Off We Go!!

So after all the discussions and planning stages, it’s time to put it all into action. The main goals were to get promotion out of the 2nd tier at the first attempt whilst stabilising the club financially. Squad wise we were very heavy which meant we were haemorrhaging money, so the first thing to do was pass the reins to Guido to be ruthless and sort the squad out. This wasn’t that easy for him as in this division you cannot sign contracts over 12 months so it was very much a short term plan and we’d re-evaluate once we’d got the much needed promotion.

14 players were immediately sold or loaned out that weren’t going to be of any use, with 4 first team players brought in to strengthen the team. 3 of these players were to become corner stones of the squad throughout the season.

In the January window another 4 quality players were introduced at great buys, with 7 leaving the club. Morne Nel was a player we’d have liked to kept but with the risk of losing him for free in the summer (due to the contract situation I mentioned earlier) Guido decided to cash in.

Overall the goal of Guido was met with the wage bill slashed & £770k profit made on transfers. For the season we made a loss of £219k which was a fantastic result, and a great platform to drive on from for Season 2.

On The Pitch

I wanted to employ a tactic based around a logo for this save for a bit of fun & a challenge in season 1. With the club nickname, I thought of the ‘Greenpeace’ organisation due to their Eco Warrior fame. So, this was the shape I needed to try & create on the pitch.

With the 1 CB it took me a while to get the right player roles around him, but the HB role dropped in nicely and the IWB’s moved nicely between central midfield and defence. Long term going forward the solitary CB probably won’t work against better teams but for this season I thought I’d give it a go. And boy did it work …. we went the full season unbeaten winning the league at a canter & also winning the Nedbank cup beating Orlando Pirates in the final 2-1, who had just won the ABSA Premiership.

Goals achieved in regards to promotion & moving towards financial security. For next season we are hoping that the contract situation changes so we can hang onto our best players & put some plans in place for developing young players & start a conveyor belt of talent to achieve our mission statements and dominate South African football & benefit the National team. We qualified for the CAF Confederation Cup which is the equivalent of the UEFA Cup so hopefully that will bring increased revenues through high attendances and a good cup run.

Till next time when I’ll dive into Season 2 …..