The Blackburn Rovers Resurgence

[Hbg]

Season 5
Chapter 3 - Full squad evaluation​

One of the reason why the ratings was low last year was because I gave everyone 10 in consistency and this affect all stats. Since consistency is a hidden stats I used this as my way to lower my players as they player with lesser reputation. I will increase this attribute based on team success as well as player own performances as I see fit. This is also to try and aid these visuals to be a bit more accurate to the players actual standing within the squad itself and compared to the players in the league. There is also just natural improvement.

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Posavec is still my best goalkeeper and I made sure to give a improved card. He was great last season, and while I originally thought maybe it could be worth the time to invest in Nubel. I am happy with my decision to future show my trust in Posavec.

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If I made Ndombele as a midfielder he would have been given him a higher rating, but I think this is fair enough for a re schooled card. Phil Jones scores really high as he has great attribute distribution while Sanchez is lacking some of the defensive prowess. They are however equally the first two to claim 80+ rated cards. Lenihan and Kongolo still are handed quite even cards. I do hold Lenihan in high regards, and he will always have a home here much because hes Model Profersonial. I do think however Kongolo also could have took a 80 rating. Wharton went out on a loan and Nyambe is still around but he is lacking the level to claim any proper stake at game time.

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New man Borja scores high. It seems this conversion values high defending on back style players. Borja is fairly the strongest defender of my backs but he also probably is the weakest going forward. But he is still quite young and has a good engine. I made sure to give Hedenstad a much improved card after all he was a BPL TOTY player. While he had a great season I still think ability wise he is the weakest of the wing-backs. Hence why I am okay with Mattiello still placing 1 rating higher. I did however convert him to a LWB as that become his more common featuring spot. While he had a underpar season I still think Chilwell is destined for a better year. Don't get me wrong Chillwell had quite good performances, but had a big discipline issue picking up 14 yellows in just the Premier League. I alo think Ben Chillwell have yet to reach his full potential.

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I think these ones more accurately presents their position within the squad. But I have to say I find Pasalic to have a higher standing within the team than his card portrays. I suspect in this conversion that passing has a high impact on their midfielder ratings. Now Martinez is a regen so the picture is just someone else from the futhead catalog which is were i collect most of my player images from. He's not the first to feature someone else than themselves (Campos and Ndombele also does this) as they are not in the game. Happy with the raised ratings but maybe I should have been more willing to boost their consistency rating? I think Palasic has a case to be alongside Sanchez and Marchetti in rating. Marchetti tho is a very good player he just never was able to find his way into the starting last year, due to a high performing Costello and McGinn. I hope this new season allows Marchetti to better showcase is abilities.

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Pinamonti and Håland will be leading the charge for us, and it's more than fair they do. I think there will be quite some time until I will change this pairing. Pinamonti has the pace and technical abilities to be the moving striker, and Håland being the more physical presence. Ricardo Campos is a solid man to have on the bench, and our self created youngster Marsh is the 4th man who fittingly is more similar to Håland as Campos is to Pinamonti.

 

[Hbg]

Season 5
Chapter 4 - Responsibility​

We open with a match versus Liverpool’s feeder team, then city rival before meeting Liverpool themselves. We make things truly unnecessary hard versus Southampton with both Håland and Pinamonti missing out on good chances as we start out the season with a 1-0 loss. Things doesn’t improve much versus Everton, but at least Pinamonti grabs our first goal in a stunning fashion with a well placed top corner finish outside the box. Having taken two losses in a row to start the season a 0-0 bore draw versus Liverpool at Anfield feels like a gift. We finally take home our first win with a 3-1 win versus Swansea followed with Chelsea blitzing us we start out with a 1-1-3 record. Luckily our fortune changed from here as we started to pick up consecutive wins 4 in fact. Now these wins while great to finally get our point tally going weren’t really good wins. The good news is we had a impressive scoring record in these 4 wins with 14 goals but we also conceded 7. To round out our 10 first matches of the season we draw versus Arsenal.

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From here our defense start working out its flaws. Phil Jones had a hard time picking up performances, and Kongolo was very inconsistent. But one thing that was consistent was Pinamonti and Håland grabbing goals. Man I love this duo so much! Håland the giant always ready to strike at goal inside the box, and Pinamonti always ready to either spearhead an attack or supply a link up further back. We pick up needed wins and even take a impressive 3-0 win at home versus a stacked Manchester City side. Now last season one of my favorite moments was when we took back to back win versus the two Manchester sides. It didn’t happen this time around but still a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford I will happily take. It seems like a common thing for us to hit good form during December. We did however suffer a 2-3 loss at home versus high flying Bournemouth. We also lost out on Hålands scoring ability as he suffered injury. But luckily youth prospect Andrew Marsh who is also a natural Target-man stepped up. While not the same prolific goalscorer as Håland he still scored some, and showed great prowess for the link up phase.

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Happy with catching up quite nicely on the table. Manchester United look ready to make another bid for a title. Since I have started my save no side have defend a title. With Arsenal taking the first then Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United last year. Early signs suggest the title battle will be between the two Manchester sides. While high flying Bournemouth looks to claim stake for European football. Now let’s talk about the Champions League. We were handed a awfully tough group of Bayern Munchen, Beskitas and Real Madrid. I had no faith in us qualifying, and even wondered if we could take 3rd place over Besiktas to get Europa League knockout stages. With a very inexperienced team we aimed to do our best taking it match by match. We managed to beat Besiktas both at home and away securing the 3rd place. We even took a lucky 3-3 draw away versus Real Madrid thanks to a late goal from Ricardo Campos. Then in our second meeting with German giants Bayern it happened. We somehow won 2-1 at Ewood Park. Vegar Eggen Hedenstad just can’t stop making me like him. He not only scored a the winner but pushed Blackburn Rovers through to the knockout phase! However I expect the adventure to be short as we were handed Barcelona. While we stood our ground at Ewood Park taking a 3-3 draw after Pinamonti scored all three. We was eliminated from the Champions League after losing 2-1 at Camp Nou. I can’t complain as just getting out of the group was overachieving already.

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Back to domestic talk the new year started with a tasteless 0-0 draw at home versus relegation battler Reading. We then faced Manchester United in the FA cup 3rnd and Carabao semi final losing both matches. Not that I mind to much as my seasonal focus is securing European football again. In the league however we started to gain phenomenal form winning 4 in a row without even conceding. And that while facing both Liverpool and Chelsea. We then crushed Leicester and Stoke scoring 5 in both matches. With Erling Håland taking back to back hat tricks! We have put ourselves in a great position to enter the Champions League trough the league yet again. I love my striker duo so much! Pinamonti just keeps doing high quality performances, and the giant Håland is just a pleasure to watch in 3d.

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In the start to secure a top 4 placement we meet both Manchester teams. First we get destroyed by title race leader Manchester City 5-0 with Dybala scoring a hattrick versus us. We then receive their city rival United at Ewood Park losing 1-2 with United scoring all goals. However from there on out the opposition becomes easier and we start winning matches again to finish our season strong. We take 5 wins in a row scoring 18 goals and only conceding 3 in the process. Again its much due to Pinamonti and Håland delivering the goods! Marchetti and Pasalic deserves a shout too. Marchetti was excellent pulling the strings while Pasalic contributed in a bit of everything. He even found a spectacular long range goal versus Newcastle. We end the season facing Reading who have just done enough to survive the drop. It’s a goal fest for all supporters too enjoy finishing 3-3 with the Leagues biggest performer Pinamonti delivering a hat-trick.

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Looking back at the season overall I am very happy. We dealt with the extra match load very well, and while Phil Jones didn’t workout as well I had hoped we still had as solid defense conceding 45 goals making us the 5th best defensive record. This is much thanks too excellent work from new man Davinson Sanchez and consistent performing from Kongolo and Ndombele. The wing-backs were on point too with Borja San Emeterio having a spectacular debut season. Chilwell fixed his discipline issue quite well, but also dipped a bit in performances. He has become a starter for the England side, and I think he has a bright future. Hedenstad and Mattiello were excellent squad players! The last man to talk about in the defense is our goalie Posavec. Who found himself receiving his first Croatia cap. While having 15 clean sheets in the league he still didn’t have a particular good season. He was also was a tad under average in Europe. Perhaps I should look for a higher quality goalkeeper during summer? But the real reason we did well this season is our attack. Infact despite Manchester City had a striker partnership of Griezmann and Dybala it was us who scored most goals during the Premier League. Andrea Pinamonti was a absolute beast this season, and deservedly so took the accolades: Footballer of the year, Top Goalscorer, Players’ Young player and a spot in the team of the year! Also he broke the records for player of the match, assist and goals for Blackburn. He also broke Andrew Cole Premier League goal record. While not given the same accolades Erling Håland was also impressive for us despite missing out on quite a few matches due to injury. Youth Academy prodigy Andrew Marsh did excellent filling in. My midfield had some issues ironing out this years performers with the advanced playmaker slot being tested on several players. But Marchetti took the starter spot in the end, and was statistically our best central midfielder. Young phenom Alfonso Martinez had a great season too, and I can only expect better things too come from the Mexican. Mario Pasalic had another great year for us keeping John McGinn out of the starter spot. Joe Ranking-Costello had a disappointing season, and Jose Mauri is looking to leave the club. But a new man who did quite well was another Youth Academy prospect Kieran France. He shows great promise as a future ball spreader.

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During the season I was offered the Liverpool job I also was offered some international management including England. I have no interest in leaving Blackburn Rovers, and for now I will stay away from International management. I am however happy that I was able too use it too improve the clubs facilities. I have before floated my thoughts about asking for a new stadium. As I figured the board would be very reluctant to do it. I figured trying to warm them up, and also partly too feel their stance I asked. Too my surprise they accepted. 41.942 stadium capacity is quite good, but more than anything I am looking forward too a modern stadium. I love the fact Ewood Park sold for only £13.75 million, and that the new Jack Walker Stadium cost £110M in comparison. It does however seem that we are building this stadium out of pocket which is interesting to say the least. Surprised the Venky board decided to name the stadium after a former club owner instead of basking their name on it.

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[Hbg]

Season 6
Chapter 1 - Filling you in on the competition

Arsene Wenger days have been numbered at the London club. It’s favourable english man Eddie Howe who now leads the charge. Arsenal started off great with a league title in 2018 followed by a FA cup win in 2019. Domestic success dropped but a Champions League title made the year 2021 noteworthy. The currents stars of Arsenal are Alex Iwobi, Kingsley Coman, Virgil Van Djik and Alexandre Lacazette. Arsenal are a solid team that have the experience, and depth too deliver good seasons.

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Unai Emery is the current manager of Chelsea. During early years success evaded Chelsea before they picked up the Premier League title in 2020 following it with a FA cup win in 2021. Chelsea has had some financial issues failing to comply with fair play in 2019 and 2021. The squad is quite star studded with a spanish duo of Alvaro Morata and Marco Asensio producing forward with the help of club legend Eden Hazard. In the back Zouma and Christensen leads the defense. Chelsea also have a average age of 26. I have difficulties to see Chelsea anytime soon dropping out as one of the top 5.

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It’s Zinedine Zidane who have the keys to the Kingdom in Manchester City. Manchester City took the Premier league in 2019 and Champions League in 2020. They also won last years Premier League under Zidane. Their squad is rather ridiculous filled with high quality players with superstar Paulo Dybala leading the charge upfront accompanied either by Gabriel Jesus or Antonine Griezmann. They also have the most expensive defender in history in Mattia Caldara forming a partnership with John Stones. They also come in at a average at at 27. I expect City to stay highly competitive for years too come.

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Manchester United still have Jose Mourinho at the helm. During his charge United have won rather little. Taking home the Champions League in 2019. Carabao in 2020,21 and 22. With a FA cup win in 2020 as well. But a interesting fact is that during the 2022 season Avram Glazer sold the club too Tomas Myrheim. I don’t know the details around this takeover. But considering 223 million so far invested in the transfer market (They did also sell for 146) doesn’t imply less spending power -> They raided Schick, Bernard and Dele Alli from Championship winner Tottenham.. The Manchester United squad is stacked with stars like Paul Pogba, Dele Alli, Breel Embolo and Federico Bernardeschi. Their average is 27. I wonder how long Jose will keep managing United.

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[Hbg]

Season 6
Chapter 2 - Transfer Window
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As my shortlist picture should suggest I am looking for a goalkeeper, defenders, wing-backs and a advanced playmaker in the middle. Bakayoko would be a big bonus if we could convince him to sign. Fraser Forster and Danny Welbeck would also be solid pickups to strength our depth. Sergio Mario is a defender I have chased for a long time now I tried to sign him before he left Boca Juniors in favor of A.C Milan. I also tried to sign him last season, but ended up not having the funds. Antontio Rudiger could be a option but will probably be quite costly. Andries Langeraert would be the dream as he looks great, but I face strong competition for him. Ugo Leroux seem like a more future pickup. I am looking for a new goalkeeper as Posavec felt a bit out of depth last season despite a good clean sheet record. My scouting team recommended Ramiro Lazzaro and Alessandro Pelizzari while both great options Jordan Pickford is transfer listed, and also English.

Hector Bellerin could prove to be a hefty signing, but I don’t have high hopes for him. Phil Higgins on the other end is someone I think could add a bit heftier competition too Borja than Hedenstad. His report rating is low as I haven’t had time to scout him proper yet I only just started to check him out as I realized my midfielder dream of prodigy Jordan Cuthbert and Phil had young age and international caps for Scotland in common. Josh Tymon would be a reasonable challenger if Mattiello leaves for Chilwell. But Tymons price could be a issue.

I want a new Advanced Playmaker. While Marchetti was massive last season he could easily be replaced with a higher caliber player. Ruben Neves is the realistic option as he has a release clause, but he's not quite a natural AP but more of a DLP. Carles Alena would be fantastic but his wages could prove a issue. Jordan Cuthbert might not be attainable as well so I am looking for other options. Mosie Kean is just on my shortlist because I love him. Lunga Mngomezulu has a host of European clubs ready for him to sign. I doubt he will sign with us I think about 20+ clubs have offered contracts to him. Danny Welbeck however would be a solid depth pickup.

Kongolo and Posavec

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Lets talk about the ones leaving us before the juicy news about new faces. Allen Gayler, Gleen Hodge, Joe Ranking-Costello and Connor Mahoney all leaves on seasonal loans. Cameron Brannagan, Scott Wharton and Jose Mauri all leave to modest fees to other english teams as they couldn’t claim enough game time here. We did sell two more prominent players in goalkeeper Josip Posavec who enjoyed 3 good years with us after taking over for David Raya. But when Bournemouth is willing to pay such as solid fee I was not difficult to convince. Following him is Terence Kongolo while for a lesser fee the reason he is sold comes not from lacking performances, but simply because I was able to pickup better defenders.

Jordan Pickford
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The first new man of the year is Jordan Pickford. Since we sold Josip Posavec this was a natural transfer for us that made a lot of sense. Jordan Pickford haven taken sometime to play second fiddle in Manchester United comes in at a very modest fee. I have no issue seeing Jordan Pickford blossom into solid goalkeeper that could start to claim international football.

Tom Davies and Danny Welbeck
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These two comes in on free transfer. They are simply just nice English players I can pickup to add squad depth. Welbeck has a host of experience that is useful, and Tom Davies could still be capable of growing some more.

Omar
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I tried hard for Carlos Alena but I was right about the wages. As he didn’t only demand to be the highest paid player at the club. But also expected further higher wages after matches. Jordan Cuthbert proved too expensive, and Neves felt a bit lackluster. Especially when my original target was this monster Aymar Limbombe. While Omar is nowhere near Aymar level I love his excellent first touch, and at 20 years old (21 in December) he still have time to improve. He also have the makings of maybe becoming a future set-piece taker something I still lack.

Andries Langeraert
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Oh my what a player this is. I have lost quite a few players to other clubs during this save. Most recently Aymar Limbombe. Really how good doesn’t he look. Anyways Andries here is another quality product from Dutch football. Fun fact he spent a loan season at Rosenborg rather rare to see. He comes at a high cost, and for awhile I thought I wouldn’t find acceptable terms with Ajax.

Sergio Mario
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Finally I have signed him! This Argentine defender has great technical abilities with good mental and physical package. Now between him and Langeraert you might have noticed they are both natural Defensive Centre Backs. I have been wanting to try and play DCB-BPD-DCB since I started this save but never had the right players now I do. Excited to see if they can uphold our good defensive record from last year.

Exequiel Palacios
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A player bought a bit on a whim. He was unhappy at Bayern who I checked upon because of Rudiger. He isn’t a natural wing-back but I will develop him there further. He is a talented player who will give Borja a hard time to find playing time. I look forward to having a more technically gifted wing-back.

Full Transfer Overview
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[Hbg]

Season 6
Chapter 3 - Squad Evaluation

Goalkeepers
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Jordan Pickford is the pick of the goalies. Nothing much needed to be said here. I think Alexander Nubel is on his last season as the backup. He is unhappy and has a expiring contract. It’s never easy being my backup goalie on FM, but I still value them and Nubel has been solid. I expect Pickford to grow during the season too.

Defenders
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I don’t have a specific starting lineup here. Other than that I hope that Mario and Langeraert will be able to keep starting spots. But performances will shape the defense as the competition here is great. Sanchez and Jones are both good defenders, and Ndombele is a good BPD too. We also have Lenihan around if things get iffy during the season regarding injuries. I am looking forward too the stability and security having too such talented defenders as Andreis and Sergio Mario gives.

Wing-Backs
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Borja and Palacios are both good players. I expect Palacios too shine more as he is far more capable with the ball in his feet. Borja however has better defensive capabilities that could prove useful in certain situations. For Ben Chilwell sake I hope is performances goes up this season so I don’t need to worry about replacing him. Federico Mattiello proved a excellent rotator for him last season, and if things gets rough we still have Hedenstad with the team.

Midfielders
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Alfonso Martinez is a monster of a player, and I expect only bigger and better from him. While I do use box-to-box I might try, and let Martinez play Carrilero every now and then to test it. While his market value is low I do think Omar is very good. I also expect him to have burst of improvement with exposure two Premier League football. I love his technical abilities, and if his mental grows with experience in particular his Vision he could be a brilliant playmaker. Pasalic will probably be the last man starting with depth provided by McGinn, Davies and the talented France. I hope to give France plenty of rotation time. The last big name here in the midfield is Vincent Marchetti who was brilliant last season. While I want to start Omar over him fact is Marchetti is capable of taking over Pasalic spot too.

Strikers
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Probably our best department. Rather shocked that Andrea Pinamonti claimed no interest during the summer window. He still to really claim international football surprisingly. Erling Håland on the other hand has no issue there. They will be the starting duo with Welbeck covering for Pinamonti and Marsh for Håland. Quite happy with my strikers, and I think we are set for another season blessed with goals.

Squad Selection
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Same system again but with a slightly reconfigured defense, and I have started to allow Martinez to play his preferred role of Carrilero. Mainly just out of curiosity. I see no reason to do a big overhaul in tactics as these 3 different versions of my 3-5-2 has worked wonders. I have thought about asking my team to Look for Overlap in the two possession based styles too help feed Håland more work inside the box. I use neither offside trap or tighter marking as I have little experience with these two options. I wonder if its right to avoid them. I also feel like maybe experimenting a bit more with my wing-backs. But I have yet to find something I want to try.

 

[Hbg]

Season 6​

Chapter 4 - FIFA 22

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As expected Jordan Pickford scores well for his card. I also expect him to grow during this season as he will go from secondary goalie in Manchester United too our first team starter. Nubel is entering probably his last season as the backup goalie. For the purpose he is serving hes just fine.

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Jones maintains his card despite not actually being my most reliable defender as his rating would suggest. But I have no doubt Jones is still a very good defender, and he will for sure be featured during the season. Sanchez ticks behind him with a deserved improved card. Then its the two new players both coming in at 82 ratings. These ratings are quite on point I would say as indeed its them with Sanchez that's the intended starting lineup. Lenihan and Ndombele gives depth. Ndombele might be moved between the midfield and defense this year, as he's going more into a rotation role if things goes according to plan.

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Borja was fantastic in his debut season! I expect him to still play a good role in the squad. But while his card scores higher than Palacios its only because Palacios is not natrual at wing-back yet. The two cards perfectly showcase that Borja is the better defender, but Palacios the better attacker. Over on the left Chilwell gets a deserved improved card despite having a rather average season club wise, but he did breakthrough for England. Mattiello is a nice versatile backup who despite being a natural right has filled in on the left well. Hedenstad wasn’t able to secure a transfer and therefore is emergency on the bench backup.

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Marchetti was spectacular last season. While I want to develop Omar, and will try to let Omar start in the AP role ahead of Marchetti. The frenchman could give Pasalic good contest for starting time as well. Martinez shares Marchetti rating, but I think this will be the last time as Martinez seems destined for greatness. Remember he's only 19 year old still (turns 20 during the year). Pasalic scores his best card yet, and its well deserved hes a consistent performer. Then comes Mcginn and newcomer Davies with 76 ratings. Who are more here for depth coverage. Omar despite having 5 less rating than Marchetti has youth on his side. Talking about youth our academy player Kieran France took big steps in his development! I hope to further aid this.

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Welbeck is on the decline but he's a experienced striker, and should be more than capable of being Pinamonti designated backup. Andrew Marsh got more playtime than intended because of Håland’s injuries. His growth enjoyed it! The giant from Norway is handed a powerful card that quite well displays his prowess. Pinamonti card looks insane I think that in the future I probably should look to give extra rating compared to what the converter wants. But Pinamonti for sure deserves a powerful card after all he was a absolute monster last year.

 

[Hbg]

Season 6​

Chapter 5 - The hunt for my first Trophy

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My goal this year is to yet again claim Champions League football. If we enjoy good domestic form we might be able to offer some excitement in the title run. The bookmakers however don’t think we are up there yet giving us 35-1 to win it. But at the same time we are starting to established as a respectable club. On top of that the side definitely improved during the transfer window, and the depth has never been better either. While I can’t expect the same from Pinamonti this year. I still hope to actually pick up my first Trophy with Blackburn Rovers as I have yet to take any. I feel like that's the next natural step for us. The dream would be the Premier League title, as I don’t think a European title is nowhere close to realistic. Perhaps a domestic cup? We have had great runs in the FA cup before maybe now with a much stronger squad we could finish a cup run with a title?

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The season starts off perfect with the opener win, and our first back to back 3 pointer. Andrea Pinamonti shows early signs of having another monster season scoring one in each match. Granted we faced opposition we should beat if we are indeed to try, and toss our name in the bucket for the title. However a bleak future awaited us as we lose away to West Brom after a late goal from Rhian Brewester. Then we share points home versus Everton. We then get terrible news as new signing Exequiel Palacios takes on a potentially season ending injury after damaging his cruciate ligaments in a U23 match. I had hoped to keep Palacios fit and ready for action as I intended to slowly transform him into a starting wing-back. However my plans got quickly spoiled. While the injury probably is assumed worse then it is I fear that his season could be over. A tough start to his Blackburn Rovers career. Things doesn’t get better when we lose back to back Premier League games too Tottenham and Liverpool. But the good thing to takeaway from this is we only conceded 3 goals in the process. Maybe it's a bit of lag from the new defensive setup? Maybe it’s the fact we got quite a few new faces in the starting areas. Anyway going into October we needed to pick up form. As we find ourselves sitting 13th after the Liverpool loss. We draw 2-2 versus Arsenal next while this means points we don’t move on the table. However my prayers for betterform takes of after this. We annihilate West Ham with a 0-6 away win with Pinamonti finding 4 goals! With Håland scoring the other 2. We finish the first 10 matches with 3-1 wins.

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8th place is not were we want to be! But we have stopped the bleeding, and started winning our battles again. We are still in the contention of being the best attacking team, and we are also one of the better defensive teams. But with a 6-0 victory our goal difference doesn’t reflect well in our match record. United have started in a storming fashion not even taking a defeat yet. Fun fact their 3 draws are all 1-1 scores. As the stats shows we are very reliant on Pinamonti and Håland delivering good performances up top. While not my intention Tanguy Ndombele just keeps finding his way into the starting eleven. This is much because my struggles to get Jones to perform still remains. He even got mad after I fined him for a send off and asked to be transfer listed. The long awaited Sergio Mario has been above average, and hopefully as the season spurs on he will reclaim his starting position from Ndombele and send Jones further down the pecking order. Note while Sanchez doesn't have the apps yet he is a intended starter. He just struggled with some injuries and fitness issues.

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While he too faced some fitness issues going into the season. Ben Chilwell has finally started to deliver to my expectations of him. No longer stacking up yellows, and minimizing his mistakes. I am very happy with his season start, and hope he keeps it up. New man Omar have been great, and as I suspected when I bought him. Vincent Marchetti who had to forfeit his position to allow Omar a chance to grow and shine has still found his way to the starting sheet by utilizing Palasic injury to carry on his great displays. John McGinn while holding a high star with the team is struggling taking playing time, and having his own injury while my intended starters in the midfield Pasalic and Martinez have injuries is not helping his chances. Perhaps this is the last season in the squad for the Scotsman.

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I didn't think this would happen but here we are. While this is not some big investment take over. I am still quite happy to get a new board. The new board also were more than happy to further improve our facilities. I have not managed and had takeover come that often. But normally there is this moment were the new board will consider your employment. Didn't happen this time. So I expect to just keep doing more of the same really. Anyways moving on to the next part of the season. We were lucky to keep our run without losses versus Brighton. This despite the fact we took the lead after just 2 minutes of play. Problem arose as we went down 2-1 and only secured the draw after a 90+3 scoring from Pinamonti. We fix our issue and rise to beat Leicester comfortable 3-0 at Ewood Park. We hit a wall as Chelsea leaves their mark by defeating us 3-1 at Stamford Bridge. The scoreline could easily been 2-1 which would have been a prettier result, and maybe would have softened the loss. Regardless we are back to winning ways immediately claiming back to back wins versus Derby and Watford. We do however pick up another 3-1 loss away this time too Manchester City. Meaning we are conceding quite a bit within these 5 matches. The Carabao cup has mainly been send the squad players into the eleven, and as expected our down prioritizing finally costs us the quarter final versus Watford. Manchester United are still yet to lose, and with both Håland and Pinamonti unavailable my dream of being the first team to hand them a loss fades away. However new man Danny Welbeck had different plans as he managed to send the ball past David De Gea. With good performances from the team across the board we managed to defend the lead! After taking an unexpected 3 points I guess it was a given we would drop points versus a much weaker Norwich. We at least managed to evade the loss as the game was a boring 0-0 result. From there we pick up two more wins the first one being a dominating 4-1 win versus Bournemouth. The second being a close and thrilling 4-3 goalfest win versus Southampton.

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Having had a rather disappointing start to the season at half played we have fully fixed it. However it comes with the cost of a potential title run season looking quite close to impossible. West Ham has a 6 point gap on us, and Manchester United who leads have 10 points on us. However we are were we want to be. Surprising to find West Ham up here! As the prospect of City, Chelsea and Liverpool looking to leapfrog us are far scarier than what West Ham would be. Looking at my own players progression I am happy to see Ben Chilwell is keeping up his performances. Shocked to see him stand at 11 assist to be honest. As going into the season I expected my right side to be the goal contributing one. In the defense things have improved but Andries is out for a while. Sanchez is awesome he can take any of the 3 roles, and Phil Jones despite still wanting to be transfer listed has started to perform rather well. Sergio Mario is getting along too with Ndombele still finding more playtime than anticipated. In the middle Pasalic is trying his best to battle back into a starting position with Marchetti still performing like a beast. Omar has proven that the investment in allowing him be the playmaker in the side was well worth it. Alfonso Martinez while still having above average season could do more. But he is so talented that he will still play ahead of Pasalic. Kieran France rating is quite inflated due to cup competitions. Danny Welbeck while not getting to much playtime has done his job same has Andrew Marsh. Hedenstad who I wanted to sell has done okay helping plug the injuries on my wing-backs.

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The forever superstar of this team Andrea Pinamonti has started to head into nuclear form. I never understood how I never faced transfer issues with him last year. But finally clubs have caught on that just maybe he's the real deal. I have of course no intention of selling him. I still don’t understand why he only has been granted 2 caps for Italy. In one way it's just helpful for me. But on the other side I feel like he can’t really do more to deserve the call-ups.

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We were handed a rather easy group this time around. Much because we finally have some coefficient points. Dynamo Kiev comes in as the Ukraine Champions too the group. A.C Milan as the second seed then us and dutch side Vitesse. In a funny way while we are the 3rd entry too the group we are the strongest team. A.C Milan still have great talent in Kessie, Donnarumma and veteran Bonucci. But I don’t fear their offensive threats. Dynamo Kiev shouldn’t be able to offer much resistance towards us, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they come in second. I expect to win this group without to much efforts, and with a 5-1-0 record we did exactly that. But the real crowning jewel of our play is the 18-1 goal record with second place Dynamo Kiev being the only side capable of scoring on us. However despite being “magical” in our group stage we were handed yet another Spanish giant in the 1st Knockout stage in Real Madrid. So I expect a quick exit. Hopefully it’s gentle, or at least not soul crushing. I had my hopes risen as we took home a impressive 1-2 away win only conceding due to a penalty. In the return hoping to use the away goal to our advantage we restore a 0-1 score into 2-1 for us, and despite the draw comes we are still trough. It's painful to reval we went out after a 90+1 own goal from Ben Chilwell.

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Back into domestic action we keep up our positive goal scoring record by brushing West Brom and Crystal Palace a side with a 3-0 home and 1-4 away win respectively. With the Norwegian giant Erling Håland scoring 5 of our 7 total goals. But both wins were rather expected, but also necessary as we are heading into a rather tough spot on the fixture list. With Everton, Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal all coming in a row. We did better against the Liverpool sides picking up 6 points, and taking only 1 versus the London sides. When then head into a strong period scoring 16 goals in 4 matches and only conceding 2. Håland and Pinamonti both keeps putting teams away. My two academy players Andrew Marsh and Kieran France also helped out enjoying playtime versus the weaker Premier League sides of the likes of Brighton, Swansea and Reading.

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Sitting at solid second place after 30 matches played we look set to claim our third year in a row with Champions League football. The point gap up to Manchester United is also only 5 points not impossible. At the same time we also have 3 comfort points down to Arsenal and 5 to Manchester City. At the other end of the table Tottenham is having a hard time after their return. Imagine if they went down again? However Derby are in **** and seem like the likely guaranteed relegation team. But fact is it's still close with 5 teams all in good reach of the red mark. Andrea Pinamonti has gotten a gap on Babacar for the top scorer title, and Håland sits 4th with a 4 goal gap down to Dybala. Quite impressive and Håland even leads the assist charts with both of my strikers leading Average rating with impressive 8.02 and 8.06 ratings. There is no doubt that my players have the performances needed in them. While we would need to finish the season off remarkably strong to catch United a very important match will be when we face each other in Old Trafford during matchweek 35. Also a bit of good news Exequiel Palacios is starting to begin his rehabilitation phase, and could maybe be able to get a match or two more before the season is over.

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While we in the end lost out on a 2nd place finish. We still had a good season despite me wanting to take a trophy. We can be happy with our stabilization as one of the big 5 of english football. Honestly the end results went rather well. While we did lose 3-0 away at Old Trafford we only dropped points in 2 other matches. With a draw versus Leicester and Chelsea. We should have been able to put away Leicester but the rest of the matches were wins, and that includes two good wins over Manchester City and away versus Bournemouth. Andrea Pinamonti kept being impressive and scored in all 3 of our last matches.

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As usual there's no big surprise who my best goalkeeper of the season was. Jordan Pickford had a good season, and I as right about him improving with game time. I'm very happy to have a good english starter available for the team. I also imagine unless he gets poached that he will remain my goalie for years to come. While my intended starting lineup in the defence was Sanchez with the two new and younger defenders Langeraert and Mario both Ndombele and Jones claimed quite a bit game time. This shows as Jones was selected above Mario for our team of the season. While I agree Jones finally kicked on this season, and started to perform very well I personally still favor Mario over him. In the bigger picture very happy with the members playing in the 3-man line. I expect changes however as Phil Jones, and I have a rather estranged relationship with Jones asking for a transfer. It was a season to forget for Exequiel Palacios who spent 7 months on the sidelines. However Borja enjoyed renewed trust to fulfill the wing-back role on the right. However it was Ben Chilwell who stole the show in the wing-back area. Capturing an impressive assist toll. Federico Mattiello yet again did an expotinal job offering coverage, and even Hedenstad got to play a little. But I suspect I will look to remove Hedenstad from the team and bring in someone fresher for increased competition. But also too make sure we could handle injuries in the wing-back spot better.

Moving up into the midfield. Omar and Martinez were fully expected to be big contributors this season with Pasalic and Marchetti fighting to be the last starter. Marchetti won out rather handsomely in fact he even was the midfielder with most starting caps. Debutante Omar was really good and even revitalized my tactic by performing as a roaming playmaker instead of advanced playmaker. Martinez keeps improving and while his performances wasn’t on Omar and Marchetti level. I think the future only holds positive things for Martinez who looks set to become a superstar. Tom Davies and John McGinn neither had great amount of playtime, but both were nice players to have around for depth. Pasalic while losing out on a starter spot versus Marchetti still proved hungry. Youngster Kieran France did a great job whenever he filled in for Omar. Upfront there's no surprise that Håland and Pinamonti where our star duo. Håland has great physical presence, and is reliable to provide Rovers with goals whether from him or setting up. Pinamonti scores a bit more than he assists but boy is he playing on a high level. Andrew Marsh grabbed his chances well and took further steps to prove he should be kept in the club. The now veteran Danny Welbeck also did a good job allowing Pinamonti some needed rest throughout the season. Håland and Pinamonti was also the selected striker duo in the BPL TOTY. Ben Chilwell also featured. Overall while a trophy less season we played rather well, and with a good transfer window maybe we could finally win a trophy.

 

[Hbg]

Season 7​

Chapter 1 - New Youth Academy Prospects​

The New Ones

Joseba Aizpurua
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Comes from last years intake. He has already garnered interest from Spain. He looks like a promising future Advanced Forward. He also should develop really well considering his personality is professional. Despite being only 17 he already features the mental package of a much more aged footballer. His physicals and technicals leaves for more to be desired, but give him 3 more season to develop. And by then I would not be surprised if he shows Premier League quality.

Rob Cooney
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Rob Cooney looks rather promising. I need to mentor his personality to something more productive. But he got a nice technical package already scoring high in finish, first touch and technique. Also at 16 he already stands 178 tall. With time he could be become a good advanced forward or even target man if he keeps growing. He also has a beautiful 16 natural fitness suggesting a potentially long career for Rob.

Andrew Bolton​

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We already have been given Andrew Gayler as a future left-back prospect. But I don’t mind more potential. Andrew Bolton has a solid mental package and his already high teamwork and work rate makes him a great future wing-back prospect. Darragh Lenihan will mentor him, and if we are lucky we could make a new model professional.

Scott Griffiths
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We got another impressive English regen in Scott. Boasting a powerful mental and physical package already at only 16 years of age. If he's potential is indeed the level my staff thinks. There is little doubt we should do everything we can to turn Scott into a future club legend. Resolute is also quite a good personality, so I expect quite good growth from playing U23 football.

The mid-developing ones

Glenn Hodge
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Glenn Hodge has developed rather nicely, and it’s believed he still got quite a bit to go on. I fear his low passing, decisions and anticipation will be his undoing. With Andrew Marsh already taking part with the seniors I find it hard to see a future at Rovers for Hodge. But I would not be surprised if he down the road features for another Premier League side.

Allen Gayler
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Allen has come along rather nicely. With a professional personality he becomes even more tempting to keep around the club. He has a good physical package and quite nice mental's but slightly underwhelming technical's. Turning 20 years this season Allen Gayler will need a good loan to help aid his development to breakthrough the Rovers squad come next season.

 

[Hbg]

Season 7
Chapter 2 - Finding Trophy worthy talent

Budget
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We were given a rather hefty budget. But this is to expect from a Champions League regular from England. I expect to investment most of this in 3 positions. A new left-back to give Chilwell higher competition, a new midfielder and a new striker. Last year out I was heavily after Jordan Cuthbert but the price proved too steep. This time around I have much deeper pockets, and if I fail to sign Juliano I might just poke a hole in my pocket. I don’t expect to pickup a striker capable of knocking Håland and Pinamonti out of the starting eleven. But I have had my eyes out for future striker stars. Many have already left to bigger European sides or are at financially secured clubs. I do however have a main target Andrew Bishop the only thing that worries me about him is his natural fitness, but at the same time I don’t need him too become iconic club veteran. He has plenty of skills and with loans until Welbeck steps down Bishop could improve greatly. I also need to pick up a new backup goalie but I have no worries there.

Moving out there were mainly only players on loan leaving us. Except for Alexander Nubel who left on a free. Joe Rankin-Costello simply hasn’t proved capable enough and goes out on a loan to stay active. Glenn Hodge and Allen Gayler are more senior prospects, and since I can’t ensure a healthy amount of first team football they go on loan to find it. However we did sell one player. It’s Phil Jones who leaves us at a slightly improved fee from when we bought him.

Phil Jones simply started off his time with us under performing. In attempts to rise his performances I took a very strict approach calling him out on his mistakes and docking him. He didn’t like it very much, but it worked as he started to improve. Now I fine my players always if they get suspended, and well Jones did and thought I was picking him specifically out. As such he demanded a transfer I accepted, and expected him to realize his mistake over time. He didn’t and Liverpool came in with a solid offer.

Ted Smith & John Smith
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The first arrival of the summer was Ted Smith our new designated backup goalkeeper. Having not excelled at Tottenham he was looking for a transfer. Now he left because of playtime, and he won’t get too much here either. So I don’t know for how long he will be willing to be my backup. I also picked up another Smith in the form of John Smith. I suppose he would be labeled as a potential next Harry Kewell? Either way the Canberra born youngster has good some good mental attributes and shows promise with his physicals. Only issue is he's a left winger something I don’t field. So unless I can convert him to a wing-back something that seems within his skill set his time with us might be short.

Wesley Hoedt
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Replacing the leaving Phil Jones is Wesley Hoedt who was transfer listed by Paris Saint-Germain. I actually tried for Kourt Zouma and Lameryic Laporte first but both proved very expensive in transfer fees, and even worse in wages. Hoedt however despite being a PSG player was far more modest. He is a rather good player to who for sure will claim play time. Quite the health transfer fee too.

Andrew Bishop
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I talked about him already. £28M is a rather hefty fee to pay for a young player who won’t immediately feature within the team. But it’s also a sign of Blackburn Rovers becoming a much bigger club I suppose. He goes on loan to Ipswich Town meaning Championship football. Also whats up with the name Andrew? This guy, Andrew Marsh, Andrew Bolton.

Aaron
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I had Alexis Castillo, Mohammed Maas and Gum and in mind for a long time. But Benfica and Schalke had no reasons to sell their talented young left-backs and San Lorenzo Alexis Castillo failed to secure a work permit. Aaron was transfer listed, and while not as young or maybe talented as the other 3 he certainly can give Chilwell competition! The fee is rather modest too.

Jordan Cuthbert
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It happened! £79M is a stupid fee. But I had the cash to burn and Jordan Cuthbert looks like a future world-class player. In fact the game already describes him as one. Now he is a natural AP with 18 passing. But his vision is lacking, and therefore he will not take the playmaker role from Omar. Instead he will feature alongside Omar and Martinez. A very young but extremely talented trio. I think Juliano was a more finished player, but at the same time I wouldn’t have paid the same fee for him.

Transfer Overview
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[Hbg]

Season 7
Chapter 3 - Full squad

Goalkeepers
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New man Ted Smith doesn’t look too impressive, but he should be capable of handling a very minimal role in the team. As per usual I will look to pretty much field Jordan Pickford whenever possible minus some cup matches here and there. Very happy with Jordan and I expect his performances for us to grow with time.​

Defenders
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While we lost our only Englishman in the defense it’s still stacked with good defenders. Sergio Mario and Davision Sanchez are proven workers. Tanguy Ndombele keeps finding playtime even despite we have actual ball playing defenders. I do however expect Andries Langereart to be the leading star in the defense. He has immense talent. New man replacing Phil Jones - Wesley Hoedt is rather good, and could look to push out Sanchez to start between Andries and Mario. I am happy with the depth as we got overall 5 good defenders + Darragh Lenihan is still around if we pick up multiple injuries.​

Wing-backs
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First of we have bigger depth than usual. Last season we had our most crippling injury so far on this save. Having a player out for 9 months was tough. While I don’t show him here Hedenstad is still with us (on his last year). So when we then also picked up Aaron and have Palacios back we have a squad stacked with wing-backs. I expect all of the first team members too rotate quite a bit. As both Chilwell and Aaron makes strong cases to start on the left. On the other side Borja provides more stability backwards, with Palacios offering way more potential going forward. This means Mattiello will sacrifice some playtime, and become a super backup player capable of playing both on the right and left.​

Midfielders
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Having signed Jordan Cuthbert we have gone from the days struggling to find first team worthy talent too bathing in it. Considering how much money I spent on Cuthbert it would be stupid not to give him a guaranteed starting spot. He is a natural AP, but I want to try and field both him and Omar at the same time. As such Cuthbert - Omar - Martinez will be my intended starting lineup with Marchetti and France being the main rotators. On top of that we have Davies, McGinn and Pasalic all capable of providing extra security. Note that I did transfer-list McGinn without success so far. I also pondered on loaning France out, but I decided to keep around for now. If the playtime feels to low come January I will look to loan him out.

Strikers
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While we signed a new striker in Teddy Bishop he went straight out on loan. With fielding a striker duo I feel 4 is necessary to have in the squad. Crisis could happen quickly if two becomes unavailable but then I can call on youth academy prospect Joseba Aizpurua. Per usual I am sticking with my dynamic duo of Andrea Pinamonti and Erling Håland. With Danny Welbeck and Andrew Marsh offering support during the season.

Tactic
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The tactics have changed slightly as I experiment with finding small improvements, and offering my players more comfortable roles. I am happy that the use of two Defensive Centre Backs have yielded good results. Furthermore Omar was tested as a roaming playmaker during last season, and he was great at it. To the point I have gone with a RP over a AP. The last change player instructions wise is Cuthbert as a automatic CM. I figure it could offer a similar dynamic as the box to boxer, but also offer a more positional steady player as he won’t have roaming from position active. Team wise I have removed dribble less as we have more technical players now, and I don’t think the extra limitation aids us. I have also opted to try higher tempo with mixed passing instead of normal temp with more direct passing. I think small changes here and there are always useful, and at the same time it's important to keep tinkering.