Note to self.\u00a0 When embarking on a new league campaign it is wise to double check how many teams get promoted.\u00a0 When we won the fourth remaining fixture to ease ten points ahead of third place, the virtual champagne corks were popped and we were dancing on the streets of Basel.\u00a0 That was until I reread the small print….<\/p>\n
Servette were clearly the best side in the division, if you are a huge believer in league tables.\u00a0 Not only had that win moved us ten points clear of third, it moved us a single point behind the leaders who, it has to be reminded, we had beaten twice in the league 1-0.\u00a0 We were not just celebrating promotion, I believed we might win the league!\u00a0 Damn fine print.\u00a0 I have no idea where I got the idea that two teams went up, but I was convinced of it.\u00a0 As you can probably well assume by now, I was wrong.\u00a0 One team.\u00a0 Yes, one team.\u00a0 Give me back that champagne Florian, there is more work to be done.<\/p>\n
Gutting was not the word, but with three more winnable fixtures in front of us I could still hope that Servette might slip up and let us into pole position.\u00a0 The next round saw us match Servette\u2019s victory, then we picked up an annoying draw against Tuggen.\u00a0 Servette won, meaning we had to win and hope they lost to Basel U21\u2019s on the final weekend.\u00a0 Well, we did our bit but Servette dug in for a 0-0 to win the title by a mere point.\u00a0 As I said, gutting.<\/p>\n
Still, considering we were predicted 8th<\/sup> and I only had five permanent players in the squad I cannot complain too much.\u00a0 We absolutely killed the average ratings, having Old Boys in the top five places.\u00a0 Top man, as you can see below, was Ospelt.\u00a0 The kid was on loan from Vaduz, and was released by them at the end of the season.\u00a0 Sadly, he wanted \u00a3400 a week to join us permanently so I declined.\u00a0 Having seen almost anyone slot into regista no matter what their natural position is, I am confident I can unearth another gem.\u00a0 Sofian Allali, a permanent signing, finished second.\u00a0 To remind you, he is a left winger playing on the right of the DM three as a roaming playmaker.\u00a0 His contract has expired, and he wanted three times more than the \u00a365 a week he is on.\u00a0 I said no, so he is now on a month-to-month deal which I think will work for both of us.\u00a0 Antero Gomes, a Brazilian on loan from Young Boys, was also released and went all Billy Big Time on us demanding a top flight wage.\u00a0 A top flight wage seems to be \u00a3650 a week.\u00a0 He did get goals and assists, but I am not buckling for that kind of cash.\u00a0 Akedimir was a genuine surprise \u2013 a right footed left back, which I hate, and he was excellent.\u00a0 The original plan was to play the 17 year old kid who had been made club captain, but Honig barely got a look in.\u00a0 5th<\/sup> place was Duah, who was also our top scorer.\u00a0 Young Boys must have been impressed as he is no longer available for loan.<\/p>\n\n We also rinsed the league in Key Passes.\u00a0 Three of the lads have already been mentioned, but Muller also got in on the act.\u00a0 He was a left winger that I converted to play left of the front three as a false nine.<\/p>\n You can see other bits of information above, watch the slideshow dammit.<\/p>\n Looking ahead to the new season, we have been able to retain some of the lads for a second season on loan.\u00a0 I was delighted to snare the \u2018keeper Hornung for a second season.\u00a0 He was superb when he came in to the side after six games last season, conceding only 11 league goals in the remaining 24 fixtures.\u00a0 He is joined by the right back Bender for a second spell.\u00a0 Jordi Manuel, on loan from Grasshoppers again, will slot in to the regista role vacated by Ospelt.\u00a0 He was an excellent understudy last season so I am confident he will do it well again.\u00a0 A slightly more surprising move has seen Efendic, last season\u2019s reserve right back, rejoin us on loan and move into the front three.\u00a0 At the time of writing he has four goals in three pre-season friendlies.\u00a0 This pleases me.\u00a0 I\u2019ve also talked the young Lazio starlet, Beqiri, into staying on our bench for another season.\u00a0 He might push Manuel for the regista spot.\u00a0 The only other face to return on loan is the club captain, Hofer.\u00a0 He is a young left back and will probably play second fiddle to Akedimir.\u00a0 New loans in are Soumah, a winger that I am trying to turn into a striker, Bajrami, who will no doubt be the back up roaming playmaker and Mukjovik, our new number two goalkeeper.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve made some permanent signings!\u00a0 The wage budget went up by around \u00a3900 following the good first season, so I have put it to good use.\u00a0 I have signed one of the lads Vaduz released after his loan spell with me, Weixlbaumer.\u00a0 For \u00a365 a week and he can play centre back or midfield it is a steal.\u00a0 I have also secured two strikers.\u00a0 Firstly, Racchumick.\u00a0 He was on trial last summer, but I could not offer him a deal due to wage restrictions.\u00a0 He was still available, so I have picked him up for next to nothing a week.\u00a0 He is joined by Zbinden, a young Swiss lad who can play AM or striker.\u00a0 I will look at him initially as a F9 when he recovers from injury, and if that does not work I can see him dropping into either regista or roaming playmaker.<\/p>\n Pre-season has been good so far, but I still cannot tell whether we are going to mount a title bid.\u00a0 We shall see.<\/p>\n The financials interest me.\u00a0 When I checked with a few games of last season remaining we were \u00a320k in the red.\u00a0 Now, midway through pre-season we showed a profit of \u00a384k last season and currently sit on \u00a3135k in the bank.\u00a0 I am not entirely sure, how this has happened but it has.\u00a0 I will keep a closer eye on it moving forwards, as I find it very interesting.\u00a0 \u201cOther\u201d is always an interesting income!\u00a0 Expenditure last season was tight \u2013 players and staff cost a total of \u00a379k, which means our sponsorship income alone covers this.\u00a0 The youth set up costs us \u00a322k, our second largest outgoing so it had better start creating players soon.<\/p>\n This post has rambled somewhat, very little structure to it at all.\u00a0 Anyway, we are predicted to finish 5th<\/sup> and I think we will do a little better than that.\u00a0 Whether we win it or not will depend on how well we start I guess.\u00a0 One thing I do know, I love the football we are playing and I am really enjoying the challenge of retraining people into different positions again.<\/p>\n Catch you all soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Note to self.\u00a0 When embarking on a new league campaign it is wise to double check how many teams get promoted.\u00a0 When we won the fourth remaining fixture to ease ten points ahead of third place, the virtual champagne corks were popped and we were dancing on the streets of Basel.\u00a0 That was until I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3894,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[57,14,40,41,42,53,49,25],"yoast_head":"\n