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Lawlore

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About Me

  • About Me
    Priestfield

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  • Interests
    Keane/Valderrama GW

Favourite Team

  • Favourite Team
    The Mighty GFC

Currently Managing

  • Currently Managing
    Sheffield Weds in FM19

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  1. "Do it again. Again! Come on, lads, quick feet! You're better than this!" Oh boy. You know, I get it. It happens sometimes- sometimes a training session just doesn't get out of first gear. The drills don't quite click, the passing isn't quite as sharp, the movement not quite as fluid. Usually there's no massive reason for it- maybe it's just rotten weather, or some half-researched news piece that's got everyone's backs up for a day. So you write it off, and come back the next day, and everything's hunky-dory again- professionals playing the beautiful game, looking every inch like sportsmen. No problem. Except, today that's not the case. This is the third or fourth day in a row where things aren't quite working, and everyone knows the reason, it's obvious. "They're feeling it, boss man. The pressure, you know?" "Yeah, I know. I just feel for them- they've worked so hard, and they're just so close. They just need to focus and they'll be fine." But let's rewind a bit, because as much as you can relate, I'm sure, I appreciate you lot out there don't know who I am, who they are, or what I'm going on about. So, just under a year ago, I took up my first job in football management. You know how it is- you spend years and years playing Football Manager, you get to a point where you think that maybe you could actually do it in the real world. My previous life was managing people, albeit in shops and restaurants, and I'd long been organising our Sunday league side- Athletic Beer Barrel. Clever, I know. So, yeah, I started putting the CV out there, trying to break into the business. Next thing I know, I'm on a plane to South Africa. I'd never been to South Africa before, and I don't have any ties to South Africa- I'm a Kent boy through and through. And yet, there I was, chucking in my old life to go and become the manager of a side I'd never heard of, even as an FM aficionado. Everyone said I was mad, that it was some sort of mid-life crisis, and you know what? It probably was. The missus and I had just split up after almost ten years, and I was left looking for meaning in my life- I was lost. So when I got an email through from Thulani Khoza, owner of *deep breath* Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila FC, offering me an interview, I didn't instantly dismiss it as a hoax or a scam, as I probably would've done on any other day. Anyway, enough about me- you're here for football, not for my life story, and the football's the good bit. The very good bit, to be honest. I thought there'd be some sort of learning curve, and there has in some regards, I suppose, but whatever lies the chairman told the squad about who I was and my pedigree, they seem to have been willing to give me a shot. With one or two exceptions, the squad were basically young kids in need of organisation and training. Lots of raw potential, but with no expectations, no money and pretty much no fans, there was also no pressure. Until now. "Oh, come on, Walter, you've got to be hitting the target there!" The 22-year-old striker, Walter Tau, puts his hands up to apologise before scurrying off to retrieve the ball, but I don't need apologies- I need him to focus up and start finding the net. He hasn't beaten our keeper, 35-year-old Zimbabwe international Lincoln Mangani, in this entire training session. Not that many have. "The pressure is getting to them." "Yeah, I know, Jez, I know. Maybe we wrap it up early today- get them doing a bit of two touch, and we'll call it a session." The pressure being alluded to by my Assistant Manager, Jeremy Mzilikazi, is the pressure of being one match away from being crowned champions- a pressure that has been affecting the squad for far too long now. It was a completely unexpected position at the start of the season- we came out of the gates flying, and by Christmas we were one of three teams well ahead of the pack, having only lost one match by New Year. Uthongathi had since fallen away, making the title race a straight fight between ourselves and the heavy favourites, Cape Town Spurs. In the second half of the season, we'd turned a lot of the draws into wins, and started to pull away- with three games to go, we were six points clear at the top, playing in the knowledge that we could've sealed the title then. That match was the turning point- the moment when confidence collapsed. We'd been cruising, 3-0 up against City Rovers at half-time, while Spurs were shockingly losing 2-0 to midtable non-entities JDR Stars. We'd have been nine points clear, with two games remaining- the title was ours. Sitting in that locker room, it was hard not to feel that the season was done- we were just 45 minutes away from lifting the trophy and completing a fairytale season- an unfancied, young side taking the title with an unknown, inexperienced manager in his debut season, sealing promotion from the GladAfrica Championship to the top flight. It wrote itself. On 67 minutes, City Rovers made it 3-1. A consolation goal, no harm in that. Then Cape Town pulled their match back to 2-1. Five minutes later, we got word that it was 2-2. Suddenly, we conceded again, and our 3-0 lead now looked like 3-2. Then Cape Town took the lead, and the title was up for grabs all over again. By the end of it, City Rovers were running rampant- we were clinging onto that 3-2 win. The Spurs game ended with them as 4-2 winners- a turnaround that not only kept their title aspirations alive, but also cut our Goal Difference lead as well. Even then, it should have been fine. Two games to go, six points clear, still a slightly better goal difference than Spurs. We just needed one point from the last two games, and our next was against bottom club Jomo Cosmos. Not only that, Spurs still needed maximum points from those two matches. It should have been fine. Cosmos beat us 2-0. It should have been a formality- a coronation in front of our biggest crowd of the season, but instead, it was a lacklustre, bitty defeat. Granted, Cosmos were fighting for survival, but they were also poor. We just didn't look like, or play like Champions- squandering chances, making mistakes at the back, giving away our first penalty of the season. And, of course, Spurs won- 3-1 against Polokwane City. Three points, plus two for their Goal Difference- plus four over us, considering our own defeat. That brings us to now, a nervy training session before the final match of the season, with the table looking like we should still have the advantage, but with the camp feeling very much like we're about to completely blow it... Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pt ======================================================= 01 Tshakhuma 29 21 5 3 60 27 33 68 ------------------------------------------------------- 02 CT Spurs 29 21 2 6 62 27 35 65 03 Uthongathi 29 17 3 9 32 21 11 54 ------------------------------------------------------- 04 Venda FA 29 15 6 8 34 33 1 51 And so, with the scene set, feel free to join me, as we make our way through this final matchday of the season- will it be tale of triumph and glory, or heartbreak and sorrow? I genuinely don't know- and I can't wait to find out.
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