![]() Iranian international Alireza Jahanbaksh was available on a free transfer at the end of the season, and upon agreeing the deal, we took up the option to buy him for a measly £80k. The other signing came courtesy of an early-release free agent signing. This meant we could use a 4-2-3-1 at times, with Borek Dockal wide on the other flank. With very few options out wide, he was worth the risk. This meant he had been transfer listed, with an asking price of £1.9m. Troublesome youngster Florian Thauvin wasn’t getting on with new Marseille boss Vahid Halilhodzic, and was being left out in favour of new signing Richairo Zivkovic. So we scoured the lesser leagues and found value in France. ![]() So those two deals were done and we had some cash left over. Despite being very young, I knew Nicolas Tagliafico would be available for £3.7m and produce a similar level of performance. The Moneyball philosophy doesn’t merely apply to new signings it’s also important that players are let go of at the right moment. He’s a cracking player, but negotiating Roma up to £8.75m rising to £10.75m meant he had to go. They were largely funded by the early-January sale of starting left-back Douglas Santos. None of the new signings played a key role themselves, but they were also to make vital sub appearances to ease the pressure on other players. This second half of the season was partly down to the easier schedule, but also due to reinforcements during the January window. An improved league position and cup run would do it for me. But the squad was beginning to fall apart at the seams and it’s possibly a good thing we won’t have all those extra games to play next season. ![]() In the end it was slightly gutting to miss out on Europe a final-day victory over a mediocre AC Milan would’ve been enough to secure it. At this point we had a much easier run of fixtures and were able to push on from 12th (game-week 26) to our end position of 6th. Four of the eventual top five, and we managed a respectable five points, including a massive 3-2 win against Juve. The season had another potential turning point: Napoli, Roma, Sampdoria and Juventus in a month of football. After that point, we only lost twice in Serie A a very much undeserved 3-0 at Napoli, and a placid final day performance at the San Siro against AC Milan. But a 2-1 win against European contenders Lazio turned our season around. After game-week 15, we were in 15th place. Despite making a £15m profit on transfers, as well as performing a complete overhaul, we were able to turn 14th position into 6th.įollowing a horrendous start, we seemed to be battling relegation rather than fighting for a top-half finish. However, this is Football Manager and it’s a damn site easier. Achieving a constant upwards progression under strict financial constraints is incredibly rare in real-life.
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