Champions League Dream

At the halfway point of the season and it has a familiar feel to it. An excellent start, going 10 games unbeaten in the league had me in 2nd before a run of tougher games brough me back down to earth with a bump.



I'm sitting comfortably inside the top 10 at the halfway stage and only 2 points off 3rd place. The top two are in a league of their own and Enyimba, the double winners from last season look like they're going to be tough to overhaul as Nigerias top club.



It was round this time last season i started to rack up the injuries which cost me and sure enough 17 games in this happened:



My star striker out for 5 months who had been in lethal form (13 games 10 goals 1 assist) In the nxt two games i lost my top 2 assisters for a month each followed by my back up AMR for a month. Deja vu? Thankfully my defence which has looked much better this season has remained injury free.

Given the injuries I think top half would still be my aim though as i said at this time last season continental qualification isnt out of the question!!

8 games to go and the season is getting exciting!! The worry about Peters being out for 5 months was a false alarm - my rubbish phyio got it wrong and it was actually 5 weeks!! We did okay without him though staying unbeaten in 5 games. We then had a tough run of 3 away games which went really badly. In an even game with Kano Pillars we somehow lost 5-0 and followed this by losing 4-2 to Abuja who were just above us in the league. A 1-1 draw with promoted side Gateway rounded off the run of away games and we really should have won that game dominating throughout.

A run of easy home games followed where I put two up front to try and improve my goal difference and my second choice striker hit a hot run of form netting 6 goals in 3 games.



This leaves me well in the race for continental qualification. Th league title has gone - Enyimba are way too far ahead but theres a group of about 8 teams fighting for the remaining three continental spots.



I've played most the teams in the fight already so qualification is in my hands. The home games againt Heartland who have 4 games in hand on me and Enyimba will be crucial I think.

An amendment to my previous post....

Unfortunately 2 games after the last update my computer crashed so i had to pick it up from the last save. This meant replaying 2 of the games included in my last update. These both came out as convincing wins so i'm actually two points better off than the last update. Hate it when this happens - makes me feel like i've cheated

I've updated the fixture list and tables below

Sadly we failed to make it as the teams around us didnt really drop any points. We lost the key fixture to Heartlan which was very disappointing although very happy with a draw with the runaway champions. A final day loss dropped us from 5th to 6th but still this season showed a massive improvement.





With me only on a rolling one year contract it was time for negotiations again. Apparently taking the club to record heights on a paltry wage cap and tiny transfer budget wasnt good enough and i actually got a wage cut!!



Quite happy with the squad setup this year. I have a few players leaving on frees as I felt they wanted too much. My goalkeeper/GK coach who was on a massive wage nearly left due to me being unable to offer him his high wages. I agreed a free transfer for the keeper topping the clean sheet charts for the season then my GK decided to cut his wage demands by 75%!! This meant I could sell my back up keeper.

My fans player of the year was Joseph Peters again. Unsurprising considering his stats (26 apps 21 goals 1 assist 7.38 avg rating) This season he came second on the league goalscoring charts and broke his own club record of goals in a season.

My unsung hero was a tough choice. My second choice striker had a good season (22 apps 9 goals 5 assists 7.20 avg rating) as did both my startig wingers. However my choice is my LB.



He started the season as my secon choice but got his chance through injury and never looked back. He's developed well and got a call up to the Nigeria U'20s finishing the season with 26 apps, 4 assists and 7.12 avg rating.

A quiet preseason in terms of transfers as my established squad is settled and i only needed to replace a few players leaving on frees. Most of the replacements I could promote from my u-21 team as i'd bought youngstrs over the last couple of seasons.

A bit of a surprise as this player arrived through my youth recruitment network which needless to say is awful!



He's gone straight to my first team as third choice striker and meant I could sell my previous third choice striker who couldnt hit a barn door. I also offloaded a young defender i signed in my first season who didnt make the cut for 20k - a new record sale for the club



I also have a few promising youngsters lined up that will be moving once they're old enough. I've been pestering my board to let me scout South America but they're stubborn!!

Preseason went better than previous seasons, 3 wins 2 losses. I have no idea how I lost the first as I crushed them during the game and the secod was against the champs as I wanted to see where I was at in comparison. I outplayed them but a breakaway goal decided it.

I pushed up my expectations with the board this year to top half finish as they stripped me of my transfer budget and cut my wage budget to 5k

My target this year is to crack the top four as I really need to start earning some continental rep

A quick update a little earlier than normal but the news was big enough to deserve it!

After coasting through the first round of the cup I was drawn at home to Enyimba. Enyimba have been champions for the last three seasons, won the cup 2/3 of the seasons (lost in the final last year) and are truly one of the giants of Nigerian football. Needless to say my heart sank as i was hopeful of a good cup run this year.

To make matters worse I had my away game to Enyimba in the league 4 days before the cup match - a likely loss. I would have to pep up the players well if I wanted to progress.

After my pre season friendly game I found my team played better with a 4-2-4 formation against them so despite playing away I threw caution to the wind and started with that tactic. My reward was an excellent display ending with a 2-1 win!!



My first ever victory against Enyimba and a sign of real progress. We didnt only win but we were the better team on their own patch. Since that worked so well I started the cup game with the same tactic. I had to make a couple of changes to the team due to suspension and fatigue.

Enyimba coped much better in the cup and dominated the first half. I made a change at half time bringing on a stronger CM that i was resting and we improved in the second half scoring twice in 2 mins to lead 2-0. 2 mins later we were pegged back by an Envoh striker so I took off my trequartista, Chukwu and replaced him with an extra midfielder with the intention of soaking up pressure and trying to pinch one on the counter. On 74 mins Enyimba struck again through Kalu and I had to ditch the 5 man midfield as we one again had to go ou and try to win the game. Barely 2 minutes after the restart my two wingers combined, Babatunde crossing for Uchechi to slot home at the far post. The five man midfield returned and this time we held out till the end for an unbelievable double result!



I have video highlights for both games saved which i'll link here once i've figured out how to upload them!!

During the first half of the season i hit a nice personal milestone:



Thats 100 games without getting fired!!

On the serious side of things we're involved in what is shaping up to be a very close race for the title. for some reason Enyimba are not as strong this year and the rest of the teams are capitalising on it. I had a bit of a ropey start, drawing games I should have won and a mystifying 4-1 loss to shooting stars. A few more wins followed before a gutting game against Heartland which we were leading 4-2 going into the last 10 mins yet somehow conceded twice to drop 2 points. About 14 games in we were sitting in 4th, 7 points off the top. Since then we hit top form winning 6 on the bounce including breaking my 3rd round cup hex. With most of the big clubs out I fancy my chances this year!!



All this means at the halfway stage we now sit at the top of the table on goal difference!!



Joseph Peters is on fire netting 21 goals in 22 appearances. The other stand out player has been my right winger Danny Uchechi who has 8 goals and 4 assists in 15 starts.

In transfer news I broke the transfer sale record again as my 4th choice defender who I had been receiving 3k bids for suddenly received a bid of 40k. I renegotiated for 50k and off he went. A quick bit of shopping around found a player much, much better who I picked up for 26k and has walked straight into my starting XI. A nice piece of business I think! I've put profils of both below for you to decide!

An extra bonus - i decided to try and take advantag of the love in I have with the board at the moment. This was the result:



My top scout has been hastily recalled and has gone hunting for swim shorts before he jets off to Brazil!!

They don't make this easy!!

I'm unbeaten in the eleven matches since the last update yet still find myself dropping two places. We've progressed to the semi finals of the league cup where we've drawn Gombe - the easiest team remaining. In the league we've played two out of the three remaining title contenders (four including me!!) beating Kano Pillars and drawing with Heartland.



Having also played most the top 10 twice now we're now in a prime position to win our first ever title. A lot may depend on our penultimate game against Nasarawa who are currently in fourth with a game in hand.



On the transfer front another player has been sold for 50k - my reserve LB Soumah. He was highly rated and an international for Guinea but I couldnt give him the game time he deserved so i'd rather get in a youngster as my reserve so i can develop someone else. The funds help keep our heads above water financially too.

February also saw the arrival of this player



A deal had been agreed for him last year but had to wait till he turned 18 to complete. I hav high expectations for him and with a lot of interest around my current front two a good backup plan was necessary

Two games from the end of the season and it all hangs in the balance. My final run in got off to a bad start losing 1-0 at home to Sharks in a match I dominated. The following run of games were all against relegation candidates so I gave Peters a rest to save him for the big games at the end, threw in some reserves and gave them freedom to attack with some spectacular results. The 8-3 goalfest against Wikki Tourists was particularly memorable. 21 goals in 5 games is an amazing haul for my attack.

I am however very disappointed at choking in the cup semi final though. Gombe are so bad i fielded half a team of reserves and ultimately got punished for my cockiness.



I'm guaranteed a place in one of the continental championships next season, most likely the champions league (at last!!) However for now i'm only worried about this season. That home defeat to sharks leaves me in second, one point behind my next opponents Nasarawa who i play at their ground. Defeat hands them the title, victory means I need to at least match their result in the final game. I have Abuja at home who are no pushovers so my team need to be really focused.



Despite my attempts to protect Peters from injury for these games I can't stop him from training and he picks up an injury which rules him out for the rest of the season.

Time for Chukwu to show his mettle and fire us to the title!!

COME ON CHUKWU!!

Thanks for the support

Crunch time!!

After going through game history of Nasarawa I decided to ditch the 4-2-4 i'd used so effectively against the smaller teams and go for a more solid 4-2-3-1 which I use a bit when i play away from home against better sides. The team pretty much picked itself from there. This was how we lined up



And the pre match info:



As you'd expect the game started off quite cagey - Bello missing from a Babatunde cross after 4 mins was the only real chance in the first 20 mins. In the 22nd minute we fell behind to a suspiciously offside goal from Nwachi. On 28 mins we had a chance from a corner which Lartey met at the back post but was headed clear by Collins. Nasarawa broke up field through Salawudeen who sent a pinpoint cross to Collins who finished off the move he started to put the home side 2-0 up. My team were falling apart!

As a must win game i threw caution to the wind and brought on Mohammed, a striker, for my AMC and reverted to my 4-2-4 tactic. From that point on we bossed the game but struggled to get shots off and the scoreline stayed as it was to the final whistle.

A disappointing end to our title challenge but I was proud of how we've played this season to get this far. In the end I let my team down by being too defensive when it mattered, something which the media seemed to agree with me on!!



We still had one game to go and with champions league qualification at stake it was all to play for. When Abuja went 1-0 up after 17 mins I thought we had well and truly bottled it. With Heartland drawing in their final game we slipped down to third as it stood. However a Lartey header from a corner after 28 mins levelled things up and pushed us back into second on goal difference. From then on we didnt look back scoring 3 more times to run out 4-1 winners and qualify for the champions league!!



As a reward I received yet another pay cut from the board. Thanks Mr Chairman!!

A new face on the block for the fans player of the year. Impressed by his performances at the tail end of the season Yakubu Chukwu won the fans poll. His final stats read 29 apps 15 goals 13 assists and an avg rating of 7.61. A fine season indeed!

My unsung hero this year was another tough call with again my right winger Uchechi just being edged out by Johnson Bello, my midfield enforcer. 34 apps with 2 goals and 8 assist at an average rating of 7.14 is a great return for a player that does all the dirty work.

Surprisingly the club fell in stature last season which I dont really understand. My board have requested a minimum top half finish and since the difference between that and title challenge was an extra £500 on the wage budget thats exactly what I promised them.

My personal target is the domestic double and semi finals of the ACL. Semi finals is achievable I think, as long as I avoid the Egyptian and South African teams

My game appears to have developed a problem......

I'm being asked to register 30 players for the next round of the African champions League but i'm not in the current years competition (the ACL starts as the domestic season nearly finishes).

Now I cant register players and I cant progress the game till I do!!