I am not going to lie there has been a bigger break between posts than I was expecting. I want to start off by saying thank you for returning to pick up where we left off.
Last time out we had secured ourselves a phenomenal 7th place finish in our debut season in the Premier League. This season is now about improving both on and off the field.
Around the Club
Lets start with the biggest change, the stadium. Now we were restricted last season due to one of the stands being a terrace and unusable in the Premier League, the club took this into consideration and with the Jackpot of TV money burning a hole in their pockets they acted quickly. A new stadium is under construction.
Doubling the capacity and doing so without any loans or extra income is a huge tick in the long term objectives of this save!
With that being said its going to take 2 years to build, and with Adams Park not fit for purpose a decision needed to be made....
We will be ground sharing with bitter rivals and Championship club, Reading FC.
Season Budgets
God I love the finances involved with premier league football. Wycombe Wanderers have £41.42 million to spend on improving the squad. This could be fun.......
Our Commercial income has improved since last season however we are still way down the list.
Transfers
Lets start with the arrivals. There are some familiar faces returning on loan. Notably Mich'el Chorley and Ferhat Hebert.
The biggest signings come on the form of Thiago Almada from Velez, Tomas Bigongiari who was also from Valez. Valerio Contento from Bologna and Matteo Guendouzi from Arsenal. Almada is
We also added another couple of loan deals with Right back Travis Ferguson and Left back Jayden Candelaria.
Lulian Apetrei is a young Romanian Goal keeper who will offer cover for the first team and Michael Christensen will do the same in the centre of the park.
A list of outs can be seen below. No major departures to reports after the disappointment of losing Verhelst FOR FREE (He's now worth £45 million)
Pre Season
We had a very full pre season with 9 friendlies. We managed to secure a couple of really impressive results too.
A 4-1 over Lazio as well as draws against Monaco, RB Leipzig and Villareal are not to be sniffed at.
August 2025
So this is it, the start of the season is upon us and its a tough start with Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal all in the first 4 fixtures of the season. But this is what being in the premier league is all about.
Match 1 - Southampton (A) 2-2
We started the season on the south coast and were on the back foot for large parts of the first half. Southampton dominated and we were lucky to go into half time at 1-0.
The second half started better and Jack Clarke drew us level with a stunning solo run and deft lob of the keeper. We conceded again before Josh Adam came of the bench to rescue a point with a close range finish after a cross from the right.
A Solid Start.
Match 2 - Chelsea (H) 0-6
Life at the Madjeski Stadium couldn't have got off to a worse start. A rampant Chelsea raced into a 4-0 lead before half time and it was no more than they deserved. Jadon Sancho was unplayable and walked away with the match ball after 2 more goals in the second half.
Ouch.
Match 3 - Liverpool (A) 2-1
From awful to awesome in 7 days. I changed our approach in this game to be a lot more compact and to soak up pressure before exploding on the counter attack and boy did it work. Two first half goals both with a massive contribution from Josh Adam in both.
First he spotted a lovely pass behind the Liverpool defence to find Contento who fired in from just outside the box, his first for the club. Adam then got on the score sheet himself when found in space at the back stick. The perfect away first half.
We dug deep the second half without creating much and liverpool made it nervy with an 82nd minute consolation but we help on for our first 3 points of the season.
Match 4 - Arsenal (A) 0-0
Arsenal will be asking how they have not won this game by 3 or 4 and the only answer to that question is Brad Collins.
He made a string of outstanding saves and finished with a 7.9 rating and the MoM award. All the defence performed brilliantly and our first clean sheet of the season was secured.
Well what a start and what a return for the Journey. Here's how the table looks in the very early stages of the season.
Won 1, drawn 2, lost 1 is not a bad start. I feel once the new players bed in we will see a solid showing from the lads this season and if Josh Adam's form continues like it has the fans will have a new hero to worship.
Lets hope so!
Cheers
Panda
If you have enjoyed this episode and want to fully catch up with our Journey so far you can start way back at the beginning here - https://www.sadpanda333.co.uk/post/pre-game-launch-and-save-selection
We also have an fascinating International save going as we attempt to take Jamaica to Gold Cup and World Cup glory after acquiring some new recruits who have been ignored repeatedly by England - https://www.sadpanda333.co.uk/post/ep-1-joining-jamaica-dishing-out-passports
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