My 2011 Football Manager Season So Far..

Since it's a relatively slow day in transfer gossip, I thought I might interest you all in a summary of my 2011 Football Manager season with West Ham.

I chose West Ham simply because I wanted to take on a challenge and in real time that's the case. I struggled in my first season, narrowly avoiding relegation with a 1-0 win over Burnley on the last day. In the build up to that season I had signed Dimitar Berbatov, Miroslav Klose & Allesandro Nesta on free transfers, but I soon found out they were far past their primes and they rarely aided.

The one shining light in that season was my young striker Emile Pilkington. I had orginally started up front with Carlton Cole & Frederic Piquionne but when they started shooting blanks I introduced Pilkington on for Cole. Pilkington soon became my super sub, banging in the goals and finishing with a superb tally of 18 for the season. New signing Charlie Adam was also imperious as he notched up 14 goals and 10 assists. He was the perfect replacement for Scott Parker, who I had decided to sell because of his poor performances.

Barely staying up, I decided to rummage around for free agents and I found an array of fantastic players. I signed Arsenal midfielder Denilson, Shay Given, Emmanuel Eboue & Kieran Gibbs. With the money that I was supplied and the players that I sold, the original West Ham team was virtually unnoticeable. I signed Alexandre Monteiro who was instrumental in the Hammer's season. Together, Monteiro & Adam tore the Premier League to shreds, and as a result I finished in a spectacular 7th, just missing out on a European place due to Leicester winning the FA Cup.

Progressing into my 3rd season I once again, rummaged around for free agents and to my amazement, Eden Hazard had not been snapped up. He became my top earner and top performer as I entered the new season in tip top fashion. During pre-season I had also snapped up Gareth Barry, Brazilian Giuliano, Danish international Nicolai Jorgensen to help boost my potential position for the upcoming season. Hazard & Nigerian Mohanned Okeke quickly became my best players, sharing the praise, with numerous man of the match performances.

flying high with the hammers

I started the season in spectacular fashion, going a record 14 games unbeaten and rising up to second. Okeke had scored a promising 10 goals by October and was quickly establishing himself as a massive hit with the fans. A run which featured beating top spot Manchester United saw my West Ham as the surprise package of the Premier League with 15 games gone. However a dip in form saw my beloved Hammers fall to 5th, losing 5 in a row in all competitions, slowly slumping down the table. Reality was starting to hit my players and injuries also played a part of that crisis with Rob Green, Gareth Barry, Monteiro & Okeke all succumbing.

I am currently in 5th position, with 26 points from 17 games and I'm due to face Sunderland in what promises to be an enthralling encounter which I should prevail from.

Hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to leave feedback, comments etc.