Stockport County - Are they back?

[Bridgey@Stockport]

Championship league game 29

West Brom 2 - 0 Stockport County

Zero positives from this game and more importantly nothing learned other than when we do concede, we’re still not scoring. So, an early goal by the home side meant it was nailed on they take all three points.

I need to get the most out of these players, but are they good enough, even for the championship. Our due diligence on players need to be better if they’re just going to down tools and not even try to perform.

It seems they can’t get motivated against the lower sides in the table. As if the bare minimum will do and that will get the win. Time and time again the players have been proven wrong and everyone at the club looks silly. The only people who can do anything about it though are the players, they need to step up for the club, the badge, the fans and most importantly themselves. This is because if they’re carry on as they are no one will re sign them after we let them go.

I’m hoping leaving the blame on their doorstep in the public domain in this post match review it will hit them harder and provoke a response. We still have time to finish in a positive manner. Saving the clubs and the players season and careers respectively.

233 words
1259 words in total

[Bridgey@Stockport]

Championship league game 30

Stockport County 2 - 5 Bournemouth

It seems like a public flogging for professional players has an adverse effect on performance and morale.

After a really low game before this one we hit a new low at home to the cherries. We were second best in every department. We conceded over 30 attempts on our goal and managed only 18 in response. A positive, we managed to score a couple, but this means nothing when we capitulate at the back. Something I can say has hardly happened this season. Trust the process though, that’s what we keep preaching, we will get the right players for this system, but it will take time.

Will results like this happen more until that happens? I’m hoping they will be few and far between. There will be points and games lost but I’m hoping not as bad as this.

Transfers to note, Zubueldia has come in and gone out with Suso coming in. I feel he will make way for a stronger striker in no time at all. We’re in further negotiations with Bristol City in a move to swap Suso and Gudmansson. In our assessments we feel Gudmansson is more of a cultural fit for the squad and the club.

Re hashed plan for next season Gudmansson and a loan striker from Man United’s youth setup. Behind them Canales, Blasi and Fraser will make up the midfield. The only other deal that needs finalising is Wallace on loan from Bristol city. Another youth player for us to develop, the only thing to finalise if the 5M fee for training him for them. It seems like some teams aren’t aware of this fee and it could become a stumbling block for some loans EOS.

299 words
1558 words in total

[Bridgey@Stockport]

Championship league game 31

Sunderland 2 - 1 Stockport County

Started the game pretty well and took the lead early. We then had two goals dis allowed and the home side equalised. From those disappointing events we struggled to focus and get past the sense of injustice.

Meaning that the home side scored again and took the points. So frustrating until you see the stats and the scoreline become justified and we were in fact lucky not to lose by more. Another loss to a struggling team, have I overestimated these players even more than I thought I had. Are they as the form table suggests a bottle of the table team? Or is this just a tough patch we will come out of?

Will the supporters and the owners still want me as manager if these kind of terrible result continue. They will require resilience and patience to get to where we planned and I believe I will get that time to show what I and the team can do. I just need a few more transfer windows and more money. I’ll re iterate although these results will happen i in no way accept them or condone them. Our development and direction must shift and shift quickly.

213 words
1771 words in total

[Bridgey@Stockport]

Championship league game 32

Sheffield United 1 - 0 Stockport County

Like Brighton, Sheffield should be ok the Premiership. Despite losing, I see this game and result as a turning point. We outplayed the home side, despite being countered and against home advantage. As well as how good the home side are we dominated many parts of this game.

Another game and another disallowed goal meant the result wasn’t positive, but the performance is what I’m looking for in my team. This will be the turning point and we will push as high as we can from now until the end of the season to maximise our finances for the new season.

Barring injuries and suspensions I believe we will get. Nothing but positive results in our last games and ideally finish just before the playoffs. Looking to finish in the playoffs and or above next season.

Confirmed for next season G Pazzini from Man United will join on loan for the full season with 5m heading to the County coffers to develop him. Unconfirmed currently is whether Bristol City are ok with paying the same amount. This will be chased and confirmed as soon as possible. If they aren’t ok paying we will have to source and sign and alternative loan. There are a few good prospects out there and we will take good care of them if sent to us as done with Bell and Beundia.

243 words
2014 words in total

[Bridgey@Stockport]

With the end of the season circus well underway Stockport County have started making moves in what would seem as a step back from their previous strategy.

In season 3 Mike Bridge set out his stall and pushed hard with transfers to increase age and quality across the board to push for promotion. Top of the league half way through the season it was all going swimmingly, however, a massive dip in form meant a very big decision. Purge the quality signings as they eat up most of, maybe even all of the clubs money each month or keep them and gamble on a second try in season 4. Mike Bridge chose the earlier option. He moved the older better players on as well as their wages and this would build up enough money to invest in the clubs future.

So has the investment started to show any real potential? The answer is currently, very little, but we’re in the early stages of the investment. The extra bit of information to share is that we’ve been unlucky, well not as lucky as some of the other teams with the randomly generated youth players ratings. The next ones could be the gems we were looking for. But we will stick to the plan!

Last season went the same as the season before. Close to the top spot half way through the season only to drop as we moved players around to generate even more cash.

Last end of season we increased our stadium capacity from 35,000 to 45,000. We bought 3 seasons worth of training and 5 seasons worth of youth player searches.

The first incumbent to the youth setup is Luisao. A solid player in defence who may catch up with the extra training we’ve bought, but whether he will get to the highest level will have to come down to a bit of luck.

County will be doing exactly the same this season. 45,000 will soon become 55,000 at the cost of 15 million. Next we will be adding a second scout and that will add a further 5 players and mean a total of 10 to feed into the club and become the team that will take County to the prem. The icing on the cake is the second coach that will mean all the youth players will get 30 weeks of training 5 weeks extra per coach. All this will be vital and will mean we won’t have to invest further for a few seasons and will give the young players every opportunity to be a good as they possibly can.

Who to choose this season to add to Luisao? Let’s go back to season 3 to explain, we managed to get Willy Gnonto in the auction and no one seemed to want to offer a good deal for him. So, we managed to swap him and the County keeper at the time for Jack Grealish and Sam Johnstone. Grealish in this story is basically most of the cash for the investment when he was sold. However, Johnstone, 32 at the time became 25 rated with captain abs. The idea was he was going to play 2-4 seasons as the number one. Amelia in the youth setup was to replace him. The issue is the derates Johnstone is getting, they’re much heavier than we anticipated. Skip forward to now. Amelia has just turned 22 rated and he still isn’t as good as a 34 year old Johnstone who is now 23 rated. With captain abs he will be 24 rated which will be ok. I would like him to do 2 more seasons but to be realistic he will do 1 and then Amelia will be promoted next season. Hopefully he will have surpassed Johnstone by then and his number 1 career can commence. So, I’m thinking let’s scout a second keeper starting this season. The next player? We will promote the average Materazzi and the good Blasi. A defender and a midfielder. So it makes sense to scout a player to cover one of them, more than likely a defensive midfielder due to have other defenders in the pipeline and those players look like they could become first team players definitely.

We currently have 63 million in the kitty that already covers the stadium, scout and players. We are loaning a youth defender from Bayern Munich and a Striker from Manchester United. This will bring in an extra 10 million taking us to 73 due to the youth training fee. 77 with a full credit haul. Next up we will be moving Bernat on for 19 and bringing in P Max from Wolfsburg he will cost 16 so a profit of 3. The next part is only made feasible by bringing the youths up and brining the loans in giving us 2 extra players. Rekik will be sold for 17.5M and
With no real bidders or interest in the current player Fraser he will be purged for 27.8M for a total of 45.8M and a grand total of 128.8 for the clubs kitty.

We then have 68 to enter either the real auction or pick up 1 maybe 2 of the free youth players that were released from some of the bigger teams who played them 0 minutes.

Whether this will be enough to keep us in in touch with the other teams doing the same thing down in the championship who knows, but it will definitely give us a shot.

We’re not really looking at how strong or not the other teams in the championship are. We’re looking for an AM in the auction, that’s to complement how we want to play next season. I’m predicting we will be one of the youngest teams age wise and we will struggle for quality that will mean we will be near the bottom but that’s not an issue when you look at the bigger picture and the bigger plan!

I’m expecting Norwich and Millwall will be my competition in this youth venture. We have an even fight don’t we? You’d expect so, however you can’t put a price on the bonds and relationships JB and Gary Windebank already have. If it comes down to all 3 of us going for the same player or deal you can bet your bottom dollar I’d be chosen last unless it’s an exceptional circumstance or I somehow sweeten the deal. Am I complaining? Not at all I’ll just try harder and will do better on my own. It makes it all the more sweeter when it does happen.

1097 words

[Bridgey@Stockport]

So, after a further think. Is it a good idea to select a defensive midfielder in our new scouting system. With goals hard to come by in the last few seasons we may need to reconsider and select an AM or for more goals an out an out striker.

We’ve done really well keeping how many goals we concede to a minimum, but goals at the other end have been hard to come by. So I’m leaning more towards the striker that will take us to the next level. All in all with the 10 players we have being scouted we can all but fill one slot in the team. I was thinking P Canales could fill the final spot but I think it’s far fetched to think he can make it at the top level. Maybe we can fill that void in the auction this end of season, with only a small pot of money we will be one of the poorer teams in either auction. We will need to be frugal to get anywhere with the cash we have, but we’re still in it and we have a shot to get a gem.

Next season we will setup with a variation of our 5 - 1 - 2 - 2. Five at the back is sorely needed with the keeper Johnstone becoming more frail in his old age. Blasi moving up from the youth setup will either play as a defensive midfielder against the better teams or as a midfielder against the more evenly matched teams. Leaving P Canales and an unknown incoming player to help setup Gudmansson and the on loan youth striker coming from Manchester United.

I feel this is the optimum setup for the players at the disposal of Stockport County. This coupled with the fact there is little to no strength in depth until at least the next incumbent of youth players next season.

Next season will arguably be the toughest since taking over at Edgeley park, with the youth players we’re giving minutes to and the fact that my old caretaker team Everton were relegated. I set them up for safety but it was unfortunate that David couldn’t keep them up, but they will be hot favourites to return to the Prem at the first time of asking. It’s also good to see the return of Tyler Edwards taking over at Wrexham (Formerly Sheffield Wednesday). Having the rivalry in the office and in real life will certainly spice things up more.

I’m also working on a few recruitment avenues, mainly seeing if my uncle could return and maybe even Dan Crinson. But having struggled in the past to get used to FFO it maybe a reach to far for them to come back and flourish.

Next we will look at what we’re looking to spend money on in the next few seasons after covering the maximum scouts and youth incumbents. Firstly we need to replace some of the older squaddies we have in the team, but this shouldn’t take up too much cash. It will be mainly more stadium upgrades and either saving for the next round of scouts and youth or gambling on an auction buy to resell and make further profit. I don’t see any benefit on spending it elsewhere. I’ll be restricting purchases from other managers, I see giving them cash and taking away from County as a double negative.

Next up we discuss Monaco the current caretaker club I’ll be looking after. I’ll be honest it was mentally taxing keeping them up in EFL1 last season. I’ll be looking to reduce the amount of time and exertion on them this season. I’d like a full time manager to take them over now to be honest, only after promoting a couple of youth players and replacing at least one of them. I feel the team has gone as far as I can take them while leaving the new manager enough to work their own angle. If I make any decisions now it will affect the new manager massively.

678 words
1775 in total

[Bridgey@Stockport]

It seems like the the dark arts crew has won with many media outlets reporting JB the new manager of Norwich has been hounded out of the club.

I for one think that they’re out of order and just because they disagree with the narrative and direction FFO is going in. Mainly because it doesn’t suit their own agenda it seems they have to “bite the hand” that feeds them and stick the knife in.

They “the fat cats” want to stay at the top with no fear of any other team or manager catching up. Their glass houses will soon come crashing down when the youth system pays dividends to the few using it in the right way and they will become old news.

No wonder with attack after attack we’re close to the straw that breaks the camels back. Their fear should not make them act out they should conform and keep quiet. I urge, as many of the rest of the managers would for JB to stay, carry on dating Delia Smith if that’s what would increase his enjoyment in the game. He spends a lot of time running the game as do all the admins, at one point we will play our final game in FFO let’s not have the few ruin it for the many who appreciate the game and not compare it to other inferior copies.

232 words
2007 words in total

[Bridgey@Stockport]

Stockport County are firmly on the youth train. With no way of getting off it seems. During the off season County have promoted the following players:

GK M Amelia
DF M Matterazi
DM / MF M_Blasi

The original cast of the youth team are ready and the best of the crop above promoted to fill the gaps in the first 11. Bridge wanted to leave M Amelia in the youth setup but FFO rules meant that when A Isaksson was scouted he had to push him into the open age pool. Disappointing really, but given Isaksson’s potential it was a no brainer really. Meaning that Amelia maybe traded as soon as the transfers on youths have been lifted.

To support the players coming up to the first team Bridge has worked hard in loaning the following players:

DF J Capdevila From Bayern Munich
FW G Pazzini from Manchester United

Looking like the cream of the crop from two of the games best sides, Bridge see’s the statement loans as a massive coup. They will be given 100% minutes and will hopefullly smash their development!

Next up we discuss the very controversial youth auction signing of:

FW J Gonzaga

Close to being 17 18 rated many managers believe that he will be no more than a fringe player to whomever signed him. With a limited budget did Bridge get carried away in the chase of the bidding to land his man with a 71 million pound bid? It seemed a few of the youth auction players would be heading to Norwich with their new manager Jon Banks pulling out all the stops to reduce the age of the club with as many of the youths as possible. In beating him to Gonzaga, did JB just run the price up? I’m not so sure as he did pick up some of the other youngsters. Bridge had this to say of the situation:

“We’ve spent yet again on the infrastructure, 10 k more seats, 5 more scouted players and an extra coach. Costing the club 60 million even before this purchase. Overall we’ve max’d what we can put into this development until season 7. So the 71 million on Gonzaga is neither here nor there. Let’s look at the whole picture. We got a free 10 million from the FFO top brass, as did everyone. We gained a further 10 million from loaning the two above starlets from Bayern and United. Then as he becomes an extra player for us we can sell one of the current squad for cash up to 20 million. So deduct that from the 71, he actually cost 31. But let’s not stop there, the fact this money goes straight out the game means we’re not funding another managers ideology or plan for the future. I don’t believe in the main auctions, so getting a player to develop while not helping another competitor is a win win!”

“Other managers may want to poke holes in the above but the fact is we have two full seasons to gain more money. Sell the current elder statesmen and continue the youth / development path. Two seasons time will see us buy the training to cover the second coach. We may or may not delve into building a new stand but I’ll let the board of directors decide that through the season. Going back to Gonzaga, even if he’s a squaddie for the next 15 years. The other guys buy squaddies all the time. 5 million is the mean. 15 x 5 =75, we’ve saved 4 million even if we look at it that way and he’s got decent seconds!”

Next up the details of the new incumbents from the scouts this pre season are as follows:

GK A Isaksson 21 rated 764 abs in
DM Paolo Sousa 14 17 rated 165 701abs in

Added to last seasons scouted player
DF Luisao 18 15 10 rated
DF A_Hinkel 1 18 14 7 rated

All of the above get 30 weeks training in the season. 10 more than a club with no extra trianing. We will see how much they develop, but it’s worth noting that they may need to stay in the youth setup until they’re 22 for a full benefit and to reach their full potential. With the club still to receive a further 7 scouted players they are destined to fully replace the first 11 1 by 1 in the coming seasons. This method is definitely for the patient and you can be lucky drafting amazing gems or be unlucky and get some dross. We’ve not been too unlucky up to now but there are teams with much better prospects.

The keeper will definitely need some extra time and care but he has the potential to be a top class keeper in the future. The other players have questions about their ceiling and whether they can meet their potential, but we will give them every opportunity to thrive. In the meantime results and performances may take a hit but this will be for the clubs future and that future is very bright.

Next season with the players at my disposal I’ll look to play either 5-1-1-3 / 5-1-2-2 / 4-1-2-3. Obviously depending on the opposition. We will be on the lower end of the wages table so I’m under no illusion that every week will be a dogfight for points. Our aim is to match or better last seasons 15th and hit around 50 - 55 points. This is a very high bar for this young team, but I’ll give it my all so that they can give theirs.

To help the youthful side as stated above, we have elder statesmen like Johnstone between the sticks, Benrahma coming in from Betis and Gudmansson upfront. Here’s hoping this older spine can support the raw talent that will be next to them on the pitch. With no pressure on this young team internally win lose or draw they’ll develop, have fun and that’s what it’s all about!

But let’s not get it wrong we may be closer to the bottom than We would like and it maybe like this for the next few seasons but I believe it’s the right way. A long journey, but the right journey to get this amazing club back to where it belongs.

We see teams like Norwich and Millwall taking the same route. It shows that this will be a road travelled by few, but they believe like us in the youth project. They may have been a little luckier in their youth incumbents, but it will take both hard work and a little luck to hit the top.

We’ve dropped a lot of age but also a lot of stats, last season we kept a lot of clean sheets, but have such a low haul of goals. We’re hoping a lot more seconds across the team will support the strong back line but also support those guys up front.

1167 words

[Bridgey@Stockport]

With Edgeley Park currently being expanded and the youth players settling into life in the first team we caught up with Mike Bridge to find out how he thinks pre season has gone.

“It’s definitely not been a normal end of season and pre season. As always we’ve had no interest in the main auction. I see that as a “Get Rich quick scheme”, no skill and the big teams look to splash the cash. Our plan to move toward youth is the strange new world, a few of us have headed down this new route but I suspect we will splinter off in our own directions soon enough. The idea to pick up a keeper from our scout seems like a masterstroke. The young lad that’s come in looks like he’s mustard and we will give him as much training as possible until he’s 22. I feel that the pre season has gone extremely well. Could it have gone better? I think the stats of the players coming in was down to luck, nothing more we could have done there. The only micro changes that come to mind are spending less on the youth release auction and using that money for a double mid season event. Even this comes with a massive risk as we’ve only had negative random events up to now. So, would I change anything? No I would not. I’m happy to play more attacking football with this hungry young set of players. There are a few things that I’ve not been able to foresee and plan too well for. I wanted Amelia to stay in the youth setup, but I wanted Johnstone to carry on between the sticks for a little while longer. Unfortunately, Father Time has hit him harder than I thought and his de rates have caused me a massive problem. My next plan was foiled when I wanted two keepers in the youth setup. Amelia to be promoted next season after he surpasses Johnstone with training. But with Isaksson coming in and only having one keeper spot. Amelia had to be brought up early and he will only match Johnstones current ability at the end of this season. No matter though as Isaksson will be a beast in comparison.

With having that extra player come up I can re arrange a few players now and put a little more quality in the midfield. This may mean we’re able to move up on the wage table. However, we will still be nearer the bottom and there are some very big fish that have come down from the Prem that are expected to go straight back up. Namely Wrexham (Formerly Sheffield Wednesday) and Everton. There are other very dangerous teams too and Millwall in the league so every game will be tough and the cliche is always there we will take each game as it comes and try to win every one!

Not only am I happy with how County are setup. I’ve managed to get Monaco in a caretaker capacity into a great position. They too have increased their stadium capacity to 55,000 and managed to scout a youth keeper themselves. Although not as good as the County incumbent. The age of the first team has been reduced significantly. Players like Branthwaite, Mar Antonio and Goncalves have come in to bolster a side that want to do more than stay up in EFL1. The captaincy has move from Gollini to the new veteran striker Raul Jimenez. Even at his age he will be 23 rated and very dangerous in no time. He will help push the team towards their goals for the season. Other transfers to note; firstly the impending arrival of M Targett from Wrexham, new defender Bensebaini coming in from Chelsea is heading straight out plus 10 million for Targett. Definitely worth the cash for the upgrade. Secondly, the two players promoted from the youth team, De La Pena and Pasini have gone out on loan to Dortmund and Shaktar costing 5 million each for their season long development. These guys will come back and will be stars of the team in the future. The only weak link in the team is the second AM slot we have. Our free youth Doci isn’t at the races currently and Ahamada will be useful but only when he rates up. That slot is for De La Pena in the future so I’ll try and keep that spot warm for him. The team is definitely ready for a full time manager, hopefully they will come in very soon and carry on the hard work I’ve tried to lay the foundations for. They can always liaise with me after and sprout their own ideas from mine. Although they’re not my team I hope to see them move onwards and upwards after I’ve moved on. They’re a good little team that will always have a small place in my heart like Parma in the past but they’re no Stockport County!”

834 words
2001 words in total