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No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 5: Big Belfast Bullies With January coming and the transfer window opening, our squad was already creaking, but there just wasn't the space to bring in any refreshments. Any youth players that already had the quality to improve us were going to be far too expensive to act on. It was going to be another case of only replacing players that leave, unfortunately. But someone did leave, with Sav Soraf somehow dreaming of living in Paisley. Ewan Newman is a great replacement, albeit not really the sort of age we're looking for. But he's basically here just to make sure my players don't die of exposure after their 43rd game in February. Speaking of which. The slight break in European football in early January meant we just had to play two games a week each time. Manageable. We entered another cup competition, and again drifted through it with little trouble, before a rare hiccup in the Challenge Cup Quarter Final. Arbroath are having a bit of a stormer, and in the days of clubs like Bala and ourselves having regular European football, it's quite a feat to put one of them out when you're a club in the Scottish lower leagues. That Sat/Tue/Thu pattern was a new one, but as the season wears on, I expect it'll be one we get quite familiar with. Ten games in January. Mental. February rolled on, and our chance to pick up some silverware. Two trophies secured with confident, assured performances in both the County Antrim Shield and the NIFL Cup. But not quite as confident as that amazing 5-2 win in Villarreal in the Europa League. A 1-0 defeat back home in Belfast meant nothing in the end, and we move into the last 16 of European competition for the first time. Massive. But things were really starting to bite with this schedule. I don't exaggerate when I say that each match needed massive rotation, with a lot of domestic matches basically relying on our forward line keeping the opposition too busy to benefit from us playing children at the back. God bless Anto Conway, as Knightbridge and Jackson continue to struggle a little with fitness. And honourable mention for Lewys Eldershaw, who has come out of nowhere to claim his own slice of glory. We're finally on top of the league, but despite that busy schedule, we've still not made a dent in the games in hand. Some teams in the league have just three games to play in March to tie up their league positions. We have ten. TEN. Just look at this schedule. We'll finish off our league campaign with four games in ten days. Inhuman. And it could end up getting worse. We'll be expecting two more games in the Irish Cup - although these should fall after the split, and not in this crazy month. But if we somehow manage to beat Stoke, we'll have to fit in another two Europa League games somehow, and given the split, we really have to have our league games finished by April 1st. This could get much worse.

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 5: Big Belfast Bullies When Zack Knightbridge returned to fitness, and promised he wouldn't go to anymore parties in Canary Wharf, I decided that playing one-up-front just wasn't going to be fun in a country where we should be on top in most cases. And if I'd bought Lee Jackson, I was very much going to use him. So off went one of our central midfielders, and on came a second striker, allowing Zack and Lee to play together. As the transfer window slammed shut, we started to really tighten our grip around the throats of every club in the country. Nothing secured yet, but a very good start to life in Belfast. We played in five different competitions in two months, and were almost flawless in all of them. Unbeaten in the Europa League so far after three games, and progressing in three cup competitions. Just four goals conceded in twelve games, and a massive forty-six scored. We're bullying the competition. And in terms of our forward players, it's just the ten for Zack, and nine for Lee. Anto Conway got thirteen though, with that inside forward role on the left being particularly lucrative. He also filled in up front on a few occasions at times, so clearly we're not suffering going forward. Or at the back. But as we moved into November and December, a few chinks in the armour started to show. The Europa League definitely brought us back down to Earth as we started to face the sort of sides we really don't deserve to beat. Dortmund are still a better side than us, even if we did put up a great fight. Stoke were relegated from the Premier League last season, but still represent the sort of financial muscle we'll likely never get near. But worse than that, we've lost our first trophy. Shelbourne narrowly edged us out in the Champions League qualifiers, and they've done the same in the Champions Cup. We went ahead three times in the first leg, pegged back each time, and when that third equaliser went in it seemed like we just stood no chance. The second leg came, and they dealt out a damaging 2-0 defeat, absolutely deserving the trophy. I get the feeling that one is going to be an absolute pig to win. We're into two cup finals - the County Antrim Shield and the NIFL Cup - and have progressed in the Challenge Cup up in Scotland. But it's the league where we're showing scary consistency. Seven league games in two months, and it was only as the festive excess hit us that we decided to concede a goal. Three conceded in two games, but thirty-seven scored over the seven. However, if you haven't spotted the looming problem on the horizon already, here's another clue. We're sitting in 2nd, despite an absolutely spotless record, because we already have five games in hand. Five. Why is this? Well, we're too good. Less flippantly, our squad contains a number of international players, and when they get called up, the league does not stop. I've always accepted the postponement of games, as our squad depth means we'd be losing quality in key areas (our only keeper most notably). However, when combined with being in the Europa League, it's led to this, and we now have an incredible backlog of games to make up. Still present in all competitions, most probably another four games in the Europa League, and the very real chance that we'll have more games postponed as we hit more international windows. This league has a split at 33 games, so it should calm down in March/April time, but the schedule for January to March is going to be sickening with such a tiny squad.

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 5: Big Belfast Bullies First action when we arrived was fairly standard - take a look at the squad and see who you're going to disappoint this year. The squad registration rules are tight, and I'm not going to sit on the money we have, so no doubt someone is going to miss out and commence the endless, endless bitching about it. But once we actually got down to it and tried to work out where we could improve, it ended up being quite difficult. As said a number of times, there's not too many spots available, so it needed to be a case of one-in-one-out almost. Almost. Looking back at these signings, I actually can't remember why I even signed Malcolm Lawson. I guess my scouts must have caught me in a particularly charitable mood, because I don't even remember him being that good at Leicester. I guess he fits the bill of being young enough that he doesn't need to be registered, but he ended up leaving on loan just weeks later. Hopefully he makes something of himself in future, otherwise I'll look a bit of a tit. Outside of that though, more actual quality was brought in in areas that were actually needed. Ghiocel was the main arrival as we were woefully light at right-back. Another loan, so I doubt we'll see him here beyond next season. We really need to get beyond using loans too often if we're going to be building a team here. No use building a strong team and then having to break and rebuild it every summer. Louis Douglas gives us a bit more strength at the back where we were lacking. But the big story for transfers was the 4th man, and my first signing when I arrived. Lee Jackson latterly became my top striker at Bala Town, even outstripping Jack Davies towards the end of my reign. With Davies himself having moved on, and requiring a lot of money to wrestle away from whatever English jobbers he currently played for, Jackson represented a much cheaper option. I scouted both of them, and the reports came back pretty close to each other. Both of them held Hamish in high regard, but it was Jackson I opted for in the end. However, this came at a cost, as the fans were, in FM's words, not mine, angry with the signing. Is he going to make them eat those words? Why yes, yes he is. It took a little while for the big guy to bed in, but once he did, he's proving his worth as a foil to current striking royalty Zack Knightbridge. His name makes him sound like an old-money spiv from the city, so I'll treat him as such. Zack got 9 goals in 11 competitive games, and probably would have improved on that if he hadn't got himself injured (probably struck by a champagne cork after a particularly loutish day on the trading floor). But when he did, the 4-1-2-2-1 formation I'd been using meant that Jackson got his chance, and my did he take it. Five goals on his first start will do very nicely, even if it is against a relegation candidate in Northern Ireland. Away from that though, it was a very disappointing ending to August as we crashed out of Champions League Qualifying to Shelbourne. All the more galling as we're almost certainly going to be meeting them in the Irish Champions Cup later in the season, so could well be that they clear us out of two competitions. Still, we get a spot in the Europa League, which is some consolation, even if not financially.

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 5: Big Belfast Bullies So before we properly get started, we need to have a bit of a pause to see what the future holds. Way Hamish sees it, there's a couple of paths through the next few years. Either we treat this as another stepping stone and get out as soon as possible, or we take some time to really put out a marker and build some reputations. We're now moving into the 10th season, and our 5th club, so effectively settling into a pattern of two seasons at each club (three at Swansea Uni and one at Leicester averaging out). Granted we'd achieved pretty much all we could at those clubs, but that was being pretty conservative. Could we have eventually won the league or one of the cups with Swansea University? Could we have snatched a cup or two with Leicester? Could Swansea have built up enough of a head of steam to get up to the Premier League, or even won the Championship? All possible. But the big question is, if we had spent a lot longer at Bala Town, with the budget we had, and the dominance we were enjoying, could we have won a European trophy on a long enough timeline? Could we do that here? Obviously it's early days. Maybe we'll have an absolute nightmare and end up leaving before the season is out, but if things go as I hope they will, we should end up with the sort of position we were in at Bala, and if we manage that, I don't see why we can't build towards getting at least a Europa Conference League trophy. So right now, we'll put into practice a five year plan. Within two we should have secured all of the domestic trophies we're eligible for, within three we should be dominant on all domestic fronts, and by five I'd hope to have at least two appearances in European knockout competition. At that point we can see whether it's worth sticking around and building a legacy, or whether it's worth turning attentions back to being a fly-by-night glory hunter. Anyway, back to Belfast. First up, finances. And really there's absolutely nothing to fear here. We've got a very healthy balance, supplemented by European adventures. There's a decent amount of space in both budgets, so the only question will be whether it's enough to turn domestic dominance into success in Europe. And the atmosphere around the club is similarly strong. The team is united, no-one is unhappy, and they even have some degree of support for me, which is quite rare given the players usually start hissing at me when I arrive. The team report isn't too bad either. Not too many weaknesses, other than a general lack of depth. However, I will say that the squad registration rules are even worse here than anywhere else. You're only allowed to register twenty players over 20 years old, which is five less than the usual. And eight of those have to be home-grown, which this squad is severely lacking in. So it's very possible we could end up with 12 registered players for the season, plus whatever youth players we can persuade to represent us. European competition requirements are slightly more lax, but even then, there isn't much point in bringing in players that can play in Europe but not in any domestic competitions. This is going to be a long season. And finally, we have the board expectations. I'm...quite surprised to be honest. Not sure why they've got specific cup expectations when those appear to be "turn up". Looks like as long as we win the league we'll be fine. Which I suppose is what you'd expect anyway.

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 4: Fox Hunting And just like that, it's over. I could have stuck around and had a shot at the Premier League, but...meh. I don't see us as candidates for either of the cups without a lot of luck, and we definitely won't challenge for the title itself. We did what we came to do, polished off one more trophy, and now we can move on. And then in a "because of course" moment, Kane Wilson continues the complete inseparability of Leicester and Cardiff by moving from one club to the other. An odd move given that Cardiff have also gone up automatically, and sit in just as good a position as Leicester do. Weird one. But given he managed to completely no-sell my attempts at noising him up in the previous few weeks, he's alright in my book. Good luck Kane. I settled in for the usual wait to see what jobs would come up, but then something come up that I absolutely could not resist. The one job I absolutely could not turn down, and one I've been looking out for ever since the save started. The undisputed kings of Northern Ireland, and surely my best chance to cross off a number of trophies in the country. Belfast bound.

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 4: Fox Hunting Match-week 46 That's it, great idea. Becuase there's absolutely no way any neutrals would fancy popping along to the King Power for a potential title decider, would they? One thing's for sure, it's going to be quite a polarising day depending on the result. A chance to make fans for life. The final fixture list. Most of them don't really matter, to be honest. The order of the playoff sides could shift to change that draw, but relegation spots are all decided. It's all about the battle at hte top, with Swindon Town and Blackpool ready to be the King Makers, or perhaps King Breakers. Radios held to ears across the country, but no more than in the confines of Cardiff City Stadium and the King Power. And the first groan would come in the Midlands as Cardiff took the lead. The 26th minute, Samuel rising from a corner to nod home the opener. 1. Cardiff 2. Leicester Leicester pushed forward, old worries coming to the fore. They'd had so many draws that year, all because they just couldn't find the goals. With injuries to key players, did they have what it took to close the game out? 1. Cardiff 2. Leicester Half-time arrived, and if there weren't boos sounding out, there was audible frustration. Cardiff deservedly winning against a Swindon side that didn't seem arsed. And Leicester huffing and puffing their way to what looked like a 0-0 draw. Defensively they were solid, but going forward Terrien was having a bad game at the worst possible time. 1. Cardiff 2. Leicester The second half wore on, and it was more of the same. A ripple of disappointment in the stands as Cardiff have a goal disallowed for offside just as Terrien misses another. It's one of those days, isn't it? 1. Cardiff 2. Leicester But then Terrien, who was having a terrible game, wormed his way into the box and was felled. A penalty to Leicester. Constant stepped up and smashed it to his left...the keeper guessed right...but not early enough. Straight through his hands and into the corner, and it's 1-0. 1. Leicester 2. Cardiff Now it's the Cardiff fans' chance to taste disappointment. Blackpool look about as likely to stage a comeback as Swindon do. They can only watch as they control their game knowing it won't be enough. And then twelve minutes later, it gets worse. Ramos, who left Cardiff in January, rises highest from a loose ball to head home and make it 2-0, and end the game as a contest. 1. Leicester 2. Cardiff Cardiff extended their own lead, determined to finish the season matching Leicester like they had all year. They got another penalty, but it was probably the least enthusiastically celebrated goal all season. Blackpool were done, Swindon were done, Cardiff were done. Leicester were champions.

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 4: Fox Hunting Match-week 45 Preparations for the penultimate game of the season were dealt a massive blow as both Renaldo Deurloo and Cheickna Ballo were ruled out for the rest of the season. Granted, the latter had been an absolute diddy in this run-in, but he's still our best forward over the course of the season. I'd say I'd trust him to score in a high-pressure situation, but he's missed some absolute sitters in the past few games. We now have very little depth should Terrien have a bad game. But believe it or not, I'd class this one as a bad game for his miss late on. First though, what an afternoon of football. Cardiff once again could not push forward, again going behind, and again fighting back to level. Swansea put up a very brave performance, and I'm incredibly proud of my old charges as the 10 men held out. Particularly as further North, we were putting in another absolute horror-show. Blackburn scored two quick first-half goals, and at that point we were all tied up again with both teams losing. The riot act was read at half time, and in the 57th minute Terrien broke free and got a goal back. Eight minutes later in South Wales, Piper got the equaliser to push Cardiff ahead in the table. But before celebrations had even died down, Terrien got his second to tie things up again and put us back on top by goal difference. But it wasn't the whole story, as Terrien missed chance after chance, including an absolutely glaring miss from a one-on-one. That would've put us two clear going into final day, and allow us to accept a draw. But no. Both teams locked on 93 points, but Leicester holding firm with a goal difference advantage of plus 8. It doesn't take a super-computer to work out the permutations. If Leicester match Cardiff's result, they will be Champions, as long as that result isn't losing by 9 more goals than Cardiff too. I'd say that's unlikely, but with the way this season has gone, would you really rule it out?

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 4: Fox Hunting Match-week 44 Let's just get it over with... An absolute hammer-blow that only ended up not being fatal thanks to Cardiff's absolute commitment to narrative. To be honest, we deserved nothing from the match. Ipswich took a deserved lead, and then sat in and waited for our gung-ho tactics to open gaps. They scored their second from a corner, and although we scored a well-worked goal to pull one back, it was only a consolation. Highly rated youngster Zola rose unmarked at the near post to score a 3rd in the 96th minute, and I googled how to make an entire squad disappear and get away with it. But as I mentioned, Cardiff just could not capitalise. What they could do, however, was make sure that they tied the points up nicely with a draw. Again they fought back from one down, proving that even though there wasn't much to play for, West Brom could still put on a show. As it was, Ipswich's win secured their playoff spot, and ended any lingering hopes that the Baggies - or Bournemouth, Preston, or any of the clubs clustered around them - had of getting there. Confirmation of just how tight it is. Our goal-difference means we still effectively hold a one-point lead, but I'm now expecting the last two games to be heavy 5-0 defeats so we can tie up on goal difference by the end. There's now no way it doesn't go to final day, although if Cardiff lose to Swansea, we can effectively tie it up with a win in our game. But having a different result to our foes seems a tall order at this stage.

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 4: Fox Hunting Match-week 43 This time, an FM-curated record of the run-in, and one that shows just how tight this is going to be. Usually when you have a title run-in, clubs are playing sides pointing in completely different directions. One faces a side challenging for the playoffs while the other visits a relegation candidate. It's the magic of the fixture computer, and it's normal, but this just could not be poised any finer. The top four will indeed meet on Bank Holiday Monday, with 1st facing 3rd and 2nd facing 4th. Then we'll both visit sides in and around the playoff battle. Then we face a side desperately fighting for survival while Cardiff visit a side that just want to fight them in a local derby. On final day, we'll face two sides with very similar records. So the wrinkles in that are very minor. Cardiff's match with Swansea is obviously the one to watch on their side, as my old club could essentially hand me the title. But on my side, it's that match with Ipswich. They need points to secure their playoff spot, and could really do with improving a spot to face Watford instead of Brighton. West Brom on the other hand are probably too far adrift to hold out much hope, so will they be taking it easier? But before all that? Time to try and noise up Cardiff again. It seems Alan O'Leary has forgotten where the goal is (although given he hadn't scored since March, I doubt I can take credit) so can we do similar to their American captain Miguel Risley? Another positive response, but another promise that he'l impress with his next performance. If he scores the winner I'm going to stay at Leicester, sign him, and then ruin him. Also interesting to see our schizophrenic fans playing both sides, as Colby, Kamari and Grace decide to take out their half-n-half scarves. But anyway, back to the football. I'll say it quietly, but first blood has gone to us, and that result has to have wounded Cardiff. It could have been so much worse too. Watford went ahead in the first half, which obviously filtered through to the pitch in Brighton. We were still sitting at 0-0, and looking pretty awkward, just like we had against Coventry. We were dominating possession, but every time Brighton came forward we looked like we might fall apart. Off came Ballo, who had been utterly useless, and on came Gilles Terrien. And it was him that struck with ten minutes to go, latching onto a long ball to coolly slot past the keeper. At that point we were going two points clear with just three games to go, and take a massive step towards the title. But Cardiff just don't know when they're beaten this season, and I don't think anyone would feel right if anything was decided before the last kick of the season. They got an equaliser to lessen the impact of their slip-up, but we still take a big step. It's all change at the top as Cardiff go from leading by a point to trailing by a point. Other results also meant that we both secured promotion, so the rest of the horses have been mathematically shot in the head, and it'll be a straight fight over three games. A slight advantage for us, but it is so slight. It's Ipswich up next, and that's the game I was most worried about.

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 4: Fox Hunting Match-week 42 Back to actual football, and it's time for Cardiff to taste a tough tie while we face relegation fodder. Proper fodder this time, with Coventry cut adrift at the bottom, and surely just waiting to be defeated. Does anyone blink this time? A crazy afternoon of football, as two sides who had yet to so much as blink, both almost seized. Cardiff's result - again, benefitting from a penalty the cheats - was a good one comparatively, but they'll be so bitterly disappointed that they couldn't capitalise. Not as much as us though, as we put in an absolutely rancid performance, failing to lay a glove on a doomed side. The only silver-lining was Cardiff struggling too. No change again, Cardiff still ahead by a point. Brighton can still mathematically catch us, but in the next round of games we could both secure promotion.

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 4: Fox Hunting Match-week 41 First proper match-week of this run-in with both sides playing at 3pm. And this is probably the big difference in terms of weeks with us facing 8th place West Brom, and them with the much easier tie against safe-but-still-**** Norwich. And once again, there's nothing to separate. We get the job done early against West Brom and manage to close it out, and Cardiff do similar (with another penalty) in their game. Still no-one blinks, and still Cardiff sit ahead by a single point. But how about we make things a bit more interesting here? It's shenanigans time. I know it'll make no difference, but I decided to approach Cardiff manager Kane Wilson and see if he fancied being my assistant. Aww bless. Guy seems sure he's got a chance with Cardiff. But then I had an idea. In a previous story, as I was approaching one of the final club competitions I needed to win - the Champions League - I decided to try unsettling an opposition player I was interested in. He proceeded to have an absolutely terrible game, and I signed him the following summer. Let's try it again, shall we? Alan O'Leary has had a wonderful season since leaving us for Cardiff, forming a formidable partnership with their loan striker Piper (who I was also interested in). So what better way to noise up Cardiff than throw my financial weight around and declare my interest. Hook, line and sinker. He fancies it, so I'm hoping it's turned his head slightly. Although the "wants to impress" line worries me. Know what would impress me, Alan? Just don't play. Stage 2 begins, and we put in a very fair offer for the player valued close to £45 million. Five million Great British Pounds and not a penny over. I await their answer. Alright, how about an improved offer. £5m, plus £170 quid a month for 6 months. Right, joking aside, let's get serious. You can have 5 million more, AND...AAAAAAND...we'll arrange a friendly.

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 4: Fox Hunting Match-week 40 The first set of games in the run-in and neither side has blinked. Cardiff started out on Friday night with a very impressive win against Bournemouth, albeit benefitting from some ill-discipline. But a win is a win, and it put the pressure on us the next day to do the same against Huddersfield. No change, although both of us are now guaranteed at least the play-offs. Which is nice.

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 4: Fox Hunting In December, it looked like the league would end up being extremely tight. It was a three-horse race then, now it's down to two. Ourselves and Cardiff have pretty much been neck-and-neck for the whole season, even when we play each other. The 0-0 in February looked like it would be a title decider, and it was about as even as you would expect. We managed to stay unbeaten for the rest of February and March, putting us in a great position. But as I said, Cardiff were in a great position too. Brighton are done, unlikely they're going to mount much of a challenge now, but with seven games left to play, Cardiff have an extremely slender lead. Both of us are going to be going up to the Premier League, but it remains to be seen which of us will be doing so as Champions. And here's the run-in. We're on the left, Cardiff on the right. Once you hit those Brighton and Watford games, it's crazy how closely the remaining matches line up. Could well be that that holiday Monday sees the top four face each other. Ipswich and West Brom are both playoff hopefuls. Blackburn and Swansea looking to avoid relegation, and Blackpool and Swindon both probably expect lower-mid-table safety. This really could not be tighter.

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 4: Fox Hunting Ha. No. Taking our transfer receipts up to £240m, more players headed out of the door. Luckily most of them were just fringe players pissed off because they weren't getting enough game-time, so happy enough to cash in and use our vast reserves of cash to improve things. More troubling, however, was the loss of Mario. An ever-present so far, but he came moaning about how I'd promised he could leave. For £43m...ok, fair enough. Plenty of cash there to replace, even though it was, again, at the 11th hour. Pretty much direct replacements coming in to fill gaps left by the actually good players. Cassani and Shelley came in to replace two loan stars who left. I say left. Recalled. El Hachimi went back to Man Utd with them moaning that he hadn't played in the right position, and Beto did similar. One of my most hated "features" in the game to be honest. These two should tide us over for the rest of the season though. And finally, Ramos and Sors arrived to fill Mario's boots, as well as give us some depth. If Cardiff want to try and get one-up on us by taking Alan O'Leary at the start of the season, we'll do the same by taking Ramos from them. How important will that end up being?

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 4: Fox Hunting Life in Leicester started off pretty well, and as we hit the end of the year we're sitting pretty at the top of the league. However, there's a slight disappointment that we didn't extend more of a lead. A few of those draws really should have been turned into wins, particularly the ones against Cardiff and Brighton, given they're clearly going to be our closest rivals. However, the one that really hurts is that result against Swansea at the end of the year. A win there would have opened up a five point gap and made things look a lot healthier going into 2052. But as it is, it's incredibly tight, and we had to suffer the embarrassment of getting beaten by a previous club. Boo. Next up, another transfer window. Surely quieter this time though?

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 4: Fox Hunting And so here we are, embarking on another chapter. Like I said before, it's a bit out of left-field, even for me. I fully intended to get out of England/WalesButReallyEngland but this one represented a very attractive prospect. Not too many surprises here. I've already mentioned their exploits in the Premier League last season, so we'll be going down with a point to prove... ...and money in our pocket. This just goes to prove how powerful clubs going down to the Championship can be. More than any other league, it seems like the Championship always hosts at least one side who had gone down the previous year and come straight back up. In quite a few seasons recently, it's been two sides. If we don't go up, it'll be because we've really, really screwed up. In terms of budget, however, this isn't exactly setting the world alight. A very healthy wage budget, but I'd have hoped for a little more in the transfer budget. As you'll come to see though, this ended up becoming a bit irrelevant. More on that later. You can see just how healthy our wage budget is with this article. We have 1.9m to spend, yet with the 2nd highest spent budget in the league, we still have 600k left to play with. We'll likely have to pay out big wages to attract players, let's face it, but that's still a lot of money. But anyway, there's not too much that's interesting to say about the club and my aims. We need to win the Championship, simple as that. What is interesting, however, is transfers. As the transfer window slammed shut, safe to say we've been writing a few cheques. £76m spent in all, with a mix of loan stars from Premier League clubs and big, big signings to improve our options. But, as you can see, £76m is a bit bigger than the £9m we were originally given. So how did that happen? Like that. Safe to say there were a number of players who just didn't want to be here anymore. When I arrived, the squad was very strong, probably good enough to mount a title tilt. But of course, a lot of the better players decided they'd be better off elsewhere, and it's hard to grudge them that. Before we'd even got properly started with pre-season training, we'd already let ten players go, and raked in nearly £90m. Things calmed down for nearly three weeks before picking back up again. A few minor departures in mid August, before Mark Williams left for Austria. Then transfer deadline day was a bit more eventful than I had hoped for. Alan Craske was our aging forward, but easily still our first choice. He demanded to leave, so I had no real choice. But the real problematic one was Said Youssouf leaving with 5 hours left in the transfer window. Our starting goalkeeper. I had considered selling him when I arrived as he seemed to be on way too much money for his ability, but what I didn't want to do was have to replace him with just hours to go. Then we lost some more depth in the closing hours. Guess we better get our buying pants on. First up, Rachid El Hachimi joined on loan to fill a gap at right-back. A loan, so I fully expect we'll spend most of this year talking to his owning manager, arguing about whether playing him at wing-back is a bad thing when they want full-back. He'll certainly feature regularly though. Danilo Foxall represents a very useful purchase in the utility stakes. He's a natural in three positions, so should see a lot of action. Central defensive buddies Ryan Williams and Harald Klopper both join us from Blackburn and Newcastle respectively. Klopper on loan, which is probably pretty obvious given the talent he holds. I expect these two to be towering ever-presents at the back for us. We returned to Man Utd to pick up another loan signing in Daniel Carroll, taking advantage of the fact that the Man Utd hierarchy don't hate us for "ruining" their loan players. Yet. More depth in the centre of midfield, although he perhaps overpaid slightly for the privilege. Who cares, we're rich. Gilles Terrien represents an interesting story. I was on the lookout for a new forward - because nothing is more fun than that - when I found this young star in France who was apparently interested in coming. I put in a bid, it was accepted, but he then informed me that he had better offers on the table. One of these was Tottenham, to which he ended up going. I thought I'd chance my arm by putting in a loan bid a couple of weeks later, and surprisingly they accepted. So instead of paying what I think was £20m+ to get him permanently, we get him for £3.8k for a year. Bargain. To balance up the other side of our defence, we picked up Ilias Dedes from Blackburn, and hopefully he can keep his partnership with Ryan Williams going. And then we moved into transfer deadline day shenanigans. With Alan Craske leaving for Portugal, we needed another forward, so Cheickna Ballo arrived from Brentford to fill the gap. Very excited to see how he does. Then to cover for the rest of our deadline day departures, we picked up an exiting Brazilian youngster from Flamengo to give some creativity in the middle, and then Quinten ven der Heijden on loan from West Ham. We really paid out in loan fees for that one, but he represents a better option than the keeper we just let go, so a good bit of business all told. So with all that excitement out of the way, the only thing left to do was to actually play some football.

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 4: ? Record of the current progress, and nice to see another country on its way. Unfortunately, that 18% for England looks a lot better than the reality. We've finished off a middle-tier league and a lower cup. We've still got to get League 2 and both Vanarama Leagues, which sounds...miserable really. But who is next? I'd resigned pretty much days after my final game, so plenty of time for jobs to churn around as the season ends and the fingers start pointing. I've yet to travel to Scotland outside of smashing through the Challenge Cup like a drunken viking, so that's attractive at the moment, but really it's about whatever comes up. Linfield or Shelbourne would be very nice, but I suspect I might not get as lucky as seeing those jobs come available at the perfect time. The first to bite was Inverness, with a role that could end up being very interesting. They've fallen on pretty hard times in the past decades, going from being a mostly Premiership side in the 20s, to sinking like a stone. At the start of the 40s they were in League Two, and hit a particular trough in 2044 when they only missed out on the relegation playoff on goal difference. That could have seen them exit the league system entirely, were it not for FC Edinburgh being even more of a disaster. Now seven years later they're heading back to League Two having finished bottom of League One. This time falling foul of goal difference (-24 though...ooft). This, theoretically, puts them in a good position to go straight back up, so it's an attractive proposition to knock off one of the lower Scottish trophies. I attended the interview, and was offered the job a few days later. However, I delayed a decision because of another interview I had... Bit out of left-field this one, but I'll be returning to the EFL Championship sooner than I expected. Leicester were easily the worst side in the Premier League last season, and they've been deservedly relegated. So with parachute payments and the like, I probably won't get a better chance to build a team for winning the second tier. Finances aren't too bad, squad is pretty decent (albeit a lot of unhappy players) so it's a no-brainer. Welcome to Leicester.

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 3: Swanning Around Another great season, but it left us with a choice. It seems unlikely that we can win any of the competitions we're involved in, so is there really much point in sticking around? Well, yeah. Of course there is. One season is not really much time at all, particularly now that clubs seem to have a penchant for bringing up such things in interviews. It's worth at least one more year to see how this team can develop, and after that we'll see. Transfers looked a lot different to last year on one side, but pretty familiar on the other. We again dipped into the loan market to try and get around financial issues, albeit dipping into our funds for one player, Gavin Heaney, who would hopefully sit as a calming presence in the centre of our defence. But the players leaving the club is a marked difference, with us struggling to bring in any funds at all. We're still riding high on what we got last year, but it's clear that we're not in a particularly sustainable position. If we don't go up to the Premier League by the end of next season, I could see there being another dive. As always we'll start with the cups, but that isn't going to take too long this year. A pretty miserable attempt at both, with just one tie won. We probably deserved to go through against Reading, and were maybe slightly unfortunate against Middlesbrough, but...well, we lost. Hard to take too many positives from that. But ultimately it wasn't about the cups this year. We didn't stand much more than an outside shot at those, so it was all about finishing as high in the league as possible, and maybe just about sneaking into the playoffs. That wouldn't help our objectives, but it could potentially give us a route in through the back door. If we managed to sneak up, one season raking in the riches could be followed by relegation and leave us in a much better position next time around. Tactics. And what a start it was. We took to life in the Championship brilliantly with a 100% record in our first five games. Absolutely deserved too, as our mix of youth loan stars and experienced old hands blended well. But why did I cut off after 5 games? Well... Because this. We went into the game against Leyton Orient expecting a battle. They'd come up automatically at the same time as us, but had struggled so far, the complete opposite to us. A win here would put down a marker, but we ended up being well beaten. Surely an abberation, I thought. Unfortunately not, as we proceeded to pick up only two points in eight games. There was a slight revival in November, but I kept expecting the board to call me in for a little chat at any moment. To be honest I was getting a little hacked off with the manner of some of the performances, and resignation was a possibility on a number of occasions. But the board seemingly still held a candle for me after the heroics of last season, so they weren't too worried. We were somehow still a good distance from relegation, which was all the board required at the start of the season, so seemed like my job wasn't in danger. I decided to at least give it to the end of the year. We started December how we'd spent most of the Autumn, but after managing to arrest the slide with some absolutely stinking draws, a Boxing Day win at Wrexham prompted a mini revival. The defeat at Blackburn was very disappointing, but those wins transformed our hopes and had us looking up, not down. And we kept looking up as February and March passed by. Well, one of them at least. February was the very definition of mixed, with a 2-2-2 record, but those four wins in March had us dreaming of an unlikely shot at the playoffs. Emphasis on unlikely, as we were still 10 points adrift of the final playoff spot, but it was possible, and that was something that we never thought we'd manage. We had seven games left to close the gap. And almost immediately face-planted. That 5-2 defeat at home to Blackpool didn't mathematically erase our hopes, but it may as well have. Jean-Jacques Errington had his struggles this season, but he really did everything he possibly could. Unfortunately the defence couldn't match it. Two thumping wins against Portsmouth and QPR raised hopes slightly but our season ended with a whimper with three draws and a defeat. Really disappointing, but to be honest it summed up how we played this season quite well. 9 points of a gap in the end. A good season given the nightmare Leyton Orient had. Preston - the other promoted side - managed a creditable 13th. But once again, it was time to stop and take stock, and ultimately move on. They tried to get me to stay, but there was no real chance of me doing that. I think we've probably achieved about as much as we can in South Wales. I'll be on the lookout for the next role.

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 3: Swanning Around Again, we're still slightly behind, so I'll be firing through my time at Swansea. First thought on arriving was that I don't intend to spend too long here, but it really depends how things go. I negotiated a one-year contract at a lower wage because it felt more realistic, as on this save I doubt I'll be sticking around anywhere too long. Two seasons is probably the plan, enough to at least get League One in the bag, and hopefully take a tilt at the Championship too. One self-imposed rule, however, which may come into force particularly in England, is that I have to win the trophy, not just promotion. So if I get promoted either automatically or via the playoffs, that's not going to count towards the total. It's going to be incredibly galling to have a great season but finish 2nd, so let's hope it doesn't come to that. On arrival, the task was clear. The club suffered from a heart-breaking final-day relegation after failing to better Wrexham's draw with Watford. They tried and tried against Norwich, but a 1-1 draw meant they'd be going down to League One. And that's kind of what attracted me to the job in the first place. After all, a club going down - particularly from a money league like the Championship - should be amongst the favourites to come straight back up. Easy, right? Well, what I hadn't considered initially was how financially, we're, for want of a better word, ****ed. We're over-spending on wages to the tune of nearly 100k, albeit a lot of that will drop off at the end of the season. We have money in the bank, but our PnL is only going in one direction. There is going to need to be some significant blood-letting in the summer to get things back on track, which isn't exactly ideal when you're trying to mount a title challenge. In the end, all I can say is God bless the loan system. We had to trim down significantly, bringing in £21m in funds, but even though that made our finances look a whole lot better, it was going to be nowhere near enough to bring in the sort of quality we needed. But loans? Loans are different. We brought in a lot of quality there, enough talent to really improve the squad, and the only one we paid out a significant sum on was Nicolas Gutierrez. That one was a bit of a flex, and I probably overpaid, but we really needed a top-class forward to push us over the edge. Hopefully we can be that. First up, the cups. I hadn't really expected much from these, expecting that we'd have little chance of getting through either the FA or League Cup. I had completely forgotten about the EFL Trophy, which represented a great chance of getting some silverware. And so it proved, with us becoming the scourge of the age-group sides, beating both Arsenal and West Ham Under 21s on the way to the trophy. Poor stuff in both other Cups, but that was kind of to be expected. But what could we do in the one that really mattered? A bit of a stodgy start to the league as we suffered a number of damaging defeats. But when Gutierrez scored the winner in a 4-3 thriller at home to Luton, we seemed to click. A few too many draws for my liking, but as we moved into 2050 we're sitting pretty. And we didn't end up losing again until mid-February, at which point it seemed like we might buckle slightly. Luckily we didn't, but less luckily, neither did our closest title rivals Leyton Orient and Sheffield Wednesday. As we moved into April, we had things in our own hands, but a 1-1 draw with Orient threatened to derail us. The matching result with Chesterfield made things a lot tighter than I hoped, and as we moved onto final day, we knew that a win would be enough to seal the title, but anything less would likely hand it to one of our rivals - including Sheffield Wednesday themselves. But we managed to do it Two more trophies down, and a promotion. Onwards and upwards.

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 3: Swanning Around A little bit of a sum-up now to see where we are. We've completed one country, but we're still a long way off complete. We're now moving into "England" with Swansea, so if we can make a bit of a dent there, we should be able to escape to the "easier" counties to clean up those. I expected England would be where I finished, but starting to think that picking the right Scottish club would be the good way to finish it all off, hopefully winning the European competitions there too. Would seem like a bit of a cheat to do it with the super-rich English clubs. We'll see. Next up, we'll arrive in Swansea.

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 2: An Embalassment of Riches A nice message to get, but although this team is great, I think we've probably hit a ceiling. We could spend another few years building them up, dominating Wales, and maybe making inroads to the Champions League, but with the new format it's going to be incredibly difficult to have much in the way of success. That isn't what this save is about either, so I'm afraid, it's goodbye. But in something I've never seen before, sharply moustachioed director Matty Sharp begged me not to go. I did suggest something he could do that would make me reconsider, but I can't remember what it was, and it didn't really matter anyway. I stood by my decision, and off I went. So it was back to looking for jobs, and now I could do so from a position of strength. I could also afford to be picky, and hopefully get a job at a side that was already set up to knock off some extra trophies. I might have to wait a few months until one came available, but that was fine. So I settled in. Then this came up. I didn't really want to go to England at all, let alone this early, but this is an intriguing option. They have just been relegated from the Championship on the final day, so should be in a good position to go straight back up again this season. There may be some financial issues, but surely they're not insurmountable, right? I've spent nothing but time in Wales you absolute loon! (Yes, yes, I know Swansea are technically in England, but still) But even ridiculous questions like that weren't too off-putting, and with trepidation, I got back on the train, and tried to see if my old return ticket from a few years ago would still work. I'm going back to Swansea.

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 2: An Embalassment of Riches What a crazy year. We go from the rags of Swansea University to the riches of Bala, and end up playing in the Nou Camp in a Champions League knockout tie. Still not exactly sure how it was achieved, especially given that we only just managed to retain the title. But still, with regards to the actual aims of the save, we're now five trophies down with one more possible. Ah, the Welsh Cup. Absolutely gutted that we didn't manage to tie that one up after how well we had been doing elsewhere. There will be absolutely no complacency this time around, and if it means we sacrifice other competitions, we are bringing home that Cup. Bringing it home so I can disappear in a puff of smoke. Transfers were a bit more ambitious this year, but we're still pretty hamstrung by the league selection rules, and to a lesser extent those for the Champions League. We have massive gaps where we could be registering players that need to be left blank because of home-grown rules, so although we have an insane amount of money thanks to our Champions League run, we'll struggle to spend it given a) the really expensive signings won't be interested, and b) we wouldn't be able to register as many players as we could afford to buy otherwise. The strategy will be to pick up as many highly rated youngsters as we can in the hope they can do a job and not need to be registered, but that will always prove difficult. The worst news came when Jamie Neal ended up leaving for St Mirren. A paltry 500k was a bit of a kick in the teeth to lose a highly rated youngster like him, particularly one I've taken with me to two clubs now (future guy here, because I'll forget otherwise, I've just checked, and after only appearing 8 times for St Mirren that season, he was sold to Man City for 195k, where he's yet to make an appearance. Raging.). He also left right in the middle of the Champions League qualifiers, on the eve of the domestic campaign. Which is less than ideal. I brought in a replacement who wasn't quite as good, but them's the breaks. We definitely have a squad capable of achieving our goals this season. First up, the Champions League, and against all odds we've done it again. We almost didn't though, with Linfield taking us oh so close in the 2nd Qualifying Round before we eventually won on penalties. A big sigh of relief there, although it might have ended up being better for our domestic campaign had we crashed out. We were rarely troubled after that, putting in absolutely massive home performances against Ferencvaros and Kairat to take our place in the Group Stage once again. This team continues to surprise me. Unbeaten after playing half of our group games is ridiculous, even if it all comes crashing down to Earth when you meet the big boys. We went into the playoff round again, this time a bit more comfortably, but predictably came unstuck as PSG beat us to death in both legs. Still, it's another stupid amount of money into the coffers (£2.8m per group stage win...), and it wasn't even a priority this year. If last year was tough in the league, this year was the complete opposite. A couple of poor results - another to the ****ing Met - but outside of that we were imperious. As we went into the split, we hadn't secured anything, given there's still 30 points to play for there. But it would have taken quite a collapse. A collapse that was just never on the cards. Unbeaten in the Championship Conference and we sewed up the league nice and early. With Europe gone, and the league comfortable, we could now turn our attentions to the cup competitions and making absolutely sure we got over the line there. And over the line we well and truly got. I couldn't have cared any less about the Challenge Cup, so put out a team made up of the tea lady, a few Salvation Army band members, and some tourists that got lost, and we still almost conspired to get through. Ayr beat us on penalties though. We're so bad at penalties. But that was the one single blemish on an absolutely impeccable cup record this year. The league cup was secured in mid-January, but it was the Welsh Cup we were interested in. We weren't at our best in the Semi, despite having a fresh, rested squad, but we still made it through. Then we topped it all off with probably the quintessential Bala Town performance in my time with them. There were a lot of nerves going into it, knowing that one insipid performance could mean a whole season needed to make up for it, but safe to say I needn't have worried. We were 2-0 up in 15 minutes, at which point I decided that, since it was probably my last game, I'd bring in the probably departing Jack Davies to play a 4-2-4 and really embarrass our opponents. Because I'm petty like that. By half-time it was 5-0, with Lee Jackson scoring 4. We added two more after the break, but it was all academic. A Rolls Royce performance from a Rolls Royce team, and that's the final Welsh trophy secured.

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 2: An Embalassment of Riches I arrived in the far North of the country at Maes Tegid, a quaint wee stadium that sees Bala play all their domestic games. They travel 132 miles down the road to Cardiff City Stadium for their European games (what little they get). Wiki seems to disagree, saying they use the nearer Bellevue stadium in Rhyl, but guess things have changed over the time the save's been running. Anyway, I arrived fairly quickly to make sure they didn't have time to take it back. This is a massive opportunity to cross off the three remaining trophies in Wales, and potentially move on after just one season. That'll take a perfect record though, so I'm planning for two seasons. Anything more than that would be a failure. But this first communication from my new employers is...interesting. They expect a league and cup double, which is fair enough. They want to be competitive in the Challenge Cup, which is also fair enough. That's technically a Scottish competition by the way, to which a few select clubs from around the UK are invited. So we could end up crossing off another one with luck. The real interesting part is the Champions League expectation. "Be competitive" is pretty vague, particularly when you look at the club's history in Europe. As far as I can tell, in the life of the save, they are yet to win a Champions League tie, falling at the first round on all three previous occasions. They've also seemingly never won a Conference League tie, and have never participated in the Europa League. To me, that doesn't scream competitive, that screams "just go and play the game, you're getting pumped, the fans'll get a tan, it's all good". And given that a few days later we were given odds of 10000-1 for the Champions League, and described as "one of the weakest teams in the competition", I'm not really sure what to think. In terms of transfers, my first point of order was to go back to Swansea Uni and steal the goalkeeper I brought to the club. Jamie Neal was an absolute star, and really deserved to be playing at a higher level. He was better than anyone I had, so a total no-brainer. But outside of that, there wasn't really a whole lot that needed to be done. We had a decent budget, but there wasn't a lot that needed to be done with it. We are the best side in Wales without any signings, so as long as we keep hold of our best players for a couple of seasons, we should be good. I don't even know what to think. RFS was a good start for us. A side from a lowly footballing country just like us, and one we could gauge ourselves against. I was barely in the door, hadn't had a chance to make many signings other than Jamie Neal, so I had no idea how it would go. I needn't have worried, as we put on not one but two absolutely imperious performances to take a clear aggregate victory and head into the next round. Up next was Dynamo Kyiv, so surely that was where our journey ended. Nope. That 3-3 was a crazy game, we took the lead on all three occasions but just couldn't hold on. Immensely proud of the team, but I fully expected that we'd run out of steam in the second leg. But as we headed for extra time with the score locked at 2-2, Jack Davies pounced to score the winner and send what home fans we did have into delirium. So surely Maccabi Haifa would be the ones that took us down now. Again, no. We looked even more comfortable there, keeping two clean sheets and breezing through with a mature and assured performance to put us one tie from the Group Stages of the Champions League. Young Boys stood in our way, easily the best side we had faced so far, but they could not stop the Bala wave as we rolled over them in the first leg, winning 3-0. Scarcely believable, but we would be in the Champions League group stages as long as we could avoid a heavy defeat. We couldn't avoid the defeat, but a 2-1 was not enough to stop us. We're in the Champions League Group Stage. Oh and at the same time, we started off our league campaign by absolutely battering our nearest challengers The New Saints 4-0. Yass. And this is our reward. I don't really care, to be honest. There's very little chance we'll get anywhere near winning any of them, but the money it'll bring in will be astounding. Only slight worry is whether these added games might see us have a bit of a hangover domestically... That hangover hit earlier than expected, with Connah's Quay beating us 3 days after our triumph in Bern. However, after that we went on a great run at both ends of the pitch, progressing in the league and all three cup competitions. Unfortunately, the competition that I expected would give us the least trouble did indeed give us some as we moved into Winter. Cardiff Met Uni put in their now regular humbling of McHamish, before The New Saints got some measure of revenge for opening day. Cefn Druids then wrapped up the first round of fixtures with a 2-1 win to put us in an awkward position. I expected the cup competitions might be a bit awkward but the league would be fine, but there's now potential for everything but the Champions League to be a bit awkward. The second round of fixtures went about as well as the first did. We looked comfortable most of the time, imperious sometimes, but lapses of concentration still really cost us. Those two defeats leave us further adrift for the title, and given the standard of opposition, we really should be doing better. But one big problem is that the Champions League games are really starting to bite us in terms of fitness. A game every 3 or so days is a tough ask on a small squad, and our rotation is only doing so much. If we do lose the league, that will be why. Outside of that, cup competitions are going well, as we book a spot in the Challenge Cup Semi Finals and finally secure another trophy in the Welsh League Cup. We'll resume our quest for the Welsh Cup soon, so if we can secure that one, we'll be in a great position with just the league needed. So I said the Champions League was starting to bite, but I'm sure that's just because it's no fun chasing teams around the pitch when you're getting pumped. Right? RIGHT?! Wrong. Granted, we hardly set the place on fire, but I expected to get absolutely nothing from this competition. Instead, we got seven points, including two famous victories against sides that really should be battering us. Even in the matches we did lose, I don't think we were embarrassed, and we could be forgiven for thinking that we could have done better. But as it stood when the full-time whistle blew against Rangers, we had somehow managed to qualify for the Knockout Playoff by finishing 24th. We got absolutely destroyed by Barcelona when we got there, but what a fantastic run it was. We've probably netted around 30 million in prize money and broadcasting for it, and no matter when I leave Bala, I've set them up for some time to come. The future's bright. After all that, it's back to domestic football, and the focus needs to be sharp. We're still in three competitions, and every single one of them is crucial. Unfortunately, after starting off brilliantly in one by beating Queen of the South in the Challenge Cup Semi Final, we crashed out of the Welsh Cup to Taff's Well. An absolutely sickening result which means that no matter what we'll have to be here at least one more season. Especially galling as it was against a side we'd only just beaten 5-0 in the league. What it perhaps does mean is that the league isn't quite as important. It'll **** off the board, but if we do miss out we know we'll be here next year anyway. But it was hard to think like that, even whilst that league was slipping away. Another bruising result to that most hated of teams, Cardiff Met Uni, and then a draw with Connah's Quay left us seven points adrift of The New Saints. We still had to play them twice, but at this stage if we slipped up anywhere, we probably handed them the title. We beat them 2-1 away from home, then followed it up with vengeance against both Taff's well and the Met. Queen's Park proved to be no match for the Bala Machine as we went onto foreign turf and lifted the Challenge Cup. Another crossed off, and with three games to go, we could still get the league. An absolutely massive 3-0 win against The New Saints put things back into our hands, cemented by the sort of win you crave against Connah's Quay. If we won our final game away against the Druids, we'd be Champions. As you can see, we drew... But The New Saints lost. Champions.

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 1: University Challenged Last year was a bit of a body blow, but it felt like going on was the right thing to do. This year...is it really? I think we could probably improve to become a bit more stodgy and tough to beat, but is the talent really out there to be allow us to do that? Is it possible to put together enough of a good run of form to grab the cups we're missing? Will we even manage to keep up the form that's left us clinging onto the edge of the Championship Conference? All valid questions, but none that I really had any answer to. It felt like there still weren't many opportunities out there, certainly for a manager with so little experience. I applied for a few jobs, and got laughed away from almost as many. For those that didn't, I attended interviews, but none seemed interested in taking things any further. So I grudgingly started to prepare myself for another season in Port Talbot, and started making some signings. But then something quite strange happened. I almost gave it a double take. Bala Town, who were fresh off of a second successive title, and a domestic treble, were without a manager. Phil Fletcher - the beloved Phil Fletcher - had left the club for Blackpool (the club, not on holiday) and they sought me out. I'm not sure why, certainly their talk of my "high-tempo pressing game", given I've been throwing strategies at the wall for years with Swansea. But this became an all-encompassing need. I just had to get this job, and if I didn't, I'm not sure I could recover. I certainly couldn't go back to that leaky-roofed office in the bowels of Port Talbot's "stadium", sifting through report cards of 3.8 million amateur footballers to find the one that might make the grade. So I made a decision. I've no idea if this will make any difference to my prospects with Bala, but to me an unemployed manager is a better prospect than one already attached (even though it's probably pretty easy to buy out an amateur contract presumably written on a napkin). If Bala said no, I'd find somewhere else, as I'm almost certain we've hit a wall there. Bala-bound. Fire up the local transport networks - I'm going North.

No Passports Needed A British and Irish Steel Attempt Chapter 1: University Challenged So taking a step back, removed from the awfulness that was that end to the season, it's time to take stock. A 6th placed finish with a side like Swansea University is a good thing, and the board agreed. It's not like there's other clubs battering down my door desperate to hire me, so makes sense to keep plugging away here and try and build up a reputation. I still think there's an outside shot of another cup trophy, and in the meantime I'll just keep my eye out for any job openings that would represent a significant step up. Signings were once again difficult. With amateur clubs, you can pretty much assemble an absolute army of a squad with no financial outlay, but in the days of transfer windows and squad registrations, that has become more difficult. Wales in particular have a very stringent rule that you can only register 25 players for the league. And four of those 25 have to be basically home-grown prospects. For us, who seem to only produce absolute jobbers, and who wouldn't be able to keep anyone around who was actually any good, that's going to be difficult. You don't have to register U19s, but again, the chances of getting anyone that's in that lovely area between being good enough to make a difference for us, but not good enough to make a difference for a better side, and under 19 are extremely slim. So we're essentially going into each season with a 21 man squad, making it a case of desperately trying to find a player who is better than an option we already have, and then releasing that worse option once he signs. Just no space for anyone else. As such, another lean summer with a few good additions, but probably not enough to repeat our good season. First round of fixtures, and we're doing...ok. In the league at least, as the cups remain an unmitigated disaster. We'll start there, as Haverfordwest ended our League Cup run pretty quickly after a dour 0-0 draw led to penalties. We did get through to the 4th round of the Welsh Cup, but again another penalty shootout defeat. We're really bad at penalties. The League has been fairly solid. Mid-table form again. With our cup runs over, it's basically a pointless season now. Second round of fixtures, and our mid-table form is proved. We once again make it to the Championship Conference, but once again it looks like it'll be another minging procession when we get there. Near enough a carbon copy of last season, with one decent win, and then a parade of absolute misery after. We did manage to keep a bit of a tighter defence though, with the crushing hammerings of last season being replaced by apathetic surrender. Progress. But don't worry, there's still the European Playoff to attend to! And that's us been attended to.