Magician's Dover Saga - S5E02 Kickoff

January 23 we headed to Wrexham to play them in the Vertu Trophy. We won 3–0 so we are going through.


Diop was in good form recently but he will be out for 6–8 days as he suffered a bruised thigh after landing heavily in training.

Then it was time to play Wycombe and this was another thriller. Overall we have been the better team so winning 4-3 was not a surprise.


Before the transfer window closed I sent backup goalkeeper Vicente Reyes to Dag & Red and backup right-back Federico Colombo to Maidstone on loan to take them off the wage sheet.

All of this for nothing as another report in February stated that we are failing Financial Fair Play again. My plan should have worked if not for the loanees who came back from their half-season loans.


Fulham have decided to make another offer for Finn. This story never seems to end, but while I’m here they will have to pay good money or stop irritating me with these nonsense offers.


Then it was Luton Town on our radar. Doggson was sold to Luton just a couple of weeks back and he was playing in that match. Well, he didn’t help them too much as we won 5–0.


Lucky for us, lower league teams in England can sign players all season long and Dag & Red decided to make a loan move for Marin Zgomba. He is not developing well and he will be out the door when the season ends even though he is only 23.


That is it — finally on 9 February we managed to overcome the financial struggle and the transfer embargo was lifted.



It just happened before our away FA Cup match against Swansea. They are second in the Championship so I expected to lose. But…



Diop was back and he decided to score a hat-trick in 20 minutes.


I decided to control the game since we scored three, but that didn’t stop the players from adding two more.




Just a friendly reminder during the half-time break to make sure we didn’t let this go was enough. But they were hungry and we kept scoring. Eventually the match ended 7–0.


I never expected this, but it is also fair to say that we have been very lucky with the draws this season as so far none of the big teams have ended up in our path.

This cup is all about money and we need it this season more than any other. We cashed out £144k.

Then we got another piece of good news that our fourth-round opponent will be Norwich.




Then we played Bradford and won 2–0. Again Diop was in top form again.


This was our 8th straight win and we were 22 points ahead of Bolton. It looks like we can pull off another promotion. Why I’m not surprise.

IMPORTANT
The game crashed a couple of times. These are the results from the first simulation.

I played Millwall and in the first simulation we won 2–0, but the game crashed during the Mansfield match.

Because the last save was from before the match, I had to play it again. In the second simulation we won 3–0.

After that we drew 2–2 with Mansfield and then won 2–1 against Leyton.

We then eliminated Norwich on penalties in the FA Cup and played Bolton. We were winning 1–0 when the game crashed again.

At that stage I thought it might be a skin issue, so I verified the game files and switched back to the original skin.

Later I learned the problem was actually caused by the assistant manager leaving for West Brom, and the developers had to release a patch to fix the assistant manager bug.













THIS ARE FINAL RESULTS
Our next home match was against Millwall. We conceded first but quickly equalized, and four minutes later we scored another. Then we scored a third in the 94th minute. Overall, it was a well-deserved victory.


Injuries are a problem this season and this time Mike Aidoo will be out for 1–2 weeks. It is a bit of a problem since we sold Dodgson, who was the only backup able to cover both wing-back positions.

We then travelled to Mansfield and won again. This time it was 3–1. This win got us into the play-off spots. We were already 25 points clear of second Bolton.


We added Landon Emenalo to the injury list as he is out with a calf strain for a couple of weeks. It wasn’t good news, but at this point we received a message that Bolton had dropped points and that meant we were going to be promoted to the Championship.


John sent me a message on the 27th of February saying that he is setting new budgets since we got promoted.


When all the excitement settled down we were back on the pitch to play Leyton Orient. We quickly scored four goals and the match was effectively over. They did get a goal back and created chances in the second half, but we defended well enough to get a 4–1 win.


Oh, another injured player joined the injuries club. This time it was James Scanlon, out for a couple of days with a tight groin.
For the first time in months we received a monthly financial update which stated that we comply with Financial Fair Play.

On top of that I got the award for Manager of the Month. A good reminder of how well my team has been playing.


I have organized a small celebration for the players after promotion by taking them to a restaurant. Well, I may have taken them there, but John was paying for it.

I used that opportunity to talk a bit about our upcoming game with Norwich. They have been sitting in 10th position in the Premier League, but their squad doesn’t have much better players as us so I would say they can be beaten.

While we were enjoying the meal there were matches being played, and it turned out Bolton lost again. That result was decisive and made us champions as well.


When it came to the Norwich match I could not use some of the injuries players as well as Iu Martínez who was suspended.

That didn't stopped us from wining it. We scored a goal in the 54th minute thanks to Finn and then switched to control mode. It turned out to be enough and we are going to the next round. This also resulted in extra cash, and this time it was £270k. More money, fewer problems.




After beating Norwich we had to play Bolton in the Vertu Trophy. The match ended 1–1 but we lost on penalties.


I thought we should win this, but our concentration dropped and they scored a lucky goal in the 86th minute, giving them the draw. Penalties are often a lottery so I try to avoid it at all cost. This time the luck was on their side.
It would have been nice to win a cup, but I guess we have been doing so well in the league that I couldn’t be angry with the players.

Four promotions and four championships in four years – it’s quite an achievement.

But we still have games to play this season and the next one was a big one, as we were facing Richard „Dickie” Dunne’s Blackburn. I know what you’re thinking: it’s going to be another rivalry. But I have to tell you something.

Dickie called me after my episode on Gary Neville’s podcast and we had a chat. He said that he was wrong to call us an easy opponent and that we have shown on the pitch that we are an extremely well-oiled machine defining a new standard in the league. He apologized again and said we should patch things up and move on.

He even made the same statement in one of his post-match interviews, so it wasn’t just empty words.

Obviously we’re not going to become best friends, but I’ve gained his respect.

The match with Blackburn started with a tunnel for our team. I guess Dickie wasn’t joking and really wanted the rivalry to be forgotten.


As for the match itself, we were rusty and couldn’t find a goal. They scored first, and it took us until the 91st minute to get the equalizer. Not an ideal performance, but a friendly reminder that we’re not untouchable.


The reason for the players underperforming could be fatigue. I sent some of them for two days off, as we will be playing against Millwall F.C. in the FA Cup shortly.


We then played Notts County at home and again we started poorly. We conceded first again, and it should have been two if they had scored the penalty. As always, a “friendly reminder” to the players about their level of performance was enough, and we came away with a 3–2 victory.


Walsall F.C. were our next opponents. Because of our upcoming FA Cup clash against Millwall, I decided to make changes to the line-up. Well, I mostly played backup players – but that was still enough, as we beat them 2–0. We had 15 shots on goal while they had only one.


Then, on the 1st of April, we received a financial summary stating that we are not compliant with Financial Fair Play. It must have been an April Fool’s joke. How can we not be compliant if I have literally done everything to keep spending under the limit?


In the match against Millwall we were dominant and won 1–0. Progress has been made, and that is important. What’s even more important is that we got £540k for reaching the quarter-final.




Then it was time to face Wrexham. Matches against them are like movies – full of drama. This time we came from 2–1 down to win 3–2. I guess that’s not the ending they expected, but my players were more clinical.




The next episode includes six game played matches. The game time is about one hour – although I will try to make it shorter. For those who don’t want to watch the whole episode, I will also upload a written version.

If you want to see any other game screens, write it in the comment section and I will try to include them.
The video episode is without narration. As I’ve said many times, the video is part of the story – not the other way around.

On the 10th of April we travelled to Burton Albion for a league match. They are bottom of the table, so for us there was only one acceptable outcome: a win. The players delivered. This time there was no drama — just control and efficiency. Eleven shots on goal, 3.92 xG, and the job done.


Four days later we were away again, this time at Sheffield. It was a tough match, but the team showed character and we came away with a 3–2 victory.


Then, on the 18th, it was time to face Bolton. A rollercoaster of a game, but once again the winning mentality of this team was clear. We had only four shots on target — and we scored four goals. That is football. Sometimes people talk about beauty; I talk about efficiency.


Unfortunately, Edan has been injured, and this will be a problem as he was in very good form. He will be out for the rest of the season.

Finally, it was time to play Crystal Palace in FA Cup. I tried to make it competitive, but sometimes the mountain is simply too high to climb. Their pace was simply too much for us. If Raimondo had scored that penalty, maybe the story could have been different.


This cup was never really ours to win — but it was important for the prize money. We desperately need the financial support if we want to continue progressing next season.

On the 25th, Gary’s team travelled to Dover. Gary was already annoyed because Salford were not going to be promoted, so even a win would not change anything. If you remember our last away match there, their fans were loud and energetic. This time they were much quieter. Meanwhile, our supporters had something to celebrate — back-to-back promotions. A tifo banner had been prepared for the occasion.


They have also been singing a new chant that goes like this:
Four in a row!
Dover on the go!
Championship now—
We run the show!

We scored 4 goal in the first half so I switch to control mode. During the half time break I told the players to relax a little. I did not want them to embarrass the opponent.



As for Gary himself, he showed a bit of class after the match. He spoke to our players and told them how lucky they are to have a manager like me. I won’t be arguing with that—it’s rather obvious I’m the mastermind behind Dover’s success.

Our final match of the season was against Plymouth. On paper it should have been an easy game, but football is never that simple. In the first half they matched us in the statistics and caused some problems. In the second half I have nade coule changes, and that decision completely changed the match. Three goals later we had a comfortable 3–0 victory.


And that was the end of the season.

At the beginning, I was very skeptical. The financial problems made everything more difficult than it should have been. But somehow we managed it. Now we will be playing in the Championship next season.

The numbers speak for themselves: only one defeat, six draws, and thirty-nine wins. The lowest number of goals conceded and the highest number scored.

People talk about “meta tactics” as perfect systems. I do not believe in that.

For those who red the first episodes of this story, you already know the philosophy:

It is always about effectiveness, not perfection.

Variation style over meta exploits.

Progress is measured by winning matches. That is the only objective.

For those who are skeptical that it only works in lower leagues, here are a couple of screenshots from my Talavera save.

Hello everyone,

I have decided that the Dover story will end here for now.

The recent situation with MrTimi made me reflect on a few things.

I believe that not everything people post should be considered abuse. There should be room for constructive criticism.

However, I have noticed that many people download tactics and other add-ons, but very rarely acknowledge the work that goes into creating them. Often, the only time some users comment is when they encounter a problem or when an update is delayed.

When I created this story, my goal was to build something for the community and encourage engagement. I tried several things to involve people and make them feel part of it, but unfortunately it didn’t work. I even created anonymous polls so people could participate easily, yet most still chose not to engage.

I don’t know whether this is a generational issue or simply a reflection of how people interact online today, where many only speak up when they have something to gain.

I was raised to believe that if someone asks a question, you try to answer it. If I don’t know the answer, I will say so openly, because no one can know everything.

What bothers me the most is the ignorance factor. The mentality of taking from the community without giving anything back. It is painful to watch.

Thank you to those who supported the story along the way.

so sorry to hear this
hopefully you'll do more content in the future
stay safe n take care

Thanks.

I will continue the save for now, as I actually enjoy the challenge and hardship at times.

Before deciding whether to pause posting here, I’ve added a link to the SI forum to see if I can get any feedback there. We’ll see if anyone responds. Depending on the feedback, I might rethink whether to continue the story at a later stage.

ur most welcome buddy
look forward to seeing more

For a change, it is nice to see Spurs winning something, as they won the Premier League. The teams that are going down are Aston Villa, Leeds, and QPR.





Tables and stats.








Full Fixture _ https://fmshots.com/image/w6M5yC

John has decided that we should expand our stadium, so before it happens, we will play in Central Park. This investment will be financed by a loan.



The good news is that we received money from the FA Cup and League One, which will definitely have a positive impact on our finances, especially as we failed again to meet Financial Fair Play in April.


There have been some changes to ticket prices again. They will be slightly higher than last year.


The season ended with the awards, and we won a couple, which should not be a surprise considering that we made history by collecting the highest number of points in League One.

Iu Martinez won the Best Player in League One as well as the Young Player of the Year award. Gabriel Breeze won the Golden Glove, and I won Manager of the Season. It is nice appreciation for the hard work we have put in this season.


Finally, in June, we received the financial report confirming that we are complying with the regulations. This was crucial, as with a transfer embargo, progress would be impossible.


Some players’ contracts are running out, and I am planning to let them go as they are not good enough. I offered Filippo Distefano a new contract, but he does not qualify for a work permit, and I wanted to use the ESC slot for better players, so he will be released.

Then, on the 4th June, Norwich triggered the release clause for Landon Emenalo. Unfortunately, he was unhappy as I did not let him leave in the January transfer window, so there was no option for a contract renewal.

He will be the first to be sold. These clauses worry me, as most of the players I signed did not agree to higher release fees, even though I offer additional relegation clauses.

There has been a lot of interest in Finn Maher again, so I have offered him a new deal. He is doing well, and I would like to keep him if possible.



Firstly, Brighton offered £2.1m with add-ons, then improved it to £2.5m, but I said no. I thought that would be the end of it, but they kept pushing with £3.9m plus add-ons. I rejected that as well, and then they submitted an offer worth £5.25m. I considered it for a while, but I would rather sell someone else. After I rejected that offer, they gave up their interest, and he committed his future to Dover.


So far, I have been unable to convince any players to join, but that may change once they are released. Recently, the best approach has been to wait until the transfer window is closing so players become more desperate. The issue with that is that some of the players I have been interested in in previous years have already found clubs.

We received £3.39m for TV rights.


Next season will definitely be the hardest in my career. There are some very good teams in the league, especially Leeds and Aston Villa. Of course, our aim is to stay in the Championship, but in recent years we have usually overachieved. Will it be the same this year? I guess I will need something more than just magic to make that possible.



I will go through transfers and pre-season in the next update. Luckily, we passed Financial Fair Play for July, so we can sign players.

The beginning of the month was quiet. It was hard to finalize any deals, but eventually, on the 9th of June, we made our first signing — a winger on loan from Monaco, David Dunne.




Then we got the news that Osman Kamara is off to Ajax for £1.9 million. I’ve no idea how they’ve managed to pull that off, but I’m not complaining — we had a 20% profit clause, so we pocket a tidy £180k.


By the 12th, we’d agreed deals for two free agents. One’s very much “for the future” — Hrafn — and the other is Liam Bennett, a 27-year-old wing-back.


So far, this is not ideal as the squad is missing crucial players. On top of that, some players are unhappy and want to leave.


More annoying news came after a friendly with Leyton Orient, as David Dunne got injured and will be out for 2–3 months.


There are plenty of free agents with potential, but I have roughly £45k for wages and they are asking for £20k+ per week.


Aston Villa are an obvious candidate for winning the league.


On the 31st of July, Leicester made an offer for Edan Diop. It was a big one that could sort our financial problems for a while, so I accepted it. They are mad, offering £16.5 million for a player when there are free agents with similar ability.


The financial report was rather a formality, as cashing in that much on a player will help us pass it.


We now have £52k per week in wages and £9.35 million for transfers. Last year, I adjusted the transfer and wage budget by moving transfer cash to wages, but then we couldn’t meet FFP, so I will leave it as it is this year for the time being.

Then, on the 5th, we got news that Owen Dodgson is five appearances away from making it 20, and if this happens, we will receive £110k.

The same day, we finally signed a free agent, Florian Micheler. Then, on the 7th, we added Diego Rodrigues as a direct replacement for Edan.




Fraser has become another player who has joined the “unhappiness club”. If he behaves like Kamara last year, he will soon hit the door. I would rather keep Raimondo, as he is more consistent.


We will play our first match on the 11th against Oxford. The friendlies were… average at best, so I lined up a few weaker sides just so we could remember what scoring goals feels like.



Unfortunately, Tyler Fredricson has suffered a hamstring strain in training, so he will be out for a while.

Our first match in the Championship was against Oxford.

Due to issues with defenders, I moved Tomas „Tommy” Marques from DM to centre-back. He’s not fully familiar with the position, but at the moment I don’t have a better options.

I’ve made a tactical switch this season. I’ll be using 4-3-3 DM as the default, 4-2-3-1 as a more counter-attacking setup, and 3-5-2 or 4-2-4 when attacking. As you know, I manage games by adjusting team instructions during the match—it mostly depends on statistical indicators and match momentum. I’ve also mentioned before that I use different roles for certain players to create varied outcomes, especially in attack.

My goal is to win matches—winning big isn’t particularly important. Whenever we score two goals, I switch to a control mode (which usually means lowering the tempo, setting time-wasting, and turning off counter-attacks).
The same goes for mentality.

This has two purposes: firstly, to avoid conceding a goal because we’ve been caught out of position while counter attacking and secondly, to manage player fatigue.

Moving on, we won that match 5–0. All goals were scored in the first half—efficient, if nothing else.


On 11 August, we added Charlys to the squad, a well-rounded midfielder released by Verona.


Our next match was away to Portsmouth in the EFL Cup. Their manager is John Terry—yes, that John Terry. The match ended 1–1. We were the better side but, couldn’t find a winner. It went to penalties, and thankfully we won this time.


In the second round of the EFL Cup, we drew Brighton.
On the 17th, we signed a wing-back Guillem Víctor (ex-Barcelona B).


He made his debut in a Dover shirt the next day against Aston Villa. Villa still have Morgan Rogers, Watkins, Tielemans and other quality players, so winning was always going to be… optimistic. They were the better team but only won 2–1. We did try to equalize, and I switched to a very attacking mentality, but we couldn’t break them down. Still, considering the difference in squad quality, it’s not a terrible sign.


A couple of days later, we had another away match—this time against QPR. This time, we won 2–0. Fredricson is back, which is good news, as we don’t have many options at the back right now.


Then we drew 1–1 with Brighton in the EFL Cup, and once again it went to penalties. Once again, we were better.


At this stage, I was getting desperate to solve the centre-back crisis, so I arranged a loan signing for Mattia Giunti from Roma. His height should be a useful addition defensively.


He wasn’t ready for the next match against Burnley, so I had to use Tommy again as a ball-playing defender. We didn’t play particularly well, but we got the win. We scored a lucky goal in the 9th minute and then defended just well enough to secure the three points. Not pretty, but effective.


As the transfer window neared its end, player demands started to drop. I took advantage by signing left wing-back Somto Boniface (ex-Chelsea) and centre-back Vítor Reis (ex-Man City). That concludes our transfer business—for now.




On the 4th, we faced Man City in the EFL Cup and lost 2–1. They fielded a strong side, so the result itself isn’t terrible. However, if you look at the stats, they created plenty of chances. I can’t really fault the players.




Reporter: Good afternoon.
Me: Good afternoon.

Reporter: Do you feel surprised that your team is out of the competition?
Me: Not at all—we were never expected to win it. I was surprised, though, that Man City chose such a strong XI against us. It shows their manager sees us as a serious threat, which is encouraging.

Reporter: Looking at your form since the start of the season, you’ve performed very well. Dover have played 7 matches, won 5, and drawn 2. The only losses came against Aston Villa and today against City. That’s a strong start—what do you think?
Me: Absolutely, I agree. Despite some squad difficulties, we’ve performed better than expected. We’re not at our best yet—there are a lot of new faces, and I’m still experimenting with tactical adjustments to take the team to a higher level.

Reporter: Do you think you can stay up this season?
Me: I don’t want to get carried away with my statement, but I believe we should be able to stay up.

Reporter: There have been reports that Steven Gerrard, currently managing Wolves, is interested in Iu Martinez. Are you planning to sell him?
Me: Yes, I’ve heard the rumors. I spoke with Iu and told him it would be a mistake to leave now. He seemed to agree, but I’ve learned that some players have big egos. Whether he’s one of them—we’ll see.

Reporter: How do you feel about losing Edan?
Me: He was an outstanding player for us last season, but some offers are too good to refuse. Without our financial struggles, I might have reconsidered, but we needed the money. I have a good feeling that Diego and Florian will fill the void he left in the squad.

Reporter: Sources say there is a group of unhappy players in the squad. What are you planning to do about it?
Me: Nothing. There is one important lesson here: football is a team game. If a striker performs well, it’s not only because of him, but also because of the players around him—mainly the midfielders and wingers. The same applies to defense. We cannot forget about tactics either.

Some players have one good season, score a few goals or get some assists, and then start to believe they are the main reason the team got promoted. Then they—or their agent—put the idea in their heads that they are underpaid.

They are delusional if they think I will offer them new contracts every year.

Reporter: What happens if you lose the dressing room because of this attitude?
Me: I’ve mentioned this before—if a player wants to leave, they can put in a transfer request. Some players in the team have release clauses, so if they are as good as they think they are, other clubs will buy them and they can demand whatever wages they want there.

Some people value themselves higher than reality. I’m not saying they should have low self-belief, but there is often a difference between how we see ourselves and how others see us.

I’ll tell you something—some players will leave because I won’t offer them the money they want. They’ll probably go to a club that pays more, but then end up in the reserves for most of their careers. Players need first-team football to develop. I offer them that opportunity, and if they think it’s not enough, I won’t be held to ransom.

Personally, I believe Landon is making a mistake and should sign a new contract.

Me (continued): I speak to players—if they want a new contract and don’t accept the reasoning behind my decision, they can always try becoming an influencer on YouTube or Patreon.

They can make money telling fairy tales about how they alone got Dover into the Championship. The internet is full of people who will believe anything they’re told, so maybe they’ll succeed there.

They just need to remember to make dramatic thumbnails—with their mouths wide open like they’re gasping for air—and come up with flashy titles, because that’s what sells the idea. Then they can post whatever nonsense they like.

Reporter: That’s a strong statement.
Me: People get addicted to patterns. I’ve always been different—I’ve said it many times. I set my own standards; I don’t follow trends.

The older you get, the more knowledge you gain. You either become a leader or a follower.

I choose to be a leader—someone who drives progress.

Reporter: But those players will make progress by going to better teams, won’t they?
Me: Yes, that is correct—but only if they play.

Do you remember Mofe Jemide? He was eager to join Bolton. Do you know where he is now? Playing for

Enugu Rangers in Nigeria. Is that progress?

Elias Benkara? He is a free agent again.

Harrison Murray-Campbell? He was sent on loan to Plymouth and then moved to Wolves, where he is now a fringe player.

He called me a month back to ask if he could return on loan. I told him we would try, but Wolves was demanding full wages as well as a fee, so we decided against it. He admitted it was a mistake and that he should have listened to me.

Unfortunately, it is too late now. Maybe some players will watch this interview and it will be a lesson. If not, there is nothing else I can do.

Reporter: Thank you for your time. Good luck and see you soon.
Me: Thank you.

World transfers in June July