Mikes FM Journeys.

Welcome to a new chapter in this story as we leave Panathinaikos after doing the league and cup double two season in a row. The second season however was draining and it took i’s toll on me so I decided a change was necessary  to get this blog back on track and here it is. I was offered the job of managing PSV Eindhoven who are currently playing in the Dutch Eredivisie and they finished 4th and seven points behind the leaders in the season just gone. My sole objective with PSV is to win the league within at least three seasons. I have some smaller objectives and these are mainly winning the Dutch Cup and qualifying out of the Champions League group stages when applicable.

History

PSV are undoubtedly one of the most successful clubs in Holland having won the Eredivisie a staggering 21 times. They also have two European honours with them winning both the Champions League and the Europa League once. They won these trophies in the years 1988 and 1978 respectively. This means it has been a while since European glory and I think they will have to wait at least until next season before we think about winning in Europe. They were dominant in Holland most recently between the years 1997 and 2008 winning the league 8 out of 11 seasons and the 2008 success it the last time they have won the league and I am definitely changing that.

Finances

PSV are an extremely wealthy club and having that amount of money in the bank is something I only could have dreamed about at Panathinaikos and I will definitely use it wisely if they decide to give a lot to me.

I have been given a four year deal worth £22K p/w which is a huge rise on what I was being paid back in Greece. I have yet to receive the expected budget for next season but looking at the finances of the club it should be quite a substantial amount if the board are willing to back me which it would appear so as the compensation to PAO was a hefty £1M.

Facilities

PSV are still playing in their original stadium and it now has a capacity of 35,000 which is a little on the small side but we will fix this if it is necessary. The most exciting thing about PSV is it’s brilliant training and youth facilities which are backed up by excellent junior coaching and a well established youth recruitment so I am hoping to uncover some gems from the academy in the coming years.

Season One Objectives

• Qualify for the Champions League.
• Reach the semi final of the Dutch Cup.
• Bring in a whole new back room staff who will help me improve the players and the clubs scouting capabilities.
• Reach the quarter finals of the Europa League.

Squad Analysis

Goalkeepers

• Przemyslaw Tyton will be my starting goal keeper this year as he is definitely the best. He will probably remain my number one for the rest of my stint at PSV
• Andreas Isaksson will be sold as he is slightly worse than Tyton and is on a high wage so we need to free that up and bring in a little money to spend on new players.
• Jeroen Zoet is a good enough player to be a back up and at only 22 he has time to improve. He is also on a very low wage so this is another reason to keep him.

Centre Backs

• Bruno Ecuele Manga is definitely they best centre back at the club and he is an absolutely beast so will definitely be staying.
• Christian Ramos will be Mangas defensive partner this season as he is also a very solid player who has good pace so will be very useful.
• Marcelo and Timothy Derijck will be my back ups for this position. Marcelo will be the first to step in and then Derijck.
• Mathias Jorgensen is actually better than Derijck but he has nearly double the wage so I am going to be selling him if possible as I don’t want to pay him that wage to be on the bench.

Right Backs

• Denis Odoi will be my starting right back as he had a good season and got an average rating of above 7.00 so I will be hoping for him to repeat this again.
• Stanislav Manolev will hopefully be leaving the club but this is dependent on me bringing in a new young prospect at right back and this is not a priority.

Left Backs

• We currently do not have a single recognised left back at the club and last season we had Reto Ziegler on loan from Juventus but he is not good enough for me so I will definitely be looking to bring in two left backs.

Defensive Midfielders

• Ivo Pekalski is the only recognised defensive midfielder in the team so i will be bring one more in as a back up to him as Ivo is very talented himself.
• Stijn Wuytens will be a back up to Pekalski as he has a low wage and is good enough to at least hold his own in their and he has good potential.

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Central Midfielders

• Atiba Hutchinson is currently my best centre mid at 3.5 star ability but I am unsure if I should sell him and bring in a younger player to fill his boots. If I don’t do this he will definitely be starting.
• Amir Abrashi is my second best centre mid but he will most likely act as a back up for Atiba as I will probably be signing a new centre mid to partner Atiba (if he stays that is). He is not good enough to be a first team starter in my opinion.
• Claudio Mosca will be kept as he will be very good back up for the centre mid position and if he improves could become a starter.
• Orlando Engelaar will most likely be sold even though he had a good season but he is now 33 so I think his best days are behind him.

Attacking Midfielders

• We currently have no out and out attacking midfielder so I will be bringing in two. One will be my starter and the other a young prospect who will be able to challenge for a spot in 1-2 seasons.

Strikers

• Jelle Vossen is currently the best striker at the club but in my opinion he is a very strange player as I don’t think I really know how to get the best out of him. I have always considered buying him but always refused to do so as he is not physically fast or strong. I will be keeping him this season to see what he is like.
• Who will partner him upfront though is yet to be decided. Three players are all of roughly the same ability so I will be seeing if I can sell one or two of them and then bring in a new strike partner for Vossen to make our attack a force to be reckoned with. Irven Avila, Tim Matavz and Mohamed Bangura are the three p[layers in contention.

Remaining players who I have not mentioned will most likely be sold as they do not fit into the formation I am going to employ so it means all the wingers we currently have will be sold.

That is it for my introduction to the PSV squad and everything else about the club, I hope you enjoyed it. What do you think of my new choice of club?

In my next post I will feature my transfers, friendlies and the games in the Europa League.