[FM21] Return of the Phoe Nix - Rise of the Raven. FC Isle of Man Youth Save.

[Punch]

AUG 2028

I didn't even notice the August schedule, actually started in July

We made an impressive League Football debut, belting Carlisle at our temporary home at Highbury.

Brought back to earth in the next round as we were out played by Salford.

We then torched Walsall with five different scorers netting an the 5-0 hammering.

A tough fought draw against fellow promoted team Maidstone, before rounding the month out with a loss at Chesterfield.

 

Two wins and a draw from our first five games is an excellent start. We find ourselves in the Top 10.

Too early to be concerned about how far from the relegation zone or play off zone we are.

 

The analyst is pretty happy that we are performing above average, and we smoked the xG this month.

Pretty much middle of the road defensively, while we are above average in the offence.

 

Watters made a cameo off the bench to record his 10th cap for the NIR U19s

 

While it looks a good month in gate receipts, 120k of the came from the League Cup tie against Derby.

Smaller crowds at our temporary home ground are going to hurt us for the first half of the season.

 

A massive improvement now we're in the Football League.

I expect the crowds to improve once we finish the stadium upgrade and can go home.

 

Clarke's loan ended he an went straight into their League One lineup, netting us more transfer money from him.

He also scored in the match.

We still have a few clauses on this one, so we are still getting paid for him.

 

Goal Scoring Goalkeeper

For the first time in a long time, we have more than one keeper to report on, and there mill probably be a third as I will rotate again in the Pizza Cup games.

JJ went right back to doing what he does.

 

Just the one goal for the month, but it's worth seeing again.

 

1st free kick, and goal of the year, take him to 16 free kicks, and 68 career goals.

 

Just the League to concentrate on next month, while someone threw a random Friendly in, that will be used for the fringe players to get some running in their legs.

[Punch]

SEP 2028

A real mixed bag this month as we went two wins, a draw, and two losses.

A tough fight to hold Mansfield to a draw, the came from behind to beat Shrewsbury.

Wigan ran all over us, but we defended the house down, but just couldn't get forward to make any scoring opportunities.

In one of our best performances we went to Valley Parade and knocked over Bradford City.

We then backed it up with one of our most disappointing performances capitulating against Port Vale.

Our consistency is all over the place at the moment, so we are going to need to sort that out pretty quickly.

 

Middle of the table 4-2-4 showing how inconsistent we've been.

 

The analyst is still pretty happy with us, even with the inconsistency, we are behind in the xG.

The defence is bang on average, while the attack is still better than average.

 

Another bad month in the finances. We need to get back to The Bowl ASAP and start earning better gate receipts.

 

Goal Scoring Goalkeepers

No goals this month, but JJ still putting in the good performances.

Brown made his League debut for Isle of Man when JJ had to sit out a game with a cut hand from a training incident, and performed well.

 

Imasuen became our 8th youth international, making his debut for Nigeria.

 

We begin the month with our second Pizza Cup game, before starting a busy month with playing last, and then first.

[Punch]

OCT 2028 - Papa Johns Trophy Round 2

We sent out the kids again, and they run amok against Leeds U23s.

 

We gave a debut to almost 2 meter keeper Foggarty, who made some impressive saves.

This kid has the potential to push Jordan Jack with some development time, I am very interested to see if he can make it.

 

Every little helps, especially with not much coming in for gate in this competition.

 

So with one round to play, everything and everyone is in play.

 

We will really be up against it against League 1 Rotherham, but the kids will be given another opportunity.

[Hootieleece]

Mannish football is very good even if their GK is Big and Fat!

 

[Punch]

22 minutes ago, Hootieleece said:

Mannish football is very good even if their GK is Big and Fat!

 

Don’t think he is fat, but he certainly is a monster 

[Punch]

OCT - FA Cup 1st Round Draw

Being in the Football League Qualifies us into the 1st Round proper now, and the draw sends us to National League Harrogate.

 

We have a perfect record from our four meetings in the National League, and will be looking to keep that going in the FA Cup.

[Sonic Youth]

Time to make another splash in the FA Cup, hopefully not at the expense of the league!

[Punch]

1 hour ago, Sonic Youth said:

Time to make another splash in the FA Cup, hopefully not at the expense of the league!

I have been playing the kids in the Pizza Cup to save the main players for the League, so hopefully they are not too burned out to play some quality minutes in the FA Cup as well.

[Punch]

OCT 2028

The month started with a bang as we belted last placed Grimsby, before going down in a tight match against 1st place Ebbsfleet.

We then put 4 past our next two opponents in impressive wins, before going down in another tight one at Doncaster.

We then put on a show for the TV cameras in the final game of the month at home to Morecambe.

I am pretty sure we are still undefeated in televised League matches.

 

We find ourselves holding down the last play off spot, but it's all very tight up and down the ladder.

After the loss to Ebbsfleet, we dropped to 15th, then won two in a row and jumped as high as 5th.

 

The analyst is happy, we are performing above average, and are in front of the xG.

The defence has been performing well, while the attack is the best in the League.

 

THe finances are still going backwards with the cost of the Youth Setup, plus small crowds away from The Bowl. We go home at the end of November, so hopefully that will make a nice boost to the finances.

 

More players on International duty this month, and Oscar Williams, Kris Best, and Mark Jack became our 9th, 10th, and 11th youth internationals.

 

Has been quiet on the jobs front recently, however the press has linked me with a few jobs this month.

 

Goal Scoring Goalkeeper

JJ still performing really well, and has taken to the higher League like a duck to water. This month he went passed the 200 League game, and 250 all time appearance marks. Will soon be pushing Tim Powell for the all time appearances record.

Young Foggarty made his professional debut in the Pizza Cup game at the beginning of the month, and put in a very solid shift. At 16, and close to 2 meters tall, he has our coaches very excited at his future potential.

 

Jack curled home this stunner in the loss to Doncaster for his second goal of the year. Both from free kicks.

16 games into the season and we have not received a single penalty. However, we are the leading goal scorers in the League, so we are clearly making plenty of chances, just staying on our feet and putting them away. Or the opposition teams know about Jacks scoring exploits from the spot and don't want to give him more chances

Two free kicks this season, now has 17 career free kicks, and 69 career goals.

 

Up next...we begin the month with a tough match against Wycombe, followed by our FA Cup campaign kicking off, and the kids will play again against Rotherham, even though we are still in with a shot at qualification from the group. It will then be another busy month in the League, although if we get past the FA Cup 1st round, I expect there will be another Cup game in there.

[Punch]

NOV 2028 - FA Cup 1st Round

A comfortable win over Harrogate sends us through to the 2nd Round.

Jordan Williams got us off to a great start with an early goal, and almost made it 2 in 2 minutes with a cracking volley that crashed against the bar.

He completed his brace just before the half hour mark, making a quality run onto a great through ball from Kevin Barber, beating several defenders before unleashing a stinging left foot strike from the edge of the box that gave the opposing keeper no chance.

2-0 at half time and it was a pretty unremarkable 2nd half, while there was some end to end football, the quality was lacking, and chances few.

Deep into injury time Brett Potts volleyed home a Jordan Williams cross to finish the game 3-0.

A good day at the office all around.

 

Add in about 30k from our share of the gate, and that will help us out in the financial situation.

 

Drawn at home to Yeovil for the 2nd Round, even though it says Highbury, I am hoping to be back at The Bowl for this game to give us a much needed boost.

 

We have a poor record against Yeovil, losing 3 of 4, however we did win our most recent meeting in the National League last season.

[Punch]

Exciting News! We're going home...

 

After spending the start of the season playing at Highbury, the expansion, and pitch replacement at The Bowl have now been completed.

The ground is now 5,500 capacity, all seated, to meet the 5k League Two requirement.

As a part of the same requirement, the synthetic pitch has now been replaced with a grass pitch.

 

Time to fly back to the nest...

[Punch]

Papa Johns Trophy - 3rd Match

It's good to be home.

In what was billed to be an easy victory for League One Rotherham, I sent the kids out again to welcome them to the improved Bowl, and they ran riot over them.

Showing the quality of the depth at the club, the kids never let the foot off their throat.

 

After losing our first game, we have surprised everyone by winning the next two, to qualify on top of the group.

 

 

 

The 2nd Round sends League Two Scunthorpe to The Bowl.

We haven't yet met them in the League, that match up come later this month.

Edited December 27, 2021 by Punch

[erikeagles]

Really love to read this!! 

Keep on going 

[Punch]

7 minutes ago, erikeagles said:

Really love to read this!! 

Keep on going 

Thanks for dropping in and letting me know! I have been having a lot of fun with this save, so it's always good to know that other people are enjoying it too.

Edited December 27, 2021 by Punch

[erikeagles]

Yes I found this yesterday and I really read this with a lot of pleasure, last FM I make a tournament for FC isle of man 

[Punch]

18 minutes ago, erikeagles said:

Yes I found this yesterday and I really read this with a lot of pleasure, last FM I make a tournament for FC isle of man 

Nice!

This story was inspired by a lot of the other posters on these boards, I combined some ideas I got from them, with some ideas I had from myself, and this story has evolved into what it is now.

[Punch]

NOV 2028 - FA Cup 2nd Round

A tough fight but we done enough to get through.

After going down to an early goal to one of our own former players, 24a Pat Clarke, who is now on loan at Yeovil from Oldham...

Class act right there, still a very impressive kid.

Charlie Henry curled a cracking shot from the left side into the top right corner 7 minutes later to bring us back on level terms.

1-1 at half time, and the second half turned into a midfield slog fest.

The opportunities were few and far between, but on 78 minutes, a long throw from from Levi Smart, was headed on by Richard Patterson, who then found our captain Brett Potts unmarked at the back post who headed home from point blank to give us a lead that would not be headed.

 

 

Off to the 3rd Round where we are drawn at home to League One Gillingham.

 

We met in the FA Cup last season, where they come away with a 1-0 win.

[Punch]

NOV 2028

A massive month to unpack here, but what a month it was. Along with the great cup performances  we went 4 wins and 2 draws in the League, for an undefeated month.

We played our final game at our temporary home at Highbury and put in a great performance to surprise Wycombe.

Away games netted us a draw at Northampton, while we then smashed Wrexham.

We got to welcome Luton to the upgraded Bowl, and put on a show for the massive crowd to win 3-0.

Next up at home again, we struggled to hit the target and had to settle for a draw.

The continually improving McCarthy got a hattrick in a 3-1 win at Colchester to round out the month.

 

A brilliant month sends us to second place in the League, although it's still a packed tight table.

The attacking efforts are going brilliantly as always, and while the defence isn't the best, we are more than holding our own in our first year of League Football.

 

The analyst is very happy with the performances, and we smashed the xG this month.

The defence has headed way left, comparable with the best in the League, while the attack is nearly off the scale.

 

The ever improving Brian McCarthy was both the Player of the Month, and the Young Player of the Month.

 

Making this month more impressive, at one point we had 6 players out on international duty.

While they are not all first teamers, it's a pretty impressive record for our club to have this many youth internationals.

Dennis Coyle became out 14th youth international.

 

The press were linking me to just about every job in the Football League this month.

 

Gillingham became my 33rd interview offer, but I turned it down, the club just didn't interest me.

 

What a difference getting back to The Bowl has made. One month has sky rocketed the money coming in, and we are back to turning a profit.

Just goes to show how much not playing in our own stadium was hurting us.

While we made a profit this month, we are still down 750k on the season, so there is a lot of ground to be made up.

[Punch]

NOV 2028 - continued

 

Goal Scoring Goalkeeper

Another great month for JJ turning in some great performances, including 4 clean sheets, and also scoring two goals.

Reece Foggarty got the nod in the final group match of the Pizza Cup, and performed very well. No goal scoring opportunities for him though.

 

As happens so often, I make comment about having received no penalties, and we got two this month.

 

Jack smashed the first of the month, and season, down the middle.

 

The second is smashed into the top left as the keeper guessed the wrong way.

 

2 from 2 for the month and year takes Jack to 4 goals for the season.

While he now has 54 from 60 penalties among 71 career goals.

 

Things are not going to be any less crazy this month, as we face another busy month in the League, while we also face Scunthorpe in the 2nd Round of the Pizza Cup.

[Punch]

I forgot to mention the our first game back at The Bowl, we broke the attendance record as well.

[Punch]

DEC 2028 - Papa Johns Trophy 2nd Round

I sent the kids out again against Scunthorpe in the 2nd Round of the Pizza Cup.

While they played well, they were unable to find the back of the net, and while we were never supposed to get out of the group stage, we can probably look back at this as a bit of a disappointing result.

Overall, the kids and fringe players got some valuable experience, and we got to rest some of the first team players at the same time.

Going forward it also gives me confidence that a lot of these players can step up, when and if required to fill gaps in the first team.

[Sonic Youth]

Some good performances there, and a good chance to get further in the FA Cup than before 

[Punch]

1 hour ago, Sonic Youth said:

Some good performances there, and a good chance to get further in the FA Cup than before 

These kids certainly haven't been intimidated by playing in the Football League.

Yes, here's hoping we can keep the FA Cup run going, need to recover some of those early season losses as well

[Punch]

DEC 2028

We had a good month with 4 wins, 2 draws and a loss.

We had a bit of an up and down month, a few times it took late goals to secure points, we had patches of brilliance mixed in with patches that were frustrating, but overall the results are encouraging.

The highlight was clearly the 6-1 hammering of Chesterfield, in front of nearly 5k at The Bowl, which followed the low light of the poor performance away to Walsall, we really struggled to get anything going, and couldn't put any pressure on them.

 

We broke the attendance record again in the big win over Chesterfield.

Oh so close to breaking the 5k barrier.

 

Holding down 2nd place, but it's a very tight table.

 

We'd been on a great run before the collapse against Walsall.

 

The analyst is still pretty happy, even though we slipped behind the xG slightly.

The defence is on the good side of the graph, and the attack is still performing brilliantly.

 

Decent month financially as some more home games start to make a difference.

 

Goal Scoring Goalkeeper

JJ having another solid season, just continues to do what he does, and do it well.

Reece Foggarty got to make his League debut in the last game of the month, after JJ took a knock in training. Made a solid contribution and kept a clean sheet.

 

Just the one penalty opportunity, and he blasts it into his favoured bottom right corner.

 

3 from 3 for the season and 5 goals.

Now has 72 career goals.

Not sure of the defenders are a lot better at staying on their feet, or the Ref's are more hesitant to point to the spot, but nearly 30 games in, we've only received 3 penalties.

 

A much quieter month in January, which is good as we have some tired bodies in the squad.

Our FA Cup campaign continues with the 3rd Round at home to Gillingham, so we may end up with another game if we can get through that.

 

Up next...Mid season review

[Punch]

DEC 2028 - Mid season review

 

Goalkeepers

Our three keepers have combined for 10 clean sheets so far, and the general performances have been very good.

Jordan Jack has also crossed the 200 League game milestone this season.

 

The analyst is happy with the keeper performances too.

 

Defenders

A lot to like here from our ever improving defensive unit.

Scott Irving wins a lot of tackles and then gets us going forward quickly turning defence into attack.

Dan Connor continues to be huge in the air, while young Peder Kohlert is starting to make an impression.

Dan Connor has crossed the 200 League game mark, and the 250 all time appearances mark, while Scott Irving has reached 100 League games.

 

We make a lot of tackles, but the winning percentage is lower than I'd like.

 

We are good in the air attempting and winning a lot of headers.

 

Midfielders

A lot of rotation through the midfield with a busy schedule, players have needed to be rested.

Richard Paterson key pass numbers are insane, he has really improved this season.

Tim Powell continues to be a solid presence in both directions, and Michael Jarrett continues to improve.

Good to see some of the class of 27 and 28 starting to come through.

Kingsley Nwabueze has reached the 100 League game milestone, but he has started to talk about moving on as he doesn't believe he is good enough to play at this level. His performances continue to be pretty solid though, so I have told him no one is interested, we can revisit if they do.

 

The passing completion ratio is a little low, something to work on.

 

The crosses are completed at an above average rate which is good to see.

 

Forwards

This unit gets plenty of rotation to keep the the legs as fresh as possible.

The performances have been great as well, the next man up rotation, and they just step in and get the job done.

Jordan Williams and Brian McCarthy both crossed the 100 League game milestone, while Oscar Williams hits 50.

Jordan Williams has also caught Brett Potts as the goal leader among active players, although they are both still some way behind Paul Slater's record of 131.

 

We are one of the highest in the League for shots taken, and we also have a high accuracy.

 

We are one of the most clinical team in the League.

 

Up next...Youth Intake Preview

Edited December 28, 2021 by Punch

[Punch]

DEC 2028 - Youth Intake Preview

 

Strikers, full backs, and a lot of wingers.

This could be interesting.

[Blarney]

This is excellent.  A very well written storyline.

[Punch]

57 minutes ago, Blarney said:

This is excellent.  A very well written storyline.

Thank you! Glad you're enjoying the journey.

[Punch]

JAN 2029 - FA Cup 3rd Round

In a result that sends us to the 4th Round in the FA Cup for the first time, we have downed League One Gillingham in what could be described as a boil over, but in truth, they have not been playing well.

I am not sure we were the better team, but this was a short on quality, and shorter on highlights.

In front of 3,800 Manx faithful, neither team was able to create much in the way of chances, and the game looked to be headed for a 0-0 snooze-fest.

Then the moment came, on 81 minutes, Dan Connor launched a ball forward out of our own half landing on the head of Brett Potts, who sent his header into the path of midfielder Augustine Imasuen, who laid a beautiful pass into the path of Brian McCarthy who sent a stinging shot from the edge of the area curling passed a desperate dive from their keeper into the top corner for a 1-0 lead.

This seemed to wake the crowd, and the players from their slumber as two minutes later, after some beautiful passing play between Scott Irving, Tim Powell, and Jordan Williams, Powell sent a through ball to Williams near the penalty spot who cheekily chipped the diving keeper to send us 2-0 up, and into the 4th Round, and the crowd into raptures.

An injury time consolation was not enough as we controlled the final few minutes to take the win.

 

Along with about 60k from our share of the gate, this makes a very welcome addition to our finances.

 

We're off to the City of Manchester Stadium, to take on the blue side of town in the 4th Round.

They probably spend more each day on wages, then we do each year, so we should be on a hiding to nothing.

But...stranger things have happened.

[Quiche Magnet]

Another great draw in the cup to get half those gate receipts!

[Cheez3y]

City draw! 

[Punch]

2 hours ago, Quiche Magnet said:

Another great draw in the cup to get half those gate receipts!

 

1 hour ago, Cheez3y said:

City draw! 

After spending the first half of the season in someone else’s stadium, and the higher expenses of the Youth setup, I am hoping they pack the place to give us a financial boost.

[Sonic Youth]

10 hours ago, Punch said:

JAN 2029 - FA Cup 3rd Round

In a result that sends us to the 4th Round in the FA Cup for the first time, we have downed League One Gillingham in what could be described as a boil over, but in truth, they have not been playing well.

I am not sure we were the better team, but this was a short on quality, and shorter on highlights.

In front of 3,800 Manx faithful, neither team was able to create much in the way of chances, and the game looked to be headed for a 0-0 snooze-fest.

Then the moment came, on 81 minutes, Dan Connor launched a ball forward out of our own half landing on the head of Brett Potts, who sent his header into the path of midfielder Augustine Imasuen, who laid a beautiful pass into the path of Brian McCarthy who sent a stinging shot from the edge of the area curling passed a desperate dive from their keeper into the top corner for a 1-0 lead.

This seemed to wake the crowd, and the players from their slumber as two minutes later, after some beautiful passing play between Scott Irving, Tim Powell, and Jordan Williams, Powell sent a through ball to Williams near the penalty spot who cheekily chipped the diving keeper to send us 2-0 up, and into the 4th Round, and the crowd into raptures.

An injury time consolation was not enough as we controlled the final few minutes to take the win.

 

Along with about 60k from our share of the gate, this makes a very welcome addition to our finances.

 

We're off to the City of Manchester Stadium, to take on the blue side of town in the 4th Round.

They probably spend more each day on wages, then we do each year, so we should be on a hiding to nothing.

But...stranger things have happened.

Now that’s what I’m talking about  

Excellent result and an exciting away day at one of the big clubs in the country. The cut of the gate receipts is helpful too 

[Punch]

Go home Scouts, you're drunk

[Sonic Youth]

17 minutes ago, Punch said:

Go home Scouts, you're drunk

Did he scout a game from the 80’s or something!?

[Punch]

16 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Did he scout a game from the 80’s or something!?

May he scouted the wrong Manchester...like he scouted FC United of Manchester

[Hootieleece]

27 minutes ago, Punch said:

May he scouted the wrong Manchester...like he scouted FC United of Manchester

more like he scouted Man U of the here and now!

to borrow a quote: "Twenty-Five individuals getting into 25 cabs after the game....." 

 

[Punch]

JAN 2029 - FA Cup 4th Round

Well we went down in our first venture into the 4th Round, but we made them work damn hard for it.

After going down 0-2 just before the half hour mark, I am not sure of they took their foot off the gas, or our guys started to get it together, but we were able to put some pressure back on them, and make them make a few mistakes.

on 34 minutes a long throw in from Sean Bonner found Charlie Henry on the edge of the area who floated a pin point cross to meet the head of Oscar Williams, who accurately guided the ball passed the helpless Man City keeper. A moment to remember for the rest of his career.

1-2 at the break, and we were probably defying all expectations that Man City would run away with the game.

They came out after the break, no doubt having copped a rocket from their manager, because they bombed forward and went for broke to get the third goal. Our defence held up pretty well, but 5 minutes later, they got the third goal via a ball that deflected in off the post.

Once again this seemed to enable them to back off, and we picked up the pace to apply more pressure, but they were a class above and we had a lot of trouble breaking their defence down.

With just over 10 minutes remaining, Jordan Jack launched a ball forward from our area into an picked out Kingsley Nwabueze in space, he slid a ball to Oscar Williams, who with some very quick feet managed to turn his marker and fire a cracking right foot shot from the edge of the box, that left the Man City keeper with no chance, to secure his brace. Oscar Williams was having the game of his life scoring a brace against a Premier League team.

Any chance of an unlikely come back ended with 6 minutes remaining, when Lloyd Craggs was sent off for a second booking, for a silly challenge.

Disappointed to lose, but not with the effort from the boys, not just in this match, but the entire competition. Some of those above us might be looking nervously over their shoulder.

 

We also earned a touch over 1 million for our share of the gate, which comes as an important boost to the finances.

 

So our Cup run comes to an end, a massive performance, and continued improvement. I guess that's all I can ask for.

[Punch]

4 minutes ago, Hootieleece said:

more like he scouted Man U of the here and now!

to borrow a quote: "Twenty-Five individuals getting into 25 cabs after the game....." 

 

Haha good one.

There is also a very good quote about the difference between a Champion team, and a team of Champions...

[Sonic Youth]

19 minutes ago, Punch said:

JAN 2029 - FA Cup 4th Round

Well we went down in our first venture into the 4th Round, but we made them work damn hard for it.

After going down 0-2 just before the half hour mark, I am not sure of they took their foot off the gas, or our guys started to get it together, but we were able to put some pressure back on them, and make them make a few mistakes.

on 34 minutes a long throw in from Sean Bonner found Charlie Henry on the edge of the area who floated a pin point cross to meet the head of Oscar Williams, who accurately guided the ball passed the helpless Man City keeper. A moment to remember for the rest of his career.

1-2 at the break, and we were probably defying all expectations that Man City would run away with the game.

They came out after the break, no doubt having copped a rocket from their manager, because they bombed forward and went for broke to get the third goal. Our defence held up pretty well, but 5 minutes later, they got the third goal via a ball that deflected in off the post.

Once again this seemed to enable them to back off, and we picked up the pace to apply more pressure, but they were a class above and we had a lot of trouble breaking their defence down.

With just over 10 minutes remaining, Jordan Jack launched a ball forward from our area into an picked out Kingsley Nwabueze in space, he slid a ball to Oscar Williams, who with some very quick feet managed to turn his marker and fire a cracking right foot shot from the edge of the box, that left the Man City keeper with no chance, to secure his brace. Oscar Williams was having the game of his life scoring a brace against a Premier League team.

Any chance of an unlikely come back ended with 6 minutes remaining, when Lloyd Craggs was sent off for a second booking, for a silly challenge.

Disappointed to lose, but not with the effort from the boys, not just in this match, but the entire competition. Some of those above us might be looking nervously over their shoulder.

 

We also earned a touch over 1 million for our share of the gate, which comes as an important boost to the finances.

 

So our Cup run comes to an end, a massive performance, and continued improvement. I guess that's all I can ask for.

Good effort there, and hopefully one that inspires the players to perform well for the rest of the season 

[Sonic Youth]

1 hour ago, Punch said:

Go home Scouts, you're drunk

Well he wasn’t that far off in the end 

[Punch]

35 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Good effort there, and hopefully one that inspires the players to perform well for the rest of the season 

To be fair, they did let off the gas a few times, but I think we did give them a bit of a fright.

 

34 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Well he wasn’t that far off in the end 

So maybe he wasn't so drunk

[Punch]

JAN 2029

With Cup fixtures and the Bradford City game washed out, we only ended up playing three League games this month.

All away games this month, just as well we got the good gates from the Cup games to keep us afloat.

Shrewsbury was disappointing, we were poor in attack, and never got anything going.

Wigan, we may have still been hungover from the excitement our FA Cup exploits, and put in a really poor performance.

We got it back together with a good performance against last place Grimsby.

 

One win and two losses has dropped us down to 3rd, although we still do have a game in hand.

Still a very tight table.

 

Despite our poor month, the analyst is still pretty happy with how we are going.

 

I received my first interview, and job offer from a Championship team, with Rochdale approaching me.

 

Transfers

 

We ended up having two player sales this month.

Two Championship teams came sniffing around Lloyd Craggs, our best defender, and Oscar Williams, an up and coming striker.

I rejected both offers, and the players were both very unhappy that they weren't allowed to make moves to a team in a higher division, I managed to appease them by agreeing to revisit the issue of they came back with a better offer.

Both clubs then did come back with better offers, so I went ridiculous with counter offers, and to my surprise, they both got accepted, and while I didn't really want to sell them, I couldn't turn down the money they agreed to pay.

 

Lloyd Craggs was first to go, signing for Stoke.

Their first offer was around 90k, which I negotiated back to a deal worth around 250k.

After withdrawing the offer, and the above mentioned chat, on deadline day they came back at 180k, so I went back at 400k, plus the extras, and they agreed to pay it.

As I said, didn't really want to sell, but there is no way I could turn down that kind of money, along with the extras.

Our previous record transfer fee was 60k, which we smashed out of the park here.

 

Up next, Oscar Williams wanted to go, not believing that we were capable of reaching the Championship.

Similar to Craggs, a few teams came looking and I knocked them back, he wasn't happy so I agreed to revisit.

Deadline day and a few offers came in around the 300k-400k so I went back at 500k, plus the extras, and Derby agreed, and Williams wanted to go, and again, I could not knock back that money, so I sent him on his way.

For the second time in a few hours, we smashed our transfer fee record.

 

We get the value of a friendly, 50% of the next sale, and we managed to keep them both for the rest of the season on loan.

Stoke are now paying Craggs 1.8k per week, about 10 times what we were paying him, and we get him for free for the rest of the season.

Derby are paying Williams 2.3k per week, which is a lot more than 10 times what he was on for us, and again, we get him for free for the rest of the season.

 

There is also currently a buy out offer on the table for 25i Eric Croft, of his 50% sell on from Sunderland, of 786k. He is 19, with 18 month remaining on his contract, and I really can't see him being worth more than 1.5 million in that time. I think I might sell that one and hope it doesn't come back to bite me.

 

With over a million in gate receipts, and almost a million in player sales, it was a monster month that completely wiped out our early season losses, while playing in someone else's stadium.

 

We begin February with our re-arranged washout against Bradford.

This month has a few tough games, so will be interesting to see how we stand come the end of the month.

[Sonic Youth]

Tough month that last one was. Still clinging on to the top two, especially if you win that game in hand.

Thats a bunch of money there, but I can’t help wonder if you’d prefer keeping the players long term instead. Though, it sounds like they weren’t interested in signing a new contract.

[DerbyJack]

Those finances are looking mighty healthy!

With the Man City gate receipts and those fee's you've double the finances from the start of the season!

Any plans for the money? 

The sight of an over the top Derby County transfer fee gives me hope at least.

[Punch]

7 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

but I can’t help wonder if you’d prefer keeping the players long term instead

I would like to have kept at least one of them, but they both wanted to go, and were pretty unhappy.

The money was too much to turn down in the end, and we are always going to be in the business of selling players.

Just got to hope that the ones coming through can step up to fill the void after this season.

 

6 hours ago, DerbyJack said:

Any plans for the money? 

I will probably look at upgrading training and or youth facilities at some point soon.

Although we are currently spending 140k a month on the youth set up, and now that we have moved back into our own stadium, I am keen to see how the monthly finances are going after we have a few month of gate receipts come in.

 

6 hours ago, DerbyJack said:

The sight of an over the top Derby County transfer fee gives me hope at least.

Haha yeah, both them and Stoke went way over the top. I expected them both to withdraw again, and they both accepted. Crazy times

[Punch]

FEB 2029

The month started with a high scoring draw in front of a monster crowd in our re-scheduled match with Bradford.

We then peeled off three wins in a row, beginning with a first home sell out in the upgraded stadium, returning the 3-0 thrashing that Port Vale gave us in the return fixture earlier in the season.

Ebbsfleet were flying high earlier in the season, but have since crashed and burned and will be battling to finish in the top half.

Another solid with and a clean sheet at Lincoln.

Then to end the month, we crashed and burned ourselves, putting in one of the worst performances I've seen. They put 4 shots on target, and scored them all, we couldn't hit the broad side of a bus. Pretty sure that is our worst home loss in the League in our existence.

 

We broke our attendance record again, smashing the 5k barrier, and going close to our first sell out.

 

A week later, we broke the record again, and managed our first sell out since the ground improvements were completed.

 

The only saving grace of our last game, was that no one around us won either.

All of the top 5, and 6 of the top 7 failed to win the final game of the month.

 

Despite the last game, the analyst was still pretty happy with the performances.

 

Another brilliant month financially, aided by to monster crowds, netting us about 120k per game, and we also sold our first ever clause.

 

I went back and forth on this for a while, before deciding the cash was too good to refuse.

 

Despite still only being 19, Croft hasn't exactly set the world on fire since his move to Sunderland.

He played 3 games in The Championship, before being sent to League Two on loan last season.

This season he has managed one game in The Championship, and his ratings haven't really suggested he is likely to become a player who is going to be sold for millions.

If nothing else, we just made another 780k, off a player we sold for 37k.

 

Goal Scoring Goalkeepers

JJ still doing what he does, while Foggarty got more opportunities in goal after Jack was ruled out for a few games after taking a knock in training.

 

We received just our 6th penalty of the season, with Foggarty making no mistake with his first ever attempt in Jack's absence.

 

Foggarty now on the board, while Jack is still on 72 career goals.

 

The League Cup has been run and won with Man City beating Arsenal in the final.

Not much for us here, being beaten in the 2nd Round.

 

Just the 4 games in the League this month, but there are some tough ones with Wycombe and Doncaster both in the play off mix.

[Punch]

MAR 2029 - Match Day 38

Two late goals salvaged a draw in front of a full house at The Bowl.

After going down 0-2 just after the hour mark, Brian McCarthy came off the bench to get us on the board on 72 minutes, before Oscar Williams saved us at home and chipped the keeper to secure a point in the last minute of regular time.

 

Again we have been saved by the teams around us struggling as well.

That might be a very important come back.

[Punch]

The future looks bright...

 

In some really promising news that makes me feel a lot better about losing two really good players at the end of the season.

Our U18s squad have been playing their first competitive season in the U18s competition, and have performed brilliantly, with our class of 27 and 28 putting in some classy performances to bring home our first junior trophy.

[Punch]

MAR 2029 - Match Day 39

Another missed opportunity as we gave up a lead late in the second half.

Richard Paterson gave us an early lead after Kenneth Idowu sent a cross in to the center of the area, which was headed down by Jordan Williams, before Richard Paterson struck a sweetly timed volley into the bottom corner.

We only held the lead for less than 10 minutes as they leveled the scores, then on 35 minutes, after some good passing lead up, David Bain sent a great through ball to find Paterson unmarked in the box to fire home from close range for his second of the match, and put us up 2-1 at the break.

We created plenty of chances in the second half but couldn't put them away, for which we were made to pay when they leveled the scores again on 73 minutes. No matter how hard we pressed we were unable to break them down, and it finished 2-2.

 

Two draws in a row has dropped us to 4th place as most of those around us managed to win.