It was a bit windier than usual, which had driven a lot of the spectators back into the concourse, but the usual hardcore fans stuck it out.
“What do we think?” asked Dietrich.
“Top Half,” Uwe and Hans replied at the same time.
“Top Six,” replied Sasha, who suddenly stood up and yelled at a right back who was taking it a bit too easy on the field. Hans sighed, and helped her wrap the blanket around her shoulders as she sat down again.
“Who are these guys?” asked Uwe, looking thru the team guide. Preseason was over, the club was preparing for Munster, and already the summer had seen a decent amount of churn. On one hand its exciting, as the club was not only making moves, but bringing in some players who were pretty decent, at least on paper.
“Stepping Stones,” replied Dietrich. Uwe turned to look at him.
“It’s like this: We don’t have the reputation to pull in better players for less money. We don’t have the money to pay for good players to ‘take a step down’ and play here. So what can we offer a younger player? Minutes. Get them on the field, playing for us, doing a good job for us and-NICE SAVE!”
On the field, Owusu-Oduro had made a very nice diving save on a Rodic volley, getting just enough on it to knock it wide. There was a smatter of applause and cheering that was soon carried away by the wind.
“Anyhow,” Dietrich said, sitting back down, “Where was I?”
“Minutes,” almost everyone responded.
“Right, get them playing time, they move onto other teams, maybe for a nice profit. If they do a good job that is. Or they can choose to stay here, or try and get minutes somewhere else. It’s a balancing act. I don’t envy Coach in the least.”
Holy freaking hell this offseason was brutal. I don’t remember how many players I scouted, how many offers I made, even my usual solid go to countries like Slovakia and Croatia were black holes…and yet somehow when the Window closed, we had moved 14 players out, and brought in 15.
First, the Ins-This screenshot is from later in the save:
Hüseyin Çiçek:
I like the potential of this youngster. With some decent playing time and good effort in training, he could become a very good AM(R). He’s the sort of player we really went for this offseason, young, decently talent with potential, looking for game time.
Lamine Injai:
OK, his personality isn’t the best, but Injai is a prime example of why you scout the Portuguese lower divisions, because you will find a lot of players like this: younger player with solid attribute numbers for his position, with a lot of potential to grow. Definitely will see some starts for us.
Esteban Abad:
If you are pinching Euro’s to save some money, you have to go thru Spain, so why not check out some of their lower division players as well. He’s a DM who will probably end up playing D(C) a lot for us, being 6’4″ and all. Again, another player who in a couple of years will be a very solid player, if not sor us then another team.
Behar Neziri:
Behar is one of those players who is just a little to good for Bundesliga 2, but not good enough for the Bundesliga. Bayern let him go on a free, and I think it’s a bit of a coup we got him to sign for us. The type of player all teams need, a player very good at what he does, in this case DLP, with some added positional flexibility.
Luan Bausenhart:
While the fee to sign Bausenhart was not egregious by any stretch of the imagination, in hindsight, we may regret it. Overall he’s an “Average” player, but paying money on this level of football, if you sign “Average” its with the expectation they will get better. That may not be the case here, and is one of the few times my scouts have let me down.
Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro:
This years entry in the Annual BFC Dynamo “Who’s starting between the Sticks” game is Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro, a very good prospect from AZ. Most of his Goalkeeper attributes are already Above Average, and barring injury (and severe exhaustion) he’s going to be starting all the games for us this season. I’m expecting good things from him, but I have been disappointed before.
Teden Mengi:
Mengi has been on an odd journey, the former Man U prospect having gone on loan to Derby, Birmingham, Milwall and Bristol City in a string of less than stellar appearances, he rebounded with three very good seasons in Morecambe, in League Two. He ran out his contract in the hopes of signing with a bigger club, and oddly enough, we’re considered bigger than Morecambe. Go Us!!! Another one of those above average/very good players, he is a very solid D(C). I’d play him at D(R), but his technical just aren’t good enough for that, but I believe he will be a solid contributor for us on the back line.
Frederik Alves Ibsen:
Honestly, I wasn’t expecting Mengi to sign with us, so Ibsen was my other option, and well worth the fee we paid IMO. He and Mengi are quite similar, and will be part of the backfield rotation.
Emil Kornvig:
Kornvig is another solid older player, who if starting or coming off the bench doesn’t hurt our team in any way IMO. His versatility, above average attributes, and attitude is offset by the fact he likes to argue with officials. He can argue all he wants, but if he turnes into a yellow card machine…
Kennedy Lobo:
We finally got a scout in South America. Usually, I like to go a bit more…granular with my scouting, but our department is still small, so one scout for one continent. I told him to look for youngsters with pretty good potential, and if were being honest in most part of South America you can set that and get like 30 results back in a day. It’s sifting thru them that counts. Lobo has an intriguing set of attributes. Good Strength, Endurance, Decent Passing, A bit…erratic with his movement, above average Technique, he’s got Central Mid/Defensive Mid all over. If he develops, that is if he hasn’t topped out already, he won’t be elite, but he will be very good, and for 71K, I am willing to find out.
Ali Hassan:
Ali is another one of those player who is too good for Ligue 2 but not good enough for Ligue 1, so OL let him go. I don’t know that he is going to get much better than he is now, but on paper he’s a serviceable D(R) and WB(R), and anything beyond that will be a bonus.
Luis Quevedo:
Another surprise signing, he had better offers from bigger clubs, but I think being a regular starter, or at least in the regular starter rotation, had more appeal to him, and with three pretty solid midfielder/DM’ maybe switching to a 3 man midfield could be possible. The only drawbacks to Quevedo are his Endurance numbers, his movement and aerials, but at the end of the day, someone could be the odd player out. He’ll get his chances. He just has to make the most of them.
Lennard Becker:
Becker and Neziri were in the same boat at Bayern, so they decided to jump boats to Berlin. This leaves me with a lot of midfield options, which can be both good and bad. Finding a group that jells together nicely could take time, and there could be an odd man out. It could be Becker.
Zidane Iqbal:
And Zidane makes 5 Midfielders/Defensive Midfielder’s brought in this offseason. Although some of them do have the ability to play elsewhere.
Zidane is our 1 in 10000 player this season. About 30 teams wanted him. I am positive some offered him more money, longer contracts, more fees, we gave him a decent salary and a Star Player Contract, and he dithered for three weeks making a decision. When he signed with us I about fell out of the chair. And of course in those three weeks three of the other midfielders I was looking at signed as well. Zidane is the best of the bunch though, IMO anyways, an Above Average player in almost every area. His Defense is not the best though, so who he’s playing with and who is playing behind him are going to have to step up.
Kian Le Fondre:
Kian is my backup Advanced Midfielder. Of course he doesn’t shoot all that well, but he’s a better than average crosser. good movement, adequate passing, very solid physicals, and for the level of football we play at, he can be a very good contributor. I am not expecting huge seasons from him, but a few goals, a few assists from both side of the pitch, he’s worth it.
The Outs:
The real surprise in this was Hannover ponying up €1M for Shawn Ott. He’s a solid winger, who two years ago had a very good season with 8 goals and 5 assists in 32 games, then was replaced Sanyang. Hannover made an unsolicited offer for him, and I couldn’t click yes fast enough. Lucas Lavallee leaving was not a surprise, he’s a good keeper, just not at this level. Lennard Dohrmann leaving was a bit of a surprise, he was solid for us at AM(L) last seasons, and I was expecting more of the same from him, but a Bundesliga team with a bigger rep came and made an offer for him…and so he left.
I am optimistic this season. I promised the board midtable, and I think that’s very achievable. A Good season here, another set of transfer windows to go thru and we are going to be challenging for promotions.
But the FM God’s get a vote too…
THE FOOTBALL MANAGER BLOG OF FM_JELLICO 