Greetings one and all,
I'm not usually one for making forum posts, but I decided that, following Bournemouth's success, I would attempt to bring a club from league 2 to the top. I've chosen Accrington Stanley from this, solely because of the Soccer Am joke.
So stay tuned for more updates soon, as I, Yogi Bear, attempt to create my footballing dynasty with Accrington Stanley.
PRE-SEASON 2014/15
Transfers Out
Nicky Hunt sold for 9k, funded lopez transfer
Scott Davies loan terminated, wage free replacement fulton
Brister on loan to torquay
Anthony barry loan terminated
Transfers In
Ryan fulton, loan from liverpool (GK)
Esteban Lopez (AM) free transfer
Tom Anderson (CB) loan from burnley
Ross Jenkins (CM) free
Alex Brister (rb) free
Simon Locke (Gk) free
Tom King (lb) free
Matteo Capitani (st) free
Johnny Maddison (gk) free
Yeray Torres (cm) free
Tom Bender (lc/cb) free
James Rowe (cm) free
Will Beesley (lb) free
Friendlies
Stanley 1 - 0 Burnley
Sloppy goal conceded by Burnley, but we defended well and made them work for every shot. 40/50 tackles for us shows how the game went. Impressive nonetheless.
Tactic used: Holding 433.
Worchester 1 - 3 Stanley
Nothing important to note, unlucky to concede.
Tactic used: Attacking 433.
Stanley 3 - 2 Macclesfield
Missed too many chances, conceded too easily
Tactic used: 442
Stanley 3 - 1 Stranraer
Somewhat disappointing all-round, but probably down to fixture congestion
Tactic used: Attacking 433
Stanley 0 - 2 Sheffield Wednesday
Played very well, matched them in most areas, surpassed them in other. wednesday’s strength in the air proved the difference. Promising.
Tactic used: holding 433
Remaining friendlies left to assistant
Stanley 2 - 0 Farsley
Stanley 0 - 0 Blackburn
Stanley 0 - 5 QPR
Staff
Replaced Head of Youth Development with Wayne Evans.
Two good scouts, Paul Montgomery and George Rooney (15+ PA,CA)
Promoted Dmitri Lavrinovic to coach and signed Julian Monk (general/fitness) and Darren Heynes (Gk)
Misc
Increased junior coaching budget
Increased wage budget
Pitch size minimum available
Many of signings were made for youth depth.
Summary
Leaving aside the final friendly against QPR, I feel like pre-season was a great success. We played well in most games, and added depth to both our first and youth teams. Based on this, I think that we should be able to avoid relegation, and finish in the no-mans land between top half and going down.
August Update
Home vs Southend.
Dominated, but couldn’t put away my chances. Lost 2-1 to a late corner goal.
Home vs Blackburn (Capital one cup)
3 nil loss. To be expected.
Away vs Cheltenham
3-2 victory thanks to a late screamer from Esteban Lopez. Goalie looks a bit dodgy. Naismith (3 assists) and Lopez both made team of the week.
Away vs Shrewsbury
Made a lot easier for us when Connor Goldson was sent of for Shrewsbury 3 minutes in. 2 nil up after half an hour, lost the 3-2. not happy.
Home vs Luton
Southend all over again, couldnt create an opportunity for love nor money. Very disappointing. Lost 2-1
Away vs Bury
Nil all draw against second in the league. Best result in ages.
Player of the Month
For me, the award goes to Kal Naismith, with an average rating of 6.93. Even though Esteban Lopez had a higher average rating (7.04), Kal always looked most likely to make something happen. He set up 3 out of our 6 goals this month.
August Record
Games Played: 6 Wins: 1 Draws: 1 Losses: 1
Goals For: 7 Goals Against: 12
