Start from the beginning here!

The transfer window is still open and there’s been virtually no movement since the failure to sign Maresic. There are three positions I’m looking to fill.

First is a centre-back, as Veljkovic and Langkamp are the only two CBs I trust right now. Moisander’s fitness (and quality) is questionable, whilst Sanè is the same, with the added issue of being a bit of a turd.

Second is a central-midfielder. Mino Raiola may have pissed me off by insisting I improve it at his demand, as well as going overboard by calling it shit, but he wasn’t wrong when he called it one-dimensional. Lots of physicality, not enough creativity. A creative midfielder is a must to help rotate with Eggestein or cover for injuries.

Lastly, possibly most importantly, is a left-winger who can cover for Kainz. Currently I have to stick Bartels there as an inside-forward when Kainz is tired or unavailable, which is functional, nothing more. We need somebody who’s a natural on that wing who can actually take the load off Kainz and rotate in for injuries and loss of form.

My scouts have come back with various reports and, given we’re on a tight budget, we’re looking for players who are either young or at lower-tier teams. That probably rules out the signing of Harit from Schalke then.

The first player who piques my interest is Joao Novais, a central midfielder who currently plays for Rio Ave. My scouts put him at between 3-4 star ability and, at the age of 24, he’s approaching his peak. What’s best is that he has a buyout clause of £1.1 million. Perfect for our budget. I add him to the shortlist and instruct our scouts to get a detailed report. His agent is Jorge Mendes, which worries me initially, though I quickly learn that he deals with transfers of this small scale mostly through intermediaries so negotiations should run smoothly.

The next player on the list is Paulo Vitor from Vasco. The 19-year-old has caught the attention of clubs bigger than Bremen, namely Internazionale and Porto but he’s got exciting potential. His current ability is already between 2-3 stars and his potential is 4-5 stars. Failure to sign this kid could come back to haunt me. Again, I add him to the shortlist and instruct my scouts to keep tabs on him. I’m unsure if we can afford him but it’s worth keeping track of him.

Before I bring anybody in, however, there’s an outgoing to take care of. Luca Caldirola, who has played approximately 0 minutes of football this season, is on his way to Genoa for £425k. £13k wages off the books and a 5th choice, 31-year-old CB sold for reasonable money which we can reinvest in the squad. Not too shabby.

I turn my attention to centre-backs. Going into the window I was kind of relying on Maresic joining us but Raiola quickly saw to that. Instead, I notice that Marc-Oliver Kempf is also available for a free transfer at the end of the season, choosing not to re-sign with Freiburg. With a decent range of passing and aged only 23, he could easily fit straight into our squad for the next few years at least.

This time my approach to sign him is met with outright refusal, saying that he wants to see what his options look like closer to the end of his contract. Understandable. I add him to the shortlist and tell my team to keep me abreast of his situation, ready to pounce on any developments.

The fun of the transfer window is interrupted by the inconvenience that is league football returning once again. When the team returns from the winter break, the atmosphere is surprisingly unaffected by the Kruse, revelations which surfaced in the media. It occurs to me that the players have probably had Kruse whispering in their ear since the season started about how I’ve treated him badly and are probably numb to the whole saga by now.

Our first game since returning comes against Schalke. We return to our 4-3-3 counter formation, as they currently sit joint top of the table with Bayern and Bullshit Leipzig. Everybody has come back fit with the exception of Lamine Sané, who is out long term, so we go with our (mostly) strongest eleven. Kruse begrudgingly makes the bench despite our differences.

The game is an absolute dud and ends 0-0, just like the first round fixture against them. Our defence looks solid throughout, however our attack looks pretty flaccid. Eggestein in particular has a bad game and it’s nice to know that, if required as a last resort, Kruse will put in a solid 6.5 performance for me to try to change my mind.

Much like the first round fixture, it’s a good point against a top team. Nothing to really complain about, if a slightly worryingly bad performance. Our next game comes against Mainz, a much more winnable affair in which we adopt the 4-2-3-1 again.

Mainz take an early 1-0 lead thanks to a stray tackle from Veljkovic which finds De Blasis, who is quick to send Lucas Andersen through on goal. He makes no mistake, running onto the ball and putting it in at his near post. Maximilian Eggestein runs the show in the centre of the park, creating chance after chance which our team just refuses to put away or get anything out of. Late in the second half we’re punished as Mainz make it 2-0 and the defeat is inevitable. Belfodil pulls one back in the dying minutes as Eggestein cuts a perfect ball through Mainz’s defence and Belfodil fires home but it’s too little too late.

Another thrilling 6.6 performance from Kruse off the bench means I persist with Eggestein, somewhat harshly to Belfodil who’s just scored in the previous game. Junuzovic comes back into central midfield as part of a midfield three with Eggestein and Delaney.

The first half goes very well. Kainz slams home from the corner of the six yard box into the opposite side of the net after a nice chipped ball from Johannes in the 16th minute. Langkamp plays a cheeky one-two with Veljkovic as the centre-backs combine in the opposition penalty area, taking us 2-0 up just on the stroke of half time.

Then the second half happens. After a team talk where I specifically tell them not to get complacent, they immediately get complacent and the game starts opening up. Bittencourt fires a shot across goal and Pavlenka palms it away, only for a completely unmarked Clemens to knock in a rebound at the far post. The pressure ramps up and for the next ten minutes the team completely goes to pieces, with multiple shots coming at our goal. Jojic gets into the area on our left hand side before playing a high ball over the defence and Pavlenka and it’s simply too easy for Terodde to nod it in.

Despite our best efforts for the remainder of the game, the winner isn’t forthcoming. We’ve thrown away another win against another beatable team. If we keep doing this, the end of the season is going to look a lot less rosy than it potentially could.

The three January games do us no favours in the league as we only get two points from a possible nine. Suddenly the distance between ourselves and continental spots has grown considerably whilst the points gap between ourselves and the teams below us has similarly shrunk.

A few days later, transfer deadline day is upon us and it’s really time to shit or get off the toilet. I decide that I’m going to shit. I’m going to shit big.

I activate Joao Novais’s release clause and immediately begin contract negotiations. One of Mendes’s representatives, a rather nice man, is more than willing to do business. He insists on a Champions League club release clause and I accept, the logic being that should he become good enough for clubs of that stature to be interested then I’ll just offer him a new contract to secure his services.

The imminent transfer is met with a lukewarm response. Many haven’t heard of Novais, which is understandable. Reports from Portugal give glowing reviews and a couple of YouTube highlight reels show off an impressive passing range but you can make Yaya Sanogo look good in a highlight reel. Many remain sceptical until they see him in action.

Initially I accept that this is probably all of our transfer business completed for this window. I’ve got about £1.4m left to spare in the budget after the sale of Caldirola but I’m more than happy with this carrying on over for the next season.

That is until my Director of Football informs me, with hours to spare in the window, that Inter have submitted a bid for Paulo Vitor. I match the offer of £975k, rising to £1.3 million, with bonuses taking it up to £1.7 million, and his club accept, allowing negotiations to begin.

Victor’s agent insists that Vitor will be used as a rotational option at the very least. Naturally, I agree, as this is what his role will be and we get into the nitty-gritty. His wage demands are reasonable, I add an extra thousand pounds to his wage, pushing it to £13.25k to sweeten the deal as we’re going up against Inter, there’s also a view for his wages to bump up to £14k per week after 20 league appearances.

Like Novais, he adds a minimum release clause for Champions League clubs. I accept this for now, though with Inter already coming in for him I feel like this is something I should look to amend sooner rather than later. Then I sit back and wait for the inevitable rejection as he chooses Inter ahead of us.

Only it doesn’t come. The lovely young Brazilian chooses Bremen as his new home ahead of Milan and media sources close to his agent imply that Inter’s plan was just to loan him out and give him time with the youth team, whereas our plan to put him in the first team swung it for him. I’m delighted as we finalise the transfer. What a coup.

The reaction to this transfer is much more enthusiastic from fans, as the novelty of beating a club the size of Inter Milan to a player is difficult to play down. This is a signing which shows a statement of intent at the club.

A few hours later, Joao Novais’s transfer is wrapped up and the window closes.

On the whole, we’ve made business that we’re happy with. Two of the three gaps we wanted to fill have been filled with a combination of quality and potential. Failing to sign Maresic is a bit gutting but we’ll be able to find a replacement signing in the coming months. There’s exciting times ahead. Now we just need to get through the rest of this season and the real rebuilding can begin.

Read Part 10 here!