SOMS: Royston Town S1C

[JohanAlluvi92]

first go at the soms, v yes, this is FM2011, my favourite FM, it has fairly up to date :spec, will update regularly, hopefully interesting..

New  managers rarely get given time with a booty to spend and only certain clubs have fresh relish to stranglehold their attempt at Championship glory. Pockmarks of talents lay within this team, but identities would have to be forged and squad harmony to be enhanced for the club to plot their ascent and demand respect from the first couple of games into the distant moths. No past glories were to be matched only superseded. The club who I was to manage had had a concurrent spell in the Southern Division Central, save for a season in the Spartan leagues (step 9) which was rectified with a promotion in 2009-10. The club had always favoured local born players with desire, ethic and compliance with policy. No player would be bigger than the team, nor could the manager ride roughshod over nurturing players. The team bus would feature a moniker in its livery stating: morale is magnificent, if today we ride.

No shortage of offers had been made to gain a position on the clubs coaching staff, many had been made with cash incentives and scouting knowledge of the lower leagues and prominent opposition but only a person could fill the assistant manager’s position.  Those rebuffed would have to choose to back the club or haggle the hierarchy to unsettle the management.

ROYSTON TOWN FC 

Region: Hertfordshire (Southern Division One Central, Isthmian Division One North)

Stadium: Garden Walk Stadium (capacity: 3000)

Ticket prices: £4    Season Tickets: £63   Season ticket holders: 30

Club's Rivals: Biggleswade Town (Southern Premier)

    At the turn of July, Joe Jackson, a disciplinarian who followed Tonbridge FC was offered the top coaching job on a season long basis. He would focus on creating a tight, methodical midfield unit while the squad formulated. Once manager Rick Butler had arrived they both sought to get the squad as fit as possible, negating skill training to preserve the development of younger players, of which there were many at the club. The club objectives were to achieve a mid-table finish in the league; enjoy participation in the FA Vase and the newly created Southern Divisions regions cup (which would be a misnomer and for the brave as it would  affect most of the early campaign). Ensuring the wage budget was well within the black. As a caveat within that agreement, no player would be signed or signed-on for higher wages unless his reputation was solid. All transfer targets were to be scouted, preferably trialled beforehand and to bring personality to the squad to complement another. The squad size was preferably to be 22 or less and have a mean average age of 25 or less.

First Team (at 1 July)

 

So the squad was not strong, made up of nearly all youth players with different attitudes even though they were all from the Royston region, save one from London of Mauritian descent, Thierry Estazie who I looked to sample first given my low estimation of the squad on the whole. I also had a closer look at youth Stuart McDonald to make headway for the first eleven because of his average mental attributes and his height. Payne and Harris I judged as makeweights and so I had an idea to recruit defenders and forwards as these positions looked weak at best.

 

Jackson, the assistant manager, advised me to play a flat 4-4-2  or  4-3-1-2 system with ball winning midfielders, a holding striker and a advanced striker. He also floated the suggestion of  recruiting  free agents : Gyorgy Kiss(LB)  Arin Fehmi (LB) Lee Molyneaux (CB) Errol Telemaque (ST) but I digressed at the time, unsure whether these players were affordable. Jackson spoke well of the squad’s ‘height’ and ‘age’ but commented that squad fitness, strength and concentration were very low amongst others. Kettering, Ashford (Mdx) and Potters Bar were rated as skilful teams whereas St Ives town, Barton Rovers and North Greenford utd were statistically lesser. 

       We agreed that we lacked a creative playmaker with a good mentality although we did have good influences in the squad and team cohesion was ok. I wanted to go into the transfer centre immediately to prevent negative episodes but had to wait because my brokering acumen was low, I had lost all my brokering ability on a whaling trip in Anguilla.

On 12 July we tabled a contract for Junior Billal, a hard working DM who could cover at CB. I wish I could say he was our top target but he wasn’t, and at the time we had no area knowledge of Northern England to find would-be suitors as a robust ‘Nemanja Matic’ type DM. We were also brought to the attention of Francois Gabbidon, an Englishman who could play at CB and RB with attributes similar to Billal and who had been on the books at RPD side, Hendon. Contracts were agreed quickly, at £50 per game and £45 per game respectively and both signed on 18 July. On 21 July we trialled Nando Perna (the playmaker suitor) in the hope that he would cement a sure-tight midfield. We looked for a wide player but couldn’t find any within our budget range amongst an abundance of wing –backs. We looked at Frederic Avill but he soon moved onto Wessex League side, Totton, with who he will no doubt improve each week. It seems the going at our stadium Garden Walk is treacherous land for a tidy winger, we should mark our territory well. Also on 21 July we trialled three strikers; George Thompson, Theo Swaine and Andrew Knowles, they featured in the last three friendlies we had and were decent, scoring a few goals. On 29 July they were signed along with Perna for £0 and -£150 in wages per game. This took the total wage expenditure to £330 per game and we were well with our salary range.

 

Pre-season was fair and didn’t do much to tempt me to play anything other than 4-4-2 or 4-5-1. We would play slow possession football, disciplined creative freedom and to shoot on sight away from home. The players quickly got up to match speed and showed a good mentality without shining. A few tidy strikes from our trialists and match-time for all of our squad was the benefit of pre-season. We came away with 1 win 3 draws and 3 losses against similar opposition mainly from West Midlands. Our lads were invited for a round of golf at the prestigious Belfry after the Boldmere fc game and the weather stayed fine. They could not make out those dull-set tones of the Midlands lot though and it took a courageous chip at the 17th hole from our man Martin Pook for our fourball entry to come away with a respectable bogey finish and draw with Boldmere fc.

After pre-season I had announced that club captains were to be:- Kris Payne (16) the left/right midfielder and the vice captain would be A. Knowles (24) the emerging number 9.

Elsewhere in pre-season, Potters Bar had arguably the best pre-season results against major and minor opponents, Kettering were good, as to be expected. They have the largest wage budget in the S1C by a mile, the highest earner and most prolific striker in Paul Furlong, 38 as well as several players who were with them in the Conference Premier before they were demoted!

In a league with two going up to Southern Premier and two going down into County leagues I had hedged my bet that Kettering (-15 points start) and Potters Bar would go up, pipping AFC Hayes and Rugby town and that Barton Rovers and St Ives town would go down. I forecast there would be good finishes for Uxbridge town and Dunstable town. Egham town had the second highest net worth at £180k but I did not fancy them this year.

In the Transfer market the headline signings from around the world were :

 Luis Suarez to Man City for £19m,

Christian Chivu to Man Utd for £5m,

Luisáo to Chelsea for £8m and Ivan Rakitic to Chelsea for £8.5m

In late July, the region cup draw was made and we drew Godalming Town of Surrey. It was to be two legs, first of which was at home, Garden Walk Stadium. On 7th August, the first match press conference came by and I was heard saying to be pleased with pre-seasons progress, that I was looking for nothing more than to match pre-seasons effort and that I wouldn’t rule out a defeat with plenty of games coming up. I also played down the impact of our captain Kris Payne (who was on fascination row!) coming into the game and was heard to quip “Kettering, the Rockingham Road outfit” without a doubt for the league title.

 

And so we were ready, or were we?  We had been participating at this level for a long time since but we had surely never relied so much on youth and on the intelligence of our assistant manager Joe Jackson. Was he to be trusted? Would the experienced players drag the full squad out or would they be ticking atoms? Just match Kettering to begin with and follow your instinct, was the only training I’d ever been given.

 First team at 1 Aug

 

Sun 8 Aug :  (Southern D1C)  St Ives Town 2- 6 Royston

A fine team performance all round, chances were created, concentration kept up, and two clubs who will look back on this fixture immeasurably. We took the lead and had to re-take the lead here. We started very well and had 3 goals from 4/5 shots. They had a man sent off dubiously for a slide tackle but we were clinical, more so than them, from the chances made.  3 goals from Colin Heaton (16) and praise for him after the game, it was his game.  League Position: 1st

Wed 11 Aug:  (Southern D1C)  Royston 2-1 Chertsey

 

A first home league game for us and we just edged it.  Both clubs had won opening day games. There was trepidation in my team line up, I felt this game would be overshadowed by the challenge cup game coming up. I had to swap Williams (RM) for Draper and also C.Heaton (ST) had to be replaced as he was too tired. I wondered of the fluidity of the team. In a game of half chances, we took ours and were happy with 3 points.  League Position: 1st

 

Sun 15 Aug:  (Southern Regions Cup First Leg)  Royston 0 - 3 Godalming

A game to forget for us. we were tight knit and had a hungry striker in A.Knowles who threatened more than once but we were undone by smart finishes from their better players and our centre halves have to manage this. Kris Payne gave away a penalty after catching their player in the box and we could not establish play. We were not fluid here, I told the players we could win this one and they did not react. Godalming are not that far away from us in quality and we go to their ground with a point to prove.

Edited September 4, 2020 by JohanAlluvi92

[JohanAlluvi92]

Wed 18 Aug: (Southern D1C)  Kettering 5 - 2 Royston

I don’t know what was said to Kettering pre-match but our horse bolted and chaos ensued. The toughest game of the season (except for the backlash haha). We had nothing to offer but scrambled two goals while Kettering were warming up. League Position: 3rd

Wed 22 Aug: (Southern D1C) Royston 0 - 2 Uxbridge

Like a hot knife through butter we were terrible. This would have been the same scoreline ten times over, we couldn’t create anything. It was experience over youth and we lick our wounds. League Position: 6th

 

Sat 25 Aug (Southern Regions cup) Godalming 0 -1 Royston (Aggregate Score 3-1)

The tie was almost over before we met Godalming at Wey Court and no amount of encouragement could get the players to impose themselves on the opponents. I perhaps gave them too much aperitif after the Uxbridge game in the hope they would play on the front foot here but nothing of the sort came. Maybe they were thinking which weapon the unassuming ‘distraction’ really is? Here it was the strong grapple. No aperitif for the boys after this, but greens and beans.  1-3 loss on aggregate.

 

Wed 29 Aug: (Southern D1C) AFC Hayes 2 - 0 Royston

The strongest squad put out to date and a real gauge of what the team is capable of. We were more than a few pennies short here.. Stuart McDonald (the regular CB) was taken out of the team in favour of Ali Heaney but we could not penetrate and ideas were better at a bonfire than here. Two swift goals and our men were out cold. League Position: 8th

Wed 8 Sep: (Southern D1C) Royston 0 - 2 Dunstable

A game in which we should have had more in the tank, they were dangerous from crosses without being too dangerous but our midfield did not show up. Nando Perna was a disappoint here, as was Andrew Knowles (ST) , the captain for the day. Dunstable were only warming up here and we fired many blanks, it was poor viewing for the home fans. We were lucky to come away with 0-1 defeat. Post-match I said we would come back better and that George Thompson, the makeshift no.10 would come back stronger but I was met with derision from the away manager who ridiculed my team, damaging the harmony without reply. Mondays are easy. League Position: 14th

Sun 12 Sep: (Southern D1C) Chalfont St Peter 2 - 1 Royston

Another opportunity missed, we were the better team for 60 minutes but lacked concentration  thereafter and every other pass went wide. We are not going near the league top with this display and save for training levels, players will be warned over performance. The second half was so miserable the chairman smashed his Aston Martin Vantage at the front gate at half-time after a stone from the away crowd was thrown. League Position: 18th

Wed 15 Sep: (Southern D1C) Royston 3 - 0 Aylesbury Utd

Solid performance here, Dale Harris (CM) opened the scoring after 7 minutes and we were on the front foot throughout. Chance creation 10/10. I was called in after the game and asked how could we replicate that performance and I said we had to try and play in Adidas Mundials and a swingball in our gardens before we knew what we were in for. I had no particular praise for any-one player but the captain, Kris Payne must take credit. League Position: 16th

Sun 19 Sep: (Southern D1C) Royston 0 - 3 Aylesbury FC

Again, a dramatic havoc. All of our top performers from the Aylesbury Utd game came back to earth and were very wasteful. The strikers were abysmal, I said we could win here but they were not listening and not interested, almost. We gave away a penalty and Aylesbury FC got stronger as the game wore on, Perna (CM) was terrible and the rest of the team had the day off. Aylesbury, who are affiliated with Watford showed an azzuri spirit and took the chances without question. We must not play like this in the reverse match. League Position: 16th

Wed 22 Sep: (Southern D1C) Beaconsfield 3 - 0 Royston

I thought of terminating mine and Joe Jackson's and Nando Perna's existence after this... League Position: 18th

 

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Edited September 4, 2020 by JohanAlluvi92

[JohanAlluvi92]

Sat 25 Sep (FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Rnd)  AFC Telford 3 - 0 Royston

FA Cup 2nd qualifying round, we were so feeble it was dreadful. Junior Billal was encouraged before the game and played well until he picked up an injury on 45 mins and the game was lost from there. I declined all comments from media and focused on the next game.

Wed 29 Sep (Southern D1C)  Royston 1 - 1 Egham

 

The games were coming in fast and we could still establish ourselves in mid-table, currently being in 16th place. Egham were in 19th place and had 1 win in 6 games. We rested Kris Payne (CM) and Stuart McDonald (CB) and had Luke Cullen (CM) and Colin Heaton (ST) injured, Heaton was out for 6 weeks. Youth David Haworth (ST) and understudy and decent youngster Theo Swaine (ST) were selected. We were good today, not impressive but good. Haworth scored a tidy goal in the 1st minute and we pressured Egham but they countered well and had a rift of chances, not to mention a penalty (miss) after an innocuous challenge from Francois Gabbidon (CB). Junior Billal was again our best player. League Position: 18th

29 Sep  Michael Hayward (CM L/R) was signed on a wage of £30 per game. He will be judged with scrutiny because of the demand for places in centre midfield.

  

Player of the month (Royston):

 Junior Billal / Mickey Bardsley  

Manager of the month: 

Tony Tillbrook (Kettering)

Sun 3 Oct (Southern D1C)  Northwood 2 - 1 Royston

A tough fixture against a routinely tricky side in Northwood, Watford. Francois Gabbidon was dropped to the bench with tiredness and Kris Payne and Stuart McDonald were selected. We scored an early goal through Stuart McDonald’s header from a free kick which could have got us a firm grip in the match. Perversely, we lost focus afterwards. The team lacked ideas and  stopped playing after 70 minutes, no there was no illegal eagle in the ground, but the nod of a well dressed team and they broke us down in the second half to very little.  Thierry Estazie (CM) was ruled out for 3 weeks after the game and no replacement was named or even heard of post-match (for the position he held ;] ) League Position: 19th

 Wed 6 Oct (Southern D1C)  Ashford (Mdx) 3 - 1 Royston

Injuries to Cullen and Harris (both CM) led to the selection of jaded Nando Perna and recently restored to CM Junior Billal at CM. Both Perna and Billal featured in the opening game XI verus St Ives, however sloppy performances had led to Cullen and Harris rotating their places. Colin Heaton was benched and Theo Swaine took his place. In the maine, we never took a hold of the game albeit repeatedly restricting Ashford from our backline but it wasn’t to last. In the second half we were terrible. The midfield was as stunned as a lamb. Theo Swaine was impotent and will want to forget this match quickly. Ashford could have had 5 goals but settled for 3. From this display they will not go up without strengthening and we will not ride high again if we continue to roll over and die. League Position: 20th

 

 

Sun 10 Oct (Southern D1C)  Royston 1 - 1 Marlow

 

An interesting fixture at home with Royston in 18th place and Marlow in 13th place, both having indifferent form. I focused our attention to the next 3 games and gave the squad a full days rest between each. We had probably our best eleven on the pitch and they probably should have done better after I told the press I didn’t rate Marlow or Dunstable. Ian Douglas (CB) emerged as our King but we need to work harder on the training pitches to generate our fluidity. League Position: 18th

Wed 13 Oct (Southern D1C)  Royston 2 - 1 North Greenford

A must-win game versus North Greenford. There were no cat calls before the game which is a sure sign both teams will be safe, with a push! N.Greenford took the lead but the team responded. The goal of our season was scored by Colin Heaton in the 16th minute and if he continues like that it can only go wrong. League Position: 15th

[oche balboa]

Keep this going mate

 

What leagues you running? 

[JohanAlluvi92]

This is all leagues loaded in europe, south america, south korea, india and australia with premier and first div.  but without Serbia, Bulgaria, Hungary, China and South Africa. I cannot add/remove leagues like on FM12.. I have added nation known players from every continent so Fiji etc.. has loaded players and staff.. 

I wanted to add nation rules for Germany and Holland to add League Cups but i could not merge it properly so only england has lower leagues with all teams modified. ! I have set my man's reputation to 'sunday league' because the 'automatic' option is impossible to achieve with in first seasons.. I will play standard tactics with the match preperation tool (no trick tactics) and try to keep it real  

I will keep up with the other astories out there, i have only gotten into this last month..

Edited September 4, 2020 by JohanAlluvi92