Mike7077 Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 I'm back for FM2011 and intend to pretty much pursue the same career update approach as I did with my FM2010 career with Juventus - (Juve got to be kidding me!). I'm running a large database, I'm a former professional footballer and I have all leagues from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland loaded. I'll be taking a slightly different path to last time in that instead of picking a European giant, I'll be managing little Annan Athletic in the Scottish Third Division. ------------------------------------------------------- Annan Athletic F.C. Scottish Third Division Annan Athletic are a semi-professional football club from the town of Annan, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland. They play their home games at Galabank, which holds 3,500 people. They are affectionately known as the Galabankies. Much of their history was spent in Scotland's junior leagues, but the club long held ambitions to play in the Scottish Football League and, in 2008, they were elected to the Third Division following the demise of Gretna, and have largely held their own in the division since. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike7077 Posted November 8, 2010 Author Share Posted November 8, 2010 Season 2010/11 Pre-Season Taking over at a club like Annan, you're confronted with an obvious problem - who are these people? Quite simply, I knew nothing of the squad or of the transfer market I'd have to operate in, so I set about scouting and scouring the game for possible players to bring in. The board had given me £1,000 to spend but I had no intention of spending it. Free transfers would be the order of the day. I'm expected to achieve a safe mid-table finish. Looking at my squad, I wonder if that might be a little ambitious. Here's what happened in pre-season. Transfers The only real transfers of note were the signing of young goalkeeper Grant Carson - brother of Scott - on a free from Carlisle Utd and the also free arrival of Stephen Glass, a versatile midfielder with experience at the likes of Newcastle Utd and Aberdeen. Glass is 34 so hopefully his experience will be invaluable. The squad So it's quite a large squad that we'll be going into the season with. But wages are under control and I hope the depth we have might prove useful. Friendlies Edinburgh City 1-2 Annan Athletic Annan Athletic 3-0 Burton Albion Police Service of Northern Ireland 1-2 Annan Athletic Afan Lido 4-0 Annan Athletic So, with pre-season over and done with, it it's time to get down to business, starting with a home tie against Greenock Morton of Division One in the Scottish League Challenge Cup (not to be confused with the League Cup) First Round. Pre-season friendlies taught me all about what my players can't do, but little about what they can. The wins in Edinburgh and Belfast were unconvincing while the battering we took in South Wales was embarrassing, even for a friendly. We did play well against Burton, though. Still, I anticipate a tough season for Annan and a steep learning curve for myself. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 Looking forward to this Mike. Nice to see you back on the careers forum! Good luck with Annan! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcidBurn Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 Good luck Mike, looking forward to seeing where you end up as your career progresses. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike7077 Posted November 8, 2010 Author Share Posted November 8, 2010 Thanks guys. It won't be the quickest of journeys given how I do my updating, but if you like following all the twists and turns I'm sure it'll be fun. I should be able to update pretty regularly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike7077 Posted November 8, 2010 Author Share Posted November 8, 2010 So, it's time to get things started. Before I do, just a quick note on what I want to achieve with Annan. I've no plans for a long-term rise to the SPL or anything daft like that. Ideally, I'd like to do enough this season to keep my job, which means finishing somewhere in midtable. Beyond that, I'd like to consolidate next season by matching that or possibly flirting with the playoffs. In season three, I hope a promotion push might just be possible. ------------------------------------------------------------------- July/August Scottish League Challenge Cup (not to be confused with League Cup) - First Round Galabank, Annan July 24: Annan Athletic 0-4 Greenock Morton My first ever competitive game in football management ends in comprehensive defeat at home to Morton, a side two divisions above us. There's never any shame in losing to a side two divisions above you and you can even accept losing by a few goals if you can say that your players gave it their all. But I'm not sure we did. Morton cruised through this one and we never really troubled them. No shame, but little to be encouraged by either. Greenock Morton Ratings: 7.5/10 Annan Athletic Ratings: 4.5/10 Scottish League Cup - First Round Galabank, Annan July 31: Annan Athletic 1-0 Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline are favourites to win the First Division this season and gain promotion to the Premier League, so I wasn't too optimistic. After all, we'd been powerless to resist Morton only a few days earlier. However, this was different. Tactically, we were a little more defensive and although we faced plenty of pressure, it was one of our dangerous-looking counterattacks that eventually broke the deadlock. I'm sure Dunfermline did enough to win most games, but they failed to take their chances and this is a result we can be proud of. Annan Athletic Ratings: 8.5/10 Dunfermline Athletic: 5.5/10 Scottish Third Division Shielfield Park, Berwick-upon-Tweed August 7: Berwick Rangers 3-0 Annan Athletic The league season got underway with a trip to Northumberland to face Berwick Rangers, which apparently is something of a grudge match for the two sets of fans. Those handful of Annan supporters that made the relatively short trip won't have been too pleased. And nor was I. Berwick threatened to overrun us and we made it far too easy for them. We were a shambles defensively and young goalkeeper Grant Carson was so poor that I resolved to drop him for our next game. Not the start I wanted at all. Berwick Rangers Ratings: 8.0/10 Annan Athletic: 4.0/10 Scottish Third Division Cliftonhill, Coatbridge August 14: Albion Rovers 1-1 Annan Athletic Another away game, and this time we faced an Albion side that went to Montrose last time out and won 6-1. Given our desperate showing at Berwick, I was nervous about another heavy defeat. Thankfully, we played much better. This game was most notable for full-back Aaron Muirhead's wonderful long-range strike on 20 minutes to give us the lead. It was a genuinely special volley. Albion deserved their equaliser and a draw was entirely the correct result here. Albion Rovers Ratings: 7.0/10 Annan Athletic Ratings: 7.0/10 Scottish Third Division Galabank, Annan August 21: Annan Athletic 4-1 Montrose Wow! What a first half! I expected to beat Montrose, a side that look to be very poor, but I didn't expect us to have it won by half-time. Muirhead had his shooting boots on again, scoring an even more incredible goal, this time drilling the ball from the right wing towards goal and somehow beating the 'keeper. It was reminiscent of Ronaldo's wonder goal against Arsenal in the Champions League back in 2009. The second half saw us take our foot of the gas, but we still missed several chances and it could have been a cricket score. In the end, Montrose scored the only goal of the half. First win of the league season, and we're up and running! Annan Athletic Rating: 8.0/10 Montrose Rating: 4.5/10 Scottish League Cup - Second Round Tynecastle, Edinburgh Heart of Midlothian 3-0 Annan Athletic Our reward for victory over Dunfermline was a trip to Scotland's capital to take on Hearts, and let's face it, we stood pretty much no chance. I like to think it would have been a big day for the club, however. Personally, I think a 3-0 defeat is nothing to be ashamed of, even if Hearts probably could have won by more. Ultimately, in games where you're vastly weaker, all you can do is try and maintain your dignity. I'm not sure we did that at Morton, but I do feel we did it here. Hearts Rating: 7.0/10 Annan Athletic: 6.0/10 Scottish Third Division Galabank, Annan August 28: Annan Athletic 4-2 Clyde Clyde were relegated from the Second Division last season so I anticipated a tough game. I certainly did not expect to score four for a second consecutive home game. Clyde did contribute and earned their two goals through good play, but we were never really not in control and this result was very positive indeed. That's eight goals scored in our last two home games. I love that we seem to have goals in us. Annan Athletic Rating: 8.0/10 Clyde Rating: 6.5/10 LATEST STANDINGS Monthly Reflection: The start to the season certainly had its ups and its downs. We were comprehensively beaten by vastly superior opposition in Morton and Hearts and were also easily beaten at Berwick. However, we got a fantastic win over Dunfermline and enjoyed two resounding home wins in the league. All in all, enough to satisfy me. But I'm sure there'll be tougher times to come... Next up, a long trip north to beautiful Moray to face Elgin City, a team I really think we should be beating. Will it go according to plan, or will it be a sour journey home? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 Plenty of ups and downs there Mike. At least life isn't boring for an Annan fan. Ah, Moray. I know the area well and especially the whisky from there. Knowing the team as I do, however, I predict 3 points to Annan! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike7077 Posted November 9, 2010 Author Share Posted November 9, 2010 September Scottish Third Division Borough Briggs, Elgin September 1: Elgin City 0-3 Annan Athletic This would probably be our best performance so far. We controlled the match from start to finish and were the only likely winners. It has to be said that Elgin look a very poor side and struggled to break out of their own half. When they occasionally did, they opted for wild long-range efforts that got nowhere near instead of trying to build a dangerous attack. We took full advantage of their ineptitude, finally keeping a clean sheet in the process. We really do look full of goals. Elgin City Rating: 3.5/10 Annan Athletic Rating: 8.5/10 Scottish Third Division Galabank, Annan September 11: Annan Athletic 2-2 East Stirlingshire My first real taste of frustration. The first half was a continuation of our performance up at Elgin. We played East Stirling off the park. In the second half, we had a flurry of chances to go 3-0 up and instead fluffed them. Once East Stirling scored through their first meaningful attack, it seemed more likely they would equalise than we would go 3-1 up. And they duly did, through a penalty that the post-match response seems to suggest was mistakenly awarded. What a blow. But they came at us and we are as much to blame for this as the officials. We didn't put them to bed and then we defended horribly when pressured. Annan Athletic Rating: 6.5/10 East Stirlingshire Rating: 6.5/10 Scottish Third Division Galabank, Annan September 18: Annan Athletic 3-3 Stranraer Where to start..? We came out of the blocks all guns blazing, going 2-0 up and appearing to be on course for a comfortable victory. But of course, we can't defend. Stranraer got their goal just before half-time and I expected to throw it away in the second. But when we went 3-1 up on 70 minutes, I relaxed. That should do it, I thought. Nope. On 81 minutes we give away a free kick on the edge of the box - 3-2. Then my two centre backs get their marching orders with three minutes left, Gilfillan for a professional foul and Neilson a second bookable offence for arguing about it. We tried to hold out with nine men but we just couldn't. Another two points thrown away. At least we're still scoring and still unbeaten in the league since the opening day. Annan Athletic Rating: 6.5/10 Stranraer Rating: 7.0/10 LATEST STANDINGS Monthly Reflection: Was September a good month? Well, at the start of the season I'd have taken being in the play-off positions with just one defeat to our name at this stage, but it feels like a missed opportunity. A fantastic performance and result against Elgin were followed up with two incredible games, both ultimately very deflating, at home to East Stirlingshire and Stranraer. The stats suggested we should have won both games, but I can't begrudge those sides their points - they attacked us and we couldn't deal with it. In truth, it's hard to tell where the season could go from here. I feel like it's going to be a rollercoaster... Plenty of time to prepare for our next game with a two-week break now upon us. Time to reflect on what went wrong in our last two games and try to figure out how to get something away at Arbroath - favourites to win the division - with our two first-choice centre-backs suspended... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddymatt Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 I will be following this as I play as Montrose and it will be interesting to see how the leagues compare. I am in December and around the playoff spots but everyones so close 2 or 3 defeats could see me at the wrong end of the league Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike7077 Posted November 11, 2010 Author Share Posted November 11, 2010 October Scottish Third Division Gayfield Park, Arbroath October 2: Arbroath 2-0 Annan Athletic Following recent disastrous defensive showings, and given we were shorn of our first-choice centre-backs, I expected to lose at Arbroath, a side with every chance of winning this league. I was still disappointed to be 2-0 down so quickly, but we did okay after that, creating the odd chance and keeping them at bay. That being said, we would have been lucky to get anything out of it because Arbroath were pretty comfortable throughout. Arbroath Rating: 7.5/10 Annan Athletic Rating: 6.0/10 Scottish Third Division Hampden Park, Glasgow October 16: Queen's Park 4-2 Annan Athletic How surreal, playing at a virtually deserted Hampden! The match itself would have entertained those who were there to see it, though sadly it didn't go our way. And nor should it have. We really cannot defend and Queen's Park, a side who'd been in poor form going into this, took full advantage. Two defeats in a row and I'm left cursing my inability to find a tactical setup that stops us leaking goals. Queen's Park Rating: 8.0/10 Annan Athletic Rating: 5.0/10 Scottish FA Cup - Second Round Galabank, Annan October 23: Annan Athletic 2-0 Tynecastle Our FA Cup campaing gets underway and what a frustrating game it was. At times it looked like East of Scotland League side Tynecastle might embarrass us. We launched plenty of attacks but rarely made clear-cut chances, struggling to break their stubborn defence down and, to make matters worse, they were able to carve us open quite a few times. Poor finishing cost them. I gave Grant Carson a chance in goal, his first appearance since his nightmare on the opening day at Berwick, and this time he made a number of crucial saves before our forwards finally found a way through the Edinburgh minnows. Relief, more than anything... Annan Athletic Rating: 6.5/10 Tynecastle Rating: 7.5/10 Scottish Third Division Galabank, Annan October 30: Annan Athletic 2-1 Albion Rovers A win was crucial following two comprehensive defeats in the league, and we just about managed it. In truth, the stats were in our favour, but Albion still had their chances and put us under a lot of pressure for the last ten minutes or so. But we deserved our win. Annan Athletic Rating: 7.0/10 Albion Rovers Rating: 6.0/10 LATEST STANDINGS Monthly Reflection: I can't say I enjoyed October. The reality is that mixed results are probably to be expected with Annan. We're not among the better teams in the division so there'll be times when we're up against it. At least we offered a reasonable response to the two defeats, winning in the cup and then claiming victory over Albion in the league. Bang in midtable, in touch with the playoffs is satisfactory and I'd take 5th place at the end of the season if it were offered. Annan's next fixture is away at Montrose, the Jekyll and Hyde of the division. If the Montrose we played at the start of the season turns up, we'll win. If the Montrose that has been picking up points recently appears, it could be tricky for us. November also sees us face Albion Rovers at home in the next round of the cup. Should be fun... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 You've accidentally got yourself in the Scottish Premier League in that update (the match away to Queen's Park). Just thought I'd let you know. Wishful thinking, eh? You're going really strong at home then but not so great away. Need to try to grind out some away results. How is the team gelling doing out of interest? Reading your updates has got me in the mood for playing in Scotland. I think, for FM11, my main save is going to be a journeyman one when I finally get around to it. I fancy loading Scotland as one of the leagues and perhaps starting out in the Third Division like you have. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike7077 Posted November 12, 2010 Author Share Posted November 12, 2010 I'll definitely look forward to your journeyman save. Love those kind of saves. Might start my own now that the Spanish issue is fixed. I correct the SPL thing on Queen's Park! I type "Scottish Premier League" almost every time! I should just copy and paste. Team gelling seems fine, to be honest. I just wish I could fashion a tighter defence. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 I'll definitely look forward to your journeyman save. Love those kind of saves. Might start my own now that the Spanish issue is fixed. Won't be happening for a while yet. Still have the Saints to manage on FM10, plus my calcio journeyman save to come back to! Team gelling seems fine, to be honest. I just wish I could fashion a tighter defence. What formation are you playing out of interest? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike7077 Posted November 12, 2010 Author Share Posted November 12, 2010 I loved your Calcio thread! Bring it back! I'm playing 4-4-2. Very limited players in terms of ability so I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 I loved your Calcio thread! Bring it back! It will happen. Maybe at the end of this current Saints season. Maybe I will have to start rotating them or something. I'm playing 4-4-2. Very limited players in terms of ability so I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible. Fair enough. Good old, reliable 4-4-2. Probably for the best. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike7077 Posted November 15, 2010 Author Share Posted November 15, 2010 November Scottish Third Division Links Park, Montrose November 6: Montrose 2-3 Annan Athletic I suppose there's no sweeter way to win a match! Nevertheless, it's infuriating to prepare your side and then watch them go 2-0 down so quickly. But somehow we recovered. A more attacking approach led to more chances and the goal we got before half-time clearly had an impact. The second half was one of those that has you jumping around with delight. Astonishing. But beautiful. Montrose Rating: 6.5/10 Annan Athletic Rating: 8.0/10 Scottish Third Division Galabank, Annan November 13: Annan Athletic 0-1 Berwick Rangers Damn Berwick! After the euphoria of Montrose it was back down to Earth with a bump here as our unbeaten home record came to an end. Berwick are good but we had 60% of possession and more shots. Unfortunately, for once, we couldn't score. Not that we were all that threatening. This was a game with little goalmouth action. I do feel a point each would have been a fair result. Annan Athletic Rating: 6.0/10 Berwick Rangers: 7.0/10 Scottish Third Division Broadwood Stadium, Cumbernauld November 20: Clyde 0-1 Annan Athletic A decent response after the disappointment of Berwick. Clyde are struggling but away points are often hard to come by, whoever you're playing, so I have to be happy. This result sees us into third place in the league. Clyde put us under plenty of pressure after our goal and will feel they deserved something, but their attack looked toothless, even against our iffy defending. Clyde Rating: 6.0/10 Annan Athletic: 7.5/10 Scottish Third Division Galabank November 24: Annan Athletic 2-2 Elgin City This result is bordering on desperate. Elgin are rock bottom and had just four points going into this and were twelve games without a win. But we are so inconsistent that we proceeded to to allow them time and space from the start and they took a deserved lead. We forced our way back and then got in front, but a horrible piece of defending from Kevin Neilson gifted them an equaliser late on. So instead of closing the gap on the top, we slip back to fifth. To make matters worse, young loanee Jordan Halsman, who started from the bench due to tiredness, suffered a fractured arm and will miss six weeks. The only other option on the left is veteran Stephen Glass who has been underwhelming so far. Annan Athletic Rating: 5.5/10 Elgin City Rating: 7.5/10 Scottish FA Cup - Third Round Galabank, Annan November 27: Annan Athletic 2-4 Albion Rovers So that's how November ends. With a whimper. We began by coming from behind to claim a win, and we end by crashing out of the cup having been 2-0 ahead. I didn't want to, but fatigue meant several players had to be rested, but it didn't stop us racing into the lead. From then on, we fell apart. The defenders seem to get more and more amateurish. It's no surprise only two teams have conceded more league goals than us. Albion looked like scoring every time they went forward and picked us off with ease. Peter Watson's deserved red card for a nasty lunge didn't help. Annan Athletic Rating: 3.5/10 Albion Rovers Rating: 8.0/10 LATEST STANDINGS Monthly Reflection: Won't be sad to see the end of November. It started well, but it mostly a case of frustration. A wonderful fightback at Montrose and solid win at Clyde were the positives. But lacklustre defeat at home to Berwick and a real missed opportunity at home to lowly Elgin are huge negatives. Losing 4-2 at home to Albion in the Scottish Cup won't have helped morale either. We simply can't defend. Still, fifth place leaves plenty of room for optimism. Second place is just two points away. To be honest, I'd be pleased to finish fifth. December begins with an away trip to face East Stirlingshire. Avoiding defeat is crucial to try and prevent the sides below us from gaining ground, which includes East Stirling. But we're very unpredictable. Will we manage a third straight away win or will it be another case of me ruing our terrible defending? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elrithral Posted November 15, 2010 Share Posted November 15, 2010 Good luck, Mike. I'll try to follow whenever I get the chance and you've definitely given me inspiration to try a new career update with my German Third Division save, but I don't hink it's likely (i'll keep you informed elsewhere). I find Dynamo Dresden's standard of football pretty irritating at times, I dread to think how frustrating Annan would be. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 One step forward, another step back for your Annan side Mike. Poor ending to the month there. Still, you're not doing too badly in the league. Finishing in 2nd would be a massive achievement and great for your career! It's not too far away; you just need to hit a good patch of form and the Christmas period is surely the perfect time to do it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike7077 Posted November 18, 2010 Author Share Posted November 18, 2010 Thanks for taking an interest, guys. It always helps keep the motivation up to keep playing the game, which I'm sure you can both relate to. Hopefully there should be a new update at some point this evening. I must say I'm enjoying managing at this level far more than I expected to. It's hard, though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted November 18, 2010 Share Posted November 18, 2010 Looking forward to your next update Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike7077 Posted November 18, 2010 Author Share Posted November 18, 2010 December Scottish Third Division Ochilview Park, Stenhousemuir December 5: East Stirlingshire 1-0 Annan Athletic A bad tempered game, this one. I expected a thumping given our form going into it, so at least we avoided that. But truth be told, I saw little that had me feeling optimistic. We were second best throughout and are no longer really threatening teams on their own patch. East Stirlingshire Rating: 7.0/10 Annan Athletic Rating: 5.5/10 Scottish Third Division Galabank, Annan December 11: Annan Athletic 6-2 Queen's Park This was a strange game! We started slugglishly and could have been behind. Indeed, our first goal came from what was our first attack. Northern Irish centre-back Bryan Gilfillan - as he so often does - rose to head a corner goalwards. On this occasion he found only the crossbar, but Queen's Park's unfortunate goalkeeper was in the wrong place as the ball cannoned home off his back. From then on, we ran riot, although Queen's Park missed a penalty and had a goal disallowed while at 2-0. Despite the result, they really were in it. The result sees us up into third! Annan Athletic Rating: 8.5/10 Queen's Park Rating: 6.0/10 Scottish Third Division Stair Park, Stranraer December 18: Stranraer 3-2 Annan Athletic Same old story. Leading at half-time, throw it away in the second half. I can only think I'm doing something wrong during the break. The alarming thing about this game is the sheer amount of shots Stranraer had against us. 18 to our 5. And of those 18, ten were on target. We rallied very late on and almost snuck a draw, but it would have flattered us. What do I want for Christmas? A little consistency and better defending. Stranraer Rating: 8.5/10 Annan Athletic Rating: 6.5/10 Following this game, young goalkeeper Grant Carson went out on loan to Northern Irish First Division side Carrick Rangers. Carson has played only one league game - a 3-0 thumping at Berwick on the opening day. Craig Summersgill (25, Welsh) will be back-up to Greg Kelly for the rest of the season. Scottish Third Division Galabank, Annan December 26: Annan Athletic 0-0 Arbroath Our first 0-0 draw of the season. Arbroath are running away with it at the top and are ten points clear after this game, so it doesn't look like a bad result. Either side could've won it and I was pleased with how we created chances and defended well. If only we could have scored. We usually do. Unfortunately, we dropped back out of the playoff places after this, all the way to 6th - our lowest position for a while. Yet, incredibly, we are only two points off second! Annan Athletic Rating: 7.0/10 Arbroath Rating: 7.0/10 LATEST STANDINGS Monthly Reflection: Another month of sheer frustration, and just the one win. We were at our attacking best at home to Queen's Park, solid enough against Arbroath, underwhelming in defeat at East Stirling and insipid in the second half at Stranraer. Slipping to 6th is a disappointment, but to some degree it's a reflection on how good we've been in patches because 6th is about as high as I was aiming for at the start of the season. And we're well and truly ensconsed in the playoff melée that's unfolding. The new year offers up a difficult first game. We head for Albion Rovers looking to try and get our away form back on track. Not an easy game, but a win would be massive. Defeat could conceivably see us slip further down the table... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Nice result against Queen's Park. Form is all over the place though Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike7077 Posted November 22, 2010 Author Share Posted November 22, 2010 January Scottish Third Division Cliftonhill, Coatbridge January 1: Albion Rovers 4-2 Annan Athletic It's quite simply insane. We can clearly score goals, but we leak so, so many. Our 83rd minute goal to make it 3-2 gave us hope and we pressured so hard to get an equaliser before shooting ourselves in the foot with yet another own goal. It's concerning how many shots we seem to be allowing the opposition to take at the moment, and how poor we seem to be away from home. Albion Rovers Rating: 8.0/10 Annan Athletic Rating: 6.0/10 Scottish Third Division Galabank, Annan January 8: Annan Athletic 3-2 Montrose Well, a win is a win, but there was still so much to frustrate me here. Another red card. We have by the far the worst disciplinary record in the league, despite never playing with aggressive tackling. I was furious at 2-0 up when we allowed them back into it. Then we restored our two-goal lead and I relaxed. Job done, it seemed. But within minutes it was 3-2. Montrose were second best and we deserved the three points so I would have been fuming if we had ended up being held. Thankfully we held them up and kept on the coat tails of the playoff pack. Annan Athletic Rating: 7.0/10 Montrose Rating: 5.5/10 After this game, young Congolese striker Joel Bembo-Leta arrived on loan for three months from Stalybridge Celtic in England's Conference North Division. We have a large squad, but not enough strikers. Certainly not enough who've shown me they can score goals. Bembo-Leta plays at a low level in England so there's no guarantees, but with no money to spend and a wage budget that needs reducing, I have little option but to look at clubs like Stalybridge. Scottish Third Division Shielfield Park, Berwick-upon-Tweed January 15: Berwick Rangers 4-1 Annan Athletic We just can't get anything against Berwick. And we didn't deserved to today. What annoys me is that we allow ourselves to get hammered like this. If we underperform and lose, we lose heavily. Berwick have reeled Arbroath in at the top and look good for promotion but I still want to see us defending much better than this. Of particular annoyance is that all four Berwick goals were long-range screamers. Can we not close down? Berwick Rangers Rating: 8.5/10 Annan Athletic Rating: 5.0/10 Scottish Third Division Galabank, Annan January 22: Annan Athletic 1-1 Clyde It isn't going well now. A dismal 1-1 draw at home to struggling Clyde and we're now down to 7th in the table. The playoffs are starting to look a little distant. The better side here was Clyde. They saw much more of the ball, had lots more shots and must feel they deserved to win. A draw was something of a relief in the end. If our home form deserts us, we could be in trouble. Joel Bembo-Leta's first goal for us is the only bright spot. Annan Athletic Rating: 4.5/10 Clyde Rating: 7.0/10 Sad news after this game. Jordan Halsman, the young left-winger on loan from Motherwell who had done so well for us, has rejected the chance to extend his stay with us. Halsman goes back to Motherwell at the end of the month. The likes of Stephen Glass and Lewis Sloan will have to step up and fill his shoes. Scottish Third Division Borough Briggs, Elgin January 29: Elgin City 0-1 Annan Athletic It's nice to finally get an away win, even if it is at the place you're most likely to get one. David Cox's early strike gave us the lead and we then set about defending pretty solidly for once as Elgin pushed for a goal. It wasn't a convincing performance from ourselves but, with Bryan Gilfillan dropped from defence, we kept the opposition at bay for once. Elgin City Rating: 6.0/10 Annan Athletic: 7.0/10 LATEST STANDINGS Monthly Reflection: Frustration. With my team, for conceding so many goals and showing so much ill-discipline. And with myself for not being able to figure out a solution. But should I be so frustrated? This season was never about a promotion push. The board remain pleased with me. Indeed, whenever we lie sixth or above, they seem excited about a mid-table finish! I'm managing a team that has only been playing League football for two seasons prior to this. We probably have the smallest budget in the division. Elgin's might just be smaller but I doubt there's much in it. Clyde are financially stricken but are a bigger club with more prestige so I would still say they're in a better position to compete than us. So perhaps we're doing okay. It's just that we're so incredibly inconsistent and so desperately sloppy at the back. February begins with a home game against East Stirling, a side sitting directly below us in the table. A win would reignite our play-off push. Defeat would have us glancing very much over our shoulders... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike7077 Posted November 22, 2010 Author Share Posted November 22, 2010 Nice result against Queen's Park. Form is all over the place though Mike. And to think, you said that before January's update! I can't handle this... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 An away win! \o/ Ah, but it was Elgin though. Keep it up Mike. I can feel a run of form coming just around the corner. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike7077 Posted November 26, 2010 Author Share Posted November 26, 2010 February Scottish Third Division Galabank, Annan February 5: Annan Athletic 2-0 East Stirlingshire Two wins in a row, two clean sheets! About time we got a bit of form together. This is was a straightforward victory. We controlled the game for the most part and probably deserved the win. East Stirling had their moments and our defence certainly allowed them their chances, but we were more potent going forward. A good three points. Annan Athletic Rating: 7.5/10 East Stirlingshire Rating: 6.5/10 Scottish Third Division Gayfield Park, Arbroath February 12: Arbroath 3-1 Annan Athletic Arbroath aren't runaway leaders anymore after a poor run of form a few weeks ago, but they are still top and look certainties for promotion, so perhaps this is no disgrace. I still wonder what might have happened had we not had yet another sending-off in the first-half. Arbroath then scored their second right on half-time, which ended the match as a contest. It didn't take them long to be 3-0 up after the break, but we did grab one back on 65 minutes and pressured them quite hard after that. But Arbroath will feel it was comfortable. And it was. Arbroath Rating: 8.0/10 Annan Athletic: 6.0/10 Scottish Third Division Hampden Park, Glasgow February 19: Queen's Park 2-0 Annan Athletic Another defeat, and we were much poorer here than in defeat at Arbroath. Queen's Park are inconsistent but they were rarely troubled here. This defeat sees us slipping away from the playoffs. At 1-0 we always had hope, but Kevin Neilson's own goal, one of many we've scored this season, made it an uphill task to chase the game. It's very frustrating that I can't find a recipe for getting results on the road. Queen's Park Rating: 7.5/10 Annan Athletic Rating: 5.5/10 Scottish Third Division Galabank, Annan February 26: Annan Athletic 0-2 Stranraer This defeat really hurt. I knew the two away games would be tough and targeted a win from this upon our return to Galabank. I decided to set us up to attack them, figuring we have the goals in us to get a good result that way. But no. Stranraer played like the home team, we played like the Keystone Cops. Passes went astray, crosses hit the first man, clearances landed perfectly at the feet of opposition players who, coincidentally, seemed to have acquired the passing vision and accuracy of Paul Scholes. What can I say? Humbled on our own patch. What I will say is that I still think I can be too harsh at times. It's worth reiterating that we're above our predicted league position and operating on possibly the smallest budget in the league. Stranraer are big boys at this level. Annan Athletic Rating: 5.0/10 Stranraer Rating: 8.0/10 LATEST STANDINGS Monthly Reflection: Losing three out of four games in a month never feels good, no matter who you're managing. We saw our hopes of reaching the playoffs more or less evaporate. The truth is that I didn't expect anything at Arbroath and I thought Queen's Park would be tough. But I really hoped to bounce back at home to Stranraer and we just didn't. I really want to cling onto 6th spot, which would still be a decent achievement, so we need to find some better form soon. March contains only three matches for Annan, and they're three I want us to win. Next up, Albion Rovers at home. It seems like we're always playing Albion, having played them three times in the league and once in the cup already. Following that, there is a winnable away fixture at Montrose and a home game against our rivals and bogey team, Berwick Rangers. March - few fixtures, big month. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike7077 Posted November 26, 2010 Author Share Posted November 26, 2010 March Given our inconsistency and recent poor run of results, I decided change was needed. Tactically our simple 4-4-2 just wasn't working. I decided to switch to a 4-1-3-2 formation which would hopefully offer better protection to the back four. Bryan Gilfillan impressed me at centre-back at the start of the season, but his performances declined to the point where his errors were costing us. As such, he'd been on the bench for most of our recent games. With the shift in tactics, Gilfillan would now come back into team in the defensive midfield position. With only one central midfield role available and taken by the excellent Steven Sloan, Marco Andreoni would be the biggest loser, as no spot was left available for him. Scottish Third Division Galabank, Annan March 5: Annan Athletic 1-0 Albion Rovers It's nice to get back to winning ways and every clean sheet feels noteworthy these days! Who else was going to score the winner but Pat Walker? (In real life, Walker was recently released by Annan - I wouldn't dream of it!) However, Albion hammered us! They had 18 shots to our five, and five shots on target to our one! But we scored ours and that's what matters. I would wager that Albion's dominance had something to do with ur players adjusting to my new tactical setup. Gilfillan looked more settled in defensive midfield than he did at the back. Annan Athletic Rating: 7.5/10 Albion Rovers Rating: 6.5/10 Scottish Third Division Links Park, Montrose March 12: Montrose 1-2 Annan Athletic You never know what you'll get with Montrose. They've done okay this season and beaten teams at the top, but they also lose plenty. We kept up our good record against them here, but it was nothing like the Albion game. We pummelled them in the first-half and just couldn't extend our lead. When Montrose scored, it was a real sucker-punch. The second half followed a similar pattern as we pressed and pressed but couldn't get another goal. Montrose scarcely deserved to be level but the longer it went on, the more I thought we might end up losing this. In the end, and inspired substitution saw journeyman striker Davie Turnbull come off the bench to grab the winner. On a sour note, both our top scorers - Pat Walker and Ian Harty - suffered injuries that will keep them out for at least the next two games. Montrose Rating: 5.5/10 Annan Rating: 8.0/10 Scottish Third Division Galabank, Annan March 19: Annan Athletic 4-1 Berwick Rangers Who'd have thought we'd score four goals with both Walker and Harty missing? Finally, we get a result against Berwick. It seems an unlikely rivalry to me. Berwick and Annan aren't geographically that close, and yet this is supposedly quite a fierce derby. They've only been playing each other for two years! As for the game itself, 4-1 was entirely deserved. Gilfillan was solid again in his new role and Stephen Glass is starting to look like the player I thought he could be at this level. Davie Turnbull scored again, but the icing on the cake was a screamer of a free-kick scored by centre-back Kevin Neilson in stoppage time. Fantastic performance. The new tactic seems to be yielding results and the playoffs have come back into view. Annan Athletic Rating: 9.0/10 Berwick Rangers Rating: 4.5/10 LATEST STANDINGS Monthly Reflection: For the second time this season, I'm manager of the month! March couldn't have gone much better. A shift in our system seemed to yield results straightaway. Particularly pleasing was the improvement that certain individuals made. Bryan Gilfillan looks the part in defensive midfield, Stephen Glass has found some form on the left and Davie Turnbull looks a viable option when Walker and/or Harty are unavailable. I asked for and agreed a new contract after this game, keeping me at Galabank until May 2013. And so we head for the home straight, with six games left to play. Five games in April and one in May. Next up is a visit to Clyde, a side in 8th place who are in a very good run of form and will no doubt test us... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 Well, makes sense to switch to a system that floods the middle of the park and gives you an anchor man. I assume this is a narrow 4-1-3-2 with three MCs? You even cracked winning away this month! Well done Mike. Enjoy that last result, especially! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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