Andy Tillson - Pottering On

2013-05-03 18:24#97287 Glenn T : To better your already brilliant story, you should include more 'news articles' on your save of fictional events happening around the club you're currently managing, in this case, Stoke. You can even make it up, like two players having a fight or something. Would be interesting to read instead of the normal results and transfers updates.

Unlucky against Spurs in the FA Cup but good job on that 5-0 thrashing. Appalled you drew with Queens Park Rangers though!

I'll see what I can do. I'm not exactly the most creative of people, though.

I know right! I was disappointed with it. I was lucky to escape with the draw.

Results

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Great victories over Liverpool and then Chelsea secured 3rd place for Stoke. A lot of players were rested for Aston Villa and were on course for a victory but for a late, late Weimann goal.

Final Table

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Record High

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Barclay's Premier League Players' Player of the Year - Ryan Shawcross

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Barclay's Premier League's Manager of the Year - Runner Up

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Barclay's Premier League Players' Team of the Year - Marc Wilson and Ryan Shawcross

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Congrats on your 3rd place finish, what a season you had, can't wait to see you in the Champions League!

2013-05-03 20:05#97314 BFC_Michael : Congrats on your 3rd place finish, what a season you had, can't wait to see you in the Champions League!

Thanks Michael. I'm looking forward to it too.

Jason Roberts has today be confirmed as Andy Tillson's new assistant manager. Roberts had played with Tillson during his spell at Bristol Rovers, where they became close friends. Since then the two have kept in close touch and Robert's decision to hang up his boots after the finish of the 2013/14 season prompted Tillson to swoop in and sign him up as his assistant.

Roberts started his playing with Hayes before being snapped up by Wolves. It was at Wolves where he went on loan to West Country sides Torquay United and Bristol City. Upon his loan ending with Bristol City he was signed for £250,000 by their city rivals Bristol Rovers.

It was a Bristol Rovers he made his name, scoring 38 times in 78 appearances for the club. His form lead to his move to West Brom who bought him from Bristol Rovers for a whopping £2m. He spent 4 years at West Brom before moving to Wigan where he made the League Cup final, losing to Manchester United. After Wigan he moved to Blackburn and then onto Reading. Whilst at Reading he won the npower Championship and after 3 years with the club he chose to hang up his boots.

Tillson spoke with his former team mate and close friend about becoming his assistant at Stoke, a job offer which Roberts could not pass up on. The perfect place to gain his required badges and get experience with professional management.

Finishing third is a great achievement for Stoke City...not sure about the appointment of Jason Roberts though; what are his attributes like?

2013-05-03 21:33#97340 Jamesg237 : Finishing third is a great achievement for Stoke City...not sure about the appointment of Jason Roberts though; what are his attributes like?

Thank you.


Not great but I'm a sucker for appointing players I like. Especially as he's a Gas legend and it fit with the nicely with the story.

Awesome wins against LFC and Chelsea. Congratulations on 3rd place!

I still don't understand why Bristol Rovers are Gas. Please explain! Nice story by the way

2013-05-04 01:30#97375 Glenn T : Awesome wins against LFC and Chelsea. Congratulations on 3rd place!

Thanks Glenn!

2013-05-04 07:16#97394 Louis O. : I still don't understand why Bristol Rovers are Gas. Please explain! Nice story by the way

We are called The Gas because by our former home, Eastville Stadium, there was a gas works. The gas works used to sometimes spill a horrible smell over the stadium. Originally the term Gas or Gashead was used as a derogatory term for Bristol Rovers fans by Bristol City fans. We then turned it around and made it our nickname. Since the mid-1980s to 1990s it's been widely accepted as our nickname across the footballing world and in media.

Thanks for reading.

Stoke City can announce their first summer signing, Wilfried Bony. The power Ivorian striker joins from Premier League runners-up Manchester City. Wilfried Bony started his footballing career at Issia Wazi an Ivory Coast based football team. He spent 2 years there before moving onto Czech side Sparta Prague. While there he scored 22 goals in 59 games and gained the attention of Dutch side Vitesse for a fee of £3m.

It was at Vitesse where the eyes of Europes biggest clubs were looking at Bony. He spent 3 seasons at Vitesse and it was during his finals season there he really turned the heads of the big boys. Bony scored 21 goals in 27 games. It was then when Manchester City beat off the interest of other oil rich side PSG to sign Bony for a fee of £15.5m.

Bony failed to make much of an impact in his one and only season at Manchester City, making just 3 appearances. During the January window of that season Manchester City tried to off load Bony but they priced him out of a move, trying to regain their money and then some profit. It wasn’t until the summer that they decided to cut their losses and offer him for less than they bought him for. Stoke bought the striker from them for a fee of £7.25m, half of the fee Manchester City had paid.

Meanwhile the first departure of the summer for Stoke has come. Trinidad striker Kenwyne Jones has left the club to join West Brom for just £800k. He had become dissatisfied with his time at Stoke making just 3 appearances last season. 29 over the course of the 2 seasons that Tillson was in charge.

Andy Tillson has today come out and spoke out against the appointment of Brendan Rodgers as the new England manager, angered he was overlooked. Brendan Rodgers was appointed manager of England in July 2014, 8 months after being sacked by Liverpool. He had been out of work since then.

“I am hugely disappointed that the FA overlooked me for the England managers job. I have been THE best English manager in the Premier League the last 2 seasons” said Tillson. It appears Tillson considered himself to be the best option for England. One opinion not many can disagree with.

He has gotten a side tipped for relegation when he first joined to finish 7th the same season and then took them to being the 3rd best placed side in the country in his second. Whilst Brendan Rodgers had been out of work for 8 months because he couldn’t get Liverpool into the top half of the Premier League table during the first half last season. He also failed to get out of his Champions League group, finishing last.

“When he fails, I am available. I hope the FA don’t forget that” Tillson seems almost certain Rodgers will fail in his new role. Despite his anger at the appointment of Rodgers and his disappointment with the FA for overlooking him Tillson is too patriotic to turn his back on the England national team.

Rodgers is a good manager, but IRL he sux in FM! You'll get it when he gets the sack! #Stoke

Stoke City have signed Bulgarian international midfielder Georgi Milanov for a fee of £5.5m from recently relegated AS Monaco. Milanov began playing senior football at Litex Lovech. During his time at Litex Lovech the club won the Bulgarian A PFG twice and the Bulgarian Supercup once. He also picked up the Bulgarian Player of the Year award in 2012.

He moved to AS Monaco in 2012 for a fee of £3m, Litex Lovech’s record sale. He was part of the side that won promotion that season to Ligue 1, scoring 3 goals and assisting 4. He excelled in his second season at AS Monaco despite the clubs eventual relegation. He scored 5 times and assisted 8 goals. He has also made 19 senior appearances for Bulgaria, scoring 3 times.

Two players have departed Stoke in the past week. Firstly, Matthew Etherington was released following his contract’s expiration. The 33 year old spent 6 years with Stoke making 157 appearances, scoring 15 times and assisting 17. Despite making just 17 appearances last season he was very successful with his assists, a career high of 6 for the season.

The second player to leave the club is striker Cameron Jerome. Jerome had spent just 3 years at Stoke making 83 appearances, scoring 27 times and assisting 10. He had a career high for goals in one season in Tillson’s first season, scoring 17 times in 37 games. Jerome joins Championship side Charlton for £3.5m as they attempt to bounce straight back up to the Premier League following their relegation.

Stoke City can announce the signing of French youth international Lucas Digne from Lille and Chilean international Eduardo Vargas from Napoli for fees of £9m and £4.4m respectively. Both signings show a real intent from Stoke City as they look to improve and progress on last season’s fine form.

Vargas started off his career with Cobreloa in Chile before he joined Chilean giants Club Universidad de Chile where he spent 2 years gaining the attention of some of Europe’s big boys. It was in 2012 when Italian side Napoli picked the player up for a fee of £14m. He was sent out on loan to Brazilian side Gremio for 2 years, making just over 100 appearances scoring 28 times. He returned to Napoli last season but was out of favour and made turned out just 5 times.

Vargas is also an established Chilean international having featured 29 times and scoring 21 times. He has a fantastic strike rate for the national team and it’s something that Stoke boss Tillson would love to see the versatile attacker bring to Stoke.

Digne had previously played for French side Lille his entire career, being part of their team for 5 years but he didn’t make a senior appearance for the side in his first 2 years. He made 77 appearances over the next 3 years for Lille, scoring 4 and assisting 10. He has made 16 U21 appearances for France.

Digne is expected to fight it out with last season’s Premier League’s Players’ left back of the season, Marc Wilson for a starting spot. Former Barcelona left-back Carles Planas hasn’t had the best of starts to his Stoke career and could leave for more regular football, either on loan or permanently.