Close but no cigar…

I knew I had a chance going into the final day of the season, but I also knew I’d have to win all of my remaining matches to have a realistic chance of winning the league. I managed to thump Monobrow 5-1 and I dominated Humberside but only came away with a 2-1 victory. But the match away to Seeks is where my season finally stumbled to a halt. With 5 minutes left in the match, Aissiti whipped a perfect cross into the box right onto the head of Julio Baptista 2 yards from goal. He headed over the top. Two minutes later, he did it again. Some things just aren’t meant to be. My congratulations go to Alex Leeman and his side Eagle Warriors who put together a brilliant season to edge me to the title. Roll on next season!


Transfer News

A couple of transfers in and out of The Anchor have occurred since I last updated. The first saw the lightning Mexican Enrique Esqueda head for pastures new. He had great stats and had performed admirably in the second season, grabbing a goal every other game. Unfortunately, he’d mightily struggled this season, managing less than one in 3 while often playing as the lead striker in my team. His contract was up at the end of the season and he was demanding a £12,000 pay rise – in other words, he was on his way out of the club.

After contacting a lot of people about a deal, I managed to secure a swap for a young striker with a great future, Julian Kipre. In a real baptism of fire, two of his first matches were in the Gold Cup Quarter Finals as the lead striker in my formation. In 2 legs he had a hand in all my goals, scoring twice and winning a penalty for Baptista to convert. Blessed with both pace and aerial ability, I’m looking forward to seeing good things from the young African.



Another player shown the door was Slovenian legend Samir ‘Sammy Hands’ Handanovich. He’d performed well enough over the fourth season, but he’d not been exceptional. A few big errors in cup and league games had also cost me matches and points. Although on a reasonable wage of 13,500, I realised there were cheaper options available to me. As he was never going to be locked next season, I secured a straight swap for Brazilian shot-stopper Helton. Give his recent real-life gaffs, this may come back to shoot me in the foot, but it’s freed up a fair chunk of wage for use in the upcoming wage auctions and he’s got good stats.



Other players shown the door were Romanian winger Copil, Argentinian striker Villa, Turkish defender Kacar and Finnish shot-stopper Bahne for a combined fee of around £900,000. Further exits are likely, with a deal seeing Argentine ‘keeper Navarro leaving the club expected to be confirmed later today and legendary left-back Pernia on borrowed time and in transfer auction.

With wage auctions about to hit top gear this evening, I expect a few additions to the squad before the next season begins. Chief priority is a new left fullback for the coming season, although I’m lined up a list of targets in other positions that I’ll be having a look at this evening.

Team of the Season

GK – Handanovich

DR – Nelson
DL – Pernia
DC – Caceres
DC – Onouha

MR – Dani Alves
ML – Aissiti
MC – Johnson
AMC – Julio Baptista
AMC – Moreno

ST – Guilherme



Player of the Season

A few contenders for this, but the two big new arrivals at the start of the season – Aissiti and Johnson – really added an extra dimension to The Blues’ game. It was the latter who really came to the fore, however. Chipping in with goals and assists, Johnson was put simply the complete midfielder. He’d score a crashing volley at one end before running the length of the pitch to make that vital tackle which earns you a point. More than that, he acted as the engine for the entire team, picking the ball from defence and launching virtually every attack. Put simply, he’s indispensable, and because of that, my player of the season for season 4 is Michael Johnson.




Youth Team of the Season

GK – McIntosh

DR – Camara
DL – Benedetti
DC – Bellomo
DC – Eduardo

MC – Moreno
MC – Herreros
MC – Rozhkov

ST – Allotey
ST – Anghel
ST – Kipre

Youth Player of the Season

My youth team hardly set the world alight this season, but it was such an improvement over last season it’s unbelievable. I’m now touching on the edges of a top 50 youth ranking, which is an improvement of almost 100 places since the start of the season. The three strikers present in my side have been good if not great, but they’ve not been in my team long enough to be considered for this award. Similarly, Artur Moreno has been fantastic but only in short bursts. When considering the entire season, only one player really comes to mind and that is Endika Herreros. The Spanish winger and centre midfielder as been a star in my side and I’m hoping he’ll progress into really quite a good player over the next few seasons in my youth teams.