The Career of D. Dillard (A FM 2012 Dynasty)

October 2013

9-1-2 1st in Argentine Premier

I really cannot believe this. We sit alone in first place with a 4 point advantage. Who would've thunk it? Right now we pretty much score at will, and it seems like when our boys smell blood, they go for the jugular. There have been quite a few times where we hit our opponents with 2 goals in a less than five minute span.

This scoring barrage is spearheaded by the 3 headed monster of Lenny, Luna, and Correa. Lenny has been scoring at an amazing pace, and its only a matter of time before someone comes knocking. His 11 goals is tied for first in this young season, while he come in 2nd in Match Form. As you can see, Lenny's performance earned him POM award while his partner in crime, Leonel Correa came in 2nd place. I was particularly surprised with our dominance over River Plate and the fact that early in this season, we have the highest scoring offense. These young guys going beast mode in October also earned me MOM. Here are highlights of our two, 4 goal performances this past month:

Of late, I've been very cognizant of removing Lenny late in games that seem to be in hand. We are going to ride his coattails for as long as we can.

November 2013

10-2-4 2nd in Argentine Premier

Just as quickly as we were up and on a roll, we can't seem to buy a goal. After being so magnificent early, it is now December 1st and Lenny hasn't found the back of the net since 10/20/13. I will probably try switching up the starting XI to try to find a spark somewhere.

The one draw vs. Atl. Rafaela we had to win in injury time with a last second header on a corner so we could have easily lost another.

If nothing else, I am pleased with the progression of Leonel Correa. He starting to emerge as the 2nd best attacker behind Lenny.

December 2013

12-2-5 2nd in Argentine Premier, Opening Stage

In Argentina, the season is sectioned in two halves by a winter break. The first half is named the Opening Stage, while the 2nd half is called the Closing Stage. So as it stands, we end the Opening Stage in 2nd Place, just a single point behind Independiente. This is a great time to get healthy, which we sorely need after the injuries started to pile up towards the end of the Opening Stage.

Overall, the month of December was good for us, going 2-0-1 in league play accompanied by a dominant 3-0 win over Instituto in Cup play. The downside is the one loss was not only an ass whoopin' but it also came against 1st place Independiente and would have given up 1st place in the Opening Stage. For me, the Goal of the Month was one of the most memorable yet in my young coaching career. Watching Jorge Luna fire one from 35 out was a real treat (2nd Highlight):

23 year old center back, Rodrigo Erramuspe has started to earn my trust. He is slowly but surely unseating Ecuadorian national team member, Pablo Saucedo for the starting center back position opposite of Sebastian Diaz. Saucedo is having problems with resigning his contract and it may be affecting his play. I don't do many contract negotiations (I delegate that responsibility to my assistant manager) but from the reports I'm given, I'm not too sure Pablo will be with us next year.

I actually lost a coach last month as he got a manager's job, so I finally took the time out to fill out the staff. I hired two new coaches, one with EPL experience. Could D. Dillard be setting up for a move to England?

So we've got a few people nominated and winners of Team of the Year in Diaz (CB) and Crivelli (GK). Correa is gaining a little momentum as he came in 2nd in Young Argentine Player of the Year, while I got 3rd place as 2nd Division Manager of the Year for last year's performance.

We've got 7 friendlies this year to get back in shape. Lets go.

January 2014

0-1-0 (12-3-5) 2nd in Argentine Premier, Closing Stage

All of the matches in January were friendlies except the 2-2 draw against Tigre to end the month. The worst thing about that game is that we had a 2-0 lead with less than 20 minutes remaining and then got burned by two quick hits back to back. We stopped the bleeding to avoid the loss, but I see I'm going to have to be tougher on the guys at haltfime.

Lenny got back on the scoresheet in the match against Tigre as well. We've been getting great performances from the two most talented (and youngest) guys on our squad, Correa and Machido. 24 year old CB, Rodrigo Erramuspe has completely unseated aging Ecuadorian international, Pablo Saucedo in the the starting 11 as well.

I know. I'm the man.

I'm glad to have gotten this cancer off my team. I have no idea why he thought he was going to start. Plus when I did put him in he played horribly. Good riddance.

We did pick up two new players during the Winter transfer window. Caceres is a beast and will definitely compete for a starting role once he gets back from injury. He played well through all of the friendlies and had he not injured himself in practice he'd be starting. Manrique is just a rotational/backup guy in case of injury in our backline.

February 2014

3-1-1, 3rd in Closing Stage

15-3-6, 1st Overall

We are only 3rd in the closing stage, but where it matters most, we are in first place by two points.

Lenny is back to his scoring ways, netting 4 goals in the four matches in February. He now has 16 on the season, and triggered an incentive payout of $15,000, following his 15th goal. Unsurprisingly, the one match we lost week, Lenny did not score.

Highlights: