The league:
After a season spent pretty much permanently in the relegation zone, the final day saw Levante sitting in 14th spot, the highest they had been at any point all season.
For the vast majority of the season, the Spanish side looked odds on for the drop. However, an upturn in form, including seven points from the final three games, saw them move out of danger at just the right time, leaving their rivals Vilarreal to be the surprise victims of the dreaded drop.
Manager Tom Parfitt was brought in after the first league game of the season. The board deciding to dispense with the previous incumbant following a mixed pre-season and an opening day defeat to Hella Verona in Italy.
Initially, things looked good. His opening game in charge saw the club take an impressive 3 - 1 victory over eventual champions Besiktas. That was as good as it got for a while, with that win followed by five leaue and cup defeats, including a 9 - 1 capitulation against another Spanish side, Espanyol. There then came a win against Greek side Olympiacos, but that proved to be the only win in eleven games in all competitions.
It was amongst this run of results that one of the most surprising moments of the entire season was thrown up. The manager was offered the job at Bayenrn Munich. Parfitt travelled to Bavaria and spoke to the club, but decided that he owed it to Levante to try and turn things around and keep the club up.
This was eventually an ambition realised, but not without further trauma first. After that eleven game run, Levante managed a four game unbeaten spell with wins against Celta Vigo and Villarreal, and draws with West Brom and Malaga. The West Brom and Malaga games also saw the club throw away a lead in both fixtures.
As the first half of the season came to an end, Levante lost the next three, before gaining a surprise 1 - 0 win against high flying Genoa. This saw the club on twenty points at the half way point, and looking in all sorts of trouble.
The second half started with back to back defeats versus Hellas Verona and Besiktas, and then six points gained against Chievo Verona, and Espanyol as the ghost of the 9 - 1 defeat was laid to rest.
A mixed bag of results was the story for the second half of the season, although completing league doubles against Villarreal and Genoa went towards a haul of twenty nine points for the second half od the season, and an eventual 14th place finish.
Levante fans celebrate the clubs survival
The cups:
There really isnt anything to say here, other than next season can't be any worse. All three knock out contests saw Levante exit at the first round stage. The league cup saw a 1 - 0 defeat to Celta Vigo, the league shield was a penalty defeat to Standard Liege after a 2 - 2 draw in normal time, and the clubs youth side were knocked out by an impressive Feyenoord academy XI 4 - 0.
Transfers:
The clubs transfer policy has been questioned at times, particularly with the £11m paid for vetran Gareth Barry. However, his arrival coincided with an upturn in results which undoubtedly helped the clubs survival quest.
The pick of the signings however would have to be Clinton N'Jie. The young Cameroon forward initially moved from Real Madrid on a season long loan deal. However, a permanent deal was agreed, and by mid season the striker had signed a permanent deal for a bargain £2.75m. Some big clubs are known to be watching the forward, but for now the exciting young talent is a Levante player.
Clinton N'Jie on International duty
The other signings that really excite for the future of the club are young Japanese midfielder Hideki Ishige, and English teenager Jordan Graham.
Jordan Graham in action for Wolves before his move to Spain
Ishige is a former Asian young player of the year, and can operate as an attack minded player right across the midfield, and arrived from Shimzu S Pulse for £2m. Graham is a wide player who sined from Wolves for £320,000. A full list of transfers in and out of the club follows.
| Player in | Club from | Fee |
| Sebastian Bassong | Norwich | Nikos Karabelos & Acosta Deyverson |
| Baroni Christian | Corinthians | £320K, Aranda Tono & Josi Mari |
| Marcus Maddison | Peterborough | £530K |
| Angel Romero | Corinthians | £400K & Rafael Martins |
| John Ruddy | Norwich | £300K, Martinez Ruben & Marti Roger |
| Robert Snodgrass | Hull | £300K, Javi Jiminaz & Jesus Fernandez |
| Leandro Da Silva Lopes | Peterborough | £10k |
| Clinton N'Jie | Real Madrid | Season Long Loan / made permanent for £2.75m |
| Jean - Armel Kana - Biyik | Toulouse | £100K, Pedro Lopez & Angel Trujillo |
| Jose Villarreal | LA Galaxy | £400K & Keita Karamokoba |
| Dilon Serna | Colorado Rapids | £610K & Remeseiro Jason |
| Daniel Bentley | Southend | £410K & Alejandro Zagala |
| Matt Miazga | New York Red Bulls | £1.1m |
| Diego Souza | Metalist | £3.8m & Joes Morales |
| Jean Beausejour | Colo Colo | £1.3m, David Navarro & Juan Delgado |
| Moses Odubajo | Hull | £2.4m |
| Ibrahima Balde | Kuban | £6.6m |
| Lee Angol | Peterborough | £10k |
| Roberto Trashorras | Rayo Vallecano | £2m & Jordi Xumetra |
| Jelle Vossen | Burnley | £1.2m & Victor Casadesus |
| Alejandro Gomez | Atalanta | Victor Camarasa, Ivan Lopez & £2m |
| Gareth Barry | Everton | £11m |
| Odisseas Vlachodimos | Stuttgart | £3m |
| Ben Godfrey | York | £10k |
| Gonzalo Jara | Universidad Catolica | £10k |
| Nikola Moro | Free Agent | £50k |
| Tibor Halilovic | Free Agent | £98k |
| Filip Kubala | FC Slovako | £10k |
| Inigo Cordoba | Free Agent | £8k |
| Jon Aguirrezabala | Free Agent | £8k |
| Nacho Buil | Free Agent | £8k |
| Alvas Powell | Porto | £1m |
| Hideki Ishige | Shimzu S Pulse | £2m |
| Jordan Graham | Wolves | £320k |
**********
| Player out | Club to | Fee |
| Victor Perez | Real Valladolid | £4.6m |
| Jordi Lopez | Real Murcia | £828K |
| Ander Artabe | UCAM Murcia | £447K |
| Jose Verza | Getafe | £3.9m |
| Garcia Juanfran | RCD Mallorca | £3.8m |
| Nabil El Zhar | Santos | £5m |
| Ruben Garcia | Aston Villa | £10m |
| Charlie Telfer | Stoke | £750k |
| Baroni Christian | Corinthians | £5.6m |
Season high's and lows:
The obvious high was the clubs battle to eventual safety after a difficult and traumatic season. League doubles over Vilarreal, and moreso a very good Genoa side would also be near the top of the list, along with the performance early in the season when beating Besiktas 3 - 1.
For lows, the 9 - 1 crushing by Espanyol, the long runs of defeats in the first half of the season, and being forced to sell Ruben Garcia in order to fund further squad improvements rather than building the squad around the talented youngster.
Player awards:
At the clubs end of season party, the awards were handed out for the player and young player of the year, along with the club Golden Boot and also awards for the most MOTM awards, and assists.
The awards and results are as follows
Most assists
3. Jointly awarded to Clinton N'Jie, Victor Casadesus and Ruben Garcia on 4 assists each
2. Alejandro Gomez - 5 assists
1. Robert Snodgrass - 15 assists
MOTM awards
3. Vaclav Kadlec - 4 MOTM performances
2. Robert Snodgrass - 9 MOTM performances
1. John Ruddy - 10 MOTM performances
Golden Boot
3. Clinton N'Jie - 8 goals
2. Vaclav Kadlec - 9 goals
1. Robert Snodgrass - 12 goals
Young player of the year
3. Angel Romero - 11 appearances, 5 goals, 3 assists, 2 MOTM awards
2. Vaclav Kadlec - 31 appearances, 9 goals, 3 assists, 2 MOTM awards
1. Clinton N'Jie - 22 appearances, 8 goals, 4 assists, 1 MOTM awards
Player of the year
3. Clinton N'Jie - 22 appearances, 8 goals, 4 assists, 1 MOTM awards
2. Robert Snodgrass - 33 appearances, 12 goals, 15 assists, 9 MOTM awards
1. John Ruddy - 37 appearances, 9 clean sheets,10 MOTM awards
A special award was also handed to John Ruddy for being voted runner up in the league player of the year awards also.
The winners
John Ruddy Clinton N'Jie Robert Snodgrass
Next Season:
Following the clubs improvement in form over the second half of the season, and also taking into account that twelve points werelost from winning positions over the course of the season as a whole, Levante are looking towards a top ten finish next season, and hopingto challenge for the playoff places.
In terms of changes to the squad, there is not expected to be huge changes. Parfitt has one main target in mind, and a couple of others that would be nice if they can be got, but wont be massively harmful if we cant.
There is only a small amount of cash in the kitty, but player moves wont be ruled out if it helps improve the squad as a whole. Truthfully though, themanager feels that given the choice, he would on the whole keep what he has rather than losing somebody to bring in another. A few are being made available though, including Ibrahima Balde, who managed 6 goals in 14 games, and Sebastien Bassong.
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