The Journey

[unitedmanager]

Authors Notes: Playing FM14, With Australian A-League, England Skrill N/S and up, French National League and up, German Second Division and up, Greece National B Division and up, Italian Serie C2 and up, Scottish League 2 and up, Spanish Second Division B and up and the MLS, as the leagues loaded. I am using a large database. I am starting unemployed.

July 2nd 2013: Not many jobs available, but all that are, are from the top leagues and I knew I wouldn’t even be considered for any of them. So I am waiting for my first opportunity to come in the form of a lower league side.

[unitedmanager]

October 24th 2013: Over the past couple of days, there have been several jobs become available, and I began to apply for job after job, after job. Finally I began to get some call backs for initial interviews with the clubs. It started with AFC Telford in the Skrill North.

October 25th 2013: Hayes and Yeading called me in for an interview.

October 28th 2013: Both AFC Telford and Hayes & Yeading come back with offers. Hayes are offering £525 per week until the end of the season, no transfer budget and 5.5K wage budget, with the expectation to achieve a respectable league position. AFC Telford are offering £350 per week until the end of the season, £9,500 transfer budget, £10,500 wage budget, want attacking football and are going to increase the junior coaching budget at my request. Telford however, are expecting to win the league. They are currently in 18th in the Skrill North, 10 points behind leaders Bradford Park Avenue. A tough decision to make. Do I go for the extra cash or do I go for glory? … I decided to go for glory. I met with the AFC Telford chairman and began to discuss terms. He wasn’t willing to negotiate the length of the contract, but I was able to negotiate an increase in my weekly wage to £550 per week until the end of the season. Contract accepted.

[unitedmanager]

The squad I inherited:

| Pkd | Inf | Name | Position | Nat | Height | Weight | Age | Value |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | Tut | Ryan Young | GK | ENG | 186 cm | 88 kg | 33 | £3.6K |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | Inj | Andy Pryce | GK | ENG | 188 cm | 91 kg | 33 | £325 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | Inj | Chris Lever | D (RLC) | ENG | 194 cm | 93 kg | 26 | £7.25K |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Andy Owens | D (LC), WB (L) | ENG | 191 cm | 92 kg | 24 | £10.75K |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Simon Grand | D © | ENG | 186 cm | 65 kg | 29 | £6K |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Dan Preston | D © | ENG | 186 cm | 78 kg | 22 | £10.25K |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Neill Byrne | D © | IRL | 188 cm | 74 kg | 20 | £10K |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Ben Carter | D ©, DM | ENG | 191 cm | 88 kg | 18 | £3K |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | Inj | Mike Grogan | D ©, DM | ENG | 179 cm | 81 kg | 24 | £2.6K |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Enes Fermino | D ©, DM, M © | CGO | 184 cm | 71 kg | 26 | £54K |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Wes Baynes | D/WB/M/AM ® | ENG | 181 cm | 68 kg | 25 | £20.5K |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Alan Moogan | DM, M (LC) | ENG | 173 cm | 75 kg | 29 | £9.25K |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | Inj | Richard Langley | M (RC) | JAM | 178 cm | 72 kg | 33 | £800 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Charlie Barnett | M (RC), AM ® | ENG | 171 cm | 73 kg | 25 | £15.25K |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Russell Benjamin | M © | ENG | 173 cm | 75 kg | 22 | £5.25K |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | Inj | Martyn Jackson | M © | ENG | 178 cm | 79 kg | 19 | £1.9K |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Mike Phenix | AM (RL), ST © | ENG | 188 cm | 86 kg | 23 | £2.7K |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Tony Gray | ST © | ENG | 178 cm | 77 kg | 29 | £14.5K |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | Inj | Rob Hopley | ST © | ENG | 188 cm | 80 kg | 28 | £1.3K |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

[unitedmanager]

October 28th 2013: Decided to keep Simon Grand as captain and Ryan Young as vice captain. After initial discussions with my backroom staff, we decided to mutually terminate the contract of goalkeeper/goalkeeping coach Andy Pryce, which he accepted. To cover for the departure of Pryce, I called up young Australian goalkeeper Thomas Connor-Hunt to the senior squad.

October 28th 2013: FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round draw today saw us drawn away to non-league side Dereham Town.

October 29th 2013: Skrill North (Game 13/42) vs Vauxhall (H)

My first match as manager of AFC Telford. Due to injuries and uncompleted signings that are in the process of going through, I am limited with the squad I could start with. In the end, a call up to the senior squad for a couple of the youth team players was needed. We didn’t start off too bad. The first real sign of action in the game came from us, in the 4th minute when Baynes lobbed a free kick from just in the oppositions half into the penalty area aiming for the head of Phenix, but the Vauxhall keeper rushed out and managed to tip the ball over the bar for a corner. Mitchell drilled the corner into the box and after a number of attempts on goal by our team, Vauxhall finally managed to get the ball clear. It didn’t take long after that for a goal to finally come, only it was scored by Vauxhall. The opposition playing some wonderful football, passing the ball short sharp passes through the middle of the park and Ellams calmly slotted it past the debutant keeper Connor-Hunt in the 17th. A minute later, youth team call up Sam Mitchell headed a bullet toward the Vauxhall keeper making the oppositions keeper dig deep to make a flying save to deny the equaliser after some great build up play down the right hand side of the park from Barnett, Baynes and Bennett. We continued to apply pressure on the Vauxhall defenders and keeper, looking particularly dangerous with our crosses from either side, just lacking in that final touch in front of goal. Half time and we were only down by one, but clearly I wasn’t happy and let the players know. My half time talk must have worked because it only took 6 minutes and we had brought it back all square. A Baynes free kick from just outside the box, after Barnett had been brought down from behind, found its way rocketing straight into the top corner of the net, leaving the Vauxhall keeper stretching for thin air. 25 minutes later, and still controlling the game, we finally hit the lead. Barnett pouncing on a loose ball after a mix up between the Vauxhall defenders, used his vision beautifully to find the oncoming Phenix, who curled a shot around the outstretched Vauxhall keeper. Despite the visible signs of tiredness, the lads held on to get a well deserved win.

AFC Telford 2 (Baynes 51st, Phenix 74th)

Vauxhall 1 (Ellams 16th)

[mark wilson27]

Enjoying the start of the story United,

Ive sent you a PM regarding the table.

[unitedmanager]

Thanks Mark... I'm really enjoying playing this save

-------------------------------------------------------

October 30th 2013: Transfer news sees us pick up Young English attacking midfielder Josh Sumner on a free transfer, 20 year old English Right back Nathan Battersby, and 18 year old English striker Curtis Haley.

October 31st 2013: Transfer news today is the signing of more free transfers. 23 year old English left defender David Fitzpatrick, 26 year old left midfielder Danny Sleath and 24 year old English goalkeeper Carl Pentney. Along with the release from contract of Rob Hopley and Richard Langley.

[unitedmanager]

November 2nd 2013: Skrill North (Game 14/42) vs Stockport (A)

My second game in charge, and my new signings will all be making debuts. Straight away, we were on the back foot. Lofthouse hitting the crossbar within 26 seconds of the opening whistle had me worried. Two minutes later and my nerves started to ease. Sumner and Bennett combining well down the left hand side before Bennett put the ball inches wide of the post. However, once again for the second game in a row, we went down a goal early. 23 minutes into the match and Clancy makes a break down the wing and crosses for Liam Dickinson to volley home to give Stockport a one goal lead. What was really starting to hurt us was too many misplaced passes, and most of them coming from right in the centre of the pitch from Barnett. It was one of those mistakes that lead to Stockports second as Clancy played a through ball to Lofthouse who netted Stockports second just two minutes after the first. When another Barnett pass went astray on the 43rd minute resulting in Stockports third, I had become fed up. Half time saw me really rip into the squad. They knew I wasn’t happy. And I had no hesitation making a half time sub bringing Moogan in for Barnett. Things looked to be getting better right after half time. Not even 2 minutes into the half and Stockport lost Marsden to a second yellow offense resulting in his send off. Could this be the start of the comeback for the second game in a row? And finally we pulled one back 18 minutes into the half as Sumner, Benjamin and Haley combined to give the striker his first goal for the club on debut. The debut was not to end well though and with 5 minutes to go Stockport pulled ahead another goal.

Stockport 4 (Dickinson 23rd,44th,95th)

AFC Telford 1 (Haley 64th)

[unitedmanager]

November 9th 2013: Skrill North (Game 15/42) vs Stalybridge (H)

Today we needed to turn things around. The team still needed time to gel together, but there is talent there. And this talent has the ability to really do extremely well. The game started off well for both teams. Both sides exchanging opportunities in front of goals. 17 minutes in, we took the lead. Or at least we thought, Barnett crossed in from the right and Sleath slotted it home, only to have the assistant ref to raise his flag for offside. That chance seemed to have sparked some life into the side, we continued to apply pressure after that. We just lacked that finishing touch in front of goal still. The half time whistle blew with the sides still locked at 0-0. It didn’t take us long to create our first real opportunity in the second half. 15 minutes in Sumner drilled a corner into the area from the left and Grand hit it on the volley only to drill his shot straight into the keeper, who also managed to After that the game went backwards and forwards between the two sides, and when the final whistle blew with the score at 0-0, I think that was a fair score. So a win, a loss and a draw to start my career. So far I am pleased.

AFC Telford 0

Stalybridge 0

[unitedmanager]

November 15th 2013: Injury news: Josh Sumner suffered twisted knee during training and will be out for approximately 3 weeks.

November 16th 2013: FA Trophy (3rd Qualifying Round) vs Dereham (A)

This was a match that I thought we should be dominating from kick off, but it didn’t happen. The whole first half was backwards and forwards. Both sides exchanging chances. Finally in the 40th minute, we got our breakthrough. Battersby went to cross the ball, and despite putting it too close to the Dereham keeper, the keeper lost sight of it and missed it allowing the ball to bounce into the back of the net. 1-0 up, and that’s how the score stayed till half time. The second half did not go well. While we didn’t concede any goals, we should have taken control and run away with the match, but that didn’t happen either. Training in the next few weeks will be tough. The team will not want to disappoint me again. Never the less, we were through to the next round.

Dereham 0

AFC Telford 1 (Battersby 40)

[unitedmanager]

November 16th 2013: Injury news: Danny Sleath suffered torn hamstring during the FA Trophy match and will be out for 3 to 4 months.

November 18th 2013: FA Trophy First Round draw today saw us drawn away to Skrill Premier side Wrexham.

November 23rd 2013: Skrill North (Game 16/42) vs Barrow (A)

The team had been doing well in training and really getting on well together. I was really confident of a good result today, and it didn’t take long for my predictions to start coming true. 8 and a half minutes in we took the lead when Battersby and Bennett played the ball around well, building up the play from the back right through to the resulting goal by Phenix. The team were really starting to look dangerous. Barrow had their fair share of chances also, Marsh coming extremely close after 15 minutes only to be called offside. 2 minutes later, Pentney continued to show his good form, keeping out both Mwasile and Reynolds within 30 seconds of eachothers shots.10 minutes later Barrow had their equaliser. Konadu’s corner finding the head of Reynolds. 10 minutes before the end of the half, Haley came off injured, forcing my hand into an early substitution. Some wonderful passing through the centre of the pitch 5 minutes from the half gave us the lead once again. Benjamin, Jackson and Gray, playing some great two touch football, and Gray slots the ball low and to the right of the Barrow keeper giving us our 1 goal lead again. 6 minutes into the second half, Gray almost had his second, only to be called offside. We continued to dominate all over the park but were still struggling with our finishing. Still we managed to hold the opposition out and came away with a 2-1 win.

Barrow 1 (Marsh 26)

AFC Telford 2 (Phenix 8, Gray 40)

November 24th 2013: Injury news: Curtis Haley suffers torn calf muscle during match vs Barrow and will be out for around 5 to 6 months.

[Cheesey1975]

enjoying the story so far

may tempt me to start a new save n record it

[unitedmanager]

Thanks Cheesey, I'm really enjoying this save. good luck with yours, I'll keep an eye out for it

November 30th 2013: FA Trophy (1st Round) vs Wrexham (A)

This was definitely going to be a difficult match. With several key players out with injury as well, it became even tougher. Despite being underdogs, I was really proud of the way we started the match, winning the ball after Wrexham kicked off and it didn’t take long to see the first chance on goal. The lads really looked up for this match, passing the ball around well, keeping Wrexham on their toes. Some brilliant work down the right side of the pitch after just 40 seconds of play, which has been our strongest outlet so far, led to a great opportunity for Gray, but unfortunately for him the Wrexham keeper, Coughlin, was on his toes and managed to just push the ball behind for an early corner. We were keeping possession well, and were pouncing on every opportunity to steal the ball back when the opposition were in possession, and after just a minute and a half, Phenix got a hold of the ball after a mix up in the Wrexham defense and a cheeky through ball to an oncoming Jackson which allowed the midfielder room to curl a shot around an outstretched Coughlin and the ball nestled nicely into the top right hand corner of the net. 1-0 up. I was really happy with what I was seeing from the guys. The build up play from all over the park was just magical to watch. Pass after pass, switching the ball from side to side. Although we still had the occasional lapse in concentration which lucky for us Wrexham never truly exploited. Bennet came agonisingly close after a 25 yard stike in the 33rd minute when his shot just grazed the crossbar. Not long after that, we had our second. Gray made a break through the centre and Jackson played a lob ball over the Wrexham defense right into Grays path, who collected the ball just inside Wrexhams half and after taking the ball to just outside the 18 yard box he slotted it neatly down low to the keepers left and straight into the back of the net. By now we truly looked in control of the match. The second half began just as the first ended, with us in control. With Sumner out injured, Jackson was really making sure his name was being considered for the number one spot as our attacking central midfielder, playing some magical through balls for the wingers running in and Gray up front. Once again, he was the architect for our next goal. 9 minutes into the half, Phenix saw the opportunity to run into a gap of the Wrexham defense and Jackson, reading the play perfectly fed the ball right through and Phenix unmarked curled a shot past Coughlin for gaol number 3. Jackson was really remarkable today. Man of the match performance so far and it didn’t look like he was stopping there. Sumner would really have to work for his place back in the starting lineup. 3 minutes later, Wrexham pulled one back, Bishop beating the offside trap and left with so much space Pentney had no chance of stopping the ball from hitting the back of the net. But we didn’t let it affect us. The team rallied and found a way to keep Wrexham from scoring any others, and we ended the match 3-1 up and through to the second round.

Wrexham 1 (Bishop 58)

AFC Telford 3 (Jackson 2, Gray 38, Phenix 55)

December 2nd 2013: FA Trophy Second Round draw today saw us drawn home to Skrill Premier side Kidderminster Harriers.

[unitedmanager]

Well, I have been moving house and had no internet for a while here at home. All has been going well so I hope to have a few posts up over the next couple of hours!!!

[unitedmanager]

December 7th 2013: Skrill North (Game 17/42) vs Leamington (H)

It didn't take long to get this game started. The team really looked pumped up and ready. A three game winning streak that they were ready to turn into four. Only 9 minutes had passed when our experienced striker Tony Gray gave us the lead after some magical build up play through the middle of the park. on the half hour mark, Martyn Jackson got onto the end of a cross from Jake Bennett and we were two up. Not even 2 minutes later and we had our third. Gray once again finishing off a superb build up from the defence forward. Leamington finally decided it was time to shut us down after that, and we kept trying to find a way through the oppositions defence but to no luck. Leamington finally got themselves a consolation prize however on 88 minutes, when Danny Newton slotted the ball past Pentney.

AFC Telford 3 (Gray 9th, 32nd, Jackson 30th)

Leamington 1 (Newton 88th)

[unitedmanager]

December 10th 2013: Skrill North (Game 18/42) vs Worcester (A)

Confidence was high, morale was high. The players were happy and playing really well. Today however, something wasn't right. despite dominating possession, we couldn't find a way to win. Build up play after build up play, we pushed forward and passed the ball around cleanly and with precision, however when it came to that final third of the pitch, we couldn't deliver. In fact, some how, we couldn't even manage to get shots off. 3 in total for the game, only 1 of which was on target. needless to say, I was extremely dissapointed with the squad afterwards, and they certainly knew it. Worcester took the lead after just 37 minutes, when Joel Ledgister pounced on the ball after a mistake from our two central defenders left the ball dribbling back towards our penalty area unattended and our opposition were not about to let a golden opportunity slip through their fingers.

Worcester 1 (Ledgister 37)

AFC Telford 0

[unitedmanager]

December 14th 2013: FA Trophy (2nd Round) vs Kidderminster (H)

If there was one positive i could take out of this match, it was that I was really seeing consistency in our game. We were controlling possession every game and this one was no different. Our pas completion, tackle completion rates were always around the same mark game after game. Today however, just like the last match, we just struggled in the final third. The difference in this game, we were getting shots off, they just weren't on target. Kidderminster took the lead in the 41st minute, when Gittings curled a beautiful shot past Pentney from about 20 yards out. Things just went from bad to worse however in the second half, especially when Nathan Battersby decided to put the ball into our own net while defending a Kidderminster corner. A 2-0 loss to Kidderminster and we were out of the FA Trophy.

AFC Telford 0

Kidderminster 2 (Gittings 41, Battersby OG 70)

[chesterfan2]

Any team that beats Wrecksham is alright by me

Keep it up, and good luck with promotion.

[unitedmanager]

Thanks chesterfan2, I certinly hope I can get the team promoted.

[unitedmanager]

December 21st 2013: Skrill North (Game 19/42) vs Brackley (H)

The guys really wanted to turn their form around. After such a good run, to lose two straight matches was a shot to their morale. It was 15th vs 1st. This was never going to be an easy task. Brackley were definitely the in-form team. It didn’t take long for Brackley to get their first chance on goal. 25 seconds into the match, Reid managed to somehow take on our entire side and get a shot off that only just narrowly missed the goal. Gray had his first attempt on goal for us in the 5th minute of the match. Some brilliant one touch football that started from our defense, saw Phenix, slot the ball behind the Brackley defense in front of the on-coming Gray, only to have Gray try to be too fancy with the shot which ended up safely in the Brackley keepers arms. Despite the 14 place difference between our two sides in the league table, we were certainly showing that we wanted a win. Holding Brackley to 0-0 at half time. In the 55th minute, Grand went down with an injury. Grand would obviously be a big loss, so, so that no further damage would be done, I decided the best option for now would be to bring him off and rest him the rest of the game. This meant that Byrne took his place on the pitch. Three minutes later we were awarded a penalty when Brackley defender Austin brought down Bennett in the penalty area, and Gray made no mistake of the penalty driving the ball low and hard into the bottom left corner of the goal. We had rattled Brackley, they were starting to make mistakes and we needed to capitalise on them. Phenix very nearly extended our lead in the 75th minute only to have the Brackley keeper turn it wide for a corner. Despite our dominance in the stats and on the score board, it wasn’t looking to be enough in the 84th minute when Moore crossed the ball in to Janes, who sltted the ball away from close range, tying the match at 1 all, which was how the match ended.

AFC Telford 1 Gray pen 60

Brackley 1 (Janes 84)