New wonder kid signing..

Signed my created adopted son into the game and made him as a 16 year old wonder kid and I've just signed him to join me at Walsall FC. My plan is to bring him on slowly for the moment and let him develop into the next Messi.

Jesus Noriega played for the New Jersey Soccer Academy 04 and did good enough there for me to believe he would be good enough to come to England and develop as a very good player.
As a 16 year old with great speed and acceleration, Jesus surely has a great future.

JESUS NORIEGA

Jesus Noriega played his first game in England with the U-23 squad and scored 2 goals on his debut and recordd an assist.. Walsall U-23 defeated Worcester City-U23 4 to 1.

First managerial win in EFL Cup

Managed to record my first win as the first woman managing a professional English team and it came on an EFL Cup match against Yeovil Town FC who plays a level down, so I did good beating this league 2 side.

Simeon Jackson, the player of the match, managed 2 goals in this EFL Cup match which bring his tally to 3 goals in all competition.

EFL Cup Second round draw announced

After beating Yeovil, my next opponent for the EFL Cup is now known after the second round draw took place. It will be   Wanderers FC. Match will take place on August 23rd of 2016 at my stadium, the Bescot Stadium.

Second league match against Oldham AFC

Also played my second league match against Oldham and only managed a draw there, so I've lost 1 game and drew 1 for a total of 1 point. Need to record my first win as soon as possible before pressure grows. Kevin Toner, the left footed CB was the player of the match for this game at 8.1 rating.

Erhun Oztumer injured

Huge disappointment so far this season as one of my key player, Oztumer has suffered a long time injury and will be out 7-9 months. I was really counting on this guy to be my main play-maker and most advanced CM on my 4-3-3 formation. Now, that he's out, Florent Cuvelier and Asaiah Osbourne will have to play more prominent role on the squard and other guys like Maziar Kouhyar will also be expected to help as rotational player.

Lost opener....Walsall FC 1 - 3 AFC Wimbledon

Terrible lost to swallow after a great preseason, so now to scare 1 and regrouping the squad for the next match. AFC Wimbledon jumped on us nearly and took a 3 goal to nil after the first half. In the second half, things got better and was able to get a goal back but too little too late.

The positives in this game is that I had 56% possession to their 44% and I did generated 20 shots although only a few of that were on target. Simeon Jackson scored on his debut which is good to see the striker get on the scoring sheet in the first game.

Simeon Jackson Goal

Walsall FC VS AFC Wimbledon Preview

This is a quick preview of my opening day match up against AFC Wimbledon in which I'm favorite to win. I'm a 4-5 favorite to win and I frankly have the better players while Wimbledon was just promoted this year to league 1 so their players may not be up to par for this level.

AFC Wimbledon will probably set up on a 4-4-2 formation and their best player is a striker by the name of Dominic Poleon. He's got very good speed/acceleration + decent finishing at 12, so I'll have to keep an eye on him.

PROJECTED STARTING LINE-UP AND FORMATION

I will open the season under a 4-3-3 formation and I'm hoping to dominate possession while scoring as many goals as possible. Simeon Jackson is set to lead my attack as the false 9 striker while my 2 inside wingers  will probably be Frank Moussa and Mark Marshall.

In the midfield, I'm leaning toward the trio of Oztumer as my most advanced CM with Cuvelier beside him and finally Chambers as the defensive mid.

My back 4 will be Jason McCarthy at DR...He's a natural CB but can also play at RB but since my only DR specially is injured.

Scott Laird at LB. Callum Mollett should start based on preseason performance, but he's only 17 and will get his chance. Laird is a veteran, so he gets the nod to start opening day.

Matt Preston and James O'Connor at CB...O'Connor being the ball-handling CB...Kevin Toner had a good preseason, but couldn't keep the vice-captain out of the opening day match. Matt Preston was my best CB during preseason, so he's a lock at one of the CB spots.

Asaiah Osbourne is a very good player and based on his attribute, deserve to be starting, but Florent Cuvelier had the better preseason, so I'll start him...But Osbourne has the better defensive attribute which may balance out Oztumer.

Preseason friendlies over, Opening day of season Tomorrow

After a full month of preseason friendlies and getting the team fit, opening day is finally around the corner. My preseason record was 6 wins and 1 draws, so things went very well and the majority of the players are well conditioned with good sharpness for tomorrow's game against  AFC Wimbledon

Preseason performance and record below.

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My best performer for the preseason was Matt Preston, my 21 year old central back who is battling for an starting role on opening night against James O'Connor who is supposed to be my captain and this surely will be a game-time decision for me on who start at right-central back.

Preston finished with a rating of 7.88 while O'Connor finished with a 6.77 ratings.

I could of course decide to pair both of them as my 2 central-backs but the 2 of them are right footed and Kevin Tomer, a left footer CB also had a good preseason at 7.40 ratings...

My 4-3-3 tactic relies for one of the 2 CB to be a "ball-playing" defender who is somewhat comfortable on the ball and O'Connor fits that bill the best out of my 4 central backs, so I will have to decide whether this is enough to start O'Connor.

Battle at Left wing back

Scott Laird, a 28 year old full-back on loan from Scunthorpe is battling 17 year old hot prospect Callum Cockerill-Mollett, for honor to start on opening day of the season. Surprisingly, the 17 year old has had the better training camp and has performed much better posting a rating of 7.09 in compare to Laird's 6.67 ratings.

While well aware of the rating, I'm still leaning on starting Scott Laird, out of respect for him being a veteran while Callum is just starting his career at 17 and will get plenty of chances to start.

First Preaseason friendly - Mark Marshall scores

First friendly as the manager of Walsall went pretty well since I beat Cambridge United FC 2 - 1 and more importantly, my 6 month loanee, Mark Marshall scored on his debut coming off the bench.

Marksall was also named player of the game with a 7.3 rating. Frank Moussa my left winger, got on the score sheet for the second goal.

Mark Marshall Goal

Frank Moussa Goal

First Loanee signing and first regular signing

After my projected starter at Inside right wing, Kieron Morris went down to an injury that would keep him out for 4 weeks, I've decided to look for a replacement and find a 30 year old named Mark Marshall.

I've signed him on a 6 months loan deal from Bradford City and my reasoning was based on not having any other player adept at using their left foot. Marshall is 2 footed so I'm hoping he'll be able to cut inside from the right side with his left foot since my 4-3-3 tactic requires my winger to cut in to support the lone striker.

Marshall will be used as a rotational player and will add depth as my second player who can use his left foot alongside Kieron Morris who is injred but should be back before opening day of the season.

First regular Free Signing.

I've also signed a young 18 years old striker by the name of Brendon Pooni who I signed off the free market. Signed him up because he had decent attributes and I wanted a striker for my U-23 team.