danmcconnell1

World Cup 2026 From the Welsh Premier to the World Cup. It was some rise and despite poor form at club level prior to now, I was hoping my Moroccan side would be able to progress out of the group ahead of the Republic of Ireland and go through with Argentina. Our first game ended in a poor, poor defeat to Ireland. We lost 2-0 and were shocking, then ended up needing a win against Argentina, which we ended up getting in the end. En-Nesyri and Harit scored our goals, however a goal scored by De Paul for Argentina proved pivotal in the end. And this is why. That Argentina goal early in the 2nd half was the one that ultimately knocked us out. Argentina won the group with a superior goal difference over Ireland who progress to knockout stages for the first time at a World Cup since 2002.

Job Update During the World Cup campaign with Morocco, I was approached by Stranraer in the Scottish League 2 over their managerial position, of which I have decided to take on. After finishing 6th in Cinch League 2 last season, Stranraer FC play their matches at Stair Park in the town. The stadium holds 4178 fans and has been the club's home since 1907. There will need to be significant investment in the playing staff as the squad is extremely thin currently with no recognised strikers currently in the squad, however we do have a couple of players that I'm excited to work with. Young GK Jude Smith looks to be a very decent keeper for this level, so I'm hoping he'll grab hold of the number 1 shirt and be a dependable presence at the back for us. Ben Wylie is another player who looks very good for this level. His mental attributes in particular and what caught my eye, again I hope he can be a player we can rely on in the middle of the park. Former Rangers man Keiron Wilcox is another player I like the look of, however having already announced his intention to leave Stranraer after only signing a 1 year deal at the club last summer, it's unlikely he's going to play for me.

Job Update So, as another season came to a close, as mentioned before, it was decision time. I did chance my arm prior to making any decisions to see if the board would sponsor me in order to do my Continental Pro License, the highest License available to a manager and the board agreed. It'll take approximately a year to complete. Then, after gaining this funding, I decided, rightly or wrongly, the time was right to leave Haverfordwest. I'd spent 2 years in charge of the South Wales outfit which had largely been successful. I was disappointed at not being able to bring a trophy home, however the end to both seasons in charge had taken their toll on me and I felt the time was right to leave. I feel I have left the club in a better place than when I arrived, something I feel I've done at both clubs I've managed, so I can be proud of the work I did overall, despite the endings to both seasons not being how we'd all wanted. As mentioned previously, there is a World Cup fast approaching so all of my effort will be put into the Moroccan national team ahead of the tournament. We have 2 friendlies against Scotland and the Dutch to play before the tournament gets underway, where we will be facing the Republic of Ireland and Argentina, who'll be without Lionel Messi at a World Cup for the first time since 2002.

May 26 With one final chance to qualify for European football next season, we would face Newtown who ended the season in the Relegation group following the split in the league but won that group. Our form however was our downfall and we were thrashed 3-0 at home by the side who finished 7th in the league in the end, which in turn brings our sorry season to an end. With a World Cup on the horizon with Morocco, I now have big decisions to make as to whether to stay with Haverfordwest despite collapsing at the end of the season for 2 years in a row or seek a new challenge post World Cup. My contract with the Welsh outfit is coming to an end so I have options, one of which is to remain here on a rolling monthly deal, however I don't feel like that gives the club, players, fans and frankly me much stability, so am not keen on the idea.

April 26 As we enter the final month of the season in, once again, terrible form, all I can hope for at this point is that we stop the rot and attempt to qualify for some sort of European football next season. The terrible form continued though. 8 defeats in 9 and 7 defeats in a row has resulted in yet another post-split collapse. We were so optimistic heading into the split and in great form, level on points with leaders TNS, however the pressure of trying to keep pace with them has clearly taken its toll on my players and they've crumbled spectacularly. There is one, small crumb of comfort though as we now head into a European place play-off. This didn't occur last season in the division as at this point the season was over, however European play-offs have been introduced this season, so we do have a 2nd chance to get our ducks in order and, rather undeservingly, get ourselves into Europe. It'll be tough considering our atrocious form, however it's still possible. After our awful run of form, it eventually saw us drop down to 4th again. To compound our misery, post-split we picked up just 1 point from 30 available. As mentioned above, the play-offs for Europe begin next month and we'll find out our opponents for the semi-final shortly.

March 26 With our form worryingly starting to dip post-split again, I really hope we can get back to winning ways sooner rather than later to ensure we secure European football next season at a minimum. However, the month couldn't have gone any worse. 3 more defeats as our season looks to be collapsing before our very eyes again. Caernarfon beat us 2-0, then 2 away trips to Llandudno and Connah's Quay ended in 3-1 and 5-0 defeats respectively. These poor results firstly have meant we've dropped down to 3rd in the table, just 2 points clear of Barry down in 4th, but more disappointingly, TNS have been confirmed champions already as they've stormed clear at the top by 15 points with just 4 games left, they win another league title. In other news, my tenure in charge of Morocco has also begun. We got off to the perfect start against Zambia in my first match in charge with Munir, Abde and recently coaxed out of international retirement Hakim Ziyech all getting on the score sheet. Unfortunately, our 2nd match of the international window ended in a 2-0 defeat to Guinea-Bissau. Our qualifying group for the next AFCON currently sees us sitting in 2nd after just 2 matches, however I'm confident we can still progress to the tournament proper.

February 26 One game into the post-split Championship Group of the league and we need to get back to winning ways as soon as possible to keep the pressure on TNS. Just the 2 games this month and it may well be happening again. We could only manage a 1-1 draw with Barry, Ryan Murray with our goal, then followed that up with a 4-2 defeat at home to title rivals TNS. Murray and Fawcett both got on the score sheet for us however they were just too strong for us on the day and we gave up more points to them. Thanks to that defeat and no more matches in February it meant that TNS extended their lead at the top of the table to 9 points, however we do now have a game in hand and need to play them again, so there's still hope, however faint.

January 26 As we enter the new year, we find ourselves in a much better position than we did this time last season. The end of the regular season saw us pick up, as anticipated, another 6 points with wins against Newtown by a goal to nil, Fitzgerald scoring another penalty, then away to Afan Lido after a 3-week break, my first visit back to the Marston's Stadium, where we won 3-1, Milani, Fawcett and Franklin all getting on the score sheet. Our final game of the month was the first after the split and I'm hoping we don't have another post-split collapse as we've begun with defeat at home to Connah's Quay 3-2. Davies and Coles scored our goals but I'm concerned after last season's record after this point. We did get a stroke of luck however as TNS could only draw their first match post-split meaning they only hold a 1 point advantage with 9 games left to play, 2 of which will be against us, so there's still plenty to play for. We hold a 8 point advantage over 3rd place Barry and 10 point advantage over 4th place Caernarfon so I'm pretty confident we'll be playing European football next season, whether that be in the Champions League as league winners or the Europa Conference League as runners up or 3rd placed finishers remains to be seen.

December 25 As we enter December top of the table, we face TNS twice this month in back to back matches so we'll be tested. We began the month with another win, this time against Caernarfon with Davies and Murray getting the goals again. Next up were Barry away from home and we could only manage a 3-3 draw against those in an entertaining game. Murray, Fitzgerald and Taylor scored our goals. Then came the first of two meetings against TNS which unfortunately we lost, our first defeat in the league this season. Steffan Coles scored our goal before we met them again 5 days later and recorded our second 3-3 draw in a row away from home, Fitzgerald, Murray and Coles with our goals again to rescue a point this time and ensure we stay well and truly in the title race heading into the new year. Due to the defeat in the first match against TNS, we now sit in 2nd place, although we are level on points with them, only being separated by goal difference currently, there's being +3 better than ours. Coles remains top of the goal scoring charts, now sharing the accolade with Malkin of Connah's Quay on 13. We play 2 more matches before the split in January against Newtown and Afan Lido so I expect wins against those to keep us at a minimum level with TNS in terms of points, however hopefully they may drop a point or 2 in those 2 remaining matches before the split which would allow us to go into the Championship section top of the table.

Job Update After some interviews in recent months, I was offered the role of the Moroccan national team, which meant leaving my role with Zimbabwe. I was very happy with my time in the sub-African nation, I believe we made good progress and did well in the AFCON tournament we did play in. Morocco plays their matches in various locations around the country in cities like Rabat, Marrakech and Casablanca. My first matches with the side in the new year will be in AFCON qualifying before a trip to Canada/USA/Mexico for the World Cup. Morocco are a significantly better footballing nation compared to Zimbabwe so I'm hoping we can spring a surprise or two at the upcoming World Cup as we face the Republic of Ireland and the mighty Argentina who'll be without Lionel Messi for the first time in 5 World Cups. Finally, one piece of news from Haverfordwest is that former Wales international and club captain Jazz Richards will retire at the end of the season. The 34 year old full back who can play either side or in central midfield has been our number 1 LB this season so we'll need to replace him next time around as he will be a big miss not only on the pitch but off it too.

Cheers, decent form seems to be continuing!

November 25 We enter November flying high at the top of the table as we look to try and extend our lead at the top. We have remained unbeaten in the league so far this season with another 5 matches where we avoided defeat. We began the month with a win away to Bala, Fitzgerald and Murray with the goals for us. A goalless draw followed against Llandudno but we then followed that up with a win away at Connah's Quay, FItzgerald and Murray once again on the score sheet. Then came the best result of the month at home to Flint Town as we thrashed them 5-1, Coles got a hat-rick while Davies and Murray got one each. We ended the month with a 2-2 draw away to Colwyn Bay despite being 2-0 down, Davies and Murray with another one to steal a point for us. All of this meant that we remained at the top of the table. TNS had dropped points a couple of times this month, including a defeat which means that despite them having played the same amount of games as us, we're 5 points clear of them. We will face them twice before the end of the regular season, then home and away again after the split, so there's still a lot that can change, however having beaten them last season with what I would class as a weaker team on our part, I'm optimistic we can give them 4 good games before the end of the campaign. Coles is the top scorer in the division still with 11 goals now and he also has the 2nd highest average rating still. He has 5 MOTM awards to his name too. Youngster Ryan Murray won player of the month with 4 goals in 5 matches for us, as well as an assist. Davies also had a good month finishing runner up for that award. And finally, I won the manager of the month award again for the 2nd month running.

Job Update After being turned down for 2 jobs last month, I was approached again in November. As you can see from my inbox, York City approached me for an interview on the 11th, then just a day later offered me the job. York are another club struggling in the Vanarama National League and despite them offering significantly more in terms of wage budget and a big pay rise for me, I've taken a look at the squad and don't feel like I would want to leave my current position for this particular role, so will be turning down the chance to manage York in the hope of a better opportunity in the future.

October 25 After a largely successful month last time out, I was hoping we could continue our good form as we look to put early season pressure on TNS as we look to challenge them for this seasons' league title. And that's exactly what we did, again. Just 2 points dropped all month from 4 matches saw us win against Barry, Franklin getting the only goal, Newtown with youngsters Fitzgerald, Coles and Murray with the goals there and then against my former club Afan Lido, Gray and Wood with the goals there saw us enter the final game of the month where we could only manage a draw against Penybont, Fitzgerald with another from midfield and Coles with the other. We ended October 3 points clear at the top of the table with TNS having played a game less than us at this point, however psychologically this is huge for us as we look to try and challenge them this season. Coles added another 2 to his tally this month, leaving him in 2nd in the goal scoring rankings. Soon after being interviewed for the Newport job, Dagenham & Redbridge also came in for me. They also play in the Vanarama National League and are a familiar name to most football fans in England, the east London outfit would be, again, a great opportunity. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful in both of these opportunities, so would be staying with Haverfordwest for the time being.

September 25 After a decent start to the season, I was hoping we could continue this form and put ourselves in a good position early on. And that's exactly what we did. Although we were knocked out of another cup competition early, our league form has begun well. A win against Connah's Quay got us underway, Franklin with the only goal. Then came said defeat in the JD Welsh Cup 2nd round at home to Bala, Coles did get us back to 1-1 but Davies scored a brace to send us out. We bounced back well though with another win in the league, this time away to Flint Town 4-1, young strikers Murray and Coles both got 2 each. Then came another win against Colwyn Bay, Murray and Franklin this time with Coles getting one over his former club. We ended the month with a goalless draw away to Caernarfon. This meant we ended the month in 2nd but level on points and goal difference with TNS, just goals scored separated us after 7 matches. Coles, as you can see, has had a good start, scoring 6 league goals and is the joint top goal scorer in the league, as well as having the 2nd best average rating and also level for the most amount of man of the match awards already with 3 in 7 matches. Right at the end of the month, Newport County, who are currently in the Vanarama National League in England, offered me the chance to interview for their role. They were very recently a football league club, so this would be a huge opportunity to further my career should the job be offered to me. Finally, I won the manager of the month award for October after dropping just 2 points in the league all month.

August 25 The first month of the new season brings new opportunities and new expectations of my young squad and we're hoping to get off to a solid start. The solid start did come in the league; however, we began in the Nathaniel MG Cup 2nd round, and we were drawn against the same team we played at this stage a year ago, Ebbw Vale. They once again come out on top, this time on penalties, so it was a much closer affair this time around, however it's still a huge embarrassment to be knocked out at the same stage of this competition by the same lowly team for the 2nd season in a row. We got the league campaign off to a start with a 1-1 draw away to Penybont with young defender Henry Gethin getting on the score sheet for us. The first home match of the new season was against Bala, and we thrashed them 4-2, young protégé Coles bagging his first goals for the club with a hat-rick and Gethin getting his second for the club in as many games. We also ended the month with another win, this time away at newly promoted Llandudno, Coles getting another and Eason securing the 3 points deep into stoppage time. This means that after 3 matches so far we top the table, level on points with champions TNS, so it's been a good start in the league. Coles tops the goal scoring charts already with 4, 1 clear of the chasing pack. The final player to join the club this summer was David Lyon from Newtown. We are a little short out wide on the left so decided to bring in another face to bolster that position. As you can see he's made an impact already in his 2 appearances with an assist, so with his very good physical attributes I'm hoping he'll be someone we can rely on this season.

Pre-Season Update After a very disappointing end to last season, we will gather our thoughts and reassess the season as a whole which, apart from after the split, was largely successful. A few more additions on top of Coles coming in and I'm sure we'll be back challenging for those European places this coming season. This is the team I'm hoping can take us into Europe. As you can see we've already played one match and Murray scored in it, we'll get onto that in the next update. We've made a few signings and even spent money on transfer fees for the first time in my career this summer which again we'll get onto shortly, as well as keeping some of the old guard here at the club too. We begin, again, with Coles. An absolute goal machine for me back at Afan Lido, he'd already joined Colwyn Bay before I took the job here at Haverfordwest, so couldn't tempt him to join me in January, but we have him now, and he has improved since his time with me back in the 2nd tier. He still loves a free kick, has improved his first touch and his finishing ability has stayed very decent for this level. He is great off the ball making very good runs and despite not possessing anything like decent pace, his positioning makes up for that. Gabriel Ortelli is another GK that's come in from Matlock Town in England and he was the first player that I'd spent a transfer fee on, a whole £3.7k. He'll immediately become our number 1 and will hopefully be able to keep some more clean sheets for us. Finally, Wesley Frimpong came in from Cirencester. Another transfer fee was paid for him, a total of £6k, taking our total spend this summer to almost £10k. We're very well stocked at RB now with the likes of Ryan George, Robbie Marshall and Jazz Richards, although the latter is very versatile and can play at LB and CM too, so it's more than likely Marshall who we'll try to loan out as he has a very bright future at the club.

April 25 With the final month of the season here, it's time for one final rally to push us into the top 3 and bring European football back to South Wales next season. I'm afraid that we couldn't manage to do that in the end. Our dreadful run continued with 2 more defeats to start the month against TNS and Flint Town ensued with us finally stopping the rot of 5 defeats in a row and 7 defeats in 8 with a final day win over Connah's Quay, youngster Luke Fitzgerald and another academy graduate Ryan Murray with a late winner, however that was not enough for us in terms of our league position. We finished the season in 4th despite being in a commanding position just a couple of months ago up in 2nd. I'm very disappointed with the end to our season as I genuinely feel going into the split we could have made up more points on TNS, they were always going to be champions but bridging some of the gap was my aim and we failed miserably. There was one piece of good news at the end of this month though. Ben Fawcett won the golden boot with 26 goals in 32 league appearances.

March 25 On the back of a relatively poor month last time out, we need to get back to winning ways and pick up some more points to help consolidate our 2nd place position. However, it's been a very poor month this time around as we begin this monthly update with bad news. 3 more defeats taking our total to 5 defeats in 6 is really hurting our chances of finishing 2nd this season behind leaders TNS, a place we've held so easily for a few months now. Defeats to Connah's Quay, Barry and Caernarfon again have really deflated us. And due to these defeats, we've moved down to 4th, outside of the European qualification places. There was, however, some pieces of good news, the first of which was regarding a future arrival and yes, it is the boy wonder Steffan Coles, who'll be joining us in the summer. At this point of the season, he's got 18 goals in 38 appearances for Colwyn Bay who did ask for a loan back as he would be signing a bumper 2-year deal with us, however that was immediately declined, and we'll have arguably the most exciting striker in the league with us next season. He'll be 19 by the time the new season rolls around so still a teenager, but I have no doubt he can absolutely tear up this league given the right service. Here's hoping! One final piece of news is that I've been offered a new deal at Haverfordwest after what, so far, has been a largely successful season. There are a couple more bonuses and an extra £10 per week onto my salary, so the little increase is nice! Moving onto Zimbabwe duty which returned this month, we played 2 friendlies at the end of March. We beat Zambia 4-3 in an entertaining match in at the Independence Stadium, Rinomohta and Takwara with one each while Talent Chawapiwa bagged a brace as we won by the odd goal in 7. We then however lost to Senegal 3-0 in Dakar. As these were both friendlies there are no league tables to look at. Our next 2 matches are also friendlies before World Cup qualification gets back underway in September.

February 25 After the outstanding start to the new year that we had, it was time to continue the Championship Conference with the same vigour and drive as we had begun it. Unfortunately, the results didn't quite show how well we'd played. Usually after a difficult month I can be critical of the players, but not this time, they were brilliant and didn't deserve the 2 defeats we endured. Firstly, away at Caernarfon, we somehow lost the match despite having over 70% of the ball and with goals from Fawcett and substitute Eason we finished on the losing side, which wasn't great preparation for the trip to TNS next. We also lost there by the same result but again, were mightily unlucky to end up on the losing side. We took the lead through Murray but were then behind which needed an equaliser for us this time, which was scored by Fawcett. TNS then got a late winner with just 9 minutes to play to see us pick up back to back defeats for the first time since the end of November. Our final game of the month saw us get back on track which was pleasing to see against Flint Town back at home. A Ben Fawcett hat-rick and other by Nathan Wood saw us pick up the 3 points with relative ease. Despite those 2 defeats this month we're still in 2nd and 5 points clear of 3rd placed Barry. Fawcett has added another 5 to his total this month and is now 4 goal clear at the top of the scoring charts in the division. And speaking of those 5 goals, they've earned him the player of the month award for the 3rd time this season, following winning the award in November and December of last year.

January 25 Another new year rolls around and with us in very decent form, I'm hoping to continue this good form until the league splits at the end of the month. We certainly did continue that good form. We beat Ammanford again just 6 days after beating them on their own patch. Fawcett got another one while Wood managed a brace. We then drew 2-2 with Flint Town in our penultimate match before the split, Wood and Fawcett on the score sheet again for us. Then came the best result of the season to date as we beat perennial league leaders TNS 2-1 away from home. We were behind after just 12 minutes but late goals from Eason and a very late penalty from Fawcett in stoppage time gave us a memorable win. Once the split had been confirmed, we were of course in the Championship Conference after ending the regular season in 2nd place. Our first game of this conference was at home to 3rd place Barry and we again thrashed them 4-0. Davies and Murray got one each while Fawcett bagged another 2. As mentioned the split has now happened and we are sitting pretty up in 2nd, however still 10 points behind TNS. It's not impossible, however it'll be a very difficult task to overthrow the league leaders. Due to his outstanding last few months, Ben Fawcett now sits at the top of the JD Cymru Premier goal scoring charts with 20, despite us still having 9 games left to play this season, an fantastic achievement for him and I'm hoping he can win the golden boot come the end of the season. And some quick personal news, another manager of the month award came my way after a successful month.

December 24 Once again, December rolls by and the final month of the year signifies the midway point of what's been, on the whole, a decent season so far. We still need to pick up more points though if we're to finish in the European places come the end of the season, so a good December is called for to try and boost out points total. Results have been much improved this month, despite the opening draw with Newton where we were 2-1 up after 89 minutes but conceded a late equaliser, Fawcett with both of our goals to continue his good goal scoring form. We then thrashed Aberystwyth 6-1 in our only home match of the month, Davies, Murray, Fawcett and Jones all getting one each while Nathan Wood helped himself to a brace. Another win followed against Colwyn Bay with Fawcett managing to get both again and we ended the month as we'll begin the next, against Ammanford. We also hammered them 4-0 with goals coming from Davies, Fawcett, Murray and Jones. I'm really happy with Fawcett's form as he won player of the month last month, plus he's continued his great form with at least one goal in every game this month too. Hopefully he can continue this brilliant form as the season approaches its conclusion. All of this means that, with just 3 games left before the split, we sit in 3rd, but a point behind Barry who at one point this season were keeping pace with TNS at the top. Fawcett's great goal scoring form sees him move into 2nd place in the top goal scoring rankings, something I hope he can continue as the split approaches.

November 24 Do excuse the lack of updates over the weekend, a bout of norovirus absolutely floored me and I'm still feeling the effects, it's great having a kid that brings back every single illness they possibly can from nursery. ANYWAY... The month was certainly a mixed bag. We began with a 1-1 draw away to Bala, Ryan Murray getting another one to add to his tally for the season. We then thrashed Penybont in a high-scoring 7-4 thriller. Murray and Wood got 2 each while Fawcett helped himself to a hat-rick. We then beat Barry in another high-scoring encounter, 5-3 this time on our own patch. Taylor, Wood and Eason all got one each while Fawcett got another 2. Unfortunately though, the good form and high scoring didn't continue as we lost the final 2 matches of the month, firstly away to Connah's Quay, then back at home to Caernarfon, in which Fawcett bagged his 6th goal of the month. Those 2 defeats at the end of the month meant we dropped down to 5th, however just 2 points separate 3rd down to 6th, so we're still well in the hunt for European football next season, we just need to be a little more consistent with our results and pick up a few more points.

October 24 After the car crash that was September, October is where we needed results to improve. Fortunately, they did. We began with a convincing 3-0 win over Aberystwyth, Franklin, Fawcett and Eason with the goals there. We then welcomed Colwyn Bay, who in the summer has signed a certain Steffan Coles, and managed to beat them 2-1, Murray and Fawcett with another one there. Then came the biggest win of the month against Flint Town. A Nathan Wood hat-rick and 2 more added by Davies and Murray gave us a 5-2 win over the struggling side. We ended the month against the biggest club in the division TNS. We unforutnately lost 3-1, however it could have been a lot worse with Patten being sent off a minute before the break, we did well to keep it at 3-1 in the end. This set of results sees us move up into 3rd in the table and into European contention. If I'm honest, considering the early season form, I'd be happy with a 3rd place finish, any higher of course would be great, but 3rd would mean a shot at Europe next season which is more than what the board were asking for. Finally, my first manager of the month award was gained this month too, despite the defeat against TNS. It's recognition for a much better month in terms of results for us.

September 24 After a relatively decent start of the season, month 2 gets underway and we hope to continue the okay start. We didn't continue that good start I'm afraid. It's been a terrible month in the league, just 2 points picked up from a possible 9, and the only win we did get was in the JD Welsh Cup, but we were out of that competition by the end of the month, knocked out by lowly Llanuwchllyn. There was a good piece of news that came out of this poor month in terms of the league table, as we managed to stay in 4th place despite only picking up 2 points. And finally, I managed to gain my Continental B License and I was very glad that the Haverfordwest board funded me to study for the Continental A License too.