A SWARM OF BEES - BRENTFORD FC

A Swarm Of Bees - Welcome & Farewell (EP 7)

London calling.



10 points clear at the top with upcoming match against Leeds in the first day of the new year! Will be an interesting month as there maybe some transfers coming in or out of the team. I'm not sure if I should bring another forward or give more chances to Karelis. Also I may need some new options in the midfield.

Brentford vs. Leeds

Really important match against our biggest rival for promotion this year. The first half went back and forth with so many chances. They get the lead, then we take over with brace from Watkins inside 3 minutes, only to receive goal from set piece in the extra time of the first half. Entertaining match, we dominated thru most of it, however it was a draw. For me it's a good result, also QPR lost and so the gap stayed 10 points. POTM for Ollie, who showed why he is fan favorite!

We play them again in 3 days in FA Cup, but I will mainly use guys who don't get so much play time.

Also accepted 1.3 mil offer for Mokotjo from Montreal Impact as he didn't want to continue his contract with us.

Brentford vs. Leeds

Leeds went with the same starting XI as the match 3 days ago with full power, I used some of my reserves and wow, just wow. I needed this result in the other match, I'm not complaining though. Ollie punished them again, goal from penalty and first goal for our youngster Marcus Forss, great job. POTM went to our biggest chance creator - Christian Norgaard. If I could choose would swap the two results.

Aaaaaaaaand we get Chelsea away in the FA fourth round draw.

BREAKING NEWS!

WHAT!?! After just winning Player of the Month award the Spanish winger is out of Griffin Park. I first received an offer for €8 mil. but it was not enough and rejected it, but when The Magpies came with €14 million offer I could not reject. Canos was vital part of our team, however our philosophy is to make money out of the players and don't let nobody get bigger than the club. Tough decision, but it is what it is. He came at Brentford just for 3.1 mil. and now goes for over 4 times this amount. Good business and we will have to go into the market for a replacement.

I liked the guy but the offer was too good, also don't think our game will suffer from missing this guy, hope I'm right. 60% of the sum went into our budget for transfers.

Newcastle are in a tough relegation battle and will need Canos to help them. By the end of the month he had scored once.

Blackburn vs. Brentford

Our first match without the usual 3 way partnership in our attack recently (Mbeumo - Watkins - Canos). Said Benrahma is capable player who I'm sure will step into the shoes and even be better than Canos as he will be the main man to replace him. I like his style a lot but he is not providing as much as I want for now. Good win without any nerves. 2 goal lead in the first half after another penalty (we get a lot of pens this season as my guys are too quick for the Championship defenders). Mbeumo with a goal and POTM.

Leeds made another mistake and now they are far behind us.

BREAKING NEWS!

Brentford once again used their clever approach in the transfer market as they snap up NICLAS ELIASSON (AMR/AML) from Bristol City for just €2.8 mil. At just 24, the Swedish winger had only 6 months until his contract is finished and Brentford used it to their advantage. The club once again fulfill their trademark to sign young Scandinavians (as this one is not the usual tall blonde guy) and not giving a lot of money for transfers.

Another pacey winger (Valencia, Fosu) , who can fit my style of play.

Brentford vs. Middlesbrough

Oh my god! Boro got one up with maybe the best goal I've seen on this FM as Friend scored a volley from the edge of the box into the far corner. As the first match with them (1-1) it was great battle with both team having a lot of chances but WHAT A DEBUT! Eliasson went in play for the last 25 minutes but I wasn't expecting this kind of stuff! The fans went mad at the 89 minute as the new kid in town scores the winner! Amazing! Mbeumo with goal & assist.

BREAKING NEWS!

Brentford agree personal terms with TONI MOYA (MC). The Spanish youngster didn't want to extend his contract with Atletico Madrid as he played only 2 matches for the main team and from the summer will defend the same colors but for different team - Brentford! The playmaker's transfer was surprise for everyone as the English club once again were the quickest team to respond after the rejection from Toni. He will join the club in July.

Using the strategy from real life - get the rejects from the big clubs who have great potential.

Brentford vs. Stoke

Playing against the 22nd team in the table, they also have a new manager (Aitor Karanka). The away team defended really well for the first half and was hard for our players with no space left for their runs. However Christian Norgaard gave us the lead with great long-distance goal (also won POTM). They equalized with only their second shot on target, but only after 5 minutes Bryan Mbeumo put us ahead an I though we've won it. However in the 88' we received a cold shower and there was no time for a response. Not the best result, but this things happens.

QPR &Leeds both lost so 1 more point for me!

As I wanted we offloaded our second goalkeeper Luke Daniels to Derby for €600k (main reason was his wage and he only played once for us) and promoted one of our younger keepers to the first team.
Next we went to Stamford Bridge and I was expecting a slaughtering so I used most of the guys who don't get so many minutes just to keep them in-form.

Chelsea vs. Brentford

Ugh, didn't expect that. Great defensive play by our side as Chelsea played with their best XI. Of course the match was not typical for us and we used only counter attacks. In the end of the first half David Raya saved a penalty kick from Abraham. For the rest of the match we got 1-2 chances, Chelsea didn't manage to break our defense too. Great display by Pontus Jansson & Jeanvier. We get one more match with them (by the way Chelsea are top of Premier League) but I'm not sure if this is good for us as the schedule is already packed.

BREAKING NEWS!

Ethan Pinnock injured himself for a month and I could not risk playing with just 3 defenders (Racic played only 1 game for us) so I used the partnership with Manchester City (which will fall through if we go up in the PL) and snapped up ERIC GARCIA for 6 months. Really great talent.

Player of the Month

BRYAN MBEUMO
[size=4]3 goals & 2 assistsfor the attacker. He established himself as the big part of our team as he has great partnership with Ollie Watkins (who again performed well for another month). I'm using Mbeumo as both left winger or striker. He is showing great potential and hopefully he can live up to it. Also he won the Young Player of the Month for Championship.

Great month for Christian Norgaard with two really great games for him, also all of our defense again was on top level!

LEAGUE TABLE & VERDICT

Another month in which we make the gap bigger and bigger. 12 points clear from the QPR and 16 from West Brom & Leeds. It's interesting that every time we make a mistake our opponents also drop points. The next month we will have 8 games (7 in Championship and 1 for the FA Cup). If we manage again not to loose I think we will be okay and can start preparing for the life in the Premier League.
Also I changed some of the staff - mainly in the scout division and getting new training schedule. Will need better coaches if we want to develop our players.

As I said - trying to keep it the same as the team strategy in real life. I put all my B side available for loan and this is what happened. I'm happy with the result and this is how I'll develop my younger players. Many of them will be playing at low quality leagues but all of them are at least regular starters (except the goalkeepers). Fun stuff but again maybe I should get a Loan manager to do this stuff in the next windows, any recommendations if someone had used one?



The Deadline day came and we have enough money in the bank but we're going to use them wisely and not buying just to bring someone in. I really like some guys playing in the rivals team in Championship as Ben Pearson & Alan Browne from Preston, Lewis Wing from Boro, Matt Grimes from Swansea but they all were not something that we can afford and also against our transfer policy. We should be the ultimate opportunists in the market for now. Also some prospective guys from League One were on our radar but again they will cost us more than €10 mil. and our record signing is Mbeumo for €6.5 mil.

BREAKING NEWS!

SEAN RAGGETT (DC) was recruited as we are short for central defenders. He was owned by Norwich, however played at Portsmouth and was having really good season fighting for promotion. The main thing because I got him (beside his stats) was the price. Only €500k. for a decent physical defender. Again his contract was coming to an end in the summer and wasn't approached by his team so we took the chance.

I was wondering about getting new striker and the unhappy Kamara from Fulham was an interesting option, however decided not to send an offer and give chance to Karelis & Fross.

BREAKING NEWS!

We needed a midfielder and got one just 1 hour before the market was closed - PEDRO CHIRIVELLA (DMC, MC) is coming from the hottest team in England - Liverpool! Another great pull from our scouts as we get him for just €1.7 mil. because of his contract ending in the summer. Getting from the rich and develop the players by getting them chances for first team football.
We have some players that will try to sign before the summer as the bank is half full and I will use the funds for wages. We will see what happens.

This is how the new players look in game:







Thanks for reading once again & hope you enjoy it.

A Swarm Of Bees - Troubles In Paradise (EP 8)

Starting with 12 point lead to QPR, but we have 8 matches this month and hopefully won't struggle. Great chances for players who don't play a lot of minutes to contribute for the team. Rematch versus Chelsea and a derby against QPR. I think in the end of the month it will be a lot more clear if we should start packing for the Premier League or we will have to wait.

Millwall vs. Brentford

I don't know how the ball didn't go into the net of Millwall. Heroic game for their defense and goalkeeper as they faced 17 shots but not one of them was successful. Second draw in a row in Championship (and again versus a team in the bottom of the table), third straight draw and second goalless one. I think in both matches our opponents were lucky and our form is still good. Mathias Jensen wins POTM but this was not enough.

It's time for the rematch with Chelsea and again I'll give a chance to the players with less minutes and will rotate the squad.

Brentford vs. Chelsea

WOOOOOW! What a result! Pedro Chirivella gets his debut and what a debut with scoring the important equalizing goal and winning POTM award! Another great defensive game for us! We didn't use some of our best player at all (Pontus, Watkins, Benrahma). Absolute madness! Our young defender Luka Racic was the hero for us as he scored the first goal of the game and the LAST penalty! We din't miss any of the penalty kicks as Fosu, Marcondes, Dasilva, Dalgaard & Racic all scored. Kante missed for Chelsea! Great win and third match against a PL team that we played as equals (0-1 vs Villa, 0-0 vs Chelsea).

Bad thing is that our LB Dominick Thompson was injured and will miss 1 month at least, so we are with only one option at left back.

No luck with the draw though as we get home game against Manchester United in the beginning of March.

Brentford vs. Preston

Tough game against the 5th in the table Preston. The leading goalscorer in Championship Scott Sinclair gave them the lead. We didn't have the best game however our leaders Jensen (assist) and Watkins (goal) make sure that we don't get the L. We had some chances in the end but their keeper saves them. 3rd straight draw in the league and we're officially in a some kind of swamp or bad luck.22 shots for us, 2 for them but the score is 1-1.

However QPR lost to Leeds so we're again 11 points clear at the top, but we should be very careful.

Huddersfield vs. Brentford

Finally we come back to the winning way! All my 3 new signings were given chance to play in the game even as reserves. Great game by Josh Dasilva who put us in front. Rico Henry is absolute class through the whole of the season as he gets 1 goal, 1 assist and was brought down for the penalty, and also winning POTM. Second goal in second game for Chirivella! Also our opponents are falling one by one. Again most of the pursuing teams lose points and are making life easy for us.

Brentford vs. Reading

Of course this will happen. Reading haven't won for seven games and were close to doing that against me. Although we played with 10 man for more than a half we were the better team and should feel sorry for not grabbing the 3 points. Another great display by Rico Henry who made 1 assist and Mbeumo got us the goal & POTM. No luck for us and this month looks more and more like a failure. Also this shows how we NEED a striker. When Ollie is not performing I could not trust Karelis (who haven scored for years now) and Forss is too young.

We have 2 really tough away games against the 5th Wigan and the 2nd QPR.

BREAKING NEWS!

We are building it for the future! Another great talent signed contract with Brentford. CHRISTIAN FRUCHTL (GK) is ready for the next step in his career as he is leaving Bayern Munich in hope of more playing time. He is often compared as the next Manuel Neuer. The bees snap him for just €375k.

Wigan vs. Brentford

Another unlucky result for us and our second loss. Everything was going well for the Brentford although their captain Pontus Jansson was not playing and Eric Garcia had his debut for the reds. Just for 4 minutes we received 2 set piece goals. Again we were the better team with Wigan had only 4 shots, but we lose. Again the good news are not from the stadium that we play but from the QPR stadium where they lost also and so in just 3 days we're playing them in a really important match.

QPR vs. Brentford

Ugh WHAT!? All the goals that we didn't score in the past weeks went into QPR's net. Fantastic by all my players, JANSSON WITH A HATTRICK, he is central defender, but also a GOD. Of course he won POTM. Jensen with only 4 assist to his name. Mbeumo with a goal & 2 assist. And this was supposed to be not only local derby, but they challenging me for the first place.

Basically we went there, drank their beer and buried their whole team. LOL! I was nervous before this match but not anymore. SUPERB result!

Brentford vs. Cardiff

Easy win with goals from Watkins, Jeanvier and Chirivella (beautiful strike) to get the win. Fosu missed a penalty in the final minutes. Roerslav get the POTM with great display and an assist. So we finish the month a lot better than we started it. 10 games to go!

Meanwhile Chelsea won the Carabao Cup.

Player of the Month

RICO HENRY
Absolute rock through the whole of the season, but this month he was the best in the team with 2 goals, 2 assists & average rating of 7.64. Not too bad for a left back, right! He is one of our most important players. Also has a great potential ahead of him.

Great month also for Pontus Jansson (because of his hattrick), Bryan Mbeumo (2 goals, 3 assists) and one of the new boys - Pedro Chirivella (3 goals, 1 assist).

Don't forget Mathias Jansen with his 6 assists this month!

LEAGUE TABLE & VERDICT

With the results we've got I think we're lucky for making the gap bigger. Our chasers didn't have the best of luck and we're 15 points clear at the top! Really hope that Leeds find a way to finish second or win at least in the play offs. Won't say that this month is a failure, however there is always room for improvement. The win over Chelsea will be forever in our fans hearts, also the demolishing of QPR is another great memory from this month. Hopefully we can win the 4 upcoming matches in March and party all April & May, before the Euro 2020.

We've got ourselves pretty nice goalkeeper for no money and probably will look at a couple of same kind of a deals in the next month, before the new budget comes. Maybe I won't use all of these players but financially will try to get a profit.

In the beginning of the season didn't expect that we will dominate so much and this is happening without having a clear N9 in our squad. Karelis will have to go, don't like him at all. After the nice start Marcondes also is not the player I want him to be, probably will cash on him if there is an offer.

At the end just look at the those stats and see why we dominate the league so much:



Thanks for reading once again & hope you enjoy it.

A Swarm Of Bees - The Bee's Knees (EP 9)

Life is good at Brentford as the club is 15 points clear at the top of Championship. The search for Premier League football soon should be over and the bees will fly they way up to the highest rank of the European football. This month we have 4 games in the league and one for the FA Cup against the giants - Manchester United. If we have a good month I think we will be starting the celebration earlier than expected and will play the rest of the season for fun.We have 4 games against mid-table teams so we should be fine.

Brentford vs. Manchester United

We made it tough for United. Up until the 80-th minute the game was even, but then Jensen made his first mistake for his entire career and gifted United the ball and they took advantage of it. We went full attack and received one more. However the match was pretty even, of course they having the better situations buy I'm proud of the boys. This year FA will be remembered for defeating Chelsea. Good effort, but we lack of quality to match the best teams.

BREAKING NEWS!


Well, not so breaking news! No place for Karelis as he is heading the MLS from the summer. Just got 1 goal for us and could not help us in the Premier League. We will need to bring at least 1 good striker, maybe looking for 2
.

Brentford vs. Swansea

Great performance by the team! Watkins with another goal, Benrahma with goal and assist and our assist king Jensen provides 2 more to his balance and wins POTM. All the team performed really well in this game and didn't gave Swansea any chance.

Nottingham Forest vs. Brentford

We tend to get these tough games, but this time that was not the case. Forest gave their best effort in the second half and managed to even the game after Benrahma got us the goal, of course assisted by Jensen. One of the few matches in which we didn't dominate so much.
West Brom also made a mistake and we're getting closer and closer to the promotion and the title.

BREAKING NEWS!


Brentford are happy to announce the signing of ADAM ANDERSSON (RB, LB) from BK Hacken for €1 mil. Another one classic transfer from the club snatching the promising 23 year old Swedish international. Adam will join his new teammates in the summer hopefully in the Premier League.

Brentford vs. Sheff Wed

Another tough match for us as one of the new signings Niclas Eliasson was the hero of the night, scoring after only 5 minutes, but unfortunately was injured for over a month in the last minutes of the game. Fosu, who came from the benched sealed the win, however the match was really close and easily it could happened the same as the previous match.

Birmingham vs. Brentford

If the right results happened we could get our title here! Ollie Watkins proved once again that he is a team leader, scores 2, wins POTM and now is the Championship leading goalscorer! Another not so easy win for us but at the end we get the 3 points which is more important. Also we finish the month with only 1 goal against us! Our defense is ROCK SOLID, I'm really happy with them.



We don't get the title this match day but we are OFFICIALLY PROMOTED to the Premier League! Great job for everyone at the club! This is probably one of the few times managing in the Championship and just beating destroying anyone who faces us! Really enjoying life at the top now and I know that it will be really tough next season but this is THE fun!

The board give us €44 million for the next year. I'll try to keep the same style with not giving too much money for transfers but it's tough in the best league in the world. Probably will try to exploit another markets where you can snatch players for less money.

Player of the Month

OLLIE WATKINS
Probably can win this award every month but this time he have another accomplishment with going first as the goalscorer of the Championship. 3 goals this month and 21 for the season! Great partnership with the other attacking players and maybe the best striker in our league! We must not loose him in the summer as he is wanted by other PL teams.

Said Benrahma (2 goals, 1 assist) had great month as he earned himself new contract. Mathias Jensen (3 assists) was inform once again and of course ALL of our defense were performing at TOP level!

LEAGUE TABLE & VERDICT

With only 6 games until the end, we are almost sure champions and will try to lift the title at our next match against West Brom at Griffin Park. We have only 3 matches at our stadium before we move to our new ground from the summer (from 12k to 18k). We've got another bargain transfer but now we have to look for really strengthen up the squad but following our club culture and my promises as a manager.

I'll try to offload some players in the upcoming weeks and get the right ones in the summer. Probably need 1-2 attacking midfielder, 1 winger, 1 or 2 strikers. Marcondes will probably leave.

For the next matches I'll probably try to give the players that didn't have enough minutes some playing time, also will try to break the record for most wins and most points.


BREAKING NEWS!


Ladies & gentleman our first BIG signing - ALEXANDER ISAK (ST) for €13.25 mil from Real Sociedad. Our promotion to the Premier League gave us the chance to talk to more brightest talents and we didn't hesitate much. Another Scandinavian and one of the wonderkids from this area! 5 year contract for the striker, but we didn't have the best negotiations and he has a release clause for €33 mil. Will try to offer him new contract before the first season ends, but I'm not sure if the big teams won't want him.

Thanks for reading once again & hope you enjoy it.