Comings and goings at The Anchor..

The first signings for Beaulieu FC attempted to add some steal to a relatively weak midfield. Versatile Italian midfielder Massimo Gobbi (top) joined for a bargain price of £85k, while promising, tenacious German midfielder Marc-Andre Kruska joined for a paltry £50k.

With the initial 7 day window passing, a few players found themselves out of the door. Marcelo Tavares had been a worrying presence at CB, making a number of mistakes and giving away far too many free-kicks in dangerous areas. The fantastically named Wang Dong had barely got a look into the midfield after the Gobbi signing and was surplus to requirements. Otacilio had struggled to break into the team past the impressive Donnet, so when an offer of 70k came in the pacey Brazilian left. Old favourite Dida was unimpressive and quickly found a home at Neil Baldwins Workshop Wednesday for £65k.

Next to find their way to The Anchor was lightning-quick defender Nedum Onouha, who can play at both CB and RB. I have high hopes that he’ll grow into a great CB, but throughout the first season he was deployed at RB due to his relatively small stature.

Hugo Rodalleha had been in stunning form, with 108 goals in 150 games, but when an offer of £400k came in, the powerful Colombian forward was regretfully let go for an offer too good to refuse. Beaulieu FC fans were worried that without their talisman, the team would struggle to score goals. However, I managed to engineer a stunning double transfer coup – the signings of wonderkids Guilherme and Martin Caceres. Guilherme is an explosive striker of great potential, while Caceres is a rock solid central defender, both good in the air and blessed with pace.

With Beaulieu FC struggling to raise funds for another big signing, two regular first team members found themselves heading for the exit. Roland Linz had never really performed and, with Hoarau in favour and playing well, found himself in the cold and out of the door for £400k. Mattias Donnet had performed well patrolling the right flank, but yet another offer of £400k was too good to turn down for the Argentinian winger. Glauber had never performed brilliantly, with a very low return of goals and assists, so when an offer of 190k came in, I had to let him go. The last and toughest depature came inthe form of young midfielder Felipe. £250k represented a good bit of business, with the youngster forced out of the team by Lima, but it was hard to let him go.



Money in hand, two big signings entered Beaulieu FC. First came explosive Argentinian winger Diego Valeri (below). Able to patrol either flank, the youngster has great pace and fantastic potential. However, the biggest signing was of Brazillian superstar Dani Alves (above). Able to be deployed either at RB or RW, the maestro is a creative force for Beaulieu FC.



The final two bits of business for the season saw 2 players leave and another two join. Utility man Sidnei had struggled to break into the first team all season and had decided to leave at the end of the season. Despite having good stats, he simply didn’t perform when on the pitch. I wanted a player who could cover all the same posistions, so ended up striking a deal for Maddisom, a 21 year old pacey brazillian, with Sidnei and 65k going in the opposite direction.

Finally, the last of my initial trio of strikers left The Anchor in a deal for Moroccan international Marouane Chamakh. Good in the air, Chamakh has made a decent start to life at Beaulieu FC but some fans are grumbling he still hasn’t justified his fee of £300k, with Hoarau moving the other way.

All in all, there were a fair number of comings and going through The Anchor, but most signings were improvements on their predecessors.