[FM10] Weston-super-Mare - Hopefully it will be a 'Rags to Riches' story...

[JuggaloStan]

After reading my mates report on here regarding his activities with Southport, I decided to give Weston-super-Mare in Blue Square South a shot. I knew it was going to be hard, I knew I had a tough time ahead of me...

Season 2009/2010

The expectations by the management when I took over the team was not to be relegated, media predictions had me coming in at the very bottom of the league, 21st place to be exact.

The start of the season did not kick off to a good start, I had trouble getting in new players and the ones that I did have were not doing so good. I could only convince a couple of players to join the squad. I pulled in James Berry from Exeter and Paul Stewart who was without a team, both were acquired on a free transfer. The friendly games saw an even mix of wins and losses, though it allowed me to work out the best players for the job. Unfortunately I may not have worked out the right players...

The first game of the season saw me beat Staines 1-0, followed by a draw with Basingstoke and then a loss against Thurrock. For the next few games I had quite a mix of win’s, draws and losses. This was then followed up by a run of 13 games without a win, not pleasing what so ever! Though this ended with a 2-0 win against Bromley, hopefully this was the first of many wins! Though I only managed to win a couple games out of the next 5 or 6 games, before losing came back to the Seagulls. A random win as well as a few draws saved me from relegation at the end of the season, finished up 19th place. During the season I brought in new Assistant Manager Graham Rodger who was previously the manager for Grimsby. As well as this I had two new additions to the team in the form of Ashley Kingston and Jake Vernon. Though as you have probably guessed, they did not make much difference.

Cup-wise, I beat Leamington in the FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round. First game against them ended in a 2 each draw and then a 2-1 victory put me through to the 3rd Qualifying Round against Corby. Once again the first game ended in a draw, though the second game saw WSM score only 1 goal compared to the 4 goals by my opponent. When it came to the FA Trophy, we fell at the first hurdle with a 1-0 loss against Thurrock.

All in all, this really was quite a bad season and I was lucky to remain in a job. For the next season I plan to make a lot more changes within the team, both in the way of players and in backroom staff. I think a complete overhaul of Weston-super-Mare is required.

Hopefully I can make more of an impact in the league this time around.

The surprising thing is, the Board believe the team have had an excellent overall performance this season...

- Stan

[Dees-Blake]

Don't worry too much about the league position Stan, obviously the board didn't expect a whole lot so you still have plenty of time to make improvements. Also, interestingly enough, in my Ivybridge team (England down to Tier 10) Graham Rodger is my assistant manager as well. I've found him to be quite decent so far, although I don't let him choose the squad if I can avoid it.

Keep it up Stan, a nice introduction to the forums.

[Darkwain]

Hey mate welcome aboard, KUTGW

Don't worry about the position just improve the squad and keep pushing forward, and if you get to league two before me I'm going to hunt you down and steal your pc

Nice report mate cant wait for the next

[JuggaloStan]

Season 2010 / 2011

Blue Square South

After the team’s performance in the last season, expectations for this season were not much better. The Board’s request was that we fought to avoid relegation once again, which was not far off my feelings on the matter. I knew I had to rebuild the team and get them working as one unit, instead of a bunch of random guys on a pitch. My plan was to take this year to work out the kinks in the team, at most, I was aiming for 16th or 17th place in the league. At the end of the last season, I had decided on a complete overhaul. Basically, get rid of most of the players and replace them with brand new ones, players that thought would make a better team.

Between June and July I offloaded 24 players, I released them all on a free, this left me with 14 players and 2 on loan. It was 1st July and time to bring in a new squad before letting any more players go. I started searching for free or low cost players that could do well in the Blue Square South group, unfortunately things did not go to plan...

I had 2 friendly games arranged, and barely enough players to choose from. I tried to bring in some new players, though no one was willing to join the team that had come in 19th in the last season. By the time my first friendly game had arrived at the end of July, I still had no new players in the team. I went in against Glenn Hoddle Academy with the weaker players from last season, I did not hold out much hope. In the first half we managed to get a lucky goal, from then on I was holding my breath, hoping that we could hold on to the goal. Another 2 goals by my team and we ended the match 3 – 0, a giant boost for the squad! A few days later and another friendly game, this time we lost 3 – 0 against Bristol City. I wasn’t too upset, I hadn’t hoped for much.

I brought in Thomas Scott as my new Striker, just in time for the first game of the league. Unfortunately we lost 4 – 1 to Bromley, not a good start at all! Another striker was hired before the next match, Warren McBean, though the next game finished with a draw and no goals. Sharu Naraji was the next capture as my AM R, instantly he made an impact in the team and captured man of the match. McBean scored in the next match and helped us get a 1 – 1 draw. We suffered a 3 – 0 loss as I captured a forward centre by the name of Tyler Sheppard. His first game and in 2 minutes, Sheppard had scored! Another goal by Tony Bryant and we won our first match of the season 2 – 1. Another draw and then a 3 – 0 win against Sutton United, the team were gathering confidence and it was starting to show! Unfortunately it went back down after a couple of games, draw win and then a loss. We managed to draw the next two games and the grabbed a 1 – 0 win against Newport County.

For the rest of the year, we had a couple wins mixed with some losses, though most games were draws. In January we managed to go on a 7 game unbeaten streak, with 5 wins and 2 draws, the team were showing that they were working together! We were floating around 13th place, everyone was pleased with the performance to date, especially the fans! In February we lost the first game in 8 games, I thought this was going to bring the team spirit right down, though I was completely wrong. The guys got back out there and won the next 3 games followed by a draw and then another loss. Once again, the guys laced up their boots and ran out to pick up another 6 wins and then a draw.

Everyone had predicted that Weston-super-Mare would be fighting for relegation, though in April, we were sitting in 5th place and has secured a playoff game! Maidenhead came at us and everyone had said they would destroy us. I knew my team suffered when everyone said a team would beat us without any problems, so I was concerned that we would not be able to pull it off. Maidenhead were going for every chance, my squad were not getting to keep the ball for long. Suddenly McBean had it, he ran down Maidenheads defenders and place the ball firmly in the back of the net on in the 40th minute, we needed to hold on to the lead! We went in defence mode and managed to protect our goal for the next 50 minutes, we had survived the 1st leg of the Semi Final! The 2nd leg went past with both teams failing to score a single goal, Chelmsford awaited us in the final match. A tough 90 minutes were played, both teams were doing too good of a job defending and the game moved in to extra time. In the 97th minute Bryant put one past the keeper and in to the back of the net. I started getting nervous every time the ball approached our goal, I wanted to win the game so badly! In the 119th minute, another goal was scored, Sheppard had got us goal number 2! The match ended and Weston-super-Mare had been promoted!

Cup Games

Not much to tell here, we got put out of the FA Cup in the first game against Newport County. In the FA Trophy, we had a draw with Havant & Waterlooville. The second game with them and we were beat 2 – 1. The cup games were gone and dusted quickly.

Transfers

Players

24 players were let go and replaced with only 6 new team members. Thomas Scott (ST), Warren McBean (FC), Sharu Naraji (AM R), Tyler Sheppard (ST), Shaun Goodhall (ST) and Daniel Lloyd-Weston (GK). All were free except for Sheppard who we bought from Yeovil.

Staff

All my staff left before my first friendly game, so I was in quite a panic trying to get new staff in. Ended up with Gary Byles as my Assistant Manager, who then suggested people for the other staff roles that I required. I didn’t pay too much attention to the staff for this season, as my focus was on trying to get players in.

All in all, I am quite pleased with this season, I managed to sort the team out and completely wipe out all the predictions that I WSM were going to fight relegation. It was tough and at times I thought the team were going to lose motivation and go on a losing streak. Not the best frame of mind to be in, but sometimes it happens. Now I need to focus on the future and the promotion. I know I need to bring in some more players, we really don’t have enough choice in the team. We need to be able to give players a rest in between some of the games, currently that is not much of an option, well unless you are a striker! Slowly I am changing Weston-super-Mare, there is a chance this team may complete the ‘Rags to Riches’ story, only time will tell.

- Stan

P.S. – I will try and keep my next report shorter, sometimes I tend to ramble on when I type...

[StewartJRobertson]

Well done on promotion. Tough task next season but im sure you are up to it. Nice one!

[Nobby_McDonald]

Indeed, well done Stan. Clearly the man.

[JuggaloStan]

Season 2011 / 20012

Blue Square Premier

Last season we fought hard and made it in to 5th place and then managed to win the play offs and were promoted to the next league. An outstanding year for the team it certainly was! Could we do the impossible and make the same progression this year? There was only one way to find out!

Once again, the boards plan was for me to fight relegation, this season that too was my plan. I just wanted to make sure the quad could perform at this level. I started the season off by unloading 6 players, wanted to free up some space financially. I upgraded some players who were sitting in my reserve and U18’s in to the main squad, as they had been playing in the main team anyway the previous year. I had to find some new staff as no one seemed willing to renew their contracts with the restrictions set by the Board. I managed to get my staff situation sorted out by the time the second friendly game came around.

The first Friendly game was once again against Glenn Hoddle Academy, the team had no real changes, so we played using the same team as I ended the BSS with. We managed to completely run through GH and beat them with a magnificent 7 goals to zero! Second friendly was against Dagenham and Redbridge, I was hoping for another win, though this time we ended with a 1 – 1 draw. 3rd friendly against Cardiff saw us be defeated in a 4 – 1 battle. I had hoped for 3 wins so that the squad were ready and confident for the start of the season.

The season kicked off and we went in to a lose/win/draw pattern that lasted for 8 games. On the 9th game we won against AFC Wimbledon which seemed to boost the team confidence and saw us win the following 3 games. We suffered a loss against Rushden and then went on a mix of wins and draws in an 8 game unbeaten streak which led us to 6th place. A few games later and we went through 6 games without a win, the fans were unhappy and were not shy in showing it! We were sitting in 11th place and my hope of reaching the playoffs was fading. Here out we stayed in a mix of win/draw/loss games, never getting the same result for more than 2 games in a row. At the end of the season we were sitting in 14th place, which I was more than pleased with considering it was our first attempt in this league. I would have loved to reach the top 5, though that was just a dream, this season. Next season I am hoping to make it to the top of the league! The Board are absolutely excited with the team’s position and the fact that I turned down 3 manager positions with other teams. It is always good to be wanted, though they are going to have to wait until WSM have done it all!

Cup Games

In the FA Cup we faced St. Albans and ended the 90 minutes with a 1 each draw. 4 days later we faced them again and managed to do a lot better and finished them off with 3 goals to none! Bath were our next opponents in the FA Cup 1st Rnd, it was a home game and were victorious with both goals in the game belonging to WSM. The next round saw us up against Peterborough, no matter how hard we tried, we just couldn’t score. We ended the FA Cup with a 4 – o loss. The Board were not pleased and neither was I. The FA Trophy had us play Sutton Utd in the first round, which we managed to win with one goal. Next round was against Newport County who beat us 1 – 0. The dream ended there, it was only the league we had left to worry about.

Transfers

Players

Abdul Said (DM MC) and Mansour Assoumani (DRC) were brought in during August both were on a free. Both players became important part of the team and preformed outstandingly! I had tried to get in some more new players, but the wages they wanted was more than the Board would allow me to spend on each person. I was not too happy, hoping they will ease up a bit this season!

Staff

The staff I had in the BSS, all decided that they would not renew their contracts for the next season, so I had to go on a mission and find people who would! I had a lot of replies to my job adds, though when offered a contract, they most people said no. This was all down to the limitations put on the contracts by the Board, this was not going as easy as I had hoped. I managed to get people, though they were not as good as I had hoped but they would have to do! I ended up with Michael Duberry as Asst Mg, Daniel Dodds as Ftn Cch, Andy Thompson as Yth Cch, Craig Fisher as Physio, Anthony Whitehead and Sam Gibbins as Scouts. They preformed not bad, though I am thinking of replacing them for the new season.

For the next season I am going to have to bring in new, stronger players. It is the only way Weston-super-Mare will be able to get promoted I think. I also need to work on the finances, we are getting worse each year. I am not sure what the board is going to expect, but I plan to make it at least to the playoffs. I’m feeling more comfortable with the teams am playing and am starting to work out the best setups to beat individual teams, hopefully i can pull it off!

- Stan

[JuggaloStan]

Season 2012 / 2013

Blue Square Premier

At the end of the last season, Weston-super-Mare had made it in to 14th position, not too bad for our first season in BSP. This season I wanted to make the team stronger, make them in to a squad to be reckoned with! The Boards request was that we once again fought relegation, though I decided that I wanted to finish in the top half of the table. Considering our position last season, I thought that it would not be too hard.

In July I decided to let 5 players go and brought in 2 new players, a ‘DL’ and a ‘DM MC’. I had 5 friendly games set up to test the team and see how they were performing after their summer break. Unfortunately out of the 5 games, 2 were draws and 3 were losses. I was concerned about the team, so I decided to bring in a new ‘AM RC FC’ to try and help get those goals in!

First league game of the season and Magno Vieira (my new FC) scored in under 2 minutes, the only goal of the game, my faith in the team started to rise! I was hoping this was the start of a winning streak, always a confidence booster at the start of a new season! Unfortunately the second game was not a win for us, though a draw was still pleasing. Another win came straight after followed by our first loss of the league games. I was concerned this was going to have an effect on the teams morale, so I praised the players who deserved it and used the next press conference to help boost their confidence. It worked and we went in to an 8 game unbeaten streak with 3 wins and 5 draws. Two of the wins saw the team score 4 and 5 goals, definitely a booster for the team, Board and the fans! Unfortunately the unbeaten streak came to an end with 3 losses, and we were sitting mid table. Win, draw, lose and then in to a 7 game unbeaten streak once again. We were touching up to 5th place but then dropping down to 14th, we just couldn’t seem to keep up towards the top of the table.

From here forward we went in to a mixed bag of win, losses and draws, never more than a couple games in-between losing. I never thought we were going to break out of it! A 7 game unbeaten streak and then a loss, seen WSM finish off the season. Near the start of the season, I had dreamed of making the play off’s, though this dream never came true. At the end of the season, we were sitting in 11th place. I was pleased, I had managed to do what I had told the board I would do. Which is good, cause I just hate to disappoint!

Cup Games

In the FA Cup we faced Bath in the 4th Rnd Qual, we were winning right up until the 87th minute when Bath managed to place the ball in the back of our net. In the replay match we managed to win with 1 goal to none. Next up we were to face Blackpool, though unfortunately we only scored 1 goal compared to their 4 goals. A disappointing end to our FA Cup dreams this season. In the FA Trophy 1st Rnd we were matched up with Basingstoke. 7 days before the FA Trophy game, we had faced Basingstoke in a league game where it ended 1 each. I wasn’t sure if we would be able to pull out a win this time. Fortunately, the squad did, we won the game 2 – 1. In the 2nd Rnd, we defeated Bath 1 – 0. Next up was Eastleigh, they were still in the Blue Square South league, so I was confident we could take them. Sadly we only got beat 4 – 2, another season and our dreams of winning a Cup were shattered!

Transfers

Players

In July I signed up Martin Vickerton (DL) and Jack Palmer (DM MC), followed by Magno Vieira (AM RC, FC). In September I decided that we needed to bring in another goal scorer, in came Richard Logan (ST). Before the year was out, another goal scorer was brought in. Luis Cumbers (ST) joined the squad and became a valuable player straight away.

Staff

Only 2 additions were made in the backroom this season, Danny Brittles as GK Coach and Steve Hill as a Scout.

Going forward I am confident that Weston-super-Mare can make it out of the Blue Square section and in to the Coca Cola area. So next season, I am determined to do it. Just hoping the Board are able to assist in this area with some funds to buy players that can help achieve this goal. This season I was only given £3,500 towards transfers, which was not enough to bring in the players that I needed to progress this season. I think the team does have some very strong players, though I need a couple more in order to move the team on.

[Darkwain]

Heres hoping its a title charge for you next season dude

[Nobby_McDonald]

Good consolidation with a small team.

[JuggaloStan]

Well it seems that my dream is over with Weston-super-mare. We went on a losing streak, without warning, I have just been sacked by the Weston-super-Mare Board.

Couple days later and Kettering Town let there manager go, only to be replaced by myself. Once again, I am back in the Blue Square South once again. Starting off in December position 19.

Will update soon.

[Darkwain]

Tough break there mate, but you have got yourself a good replacement team to manage there, im sure it wont be long till your beating your old team in the BSP again

[Nobby_McDonald]

Weston-notsosuper-Mare.

or...

Weston-night-Mare.

Take your pick.

[JuggaloStan]

Thinking of creating a new game...

[Nobby_McDonald]

Because you got sacked once?