Going into the second season in League One, I knew we had one position locked down: the left winger. You may be wondering who I brought in to fill this role but you’d be wrong – the solution was in front of me for an entire season and I didn’t even know it: Play Kwame Poku as an inside forward on the left and sign one of the more readily available and better quality free right wingers. That would work – now to find that good player on the right . . .
Transfers
Yeah, I’ll say. Rajee Isaacs, welcome to the squad! Isaacs is on loan from Aston Villa, a solid mid-table Premier League team since the start of this save and which just won the FA Cup two seasons ago.
Next up is Sam Jones with 15 acceleration and 15 finishing, on loan from West Brom, and Dave Robertson from Reading with 15 and 14 in the same attributes, respectively. Both have 15 off the ball and at least 12 passing.
In the midfield, I added Todd Highfield, a speedy box-to-box midfielder on a free from Newcastle, along with Mike Foster, a Manchester United product with a deft first touch, 16 passing, and 12’s and 13’s across the board as an excellent all-around player.
My final signing is a tall Kosovan, Gentian Kuqi, 6’4″ with 15 jumping reach, 18 bravery, 15 decisions, 13 positioning, and 15 acceleration. His technical skills are not great with marking and tackling at 11 but he can dribble the ball. I’m hoping his height can bother players on set pieces, his speed can catch up to fast attackers, and be brave while Liam McCorkell makes the smart tackle to wipe away the attack. At just 17, I’m looking at Kuqi to grow tremendously.
On the outs, Dylan Ruffles, the aging Dave Burke, and Phoenix Patterson see the door. I also tried to sell Leon Davies so Jack Cole can feel more settled in but the deal never came together.
Season Results
With Jones, Robertson, Curtis McGuire, and Patrick Dawkins up font, I’ve got plenty of options at striker. Isaacs and Poku will take the wings. Foster and Highfield join our star, Sefa Akgün, as well as ever-present Tom Dinsmore and super-sub Kyle Allison in the midfield. And the back four of Cole, McCorkell, Kuqi, and Danny Preston, along with Roco Rees will keep the goals out. The six pretty big signings should boost us up the table quickly.
A decent first three games, I suppose, followed by a disappointing but expected loss to Peterborough in the Carabao Cup because I played a rotated side. But there had been some drama leading up to that match. Akgün (maybe upset about the midfield additions?) had demanded a transfer out and back to Turkey. Maybe he was homesick? Regardless, he was ready to rip the team apart because I wouldn’t let him go and the players took sides throughout the beginning of August. Last year, team morale was really low at the beginning of the year and it took us a long time to find some form. Keen to not repeat last season’s issues, I relented and let him go home for more than 3 times the price the Board paid for him. See you never again.
Team morale returned until those defeats you see at the end of the month occurred. Sigh. To fill the hold left by Akgün, I signed Peter Rees, a Welshman who had been released by QPR. (I confirmed he was unrelated to Roco Rees.) Peter was a decent player, maybe not on the same level as Foster, but his 17 flair was exciting, especially with 13’s and 14’s in first touch, dribbling, passing, and vision. Maybe Peter’s creativity could help unlock the all-around skills of Foster and speed of Highfield?
Sorry about the long list of fixtures but I really wanted to highlight that we gave up either 1 or 0 goals in almost every single match except one during these three months. Our defense did really well and thankfully our offense did just enough. Jones and Isaacs scored five each and a remarkable 13 other players scored goals during this stretch of games. This team had some really good depth now!
And it was needed because Jones and Isaacs were both the goalscorers and injured in the match against AFC Wimbledon when this run began. I was furious at the time but ultimately glad to see the other players in action to gain some match experience and add to our depth.
Our good form continued. Notable was Sam Jones’ 7 goals this month. His consistent performance all season to this point got me thinking about placing Robertson on the loan list.
The Reading result highlighted for me a weakness developing. The team’s captain, Preston, continued his struggles from last season. This coupled with Cole’s success and an arrangement for Davies to head out to Oxford meant we were a bit thin in the wingback role.
In comes Ansel Brown.
Composure, concentration, decisions, and determination all at 13’s, 14’s. Crossing and dribbling at 10 but acceleration, agility, pace, and stamina over 15. Passing was good too, at 12. Plus, he is versatile and can play both right and left back naturally. Now I could rotate Cole, Preston, and Brown and use the two best in-form players of the three. It felt good to have the defense completely settled again – and with the complementary roles in the middle and excellent performances up front from Isaacs, Poku, and Jones, we would surely contend for the title now.
Spot on. With the 2-1 victory over Reading, who were in second place, I felt we could cruise to the title. The Grimsby Town was a brief setback but we were still comfortably ahead.
Next followed a game at home against AFC Wimbledon. AFC Wimbledon really struggled this season and was fighting for survival. It seems they never shook the bad form they had to end last year. After a 19th minute goal to take Wimbledon ahead, McGuire (a surprise start but had previously had excellent performances against Wimbledon) struck an equalizer a minute later. Foster scored in the 42nd minute and took us ahead for good.
Really, it was quite simple from there. We had 3 home games and 1 away game. Win two of them and we would secure the title. Considering we hadn’t lost twice in the league in one month since August, I was pretty confident we would succeed.
Dominance and excellence. Isaacs really did a great job crossing to Jones and Poku, and the latter often passed back to Isaacs who would drift towards the net after his cross. Just sensational stuff from our attacking players, and Foster looked like a Premier League player. He rarely got on the scoresheet but he was always winning balls back, making sweet passes forward, and had a motor that didn’t seem to ever stop.
This really was a fun and liberating season; a joy after the taxing and tumultuous one before. Even if we struggled next season, I enjoyed watching the team play and the teamwork and passing felt more fluid than any season before. This was now looking like a proper contending club and the balls over the top of lower league football were far gone now. To put an exclamation on that point, AFC Wimbledon would now be two leagues behind us and the few years we had as solid rivals had come to a close.
Best XI
Okay, I have to give it up to Dinsmore. The fact that I don’t say his name more often is a shame. Here’s his last four seasons:
Just a consistent force in the middle. Doesn’t score or provide that final pass much, but he’s always winning tackles and interceptions and making smart decisions. He’s reliable and that has more value than I have given him credit for. A good lad.
Another gold star should go to Poku. He is better as a right winger but he put in an excellent season as an inside forward on the left. This allowed Isaacs and his 12 goals to shine on the right.
5 of the 6 players I brought in on transfers made big impacts. And if we switch Robertson for Brown, we can safely say that we had six significant additions this year. That is excellent and I hope we can continue this success rate moving forward.
Now – onto the Championship! What big names might we be able to convince to join the team? Will the Board give me enough payroll and transfer money to get the players I need to survive? Who will be on the final team to take Kingstonian to the Premier League? It’s all coming up next!
The Kings of London 