Manager: Lewis (Wales)
Twitter name: @jsl105
Since: 2007 (committee member – treasurer)
Last season: 13th
Trophy cabinet: Empty (highest league position – 8th in 2011/12)
Sympathies: Wrexham
Darts music: C.R.E.A.M. – Wu Tang Clan
Outlook (on 10 September 2013): The treasurer has long tried to impose his tactics on the field, but his record is not a rosy one. The second-least successful manager in league history, it took him three seasons in the wilderness to overcome the ignominy of steering The Trinny Men to last place in his debut campaign. Returning at the helm of Bala Rinas in 2011, his team’s performances on the pitch have been eclipsed by his realpolitik at Kenna HQ. Elevation to the league committee in July last year led to fierce criticism from Kenna managers who questioned the appointment’s probity.
Rumours were flying in the build up to August’s auction that the Bala Rinas boss had turned his expansive accountancy skills to squad selection and he’d devised an ingenious balance sheet to identify Kenna-winning talent. The manager’s homework appears to be paying off. In what’s being touted as a Kenna first, all eleven of the Bala Rinas team turned out for the first two competitive weeks of the season.
Another 35 weeks to go and all’s well, but with Paulinho the most expensive player at £17m, will the Bala Rinas manager live to regret his decision not to make some bigger signings? And who will he choose to jettison between Foster and Sessegnon come the October transfer window?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrsfJHLx5YA&w=420&h=315]
| Mannone, V | SUN | £0.5m |
| Monreal, N | ARS | £8m |
| Shaw, L | SOT | £5.5m |
| Collins, J | WHM | £0.5m |
| Heitinga, J | FUL | £2.5m |
| Fellaini, M | MUN | £0.5m |
| Nasri, S | MCY | £2m |
| Sissoko, M | NEW | £10m |
| Paulinho | TOT | £17m |
| Chamakh, M | CRY | £14m |
| Lukaku, R | EVE | £3m |
| £63.5m |
First transfer window – 5 October 2013
Starting budget: £6m, remaining budget: £6m, net profit/loss: broken even
(Hyperlink denotes club to which player was sold)
| Out | In | ||||||
| Pos | Player | Team | Sold | Pos | Player | Team | Value |
| GK | Foster, B | WBA | £0.5m | GK | Stockdale, D | FUL | £0.5m |
Second transfer window – 7 February 2014
| Out | In | ||||||
| Position | Player | Team | Sold | Position | Player | Team | Paid |
| GK | Stockdale, D | FUL | Free | GK | Mannone, V | SUN | £0.5m |
| DEF | Luna, A | AVL | Free | DEF | Monreal, N | ARS | £8m |
| DEF | Agger, D | LIV | £5m | DEF | Heitinga, J | FUL | £2.5m |
| MID | Sessegnon, S | WBA | Free | MID | Fellaini, M | MUN | £0.5m |
| MID | Routledge, W | SWA | £1m | MID | Nasri, S | MCY | £2m |
| STR | Crouch, P | STO | £10m | STR | Chamakh, M | CRY | £14m |
