The Odyssey - A Personal Lower League Journey [formerly FM for Masochists]

[phnompenhandy]

I have a confession that I have to get off my chest, so I’m going to be oddly frank with you from the outset. Full disclosure - I'm a fraud. I'm not a real football manager. I'm a mere armchair football fan and FM player - and it's from this starting-point that I commence this save.

Lest you think this is just like all the other Journeyman saves - hang on! It's not just that I'm starting with no badges or experience; this is both a Head Coach Challenge where I pick the team and tactics only, and ALSO a Youth-Only Academy Challenge - the board will insist I can ONLY add to my squad from our annual academy intake. In addition, I don't have access to some database of player "attributes". Maybe that comes later in my career with a club that has analysis facilities and staff, but from the outset I only have my eyes and personal abilities (as given in my manager attributes).

I will have a technical director to find staff (at lower levels, likely to be a chairman/director of football/technical director rolled into one). I will manage training programs myself only when I'm deemed sufficiently qualified. I won't do any of that from the outset - no one entrust me with that much responsibility, and I'd be sure to fail if I tried. In this story, I'm a boring accountant in a company owned by the chairman of a hapless club on the verge of folding, who can't find anyone to be their next manager.  He won't let me loose on much - initially, I only pick team and tactics.  Coaches run their training sessions until I get my first badge.

A lesson I learned from my previous abandoned effort concerns the amateur club trap. In managing players and staff who don't have contracts, it is too easy to bin them off without consequences as you continually upgrade your squad. I will therefore take jobs only at clubs that give out contracts that have to be respected. A second lesson - I will only accept a job where there is a director of football already in situ because if I look for players myself, I give myself an unfair advantage.

So this time, I start as a head coach only, entrusted with picking teams and creating tactics only. I have to retain the squad I inherit when I take a job. If players and staff leave, it is up to the director of football to replace them, not me. Once academy intakes of 15-year-olds arrive, I have to work with them and not accept any subsequent player arrivals by the director of football.

 

Set-up and rules

Lower league databases used:

Scotland - Mozza's 'The (Real Life) Full Scottish Pyramid' to Level10

England  - Leo Messi's 'England Level 10 League & Data Updates'

also

Wales, N. Ireland and Republic of Ireland (playable) along with top tiers of 5 major European nations (view-only)

Load all players in Great Britain and Ireland, add players to playable teams as well as key staff, then holiday until today's date, 23rd January 2023. 

 References;

Dan Gear European Journeyman

Statistics – What does “good” look like in FM23? - FMStag

FM23 | Moneyball Series | No Attributes | Stats Only | Paris FC | E1 Introduction to Moneyball - Jack Sarahs

FM23 | Burton Albion - England DNA | Youth Academy Only | E1 Introduction to the England DNA - Jack Sarahs

Shampoo, Hairdressing, And A Love Affair -  tactical education from Cleon Hobson

 

Skin - I've merged Flutskin with the new Moneyball23 v1.0, incorporating FM Stag's metrics as revealed though Jack Sarah's @TheCultofFM YouTube series.

 

 

And if anyone has any thoughts as to how I can make the challenge HARDER, please let me know in a comment!

Edited January 24, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

The Story Begins

I am a greedy git, a footballing mercenary. There's only one thing I love more than football, and that's money. I'll do anything, I'll please anyone to get money. I'll give the board and fans whatever they want - playing style, trophies, whatever they want providing it's within my ability - by that I mean within the strictures of my personal and professional DNA. I will always keep an eye on available jobs and apply if they offer more wages - that is the sole criterion that determines whether I stay or move on (to be clear, I can't just apply for jobs willy-nilly, but if any club offer me an interview and throw more money than my current club is paying me, I have to at least consider moving. I'll be realistic - I'm not move continents or even cities for an extra £10, but any significant step up in my career and personal wealth has to be grasped). I will also haggle for highest wages and bonuses in contract negotiations.  I'm not completely dumb though - I know this is a long-game and I won't make a fortune until I've proven myself.

 

This is me - proper useless

 

Edited January 28, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

I'm entrusted with virtually nothing from the outset:

[Media duties goes without saying!]

Edited January 23, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

Monday 23rd January - what have we got?

Just the one. Where is it? Google tells me it's in Bishopbriggs, just north of Glasgow. Twitter tells me I got my application in just in time:

 

 

[phnompenhandy]

Patiently waiting, and I get this email:

Must have mixed me up with someone else; I'm not wasting my time.

 

[phnompenhandy]

I didn't hear anything for a week and then got a call from Niall Harkiss, senior reporter for the Scottish Non-League Football Review and Sports Interactive researcher for non-league Scotland. My response got in his paper and raised my profile. It got me the attention of Clydebank, and my response to decline an interview further came to the notice of Rossvale.

It was hard to tell from a distance with the board taking their time, but it seemed that the fans disliked the idea of an unknown at the helm and quite liked the caretaker. And I could see why there was no urgency -

gently winding down their season, sat in midtable:

 

[phnompenhandy]

As I sat twiddling my thumbs, I was alerted to another vacancy in the same league - Thorn Athletic Sports Academy outside Paisley to the west of Glasgow, so I expressed an interest in that post. Again, it was Niall who took me seriously and put my name out there.

That appeared to move the Rossvale board into action

The manager who left is the legend that is Jim Duffy. Favourites for the job are similarly illustrious names. However, the chairman is remarkably unambitious, stating that the club is currently overachieving. That's got to rule me in, right?

The tour around the club was very interesting. The greater club puts a lot of emphasis on the girls' and women's games, but the men's team has a lot of staff behind the scenes:

[I would use the nickname function to 'fix' one or two names]

They have a full first team squad and under 18 lads

The training and youth facilities are much better than the game suggests - although I'll go with what the game gives me (ie nothing!)

 

 

 

While I relaxed in a guest house overnight, I heard that Campbeltown Pupils had sacked their manager. I figured there was no harm in applying for that job too, just in case.

Edited January 24, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

Yup, that spurred them into action. As soon as I got home, I was called back to Bishopbriggs to talk turkey

The terms seemed fine, but I'm a mercenary, innit? It's in my DNA to haggle. I got the salary up to £400 per month. The contract is for three months in case I get up to no good before this season ends. Now I had to see what digs I could afford.

[phnompenhandy]

This is all I'm going to be able to afford. Bit of home care, safe space to park a bicycle to get to work.

 

[phnompenhandy]

And here we go: "Eyebrows have been raised"

 

Never won a thing in their history. My aim is to keep the traditions of the club going.

To be serious a moment, the real vision of the club is to keep kids off the streets, but also to find talent, polish it up and send lads off to bigger clubs. They're enormously proud that one of their lads has just joined Motherwell.

Edited January 23, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

First day in the job - he's humouring me, right?

[phnompenhandy]

Petershill Park (the 'Peasy'), owned by the council. A very nice stadium for this level

 

[phnompenhandy]

The staff are very helpful actually. Our last few games are a fortnight apart, which gives me time to sift through all this

Edited January 24, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

Improvements to the club overview page

Edited January 24, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

Been here a day. Said 'hello'  

Gonna be a tough audience

[phnompenhandy]

I'm seeing a lot of defenders and a dearth in terms of numbers and quality in both midfield and up top. That suggests a bottom-heavy formation.

Roles, duties and team instructions are yet to form in my mind, but they're likely to be VERY simple!

Edited January 23, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

I made an understandable faux pas when I wandered into a room beneath the stand and started to address the assembled team, only to realise they were the staff of Rossvale FC, our rivals. They share the same ground, offices, shirts even - but they're in tier 7 and pushing for promotion. "You the new guy in charge of the bairns and wains, pal?" was the cheery greeting I received.

Once I found the right room, candid conversations with my backroom staff revealed that the last guy, Jim, performed miracles to get up to midtable. He didn't get fired - he resigned to take up a better job in England, and good luck to him. By all metrics, we ought to be bottom of the league; I see now why the chairman implied we'd overachieved at the interview. The problem is having got this far up, he does require me to repeat the miracle and not be whipping-boys any more. I'm told the upcoming intake will not be anything like first-team ready; I have to achieve the same results with the same rabble.

I've drafted a provisional tactic for the coaching staff to drill into the boys ahead of my first competitive match

 

After I'd given my first team talk, Alan quietly took me to one side and made some recommendations. I didn't dare refuse him, so the team we sent out was this one

 

He's actually giving debuts to most of the starters. Is he preparing for next season? Are players due to leave that I've not been told about? Oh well, I'll just grin and pretend people think I'm in charge.

Edited January 23, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

Ahead of my first match, let's meet our team

The Big Man. The buck stops with Dave. He's got a fair background. From LinkedIn -

Quote

Career (Mansfield Town, Swindon Town, Carlisle United, Chesterfield FC, Torquay United, during this period also played in Belgium and South Africa.

FOOTBALL INVOLVEMENT and EXPERIENCE

Having enjoyed a varied career in the game, I have always been associated with football and have coached, managed, scouted and consulted for many teams and clubs during this period.

Development of football players from a Technical, Tactical, Physical and Mental perspective relating to Football (Soccer) and Sports Science. Have been involved in various player mentoring programs, supporting players to be better footballing role models, while identifying defined weaknesses of their game and improving them through analysis.

 

Edited January 24, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

Billy, Director of Football. I'll have a fair bit of business with him as decision-maker over staff and player recruitment, including contracts and suchlike.

[phnompenhandy]

I don't know who the following guys are or what they do exactly. They operate under Dave and Billy

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

We have medics

 

[phnompenhandy]

My right-hand man, the one I see every day. My oxygen

Alan was the Under18s manager before he became caretaker for the first team - he has no pedigree to speak of, but to me he seems like part of the furniture and was doing a perfectly good job without me. Last month he signed Parry and McQueenie.  The latter a bit mouthy, influential, and I have no use for him.

The rest of the coaching team:

They both come in once a week, on one of my days off so I haven't met them yet.

Aron marches into my office with a laptop under his arm and a folder of spreadsheets, babbling a language I do not understand. The others call him 'Teccy Potter' and run a mile. Apparently it's part of my remit to decipher his ravings and implement them into my tactics.

 

Oh, and I met this guy today when I needed to inform him three of his boys would be in my match squad for the upcoming friendly

 

[phnompenhandy]

There's one more I have to mention. A ghost that terrifies the life out of me. Just look at the record of this guy

He worked at Chelsea. He was assistant manager at clubs like Norwich City and Portsmouth when they were good. He managed Dundee, Hibs and Hearts. It's his boots that I have to fill. The Impossible Job.

[phnompenhandy]

I’m not clear about the line management, but I asked both Billy Stevenson, the Director of Football and Davie Caldwell the Technical Director if we could organise a friendly.  Turns out it was Alan Mackay, my assistant manager (and caretaker who saw us through two league victories after Jim Duffy left) who arranged one – against St. Peter’s, far adrift at the bottom of our league and one of the few teams we’ve beaten this season.

That game was a sheer embarrassment. Our defenders are big boys who can reach aerial balls, but when the ball’s on the ground we can’t move, can’t pass, can’t get out of our half. We were lucky to only lose 1-2, but it still didn’t do my credibility any good.

I’m mostly terrified to pipe up and offer thoughts that go against the club grain. I did manage to have a short conversation with Billy about the size of the squad. He acknowledged that the squad is too big to keep everyone happy. I can recommend players to be released over the summer and he’ll see to it, but I can’t bring in any new faces as I have to focus on nurturing the incoming academy kids, who are expected to need up to two years with the Under 18s before I can call on them. We only have 19 players aged 20 and above, along with 18 kids from last year’s intake whom I can use as often as I like.

In my first competitive game, the single goal loss again disguised the fact we were never in the game.

"Surprisingly lacklustre" was the phrase used for the friendly too. It basically means the players don't want to play for me - or themselves. In most cases, a manager would simply clear out the deadwood over the summer and do a complete rebuild in his own image. Unfortunately, this isn't Football Manager - that's not a luxury open to me.

Edited January 24, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

Have we turned a corner?? My 0% record is wiped out!

"Fortunate", you say? Well I can't disagree - we were outplayed as per, but the fans will take it

Our last two league games are against sides on poor runs, and I'll ask Alan to organise a couple of friendlies. I'm currently in two minds about what tactic to settle on. The one that finally brought us success is a cliched 4-2-3-1, carefully tailored to minimise the major weaknesses of the players at my disposal. I'm also trialling a 5-2-2-1 with the reserves and they're having some success with that too. Some of our best players are loanees who won't return next season and some of our current squad won't renew their contracts, so decisions down the line will depend on what I've got to work with.

Billy refused me permission to study for my first coaching badge. I had hoped to cram a course in Glasgow over my summer break, but it's not to be. I put the case that I lack authority due to being insufficiently involved with the players on a day-to-day basis. I need to get onto the training ground, impart a few ideas, have them work – and then I might get some respect. His response, "Winning gets respect".

Mind you, for all that we're a "football academy", I'm not sure we're set up to implement my evolving ideas. The reality of 'training' is mostly this - here's a video of Alan Mackay putting one of our youths through his paces -

 

 

Edited January 24, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

You have to hand it to SI. Here are a couple of highlights of matches we played earlier in the season - the reality of the quality on display is remarkably on-point with what I'm seeing. I'm mean, the defending!

 

 

 

Edited January 24, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

Uh huh, uh huh - am I a happy Aril Fool?

The first friendly with the 5-2-2-1 (low block version) rolled out went very well -

Naff all tactical, role or duty familiarity, and yet ....

I'm preparing two versions of the tactic - a low-block and a more adventurous modified version.

And the next day:

I could get to like this Connor guy - along with Billy, he is delivering the goods! He reckons four or five could be in the first team squad next season after all. Can't wait to see them play the Under 18 squad.

 

[phnompenhandy]

I enjoyed watching the young triallists take on out “Under 18s” side In truth, they were the detritus I don’t intend to play again – four loanees who won’t be returning and players of all ages I’ve decided to ask Billy to release. They weren’t supposed to know that yet, but the way they played suggested they’ve all twigged. Nevertheless, I saw lots of positives. The three best players all consider themselves central midfielders – Kieron the Under 18s manager played one of them in attacking midfield and he was superb, but it does rather suggest that of my two versions of the5-2-2-1, the one with the pair of central midfielders will likely work better than the one with two defensive midfielders. It’s early days yet, but I was confident enough to recommend we sign up eleven of these lads, with the three I mentioned likely to figure in the first team.

 

I won’t pretend that going down to Thorn and stuffing them 3-0 when they never even replied to my job application was quite delicious. Tomas Vesely, who went ten games without scoring before the last match, bagged a hat trick, with two assists coming from the new kid I gave a debut to, Anthony Allison. In contrast to previous games, we dominated the match – not in terms of possession, but all the dangerous moments came from us.

Issues to monitor:

For a team that couldn't pass, this is quite pleasing. However left wingback is an outlier. I have three lads who have been playing left back or wingback and all are atrocious. My last resort is to throw a new kid on in the next game.

I don't like this - the opposition passed the ball around well. Fortunately, they didn't do anything with it. I'm not sure the coaching staff are up to it, but we need to teach the players the art of pressing.

[phnompenhandy]

We won 5-1 in the next match, a friendly. This is very encouraging:

We appear to have found our boy for the left flank, and the passing looks more balanced here. It's interesting that the #4, our ball-playing defender doesn't see much of the ball. The other players appear to recognise that's he's an awful passer! The new kid, Anthony Allison is very high up the pitch for a central midfielder.

[phnompenhandy]

I found out I’m in a bit of trouble over the wage bill. I didn’t think it had anything to do with me but apparently we’re over budget and as my contract is up in a month, I could have a problem. I found out who the highest earners were and asked Davie to move two of them on. Result:

I make no secret of the fact I have no people skills. How did I get dragged into this?

To make matters worse, after I sent in the list of trialists I wanted to be retained, Billy went and gave 4-year contracts to the ones I didn't want. And it's MY fault?? 

 

Oh, maybe the confusion is connected to the chairman stepping down. This is terrible timing for me

Edited January 24, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

 

 

C'mon, don't tale your problems out on me. When I took over, we were overachieving in 5th place. Final table:

'

Still overachieved. After I lost us my first two games, we were great!

 

ALL of his eight goals were scored under me. He never scored even one for Big Jim.

 

I'm the right man!

Edited January 24, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

What's the deal with my contract? Is no one in charge here???

Automatic Promotion' means winning the league - that's a bit of a stretch.

 

Also, while I'm fretting about not being able to afford to keep our best (only) striker, it seems Billy neglected to tell me about some future transfers - when were these arranged?

If Billy and his scouts are good at their jobs, this should be good news, but so much is up in the air at the moment. I guess I can see the reasons why I was refused a coaching course too, although I'd appreciate a modicum of respect in being kept in the loop, so I can do my job.

Having said that, I'm hearing Billy is bust re-signing a number of players on £21 per month deals, including some that I'm trying to get rid of, and the loans guy who earns the equivalent of five of these 21 quid boys. I know I'll get the blame for the financial consequences.

Edited January 25, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

Okay, I didn't have to wait long. The outgoing chairman had the authority to nail me down to a new contract. As mercenary as I am, I understood clearly that there was no wiggle room to ask for a pay rise at this point in time. He also wouldn't entertain any discussion about easing off on demanding we win the league. No pressure there, then.

[phnompenhandy]

Nice. This should smooth the takeover, but will any of it go into alleviating the wage situation?

[phnompenhandy]

This is a relief

I wasn't sure these boys would come - Billy hadn't told me what money they're on and if we could afford it. So, they're at the club now although they're on holiday so I won't know if they're any good for a while yet. These will of course be our last signings while I'm here as this is a Youth Academy Only campaign and they're only allowed as they were signed up before I arrived.

In the meantime, the backroom boys have given themselves wee pay rises, but they haven't managed to move on any of the players I want off the wagebill or our of my squad.

[phnompenhandy]

Bingo! Our highest wage-earner is off the bill - well 80% of his wages are being paid by Campbeltown - it helps. He's been my first/second-choice right wingback, but we just can't justify paying anyone £100 per month. Maybe that Loans Manager isn't a waste of money after all - although being on over £100 himself, he needs to do more, in my opinion.

[phnompenhandy]

That's our 'Segundo Volante' away, leaving us with two viable defensive midfielders (for any role). That seals our formation for this year, until any defensive midfielders come through our Academy's academy.

 

And THIS was our best defender

He was on amateur, no-pay forms too.

THIS is the crux of the problem - I have (had) a first team squad of 20. They were well within the wage budget as half are on amateur contracts.

The reserves comprise two kinds of players. There's the group I'm trying to get rid of - Billy's signed them to contracts and they don't want to leave. Then there are the promising youngsters - rather crucial to a Youth-Only vision; Billy signed them onto long £21 per month contracts too. If the first lot won't let us get the wage bill under control, I fear Billy will sell off our future. I'm worried.

Edited January 25, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

In conjunction with Billy, I've brought the wage budget under control. It involved some very painful decisions. As an example, let's look at the goalkeeping situation. My uncontested first-choice keeper is 17 and on £21 per month. That's fine. The back-up I inherited is 24 and doesn't take a salary. The first intake gave us a 15-year-old who I very much wanted to develop, but Billy gave him a £21 per month contract. So for financial reason, I had to let the kid go and keep the older one who'll not develop at all. The other decisions were wholly dictated by money, leaving me with a worryingly weakened first team squad and less than I'd hoped for in reserve.

It's upsetting, but it had to be done. If any more players choose to leave, they can't be replaced. I'm on a knife-edge here. Now we're approaching the first friendly of the preseason and I need to focus 100% on the squad and the tactics.

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

With the games about to commence, it's time to meet the gang. I just hope they don't defect!

Just the Starting XI for now:

GOALKEEPER

Simple, clear first choice.

CENTRAL DEFENDERS

Anything but clear here. In my matches at the end of last season, Stephen was playing fullback, and McLennan clearly needed a couple of years in the Under 18s to flourish. But we lost two key defenders and here we are. One of the academy  lads might be asked to step up if these lads struggle. It's a problem area for sure.

WINGBACKS

David Flett is probably our best player. At only 16 years old, he's also our highest earner now, but we can't afford to lose him. He can play anywhere across the back, so I might move him to central defence if the need is greater there.  Orsi just arrived in our academy intake and played one game. He needs to do well as we have no real backup. Darroch is part of the furniture at Rossvale - he's always been here, but managers never seem to play him.

Edited January 25, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

CENTRAL MIDFIELD

Both straight from our academy. I didn't mean to blood them so early, but needs must.

Edited January 25, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

ATTACKING MIDFIELD

 

Okay, one of these guys needs to start on the bench. I admit at the start I did say that I had no use for McQueenie. That was when I was trying a formation with wingers and he didn't fit in. I soon saw his quality though and elevated him to vice-captain. Lewis has been at the club for some time, but Shane just joined in the summer, and we haven't seen him play yet. Terrifyingly, none of them are on a contract, and we can't afford to give them one, so any or indeed all could walk at a moment's notice.

Edited January 25, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

STRIKER

One of these starts - they're both new arrivals, unknown quantities. Allan says he is a pressing forward and Crawford considers himself an attacking forward. I'd like to say we'll see who fits our system better, but as neither of them are on contracts either (which explains how Billy could afford them on our over-spent wage bill), the decision might be out of my hands.

Note how the coaching staff all agree the attacking midfielders and strikers could all play at a higher level - the defence not so.

Edited January 25, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

We played 4 matches using the 5-2-2-1 at the end of last season, to some success. Two were friendlies; in the league games, both meaningless midtable ties, we won one and drew one. Over the summer our two best defenders left – one whose loan ended and one who joined a rival. By starting three central defenders, we’re trying to make up for the lack of quality with an extra body. Our striker, who scored all our goals, left and we’re having to rely on incomers I haven’t had a chance to assess yet. My initial assessment was that we do seem to be okay for midfielders, which is the engine of our formation, with four starting.

We go into the season with a first-team squad of 19 (seven of whom are teenagers) and 10 backup teens.

In a meeting with Aron ‘Teccy’ Potter our performance analyst, he showed me charts indicating that our goalkeeper is average for the division, our defenders are below average (and the slowest) in the division, our strikers are average (and very short) but our midfield is one of the best. Overall, we’re quite smart for footballers at this level but we’re unfit and slow. Hence, a tactic designed to take all this into account. The style is ‘low block/low possession’. We need to conserve energy, with a thin squad of players who are not the fittest, and who train very little, and we lack technical quality.

For the first friendly or two, I'm prioritising the defence - a safety-first approach. I don't expect to create many chances. If I feel we're okay at the back, I'll tweak a thing or two to try to get goals.

I've already talked myself into putting Flett into central defence, so for now we set up like tihs:

 

[phnompenhandy]

Something just occurred upstairs.

Bit of a lack of clarity there. I assume promotion is required - he didn't say specifically. He'll need a few days to get his feet under his desk.

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

The academy boys and the new signings only know me as manager of Rossvale Academy. They listen when I give a team talk. Maybe the others will start to ***** up their ears presently.

The worked hard enough in the game though. The central defence was well-organised, but we couldn’t create any threat as the wingbacks were so poor. I shouted at McQueenie to take more responsibility and move up between the lines to receive the ball. That and other tweaks worked a treat as we came from behind to win 4-1. We were still behind on xG, suggesting that if we take our chances as well as we did, maybe we don’t need to create too many. The central defenders who came on as subs did well enough for me to think about moving Flett back to one of the flanks.

Not bad, but Allison is not quite where I want him to be, and he was stepping on McQueenie's toes a little bit, leaving a gap in midfield. I'm going to try him as a deeper-lying playmaker on defend duty, with the other central midfielder being on support. Flett will go to right wingback and Stephen, who came on and took 'player of the match', can start.

[phnompenhandy]

This is awkward. The new boss has said nothing encouraging about finances, yet Billy has got a load of our squad to sign up for £21 per week on 3 and 4 year contracts in some cases. In footballing terms, it's great that I don't need to fear them leaving us, but we're right back to being over budget. I had no say in this!

In the second friendly we played even better, controlling the game from start to finish and won 3-0. The pass map is still rather curious -

Young Anthony Allison is not lying deep, by any stretch of the imagination. Does he see himself as a box-to-box guy. Maybe try that next. Flett sat much deeper than the left wingback, and Darroch the previous week. At half time I told hi to play higher up to be more attacking but it seems to go against his instincts. Maybe he's better in central defence after all.

 

[phnompenhandy]

The third game was another 3-0 win. This time, the pass map looks nicely balanced -

Allison played as a Carrilero and did enjoy himself. The other midfielder, Hayes, took the deep-lying midfielder role as busied himself very nicely. The wingbacks were both involved, and Flett, the #6 sat deep, as he likes. This feels like it hits the sweet spot. We have one more friendly to confirm those feelings.

By the way, I'd like to share more data than just pass maps, but Aron says it's all he can rustle up at the moment as his laptop is broken. 

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

For our last friendly we were away to Broomhill Sports Club, fancied for promotion from the third division, and did well to come away with a 1-1 draw. The pass map against a stronger opponent shows the midfield unable to provide much in terms of creative play, but it still looked alright to me, considering.

[phnompenhandy]

As we creep to the verge of the opening day of the season, let's see what's expected of us.

 

I'd say both bookies know their oats. I'd have said mid-table a couple of weeks ago.

 

The fans would like top three then win the play-off, but don't look to be too demanding.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Nothing less than first will do. I'll say quietly, just to you, that after the performances in preseason, privately I'm wondering if this is actually achievable.

And do I detect a slight relaxing over my role in the club's financial affairs? Hard to say.

 

Edited January 26, 2023 by phnompenhandy

[phnompenhandy]

So after the honing and the fine-tuning, this is what we're going with - Starting XI, subs, formation, roles, duties and team instruction (no pre-match player or opposition instructions at this juncture). League matches are schedules for weekends only, unless moved due to weather or cup clashes. The latter will be a real thing, so I may elect to play the second string in those games - it will depend on our league situation - which will always take priority.