[FM11] Cymru fo am byth! (Prestatyn)

[DSYoungEsq]

Thanks!

As it turned out, we had to play in the first qualifying round, and snuck our way past a decent side, only to draw Red Star Belgrade for the 2nd qual. round. We held them to 1-2 at home, but sadly, the first leg in Belgrade was something less successful. Nice money, though: almost $500K in prize money alone. Finances looking healthy!

Will have an update on the pre-season and Europe Sat. morning. Tomorrow is dinner with son in Columbia, and Friday is curling, followed by drinking (the two go hand in hand, as with any good Scottish sport!).

[rancer890]

You live in South Carolina mate (since your first nationality is American)? And more importantly, they play curling in the South?

[DSYoungEsq]

You live in South Carolina mate (since your first nationality is American)? And more importantly, they play curling in the South?

I do, I live just across the border from Charlotte, NC. And yes, we started a curling club this last year after the winter olympics, and have spent all summer and fall sliding stones.

They have clubs in Greenville, SC and in Raleigh, NC, too! Not shockingly, the clubs are usually started by Canadians who have ended up in the South...

[rancer890]

I do, I live just across the border from Charlotte, NC. And yes, we started a curling club this last year after the winter olympics, and have spent all summer and fall sliding stones.

They have clubs in Greenville, SC and in Raleigh, NC, too! Not shockingly, the clubs are usually started by Canadians who have ended up in the South...

Cool mate. Didn't realize they were rinks in South Carolina..maybe Raleigh or Charlotte and North Carolina in general since they got professional hockey teams, and somewhat have a hockey following.

You got into the sport of football because of the Charleston Battery?

[DSYoungEsq]

Cool mate. Didn't realize they were rinks in South Carolina..maybe Raleigh or Charlotte and North Carolina in general since they got professional hockey teams, and somewhat have a hockey following.

You got into the sport of football because of the Charleston Battery?

Yikes no. I've only lived here for three years, after 10 just outside Toledo, Ohio. No, I've been into football since about 1990, having tenuously stayed connected with it during the 82 and 86 World Cups. At the time I was living in Central California, along the coast (near to Monterey). I eventually became quite involved, as in refereeing at most all levels (including doing some professional officiating), referee administrator for a youth league, then eventually for the entire San Jose to Monterey area of the American Youth Soccer Organization, and, one of my more interesting achievements, stadium announcer for the California Jaguars, a third division team that got as high as the second division before collapsing from lack of finances in the late 1990s (they were champions of the USL in 1996). Was privileged to watch all the WC games at Stanford Stadium in 1994, including the never-to-be-forgotten USA 0-1 Brazil game in the round of 16 on July 4.

Yeah, I'm not your typical 'Merkin.

[DSYoungEsq]

We have a good Euro Run! - Preseason report - 2013/4

My squad at start of season.

The Reserves, including those available from the first team and youth squad. Everyone not in the starting 11 + 5 of the First Team is “available for the reserves.”

The “Youth” All U-19s not on the “Squad” are in the Youth Team, and available for Reserves. See Below.

Well, what can I say? Only in a competition as crazy as the UEFA Champions League would you be happy getting blown out on aggregate 1-6! We had a very good European campaign, when viewed as a whole. The one bad game we had, we cannot really complain about, given the quality of the competition and the fact we were at their house.

We started the pre-season without knowing who we would face in the UCL. The news about our opponent didn't take long to arrive. Crusaders F.C. were expected to beat us relatively handily, which I suppose shows that the opinion on Northern Ireland footie is somewhat higher than on WPL teams. It did NOT help that we had to go into that game without any pre-season matches, as it happened on 7/2. If I had known for certain we would have to play in the first round of the qualifying, I would not have scheduled the pre-season friendlies that happened on the 4th and the 8th. We sent our youth/reserve squad off to play those.

The key to the game in Belfast was that we managed an away goal. That was crucial, because when we got home on the 10th and scored in the 10th min., it forced Crusaders to try and match. We promptly doubled the lead in the 16th min., and then coasted home, relatively speaking. Of course, by that time, we already knew we would face the mighty Red Star Belgrade if we won!

The away game in Belgrade was more than we could handle. We managed only 3 shots all game, and picked up 8 yellows and a red. They scored in the 7th min., and although we kept them out of our goal after that until right before the half ended, they simply were toying with us. After the resumption, they scored again on a PK, and then Craig Tawton, who's been riding the ragged edge for years with refs, got himself sent off for a second cautionable tackle, which sealed our fate. He doesn't know it, yet, but it also sealed his fate. Although he's been the fan fav. for the last three years, he's going to be supplanted this year by Andrew Williams on a full-time basis.

We did come home and play a respectable game in the return engagement, which was televised. Of course, our only goal didn't come until garbage time in the second half, but they were no where near as dominant. If we discount the game in Belgrade, we managed to tie 4-4 over the campaign. That was far better than I anticipated. AND, we cleared almost $500K again.

I did almost no tweaking to the squad; our only purchase during the pre-season was a backup 'keeper. However, I'm in the process of finishing-up clearing out the dead wood. The finances that have come in from Europe mean I'm in a better position to just pay off under-performing assets and use the salary thus freed to obtain an even better squad. So on their way out the door soon are Rowland, Hudson, McCarthy and Powell; already gone is Ryan Crockford on loan. And if I'm really feeling comfortable, Gwion ap Daffyd will be sent on, too. That makes me sad; he's done well for us. Be we are a team headed up and up, and there will be a LOT of players who's time with us comes to an end after only a few years. Best get used to seeing their sad faces and not letting it get to me.

Finance notes: Finances are MUCH MUCH better now. For the first time since I've arrived at the club, I'm running a salary budget surplus! And I expect that to hold true throughout the season, even if I have to do some tweaking along the way. We ended up making about as much this year in Europe as last; another year of Europe and I expect we'd have around $500K in the bank to start the season. At that point, I'm going to ask for improved Youth Facilities, else I expect we'll slowly end up lagging in production of decent youth players.

Board confidence in me is pretty good for a season start, too, thanks to the frugality.

[Quads]

Really enjoy reading this. Keep it up, now go win Welsh treble !

[DSYoungEsq]

Really enjoy reading this. Keep it up, now go win Welsh treble !

Thanks! I'm glad some others get enjoyment reading it; I certainly have fun writing it.

Sadly, the treble isn't a given this year, as we see in the next posting...

[DSYoungEsq]

A bit ragged for the champs - The 2013-4 Mid-Mid-Season Report

Our position graph.

The Squad.

The Squad's league stats. 16 goals in 11 games. Ugh.

The Reserves. Note that no one is really busting out with talent.

The Youth.

This has been a rocky start to the League. We've lost three games already, which is 3/4ths the total we lost all last year. And one of those losses, we were simply played off the pitch by our rivals for the title, Carmarthen. This was not good news as it appears likely that we will have to play Carmarthen 6 times this season, including both cups (assuming we make the final of the League Cup). When we drew them in the Welsh Cup 3rd Round, the newsies noted we haven't beaten them in 12 tries! Always helpful, those newsies.

The results have had an impact upon morale, which has been fragile all season anyway. I'm afraid that the slow but steady overhaul of the team has made some of the players very nervous and/or unhappy. It's showing on the pitch, and the rot will be hard to stop.

The worst result wasn't the Carmarthen slaughter, though. It was our most recent League game, in which we lost 0-1 at home to Afan Lido, who, minus our generous donation of points, would be fighting it out with Bangor City to prop up the table. I was NOT pleased with that result, and the players know it. One of our hallmarks the last two seasons has been we don't drop points to the bottom teams; to fail to even score was humiliating.

A large part of our difficulty can be laid at the feet of the strikers. Kerry Morgan is scoring, when he's healthy; he's on his second injury of the season right now. Lopes da Silva is dishing, but his usually lethal scoring is so far absent; he's obviously struggling to adapt to the Trequartista role I want him to play behind Morgan and Fleetwood. And Fleetwood has proven virtually useless as a scorer, too, preferring to dish the ball off as well. This screen sums it all up: Lopes da Silva and Fleetwood both relieved to have scored to end droughts, and Morgan telling me he can't learn to come deep to get the ball (then complaining when I suggested he learn to try something else to up his efficiency as a striker).

Fortunately, we may manage to salvage it all with cup runs! For the first time since I have been at Prestatyn, we made it past the League Cup quarters. If we can see off Neath (always a tricky proposition) in the semi's, it looks highly likely that Carmarthen will await in the final. Fortunately, we saw Carmarthen off in the Welsh Cup with a dogged display at home. We drew Afan Lido for the 4th Round, so it looks like our path to the Cup final will be substantially harder this year than the last two years (when we were allowed to fatten up on sacrificial lambs prior to the late stages). I'm gunning to take both the Cups, and if the League comes along with, that's fine; else as long as we manage to make Europe in some fashion, that will work.

The salary is still under control. We released outright Rowland, Hudson, Powell and Ap Daffyd; that makes seven of last year's team I'm simply let go (sometimes having to write off the under-performing asset). I did add one midfielder who should provide some better cover at the MR position, but in the long term, someone is going to have to be brought in or brought up to take that position more strongly than I think Chris Jones ever will.

So far the Board haven't lost confidence, despite our results. They are not, however, willing to let me bring in another coach, yet. Mind you, they did let me make the offer; always nice to show an open purse then yank the strings shut when I actually want to take money out of it.

[rancer890]

Your standards are slipping!

Something's wrong with your club when da Silva has 5 times as many assists as goals.

[DSYoungEsq]

Well, the truth is I really should sell him on, since I've replaced him with Morgan and Fleetwood. But I dislike selling players that are still producing, and bigger clubs are already sniffing around Morgan, so I'm just hoping he can make the transition to the Trequartista position. I MAY have to tweak the tactics, though, by taking the Diamond 4-4-2 and turning it into a 4-1-2-0-3, so he can be a "striker" again. Shouldn't really make a difference, but given that it's a game with coding that treats you differently as an AMC than as an F©, even if your actual playing behaviour ends up identical...

[DSYoungEsq]

Welsh Speed Bumps: STILL Bigger than average! - The 2013-4 Mid-Season Report

Our position graph.

The Squad.

The Reserves.

The Youth.

Well, we made it back almost to the top. But boy, oh boy, was that a rocky road! How rocky was it? It was so rocky, we got served up for sundaes! <rimshot> *

We weren't the only team that had its ups and downs. At the same time we were in 8th, there were 8 teams within 6 pts of each other. Carmarthen staked themselves a lead, then promptly threw it away with a devastating series of losses. TNS tried to overtake them, but they, too, shot themselves in the feet a few times. However, such spells are usually temporary, and as you would expect, quality cream is rising to the top (not clotted, either).

One trouble we continue to have is failing to show up when playing the teams at the bottom of the table. Indeed, if I hadn't kicked them into gear at half-time, we might well have lost to bottom team Bangor City! That is, btw, the first time I've been credited with a half-time speech that made any difference. I think most of the time the words fall upon deaf ears (“What's the gaffer on about now?”).

Meanwhile, our quest for the cups continues unabated. We gave glimmers of our future when we stole a win from under Neath's noses in their park using a bunch of kids; the adults managed to hold on with a 1-1 draw at home in the second leg to move through to the League Cup final. Then, after having humiliated Afan Lido at their place at the end of the qualifying phase of the League, we came home and managed to grimly hang on to a narrow victory (amazing how much better your opposition gets when they are actually playing for something important, not 9th or 10th place in the league... ). Of course, the Cup efforts aren't getting any easier; the League Cup final is against Carmarthen (as I predicted), and the quarter-final Welsh Cup game is against third-placed Llanelli.

The only change in the squad is between the pipes: long-time back-up, Sam Pearce has taken over for the time being from YP1, Martin Morris. Morris got injured for a month, and in the meantime, Pearce has been doing better than Morris was pre-injury. Morris has not quite managed to attain the heights to which he was predicted to climb back when he was 15; I blame that on the fact we don't have the coaching staff to really bring out the best in the players. But I sat on my hands during the January window, though I watched literally everyone on the massive short list I had get picked up somewhere. I just have to have confidence that the team really is solid, even if it has some weaknesses (mainly on the flanks). The core up the middle remains quite good, with Anthony, DC, Tudur-Jones, DMC, and Fleetwood, ST head and shoulders above the rest. As they say, we're gonna go home with what brung us.

The salary situation is still quite nice, and that's after I've recontracted all the players on my team I wanted, except for Kerry Morgan, who got offered less money to play in greener pastures (Newport Co.). I didn't fight too hard to keep him; I've decided that Lopes da Silva belongs up front, and I can always find myself an attacking center mid to round out the top of the attack. After all, when your player finishes third-place in the voting for Welsh Young Player of the Year, you might think twice about changing what he does for you!

Annoyingly, confidence in me is still somewhat so-so, mostly I think because I did so well last season that this season isn't any great shakes. Finances are about as usual this time of year; they will pick up a bit when we get the gates from the League Cup Final and the Welsh Cup semi-final and final, should we get that far. My own attendance stays rooted at about 110 per game, a miserable amount that is 9th out of 12 teams at best.

*Joke translation for non-Americans: We have an ice cream flavor here called Rocky Road. It's chocolate ice cream with bits of nuts and marshmallow in it. VERY popular.

[jackripper]

i currently play alongside paul giles who was barry towns most succesful manager back in the day and he was telling me when Mourinho came to Jenner Park and had to sit in a yellow sort of tin shack as his dug out and wasnt impressed lol..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Giles

[Raware]

Fantastic progress DSYoungEsq . Well done on claiming the title after just 3 years! As I said though, I'm amazed at the difficult challenge you've set yourself but I suppose if you're going to do something, do it in style

Good luck with it

[Matt123456]

Fantastic progress!! Hoping to do a similar thing with Wexford in Ireland, although I wish I had chosen the Welsh leagues now, they look so much more interesting!! Glad to see you didn't do badly in your first European Campaign. Gives me some hope. Anyways, KUTGW!

[DSYoungEsq]

Matt, thanks for the encouragement! I have found the Welsh League fun to play; you will probably like it better now that they have more depth in the added database the Wales lovers have cooked up.

Raware, I never do anything by halves, sadly. Of course, I could have made it truly difficult: I could have selected Andorra.

jackripper, I can sooooooo totally see the Annointed One sitting in some converted shack, thinking "why, oh why do they allow this to happen??"

[DSYoungEsq]

TREBLE! - The 2013-4 End of Season Report

The Position Graph

The Squad.

The Squad's stats (WPL).

The Reserves.

The Youth Rated.

We've done it. Welsh Supremacy is ours!

We did not make easy going of it. After five games of the final stage, we were five points behind TNS! But our first game in the second half of the double-round-robin stage was against TNS (away), so if we could sneak out a victory, we had a chance. And sneak out with a victory we did, though it took a late header from our excellent center-back, Byron Anthony, to do it. That brought us to within two, and we kept up the pressure by taking care of Carmarthen the next game (at home).

Still, if Kerry Morgan had not pulled our chestnuts out of the fire in the dying stages of the Llanelli game on 4/19, we'd have had our goose cooked. That win, combined with Saint's loss to Carmarthen, gave us the lead at the crucial moment of the season. After that, it was simply a matter of hanging on.

Which was easier said than done! We had four matches in the spell of 11 days that would determine our League, League Cup and Welsh Cup fates. That's two straight Wednesdays to go with two straight Saturdays. And it isn't like we still have a deep squad. Fortunately, the lads stepped up to the challenge. We were dog tired by the time the Welsh Cup final hit! But we had managed to win the League Cup with a goal just before the end of extra time, and we managed to seal our Championship with an own goal out of Aberystwyth late in the game.

Still, the most satisfying performance was the total destruction of Saints in the Welsh Cup final. Craig Jones (DL) started the game at 76%, and Byron Anthony wasn't much better. Still the lads blitzed through them in the second half like they were standing still. Stuart Fleetwood proved that we won't be missing Kerry Morgan next year. Any win over Saints is satisfying; this one had me pumping my fists!

Still, I'm not sure but what it wouldn't have been better to let Saints have the Championship, letting us have the Euro Cup spot for 2nd place. I'm not convinced we can survive another opening round qualifying tie in the UCL. Thus, financially, we might actually take a hit next year.

We are in line for another WPL Player of the Year Award. As you can see, Stuart Fleetwood led the League in scoring, and was high on the assist list, too. Byron Anthony was tops in MoMs and had the highest average rating. You'll notice we are starting to dominate some categories, with two high assist men, three at the top of the passing percentage (we play a control game with short passes, so not a shock), and leaders in a number of other categories. I won't be surprised if either Anthony or Fleetwood win the award.

I'm still controlling salaries pretty well. This means finances are doing well, and the Board has good confidence in me. That's good, but it does mean that, should we slip significantly in any year, I'm likely to be sacked. I still will need a couple more really good years to solidify my position regardless of outcome.

My plan for the coming year is to continue rotating out the non-Prestatyn-grown players. Due to leave are Kerry Morgan (already contracted to Newport Co.), Craig Tawton (a fan fav; they won't be happy about that, but I think Aaron Evans (Y2) and Ian Roberts (Y3) between them can more than fill his shoes), Chris Llewellyn and Chris Jones (these two “wingers” rarely are worth starting; they have now become backups to center-mids who have secondary abilities in wide roles). Next season will be the first with multiple youth academy players in prominent roles (in the past, it's solely been Martin Morris (Y1) who's seen substantial First Team action).

Oh, and they've elected some bumbling fool of a manager into the Welsh Football Hall of Fame. Just goes to show that luck is always more important than skill!

[Jason the Yank]

Excellent work.

[DSYoungEsq]

The Year End Summary - 2013/4

Prestatyn Town FC Honors

Welsh Premier League Youth Player of the Year: Thomas Gregg Lopes da Silva! He beats out the WPL PoY for the YpoY award. How is that for stupid??

WPL Team of the Season: We have FIVE on the squad – Stuart Fleetwood, Thomas Gregg Lopes da Silva, Matthew Harris, Byron Anthony and Kieron Freeman. Freeman is a pleasant surprise: he's not flashy, but obviously getting the job done!

Fan Player of the Year: Byron Anthony They must have a thing for really strong defense!

WPL Average Rating Record: Byron Anthony averaged 7.41. Old record was 7.34.

News for Prestatyn Town FC:

We gain 68 places, to 483!. I am assuming this is partially the fruit of our win over Crusaders in the UCL.

While still prominent, we weren't so “all that” in the Wales Year-end Summary.. It's an absolute joke that Byron Anthony or Stuart Freeman aren't listed as the best value of the year; they were $0 too! But they were obtained in May, so they probably don't qualify.

The club made a profit for the year of $140K on income of $825K. Not exactly sure why we didn't do as well financially. But it leaves us in a healthy financial position. The new shirt sponsorship should help with an extra $6K per year.

News about Wales and the World:

The WPL has dropped in it's UEFA ranking by over 100 places, again! I'm not sure how this stat is calculated. I'm hoping it isn't somehow affected by the game set-up.

Wales still getting the same slots in Europe, despite the precipitous drop in the rankings. We'll be in the First Qualifying Round of the UCL. The exact same teams are in Europe from the WPL this year.

Wales, btw, is currently 80th in the world, up four places. We aren't really contributing to that, yet.

Oh, and finally, that idiot named Douglas Young managed to be WPL Manager of the Year twice in a row. The cheek of the guy! He's not even from a footie country!

[DSYoungEsq]

Targets - 2014 Initial Report

This year, the Board wants us to challenge again. This time, however, I've been given some serious money to play with!

This time, I don't promise more than a challenge. No need to be greedy, and I want to soften the blow as we transition to some of our youth.

Never did get told about our odds this year, nor last year.

The 2014 Season Squad, at present, Ass Man ratings included. Only one significant signing to report. See below. Players not assigned to a position are being released out of contract.

The "reserves." Again, this year, consists essentially of youth, though some have been promoted due to age.

The youth squad for the year, reports included. One really good signing, a striker.

It's time for a sea change in what we do here. I've achieved all goals Wales has to offer me as a club manager. Thus, my only goal in Wales with Prestatyn is to be such a good manager with them that, when the Wales National Team job opens up, I'll be given consideration. Beyond that, Wales is going to simply be a year-in, year-out grind in staying as “on top” as I can manage.

We are in our fifth year, and it's time the focus changed. The goal, after all, is to become competitive in Europe. The difficulty with this is that I'm playing in the WPL. As it stands, no team merely competitive in the WPL is ever going to be competitive in Europe. So, to become a force on the Continent, I have to either raise the playing level of the entire WPL, or I have to become so dominant in the WPL that no other team, not Saints, not Carmarthen, not nobody, can be good enough to so much as smell my britches.

From whence, then, will the players come to manage this goal? Not from MY pitiful youth program, that's for sure. The reason my youth intake is so seemingly poor lately is that the players I've been transferring in, like Anthony and Fleetwood, are significantly better than anything WPL teams are producing. So it's not going to be anytime soon that the future of the club comes from my youth program.

So I have to focus on a slow but steady squad strengthening program, utilizing Welsh “rejects” from England. These will be players like Anthony and Fleetwood, who tried to make it with teams high in the English pyramid and failed. If I can continue to capture those players as they become available, and if I can continue to manage to keep my club's profile high enough so that increasingly better “rejects” come my way, then eventually I'll have a squad that can make the UCL group stage. The financial fallout from such a result would, I am sure, allow my club to build a youth academy, transforming the WPL as our own rejects pour forth into other WPL teams, resulting in better European results for those teams. With any luck, a feedback loop can get going, and then we'll start to see some real progress towards continental domination!

So from now on, my team will consist of two types of player: youth program players (needed for the European league rules) and Welsh “rejects”. Players from within the WPL will find it hard to gain a place on the prestigious Prestatyn side!

With that in mind, here is this season's only “reject” capture so far:

Mark Bradley – MC, DRC, DM, MR

This guy's got more initials after his name than an English title-seeker. I obtained him mostly because he can slot in at the MR position. He's a bit of an overlap with Owain Tudur-Jones, but I hope to train Bradley to the AMC position so that he can be used either on the right flank or in the supporting advanced playmaker role as needed. When I first asked about signing him, he wasn't the least interested; then I won the treble and he was quite happy to come to my squad, and for a very cheap price!

I had a chance at a very good striker, too, but as I'm already letting a very good striker (Kerry Morgan) go because I cannot keep Lopes da Silva happy and productive as an AMC, it seemed pointless to duplicate that situation. Plus, he was English, and I'm not yet ready to renounce my dislike of the Saison.

This year's youth crop has only one really decent player. He's a striker, which I don't really need, but we takes what we gets! I think he's acutally pretty good for a WPL youth squad player; to be able to be considered to have the potential to be an average player on my side is quite good. There was one other tagged player, and I did find on player from two years ago I decided deserved a tag (he has the “xx” after the tag to show it took two years to figure out he was decent!) The one decent fellow is:

YP - 3: John Hunter - ST

I'm actually hoping that this kid makes an impact, because his ability profile is completely different from my other strikers. He's tall, and should be good in the air, I think. That might be a perfect “target” complement to someone like Fleetwood, who is mostly a speed player.

My Ass. Man. continues to improve. His tactical and technique teaching has continued to improve. In addition, he's twice as good at evaluating talent as he was when I started with him. Of course, he's still not that good at it, but he's a better coach now than Alan Howells was when I first hired that gentleman in 2010, and considered him a massive improvement over my Ass. Man.! Jones has 1 more year to show his stuff, then we'll see about keeping him or punting him and seeing who might want to come and be my right-hand man.

As regards my finances: We didn't make as much last year as I had hoped. After much rooting about in the reports, I have figured out why. First, our income last year was seriously over-stated, since it included almost $200K in fund-raising and investment. Second, we payed out about $100K in added bonuses this year. So this year is a much better indicator of the yearly progress we can expect so long as we stay in the UCL and make the second qualifying round.

I have re-entered the U-19 league this year. Last year I felt that the youth didn't play as much, and I think some of the players from the '11 intake languished for that reason; unable to break into the first team but not getting enough games on the Reserves. The plan this year is that the youth will play every youth game and as much of the Reserves games as they can. We'll see if that increases their improvement rate.

And I had a nice surprise! The Board have decided that we are now strong enough financially to add to our staff. They are willing to add coaches AND scouts. That's four more coaches if I want! I won't add that many, since that would essentially eat up the entirety of my yearly profits if I did. But I will add one more coach, so that Alan Howells isn't continuing to be the jack of all trades. Preferably, someone who can coach some attacking skills, since the board still won't let me have a dedicated goal-keeping coach.

Lastly, here is a look at the Board's confidence in me. I chuckle at the fact that it's very much a “what have you done for us, now” sort of confidence!

[DSYoungEsq]

Ok, this cannot WAIT for the update!

We were drawn against Differdange of Luxembourg for the first qualifying round of the UCL. Just finished the first leg, at home.

7 - 2. Hat trick of penalty shots from Tudur-Jones, and he was denied a fourth goal (from open play, no less!) only by the foot of the defender which got there first to make it an own goal.

[DSYoungEsq]

If it's Thursday, it must be Austria! - Preseason report - 2014/5

My squad at start of season.

The Reserves, including those available from the first team and youth squad. Everyone not in the starting 11 + 5 of the First Team is “available for the reserves.”

The “Youth” All U-19s not on the “Squad” are in the Youth Team, and available for Reserves.

Europe never ceases to amaze me. My plucky little band love the challenge of playing on the bigger stage, it's pretty obvious. I wonder if they'll be able to concentrate when we get back to Wales and play the same ol', same ol' teams. Reminds me of that old American post-WWI song: “How You Gonna Keep Them On the Farm (When They've Seen Gay Paree!)?”

As I reported above, our initial game in Europe was a blowout success. This year, we were visited by the team from Differdange, Luxembourg, FC Differdange 03. We stomped them into the ground 7-2. Not content with this slaughter, we went into their house and trashed them 3-0. I am certain they are still looking around in shock and asking for the number of the truck.

[side note: The game must have some strange info. The news talked about how my fans were travelling 2000 miles (!) to get to Luxembourg. Not sure if they were making a connection in Moscow or what.]

This victory should have brought an end to this year's European successes, but it didn't. Paired up with the well-known jumping insects of Switzerland, we went into Zurich where I expected us to succumb. My only hope was that the capitulation to Grasshoppers was less abject than last year's 5-0 spanking from Red Star. And I was rewarded with a 2-3 loss which left us in possession of some priceless away goals! We came home, and a week later, with the TV cameras on us, we parked a huge bus in front of our goal (in the form of my aptly-named 5-2-1-1-1 “Super Defense” tactic). The result was a huge 1-0 victory, sending us through to the 3rd round of Qualifying on away goals. We owe all that to Byron Anthony's 76th min. goal. Talk about sending the fans into raptures! The pundits were quite shocked, too.

So on came our next challenge. By now, we were in WAY over our head. Fortunately, we avoided some of the more dangerous clubs at that stage (like Cluj, Celtic, Rosenborg and Red Star), drawing somewhat less-daunting MSK Zilina of Slovakia. They came to our place first, and again, we parked the bus. The result was a thoroughly undeserved 1-0 win! Lopes da Silva headed in a low cross in the 5th min., and we grimly hung on from there. Sadly, our comeuppance finally arrived in the Pod Dubnom, where we let them have one too many goals. Our away goal in the 1-3 defeat briefly had us going through, but their left winger scored a gorgeous goal from the corner of the area, surrounded by my defenders, right after the break to leave us a disappointed, if proud bunch.

So at that point, I resigned my self to the humdrum of Welsh footie, and started figuring out how to order the squad. Then I got this email in my box and I looked up what it meant, and was shocked to find out that by avoiding being blown out by Zilina, we got the opportunity to be blown out by even BIGGER fish in the EURO Cup. At this point, I hoped we pulled a good English side, so that our attendance for the home fixture would be maximized. Sadly, we avoided City, Villa and Tottenham, as well as several other well-known teams from abroad, and got drawn against LASK Linz of Austria. This should really drawn 'em in!

So I think we will be resigned to counting the cash from the fixtures (we already have banked about $500K from the first three ties) and hopefully not having to clean out and dress too many wounds. It'll mean a couple Sunday games, too, as the WPL is nice enough to realize that Thursday/Saturday games are a bit much.

In other news, I've gone ahead and signed two <gasp> Englishmen to play for us. We need depth to the squad, the youth aren't going to be sufficient, and we've run out of decent Welsh players to sign. I did sign one more Welshman, so that's good. The three added players are:

Adam Henley – DR: Unlike Kieron Freeman, this young player is willing to get stuck in. Sadly, he's not very skilled at going forward, which I usually like my right backs to do. But he'll act as good cover for Freeman, cover I lost when I sent Craig Tawton packing this year. My Ass. Man. and scout rate Henley as better than average.

Darren Butterworth – ST/AM®: English, too. I picked him up for two reasons: 1) we need a backup striker (Llewellyn was sent away at end of season and the youth aren't quite ready), and 2) TNS and Carmarthen were sniffing around him, and I darned sure wasn't going to face this guy. He's FAST. He also rebuffed their offers a few times and I got the feeling he might want to play for me. Turned out I was right. Might like it less when he finds himself bench-warming while Fleetwood and Lopes da Silva smash in the goals.

Warren Clark – DC: My first Englishman hired by me. I held my nose here to do this. We needed a back-up for Anthony and Williams in the back; Davies simply isn't good enough and Tawton went away end of last season. There were no good Welsh DC's available, and this guy comes with some really high recommendations from both my Ass. Man. and my scout. Turns out it was a good idea; he was a major part of that ultra-conservative formation I threw together for the big boys of Europe!

I've also hired a new coach. Neil Jones should be just what the doctor ordered. He's good at both attack AND fitness. I've also reassigned the Ass. Man., Jones, to coaching the defense; I want his skill at that increased so that he's truly the defensive genius of the team. If I keep him on, he oughta have some aspect of the team mostly his to work on.

I did try to find some other Welsh players. I was forced to miss the Welsh Trialists match, sadly, because of the Grasshopper fixtures. It's too bad, in a way, that I didn't see that game in person; reportedly it was a wild and wooly match! When someone is sent off in the first min. of a game, you know a spectacle is brewing.

My band of young players is still producing a large proportion of the Welsh U-21 team. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing for Wales.

Finance notes: Finances are MUCH MUCH better now. My salary budget surplus is in excess of $1.5K per week. The Board rejected my request for upgraded youth facilities at the end of last season, so that's going to have to wait until even more cash has piled up in the vault. Not sure how fast that will be, given that we once again sold 44 season tix. I guess the fans aren't that excited by watching Bridgend come to town, either.

Board confidence in me is quite high, thanks to the fact I'm not spending their cash on player salaries. They don't realize I would if I could!

[DSYoungEsq]

World Cup 2014 (Brazil) Results:

All I have to say is: if Argentina win the WC in Brazil, there is going to be one heck of a massive SOMETHING happen!

Oh, and note the amazing results from England and the US. Capello was sacked the day after the Cup was finished. The American coach was kept on, so far as I know. Del Bosque got the axe, too.

[Raware]

So close in Europe! Unlucky.

As for England...well, nothing changes!

[DSYoungEsq]

So close in Europe! Unlucky.

As for England...well, nothing changes!

The sad part is, I just knew we'd be blown out by both Zilina and Linz, especially away. So I didn't get my hopes up at all. Just started the game with the usual, perfunctory efforts at marshalling the troops and instructing them in what controlled mayhem to cause. If we had been blown out I would have shrugged and said, "at least we got there!"

Of course, in each case, as we kept hanging in, my stupid hopes kept growing. So that when, in each case, the nail got hammered to completely shut the coffin, I ended up feeling bad, robbed, gutted.

It sucks to be JUST good enough to lose by a little!

ETA: Ooops, I guess that's a bit of a spoiler on Linz. <sigh>

[DSYoungEsq]

Eating Dust! - The 2014-5 Mid-Mid-Season Report

Our position graph.

The Squad. Added another right back/winger. Allows me to use Freeman in relief of Luke Jones at times.

The Squad's league stats. Strikers not bad this year!

The Reserves. Not overwhelmingly good.

The Youth.

Well, we're half-way through the qualifying phase of the League, and already TNS are out of sight. They are a perfect 11 wins in 11 tries, and lead us by 10 points. Short of a train wreck, nothing will slow them down. Therefor, I'm playing for second place already.

But first, Europe. As I related last time, we were (to my shock!) still in Europe even after losing the home-and-home with Zilina in the 3rd Qualifying Round of the Champions portion of the UCL (not to be confused with the misnamed “best 3rd place” portion!). We had been drawn against LASK Linz, from Austria. We got the first game at home.

Shockingly, we made a real go of this tie! We scored early in the home game, and didn't let the opponents into the net until shortly after the break. We held on for a nifty 1-1 result, though that away goal was likely to prove troublesome. I had once again used my parked tank formation, modified into a nice 5-2-1-1-1(!). It did the trick, and sent us off to Linz wondering what might happen. I still expected a blowout, but as it transpired, we only lost 0-1, again giving up a goal right after the break (that's an annoying tendency we need to halt!). As I've said already above, losing big would be fine; losing so close to a win is very demoralizing!

And MUCH more demoralizing than I would have thought, once I found out something else! Had we survived Linz, we would have made the EURO Cup Group Phase!!. THIS I had no idea of. Had I known, I'm sure I would have been absolutely unable to watch the game in Linz. Making that group phase would be like striking paydirt, all future money problems solved in one fell swoop. As it is, we managed $700K in prize money out of Europe. We're doing quite well. But STILL.

[side note: If you look at the sides competing in that same qualifying round, we should be extremely honored to be in the competition with them! For a two-bit squad like ours, to be side-by-side (figuratively) with the likes of Villa, Lazio, Galatasaray, Mönchengladbach, PSV Eindhoven, etc., etc., is quite an achievement! And, of course, in the group stage, we would have been toast; Linz and Zilina, the two clubs we lost to, are 3 pts. from 4 games in their groups.]

Sadly, the home-and-home with Linz made a hash out of the start of our season. We only drew away to Carmarthen, who this year are not the strong side they have been in the past (9th, currently). Then we came home and came as close as anyone have this season to taking points off of Saints. But the second -half of that game saw some weary legs on our part, and with the possibility of winning in Linz come Thursday dancing before my eyes, I eschewed playing my strongest squad. Apparently, that win was enough to turn Saints into a powerhouse, and although we've been reasonably good since, we have continued to ship points by comparison to the point that, absent a miracle, they've already bagged the title.

We've also begun to show a shocking tendency to lose games we shouldn't. First, there was the home loss to then-9th place Airbus. But that loss couldn't hold a candle to the humiliation of losing 1-6 at home to Neath, who lie 10th, in the League Cup! I've never experienced such a complete failure on the part of my team. We stunk, in every way possible. Indeed, their second-best striker put 5 past us, two from the spot. One of my players managed only a 4.0 rating, which from this rating system has to qualify as the functional equivalent of having not even been on the pitch! No, I take that back. He probably would have done LESS damage if he'd been on the bench and we had been playing with 10 men. And nothing I could do stopped the rot; it's not helped by the fact that the Welsh cups only let you have three on the sub bench, so when the wheels come off, you had best have guessed correctly where you were going to have to apply the fix! I NEVER want to watch my team play like that again.

Fortunately, they've bounced back pretty well. Aberystwyth managed to steal a point at the end of the next game, and then we went on a scoring tear, helped by playing at home against a thoroughly inferior lower-division side from Powys. This is a good thing, because about our only hope of silverware is that Welsh Cup, and beyond that, we have to stay strong if we intend to collect second place in the League and the slightly better EURO Cup placement that brings (I think; in real life, it's the Cup winner who gets to bypass the first round of qualifying in the EURO Cup).

The squad, to their credit, really aren't playing badly. Several category leaders. Sadly, there's only one stat that matters.

Salary is still not an issue. I've got no one to spend the money on. I'm hoping frugality will save us some money this year, and that will let me start to ramp up salaries in the coming years as I try to hang onto my top talent. So far, the Board is still confident in me, mostly because I'm not spending what they told me I could! Finances are, of course, looking awesome.

And if I'm EVER tempted to whine about our low attendance, I will just look at this to remind me, it could be worse.

[Jason the Yank]

Well done in Europe all the same.

And that Bridgend crowd isn't even "friends and family" attendance.

[DSYoungEsq]

NEVER Say Die! - The 2014-5 Mid-Season Report

Our position graph.

The Squad.

The Reserves.

The Youth.

Readers from the last update will recall that we were being left eating the dust of TNS's all-win season. A perfect 11 for 11 to start, they had a 10 point lead on us. It wasn't that we were playing badly; indeed, we had a comfortable lead over the teams scrambling for 3rd, 4th, etc. But Saints were already on their way out of sight. Week 12 didn't change anything, as we were held at home by nemesis Carmarthen, while TNS made it 12 of 12.

With little hope, we girded our loins [side note: imagine playing the game in loin clothes! Quel suprise! Ok, maybe not so practical in Wales...] and headed off to Park Hall in Oswestry to see if we couldn't at least dent the impregnable armor (2 goals allowed in those 12 games!). While on the team bus, I pondered how to slow down Saint's ferocious attack. It wasn't until we arrived and the driver asked where to park that it hit me!

So we went to my vaunted “Super Defense” 5-2-1-1-1. I don't just park the bus, I hire whole sides of barns! With a formation like that, you'd think that there would be little doubt in the minds of my team just what their focus should be. Yes, you'd think that, but you'd be wrong. So just to be sure we were completely focused on the challenge of stopping the opponents from scoring, my star striker 22 min. in decided to assault their left-back with as vicious a two-footed lunge as has ever been seen, while that worthy was chasing down a ball kicked to their left corner, getting himself sent off. NOW we would have to focus on stopping the enemy, because, after all, down a man in what had just become a 5-2-1-0-1 formation, scoring was out of the question!

So, of course, we scored first, an own goal off a redirecting header from a corner in min. 31. This, of course, did nothing but infuriate the enemy, who barraged us for the rest of the half, finally breaking through when my central backs decided to do a left-right split just as their star striker was doing a route one tour. And things didn't get better in the second half, as they managed to score on a DFK from about 22 yards out. At this point, I was simply resigned to another loss, leaving us full 15 points back and licking some really large wounds.

Never give up, Never give in!

The improbability of that win had me jumping with joy. It also brought the house down around Saints. Although they managed to win their next game, they then proceeded to lose 3 of the next 4, to let us crawl back into the race. Mind you, we weren't spotless ourselves, and I feared the awful loss to Haverfordwest (two center backs sent off!) would end the luck. But it didn't, and at the end of the 11 games, TNS had shipped 17 of 33 points, leaving us only one back!

Our Welsh Cup adventure this season has been pretty easy, so far. Indeed, we've gotten quite good at beating up on defenseless lower-division teams, as you see. I think my team loves those games: even the center-backs get involved with delightfully headed-in set pieces. Lopes da Silva went through a short spell of injury followed by unproductiveness, but he's right as rain now, and Fleetwood just loves to lead the League. That Sais striker we hired, Butterworth, doesn't add too much, sadly; he may be fast, but he can't finish worth anything. For a bit we had to rely upon him and one of the youth strikers up top, paired with some second-choice center-backs, and did I wear out the fingernails for those games...

Meanwhile, I've just given in where English players are concerned. I added DC Josh Kay from England when I started getting concerned about having enough back-up in case of injury. It's a good thing I did, as Anthony and Williams managed to combine for a spell of injuries and suspensions that had me scrambling for decent defense. We just about managed to make it work. But I'm having to totally re-think the “Welsh Only” issue, and I'm not liking what my thoughts are saying. I'll revisit it at season end.

Finances are strong, and Board confidence is high. I expect that, if we keep up the title challenge, stay in the Cup, and don't spend too much of their precious money, I might just about keep my job.

Statistics wonky stuff: Notice where my shots came from in the win over Saints

Notice how they barraged us with their own shots.

I don't really need to show those, but I'm enjoying playing with the new Analysis toys, finally. The heat maps are both fun, and functional!

[DSYoungEsq]

Sigh. Cup - Yes. Championship - No. Update tomorrow when I'm perkier and willing to write it.

[DSYoungEsq]

First Loser - The 2014-5 End of Season Report

The Position Graph

The Squad.

The Squad's stats (WPL).

The Reserves.

The Youth Rated.

There is an old saying: 2nd place is 1st Loser. I've never felt it applied more than to our squad this year, in multiple ways.

We failed in the end because we couldn't keep from losing at the wrong times. We went into the last phase behind a single point. Carmarthen immediately came in and stomped us, but fortunately, Saints only drew their game, so we were two behind. Both of us won the next week, setting up the first showdown against them for supremacy. I promptly parked the bus/tank/barnside in front of our goal (they complained as we drove all and sundry onto their grounds, but I ignored them!) and stole another win from them in front of the TV cameras. That put us up by a point. I exhorted my men to make it stick.

So they promptly went out and lost to Aberystwyth four days later. That put Saints up again. After we dispatched Llanelli in back-to-back games (Cup tie and League match), we woke up Sunday morning to find ourselves back in front by a point; Saints had managed to lose to Carmarthen 0-2 at home! So I again fired up the troops. “Lads, for Truth, Justice and King Harry!” This, of course, totally bewildered them, and they promptly dropped the ball with a loss to 6th place Haverforwest, who were doing their best rendition of “We Didn't Deserve To Be In the Top Group!”, ably backed by the Welsh singers from Neath, Port Talbot and Broughton. That dumped us back into second, and there we stayed.

Partly, if I'm brutally honest (is there ever any other sort of honesty?), it was my fault. Saints came into our place right on the heels of that loss. If we had taken them down for the third straight time, I feel sure we would have sailed on into the Championship berth. But I had grown impatient with the bus strategy, and I wasn't paying attention to the scorelines. We weren't scoring but one a game, and Fleetwood had dried up as a source of goals in the League. But I hated spending Sunday repairing tire tracks on the pitch, so I dared the lads to take the game to Saints with our normal wide-diamond. For 81 min. it worked, and Lopes da Silva gave us a late lead with a brilliant goal. But then, in min. 82, we let their star striker (who, I was reminded, I could have taken myself if I hadn't been still gripped with anti-English passion) score, leaving them in first with four to go, and essentially dooming us.

And so it passed. Two ties later, we were behind by four and the dream was done. Our final game was played with almost nothing but youngsters, who I might add, acquitted themselves quite creditably. But the feeling was hollow, even when we went on to win the Welsh Cup over toothless Bangor City in my 200th match in charge of Prestatyn Town FC. I suppose it wouldn't have been so bad a feeling, had we simply limped to the end always behind, as looked likely following the first 11 games. But I always hate to have something right there that you can take, and have it snatched away at the end.

Our consolation is that we are by virtue of the Cup win entered into the 2nd qualifying round of the EURO Cup. While this keeps us from racking up some gate, it allows us to have a few friendlies at the start of pre-season before the first shot is fired in anger (the UCL first round starts on or about 7/2!). I think that will help us be better prepared next year for the European campaign. It also means we simply need to luck our way to three successive successes to make the group stage, though I'm hardly counting on that. Last year's draw at the 4th round (Linz) was very kind to us; should we make it that far again, I'm expecting we'll see someone more like Tottenham.

A large portion of our poor results down the stretch can be laid at the feet of our star striker, Fleetwood. This worthy failed to find the net in the last 7 League games (though he managed to fatten up on the Cup opponents just fine!). At the end of the February TNS game, he was sitting atop the scorers table for the League with 17. He finished with 17, but was passed by one person and caught by another. This means that I'm pretty sure we won't be seeing his face smiling as he holds a second successive PoY trophy. Clearly, I'm not going to by MoY again, either. And I doubt we have a true YPoY candidate, so it could be a shut-out in the awards ceremony.

I'm not sitting on my hands, though. We've got money to spend, and I'm spending it. Not in transfer fees (not yet, anyway!), but in salary. I've grabbed a Welsh left-wing who spent a whole year saying “no” to me, only to say “yes” just before the Welsh Cup final (in which he played and did a very good job). I've also convinced a really, really good Welsh striker to join, again after he spent a year saying “no.” Idiots. Think of the money in salary they missed. Lopes da Silva is simply going to have to either convert to AMC or prove he's worth making a three-striker formation for. He's really good for the WPL, but I'm not so sure he's good enough to shine in Europe, should we ever manage to make a group stage. I'll report on the new players at the next report.

My plan for the coming year will be to strengthen the squad any way I can. I've got a couple players anxious to be on their way to greener pastures (Anthony and Tudur-Jones), though they backed down when we won the Cup. I'm being very aggressive to be sure that any new Welsh phenoms come to my attention, and this year, I'm not going to be picky about any English phenoms, either. Finances are in excellent shape, confidence is high, salaries are still under control. And my Reserves (mostly the kids!) won the Reserves league by a wide margin, so I'm quite confident about future WPL success. Now, to keep building that up into European success!

Analysis Fun: Bangor City's shots from the Cup Final

My shots from the Cup Final

My CCCs from the Cup Final! Not a real shock who won this one...

[hrbfcrule]

Don't know why I haven't commented on this thread before, a fantastic read . Congratz on the domestic treble in 2014 and a very respectable run in Europe this season. Pity about coming 2nd but maybe it gives you a chance to do even better in the Euro Cup.

[Matt123456]

Unlucky with the title, but these things happen. It'll just make it all the sweeter for when you win next season! It's looking like your only real competition in the next few seasons will be TNS

[DSYoungEsq]

@ hrbfcrule: Thanks! I strive to make it entertaining, if for no other reason than so that you catch a bit of my personality; if all we did in here was read about careers, it would be boring. I love the various personalities of the people who's careers we follow.

@Matt12....: Yes, unlucky, though predictable if you end up with a goal drought. I'm actually concerned that the European money is making it almost impossible for the clubs that don't usually make it to Europe to compete. Normally, clubs with large attendance figures rule lower leagues, because of the extra money they can throw around. However, here, the European money makes the "gate" figures almost irrelevant. So TNS, Carmarthen, Prestatyn and Aberystwyth, who have routinely been making Europe the last few years, keep getting relatively better, while a team like Haverfordwest, with top attendance figures, can't keep up. Kinda like the EPL, yanno?

[DSYoungEsq]

The Year End Summary - 2014/5

Prestatyn Town FC Honors

WPL Team of the Season: We have three on the squad – Martin Morris (Y1), Byron Anthony and Kieron Freeman. Freeman makes it again, meaning there is a dearth of decent right backs because he's not that special; indeed, he's likely to be taken out this year by one of two different right backs hired last season. Martin Morris (Y1) is a real surprise, both because I think Jonathan North of Neath is better, and because Morris didn't win a single MoM during the season. I guess he's finally living up to his promise.

Fan's Player of the Year: Stuart Fleetwood, a first-time winner, and the first time it hasn't gone to a fullback!

News for Prestatyn Town FC:

Prestatyn are now 458th in Europe!. That's up only 25 places from last year, despite what the news report says. Presumably our success in Europe is paying off.

Barely visible in the Wales Year End Summary. It's now clear that my habit of snapping up next season's talent during May of the prior season keeps them from being considered for “Signing of the Season.” Since that's when they start to show up, most of the time, or at least when they are willing to take my offers of employement, I'll take the players and the heck with the kudos.

The club's profits haven't been announced, yet. But financially we did well, as well as ever.

News about Wales and the World:

The WPL's rock-like ranking is now down to 643! Since I'm doing better, it must be that the other European participants aren't doing as well. That's not good news. However, in 2016, Wales will be the site of the UCL Final! Guess that shows that, if you build it, they will come!

Wales still getting the same slots in Europe, despite what the headline says. We'll enter the Second Qualifying Round of the EURO Cup as the Wales Cup holders. TNS are playing in the First Qualifying Round of the UCL, same as we did last year. [OOC: stupid stuff like this makes me want to wring a programmer's neck; it's not that hard to get database info right!]

Wales, btw, is currently 62nd in the world, up 18 places from last year. We may well have contributed some of that this year.

In other news of the world: Tuvalu are in need of a national team coach. Anyone want the job?

Now for the shock of the season: I was WPL Manager of the Year for the third straight year! I'm not sure how come I won this over Mr. Davies from TNS. I guess it shows that they keep thinking we over-achieve by finishing where we do, which, if true, is a massive disrespecting of my players!

[bluebirds4life]

Hehe, have relatives in Prestatyn <3

Going to start one of these one day, well done mate you're doing awesome

[DSYoungEsq]

bluebirds4life, thanks! I'm bumping along fine, and enjoying the Welsh seaside while doing same.

[DSYoungEsq]

The First Five Years: A recap of 2010 to 2014 Seasons

Initially, it was my intent to do a substantial summary at this point. I intended to cover the results of the WPL, the results of Prestatyn Town, the development of my youth, the results of the EPL and the FA Cup, etc. Then I realized two things: 1) That was a lot of work, and 2) I didn't really care about most of those things, really.

There are two reasons for the second realization. The first has to do with the purpose of the save. This isn't a journeyman career, where I'm going to boast of my exploits across five continents, spanning the globe to bring you the best in soccer. Instead, it's a focused, purposeful attempt to take Prestatyn Town FC to the height of footballing glory in Europe, then follow that by taking Wales to the height of footballing glory in the world. That's going to take a LONG TIME. Improvement in my efforts won't be able to be measured in a measley 5 years, and along the way, all the other things, like what's going on in England, become quite unimportant. In 25 years I might like to see what has happened to the EPL, out of curiosity. For now, though, I the only interesting information has to do with Prestatyn's place in Europe, and Wales' place in the world.

Secondly, once I get started on an exposition of what's gone on for 5 years, I'll never get stopped. I just know I'll find something incredibly interesting about what has happened the last three years with some mid-table Championship club in England, or get all into figuring out the whichness of why regarding whose done what in Ireland, etc. So if it's all the same to everyone, what I'd prefer to do is present a relatively slimmed down set of data, relating to the goal of the save, and if anyone wants to know anything else, I'll be happy to answer questions.

I'll split the recap into a post on the club, a post on the WPL, and a post on Wales.

[DSYoungEsq]

The First Five Years: A recap of 2010 to 2014 Seasons

Prestatyn Town FC: 2010 to 2014

WPL Results:

2010 - 6th

2011 - 2nd

2012 - 1st

2013 - 1st

2014 - 2nd

Welsh Cup Results:

2010 – 4th Round (to Llanelli)

2011 – Winners (over Airbus)

2012 – Final (to Aberystwyth a.e.t.)

2013 – Winners (over TNS)

2014 – Winners (over Bangor City)

Loosemores League Cup

2010 – QF (to Newtown)

2011 – QF (to Neath)

2012 – QF (to Newtown)

2013 – Winners (over Carmarthen)

2014 – QF (to Neath)

European Results:

2010 – N/A

2011 – N/A

2012 – EURO Cup: Bye in 1st Qual. Rd.; Won 2nd Qual. Rd. 1-1 (a) vs. NK Dinamo (Zagreb); Lost 3rd Qual. Rd. 0-3 vs. Spartak ZV (Subotica, SER)

2013 – UCL: Won 1st Qual. Rd. 3-2 vs. Crusaders (NIR); Lost 2nd Qual. Rd. 1-6 vs. Red Star (Belgrade)

2014 – UCL: Won 1st Qual. Rd.10-2 vs. Differdange (LUX); Won 2nd Qual. Rd. 3-3 (a) vs. Grasshopper (Zurich); Lost 3rd Qual. Rd. 2-3 vs. Zilina (SVK); transferred to EURO Cup Lost 4th Qual. Rd. 1-2 vs. LASK Linz (AUT)

UEFA Club Rank: (measured at start of season)

2010 - < 393 (Rhyl - 336th)

2011 - < 479 (TNS - 392nd)

2012 - < 493 (TNS - 418th)

2013 - 531th (TNS - 430th)

2014 - 483th (TNS - 420th)

2015 - 458th (TNS - 407th)

Any relationship these coefficients bear to real UEFA coefficients is totally coincidental. The proper calculation method is not applied. While the national coefficient for Wales is properly done, it appears that all Welsh clubs already on the list get a portion of Wales' points, regardless of whether they compete in Europe that year or not. Further, some clubs get more points than others, and it's not clear on what basis that occurs. SI really need to re-do this!

[DSYoungEsq]

The First Five Years: A recap of 2010 to 2014 Seasons

Welsh Premier League: 2010 to 2014

European League Reputation Rank and Champion: (rank as of start of season; European qualifiers also listed, * denotes qualification by Cup)

2010 – 283rd rank (Aberystwyth 62 pts., TNS, Newtown, Airbus*)

2011 – 271st rank (Carmarthen 59 pts., Prestatyn*, TNS, Newtown)

2012 – 259th rank (Prestatyn 68 pts., Aberystwyth*, TNS, Carmarthen)

2013 – 373rd rank (Prestatyn 63 pts., TNS, Carmarthen, Aberystwyth)

2014 – 498th rank (TNS 68 pts., Prestatyn*, Carmarthen, Aberystwyth)

2015 – 643rd rank

If anyone can think of anything else they'd like to know about the League, let me know and I'll add it in.

[DSYoungEsq]

The First Five Years: A recap of 2010 to 2014 Seasons

Wales: 2010 to 2014

World Ranking: (at start of season)

2010 – 84th

2011 – 70th

2012 – 41st !

2013 – 76th

2014 – 80th

2015 – 62nd

European Rank by UEFA Coefficient: (at start of season) [side Note: these appear to be correctly calculated]

2010 – 46th

2011 – 47th

2012 – 50th

2013 – 52nd

2014 – 52nd

2015 – 46th (Will allow TNS to skip the 1st Qual. Rd. of the ECC)

National Team Competition Results:

2010 – N/A

2011 – 3rd in EC Group G: W4 D1 L3 -4 13 (1st: England 18 pts., 2nd: Switzerland 16 pts.)**

2012 – N/A

2013 – 4th in UEFA Group 5: W2 D2 L6 -4 8 (1st: Portugal 28 pts., 2nd: Croatia 21 pts., 3rd: Romania 20 pts.)

2014 – N/A

2015 – In progress: 3rd behind England (-5) and Ireland (-3) this time (!) with a game in hand

** - Lost both games to England: 0-3 home; 1-5 away

[Raware]

Nice summary, very clean and concise and easy to follow .

[rancer890]

Mate still reading through everything. You updated a lot of stuff. Probably won't read it all. You reckon you can make the group stages in Europe (UCL or Europa League) anytime soon?

But how in the world did the Welsh league drop 145 spots to 643rd??

[DSYoungEsq]

Rancer, mate, if you can answer that, you win the All-Expenses Paid Great High Five Download of the Century!

Meanwhile, I'm off to update the offseason efforts to get us worthy of better European results. I'm a bit pessimistic here, not because I don't think I can improve the team (I already have), but because I think we were massively lucky last season to go as far as we did, and don't anticipate such luck again.

[DSYoungEsq]

The Search for the Perfect Ass (Man) – May Fun, 2015

As those who have followed along know, when I took this job in the summer of 2010, I had but one staff member, the Assistant Manager, Martin Jones. Normally, I would have shaken his hand, had him show me around a bit, then shown him the door and advertised for my own man. However, I've never taken on the project of trying to develop my own Ass. Man. So I decided to keep Mr. Jones on, and see what happened.

Well, I've given Mr. Jones five years, and he has, indeed, developed. Indeed, as you can see below, he's shown a perfectly good progression. His stats go up in areas he coaches. His Tactical Coaching ability is quite good, now, having risen from 3 to 13! And he's more than twice as good at judging ability and potential. He's decidedly better than Alan Howells was when I brought that worthy on board as my first coaching hire, back in 2010. In time, if he continues to coach, he'll develop into a fine Ass. Man., useful to any manager at the level of the WPL.

     [u]10[/u]  [u]11[/u]  [u]12[/u]  [u]13[/u]  [u]14[/u]  [u]15[/u]
Att   4   5   5   5   5   6
Def   4   5   8   8   8   9
Tac   3   7   8  10  11  13
Tec   4   5   6   7   8   8

DDM  18  19  20  20  19  20
PA/P  7   8  11  11  13  17
Tkn   3   5   6   5   6   6

The trouble is, I need better. I've already got a Youth Coach who's substantially better. If Howard was willing to hire on two seasons ago as a youth coach, I'm sure I can get a better Ass. Man. than Jones simply by advertising. As usual, of course, the suggestions from my staff for suitable coaching additions are laughable: coaching candidates who's salary demands so far outstrip anything the Board would pay it's laughable. So I know I'll have to find a new Ass. Man. the old-fashioned way: advert and interview.

First, though, came the sad part. I had to inform Mr. Jones I wasn't going to renew the contract. Indeed, I couldn't even afford to let him see out the remaining 30 days of his contract, because the Board won't allow me to advertise for a new man until the old one is already out the door [OOC: FM needs to modify this; it's not realistic you can't advert for a replacement when someone's contract is running out]. Letting go someone who works for you is never easy [OOC: I know this to be true from actual, personal experience ]. I told him he had done a fine job for me, but that I needed fresh blood, and didn't want to hamper his career by tying him down when he could, in all probability, obtain a head man job somewhere in Wales. I think he understood.

Having sent him on his way, I put in the advert. Two weeks later, my secretary had clipped together the résumés of a handful of candidates, and I began to go through them, making one or two phone calls to gather some more information along the way. As usual, some of them had no business trying for an Ass. Man. job, yet. There was the usual candidate employed elsewhere, looking to go sideways and up, but we cannot afford to buy out a $100K contract, so that's a non-starter. I was pleasantly surprised to see the letter of interest from Wrexham's Youth Coach, Andy Davies, with whom I've chatted numerous times on the phone discussing young talent of theirs we might borrow. But when I called to ask him to come up for an interview, he curtly said he wasn't interested! I was resigned to continuing the advert and being without an Ass. Man. when the European campaign kicked off in July.

Then I picked up the last résumé. I was skeptical at first: he had never coached before! But as I read his letter, and looked over his information, I was duly impressed. So I called around, and found out that he was highly touted for a coaching job, with a well-rounded understanding of the game and ability to teach that to younger players. Not quite believing my luck, I called him in for an interview. As we talked, I grew quite excited. Here was a young man with a view of the game quite similar to mine! No more cautious, defensive style combating with my own adventurous outlook! And he sounded quite loyal to his former team; loyalty is a quality I prize highly. Then, I grew glum. Surely, I said to myself, he has been told he is going to be good, and will want high wages.

We opened negotiation for the position. When he named his price, I worked VERY hard to not show surprise. I asked him if he would consider a longer contract for some added initial wages; he thought hard about it, we dickered, and he said yes.

I immediately canceled the advert, and put out a press release, trumpeting our new Ass. Man., Phil Catlin. Oh, the places we will go!

[DSYoungEsq]

Tortoises: Slow and Steady Improvement the Goal - 2015 Initial Report

This year, the Board has upped the ante: qualify for Europe!. They aren't being misers about it, either!!

I accept their challenge, no more. I'll never spend all that cash anyway.

The 2015 Season Squad, at present, Ass Man ratings included. I've got two signings of note, so far; see below. For once, I'm almost willing to trust the Ass. Man. ratings.

The "reserves." A few names on here of people who are going to be leaving us at the end of June (e.g.: Crockford). Otherwise, the youth (not including the newbies).

The youth intake for the year. One fairly good signing, an attack-minded midfielder.

My staff after five years.

Well, with five years under the belt, I needed to stop and work out the next part of the plan. We've become quite successful in terms of Wales: top two in the League for four years running, Welsh Cup finalists four years running (3 wins!), occasional League Cup force. In Europe, we've been quite lucky at times, but we also are good at handling business when we are the favorites (see the dismantling last season of Differdange). I cannot complain about where we stand after five years.

It's also evident that we've become more reputable in Europe. The most recent evidence of this was the signing at the end of last season of Kieran Djilali and Elliott Chamberlain, who had spent the whole year steadfastly refusing my advances. So I'm able to pull in better players to the club (MUCH better than the quality I had available in 2010!). But my annual haul of better players appears to be limited to one or two at a time. Still, given time, these better players should allow me to advance farther in the European competitions.

I fear, however, that grandiose goals are still out of reach. I'm a realist when looking at our successes. Had we not managed just one of the goals we got vs. Grasshopper of Zurich, we'd have been done and out by the end of July last season. And we could just as easily have been matched against fairly powerful clubs like Tottenham, or Red Star during either of the last two ties we drew. So although we were tantalizingly close to group play, I'm thinking that's a bit of a chimera. We're the Not Quite Ready For Prime Time players, at this point.

So after some thought, I've decided that the goal for the next five years is simply to gradually improve, without any more flashy goal than simply being more competitive in Europe and more consistent at home. After 10 years with the club, if we can continue to improve the same way as the last few years, I'm confident we'll break through into the group phase of one of the competitions.

I've managed to sell the Board on the future vision, too. At the end of last season, I again asked them for newer youth facilities, so that we could begin developing truly competitive youngsters. Realistically, Martin Morris is the only top product of the first 4 intakes who will ever star for the club; the others simply aren't good enough to keep up with the fresh talent I can bring in from outside. Initially, the Board put me off again, whining about finances, but this time I pressed the issue. Surprisingly, they decided I was right! So we have new facilities under construction, due to be completed next summer.

This season's “reject” signings are:

Kieran Djilali – ML/R, AML/R

FINALLY I manage to capture a decent wing. We've gotten quite good up the middle the last few years, but we've really been forced to play people out of position to get decent players on the wings. Djilali solves that issue on the left, and has the added advantage of being able to back up on the right. This guy is quite a coup for us; he's both pacey and physical. Actually played for us in the Cup final last season, and slotted right in no sweat.

Elliott Chamberlain – ST

I agonized over this signing for a long time. But last season's inability to keep up with the Saints has re-oriented my thinking on talented players willing to play for me: it doesn't matter if we don't “need” them, as long as they are a significant upgrade at the position. Chamberlain should be able to do anything Lopes da Silva could, and then again some. Of course, now I'm in the same boat I was two seasons ago: what do I do with Lopes da Silva??

Alex Lawless – MR

Not a “reject”, an actual, honest to goodness steal from a rival club on a free. Lawless should do as well as Bradley has on the right. Bradley has had poor morale all year, and I cannot help but think it's because he doesn't want to play on the right when he's really a center mid. With Lawless in the squad, I will be able to centralize Bradley (forcing Harris into a backup role, but you cannot make amulets with Aut-breaking eggs, they say...)

This year's youth crop has only one semi-decent player. He's a midfielder with an attacking bent and a good left foot:

YP - 5: Joe Morris – AMC

This kid probably won't be doing much with us, in the long run. He's not that highly touted. My guess is he'll stick with us just long enough to prove himself worth being transferred to some other WPL outfit with less resources than we have.

One last note: I've decided to try something new in the way of freindlies. As my schedule shows, I'm going to institute a series of Monday Night home friendlies. In these games, I intend to play mostly my reserves/youth. But I do intend to insert my starting squad as needed to help them ramp-up in fitness for the season. Obviously, I still need to keep Thursday night's European matches in mind, but without something like this in place, all I have are those weekly games and that's not enough for true fitness. Plus, it may become a tradition at Bastion Gardens!

As regards my finances: We made out like bandits last season. Not counting on that this season. Goal is to build to a balance of over $1M, at which point we might consider some serious upgrades of our facilities.

Lastly, the Board's confidence in me is quite high (mostly a salary thing!). For a change, I feel fairly confident I can keep it that way.

Joke of the day: We receive our TV moneys

Last note: I've just re-read this. It's much too long. In the future, going to be more concise! I know it's interesting to me, but I suspect many of you would simply like me to be more Dragnet about it (Just the facts, Ma'am!).

[Matt123456]

$775? And I was complaining about my "measly" 30 grand TV rights. Puts it a bit in perspective now . The good thing about a European run is that you only need one lucky season of flukey goals and easy draws to get into the group stage, then you are sorted for the rest of your career. Especially if you manage to somehow get into the Champions League. That £7 million will go far. I think that is the breakthrough that all clubs at a level like this need. Kieran Djilali and Elliot Chamberlain look like great additions to the team as well.

[DSYoungEsq]

Yeah, Djilali is the really important capture. We've been blessed with decent strikers all along, guys who could bulge the onion bag regularly, so Chamberlain is nice to have as an upgrade, but not vital. But Djilali is the first time in a few years I've had a winger who's ability matches the skills of his center-of-the-park mates. I seriously think I'll change the instructions to "primarily down the left side"!

To keep the gulf in quality in perspective between us and the sort of teams that even make the EURO Cup groups:

If we were to play in England, we would, AT BEST, be a BSP team. I seriously don't think we could stay up in League 2. And yet, there isn't a League 2 club in England that could even sniff the socks of the teams which make the EURO Cup group stages. Most Championship sides would have trouble making that level. So when we go off to play in Europe, we are so seriously over our heads that we can't even tell where the surface is. Playing against Zilina last season, I think there was one point where a coelacanth on the field with us, we were so deep!

[Matt123456]

Ah but you're forgetting the "magic" of Europe. I've always found that for some reason when you're managing a weaker side in Europe they seem to play above themselves. And there's nothing like stomping some team from Luxembourg, San Marino or the Faero Islands to give you misplaced confidence

[hrbfcrule]

Fantastic updates, detailed and well laid out .

Elliot Chamberlain looks a really good signing, can't really judge the wingers as I never use them myself although your assistant seems to rate Djilali.

It is brilliant how players with those stats can be playing in Europe, they look League 2 standard at best .

[DSYoungEsq]

“No” doesn't always mean no - Preseason report - 2015/6

My squad at start of season. Have had to finagle in a second U-19 to meet WPL rules.

The Reserves, including those available from the first team and youth squad. My usual approach.

The “Youth” Ineligible players have just been released on frees, having reached age 18 with no indication of future mediocrity ahead.

Three things to report on this update:

1) New signing: goalkeeper of some value!

2) Europe: no real shocks.

3) Staff addition.

My squad going into the season was pretty solid, with two real exceptions: left-back and 'keeper. Left-back isn't a new issue; chronically we managers search high and low for decent left-sided defenders. But the 'keeper position pained me, because Martin Morris (Y1) has been with me since my second season, and has ably served as my starting keeper since he was just 16, with very few interruptions. But he's simply not ever going to be more than a really solid WPL 'keeper, and that's just not good enough any more.

So I started hunting late last season for a decent 'keeper. Of course, the usual rum suspects were showing up. One or two decent upgrades were potentially available, but I was really hoping for a home run. But all the home-run 'keepers were refusing to talk to me. That included this lad, a youth at Aston Villa, who's contract was about to expire. But they had another, even better 'keeper the same age, and something told me they weren't going to renew my target's contract. So I waited...

Good thing, because now Matty Long is mine! I checked with him on June 30, and he was pretty sad that Villa hadn't re-upped his deal. So I casually asked if he'd like to join my outfit, thinking he'd say no again. Surprisingly, he started talking numbers. Quickly realizing that I needed to make more than the minimal offer his despondency was causing him to talk about (I just knew others would be sniffing), I threw a fair amount of money at him (more in wages than I've paid anyone since that injury-prone striker McLaggon), structured with a lot of bonuses to whet his appetite. Then I sweated out the inevitable offers from bigger, better clubs. Shockingly, he's chosen Bastion Gardens to mind the nets of.

This forced me to upgrade the staff yet again. I needed a goalkeeper coach. After some beating of the bushes, Lee Jones was pried away from Witton. Too bad I didn't have him for the raising of Martin Morris (Y1). But if I'm going to justify Long's faith in coming here, I need to be able to nurture him as best can be done.

As for Europe, well, the result was not bad, but not particularly good, either. We finally ended up with a draw more in line with what the averages would predict. Having managed to see-off the challenge of Czech side FC Slovan Liberec, we were paired with Stade Rennais FC, a perennially mid-tablish League 1 side. The 0-1 result at home in the first leg was a real triumph, though the fact we didn't score one of our 5 shots meant that we probably were never going to win the tie. We tried parking the bus, tank, barn, etc. in Rennes, but the other side found that the windows were open, or something, and managed to poke 4 home. So we are out after only the 3rd Round of the EURO Cup this time, with only about $375K in prize money. That means we won't bank much this season; I project a final balance of roughly $550K, same as last year.

Finances look good right now. Last year's profits were $375K, on income of $1M(!). The condition of the club is also good; as you can see from that screen, confidence is high and salaries are still in control, even after I agreed to bring Long aboard. Sadly, though, our successes have not brought any better success at the turnstyle: season tix are still stuck at 44.