starting 11 except new signing Ivan Bolado came in up front. Emannuel-Thomas moves to left wing and Joe Bryan dropped. Poor first 25 mins conceding 2 goals then dominated from then on. Good headed goal from Bolado assisted by Emmanuel-Thomas from left wing. Poor result and poor defensive performance.

vs Exeter (A) 1-2
Same team as started against Bury and same terrible start being 2 goals down in 11 minutes this time. Again good response with Adam El Abd goal from corner in 2nd half. Really expected to win these two away games especially not lose.

vs Watford (H) 1-1
Same starting 11 except Frank Fielding in goal as Simon Moore's loan has been terminated pending arrival of new signing Andre Hansen. Much better performance and great free-kick from Bolado showing he can be a dead-ball specialist for City this season. Only a wonder strike from Battocchio for Watford levelled the match towards the death.

vs Worksop (A) 4-0
Confidence building friendly where the team didn't fail to impress. Only change to team was Andre Hansen in for Fielding in goal. Also Adam El Abd has been assigned as new club captain for the season taking the role from Sam Baldock. 2 goals from Bolado took his pre-season total to 4 in 4 matches. Baldock assisted both Bolado's goals showing signs of partnership between the two up top. Fontaine and Emmanuel-Thomas also on scoresheet in rout.

Booooooooooo

City sign young Midfield Prodigy

Bristol City have confirmed the their fourth signing ahead of the Sky Bet League One kick-off. The young French midfielder central Adrien Trebel has joined from FC Nantes for around 58,000. With his crop of golden locks the hope is that Trebel will pull the strings in the City midfield this season.





Trebel is good enough to get into the City starting 11 but the main reason for his signing was that he becomes the 1st city player to have a potential rating. He will play alongside Simon Gillett as another box to box midfielder. Bobby Reid has potential and he will have to realise this primarily from the bench as his spot in the team has to be given to Trebel.

Trebel's arrival means that Stephen Pearson's contract has been mutually terminated with immediate effect. He is injured for 9 months and would have been released in the summer anyway so paying 95,000 instead of around 180,000 (his annual wage) seemed the logical solution. Tyrone Barnett's loan has also been terminated as Andrew Booy feels Wes Burn offers better cover up front and Emmanuel-Thomas can also play as striker if required.
A summary of the pre-season transfers at Ashton Gate is below:

OH, Yeovil, we love you!

Notts County vs Bristol City - 3rd August 2013
1-3
Baldock 1 mins
Williams 60 mins



Manager's review
Bristol City came into this game expecting a good result against a Notts County team that had quite a few injuries to contend with. All four of Booy's pre-season signings started the match and the only other change was that Derrick Williams (who picked up an injury) started in place of Liam Fontaine in central defence following Williams good progress in training. City got off to a blinder with a good goal from Sam Baldock in the 1st minute. In fact Baldock was the only player to distinguish himself this game as the other City players were poor. Especially the two fullbacks, Osbourne and Cunningham, and two new signings Bolado and Trebel. Osbourne gave away a stupid penalty for Notts County to level the match and Cunningham was dominated by MOTM Grealish all day. Bolado had a fantastic pre-season so lets hope this was a blip and Trebel's match fitness is low so perhaps he can improve too.

Stevenage vs Bristol City - Capital One cup 1st round- 6th August 2013
0-3



Manager's review
Following the disappointing loss on the opening day of the season City rested new signings De Lanlay and Trebel as they were struggling with match fitness, in came Bobby Reid and Scott Wagstaff. Also Liam Fontaine came in for the injured Derrick Williams who should be out for around a week. Quite simply put this game was an abysmal performance from all except Bobby Reid who played ok and Andre Hansen who keep the scoreline down. Simon Gillett was the worst player on the park and his mistake gifted Stevenage the lead in the first half. Definitely a cup tie to forget for Andrew Booy and a positive result on Saturday at home to Carlisle is essential.

The Norwegian Invasion Continues.....

Andrew Booy has completed his fifth signing for Bristol City with the capture of another young Norwegian, Stefan Strandberg, who signs from Rosenberg for a fee of around 300,000. It was thought that Booy's spending was finished but after Bristol City conceded 6 goals in two matches defensive reinforcements were called for.



The previous Norway U21 captain Strandberg, provides real leadership at the heart of the defence and will form a formidable partnership with captain Adam El Abd at the back for the Robins. Strandberg joins fellow countrymen De Lanlay and Hansen at Bristol City and the trio should help each other settle in to their new surroundings despite their young ages. Strandberg also can play as a defensive central midfielder if called upon.
Following Strandberg's arrival Liam Fontaine and Derrick Williams will provide cover at centre back this season and Aden Flint has been told he is no longer needed by the club and put up for transfer.