[FM17] The Hart Chronicles - Volume II: Adam Hart is 'Yes Man'!

[PaulHartman71]

August

 

 

Disappointing scenes in the FA Cup as we were eliminated by fellow 8th tier side Clipstone following a replay. 

 

 

It's been a mixed start in the league, with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss. It's hard to tell what this says about the team going into the rest of the season. 

 

 

The table doesn't look too great, but we have a game in hand on plenty of the sides above us and it's still early days yet. 

[PaulHartman71]

Grant Bennett missed the first month with fitness concerns, just as he looked fine and made his first appearance of the season as a sub he goes and gets injured for 5 months. He'll be a huge miss in our bid for the Playoffs and Promotion. 

[mrdanbartlett]

Oh gosh! Not going well

No chance of getting some good loans?    Or pinching other teams good non-contract players to be non-contract but on bigger fee's at your club?

 

[PaulHartman71]

1 minute ago, mrdanbartlett said:

Oh gosh! Not going well

No chance of getting some good loans?    Or pinching other teams good non-contract players to be non-contract but on bigger fee's at your club?

 

I have got in a few players, but unfortunately a lot of our best targets, who would've made a real difference, were all snapped up by 7th tier sides instead. 

[mrdanbartlett]

Can you poach top scorers/top stat players from the league below maybe? 

[PaulHartman71]

September

 

 

This month saw a reasonable improvement, with 4 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses. Jason James emerged as somewhat of a fix in the striker position, with 7 goals in 7 games. The highlight of the month was the victory over Crook, as Crook came from behind to level it twice, so to finally put them away was quite satisfying. 

 

 

I'm definitely a bit more optimistic now, as I've seen us play some quite good football to get the results we have so far. Long may it continue. 

[PaulHartman71]

17 minutes ago, mrdanbartlett said:

Can you poach top scorers/top stat players from the league below maybe? 

 

I have looked at a few players at County Level, but from what my scouts reckon, none of them were really much of an improvement on what we already had, so I left it in the hope they'd uncover a good player at a later point in the season. 

[PaulHartman71]

October

 

 

We lost in our first and only FA Trophy match of the season, which was against fellow 8th tier side Thatcham. I wasn't too fussed about it, but it was a bit annoying to go out after starting the game so promisingly. 

 

 

I was left happier by a 2-1 victory in our first match of the Northern Premier League Challenge Cup, with a Jason James double seeing us through. 

 

 

Burscough beat us 2-1 in what was an underwhelming start to October, but since then we've looked better with 2 wins and 1 draw, including a thrashing of my old club Trafford. 

 

 

Spennymoor have two games in hand and the league is extremely tight, but either way, we're still top for now which is great to see. 

[noikeee]

Woohoo, top of the league!

[mrdanbartlett]

19 hours ago, PaulHartman71 said:

 

I have looked at a few players at County Level, but from what my scouts reckon, none of them were really much of an improvement on what we already had, so I left it in the hope they'd uncover a good player at a later point in the season. 

Scout them for 1 week to get the exact attributes then do a compare vs and see if they are better, that is how I do my initial scouting.  I will then scout fully to check if they are injury prone etc, but scouts at this level will be next to useless to just use them for attribute revealing. 

[PaulHartman71]

November

 

 

We're out of the Northern Premier League Challenge Cup after a disappointing home loss to Chorley. 

 

 

A pretty dire month in the league really, with 2 draws and 2 losses. The 2 draws were frustrating, especially the Bradford one, as we were winning those games at half-time and in the Bradford games case, we had chances to win it late on. The loss to Westella was absolutely woeful though, we just didn't turn up at all and it could've been 6 or 7-0. 

 

 

We've dropped down to 9th which just goes to show how tight this division is. We're in bad form but I'm confident we can turn it around in December and get back in those Playoff places, as we're still just 3 points short. 

[PaulHartman71]

December

 

 

A decent December if you're comparing it to November, with 2 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss. The end of the month saw the return of Grant Bennett, who showed his talent with a brace in his first full start back at Warrington. Our only loss this month was to Bacup, which was a game we really should have won or at least drawn as we were 1-0 up and looked dominant, before somehow blowing it and going 3-1 down. I think if we can start turning some of the draws into wins we can shoot right up the table, with Bennett back I think this is possible. 

 

 

We're in 7th now, with the Playoffs very much in sight. 

[mrdanbartlett]

Cool, bit of a gap to the top 4 sides but it's all v close from 5th down to even 15th really.

You contract is to the end of this season right?  

[PaulHartman71]

1 hour ago, mrdanbartlett said:

Cool, bit of a gap to the top 4 sides but it's all v close from 5th down to even 15th really.

You contract is to the end of this season right?  

Yeah, my contract runs until the end of the season. The board want the Playoffs so i imagine if we don't get it and I'm still here then they won't renew.

So far I haven't been officially linked with any jobs in my news or social feed, but I'm currently "wanted" by Beaconsfield, a fellow 8th tier side in the Southern League 1st Division Central. They're in 13th place and 8 points off their playoffs so it would be a slight step down, but not a huge one. Their finances are listed as "okay", so I'm not sure if they'd be able to cough up the current £3,000 compensation fee for me if they wanted to. 

[PaulHartman71]

January

 

 

A pretty average month, with 2 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss. The most frustrating results were the draw to Crook and the loss to Ashton United. In the Crook game we were 2-0 up and looked in the clear, until Jason James got himself sent off, after that we threw it away and lost out on all 3 points. To make it worse, James actually left the club on a free transfer just days later, as Conference North side, Darlington 1883, came in for him. You can't blame him for leaving for a team in a better league, but it was annoying he did it straight after costing us big time. We had our usually reliable right back sent off after 15 minutes in the Ashton United game - that pretty much gave the 3 points to Ashton on a plate, we did fight to get back in the game but it was too much. Since then we've recovered by beating Penrith at their place in an important match, as well as beating my old side Trafford and avoiding defeat with Playoff rivals Colne. 

 

 

 

With 12 games to go we are right up there, but Morpeth and Penrith have games in hand on us at the moment. If we avoid silly defending and red cards we can make it. 

[PaulHartman71]

So I've had my first interview of the season... 

 

 

Northwich Victoria came calling. 

 

 

They're in a relegation battle in the 7th tier, but as opposed to Canvey, they actually look like they're in a pretty good position to avoid the drop. 

 

 

Unfortunately I failed the interview, which is really gutting, not just because it could've established me as a 7th tier manager, but our recent form in the league has stagnated and it looks like we won't make the Playoffs after all. 

[PaulHartman71]

February

 

 

February started off quite meekly, with a disastrous 1-0 loss at home to Marske, before a 1-1 draw with Bridlington. Since then we've shown something better, with a 3-2 win at Mossley, followed by a good 2-1 victory at home to Burscough. It may be a case of too little too late though. 

 

 

With 8 games to go, we are 4 points off of Morpeth, who we do still have to play at home, which will be a huge game for sure.

[PaulHartman71]

March

 

 

A big month for us, which saw some big results. The 3-3 draw at Guiseley was regrettable, especially after we went 3-2 up in the 85th minute, but we kept our lead at Frickley, before winning a massive Playoff 6 pointer against Morpeth. We also beat Westella 1-0 with a very late goal from Grant Bennett. 

 

 

With 4 games to go we're 2 points clear of 6th place and the Playoffs are ours to lose! 3 of the 4 games are fairly winnable fixtures, with Bradford PA away, already relegated Durham at home, as well as Chorley at home - but the tricky one will be our away trip to league leaders Spennymoor. It's not over yet, but we're in the driver seat for now.

[PaulHartman71]

Well it looks like I've ended up back in the 7th tier a bit sooner than I was expecting, as yet again, with a Playoff campaign coming to a close, I've got the call from a 7th tier side...

 

[PaulHartman71]

 

They've given me a deal lasting until the end of next summer on £230, but in a slightly conservative move they've added in a 35 percent Relegation Wage Drop.

Yep, that's right! You didn't actually think I'd gotten myself a cushty job at a mid-table side safe from the drop, did you? 

 

 

4 games of the season remaining and it's gonna be some ask for us to stay up, it's Canvey all over again and I could well be adding a 2nd relegation to my CV very shortly

 

The fixtures aren't particularly kind either. We play 8th place North Ferribly away, then a relatively easy game away to long relegated Harrogate, before difficult home ties against 4th place Southport and top of the table Skelmersdale. 

[PaulHartman71]

 

 

A 2 and a half hour drive down the country to Dudley. 

 

 

[PaulHartman71]

 

Pretty much as expected so far. We lost at North Ferriby and then beat bottom-place Harrogate, albeit fairly unconvincingly. 

 

 

2 games left and we're 4 points and goal difference off of Ashton Athletic. We're down unless we win our final two games. I'm not very hopeful at this point tbh. 

[sclinton]

Literally down to the wire.  Is their squad any good?

Edited January 21, 2017 by sclinton

[PaulHartman71]

32 minutes ago, sclinton said:

Literally down to the wire.  Is their squad any good?

 

They have a few decent players but it's a paper thin squad. There's a few injuries and I've had to delve into the Reserves/U18s to fill the benches (with players hugely out of their depth) in most of the games so far.

[PaulHartman71]

 

An absolutely huge performance and win at home to Southport keeps our survival hopes alive.

 

 

We have to beat top of the table Skelmersdale at their place on the final day to stand any chance of staying up. Northwich are at home to 10th Hyde United. The one silver lining is that Skelmersdale were officially confirmed champions after their 45th game, so in theory they have nothing to play for on the last day. 

[PaulHartman71]

 

A really disappointing way to end it. We went 1-0 down very early on, but Jordan Sykes went through and equalised not longer after. About 10 minutes after that and Skelmersdale were ahead again through a penalty, but yet again, we equalised soon after and I went into half-time quite positive, especially as Northwich were losing their game. At 2-2 we genuinely had some decent chances that we could've produced a goal from, but unfortunately we didn't take our chances and Skelmersdale hit us on the break late on to seal it,. 

 

 

I now have 2 relegations to my name 

[MichaelBrown]

Oh man  I want to see you further up the leagues but tier 8 haunts you!

Is there any chance you could get promotion next year?  

[PaulHartman71]

4 hours ago, MichaelBrown said:

Oh man  I want to see you further up the leagues but tier 8 haunts you!

Is there any chance you could get promotion next year?  

I'm more hopeful than I was with Canvey. The squad is quite thin but we actually won twice and had a competitive match with the champions. I'm certainly thinking new can avoid another relegation battle  

[PaulHartman71]

Season 11: Stourbridge

 

 

I had a fairly hard job on my hands when I came here with just 4 games left to save them, unfortunately I didn't quite manage it and the 8th tier beckons once more. 

Squad

 

 

Career History

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 Premier League Premier Div     21st         Relegated
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Trophy Cabinet

Eastern Counties League Cup    x1 - 2016/17 (Ipswich Wanderers) 
Gordan Brasted Memorial Trophy x1 - 2019/20 (Basildon United) 

 

 

[PaulHartman71]

 

Sad times for Farsley as without me they failed to get into the Playoffs.

[PaulHartman71]

Not that it's hugely relevant but I did find it a bit funny how we've been relegated from the Northern Premier League and ended up in the Southern 1st Division Central. Looking back at the last decade it seems we're a side in the middle, as from 2021-24, we actually competed in the Southern Premier League rather than the Northern one. 

[andychar]

Its been a brilliant read so far. 

I think its been said before but Adam Hart just cannot catch a break!

His managerial career has been just like his playing career. He must own a lot of property around England and the World!

[mrdanbartlett]

I imagine he probably rents on short term contacts   Some of his moves might not have gone through by the time he has moved on again

 

GREAT thread, really enjoying it.  I really hope you can have a good summer in terms of transfers, maybe worth asking the board for a parent club?  Scouring the £0 wages loan market?  I really hope you can have a solid season and get promoted, or do well enough to attract the interest of a  7th tier side who aren't doomed.

 

[BoxToBox]

1 hour ago, andychar said:

His managerial career has been just like his playing career. He must own a lot of property around England and the World!

Maybe he just has a really nice motorhome.

[PaulHartman71]

1 hour ago, mrdanbartlett said:

I imagine he probably rents on short term contacts   Some of his moves might not have gone through by the time he has moved on again

 

GREAT thread, really enjoying it.  I really hope you can have a good summer in terms of transfers, maybe worth asking the board for a parent club?  Scouring the £0 wages loan market?  I really hope you can have a solid season and get promoted, or do well enough to attract the interest of a  7th tier side who aren't doomed.

 

 

I did manage to bring in 3 pretty decent players in July. I had a few more in the offing but then a Consortium put in a bid to takeover the club. It's mid-August now and it still hasn't been resolved so I've been unable to bring in anymore players just yet.  Time will tell how costly that could be. Although the window never shuts, so as long as they sort it out sooner rather than later it shouldn't be a huge problem, especially if they relieve the club of their £150K debt. 

[mrdanbartlett]

Oh no more bad luck!  However aren't 90% of signings in these leagues free transfers of out of contract players?  I've never managed below North/South conf but all my signings were free's, often I waited until after the deadline day as I found players who wouldn't have been interested before suddenly were keener to find a club. 

[PaulHartman71]

Yeah I'll still be able to bring in players on freebies, but will just have to wait until this takeover bid is over. 

 

 

This isn't promising for the takeover itself, but does seem to imply it might all be over sooner rather than later. 

[PaulHartman71]

August

 

 

The Preliminary Round of the FA Cup saw us drawn against Harrogate Town. I was a bit surprised and concerned as I assumed Harrogate Town would be 1 or 2 divisions above us, but they're actually an 8th tier side too. In the 2023/24 season they finished 3rd in the Conference, but incredibly, since then they've finished rock bottom in every season, which has seen them drop to the 8th tier. They're in Administration so it looks like a lot of this is due to financial reasons. We did well in the first tie, only blowing our lead quite late on, which meant a replay for Harrogate at their 4,300 capacity ground (just 334 turned up for the game). I'm not sure if they have a small squad so struggled with having to play us again 3 days later, but they were like a different side, it was like we were the home side. They basically rolled over and despite their 2 goals they were never in it even at 2-1. 

 

 

We've not started off massively well in the league. We did comfortably beat Edgware Town on the opening day, which gave me hope for the season ahead, but since then we've lost to Biggleswade and Northampton Onecheks which has put me back down to reality. At least against Northampton it was a very tight and open game, which we unfortunately ended up on the losing side in. It's not panic stations just yet though as it is worth remembering that all 3 of these games were away from home, I think once we start having some home games we'll quickly rise up the table. Jordan Sykes has at least shown we have goals in us, as with 4 goals in 3 games he's the league's top scorer as things stand.

 

 

 

[Nobby_McDonald]

On 21/01/2017 at 21:13, PaulHartman71 said:

 

 

A 2 and a half hour drive down the country to Dudley. 

 

 

 

 

No wonder you were relegated. You thought you were in Dudley and not Stourbridge.

[PaulHartman71]

 

What a hero. I was ******** it when he got an offer from Conference North side Alfreton Town, but he rejected their offer and has opted to stay, even after I offered him a renewal but couldn't meet his demands. 

[PaulHartman71]

September

 

 

Cinderford were desperate for their Cinderella story (think that's twice I've used that pun in this thread now), but it wasn't to be. Despite earning a home replay, we beat them 1-0 thanks to a Jordan Sykes winner. 

 

 

I was pleased to get another home draw in the FA Cup and thought against a fellow 8th tier side we could give them a real go. Arlesey just didn't turn up though which meant we had the game wrapped up within 25 minutes. Easy. 

 

 

This month saw a huge improvement in results - it all started with a huge 5-1 win at home to Bracknell, which was followed by another thumping win at Wellingborough. We did only manage a draw with Thatcham and Phoenix Sports, but we at least won at home to Redditch to make it 11 points from 15 this month. 

 

 

 

We're still quite far down but we have a fair few games in hand, so nothing to worry about just yet. 

[PaulHartman71]

It's taken until the middle of October, but the Takeover is finally complete. 

 

 

 

 

Good times. I'll be looking at bringing in 1 or 2 extra bodies now. 

[MichaelBrown]

£255k  over what period of time?

[PaulHartman71]

36 minutes ago, MichaelBrown said:

£255k  over what period of time?

 

The loan is for 10 years. I feel fairly confident in saying that I sure as hell won't be here to pay back most of that

[PaulHartman71]

October

 

 

We started our Southern League Cup run with a win - Redditch really tested us and we only managed to narrowly beat them in a penalty shoot-out. But a win is a win. 

 

 

The FA Trophy saw us start off with a 3-1 win at home to Hoddesdon, before sadly losing 3-2 to Weymouth. I wasn't hugely fussed about this tournament as my main focus is the league, but either way it was annoying to lose a home game, especially after being 1-0 up early on and looking in control for long periods of the match. 

 

 

The FA Cup draw was kind to us in this round, as we got a home tie against County League side Oldland Abbotonians. They did give us a game though and it wasn't really until the last 5/10 minutes that we got out of sight.

 

 

I think this is either the first or the 2nd time I've reached the FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round in this save. We were up against it as we got an away tie against Conferenc North side Ilkeston. It was closer than the 3-1 result would suggest, but they did outplay us for much of the game and we can have no complaints in going out. 

 

 

A really strong month in the league with 4 wins out of 4, we came very close to only getting a point at Ashford, but the main man, Jordan Sykes, popped up with a late winner to make it a perfect month of 12 from 12. 

 

 

We've shot up to 4th now and if we win our games in hand we will be top of the league!

[PaulHartman71]

A big blow to our strike-force as not 1 but 2 of them got crocked in a recent match.

 

 

 

 

Danny Wilson is not as crucial to us as Sykes is, but losing him for 6 months (effectively the rest of the season) is far from ideal. Sykes being gone for 6 weeks is a big blow though, especially with Wilson out and unable to cover. 

I'm now scrambling to get a loan in ASAP as I can't afford to bring that good in, as whilst we have £180 p/w left in wages, none of the players that would make a difference will take that. 

 

Edited January 24, 2017 by PaulHartman71

[mrdanbartlett]

Gosh, what a mixed month!  Amazing to shoot up the table like that, but as you say what a huge blow, lower down these players are so hard to replace.

I'd try a cheeky punt on a loan from say a south/north conf side where a striker has been in the reserves, or maybe filter for unhappy strikers in those leagues.

 

I really hope you can have a successful season, really enjoy this thread. 

[PaulHartman71]

 

A big blow as now Jordan Sykes will never be coming back, as he has signed for Bromley, who are currently on the cusp of the Playoff places in the Conference South. I have got in a striker on loan who is okay, but I thought he was just going to be a stop gap for a month or so. With Danny Wilson out for the season too, it will be down to 3rd choice Gavin Thompson and the new loan signing to score the goals to get us up. 

[PaulHartman71]

Our loan signing, Jon Tucker, just scored a brace in a 3-1 win on his debut. Sykes who?!  

[PaulHartman71]

November

 

 

A 1-0 loss saw us out of the Southern League Cup. It would've been nice to have a run in the competition, but at least we can focus on the league entirely now. 

 

 

It's been a hard month. Losing both of our first choice strikers in a loss to Newport got us off to a bad start, then we got confirmation that Sykes had left for good which was a real kicker. We did get a 3-1 win at home to Highmoor Ibis which looked promising, but since then we've lost on the bounce, before nicking a point at home to top of the table Brackley.

 

 

We've wasted a few of our games in hand and now just have 1, but if we do win it we are still right up there. This bad patch has to be a wake up call though - we need this December to be a good one as I don't want the heads to drop.