LEEMOD

So when I joined they were 6th, well I made sure our place in the playoffs was kept intact but not only that but we saw off Millwall in the semi final playoffs and at Wembley we were HUGE underdogs against a very strong Bradford team, it was 0-0 at half time with us having the better chances but in the second half they really came at me but Kirkwood scored on the break but on 89 minutes their pressure finally told and they scored but with penalties looming Pat McGarvey curled a screamer past the outreaching fingertips of their keeper so send the 25000 Southend fans and me into raptures.! So five games into my new job and we have secured Championship football for next season! Happy days, here are the results since I have been here and the final table. Bye Bye Middlesbrough LOL One thing I didn't have at Middlesbrough is time but now I have all summer to identify and recruit the players I need for the way I intend to play with this side but I am hoping at least that I'll be able to keep them in the Championship next season.

Ok so I've now had a good look around the squad and I feel these are my best players:

Both clubs offered me a job but I have decided to stay in England and move to Southend Utd, hopefully this venture goes better! This will be my new home for the foreseeable future: I take over a club on the up! With two games left of the season it looks like we're going to be contesting the playoffs so this is a superb chance for us to go for it and see if we can clinch promotion to the Championship, in my next post I will show who I think are my best players.

26th April 2035 Attended interviews with SC Cambuur of the Netherlands and Southend United..

Bad news..

6TH APRIL 2035 Just had an interview in France with Caen, I thought talks went well, sat by the phone...

Well I cannot say I blame the board for sacking me, since my last update we have been on a barren run picking up just 2 points from 18 is shambolic to say the least. To be honest, I never really felt a connection to the club or the fans and living in Middlesbrough is not that nice, my family were getting insults thrown at them anyway so it's probably good that I am sacked but I feel my next job role could be something even worse because now me once Ajax manager is now applying for any old job hoping someone can glance over my time here at Middlesbrough, it's time to try rebuild my career, I will be back in touch once I have found a new job!

FEB 2035 Well it's been another poor month but I can't help but feel that without injuries we really would be higher, we have suffered so much that I've had no option but to play kids and they can't handle the pace at this level, as long as I can stay safe I'll be happy with a big summer coming up for the club. We're shipping goals at an alarming rate and it's really concerning at the moment. The concerning thing now is going to be our goal difference, I may look to change things tactically because it really isnt working and we need to tighten up. In the transfer window I brought in this lad on loan who looks to have real fight but he is injured!

JANUARY 2035 The Millwall game was heart wrenching as we went down with a goal in the 95th minute, however we ended the month with a terrible result against a Wrexham side we should be beating. However, at least we have improved our league position but it's still tricky to put run together with this side..

DECEMBER 2034 I started my venture here for the trip to Grimbsy and we were trounced 3-0, what I found here is a batch of kids really and some players really overpaid but overall the squad had such a negative mentality so I did all I could via man management to increase morale and I am so pleased with how we did in the past two games, in the game against Barnsley we were 2-0 up after 3 mins but we folded badly. However, against Bolton we showed a resilience I am yet to see so this is indeed encouraging. In January I have two new players coming in but since I changed shape I now regretting buying two AMC's, I do need a wing back on the right so I am hoping for a loan deal next month to plug that gap. These are my new signings:

Sorry for the gap chaps, I have been playing in FM Classic mode to test some tactics so hopefully I can steer Middlesbrough to a decent finish as we're struggling so much with this team. Some may question my ambition lowering myself to this level but I see them as a big club fallen on hard times. Updates to follow soon..

I have also marked out on my squad sheet the highest earners in orange so this tells me a few things 1 I need Lawless at the moment 2 Perhaps Duffy can leave once the lads beneath him have re-trained into our AMC roles. Speaking of which look at our finances, absolutely shocking! That bank loan is crippling us

I have now decided that I want to build a determined cohesive side that can run all day but as you can see from our 5 attributes STAMINA is lacking so a few players will be training this, get on the treadmill lads and run!

This is my squad on paper and I can confirm two things: 1 We are too top heavy so some strikers if not all can leave 2 We're such a young team but I see some potential in 3 or 4 players, Jamie Moran and Stuart Johnson seem to be the best of these and I like Nesa our centre back, here he is..

Wow this club are a real mess, we have some older players on big wages then a side full of kids and it's freezing up here in the North East, my plan is this: 1) Try get rid of any high earners and look for loans/frees in January to bolster our squad in key positions to suit my own tactic. 2) Re-shape training regimes to suit my roles/attributes 3) Establish a club DNA which can be used for new signings (heavily focused on a hard working determined team who can keep going for 90 mins) 4) Other cost cutting schemes like release certain players/staff members All this cannot be done in a day so this will be gradual but my main primary concern is that we face a tough trip to Grimbsy next and they sit just below us so this is without a doubt a 6 pointer! To help me decide my depth chart I will use Excel to set something up so I can monitor things