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The slow transitional period from the old generation to the next took another step this week. The final game of the season saw the last competitive appearance for Ant Connolly, who was transfer listed the day after Change Report day. He is sticking around a bit to allow the team to have an average age makeweight while Santamaria is injured but elsewhere the squad was added to with some temporary players and one new addition.
For the first time since the rebuild started, and really the first time since we bought Itachi back in Season 42, Knights have signed an experienced player. It was out of necessity really, Connolly was keeping our average age up, but next season with no average age boost in goal, we needed someone in defence to do the same job.
Enter Cuthbert Sharrock, his name isn't darrock. Sharrock takes over the number 5 shirt from Maciel Del Horno who will wear 4 next season. That was Donovan Pursall's shirt number last season but while Pursall has been registered as 24, in reality he's heading out of the club, he along with Percival Bowey, Ant Connollly and Julien Irujo were transfer listed this week, the club needs money to be able to fund Connolly's replacement as it needs to be a young goalkeeper with potential that replaces him.
The search for Connolly's replacement is on, but quality young keepers are few and far between, there's a fair few 17/4s around but if you want anyone better then they are that much rarer. With that in mind, Knights may need to pay well over the odds to be able to afford such a keeper.
Anyway, we've already made a note for Connolly, who is the most significant departure, in the last PR so let's recount the short time at the club for our three outgoing players. Percival Bowey joined us in Season 45 as part of the first stages of the rebuild. He made 21 appearances for Knights but only scored one goal during that time. Donovan Pursall meanwhile joined at the same time but made 25 appearances, often benefitting with starts from the team frequently deploying 5 at the back, Both players leave after two seasons at the club.
Finally, Julian Irujo made 7 appearances for Knights after a hefty transfer fee, but failed to score a single goal for the club. He leaves after just one season at the club but we feel he will be better off continuing his career at another club, as Knights want to concentrate on Dani Massa to succeed Celso Mota.
Speaking of succession, Mota and Alvito Roma will be playing their final seasons with the club this season. It is a sad day as both have spent a long period of time with the club, but at the age of 35 retirement was always a possibility for both players and with Mota having a penchant for scoring own goals in recent seasons there was a sense that his heart wasn't really into playing anymore. Both Roma and Mota will be offered coaching jobs. The two struck up a good partnership throughout their careers and the fact that they are retiring together says a lot about how they get on with each other so much. Rumours are they both want to go into management afterwards.
Mota in particular has been a great signing. We signed him for just 47 000 econ, we didn't know it at the time but we had stolen a future superstar and the guy who would become the club's top goalscorer. Mota developed well in his early years but his career threatened to stall in his mid 20s. Fortunately he made up for that in his 20s and reached 16 skill by his 30s. More importantly, in 18 seasons he has scored 138 goals for the club and is the club's record goalscorer. He still has another season to add to his total before he retires although it's unlikely he is going hit the 150 landmark this season. More likely he will get to 140 goals and that is a tremendous achievement. Suffice to say, it was the best 47k we've ever spent, though whether that was down to how we raised him remains to be seen.
Alvito Roma meanwhile spent his early career bouncing around between clubs like a hot potato. It looked like his career was in danger of going nowhere and yet after landing at Knights as an 18 year old, his fourth club already in his career, he somehow became part of a team that eventually won the Ultimate League Cup and made 294 appearances for Knights. Roma was a great player for us though, and he was a prodigy at 16/4 which was badly handled by previous managers, with Knights however he has 127 goals and 61 assists. Not bad.
Shirt printers will not have to stop printing "Mota 10" shirts next season, because though Mota is retiring the shirt will still be viable enough due to it's new occupant. That said, they will have to add an extra "t" into the name... if that doesn't give away who the new Knights number 10 will be next season then I don't know what will...
Oh yeah, the change report saw all the youngsters go up and saw three double jumps. Not bad, but we are disappointed Lagergren didn't double on 18 DV and also feel if it hadn't been for his injury then Del Horno would have also doubled. His long term future at the club is now in doubt...
Our priority after a new goalkeeper however will be to bring in some more midfielders. We are significantly short in that department at the moment, to the point that the manager may break his "all 16/4 path" promise and keep Silvio Sbaccanti due to the Ray Tataw Eta similarities... and Ray turned out to be a very good player.
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