neilhoskins77

Job #3 - (8/7/2009 - ?) Nation - Norway Level - Premier Division (Top Tier) Club - Tromsø Starting Position - 11th Job Overview :- On Sunday, this club was taken over by a Fans' Trust, who take control from Jens Johan Hjort, and they have appointed Terje Tøllefsen as their representative Chairman. Within forty eight hours of taking control, he was in touch with me and a swift negotiation sees me now in charge of the club that represents the largest city outside of Russia that lies north of the Arctic Circle. The club has been managerless for around six weeks now after Per Mathias Høgmo was sacked, and lies 11th in the 16 club Norwegian Premier Division. The bottom two are relegated while 14th spot means a Playoff to stay in the top tier, and we are just three points outside that Playoff spot, with the current occupants also having a game in hand. We have thirteen games remaining in the 2009 season, and the club are widely considered to be underachieving, as they were predicted to finish in the top six before the campaign. I've signed a contract worth £2,000 a week through to November 2011. Club Overview :- Tromsø has never won the Norwegian Championship, it's best result being Runner's-Up once in 1990, and they finished last season in third place. They are twice winners of the Norwegian Cup, and have been in the top tier since 2003 in this current spell having initially spending sixteen years at the top level in their first stint. The club play in the Alfheim Stadium that was built and opened in the city in 1986, holding 7,500 fans with 6,000 of them seated. Due to the unique location of the club, bringing players in particularly from overseas can have it's challenges, though the club have recently been forced to cancel a deal for a Uruguayan player. We are currently carrying eight non-Homegrown players and are allowed a total of eleven. There is a strong record of supplying players to the National Team at Senior and Age Group levels, despite the club having only an average Youth System. In my introduction to the club, I'm informed that in normal circumstances, the club would expect to be challenging for European Qualification, if not the Norwegian Title. Financially the club is in fairly good shape, with in excess of £3 million in the bank, and their only debt is a bank loan of £150,000 that will be paid back over the next two years at around £6,000 per month. There is a transfer budget available to me of just under £1.5 million, and has been padded by player sales in the last window. Our weekly wage budget is for just over £45,000 per week, and we are currently spending around £36,000 of that. Squad Overview :- My first big decision on the current playing staff will be regarding the future of our current number one goalkeeper. 30 year old German born Bosnian International goalkeeper Sead Ramovic is a man in demand. His services are currently wanted by clubs such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Schalke. They are all money clubs, and if they were to pay through the nose it would allow the club to improve other areas of the squad and replace the Bosnian if necessary. As far as goalkeeping options go we have Greek born Canadian International stopper Kenny Stamatopoulos who isn't quite as good but isn't a bad option at all, as well as former Swedish Under-21 International keeper Marcus Sahlman and the new Chairman's son as well, 17 year old current Norwegian Under-19 International custodian Thomas Tøllefsen Jnr and already capped once at Under-21 level despite being just 16 years old, Thomas Ingjerd. My options in defence are actually very good, there just isn't enough depth. You start to wonder why this team was giving away so many cheap goals given some of the players he had here, but are still the fourth worst defence in the Division. They include one of Norway's bright young stars, seven times capped centre back Tore Reginiussen, a 23 year old who has been superb this season for Tromsø. He also had left back and former Under-21 International star Kevin Larsen at his disposal. He played him, but he didn't have him on set pieces despite him being a dead ball specialist, which I find bizarre. The man he seemed to heavily rely on isn't as good as some of the others in the squad, 31 year old Costa Rican International centre back Douglas Sequeira, who's slightly erratic career path saw him start in Holland and Germany with bigger clubs, fail to make the grade and head back to his homeland, then getting going in the US before landing in Tromsø where he is now in his third season with the club. I'm a little on the fence with this guy. In midfield there are a group of players that are around their prime and early veteran years that the previous management has over relied on maybe, and a group of younger players that have never really had a shot yet. The most recognisable name in the midfield is probably former Leeds United youngster Tommy Knarvik. A former Under-21 International who has somehow never managed to pick up a Senior Cap, he has been the guy to primarily run this midfield, and has done an okay job without ever really setting the domestic game alight. Now aged 29 he is apparently wanted by bigger clubs Rosenborg and Brann, and there's an argument for letting him go and do a 'so-so' job somewhere else. You could apply almost exactly the same description to hugely experienced Estonian International left winger Joel Lindpere. Signed in 2007 for a very reasonable amount of money, the 64 times capped forward will make his 75th appearance for the club next time out, but has over that time scored nine goals and added only six assists. Yet sat on the sidelines is exciting 18 year old talent Martin Holmen, signed in the summer from Moss and yet to make his League debut for the club on that left side. I'm staggered to discover that in a team not short of set piece specialists, I have a 6'8 striker who has scored only five goals all season, and three of them came against lower league opponents in the Cup. It may be possible that I'm about to change the life of 32 year old Tor Hogne Aarøy! It isn't like he has a huge amount of competition as it stands. Our only other strikers currently in the First Team Squad are Sigurd Rushfeldt, a well travelled 36 year old striker who has retired from International Football and intends retiring from playing altogether and concentrate on his Coaching role at the end of this season, but has still been given enough football to be our top League scorer this season. Nigerian born striker Oluwasegun Abiodun, who becomes eligible for Norwegian citizenship tomorrow, was signed in the summer after an excellent season down in the third tier, but it just hasn't gone to plan so far for the 24 year old.

I agree, the odds issued by the game are not particularly realistic, though I don't expect they thought someone would try and use that aspect of the game to try and create a story from there. You can use any bookmaker app. If I create a bet using a 4/7 and a 4/5 for instance, then I just find games with those odds at a bookmakers, and it then shows me the correct odds for the Double.

Hi, thanks for reading and for your kind comment. The game gives odds for Home Win, Away Win and the Draw on each fixture. I simply use a bookmakers app or simple odds calculator site or app to calculate the multiples and potential returns.

Ooooohhhhhh, look, a newbie! ;-) Good to see you back Gav, hope you're well. Look forward to reading this,

Sunday 31st October 2021 The local newspaper interviewed me today, and while most of it was the usual boring and tedious questions, I was asked if I thought York would be in the race for the Title considering our current improved form. I told the hack that it's a long season, and that I wouldn't want our fans to get ahead of themselves or over-excited. By the time the interview hit the press, it has been repackaged as 'unambitious Manager writes off City Title challenge'. Just what I need! Monday 1st November It was our current form that would have us as the Even money favourites for tomorrow evenings trip North to face Gateshead. In poor form themselves largely, and down in 17th place, this is the game that was supposed to be played this coming weekend, but has been moved forward due to our success in reaching the First Round of the FA Cup. The Board have focused their monthly appraisal largely on our signing of full back James Horsfield from Chester, which they are delighted with, declaring the arrival of the 26 year old defender and excellent piece of business. Tuesday 2nd November Wrexham of the National League have lodged a £12,000 offer for 21 year old Utility player Olly Dyson. With keeping our fairly fragile squad depth in mind, I was of the opinion initially that we should reject the offer. But upon learning the knowledge that Dyson earns £600 a week and up to now has played in only two competitive games this season, I decided to negotiate with a Wrexham club that are well reported to have plenty of cash to throw around. I asked for £30,000 and saw their offer increased to £16,000. I reduced my demand to £24,000 and we then agreed to meet in the middle at £20,000. It would now be down to the North Wales club to agree personal terms with Olly. While that was taking place, our on loan striker Mark Beck suffered a pulled hamstring in training, and will be out for around a month. Vanarama League North Division Gateshead International Stadium, Gateshead Gateshead v York City I was very tempted to keep to our home tactic and match up with Gateshead's 4-4-2. Our improved form however led me to keep to our away tactic, Sam Fielding keeping his spot and pushing into the back three that also included Louie Annesley, Sean Newton moving out to left wing back to allow Scott Barrow to be rested, James Horsfield replacing Michael Duckworth on the right, while Tyrese Fornah stepped into the midfield. Gateshead would dominate possession for much of the first half on a rainy early November night in the North East in front of a very impressive attendance, but the best chance of the opening 45 minutes would fall our way, and to the man in form as Ross McCormack played Benjamin Kimpioka into space, the youngster going for power and missing the top corner he was aiming for. Jack Steele replaced Bobby Grant at half time, and we saw more possession come our way after the break. But we also saw more attention from over fussy ref Gareth Rhodes who made a rod for his own back when he handed out a fairly soft yellow card, and then kept on giving them out. Sean Newton was one of the recipients, and that played a factor in him being replaced by Scott Barrow as Jamie Thomas also came off for Clayton Donaldson as we tried to find a winner. But it wouldn't come, and while the unbeaten run continues, we drop more points on the road. Gateshead (0) 0 York City (0) 0 Ryan Whitley; Matty Brown ©, Louie Annesley, Sam Fielding; James Horsfield, Sean Newton (Scott Barrow 65); Bobby Grant (Jack Steele 45), Tyrese Fornah; Benjamin Kimpioka; Jamie Thomas (Clayton Donaldson 65), Ross McCormack. Attendance :- 4,648 So not an ideal result but far from a disaster either, and with a whole host of clubs not playing till the weekend, the point earned on the road sends us to the top of the table, for the time being at least. It's interesting to note that goalkeeper Ryan Whitley has now become one of the stars of the squad alongside Ross McCormack. Wednesday 3rd November Louie Annesley is once again included in the Gibraltar Senior Squad for the upcoming International Window, as is another of our loan stars. Annesley will be hoping to be involved against Holland at home and then Monetenegro away, and should he be involved in both games he will reach 25 International Caps. Forward Benjamin Kimpioka could move into double figures for Sweden Under-21 Caps as they have an away double header of Friendlies against Norway and Turkey. Frankly, I'd rather have both available for the away League game against Curzon Ashton a week on Saturday. Thursday 4th November Olly Dyson has completed his £20,000 move to Wrexham of the National League, and he joins the Hollywood owned club and their crusade to return to the Football League after a long absence. With money in the bank again, but already overspending on wages even with Dyson's departure, I hit the Scouts up for some players that would be happy to play here and not for a ridiculous amount of money. Some names quickly come my way, and some offers are sent to clubs. Word has obviously got around that we have some cash to spend following a deal with Wrexham, and some clubs play hardball with us unsurprisingly. Saturday 6th November Clayton Donaldson is a late addition to the Jamaica Squad for their upcoming double header of World Cup Qualifying fixtures in the CONCACAF Zone as they prepare to face Canada and the United States of America at home next week. The Jamaicans are currently in a very strong position right now, but these fixtures will obviously be tough tests. We have negotiations open with a trio of players after agreeing deals with their clubs. It's not just the clubs playing us for some extra cash too, as the players sense our desperation to improve our Squad options for a promotion push and proceed to attempt some shake downs of their own. None will be at the club ahead of today's FA Cup tie with Port Vale though, a game we are considered as fairly heavy underdogs for despite our home advantage with Vale in the Promotion Playoff spots in Sky Bet League Two. Their talented midfielder Tom Conlon and on loan striker George Lloyd will both need to be kept quiet if we are to cause an upset. FA Cup First Round York Community Stadium, York York City v Port Vale We were very aware that Port Vale were going to show up here with a formation very similar to the one we use on away days. There just didn't seem any point in trying to match up with them, as they would surely dismantle us with their quality, so I stuck to my guns with our 4-4-2 with diamond midfield. Michael Duckworth replaces James Horsfield at right back while Scott Barrow is back on the left side of the defence. Up front, Clayton Donaldson replaces Jamie Thomas as we go with our strongest lineup to try and create a giant killing act. After getting through the opening ten minutes and approaching the 15 minute mark with no problems of any note, we were suddenly opened up by our Football League visitors and Mal Benning swept home a shot from ten yards out. Once more we settled back into the game, but a corner around ten minutes from the break was met by George Lloyd and he thumped home a header to double Vale's lead. We weren't quite out of it yet though, as before the break Clayton Donaldson was fouled and Ross McCormack found the net from 30 yards out with a free kick. Keen to capitalise on the good feeling that goal right before the break gave us and the fans in the ground, I decided to press us into a more attacking version of the 4-4-2 at the break, taking off Sean Newton, bring defensive midfielder Louie Annesley into the back four, and bringing on Jack Steele to give us more playmaking from midfield. It failed miserably though, a loose pass gave Vale a counter attacking opportunity that debutant on loan Romanian winger Dennis Politic buried just five minutes after the restart. That was a bitter blow for us, and further attempts to create attacking options and platforms failed as Lloyd netted his second inside the final ten minutes to finish us and our FA Cup run off. York City (1) 1 - Ross McCormack (44) Port Vale (2) 4 - Mal Benning (14), George Lloyd (34,84), Dennis Politic (50) Ryan Whitley; Michael Duckworth, Scott Barrow, Matty Brown ©, Sean Newton (Jack Steele 45); Louie Annesley; Bobby Grant, Tyrese Fornah (Michael Woods 68); Benjamin Kimpioka; Clayton Donaldson (Jamie Thomas 72), Ross McCormack. Attendance :- 1,969 So we are out of the Cup, and thanks to Darlington's goalless draw away to Kettering Town while we were being blown away by the League Two outfit, we are also off the top of the Vanarama North as well now, though only down to 2nd place as other results largely went our way. Monday 8th November Port Vale's reward for their job at the York Community Stadium on the weekend in a trip to Sky Bet League Two rivals Swindon Town in the Second Round. We were involved in a draw ourselves earlier today, as we are paired at home with Curzon Ashton of our own Vanarama North Division in the Second Round of the FA Trophy. That match will take place in just over a fortnight's time, but we will get a good look at our opposition this coming weekend when we travel to face them in an important League game. Wednesday 10th November Three players all arrive at the club today to give our squad some much needed depth and versatility. All of the trio bring a wealth of experience with them, which tells you that none of them are youngsters. 35 year old French forward Gregory Tadé is the first of the three. What he has lost in pace over the years he has now built up in strength, and is able to play in the role behind the striker or strikers, making him a very useful option for us. His earlier years of his career were largely spent in Scotland, before he went globe trotting and spent time in Romania, Qatar and Israel before returning to Scotland this season with Clyde where he has scored five goals and added a pair of assists so far. We have paid £2,000 for his signature on a contract through to the end of next season paying him £750 per week. Gregory is closing in on 350 career appearances and the one hundred goals mark. Also heading to us from Scotland is slightly younger striker and attacking midfielder Kevin Smith. A former youngster with Leeds United and Sunderland, he didn't manage any First Team football with either and went on loan to Wrexham and Dundee where he found some limited game time. Dundee must have suited him, as he then signed for Dundee United who sent him out on loan where he had a breakthrough season at last. A second loan spell at Starks Park saw less football for Smith, and he then bounced around clubs such as Notts County, Queen of the South and Dumbarton. He would find his home at last in 2013/14 with East Fife who we have just signed him from on a Free Transfer, and he also has a contract through to the end of 2022/23 with a wage of £400 per week. He is closing in on 300 appearances in his career. Smith can play up front, on the wings, or behind the strikers as well as slightly deeper in a midfield role. The final of the trio is the spring chicken of our new signings at a mere 30 years old. James McShane can also play as a striker, attacking midfielder or out on the wings, and signs a £550 per week deal through to the end of next season, joining us for a fee of £1,500 from Dorking Wanderers of the Vanarama South League. After spending his formative years of his career with Molesey who he never appeared for, he left for Dorking and has made all of his near 200 First Team appearances for the club he joined in 2016/17. His production had tailed off quite significantly, until this season where he has so far bagged nine goals and two assists, a level of performance that convinced us to bring him up to City. As a result of that signing spree, we are now almost £2,000 per week over spent on our weekly wage budget, and it's only down to that figure as I gave back the unspent money we got for Olly Dyson from Wrexham to go back against the salary pot. It will be worth it if we get promoted in my opinion, though I'm not sure if the Board will agree with that assessment.

UEFA 2016 European Championships Review (continued) Qualification Playoffs Denmark v Bulgaria The Danes hosted the First Leg in front of a full house at the Parken, and saw Middlesbrough forward Valeri Bojinov open the scoring for Bulgaria inside 60 seconds. They would be far happier for the most part after the break with Thomas Enevoldsen and Niklas Pedersen scoring within 15 minutes of each other, despite Christian Poulsen being shown a straight red card just after the hour mark. He wasn't the only one to suffer that fate, as Brazilian born forward Tom was also sent off for Bulgaria in the last ten minutes. A week later in Sofia another packed out stadium saw an incredibly intimidating atmosphere at the Vasil Levski. It sure intimidated the Danish players anyway, Stuttgart striker Dancho Kostadinov scored in the tenth minute, and Newcastle United forward Tsvetomir Todorov turned the tie around before the break, and put Bulgaria in control. The frustration of the Danes would show in the second half, and there was still time for yet another red card as Michael Jakobsen was sent off in the dying minutes. Qualified :- Bulgaria Out :- Denmark Greece v Serbia The attendance for the First Leg in Piraeus was 33,333. That fact was of no relevance whatsover, though it does lead me to let you know there were three goals in this one. Serbia opened the scoring early on through Stojan Vranjes, only to see Alexandros Tziolis level things back up just five minutes later. But a bullet free kick from full back Aleksandar Kolarov had the Serbians back in the lead before the break. The second half was far quieter, largely due to Greece being reduced to ten men with Giannis Pappis sent off in the 52nd minute. It will be a tough ask now for the Greeks in Belgrade. It didn't seem to trouble them too much at the Marakana home of Red Star though. Xanthi striker Vasilis Koutsianikoulis scored in the 26th minute, and right on half time it was added to by Dimitris Koiliaras on his Senior International debut as the Greeks turned the tie around in the same way Bulgaria had against Denmark. Once more the team that were pre-tie favourites are out, and the 2004 European Champions will go to the party in Spain twelve years on from their still much talked about surprise success. Qualified :- Greece Out :- Serbia Russia v Poland If you arrived early or left late at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Moscow for the First Leg, then you'd have missed all the important action. German based Russia striker Alexandr Kerzhakov had his team in front with only three minutes on the clock, but a very capable Poland team had levelled within the ten minute mark via right winger Daniel Maka. But this would be a day for the Russians, and with three minutes left to play, prolific striker Roman Pavlyuchenko heading home a winner to allow them to take a lead over into Poland in a weeks time. In the return leg, Poland would give the Russians all they could handle, and then some. They took the lead early through Genoa striker Dawid Janczyk with just six minutes on the clock to level the tie on aggregate, only to lose that lead on the night before half time from a free kick by Manchester City full back Yury Zhirkov. But his City team mate and prolific International goalscorer Robert Lewandowski netted just after the hour mark. The game seemed to be headed for Extra Time to decide who would go to the Euros, until 27 year old Schalke striker Alexandr Stavpets found the net for Russia with only seconds remaining in the ninety minutes, to break the Polish hearts. Qualified :- Russia Out :- Poland Switzerland v Scotland The Scots would be happy with this draw I daresay, but that didn't make it an easy path to Spain, as they would find out in the opening game of the tie in Bern. It would be Scotland who would take the lead early on through attacking midfielder James Morrison, but the equaliser arrived less than ten minutes later courtesy of one of the new Swiss footballing sensations, FC Köln's 21 year old striker Christoph Margairaz scoring his first International goal. The Swiss would take the lead twenty minutes into the second half through Eren Derdiyok, and a minute later Margairaz would add another to give Switzerland a 3-1 lead to take to Hampden Park next weekend. On a miserable November night in Glasgow, the Tartan Army would turn up the noise, and then find new levels when Blackburn striker Steven Fletcher scored on a quarter of an hour, and Everton's forward John Fleck added another before the half hour mark to level up things overall, but only briefly as Derdiyok scored before the break to give Switzerland their aggregate lead back before half time. But Fleck scored again just after the hour mark, and a tense finish would see this one go right through Extra Time and all the way to penalties. And the hero in that shoot-out would be Aston Villa goalkeeper Allan McGregor, who saved two penalties and saw another one crash off the post, while the Scots scored all three of their spot kicks, and the Tartan Army are heading to Spain! Qualified :- Scotland Out :- Switzerland Turkey v Romania The final Playoff tie, and Istanbul would host a highly entertaining First Leg that would see Napoli striker Denis Alibec give Romania the lead, only to then see Real Madrid hotshot Melvüt Erdinç level the game just after the half hour mark. Romania would quickly re-establish their advantage however, taking the lead for a second time via Chelsea winger Râzvan Ochirosii just two minutes later! The Turkish fans would not go home too disappointed though, as it was Juventus winger Sedat Bakirci who scored his first ever International goal midway through the second half to make sure the spoils were shared, and leaving a very interesting Second Leg ahead in Bucharest. Unfortunately for Romania and their fans, their effort in Istanbul would go to waste as it was Turkey who took the upper hand in the first half of this return leg. Experienced attacking midfielder Arda Turan of AC Milan had Turkey in front in the thirteenth minute, and they padded their first lead of the tie in the 27th minute via Galatasaray's midfielder Baris Memis. There would be no response from the Romanians here, and the last place at Euro 2016 would go to Turkey, and the lineup for the Finals in Spain is now complete. Qualified :- Turkey Out :- Romania

UEFA 2016 European Championships Review Qualification Group A (Belarus, Germany, Greece, Kazakhstan, San Marino, Wales) A very competitive opening group, well, between half of the nations anyway. Top seeds Germany would stroll through the section dropping points only with draws in Athens, and maybe a little more surprisingly in Minsk. There was also a separate battle at the other end to stay off the bottom of the Group, a battle maybe a little surprisingly won by San Marino with both teams winning their home game against each other, and San Marino also managed to hold Greece to a goalless draw at home too, though they did also take an 11-0 hiding from the Germans. Those dropped points from Greece could have proved crucial, as it came on the final game day. Fortunately for them, Wales were being beaten 1-0 by Belarus in Minsk at the same time, and the Greeks with that point and their better head to head over Wales snatch the Playoff Spot from Kenny Jackett's devastated Dragons! Qualified :- Germany Playoff Spot :- Greece Out :- Wales, Belarus, San Marino, Kazakhstan Group B (Azerbaijan, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Scotland) More 'Home Nation' participation here, as Scotland are pitched into what I would call a pretty tough looking section. And a section where off course the Italians are the favourites. But Italy do have form for failing to look good while Qualifying, and a draw in Glasgow plus a defeat in Norway stand out as what most would call poor results. They won the rest of their games though to top the Group, and it would wind down to Scotland and Norway competing for the Playoff spot in the run in, with Hungary not quite managing to last the course as challengers. They would still be involved though, as while Norway were nervously winning in Luxembourg, the Hungarians were unable to hold out the Scots at Hampden, and Alan Irvine's Tartan Army will go to the Playoffs by virtue of their better head to head record over Norway. Qualified :- Italy Playoffs :- Scotland Out :- Norway, Hungary, Azerbaijan, Luxembourg Group C (Albania, Andorra, Croatia, Northern Ireland, Serbia) The Home Nations are coming thick and fast, but there would be no happy ending here for Nigel Worthington and the Green and White Army. In a Group where the main interest was of course on the battle between Croatia and Serbia, the Northern Ireland side managed just two wins, both against Andorra, and even then the away tie would need an injury time winner to see them avoid an embarrassing result. Their only other point would come in a home goalless draw against Serbia, a result that would prove crucial to the Serbs as when all was said and done it left them two points behind Group Winners and the favourites Croatia, and Serbia would have to settle for a Playoff spot. Albania were the surprise package, winning half their games, though that of course also came at the expense of Northern Ireland and the zero point Andorrans who conceded 50 goals in their eight games, including a 7-0 at home to Albania, an 8-0 away to Serbia, and an eye watering 14-0 in Croatia. Qualified :- Croatia Playoffs :- Serbia Out :- Albania, Northern Ireland, Andorra Group D (Finland, France, Lithuania, Montenegro, Romania) When Romania beat France at home in the second gameday to head the Group, many in Europe were starting to wonder if one of the Continents heavyweight nations could miss out on automatic qualification, maybe even the Playoffs as well. Fortunately for the French, it didn't come to that, as they didn't drop another point through the campaign and in the end won the Group comfortably. A very poor Finland side were out of sorts and won just once through the campaign, and that was against the winless bottom of the Group side Lithuania, who did at least manage three draws. That left Romania and Montenegro to battle for the Playoff spot, a contest effectively ended in the penultimate gameday when Montenegro could only draw in Helsinki in their final match, and while level on points with Romania who still had a game to play, the Romanians also held the head to head advantage, though they removed the doubt by beating Lithuania in Bucharest. Qualified :- France Playoffs :- Romania Out :- Montenegro, Finland, Lithuania Group E (Austria, Bulgaria, FYR Macedonia, Holland, Liechtenstein) Holland produced the first, and what would be the only 100% record in European Championships Qualifying, and no one could say they necessarily had an easy group either, as Group E turned out to be quite a competitive section. For Finland in the last Group, see Austria in this one, as their only points came from a pair of wins over Liechtenstein, who are hugely handicapped by all bar two of their entire squad playing not only domestically, but also for the same club. Bulgaria would turn out to be best of the remaining duo, only dropping points to Holland, and their home and away victories over the FYR Macedonia proving crucial to them earning the Playoff spots. Qualified :- Holland Playoffs :- Bulgaria Out :- FYR Macedonia, Austria, Liechtenstein Group F (Georgia, Malta, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey) The tightest Group in terms of overall closeness for the places that matter, and it ended with a minor shock too. As you might expect, you can rule Malta out of that close fight, and Georgia joined them, though it would be only fair of me to mention that Georgia were actually very competitive throughout the campaign. Not at their best were Sweden, who lost early on in Turkey, and by the time they also lost heavily in the return to the same opponents a shock was looking very possible, with Turkey and Slovenia both having very good campaigns. Turkey finished their schedule first with a 2-2 draw in Tbilisi while Slovenia thrashed Malta. That left an intriguing end to the Group to come, Sweden hosting Slovenia knowing they needed a victory to win the Group, push Slovenia down to second spot and knock Turkey out. It didn't work out that way though, a 2-2 draw meant Slovenia won the Group to qualify, Turkey will go to the Playoffs, and Sweden are out! Qualified :- Slovenia Playoffs :- Turkey Out :- Sweden, Georgia, Malta Group G (Belgium, Faroe Island, Latvia, Russia, Ukraine) That shock would pale by comparison to the shock that transpired in Group G however. There were early signs that all was not well in the Belgium camp from the start. In their opening three games they were held to a draw in Latvia, beaten at home by the Russians, and then only beat the Faroes in Toshavn courtesy of a very late pair of goals. With Ukraine and Russia building a cushion, the pressure grew on Ariël Jacobs and his team as draws were no longer good enough for them. Defeats in Moscow and Kiev within a month of each other left Belgium out of the picture, and Jacobs out of a job. That win over Belgium shortly after beating Russia themselves was enough to clinch the Group for Ukraine, and Russia will be in the Playoffs. Qualified :- Ukraine Playoffs :- Russia Out :- Belgium, Latvia, Faroe Islands Group H (Armenia, Iceland, Israel, Poland, Portugal) Now in his 30's, Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal team were the outright favourites for this pool, but they didn't have things all their own way in a section that certainly wouldn't be considered as easy. They won their opening four to put themselves firmly in control, partly due to no outstanding competitor emerging as the rest took points from each other. Israel earned a point in Portugal, and that would become the start of a run that saw the favourites win only one of their last four, losing at home to Iceland and away to Poland, and finding themselves heading to Armenia on the final gameday with all possibilities still open. Their win would earn them a place in the Finals, pushing Poland into the Playoffs, and the end of the road for Iceland who could have won the Group or made the Playoffs with a win in Israel instead of a 3-0 defeat on that last day. Qualified :- Portugal Playoffs :- Poland Out :- Iceland, Israel, Armenia Group I (Cyprus, England, Estonia, Slovakia, Switzerland) England often have a fairly straightforward run to Major Finals, the problems usually begin once they get to the event itself. This time the problems started early when they lost at home to Slovakia. They got right back on track with wins in Switzerland and Estonia either side of a home win against Cyprus, but the Group was thrown open again when Switzerland picked up the win at Wembley. Fortunately for Stuart Pearce and his Three Lions, the Swiss would then lose in Slovakia and Estonia, leaving England to claim top spot, while Switzerland would eventually claim second by result of their last day win at home to Cyprus. Qualified :- England Playoffs :- Switzerland Out :- Slovakia, Estonia, Cyprus Group J (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Denmark, Moldova, Republic of Ireland) Look at that for a stacked Group that the Irish have found themselves pitched into! I almost feel sorry for Moldova to be honest. Ireland kicked off their campaign well with a win in Prague and a draw in Copenhagen, and then got to watch on a little bit as others dropped points amongst each other, including Denmark being held at home to Moldova. The early impressive start of Bosnia was halted by home defeats to Denmark and the Czechs, but both then went on to lose next time out, including an Irish win in Dublin against Denmark. The Irish went into the last gameday guaranteed at least a Playoff spot, which was good as they lost in Sarajevo. But at the same time the Czech's were beaten in Copenhagen, leaving Ireland top of the Group while the Danes win over the Czech's gave them the head to head advantage and a Playoff spot. Qualified :- Republic of Ireland Playoffs :- Denmark Out :- Czech Republic, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Moldova

Wednesday 1st June 2016 It is not just the squad I'm looking to improve ahead of our return to the top tier. I give my backroom staff a boost with the signing of Marian Cisovsky as a Coach at the club. The 36 year old announced his retirement from football last week, a career that saw him win 20 Senior International Caps for his native Slovakia, and play as well as in his homeland but also in Romania, and would finish his career across the Irish Sea from us in Swansea, where he made 27 appearances in the Coca-Cola Championship in two seasons in South Wales. Adept at the tactical and technical side of the game, happy to assist with coaching and developing youth players as well as the first team squad, and skilfull at scouting both current and future talent and potential in a player. An excellent addition to the staff. It is clear that when it comes to the 'have's' and the 'have not's' in the top tier, we fall very much into the latter category. While we are trying to find players on the cheap and attempting to pick up the leftovers that other clubs no longer need, successive League Champions of the nation Linfield are spending £20,000 on players from England that will doubtless be stars at this level of football. Thursday 2nd June Both of the goalkeepers I have tried to sign have their work permit applications rejected, which isn't entirely unexpected, but is still very disappointing. Neither has played enough International football to qualify to come to the country and play football for a wage with Coleraine. Friday 3rd June With little regard for club finances from elsewhere in the club, I've decided that I can't afford to hold back either, and have today broke the bank to get a signed contract from a player I believe can help us stay out of relegation trouble in the upcoming season at the very least. This is a former Coleraine player that would be returning to the club, a player that I've had to deal with during my time at The Showgrounds while he has been playing for a rival. Assuming the Board don't step in to halt this transfer, it will go ahead on the 1st July, fingers crossed. Saturday 4th June While the nation where I earn a living are facing the nation that I manage, our young Coleraine centre back Ryan Young is out in Africa adding to his cap total with The Gambia. He has represented them for the fourth time today as they continue their FIFA 2018 World Cup Qualifying campaign, and they pick up another win in Manzini against Swaziland, our boy Ryan even picking up an assist in the 2-1 win that keeps them on pace with heavyweights South Africa in the early stages of Group One. Sunday 5th June I was hoping I wouldn't need a work permit for former Moldovan Under-21 International left winger Dumitru Vasilescu on account of his status as a dual national of Romania. Unfortunately that isn't the case, and the player we have agreed to take on a free from Moldovan club side Dacia Chisinau now has to wait a month to almost certainly see his application rejected. Monday 6th June 21 year old Coleraine native Matthew Dornan will leave his hometown club this summer as his contract is about to expire and he isn't offered a renewal. The 6'4 attacking midfielder played 22 League games for the club, and also had a very productive season in the third tier with Portstewart. He has been snapped up to play at that level next season with Killymoon Rangers, who have preserved their third tier status without really threatening to move into the second tier at any point. Tuesday 7th June Also moving on will be another Coleraine native, as Robert Donaghy prepares to leave the club he has served for five seasons. He played 24 times in League action, but only two substitute appearances this season gave him advance warning that his days at The Showgrounds were numbered. He isn't moving too far, as he signs on with near and fierce rivals Limavady United who spent much of season in the running to join us in the Premier Division next season. Saturday 11th June Ryan Young would play the full ninety minutes today for The Gambia in Banjul, earning his fifth cap in a 2-1 World Cup Qualifying defeat against South Africa. It was a great showing from his nation against one of the continents more powerful footballing countries, though Young did suffer a strained neck during the game and will likely miss the final of this quartet of Internationals next weekend as Swaziland arrive in the country, and The Gambia look to strengthen their grip on second place in Group One. Wednesday 15th June Despite earning promotion, as a club we have been overtaken by multiple foreign clubs over the last twelve months, and when the European Club Rankings are released today we have dropped 21 places down to 538th in the continent. The biggest leap up was by Norwegian club Bodo/Glimt who jumped 191 places to a spot just outside the Top 200 clubs. The number one ranked club in Europe according to these Rankings are once again Arsenal. Saturday 18th June When the Northern Irish Annual Football Awards Night is held, it's Linfield who sweep the board. Their continued qualification for European football has seen the club move to a financial level that makes it almost impossible for any other Northern Irish club to match them. That is highlighted by two of their signings this season. 22 year old former Scottish Under-21 International striker Jack Brown was signed from Heart of Midlothian for almost £200,000, and in 47 games in all competitions he would find the net an impressive thirty four times, helping him become the Premier Division Signing of the Season. On the flip side, the signing of 17 year old England Under-19 International centre back Derek Ord wasn't considered a success. Named as the Premier Division's Worst Signing of the Season, which might be unfair on the teenager as it mainly reflects the fee, a never before seen at this level £1.2m signing from Wigan Athletic, who he never played a competitive game for. He wasn't their only big money signing, they also paid £725,000 to Bolton Wanderers for 19 year old England Under-19 International midfielder Michael Constable. How on earth are we going to compete with that next season............. ........well, we have had a contract today from a Northern Irish Under-19 International goalkeeper today who we are signing on a Free Transfer after he failed to come to an agreement with his current club. Doesn't quite sound so impressive does it.......

Monday 30th May 2016 Ajay Bailleux's omission from the Squad is the main talk of the nations sporting press as far as football is concerned, with many reporting that the right back has been merely rested for the trip to Belfast for the Friendly against Northern Ireland. That could well turn out to be the case should he improve his form, but dropped due to poor form would be a more accurate description of the situation. Friday 3rd June Tomorrow is gameday, and predictably we are picked to get a bit of a hiding tomorrow in front of a packed house at Windsor Park, though packed to a large percentage with frustrated Norn Iron fans, who have just seen their nation miles away from Qualifying for the UEFA 2016 European Championship Finals, which also start tomorrow in Spain. More about the Ulster football faithful's annoyance with the way things are going Internationally in the Coleraine thread that will review the 2015/16 season, plus a full review of the Euro's. They will almost certainly line up in a 4-4-2 formation, and we plan on matching up with them. Why not, after all, we are one place ahead of their current 108th place showing in the latest FIFA World Rankings. Joking aside, this is the biggest step up in quality we have made, exactly half of the Squad selected by Nigel Worthington have a current value of £1m or higher. Theirs is not a young squad on the whole, but it is crammed full of talented players, including Steven Davis of Manchester City, defender Craig Cathcart who against all the odds has become a regular across the city at Manchester United, and the potential Senior International Debut of the emerging talent of 18 year old winger Frank Sterling, who is lighting up the Irish League with moneybags south of the border side Drogheda United, who have won four of the last five Titles in the Republic, but haven't yet been able to make the Group Stage of the Continents biggest club Tournaments, losing to Celtic and Feyenoord in the last Qualifying Round they needed to navigate through in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League respectively. Saturday 4th June International Friendly Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland Northern Ireland v India Attendance :- 20,279. Weather :- Gusty, Downpours, 12c. As promised, I match up with opposite number Nigel Worthington and his orthodox 4-4-2, which means the wingers withdrawing slightly deeper than I would usually have with both Coleraine and India. Amar Thakur gets the nod for the available right back berth following Ajay Bailleux's omission, while Ranty Martins returns to replace Chidi Edeh up front with Sunil Chetri. Three potential Full International Debutants feature amongst our substitutes for this game. Despite the poor weather for early summer in Northern Ireland, the ground is packed, and that includes a section of several hundred India supporters. Quite a few now call Northern Ireland home, some have travelled across from the UK mainland for this game, keen to take a rare opportunity to watch their improving National Team play in the flesh. Hopefully they will get to see the team more often against bigger nations in the future. And boy did we give them something to cheer and make a noise about early on! Martin Paterson had already lashed a shot high and wide of the target, and Raheem Alibhaï had skinned George McCartney and got a dangerous looking cross over by the time Paramjit Kumar hoisted the ball up the park in the 5th minute. It was launched over the high Northern Irish back line, and the offside trap was sprung. Sunil Chetri didn't have the pace to get away from Craig Cathcart, who tried to bring the striker down, but failed, and the Greek based forward curled his shot around the advancing Michael McGovern and into the far corner to net his 20th International goal and give us a shock early lead! Immediately the Ulster boys tried to correct things, Kyle Lafferty cushioning the ball down to Paterson to sweep home in the 11th minute, but that was chalked off due to offside. We would lose full back Amar Thakur to injury moments later, Gumpe Singh coming on in his place, and pushed right into action as Subrata Pal pushed down Steven Davis' drive from range and Gumpe has to be quick to keep the loose ball away from Chris Brunt. You can't stop him taking set pieces though, and after Davis had sent one well over the bar and Mark Teggart saw his shot blocked on the line by Jose Paul, the equaliser came midway through the half courtesy of Brunt going for power from a free kick and smashing it low into the bottom corner. Our solid start was over, and now we were being pinned deep into our own half. Pal had to stretch to keep out another Paterson effort that was destined for the bottom corner, and Kumar earned a booking in his efforts to help deal with Lafferty who was causing us problems in the air. We were being peppered with diagonal balls and crosses into the box, and while Howard Beverland's was too deep, Brunt was able to send it back across to the far post where Davis found himself unmarked and nodded home to put Northern Ireland in front. It was a lead they would increase before the break, and while Brunt went for power first time, this effort was all about accuracy as he curled his left footed free kick from a slightly more central position around the wall and into the top corner to leave our hosts well in charge at the interval. I actually thought we had done okay in the early stages, before just being unable to deal with the onslaught that met us in the latter part of the first half. I made two changes, switching the ineffective Ranty Martins for the skill of Edu, and bringing on debutant Mohd Jahangir Islam for Yadwinder Khan in the midfield. The personnel changes didn't make much difference to the flow of the game, and McCartney and Brunt linked down the left before the latter whipped in a cross that Kumar, already on a booking of course, managed to beat Lafferty to and head to safety. This being a Friendly, and now with a lead, Northern Ireland started to make some changes, which as they usually do impacted the flow of the game, and when we started to make our own changes, which included a second debutant in Anthony D'Souza, the competitive edge practically disappeared altogether. That suited us it would seem, as Chetri almost got a second with a curling effort from range that missed the top corner. Then, with the clock at ninety, Francisco Reja launched the ball up the park and over the high line of the defence just as Kumar had done early on. Chetri didn't chase this time, believing he was offside, but Edu did. The Brazilian born veteran striker cut across Cathcart, rounded McGovern and then tucked home his finish beautifully, but unfortunately he was offside, while Chetri wasn't. That was a shame, but didn't impact the result on a day when we certainly weren't disgraced, and will have earned some new admirers from our efforts. Northern Ireland (3) 3 - Chris Brunt (24,41), Steven Davis (31) India (1) 1 - Sunil Chetri (5) Subrata Pal; Amar Thakur (inj - Gumpe Singh 13), Jose Paul (Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep 70), Francisco Reja, Paramjit Kumar; Raheem Alibhaï © (Anthony D'Souza 70), Amit Singh, Yadwinder Khan (Mohd Jahngir Islam 45), Sanjay Singh (Naresh Reja 70); Sunil Chetri, Ranty Martins (Edu 45). Unused Substitutes :- Arindam Bhattacharya (GK), Adil Kundu, Nurul Islam. Bookings :- Paramjit Kumar 31, Francisco Reja 90+6. Possession :- 50% - 50%. Man of the Match :- Chris Brunt (Northern Ireland). I have to admit to being fairly proud of my team today. Yes, we have been beaten, I don't think anyone expected anything else from today. But we certainly played our hearts out, defended very stubbornly for large parts of Northern Ireland domination, and actually used the ball quite nicely and effectively when we had it, though I'm not sure about the 50/50 split of possession, I'd be surprised if that was accurate. At our level, it isn't too often we will play competitive football against nations who can call on players of the talent Northern Ireland have, and I'm taking nothing but positives for the future from this one. I'll continue to pitch for Friendlies against European nations, and for my players to take the chance to make the move into more competitive Leagues to play their week to week football too. The next Senior Squad action will be the Asian Cup Qualifying, which will begin I believe in early 2017, and we await the draw for the Group Stage of that event. We also have the clubs across the world soon bringing in their 'Class of 2016' youth intakes, and you can be sure that myself and my staff will be searching high and low for any of those talented youngsters that are qualified to play International Football for India, regardless of where they may be playing their club football around the globe.

Hi Pablo, and welcome to this corner of the Boards. There are plenty of Arsenal fans here who will be very interested to see how you get on here I'm sure. Would suggest you read the House Rules to familiarise yourself with the content that is permitted in this section, particularly regarding the use of screenshots etc which you have mentioned. Basically, you can't, they'll be removed. Hopefully this doesn't hinder your story, and wishing you best of luck against Pep and friends.

Sunday 29th May 2016 The season may be over, but India are about to take a huge step in there development by travelling to the country where I have my day job, and competing in an International Friendly. This is a fixture that would have been laughed off as ridiculous some years ago. Now it's happening, and I'm the man picking the Senior Squad for India that will face Northern Ireland at Windsor Park next week. This is not a game where I want to 'experiment', this is one I want us to show how far we have progressed during my time in charge. **SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT** India Senior Squad for International Friendly vs Northern Ireland - A (3/6/2016) | Name | Position | Club | Height | Age | Value | Caps | Goals | | Arindam Bhattacharya | GK | Mahindra United | 6'1" | 30 | £4K | 4 | 0 | | Mohammed Hossain | GK | JCT | 6'1" | 23 | £1K | 4 | 0 | | Subrata Pal | GK | Al-Ansar (LIB) | 6'0" | 29 | £35K | 13 | 0 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Gumpe Singh | D RC | East Bengal | 5'7" | 24 | £9K | 4 | 1 | | Paramjit Kumar | D L | Vasco | 5'7" | 22 | £4K | 12 | 0 | | Adil Kundu | D C | Zimbru Chisinau (MDA) | 5'8" | 24 | £5K | 8 | 0 | | Francisco Reja | D C | vv Heerjansdam (NED) | 5'9" | 20 | £8K | 5 | 0 | | Jose Paul | D C | WIT-Georgia Tbilisi (GEO) | 5'9" | 24 | £18K | 12 | 3 | | Manju Nanjangud Shivananju | D C | Bengal Mumbai FC | 6'1" | 29 | £1K | 11 | 1 | | Denzil Sameer | D/WB R | Pune FC | 5'9" | 21 | £1K | 0 | 0 | | Amar Thakur | D/WB/AM R | Air India | 5'5" | 23 | £1K | 3 | 0 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Sanjay Singh | D LC,M L | Indian Telephone SC | 5'7" | 17 | - | 6 | 0 | | Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep | D C, AM LC | Mohun Bagan | 5'7" | 33 | £2K | 26 | 10 | | Anthony D'Souza |D/WBR,DM,MRC | Viva Kerala | 5'9" | 22 | £1K | 0 | 0 | | Amit Singh | DM, M C | FC Nantes (FRA) | 5'10" | 18 | £4K | 11 | 0 | | Nurul Islam | DM, M C | Mohun Bagan | 5'9" | 21 | £3K | 0 | 0 | | Kuldip Kumar | M C | Mahindra United | 5'8" | 23 | £5K | 2 | 0 | | Mohd Jahangir Islam | M C | Dempo | 5'8" | 23 | £18K | 0 | 0 | | Yadwinder Khan | M C | Bengal Mumbai FC | 5'8" | 24 | £3K | 7 | 0 | | Raheem Alibhaï | AM R | Olympic Charleroi (BEL) | 5'7" | 31 | £3K | 11 | 1 | | Naresh Reja | AM L | Bhratri Sangha | 5'10" | 20 | - | 1 | 0 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Chidi Edeh | ST | Mahindra United | 5'11" | 29 | £7K | 14 | 4 | | Edu | ST | Mohun Bagan | 6'1" | 33 | £2K | 7 | 2 | | Ranty Martins | ST | Al-Nejmeh (LIB) | 6'1" | 29 | £10K | 12 | 9 | | Sandip Kumar | ST | East Bengal | 6'0" | 24 | £35K | 3 | 0 | | Sunil Chetri | ST | AS Rodos (GRE) | 5'5" | 31 | £10K | 31 | 19 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is my first Senior Squad selection for over six months since we were knocked out of the World Cup Qualifying in Malaysia in the most disappointing moment of my now three years in the job on the sub-continent. This would have been my first opportunity to cap Belgian based goalkeeper Ganesh Aerts at Senior level too, but the AA Gent player who is unsettled and out of contract in a month at his club side is currently sidelined with a shoulder injury, and won't be making the trip to Belfast. So my trio of goalkeepers remain the same in personnel, though it is worth noting that Subrata Pal is the latest of my players to try his hand overseas. Since we last played a Senior game the 29 year old has moved from East Bengal to Beirut in Lebanon, where Al-Ansar paid £35,000 for him. And they have got their money's worth so far too, Pal has played eleven times in all competitions for them, registering four clean sheets, an average of almost 7.5, and closer to 8 in the league games. He's been one of my reliable's since taking over, but is Ajay Bailleux reaching the end of his International career? Since moving to Mohammedan it's clear the 32 year old isn't performing at his previous level, and while I wouldn't shut the door on him, we do now have better options, and he is left out today. Amar Thakur retains his place, and in comes a potential debutant at Senior level. 21 year old Denzil Sameer has largely been off the radar over the last few years, though he did pick up four caps at Under-21 level in his early years. A £1,000 transfer from Churchill Brothers to NFL side Pune FC has seen him go on to have a very consistent first season at the top domestic level and has thoroughly earned his call-up. He will move again this coming summer to Vasco Sports Club, the transfer value now pushed up to £7,000 this time. Last summer Vasco spent £12,000 to sign Paramjit Kumar, who could get a taste of being Sameer's team mate, or could be heading out the door he comes in through with rumours that East Bengal are lining up a move for the 22 year old twelve times capped left back, who is once again included in the Squad here. Competing for the left back role with him is his old competitor Azadur Barman, who's form with Churchill Brothers has pushed him ahead of Dulal Bhattacharya, who's move to Jordan has done nothing for his form at all, registering an average of well under 6 with Al-Faysali and left out this time around. Unfortunately, Barman was injured on the day that the Squad was named, and in his place is Manju Nanjangud Shivananju, a centre back who can cover at left back in an emergency, but we also already have adequate cover for the full back role elsewhere in the Squad as well. At centre back it is much the same as it was for Malaysia, with one significant change. Jose Paul is back after missing out the Second Leg of the World Cup Qualifier due to an injury sustained in the First Leg, and the Georgian based heart of our defence returns to the Squad following another very good season in Europe, and he replaces Hong Kong based Francisco Bhowmick in the only change to our centre back options. There isn't a great deal of change to our midfield options in the middle of the park either this time around. Sabri Gharbi is injured once again and can't be considered, while the Italian based William Jidayi has barely played this season for Manfredonia and is expected to move on once again this summer but remain in Italy. Left out from the last selection are two of my European based options in Bury attacking midfielder Aman Verma and French based defensive midfield option Karan Mollah, both as a result of a lack of form. In their places are Kuldip Kumar of Mahindra United who has had another excellent domestic campaign, and Nurul Islam, who like Sameer hasn't featured at any level under my management, but is coming off a very good season with Mohun Bagan, his first season back with the traditional heavyweight club after they paid £12,000 to re-sign him last summer from SC Goa after he had spent his formative years with Mohun. He holds six caps at Under-21 level, and will be hoping for a Senior International debut. On the wings, Belgian based National Team Captain and Olympic Charleroi mainstay Raheem Alibhaï has rediscovered his form at club level after a worrying lack of production over the last couple of years. He was much better this season though, and even at 31 years old, he doesn't want to be referred to as a veteran, and he has every intention of seeing off the competition for the right wing berth at Senior level. His closest competition right now still comes from D'Souza, though from the last selection it is no longer Ryan, and is instead Anthony D'Souza this time. Ryan hasn't had a great campaign at all with a Mohun Bagan side that he would expect to thrive in, and doesn't get the chance to add to his two Senior Caps. Instead Viva Kerala's versatile Anthony D'Souza could be in line for a Senior International Debut after an excellent season, plus brings the option of him being able to play anywhere down the right side of the park as well. Sanjay Singh remains at Indian Telephone Sports Club, and the 17 year old remains our best option on a left wing that is a weak spot for us. Once capped Naresh Reja is also included at that position, also playing at a lower level with Bhratri Sangha, but has signed on the dotted line to move up to JCT next season despite their relegation from the NFL. Just missing out on selection was one of the first players to be capped by me, and an early goalscorer in an India jersey during this save, Reisangmi Vasum, who has played very well for FC Kochin this seeason and earned a move back to the NFL, and back to the team that let him go last season. In fact, this will be the third time he has signed for SC Goa. All that leaves me with room for five strikers in the Squad. Three of those are domestic based too, in Chidi Edeh of Mahindra United along with Edu of Mohun Bagan and Sandip Kumar of East Bengal. That trio is responsible for almost 50 goals between them this season in all competitions. Add to that the contributions of Greek based current leading scorer of active players, Sunil Chetri, and the player with the best strike rate of active players at the moment, Lebanon based Ranty Martins, the Nigerian born striker who has nine goals from twelve caps and is being linked with a move to Europe with Croatian club NK Slavonac, who have just been relegated from the top tier in the former Yugoslav nation. That means some pretty talented forwards have missed out on this big trip, including the likes of the nations most highly valued player and currently Thailand based, Ashish Morje, the uncapped SC Goa striker Felix Basheer who scored a dozen goals from 22 appearances in all competitions, and 20 year old Vasco player Bhupinder Das who hit double figures in a single season for the first time in his career.

Cheers mate, always good to have you along. Yep, all of the European nations included in the game, plus a few of the larger other worldwide leagues as well. Obviously I won't be signing any Brazilian wonderkids, but it's not fair to stop the other teams doing so to keep up with my Serbian superstars.....hopefully ha ;-)

Monday 11th May 2009 Ryan McStay is the only Dumbarton representative in the final Third Division Team of the Week for the season. With hangovers starting to subside slowly, attention is already very much on next season. I need a goalkeeper, a left back to provide cover and competition for veteran Darren Barnard, and a centre back with expectations low of persuading on loan David Armstrong to sign here or come back on loan once more. I'll want to improve my midfield options as well, and we'll need a few strikers with Paul McLeod the only one likely to have any chance of stepping up, and Mark Archdeacon's goals will need to be replaced with low likelihood of his return as well. Targets have already been identified, and offers already sent out. We're looking to get our business done early. Our 19 year old goalkeeper Michael White has spent the season out on loan at Second Division side Alloa Athletic and played a dozen competitive games there, has signed a new two year extension to continue playing for us, even agreeing a slight pay cut to remain a Dumbarton player. Tuesday 12th May It's a big day, with no less than three players agreeing to join the club for next season. Two are forwards, one from a club relegated from the Second Division, and another at a club that could yet do the same. The other player has cost us a modest transfer fee, and will move up from non-League to hopefully bolster our midfield options. More details on the new arrivals later in the off-season when they arrive at the club. Thursday 14th May It's not quite all going our way, our attempt to bring in our first choice as a new goalkeeper has failed, as he selects another option. Not entirely unexpected, as we were competing against a pair of First Division clubs for his signature. Saturday 16th May My second choice keeper signing isn't overly impressed with our opening offer, though I'm encouraged by the fact that he remains at the table to try and work out a deal. With that information, we still keep our offer low and the improvement on the low side to try and sign a guy who would bring masses of experience to the club for next season. Monday 18th May Motherwell have rejected our offer to loan Mark Archdeacon for another season. Hearts accepted the same offer for David Armstrong, but the player has said no, preferring to wait to see if other options present themselves for the 2009/10 season. Tuesday 19th May The goalie signs for us, an excellent signing I suspect, on a very cheap deal financially for us, and an opportunity to prolong the career for the player. I'm a happy guy with that deal. Wednesday 20th May One of the forwards we have got coming in for next season is involved for his current club in the Playoffs this evening. He puts in an outstanding display, kept off the scoresheet but setting up two of his teams three goals for a man of the match display. With some good work already done, I take the chance to clear the decks. Michael Moore, Paul Keegan, David Gray, Mark Canning and Mick Byrne are all released by the club today. Don Hutchison is bought out of the last year of his contract, and Kieran McAnespie's loan is terminated a couple of weeks early. That leaves us around a £1,000 a week under last seasons wage budget total, though the new players have to be added, and I'm hoping there is a budget increase for next season. Saturday 23rd May Lucky we're not skint, as £42,000 worth of bonus money is paid out to the Squad on a pro-rata basis for winning the Third Division Title. Sunday 24th May No bonus for me, but I am named as the Scottish Third Division Manager of the Year. I applaud the voters on their excellent choice! Four of my players are named in the Team of the Year, three of them from my defence. David Armstrong, Ben Gordon and Darren Barnard are joined by midfielder Ryan McStay. We are the most heavily represented club in the selection. Heartbreak for East Stirlingshire this weekend. After making it through to the Final of the Playoffs, and winning the First Leg at home by a 3-1 scoreline, they are swept aside 3-0 in the Second Leg away to Stranraer, who preserve their third tier status and are a club we will lock horns with in the Second Division next season. I'm quite pleased to report that one level further up, St Johnstone have won their First/Second Division Playoff Final tie, and they won't be a club we have to compete against next season, as they will remain in the second tier and the only team coming down are Livingston who were automatically relegated. Sunday 31st May Kiwi full back Sam Peters is a bit of a forgotten man at the Strathclyde Homes Stadium, but he remains a part of the New Zealand Under-21's Squad, called up for their upcoming double header of away Friendly Age Group International games in Lebanon, and then on to Jordan. Our current stadium sponsor deal is renewed for a further season. We're not going to get rich from them, as they are paying just £14,000 for the naming rights for the 2009/10 season. We will get around the same again for the second season of a two year shirt sponsorship deal.

Midfield is probably one of the strongest areas of the Squad I’ve inherited. Not necessarily a bad thing of Vidojevic, as if I play to our strengths and pack the middle of the park, his status as a dead ball specialist could still see him earn some game time.

Early July, and I wouldn't call it an elevated position, but it's the back row of the stand in our fairly tiny stadium to take in our opening pre-season friendly. The opposition have travelled into Serbia for this game, and come in the form of Czech second tier outfit Viktoria Zizkov. I gave my staff carte blanche to decide the formation, lineup and all aspects of the game. They matched up against the vistors 4-4-2, placing probably our best player up front rather than the area behind the strikers that he prefers. That player is 21, shortly to be 22 year old Ivan Pesic, a player about to enter his fourth season at the club and with almost 60 league appearances under his belt, but with a very poor return of just seven goals and an assist. He opened the scoring early on today though. That lead held until the break, but the guests came out blazing after the break, and the chief tormentor was actually a Serb. Two goals from Miroslav Markoviv, with Jan Novotny also netting in between. We got one back late on through substitute striker Milan Petosevic, a 19 year old who scored in his only league outing for the club last season. They say his poor attitude has limited his opportunities to progress. Pesic is causing me an early headache. He shows up with his agent and wants a new contract. That is fine, I've plenty of wage budget to give him a better deal, but his people are insisting on a release clause should a top tier club come in for him, and also a non-promotion release clause. He has neither in his current deal that has two seasons to run, so I won't be signing off on a deal that could enable him to walk out with no course of action to prevent it. Talks break down. I wasn't joking about the wage budget having plenty of space to move either. The club today announce an operating profit from the last financial year of £425,000. This was largely down to the club selling players to the tune of £1.3 million income from sales. That included a 21 year old who was snapped up by Red Star Belgrade for £425,000 and a pair of 21 year old defenders who were sold to Russian first and second tier teams for a combined total of almost £600,000. We travel for our second pre-season friendly, crossing over into Bulgaria to take on second tier side Chavdar. They missed out on the promotion playoffs by a single win, so are a decent side. Accompanying me for this one is our newest staff member, 40 year old scout Goran Djokic who has signed a two year deal and has extensive knowlege of Bosnia/Herzeogvina as well as Serbia, plus some very good knowledge also of Montenegro and the FYR Macedonia. He is the second scout at the club, but does have higher level ratings than his already in place colleague. My staff go with the same setup though some different personnel for this one, a game that was keenly contested but ultimately goalless, as we were choked to a large degree by our hosts five man midfield. July 10th marks the day that the season ticks over from 2010/11 to the 2011/12 campaign. 14 goal striker, and 24 year old first year with the club player Dejan Vukojevic was voted the Fans' Player of the Year. This is also the day that we sit down with the Board and discuss our expectations for the new season. I agree on a top half finish, which gives me a £150,000 transfer budget and a £15,250 per week wage budget. The current wage spend is less than £5,000 per week, and the transfer pot is immediately pushed into the wage budget. Should we have to break the bank to keep hold of someone important to us, I now have £18,250 per week to spend on squad wages. There is no danger of me skinting this club in any way. However the big event of the day, hey actually the season as far as this save is concerned is the hugely anticipated Youth Intake for the new season. Nine players strong, seven from the inner areas of Belgrade, and two are pinched from outer lying areas though still classed as Belgrade. one is from Zemun who's team were relegated from the second tier last season, the other comes from Mladenovac. Of the nine, three are thought to be of fairly high level, potentially better than any other players we already have at the club should their development be managed correctly. 16 year old striker Igor Goranovic lacks a little size, but the backroom staff rate him as the best prospect amongst the group. Fellow striker Nikola Pekez isn't far behind him, and while he doesn't have the size either, he has a very high baseline level of pace and acceleration that will take him far in his career. 15 year old right winger Dejan Milutinovic unfortunately doesn't have Pekez's pace, but he does have the ability to send in a killer cross. Perhaps the most ready of this crop for football right away is 16 year old Mladenovac youngster Marjan Vidojevic. He is a 6'1 midfielder who is already a dead ball expert of note from both corners and free kicks. Lacking a little of the toughness that would stand him out as a superb prospect, he has plenty of flair about him and is my pick as one to keep an eye on. He is closely followed by left back Vladimir Vojinovic. He looks very steady at just 15 years old, and has all the attributes for a good defensive full back. He could have an issue at set pieces though, as he stands at just 5'3 tall, and would struggle with marking assignments against your typical big Serbian striker. Of the remaining four, Janko Jankovic is the best placed to make the breakthrough, a 6'0 centre back, the 16 year old has the raw talent to be a useful squad centre back, but is unlikely to reach the higher levels of the game. Nemanja Djukic is also a centre back and has the versatility to cover at right back as well, but most of his strengths lie in the non-technique based attributes, and he would have to progress quickly and hugely to make much progress I suspect. Zemun native 16 year old Vladan Dragovic can play anywhere down the right side of the park, but unfortunately that versatility is probably the best attribute he has. He still has a better shot than the only goalkeeper in the intake however, 16 year old Branko Bogicevic has an outstanding score on his sheet, but unfortunately it is for eccentricity, the one quality I least want in my goalkeepers. For top level facilities, those players in that Intake might seem a little underwhelming. But as a comparison, I took a look at both Red Star and Partizan's new arrivals as well, and frankly, there was no one that they have brought into the club that stands out as a better prospect than what we brought in. The hard work starts now to help this first crop of players help fulfil their potential as footballers.

Why has that knowledge only managed to fill me with dread now? Haha Good to have a Belgrade native following along and apologies in advance for any incorrect facts etc that crop up.

FK Bezanija Novi Belgrade. My new employers. Fate has handed me the absolute poor relations of all the Belgrade options. Winners of the Second League Belgrade Region Title in both 2000 and 2003, and the second tier First League Title once in 2006, they shocked everyone with a finish high enough during the inaugural season of the SuperLeague to earn a place in the then UEFA Cup, but did the nations co-efficient no favours at all by being bounced straight out by a club from Albania. That would be the start of a poor season for the club known as Bezanija, which would see them relegated back down to the First League, where they still reside now in June 2011. They almost disappeared from the save altogether though, changing managers for the final ten games of the season as they were perilously close to the relegation zone under Aleksandar Janjic, his sacking leading to the hiring of Slavenko Kuzeljevic until the end of the season, and he guided them safely up into eleventh spot. As explained in the opening post, I now inherit a club that scores top marks for its Youth Academy, Recruitment and Training. And it's just as well too, as the club has very little else going for it facility wise, it's five year old all seater Stadion Kraj Bezanijske Crkve holds only 2,000 fans, half the number of seats available compared to the lowest from the other Belgrade based teams in the top two divisions. Our average attendance for the 2010/11 season was less than 400! The first Youth Intake is due a couple of weeks after my appointment. hopefully that will give the fans of the club and people of Bezanija and surrounding areas something to get excited about. The Bezanija district lies in the west of Belgrade, and has a population of around 35,000 residents. However it's hoped that the clubs new world class facilities will help it to draw the best young players from across the city, surrounding areas, Serbia as a whole, and maybe even neighbouring former Yugolsav nations. This club does have form for attracting youngsters from across one of it's borders in Bosnia-Herzegovina in particular. We'll take a look at the Squad in the coming weeks, once we have taken a look at the newcomers to the club. However, there is currently a primarily Serbian nucleus of players, though you can throw in a handful of Bosnian's, plus a Brazilian and a Ghanaian as well. There is also currently a Slovenian, however he has already agreed a summer transfer away from the club as he is heading to Armenia to play his club football. My first act of any real note is to sit down with about to be out of contract full back Aleksandar Gojkovic, and offer him a new deal that the Director of Football couldn't or wouldn't get done. The 24 year old has just played his first season for the club after joining last summer for £40,000. He featured in less than half the First League games, but had a strong average rating, and while he is a right back naturally, he can cover at left back as well. A small pay rise seems worthwhile to keep that kind of versatility, and while I've never seen him play, I used the queue of mid to lower end SuperLeague clubs keen to secure his signature as a guide to it being prudent to keep him around for now. Of course, I've never seen any of our players play actually. And the opening few games of our pre-season will be taken by the staff, as I arrange to sit and watch the opening couple of fixtures until our Youth Intake arrives, using a raised position in the stands to take a good look at what I have at our disposal ahead of the new campaign. Our pre-season schedule starts to take shape, and will include a trip to Bulgaria for a game, where we are being paid expenses plus a fee. We will also host a good team from the Czech Republic. Links are being formed, and they include a new link with Hungarian top tier runner's-up Debrecen. We are paid £20,000 per year for this link, and allows them first option on any of our players that we accept an offer on. It would also allow us to take players from them on loan at no cost, and they plan the first part of that side of the deal with an offer to loan us 22 year old Brazilian attacking midfielder Lucas for the next season. It's an offer I immediately decline, this is a Youth Challenge after all. No loans are permitted! It's clear I have some talented players at the club, as the vultures from the SuperLeague hover and start to make low ball offers for some of the talent at the club. Some of them use that development to try and back the club into a corner and see if they can shake us down for improved contract terms. Some are after the money they believed they would get if they had earned promotion here instead of floundering near the relegation zone for most of the campaign. With a bank balance at the club of around £700,000 currently, we are not in a position where we need to sell players on a financial basis right now.

Time is not something I'm short of at the moment ED, so running multiple saves is keeping me occupied right now to be honest. Yeah, I fancied trying somewhere off the track a bit. Should be interesting if nothing else. Cheers mate.

Stop. I don't deal well with pressure situations ha..... Good to have you along, thanks for commenting. Hope you enjoy the story.

You don't yet know, unless you've done a little bit of detective work ;-) I'm all about the suspense and keeping people on the edge of their seats....... ha Appreciate the comment. Hope you enjoy the story.

Thanks Mark. Always a concept I've fancied a crack at, so looking forward to it. Appreciate the post mate.

THE SETUP One of the most participated in ways of playing Football Manager, a method that has led to some epic tales and saves across the various corners of these forums over the years. But a method that I have never had a go at. Until now that is. As always, I've tried to put my own twist and stamp on my effort of course. I'm using the FM'11 version to bring the editor into play. My intention is to take charge of a minnow or less fancied club in a city that is heavy with football clubs, and use the editor to gift them top level Training, Youth Facilities, and Youth Recruitment. The chosen club will be taken over by myself and edited after the first full season, and around the time of the time of the Youth Intake, and that is where the story will begin. There will be no player purchases, and no player editing. Bringing in staff is permitted. Using the players already at the club is also permitted. This slow burner story will hopefully see the chosen minnow team progress to the point where they can challenge their heavyweight city rivals for young players off the park using their facilities, and eventually on the park with a team full of home grown talent that take the club to new levels. The next question, was where? There were plenty of candidates as I looked for somewhere further from the track well trodden. Istanbul, Sofia, Stockholm, Budapest and Vienna were all considered as candidates. But Belgrade stood out with the opportunity to try and bring forward a team that would challenge the domestic domination of Red Star and Partizan, clubs who for decades have developed young Serbian players and then sold them on to big clubs abroad and seen them to develop into stars at both club and international level. The club will be chosen and named near the end of the first season, it will be the lowest ranked Belgrade based club after the opening season has been played through, regardless of their stature, stadium size etc. Should be fun, right? Enjoy. ------------------------------------------------------ June 2011 The 2010/11 season has just been simulated through in Serbia. As is often the way in this country, Belgrade clubs dominated, as Red Star win their 8th Serbian SuperLeague Title, which is added to their eighteen Yugoslav Titles. As the Champions, they will also collect Serbia's only place in the UEFA Champions League. Their omnipresent fierce cross city rivals Partizan are Runner's-Up, seven points behind, which in the eyes of their fans will be classed as disaster. I'm not the only person hoping to extend that huge Belgrade rivalry across further clubs. OFK Belgrade have finished third, only a win behind Partizan, and they will be hoping to push on in coming seasons. FK Rad Belgrade make it a sweep of the top four places for Belgrade clubs, despite their small stature and stadium, and compared to the others, a lack of support too. There is further Belgrade representation further down the SuperLeague table, with FK BSK Borca Belgrade in seventh place. Another is relegated from the SuperLeague, as FK Cukaricki Stankom Belgrade finish 15th in the top tier division, and will be demoted down to the First League. As they are more commonly known, Cukaricki will become my main rivals, as they will be my primary Belgrade competitors in the 2011/12 season. That's because they will be replaced in the top tier by the First League Champions, yet another Belgrade club, this time FK BASK 1903 Belgrade, a newcomer to the scene who were promoted from the third tier a year ago, which is regionalised and is actually a Belgrade Division, and they have marched right through the second tier and into the SuperLeague. So that leads us to the club where I will be attempting to develop a culture of playing and developing young players into future stars of the game, all while pushing my club into the fight for bragging rights in Belgrade.........

Sunday 31st August 2008 Reaction to my announcement of a first Senior Squad for Northern Ireland under my reign was largely positive, with the fans happy to see some new blood being brought into the mix on the whole. The exception there was Wayne Carlisle, with the media believing that the Torquay United winger doesn't have the quality necessary to play International football. Personally, I suspect they are reacting more to his current level of club football down in the Blue Square Premier. We are not blessed with an embarrassment for riches in many positions, and Wayne has had a superb start to the 2008/09 season at Plainmoor. Monday 1st September The draw has today been made for the First Qualifying Round of the UEFA 2009 European Under-19 Championships. We are placed in Group Nine, and will face Azerbaijan, Holland and Romania. That's a very interesting looking section, and will be held over a five day period next month, with Azerbaijan selected to host the games, which will all be held at their huge Tofik Bahramov Republican Stadium in the capital city of Baku. We will face Romania first, then the hosts two days later, before finishing off against the Dutch another two days later on. The top two will qualify automatically, with some berths available for third placed nations as well. We could have got a kinder draw, but it could have been worse as well. Tuesday 2nd September Injury issues strike the Under-21 Squad ahead of their Friendly in Slovakia, and Qualifier in Estonia. Winger Niall McGinn, who is currently on loan at Rochdale from Celtic, has suffered a bruised thigh today in training, but the medical team have cleared him to remain with the Squad and potentially be available for the more important game in Tallinn. However there is worse news for Crewe Alexandra midfielder Michael O'Connor, who is out for both games after pulling a hamstring. With all Squads selected, and those missing out for the Under-21's largely included in the Under-19's instead where they were available, my options are limited selecting a replacement. Called up is 18 year old once capped at Under-21 level, Adam Chapman. He is currently employed at Sheffield United, but is enjoying his first taste of Senior football out on loan at Oxford United of the Blue Square Premier. Wednesday 3rd September The Under-21's take another knock to their depth today with Derry City striker Thomas Stewart suffering a bruised rib today. Like McGinn, the medical team believe he can still take part in the second game at least if needed, and he will also remain with the Squad. Our Under-19's will kick off this International Window tomorrow with a Friendly in Trnava against Slovakia. The hosts have gone with a largely domestic based Squad for this one, with three notable exceptions. Two of those are English based players, goalkeeper Andrej Pernecky of Southampton, and exciting young striker Robert Mak of Manchester City. The final player of the trio is their star man, 17 year old forward Andrej Rendla who despite his tender years is already on the fringes of the First Team in his second year in Holland with FC Twente. Thursday 4th September Under-19 International Friendly Stadion Antona Malatinskeho, Trnava, Slovakia Slovakia Under-19's v Northern Ireland Under-19's Starting Lineup :- Conor Devlin (Manchester United); Michael McKerr (Birmingham City), Corry Evans (Manchester United), Johnny Flynn (Blackburn Rovers), Richard Vauls (Stoke City); Liam Bagnall (Sunderland), Robbie Weir © (Sunderland), Sammy Stewart (Aberdeen), Jordan Hughes (Portsmouth); Will Grigg (Walsall), James Lawrie (Port Vale). Substitutes :- Daniel Lafferty (Celtic), Jonathan Lavery (Ross County), Shane Duffy (Everton), Daniel Kearns (West Ham United), Eunan O'Kane (Everton), Adam McGurk (Dorchester Town), Matthew Anderson (Linfield). While I was of course keen to see what I had to work with in my first game in charge at this level, my Slovakian counter part was more inclined to use this game to experiment, and left most of his big hitters amongst the substitutes bench for this one. As a result, we enjoyed some great attacking possession in the first half. James Lawrie sent a curling shot over the bar, and then forced a point blank save from keeper Atilla Petrik when he connected with a cross from Liam Bagnall. Speaking of Bagnall, he would play a starring role shortly after Jozef Lukac just missed the target with a free kick for the hosts. After a series of corners, Petrik came off his line to try and punch one clear, he was beaten to be ball by midfielder Lubos Chmelik who's header didn't go very far at all, and the Sunderland forward Bagnall looped his header back over the crowd including the now stranded keeper, and into the far corner to put us ahead. Unfortunately, our early dominance of proceedings was over for now, and Slovakia went on the front foot. Robert Mak's shot on the turn was well wide, and Martin Boszorad forced a tip over from Conor Devlin before the break. Bagnall had a penalty appeal rejected in injury time as we entered the break a goal to the good, and the Slovakians started to make changes. A pair of changes from the hosts didn't have the effect they were hoping for, in fact it was my own half time sub that nearly altered the scoreline, Bagnall doing well down the right and sending a cross to the far post where Everton winger Eunan O'Kane wanted too much time and never made the decision between shooting and cutting the ball back across goal. When Slovakia reacted with more changes, including their star striker Andrej Rendla, the impact was swift. Blackburn defender Johnny Flynn never dealt with the Dutch based strikers movement, and he effortlessly moved off the defenders shoulder to get on the end of another sub Lukas Gressak's chip forward, and buried a shot past Devlin five minutes after being introduced. Unfortunately for Flynn, he would make a further crucial error just over five minutes later, this time losing Gressak himself as Peter Sulek's corner reached the far post, and he provided a second assist, this time for Matus Humenik who's rising half volley from the knock down found the roof of the net. Flynn would shortly come off, but the damage had been largely done, Rendla missing a chance to add another, before Celtic full back Daniel Lafferty headed wide from a late set piece as we missed a very late chance to earn a draw. Slovakia Under-19's (0) 2 - Andrej Rendla (66), Matus Humenik (72) Northern Ireland Under-19's (1) 1 - Liam Bagnall (20) Attendance :- 811 So a disappointing start result wise, but not necessarily from a performance aspect. A few of these teenagers showed themselves in a very good light with their performances, while a few such as Johnny Flynn didn't have such a good day, and will now be worried for their places in the immediate future for the Under-19's, including back in Ulster next Monday when the team will take on a talented Czech Republic outfit in Larne.

Very unfair on EDC that comment I feel......

Sunday 6th March 2011 Okehampton Argyle have broken the Division record for the highest winning margin with a 6-0 trouncing of Truro City Reserves this afternoon. It breaks the previous record that they were on the wrong end of, when they were beaten 7-2 by Dobwalls earlier this season. Monday 7th March It's one of the biggest weeks in our clubs history to date, but John Costa won't be staying around for it. The 28 year old midfielder received offers from elsewhere, and we didn't stand in his way with it being unlikely he would have received a contract when the club steps up to semi-professional status. He has accepted a deal with Farsely AFC, who are currently sat fourth in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division, and look a good bet to secure a Promotion Playoff spot at the least. They will pay Costa twenty quid a week for turning out for them. Friday 11th March We're almost there, tomorrow is the day of the big game. And today I stoke the fire as much as possible in my press conference. Asked if Mousehole's game in hand troubles me and piles the pressure on us in tomorrows big match, I reply that games in hand are only problems if they are successfully converted into three point hauls. Asked if I thought Mousehole manager Andy Clarke was a worthy adversary, I told the media present that if Mousehole were pinning their hopes of promotion on Clarke, then they'd best prepare themselves for disappointment! -------------------- THE BET nPower League Two Wycombe Wanderers v Hereford United - Home Win - 4/7 Blue Square North Boston United v Blyth Spartans - Home Win - 4/6 Isthmian League Premier Tonbridge Angels v Tooting & Mitcham - Home Win - 2/5 Treble Odds - 2.67/1 Stake - £75,000 Balance After Bet - £774,793 Total Potential Returns Including Stake - £275,000 -------------------- This is a low risk Treble, with all three selected home sides on winning runs of at least three consecutive matches, and playing teams considerably further down the table than themselves. Should this Treble land, we would have a seven figure bank balance for the first time, but frankly, the three points is more important by far this weekend. Our huge squad is trimmed by another one, with winger Fred Musah leaving today without making a First Team appearance for the club. The 28 year old has signed for King's Lynn Town of the United Counties League Premier Division. They are currently sat 7th, and just two points outside a Promotion Playoff spot and with a game in hand. Like Costa earlier in the week, Musah will be paid £20 per week turning out for his new club. Best of luck to the lad. Saturday 12th March South West Peninsula League, Divison One West Trungle Parc, Penzance Mousehole v AFC Newquay I resist media pressure to drop 19 year old midfielder Jimmy Harte, who I point out is learning to play midfield in live situations with him being a winger and having to adapt to playing as part of a midfield trio. The only change actually made is amongst the substitutes, where Ollie Harrison is recalled to the matchday squad following the departure from the club of Fred Musah. Despite the magnitude of the game, and a fairly healthy travelling support, the increase in Mousehole's usual attendance today is minimal. Our first attack of note came in the 7th minute and produced a corner. Jimmy Harte swung it towards the back post, and Alan Keogh made a real mess of trying to keep the ball away from Oktay Güney, and inadvertently guided it inside the post and into the bottom corner of his own net! Mousehole are a decent team though, and they hit back almost immediately. John Burns and John Alexander play out from the back down their left, and then send it back to James Croft, who's low cross into the centre was turned in by striker Glenn James in the 10th minute. The fact that we put them right back on the back foot just over five minutes later would've been tough to take, the manner of the goal simply made it worse. The ball was switched beautifully across the park to Steve Magee on the left, and he made his way past his marker and aimed a low cross towards the queue of black shirted Newquay players waiting to apply the finish. It reached none of them, Croft attempted to clear it and could only watch on as he shanked his effort and the ball spun off his boot and looped over his own keeper for a second own goal in the space of ten minutes. James missed a chance to level for a second time, before Croft almost caught out Elliot Jackson with a cross that ended up landing on the roof of the net. Magee failed to hit the target with a header from a Güney cross, but he was fully involved in the quick passing phase of play in the 39th minute that saw Tom Murray thread a through ball in to Michael Smyth, and with time to pick his spot, the striker drew Scott Ilesanmi off his line before sliding his shot under his dive and into the bottom corner. Half time, and we were well in control. Just one change at the break for the hosts, but it proved effective as they came out with all guns blazing from the restart. Alexander forced a save from Jackson, but our keeper couldn't keep the striker out a few minutes later when Martin Phillips hoisted the ball down the right on the counter attack, and James picked out his strike partner in the middle, and he went around the keeper before tucking home a finish and reducing the arrears down to one goal again. The game would enter a tight and physical stage, which was no surprise with the score so close in such a big game. A quick burst of bookings saw us on the better end, with only Joe Kennedy having his name taken, though that became a consideration when I made a treble change just moments later, the skipper one of those replaced along with Danny Howard and Harte, as on came Chris Tingay, Russell Sampson and Zouhair Allali. We were having to continue being alert and careful, Jackson pawing away a cut back from Alexander that was certainly heading towards an area of danger. Inevitably, Mousehole would have to start attacking in numbers, and we would eventually exploit the gaps they left. When they poured forward for a late free kick, Jackson came and claimed the ball confidently, and then sent a quick throw left to Sampson. His ball down the line found Magee, who ignored the trio on the way into the box and begging for a cross, and instead continued on his own, getting into the box, then cutting back inside a desperately back tracking defender, before lashing his shot high into the roof of the net inside the keepers near post for his 12th goal of the season, and maybe one of his most important, as we make ourselves the clear cut favourites for promotion. Mousehole (1) 2 - Glenn James (10), John Alexander (51) AFC Newquay (3) 4 - Alan Keogh (7 og), James Croft (16 og), Michael Smyth (39), Steve Magee (87) Attendance :- 629 Elliot Jackson; James Ives, Joe Kennedy (Chris Tingay 63), James Taylor, Danny Howard (Russell Sampson 63); Jimmy Harte (Zouhair Allali 63), Lee Hales, Tom Murray; Michael Smyth, Oktay Güney, Steve Magee. Unused Substitutes :- Sam Farrell, Ollie Harrison, Atik Askari, Martin Prince. Is that win in the biggest game of the season enough to call it job done? Well, no, not quite. We hold a seven point advantage with four games left, though Mousehole do hold a game in hand on us as well. Basically we can afford a defeat, but with our rivals still holding a slightly better goal difference, I'd rather we didn't go down that route to be quite honest. Opposite number Andy Clarke was pretty bitter about the afternoon's going's on, blaming a missed offside call for the third goal at a crucial point of the game for the defeat. A look at the goal shows that Michael Smyth was actually being played onside by a full back that was stood down the touchline from his manager, and possibly out of his line of vision. Not that I feel too sorry for the guy. BET RESULT Wycombe Wanderers 2-2 Hereford United Boston United 2-2 Blyth Spartans Tonbridge Angels 1-0 Tooting & Mitcham United LOST A bet that I was fairly convinced would fly in eventually missed the mark, with penalties the talking point. Tonbridge scored the one they got to earn a slender home win, in what turned out to be the only win on the betslip. That was in part down to Blyth Spartans scoring from the spot as well with just five minutes to play, and after Boston United had come from behind already. It was the same scoreline in Buckinghamshire, where Wycombe levelled the score twice after falling behind to Hereford, but couldn't force a winner. Win some, lose some. Wednesday 16th March We're going to need a bigger room for these Backroom Team Meetings, and an extended space in the schedule for them too. With no game to prepare ahead of for another two and a half weeks, it wasn't an issue at all today, and it was dominated by reports from the Scouting and Coaching teams, with the entire backroom staff present for this one. Amongst those in attendance at the meeting was Henrik Varbøl Andersen, our Danish Coach who has already found us several players from his homeland. Now he has more, one of which came with the backing of several of the Scouting team after they were urged by Andersen to look into him, and he has now received a contract offer from us. Another couple will be checked on by Scouts who will file reports on them in due course. Another very productive meeting as we look to continue improving in all areas. The meeting concluded with the Scouts being dispersed far and wide across Europe. Hey, if the Chairman is happy to pay, I'm happy to send my eyes and ears guys out there. Friday 18th March -------------------- THE BET nPower Championship Ipswich Town v Norwich City - Away Win - 6/4 nPower League One Hartlepool United v Sheffield Wednesday - Away Win - Evens Double Odds - 4/1 Stake - £75,000 Balance After Bet - £700,347 Total Potential Returns Including Stake - £375,000 -------------------- I know. It looks like I'm dying to get us into the £1 million mark. And I am. But I pick the bet before I work out the maths. And this away day double looks good, as well as providing a very healthy return if it lands. Norwich City are looking for back to back promotions, while their nearest and far from dearest rivals at Ipswich Town are in big relegation trouble with it looking likely that three from four will face the drop. After a rough month, Sheffield Wednesday returned to winning ways last weekend, and are a win away from getting back into the Playoff picture, while their hosts Hartlepool United are twelve points and a large goal difference swing from safety. I'm optimistic. Late in the day, and we are able to announce our latest new signing, and the latest addition to the Danish Contingent in Cornwall. 21 years old, and standing 6'1 tall. Marc Skriver Bruun is a hard working, but skillful striker. But he is more than that. He also brings the versatility to be able to play at centre back or right back, leaving the option to go more defensive late in a game without the need to burn a substitution to do so. Taking a look at his attributes, he'd make a pretty good midfielder too, and when we start to train more intensely, I may well test that theory. Bruun had spent his entire career to date with current Second Division East club Allerød, spending seven seasons with club overall, but making only eight First Team appearances for them, scoring once. Saturday 19th March A space in the matchday squad may have immediately opened up for our new arrival, as during this mornings training session, Martin Prince suffered a groin strain while sprinting. The 20 year old striker who has five goals this season is likely to be out for around four weeks. With no games at all in the Division today, and next week being our week sat out with an odd number of clubs in the Division, the focus is largely on the bet....... BET RESULT Ipswich Town 1-0 Norwich City Hartlepool United 3-0 Sheffield Wednesday LOST Wow! We'll be waiting a little while longer to become a 'million in the bank' club. I'd like to tell you there were hugely controversial circumstances as to why this bet went so badly, but I can't even console myself with that. In fact, Hartlepool had a man sent off, but they just picked off a desperate travelling Wednesday side almost at will despite their numerical disadvantage.