Yes, that's right after 4 long weeks on The Far East Express we return to leafy Buckinghamshire to get stuck back in to the Wycombe Wanderers Journey.
Last season we debuted in the Champions League, Qualifying from the group stages and beating Barcelona and Real Sociedad on our way to a Semi-Final defeat to Bayern Munich.
We also fell just short of a final appearance in the FA Cup as we lost our second cup Semi-Final to Brighton.
Sadly we missed out on another season in the Champions League, instead we will drop down to the Europa League.
One award that wasn't announced before the end of last season was the European top marksman which went to our own Marcelo Henrique
He had a phenomenal season and fully deserved all the plaudits he received.
Transfers
We managed to keep the core team together with only fringe and youth team players departing. We did however make some strong moves to bring in some top quality players
Ben Moss - £20 million from Manchester United
Moss will be our first choice keeper this season as Henderson winds down his career. Being 6' 7" at 23 years old for a keeper has some huge advantages.
Lucas Sheldon - £16.75 Million From Santos
Sheldon will be our new starting left winger. With a strong personality and being either footed I am expecting big things from our latest Brazilian import.
Pablo Sellanes - £8.75 Million from Nacional (Uruguay)
Sellanes will be our starting right back after Ferguson returned to Dortmund after his 2 year loan spell. Another either footed player with a strong personality.
Sergio Rodas - £9.75 Million from Boca Juniors
I am delighted with this signing. Under £10 million for a player of this calibre that will go straight into the starting line up in the centre of the park. Cannot wait to see what he will bring to Adams Park.
Stefan Radovanovic £9.75 million from FK Partizan
A strong back up at centre back, Radovanovic is classed as a wonder kid and at 6'6" will be useful in both boxes.
I am delighted with the transfer business with £65 million spent to strengthen the first team we have some in reserve just in case.
Pre Season
I kept pre season nice and easy this season as to build fitness without the risk of injury. As you can see there were some solid performances too.
Europa League Draw
we reignite our rivalry with Ajax after we failed to beat them in 2 games last season in the Champions League group stages. Apart from Ajax I feel confident we can progress from the group.
So lets get the season started!!
August 2028
Lets start with a nice personal milestone for the save before the first game of the season.
Match 1 - West Brom (A) 5-0
Well what a brilliant start to the season. It took a while to get going but we snuck into the lead in the 37th minute through Jack Clarke.
We stretched our lead in the second half with goals from Almada, Henrique, Contento and Mora.
Match 2 - Everton (H) 3-2
We started strongly taking the lead in the 19th minute through Henrique. Sadly we conceded straight away from a corner which was frustrating.
Jack Clarke restored our lead in the 30th minute to take us in 2-1 at half time.
Everton pressed hard and drew level in the 77th minute. I thought we would be dropping 2 points but up stepped Sergio Rodas to grab all three points in the 82nd minute.
Hell of a way to introduce yourself to the home crowed faithful.
Match 3 - Man City (A) 1-1
A few seasons ago we would approach this sort of away trip with dread. Obviously its still not an easy fixture, however we have closed the gap to teams like Man City and we are capable of holding our own.
In fact we were 3 minutes away from taking all three points back down the M6 as Henrique scored in the 64th minute after a pretty slow 1st half.
Man City nicked a point in the 87th minute.
Match 4 - Arsenal (H) 1-1
In a role reversal from the last game it was us who nicked a point after falling behind.
Arsenal opened the scoring in the 10th minute and played well throughout the 1st half. We came out fighting in the second half however and one of our subs, Contento grabbed a deserved equaliser in the 70th minute.
A strong start to the season with some good performances against some of the so called bigger teams.
Table
Very early I know but we are one of only 3 unbeaten teams through August!
EFL Cup Draw
Nice steady draw in the League Cup with some rotation in mind as we start our Europa League campaign in the same month. We will cover that in the next episode.
I hope to see you all then
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 -
We also recently had our turn in a joint save with other FM creators called "The Far East Express. Please check out our three episodes with the link below. One hell of a journey going on in that save.
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
