[FM20] The Martyrs of Merthyr

[Feliks]

Merthyr Town FC are a Welsh semi-professional football club based in Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan. Like Cardiff, Swansea, Wrexham and Newport County, they are members of the English league system, and currently ply their trade in the Southern League Premier Division South, in the seventh tier of the football pyramid.

I have always enjoyed playing as expatriate clubs, including FC Vaduz and Wellington Phoenix, and when I was presented with Merthyr as an option for my dafuge challenge attempt, I jumped at the chance. I've just so happened to really quite enjoy the save during my time so far, and I wanted to document the save from the second season onwards. As this is a dafuge challenge, I holidayed the first season and Merthyr Town was promoted into the National League South for the 2020/21 season, when I took over.

My overall vision for Merthyr Town FC is to rise through the ranks of English football whilst fielding an entirely Welsh squad and developing top Welsh talent. Unlike my counterparts in the English system, Merthyr Town will not sully itself with Englishmen and will look to beat them at their own game whilst proudly flying the Welsh flag.

My goals and aims for the save are as follows:

Short Term
- field an entirely Welsh squad from Day 1
- win promotion to the National League

Medium Term
- win promotion to the Football League
- become professional
- have a current player represent the Welsh national team

Long Term
- win promotion to the Premier League
- represent Wales on the European stage
- have my players make up half of the Welsh national team squad

I have already completed the first season, so I will be doing a season review and then recapping month by month thereafter.

[Feliks]

Season 2020/21 Review | National League South

Merthyr Town are a club with a proud history, and making it to the sixth tier of English football was a big moment for the town. I set about building the squad up quickly so we could maximise tactical familiarity as soon as possible.

We made a number of cheap signings, some of which turned out to be shrewd additions. Ben Erickson was signed as a solid centre back option from Swansea, but ended playing the entire season as a defensive right back due to lack of options back there. Owura Edwards is a young, inconsistent winger capable of flashes of pure brilliance, whilst Lucas Murray was a solid if not spectacular centre back for the entire season. The best gets were definitely Cameron Berry, an adventurous central midfielder who I gave complete freedom to do as he pleased; Luc Noble, a very promising centre back who was close to signing for Championship sides before I whisked him away on loan; and finally, Momo Touray, a cheap loan from Newport County who would ultimately prove to be a star in Merthyr Tydfil.

I tinkered with the tactic a bit over the season and tried out different tactics for away matches but ultimately this was what I went with for the vast majority of the season. A simple, flat 4-4-2, I played wide but the winger did most of the work as I opted to keep the full backs defensive. Cameron Berry was given license to do as he pleased as that attacking central midfield whilst the DLP provided extra defensive cover but also a great passing option.

We arranged the majority of our friendlies against local Welsh teams, and we got familiarised with our tactics and a nice morale boost from thumping some fairly ordinary sides.

I wasn't sure what to expect from our opening month and it really was a mixed bag. We comfortably beat recently relegated Woking in the season opener, but then got slammed by Slough just a few days later, and then the pendulum flew violently the other way when we trounced Truro 5-0. We didn't concede or drop a point but seemed pretty hopeless away from home.

After a somewhat promising start, September did not begin well, losing our first 3 games on the bounce. A plucky win over Chelmsford marked our first away win of the season, which gave us a bit of a confidence boost, and we carried that over into a regulation cup win against Basingstoke, but then came undone at home to close out the month.

We didn't play a league game for 3 weeks thanks to cup commitments, nearly faltering against lower league side Chesham before turning it around on the road. Sadly, we just missed out on making the 1st Round of the FA Cup proper, but we took to the league with renewed enthusiasm. Wins away against Oxford City and Bromley were unexpected and delighting, before fighting for a draw with Weymouth and then becoming the first all season to beat rich boys Dulwich Hamlet, a big achievement for the club.

November was a bit more of a subdued month for us, with very low scoring affairs. 2 wins from 3 in the league wasn't terrible though, and we nabbed a cup win to boot as well. At this point I believe we were in 7th, and jostling for playoff positions, which was vastly exceeding expectations.

But after a couple of months of strong form, it all came apart in a disastrous December. We scored just 2 goals and picked up 2 points in 6 games, looking well off the pace. The 4-1 home loss against Oxford City, a club 10 places below us, was a massive shock and we stumbled into another drubbing at the hands of Weymouth.

After the debacle that was December, I turned off the game for the night and slept on it. In the morning, I made a couple of minor tweaks to the tactic and held a rousing team meeting and the club's fortunes seemingly turned overnight. 4 wins out of 5 saw us rocket back up the table into promotion contention.

In February, we yet again looked inconsistent in attack and our momentum faltered, scraping a win and a couple of draws.

However, in March we had yet another great turnaround and this time the difference was Momo Touray. He scored 7 goals in as many games this month and we charged right up into the playoff spots, almost guaranteed to appear in May.

With just 4 games to go, I rallied the squad to make one last push for a top 3 spot that would give us the first week of playoffs off and we very nearly made it. A dramatic late win over 4th placed Bromley saw us take their spot and we comfortably saw off Welling but an uncharacteristic loss to St Albans - our first since February - scattered those top 3 dreams. We did prove our credentials though by knocking off 3rd placed Bishop's Stortford away from home in the final game of the season. As you can see, Momo Touray was absolutely brilliant with 6 goals in 4 games.

I knew the playoffs would be an extremely tough ask and the players' nerves were evident at home against Weymouth, with a dramatic late winner from centre back Lucas Murray when we were a man down due to injury. A trip to Hemel Hempstead awaited, and we stunned the 2nd placed finishers thanks to a Momo Touray brace, but we couldn't get the job done against Bishop's Stortford, falling agonisingly short in a brilliant debut campaign.

Considering the board wanted me to attempt to avoid relegation, we can be extremely proud of being just a goal away from gaining promotion at the first time of asking. If we can carry our end of season form into next season, I see no reason why we can't challenge for silverware or at the very least go up through the playoffs again.

Jonathan North

Ben Erickson -- Luc Noble -- Lucas Murray -- Danny Greenslade

Owura Edwards -- Cameron Berry (vc) -- Eliot Richards -- Ben Swallow

Momodou Touray -- Jamie Veale (c)

As you can see, Momo Touray was an absolute legend for us this season whilst on loan from Newport County. He started the season slowly, usually on the bench, but his goalscoring prowess was incredible in the back half of the season, scoring 18 goals in our last 16 goals and very nearly firing us to promotion. He ended up as the National League South's Player of the Year and Top Goalscorer, and with his contract running out, I'll be throwing everything I can at him to sign on permanently. Our standouts were the extremely reliable Luc Noble, who I suspect will go on to bigger and brighter things, and the creative Cameron Berry. Jamie Veale scored just 11 goals in 53 games as a striker but his tireless work linking the midfielders and the explosive Touray were very important.

I was very impressed with the youth intake this season, and we picked up a couple of players who could provide valuable cover to the first immediately. Alan McGuire is a Gibraltan attacking midfielder with Welsh second nationality, who I want to train to become Jamie Veale's protege. Rob Rowlands is a hard working midfielder who can occasionally slot in as a centre back; however, with his height I'll be looking to try and improve the technical aspects of his game so he can play a role through the middle of the park for me. I'm keen to see how the entire squad develops, as next season they'll be playing in the Welsh Development League.

Finances were a bit of a balancing act this season, but I'm happy that we only lost about £50,000 over the course of the season as I think we'll be able to make that up over the next season if we can get things right on the pitch. We've arranged an affiliation with Gillingham that will give us a tidy boost to the balance in the pre-season, and we're letting go of some inflated contracts as well for next season.

The board, whilst thrilled with my performance this season, are not overly optimistic and have given me the reasonable target of making the top half of the league with the aim of another playoff spot by 2023/24. Personally, I think we can challenge for promotion again next season and I will be working towards that over the off-season. Our best two players were loanees this year, and while I won't be able to renew the loan of Luc Noble, I will be pushing hard to sign Momo Touray permanently and then delve into the market to improve the squad.

[Feliks]

Season 2021/22 | Pre-Season | National League South

With the bitter disappointment of the playoff final behind us, it was time to look forward at Merthyr Town FC. The board will be happy with a top half finish, but personally I'd like to push for a playoff spot again and improve on what was a tremendous last few months of the 2020/21 season.

This off-season marked my first chance to really overhaul the squad and bring in players that will fit my tactical style. The board showed their faith in me by offering an extra £2,000 a week in the wage budget and I was helped by offloading some lopsided contracts.

*ignore the retired players, they were players who I brought in on trial and then retired whilst at the club

We released a total of 6 players who took up a significant chunk of the wage bill, Owain Jones in particular who was on a ridiculous £775 a week, £250 more than the maximum I could offer to players last season. Ben Swallow and Danny Greenslade were first team regulars for last season but were too old and not quite good enough respectively. Also leaving the club, to my dismay, was Momo Touray, with his outstanding form earning him a new contract with Newport County who wouldn't loan him back, and Luc Noble, who has also become too good to be playing at this level.

With about £3,800 p/w in wage budget available to me, I set about bolstering the squad and picking up some decent young players along the way.

Ashley Richards is by far the biggest name on that list, and to pick up an ex-Welsh international and someone who just 2 years ago was playing Premier League football is a massive coup for this football club. We struggled for depth at right back last season and to say Richards has covered that would be an absolute understatement. He'll be a big presence in our dressing room but I might need to tinker with the tactic to get the best out of him.

Sam Bowen is probably my next best piece of business, as he's a very talented player for this level and is on a pittance of a wage.  He'll slot straight into the starting midfield alongside Cam Berry in a central midfield pairing that should be handy for a number of seasons. He's a no-frills type but is solid across the board for attributes.

Other definite first team players will be Richard Peniket, Cavan Williams and Jay Foulston. Losing Momo Touray leaves a 30-goal gap in our squad and I needed to choose wisely when it came to his replacement. I had a number of options but ultimately I went for the experience of Peniket, who has a lot of experience at this level of English football but more recently starred for TNS in the Welsh league. He's a big presence in the box with goalscoring pedigree and I hope he can be the player to fire us to promotion. Cavan Williams is a raw prospect but I was bereft of options for left wingers and he was the best available. A Cardiff City reject who spent time here on loan previously, I'm hoping he can be a more consistent menace on the left than Ben Swallow was last season. Foulston, on loan from Newport County, is the left footed centre back we've been needing for some time and has an extremely well-rounded game. With his athletic ability and passing, I may be tempted to give him some ball-playing duties as the season goes on.

Our other senior transfers include: Billy Waters, another striking option who I'd had my eye on for a while; Iestyn Hughes, a very talented full back from Manchester United; Cian Williams, an athletic but raw centre back prospect; Luke Robinson, a speedy left back; Dan jones, who will be serving as a backup winger and finally Luke Motruk, who spent time on loan here last season but was mainly a left back option, he'll get the chance to impress in his more comfortable left midfield role this season.

I'm also extremely happy to have snapped up two Cardiff City academy rejects who I can see having a big future at the club. Kristian Cook is a lively striker with big potential as a deep lying forward, whilst Adrian Noyes could be challenging for a left back role sooner rather than later.

Ultimately, I feel like we've assembled one of the most talented squads in the league, and I have a lot of confidence that we can really excel this season.

Likely Best XI

Jonathan North

Iestyn Hughes -- Lucas Murray -- Jay Foulston -- Ashley Richards

Owura Edwards -- Sam Bowen -- Cameron Berry (vc) -- Cavan Williams

Jamie Veale (c) -- Richard Peniket

I don't want to stray too far from the 4-4-2 that nearly got me promoted but at the same time I wanted to try and make the most out of the players I've brought in. Richards and Hughes are simply too good to just be defensive players so I'm going to try and involve them in the attack. I've made a few other roles a bit more defensive to try and compensate for this, and making sure they can contribute to our attack but not jeopardise our defence will be a fine balancing act for most of the season, especially as I'm not very good at tactics in general. With the quality of player having dramatically increased as well, I'm going to try and play a shorter passing style and play teams off the park a bit more this season.

Apart from the revenue raiser against Gillingham, we once again toured South Wales to boost our morale and our tactical knowledge, often with a fair few trial players in the side.

As mentioned previously, our board want us to finish in the top half which I'm confident we'll achieve. If we really get clicking, I see no reason why we can't jag a playoff berth again. Nonetheless, I will need to give the boys a bit of time to gel with so many new arrivals and we'll see what the first month of the season holds.

 

 

[Feliks]

Season 2021/22 | August | National League South

I jumped into the new season full of confidence and looking to continue on the fine form we showed in the back half of last season. With so many new signings in the first team, I knew it might take some time for them to gel so I was cautiously optimistic about our opening fixtures.

We got the season off to the start we wanted with a 2-1 win over Chelmsford, before scraping a draw on the road to Concord. We continued the strong form right through the month, including a very handy win over the highly fancied Bromley, before coming undone in the last 2 games. We didn't offer much at all in a disappointing loss to Maidenhead and then against Woking, in a match where we were heavily favoured, we gave up our lead late in the match.

I can't be too disappointed sitting in 6th at this point in the season, but I still believe our side has a lot of improvement left in it as they get used to playing with eachother. I'm continuing to tinker with the 4-4-2 to get the most out of the players.

Cameron Berry has come out of the blocks firing this month, dominating games from the centre of midfield. Also impressive has been Jamie Veale, again as a selfless linking striker, and Owura Edwards, who is showing glimpses of being able to shed the inconsistency that plagued him last season. I've not been very impressed with new left winger Cavan Williams though, and Ashley Richards, for a player of his quality, should be doing better in my opinion.

Iestyn Hughes picked up a back strain and missed the last couple of games in August, but should be back by mid-September.

 

[OlivierL]

Good luck this is a great club and challenge. so u are not signing any players with English nationalty?

[Jimbokav1971]

On 22/05/2020 at 13:59, Feliks said:

 

I was very impressed with the youth intake this season, and we picked up a couple of players who could provide valuable cover to the first immediately. Alan McGuire is a Gibraltan attacking midfielder with Welsh second nationality, who I want to train to become Jamie Veale's protege. Rob Rowlands is a hard working midfielder who can occasionally slot in as a centre back; however, with his height I'll be looking to try and improve the technical aspects of his game so he can play a role through the middle of the park for me. I'm keen to see how the entire squad develops, as next season they'll be playing in the Welsh Development League.

Decent idea for a save.

I see you haven't included Nationalities & 2nd Nationalities in the intake. 

Excluding McGuire, any of your Youth Intake have English, or anything other than Welsh only as a Nationality, (hopefully not), and what are you going to do if they come through like that in future?

Edited May 23, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[Feliks]

15 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Excluding McGuire, any of your Youth Intake have English, or anything other than Welsh only as a Nationality, (hopefully not), and what are you going to do if they come through like that in future?

My bad. Here's my U19 squad, which is all of the intake from last season and the regens I started the save with:

As you can see, I've had a few players with English second nationality come through but as long as they have Welsh as their primary nationality, I'm gonna be fine with it. Same with other nationalities, like the Gibraltan kid. As long as their primary nationality isn't English, I'll sign them. If they don't conform to these rules I'll just have to release them, I'm used to doing selective youth intake rules so I'm no stranger to the heartbreak of passing on a wonderkid.

15 hours ago, OlivierL said:

Good luck this is a great club and challenge. so u are not signing any players with English nationalty?

If they have Welsh primary nationality and English as a second nationality, I'm going to sign them. Any one with English as their primary nationality I won't sign.

[Nobby_McDonald]

On 22/05/2020 at 13:01, Feliks said:

Long Term
- win promotion to the Premier League
- represent Wales on the European stage
- have my players make up half of the Welsh national team squad

 

Good luck at Merthyr.

One thing though, as Merthyr play in the English league system, they would be representing England in Europe.