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[FM11] Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen...


AK22

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Welcome to my FM11 Journeyman Career Thread!

Here's my game setup, starting in January 2011. 20 leagues in 10 nations. Large database on 11.3. 50000 players.

Leagues Loaded

England - The Home of Football. I will look to build my career up in the lower leagues early on.

Spain - A country also known for its football heritage, I've enjoyed managing here in previous games.

Italy - Even though it can be quite low scoring at time, these leagues have a history of big rivalries which I would like to experience.

France - As a rule I don't particularly like the French, but I do like their cheese and pastries so would consider going here at some point.

Germany - I will do almost anything for a Currywurst, so would definitely manage here!

Brazil - Exciting football, even though the league structure is bonkers, would be exciting to manage here at some point.

Argentina - Never managed here before, but always thought it could be a challenge.

The Wildcards

Mexico, South Korea and Russia - Having Mexico and South Korea loaded will give me opportunities to manage in other continental competitions that I don't normally play in. Russia is chosen as an alternative European league, and with it running Mar-Nov, it provides a different perspective to European football.

Manager Ambitions

Here's my starting manager profile, unemployed with Sunday League experience.

- As a Liverpool supporter, I would want to take charge and restore them to their former glory as the biggest team in England. If I get to destroy Man Utd in the process, even better!

- My 2 local teams are Southampton and Portsmouth, so I would like an opportunity to manage at least one of these clubs at some point.

- With leagues on 4 continents loaded, I would like to win the Champions League (or equivalent) on all the different continents if the opportunities arrise.

I will be updating 4/5 times a season including a pre-season and end-of-season update, with a couple of updates in the middle.

And so it begins...

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Career History

Club Career

Season    Team            League          Finish  Cups            
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11   Thurrock F.C.   BSS             15th    N/A             
2011/12   Thurrock F.C.   BSS             2nd     FA Cup 2nd Rd, FA Trophy 1st Rd
2012/13   Thurrock F.C.   BSP             1st     FA Cup 1st Rd, FA Trophy 3rd Rd
2013/14   Thurrock F.C.   League 2        5th     FA Cup 1st Rd, Carling Cup 2nd Rd, JPT 2nd Rd
2014/15   Thurrock F.C    League 2        6th     FA Cup 3rd Rd, Carling Cup 3rd Rd, JPT 2nd Rd
2015/16   Thurrock F.C    League 2        6th     FA Cup 3rd Rd, Carling Cup 4th Rd, JPT 1st Rd
2016/17   Nottm Forest    League 1        3rd     FA Cup 3rd Rd
2017/18   Nottm Forest    League 1        1st     FA Cup 2nd Rd, Carling Cup 2nd Rd, JPT 2nd Rd
2018/19   Southampton     Championship    5th     FA Cup 3rd Rd
2019/20   Southampton     Championship    4th     FA Cup 5th Rd, Carling Cup 3rd Rd
2020/21   Southampton     Premier League  7th     FA Cup 6th Rd, Carling Cup 4th Rd
2021/22   Southampton     Premier League  8th     FA Cup Semi-Final, Carling Cup 3rd
2022/23   Lazio           Serie A         1st     Europa League RU, Coppa Italia TIM SF
2023/24   Lazio           Serie A         1st     Champions League Last 16, Coppa Italia TIM RU
2024/25   Lazio           Serie A         1st     Champions League QF, Coppa Italia TIM Winner
2025/26   Lazio           Serie A         1st     Champions League Last 16, Coppa Italia TIM Winner
2026      Cruzeiro EC     Brasileirao     1st     Copa Sudamericana Winner
2027      Cruzeiro EC     Brasileirao     1st     Campeonato Mineiro Winner, Copa Libertadores QF, Copa Sudamericana SF
2028      Cruzeiro EC     Brasileirao     N/A     Campeonato Mineira Winner, Copa Libertadores RU, RESIGNED 11/07/2028
2028      Spartak Moscow  Prem'er Liga    1st     Champions League Group Stage
2029      Spartak Moscow  Prem'er Liga    2nd     Champions League Group Stage, Europa League 1st KO Rd, Kubok Russii SF
2030      Spartak Moscow  Prem'er Liga    1st     Champions League Group Stage, Europa League 2nd KO Rd, Kubok Russii Winner
2031      Spartak Moscow  Prem'er Liga    1st     Champions League Group Stage, Europa League 1st KO Rd, Kubok Russii QF
2031/32   At. Madrid      La Liga         4th     Champions League Winner
2032/33   At. Madrid      La Liga         2nd     Champions League Last 16, Club World Cup Winners, Copa del Rey QF
2033/34   At. Madrid      La Liga         1st     Champions League Last 16, Copa del Rey RU
2034/35   At. Madrid      La Liga         2nd     Champions League QF, Copa del Rey Winner
2035/36   At. Madrid      La Liga         1st     Champions League Winner, Copa del Rey QF
2036/37   1.FC Köln       Bundesliga      7th     N/A
2037/38   1.FC Köln       Bundesliga      8th     DFB-Pokal Runner-Up
2038/39   1.FC Köln       Bundesliga      3rd     DFB-Pokal Winners, Europa League QF
2039/40   1.FC Köln       Bundesliga      3rd     DFB-Pokal Runner-Up, Champions League Group Stage, Europa League SF
2040/41   1.FC Köln       Bundesliga      1st     Champions League Last 16, DFB-Pokal Semi-Final

International Career

Season    Team                Achievements               
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010         
2011         
2012         
2013         
2014          
2015          
2016          
2017          
2018           
2019           
2020           
2021           
2022      Russia U21s         Qualified for U21s European Championship via Playoff.  
2023      Russia U21s         Finished 4th in Group B at U21s Euros. Resigned.  
2024      Belgium           
2025      Belgium             Finished 1st in Group 4. Qualified for World Cup. 
2026      Belgium/England     Reached 2nd Round at World Cup. Resigned.
2027      England
2028      England             Reached Semi-Final at European Championship.
2029      England             Finished 1st in Group 3. Qualified for World Cup.    
2030      England             Reached Quarter-Final at World Cup
2031      England             Finished 1st in Group B. Qualified for European Championship.
2032      England             European Championship Winner
2033      England             Finished 1st in Group 5. Qualified for World Cup.
2034      England             3rd Place at World Cup
2035
2036      France 
2037      France              Finished 1st in Group 8. Qualified for World Cup.
2038      France              World Cup Winner
2039      France              Finished 1st in Group F. Qualified for European Championship.
2040      France              Reached Quarter-Final at European Championship. Resigned.

Manager Awards

2010/11 : None

2011/12 : Blue Square South Manager of the Month x 3 (February, March, April)

2012/13 : Blue Square Premier Manager of the Year

2013/14 : npower League 2 Manager of the Month (October)

2014/15 : npower League 2 Manager of the Month (March)

2015/16 : npower League 2 Manager of the Year, npower League 2 Manager of the Month (October)

2016/17 : None

2017/18 : npower League 1 Manager of the Month (August, October)

2018/19 : None

2019/20 : npower Championship Manager of the Month (December, February)

2020/21 : Barclays Premier League Manager of the Year

2021/22 : Barclays Premier League Manager of the Year (2nd Place)

2022/23 : None

2023/24 : Associazione Italiana Calciatori Miglior Allenatore

2024/25 : Associazione Italiana Calciatori Miglior Allenatore

2025/26 : Associazione Italiana Calciatori Miglior Allenatore (2nd Place)

2026 : None

2027 : None

2028 : None

2029 : Russian Manager of the Year (2nd Place)

2030 : Russian Manager of the Year

2031 : Russian Manager of the Year (2nd Place)

2031/32 : None

2032/33 : Premio Don Balon Mejor entrenador del ano (2nd Place)

2033/34 : Premio Don Balon Mejor entrenador del ano (2nd Place)

2034/35 : None

2035/36 : Premio Don Balon Mejor entrenador del ano (2nd Place)

2036/37 : None

2037/38 : None

2038/39 : Fußballtrainer des Jahres, Spielers Fußball-Trainer des Jahres

2039/40 : None

2040/41 : Fußballtrainer des Jahres, Spielers Fußball-Trainer des Jahres

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Roll of Honour

World Cup

Year      Winners      Runner-Up      3rd Place      Hosts
-------------------------------------------------------------------
2014      Croatia      Brazil         Spain          Brazil
2018      Brazil       Russia         Belgium        Russia
2022      France       Spain          Portugal       Qatar  
2026      Brazil       Spain          Portugal       Mexico
2030      Spain        Brazil         Italy          Portugal
2034      Spain        Argentina      England        China
2038      France       Spain          England        USA

European Championship

Year      Winners      Runner-Up          Hosts
----------------------------------------------------------
2012      England      Scotland           Poland/Ukraine
2016      France       Serbia             France
2020      Germany      England            Spain
2024      Czech Rep    Portugal           Italy
2028      Spain        Portugal           England
2032      England      Spain              Germany
2036      Italy        Turkey             France
2040      Italy        Portugal           Spain

Champions League

Year      Winners       Runner-Up          Hosts
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2011      Barcelona     Real Madrid        Wembley, London
2012      Inter Milan   AC Milan           Allianz-Arena, Munich
2013      Real Madrid   Roma               San Nicola, Bari
2014      Napoli        Chelsea            Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
2015      Man Utd       Chelsea            Guiseppe Meazza, Milan
2016      Man Utd       Chelsea            Olympiastadion, Berlin
2017      Real Madrid   Arsenal            Izmir Ataturk, Izmir
2018      Real Madrid   Tottenham          Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow
2019      Barcelona     Stuttgart          San Marnes Barria, Bilbao
2020      Sampdoria     Inter Milan        Swedbank Arena, Stockholm
2021      Man Utd       Barcelona          Delle Alpi, Turin
2022      Lyon          Zenit              Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels
2023      Man Utd       Valencia           Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
2024      At. Madrid    Man Utd            Old Trafford, Manchester
2025      Tottenham     Sampdoria          Estadio de Madrid, Madrid
2026      At. Madrid    Man City           Stade Felix Bollaert, Lens
2027      Man Utd       Lazio              Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
2028      At. Madrid    Zenit              Sukru Saracoglu, Istanbul
2029      Real Madrid   Man Utd            Luzhniki, Moscow
2030      Lazio         Marseille          OAKA Spyros Louis, Athens
2031      Marseille     Barcelona          Estadio do Dragao, Porto
2032      At. Madrid    Barcelona          Aviva Stadium, Dublin
2033      Man Utd       Marseille          Hassler Arena, Koln
2034      Lyon          Man Utd            San Nicola, Bari
2035      Man Utd       Arsenal            Nuevo Mestalla, Valencia
2036      At. Madrid    Man Utd            Artemio Franchi, Florence
2037      Lazio         Marseille          Izmir Atatürk
2038      Man Utd       Lazio              Rostov-na-Donu, Rostov-na-Donu
2039      At. Madrid    Marseille          Emirates Stadium, London
2040      Marseille     Man Utd            Estadio Nacional, Lisbon
2041      Real Madrid   Tottenham          La Cartuja, Sevilla

Europa League

Year      Winners       Runner-Up          Hosts
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011      Palermo       CSKA Moscow        Aviva Stadium, Dublin
2012      At. Madrid    Monaco             National Arena, Bucharest
2013      AC Milan      Monaco             Gelredome, Arnham
2014      Sevilla       Liverpool          St. Jakobspark, Basel
2015      Villarreal    Liverpool          Camp Nou, Barcelona
2016      Inter Milan   Tottenham          Estadio Nacional, Lisbon
2017      Lazio         Aston Villa        Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund 
2018      Lille         St. Etienne        San Paolo, Naples
2019      Liverpool     Lazio              St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton
2020      Man City      Chelsea            Bulgarska, Poznan
2021      AC Milan      Inter Milan        La Cartuja, Sevilla
2022      At. Madrid    Schalke            Victor Prokopenko Stadium, Odesa
2023      Sunderland    Lazio              Panathinaikos Arena, Athens
2024      Lyon          Liverpool          Saransk, Saransk 
2025      Inter Milan   Benfica            Ataturk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul
2026      Chelsea       Malaga             Georgios Karaiskakis, Piraeus
2027      Dortmund      Chelsea            Delle Alpi, Turin
2028      Fiorentina    Man Utd            Stade Velodrome, Marseille
2029      Bari          Palermo            Cluj Arena, Cluj Napoca
2030      Tottenham     Malaga             ESPIRIT arena, Dusseldorf
2031      Chelsea       Porto              Turk Telekom Arena, Istanbul
2032      Man City      Inter Milan        Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
2033      Leverkusen    Valencia           Stade de France, Saint-Denis
2034      Chelsea       Schalke            FC Krasnodar, Krasnodar
2035      Malaga        Fiorentina         Parken, Copenhagen
2036      Liverpool     Palermo            Anfield, Liverpool
2037      Lyon          Dortmund           Yaroslavi, Yaroslavi
2038      Malaga        Schalke            De Kuip, Rotterdam
2039      Fiorentina    Sunderland         Villa Park, Birmingham
2040      Chelsea       Lazio              VELTINS-Arena, Gelsenkirchen
2041      Palermo       FC Bayern          Cassano Park, Genova

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Chapter 1 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen...Go To Thurrock

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Mid-Season 2010/11

Thurrock F.C. are a semi-professional club playing in the Blue Square South. They were formed as Purfleet in 1985 but changed their name in 2003. Their best season saw them finish 3rd in the BSS in 2004/05. Home games are played at Ship Lane which has a capacity of 4500 (300 seated) and has basic corporate and training facilities, basic youth recruitment and minimal youth facilities. Currently there is only 27 season ticket holders.

thurrockturnstiles.jpg

Here's the link for more detailed information about the club.

After applying for all the available jobs on 01/01/2011, I received offers back from Thurrock and Solihull Moors. After the real life death of the Solihull manager, it didn't seem right to go there so I plumped for Thurrock instead and signed a 6-month PT contract on £475 p/w. Naturally there is no transfer budget and we are spending £2691 of our £2700 wage budget so there's not much flex there either.

BlueSquareBetSouthInformation_LeagueTable-1.png

I take over a club who are sitting comfortably in mid-table, 10 points adrift of the playoffs and 9 points clear of the relegation zone. They had have already been knocked out of the cups prior to my appointment. My initial impressions are that mid-table is just about right for the club in its current state.

My objectives for the rest of the season are:

- Consolidate our position in the league, mid-table will do just fine for now.

- Sort out the backroom staff. We currently have 2 assistants but no scouts.

- Get the new scouts scouting for some talent.

- Try to bring in a couple of frees to help shore up the defence that is currently the 2nd worse in the league.

First game is at home to Dover on January 3rd so very little preparation time unfortunately.

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Whatever you do, wherever you go, make sure you don't manage Portsmouth. :cool:

Well, I can't guarantee that, even though it would be unlikely I would manage both (we all know how it worked out with Harry!) :eek:

Good luck with Thurrock.

Thanks :thup:

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Chapter 1 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Thurrock

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January/February 2011 Update

ThurrockThurrock_Fixtures.png

BlueSquareBetSouthInformation_LeagueTable-2.png

After a spectacular start against Dover, we went through a very sticky patch with 0 wins in 5 games which included a 4-0 drubbing at home to Eastleigh. My initial impressions of the team were severely questioned after these results and part of me thought we could be dragged into the relegation dog fight. A tweak in tactics and my fears were alleviated after wins against Boreham Wood and promotion candidates Bromley. This left us back in 11th place, where we were when I started, still 11 points off the playoffs but now 13 points away from relegation. My record reads 4-2-3 after 9 games. Defence still wobbly too!

Transfer wise, I have brought in 4 players on free transfers; a decent centre back, a full back who can play on both flanks, a versatile midfielder and tall striker. Finances are extremely tight, not helped by average gate of only 219.

:thdn:

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A solid start, keep it up! :)

And I see you lost to Welling, I'm managing them in my Journeyman career, it's a pretty fun league to manage in.

Welling have done pretty well this season. They beat us twice on their way to 6th, missing out on the playoffs by a point.

Nice job getting things back to steady state. How many points are you off from a playoff spot now?

Miles off the playoffs, never really on the horizon tbh. Closest I ever got was 11 points away, improvements needed!

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Chapter 1 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Thurrock

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March/April 2011 Update

ThurrockThurrock_Fixtures-2.png

BlueSquareBetSouthInformation_Stages-2.png

The season run-in turned into a damp squib. Only 2 wins in 10 games is not impressive at all. I didn't expect much from the last 3 matches as they were against top 6 teams, but even still, the performances were poor and I am starting to question my team's commitment. Our home form is a big cause for concern as I have only won 2 games at Ship Lane since taking over.

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Chapter 1 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Thurrock

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Season 2010/11 Review

Blue Square South - 15th

League Table Position Graph Season Summary

FA Cup - Knocked out before my arrival

FA Carlsberg Trophy - Knocked out before my arrival

After taking over a club in 11th position, I managed to make them worse and with a terrible run of results in April, 15th was probably as good as it was going to get. We finished 9 points clear of relegation but a considerable 17 points off the playoffs. Farnborough and Braintree were the teams who celebrated promotion, whereas Boreham Wood, St. Albans and Weston-Super-Mare were relegated.

Finances- In summary, we're broke and losing money! Average Attendance - 231

Transfer Summary- 4 in, 5 out, all on frees. No specular purchases.

Key Players - None. All equally average at the moment.

Fans Player of the Year - Adam Gross (DL). His average rating of 7.03 says it all really!

Review of Season Objectives

- Consolidate our position in the league, mid-table will do just fine for now.

Achieved. Even though we were never in danger of going down, our form was quite alarming towards the end of the season

- Sort out the backroom staff. We currently have 2 assistants but no scouts.

Achieved. Brought in 2 scouts but more work to do in the summer.

- Get the new scouts scouting for some talent.

Achieved. The 2 scouts have been scouring for talent across the UK and France, so can strengthen the team in the summer.

- Try to bring in a couple of frees to help shore up the defence that is currently the 2nd worse in the league.

Not Achieved. Brought in 2 defenders but still leaking goals when we shouldn't be. 5th worse defence is an improvement on the 2nd worse defence I inherited.

The board seem reasonably happy and my job status is 'stable', so I've signed a 1 year extension on my contract still on £475 p/w.

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Reasonable enough start.

What's happened to the Berwick save?

Having a little break from the Berwick save as my enjoyment was starting to wane after 16 seasons. Normally, I would change clubs when this happens, but that isn't really an option in this case.

Will still do an odd season/update now and again though but the progress will be slower.

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Chapter 1 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Thurrock

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Pre Season 2011/12

Board Expectations

Blue Square South - Safe mid-table position Media Prediction - 17th

Title Odds - 40-1

FA Cup - 4th Qualifying Round

FA Carlsberg Trophy - 1st Round

Transfer Budget: £0 Wage Budget: £2.7k p/w (currently £2681 p/w)

Facilities - Unchanged on last season Season Ticket Sales - 27 (Down 1)

Youth Intake - Cack!

Transfer Summary 11 transfer in, 12 out, all on frees. Backroom staff also shaken up with a new Ass Man coming in, a new coach, a scout and a physio.

Notable Transfers

-

Eugene Kangulungu - Former DR Congo international, at 35 is now past his back but I hope his experience will be invaluable as I try to shore up our defence. Should be a threat at set-pieces too.

-

Matias Chiacchio - Argentine striker with a bit of a bad injury record. If I can keep him fit, he should be a class act in this league.

-

Cristian Peruchini - Another Argentine who plays in the hole. Another player who is more than decent for this level.

-

Ryan Doble - Versatile young Welshman. Has good physical stats for his age. Should improve over a couple of seasons and will probably play league football at some stage.

-

Karim Chatilla - Has 1 cap for Canada, this strong MC should help strengthen the core of the team.

My objectives for the season:

- Consolidate our status in the BSS, a top half position would be very satisfactory. With the media predicting us to finish 17th, we will do well to avoid being drawn into the relegation dogfight.

- Tighten the defence. I'd prefer to win matches 1-0 rather than 4-2. A change in formation to 4-4-1-1 should make us harder to break down.

- A decent cup run would really help the finances which are seriously in the red now.

- Continue to look for bargains in the transfer market. Will only buy players that majorly improve upon what I've already got as wage budget is near enough maxed-out.

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Chapter 1 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Thurrock

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Autumn 2011 Update

ThurrockThurrock_Fixtures.png

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We started shakily with 3 games without a win but then the new players and new formation started to gel and we started to pick up results against teams of a higher standing. Confidence in the team started to grow and we find ourselves in a good position going into the winter period. The league is very congested at the top of the table and we are only a couple of wins off the playoffs, so things are looking positive at the moment. We've also made it to the 1st Round of the FA Cup where we will face Gillingham at home. This will generate some much needed income.

On a downside, our strength in depth is worryingly lacking. My concerns about Chiacchio's fitness were proven as it appears he is made of cheese, having only started 4 games since his arrival having suffered with a sprained ankle, groin strain and brusied thigh. Also, my new ML, Aziz Mady-Mogne, played 5 games before breaking his foot and will miss 5-6 months of action. Apart from these two, the new signings have all settled quite well so far!

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Chapter 1 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Thurrock

8602688.png

Winter 2011/12 Update

ThurrockThurrock_Fixtures-4.png

BlueSquareBetSouthInformation_LeagueTable-2.png

Despite December being a rocky month, we came out the other side in a very respectable position and right in the mix to fight for a play-off place. The weeks of playing Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday are virtually over, which will be a great relief to my squad, as their fitness is in serious decline. Even with 2 days rest after a game, I was starting players on 85% fitness which meant they would be knackered by half time. A couple of new signings joined us in January, a DC and a FC, who both signed on for cheap wages and will provide me with a first team squad of 21 players for the run-in.

The highlight of this period was the remarkable 1-0 win over Gillingham in the FA Cup 1st Round. We really shouldn't have had a chance against the League 1 opposition, however, they didn't play very well and we managed to knick a goal on the counter attack and then clung on for dear life! Luton put pay to us in the next round but this was enough to improve the bank balance slightly and increase my reputation up to 'regional'.

It is also worth noting that the 52 points we have already this season is the same amount that we finished the previous season on. Hopefully this, and the cup run, will be enough for the board to extend my contract which is due to expire at the end of the season. I've been dropping hints!

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Chapter 1 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Thurrock

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Spring 2012 Update

ThurrockThurrock_Fixtures-5.png

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An unbelievable run of games saw us go unbeaten from the 2nd of January, which included a league and club record of 16 wins in a row. Everything just seemed to click at the right time with every player contributing to the team's performance, and this was good enough to win me Manager of the Month for both February and March. This run of form catapulted us up into the title race along side Dover. However, they were unstoppable too, and having scored over 100 goals, they deserved to secure automatic promotion more than we did. So we're off to the playoffs and I'm feeling quietly confident. If we can continue our run of form, we will certainly have a good chance of going up, and even if we don't, it's still been an amazing season for the club.

A point of note is that last season 76 points was enough to guarantee promotion as champions. This year 76 points would have been only good enough for 7th place.

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Chapter 1 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Thurrock

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BSS Playoffs 2012 Update

ThurrockThurrock_Fixtures-6.png

ThurrockvEbbsfleetSplitView.png

We did it!

:D

In the semi-final we completely battered Bishop's Stortford in the first leg to take a 4 goal advantage back to Ship Lane. We played out a meaningless 1-1 draw but my dopey left back decided to get himself sent-off and would miss the final.

The BSS Playoff Final is not played at a neutral ground, it is hosted by the highest finishing team. This played out in our favour as we had finish 2nd, however I was not going to take Ebsfleet for granted as they had finish 3rd. The media were backing Ebsfleet too, so I expected a tight game.

We completely dominated from the whistle, so I was extremely angry when we gifted them a goal after 38 mins. Chatilla redeemed himself for his own goal, as he was the player who won the penalty which provided us the equaliser. We scored within 5 minutes of the break and survived a nervy final half hour where Ebsfleet never really got close to equalising but we couldn't kill off the game with a 3rd goal. For the first time in history, Thurrock F.C. will be in the Blue Square Premier next season!

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Chapter 1 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Thurrock

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Season 2011/12 Review

Blue Square South - 2nd (Promoted via Playoffs). A club record high.

League Table Position Graph Season Summary

FA Cup -

2nd Round

FA Carlsberg Trophy -

1st Round

A great season in which we achieved more than I could have ever hoped for. Getting promoted was never on the cards at the beginning of the season but once we started gathering momentum, we grew stronger and stronger. 23 games in a row unbeaten is a big achievement for a club of this stature and the players must be credited for pulling together and driving forward as a unit. The cup victory over Gillingham proved what a plucky side I am building and the board have recognised the achievement by extending my contract for another season. Meanwhile, it was heartache for Sutton Utd, Tiverton and Kingstonian as they were relegated out of the BSS.

Finances - Only made a small loss this season helped by the cup run but still a mess!

Average Attendance - 560 (A club record 2709 saw the playoff final)

Transfer Summary - Major activity over the season with 16 coming in and 18 players leaving us. Once again all free transfers.

Key Players -

-

Cristian Peruchini - Played in 'the hole' and had an excellent season. 13 assists and 17 goals showed how well he linked up with compatriot Chiacchio.

-

Matias Chiacchio - 'Mr Sicknote' proved his worth when he wasn't on the treatment table. Our league topscorer with 17 goals in 34 games.

-

David Hutton - Great performances from the right side of midfield. 24 assists and 11 goals from our set-piece specialist.

Team of the Year- Couldn't have chosen better myself!

Fans Player of the Year - Cristian Peruchini

Review of Season Objectives

- Consolidate our status in the BSS, a top half position would be very satisfactory. With the media predicting us to finish 17th, we will do well to avoid being drawn into the relegation dogfight.

Achieved. More than surpassed this objective with an unexpected promotion.

- Tighten the defence. I'd prefer to win matches 1-0 rather than 4-2. A change in formation to 4-4-1-1 should make us harder to break down.

Achieved. 34 goals conceded in the league meant we had the second tightest defence behind Dover. Surely will be tested further in the BSP.

- A decent cup run would really help the finances which are seriously in the red now.

Achieved. The cup run happened, but we still didn't quite breakeven over the course of the season. I'm not sure what else I can do here!

- Continue to look for bargains in the transfer market. Will only buy players that majorly improve upon what I've already got as wage budget is near enough maxed-out.

Achieved. My scouts did a great job and uncovered a few gems who could and should play at a higher level. The team feels like 'my team' now as the first choice 11 are all players I have signed.

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Euro 2012 Update

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Hosts: Poland & Ukraine

Holders: Spain

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In what was a tremendous tournament for the Home Nations, England went on to beat Scotland 4-1 in the

final, with Wayne Rooney getting a hat-trick (we can only dream it will happen IRL :)). Even Ireland made it to the QF too!

Shock results saw Serbia knockout Spain in the Quarter-Finals, and France and Holland fail to make it out of their respective groups.

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Chapter 1 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Thurrock

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Pre Season 2012/13

Board Expectations

Blue Square Premier - Fight bravely against relegation Media Prediction - 24th

Title Odds - 33-1

FA Cup - 1st Round

FA Carlsberg Trophy - 2nd Round

Transfer Budget: £0 Wage Budget: £3.8k p/w (currently £2883 p/w)

Facilities - No improvements, the pitch is getting worse though! Season Ticket Sales - 52 (+26)

Youth Intake - No-one of note

Transfer Summary - All free transfer, 8 come in, 4 leave us. 4 new scouts join us too.

Notable Transfers

- Junior Miranda - An experience Brazilian midfielder. Great physical stats and my scouts think he's good enough for League One. Hopefully will adapt to life in Thurrock.

-

Chris Holroyd - Will be Chiacchio back-up. Released from Brighton but is good enough for this level.

- Joan Angel Roman - 19 year old centre midfielder, released from Man City. Once again good physical stats so should do well in this league.

- Kuami Agboh - I needed a back-up left back and this former Togo international was going for a free. He's 34 now but I won't expect him to play every game anyway.

My objectives for the season:

- Survival! I hope we don't find ourselves completely out of our depth but we are a very small club in comparison with the other teams in the league. If we can do well against some of the other small clubs we may do well enough to get a lower mid-table finish.

- Keep improving the squad. My scouts can now scout the whole of Europe so I've sent them off to see what they can find. Any player who can improve matters will be brought in as long as their wage demands are realistic.

- Improve the finances. Still in the red. Might have to consider robbing a bank if we don't get some investment from somewhere.

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Chapter 1 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Thurrock

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Autumn 2012 Update

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We started well with 4 wins in our first 6 matches which included a convincing 4-1 win over Altrincham. Then of course, my 38 year old first choice goalkeeper, Joel Eboue, gets injured in training and will miss 5/6 months with a broken pelvis (he has since announced his pending retirement at the end of the season too). His back-up, Joe Woolley, came in for the game against Newport County and concedes six! I went out in a panic and signed the first half-decent 'keeper my scouts recommended. Jamal Blackman was the lucky man, released from Chelsea and only 19 but has kept a couple of clean sheets since. Needless to say, Woolley is now very much transfer-listed and is fourth choice now behind Eboue, Blackman and my Mum.

League-wise it is quite close, 4 points off the play-offs, 8 points clear of the relegation zone. I'd be happy to stay around the mid-table point for the rest of the season and try and sort out our leaky defence. It could be worse considering bottom side Kidderminster only have 1 point from their 17 games so far :eek:

No cup giant-killing this season either but we did make a game of it against Crewe at least.

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Cheers Luton Town :thup:

Still doing ok but just had this pop up. (Game date: 03/01/2013)

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Stockport are a much bigger club. They are professional and have a wage budget 4 times bigger than what I can spend at Thurrock. They were predicted to finish 2nd in the BSP this season but are having a shocker and currently sit 18th, only 4 points above the relegation zone and 12 points behind Thurrock at the moment, where we're sitting 10th but just 1 point off 5th and the playoffs.

Not sure what to do at the moment, saved the game and going to think about it while I have my lunch! I'm doing well at Thurrock still but I can see a bigger long term future at Stockport if I can keep them up which is possible as we have 20 league matches still to play.

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Decided to stay put with Thurrock for the time being. Stockport is a good opportunity but I think I owe to Thurrock to at least see out the season and guarentee them BSP status for another year. I'm being linked with a few other League 2/BSP teams so might have to make further decisions in the summer.

My loyalty has been rewarded with a 5-2 win over Crawley in the first match since rejecting Stockport! :eek:

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Thanks guys, hopefully I won't live to regret it! :thup:

Stockport ended up appointing some bloke called Mike Walsh who's last managerial post was with Barrow in 1996! Scraping the 'Barrow' springs to mind... groan :p

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Chapter 1 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Thurrock

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Winter 2012/13 Update

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After resisting the alluring advances from Stockport, I'm pretty certain I've made the right decision to stay at Ship Lane. We've continued our steady progress throughout the season and sit in the pounds seat as the season run-in starts. The table is mighty close, so any slip-ups could drop us back into mid-table which would still be acceptable by the board but I think we could do better than that. Newport look like running away with the league and I reckon Lincoln will take 2nd but 3rd-5th are certainly up for grabs. In Kidderminster news, they are now up and running with wins over Barrow and AFC Telford, but alas, it looks like they've left it too late as they are 25 points away from safety!!

Defensively we are still looking frail at times, and we're not particularly competant at defending set-pieces either. A slight concern that I will look to address in the summer. Our star turn so far has to be Junior Miranda. He's got 20 goals and 13 assists and everytime he plays well, we win. Unfortunately, we may have turned into a 1 man team, he's that good (or the rest are that bad!)

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Looking good so far, hope your loyalty to Thurrock rewards you :thup:

Fingers crossed. Definitely staying until the end of season even though my name's being banded around for sorts of jobs at the moment.

Good luck hope you make the playoffs

Hopefully, but it's too close to call at the moment. Even if we do make it, it won't be as straightforwards as last season's was.

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Chapter 1 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Thurrock

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Spring 2013 Update

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An absolutely amazing end to the season. We hit a great run of form through February and into March which catapulted us on to the back of Lincoln and runaway leaders Newport County. I thought the defeat against relegation-troubled Barrow would rule us of the race for automatic promotion and we would have to face the roulette wheel of the playoffs, but Newport and Lincoln had other ideas.

Lincoln only won 9 points from their last 5 games and Newport completely bottled-it when it mattered most. At one stage they had an eight point advantage at the top but their last 5 matches saw them only earn 2 points (the 2nd worst record in the league) and surely their morale has been damaged so much that a playoff victory will now be unlikely.

I'm not sure if we deserved to win the league, 11 defeats and 60 goals conceded showed we weren't infallible, and in the previous 2 seasons, 90+ points were needed to go up automatically. However, the table doesn't lie, and even though we didn't lead the table until after 45 games, we were in the right place at the right time.

Remember Stockport? No? Neither do I .... :D

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Chapter 1 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Thurrock

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Season 2012/13 Review

Blue Square Premier - 1st Champions. A club record high.

League Table Position Graph Season Summary

FA Cup -

1st Round

FA Carlsberg Trophy -

3rd Round

A great achievement by the team to earn a totally unexpected promotion. Clinching it on the final day made it an even sweeter but I'm still not quite sure how we did it! However, it was enough to ensure I picked up Manager of the Year, even though I never won any of the monthly awards this season. Lincoln won the playoffs and will join us in League 2, whereas Alfreton, Dover, Braintree and Kidderminster all got relegated. The Harriers finished bottom with 23 points so they made a slight recovery, it could have been a lot worse for them! No cup runs for us this season but I'm not bothered, I'm much more satisfied with the BSP Trophy! :D

Finances - Brassic! Made a loss of £41k this year.

Average Attendance - 605 (up 45)

Transfer Summary - A fair bit of activity over the season but still no money spent or received.

Key Players -

Junior Miranda - One of the best buys I have ever made on any FM. I'm always a bit dubious of bringing Brazilian's to the UK as they don't always settle but this guy was different! He made an instant impact and tore away the opposition in most matches. He plays in the hole and is equally adept at linking midfield and attack as he is at bombing forward to arrive late in the box. Quite rightly won BSP Player of the Year with 28 goals and 16 assists, and I think I might love him a bit! Unfortunately, he's just turned 31 so his playing days are numbered but I'm sure he'll become a club legend in the years to come.

Joe Jones - A big presence in defence. Still has a lot of learning and improving to do but I reckon he'll make the step up to League 2. He's only 20 and showing great potential so some clubs might start sniffing around soon.

Team of the Year - Dominated by Junior Miranda, but that's the way it was!

Overall Best XI - Karim Chatilla stands out as he has made 100 appearances for the club now.

Fans Player of the Year - Junior Miranda (obviously!)

Review of Season Objectives

My objectives for the season:

- Survival! I hope we don't find ourselves completely out of our depth but we are a very small club in comparison with the other teams in the league. If we can do well against some of the other small clubs we may do well enough to get a lower mid-table finish.

Achieved. We did better than survive! There were times that I couldn't believe how well we were playing but I'm sure it'll be a lot tougher in League 2.

- Keep improving the squad. My scouts can now scout the whole of Europe so I've sent them off to see what they can find. Any player who can improve matters will be brought in as long as their wage demands are realistic.

Achieved. The scouts excelled themselves this season. Unearthing a player like Junior Miranda made the difference this season as he carried the team by himself at times. Will need to continue this talent-spotting over the summer.

- Improve the finances. Still in the red. Might have to consider robbing a bank if we don't get some investment from somewhere.

Not achieved. Getting worse! All I can hope for is bigger attendance next season.

I've signed a 2 year contract extension on £700 p/w but I know that I have probably taken Thurrock as far as they can go, so I will be looking to leave after a season or two. However, my chairman is ecstatic and I've got great job security, so I'm definitely going to give League 2 a good go as I owe it to the fans and I really want to see if Junior Miranda can have the same effect in a higher division.

Season     Team             League              League Finish    Cups            
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
2010/11    Thurrock F.C.    Blue Square South   15th             N/A             
2011/12    Thurrock F.C.    Blue Square South   2nd              FA Cup 2nd Round, FA Trophy 1st Round
2012/13    Thurrock F.C.    Blue Square Premier 1st              FA Cup 1st Round, FA Trophy 3rd Round

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Loyalty is the key

Thankfully it paid off and I made the right decision. Stockport recovered well though, and nearly made the playoffs.

Congratulations:thup:
Congrats on promotion :thup:

Thanks for the comments. Back-to-back promotions was unlikely. I can't see back-to-back-to-back happening though :p

Must be the lowest average attendance to win the BSP

That's what I thought too. We had the lowest average attendance in the league as some of the mid-table teams were getting over 2000 a game (Cambridge, Wrexham, Mansfield). Hopefully we will get some more bums on seats next season :thup:

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