PaulHartman71 Posted April 12, 2017 Author Share Posted April 12, 2017 March A really poor month. We had a man sent off against Barrow which didn't help, but we deserved to lose the other two games with 11 men. We did at least get a point at Burton. We didn't actually enter the relegation zone, but unfortunately the board have **** themselves and sacked me. A real setback in my career to have been sacked as my reputation will take a hit, but kinda funny how after my longest time at a club by a mile I also break the record for my shortest time at a club: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DazRTaylor Posted April 12, 2017 Share Posted April 12, 2017 Definitely not John Fry as chairman. He keeps with the same manager for years, even after relegation after relegation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 12, 2017 Author Share Posted April 12, 2017 3 minutes ago, DazRTaylor said: Definitely not John Fry as chairman. He keeps with the same manager for years, even after relegation after relegation. It kind of came out of nowhere. We were dropping but they never gave me one of those "you're doing badly, we want you to get 9 points from your next 15" style ultimatums or anything. I certainly didn't expect it after a 2-2 draw where we'd actually looked the best for a few games, but I suppose they got worried we'd go down and acted ASAP. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 12, 2017 Author Share Posted April 12, 2017 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season Club Division Position Achievements/Other --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016/17 Ipswich Wanderers Eastern Counties Premier League 8th Eastern Counties League Cup winners 2017/18 Ipswich Wanderers Eastern Counties Premier League 11th Left in November --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017/18 Coventry Sphinx Midland Football Premier League 13th N/A 2018/19 Coventry Sphinx Midland Football Premier League 10th Left in December --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018/19 Carlton Town United Counties Premier League 8th United Counties League Cup runners-up. Sacked. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2019/20 Basildon United Essex Senior League 3rd Gordan Brasted Memorial Trophy winners 2020/21 Basildon United Essex Senior League 17th Left in November --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 Lincoln United Northern Counties East Premier League 11th N/A 2021/22 Lincoln United Northern Counties East Premier League 17th Left in December --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2021/22 Swindon Supermarine Southern League 1st Division S/W 13th N/A 2022/23 Swindon Supermarine Southern League 1st Division S/W 18th Left in January --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2022/23 Trafford FC Northern Premier League 1st Division N 7th N/A 2023/24 Trafford FC Northern Premier League 1st Division N 11th Sacked in November --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2023/24 Hythe Town Isthmian League 1st Division S 12th Joined in January 2024/25 Hythe Town Isthmian League 1st Division S 3rd Left in March --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2024/25 Canvey Island Isthmian League Premier Division 23rd Relegated 2025/26 Canvey Island Isthmian League 1st Division N 23rd Sacked in November --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2025/26 Farsley Celtic Northern Premier League 1st Division N 11th Joined in January 2026/27 Farsley Celtic Northern Premier League 1st Division N 5th Left in March --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2026/27 Stourbridge Northern League Premier Division 21st Relegated 2027/28 Stourbridge Southern League 1st Division C 5th Promoted via Playoffs 2028/29 Stourbridge Southern League Premier Division 15th Left in November --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2028/29 Lancaster City Northern League Premier Division 21st Relegeted. Sacked. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2029/30 Southport Northern League Premier Division 14th N/A 2030/31 Southport Northern League Premier Division 5th Left in April --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2030/31 Port Vale Northern League Premier Division 3rd Lost in Playoff Final 2031/32 Port Vale Northern League Premier Division 2nd Lost in Playoff Final 2032/33 Port Vale Northern League Premier Division 6th Left in January --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2032/33 Port Talbot Town Welsh Premier League 8th N/A 2033/34 Port Talbot Town Welsh Premier League 3rd Qualified for Europa League via Playoff 2034/35 Port Talbot Town Welsh Premier League 5th Welsh Cup winners 2035/36 Port Talbot Town Welsh Premier League 2nd Welsh League Cup winners 2036/37 Port Talbot Town Welsh Premier League 1st Welsh Premier League winners 2037/38 Port Talbot Town Welsh Premier League 1st Welsh Premier League & League Cup winners 2038/39 Port Talbot Town Welsh Premier League 2nd Left in December ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2038/39 Yeovil Town League 2 22nd Joined in December. Sacked in March. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trophy Cabinet Eastern Counties League Cup x1 - 2016/17 (Ipswich Wanderers) Gordan Brasted Memorial Trophy x1 - 2019/20 (Basildon United) Welsh Premier League x2 - 2036/37, 2037/38 (Port Talbot Town) Welsh Cup x1 - 2034/35 (Port Talbot Town) Welsh League Cup x2 - 2035/36, 2037/38 (Port Talbot Town) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrdanbartlett Posted April 12, 2017 Share Posted April 12, 2017 Gosh a real set back, but not a huge surprise as the form had been very poor. I guess now the rules still allow you to go and apply for jobs? Rather than having to wait to be offered one? What jobs are available? I hope you can get a football league job rather than having to go to the conference leagues. Hopefully the next club you can always have a full summer to rebuild. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GryphonFlick Posted April 12, 2017 Share Posted April 12, 2017 3 hours ago, mrdanbartlett said: What jobs are available? I hope you can get a football league job rather than having to go to the conference leagues. Hopefully the next club you can always have a full summer to rebuild. Agreed. Fingers crossed you can sneak your way back into a league 2 team. But I don't think going down to tier 5 would be the worst thing in the world, you might get a decent mid-table team and can have a strong run at promotion. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim owen Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 Only me hoping for Tier 9 then? Or a return to Port Talbot Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 13, 2017 Author Share Posted April 13, 2017 (edited) A quick roundup of what happened this year in the English Pyramid and that: Markus Weinzieri led Man United to the title, narrowly tipping out Didier Deschamps' Chelsea side. United couldn't win the Champions League though, as Zidane's Real Madrid won for the 2nd time in 5 years to beat them in the final. Southampton finished in the top 4 once again which is great for them, whilst it was another poor year for Arsenal. They were lumbering in 9th place when new manager and World Cup winner Joao Tralhao was sacked, so they controversially stole Pep Guardiola from Liverpool, despite only ending up 7th behind 6th place Liverpool, Pep did a good job as he won the Europa League, which means a Champions League return for Arsenal next season. MK Dons managed to stay in the Premier League against the odds as they ended up in 16th. Nothing too exciting to report about elsewhere, although Yeovil did end up in 22nd place, with Walsall and Wigan being the teams relegated from League 2 and the Football League. Dulwich Hamlet hit the headlines as their Playoff win in the Conference sees them make League 2 for the first time in their history. Spare a thought for Cheshunt in the Conference though, as they suffered one of the worst seasons I've ever seen. Port Talbot could sadly only finish in 2nd place behind Bangor City in the Welsh Premier League, although it is quite funny to see TNS slump to 7th after they failed to make the top half before the split. Edited April 13, 2017 by PaulHartman71 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 13, 2017 Author Share Posted April 13, 2017 Not been linked with too many jobs this summer. Looks like I will be without a club until the new season kicks off and sacking season begins. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrdanbartlett Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 Are you allowed to apply for jobs, surely you are but just have to accept the first offer? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 13, 2017 Author Share Posted April 13, 2017 Yeah I'll probably start applying for jobs soon. It's early October at the minute and Portsmouth have just sacked their manager. They're lingering in the relegation zone in League 2. I quite like Portsmouth so this would be an ideal move really. I was the bookies 3rd favorite in the news story to be the next manager, so looks somewhat promising. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrdanbartlett Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 Apply ASAP!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 13, 2017 Author Share Posted April 13, 2017 I went for the job but they didn't even give me an interview. Bastards. I may have to set my sights a little lower and return to the non-league life. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 13, 2017 Author Share Posted April 13, 2017 Looks like I've landed myself a job in the Conference. I've done the interview, fingers crossed I get the job! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 That didn't go well or last long at Yeovil. Were Cheshunt relegated by Christmas. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 13, 2017 Author Share Posted April 13, 2017 Just 4 years ago Salford City were in League 2, they've not managed to get back up since then but they've consistently finished around 12th/13th so are a solid mid-table side. They're currently down in 20th place: It doesn't look pretty but I actually think this is a pretty good job for me as the squad is quite decent and I don't think there is any real danger of relegation this season. I think there is a solid foundation for me to build my reputation back up, hopefully I can eventually get Salford back to the Football League, or get poached and go up there myself without them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 13, 2017 Author Share Posted April 13, 2017 They're paying me a fair bit less than Yeovil but that is to be expected really given they're not a league side. I'm still eraning a fair amount more than I was making in Wales and it's cool to see they've given me a contract until the end of next season, rather than the end of this season, big up the job security. 50 percent get out clause is in the contract too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 13, 2017 Author Share Posted April 13, 2017 A long old way from the Yeovil dole office to Salford, I tell you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjoe Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 Let's hope you can bounce back quickly and get a league job next season again. Good luck in Salford. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 14, 2017 Author Share Posted April 14, 2017 October A much more promising start than I had at Yeovil. Unbeaten in my first 3 games, with 2 action packed 3-2 home wins which saw varying degrees of late winners to secure all 3 points. A decent 0-0 in my first away game too. We definitely seem like a team that follows the "we're not that great at defending, so we'll make sure we score more than you" approach, as we're good going forward, but partial to shipping goals too. The 1 point gap between the relegation zone has already been improved to an 8 point gap, albeit with Woking having a game in hand. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 Good start. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 14, 2017 Author Share Posted April 14, 2017 November A lot of games this month, they came in thick and fast. A hell of a lot of goals on show too. We lost 5-4 in a thriller at Wigan, before going to Maidstone and losing 3-2. We got one over on Kettering to record our fist win of the month, but then bottled what looked like a routine 2-0 win at Stevanage, especially when Jose Antonio gave us a 2-0 lead in the 67th minute. We had two more thrillers before the month was out, with a 4-4 at Joe Hart's Solihull Moors, which saw a very late equaliser from us and then a 4-3 win against Newport County which saw Luke Davis get an incredible 4 goals, including 2 fairly late goals to take us from losing to winning. The gap between us and the drop is now 9 points, with Woking still having a game in hand. We're playing well and definitely capable of scoring goals which is a promising sign, defensively we are not great but as long as the goals keep coming we should be alright. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrdanbartlett Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 Ah amazing, I have a massive soft spot for Salford as after watching the TV program I had a superb save going in Fm16 with them where I took them to a top 4 PL side. what is your wage spend/budget like? Maybe scout some out of contract defender, good players who haven't been picked up in the summer are usually ready to lower their demands by this sort of time in the season. Any affiliate club? As you;ll be there next season get a good senior club if you can and then as soon as their loan plays return at the end of June go in and raid the best ones, off topic but I'm managing in OZ on my current save and have Everton as my senior club, I got Tom Davies and another great player on loan, all for £0 and they both were SO good for me. Really exciting development this, good timing as you'll stay up this season, and can spend some time sussing out the current squad, seeing you can be released and scouting for the next signings. I know I bang on all the time about it but scouting is everything at this level, time invested there makes all the difference. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 15, 2017 Author Share Posted April 15, 2017 Main problem again is lack of money, wages and being in debt. Salford seem to have even more loan players than Yeovil but at least these ones seem to be fairly decent. I think the overhaul will have to wait for the summer but I'm confident I'll actually still be here and will be able to do some good deals and stuff. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 15, 2017 Author Share Posted April 15, 2017 December A 1-0 win against Shepshed sees us through in the FA Trophy. A 5-0 win kicked off the month in a big way as we devastated AFC Telford. We took that momentum into our next match and beat Woking 2-1. Chesterfield got the better of us at their place, but Josh Sainsbury's late late goal saved us and got us a point. We picked up our fantastic form towards the end of the month and beat both Maldon & Tiptree and Boreham Wood. We're up to 12th and are now 18 points off of the relegation zone, which is great news. The Playoffs are actually only 7 points away, which seems mad, I don't think we'll get there as I can't see us keeping this crazy run of form up, but it's promising nonetheless. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 15, 2017 Author Share Posted April 15, 2017 January We played Conference South side Bath City in the next round of the FA Trophy. It seemed like it would be quite an easy game when we went 2-0 up quite early on, but they came back in the game and I was worried they'd level it - thankfully they didn't. All things must come to an end and unfortunately our hot streak of form has certainly come to an end at the start of 2040. The fixtures meant that we actually played on the 1st of January, just 1 day after our last game on December 31st, although I can't use this as an excuse for the loss as for some reason every other team in the league had the same problem. Dagenham & Redbridge were a better than us on the day and we deserved to lose that one, we got quite lucky to get a point at home to Walsall too. Guiseley was quite an open game and we were perhaps unlucky not to get a point, with Forest Green being a crazy game which saw us go 2-0 up, 4-2 down and then we got a goal back to make for a crazy last 20 minutes where we tried to get level. We at least ended the month with a 3-2 win against relegation battling Glossop who are managed by John Terry. Any outside chance of the Playoffs are gone now, but that's no bother as I feel we would have been out of our depth in the Playoffs this year anyway. There's always next year and we're still very far off of getting relegated, so we can take the last 11 games of the season 1 game at a time and see how it goes. It would be nice to have a crack at the FA Trophy, but I think that will depend entirely on the the draw as there's a lot of stronger sides in the Conference. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipky Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 Just caught up with the last 12 pages or so. Great read. Waiting for more! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 15, 2017 Author Share Posted April 15, 2017 February An absolutely unbelievable comeback/game. We were 3-0 down after half hour and I thought we had no chance of coming back, even when Burnett got one before half-time. But we had a right go at them in the second half and did magnificently well to win it 4-3. Walsall in the Quarter Final was a big test, but we came from behind again to progress to the Semi Final. It would be really cool even to just make the final and get a trip to Wembley. A fairly solid month in the league saw two back-to-back victories at home to Colney Heath and Radcliffo Boro. We had a bit of an off day against Altrincham who are admittedly higher up in the table than us and challenging for the Playoffs, but we really should have been beating Matlock even away from home as they are quite a poor side really. 7 games to go and we're 15th. Not much room to go up or down the table but it would be nice to win a few games and get to around 13th or so. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 Things are looking a bit more stable at Salford after the Yeovil move, hopefully next season you can push on for the play offs Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted April 16, 2017 Share Posted April 16, 2017 Have just read all 25 pages in one sitting. Have to say this is one of the best saves I've read in a long time. The sort of save I'd love to have. I did read your other save on and off. Hopefully you guide Salford to League Two soon and build your rep up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 16, 2017 Author Share Posted April 16, 2017 March We got 8th tier side Abbey Hey in the Semi Final, which on paper looked like an easy draw but they're obviously a decent side to have got that far and they did take us to extra-time in the 2nd leg, thankfully a goal from Emmanuel West in each match was enough to see us through to the final at Wembley. Not the best month as the games came thick and fast this month. We at least recovered from 2 losses in a row to beat Romelu Lukaku's Bishop's Stortford and get a draw at Kettering. 15th with not much room for improvement either way. We'll take it I guess. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 16, 2017 Author Share Posted April 16, 2017 April A fairly decent end to the season saw a 2-0 win at home to Maidstone, followed by a colourful 3-3 away draw at Stevenage and a fairly boring 0-0 draw at home to Joe Hart's Solihull Moors. 14th in the end which I'm pretty happy with, should set a fairly solid ground work for some improvement next season. An FA Trophy final with Conference South side Lewes at Wembley awaits... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 16, 2017 Author Share Posted April 16, 2017 Lewes gave us a real game, but they tired in the 2nd half on the big boy pitch at Wembley and we hit two goals in quick succession to sink them. The FA Trophy is ours! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 16, 2017 Author Share Posted April 16, 2017 (edited) Season 24: Salford City Squad Pretty pleased with how this season has gone. I came in and steered them well clear of relegation, which they shouldn't have been anywhere near anyway, but I got them back to a mid-table position which is about where we should be. The FA Trophy win was pretty nice too, we got quite an easy run of teams apart from Walsall, but you can only beat what's in front of you and it's another trophy to add to my collection. Josh Sainsbury was probably our best scorer, ending up as joint top-scorer. Unfortunate that he's only a loan player from parent club Preston, it would be nice to get him again next season but I'm not sure how keen they'd be on that. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season Club Division Position Achievements/Other --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016/17 Ipswich Wanderers Eastern Counties Premier League 8th Eastern Counties League Cup winners 2017/18 Ipswich Wanderers Eastern Counties Premier League 11th Left in November --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017/18 Coventry Sphinx Midland Football Premier League 13th N/A 2018/19 Coventry Sphinx Midland Football Premier League 10th Left in December -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018/19 Carlton Town United Counties Premier League 8th United Counties League Cup runners-up. Sacked. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2019/20 Basildon United Essex Senior League 3rd Gordan Brasted Memorial Trophy winners 2020/21 Basildon United Essex Senior League 17th Left in November -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 Lincoln United Northern Counties East Premier League 11th N/A 2021/22 Lincoln United Northern Counties East Premier League 17th Left in December ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2021/22 Swindon Supermarine Southern League 1st Division S/W 13th N/A 2022/23 Swindon Supermarine Southern League 1st Division S/W 18th Left in January ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2022/23 Trafford FC Northern Premier League 1st Division N 7th N/A 2023/24 Trafford FC Northern Premier League 1st Division N 11th Sacked in November ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2023/24 Hythe Town Isthmian League 1st Division S 12th Joined in January 2024/25 Hythe Town Isthmian League 1st Division S 3rd Left in March ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2024/25 Canvey Island Isthmian League Premier Division 23rd Relegated 2025/26 Canvey Island Isthmian League 1st Division N 23rd Sacked in November ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2025/26 Farsley Celtic Northern Premier League 1st Division N 11th Joined in January 2026/27 Farsley Celtic Northern Premier League 1st Division N 5th Left in March ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2026/27 Stourbridge Northern League Premier Division 21st Relegated 2027/28 Stourbridge Southern League 1st Division C 5th Promoted via Playoffs 2028/29 Stourbridge Southern League Premier Division 15th Left in November ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2028/29 Lancaster City Northern League Premier Division 21st Relegeted. Sacked. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2029/30 Southport Northern League Premier Division 14th N/A 2030/31 Southport Northern League Premier Division 5th Left in April ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2030/31 Port Vale Northern League Premier Division 3rd Lost in Playoff Final 2031/32 Port Vale Northern League Premier Division 2nd Lost in Playoff Final 2032/33 Port Vale Northern League Premier Division 6th Left in January ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2032/33 Port Talbot Town Welsh Premier League 8th N/A 2033/34 Port Talbot Town Welsh Premier League 3rd Qualified for Europa League via Playoff 2034/35 Port Talbot Town Welsh Premier League 5th Welsh Cup winners 2035/36 Port Talbot Town Welsh Premier League 2nd Welsh League Cup winners 2036/37 Port Talbot Town Welsh Premier League 1st Welsh Premier League winners 2037/38 Port Talbot Town Welsh Premier League 1st Welsh Premier League & League Cup winners 2038/39 Port Talbot Town Welsh Premier League 2nd Left in December -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2038/39 Yeovil Town League 2 22nd Joined in December. Sacked in March. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2039/40 Salford City Conference 14th Joined in October. FA Trophy winners. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trophy Cabinet FA Trophy x1 - 2039/40 (Salford City) Eastern Counties League Cup x1 - 2016/17 (Ipswich Wanderers) Gordan Brasted Memorial Trophy x1 - 2019/20 (Basildon United) Welsh Premier League x2 - 2036/37, 2037/38 (Port Talbot Town) Welsh Cup x1 - 2034/35 (Port Talbot Town) Welsh League Cup x2 - 2035/36, 2037/38 (Port Talbot Town) Edited April 16, 2017 by PaulHartman71 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rikulec Posted April 16, 2017 Share Posted April 16, 2017 Well done winning the FA Trophy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 16, 2017 Author Share Posted April 16, 2017 (edited) United retained the Premier League title on the last day, with Chelsea and City chasing them until the very last hurdle. Jurgen Klopp's Man City side could have won the league if they'd won at New White Hart Lane on the last day, but Rio Ferdinand's side held firm to ensure his old Man United team won the league again with Markus Weinzeri in charge. Guardiola's Arsenal finished in 4th. Simeone's Atletico Madrid beat Unai Emery's Bayern Munich to win the Champions League, in what was only the 2nd final in 20 years to not involve an English side. MK Dons finished 19th and their Premier League journey is over for now, they have hired Andre Schurrle in a bid to go up next season though. Barnet had a big season as they won League 1 to ensure Championship football for their fans, whilst it was a season to forget for Portsmouth fans as they were sadly relegated from the Football League. The other big news is that Port Vale have been promoted again, this time winning the Conference North to be guarantee their place in the Conference next season, they'll also be joined by Tividale, a side who only 15 years ago were in the 10th tier. Edited April 16, 2017 by PaulHartman71 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 16, 2017 Author Share Posted April 16, 2017 25 years in, so have a quick update on any interesting management stories: Simeone is still at Atletico Madrid, he's 70 now so you'd expect him to retire sooner or later. Deschamps is probably the oldest of the old guard left, he's 71 and at Chelsea. Luis Enrique is still going and at Barcelona, although that's only a very recent development, as after only lasting a year there he went on to manage the likes of Chelsea, Bayern, Spain, Dortmund and Liverpool before going full circle and ending up back in Barca. Pep Guardiola, now 69, is at Arsenal currently after a fairly uninspiring runs at Spain, Benfica and Liverpool since leaving City in 2025. He has won 5 Europa Leagues since leaving City tbf to him, which at Benfica, Liverpool and Arsenal isn't all that bad, but nothing to write home about really. Allegri hasn't done much since getting sacked by Arsenal 2 years ago, although he did recently land himself the Napoli job. Pochettino is 68 and at Monaco, he left Spurs for Argentina in 2026 after winning a Champions League and a couple of FA Cups, he's not really done anything since then, didn't win anything with Argentina, before going to Stoke in 2028, getting sacked but since then he's been at Monaco for 9 years, although he only has 1 Europa League to show for it. Zidane's had a pretty decent career, he's now 68 and back at Real Madrid, left for PSG where he won 4 Ligue 1's and various French Cups, he also spent some time at Chelsea but has nothing to show for it trophy-wise, in his combined 20 years at Madrid he's won 9 La Liga's and 3 Champions Leagues, plus various cup trophies. Shay Given's had a fairly low key career meddling in the lower and non-leagues, he currently finds himself at Conference side Stalybridge. Andriy Shevchenko has had an interesting career, including a combined 17 year stint as Ukraine manager, as well as a spell at Dynamo Kyiv before the last 3 years where he's been a fairly successful Juventus manager. Frank Lampard is in League 1 with Peterborough, after a pretty disappointing career in management, with the last decade seeing him flip flop between the likes of Crewe, Lincoln City and Preston North End. Rio Ferdinand's had a better time of it, he started off stuck in struggling League 1 sides like Preston and Bolton, but in the last decade he's really kicked on, during a 5 year stint at Middlesbrough he got them promoted to the Premier League and back down twice, before moving to mid-table West Ham for a year before getting the call to work at Spurs last season. Who knows if he can kick on and eventually get the United job. Xavi's had a fairly interesting career. He spent the first decade of the game as Spain U21 manager, which included 2 U21 Euros wins as well as an Olympic Gold Medal. Since then he's gone on to manage Roma to an Italian Cup, as well as Shakhtar Donetsk, Watford and he's currently at Bundesliga side Mainz. Tomas Rosicky's career started off in the Championship with Ipswich, since then he's gone on to manage Crystal Palace, Southampton, Stoke, Leicester, Red Bull Salzburg, Celtic, QPR, the Italian National team and he now finds himself at AC Milan. John Terry's career has seen him slowly plummeting down the leagues, in recent years he's managed the likes of Salford City, Radcliffe Boro and he now finds himself with Glossop North End in the Conference North. Yaya Toure spent the first 16 years of his career managing Al-Hilal, before making a return to England as manager of Portsmouth. He got sacked by Portsmouth and ended up at Forest Green Rovers, but he's very recently been poached by Sparta Prague which is a pretty random change of scenery. Robin van Persie spent the first 3 years of his coaching career as a U23 coach for Crystal Palace, he briefly held the managers job at Walsall, but then got the Holland U21 job in 2032, where he's been ever since. Darren Fletcher spent much of his early non-playing career as an Assistant Manager for various clubs like Doncaster and Blackburn Rovers, he eventually got a gig as Assistant at Celtic, then became Caretaker Manager, Interim Manager and then the fully fledged Manager for 4 years before being poached by Spurs. In 2034 he got a strange call to be manager at Roma, and fair play to him he hasn't looked back since, with 2 Serie A's to his name. Wes Morgan is another success story, despite spending most of his non-playing career as a Coach or Assistant at Man City, in 2036 he was snatched up by Sevilla and has been there ever since. Ashley Williams is at Conference side Maidstone. Seb Larsson is currently manager of Russia, after spells at Sparta Prague and as the Czech manager. Wayne Rooney has spent much of his managerial career in League 1, he's currently at Swindon, but in the last decade he's also managed clubs like Tranmere Rovers, Northampton and Bury. James Milner's early management days looked bright and even only 10 years ago he was managing Aston Villa in the Championship, but in recent years he's slipped slowly down going to Notts County, Bristol City and currently finding himself at League 2 side Burton. Abou Diaby is in charge of League 1 side Carlisle. Hugo Lloris is managing Stade de Reims in Ligue 1. Joe Hart has become an institution at Conference side Solihull Moors, having been their manager for over 16 years now. Cesc Fabregas was a Coach at Leicester for 7 years before eventually getting a Caretaker gig and then the proper job. He got poached by Bournemouth and then Newcastle, before making his way through Wolves and QPR, he didn't really win anything through that period but 2 years ago he was given the England manager job. Arturo Vidal is at Championship side Bristol City. Jordan Henderson has managed numerous Premier League sides, such as Watford, West Ham, Newcastle and just last season he ended up back at Watford. Andre Schurlle initially looked lively, managing Spurs just 5 years ago, but since then it's been downhill, going to West Ham, Newcastle, Hull and now recently relegated MK Dons. N'Golo Kante is at League 2's Stockport County. Neymar has spent the last 10 years in charge of his boyhood side Santos. Granit Xhaka's had a kinda funny career, he started off as manager of Kosovo, before becoming Albania manager, then PSV and he's finally ended up at Hull City. Paul Pogba was Guinea manager for the first 7 years of his non-playing days, but after a short spell at Sunderland he now finds himself at West Brom. Romelu Lukaku is at Conference South side Bishop's Stortford. Adnan Janazaj's weird and wonderful career saw him start out at Boston United, before going on to manage Ossett Town, Bootle, Aberystwyth, Dagenham and Redbridge, Club Brugge and he's now Belgian manager. The Hall of Fame currently looks like this. Mourinho's record will take some topping, if Unai Emery carries on for another few years at Bayern winning all the German stuff he could well get catch him. Guardiola is unlikely to do much more but should hold onto 3rd place away from Allegri before they both retire. Tite and Ancelotti are both retired, so Zidane could well climb up the table if he can win some more stuff with Real Madrid in his last few years as a manager. Marcelo Gallardo is is 64 so could well make his way up that table in the next few years too. Markus Weinzieri is off screen in 10th place with 4,100 points, he's 65 himself but could well shoot up if he keeps winning things with United. I currently have 48 points if anyone was keeping score Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted April 16, 2017 Share Posted April 16, 2017 Really interesting to see all the different career paths and unlikely successes that some have had. Also you're not far off José! A couple more years should do it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noikeee Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 Wtf is up with all these crazy high-scoring results? Perhaps you forgot to inform your team that this is football not rugby? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aderow Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 Really enjoyed reading this Congrats on the FA Trophy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 18, 2017 Author Share Posted April 18, 2017 A lot of stuff happened this summer. The most notable departures were Ben Scott for £10K, Francis Thornton for £37K upfront and Robbie Burnett for £70K. They were all players that wanted to leave so I let them go. I'll run through the new players quickly: Ryan James is our new 1st choice keeper. Ben Bullock a new centre back. Les Sinnott a right back. Tony Burton as a versatile squad player for midfield. James Bell as a more central midfield player for depth. Jon-Jo Dodds and Louis Langston on loan for CM. Nick Owens as another midfielder. Andrew Dunkley at CB. Steve Clackstone as a left midfielder and finally, Josh Sainsbury re-joins us on loan from parent club Preston up-front. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 Do you think you can challenge for promotion? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrdanbartlett Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 Is the squad better than it was last year? Any good £0 loans available? (prem clubs usually don't ask for wages to be covered) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenzar Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 It may be a fantasy world, but it pains me to hear that Franchise FC got to the top flight. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 18, 2017 Author Share Posted April 18, 2017 (edited) 7 hours ago, deltablue said: Do you think you can challenge for promotion? I certainly hope we can be up there. I'm not sure if we can go up, but I think we've got a squad capable of being up and amongst the Playoffs. Just seen on the opening day I return to my old stomping ground at Port Vale. Should be an interesting one. Edited April 18, 2017 by PaulHartman71 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 Well done winning the FA Trophy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 19, 2017 Author Share Posted April 19, 2017 August A fairly low key return to Port Vale saw a 1-1draw after a pretty even game. We followed that up with a 2-0 home loss to Margate which was a bit of a surprise and a poor result, but since then we've gone to Stalybridge and Wigan Athletic and won both which is good, especially with Wigan as they made the Playoffs last year. Early days just yet. Nobody completely running away with it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 19, 2017 Author Share Posted April 19, 2017 September A lot of games this month and a lot of highs and lows. The month started pretty well with us winning 3 of our first 4 games, including two late winners against Boreham Wood and AFC Telford - when we beat Telford we actually went top of the table in the process. Since then, not so great. Wrexham are a good side and it's not an easy place to go, but that doesn't excuse the woeful 5-0 loss where we were so bad we reimbursed travelling fans for their tickets. We weren't much better when Dagenham rocked up at ours 4 days later, as we lost 4-1. Our confidence was shook and it looked like we'd come away from Altrincham with just a 0-0 draw, but then Josh Sainsbury popped up with a late late winner to give us a much needed 3 points. I hope that can be the catalyst to turn things around again. We're still in and around the Playoffs and there's certainly still plenty to play for. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrdanbartlett Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 Wow how tight is that league right now! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjoe Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 (edited) 4 minutes ago, mrdanbartlett said: Wow how tight is that league right now! Must... not... make... inappropriate... jokes! Just posting this instead. Edited April 19, 2017 by Benjoe added video Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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