Some thoughts on my teams, wage auctions and finance.

Having read back through that previous update I realised it was short, rushed and rubbish. I therefore decided to write a new piece to post in its place, with an update about how things are going.

The World Youth Cup had put me in a tough group, from which I qualified at the expense of some very good youth teams (including Yinka’s top 10 side SE1 UTD). Over the last few days though, I was really brought back down to earth. My side was clearly outclassed by John Odie’s Southside United in the knockout stages and the gap in rankings (70 to 30) was clearly evident as I went down 2-0.

Next came the biggest reality check for my young side so far. Facing the imperious Bohemians FC – the #1 youth side in the world – we were destroyed. Having grabbed a draw vs Yinka and even beating Copehagen Wonderboys, I was hoping for something a little closer. What followed was a systematic destruction of my side, with wonderkid Fausto Rossi on the left wing put simply, not just a class above, but two or three. He got a hatrick as my side trudged off the pitch having lost 6-0 – my worst defeat at any level. Of course, not everyone can be near the top, but clearly there is work to be done. At senior level, things are going better. Eagle Warriors are still charging forward with breathtaking pace, but miraculously, my side are keeping in touch. We’re now 2 points behind with 2 games in hand and a record of 14W 2D 1L from 17 games. It’s unbelievable to consider I’m not top by a mile considering I’ve only dropped 7 points from a possible 51.

There were three or four potential wonderkids up for auction last night. I was surprised at how low each of these 5 star potential youngsters went for – two at £7,500 and one at £7,000. This is a real measure of the progress made under the impact of stadiums, as previously kids this good could have gone for £40,000 a day.

I decided not to bid on any of these high potential youngsters until I get a true measure of my projected finances. At the moment, I have most of my team ‘unlocked’ with regard to contracts in order to artificially increase my financial projection. This is due to the fact that the projection only takes into account the stadium that is built, rather than the stadium that is being built. With my corporate boxes arriving in 4 days time and 26,000 Astilla seats arriving a day or two after that, I should have a much better picture of my finances by this time next week. I’m currently sitting pretty in my financial projection on almost £1m, but with the game thinking I’m dumping almost £130,000 a day in wages, that’s not a surprise. My wages have bloated to an unsustainable £260,000, which will probably be increased by approximately £15,000 to £275,000 in the next round of contract extensions. With wage tax this means my daily outgoings would be around £300,000, which is probably sustainable given my total income, but in my mind is wasteful. I’ve already lined up a couple of exits from Beaulieu FC towards the end of the season, which will both slightly reduce the wage bill and simultaneously add to the war-chest, but more are sure to follow as I look to trim my senior squad.