Anybody want to feel a bit warmer? Off to Benidorm with Nath it is…

Hello. Welcome back to Benidorm where a full English costs less than a multi pack of crisps in the UK! In the last episode we had an x rated trip to Benidorm palace and a sad catch up with Kirkby. In this update we get into the nitty gritty part of the season. We meet King Kev in Seville and finally the transfer market is open which we will look to dip into.

January

Brian is absolutely buzzing this week. The reason for this is because our next game is against Seville and their new manager is Kevin Keegan. Brian is a huge Liverpool fan so he’s offered Kev a meal out in Seville after the game. He’s invited me & Pete as well. Pete politely declines and says he’ll head back on the bus with the lads. I decide to tag along.

It’s a classic Keegan-esqe game with defence going completely out the window! Lima gets on the end of a Teather cross to give us the lead but Nando hits us with a Peri-Peri quick equaliser (Horrible joke, sorry!!). Micky & Tom trade goals and assists with each other to give us a 2 goal lead before Salva gets one back before half time. Micky goes in again to make it 4-2 but sub Oulida again makes it a 1 goal game. Both teams attack to the very end but it stays 4-3. Brilliant match!

After the game Brian and I head to a restaurant in Seville and Kev is waiting for us to arrive. Brian is like a school kid at Christmas! He asks a million questions and to be fair Kev is more than happy to answer every one of them. It’s an amazing experience for me personally to listen to someone with a lifetime of experience in the game given i was only a holidaymaker less than 6 months ago. Brian picks up the tab and we head back for the bright lights of Benidorm.

Back to Benidorm with a bump. The Yellow Submarine are in town and put us to the sword. Micky gives us an early lead. He’s been absolutely fantastic this season and we’d be lost without him. Denny let’s himself down by giving away a clear penalty which Milojevic converts. We switch off towards the end at the back an allow Milojevic far too much room and he slots his shot into the bottom corner to condemn us to a loss. I don’t hold back in the changing rooms after because that was really sloppy.

Pete and I really home in on the defensive side of training after that last performance. Lots and lots of Rondo drills and 2 vs 4 drills as well. I’m keeping an eye on young Pedro in goal as well as I feel he’s been disappointing recently.

Well, the telling off and the focus training works a treat in the next two games. Logrones & Las Palmas were 5th & 6th respectively and the close games reflected that. Fantastic to see the training paying off.

Since losing Kirkby we’ve been short in Midfield both attacking and defensive. Saul is in town and we meet up and the stadium along with Brian to help sort out our Midfield issues. I bring Pete along and we breakdown what we are looking for. Saul says he will give us call. We’ve had bids in for a few players but they are playing for teams who are in Europe so we get plenty of rejections. Saul comes up trumps though with these two.

Jefferson joins for £275k from Portuguese side Leca. He will provide cover for old man Bakero.

Joao Paulo comes in on a free. Pete actually saw this lad on a pre-season trip in one of his old roles and really liked him so he gets a shot.

Another clean sheet to end the month. Debuts for both Jefferson and Paulo who do well. Only 1 loss this month and that results in another Manager of the Month award. Not sure if I’m pleased as last time I won we had a terrible following month!

February

February is another really good month for us. The loss to Leganes was really poor. we seem to throw in these odd games where we are just rubbish from start to finish. Another Manager of the Month award comes my way as well which is lovely.

Mickey comes in to the office after training and asks for a transfer. I’m rocked as he’s shown no sign of wanting to leave. I tell him it’s not going to happen. Hopefully we can get promoted and La Liga will be enough to keep him.

Game of the month is 1st against 2nd and we make it look like top vs bottom. We smash Badajoz. Youngs is out for a month so Garzon steps in and he explodes! He hits a first half hattrick before adding a penalty in the second half to cap a fantastic game.

It’s been a brilliant 2 months for us and it sees us rise to the top of the table although Badajoz have a game in hand over us.

That’s it for this update. Join me next week as we look to secure promotion whilst chasing the title & Kirkby returns to training. Enjoy the rest of the week!