Career wpmc's take on the Everton in the 80's challenge.

[wpmc]

Hi folks.

 

I’ve been a lurker on the website and forums for a few years but it’s about time I start contributing more. I am particularly interested in getting involved in some of the challenges. As an Evertonian, I’ve decided to take on the “Everton in the 80s” challenge first. I will be sticking to the following challenge rules:

 

• I will load up all English leagues and take charge of Everton

• I have six seasons to replicate the trophies won in the Kendall period (2 League titles, 1 FA Cup, 3 Charity Shields and 1 European trophy)

• I must have an English striker score 30 league goals in one season

• I must use my own formation

• no editor, edited databases or unlockables

• I must provide evidence in this thread

• no cheating - restarting to avoid injuries counts as cheating

 

The challenge can be found here.

 

 

In my opinion Everton had a Europa League level, top 8 squad from the off. They were just behind the big boys and required one or two players of top quality to push them on that little bit further. On the budget available I decided to bring in and develop starlets, as opposed to bringing in ready made stars.

 

As with any job, my first action was to confirm my backroom staff. I started with my Gold coaching badge and the General speciality. At Everton there were four Silver coaches, all specialising in Attacking. They also had three scouts, all specialising in Bargain Hunting, with only one being Gold. At physio there was a Bronze specialising in Prevention and two Silvers specialising in Rehabilitation:

 

 

This setup was massively improved upon through firing and hiring. Off the bat Big Dunc, Duncan Ferguson, passed his Gold coaching badge so he stayed on as my Assistant (Attacking). The other three coaches were sent packing and I brought in Paul Wotton (Defending), Simon Royce (Goalkeeping) and Chris Rush (Fitness).

 

I released all three scouts and replaced them with John Marshall (First Team), Robbie Cooke (Tactical Analyst) and Kristjaan Speakman (Youth). I released two physios but kept Craig Yuill (Rehabilitation) on. I then hired Luke Bussey (Prevention) and John Hartley (Rehabilitation). All who needed to passed their Gold badges did so:

 

 

All players loaned out were put into the reserves. At a glance I see that I will have some promising young talent at my disposal at the end of the season, providing they continue to progress and their loans go well.

 

Ross Barkley was put onto the transfer list and sent to train with the reserves. With 12 months left on his contract he has no interest in agreeing new terms. Also put up for sale were:

 

• Maarten Stekelenburg

• Cuco Martina

• Phil Jagielka

• Muhamed Besic

• Davy Klaasen

• Jose Baxter

• Shani Tarashaj

• Wayne Rooney

• Oumar Niasse

 

 

I would be employing a 4-2-3-1 formation and I had two players for every position, and a very flexible squad overall. My immediate thoughts were to find a better quality, young English striker than Dominic Calvert-Lewin and a quality long-term replacement for Leighton Baines at left fullback. Those two positions are where my transfer budget would be spent. Anything left over I resolved to spend on young upgrades if available.

 

[Taff]

Interesting to see where you take them dude, can't believe myself that they never invested some of the money from the Lukaku sale into another decent striker, so will be interesting to see who you bring in

Good Luck

[ManLikeRobbieBrady]

Can't wait to see how you do with them. How are you going to fill a Lukaku-sized hole though? 

[FuddledFox]

It's always good to see new faces come out the shadows and this is a really good first post.

Good luck with this. I'm sure it will be a labour of love for you taking Everton back to the top of the English game.

[wpmc]

By 27^th July, the day of my first competitive game, I was delighted with our transfer dealings. Outside of a few players yet to move on I felt our business had been completed. Some people may be surprised to find who I decided to go with to lead the forward line:

 

Out:

 

In:

 

 

My strongest side:

 

Seamus Coleman was given the Everton captaincy, with youngster Kieran Tierney surprisingly being given the vice-captaincy.

After a so-so pre season, in which I let Duncan Ferguson take most of the responsibility, we were ready to make our Europa League bow, away to Ostersunds in the third qualifying round first leg. I will be going with a strong side.

 

[wpmc]

By the closing of the summer transfer window we had done more business than I expected, mainly due to offers being too good to refuse. As expected Davy Klaasen was sold, to Bournemouth for £10m. Oumar Niasse also went, to Middlesbrough for £4m. I let Dominic Calvert Lewin go on a season loan to Norwich. An offer then came in for Ashley Williams from Ipswich, of £3.1m. I let him go as he was only going to be a squad player, and at 32 years old he deserved the chance to go and play regular football. In his place I spent all of my remaining funds on bringing Thilo Kehrer in from Gelsenkirchen for £21.5m. He takes Ramiro Funes Mori's place in the LCB position alongside Michael Keane. Also, Last but not least, in the final hours of the transfer window I had an offer of £22m come in for Idrissa Gueye from Bournemouth. I found it too good to refuse so let him leave. I still have James McCarthy, Morgan Schneiderlin, Tom Davies and Arthur to pick from in central midfield and a budget of £26m to play with in the January transfer window.

 

 

 

 

[wpmc]

September

An unbeaten month with progression to the Carabao Cup and an unbeaten start to our Europa League group. Kieran Tierney also picked up the Premier League's Young Player of the Month award. The only bad news was James McCarthy picking up a calf strain, keeping him out until late October. The home draw with Newcastle was a little disappointing as we completely dominated.

 

 

 

Andy Carroll performed very well up to this point, although not quite 30 goals a season form.

[wpmc]

October

October saw us progressing to the Carabao Cup quarter finals. James McCarthy returned from injury, but Kieran Tierney was out until late November with a calf strain. Andy Carroll continued finding the net and ended the month joint top league scorer.

 

November

James McCarthy was out injured again, this time for 2 months with a calf strain. Yannick Bolasie was put out for a month with a groin strain and Kevin Mirallas for 2 months with strained ankle ligaments. Progression to the knockout stage of the Europa League was secured. Also, the sale of Morgan Schneiderlin to West Ham in January for £24m was agreed. We absolutely battered Arsenal in their own ground, only to lose 3-2, which was a bit of a sickener. Dominic Calvert-Lewin won the Championship’s Young Player of the Month award on loan at Norwich. Finally, we agreed terms with James Ward-Prowse to come in as a replacement for Schneiderlin in January for the same price of £24m.

[BatiGoal]

Very nice first challenge. Always tough getting that first season out of the way but looking good so far. Goodluck! 

[wpmc]

December

We started the month flying, with a string of wins which almost took us to the top of the table. Then Gylfi Sigurdsson got put out for 2 months with strained ankle ligaments and our form took a hit. We were drawn against Bolton at home in the FA Cup third round, Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League first knockout round and Man City in the Carabao Cup semi finals. Andy Carroll reached the halfway point of the 30 goals in a season challenge and then got injured for 2 weeks.

 

January

Morgan Schneiderlin left and James Ward-Prowse arrived. Seamus Coleman was sold to Man Utd for £16.5m and Kevin Mirallas was sold to Bournemouth for £16.5m. They were replaced with Benjamin Henrichs for £31.5m from Leverkusen and Oliver Burke from West Brom for £30.5m. Kieran Tierney was made captain with Ward-Prowse vice captain. We got through to the FA Cup fifth round and were drawn away to Liverpool. We beat Man City 2-1 on aggregate to reach the Carabao Cup final, where we will face Man Utd. Dominic Calvert-Lewin won the Championship’s Player and Young Player of the Month awards. We went unbeaten the whole month.

[wpmc]

February

Andy Carroll suffered a damaged shoulder and would be out for a month. It was around this time I began to look at Tammy Abraham as a possible future signing. On loan at Swansea from Chelsea at the time, he had scored 7 in 15. Sandro Ramirez had begun to give me a headache, as he was developing into a beast of a striker in his own right. He won the Premier League's Player of the Month award. We qualified for the Europa League second knockout round, drawing Shakhtar. We were knocked out of the FA Cup by Liverpool 5-3, after beating them 4-3 in the league. We were also beaten 2-0 by Man Utd in the Carabao Cup final, with Yannick Bolasie suffering a broken toe and being out for 3 weeks.

 

[wpmc]

March

Andy Carroll damaged his shoulder again and was out for another 2 weeks. We reached the Europa League quarter finals, drawn against Zenit. Sandro got his first international cap. The month went fast, with only 4 games and a long international break, which resulted in me forgetting to take screenshots!

 

April

We progressed to the Europa League semi finals, drawing Arsenal. The other semi final was Chelsea vs. Lyon. Gylfi Sigurdsson picked up a calf strain and would be out for a month. Benjamin Henrichs got stick from the fans for not being upto scratch. We ended the month joint top of the league after a great run. Sandro has gone beserk, regularly scoring 2 or 3 per game. Oliver Burke won the Young Player of the Month award. I rejected offers from Liverpool and Tottenham for Mason Holgate. Predrag Rajkovic has usurped Jordan Pickford as first choice goalkeeper.

[wpmc]

May

Mason Holgate suffed a broken toe, keeping him out for 3 weeks. He missed the final 2 games of the season as a result. We took the title race down to the last game of the league season, then ended our season with a final attempt at collecting some silverware.

 

Arthur also developed into a top player, having played in 64 of 66 total competitive matches for Everton over the season.

[Rob]

Great stuff 

[Cockers2505]

Mate looking good, KEEP SANDRO he turns into a goal king if you play him right, I completed the Latin Europe Challenge with him, he got me 88 goals to complete Stage 4, serious striker eventually

Good luck @wpmc

[danovic78]

Good start. Unlucky in the league there. I would see how DCL gets on after coming back from Loan. He has performed well in the games I have seen so far. I would have kept Klassen and Funes Mori as they are very solid players.

As @Cockers2505says Sandro is a beast but you don't really need him to score the goals. Although he may bring in a big transfer fee if he scores for you.