dtown1414

Wow, you called that one. Look what Westchester did to us. I thought we had a fighting chance, especially only down one at half-time. That dream turned into a nightmare, lol.

Well this will keep Abraham happy for a while. A whopping 140 fans for the last game. I heard some of the giveaways were a free ice cream cone at the concession stand, a two dollar coupon for a hot dog, you know, all those "big ticket" items. In preparation to take on the first-place club, on their turf. Guess there's a reason they're in first place. Performing well above average in every category. And yes, we'll be playing on another football field. This time in Westchester, New York. It's good to get Adam Price back at left-back, and I'm starting Grant Davis up front. Even though Larry Ruthven has six goals in 13 league apps, he's really been in a "funk" lately, and maybe not the best time to make such a radical change, but I have to go with the guy who's in the best form. If it works out, I'll be hailed as a genius. if not, a typical rookie manager mistake. Westchester was on the front foot from the start, and within 17 minutes we were down 2-0. The pace of their players up front was causing loads of problems for our defenders. But amazingly, in the 36th minute, Dennis Hitchcock pulled one back for us, on the heels of a nice, long pass from Leon Shaw, and we went in at the half trailing 2-1. We knew they were good, just not this good! The second half was even uglier than the first. I will never say that players quit on the pitch, especially not those playing for me, but they got the wind knocked out of their sails for sure. The pace and the precision of Westchester's passing was just too much for our players. I subbed, I encouraged, but nothing helped quite frankly. Someone once said, that "anger" is a good thing to have in a manager. Well, the players saw it in me after the match. The dressing room was closed to the press, and I informed our media guy that I would not be attending the press conference. Maybe that's the "only child" in me coming out, but I was so upset to put it nicely, and embarrassed by our performance, I didn't want to be around anyone. My mentor once told me that you're never going to please everybody. You're going to be an unpopular figure at times. Well, this was one of those times. I hope I embarrassed them in the dressing room, like they embarrassed themselves on the pitch. Nuff said about this.

Certainly, scoring goals. A bit of a leaky defense at times, but hangin in there.

Amazing run! Keep it going

Thanks for the advice. My bench is pretty weak, so generally I feel comfortable with three of my players off the bench. I am looking to get more playing time for a reserve player I called up. Games at this level are fast and furious so I can see my starting eleven do need a break at times. And yes, thanks for the advice on the separate post. I will start doing that, and those games that are not that important, will more than likely just give a quick summary. Thanks for following.

Really nice season. Start again next season!

Tough loss for sure, but still sittin pretty.

Aqua blue track. Interesting

October 2023 Fox & Hitchcock have been good in midfield. And my scout saying we are "shaky defensively" may be a gross understatement. Would like to try and eliminate some of that negative right side. And yes, I would agree that we have been getting the better half of possession, but again, we're not ruthless enough inside the box. Need more clinical finishes and need to test the goalkeeper more. Too many of our shots end up over the goal and into the stands. Michael Johnson doesn't start for us, so that "weak influence" stat is a bit skewed. At least that's how I understand it to be. He's played in three league games, scoring one goal, with a nice rating of 7.20. And in my tactics, I've asked the players to "work the ball into the box" more, and as a result, only nine "long-range shots" over five games is fine with me. Here's a shot that went a bit wide and crushed the face of the ball boy. He cried for five minutes but sucked it up and continued his job. Got a standing ovation. More than the team gets most of the time. And the fans (what they're called here in the US) are still on my side. A bit harsh though on Shaw, as he was injured, and out for three games, so just getting back into form. Five league games in October, three away games. Will be a good test for us! De Anza Force (weird name) is our next match. Force stands for their color (blue), apparently blue entrusts "force". Yeah, I looked that up. De Anza I guess is a nearby area. There's a college named that. They're located in Saratoga, California, which is part of the Silicon Valley. Probably a bunch of "data geeks.". But they are currently in 10th place. And check this out. Top billing baby!! Now, can someone just tell me what 19:30 is in eastern standard time so I don't miss the game? After a goalless first half, young Adam Price does the unthinkable, and puts a late tackle on Marshawn Ramsey in the box, and hence a penalty. Ramsey buries it, and we're down 1-0. I had to bring Joey Bendik on and play left back, he's a natural right back, and have Richie Fox play deeper and mainly defend. I already sucked down three Tums for my heartburn!! And super sub-Grant Davis does it again, coming from a brilliant long pass from Ikoba. Ties things up 1-1. And then the unthinkable in the 80th minute. Brilliant header by Davis on a pass from Ikoba. What a tremendous win this was! So proud of the guys today! Davis is really bucking for more playing time. Definitely has caught the eye of the manager! Not much time to enjoy this win, as we're right back at it with another home game. Taking on the 2nd place team which should be a good one! Don't mind press conferences after a win! Especially after this one with playing with only 10. Coming up, fourth place against second place. With playing the leaders in a few days after that. With Price suspended, will start this game, the same way we finished the last one. Bendik will play in an unnatural position on the left. See how he fares doing this for the whole match. It's that Hithcock guy once again, getting us off to a great start in the 14th minute! And again, in the 30th minute on a brilliant free kick! A late goal in the first half made it 2-1, and then Long Island scored four minutes into the second half, and despite both teams having chances, that was the final score. It was a very entertaining game, and my hat has to go off to both teams for their intensity, and not willing to give up. Next up – A battle with the first place West Chester Flames

Tactics - In the last two matches, both times in the second half I changed the formation to a 4-3-1-2, because I felt we'd have a better chance of scoring goals. We were behind in both cases, and fortunately my hunch was correct. We bounced back against Baltimore and got an away draw, and then came from behind to beat The Villages. So this is what I'm going with for the next match, and possibly beyond. We'll see how things go. I do like Hitchcock as an AMC, and I know he can bag goals for us. Front foot from the start and a beautiful finish by Ross Shinault! After leading at the half, we give up one to knot the score 1-1, but then Hitchcock comes through for us again to make it 2-1 in the 54th minute Another brilliant move by the manager, lol, as I subbed off both strikers with Grant Davis, and Michael Johnson, and it was Davis that came through with the winning goal, on a peach of a pass from Johnson. More playing time for those two is definitely in the mix. And our own Shlomi Peretz wins Player of the Week. I keep reminding myself that they are playing two tiers up, and we aren't. And the pundits were right. Halfway through the first half I changed to a more defensive strategy, but still couldn't stop the bleeding. In the second half, Loudon hit the post "three times" and Pondy made a wonderful stop on a penalty, or the score would have been worse. Already thin at the back line. This won't help any. With that suspension, and the fact that there are times when the back line could use some fresh legs, I brought up Benjamin Amador. He's from Mexico, but is here studying at SCAD, so is available for all the games, including ones we travel to. He said if he misses a class, he can make it up online. I hope so, because with my coach's assessment, the young man sadly has no real future in this sport. Coach assessment - Might not have the required ability or potential. We didn't play badly over our next two games, and I was really proud of the players for holding Loudoun United to a draw at their home ground. But, of course we lose on aggregate 4-1. That brings us to the final game in September against Miami Kendall Rush at home. Our final game in September. Good start for us and in the 11th minute, Henderson gets on the wrong side of their defender, Alasdair Butler, and powers one home for a 1-0 lead. It ends up that first goal was all we needed, as we got a rare clean sheet. Nice way to end September! Moving up the table, slowly, but surely. We move into October with some momentum, and hopefully can continue this league run!

I like your board. Ask and ye shall receive! Good season so far!

August 8th - During the nine-hour bus trip to Baltimore (yeah, no club money to fly), I had a nice chat with our Chief Scout, William Ellis. Originally from Louisiana, William moved to the Savannah some ten years ago. He has his own commercial insurance business, which gives him the flexibility of traveling to games far and wide to scout for us. Our budget is small, so he really only looks at those teams in our league, and also some of the amateur games. My takeaway from our conversation: He feels "the lower down you go level wise, he finds a player can really only process one movement one sequence of play, while top players can process three of four. They see it quicker, think quicker, and that's why they're where they are, and our players are here. I also ask him about scouting in general. In the past, clubs would give me "rules." Don't do this, don't do that, there are no rules in scouting. You have to be open-minded. I go to these amateur games, and some of my fellow scouts think I'm wasting my time. But I feel, no one is looking at these players, maybe for good reason, but it only takes one player to stand out, one player that "shouts" through his actions, that hey, I can play at a higher level. And maybe it's only semi-professional, but that's Ok. Maybe he's the player that helps promote a team from semi-professional to professional. "I like players who will give the other team "problems." Who will take a risk, but not one that hurts his team. They have game intelligence, or does something that catches my eye, a clever pass, an outstanding finish, a brilliant save. Those players get my attention. "There is no strength without unity" This is what I emphasized to the players before are match against Baltimore. We've lost two in a row and haven't scored in either game. But no time to panic for the players or their manager. So I'm not changing anything formation wise, or mentality wise. Every club will go through a "rough patch", I'm just hoping ours is behind us. Well, this isn't Old Trafford that's for sure. It's Cedar Lane Regional Park in Belair, semi-close to Baltimore. In this league, gotta go where you can play, and where it's affordable! And early tripping penalty saw Baltimore take the lead, and then we fought back to tie the score, only to have their strkier, Ricardo Gomez score from just outside the 18 yard box, 2-1 at the half. Well, I was proud of the players, as we came from behind twice to come away with a well-deserved draw and secure a much needed point. Usually, don't get that excited with a draw, but in this case, the team never gave up, and it was a good showing. Barely time to breathe, and no time for a practice before our match against The Villages. We battled back again, just like in the last match, and then our sub, Michael Johnson came up big, flying down the left side, beating his defender, and tucking away the winner! Our 23 shots were the most this year, just need to challenge the keeper more, and improve our finishing. Great win for us! Hangin with those in front of us. Really just based on goal difference. Can't see it but Solar SC is bringing up the rear in 24th.

Nice to see our young left back, Adam Price, and our right midfielder, Ross Shinault, mentioned in the league's Team of the Week, albeit subs. Our head physio kept bugging us about adding another person to his department. I think he just gets bored of not having anyone to talk to when he shows up at the office. Anyway, we finally caved in to his wishes, and hired Joe Zimmerman. I won't miss Jordan McCourt, our Head Physio, nagging me about hiring another doc. No surprise here. Shaw not ready for our upcoming match against Solar SC. Very early in the campaign! August 30th - Savannah Clovers vs Solar SC - We started on the front foot from the beginning, and hit the post twice, until finally, on a "thread the needle" pass by Ross Shinault to Jack Henderson for the first goal. We scored another before halftime, and then big surprise, gave up one in the second half to make things interesting. But a third goal by Jack Henderson sealed the deal. Nice win for the team! September 2023 Bad days build better days September 2nd - Miami City vs Savannah Clovers - I certainly hope that quote bears out, because we got hammered in Miami. Nothing the players did, and any changes I made couldn't stop the bleeding. Need to learn from this, and move on. Training - Not So Much at the Semi-Professional Level Coming off a really bad loss, there's nothing more I'd like to do then get the team directly back in for practice the next day. But you can see the challenge that I have when it comes to training at this level. And it's not just the Clovers that have this schedule, it's life at the semi-professional level. Only the last week in September can I get two practices done in one week. September 6th - Big match today, as Ventura sits third in the table, and we're seventh. Unfortunately, second straight loss, and second straight shutout. Team just looked lethargic today and appears they haven't put the Miami City thrashing behind them. Perhaps a trip to the northeast (Baltimore) will do the players some good. May take them up a day early, so they can enjoy the "Inner Harbor" in Baltimore. Hopefully, clear their minds!

Sitting nicely in a playoff spot. Long way to go.

Ouch! That certainly hurt. And on a penalty in extra time.

Your recruitment team is doing about as good as mine in Savannah. They found one player who wants nothing to do with us, lol

Nice to see you have some cash to spend. Good luck next season.

Life in the Lower Leagues – Contracts One of the things that I learned very quickly from talking to other managers, past and present in the semi-professional world, is that contracts are easy for a player to get out of. We of course, don’t have the massive salaries, or outrageous transfer fees that the much higher levels in soccer in the US, or football in Europe have. Contracts are more a statement of what’s expected of a player. Many semi-pro players are paid to play; when they don’t play, they don’t get paid. We don’t have any of those on our squad, but they are quite common. A contract that states a player will be on time, keep fit and healthy, and not do anything to embarrass themselves or their club, train with their teammates, and so on is there to keep players in line, not to keep them tied to their semi-pro club. Throw in the fact that clubs at the lower end don’t have a lot of money to spend, and many are on a “shoestring” budget to start, salaries just can’t be that high. Should a semi-pro player be offered a better contract by another club, they can usually simply move immediately. The better offer could be a guaranteed weekly income or better bonuses. A genuinely talented semi-pro player stands out from the crowd, but overall, the level of the league is relatively low. An excellent player might stay in the semi-pro league because they don’t want to devote their whole life to soccer. Not being able to train together every day will always impact how good a team can become, regardless of the players’ skills. Low expectations mean players can play with more freedom; crowds are small; it’s about doing your best rather than being the best. August 23rd - We had the second leg against the Kalonji Soccer Academy, and even though it was a lackluster performance, we managed a draw, and now able to move on to the next round. And it appears KSA's manager had a problem with the refereeing inthe game. I didn't have any issues at all. August 24th - The second round was held today. We get Loudoun United who are in League One, two tiers above us. This won't be easy! August 26th - We played Albertson in a friendly early on in the season, so we have some knowledge of how they play. With Shaw out, that's a big loss for us. I may look to the reserves to have another body on the bench. If We Score, We Might Win. If They Never Score, We Can’t Lose! Match started wide open, and both teams had good chances, but finally, in the 35th minute Ross Shinault buried one in the left-hand corner to give us a 1-0 lead, which is how it ended at half-time. A second straight game where a red card was shown, this time on Albertson's right back Gonzalo Alarcon, who had a nasty and late tackle on Larry Ruthven. And while we're not winning impressively, I'll take the three points. And this cracks me up. The front office has considered "fan day" a huge success, with 118 supporters showing up, lol. And what does United get at Old Trafford, 75 thousand. Next up, a home meeting with Solar SC out of Plano, Texas, who are currently dead last in the standings.

August 16th - We made the four-hour trip to Lawrenceville, Ga to take on the Kalonji Soccer Academy (KSA) in the first round of the Lamar Hunt Cup tournament. The play at Coolray Stadium, which is also where the Atlanta United club in the MLS practice on occasion. Doubt there will be this many people at our match. The KSA club play in the National Soccer Conference League, which is two tiers below our league. No changes in the lineup since our last match And ten minutes in and Ruthven makes it 1-0 on a nice breakaway! A red card to KSA's young attacking midfielder gave us an ideal opportunity to add to our lead, but surprisingly we couldn't find the back of the net, despite hitting the post twice. Score remained 1-0 at the half. We totally dominated the second half, AFTER our leaky defense gave up a goal to knot the score 1-1. We had a ton of chances, thanks to another red KSA red card which reduced them to nine players, but once again our finishing left a lot to be desired. Shlomi Perez finally broke the tie in the 77th minute and we finished off the game 2-1. Next up we take a cross country flight to Mesa, California to take on Strikers FC in a league match. The Strikers play at the Orange Coast College stadium. Nice venue and fairly new. We took the flight four days before the match, hoping to give the players enough time to adapt to the west coast time change. The day before the match, I got this message from our "crack recruitment" team. At least they found a player, 17 year-old Mahamane Cisse, who has good potential, but wants nothing to do with our club. I went with a more defensive strategy since we were underdogs in this one, and figured they would have most of the possession. But we actually controlled the game throughout the first half, and when Larry Ruthven was tripped in the box, he buried the penalty kick to give us a 1-0 half-time lead. The second half was fairly even, and then the Strikers center-back Liam Pynadath was sent off on a second yellow, and I thought we would've had the game in hand. But then in the 88th minute on a breakaway, Geoffrey Gercin scored to knot the score at 1-1, and that's how it ended. A big disappointment for us. And on top of that, one of our better players gets hurt, Leon Shaw. I'm going to let the physio take care of this, no shot for Shaw, which could possibly prolong the injury in the long run. th

Not all matches like this. Maybe got a bit carried away with the first one, and considering so many goals scored. I will mention some of the games in a quick summary, but not show action shots like in this game. Besides enjoying the reading of all the stories, including yours, I also make mental notes on how other folks handle their career stories. As a first timer, definitely, open for suggestions. Thanks for following along.

Yeah, isn't that the truth. They've become a national phenomena.

ok, thanks. I'll check it out

We kept the pressure on in the second half, and on the 49th minute, Larry Ruthven made it 4-1. The keeper got his fingertips on it, but it wasn't good enough. Another Ruthven goal and the rout was really on, 5-1. After giving up a breakaway goal to make it 5-2, Adam Price scored on an amazing free kick! The 18 year-old has made his mark today! We added a sixth goal, and looked comfortable at 6-2, but then we gave up one on a corner kick, and another when our defense fell asleep. Final was 6-4, but we can't expect to play this bad defensively against the stronger clubs and get away with it. Nice win but was disappointed that we only got 108 supporters to show up. Maybe, that's what will be expected, but I hope not. Survived the press conference, and it's over to the pub to enjoy a pint and some dinner!

A reminder from the board as to what's expected of me and the team: And again, the only change I made, was inserting Price at left back. Yep, the long ball, this time from the keeper, just like in our friendlies, cost us again! 21st minute, Henderson gets tripped in the box for a penalty, and Ruthven, our best pk taker, let's it fly! And with excellent results! 36th minute, a goal from a set piece. We couldn't even do this in practice! And a beautiful header from Ikoba to make it 2-1. And we added a third in the 41st minute. Great pass from Hitchcock. And Shinault buries it in the lower right-hand corner! Lucky here at the end of the half as Glogowski's header glances off the post. Our passing has improved some. Good to see.