Written by member: Big B 1970
After two seasons up north in the Arctic Circle, I thought it was time for a change of scenery so I left Norway, and following in the footsteps of the Beatles and Kevin Keegan took my franchise to the metropolis of Hamburg to seek success. I took time to get the lie of the city and meet the locals, and have to say the young ladies that live on the Reeperbahn were very keen to invite me into their homes to sample some German hospitality. Unfortunately that would have to wait as I needed to get to work at the impressive Volksparkstadion, and get my squad ready for the new season in Division 3.
Despite last season not being that successful, I'd enjoyed playing with a 4-2-2-2 formation, so I thought with some improvements it could be succesful for me. Putting all my eggs in one basket may not have been the most sensible plan however. I'd already lost star striker Kolo Muani as he'd only been on loan last season, so I'd brought in Ioannidis as a second striker to play alongside Jørgen Strand Larsen. Kevin Denkey was moved on as he was too similar in style to Larsen, Wimmer was swapped for Rodrigo Mora, and Joe Scally was sold to boost the bank balance. I may regret losing some of those players as when I played some pre-season friendlies the formation wasn't working at all and I have had to try and come up with a Plan B, or even Plans C and D! Thanks to a recent upgrade I know have two good goalkeepers on the same rating, so I may alternate them between games or have a keeper for the league and use the other in the cups.
Despite last season not being that successful, I'd enjoyed playing with a 4-2-2-2 formation, so I thought with some improvements it could be succesful for me. Putting all my eggs in one basket may not have been the most sensible plan however. I'd already lost star striker Kolo Muani as he'd only been on loan last season, so I'd brought in Ioannidis as a second striker to play alongside Jørgen Strand Larsen. Kevin Denkey was moved on as he was too similar in style to Larsen, Wimmer was swapped for Rodrigo Mora, and Joe Scally was sold to boost the bank balance. I may regret losing some of those players as when I played some pre-season friendlies the formation wasn't working at all and I have had to try and come up with a Plan B, or even Plans C and D! Thanks to a recent upgrade I know have two good goalkeepers on the same rating, so I may alternate them between games or have a keeper for the league and use the other in the cups.
The season starts against Harryn9000, who has a direct attacking style of play, getting the ball to the forwards who will run straight at your defenders, which can be a frightening prospect! Hopefully I can get off to good start as I know I'm being tipped to get promoted back to Division 2. Looking at the other teams in this division however, I don't think anyone can look at games and say theres a guaranteed 6 points coming their way. It should be fun to play in as there's less of the the reliance of close dribbling you see with the Division 1 boys and games should look more like a real game of football. Yes, the scorelines might be more like an Under 11's league but I'm looking forward to getting stuck in.