neilhoskins77

Can Peacocks fly? If so, this one appears to be heading south for the winter……… ;-)

With a triple digit score for the week, our retired Moderator jumps to the top of the League, and could well be in the frame next time his beloved United are looking for a new Manager. So Mr Wilson, don’t make any plans for Christmas……..

The last unbeaten records are taken, and there is quite the log jam in this League…….Peacocks excluded of course…..

Apologies, I forgot to post the Gameweek 2 results. Best of luck this weekend everyone

Sorry to hear that, and hope you're on the mend now. Look forward to having you back involved next season.

Game week #1 is in the books, and the early scores are on the doors! Some very close games, and some pretty decent weekly totals there as well. Who’s ready to use their Wildcard already?

Just over half an hour until the deadline. One team wasn't claimed, and has now been removed. That leaves us at eight teams, which is a fairly poor turnout, but at least is an even number for the Head To Head. So the League is now closed to new entries, and we're good to go. Best of luck everyone.

Someone needs to claim Lidl Money United in the next few hours, or they will be removed from the League before the deadline. Cheers

I hadn't realised that there was a Friday evening game on the opening weekend, so with it being a head to head League, any teams still looking to participate will need to enter by 18:30pm this coming Friday 5th August

One week remaining to register. With only five entries so far, and the League set as a head to head format, we're going to need a minimum of 10-12 entries to make this worthwhile of getting off the ground.

Hi Frank, good to have you here and seeing you make the move from lurking to story writing. I'm sure everyone is looking forward to seeing how your first save goes. Best of luck

I claim my team. Lemington Rovers.

Good day FMS'ers. That Wilson guy is enjoying his retirement in a baking hot North West of England......now there's a sentence I never thought I'd use. One of the tasks I've inherited from him is the annual Fantasy Football League. If you're new to this area of the Boards, then it's a fairly straightforward concept. Register or Sign In to your account at https://fantasy.premierleague.com . Once you've made your selection of 15 players, the code for joining our League is mss5jn . This is a Head To Head style League, meaning that bragging rights are available each week, as well as overall when the season finishes. Once you have entered the League, please claim your team below. Any teams not claimed on the season start date will be deleted from the League. The deadline for entering is the Premier League start date of Saturday 6th August 2022. Please ensure your team name is family friendly, or at least clever enough that it doesn't get flagged as inappropriate. The current Champion and one to beat this season is Chilean Ranger. The Cup is also activated, more information on that closer to the time......... League Roll of Honour: 2010 - Panpardus 2011 - Docklanders 2012 - Balthazars 2013 - PaulHartman71 2014 - mistahc 2015 - Moto Club 2016 - mistahc 2017 - Moto Club 2018 - triforce 2019 - mistahc 2020 - Bagpuss 2021 - Swagat Sinha 2022 - Chilean Ranger 2023 - Dalbeider Cup Roll of Honour : 2013 - Sieben FC (Manxie_Ash) 2014 - Preston Park Celtic (mistahc) 2015 - Hardly Athletic III (mark Wilson27) 2016 - Baddah Bing (FudgeandLove) 2017 - Moto Club Gunners (Moto Club) 2018 - triforce 2019 - Fer Fuchs Ake (neilhoskins77) 2020 - The Full Montemurro (CFuller) 2021 - Finis Coronat Opus (Mandy42) 2022 - Moor Row FC (Bagpuss) 2023 - Not Played this Season

Tuesday 1st February 2011 The Board continue to be impressed by defender James Taylor, and by everything else going on at the club as well right now. Whether that will remain the case if we fail to overhaul current league leaders Mousehole, well, that could be another story. Friday 4th February -------------------- THE BET Belgian Pro League Racing Genk v Cercle Brugge - Home Win - 4/6 German Bundesliga.1 Bayern Münich v FC Köln - Home Win - 4/6 Turkish Premier League Eskisehirspor v Antalyaspor - Home Win - 4/6 Accumulator Odds - 3.63/1 Stake - £50,000 Balance After Bet - £572,196 Total Returns Including Stake - £231,500 -------------------- On paper, this one looks pretty straightforward. Three home clubs playing sides quite some way further down the League than them, and with the home teams in better runs of form. If anything, this trio of clubs are all overpriced. Fingers crossed for a successful weekend as this is all we have going on with no game of our own. BET RESULT Racing Genk 2-1 Cercle Brugge Bayern Münich 3-2 FC Köln Eskisehirspor 3-1 Antalyaspor WIN In the my head, I was looking at a couple of comfortable four nil wins, and maybe a slightly rougher ride in the Turkish game. Nope. That one was the easier one after they raced into a two goal lead and then saw their guests have a man sent off as well. In Germany however, Bayern were two goals down inside half an hour, and had lost Franck Ribéry to injury by then as well. They needed some magic from Thomas Müller and a towering header from Danijel Pranjic to turn things around at the Allianz-Arena and I was able to let out a big sigh of relief. That wasn't the end of the drama though. I thought we were looking good in Belgium when Genk went in front inside a minute. But Irish striker Dominic Foley chose this game to score his first goal of the season and Genk needed to score five minutes from time through Jelle Vossen to get us a winning betslip. Friday 11th February We have a real banana skin fixture this week, as we host third placed Foxhole Stars. We beat them 4-2 at their place back in September, but they have improved considerably since then, though not enough to push themselves into the promotion picture, which is really just a battle between the top two realistically now. Our job this weekend is to make sure they are not running interference on our chances in that promotion hunt. -------------------- THE BET Austrian Premier League SK Sturm Graz v SV Ried - Home Win - 5/4 Single Bet Only Stake - £75,000 Balance After Bet - £529,127 Total Returns Including Stake - £168,750 -------------------- Despite having all these Leagues and Divisions open in all these nations across the globe, I honestly couldn't find anything that was worth the risk for the value I was being offered. So this week, call me Mr Responsible, which I need to start being more often with us looking to step up a level. I didn't want to lose a chunk of money obviously, and this might be something you see a bit more of. I think this is the first time I've been linked with a job elsewhere. It would mean a return to Wales, where I was isolated from competitive football after being found guilty of betting on games before the FA changed the rules. The club rumoured to be interested are one of Wales' bigger clubs, and are situated very close to my home town. Newport County are currently marooned in mid-table in the Blue Square Premier, and have apparently been following my progress with AFC Newquay for a while as current Manager at the club Tim Flowers is rumoured to be contemplating moving on this summer. The former Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Leicester City and England goalkeeper is out of contract this summer, and the South Wales club are said to be concerned that they may not be able to keep him at the Newport Stadium. Saturday 12 February South West Peninsula League, Division One West Mount Wise Stadium, Newquay AFC Newquay v Foxhole Stars Just one change for us today in this big game, with new signing and defender Chris Tingay brought into the matchday squad amongst the substitutes, replacing Russell Sampson. The weather has improved, though we are still a long way away from summer temperatures here in Cornwall, but at least we have a full house once again today. Visiting keeper Gwyn Griffiths had to make a big stop inside five minutes to keep the scoresheet clean, Tom Murray picking out Michael Smyth around 10 yards out, the keeper saving that shot with his legs. He had no chance in the 14th minute though, Jimmy Harte and Smyth involved in the build up, and Lee Hales smashing a 25 yarder into the near side top corner, a real goal of the season contender! Ten minutes later, Hales tried his luck from a similar spot, this time it came back off the cross bar, Steve Magee couldn't quite control the ball as it bounced back to him, but it fell to Smyth who made no mistake to double our lead. At this point, any score was possible, and everyone seemingly wanted to get in on the act, full back James Ives driving a shot into the side netting. Magee had just curled a shot inches wide of the upright when the ball was sent over the Stars defence and he raced onto it, Griffiths racing off his line to narrow the angle, but Magee slipped the shot by him and into the bottom corner for his tenth of season, and left the Stars three goals down at the break, and without their skipper Steve Gregory who went off injured. I told my players not to let their performance drop in the second half, but actually Stars would come back out in a very offensive setup, though Smyth did miss an early chance to extend our lead still further, Griffiths making another good stop. At the other end, Aaron Howes beat Elliot Jackson to the ball after our keeper charged off his line to deal with a ball down the middle of the park, but the forward then hooked his shot wide of the open net. I made my changes, replacing the booked James Taylor and Atik Askari with debutant Chris Tingay and Kasper Hansen, and also bringing on Ollie Harrison for Harte. For Taylor, it was partly also because he had just tried to shepherd the ball back to Jackson, got it badly wrong, and Richard Hale nipped in between the pair to pull a goal back for the visitors. This game was now far more open than it needed to be from our point of view, Smyth and Griffiths collided going after the same ball, Hansen unable to punish the keeper as he fired the shot wide with the goalie prone on the grass. Instead, Stars would get the next goal, Paul Ring with a deep cross from the right, and Hale looked miles offside, but the flag stayed down and he fired home his second to bring the score back to 3-2! We now looked an absolute mess, and with just six minutes left to play a cross from the left picked out Howes, his looping header beating Jackson, hitting the underside of the bar and bouncing back into the six yard box, where he reacted fastest and beat Jackson and a defender to the ball to bundle it home and bring the scores level to the dismay of a capacity crowd! The Stars had us right where they wanted us, but they were more than happy with their comeback, and they dropped themselves back into a far more conventional setup. Big mistake! With injury time almost up, we won a corner that Harrison whipped into the near post, and on his Senior debut, Chris Tingay met the ball with a thumping header that found it's way by the mass of bodies on the line, and this crowd would go home happy, and relieved, after all! AFC Newquay (3) 4 - Lee Hales (14), Michael Smyth (24), Steve Magee (36), Chris Tingay (90+2) Foxhole Stars (0) 3 - Richard Hale (59,76), Aaron Howes (84) Attendance :- 3,500 Elliot Jackson; James Ives, Joe Kennedy ©, James Taylor (Chris Tingay 60), Danny Howard; Jimmy Harte (Ollie Harrison 60), Lee Hales, Tom Murray; Michael Smyth, Atik Askari (Kasper Hansen 60), Steve Magee. Unused Substitutes :- Graham Dowling, Sam Farrell, Fred Musah, Martin Prince. Wow! What a game. And what a way to dodge a bullet too. And what makes it all the more remarkable was that Mousehole also won 4-3 today. They were both 2-0 and 3-2 behind at home to Truro City Reserves, and at 3-3 they were reduced to ten men when James Croft was sent off for a second booking. But Glenn James scored his second of the afternoon and 8th of the season from the 17 year old with just eight minutes remaining to keep his club top of the table tonight. That was some contribution from new signing Chris Tingay on the occasion of his first ever Senior football game, and the nineteen year old Londoner must have been wondering what on earth he had let himself in for as the second half played out. But his winner makes it six wins in a row for us now, and we're still very much in the hunt for the Title, and it almost feels like it's destiny that it could all be settled on the game between the top two next month. BET RESULT SK Sturm Graz 3-0 SV Ried WIN And it wasn't just on the park that we were winners today! On a snowy day in Graz, it was a fairly straightforward win for our backed home side as they swept aside bottom of the table SV Ried and restarted their season after the winter break with a win having gone four without a win before the seasonal gap, although they are still eleven points behind leaders Rapid Vienna, and the damage may be done to their season. No damage to our bank account though, a second consecutive win pays out almost £100,000 in profit, and with the home game profits also taken into account, we now have a balance of just over £700,000. We have a tough looking game coming up, as we travel next weekend for a rare Sunday game in Truro, where we will be hosted by their Reserve side that have just been beaten by Mousehole.

Thursday 19th March 2009 I've no idea why the Third Division Team of the Week was so late being named this week, but when it is we are represented by on loan centre back David Armstrong and midfielder Ryan McStay. Friday 20th March So we'll go into the weekend as the League leaders, and we will be hoping to hit next week in just as strong a position, if not better. We're home to seventh placed Berwick Rangers tomorrow, a side we have beaten well twice already, but did only draw with last time out in January. With Montrose and East Stirlingshire both away from home, we are hopeful of extending our lead if we can keep up our end of the bargain. Saturday 21st March Dumbarton v Berwick Rangers Scottish League, Third Division Strathclyde Homes Stadium, Dumbarton This time I do bring Stephen Murray back into the starting eleven, reinstating him to his left wing position, moving Derek Carcary out to the right and Paul McLeod up front, meaning a return to the bench for Jean-Pierre Papin. The game began with us utterly dominating proceedings, passing through the Berwick defence at will, and totalling double figures for corners in the first quarter of the game alone, Mark Archdeacon heading the best chance wide from a Ryan McStay corner, before Paul McLeod headed a point blank effort right at Ryan McGurk. When we finally broke the deadlock it was McStay picking out Archdeacon, and he fired first time across goal and into the far corner. We should have increased our lead through Derek Carcary, before we got caught sleeping before the break, Michael Reddy picking up the ball in the right channel, and no fewer than three players missed chances to tackle him as he cut inside before he found the net from an acute angle. We'd been dominate enough that I wasn't concerned when we restarted after the break, and we continued to be well on top, Archdeacon's glancing header from a corner headed off the line by Steven Bonar. As the hour approached we would regain our lead, Carcary drilling a low diagonal cross in from the right and McLeod swept it low into the bottom corner from near the penalty spot. I've learnt better than to count my chickens with this team, but with just under 20 minutes to go, Darren Barnard waved everyone into the six yard box, and then picked out Archdeacon who had stayed out near the penalty spot, and he had time to chest the ball down before drilling it through the crowd for his second of the day and 20th of the season, and put this one out of the visitors reach. Dumbarton (1) 3 - Mark Archdeacon (20,71), Paul McLeod (58) Berwick Rangers (1) 1 - Michael Reddy (38) Dave McEwan; Gordon Lennon ©, Darren Barnard, Mick Dunlop (Guy Melamed 76), David Armstrong; Derek Carcary, Ross Clark, Ryan McStay, Stephen Murray (Marc Anthony 76); Paul McLeod (Jean-Pierre Papin 76), Mark Archdeacon. Attendance :- 907. We've had games like that this season where we have failed to secure all three points. We seem to be playing in our sweet spot right now, and it couldn't have come at a better time too. And today almost ended up being the perfect day. East Stirlingshire continued their poor run of form with a defeat away to mid table Stenhousemuir, while Montrose also lost ground to us as they were held to a draw away to Elgin City. We will be visitors to a club near the bottom ourselves next week to end the month, as we make the trip to face Annan Athletic, who are only a point from the bottom of the table. We'll head there with a three point lead at the top, effectively four thanks to our far better goal difference, and a Playoff place at worst confirmed, but the Title still very much in our grasp with only five games remaining on our fixture list currently. On loan striker Mark Archdeacon has now reached 20 goals for the season in all competitions. We are constantly being asked about the possibility of us keeping both him and our other on loan star, centre back David Armstrong. The latter is the more realistic, but that isn't saying much as both are likely out of our reach financially right now, at least on permanent deals. Another loan would be an ideal solution though, and I'd be very open to having both back next season, regardless of which level we will be playing at. Monday 23rd March The performance of Archdeacon and his brace of goals was surprisingly not enough to earn him a place in the Third Division Team of the Week. Our only representative this week was right winger Derek Carcary. Friday 27th March We hold a one hundred percent record over Annan Athletic this season, and we will travel to Galabank this weekend looking to continue that form against the Division's ninth placed side, and hopefully continue a march towards a surprise Title and promotion. No one is expecting this one to be easy however. We beat them soundly 4-1 at home early in the season, but the other two games were both settled by the single goal of the game. I'd cheerfully take that again tomorrow afternoon. I caused a bit of a stir in today's press conference by describing us as 'certainties' for the Title. Saturday 28th March Annan Athletic v Dumbarton Scottish League, Third Division Galabank, Annan There are plenty of milestones for us in this game, with Ross Clark making his 25th Appearance for the club, while full backs Gordon Lennon and Darren Barnard make their 125th and 475th Career League Appearances respectively. It was an unchanged starting selection and squad though as we began our final game of the month. Our attendances are fifty percent larger than anyone else's in this Division, and they look even better when we come to places like this. Might not be such a bad thing today though, as the level of entertainment was low. Darren Barnards's inswinging free kick from the right touchline picked out Mick Dunlop, who was only kept off the scoresheet by a fine piece of goalkeeping from Graeme Loughman. The keeper was powerless to do anything moments later however, Barnard sending over a corner this time, David Armstrong attempted to glance it towards goal, but the ball was blocked and fell right to Mark Archdeacon who bundled it home from close range. Our levels of control were threatened just before the break when Derek Carcary sustained an injury, and Paul McLeod moved out to the wing with Jean-Pierre Papin coming on up front. Loughman had to be at full stretch to tip over a curling shot from Archdeacon early in the second half, and had to repeat the trick moments later when our striker attempted to lob him. As time ticked down, I was sorely tempted to move us into a more defensive setup, especially when sub Alan McDonough worked his way into the penalty box and sent a shot inches wide of the upright. We almost caught them twice on the break, Loughman spreading himself to block Archdeacon's close range shot from Marc Anthony's cross, before Anthony headed at goal himself, just missing the top corner. Fortunately, one would be enough today. Annan Athletic (0) 0 Dumbarton (1) 1 - Mark Archdeacon (34) Dave McEwan; Gordon Lennon ©, Darren Barnard, Mick Dunlop (Guy Melamed 76), David Armstrong; Derek Carcary (inj - Jean-Pierre Papin 45+1), Ross Clark, Ryan McStay, Stephen Murray (Marc Anthony 76); Paul McLeod, Mark Archdeacon. Attendance :- 169. Before the game I told the press that we were a 'certainty' for the Title, which may have been a little tongue in cheek, but not too far from where my confidence levels actually are right now. Those levels have only increased after we have successfully navigated this tricky fixture, and while we were winning Montrose drop points again, held at home to a 1-1 draw by fourth placed Forfar Athletic. They are leapfrogged by East Stirlingshire, who after going winless in four snap the streak with 4-1 home win over Elgin City. Typically, we visit them next in a fortnight's time, a huge game in the Title race. Fortunately for us, we will go into that game with Derek Carcary, the speedster right winger suffered nothing more than an impact stinger today and will be fine to train next week. Monday 30th March Paul McLeod is selected for the Third Division Team of the Week. But that news for him is trumped by Darren Barnard being announced as one of the front runner's for the Division's Player of the Year Award. He is up against the likes of Brian Graham and Jamie Stevenson of East Stirlingshire, as well as Johnny Russell of Forfar Athletic. 2008/09 Scottish League Third Division League Table, Up To & Including Tuesday 31st March 2009 | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | 1st | Pl | Dumbarton | | 32 | 17 | 10 | 5 | 66 | 36 | +30 | 61 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | 2nd | | East Stirlingshire | | 32 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 64 | 46 | +18 | 57 | | 3rd | | Montrose | | 32 | 15 | 11 | 6 | 39 | 23 | +16 | 56 | | 4th | | Forfar | | 32 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 47 | 34 | +13 | 51 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | 5th | | Albion Rovers | | 32 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 45 | | 6th | | Stenhousemuir | | 32 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 49 | 50 | -1 | 42 | | 7th | | Berwick | | 32 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 38 | 49 | -11 | 36 | | 8th | | Elgin | | 32 | 4 | 15 | 13 | 29 | 42 | -13 | 27 | | 9th | | Annan | | 32 | 6 | 8 | 18 | 27 | 56 | -29 | 26 | | 10th | | Cowdenbeath | | 32 | 6 | 7 | 19 | 26 | 49 | -23 | 25 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday 1st August 2015 It's the opening day of the Sky Bet Championship, and it's a good day for Cardiff City as they get their campaign underway with a 1-0 home win against Birmingham City, thanks to a goal twenty minutes from time by Icelandic midfielder and skipper Aron Gunnarsson. It's not such a good day for our boy Davide Di Cianni though, as the centre back is left sat down as an unused substitute to start the season, a step backwards from the latter part of last season when he was a regular starter. Down the M4 in London, it's another fortnight before the Barclays Premier League gets underway. Today The Blues are paying tribute to long term goalkeeper Petr Cech in his Testimonial Game at Stamford Bridge against French visitors Stade Rennais. With no importance on the result, it does mean that Danilo gets a start today, playing 45 minutes in a 2-0 Chelsea win through goals in the first half by Ramires, and then right at the start of the second half from Diego Costa in front of 25,000 plus in West London. Tuesday 4th August After opening their League campaign with a win, Cardiff City do the same in their opening game of the Capital One League Cup. They travelled into Kent tonight to face Gillingham of Sky Bet League One, and coming away from Priestfield with another 1-0 win, courtesy of a Federico Macheda free kick with just four minutes left to play. It might turn out to be one of the Italians last goals for The Bluebirds, with offers on the table for his services from several different clubs. His transfer might not do much to help out Davide though, as he is left out of the squad for this game as well. Thursday 6th August Davide is at least included in the Italy Under-21's squad that is named today for the UEFA European Under-21 Championships Qualifier Group Four game in Kilmarnock next Wednesday against Scotland. The defender already has eight caps at this level for the Azurri. Also included in the Wales Under-21 squad for the same competition for their upcoming Group Three game is Danilo, who will be hoping to get some competitive game time under his belt in Amsterdam as Wales open their qualifying campaign up against group favourites, Holland. Friday 7th August Cardiff City have accepted two offers of £800,000 from Reading and Hellas Verona. The Italian forward may yet have more options to consider, with Chinese Super League outfit Guangzhou Hengda said to be preparing a bid themselves. The big question here is can City afford to lose his goalscoring ability from the team, particularly to a potential rival such as Reading. Saturday 8th August Cardiff City continue their winning start to the 2015/16 campaign with yet another 1-0 win, this time away to Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough. This time instead of relying on a late goal they went the other way, and scored early and defended their lead right throughout, a second minute goal by Joe Mason proving to be the only strike of the match. The win was all the more impressive considering The Bluebirds had to play the last quarter of the match with ten men. Davide was selected for the bench again, but came on for his first competitive football of the new domestic season in the 26th minute when new signing Nathan Baker picked up an injury. Davide was booked less than five minutes later, and booked again in the 68th minute to see red for the first time in his career, and incur a one match ban. That's bad timing too, as Baker is out for up to a month with a dislocated jaw, and Davide may have jeopardised the chance of trying to claim his place back. Oh, and today is his 19th birthday. I'm sure that's not the kind of card he was hoping for or expecting. There is also mixed news for Danilo today in the blue of Chelsea, but he's a long way from home. In the North African city of Radès, a West Mediterranean port city in Tunisia and only around half a dozen miles from the capital of Tunis, today Chelsea play their final Pre-Season Friendly game before starting their domestic campaign next weekend. The fact that we are this close to the start of the season, and that Danilo is still starting games is very promising. The fact he was substituted in the 38th minute for Diego Costa, slightly less so. The score was 1-1 at that point, André Schürrle having given Chelsea the lead, the equaliser coming a minute before Danilo was substituted, and scored by Sofiene Cheikh. Our boys replacement would get the winning goal in the 55th minute, and The Blues end their Pre-Season campaign with a win. Monday 10th August The Bluebirds might be in need of a new striker, as after a very promising start to the season, Cardiff City have today sold 23 year old former Italy Under-21 striker Federico Macheda. He has rejected the offer from Reading, and will instead return to his homeland, but not with Hellas Verona, as their move was hijacked late on by their Serie A local rivals, Chievo Verona, who have paid £800,000 for his signature. City fans are reported to be fuming that the club have allowed this move to go through without first securing a replacement for Macheda, and have accused the club of lacking ambition. Wednesday 12th August What a night it was at Rugby Park in Kilmarnock this evening. A crowd of over ten thousand gathered to watch Scotland Under-21's open their UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualifying Group Four campaign against Davide and his Italy side. It looked like the home fans were going to be present for something special too, when Inverness Caledonian Thistle striker Cammy Smith and then Norwich City's on loan at Reading midfielder Lewis MacLeod both netted in the opening five minutes to give the Scots an early two goal lead. Manchester United forward Domenico Beradi pulled a goal back on the half hour mark, and the Italians could not find a way through again until ten minutes from time. Then up stepped their super sub in the form of Parma striker Alberto Cerri. He scored an 80th minute volley in off a post to level the game, and then blasted home a penalty with just two minutes left on the clock, meaning Italy would leave with a win to open their campaign, but they had to work really hard for it. Davide played the full ninety minutes, winning his ninth cap at this level. Across the North Sea in Holland, there was also involvement for Danilo as Group Three got underway in a moderately populated Amsterdam ArenA. The Chelsea youngster started the game, and saw Newcastle United's young forward Andrew James put Wales in front five minutes into the second half. That was against the run of play, and it would take the Dutch almost a quarter of an hour to find an equaliser, which came through Ajax youngster Kenny Tete, the full back scoring on his home ground. But his team mates would fail to find another way through, and Geraint Williams' side will be delighted to return to Wales with a point from a game that should be the hardest of the Group. Thursday 13th August Is this news good for Davide, or are there financial issues at the Cardiff City Stadium? Thirteen times capped Czech International centre back Vaclav Prochazka has been deemed surplus to requirements by Sam Allardyce and the Sky Bet Championship club, and offers are already being received and accepted for the 31 year old. And he may not be the only player originally from that area of Europe who could be packing his bags and leaving the Welsh capital, with 24 year old Slovakian midfielder Filip Kiss potentially moving to Championship rivals AFC Bournemouth after their bid was accepted. Saturday 15th August Davide is suspended today as Cardiff City entertain Reading at home this afternoon. It's a game that see's them lose their 100% start to the season, but they do still remain undefeated after a 1-1 draw. Midfielder Richard Smallwood put The Bluebirds ahead just after the midway point of the first half with his maiden goal for the club after his summer arrival at City. But the equaliser would come around the hour mark from Nick Blackman. Sunday 16th August Chelsea had to wait a day longer than most to get their Barclays Premier League campaign underway in the Midlands, and it turned out to be not really worth the wait. Danilo did not feature in The Blues matchday squad at all, but Oscar did, and the Brazilian midfielder put the visitors in front at The Hawthorns from the penalty spot with just six minutes on the clock. The lead would last only just over ten minutes however, a close range Andy Carroll volley bringing The Baggies level and completing the scoring for the afternoon in a one apiece draw. Monday 17th August Another Monday, and another departure from the Cardiff City Stadium. Out of the door today is 31 year old Czech centre back Vaclav Prochazka, who has moved to Denmark and one of the nations leading clubs FC Midtjylland for a very modest fee of £185,000. Once more the fans have had their say, complaining that for such a low return, surely there was more value in keeping the player for squad depth. Tuesday 18th August If the fans were annoyed by that deal, then Bluebirds supporters were simply baffled by today's news, as 24 year old Slovakian midfielder Filip Kiss followed him out of the door. But he doesn't need to catch a flight anywhere, as he is remaining in the Sky Bet Championship after completing a £325,000 transfer to the south coast and to AFC Bournemouth. Cardiff's finances are not the only thing that are being speculated upon. After Chelsea's opening day points drop at West Bromwich, media outlets are speculating already that a poor result against Brighton & Hove Albion tomorrow evening could see José Mourinho make a very early season exit out of Stamford Bridge! Wednesday 19th August Fortunately for the 'Special One', the visitors from Brighton never looked like causing an upset at Stamford Bridge this evening. Diego Costa scored twice in the opening quarter of the game to kill off the contest early in front of a full house in West London, where once more Danilo did not feature in the matchday squad, and continues to wait for his Premier League debut. Saturday 22nd August Maybe a little bit of pressure is all Mourinho needs to get the best out of his own players? In front of another full house at the Bridge, it was an impressive 2-0 win for Chelsea today over visitors Liverpool in an early gut check between a pair of teams that will both hope to be in the hunt for the honours this season. Diego Costa continued his superb start to the season with a goal from the penalty spot midway through the first half. André Schürrle got the second right from kick off in the second half, the visiting Reds couldn't find a way through the Blue wall in response. In the Sky Bet Championship, it's a first defeat of the season for Cardiff City on their trip up to the North East as they are defeated 1-0 by Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium. There was a recall for Davide after his suspension, and he had a very good game too, but he wasn't able to stop Boro's on loan striker Adil Nabi scoring a first minute goal that would prove to be the winner. The game was played under the backdrop of the mornings breaking news, that Cardiff had accepted a £4.2 million bid for French defender Kévin Théophile-Catherine, who played the game knowing it could potentially be his last for the club, and that he could be spending more time in the North East with the offer coming from Barclays Premier League side Hull City. Tuesday 25th August The deal is done, and the French full back is the next one to move out during the Cardiff City Stadium exodus, as Kévin Théophile-Catherine completes his £4.2 million move to Hull City, and will be hoping to impress at his new level of football in the Premier League. And with him gone, Cardiff crashed out of the Capital One League Cup tonight at the Second Round stage, as they are defeated at home by Derby County. The visiting skipper Mark O'Brien had Derby in front before half time, but with eleven minutes left on the clock Joe Mason fired home an equaliser that would send this one into extra time. With seven minutes left on the clock before the clubs were pitted into a penalty shoot out, Mason Bennett thumped home a header that would send Derby into the Third Round, where they will meet Premier League visitors Sunderland. Thursday 27th August The draw has been made for the Group Stage of the UEFA Champions League, and the holders Chelsea will be pretty satisfied with their draw I'd imagine, though they are going to be putting in some miles over the coming weeks. They have been placed into Group D, which will begin in mid September, and see's them paired with FC Porto, CSKA Moscow and BATE Borisov. Friday 28th August There is no place for Danilo in the Wales Senior Squad named today by Chris Coleman. Instead, the Chelsea youngster will need to be content with a continued presence in the Under-21 Squad selected for the double header of games against FYR Macedonia firstly in a UEFA European Under-19 Championship Qualifier in Llanelli, before they then switch to Swansea for a Friendly with a visiting Japan side. It's also Under-21 duty for Davide with Italy, as he is once again selected by Luigi Di Biagio for what is a double header of Qualifiers for the young Azzuri, and one they will hope to take maximum points from as they host Armenia first at home, before then travelling to face Lithuania. Before the next International Window, the first silverware of the season is handed out, and it goes to Chelsea. The Champions League holders have defeated Europa League winners AS Monaco this evening in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi to lift the UEFA European Super Cup. They actually fell behind early to a penalty from lethal striker Radamel Falcao, but within ten minutes the game had been turned on it's head after quick fire goals from Oscar and Diego Costa meant that all the goals would come from South American players in this early season European showpiece game. Monaco's hopes of a second half comeback were dashed when Dutch International full back Jetro Willems was shown a second yellow card in the early minutes after the restart. The Blues lift this particular trophy for the second time in their history after previously winning it back in 1998. Will that help take the heat off José? Saturday 29th August The biggest derby that Cardiff City have is their big rivalry with Swansea City. Heading the other way down the M4 though, a game against Bristol City isn't far behind it. At lunchtime today The Bluebirds made the short trip over the River Severn to Ashton Gate, and head home with three more points in the bag. Anthony Pilkington and Joe Mason scored first half goals to get Sam Allardyce's side back to winning ways, and they did so without Davide who was left on the bench as an unused substitute, and remains one League appearance short of that nice big pay rise.

It's back! Yep, by popular demand (literally no one), I'm reprising my role in the series as the International Football dictator that has previously seen me take charge in both Kyrgyzstan and Iceland, plus to a lesser degree, India. Clearly, these stories are the best International stories on the Boards for years! (**Fact checking in progress** - flagged as highly likely fake news) If you missed the previous attempts at this series, it involved me taking control of all age groups of an Nation as well as their Senior team. This time I have decided to use a nation much closer to home. When choosing one of the home nations or Ireland, there was a process of elimination involved. I'm Welsh, so clearly I didn't want to manage England. It might surprise you to learn that I didn't want to manage my home nation either, too much pressure for me there. I didn't want to alienate the English by taking charge of Scotland and them hoping I fail either! So we're down to the two nations on the emerald isle. I am pretty happy with either option here. Who doesn't love the Irish (apart from maybe bar owners at 3am when they were supposed to close two hours ago). The Republic actually have a pretty good squad at the start point of this save (Summer 2008), so I have opted to go with the more challenging option. Not that Northern Ireland are too bad an option now either. With a three tier domestic league, and plenty of players making their living in England and Scotland as well, plus some more a bit further afield too, Then there is the 'added extra' as well. The players with British passports that are eligible for any of the four home nations in theory, and therefore are up for grabs to be added to the National Pool if you're good enough, or fast enough, and can prise them away from any other nations that they may be eligible for. Also, Northern Ireland is a nation I've had some success in before in another active save, though I have to say that it's open to interpretation as to what 'success' would look like here. There is no editor use involved in this save, apart from cosmetics and unfaking the German and Japanese National Teams. Oh, and one other tiny little detail. I can't be sacked! Well, what did you expect? Dictators do not get sacked......fired maybe, in a very different sense! I hope you enjoy folks, this is one of my favourite stories to play and write.

Sunday 1st February 2009 No personal accolades to anyone at the club for January, which was a much better month for us with three wins and three draws from six League matches as we nudge closer to the Playoff spots, and the only defeat being a home loss to West Bromwich Albion of the Premier League in the FA Cup Third Round. I came third in the Manager of the Month stakes which was won by Paul Trollope of Bristol Rovers, while Jonny Howson was runner-up in the Young Player of the Month Award, beaten by Walsall winger Alex Nicholls who scored three times during the month. The improved form hasn't yet turned opinions at Boardroom level however, with the suits at Elland Road still believing we should be doing better. I agree with them, but we can of course only focus on what is in front of us, and there is literally no point in worrying about points we have already left on the table and could do nothing about now. On the plus side, the financial side continues to be good, with a profit of almost £50,000 for the month, and a bank balance of over £3.5m, with the bank loan on course to be settled this summer as well. Monday 2nd February It's Transfer Deadline Day, but I have done all the business I needed to do, and we instead will be focusing on tomorrow night's crunch huge game with one of the sides sat above us and in an automatic promotion spot, Millwall. They'll visit Elland Road with seven points from the last nine available, but sweating on the fitness of 22 year old forward Ashley Grimes, who has been one of their best players this season but only returned to training yesterday following a twisted knee. With the Window now closed, at Leeds United we were the most active club not just in Coca-Cola League One, but in England overall, with six new signings in January. Tuesday 3rd February Coca-Cola League One Elland Road, Leeds Leeds United (0) 0 Millwall (1) 2 - Paul Robinson (36), Zak Whitbread (90+1) Attendance :- 22,561 Casper Ankergren; Frazer Richardson (Damiano Tommasi 73), Rui Marques ©, Richard Naylor, Alan Sheehan; David Templeton (Kjartan Henry Finnbogason 73), Fabian Delph, Jonny Howson, Robert Snodgrass; Mike Grella, Jermaine Beckford. Unused Substitutes :- Lubomir Michalik, Andy Robinson, Richmond Bossman. Bookings :- None | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | 5th | | Walsall | | 30 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 40 | 26 | +14 | 49 | | 6th | | Leyton Orient | | 30 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 34 | 25 | +9 | 49 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | 7th | | Leicester | | 30 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 45 | 28 | +17 | 48 | | 8th | | Brighton | | 30 | 14 | 5 | 11 | 44 | 33 | +11 | 47 | | 9th | | Colchester | | 29 | 14 | 5 | 10 | 47 | 43 | +4 | 47 | | 10th | | Leeds | | 30 | 13 | 6 | 11 | 42 | 32 | +10 | 45 | | 11th | | Carlisle | | 29 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 41 | 35 | +6 | 45 | | 12th | | Peterborough | | 29 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 40 | 31 | +9 | 44 | | 13th | | Bristol Rovers | | 30 | 13 | 5 | 12 | 45 | 45 | 0 | 44 | | 14th | | Oldham | | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 40 | 41 | -1 | 41 | | 15th | | Stockport | | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 29 | 37 | -8 | 40 | After a pretty good January, we start February with more disappointment and frustration. Frazer Richardson replaced Seamus Coleman at right back for this one, while David Templeton would make his full debut for the club on the right wing in place of the injured Franck Matingou. Striker Ashley Grimes is passed to start for the visitors. Have we gone back into the fear of playing big games at home? It's intimidating playing at Elland Road, but it is supposed to be for the away team! Millwall are a good side, the surprise package of this seasons third tier have no stars in their team, and they are very workmanlike in their approach. We actually had the best of the first half by some way, but all our shots at goal fell to the same player, and that player was Fabian Delph. His first effort was blocked by a defender, before he let fly from range and had Lenny Piddgeley beat, but his effort thumped the top of the cross bar on it's way over. He tried again with a volley from a partially cleared corner, but that one although well struck, would fade wide of the goal frame. Instead, we would go in at the break a goal behind, as Millwall 'did a Leeds' to Leeds, with David Martin drifting over a corner, and centre back Paul Robinson guided his header through the melee in the six yard box to find the net. I was a very unhappy manager at the break, and implored my players to do better. Jonny Howson tried to do just that with a burst into the box between defenders and then shooting across goal, Pidgeley pushing it back out and Tony Craig hit the ball down into the ground to try and get it back to his keeper, Pidgeley having to produce a spectacular looking volley to clear the ball away. As we tried to push forward, largely unsuccessfully, the crowd started to get on the players back, and the frustration started to produce it's own errors. Frazer Richardson and David Templeton were replaced by Damiano Tommasi and Kjartan Henry Finnbogason as we switched to three at the back and three up front. Alan Sheehan got the ball back on the right after a free kick was cleared back out to him, but his attempt to catch Pidgeley cheating on his near post didn't work, the keeper making a comfortable catch. When we did create a really good chance, Jermaine Beckford playing in Mike Grella, it was thwarted by Pidgeley coming off his line and blocked the shot. And then we got caught as we threw caution to the wind. Millwall counter attacked and won a corner, and appeared to understandably send next to no one into the box with the clock already beyond 90 minutes. But their players crept slowly up the park as time was wasted, and then a handful of them charged into the box, and Marc Laird picked out Zak Whitbread at the near post, and he finished the matter with a flying diving header! That might be our first defeat in eight in the League, but it's going to raise blood pressure gauge's in the Boardroom, where the questions are started to be asked about whether I am the right man for this job after all. Frankly, I'm asking the question myself as well, and can't help but feeling I'd have been better off staying in Holland and serving a better apprenticeship, my former side Go Ahead Eagles are now comfortably in the top five and the Playoff positions. This might be too big a job too early in my managerial career. But there will be no throwing in the towel here, we need to get ourselves back on another good run. We're away to Walsall next who are in a Playoff spot, before a home game against second place Huddersfield Town who have just been unseated from the top by Millwall. Wednesday 4th February At the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield this evening, our Reserves have beaten Rotherham United by two goals to nil. Both of those goals are scored by striker Lucciano Becchio. Could the wantaway Argentine 'flop', who is yet to score for the club, be the man to help us out in our hours of need in the coming weeks? Friday 6th February Back to it tomorrow afternoon, and we head south into the Midlands for a game with Walsall who currently hold a Playoff position that we would very much like to take from them. While that isn't mathematically a possibility tomorrow, games are starting to tick down now, and we need to get ourselves in the hunt, and fast, starting at the Bescot Stadium tomorrow. Saturday 7th February Coca-Cola League One Bescot Stadium, Walsall Walsall (0) 1 - Tom Brighton (50) Leeds United (1) 1 - Lubomir Michalik (45+1) Attendance :- 6,413 Casper Ankergren ©; Seamus Coleman, Lubomir Michalik, Richard Naylor, Alan Sheehan; Fabian Delph, Jonny Howson, Andy Robinson, Robert Snodgrass (Richmond Bossman 71); Mike Grella (Kjartan Henry Finnbogason 71), Jermaine Beckford (Lucciano Becchio 71). Unused Substitutes :- Rui Marques, Damiano Tommasi. Bookings :- None | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | 7th | | Colchester | | 30 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 49 | 44 | +5 | 50 | | 8th | | Leicester | | 31 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 46 | 29 | +17 | 49 | | 9th | | Leyton Orient | | 31 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 34 | 26 | +8 | 49 | | 10th | | Carlisle | | 30 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 44 | 35 | +9 | 48 | | 11th | | Peterborough | | 30 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 43 | 32 | +11 | 47 | | 12th | | Leeds | | 31 | 13 | 7 | 11 | 43 | 33 | +10 | 46 | | 13th | | Bristol Rovers | | 31 | 13 | 6 | 12 | 48 | 48 | 0 | 45 | | 14th | | Stockport | | 31 | 12 | 7 | 12 | 32 | 37 | -5 | 43 | | 15th | | Hartlepool | | 31 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 36 | 36 | 0 | 41 | | 16th | | Oldham | | 31 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 40 | 44 | -4 | 41 | | 17th | | Cheltenham | | 31 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 34 | 44 | -10 | 38 | A game that could have easily gone either way, which I guess means that a draw was probably a fair result. Not that I'm overly happy with it. Seamus Coleman and Lubomir Michalik replaced Frazer Richardson and Rui Marques in the back four, while David Templeton dropped out of the matchday squad, with Andy Robinson coming into the side on the right wing and Lucciano Becchio brought on to the substitutes bench after his pair of goals in midweek for the second string. We could have been ahead early, naturally from a set piece, Alan Sheehan whipped in a free kick from the right that Jermaine Beckford headed over the bar at the far post. At the other end Dwayne Mattis sent a shot beyond Casper Ankergren's dive, but also beyond the post too. Still, a set piece looked the most likely way for us to break through, Jonny Howson's inswinging corner met with a glancing header at the near post by Richard Naylor that flew across goal but wide of the far post. Leave it to the master, as in first half injury time Sheehan whipped in another free kick from the right, and Michalik found a yard of space to meet the ball and power home a header to give us a lead. I was happy that we were leading, but not happy with our lack of threat from anything other than set pieces. And those feelings turned to frustration shortly after the restart, as Tom Brighton curled home a left footed direct free kick around the wall and into the top corner, a really good goal, just a shame it was against us. The only blessing was that around five minutes later when Walsall got a free kick from a similar area, it wasn't Brighton who took it for some reason, Paul Boertien hitting that one and getting it all wrong. It was then a second half of few chances, and I made three changes all in attacking areas in one go, including both strikers. It was one of those who passed up the chance to win the game late on, from a set piece of course, Sheehan's corner finding Kjartan Henry Finnbogason at the far post as he outjumped his marker, but found only the side netting with his effort. It's more dropped points, two more left behind today see's us not only drop back down to 12th in the table, but also leaves a trio of teams just above us with a game in hand as well. My job is now considered as very insecure and the Board are said to be disappointed at how things are going, and it could just be a matter of time before I become the latest managerial statistic under the reign of Ken Bates.

Wednesday 1st September 2021 On loan centre back Louie Annesley plays the full ninety minutes of Gibraltar's 2-0 home defeat against Montenegro in the World Cup Qualifying game this evening. Thursday 2nd September We're home this weekend against Farsley Celtic, who have the exact same record as us, two wins and two defeats from four games. Where there is a difference between the clubs is that Celtic have a far more leaky defence, averaging two goals against in each game so far, and combined with home advantage is predicted to give us the win. Friday 3rd September With some new Scouting reports landing on my desk this week, there is an opportunity to improve our strength at the club, and I'm quick to make my move. 31 year old attacking midfielder Bobby Grant immediately steps into the 'Influential Player Hirearchy' group at the club. A former Liverpool youngster, it's actually Accrington Stanley and Fleetwood Town that have had the best of his career so far. He spent last season on loan with Oldham Athletic from Wrexham. He's signed for this season and next on a £450 per week deal. He is available for tomorrow's League game with Farsley Celtic, as is veteran forward Ross McCormack who returns to training today following his thigh injury. Saturday 4th September Vanarama League North Division York Community Stadium, York York City v Farsley Celtic I continue to tinker a bit with the formation as we try to find the way that suits us best. Today it's a 4-4-2 with a diamond in the centre of the park, with the full backs asked to play as wing backs and supply the width we're looking for further up the park. With Louie Annesley away on International Duty with Gibraltar, there is a start for Sam Fielding at the base of the four, while Jack Steele is rested to allow Bobby Grant to debut at the attacking point of the diamond. Ross McCormack is amongst the substitutes. One full back embraced the role more than the other, and not the one I was expecting. Michael Duckworth is very comfortable in the wing back role, but Scott Barrow strode forward inside ten minutes and whipped over a cross to the far post that Clayton Donaldson headed home to put us in front. I felt that had we not got that goal, the game could have gone very much the other way, as Celtic applied plenty of pressure throughout, especially from corners where they tested our defending in set piece situations. But inside the last five minutes the matter was settled when Fielding found Grant, and the debutant rounded off his day with a deflected shot that found it's way in to secure the points and move us back up into sixth place. York City (1) 2 - Clayton Donaldson (8), Bobby Grant (86) Farsely Celtic (0) 0 Ryan Whitley; Michael Duckworth, Scott Barrow, Sean Newton, Matty Brown ©; Sam Fielding; Tyrese Fornah (Jack Steele 86), Michael Woods; Bobby Grant (Jamie Thomas 86); Clayton Donaldson, Mark Beck (Ross McCormack 45). Attendance :- 1,729 We are at least continuing our perfect home record, though that will be tested next time out when we host Hereford United, one of the pre-season fancied sides, next weekend. Of course our home form will count for little if we can't start picking up points on our travels as well. Chalk up another ninety minutes of International Football for Louie Annesley, though I doubt he enjoyed it. Gibraltar are thumped 5-0 by Turkey, though it won't be the first time our on loan defensive midfielder has been part of such a scoreline playing for his country though unfortunately. Tuesday 7th September It's the final day of the International Window, and a huge pick up for Louie today. Okay, Gibraltar didn't get a result in their World Cup Qualifier against Holland, but to only lose 2-1 against one of the genuine football heavyweights of the World game, never mind Europe, but they must be proud of doing so well tonight. Thursday 9th September Despite Hereford being a side that many fancy to do well this season, their start hasn't been overly encouraging with them currently down in 9th place, and we are once again the favourites to win this weekend at the Community Stadium. Vanarama League North Division York Community Stadium, York York City v Hereford United Louie Annesley returns from a hectic International Window and comes right back into the side replacing Sam Fielding in the defensive midfield role, while Mark Beck is dropped from the matchday squad altogether with Ross McCormack starting and on loan forward Benjamin Kimpioka brought in for bench duties. This was pegged as our stiffest test of the campaign so far, and it shaped up that way throughout the majority of the first half, with us slightly edging it for my money, though unable to find our way through with a series of corners that didn't find the mark. Into the second half and the edgy nature continued, with the added bonus of the visitors getting frustrated and feeling the wrath of the ref, four of them ended up seeing yellow. In amongst that midway through the second, Michael Duckworth found Tyrese Fornah outside the box, and he found the bottom corner to give us a very nice victory that would nudge us up into fourth place. York City (0) 1 - Tyrese Fornah (67) Hereford United (0) 0 Ryan Whitley; Michael Duckworth, Scott Barrow, Sean Newton, Matty Brown ©; Louie Annesley; Tyrese Fornah, Michael Woods; Bobby Grant (Jamie Thomas 83); Clayton Donaldson (Benjamin Kimpioka 83), Ross McCormack (Jack Steele 72). Attendance :- 1,982 Tuesday 21st September We will start our FA Cup journey in a fortnight's time as we enter at the Third Qualifying Round stage. We are drawn at home to play Stourbridge. Thursday 23rd September Before then though we have a gut check, as we make the short trip to 5th placed Darlington who are just one point and one spot behind us in the Vanarama North. We have failed to pick up a single point away from home so far this season, but we are the narrow favourites after a pair of home wins this month. Saturday 25th September Vanarama League North Division Blackwell Meadows, Darlington Darlington v York City I tried to keep the adjustment from a home game setup to an away day approach as minimal as possible, moving Louie Annesley back from the base of the diamond into a third centre back, and pushing Michael Duckworth and Scott Barrow forward into attacking wing backs. Darlington were the team in control for much of the first half, and headed into the break with a single goal advantage after Alex Purvers drove home his fourth goal of the season from 12 yards out after a good passing move cut us open. Now I don't know if opposition manager Alun Armstrong was trying to match up with us, but each time I made adjustments, Darlington always seemed to be playing the same way. That was to firstly put us back into our 4-4-2 diamond, and then go increasingly attacking when we went looking for options in the final quarter. That move saw Ross McCormack curl home an equaliser from a free kick, and the same player nearly won us the game in injury time when a loose ball in the box fell to him and while his shot beat the keeper, it was headed off the line by a defender to deny us all three points. Darlington (1) 1 - Alex Purvers (19) York City (0) 1 - Ross McCormack (72) Ryan Whitley; Sean Newton, Louie Annesley (Benjamin Kimpioka 66), Matty Brown ©; Michael Duckworth, Scott Barrow; Tyrese Fornah, Michael Woods (Jack Steele 66); Bobby Grant (Jamie Thomas 66); Clayton Donaldson, Ross McCormack. Attendance :- 1,003 Despite coming out second best in possession, scoring chances and corners, all by quite some way, we so nearly earned our first win on our travels today. Ross McCormack is certainly taking this season seriously too. The veteran forward was dismayed at failing to convert that late chance. Nonetheless, he did score a lovely free kick to earn us our first point away from home and move us up to third place as we finish September. However, our fans are still not happy with how we setup on the road. I get it, but I'm trying what I can to squeeze some of our home form into our away games, and I'm sure a few wins would change their tune. We'll get there I'm sure, York wasn't built in day after all! Monday 27th September McCormack's spirits are quickly improved when he is named in the Vanarama North Team of the Week. Personal accolades certainly seem important to the Scotsman. That's absolutely fine, as long as he is playing the team game and continuing his good early season form. Tuesday 28th September On loan midfielder Tyrese Fornah is out for around a week after suffering a sprained wrist during a heavy fall in training today. He'll miss this weekends FA Cup game at home to Stourbridge. Wednesday 29th September Clayton Donaldson's superb early season form has earned the veteran striker a call up to the Jamaica squad for the next International Window. The 37 year old currently has ten caps to his name for the Reggae Boyz.

Tuesday 5th April 2016 So tomorrow we have our Under-23's back in action, and this is highly likely to be the toughest test of the Group B schedule in the Olympic Qualifiers. We are in Saudi Arabia's fifth most populated city, Dammam, populated for almost one hundred years now, and currently home to almost 1.25 million people, though only a very tiny fraction of them will be at the game today. Our hosts are going into this one with a 100% record and getting close to earning their spot in the Olympic Games, and they are the red hot favourites to not only beat us tomorrow, but give us a bit of a thumping. I'm obviously hoping that won't be the case, but realistically a positive result for us would be getting close to a football miracle. Wednesday 6th April 2016 Olympic Qualifiers, Asian Zone, Third Round, Group B Prince Mohammed bin Fahd Stadium, Dammam, Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia Under-23's v India Under-23's Attendance :- 548. Weather :- Wet, 22c. I don't like being in a position where we have to play defensively, but the odds are stacked against us here, and the last thing I want is to see our young lads on the end of a cricket score that could have been avoided. The plan is to go with a back four, and another defensive line of four right in front of them, with a midfielder and striker further up the park. If things go well, I'm hoping we can then progressively transition and cause them some problems of their own. Ganesh Aerts is selected in goal, and the Belgian based keeper will represent India for the first time ever at any level. Dinesh Fernandes is brought in to join Amit Singh in the middle in front of the defence, with Anthony D'Souza coming in to replace the injured Joseph Lal on the right in a wing back role. Despite in effect double covering the Saudi wingers, we struggled to prevent them getting their crosses into the box in the early stages, Riyadh Al-Harbi putting in the best early one and picking out Miteb Al-Harbi on the far post, but he couldn't keep his header down. Moments later Tariq Al-Harbi and Fawzi Al-Shemmari combined to play in Mansour Fallatah, but his shot curled away from goal and wide. Tariq then swept in a shot on the turn himself that just cleared the cross bar, and we could celebrate surviving the opening quarter of the game. But we wouldn't be able to keep out our hosts much longer, Fayez Al-Salman sending in a diagonal ball in the 26th minute, and as it looked like it would run harmlessly through to Ganesh Aerts, up popped Al-Shemmari to use his head to divert it out of the keepers reach and into the net. To our credit, we almost hit right back, Ashish Morje looked to have reached a dead end down the right channel, but he cut a pass back to Dinesh Fernandes who's dipping effort at goal didn't quite dip enough. However normal service would be resumed a few minutes before the break, Al-Salman again the creator with a deeper cross this time, and Miteb brought it down before beating Aerts with a powerful drive inside the far post to make it 2-0 at the break. With little to lose now, I changed things up at the interval, reverting us back to the wide 4-2-2-2 that we usually utilise, and replacing Fernandes and Anthony D'Souza with Anthony Haque and Felix Basheer. That brought about a surprising change of tone to the game, with us getting into a good spell of possession and creating chances, the best of which went begging before the hour when Amar Thakur's cross from the right skipped off the wet surface and evaded the finishing touch required by both Morje and Sanjay Singh. It was enough of a concern to force the Saudi's into changing tact with their substitutions all made in a ten minute spell, although it was Fallatah that was denied their third goal, his free kick seemingly headed for the top corner until Aerts got fingertips to the ball and touched it over the bar with a spectacular stop. Not as spectacular as the next free kick our opponents would try their luck from a few minutes later though, Aerts able to do nothing at all about Hamed Al-Shareef's 79th minute piledriver set piece from all of 30 yards that found it's way past the edge of the wall and into the net via the underside of the cross bar. We did almost salvage some pride late on, Paramjit Kumar's inswinging corner picking out the head of Jose Paul, but the centre back couldn't keep his header down, and we were denied even a consolation goal today. Saudi Arabia Under-23's (2) 3 - Fawzi Al-Shemmari (26), Miteb Al-Harbi (41), Hamed Al-Shareef (79) India Under-23's (0) 0 Ganesh Aerts; Amar Thakur ©, Jose Paul, Francisco Reja, Paramjit Kumar; Anthony D'Souza (Anthony Haque 45), Amit Singh, Dinesh Fernandes (Felix Basheer 45), Sanjay Singh; Mohammed Nayan (Mohammed Hassan 75); Ashish Morje. Unused Substitutes :- Gumpe Singh, Seby Kumar (GK), Sheikh Singh, Karan Mollah. Bookings :- None Possession :- 44%- 56%. Man of the Match :- Miteb Al-Harbi (Saudi Arabia Under-23's). That victory, and a fairly comfortable one achieved without ever really getting into top gear, leaves Saudi Arabia knowing that a win over Indonesia in a fortnight's time in the penultimate round of games will secure their place at this summers Olympic Games Football Tournament, while a draw would also quite likely be enough with them facing Syria in their final game should they still need a result. Syria remain rooted to the foot of the Group B table after losing 3-0 tonight in Jableh at home to Indonesia. They'll be making the trip to New Delhi next time around, where we'll be looking to secure third place at least, and also potentially looking to bring in some players who are eligible for other nations as well as India, and commit them to our National Pool going forward. There's a few in that position, some good enough to potentially play Senior football, some maybe not so. But giving them a few minutes at least to remove the doubt isn't going to do us any harm. 2016 Olympic Football Tournament Qualifiers, Asian Zone, Third Round, Group B. Up To & Including Wednesday 6th April 2016 | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | 1st | | Saudi Arabia | | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | +11 | 12 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | 2nd | | Indonesia | | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 9 | | 3rd | | India | | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 | -3 | 3 | | 4th | | Syria | | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 17 | -15 | 0 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday 3rd April 2016 **SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT** India Under-23 Squad for 2016 Olympic Games Asian Qualifying Third Round Group B v Saudi Arabia (A) | Name | Position | Club |Height|Age |Value| International Status | | Ganesh Aerts | GK | AA Gent (BEL) | 6'0" | 19 | £2K | Uncapped | | Kuldip Basheer | GK | East Bengal | 5'7" | 24 | £1K |4 Under-21 Caps/0 Goals | | Seby Kumar | GK | Dempo | 5'8" | 20 | £5K |7 Under-21 Caps/0 Goals | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Gumpe Singh | D RC | East Bengal | 5'7" | 24 | £9K | 4 Senior Caps/1 Goal | | Sheikh Singh | D RL | SC Goa | 5'7" | 23 | £1K |3 Under-21 Caps/0 Goals | | Francis Xavier Dias | D L | Mohun Bagan | 5'7" | 21 | £5K | 1 Senior Cap/0 Goals | | Paramjit Kumar | D L | Vasco | 5'7" | 21 | £4K | 12 Senior Caps/0 Goals | | Francisco Bhowmick | D C | Fukien (HKG) | 5'10"| 20 | - | 4 Senior Caps/0 Goals | | Francisco Reja | D C | vv Heerjansdam (NED) | 5'9" | 20 | £8K | 5 Senior Caps/0 Goals | | Mohammad Hossain | D C | Mahindra Utd | 5'9" | 24 | - |5 Under-21 Caps/0 Goals | | Jose Paul | D C | WIT-Georgia (GEO) | 5'9" | 24 | £20K| 11 Senior Caps/3 Goals | | Anthony D'Souza | D/WB R,DM, M RC| Viva Kerala | 5'9" | 22 | £1K |2 Under-21 Caps/0 Goals | | Amar Thakur | D/WB/AM R | Air India | 5'5" | 23 | £2K | 3 Senior Caps/0 Goals | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Sanjay Singh | D LC, M L | Indian Telephone SC | 5'7" | 17 | - | 6 Senior Caps/0 Goals | | Dinesh Fernandes | D C, DM, M C | Dempo | 5'10"| 20 | £3K |7 Under-21 Caps/0 Goals | | Amit Singh | DM, M C | FC Nantes (FRA) | 5'10"| 17 | £50K| 10 Senior Caps/0 Goals | | Karan Mollah | DM, M C | AS Poissy (FRA) | 5'7" | 18 | £1K | 1 Senior Cap/0 Goals | | Mohammed Hassan | M C | SC Goa | 5'8" | 23 | £1K | 1 Senior Cap/0 Goals | | Mohammed Nayan | M C | Dempo | 5'9" | 20 | £3K | 8 Under-21 Caps/1 Goal | | Mohd Jahangir Islam | M C | Dempo | 5'8" | 23 | £14K| Uncapped | | Anthony Haque | AM RL | Viva Kerala | 5'8" | 22 | - | Uncapped | | Naresh Reja | AM L | Bhratri Sangha | 5'10"| 20 | - | 1 Senior Cap/0 Goals | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Ashish Morje | ST | BEC Tero Sasana (THA) | 5'8" | 23 | £55K| 1 Senior Cap/0 Goals | | Felix Basheer | ST | SC Goa | 5'8" | 21 | £10K| 9 Under-21 Caps/1 Goal | | Mohammed Chowdhury | ST | Mohammedan | 5'8" | 21 | £2K |10 Under-21 Caps/5 Goals| | Shafiqul Islam Chowdhury | ST | Vannes Olympique (FRA) | 6'4" | 22 | £6K | 3 Senior Caps/0 Goals | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Surprising, but very welcome news for India ahead of the fourth Group B Qualifier for this summers Olympic Games Football Tournament. 19 year old Belgian born and based goalkeeper Ganesh Aerts has abandoned his dreams of playing International Football for the European Nation, and has accepted an invite to be part of the India Squad at the umpteenth time of asking. He is about to complete his third season with AA Gent, and while still thought to be held in high regard by the staff, he has yet to make his Senior Competitive Debut for the club, and his contract now has a little under three months to run. His addition to our National Pool is an excellent one, and the only real question now is whether to give him a baptism of fire in Damman against the red hot favourites for Group B and next opponents Saudi Arabia, or ease him in with the more favourable fixture at home to Syria in a couple of weeks time. It is United SC's only representative in the squad Mohammed Barua who is dropped to make way for the newcomer. In other changes from the last selection, Dulal Bhattacharya is the new example of playing your football abroad not being a guarantee of being selected, the Jordan based left backs lack of both form and fitness has seen him left out this time, with his place going to Mohun Bagan's twenty one year old Francis Xavier Dias. There is an extra full back selected as well, with one less striker picked for this game. The beneficiary of that decision is Anthony D'Souza, who is enjoying the most productive season of his career so far at Viva Kerala, and brings a positional versatility that would make him an ideal candidate for duty on the bench should we need to make an adjustment if 'Plan's A, B, C or D' need some modifying. There are more changes made in the midfield area of the park, as I bring defensive midfielders in at the sacrifice of some of the playmaking ability that I like to be able to call upon. You have to play the odds sometimes, right? The exception there is Joseph Lal, the right winger is out with injury and isn't directly replaced with Anthony Haque already in the previous selections. Instead Asif Hossain joins him in being left behind, and in come Dempo's hard tackling and hard working twenty year old defensive midfielder Dinesh Fernandes, and the youngster who started a huge controversy early in my tenure in charge of India, the French based defensive midfielder Karan Mollah, who remains at the same club and continues to make slow but steady improvements as he picks up large amounts of First Team experience despite his club being whipping boys in France's fourth tier. Finally up front, where as previously mentioned we drop from five strikers down to just four. East Bengal's forward Naushad Ghosh is the one to miss out. If the Saudi's are paying attention, and notice that we have dropped the selected number of strikers for this game, it may give them some idea of our intention's for Wednesday evening in the Prince Mohammed bin Fahd Stadium.

After 75 consecutive years in the Football League, the last almost 20 years have been fairly miserable for York City. In 2004/05, their run as a Football League club was ended, and while they made a return seven years later, they would drop back out of the League four years later, and continue falling through to tier six and the Vanarama National League North. Now it's the start of the 2021/22 season, and as the UK and the rest of the World start to emerge from a pandemic that at times has brought everything to a standstill, City are hoping to turn the corner and start the climb back towards the Football League. They have left their Bootham Crescent home, and at the start of the year moved into the brand new 8,400 seat York Community Stadium. They also have a new Manager......me. This will be my first ever Management job, and with my reputation set to 'Unknown', I've immediately thrown myself into the deep end. Sean Newton has played over 500 career games, and is about to go into his sixth season at the club, while new arrival and veteran striker Clayton Donaldson is only a trio of goals away from 200 for his career. Neither is even remotely impressed that the club has hired an unknown and inexperienced Manager, and have publicly voiced their concerns at the turn of events. This wouldn't normally be a problem, but these two players are both in a social team leader group of three, and they hold a fairly sizeable influence over other members of a pretty small First Team Squad. This is a tough starting problem to deal with, and there are several options to deal with it. I may have a short time to prove to them that I can out perform my reputation both on and off the park, or there is the option to move one or both of them out of the door before their opinion filters through the Squad, and deal with the issue that way. Talk about a baptism of fire! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello everyone, Happy New Year to you all! For as long as I can remember, I've been promising a faster paced story. But I always get sidetracked and bogged down with the detail. Well, this is my latest plan to keep the detail brief. Use the faster paced and less detailed Mobile version of the game. Less detail in the game, less detail in the story. This is my first attempt at using this version, and it would appear that good performances in the game could mean unlockable features coming up. These will be dealt with as and when they occur, but no unlockables will be 'purchased' by me, they will only appear if they are earned. 30 years is the maximum career allowed in this version. All available Leagues in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales & Republic of Ireland are loaded. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday 5th July 2010 **Sky Sports Breaking News** The FA have today announced some huge changes to the rules around gambling for people involved in the game. In the past, anyone involved in football has been unable to place bets. But with online betting, crypto currency and underground illegal bookmakers all making the job of tracking these breaches more difficult, the ruling body of football in England has today made a sweeping change to the rules. With immediate effect, those involved in the game are only prohibited from placing bets on competitions in which their club are involved in, regardless of whether they have been knocked out of the competition or not. The games governing body expect this change to bring about a reduction is suspensions for betting offences, and encourage more open discussion about the topic. This is undoubtedly a rule change that will be considered controversial by all involved in the game, and will almost certainly cause a lot of debate amongst those involved in the game, as well as those who enjoy a flutter on the football themselves on the weekend. ---------------------------------------------------- Tuesday 6th July 2010 **The Cornish & Devon Post (Late Edition)** AFC Newquay have courted controversy this lunchtime, with the appointment of a new manager at the club. The appointment of 32 year old Neil Hoskins is not the controversial aspect though. Chairman of the club, Marcus Smith, a property developer from the local area, has brought the Welshman to the South West Peninsula Division One West club not only for his managerial and tactical abilities, but to also take advantage of the of yesterday's rule change by the FA. Hoskins has served a suspension after frequent betting activities while managing in lower league football while living in his home nation. At the time he claimed that he wasn't aware that betting on high level and worldwide famous Premier League teams would count as an infraction while managing at such a low level. Now Smith is seemingly prepared to let Hoskins betting skills determine the financial future of the club, who are languishing in the 11th tier of English football. 'I've known him for a few years, I sold him a holiday home down here a few years ago after he got suspended. He's often in the area, and has been coaching some kids. I needed a new manager at the club, and with his acumen at the bookmakers as well as on the touchline, we could put some money into the club, and really kick on and improve it's fortunes both on and off the park' Smith told a sparsely populated press event at the clubs Mount Wise Stadium. 'Football in Cornwall could really use a boost, and if this brings the club into the spotlight a little, and moves us on up the pyramid, it's a good thing as far as I'm concerned.' Smith was asked what kind of money Hoskins will have at his disposal. 'We're not talking mega money in football terms, far from it. We're an amateur club, but if he can use that money improve our financial situation, then we could look at going part time in the near future, improve the ground and some other aspects of the club, and just make Newquay a more viable option for players to come and play in the South West. Who wouldn't want to live here and play football given a chance?' With only just over a month till the domestic season kicks off, and no staff or senior players at the club, Hoskins will have his work cut out to hit the ground running with AFC Newquay, with or without Smith's cash behind him! -------------------------------------------------- I know, I know. You're sick of me. But you might be in lockdown, and I don't want you getting bored. Welcome to my latest new story, and revisiting a concept that I tried several years ago, but was wrapped around my attempt to build an actual storyline. It didn't go well, and I didn't enjoy the creative writing side of it. But the idea has always stuck with me, and always been something I wanted to return to. And here we are. ---------- The Rules (if I've forgotten anything important that crops up along the way I'll edit this section accordingly) *The save is using FM'11, with 35 nations loaded, and a extra database to unlock English Leagues down to the 12th level. *The Real Time Editor is in play, only to be used to adjust the club's finances as needed once a bet is placed and settled. *Maximum bet is 15% of the clubs current available Balance. A larger bet will be permitted twice a season, once before Christmas, and once after. No limit, but it's not allowed to skint the club out either. Cannot bet on a competition we feature in, or that any players of ours out on loan could feature in. *Only in-game odds will be used. *All bets to be posted on the Friday in game, with betting only permitted on Saturday matches. As odds are only given for match results, then that is the only bet available. Singles, Doubles, Trebles or Accumulators are allowed. *Managers discretion on how to use the cash. However, it'd can't be done without permission. For example, I can't just turn the club semi-professional, upgrade the facilities, or expand the stadium without the approval of the Board. *Only Staff that have applied or been recommended can be brought into the club, and only players that have been scouted or offered to the club can be signed. ---------- Let's see how this one goes. Enjoy. Comments and Questions welcomed as always. A Note to keep in mind Gambling on anything above the fun side, a couple of quid here and there for a fun accumulator, is, frankly, a mugs game. Please note, for the purpose of clarity, that no real life money is being spent here. If you have an addictive personality or gambling issues, please don't read on. Help is available, at places such as begambleaware.org and gamblingcommission.gov.uk Thank you.

Tuesday 1st July 2008 As a little known and unproven football manager, I have scored the biggest job of my career to date at the ripe age of just 30 years old. I've been appointed the new man in charge of Scottish Third Division side Dumbarton. They've shown huge faith in my abilities by offering me a one year deal on just £95 per week! The Board are hoping for a season where we finish nicely in mid table. But I'm setting my sights much higher than that! From the outside looking in, Scotland is a country just waiting for a club to conquer it and destroy the annual dominance of the Old Firm clubs. A club that won't sit back and watch them snatch up any half talented player and then leave them to rot in the reserves while they bring in an over-priced, over-paid and over-rated foreign striker. My plan is to make Dumbarton the club to challenge their dominance.....once we win three promotions, maybe a few Cups, build a new ground, attract a billionaire owner, and convince some of the best players in the land that this small town on the west side of Scotland's 'central belt' is the place to play their football...... Obviously we'll need a good season under our belts to earn me a new contract extension before I can start to unleash my full plan to dominate in domestic and continental football. With a bit of money in the transfer kitty, and some room in the wage budget, I plan to start by bringing in veterans with huge experience and exploit the loan market. ------------------------------ DUMBARTON FC Season 1 - 2008/09 Target - Achieve a respectable league position in the Third Division Transfer Budget - £26,000 Wage Budget - £2,200 per week (£1,860 current spend) ------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi. Welcome to my latest offering for your reading, entertainment, and ultimately amusement, as I spectacularly fail. This is the first of at least two new stories I have been planning and lined up for you. The intention has been explained. The idea is a quicker paced and lower detail content read to allow some quicker paced play, designed to keep your attention and allow me to move through the game a bit quicker than normal. This save is using FM'09 once again. Every nation and league available is loaded and playable. Unfaking has been done, but other than that, only cosmetic editing for strips and logos has been applied. My past experience has been set to automatic. Enjoy. Comments, questions, queries etc are all welcome as always.

Monday 1st December 2014 On Tuesday 8th July 2008, I was appointed the new Manager of Northern Irish minnow club, Lurgan Celtic. The task was to change the landscape of football in Ulster. Now, six and a half years later, that minnow club sits top of the Premier Division by four points heading into December, in the process of being taken over by a successful businessman who wants to make the club professional and build them a new stadium. That club is worth five times what it was when I took over, and they could be playing European Football by next summer. I can't take all the credit, but, I'm entitled to a share of it at least. Now, only a few weeks short of four years since I left Knockramer Park, I am back in Northern Ireland, with a new job. A new task. To change that landscape of football in the country back. While clubs such as Lurgan Celtic, Glebe Rangers and Newry City have enhanced their reputation and fortunes, other teams have had to make way. Some of those other teams are the 'old guard' of football in Ulster. They were caught out in the changing times, and have been elbowed aside, somewhat ungraciously, to make room. One of those clubs sit on the banks of the River Bann that runs up to the nations Northern Coast between Castlerock and Portstewart. That club is Coleraine, the once Northern Irish Premier Division Champions, five time Northern Irish Cup Winners, and three time Northern Irish League Cup Winners. This grand old club is 87 years old, and has struggled to keep up with the changing landscape of football in Ulster, sitting right now in mid table in the second tier, the First Division. It was a peculiar time to sack Stephen McConnell. The 37 year old, previously Manager at Larne and Bangor, had only been in charge at The Coleraine Showgrounds for a little over six months. He replaced Neil McLean, who had been in caretaker charge of around three months after Michael Lamont had been sacked, but McLean couldn't keep Coleraine in the Premier Division. And McConnell didn't have a great start, with The Bannsiders winning their opener, but then failing to win any of their next eight. Form has improved significantly over the last month or two though, as they are unbeaten in their last eight in all competitions, though they have been knocked out of the Northern Irish League Cup. There has been progress in the Intermediate League Cup though, a victory over Oxford United Stars almost ten days ago now proved to McConnell's last game in charge. Ultimately, Chairman of the club, Hugh Wade, wanted to make a change before Cliftonville and Donegal Celtic wrapped up the top two places early. In all honesty, it might be too late, as Cliftonville are seventeen points in front of us, winning all bar one of their eleven matches. Donegal Celtic are nine points ahead of us in the Playoff spot, which may also be a tough ask, but we have almost three weeks before our next match. McConnell was sacked at a lunchtime press conference, and within hours they were in touch, and granted permission to speak to me by Maidstone United. By tea time, I was on a flight to Belfast, met at the airport, and driven to the ground that they were hoping I'd soon be calling home. But they would have to improve their opening offer, which would have seen me drop £100 a week. After earning less than £11,000 a year on average over the course of my career, I wasn't prepared to take that kind of a drop, and asked them to have another look at their figures. The Board met up again, and made a counter offer, that was also met with a request to move a little further. As midnight approached, they came up with an offer that was agreeable. It's a two and a half year deal, at a wage of £220 per week. The Transfer Budget is minimal, less than £1,000, but the Wage Budget is better, £2,900 per week to spend and almost half of that still available too. The deal was signed in the early hours of this morning. I have jumped right out of the financial fire with Maidstone United, that FA Cup run put us back in the black. But finances are not healthy at all here in Coleraine. With the cost of firing a Manager, and hiring a new one factored in, my new employers are currently £183,000 in debt. That explains why there is no Transfer Budget then. ------------- Neil Hoskins. 37 years old. Welsh. Uncapped. Reputation :- National. Contract :- Full Time, 2.5 years, £220 per week. Previous Experience :- Sunday League Footballer. Managerial Statistics. Club/Player Loyalty :- 6. Domestic Players Bias :- 19. Financial Control :- 8. Hands On Approach :- 6. Squad Discipline :- 16. Tactical Consistency :- 17. Season Expectations :- Win Promotion to the Premier Division (Not Being Judged On This Objective Right Now). Transfer Budget :- £789. Wage Budget :- £2,860 per week. Currently Spending :- £1,500 per week. ------------- Coleraine FC. Founded :- 1927. Nickname :- The Bannsiders. Status :- Semi-Professional. Reputation :- National. Value :- £325,000. Chairman Status :- Love the club. Finances :- Okay (-£183,021). Club Colours :- Home - Blue and White Stripes. Away - Yellow, with Blue Trim. Club Legends :- Pat McAllister, Paul Gaston, Marty Quinn. Club Icons :- None. Favoured Personnel :- Kyle McVey. Fierce Rivals :- Ballymena United, Limavady United. Other Rivals :- Institute, Coleraine Crusaders. Honours :- *Northern Ireland Premier Division Winners - 1974. *Northern Ireland First Division Winners - 1996,2012. *Northern Ireland Cup Winners - 1965,1972,1975,1977,2003 *Northern Ireland League Cup Winners - 1954,1969,1988 *Northern Ireland Intermediate Cup Winners - 2013 Last Season :- 12th (bottom) of Northern Irish Premier Division. Coleraine Showgrounds, Coleraine, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland Capacity :- 6,500 (1,000 seats). Condition :- Average. Surface :- Grass. Surface Condition :- Very Good. Adequate Corporate Facilities, Fairly Basic Training Facilities, Basic Youth Facilities and Youth Academy. -----------------