The Journeyman - FM22

[BoxToBoxFM]

This is positive!

It better not be giving me false hope now, see if they go and appoint someone else tomorrow🤣

[BoxToBoxFM]

Well we didn't get the job, Allan McGregor came in and highjacked it last minute. I don't really think we'd won enough to get it, but like I said earlier it's nice to be recognised by such a big club, clearly we're doing a good job. Now it's time to get back to work with Hamilton, this Rangers job has been a big distraction the past couple of weeks!

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 27/28 - January

It's been another average month, where we managed to win two games against Ayr and Ross County, a very credible draw against Dundee United where we came from 2 goals down to snatch a point, and we also picked up a defeat away against Raith Rovers where we were very very poor.

The job shenanigans continued on from the Rangers saga, Dundee, who are 6th in the Premiership offered me an interview which I decided to go to. They offered me the job not long later and although it was an £800 wage increase and they play in the Premiership, I decided to reject it as I feel like it's a pretty uninspiring job. It would take something like Rangers for me to move at the moment as I'm loving my time at Hamilton and with the abundance of youth talent at the club the future is bright; we could actually build something long term here and I'm looking forward to hopefully signing a new contract in the coming months as my current deal is up at the end of the season.

 

League table update, nothing much has changed. I feel like we've been second ever since I joined the club last season, but I can't complain really as that's still a good a sign! Maybe one time we'll get a shot at being top of the league!

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 27/28 - Job interview

When I was checking my manager attributes I saw I had the 'wanted' symbol, and that Hibs were interested in me. A couple of days later I applied in pure frustration from the recent results, and they've offered me an interview! It's another big club so I will be attending, as the club currently sit third in the Premiership.

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 27/28 - February

Just terrible. 

I think this is the worst month of my career. We didn't win a SINGLE GAME, WE DIDN'T EVEN GET A POINT! This is an all time low, and I didn't think it would come this soon after a brilliant season last time out, we were awful in every single game. We've got a Challenge Cup semi final next! We didn't get the hibs job either, in case you were wondering. 

We've dropped to third now, and might not even make the playoffs at this rate. We MUST be better next month, otherwise my job will surely become precarious. 

The board are still content as of now, probably because we've matched most of the club vision and the requirements for this season but they do expect me to make playoffs come the end of the season. 

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 27/28 - Youth intake

Pretty decent I'd say! Watters looks the best of the bunch, but we're going to have to fix that determination because that is way too low.

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 27/28 - March

We have been so much better in March than in February! We started off by booking a place in the Challenge Cup final, which will be coming up in the very next game actually and we carried that form onto the next three games, where we won all of them. Unfortunately we weren't able to pick up any wins in the final two games, although they were definitely both difficult ones. 

We're still third in the league with 4 to play, and although we have a decent gap to Ross County in third both QoS and Ross County have games in hand on us which is frustrating, but most of the league have games in hand to be honest. 

As for the cup final we play Montrose, who are in the league below. They are top of it though, so we definitely have to be wary. 

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 27/28 - Challenge Cup final

We did it!

McAleenan with both goals as well, I just seem to love winning this competition on FM! Never lost in the final before!

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 27/28 - April

It's an unbeaten month to end out the season and we've improved massively from our poor form around the winter time. We picked up two wins in the league, including a 5-2 demolition job over Queen of The South. We had a chance to leap into second for the first time in ages in the last game of the season, but unfortunately we bottled it and ended up finishing third. 

A slight decline from last season but we lost a key players who we weren't able to replace really, plus the board are happy with this season and that's all that matters really. 

It will be Ross County we face in the first round of the playoffs, with the winner going on to play Queen of The South. 

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 27/28 - The playoffs

We've only gone and done it!!!

It's worth noting our goalkeeper got injured the day before the playoffs started, so for all 6 games we had a player who came through the academy this season in goals. 

In the second leg of the final Phillips made a mistake that lead to an equaliser with 3 minutes to go in extra time, but in the penalty shootout he more than redeemed himself making 2 saves while they sent one into row Z as well! Not only have we relegated St. Mirren, we've got ourselves promoted to the Scottish Premiership!!!

The board haven't exactly backed us...

We've just signed a new contract at the club as well, extending our deal for another 2 years whilst pocketing ourselves an extra £200 p/w.

We only finished third in the league, 10 points off where we were last season but this timeout, we pulled through in the playoff final. 

And finally, as per usual, here's a look at the final squad for this season. I think the biggest lesson I've learnt this season is that I need to get the youth involved much more, it's been brilliant seeing so many of these players develop and I've been watching closely in the under 18's as well, there's a few players who we may well see make their debuts next season. Bring on the Premiership!

Follow me on Twitter!

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 28/29 - Premier Sports Cup draw

Our Premier Sports Cup draw is in and this year we'll be facing fellow Premiership side Kilmarnock, league 1 sides Ayr and Queen's Park as well as league 2 side Morton. The board are expecting us to qualify from this group and make it to the second round. 

We start off away to Ayr and finish at home to Morton. 

We're actually not predicted to finish bottom, that title falls to Dundee United who won the Championship last year. 

[FM-AP]

You did brilliantly to gain promotion! Good luck in the Prem! 

[BoxToBoxFM]

15 minutes ago, FM-AP said:

You did brilliantly to gain promotion! Good luck in the Prem! 

Thanks a lot, it was only in the second leg of the final that I actually realised we had a chance of promotion and started taking it a lot more seriously. Hope you’re doing good👍

[BoxToBoxFM]

Nice little milestone coming up in our next Premier Sports Cup game, here's to many more games throughout my career!

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 28/29 - Premier Sports Cup

Well the Premier Sports Cup went okay, for the most part. We scraped past Ayr in the first game before edging past Queen's Park on penalties, both of those teams are in lower divisions than us so that was slightly worrying. However we then beat Kilmarnock 3-0 in our best performance of the groups, so that gave me a little bit of hope we could do alright this season given they are another Premiership side but we came crashing back down to earth in the final game where we lost to Morton, who are a side in League 2. 

Embarrassing. 

That defeat to Morton on the final day and giving a point to Queen's Park from the penalty shootout ice hockey style, means Kilmarnock qualify from the group as champions and slightly surprisingly we didn't qualify as one of the runner up teams. 

The board do class this as a fail which is worrying because I have a feeling we'll struggle to match their expectation in the league and potentially even the Scottish Cup, so this was a target we really had to meet as I don't want to be failing too many objectives this season. 

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 28/29 - Summer transfers

Many players have joined this summer, including a couple loanees who we've seen before! But first, the outs!

Ins

One of the players who left in our deadline day shenanigans this time last year has returned on loan!

One for the future, I'm looking forward to seeing how he develops in the coming years.

Another returning loanee, he didn't get much game time last year and he probably won't this year either, but I love the fact he can play centre back and right back which is just perfect for me.

This was the most satisfying transfer for me, completed on deadline day. I've been looking at and trying to sign this player for years, so to finally be able to manage him is brilliant!

Just look at his record in Northern Ireland, he's only 22!

Tactics

As usual there's no change in tactics but given we are in the Premiership I'm willing to change it if I feel it's necessary to give us the best chance of survival. 

As for the season preview, we're still expected to finish in the relegation playoff while Celtic are expected to win the league. 

It's going to be difficult but I'm looking forward to the challenge!

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 28/29 - July/August

It's safe to say it's been a difficult start. 

The first game against Motherwell was our local derby and we were put in our places early on, although they did gift us a goal which was nice. Our first home game was against Aberdeen and we actually played really well, we were very good credit for our point and missed a penalty so on another day we could have picked up a win. The Inverness game was really dissapointing, yes it was away but it was a game I was targeting getting something from so to come away empty handed was a real kick in the teeth. Finally we lost to Rangers, we did take them to penalties last season but they had a very strong team out and there's no shame in losing there, I don't budget for taking any points off the Old Firm.

After 4 games we sit bottom of the league, Dundee United who were promoted with us are flying; clearly they are back where they fit in best. However there's still plenty time to go and still ages before we need to panic change tactics or whatever, but it would be good if we could pick up a win next month!

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 28/29 - New kits

A huge thanks to @Wightyyyy who has yet again made a set of kits for this save, and they continue to get better every time! The away kit is just outstanding and the home is very classy as well, something that's very important for the first season in the top flight. 

If you'd like to have a look at some of the other kits Wightyyy has made then make sure to click here to join The Terrace discord server to get involved with various Football Manager and football discussions plus take a look at Wightyy's World Cup 2022 kit pack which you could download for your save; it's a lot of fun! 

Very much looking forward to seeing these in action in the match engine!

Edited April 30, 2022 by BoxToBoxFM

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamiton 28/29 - September

On the face of things, it looks a little bit better as we did manage to win a game, scoring late on to secure a massive three points at home against Dundee. Apart from that it's still been pretty poor, the Hearts game in particular. Shea Harrison made his debut in that one and got sent off, talk about first impressions! We have created a few more chances and had a few more shots this month, but we're still struggling to convert them to goals. So far McAleenan has only scored one goal and our other striker option Longmuir has been injured most of the season so that may be a position we need to re-evaluate in January and perhaps bring in another loan. 

 

We're still bottom of the league but Aberdeen look like they're also struggling, we also have a game in hand on them which could be massive. We play Celtic in October, I am not looking forward to that!

 

[BoxToBoxFM]

Well this isn't good. Can't say I expected this email this early in the season, but to be fair we have been absolutely dreadful.

Think I'm going to switch to this system for the game, been training it all season but we really need to start grinding out a few more points. May even switch to a counter attacking tactical style as well, as that's what the board have wanted me to do. 

Ft. McKenna's second red card of the season...we've played 11 games

To be fair we're only on a C at the moment so I'd like to think even if we did lose the derby against Motherwell that we'd be able to keep our job, but only time will tell. 

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 28/29 - October

Well things continued to look bad for the majority of October, we only scored one goal and missed our second penalty of the season against Dundee United, where we also had our second or third red card of the season. Before the Motherwell game which is also our local derby I had the email saying I could be on the verge of the sack, so I switched to a more defensive counter attacking system and we managed to pick up win number two of the season thanks to a Shea Harrison brace!

This is what I went with in the end, it's very much a short term fix because I doubt we're going to make any progress playing it, as it's very much set up to try and steal a couple of points here and there but if it keeps me in the job, I'm happy to use it for now and I'll re-evaluate in a couple of games' time. 

We're still bottom but we now have the same amount of points and the exact same record as Inverness, so it's a real shame they beat us last time out. However, we play them in the very next game at the start of November - that could well be 'El Sackio'!

[BoxToBoxFM]

Well this has come out of nowhere, I only just signed a new contract in the summer.

 

However I think I am going to decline it, we'd just be walking into another relegation battle so I'd rather honour Hamilton consider I took them up, rather than walk into someone else's job. I could end up regretting that, as it would probably be a pay rise, but only time will tell. 

Edited May 1, 2022 by BoxToBoxFM

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 28/29 - November

Just the three league games in November and we managed to pick up two points from them. The Inverness one was massive but unfortunately we could only come away with a draw, we had two men sent off then late on Inverness went down to ten themselves, so it was a really messy day and I think without our two red cards we would have picked up all three points. For the second time this season we managed to take points off Aberdeen which was nice but then we ended the month with a 3-1 defeat at Ibrox, definitely didn't expect anything from the game but it was really frustrating to see us get yet another red card in this game, they are becoming way too common this season. 

We're up to 15th now which is where the board expect us to finish and we do have a game in hand as well, so if we win it we could potentially extend our gap to 4 points from Inverness which would be massive. 

[BoxToBoxFM]

Another job interview and yet again at another massive club, this time in the form of Sheffield Wednesday. 

However I will not be attending this one either and for the same reason as I didn't attend the Blackpool one, they are a massive club of course but I'd be jumping into another relegation battle, which is not something I want to do considering we're halfway through one at Hamilton. Plus, I'd quite like to win the Scottish Premiership at some point in this save and it doesn't really feel like the right time to make that step into English football, which I fully intend on doing at some point but that time is not now, we've got a job to finish at Hamilton.

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 28/29 - Youth Intake preview

Now this looks very promising!

From the preview it looks like it could well be our best intake yet, and we've had some good ones here at Hamilton. A huge part of my decision to turn down these jobs from the Championship in England is because of our youth academy, every year we are producing top talents and seeing them develop very well. The future is bright, and it's going to take a massive job for me to leave Hamilton.

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 28/29 - December

The Christmas period actually started very well for us, we picked up two  wins in a row for the first time this season against very good sides in the form of Hearts and Dundee so that was a massive confidence booster. Or so I thought. We then went away to Livingston with hopes of picking up all three points once again considering they were around us in the league table at the time, but we were totally awful and ended up losing 3-0. 

Home to Kilmarnock was next and it was a frustrating one, I hate losing 1-0 in football because you always feel like you were so close yet so far away, and this was another example of that. We then played host to the green side of Edinburgh and got a very credible draw against them, I wasn't expecting it but there was very little highlights all game which I'll definitely take. Celtic were next and I actually thought we were going to nick a point here, in the second half they gifted us a goal from a defensive mistake and we were clinging on to our draw until Tom Davies shattered our dreams with 5 minutes to go. Our final game of the month was away to Dundee United and we lost again, 3-0 was the score but there was no surprise that we gave away a penalty for their third, it feels like whenever one of my players is having a particularly bad game in terms of their average rating they always either get sent off or give away a penalty. This game hurt quite a lot given the fact the season preview predicted us to finish above Dundee United and they came up with us, before the start of the season I was hoping to get a couple of wins against them but clearly they had a much better summer than we did. 

We're still 11th in the league going into January which is fine, a 5 point gap has developed between ourselves and last placed Inverness but more concerning is the fact there's now a 6 point gap between us and Livingston in 10th, which makes our defeat to them earlier this month even more frustrating.

[BoxToBoxFM]

This might just be our biggest problem!

7 red cards and 10 penalties conceded, no wonder we are losing so much. I wish I could see who has given away the most penalties in our team because I reckon McKenna has contributed to about half of those. It seems whenever one of my defenders or midfielders are having a bad game they give away a penalty or get them self sent off, clearly they just aren't as quick or as good as the rest of the league. 

[keeper#1]

7 red cards and 10 penalties conceded in only 22 matches?!?!?!?!?

 

[BoxToBoxFM]

19 hours ago, keeper#1 said:

7 red cards and 10 penalties conceded in only 22 matches?!?!?!?!?

 

Turns out I had get stuck in on for my new tactic, have turned it off but didn't even make much a difference, just had another player sent off in my most recent match

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 28/29 - January

Dhanda came in on a 5 month contract until the end of the season as another option on the wing...

...but three minutes into his debut he gets himself injured for the rest of the season, so he'll never play for us again! You couldn't write it!

Another striking option comes in on loan from Luton as Longmuir is almost always injured, so we only really have McAleenan. 

I wanted a proper back up goalie so took a risk and blindly signed one on loan on deadline day, turns out he's awful.

We also loaned out our young Turkish winger as he's been having one of the worst signings I've ever seen on Football Manager.

Results

We've actually had an unbeaten month, albeit there was only one win in there where we scraped past non league side Caley Braves. It was frustrating to draw against Inverness as they are bottom of the league and Motherwell are our rivals, but at least we didn't lose. We did pick up a couple impressive draws against Rangers and Aberdeen though, who we've actually not lost to yet this season. 

It looks like we'll be finishing no higher than the relegation playoff as Motherwell have developed a 7 point gap behind them, but we do need to be wary of Inverness as they are just one point behind us and seem to have picked up a bit of form in January, picking up 8 points including 2 wins in there. We will play them once more this season in the league split and that could well be a relegation 6-pointer.

[gggfunk]

I really love reading this thread, all presented nice and clear, plus your career is very realistic.

Fingers crossed for avoiding relegation!

[BoxToBoxFM]

23 hours ago, gggfunk said:

I really love reading this thread, all presented nice and clear, plus your career is very realistic.

Fingers crossed for avoiding relegation!

Thanks a lot, appreciate it! I'm loving playing it right now as well which probably helps, but I can't wait to see how the career turns out - It's only just began really in terms of realism!

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 28/29 - February

Just the 4 games in February after a very hectic winter period, and really we were awful. 

We lost all of the first three away against Hearts, away to Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup 5th round then finally at home to Dundee and we played poor in all of them, not even managing a goal. However in the last match of the month away against Kilmarnock we actually went one better - not only did we win for the first time in 11 games, we scored two goals (yes, one was a penalty) and managed to keep a clean sheet which I was very happy about!

11th is still where we sit as we come to the back end of the season, we actually dropped down to bottom for a game or so up until our win against Kilmarnock because Inverness seemed to have hit a run of decent form at the wrong time for us. We've got 4 games to go and then the league splits, where we'll be in the relegation group. Our game against Inverness is going to be massive!

Inverness' form

Now this is why you check the expiring contracts screen on the the 1st January!

On paper he looks to be the best signing of the save so far, he's on a ton of money but I think and hope it will be worth it. Look at his height as well, he's got everything! I can't wait to manage him and see him play next year, I've just got to hope I'm still in the job!

[gggfunk]

Wow, this guy looks fantastic! Let's really hope he will score goals in Premiership next season rather than in the 2nd division 😄

[BoxToBoxFM]

33 minutes ago, gggfunk said:

Wow, this guy looks fantastic! Let's really hope he will score goals in Premiership next season rather than in the 2nd division 😄

Exactly that. He has got a relegation release clause on him so maybe if we get relegated before he joins which we would then it won't come into play, so that could be a blessing in disguise if we're think about him purely. Because if he's as good as I hope and we go down next season, I can't see him staying!

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 28/29 - Youth Intake

Very very happy with this!

We've got three very good prospects there, the rest not so much but the fact there's three 2*5* players there is very exciting considering they are 15. I'm looking forward to seeing how they all develop over the next few years!

This guy looks like he good be very good, 16 finishing at 15. He may well end up in the first team by the age of 17 like McAleenan did!

Look at his height, he's only 15!

This might just be the best youth intake yet. Oh, i'd be absolutely raging if I got sacked come the end of this season because off the pitch we're set up so well for the future (well, apart from finances. But that's not my job to worry about that...)

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 28/29 - March/April

To be fair we've only actually lost one game in this run and that was against Celtic, so it was to be expected. Drawing against Livingston was really frustrating given where they are in the league but getting points against Dundee United and Hibs are both good results.

However just before the Hibs game we got some very bad news, our only goalkeeper Kieran Wright has picked up his yearly injury so is going to be out for pretty much the rest of the season, at the worst possible timing, he's got a habit of doing that! It was the youth goalkeepers who got us here with the penalty shootout heroics in the playoffs last season, and we're going to have to rely on them again. 

Corruption

Now in the Dundee United game I saw one of the worst Refereeing performances in my life, so much so I was going to give it it's own update. He gave a penalty to Dundee Utd for this 'tackle'...

My defender is nowhere even near the attacker, and the ref has given a penalty to them for it. Absolutely. Fuming.

To be fair to him he managed to redeem himself, Carse, my midfielder, kicked the ball away then went on to head butt the Utd defender outside the box, and the referee gave us a penalty! All is forgiven. 

Actually no it's not. I'm still not over it. 

All that actually leaves us bottom of the league as we go into the split, Inverness actually beat Livingston 4-1 in their last match.

The fixtures are out for the league split and we play Livingston on the final day which is going to be a massive game. However given we're playing all the teams around us, every one of these games is a cup final for us. Realistically we've got to pick up at least 2 wins here against Livingston and Inverness and that's just the minimum, we're going to have to pick up a few draws as well. Remember, the board want me to finish in the relegation playoff so if I finish bottom, I could well be sacked.

Which given how much I've gone on about how I love what we've got here at Hamilton and how it would take a massive job for me to leave, that would be genuinely devastating. Hopefully we can pull it out the bag!

[gggfunk]

Wow, staying up won't be easy at all. But I keep my fingers crossed and can't wait for the final results!

[BoxToBoxFM]

1 hour ago, gggfunk said:

Wow, staying up won't be easy at all. But I keep my fingers crossed and can't wait for the final results!

Certainly won’t be. Will try get the games done tonight and do it in one big update but might have the football on in the background so it may not be until tomorrow I get them finished 

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 28/29 - Relegation league split

We actually went unbeaten in the league split. It started with a massive 3-0 win against Dundee United which gave me confidence we could go on and survive. Unfortunately, we drew all remaining games including both against Inverness and Livingston, but it actually all came down to that final game as I predicted to do. 

They went 2-0 up but then had a man sent off which left us bottom of the league as it stood, and it took us until the 74th minute to get one back. I then had no choice but to throw everything at it, and with three minutes to go the hero from the Academy Lee McAleenan equalised to send us back above Livingston and into the playoff spaces! Who else was it going to be!

Look at his development by the way, he was 2.5 stars at the start of the season. His finishing and composure have shot up massively!

This meant we'd done our part and finished 11th as the board asked, but Inverness were still to play and if they lost, we would jump above them and into 10th avoiding relegation!

And they did!

For the first time since match day 2 we are out of the relegation places and into 10th, which means we're guaranteed a place in the Scottish Premiership again next season! Unbelievable!

On goal difference as well!

The budgets have been set and I think they are the same as this season's were.

Couple of interesting additions to the 5 year plan, I like the expand the stadium one but not so happy about having to sell players before buying. 

One of the things I've always liked about this board is their ambition, each year they want us to be improving and by the end of the 2033/34 season they expect us to be an established Premiership team.

Well what a season it's been. Full of ups and downs, mainly downs but that final game of the season was something special that I'll remember for a very long time. From nearly getting sacked twice to finishing 10th, what a story! I can't wait for next season and with our new striker coming in too, although I think it's going to be another difficult season. The stakes have been risen though, as next year the board expect us to avoid relegation so we're going to have to be very smart with our transfers. 

Once again thank you for following along with this season, had a fair bit of interaction which has been brilliant and I think we're up to 9 people following along with the career as well, so do feel free to click that follow button as well so you get notified every time it's updated. 

It's been one of my favourite seasons ever to play and probably my most difficult one as well, it's the closest I've ever been to a relegation or sacking for sure. I can't wait to see what next season brings, hopefully we can bring in some quality players in the summer and maybe even push for a mid table spot! 

Maybe I'm dreaming a little bit too far there though...

Follow me on Twitter!

[lopikachu007]

Just found this post and it looks like a fun trip so far! I just started my own Journeyman as well at Chelmsford with only a National C... Getting coaching badges to improve seems to not be something the board is going to let me do though :P. Good luck for next season with Hamilton!

[BoxToBoxFM]

17 minutes ago, lopikachu007 said:

Just found this post and it looks like a fun trip so far! I just started my own Journeyman as well at Chelmsford with only a National C... Getting coaching badges to improve seems to not be something the board is going to let me do though :P. Good luck for next season with Hamilton!

Thanks, it’s been a lot of fun. Good luck with your own journeyman, keep me updated with how it goes. I often find that it can take a while to get that first coaching course, but once you do they’ll then let you go and get the others. They always say they won’t send you on one because it might lead to you getting better jobs, which is frustrating as that’s the whole point of the save!

[gggfunk]

What a thrilling ending this was, wow. Big congrats for staying up! Can't wait to see how you can improve in the next season with this new striker.

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 29/30 - Premier Sports Cup draw

This year in the Premier Sports Cup we'll be playing League One side Ayr, League Two side Dumbarton, Championship side Partick Thistle and another League One side in the form of Raith Rovers. 

We kick off against Partick Thistle at home then finish against Ayr at home as well. 

Now that it's ticked over to the new season the media have released their season preview, and they've predicted us to finish in 10th which is also what the board expect as they want us to avoid relegation outright this season. 

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 29/30 - Premier Sports Cup

You may be wondering why I'm showing you the Premier Sports Cup results before you've actually met the new players, but as I've not finished my transfer business yet and this is a meaningless group stage anyway I thought I may as well.

We started off beating Partick Thistle 3-0, it was a very professional performance and a great start to our campaign in group F. 

However the next game against Raith Rovers we were 3-0 up and absolutely cruising before we just capitulated, conceding 4 goals in the second half. 

However we bounced back well beating Dumbarton 3-1 away then finished off the group stages with a 1-0 win against Ayr in front of a home crowd at the Fountain of Youth Stadium, which is an ironic name given the abundance of good young talents we have here at the club. 

Despite our defeat to group champions Raith we did qualify as one of the second best teams...

...and it will be a Lanarkshire derby in the next round as we play Motherwell in round 2. 

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 29/30 - Summer transfers

Finally, the time has arrived for you to meet our new signings! This summer was actually quite quiet, we had the pre signing coming in from January and we also made a loan permanent so there was only really 3 proper transfers, but first, as always, the outs!

The most significant out was that of Vural Ates, the young Turkish winger. He'd been absolutely awful for me last season to the point where I loaned him out at Christmas, so when Crystal Palace came in and offered £825k for him, I didn't even hesitate in saying yes. It makes all the more sense when you consider I don't even play a winger formation anymore, but more on that in a minute. 

Ins

Camp was one of my first ever signings at Hamilton way back in the 2026/27 season but unfortunately we lost him to hibs thanks to his release clause being activated the next summer, although last season we managed to bring him in on loan and then this summer we made that loan permanent, thankfully with no release clause this time. 

Ever since I first agreed a deal for this boy on the 1st January I've been excited to use him, and he's already scored two goals for us in the league. 

Davies mainly comes in as a right back but he can also play left back if needed, he's just a very handy player to have around the club. 

Now that we play with three CM's I wanted another option in the mezzala role and I think Robertson does that very well, coming in on loan from Peterborough for the rest of the season. 

The only player we actually spent a little bit of money on was a backup goalkeeper as Wright got a long term injury on deadline day so we had to panic sign someone, I'd imagine he will be second choice for now and we'll go with one of Campbell or Phillips to start with. 

New tactic

A real lack of wingers available to sign this summer lead to me thinking about what to do tactically, and to me given we now have two very strikers it just made perfect sense to go back to the formation that worked so well with both Prestatyn and Annan, but we do still have a winger on each side so if we want to revert back to the 4231 it's always an option. 

Look at McAleenan's progress! This time last year he was 2.5 stars! We actually rejected a 1.7m offer from Hearts on deadline day which was pretty mental. 

Season Preview

We've actually jumped up to 9th in this now which I would be very happy with, it's probably to do with the signing of Sylvester Walker.

Manager profile 

Finally I thought I'd show you my manager profile as I realise that's something you've probably not seen in years, and it's coming along nicely. We completed our final coaching course ages ago and have just recently played our 350th game in the dugout, which is pretty mental considering this all started with a dream 9 years ago then relocating to Wales to make that dream a reality, I've loved every minute of it so far and long may it continue!

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 29/30 - August

August has been pretty decent to be honest. 

We had the dream start to our league campaign as we beat Dundee United 2-0 at home with goals from Walker and McAleenan, and then in the next game went one better as we beat Rangers 1-0 at Ibrox! I feel this is revenge for that penalty shootout heartbreak a couple of seasons ago, but this was an incredible result and meant we picked up back to back wins in the league - for context, in the entirety of last season we managed 6 wins in total. 

However those back to back wins was sadly followed up by back to back losses and it was back to back losses against local rivals Motherwell, first in the Premier Sports Cup then in the league 6 days later. The cup one doesn't matter too much as the board only want us to reach the second round which we achieved but the league game was dissapointing, we really didn't play well at all which was frustrating after coming off the back of one of the biggest results in my career against Rangers.

After 3 games we sit in 5th which is probably the highest we've been in the Premiership since our return last season (we were actually up in second after GW2!) but as I always say, there's a long way to go. 

Interestingly it's Rangers of all teams who sit bottom of the league and on 0 points as well having lost every single game so far, so it will be interesting to see how long that continues for but to be fair after looking at their schedule it looks like they've been concentrating on Europe, which I can understand given the money that comes with it. 

Rangers' schedule for August, look how many games they had to play!

[BoxToBoxFM]

Hamilton 29/30 - September

This is absolutely incredible. 

The month started very well, as we beat Hearts 4-2 at home and I was thinking; great, we've won a game this month, so it doesn't really matter what happens the rest of the month. It seems the players took this to heart as we lost 1-0 to St. Mirren and we were pretty poor to be honest. An away draw against Dundee was a decent result, just picking up points as frequently as we are is massive and any away points I'm delighted with. 

However, it was the final game of the season that was just out of this world. Every time we play Celtic, I have no expectations whatsoever and I have no shame at all in losing to them but we managed to beat them for the first time ever in my career, and we didn't just scrape past them - we thrashed them 4-1!! Unbelievable. I still remember the first time I played Celtic way back at Hamilton and we lost 4-1, now I've just taken all three points off them! This is definitely up there with one of the best results in my career, we've now beat both Rangers and Celtic in the first 2 months of the season!

After 6 games we're sitting 2nd in the league, which is just unbelievable. Most teams do have a game in hand on us, but we've already got 13 points on the board this season - It took us ages to get to this point last season, we're making a lot of progress! I know this time next month we will not be second, but if we're anywhere around mid-table and have won another game or two I'd be absolutely delighted. 

Player of the month

Our player of the month and probably player of the season so far has definitely been Sylvester Walker. I had high expectations for him and he's certainly lived up to them so far while he continues to grow as well, he's had a phenomenal start!

I do fear we will lose him in January though as the only way I could sign him was with a release clause and if he keeps going as he is that will almost certainly be activated, so we just have to enjoy him while we can. 

Shoutout to McAleenan as well, he's having to share the limelight now but he's still popped up with 2 goals and 3 assists! Which have all been for Walker actually, they've developed a really nice partnership and we've scored some stunning goals this season. 

[john1]

Wow, what a win against Rangers and Celtic Walker looks absolutely brilliant! What is his minimum release clause?

[BoxToBoxFM]

15 minutes ago, john1 said:

Wow, what a win against Rangers and Celtic Walker looks absolutely brilliant! What is his minimum release clause?

I couldn’t believe it, I’m not sure what one is more impressive - winning at ibrox and keeping a clean sheet or demolishing Celtic the way we did! 

As for Walker, he has a relegation release clause that’s in the £1m range, maybe something like 1.7m but his regular release clause is £2.3m or something around that range