[FM10] When The Saints Go Marching In - Crouchy's Mighty Saints Save!

[Scoham]

Arter and Stavrinou, Charlton youth academy products Should both be good signings that BSP level. Do you know if they've developed much since you started the game?

[crouchaldinho]

Arter was really quality for me at Blue Square South level. Now we have made the step up, he is rated as a 'fairly good' player and a 'good' BSP level player. To be honest, I'm not sure that he has improved a lot since I signed him up in 2011-12. When I brought him in, the scouts said that he was close to his potential. He is still only 22 though so there must be a little more room for improvement.

Stavrinou was signed during 2012-13 pre-season. Played no games for Charlton. He is rated by my coaches as the same level as Arter and also close to his potential. Obviously, having just signed him, I haven't had the chance to see any improvement.

[crouchaldinho]

Ex-Saints manager Steve Castle is back in the game. He has just taken over at Ebbsfleet and that means that we will meet for our first managerial sparring later this season. Meanwhile, I'm trying to befriend him and get on his favourites list! :o

[hrbfcrule]

Ex-Saints manager Steve Castle is back in the game. He has just taken over at Ebbsfleet and that means that we will meet for our first managerial sparring later this season. Meanwhile, I'm trying to befriend him and get on his favourites list! :o

I'm trying to do exactly the same with h+r's ex manager, Alan Devonshire (the one I replaced)

[crouchaldinho]

We are a bit sad hrbfcrule! :o

[crouchaldinho]

UPDATE FOR OCTOBER 2012:

Manager Comments for October:

6 games in all; 5 in the league and 1 in the FA Cup. We absolutely smashed my target of 9 points by recording a total of 13 points out of a possible 15. An outstanding return!

We were really helped this month by playing some of the bottom sides in the division. The likes of Cheltenham, Ebbsfleet and Cambridge United are all strugglers and solid wins against these teams took us forward.

At the end of the month, we played Northampton Town in the FA Cup in a very tough game. In the end, we earned a draw, but it was a really tough game and we were lucky to come away with anything. The replay with come early next month and we will really have to raise our game in order to keep ourselves in the competition and ensure that our recent cup pedigree does not come to an end.

My Saints Player of the Month for October: Vincent Pericard - Four goals from the Cameroonian striker and a couple of assists too. He ended the month playing second striker after Dylan McGeouch got injured.

Snapshot of the league table: Coming next month as I forgot to do one! :o

[hrbfcrule]

We are a bit sad hrbfcrule! :o

I'm afraid so

Great start in the BSP

[Leicester Fan]

Crouchaldinho your management career is looking great Im about to start a St Albans save myself can I have some tips please?

[crouchaldinho]

Kind of you to say so Leicester Fan.

Tips? Hmmmmn.

I recommend trying to bring back JJ O'Donnell and Godfrey Poku from Luton Town on loan during the first season. Also not being too hasty with the current squad as there are a few players with potential and the likes of Paul Hakim, Peter Smith and Sol Shields in particular are quality and have their best still to come. I'd just focus on adding some depth and looking to bring in one or two quality players in order to push for promotion.

Is that the sort of thing you mean? Hope that helps and good luck with your Saints career.

[Leicester Fan]

Cheers mate that helps focus on this till Wednesday then gotta cheer Leicester on to beat Cardiff I hope lol

[Leicester Fan]

Crouchaldinho how would you feel to make it 1 big St Albans thread and everyone who plays as them post there progress? Just a thought

[crouchaldinho]

I'd prefer to keep this thread for just my save thanks LF.

But this thread might be to your liking - http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?p=4294415#post4294415

[crouchaldinho]

Just noticed that I am now untouchable:

[hrbfcrule]

Just noticed that I am now untouchable:

Hahaha congratz

[crouchaldinho]

UPDATE FOR NOVEMBER 2012:

Manager Comments for November:

7 games in all; 5 in the league and 2 in the FA Cup. We won four and drew one in the league, surpassing any possible target I could set. I'm not quite sure how we are doing it at the moment but I feel that it has a lot to do with the team gelling, which is very strong right now.

In the league, the wins away at York City and Northampton Town were the real highlights of the month.

In the FA Cup, we also managed to give the Cobblers an absolute thrashing at their place in a 4th qualifying round replay. I couldn't quite believe my eyes after we struggled to a 2-2 draw in the first game last month and then hammered them 4-1 away in the replay in this match! The first round game against Histon was also a bit of a doddle for us with a 3-0 win recorded to send us up against League One Brentford away from home in the second round. Our great pedigree in the FA Cup under my management continues!

The 3-2 against Northampton away at the end of the month put the icing on the cake. I hadn't expected to get anything from that game against one of the real favourites and an absolute giant in this league. To come back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 was sensational. My team talk was credited as making the difference after the game. A great way to round off another astonishing month at the Saints.

My Saints Player of the Month for November: Dylan McGeouch - the big target man was on top form after coming back from injury. He managed to score 4 in 5 games this month and got the man of the match against Northampton, scoring a brace which helped us to win the game. Outstanding!

Snapshot of the league table:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team          |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   |       | Kidderminster |       | 22    | 13    | 6     | 3     | 42    | 19    | +23   | 45    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
[b]| 2nd   |       | St. Albans    |       | 22    | 13    | 5     | 4     | 40    | 25    | +15   | 44    | [/b]
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Burton        |       | 22    | 14    | 2     | 6     | 30    | 20    | +10   | 44    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Mansfield     |       | 22    | 13    | 4     | 5     | 27    | 11    | +16   | 43    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 5th   |       | Chelmsford    |       | 22    | 11    | 5     | 6     | 26    | 21    | +5    | 38    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

As you can see, we are currently enjoying life at this level.

Next month comes the Christmas summary, which will include player stats and a full league table.

[hrbfcrule]

Back to back promotions is on

[Leicester Fan]

Cheers for the thread mate

just to let you know im undefeated as St Albans boss

[AcidBurn]

Untouchable great stuff. Surely you must be thinking of back to back promotions now? Good luck.

[crouchaldinho]

Back to back promotions is on

In a way, I hope not, because I want to have at least a couple of seasons in the top flight of non-League!

Cheers for the thread mate

just to let you know im undefeated as St Albans boss

Good work my man. I read that thread regularly so I'm sure I'll catch up with your work as Saints boss.

Untouchable great stuff. Surely you must be thinking of back to back promotions now? Good luck.

Not really to be honest.

I think we've been riding our luck and I also think that a few injuries would hit us hard and see us dropping back down the table.

I've also got quite a few 1 or 1.5 star players in this team who I'm being told by my scouts aren't good enough. I've even got a 0.5 star guy who has made 12 apps this season. There is maybe two or three quality players at this level who are keeping us going at the moment.

[crouchaldinho]

I think I said we've got Brentford away in the next round of the FA Cup (2nd round). It's actually Brentford at home.

[williamshankley]

I think there's a slight chance you could go for back to back promotions as well. I don't think the gulf in class between the 2 divisions is that high to be honest. KUTGW and Good luck.

[Leicester Fan]

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/5343/bbcedit.png

[dankrzyz]

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/5343/bbcedit.png

Point yourself out, Crouchaldinho. Is that the back of your head?

[crouchaldinho]

Point yourself out, Crouchaldinho. Is that the back of your head?

No, I stand further along towards the goal in that photograph!

[crouchaldinho]

UPDATE FOR DECEMBER 2012:

Manager Comments for December:

6 games in all, 2 coming in the cups and the rest in the league. We managed to record 10 points from a possible 12 in the league and also progressed in the FA Trophy, with our solitary defeat this month coming in the FA Cup.

I must say that we are really pushing our luck at the moment and I'm not sure that we will have much more luck left after this month!

We rode our luck against Mansfield, recording a win with a goal in the last minute of the game. Then, once again, against Nuneaton and Chester, late goals saved us three points and a point respectively, in two games which we easily could have lost. The Nuneaton game was most remarkable for the fact that we managed to turn around a 2-1 scoreline by scoring in the 90th and 93rd minutes of the game. Somehow, we came away with all three points.

A quick word on the cups. We were disappointed against Brentford. A great performance just wasn't enough to get us past the League One side and into the Third Round. We were, however, fortunate in the FA Trophy to come from behind to beat Bromley 3-2 and secure a place in the 2nd round for the first time since I have been at the club.

All in all, this was a great month. I anticipate making some changes in January to strengthen the squad. Can we keep this up for the second half of the season? Who knows!

My Saints Player of the Month for December: Dylan McGeouch - the big target man was on top form once again, netting 6 goals in 6 games. The big disappointment is that he was injured in the final game of the month and will be out for the whole of January.

Snapshot of the league table:

Coming up in the Christmas summary next.

[crouchaldinho]

CHRISTMAS 2012 SUMMARY:

Blue Square Premier Standings:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team          |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
[b]| 1st   |       | St. Albans    |       | 26    | 16    | 6     | 4     | 47    | 29    | +18   | 54    | [/b]
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   |       | Kidderminster |       | 26    | 14    | 9     | 3     | 47    | 22    | +25   | 51    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Burton        |       | 26    | 16    | 3     | 7     | 35    | 24    | +11   | 51    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Mansfield     |       | 26    | 15    | 5     | 6     | 37    | 14    | +23   | 50    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 5th   |       | Aldershot     |       | 26    | 12    | 6     | 8     | 39    | 28    | +11   | 42    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 6th   |       | AFC Wimbledon |       | 26    | 12    | 6     | 8     | 38    | 34    | +4    | 42    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 7th   |       | Grimsby       |       | 26    | 11    | 8     | 7     | 34    | 26    | +8    | 41    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 8th   |       | Chelmsford    |       | 26    | 12    | 5     | 9     | 27    | 28    | -1    | 41    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 9th   |       | Crawley       |       | 26    | 9     | 11    | 6     | 31    | 24    | +7    | 38    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 10th  |       | Northampton   |       | 26    | 11    | 5     | 10    | 42    | 37    | +5    | 38    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 11th  |       | Barnet        |       | 26    | 9     | 10    | 7     | 24    | 23    | +1    | 37    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 12th  |       | Histon        |       | 26    | 10    | 5     | 11    | 30    | 30    | 0     | 35    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 13th  |       | Chester       |       | 26    | 8     | 9     | 9     | 28    | 26    | +2    | 33    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 14th  |       | Southport     |       | 26    | 8     | 8     | 10    | 20    | 29    | -9    | 32    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 15th  |       | Ebbsfleet     |       | 26    | 8     | 7     | 11    | 21    | 30    | -9    | 31    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 16th  |       | Newport Co    |       | 26    | 8     | 6     | 12    | 27    | 31    | -4    | 30    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 17th  |       | Cambridge     |       | 26    | 6     | 12    | 8     | 21    | 33    | -12   | 30    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 18th  |       | Gateshead     |       | 26    | 6     | 10    | 10    | 22    | 25    | -3    | 28    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 19th  |       | Bath          |       | 26    | 7     | 7     | 12    | 28    | 32    | -4    | 28    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 20th  |       | York          |       | 26    | 4     | 15    | 7     | 24    | 24    | 0     | 27    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 21st  |       | Nuneaton      |       | 26    | 5     | 12    | 9     | 30    | 39    | -9    | 27    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 22nd  |       | Barrow        |       | 26    | 6     | 5     | 15    | 20    | 42    | -22   | 23    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 23rd  |       | Cheltenham    |       | 26    | 3     | 9     | 14    | 20    | 35    | -15   | 18    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 24th  |       | AFC Telford   |       | 26    | 4     | 5     | 17    | 18    | 45    | -27   | 17    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

First Team Squad Statistics (all competitions):

| Pkd   | Inf   | Name             | Apps  | Gls   | Ast   | MoM   | Av Rat| Age   | Nat   | Value | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| GK    | HG    | Simon Rayner     | 31    | -     | -     | -     | 6.82  | 29    | CAN   | £4.5K | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DR    | Wnt   | Laurence Gaughan | 24    | -     | -     | -     | 6.88  | 22    | IRL   | £4.5K | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DL    | HG    | Luke Hoyte YP1   | 23    | 1     | 2     | 1     | 7.00  | 19    | ENG   | £75K  | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DC    | HG    | Derrick Bassi    | 5     | -     | -     | -     | 6.56  | 20    | CAN   | £28K  | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DC    | HG    | Ignasi Miquel    | 16    | 3     | -     | 1     | 6.97  | 20    | ESP   | £24K  | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| MR    | HG    | Alfie Potter     | 26 (1)| 1     | 5     | 2     | 7.01  | 23    | ENG   | £3K   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| ML    | HG    | JJ O'Donnell     | 27 (2)| 1     | 3     | 2     | 6.95  | 21    | ENG   | £35K  | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| MC    | HG    | Alex Stavrinou   | 28    | 1     | 6     | -     | 6.83  | 22    | CYP   | £2K   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| MC    | HG    | Sol Shields      | 26    | 4     | 10    | 3     | 7.00  | 23    | ENG   | £22K  | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| ST    | Inj   | Dylan McGeouch   | 17    | 11    | 3     | 4     | 7.36  | 19    | SCO   | £95K  | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| ST    | PR    | Vincent Péricard | 29    | 18    | 9     | 5     | 7.33  | 30    | CMR   | £16K  | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S1    | HG    | James Quilter    | 0 (15)| 1     | 1     | -     | 6.63  | 29    | ENG   | -     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S2    | HG    | George Baldock   | 2 (6) | 1     | -     | 1     | 6.91  | 20    | ENG   | £28K  | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S3    | HG    | Gary Cohen       | 0 (16)| 1     | 2     | -     | 6.69  | 28    | ENG   | -     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S4    | HG    | Justin Hazell    | 7 (4) | 4     | 2     | 1     | 7.27  | 20    | ENG   | £50K  | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S5    | HG    | Paul Hakim       | 0 (11)| 2     | 1     | -     | 6.64  | 30    | ENG   | £1K   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -     | Inj   | Ryan Carolan     | 20    | 2     | 4     | 2     | 7.09  | 23    | IRL   | £18K  | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -     | HG    | Hassan Sulaiman  | 8     | -     | -     | -     | 6.81  | 27    | ENG   | £1K   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -     | Inj   | Chris Dagnall    | 9 (1) | 7     | 2     | 2     | 7.36  | 26    | ENG   | £24K  | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -     | HG    | Ben Martin       | 22    | 1     | 1     | 1     | 6.90  | 30    | ENG   | £10K  | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -     | HG    | Craig Calver     | 5     | 1     | 1     | -     | 6.50  | 21    | ENG   | £30K  | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -     | HG    | Will Hatfield    | 2 (1) | -     | -     | -     | 6.83  | 21    | ENG   | £3.5K | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

[crouchaldinho]

In other news, I won the manager of the month for December.

And I've just been approached by League One Millwall but obviously turned down the job offer.

[AcidBurn]

Unlucky in the cup but great stuff in the league getting to the top. Looks like your two strikers are really in some good form, good to see a the young lad scoring some goals for you.

[crouchaldinho]

The front two are ultimately why the team are in the position they currently find themselves in Acidburn.

It's a poacher and target man combo which is working wonders. I'm just gutted that young McGeouch is now out with an injury for 4 weeks. I don't have another target man style player to replace him and I think we are less effective without his ability in the air.

As you can see, we have one of the worst defensive records at the top of the league but have also got an excellent goals scored record. It's a case of 'we'll score more than you' this season, which isn't how I normally play FM. I'm normally looking for clean sheets as a priority but this approach has been a lot of fun so far this season.

[crouchaldinho]

UPDATE FOR JANUARY 2013:

Manager Comments for January:

5 games; 4 in the league and 1 in the cup.

Another terrific effort by my team as we recorded 9 out of 12 points in the league, the highlight of which was a total destruction of Histon.

We also progressed in the FA Trophy with a solid victory at Bishop's Stortford.

We ended the month with disappointment against Southport. I think tired legs let us down in the end. At one point, we were 3-0 down, but fought back to 3-2 only to fail to score that final goal. It was a harsh defeat and I'm sure we deserved something from the game.

It still leaves us in an extraordinary position in the league and still battling in the cup, so I'm amazed and very pleased by another month of good work.

My Saints Player of the Month for January: Well, I was spoilt for choice this month as the screenshot below illustrates:

It has to be winger Alfie Potter for player of the month though. He put in a series of breathtaking performances, scoring 6 goals and setting up another 3. The likes of Alfie Potter, Vincent Pericard and Dylan McGeouch are the reason that we are competing at this end of the table and to be quite honest they are carrying the side at the moment.

Snapshot of the league table:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team          |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
[b]| 1st   |       | St. Albans    |       | 30    | 19    | 6     | 5     | 58    | 34    | +24   | 63    | [/b]
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   |       | Burton        |       | 30    | 19    | 4     | 7     | 42    | 25    | +17   | 61    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Mansfield     |       | 31    | 17    | 6     | 8     | 41    | 21    | +20   | 57    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Kidderminster |       | 31    | 15    | 10    | 6     | 52    | 29    | +23   | 55    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 5th   |       | Grimsby       |       | 31    | 14    | 9     | 8     | 40    | 28    | +12   | 51    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

[crouchaldinho]

And I'm going to be meeting my hero, former Saints manager Steve Castle, and his Ebbsfleet side in the next round of the FA Trophy.

[crouchaldinho]

UPDATE FOR FEBRUARY & MARCH 2013:

Manager Comments for Feb & March:

11 games; 10 in the league and 1 in the cup.

We started the month by crashing out of the cup against Ebbsfleet. Former Saints manager Steve Castle got one up on me by defeating my side during our first managerial duel.

In the league, we recorded 12 points from our 10 games. This was some way short of a title challenging target.

If during January we were pushing our luck, during Feb and March our luck had just about run out.

Our poor form coincided with injuries to key players. Pericard, in particular, missed most of these two months, and it really did hit us hard. We missed his goals.

Most disappointing is that we have struggled to pick up the points at home. We only won 1 out of 4 games at Clarence Park, drawing two and losing the other one. Very disappointing indeed.

It's not all doom and gloom though as we still find ourselves in an extraordinary position in the league and still battling for promotion.

My Saints Player for the Months of Feb and March: The form for many of our players has just dropped off slightly, which shows how much we have been struggling lately. Chris Dagnall was probably the pick of the bunch for these two months, as he came in to replace the injured Pericard and put in a few excellent performances.

Snapshot of the league table:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team          |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   |       | Kidderminster |       | 40    | 22    | 11    | 7     | 73    | 38    | +35   | 77    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
[b]| 2nd   |       | St. Albans    |       | 40    | 22    | 9     | 9     | 70    | 46    | +24   | 75    |[/b] 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Burton        |       | 40    | 22    | 9     | 9     | 54    | 36    | +18   | 75    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Mansfield     |       | 40    | 20    | 10    | 10    | 51    | 27    | +24   | 70    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 5th   |       | Grimsby       |       | 40    | 18    | 13    | 9     | 53    | 36    | +17   | 67    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

Two points off the title with six games to go. We have a tough run-in though but there is still all to play for and our injury situation is finally starting to look better, so you never know!

[crouchaldinho]

UPDATE FOR APRIL 2013:

Manager Comments for April:

6 games in the league and only 5 points recorded. What a crappy way to end the season.

We fell away really badly towards the end of the season. Confidence dropped, injuries hurt us and we really struggled to defend competently, which was always our weakness this season.

The humiliation against Barnet was probably the worst moment and I imagine that it is the heaviest defeat of my career so far. :o

We now go into the play-offs in the worst possible form.

My Saints Player for the Months of April: Dylan McGeouch was probably the best of a poor bunch, grabbing a couple of goals along the way.

Snapshot of the league table:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team          |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | C     | Burton        |       | 46    | 26    | 9     | 11    | 62    | 39    | +23   | 87    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Pl    | Mansfield     |       | 46    | 24    | 12    | 10    | 60    | 29    | +31   | 84    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   | Pl    | Kidderminster |       | 46    | 24    | 11    | 11    | 75    | 45    | +30   | 83    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   | Pl    | Grimsby       |       | 46    | 23    | 13    | 10    | 67    | 42    | +25   | 82    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
[b]| 5th   | Pl    | St. Albans    |       | 46    | 23    | 11    | 12    | 77    | 58    | +19   | 80    | [/b]
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

We were drawn against Mansfield in the play-off semis.

[crouchaldinho]

BSP Play-off Semi-finals, First Leg - SAINTS 1 - 1 Mansfield

Line ups

Overview, Match Details & Player Ratings

A draw was a fair result and gives us a chance of going to their place and getting a result.

The big disappointment was losing Dylan McGeouch to injury. We will go into the second-leg with Dagnall partnering Pericard instead and I hope that they can do the business for us.

[crouchaldinho]

BSP Play-off Semi-finals, First Leg - Mansfield 2 - 1 SAINTS (Mansfield win 3-2 on aggregate)

Line ups

Overview, Match Details & Player Ratings

The dream is over.

This was a hard defeat to take. We equalled them and really deserved a draw out of this.

Unbelievably, we had to contend with four injuries and a bad knock to our right-back which reduced his condition. In the end, we effectively had three passengers on the pitch and a comeback was nothing but a dream.

My poor record in the play-offs continues. Really disappointing but it has been a good season over all.

End of season report coming up soon.

[crouchaldinho]

To add insult to injury, the Mansfield winner was controversial. I complained about it in the press conference afterwards in the harshest terms and the FA were typically silent over the matter.

[crouchaldinho]

END OF SEASON 2012/13 SUMMARY:

Blue Square South Standings:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team          |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | C     | Burton        |       | 46    | 26    | 9     | 11    | 62    | 39    | +23   | 87    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | P     | Mansfield     |       | 46    | 24    | 12    | 10    | 60    | 29    | +31   | 84    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Kidderminster |       | 46    | 24    | 11    | 11    | 75    | 45    | +30   | 83    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Grimsby       |       | 46    | 23    | 13    | 10    | 67    | 42    | +25   | 82    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
[b]| 5th   |       | St. Albans    |       | 46    | 23    | 11    | 12    | 77    | 58    | +19   | 80    |[/b] 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 6th   |       | York          |       | 46    | 19    | 18    | 9     | 68    | 41    | +27   | 75    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 7th   |       | Northampton   |       | 46    | 21    | 10    | 15    | 69    | 53    | +16   | 73    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 8th   |       | Chester       |       | 46    | 18    | 17    | 11    | 55    | 38    | +17   | 71    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 9th   |       | Aldershot     |       | 46    | 20    | 10    | 16    | 60    | 48    | +12   | 70    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 10th  |       | Barnet        |       | 46    | 19    | 13    | 14    | 47    | 40    | +7    | 70    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 11th  |       | Chelmsford    |       | 46    | 20    | 9     | 17    | 48    | 56    | -8    | 69    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 12th  |       | Crawley       |       | 46    | 17    | 15    | 14    | 60    | 50    | +10   | 66    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 13th  |       | AFC Wimbledon |       | 46    | 16    | 12    | 18    | 61    | 73    | -12   | 60    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 14th  |       | Southport     |       | 46    | 16    | 11    | 19    | 48    | 62    | -14   | 59    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 15th  |       | Newport Co    |       | 46    | 15    | 11    | 20    | 48    | 56    | -8    | 56    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 16th  |       | Cambridge     |       | 46    | 12    | 19    | 15    | 43    | 56    | -13   | 55    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 17th  |       | Barrow        |       | 46    | 15    | 10    | 21    | 48    | 65    | -17   | 55    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 18th  |       | Bath          |       | 46    | 14    | 11    | 21    | 62    | 71    | -9    | 53    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 19th  |       | Histon        |       | 46    | 14    | 11    | 21    | 53    | 63    | -10   | 53    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 20th  |       | Ebbsfleet     |       | 46    | 13    | 13    | 20    | 37    | 53    | -16   | 52    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 21st  | R     | Gateshead     |       | 46    | 9     | 15    | 22    | 32    | 52    | -20   | 42    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 22nd  | R     | Nuneaton      |       | 46    | 6     | 22    | 18    | 45    | 69    | -24   | 40    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 23rd  | R     | Cheltenham    |       | 46    | 9     | 12    | 25    | 44    | 66    | -22   | 39    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 24th  | R     | AFC Telford   |       | 46    | 7     | 9     | 30    | 32    | 76    | -44   | 30    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

First Team Squad Statistics (all competitions):

| Pkd   | Inf   | Name             | Apps    | Gls   | Ast   | MoM   | Av Rat| Age   | Nat   | Value | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| GK    | Wnt   | Simon Rayner     | 55      | -     | -     | -     | 6.79  | 29    | CAN   | £3.5K | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DR    |       | Ben Hoskin       | 11 (1)  | -     | 2     | 3     | 7.09  | 22    | ENG   | £8K   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DL    | Wnt   | Luke Hoyte YP1   | 40      | 1     | 2     | 2     | 6.89  | 19    | ENG   | £70K  | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DC    | Wnt   | Ignasi Miquel    | 36 (1)  | 4     | -     | 3     | 6.94  | 20    | ESP   | £65K  | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DC    |       | Ryan Carolan     | 29 (1)  | 2     | 4     | 2     | 6.97  | 23    | IRL   | £16K  | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| MR    | Wnt   | Alfie Potter     | 46 (3)  | 8     | 10    | 7     | 7.10  | 24    | ENG   | £8K   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| ML    |       | JJ O'Donnell     | 42 (3)  | 2     | 4     | 2     | 6.88  | 21    | ENG   | £22K  | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| MC    | Inj   | George Baldock   | 10 (18) | 2     | -     | 1     | 6.65  | 21    | ENG   | £10K  | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| MC    | Wnt   | Sol Shields      | 47      | 6     | 15    | 3     | 6.91  | 23    | ENG   | £16K  | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| ST    | Wnt   | Vincent Péricard | 39 (2)  | 22    | 13    | 5     | 7.18  | 30    | CMR   | £12K  | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| ST    | Tut   | Chris Dagnall    | 21 (3)  | 13    | 5     | 4     | 7.17  | 27    | ENG   | £22K  | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S1    |       | Ben Martin       | 38 (2)  | 2     | 1     | 2     | 6.81  | 30    | ENG   | £14K  | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S2    | Inj   | Alex Stavrinou   | 44 (1)  | 1     | 8     | -     | 6.84  | 22    | CYP   | £5K   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S3    | Inj   | Justin Hazell    | 17 (16) | 4     | 4     | 1     | 6.94  | 21    | ENG   | £22K  | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S4    | Wnt   | David Langley    | 1 (2)   | -     | -     | -     | 6.63  | 19    | ENG   | £50K  | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S5    | Inj   | Paul Hakim       | 1 (19)  | 4     | 4     | 1     | 6.81  | 30    | ENG   | £1K   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -     | Unh   | Craig Westcarr   | 1       | -     | -     | -     | 7.00  | 28    | ENG   | £2K   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -     | Wnt   | Laurence Gaughan | 39 (2)  | -     | 1     | -     | 6.64  | 23    | IRL   | £2.5K | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -     | Unh   | Gary Cohen       | 1 (25)  | 1     | 2     | -     | 6.68  | 29    | ENG   | £1K   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -     | Tut   | Hassan Sulaiman  | 10      | -     | -     | -     | 6.85  | 27    | ENG   | £500  | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -     |       | Craig Calver     | 11      | 3     | 2     | -     | 6.59  | 22    | ENG   | £26K  | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -     | Wnt   | Will Hatfield    | 4 (2)   | -     | -     | -     | 6.85  | 21    | ENG   | £3K   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -     | Loa   | Derrick Bassi    | 8 (3)   | -     | -     | -     | 6.59  | 21    | CAN   | -     | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -     | Inj   | Dylan McGeouch   | 36      | 18    | 5     | 5     | 7.14  | 20    | SCO   | £90K  | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -     | Unh   | James Quilter    | 0 (19)  | 1     | 1     | -     | 6.66  | 29    | ENG   | -     | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -     | Wnt   | Peter Smith      | 9 (20)  | -     | 2     | -     | 6.66  | 27    | ENG   | £500  | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -     | Unh   | Adam Sharp YP1a  | 1 (4)   | -     | -     | -     | 6.70  | 19    | ENG   | -     | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

[hrbfcrule]

Really unlucky there, you were so close to automatic promotion up until the last month.

Good Luck for next season, automatic the aim?

[crouchaldinho]

I think I'll be a little more ruthless next year and cut some of the older players who I have been holding on to despite the fact that they aren't good enough at this level. Then I'll be looking to go for promotion, although I'm expecting a bedding-in period as I'll be making quite a few changes, so I'll really be aiming for the play-offs I think.

[AcidBurn]

Unlucky Crouchy, a few decent signings and you could really go for it next year. Good luck dude.

[crouchaldinho]

Crouchy's Mighty Saints Save - St. Albans City in the Blue Square Premier (Season Four at Clarence Park - 2012/13)

End of Season 2012/13 Screenshots:

League Table - this was a record high for the club:

League Positions Graph - as you can see, we just dropped off at the end of the season.

FA Cup - another solid run to the Second Round proper.

FA Trophy - our best run under my management but only to the third round.

Transfers - Best signing was without doubt Vincent Pericard, who scored 19 league goals. Alfie Potter was also a good signing and he had an excellent season for us playing wide right. I let Moses Ademola, Harry Arter and Ryan Hall go in order to generate some much needed funds in the January transfer window.

Key players:

Sol Shields - Had a great season setting up 15 goals - the most assists in the side.

Alfie Potter - A great wide player who used his pace, acceleration and dribbling to excellent effect for us on the right side of the midfield.

Dylan McGeouch - Super stuff from the big target man. Never the great finisher - so 14 goals in the league is very impressive - he mainly used his physical abilities to disrupt the opposition. Formed a great partnership with Vincent Pericard.

Vincent Pericard - It was all about scoring goals this season and at the forefront of that was Vicent Pericard. 19 goals in the league, 22 in all competitions. Just a shame he was out with injury otherwise he could have scored a lot more.

Team of the Season.

Overall Best XI - This is a bit messed up now. Still stuck on the 4-2-3-1 for starters, and some of the choices have gone a bit strange.

Other Club Info:

Fans’ Player of the season: Vincent Pericard.

Signing of the season: Vincent Pericard.

Top goalscorers: Vincent Pericard 22 goals in all competitions and 19 in the league.

Most Assists: Sol Shields 15.

Most MoM awards: Alfie Potter 7.

Best Average Rating: Vincent Pericard 7.18 (41 apps).

Average Attendance: 1033 (more than doubled from last year)

Season Tickets: 169 (over double last year again).

Club finances: The club is badly in debt - approx. 200k in fact. My budget has been severely cut and I face a real challenge to bring it down. Something tells me that my chairman doesn't have financial planning as one of his main strengths.

City Legends: Wilfred Minter, Steve Clark, Phil Wood (no new additions).

City Icons: Colin Lippiatt, Lee Clarke, Peter Risley, Kevin Mudd, Richard Evans, Paul Bastock (no new additions).

City Favourites: Paul Hakim, Ben Martin, Ryan Frater, Luke Thurlbourne, Sol Shields, Godfrey Poku, JJ O'Donnell, Gary Cohen, Craig Calver and Vincent Pericard.

Most League Apps for Club - Steve Clark 488 (all time), Paul Hakim 216(current).

Most League Goals for Club - Steve Clark 322 (all time), Paul Hakim 68 (current).

Youth academy products season reports (the youngsters that my assistant recommended):

Luke Hoyte (YP1) - Luke has suffered with injury again but he is now basically first-choice for left-back.

Ryan Jones (YP2) - Ryan went on loan for a while, however he has come back looking as rubbish as ever. His poor mental attributes mean that he is unlikely to make it with us so I will be flogging him in the sales this summer.

YP3 - I'm afraid I didn't even bother recording who YP3 was. The whole in-take was a complete dud. Not one decent player.

100 club (players that have made 100 league apps for the club under my management):

Name                	Position  	Era             Apps	Goals	
----------------------------------------------------------------------
James Quilter		DRC/DM/MC	2009-Present	157	3
Sol Shields		MC		2009-Present	152	10
Ryan Carolan		DLC       	2009-Present    137	3    	
JJ O'Donnell		AMRLC		2009-Present	111	10
Ben Martin 		DC		2010-Present	109	4
Peter Smith		DL		2009-Present	105 	4
Paul Hakim 		FC		2009-Present	102	27
James Fisher		DR/MC		2009-2013	100	2

Other News:

- Blue Square Premier: We come 5th. Burton win the league and Mansfield win the play-offs. Gateshead, Nuneaton, Cheltenham and AFC Telford are relegated.

- The Big Boys:

o Chelsea win the league title. Man City, Arsenal and Blackburn (!) finish in the top four. Liverpool finish 10th. Guardiola is now in charge of the reds. Ipswich, Portsmouth and Birmingham are relegated.

o Man City win the FA Cup. Chelsea win the League Cup.

o Barcelona win the Champions League defeating Roma in the final. The Europa is won by Juventus.

- Local Interests:

o Bishop's Stortford finished in a lower mid-table position in the BSS.

o Luton went up to League One as Champions. Stevenage finished in the play-off positions but didn't go up.

o Watford finished in yet another mid-table position in the Championship.

- Ex-Saints: Jake Beecroft and Luke Thurlbourne are currently with Rushden who had a another good season in League Two, establishing themselves as a solid mid-table club. Jake is a key member of their squad, while Luke is still working his way in.

Manager Awards:

- 2012/13 Blue Square Premier Manager of the Season third place.

- 2011/12 Blue Square South Manager of the Season winner.

- 2010/11 Blue Square South Manager of the Season third place.

- 2009/10 Blue Square South Manager of the Season runner-up.

Career Overview:

My managerial record at the Saints:

P	W	D	L	F	A	GD
206	108	54	44	342	211	131

Cups:

| Season 	| FA Cup	| FA Trophy		| 
|-------------------------------------------------------|
| 09/10 (BSS) 	| 3rd Rnd    	|   3rd Qual Rnd 	|
| 10/11 (BSS) 	| 1st Rnd    	|   1st Rnd 		|
| 11/12 (BSS) 	| 2nd Rnd    	|   1st Rnd 		|
| 12/14 (BSP) 	| 2nd Rnd    	|   3rd Rnd 		|

League:

Season      	Team      		League      Position   	Achievements & Notes
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2009/10      	St. Albans City   	BSS	    4th      	FA Cup 3rd Rnd, Play-off semis, 2nd in Manager of Season 
2010/11		St. Albans City   	BSS	    2nd      	Play-off finalists, 3rd in Manager of Season 
2011/12		St. Albans City   	BSS	    [b]1st      	[/b][b]BSS Champions[/b], 1st in Manager of the Season
2012/13		St. Albans City   	BSP	    5th      	3rd in Manager of the Season

Misc. screenshots: None.

Next Season: Time for me to be more ruthless and less nostalgic. Some of the old boys will be moved on and I'll be building a side to properly challenge at the top of the table next season.

[crouchaldinho]

Unlucky Crouchy, a few decent signings and you could really go for it next year. Good luck dude.

Cheers Acid.

That's the plan!

[williamshankley]

Crouch you've put BSS as the league you were in last season. Good luck and KUTGW

[crouchaldinho]

Cheers WS! Missed that one! :o

[Nobby_McDonald]

You ****ed that away good and proper.

[crouchaldinho]

You've put it rather bluntly there Nobby. I'm not sure you could be much blunter.

Safe to say that it wasn't quite how I imagined the end of the season panning out!

[crouchaldinho]

One screenshot I forgot to post:

It says a lot really. I hope we can get a bigger slice of the pie next season!

On another topic entirely, it seems way easier to get job offers on this version. I've been linked with loads of jobs this season and offered a couple as high as League One already!

Is it due to my great runs in the FA cup or down to a change in the way in which reputation in FM works?

[crouchaldinho]

It's back to extended highlights for me when I come back to this save. I switched to key during the season as I wanted to get through more games in less time but I think it had an effect on my tactical decision making. I was probably rushing through games too much and not taking my time. That's my excuse for the awful drop in form at the end of the season by the way.

[Nobby_McDonald]

You've put it rather bluntly there Nobby. I'm not sure you could be much blunter.

Safe to say that it wasn't quite how I imagined the end of the season panning out!

There's no point beating about the bush.

[crouchaldinho]

Don't worry Nobby, I'll be back to put it right shortly.