The Great Escape Challenge

Okay just to set the scene...

It is 30th December 2007. League one has just reached its mid-way point, and Bournemouth AFC have failed to shake off the dissapointment of administration and the 10 point deduction which entailed. After starting the season with this 10 point dissadvantage in hand, The Cherries find themselves propping up the table with a mere 7 points, 16 adrift of safety.

The basics of the challenge is, can you rescue a team that is seemingly unrescuable? The transfer window is around the corner, but with just pennies to play with can you bring in a player who may just make the difference?

In terms of countries I have loaded England down to league two; and the top divisions in Scotland, Spain, Italy, Argentina and Iceland.

I used Iceland's start date hence the game beginning on 30th December. All games before have been simulated and no transfers went through in the 1st window.

Its not a long term challenge but please leave your comments and thoughts on it. Feel free to give it a go and post your progress on here

I am currently loading the save game which will be avaliable shortly.

Many thanks.

Okay just to set the scene...

It is 30th December 2007. League one has just reached its mid-way point, and Bournemouth AFC have failed to shake off the dissapointment of administration and the 10 point deduction which entailed. After starting the season with this 10 point dissadvantage in hand, The Cherries find themselves propping up the table with a mere 7 points, 16 adrift of safety.

The basics of the challenge is, can you rescue a team that is seemingly unrescuable? The transfer window is around the corner, but with just pennies to play with can you bring in a player who may just make the difference?

In terms of countries I have loaded England down to league two; and the top divisions in Scotland, Spain, Italy, Argentina and Iceland.

I used Iceland's start date hence the game beginning on 30th December. All games before have been simulated and no transfers went through in the 1st window.

Its not a long term challenge but please leave your comments and thoughts on it. Feel free to give it a go and post your progress on here

I am currently loading the save game which will be avaliable shortly.

Many thanks.

A challenge that interests me and something than can be done in one night. Good effort.

I'll have a go when you've uploaded the save.

Here is the upload.

http://files.filefront.com/The+Great+Escape+Challeng08f...71106;/fileinfo.html

I'll get started right away and I'll post an end of season report when I'm done, probably tomorrow night.

Good luck to anyone else who is taking part.

Are you having a go yourself? I presume you are.

Yeah i am, likelyhood i'll start tomorrow

Just reached February.

I'd also like to add that if anyone manages to keep Bournemouth up then they must be a wonderful manager as it really is some task.

Looks like I may be going down but I might carry on into the second season to try and get us back up.

Just beginning now .. will keep updated.

Good luck.

If I lose my next game I'm relegated. :/

I think I'll just end it when the inevitable bad news comes as instead of carrying on into the second season I'm going to start a new game with my own selected leagues and start with Bournemouth. I know the squad well so shall be fun.

Could potentially be a leaderboard for this, if enough people take part.

Who reaches the highest position in the league, most points gained, et al.

Well that's it, I'm down. End of challenge.

Can't really be bothered to explain what happened so I'll keep it brief.

We were rubbish, we got relegated. I won a few games, and drew a few, and lost a few more. Sam Vokes, Josh Gowling and Darren Anderton were the star performers when we did play well. Not much else to it really.

If anyone completes this and keeps them up I'd be amazed. Good luck to you all.

This looks great. Nice and simple, very challenge, quick to do and great replay value. I'll make a start on it tonight.

This is an excellent idea, I might well give it a go. Sounds almost impossible though - need to make up, what, 16 points in about 20 games?

If anyone manages to keep them up i will be extremely impressed. Have brought in a couple of players on loan from my parent club, but the defensive side of the team is shocking! I concede pathetic goals that sunday league teams would be ashamed of! But will still strive to bring some respect back to the team.

I managed to get the maximum 4 loanees in (2 from parent club West Brom) but only one made a decent contribution when called upon and he was the defender, and the fact we got relegated says it all.

What sort of formation have you gone for?

Spent about half an hour working on tactics, and it seemed to be working. I put 3 bids for loans in areas I thought that needed improving most. First game versus Brighton; we let in a silly goal from a corner, then on the counter Sam Vokes equalises, then puts us 2-1 ahead with 5 minutes to go. Immediately from the kick-off, before I can make any tactical changes, they go straight up the other end and win and score a penalty. ARGH! 2 points lost there, but I very much doubt I'll keep them up anyway.

How did people do against Chelsea? Just lost 6-0, so there goes the morale and all chance of staying up tbh. Would have preferred to give them a bye and avoid the morale loss.

I beat Brighton 5-3, lost 5-0 to Chelsea, beat Brizzle Rovers 1-0.

Then didn't win another game until we were relegated, I suck.

Oh well that's reassuring.

Drew with Brighton, then beat Bristol Rovers and Yeovil! Now got Huddersfield away, but they're doing well. Still haven't managed to persuade anyone to come on loan, bid for about 4 with "no intention". Sam Vokes has scored every league game though, 5 in 3!

So, decided to give this a try.

The squad is fairly awful, so I gave it an extreme makeover. 17 players in, 5 out. That included 9 on loan but it turns out you can only play 5 of them at once. I also did something I don't usually and asked for a parent club - the board offered Arsenal so I thought it would be rude no to accept.

So bearing in mind my first choice team only contains Moss the GK and Vokes up front (who is really excellent) we have done rather well.

At the end of February, I have just beaten Luton to give me a league record of 6-2-3. Despite that, still rooted to the bottom, albeit only 2 points behind Luton. Currently on 27 points, 10 from safety. With 12 games to go, this is starting to look possible.

Contains Moss and Vokes of the player already there, that should be obviously.

Also got gubbed 6-0 off Chelsea. Been taking a softly softly approach with team talks to any defeats and there's been no harm to morale, which is now very good.

Relegated after game 43. Sitting 23rd with 37 points, while Yeovil sit 20th on 49.

As I thought, nearly an impossible challenge. I went on a bad run mind you, without a series of draws then 2 defeats it might have been quite different. I really think someone will be able to do it, although it takes a bit of time to overhaul the squad...good luck to you if you give it a go.

Cant get the save to load, using 8.0.0 db so might be why.

Will give it a whirl when i'm back on my pc

going to give this a go, when i have downloaded thee save file will get right on it.

Downloaded and giving it a go.I presume that our manager rep can be anything we want then

So i have started now, signed hadji just before the first game. Went on to beat brighton 4-2.

Then signed paz. He went straight in for the game against chelsa, was 3-0 down after 50 miniutes, goals from joe cole, anelka and shevchenko, then the come back started 2 goals from max gradel in the 83rd and 88th minute. 3-2 with 3 minutes left and 4 minutes of injury time, could there be a massive shock?

No! shevchenko gets his second of the game to kill it off 4-2

Hi just downloaded this. About to give it a go. It looks quite hard.

In fact it looks to hard I'm not doing it.

A bit of a grave dig but I thought I'd give it a go and post how it goes. Maybe a few other people may even take up the challenge too as it's a great short challenge and only took two days to finish. I managed to do it rather comfortably in the end but the key was bringing in nearly a whole new team (Moss and Cummings kept their first team places though) and not losing (I know, I know) because of moral drop more than dropping points. I approached all the players early on in the game so I was allowed to offer them the wages I wanted before going over budget although I did end up going double over budget. Despite that and the few releases the finances improved going from about -900k to a peak of around -35k although they ended the season back on -92k (every month provided a small profit, but it gradually decreased). I signed 14 players in the end mainly concentrating on Europeans and Argentinians with second nationalities. I got rid 2 players immediately and 1 on an end of season transfer with 2 of my signings being loans from my parent club Tottenham. My only real surprise signing was Sefyo Soley since he was asking for 3k and I offered 1.6k, but he only ended up make 7(7) appearances, mostly at center back since I already had good midfielders. He didn't play much but I was delighted to sign Georgi Kinkladze and loved him when he was at my team, Derby (surprised he got a WP though as in real life I believe it went to appeal for his services to English football).

In addition to the 14 players I successfully signed I tried to sign a further 49 players (total of 63) that were unsuccessful, of that 6 were due to work permits.

League Table: http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/6757/bleaguewc1.jpg

Fixtures: http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/7185/bfixturesyr0.jpg

Transfers: http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/1036/btransfersog4.jpg

I thought I would post a commentary on my progress with this challenge, which I hope others will find informative. If deemed to be inappropriate, the mods can delete it.

Preliminary Work:

At first glance, it appears it would be extremely difficult to turn things around without dramatic changes to the existing squad. However, there is no transfer budget and only 15% of any player sales would be made available, which would make it difficult to create a transfer budget from a squad clearout. Also, the squad wage is only a few hundred pounds under budget, so there is limited scope to bring in new signings without offloading players.

The squad has been crippled by long-term injuries to several players (Moss/Perrett/Garry/Foley) and two more have picked up more short-term injuries (Cummings/Cooper). Obviously, performances have been poor. It seems like the previous manager, Kevin Bond, has been playing a 4-1-4-1 formation and I'm not convinced this was the best system for the players he had at his disposal. It is particularly evident that there isn't a specialist anchorman in the squad. Also in Foley's absence there is no recognised left-midfielder. There are quite a few players who have been played frequently out of position and at times Bond has favoured a youth player instead of an established first teamer. This leads me to the conclusion that in spite of the obvious deficiencies, the existing players should have been nonetheless capable of chalking up more than 3 wins and are capable of raising their game in the second half of the season.

The main positive is Darren Anderton. He has the attributes to pull the strings in midfield and as the side's best performer has been doing his best with 8 assists. His 4 goals may have much to do with his free-kick ability.

In terms of formation, there is so much ground to make up, draws aren’t enough, so it’s time to dispense with the 4-1-4-1 formation in favour of a more attacking line-up that can be implemented straight away. There need to be players ahead of Anderton whose movement can create space for his range of passing to exploit. The lack of left sided options, plus the need to gain control of the centre of the park to feed Anderton points to a narrow 4-3-3 formation. This enables both Tessem and Hollands to work alongside the playmaker. Hollands has been unfortunate not to have had more than two starts in the centre of the park. 4-3-3 also allows much needed support up front for Vokes in the form of Bradbury and Kuffour. These two have only had three starts up front between them and I believe they have more to offer. The main drawback of this formation is that there isn't a place for the on-loan Gradel, who's done reasonably well. However, here's likely to be a role for him coming off the bench depending on how matches pad out, so although terminating his loan would free up £550/week, he'll be retained in the dhort-term.

Opponents will probably look to get at the defence by exploiting the lack of width, so it is the defence that requires strengthening initially. Experienced Argentinean defender Pablo Paz is the first transfer target, available on a free.

Bournemouth have no affiliated clubs, so requesting both feeder and parent clubs is a no-brainer. New scouts are required, offers are put in for three who are unemployed. A second physio is required to assist with the injuries, again an offer for an unemployed one is submitted. Coaches need re-working. First stage is to get the youth coaches working on the first team as well. Howe refuses to work with the youth team. Attempting to get an unemployed goalkeeping coach in, as this is the weakest coaching area.

Of the players whose contracts are running out, Stewart, Perrett and Young will accept wage cuts and Garry wants the same money, so they are all offered new deals. Swapped Captain Anderton with Vice Captain Young. Quite a few players happy with Young as captain and no dissent.

Match 1 - Brighton (H):

Italian clubs are making offers for Paz, so his transfer hasn’t whizzed through as I’d hoped. Brighton are challenging for a play-off spot and are tipped as slight favourites by the media. I told them that they would pose the same threat as any other team. No reactions from the players. The selection is as follows:

GK – Stewart

DR – Young ©

DL – Pearce

DRC – Newman

DLC – Gowling

MC – Anderton

MRC – Hollands

MLC – Tessem

FRC – Kuffour

FLC – Vokes

FC – Bradbury

Subs:

Hutchings

Preston

Gradel

Davidson

Pitman

Anderton set to playmaker. Tight zonal marking. Team sliders left in balanced positions. Player sliders set to default for the positions (Anderton attacking mid/Kuffour + Vokes striker/Bradbury targetman (but use targetman box not ticked).

Biggest concern is recall of retiring 44-year old player/assistant manager Newman – last outing he got a 4 and is clearly very slow – but the injuries leave little choice not wanting to risk rookie Hutchings. Gowling has a bit of pace, which might help. Three youth teamers on the bench in total none of whom have featured in the first team indicates how stretched the squad is at present.

Pre-Match team talk is “for the fans” as Brighton are ‘other rivals’. However, only Young is feeling upbeat, so the others are told “no pressure”. Three players more relaxed.

+++++++++++

Bournemouth 4 (2) – (0) Brighton

Bradbury 8, 69

Kuffour 36

Whing o.g. 71

Assists:

Pearce 2

Bradbury

MoM: Bradbury

A fantastic start! In truth the first half was fairly even, but Bournemouth took their chances. Hollands, Bradbury and Kuffour grabbed at the chance to play in their preferred positions. Newman got caught out a couple of times and was booked for a cynical foul, but the errors were in the main unpunished. Having got in 2 goals up at half-time, the half-time team talk was vital. Morale was improved, but about half the team still looked fragile, so a mixture of having faith for those on higher morale and pleased/delighted for those on lower morale. 5 players respond positively, Tessem in particular.

In the second half, Bournemouth dominate and Brighton don’t get a sniff of goal. By the final quarter of the match all three subs have been used to replace the most tiring players: Hutchings as a straight swap for Newman; Preston replacing Anderton as a third battling midfielder; and Vokes is replaced by Gradel who supports the remaining front two as a winger from the right. In spite of the slightly more defensive formation/tactics, two more goals quickly follow to wrap up the match.

I resisted the temptation to describe the performance as “sensational” settling for “well done” overall, but then highlighting the top performers for extra praise, which was about half of them. Bradbury was obviously outstanding, putting both of his chances away and laying on Kuffour's goal, but special mention to Pearce with those two assists. The own goal came from Gradel's corner. No assists for Anderton, but he made 4 key passes. Curiously, of all players Young came in below par with a 6. He was angered by my disappointment, but his morale was unaffected. 5 players happy with praise. Fans extremely pleased with win over rivals.

News 1st Week of Jan:

Two scouts appointed, Jackson and Barnes – both given England assignments. Yates contract terminated by mutual consent so a third scout could be brought in. Additional physio joins – O’Reilly is Scottish so knowledge of that country improved. Thomas joins as goalkeeping coach. He happens to be on the England coaching staff. Disappointingly, youth coach Roach is poached by Wigan. Insult added to injury by board revising transfer percentage from compensation to a paltry 5%. Other youth coach Odd is upgraded to full coach, however. Attempting to add an attacking coach. More bad news, Paz joins Avellino for a comparable wage to our offer, with his Italian dual-nationality evidently proving a major influence. Efe Sodje is transfer listed for 1k, so I put in a 0k bid for him. Perrett and Cummings resume full training, but are short of fitness ahead of Chelsea match. Youngster Cooper compared with Anderton so tutoring instigated. All new player contract offers accepted – now £600+/pw under wage budget.

Match 2 - Chelsea (H) FACUP 3rd Round:

A televised giantkilling? Or a public humiliation? Certainly a moneyspinner, but avoiding the latter is a must. In the build up, there are two opportunities to play down our chances and this generates a positive response from several players looking to prove me wrong – strangely this includes two of the injured lads. As this is a one-off fixture, I make a one-off departure from the 4-3-3 formation, opting to bring in an additional defender to revert to 5-3-2 to help stave off the attacking hordes. Cummings and Perrett are not fit enough to last a full 90, but should be good enough to play a part. I opt for Cummings in at left-back with the versatile Pearce moving inside and Newman dropping back into a sweeper position. Kuffour is the one to make way, because it is reported that he doesn’t relish the big occasions. Several other players do, however, and that gives me some comfort that the effort will be there at least. Pre-Match team talk is a straightforward “pressure is off”. No particular reactions.

GK – Stewart

SW – Newman

DR – Young ©

DL – Cummings

DRC – Gowling

DLC – Pearce

MC – Anderton

MRC – Hollands

MLC – Tessem

FLC – Vokes

FRC – Bradbury

Subs:

Perrett

Hutchings

Gradel

Pitman

Kuffour

++++++++++++

Bournemouth 1 (0) – (2) 3 Chelsea

Tessem 90(pen) Shevchenko 17

Anelka 37

Mikel 69

Assist: Vokes

MoM: Stewart

A battling Bournemouth display produced a very respectful result as they went out of the FA Cup. Chelsea dominated possession and Bournemouth struggled to break out of their own half. Crucially, the team defended well as a unit and there was often a body in the way. Man of the Match Stewart thwarted Chelsea time and time again, ably assisted by his defenders scrambling any loose balls away. The half-time team talk contained mostly “have faith” pep talks with a couple of “prove a points” for Gowling and Tessem. 4 players respond positively. Perrett and Hutchings “no pressure” replace the tiring Cummings and Newman, keeping the 5 at the back, but necessitating in a reshuffle of positions along the back line. Gradel replaces Hollands for the final quarter to see if he can provide a chance and Vokes manages a shot on target, but Chelsea’s third soon follows in the form of a flukey free-kick. Gradel sees an effort wide, blocked by Cole, then in injury time, Vokes is tripped by Belletti inside the box and Tessem makes no mistake from the spot.

The post match team talk is of sympathy, pleased with quite a few individuals who got 7 and delighted with Stewart and Tessem who got 8. Whilst Tessem proved his point, Gowling did not and is the only player to get a 5. No reaction to my disappointment and a positive reaction to my warning for poor performance with his determination and work rate attributes increasing. Team morale remain high, in spite of fans bizarrely being extremely unimpressed, so this hurdle has been overcome.

News to middle of 2nd Week of Jan:

Harvey joins as third scout and is also set to search England. Board prevent another coach from joining. Howe offered and accepts mutual termination. Original GK coach Walker offered new deal as coach. Another bid put in for unemployed Simpson and he joins as coach. Hutchings attributes improve following recent first team experience. Third message from Newman about Bartley being unsettled. I transfer list him and AFC Wimbledon immediately table a 4k bid. Looking at an alternative fitness coach. Sodje offer accepted he wants £950/pw and I offer him £775/pw.

Match 3 – Bristol Rovers (A):

Back to the bread and butter of the league campaign. The Gasheads are slight favourites for this according to the media. I respond by stating that they carry the same threat as any team. Gowling and Anderton react well to this in addition to the injured Garry. Cummings and Perrett (just) are both fit enough to start and I revert back to the 4-3-3 line-up with Kuffour also returning. Newman and Pearce drop to the bench. The pre-match team talk is to wish them luck, with no pressure pep talks for Cummings and Perrett.

GK – Stewart

DR – Young ©

DL – Cummings

DRC – Perrett

DLC – Gowling

MC – Anderton

MRC – Hollands

MLC – Tessem

FRC – Kuffour

FLC – Vokes

FC – Bradbury

Subs:

Pearce

Newman

Hutchings

Gradel

Pitman

+++++++++++

Bristol Rovers 0 (0) – (0) 1 Bournemouth

Anderton 76

Assist: Kuffour

MoM: Anderton

Bournemouth register their first away league win of the season. The scoreline belies a game with many chances for both sides, let down by poor finishing, in contrast to Bournemouth’s last performance against the Seagulls. Half-time brings encouragement for most and disappointment with Kuffour (3 positive responses) and a double-switch. Newman replaces Perrett, still lacking in match fitness and skipper Young has picked up a knock and is replaced by Pearce, who has now played across the entire back-line. Only a few minutes into the second half Newman picks up an injury and a decision has to be made whether to replace him or leave the final substitution for the tiring Anderton. The desire to secure 3 points rather than 1 wins out and this is more likely with Anderton on the field, so yet another run-out for youth-teamer Hutchings. This decision is vindicated when Kuffour is upended on the edge of the box. Anderton steps up to smash home the resultant free-kick. The visitors edged the game by having more of the play in the centre of the park, but it was noticeable that Rovers were able to enjoy a significant slice of possession around the Bournemouth penalty area. Most players praised, Stewart, Gowling and Anderton picked out for special attention, disappointment only with Vokes. Noticeable that Gowling has bounced back impressively with an all-action display. Anderton made 9 key passes. Points needed to pass Forest in 20th is 15 points.

News to middle of 2nd Week of Jan:

Sodje agrees terms and signs, looking to get his career back on track. Next transfer target is Luton’s journeyman midfielder Don Hutchison, transfer listed for 1k – again I bid 0k. Bartley joins AFC Wimbledon, knocking £375/pw off the wage bill, putting me just under budget.

Match 4 – Yeovil (H):

Another home match against rivals, who are doing well in 8th position. Strong centre-back Sodje goes straight into the side in place of the unlucky Gowling, who replaces the injured Newman on the bench. Sodje is getting on in years, but has more pace than Perrett, which is the latter’s main weakness. Otherwise the side is unchanged. Pre-match is a we can win this, but no pressure for Sodje.

GK – Stewart

DR – Young ©

DL – Cummings

DRC – Perrett

DLC – Sodje

MC – Anderton

MRC – Hollands

MLC – Tessem

FRC – Kuffour

FLC – Vokes

FC – Bradbury

Subs:

Pearce

Gowling

Hutchings

Gradel

Pitman

+++++++++

Bournemouth 0 (0) – (0) 1 Yeovil

Morris 90

MoM: Morris

A below par performance with perhaps recent endeavours taking their toll. Main difference was the home side’s inability to create chances. After a mixture of encouragement and disappointment at half time and pleased with Sodje. All 3 subs were on early in the second half with Pitman making his first appearance under the new management in place of Vokes. Gradel came on for Anderton in an attacking tactical switch with the right winger being used to supplement the attack and the side being told to get the ball down the right. In spite of Gradel’s efforts, the best chance is laid on for Bradbury by Pitman, but he puts it over. 5 mins later and Morris, making his first appearance of the season slots home an injury time winner with the defence appealing in vain for offside. Sodje had a solid debut, very much involved, but including a booking for a shirt pull. Pleased with 7’s. A few players getting 6 angered by my disappointment, however morale does not unduly suffer. Fans unhappy with rivals defeat. Yeovil manager Slade makes post-match dig at Bournemouth’s chances, but Moss and Young are determined to prove him wrong. Garry is unsure. I move the injured player to the reserves. My response to Slade is to state that we will be victorious next time and this generates positive reactions from Gowling and Perrett. 17 points needed to overtake Leyton Orient in 20th.

News 3rd Week of Jan:

This was a week most notable for the addition of more firepower to the Bournemouth squad. Firstly, the Hutchison transfer, which at one point looked in jeopardy, with the player claiming that the club wouldn’t be able to meet his demands, goes through with the veteran joining on a 850/pw contract on the basis that he would be a key player, with Hutchison, like Sodje before him, stating this was an opportunity to get his career back on track. Unfortunately the transfer is poo-pooed by former fans favourite Matt Holland and the fans are consequently unsure about the signing. Hutchison will have a lot to prove it seems.

The board offer Elgin, St Cuthbert Wanderers and Keith as feeder clubs, all based in Scotland and the former is recommended and chosen as this clearly has the best facilities of the three. The board then offer Watford or Wigan as parent clubs. I recommend the former as the training facilities are similar, but Watford has a youth academy. Immediately, two players are offered as season loan signings. Alex Campana is a young right-winger and doesn’t look as good as Gradel, so his deal is cancelled at my end. Striker Will Hoskins, on the other hand looks like a real scoop. Scouring their squad, I offer a number of speculative loan deals; Cedric Avinel, the French centre-back available for loan, but already subject of a transfer bid by Scunthorpe; experienced defender Matt Jackson who is transfer listed; Douglas Rinaldi a Brazilian/Italian central midfielder who has slipped into a back-up role; and enthusiastic midfielder Jon-Joe O’Toole, a hot prospect. Hoskins joins, Watford continuing to pay his wages until the end of the season. The other loan offers are accepted, so I await the players’ responses.

Ross County are sniffing around Pitman, but out of the blue Oldham put in a 50k bid for Cummings (he’s worth 55k). This is rejected as the left-back is seen as an important first team player.

Match 5 – Huddersfield (A)

The toughest league match so far with the opponents lying in lofty second place. Huddersfield beat Bournemouth 2-0 in the earlier fixture and are expected to do the double. The line-up is freshened up with both Hutchison and Hoskins going straight in for full debuts. Vokes and Kuffour drop to the bench. Although Hutchison prefers to play in midfield, I am employing him as a Targetman (and ticking the Targetman box on the team selection screen for the first time) due to his aerial ability. Although he lacks pace, his experience should help him to find space and he also looks comfortable receiving the ball to feet as well as in the air. He also happens to have a decent long-throw, something that hasn’t been evident in the line-ups to date. Hoskins is good foil for Hutchison, as he has the pace and movement that Hutch lacks, whereas Hoskins’ main flaw is his heading. Bradbury’s the better team player of the previous three-man attack and therefore retains his place, albeit shifted to the left channel. Further boosts to the squad are provided by the return of keeper Moss and utility man Cooper from long and short-term injuries respectively. In spite of some good performances from Stewart, Moss looks the better keeper, on balance, and so he is set to start. Cooper is scrapping for a place on the bench with Gowling and Pearce. It’s a close call, but Gowling is the unlucky man, due to the greater versatility of the other two. Team talk wish luck and no pressure on new boys.

GK – Moss

DR – Young ©

DL – Cummings

DRC – Perrett

DLC – Sodje

MC – Anderton

MRC – Hollands

MLC – Tessem

FRC – Hoskins

FLC – Bradbury

FC – Hutchison

Subs:

Pearce

Cooper

Gradel

Kuffour

Vokes

+++++++++++++++

Huddersfield 2 (2) – (1) 2 Bournemouth

Jevons 10 Hutchison 42

Mirfin 36 Clarke o.g. 85

Assists: Anderton

Vokes

MoM: Anderton

An excellent fightback from Bournemouth, who in the latter stages of the match were controlling the midfield. It started badly, with the home side establishing a two goal lead. Crucially, Anderton found Hutchison in space and he drove the ball home to half the deficit just before the interval. Half-time brought words of encouragement, pleased with debutants and asking Young and Cummings to prove a point, having been at fault for the goals. Overall positive reaction to this, with skipper Young in particular raising his game. Both newbies are feeling the strain and by the hour, both Vokes and Kuffour are on. The third substitution sees the weary Anderton retained and Sodje replaced by Cooper. Anderton is highly influential as the visitors dominate the centre of the park, but cannot find a way through. Vokes is booked for diving, but then redeems himself as with 5 minutes remaining, his shot strikes Clarke and leaves Glennon flat-footed. Pleased with the entire team, a draw about right, though Bournemouth looked likelier to snatch it in injury time. Anderton deserved MoM with no fewer than 11 key passes. Hutchison had an excellent debut, winning lots of headers in addition to his goal. Delighted with both of them. A point gained rather than 2 dropped. Gap to safety remains 17 points.

News 4th Week of Jan:

First up, there’s news of the remaining Watford loan bids. O’Toole has been promoted to the first team and turns the offer down, as does Rinaldi who seems content to languish in their reserves. Jackson also believes he can fight his way back into his manager’s plans. This latter rejection means a search for an alternative right-back ensues and Richard Duffy, available on loan from Pompey is the chosen target, but with a lot of clubs sniffing around. Gillingham immediately try to loan him. Then Duffy is listed by Redknapp, encouraging Barnsley to put in a bid, albeit a quarter of his valuation. There is some good news, as Avinel is snatched from Scunthorpe’s grasp. Also, powerful striker Darius Henderson has now appeared in the Watford Reserves, so a loan offer is submitted for him. The scouts have started to report back on players, with the transfer-listed Alan Thompson being the first identified. A £0k bid is submitted for the tireless midfielder. Next up is Stephen Ward, a left-footed striker who is available for loan from Wolves. There are half-a-dozen other clubs tracking him, however.

Match 6: Gillingham (H):

A little irony in that the next fixture pits the two loan rivals for Richard Duffy against one another. Although Gillingham are in ninth, they are sliding down the table, so the media reckon that Bournemouth are comfortable favourites. I respond by indicating that we can win if we play to our best. This provokes positive reactions from Moss and Gowling, but Tessem suffers a loss of morale. Avinel goes straight into the side in place of Perrett and swapping places with Sodje to help cover Young, who is now the slowest defender, otherwise the line-up is unchanged. The squad now has sufficient fit players for Stewart, Newman, Gowling, Perrett and Pitman to be moved into the Reserves to keep their fitness up. Prior to this the Reserve side had been kept afloat by youth players. Notwithstanding, they have won 2 out of 4 matches. Pre-match talk involves a positive “we can win this” with no pressure placed on debutant Avinel, Tessem or Hutchison, who is still feeling the burden of the suspicious fans.

GK – Moss

DR – Young ©

DL – Cummings

DRC – Sodje

DLC – Avinel

MC – Anderton

MRC – Hollands

MLC – Tessem

FRC – Hoskins

FLC – Bradbury

FC – Hutchison

Subs:

Pearce

Cooper

Gradel

Kuffour

Vokes

++++++++++++++

Bournemouth 4 (2) – (1) 1 Gillingham

Vokes 22, 32 Winters 17

Bradbury 47

Tessem 87(pen)

Assists: Anderton 2

Young

Kuffour

MoM: Vokes

Bournemouth hit 4 at home for the second time this month, but the game starts badly for them when Hutchison has to go off with concussion after only 5 minutes following a collision with Bygrave. Vokes comes on and Bradbury moves into the centre, dispensing with the Targetman tactic. Bournemouth seem unaffected and make the early running, only to go behind, when Young is dispossessed. The ball in is only half-cleared and Winters scores his first goal for the Gills. Unperturbed, Bournemouth continue attacking and it takes just 5 minutes for them to draw level and for Young to redeem himself, supplying the cross for Vokes to head home his tenth goal of the season and his first under the new regime. Ten minutes later and the Cherries go in front, Anderton threading the ball through to Vokes who smashes in a trademark low shot. A posse of Gillingham players make for the linesman on the near side in vain. Half time words are of faith for most, with the exception of Avinel (pleased) and Tessem, the only to be on a 6 (still no pressure). An early goal from Bradbury, a 25-yarder and Anderton’s second assist. Hoskins is rested for Kuffour just past the hour mark and Anderton sits out the last quarter having the forthcoming midweek fixture in mind, with the versatile Cooper slotting in and being given standard midfield instructions. Kuffour is tripped in the box, to leave Tessem to apply the icing to the cake. Delighted with many, pleased with others. Vokes pips Anderton to MoM, with 4 out of 7 strikes on target, a clear message to his manager. Avinel makes a solid start, the only home player to be booked. The safety gap is down to 14 points.

News to middle of 5th Week of Jan:

Henderson rejects a loan move, perhaps unsurprisingly. Duffy now available for loan again, suggesting that Pompey’s relegation battle is taking its toll on their manager. The loan offers from the two clubs are accepted, as is Bournemouth’s offer for Ward. Hutchison is out for up to 2 weeks with concussion. Fans delighted with control of last game and have taken to Sodje. 4 players now only one booking away from suspension: Young, Pearce, Anderton and Vokes. Squad personality has changed from loyal to professional. Most of the squad think Hoskins has talent. Preparations for the Leeds match are interrupted with news of Duffy's decision to join Gillingham, perhaps the suth-coast club proving too close for comfort. Swift action is taken with loan offers submitted for Spurs' Troy Archibald-Henville, capable of playing in the centre or right side of defence and specialist right-back Jared Hodgkiss from West Brom. Notable that Hollands' and Vokes' attributes have improved and that Preston are now tracking the latter.

Match 7: Leeds (A)

Although in 17th place, Leeds would be 2nd without their 15 point deduction. However, their recent form has been sketchy and morale is low. The media tip the home side (and fierce rivals for some reason) as comfortable favourites. I simply call for a good performance, gaining morale boosts for Young and Tessem, but a drop for Moss. The side is unchanged from that which played the majority of the last match. Pitman takes Vokes’ place on the bench. I tell them to do it for the fans and no pressure on Moss.

GK – Moss

DR – Young ©

DL – Cummings

DRC – Sodje

DLC – Avinel

MC – Anderton

MRC – Hollands

MLC – Tessem

FRC – Hoskins

FLC – Vokes

FC – Bradbury

Subs:

Pearce

Cooper

Gradel

Kuffour

Pitman

++++++++++++++

Leeds 2 (2) – (0) 1 Bournemouth

Huntington 14 Kuffour 81

Flo 29

Assist: Hollands

MoM: Ankergren

Bournemouth were really unlucky here, but were made to pay for two lapses at set-pieces: a corner then a free-kick. Even by half-time, Bournemouth were starting to impose themselves on the game, but in spite of half-time encouragement and disappointment with Avinel and Vokes, the starting XI couldn’t find the net. The subs were made later than normal, with almost a resignation it wasn’t to be the visitors’ day as first Hoskins then Anderton and Vokes were rested with one eye on the next match at the weekend. The straight swap of Kuffour and Pitman was supplemented by an attacking switch looking to set Gradel free on the right. The winger was a real nuisance in the last quarter, but it was Kuffour who eventually found the far corner of the net having been played in by the impressive Hollands. Leeds then shut the game down and the second goal could not be found. Anderton was prompter in chief with key passes in double figures again. Avinel struggled a bit at the back and both Bradbury and Vokes were wasteful up front. Bradbury angered by my disappointment, but in a good way. Fans disappointed with another defeat at the hands of rivals, but perhaps Ankergren’s performance, his first MoM of the season, paints a truer picture. Safety gap increased to 16 points.

News to End 5th Week of Jan:

With the transfer deadline fast approaching, this is the busiest period so far. Firstly, Ward rejects the loan move. Preston enquire after Vokes and they are told he is not for sale. No reaction from the player. Hodgkiss is bought by Sheffield United, but Archibald – Henville agrees a loan deal. In order to free up more wages, Newman is offered mutual termination. He declines, but the player/assistant managers’ £1,200/pw contract is unceremoniously terminated and he leaves under a cloud. Thomas is offered an assistant manager role. The money allows Thompson to finally join on £1,600/pw, albeit now carrying an injury that could keep him out for up to a month. Also, in arguably the biggest gamble so far, there is a successful deadline day swoop for the 41-year old Egyptian striker Hossom Hassan, who joins on a £1,100/pw contract. Simon Donnelly was targeted as an insurance signing and this deal is cancelled. Former striker Steve Fletcher expresses caution about both arrivals, causing more discontent amongst the fans. However, English-speaking Hassan hits back, condemning the fans for pre-judging him and looking forward to repay my faith in him. Partick Thistle bid 12k for the injured Foley, but this is rejected due to him being a hot prospect for the future. Fans are very pleased with Anderton’s and Hollands’ recent form and I told the local press of my delight and pleasure respectively with these two, getting positive responses from both. Thomas reports back with concerns about Cooper becoming disillusioned with being on the bench.

Match 8: Hartlepool (H)

A chance to bounce straight back against a side lying in 17th position. Hutchison still suffering from concussion, Thompson also out injured and Hassan is on international duty at the Africans Nations. Archibald-Henville replaces club captain Young, who is placed in the Reserves, preserving the versatility of Pearce and Cooper on the bench. Anderton takes over the captain’s armband. We are touted as comfortable favourites can win this is the rallying cry with no pressure for the debutant and Moss. Noted that this seems to demotivate Hoskins.

GK – Moss

DR – Archibald-Henville

DL – Cummings

DRC – Sodje

DLC – Avinel

MC – Anderton ©

MRC – Hollands

MLC – Tessem

FRC – Hoskins

FLC – Vokes

FC – Bradbury

Subs:

Pearce

Cooper

Gradel

Kuffour

Pitman

+++++++++++++++++

Bournemouth 1 (0) – (1) 1 Hartlepool

Pitman 86 Antwi 20

Assist: Bradbury

MoM: Antwi

A second draw, but this time two points squandered in spite of the late equaliser. The Cherries start well, but yet again concede first and for a while are in danger of beng overrun. Following disappointment and demands to prove a point at half-time, the home side raise their game, but again poor finishing is evident. Anderton has a below par game by his standards, missing the most chances and both he and the lacklustre Hoskins are subbed with Gradel and Kuffour in a repeat of the formation in the latter stages of the Leeds match. With time running out, Pitman, on for Vokes, is found by Bradbury with time and space and scores his first of the season. In the end pleased with most of the team, disappointment for Anderton and Hoskins, causing the latter to be angered, but with no loss of morale. One point shaved off the gap to safety - 15 points.

Really enjoying your story dude, keep it up!

This is the sort of thing I feel would of been fantastic to be included in fm09- short challenges that can be included as a stand alone section of the game ie keep this side up or win the title with this team. They could even take on a historical dimension, involving scenarios of the past (that can use standalone db files involving the players of that era- i know it'd be tough but maybe the mod community could of been involved) ie winning Newcastle the title in 95-96, keeping Wigan up in 06-07.

Instead they chose to copy every other management game floating about and went for pretty but really unnecessary 3D.

Just my opinion...

*Btw sorry if this idea has been mentioned above i admit i didnt read every post