Taking over the Bundesliga

Well after the disappointment that I encountered during my Arsenal Legend Returns story, with my Laptop prematurely dying on me. I have been debating what to do since the purchase of my new laptop, and after much deliberation and with guidance from my best friend 'The Lower League Specialist'. I have decided to test my credentials in the Bundesliga.



AUFMERKSAMKEIT ENGLÄNDER JAMIE DEAL ERNANNT MANAGER VON BAYER LEVERKUSEN

Virtually Unknown Englishman Jamie Deal, an ex-youth professional in the lower depths of the English football league who had to retire at the beginning of what was looking like becoming a promising career, due to a serious knee injury sustained on an extreme sports holiday at the tender age of 19.

The now 26 year old happily married father of one, a self confessed gaming addict spent the first 5 years after his early retirement from the game, dedicating his time playing his favourite game Football manager.

Until one morning, his wife turned around to him and said 'instead of wasting time playing that bloody game, which is not earning us money. If you are as good as you think you are at being a manager why don't you get off your arse and do it for real'. So he did just that, he enrolled on a coaching course that very week and for 2 years he attended course after course until he gained his UEFA Pro licence just 1 month ago.

And today he is appointed manager of German Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen, with the task of trying to change the fortunes of a club that's last piece of silverware was the German cup 20 years ago and having never won the Bundesliga title, the challenge couldn't be any greater with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund seemingly dominating the league every season. Jamie Deal could soon be finding that being great at football manager doesn't mean your be great in real life.

Good luck! Having been these myself for a season, I know there's plenty of potential there.

Good luck, mate. But it's Bayer Leverkusen, not Bayern. :-)

2014-07-28 10:44#186843 razwy_20 : Good luck, mate. But it's Bayer Leverkusen, not Bayern. :-)

haha thanks for that didn't even realise id typed that in, updated now

Deal Gets To Work Immediately......
New Leverkusen manager Jamie Deal hasn't wasted anytime stamping his mark on his new club, and if the signings of René Meulensteen and Ulf Kirsten the former German international striker and Leverkusen Legend to his backroom staff are anything to go by, it seems as tho Deal is looking to get his team working on their attacking play.

As well as these additions to the backroom staff rumours are building that Deal is about to enter the transfer market in a bid to secure an attacking playmaker to be the centre point of his new look side.The name being linked currently from a reliable source within the Leverkusen camp is that of Ibrahim Afellay the Dutch international who is currently plying his trade in La Liga with FC Barcelona.

We will keep you upto date with all transfer news in the build up to the start of the new season.

Its official Jamie Deal has secured the signing of Ibrahim Afellay from FC Barcelona for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of £5.4M, the young Dutch international has been plagued by injury during his time at Barca, but Deal obviously feels that the worst is behind him and aims to make him the focal point of his new attacking formation.

Deal has also acquired the signing of Marcell Jansen from HSV for £4.2M, Jansen will provide Leverkusen with an attacking outlet from his favoured wing back position.

Both signings created a heft dent in Leverkusen's bank balance and we may see a clear out to reduce the clubs wage structure as a result.

Well its been a productive Pre-Season for new Leverkusen manager Jamie Deal, with the recent additions to his backroom staff and the signings of Ibrahim Afellay and Marcell Jansen. We can see here from the run of friendlies they have played, that his tactics seems to be working as he has got his players firing on all cylinders. And with his first competitive game in charge this weekend being the German cup 1st round game against non-league Berliner FC Dynamo, things are looking good for a positive start for Deal and his team.



New signing Ibrahim Afellay seemed to be adapting to his new role as Leverkusen's number 10 getting 4 assists and a goal to his name and averaging an 8.2 rating over the 7 friendlies he played in.

The future is looking positive for Leverkusen.

German Cup 1st Round-
Berliner FC Dynamo v Leverkusen, Jamie Deal's first competitive game in charge saw his team dominate a very weak Berliner side and with 2 goals within the first 20 mins from Eren Derdiyok and new boy Afellay Leverkusen were looking comfortable at the break. Things settled down in the 2nd half with Derdiyok grabbing his 2nd in the 78 min before the final whistle drew a close to an impressive opener for Deal and his men going through to the next round with a 3-0 win over the non-leaguers.

Tough start to Bundesliga for Leverkusen............
Many Leverkusen fans would have been hoping for an easier opening game to the league season than that of last seasons runners up Borussia Dortmund, and they were right to worry as they saw there team demolished by a fierce Dortmund side. who put 4 past a less than impressive Leverkusen.

Deal hoping for better against HSV
After the beating they took from Dortmund, Leverkusen were hoping to forget and move on and it took until the 57 min for a Son Heung-Min header at the back post from a deep corner to get things going. Deal's men continued to apply the pressure and in the 79 min were rewarded after forcing HSV to put the ball in the back of there own net after a goal line scramble. Give Leverkusen a much better and deserved 2-0 victory.

Saved in the last minute....
Leverkusen travelled to Stuttgart for there next game and things looked to be going well when they took the lead through Sidney Sam who is set to leave for Schalke at the end of the season. But to quick goals from Stuttgart before half time left Deal's men stunned, going in at the break 2-1 down. The 2nd half saw Stuttgart put up a wall frustrating Leverkusen's attacking mentality, but Deal's men persevered and were rewarded with a last minute equaliser from Stefan Kießling

Leverkusen host Werder Bremen
Stefan Kießling started were he left off in Stuttgart grabbing an early goal before Bremen were reduced to 10 men after a collision off the ball, saw the ref pull out a red card. kießling then grabbed a 2nd shortly after before Heung-Min rifled in a shot from 22 yards. Unlikely goal scorer Simon Rolfes then got in on the act putting Leverkusen 4-0 up. Leverkusen then took there eye of the ball briefly allowing Bremen to score 2 quick goals either side of the half. But it wasn't another to upset Deal's side who went on to take the 4-2 win.

All in all not a bad month for New man Deal, seeing his side sat in 5th and through to the 2nd round of the German cup.

Leverkusen given tough draw for Champions league, with trips to Lyon, Zenit and Benfica.

Jamie Deal will be looking to qualify for the knockout phase of the competition to achieve the minimum expected by the clubs board, and he will be expecting top performances from his squad to achieve that.




We have news on Leverkusen's next opponents in the German cup. And it is another tough draw for Deal's side with them having to face Dortmund, who provided them with a serious thumping on the opening day of the league season.

Leverkusen will be hoping for a better performance than last time out.

September was an almost perfect month for Leverkusen, with 4 wins out of 5.

First up Gladbach....
In what was a tight encounter at Borussia Park, Kießling opened the scoring for Leverkusen with a poachers goal nipping in at the front post to guide a low cross past the Gladbach keeper. Sending Deal's side 1 up at half time, Ryu Seung-Woo scored Leverkusens 2nd on 77 mins before a late goal from Gladbach made for a nervous last 5 mins.

On the road in Europe
Lyon hosted Deal's side in a game of goals which saw Lyon take a lead early on, but Leverkusen were the ones going into the break with the lead after a quick brace from Robbie Kruse put the visitors in front. But it didn't last and Lyon came out strong in the 2nd half totally dominating and it showed when they scored 2 goals in 10 mins to wrap them game up to take a 3-2 win, with Deal's men looking drained.

One goal wins it....
A single goal from Son Heung-Min early in the 2nd half was all Leverkusen needed to grab a win against Wolfsburg, in what was a very boring encounter for all involved.

Revenge is sweet....
A fierce encounter between Dortmund and Leverkusen in German cup 3rd round, saw Deal's Leverkusen get revenge for the demolition they received on the opening day at the hands of Dortmund.2 goals in the opening 10 mins from Ryu Seung-Woo and Emir Spahic saw Leverkusen take an early and unexpected 2-0 lead, 2 goals in 3 mins from Dortmund just before half time tho turned it in to a very exciting match for the neutrals but I'm sure Jamie Deal of Leverkusen was frustrated that his team had let a lead slip. But it was Leverkusen who would be celebrating and progressing into the next round of the cup when Simon Rolfe grabbed what was to be the winner mid way through the 2nd half before Deal's men put up the wall and defended for their lives. They were grateful when the final whistle went and they could relax with a 3-2 win.

On the rise..
The final game of the September saw Leverkusen rise to 2nd joint top with Schalke on 16 points, after a 2-0 victory over Mainz with Omer Toprak and Ibrahim Afellay getting on the score sheet either side of half time.

October provides a strange month for Leverkusen....

10 man Benfica fall to Leverkusen...
Son Heung min gave Leverkusen the early lead after 3 mins with a perfect solo effort which saw him, weave his way round 5 Benfica players before drilling the ball across the face of the goal beating the keeper at the far post. Benfica grabbed a goal back before half time, but were soon down to 10 men after a dangerous late challenge saw a red card for a 2nd bookable offence. Leverkusen dominated for the remainder of the game grabbing the winner from a Afellay corner with Stefan Reinartz the man heading it past the stranded keeper. The 2-1 win putting Leverkusen back in the group to qualify.

Son strikes down champions
In what was the toughest match yet facing the current champions Bayern Munich, Deal's side didn't show any fear in a match that they shut out the world class group of players at Bayern's disposal. Son Heung-Min got his name on the score sheet once more scoring the only goal of the game in the 54 min with a rifling shot from 25 yards, which sent the Leverkusen fans crazy. Seeing there team beat Bayern 1-0 gave them hope that this really could be a season to remember.

Shock at Nurnburg
After the excellent victory over Bayern along with the impressive form being displayed by Deal's team nobody expected the defeat that came at the hands of 11th place Nurnburg.
Stefan Kießling scoring the only goal for his side in a 3-1 defeat.

2 goal slip...
Some might be thinking that the defeat at the hands of Nurnburg has sent Leverkusen on a downward spiral after they let a 2 goal lead slip away at Zenit. Son Heung-Min and Stefan Keißling had put them 2-0 up inside 20 mins before a strong Zenith side grabbed 4 goals to add more misery to Deal's side with a 4-2 defeat.

Positive reaction
After losing 2 games on the bounce a strict team talk from manager Jamie Deal got his squad thinking positive again and didn't it work just great with a demolition of Hoffenhiem. Son Heung-min opened the scoring before Stefan Reinartz, Stefan keißling and Robbie Kruse put Deal's men 4-0 up at half time. Hoffenheim grabbed a consolation goal late in the 2nd half before Robbie Kruse grabbed his 2nd of the match to secure a emphatic 5-1 victory.

Leverkusen still sitting 2nd in the table and looking comfortable even after a little blip midway through the month, but one thing the Leverkusen manager will need to work on is his defence as his side have conceded no less than 14 goals in 11 league games.

Hi everyone, I'm just looking for some much needed feedback, as not many of you have commented on the story I'm concerned I might be wasting my time continuing updating....that's not meant to sound like I've had enough,I'm sure most of you can understand that receiving comments is always a nice thing to see when you come to update your stories, as it means this views weren't just a passing glance and that people are really interested in how your stories going....


MANY THANKS IN ADVANCE