A Harrowing Misadventure

[Faramir]

22.2.09

A glance at our balance book reveals that we will likely move back into the red next month. I was trying to remain on the positive side, but our wages are just too much for our venue- so we will have to face the red numbers the rest of the way. This is also why I have only pursued a few free signings and no transfer purchases.

***

24.2.09

Crossed communications- and maybe too little coffee on my part- Burnley wanted to loan Dean Morgan, not Darren. Once I realized my initial misreading of their loan offer, I turned them down flat. Why would I loan one of our best players to a higher level club when we are fighting for the top spot in League 2?

[Spav]

Close call with that loan offer, Faramir. I don't think FM2005 lets you recall loanees within a set period (like the first month).

[Faramir]

Too right about that Spav...

***

28.2.09

Harrow Hill (2) Kidderminster (1)

It was a taut match, but the final whistle sounded and we had escaped with a 2-1 win over visiting Kidderminster. Ross Flitney, despite losing his clean sheet to a late Steve Shaw penalty kick, deserved the MOM honours for this match as he made several excellent saves. We took a 2-0 lead in the first half thanks to a penalty kick by Byron Bubb after Dean Morgan was held in the area. Our other goal came when James Simmonds deflected in a corner from Morgan. We welcomed back Lewis Buxton from the walking wounded and he appeared to give us a 3-0 lead, but his header on another corner was waved off when the referee whistled him for pushing Rob Bull in the air. Their good tackling ruined what looked like more good chances on our part, but we still seemed well on our way to the win- until Simmonds was whistled for tripping Tony George in the area. The penalty gave them life and we had to hold our breaths in the final moments as their last gasp shot slipped inches wide of equalizing. The win, coupled with Sheffield Wednesday's win means we remain even with them atop League 2- but ahead on goal differential. Brentford lost and now is 13 points adrift of us and only 4 points ahead of surging Stevenage.

[Faramir]

1.3.09

On the day when he was selected League 2 Player of the Month for February, Richard Langley took a tumble in practice and landed awkwardly on his shoulder. The injury will keep him out a week or so, which likely means Mark Smyth will take his place in the lineup with Craig Kelly still filling in for the injured Darren Pratley.

***

3.3.09

Rochdale (1) Harrow Hill (4)

In what I must consider one of our best performances this season we worked efficiently and took a well deserved 4-1 win at Spotland. We held their keeper Gary Allen under siege in the early going, but he was frustrating us immensely with a series of excellent saves to keep us off the board. Despite having good chances, we fell behind when we didn't hustle back quickly enough on a free kick and John Johnston drilled a shot inside the left post from just inside the area past David Green. I was worried about a let-down in our play, but I needn't have as we continued working crisp passing in their area and Andrew Crofts blasted a goal home from the edge of the six yard box. Crofts, filling in for Pratley today, was a revelation as he earned MOM honours with a perfect match. It took us until the second half to sieze the lead and it was a nice, deft pass from Ian Jackson that allowed Mark Smyth to fire a shot inside the left post. Rochdale tried to rally quickly and came close three times- only to miss inches wide on all three to my relief. We began putting the match away when Smyth attacked and then smartly crossed to David Poole. Poole, who had come on for Dean Morgan had an easy time heading the ball in for his 5th goal of the season. Poole then put a cap on the scoring for the match as directed in a corner from Crofts to make the final 4-1. The win puts more pressure on Sheffield Wednesday as they were playing Wrexham in the Vans Trophy North Final. Wednesday edged Wrexham to earn the right to play QPR in the Finals, but then they must turn around and play us three days after the Finals in a showdown match on April 8th.

[Faramir]

7.3.09

We signed another promising youth midfielder that Rob Campkin had scouted. Lee Howard, a 19 year old DMLC, had excellent pace and acceleration and at this point I was really looking to add whatever pace I could in the youngsters we were signing. Howard won't see Senior play this season, but might be ready for next season.

***

7.3.09

Darlington (0) Harrow Hill (2)

Andrew Crofts copped his 2nd MOM in a row with another super performance as he led us to a 2-0 road win at Williamson Motors Stadium in front of a disappointed Darlington crowd. We continued to display clinical passing- especially in their area- and only our indifferent shooting kept us from winning this match by more. We outshot the home side 19-4 for the match and that truly reflected our play. Crofts scored our first goal as he once again got free at the edge of the six yard box and then whistled a rising shot past Matthew Oliver on a good pass from Mark Smyth. Despite controlling the tempo, we weren't able to relax much until we scored our 2nd goal midway through the second half. Craig Kelly, on for Smyth, played a pretty 1-2 passing sequence with Dean Morgan then split two defenders before driving a shot past Oliver for his 10th goal of the season. We came close to adding to that lead, but Oliver made a nice save on James Simmonds moments later. The 2-0 win, along with Sheffield Wednesday's 3-0 win over Lincoln ensures both of our clubs have qualified for the playoffs. Brentford has been struggling of late and are just trying to hold off the challenge of Stevenage for 3rd place- which leaves the duel for the top spot to us and Sheffield Wednesday. We hold a 3 point lead on them, with them still having a match in hand.

[Faramir]

8.3.09

The press was overwhelming me this morning at Larksfield Road. Blackpool had just let Colin Hendry go as Manager and there was intense speculation that I would be selected to take over to try and save them from relegation in League 1. I calmly told the assembled press that I felt a great loyalty to Harrow Hill and the players who had played so hard for me here- and that I wasn't about to disappoint them by ducking out on our chance to try and capture the League 2 crown.

***

8.3.09

When the phone call came, I was expecting it to be Blackpool, but instead it was Doncaster Chairman John Ryan. Ryan wanted me to take over his club, which was also part of the relegation fight in League 1 (though a bit better placed than Blackpool). To entice me, he stated he would offer me an 8.5 Million transfer fund and he also wouldn't quibble with me adding wages to the currently salary strucuture. This offer was a bit stunning- considering in my combined time with Harrow Hill we hadn't seen a total of 8.5 Million in revenue. I surprised him though, by turning down the offer. I explained it was a great offer, but my heart remained with the club I had nurtured up from ECS. He told me he understood, but really wished I would reconsider- which I told him I wouldn't.

***

9.3.09

A Board member told me they were very pleased about my comments to the press about the Blackpool position- apparently not having heard about the Doncaster offer.

Scarborough came calling, wanting to purchase Ian Jackson. I told them we weren't planning on selling Ian- who has become a valuable member of our rotation- splitting time with Patrick Cregg to give us a pair of very good defensive midfielders. The odd man out is Jordan Fowler, who is unhappy about his lack of playing time. Fowler is a fierce tackler, but just a lousy passer and our offense has really bloomed with both Cregg and Jackson, while it tends to stutter with Fowler- so he will remain unhappy as I don't play him much.

[Faramir]

11.3.09

Braintree wanted to loan Simon Barker for three months. I turned them down as I am trying to keep him under wraps until his 17th birthday. I hope I am more successful than Stuart Charles, who is now worth more than 1 Million at Manchester United.

***

11.3.09

Sheffield Wednesday edged Stockport 1-0 in the match in hand. With 8 matches remaining the League 2 standings were:

League 2- 38 matches played

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

1- Harrow Hill 82 pts (+47)

2- Sheffield Wednesday 82 pts (+37)

3- Brentford 64 pts (+16)

4- Stevenage 59 pts (-1)

5- Bristol Rovers 56 pts (+9)

6- Kidderminster 55 pts (+3)

7- Rushden 54 pts (+4)

8- Leyton Orient 53 pts (+8)

9- Stockport 52 pts (+6)

10-Yeovil 51 pts (+0)

11-Colchester 51 pts (-4)

</pre>

***

13.3.09

Brentford boss Martin Foyle and Stevenage boss Graham Westley engaged in a war of words in the press leading up to their showdown tomorrow. A Stevenage win rould really put the screws to Brentford in their bid to hold them off for 3rd place.

[Faramir]

14.3.09

Harrow Hill (0) Wycombe (0)

The rust was apparent as we welcomed Darren Pratley and Richard Langley back into the lineup. We had trouble getting things going against Wycombe's determined defensive effort and only managed 5 shots for the match- with none troubling keeper Matthew Harrison greatly. On the plus side, Ross Flitney had an easy time earning a clean sheet as we allowed them Zero shots for the match. Sheffield Wednesday also only managed a 1-1 draw, so we remain locked atop the League. Stevenage dumped Brentford 3-1 at Brentford to come within 2 points of them for 3rd place and put a lot of pressure on big talking Foyle- who started the war of words.

[Faramir]

15.3.09

Kingstonian came calling- they wanted to loan Mark Patterson for three months. I agreed to allow Mark to play for them for three months because he had played well on the reserves and hopefully it would give him some exposure to Senior side play.

***

17.3.09

Despite all my comments about not making any transfer purchases, I felt I had to make an attempt to sign unprotected 18 year old Steve Thomson of Newport IoW. Thomson is one of the more complete young midfielders (he is nominally a DMC) at 18 years old and given his modest weekly wage demands, it was worth the 45K we had to pay Newport to sign him. He will not work into first team play just yet, though I might use him as a gameday reserve soon. His signing means we have a real glut of DMCs and also means that Jordan Fowler will be on the reserves and transfer list soon.

[Faramir]

25.3.09

We signed 17 year old MR Luke King to a contract today. I will keep signing any youth players that look like they have potential to fit into our system. As a small market (and pretty poor) club, we will have to keep trying for the brass ring by signing young players and seeing if a few pan out.

***

27.3.09

Bristol Rover Manager Israel Marmol wanted to start a war of words with me on the eve of our match. I decided- given the standings- that it made more sense to 'kill 'em with kindness' and just told the press that Bristol was lucky to have him as a Manager- my backhanded compliment.

[Faramir]

28.3.09

Bristol Rovers (3) Harrow Hill (1)

We didn't step up and play well in this match and we deserved the loss they pinned on us. Darren Pratley still isn't close to the impact player he was earlier in the season and they defensed him well and ruined our offense. We fell behind midway in the first half when Gary Taylor outleaped Franklin Simek and flicked a header past Ross Flitney. They went up 2-0 minutes later on a fluke goal by Taylor as he accidently looped a header over Flitney on a long centering pass. We seemed to gain some life when Flitney saved Richard Walker's penalty kick and Andrew Crofts (on for Pratley) scored to get us back to only a goal down. That went by the wayside when another penalty kick was awarded to them on Simek's hold in the area and they didn't miss this time to move it to 3-1. Sheffield Wednesday won 1-0 to move into sole possession of 1st place in League 2 and they also clinched promotion.

[Faramir]

4.4.09

It was a bit anti-climactic for us, but we clinched promotion without playing. Stevenage drew 1-1 and Brentford lost again at home to ensure we will be moving up to League 1. Stevenage only trails Brentford by a 1 point in the race for 3rd place and Bristol Rovers are now only 3 points back as well. We are preparing for our midweek showdown with Sheffield Wednesday.

***

8.4.09

Harrow Hill (3) Sheffield Wednesday (1)

We knew going in that we had to win our home match against Sheffield Wednesday to have a chance at capturing the League 2 title. Wednesday came into the match on a down note as QPR had routed them 3-0 in the Vans Final on Sunday. We came out with fire in our eyes and pressured them right away. David Lucas made a pair of sterling saves, but a good pass found Richard Langley with enough room to move in close and he rammed his shot past Lucas for his 15th goal of the year to give us the early lead. It was a bit of a letdown when they equalized shortly after as Ross Flitney mishandled a cross and Richard Wood had an easy time pushing the ball into the empty net. We weren't deterred by that mistake though and Dean Morgan sent a terrific pass to Langley that found him onside and in-stride as he moved in and smashed a shot past Lucas for his 2nd of the match. Less than two minutes later, the combination repeated itself as Morgan again found Langley racing and Richard completed his hat-trick with another nice shot. Flitney made up for his first mistake by being rock solid the remainder of the match and making several highlight reel saves. Lucas also had turned back into a brick wall and though we created several excellent chances, we were still stuck on 3 at the final whistle. Fortunately, Sheffield Wednesday was still at 1 and the 3-1 win boosted us back into 1st place in League 2.

[Faramir]

11.4.09

Northampton (2) Harrow Hill (3)

All season long, players have stepped up to make contributions and that was the case today as we managed to edge a determined Northampton side 3-2. We looked very sharp in the early going and took the lead when Craig Kelly made a superb pass to David Poole. Poole made a quick move past Colin Cryan and zipped a low shot past Rhys Evans for his 5th goal of the season. Shortly after we moved ahead 2-0 when Ian Jackson whistled a through ball that found Kelly with space in the area and he snapped a shot over Evans' shoulder. I wanted to close out the half strongly, but instead Northampton gained life when a good long pass sprung Tommy Smith on their left side and we couldn't close him down before he rifled a shot past David Green to draw a goal back. They were really rallying forward in the early stages of the second half, but our backline was steady and getting defensive support from the midfield. It appeared we had finally clinched the match when Billy Sharp (on for Poole) made an unselfish layoff of the ball and Ryan Ashington (on for injured Steve Thomson, who had come on for Byron Bubb) fired the ball into the right side of the net from 25 yards for his 5th goal of the season (and first in months). It turned out we needed that goal as Smith again waltzed past Shaun Clohessy and Franklin Simek before slipping the ball past Green in the dying seconds of second half injury time to make the final score 3-2. Sheffield Wednesday could only manage a 1-1 draw with Wycombe at home and we now are 2 points ahead of them atop League 2.

[Faramir]

14.4.09

Harrow Hill (5) Chesterfield (0)

The depth we have shown all season was never more evident than this 5-0 win over a tired Chesterfield club. We were once again playing a fresh, rested lineup in this Tuesday match and it made the difference as we generated 27 shots in the match. For awhile Chesterfield keeper Darren Duncan did yeoman work keeping us off the scoresheet. That changed when James Simmonds made a neat move on a free kick from Patrick Cregg and rapped it home to give us the lead. Ross Flitney then came up with two big saves on Jamie Donnelly and Kevin Kyle to keep us ahead. Duncan made another couple superb saves- and then the roof fell in on him. Franklin Simek scored when he deflected a corner from Jimmy Corbett home. Less than two minutes later Darren Pratley headed a sizzling cross from Dean Morgan past Duncan. Another couple minutes later and it was Morgan adding a goal off a nice pass from Pratley. Richard Langley then closed out a five goal first half with a nice move as he took the ball around Duncan and slotted it into the left side of the net. We maintained the pressure throughout the second half and Chesterfield was clearly tired and unable to mount a rally as finished out the 5-0 win in strong fashion. Sheffield Wednesday edged Bristol Rovers 2-1 on the road to keep pace with us. Stevenage now holds 3rd place by one point over Brentford, 2 points over Rushden, 3 points over Bristol Rovers and 4 points over Leyton Orient.

[Faramir]

18.4.09

MK Dons (1) Harrow Hill (3)

We struggled through a first half where we wasted a lot of passes and were generally a step too slow with our defensive pressure. Despite our indifferent effort, I was hopeful we would go to the dressing room ahead- thanks to nice individual effort by Dean Morgan as he bested two Don defenders on the dribble and then whipped in a cross that Steven O'Donnell was able to deflect into the left side of the net. Instead the Dons regained momentum when they scored a fluke header off a corner in injury time. We didn't start out much better in the second half, but the introduction of Andrew Crofts for injured Jimmy Corbett finally seemed to give us life. Crofts showed his exquisite passing touch with nice layoff for Richard Langley and he drove his shot past David Martin to give us the lead. Minutes later another Crofts pass allowed Morgan to break in from the right and pot his 10th goal of the season. We made that 3-1 margin stand up with better defensive play down the stretch. Sheffield Wednesday again kept pace with us as they rolled over Darlington 5-2. Brentford now holds 3rd place again on goal differential as they managed a 1-1 draw, while Stevenage lost heavily 3-0 at home.

[Faramir]

20.4.09

Huw Jenkins, the Swansea Chairman, called me and asked if I would take over the Manager's position there. They are 18th in the EC and will stay up this season, but he was clearly hoping for better. He mentioned they would give me a 4.4 Million transfer fund, but would like me to lighten the weekly wages. I politely told him no as I preferred to stay with Harrow Hill.

[Faramir]

25.4.09

Harrow Hill (2) Stevenage (0)

We dealt Stevenage a severe blow in their bid to grab 3rd place in League 2 as we defeated them 2-0 in a closely played match at Larksfield Road. Richard Langley was stymied by Stevenage keeper Daniel Graham in the first half. He had three excellent one-on-one chances and saw Graham come up with the big save on him each time. The atmosphere was hesistant as we made our way through the second half, but when Langley made a deft pass that allowed Dean Morgan enough room to blister a shot inside the right post from the edge of the six yard box , you could sense the relief of both the fans and the players. When Graham saved Morgan's chance moments later, Langley finally got his 20th goal as he was first to the ball and pushed it into the open net. The double blow seemed to dishearten our visitors and we managed to close out another Ross Flitney clean sheet in fine style. The fans sensed something was brewing and radios were on as we listened to the waning moments of the Sheffield Wednesday match. When they hit the post in the last moments- and the ball bounced away- there was an undercurrent of expectation that swelled into celebration moments later. The final whistle sounded on their 1-1 home draw against Northampton- We had won League 2!

The race for 3rd place is a wild one as all 5 playoff bound clubs are now tied with 67 points apiece. Leyton Orient currently holds the goal differential edge and the place, but it sets up an entertaining final day of the season.

[Lord Crumb]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Faramir:

25.4.09

Harrow Hill (2) Stevenage (0)

We dealt Stevenage a severe blow in their bid to grab 3rd place in League 2 as we defeated them 2-0 in a closely played match at Larksfield Road. Richard Langley was stymied by Stevenage keeper Daniel Graham in the first half. He had three excellent one-on-one chances and saw Graham come up with the big save on him each time. The atmosphere was hesistant as we made our way through the second half, but when Langley made a deft pass that allowed Dean Morgan enough room to blister a shot inside the right post from the edge of the six yard box , you could sense the relief of both the fans and the players. When Graham saved Morgan's chance moments later, Langley finally got his 20th goal as he was first to the ball and pushed it into the open net. The double blow seemed to dishearten our visitors and we managed to close out another Ross Flitney clean sheet in fine style. The fans sensed something was brewing and radios were on as we listened to the waning moments of the Sheffield Wednesday match. When they hit the post in the last moments- and the ball bounced away- there was an undercurrent of expectation that swelled into celebration moments later. The final whistle sounded on their 1-1 home draw against Northampton- We had won League 2!

The race for 3rd place is a wild one as all 5 playoff bound clubs are now tied with 67 points apiece. Leyton Orient currently holds the goal differential edge and the place, but it sets up an entertaining final day of the season. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Splendid news.

[Faramir]

Thank you Lord Crumb

***

2.5.09

Bury (2) Harrow Hill (0)

Playing mostly players from the reserve side, we gave Bury a tough match- but they won out 2-0. Richard Langley was the unlucky player for us today. I was playing him because he had a chance to win the League 2 goal scoring title and we gave him some good chances. Unfortunately, Steve Simonsen played wonderfully and stopped him cold. They bookended their goals around half-time and then spent the second half choking off our rally attempts. Despite not scoring today, Langley won the scoring title with 20 goals- winning out over Ramon Calliste who had 18. Leyton Orient grabbed 3rd place on goal differential over Stevenage. Playoff clubs are Stevenage-Brentford-Bristol Rovers-Rushden.

[Faramir]

2009 Harrow Hill Selected Stats

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

GK

Ross Flitney 27(1) 15 CShts 1 MOM 7.21

David Green 20 8 CShts 0 MOM 7.00

DR

James Biggins 31 0 G 0 A 1 MOM 7.19

Shaun Clohessy 14 0 G 2 A 1 MOM 7.29

DL

Carl Laurie 27(1) 0 G 0 A 0 MOM 7.11

Adrian Nevins 21 1 G 0 A 0 MOM 7.33

DC

Franklin Simek 40 1 G 1 A 3 MOM 7.42

Lewis Buxton 35 0 G 1 A 3 MOM 7.40

Lee Doherty 16(1) 0 G 0 A 0 MOM 7.18

DMC

Patrick Cregg 25(5) 0 G 3 A 0 MOM 7.20

Ian Jackson 15(6) 0 G 1 A 0 MOM 7.29

Jordan Fowler 7(12) 0 G 0 A 0 MOM 6.68

ML

James Simmonds 30 3 G 6 A 2 MOM 7.30

Steven O'Donnell 18 3 G 7 A 1 MOM 7.56

MR

Byron Bubb 19(1) 2 G 5 A 1 MOM 7.05

Ryan Ashington 9(15) 5 G 7 A 2 MOM 6.88

Jimmy Corbett 21 1 G 1 A 0 MOM 6.67

AMC

Darren Pratley 29 8 G 10 A 5 MOM 7.62

Andrew Crofts 5(16) 4 G 3 A 2 MOM 7.19

SCR

Dean Morgan 26 11 G 11 A 3 MOM 7.54

Craig Kelly 15(17) 11 G 8 A 1 MOM 7.13

David Poole 8(7) 7 G 0 A 0 MOM 7.13

SCL

Richard Langley 33 20 G 7 A 5 MOM 7.55

Mark Smyth 10(9) 8 G 3 A 1 MOM 7.21

Billy Sharp 8(8) 2 G 1 A 1 MOM 6.93

</pre>

[Ranson52]

Enjoying the read and the story, keep it up please.

One slight comment if you don't mind, the reference "net" in the story. Should this not be "goal" ??

Call me picky, but it seems to get to me a little.

Ciao

[Faramir]

Ranson- sorry but you are reading a Yank here- and one who played ice hockey goalie for 20 years- so it is also a 'net' to me- not just a goal

***

7.5.09

In an effort to rid myself of excess wages, I offered a few unhappy players to other clubs. The first to leave will be Chris O'Brien- who I accepted an 22K offer from Hendon for. O'Brien has the talent to do well, but he never found a place in our tactical system and wanted to move to earn playing time. His wages were significant, so this was a good solution for both us and him.

***

10.5.09

Next to leave will be Matty Hendra, who was sold to Worcester for 8K. Hendra looked like a young star when my scouts first found him, but never developed at all and hadn't seen any Senior side time this season.

In the playoffs, Brentford continued their season ending slide by losing to Bristol Rovers 2-0 at home in the first leg. Stevenage and Rushden battled to a scoreless draw.

***

12.5.09

I was stunned when Chairman Murray of Sunderland called me. He wanted me to replace ex-Manager Gary Megson at the Stadium of Light and was willing to include a 3.2 Million transfer budget. Sunderland had finished 10th in the EC, so this wasn't another struggling club coming to call. They had a fine roster and it was difficult to say no, but I did. My heart is still with my Harrow Hill crew.

[Faramir]

13.5.09

Brentford was broomed out of the playoffs by Bristol Rovers with a 3-3 draw.

Liverpool won on penalties over Atletico Madrid in the Euro Cup Finals.

In a good note, we re-signed Ryan Ashington for three more years. He was happy to sign on- even as a reserve and he still offers us depth in the midfield at a modest price.

***

14.5.09

Rushden will move on to face Bristol Rovers for the chance to gain promotion as they defeated Stevenage 1-0 in their 2nd leg.

***

17.5.09

Plymouth came calling about taking over as Manager for them, but as was the case with Sunderland- I turned them down to stay with Harrow Hill.

***

20.5.09

Chelsea retained their Champions Cup title as they defeated Manchester United 2-0 in an all-England Final.

[Faramir]

23.5.09

Brighton stunned Manchster United by beating them on penalties to capture the FA Cup title.

Newcastle edged Liverpool on the last day of the EPL season to caputure this season's EPL Championship.

***

25.5.09

Bristol Rovers won out over Rushden 2-0 to gain the final promotion spot from League 2.

***

28.5.09

It was pleasing to see that Franklin Simek, Richard Langley and Darren Pratley were selected to the Players Select team for League 2.

***

27.5.09

As if life wasn't tough enough for our small club. The newspapers blared with their headlines today:

Board Member Embezzles Harrow Hill's Prize Money

That's right, one of our Board members, working with one of the accountants, managed to siphon off all our prize money for finishing 1st in League 2. So, instead of being in the black- which I had been counting on- we remain 125K in the red going into the off season. The other Board members did vote to establish an 190K transfer fund, but with us basically running out of money (well at least until the TV money is awarded for next season), I can't see making a lot of moves.

Note- Game didn't award me any prize money for finishing 1st, so might as well work it into the story...

[Faramir]

30.5.09

Now the tough decisions are here. Most of our club is locked up nicely under contract. The major exception is Dean Morgan- whose contract expires after this season. I am going to make a last ditch effort to sign him, but if not I may be forced to try and sell him now. The others with contracts up at the end of 2010 I don't plan on offering new contracts, with the possible exception of Ryan Ashington. Shaun Clohessy is solid, but we have several promising rightbacks coming up. Jimmy Corbett I may try and sell this summer because of his poor season and his large weekly wages- we also have youngsters coming up that can fill the spot. Jordan Fowler will also be on the transfer list this summer, as we have a slew of good young DMCs on the club. Paul Moss has been a solid backup, but it is time to open another place for our up-and-coming DCs.

The current depth chart looks like this-Age (Weekly wage,Expiration):

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

GK

Ross Flitney- 24 (500,2013)

David Green- 20 (240,2011)

Ryan Howell- 20 (160,2013)

DR

James Biggins- 23 (900,2012)

Shaun Clohessy- 22 (325,2010)

Paul Ross- 20 (200,2013)

DL

Carl Laurie- 27 (450,2013)

Adrian Nevins- 23 (300,2012)

DC

Franklin Simek- 24 (1200,2013)

Lewis Buxton- 25 (775,2013)

Lee Doherty- 19 (110,2011)

Paul Gardner- 18 (80,2013)

Lee Woods- 21 (200,2013)

DMC

Patrick Cregg- 23 (170,2013)

Ian Jackson- 17 (100,2013)

Steve Thomson- 18 (110,2014)

MR

Byron Bubb- 27 (230,2012)

Ryan Ashington- 26 (250,2012)

Jason Peacock- 18 (180,2013)

Mike Walker- 18 (70,2013)

ML

James Simmonds- 22 (1200,2013)

Steven O'Donnell- 23 (475,2012)

Lee Howard- 19 (80,2013)

AMC

Darren Pratley- 24 (1100,2013)

Andrew Crofts- 24 (750,2012)

Russell Walters- 17 (95,2013)

SCR

Dean Morgan- 25 (800,2010)

Craig Kelly- 19 (650,2013)

David Poole- 24 (400,2011)

SCL

Richard Langley- 19 (850,2013)

Mark Smyth= 24 (350,2011)

</pre>

Youngster that might contribute:

Lee Holland- 16 (FLC) I am desperately trying to keep him under wraps until he is 17- I think he will move into the starting lineup soon after- if I can keep him.

[Spav]

Tremendous work, Faramir - both on the story and in the actual game with Harrow Hill. Well done on your promotion and I look forward to following your efforts as you attempt to adapt to League One football next season.

[Faramir]

Thanks Spav

***

2.6.09

We managed to sell a couple more players as Billy Sharp will move to Kidderminster for 40K and Shaun Clohessy is going to York for 20K. Both players were only fringe players for us and adding their sales to the bottom line was more important than keeping them.

***

17.6.09

Gavin Bolger is going on loan to Dag & Red for 3 months. I hope to ultimately sell Gavin, as he doesn't really have a place in our future plans at present.

***

19.6.09

The cruel reality of our current financial position- in the red still thanks to the embezzlement and awaiting our portion of the TV money- forced me to accept an offer from Hartlepool of 425K for Dean Morgan. Morgan and his agent had both spurned my offers on a new contract and it was time to accept that he wanted to move to a bigger club. Replacing him is a bigger question, though for now I will look at pairing Craig Kelly with Langley- since they played well together last season.

[Faramir]

20.6.09

The TV money is finally in the coffers now and the 450K has put us back on the black side of the ledger. We are still not in a great position, though the expected sale of Morgan will put us on firmer ground. The Board understands my position and they told me they wanted us to battle bravely to stay up in League 1 for this season.

***

21.6.09

Youngster Gary Russell was pleased to sign his first professional contract with us today. Arne thought the 17 year old DRC had real potential and promoted him from the training program.

***

22.6.09

We also signed Steven Booth to a contract. Booth is a promising 18 year old MR who was released from the Chelsea youth program. Our scouts thought he had a lot of potential and he was worth signing.

Dean Morgan called me personally to let me know that he had accepted Hartlepool's contract offer, so the transfer sale will be announced tomorrow. I am sad to see Morgan go, he had been an important part of our success and his loss will certainly lessen our chances. Still, this is a business and this was the right decision to help the club with our balance books.

Bristol Rovers came calling about Kelly and I turned them down flat. There is no way we can afford to let him leave with the loss of Morgan.

[Faramir]

2.7.09

Another youngster we signed was 17 year old D/SC Michael Johnson. Johnson had been in the Arsenal youth program, but they had released him. He seems to be a promising talent worth gambling on.

***

10.7.09

I hadn't realized what a celebration the signing of Scott Adams would trigger. Adams, a 21 year old FRC, had just been out of contract with Gravesend and we managed to sign him away from them. Not only did he become our highest valued player- 1.9 Million- but our fans started printing shirts up quickly. Adams had 67 goals in his 4 years of Gravesend, and I am hopeful he is the replacement for Dean Morgan we needed to balance things out with Langley.

***

11.7.09

It was ironic to be facing Dean Morgan on the other side of the pitch in our first friendly as we hosted Hartlepool. We put forth a very steady effort and won the friendly 1-0 on a goal by Richard Langley.

[Faramir]

15.7.09

We gave a credible effort at Jaguar, but fell to home side Coventry on a pair of late penalty kicks. Overall, I was pleased with our play in the match.

***

16.7.09

I have been trying to sell several players that I don't think are going to help us and one finally went today as we let Jon Edwards move to Stafford Rangers on free transfer. I still have hopes to let several more find new homes- just to lower our weekly wages to closer to the budgeted amount.

***

18.7.09

Preston handily beat us 3-0 at Deepdale as they looked like they were ready for the regular season to begin- and we didn't.

***

19.7.09

Mike Fowler has now moved to Scunthorpe as he chose their offer over several other free transfer offers that we accepted on him.

[Faramir]

23.7.09

Another transfer sale finalized today- and at least this one brings some money to the club. We sold defender Gary Russell to Kingstonian for 5K.

***

24.7.09

Two more transfer sales today. Mark Smyth was unhappy about not being a starter here and wanted out, so we obliged him and he selected Cambridge out of several clubs bidding on him. That sale netted us 65K. The other sale was a free transfer sale of Jimmy Corbett. Corbett was in the last year of his contract and would not have seen much playing time, so it made more sense to allow someone else to pay his fairly high wages. Corbett selected Scunthorpe out of the clubs bidding for his services.

[Faramir]

25.7.09

We closed out our friendly schedule with a scoreless draw when we hosted Motherwell. It was an entertaining and well played match on both sides of the ball and the draw was a fair result. I saw signs of improving play, and that was all I was really hoping for out of the match.

***

26.7.09

Another free transfer sale as we allowed Craig Dickinson to move to the Grays. Dickinson never really developed into the player I was hoping for when we originally signed him.

***

28.7.09

Nottingham Forest, Stoke and Ipswich are all favorites for promotion from League 1 this season. Our odds are pegged at 40-1, and the bookies think we are a relegation candidate.

[Faramir]

I was wondering if the story would last long enough to carry up to the Awards date- and as it was- just barely.

The save file was corrupted at this point and the last save I had was from two years earlier- so I am sorry to say this is the finish of my misadventure.

Thanks to whoever nominated and voted for in the awards nomination- it was an honor being nominated and I appreciate it.

The good news is that I liked this approach so much, I immediately started a new try when this happened, so another story begins in its place today. I also plan on trying this in FM2006 (new story was still 2005)- but not sure how soon on that.

Thanks again for all the comments and support and I will always have a fond place for Harrow Hill (and I really wish I knew what kind of career that Richard Langley would have had- he was a gem of a player).

-MD

[axeman]

I'm sorry to hear that you've been forced to stop this misadventure. I just finished reading it from start to finish and it's an inspiring tale

Good luck in your other ventures

[Lord Crumb]

I'm ****ed off now.

Will enjoy your new story

[Spav]

It was a great adventure, not misadventure. I for one will assume that Harrow Hill went on to dominate English and European football for many years to come. Well done, Faramir.