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After a well earned promotion to the Premier League all the hard work starts again for Brian McDermott and his squad. McDermott has already signed Gareth McCleary on a free from Nottingham Forest and has been linked with numerous other players. However, McDermott said his squad needs to be "perfect" for them to survive relegation this coming season. Reading have recently been linked with audacious moves for Michael Ballack and Alessandro Del Piero after both players were released from their old teams. Reading will line up against three teams in pre-season to test their players ability and work rates so McDermott can assess which areas need improving.
I am very proud to be manager of this great football club. The club and fans deserve to be in the Premier League and i am delighted i managed to lead them there. I think it's going to be a very difficult season as we have a considerably lower transfer budget than others, but i have belief in my players to stay clear of relegation. I saw how the other day we were linked with Ballack and Del Peiro, they are world class players and i would love them to join our club but i think bigger teams will be in the hunt for them and we would probably lose out. We have a little belief we could snatch one of the two but it looks highly unlikely at this point. Other transfer negotiations are going well at the moment and i expect quite a few transfers to be completed in the coming weeks. - Brian McDermott (Reading manager)
I do it in paint, then you can move the white bit down to the size you want with them little squares on the side of the white bit. If that makes sense.
Brain McDermott has added bags of experience to his team ahead of the upcoming Premier League campaign. They have 276 caps between them in which they have scored 77 goals. Many Royals fans are looking forward to seeing these magnificent footballers at the Madjeski and many pundits are surprised they have joined. John Madjeski said he can spend more on these players as they don't have fees.
Craig Gordon - Free - The 28 year old keeper is a magnificent player but his career has been plagued by injury. He would most likely still be at Sunderland if it was not for these re-occuring injuries and McDermott was quick to get in contact and get a deal sorted.
Asier Del Horno - Free -The 30 year old is a very experienced defender who is nearing the end of his career but is still such a good player. He still has lots of pace for his age and reads the game superbly. He will be a major player on the right hand side.
Ruud Van Nistelrooy - Free - - Van Nistelrooy had recently said he wanted to join a new English club for a final challenge in his career. Many people were tipping him to join a team such as Liverpool but the forward joined Reading due to no other others available.
Adriano - Free - The biggest shock in my opinion. Brazilian striker Adriano was released due to only playing 4 games in a year due to a long term injury. He had been a free agent for a number of months and Reading have decided to take a gamble on an overweight striker with low fitness levels, taking that into account he only signed a one year deal.
Clarence Seedorf - Free - Another huge shock as many pundits still felt he had something to give. McDermott said that Seedorf will join up on a one year deal after Euro 2012 where he is working as a pundit. Seedorf said he would like to return to Holland in his final years as a player and will most likely do so after this coming season.
Marvin Wynne - £500k - The speedy defender was brought in just for his pace. McDermott felt his side could struggle against the faster opposition and Wynne is a player who can keep up with the faster players in the division.
Akos Buzsaky - Free - The Hungarian midfielder has been brought in as a partner at the side of Seedorf. He is a good midfielder with an eye for goal and is also very creative. McDermott tried to sign him last season but QPR were reluctant to let go of him.
Cristian Brocchi - £120k - The 35 year old Italian midfielder has been brought in as a rotation player, most likely for Clarence Seedorf. He is a very good defensive midfielder who could be used in a defensive role against teams such as Manchester United.
Reading have also transfer listed the following 10 players, all will leave the club this summer; Mills, Gunnarsson, Williams, Locke, D'Ath, Morrison, Andersen, Cummings, Howard, Mills.
Starting XI
Gordon Del Horno - Wynne - Khumalo - Harte Kebe - Seedorf - Buzsaky - McAnuff Van Nistelrooy - Le Fondre
Reserve XI
Federici Griffin - Gorkss - Pearce - Harte Antonio - Karacan - Brocchi - McCleary Roberts - Adriano
I am delighted with our transfers. We have managed to bring in much needed quality to provide a step to build a very good squad on, also if Adriano can recapture his form from earlier of his career we have one of the best strikers available, and we are moving out the dead wood who we feel wont get much of a chance here. Up to now i am pretty sure they wont be any more transfers coming into the club as all i want to do now is get the squad sorted and push on into pre-season and the Premier League campaign ahead. - Brian McDermott (Reading manager)
Green Young - Ferdinand - Connoly - Traore Barton - Faurlin Taarabt - Dyer - Vaagen Moen Cisse
Reading starting XI
Gordon Del Horno - Khumalo - Wynne - Harte Kebe - Seedorf - Buzsaky - McAnuff Van Nistelrooy - Le Fondre
Live match updates
7' - Van Nistelrooy shoots but it's blocked 18' - McAnuff! Just wide of the mark 23' - Taarabt rattles the cross bar 25' - Seedorf tests Rob Green from 35 yards out 30' - Buzsaky... That's nearer the corner flag. 35' - 1-0! Le Fondre opens the scoring... No the flag is raised. Offside. 41' - Seedorf shoots wide 44' - Le Fondre ... 1-0! Great finish. 45' - 2-0! Le Fondre beats the offside trap and slots it past Green! HT - QPR 0-2 Reading 47' - Joey Barton booked for a foul on Seedorf 51' - Cisse scores, game on! 2-1! 52' - Le Fondre wraps up his hat trick after chipping the keeper! 3-1 Reading! 55' - Taarabt blasts over 58' - Zamora on, Dyer off 59' - Zamora hits the post! 62' Antonio on, Kebe off for Reading 68' - Cisse blasts wide from 18 yards out 71' - 3-2! Cisse grabs his second! 78' - Buzsaky! Great save from Green! 89' Zamora breaks free and slots it past Gordon 3-3. 89' Adriano on, Van Nistelrooy off 90 +2' - Reading score! Adriano with a bullet header! 4-3! FT - QPR 3-4 Reading
Other results
Fulham 1-2 Aston Villa Liverpool 2-1 Sunderland Tottenham 1-1 Everton West Ham 1-0 Southampton Wigan 3-0 Norwich
Man of the match - Adam le Fondre
The striker is always in and around the 6 yard box looking for half a chance and when they came to him he took them. Fantastic performance.
Today manager Jürgen Klopp and his team will begin pre-season training ahead of the new season. Klopp and his players managed to win the Bundesliga pipping Bayern Munich to the title and becoming a well known team around the world. Dortmund have got a huge fan base and are one of the most supported clubs in German football and they play in 80,000 seat stadium named Westfalenstadion. Dortmund also have a great team spirit and have amazing players such as Mario Gotze, Matt Hummels and Shinji Kagawa, however, there are rumours that Dortmund may have to part with some players due to clubs such as Inter Milan, Manchester United and Chelsea sniffing around their talent.
I am looking forward to this new season and our first game against Hamburger. We have now won the league and have a great team and spirit. People behind the scenes at this club do a massive job in helping us succeed and i would like to thank them. I believe we will be able to qualify for the Champions League this season and maybe push on for another title win. Unfortunately it is likely that Shinji Kagawa will be leaving us and moving to Italy (** because of his move to Manchester United) and a lot of other players will also be leaving to enable us to bring in more young quality players and to focus on our growing scouting network. - Jürgen Klopp (Borussia Dortmund manager)
Inter Milan have agreed a deal reported to be worth an intial £21m to sign Japan midfielder Shinji Kagawa from German side Borussia Dortmund. The 23-year-old needs to pass a medical and obtain a work permit. Kagawa scored 13 goals in 31 Bundesliga games as Dortmund won a league and cup double in the 2011-12 season. The Japan midfielder has signed a four-year deal after passing a medical at the San Siro on Friday.
I am delighted with our transfers for this season. I am not happy to have lost Shinji Kagawa but i wish him all the best at Inter Milan and Lucas Barrios had an argument so i put him up for sale and he moved to England. As for the transfers in to our club i feel they all have lots of potential and they all, apart from Leali, will feature in my first team this season. We still do have a good budget left but i am going to invest that into our scouting network so we can bring in some of our own players and hopefully they can make our first team in years to come. - Jürgen Klopp (Borussia Dortmund manager)
Key player - Robert Lewandowski (10 goals in 19 games)
I am delighted with our first half of the season and all the players and staff at this wonderful club. We only lost three games which i think is an amazing achievement. I am so very proud of the team and especially Robert (Lewandowski) as he is our top scorer and his goals have been vital. I was surprised with our win against Bayern Munich and i honestly believe we can win the tile for a second season in a row and i am looking forward to the second half of the season and see where we go from that. - Jürgen Klopp (Borussia Dortmund manager)
Sorry about the lack of information, i got carried away and played too much so it would take ages to update. I will do monthly updates starting from season 2 with more detail
So you have to look for bargains/free transfers for Stevenage?
EDIT: Doesn't matter, read it wrong. Think i will start this later, bored of my Dortmund save, to easy. I also like Luke Freeman from Stevenage, great player.
Robert Lewandowski - £25,000,000 - A bid of £25,000,000 for a striker who only scored 18 goals was too much for me to turn down. He is a very good player but i felt with that money we could strengthen in 1 or 2 other positions.
Jakub Blaszczykowski - £5,000,000 - Never impressed me last season. He has good pace yes but he couldn't score to save his life. When QPR came in with the bid, even though it was £1,000,000 under his price i accepted.
Łukasz piszczek - £5,000,000 - Good defender, would definitely be in my starting 11 this season if he hadn't put in a transfer request and upset the board so they sold him at a cut price!
İlkay Gündoğan - £7,000,000 - I had much better targets in mind for the CDM position and whenever he got a chance to impress he never did and for £7,000,000 i had to sell.
Ivan Perisic - £6,500,000 - He is a good player but i saw him as going to waste. He was on the bench week after week and was never getting played. I also saw better players that i could bring in for his position who are younger and have better potential.
In
Manoel Reina - Academy - He is a great player who starts at a 65 and has the potential 85-91. He is a quick tricky winger who i will look to send out on loan in January.
Welliton - £25,500,000 - A direct replacement for Lewandowski. He is a very quick striker who is great at finishing and he also is pretty good at getting assists due to his pace. He can play on the wing or up front and in either position he is a threat.
Gary Madine - £3,900,000 - He is a very good young striker with decent potential. I felt we needed something different, like a target man, and Madine fits that role well. He is a very good header of the ball and is also good on the ground.
Eder Luis - £6,500,000 - I was flicking through Benfica's squad when i saw him. He has lighting pace, he is skillful and can dribble very well. I saw he was transfer listed and he was the guy i was going to replace Blaszczykowski with.
Wakaso Mubarak - £3,500,000 - He is the definition of a beast. The CDM is back up for Sven Bender and M'Bia but could easily fit into the first team due to his amazing Physical attributes.
Cicinho - £3,500,000 - Łukasz Piszczek's replacement. He is a very fast defender with great stamina who likes to get forward and trouble the opposition. He will be key for our counter attacking pplay.
Adryan - £14,500,000 - The 18 year old wonderkid had impressed me in a pre season friendly so i decided to snap him up. He reminded me of a younger Ronaldinho so i offered him a 5 year deal and £14,000 per week.
Gabriel - £8,500,000 - I think this will be the biggest coup i have managed yet. He has amazing potential and is only 19. I think i will slowly add him to the first team as i have such high expectations from him.
Schalke 1-1 Dortmund (Hummels) - A pretty good performance from the players against rivals Schalke. We outplayed them and had around 12 shots but their keeper was in amazing form and was rightfully man of the match.
Dortmund 2-1 Leverkusen (Adryan x2) - A great performance in which i thought we dominated for large periods within the 90 minutes. Young midfielder Adryan bagged a brace on his debut and has secured a place in the starting XI.
September
Dortmund 2-0 Hertha (Cicinho x2) - A pretty good performance but it could of been better. Our strikers let us down as we missed many chances and our right back Cicinho scored both.
Young Boys 1-1 Dortmund (Champions League group) (Gotze) - Should of really done better against the weakest opponent in our group, however, we still managed to get something from the game thanks to our key man Gotze.
Wolfsburg 0-0 Dortmund - Nothing to say really. Was a boring game with hardly any chances.
Dortmund 4-0 Frankfurt (Welliton x3, Hummels) - Magnificent win for us to keep us at the top of the table. Welliton was unplayable and ran around troubling the defenders for the full 90 minutes.
Koln 1-2 Dortmund (Subotic, Gotze) - Another much needed victory. With Bayern Munich breathing down our neck we need to win as many games possible. We got off to a flyer with a Subotic header after 3 minutes and Gtze secured the three points late on.
Dortmund 2-0 Galatasaray (Champions League group) (Cicinho, Bender) - A good win over a decent Galatasaray squad. They troubled us but our defence were solid and managed to keep them out. We however took both of our chances to get the three points.
Dortmund 3-0 Nurnberg (Subotic, Bender, Welliton) - Brilliant. Just brilliant. We finished with 70% possession and had around 7 shots. Nurnberg couldn't get the ball as our players played it around them easily.
Best player over 2 months - Mario Gotze
He has been unplayable, taking on players, passing has been next to none. The perfect player.
Wigan would be good. You have some decent players who grow like Moses and Di Santo? However they have rubbish finishing for strikers.
October and November update
October
Mainz 1-3 Dortmund (Welliton, Adryan, Cicinho) - Good win over a poor opponent. We played really well and Adryan and Welliton linked up great. I felt we should have scored more but that's football for you.
Real Madrid 3-0 Dortmund (Champions League group) - Disaster, however, slightly expected. With players such as Aguero, Ronaldo, Schweinsteiger etc i didn't really think we stood a chance. I was right.
Dortmund 5-1 Werder Bremen (Martin x2, Gotze, Subotic, Schennikov) - Really important win. Bremen were only 2 points behind us and if they won they would leapfrog us. We started well with Martin scoring after 5 minutes and we dominated from then on.
Karlsruhe 1-6 Dortmund (Deutscher Kopal) (Welliton x3, Alvares x2, Madine) - A good win for my 'reserves' against a team a division lower. I decided to play Welliton after he returned from a slight knock and he smashed in a hat trick. Alvares the 17 year old winger really impressed me. He scored a brace in his first game since joining from the academy.
Dortmund 3-0 Frankfurt (Schennikov, Adryan, Welliton) - Decent performance from every player. I feel that we may have been fortunate not to concede but i am very happy with the overall performance of the team.
Dortmund 1-0 Young Boys (Champions League group) (Gotze)- A much needed victory after our 3-0 defeat to Real Madrid. Young Boys were very tough competition despite them been the lowest ranked team in our group.
November
Hannover 0-2 Dortmund (Hummels, Eder Luis) - A decent win over 6th place Hannover. They matched us in the middle of the park but our finishing ability out weighed theirs.
Dortmund 2-1 Hamburg (Gotze, Lowe) - Another much needed victory in the race for a third title in three seasons. We played well and were in a bit of a pickle as we went 1-0 down. However, the player picked themselves up and scored another two to get three points.
Stuttgart 2-2 Dortmund (Gotze x2) - Poor performance apart from Gotze really. We should have won the game but we kept making little mistakes that could of easily lost us the game.
Dortmund 2-2 Real Madrid (Champions League group) (Lowe, Hummels) - Lucky, very lucky. We were absolutely battered by Madrid, their attacking three of Aguero, Ronaldo and Kaka were too much for our reserve wing backs and we were lucky to be gifted two goals.
Dortmund 2-1 Kaiserlauten (Gotze, Schmelzer) - A very shaky performance, but i will let them off as it was two days after the Madrid game. We did well enough to win the game and that's all that counts.
Borussia Dortmund are back in training after securing their third title win in as many seasons. Dortmund are now a dominant force in the Bundesliga but seem to drop in form when playing in the Champions League, can Jurgen Klopp sort this issue? He has done all his transfer dealings for the first half of the season...
Out
Reina - Season long loan - The 16 year old midfielder is one of the best prospects so far to come out of Borussia Dortmund's academy. He is a very good left winger with good pace, dribbling and shooting ability.
Madine - £2,700,000 - After a poor season in which he managed 13 appearances, scoring only two goals, the 22 year old striker has been allowed to move back to England and he chose Birmingham as his new club.
Schoutden - £240,000 - I never noticed he was in my team. He is a pretty poor player and was allowed to move on for a very cheap price.
Nieto - £375,000 - An academy product that many people had high hopes of. However, he never produced the goods and couldn't settle so he demanded a move away so Jurgen Klopp decided to sell him at a cut price.
Martin - £12,500,000 - Martin is a very good player and had plenty to offer the team but he wasn't getting a look in and i feel he is to good to be on the bench. He was able to move to Bayern Munich for £12,500,000 and these funds will go to a new CAM.
Hernandez - £17,500,000 - The promising striker never really set the Bundesliga alight. He managed just three goals in 13 starts and due to us only playing with one striker and the arrival of Welliton he wasn't going to be playing in the first team any time soon.
In
Honda - £22,000,000 - The 27 year old Japan international was upset at CSKA Moscow and handed in a transfer request. As soon as Jurgen Klopp saw this he made a move for the free kick specialist and he has signed a 5 year deal with the German club.
Carroll - £15,500,000 - Andy Carroll was going to waste at Liverpool. He was injured for a major part of last season and he never recaptured his form from his first season at the Anfield club. Carroll was made available for £15,000,000 and with such great potential i had to buy him.
Pirlo - £9,500,000 - A hefty fee for a 34 year old but i felt his passing ability is better than any and we needed that in our midfield. He is vastly experienced and will offer a good balance across the midfield and hopefully he can get a lot of assists this season.
I am very happy with how pre season has gone and the players we managed to bring into this club. I feel we had to sell players like Hernandez and Martin as they were becoming unhappy at the lack of playing time but we've used the funds raised to buy equal or better replacements who i feel will benefit the squad hugely. We also have three top class scouts working to find new players for our youth academy and hopefully we can see a few more players come through this season and we will most likely loan them out to help them develop. - Jurgen Klopp (Borussia Dortmund manager)
Great update mate! Good luck, sure you'll do well.
Leicester taken over
Today former Leicester chairman Vichai Raksriaksorn has stepped down from his position and has sold the club to a foreign business man, thought to be Ukrainian Andrey Verevskiy, who is also well known in the agricultural business. The 37 year old is apparently worth around £1 billion and wanted to take the step into English football to further his earnings. Verevskiy said that he will not be a "big spender" which may have come as a surprise to many football fans because of his wealth and how good his businesses are currently doing. Steve Gibson said he was "saddened" that he was leaving Leicester but he felt he was falling out of love with the sport.
I am very saddened that i am leaving this magnificent football club but it feels as though i am falling out of love with this sport. I have enjoyed my time at this club and i wouldn't sell this to anyone who i don't feel can carry on my work and take this club to the next level. I believe Andrey is a very good person and i feel he has the clubs interests at heart and i hope the fans understand my decision. - Vichai Raksriaksorn (Former Leicester chairman)
I am very exited at the prospect of being a chairman in English football. I think Middlesbrough are a good team with good potential. I hope the fans like me and i would like to make a few changes in my first season with the club and i promise to make some funds available to improve the team and i believe my 'team' are starting construction on a few areas of the ground to make it a better stadium. - Andrey Verevskiy (Leicester's new chairman)
The first major change was when Andrey Verevskiy has announced that Nigel Pearson has been sacked and his replacement will be former Chelsea manager, Avram Grant. Pearson currently had a 42.86% win ratio at the Walkers stadium but Andrey Verevskiy believed they needed a more experienced manager to help them get into the Premier League.
I understand some fans may not be happy at my decision but i felt it needed to be done. I want this club in the Premier League and i don't believe Nigel could of achieved that here. I do believe Avram Grant has all the qualities needed to succeed here and he was looking forward to joining and working with the team to try and succeed my expectations. I will give him quite a hefty tranfer budget and hopefully he chooses the right players to get the job done - Andrey Verevskiy (Leicester City chairman)
I am very happy to be here in Leicester. They are a very good club and i think they belong it the top division and if i can take them there i would be honoured. I am happy the chairman has given me a chance to take this club forward and i hope the fans do to. I want to play attacking football during my time here and whilst in this division i believe you need quality, experienced player over the young, hungry players. I have got many targets in mind and all of whom will contemplate this already very skilled squad. - Avram Grant (Leicester City manager
The second change is that Leicester City have agreed a deal with Adidas and will be releasing the following three "retro" shirts for public sale next week (Home - Away - Third).
Avram Grant and co have today announced that the transfers coming in and going out of the club have been completed and that they are very very happy with the dealings.
Transfers in
Nikola Zigic - £1,700,000 - Avram Grant said that he wanted to have a strong target man in his team and he has paid £1,700,000 for the 30 year old former Valencia striker. Zigic will bring a new style of play and can be used as an impact substitute.
Marc Richards - £360,000 - The 29 year old had caught the eye of Avram Grant in a pre season friendly in which he scored against them. Grant has brought him in as back up to the substitutes.
John Smith - Free - The free agent has joined Leicester on a one year deal and has got to earn his self a new contract and a place in the first team. Smith will be back up to Leicester's current number 1 and may feature in cup games.
Peter Whittingham - £4,600,000 - The Englishman is the perfect player for the CAM role that Avram Grant wants to bring in to Leicester. He is good on the ball, a great passer, good at set pieces and can score plenty of goals.
Joseph Akpala - £1,900,000 - The Nigerian striker has joined the club after he was unhappy at Club Brugge KV. He is a fast striker with excellent finishing ability and is the short term replacement for Jermaine Beckford.
Aleksandar Luković - £1,900,000 - He signed from Russian side Zenit to replace the aging Paul Konchesky. He is a good passer of the ball and is also a very good crosser. He is decent defensively and should be a good option down the left for Grant.
Jon Taylor - £700,000 - The speedy 18 year old winger joins from League 2 side Shrewsbury. He has a good reputation in League 2 and Avram Grant said he deserves to play at a higher level because of his skill and speed.
Eliseu - £2,200,000 - Another defender, this time from Spanish team Malaga. He is one of the fastest players in the game and provides a very good attacking option as he is good at finishing and long shots.
Antoine Devaux - £1,600,000 - The 26 year old French midfielder will provide very good balance in Leicester's midfield and he is mainly defensively minded but he can also grab a few goals per season if given the opportunity.
David Beckham - £750,000 - A major shock. David Beckham has put pen to paper on a two year deal with Leicester and Avram Grant is said to be ecstatic with his new signing. Beckham is an amazing passer and has bags of experience.
Ross Barkley - Season long loan - The 17 year old midfielder will be used in rotation with Peter Whittingham. The loan deal has a clause that Leicester can buy him for £4,500,000 during his time at the Walkers Stadium.
Transfers out
Richard Wellens - £525,000 - The aging midfielder was forced out of the team due to having too many CM options available. He joined Birmingham on a two year deal and was "sad" to leave Leicester.
Martyn Waghorn - £875,000 - The young striker handed in a transfer request after the signing of Nikola Zigic and the board decided to sell at a cut price to league rivals Millwall.
Bruno Berner - £25,000 - Berner wasn't going to get a look in and is most likely going to retire in the coming years. He was sold to struggling league 1 team Chesterfield for next to nothing.
Darius Vassell - £575,000 - This was a shock move for many as he moved to rivals Derby County. The former England striker never really delivered and was moved on as Avram Grant builds his new squad.
Matt Mills - £1,300,000 - The defender who joined from Reading for a huge fee left on a small fee as Premier League Norwich came knocking for him. Grant said he couldn't relieve him of this opportunity.
Hopper - £110,000 - The young striker was around 7th place striker and was allowed to leave to cash strapped Plymouth in League Two.
Jermaine Beckford - £3,000,000 - The striker was annoyed at the sacking of Nigel Pearson and Avram Grant didn't like his attitude. Blackburn put an offer of £100,000 under his asking price and Grant decided to sell.
Moyes has stepped down from the Managerial position at Everton
Everton's chairman Bill Kenwright has announced that David Moyes has stepped down from the managerial position due to "family reasons" and that former Basel manager Heiko Vogel will take over from next week. Vogel has managed only 32 games so it is a bit of a risk but he won 24, drew 6 and lost only 2. The 36 year old has also got the following honours to his name - Swiss Super League: 2010, 2011, 2012, Swiss Cup: 2010, 2012 and Uhrencup Winner: 2011. David Moyes 49, had a great time at Everton and finished his era with a 41.86% win ratio as he was in charge of 473 games, winning 198, drawing 123 and losing 152 games.
I am very sad to be leaving Everton. This is an amazing football club but unfortunately my family has to come before football. I hope once this issue is resolved i can get back into football management and one day i would love a return to Everton. I loved my time here and i will always remember my time here. I have heard that Heiko Vogel will take my place and i believe he is an amazing manager and he is young so hopefully he can continue my work and do well here. - David Moyes (former Everton manager)
Everton strike new sponsor deal and reveal transfers
Today Everton have officially confirmed that they have a new deal with Unicef to become their new sponsor. The deal will be a three year deal with a new set of kits every season or two. These new Everton kits are a hit with the Toffee's fans and have sold thousands already. Officials at Everton have also confirmed the transfers Heiko Vogel has made so far since joining from FC Basel.
Transfers in
El Shaarawy - season long loan Kalas - £6,000,000 Ogbonna - £9,000,000 Shaqiri - £20,000,000 Beckham - £750,000 Xhaka - £7,500,000
I am delighted with the transfers i have made since i joined last month. I think we have got rid of the aging/fringe players and have replaced them with young, fresh talent who will grow to be world beaters. I want the fans to be patient with the team as they're younger so may take longer to gel and maybe develop into the players expected. We may have to settle for a few mid-table finishes in the next few seasons so we can build a strong squad for the future. I am excited to see Xhaka and Shaqiri in action in England as i managed them at Basel and they're amazing talents and h believe they can be key to our success. - Heiko Vogel (Everton manager)
Maldini takes charge as cuts continue at Milan (2012-2013 season)
AC Milan have continued to try and cut costs at the club by allowing numerous players like Ibrahimovic, Silva, Zambrotta, Seedorf, Inzaghi, Gattuso and Abbiati leave in the summer of 2012. AC Milan's budget is so large they are having to part with some of the best players in the world to cut the costs and try and 'breed' a new set of young players to take there place and shine in the San Siro. The latest person to face the drop was manager Massimiliano Allegri who was carrying a hefty wage whilst his reign as manager and Paolo Maldini has replaced him on a 'very small wage' according to president Silvio Berlusconi. The Milan legend played 649 games in defence scoring 29 goals.
Players on transfer/release list
Bonera Inzaghi Nesta Ibrahimovic* Cassano Zambrotta Gattuso Yepes Seedorf Abiatti Silva* Antonini van Bommell Ambrosini Oddo
I am pleased to be back in Milan but i am sorry for the state the club is in. I will have no choice but to sell the best players at this club to make extra money available for us and i know the supporters may be worried but i will do all i can to steady the ship and hopefully bring Milan back to the top after a few seasons without world class players. I believe we will have to find some very good young players who can grow into world beaters to be successful. If we get a lot of money from the sales of key players i will try and replace them with a mixture of very good players, such as the Giovinco's and Rooney's and a mixture of youth. I look forward to this challenge and i hope i am successful. - Paolo Maldini (AC Milan manager)
AC Milan have confirmed that 18 players have left the club ahead of the 2012/2013 season. Due to Milan's aging squad and players on extremely high wages the board told Paolo Maldini he had to cut the costs before he could rebuild his squad. Last season Maldini added Ogbonna, Kalas and ter Stegen to his team which again, increased the costs at the club but this summer has hit them hard after their title win. However, Silvio Berlusconi claims that as long as Maldini doesn't spend too much on wages he can spend any transfer funds recieved. The following players have all left the club;
Profit = £170,675,000 + £57,000,000 transfer budget = £227,675,000
I am very disappointed to lose all of those players and some still could leave as Ibrahimovic is in talks with Real Madrid and Chelsea. I believe that i will have to rebuild this squad a lot to be able to try and win the title again like the players did last season. I have already made some inquiries into some great players who will improve the squad hugely and i don't really need to just but younger players as i can also get some experience into the team to help us win the title. I believe that our incoming transfers shall be done soon as we have a great backroom staff who are working on possible transfers all of the time. - Paolo Maldini (AC Milan manager)
AC Milan have today confirmed that with one day left of the transfer window they have currently spent £140m on new players after the departures of key players earlier in the summer. AC Milan president still expects Milan to win the league title after losing players such as Pato, Robinho and Silva because of financial problems within the club. However they have managed to sign 9 new players and still want more with a day left of this transfer window.
I am delighted with how our transfers have gone. I think we have some of the best players in the world in their positions here and we are in talks with two more who we hope to sign tomorrow on deadline day. I think our team is strong enough to win the league again and we have some young players in our academy who show real promise and could make it into the first team in the coming years. - Paolo Maldini (AC Milan manager)
The game kicked off to a deafening roar from both sets of supporters. Milan had a new hope with Paolo Maldini whilst Juventus were looking to bring back the golden days. In the 8th minute Andrea Pirlo won a free kick, took it, and it rattled off the bar. There was a silence like no other watching the ball fly through the air looking as though it would beat ter Stegen. In the 15th minute new signings Moutinho and Higuain linked up and Higuain had broke the offside trap and was clean through but Buffon some how pulled of one of the saves of the season. In the 20th minute there was a confrontation between Ibrahimovic and Chiellini who squared up to each other after a rash challenge which saw the Italian booked. The game calmed down a little until the 34th minute when Didier Drogba had the ball in the net with a smashing effort only to be ruled out by offside.
The second half was a fast flowing game with Milan just edging it with 58% possession. There were no chances up until the 60th minute when 18 year old Adryan tried an audacious effort from 25 yards which nearly caught Buffon off guard. In the 67th minute there was a cheer like no other. Zlatan Ibrahimovic had scored a loveely volley into the top corner and the fans and Maldini went crazy! They knew all they had to do was hold on but the players were tired. Maldini did a triple substitution, Ronaldinho, Juninho and Kalas on, Higuain, El Shaarawy and Lahm off. It worked. Milan held off Juventus and won the game 1-0.
Full time score - AC Milan 1-0 Juventus (Ibrahimovic)
That's weird how i had the exact same score and scorer it the Supercoppa. Well done on winning btw
AC Milan wrap up deadline day deals
AC Milan manager Paolo Maldini has confirmed that he has signed two 'world class' players to help boost his title chances following a mass clear out at the San Siro. Maldini is said to be very excited by the prospect of managing this type of players and he believes they can both chip in with lots of assists and goals to help win the Serie A for a second season running.
The first player to join AC Milan was Spanish all time top scorer David Villa for a fee of £20,500,000. Maldini said that Villa would add some more experience to the front line and despite him being 30 years of age he still has a bit of pace and scored plenty of goals whatever team he is contracted to. Villa penned a three year deal at the San Siro. I am umm, very excited about playing at Milan. They're a big, big club and i have won everything so i felt like i needed a new challenge. When Maldini approached me i was interested and he has great plans for the club and i want to be part of it. I hope to score many goal and help them win the league. - David Villa
The second player to join was 20 year old Brazilian sensation Neymar for a astonishing £60,000,000. The young Brazilian will bring flair, pace and plenty of goals to the team. Real Madrid were also interested in the forward but they couldn't raise the funds in time so he decided to move to the San Siro. Before his move to Milan, Neymar had scored 42 goals in 88 games. £60,000,000 is a large fee for a player who is quite 'inexperienced'. I heard that Milan are a good club and have many good plans for future. I want to play and score here as much as possible and i hope the er fans support me and i will try my best to repay their faith. I was going to Real Madrid but it fell through and then Milan bid and i packed my bags and was straight on the plane to sign. - Neymar
Also in other news Zlatan Ibrahimovic's move to Real Madrid also collapsed as the two parties couldn't agree personal terms so he will stay at the San Siro.
I am delighted that i have managed to bring two more of the planets best strikers into this magnificent football club. David Villa will bring us lots of goals as he has a very good mentality and know when and what to do at every moment in the game. People say £20,000,000 is steep for him but i don't think so. Neymar will give us flair, pace, goals, excitement. He is a brilliant player, up there with the best. He will have to come to terms with this league so may not settle in straight away but i do believe he will be key to success this season with his skills. I am also happy that the deal for Zlatan to move away has fallen through. His goals last season (25) helped us win the title and i want him to be at this football club for the rest of his career. - Paolo Maldini (AC Milan manager)
Damn, i think i have deleted my results on my Milan save!!!!!!!
Going to have to just go straight to 2013/2014 season or start a new CM.
Maldini joins Barca (2013/2014 season)
Just three days after Tito Vilanova left Barcelona due to Real Madrid dominating Spanish football at the moment president Sandro Rosell has today announced that former AC Milan manager Paolo Maldini, who won them the Serie A title, the Supercoppa and the Coppa Nazionale, has signed a one year deal to try and break Madrid's dominance. Sky sources understand that Maldini will be on around £10,000 per week and has been given a hefty budget to improve his squad.
I am very sad to leave Milan as i support them and i thought i would be there longer than two seasons. However, if a team like Barcelona approach you then in my opinion, you cannot turn this wonderful opportunity down. I won everything in Italy, the league and both cups and i want to try and challenge myself here and hopefully win as many trophies as possible over my career. Madrid have some of the best player in the world like Messi but i feel the squad needs fresh players to challenge Madrid. - Paolo Maldini (new Barcelona manager)
I think i will do. I am planning to change jobs at the end of each season preferably to different countries. Don't know which to start in though (rubbish teams so i can build them as well)
Sheffield Wednesday chairman Milan Mandaric has today announced that Sheffield Wednesday legend Roland Nilsson will become the next manager of the club following Dave Jones departure due to family reasons. Nilsson enjoyed 151 appearances for The Owls in a 5 year spell at the club and in 2007 he came out top in a poll on Vital Football to find the club's greatest ever right-back. Nilsson also played 116 times for his native country Sweden and enjoyed spells at Coventry, GAIS, Helsingborg and IFK Göteborg. Nilsson, now aged 48, played in 562 competitive games for club and country over his career scoring 14 goals from right back. When Nilsson hung up his boots he managed Coventry City, Malmö FF, GAIS and Copenhagen. He won seven honours as a player including Swedish champion four times, League Cup winner once, UEFA cup winner once.
I am very happy to be back in England. I enjoyed my time at Sheffield Wednesday as a player and to manage the club is a great achievement for me. They have great fans and unfortunately until Milan Mandaric joined the club they were on the brink of liquidation, but now me and Milan hope to rebuild this wonderful football club and take them to the top. They have a good set of players but i feel one or two positions need strengthening and i feel i need to inject some youth into this team to give the squad a good balance. - Roland Nilsson (new Sheffield Wednesday manager)
Sheffield Wednesday's new manager has returned to his former clubs and has poached two of their best talents. Sheffield Wednesday's first signing was Jimmy Durmaz for £1,500,000 from Swedish team Malmo. Durmaz is a fast, skillful winger who will be an exciting player at Hillsborough and he should be one of the best wingers available to the club. Durmaz made 91 appearances scoring 14 goals for the Swedish team. The second player to join The Owls was 17 year old Gael Bigirimana who joined for £775,000 from Championship team Coventry City. Bigirimana is a central midfielder and Nilsson had previously said he needs to add youth to his squad and midfield especially.
Also sky sources are under the impression that Sheffield Wednesday are in talks with Crewe's 17 year old midfielder Nick Powell after agreeing a £2,000,000 fee. Sheffield Wednesday are also apparently tracking the progress of many young talents from across Europe with the view to signing some of them on loan within the next few weeks. To do this, however, Sheffield Wednesday will need to offload players to be able to afford the fee's and wages of players they're trying to sign.
Sheffield Wednesday have completed their business for the upcoming season by allowing twelve players to leave and bringing in 7 to strengthen areas of the squad so they can push on for promotion. Roland Nilsson, Sheffield Wednesday manager, has carried on his policy of signing young players with most of them joining on loans from some top European clubs.
Transfers in (name - age - position - overall - price)
Heaton - 25 - GK - 67 - £230,000 De Petter - 25 - CDM - 66 - £525,000 Wynne - 25 - CB - 66 - £450,000 Sterling - 16 - RM - 61 - Season long loan Areola - 18 - GK - 65 - Season long loan Benzia - 16 - ST - 64 - Season long loan Valoti - 17 - CAM - 67 - Season long loan
Transfers out (name - age - position - overall - price
Areola Wynne - Beevers - Semedo - Johnson Bigirimana - De Petter Durmaz - Valoti - Sterling Madine
I am delighted with our transfers for this season. I think that we have managed to sign some young players who will fit in because they are very good players in this league. I am also happy at getting some older players out of the team as they were not performing as i would of liked them to. Liam Palmer should get some good experience out on loan which should make him a better player and i am hoping that next season after the loans expire of some of our loanees we can get them back permanently or on loan again should we be promoted. - Roland Nilsson (Sheffield Wednesday manager)
Thanks mate, thinking of starting a Manchester United CM today/tomorrow but i wont be able to update as i am going on holiday monday for two weeks.
Sir Alex Ferguson retires
A huge loss for football as manager Sir Alex Ferguson has retired from the game. The 70 year old said that he "couldn't carry on" and this is thought to be due to health related problems. Sir Alex Ferguson has been United manager for 26 years and has managed 1,446 games, winning 859, drawing 330 and losing 257, which gives him a win rate of 59.41%. Sir Alex Ferguson was and is one of the best managers of all time winning many things along his career such as the Champions League twice, the Premier League 12 times, the FA Cup 5 times, the Community shield 10 times and many others. All of Sir Alex's trophies add up to 50 in total and he has also won managerial accolades such as LMA manager of the decade and Premier League manager of the month 26 times and all add up to 67 accolades in total for the Scott.
Many bookies have got Pep Guardiola as the favourite to take over at Old Trafford and his price is mainly at 4/1. Other candidates include Jurgen Klopp (7/2), Joachim Low (10/1), Harry Redknapp (15/2) and Ryan Giggs (25/1) .
We are very saddened to lose such a great manager and someone who put so much time and effort into this football club. Sir Alex will probably be the most successful manager of all time at this football club and whoever we bring in, if they can replicate even half of that, then it will be a huge success. We are interviewing many top European managers at the moment and would like to announce who it will be within the next few weeks. Once again i would like to thanks Sir Alex for all the work he has done and the success he brought to this club. - Manchester United representative
Manchester United are delighted to announce that former Borussia Dortmund manager Jürgen Klopp will become the new manager of the club after signing a two year contract with the club. Klopp, aged 45, led Borussia Dortmund to two successive league title victories as well as winning the DFB-Pokal and the DFL-Supercup. Klopp was in charge of Dortmund for 167 games, winning 96, drawing 41 and losing 30, which gave him a win ratio of 57.49%. Manchester United were supposedly close to securing a deal with former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola but the deal fell through due the managers wage demands. New manager Jürgen Klopp has supposedly planned a 'clear out' at Old Trafford and aims to bring the best young talents available to the club as he looks to build for the future.
I am very excited about managing Manchester United as they are a massive club around the world. They have some very talented player who i will enjoy working with and they also have great fans which, like Dortmund, will spur the team on to success. I have been told to get Champions League football for this first season due to a clear out and i think we can achieve that. I look forward to the task ahead and i hope i do well at this great club. - Jürgen Klopp (Manchester United manager)
Bender - £16,000,000 - The CDM fits into Jurgen Klopp's plans to test a new tactic as well as playing alongside him at Borussia Dortmund. He is a very good tackler and is strong and confident on the ball.
Barkley - season long loan - As we only have one CAM i felt we needed back up and they 17 year old is a very talented player. He is good at dribbling, crossing and can score a few goals. He is basically on a season long trial as we have a £4,600,000 buy clause in the contract.
Moutinho - £21,000,000 - The Portuguese midfielder will be the 'play maker' for the Red Devils. He has amazing awareness and is very good at passing. I believe we needed an attacking minded midfielder to attack from deep and he is perfect for that role.
Xabi Alonso - £25,000,000 - He has amazing passing skills and he will be able to pick out passes from deep as well as cover in defence or in the CDM role. He will be very important to the team as i expect him to keep the midfield together and he is a candidate for captain.
ter Stegen - £19,500,000 - The young goalkeeper is very good for his age. He is better that Lindegaard and De Gea in my opinion and i feel that he will be United's number one for a long long time to come.
Ogbonna - £10,5000,000 - The 23 year old defender is a beast. He is quick, strong and is good in the tackle. He has the potential to be a very good defender despite being 23 already.
Kagawa - £24,500,000 - Another signing from Klopp's old club Borussia Dortmund. He is a very agile, quick and skillful attacking midfielder and i think he will be a very good player for a long time in England. A deal was reportedly close whilst Sir Alex was still in charge and when Jurgen joined he finalised the deal.
Out
Evans - £4,600,000 - With a new formation to be tested he would be even further down in order of defenders so i had no choice but to sell him.
Smalling - £16,000,000 - Again, despite his good potential i think that he would never get a chance in the squad and for £4,000,000 over his estimated worth i decided to cash in.
Owen - £1,900,000 - Old, Slow, injury prone.
James - £350,000 - Never ever going to be good enough for the first team so i let him go at a cut price.
Lindegaard - £4,000,000 - With De Gea and ter Stegen in front of him he wasn't going to get much of a chance so i let him go to further his career.
Fryers - £700,000 - Same reason as James.
Valencia - £12,000,000 - As we have Young and Nani i felt it would be better to raise funds for other areas of the squad and Valencia was a victim of this.
Kuszczak - £2,300,000 - Worst keeper we had and we sold him to the team we got ter Stegen from.
De Laet - £1,000,000 - Never going to make it.
Cole - £240,000 - Pants.
Pogba - season long loan - He may not reach the starting XI but i have high hopes he can still become a very good player and back up in midfield.
Anderson - £10,500,000 - Due to the new tactic he wasn't going to get much game time so he moved back to Portugal.
Keane - season long loan - The young striker is a very neat finisher of the ball and he can become a very good player.
Welbeck - £13,000,000 - Said he wasn't happy and the board decided to get rid.
Starting XI
Stegen Evra - Vidic - Ogbonna Bender Alonso - Moutinho Young - Kagawa - Nani Rooney