After a decent finish last season which was contract-less as it was my first season in the Top 100, I was given a contract for 3 years with reasonable objectives. At the start, it seemed easily achievable, and might accomplish 3rd season target in one go and get a free season again (maybe join a Div 1 club. Haha, just kidding). It was not easy as it started as the fatigue, injuries, and suspensions and adding to that poor planning in the transfer business started having their impact on our performances and we had a roller-coaster run so far.
As soon as our boys and staffs returned for pre-season training, we sat down and charted out what we wanted to achieve and what not. We were all naive back then as we thought and decided to build a team for long term and the results will follow automatically and to focus on league and decided to give up on cup tournaments. We started strongly in the league and we were in-and-around play-off spots. As planned we didn’t give much attention to cup tournaments (as it was considered luxury while decent finish in league was essential), we got eliminated in initial rounds. All were going good, and we had acquired 25 points in first 15 games and were enjoying our life as Top 6 contenders of the league.
| TURN | OPP | RESULTS | PTS OBT | MAX PTS |
| 1 | OLM | W | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | BCJ | D | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | PSV | L | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | VIL | W | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | LAZ | W | 3 | 3 |
| 6 | ATL | L | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | ASE | D | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | SHA | L | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | CBR | W | 3 | 3 |
| 10 | RUB | D | 1 | 3 |
| 11 | SPA | W | 3 | 3 |
| 12 | MON | D | 1 | 3 |
| 13 | OLY | W | 3 | 3 |
| 14 | BAS | L | 0 | 3 |
| 15 | IND | W | 3 | 3 |
| 25 | 45 |
Then, I got introduced to some top managers of the league who explained the importance of the ratings in long run and their part in achieving promotion. For next one month, we vigorously focused on improving the avg. rating of starting XI and clearing out the deadwoods. In terms of transfer business, we are successful as our avg. rating increased to 87 from 86 and have decent 87-86 backups instead of 84s and 82s. But, we lost in terms of team morale as frequent player incomings and outgoings during mid-season disrupted our team atmosphere which had significant impact on the pitch performances. The enlightening was right but the timing was wrong. Haha. Statically speaking, we got just 3 points next 9 games. We were thrown out from one of the top floors with a great view to 4th bottom floor near basement. That had mentally affected our entire team. Our position was so bad that we had serious doubts whether we can achieve 1st season target let alone 3rd season objective.
| TURN | OPP | RESULTS | PTS OBT | MAX PTS |
| 16 | STU | D | 1 | 3 |
| 17 | OLY | L | 0 | 3 |
| 18 | NEW | D | 1 | 3 |
| 19 | FIO | L | 0 | 3 |
| 20 | OLM | L | 0 | 3 |
| 21 | BCJ | L | 0 | 3 |
| 22 | PSV | D | 1 | 3 |
| 23 | VIL | L | 0 | 3 |
| 24 | LAZ | L | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | 27 |
The boys were down and we had to take them on a trip to get away from all media scrutiny and get some fresh air. We as a coaching team decided to put a temporary pause on our transfer business and focus on the tactical side of the game and try to improve the bonding among the new-look squad. After spending little time away we came back with a positive attitude and trained harder. The team bonded well and the results followed automatically. 15 points from the next 8 and we’re slowly moving up the table. (Well done lads.)
| TURN | OPP | RESULTS | PTS OBT | MAX PTS |
| 25 | ATL | W | 3 | 3 |
| 26 | ASE | L | 0 | 3 |
| 27 | SHA | W | 3 | 3 |
| 28 | CBR | W | 3 | 3 |
| 29 | RUB | W | 3 | 3 |
| 30 | SPA | D | 1 | 3 |
| 31 | MON | D | 1 | 3 |
| 32 | OLY | D | 1 | 3 |
| 15 | 24 |
We can’t get complacent at this point and we will train harder than ever. The next 6 games are crucial for us and we’re going to treat them as six different finals and fight them with everything we got. We ain’t going down and Div 4 – we’re coming for you.
Top 100 