Welcome back to the Party at the Palace. If you haven't caught any of the previous posts, you can start from the beginning here.
Right, let's get to the start of the new episode.
We re-join the party as the preparations for our 2nd season begin. The end of last season really dropped off after we were confirmed our midtable finish.
This season needs to be a lot more positive as we are on here for a short period of time.
That starts in the transfer market, and we have had to make some moves.
Off The Field Developments
Let's start with catching up with all the off the field developments since the end of last season.
The first one is a key one as we are granted an upgrade to the training facilities. This is something I've notice pop up in contract negotiations recently and something that will aid the development of the squad.
Something more for the future is the increased budget for Junior Coaching, hopefully we will see some reward of this in the coming seasons.
An update on the supporter profile, which is a new feature to FM23. It shows we have and increase in "Core" fans, with a drop in families attending games.
One other off field development is the rumours of a takeover bid for the club. Nothing more than a rumour at this time but something I am sure will develop through the season.
Transfer Market
We shall start with the players that have left the club. Be prepared, it is not a short list.
Told you it was a long list. Now some of these players were U-21's and youth but as you can see some definitely weren't.
Zaha, Ayew, McCarthur, Tomkins, Butland, Ward, Milivoijevic, Riedewald and Schlupp were all a part of the first team last season, all leave us on free transfers after not wanting to sign new deals.
The only other departure of note was Sam Johnstone, who actually left for a fee. £8.5 mil to Al-Ain.
Now for the incoming players. But first our budget.
Not a bad little war chest and we actually increased the wage budget by almost half a million with the above departures.
Some big signings in there and some real bargains.
Rani Khedira on a free from Union Berlin will add some grit and steel in the middle of the park.
Dominik Livakivic signed as our new first choice keeper from Dinamo Zagreb for £9.25 mil.
Tino Livramento was brought in from relegated Southampton. A real bargain at £15 mil. I was able to negotiate them down from the £27 mil release fee in place. He will be key to the new system i will introduce you to later.
Sebastian Caceres Slightlky lesser-known addition joining us from Mexican topflight team Club America. A great addition to the back line and will definitely be in and around the first team from the off.
Julian Alvarez joins on loan from Man City. A brilliant addition to the forward line who can plan in multiple positions. We have a decent potion to buy at the end of the deal too.
Antonio Blanco signed on a free from Real Madrid is a cultured player in the middle of the park who can play deep or further forward. Offering options at both ends of the pitch.
Francisco Conceicao is going to be vying for the starting right-wing slot and we will hope to see some serious development from him through the season.
Season Expectations
Another season of the board not expecting much. I have higher ambitions this season and we've got to be finishing above midtable with an outside chance of challenging for European places.
I would also LOVE a decent cup run. We got to both quarter finals last season but doing even better would be fantastic.
The people behind the season preview seem to agree with the Board.
Tactics
With a change in personnel as big as the one we have just been through it was only right to look at changing our style and formation.
Let's have a look at the new tactics.
Thats right we've gone for a back three with wing backs supporting the front three.
The idea being that the Inside Forwards will tuck in narrow and support the lone striker as the wing backs provide the overlap width.
Pre Season
We haven't exactly blown anyone away on out USA tour, but we are learning a new system and bedding in new players. So, it was exactly what we needed out of a preseason.
Lets get this season started
August & September
We start the season with two short months, but there are some challenging fixtures in there with games against Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs.
New Tactic is deployed, and this is what i have deemed to be the strongest starting line-up.
Let's see how the new players and new system has got on.
Oh wow, that is an unbelievable start for us as we win out first 4 games of the season. The goals have been shared out evenly amongst the guys with Edouard and Schjelderup with 3 goals each. A few first goals in there too for Blanco, Alvarez and Conceicao.
October & November
After a stunning start to the season, we move into October sitting at the top end of the table. Realistically that's not where we will be challenging come the end of the season, but we will be enjoying it whilst it lasts.
There was a small distraction off of the field as news broke of a possible takeover of the club as mentioned in pre-season.
Let us re focus and concentrate on October & Novembers action.
We continued the month of October where we left off, scoring goals! A silly draw away at Middlesborough when we were 2-0 up spoiled a really good run of form.
Defeats to Chelsea and United aren't unexpected but we had chances and probably deserved more. Losing to Brentford was frustrating but we managed to turn that form around with a solid win against Fulham.
Edouard has really hit the ground running this season, after his best return of goals for the club last season he's already got 9 in 12 games.
December
This time last year we all had our feet up as the world cup took centre stage. No such luck this December as we face 6 games across the month.
The usual rotation will take place but with the signings made in the summer this shouldn't upset the momentum too much.
Our poorest month so far. Two wins, two draws and two defeats gives a real mixed bag of results. I want to first start with the 3-0 win against Man City at the Etihad.
Edouard hattrick proves too much as we sweep the Citizens aside. The other win came against surprise package Wolves who had been sitting in 2nd place in the league.
Losses to Leeds and Norwich were poor, and those sorts of results need to change.
Halfway League Table
I'd say that is exactly the sort of start to the season I wanted. We are well in touch with the leading pack.
We have put ourselves within prime position to make a good charge towards some form of European competition place.
The second half of the season is going to be a really interesting one.
Thanks for taking the time to read this episode and I hope you enjoy the rest of the Beta journey.
Cheers
Panda.
