The Annual 'Give Youth A Chance' Failure Challenge

[Cougar2010]

Hednesford - January 2010

PREVIEW

Holidays over and a fairly busy month ahead - six league games and the second round of the FA Trophy at home to one of the BSP's top sides, Mansfield. These are split into five weekend games and two midweek. Points will be hard to come by as we start the month with three away games against clubs near the top but we should fair better later in the month when we are home to some of the lower sides.

Sat 2nd Jan - BSN

Farsley 1-0 Hednesford

Away to one of the top sides we weren't given much chance but we carried on our good form from December and probably edged a game of few chances. Farsley's only real chance of the game came on 21mins when good movement and good delivery saw a corner directed in at the far post. We dominated possession and pushed hard in the 2nd half but struggled to get shots on target.

Sat 9th Jan - FA Trophy 2nd Round

Hednesford 0-0 Mansfield

Our good form continued as we matched Mansfield for much of the game. We had more possession but Mansfield created more clear chances. Neither team could find the net though in an even game that could have gone either way.

Wed 13th Jan - FA Trophy 2nd Round Replay

Mansfield 4-1 Hednesford

An extra game we could have done without and although we were well beaten on paper truth is the match was much closer. We had possession but created little while Mansfield scored all four clear chances that came their way. The scoring started on 14mins when their MC was first to a loose ball in the box to slot past Brock and they doubled their lead 15mins later when a square ball from the right was placed in the corner from around the penalty spot. It got worse before HT when a deep corner was headed home at the back post on 39mins. Barnett gave us hope on the hour nodding in a corner but Mansfield killed the tie off on 77mins when Beeston diverted a shot into his own net.

Sat 16th Jan - BSN

Tamworth 3-1 Hednesford

Away to another side in the top half of the table and the last result seems to have knocked everybody as Tamsworth eased to a comfortable victory. After a goalless first half Tamsworth eventually took the lead on 53mins with a FK from the edge of the box but we had hope of taking some points when Algar had a shot deflected into the net on 67mins. This hope dissolved though 5mins later when the defence went awol and left a man free at the far post to knock in a cross from the left. Tamworth put the match beyond doubt on 76mins when a long goal kick was brought down and smashed in from just inside the box.

Wed 20th Jan - BSN

Droylsden 3-0 Hednesford

Another away game, another side challenging for honours. We were well outplayed but had hope and the odd chance for much of the game. Droylsden took the lead just before HT when Brock couldn't hold a shot from a corner and the rebound was knocked in. It stayed that way until the last 10mins when a low cross from the right was tapped in at the near post on 81mins and then a shot from 30 yards found the net just 4mins later.

Sat 23rd Jan - BSN

Hednesford 2-2 Cambridge City

Back home to a mid-table side but morale at a real low after the last few results and I decide to give some of my other strikers a chance. We have the better of the first half and are rewarded when Cambridge fail to clear a cross from the left after 30mins leaving Hambleton to score his first goal for the club. 7mins later some good play around the right of the box sees Toner react first to a loose ball and end his goal drought. The Cambridge manager must have given one hell of a team talk at HT though as they played like men possessed in the 2nd half. It took them only 3mins to get back into the game as Marshall deflected a shot into his own net but the equaliser had to wait until the 74th minute when we failed to clear a corner and their winger found space to turn and place a shot past Brock. It was backs against the wall for the last 15mins and by the end we were lucky to come away with a point.

Tues 26th Jan - BSN

Hednesford 0-0 Hyde

Hyde came to visit with both of us needing points, us to stay out of the relegation zone and Hyde to keep out of the fight at the bottom. Hyde will be the more disappointed as they had the better of the game while we struggled to create chances.

REVIEW

A bad month that started well but away games against the top sides killed our morale which leaves us struggling near the bottom.

[Cougar2010]

Hednesford - February 2010

PREVIEW

Five league games, three home and two away against mainly sides towards the bottom. We should be looking for points but given our current morale every game is difficult.

Wed 3rd February - BSN

Hednesford 0-4 Southport

We had hopes of getting points against mid-table Southport but we struggled all game. They created the better chances and deserved their win although the result did flatter them in the end. They opened the scoring on 32mins when their striker reacted quicker to a driven cross from the left and it got worse in first half injury time when Platt's clearance hit Maguire before crossing the line. We were equally disappointing in the second half as a right wing cross was tapped in at the back post on 54mins and the icing on the cake was a header powered in from a corner 5mins later.

Sat 6th February - BSN

Gainsborough 1-2 Hednesford

By now even games against fellow strugglers are difficult and this was no exception. In a game of many chances Gainsborough were left wondering how they didn't get at least a point. We started well and were ahead on 13mins when Sheppard drove a corner to the near post which caused a mix up in the defence and resulted in their GK punching the ball against his own player. The lead only lasted 4mins though as their striker drifted between defenders and picked up a through ball before slotting past Brock. After that Gainsborough looked the more likely to get the win but with them pushing for the winner we catch them on the break and Hall arrives free at the back post to finish the cross from Algar.

Sat 13th February - BSN

Hednesford 0-1 Vauxhall

After scraping a win we had some confidence to take into this game against fellow relegation candidates. Despite having the better of the game we failed to find the net and got punished on 79mins when their striker had time to turn in the box and fire past Brock.

Sat 20th February - BSN

Alfreton 2-0 Hednesford

The one game of the month we had expected to struggle in resulted in a disappointing performance where we hardly had a shot. Alfreton started the better and took the lead after 14mins when a deep cross from the right was driven in. Our chances were then killed off in first half injury time when Stamps gave away a penalty which was slotted home.

Sat 27th February - BSN

Hednesford 0-1 AFC Telford

Our last chance of points this month came at home to mid-table Telford. Although we have chances Telford are the better side for most of the match. We defend well and restrict them to long shots for much of the game until the 84min when a hopeful through ball is played over the top. Beeston tracks back to defend and as the ball is running out of play collides with the striker to give away a penalty which is put away for the win.

REVIEW

Really not looking good for us now, we seem to struggle in every game and nobody can put the ball in the net. With morale at a real low and sitting 20th in the league its going to take a big effort just to avoid relegation.

[berty1978]

Nice updates Cougar, hope you can get a few wins together to avoid relegation.

Anyway, my first update: Pre-season friendlies,

Friendly

Merthyr 1-1 AFC Telford

Att: 173

Disappointed to concede early from a corner but we came back into the game and a great strike got us the equaliser in the 24th minute. We should have gone on to win especially when AFC Telford went down to 10 men after bringing down Marcus Griffiths when clean through on goal.

Friendly

Prestatyn 0-0 Merthyr

Att: 71

The first of three matches of a Welsh tour. Prestatyn aren't as bad as I thought as we were only slight favourites. Neither side had many chances but we probably just about edged it.

Friendly

Penycae 0-2 Merthyr

Att: 73

Disappointed with the scoreline but pleased with how we played as we had many chances. Both our goals scored by 18 year old Ashleigh Evans from corners.

Friendly

Cefn Druids 1-5 Merthyr

Att: 85

I was surprised at this result, I believe they are in the Welsh premier league and were favourites. None more surprised when they equalised just after half time I made a few subs and left the game running while I was elsewhere, 4 goals in the last 40 minutes, not possible.

Friendly

Merthyr 2-5 Cardiff City

Att: 5,690

Despite the scoreline it was a good performance against far superior opposition, with our poor defence it looked like they would score with every attack but we managed a couple to keep it respectable.

Friendly

Westfields 1-5 Merthyr

Att: 58

Absolutely never heard of Westfields but they are our feeder club so decided on a friendly. Pretty shocked to concede an early goal, but looked like we gave them a head start as we then dominated the game after that.

[Cougar2010]

Hednesford - March 2010

PREVIEW

Struggling at the bottom we need points and we have opportunity as most of our five opponents this month are in the bottom half of the table. The question is can we improve morale enough to get those points?

Sat 3rd March - BSN

Burscough 1-1 Hednesford

Burscough are one place below us in the league and this is a game we couldn't afford to lose. The first half was fairly even with us having more possession and Burscough more shots. They took the lead on 25mins when Stamps drifted infield and left their right winger space to run onto a through ball before smashing past Brock. We were soon level though as Maguire found time to turn in the box and find the net after 33mins. The second half saw us controlling possession but Burscough pushed hard for the winner and by the end we were lucky to take a point.

Tues 9th March - BSN

Hednesford 1-1 Stafford

Mid-table Stafford were the visitors for the only mid-week match of the month and it was an even game that could have gone either way. We edged the first half and took the lead just before HT when Maguire slotted a through ball between their DCs and Ryan was on hand to place it wide of their GK. Stafford fought back in the second half though and the equaliser came on 69mins when Brock could only block a vicious shot into the path of their MC to tap in.

Sat 13th March - BSN

Hednesford 3-2 Barrow

Our only other home game of the month and title challengers Barrow were the visitors. Barrow were unsurprisingly the favourites and took the lead after 17mins when Marshall's poor clearance was smashed in from the edge of the box. We rarely threatened and when a right wing cross was headed powerfully in on 63mins we look dead & buried. However this just served to fire, reserve striker, Moseley up and just 4mins later we had one back when Maguire was tackled in the box and Moseley pounced on the loose ball. The game then swung and Moseley was again on hand to head in a left wing cross from point blank range on 82mins. Finally in the final minute of injury time a poor backpass was intercepted by Moseley who slotted past their GK for a superb hattrick.

Sat 20th March - BSN

Harrogate 0-2 Hednesford

Away to bottom club Harrogate we still needed the points and it proved to be another even game where both clubs struggled to get shots on target. Draper proved to be the difference though as he headed in a corner from close range on 33mins and then settled the nerves on the hour with a shot from the edge of the box.

Sat 27th March - BSN

Kings Lynn 2-0 Hednesford

Four games unbeaten gave us hope and an improvement in morale when we visited mid-table Kings Lynn. We dominated possession but Kings Lynn created clearer chances and were the more clinical as we left disappointed. The first goal came early when their MC burst between Charlton & Stamps before finding the far corner on 16mins and we faced an uphill battle on 36mins when good passing saw their left wing free to place past Brock.

REVIEW

Eight points from five games is a much better return but we are hovering just three points above the relegation zone and need some big results next month if we are to survive.

[Cougar2010]

Hednesford - April/May 2010

PREVIEW - The Run-in

Seven games to go and we hover one place & three points above the drop zone. Four home games & three away will decide if we survive - three opponents are challenging for places at top while the other four are in the lower half of the league. The most important match could well be the six pointer which is up first against Workington who sit one place & three points below us in the league.

Sat 3rd April - BSN

Hednesford 1-0 Workington

It only takes 5mins for the nerves to settle as Ryan feeds a ball into Moseley who takes the shot on the turn and places it into the net. After that we take control of the game as we have more possession, shots and chances. Workington threaten occasionally on the break but we always look the more likely to score again. Although we still find ourselves 19th with this win we now have a six point gap to Workington in 20th.

Mon 5th April - BSN

Hayes & Yeading 5-1 Hednesford

With just a days rest inbetween its our low morale reserves that make the trip to mid-table Hayes & Yeading. Although flattered by the scoreline there is no doubt they were much the better side and deserved the win. The scoring started on 16mins when a good save from Brock fell to their MC to tuck away and he doubled their lead on 26mins when he volleyed home a left wing cross. 4mins later and we were three down when Sheppard's poor clearance from a corner was smashed home. Worse was still to come before HT when their left wing got behind Brisco and placed past Brock. Game over at HT and they made it five on 56mins when their striker had time to turn and fire past Brock. We get a consolation on the counter after 68mins when Algar finds Hambleton in the box who has time to bring the ball down and place in the far corner. Thankfully other teams at the bottom lose as well so we keep our six point cushion.

The next two home games will be vital against 5th placed Boston & 2nd placed Hinckley.

Sat 10th April - BSN

Hednesford 1-1 Boston Utd

With the first team back on duty we make a bright start and Carter gives us the lead heading in a deep corner at the far post after 10mins. We control possession for the rest of the half (67%) but fail to create any other real chances. Boston come back strong in the second half and get a deserved equaliser on 65mins when Maguire can only clear a corner straight up in the air which results in a scramble which eventually leads to a tap in when the ball comes back off the post. With Boston pushing for the win we get a couple of good chances on the break but the match ends all square.

Harrogate are now relegated and we have a 7pt gap over Workington & Burcough with four games to go. In other news despite our poor performance my name is being mentioned as being in contention for jobs at L2 side Macclesfield along with BSP sides Rushden & Diamonds and Mansfield.

Sat 17th April - BSN

Hednesford 0-1 Hinckley

Its obvious neither side want to lose and with just nine shots in the whole game (Us 5, them 4) the important one was the freekick from the edge of the box on 54mins.

Burscough and Workington both lose as well so our 7pt gap is looking to be enough to survive.

Tues 20th April - BSN

Solihull Moors 1-2 Hednesford

We visit 17th place Solihull knowing a win will keep us in the division and with Solihull not winning for seven games we stand a good chance. We start the brighter but can't capitalise as Solihull come back into the game but we get the break just before HT as Stamps slots home a penalty. The second half is open with both teams having chances but its in injury time when Dyer breaks onto a long ball and beats the GK only to see his shot rebound off the post but Moseley is onhand to tap in. Somehow the ref still finds time to award Solihull a penalty as Platt brings their left wing down in the box but it doesn't change the result. Random stat-Solihull's forward pair totalled 78 years between them (41yo Dean Windass & 37yo Marcus Stewart).

Workington & Burscough both lose and are relegated while we climb two places above Solihull & Redditch.

Sat 24th April - BSN

Redditch 4-2 Hednesford

Away to 19th place Redditch but with both teams safe its a chance for some other players to show what they can do. The first half is an even affair with us having possession and Redditch being more direct. They opened the scoring on 21mins when a cross from the right is directed in but the lead only lasts 3mins as a corner is returned to Stamps who squares the return for 16yo, George Taylor, to score his first goal for the club. Six minutes later we have the lead when Dyer runs onto a long ball and rounds the GK to end his goal drought but it only last until first half injury time when their left wing finds time to bring down a cross before finding the net. Redditch look the stronger in the second half and Stamps hands them a penalty on 58mins to give them the lead. The game is finally put beyond doubt as we enter injury time with a powerful shot from the edge of the box.

Sat 1st May - BSN

Hednesford 0-1 Farsley

We welcome Farsley for our last league game and while we have nothing to play for Farsley need the win to challenge Boston for the last playoff place. In a game of few chances its maybe not so surprising that the only goal of the game was a own goal from Marshall after 55mins when attempting to clear a corner.

REVIEW

Season over, we've survived, full review to follow.

[bl0u6344]

Good result there Cougar, hopefully some decent youngsters come through to strengthen you that little bit. Never looked in doubt lol.

Good luck with Merthyr berty!

[bl0u6344]

2008/09 Season Update

The board suggested I aim for a safe mid-table position this season and I thought we could get in the top 11. Who knows maybe even push for the play-offs going on the second half of last season.

BSN: Vauxhall 0 - 4 Telford (Birch x 2, Patterson x 2) (3rd)

What a way to start the season, Birch continued his excellent pre-season form and the captain showed why he has to be in the team.

BSN: Telford 0 - 1 Redditch (7th)

Brought back down to earth, a fairly even match which we perhaps the slightly better team. Dissapointed to lose it. MOTM none other than Robbie Williams

BSN: Hednesford 4 - 1 Telford (Hole) (13th)

These meetings between the two mid lands rivals always produce goals, 18 in 3 games now. However we have conceded 11 of them. We were battered.

BSN: Telford 1 - 0 Barrow (Birch) (10th)

Back to winning ways with an unconvincing performance, scrappy goal from Birch won it.

BSN: St Albans 1 - 0 Telford (13th)

Always going to be tough against last years runners-up, they were the better team.

BSN: Telford 5 - 2 Hucknall (Moore x 3, Birch, Hopper) (9th)

First hat-trick for Telford since I arrived. Cracking game but we were clearly the better team. Top class from Moore and he is pushing the disappointing Perrow for his place in the first 11 (who missed today with a knock). Lomax was sent off for a proffesional foul.

BSN: Harrogate 0 - 0 Telford (7th)

Was an even game but with 10 shots each surely someone could have won it! We're dropping too many silly points at the moment.

BSN: Telford 2 - 0 Grantham (Birch, Perrow) (6th)

Revenge for last years FA Cup defeat, a first goal of the season for Perrow and what a goal it was. Took 3 players on before rounding the keeper, is this really BSN?

BSN: Telford 1 - 2 Scarborough (Smith) (9th)

Not worried about this result, one of the two very impressive teams to come down, the other being league leaders Kettering.

BSN: Kings Lynn 0 - 0 Telford (10th)

One of the promoted sides who were doing well in the play-off zones, so with that in mind a good result. However 14 shots from us and just 2 from them tells a different story. Perrow been so poor this season.

BSN: Telford 2 - 0 Altrincham (Perrow, Birch) (9th)

Can he turn his season around? Excellent performance from us and good goals for both strikers.

FA Cup 2nd Qual Round: Telford 1 - 0 Braintree (Lee Moore)

Started a few of the young lads in this one and held there own against BSS play-off standard side Braintree, took a goal from sub Lee Moore to finish it off though. Young lad David Knight was injured and will be out for a few weeks.

BSN: Workington 0 - 0 Telford (7th)

Poor result but we couldn't have complained if we'd lost. Telford offered nothing to the game.

FA Cup 3rd Qual Round: Telford 1 - 1 Willenhall (Pearce)

Good performance from the youngsters/back-ups in this game, very unlucky to draw. First competitive goal from Pearce.

FA Cup 3rd Qual Round Replay: Willenhall 2 - 1 Telford (Hopper)

Another game with 14 shots on goal to their 6. This one was back-ups and first teamers and still couldn't win. Missed chance for many fringe players to show me what they could do.

BSN: Telford 2 - 0 Nuneaton (Perrow, Stanley) (4th)

First goal of the season for Stanley, and a great all round performance from Perrow. Set up the other goal and terrorised Nuneaton today, could have had two hat-tricks! Just the one goal though still shows he lacking confidence.

BSN: Barrow 1 - 4 Telford (Hopper, Palmer, Perrow) (3rd)

Perrow got his goals after we went defensive to tie up the win as at the time Barrow were really playing well. Showed us that we have the option to play counter-attacking football with his good turn of pace. Good performance here.

BSN: Telford 1 - 0 Guiseley (Birch) (2nd)

Doing well in some games this season to grind out results. We were the better team here but took 85 minutes to stick the winner in. It was all to do with the delivery from Hopper as much as Birch's header. We're now 2nd in the league, will we flourish or get nose bleeds and fall?

BSN: Lancaster 1 - 1 Telford (Smith) (3rd)

Game of heroes and villains, and late goals! Smith headed us into the lead on the 45+2 minutes mark. Then captain Patterson was sent off (last man) and left us with half an hour to go. We done well as Lancaster finally woke up and began to play and it was a last minute own goals, by Tom Smith to give Lancaster a very undeserved point. Heart breaking but good entertainment.

BSN: Farsley 1 - 3 Telford (Perrow x 2, Palmer) (2nd)

A goal in either half for Perrow won the game really. A late goal from Palmer wrapped it up before Farsley got an even later consolation goal.

FA Trophy 3rd Qual Round: Worcester 1 - 1 Telford (Birch)

Would have won this match but accidently selected 37 y/o 'keeper Pennock at right back, costing us the win. Collected a 3 rating in his first performance...oops!

FA Trophy 3rd Qual Round: Telford 3 - 2 Worcester(Hopper, Birch, Perrow)

Right back in place, we attacked this game going 4-3-3. 0-0 at half time meant it wasnt working so we reverted to our normal shape. Here we took the lead three times, an 88th equaliser meant I was so annoyed so again we went 4-3-3 and this time Perrow snatched the win with seconds to spare.

BSN: Telford 0 - 0 Leigh (2nd)

After that goal bonanza it was a change of pace. However we could have been thumped here, clearly second best and only a good defensive display left us in it. Pearce started and got injured missing a few weeks.

BSN: Telford 3 - 0 Hinckley (Smith x 2, Hopper) (2nd)

Set pieces the name of the game here. 2 penalties from centre-back Tom Smith and a superb free kick from Hopper wrapped up the points quite nicely.

FA Trophy 1st Round: Telford 2 - 3 Aldershot (Palmer, Moore)

Good performance here against BSP promotion chasing Aldershot. Though we'd be outclassed but were very unlucky as two deflected goals saw them through.

BSN: Telford 1 - 0 Gateshead (Birch) (2nd)

Should have batted them, they were there for the taking and with Birch scoring early, along with Smith Perrow and Hopper ALL hitting the woodwork I thought we'd walk it. In the end we were holding on to this one, disappointing but three points.

BSN: Kettering 4 - 0 Telford (3rd)

To be honest we were fairly good, playing good football and creating half-chances. But these were awesome and were now well clear at the top. Scarborough leap frog us into second at this result.

BSN: Telford 0 - 0 Vauxhall (3rd)

Looking for our first double of the season but with one shot on target (to their 0) this had 0 - 0 written all over it. 1 goal in the last 3 was pretty poor going but still doing well in the league.

Well there you go, 3rd in the league without ever really playing brilliantly. Birch and Perrow have been vital in getting winners but some goals from the midfield is the key difference I think. Smith is once again our best player in average ratings but also having a good season is Scott Willis, who does an ugly job for the team mopping up attacks, and the second best defensive record in the league (behind Kettering) shows this. Can we kick on and find some real form? Will we keep scraping points and stutter to the play-offs? Or will our luck run out and probably more deserving teams over take us?

Here is the league at (roughly) the mid way point.

Sneak preview: I'm now into March and have only won 1 match by more than 1 goal. But how many have I managed to sneak?

[berty1978]

Well done on staying up Cougar, hopefully improve next season. Doing very well with Telford Blou, tight up there for the play off spots, Kettering were always going to be favourites.

[berty1978]

Merthyr Tydfil - season 2009/10 - first update

Blue Square South

Merthyr 1-0 St. Albans (9th)

Att: 827

A fantastic performance, but we should have killed the game off with many good chances which were just missed. To be fair they didn't have any shots on target so never looked like scoring.

Blue Square South

Eastleigh 1-3 Merthyr (3rd)

Att: 528

Not an easy place to get a result as they are one of the favourites for the title, was an even game but better finishing on our part won us the game.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 2-0 Havant & Waterlooville (2nd)

Att: 1,047

Another good performance, with 2 goals from 19yo striker Marcus Griffiths. They did have 12 shots but we limited them to mainly long shots so none were on target, I am worried about the lack of pace in our defence though.

Blue Square South

Bath City 2-1 Merthyr (3rd)

Att: 596

We were totally outplayed here, they are one of the better teams in the BSS but was still disappointing. They seemed to easily get past our defence which is worrying.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 4-2 Basingstoke (3rd)

Att: 846

A great game and a good victory against a Basingstoke side top of the league with 4 wins out of 4 up until now. After conceding first we then went 2-1 up then they scored a very dubious equaliser when we should have had a free kick and their on loan striker Vasilev from Reading scored. We scored two late goals to win it though.

Conference Cup - 1st Round (South)

Merthyr 1-2 Dover Athletic

Att: 238

Not a good start as 3 of my best players on international duty with Wales U19 and U21. I can't really use that as an excuse though as they totally dominated the game and looked a good side, I am very disappointed, although the Conference cup isn't high on the priorities list.

Blue Square South

Welling United 1-5 Merthyr (1st)

Att: 433

Welling started brightly and scored in the 3rd minute, but after that moment we completely dominated the game and it could have been 8-1. Penalty taking 'keeper Ryan Griffiths scored 2 and missed one, we also had a goal disallowed and a few more good chances.

Blue Square South

Marthyr 2-3 Weston-Super-Mare (4th)

Att: 1,070

Disappointing after winning 5-1 at Welling, but we played well enough to earn at least a draw but poor finishing for once meant that we lost it.

Blue Square South

Maidenhead United 4-1 Merthyr (7th)

Att: 385

This was a useless defensive display with all 4 of their goals coming from an error from each of my defenders, again we had plenty of chances but squandered all but 1 of them.

FA Cup - 2nd Qualifying Round

Merthyr 1-0 Welling United

Att: 1,105

After our mauling of Welling in the league this was probably the first game this season I expected to win. 1-0 may look like a narrow win but we had 25 shots and totally dominated the game. The best thing was the 2 youth defenders I put in had great games with 'sweeper' playing DC Todd Birkett getting the MOM.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 3-4 Lewes (10th)

Att: 873

Promotion contenders Lewes are a slightly better opposition than Welling. We really should have won it though, 3-1 up at half time, I don't know what their manager gave them at half time, something illegal I bet. Our defence who were so good in the first half suddenly forgot how to defend and their 3 goals from 3 shots came within 10 minutes of half time.

Blue Square South

Salisbury 4-0 Merthyr (11th)

Att: 777

I didn't need another game against a promotion candidate being on such a bad run of form. Our marking the whole game was appalling and we need to improve to stand any chance of putting another run together.

A couple of poor performances recently saw us slide down the league to 11th, hopefully as a few of the tougher games are out of the way we can beat the teams at the bottom and move back up the table, we'll see.

[Cougar2010]

HEDNESFORD - Season 2009/10 Review

League

Media Prediction - 15th

Board - Enjoy experience - but they are somehow still disappointed :confused:

Actual - 19th Table

FA Cup

Board - 4th Qualifying Round

Actual - 1st Round (Lost 4-0 away to Margate)

Conference League Cup

Board - 1st Round

Actual - 3rd Round (Lost 3-1 away to Droylsden)

FA Trophy

Board - 1st Round

Actual - 2nd Round (Lost replay 4-1 away to Mansfield)

Avr League Attendence - 566 (10th in BSN)

Top Scorer - Ollie Ryan (10)

Most Assists - Ben Algar & Scott Stamps (7)

Most MOTM - Adam Connolly (4)

Highest Avr Ratings - Nicky Carter (6.88)

Fans Player of the Year - Ross Draper

Stuart Brock (33yo GK) - 53 app, 18 clean sheets, 1 MOTM, 6.68 average

Our main GK this season playing in all but the final league game. Personally thought he played better than his average suggests keeping us in many games.

Ryan Holmes (17yo GK) - 1 app, rating 6.80

Made his debut in the final league game of the season and put in a good performance. Did mean to give him more opportunities but never got round to it.

Sean Platt (24yo DR) - 39/1 app, 2 assists, 6.76 average

Confirmed his role as our no 1 DR with some solid performances.

Neil Brisco (32yo DR/MC) - 19/10 app, 6.48 average

A useful cover player who was regularly on the bench. Poor average but this was partly due to him mainly playing in his less favoured DR position.

Scott Stamps (35yo DL) - 33/1 app, 4 goals, 7 assists, 3 MOTM, 6.76 avr

I only expected Scott to provide a cover role at DL but he proved he isn't quite ready to retire yet. Four goals all from set pieces but the downside is he was rather aggressive and gave away several penalties.

Aaron Beeston (17yo DL) - 21/1 app, 1 assist, 6.52 average

Was given chances in the first half of the season but wasn't quite ready for the first team so dropped to a cover role as the season progressed.

Tom Marshall (22yo DC) - 46 app, 1 goal, 3 MOTM, 6.72 average

The clubs vice captain and usual onfield captain had a good season and controlled the defence well.

Asa Charlton (32yo DLC) - 45 app, 2 goals, 1 assist, 1 MOTM, 6.80 average

Our other first team DC also had a good season and was more than a match for most opposition strikers.

Steve Pope (33yo DC) - 12/1 app, 6.22 average

Assistant manager & club captain Pope took a step towards retirement as he proved to be more use on the training ground.

George Taylor (16yo DC/MC) - 8/2 app, 1 goal, 6.59 average

Had chances at both positions this season and looked far more comfortable in the MC role which is where we'll be looking to use him in future as back up to Draper.

Ross Draper (21yo MC) - 39/5 app, 3 goals, 1 assist, 3 MOTM, 6.84 average

Our regular MCd was an ever present for much of the season until he missed the run-in with a virus and a pulled hamstring. One of our best players as he controlled the midfield.

Adam Connolly (24yo MRC) - 33/15 app, 1 goal, 4 assists, 4 MOTM, 6.76 average

Adam was involved in most games but never had a settled position as he covered MCa, MCd & MR. Given the variety of positions he played it makes his stats even more impressive.

Ben Algar (20yo AMRC) - 30/16 app, 1 goal, 7 assists, 6.80 average

All his appearances were on the right as he provided the more attacking option. Made a good start to the season but his lack of morale meant he finished poorly.

Anthony Maguire (26yo AMC) - 32/6 app, 2 goals, 2 assists, 1 MOTM, 6.80 average

Started out sharing the MCa role but good form later in the season saw him become the preferred choice.

Chad Sheppard (24yo AMC) - 21/8 app, 1 goal, 3 assists, 2 MOTM, 6.69 average

Probably made the better start in the MCa position but poor morale after Xmas saw him drop to the bench as Anthony took over.

Nicky Carter (28yo AML) - 33/9 app, 3 goals, 5 assists, 3 MOTM, 6.88 average

Nicky was the shining light in what I thought was our poorest position. His hard working physical style made it hard for the opposition and made up for his lack technical skill as he proved to be one of our top players.

Sam Hall (22yo AML) - 21/14 app, 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 MOTM, 6.61 average

Our reserve at ML couldn't quite fill Nicky's boots but had a decent season and showed flashes of what he can do.

Ollie Ryan (24yo FC) - 36/5 app, 10 goals, 2 assists, 3 MOTM, 6.60

Our top goalscorer but laziness and inconsistency could be why he didn't find his best form regularly.

John Toner (33yo FC) - 26/7 app, 2 goals, 2 assists, 6.40 average

I expected better but poor morale was a factor for much of the season as John failed to find any sort of form.

Tyrone Barnett (24yo ST) - 15/8 app, 3 goals, 2 assists, 1 MOTM, 6.39 average

Was given the chance during the first half of the season but failed to take the opportunity and was dropped after Xmas.

Ross Dyer (22yo ST) - 14/6 app, 2 goals, 4 assists, 6.51 average

Like Barnett struggled at the start but came back towards the end of the season with some better performances.

Mike Moseley (31yo ST) - 11/5 app, 5 goals, 1 MOTM, 6.64 average

With the other strikers not performing Mike was given a chance and was probably the pick of the forwards during the run-in.

Harry Hambleton (21yo ST) - 6/6 app, 2 goals, 6.43 average

Like Mike was given a chance during the second half of the season but proved he still has much to learn.

David Martin (16yo ST) - 2 sub app, 6.40 average

Didn't get much chance this season but no doubt will in seasons to come.

[Steboyuk]

Good work bl0u, looks like a big improvement on your first season is on the cards.

Great update and review Cougar, well done on staying up - 6 points so quite comfortable in the end, looking forward to the youngsters I bet now - looks like you could do with a decent striker, and maybe some defensive players to help your ageing defence..

berty great start, looks like you have learned from you're Boston experience, playoffs could be in sight?

[Steboyuk]

Staines Mid/Late Season Update

So, after a great start to our debut season in the BSP I presumed safety was guarenteed and we could look to our next season. Would our latest results affect that?

Well as it turns out, yes they would - from nowhere, and despite Danny Kelly's 2 month injury we managed to keep stringing wins together and from nowhere we are now challenging the playoff positions! After losing in the FA Cup 2nd Round at home to Kettering we really managed to push on in the league - especially at home, Wheatsheaf Park really is a fortress, away from home we have improved also, due to a change in tactics where we now play with no fear and just attack, pushing up the defence to squeeze the midfield. We do occasionally get battered, losing to Rushden 3 - 1 before losing to Histon 4 - 0, but we have certainly improved, beating Lewes away 1 - 0, before beating Grays 4 - 0 in an incredible game for us. Recent wins at home against Torquay, Woking and then Burton Albion; Danny Kelly's comeback game in which he scored all three goals.

Perhaps the most pleasing thing about the run is that the young lads have featured quite heavily in it - Simon Suckling, who has been outstanding in his whole Staines career, 82 apps with an Av Rating of 7.01, has been superb, whilst young Ryan Stevenson, in his first season with the club has managed to jump into first choice right back, ahead of Wilson and Newton, his pace combined with great aerial ability makes him a great option for me - 7 assists this season prove his attacking worth also. Phil Jones, the other first year youngster has also near enough forced himself into the first team also. Another surprising hero is Marc Charles-Smith who coming in the first team to replace the injured Kelly, shot into form, scoring in 4 succesive games at one point, his 6 goals in 13 starts have been vital and is his career best return.

So, with 8 games to go we sit in 6th place, can we sneak into the playoffs?

League Table

[bl0u6344]

Season 2008/09

When we left it Telford were 3rd and looking very good, if a bit fortunate. Aim for the season is to stay in the play-offs!! We only had the league to go for so hopefully we could do it.

BSN: Redditch 1 - 0 Telford (3rd)

No arguments here, second best and very poor display by our lads.

BSN: Telford 3 - 2 Hednesford (Birch, Perrow, Moore) (3rd)

Great game here, we went 2 - 0 up in the first half and looked good to beat our local rivals. However a 61st minute strike and 88th minute deflected free kick saw Hednesford look odds-on for a point. However, sub striker Lee Moore got away in the last minute and grabbed a much needed 3 points.

BSN: Blyth 1 - 2 Telford (Own goal, Palmer) (3rd)

Another great game here, though all the goals were scored in the first half. Blyth perhaps slightly unlucky to get nothing but a superb performance from Brock in goal saw us sneak another win.

BSN: Telford 0 - 4 St Albans (3rd)

Don't know where to start with this really... Keeper went from hero to zero, 4 rating. TWO own goals in the space of 2 minutes for star defender Tom Smith seen us go 2 down after 27 minutes. A goal in added time in each half saw St Albans run away with a game where we shot ourselves in the foot really... Could we bounce back from this?

BSN: Hucknall 1 - 2 Telford (Perrow, Willis) (3rd)

Just about is the answer! Hucknall took the lead but a magnificent run and finish from Perrow followed by Willis' first goal for the club from 25 yards saw us take another tight 3 points. Becoming a healthy habit!

BSN: Telford 0 - 1 Harrogate (3rd)

As my players were tiring I made one or two changes to the team today and it showed massively against relegation candidates Harrogate. Should have been winning by a few goals by the time they struck though, and not even a late effort by Perrow could save us as it was disallowed for offside.

BSN: Grantham 2 - 3 Telford (Birch, Patterson, Smith) (3rd)

Another good game where we lead 3-1 after 50 minutes. From this point Grantham piled into our area for the remaining 40 mins but only got one through a penalty given away by full back Barrie Matthews.

BSN: Scarborough 4 - 1 Telford (Perrow) (3rd)

Another tight game here but quality shone through, Scarborough are clear favourites to join Kettering in the BSP but would have to tackle the play-offs first.

BSN: Telford 3 - 0 Kings Lynn (Hopper, Birch, Palmer) (3rd)

A rare easy win for us, and with Hopper dispatching a free kick inside the first 5 minutes it was never in doubt where these points were going. Another screamer by Palmer in this one from a player who is only in the team through lack of quality on the left.

BSN: Altrincham 1 - 2 Telford (Perrow, Patterson) (3rd)

We actually went behind in this one, through another Tom Smith own goal (4th of the season). I was not happy at half time and let the players know, Perrow started the scoring and captain Patterson sealed the result on the 70th minute. In the end it could have been 4/5 for us.

BSN: Telford 0 - 1 Workington (3rd)

A worrying result against a poor Workington outfit. Young defender Robert Neal was sent off wrongly (according to the FA) in the first minute and from there we struggled They scored in the 19th minute and continued to dominate.

BSN: Nuneaton 2 - 3 Telford (Own goal, Birch, Moore) (3rd)

Great result here in contrast to our last game. An early own goal gave us an advantage before going 2 - 1 down at half time. Another hair-dryer style team talk inspired the strikers to give us an undeserved victory.

BSN: Telford 0 - 1 Barrow (3rd)

What is going on at home? We couldn't even muster a single shot on target in this one and as such a second half sloppy goal was enough to codemn us to our 4th home defeat in 5 games.

BSN: Guiseley 1 - 2 Telford (Moore, Birch) (2nd)

Goals in the first and very last minute of this game were enough to frustrate a poor Guiseley team, perhaps they deserved a point though... Also up to second with this!

BSN: Telford 1 - 2 Lancaster (Lomax) (3rd)

Well again at home, what is going on? Bottom side Lancaster come to promotion chasing Telford and outplay us, we were lucky to get a goal in all honesty and we need to improve for the play offs!

BSN: Leigh 4 - 0 Telford (4th)

Another poor performance, at least this was to a team with some talent. To be fair we never troubled them.

BSN: Telford 2 - 2 Farsley (Perrow, Moore) (6th)

Amazed we didn't win this game, Farsley are very ordinary but actually out shot us! They got a point with a late goal but hey! At least its a point at home but we were out of the play-off places for the first time in a long time.

BSN: Hinckley 2 - 1 Telford (Perrow) (6th)

Another defeat and I was really starting to worry about our play-off chances. We cant buy a win suddenly even in this game where we were clearly the better side. Hate this game sometimes...

BSN: Gateshead 1 - 0 Telford (7th)

ARGHHHHHHHH!!!!! An offside goal lost this game. ARGHHHHHHH!!!!

BSN: Telford 0 - 2 Kettering (8th)

Was going to do a big build up to this match but even I didn't really believe against an awesome Kettering side. We missed out on the play-offs with just a point from our last 6 games. Scott Willis was sent off for lashing out late on.

End of season update to follow...

[bl0u6344]

Ouch steboy, goal difference could be a killer there but good luck!

[berty1978]

Good luck there steboy, and unlucky on missing the play offs blou.

I'm doing slightly better so far, I'm not going to say chance of play-offs steboy as it will be tempting fate.

[berty1978]

FA Cup - 3rd Qualifying Round

Hendon 0-1 Merthyr

Att: 293

We needed to win this for confidence, and we only just won it though as again our marking was pretty poor. Ceri Morgan got the winner in the 27th minute. Unfortunately drawn away at Forest Green next round so could be another hammering.

Blue Square South

Dover 3-3 Merthyr (10th)

Att: 1,119

Another tough game and again we were extremely poor defensively, I have tried everything, maybe just try zonal marking next time, I dunno. Our quality finishing when we attacked got us the draw though.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 3-1 Chelmsford City (8th)

Att: 784

Finally a league win if not a great performance, our 'keeper scored a penalty and made a few saves to gain him the MOM award. The problem is we're giving the ball away too easily here, have to try and fix that one.

FA Cup - 4th Qualifying Round

Forest Green Rovers 3-1 Merthyr

Att: 429

This was further than I ever got with Boston in the FA Cup, but away at Forest Green (8th in BSP) was always a tough game. Two early goals effectively killed us off, although we played some decent football we still looked a bit suspect defensively.

Blue Square South

Tiverton Town 1-1 Merthyr (8th)

Att: 1,275

Tiverton have made a good start in the BSS lying in 5th place, so I am relatively happy with a draw. Going 1-0 behind I went much more direct under Ass Mans instructions and came back into the game and grabbed a deserved equaliser.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 1-1 Hampton & Richmond Borough (9th)

Att: 1,390

We were poor in the first half going 1-0 behind but second half was much better. We could have won it in the end. Definately 2 points dropped though as it was a home game.

FA Trophy - 3rd Qualifying Round

Merthyr 1-0 Frickley Athletic

Att: 245

How we only managed to win 1-0 only my strikers will know. Eventually it took an own goal in the 79th minute to win it, but at least it's a win.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 2-0 Tonbridge Angels (7th)

Att: 1,071

We struggled slightly in this game allowing them more chances than I'm happy with. However we also created plenty and a late goal from Richard Evans killed the game off.

Blue Square South

Team Bath 0-1 Merthyr (7th)

Att: 220

Already having lost to Bath City at Twerton Park, Team Bath lying 4th in the league this was going to be difficult. However we were very good here, limiting them to a few long shots and having some ourselves. The winning goal was a penalty and was our only shot on target to show how the game went.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 1-1 Bromley (7th)

Att: 1,164

Disappointed with this draw, especially as we dominated the first half but had nothing to show from it. They eventually scored first and I wasn't sure we could come back but I needn't have worried as we scored a minute later.

FA Trophy - 1st Round

Merthyr 3-1 Bromley

Att: 229

Another game against Bromley and this is the result I'd rather had in the league, played very well again and one mistake that led to a penalty got them their goal, other than that they didn't really threaten much until the end at 3-1 down.

Blue Square South

Thurrock 1-0 Merthyr (7th)

Att: 181

This was pretty embarassing actually as we were expected to get a result against 20th placed Thurrock. We allowed them way too many chances as our direct passing seemed to mean pass it short to the opposition.

Blue Square South

Newport County 2-1 Merthyr (8th)

Att: 755

Useless, absolutely useless, it's as though I told my players to not tackle the opposition and pass to them as often as possible. Do tactics not mean anything to my players because they ain't sticking to them, I'll have to try something completely different now.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 2-0 Hayes & Yeading United (6th)

Att: 942

Alright, Hayes & Yeading are rock bottom of the league but this was still a magnificent performance and came back well after two poor away defeats. We didn't allow them anything and created heaps of chances and we should have won it by more. Just when I thought it was ending only 1-0 we scored a second in the 96th minute.

Blue Square South

Bishop's Stortford 0-1 Merthyr (5th)

Att: 358

This'll do nicely, this was a much much better performance away from home. We limited them to few chances, we didn't have loads ourselves but Ashleigh Evans made one count.

[bl0u6344]

End of season review 2008/2009

Right then, where to start. Well it was a massively impressive season in terms of points and challenging at the top half of the league, with 6 points being between us and 5th place with 6 games to go - play offs seemed a certainty. However 1 point from the last 6 would see us not only fall out of the top 5 but way down to 8th played to leave me, at least, with a real sense of injustice!

In all honesty though we were not the second best team in the league this year and so I can live with it sort of, its just losing out in the way we did.

Media Prediction: 8th

Board Prediction: Safe mid-table

My prediction: 9th/10th

Well going by them predictions it was a decent season where we achieved what was expected of us with 6 games to spare.

FA Cup: 3rd Qual Round (vs Willenhall)

FA Trophy: 1st Round vs (Aldershot)

And here is the league table at the end of the season. And the bad news is another season with Scarborough

Top Scorer: Gary Birch 15

Top Assists: Tony Hopper 12

Average Rating: Steve Palmer 7.19 (43 Apps)

Most MOTM: Tom Smith 6

Fans Player of the Year: Tony Hopper

My Comments: I think what cost us this season was inconsistency, and how do you fix this when you can't bring anyone in. Well all the players are a year older and more experienced, hopefully some good youth (no more CB's please!!!) and maybe a better manager for the experience will be able to make that extra little push needed.

Aims for next year:

Better back up, rotation when tired really cost us in a few games

A new 'keeper!

Make the play-offs

Do 'something' in the cups!

[bl0u6344]

Season 2009/10 Pre - season

Transfer news first and I've decided to release young CB Robinson, as he was the worst of the 3 we got through and not good enough to challenge the first team.

Surprisingly we had no teams trying to take our stars from last season, so we have a full team to go on and try and crack it this year. But with Hopper 33, amongst other aging stars how would we fair?

Youth Intake

Neil Sullivan - Centre Back, stats are in the right areas but are they high enough to develop into a decent player. May struggle to play this year due to the amount of players in front of him.

John Johnson - Defensive midfield cover this season, looks to have the team work and work rate stats and could be OK here, Scott Willis finally has some cover! Can feature at CB but won't. Silly name

Matt Price - A CM, some cover for here also lacking in previous years. Has some stats in the right areas but some worringly low ones such as Stamina.

Martin Lyons - Excellent composure for a young striker. May not get much of a chance this year but as with all of my youth, he will get his chance to show if he is capable at this level.

Thomas Clarkson - This guy can play AMC, AMR, and FC all natural and has widely spread stats. I just don't think he is the guy who can come in and change the way we play but again, will get a chance.

Paul Dougherty - A wide right player, if I was to get a wide left player also he'd stand a chance but I just think again he is lacking a little.

I'm fairly happy with the positions that come through (though no 'keeper!!!! Pennock will be 38 this year and Brock 33!). Talent looks to be thin on the ground but hopefully some improvement can be made to Johnson, Lyons, Sullivan and Price.

Friendlies

Once again I let Ass Man take these and was happy that he used everyone. Though I am only doing this to time constraints I may take over next year.

FC United 0 - 2 Telford (Smith, Birch)

Telford 2 - 1 Rushden (Birch, Palmer) - Impressed with this one

Telford 1 - 2 Cheltenham (Own Goal) - Difficult against a league 2 side

Basingstoke 0 - 2 Telford (Hopper, Perrow)

Staines 0 - 2 Telford (Perrow, Hopper)

Alfreton 3 - 2 Telford (Willis, Hopper)

Good pre-season again, but with Hopper as top scorer I'm a tad worried!

First Team

GK: Brock

RB: Vaughan/Lomax

LB: Green/Matthews

CB: Hole

CB: Smith

DM: Willis

MRC: Hopper

MLC: Palmer

MC: Patterson

ST: Birch

ST: Perrow

[berty1978]

Merthyr Tydfil - Season 2009/10 - Third update

FA Trophy - 2nd Round

Lewes 3-2 Merthyr

Att: 327

Unbelievable, Lewes have done it again, we went into an early 2-0 lead and obviously tried everything to close them down again but to no avail. Even at 2-2 we squandered the easiest chance you could imagine, it didn't even go on target, obviously they then went and scored the winner in the 92nd minute.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 1-0 Eastleigh (6th)

Att: 1,158

I would have been pretty annoyed had we not won this one, reason being that we started so well, 9 shots in the first 16 minutes, 5 on target and it was still 0-0. We finally scored in the second half but had to defend after that. Eastleigh's manager also sacked after the game.

Blue Square South

St. Albans City 1-0 Merthyr (6th)

Att: 264

We were playing relatively well, the linesman signals 3 minutes injury time at the end of the first half, we got a penalty, which top scorer Marcus Griffiths missed (my penalty taking 'keeper has been dropped). They then got a free kick from 35 yards in the 49th minute which they scored. Dean Clarke then missed another penalty in the second half despite me trying to get my 'keeper on as a sub (isn't a penalty a stop in play?).

Blue Square South

Havant & Waterlooville 2-1 Merthyr (6th)

Att: 338

Unbelievable, we couldn't have started any worse as it was mistake after mistake and they were 2-0 up in no time. We played much better after that and should have got something from the game.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 1-1 Bath City (6th)

Att: 1,174

Utterly disappointed with this home draw, although it could have been worse as they were 1-0 up. I'm worried about the lack of goals recently, creating plenty of chances but not taking many.

Blue Square South

Basingstoke Town 1-1 Merthyr (7th)

Att: 845

I guess I'm satisfied with a draw however we were 1-0 up and playing well but a lapse in concentration from our defence let them equalise.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 1-0 Welling United (8th)

Att: 859

I was surprised that they were favourites despite them being 20th and my 5-1 win there earlier in the season. However we had plenty of chances but it took a penalty to win it in the end.

Blue Square South

Weston-Super-Mare 1-1 Merthyr (8th)

Att: 544

They are 4th in the league so an away draw there is a very respectable result, however our goal was another penalty and I'm still worried about our recent lack of goals.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 2-1 Maidenhead United (7th)

Att: 971

Only just held on to the win in the end, but I'm delighted that Marcus Griffiths has found some form here. His first was a simple finish however for his second he beat three players before blasting the ball in the top corner, class.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 0-3 Salisbury City (7th)

Att: 1,023

My only hope here was that Salisbury feel they can afford to switch off as they are so far clear in the league, unlikely though. That's how it turned out and my only hope was if all their players suddenly collapsed on the pitch, even then we'd have struggled. According to my Ass Man Andrew Thomas is my best CB, however he had another howler conceding a penalty and generally looking awful, I don't care if he is my best, he's dropped.

Blue Square South

Lewes 3-2 Merthyr (9th)

Att: 490

I was 2-0 up after 70 minutes, and the game froze. In the 'replay' we were excellent again but they pretty much scored with every chance and we missed a few, how gutted am I? Lewes have now beaten me three times this season by the odd goal.

Blue Square South

Chelmsford City 0-2 Merthyr (8th)

Att: 826

This makes up for the loss against Lewes, another excellent away display against Chelmsford. I'm now only watching commentry as it shouldn't freeze but it means I'm missing a lot.

[bl0u6344]

Strange I was sacked as AFC Telford manager despite being 9th (predicted 8th) and on a winning streak! Oh bugger...anyway just deciding whether or not to give this another go or wait till FM10, hmmm....

Good luck to everyone else, I'll be keeping an eye on the thread!

[berty1978]

Extremely unlucky blou, I know what it's like from my Boston experience.

[berty1978]

Merthyr Tydfil - Season 2009/10 - Final update

Blue Square South

Merthyr 3-1 Dover Athletic (7th)

Att: 872

A good result puts us ahead of Dover in the league table, it could have ben different though. Quality finishing again from Marcus Griffiths won us the match with 2 goals our third goal came on the break when they were searching for the equaliser.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 1-0 Tiverton Town (5th)

Att: 1,152

Not an easy game against overachievers Tiverton who are 4th, but a good performance and another goal from Marcus Griffiths settled the game.

Blue Square South

Hampton & Richmond Borough 4-1 Merthyr

Att: 246

After a few good results put us in the play off places we inevitably played like we were at the bottom of the league. Plenty of individual errors to go around here, awful.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 2-2 Team Bath (6th)

Att: 938

In the end a draw is very disappointing as we were ahead twice in the game.

Blue Square South

Tonbridge Angels 1-3 Merthyr (6th)

Att: 355

Alright, Tonbridge are one of the weaker teams in the league and they had lost 4 in a row before this game. We still had to perform and were 3-0 up before half time and managed to hold on well in the second half despite them getting one goal back.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 4-2 Thurrock (5th)

Att: 983

We weren't at our best here but quality finishing played a massive part in the victory. I am disappointed with the amount of chances they created though.

Blue Square South

Bromley 3-0 Merthyr (6th)

Att: 559

Awful, we were in it at just 1-0 down before we gave away a penalty and went down to ten men. They scord the penalty and while we were trying to get something they scored on the break.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 2-5 Newport County (7th)

Att: 1,102

The score says it all, my Ass Man was telling me the whole game our passing has been shocking, now I tried short, mixed and direct and still the same. If the players can't pass a ball to save their lives what hope do I have?

Blue Square South

Hayes & Yeading 0-0 Merthyr (7th)

Att: 179

Disappointing result against the side at the bottom of the league, we had a great chance to win it at the end but was missed, points dropped.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 4-2 Bishop's Stortford (6th)

Att: 915

While we still had an outside chance of the play offs we needed results elsewhere to go our way. Newport County lost but Dover won 2-1 to beat us on goal difference, the heavy defeats cost us dearly in the end.

[berty1978]

Final league table

So we missed out on goal difference, it could have been so much better, maybe if I would have held on to draw one of the games against Lewes, or won at Hayes & Yeading.

Marcus Griffiths

Top scorer and best performer all season, one of a few of my players who have been capped for Wales at U19 level, hopefully we can keep him for the forseeable future at least, until I get sacked anyway.

Edit: He just won the BSS player of the season, I'm surprised he did as there were better players out there.

Should have my new youth players up soon...

[Steboyuk]

Gutted for you Bl0u, seems very harsh and its shame we will never see what FM 07 couldve given us youth wise, you know you want to try it again haha!

Ouch, really unlucky there berty - but next season should be a real good opportunity for you, Griffiths can only improve and Im predicting some decent youngstars from Methyr so good luck!

The conclusion of my Staines season will be coming soon I promise - A level exams getting in the way at the minute!

[Steboyuk]

Staines Run In Update

So when I last left you we were flying high in 6th position and had a serious chance of the playoffs. The fixtures however we not at all easy, with an away trip to top of the table Grimsby, and then a huge match at home to Exeter, who were sitting in the place directly above us, 5th; they were our main challenge to get into the playoffs. Note: Im writing this as I go, something I havent really done before!

League: Grimsby 1 - 0 Staines - Defeat was always on the cards, and despite us having a fair share of possesion Grimsby were by far the better side. We went in level but niggles forced both Danny Kelly and Joe Roberts off. When Nathan Jarman fired in with 20 minutes left we knew defeat was inevitable, Exeter's victory over bottom side Northwich meant our home game next week against Exeter became a must win.

League: Staines 2 - 1 Exeter (Kelly 3', Jones 61') - A lucky victory but we dont care a jot - Exeter were the better side but we took our chances thankfully and isnt it fitting that both the scorers came through our youth system? Jones' winner earned him the man of the match award which sums up his brilliant debut season so far.

Table:

5th Exeter 40 - +25 - 65

--------------------------

6th Crawley 40 - +22 - 64

7th Staines 40 - +7 - 63

8th Torquay 40 - +9 - 62

9th Salisbury 40 - +18 - 61Extremely tight, and with 5 teams fighting over one spot in really would take a minor miracle for us to make it, but we werent sitting in a bad position and if result went our way you never know..

Gameweek 41:

Ebbsfleet vs Staines

Exeter vs Kidderminster

Grimsby vs Crawley

Salisbury vs Lewes

Torquay vs Workington

A definate chance for us to make ground - We had a tough but winnable game away at Ebbsfleet who were 18th. Crawley and Exeter, my two toughest opposition played 1st, Grimsby and 3rd, Kidderminster respectively.

League: Ebbsfleet 0 - 0 Staines - Gutted. An even first half was OK, but when they had Gash sent off in the 56 minute and we went almost all out attack, and totally battered them, Kelly missed our best chance of the match when his free header sailed over the bar, whilst Ryan Stevenson's 77th minute strike crashed off the bar, proving it just wasnt our day. Exeter drew, whilst Crawley lost 3 -1 to Grimsby, Salisbury however battered Lewes 4 - 1 pushing them ahead of us via goal difference. Exeter stayed in 5th place, whilst us, Crawley and Salisbury are all 2 points behind, level on 64 points.

[berty1978]

Still extremely close there steboy, good luck.

I've started a game in Gundo's challenge in Iceland, which I like as there's only 22 league games. I'm going to alternate between the games I think, a season there then half a season here, that's the plan.

[berty1978]

Here's the best of my new recruitments in 2010:

Craig Hopkins: It's unfortunate for this guy as Matt Middleton will own the right back slot, looks good though and hopefully I can give him some games.

Lewis Vaughan: Looks a good striker, hopefully will get some chances alongside Marcus Griffiths.

Matt Middleton: What can I say, he already looks like a star, my Ass Man says he'll become a decent League 1 player in the future, hopefully we can keep him.

Micky Riley: Plays best in left midfield, which is good as we're lacking in that area of the team.

[Steboyuk]

Think thats a pretty cracking batch of youngstars there berty my man, all of them look useful and will do OK in the BSS - Middleton looks superb, Vaughan looks like a decent partner of Griffiths given his aerial ability, Hopkins looks good, and id be tempted to retrain him as a RM, hes got pace and a decent first touch + technique to boot. Riley looks interesting, his flair could lead to the odd outstanding performance..

Staines Run In Update:

League: Gameweek 42:

Exeter (5th) vs Worcester (23rd)

Mansfield (13th) vs Staines (8th)

Salisbury (6th) vs Crawley (7th)

Torquay (9th) vs Stevenage (11th)

The games arent getting any easier for us, Mansfield have a really impressive squad, and how they arent in the playoffs im not quite sure - they have a goal difference of +20! Worse news however is that Exeter appear to have a routine home win, but at least my other challengers all face difficult games. Other results will dictate how important a win for us will be, but defeat could well mean season over. Ive decided to go for it, push up and attack. Heres hoping!

Results:

Mansfield 2 (Arnold 49', Burchell 56') - 3 Staines Town (Kelly 62', Thomas 74', Newton 90+2') - Oh. My. God. This must go down as one the best games Ive had on FM, we fully deserved all three points and were the better side, but at 2 - 0 down I thought it was all over, but a quite brilliant comeback, sealed by subsititue Newton was brilliant. Danny Kelly got us back in it with his 20th goal of the season, before Dean Thomas's late surge into the box ended up with him heading home a Newton cross, before Newton himself fired in the winner with the last kick of the game; the fact that it was clearly offside simply made it alot better.

Exeter 3 - 2 Worcster

Salisbury 0 - 0 Crawley

Torquay 0 - 0 Stevenage

A shame Exeter won, they were 2 nil up before Worcester dramatically equalised in the 68th minute. However, a 86th minute strike by Liam Sercombe sealed the win for the Grecians. Other results went well - we are now 6th and still 2 points behind Exeter.

Gameweek 43:

Crawley (8th) vs Burton (22nd)

Forest Green (15th) vs Torquay (9th)

Macclesfield (2nd) vs Salisbury (7th)

Rushden (4th) vs Exeter (5th)

Staines (6th) vs Basingstoke (12th)

What a chance this might be - Basingstoke have been my tradtional bogey side though, so im slightly cautious, but look at Exeter's fixture! Away at 4th placed Rushden could well prove to be a big opportunity for me to gain at least 2 points, as long as I can win.

Staines 2 (Thomas 27', L.Smith 47') - 2 Basingstoke (Tully (pen 27'), Williams 75')

Gutted, we again came from behind to lead in another game we deserved to win, but this time lady luck was not smiling for us as Ian Williams bundled home a dagger to Staines hearts. We created 3 good chances in the last 10 minutes, with Newton missing the best of them, a real shame - a win wouldve took us into the playoffs!

Crawley 3 - 1 Burton Albion

Forest Green 1 - 0 Torquay

Macclesfield 1 - 1 Salisbury

Rushden 2 - 1 Exeter

Crawley's win sees them move above on goal difference, whilst Torquay and Salisbury's results see them wave goodbye in all realism. Andy Burgess scored a 93rd minute winner for Rushden against Exeter, meaning we are now a point behind. The run in will be concluded next update.

[Steboyuk]

Staines Run In Update:

So, the final three games were upon us, with Crawley and Exeter my challengers it was certainly going to be an end of the season thriller, no matter what the result.

Table:

5th Exeter 43 - +24 - 69

-------------------------

6th Crawley 43 - +21 - 68

7th Staines 43 - +8 - 68

Gameweek 44:

Crawley (6th) vs Exeter (5th)

Staines (7th) vs Accrington (19th)

I Couldent quite believe my luck when I saw the weeks fixtures - I had a good fixture, although Accrington were in a false position and were certainly a top half side on their day. If Crawley and Exeter managed a draw I would be laughing - A win for either of them will obviousley gurantee there position ahead of me. I HAD to win I reckon.

Results:

Staines 1 (L.Smith 90+2') - Accrington 1 (Jerome 49')

Crawley 0 - 1 Exeter

Surely that was it all over now - 3 points behind Exeter who had a much better goal difference and just 2 games to go. Really dissapointing that we didnt win, Accrington had one effort on target and in it went, at least Smith's last gasp equaliser meant the game wasnt quite up yet.

Gameweek 45:

Exeter (5th) vs Macclesfield (3rd)

Luton Town (8th) vs Staines (6th)

I wasnt hopeful, despite Exeter playing a strong Macclesfield side - my main problem was my own game; Luton were flying and I didnt think I had a chance in hell of getting the three points I required.

Results:

Luton 1 - 1 Staines (Orlando Smith 75') - The game was up, they were the better side and shouldve beaten us.

Exeter 3 - 1 Macclesfield - Exeter were 2 nil up after 10 minutes and I knew it was over.

Its been a fantastic season for us nontheless, roll on next year!

[berty1978]

Like you say Steboy that was a great season and so unlucky to miss out but you had some tough games at the end there. Surprising to see Luton that far down in the table.

Anyway, my preseason friendlies - 2010

Friendly

Merthyr 1-2 Crawley Town

Att: 218

Friendly

Merthyr 0-7 Cardiff City

Att: 4,040

Friendly

Port Talbot Town 0-3 Merthyr

Att: 82

Friendly

Penycae 0-3 Merthyr

Att: 89

Friendly

Welshpool Town 1-4 Merthyr

Att: 80

Relatively pleased apart from conceding 7 against Cardiff, but I need the fixture for financial reasons. My tour of Wales proved successful again.

I've got ahead of myself and played half the season so I'll just post the scores and the current table and may do match reports for the second half...

[berty1978]

Merthyr Tydfil - Season 2010/11 - First Half

Blue Square South

Team Bath 2-1 Merthyr (14th)

Att: 258

Blue Square South

Merthyr 0-0 Newport County (18th)

Att: 886

Blue Square South

Tonbridge Angels 0-1 Merthyr (12th)

Att: 609

Blue Square South

Merthyr 1-0 Maidenhead United (9th)

Att: 469

Blue Square South

Welling United 1-2 Merthyr (4th)

Att: 427

Conference Cup - 1st Round South

Merthyr 2-0 Basingstoke Town

Att: 209

Blue Square South

Merthyr 0-0 Eastbourne Borough (5th)

Att: 854

Blue Square South

Merthyr 1-0 Solihull Moors (3rd)

Att: 656

Blue Square South

Hampton & Richmond Borough 0-0 Merthyr (4th)

Att: 562

FA Cup - 2nd Qual

Clevedon Town 1-1 Merthyr

Att: 286

FA Cup - 2nd Qual - Replay

Merthyr 2-0 Clevedon Town

Att: 1,074

Blue Square South

Merthyr 2-0 Havant & Waterlooville (1st)

Att: 742

Conference Cup - 2nd Round South

Merthyr 0-0 Lewes (aet, 4-3 on Penalties)

Att: 221

FA Cup - 3rd Qual

Dover Athletic 3-1 Merthyr

Att: 1,501

Blue Square South

Weston-Super-Mare 4-1 Merthyr (2nd)

Att: 161

Blue Square South

Bromley 2-0 Merthyr (5th)

Att: 482

Blue Square South

Merthyr 1-0 Eastleigh (2nd)

Att: 594

Blue Square South

Staines Town 0-1 Merthyr (1st)

Att: 712

Conference Cup - 3rd Round South

Merthyr 3-1 Forest Green Rovers

Att: 216

Blue Square South

Merthyr 0-1 Tiverton Town (2nd)

Att: 1,010

FA Trophy - 3rd Qual

Merthyr 2-2 Hampton & Richmond Borough

Att: 221

FA Trophy - 3rd Qual - Replay

Hampton & Richmond Borough 3-0 Merthyr

Att: 237

Blue Square South

Dover Athletic 2-1 Merthyr (6th)

Att: 704

Conference Cup - 4th Round South

Maidenhead United 1-0 Merthyr

Att: 240

Blue Square South

Merthyr 1-1 St. Albans City (8th)

Att: 658

Blue Square South

Basingstoke Town 0-2 Merthyr (3rd)

Att: 454

Blue Square South

Merthyr 4-2 Chelmsford City (2nd)

Att: 676

Blue Square South

Sutton United 3-2 Merthyr (4th)

Att: 1,226

Blue Square South

Merthyr 2-0 Chippenham Town (4th)

Att: 620

Blue Square South

Merthyr 2-0 Bath City (3rd)

Att: 658

Table

Argh, you may say I should be happy with 3rd but I'm not. We were top twice for one game only, the second time lost at home to Tiverton. As nobody is running away with it at the moment and the fact that I can't see Solihull staying up there we still have a chance if we can stay up there ourselves. Big IF though, confident, me, nope, not at all, no I'm really not after last season.

[Steboyuk]

Surprised you're not content with that position berty, playoffs seem to be a certainty, and just as you said, im surprised to see a team like Solihull up there - can they keep it up? I doubt it, its yours for the taking! Any of your young players making an impact and is Griffiths still banging in the goals?

[berty1978]

What can I say, I'm never happy. I'm not only surprised Solihull are up there, I'm surprisd they're in the BSS.

Marcus Griffiths hasn't performed anywhere near as good as last season, he's been very on and off. My star so far has been Matt Middleton by a mile.

[Steboyuk]

Not surprising to hear, he looks an absoloute gem.

Staines Season Report 12/13

Well, what a great season it was - we were predicted by the media finish in lowly 23rd place, getting relegated at that. However, we blew that predication out of the water and finished a very impreesive 6th place, only just missing out on the playoffs! If we are not awarded overacheviers of the season then there is sometime wrong! Defensively we are strong - Paterson maintains he fantastic form, whilst the central pairing both did well, Suckling, only 19, averaged over 7 and popped up with 5 goals, whilst forgotten man Christoper Ramsey, dropped in our BSS promotion season came back after improving well in training and was solid also. The gem however was right back, Ryan Stevenson, who in his first year was incredible - getting the most assists in the team whilst averaging 6.99 The midfield ticked along nicely, Orlando Smith and Roberts did well on the wings, whilst Dean Thomas and young Phil Jones made a good central pairing. Danny Kelly was outstanding again, hitting 20 league goals, whilst Lewis Smith chipped in aswell.

Predicted Finish: 23rd

Actual Finish: 6th - League Table

FA Cup: 2nd Rnd - Lost to Kettering

FA Trophy: 1st Rnd - Lost to Forest Green

Conference League Cup: 2nd Rnd - Lost to AFC Wimbledon

Overall Player Statistics

Top Scorer: Danny Kelly (22) - 50 League Goals and History

Top Assists': Ryan Stevenson (8)

Highest Av. Rating: Danny Kelly (42(1) Apps, 7.04 Av.Rating)

Most MOTM: Danny Kelly (6)

Seasons Player Statistics

Young Players Performance:

Phil Jones - 39 apps, 4 gls, 4 assists, Av. Rating 6.87

Ryan Stevenson - 37 apps, 0 gls, 7 assists, Av. Rating 6.98

Furkan Kurtulus - 7 apps, 0 gls, 0 assists, Av. Rating 6.56

Micheal Cunningham - 2 apps, 0 gls, 0 assists, Av. Rating 6.00

Lee Hutchinson - N/A

A great season for the youngsters, with only Hutchinson not getting first team action. Jones and Stevenson were excellent, and Furkan showed promise, getting called up to the Turkey u 19's, u 20's and u 21's all in his first ever season.

Code:

Season League Position Achievements

-------------------------------------------------------------------

2009/10 Blue Square South 11th None

2010/11 Blue Square South 7th None

2011/12 Blues Square South 4th Promoted Via Playoffs

2012/13 Blue Square Premier 6th None

[johnwalker]

Hi guys, brilliant thread and it's had me checking back every day to check everyones progress.

I started with FC United a few days ago and here is my manager profile. The previous manager had a pre-arranged transfer and I signed a physio as I didn't have one and it was given the earlier in the thread.

FC United 09/10 Update:

Team Competitions:

Predicted Finish: 15th

Anticipated Finish: 8th

Actual Finish: 1st

FA Cup: 2nd Round - knocked out by League 1 Gillingham 2-0 (a)

FA Trophy: 4th Round - knocked out by BSS Grays 3-1 (a)

Conference League Cup: 3rd Round - knocked out by BSN Tamworth 2-0 (a)

Overall Player Statistics

Top Scorer: Kyle Wilson: 24

Top Assists: Papis Dieyte: 30

Highest Average Rating: Carlos Roca: (47) apps, 7.18 av.rating)

Most MOM: Robert Nugent: (10)

Fans Player of the Year: Robert Nugent

Seasons Player Statistics

A good season culminating in winning the Conference North. I always thought I would finish higher than the media prediction of 15th and I knew after 25 games that if I didn't go up as Champions I would be gutted as I was on a roll at that stage. Only two blips throughout the season; the first caused by November only having one league game due to cup commitments, this lead to a massive pile-up in December and I'll seriously have to reconsider my strategy towards cups next season despite the relative success I enjoyed. The second blip came with 8 games to go when I cruelly lost away to 2nd place Hinckley, at the time I enjoyed an 8 points cushion. They only had 2 chances throughout the game but scored the 2 goals they needed to beat me 2-1. This lead to form of DDWDD but a win in my penultimate game confirmed the title anyway.

Moving onto players and my keeper Robert Beckwith had a solid if not particularly outstanding season, he's way too good for this level though. Both fullbacks were good, more so my left back Matt Doughty. He was the pre-arranged free transfer and started every game getting a couple of assists along the way. Robert Nugent was the pick of my centre backs; he got 18 goals in 48 games into the bargain. My wingers were both good, although Roca despite being the highest rated player only set up 4 goals in comparison to the 9 he scored. On the left flank was Jerome Wright who interestingly has been with FC United since their inaugural season, he scored 4 and set up 9. In centre midfield I had Papis Dieyte, he was simply the assist king. Whether it was a corner, free kick or open play he would find the perfect ball for the situation. Next to him was David Neville, although talented he was both sluggish and lethargic, he struggled to last for an hour most of the time. My two strikers were Joe O'Neill and Ryan Wilson, Wilson is a better player as well as the better finisher and although O'Neill got 17 goals in 52 starts did nothing but frustrate me the entire season.

Honourable mentions to Stuart Lyons, who played his part at both right and attacking midfield. Simon Garner, filled in at centre back and defensive midfield but I would prefer to just see him play midfield. Kierien Brown, who despite being a striker spent most of his time on the pitch in attacking midfield, however he eventually dislodged O'Neill during the run-in and showed promise in his preferred role. Last but not least Chris Gowen, a left midfielder who didn't start once but made 41 substitute appearances.

Of the twenty players first team players I started the season with I renewed the contract of 18, making them all full-time in the process. One I'm currently undecided on and I'll wait for this years’ youth intake, the other is rubbish and on his way. My perfect intake will have a decent centre back, a creative midfielder and a tall strong striker.

Thanks for reading, any suggestions are welcome

[berty1978]

Put us all to shame by winning the league first season will ya. Seriously thats a great first season and I want your tactics, and Kyle Wilson.

I'm going playing a season of Gundo's challenge now, after which I'll play the second half of my season here, leave you all in suspense.

[johnwalker]

Youth Intake:

Ben Harriot: Never going to be better than what I have currently so will stay in the under 18s.

Anthony King: Same as above.

Rob Gibbons: Too short to play centre back anytime soon, could do a job at fullback I guess.

Chris Smith: My one saving grace, although I'm retraining him as a centre back as that's where I see him playing. He should get regular playing time.

Carl Patterson: Not bad and will become my 4th choice striker.

I'll be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed with the players I got. When Ben Harriot was picked out as the best I knew I was in trouble, but Chris Smith and to an extent Carl Patterson left me feeling better. Onwards and upwards.

[johnwalker]

Put us all to shame by winning the league first season will ya. Seriously thats a great first season and I want your tactics, and Kyle Wilson.

I'm going playing a season of Gundo's challenge now, after which I'll play the second half of my season here, leave you all in suspense.

Thank you for your kind words, I don't think your want my tactic after this season but we will see what the future holds

[Steboyuk]

Welcome johnwalker, and cheers for the kind words about the thread thus far! Also, congrats on a great first season! Dieyte looks immense, and we all know how good the likes of Wilson are so looks like them two should keep you afloat for a while at least, also think you have a really solid keeper in Beckwith, whilst Ashton isnt too shabby either. Admittedly I agree that your first years look a little bit dissapointing, but it will happen to us all, after all our youth facilities are all pretty low!

Good luck in the BSP, will you be the first to get to the promised land of league football?

[Steboyuk]

Staines Off - Season Update (13/14):

Club News:

Firstly, I signed a new three year deal with the club - I was linked with numerous football league clubs, and got offers from Brighton, Stockport, Oldham and Yeovil.

Youngsters Darren Lord and Tom Harper both were released, they were both now 20 and were both centre halves, a strong position of mine - neither were going to make it with us. Also, I decided to place Jake Newton, a solid right back on the transfer list. Jake is now 26 and as a right back he is behind Ryan Stevenson and Alex Wilson, whilst other youth product Lee Hutchinson is also catching up with him. Hes worth 14k but Ive offered him out at 6k - will he be the first player to generate money for the club?

Finally on player news is that of Furkan Kurtulus - hes now a Turkish u 21 international!

In a big positive, Andre Scarlett, the little playmaker of a forward has retired from playing and is now my first ever coach. Hes a decent looking coaching, with 11 for attacking and competent numbers for Tactical, Mental and Working With Youngsters.

Ive also applied for a new parent and feeder club, although I wont mind If I dont get a bigger team than West Ham.

Youth Intake:

Often the pivotal part of the off season:

Andy Edwards - An average player who will struggle to get action, due to being a centre back. Quick but poor aerial ability is a big blow.

David Edwards - Again not the best, hes really poor technically, OK mentally but alright in the physical department, his acceleration of 14 makes him the quickest player off the mark in the striking department we have got. Will possibly get a few chances.

Nana Carter - Picked out as the best of the lot, Im really pleased with him. Firstly he is a goalkeeper, and Shaun Allaway is now 30 and isnt exactly the best keeper around anyway. Could be a star, 13 for handling and 11 for reflexes provides a very solid base for him to build from. My coaches are decided - Scarlett thinks he could be as good as Allaway one day, whilst Maskell disagress claiming he will never reach Allaway's ability. Time will tell.

Richard Roberts - Looks solid, and a good all rounder to boot, and for my money has potential.

Ryan Hunt - The youngest, a left winger with a bit of pace and flair of 17 will make him one to watch, will get a few chances this season.

Steven Piper - The worst of the lot, another left winger, he has a bit of pace but zero else. Will get a couple of years at the club if he is lucky.

Happy with them, especially Carter.

[berty1978]

Nana Carter does look a good keeper, and a great name as well. Ryan Hunt looks a great prospect as well, could improve his crossing though, excellent mental though.

Started playing my Merthyr game again and noticed Marcus Griffiths hasn't scored a league goal, yet.....

Will be revealed in my next update.

[berty1978]

Blue Square South

Merthyr 3-0 Team Bath (3rd)

Att: 891

A very good performance against one of the play-off hopefuls Team Bath, we never really allowed them much, kept the ball well and forced them into mistakes. And, yep you guessed it, Matt Middleton was MOM. Marcus Griffiths also scored his first league goal of the season!

Blue Square South

Newport County 2-2 Merthyr (2nd)

Att: 1,207

Dear oh dear, I would have settled for a draw against the team just behind me in 4th but we were 2-0 up. Marcus Griffiths scored 2 relatively early goals but we were 2-1 up at half time. In the 91st minute we conceded a free kick just outside the box, they crossed it in and got the header in, so disappointing.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 2-1 Tonbridge Angels (2nd)

Att: 811

We only just managed to win this one and were lucky to do so. Our passing was pretty awful and at 1-1 we got a penalty which Middleton put away and held on just. Unfortunately for us Solihull keep winning and remain 4 points clear.

Blue Square South

Maidenhead United 1-3 Merthyr (2nd)

Att: 397

With Matt Middleton out for 2-3 weeks, it wasn't going to be easy but we showed we're not a 1 man team here with an excellent performance. Marcus Griffiths continued his recent excellent run of form with 2 goals again.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 2-0 Welling United (2nd)

Att: 948

It's amazing how contrasting the two halves were in this game. Welling are in 21st position and a team we should have no problem beating. First half however was dire, they seemed to have 10 men behind the ball and we created nothing. I said 'disappointing' at half time and we were so dominant in the 2nd half we could have won 4 or 5-0.

Blue Square South

Eastbourne Borough 1-1 Merthyr (2nd)

Att: 645

Would have happily taken a draw against one of the relegated teams and when we went 1-0 down I was fearing the worst. Credit to the players however as we could so easily have won it in the end after we equalised quickly, directly from a corner because Matthew Harris can do that.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 2-0 Weston-Super-Mare

Att: 796

Matt Middleton was back for this game and took all of 12 minutes to score, all be it from the penalty spot. They created a few chances themselves and we sealed the victory late on with a goal from Marcus Griffiths.

Blue Square South

Solihull Moors 4-2 Merthyr (2nd)

Att: 652

This was such a massive game, and the players completely failed to deliver. The fact that I had to sub Matt Middleton due to his rating of 4.4 tells it's own story. I ended up playing Long Ball because we couldn't pass it short to save our lives. They're now 5 points clear and we allow teams below us to catch up.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 2-3 Hampton & Richmond Borough (2nd)

Att: 747

No, just no. This was my most frustrating game in charge of Merthyr, twice came from a goal down and each time they scored another. The payers just couldn't recover from the Solihull game and with our excellent home form this was just poor. We need to improve or we'll miss out on the play-offs big time!!

Blue Square South

Havant & waterlooville 1-2 Merthyr (2nd)

Att: 319

Better, but only just held on in the end, we should have been home and dry at 2-0 up and them down to 10 men. We dominated possession but still allowed them a few chances which could have been costly. Solihull won away at third placed Eastleigh and thus look unstoppable at 8 points clear.

Blue Square South

Eastleigh 2-3 Merthyr (2nd)

Att: 696

Another difficult away game at 3rd placed Eastleigh, and we were 1-0 down in no time, pulled back to 1-1 but they scored again. The turning point was when Morris saved a penalty to deny them going 3-1 up, and playing more attacking and direct we pulled off a mighty come back.

We started off only 2 points behind Solihull and with the run we've been on you'd expect us to be there or there abouts. However they remain 8 points clear with those 2 defeats costing us dearly. We are 6 points above 3rd place though ad with 10 games to go, I will be disappointed to miss out now.

[berty1978]

Hmm, double posted for some reason, ah well, may as well make use of it..

Unless it's relegation John it's not so bad, but judging by the unhappy face...

We'll see

[johnwalker]

Good luck in the BSP, will you be the first to get to the promised land of league football?

You don't know how bad a jinx that was.

Just finished the season now, update to come tomo sometime. It's bad

[berty1978]

Steboy, I was looking at the earlier posts and remembered that you said you didn't expect Solihull to stay up there, you'll regret you ever said that when I'm done with you.

Seriously, it's been an unbelievable end to the season but not quite good enough as you'll see later.

[rubbafish]

This thread has inspired me to play FM again. 08 and, ultimately 09 had put me off the game but I am going to play this challenge on 07 in a non UK league for a challenge in to the unknown. Everyone, and especially Steboy, really enjoying reading how your teams are progressing so keep it up

[johnwalker]

FC United 10/11 Update:

Team Competitions:

Predicted Finish: 23rd

Anticipated Finish: 15th

Actual Finish: 24th

FA Cup: 4th Qual Rnd- knocked out by BSS Droylsden 1-0 (a)

FA Trophy: Semi-Final - knocked out by BSP Weymouth 5-3 on aggregate

Conference League Cup: 2nd Round - knocked out by BSN Altrincham 0-0 (a) Lost 5-4 on pens

Overall Player Statistics

Top Scorer: Kyle Wilson: 16

Top Assists: Papis Dieyte: 11

Highest Average Rating: Papis Dieyte: 46 (1) apps, 6.90 av.rating)

Most MOM: Kyle Wilson: 5

Fans Player of the Year: Papis Dieyte

Seasonal Player Statistics

Young Player Perfomance

Chris Smith – 19(12) apps, 1 gls, 1 assists, Av. Rating 6.67

Carl Patterson – 12(17) apps, 3 gls, 1 assists, Av. Rating 6.44

Ben Harriot – N/A – Released

Anthony King – N/A – Released

Rob Gibbons – N/A – Released

An awful season inevitably ending with relegation back to the Conference North. I started the season quite confident and I thought I could at least finish mid-table. This was the table: about 6 games into the “blip” that went on to last 17 games overall. This coincided with losing Robert Nugent for 4 months; my players were simply not good enough. By the time I had him and all the other injured players back it was too late, I constantly had my players playing without confidence by this stage. Without making excuses this and this is an example of my luck, the first an injured player plays everyone onside when we were playing well and could still recover to stay up. The second I was 2-1 up away at relegation rivals only to have two injuries in three minutes after all my subs had been used. I didn’t change my cup strategy but we got knocked out early in all but the FA trophy, with more luck we could have beaten Weymouth and reached the final. But it wasn’t to be.

Moving onto players and to keep it short and sweet; nearly every single player was out of his depth. The only few who made an impression and looked like they could handle the BSP were Robert Nugent, Papis Dieyte and Kyle Wilson. My keepers were both awful, Beckwith in particular seemed to have a thing about being chipped by indirect free kicks Seaman style. Danny Warrender my right-back was easily the most out of depth in the whole squad, but with nobody decent to replace him he stayed in the side. His low jumping stat would make me never even consider him usually but needs must. My left-back Matt Doughty looked good going forward but awful defending, he scored a few penalties when Wilson was out of action but his mistakes more than cancelled those out. Adam Tong my captain was alright considering the amount of work he had to put up with. I expect him and Nugent to reform a deadly partnership next season. Carlos Roca and Jerome Wright may as well have not existed this season, scored 1 and set up 8 in a combined 80 starts. Dieyte disappointed me this season, his set piece delivery was woeful and seemed to ignore my instructions constantly at corners, that said was still one of the better players. Next to him was David Neville, although talented he was both sluggish and lethargic, he struggled to last a half most of the time. Wilson was good, deadly when he got a chance. Service was awful though. I couldn’t decide between Browne and O’Neill partnering him all season, as both were as useless as the other. O’Neill got 4 goals and 5 assists and Browne got 7 goals and 6 assists.

Stuart Lyons played his part at both right and attacking midfield again this year, but had his season ended early by a broken leg. Simon Garner, filled in at centre back and defensive midfield but I would prefer to just see him play midfield, some things never change. Carl Patterson actually started the season upfront due to injuries and scored on his debut, but fizzled out into nothing after that. My big hope Chris Smith was awful at centre-back but looked better at right back, maybe he could replace Warrender? Last but not least Chris Gowen, who actually managed 18 league starts this season after nil the previous term, he was good.

I renewed the contract of every single player who was up, including a left winger who I ignored for the best part of 2 years who made a few appearances at the end of the season. I decided to release Harriot, King and Gibbons though as they were never ever going to play. In other news my assistant and coach are both hanging up their boots at 44 and 43 respectively, I only used my coach sparingly at the end of this season when all hope was lost in an attempt to calm the ship.

Thanks for reading, sorry to disappoint with my update. Yes I did copy and paste about Neville from the previous update if you think you have read that before, he is actually doing my head in. I think the problem I had last year was my players’ stamina was awful. I’m not asking them to run too much, don’t know how I can progress when I need to make at least one substitution at half time every game.

[berty1978]

Unlucky John, we all hope you bounce back, Kyle Wilson and Papis Dieyte tried their best.

I've got some play-offs to play next. And if I don't win the play-offs I can probably say I'm as unlucky as you John, as you'll see.

Welcome rubbafish, this challenge doesn't have to be restricted to the English leagues so will be interesting who you try.

[rubbafish]

Genesis

After a bit of thought, decided to give Italy a crack. From the 3 teams available to choose from, I went with Brindisi in Serie C2C. To say I have chosen a mixed bag would be an understatement. The positives are very good. The club are financially stable and I have a cracking backroom team. The downside, sadly, is the players. The major issue being the average age of the team. It doesn't so much creek as collapse in a breeze. In a squad of 18, 9 are over the age of 31 or over. In my first week in charge I have lost 3 players, 2 due to contract issues and 1 was a risk I took for a 30 year old striker and I was offered fair money for.

Going through my team, there is potential in a few players, namely:

Stefano Bianconi

38 year old central defender and captain of the team. Not fast, not skillful but can tackle and command the area (which is useful as my keepers can't!)

Rafaelle Bertolucci

20 year old attacking midfielder who can play on the left or in the middle. Has a bit of pace and acceleration and can whip in a fair old cross. Real potential here.

Fabio Salvatore Di Domenico

The real star of the squad on paper. A 31 year old striker who is quick, is creative, is determined and good at set pieces.

Pre-season is fast approaching so will update you after that.

[berty1978]

With all those older players, you may as well try and use it for your advantage. Surely at least one will want to stay on as a coach. Saying that, I haven't managed to keep a player as a coach yet though.