Dilemma's

I've been looking for another High Rep since I sold Scott Parker I've £4m projected and with the stadium pretty much covered was looking to spend £2m on a big name. A few world famous strikers have passed under the radar and I was minutes away from being £1.7m lighter for Giuseppe Rossi. It's odd how fast things change, no sooner had Scott Parker packed his bags that Dudu was out with a long term injury forcing me to bring in a young DM, the flat 4-4-2 was still working with Fidel Martinez as the attacking midfielder but soon Martinez is out as well.

This now literally forced me to play Ashkan (who is now world famous whoop) in the AMC role and drop the DM to a proper DM position. Ashkan I think has earnt his rep in this role (free role seems to work well with him) and he has been stunning at times, I moved Paulo Roberto to the wing and brought M'Villa into the starting 11. So we're now playing a Diamond 4-4-2!

With this season being an interim season for us, i.e. rebuilding, this seems to work well but I have to have my eye on next season and still look to secure a big name to really drive the teams reputation on. Tim De Cler is 32 and I'm not sure about extending his contract (I've a superb 18 year old Left Back) so with this in mind the defence needs work and the head on the chopping block is Torrejohn.

Torrejohn has been great for three seasons but he's still quite young, I'd be quite happy to pull in an old pro around 30 / 31 for a couple of season, again it's the price that is going to be key. Then I have to be mindful that Gimenez is 30, I'm sure he'll go well until 32 but he's also gone world famous.

I also have to consider that £1m is worth 10k a day if pumped into the stadium and buying a superstar for £2m ish who's going to be on £20k is going to effectively cost a lot over time.

So now not only do I have to be looking at our needs on the pitch short term and long term but also be mindful of the clubs progression. Hopefully making decisions that will result in us getting to 4 star as quickly as possible and ensuring that progression can be sustained once we get there.

It's very tempting to splash the cash on a big name for short term gain. Adding to my confusion is that during a recent youth game I spotted a player that had me drooling. I've been here before though and kids at senior level can cause much joy and much frustration.

Dam you SI for making something that is so dam time consuming!

On the pitch we're patchy two world famous players normally results in a moment of greatness or two but with Dudu out we do look flimsy at the back, so results have been a little erratic.

The SFA Active Leagues are fantastic and you've always something to play for, see earlier blog.