You may call it a squad revolution

Hello my dear readers,

I made a lot of transfers selling and buying players before Forest’s start in the Premier League. However, I am not sure if I can call it a squad revolution because the skeleton of the squad remained. I didn’t sell anyone who can be confidently considered as one of the first eleven players.

First news before transfer window

Huge amount of promised money for TV rights make me feel a sense of relief. Now I can spend all the given transfer money and still remain in a positive balance taking into account the financial projection of the year.

The board suggested $16M for transfers and $445K for wages which is certainly enough for my PL debut. I adjusted the wage budget to $546K decreasing the transfer money to $11.5M.

My first transfer attempts were regarding a striker in pair to Simon Cox. First of all I tried to sign Billy Sharp but he was very exigent during contract offer discussion:

It turned out also that Carlos Fierro’s club wants too much money:

So I decided to forget about these two forwards for a while and started a vast transfer campaign.

Players Out

As I promised in my squad review post I sold three unneeded players with high wages:

• Ishmael Miller
• Danny Collins
• Andy Reid

Additionally, I got rid of pair of central midfielders Guy Moussi and Adlene Guerdioura. The latter left the team because of high competitions among central midfielders. Moreover, Adlene became Forest’s best sell for $5.25M.

Dexter Blackstock, Robbie Findley, Marcus Tudgay left Nottingham Forest as players who doesn’t reach Premier League level. I have tried to sell Radoslaw Majewski but didn’t succeed and a prospective transfer turned into a decent loan.

Finally, I can say I am happy with the result: all unneeded players left Forest.

Players In

1. Mattia Destro (ST) – Free

Listed among FM 2013 wonderkids.

Frankly speaking it’s a big surprize for me! My assistant manager was filtering out Mattia Destro as an unrealistic transfer target! But anyway I couldn’t try to sign the wonderkid seeing him on a free transfer list. Mattia will surely become a Forest leader of my dream. Hopefully, he will stay in my club for long.

Destro got the highest wage of $45K plus very high bonuses including 'Match Highest Earner Clause’. The italian talent deserves that!

2. Ryan Taylor (DR/DL, MR/ML) – $4M

The largest transfer money was spent on extremely versatile Ryan Taylor. He left Newcastle almost for the same salary as Mattia Destro. Another top earner in my team.

3. Michele Pazienza (DMC, MC) – $950K

Michele Pazienza is a defensive midfielder to replace Guy Moussi. Surely, he will perform starting line-up. I like Michele possesses great Teamwork, Work Rate, Determination, Anticipation, Stamina levels and should become a consistent ball-winning midfielder. He was transfer listed by Bologna, and it was a good bargain.

Pazienza is a kind of nostalgic player for me because I remember how he was performing when I managed Fiorentina in 2006 in that year’s FM.

4. Michalis Sifakis (GK) - Free

Greek national team goalkeeper joined Forest to help to avoid relegation. Sifakis has good Reflexes, Jumping, One on Ones, Agility and is better than Lee Camp in total. It was a good bargain to sign Sifakis for free giving him $23K wage only.

5. Lee Wallace (DL, ML) – $3.1M

Lee Wallace can play as a left back and left midfielder which is really important for my team.  I am going to use him at DL position mostly.

One of the factor that influenced my decision to buy Lee is his UK nationality. A bias to Brittish players is one of my story restrictions if you don’t remember.

6. Alexander Milosevic (DC) – $2.2M

Listed among FM 2013 wonderkids.

Perhaps I should put Milosevic higher than at the 6th position of my transfer ratings due to his prospect. However, it’s correct considering his current level.

The signature of Milosevic is a kind of experiment because I am going to take some risks using him in pair with Jamaal Lascelles since the very first Premier League match.

My idea is Lascelles and Millosevic will have a maximal attributes' development playing in Premier League persistently.

7. Alan Judge (AMC, MR, ML) – Free

One of the best League 1 players from arch-rival Notts Co jumped over Championship level straight to Premier League! You’ll never be the Irish! :-)

Alan Judge is another versatile player for Forest who may cover flanks and AMC position.

Loans

I loaned 3 players for covering the most weak positions and giving more squad depth.

Billy Sharp (ST) – $55K per month

Billy Sharp has returned to Nottingham Forest. Loaned again but this time without a transfer fee. He will be a substition for Mattia Destro and Simon Cox.

Leandro Fernandez (DC) – $35K per month

I loaned Leandro to have 4 central defenders in my team. Experience Argentinian will start matches from substitution bench.

Jack Robinson (DL) - Free

Jack Robinson is a promising English left back from Liverpool whom I would love to buy in future. For now it’s just a loan.

Young talents

I spent more than $2M for two talented regens. Both are central backs, both look very promising!

1. Mitchell Hewitt (DC) – $650K

Great prospect. I see him being one of the best Premier League central backs in future. Surely, Hewitt’s destiny depends on his diligence during trainings and possible loans.

2. Eneko Navarro (DC) – $1.4M

Another player found by my scouting team. Valencia made a $1.3M bid for him, so I decided I have to act quickly and proposed $1.4M. As you see my bid won! :)

Nottingham Forest after the transfers

Now let’s compare the total squad strength with the other Premier League clubs.

All positions & Goalkeeping

 

Defense & Midfield

Our defense is one of the weakest in the league. Though it may be compensated with a decent midfield.

Attack

A financial projection I like

Here are my wage and transfer budgets after all the transfer campaign:

The negative balance after all transfers doesn’t make me sad because they project a financial growth of $40M till the end of the season.

Let’s get the Premier League season started!

Nottingham Forest is among PL outsiders of course. It’s going to be very tough season start for me because of numerous squad changes. I can even see my team being at the bottom of the table after the first season’s half. But then my team should progress and avoid relegation.

How do you think? What place will Forest finish in the end?

And how do you consider my transfer campaign?

Excited to blog for you,

Vitaliy Mokosiy

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