[FM 16] And let the Journey Begin...Part 2

I had been working on a save as a 19 year old and had been doing okay until I overdosed on stupid pills and got fired by getting too pushy. I eventually got a new job and was going to face a pretty good challenge, the kind I love, but somehow the save got messed up. I cant get it to load. So here I am again, trying to get this going. I asked the mods to delete that thread for me.

Just a couple of things, I started as a 19 year old Sunday league player with no coaching license. I loaded the English league database to level 15. I went to January 1, 2017 and still don't have a job so I am going to start sending out applications to the lowest level teams. I am going to send out 20 a week until I get hired. I am not going to apply to Brighton, Hove & Worthing League Division 2 West since that is the league Del United were in when I took over them.

Because of the birthdate I put in the for manager, I am now 20 and looking for my first job.

Finally I got a job. It is with Coal Exchange in the West Sussex Football League Division Two South. The competitions are not looking so great. We have 6 matches left and are only 3 points above the relegation spot. I need to make sure that doesn't happen if I can help it.

I am desperately trying to get a coaching staff. I hope to have an Assistant Coach, Chief Scout, Head of Youth Development, Head Physio and Physio. I hope to be able to get a second scout and a coach to help things out.

Then I need to get a team!

And the journey begins...

After getting a staff to help, an Assistant Coach, coach, 2 physios and 2 scouts as well as a HOYD, I was able to get a team put together. I asked for advice from the players and basically scouted anyone who wasn't signed with someone to try and get out of the slump we were in.

I first match I managed was a disaster, we lost 0-1 and stayed in 9th place, just because the bottom team only had 1 point. We were able to pull out a 2-1 victory with the next match and finished with a strong run of 4 more unbeaten matches. We scored 16 goals and didn't give up any. Even after my starting keeper went down with 2 matches to go.

We ended up finishing the season in 3rd place, purely on goal difference, guess that 16 goal run helped!

I will be trying to completely redo the side. The players we ended up getting are on the downside of their careers but they were good enough to do what we needed to end this season.

So the journey continues....

I finally made it through the pre-season. I was able to get a much better assistant coach so hopefully that helps some. The league looks a lot different this year. The chairman has his expectations but the odds makers see things differently

I have been kind of disappointed with the pre-season. I brought the team back early so we could work on tactics and I could bring in some players to start to play my favorite formation, 4-2-3-1, but I have had a hard time finding a good AMC. So I have started just training some of my younger Strikers with good skill sets for that role. I have been using an attacking 4-4-2 and just added a 4-1-2-3 DM Wide this pre-season so I do have another formation they are familiar with.

I cut the team captain, he had went down-hill fast. He had been a starting central defender, but he was 38 and had a massive drop-off in ability. The other starting central defender got mad because he was replaced as vice-captain, he was 33 and was my 5th best defender, so to trim the roster I ended up cutting him as well. I also had my starting right defender retire, he was only 31 but I couldn't talk him into staying. So the focus of training now will be to get team cohesion high. The back line is really struggling and my forwards don't seem to be moving the ball as well as they did last season. Some stuff for us to definitely work on.

So no pressure, win promotion from the odds makers, but at least the chairman doesn't have great expectations there, and won both of the cups. And sometime I want to start on my coaching license. The club is valued at 39,000 and ended the season with a profit of 15,000 so I hope we can do better this season in that front.

The starting roster looks pretty solid. I have more players than I wanted on the Senior Squad, but after the influx of young players at the end of last season I had some move up.

On a much different note, I cant seem to get the hang of putting the images directly on the page instead of having to use links. I am sure I have missed the directions somewhere but if someone could share them with me or direct me to them I would greatly appreciate it.

We have made it through the end of October and have not lost yet, except for the 2-3 loss in the pre-season friendly.

I feel like a fool that I cant get the images to appear directly on here, I know it is something simple, but when I try to insert the image it gives me that broken icon image.

I will keep trying to figure it out as we go through the season.

I cant complain with how we are doing though.

Just a short update, I am really happy I found out how to speed up the matches. I enjoy watching them in "regular" time, but I only do that with the big matches now.

It is 26 Feb 2017 and I have 4 matches left in the season. I have been able to secure the league title by having an 18 point lead. I am also in to both of the cup semi-finals. The poaching of the players has begun. I have lost 5 so far, one got signed to a 150 a week contract so I cant argue there, I hope he does well. I am also in the 2 top for just about every open position now. No one has asked me for an interview, but I am happy at Coal Exchange.

There is going to be a major letdown at some point. The problem with playing at this level is most of the sides don't have a manager so I am going through the league table fairly easily. One of these days I am going to meet a side that is as talented as mine and that will be the big challenge. I will see how the side responds when that happens...

I don't know if my 51 year old heart can handle this kind of stuff...I don't know if it is fair to say this side was as good as mine, but they played me down to the wire.

In the semi-final for the league Cup, I took a pretty easy 1-0 lead, but Harting responded within 48 seconds to draw level. The scoring machine for my side took over and we built a 5-1 lead going into stoppage time at the end of the 1st half, when they scored off of a corner, but 5-2 at the half, no problem. But no, we ended up giving up 3 more, 2 in 40 seconds, to draw it all level at the end of regulation so we went into extra time. I couldn't get past their back 4 most of the time and when I could it was straight into the keepers waiting arms.

In the 2nd part of extra time I went into full attack mode and put it on overload. I figured that if they are not shooting at the goal they couldn't score. One of my strikers was flying down the left side and laid out a beautiful cross to my other striker for the tap in. We finally were able to get the lead again. With 5 minutes left, I pulled back and parked the bus in front of the goal.

The toughest match we have had, but after 120 minutes, we won 6-5 and are off to the final, thank goodness we have a full week before our next match, the side is exhausted.

Side hadnt recovered completely, and almost gave a way a easy game to win. But we were able to gain a 3-0 victory over West Hill United to earn a spot in the Sussex Intermediate cup. We let them keep it close before we pulled away to buy our ticket for the potential triple.

So I just lost my best striker, right before the 2 cup finals. Dodzi Agebenu has led all of the league and competitions. So I am going to have to do some re-working of the squad. Talk about crappy timing...

Agebenu came back for the final cup match and changed the whole attitude of the side. We seemed to sleep walk through the last couple of matches without him. We were able to win the League Cup, but then drew in our last league match. Agebenu provided the spark for the side to take the Intermediate Cup as well. So the chairman is happy as we were able to win the treble. Ironically, since we have been on this winning streak I have some players demanding playing time so who knows what will happen in the off-season.

So we are facing promotion and once again, the next step in the rebuilding mission to keep the side competitive.

The End of Season Awards showed how important Agebenu was to the team.

The season review was pretty impressive as well.

So the endless cycle of trying to keep my players and job interview offers has started. I have secured promotion and it seems like everyone wants my players now. I have to get some depth for my central defenders and I still haven't had much luck with an attacking mid-fielder so those are my targets as well.

I was able to get the chairman to agree to let me hire another coach so I am trying to get a goalkeeper coach. All of the current coaches are now working on coaching licenses. I have my National C license, should have my National B completed by the start of the regular season. I am leaning towards staying with Coal Exchange until I complete my Continental C license if they will pay for it.

I will admit that it is tempting to chase the money, considering I am not getting paid yet. But this run is interesting so I will see how far it goes.

TBH, there is a part of me that wants to lose a match. I find myself getting stressed during the matches since I haven't lost yet. I am wondering how the fans will respond since we have been on this roll. It is better than worrying about getting sacked, which I have done many times, but this is still a challenge. I am also starting to find it difficult to keep the side motivated. I am hoping that moving up a level will help with that. I may try to schedule a big name (well for an amateur side) pre-season friendly.

I have decided, after turning down who knows how many interview offers, that as long as I can complete my National A license I will leave Coal Exchange at the end of this season. I have let the money pass me by so maybe I will see where I can go next. Unless I get an interview offer from Huntingdon, that is where I used to live when I was in the UK so I will make an exception for them.

Well better be careful what you wish for you just might get it. I lost the very first match of the season, 0-1. I couldn't hit the broad side 0f a barn. Only went 4-5 in pre-season friendlies, which I am sure didn't help things. I need to get out of this before it becomes a slump.

We actually had lost 4 out of our last 5 matches, 4 were friendlies, but I think it has left the side unsettled. I also lost 2 of my coaches and 5 of the starting XI in the weeks right before the start of the regular season. I also tried to get them comfortable with a 4-2-3-1 and it seems to have thrown them off.

We have 6 matches in September as we start the defense of the cup.

The squad looks better paper, now to get them to perform on the pitch.

The financials look solid. We are worth over 72K now, winning 2 cups surely helped there and not paying anyone anything cant hurt things either.

The expectations for the season seem manageable, if I can get the side to start playing as a team again.

I was wondering if anyone is actually reading this, but I was reading a thread where the author said the same thing, someone stated in a reply that just because people don't comment doesn't mean they are not reading. He said as long as the viewer numbers are going up that people are reading. I never thought of it that way. I guess I am guilty of the same thing, reading threads and not commenting as much as I should. I will try to make a better effort at that.

So if you are reading, enjoying, getting confused or frustrated at what I am trying to do, or if you have a suggestion on how to present things better on here, please comment.

If not, thanks for stopping by.!

Wow, just got my cup draw for the league cup, have 5 matches in 14 days now.

I hope I can keep the side healthy. I was going to go back to the 4-4-2, but I don't have enough depth to cover that so I guess some of the matches will be with a 4-2-3-1, or I just play some of the guys out of position.

See how it goes I guess.

I just made it through the most hectic month I have ever had. Because of the way the cup draws went I ended up playing 8 games in September. After the collapse and loss in the 1st match of my West Sussex Division One journey, I was wondering if we were going to struggle, not so much because the quality of my side, but because of the turmoil of losing staff and players. But we ended up winning all 8 matches.

There were 5 league matches where we struggled more than I am used to seeing the side do. I had a couple of 1 goal victories, and gave up more goals than I am used to. I seemed to struggle with defending corners and gave up 4 goals from them. We also started the defense of our Sussex Intermediate cup by getting through the first 2 rounds and are in the second round of the League Cup as well.

The side is pretty tired but they are all very happy with the results we had for the month. Now on to a more quiet October.

Observations and Thoughts

I completed my National B license and am wanting to start on my National A soon. I know my original plan was to complete it at CE but I am leaning more to just waiting to the end of the season and see what happens. I was hoping I could bring in players to make the 4-2-3-1 a competitive formation, but the side really struggles to get goals in that formation. Dodzi Agebenu is a beast in the 4-4-2, but doesn't look comfortable in any other formation. He has 11 goals in 8 matches so far, but 7 of those came in 2 of the matches where he was in the 4-4-2, only scored 1 in the 4-2-3-1. I am hoping to hold on to him, we really struggle to score when he is not in there. We are averaging over 10 shots on target per match, but most go straight to the keeper. That is something to keep an eye on.

I am going to keep trying to get the images to just post in the thread, but when I try, I just get a little black square, so I am not sure what is going on.

The full image address is: http://www.fmshots.com/images/cS2o.png

So you need to put the

Thank you so much!

You're welcome. You're managing in the league where I live.

You're welcome. You're managing in the league where I live.

Oh that is so cool. I actually lived in Cambridgeshire about 30 years ago. Is the league set up for this file I am using correct?

October is in the books and I have to say I am pleased with things. We drew 2-2 in the first league game of the month then went on to win the next two with the same score of 3-1. We closed the month out by advancing to the 3rd Round of the League cup on a 3-0 victory. I am a game ahead in the league, but I have a 9 point lead over the 2nd place team.

Observations and Thoughts

I was able to get my National A License started so I should be finished by the end of the season. It is getting more and more difficult to keep my better players. I send the scouts out to look for new guys and they always tell me they cant find anyone so I don't know if it is the directions I am giving them or what. It is a constant thing that my players are being targeted by other sides. I also am getting way too many interview offers. It has been tempting to go on at least 1 interview, maybe after the first of the year. Agebenu is still lighting it up. He has a nose for the net and can seem to put it in the back with ease, as long as he is in the 4-4-2.

I only have 3 matches in November, big change from September!

Oh, for some reason the website I am using to host my images isn't working, I hope that is all that is wrong right now with them.

Match Results

We played 3 matches, 2 league matches and the 3rd round of the Sussex Intermediate Cup. We won all 3, but the best was the 3rd one, against TD Shipley, the only side to beat us in league play, 0-1 in the first match of the season. This time, it was a 4-2 victory. Nice revenge match as they say. With 11 out of 20 matches played we have an 8 point lead over 2nd place. The top 2 sides get promoted but I really hope we can win this league as well.

Thoughts and Observations

The team is finally doing better with the 4-2-3-1. If I rotate the strikers based on formation they seem to do better. The side really took a hit over the last month as I lost 3 of my best players. They all got contracts of 120-210 a week so I cant blame them for leaving. It is a constant thing of scouting and bringing in new players. I think I have found a pretty good GK since mine is getting offers every day. He will probably leave before the year is out.

I am going back and forth on what I will do. The interview offers are coming fast and furious now. I am getting at least 3 a day and am turning them all down. I am trying to concentrate on completing the season at CE. But it is getting more and more difficult to do so. On the one hand, moving up the coaching ranks sounds nice, but I also want to complete things here at CE. The idea of going out a winner is very appealing.

Just found out the school I teach at is closed today and probably until at least Thursday due to an incoming snow storm. Not much to do outside when it is this cold and since I have everything caught up, guess it is FM time!

Match Review

We had 4 matches this month, 2 league, a league cup and the Sussex Cup. We won all of them so the streak stays alive. The last league match was more interesting than it should have been. We built a 3-0 lead so I switched from attacking to controlling, we then proceeded to concede 2 quick goals. After changing back to attack we were able to pull away again and ended up winning 5-3. So in the Sussex Intermediate Cup we are through to the 5th round and the Quarter Finals of the League Cup. With 7 league matches left we have a 13 point lead so if we can keep winning we can lock up the league title in 3 more matches.

Thoughts and Observations

I am really happy I brought in a new GK to back up Bishop. I thought with all of the job offers he would go before the end of the year, and he did, left for a 95/per week job on December 18th. The new guy doesn't have the reaction time that Bishop did, but I hope to be able to train him up. I have a GK coach to work with him. The side is finally feeling comfortable with the 4-2-3-1. Agebenu has settled in as the striker for that formation and has 19 goals in 16 games.

I think I have finally settled on my plans, I want to accomplish some things before I start looking to move on from CE:

1. Finish my National A License (should be finished by the end of the season)

2. Defend the Sussex Intermediate Cup (if I cant, at least go as far as we can)

3. Win promotion

4. Hopefully, win the League Cup

Even though I have been tempted to go on interviews, St Neots and Peterborough North Star offered interviews, I am going to stick to this plan.

I am really pleased with the coaching staff so may consider taking them with me.

On a different note, I have downloaded a new skin so hopefully the images look good when I post them.

Thanks for reading!

Match Overviews

Four matches this month, the 2 cup matches book-ended by league matches. The first one didn't go so we, 0-0 draw. We couldn't seem to get anything going. I swapped the mentality around, changed from the 4-2-3-1 to the 4-4-2 and the whole side seemed out of sorts. But with the 5th Round of the Sussex Cup and the Quarter Finals of the league cup the side came back alive winning them 4-0 and 5-0 respectively. I think this stirred them back to action because we closed out the month with a 2-0 victory. I use the 4-2-3-1 almost all of the time now. I just change the mentality around and rotate some of the players based off of injuries and performance. Only 3 matches in February, 2 league matches and the Sussex Cup Quarter Final, this is at home so hope to get some fans out for it.

Thoughts and Observations

I decided to keep track of the interview offers and "hot list" picks there were for me. In January I was offered 27 interviews, was the favorite on 8 positions and lost 2 of my players to paying contracts. So besides everything else I have to deal with that stuff. Not a bad thing I guess, price of being successful. One thing that is my pitch is in terrible shape. I have asked the chairman to relay the pitch every month and he says no, he cant afford it. The team is now worth over 75K and has over 50K in the bank. But nothing I can do but ask. There are 5 league matches left and I have a 12 point lead so probably 2 more victories and we will have won the league.

Thanks for reading...

Match Overview

With only 3 matches for the month I thought things would go well. We easily won our first league match and then breezed through the Sussex Intermediate Cup Quarterfinal. Then the wheels came off. I was facing Stedham United who had drawn with us Oct 7 and thought we would get an easy win. We had 25 shots on goal they had 7, easy right? Nope, we lost 0-2, so my undefeated streak is over. I was watching the match, even put them on overload the 2nd half, and was shocked with how badly our finishing was. I hope that was just a fluke.

First step Completed

The league title is won, maybe that is why we were so bad against Stedham, we had already won promotion.

Thoughts and Observations

What started as an easy month turned to crap pretty quickly. One of my central defenders left even though I had offered him a new contract. No biggie, but then I lost another one to injury, shuffle them around some, then another leaves. Now I am in trouble, no player to move up so I begin a frantic scramble to find someone. I think I have that under control and the same thing happens with my midfield! By the end of the month I have a backup in place for each, but I had to play 2 matches with guys out of position. Maybe that is what happened with Stedham, new central midfielder threw the team off.

Four matches scheduled next month, 2 cup semi-finals and 2 league cups. I hope we can get through those unscathed....

Match Overview

With 4 matches, 2 cup semi-finals and 2 league matches, I felt like we were in pretty good shape. The 1st match was the league cup final and we were firm favorites to win. Someone forgot to tell the teams. It went in to extra time, I put youngster Nat Peacock in at the start of extra time of the 0-0 draw in place of an ineffective Agebenu and it paid off as he found the net twice in the 2nd half of extra time to put us in the final. The other 3 matches went as hoped as we won all 3.

In April, just 2 matches, the league cup final and the final match of the league. The real battle is for 2nd spot in the league as both teams have 2 matches left and are tied with 31.

Thoughts and observations

I was able to bring in 1 more central defender and 2 more midfielders to add some depth. I also got my injured central defender back so I figured the roster was set for the final push. My biggest concern was to get past the close of the transfer window. No shocks there, everyone hung around. Seems I am pretty popular. One little hiccup though, the oft injured central defender went out with a pulled hamsting for 3-4 weeks. No big deal, I had the new guy I just signed to provide depth. But wait, the day after the transfer deadline closes, he goes down 4-5 weeks with a chest injury! So time to move players around again.

The chairman is going to test my desire to move. He just added 2 more coaching slots to the senior side. I would really like to be able to hire a coach or 2 for the U-21 or U-18 sides, but he wont let me.

I have been looking at the league standings and I am now in Level 13, moving up to 12. If I take a new job, I will not move above Level 9, the County Leagues. I will still only be 23 so don't want to get too big for my britches, but it will be nice to earn a paycheck.

Match Overview

Part 2 completed!

Our last match was against Fernhurst Sports in the league. They took a 0-1 lead in to half time. Once again, we are getting shots like crazy but not connecting. Striker Francis was very nervous and I couldn't calm him down so I made a switch and put out of form Agebenu in (his form rating had dropped to 6.20) and he fired the side up. We scored twice in the last 10 minutes to get the 2-1 victory. I actually saw a player get a yellow card for arguing too much that Agebenu was off-side on his goal. He wasn't, I tried to get a screen shot of it but it was difficult to see where the ball was.

Thoughts and Observations

I completed my National A License. There is a part of me that is considering staying at CE to get my Continental C license. We got over 19K for winning the League Cup and it would be nice to not have to fight the board for money to work on it. That is something to consider. If I do that I would finish the season out with them, don't know if I want to leave mid-stream like that.

Our last match is the Sussex Intermediate Cup. We are up against the 2016 winner Sidley. Looks to be a good match, hope I can pull this one off.

I have been learning quite a bit about doing this thread, trying to clean it up. I have been reading other peoples and getting some ideas. I just now realized I should have been cropping my images. I will continue to work and clean up the thread.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I had started one other thread on here last year, but life got in the way so I dropped it. Then my recent attempt ended in a short time with a corrupted save file. I am really pleased with this one and want to take it as far as I can.

I sometimes feel like I am talking to myself, but it is nice to even be able to share this with someone besides my wife who just looks at me with that "you are sweet but I don't get it" look

My wife gives me the very same look on occasion :-)

Keep posting your journey, good stuff!

My wife gives me the very same look on occasion :-)

Keep posting your journey, good stuff!

Thanks, with these snow days and nothing to grade it keeps me occupied and out of the cold!

Sussex Intermediate Cup

Sidley got a manager right before the match and he turned the thing ugly. He sent some barbs at me and then said we got lucky in the end, maybe so, but all that matters is we came out on top! I kept Agebenu in the starting XI and kept them in a controlling mentality for most of the match. But at about 70 minutes left I switched to attack to push the guys forward. We were getting shots and rebounds but no follow up. So with 82 minutes left, switched to overload, I didn't like my chances with a tired side going in to extra time. it paid off and Agebenu did his thing and drove the winner home.

End of Season Reviews

Thoughts and Overview

The season is over and now I need to decide what I am going to do. The team is now valued at over 100K and I really wish I could get the chairman to relay the pitch, it is in awful shape. I am really enjoying my time here, but maybe it is time to move on. I would like to get my Continental C License as well.

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

We made it, Now let's Spend It

I signed another "contract" with CE since I decided to stay there to continue getting my Continental C License. it isn't really a contract since I don't have any wages. I have the biggest coaching staff I have ever had, an Asst, a HOYD, and 6 coaches. The chairman wont let me expand the U-18s staff at all. So I will continue to coach guys up on the Senior level.

Congrats on the league and cup double.

What skin is this?

Congrats on the league and cup double.

What skin is this?

Thanks. I think I am going to stay at CE at least one more season, or at least until I finish my Continental C license...but who knows...

It is Andromeda Blue. I really like it. It has a retracting side menu bar which takes some getting used to, but I love the layout and there are quite a few backgrounds to pick from.

Promotion Odds

Competition Expectations

Thoughts and Observations

I still cant get the chairman to redo the pitch. But at least he agreed to send my Assistant on a coaching course. Out of the 9 coaches (including me) 1 has no license, 1 has a National A, 2 are working on Continental C, 2 are working on Continental A, 2 have Continental A and 1 has a Continental Pro. Not a bad bunch of coaches for an Amateur side.

I brought the side back early to try to get extra training in since I figure to lose a bunch of players again, so they are not happy. I have 7 friendlies to play in the pre-season and have played 4. I am letting the Assistant run them, I am working on getting scouting assignments done.

Preseason Complete

The Senior Squad

Thoughts and Observations

I am going to go back to my old way of doing the pre-season. I would manage all of the matches but thought about letting the Asst do it this time. I did the first and the last 2, he drew the 4 he managed and the fans were none too happy about it. They were only friendlies, but these fans don't like it when we don't win.

The squad is bigger than I would like, but since the pitch is in bad shape I seem to get a lot more injuries in training than before. Ifil got injured the 1st week of training, was out 4 weeks with a pulled hammy, back 3 days, out again with same injury. That is the 3rd time in the last 6 months for that injury with him.

One of the coaches working on His Continental C got it so I am going to send the guy without a license on a course.

So let the journey continue as we try to make it 3 in a row...

Match Overviews

We had a good month. This was a much better start to the season than we had last year. Even though I have had 2 injuries, Agebenu and Taylor, one of the Central Midfielders, things went pretty well.

Thoughts and Observations

This next month is going to be interesting... I have always said I would leave CE in mid-season if Huntingdon offered me a job. Well they fired their manager and I am top of the list to get the job. I was asked and I said I was interested, the CE Chairman has said Huntingdon has already said they would pay my release clause. It cant be much since I am not getting a salary. Huntingdon has said I am the leading candidate. So we will see what happens...

I would love to continue at CE, but Huntingdon is a team I used to go watch when I lived in England in the early 80s and I listed it as one of my favorite clubs, along with Cambridge and Peterborough.

This can make it interesting to think about taking them up on any possible offer...

Embargo In Place

So I think this is the fastest buyout in the history of the game...

And on top of that, they still want to interview me....good place to start tomorrow...

So it looks like potential move is in the works, hopefully can take my staff with me and keep working on my license....see how it goes tomorrow...

Thanks for reading...UPDATE SOON!

The End at Coal Exchange

I have left Coal Exchange, it is with mixed feelings, I was on a golden run there, but I wanted a different kind of challenge...

The last goal at CE, a beautiful shot from the corner of the picture, my midfielder, Belikli, from Turkey loved these long shots, and once again, saved the match with a beautifully dropped shot

Competition Standings

I think I definitely left them in a better place than when I found them...

Home to Huntingdon

The manager I created in the game is from Huntingdon so I felt it was fitting this should be my first job I get paid at. Talk about a challenge...

Team Profile

Competitions

Tactics and Squad

Thoughts and Observations

This club is going to present some new challenges, which is good, CE was getting kind of stale. I tried to bring my whole coaching staff over from CE but they wouldn't let me. I was able to bring my Asst, 1 coach, the HOYD, and a scout, I brought another scout over as Director of Football just to use his scouting ability. The physio didn't come because I couldn't make him head physio. I had to cut a lot of salaries and I couldn't afford to cut the head physio. I was able to get us below the payroll budget tho so hopefully we can keep from going broke.

The challenge is to keep the side up and get them playing some half way decent football...

So the journey continues with the Croms!

I am trying to figure out how to get the images smaller, I have reduced their size when I save and upload them, but they are still huge here.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks for reading

What a Game!

I have to share this...I went and told my wife and she replied...it is just a game honey... WHAT??? A GAME! YES! IT WAS A GAME! What a way to start a new job!

The day I took over we had our first match, a United Counties League Knockout Cup 2nd Round fixture at home against Boston Town. The pundits had us down for a defeat, but someone forgot to tell my team. I used a 4-4-2 contain, hoping to stifle them some but use my speedy strikers to catch them in transition. Well that strategy went to hell in a handbasket when we conceded on a set-piece from the edge of the box. We were hitting all around the goal but couldn't get a shot to go in. Paul Heyward, one of my central defenders was able to work his way into the box and tap a nice cross in to draw it up before the half so we went in to the locker room all level. I gave them the ole "we can win this just keep going speech" and we took the pitch. They were moving the ball well but we just couldn't seem to find the goal. I replaced Striker Grant Ryan, who seemed lost on the pitch, with Dale Johnson with about 20 minutes to go and switched over to attack. At least we were keeping them out of the goal, but we still couldn't find it.

I was getting reports from the Asst Knight that everyone was getting tired. I only had 2 more subs to make and I couldn't figure out which ones to replace, the whole damn side was getting tired. So with 82 minutes gone, I took out all of the stops, went in to full overload, pump the ball into the box, shoot on sight, take more risks, everything I could think of to try and get the winner, we would go down in extra time, we were just too tired. Then BAM, in the 90th minute, this, a beautiful cross and score!!

Huntingdon takes a shocking 2-1 lead with only 2 minutes of stoppage time left. After jumping up and down I pulled everything back and parked the bus and we held on for our 1st win!

Okay, everyone is flat out exhausted and we have another match in 3 days, but what a start. Wow, the mood of the side has went up since we pulled that one off!

Good luck in the new role! Quite a challenge you have on your hands there.

I am trying to figure out how to get the images smaller, I have reduced their size when I save and upload them, but they are still huge here.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks for reading

Keep them as they are, they look fine.

Good luck in the new role! Quite a challenge you have on your hands there.

Keep them as they are, they look fine.

Thanks for the feedback. Yea, I think I have my hands full with this one...

Match Results

What started so well sputtered and stumbled. The first 2 matches were not mine. We are really inconsistent with hitting the net. I thought the defense would be the problem after the 3-4 defeat, but it really seems to be getting the ball in the net, even creating chances is a challenge. I only have 3 games scheduled for November, all league matches, I hope to at least get 4 points from them.

League Standing

No change here, I need to get us away from the zone, being a game up and only 2 points clear is too close for comfort.

Thoughts and Observations

I wanted a challenge and I have one. This side is a mystery. They know the tactics and formations, they just play...well, "blah" football. I guess I got spoiled at CE watching them whip the ball around the pitch. The Croms, well they just kind of go through the motions, no real zip most of the time. I need to bring in some good quality players, but with only 70 pounds to play with I need to be careful and not tie up my cushion. My GK is rumored to be wanting to leave so I am hoping to keep him. I don't have a solid back-up, so really struggling with the issue of bringing someone in. If I do, will he just leave, but if I don't and he leaves, I will be scrambling.

I messed up brining a couple of my coaches, they were given 75/week contracts, I didn't know that would happen. I could have kept the guys that were there or gotten similar ones cheaper. So lesson learned. I am going to just let their contracts expire at the end of the season, well some of them. I did find out that I am still working on my Continental C license, I may need that if things don't get better at Huntingdon...

Match Overviews

A nice turnaround from November! The Ardley match we were supposed to lose and the guys just went crazy. They finally started to adapt to the 4-2-3-1 and are putting crosses in. That was a real boost to the team morale. The Harrowby match was a huge boost for the side. They had not won an away league cup in 5 matches and we were supposed to lose for just that reason. Well open the floodgates because we turned the scoring on big time. I think that match was the turning point in all honesty. Striker Wroot got his 1st of 2 goals in 30 seconds. They drew level at 9 minutes and at 26 they were given a PK. I thought this was it, looked like another collapse, but GK Daniel O'Neill, who I am trying to keep from leaving, stepped in front of a rocket, and jumped on the rebound. At this point my wife asked me what was wrong because I was yelling at the computer. We added 4 more (1 with the help of an OG) and never looked back.

Once again the magic struck as we held on for the back to back 2-1 victories, before the FA Vase 2nd Round match. We were not given a chance. At the half we were down 0-1 and I tried to encourage the side, they seemed to perk up and drew level at 51 minutes. Neither side seemed to be able to get a shot off and I was preparing for extra time when I looked up and saw this...

OMG, another squeaker in the final minutes! Another yelp and I think my wife has decided I have lost my mind!

League Table

We are 6 points up from the drop now and things are starting to look up...I think

Thoughts and Observations

I am shocked, and very pleased with the turn-around in the side. I doubt it will last since I have 8 matches in December. Only 2 cups, but they have really messed with my schedule. One nice thing, we made almost 3K with those 2 cup wins in November. I have quite a few of the younger guys out on loan and they seem to be doing okay. I also completed my Continental C License. I am going to start working on my B License as soon as I can.

I know this trend wont continue, but dang, it was a nice month

Match Overviews

All I can say is that month was brutal. Because of the cup draws and a replay, I ended up playing 9 matches. Overall, I am pleased with the results. I really hated losing the match to Desborough, I know we cant win everything, but we dominated that match. They hit a corner and my defense broke down and let them score on a break. I once again, couldn't find the net. But I cant really complain. We find enough to win most of the time and I am happy with that. There are 7 matches in January, these cup runs are a nice surprise, but the schedule is killing me.

League Table

Massive Improvement here! The board is very happy with this. The expectation is for mid-table and we are comfortably there now, at least for now. We are 14 points above the drop so I am very happy with that. I have a 42 match season so there is still quite a bit of football left, but this is a very good place for us.

Thoughts and Observations

One of the things I wanted was a winger who could cross the ball, so I went back to CE and tried to sign the guy I had from Turkey, he wanted a small fortune so I picked up Isaac Osei-Tutu who was a backup there. He is a left winger, but I desperately needed someone to work the right so I played him out of position to see if he could do something for the side and in his 1st match, he did this, a beautiful cross for the tap-in.

I have no depth at the central defender spot and was praying everything would hold together, but noooo, the best one I have on the back line crumples at the edge of the box 5 minutes into the Boston Town match and ends up with a twisted ankle, out 7-8 weeks. So I am desperate to find someone on loan to fill in for him. I have a guy playing out of position to fill in for him, he is the one who left the striker get past for the winner in the Desborough match. I hope to get this resolved soon, I cant have a hole in the middle of my defense like this. I may have to go to a 4-2-3-1 to cover it up, but we don't seem to get any shots on goal in that formation. It would be nice if I could get a few more pennies from the board, but they wont budge.

Let the journey continue as we try to get through a brutal January...

Ironically, we have another snow so school was closed today, and a BIG storm coming Sunday night, we wont get out until July I guess, but it is too cold to go out right now anyway!

I am trying to decide if I should do a match by match thing, or just keep with the monthly updates. I am leaning towards keeping it month to month, playing the matches, then stopping to do the screen shots, crop and upload and then coming here to write everything seems to really slow things down. I may do a game update if it is something big, like I actually win the Quarter-Final of the league cup Ironically I am currently picked as the favorite in that match.

One other random thing, and maybe everyone knows this and I just figured it out...I have been very successful in cutting down on the number of fouls and bookings I have gotten. My side knows the tactics, but there were matches where we were still getting way more yellow cards than the other side (I had one match where I got 5) and I couldn't figure out why. So I started looking at the information on the ref. If he is "mild" I tell the boys to "be more expressive" but if he is "firm" or "harsh" I tell them to "be more disciplined" and the bookings and fouls have really dropped off. Most everyone else may already know this, but it was a nice revelation to me.